Icon lowered his head as he drove his body through the small, single pilot alien craft. The ensuing sound which was reminiscent of a freight train colliding with a tractor trailer was deafening. It was a sound that one felt as opposed to heard. The cobalt and silver clad hero quickly glanced over his shoulder just as the wrecked craft crashed down into an empty park below. He made a quarter turn midair, then raced toward another craft. His heart pounded as he raced toward the oncoming craft, feeling a slight pang of guilt from the satisfaction he felt at the destruction of the last ship, however, he shook that feeling off in time to unleash an optic blast which utterly obliterated the oncoming vessel.

“Take it easy Flyboy, you're making the rest of us look bad.” He heard Radiance say. Though their com devices had been fried in the EMP that helped bring down the massive war machine, Icon was thankful that his enhanced hearing made the coms obsolete, for him anyhow. He looked back at Radiance and gave her a brief grin, however, it was fleeting.

The large cigar shaped ship, which seemed to serve the same purpose as a navy battleship cast a long shadow over the city, blocking out the sun as it took a position over the Lost Haven Harbor just off of the coast of Little Ulster. From his position, Icon could see movement on the craft itself. Parts in motion, pieces sliding in and out, revealing multiple batteries of armaments, all pointing toward Lost Haven.

They're going to raze the city. Icon thought to himself as he realized just how far the invaders would go to protect the Purifier from any external threats.

“Not today, you son of a bitch.” Icon said as he rocketed toward the massive ship.



Lyger wasn't going to let the others have all the fun. While he couldn't fly, and thus was more or less useless when it came to dealing with the alien fighter ships that had descended upon Lost Haven, he was determined to get to that tower and find a way to bring it down. The sudden arrival of the tower had really shaken Flux, and she seemed sure that the emergence of the tower, this “Purifier” meant that the fight was lost. But he'd been down before, he'd seen the heroes of the world come together and pull off miracles...and he hoped that they had at least one more left, because if the world was ever in need of a miracle, it was now.

Lyger fired a grappling line from his wrist gauntlet and ascended to the rooftop of a nearby building. Once he made it to the roof of the building, he ran, jumped and bounded from rooftop to rooftop. His instincts had proven correct, he had run into no alien resistance until he reached the sixth building. A lone Arlaaekan crouched at the far ledge of the building, looking through the scope of his long barreled blaster. Before the alien sniper even knew that he was there, Lyger grabbed the alien's head and drove him face first into the stone ledge, then bounded away before the alien's limp body hit the rooftop.

It wasn't long before he came across more of the alien butchers. Just ahead, on the next roof he was able to see a pair of heavily armed alien gunmen. Unlike the sniper which he had so easily dispatched, these aliens were not worried about discretion. In fact, the weaponry that they carried looked to be designed to cause as much damage in as little time as possible. Aside from the now familiar Arlaaekan blaster rifles, the pair also carried what looked to be the Arlaaekan equivalent of rocket launchers. Lyger quickened his pace, and as he neared the pair of aliens, he jumped toward them, hitting the first armed marauder square in the back, driving the air from his lungs and sending him crashing face first on the rooftop. Before the stunned alien could finish letting out a wheezed breath, Lyger had turned his attention to his partner. The feline hero struck at the alien with a barage of open and closed fisted strikes which kept the alien off balance, before shattering his left knee with a sudden well placed thrust kick. The alien gunman crumled to the ground and clutched his leg shouting out in pain. Looking down at the injured alien, Lyger silenced his cries with a single punch, shattering his jaw in the process.

Without missing a beat, he bounded to the next rooftop where he came face to face with a pair of armored aliens.Unlike the others, they were not taken by surprise. As he rantoward the pair of aliens, he could hear them speaking to one another, and though he could not understand the words being spoken, he understood their meaning. They were frantic, almost in a panic as he approached. Even as they leveled their weapons at him, they did not seem as sure of themselves as they might otherwise be. Lyger anticipated their reaction, dodging to the left and then to the right as plasma bolts fly past him. Lyger dodged another volley of enemy fire before leaping towards the pair of alien soldiers. His foot connected with the firsts just under his chin, sending blood and tooth fragments into the air. He had barely touched the ground before he turned and drove his elbow into the temple of the other, a shot which staggered the alien, but did not topple him. Lyger did not relent; he struckthe alien with a series of quick kicks and punches, be fore landing a knife edged thrust to the invader's throat which finally put the alien down.

Suddenly, just as Lyger was getting ready to move onto the next rooftop, something hit him.

Hard.

The impact knocked him off his feet, sending him into a nearby electrical junction box. The collision crumpled the large green metal box sending sparks shooting into the sky around it. Lyger sat hunched over against the ruined junction box as he tried to recover from the shock of the sudden attack. His eyes darted around looking for the source of the attack as he tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. However, much to his surprise, there was nothing. Then there was a shimmer in the air, and a form began to materialize, like a ghost making itself visible, right in front of him. This Arlaaekan was different than the others. This alien was much larger than the others, standing at about seven feet tall. It was an imposing figure, and for an instant he could hear his father's voice in his head, describing the bruiser of an alien as only Jack Porter could.

“Man, that fucking thing is built like a brick shit house.”

As Lyger would soon discover, his attacker was not only large and powerful,but he was also incredibly fast. Before he could get to his feet, the large Arlaaekan was on him, his massive hands gripping his face and head, much like someone palming a basketball, and yanked him up, and then slammed him back down to the rooftop, again knocking the wind out of him. Lygerinstinctively rolled over to his stomach and forced himself up on his knees, however, before he was able to get to his feet, the alien brute took a bounding step and landed a well placed kick to his medsection, a kick that sent Lyger hurtling through the air, landing in a lump about a dozen feet away.

I can't keep this up, this son of a bitch is going to kill me. Lyger thought to himself as he forced himself to his feet. The kick had actually been a blessing in disguise, it had given his the separation that he needed to gather his bearings somewhat. Just then, the bruiser charged at Lyger. Using his cat like reflexes, the hero was able to jump out of the way, barely escaping what wouldcertainly have been a catastrophic impact. The large alien lunged again, and again, Lyger was able to dodge the attack, but not before landing a strike of his own, a hard open palm strike to the alien's temple. This staggered the brute, sending him backwards several steps while he tried to clear his head. However, Lyger didn't give him the chance. He dove in toward the brute, getting as close as he could to his massive opponent. Once Lyger was in close, too close for the stunned brute to strike, he unleased a series of knee strikes, to the alien's midsection, followed by a flurry of punches, forearm, and elbow strikes which battered its he and neck.

Though the alien brute had been staggered, it still stood. Lyger jumped away from his larger opponent, who had recovered slightly from the hero's assault. The alien let out a gutteral roar and rushed towards Lyger, who just like before dove out of the way, easily avoiding the charge. However, in the brutes rage, he did not notice that this time Lyger had been standing in front of the damaged electrical junction box. The alien brute slammed his fist into the box, sending hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity coursing through its body. The alien cried out in pain for several long moments, that to both combatants seemed to be an eternity. Finally, mercifully, the alien brute fell silent as its body slumped to the ground.




Icon counted three smaller alien craft coming towards him from the West, and another four from the North. Icon veered toward the first three ships, which began firing plasma bolts at him as he approached. Icon took immediate evasive action, barrel rolling to the left and returning fire with an optic blast which nearly vaporized the first craft on impact. Icon lowered his head as he flew through the resulting fireball, slamming into the second craft which had been trailing close behind the first. Then, with a quick turn of his head and another optic blast, the cobalt and silver clad hero felled the third of the Westwardly alien fighter crafts.

Before Icon could look to get a position on the other four fighter crafts, a plasma bolt struck him from behind and above. The sudden attack was painful, and nearly knocked the wind out of him, he quickly realized that he had been on the receiving end of far worse. Suddenly he stopped his forward momentum and hovered in place. The first of the alien craft was moving to fast to register the fact that its target was no longer in motion. Icon reached back and drove a fist into the bow of the craft, sending a mixture of sparks and metal debris into the air an instant before the entire fighter exploded from the collision. The second fighter made its approach, firing multiple plasma bolts at Icon in rapid succession. Two of which hit him, however, Lost Haven's hero was able to steel himself against the incoming volley, and return fire with an optic blast which reduced the fighter craft to little more than a fireball falling from the sky. The two remaining fighters were eliminated in short order. Icon circled around and went in pursuit of the third craft, firing off a pair of optic blasts, one which sailed just to the left of the fighter, however, the second clipped the craft's wing, sending it into a tailspin where it crashed into Lost Haven Harbor. The final craft made its approach, firing hot plasma at the hero in rapid succession, however, Icon easily flew out of the way, avoiding the enemy fire. Icon circled around and flew through the alien fighter craft, sending the fiery wreckage crashing to the waters below.

Icon hovered in midair for a moment, quickly looking all around for any more of the pesky alien fight craft when a massive bolt of energy whizzed past his head on its way toward the city below, where it struck one of the city's skyscrapers. The building's ensuing collapse reduced it to rubble.

“NO!” Icon cried out as several more of the energy bolts rained down on the city. Icon spun toward the source of the attack, and came face to face with the large cigar shaped vessel, its cannons bared on the city below.





Bill Hoyt watched the events unfold in the city in horror with the rest of the employees who had remained in the office at Winstone International. As a member of the board of directors, he could have remained in his office and watched the events from there. However, he had never seen anything like this in all his years, and he didn't know if he, or anyone else for that matter would live to see another day. He started his career as a front desk receptionist for Alexa Winstone's grandfather over forty years ago. He worked his way up through the company to Executive Vice President, a position that he was so proud to see Alexa, who he had seen as a daughter of sorts, take over when he was again promoted to President.

He had sacrificed so much for Winstone International. The company had occupied so much of his life that he never had time for a wife or family. So he looked at his employees as his family. There was nothing that he wouldn't do for them, so if this truly was the end, he wanted to be right here among his family.

He hoped that somehow the world's heroes would again pull off a miracle and save the day. He had seen them save the world from Dr. Diplodoc's meta domes, he watched as they defeated the Hounds of Humanity and their space laser. He was also there when they repelled the actual forces of Hell and sent the demonic forces back to where they belong during D-Day. But somehow, this felt different, and he didn't know if the newly minted Guardians, even with help from the rest of the world's heroes would be enough this time. He still had a sliver of hope. However, that hope quickly evaporated when he saw the massive ball of energy, which to him appeared to be almost as bright as the sun, coming right toward him.

The impact eradicated everything, and everyone in the immediate impact zone. Metal beams twisted and melted, and the entire building trembled. Then, Winstone International, the third tallest building in Lost Haven cried out as it fell to Earth.



Radiance waited for her opponent to get closer. She had already taken down several of Arlaaekan flight suits, which in a way reminded her of the suit of armor worn by the Iron Knight, though they were not quite as stylish. The purple and black suits also seemed to be quite susceptible to electricity, which she found to be exceptionally convenient. So she waited, and when the suited alien got close enough, she wrangled the speeding suit of armor and released a powerful electrical discharge, which fried the suit's flight system, causing it to quickly lose altitude until it crashed to the city below.

She didn't have time to celebrate, as a bright bolt of energy lit up the sky as it raced toward the city. Then another, and another, each impacting buildings throughout Lost Haven, each target collapsing moments after impact. She wanted to be sick as she looked over the destruction in the city below. Then, as she surveyed the destruction, an icy chill ran down her spine as she saw the pile of rubble that sat where Winstone International had once stood.



Icon slammed shoulder first into the large, cigar shaped vessel just to the left of one of the massive cannons that adorned the side of the craft. He reached over and tore into the cannon's housing and yanked. He strained to pull the cannon free from the side of the craft. The metal groaned and whined in protest until finally, Icon separated the cannon from the ship. Then, like an oversized baseball bat, Icon swung the cannon, connecting with the cannon housed next to it. Black smoke poured out of the side of the ship as Icon moved onto the next cannon.

He flew around the ship, hitting each of the cannons with an optic blast, reducing each to smoldering craters in the ship's hull. Once he had taken out the cannons, Icon moved above the ship, only to find that it too was heavily armed. The ship's defenses began firing, rounds of hot plasma flew past him as he dodged to the left, and then again to the right. Once he was again over top of the ship, he let loose with a massive optic blast as he flew toward the ship. He maintained the onslaught as he crashed into the ship. Metal crunched as and surprised Arlaaekans cried out in shock as he drove himself all the way through the ship, emerging from the bottom of the hull. Thick black smoke poured from the ship's wounded hull, but Icon was not done. He flew along the bottom of the craft, releasing a sustained optic blast as he went. Once he had moved past the ship, he looked back just in time to see the craft separate into two halves, bout of which crashed down into the harbor below.

Icon took a deep breath as he watched the remains of the ship slip below the waves. With the immediate threat taken care of, Icon turned his attention to the massive black tower that now stood prominently over the Lost Haven as he raced back to the city.

“I suggest that while we still have a moment before anything else detects our presence and the element of surprise is gone, we’ll need to split the group up into two teams. One of the groups will fight our way to wherever they control the ship so we can get full control of the ship. Another group, possibly smaller, should try and find the place where they communicate with the rest of their forces and disable their communications. No point in trying to take control of their ship when their allies get word of what is happening and respond to our boarding party. Sound like a plan?”

“Wait, split the party?” Talus interjected at the Wanderer’s suggestion for tactics. “That’s a terrible idea! Anyone knows splitting the party is just asking for a TPK.”

Sounds like a potential tactic, although we shouldn’t devote too many of our numbers to it. While we might be able to delay reinforcements, it won’t take them long before they figure out something is wrong, especially because of the language barrier between them and us. The Son of Osiris mentally communicated with us, clearly ignoring Talus’ protests.

“Odysseus and I can head towards their communications center. This task calls for stealth and we’re the right men for the job,” Kensei told the group.

“And we should bring Talus with us. Someone has to tell the computer what to do,” Odysseus suggested.

“What? In my condition, I can’t even remotely control a PC. How am I supposed to interface with alien technology?”

“We’ll figure that out once we get there,” Kensei suggested.

“Do you think you can handle this stealth mission, Mr. Loud-mouth?” Odysseus taunted his teammate.

“None of you will have an issue with my aid,” Athena declared as she conjured a mist with a blue shimmer. This mystical shroud began to encircle us. “This should hide you all from the Arlaaekans’ vision, but it will not last forever, so you better hurry.”

Talus grumbled as Odysseus dragged him along with Kensei as they headed in the direction from where we initially landed on this ship. Athena had posited the Arlaaekan communications was probably located in that direction. I have no idea how she came to this conclusion, but considering she’s a goddess of wisdom, I suppose she knows what she’s talking about.

The rest of us hurried down the corridor in search of the bridge. Under Athena’s protection, we were able to dodge any patrols aboard the ship, although I had to skitter up the wall and onto the ceiling so I wouldn’t bump into any of them on accident. After a moment of bustling, we finally stumbled upon a large and important-looking blast doors.

While we were still hidden by Athena’s powers, we waited outside the doors until a group of Arlaaekan officers boarded the bridge. This provided us a small opening for springing our trap. Each of us picked a target and took our shot.

I yanked one of the Arlaaekan soldiers towards me and smashed his helmet with my fist. Despite my superhuman strength, I could still feel the pain from the impact with the incredible durable material used in his armor. Yet, I pushed through the pain, as the planet I called home was at risk.

Once the soldier had been knocked out from the unexpected and sudden blow to the face, I whipped the webline around, with the alien still attached and hurled him at another enemy before any of them could notice my presence, although with the entire brawl going down on the bridge, it would be pretty hard to not go unnoticed at this rate.

We made short work of the forces who manned the bridge. The only Arlaaekan left standing was a man who looked like the commanding officer of the ship. He remained unusually calm, considering he was surrounded by several superhumans aided by a goddess. After a short moment of silence, the alien started to speak, but none of us could understand him, as he spoke an alien language. A few seconds after he spoke, a mechanical sound began to click on his officer uniform, until he started to speak in English. Probably some sort of translator.

“Do you think you have won, Earthlings?” The captain declared in English, although we could still barely hear his alien tongue, as if whatever device that was translating his words was ‘talking' over him. “Even though you have gotten the jump upon my men, this is merely a [TRANSLATION ERROR – CULTURAL IDIOM, SEARCHING FOR APPROXIMATION, ‘Pyrrhic Victory’].”

A hologram of Lost Haven was projected in the center of the room. A gigantic spire had descended upon the city and made landfall, causing mass destruction.

“It is your doom,” the captain declared with a cruel smile on his face.

These were the moments he lived for.

The rhythmic pummeling of his fist into the bone and cartilege of the last Arlaaekan soldier. He kept wailing even after the invader fell. Black-green spray marking a point of difference from the usual sanguine splashback.

Far ahead, but closing fast he heard the shrill sound of another alien blast, from further within the depths of the ship. He scrambled for cover once more.

More blasts echoed down the passageways, before eerie silence, penetrated only by a strange new alien sound.

The Vigilante angled from cover and discovered what it was, with another sigh. This time in relief. It was the original Aquilifer. The old man floating slowly, but purposely through the deck in a protective hard-light bubble shield.

"You're lucky I realised it was you. I was about to give you more than you could handle."

The old man turned his head sharply in surprise at his sudden appearance, before relief and a smile crossed his face.

The ones in black... always playing in the shadows.

"I'm sure you were." The old rod wielder said with a chuckle that the Vigilante found to be oddly short of actual warmth.



The Vigilante's face screwed up in consternation, hidden well behind the balaklava. But before he could probe the elder hero for an answer to his questions, a bulkhead door opened and an officious voice broke his efforts. In overly crisp, learned english, but with an accent all his own.

"I think not." A polished boot emphatically touched down on their deck, followed by the rest of Admiral Keelan from the shadows, his officer's suit buffed to a sheen. "I have come to take everything; That which you freely gave as well as the power which was loaned to you. The term of our agreement has conclude." A wicked glower crossed his face. He was enjoying this. So seldom does one get to face the man who sold a world.

A shiver ran down Alan Coghlan's spine as he saw what Keelan held. One of the rods taken from a conquored world. He'd seen so many flicker across his vision in that desolate place which changed his life, he couldn't even place which rod or which world it was. And that made it worse. Staring down the face of what seemed fated.

Keelan's rod glowed bright, and seemed to pulsate with the power, will and intent of a driven man.

The Vigilante took one look across at the old Aquilifer and took a measure of the man. Seemingly staggered and frozen by this Arlaaekan officer's appearance.

"Were you aware your compatriot sold your world, sold you, for a brief glimmer of power?"



"...Tuesday." He uttered. Confusion seemed to cross the Admiral's face, until a flash of bright white teeth flickered from his balaklava in a leer as he moved almost as fast.

He drew nightsticks from his pack and swatted at the rod, he managed to connect, but not firmly enough to knock it from the Arlaaekan's clenched fist.

"I've fought demons rising from Hell, I've bested a literal god. A GOD! And I'm booked in to take out something which is planning to devour the goddamn multiverse! Alien shit-prick with designs on the Earth..? You're a sneaky Tuesday appointment at 11:45! I'm in-and-out and off to an early lunch in five minutes!"

The Vigilante tried his best to wrestle the rod to directions it could do no harm, pincering it with the two nightsticks and anchoring it to the floor with help from the gravity gauntlets. Pausing briefly he elbowed the Admiral in the teeth, with what little purchase he could get. The Admiral's alien physiology had raw strength on him, for all his toys and tricks.

"Of course if you want to BLOODY CHIME IN AT ANY POINT, YOU OLD BASTARD, you're welcome to it!" He yelled out to the Aquilifer, who until now was still frozen in place.

Alan was about to seize the advantage when Keelan kneed the Vigilante in the chest, pushed him off and aimed the Off-World Rod at his head, before holding up a remote with his other hand and pressing a button which projected a hologram next to the trio.

The hologram was of the Earth entire, which then rotated and zoomed in, rotated and zoomed in, rotated and zoomed in... until it showed an overhead image of a colossal matte black spire standing over Lost Haven.

"I trust you know what that is?" Keelan said to the Rod-Wielder. To his surprise, the response came from both Earth-men simultaneously.

"Yes." Both men sighed, feeling the full weight of the Purifier's presence.

"There's no-one else there." He said gently. "Is that realtime?"

"Yes." Keelan lied.

"Go." The Aquilifer said. His voice full of starch.

"Are you sure?" The Vigilante was hesitant. There was a play here, and he wasn't sure of exactly what it was. The world was in peril... It was in peril OUT THERE. One man, even a high-ranking officer in war-time couldn't countenance that.

"It's fine. I can take him. I've been using this thing since he was in diapers." For some reason Keelan's glower widened with curiosity at this comment.

The Vigilante picked up on deceit within the comment, but its cause was unclear and ambiguous. The former hero was a bad liar. But it wasn't a statement said without some level of confidence.

And time was running out.

"I'll save the world. You stomp his face in." He growled.

The Aquilifer smiled, as the pair of cross-generational heroes were finally on the same page. He turned and with one blast from the Golden Rod bore a hole clear through the side of the ship. A strong breeze rippled Alan's sagging suit, but he didn't feel frail and small within it anymore. In fact he felt better than he had in years.

The Vigilante fired a grapple line out to a rooftop far below, and with a short salute left the pair of Rod Wielders to their own fight.

---

---

The tides were low, here on the leeward side of the Terrarian coastal city of Cooktown. On the other side of the island, the nation's capital Georgetown had been levelled by a tidal wave, caused by early implementation of an Arlaaekan weapon which caused an initial strike of devastation, and then kept the city's survivors off balance with floods and electrical issues.

That left Cooktown as a strategic target of invasion, however. With less support coming from the eastern cities, it very much had to fend for itself against alien incursion. And without the help of the city's less than lawful self-proclaimed crime fighter, who seemed to have gone Missing in Action at the worst possible moment.

Less threatening civilians were being rounded up, all resistance annihilated. The invaders worked systemically, moving from the city center's highrise building to highrise building moving outwards, their influence sprawling across the city to the outer suburbs like an infection. Once this smaller locale was taken it would operate as a guardpost whilst straggled survivors from the eastern coast were brought in.

It only took a small cohort, there were no superpowered people here. No caped saviours. No cowled champions.

Only people.

The terrified. The small. The helpless.

And that's how Tony Morris felt as he was herded with the rest of his colleagues from his office into the transport vehicle. Accountants, financial planners. Suits, ties, long sleeves.

---

Knaves Motor cycle gang leader Russ Williams, found himself cornered in a drug den. Tables of automatic and semi-automatic weapons had allowed them to hold out against the invaders. They'd been cut off from their energy-weapons at the clubhouse closer to the Dockyards, but the conventional weaponry still held form.

The regional contingent would counter and converge on their point, but for now they remained one of the most stout hold-outs in the city. Pockets of holdouts with suicide-runstyle attacks by members of the Jesters Motor Cycle gang kept the Arlaaekan insurgents off-balance with chaotic shows of force, but the Knaves hold-outs seeemed to be the singular point of organised revolt.

---

Renee Stevens was being held in a facility north of Murrayfield, the high-rise building in the CBD which held the city-planning fundraiser was one of the earliest buildings hit. Food was scarce, as it had been in the compound for the last three days, which wasn't a good sign for their captors long-term plans for them. They seemed to be provided with barely enough basic essentials for survival to prevent a focused rebellion/escape attempt, but little enough that lethargy had settled in. The atmosphere was rich with hopelessness and a general malaise had set in.

Early on they had pooled their food, to ration it according to need, but now selfishness was starting to set in, with desperation for survival. Renee had given a quarter of her ration to a newly captured young girl who was scared some 12 hours ago.

As her stomach gurgled she began to wonder if she'd regret that decision.

---

Gunny watched on at the numerous screens from the Warroom, watching the consequences of decisions he was making, as men he commandeered died for the world in varying degrees of success.

The truth was, the war effort was looking far more positive than it had been when he'd taken command. Forces were rallying, and even the non-military metahuman forces he had no control over had found ways to counter and start making focused attacks on critical targets even without military oversight.

The Arlaaekans had shifted their point of attack to make a more pointed target of some seemeingly random street corner in Lost Haven, presumably countering a hero contingent they'd marked as high value. Since then it cost them a large ship with a sizable primary energy weapon, which had surprisingly been torn from the sky by the younger new Aquilifer.

The newest high value target on the Warroom's screen was a large black plinth that was in downtown Lost Haven, by Sherman Square. Metahuman heroes were converging on it and...

---

...the Purifier was less than a kilometer away now, Isaac thought to himself, as he threw gravity enhanced punches that sent him flying across the city-scape.

A dreadnaught gave chase, and the black-clad Vigilante took to the streets, remembering his last run-in with one of these overmuscled warriors a whole world away. He turned a corner and waited. He was the mouse, when he last faced these monsters. He had never had the gravity gauntlets then.

The ground shook as the brute approached the corner.

It seemed to block out the sun, as an uppercut with the force of a howitzer exploded into the teal beast's eye, sent it sailing across the skyline.

A wry grin flashed from his balaklava, before dropping just as fast as he saw one building from that skyline rapidly drop from view. He continued his end-run to Sherman Square at double-time, and the giant black tower that awaited the heroes congregating there.

When he finally found his way there he was met with a familiar group of heroes, who had suffered a greater battering than he was usually accustomed to seeing.

"Can't say I care for their architecture." He said, dwarfed by the colossal black monolith.

"Time we returned this bastard to sender..."

Into the Wild

Date (M/D/Y)/Time: 7/1/2014, Early Morning
Location: Morrigan’s castle, Feywild

---

Benjamin laid in his own guestroom, wide awake. The unfamiliar roof of the Morrigan castle stood above him and drew his attention. A strong scent of magic mingled with the mortar, betraying the truth of its unnatural beauty. Devil ivy pushed itself through the cracks and circled his bed in a veil. Such formations were strange by human standards, but common among the fey.

The young werewolf questioned the information’s authenticity. Their host was fey after all and according to the stories, they lacked the same morals.

A heavy sigh rumbled through the teenager's chest.

No matter how hard Benjamin tried, he couldn't sleep. Yesterday's events spiraled within his thoughts, forcing him to face his chaotic emotions.

During their research on the house, they discovered a tragic history. According to the news of the time, a young boy had been sacrificed by a cult and a fire broke out in the house. All inside had been reported dead. In the wake of their ignorance, the cultists left behind a confused and hurt poltergeist. His pain etched scars across the immaterial body for all to see. The idea of suffering all the pain, lost and alone, made Benjamin’s stomach curl.

Thankfully, they put the boy’s spirit to rest without casualties.
His body sat upright suddenly. He flipped his legs over the edge of the bed and rose to his feet.

During his contemplation, dawn floated through the window panes. It pushed the shadows back to their corners where they lay in wait for nightfall again.

His thoughts turned to their current host, the Morrigan. An age weathered woman with long, wispy hair and dressed in outdated clothing. It was something he had seen in movies rather than the history books. When he asked Athena what Morrigan was, Athena simply said a witch.

That answer didn’t satisfy him.

Something darted just outside of his sight. The light flew right past the veil of ivy and disappeared behind the head board. Benjamin tensed, his eyes staring at the point. Instinctively, his nostrils inhaled. A‌n earthy sweet scent entered his nose causing his surprise to melt into anger. As if sensing the ruse was up, several dots of lights floated out and phased through the roof.

“Good riddance,” Benjamin snapped as he freshened up, expecting Athena to arrive any moment.

While the heroes of Pacific Point were storming the Arlaaekan capital ship’s bridge and threatening to capture Captain Tri’Karda, the officers and engineers on the communication deck were blissfully ignorant about the ship’s current predicament. They had been tasked with overseeing the powering and discharging of the Psionic Inducer. Although these Arlaaekans had received news about the Purifier, they were ordered to continue preparing the Psionic Inducer, just in case they needed it if their other plans happened to fall through.

So attentively were these Arlaaekans at their work, almost none of them noticed the blast doors slide open. One poor soul just so happened to glance up at the room’s entrance. But when he took a few steps in that direction, he only saw an empty hall. Befuddled, the junior officer turned to go back to his position, only to have a magical arrow pierce straight through his chest. With a thud, did he crumble to the ground.

Almost as if he had come out of nowhere, Kensei rushed into the communication deck and began cutting down the Arlaaekans. His sudden appearance, along with arrows and laser beams flying this way and that, hurled the room into chaos. The remaining Arlaaekans scrambled to put up any sort of defense against the heroes, but only in vain.

Amidst the carnage, an Arlaaekan engineer crawled towards the control panel. Silver blood poured down her forehead. The console display revealed the progress of the Psionic Inducer’s charge: only 72%. Although it was not nearly enough to reach its max potential, it was still enough to cause mass casualties. She reached out her hand towards the switch for activating the Psionic Inducer.

“Odysseus!” Kensei shouted after slaying another Arlaaekan. He pointed towards the Arlaaekan engineer at the control panel with his sword to indicate what should be his next target. Odysseus drew his bow and launched a well-aimed arrow at the engineer. However, even though the arrow struck the Arlaaekan in the head, the forward momentum of her body caused her corpse to land on the switch and activated the Psionic Inducer.

The three heroes hurried to the console panel and pulled the Arlaaekan’s body from the controls. As none of them could read the alien script displayed on the panels, all they could do is wonder what she had activated.

---

Athena watched Captain Tri’Karda gloat about the futility of the heroes’ surprise counterstrike against the Pacific Point capital ship and the inevitability of Arlaaekan victory. However, before anyone could take any sort of action, the entire ship lurched.

Fear is normally an alien concept for gods. While not entirely unknown to them, immortals normally have little to fear. But now a chill ran down Athena’s spine as she deduced what had happened. She immediately and effortlessly teleported outside the capital ship, where she beheld the Psionic Inducer: a purple light began to swirl around the exterior frame of the spire and then loop straight up into a giant spherical conduit situated at the base of the spire. As this sphere slowly produced an ever brighter purple glow, the Psionic Inducer threatened to destroy the city below.

Still invisible to the mortal eye, Athena zipped up to the spire that housed the Psionic Inducer. Right when she arrived there, the weapon fired and had Athena not been an immortal goddess with superhuman reflexes, the Psionic Inducer would have blasted her point blank. Instead, she whipped out her aegis and hurled it into the weapon’s path. The force of the weapon’s blast nearly dislodged Athena from her foothold on the spire. Nonetheless, she stood strong.

While Athena knew that she could probably hold this position indefinitely, she noticed some of the energy from the Psionic Inducer was beginning to overflow beyond the seams of her magical aegis. Therefore, she realized that she needed to destroy the conduit while also preventing the beam the Psionic Inducer was emitting.

She needed to reveal her true form.

Athena rotated around the aegis and placed herself in front of the Psionic Inducer’s laser. Her pale skin began to crack, much like a porcelain doll. A radiant light began pouring forth from these cracks. Piece by piece, these shards crumbled off her body until she appeared like a being of pure energy, glowing like the sun.

An explosion of divine energy, much like a nuclear detonation but without the deadly radiation, erupted from Athena’s true form, vaporizing the neighboring structure of the spire. With the Psionic Inducer’s conduit now destroyed, the entire system short-circuited, causing another explosion that signaled the end of this weapon’s threat towards the city of Pacific Point.

With her work done, Athena returned to Olympus, where she could regenerate her physical form. Without it, she could not aid the mortals without putting them in harm’s way. Now, it was up to the heroes to defeat the Arlaaekans.

As Icon approached the Purifier, he was surprised to find that the massive black monolith was much more imposing the closer he got.

“That…is the end of the world.” Flux’s words again echoed in the back of his mind as he looked over the structure for any obvious weaknesses, and just as he expected, he found none. There were no seams, no “cracks in the armor,” so to speak. It appeared to be a single solid construct of impossible design.

As he approached the base of the Purifier, he could see that some of the Guardians had already begun to assemble before the alien structure. Iron Knight, Radiance, and Flux had already gathered. He could see Lyger making his way there traveling across the rooftops, with Terra Firma landing close by not long after. Icon slowly descended to the ground, landing between Radiance and Flux, when suddenly a voice called out, a voice belonging to someone he hadn’t seen upon his approach.

“Can’t say I care for their architecture…Time we returned this bastard to sender…”

“Well, what do you boys say we blow this thing to Hell?!” Radiance said as she looked up at the massive structure.

The Vigilante marched up to the obsidian tower, peering upwards towards the enormity of its height, and remembered that the rod they provided the Aquilifer with was powered by a type of alien magic. Remembering the portal to Hell, he started to take off the gravity gauntlet over his right hand, swung his arm over a few times, rotating his shoulder, he reared back for a haymaker, and…

…shattered almost every bone in his right hand. The tower remained otherwise undisturbed other than a small smear of red blood trickling down the base.

"Alright. Not constructed by magic. Good to know. Big Blue, have at it. I just softened it up for you."

“I don’t need to be the smartest man in the room to realize punching this alien spire will not achieve anything,” Iron Knight suggested after witnessing one of his fellow Guardians shattering his hand against the metal exterior of the Arlaaekan superweapon. “We need some sort of plan of attack. I would normally try to hack into this thing, but I can’t risk either compromising my armor to whatever is running this machine or speeding up the countdown to doomsday.”

Chris then turned to Flux. Since she had aided him and many other heroes in the final confrontation with the Hounds of Humanity, Chris knew he could trust her. For, had the Hounds crushed the heroes of Lost Haven, Arlaaekan victory would have certainly been assured, as without the heroes, there would have been far less resistance against the alien invasion.

“Any insights on how we can get rid of this metallic monstrosity?”

Ping.

An arrowhead on some cabling, while it didn’t bury itself into the hard surface, found purchase on the Purifier. Moments later, Fletch skidded towards the gathering heroes of the tower, her body still aching from the shockwave of the Purifier’s impact on Earth and stops a few metres away from the group. Looking at the towering object on the planet, she gathered herself as she hobbled over to the rest of the group. As the group tried a few ideas about dealing with the threat, her mind thought back to the alien tank, of all places. While her mind was still wanting to shut down with everything that was overwhelming her, the same question came to h er mind. As she looked up when reaching the group, her head tilted towards Iron Knight.

”Hey Iron Knight. Not sure what this is or what it is capable of, but would you say this is also something that is driven on electronic circuits?“

“The probability is definitely high, but this structure is composed of some sort of alloy of unknown origin. For all we know, the fruits of our labors would merely be turning my armor into a large and quite expensive paperweight. Let’s keep the EMP in our back pocket as a last ditch effort.”

”About that. I assume you would have already done this if it was possible; but would you happen to have any sort of penetrating radar to peek inside?” Terra added, gesturing hand towards the aliens’ unsightly tower.

“Unfortunately, the alien alloy seems to be interfering with my scanners. But whatever is inside, it cannot be good.”

As the heroes debated the best course of action to deal with the massive monolith, Icon noticed movement coming from the top of the tower. It was as if the top of the Purifier was opening, and a large plate-like structure began to position itself at the peak.

“I think we may be running out of time.” Icon said as he lifted off the ground and raced skyward. Once Icon had ascended to the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere, he slowed his ascent to a stop and then repositioned himself, facing Lost Haven below. From his position high above the city, he locked onto the tower’s position and accelerated toward it. Icon thought that despite the Vigilante’s lack of decorum, he might have been right when it comes to how best to deal with the alien superweapon. As Icon approached the city, he steadily increased his speed.

Once he was again within the city’s limits, Icon increased his speed yet again, this time, a thunderous boom echoed as the cobalt and silver clad hero shattered the sound barrier just before he collided with the Purifier. To say that the collision lacked the desired effect would have been a massive understatement. Instead of driving himself through the tower, causing the gigantic monolith to collapse in on itself, Icon found himself careening away from the structure, crashing through one side of a nearby skyscraper and out the other side, his momentum propelling him away from the tower.

After several long moments, the stunned hero was able to regain control of his faculties and slow his trajectory. He again directed himself toward the structure and, feeling deflated and embarrassed he touched down at the base of the structure near the other heroes.

[b] “It doesn’t look like a physical assault is going to get the job done. Let’s hit this thing with everything we’ve got. Maybe we can overload the damn thing.” Icon said as his eyes began glowing with a crimson energy before he unleashed a massive optic blast at the tower.

Terra nodded, and formed up alongside Icon. ”Right behind you!“ He said, then took a wide stance. His arms spread out to the sides, swiftly crossed over his chest, lightning shimmered into existence around his forearms then shot towards the tower in a horizontal arc as he flung his arms out.

“That had to do it.” Radiance said as the gathered heroes relented in their assault on the Purifier. The mightiest heroes on Earth had unleashed their full might upon the menacing structure in an unprecedented attack that by rights should have collapsed a mountain. However, as the dust from the attack settled, they could see that the attack not only failed to topple the monolith, it didn't even make a dent.
“How is that possible?” Lyger asked aloud to no one in particular, astonishment rang in his voice.

“That doesn't matter.” Icon said. “What matters is, is there anything else we can do?” Icon said just as a radiant shimmering light began to emanate from the top of the structure.

“There might be.” Flux said as her eyes widened with a sudden realization. She paused for a moment, as if trying to recall something that had been hidden away in her memory, the details of which had faded with the passage of time. She looked up at the monolith, scanning its surface as if searching for something. Then after she seemingly found what she was looking for, she pointed excitedly.

“There!” She exclaimed, still pointing at a specific point on the Purifier.

“What are we looking at?” Lyger asked as he looked up in the general direction that Flux had indicated.

“An exhaust port. If my memory serves me correctly, it leads right to the heart of the Purifier. If we can hit it with enough energy, it should temporarily bring down the defenses, shields and all. It'll leave it vulnerable until the system can reset itself. We should be able to bring it down before the shields come back up.” Flux explained.

“Right. Then what do you say we stop standing around and hit that thing with everything we got?” Radiance said, eager to end the threat of the Purifier once and for all.

“It's....not that simple.” Flux said, her voice taking a darker tone. She paused as she tried to find her next words. “It has to be done from inside the machine. The exhaust port should be large enough for someone to get inside and detonate the attack. But whoever goes in will be engulfed by the purging light. It's a one way trip.”

The gathered heroes stood in silence as they pondered what Flux had just told them. In order for them to save the world, someone would have to make the ultimate sacrifice. The reality of the situation set in for everyone, and after a brief moment of contemplation, Icon stepped forward.

“I'll do it.” He said as he looked at the manhole sized opening just under the emitter which was releasing an increasing amount of the shimmering light.

“Are you sure? I don't think that even...you could survive.” Flux said as she looked upon Icon.

“I'm sure.” Icon said, looking away from his teal skinned ally.

He looked back up to the monstrous construct, and was about to lift off, probably for the last time, when he felt a gentle tug on his arm. He looked back and his eyes met those of Radiance, and a sudden pang of nearly unbearable sorrow washed over him as he saw the pain in her eyes. Her grip on his arm strengthened as she leaned against him.

“Scott...” Her voice cracked as she said his name. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn't.” He said softly in his own voice. “You know that this is the only way.” Icon said.

“Scott, you don't have to do this.” She said, almost pleading. A plea that she knew better than anyone, would fall on deaf ears.

“If not me, who?” Icon said as she pulled him closer. “It has to be me. There's no other way.”

“It's just not fair. This was supposed to be our wedding day. This was supposed to be the start of our life together.” She cut herself short, not wanting to verbalize what she was thinking

“I love you, Alexa.” He said as he leaned in to kiss his love one last time.

Suddenly, the deafening roar of thunder, the sound as intense as a thousand locomotives racing toward a singular destination reverberated throughout the city as a massive thunderbolt crashed down atop of Icon. As the immense jolt of electricity coursed through his body, Icon felt as though his bones were breaking one by one. By the time the second bolt of lightning struck him, his legs were completely useless, and he was unable to move.

“I love you too. Alexa said as she looked down at her fallen lover. “Forgive me.” She said as she took to the skies and made her way toward the Purifier.

“You've saved us all so many times, it's time that we repay the favor-” She said, almost to herself. Though, she knew that with his highly sensitive hearing, that Scott would be able to hear every word. “-even if it means saving you from yourself...I love you Scott, I hope you understand.” She said as she made her ascent.

Scott, from the first day that I met you, I knew that there was just something special about you. Right from the start, you were honest and open with me, and you invited me into your world without looking back. As days turned to months, I've seen firsthand what a remarkable person you are through and through. As she rose through the sky, Radiance’s thoughts shifted to something that had been heavy on her mind for several months. Something that she had thought about and labored over almost every minute of every day, something that had been interrupted by the invading armada as she had just begun to recite...her wedding vows.

You are so full of warmth that you lift me up and provide me with strength when I feel that all is lost. I am constantly grateful for your open heart and profound empathy. You inspire me constantly to slow down and lean into the moments I love the most: the companionship, the intimate moments that we share, the journey. Whereas I am like a hot air balloon, ready to jet off at a moment's notice, you are the pilot that grounds me when I need fuel.

Silently she made her way up along the monolith until she reached obsidian grates that covered the exhaust vent. She examined the opening, and determined that she should be able to squeeze in between the grates without too much trouble. She contemplated slipping in through the grates, but hesitated. With a thought, an electrical field covered her entire body, giving it a slight illumination. She hoped that the field might buy her enough time to overload the Purifier before…

Without you, I would slowly deflate and come crashing down to Earth; but with you, I have direction and safety...and peace. Someone once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” I will continuously work to know better and be better for you-in mind, body, and heart. When life is smooth sailing, and when challenges arise; I promise to always be there for you, to work together through all of life's twists and turns, and most of all, to provide a lifetime of adventures and new opportunities. And everything, always, with all the love I have to offer.

She looked down to the heroes that were still gathered at the base of the monolith, some were tending to Icon, who despite his best efforts, was still unable to get to his feet. She watched him for a moment, and memories flooded back. The first time she saw him in public, and how his mere presence left her in awe. To how she deduced his secret identity after the whole Diplodoc fiasco. She remembered their first date, to the moment that he proposed, to the moment she walked down the aisle just minutes before their nuptials had been interrupted by an invading alien force. She took one last look at him, and wiped a tear from her eye as she slid inside the exhaust vent.

I love you with all my heart, with all my soul; head, shoulders, knees and toes. With every inch of my being, and with every thought, I love you.

She was immediately engulfed in the burning white light that flowed through the Purifier. At first, the electrical field seemed to hold, however, it was only a momentary respite. The light burned, but even as every nerve ending in her body screamed out in pain, she reached down deep and expelled the most powerful electrical charge that she had ever been able to summon. The lights in the Purifier flickered, but continued to shine. Then she summoned up another electrical blast, the lights flickered again. Then another, and another, each charge larger in scale than the last.

It was getting harder for her to focus, her breathing was becoming labored. Her eyelids were becoming heavy. The temptation to give in and succumb to the Purging Light was real, however, she knew that she couldn't give up. She couldn't let them down, she couldn't let HIM down. So she reached down one more time, and unleashed an electrical torrent within the confines of the Purifier even as the burning white light tried to claim her. She let out a guttural scream as she expelled the last of her energy. And with that, the Purging Light within the Purifier flickered, and then went dark, and with her final breath, Alexa Winstone, the hero known as Radiance, truly became immortal.
Icon struggled to get to his feet, even with the help of the Iron Knight and Lyger. Staggering, he watched as the Purifier went dark. Overcome with panic, he somehow was able to leave his feet, and without a thought he rocketed into the air toward the exhaust vent. As he reached the vent, he grabbed the obsidian grates and pulled them from the body of the monolith. He forced himself several feet into the weapon until he could feel Alexa.

“No, oh god no.” He repeated over and over as he pulled her from the infernal machine. With his enhanced hearing, he listened, but could not hear her heartbeat. “Oh, no, no, no, no...” he said with tears in his eyes.

“Come on baby, please.” He said as he cradled her to his chest and made the slow descent back down to the Earth. When he landed, he laid her lifeless body on the ground, and knelt down beside her, cradling her head to his chest. “Alexa, it should have been me.....it should have been me.” He cried, unaware of the others who had gathered around them.

“Now's our chance.” Lyger's gruff voice broke the silence. “Hit that son of a bitch with everything you've got!”

Terra looked on at the sight of Icon cradling a woman, crying awful tears over her. While he had merely been acquainted with Icon, even Terra could tell what had just happened. Terra couldn’t help but wonder if they were married yet, or if they were dating. As he pondered their situation, his mind dwelled on his own. If he had to witness his own wife dying before his eyes, just what would he do? It was an awful thought, taking great will to shake off. Right now, he looked forward to seeing his family again, to hold them in his own arms. Before that though, he had to wrap things up here. Being neither a friend nor family to Icon, he could only offer prayers from within his own mind, as well as help bring this story to a close.

”Icon, fall back, you’ve done enough.” Terra said firmly, his voice filled with reassurance, as he then shifted his attention towards the Purifier. ”And now, the end!”

The air around Terra suddenly snapped with energy. Spreading his arms out wide, a radiant energy, pulsating with raw power, began to gather in Terra's palms, growing in intensity with each second he held that pose. Ruby embers danced and swirled around his arms as they imprinted his movements into the air. Bringing his hands together in front of his head, Terra gathers the pure energy of the Earth, his pity, and Icon’s sorrow all into the pulse of power within his palms. In one swift, sharp motion, Terra shoots his arms out to the side, launching a powerful and vibrant ray towards the vile machine.

Even before Iron Knight formed the Guardians with Icon, the two superheroes had already endured many trials: demons, Knightmare, Doctor Diplodoc, and even the Hounds of Humanity. In each of these crises, the assembled heroes emerged victorious. The closest anyone had come to losing their life was when the Hounds of Humanity used their orbital satellite against Iron Knight and placed him into a coma. Yet, during the Arlaaekan Invasion, three Guardians had fallen and there was nothing the others could have done to prevent it.

Iron Knight saw that his friend was in pain. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Icon, Radiance, and a few other future members of the Guardians had rendezvoused at Settler’s Clearing in response to the mutagenic domes Doctor Diplodoc formed across the United States. Neither Icon nor Radiance told it to Iron Knight, but it was clear even on that day that there was something between the two.

As a friend and fellow Guardian, Iron Knight knew he should be consoling Icon. However, the fate of the world was on the line. If whoever of the Guardians still standing could not capitalize on the sudden vulnerability of the alien device, countless more lives would perish and Radiance’s sacrifice would have been in vain.

“Let’s focus our fire on the same spot,” Iron Knight declared as he fired a laser at the Arlaaekan doomsday weapon and focused his aim at the very same spot Terra Firma had.

As if on cue, the remaining Guardians, save for Icon, opened fire with everything they had on the Purifier. However, this time was different. Without the protection of its defense system, the Purifier absorbed the combined assault of Earth’s protectors. The massive monolithic structure heaved under the assault, until finally, the Purifier began to buckle and sway. Then, there was a deafening crack as the Purifier began to collapse in upon itself.

The sudden collapse of the monolith set forth a massive clastic flow, rubble and debris rushed out in all directions threatening to envelope anyone within it. As the massive cloud of dust and debris rushed toward the heroes, they suddenly found themselves within a protective bubble, keeping them safe from the onrushing debris. At the center of the protective shield stood Flux, who strained to keep the shield up against the onslaught of the clastic flow. For what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only several moments, Flux struggled as debris from the monolith battered the shield, until finally the flow finally passed, and the dust began to settle.

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Lyger said unable to mask the amazement in his voice.

“Neither did I,” Flux admitted breathlessly.

Once the flow had abated and the scene cleared, the remaining Guardians looked upon the wreckage of what had once been the Purifier, now reduced to a harmless pile of rubble, and could only wonder, and brace for, whatever would come next.



Miles above Earth in the Arlaaekan mothership, Captain Jin’Karyon found himself staring at the reports from the battlefield, and suddenly wanted to sit down. Suddenly, he felt flush and his legs felt like lead.

“Impossible.” He said under his breath, his words barely audible, even to himself.

“What is it, Captain?” Came a voice from behind him. The voice made him shudder.

“It appears…My Lord, that the so-called heroes of Earth have managed to somehow…-” Jin’Karyon paused for a moment, not wanting to be the one to deliver bad news to the Autocrat. He had heard tales of those who had displeased their ruler, and wanted to avoid becoming yet another cautionary tale. However, he knew that making the Autocrat wait posed its own dangers, so he decided to come out with it. “-destroyed the Purifier.”

For a long moment, the Autocrat stood in silence. As hard as he tried, Jin’Karyon could not decipher what was going through the ruler’s mind. Finally, the Autocrat let out a long, slow breath.

“Prepare the teleporter, Captain. I am going to deal with these ‘heroes.’” the Autocrat finally said.

“Should I prepare the Elite Guard as well, My Lord?” Jin’Karyon asked.

“No. I am going to deal with them myself.” The Autocrat said as he departed the bridge.

From the roof of the Chambers Building, Zeus beheld the events of the assault on the Purifier unfold. After Radiance’s sacrifice had rendered the Arlaaekan doomsday device inactive and the heroes had reduced it to rubble, the clay figures representing the fallen heroine and the alien spire on Zeus’ golden scales crumbled into a pile of dust and scattered to the wind. Despite this victory for the heroes, the golden scales still teetered, with the fates of humanity and the Arlaaekans in the balance.

While Zeus contemplated the potential outcomes of the Arlaaekan invasion, Maia’s son zoomed to the top of the Chambers Building to bring tidings to his royal father.

“Zeus, the Father of Gods and Men, I have ill news to report, and my heart grows heavy with each passing moment these words have yet to reach your ears.”

“Take heart, my son, and speak up. For a messenger should have no fear of the Lord of Olympus, as my vengeance shall only smite the wrongdoer.”

“Kronides, the hubris of the Arlaaekans knows no bounds. The extraterrestrials have turned one of their weapons against your daughter, motherless Pallas Athena, born from your knowledgeable head. Although it is a fool’s errand to try to destroy an immortal, an Arlaaekan weapon of mass destruction has temporarily stripped your daughter of her physical form. Surely you shall not allow such outrage, against an immortal no less, to go unpunished!”

Upon hearing this dreadful news from Hermes, Zeus beat his breast and bellowed with rage. The pounding of his hand and the roar of his voice resounded across the city.

“Bring me my thunderbolts,” Zeus demanded. His eyes began to glow while sparks of electricity sparked from his eyes.

---

When the monolith collapsed and sent dust and debris in all directions, Chris instinctively activated his armor’s defensive energy bubble. However, he discovered he would not need them, as all the heroes assembled in Sherman Square marveled at all the rubble striking against a force field that was not standing there a moment before. The protection was courtesy of Flux, of course.

“Stay sharp, everyone. I doubt breaking the aliens' little toy will send them packing.”

Before Chris could say anything else, a peculiar-sounding crackle of thunder roared above the city. Looking up, he noticed the sky above Lost Haven had grown dark. Before the invasion, Mother Nature had graced the Mainer metropolis with a pleasant summer day. One could easily blame the smoke rising from Lost Haven’s destruction for blocking the sun, but storm clouds definitely were filling the sky.

Chris swore the thunderclap sounded like a man’s bellow, but he just chalked it up to his imagination. Yet, he still could not explain why there was no lightning strike before the thunder.

Well, that was the case until the light show started. Bolts of lightning repeatedly rained down from the heavens and struck various Arlaaekan spacecraft zooming around Lost Haven’s skyline. While this divine retribution did not eliminate the Arlaaekan forces, it at least helped thin the herd and lighten the burden on the heroes.

“I hope that’s you helping us, Radiance,” Chris muttered. It was quite the coincidence the lightning storm showed up and wrecked some of the Arlaaekans right after the electricity-based heroine, Radiance, had just sacrificed herself to save humanity. But how else could Chris reconcile what had happened besides Radiance’s final gift to her allies, the Guardians?