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Chapter 1: Prologue

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Prologue: Ultiman:

[ Utopia City / Evening ]

Another dark and cold night in the sleepless megalopolis that is Utopia City: the grand center of superhero activity. The streets are bustling with the typical night crowd out on the town seeking an adventure or two; ones that don't involve the usual heroics nor villainous plots that the citizens of this great city have adapted to anyways. Perhaps something safe like drinking or gambling? Well, in this city, those activities are considered relatively safe when you take into account the other hazards they face on a near-daily basis. But alas, tonight is one of those nights: a night where villainy and danger are lurking about. Atop the roof of an apartment complex in Sector 7 of the city, a figure stands, hidden by the large shadow cast down by a taller neighboring building. The figure shoots a look to a noteworthy tower in the far-off distance before shifting his eye down to gaze at the quiet neighborhood below. An inner monologue plays out within him:

Utopia City... Here is the heart of it all. If you're a superhero - hell, a supervillain even - this is where you prove your mettle. This is where you leave your mark on the world and forever cement your legacy amongst the pantheon of the greats! It's the big leagues and I'm the star player. Who am I exactly? I'd be lying if I said I'm just your average superhero. I guess the truth is: I'm the best. The best of the best- No. The best of the best of the best! Yeah... Something like that-

The figure's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by an ominous roar emanating from a few blocks down. "Something smells... And I'm not just talking about this veiled metaphor for the presence of crime." the figure said as his eyes suspiciously narrowed. Within seconds of the end of that sentence, a gigantic - easily thirteen feet tall - humanoid monster charged onto the scene; its four muscular arms punching through the sides of buildings as easily as if it were going through air. Sensing a nearby presence, the beast stopped in its tracks and began sniffing around all the while snarling angrily. "Hey Ugly!" the figure from atop the apartment complex called out to the hideous beast. The figure then proceeded to gently fly down onto the surface below to confront the monster head-on. Out of the shadows he came; adorned in a crimson red costume. The lights on his chest formed a golden "U" symbol. Enraged even further by the figure's insult to its appearance, the beast grew even more larger and more muscular; proceeding its growth in stature is a furious roar. The figure smirked, "Sheesh, lay off the 'roids, would ya?"

"Another bug dare stand in my path? You "heroes" are fools!" the beast spoke.

"You aren't too bright yourself, ya know? Heh, you don't have the slightest clue who I am, do you?" the figure rhetorically asked.

"A dead man!" the beast responded before hurling all four of its fists at the figure in a flurry of rapid, powerful punches; each punch sounded like a bomb exploding. The impact of each punch was so great that it crushed the ground beneath the figure, enveloping him in a thick cloud of dust. But the beast continued its unending onslaught. As long as it could still feel something solid, it wouldn't let up. After about a solid minute, the beast grew tired and retracted its fists; hanging its arms to the side to rest. It panted heavily from exhaustion but it was confident that its enemy had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh and bone. As the heavy dust and debris cleared, a shocking image lies before the beast: the figure remained completely unharmed; his palm extended outward having blocked every single punch with ease. "I-Impossible...!" the beast uttered with widened eyes.

"Sorry, pal, but I make a living off of doing the 'impossible'." the figure stated. Reeling his free head back and balling it into a fist, the figure then launched it toward the beast. Upon impact, the force was so great that it sent the beast flying into the sky and disappearing with a comical glimmer. From space, the beast can be seen hurling out of Earth's atmosphere and into open space where it continued its path until it collided with a small meteor. Back down on Earth, the figure stood gazing at the night sky to catch one final glimpse of the beast as the meteor flew out of his field of view. "Oh c'mon, I barely punched you!" the figure complained. He then let out a sigh before taking out his cellphone and texting, "Job's done," to some unidentified number. "For a $200,000 contract, this job was boring as hell. Oh well, at least I've got some cash to spend now." the figure thought out loud. Turning his head around, he gazed at the noteworthy tower from earlier. "Back to HQ, I guess." Walking away casually, the last bit of his inner monologue played out:

So who am I exactly? I'm Ultiman.

Daniel moved to side, spinning around as a boulder came rushing past where he was standing. "Can't touch this. Dun, dun dun dun, tss dun dun, tss dun dun," he said as he constantly moved around, dodging chunks of stone.

"Hold still... you... little... turd!" said the villain he was facing, known as Terrain, who was breaking chunks of pavement off the ground and shooting them at Daniel.

Daniel dodged them all with ease, the last one between his legs while doing a handstand, and laughed like crazy after hearing this latest "insult". "Hah hahahaha haa, turd?? That's the best you could come up with?" He said between laughs, falling onto his back and laughing like mad. Terrain, indignant at the hero laughing before him, clasped his hands together, and the pavement underneath Daniel moved as if to crush him like a sandwich. The 2 slabs of stone connected with a boom, and all sounds of Daniel laughing ceased. For a moment, it seemed as if Terrain had won.

Then a pillar of fire erupted from the slabs, disintegrating them in the process. "Aaaaand we're back, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for waiting," Daniel announced, to no one in particular, after letting the pillar of fire dissipate. Terrain lifted a large piece of pavement, much larger than any other piece he had broken so far, and threw it at Daniel with all his might. "Today, there'll be a lovely drink being served," Daniel said as he created a ramp out of fire to divert the path of the boulder away from him and into the sky. "Right now, it's on the rocks..." Daniel continued on, the rock went airborne. Daniel let the ramp dissipate and formed the shape of a gigantic baseball bat, using it to smack the boulder straight back towards Terrain, who stopped it an inch from his hand.

While Terrain was distracted, though, Daniel had rush up to him, body ready for an uppercut. Terrain barely had time to look down before Daniel constructed a giant fist around his regular fist, and Daniel said, "...but it's best served hot!" delivering that uppercut right to Terrain's jaw, sending him flying 30 feet into the air before falling back down. Daniel heard several bones crack as he landed, but Daniel figured that he wasn't dead... probably. Then Terrain coughed, and that confirmed that he wasn't dead. Daniel took out his cell phone and took a picture, then sent it to an unknown number, followed by a message saying, "He just got his ass handed to him. Too bad there's no 'Like' button for these, huh? Anyway, job done, money plz kthxbai." That being said, Daniel engulfed himself in fire and shot up into the sky, performing a barrel roll before shooting toward HQ.

The rain fell like daggers from the night sky. The mercury was falling as the neon from the bar sign reflected from Jin's eyes. The sign was old and uncared for, much like the bar. The only letters that lit up were the "O" and the "EN". The door to the Rusty Bucket lay falling off it's hinges. A clever metaphor for the city, and for Jin. He had come here because the bar was supposedly home to the seediest criminals and wastes of life this city had to offer. Jin had an arrogant streak a mile long. About as long as the road that lead him here.

Jin looked around. There was no one in sight. There was a crackle of energy in the car and he disappeared. In the blink of en eye he was standing in front of the rickety old door. Like a scene from an old western movie, as soon as Jin walked in the bar the music stopped. He did appear very out of place. Here he was, and affluent young man. With well kept hair and suit walking into this den of debauchery. Everyone stopped to look at this stranger. Either he was very brave, or very stupid.

Jin surveyed the bar, taking note of everything possible. He sauntered up to the bar and rapped on the bar top. "Bourbon, Scotch and Whiskey!" The bartender, a haggard old man who seemed more at home killing cops then serving drinks, approached Jin. "We don't take kindly to..." Before he could even finish, Jin threw a hundred dollar bill on the bar. He looked straight into the bartender's eyes: "Keep 'em coming."

As Jin downed his three shots and the bartender poured some more, a gruff looking group of men swaggered over to him. The leader of the group appeared to have been present during a demolition project. Because he was missing several teeth and was caked in a layer of dust thicker than his accent. "Mr. Fancy pants don't belong here." the man said flipping up Jin's collar and laughing a dry smoker's laugh. "Mr. Fancy thinks he can come in here and just run the place 'cause he got money. Is that right boys?" The whole bar erupted in a yell. Jin smiled as he finished his last shot.

The man turned his back on Jin and began to whisper to his fellow cohort. The man stopped midway and turned and threw a surprise hay maker at Jin. While putting down his shot, Jin caught the man's fist in his hand. Jin then wrenched his arm causing the man to move closer to Jin. "Thank you." Jin whispered, taking one finger and burying it deep in the man's eye.

The man fell back clutching his eye. "Kill him! Kill him!" The man bellowed. Suddenly the bar erupted and everyone came at Jin. "Keep the drinks coming!" Jin yelled to the bartender before going to work. Jin then proceeded to teleport either in front of or behind each person in the bar. He straight up cold-cocked everyone until he reached the pool tables. He grabbed a pool stick and spun it around his head and drew it back like a sword.

He then made short work of the rest of the bar. As the last man fell Jin sauntered up back to the bar, where the new shots sat waiting. Jin downed all the three and called for some more when his phone sprung to life. He pressed the bud in his ear: "Go!" Was all he said. a voice from the other end came on and spewed coordinates and a price. "I'm there." Jin replied, finishing the last shot.

A crackle of energy and Jin was gone. He appeared at his underground bunker. Accessible only through teleportation. It was fairly small and bare. There was a small bust that his armor and roningasa rested on. In the other corner was a computer with access to his father's weapon's company network next to which his katana rested. He donned the armor, put on the roningasa on and secured his katana on his hip. With another crackle of energy he was gone.

Jin appeared on the edge of the docks. He gazed up on a giant robot standing before him. "Ah, Ronin. You've finally made it." A voice bellowed from the robot. "You're probably wondering who I am and..." Before the voice could finish it's thought, Jin teleported onto the robot's shoulders. With one touch he sent the torso of the robot out in the middle of the sea, leaving the rest of it's body to crumble on itself. Jin teleported away just as the robot erupted into an inferno.

Jin pushed a button on his ear bud: "Done." He said as he headed back home.

A young boy was walking through the streets, his hands behind his head, and his mind going adrift. Whistling could be heard from him as he walked gingerly passed the buildings...when suddenly, an M.R.I. Van pulled up and flooded out their 'Collection Team.' All the M.R.I. is now is just a slaughterhouse for the superpowered and almost every superhero and supervillain alike knew it. How they've been able to stand up to them, nobody knows, but what they do have is connections and weaponry to boot. In an instant, the M.R.I. 'Collection Team', or better fitting; 'Death Squad', quickly surrounded the boy.

With a loud, "Put your hands up, freak!", they all aimed down the sights. Raising his hands high above him, the young man just stood there, and allowed one of the officers to approach and cuff him. No sooner had the officer done this, the boy smiled, and with lightning-fast reflexes, jumped up and drop kicked the officer while breaking the handcuffs with a large surge if electricity. Almost responding without any delay, the M.R.I. opened fire. Quickly, he used the officers as shield among the chaos, keeping his movements calm and steady. When he finally finished the M.R.I., there was but only one man left, who shook with fear.

The boy cracked his knuckled and slipped on some metal gloves. "Who are you...you...you're just a kid...a pipsqueak!!" Sighing out, the boy walked over...only to be a twenty year old man with a short stature. "First of all...the name is Zeus! Hope you don't forget that. Secondly, you better hope you don't forget that, cuz' I'm gonna knock your teeth out FOR CALLING ME SHORT!" As if on cue, he cocked his arm back and fired it off like a cannon with his Electrokinesis. "Heh...tell my pops I said hello, will ya'?" He waved to the knocked out man and ran off, reaching for his radio. "This Zeus to S.U.P.E.D., does anyone hear me?" Although he acted quite calm, he always got excited when he either talked to or was near a S.U.P.E.D. hero...in fact, one of his dreams was to become just like them...to become one of the greatest.

Lilly sat upon a park bench with her legs tucked underneath her. Though it was dark out, she was still able to read with the glow of her magic, so that was what she was doing. Sometimes it was nice to just read a good book while enjoying the fresh, cool, night air. With one arm on the arm rest, propping her head up, and her usual calm expression, she looked very relaxed. It was a very good book, a fantasy story about a beautiful princess saving her kingdom from a dark wizard. Though she was only a few chapters in she was already hooked and made a mental note to pick up the next book in the series when she could.

A frustrated scream caused the superhero to look up from her book. "Oh? You're still here?" She said with a completely straight face. Though her tone was calm it was definitely mocking. She was sitting on the park bench with a dome shield around her, which was the magic glow she was reading from. She had been contracted to fight another psychic, this one a super villain. He had been trying for the past half hour to break her shield. Of course it hadn't worked, her shields were her strongest power and nearly unbreakable. The other psychic threw yet another magical bolt at her shield, but it was just absorbed harmlessly again. The man was panting with exertion and certainly wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. While Lilly herself was a little worn out, holding a shield up for that long would do that to a girl, but could easily do this for at least another half hour.

A gust of wind made the superhero shiver, her costume wasn't exactly cold friendly. But she didn't want to move because of how comfortable she was. So a devious thought went through her mind. "It's quite cold out, you wouldn't mind getting me a coffee would you?" She asked the man, keeping her usual calm tone.

The man paused in his assault. "Why would I-" But his sentence trailed off as Lilly projected the thought into his mind. A psychic this weak didn't stand a chance against her mind control. "Great." She said with a small smile. "Peppermint mocha, extra whip." The man walked off to get her coffee and Lilly returned to her book while she waited.

A few minutes later the man returned with her coffee. She put down her shield for a moment to get it, letting out a breath of relief at the sudden lessening of energy loss. Then she put it back up quickly before the mind control wore off. "Thank you." She said and took a sip of her mocha as it wore off. The man let out another frustrated scream along with several profanities aimed in Lilly's direction. He threw one last magical bolt at Lilly to try and break her shield, mustering up all his power to do so. Only he didn't realize that she had changed the shield type from absorb to deflect. The magical bolt hit him square in the chest and he crumbled with a weak moan.

After making sure her opponent was down for the count, Lilly put her book away and took out her phone. Although she preferred to communicate long distance through telepathy, her client wasn't within her range at the moment. So texting was her only choice. She certainly wasn't going to actually call him. "Job complete. He won't be showing his face in Utopia City ever again, let alone bothering you. Send the money to the designated place. And remember, it you want to flake out, I have your aura registered. You can't escape."

Then Lilly rose from her spot and began the walk back to headquarters. Sipping her coffee as she went.

The Djinni sat in his office, noisily slurping the dregs of a banana-lime milkshake. These modern times are incredible, he thought to himself. There are so many different foods to choose from, each deliciously unhealthy. The phone rang, and for a moment, he wondered if he should answer it. Noticing the caller ID, he just glared at it for a moment, and let it keep ringing. This particular customer, one "Mayor of New York", had a bit of pest problem, and had been bugging the S.U.P.E.D. for a couple days now, trying to get their help. He kept trying to "appeal to their good side", by which we know he meant, "pay less money." It's not even worth the trip to the Big Apple for a measly 50 grand. These dumb municipal guys can't get it into their heads that quality takes quantities; of money. Arkhtan grinned at his wit. I should write a book. He mentally clapped himself on the shoulder, then stood up.

The tall windows and lofty ceiling gave the expensive office grandeur, and the thick carpeting and scenic paintings gave it a sense of comfort and tranquility. A small colored fountain sat on a pedestal by the door, depicting a toga-wearing woman emptying a wine pitcher. The soft burble of water was drowned out by rock music emanating from a 64" flatscreen TV on the wall opposite Ark's desk. A soundproofed glass barrier divided the room in half, with his desk and work area on one side, and the TV, a thick, green sofa, and lacquered coffee table marked the other as a relaxation lounge. The Djinni set the phone to take messages, tossed the now-empty milkshake cup into a trash bin, and moved to the sofa. He grinned as he picked up the remote and a bag of pretzels, and wondered why he'd ever worked for free in his life.

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Chapter 2: Dawn of the Oblivion Staff

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[ Eastern Europe ]

A freezing, howling wind fills the air, carrying along with it snow and debris. This time of year in this uncharted piece of wild territory in Eastern Europe, blizzards were commonplace and this one was particularly brutal. The recently deceased bodies - most likely killed by the violent weather itself - of people can be seen scattered around; their proximity being quite close to one another. A few hundred meters north is a cave in the middle of nowhere. Literally nothing of note exists surrounding this cave. Hundreds of meters in every direction surrounding this peculiar cave is nothing but barren, snow-covered wasteland. But within the cave itself, a powerful presence resides and it is this very presence that has been sought out by one man for a span of nearly two decades. Sovereign Savage was once regarded amongst the most feared of supervillains, but ever since his humiliating defeat at the hands of some no-name superhero years ago, he has become the laughing stock of the supervillain community.

But no more will that be case. Not when Savage has acquired the object that he seeks within this cave. A small expedition team was currently working their way through the complex cave system. The clothes they wore matched those on the dead bodies from earlier, suggesting that these people are Savage's henchmen. With flashlights and guns in tow, the henchmen cautiously navigated the maze-like caverns. One henchman, instead of a gun, carried a radar-like device - most likely used to detect their sought-after object. "I feel like we've been going in circles." one henchman brought up to break the silence. No one responded to his observation so he continued to speak. "I swear I've seen that exact same stalagmite before-" the henchman was suddenly interrupted by one his colleagues. "Do us all a favor and shut up, would ya?" Suddenly, the henchman with the radar device, who was consequentially leading the pack, stopped walking; everyone behind him paused as well. Looking to the device, the henchman noticed something odd.

"Strange, it says we're here." the henchman with the device muttered. Then, he got an idea. Without informing the others first, the henchman turned to face a rock wall behind him and began to push it forward. At first the wall remained stationary, but within a few seconds, it started to move back until a secret entrance was finally revealed. The henchman looked to the others with a confident smirk, "Bingo." Sometime later, the entire false wall had been destroyed with excavation machinery to reveal a hidden room. While the henchmen worked to clear up the debris and to begin their initial analysis of the object, the boss had finally arrived on the scene. Dressed in a heavy winter coat upon multiple layers of clothes, a man with slick, black hair walked into the room; a calm and devious grin present on his face. Seeing their boss arrived, the henchmen scientists stopped what they were doing to greet him. "It's as the legend says. I can feel its power from just standing here." one of the scientists reported to Savage.

Savage walked up to the object's pedestal and became mesmerized by its haunting glow. It is mystical weapon said to have been created by a council of powerful mages. They called it: the Oblivion Staff. Without hesitation, Savage took hold of the staff and held it up to his face to examine its beauty more intimately. "To be enveloped in its presence is one thing... But to wield its power is an entire different experience." Savage proclaimed. Suddenly, he aimed the staff at the back wall of the room and shot a magic bolt out from the staff. When the bolt collided with the back wall, it created a massive explosion that destroyed roughly half of the cave, exposing the outside world. The henchmen clenched in fear and shock at the staff's immense power but Savage grew a sadistic grin. He chuckled, "I will ensure that Utopia City and its citizens 'experience' the staff's power appropriately."

[ Utopia City / Noon ]

"You have to help us! You and your team are this city's only hope at this point!" a well-dressed man in his late fifties pleaded to someone sitting in a large leather chair who had the chair turned around. The room the two people were in looked like a briefing room, complete with a giant monitor tracking the public activities in Utopia City. Right now, there seems to be a situation transpiring within the downtown districts of the city. Enlarged mutant humans were causing all sorts of havoc around the city. Along with their display of incredible strength and speed, they could also fire energy beams from their mouths. There were numerous superheroes on the scene but they seemed to be struggling greatly against the enemy. The mutants seemed to have already caused the city hundreds of thousands in damages and that number will only grow larger by the second. "You see! The other heroes are losing this fight. At this rate, a third of the city will be leveled by dinner!" the well-dressed man proclaimed.

Suddenly, the person sitting in the comfy chair turned around, revealing himself to be Ultiman. "Yeah, I know. It looks really bad. But these guys look boring as hell. They ain't gonna put a good fight." Ultiman responded, referring to the mutants.

"Look, I'm offering a million in cash! Don't tell me that isn't enough to spur you and your team into action." the man said.

Hearing the price, Ultiman's eyes widened considerably. "A million, you say?"

"In cash immediately after the job is done."

[ S.U.P.E.D. Tower ]

Ultiman entered the penthouse suite of the S.U.P.E.D. Tower's living quarters floor - they normally use this suite as their living room space - where everyone had already gathered earlier. The ridiculously huge flat-screen television had been turned to Utopia City's premier news channel so the team could watch what was happening in the city right now. Although what the team members were actually doing could've been entirely different. In any case, Ultiman walked towards his teammates with a grin on his face. "Team, we got a job. A million-dollar job to be exact." he began before planting himself on one of the comfortable and highly expensive sofas. "The Director wants us to take out these mutant baddies. Pretty boring stuff in my opinion but, hey, I can't complain when he's paying a million in cash."

Ronin, in full gear, was sitting in the corner. Legs folded and arms crossed. He was deep in meditation. As he meditated he began to teleport in place incredibly fast. It made him appear as if he was hovering just off the floor. The sound of Ultiman busting in the room made Ronin take pause. He teleported high enough so he could unfold his legs and stand. He sauntered over to the table and grabbed a decanter of whiskey. He slowly poured himself a half glass and shot it back. He then poured himself a full glass and sat down.

"Mutants?" He said in between sips of whiskey. "You can count me in. I haven't had a real challenge in awhile. Hopefully this will provide me with one." He could hear in his ear bud multiple radio reports about the mutants and how they were demolishing the city. "Are we leaving now, or just let them level the city and go after them when they get bored?"

Daniel was slightly concerned about the mutants, especially when seeing the other heroes having quite some trouble, but hey, money was what called the S.U.P.E.D. to action. He spewed out the coffee he was drinking when $1,000,000 was mentioned. He coughed for a couple seconds, then managed to say, "In cash? Jeez, they must be getting desperate. I only got $175,000 from my last job." He reached into his jacket, taking out his headphones and putting them on. He then summoned a fireball to his right hand, his hair turning blonde and eyes turning blue instantly. "I'm not gonna pass up a million. Let's get to the action and burn them all up," Daniel said, smiling evilly.

Lilly sat in the sill of the large window. She was leaning back against the wall and had her eyes closed. One could have mistaken her for napping, but she was really keeping an eye on the city. Using her sensing abilities she was doing three things. Registering the auras of people whom she hadn't yet, scanning the area for supers, and attempting to increase her sensing range, which currently sat at about twenty miles in any direction. Her eyes cracked open when she felt Adam, or Ultiman, enter the room. She turned to face him as told them about a new job. A one million dollar job. Being voice of reason among the group, she spoke up. "I'm not saying we shouldn't take it. But its too much, even if they are getting desperate. They're going to try and flake out on it, probably by saying that the rest is going toward the damages we're going to cause."

Of course they were going to break things. Being this powerful it just happened. So Lilly didn't even think about adding a might to that sentence. If they didn't flake out, her portion of the million would be great to send to the Village of Miracles. Her monthly donations had already done a lot of help get to old home back into shape. With her reputation and the word getting out, more and more people were contracting the psychics there for minor healings and purifications as well. It was nice to be able to do something for the people who had trained her, made her the hero she was today.

Arkhtan pondered Lilly's statement for a moment, then spoke up. "We could ask for it in advance. We have a good enough reputation, and if they're offering this much, the town must be desperate." Alternatively, he thought to himself, nobody could tell the difference between "missing", and "destroyed." "There's no harm in asking, right?" He watched the screen as one of the heroes slammed into the wall, knocking out a pivotal support beam in a parking garage, and one of the sides slumped down. "Either way, if we're gonna take the offer, we should probably go soon. Else there won't be anyone to pay us."

Marcus, or Zeus, was in the S.U.P.E.D. Training Facility, training his hand-to-hand combat skill against some machines that were designed for improving your skills. Of course, he was the only one to really use them, considering the rest of S.U.P.E.D. was much more powerful than he himself. In fact, he wasn't even a real full-fledged member, just a sidekick. Everyday he continued to improve, with little changes. Still, he kept fighting for his dream, to become one of them....and to fulfill his ultimate goal.

The sound of metal being pounded on and broken rung around the Training Facility, with the speakers blaring out one of Zeus's favorite songs, 'Spirit In The Sky'. If anyone in the Penthouse couldn't hear it, they certainly could feel it. Suddenly, one of the robots had grabbed him from behind, while another one, with a blade, rushed at him to gut him. Sucking in some air quickly, he jumped up and kicked the approaching robot. He finished this off by throwing the other bot over his shoulder and smashes it's head into the ground, utterly destroying it.

Finally, as his last bit of training, he walked over to a barrier which had a large bot on the other side. Shaking his arms and breathing in and out calmly, he smiled. Putting his arms out in front of him, he focused on the giant bot. The wind around Zeus began to swirl, with small volts of electricity beginning to appear out of his arm and hands. "Just need to concentrate and I can do this..." Suddenly, he cocked his arm back and moved it forward, only to have the lightning he intended to shoot out explode in his face. Hitting the ground, he sighed out, wiping off some of the dust and coughing loudly. "Damn...."

The other members of S.U.P.E.D. seemed pretty eager about the job; even more so about the money. However, Lilly - otherwise known by her hero alias as Priestess - expressed her concern that the large payment may be reduced when their contractors decide to factor in the damage the S.U.P.E.D. members may potentially - okay, very likely - cause. Arkhtan then suggested that they ask for the money in advance. Jin and Daniel, on the other hand, stood by, ready for action. Adam, who has worked with the Director before, seems unconcerned about the money issue. "Don't worry, they'll pay up as promised. And if not, we'll just go have a nice chat with them afterwards." he said positively. Adam then looked around the room and noticed a certain sidekick was missing. However, as soon as he heard "Spirit In The Sky" playing, Adam knew exactly where the sidekick was. Activating his earpiece, the comm system within the Training Facility turned on. "Hey Marcus, stopping making a mess down there and get suit up! We got a job!" Adam informed the sidekick over the comm.

Adam then looked to the others. "Alright, let's go take out these mutants and get our payment." Just as he said that, a superhero by the name of Fly-Guy smashed into one of the widows of the penthouse suite. Fortunately, the windows of the S.U.P.E.D. Tower are incredibly dense and so the glass remained undamaged. Fly-Guy, on the other hand, was unconscious and was just sort of stuck there like a bug on a windshield. "What would this city do without us?" Adam deadpanned after seeing what had just happened. Walking to a wall beside the large windows, Adam entered a code into a touchscreen panel which then caused the windows to retract to the sides and a platform to come out from this side of the building. After Adam walked out onto the platform, he grabbed hold of Fly-Guy and turned back to the others. "I'll take this guy somewhere safe and then I'll meet you guys downtown." Adam then flew off with impressive speed.

Daniel looked at the others, than yelled out, "Last one there gets none of the pay!" He ran out of the opening in the windows and jumped off the platform, then engulfed himself in fire and shot off, leaving a flaming trail while he did, toward the direction of the beasts that were destroying the town. He reached the location of one hero who was busy trying to fend off one beast shooting lasers at him. If he remembered correctly, his name was Phaser, known for shooting a wide variety of rays and beams. Bit ironic for a laser shooter to be shot by a laser, but it was not the time for irony right now, it was a time for action. Daniel shot himself toward the beast, constructing a giant fire fist at least 10 times bigger than his regular one, then smashed the beast against the ground, leaving a strong indent of both it and his fire fist on the pavement. Phaser looked up, immediately aware that his life was just saved, then rolled his eyes at the sight of Daniel. "Oh great, the pyromaniac," Phaser muttered, only to have a flaming javelin shoot past his head. "I heard that!" Daniel yelled to him, Then Daniel engulfed himself in more fire and shot himself back into the sky, firing flaming missiles at the beasts, each missile exploding whenever they made contact with something.

Ronin was sipping on his whiskey as a super hit the window like a fly. He rolled his eyes and kept on drinking. Ultiman retracted the window and grabbed the injured super as the flame man rushed out the window in a bravado of flame. Ronin didn't so much hate his fellow teammates as he just had a disdain for most all people. His teammates all meant well, at least when money was involved, but Ronin loved the battles. That is what he focused on and that is why he joined the team. He couldn't lie to himself, the money allowed him to maintain his equipment which put him on par with the others power-wise. Sometimes he had to remind himself of that to keep him grounded in some type of reality.

He finished his whiskey and teleported from where he sat to the top of a building in the middle of the massive battle the other supers were losing. Next to him was a man dressed in all black knelt down with a rocket launcher pointed at one of the mutants. The punishment or something like that was his name. More of a vigilante than a super. The man looked at Ronin and his face twisted in disgust. "You need to get the f..." He trailed off as Ronin pointed to the sky. The man's gaze followed Ronin's finger and jumped to the side just in time to avoid being smashed by the mutant's hand. "You're welcome." Ronin muttered as he teleported to the top of another building.

Ronin unsheathed his sword and studied the mutant's movements. The mutant lifted his arm to take another swing at the building when Ronin made his move. A crackle of energy flowed over him. It increased in intensity until the mutant's arm was raised completely above his head. The energy around Ronin's body exploded out and he went careening towards the mutant's arm. With precision accuracy Ronin sliced the mutant's arm off at the elbow and landed atop another building.

The mutant roared with pain. He turned his gaze on Ronin and unleashed a powerful energy blast from his mouth. Ronin held his sword up as the beam exploded around him and decimated the top of the building. Satisfied he had destroyed Ronin the mutant turned his attention back to a random super he was attacking. As he turned his head he saw a small pin point of light speeding towards him. As his vision focused he saw that it was Ronin, sword extended out as he flew towards him. Before the mutant could react, Ronin's sword and entire body shot through the mutant's eye, into his brain, and out the back of it's skull. Ronin landed on the ground and sheathed his sword as the mutant fell dead.

Though her companions were eager about the job, Lilly still wasn't sure about their payment. But she did trust Adam with her life, and done so in the past. That was one of the things that the other supers didn't understand is that they may have been insane and greedy, but they were like a family. Each of them could trust the other with their lives. Lilly was a support unit, she was built to protect her comrades, not to fight one on one. But in order for her to protect her comrades, they needed to protect her. Something that they had done numerous times in the past. So even though she was reluctant about the job, she still gracefully rose to her feet, ready to take on these mutants. Seeing as Daniel and Adam were already gone, Lilly sent a telepathic message out to the other members of S.U.P.E.D. "I will care of the civilians and wounded heroes. You guys just worry about the mutants."

She strode over to the window and after giving the supers still there a glance, jumped out the window. Focusing her powers on herself, she used her telekinesis as a make shift form of flying. She sent one more message out before getting to work. The one directed at Marcus. "I need you to watch my back while I work. Think you can do that?" She was risking a lot by putting her life in the hands of the sidekick. But it would be a good test for him, see how well he worked knowing that one wrong move could seriously hurt or kill the team's source of healing and protection. She didn't wait for him though, he could find her with the other support units. She landed gracefully next to the shield being maintained by several support units. The one who was organizing everything was a woman who called herself Goddess. Her and Lilly didn't get along very well. But Lilly wasn't one to take orders from somebody with less power than her anyway.

The large shield contained civilians and injured heroes. It was a make shift base of sorts. Lilly placed a hand on the shield and felt its power. They didn't need her here, everything was covered. Looks like she would be going into the heart of the battlefield, healing people enough to make it safe to move them, and getting them out of there. It was by far the most dangerous thing a support unit could do. And Lilly loved it. But before she moved into the fray, she paused and gave Marcus a few minutes to catch up and find her. Tracking his aura to see where he was. If he didn't get there in the next thirty seconds or so, she was going to have to go in without somebody watching her back.

Arkhtan split as soon as Daniel shouted his challenge. Ok, maybe he stopped to grab that last slurp of soda. And to use the restroom. Hey, all that snacking's gotta go somewhere, right? Also, who knows when you might find some clean facilities again?

That aside, he teleported himself to the scene as soon as he was finished his business, just in time to see Ronin dispatch a particularly large specimen of mutant. Feeling particularly dramatic, he whipped up a spectacular floating above the middle of the street, added some rumbles of thunder for good effect, and called in a booming voice to all who would hear.

Puny mortals, you have incurred wrath of a fearsome kind. You have set foot upon the domain of the Great Djinni of the Lamp. I, protector of this fine city, shall not allow such denigration to stand! Behold, YOUR DOOM!

With that statement, an immense roar of thunder echoed across the battlefield, and Arkhtan hoped that one of his teammates would give him a wish to back that display.

Daniel dropped down toward a particularly large cluster of mutants, constructing a tank-like vehicle with cannons and guns all around it. crushing at least 3 mutants when it landed. As the mutants turned toward the fire construct, Daniel popped out of the top, wearing a flaming construct of an army helmet and grinning. "FFIIIIIIIRRRRRREEEE!!!!!!!" Daniel yelled, firing every single cannon and gun at once. The damage was devastating, with fiery cannonballs striking the mutants into the walls and the ground and the bullets putting holes in the mutants whenever they hit. Daniel was enjoying himself immensely, seeing a large number of mutants just get wiped out. Some mutants ran away, but other chose to hold their ground and even run toward the fiery tank. Daniel constructed a dome to cover himself while more and more mutants ran toward his tank, eventually being swarmed entirely. It seemed as though Daniel was trapped, but then a large explosion occurred at the center of the swarming mutants, sending them flying back for meters, some burned to a crisp, others badly wounded but still alive. Daniel flew straight up, then formed his giant flaming golem, The golem lifted its feet and started crushing the mutants like how one would crush bugs underfoot. "Die, you bugs! Die under my feet!" Daniel yelled down at them from the golem's head.

A bluish light flickered in the darkness illuminating the floor of the pressurised tank. Detecting the change through his eyelids, Josh stirred and blinked at the notification flickering in front of him. The words hovered in the water, sent digitally by the HQ's computer system, an AI called Gabriel that he was helping test and develop with Professor Miyuki Nakano from Okinawa university. He'd met her through assisting Karen Grace, an anthropologist specialising in Polynesian history explore the fabled Chatan pyramids off the island's coast, costing her entire research grant, and for a large amount of funding Miyuki readily agreed to make Gabriel accessible to the S.U.P.E.D. Team. 

The turquoise lettering flickered as he stirred from the bottom of the tank. Bollocks! He exclaimed to no one. They had just accepted a case and no one had told him. Again! This was the third time he'd been evaluating his pressured capabilities when they'd gone off without him. Fuck.
He swam in powerful strokes to the side of the tank and punched a large red button on the wall. 
Light burst into the now unsealed room and gallons of water flooded into his apartment. He let the wave sweep him out steering it into his large lounge where he kept his high tech suit in a display case. It was a conversation piece and "Do you want to see my suit?" was a surprisingly successful chat up line these days. 

He coughed the water out of his lungs to resume breathing air and slid back the glass case. With an infuriated huff he peeled on his costume and seconds later was donning his helmet. "Give me an update and route please Gabriel"he spoke out, the words picked up by a sensitive microphone. "Of course Josh". A blue line appeared on his visor screen superimposed over reality directing him out of his balcony and into the city. As Gabriel's disembodied voice summarised the task and gave a low down of stats in his ear, Josh had walked to his balcony and pulled all the water from his flooded apartment outside into a large floating sphere of liquid. With a quick glance back to his untidy but now bone dry living quarters he jumped into the sphere of water letting it drop with him inside. Keeping pressure on the surface of the sphere is kept its shape as it dropped toward the street below. 

Drain covers burst upward as countless gallons sprung forth to absorb the sphere, cushioning the force and leaving Josh stood in the street giving a wave to public onlookers. The spent water now moved toward him and started to build behind him in a enormous wave. With a twist of his ankles into a surfing position the water around them froze outward into a surfboard shape. Using his arms for control he swept the gigantic mass of water beneath him and surfed the wave down the centre of the road weaving his way toward the action, his visor highlighting the optimum route and locations of his team mates. 

He swung infront of Lilly, freezing a half dozen mutants with a blast of water from his wave that solidified on impact. You're welcome Lil, he thought loudly with a grin, knowing she'd pick up the message straight away. He loved that girl. A huge explosion erupted further infront of him and he spotted the iconic white costumed figure of Hail, another cryokinetic and his rival, go flying through the air. He momentarily debated whether to help the prick or not, but was distracted immediately by a giant flaming golem erupting from the smoke. Typical Dan, he smirked. Showy and smashy. His board melted as he approached the fires, the wave beneath him swirling up to his waist and forming a large swirling water spout with him at the peak. He swung around the corner infront of Dan cutting off a mob of mutants charging, hobbling and crawling at the fire golem. He sent a mass of water sweeping half of them into the side of an apartment block and freezing them in place with a clench of his fist. "You've got to learn to chill out babe" he shouted across at Dan the visor lifting on his helmet to reveal a wink. The cheese was all part of their banter. A wave rose behind his head and a shower of icy javelins skewered the street's remaining mutants. "Shall we?" he asked, swinging to one side of the street to let Dan's construct past. 

"Ugh... W-What happened...?" Fly-Guy groggily muttered to himself as he regained consciousness. When he had opened his eyes, he noticed that he was no longer on the city streets; instead, he was now in what looks like a public parking garage. The last thing Fly-Guy could remember was facing off against his fourth mutant baddie. The first three he managed to defeat with only minor complications but one energy beam from the fourth mutant and the next thing he knew, Fly-Guy was now waking up here. Propping himself up further against a support beam, he grabbed his head in pain and looked around, hoping to get an idea of what exactly transpired.

"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty." a familiar voice came from behind Fly-Guy.

Turning his head and a bit of his body around, he saw Adam - or Ultiman in his case - casually lounging on top of a nearby car. "Ultiman? What the hell are you doing here?" Fly-Guy questioned.

"Rescuing your helpless ass. Also, expect a bill from my window cleaners. You got your blood all over my windows when those mutants knocked you into my tower." Adam stated.

Adam's comment about the windows aside, Fly-Guy was more interested about the situation with the mutants. "So... They're still out there? And let me guess, they hired you and your team to take care of the mutants?"

"Yup." Adam replied bluntly. Getting off the car, he then walked to a nearby exit and paused. "Hey." Adam turned his head and called to Fly-Guy who was still fixated on the mutant situation rather than his own injuries. "Next time, stay home. You're not cut out to be a hero in this city." Adam proclaimed, adding insult to injury before flying off to his destination. Whether Adam said such a thing out of spite for weak heroes or to discourage any ideas that the injured super may have of reentering the battle after Adam has left is unknown. More than likely, it's probably a combination of both. In any case, Adam didn't earn any favors from Fly-Guy by saying such a thing. "Douchebag..." Fly-Guy cursed Adam as he disappeared into the distance.

Downtown, the other members of S.U.P.E.D. fought back the numerous mutants that were at the scene with the exception of Lilly who tended to the wounded. Impressively but no so surprising, the intervention from S.U.P.E.D. resulted in the mutants' numbers dwindling rapidly. There were maybe a dozen left of the mutants by the time Josh - Deluge - arrived at the scene. But then, arriving from another part of the city was another platoon of mutants - around fifty or so. They quickly encircled the members of S.U.P.E.D. and charged; these ones were even stronger, faster, larger, and more aggressive than the previous bunch. Suddenly, a flaming eighteen wheeler came smashing down onto the mutants, crushing a good portion of them. Casually floating down onto the fiery truck in a sitting position was Adam who then looked to his teammates. "Sorry I'm late. I had to fly back to the tower to get something." Adam explained before joining the rest of his team on the ground.

Once again, the mutants surrounded the team but, this time, instead of charging head on, they all began to charge up their energy beams. It can only be assumed that the mutants will all fire their beams at once in order to finish off S.U.P.E.D. for good. Adam looked to Arkhtan, "I wish you would start kicking some mutant ass." Turning back around, Adam stared at the mutants directly in front of him and confidently smirked. Adam then reached into his left pant pocket to remove something - the item he retrieved when he flew back to the tower earlier. It's an iPod. After putting on the earbuds, Adam started the first song in one of his various playlists. "Let's wrap this up." he said just as the first song was about to begin.