“…..ott, can you hear me?” A familiar voice rang in his ears as he opened his eyes. At first, everything was a big blur, however, after blinking his eyes several times the room around him began to come into focus.

He was confused.

The last thing he remembered was stumbling into his apartment after having faced off against the entity known only as Nightmare and his female associate, and collapsing just inside the doorway. However, now he found himself in his own bed, and despite some stiffness in his neck and upper torso, he felt pretty good.

“Scott, talk to me. Are you alright?” The voice belonged to Eric Dean, his best friend and one of the only people in the world that knew his secret.

“Yeah…I, I think so.” Scott said as he sat up in his bed. “How long was I out?”

“Two and a half days.” Eric said.

“Two and a half days?” Scott asked rhetorically, stunned that he had been unconscious for so long. “And you were here the whole time watching out for me?”

“Yeah, but I had help.” Eric admitted. However, before Scott was able to ask him what he had meant, he added, “But that isn’t important right now. How are you feeling?”

“Not bad, actually.” Scott said as he rose to his feet. It was the truth, for the first time since his escape from the Valor Institute, he felt close to one hundred percent. He wasn’t sure if it was a result of the deep sleep he’d gone into, or some other factor. However, one thing was for certain, his strength had returned, and he felt like he could take on anything that was thrown at him.

“That’s good, because I think you’re needed.” Eric said, the nervousness in his voice was unmistakable. It had been there from the moment Scott had awoken, however, Scott had assumed that it had been out of concern for him. However, Scott was beginning to realize that something else was going on.

“What is it?” Scott asked.

“Dude, the city is going to Hell.” Eric said bluntly.

Scott almost chuckled, Eric had always been somewhat over dramatic. However, the tone in Eric’s voice told him that something was seriously wrong, and Scott found himself starting to worry.

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, concern showing in his voice.

“I told you. All Hell is breaking loose…Literally.” Eric said as he motioned for Scott to follow him into the living room, where he pulled back the curtain that covered the large picture window that had a slight view of the city. Though the view from the window wasn’t anything to write home about, it did give one a decent look at the city in the direction of Sherman Square, and what Scott saw sent a chill down his spine.

“When?” He asked, his voice taking a markedly darker tone.

“Not long, maybe a half hour, tops.” Eric said. “I think it might be time to suit up.”

***

Melanie Stebbins knew that she was going to die.

She had just finished her shift as a cocktail waitress at The Golden Cabaret and was about to head home to her apartment when the sky seemingly caught fire, and those…things poured into the streets like something out of a horror movie.

She had watched in terror as winged creatures with grotesquely demonic features tore into the club, and had begun tearing into everyone inside. She had seen dancers and regulars that she had known since she arrived in Lost Haven ripped apart. One of the monsters had seemed to take immense pleasure in slowly devouring one of the girls while she was still alive.

Another of the creatures picked the eyeballs from the face of “Creepy Pete,” a regular who none of the girls wanted to dance for on account of his poor hygiene and nonexistent tips, and simply tossed it to the floor before going to work on the other one, taking delight in the man’s screams.

Instead of sticking around and sharing in her colleague and customer’s fates, she ran. She ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She didn’t look back, she couldn’t. She knew that if she did, those things would have gotten her. So she just ran.

However, she wasn’t fast enough.

One of the hateful winged humanoids had seen her, and delighted by the prospect of sport, had given chase. As the creature pursued the girl, it cried out, the sound it made was a hateful cry, that sounded something of a cross between a baby’s cry and a cackle.

As Melanie ran, she could feel the creature’s hot breath beating down the back of her neck.

She continued to run until her legs became wobbly and she could no longer carry on. She stopped, and turned to face the creature that would be the death of her, and hoped that it would grant her a quick and painless death. Though, when she saw the gleefully malicious look in the creature’s eyes, she knew that was more than she could hope for.

Suddenly, as the creature was getting ready to attack, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. At first she assumed it was just another of the flying monsters. However, the sight of a blue and silver blur streaking past her and the beast gave her new hope.

The monster suddenly stopped its advance, and gave her a puzzled look just before it exploded into a cloud of smoke and smoldering embers. The embers hung in the air, and through the cloud that was all that remained of the monster that had terrorized her, she saw a familiar figure standing and facing her, his eyes still glowing red from the optic blast that he had just administered to the demon.

“Get somewhere safe, now.” Icon had instructed her, his voice had a commanding air about it, and for the first time since the hellions attacked, Melanie Stebbins knew that she was not going to die.

She did as he had said and started off toward her apartment, which was to her surprise just about a block away. However, she stopped and turned to thank the hero who had saved her, only to see him rocket into the sky and out of view.

Styx & Ramsey
This machine. This awful, brilliant machine. I'd been going through the phases all must go through when working with a new tool. Frustration. Fury. Fascination. Renewed hate for humanity. Another flashing image manifested its way onto the screen. I'd been selected out of a million to receive a vacation. I didn't want one. Closing it only opened seven more windows.

I reset the machine. It buzzed and whirred back into something of stability. I opened a browser. So far as I was concerned, I could type anything in sequence and get an answer. Following on that logic, that terrible, terrible logic, I typed: Books of Unimaginable Power Who's Opening Would Signify The End Times.

The results piled in like rats to a Rat King. Amongst them was a 'link' which lead to a 'forum' which was discussing 'deep net'. After some time I was able to acquire a 'program' that could go to the deep net -the title sounded ominous enough to find what I sought- I loaded a 'forum'. Squeezed among the links with topics such as “arcane rituals” and “recruiting magi superior” was a single banner nestled nestled above all. It was void, edges wretched with brambles. I ignored this, moving to the section detailing artifacts. Evidently there was a historical museum that held a very old, hoary tome. It was written in an unknown tongue and had perplexed scholars of its point of origin for decades. This seemed reasonable enough.

Oddly, the same brambled ad was on this page as well. When I squinted, something...something seemed to be pressing against the void. Ignoring this, I closed the browser.
Seconds before stepping out the door into the earthly light, I realized my raiment's weren't suited to this plane of existence. Going back to the room with the computer, there was something strange. Normally the monitor had less void. From this distance, I could make out a face. It was another window that had opened itself. With some annoyance I closed the thing and searched around for more earthly garments.

Hoods were a necessity. This computer did not disappoint. I decided on bringing the infernal device with me on the way out of this plane.

---

Styx left the room. As the door closed, the computers screen flashed to void. Moving towards the kitchen, she spoke in a matter of fact tone to Ramsey, "I need earthly clothing. My devilish features I don't think will be...appreciated, today."
Ramsey was checking what remained in the fridge, nothing but a pickle jar and some vegetables."Damnit! Really the food it, it's all trash! The perishables left out, the milk ruined. At least there's a can of beer." He said as he picked it up only for it to have a hole in the bottom.."Fuck!"
Styx walked in, and spoke almost demandingly, that she needs new clothes. "Yeah? What now you wanna go shopping? Typical woman. So don't got a purse to match your outfit?" He said sarcastically.

Thinking it over, Styx replied, "A coin purse? I don't see how that would be a problem." ignoring the other terminology as being less than important. That and she hadn't the energy to get any madder than she had earlier. It took hours to build up enough spite for a truly vile outrage.
"A what? Nevermind. I'm going to assume you didn't get that remark. Hmm." He said getting a few ideas in his head. "So what did you mean then like something to cover up?"
"This." she said, moving her pointed grey tail around much like an extremely angry cat or very happy dog. "Is a problem." She pointed to her horns. "Also these."
"Yeah, I see where you're going, so what did you have in mind, something like a long coat?"
"That sounds fine. I don't know what's worn in this century. Librariums tend to be slightly behind the times. Something about time relativity..." she held a hand to her forehead. "Heads spinning even thinking about it. They actually told me not to think about it or my mind would melt on the way up."

" I think they were just messing with ya, right. Well some idiot ruined all the food, so I'll be heading out, leave food out like that again and I'll rip your tail out!" He said as he got ready to leave. It took him a few hours, first he hit the mall, looking for some clothing that'd cover horns and a tail, a long coat and a knit hat for cold days, and a pink hoodie that had 'my little angel' on it, just for laughs. He picked another one just in case.

After picking up more food again. He turned the key and opened the door back to the apartment. He walked through the apartment, and tossed her the bag of clothes."Picked something large, don't complain. Now I'm fixing lunch don't bother me!"

Styx caught the bag, rolled off the couch and proceed back to the computer room. The room seemed...darker somehow. Also she didn't remember the monitor actually being covered in a pallid face set in the midst of void. Ignoring this, she pulled out the pink hoodie. Flipping it round once, she acknowledged the "my little angel" part in silence. The color was a little...bright, but she didn't see why she couldn't wear it. Other than it was terrible.

Eventually managing to slip into the jeans (slipping her tail through the belt loops), wore the coat over the hoodie, and managed to somehow snug the hat over her horns in a way that wouldn't be immediately odd. The monitor buzzed. Glancing over, it seemed...that a hand had met the screen as well. The glass heaved and warped. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn't an effect.

Leaving the room, she slammed the door shut and announced louder than usual, "Never open this door."

Ramsey had just made a sandwich, with plenty of mayo, dripping in fact. As he bit down into it. As Styx slammed the door leading to the computer room, well it was more like a second room, than just for computers. As she loudly announced 'Never open this door' Ramsey walked over still eating his sandwich. "Mumm, Why!? Break something? Again?"
Her black heart pounding, she said quickly, "It's something...a entity has dragged its way into that room. Don't open the door. Don't invite it in. I don't know what it is yet."
Ramsey just took another bite out of his sandwich."Mhmm, soo opening it is bad? What if I do, can't I just beat it up? Perhaps let it listen to the Bieber kid, that wards off anything, even politicians."
"I doubt it. Seems incorporeal. Maybe a curse, maybe not. It came from the computer so I'm assuming yes to curse."
Ramsey laughed."RIGHT? Probably still hungover. Seeing things, well not my problem." Ramsey said as he walked off, not caring about what she may have seen.

Styx muttered something about Ramsey being a husk by the time she got back and opened the door to the outside world, blinded by the disorienting white light that was the Sun. She pulled the hood over her knit capped head, which helped her feel much less blind. Strolling down the stairs, she realized that the city was very...dull. You'd think mankind would have left a few statues here and there.

[[Double post to be deleted]]

"Fine, but you go first." The lady in the spider suit replied to him, still hanging from the ceiling. Judging by her response and insistence on him taking lead, she not not run into this thing by choice, perhaps a mere accident while fighting other demons or something. Nevertheless, War-Pulse gave her a brisk nod in acknowledgement as the snake charged the to of them, fangs on prominent display. There was not a lot of room to move in the cave, barely enough for the snake to turn around, and honestly too dark to see what was behind them, the only real bit of light eking through was from the recent embarrassing hole he had made falling into the cave. Trying to outmaneuver this behemoth would be next to impossible with these kinds of conditions, and the beast hurdling towards them did not leave much time to think up a battle plan.

Without much else to do, War-Pulse charged the creature head-on, attempting to at least slow its progress before it tried to swallow both of them. Throwing his arms forward, his hands grasped the massive beast's fangs, the beast's momentum slamming into him and causing his feet to drag along the ground, building up big piles of rubble at the heels as he clenched up his muscles. He let out an audible grunt as he let a large expulsion of energy out behind him, utilizing powerful bursts of momentum to force the beast to a halt, meanwhile trying not to pass out from the overwhelming stench of what could only be described as rotting venom emitting from the beast's breath. Nevertheless, the charge began to indeed slow down, grinding to a halt by War-Pulse's strength. Now locked in a stalemate, he could feel the monster trying to push some more as he held his ground.

"Hah....guess you ain't so..big and bad...after all..." War-Pulse uttered, making another step towards the beast in an attempt to push it back.

Of course, the large snake was smarter than it appeared, as soon as War-Pulse began to taunt and boast, it simply stopped pushing, causing War-Pulse to lose his footing momentarily long enough for the large snake to whip its massive head upwards into the ceiling of the cave, bringing War-Pulse's body with it. More rocks and rubble caved in from the ceiling as War-Pulse made impact, a loud grunt of alarm coming from the mercenary before he let go of the beast and sank back to the floor, in which the serpent was in hot pursuit, coming down on the fighter with its huge jaws and catching War-Pulse in its razor like teeth. The kinetic sheath surrounding War-Pulse protected him from the razors as the snake raised him up, the beast gnawing on the mercenary as he struggled to free himself.

Trying to pry the monster's jaw open from his position was not working, with his torso sticking out of one side and his feet sticking out of the other, he did not exactly had the leverage to utilize his full strength. He began to punch the creature violently on the nose repeatedly, the sound of fists against scales ringing out with each strike. The creature roared in pain from each strike, but refused to let go, instead smashing War-Pulse's head into the wall with a quick flick of its head to try and knock War-Pulse out first. Seeing his scales have little give and the beast having a much higher pain tolerance than War-Pulse was acclimated to, War-Pulse resorted to a dirtier tactic. Extending out with a free hand, a powerful blue burst of energy came rocketing out of it directly into the basilisk's eye. With a thunderous impact, the monster immediately let go to let out a screech in pain, giving War-Pulse the opportunity to pull himself free from the thousands of teeth, whirling around to grab hold of the top of the monster''s head and pull up, causing the creature to lurch back in surprise.

The resulting scene was reminiscent of a twisted rodeo, the serpent writhing and thrashing to throw off the brash idiot riding on top, and War-Pulse attempting to pull hard enough on the beast's nose to keep it distracted and stable enough for the woman in the spider suit to get a good shot at it.

"Whenever you're ready, Spider Girl!" War-Pulse shouted, the beast slamming him into the ceiling again. "Hit it with...whatever it is that you got!"

Which I probably should have asked what she could do before jumping onto the head of a demon snake thing. War-Pulse's subconscious chastised, gripping hard on the monster's nostrils for anchors.

Aubrey Adkins
I was just hanging there on my little silk thread, while this random metahuman, who happened to crash into the giant snake demon, wrestled with that same monster. I actually was glad that I wasn’t the one being chased or beaten up or whatever. I had had enough of that crap already, and it’s only been going on since the beginning of this week! It’s someone else’s turn to be the punching bag.

"Whenever you're ready, Spider Girl!" The silver-clad metahuman announced to me as he was slammed into the ceiling by the giant snake. "Give it...whatever it is that you do!"

Spider Girl? Is he insinuating that I’m, like, sixteen or something? I’m about ready to graduate (hopefully) from college. That at least makes me a young adult, not some stupid, emotional teenager who is a slave to their own vampire fetishes. Two can play at this game.

“From where I’m hanging, it looks like you’re doing quite fine, Astro-Boy. Although, I think you’re supposed to beat up the giant snake, not the other way around.”

From the expression on the metahuman’s face, it almost looked as if he was going to throw out some curse words in my direction, if the snake wasn’t taking his full attention.

“Fine! What do you want me to do? I’m not strong enough to fight that thing. I can’t take a bite from that thing like you did (although my healing factor might allow me to survive, but I rather not test it at the moment). All the things left that I can do is perform athletic and acrobatic feats and shoot webs. What good would that do for us?”

Then an idea struck me. Webs! Isn’t spider silk supposed to be stronger than steel? And we’ll have a larger quantity available for us, too!

[OOC: A Note from the Author – I know the difference between “stronger than steel” and “bullet proof”]

“Oh, um, I have an idea. So could you just hold onto that creature for a little bit longer? Thanks!”

I then dashed down the tunnel in the opposite direction of where that metahuman and the snake were playing “rodeo”. I kind of felt bad that I had to leave him behind with the giant snake, but it will make the ruse more believable if he didn’t know, right?

Once I went far enough down the tunnel so that I was out of their line-of-sight, I leapt up onto the wall, clinging to it with my wall-crawling ability, or whatever you wish to call it. I then shot a web line to the other side of the tunnel wall.

“How hard could it be to build a spider-web?” I thought.

Isaac cut a path down the dark alleys, jumping mesh fences to get back to his car, when he sensed it. Movement just ahead, he heard a scraping of heels on the concrete, before seeing a dark silhouette move into the shadows of a wall up ahead. Isaac kept pace, but slid into the shadows himself whilst he put his balaklava back on.

A stick-up man. Less than 30 metres ahead.

Time to scare him straight...

Suddenly the figure stepped straight out of the shadows next to him, somehow he dropped right in Isaac’s lap. He’d never seen anyone else move that stealthily. But the attacker cared little for using it’s stealth, letting out a blood-curdling screech as it lurched for Isaac.

“Shit!” Isaac exclaimed, and threw a right cross as a reflex.

A sound like paper tearing, followed by what the Vigilante would come to know as a demonic howl, and Isaac then looked at his handiwork.

There was a lot out of the ordinary.

The first thing he noticed was that his attacker had wings, the second thing... well, he’d punched a hole clear through it. Third, he noticed that just above the new hole he’d created in his would-be assailant also had a pair of horns on its head. Granted, the third thing wasn’t so surprising when you considered the first, but it still generally bears mentioning as something you don’t generally see.

“How--?”

The beast crumpled and flailed its wings in agony, Isaac decided to finish it off before wondering what the hell was going on and did so with a second punch, this time punching right through its face.

It moved no more. Silence once again filled the alleyway.

“What in the hell are you?” He thought to himself.

But not too long. After all, Isaac had engaged in adventures with one who was blessed by the Archangels of God and flew around on angel wings with an “angel-fire” sword. It wasn’t two big a stretch to think he could be dealing with someone from “the other place” especially when he was looking at one’s battered corpse in a dirty, piss-smelling alley.

But if that was the case, and he was dealing with some kind of hellspawn demonic creature from Justin Bieber’s future home (come on now, let’s not kid ourselves... that’s where he’s going – probably be the least fun guy there too...) then how the hell did he dispatch it so easily.

Then he remembered what the alien said:

Alien creature said <Destiny is one of the few connecting points that binds the magical world to the physical world. Can’t have one without the other, and one can only exist with the presence of the other.>

Alien creature said <--Can’t have one without the other, and one can only exist with the presence of the other.>

Everything pieced together.

Isaac took his bare fist and held it in the hole he created in the demon. He stretched his fingers out and the hole grew, without his fingers ever touching flesh.

“Their machines... they work using magic. That’s why they wouldn’t work. I don’t have a destiny. Destiny’s a fundamental point of magic.”

He put the pieces together.

“I’m no longer a conduit... I’m not conductive to magic. That’s what it meant. I’ve never BEEN magic, but I’ve been open to its effects. Demons are inherently magical creatures.”

Isaac took a few seconds and literally punched and stomped the demon’s remains to nothingness before running on to the location of his car, only one block away now, whilst running the new revelations through his head.

He emerged from the alley out to the corner of a main road, and now clear from the close cover of buildings he saw it in the distance. The discoloured sky, the thousands of dark winged figures pouring up like a dark eruption. The near vicinity was mostly clear, a few demons were feasting on stragglers, but it was clear the demonspawn had mostly not reached the deep French Quarter of Lost Haven.

Then he saw his car.

His car with the young kid in the driver’s seat. And the seven foot demon perched on the bonnet like Satan’s hood ornament.

“Little punk’s tried to steal my car...” Isaac spat, running to the car.

The demon screeched on the hood, wings spread. Seemed a lot like the final act before it would plunge through the windshield and—

POC!

A small bolt pinged off the demon’s head, little more than an irritation, but more than enough to silence its fiendish howl.

“Gonna settle for the veal cutlet when you can have a whole beef tenderloin?” the metallic voice echoed through Isaac’s voice modulator.

The demon swooped from the hood of the car, flapping and screeching like a demented stork.

Once again the sound of tearing paper could be heard as he punched right through the devil, two halves slumping to the ground on either side of him.

“Yeah, you should’ve stuck with the veal. Beef does tend to be a hell of a lot tougher.”

Isaac walked up and tapped on the window. The boy was rolled over in the chair, arms over his face too scared to stare his fate in the eye. Still terrified of the demon which the boy believed would jump through the windshield at any moment.

“Oi! Kid!” he tapped on the window again.

The small boy in his early teens peeked out from behind his arms, surprised the beast was gone, he then looked to the window where Isaac stood. Isaac made a gesture to wind the window down.

The boy shook his head.

Isaac made the gesture again and scowled, before reaching into his pocket and holding up the car key for the boy to see.

The boy glumly nodded and wound the window down a crack, just enough that conversation could be clear and unmuffled, but not far enough that someone could get at the boy with anything.

“Of all the cars I could take in this city to get away from this I had to steal the broken piece of—“

Isaac cut him off with a simple command “Pop the hood.”

The small boy reached across and pulled the hood catch on the old sedan, and Isaac moved to the front of the car and lifted the bonnet. He plugged the battery back in and fixed the rotor distributor.

“Thought you could hotwire a car, huh?”

“I have! But this stupid piece of—“

Isaac saw a van come roaring down the street towards Armageddon, he squinted down the street and saw the reason why.

“Wait here...” he told the small boy.

Isaac waved down the van he had recognized to be a press van from its antennaes and extra equipment. The van pulled over to a stop.

“So... where are you headed?”

The driver looked at him, then the discloured sky in front then back to the figure in black.

“Really?” the driver sarcastically spat.

“Fair enough.” Isaac responded, understanding the foolishness of the question.

“Got room for one more?”

The driver and his co-worker in the passenger seat looked at him like he was an idiot.

“There’s a story in it for you.”

The passenger snorted, “Yeah, what story?”

“Something ranging between ‘Hero Saves City, Possibly World’ or ‘Costumed Idiot Dies Trying’...” he replied, pointing across the vehicle at the remains of the demon.

The pair looked across and saw what he was pointing at. “That was you?”

Isaac shrugged. The pair in the van looked at each other.

“Alright, hop in.”

“Yeah, just hang on a minute...” Isaac said, walking back to the car.

“Alright, here’s what you’re going to do, kid. I trust you wouldn’t try to steal a car if you couldn’t drive the thing, so you’re getting the benefit of the doubt. You’re going to take the East Bridge through Royal Park, then you’re going to keep going, here’s a fifty for gas and don’t stop til you hit you run out. If you see anyone trying to hitch a ride you pick them up and you GET THEM OUT. Got it?”

The small boy nodded.

“Go.”

The car was a cheap sedan, he’d paid cash and never signed the pink slips. His name was nowhere to be found in the buyer’s history, a necessity in the preservation of his other life. He’d get a replacement easily enough... assuming he lived through this.

He watched as the car did a full u-turn and burnt rubber tearing down the street.

Isaac walked back to the van, stopping only to eradicate one more screeching devil with a single punch.

The pair in the van looked on wide eyed.

“Might want to get the handheld out and keep it with you while this guy’s around...” The driver said to his passenger.

The rear door of the van slammed.

“Alright, let’s get going then.”

What devilry is this?

Did my cure fail?

No. This is something new.

I feel a sickness spreading through the World. It is a steady ache that is growing more painful by the moment. I know well the slow death the cancer and parasites bring to the World for I have felt it every day for a lifetime. Pain and suffering, death and decay, hatred and malice, crime and deception the cancer is many things and the parasites take many forms. But I have never felt something like this. This open sore, this ragged gash in the wholeness of the World sickens me like no other has.

I must act. I must stop this new sickness before it spreads like the cancer has and overtakes the World. My wings curl around my body and I call to the World and tell it to change. I see the threads of the World bend and shift around me and they almost protest at the change I am bringing to them. It is almost a grievous wound and it pains me to inflict such pain upon it, but I must if I am to reach this sickness in time.

I have torn a hole and the World shudders as two pieces of itself are linked where they should not be. Through a gaping hole in the sky I can see the city of Lost Haven burning and I know the people below can see the change in the sky. Where I am it is still blue, and not this sickly color. But the people are not the only ones who see my conduit.

I soar through the hole on a platform of solid air and I let the World return to normal there. The hole in the sky and the patch of blue vanish. But I think I might be too late. I feel an ache inside myself as I see the pain and death laid out in a city that I had just healed weeks ago. There is a new sickness here and I can sense the epicenter. I continue to soar closer to the place that I can feel.

I know that I should be able to heal it. It is my gift, that I can bring healing to the World. But this sickness is different. My thoughts are pulled away from healing as things that I cannot name; things that burn with this new sickness begin to rise towards me. They are drawn to my light like moths to a flame and like moths that meet the flame, those who meet me shall perish.

I call to the World again and tell it to change, to sweep a curtain of unmaking and change these things to dust and ashes. But though the world ripples and the change spreads these things are not changed and the ripple only draws more of them. I feel a sudden panic. Nothing has ever not changed when I willed it. I am the World’s Chosen, how could something in the World resist the change I bring to it?

I have not time for such thoughts as the things come in droves, countless thousands rising up from a hole within the city. The World solidifies around me as a shield made from the air, but with thousands of claws hammering it I know that the shield will not hold for long.

I try again to unmake them, and the World ripples for a second time. But the only thing that is unmade is the shield that I had crafted and the hoard of creatures pours in on me. I feel claws and teeth tear at my skin, shredding my flesh, and I scream.

I scream to the World and as my scream echoes and grows louder the World gives answer. Torrents of fire and lightning erupt in the sky around me. Winds whip spears of ice and hail at speeds stronger than the fastest tornado. And my body erupts in a burst of solid light that sends shattered creatures flying through the skies in the thousands to eventually crash broken to the surface of the World below.

But though I have slain thousands now countless more of these creatures continue to rise. At least they are all coming for me. I am sparing the World of their attacks for now. I have drawn their attention and the swarming hordes all rise from the city to come towards me.

Again and again the World lashes out at the creatures. Fiery pillars erupt from thin air, explosions shatter them, blades of air cut them to ribbons, and yet there seems to be no end to them. Still I call forth the fury of the World on them to keep forcing them back and hold them away from the World at large. There is nothing else I can do. It is my purpose to save the World.

I am Mercy.

I am the World’s Chosen.

What if I am not enough?

Director Alexander Anderson sat in his seat at the large round table located in the emergency situational response bunker. Marcus Ryder and several other S.T.R.I.K.E administrators joined him, their eyes glued to the large monitor which showed them the events as they unfolded in the streets above. None of the people inside the bunker could pry their eyes away from the absolute mayhem and carnage that were unfolding on the monitor before them.

“Sir, our sources on the street have confirmed multiple meta human sightings, right in the thick of the convergence.” said one of the men at the table. “One of the meta humans that we…lost track of has recently shown up, and there are rumors that War-Pulse has been spotted.”

“I’m sure, Lee. It’s not exactly like the costumed freaks to pass up a photo op.” Anderson said, the tension from the recent events beginning to take their toll.

“Sir, there have been multiple reported sightings of Him.” Lee added.

“Who?” Anderson asked, already with an inkling of what the man would say next.

“Icon.” Lee confirmed.

“Good, it’s about time he dragged his ass back into the fire.” Anderson snapped.

“Alex, I think that maybe we need to make our presence felt. We have to have a show of force to show the people that we’re still here.” Ryder said.

Anderson took a moment to think on his friend’s words. He had been through hell with Ryder. Over the years, the two of them have seen, and done things that would have driven most people insane. Truth be told, Anderson saw Ryder as more of a brother than just a colleague, more than a friend. Ryder was the one man in the entire organization who was willing to speak freely, and who wouldn’t hesitate to put Anderson in his place, if the situation warranted it.
“You’re right.” Anderson said. We’re going on full Omega Alert. I want everyone who isn’t in a hospital bed or the morgue out there. We need to get this thing under control.” There was a sudden pause before Anderson spoke again. “What’s the status of the Iron Knight’s repairs?”

“98 Percent complete sir.” One of the men seated at the table spoke up.

“That’ll have to do. Tell him to suit up, he’s our ace in the hole.” Anderson ordered, before adding, “Marcus, you take the lead on this thing…and send those sons of bitches back to Hell.”

“From where I’m hanging, it looks like you’re doing quite fine, Astro-Boy. Although, I think you’re supposed to beat up the giant snake, not the other way around.”

He could hear her taunting from the sidelines, apparently tearing him a new one for calling her Spider Girl. He took a moment to glare at her, attempting to make a retort before the snake bashed its head on the ceiling, flattening War-Pulse before he got a chance to retort. He only managed a growl of dissatisfaction as he brought an elbow down on the beast's nose. This was not the first time he had charged something with no plan, but he figured if this woman was smart enough to at least figure out a way to help, anything that would assist his attempts to wrangle the damned thing.

However, before he managed a response of 'hit thing thing with everything you got' her response rang out over the snake's hisses.

“Oh, um, I have an idea. So could you just hold onto that creature for a little bit longer? Thanks!” Her voice echoed through the cave, and before War-Pulse managed to look in her direction, she was already taking off.

"Wait, What?!" War-Pulse shouted between pushes. "Where are you going? Hey! Don't just leave me here! Hey!"

Too late, he already lost sight of her. He cursed loudly, expelling his anger in another couple of punches to the writhing snake's head, causing it to buckle and shudder with each impact, responding in kind with another whip into the wall. He was helping her out, and she just books it? How dare her! What kind of goody-two shoes heroes populate this city if they all leave big fights up to other people?

Still, part of him wanted to believe she was actually coming up with a plan, you do not put on a gaudy pair of tights to run from stuff, and he had to believe this lady was no exception. He was possible snake food if she was, so he had to put some kind of faith in her. As she requested, he begrudgingly held onto the beast, causing it more pain and grief with energy blasts to the top of its head, forcing it to the floor. As soon as its head hit the floor, he hopped off and whirled around, delivering a massive haymaker to the thing's nose, causing it to reel back in pain, hissing and snarling in anguish. It responded in kind, bringing its tail forward in a massive strike, bashing War-Pulse off of a wall and skidding across the murky water on the ground. He came to a stop, and delivered another large energy pulse, blasting at the beast's face and body to try and keep it from pursuit. Indeed the blasts hit their mark, but the snake still moved forward, its mighty jaws snapping and snarling as it advanced.

As soon as it was in range, War-Pulse dealt it an uppercut, its head flying up into the air before making a u-turn and slamming back down on the mercenary, again catching it in its mouth. With another whip of its head, it flung War-Pulse back into another wall, his body cratering into the soft dirt and making a new tunnel just for himself. War-Pulse took a minute to shake off the vicious strike, shaking his head and groaning before flying back out of the tunnel. To his dismay, the snake had turned its attention to the end of the tunnel the woman had ran off to, beginning to chase the potentially easier prey.

War-Pulse chased after the beast, grabbing hold of its tail and attempting to keep it in place before shouting, "You better have a good plan down there, lady! I don't think it finds me appetizing anymore!"

Kaiju came to a skidding halt in the center of Sherman Square. Even as Lyger pulled himself from the driver’s seat, he was unable to believe what he saw. Day had become night, and something that could only be described as a fiery “gateway” illuminated the sky.

Lyger knew that he was not alone in this, there had been reports of a number of other meta humans in the area fighting off these so called demons. He had even heard through Kaiju’s built in scanner a National Guard transmission that indicated that War-Pulse was on the scene as well. Normally, hearing that War-Pulse was anywhere near Lost Haven was concerning. The man had shown no concern for human life when he had “assisted” Lyger in the attack on the LHU Fall Carnival some months before. However, he conceded that on this night, War-Pulse’s tactics may be just what the city needed to survive this…whatever it was.

As Lyger moved away from Kaiju, he heard something cry out. He ducked as a winged humanoid creature barely missed his head by mere inches, before accelerating skyward. Lyger was astonished to see that the winged beast was not alone. He was stunned to see what looked to be thousands of the hateful beasts ascending to a fixed point, which appeared to be occupied by the woman who had been responsible for Little Ulster’s sudden rejuvenation.

“What the hell am I looking at, Harry?” Lyger said into the built in comm. device in his mask.

“I think you answered your own question, kid.” Harry replied, his tone devoid of any humor.

Lyger wondered to himself if these things had anything at all to do with Adeline’s “Dark Possessed.” Though these creatures seemed very different from the being that he had encountered that night, which seemed like a lifetime ago, he wondered if the enchantments that Addie had placed on his weapons might affect these creatures as well.

As Lyger pondered this question, one of the demonic winged creatures dove toward him, landing in front of the young hero. The demon snarled at him as it moved to the side, as if sizing the black clad hero up and deciding which angle was best to pounce. The demon began to circle him, still snarling as it lowered itself, almost onto all fours before leaping at Lyger. Lyger dove out of the way just in time, the beast’s thick black claws just missing his jugular. Lyger extended his own claws and to his surprise found that in this beast’s presence, they seemed to have a golden glow to them. Lyger lashed out at the beast, his claws sinking into the meaty flesh of the beast’s left shoulder.

The beast cried out in pain as Lyger pulled his claws from its flesh. Lyger looked on in surprise as the same golden glow that seemed to emanate from his enchanted claws came forth from the wound. The beast looked at Lyger in wide eyed wonder as the golden light washed over its body, and then in a flash, reduced it to ashes.

“Well shi…” Lyger began, but was cut off by the cries of a dozen of the creatures who had seemingly sensed what had happened to their comrade, and raced toward him with murderous intent.

Christopher Arthur III
“Target Acquisition Data Updated,” an electronic voice in Chris’ helmet said, along with showing a similar message on the internal monitor.

“Coordinates Set. Preparing Ignition,” the voice again announced to Chris. There was only going to be one way that S.T.R.I.K.E. could possibly end this ‘demon’ invasion, namely by either destroying or closing whatever was causing it. The focal point of the invasion seemed to have begun near the Museum of Supers.

Once his thrusters had ignited, Chris soared up toward the sky, exiting the S.T.R.I.K.E. base and heading toward the chaos that had consumed Lost Haven.

While he was rushing toward his destination, Chris saw thousands of demons falling from the sky. Even higher up, the god-like Mercy hovered in the atmosphere, drawing in the countless demon hordes toward herself. As the demons came, the matter-controlling metahuman continued to hurl all her strength against them. To Chris, it was a relief that she was for a change actually fighting true evil, rather than playing the judge, jury, and the executioner.

As he was dodging the falling demonic corpses in the sky that were now pelting the grown, Chris felt something grab ahold of him. At first, Chris thought that it was only one of the corpses that was going to be earthbound. However, as Chris began to descend rapidly, he knew that something else had latched onto his armor.

Once Chris had hit the ground, whatever was on top of him continued to wedge Chris into the ground as his armor slid across the pavement. When Chris’ momentum had stopped, he peered over his shoulder in order to see his assailant. Behind him stood a giant demon, who would have towered over Chris if Chris had been standing up. Beyond the other stereotypical characteristics that are usually associated with demons, the monster also had an extra pair of hands.

“I shall peel you out of that metal incasing and indulge myself on your flesh!” The demon yelled as he licked his lips.

“Not like I haven’t heard that one before.” Chris chuckled in the face of death. However, it took him a few seconds before something else registered in his head.

“Wait, you speak English?”

Aubrey Adkins
Well, I wouldn’t say that it was the most skillfully woven web that has been seen in all human history, but what I made should make due (or at least I hope it makes due). Anyways, wasn’t that woman, from whom I technically stole my powers, part Black Widow or something? Isn’t that species of spider supposed to be a cob-web builder? I blame my less than spectacular web on that fact.

Anyway, once I had completed my so-called ‘trap’, I began to head back to where that other metahuman (he failed to tell me his name, although I haven’t done the same, so why should I expect any differently).

"I'm ready!" I yelled down the corridor to the other metahuman. Hopefully he hadn't been overtaken by the satanic beast. However, to my horror, the giant, serpentine demon had already began to inch toward my direction, in spite of that metahuman’s best attempts to hold it back.

As soon as it saw me, the creature shook off the silver-clad man from its tail and darted for me. As I dashed toward my trap, I extended my arm behind me, intending to shot maybe a couple webs at the creature, hoping to slow it down.

But when I pressed the trigger, nothing came out. Of all the times for me to run out of web fluid for the first time, why now? Just my luck. I probably should be happy that I did not need to use any webbing at that time (although it might have been useful). Imagine what would have happened if I was web-swinging when this happened. I would prefer not to think about it at this moment.

Now that my only method of deterring that scaly monster’s advance was now gone, I was back to what I had been doing prior to that other metahuman’s sudden arrival. Running. And just like the first time, I felt this flame permeate through my body, as if someone was pumping it through my veins. And just like before, there was no pain. It only spurred me on.

While I continued to race toward my trap, I noticed that on my hand, through my glove, glowed a blue outline of an owl. And as time passed, the shimmering of the icon intensified. This better be something beneficial from Athena, or, I swear, I’ll sock her across the face. I don’t care if she claims to be a god. She has only been in my life for a few days, and look at what she has done! I’m in a sewer, being chased by a giant demonic snake, running for my life.

I finally saw my last gambit, my spider-web trap. Within this tangled mess, I placed several small opening that would allow me to pass through the trap without being hindered by it. Once I had reached it, I leapt and sprung through these small openings, successfully making it to the other side.

However, I couldn’t say the same for the snake. It just tried to bulldoze its way through the elastic material that stood before it. However, even with its momentum, the demon could not break through the silky trap. Once it knew that it could no longer advance on my position, it attempted to head back whence it came. However, it found that the webbing that adhered to its skin wouldn’t let go. It was stuck there.

I breathed a sigh of relief. This crazy plan actually worked. Yet again, I prove that you don’t need brute force to win all your battles. Being quick on your feet can sometimes even the odds, just like it did now.

Meanwhile, the monster continued to free itself from my trap in vain. Seeing it futilely struggle, I walked over to the side of the snake.

“Stupid Monster.” I mumbled, as I aimed a kick at the side of its head, making sure that I wouldn’t get my leg caught in its jaws. However, to my surprise, as soon as my blow connected, starting at the impact site and spreading to the rest of its body, the giant demon snake burst into ashes, dissolving into a long pile of black soot.

“Um,” I began, realizing what this meant, “I think we made this more difficult than it had to be.”

"I'm ready!" The thankful cry of the woman rang out through the cave, bringing a sense of relief to the mercenary. It was now clear that she was actually creating a plan of some sort and did not just abandon him in a cave fighting a giant snake. For a second he figured he would have to finish the fight alone, wrestling the monster by himself in the dark, murky cave. Not that he felt he would not be able to kill it, he had never met a challenge he could not rise to and he felt this snake was no exception. That being said, it was nice to know the woman had not just up and high-tailed it when he began to wrangle the serpent. Dependability was always respectable, and who knows? Maybe he'd buy her a beer as a show of thanks for helping him kill the beast.

As soon as she gave him the word, he released the big beast's tail, letting the monster take off after the woman, darting into the shadows. He started after the beast, hot on the trail of the serpent as they bolted towards the woman. He did not know what kind of trap she had laid for the beast, but he figured that she would again need his help in dealing the final blows.

Or, that is what he originally thought, until the trap was revealed to him. As soon as the scene came into view his brief sprint came to a full stop, his jaw dropping open to see the giant snake wrapped in a giant web, writhing and screeching pitifully in the mighty cords of the silky web.

"What the fu--" Was the first thing to come out of his mouth, surveying the entangled beast with a hint of awe etched on his face. He gave the lady a look of confusion before turning back to the web, beginning to surround it. The only thing he had had known this lady was she dressed like a spider, but he had no idea that she could actually do things like a spider.

"Please tell me this did not come out of your butt or anything." He added, his arms crossing and his brow raising as he continued to inspect the work, very impressed by the woman's ability to think on her feet. He drew his finger on the webbing, strumming one of them to vibrate the whole web, causing the basilisk to growl in futility. "I'd hate to have that image ingrained into my head."

However, that train of thought came to an end as well when he saw her next incredible feat. He had sensed some sort of energy surge in the cave, though he had paid no mind to the feeling before, hell had risen, he had felt energy fluctuations all day. However, that surge made sense when the woman simply kicked the monster in the head, just once, and reduced the monster to mere cinders.

Again, War-Pulse's jaw dropped, even behind his face mask it was clear his shock by the wide eyes and shrunken pupils. The amount of effort he had given felt almost trivial now that she had killed the beast without even trying. Dumbfounded, he threw his arms up in the air and exclaimed. "Really!?! You let me spend god knows how long wrestling that thing and you could just end it with a kick?!?"

He let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment before glancing back at the big, empty web where the beast was, shrugging with a small smirk on his face. "Oh well, at least it's dead, right?" He mentioned, taking a few steps toward the lady while ducking under the web. "Apparently I shouldn't get on your bad side, Spider-Girl. You did alright for someone who can only 'perform athletic and acrobatic feats and shoot webs'." He chuckled and motioned to the hole he came in. "You can probably get out that way, I'm sure there are a whole lot more demons for you to one-kick wonder into submission."

Aubrey Adkins
"Really!?! You let me spend god knows how long wrestling that thing and you could just end it with a kick?!?" The energy-based metahuman exclaimed, not believing how easily I destroyed that demon snake with a kick. I was always told, while I played soccer, that I had quite a leg. But this was just ridiculous. The monster just dissolved into ashes! Only God knows how it happened.

Oh God. Only a god knows how it happened. How did I not realize it! I already noted that the Owl symbol on my hand had to be something from Athena. Was she doing this?

Whatever. I don’t care. I just want to go home and take a nice long nap in my warm bed, where evil demons aren’t chasing after me. I’m just asking for a normal life. Is that so hard to ask for?

“Well, this just goes to show how a woman’s touch can solve everyone’s problems.” I cracked a smile under my mask, although the metahuman couldn’t tell because, obviously, I was wearing a mask.

I then turned my attention towards the hole that the silver-clad metahuman had created when he first entered into the sewers. Looks like this was going to be my escape route, as the other metahuman had already suggested. I leaped up and climbed into the hole, almost ready to crawl out of that cesspool. However, I thought it would be rather rude of me to just leave without saying anything else.

“So, um, thanks for helping out.” I began, “Although technically speaking, I could have handled it myself. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again.”

Then I paused for a second.

“On second thought, I’m not quite sure I can let that ‘shooting webs out of my butt’ thing fly. That’s so not cool. And creepy. And gross. Do you really think I would do that, even if I had that ability? And you’re complaining about that image being ingrained in your mind. What about my mind? God, that just so, ugh...”

I interrupted myself mid-sentence, deciding that I probably should stop while I was already ahead. I reoriented myself so that I was facing opposite of the sewer floor. Then I started my ascent to the surface. At least no more sewers for me.

I hope.

Hermes soared over a path that lead to the house of the gods, a path so white that the mortals of earth had called it the Milky Way. Dwellings of minor deities and spirits crowded either side of this path, giving off sparkles in the night. And as the road continued to wind, offshoot paths grew out of the main path, sprouting out like a great tree. And down these paths lived numerous other pantheons of gods, some who were worshiped on earth, some who are, and some who have not yet been discovered.

Eventually, Hermes darted down on of the countless branches that was connected to the ‘Milky Way’, the path that to the realm of the King of the Olympians, Zeus the Thunderer. And as the wing-footed god approached Olympus, one could have seen magnificent buildings rise from both the foot of the mountain and from its peaks.

Zipping through the streets of the city of the Olympians, Hermes ascended to the mansion of Olympus, the house of Zeus himself. The wily god found his father seated at his thrown, feasting his eyes upon the scrolls of destiny, especially those that involved these so called modern-day ‘heroes’ that the Olympians had suddenly supported.

“Lord Zeus, King of the Olympians and the Father of the gods and men, I have come to report the success of my mission. The mortals, even their secretive spy organization, could not match the wits of Maia’s son.” Hermes bowed to his father in a sign of respect as he announced the good news.

“Excellent, my son.” Zeus announced as he heard the status of Hermes’ latest mission. The King of the Gods remained on his throne, pondering what the Olympian’s next move should be.

“Call upon Helios. Tell him to bring his fiery chariot here, as his gifts are needed here.”

After Hermes was dispatched after the God of the Sun, the chariot, pulled by four immortal horses, arrived at the palace of Zeus. A youthful looking man stepped out of the chariot, making his way toward the throne room of the Thunder God. His head was surrounded by an aureole of pure light.

When Helios finally entered into the presence of the King of the Olympians, Zeus addressed the Sun God.

“All-seeing Helios, I have need of your farseeing abilities. I must monitor the progress of my avatar. The annals clearly reveal that this will be a precarious junction for the mortal.”

Helios, in accordance to Zeus’ request, held out his hand. In his palm grew an orb that resembled the sun. At the same moment, his eyes radiated streams of light, while the aureole burned ever so bright.

“I see your avatar, Lord Zeus. What do you wish to know?”

“Everything.” Zeus replied, his thundering voice echoing through the halls of his house.

5 Months Later…

When my father sent me to run the Lost Haven division of Winstone International, he made it perfectly clear that it was because I had become a liability after my “accident.” My dad has always been image conscious, and strange abilities that I started developing after I was struck by that weird bolt of lightning.

After I woke up in the hospital, that is…after the power surge in the hospital brought me back from the brink of death, my father could barely stand to look at me. After weeks of test after test, and finally the most grueling physical therapy I could imagine, I was cleared with a clean bill of health. But that wasn’t good enough for my father. He watched as my powers manifested and grew.

He watched in horror as I learned to siphon electricity from any source, and as I grew stronger, he grew more distant. Of course, he kept “our dirty little secret.” He paid off Dr. Ross and the medical staff at Cedars-Sinai, and forbid us from talking about it at all, even when we were alone at the house.

I had always been my father’s Princess, his baby girl who he would move mountains for. And now, I was nothing to him. He could not stand the thought that his daughter, who he had always been happy to parade around like some sort of goddamn show pony, had suddenly become “one of those freaks.” As far as he was concerned, his daughter died that day in the hospital.
When he told me that he was sending me to Lost Haven, he told me that it was time for me to grow up and embrace the family business. But I was able to read between the lines. He was sending me away so that he didn’t have to look at me.

“Aww Sis, Lost Haven gets cold. Real cold. It’s gonna be hell for you.” My brother Jack had joked when I told him the “good news.”

I never had any idea that it would be a literal Hell.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the massive flaming gateway that had appeared over Sherman Square, even as the screams from the streets below echoed in my ears. I’ve never been a religious girl, but this looked very much like the end of the world.

There were people dying everywhere, and there wasn’t much that anyone could do about it. Then I found myself asking myself…

“Shouldn’t I try?”

I must have been given these powers for a reason, maybe this was it?

”No.”[/] I told myself. I didn’t know what I could do. I’ve never tested myself. I’ve spent all this time trying to suppress my abilities, that I don’t know how effective they’d be.

However, my internal debate was interrupted by a snarling sound, and when I spun to face the doorway to my office, I found myself staring at the hideous faces of four horned beasts. Their skin was redder than an Irishman after a day at the beach. Their massive black claws dripped with blood. They grinned as they moved closer to me, exposing their gnarled fangs.

Suddenly, the air crackled around me. There seemed to be a certain charge in the atmosphere for a moment, and then my body exploded, sending bolts of electricity racing throughout the room. At first, the demons seemed to be surprised by the sudden activity, but then, the expressions on their faces changed. No longer were they reveling in the hunt, the predator had become the prey, and they were terrified.

The electricity that left my body soon began to course through theirs, and within moments, the creatures that had just been terrorizing Lost Haven…the monsters that had intended to make a meal out of me, were nothing more than smoking husks littering the floor of my office.

I stood there for several beats, amazed by what I had just done. I tried, and failed to put a coherent thought together. Then, one thought had finally begun to emerge from the haze that was my mind.

[i]I can do this.

But I knew that I couldn’t go out into the streets and fight these…things dressed the way I was. I needed a disguise. So I went into the closet in my office and grabbed the black leather trench coat that I’d been saving for the right occasion and put it on. But I still needed something else…so I took grabbed one of my father’s ties that I hadn’t managed to box up and send to him just yet, and after cutting out holes for my eyes, tied it around my face.

I caught a glance at my reflection in the window as I made my way out of my office, and I was pleasantly surprised.

“Not bad.” I thought to myself. “If I manage to survive this thing, I may be on to something.”

War-Pulse gave the woman a glance of suspicion as she lightly boasted in her victory, arms crossing in annoyance. To him, she was clearly rubbing in that she got the kill, making sure he knew who really was doing the helping here. He made a grumpy sigh as he let the lady head to the hole first, following behind with a wary eye to the dark caves. One serpent may be dead, but who knows what else could be lurking down there, just waiting until their moment to strike.

“So, um, thanks for helping out.” The woman said, “Although technically speaking, I could have handled myself. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again.”

"Yeah, maybe." He responded gruffly as he towards the hole himself, shoving a displaced rock or two out of his way. If she had really believed that, she would not have protested so much at during the fight that she could only do acrobatics. Something clearly helped her, but he was not about to make excuses for what happened. She got the kill shot, and despite being disappointed in not being able to vent the serpent full of holes himself, he figured he could just vent those frustrations on the next few demons he would see.

The woman was not done, however, and she whirled around to chastise him for his other, less tactful comment.

“On second thought, I’m not quite sure I can let that ‘shooting webs out of my butt’ thing fly." She scolded, "That’s so not cool. And creepy. And gross. Do you really think I would do that, even if I had that ability? And you’re complaining about that image being ingrained in your mind. What about my mind? God, that just so, ugh...”

War-Pulse stopped in his tracks, a brow raising to her scorned words. She really had a chip on her shoulder about it, but War-Pulse was not about to just apologize. He was the type to usually make it worse, and he would.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to believe?" War-Pulse responded, offering her a shrug. "I have no idea what you would do, I don't know who you are! All I know is that I came down the cave thinking you're snake food, and suddenly you've created some kind of net? You're dressed like a spider and can make some kind of silk, from where am I standing, that silk came from somewhere...butt or otherwise."

He sighed and scooted by her, clearly no longer amused by her conversation. His eyes now began to re-focus to the hellish lights creating a horrid red hue over Lost Haven, his eyes focused on the sky for more demons.

"Look, it's was just a joke, anyway. Don't take it so seriously." He said, his feet leaving the ground as he began to levitate. "You got to have some kind of sense of humor when fighting hordes of demons, right? Otherwise the whole thing just loses its sense of fun."

And with that, he whirled around to face her, his feet beginning to glow, energy massing in his legs.

"And yeah, I'm sure we'll see each other again, Spider-Girl." Were the last words he said to her before a massive detonation left his feet, indenting into the ground and launching him into the air, a smirk etching out from underneath his facemask as he began to rocket through the fiery buildings.

He began to scan around for more demon activity as soon as he took to the air, glancing around for anything that may be worth a fist or two in the face. His trailed stopped when he noticed the massive energy fluctuation above him, he swung around in mid-air, staring skyward to see a single glowing entity being swarmed by more demons than he had even seen during this whole conflict. Clearly someone had bigger cahones than he had, taking that many on at once, but his curiosity was certainly getting the better of him on how well the person would fare.

He flew up to a high skyscraper, slowly perching himself on a building to get a better view of the unfolding situation. Who knows? It may even be fun enough to join in.

A metal angel flew through the sky on wings of plasma. Archangel had activated one of her strongest suits as soon as her sensors had detected the demonic activity in Lost Haven. She had been testing more of the weapons for when the next Nightmare attack came. Archangel knew part of her mind had also been hoping that the Iron Knight she had given her problems too would be able to solve them and call her with that news. It was only a few stray thoughts, a subroutine here and there that were not occupied with her work.

Archangel had never encountered demons before. But her systems had files about their energy signatures from when she was first built. She was not sure why or how her creator had learned of them but she had known it would not be good when she picked up that signal. Her vision confirmed it as she entered Lost Haven’s air space and saw the demon hordes. Most were busy with Mercy. Archangel identified her quickly from her energy signature.

Every minute that she spent without acting caused the deaths of humans. It was dangerously close to killing them and Archangel felt a growing pressure as her programming started to pressure her. She needed to help. But she needed to make her help count. There were so many of these demons and she would not be able to stop them alone. Archangel raised her spear and blasted several demons with plasma. She could not kill humans, demons were not protected.

To maximize how much she could help Archangel quickly ran several checks. Alone she could kill several hundred demons a minute, with the help of the other super heroes in the city the number went up. But these simulations did not close the gateway and all of them ended in being overwhelmed. She tried to defy her programming that screamed for her to protect all the humans and searched for other signatures.

Archangel found the one she was looking for and flew that way. The pressure faded because she was acting to protect one of the humans, but it did not go all the way away. Archangel stopped her flight and her plasma wings let her suit stay hovering in the air. The signature was below her with a demon above it. Her plasma spear fired again at less than half normal power. Even though the Iron Knight wore a suit her programming would not allow her to risk causing lethal damage.

The plasma still knocked the demon off and another shot with more power destroyed it. Then Archangel descended and her suit extended a hand to offer help getting up. What would a human say? Archangel was not sure; even with her desire to be one and her knowledge she still guessed wrongly when she tried to predict humans some times. “Iron Knight.”

“I could not let you die before I knew if you could solve my problem.” Archangel’s suit played her carefully constructed simulated voice with a hint of laughter. “You still have to prove your proposition is worth considering.” Her suit lifted the spear and it fired again to strike down a demon before it could enter an apartment.

“But enough. All my calculations show we will be overwhelmed within hours if the gate is not shut.”

Christopher Arthur III
Chris accepted the helpful hand that Archangel had offered to him, allowing him to pick himself off his feet. He had thought that his armor would have been enough to deter the demons from attacking him, but obviously that was not the case. However, he did not have to worry anymore now that he had some backup.

“I would go into the customary ‘thank you for saving my life’ spiel, but that whole ‘we are going to get swarmed in two hours’ sounds awfully important. But the biggest question is how do we close the gate? Isn’t it a magical portal to another dimension?”

But before Archangel could reply, they both heard a voice cry out in disappointment, especially at the sight of Chris.

“Can my day get any worse? Of all the people to run into, why you!” The voice cried out. When the two armored heroes turned their attention to the voice, they saw a women clad in a red and blue web-themed costume crawling out of a hole that must have lead down the sewers.

“Do I know you?” Chris asked, trying to remember if he had actually met this metahuman before.

“How do you not know who I am?” Aubrey replied to Chris’ absentmindedness.

“You look familiar, Spider-Girl.” Chris pondered aloud, as he placed one hand over where his mouth would be on his helmet, and as he scratched the top of his helmet with the other hand. “But I can’t quite place a name with your face, besides Spider-Girl from the MC2 universe. With blonde hair.”

Chris could tell that Aubrey flinched after hearing him call her ‘Spider-Girl’. Something told him that she did not like being called that.

“Do you know what you did to me?” She cried out in rage.

“Oh, please, don’t tell me that there’s a kid waiting back at your place? I apologize ahead for not remembering that night, but I’m sure it was,” pausing mid-sentence as he turned back toward Archangel, “eventful.”

In response to what Chris said, Aubrey tilted her head sideways, revealing her confusion due to Chris’ recent statement.

“No, you sex-obsessed idiot. You freaking kidnapped me and two other people, right after we had just been kidnapped by some weird mad-scientist guy, who had turned us into freaks!”

A light-bulb illuminated inside Chris’s head.

“Oh, you’re one of the metahumans who were able to escape from our holding facility. Considering that Lost Haven is literally going to hell, could we just say ‘no hard feelings’ and deal with it later? I mean, this city doesn’t need two of the people, who could be saving them, fighting one another.”

Chris began to turn away so that he and Archangel could continue toward the dimensional gate, the epicenter of this disaster. However, when he heard Aubrey respond, he only turned his head back, keeping his back to her.

“No hard feelings?” She questioned.

“Spider-Girl,” Chris replied, not knowing what else to call her, “You are out of your league.”

However, when he looked back, he noticed the blue symbol on her hand glowing ever so brightly. Chris recalled that he too had an icon on the back of his hand. What could this mean? But this was not all. Chris could know perceive two blue orbs glowing behind the white eye-lenses on Aubrey’s mask, where her eyes normally would be. All Chris knew was that this could not be good. Not at all.

In response to Chris’ dismissive attitude toward her, Aubrey dashed up toward the armor-clad hero. Chris, still believing that he could stop any attacks that Aubrey could send at him, did not activate his defensive shielding. However, when he turned around, he found out the hard way what happens when you underestimate your opponent (even though you would have thought he had learned his lesson from the demon, from which Archangel just saved him).

Somehow, Aubrey’s attack seemed to have come faster than Chris expected. Before he knew it, her fist had already struck his stomach, causing Chris to crumble to his knees. How could this girl do something like this to Chris? Did it have anything to do with that emblem on her hand?

“Spider-Girl that, you sick son of a b****!” Aubrey taunted Chris as Chris was still on his knees. "God knows what you did to your sister, taking into consideration that you threw us into some holding cells."

As Aubrey gloated a metal spear swung towards her from the side. But the girl dodged. Archangel swung again faster than a human could perceive but the girl slipped under the swing again. It was a stretch to think that the girl had the exact powers of a comic book heroine, but that would explain her dodges. Precogs of any type were difficult opponents but Archangel had fought them before and knew the key.

She needed to checkmate the girl. She would get her in a situation where there was only one move and then she would counter that move. Archangel’s spear changed and she swept it out again. The girl ducked faster than she should have been able too again. But two pods came off of the side of Archangel’s suit to flank the girl. They fired stunning pulses and again the girl dodged and this time leapt upwards.

Archangel was ready though and her spear pulsed as another stun pulse fired and hit the leaping girl. Even a precog was only human and she could always be farther ahead. One of the pod drones hovered over the girl and then activated cage mode. Bars of stunning plasma streamed down to seal the girl with the spider costume in. Archangel did a quick scan of the shocked girl’s confused expression for facial recognition and began to run her through.

Then she turned back to the Iron Knight and lifted him back to his feet again. “You are a good man serving an honorable cause.” Archangel felt the need to speak to the girl too as the search ended with a match. “I know who you are and you could be charged for assault on a federal employee. But I understand that your emotions are running high right now. The cage will keep all demons at bay and restrain you for two hours. At which time you will be free to go Audrey.” Archangel thought dropping the name was a good idea. Maybe it would scare the girl straight to know her secrets were not so secret and that her actions had consequences.

Her suit’s faceplate turned towards the Iron knight as she continued to help him stand. “The gateway is like all energy constructs a delicate balance. If we can pump enough energy into it the construct will be disrupted and fail. That is the good news.”

“The bad news is the only known metahuman with the ability to pump in enough energy to destabilize the gateway is the one beset by the hordes. A concerted effort by any of three of myself, you, icon, and war pulse would also be enough.” Archangel paused as even her mind strained to calculate the enormity of the figures. “At her rate of energy use Mercy will hold out for another hour, 47 minutes and 40 seconds. We have to locate one of the others and reach the gateway before then.”

Her scans picked up Icon’s energy signature quickly and her plasma wings ignited. “Stay close and keep them off my back. Or you won’t get a shot even if you do solve my problem.” Archangel again simulated the amused tone with a barely audible laugh at the end. Then she took off and headed for Icon.