 
ALPHA VS. OMEGA

by

John J. Vinacci

Copyright © 2017 by John J. Vinacci

All rights reserved. This work or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America.

Smashwords Edition, 2017

John J. Vinacci  
Kihei, HI 96753

johnjvinacci@gmail.com

TIMELINE

Prologue

Dec. 31, 2023

Circa 1800

Jan 1, 2024

May 3, 2019

Aug. 27, 2019

Aug. 27-28, 2019

Sept. 8, 2019

Oct. 22, 2019

Oct. 23, 2019

Nov. 1, 2019

Nov. 11, 2019

Nov. 13, 2019

Jan. 23, 2020

Feb. 19, 2020

Circa 1860

Date Unknown

April 22, 2020

May 1, 2020

May 10, 2020

May 27, 2020

May 28, 2020

July 16, 2024

May 29, 2020

June 19, 2020

June 5, 2020

June 12, 2020

July 1, 2020

December 13, 2057

July 4, 2020

July 19, 2020

July 30, 2020

December 15, 2057

August 20, 2020

August 26, 2020

August 27, 2020

August 28, 2020

Circa 2024 AD

August 28, 2020

August 28, 2020

Everywhere all at once

October 5, 2024

April 26, 2056

October 6, 2024

October 5, 2024

October 6, 2024

October 6, 2024

October 7, 2024

October 7, 2024

October 29, 2019

October 4, 2024

Prologue

Somewhere in time there lingered a longing and sorrow no short-lived human being could ever know. Alone in the early universe, among the expanding infinite, something abandoned spoke lonely words. If any other life existed they would have heard the words echo throughout the soundless vacuum of space...

"YOU SAID THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT PRISON FROM WHICH I COULD NOT ESCAPE. YOU ARE WRONG."

The future had been warned.

December 31, 2023...The Sun

Hidden in the million degree plasma of the Sun's corona, she was an infinitesimal speck. Ella Baudin – Arclight – imprisoned herself there as something intangible, a being of conscious photons, waited for the moment she can go back home.

Home. It was a word that stirred memories of something simpler for Ella: A small rustic town in the Midwest where everyone knew everyone else. She recalled home as a place that was never exciting – she could count on any number of people to have the same problems day after day – but given the past few years she would welcome returning to her often absentee husband and caring for her mentally ill, physically ailing mother. She regarded these troubles as those of an ordinary life, a better life even, feeling that she had lived and seen more than she would have ever cared to since the day her super human powers manifested. Although she would have gladly given up her powers, she never discovered a way to rid herself of them. And so she knew going home may be a day that never came. That realization sometimes made her think she should have chosen death when she had the chance. She still could; a single thought can send herself, send everyone, right back to the moment before The Cataclysm.

For just over three years, Ella has been self-exiled in hopes of finding a way to redeem herself for The Cataclysm, the annihilation wave that leveled San Francisco. That catastrophe claimed the lives of nearly a million innocent people and, supposedly, nineteen super humans. She banished herself to the Sun as punishment for The Cataclysm; after all, she was the catalyst, The Cataclysm's hero-come-executioner. She wishes she hadn't, but The Cataclysm was the only course of action she foresaw that would result in an end to all the wars on Earth. Being able to see multiple futures at the moment of her possible death, she decided – alone – that the Cataclysm was the only option worth taking. But there was a problem; though she could see this and every other future back then, there came a point she could not see beyond; a blackout. Was it the fulfilment of K'un L'u's warning?

Despite her current state as a being of pure energy, Ella's stomach was both heavy with a boulder and a bottomless pit of guilt. If only she hadn't been so carelessness, letting Deathcamp get that close to her during the battle against The Nameless. Thing was, Kaitlin – by Ella's side at the time – had frozen in action well. What happened? Nonetheless, she should have been more alert to the entirety of the battlefield, such as it was. If she'd been alert, if she hadn't been so angry at the time which let Deathcamp close enough to put his blade to her, she wouldn't have seen all the possible timelines that diverged upon the moment of her 'death.' Faced with thousands of choices with only a split second to choose before an imminent hereafter, Ella chose to spare her own life. In doing so, she chose one timeline over all others and suffered the consequences.

Ever alone as the Sun's super-heated plasma wisped harmlessly around her, Ella sought atonement in relentlessly scanning the stars for suitable planetary systems where she can safely relocate, in part or in whole, the nineteen super powered human beings she held in stasis. It would be easier to kill them, she thinks sometimes. She entertains this thought often. What is a few more lives after the near million I have taken? But then I would be everything The Nameless said I should be, everything he thinks WE should be. But there is the future to consider, that moment I cannot see beyond. Why can't I see beyond it? She has wondered this since her self-imposed exile. Coming no closer to an answer, she acknowledged the reality of the situation. I'm sparing them just in case, aren't I?

For a nostalgic moment she looked upon the Earth, towards home, where world peace had finally been achieved in no small part due to who she left behind.

Circa 1800 A.D...Deep Space

It is a sphere of hell concealed by the sheen of heaven. A perfectly smooth and glossy black sphere seven miles in diameter resonated in the void of space between worlds. Below the sphere lie the scorched and smoldering ruins of what was once the most peaceful and benign advanced civilization the universe could ever know. Strewn across the rubble, the remains of the planet's inhabitants were so charred that who and what they were would forever remain unknown. It was the second to last planet in the universe to harbor sentient life.

Inside the depths of the sphere, a nine foot tall humanoid surveyed what was taken from the world below. A small, bright pink orb held against its head fed the lanky green creature streams of unusual data, information it needs to satisfy someone – some thing – other than itself. It thinks that what it has done to all those creatures below was regrettable, but then the androgynous alien thought that after every such encounter, even now, after thousands of conquests. But it had been given a choice that was no choice. That is, one of the two choices offered was no choice any conscious, rational being would agree to.

This rational being – Hyper Superion – remembered the day when ... first came to its world many oscillations ago. A promise of peace was given then summarily and malevolently taken away. Its civilization had never encountered something like ... before, didn't know how to respond. But something occurred to the extraterrestrial the moment ... turned on its promise. Hyper Superion rebelled. It was the only one on its planet to do so. That is why it was the only creature spared, because it resisted, because it was a Seedling. Maybe had it not resisted the alien would not be in this situation now? No, it thinks, ... would have just enlisted another. The same deal would have been offered and some other being and would be standing where they were now, planning one more – one more – conquest.

What would happen after that final victory the alien did not know. Would it be freed or would it remain bound? For the time being, the conqueror was compelled to serve by the threat of an eternal damnation. Though the worlds it has conquered had suffered tremendously, none of that suffering was eternal. Hyper Superion knew long ago, when it was the last inhabitant of its world standing, that the eternal damnation offered by ... was not a threat, rather, a promise the unnamed, unspeakable creature could indeed fulfil.

Hyper Superion brought the pink orb away from its head and the orb's light dimmed as it was lowered to the being's side. A lengthy neck turned the alien's bulbous head toward a three-dimensional, thirty foot high screen from which it studied interstellar space. It reached out one of its three green fingers to touch the screen. "There," it said. The alien turned again, this time towards a gelatinous insectoid in a web-like matrix of orange light. "There; set a course and proceed. Time until intercept?"

"Zzzeven ozzzilazzzionzzz, Hyperrr Zzzuperrrion, zzzirrr," the insectoid answered.

Can I plead for forgiveness when I conquer without mercy? Will there be any forgiveness to be had after I snuff the last flicker of life from existence? Hyper Superion's mind wondered like this often. No, I have done the bidding of ... so I should not think forgiveness will ever granted. I am beyond forgiving. Yet still I ask. Forgive me, the alien thought gazing deep into the 3D monitor, contemplating a faint pale-yellow star. Forgive me. We are coming.

As if troubled by Hyper Superion's thoughts, the great black sphere rumbled low out of some inner abyss. The alien knew what was next. There were only moments for it to command the yellow rings that bound its wrists and ankles to act.

"Protect!"

The yellow rings promptly burned hot and exerted a force field just strong enough to protect itself and the insectoid navigator from the crushing might of an ancient and cavernous voice. A disembodied voice spoke from everywhere at once.

"REPORT."

"Subjugation, extraction, and termination of the inhabitants of planet 10011 is complete. We have plotted a course for the planet designated 'Earth'. Projected time until arrival is seven oscillations. Preliminary data indicates the planet will likely be protected by –" It did not want to report the following news but realized ... already knows. How could ... not know as they have not encountered the mutineer that escaped thirty oscillations ago and there was only one planet left to conquer? "– protected by K'un L'u. Besides the mutineer we do not expect any substantial resistance."

"YOU DO NOT EXPECT?"

The repulsive force exerted by Hyper Superion's protective rings began to weaken.

"I do not understand why but our algorithms that predict the future are so far inconclusive. However, there is nothing in the planet's history or future-scan to suggest that they have the means to resist my forces. As usual, the future-scan does suggest that there is a strong probability that a Seedling will manifest itself shortly before our arrival. But from what we've seen of the civilizations we've conquered up until now, it is unlikely that the Seedling will be of sufficient power to be much of an obstacle and should be captured without much difficulty. However, since she knows our plan, I am not certain how the Seedling will be treated once it is identified by K'un L'u. Once K'un L'u is neutralized, though, Earth's inhabitants will suffer. As it is our final objective, my pledge to you is that this planet will suffer the most."

A pause followed that was uncharacteristic of ...

"SATISFIED. RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES."

The voice's reverberations subsided slowly. The protective rings whose force field shielded Hyper Superion and the navigator returned to their inert state.

Hyper Superion had only seen ... once, the day it resisted. The alien was spared for its act of rebellion while the rest of the life forms on its planet perished violently, as others had before them. But being the first to prove their worth to ... , Hyper Superion became the first one inducted into ...'s army and became its general. It had been the gangly soldier's responsibility to induct new soldiers since then, provided they were a Seedling that agreed to ...'s terms. They always did when presented with the alternative. Including the ship's commander, there were currently nine soldiers on board, a third of their numbers since the battle of K'un L'u. Each one of the world breaking creatures now sailing across interstellar space sailed forth as the sole survivor of every living thing on their planet.

January 1, 2024...New York City, USA

Click to listen to "[Reign Clouds"]

She had been asked to address the United Nations in the early evening of January 1, 2024. Her scheduled speaking time had passed, so speculation was mounting as to whether she would show. The U.S. military, or what remained of it these days, tracked her by satellite and assured the U.N. Council that their guest was indeed on a trajectory for New York City. An address to the U.N. – to the world – was asked of her supposedly as a gesture of good will. Countless international delegates had been hoping that the sole remaining agent of the United Nations' Response Team, the UNRT, would come and finally explain herself. Please, they collectively thought, please explain why you have given us world peace. Barring an explanation, an alternative conversation with the former operative had been planned.

Security forces (meant only to police the public since they were powerless against the alien) scanned the skies in anticipation of the world's only – or rather, last – super powered being. There, out of the corner of the commanding officer's eye. The commander held the binoculars tightly against his eyes with equal parts awe and fear. The glossy black-scaled skin, flowing purple cape, glistening gold body armor and the gun-smoke colored shape-shifting rod she carried. There was no stealth in her approach. There never had been. The commander placed a call to the U.N. Chairman – "K'un L'u is here."

K'un L'u dropped quickly out of the skies, shattering the pavement under her feet. What less would anyone expect from an other-worldly being who has decimated entire armies in a single battle in a single stroke?

Given the unenviable task of greeting K'un L'u was an aging officer, Major Haggen. He approached the six-foot tall warrior with an inkling of fear; as a survivor of twenty-five years of violent international conflicts, he once thought he had learned to accept that any moment may be his last. But since the day he had a run-in with The Nameless, he'd always been fearful of leaving his family behind.

"K'un L'u, I am Major Haggen. The U.N. Council is anxiously awaiting your speech. This way, please."

She strode along with him, then ahead of him.

"Tell me, Major, why does the Council wish me to address them now, after I have forced world peace upon them?"

"I don't know the thoughts of politicians, ma'am. I just do what I'm told."

K'un L'u spun back towards Major Haggen and wrapped her right hand around the slackening skin of his throat. Members of the security force quickly raised their rifles to the extraterrestrial's head then lowered them just as quickly. None of them wanted to die today.

"You just do what you're told. That's been a problem for your species," she glared at each soldier.

She retrained her eyes on Major Haggen and tightened her grip. "Tell me, Major, did the excuse of following orders ever work for those your country accused of war crimes?" Unable to breath, Major Haggen was unable to reply. "No? So why do you invoke that excuse now?" Releasing the Major, she gave him a light but unmistakably disrespectful shove.

"But now that I've broken your armies, Major, doing what you're told might be what saves you. Now take me to your leaders."

She wasn't joking. Fifteen minutes later she was addressing the General Assembly from the central podium.

"You have asked me to address your assembly though I can only speculate why, since you have invited me to speak freely." She was firm and authorative. She did not need a microphone to be heard throughout the assembly hall.

"Perhaps you want me to finally explain my actions, why I have destroyed your ability to make war upon each other. Why, you wonder, have I forced peace upon you? For your own good is the least I can say. Or perhaps you want to know what I will do next, though, judging from your transmissions, it does not seem I could do anything worse than I have already done. Or maybe you are still searching for a weakness; have you asked me here in an attempt to trap me again? Is that why you all look so nervous? Yes, ambassadors, heads of state, I see you tremble now that I am here. I smell the fear running down your brow. So go on! Tell me, what would you like me to say?"

A minute passed. Turning uncomfortably in their chairs, the Council men and women looked at each other, nudging each other to take the conversation in another direction. No one wanted to be the one.

Another minute passed. A slight, late middle-aged man, perhaps 5'7" or so, ambled toward a microphone on the open floor a few feet in front of K'un L'u. His disheveled hair revealed his anxiety; My wife, dear children; your father may be gone in the next instance. Swallowing his fear, he cleared his throat. Rehearsed words streamed out of the French ambassador's mouth.

"K'un L'u, former operative of the United Nations Response Team and sole survivor of The Cataclysm: Many of the delegates here do wish you to explain why you have illegally destroyed their nation's armies. But if you wish not to speak on this matter, we are, of course, powerless to interrogate you. As for myself and some others, the reason for your aggression towards us does not matter. Instead..."

The French ambassador paused to look around at several key council members. They saw that the French delegate was not going to press her on the hostilities. Rather the man was going to say something to the alien, something that may be entirely worse for them all but may also be their only chance. If only it were anyone but K'un L'u, they would have worried less for him.

"...Despite using force to bring world peace upon us, even though we regard you as a criminal for taking the lives of so many of our soldiers..."

The warrior growled. "Soldiers are legitimate targets in a military campaign, whether the campaign is illegal or otherwise, are they not?" K'un L'u interrupted, not flinching for a moment.

The French ambassador looked K'un L'u in her red, pupil-less eyes now instead of through her as he had been doing. He wondered if she could be reasoned with. This was, after all, the Assembly's first civil attempt to communicate with her since she rampaged against all of them once she recovered from The Cataclysm. He removed a handkerchief from his inside coat pocket, wiped his dampening forehead, and placed the handkerchief back. He continued.

"K'un L'u, despite your undeclared war on the sovereign nations of Earth, I will not ask you to explain why. However, in supposing you are going to take no further violent action against us, I would like to ask you to account for the nearly one million victims of The Cataclysm, the unfathomable destruction of the North American city of San Francisco caused by your negligence and the negligence of nineteen super humans. As a member of the United Nations, I am asking you to stand trial for the lives of the innocent victims whose deaths you are, in part if not entirely so, responsible for."

The lids of the alien's eyes widened and a short, quick breath left her lungs. No thoughts came immediately to her mind. Although K'un L'u considered herself a student of human behavior, she never suspected they would pull so desperate a trick. Slowly, a trembling, inflamed sea washed over her.

"You...wish me...to stand trial for the deaths of innocents?"

K'un Lu stood motionless, upright, her rod poised menacingly on the podium. She did not raise it despite her anger. Her eyebrows buried themselves instead as she made war with her words.

"French ambassador, certainly you can recall any number of instances in the past in which United Nation military actions killed innocent civilians instead of the terrorists that were its intended targets. Who stood trial for those deaths? Or did the United Nations' Security Council accept a certain amount of collateral damage when pursuing its enemies? Tell me, why are a few civilian deaths any worse than a million civilian deaths? You humans, you define tragedy with such arbitrary reasoning, explaining ex nihlo whose deaths constitute a tragedy and whose deaths do not.

"Who are any of you to hold accountable anyone else for the death of innocents? The policies you humans create out of relative cultural practices allow people to – what is the expression, 'fall through the cracks'? – and you think you are not accountable. Instead, you dismiss the misery brought about by your policies by taking for granted the ideological flaws that are endemic to human thinking. You are an imperfect species. You need to change."

Certainly she was angry, but the French Ambassador was now confident K'un L'u was not going to kill him. He might as well speak as boldly and freely as he could.

"K'un L'u, when you crashed on our planet five years ago, our people oversaw your safety and ensured your recovery," he said.

"I needed no such protection. My recovery was ensured by my biotechnology and nothing you earthlings did," she countered.

"When you recovered you said you were a fugitive, you basically asked for asylum and we granted it to you. In return, you implicitly agreed to abide by our laws, by the laws of our international community. You even agreed to work alongside the United Nations Response Team. If you do not wish to live by our rules, if you do not wish to live among us any more, you are free to live this planet. But if you stay...if you stay it is true we have no power to stop whatever it is you will do. However, I wish to remind you of a sense of decency, to honor the implied agreement between us."

As the most powerful being on the planet at that moment, K'un L'u felt as though she was talking to a flea. They are trying to appeal to my honor? she thought. They still have no understanding of what is to come. They continue to ignore my warning.

"You talk of honor, French Ambassador, but seem to be telling me that humanity wishes to continue to visit violence upon itself, to continue viewing some lives as precious but others not. You wish me to step out of your way in that matter? No, I cannot allow your societies to continue functioning in this way. Not after The Cataclysm. Not after you've been left with no one to protect you. I am almost disgraced to say this of myself, but I am not enough to stop the coming storm."

She looked around the Assembly. They feared her because they did not understand her. They must be made to understand because although they have seen what she can do, they had not yet seen true fear, fear without hope. Nor do they know suffering. They have not truly seen just how deeply they can all suffer.

"AMBASSADOR..." Pain stabs the ears of every Council member, she is so commanding.

"I am the last survivor of the planet K'un L'u. I am a representative of my planet and have taken the name K'un L'u as my own so that I might honor my world beyond its death. I have taken the name K'un L'u so that when the world breakers I warned your UNRT leader Marcus Michaels about come HERE, and they are coming, they will know the history that takes vengeance upon them. When the world breakers come, they will relive the Battle of K'un L'u that cost them so dearly, only this time I plan for the outcome to be different.

"I cannot repel the aliens that are coming to this world alone. Before The Cataclysm, your super humans would have stood with me against the world breakers, but they are gone now. They are gone, having perished in The Cataclysm. I do not know how or why The Cataclysm happened; I will say to you that it was not I that caused it. That matters little now, though. What matters now is that you see to my ways of civilization. If this planet is to survive what is approaching, your only hope now is to become my world, reborn.

"You are correct, Ambassador, that I did implicitly agree to live by your laws, but that was due largely to the presence of others as powerful as myself, if not more so. Since they are all gone, though, I am the only one who can save you and I can only save you if your world abandons its ways and its feeble attempts to wage war. The only way Earth will survive the coming world breakers is to adopt the ways of my world."

"Yes, we've been informed of this concern by Mr. Michaels. But what does this mean, K'un L'u, to adopt the ways of your world?" the French Ambassador asked respectfully.

"It means, Ambassador..." K'un L'u raised her rod. It shone for a moment before it morphed into a shining gun-smoked battle axe as large as herself, "...that all of you here today who would question me, die."

She heaved the axe and sent it spinning throughout the hall, cleaving every council member in two. Her black skin was glossed no more; it was awash in the red rain of those who did nothing to save the world.

Moments later the screaming had ceased. Out of the corner of her eye, the extraterrestrial noticed a television camera blood-splattered with the remains of collateral damage. Its red light was still on. Her carnage had be captured for posterity. K'un L'u approached the recording device with fangs bared.

"Listen to me citizens of Earth. For far too long your species has been free to splinter into tribes and invent your own rules of conduct. This behavior has resulted in an ambivalence towards your own lives, to say nothing of the lives of those apart from your tribes. The time has come to stop paying lip-service towards your respect for life and prove the sum of your many words. In this you have no choice; I am your leader now. If you do not comply with my directions, you will not survive my punishment. Nor will you survive what is coming to this world. This I assure you. I am K'un L'u! And I am here to save you."

May 3, 2019...Chicago, USA

"Incredible breaking news regarding the suspicious blast that brought down a Chicago skyscraper earlier this morning," the news anchor interrupted the weatherman. "We're going to go live to the scene where it appears as though four persons with...with super-human abilities are helping to find survivors in the rubble. Jen, are you there?"

The camera cut to a slim, attractive Hispanic woman with a streak of grey ash across her face and hair. "Tom, yes, I'm here. This is indeed nothing short of incredible, if that word even qualifies for what we are witnessing. While law enforcement officials attempt to uncover the nature of this incident, emergency crew members have been working non-stop for half the day now, trying to rescue those trapped beneath the debris. But the rescue effort is undermined by a lack of emergency personal given the sheer magnitude of rubble standing between them and any survivors. Then, about forty minutes ago, four men about twenty-something years old each appeared seemingly out of nowhere and began aiding the emergency crews."

The news camera zoomed in on an eight foot tall wall of tan muscle a few yards behind the reporter. The humongous young man grabbed impossibly heavy chunks of concrete and steel and tossed them aside upon the direction of a teammate who was somehow locating survivors in the ruins.

"Javier," Jen said to her cameraman, "See if you can get a directional mic on the smaller of those two men. Tom, we're going to see if we can hear what they're saying..." There was some audible fumbling with a microphone while the camera panned around the scene wildly. After a minute, the camera refocused on the smaller of the two men who wore his black hair short and spikey and was sporting a brown leather bomber jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Wrap-around sunglasses concealed his exact identity.

The news crew's microphone kicked in while the smaller man swept his hands over the ground like metal detectors.

"Brawl Boy," he said to the unnaturally tall and muscular physique, "I've got two, no, three, here. I put them at twenty-five feet and pinned under a concrete slab and some steel beams. Their heartbeats are weak. They're not going to last long if we don't do something."

Just as the spikey-haired man finished his sentence, he looked beyond his teammate to an enormous slab of concrete wall still barely standing. Several emergency crew personal were operating on one side of the wall; apparently the wrong side. Inaudible to normal human hearing, the living mine sweeper detected tiny fracturing that indicated the wall was about to collapse on the workers.

"Brawl Boy! Behind you where that crew is! That wall is going to fall on them!"

"I've got 'em, Jo...uh, Rock Star," the behemoth's voice bellowed.

The hulking man laid a steel beam down and stomped over to the endangered crew, huddling the three of them together in his enormous arms and shielding them from the falling wall with his enormous bulk. The collapsing wall struck the hero's back and broke into chucks and dust around him, but the workers were unscathed. Except for some wear to the hero's custom fit t-shirt, so was their protector.

While the news camera was busy capturing the action, another teammate approached the man in the leather jacket, this one a handsome Italian gentleman dressed in seemingly futuristic men's fashion. The exchange between Rock Star and this second person was caught on video by another news agency fresh on the scene.

"Brawl Boy looks busy. We can do this," the shiny, white-suited newcomer said.

"Alright, VinZenT. Let me shake the overlying rubble loose, then you're going to lift the dirt and the steel beams. Then I can vibrate and shatter the slab pinning them down. By the way, you're going to get a little dirty," the sunshaded man stated.

The man called VinZenT appeared slightly upset for a moment, then smiled as he winked an eye towards the reporters filming them. "No problem. I guess I'll just have to take a shower later," he said loudly.

The sound manipulator grimaced and his forehead crinkled. Then the audio cut out of the video feed. He pulled VinZenT aside by the collar to speak privately for a moment.

"You're going to get plenty of publicity for this later. Right now, let's focus on saving people," he said.

"Alright, alright, Rock Star," the Italian yielded as he slicked back his hair. "I'll see if I can pick up the slab, too. But remember, there's a lot of stuff like plastics and other synthetic stuff I can't move, though," VinZenT responded with a momentary sullen expression on his face.

They looked at each other.

"Uh, okay, go ahead, VinZenT. Not everyone has all day," Rock Star piped.

VinZenT folded his hands together in a meditative configuration, then stood rock still as he entered a contemplative state. Rock Star outstretched two fists, apparently causing the ground before the two men to rattle and shake. Ten seconds later, VinZenT unclasped his hands and raised his arms above his head. A very large cloud of dirt, ruble and several broken steel girders rose above the two men. VinZenT threw his arms to his left and the debris landed safely in that direction. VinZenT and Rock Star surveyed the crater in front of them.

"You couldn't pick up the concrete slab, too?" the sound man asked with a tone of annoyance. Rock Star figured he'd climb down the twenty-five feet to the slab of concrete to break it up himself when a man in a skintight black-and-brown flight suit accented by metallic, bat-like wings swooped down from the sky and landed beside him.

"I've flown emergency crewmembers directly to the problem areas you indicated, Rock Star," the fourth hero started. "But it looks like you didn't have a good plan for this particular rescue effort," he observed.

"I always have a plan," Rock Star responded.

The winged savior looked over the edge into the crater. "I'll drop you in to break the slab, Rock Star, then I'll fly the victims over to one of the medical tents," was the new man's plan.

"I'll tell you what, Christopher," Rock Star replied, "How about you drop me in to break the slab, then you fly the victims over to one of the medical tents? Since I was already thinking that."

"I guess it's a good thing there's no supervillains to fight today," VinZenT said while rolling his eyes.

At that, the sound manipulator spun around and rotated his head from side to side. "Did you hear that?"

Now it was VinZenT's turn to be annoyed at his teammate. "You're kidding, right?"

"I didn't hear it, but I felt it," the flyer answered. "It felt like an explosion, a huge, dark explosion of death. But far, far away. Really far away, like, outer space far away," he said. He looked concerned for a moment, then relaxed. "Hmm. Whatever it is, it's gone now. C'mon, let's rescue these people."

Three hours into their arrival on the scene, the hulking Brawl Boy walked up to his winged companion who had just flown back in after dropping off more survivors at one of the on-site medical tents.

"Christopher, I've been moving tons of rubble for hours now. I'm getting tired," the muscle man said.

"Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, we have to stay and save as many lives as possible until, you know...," Christopher replied.

"What you mean to say..." said Rock Star walking up on them, "...is that when the time comes, when we feel The Pull, you haven't thought of a way to exit gracefully from the scene. And that's what we need to do. We can't have it known that the more strength he uses, the more tired he becomes," the spikey-haired man said jabbing his thumb towards Brawl Boy. "I'm also a little concerned about the amount of footage the news agencies have on us."

Christopher's mouth curled to one side. He closed his eyes and lifted his eyebrows. He knew they had a small problem on their hands. "Okay, where's VinZenT?"

"Not sure," Rock Star said. "But, you know, just find the nearest woman and that's where he'll be."

Christopher tilted his head up and opened his eyes. He spread his wings in preparation. "Okay, this is what we'll do. Rock Star, I'll take you on one last fly-over so we can identify as many trouble spots in one sweep. Then you can map it out for the rescue workers. While you do that, I'll find VinZenT and we'll rendezvous at the rally point."

"Yeah, I hate that part," Rock Star responded looking away, "The long ride home always makes me a little nauseous. Maybe I'll try eating some ginger next time, you know? I've heard it prevents sea sickness." He clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get this done."

"What would the world think about the true whereabouts of their only super heroes, buddy?" Brawl Boy asked Rock Star as he wiped his dirty, sweaty forehead with the back of his forearm. Then the strongman turned to Christopher. "When do we get our own super-secret stealth jet like they have in comic books?"

"When you build one. Right now, someone think of a good excuse for us leaving," Christopher responded.

A half-hour later, the four men – jokingly referred to as "...dudes, but like, mega dudes" by VinZenT in an interview with one reporter – disappeared as slyly as they had arrived on the scene. Experts in crisis management would later estimate that due to the intervention of these four super Samaritans, over two hundred people had been saved that would otherwise not have been reached in time. The public at large, commenting on the viral videos of these rescuers, argued incessantly on whether the men were heroes for aiding the rescue effort, villains for leaving scene, or possible suspects in bringing down the skyscraper as part of a publicity stunt.

Click to listen to "[The Mega Dudes Theme"]

August 27, 2019...Atlanta, USA

Twenty year old Burmese immigrant Thiha sat in a red-brick church on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia with several of his adopted countrymen beside him. The pastor speaking to the congregation this evening is one of the men responsible for leading Thiha and his kindred out of Burma in 2012, after the United Nations negotiated the release of forty-two Burmese child-soldiers. Presently, it's been just over seven years since Thiha held a gun, which saddened him when he thought about it. When certain memories visited him in the night, he wishes he still had his AK-47; it was the most reliable thing a person could have in the mud. Sometimes the immigrant thinks he would use it to end his life. Then maybe he would go to this place called Heaven the pastor always talks about.

But Thiha remembers the pastor saying that killing yourself is a sin and this might keep him out of Heaven. Surely a god would understand, though, Thiha reasoned to himself. God has seen the things I have seen, correct? Has not God allowed the things that have happened to me? It is he who should allow me into Heaven as penance for His sins! The young man's thoughts on God were often incredulous but were now blasphemous.

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins," the pastor spoke, reading out of the Book of Matthew.

Thiha heard the pastor but was not listening. All this talk about forgiveness; it is easy when you have not been truly victimized. These Americans do not know where I come from, what true horrors are out there far away from them. Only because they have not seen it do they worship a god that they say has the power to stop it all.

The former child-soldier's blood began surging through his thin body as he accrued these accusatory thoughts, flushing his entire being with heat. He began to reconsider his suicidal thoughts.

If I were a god, I would stop all the horror. I would take away the power of men to command anyone to shoot another person while they pray. I would take away their power to rape little children, or to force people into slavery, or to open their bellies with a machete if they resist...

His nostrils flared and he squeezed his eyes tight as he grasped his own hair so forcefully he could feel his scalp begin to bleed.

Why do men do these things? Why does God not stop them? Why is it not God who asks us for forgiveness? He made these things possible!

With his eyes bouncing back and forth like pinballs beneath his eyelids, Thiha attempted to restrain himself and take a moment, breath, and collect himself. Steadying his eyes a bit he opened them and noticed the whole congregation was turning all about themselves as if they were unsure where some danger was coming from. Then he watched his free hand shaking violently. It was glowing with an unstable energy, shimmering with a white-hot light. He grew dizzy and blurry-eyed from the heat as he could feel and smell the flesh melting off his hand.

"I'm sorry, God...I'm...Wait, I'm sorry. Don't..."

The shimmering white light became blinding, filling the church. People were getting up and heading for the aisles in a panic, screaming along the way. Before they could get far, though, a searing wave of energy radiated outward from the pews. In an instant, it seemed Thiha had vaporized most of himself and everyone inside the church. The ashes of the congregation fell upon the floor and pews and was blown like dust against the walls. The pews themselves were charred but not destroyed.

Standing but shaking uncontrollably in the pews stood the immigrant, or rather what was left of him. A skeleton draped in scorched flesh held up its arms and looked at them in what would have been either an expression of agony or horror, but the figure had no face with which to manage such a variety of expressions.

THE PAIN! THE PAIN! MAKE IT GO AWAY!

In his mind was this singular, screaming command. Within moments, Thiha's burnt meat began to cool and re-grow and organize itself into something more recognizably human.

The pain began to ease, dialing itself back from incalculable to merely unbearable. The thin man's damaged cells were regenerating at breakneck speed. As soon as his muscles were repaired enough, the youthful refugee began to stagger into the middle aisle and towards the main exit. With each step, he regained his body and strength and by the time he reached the parking lot, there was no mark of bodily harm on him. Naked, he turned around to observe the building empty inside. Nothing. He saw no survivors.

He felt no remorse for the massacre he apparently unleashed. He thought he should feel something or that remorse is the feeling society would expect of him if he was in fact responsible. But Thiha had quickly come to an understanding. With that understanding, he turned around again and starting stepping away with no destination in mind.

"Now who is a god?" he spoke as he strode away from his insecurities.

Including the pastor, two-hundred and six people were inside the church. One person was leaving unharmed. So would another.

Marcus Michaels opened his eyes. He thought about moving but reconsidered, thinking that something was wrong. There was no reason for him to be lying on the floor. He thought maybe he had blacked out. Cautiously, he turned his head to one side and then the other. The wall lamps had all dimmed or were broken, occasionally flickering – or maybe it was him. In any case, where was his family? None of them were beside him. His wife, his two daughters; nowhere that he could tell underneath the overwhelming stench of scorched wood, plastic, cotton, polyester and hair. Marcus didn't have a sense for anyone's soul. He called out anyway.

"Marilyn? Marilyn, baby, you okay?" Instinctually – or maybe it was the flakes of black death that hung in the air – Marcus knew his four year old daughter was not okay. His eyes welled up with tears. As tears began to drip from his contorted face he thought of his wife, Simone, and his other daughter, Naomi. Where did they go? he thought. Tilting his head up, Marcus saw a pile of ashes and in it his wife's wedding ring. And he knew it was her ring; her ring was unique, handed down from mother to daughter for generations, since her great-great grandmother was a freed slave. A firefighter by trade who was used to emergency situations, shock immobilized him.

It was after a few long seconds of absent-mindedness that Marcus began to think about what happened. He couldn't remember anything just prior to him lying on the floor. Then he remembered that young man, one of the pastor's adopted kids, glowing impossibly hot. Marcus had heard of spontaneous human combustion but believed it to be an urban legend. Even if it were an actual phenomenon, he never heard of it vaporizing an entire room full of people. Was the immigrant some kind of terrorist? Marcus once heard a rumor that the young man had been a child-soldier in the Burmese army.

He did this.

Marcus was a strong man, full of uncut muscles and just over six foot tall. He leapt to his feet, a surge of adrenaline overcoming his shock induced paralysis. His clothes were mostly burnt from his body but he felt no injury anywhere. He didn't even think right now to attribute the lack of any such feeling to the adrenalin. All Marcus wanted know if the terrorist had somehow survived.

Marcus knew he had. He felt it. Logically, that young man should be dead, but Marcus could sense the man's presence as it was undeniably powerful. And that presence was outside the building, laughing no doubt. The Burmese man wasn't dead and Marcus wanted to capture the evil that just slaughtered an entire church full of people.

Running out into the night, Marcus' vision became blacked out for a moment before the sky lit up like daytime. Instead of taking the time to wonder how, Marcus scanned the area. There was the young man walking away naked and arrogant as if nothing had happened. Angered, Marcus effortlessly leapt a clean hundred and fifty feet. He grabbed the young man by the back of the neck and pulled him down to the ground, landing Thiha on his back. Thiha grunted abnormally. Marcus' strength clearly injured his prey.

Marcus kneeled over the young man and pinned his arms to the ground. Marcus jammed his elbow across his enemy's neck and growled, "What have you done?"

Thiha tried to move but found himself without the strength to counter Marcus. His neck might also be broken, at least for the moment. Thiha panicked.

"Do not touch me," Thiha said weakly. Immediately after he uttered those words, he became translucent, rose off the ground and passed right through Marcus. Thiha hovered like a slinky ghost above the fray, above Marcus.

Marcus landed on the ground as if he weighed a thousand pounds. He felt this man blink right through him, nauseating his stomach almost to the point of incapacitation. Not to be deterred, though, Marcus shot up and tried to grab the ethereal thing.

Bewildered because he was unable to lay a hand on his prey, Marcus asked, "What are you?"

"I am a god," Thiha answered calmly.

"No, there is only one god. You are a demon!" Marcus replied before leaping into the air to take a swing at the spirit. Hovering a few inches off the ground himself, Marcus could grab a hold of nothing.

As a former soldier however young, Thiha was trained to observe a situation and quickly size-up an enemy.

"You and me, we are the same. But you do not know we are the same right now. In time, you will see. However, right now I will go away."

Thiha finished his words, floated down to the ground and became whole again. Before Marcus could take another swing, Thiha simply vanished.

Confused, Marcus had no sense of himself and what had just happened to him. He knew only that something terrible had happened to his family and everyone inside the church. Unable to comprehend the immediate events, Marcus looked over the devastation and noticed a Bible strewn on the ground, its pages smoldering at the edges. It had remained open to the Book of Matthew. A breeze blew the pages to Chapter Four.

Without considering how it would sound, Marcus told the police what had happened while leaving out key details about himself. With the introduction of four super powered human beings just over a year ago, the police weren't sure whether to believe Marcus. Given Marcus' knowledge of firefighting and explosions, though, he soon became a suspect in the investigation. Three weeks later, after certain stories began to surface, Marcus would no longer be under suspicion. Rather he became listed as one of almost a dozen witnesses to what would become known as Zero Hour.

August 27-28, 2019...Worldwide Event

August 27, 2019...London, England

Kaitlin Grant was waiting for a text on her mobile. Usually, she'd be asleep at this late hour, but the man she recently started seeing was discrete enough to text Kaitlin after her husband had retired for the night. Kaitlin always deleted the messages as soon as she read them and this one would be no exception. The game, such as it was, filled her stomach with butterflies and her head flush with anxiety. In fact, the Londoner was surprised all the whirlwind of emotion didn't turn her dark hair gray. She remained wide awake, stoked by both anticipation and guilt.

When the phone in her hand vibrated with a message, she felt the vibration all the way up her right arm and into the core of her body. Taken by surprise, Kaitlin dropped the phone on the kitchen floor. Passing the odd sensation off to nervous energy, Kaitlin bent down to pick the mobile up. She grabbed it with her right hand and balanced herself with her left hand on the floor. Then the vibrating sensation came again, this time from her core, down her left arm and shook the ground. Kaitlin gasped and dropped the phone again.

She stood up and took turns rubbing each wrist, unsure if she should wake her husband or head to an emergency room. Having never felt anything like it before, she wasn't sure how serious the situation was.

The kitchen light turned on. Kaitlin's husband's wide waist loomed in the kitchen doorway. "Everything okay?" He saw her mobile on the floor and picked it up before she could react. "I heard something fall on the floor, noticed you weren't in bed and..." He looked at her screen.

The message from an unidentified number read, "Enjoyed having U 4 breakfast this morning. Again?"

"What the bloody hell is this?" Her husband's crooked nose was crunched up as he looked at her. He looked at the message again and back to her. "I thought you ended things with that bloke months ago."

"I did, Martin," Kaitlin pleaded, "I did."

"Oh, so, this is a new bloke, eh?"

Caught, Kaitlin started to panic and tears began to cloud her vison. She knew what might come next. But before she could say another word, Martin – shocked, hurt and angry – slapped her across the face so hard she fell over, hitting her head on the edge of a chair before she hit the floor. That she felt all over and into her core once more.

Despite being slapped and hitting her head, the whole inside of Kaitlin's body crackled with energy. It was as if her body needed to get rid of a stick of dynamite as soon as possible. She stood up as quickly as she could.

Martin seemed as if he might wind up for another round. "I never thought I'd hit you again! How could you do this?" He grabbed her left arm and shook her ferociously.

To Martin's surprise, Kaitlin cocked her right hand and punched him dead in the teeth. Blood spat out of his mouth and onto the walls around them as her husband fell backwards into the living room. Kaitlin was gripped by equal parts fear, uncertainty and exhilaration. Without another word to her husband who lay stunned on the floor, Kaitlin grabbed her wallet, phone, keys and the closest jacket. She swung the door to their flat wide open and headed out into her future.

August 28, 2019...China

It was Than Xi's birthday and like every other day of his life, he sat in his modest boat after casting a net into the water. It was mid-morning, meaning that Than knew one of his fellow fishermen, Zhing Hu, would soon be along and making too much commotion about Than's birthday. Zhing, Than thought, would probably insist they go into the city to gamble and drink. All Than wanted was to be left alone, though. He was a quiet man content with his forty years of fishing, who hoped to fish forty more years at least.

As Than predicted, he saw Zhing off in the distance headed his way, drawing closer and closer.

Maybe if I put my head down he will not see me, Than mused. It was a preposterous thought, but Than put his head down anyway. Maybe he would pretend to be asleep.

When Zhing pulled up to Than's boat, Than peeked up through squinted eyes to see that Zhing looked utterly confused. Zhing looked directly into Than's eyes, then looked one way, then the other.

"His boat is here. Where is Than?" Zhing spoke like he were trying to figure out a math problem.

Than chalked Zhing's behavior up to his comrade's sense of humor. But it soon seemed to Than that Zhing was genuinely confused.

Zhing scratched his head and scanned the bay but the furthest boats were one hundred yards away. Seeing that Than's net had been cast, Zhing stepped onto Than's boat and stood exactly where Than was sitting. This unsettled Than, so he scuttled a bit towards the bow, stood up and proclaimed, "Zhing, I am right here!"

Than's appearance out of nothingness startled Zhing so badly that Zhing lost his balance and fell out of the boat. Zhing popped up out of the water and spit the river out like a fish.

"How did you do that? How did you do that?" Zhing asked excitedly as he tread water. "Here, here, help me up."

Whether this pratfall was planned by Zhing or not, it made Than laugh.

"Of course I will help you up," Than said. But as he said so, his reedy arms grew longer and tapered like octopus tentacles and wrapped themselves around Zhing. The quiet fisherman hoisted the soaked man out of the water and back into his boat. Wide-eyed with terror, Than's arms returned to him as if they had not just defied biology.

Shocked, Zhing asked, "How did you do that? How did you do that?"

August 28, 2019...Melbourne, Australia

Melanie Conrad shuffled wearily into the kitchen, trying to blow the long tresses of her tussled strawberry blonde hair out of her face. As with most mornings, she was the first one awake. She followed the usual protocol: Leave her boyfriend lying in bed. Let the dog out into the yard. Start the coffee. Take out the eggs and a pan to prepare breakfast for her son. Stare out the window and wonder if this is it. Watch the minutes of her life tic away.

She was whipping the eggs when her six year old son entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Mommy, do I have to go to Jeannie's today?"

Melanie rolled her eyes behind her son's back. "If I dinna have to work, baby, I'd love ta spend the day with ya. But ya get to hang out with Jeannie and her son, Will. Isn't that better than goin' to school or having ta make a quid?"

"Will's boring," her son replied.

"Don't put up a fight, mister, or there'll be na dessert tonight. I was gonna bring some ice cream home but now I dunno..." Melanie bribed.

Her son jumped up and knocked his chair backwards while throwing his hands in the air.

"Please, mommy, please? Ice cream tonight! Ice cream tonight!"

In the course of his enthusiasm, the son's hand hit the pan that was warming on the stove top, sending the pan in circles. Melanie reached for the handle instinctively but missed, instead landing her palm on the stove's burner. Although the electric burner was glowing red, Melanie didn't feel anything.

She took her hand away and looked at it. It wasn't burned. She reached for the burner again, slowly. It looked like the burner was on but she didn't feel any heat. She could see that it was on – she could put her hand right on the burner – but felt nothing.

"What the hell are ya doin' Melanie?" her blond pro surfer of a boyfriend asked walking into the kitchen.

"Take a squizz at this. Tha burner's not working. Someone's gonna ta have to look at it. Maybe I'll call muh dad." Melanie took her hand away and looked at it again. No burn.

"What are ya talkin' about? Are ya crooked?" her boyfriend replied as he approached the stove. He leaned towards the red hot burner. "It's hotter than a cat on a hot tin roof." He put the pan on the burner, threw in a dab of butter and they both watched the butter melt.

"Well, I didn't feel it," Melanie whispered as if she'd been caught in a lie. She looked away from her boyfriend while her son clung lovingly to her leg at the thought of ice cream. On the kitchen table was one of her son's toy jet fighters. It always made her think about being free from the constraints of a domestic life.

I can't feel heat? That's great; a trip ta the doctor's at the merry old age of twenty-six. If I could fly instead, now that'd really give the doc somethin' ta think about.

Just as she finished her thought, Melanie flew violently into the air with a yelp. Her son let go of her leg as she flew upwards. Her son crashed to the ground while she tucked her chin and struck her back against the ceiling, putting a small crater in it. Melanie fell back to earth as quickly as she'd taken flight, landing awkwardly beside her son. She twisted her knee a bit, but this seemed to everyone the least of her immediate problems.

Worldwide...

In Japan, a fifty year old man discovered he could heal almost instantly from any wound. In the Ukraine, a sixty year old woman noticed she could control the weather. In Norway, a ten year old boy started retaining everything he read and could expertly mimic everything he saw. In Brazil, an unknown model discovered that she could create life-like people out of shadows. In China, a twenty-five year old soldier started hearing people's thoughts as a whisper in his ear. In the Midwestern United States, a thirty-four year old African-American woman noticed she could manipulate light. In Madagascar, a teenager's touch turned everything she came into contact with into ashes. In Egypt, a thirty year old woman found she could communicate with any non-human life form she wished. In Bangladesh, a twenty-eight year old low-ranking office worker discovered he could make anyone feel afraid. In Afghanistan, an eighteen year old woman, an amputee living in fear of local warlords, did not know how important she just became. And in Arizona, an infant began to teleport itself indiscriminately around the house.

September 8, 2019...Kashmir, India

"Welcome to BBC evening news; I'm Gemma Kingston. We begin this evening's news with yet another appearance by the four young super humans – or as some people now prefer to say, super heroes – The Mega Dudes. Video footage has captured the quartet leading the rescue effort in Kashmir, India, as unusually heavy rains have brought massive flooding to the area. The Mega Dude recently identified as Christopher, with his apparently metal bat-like wings, can be seen here rescuing flood victims from high ground, picking them up and literally flying them to safety. Meanwhile, the suave and sophisticated Mega Dude, VinZenT, appears to be using his fantastic powers to divert water flow away from the worst stricken areas. The shaded Rock Star and the massive Brawl Boy have been reported to be moving earth in an effort to create dams and reinforce river banks.

"This marks the fourth appearance of The Mega Dudes to assist in an emergency situation and their fifth appearance to date. They were last seen two weeks ago, having paid a surprise visit to a children's hospital in London. They spent their time at the Great Ormund Street Hospital playing games and music and encouraging young patients to never give up, that there is always a way to beat the odds.

"Members of the world's various intelligence agencies continue to be skeptical of the merits of The Mega Dudes' super powers despite, or perhaps because of, the unsubstantiated reports of other super powered individuals emerging across the globe."

October 22, 2019...New York City, USA

He whistled a lighthearted tune. Thiha calmly walked up to two police officers in front of the Midtown North Police Precinct on West 54th Street in downtown Manhattan. He approached the officers in broad daylight and was disarmingly polite with his bemused grin.

The officers looked over Thiha briefly then resume scanning the street. One eventually turned his attention back to Thiha since the Burmese man was just standing there grinning.

"Hey, pal, can we help you?" the officer asked.

Thiha laughed a little bit. His eyes were smiling, too.

"Yes, you can help me. I would like to report an incident. Actually, a murder."

The officers' attention perked up. The veteran of the two policemen slimmed his eyelids to focus on Thiha and give him the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah? Whose murder are you reporting? Do you want to come inside the precinct and talk about it?"

"Yes, yes, I do. I would prefer not to do this here," Thiha still smiled.

Thiha was seated in a lifeless, stark interrogation room when a fifty-something year old detective with a faced cratered by stress walked in and shut the door behind him. The detective's expression read as though he had other things he'd like to be doing rather than interview every crackpot who waltzed into the station. Only, Thiha didn't have to read his face because Thiha could read the detective's mind. The detective's expression was honest at least, mimicking exactly what he was thinking.

"Name?" the detective asked as he slapped a manila folder and pen down on the desk. He pulled up a chair and sat down across from Thiha. The detective let out a long, uninterested breath as he watched Thiha mull over his question. Maybe the yellow-skinned Indonesian man didn't understand him. "Name?" the lieutenant said a bit louder.

"I find that my old name does not suit me anymore, so I do not use it." Thiha answered.

"I'm Lieutenant Remmy. I understand you'd like to report a murder? That's a serious allegation. So start talking, beginning with your name."

The thin man turned his shapely jaw away as if to think about something. "I was in Arizona two weeks ago," Thiha began. The detective was clearly annoyed by what he thought would be the start of a long story and was going to cut Thiha off but found his tongue unable to move. "What was I doing there?" Thiha continued. "Being an officer of the law, Lieutenant Remmy, maybe you are aware of and concerned about the rumors concerning people around the world seemingly gaining incredible powers, like The Mega Dudes." Thiha laughed; if he didn't know better he'd find himself preposterous. Then his smile left his eyes and he turned his head back towards the police officer. "It sounds funny to say their name out loud. But I, too, am concerned. So I went to find one of these people, one of these people who have power, whom I feel intimately connected to."

The detective didn't want to listen to any more but something was stopping him from moving. He couldn't speak. Lt. Remmy could still hear and listen but he was statuesque before his visitor. The detective became panicked, though this didn't show on his face as he was frozen still. All he could do was blink and breathe.

"Using my powers..." Thiha made a flippant gesture with his hands as if to mock the things he could do... "I was able to find one of these people. Interestingly, it turned out to be a baby. So I thought I would adopt the child; after all, I believe it was myself who gave birth to what he was now capable of doing. After I seemed to misplace his parents, I reached out to hold the child and believe it or not, the child teleported away from me to another room in the house."

Lt. Remmy's mouth wanted so bad to say Thiha was insane. What was more insane was that he was a prisoner but wouldn't appear that way to anyone walking by the room. The supposedly insane man continued.

"Every time I would go through the house and find the baby, I would try to hold him, like a father would. You understand; you have a newborn, correct lieutenant? Anyway, he would continue teleport away from me. Again and again we did this. He teleports, I find him, try to hold him, and he scurries away. I feel I was very patient. Eventually the child started to make me angry."

Thiha's eyebrows dug a trench between his eyes and his voice became gravely as he recalled this event. He leaned in towards his captive audience.

"Finally I said 'stop' and the baby stopped; could not teleport anymore. Now I was holding the baby and I was calm. Then I said to him, 'We will be gods together. We will bring peace to the world.'

"As I was walking out the door with my child, he vanished once more. Naturally, I became full of fury. I thought, why does this child not want to be a god? So I found him again and – using my powers – prevented him from teleporting. Unfortunately, I learned that my ability to stop the child was temporary. What was I to do with this person who does not want to be a god, who only brings me trouble? I stopped the baby one last time and after I did, I flash froze him alive with the touch of my hand. I am sad to report that as this was the first time I had used this particular ability of mine, I accidently killed the child. I am terribly sorry. But perhaps it is just as well."

Thiha turned his right palm up and gazed at it. His palm frosted over and made the air around his hand whispy and white. He wiggled his fingers and his cold, pale hand returned to its natural color. His mood turned next; his nostrils flared and his eyes went coal dark.

"I am going to allow you speak in a moment. I think that you should careful about what you say."

Thiha smiled, but it was not a benevolent smile.

Lt. Remmy's throat and jaw loosened from their lockdown but he could still not move anything else. "So it's true; you're one of the rumors. And you're here to what, show us how powerful you are, that you can't be stopped? It doesn't matter how powerful you are, someone will always stop you. If you're a murderer, you'll be brought to justice by someone, somewhere."

Thiha bowed his head and placed his hands on the table in the process of standing up. "See, Lieutenant, you did not think. You might be right; maybe someone can stop me from getting what I want..." Thiha tilted his head "...and that would be terrible for the world."

The thin man shook his head. "What you should have said is, 'What does this have to do with me? What can I help you with?'" The immigrant frowned at the detective, put his hands together and brought them as if in prayer to his lips.

"Remember when I said I felt intimately connected to these people who have become powerful like me? I am connected to them because I was the one who gave them their powers. But, I did not give The Mega Dudes their powers. It seems that because of this, I cannot find them; I am not connected to them like the others," Thiha said almost disbelieving himself. "I would like to talk to them, which is why I am here, with you. I simply want help in finding them." The thin man parted his boney hands non-threateningly.

"My job is to help put criminals behind bars, not help self-confessed murderers find more victims. If you want to find The Mega Dudes, get in line. Every state, federal and foreign agency would love to have a friendly chat with them. But they only seem to turn up during an emergency and even then we don't know which ones. Why are you asking me anyway? The FBI or the CIA have more resources," Lt. Remmy responded with a touch of grit in his voice.

Thiha walked around behind the lieutenant who desperately wanted to unholster his firearm. "I am trying to avoid drawing too much attention to myself, at least at this time. I am asking you, detective, because I admire your commitment to a job which you do not enjoy. You have convictions and convictions are important. I have convictions, too. I have conviction that I will do something to you if you do not think of a way to help me find The Mega Dudes, quietly, discreetly. "

A bell went off in Thiha's head, sounding an alarm as he watched as the detective's body begin to relax. It didn't make sense. Thiha felt his own body stiffen up instead. Now it was Thiha who became frozen in place. Unable to use telekinesis, he readied himself to use another power. And he had many of them.

Lt. Remmy pulled his firearm from his holster, spun around to face Thiha and fired center of mass. Thiha wisely made himself invulnerable the moment the police officer unholstered his firearm and this caused the bullet to ricochet and strike the lieutenant in the left shoulder. Lt. Remmy dropped his gun as he fell backwards onto the floor. A tingling pang of anxiety spread across Thiha face. Harming the detective wasn't actually part of his plan. And, despite his powers, he did not want the attention of the entire police station focused upon him.

As the detective writhed on the floor, Marcus Michaels, dressed in jeans and a blue skin-tight shirt, appeared from behind the suspected villain into Thiha's view. The Burmese man noted a large black cross sprawled across the face of the shirt.

"Guess who?" Marcus said.

Thiha was no longer concerned about the entire police station as he saw a fist headed for his face. Given a moment to think, Thiha had thought to make himself intangible but couldn't change powers fast enough. He was sent crashing through the police station walls and onto the streets of Manhattan. Several people walking down the sidewalk fell down in shock and surprise while others were injured by rubble from the force of the blast. Marcus, huffing and blinded by fury, followed through the demolished wall and flexed his back as he stood over Thiha.

"That felt good. Yeah, it felt good to make you suffer a bit, whatsyourname. Oh, wait. Right, you don't like your name anymore. Hell of a thing, being able to read minds," Marcus said with his head cocked. "Look, I don't care what you call yourself. We've got some settling up to do," Marcus grunted as he reached down to grab Thiha.

"Not today, brother."

Thiha telekinetically hoisted Marcus into the air and with a flick of his hand, sent Marcus flying sixty feet overhead into a nearby building. People on the street watched with mouths agape. Concrete crumbled, glass shattered, even steel bent from the force of Marcus' body striking the building. Marcus fell to the pavement below. Crumpled up with compound fractures and just barely conscious, Marcus' body radiated pain all over while bits of scree and glass rained down on him from the impact crater above. It wasn't easy for Marcus to concentrate, but he managed to focus just enough attention to begin the healing process. From there, he would be able concentrate more with each passing moment.

Son of a...! Put the pain out of your head and focus! Don't let him get away!

Meanwhile, Thiha wobbled a little when he tried to stand up. Eight responding police officers in dark blue surrounded him and barked at him to get back down. Another four officers, casually chitchatting moments ago, ran towards Marcus. Thiha assessed the situation; he wasn't worried about being captured or shot but he did notice people on the street recording the incident on their smart devices. He had to act before any more video could be uploaded to the Internet. A swell of electro-magnetic energy built up inside of him until it was large enough to unleash. Thiha sent out a bright blue ball of energy, an EMP that rendered every electronic device within a four block radius useless. Smart phones went dead, lights went out and automobiles that relied on onboard computers failed and crashed into other cars.

Not having used this power before, Thiha didn't realize the consequence of this stunt; he was going to be powerless for the next minute, time during which Marcus would probably fully recover.

"What do you think, Kimosabe?" VinZenT radioed Christopher as he watched events unfold from the corner of West 54th and 8th Avenue. He was dressed in dark sunglasses and inconspicuous street clothes that he considered beneath him.

From far above VinZenT on a nearby rooftop, Christopher assessed what was happening on the street. Christopher's bat-like wings were retracted and hidden by what appeared to be a backpack. From his vantage point, Thiha had just launched Marcus into a building.

"We knew this was coming sooner or later. He just didn't give us a whole lot of detail regarding exactly what to do," Christopher radioed back to VinZenT.

"If I remember correctly, he said 'Try not to let anyone die,'" VinZenT reminded Christopher.

"We need to subdue these guys if the police can't get it done. Problem is, we don't have a lot of real-life fighting experience yet," Christopher responded. "Christopher to Rock Star and Brawl Boy. Prepare to take Marcus Michaels down while we deal with The Nameless. Be ready to disarm the police if necessary. Maybe I can swoop in and knock our guy out before the situation escalates."

"VinZenT to Rock Star, copy that?" VinZenT attempted. "VinZenT to Rock Star, over. Hey, Chris, he's not responding." The Italian looked up and indicated to Christopher with a tap on his ear piece. "Chris? Chris? Great."

Christopher watched as Thiha was surrounded. Marcus had risen to his hands and knees and was waving off the police officers who were trying to assist him up.

"That guy's a murderer," Marcus said to them. "I'd tell you to arrest him but you can't hold him. He can't be captured. I don't even know if he can be killed," Marcus coughed, spitting out some blood as he fully recovered. "But I'm sure as hell going to try."

Marcus jumped to his feet and charged towards Thiha. Police officers commanded Marcus to stop and get down, Stop or we'll fire! One officer with a clean shot did fire. The bullet ricocheted off Marcus and squibbed off pavement. Marcus easily broke the line of officers surrounding Thiha and reared his right hand for a massive punch. Thiha crouched down as if he could avoid the inevitable.

Just as Thiha would have been crushed to death, Christopher swooped in for a landing and cocooned Thiha with his wings. Christopher's indestructible appendages took no damage but the force of Marcus' blow sent Christopher and Thiha tumbling down the street, resulting in scrapes and bruises for the pair.

Hell of a right hand, Christopher thought as he jumped up and flared his wings out, ready to take on Marcus who was standing in the street 'high noon' style. A few police officers continued to yell at Marcus while others were now too stunned to act. I hope the others are in position, Christopher thought.

"This would be a good time, guys," Christopher spoke into his headset.

Brawl Boy didn't get the radio message but Rock Star heard Christopher nonetheless. In the sewer canals below the street, with an ear on the commotion above, Rock Star identified exactly where Marcus was standing and instructed Brawl Boy to tear the street down. Being almost too large for the sewer, Brawl Boy didn't have to reach far to punch away at the ceiling with his enormous fists. Above, Marcus lost his balance and fell to his hands and knees. Then the street gave out beneath him.

"Did you see that guy? He was trying to kill me!" Thiha laughed from his belly as he stood up. He gave Christopher a wide-toothed grin.

Christopher turned around to face Thiha as police officers approached cautiously with weapons drawn. "Do you have powers right now?" he asked Thiha.

"You are Christopher, right? You are one of The Mega Dudes! I am so excited to meet you! I have so much to talk to you about." Thiha reacted, dodging the question.

"A simple 'no' would have been fine," Christopher replied before he threw a right hook to the side of the head, knocking Thiha unconscious to the ground.

As police closed in on Christopher, he spread his wings to protect himself from potential gunfire. "Sorry, officers, but you actually have no authority in this matter. He's coming with me." Christopher reached for Thiha's arm when an overwhelming sense of fear began to wash over him. His eyes began to dart back and forth in terror, scouring the street for danger. He could see the police officers and even nearby civilians doing the same. Turning his head to one side, Christopher watched a tall, tan-skinned man in a dark business suit and a molded white skull mask approach him.

"Who's...who's there?" Christopher quivered.

A voice full of bass responded, "I am fear. I am..."

Inside a giant pothole in the middle of Times Square, Marcus slid off a pile of asphalt and stood unscathed in a stream of brackish water. He'd turned his skin as hard as steel, the plan being to avoid using super strength to deliver a killing blow to that demon who killed his family while remaining invulnerable enough to resist being shot by the police. Before Marcus now stood a giant of a man, a muscular behemoth approximately eight feet tall. The man sported a sly grin but his eyes were hidden behind ridiculously large aviator sunglasses.

"It would be real smart of you to let me finish my business with that man, Mega Dude," Marcus growled. Silently he switched powers.

"We don't want a fight, buddy. But we can't let you do that," Brawl Boy replied.

"Yeah, well," Marcus smiled as he walked up to Brawl Boy, "Sometimes we don't get what we want." Marcus unloaded an unbelievably powerful blow. The force of Marcus' fist against Brawl Boy's chest sounded like a cannon. The punch sent the giant flying backwards twenty-five feet where the hulk smashed into the wall at a canal intersection.

Brawl Boy slumped down into a sitting position as some concrete from the ceiling bounced off his head.

"Ow. I didn't see that coming," Brawl Boy remarked to himself.

"Next time I won't hold back!" Marcus warned. But a moment after warning Brawl Boy, he was gripping his head over a pair of someone else's hands and squeezing his eyes shut as a blinding scream pierced his brain. The pain was so intolerable, he passed out and fell forward onto the ground.

Rock Star stood above the fallen Marcus while Brawl Boy got up and walked back towards his teammate. "Great," Rock Star chimed, "Now how the hell are we supposed to hold these guys?" The manipulator of sound turned his attention topside and heard that something was wrong. "Sounds like the dancefloor is getting busier."

"I am fear. I am..."

"Graveyard. Yeah, we know. We heard about you," VinZenT finished as he telekinetically unscrewed a cap off a fire hydrant. He directed a blast of water to soak the newcomer and wash him to the side of the street. "That's a neat power you have there, Gravy, but you're power is limited to your line of sight," VinZenT mocked as he dodged behind a parked SUV.

Graveyard furiously rubbed the water out of his eyes and he lay on the curbside. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Yeah, you and what army?" VinZenT shouted back before remembering The Nameless commanded a squad of unsavory types. VinZenT felt the humidity in the air climb dramatically and noticed the sky darkening above Manhattan. Then the hair on his arm started to stand on end. "Uh oh." VinZenT jumped clear of the SUV a moment before a bolt of lightning almost ripped the vehicle apart. "Guys! Guys? I think we've got Burya on site. Anyone have her location? Guys?"

The headset was still of no use so VinZenT chucked it as he ducked into a convenience store. From the window he watched several lightning strikes descend to electrocute a score of police officers and Christopher. Christopher was almost fully incapacitated by the strike but not unconscious. He writhed on the ground, fingers curled in agony.

Below the streets, Rock Star heard the commotion. "Graveyard and Burya are on site, Paul! I need you to get up top to deal with Graveyard while I try to get a fix on the old lady. Graveyard's back that way," the spikey hair twenty-something directed his thumb behind himself to Brawl Boy. "This whole thing is going sideways fast."

Brawl Boy stepped over Marcus and leapt out of the crater he'd made earlier. He landed a few yards from Graveyard on top of a police cruiser, crushing it to bits. This momentarily startled Graveyard who had gotten up off the curb and was marching towards Christopher. But before Brawl Boy could take a step, he was paralyzed, his body shaking with tiny but violent little earthquakes. In the semi-standing position atop the police cruiser, Brawl Boy was struck with lightning bolt after lightning bolt. It took seventeen strikes to lay him flat out on his belly. Satisfied, Graveyard returned his attention towards Christopher.

Peeking out from a manhole cover, Rock Star started to worry. "Too much noise interference! Dammit, we might need help. Where the hell is Vinny?"

VinZenT was a step ahead of Rock Star; he had levitated a car to take him to the top of the tallest building on the block, much to the amazement of onlookers below. Now her, she's really beautiful, VinZenT mused about one of his spectators as he rose above the streets to a seventh story rooftop. The Mega Dude gently set the car down on the roof and stepped off his ride to get a better look around.

He had a decent vantage point on top of the building. VinZenT scoured the other roofs, though there wasn't too much reason to think a sixty-something year old woman would be up here. He did figure that Burya, a weather controller, might want to be up high so she could affect a larger area of the neighborhood. At the same time he considered that given this Russian woman's age, she might have a bodyguard he'd have to deal with if she was allowing herself to be exposed up here. With all of those considerations fleshed out, VinZenT did spot a woman watching the street below three roofs over, embattled and grizzled enough to look like the old Ukrainian woman he imagined. Though he wasn't close enough to say for certain that the woman was in fact Burya, the sky immediately above her was unusually dark. That being the case, it seemed like a risk needed to be taken.

Willing to give it a shot, VinZenT mentally felt around for a piece of metal he could use as a projectile to incapacitate the woman. What he felt was the sharp edge of a samurai sword coming at him from behind. He ducked to the left, spinning around as he did so to get a look at his attacker – an older middle-aged Asian man. Although the attacker's overhead swing was swift and sure, it had missed, but still put VinZenT's foe in position to deliver a quick, straight stab. VinZenT telekinetically grabbed the blade of the sword, though, and turned it on the man and pierced him right through the heart.

The man staggered back and said something in Japanese, indicating to VinZenT that the attacker was the man known as Deathcamp, who like Burya was another one of the Nameless' crew. While turning Deathcamp's blade against him was an act of self-preservation, VinZenT didn't have to worry about the guilt associated with accidently killing someone; Deathcamp couldn't die.

Although the Japanese man was wounded to the point of being (temporarily) disabled, he slipped out a pistol and unloaded eleven rounds – a full clip – in VinZenT's direction. Again using his ability to control metal, VinZenT sent the ammunition around himself and towards Burya. Not wanting to kill Burya, he only used three bullets to strike her in the arms and a leg so that she wouldn't be able to concentrate enough to control the weather.

Run through with his own sword, Deathcamp struggled to stay on his feet. VinZenT face went expressionless as he tore apart the car he'd used for his magic carpet ride. Wielding rods of metal with his mind, he flew them at Deathcamp with maximum velocity. The metal ran Deathcamp through and sent him over the edge of the roof to the street seven stories below.

"And Christopher, John and Paul are the ones who think they do all the heavy lifting," VinZenT breathed quietly. He walked to the edge of the roof and looked over. Brawl Boy was just beginning to recover as Graveyard stood over Christopher with a police car above his head. Oh yeah, I forgot that Fear Boy was really strong, too, VinZenT remembered.

VinZenT focused on the car and decided to pin Graveyard down with it. But as he thought about it, a thunderously low-pitched blast knocked Graveyard clear of the vehicle, allowing the police car to crash to the ground. It was Rock Star, running up on Graveyard who was dazed only a bit, presumably arriving to deliver the knockout. We need more practice coordinating our attacks, VinZenT acknowledged for the future's sake.

Knocked down but not out, Graveyard glanced at Rock Star, then around the street. A blanket of fear quickly descended around the block, then the next block over, and another block after that. Rock Star backpedaled and folded over, cowering. Even VinZenT above, watching everyone on the street start to cry and drop to their knees, felt his heart simultaneously race and sink. He no longer thought about fighting, but he wondering instead how this was happening. 'Line-of-sight,' that's...that's what the old man said. How...how is Graveyard doing it? he wondered.

Brawl Boy, who had finally risen to his feet, tattered clothing looking exactly like he'd been struck more than a dozen times by lightning, was now frozen like a deer in the headlights. "Ma..Madina. It must be...Madina," his teeth chattered.

While Brawl Boy had figured it out, a violent blizzard whirled its way around the block. The air became frigid and the driving snow made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet. In the white ether, a young, light brown-skinned woman in a dark wool pea coat reached one hand, her only hand, out to grab Graveyard and help him up.

"Come, joon-am! He tried to talk to them but they don't want to listen! We must go before they figure out how to stop us!" the woman shouted over the precipitation.

"Those that don't join us should be eliminated, Madina," Graveyard replied. "I must finish them if I can. And I can!"

"No!" the young woman insisted. "Nameless one said, 'Try not to let anyone die' and we are already losing one. Are you going to go against him?"

Graveyard looked at Thiha laying in front of Christopher, at Rock Star, at Brawl Boy, and then he noticed Deathcamp lying not too far away, fighting through misery to recover from a pierced heart and several broken bones.

"Where's Burya?" Graveyard asked.

"I think she's slipping away. I felt a sudden dip in her powers so I'm forcing her to use everything she has left. We have to go!" Madina attempted to pull her much larger companion along with the one arm that she had.

Graveyard grunted in frustration. His soaked clothing was stiffening from the drop in temperature but that wasn't going to slow him down much. He marched over to Thiha and lifted him up and over his right shoulder. Then he marched over to Deathcamp, removed the sword from Deathcamp's chest with no grace whatsoever, and dragged Deathcamp behind him down the street and into the blinding whiteness.

Graveyard turned his head towards Madina. "He'll live," he said referring to the Asian man as they all disappeared.

After two minutes, the fear, cold air and snow lifted. Shivering, Christopher stood up on his knees, took a deep breath and snapped both feet up under himself to stand upright. No longer paralyzed with fright, Brawl Boy walked up to Christopher amid the chaos and the downed officers on the battlefield. Rock Star's body shuttered too as it tried to warm itself back up, then he busied himself scanning the area for a variety of sounds.

"Mission not accomplished, buddy," Brawl Boy said to Christopher. Christopher frowned in the behemoth's direction.

"We screwed up. We're supposed to be here to take everyone into custody so we can all have a nice, civil chat about the future. Instead, we may have made things worse." Christopher looked to his other teammate. "Rock Star, where did everyone go? Did we subdue anyone, Marcus at least? And where's VinZenT?"

"Working here," Rock Star responded with a whisper. It was a few long seconds before he answered Christopher. "I ain't got much; too much interference from police chatter, civilian heartbeats and conversation. I do have VinZenT, though. He's on that rooftop," Rock Star pointed to a building four stories high and appeared to focus his attention. "He's with someone whose heartbeat is getting weaker." The musician paused and pursed his lips. "I don't have Marcus' heartbeat."

"You two, find Marcus," Christopher barked at Rock Star and Brawl Boy as he took to the sky. His wings lifted him to the top of the building where VinZenT, down on one knee, held a dying Burya in his arms. Her blood formed pools on the rooftop and turned VinZenT's gray sweat shirt fire engine red. VinZenT looked up at Christopher with wide-eyed concern.

"I just wanted to disable her. They're just flesh wounds. Why is she bleeding so much?" VinZenT wanted to know. "Get her to a hospital?" he asked with an air of guilt.

Christopher said nothing. He stole the old Ukrainian woman from VinZenT's arms and shot off high into the sky. He treaded the air for a minute, trying to find something below that resembled a hospital. He spotted Saint Vincent's on 51st and 9th which was dispatching ambulances to the police station. This was a good thing, he thought; it was good because he could get there in seconds. Christopher held the old woman tight, put his head down, and strived for ultimate velocity. He landed at the emergency room doors with such force that the rush of air imploded the automatic sliding doors. Christopher didn't stop to entertain the gaze of personal who'd never seen a winged man before. He walked right up to the nearest dumbfounded doctor and said, "She won't stop bleeding. I don't know why."

After turning and placing Burya on a gurney, Christopher flew back out the door and intended to return to the scene at 54th. But he began to feel a nagging tug at his body, an irresistible tether he called The Pull that was giving him no choice but to leave. Knowing he couldn't stay more than another few moments, he jetted straight up and out of sight where no one could see him become a blur and vanish.

The hospital staff did the best they could but discovered too late that the aged woman was a hemophiliac. Between the loss of blood and the bitter cold – cold she helped bring down on the city – she didn't have enough life left in her to resuscitate.

October 23, 2019...Arlington, USA

Still in his dress greens, General Asak prepared for some evening work, entering his home office with a glass of red wine which he placed on a solid mahogany desk. He sat in his fine leather office chair and rocked back a bit to take in the view of Washington, D.C. at dusk. He put his hands behind his shaved head and took a deep breath. The general did not love much, but he loved the view of the Capitol from his home office. He considers the view a prized possession that belonged only to him. He has never allowed anyone else in his office, not even his wife.

The tall but thick officer rocked a bit forward to pick up a shiny metal briefcase from underneath the desk. Click-click-click, he opened the lock on the briefcase and withdrew a thick manila folder marked 'Top Secret.' He placed the folder on the desk and took out some rough schematics and blueprints. After unfolding them and placing them flat on the desk, his dry, calloused fingertips grazed the sketches. The next big advancement in warfare is almost here, the general thought.

"The design is no good," Marcus said softly, trying not to alarm the army veteran. He slowly stepped out of a shadow where the desk lamp's glow had not quite reached.

General Asak was a man who was always prepared, even when he is relaxing. He immediately reached for the upper right hand drawer of his desk, pulled out a loaded 9mm handgun and shot at Marcus' center-of-mass three times. Although he had pulled the trigger, the gun made no sound. The bullets didn't exactly misfire, though. Instead they dribbled out of the barrel and fell harmlessly to the carpet with barely a sound. Unfazed, General Asak went for the combat knife strapped beneath the middle drawer of his desk only to find he couldn't pull the knife out of its sheath. He stood up, trying to gain some leverage, but that didn't work either.

"I'm not here to hurt you or take anything from you. I just want to talk," Marcus said firmly but gently. Marcus raised his empty palms up in front of his chest to indicate he was unarmed.

As a last resort, the general sat back down and reached underneath the left side of the desktop to push a 'panic button.' Military police would be on the scene in just under five minutes.

"So that gives us five minutes to talk, General. Except that I've disabled that alarm. Now we can take all the time we want." Marcus smiled through a Van Dyke beard. He pulled up a chair to sit before the man behind the desk. "I said I don't want to hurt you or take anything from you. But I think you're going to want something from me. Fortunately, I'd like something from you, too. I'm here to negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement. Sir."

"What can we help each other with?" the officer asked through stone-ground lips. General Asak had never taken kindly to the invasion of his own privacy despite being a central figure in the U.S. government's domestic spying program. He was still ready should an opportunity present itself.

Marcus pointed to the blank TV screen mounted in the far corner. "Did you see the news yesterday, about what happened in Manhattan? In front of a police station no less." Marcus shook his head in mock disbelief. "General, you've heard the eyewitness accounts. There are people out there who are a big threat to national security."

The General put his right index finger down on the blueprints and opened his mouth to reply, but Marcus cut him off.

"I know, the battle suits. They were already being designed but you had the military put them on the fast track the day The Mega Dudes made headlines. Yeah, they might be good against conventional armies but your suits won't stop these guys. These are powerful people we're talking about. Full body armor and an upgrade in firepower isn't going to stop them."

"Is that so? What do you know about these people that I don't?" the General asked incredulously.

"The big Mega Dude, goes by the name Brawl Boy?" Marcus raised a hand in the air to indicate height. "He can take my best shot, and I can be pretty damn strong. I mean, my best punch is like a tank round." Marcus talked as if he didn't believe himself sometimes. "And he's strong, too, stronger than me. If he punched one of your little battle suit guys with even a fraction of his strength..." Marcus made a fist and opened it to simulate an exploding grenade. "These suits won't protect against a guy like that little punk Rock Star either, who can control sound. And the well-dressed kid, he's telekinetic. How are your suits going to keep your men from getting thrown around like rag dolls?"

"How do you know about all this? Let me guess, you were there, too, in Manhattan yesterday." General Asak was still on guard, waiting for an opening.

"Yeah, I was there. I'm the generic black guy in the reports," Marcus said with a whiff of irritability. "I was there to get my hands on someone else; I call him The Nameless." Marcus shifted in his chair, a little uncomfortable. "But I wasn't prepared. I didn't think there would be other players in on it. Anyway, look, this guy I call The Nameless, he killed my family. He's the main problem. This guy I'm talking about can literally do anything."

"How can he do that?" the general wanted to know.

"To be honest, I don't even know. But I know he can and so can I."

General Asak gave a short, contemptuous laugh. "Show me."

Marcus focused on the view of D.C. "Take a look at the Capitol," he said to the officer.

With one eye on Marcus, General Asak rotated his head to find a view of Paris in the daytime outside his window. Since The Mega Dudes first appeared, the general's task force on super human activity had been speculating on what kind of powers people might have. "Teleportation or mind control?" he asked.

"I can do either, but this is mind control. I don't like doing that to people, though. I don't have any right to mess with people's free will. God gave us free will for a reason." Of his own free will, Marcus extended his hand and placed it on the desk before the General. "Okay, now you can reach for your knife and stab my hand with it."

The General didn't pause. He quickly pulled the knife from underneath the drawer and slammed its sharp point right through Marcus' hand and into the desktop. Marcus pulled his hand away unscathed.

"I can phase, too," Marcus said observing his hand. "I can fly, I can have super strength and I can heal from any wound. You name it, I'm pretty sure I can do it. What I'm here to ask you is if you want me to do these things for our great country. For God's country."

"Why would you do that?" the officer asked as he barely looked up from his marred desktop.

"I'm a patriot like you, General, and I have a duty to protect our great nation. You see, there is evil out there and it's powerful and it's real. Even though you'd love to strap me down and dissect me bit by bit – I can read minds, too – it's more important you have someone like me on your side, 'cause I'm the only one offering right now."

Irritated about his desk, the general looked up. "What are you proposing? What kind of 'mutually beneficial arrangement' are you talking about?"

Marcus leaned forward. His face was expressionless except for his eyes; they were squinted, a bit menacing.

"What I am proposing is that you first let me redesign those suits; I can be real smart like that. It'll take a few days but when I'm finished, you're going to invite me into the Pentagon and I'm going to explain to your people how – under your supervision – I'm going to lead a task force to hunt down people like The Nameless and anyone else who is a threat to our country."

"You expect me to let you walk out of here with these plans?" The general was a veteran of many things, but not of stupidity.

"You don't have to. I've already made copies," Marcus answered.

"Then what do you need me for?" the general wanted to know.

"These people are out there banding together. Any one of these people are a threat on their own, so, if they're going to team up or start working for another government, we're going to need a team of our own to stop them. I can't do it myself, you can't do it by yourself, so we're going to have to do it together. The United States isn't a nation of one. It takes a village, right? And you're not a man who's going to let America's manifest destiny just fall apart."

General Asak was intrigued on a certain level by Marcus' arguments. But he was most intrigued that this man who had just shown himself capable of multiple super powers was humble and asking for help. It suggested the stranger had a weakness or limitation, a weakness or limitation the officer might need to exploit one day. There were other questions as well.

"Aside from what you've insinuated, The Mega Dudes haven't displayed any hostility. They've only been helpful when they've shown up," the veteran observed.

"You going to wait until they do get hostile?" Marcus questioned.

"Okay," General Asak offered, "What do you need?"

"I need to know how much you're willing to spend."

"What, you can't make money appear out of thin air, or anything else you need for that matter?" the general scoffed.

"You know, I haven't tried. If I can't, I could easily steal the money or materials, though, but God kind of looks down on that," Marcus said as he pushed the seat back and stood up.

General Asak pushed his chair back, too; a reflex just in case Marcus attacked. "You show my boys upstairs something good and money won't be a problem."

Marcus walked towards the window, slid it open and straddled the window sill. "Do we have a deal?"

"Am I going to wake up now, is that it?" the officer snorted.

"You're not dreaming, General. You're going to go to sleep tonight still thinking you are, but in a few days you're going to see otherwise. Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? By the way, what's your name, kid?"

"Name's Marcus Michaels. You can look me up, get all the info you want, but that's info's going to be on the old Marcus Michaels. My name doesn't really matter anymore. What matters is our mission." Marcus slipped off the sill and floated up into the air.

The general watched from the other side of the looking glass and contemplated the meeting. Could be we got quite a boy scout on our hands. That's good. I like boy scouts; they know how to take orders. Or he could be playing with us. We'll see.

The military police never came. The general's security team confirmed that the alarm had been disabled, all the circuitry mysteriously melted from the inside.

November 1, 2019...The Australian Outback

Kaitlin Grant was sweltering. Despite the arid heat of Australia's inner landscape, sweat collected below her perfectly cut but currently unkempt low-hanging bangs. Her designer capris weren't helping her cool off. A native of a much cooler and humid climate meant Kaitlin would have to endure if she were to come all this way for what she was promised. She lifted binoculars from her chest to her eyes and pointed them to the sky for the third time, not quite sure what to make of the fireball that lit the daytime sky. She lowered the binoculars and settled them upon a pricey necklace. She thought about the men that had visited her a few days earlier. One of them figured into this.

Eight-thousand feet overhead, Melanie Conrad was reveling in her ability to fly. She didn't understand how or why fire erupted from her body when she took flight, but she knew that when she did her skin got tough and she couldn't feel the rush of air over her body no matter what speed she clocked in at. What she did understand was that she was fast, really fast. Fire, flight and speed; she felt like more than just herself; almost a goddess.

Melanie had taken time off from work and family to find a quiet, unpopulated area to practice flight. It occurred to her that she needed to do this instead of recklessly blazing across Melbourne's sky as she did one night after realizing just how incredible her powers of flight were. (A bottle of wine may have been involved, would have been her excuse if caught.) But as Melanie was practicing tight loops, she saw a glint of glass below her and what looked like, might be, a Land Rover nearby. She dropped altitude in a flash and flew by her voyeur like a warning shot. Kaitlin quickly shuffled back a good three feet since she wasn't sure who or what she was dealing with, but she felt the intense heat of the object as it zoomed by. Whomever or whatever it was flew behind her and seemed to have disappeared over the horizon. Removed from any immediate threat, Kaitlin's singed skin reminded her she was burning up, so she retrieved another bottle of water from her backpack and drank it completely. All the water; maybe that's why she was sweating so much. How uncomfortable.

After the water soothed her throat, Kaitlin looked all around but didn't see the fireball. She waited for five minutes, then walked a short distance off the rocky mound she'd been watching from. The English woman walked towards her vehicle, glancing up in the air periodically. Kaitlyn leaned against the driver's door wondering what to do next.

"What are ya doing out here?" Melanie asked as she came out from behind the Land Rover. She was wrapped in a wool army blanket that she'd taken out of the back of Kaitlin's ride.

Melanie surprised Kaitlin. Kaitlin took a brisk step away from the vehicle to face the tanned and toned occasional surfer. "You wearing anything under there?" an incredulous Kaitlin asked Melanie, eyeing her bare legs.

"Naw, but I got a good reason for that. Your accent, it's English. And the way you're dressed, you're definitely not from around here." Melanie was a little wary. "I asked ya what are ya doing out here." She jerked her head to flip some of her strawberry-blond hair out of her face.

"I think I was sent to meet you," Kaitlin replied.

"Me? Why would ya want to meet me?" Melanie asked, ready to bolt if she didn't like the answer.

"Was that you, flying? I think that's why. I mean, it's okay; I get it. We sort of have something in common. Here, let me show you." Kaitlin reached into her Gucci backpack a little too quickly and realized she might spook Melanie. "Sorry," slipped out of her mouth as she reached more slowly, drawing her hand out to reveal a white envelope with her name on it. "Someone gave me this," she said as she extended her arm to pass the note.

Clutching the blanket around her with one hand, Melanie took the envelope and managed to take out the note inside while letting the envelope fall into the dust. The note read: You are lonely right now. This is because something incredible has happened to you. You may not think it is incredible right now, but you will. You, Kaitlin Grant, are far from alone. There are others like you. Would you like to meet them? Find Melanie Conrad at the GPS coordinates provided below on the exact date and time given. You will need the following supplies....

"Did muh boyfriend put ya up to this?" Melanie asked angrily, throwing the note back at Kaitlin.

"That was you flying up there, wasn't it?" Kaitlin was starting to get excited but knew to remain cautious. "Sorry, look, I don't really know much about the man who gave me the message but they know seem to know something about the both of us."

"What do they know about ya besides the fact that ya like to overdress for the occasion?" Melanie scrunched her nose.

"It would be easier to show you." She walked slowly towards Melanie. "I know it sounds strange, but I want you to hit me. Three times, as hard as you can."

"You a dag? I don't know ya, what ya might do to me," Melanie responded, taking a step back.

"I'll show her," a disembodied voice spoke into Kaitlin's ear. The words were spoken with a touch of Southern drawl in them, American definitely, maybe Midwestern? Kaitlin didn't know for sure but the voice wasn't threatening in the least. The voice was motherly if anything.

As if from behind a curtain of invisibility, a middle-aged African American woman with wavy black hair stepped into plain sight, causing both Kaitlin and Melanie to gasp. The woman looked at Kaitlin, gave her a half-smile and said warmly, "Ready to show her?"

"Show her what?" Kaitlin answered with a crease in her brows and the edges of her lips turned down.

In what appeared as a blur, the middle-aged woman's entire body became as radiant as the sun. She changed into a blinding streak of light and seemed to strike Kaitlin with her entire body as a laser. Yet Kaitlin appeared unharmed on the surface. Instead, Kaitlin doubled over as if her very core were being ripped apart.

"Get away from the Rover! NOW!" Kaitlyn huskily ordered in Melanie's direction.

Melanie threw the blanket off herself and took to the sky so she could safely observe from above. Kaitlin unleashed the flash of light that had struck her back upon the Land Rover, turning the vehicle into a heap of molten slag and burning rubber. Kaitlin frowned.

"Well, that's great! I'm going to have to pay for that rental," Kaitlin complained.

The African American woman once again appeared in a blink, startling Kaitlin. "I'm sorry, Kaitlin. My name is Ella Baudin. I received a similar note. Only mine told me to meet the two of you here." Ella smiled. Her smile was deep and genuine, the kind that came with friendly eyes not in the least bit hostile.

"How did you know I could do that?" Kaitlin asked Ella.

"I can see into the future a bit," Ella replied. "There are some other things I can do, too. Better step back a bit right now, though."

Ella put her arm out in front of Kaitlin and motioned for her to move back. Melanie fell out of the sky like a bomb, kicking up dirt as she landed before the pair. Melanie was completely naked.

"Okay, what's going on with this?" Kaitlin circled a finger towards Melanie.

"My skin gets a little fiery when I'm flying. Burns my clothes off. Didn't take me long to figure that one out." Unabashed, Melanie continued. "Anyone have an idea what is happening to us?"

A few days earlier...

Kaitlin was sitting at the bar at the Hotel Du Vin in Bristol. It was early evening and not yet fully dark – the time of day romance might come alive for a younger couple who were still innocent enough to believe in holding hands first. But with Kaitlin having walked out on a bad marriage after getting caught having yet another affair, she wasn't particularly in the mood for romance herself. There was also something happening to her she didn't understand at all.

She needed to figure it out, though. Kaitlin had taken an extended leave from work and was spending too much of her savings trying to stay away from home. Her initial thoughts when she first ran away were to simply go to a doctor about her new condition. Then she realized she could do something unique she'd never seen anyone else do before. Given The Mega Dudes and the confusion surrounding what happened in New York, Kaitlin assumed then that if she had gone to a doctor, higher authorities would be alerted and she'd wind up a lab rat or worse, a government operative. It wouldn't pay anything, thought a woman with a small taste for the finer things in life.

After two months, Kaitlin was no closer to a solution. This warranted another drink. She ordered another Whiskey Ginger.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a slender, yellow-skinned Indonesian man with bright white teeth walk up and sit beside her. He was wearing a smooth charcoal suit with an unbuttoned collared shirt and a red patterned tie, partially loosened. He seem perfectly dressed for the time and place, yet something was off. Kaitlin thought there was a bit too much swagger in his approach.

She turned her head towards the gentleman. "Before you get any ideas, I'm not in the mood. The last thing you want to do is hit me. I'm mean, hit on me." She laughed a little bit to herself, buzzed just a bit from her last drink. "That's a bit of an in-joke with myself. Don't mind me."

"No, Ms. Grant, I would not hit you. You would just build up all that energy inside and give back to me as good as you got," the man said in return.

How many drinks have I had? Kaitlin withdrew from her cocktail.

"Do I know you? Because you don't look familiar," Kaitlin asked as her fingers returned to trace the outside of her glass. This man, though dressed smart, didn't seem to fit the boutique hotel setting. There was as much whimsy as bravado in his staccato American voice that it intrigued her. His attitude; he somehow seemed above this nice place, above everything.

"No, you do not know me. But I am a man who knows you and is going to tell you your future."

Kaitlin hadn't heard this line since she was an undergrad, so she played along after she took another sip, this one because she was nervous. "Oh yeah? What do you know about my future?"

The man reached out a hand and covered Kaitlin's in a light grasp; gentle but insistent. He smiled and nodded as he spoke. "I know you are Kaitlin Grant from London who, until two months ago, was just like everyone else. But now you are something else. You are more. You have been given something special." The man trained his eyes on a couple sitting behind them and tilted his head in their direction. "Do you see this couple? So in love..."

Kaitlin swayed her neck and glanced, trying not to be too obvious. "Yeah, what about them?" She had no idea where this was going but felt that maybe her husband had sent someone to track her down. It didn't matter; she wasn't going back. She did know that much about her future.

The man continued: "They are fighting; they are fighting to ignore what is obvious, that life is suffering because they have no control, no power over their lives. It is the worst thing a human being can suffer, to have no power. For these people to form a relationship means giving up a measure of control to gain a measure of control, and this leads to a negligible result. Falling in love – pair bonding – sees to it that people compromise to get what they want – some power – though a struggle for dominance in the relationship will eventually lead to discord for one of the two, if not both. This is not to say falling in love is useless. Love also distracts people from the pain of everything in life; sudden challenges, all the petty annoyances, all of the major inconveniences, even from losing someone else, say, a relative or close friend. Falling in love distracts a couple from the fact that they are stumbling through life trying to exert power over one another while imagining they have an emotional anchor with which to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Again, though, by falling in love, each person willfully loses a measure of control over themselves and gives it to another person. The attempt to forge a lasting relationship is what people do when they are trying to get something they desperately long for, something we do have." The man gripped Kaitlin's hand a little harder.

Kaitlin wasn't sure she liked it and slowly pulled her hand away. "What do we have that they want?" she asked. The man laughed from his belly loud enough for a few people nearby to momentarily look up.

"We have power they seek, Kaitlin. This power is freedom for us and we can hold it over the world's head; for their own good, of course. The world would even thank us for it, just like they thank the people they elect to govern their lives which they themselves do a very poor job of running." The man chuckled. "I know what you can do. Have you seen The Mega Dudes? On the 'telly' as you say here? You have a special gift, just like they do. I know this. I have a special gift, too. Together, we are even more special."

"You have a funny way of trying to pick up women...what is your name?"

To this question the man didn't put any happiness into the smile he gave her. The grin wasn't jovial anymore. The man looked at the ground. "I had a name but I did not like it. It reminded me of my old life. I have not chosen a new name yet." The man paused, then looked back up and smiled again. "I do not know if I need one."

"How do you think we, you and me, are special together?" Kaitlin inquired.

"Do not misunderstand. I am not trying to be rude," the reed thin man waved off. "What I mean to say is that because of our gifts, we are now more than human. And with our gifts come a responsibility." He took his eyes away from Kaitlin and steered them back in the direction of the couple. "We have been given power – dominion – over these people. If we take our rightful place as gods above them, there is so much they would no longer have to fear."

Kaitlin was staggered. Here comes this man who says he knows what she can do and says he can do something, too, and he's saying things she's never heard anyone say before. It sounded insane on the surface but not so much that she turned a deaf ear. She did need some evidence before giving the man a chance to continue, though.

"So what is it you can do?" she asked.

"I can read minds."

"Okay, what numb..."

"36. Now 149. 10,000, 58...Kaitlin, that is not even a number, that is a sailboat."

Kaitlin leaned far back. "Ha! What? That's impossible." No, really, how much have I had to drink? Three? she wondered.

"You are on your third drink. You think."

Kaitlin's lower lip came a bit over her upper lip as she pushed her drink away. She clamped her teeth down on the side of her tongue and if she couldn't feel any pain, she knew she was drunk for sure. But she felt the pain. She supposed this meant she wasn't dreaming either. She squinted at the man.

"That's incredible. But what does it mean? Why do you think this has happened to us?"

"Maybe it has happened because everything happens when it is supposed to. I am not sure. But a few others have already joined me. Together, we will change the course of history, Kaitlin." The man paused to play origami with a napkin. "It is a big decision. Some of the people I have met like us appear to be uncomfortable with taking their proper place in the world. I admit that I am a little surprised by this. Who does not want to rule the world?" He laughed again. The man stood up from his bar stool and place an origami butterfly on the bar. He half turned away. "I would like you to think about what it would mean to be a goddess, Kaitlin. Think about what it would mean to be in a position to save the world from the way it is living. I'll give you some time. I'll find you again when you have made the right decision." He flashed a grin full of teeth, turned completely away and waved as he did so, strolling out as confidently as he had come in.

Kaitlin sat motionless as she watched the man walk away. Eventually, she returned to her drink, pulling it closer towards herself like it were her only friend. "How does anyone become a god?" she asked quietly as she lifted her Whiskey Ginger to her lips.

"Excuse me, Miss," came a tap on her shoulder. The tap was very light, so soft in its approach that its energy didn't enter her body.

Kaitlin turned around in her chair to come face to face with a much older gentleman; Asian it seemed. It was hard to tell. He looked something like the more traditional notion of a god; a face pocketed not only by age and experience but by battle as well. He, too, was of a thin build (but not as thin as her suitor earlier) with short, white, half-curled hair and was smartly dressed for his age, but was somewhat shorter than that last chap to take her ear.

He leaned on a cane as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Miss, but that man, what did he say to you?" This older gentleman with less of an accent leaned hard on his cane, as if he might fall over if she told him the truth.

"Oh, him? He was, um, just trying to chat me up."

The man forced some air out of his nose and lifted one side of his lips as if he'd just heard nonsense. "Young lady, when I was about your age, I thought I knew much better than I did. I was reckless with an opportunity and made decisions that led to a great deal of conflict."

He coughed several times. He slipped a weathered hand into his chest pocket to retrieve a handkerchief and coughed into it some more. Obviously sick, possibly dying by the sound of it, he resumed:

"That man says he knows about you. Well, I know about him. I do not think you would be happy to hear the particulars of his agenda. I also do not think you would care much for his associates." He slipped her a large white envelope which she took with some reservation. "You are not as much like him as you are like others. Before you decide to join that man I think you should meet some of those people. In the envelope is a plane ticket, reservations for a rental car, directions and some large bills. I have deposited extra money into your banking account as well."

Kaitlin looked at this man far beyond her years with eyes wide open. Her lips moved a touch, but it seemed her initial words were inaudible. "This is a lot to take in," she finally said as she flapped the envelope a little. "I'm not sure what to say." She looked to the far side of the bar where the bartender was drying glasses, ready to bat her eyelashes if she might need someone to intervene.

"You have always wanted to travel? This is your opportunity. Go and take the time to think about all of this," the man said as he started to walk away.

"Wait," Kaitlin insisted, "What can you do?"

The man stopped in his tracks, leaned into his cane and met her eyes. "I can die, young lady. I have come a long way and spent a lot of energy to be here, to see you, to try and change something. But I know that this is impossible." The elderly man smiled but his eyes drooped, indicated his smile was one of acceptance. "And yet I try. Can the past be undone? I suppose if it could be, I would not be here. What can I do? I can retire for the evening and pass quietly in my sleep tonight." He coughed once more into his handkerchief. Kaitlin noticed a small amount of blood it.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"Yes. Please, go and meet the others," he returned.

The man stepped away, rocking on and off his cane as he did so. He existed the bar and exited Kaitlin's existence.

A few days later...

"We're going to be super heroes together!" Melanie exclaimed in a high pitched voice. "My son is going to love this!" Ella and Kaitlin tried to explain that there might be a need for a certain level of secrecy to Melanie, but Melanie's beaming smile showed she wasn't really listening.

"Better tell your family you're going on vacation, Sweetie," Kaitlin whispered to Ella.

"I don't think I can. It's tempting – my husband probably wouldn't notice – but my mother needs me to take care of her. A lot of people need me to take care of them," Ella returned.

While Melanie busied herself joyously twirling herself around like a miniature tornado, Kaitlin faced Ella with a grim, steadfast face. "Now even more people need you to take care of them. I have some money," Kaitlin then said flippantly, "We'll get your mother the care she needs. Then we're going to do what the world needs us to do."

November 11, 2019...Washington, D.C.

General Asak walked down the corridors of the Pentagon with his thick, meaty jaw locked down tight. It had been ten days since he found himself at the mercy of a stranger who promised him great things in half the time. But now it had now been more than a week. When he finally reached his office he whisked passed his secretary and the guard he requested posted outside his door. He closed the door behind him, looked up, and momentarily reached for the firearm in his chest holster underneath his dress greens jacket. When he realized the unannounced visitor in his office was Marcus, he stopped himself.

"Does anyone know you're in here?" the officer questioned in a low tone.

"No," Marcus smiled from behind the general's desk, "You're security is terrible. I have something for you." Marcus waved a hand over the general's desk and some rolled up blueprints appeared. With a snap of his fingers, Marcus made them unroll.

General Asak reached for a television remote that was on the desk and turned on a news channel to mask their conversation. Then he turned his attention to Marcus' designs.

"What you're looking at here, General, is one of two battle suits. This suit," Marcus leaned over the plans and put his index finger down on a fantastical bulky armored figure, "Will easily withstand the force of a tank round. It will stand up to the strength of someone like me. It is designed to carry a variety of weapons and can perform hand-to-hand combat, but if you want to keep it mobile, that takes heavy artillery off the table. You don't really need it anyway. You can pit this suit against someone with super human strength or an armored vehicle and you'll probably get the same result. Oh, and built into the armor itself are miniature solar cells so the suit doesn't have to rely on an outside power unless it's really working hard at night."

The general studied the designs for a minute and nodded his head half-heartedly. "It's bulky. You said you have another suit design?" General Asak asked without taking his eyes off the blueprints.

Marcus sat back down, put his hands behind his head and his feet up on the general's desk. This elicited a sneer from the officer, though he didn't say anything.

"I have another suit made of a flexible, skintight metal. It's not nearly as heavily armored and it's designed for flight. It can carry some light armaments. Imagine how quickly you'll be able to maneuver the battlefield, General." Marcus' tone had been genial so far but suddenly became more serious. "I also have a new device with a unique capability I'd like to demonstrate."

"Where and when would you like to demonstrate this device?" General Asak did not like having a request directed towards him that sounded more like an order.

"Put some top brass together for a demo at the Fort Belvoir Proving Ground in Fairfax, Virginia tomorrow morning around nine," Marcus stated.

"I know where Fort Belvoir is," the general said deeply. "I can't put something together that fast. And this isn't going to help me," the general almost growled as he waved his own hand over the bulky suit's blueprint. "I'll be lucky if I don't get laughed out of a meeting when I present this ridiculous design."

Marcus motioned as if to turn a volume knob down, indicating to General Asak that he should quiet himself. "Have your engineers look over this design. They'll confirm its integrity. With that little bit of credibility, it shouldn't be too difficult to tell your peers about me and that I'd like an audience." Marcus stood up and tilted his head slightly. "Do you want to defend this country or not, General?"

"Where's the other suit design?" the always suspicious officer asked.

"It's in a safe place and I'll get it to you when I'm confident we're really on the same page. Deal?"

"Deal," was the general's answer that was a few seconds long in the making.

"See you in the morning then," Marcus said as he became translucent and walked through the nearest wall.

How the hell are we supposed to defend ourselves against someone like him? This guy seems to have unlimited capabilities, General Asak ruminated as he looked back down at the battle suit design. He's got to be on our side or he could have easily taken action against us by now. Or maybe he's got a weakness. We'll find out tomorrow.

The officer studied the designs for a few more minutes before rolling them up and locking them inside his shiny steel briefcase. This measure of protection was too late, however, as someone else in the room – invisible and also intangible – had been surveying the designs for as long as they were presented.

The following morning...

A small contingent of officers from each branch of the U.S. forces and one member of the Senate Intelligence Committee gathered before a set of bleachers. The bleachers were positioned for viewing a flat open field where, down range, five soldiers in full tactical gear awaited orders. A few yards from the men on their left flank idled a battle ready M1 Abrams tank. Closer to the stands stood a man encased in an olive drab exoskeleton that brandished an anti-tank Gatling gun on one arm and a flame thrower on the other.

At 8:58am, General Asak asked everyone gathered for the live-fire demonstration to take their seats while the top brass grumbled about being called away from their usual tasks. "This guy had better be for real," the attending senator warned the general.

General Asak tested his com-link to the unit downfield one more time. "Again, your target is an African American male, approximately 30 years old, six-foot one-inches, about 225 pounds. He is due to arrive any moment. Eliminate the target on sight."

"Roger, Eagle One. Safety's off. We are live. Waiting to acquire target," the squad leader radioed back. Off to their right, one of the squad members spotted a low flying object headed in their direction. They raised their weapons and waited for the object to come into range. "Possible contact on our three o'clock. Prepared to engage."

The UFO dropped out of the sky when it was within a thousand yards, too far away for the squad to fire upon accurately. Their possible target hit the ground and seemed to disappear altogether.

Puzzled, General Asak paused for a few moments. He was a bright tactician who didn't make general by accident, though. "Eagle One to Eagle Two; utilize thermal imaging. Target may be invisible to the naked eye." The soldiers quickly configured their equipment and confirmed a man-sized object nine-hundred yards away and slowly closing in. "Kill him," the squad's commander ordered.

The soldiers started firing in Marcus' direction. Though most of the bullets flew by him wildly or hit the ground in front of him, Marcus switched powers in order to avoid a shot that might actually hit the mark. Casting aside his invisibility, Marcus opted for super speed and covered the nine-hundred yards between himself and the soldiers in three seconds, even while running in a ragged line. Assuming being in close quarters so suddenly might panic the men, Marcus deftly unclipped the magazines from all five soldier's rifles so that no one would be hurt by friendly fire. With blinding speed he also relieved the soldiers of their side-arms and threw them far beyond an arm's length. With two soldiers on one side and three on the other, Marcus fell out of subsonic speed and allowed himself to be seen.

"Any chance you'll just surrender?" Marcus teased the soldiers.

One squad member drew his combat knife and took a stab at Marcus' stomach. Marcus jumped back out of the way only to have another soldier grab him in a choke hold from behind. A third launched his fist into Marcus' face, bloodying his nose. A fourth kicked Marcus in the back of his right leg, sending him down on one knee. The soldier with the knife geared up for a killing blow to the throat.

Despite being an excellent hand-to-hand fighter, the knife-wielding soldier missed his mark. The knife flew by Marcus' head and opened a gash in the arm that was wrapped around Marcus' neck. The soldier who had punched Marcus in the face threw another punch, but it landed against the jaw of the soldier who had just been slashed and had let go of his choke hold. Quickly, General Asak's men had turned against each other, punching, kicking and wrestling each other to the ground. Marcus stood untouched among them having superimposed the image of himself upon each of the squad members; all they could see was their enemy and not each other. After one soldier came perilously close to fatally stabbing another, Marcus employed telekinesis and sent each of the men flying several yards away from each other. Each soldier landed in a cloud of dust and confusion on the battlefield, uninjured for the most part and a few minutes away from gathering themselves. Just a short distance away, Marcus remembered the tank might still be a problem.

Before the tank could bring machine gun fire down upon him, Marcus assumed the power of flight and launched himself up and over the heavily armored vehicle. He landed behind the tank, switched powers and laid his hands upon the vehicle to turn an entire side of armor so cold it became brittle. Then he changed his entire body into diamond and brought down a fist upon the combat vehicle, smashing more than a quarter of the tank's right side into fragments. Finally, Marcus laid his left shoulder at an angle into the tank, lifted with his legs and pushed, overturning the tank for good measure. He could hear the tank crew panicking inside, but their cries were not those of injury.

Marcus turned towards the stands and began marching toward the cadre of military and government personnel. Of course, he'd have to deal with the man in the exoskeleton first which wasn't going to be a problem. Marcus streamed forward and switched to invulnerability.

Although the pilot of the exoskeleton had Marcus well within range, the man waited until Marcus was within three-hundred feet, just to be sure. Locked on to the thick black cross marking Marcus' blue shirt, the Gatling gun opened fire and hit the former firefighter squarely in the chest. The large thirty-millimeter rounds bounced off Marcus as he continued to approach, slowed just a fraction by the stream of ammunition. The pilot continued to fire until the barrel of the autocannon started to overheat, at which point the exoskeleton pilot switched out his Gatling gun for the flame thrower. Marcus' face became flush with fire, blinding him to his opponent. Unable to see, Marcus stood still and waited until the exoskeleton stopped to observe its handiwork. While Marcus stood there bored with waiting, a mechanical arm unexpectedly swung through the flames and knocked him down.

Annoyed by his own overconfidence, Marcus jumped back up and ran through the flames towards the stands. Assuming the man not dressed in fatigues or a military dress uniform was important, the six feet of uncut muscle ran past a flustered General Asak and made a leap for the senator in the front row. Everyone else in the stands drew what weapons they had on the general's charge. Marcus spun and twisted the senator's arm behind him, causing the politician to grimace and squeeze his eyes shut. Marcus took a measure of satisfaction in hurting the senator a bit, then looked around at the assembly of officers.

"You've all seen what I can do," Marcus shouted. "You know you can't hurt me. General Asak! I didn't come here to hurt anyone. Tell your men to stand down, now," Marcus warned.

General Asak looked at Marcus, looked over at the exoskeleton, and back at Marcus. "Eagle Two, stand down. I repeat, stand down." It seemed to the general that Marcus was a man of his word and that he was on the U.S. government's side. "Sorry about that. My colleagues just needed some convincing is all. Why don't you come on down here?" The general motioned Marcus to come hither.

Marcus relaxed his grip on the senator and smoothed out the official's suit. "Sorry. Nothing personal," Marcus smiled with a sturdy pat on the senator's back. He walked down the stands toward General Asak who was holding out his right hand to give his new recruit a welcoming handshake. A few steps before taking the officer's hand, though, Marcus took something out of his back pocket and put it on; a right-handed glove made of metal.

Once snug around his wrist, Marcus pointed his palm at the exoskeleton, allowing the glove to scan the minimalist battle suit in silence. Then the glove made a whooshing sound. The exoskeleton rattled and released a few puffs of smoke from its seams as if its circuits had just been fried. The exoskeleton, still locked on to Marcus just in case, went limp. "The glove allows the wearer to prevent a target from attacking them," Marcus explained straight-faced. "It works on technology and it'll also work on people with super human capabilities. At least that's what I built it to do. I haven't had a chance to fully test it yet."

"Can we test it on you?" General Asak laughed half-seriously. Marcus just tilted his head and smirked.

Normally the general would have been upset to watch so much of his project money go to waste, but he had something far more valuable now. After taking his eyes off the inoperable exoskeleton and returning his eyes to Marcus, he took Marcus' hand and shook it, then put his arm around Marcus' shoulder.

"You can explain the glove to my engineers later. Are you prepared to change the world, soldier?" the veteran asked Marcus.

The two men would have to change the world without Marcus' tank-like fighting battle suit. As the general discovered a few hours later, the blueprints had been stolen from the Pentagon. No trace of the perpetrator had been left behind.

November 13, 2019...Somewhere near Beijing, China

Deep in an underground military installation, Than Xi stood before three top Chinese military officers with Marcus' battle suit design laid out on a table. Two of the officers didn't seem particularly impressed by the successful act of espionage and questioned Than.

"Is this what their most secret project is, a battle suit?" questioned the shortest and slightest of the three ranking officials. The officer laughed, but not because he was happy. "We are designing our own suits!"

"If I may," Than spoke quietly, "The suit appears to have been designed by a civilian who claims to possess super strength. He can also become intangible like myself. I saw him walk through a wall."

"What else do you know?" asked a second, taller officer with a pencil thin moustache.

"In his meeting with an American general, the civilian said the suit could stand up to someone like himself and, I think he said the armor had its own energy source." Than tilted his head forward and set his eyes upon the ground. His rubbed his thumbs and fingers together until they were raw. "I'm, I'm sorry. My English is not yet perfect."

The third officer, the tallest of the group and the leader judging by his puffed up chest-full of medals, consoled Than with an airy tone. "It is okay, comrade. Did you learn anything else?"

"Yes," Than replied as he looked back up. "The civilian designed a second suit, a flying suit, and a device that he did not describe; he did not appear comfortable enough with the American general to share those designs yet and has hidden them. The civilian left after he told the general to set up something of a demonstration. That is how I understood the civilian's words."

The third officer looked at his two subordinates, squared his shoulders and with a commanding tone ordered, "Put this design into production immediately. I want a working prototype in two weeks."

Not having fully reviewed the blueprints, the other two officers didn't know if this would be possible. They raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"No excuses. Go, now," the commanding officer demanded. He turned his attention back to Than. "You have done well, citizen. You have earned your place in service to your country. You have earned your operative name, Ghost." The officer opened his hands as if to make something disappear.

It was a grandiose gesture in Than's opinion. He was happy to be making more money so that he could provide for his family back home. His shoulders dropped out of satisfaction when he thought of what might be asked of him next.

January 23, 2020...Moscow, Russia

At three in the morning, light winds were sending flurries adrift when a weather beaten white van topped with powder pulled into a narrow alley. Melanie Conrad, the snow evaporating as it fell on her, studied the van from the shadows at the corner of the alley half a block away. She was perfectly warm in a black windbreaker and track pants despite temperatures that would induce hypothermia in an ordinary person. Peeking out from underneath her slightly undone windbreaker, Melanie wore a tight, glossy, purple shirt. She lifted a cigarette to her lips and pretended to smoke it in case anyone noticed her.

The van came to a stop just outside a large, red, sliding wooden door in the middle of the alley. Dressed for warmth and wearing a traditional Russian hat, a forty year old female driver got out of the truck's cab on one side while a roguish male passenger armed with a submachine gun got out of the other side. They shot glances ahead and behind themselves as they walked briskly to the rear of the van. The woman removed a chain and lock from the sliding door while the armed guard opened the back of the van. Inside the van, four attractive but unkempt young women aged sixteen to twenty-three and three underage girls rattled in their shackles at the sound of the opening door. Most of them looked as though they hadn't slept in days, with deep, dark bags under their eyes. Some of them appeared to have taken a blow to the face or had bruises on their arms as if they had been grabbed and dragged along unwillingly. An older man with a large hooked nose and dressed in a fine black wool trench coat walked out from inside the red brick building to the van to have a look at the merchandise. He leaned forward into the back of the vehicle and surveyed each prisoner from head to toe. "This is a good lot," he said in Russian. "Let's take them inside."

Just as the older man and the armed guard were about to unchain the women and girls to escort them inside the building, the armed guard's submachine gun became so hot that the guard felt the heat through his gloves. He yelped as he was forced to drop the weapon before his hands burned. The two men watched stupefied as the weapon landed on the ground and melted before their very eyes. The older, hook-nosed man looked all around but could not figure out what was happening. "Get the cargo out of here," his trembling voice called to his female accomplice while he pulled out his own pistol.

The woman made a dash for the front of the van. Before she could climb into the cab, though, a brunette woman dressed in expensive black buckled boots, dark tan slacks, a sweater brandishing the British flag and sunglasses stepped in front of her. The woman pushed the door shut before the criminal could get inside.

"Going somewhere, Sweetie?" Kaitlin Grant asked the woman.

The woman's fur-lined hat fell into the snowy, asphalt mix as she withdrew a retractable baton from her belt, flicked it open to its full length and whipped Kaitlin with it three times in quick succession. Kaitlin almost fell to the ground as the third shot hit her neck, but she quickly righted herself and slammed her fist into the middle of the woman's chest, breaking the woman's sternum away from her ribs. The female criminal crumbled to the ground gasping for air.

The older man and the guard heard the commotion and looked around from the back of the van to see their partner collapse. Pushing the guard aside, the boss of the operation stretched out his arm in Kaitlin's direction and was going to fire until a blinding white light scorched his sight. The guard, too, was blinded by the intense burst of photons. Stumbling, rubbing his burning eyes in an attempt to sooth the pain, the hooked-nose man was stripped of his weapon when Kaitlin rapped his forearm with the retractable baton. She hit him with the baton several more time, each blow more savage then the previous until the trafficker was not going to get back up. Eventually, an invisible hand reached out and restrained Kaitlin. Kaitlin paused then spit on the man, then wiped the saliva from her lips.

The guard, meanwhile, had backed himself against the building amid the confusion and was still unable to see. The women and children in the van who had peeked out the back door saw a woman with strawberry-blond hair in a black windbreaker walk across their view. With a hand that looked as though it had been thoroughly sunburned, this stranger grabbed the unsuspecting man by the throat. The guard gasped as heat penetrated deep into his neck and dried his throat. As the heat threatened to intensify, Melanie Conrad reached into her pocket and pulled out her smart phone and held it up to the guard's face. She then nodded to someone unseen beside her and the guard's sight was restored.

With his sight coming back into focus, the guard found a screen in his face that read in Russian, "We are the Third Power. NO MORE HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Tell all of your people that we are coming for them. Now run!" With all of her strength, Melanie released the man's throat with a push back towards the alley from which the van had come. The guard went running, slipping and sliding every few steps through the mix of snow and street as he tried to escape the situation.

Once he cleared the alley, Ella Baudin appeared out of thin air before the frightened young women and girls inside the van's open doors. Melanie and Kaitlin stepped up behind her and they all looked upon the prisoners with both relief and sadness. Kaitlin thinned her eyes and clenched her jaw in their direction.

"Why did you let them take you?" Kaitlin spoke, forgetting that they probably wouldn't understand her. "If you fought back, if you always fought back, none of this would ever happen."

Melanie put a hand on Kaitlin's shoulder but Kaitlin shrugged her off.

"The building. You know what to do," Kaitlin said over her shoulder to Melanie.

"Burn it to the ground," Melanie nodded and said without hesitation.

Within one month of operating in Russia, the Third Power had broken several networks of human traffickers.

February 19, 2020...The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

General Asak and Marcus Michaels were the last people to enter the long, rectangular meeting room ensconced in frosted glass. Most of the sleek office chairs were already occupied by top military officials, Senator Jefferson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Vice President Hardy and a scientist; an astronomer to be precise.

"The vice president shouldn't have to wait for you, General Asak, much less a civilian," the crotchety Senator Jefferson reminded the overdue officer and his companion as the latecomers took their seats.

"My apologies, Madame Vice President, but Mr. Michaels here was delayed and I prefer not to let him be escorted by anyone other than myself," the general said to the vice president, ignoring the senator. General Asak turned his head towards Marcus as they settled into their chairs. "Not that I could stop him if I wanted to. No offense, kid."

Marcus almost snorted a laugh as he smiled out one side of his mouth. "None taken."

The vice president leaned forward, the edges of her short grey bob winged back. She spoke in a gravely tone as if she hadn't been getting much sleep. "This meeting is now in session. We have a few issues to discuss. We'll begin with you, General Asak." The order didn't take the veteran by surprise; the general immediately leaned forward and opened a manila folder he had laid out in front of himself on the glossy veneer of the table.

"Two immediate items," the politician continued. "First, any progress in tracking down the stolen battle suit design? Second, how close to completion is Mr. Michaels' flight suit?" Madame Vice President asked.

"We're not sure, but our best guess is that it was stolen by the Chinese. Since the designs were stolen, The Chinese have been purchasing the rare materials and equipment Mr. Michaels says are necessary for them to build the suit. This activity has been confirmed by the CIA," the veteran officer stated.

The vice president pursed her lips disapprovingly and set her eyes upon Marcus. "Excuse me Mr. Michaels, but do you not possess the capabilities to confirm these things yourself or retrieve the designs? From what I've heard, you're powers are quite extensive."

Marcus shifted in his chair. Even though he put himself in this situation and was expecting resistance from the general's chain-of-command, he wasn't quite comfortable with the skeptical spotlight now shone upon him. "General Asak and I discussed this, Madame Vice President. Since the designs were hard-copy only at the time they were stolen, there is no way they could have been taken out of the building without anyone noticing. So, uh, we're assuming the thief is one or more super humans. We don't know their capabilities, though, just that they are capable."

Being closer in proximity to the vice president, General Asak leaned forward and cut off the vice president's view of Marcus. "What he is trying to say, Madame Vice President, is that if he were to infiltrate their installations and be discovered, a battle might ensue. Then we would have an international incident on our hands," the general interjected. "With Mr. Michaels as the only super human on the side of our nation's security forces at the moment, the risk to both him and national security is unacceptable."

"So, what, we let the Chinese build our suit?" a major asked from across the table.

"I can destroy the suit if I come up against it in a fight," Marcus assured the major with a straight face. "I can also design a new one."

"And the flight suit?" Madame Vice President pressed.

"The prototype will be ready in about ten days," General Asak answered. "In the meantime, we've already begun interviewing pilots for the suit."

"That may not be soon enough," the vice president stated. She turned her attention to the scientist at the far end of the table and swept her hand in his direction. "Dr. Sanjay Chaudhry, if you'd be so kind..."

A short, lean Indian man with a neatly trimmed beard stood up with a television remote control in in his hand. He pointed it towards the screen on the wall next to him which began to play a loop of what appeared to be an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

"Thank you Madame Vice President," the astronomer began, "What you see here is what we first thought was a small- to medium-sized asteroid about twenty story stories tall and of relatively little importance, like most asteroids in the Solar System. It was discovered months ago and, again, like most asteroids its trajectory posed no danger to Earth. It seemed odd, though, in that it clearly approached from deep outside the Solar System and was travelling at an unusually high rate of speed; almost as fast as a comet though it doesn't appear to be one as it possesses no tail." The astronomer pressed a button on the remote which zoomed out the angle on the screen to give a better view of the object's trajectory. "Since its discovery, the object has drastically changed course two times. We thought this might be due to collisions with other interstellar debris, but so far as we know, nothing in the path of the object has enough mass to alter its course so significantly. Then we noticed how the object seemed to change course in order to avoid the gravitational pull of the outer planets, which is stranger still. This is what got us wondering, and worrying. Then, yesterday morning, the object took a third turn and is now on a collision course with Earth." The Indian scientist pressed a button on the remote again and the screen zoomed into Earth, then Asia, then Russia. "If the object doesn't change course again, it is going to hit the Earth in five days just outside of the Russian city of Kazan, a few hundred miles east of Moscow."

An old man with white hair and wearing a white Navy uniform cleared his throat, sat up and folded his hands in front of himself. "What are you trying to tell us, Doctor, that we need to destroy this thing before it hits us or that we're talking about aliens landing on Earth?"

"Frankly, Admiral, neither asteroids nor comets act like this object. The consensus among my peers is that the object is alien in nature. So, I'm suggesting that we prepare for alien contact. Since we don't know the intentions of whomever is landing, that's, um, why we're bringing it to the attention of national security first. If human history has taught us anything, it's taught us that when a more advanced civilization comes in contact with a less advanced civilization, the less advanced one suffers." The neatly bearded scientist gulped and sat back down.

Senator Jefferson chimed in with somewhat of a high pitch. "Seems like a coincidence to me, Madame Vice President. First we find out people with super powers actually exist and the next thing you know, aliens are knocking on our door."

The vice president looked at the senator and shook her head as if to dismiss him, then turned her focus back to General Asak. "We're going to need a presence on Russian soil for this. I'm going to have the Secretary of State brief the Russians on the situation and ask that Mr. Michaels here be allowed to intervene if necessary," she said to the general.

The veteran officer leaned forward again with his hands wrenched. "This is a delicate situation, Madame Vice President. For one thing, we'd be revealing that Mr. Michaels is a super human government operative. Second, we have to take into account the possibility that The Mega Dudes, who appear to be Americans, tend to show up wherever there's a disaster or catastrophic situation. We'd basically be asking the Russians to allow six super humans to enter their borders besides the ones that are already there."

"There's only four Mega Dudes," Marcus corrected the general. "And they're not on our side."

General Asak rotated his head towards Marcus. "I was getting to that, kid. There is another super human who will be joining our forces. It's been decided that we're going to assemble a unit of super humans and this unit will be a collaboration between members of the United Nations. Mr. Michaels, of course, is our man. The woman joining us is an Egyptian who possesses the ability to..."

"That's interesting," Marcus interrupted. "Sorry, couldn't help but read your mind first."

"What do you mean 'besides the ones who are already there,' General?" the vice president questioned. "What haven't I already been informed of?"

The general groaned under his breath. He turned his head back towards the vice president. "We don't know if the Russians have any super human agents themselves, but there appears to be a small vigilante group breaking up human trafficking rings in the country. The chatter among the traffickers indicates the group are foreigners, one of which is American. This in itself could be an international incident."

"I assure you, Madame Vice President, that as a man of God I will fully cooperate with Russian forces and avoid any involvement with this vigilante group," Marcus interjected. "I can't say what I'll do about The Mega Dudes if they show up, though, so you'd better let the Russians know they've got nothing to do with any operation of ours."

"I'll expect you to follow orders, Mr. Michaels, whatever they may be," the vice president said sternly and with no regard for Marcus' alleged powers. "If I tell you not to engage The Mega Dudes, you'll do as you're told. And while you're preparing for a trip to Russia, you might want to think of an explanation as to why you haven't yet stopped that friend of yours you keep mentioning."

Marcus gripped the arms of his chair. "The Nameless, ma'am? We're simply not prepared to stop him. Why, what has he done?"

Vice President Hardy raised her nose. "He got a little boy killed, Mr. Michaels; a small Norwegian boy with the power to copy perfectly anything he saw, whether it was programming, art or soldiering. We tried to secure him for his own protection but your friend's little militia got there ahead of us. The boy died in the ensuing battle. So did five Norwegian SWAT agents," the vice president informed him.

"You should have told me," Marcus almost whispered as he hung his head somewhat in shame. "I could have helped. Could have at least healed him..."

"And risk our asset? No, our national security couldn't afford that, Mr. Michaels." The President's second in command gave General Asak a stern, sideways look.

"We could have at least helped that young woman in Madagascar if only we'd known," General Asak regretted in hindsight. "Unfortunately, she committed suicide after she accidently killed her entire family before figuring out that her touch was lethal."

"From here on out, Captain Olberon," the vice president looked down the table to the lowest ranking officer present, "Your job is to maintain a taskforce and stay on top of identifying these super humans as quickly as possible. We need to identify and contain these situations before they escalate," she commanded. "Now someone get the Secretary of State on the line."

An hour later...

Senator Jefferson opened the door to the vice president's limousine and climbed in as it was set to leave the Pentagon. He shut the door firmly so that the two were alone. Vice President Hardy sat crossed legged with her hands folded on the lap of her violet dress suit. She looked at him with a concrete face.

"Any news regarding our 'advantage'?" she asked.

"They can't figure it out. They've done everything to this Madagascan girl and can't figure out how she manifests her power. They're running out of ideas. They're going to want to dissect her at some point," the career politician informed. "And if Mr. Michaels has read our minds, well..." The congressman trailed off so the vice president could use her imagination.

"If he's read my mind he knows she'll be used against him." The vice president looked out her side window up at the sky. "Let the team know that if they do anything more than pluck a hair off that girl, the consequences will be grave. I want her to trust us; that we're not going to harm her. She won't help us if she doesn't trust us."

"Perhaps taking her hostage wasn't the best course of action to begin with, ma'am."

The vice president's eyes burned through the senator's own. "But I'll let them know, Madame Vice President. I'll let them know immediately," the politician acknowledged as the limousine pulled away from the curb.

Circa 1860 A.D...Deep Space

The great black sphere raced through interstellar space, traversing vast, lonely distances as it approached a galaxy its native beings refer to as the Milky Way. Deep within the spacecraft's bowels, a gelatinous, man-sized beetle-like creature noticed a red blinking light within the matrix of its control panel.

"Hyperrr Zzzuperrrion, zzzirrrr," the insectoid navigator began from his orange web-like station, "Corrrectionzzz to zzzee futurrre-zzzcan are nowww complete."

The ship's captain, a thin, nine-foot tall humanoid was in a meditative state, trying to liberate its mind from the cacophony of guilt that had plagued it since its induction into ...'s army. The alien slowly tore itself away from trying to dampen the internal combustion of a millennia's worth of tortured screams and cries for mercy. Stirring to full consciousness, Hyper Superion rose from its captain's chair. "Transfer the results, Xillick," the green extraterrestrial ordered.

The insectoid extended one of its six limbs toward the small red light and pushed the tip of a spike on its limb through the blinking indicator. Hyper Superion reached for a small pink orb that sat on a five-foot high, thin chrome podium set before its captain's chair. It took the pink orb in its three fingers and pressed the object softly against its green skull.

"This...this cannot be correct. Xillick, run a diagnostic on the future-scan immediately."

Before the sentient insect could reply in the affirmative, a low but unmistakable trembling reverberated throughout the entire spaceship.

"Protect!" Hyper Superion instantly responded. A force field projected by the captain's yellow wrist- and ankle-bands encircled the two crewmembers.

"REPORT," demanded a horrible, subterranean voice.

The long-limbed green extraterrestrial directed its voice to the wind, for the voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"I adjusted the algorithm of the future-scan so we can better prepare for our arrival on Earth. I ran a preliminary scan after the adjustment and it appears that the Seedling will indeed manifest. However, there appears to be approximately a dozen more Seedling-like beings that will appear alongside it. Of course, this cannot be correct. I humbly beg your forgiveness for this mistake! I will recalculate immediately!" Hyper Superior took a knee and crinkled its forehead in submission to the frightening speaker.

There was an uncharacteristic pause from the ship's great voice.

"TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL?"

"We are currently just over four oscillations from Earth," the last Superion reported humbly, head bowed in obedience.

"PREPARE TO JUMP THE REMAINING DISTANCE."

Hyper Superion stood up. The commanding officer and its navigator Xillick turned towards each other in confusion as the force field began to weaken under the weight of ...'s words.

"My apologies," the alien captain replied, "But this will severely drain our collections. A substantial portion of it will be erased if we jump that far in an attempt to arrive ahead of time. I humbly suggest we also repair the future-scan before executing our invasion!" Hyper Superior's narrow eyes and nose slits shrank and anticipated judgement.

"I HAVE WAITED. NO MORE. THE SUBJEGATION OF EARTH WILL SATISFY MY REQUIREMENTS. PREPARE TO JUMP."

Hyper Superion's force field would not withstand the continuous assault of such a voice, so it conceded the order. "Immediately! Xillick, prepare to jump to Earth. When you have finished preparations establish communications with the rest of the ship."

"SATISFIED. RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES." The voice echoed off the ship's infrastructure until it subsided enough that the tall, lean commander could relax its protective force field.

"Prrreparrrationzzz arrre complete. You may zzzpeak, zzzirrr," the insect-like pilot spoke after a few minutes of renewed but stunned silence within the ship's bridge.

A crackle followed by a moment of static sounded throughout the spacecraft's seven mile diameter. Within their various quarters, a variety of extraordinary extraterrestrial soldiers took notice of the alert. All understood that in all likelihood they would be arriving somewhere soon. This meant war.

"Attention all crewmembers, this is your commanding officer speaking. We will be arriving at our next destination ahead of schedule. Note that this planet, the planet Earth, is our final objective. According to the future-scan, there may be a fair measure of resistance. The K'un L'u fugitive and not one, but several Seedlings may be – are likely to be –present. However, you are all world breakers; you have all participated in and survived the battle of K'un L'u and that was no small endeavor. You have broken many other worlds, too. Now our master calls upon us one final time for the subjugation, extraction and termination of the inhabitants of Earth. Then, then we will all have our freedom, as promised...All crewmembers will report to the war room immediately following the conclusion of our jump for a detailed briefing concerning the invasion. Your commander has spoken."

After closing communications, Hyper Superion quieted itself and gazed deep into a swirling star field displayed on an enormous three-dimensional screen. How much life have I destroyed? How much more must I destroy? Will ... keep its promise to us? When it is over, I will hold the very last Earthling in my hands and I will ask them to forgive me. They will forgive me because they would have done the same as I have.

Date and Location Unknown...

Atop a gleaming skyscraper with mirrored windows, a ten foot wide circle of air rippled like a rock thrown into a pond. A breeze flowed not from the circle's center, but towards the center of the disturbance. Christopher, his indestructible bat-like wings tucked neatly behind him, stepped up to the atmospheric disruption.

"I guess I'm up," Christopher stated.

"Indeed," came a brusque retort. A frail-looking, apparently Asian man with curly white hair leaned on a cane behind the Mega Dude. Next to him was a woman with lighter toned dark skin, but missing an arm. The duo was flanked by two of the other three Mega Dudes. "Please, Christopher, it is time to go," the aged man hurried.

"Why are we going this time?" Christopher asked over his shoulder.

"Why do you always ask? Because you were there," the old man in his sharp suit coughed.

"I don't like it when you don't tell us what we're getting into. You didn't give us enough info going into the New York incident," Christopher spoke turning his chin back towards the turbulence.

The senior citizen rapped his cane on the ground. "Because I did not know exactly what would happen. If I knew and told you, it might influence you to try and alter something. Now go! I cannot keep the gateway open any longer," The Mega Dudes' benefactor insisted.

"Okay, I'm going," Christopher pouted. He spread his wings and thrust himself into the field of rippled blue-and-white air, disappearing altogether. The gateway immediately collapsed and the old man almost fell over. Rock Star and VinZenT were there to catch him, though, and keep him upright.

"I thought I was going to have to push him," Rock Star said to VinZenT. "Now will you tell us why the rest of us aren't going?" the soundman said to the woman.

"No," the one-armed woman stopped. "He said that only Christopher goes this time. That is all you need to know."

"Uh, okay," VinZenT drawled slowly. "I suppose we should assume he has a good reason."

"Still would like to know," Rock Star said to the old man's right hand. She brought scolding eyes up to meet his own. "But then that might influence us to try and alter something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it."

"We need to take him to his bed, Mega Dudes. He will need until the morning to recover," said the young woman in a choppy African accent.

"How much longer can he keep this up? Does he get weaker every time he sends us back?" VinZenT asked the woman.

"He's probably going to keep going until we've done everything we're supposed to do, obviously," Rock Star answered for the woman. "Remember what he said: Today's not going to happen unless we're there in the past. How the future creates a past that creates the future; ain't really got that completely figured out yet. Paul understands it."

"It's over my head," VinZenT quipped as the two slung each of the man's arms over their shoulders.

"That's okay. We still like ya," Rock Star reminded him.

April 22, 2020...Russian Airspace

Click to listen to "[Love Sweet Number 9"]

Melanie Conrad set the evening sky afire. Her skin and specialized garments were glowing orange with heat while she hovered at 13,000 feet over Russian's evening sky. To keep speculation about UFO's to a minimum, she always restricted herself to flying over rural areas. On this night, she had taken a break from her team's mission to get a bird's eye view of a meteor shower. A streak here, a streak there, a wish here, a wish there; she wondered how anyone could take their eyes off such a spectacle even for a moment for fear of missing the opportunity to wish upon a star. And Melanie Conrad had so many wishes.

Over the last few months, she'd gotten used to the idea that she'd have only fifteen to twenty minutes to herself before Russian defenses scrambled one or two fighter jets to investigate her presence. She would keep her eyes on the sky while keeping her ears attuned to any distant roar of jet engines. But tonight she heard something different; a sort of whistling sound growing louder over her head. She threw her neck backwards to look directly above herself. At first she thought it was a large meteor taking longer than usual to burn up but upon closer inspection it was something resembling a cross, as wide as it was long, glinting at its edges with the light of a nearby village.

The object grew larger and swifter as it approached; it looked to be about man-sized when it was within a few hundred yards. Melanie wasn't scared, though. She had realized last month that she was invulnerable while she was flying, after a skirmish with a particular nasty group of gun-toting human traffickers. She stood her ground and waited for the object to descend on her. It's fast. As fast as me? she questioned herself.

The shrill sound grew louder until it sounded like a police whistle. The object looked to be on a collision course with her but she wasn't going to budge as she figured it was as good a time as any to test the limits of her recently discovered invulnerability. As the descending object came within a few yards, Melanie curled up her fists and took a defensive stance. But then the object abruptly pulled out of its descent and a man flew back a few feet. He stretched out his large, metal, bat-like wings as far as possible and relaxed his own fists.

"You? You're Firefox. What's going on here?" Christopher inquired under the dark sky. On occasion, whenever Christopher arrived somewhere he was supposed to be, particulars of a situation momentarily escaped him. Sometimes it was the lingering effects of the teleportation. Often, he wasn't told exactly what was going to happen. The Mega Dudes' sponsor liked to play his cards close to his vest most of the time.

"Ohmygod! You're Christopher of The Mega Dudes! You guys are famous," Melanie exclaimed as she brought her hands to her mouth as if she didn't mean to be so loud.

"Probably," Christopher said unexcitedly, "But don't tell VinZenT that. He's the kind of guy who'd use his fame to seduce a woman," he concluded.

"And ya wouldn't?" Melanie said with a bright smile. "And how did ya know that 'Firefox' was the public name I'd been thinkin' of using?"

"First, no, I wouldn't use fame to my advantage like that. I have more important things to do." Christopher flapped his wings to stay aloft. "As for your name, I don't know. That's what you've always called yourself, isn't it?"

"What are ya doing here, Christopher? The Mega Dudes usually only show up durin' an emergency. But everything's been quiet tonight, 'less you know something I dun know."

"Usually, yes, we show up during an emergency. Not always, though. We show up when something important happens," the winged man explained.

"Like when ya visited the children's hospital?" Melanie tilted her head.

"We think being role models is as important as the work we do. Super powers can be used for something more than helping in an emergency or preserving the peace, you know," Christopher said flatly. Didn't she know that?

Christopher dipped and rose in the air as he looked at the ground as if searching for something. He tapped a device lodged in his ear. "Hold on. Christopher to Rock Star? Christopher to Brawl Boy? VinZenT?" he spoke into the concealed headset. "I don't think my team is here with me. That's never happened before." He took a few moments more to survey the ground and think. "Why am I here then? Your guess is as good as mine."

"There'll be some Russian fighter jets here in a few minutes if you're looking for trouble. They don't give me much time to myself," Melanie half-joked. "Hey, I noticed how fast ya were on your descent. I'm pretty fast, too. Do ya wanna race?"

Christopher was a little bit surprised that Melanie – Firefox – didn't seem to take her powers more seriously. "What are we, ten?" he asked.

Melanie ramped up the flames. She tightened her eyes and spoke more insistently. "Are ya tellin' me havin' super powers doesn't make ya feel like a little kid?"

"I suppose," Christopher scratched his closely cropped hair. "I guess we really haven't had much time to enjoy it. I don't think we've even thought about it."

"Neither does my team but I try ta take a few minutes here and there for myself. Otherwise I'd get too depressed thinking about how widespread human trafficking is." Melanie grew hotter, glowing near yellow now. She pointed a finger and shot a puff of flame across Christopher's bow. "C'mon, whaddya say?"

"Hmmm," Christopher intoned uncertainly. Then a half smile broke across his face. "Okay. GO!" He shot across the night headed east, gaining speed as he went. He topped out at the cruising speed of a commercial airliner; subsonic flight. He looked behind himself and didn't see Firefox but when he returned his gaze to his flight path she was right in front of him. He pulled out of flight again but this time dropped to ten-thousand feet to take a deep breath of richer air. Firefox followed him.

"I was ahead of ya in moments!" the living torch laughed. "I wasn't even goin' full speed. I had ta stay under the speed of sound ta avoid creating a sonic boom!"

"I guess not all of us can have super super powers," Christopher sulked. "But you don't have fancy indestructible wings like me."

"I don't, but I'm bulletproof when I'm flying," Melanie shot back.

"Are you going to try to one up me all night?" Christopher asked.

"I dunno," the Australian turned and threw a look over her shoulder. "How much beer can ya drink?" Melanie asked in return.

"If there's nothing important going on, I don't know how long I can stay," Christopher said trying to ignore Firefox's heat.

"Oh, so stopping human trafficking isn't important enough for The Mega Dudes?" Melanie questioned in a curt tone.

"It's not that. It's...our situation is difficult to explain."

"Then we'd better not waste any time having ya explain it to me." Melanie darted her eyes towards a village below. "Follow me if ya know what's good for ya." Firefox, as she felt the need to start calling herself, became her own shooting star as she made way for the township.

The pair spent the rest of the late night walking around the outskirts of the village, speaking in hushed tones so that no one would hear their English. During these undertones, the secret of The Mega Dudes' nature was whispered into Melanie's ear as the two shared a bench. You young woman wasn't supposed to know this; no one was supposed to know. She slipped cooled, controlled fingers between Christopher's after he confided in her and he didn't flinch. The secret made her dizzy; she could barely think enough to bring the heat of her lips also under control. Christopher's body flushed with warm blood as the distance between the two grew shorter than was needed to whisper. That's when Christopher felt The Pull. He felt his heart plunge.

Christopher told Firefox that he had to go because he didn't know what would happen if he didn't answer the insistent force. He didn't even think The Pull was something possible to ignore. The young Australian's eyes sagged by this possible paramour's insistence that he return whence he came. It's just that Christopher was so far removed from any man she'd ever known; it was her first encounter with a super man. And he was confident, fast and powerful. Oh, and his solid jaw. Then she found out he was also a gentleman when he kissed the back of her hand goodbye despite the risk. That alone seemed super human in her experience. It certainly seemed they were on the same side and that sealed the deal for her.

Ella and Kaitlin had been worried about Melanie's absence and weren't sure if they could believe her explanation. After all, The Mega Dudes only showed up during an emergency. Well, except for the time they showed up at the children's hospital. But Melanie knew what an emergency was and what was not and she knew why Christopher had shown up.

May 1, 2020...Somewhere near Beijing, China

In an underground Chinese military installation, Thiha strutted down a corridor towards a restricted training area. Flanked on his left was his lieutenant, Graveyard. Whenever the two came upon any number of soldiers alarmed by their presence, Graveyard stared them down, injecting fear into their souls until they were in the fetal position. Once ensured they could pass unperturbed into the next 'secured' area, Thiha whispered, "Wangji," to each distressed soldier, telling them to forget the two men passing their way.

Wearing an unadorned green t-shirt and blue jeans, the thin man and his henchman finally approached the doors of a gymnasium. They could hear shouting, grunting and straining echoing from within, indicating that intense training was being conducted. After all, that's what gymnasiums are for, Thiha would say. Thiha stood by the solid, unopened doors and took a moment to 'look through' to the other side and assess the personnel within.

"Our new friends are training together. Whisper is instructing Ghost. There is a guard on the far side of the gymnasium," Thiha whispered to his larger, more muscular and business attired companion.

On the gymnasium floor, the well-heeled and fit Sergeant Koo ran from one makeshift station to the next, picking up concealed edged weapons at each location and launching them by hand towards Than Xi, who was standing in a grey t-shirt and shorts in the middle of the court. Than Xi avoided the attacks, in several instances becoming intangible so the weapons would pass through him and in other instances changing his arms into tentacles capable of catching the blades and returning them to their sender. Sergeant Koo nimbly avoided the return attacks and combat-rolled to the station closest to Than Xi. There he picked up what looked like a dull silver baseball, only much heavier. The sergeant quickly stood up from behind the station wall and threw the ball as hard as he could at Than Xi's center of mass. The ball thudded against Than Xi's chest and audibly cracked a rib. The low ranking soldier fell backwards off his feet and landed flat on his back. Than Xi wheezed short of breath as Sergeant Koo walked up to him and put a knife to his throat. But then the higher ranking man, sweat penetrating his grey sweatshirt, grinned.

"You are too predictable, Private Xi. I didn't have to read your mind to see that every time you shape-shift you're next maneuver is to phase. So I locked out your power to ghost," the sergeant tapped his skull. "Otherwise, your skills are improving!"

Sergeant Koo gave Than Xi a firm pat on the chest where the ball had struck, causing further pain. "Don't worry, the lockout will wear off in a few moments. Then you can shape-shift your rib back to normal and you will be fine." The sergeant stood up and looked at the gymnasium doors sideways.

Thiha leaned his head towards Graveyard. "Cat is out of the bag." Thiha pushed the gymnasium doors open as if he were entering a saloon in the ol' Wild Wild West.

Graveyard stood beside Thiha in a business suit and stared past the training partners at the guard on the far side of the gym. Thiha's enforcer slowly lowered the sentry with a look through his skull mask until the soldier dropped his rifle and curled up in a ball. Usually that would be enough, but the former office drone from Mumbai pressed the guard further. The soldier started to cry, held his chest and shook uncontrollably.

"That is enough," Thiha said to Graveyard out of the side of his mouth.

"No, it's not. They need to see what we can do," the man in the bone-colored facade answered.

Sergeant Koo, his mid-twenties face looking much older than it was but showing no signs of fear approached Thiha and Graveyard. The soldier under Graveyard's influence was released and the man rolled onto his back gasping for air.

"If you can't control this man, I will," the sergeant spoke English fluently to Thiha.

Graveyard sneered as he felt his power falter. "Fine, we'll do this...what do the Americans say, 'the old fashioned way'?" The tall, well-dressed Indian walked across the gym, stepping over Than Xi along the way, and with one punch knocked the guard unconscious. Graveyard walked back over to Than Xi and lifted the former fisherman up off his feet.

"Hello! How is it going? I am fine, thank you for asking," Thiha spoke in Chinese to Sergeant Koo.

"You don't belong here," the enlisted man said back to Thiha as he considered the yellow-skinned man's person. "You think Private Xi and I don't belong here either," Sergeant Koo continued as he peered into Thiha's mind. As he tried to probe deeper, the sergeant began to feel his head throb. He became sensitive to the florescent lights overhead and started to feel his pulse in his chest, neck and his temples. A deep, dull pain in Sergeant Koo's skull staggered him a few steps backward.

"I am sorry," Thiha spoke in English, "If you want to know what is going on inside my head, just ask." Thiha relaxed his counter-measure and allowed Sergeant Koo to recover.

"How did you get into this installation? What is this about?" the ranking soldier asked as Graveyard set the beaten underling, Than Xi, next to him.

Thiha waved his hands away from each other and brought them back together in a clap. "Let us just say my mind tricks are a little more advanced than yours, Whisper. But you have room for improvement," the ex-child soldier spoke in Chinese again. Thiha looked at Than Xi. "You are doing a good job training Ghost."

Sergeant Koo's eyelids dipped. Then he reopened his eyes and set them on Thiha. "What do you want?"

Thiha took a step towards Than Xi and looked him up and down and from side to side. Than groaned as he rolled to one side then another, all the while keeping an eye on the thin man. Thiha's initial assumption was that Ghost was intimidated by the strangers in his presence, but if Ghost's training was good, Thiha considered the possibility of a ruse. He talked over his shoulder to the sergeant.

"You are right, Whisper. I do not think you two belong here. The two of you; something remarkable has happened to you. You have both become something more than human. But here you are, taking orders from ordinary people as if you were dogs." Thiha dropped his eyes down on Ghost and flattened his lips.

"Perhaps some things are more important than power, thin man, like loyalty," the sergeant began to explain. "Our country, China, is the best. It provides for us because we are citizens who will serve the greater good."

"Hmm. What exactly is the greater good? What is your country's goal?" Thiha began his inquiry as he reached behind his neck to pull the tag out of his t-shirt. The shirt was made in China. He shrugged his shoulders and let the tag go. "It must be that your country's goal is to achieve the greater good of seeing all of her citizens prosper under a single ideology. But should your fellow citizens prosper while others around the world suffer or suffer because of the prosperity of your fellow citizens?"

"It is not my fault if other manners of governing cannot provide for their people or cause suffering. I am not responsible if a foreign citizen subscribes to an inferior ideology," Sergeant Koo answered.

Thiha chuckled and turned to face the sergeant. "So, China is the best then? I see. As the best, does your country not have a responsibility to the entire world to spread her ideology so that everyone may prosper?"

"What does a country of Chinese men owe those who are not Chinese?" the soldier asked back.

"So you are a racist then, a word without much meaning here in China but one I have experienced much of living in the United States," Thiha said. He stepped closer, almost nose to nose with Sergeant Koo; a violation of the soldier's personal space even in a country where people are often packed together. "A racist is someone with either too much or too little power who is triggered by the imbalance to see people unlike themselves as inferior.

"Myself," Thiha gestured towards himself, "I am very powerful but I am not a racist. Like you, I want people to prosper, except that I desire to see people everywhere prosper. However, this must be done by first ruling over them. This is an unfortunate but necessary step. All governments, even your own, must concede power to people like us who possess the means to rule absolutely. I suggest you abandon your current ideology to join me and elevate yourself to the status of a god."

"You walk on my country's ground uninvited and then insult her?" Sergeant Koo scorned. "What reason is there not to kill you and your comrade right now?"

Than Xi raised a finger and wobbled a little bit but his words came across peacefully and clear. "I think what Sergeant Koo is trying to say, sir, is that perhaps you value yourself too highly. Everyone has skills or certain abilities which are then used within the confines of a plan devised by others. We are all part of a cycle. One person cannot possess both a vision and the means to see that vision through without becoming a despot. You may be powerful but how will you achieve your ends without descending into tyranny? You will become a tyrannical ruler if you lack checks and balances."

Thiha turned to Than Xi and gave him a broad grin that was greater on one side. "Ghost, that is why you and Whisper exist. What do you think I made you for?"

Sergeant Koo's forehead creased and his eyebrows furrowed. "You should have chosen your disciples more carefully, foreigner. You should also have brought more help."

As the ranking soldier finished his words, the hulking, bulky mass of a metal suit crashed through the gymnasium wall near the disabled guard. It was seven feet tall, broad and covered in silver mountain-patterned armor. The number '2' was painted on its left shoulder. As it began lumbering quickly towards the four men, Graveyard attempted to subdue the figure with his fear effect but it kept coming.

"Hmm, no good," Graveyard remarked as the armored thing bore down on them. The metal beast reared its right fist back in what seemed to be slow-motion to Graveyard. It reminded him of the numerous times his office manager back in Mumbai berated him in front of his whole department. This angered Graveyard, gave him motivation. So Graveyard attacked first and launched a low left hook into the metal soldier's right ribs. KER-ACK! Again, no effect.

The robot, cyborg, or whatever it was sent a punch through Ghost as he phased and landed its knuckles flush against Graveyard's body, flaying the Indian man's suit as he flew back through the doors he dared entered in the first place. The giant sent a backhand towards Thiha as Sergeant Koo dove behind the battle suit for protection. Thiha threw up a force field in front of himself but the swing was powerful enough to push the Burmese man back through the gymnasium doors while he pushed forward to maintain the force field. The friction on the thin man's rubber soles squeaked horribly as they stuttered along the floor. Thiha ended up beside Graveyard who was struggling to get up off his hands and knees.

"Capture them!" the sergeant ordered. The man in the suit marched towards the doors while Ghost turned his arms into tentacles and reached through the doors to wrangle the intruders.

"I suggest that you carefully consider what side of history you want to be on!" Thiha shouted towards the gymnasium with a pleasant smile on his face. He dropped his force field and grabbed Graveyard by the back of his collar and vanished in an implosion of blue-and-white light.

At an undisclosed location in what appeared to be a cavern passageway, Thiha and Graveyard reappeared. Graveyard rolled onto his back too wracked with pain to move while Thiha doubled over and vomited. Thiha gasped for a breath afterwards then spit up some blood. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"Why didn't you...just compel them with mind control?" Graveyard stammered between shooting pains.

"They have to choose our side." Thiha spat a last bit of blood. "If they do not choose, I cannot trust them to carry out my vision. If I compel them, they might resent me. They might attack me. I am trying not to make enemies out of my children."

With his arms wrapped around his body to literally hold himself together, the skull-masked man eventually brought himself up to one knee with a grunt. Whether it was a grunt of pain or of agreement, Thiha didn't know. He could know, but needed his powers to heal at the moment.

Further down the passageway backlit by a scattering of small torches, a tall, thin, devilishly attractive Brazilian woman with long dark hair and black-feathered arm- and leg-bands approached the men.

"And how do you know you can trust the ones who say they are on your side, querida?" she said.

May 10, 2020...An Undisclosed U.S. Military Medical Facility

Anja woke up from another nap. She always napped; it was the sedatives they gave her. She didn't ever want to nap, not because of nightmares but because of the nightmare she always seemed to be waking up to. An IV tube dripped a clear substance into her right arm while another IV tube left her other arm and collected a vile of blood once or twice a day. As usual, she was restrained, strapped down on a gurney by the neck, wrists, waist and ankles. She always woke up in the same clinically drab room with metal walls and a bright operating light overhead.

Anja, her long black hair resting on the brown skin of her adolescent body, never knew if it were day or night, but she remembered when her problems began. Westerners would consider the shanty apartment she lived in and the relative economic disparity of the island nation of Madagascar she came from as less than ideal, but she led a much better life before falling into the hands of a cadre of non-descript, black-uniformed soldiers. Anja had heard Americans talk on a television before and concluded that they are the people that took her. Maybe she deserved to be taken, though. Maybe it was for everyone else's safety. Maybe this was penance for the deaths of four people.

She thinks back to the day she was too sick to attend school, feeling symptomatic of dengue fever possibly. The teenager rose from her slumber gradually that day, noting the severity of an all-encompassing sensation of pins-and-needles accompanied by a stabbing headache. Anja felt sore behind her eyes and when she opened them from her dream that morning, found that she could not see; her vision replaced by a sea of white light. This panged her heart and she called for help with a trembling voice.

Her six year old brother had been first to enter her small room and saw that his sister's smooth brown skin had turned an ashen color. Alarmed by instinct, her brother called out the door for their parents. He jumped onto the bed to console his sister who was sitting upright with no concern that she might be infectious. When he grasped her hand to comfort her, he began a worrisome cry that was suddenly cut off by the shock of a smoky color racing up the boy's arm before running across his body.

"Haja?" Anja reached out with her voice as her brother's body fell apart onto the bed and ground in a heap of ash. His clothes floated down onto the blanket unscathed. A moment later, the adolescent heard her mother walk in the room as her sight began to return.

"Anja, what is going on? You look very sick, child," Anja's mother noted. The parent saw the ashes on the bed and her son's clothes but didn't grasp any connection. She approached her daughter and reached out with the back of her hand to test for the presence of a fever. As the woman's hand touched Anja's forehead, the same smoky color overcame her body as well. Anja's sight now returned in full, just in time to see her mother turn to ash right before her eyes. Her father witnessed this as he entered the room a moment earlier.

"A-A-Anja, what have you done?" her pepper-haired father exclaimed.

Anja didn't know; she had woken from sleep only to enter a living nightmare. "Mother? Mother! What is happening?" Anja pressed her back against the dingy yellow wall beside her bed as her father took a step toward her. "No! Do not touch me, father!"

He grasped her upper arm which was clothed by the T-shirt she was wearing. Her father was unaffected. "What have you done, girl?" he repeated with no explanation from his daughter. He asked one more time for an answer but again got a silent, gaped mouth response. The father slapped his daughter across the face to elicit a response. Then he too succumbed to Anja's creeping death.

Terrified, with her heart taking brief but thunderous pulses, Anja went into shock after a call for help that was more like a battle cry. Two olive-uniformed police officers that happened to be walking down her street entered her building to find the source of the anguished noise. Their investigation found Anja sitting silently in a room full of ashes, some of it floating harmlessly in the air. When she tried to tell the policemen she thought she may have killed her family, the officer that attempted to handcuff her...

The second officer immediately staggered backed out the door and shut it with all the force he could muster, holding the doorknob tight while radioing for help with his other hand.

For three hours she sat on her bed among the remains of her family without food or water while numerous men came and went outside from the apartment and argued over the situation. It was in the third hour that her bedroom door was smashed open by the black boot of a husky six foot tall soldier whose face was coved by a helmet, mask and goggles. A split second after she snapped back in her bed from the surprise, Anja felt a pinch in her chest and looked down to see what appeared to be a dart of sorts. She was overcome with wooziness and collapsed unconscious on her bed. Ever since then, she's been a rat in a cage.

As Anja recalled these events, possibly for the hundredth time, she brewed with an anger she'd never felt before. The hundredth time had become too much. Was this going to be the rest of her life? Lying in bed for months and always medicated, she never felt much stronger than a kitten. But now she was done reliving the past. She either wanted to escape or die trying. Summoning strength she didn't know she had, Anja's muscles tensed and rippled and a lump began in her throat. She could hear her own heartrate monitor ping more rapidly. That's when she heard a familiar click at the door to her examination room.

Two people, one Asian man and a Caucasian woman, in yellow hazmat suits entered the room and approached the table. "Why is her heartrate rising? What's wrong with her?" the man asked the woman. "Sedate her. Increase her Propofol," the woman said back.

Anja figured out a long time ago what she could do. As their test subject, they forced her to touch numerous living things and had her watch them turn to dust before her very eyes. The worst was a chimpanzee which upon watching it die reminded Anja, a student keen on history, that while human technology had advanced over the ages, human souls had still not come down from the trees.

In her spare time, which was all the time, Anja wondered if she could control her power, if she could touch someone without killing them. Today, though, she wondered if she could use her power on inanimate objects. It was apparent that her touch had no effect on non-living things, but then again, she never really tried.

The teenager watched as one of her suited captors reached for the line on her IV drip. Anja gripped her hand around the rail of the gurney and thought intensely about turning it to ash. The rail turned black and brittle and fell away in paper clip sized bits. Free, she reached out and grabbed the woman's arm but noticed the hazmat suit was made of a thick material which she couldn't rip open if she tried.

Anja concentrated on applying her power to the hazmat suit. The thick material deteriorated under her touch and she latched onto the woman's bare skin. The woman was reduced to ash inside the suit in a quick moment. Panic stricken, the woman's lab partner stumbled to pull a taser from his waistband and attempted to shock his subject into submission. But Anja had grasped his attacking wrist with her free hand, sending the shot wild and putting an end to this particular threat. Alarms went off throughout the facility as the lifeless yellow suit fell to the ground.

The girl from Madagascar applied her power to the rest of her manacles and unrestrained herself. Anja nearly collapsed when her feet touched the floor but her adrenaline kept her upright but on unsure footing. She retrieved a key card from the man's suit which she had seen him use several times now to exit her examination room. She touched the card against a slick black pad next to the door and it opened the door.

Anja stepped outside her holding room into a long, low-lit metal hallway with small circular windows. Two armed men in familiar black garb appeared at one end of the hall and began shouting in English what were probably orders for her to get back to her room, which she didn't understand well nor would comply with. As she took a few steps in the other direction, two more guards appeared at the other end of the hallway. Trapped, probably about to be captured again, she looked out the nearest window into the night sky. But she saw it wasn't nighttime; she approached the window to see a blue marble below her marked by swirling clouds and large brown swatches of land. She'd seen pictures of Earth from space in ratty, musty old textbooks and it seemed incredible at the time. Dejected, Anja realized this was no time to gaze in wonder.

"Kill me!" she shouted in Malagasy. Neither group of well-armed men took a shot but instead remained in a defensive stance. Anja began walking towards one group of men determined to make them take action. "Kill me, kill me, kill me!" she continued to shout. When she was within an arm's length of one guard, she reached out to grab him but he grabbed towards her, too. The man attempted to fold her arms behind her back with his gloved hands and subdue her, but within few seconds he was no longer a threat to her. Overcome with an instinct for self-preservation – the girl's powers shouldn't have worked through clothing – the second guard pumped a round into the young woman's chest and another into her head. Blood splashed against the shiny metal wall behind her. The guard lowered his gun as Anja slumped backwards, dead.

The other pair of guards approached from the opposite end of the hallway, looked at their dead prisoner and looked at her executioner. "We have to notify the principle," one of them said gravely.

34 Minutes Later...

A phone rang in the bedroom of 1 Observatory Lane, a Victorian style home where the vice president slept. The insistent burst of rings from the secure line made Vice President Hardy lift her eye mask off her head instantaneously. She reached for the phone with one hand and brought it to her head as she bolted upright in the dark.

"This is Vice President Hardy..." The career politician pressed her lips into a hard line whenever she heard something she didn't like. "...I see..." She rubbed her thigh through her red silk pajamas as she paused to make a monumental decision. If there had been anyone in bed with her, they wouldn't have seen her eyes go steely cold in the dark. "Goddammit. Okay, implement Project Phoenix. I want as many viable candidates as funding will allow; I don't care how many rejects there are. Use every last dollar, every last cent until you can give me what I want. Don't contact me again until a demonstration is ready."

The President's second-in-command held the phone in her hand as she heard the line on the other side go dead. She stared out the bedroom's second story window to observe a dark blue, partly cloudy sky. A pinpoint of light, a satellite maybe, began to cross her view and she wondered if she had just made the decision to give birth to the future of national security or if she had gone insane.

May 27, 2020...Near Fairfax, Virginia

Air Force captain John Drake walked out of an adjoining bathroom and into the master bedroom as he toweled off from his shower. He set the towel over the arm of a chair and whisked back his clean-cropped but robust dirty-blonde hair. Standing before a mahogany dresser unaccompanied by clothing, the officer fiddled with a watch before pulling open a draw to indecisively shuffle through his boxer briefs.

His wife, a short, slim and toned brunette, was sitting up in bed propped up by pillows with a pale blue sheet pulled up to her chest. Although it wasn't summer just yet, her husband preferred the air conditioning at a low temperature and this made it a bit cool for her in the house. This didn't distract her from observing her husband, though. She put down the tablet she was reading. "What's wrong, Johnny? You're acting strange. You've been acting strange. Is it about next week's operation?"

The captain selected a pair of black synthetic boxer briefs, stepped into them and approached the bed. He lifted the sheet and slid underneath them beside her. "I guess so. I mean, yeah. It could turn out to be a really important mission or it might be nothing at all. I wish I could tell you what's going on."

She turned on her side to face him and put a hand on his chest. "Should the kids and I be worried about you?"

"Even I don't know how worried I should be for myself. There really aren't any specifics on what the assignment entails but I can say it's not a standard joint operation. It's just that we have no idea what the mission will involve until it goes down." The normally decisive officer paused and looked at his wife through narrowing green eyes. "I'll need to walk you and the kids through our emergency procedures before I leave."

"You're making it sound really serious," she said as she laid her head on her pillow.

"It might be. Again, we don't know. What we're up against may have worldwide implications so I just want all of you to be prepared," he replied.

As the airman put an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her closer to him in a bid to reassure them both, Captain Drake's phone rang and vibrated on the nightstand on his side of the bed. At the same time, there was a knock at the partially opened bedroom door.

Seeing that the base was calling him, Captain Drake shooed his child away without looking. "Not now, Jesse. It's 10 o'clock. You're supposed to be in bed."

As the officer brought the phone to his ear, the door opened slowly to reveal a broad-shouldered African America man in a blue and black shirt, brown leather jacket and jeans. Mrs. Drake gasped.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Captain Drake, but we have to go. The package is ahead of schedule now, arriving in eight hours. The mission is on," Marcus reported. "We need to go directly to the staging area."

The veteran of several tours of duty looked stunned. He raised a hand and pointed at Marcus unsteadily. "I don't even want to know how you got in. But I get it. Listen, can I have a few minutes to say goodbye to my wife and kids first?" the captain asked as he returned his eyes to his wife.

"I'll give you two minutes to say goodbye to your wife," Marcus returned. Then Marcus thought about his own family, turned to ashes by that slim Burmese man, The Nameless. He thought about how he never got to say goodbye to them. Marcus thinks about the missed opportunity often. "I take that back. I'll give you five."

"Does this have something to do with super humans? Is your team even ready, Johnny?" the matriarch of the Drake family questioned.

"Don't worry, ma'am. As God as my witness, I won't let him get hurt," Marcus nodded. "Johnny, I'll wait for you downstairs."

A few minutes later Captain Drake and his wife, who was wrapped in a white robe around a long pink slip, came downstairs to the front door. The spouses shared short, quick kisses and found it difficult to pull away as Marcus stood in the doorway trying not to clear his throat.

Eventually the couple relented and acknowledged Marcus. The air force captain extended an arm towards his teammate. "Liv Drake, this is..."

"Please, call me Marcus," Marcus said extending a friendly handshake. "And you're Captain Olivia Drake, one of the base's primary physicians. You're probably a very busy doctor so I promise to get your husband back to you without a scratch on him."

"That's the second time you've tried to reassure me," the physician noted. "Now I am getting worried."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt. Are we taking my car, big guy? Doesn't look like you have any transportation," Captain Drake observed of his own driveway.

"We don't have time for a car," Marcus said as he let go of Mrs. Drake's hand. "Tell your wife you love her."

"Yeah, of course. Honey, I love you. Be home soon," the husband spoke.

"I love you, too," she returned.

"Ready?" Marcus asked. The captain nodded that he was. "You've been getting really good. But now you're going to see how I do it," Marcus said. Captain Drake gave his teammate a sideways look right before Marcus grabbed the man around the waist and jumped up into the sky.

Mrs. Drake was as familiar with The Mega Dudes as anyone by now. And she'd heard the reports that there were others like them. But she didn't know how her husband figured into any of it. If she wasn't concerned before, she was definitely concerned now.

May 28, 2020...Kazan, Russia

Click to listen to "[The Battle of Kazan"]

In an open field east of the city of Kazan, Russian military vehicles ground to a halt in two lines. There were ten vehicles altogether; two reconnaissance vehicles (one transporting Marcus, an Egyptian woman known as Gaia, a U.S. Army lieutenant and their Russian General liaison and his driver), two armored personnel carriers each concealing a squad of Spetsnaz soldiers, two main battle tanks, two supply trucks (one with a platoon of troops), a mobile rocket launcher and a mobile radar unit. Two medium-sized attack helicopters and Captain Drake – encased in a blue, skintight, lightly armored flight suit – waited on standby in the nearby city.

Marcus stepped out of the reconnaissance vehicle the moment it stopped. He craned his neck up at the afternoon sky for any sign of the incoming object. The Russian general, General Drizyen, stepped out of the vehicle as well and looked around at the open field, not sensing any reason why alien beings might want to land there. The rest of Marcus' team exited the vehicle to stretch their legs.

"Remind me again, lieutenant, what is your plan for stopping a small building-sized asteroid from colliding with the Earth?" the skeptical general asked the young Native American Lt. Lucian.

"We're hoping it's a piloted ship and not an asteroid, General," Lt. Lucian answered as he too craned his neck to the sky. The younger officer removed a special glove from his cargo belt that Marcus had placed in his care. "I'm sure we can destroy it before it hits the ground if we have to, though." The lieutenant's certainty did not coincide with his nearly cracking voice.

The Russian officer received a phone call on his satellite phone and motioned for the Lt. Lucian to join him on the side of their vehicle away from the others. Marcus and Ms. Eshe Elfar – Gaia – watched the two men who turned away to discuss logistics.

"How are you feeling about this now that we're here?" Marcus asked the thirty-ish chestnut-skinned woman as he removed his brown leather jacket.

The woman looked at the big black cross across Marcus' blue shirt and then up at him. "If these are extraterrestrials, I think this Nameless person you do not like will come, too. He will make our mission more difficult," she nodded affirmatively.

Marcus and Eshe had discussed the fact that Thiha had contacted her with an offer to join his faction of would-be gods. But Marcus had secretly read her mind and knew that Eshe could be trusted. She was interested in protecting the Earth, not ruling over its inhabitants, and she'd go to great lengths to do it.

Lt. Lucian rejoined them. "I've got an update," he said. "A little over an hour ago the object went into orbit around the moon and a smaller structure detached from it. It is still headed for these coordinates but appears to be slowing down as it approaches. Obviously, natural objects don't act like this, so let's go ahead and assume alien contact within the hour."

At the same time on the eastern edge of Kazan at a five star hotel, Thiha's team whittled away the time in an expensive suite. Graveyard sat at a table with headphones on and monitored Russian military communications on stolen gear. The Asian soldier, Deathcamp, sat on the couch in front of the television sharpening a katana. Aline Melo, a slinky Brazilian woman, paced back and forth in her exotic clothing while she mimicked smoking a cigarette as she talked to herself. Thiha returned to the suite after an undisclosed errand, observed his group trying to occupy themselves, and chose to stop Aline in her tracks.

"You are very eager, special one. You are wise to be anxious. History is going to be made any moment now," Thiha assured the woman.

"Hmph! I am not special. That Afghani girl is more special to you than I am. What are we waiting for? You know this Marcus person is here. Why don't you kill him already?" Aline argued. She noticed what appeared to be blood along Thiha's gum lines. "Are you okay?" she asked looking at his mouth.

"I do not deny that Madina is special. She is critical to our vision. But you are special to me personally," Thiha replied as he slipped an arm around her waist.

"Stop playing games, querida," Aline pouted as she gave him a light push.

Graveyard took off the headphones he was monitoring communications with and half turned. He slung an arm over the chair's backrest. "They're making final preparations. A smaller object has broken away from the asteroid and is headed to the surface at an increasingly slower speed. Gaia is with your boy," the fear-inducing man spoke.

Thiha's normally jovial demeanor changed. He looked Aline dead in the eye. "I hope you are ready for this my honey-eyed doe. It is time for the Shadow Princess to come out and play." Thiha looked over to Deathcamp who was still sitting quietly as he ran a stone down his longest blade. "Mr. Misora, kindly bring the car around." Deathcamp wordlessly got up, slipped his katana back into its scabbard and headed for the door.

"Let us go see what people from another planet look like," Thiha smiled.

Back at the field, General Drizyen, Marcus, Gaia and Lt. Lucian affixed their headsets. The general's field communications team let him know that the object in question would become visible to the naked eye any moment.

At the same time, Thiha, Shadow Princess, Graveyard and Deathcamp shared a retro black town car on the road to the rendezvous point. Thiha pulled a handheld black triggering device out of his forest green jacket pocket and clicked a red button. A score of small, localized EMP devices knocked out key cell towers and civilian communication relays within the city. "The fewer people that see this, the better," Thiha commented off-handedly as he gazed at the countryside.

Less than two minutes later, Deathcamp noticed something up ahead on the highway as he drove. "Looks like there is a roadblock," he stated without emotion. The swordsman turned to Graveyard sitting next to him in the front seat. "Should he do the honors, sir?" he asked Thiha.

"No, I will take care of them, Mr. Misora. Scaring them will only raise suspicions a few minutes after we are through. It will be best if I make them forget our presence," Thiha advised.

"Yes, sir," the fifty year old man obeyed as he pulled up to the soldiers.

"This is The Cross to Air Force, copy?" Marcus tapped his earpiece to make sure it was working.

"This is Air Force. My escorts and I are ready to go. Awaiting your command," Captain Drake answered from a rooftop back in Kazan. He loved the code names. But as he finished his words, the heads-up display in his flight suit's helmet zeroed in on something in the sky headed in Marcus' direction. "I've got eyes on the prize. It's coming your way as expected. Do you want me to do a flyby?" Captain Drake felt a wave of euphoria spill over him and he shook just a little bit with anticipation.

Marcus looked up in the sky and saw it now, too. "Negative, Air Force. I'll do it myself. Everyone stand by," Marcus ordered as he pulled a blue and black mask over his head. He stretched his arms out and floated off the ground, amazing the Russian troops who had not seen him in action yet. General Drizyen had seen him fly but was still just as amazed as well. Ten feet off the ground, Marcus sped up into the sky towards the descending object.

He waited to encounter the slow moving alien ship at fourteen-thousand feet where the air was very cold but his body-heat retaining garments would still keep him warm. What appeared to be a non-glossy, light grey monolith just short of two stories tall and about twenty feet wide slipped gracefully towards Marcus on its way to the ground. Marcus flew all around it, making note of some gouges and scratches in the object, but no strange writings that might serve as words. He didn't notice any windows or openings as he descended with the rectangular column.

"Seems harmless enough so far," Marcus radioed to the ground.

Famous last words, Lt. Lucian thought to himself.

With all eyes on the object gradually dropping from the heavens, Thiha, Shadow Princess, Graveyard and Deathcamp pulled up to a gas station that had been ordered abandoned for the time being. It was a few hundred yards outside the operation's perimeter, but close enough to get a clear look at what was happening.

"You do not see that every day," Thiha commented as he fixed his eyes on the unearthly structure. "Let's hear what they're talking about."

Everyone got out of the car and Graveyard placed a military-grade case on the hood of the vehicle. He opened it and gave everyone an earpiece with which they could eavesdrop on communications.

The monolith continued to descend and the closer it came to landing the tighter the Russian troops now spread out in the field gripped their weapons. The structure, with Marcus levitating right beside it, floated so gently to the ground it hardly kicked up any dirt when it touched down. Marcus stepped out of the sky beside it and wordlessly switched powers to invulnerability, just in case. He looked the structure up and down as he walked around it with a pocket-sized radiation detector and found the structure's radiation emissions were surprisingly low. The ex-firefighter now government operative then stopped to put his ear on the craft's hull. He shook his head to indicate to everyone that he didn't hear anything.

General Drizyen ordered his platoon to form a hundred-yard perimeter around the silent alien slab while keeping his Spetsnaz troops ready to crash out. The general's two tanks trained their turrets on the object as a further precaution. This had always been the question asked during the planning phase of the mission, whether to extend an olive branch or take a defensive wait-and-see posture towards any alien life. Since the object had come unannounced, everyone decided to err on the side of caution.

Marcus crackled over the radio, "I am going to enter the structure. If I'm out of contact more than two minutes, I don't know, do what you've got to do."

The general turned to Gaia, dressed in a khaki-toned casual pant suit, and asked her how Marcus planned to go inside the strange ship since it appeared that the object had no visible entry point. Gaia shrugged unsurely.

As Marcus became translucent – phased – a deafening 'click' sound emanated from the object. Its four walls split at the seams and moved apart from each other by two feet. Although phased, Marcus instinctively moved beyond the point at which the four walls would fall away from each other and crush the ground beneath them. Most of the Russian troops raised and prepared to fire their weapons while a few others weren't sure what to do. How much more dangerous could an alien be after what they were witnessing from Marcus? Though they were told of some of Marcus' abilities, it was another thing to see it for themselves. Then they saw what the structure contained.

Approximately ten feet in the air a motionless figure floated in a haze of purple light. It was a humanoid figure outfitted in corroded gold body armor and holding what seemed to be a gunsmoke-colored pipe speckled with silver flecks. Then the seemingly unconscious being began to descend as softly as its slab of a ship had. The alien, with its onyx, snake-scaled skin, appeared to be what might be considered female. Considered tall for a human of this gender, when 'she' touched down, the purple haze evaporated and the alien opened its eyes; a fierce, glowing shade of red devoid of pupils. 'She' staggered forward in a ragtag line for a few feet then steadied herself.

The alien looked at the translucent Marcus and then around herself in a circle. Creatures similar in appearance to those she'd seen across several galaxies were in an aggressive posture. But these beings were not any of the world breakers she was familiar with. Perhaps she'd made it to Earth and these were its inhabitants? Such crude weapons she observed of the Russian troops. Simple projectile weapons? The alien appeared to scoff. How much time did she have before the world breakers arrived here?

Assessing the scenario, the alien trained her attention on Marcus who had taken up position several feet in front of her, still phased. This being was not like the others here. She breathed deep through the slits of her short, snub nose and sensed, as Seedlings sometimes do, other inhabitants with advanced capabilities nearby as well. The extraterrestrial did not know their language and hoped they would attempt to speak to her so that she could acquire their speech. She heard Marcus say 'hello' but without any more grammatical structure, the utterance meant nothing to her.

Impatient, the stranger to the planet spoke. "Kull nu uln. Nul ku K'un L'u," she spoke in a forceful, almost digital voice. As Marcus was masked, the alien could not ascertain if Marcus understood.

Marcus cautiously floated towards her and extended his hand to greet her. This alarmed the visitor; did they see that she was injured and were attempting to capture her? The alien stuck out her rod as Marcus came to a halt in front of her and gave him a jolt of strange energy that Marcus' intangibility didn't save him from. Marcus' back contorted as he became tangible and dropped to the ground in front of her. He landed, immobilized, on one of the dropship's fallen walls. She walked towards the fallen Marcus on unsteady legs.

"That is very interesting," Thiha spoke as he watched through binoculars. "What will Ms. Elfar do?"

Eyes wide, Gaia stepped out from behind one of the reconnaissance vehicles. She lowered her head a touch, squinted her eyes and chanted some words to herself. Roots sprang out of the ground, crept up from underneath the walls of the alien ship and wrapped themselves around the alien's feet and legs. The tactic was unexpected but did not trouble the visitor as she transformed the rod she was carrying into a short sword and swiped at the roots to free herself.

Undeterred, Gaia chanted a new set of words to herself as the visitor raised her sword above Marcus. A swarm of bees flew across the field and crowded the alien's face, some of them stinging her eyes. Marcus pushed himself up through a groggy haze until he was recovered enough to jump to his feet. God's favored son waved a hand across the alien's path to encircle her with a tight, pale blue force field.

The fugitive from the world breakers recognized this tactic and would not allow herself to be taken again. Changing back into a rod, the alien's technology elicited another bolt of energy and electrified the bees. Then the rod morphed into a circular shell around the extraterrestrial and enlarged itself against the walls of Marcus' force field until he couldn't hold it any longer. The super human leader of this mission felt a blood vessel pop in his nose.

"I would like that toy of hers," Thiha said towards everyone's ears. "It would be very useful. We will wait until our friends wear her down or capture her."

Meanwhile, Marcus nodded to General Drizyen on the perimeter and took himself out of the alien's line of fire by taking to the sky. The two tanks opened fire with heavy machineguns but their munitions had no effect on the silver-flecked black shell. Upon seeing this, the general ordered one of the tanks to fire a round, but the alien shell only rolled a few feet back.

"Lt. Lucian, you're up," Marcus radioed from the sky. "You're going to need to get within fifty feet before you use the glove."

"Are you sure this thing of yours will work on alien technology?" the Native American officer inquired as he stepped into the fray with his right hand extended in a silver metallic glove.

"No," Marcus answered, "But we have to try everything if this alien's not willing to stand down."

"Maybe we shouldn't have pointed guns at it," the lieutenant breathed curtly under his breath. Without hesitation in his step but with it in mind, the junior officer started towards their visitor's position.

There was no activity from the ensconced alien as Marcus held his own position above. Lt. Lucian slipped on the metal glove Marcus had given him as he continued his march toward the shell. Just as he got within range of the shell, a series of foot-long spikes jutted out of the alien casing. It began to roll towards the lieutenant, causing him to splay his fingers and fire his 'weapon' in self-defense. There was a flash of light and a whooshing sound and the shell collapsed upon itself, becoming the alien rod once again and falling to the ground at the extraterrestrial's feet.

The visitor's eyes went wide before thinning out; amazed then perturbed. She picked up her rod, jumped into the air towards one of the tanks and landed on top of it with a crushing blow that bent its main turret. She clawed and pounded at the metal with her bare hands while nearby perimeter troops opened fire on her. Their small caliber munitions pricked her dense, scaly skin but would cause no injuries other than some scratches. Rather, the alien was still suffering serious injuries from her escape from the world breakers and had been in suspended animation until arriving on Earth. Although still powerful enough to survive an assault on her by the primitive soldiers now set against her, she didn't know how much longer she was going to last against the other three beings of unknown but clearly advanced capabilities.

"The Cross to Air Force, we need some non-lethal fire support. General Drizyen, bring in the rest of air support behind him as a precaution, please," Marcus ordered over the radio.

"This is Air Force. Roger that." Captain Drake jetted off the rooftop in his lightly armored flight suit at near the speed of sound, leaving the helicopters far behind. "In route," he complied. But as he reached the outside of the battlefield, his heads-up-display identified four people at the gas station that should've been relocated for what had been billed as a 'training exercise.' "Air Force to Cross, we've got four bogeys outside the perimeter at the gas station to the south." No sooner did he finish his words when he found himself over the enraged alien. "Engaging the target with concussion rounds," Air Force stated.

In response to Air Force, General Drizyen ordered a team of his Spetsnaz to see who was spying on the proceedings.

Air Force's heads-up-display marked the extraterrestrial and fired four small shoulder rockets upon the target. The four rockets exploded in and around the alien's face and knocked her off the tank she'd disabled. Seeing an opening, Marcus dropped out of the sky with a knee to the visitor's chest, smacked her rod out of her hands with super strength and picked her up in a bear hug from behind.

"Stop fighting! We don't want to hurt you!" Marcus yelled as if the alien would understand.

Shadow Princess spotted the Russian Special Forces charging across the field towards her team. "We're going to have company, um beijo," she whispered with a smile to Thiha.

Thiha put down his binoculars as he too heard the order and now saw the soldiers getting close. He sighed and reached over behind Deathcamp, grabbed the katana from the man's scabbard and ran at the troops with blinding speed. Before the questionable characters even knew what happened, Thiha had returned to their side from his mad dash having left the entire squad of Spetsnaz lying on the field with grievous leg wounds. "I want that rod," he said unjokingly to his team. "We are going to create some diversions so I can take it," he said to them.

Deathcamp trotted out first towards the fallen Spetsnaz with a katana in one hand and a small shotgun in the other. He shot or stabbed in the heart any one of them that looked like they might still have any fight left in them. The second group of Special Forces started his way and threw themselves on the ground two hundred feet away, rifles ready at the fire.

The Spetsnaz were about to engage when they were suddenly overshadowed by a squad of soldiers incredibly similar to themselves except that they were ashen-colored in their skin, clothing and weaponry. The surprise doppelgangers poised their rifles and began shooting at the prone men, forcing the Spetsnaz to return fire. Several Spetsnaz were killed ot wounded in the exchange while the imposters simply turned to wisps of dust when struck. Deathcamp himself was grazed by gunfire several times as he closed the gap between himself and the Special Forces, but managed to kill the remaining squad members without being incapacitated thanks to the assist from Shadow Princess.

The incursion grabbed Gaia's attention. The Egyptian woman observed Deathcamp plowing through the second unit of Spetsnaz. She began making strides towards the deadly interloper as the Asian man scored kill after kill. She edged up against one of the Russian trucks and stopped to lower her head, whispering a new chant. This caused an immense flock of birds to descend upon the Japanese man, obscuring his view and pecking at him. It was a nuisance to Deathcamp more than anything else but it was buying Marcus time to deal with the alien visitor. Thiha's left-hand man shot wildly at the birds, killing some but not enough to rid himself of them.

"I am going to put you in the thick of the fight, Mr. Basak," Thiha said as he turned to Graveyard. "I need you to put my good friend Marcus and the alien down so I can grab the rod. Please, lay them out."

"Do you want me to kill him?" the Indian man asked. Graveyard always thought extreme measures were the best way to handle things in order to avoid complications in the future.

"I do not think that will be necessary. So, do not," Thiha replied as he levitated Graveyard into the air and catapulted him across the battlefield.

"What the hell?" Air Force exclaimed as he noticed something entirely unexpected arch across his heads-up-display.

Graveyard bowed through the air and came down with a double clothesline that knocked Marcus and the extraterrestrial hard into the dirt. Marcus spiraled to the ground so violently that he thought he dislocated his right shoulder. He immediately ignored the pain and switched his power again to invulnerability. Then he felt a crippling, nauseating wave flow over him, making him tremble throughout.

"You stay right there," the man in the skull mask said to Marcus as he snatched the alien off the ground by her throat. Gloating too much, Graveyard didn't pay enough attention to his surroundings and paid the price; a quick kick to his gut delivered by a man in a blue flight suit who had swept down out of the air. Graveyard released the alien and flopped to the ground flat on his stomach.

Thiha dropped out of super speed and appeared out of seemingly thin air a few feet away. Air Force saw this but stopped being surprised at this point, that is, until Thiha tried to pick up the alien rod. Thiha struggled to lift it an inch; it was as if the rod weighed hundreds of pounds.

"This is very heavy. You should help me," Thiha spoke to Air Force who was floating on air towards him. Thiha was about to switch to mind control but then saw Marcus glaring at him while Graveyard had still not gotten up.

"You!" Marcus growled. "God have mercy on your soul because I sure as hell won't!"

Thiha noticed that their immediate vicinity had suddenly become loud with a chucka-chucka sound. He saw in Air Force's visor a reflection of a Russian attack helicopter swooping in with its Gatling gun beginning to spin. "Uh oh," Thiha smiled a split second before he took off in a blur.

As heavy machine gun fire raked the combatants, Graveyard jumped to his feet and grabbed the wounded extraterrestrial by her damaged gold breastplate and swung her around to use her as a shield. After the gunfire riddled the alien, Graveyard threw her aside and ran to take cover behind the tank that the alien disabled. Continuous gunfire pounded Air Force, generating sparks in his flight suit and spiraling him until he fell to one knee. Bullets bounced off an impervious Marcus as he jumped in front of Air Force to protect his teammate. Marcus didn't know why General Drizyen's air support was engaging them. Fight now, ask questions later.

Marcus figured a lightning strike would cripple the helicopter but had to wait for the gunfire to cease before he could switch powers. Unexpectedly, though, the attack craft suddenly lost all power and fell straight out of the sky. Metal and glass imploded then spewed forth upon impact with the ground. Marcus figured correctly that it must have been Lt. Lucian with his special glove who was now engaging the scene. We're too crowded, Marcus thought.

Lt. Lucian skulked along the hull of the Russian chopper for cover only to have it split open on him. A bulky armored behemoth stepped out of the vehicle and slapped the young officer away like a gnat but not before the lieutenant caught a glimpse of Chinese insignia. Lt. Lucian landed almost twenty feet away, half dead, bleeding from the nose and mouth. In his right hand, he fingers barely maintained their grasp on Marcus' gauntlet.

Meanwhile, Gaia stood before a well-armed Japanese killing machine with grit in her teeth. "Any last words?" she asked in English before uttering obscure Arabic words under her breath.

"I never ask," Deathcamp replied as he raised a shotgun. Before he could fire, though, a large root thrust out of the ground behind him and pierced him in the back. A strained expression crept across his face as he felt the root slice through his stomach. Then it seemed to Gaia like the man wanted to laugh but simply couldn't manage it. "This...this is not going to kill me," Deathcamp warned.

Does anything? The Egyptian woman wondered. She'd seen him shot and that didn't seem to slow him down much. Gaia considered going to lengths she wasn't sure she was ready to go. She ultimately concluded that she didn't have a choice. Two more large roots sprang out of the ground and tore through Deathcamp's abdomen. Blood poured out of his mouth. Then Gaia chanted anew, ordering the roots to tear the man in two. Blood spilled in a ring around Deathcamp. The two halves of the killer fell on the blood-stained grass next to each other.

Breathing heavily from the emotional stress, Gaia knew she needed to return her focus to the battlefield but instead caught a punch to her face that sent her sprawling. On her hands and knees she heard a voice she hadn't heard since she first realized her power.

"Have you given any more consideration to my proposition?" Thiha asked as he stood over the U.N. operative.

Gaia shook her head which could have been a 'yes' or 'no.' Looking up a bit she could see through blurred vision what looked like the two halves of the man she'd just killed regenerating into two new people. The thought that she didn't kill her prey both relieved and sank her.

"I did not know he could do that!" Thiha laughed. "That is certainly an advantage."

Thiha grabbed Gaia by her lapel and punched her again to knock her out as Shadow Princess approached. The exotic Brazilian beauty's face frowned in disgust as she caught sight of the mauled Deathcamp regenerating into a pair.

"We are in danger of losing the rod. Stay here and look after these two...three. I am going to get it for sure this time," Thiha remarked.

Meanwhile, Marcus recognized his stolen battle suit design instantly as he stood in front of Air Force and a well-shaken alien. He buried his eyebrows and began to charge at the heavily armored Chinese soldier. The hulking suit was prepared, though. Metal webbing came out of one hand and wrapped Marcus up. Then it shot another metal web from its other hand and wrestled the fallen alien.

Damaged but not out, Air Force got up from taking a knee and fired a series of high-explosive rounds from his wrist gauntlets but all they did was leave pop marks on the battle suit. Unfazed, the captain flew up and over the battle suit, grabbed its helmet from behind and attempted to take off at full throttle.

Captain Drake pulled the armored figure almost a foot off the ground before he had a sudden desire to release the battle suit. It fell to the ground with a thud while Graveyard peeked out from behind the tank. The Indian man saw the otherworldly rod on the ground and decided to dive for it. Thiha's enforcer gripped it and lifted with everything he had, eliciting a rumble from deep in the lungs, and managed to pick up the extraterrestrial's weapon. He swung it overhead with both hands as hard as he could at the armorine's lid. The battle suit's head snapped back and seemed to be stunned for a moment. Graveyard was going to take another swing but the armored Chinese soldier grabbed the rod mid-swing, ripped it out of the Indian's hands and punched Graveyard into the side of the disabled tank, knocking the strongman unconscious.

Marcus witnessed the beating as he had turned himself intangible in order to phase through the steel mesh he was caught in. Freed, he made himself tangible again and switched to the power of flight so that he could quickly retrieve Lt. Lucian's gauntlet and finally stop the battle suit. But no sooner had he lifted off than Air Force speared him out of the air. The American officer, under the control of Sergeant Koo who was also on board the helicopter, launched into Marcus with a flurry of lefts and right, knees and kicks. Trying not to get knocked unconscious, Marcus found he could not concentrate enough to phase. He thought about turning invisible, but as a punch cracked a rib, he realized that the flight suit's infrared sensors would still see him. Another cracked rib. He couldn't hold on much longer.

The alien's eyes were half open, wounded and waery but managing to hang in. She started tearing through her bindings and was about to get to her feet. But the battle suit raised an enormous boot and leveled it against her chest, stomping her into the earth. It removed its foot and observed the extraterrestrial still moving. Remarkable, thought the man conjoined to the armor, himself no less remarkable for having sacrificed his once injured and contorted body to become one with Marcus' design. The former man and soldier, formerly known as Longwei Leung, raised the alien's heavy rod with the intent of smashing its owner into bits.

Just as the cyborg – code named 'Armada' – brought the rod overhead, it noticed some trees along the tree line fall. From the opposite edge of the battlefield, something large began charging. Sensors locked onto the object, zoomed in and magnified. It was one of The Mega Dudes. It was Brawl Boy. And he was bearing down like a massive bull.

Armada set both feet firmly on the ground, raised both fists and the rod, and leaned a shoulder forward to brace itself. Brawl Boy closed in, closer and closer, each footstep thundering against the cyborg's plating. The Mega Dude's right fist reached further back with each step. Armada reached into his metallic gut and let out defiant electronic roar as Brawl Boy came upon him. When the hero was close enough for the cyborg to see his own reflection in the Mega Dudes' sunglasses, the eight foot tall, broad and muscular young man followed through with a punch that plowed the armored suit ninety feet across the field. Armada's armor became a chain of cracks. System warnings crackled and flickered across the cyborg's visor.

But Armada was still holding the rod. Brawl Boy was going to start after the cyborg but felt a very slight but noticeable pinching on his skin. He whipped around and looked down at Air Force who was firing on him with a sleeve-mounted weapon at point blank range. He was going to grab and crush Air Force's suit enough to disable him, but for some reason decided he was going to kill Air Force instead. Captain Drake, now free from Sgt. Koo's mind control, had regained his senses just long enough to see he was going to be squashed by the Mega Dude and propelled himself out of the way as Brawl Boy's fist slammed the ground.

Behind Brawl Boy, the metal frame of the grounded chopper began to snap, pop and creak. The Chinese sergeant, Sgt. Koo – Whisper – was surrounded and restrained by telekinetically controlled metal to the point of incapacitation, courtesy of VinZenT who happened nearby. Christopher, the man with the indestructible wings, swooped out of the sky, landed in the hold of the attack helicopter and punched the mind reader in the jaw, knocking the man out. Within a moment, Brawl Boy felt like himself again.

"Whisper has been...what word are we using? He's not going to be a problem right now," the well-dressed, slick-haired VinZenT radioed to The Mega Dudes' resident tank as he walked casually towards everyone in the thick of it.

Brawl Boy extended a hand towards a struggling Marcus to help him to his feet. "Are you okay, buddy?"

Marcus, no longer under attack, was taking the free time to heal himself. "You kidding me?" he answered as he smacked the giant's hand away.

A moment later, Marcus felt an ominous tug. Brawl Boy felt it, too. Everyone felt it. Something super massive was nearby, dragging bits of scree and metal towards it. Marcus, Air Force, Brawl Boy, Christopher and VinZenT felt their feet start to drag across the ground ever so slightly. Being dragged in the same direction, they all looked towards the fallen cyborg and at Thiha who was approaching it. The proverbial monkey wrench had increased his own density to the maximum, making himself impervious and increasing his gravitational pull as a result.

"We can't let him get the rod!" Marcus shouted. "Air Force, full thrust! See if you can knock him down," Marcus ordered. "Where's Gaia?" he muttered as an afterthought while Christopher jumped straight up into the sky. Brawl Boy leapt into the air towards Thiha and Armada.

VinZenT anchored himself to the tank wreckage with his powers so that he wasn't being dragged so readily towards Thiha's increased mass. When he felt the tank begin to drag more, he let it go and gently grasped the struggling alien around her elbow as she was trying to get back up after being stomped by the Chinese battle suit. The alien turned her head towards this human and looked at him with her piercing red eyes; she seemed to understand that he wasn't going to hurt her. VinZenT understood that she wasn't going to hurt him either and satisfied with that, focused on how he was going to get her, Lt. Lucian and Graveyard off the battlefield before they got sucked into the situation with Thiha. VinZenT reached out towards the tree line with his mind to maintain hs position.

Air Force rocketed at Thiha but Thiha, burning with a dense, dark energy, didn't budge an inch when the American officer slammed into him. Air Force shot off at like a billiard ball and tumbled recklessly across the ground, causing some of his skin-tight armor to rattle loose. He finally came to a rest on his back several yards away, unconscious and decommissioned. Now Thiha was close enough to Armada to reach out for the rod.

Undeterred by Brawl Boy landing like a cannonball next to him, Thiha grabbed the rod. Brawl Boy grabbed the rod, too. Armada, just having rebooted, maintained its grip on the rod. Marcus, not to be left out, tried to isolate and obtain the rod with a force field. Although not maxing out, Brawl Boy was putting a lot of strength into owning the rod but found he was being matched by everyone else's combined might. The Mega Dude had no choice but to give it everything.

The earth shook viciously and the rod itself seemed to want to break the world in two as the enormous Brawl Boy tore the rod away from everyone. As he did so, the rod gave off a slight ting. Several tiny shards broke off from the alien rod, sending the pieces near and wide. One shard pierced Captain Drake's skin and lodged itself in his thigh bone. Another tiny piece of the rod became embedded in Armada's chest plate. A third sliver arced through the air and landed like a lead weight in the palm of the special glove Marcus had entrusted to Lt. Lucian. A fourth and final piece flew so high that it took flight in the jet stream above Russia and landed somewhere in China a few hours later, nearly killing a man.

Nonetheless, Brawl Boy was in control of the rod. The force of his pull caused him to stride backwards away from the others by several steps, which was just enough room for Christopher to fly by with Rock Star on his back riding him like a surfboard. "I'm pickin' up good vibrations..." Rock Star sang as he streaked by on his teammate's back. The sound manipulator's vibrations shook the ground loose beneath Thiha and Armada, causing them to fall into a twenty-five foot deep sinkhole. Several more strategic vibrations collapsed the walls of the sinkhole around the two combatants in an attempt to take them out of the fight. Thiha's gravitational pull ceased as dirt fell upon him.

The second Russian attack helicopter approached. Unsure what to do having lost two squads of Spetsnaz on this operation, General Drizyen ordered all of his remaining men and the chopper to unload on anyone who wasn't on their side in the operation. The chopper launched two surface-to-ground missiles which Brawl Boy seemed to welcome and hug into his chest. In reality, the Mega Dude was saving everyone else the full brunt of the explosions. He took the missiles point blank which seemingly brought the brawler to one knee. Ultimately, the missiles had no effect other than to char the hulking man's explosion-resistant clothing; it was Brawl Boy's exertion of power that left him momentarily exhausted.

Nearby, VinZenT had let the extraterrestrial slip out of his grip when he saw the general's remaining troops taking up fighting positions. The suave Italian relieved the soldiers of their effectiveness, using his telekinetic powers to warp any metal the soldiers were carrying. This was a small feat compared to what shook the earth behind him; Thiha rising out of the sinkhole seventy-five feet tall. Everyone on the battlefield paused and gasped as their eyes rose with the Burmese man. No one suspected such a thing was possible despite everything happening around them. Super human and human alike calculated what damage such a man could do.

Thiha held a still largely inoperable Armada in his hand and used the Chinese cyborg as a projectile to smash the attack chopper out of the sky before it could fire on him. Marcus, tired of Thiha's interference, thought he'd go toe-to-toe with his nemesis and grew to seventy-five feet himself. But as he did so, Thiha shrank to his original size. Back down in the sinkhole, Thiha had begun to figure something out.

Thiha switched to super speed yet again, sped out of the sinkhole and searched the playing field for Graveyard. Thiha found his man by the decrepit tank and took his enforcer up over his shoulders with great effort. He dragged Graveyard back to Shadow Princess' side as she had returned herself, Deathcamp's two halves and Gaia to the town car parked at the gas station.

"I think it is time for us to go. We will be better prepared next time," Thiha told his paramour. The group disappeared in an implosion of blue and white light.

Marcus, still seventy-five feet tall, made a fist and shouted down to Brawl Boy, "I don't know whose side you're on."

Christopher flew up to Marcus' face. "You need to calm down before we take you down," Christopher warned. "We're not here to fight you. We're on the side that is best for everyone. And that means we're returning the rod to the alien, K'un L'u."

"How do you know her name?" Marcus snarled at the bat-winged man.

Bruised, battered and nearly broken, the visitor had risen to her feet to stand tall alongside VinZenT. Brawl Boy rose from his one knee and walked up to her to hand her the rod which she took with her right hand. The alien held it tight to her chest and uttered, "K'un L'u." Then the extraterrestrial fell forward on her knees and then her face to everyone's surprise. Before VinZenT could even check on the Amazonian-sized alien, a deep-purple gel spread quickly across her body. It hardened into an impenetrable shell as quickly as it had spread.

Christopher approached Marcus despite his super-size and belligerence to match. The Mega Dude jabbed a pointed finger at the government operative. "You're going to take the alien somewhere safe and you're not going to let anyone experiment on her. I'd tell you to secure the two Chinese soldiers but you're going to have to let the general take care of them. Trust me, aiding K'un L'u is more important as far as you're concerned. She's going to help you," Christopher advised.

Marcus returned to his normal size beneath the flying man's wings. "Leave the Chinese with the Russians? It looks like they were with the Russians. Why don't you guys take care of the Chinese?" Marcus responded.

"They weren't with the Russians. The guy unconscious in the first helicopter is a telepath and mind-controller. Long story. Anyway, we can't secure them right now. If I told you why, you probably wouldn't like it. You probably wouldn't even believe it," Christopher answered.

"Maybe I would. I'm starting to believe a lot of things I wouldn't have believed before," Marcus quipped. "You going to answer me how you know the alien's name?"

Christopher's chest let out of puff of air and he gave Marcus a blank stare. Christopher looked around at his team to catch their eyes and nodded toward the sky.

General Drizyen surveyed the field after watching Christopher fly straight up and out of sight while Brawl Boy took Rock Star in one arm and VinZenT in the other and leapt beyond the tree line far away from the scene. The commanding Russian officer approached Marcus who had hoisted the cocooned alien onto his shoulder and was walking towards one of the flatbed supply trucks. The general radioed for assistance as he strode.

Marcus slid the extraterrestrial onto the back of the truck and joined the general's side. "Might want to call in some extra soldiers and a medical team if you haven't already, General. There's a lot of damage here on both our sides," Marcus said. He turned around and started jogging towards Air Force and Lt. Lucian both of whom he realized were in much worse shape than he had ever planned them being in. "Where's Gaia?" the American lead asked on his way.

"I do not know, Mr. Michaels. Nor do I know how these people who interfered disappeared so fast," General Drizyen answered.

"I have an idea," Marcus muttered mostly to himself. Shooting some parting words over his shoulder, he said, "Listen, we're going secure the alien leave them in the care of an international team of scientists. As for your immediate concerns, I'm going to ask you to mop up that hulking armored robot and anyone else that might be with it." Marcus distanced himself and picked up his pace.

Marcus removed his black and blue mask as he arrived at Captain Drake's side. He was surprised to see his flight suit had taken so much damage. More important, though, was the fact that the captain was still breathing. That was good; it meant that no matter the injury, Marcus figured he could probably heal him. Could he raise the dead, though? Marcus had thought about it briefly but decided he would never do such a thing; creating life and taking it away was God's jurisdiction (although Marcus was going to make an exception for The Nameless). Marcus ripped open a hole in underlying flight suit and laid a hand on the officer's bare skin. He focused his mind on mending broken bones and regenerating the damaged muscle and organ tissues his teammate.

Captain Drake started seizing, convulsing, and shaking wildly on the ground. Marcus stepped back; this was not what should be happening, not what the super human leader intended. Marcus stepped forward to try again but Captain Drake stopped convulsing just as he did so. Marcus heard the captain groan as his stricken teammate rolled over onto his stomach, pushed himself up to his knees then stood fully upright from there. The captain removed his fractured helmet.

"What happened?" the officer asked.

"You ran into an immovable object, literally," Marcus answered.

"Really? 'Cause I don't like I did. I feel amazing, actually."

Marcus studied his companion for a moment. "I thought you had green eyes, Johnny. Now they're blue." Marcus paused as he looked down. "And I don't hear your boot thrusters. So why are you hovering?"

The lieutenant dropped his gaze and made a note of damage to his boots. "Where are Gaia and Lt. Lucian?" Captain Drake asked to avoid further questioning. The captain tilted his chin up over Marcus' shoulder. "Lt. Lucian's over there; looks hurt."

"As long as he's not dead..." Marcus trailed off. "Let's round him up; Gaia, too. Let's get all of you checked out, asap."

Marcus' nose flared as he studied the landing site come battlefield. This was not the way anyone wanted this scenario to go down.

A few hours earlier...Odessa, Ukraine

Kaitlin Grant and her cohorts in the Third Power were freshening up in their hotel room after another night of dismantling human trafficking rings. Kaitlin had walked out of the bathroom in her undergarments and was wrapping a towel around her hair when she noticed Ella at the window. The African American woman had a large white towel wrapped around her body as Kaitlin noticed her observing the morning sun. Ella was just...staring.

Kaitlin finished her towel up-do and approached Ella slowly. "Ella, what're you doing? Shouldn't stare at the sun like that. It might hurt your eyes."

"That's just it," Ella said without turning around, "No matter how long I stare, it doesn't bother me."

"I suppose that makes sense. You can control light after all," Kaitlin wandered off.

"When do you think this'll be over and we can go back home for good?" Ella asked motionless before Kaitlin got too far.

Kaitlin picked up a leopard print Dolce & Gabbana shirt from the back of the couch and wandered back towards Ella. "I don't know, Ella. This...this is kind of our life now. There are things we can do and...I think we have an obligation to do those things to help people. I think people are always going to need our help."

Ella turned around and set her middle-aged, freshly crowing eyes upon Kaitlin. "I know we're doing something good. I know that we're right to be doing it. I just don't want to do it forever. I want to have a normal life again at some point."

Kaitlin faced Ella and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Ella, I know you didn't ask for this. If you want to go back home, I won't try to stop you. The only thing I will say, though, is that when you're old, I don't want you to ever think about the world and say, 'I could have done more to make it better.' For me, that's why I have to do this and keep doing it."

"I've thought about that, too, Kate," Ella replied. "But do you think there'll be a time when we've done enough? So many people need saving it seems. We can't help them all, can we? Are we going to spend our whole lives trying to save the world?" Ella looked away. "You know what frustrates me the most? There are people I can't help with my powers. I can't heal my mother's dementia. I can't make my husband stay away from the bar. I can't even ask him to get a new job; the money's decent but he spends so many hours on the road. Maybe that's why I'm in this; my powers don't matter at home. But I feel like it's my mother and my husband who need me the most." Ella resigned and shrugged Kaitlin's hands off of her. "We didn't always have these powers. Maybe they'll be gone tomorrow." Ella turned her head away.

"I think we have to help the people we can while we can. We're under no obligation, Ella, but since we can help, why wouldn't we?" Kaitlin cozied a smile next to Ella's ear.

Kaitlin and Ella shared a polite smile. They came from different places but understood what the other was saying.

While they talked, Melanie Conrad was in the shower. She always went last in case the group wound up somewhere that ran out of hot water too quickly. She didn't need towels to dry herself, either.

As Melanie was stepping out of the shower and heating herself up to dry off, a knock came at their hotel door. Knowing they hadn't ordered room service, Kaitlin approached the door cautiously while Ella took up a readied position behind a corner, prepared to blind any assailant.

"Who is it?" Kaitlin asked.

"My name is Madina," came a muffled Middle Eastern accent. "I was sent here by the young man Ms. Grant met in the bar in Bristol. He said to tell her 'Whiskey Ginger'?"

Kaitlin peeked through the door's eyehole and saw a dark-skinned woman in a deep blue pea coat with unusually long sleeves. Kaitlin couldn't see the woman's hands, not that it mattered; Kaitlin could be shot as long as she redirected the kinetic energy. She did always wonder, though, what would happen if she got shot in the head or the heart. That's why she always wore a bullet proof vest. Her heart pumping life as a precaution, Kaitlin hedged her bets and popped the door open.

There was a whoosh of air that shot past Kaitlin and filled the hotel room when she opened the door. "The La Gioconda. You're tastes are going to burn through all of that money I gave you, Katie." Thiha was sitting on the couch with one arm slung over the backrest. With his other hand he brought a handkerchief to his mouth and dabbed his reddened lips.

Kaitlin and Ella recognized the thin man immediately. "Don't call me that," Kaitlin said sourly as she grabbed Madina by her lapels and pulled her into the room. She shut the door behind them and pushed Madina toward the couch. Kaitlin pointed for Madina to take a seat.

Melanie stood in the doorway of the bathroom naked with her hands glowing red, ready to ignite. "Who are these dingalings?"

Kaitlin put a hand up to tell Melanie to stand down. "He's like us, Mels, sort of. I don't know about her, though. And I don't know why they're here."

"I am glad you asked," Thiha intoned. "I told you I would be back when you've made a decision," he said in Kaitlin's direction. "Now that you have made it, I would like to ask you for your help."

"Get stuffed! We don't even know you," Melanie fired up.

Thiha pointed towards Melanie and flashed his toothy grin. "She should put some clothes on. She is very distracting."

Kaitlin picked a blouse up off a chair and tossed it at Melanie. "Don't worry about her. Now what are you going on about? What decision did I make? And what help do you want?"

"Aliens," Ella piped up. Everyone looked at her while Ella's powers allowed her to glimpse a short distance into the future. "He's going to say something about aliens."

"Um, yes, I am, Ms. Baudin. That cat is out of the bag so I guess I will begin there: The United Nations is expecting an alien landing this afternoon and I need to be there. However, it may be an unsafe situation for my friend, Madina." Thiha looked at the one-armed woman with sad eyes. "I request that you look after her until my business is concluded."

"Aliens sound like very serious business," Ella crossed her arms. "Maybe the Third Power should be there."

"That would certainly complicate things, Ms. Baudin," Thiha said. "The U.N. has at least one very powerful super human on their side and they are teaming up with the Russian army to monitor the landing site."

"Will The Mega Dudes be there?" Melanie asked with a little red in her cheeks.

The question caught Thiha off guard. "Ah, I suppose if the situation deteriorated and aliens attacked Earth, they would probably show up, Ms. Conrad."

"What's your name then, eh?" Melanie shot back.

"He's not fond of giving that out if I remember correctly," Kaitlin interjected. "I suppose we could look after your friend here," she said skeptically. "So what is it she can do? I gather you don't spend much time with normal people anymore."

Thiha tilted his head and smiled closed-mouthed. "She has...an unusual power. But it is a very important one. So you have made the decision to help me then, just as you have made the decision to help others?"

"Have you been eavesdropping on us, whatever the hell your name is?" Kaitlin asked in a stern tone.

"I apologize. In a manner of speaking, yes. I think it's time for us to have that conversation again."

"Does he still want to take over the world?" Ella asked Kaitlin.

"First and last time we spoke," Kaitlin responded to Ella while keeping her eyes on Thiha.

"You both make it sound bad when you say it like that," Thiha said sitting up. Madina sat quietly beside him. "Ms. Grant, a few minutes ago I believe you said that we are under no obligation to help despite our powers but since we can, we should. Did you not mean this?"

"I suppose." Kaitlin sounded unsure, mostly because it was Thiha interrogating her. "But not like you've proposed. People should be free and not ruled over."

Thiha shook his head and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Ms. Grant, people are ruled over all the time, often by governments they elect. But when people are too free, they try to exert power over others. They take others as slaves. You have seen this for yourself and have done something about it. That is noble but it is time for you to start thinking bigger."

"And you're not trying to exert power over others?" Ella asked leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Let me show you something," Thiha said as he turned to Madina. He rolled up one of her sleeves and revealed a crooked and scarred hand. "Local warlords did this to her. They chopped off her other arm for wanting to get an education." Thiha wasn't smiling. He was quite serious. "There are people who elect governments to oversee their lives and make laws because they are not capable of controlling themselves or thinking for themselves how they should live. Other governments are self-elected and make everyone outside of their immediate circle of power suffer. Do you have a compelling reason why people like us should not rule over these normal people? Once we give them the protection they need from each other, they can be truly be free. Only then can they live without fear."

"But there would be consequences," Melanie said softly as she fixed the last button on her blouse. "Governments will hunt us down. The human traffickers we're busting right now, they've sent people to find and kill us. We're only alive right now because Ella can see a few moments into the future."

Kaitlin thought about this for a moment. "What if some governments have already started that hunt?" She looked at Thiha with her lips slightly apart and blinked a few times.

"Governments are okay with chopping off the limbs of dissidents or letting human trafficking take place within their borders," Thiha started. "Governments allow all sorts of cruelty to take place because they are managed by humans who have human weaknesses. We can stop this, together. Forge an alliance with me and we will be the ones doing the hunting." The thin man leaned back on the couch and threw his arms over the backrest. "Us; we are gods. People prefer gods ruling over them rather than mere people. Historically, that is the case."

"I'm not killing anyone," Ella unfolded her arms and stood straight up.

"We do not need to kill anyone I think," Thiha replied. "But we should be prepared to if we have to. Governments will not be deposed easily."

Ella walked over to Madina and lifted Madina's chin in her hand. Ella looked deep into the mutilated woman's eyes. "I am so sorry, my dear."

"You can do anything. Why haven't you healed her yet?" Kaitlin asked Thiha, reasserting her skepticism.

"That is a good question. I have a good answer that I will not give you right now. Maybe she will tell you herself," Thiha responded.

Kaitlin walked over to the hotel room door and opened it. "We'll think about your 'invitation' while we look after your friend."

"Please do think about it," Thiha said as he stood up. "If I do not come back, it is up to all of you to re-create the world."

"Is a god afraid of dying?" Kaitlin inquired.

"At the hands of another god, yes," Thiha stated. "Or aliens. You should turn on the news this evening," Thiha smiled.

"We'll do that." Kaitlin raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Goodbye now."

Thiha saluted Kaitlin with half a hand and streaked by, his green shirt a blur.

Kaitlin turned to her crew. "What do you lot think about what this wank is saying?"

Ella sat down beside Madina. "Young lady, can you tell us why you're with this man."

"It is easy," the Afghani woman stammered. "He showed up with my love, Ahbi, and they protected me when no one else would. Not even the U.N. peacekeepers could help..."

July 16, 2024...New York City, USA

A gold-plated, statuesque alien walked alone through the corridors of the United Nations building with her long, purple cape flowing behind her. Important dignitaries such as herself typically surrounded themselves with a large security detail, however, being the most powerful sentient being on the planet intimidated all reasonable people. As she opened the doors to the U.N. assembly floor and entered, a tall, average built blonde woman with bags under her eyes motioned for K'un L'u to approach her.

"I apologize for pulling you away from your training; I know your hours are long. My speech will be brief," K'un L'u spoke to the woman. The woman, originally a television producer by trade, was now skilled in many subjects; such were K'un L'u's orders to every inhabitant of Earth. The woman fastened a wireless microphone to K'un L'u's golden chest plate.

"How are your studies progressing?" the scaly-skinned extraterrestrial asked the woman as she finished. "Are you more fit for medicine, other sciences or combat?"

"My highest marks are in medicine," the blonde answered in short.

"That will do. We will need as many medical staff as scientists and soldiers in the time ahead of us," K'un L'u approved as she stepped away to command the assembly hall. She approached a podium while the woman strode behind her and then off towards a television camera where a cameraman awaited instructions.

While dozens of translators stood by, the weary producer patted the cameraman on the back then motioned toward K'un L'u at the podium with three fingers. In three, two...The official seal of the United Nations splashed across television screens and mobile devices around the world. Then K'un L'u appeared to the inhabitants of Earth, many of whom had heard of her, seen a picture or grainy video clip, but had not seen her live until now.

"Citizens of the planet Earth, thank you for allowing me this time to address the state of the planet and more importantly, your species," the alien began. It was not unexpected that many people scoffed at the word 'allowing,' after all, they were not given much of a choice as the refugee from another world would explain.

"I know many of you are having difficulty adjusting to my demand that you change your cultural practices. I understand it is no small feat to alter your lives on my command. I also understand your animosity towards me for dispatching those who were too weak or too unwilling to change their ways. As many of your leaders have told you in the past, they have told you that that what they do – though you sometimes disagreed – is for your own good. I tell you something similar, though the difference is that I am sincere.

"I came to your planet not to bring peace but to bring a sword. To help you understand, I will, for the record, tell you my story that until now has only been hearsay: Many of your centuries ago, I inhabited a unique world, one in which everyone was equal because we viewed each other all equal in potential upon birth. On my world, everyone had equal access to training no matter the subject. And it was expected of everyone to sustain their equality, to meet their potential, to train and excel in all subjects. While it was natural that some would become somewhat more advanced in certain areas of training than others, everyone met a certain level of competence or were put to death for fear of contaminating our genetic code. Of course, to be put to death was rare because to my people, we recognized the inherent value of life, which is accomplished by participating in life. When we participate in life, naturally we excel. This was our way for a millennia.

"Then a black globe appeared in our skies. It hung there for many days in an attempt to scare us, but we were not afraid. We inferred that their intentions were evil before they attacked us and so we were prepared. They came out of the sky in wave after wave but because of our skills, we reduced their numbers until there were only a few left. But we, too, took massive casualties until in one particular battle I was left with but a few companions against their general, a being known as Hyper Superion. While we fought what we knew would be a decisive battle, we were blindsided by the general's master, an entity who bears no name. My people were all struck down and taken captive as easily as your species farms cows. Afterwards, those of us who survived to be captured were all tortured so horribly I could not tell for how long. Ultimately, I was the only one left remaining.

"I begged for death but the one who is without a name offered me a deal; become a member of its army and participate in the annihilation of other worlds or...I cannot bear to speak it, it is so unmentionable. It showed me things no living thing should see, that is all I can say. In a moment of weakness, knowing what horrors the nameless one would put me through if I misspoke, I agreed. I became a member of its army second only to Hyper Superior as we laid waste to several more peaceful worlds, worlds that offered little resistance as they seemingly did not care enough to live. Only they did live on for a short amount of time until their torture became too great.

"Am I culpable for the deaths of millions of beings? It would be easy for me to say the beings this army tortured and killed were inferior and were not worthy of life. But I also understood that even my people, so keen to live, fell to these world breakers and that this army would not cease until it stamps out all life in the universe. And so I eventually felt the need to be redeemed. During our death march across the universe, I spent many oscillations secretly planning, finding the last planet in their sights in hope that I could get there in time to prepare the inhabitants for their arrival. I struggled to escape these world breakers and set a course for this planet as I knew they would not deviate from their plans. I knew this would give me time to prepare you to fight, citizens of Earth, if I arrived to find such preparations were needed.

"When I first opened my eyes to the inhabitants of this planet, I discovered an inferior race armed with inferior weapons. Then several of you with advanced capabilities were made known to me and my concerns were eased in the slightest. I counted the number of what you called 'super humans' to be enough to engage the world breakers. These super humans, some strong enough to battle me in hand-to-hand combat, could protect your world and perhaps – with my help – turn the world breakers away entirely. But these people squabbled amongst themselves despite my warning about the world breakers until it appears they destroyed each other in San Francisco, leaving you with me.

"Without your super humans you have no hope of fighting the world breakers. Only I stand in their way now. While many of you think this is a feeble excuse for me to oversee your world, I assure you that I am changing your world in a manner that will give you a chance of survival. Survival, as we all know, is the primary objective of every species. You earthlings know this, your eternal optimism – your hope – springs forth from your desire to survive. If you want to survive, you will follow my plan accordingly and give up your ineffectual ways of life, at least until the world breakers have come and you have dispatched them, if you dispatch them.

"Make no mistake, human beings, I assure you this army of great suffering and death treks relentlessly towards us. They are without mercy or conscious; they have no 'good nature' to appeal to should you come under their heel. Knowing how badly your species fears pain – and feels pain – I have demanded you submit to my rule for your benefit.

"I do not know the hour in which the world breakers will arrive which is why I ask so much from all of you. It may be days, months or years before they arrive, I cannot say. But they are coming. They will arrive. But, they will be fought because I have seen in your eyes and in your stories, your species is not one to say, 'Here is my entire life for you to take.' That is not the way of human beings, is it? It is not my way either. You will all stand for Earth. I will stand for my fallen brothers and sisters. Together, we will break the world breakers. Then there will be quiet in the universe and I will take my leave of you if you so wish. However, I hope you see the utility of my world's culture and never return to your own after I depart.

"I will now remind you that until the world breakers are dispatched and you are all saved that you are under my guidance. Those who refuse to adhere to my rule, are unfit or too infirm to fight or otherwise contribute to your species' survival will be executed. I am K'un L'u. Remember that from this moment forth, we are all each other's savior."

Without hesitation, K'un L'u snapped to her left and exited the assembly area. The emblem of the United Nations splashed across screens worldwide once again. The alien warrior strode outside into the evening air and looked up at the stars on this clear summer night.

Pitiful humans, she thought, they continue to desire the easiest manners in which to live no matter the threat. It matters little as long as most of them fall in line and I can use them to my advantage. You have my word, fallen brothers and sisters, that my vengeance will be as fiery as this planet's burning star. I will make the world breakers pay and once I am done, I will fully resurrect this world in your image.

May 29, 2020...Dahshur, Egypt

Eshe Elfar felt something rock hard whip across her face. A slap rousted her from unconsciousness and cut short her dream, a memory actually, of preparing dinner with her mother when she was five. Her eyes didn't focus at first, though through a haze she could tell there was some kind of overhead light that yielded to darkness around the edges of the room. She straightened her head as the haze lifted while she simultaneously noticed her wrists and ankles bound to the arms and legs of a chair.

Two guards stood against a sand-stroked subterranean wall on either side of a passageway. They wore similar jackets, had handguns holstered at their waist, boot knives strapped to their legs and a sword affixed to their backs. Eshe recognized them both as the Asian man she thought she killed back in Russia. That couldn't be, though, she thought. Triplets?

"I'm sorry I killed your brother. He was going to kill me. It was self-defense," Eshe argued in English through her parched mouth. Both men seemed to find her words amusing as they turned and gave each other a knowing smile. Their chests moved with a silent, contemptuous laugh. They didn't engage the Egyptian in conversation.

Once she was fully clear-headed, Eshe sensed a presence behind her. Heavy hands brought themselves to rest on her shoulders. "You did not kill him. Deathcamp cannot die. He can regenerate after any injury, even that little stunt you pulled," spoke a man in heavily accented English that Eshe could not see.

The Egyptian woman dipped her head and began a chant as silently as she could. Before she could complete her first sentence, though, the unseen man smacked the side of her head. Her ear rang out with pain first, then her ear felt wet, too; Eshe thought the man might have ruptured her eardrum. Despite the pain, she didn't cry out. Not yet.

"Leave us," the man said to the guards. The guards looked at each other slightly confused but the man giving orders put just enough fear in them to make them dread refusing the order. Both Japanese grunts started down the dim passageway one after the other. As they sulked out of Eshe's view, a robust man in a three-piece suit came into sight in front of her. Though he knelt down to her eye level, the windows of his soul remained shadowed behind a skull-shaped mask. He held a small water bottle in one hand which almost caused Eshe to purse her lips. "Scared yet?" asked his accent.

Eshe was stoic and although her mouth was sand blasted, she found her voice. "You won't kill me. I don't think your boss, our friend, would like that." The man removed his skull mask. He was an Indian man of above-average good looks. And his eyes – deep, wide and black – she could see into his soul now. Eshe did not like it.

"I will not kill you. I could as our friend is not here – he's away on another one of his errands – but in the meantime I have something I want to share with you, a story about myself. And when I am done, I will demonstrate to you something worse than death. Do you want to hear what I am going to say?"

Eshe make no facial expression. She just stared at her captor. The abyss stared back.

"I used to work in an office," the Indian began. "My life there was unimportant; I was a piece in a machine that could be replaced. My managers took advantage of this fact to inflate their own egos, berating or punishing me at their whim and harassing women in the office. Some of our bosses bosses were even worse and would also flaunt their wealth. These things bothered me a great deal. My parents thought they could help lighten my troubles by telling me that having to work was simply the way of things and tried arranging a marriage for me, as if that would fix everything. But every woman they had me meet had no sense of purpose higher than to marry and have children. And I thought, bring children into this world? Bring them into a world where those with power belittle the rest of us? I despised this idea but I tried to ignore my unhappiness by telling myself to honor my mother and father without realizing that was also part of the game."

The man flipped a cap and brought the water bottle to Eshe's dry lips. She drank eagerly and was allowed to gulp the bottle waterless. The man stood up and backed off until he was just outside the circle of light given off by the bulb that dangled overhead.

"Then I was given power. My strength rose tenfold. After that, I discovered I could turn the fear people tried to make me feel back on them. My boss, our friend – the one who would like you to join us – came to me and taught me how to use my ability to generate fear quite effectively. This is what I want to demonstrate to you, Ms. Elfar." Graveyard retreated further away from the light cone and into the darkness.

Eshe's stomach began to twist while her breath grew quick and short. Her blood began to pump harder and pulse louder. The walls of her heart pressed against her ribcage. Unpleasant thoughts began to race through her head. Ishegoingtokillme? Tortureme? Whatwillhedo? Whereishegoing? Whyisheleaving? Don'tleavemealonehere! Comeback! Comebackcomebackcomeback! The U.N. operative began to quiver uncontrollably as her thoughts got ahead of her. Scenarios swam in circles inside her head like water circling a drain until suddenly, the water was all gone.

She was no longer a captive. Eshe was at the doorstep of her parent's apartment in Bahna, just outside Cairo. Their tan wood door was slightly open. She gave the door a light rapping, an unsure knocking that nudged the door open a bit more. Eshe could tell by the lack of noise – her parents were always bickering – that something was wrong. As their child stepped inside, Eshe peeked into the living room where the television was on but her father's chair was empty. Before she could turn another corner, Eshe smelled something foul, sulfurous, like burning hair. Stepping towards the kitchen, the corners of Eshe's mouth turned down and her pupils focused like lasers. She felt her stomach flip over, rebelling as she witnessed the stocky girth of her father standing over her mother with a butcher's knife. Her mother was bent over at the waist with the side of her head pressed against one of the stove's lit burners. Smoke flitted out from beneath her head while her father appeared to be giggling at each pop of flesh between the sickening sound of flesh blistering.

Eshe barely refrained from vomiting, gagging back the contents of her stomach. Still, acid reflux jumped into her esophagus and burned her throat. Eshe's father looked up at his daughter and stopped laughing. He lunged for her, grabbed her by the neck and drove her face first into linoleum floor. Then he threw his knees down onto her waist so she couldn't get up. Terrified as this man she thought was her father bounced her head off the floor a second time, Eshe attempted to begin a chant. She found her call for help restrained, though, by vocal chords that felt as if they were rubbed raw with sand paper. Help wouldn't arrive in time, anyway. Her father grasped a bundle of her hair which snapped her head back. Then he flayed her back with the butcher's blade right through her blouse. Although in agony, Eshe could hear the distant wet flop of her father tossing her blood-soaked skin aside. The word 'help' nearly escaped her mouth but she was cut silent by the surprise of her father snatching her off the floor.

In shock, Eshe gave no thought to what might come next. No sooner had she realized she was being pulled to her feet than her face landed on the stove top beside her mother's. The U.N. operative began to seize but not before catching a glimpse of her mother's blackened, bubbled face. Eshe felt darkness come on as her eyes began to melt. No tunnel of light. Just hell and darkness. Then a pause of nothingness. Then the whole scene played out again.

Eshe's head whipped back and she let out an agonizing scream that peeled the dust off her prison walls. As her sweat-soaked head slumped forward, her captor stepped back into the light. "I can do worse. Would you like to know how much worse it can be?" she heard the fear monger ask from seemingly all around her. Graveyard tilted her head up a touch and poured another bottle of water down her throat. Despite this act of generosity, Eshe was genuinely afraid now; no special power was needed to provoke her emotions now.

"I this...how you...coerce us to join our friend's side?" she finally spit out.

"No. This is how I coerce you to join my side," Graveyard put matter-of-factly.

"What's...the matter? You still feel like you are...just another...office worker?" The man didn't answer her. "Are you planning to...take his place? He will know. He can...read minds."

Graveyard smiled at Eshe and she thought he might be handsome given less dire circumstances. "He has read my mind twice. By the second time he did it, I'd already mastered my ability to manipulate and understand fear. I suspect that he did not like being in my mind that second time and so I think he will not do it again. But more to the point, the second time he entered my mind, I developed a strong sense of what he is afraid of." The Indian paused for the inevitable question.

"Well? What is he...afraid of?" Eshe stammered.

"He is afraid that his quest to bring the world under his control is misguided, that he is not a god and that the idea that he is will drive him insane. That is why he created us, to stop him if he if he goes insane. He didn't create us just to be soldiers in his war."

"So you think he has gone insane and would like me to help you stop him," Eshe stated.

"It is not that he is insane, rather, he is misguided. And he is too benevolent. People will not submit to too gentle a ruler," Graveyard answered.

"You think he's kind? Then why does he let you torture and kill people?" a now composed Eshe asked.

"He thinks people like myself and Deathcamp – the man you thought you killed – are an unfortunate means to an end. Once he has brought peace to the world, in his way, I do not know if his plan is to dispose of us."

"How are you going to stop him? What's going to happen if you do?" Eshe continued to probe, looking for vital information.

Graveyard knelt before Eshe once again. "The woman who loves me is perhaps the most gifted of us all. She can accelerate and magnify any one of our powers. When the time is right, I will ask her to increase my power. That will make taking our friend down very easy. After that, the world will be at my mercy. I play with it like a cat plays with a mouse. I will toy with it and make it bleed when it suits my mood."

"You don't have to think that way. There are people that can help you," Eshe tread carefully.

"Psychiatrists help those who think they are sick or who don't know they are ill. I am neither. You only think I am not in my right mind because of the way I want to use my power. You forget that with our powers, we are no longer subject to the moral laws of the feeble masses, laws foisted upon us without our consent, laws we are supposed to agree to because we have no power to do otherwise. But now we are above and beyond the laws and the people that make them. With the power I myself have been given, I am going to assume my rightful place as a predator over all. That is what any person of power is, after all; they are a predator. I will be the most dangerous of them all." Graveyard stood up and started making his way down the corridor.

"Why are you telling me this?" Eshe asked.

The Indian stopped and turned his head but did not turn around. "Like I said, I want you on my side, ready to take our friend down when the time comes. If you at all try to resist, if you try not to cooperate, I will do to you much worse to you than you have experienced here today."

Eshe gulped. "A man on my team, Marcus Michaels; he'll read my mind if I go back to them. He'll discover your plan."

"That is okay. He is already afraid of our friend. Now he will have even more to fear," Graveyard warned as he slid his form-fitting mask back on.

Graveyard walked away and finally out of sight. Eshe heard some muffled talk down the corridor. The two well-armed guards returned to the room and frowned when they looked at their captive. "We are going to hold onto you a little longer. The boss needs you for a distraction," one of two spoke a moment before the other man pistol whipped Eshe unconscious.

June 19, 2020...Khobarovsk, Russia

Dawn.

Firefox twisted the ends of her strawberry blond hair as she waits impatiently at the end of a hallway in a recently renovated apartment building. She fiddled with the lip of her baseball cap as her eyes skirted between the stairwell, the elevator and Kaitlin and Ella. She was ready to fire up on a moment's notice.

Kaitlin and Ella had just reached a door at the far end of the hallway and flanked either side. Kaitlin grasped for her heavy truncheon – a souvenir she'd taken off a particularly brutal trafficker – and shot a look at Ella. Smirking, the English woman quietly requested, "Have a look, luv."

Ella's eyes glazed over a glossy white when she looked into the immediate future. This trick only took a few moments, thankfully Kaitlin thought, because Ella always checked out of the present when she used this power. Not much good in a fight when she does that, Kaitlin fretted. When Ella's eyes returned to their familiar brown irises, Kaitlin raised her eyebrows at her.

"Something's not right," Ella said. "We go in. You lead, I'm beside you, invisible. There's some folders and children's pictures on the living room table. We don't see anyone until we walk into the bedroom. There are three Chinese men there playing cards on the bed. They look at you and don't seem surprised. That's as far as I can see."

"I guess that means we have to go in then," Kaitlin returned. It seemed to Ella that Kaitlin was spoiling for a fight. The Third Power had certainly put fear into their enemies as they were either abandoning the human trafficking trade or hiding more successfully, translating into fewer confrontations for the heroes. Ella always preferred putting down their foes as quickly as possible herself, despite seeing the usefulness of taking the time to instill fear.

Kaitlin spoke to Firefox over the wireless headsets The Mega Dudes' Christopher had suggested to Melanie that they use. "Stand by, Firefoxy. Ella thinks something's wrong but we're going in. Be prepared just in case."

"Copy that, Calamity Jane," Firefox answered.

"Calamity Jane?" Kaitlin questioned. "What are you going on about?"

"We should be using code names. Yours is Calamity Jane," Melanie explained.

Kaitlin rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever."

Kaitlin pointed at Ella and then the door handle. Ella accepted and in a burst of highly focused, concentrated light, vaporized the door handle. Ella cloaked herself by bending light around herself then used the edge of her foot to crease the door open. Though the pair knew that had nothing to worry about for a minute or two, they tread lightly. Both spied the folders and photos of children on the coffee table in front of the television. Kaitlin looked around and saw the bedroom door open just a touch and stepped toward it.

Kaitlin peeked into the room and indeed saw three Chinese men sitting on the bed playing cards. The oldest among them appeared somewhat out-of-place; the forty-something man seemed like a calmer, earthier type person lost among the formal rigidity of the two younger men. The two younger men seemed as though they might be in their late twenties but were more defined by a crispness that Kaitlin had only seen in some trained soldiers her group occasionally came up against. And one of these younger men sported a small, jagged piece of metal in the center of his bald forehead. Odd. None of the men were dressed like soldiers, though; they all wore denim jeans and conservative, button-down shirts.

"Welcome Kaitlin and Ella," one young man said as he laid down a card. Having won the hand, the man turned his head and looked both Kaitlin and Ella in the eyes. Kaitlin's eyes opened wide, but only for a moment before an unseen fist doubled her over. Ella, still invisible, had struck her. Kaitlin literally never saw it coming.

Kaitlin was about to stand upright again when Ella became visible and opened her fist. Ella unleashed a laser meant to pierce Kaitlin's heart but it seemed to the Chinese men that Kaitlin simply absorbed the power. Appearing as if she were momentarily drunk, Kaitlin wobbled. Her eyes became a burning white color which indicated danger to the three men on the bed. The man that spoke jumped off the bed and towards the far wall while the other young man dove for cover in the adjoining bathroom. The older man, thinner and frailer than the others, became translucent as Kaitlin's eyes burst forth with a focused white light. The bed was vaporized while playing cards danced in the air with their edges aglow.

Ella bobbled her head as if trying to clear out some cobwebs. She grew a knot in her stomach when she realized these were not ordinary traffickers. In for a real fight, the American was going to blind the three men with light but found she was unable to do so; her power wanted to work but it just wouldn't. As Kaitlin raised her truncheon and lunged for the man who had spoken to her, the translucent man became fully formed once again and extended his arms like tentacles and entangled both women.

"Firefox, go...nuclear," Kaitlin squeezed out as she felt the older man's tendrils constrict around her body.

Firefox appeared in the doorway of the bedroom within two seconds, hovering off the ground in a specialized yellow, orange and red flame-resistant garment. She was about to have a whirl around the room and suppress the men with a good torching when a man appeared out of the bathroom, stuck his neck forward and blasted Firefox with sharp, slicing, bright red energy from his forehead. The blast hit Firefox squarely, sending her though the apartment wall and into the next home where she fortunately crash-landed on a couch. Being indestructible while in flight had come in handy; Firefox felt as though the energy might have otherwise cut her in two.

The Australian took to the air again and left a vapor trail behind her as she blasted towards her captive friends. The man that tried to cut her down with his red laser had a mere split second to eek his neck forward again as Firefox charged headlong. He unleashed another splicing red bolt with Firefox's fist inches from his face. The resulting explosion sent the strawberry-blond reeling through the bedroom wall into the outside world while a blast of heat seared the young Chinese man's face. He staggered back with his face in his hands and gurgled in pain.

The other young Chinese man, Sergeant Koo, stepped up from behind and put his hands on his wounded comrade's shoulders. Sergeant Koo, a mind manipulator, could have soothed Chenglei Wang's pain but was focusing on blocking Ella's powers at the moment. He didn't have to worry about Kaitlin as she was tied up and kept from absorbing and redirecting any energy.

Kaitlin, ever defiant, forced enough air into her lungs to stay conscious and even speak. "Who are you and...what the hell do you want?"

Sergeant Koo – Whisper – turned his attention from his wounded comrade to Than Xi's – Ghost's – prisoner. "We are soldiers of the People's Republic of China. We are here on behalf of the interests of some of my superiors and their friends in the Russian government."

"Judging...by the fact that Ella here hasn't...vaporized all of you yet means...one of you are blocking her power somehow," Kaitlin suspected while she observed conflict in the eyes of the older man. The English woman studied Ghost's long, winding forelimbs wrapped around Ella's throat and eyes and needed to buy some time until she could think of a strategy. She spoke towards the younger man who had spoken to her. "I could be wrong, but...wouldn't your powers make you superior...to the people giving you orders?"

"I've heard talk like that before," Whisper said right back. "It is folly to act on so limited a scale – fighting human trafficking – with no concept for the greater working of things. Though my men and I are powerful individually, we are more powerful as a group, and even more powerful than that when we fight on behalf of a billion citizens who all share the same vision."

"Spare me...the propaganda, Red," Kaitlin growled as she tried to pull the tentacles off her throat. "Who...sent you here?" She started running out of breath.

"You have done quite a lot of damage to the human trafficking trade here in Russia," Whisper explained. "Officials both here and in China who benefit from this kind of operation are very unhappy about this. Our orders are to stop you. And we have. We are going to bring you to China where you will be experimented on. I apologize for the inconvenience." A wry smile crept across Whisper's face. Then he spoke in Chinese to Ghost. It was an order to embrace the two women until they passed out.

Below, on the streets of Khobarovsk, Firefox stood up half dazed from a pile of asphalt. Though her ears were ringing a bit, she could still hear the siren of a police car closing in. Within a few moments, she could see it coming towards her in the periphery of her vision. Before it could arrive on the scene, though, a large, tank-like figure stepped out of an alley, swept an arm out, and sent the police car spinning into the nearest building. The police siren faded lonely into death.

Firefox bet that her teammates needed her more than she needed to tangle with the metal monstrosity. She jumped into the air back towards the building where her friends were held captive but found herself stuck in flight barely fifty feet off the ground. She looked back towards her right foot where she felt something wrapped around her ankle. The fire starter was tethered to the armored character by a metal cable shot from its left arm. She reached down to grab the cable with a glowing orange hand in hopes of melting herself free, but the man-tank that ensnared her tugged forcefully on the cable, sending the flyer down into the street once again.

She landed with a crack that buckled the pavement. The crash prickled her a little but it didn't sting as much as the red slicing laser. She started to push herself up and summoned the full force of her wrath to unleash upon this new adversary. But the man in the bulky metal suit sent a whip down the tether which snapped Firefox into the street a third time. Since she wasn't in flight, the blow nearly killed her and left dirt and rocks peppered across her skin where her costume ripped. The whirl of a chain gun mounted on the walking tank's shoulder reached a fever pitch.

The cyborg, Armada, rained down hundreds of large caliber rounds on its target. Dust and scree kicked up into the air and obscured the cyborg's view but with the target lock engaged, Armada was sure it had hit its target. As its weapon ground to a halt, the bulk of armor stepped forward to ensure its target was destroyed. When the dust settled, it was clear to the half-man, half-machine that something was wrong. Various scanners indicated that the target was ensconced in some kind of impenetrable shield. It stepped forward for a sharper inspection. That's when two large, sweeping bat-like wings spread and sliced away the tether around Firefox's ankle. Christopher turned around with his jaw tensed and brows sunk low.

The Mega Dude charged through the air towards the Chinese tanker. But instead of trying to hit Armada head on, Christopher swept to the side and used one of his wings to cut the chain gun away from the armored suit's shoulder. No sooner had Christopher landed beyond the machine-man with his back turned to it than he felt the concussive force of small rockets brought down upon his wings. The loud eruptions rang his ears while he used every bit of his peak human strength to keep from being forced to the ground.

With Christopher pinned down, the armored Chinese suit whirled around at the waist and raised a massive fist to deliver a quick and forceful blow. But Armada found itself engulfed in flames and registering a rise in core temperature. The cyborg whirled around at the waist again to find Firefox up on one knee and giving it everything she had left. The battle suit pushed its left hand forward a second time and fired another steel tether. The tether was met by a different massive hand before it reached Firefox, though. Brawl Boy reeled more of the cable around his mitt and gave a mighty tug.

Armada sailed through the air while the eight foot tall wall of muscle reared back his right fist. Brawl Boy walloped Armada flat against the chest and sent the armored suit careening through air where Christopher caught it and threw it into the pavement. Christopher landed on top of it with a double foot stomp for good measure. But unlike the last round in Kazan, this counter attack hardly dented Armada and the man-machine flicked Christopher away like a flea through a flower shop window.

"Christopher, buddy, you okay?" Brawl Boy radioed, "I think this thing's been upgraded."

"No...shit," came a weak, crackled response over the Mega Dudes' headsets.

"Sounds like...our girl is...putting up a fight." Kaitlin goaded Whisper on the commotion in the streets. She was a moment from passing out from Ghost's constricting tentacles.

"Chenglei...Red Star!" Whisper shouted at his comrade who had his face burned by Firefox and was still groaning in pain. "Pull yourself together and go aid Armada," he ordered in Chinese.

As Whisper finished his command, a variety of objects began to fly around the room and nicked, smacked and beat themselves harder and harder against the three Chinese men. A metal lamp knocked Ghost in the head and opened up a gash that poured blood into his eyes. Ghost turned intangible to save himself which released Kaitlin and Ella. As the pair fell to the floor, Whisper could no longer concentrate enough to keep Ella's powers at bay and the man slipped passed the light bearer into the next room as he sought a reprieve.

The man referred to as Red Star shielded his eyes from the debris to get a good look at Kaitlin and Ella. He wanted to target Ella as Whisper had silently reminded him that attacking Kaitlin with his cutting red laser wouldn't work. As a heavy book socked his ribs, the young Chinese man welled up energy from a jagged shard of metal in his forehead and rang out a shot. The laser split the apartment floor in two, down to the apartment below, completely missing Kaitlin and Ella as they disappeared in a halo of light. In fact, Ella had bent light around themselves so completely, she refracted time a full three seconds ahead of their foes. The teammates were already out of the room and beyond Whisper's reach before Red Star could even reassess the situation.

In the living room where he wasn't under a barrage a ballistic furniture, Whisper mentally scanned the area for more minds. He felt one right behind him. He spun around and came face to face with Rock Star.

"I love manipulating sound. Makes it easy to sneak up on people," the Mega Dude with punked-out hair remarked. Whisper immediately tried to mind-control his opponent but yelled out in pain and crumpled to the carpet as he did so. "I know, I know," Rock Star consoled the subdued Chinese man, "It's really loud inside my head." Rock Star stood tall and adjusted his shades for show. He looked toward the bedroom where Ghost was grasping Red Star's arm insistently.

"We have to leave, Chenglei! We are outnumbered!" shouted the figure going near-transparent. Ghost forced his powers down his arm into Red Star's, a move that turned the younger man intangible, too.

"How are you doing this?" the soldier wanted to know as the odd sensation of being incorporeal swept over him.

"No time!" Ghost yelled. The normally docile, older man floated through the air towards Rock Star with Red Star in tow. Rock Star curled his upper lip towards his nose as he remembered that The Mega Dudes' dossier on Ghost reported that Rock Star's powers wouldn't work on the soldier when he was intangible. Ghost reached down to touch the fallen Whisper and collected a second teammate before floating out into the sky through the breach in the bedroom wall.

"I've got three on the run," Rock Star radioed to his other teammates as VinZenT appeared in the doorway of the apartment.

"Kinda busy, buddy. Could you send VinZenT down here?" Brawl Boy asked as he stepped up to the cyborg returning to its feet.

"I've been waiting for this," an electronic voice hissed over the armored figure's speaker. "I think the outcome will be different this time."

Both Armada and Brawl Boy grabbed each other by the collar and unleashed a fury of punches upon their respective foe. Blow after blow landed like boulders until Armada caught Brawl Boy off-guard with a knee to the gut. The cyborg twisted its body and came back around with a thunderous uppercut that made Brawl Boy fall on his seat.

"Okay, now you're starting to make me mad," the sun-shaded hulk commented.

As Brawl Boy rolled to one side to get up, a giant metal boot skirted across his chin and landed him on his chest.

At the foot of the damaged apartment building, VinZenT appeared out a door with Kaitlin and Ella. "I don't believe it but it looks like Brawl Boy's going to need help," the suave Mega Dude observed.

Kaitlin had recovered her breath now and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Sounds good. I'm itching to fight someone right now." She saw Firefox fighting to stand straight up while Christopher was stumbling out of the flower shop window near the two larger combatants. She ran to Firefox's side.

"Mel! When I say 'hit me,' give me everything you've got left." Despite Firefox's injuries, Kaitlin left her side and headed up to Christopher as Armada kicked away at Brawl Boy. "No time for foreplay, sweetie," she told the winged man. "I need you to hit me as hard as you can and keep hitting me until I say stop."

"I don't hit women," Christopher spat as Kaitlin held him back from rejoining the clash between giants.

"Really, it's okay. Just pretend I'm kinky that way," Kaitlin persuaded.

Christopher read her file. It wasn't an entirely bad idea. He shook his head unapprovingly and socked the Brit in her stomach several times, careful not to crack any of her ribs. Looking into her strained eyes, Christopher could see that Kaitlin wasn't in pain so much from the blows as she was from the energy being pent up inside of her.

"Okay...good," Kaitlin sputtered. "Foxy!" she cried to her teammate as she stepped into the street, "Hit me!" Firefox engulfed Kaitlin in flames. Third Power's leader gritted her teeth to hang on to all the energy she was consuming. She staggered up behind Armada.

"Ellaaaaaa...." Kaitlin strained.

Ella left VinZenT's side, changing into a bolt of white light that closed the distance between herself and Armada at the speed of light. The bolt crackled as it shot right through Armada's body from back to front, with Ella reappearing fully formed at Brawl Boy's side. Kaitlin walloped the huge metal suit with a glowing white-orange fist on the cyborg's back where Ella had struck first.

Armada paused from the double blow, whirling around at the waist to try and ascertain the damage. As Christopher swept his wings up and around Kaitlin to protect her from any retaliation, they both saw nothing more than a black mark on the armor. Unconcerned with these smaller combatants, Armada returned its attention to Brawl Boy. Brawl Boy was standing right in front of the man-machine.

"Just in case you didn't know, Brawl Boy is the strongest!" The Mega Dudes' wrecking ball of a fist sent Armada down the street, a line drive through the air. He heard the armor bust, which was fortunate because after throwing the punch, Brawl Boy fell to his knees, exhausted.

"That's all I got right now," he informed everyone.

Armada landed like a asteroid near VinZenT. VinZenT brushed some of the ensuing dust off his sports jacket then tried to get a hold on Armada's armor. But his grasp of the battle suit's metal was slight at best, as if his telekinesis was like water off a duck's back. "I've got confirmation," he radioed to the other Mega Dudes, "We've reached that time; Armada's armor has been infused with the metal from K'un L'u's rod. That's actually a good thing, though, right?"

Right before VinZenT's eyes, a ghostly Ghost, with Red Star and Whisper in tow, floated down and communed his ethereal body with Armada's. Ghost's eyes drooped in their corners and his lips were pressed flat as he gently lifted his associate into the air with his other two comrades. Gazing down at VinZenT, it seemed Ghost was either very tired or very sad to be a part of this conflict. Regardless, they floated away together on the breeze, up, up and away.

Christopher attended to Firefox who was bruised and battered and needed medical attention. He slung her arm over his shoulder as he slipped his arm around the Aussie's waist. The Mega Dude helped her step out of the small crater she helped create.

"You okay? You took some hits," Christopher soothed as he slipped his fingers under Firefox's chin.

"Whaddya talkin' 'bout? Had 'em right where I wanted 'em," Firefox cracked wise. She took a thumb to wipe a streak of blood from one of the many glass cuts on Christopher's face.

VinZenT convened with Kaitlin and then Ella who were struggling fruitlessly to help Brawl Boy to his feet. As Ella gave up, Kaitlin saw their adversaries floating away. "They're escaping!" Kaitlin pointed to them, expecting VinZenT and Ella to take action. Rock Star walked up on them and shook his head 'no.'

"Ghost will always allow them to escape. There's no point in capturing them. Besides, it's actually better for them to remain free," Rock Star mentioned. He seemed to fidget a bit, as if he were uncomfortable withholding the exact reason why. The Third Power – especially Kaitlin – would have liked an explanation rather than his next few words.

"Kaitlin, Ella; we need to get you guys out of Russia..." The smaller Mega Dude paused to scan the people in the streets and buildings recording everything on their electronic devices. "...High-ranking Russian government officials are well aware of what you're doing here and made a deal with the Chinese to bring those guys in to bring you down."

"What a load of shite!" Kaitlin steamed as she leaned in towards the spikey-haired twenty-something. "If government officials are getting something out of human trafficking, then we're going to bring them down, too!" Ella put a hand on Kaitlin's chest to back her up.

"Hey, for the record, I get it," Rock Star acknowledged. "I believe in what you're doing. But pretty soon we're all going to have a much bigger fish to fry. We all need to stop fighting with each other or we may not stand a chance when..."

"When what?" Kaitlin growled. "What could be more important than freeing people who have been turned into slaves, people who have been turned into caged animals? We have the power to stop it. We have the power to overcome those who are overpowering the weak. If we stop – here, now – you are sentencing people to who knows what horrors." Kaitlin's hands flew wildly as she talked, her breath exasperated.

"She's starting to sound like him; the young him anyway," VinZenT spoke to Rock Star. The two men gave each other a knowing look. Then VinZenT also had a look around at the gathering crowds that were recording video. VinZenT slipped a hand underneath Ella's and looked affectionately in her eyes. "I'm starting to feel 'it,' guys. We're running out of time. Ella, we all need to leave here right now. Would you be kind enough to provide us with cover?"

As police sirens wailing in the distance grew closer, the immediate world grew whiter and whiter with a giant ball of light Ella had created. Within the sphere, Ella was joined by Kaitlin, VinZenT, Rock Star and Brawl Boy. "Where is Firefox?" Ella queried.

"Where is Christopher?" VinZenT added. He looked at Rock Star.

Rock Star turned his head from side to side, up and down. "I don't hear either one of their heartbeats," he noted.

"You don't think he..." Brawl Boy didn't finish.

"No," Rock Star answered him. "Because that would be really stupid and would mean one of us has to stay behind." He looked at Kaitlin who rolled her eyes at him since he wasn't going to explain. "As big as he is, Paul can't hide for long and you, you can't stay out of trouble any more than the Queen Mother here," he thrust a thumb at Kaitlin who threw her hands up at the jibe. "So I guess I'm staying. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. I mean, I'm not feeling The Pull. Are you feeling The Pull, Brawls? We all usually feel it when we've wrapped things up."

"Yeah, I feel it," Brawl Boy affirmed.

"Okay, you guys head out and I'll wait until it's that time again. The rest of us are going to head down to Oz," Rock Star planned.

"I'm not leaving; we've still got work to do here!" Kaitlin complained.

"If you want to stop human trafficking, you need to go to Melbourne," Rock Star told her. "So far as I remember anyway. And I guess I'm going with you."

Kaitlin eased her huffing and puffing. It seemed that the Mega Dude was on the verge of finally giving her some answers. Kaitlin relaxed and nodded toward Ella. Ella bent light around the group to make them invisible and they all walked out of town where Brawl Boy and VinZenT could leave more discretely. Eventually, Ella, Kaitlin and Rock Star made it to a port town on Russia's west coast where Kaitlin's money got them on a boat to Japan.

As Ella's great whiteout dissipated upon their departure, people were astonished to see that the super humans had seemingly vanished. Even so, video, shot from multiple angles, meant that super humans were definitely among them and there were more than a few. Talking heads in the media argued that super humans posed a real and immediate threat to the everyday existence of regular people. Most regular people weren't sure super humans were a bad thing but only a few people thought that the presence of super humans was clearly a good thing.

June 5, 2020...Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In broad daylight, Marcus Michaels stood before the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain. Using one of his many powers earlier, Marcus morphed himself into a Brazilian man of a similar build as camouflage. And despite the heat and humidity under sparkling blue skies, Marcus wore what appeared to be a black leather jacket which in reality was a heavy bulletproof garment.

As tourists casually strolled around the ninety-eight foot tall statue's base, Marcus' eyes were alert and studied every single person that crossed his path knowing that man, the nameless one, could be any one of a hundred people. The Nameless possessed as many powers as Marcus; so no doubt he could shape-change into another person as well.

The Nameless had sent Marcus a message to meet here, in Rio de Janeiro, in a crowded place. Smart, Marcus thought, because he knows I want to kill him and thinks I won't do it in public. He might be wrong about that. Marcus was smart, too. He didn't come alone. Lt. Lucian mingled among the throngs of tourists nearby. He was enhanced by Marcus' special glove that had now been melded with metal from K'un Lu's rod. More than that, the glove was now fused to his hand, but it was concealed in a cast that was hung in a sling. Captain Drake, in a new, thinner flight suit under his civilian clothes, casually waited on the path halfway down the mountain for instructions.

Marcus walked to the rail guarding the edge of the mountaintop and leaned his back up against it to look up at the statute whose arms were open wide, ready to receive all who accepted the savior. That was the second reason The Nameless chose this location, probably to make fun of Marcus' faith. After all, The Nameless once told Marcus he was a god; Marcus couldn't wait to prove him wrong.

Marcus noticed a slim, beautiful Brazilian woman in skintight spandex shorts and a white halter top looking around the crowd with a smartphone in her hand. Marcus and the woman made eye contact, a bit too long, which prompted the woman to walk his way. She held out the device and posed with a hand on her hip.

"Would you mind taking a picture with me? I think beautiful people should be seen together. Don't you agree?" she said. She pulled herself up alongside Marcus and leaned her cheek against his. The woman held out the phone in front of them for the selfie. Marcus knew to be on guard but was taken a bit by surprise by the woman's forwardness. His wife, bless her, was a bit more restrained.

Marcus settled in for the picture anyway and also maybe for a fight. He wasn't entirely sure but made a guess about the woman's motives. "I'm going to kill your friend. I'm even going to enjoy it. And when I'm done with him, I'll be coming for the rest of you."

"Now, now," she cooed, slipping her fingers behind his neck in a caress. "He wants to have a very civil discussion with you. He's not here to fight." Shadow Princess pursed her lips for the shot.

"He should have thought about that before he killed my family," Marcus replied as politely as possible.

"Well, I'll only tell you where he is if you promise not to make a scene," the woman told him as she studied the picture on her phone. "If you do make a scene, we'll make short work of your captain and lieutenant, not to mention Ms. Elfar. He's willing to release her if you'll just hear him out." Shadow Princess flipped her long, straight black hair.

"I could make you tell me without even laying a finger on you," Marcus whispered as he surveyed the crowd for her companions.

She frowned. "What fun would that be? Anyway, he's over there," she pointed to a thin Burmese man in a green button-shirt and blue jeans that had somehow previously escaped Marcus' attention. "Remember, don't make a scene." The Brazilian woman kissed him on the cheek, pulled his earpiece out of his ear and walked away to interact with some other tourists.

"Dangerous girl," Marcus quipped to himself as his eyes darted around the scene.

Marcus started over towards the man who was leaning over the railing and observing the city below. It was him alright, but hanging around so blatantly in public? It could be a trap. Marcus calculated scenarios as he bent down to pretend to tie his shoe, his face tucked in towards his chest so that no one would notice his appearance change when he switched powers to invulnerability. His African-American face and close-cropped curly black hair restored, he got up and headed toward The Nameless. Marcus leaned over the railing alongside his family's murderer. Looking at the man's face instead of the city below; Marcus restrained himself.

"What's the matter, don't know how to shape change?" Marcus snarled.

Thiha smiled at the city below them. "Oh, that is an easy one, brother. But what need does a god have to walk around disguised among ordinary people?"

"You're not a god. There is only one God and I'm His instrument. And I'm pretty sure He's not going to mind if I take vengeance upon you," Marcus replied. Thiha didn't seem worried in the least by Marcus' words. He kept his eyes on the city below.

"There is a man on my side who cannot die. If you cut him into bits, each bit grows into a duplicate man. He does not like being cut up but he understands his role in the greater scheme of things. So, now, there are more than a few of him. That to me sounds like a god," Thiha argued.

"Having a cute super power doesn't make you a god," Marcus argued back.

"Then what does?" Thiha turned to face Marcus, casually leaning one arm on the railing. "The ability to do anything, whenever you want? Then I am a god. You are a god."

"You forget that God is also kind, benevolent and forgiving; qualities I don't possess right now. So, like I keep telling you, I'm not a god. Neither are you."

"I am not so sure," Thiha scolded Marcus with a finger wag. "God also possesses wisdom, correct? Your god – in the Old Testament – is undoubtedly more violent than I am. Some theologians excuse biblical violence as an unfortunate but necessary measure before God could bring his plan to fruition in the New Testament. My plans for the world may require a similar course of action. So I may be wise where perhaps you are not."

"Yeah?" Marcus smirked. "Does your plan end with you getting nailed to a cross? 'Cause that's where this is going."

"Well, you may want to kill me but you would be in violation of a Commandment, correct? Besides that, if you killed me you would never know yourself as well as I do."

Thiha was much too cavalier. Marcus figured he had to play along until he could figure out what the thin man was up to.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marcus asked with half a growl.

Thiha looked down at the ground and frowned. He looked up again and tilted his head to one side. "I have been meditating on that day, the day we were given our power. I wanted to know why it happened; what is the truth of that moment? Do you not think about this? Anyway, I looked back in time to what really happened. But I cannot tell you what I discovered right now because you would not believe me. You could read my mind but of course that would leave you vulnerable as we can only use one power at a time. I am curious as to what power you are using right now."

"Let's just say you can't hurt me right now," Marcus intoned. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we do have our powers and that we use them to do what's right. You're not doing what's right. You've killed people; who knows how many. So now I've got to use my powers to tear you and your little club down."

"If you only knew what you have done," Thiha shook his head, his eyes wide with pity. "Maybe if you knew, you would not be so angry with me. Maybe if you knew, you would choose to be on my side."

Marcus swung his head and spit over the railing. "There is nothing that will ever put us on the same side of history. Not as long as I have free will."

"Ah, yes, free will. That is a problem sometimes, is it not?" Thiha asked. "I need my followers to choose to follow me so that I can trust that they see the necessity of my vision. I also need people to have free will because once my new world order has been established, it can only be maintained by those who choose to be a part of it. Of course, some people will choose not to have anything to do with the world I will create and these people will be...excused, shall we shall? But what do you get out of free will? You get to be 'saved?' You will go to Heaven? My proposal for the future is the same as the one presented in your scriptures, except that we can create heaven on Earth, here, now. So what difference does it make if you choose your god or if you choose to be a god yourself?"

"I owe an allegiance to my creator. We all do for the gift of life," Marcus replied.

"Says a man who was not born a woman centuries ago. Says a man free from the bonds of slavery that existed just a short while ago. Says a man alive today that was not born horribly disfigured and made fun of his entire life simply for the way he looks," Thiha scoffed.

"My patience is getting thin, thin man. I didn't come here to discuss philosophy with you. If you don't have something else for us to talk about like the terms of your surrender, I say we get this over with." The gruff in Marcus' voice put violence into the air.

Thiha looked around with a wide grin at all the people milling about. "I feel that this would be very messy. And, if you attack me, your teammates would easily be killed when all what I want to do instead is return Ms. Eshe to your ranks; I just cannot convince her to join my side. But I am hoping you still will. Obviously, you will not make that choice today but I ask you to meditate on the past before you choose to do something that will have grave repercussions."

Thiha became quiet and leaned back over the railing on both arms. Marcus could kill him right here, right now but a seed of doubt had been planted in his mind. Marcus didn't know what to do; his team could attack but they may be outnumbered. He could take Thiha's suggestion and meditate back on the day they became super human. If he let Thiha escape now, though, how long would it be before Marcus had him within his grasp again?

Marcus leaned in close enough to whisper in the man's ear. As he drew a breath as if to say something, the U.N.'s team leader fashioned his right fingertips into short blades and thrust them into the man's gut until his fingertips met Thiha's spine. Marcus then drove the blades up into the thin man's lungs to prevent any cry for help. With Marcus' left hand wrapped around Thiha's back, he helped his adversary slowly to his knees, patted him on the back with an intense, almost burning satisfaction and started to walk away. He was halted by the beautiful Brazilian woman who stepped in front of him and struck a pose.

"Aw, I asked you not to make a scene." The woman looked over Marcus' shoulder at the man on his knees. Blood was begin to pool around the man. Any second now someone would notice. "Now you've gone and killed an innocent man."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Marcus grumbled as he grasped the woman's arm and pulled her to his side.

"Ow, bunda! You should have been more careful. That was just some poor soul with extensive plastic surgery whom my love was mind controlling from a remote location. Leaving you to reconcile murder with your god is going to be your punishment for now. I think we'll take our leave, if you don't mind," Shadow Princess quipped.

Marcus saw someone appear out of a dark cloud next to him. When he turned his head, he saw himself as someone else, dressed exactly the same but as an ashen colored man with lifeless eyes and his jaw muscles grinding. This shadow of himself struck Marcus across the jaw. Although Marcus was invulnerable, the punch was strong enough to knock Marcus on his side. Marcus looked up at the Brazilian woman only to see her walking quickly down the staircase toward the base of the statue with a man of similar build to Thiha but wearing different clothes. A scream rang out as someone noticed the bloodied man kneeling by the railing while others gasped that a man had appeared from nowhere. That man lifted his knee underneath Marcus' chin.

The blow lifted Marcus to his feet. The shadow man punched Marcus again, only this time the punch barely registered more than a mosquito bite. The doppelganger paused in its attack – possibly Lt. Lucian's work – which left the door open for Marcus to throw a bear hug around his attacker and fly up into the sky. He screened over the city until he was over the Atlantic Ocean where he dropped the doppelganger from two-thousand feet into the water below. He flew back to the statue where Lt. Lucian was positioned without a care that he might be seen or recorded. After all, given what recently happened in Khabarovsk, Russia, the world was more certain than ever that super humans other than The Mega Dudes existed. Marcus was tired of trying to hide the existence of people like himself and had only been doing so at the request of General Asak; something to do with avoiding international incidents.

"Did you see them?" Marcus asked while people ran down the stairs around himself and Lt. Lucian.

The junior officer whose right arm was in a sling to masquerade his weaponized hand discarded his deception. "I thought you took your man down. I couldn't keep track of the girl in this chaos!"

"Dammit!" Marcus shouted. "Stand by. I need to assess the area." Marcus closed his eyes and concentrated his thoughts over a mile wide radius. The shrieks and screams of the crowd subsided while the warm, humid air went unnoticed by his skin. His heart felt like it came to a standstill until the next moment brought him a slice of Rio de Janeiro exploding in his head. Marcus cupped his ears and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. When he let his focus slip, the pain eased and he opened his eyes to Lt. Lucian holding him steady by the shoulder.

"You okay, chief? Your ears are bleeding. What happened?" the lieutenant asked.

"There's always a price I pay when I pull some stunts," Marcus let slip. "I wonder if it happens to The Nameless, too," he said as an afterthought.

He spoke next directly into the junior officer's earpiece. "Air Force, there is a black Mercedes Benz with tinted windows parked under a tree three block to the north. Gaia's in the backseat blindfolded with her hands tied. There are no assailants in the area so go rescue her." He turned to Lt. Lucian and pointed to the edge of the staircase where an older Asian man was casually strolling away from the scene. "I've know how the others got away so fast – probably teleported – but him, they left him behind for some reason. On my signal, neutralize him."

Marcus and the army officer started after the man. The Asian made no expression as he looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with the two. The man simply brandished two handguns from the back of his waistline and turned to open fired. Marcus, upon the moment he saw the guns, decided to create a magnetic field around himself that returned the bullets to their sender so that neither the lieutenant nor the crowd would be hurt. The bullets tore into the Asian man's chest and abdomen, spilling blood across the stairs.

"Now, lieutenant," Marcus ordered. Lt. Lucian lifted his right hand which was covered in a gun-smoked-colored gauntlet flecked with silver. There was a simple, non-threatening whoosh after which Marcus and the officer ran up to the man. Marcus grabbed the Asian man, Japanese he could now tell, by his shirt and pulled him up off the ground so that they were face to face.

"Where did they go?" Marcus demanded.

"I am not telling you," the man said as blood coughed out of his mouth. "You can do anything you want to me and I will not tell you. Torture me as much as you want."

"I don't have to torture you, I just need you to live long enough for me to read your mind," Marcus grinned.

"Then it is your lucky day. I cannot die," the gunman gurgled with blood in his throat.

"Shit," Marcus exclaimed as he closed his eyes and tried to enter the man's mind. But Thiha's grunt was indeed going to die thanks to Lt. Lucian's glove which had locked out his power. All Marcus could get out of the man's mind was the feeling of satisfaction once he realized he was actually dying this time. Thank you, thank you, were the words Marcus heard over and over again before the man's heart stopped beating. Marcus let the man go and he fell upon the pavement with a wet thud. The former firefighter felt flush with delight in putting down one of The Nameless' men but the rush was tempered in light of all that had just happened.

Two men were dead. One man was innocent and murdered. The other man reveled in his own death. Marcus backed up feeling a bit confused; he didn't know what to make of it.

"We need to go to the Black Box," Marcus spoke about his team's secret rendezvous point, no longer in fight mode. "Let's, uh, we need to bring Gaia back in and debrief her. Then we need to get sketches of these guys drawn up. The General's isn't going to be happy about this."

Later that evening...

Having passed a biometric scan that was guarded by two heavyweight SEAL soldiers, Marcus tread lightly into a hospital room where a doctor was scribbling her signature on a clipboard. She replaced the clipboard at the foot of the gurney she was standing beside.

"Glad I caught you, doc. Still no change?" Marcus asked quietly.

Doctor Lefebvre pushed her rectangular glasses up to the bridge of her nose and swept a lock of her greying red hair behind one ear. She looked down at the alien lying on the hospital bed and shrugged.

"It's hard to tell through whatever this coating is that surrounds her..." – she was referring to the thin but unbreakable deep purple cocoon that encased K'un L'u – "...but so far as we can tell it does look like most of her wounds have healed. Even more remarkable, her garments appear to have repaired themselves as well."

"Ain't that something?" Marcus marveled standing beside the extraterrestrial.

"We assume she will wake up from this state of hibernation, so to speak, when she has completed her healing process," the doctor spoke again.

"I know it looks like a 'she' but how do you know it's female?" Marcus joked.

The physician smiled at his joke and put her hands in the pockets of her white coat. "Given current events, how do we know it's an alien?" She turned and walked away, opening the door to leave while simultaneously letting Eshe Elfar, Gaia, into the room.

"Thought I might find you here, Marcus. You come here several times a day according to General Asak," Eshe began.

Marcus leaned over the extraterrestrial like an expectant father. "I want to be here when she wakes up."

"Because you enjoy pain?" Eshe meant it to be a joke, though the tone in her voice was flat and free of comedy.

Marcus walked over to Eshe and met her in the middle of the room. He stood over her like a monolith. "Waiting for her to wake up keeps me preoccupied. Are you ready to be debriefed?"

"The general said you'll have to read my mind. I don't think that would be a good idea. It's exactly what he wants," Gaia remarked with her head sunk low.

"The Nameless said that?" Marcus asked.

Eshe brought her head up. "No. The other one, the man with the skull mask."

"I don't understand," Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Isn't he just one of The Nameless' soldiers?"

"I think he may be the one we should worry more about," Eshe answered. "He showed me something terrible. You don't want to see it." Her eyes became a little glossy at the thought. "But I know you have to go inside my mind, to make sure I haven't been...'compromised' is the word? I know we should debrief in the Operations room but if you're going to go inside my head, I think we should be alone."

"You're starting to worry me, Eshe," Marcus soothed. Then his eyes narrowed. "Now I'm not sure if I can trust you. Now we have to debrief in the Operations room."

"No!" Gaia insisted. "Your reaction might show to others that there is a reason to be afraid." Eshe looked around the room for a seat, ignoring the alien's presence. "We can do it now, here."

Marcus used the power of empathy to feel what Eshe was feeling. She was genuinely scared by the thought of reliving what see had seen or someone else seeing it. He trusted her again and but was more curious than ever.

The team leader's eyes lightened and gave his teammate a smile as her took both her hands in his. A small feat of telekinesis shut the room's window's blinds so that the SEALs didn't see them. "Eshe," he started, "I'm going in."

As Marcus slipped his own consciousness around Gaia's memories, a crack in the alien's protective shell rustled the air. It wasn't enough to distract either Marcus or Eshe who stood motionless staring into each other's eyes. As they continued to stand in silence, the crack in K'un Lu's cocoon diverged into a thousand branches from head to toe. Then the extraterrestrial's casing did something odd; it softened first to the texture of jello, then liquefied altogether. Purple fluid stained the hospital bed and dripped onto the floor. The alien's red eyes flicked to life.

Even when reading a person's mind, Marcus had never been so absorbed in the task that he was unaware of his surroundings. The visitor from another world observed dull, inefficient lighting entering her eyes as she lifted her head up. She instinctively sensed another powerful being nearby but no immediate threat, then caught sight of her first contact, Marcus, who was standing with another being whom K'un L'u figured was of a gender similar to herself. At first K'un L'u didn't understand why the pair didn't notice her awaken but then she noticed their trance-like state. She'd seen this kind of behavior before in a race of telepathic beings. I could kill them now was her next thought though that was simply her survival instinct talking. Killing these beings was not why she was here. She was here to give them a chance to survive what was coming. As far as that chance was concerned, K'un L'u was just as much here to use these beings for her own vengeful purpose. The alien slid off the bed onto her feet and stood upright, proud and majestic in her gold armor and flowing purple cape.

Meanwhile, Marcus was surveying a dream world seen through Eshe's eyes. Marcus had to force himself to recognize the vision as something other than reality as he felt Eshe's heartbeat race. He felt the lump form in Eshe's throat and her stomach twist into knots just before her father attacked her and knocked her down. Eshe's fear, terror and pain was tactile to Marcus; he could even feel her mouth go dry during the experience. What was odd, though, is that Marcus found Ehse's experience somewhat amusing, even...enjoyable? Marcus was invigorated by the thought that someone had the power to do this to his colleague because it meant he could do it, too. Marcus savored the pleasure this vision was bringing him. He wanted to reflect upon it for a while.

Marcus' ripped his hands away from Eshe's and both their eyes went wide at each other when he broke contact from his teammate's mind. His heart sank into his stomach from the guilt of taking pleasure in Eshe's pain. What the hell is wrong with me? he questioned himself. He didn't have time to answer that question before a glint of gold appeared in the corner of his eye.

Marcus and Eshe almost gasped as they turned to face their alien visitor. K'un L'u made no threatening move, though. Instead she approached Marcus' face with her own until her black, scaly nose was an inch from his. Her red eyes bore no pupils Marcus could see; she could be trying to menace him or maybe it was a look of inquiry. Marcus took a step back to reclaim his personal space.

"What is your name?" Marcus asked. The extraterrestrial didn't reply. "Where do you come from?" Still no reply. "Why are you here?" Again, no reply. Instead the alien looked Marcus up and down.

Unsatisfied, the strange snakeskin-like being brought her attention to Eshe and looked her up and down until the alien seemed to fix her gaze upon Ehse's front pant pocket. K'un L'u pointed to the pocket then opened her hand while gripping her rod tight in the other. Eshe didn't know if the alien were asking or demanding that she turn over her smartphone.

"Got something in your pocket?" Marcus asked his teammate. "Give it to her," Marcus advised. "I think E.T. wants to phone home."

Eshe frowned and reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone which K'un L'u snatched away so quickly the alien almost injured Eshe's wrist. K'un L'u studied the device briefly before focusing on the screen and swiping to and fro at lightning speed. At one point, the gold-plated warrior touched her rod to the phone's screen. After two minutes of dead silence during which the extraterrestrial studied, the alien stopped and handed the phone back to Eshe.

"Your languages, cultures and technology are primitive. Tell me," K'un L'u said directing a question towards either person, "How are you two so powerful while your weapons are so weak?"

"Ah..." Eshe looked to Marcus to answer for them.

"It's a recent development. Who are you and why are you here?" Marcus inquired.

"My name is K'un L'u, the last survivor of the planet K'un L'u. I am here to prepare you for something terrible that is coming. I am here to prepare you for what is coming to this planet. I am here to prepare you for the world breakers."

Marcus was left jaw agape and didn't have a reply at the ready. Eshe stepped up to the challenge instead. "That's great, because we already have our own problems." The tone in the Egyptian woman's voice came across as if she'd made a joke. The fact was that she was serious.

June 12, 2020...Melbourne, Australia

As it approached midnight, Rock Star sat with Kaitlin in a booth at the swank DV8 night club. Rock Star was dressed, appropriately enough, like a rock star while Kaitlin felt conscious of her average weight in her skintight white dress and knee high black boots. Kaitlin slammed another Lemon Drop shot to loosen up.

"I know I complained about the dress earlier but I think I can fight in this now," she remarked as she put down the shot glass.

"We're not here to fight. We're here for reconnaissance," Rock Star reminded her. With his eyes concealed by sunglasses in the dark club, Rock Star pretended to watch the dancefloor but was actually keeping eyes on one of the balconies upstairs. He was also keeping his ears open hoping to overhear some information. The pounding electronic beat he wanted to enjoy wasn't going to make that easy, though.

Kaitlin observed Rock Star's Lemon Drop shot which had gone untouched since they arrived. "If you're not going to drink that, I will. Then I say we go kick that fucker's arse."

The 'fucker' Kaitlin was referring to was Estaban Lauvage, an instrumental figure in child sex trafficking between Indonesia and the Asian and European black markets. He was upstairs entertaining another 'businessman' surrounded by several attractive females probably not quite old enough to be considered women. Flanking the men and their entourage were several square-jawed, heavyweight bodyguards. More heavies guarded the club's entrance and patrolled the venue.

"I'm not much of a drinker. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila floor for me," Rock Star kidded.

"You're an unconvincing celebrity, kid," Kaitlin said as she snatched the shot and threw it back. "C'mon, we can whack this guy easy. He deserves it, you know."

"I do know," Rock Star answered as he grasped Kaitlin's wrist. "Look, I'm all for a good laugh but right now you need to settle down. You want to stop human trafficking? That's going to take more than just punching this guy's ticket. We need to scoop him up quietly then maybe we can get the names of his top associates and maybe access to some of his bank accounts."

"And you know what I'd do with his money? I'd start a foundation for his victims to get the help they need." Kaitlin pushed the empty shot away from her. "Last chance to give me a good reason not to start throwing punches," she smiled.

Rock Star let go of her wrist and eased back into the booth. "Okay. After our little party in Russia and what just happened in Rio, the world knows people like us are out there. Are you trying to give the public a reason to be afraid of us? Do want them to start lighting torches and hunting us down? Any more collateral damage like what happened to that guy in Rio and the public is going to start doing more than raise an eyebrow; they're going to demand their governments do something to stop us. Governments already want to; like I told you, those Chinese men you guys came up against in Russia were sent by the Chinese and Russian governments to stop the Third Power."

"And like I've recently realized, maybe we need to do more than break up a few human trafficking rings. Maybe we need to start overthrowing some governments," Kaitlin responded.

Rock Star sat back up and leaned in. "I don't necessarily disagree. But what you're suggesting is a path that you can't return from once you start walking it. What you need to think about is just how bad governments are and if it really is an option to overthrow them. How do you think that's going to play out? Historically, the public at large has shown itself to be incompetent in governing itself. The public doesn't possess the desire to even do that which is why whenever there is a revolution or a coup, a new government takes over. So, tell me, Kate, how are you going to run the world?"

"Geez, I'm the one drinking. I didn't know you were going to start getting all philosophical on me," Kaitlin leaned away. "All I know is that human trafficking is wrong. The least we can do with our powers is to stop it."

"You're not ever going to stop it, not unless you can stop human nature, not unless you give people something to truly be afraid of," Rock Star replied.

"And the Third Power's been doing that. You know, you make a lot of jokes, Rocky, but you're not as happy-go-lucky as you seem, are you?" Kaitlin asked.

"True, my sense of humor is ultimately a mask for my general cynicism towards modern human behavior. But I'm not a complete cynic. Like you, I believe in using our powers to prevent suffering. However, we do need to be smart about it and pick our battles..." Rock Star seemed to trail off and wonder whether it might be a good idea to turn Kaitlin loose. Taking the future into consideration, he figured she was going to need to be as good as she could possibly be at using her powers. Then he considered his own advice; even though he knew they would win a fight, they were in a very public place. Rock Star refocused.

"Right now, give me some time to listen and maybe he'll say where he's going to be later. Are you going to be okay if we don't get our hands on him tonight?" Rock Star asked.

"Do you know we're not going to get our hands on him tonight? I mean, you'd know that if you were really from the future, right?" Kaitlin pouted. She'd been mining for information about the future ever since they left Russia, ever since Rock Star confirmed what Melanie had said about The Mega Dudes.

"I told you," Rock Star started, annoyed, "All we usually know is where we're supposed to be, where we go. We never know much about the details; I didn't know I was going to get left behind, for example. If we knew all the details, supposedly we might change something; I might not be born which would mean I wouldn't be here right now. And if I'm not here right now, the world isn't going to be here much longer either."

"Ooo, what girl doesn't fancy a self-absorbed mystery man?" Kaitlin gestured to a waitress to bring another shot. "Don't get your knickers all wound up. I'll behave, at least until we get back to the hotel," the English woman blinked.

As Kaitlin finished her words, Rock Star heard the distinctive click-clack of high heels walking the staircase to Lauvage's balcony. The sound of high heel itself is not what Rock Star picked up on, rather it was the time between steps and how light yet confident each step sounded. That click-clack belonged to someone in particular.

"We have a problem," Rock Star warned. "There's someone here I wasn't expecting." Kaitlin raised her eyebrows and thinned her lips at him to elicit more information. "She likes to be called Shadow Princess and before you ask, she has the power to momentarily create a mirror image of you. And that mirror image doesn't play nice."

Kaitlin started sliding herself out of the booth. "That's it, we're going in."

"Wait!" Rock Star insisted. "We need to know what she's doing here."

A sharp, shapely black-haired woman in a black sequined evening gown and matching purse stepped up to the bodyguard at the top of the balcony's staircase. She slowly leaned in and teasingly whispered something in his ear. The bodyguard told another bodyguard to go tell Mr. Lauvage that this woman said she had business with him. When the trafficker received the word, he looked past the businessman he was entertaining, looked at Shadow Princess from head to toe and waved his hand to indicate to his bodyguard to dismiss her.

Shadow Princess scowled in disbelief that this man would not entertain her. She held up a hand and rubbed her fingers together to indicate 'money.' The trafficker looked at her again and wobbled his head unsurely. He motioned to his bodyguard to frisk the woman for surveillance equipment and weapons. Satisfied, the heavy let Thiha's right hand woman through. Shadow Princess came in and sat on the couch next to Mr. Lauvage's guest, an older Chinese man who took immediate pleasure in her company.

"And as a gesture of good faith, I will give you another thirty thousand dollars of my own money for her," the Chinese man haggled.

Mr. Lauvage studied her carefully. She was beautiful, alright, but she masked a viciousness he had not seen in a woman for some time. "I do not think she is for sale, Mr. Weng. I think she might even kill you for proposing such a thing." A devious smile returned to Shadow Princess' face while Mr. Weng's face went sour. He almost got up at the offense but Mr. Lauvage made an insistent gesture that he stay seated.

"You have my attention, Miss. Please make this worth my time. But before you say anything, let me know now if you are Interpol or with some special task force. That way I can dispose of you now and save myself the trouble of having to hunt you down."

"I'm here to discuss business," Shadow Princess said flippantly. "You've done well for yourself, Mr. Lauvage. You've made a great deal of money trafficking your 'product,' shall we call it? At any rate, I have a buyer who would like to place a very large order. And this order comes with a specific instruction as well."

"Supposing I am the man you want to talk to, Miss...?"

"Shadow Princess," she answered.

He laughed at her before realizing he had probably made a mistake. "Supposing I am the man you want to talk to Miss Shadow Princess, I would have two questions: One, how large of an order and two, what 'very specific instruction'?"

"Half a billion dollars for the initial order." The man laughed at her again; it was an absurd figure by his standards since that much money would raise more suspicion than necessary. Shadow Princess continued. "And the order would have to be free of sterilization. My buyer is aware that you sterilize your product upon request in order to maintain the usefulness of your product. My buyer would like you not to sterilize any of his purchases. In fact, he seeks the most fertile ones you can find." The Chinese man looked confused by her words.

Mr. Lauvage laughed again, but not because what she had said was funny. It was such an odd request. He cracked his neck in disbelief. "Miss Shadow Princess," he started by interlacing his hands, "If I were the man to fulfill such an order, why would your buyer want such a thing?"

"What I'm about to say is going to seem very strange, Mr. Lauvage. Surely, though, you'll be able to appreciate it given the business you're in. The fact is my buyer doesn't feel as though there is enough suffering in the world. So imagine these female slaves you've trafficked forced to carry a child to birth. Those women – I'm sorry; most of them are girls – will produce a new generation born into slavery and ultimately produce a self-sustaining system." Shadow Princess finished her explanation with a thin veneer of disgust.

"I...I...I will go now Mr. Lauvage. I will be in contact," the Chinese man said as he stood up on shaky legs.

"Mr. Weng," Shadow Princess spoke, "Please sit down. You actually stand to benefit from this deal. Best of all, it will not cost you anything. In fact, my buyer would like to make arrangements with you for one of his facilities, these special brothels, to be placed in your country."

Mr. Weng sat back down nervously. He was astonished by her words and wasn't sure what to do.

"Your buyer sounds like a man of vision. But he also sounds like he wants to put me out of business," Mr. Lauvage argued.

"You can retire from this business after you have delivered the specified amount of product. You'll be a very rich man, after all," Shadow Princess concluded.

"Your buyer's demands will not be easy to meet. Many missing people will attract a lot of attention," Mr. Lauvage said.

"My buyer realizes this. He will provide you with extra protection and assurances," Shadow Princess replied as she stood up to shake Mr. Lauvage's hand.

Rock Star turned to Kaitlin. The club was too dark for her to have seen a little bit of green in his face. "This is...bad. I think you're right. I think we have to do something. We need to put Lauvage and Shadow Princess out of business. You ready to rumble?"

"You know it, sweetie. How do you want to do this?" Kaitlin took off her high heels and wrangled herself out of the booth.

"You and Ella plow through the heavies. Do it fast; I'll only get one shot at Shadow Princess before she copies me. Then we can deal with Lauvage. Ella, you copy that?" Rock Star spoke over his com.

"Actually, Ella's not around the corner like we planned. Actually, I told her to infiltrate Lauvage's hotel room for information. Actually, we're her distraction," Kaitlin explained apologetically. "But we can take them, right?"

Rock Star hand went to his forehead and slipped back through his hair. "Yeah, but it would have been easier with Ella here." Rock Star was out of the booth now as well. He was forced to adapt to the situation. He put his hands on the ground. "Maybe we can do this without revealing ourselves."

Rock Star created a seismic event; the building started to jump back and forth in small but unmistakable staggered bumps. His focus, though, was on two columns supporting the balcony where Mr. Lauvage, Mr. Weng and Shadow Princess were discussing business. The columns collapsed and brought the balcony crashing down at an angle, spilling the potential business partners and bodyguards on to the dancefloor that was clearing because of the emergency. Bruised and scraped by debris, Shadow Princess looked up from her hands and knees at Rock Star who stood over her.

"Sorry, but this is going to hurt for a few days," Rock Star remarked to her. But then he found he couldn't pull the trigger; he became fearful of how much his powers would hurt Shadow Princess. He was too scared to take action. The local tremors stopped.

Kaitlin – who had wasted no time bloodying a bodyguard with an errant wine bottle and had already relieved Mr. Lauvage of a handgun – was about to lay into the trafficker when she noticed Shadow Princess standing up before Rock Star. "Whaddya doin', kid? Put her on ice already!"

Shadow Princess turned around to give Kaitlin a wicked smile, then turned her attention back to Rock Star. "Sorry, but this is going to hurt for a few days," she spoke as a shadowy doppelganger formed before Rock Star's eyes. Kaitlin's eyes went wide at the phenomenon, a moment before she was kicked halfway across the dancefloor by a broad shouldered Indian man. The Indian man put himself between Mr. Lauvage and Kaitlin.

Not seeing the attack coming left Kaitlin unprepared to use her powers correctly. Short of breath and probably dealing with a broken rib or two, Kaitlin had to discharge the force of the man's blow. Through blinding pain, she rushed Shadow Princess and threw a hard shoulder tackle at the woman which knocked the raven-haired beauty down and bounced her head off the floor. The doppelganger, which was readying to blast Rock Star, became a cloud of ashes and sank to the ground. Rock Star still stood there like a deer in the headlights.

By the time Kaitlin had gotten back up from her tackle, the Indian man had closed the gap between them. He grabbed Kaitlin by the throat with one hand and lifted her off her feet. Rock Star shuddered with fright. The unmasked Graveyard spoke to Mr. Lauvage while tightening his grip. "We'll be in contact. Now get lost, Lauvage."

The trafficker scrambled to his feet and broke for the club's main exit only to be cut down by a zig-zagging white laser that pierced his thigh. As he clutched his thigh in agony, Mr. Lauvage's closest bodyguards were similarly incapacitated by the laser before they could recover from the balcony's collapse. Graveyard tried to keep track of the white streak but it moved too fast for him to really see, so he looked around for its handler. A sideways glance gave him just enough to time to begin rolling with the truncheon that swiped the side of his jaw.

Graveyard didn't have time to process the sting before another shot came up under his jaw. Another quick blow to his elbow released Kaitlin. Another strike came to his knee. Who was hitting him he couldn't quite see. He supposed he caught a fleeting glimpse of a middle-aged black woman in white jacket and pants. Something besides the blows, however, kept him from getting a good look at her. It was like light was blurred around her. Or was it the next blow to his head? Another strike to his leg. Another, another, another until he fell on his hands and knees. He was in a great deal of pain but he didn't verbalize it.

Ella Baudin faded into view and stood triumphantly over the villain. She handed the heavy weapon to Kaitlin. "Found it behind the bar. You can add it to your collection." Kaitlin slid her feet towards Mr. Lauvage so as not to cut her feet on any broken glass while Rock Star, now freed from Graveyard's fear effect, checked on an unconscious Shadow Princess.

"So what did you find, Arclight?" Kaitlin inquired.

"Melanie's not here so let's give the names a break. I didn't find as much as we would have liked," Ella responded as she kept eyes on Graveyard. "I did find a tablet with a schedule. It appears Mr. Lauvage had scheduled several appointments with prominent diplomats, some of them from our respective countries."

"Son of a..." Kaitlin made circles with the truncheon in her hand. "We should kill him."

Ella and Rock Star's faces scrunched up. "No!" Ella refused. "That's not who we are."

Rock Star walked over to Kaitlin and backed her away from the trafficker with an outstretched arm. "He's more use to us alive. We can question him and get information out of him like who's doing this work for him and where he's kidnapping people from."

"Yeah," Kaitlin agreed sarcastically. "And then we could kill him except that then you'd say that if we killed him someone else would replace him anyway, right?" Kaitlin said to Rock Star. Then she spat on the criminal. "Then we'll kill them, too. And the people who buy from them!"

Graveyard was beginning to stir more and more and appeared as if he was not going to be afraid of making more trouble. Rock Star left Kaitlin's side, straddled the man and placed his hands on either side of Graveyard's head. A forceful blast of bass concussed the Indian, causing him to splay out on the floor. We never have a plan for securing them, Rock Star thought offhandedly.

"Stop!" Thiha commanded from the nightclub's entrance as the last frightened patron exited behind him. "Everyone...stop." Time ground to an imperceptible crawl. Rock Star, Kaitlin, Ella, Graveyard, Shadow Princess, Mr. Lauvage and his bodyguards – they all slowed so drastically that time might as well have stopped altogether from Thiha's point of view.

Thiha stepped to Rock Star who had Graveyard laid out between his feet. Thiha knelt down and spoke to the Indian as if the man could hear him. "What is it you think you are doing, Abhi? And how did you drag Aline into this? We need to have a talk."

"Let us have a talk as well," a glowing white Ella said standing over his shoulder.

Thiha stood up quickly to face Ella, surprised she strode with him through time. "It looks like you are getting better at utilizing your powers, Ms. Baudin."

"Clever trick you're pulling off, slowing the movement of all the other mass around you. Maybe you knew it wouldn't trick me since photons – light – have no mass," Ella said. "Doesn't matter, I suppose. What does matter is that you're causing a lot of trouble, mister. First there was New York where one of your people was killed. Next, you ask the Third Power to watch over your associate while you interrupt first contact with alien life. Now your muscle is making deals with a human trafficker."

Thiha shook his head in denial. "I did not know what he was up to. I would have stopped him, I assure you, Ms. Baudin."

"You mind telling me what you're really up to?" Ella asked not really expecting the truth.

"As I explained in Russia, I simply want us to take our rightful place as gods among men. We can rule them correctly, justly. We can give them the most freedom they can have by being the only ones who can have complete power over them. I foresee us as watching over the world, punishing those who attempt to have power over others."

"And who will punish us if we abuse our powers?" Ella interrogated.

"We will keep each other in check. That is why I created all of you," Thiha answered.

"Do you expect us to believe that?" Ella asked as she started to glow paler.

Thiha turned over his palms and reached out his arms to expose his chest. He made himself vulnerable because he was sincere. "You may not believe it but it is true. I created thirteen of you the moment I realized my own power, a power which appears to be ubiquitous. Should I have such power? What if I go insane, who will stop me? It would be up to the rest of you. Unfortunately, two of the thirteen have passed and I'm not quite sure about one of the others."

"What about this one?" Ella question pointing to Graveyard. "Was it a good idea to give him powers? Seems he might be more trouble than you. Can't you take away his powers, maybe give them to someone else?"

"Of course you do not want to kill him; you are a conscientious woman. I could take away his powers, but not indefinitely for some reason. Although I feel he is integral to my plan, it does seem I can no longer trust him." Thiha brought his hands together as if to pray and touched his fingertips to his lips as he thought for a moment. "Perhaps you would be interested in taking his place?"

"I don't want to be a god. I don't even want to be here. I don't want any of this, really," Ella said, agitated. "I want this to be over. I want to go back to my imperfect life. Dealing with my family may not be the easiest thing and its ugly sometimes but it's still better than this whole mess. You should work on taking away our powers and give up on your dreams of utopia. You're not a god, you're a person, and any government run by people is going to have flaws. So, please, just give up."

Thiha frowned and his eyes dropped. Then he perked back up with his trademark smile. "If one more person tells me I am not a god, I might start to believe it." He looked at his fallen comrades and Mr. Lauvage. "I will handle my people. I will even take care of the trafficker for you. In the meantime," Thiha said comically wagging a finger at Ella, "You should think about what I'm saying."

Thiha and Ella fell back into real time, making it look to Kaitlin and Rock Star that Thiha and Ella had appeared out of nowhere.

"What the hell is Skinny Man doing here?" Kaitlin asked.

"Gotta go!" Thiha exclaimed as the air around himself, Shadow Princess, Graveyard and Mr. Lauvage rippled like waves.

"No...wait!" Rock Star yelled at Thiha who had been standing beside him. But it was too late; the quartet disappeared in an implosion of light.

The next morning...

Graveyard slowly awakened on a steel platform. Though groggy and weak, he noticed his hands and feet were bound by thick, heavy straps and chains. His vision was slightly blurry but could tell that Thiha was standing beside him with a syringe in his hand.

"What happened?" Graveyard asked as a bit of saliva dribbled out the corner of his mouth. His face was mostly numb, like a dentist had been a little too liberal with their Novocain injections. The Indian soon realized the rest of his body felt much the same.

"You and Shadow Princess were defeated by Rock Star, Ms. Baudin and Ms. Grant. Of course, you should not have been defeated because you should not have been where you were. I would like to talk about what you were doing there; why were you trying to do business with the now departed Mr. Lauvage?" Thiha queried.

Graveyard turned his head away as if he'd been found out. "To help you raise a larger army. The few of us, even with all of your powers, aren't enough. The others like us? They're never going to see the world like we do because they haven't seen what we've seen. None of them were ever forced to be a child-soldier. Their parents were never abused during their internment in the U.S. during World War II like Misora's. They were never coersed into having sex to advance their modeling career. None of them were ever a punching bag for their managers. The others; they're never going to help us. That's why I did it. Misora? You can't keep asking him to copy himself; you know each one is weaker and slower than the last. Instead, imagine all the unwanted children no one is going to miss. We can shape them from birth to be soldiers. It will give us the numbers we need."

"That is a good explanation, Abhi, one you probably devised when you first conceived of your plan to overthrow me. Yes, I know you are lying. You see," Thiha spoke as he inserted the needle into Graveyard's forearm to begin an IV drip, "I went inside your head while you were asleep. I know you think I have been afraid to do that, afraid of what I might encounter in there but I have already seen many horrors in real life; there is little you can imagine that is going to scare me enough to stay out of your mind.

"And so I know that you simply want others to suffer. I know you want revenge for all of your life in which you feel victimized and walked all over and that you want control. You want all of the control; I know that you resent me for being more powerful than you are and that you want to be the leader. I also know how you made my dear Aline too scared not to help you. Everything else I can forgive except that." Thiha thumbed back the roller on the IV's tube, letting a strong sedative begin to drip.

Thiha placed a hand on Graveyard's forehead as the Indian winced at the cold fluid slithering up his arm. The enforcer tried to wrest his body and seemed to struggle with his breathing. "The medicine and restraints are to prevent you from using your powers, that is all. There is no need to become anxious. But tell me, what am I to do with you, Abhi?" Thiha asked.

"You made the mistake of trusting me. You think that if someone chooses to be on your side, you have less to fear from them, that they are less likely to turn against you. People always turn against you, Thiha, you just have to allow them the opportunity. Given the opportunity, people will always seek an advantage over you," Graveyard warned. "You should kill me but I know that you need me."

Thiha's normally sincere smile turned upside down. "I should kill you just for using that name. I should rip out of your mind that part of you that makes you, you. Nonetheless you are correct, I do need you and I need you the way you are. As an act of incredible benevolence, I will let you live and instead leave you alone to reflect upon this: I feel you are also right that the others are not going to come around. I think the time has come to eliminate those who will not see our way of things as they are indeed standing in our way. You will get your chance to make others suffer but you will only do so on my terms. I will not ask you if you understand. I will let you think about this for a while." Thiha walked away towards the steely door of the detention room.

"You should kill me," Graveyard advised again.

"If you outlive your usefulness, I will grant you your wish, Abhi," Thiha returned as he shut the door behind him.

July 1, 2020...Vienna, Austria

It was early afternoon at the Hotel Sacher Wein as eleven diplomats from around the globe took a seat within the confines of the hotel's stately red dining room. Thick red curtains were pulled together to black out the sun on representatives from Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Australia and Brazil. Despite the regal confines of the dining room, nothing was offered to them besides pitchers of water placed on the table. As requested by the meeting's coordinator who didn't think his guests would be focused much on dining, the room was free of employees for the next hour.

As an austere, whip-thin Japanese woman in black-framed glasses finished her pour of water, an older U.S. officer took long strides to the head of the table. He tapped his ear with one finger, indicating to the assembly that the non-English speakers should activate their translation devices at this time. As they did so, the officer leaned forward over the table and set a black, plate-sized disc in center of the table. He stood back up in his dress greens and took a cylindrical remote control out of his right pocket.

Every diplomat that had been asked to attend this meeting clandestinely had the faintest reason why; something to do with global security. Some were suspicious as not every country represented at the table were on the best of terms with each other. Other statesmen and ladies were intrigued to see they were not the only low-level diplomat in the room.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. My name is Major Haggen of the U.S. army," the embattled veteran began. "I apologize for the lack of detail and secrecy surrounding this meeting. It's a security precaution. Now, as you look around the room at each other, I am sure that you have noticed by now that none of you are what would be considered first-tier diplomats; you are all here on behalf of your superiors who have a particular concern: That concern is the rise of super human beings among us."

Everyone either sat up at attention and began murmuring or their mouth fell open, shocked that they'd been selected to hear about this. The stout German diplomat folded his hands on the table. "You are talking about the recent incidents in Brazil and Russia?" he said as half a question, half a statement.

"And now Melbourne, too, we suspect. But it started well before the recent incidents, Mr. Kohler. I trust everyone is familiar with The Mega Dudes' first appearance two years ago and that we all know it wasn't a hoax. It was amazing at the time, certainly, and for a year they were the only super humans around." The officer, Major Haggen, pressed a button on the remote in his right hand. A light show, a hologram, sprung to life above everyone's head and replayed footage of The Mega Dudes lending aid after a building collapse. "We don't know where The Mega Dudes came from or why we haven't been able to track them down. They are very much a mystery to us. However, we do know about some of the other super humans."

The major pushed the button again. Footage from a police department in New York City showed a thin Indonesian walking into the building led by a street officer before the scene cut to the same man in the middle of the street outside the building surrounded by police. Another hologram showed Marcus on his hands and knees being approached by officers as well. Major Haggen froze the hologram here.

"The larger of the two men you are looking at is Marcus Michaels, a U.S. citizen. He's a former firefighter whose family was killed in a suspicious explosion last summer. It wasn't long after the confrontation between these two men in Manhattan that also involved The Mega Dudes that Mr. Michaels approached our military and offered us his 'services.' Indeed, he showed us that he is capable of anything and I mean that literally."

The vigorous German man cut in. "Are you saying this man is like a god?"

"I wouldn't say that personally. There does seem to be a limitation on what he can do and by that I mean he only seems to use one power at a time," Major Haggen explained. "Regardless, he could be very dangerous but we believe he is sincerely on our side. Since coming under the command of General Asak of the U.S. Army, he has been paired with several other operatives as part of a covert United Nations Response Team, or UNRT."

The major began the hologram show again, this time of the other UNRT agents. "This is Eshe Elfar, code name 'Gaia.' She is an Egyptian national who can command non-human life forms to do her bidding. She can control the behavior of plants, animals and insects. Next up is Captain John Drake, code name 'Air Force' of the U.S. air force who commands a flying battle suit designed by Mr. Michaels." Major Haggen flicked the remote again. "Third is Lieutenant Erik Lucian of the U.S. Army. He is in possession of a gauntlet also built by Mr. Michaels that can neutralize the powers of other super humans as well as machinery and electronic devices. As I mentioned, the group is under the command of one General Asak, a commander who has long been arguing for the need to prepare for the eventuality of enhanced soldiers. Unfortunately, the current whereabouts of the entire group is unknown, though some of them showed up in Brazil a few days ago as we've all seen on the news. We suspect the group is trying to lay low as they keep watch over what might be best described as a comatose alien soldier. Please observe."

More murmuring and anxious expressions as the officer let holographic footage from K'un L'u's arrival and subsequent conflict play through.

"You tell us there are super humans government operatives running around in secret and now there is alien life to contemplate as well? What is this all about?" the Japanese woman chimed in with a stern and angry voice.

"We're not quite sure what to make of it all, Ms. Soto, but the fact that this team has gone underground since capturing the alien has the U.S. government concerned. And, as I alluded to, there are other super humans besides the ones on the United Nation's side that concern us." Major Haggen reached for a small stack of manila folders behind him and passed them out to everyone. The diplomats thumbed through pictures of super humans and pages of their personal information and what was known about them.

After passing the last folder out, the major rewound the holographic video to the scene in New York of the thin Indonesian man entering the police department. "We are not sure of the name of this man; in fact, Mr. Michaels calls this man The Nameless. Mr. Michaels claims this man killed his family and that he apparently possesses powers similar to himself. According to Mr. Michaels and our own investigations, this person, The Nameless, will appear in the company of an Indian man who can generate fear, a Japanese man who it seems cannot be killed and a Brazilian woman who can create lifelike shadow images of anyone. We also have surveillance footage of The Nameless occasionally escorted by an African woman whose powers, if she has any, we are unaware of."

The statesman from Brazil spoke into his translator. "Neither of these two women you mention are the women videoed fighting alongside The Mega Dudes in Russia recently. And what about the Chinese men in those reports?" an electronic voice questioned.

"The women are part of a group that calls themselves the Third Power. They consist of an English woman, a young Australian woman and a middle-aged African-American woman. They've been waging a war against human trafficking in Russia until the Chinese super humans caught up with them." Major Haggen looked at the Chinese stateswoman who had sunk in her chair. "It's okay, Ms. Tian, we know."

"There are four Chinese men with super human power. We do not have their names – we'll work on that with Ms. Tian – but according to sources, one apparently has telepathic abilities. Another can turn intangible and invisible; we suspect this man stole one of Mr. Michaels' battle suit designs," the officer continued. The Chinese woman tried to sink lower in her seat but could only manage so far. "That battle suit design, a heavily armored and resilient figure, ended up decimating a city block with help from The Mega Dudes and the Third Power as you all witnessed on the news. A fourth Chinese man has the ability to generate bolts of red plasma from his forehead, as odd as that sounds."

The Saudi Arabian diplomat, a younger but short stocky man with a neatly trimmed black moustache and goatee and sporting a white keffiyeh, threw his glasses on the table and spoke up. "I do not understand what any of this is about. Why exactly are we here?"

"Yes, let me clarify, Mr. Abujamal. With the exception of the Third Power and The Mega Dudes, these super humans have otherwise been restricting their activities to conflicts between themselves. With our team of super humans going off the reservation and not knowing the motives of the nameless one's group, we are concerned that super humans – should any more of them appear – could band together and disrupt normal human activity. Now, factor in the presence of aliens whose motives for coming here are unknown. In short, our governments are concerned for their own well-being. I am here to let all of you know that a contingency plan is in place should these people turn against us."

"What contingency plan?" The Japanese woman asked flatly, no longer in anger.

"I cannot say exactly, Ms. Soto, not at this time. But we ask of your governments that should the need arise, all of our armies act in unison in order to neutralize this potential threat," the veteran answered.

The Chinese woman, Ms. Tian, rose in her seat a bit and though a little mousy, spoke with an undercurrent of arrogance. "The Chinese army will not likely turn on its own super humans of whom we are very proud," she began, revealing that she knew more than anyone thought. "China is a very proud country and you should be asking our super humans to eliminate the others if you are truly concerned."

Major Haggen paused a moment as he was taken by surprise. But he quickly gathered his thoughts. "With all due respect, Ms. Tian, even if they could, what guarantee would we have that they wouldn't turn on the rest of us or even you for that matter? We have to be prepared, just in case."

"Three of our men can be trusted without question," Ms. Tian countered. "They are loyal nationalists with distinguished records. The third, a simple farmer, has needed some encouragement but we could eliminate him if we had to," Ms. Tian answered as timidity left her voice.

"And why have we been selected to hear this information?" the young Saudi questioned.

"To disperse this information to your superiors but only should that time come. We are not giving a reassurance directly to the heads of your state because they are too obvious a target for these super humans. If our top diplomats are captured and compromised, they will not have any information to reveal. It will be your responsibility to reassure your superiors, again, only if the need arises." The major clicked a button on the remote and let footage from the incident in Rio de Janeiro play through.

"I must say, this is all very interesting," the Saudi diplomat said as he took off his headwear. "But I really must know more." The light brown skin of the Saudi man grew more yellow and his frame became longer and thinner. His moustache and goatee were replaced by a wide grin. The major and the collection of diplomats drew a deep breath as they found themselves face-to-face with the man they had watched walk into the New York City police department.

Major Haggen went for his sidearm but grasped nothing but air as he'd left his weapon behind for the meeting. Thiha stood up and with an upward flick of his wrist, send everyone up and out of their chairs and crashing into the wall behind them. Most everyone whimpered sock-eyed as some unseen force plastered them to the walls. Thiha approached the major who was less focused on the mystery man and more on how to get down. The veteran tried to pull his arm away from the wall, but only succeeded in straining his shoulder.

Thiha looked up at the aged officer from below while he removed the white thawb robe he used as part of his disguise. "You look a bit like Jesus, Major, except Jesus was not white. But I can still make you a martyr." Thiha laid into the major with even more telekinetic force. Ripples of skin waved across the veteran's face from nose to ear. The major felt as though this force would crush him to death against the wall.

"You, you're The Nameless. What do you want?" The major asked.

"I have been searching for a name for some time," Thiha shook his head, "But I cannot seem to find one that I think is suitable. My brother, Marcus, calls me The Nameless? I managed not to laugh when I heard that." Thiha reached up with his hand as if to mime taking the major's throat in his grasp. "Tell me, Major, do you enjoy the way you live? Do any of you?" the thin man questioned as his raised eyebrows semi-circled the room. Thiha started skirting the table to make sure everyone saw the wild look in his eyes.

"Just so that we are all clear, let me tell you all what happened in Khobarovsk. The Third Power, the group of women, were hunting down human traffickers in the area. Until this point, they had broken many trafficking rings. This seemed to alarm many high level government officials in both Russia and China not because foreigners were operating uninvited on Russian soil, but because many officials enjoy the perks of human trafficking. One of those people are present." Thiha spun around and fixed his eyes upon the Russian diplomat, a pot-bellied man with thinning hair and a hooked nose. Thiha continued his speech as he increased the telekinetic force upon the Russian now.

"So, the Russians and Chinese made a deal to try and eliminate the Third Power using the Chinese super humans, seeing how the Russians have none of their own. They did, but because of The Mega Dudes they do not anymore. I might add here that the Russians are also a bit sore about losing the alien to General Asak's unit even though that landing was supposed to be a joint operation. But I am going off course. Let me get back to my story." The Russian man pinned to the wall groaned and gurgled as the force against him pressed harder.

"The Chinese super humans tried to eliminate the Third Power and may have succeeded had The Mega Dudes not interfered. This is beside the point, though." Thiha interlaced his fingers to make a single fist and brought his knuckles to his chin. "The point is that the Russian and Chinese governments thought it should be the case that human trafficking should persist." Thiha looked around as if addressing a jury. "Is this what any of you think a government should do, be in the business of enslaving people?"

"America isn't like that," the major strained out a reply.

"No?" Thiha whirled around with surprise in his voice. "Your country's health care system doesn't revolve around treating symptoms and not the causes of diseases for the sake of profit? Your country is always finding new and unique ways to keep its citizens in debt and dividing the rich from the poor. You do this while keeping half of your country convinced that everything is the way God thinks it should be. Well," Thiha smiled and held out his hands like he was absolving the crowd, "I am here to tell you that a god walks among you right this moment. And this god does not approve of the way your countries have been conducting themselves."

"What are you going to do? And what makes you think you have the right?" Major Haggen remained defiant.

"What has given the powerful the right in your country, Major? Simply having power, simply having money and influence? There is a famous literary quote that says if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. Yes, I believe that is the saying. I have power, Major, I am a sword, and I think I will punish those who have made other's fear their razor's edge."

Thiha focused one more time on the Russian. The hook-nosed man tried to squirm and writhe but could not keep his chest and abdomen from caving in before everyone's eyes. Blood shot out of his eyes, ears and throat. Terror saturated the eyes of Thiha's remaining captives. Satisfied, Thiha stepped closer to Major Haggen.

"I do not want to be cruel, Major. I can be a merciful god. Would you like to tell me what your contingency plan is for super humans or would you prefer to see what else happens when you upset a god?" Thiha asked.

The officer was a reasonable man. As a member of the armed forces, it was expected of him not to aid the enemy, to hold out against coercion. However, he had a wife and two daughters, one of whom was pregnant with his third grandchild. He had to decide who was more important, his country or his family. It was no contest being that the veteran was a student of history. He was aware of the things his country had done in the past, even presently. Retribution had come for them all. The veteran sneered at Thiha for making him give up the information.

"We captured one of you in Madagascar," the major said, "A girl who can make anything she touches turn to ash. We held her captive on a satellite so she couldn't be found. She was killed trying to escape the satellite. I don't blame her for trying to escape; we experimented on her, tried to understand how she manifested her powers. We never did figure it out. But we did clone her. We cloned her five times."

"You held her on a satellite? That is why I could not find her. I had searched the Earth for her in vain," Thiha grinned from ear to ear. "But do you all see? That was not so difficult for the major. If you all cooperate, there is no need for violence." These words did little to soothe his captive audience. If there was no need for violence, why didn't the thin man release them? Thiha kept his attention on the veteran and pointed a finger at him.

"I appreciate you not forcing my hand. You made the right choice; you placed your family – yes, I know about them – before your country. Now image never having to make that choice, Major. All of you," Thiha practically danced around the table, "Imagine there are no countries. Imagine that you have stopped dividing yourselves along arbitrary lines. Imagine everything is provided for you and that you do not have to work. Imagine simply enjoying life. Paint that picture for yourselves." Thiha stopped at a painting and used his fingers to trace the colors in the air.

Major Haggen ceased his useless struggle against Thiha's telekinesis and took a hard swallow. "What will it cost us?" he asked.

"Yes, it is true, there is always a cost," Thiha acknowledged as he remained focused on the painting. "You will trade one master for another. Would that be so bad? All I want is for everyone to go about their lives without causing each other misery."

"Then why did you kill the Russian?" Ms. Tian asked from her crucified position against the wall.

"Those who resist my new world order need to be eliminated for the greater good, Ms. Tian. That, and sometimes my anger gets the better of me. I regret it every time," Thiha almost laughed.

"Is that the way a god behaves?" Major Haggen derided. "You're no god."

Thiha reached out a hand towards the officer's neck. He mimed a quick yank and snatched a thin gold chain from around the major's neck. It flew into Thiha's hand where he observed the chain and its small gold cross. His eyes narrowed and nostrils flared. "Have you ever read the Bible, Major? I am a god and you benefit from me being here and now and giving you the benefit of a warning."

"What exactly is this warning?" the Major asked for everyone.

"Change your ways and submit to my rule and the rule of my apostles. You have one month to comply. You either find a way to negotiate world peace and sign the treaty I will bring you or face my wrath. You may want to think about starting immediately," Thiha advised as he waved a hand in front of everyone's face. "Oh, and Major, it would be disastrous of you to attempt to employ your special countermeasure. That would leave you with my brother Marcus as your only other option. When he does come around, tell him what has happened here and let him know that he, too, needs to conform." Thiha's voice was unusually uneven, gravelly and course. "If he does not, I will kill him and his entire team."

The muscles of his jaws bulged as Thiha looked around the room at all the diplomats. His glare was the last warning.

Thiha turned his back and stepped towards the exit. He stopped for a moment before passing through the doorway. "For those of you still thinking of resisting...think about why you are resisting. Then you will know why you will be punished." Thiha exited the red room and everyone held up against the wall fell awkwardly upon the floor.

Major Haggen twisted his ankle and wrenched his knee. While the room of diplomats whimpered and swore under their breath, the veteran pressed on the face of his wristwatch. It was a silent alarm the Pentagon's technology team had devised for just such a situation. It activated the major's contingency plan.

Thiha took deep breathes as his shoes clacked in quick succession down the stairwell. Utilizing that wide a telekinetic field so soon after teleporting and shape-shifting left him a little shaky. At least his message had been delivered and he pulled it off by himself.

When Thiha reached the second floor platform and made the half turn to walk down to the ground floor exit, he ground to a halt when confronted by a young, slight woman with light maroon skin. She was guarding the exit dressed in a sleeveless, royal blue Special Forces uniform. She brought her chin up to fix her disturbingly pale blue eyes on Thiha. Her name was Anja.

December 13, 2057...Manhattan, New York

Christopher strode down a corridor of ribbed metal with Melanie Conrad, their fingers interlaced. As they walked in lock-step, a slowly intensifying red light illuminated the corridor then abandon its purpose time and again. They walked purposefully toward the belly of The Mega Dudes' operation center, a large circular room spanning the entire fiftieth floor of a hundred story building.

Thick black-and-yellow striped doors slid open to allow the pair into the command center where Brawl Boy was leaning over an array of blinking touch screens. The man's massive hands were splayed out across the colorful displays while his head was turned up at a score of larger 3D screens. VinZenT stood beside Brawl Boy in a white suit and observed the screens as well, arms folded in dismay.

Sensitive to the mechanics of the five common elements, VinZenT had felt the main doors open and removed his gaze from the screens to greet Christopher and their guest. "Melanie, glad you're feeling better. Welcome to our place. Do you want something to drink?" VinZenT asked pointing to a chrome bar accented by plush purple seats that faced an unobscured view of New York City at midday.

Melanie scratched a small bandaged cut on her forehead that itched. She took stock of the circular room that stretched the breadth of the building, the number of colorful lights waxing on and off and the 3D screens. Only forty-eight hours earlier, she was grievously injured. She was already back on her feet and feeling like nothing had happened, though. Only something had happened, something odd.

Melanie let go of Christopher's hand and approached the other two Mega Dudes. She pointed her chin like a finger, "You? You're VinZenT." She slipped by the Italian and patted the mass beside VinZenT on the arm; it felt like living steel. "An' this big fella is Brawl Boy." She paused, feeling like a fan girl back stage at a rock concert. "Say, where's Rock Star?" she asked.

No one said anything right away. Then Christopher chimed in with an inauthentic smile. "He'll be okay. Pissed maybe, but okay. He knows it's the way things had to be." Christopher, always ready to go in his black-and-brown flight suit, wings tucked tight behind him, stood up next to Brawl Boy. "What's the situation, Paul?"

Trying to take it all in, Melanie stopped Brawl Boy a moment before he could speak. "Wait, wait, wait. Just two days ago I felt like l'd been broken inta a hundred pieces. Now I feel perfectly fine. You guys have some good meds, yeah? And these tellys you've got, never seen anything like this before. VinZenT," she prodded playfully, "Christopher already told me but what year are you going to tell me it is?"

"2057?" he answered with raised eyebrows. "Because it is?"

Melanie was taken aback by what was either an in-joke she wasn't a part of or by the possible truth. She suspected they might be telling her the truth. "Why is it 2057? It was 2020 two days ago. How bad did I hurt my head? My family; my son. Where's my son? I want to see my son."

Christopher placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're perfectly fine. Your son is forty-four now, he lives in Canberra, he's in good health and he and his wife have three children. His oldest child – one of your grandchildren – became the Protector of the Australia territory when you relinquished the title just last year. You said you were ready for retirement, wanting more time for yourself."

Her brows raised into her forehead, opening her eyes wide. "You mean there's two of me right now. How is that possible?"

Brawl Boy interjected without continuing to monitor some screens. "The amount of information in the universe is always the same. It doesn't matter what year it is. Let's say you left 2020 and came here or we left 2057 and went to 2020; some physicists assumed this would be impossible because you'd be taking information – ourselves – from one point in time and adding it or subtracting it another point in time and this would cause the universe to collapse or at least become unstable. But since there is no universal time, information can be anywhere at any time. People think of time as linear but that's only half right. Time is an emergent property of the expansion of space and this has little to do with information itself. We also know that wherever information has been in what seems like the past, that's where it always was. If you're here now, you're supposed to be here now," Brawl Boy explained over his shoulder as if it were all common sense.

"Can I go see myself?" Melanie asked.

"Maybe a little later, if you're supposed to. We may have a situation to deal with first," Christopher said casually. Then his tone grew more business-like. "So what's going on, Paul?" he asked Brawl Boy.

"Looks like we have some teenagers Wilding in the prairies of Manitoba, Canada. They've killed some deer and two black bears," the hulk informed him.

An African woman with one arm walked into the room with an old, white-haired, colored-skin man behind her. He seemed frail to Melanie despite his three-piece suit and experienced, weathered face. He limped on a cane up beside Christopher while the woman took no notice of Melanie. Instead she nudged up beside Brawl Boy and tried to peel his immense hands off the small displays so she could have a look.

The fancy man studied Melanie for a second before giving his attention to one of the 3D screens above cutting to a scene in a forest. Six teenagers – three males and three females – had surrounded a deer and unleashed bolts of electricity from long, metal staffs when it tried to flee. The deer fell in a charred heap on the ground. The recording played on a loop.

"I received your alert, Paul," the old man said as he tapped his cane on the ground. "I know that none of you enjoy this. Who wants to go?" he asked in staccatoed English.

Christopher turned his head to speak to the old man. "I'll go, sir. I know it'll make things a little harder on you but do you mind if I take Firefox with me? She's back to full strength and nearly indestructible when in flight. She could be useful. Even if it's not necessary, I think she should see this."

Melanie looked quizzically at Christopher while the old man pointed his cane at her. "Take Firefox, Protector of the Australian territory?" He shrugged his shoulders unevenly as though his joints didn't work quite right. "Yes, I suppose so. To the roof top then. Madina, my dear," he finished, extending his hand to the one armed woman.

After she took the older gent's hand and slid her one arm up beneath his to keep him steady, Madina walked towards the black-and-yellow striped doors with her eyes trained on Christopher and Melanie. "The two of you will fly yourselves back here when you are finished. He will be in no condition to transport you back for several hours," she said sternly.

"What're we doin'?" Melanie wanted to know. She looked around at each Mega Dude.

"You'll see," Christopher said. "We're taking the fast track to Canada to police an infraction."

A few minutes later atop the circular skyscraper, a five foot wide ripple of light disturbed the air in front of Christopher and Melanie. Melanie was a little hesitant to let Christopher take her hands in his as the old man extended his arms and pointed his fingers toward the disc. Madina usually closed her eyes to concentrate when the old man did this, but Christopher and Melanie weren't going that far. The circle expanded enough to take the subtly betrothed into its womb.

"Is it supposed ta do that?" Melanie asked referring to the disc.

"We'll be in Canada in a few moments. Everything will be fine. Just follow my lead but be prepared for anything," Christopher explained. His wings unfurled behind him and he jumped into the turbulence with Melanie in tow.

Immediately thereafter, the old man let out a wind full of air and dropped to one knee. Brawl Boy lowered his massive gloves and picked the old man up to his chest. He silently turned away and began for the elevator. Madina walked beside them and took the elderly man by the wrist with her one hand.

"Heal yourself," she petitioned.

"No need," the man coughed out. "Just need a few hours and I will be okay. I should preserve my energy. I will be okay," he reassured.

A few minutes later...

Six teenagers ran together, side by side in pairs. They were trailing a deer, one that immediately felt threatened by their presence and took off over the grassy plains for a scattering of trees nearby. While the deer was fast at thirty-two miles per hours, its human predators were uncannily fast as well, keeping right on its tail for over three-hundred yards. One of the females, dressed in the group's school attire – a light, long-sleeved solid-colored top with dark slacks and black boots – tripped the deer with the long staff in her possession. The animal went stumbling into the dirt neck and face first and tumbled end over end before grinding to a halt. The animal wasn't seriously hurt but laid still, frozen in terror. It's blank, black marbled eyes watched soundlessly as the group made a circle around the deer. In unison they pointed the tip of their staffs at the deer.

"STOP!" Christopher demanded. The Mega Dude sank out of the air like a mythical archangel, his extended, bat-like wings haloed by the sun they obscured. He hovered twenty feet above the group, slowly rotating in the air so he could address everyone.

"Stop! You are guilty of Wilding and removing staff-weapons from your training facility. Stop now and you will be put on probation and punished no further. As you are all aware, this is your only warning," Christopher said.

"We wanted to know what the old ways were like," the youngest male teenager confessed with a growl.

"We'd heard stories and rumors about how much fun this was. It's true! Killing these animals is a rush! Why are you trying to stop us?" the oldest male teenager stepped up. His face was flush from exertion, his blonde hair a sweaty, tangled mess. And his teeth; his upper lip was raised, ready to tear into the animal's flesh.

"The old ways were abandoned because of the suffering they caused and because they are no longer necessary," Christopher answered.

One of the young women joined the oldest male's side. "In school they try to teach us that all life is important, sir, but as humans, shouldn't we consider ourselves superior to all of the other life on this planet? Doesn't that give us a right to do as we please?"

"Because I am super human and superior to you, does that give me the right to do to you as I please? Would you like to experience what you've done to these animals because I woke up today and felt like making you suffer? I telling all of you to stand down, now," Christopher ordered.

All of the teenagers looked at each other for approval and began to put their staffs down on the ground. The oldest male teenager, though, feigned lowering the weapon and brought it back up, pointed it at Christopher and unleashed a crooked sleeve of lightning. The ends of Christopher's wings folded inward to shield himself from the lightning strike. The electricity dispersed harmlessly into the surrounding air.

The Mega Dude shook his head and flapped his wings hard enough to cause a downdraft. It suppressed the cocky youth then knocked the teenager down when Christopher back-flipped up into the air. The rest of the group anxiously picked up their staffs and started firing white lightning at the airborne law enforcer. Christopher's speed and spiraling in the air prevented them from focusing their shots.

"Kill him!" the senior male frothed at the mouth as he scrambled to get back up.

He would say nothing further as the words were slapped out of his mouth by a blazing red-hot punch. Firefox flew in a circle around the deer, knocking the rest of the group down on their seats with flares to protect the animal. The Aussie landed in front the female who had tripped the deer up, reached down to hold the girl's hands and burned them enough to ensure the girl wasn't going to be picking up anything again for some time. The teenager bawled in pain.

"Think about how the deer feels before ya whinge," Firefox told her. Christopher landed beside her. He glared at each member of the group with a look that told them to stay down or else. "Ya really can't hunt animals anymore, huh?" Firefox noted.

"It's a serious crime. All life is precious and protected. At least, we protect it the best we can," Christopher responded.

"What happens to them now?" Firefox asked.

"We call in the local authorities who will detain them from here. They will be facing life sentences, unfortunately," Christopher explained.

"That's a bit harsh for killing some animals!" Firefox protested.

"Those who don't respect life forfeit most of the privileges being human normally affords. While these kids won't be executed, they will no longer be allowed to interact with society for fear of poisoning the well, so to speak. They'll be put away and forgotten. We don't coddle criminals in the future. Don't worry, they'll still have their most basic needs met," Christopher explained.

Firefox knelt down to pet the deer who shied from her touch. The fire starter stood back up while taking a look at the beaten teenagers. She simply shook her head, maybe in pity, maybe at their folly. Christopher stepped towards her.

"They knew the rules and took their chances anyway. I'm sorry, Melanie, but the future is very different than the time you live in. In the coming years, you come around to protecting the ideas we have about life. The rules are in place for everyone's benefit and by everyone I mean not just human beings." Christopher pulled out a small headset from a pouch on the back of his belt. "This is Christopher of The Mega Dudes to all units within the vicinity. I have six detainees I need extracted for violating the Wilding Act. Please respond to these GPS coordinates," he started as he checked on the male with the broken jaw.

Firefox was almost speechless. "What happened to the world? How did this kind of society come about?" she asked herself as Christopher was busy with his call.

After a four hour flight back to Manhattan, Firefox and Christopher were welcomed home on the rooftop of The Mega Dudes' command center by Brawl Boy. Evening had fallen by now and a smattering of lights illuminated the occasional skyscraper window. On the city streets below, few headlights indicated to Firefox that traffic was light.

"Woulda been back sooner but had ta wait up for this one," Firefox said to Brawl Boy as she tipped her head towards Christopher. She placed one foot on the ledge of the building and looked down. "I thought New York City was a busier place. I had cousins take a trip to New York a few years ago and they said it was a city that never sleeps."

"It used to be much busier. A lot has changed since...you tell her, Chris, buddy," Brawl Boy hesitated.

Firefox stepped away from the edge and rubbed her stomach. "Can we talk about it over dinner? I'm really starving."

Christopher started to smile but looked down as this conversation needed to start before dinner. Tucking his wings in completely to rest, he reached out his hand toward Melanie with eyes bowed. "Can I show you something?" he asked softly.

After an awkward silence on the elevator ride down to a deep, subterranean level, Christopher and Melanie strode through sliding glass door after sliding glass door. Eventually they came to a cavernous, square room that was almost pitch black save for a single stroke of light beaming down on a thick, heavy book on a marble podium. The two walked up to the book and Christopher placed his hand on top of its beaten leather cover.

"We call this The Book. Not an imaginative name, I know, but that's what we call it. Inside this book is the history of the world between the time we – The Mega Dudes – first appeared back in 2019 and...almost until now. It details a lot of what happened in the first few years of super human activity. Most of the information was provided by the old man upstairs, best he remembers it so he tells us. Other information was pieced together from independent sources. The Book can supposedly tell you why there aren't as many people in the city as you were expecting. I've only heard rumors," Christopher spoke.

"Ya haven't read that thing?" Melanie asked, pointing at it.

"No, none of us have. The old man asked us not to," he answered, dancing his fingertips across the cover.

"Doncha want ta know what's in there?" Melanie asked.

"Yes, but, he has his reasons for asking us not to and we trust him," Christopher said.

As he finished, they both heard steps come up from behind them. They turned around to be joined by Madina who was at the side of the elderly, curly-haired man who was in a wheelchair.

"Would you like to know my reason, Miss Conrad?" the gravelly-voiced man asked. Melanie nodded 'yes.' "You see, the universe operates in a certain manner. People think of space itself as a dimension you can move back and forth in and whose locations can be conceptualized on a map. But many people..." he paused to cough, "...used to think of time as a separate dimension. People did this in order to help themselves understand time. We've since discovered that space and time are intimately and irrevocably linked and that this space-time, too, can be conceptualized on a map. Whatever has happened in time, as far as we are able to tell, will always have happened in time."

By some invisible mechanism, the man's non-electric wheelchair rolled up the podium and he reached up to put his hand on top of Christopher's. "I've asked The Mega Dudes not to read The Book in case that we are wrong that whatever has happened in time will happen in time. If certain knowledge of past events were known, would The Mega Dudes – or anyone for that matter – change history? However small the chance, it is a chance that cannot afford to be taken. We cannot afford to change the past."

"Then why even have this book around? I'm sure everyone is tempted ta read it," Melanie surmised with her hands on her hips.

"The danger some knowledge poses is greater than the temptation to know it. The Mega Dudes understand that. That is why they haven't read it and this makes them fit to be Protectors," the old man clarified in his staccato, chalky voice. He took his hand off of Christopher's, nodded with his eyes closed to the Mega Dude, then to Madina, and reopened his eyes. Christopher and Madina nodded back silently and left the room back through the series of sliding glass doors.

"Where are they going?" Melanie asked in a soft voice.

"I told them I wanted to speak to you alone. But that was a lie. Instead I want to give you some time alone here with The Book. I want you to read it. And I want you to pay special attention to the autumn of 2024."

"You just said that no one should read the book because it might change the past. Why do you want me to read it?" Melanie was skeptical.

"Because it happened. Rather, it will happen. I can see a bit of the future young woman and the future should not be changed any more than the past. But be warned that you will not like what you read. It is going to bother you a great deal. And when it does, you are going to destroy every last page." The man gripped his cane which laid across his lap and spun around to wheel himself towards the exit by some power other than his own hands. "When you are finished," he began as he rolled away, "Your dinner will be waiting in your recovery room when you are finished. You will no doubt need time to think if you want to remain in our company, in Christopher's company..." Each set of glass partitions slid open and closed leaving Melanie to her own device.

Melanie's hands were still on her hips as she rocked back and forth between her feet. Was the old man testing her? Did he really want her to read it? She chewed the inside of her bottom lip for a few moments. Ultimately, she reached up with her right hand and flipped open the cover of the leather bound tome.

July 4, 2020...The Black Box Secret Facility

On the rooftop of a multimillion dollar home resting on a sea cliff, the alien K'un L'u took stock of the sun setting on the horizon. She stood at the roof's edge like a pillar of granite, arms folded, not to be trifled with by lesser beings. But Marcus was not a lesser being. She sensed him approach from behind, sensed the power of his aura but also sensed that he himself did not even know his true nature. If he did, he wouldn't have felt the need to approach her so cautiously.

Marcus noiselessly took a stand beside the extraterrestrial as the sun drew closer to the flat line of the ocean. The sun poked its fingers out from behind a smattering of silver clouds; nothing short of a divine painting in Marcus' opinion. He wasn't here for that, though.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Is this what a sunset on your planet looked like?" Marcus asked.

"My planet, K'un L'u, was part of a binary star system. There was always at least one star in the sky. It is interesting, your sunset and the subsequent 'nighttime' as you call it. I have only experienced nighttime once before when we, the world breakers..." It seemed to Marcus that the visitor did not want to discuss it.

He opened his hands towards her gently as if asking her to put something in them. "Uh, look, you've been here about a month now. You've been real quiet while you've studied everything about us you could. The General, he's not a patient man and would like to know why you're here or what we can do to help you. We're a little nervous – the General is anyway – he thinks you might be here to hurt us. Given your silence, he's a little concerned. Is there something you could tell us, K'un L'u, maybe more about where you've come from, how you came to be here or who these world breakers are you've mentioned?"

The statuesque alien turned her scaly, glossy black face towards Marcus. "You wish this? Very well. Your group gathers shortly for the evening ritual called 'dinner.' This evening, I will join you. I will explain and you will all listen. Your lives depend on it." She returned her gaze to the dying embers of the sun. A breeze fluttered her purple cape behind her.

A half hour later, Marcus, General Asak, Eshe, Lt. Lucian and Dr. Lefebvre pulled their chairs out and seated themselves at a polished wood grain table. Through large panes of glass, the dining room overlooked the night sky which was dotted with the brighter stars of the evening. In the adjacent kitchen, Captain Drake shuffled pots and pans back and forth which put the scent of chicken parmesan and asparagus in the air.

K'un L'u walked into the room shortly thereafter as the captain had begun placing dishes in front of each team member. To everyone else, she appeared entirely too formal given her gold armor, cape and a menacing rod at her hip. Those present acknowledged the alien with a nod but tried not to make too much of her presence for fear of making their guest uncomfortable. At the same time, K'un L'u stood still trying to make some sense of the seating arrangement as the natives attempted to ignore the alien in the room. To this visitor, there seemed to be no logic to where anyone was sitting. K'un L'u found these instances of disorganization unsettling.

The captain brought in the last plate for the group's company and was forced to speak up. He gingerly placed a hand on the alien's shoulder. "You can...why don't you sit there next to Marcus?" the officer pointed out to K'un L'u. Captain Drake's reasoning was that should she get out of hand, Marcus was best equipped to deal with it. At least that made sense. Then he placed a plate of food before the extraterrestrial's seat. K'un L'u looked at it quizzically, up and down and from side to side. "I'm not really the cook in my family," he clarified to the visitor. "I apologize if the food isn't...if you don't like it." After returning to the kitchen for his own plate, Captain Drake finally sat down across from the alien.

There were a few moments of silence as some members of the group picked up their forks and began stabbing their food while Marcus and Eshe both said quick prayers before eating. After his second swallow and a sip of red wine, General Asak cleared his throat but didn't look up.

"Marcus said you wanted to speak to us," the commander said.

K'un L'u picked up her fork hesitantly; it was the first time she'd ever done such a thing. The fork's lancets pierced the chicken which she brought in one piece to her mouth. She opened her mouth and bit into the flesh with sharp, snake-like fangs and a row of smaller sharp teeth. K'un L'u ground the food in her mouth slowly at first but picked up the pace before swallowing the bite. She looked up, but with no pupils in her red eyes or even eyebrows, the group couldn't tell what she had thought.

"This is chicken, a common animal you farm and eat?" she asked.

A question drew out of the captain's mouth like taffy. "Do you like it?" he asked.

"Given the proclivity of you humans to kill and eat other living things, I was expecting something much more appealing," K'un L'u answered plainly.

General Asak's fork dropped to his plate as he looked up. "Maybe next time we'll have steaks," he joked. Without normal eyes or eyebrows, a frown or a smile, it was difficult to read the extraterrestrial's mood. The general decided she didn't get it. "If you'd be so kind, K'un L'u from the planet of K'un L'u" – the veteran picked up his fork again and sliced his chicken with a knife – "Mr. Michaels says you have something important to speak to us about."

K'un L'u sat with her back straight, the very picture of posture. She pointed to her plate. "It is curious that you have taken this animal and plant life to consume and do not give it a second thought. Though I am already aware, tell me in your own words what philosophy gives you the right to make other life suffer?"

"If we don't eat, we'll be the ones that suffer," Captain Drake replied. He scratched his head; he didn't understand why she would ask such a thing.

"Yes, all living things require nutrients, Captain. However, yours is the only species I've ever encountered that has not evolved – technologically, physiologically or psychologically – to the point of avoiding the consumption of other living things in order to survive. Your species takes for granted your position at 'the top of the food chain' – a bizarre phrase – yet you never speculate that your assumed position is just that, an assumption." K'un L'u didn't possess many linguistic inflections. Every time she spoke, her voice was mostly flat and somewhat robotic. It made everyone feel like she was being condescending. And she was.

Marcus reached over with his fork and speared K'un L'u's chicken. He picked it up and set it on his own plate. "In the Bible, God gives mankind dominion over all other living things. Yeah, we shouldn't abuse this privilege but in the end animals and even plants are there to serve man's needs."

Eshe, who hadn't touched her food yet but sat and sipped her glass of water while keeping a careful eye on the alien, spoke up. "The Quran says something similar. Allah calls us – people – the successors of the Earth. And there are certain responsibilities that come with this edict. Marcus is correct; we have been given dominion over other life though we should not abuse it."

Erik Lucian, the lieutenant, chuckled a bit just before biting into his asparagus. "It's funny that Miss K'un L'u is bringing it up considering your powers, Eshe, right?" As his fork left his tongue, Erik looked around as he began to chew. No one was laughing. He stopped chewing.

K'un L'u noticed that the lieutenant's right hand was below the table and he was eating with his left hand. She thought he looked awkward. K'u L'u brought her own hands up and placed them and her armored forearms flat on the table on either side of her plate with a loud clunk.

Her speech put the spotlight back on Marcus and Eshe. "Yes, I've read about your gods. Again you fail to speculate, in this case what your beliefs would mean if tomorrow you found out you were not the dominant beings you thought you were but instead were mere fodder for another being."

The general swallowed a chunk of chicken and bared his teeth at the alien. "Are you threatening us?" The officer was casually dressed; flannel shirt and blue jeans. But the gun on his hip and the bullet in his voice indicated he'd fight to the death.

"No, I am not threatening you, General. But you are threatened by something much more powerful than myself. Your gods are not who or what you think they are. There is indeed a god but this god is insane. This being has spent millennia after millennia marching across the universe and left nothing but annihilation in its wake. They are a destroyer of worlds that has yet to be stopped. And they are without mercy. Unfortunately, this deity and its army – the world breakers – are coming here next. I have come to aid you. I am here to help prepare you," the extraterrestrial spoke matter-of-factly.

"This thing you think is a god has yet to be stopped? Any god that is a destroyer is not the one true God," Marcus snorted. "That means they can be stopped. Whoever these beings are, they've never messed with Earth before."

"It is my hope that your confidence is a virtue, Marcus Michaels. But in the history of the universe, none have been able to stop the world breakers. My planet – of beings far stronger than you humans – fell before them as well though we did inflicting heavy casualties. That being the case, I suspect that the world breaker army itself can be stopped, even if the deity cannot be," K'un L'u told them.

"So you think we can hold off a god's army? I suppose that's a compliment," General Asak beamed with a pinch of derision.

"Not your regular humans. No, they are far too weak in the flesh, too easily broken in spirit and your weapons are inferior at best," K'un L'u disagreed. "But you are fortunate that in recent history super humans have appeared. It gives your planet a small, though almost imperceptible chance. The problem is that you super humans are divided amongst yourselves. You will all need to stand together for your planet to survive."

General Asak took another sip of wine and tipped his glass toward their visitor. "And do you know why, K'un L'u of K'un L'u, why super humans have appeared on Earth? 'Cause I don't know and neither does anyone else. It seems very coincidental that super humans have come into existence and the next thing we know, aliens are appearing on Earth. What does your alien intelligence make of that?"

"It is not odd at all, General," K'un L'u stated. "Marcus Michaels is a Seedling that has manifested itself ahead of the arrival of the world breakers as prescribed in his DNA."

"I'm a what?" Marcus stopped his fork just short of his mouth.

"A Seedling. A Seedling is a being who gains extraordinary powers ahead of the arrival of the world breakers. This enables the invaded planet to fight back for a limited amount of time, thus giving the doomed world a glimmer of hope before that hope is snatched away. The purpose of this is to increase suffering." K'un L'u burned a look into Marcus with her red eyes, knowing what he was up to, where he was at the moment. "I know all too well as I am also a Seedling."

Marcus addressed the rest of the table before K'un L'u could resume speaking. "Normally, Seedlings are captured and inducted into the army of world breakers and their conquests continue. But...," he looked back at K'un L'u, "Earth is their final stop. We're the last planet in the universe to harbor sentient life. They're coming to kill us but not before they make us suffer; incredible, incredible suffering. Then they'll kill us. What happens after that, she doesn't know."

"You're inside her head, Marcus?" Eshe asked.

"Yeah," he slowly spun. "K'un L'u, show me more." And she showed him more.

K'un L'u, the Amazonian alien warrior queen, straddled a soft, plump, wooly mammalian caterpillar half her size. The curious animal squirmed beneath the glint of her gold armor, begging for mercy in its native tongue. "I am sorry, but neither of us has a choice," Marcus translated from K'un L'u's feelings. The last K'un L'u-ian prodded the animal with her rod, sending shrieking bolts of electricity throughout its body. The half-mammal, half-insect contorted time after time, its organs twisting so violently that they were eventually torn to shreds.

From over K'un L'u's shoulder came the voice of a fellow soldier. She turned around to face a gangly, green creature – an altogether different alien – who, at almost ten feet tall, would have cast a shadow over her. But this alien who Marcus translated to be Hyper Superion cast no shadow for over its shoulder stood an even taller being. Whomever or whatever this thing was – its name was unknown – was a shade of black so dense, it seemed to devour light itself.

"... is satisfied, K'un L'u. Return to the ship," Hyper Superion ordered her.

K'un L'u looked up in the sky towards the planet's star and noted a hideously beautiful black sphere suspended above in low orbit. Then she scanned the planet's horizon. Scattered among a hundred molehills lie thousands of still, rounded, furry insects twisted in all manners of unnatural shapes. Marcus felt K'un L'u's palatable regret which was overridden first by her survival instinct and second by a thirst for revenge upon the very army she was fighting alongside.

Fast forward two-hundred years. K'un L'u entered the bridge of the menacing black sphere after she suspects ... has gone into hibernation; something not unusual for this dark entity to do when the world breakers are many oscillations between invasions. She approached Hyper Superion and took a stand between the taller green alien and the ship's navigator, a gummy insectoid seated inside an orange web of light.

"You are not authorized to be here, K'un L'u. Return to your quarters," Marcus interpreted the green alien saying to her captain.

"I know," K'un L'u responded a moment before whipping her rod at the pilot and reaching up to grab Hyper Superion by the throat. The pilot was stunned unconscious by the feedback loop caused by the gunsmoke and silver-flecked rod crashing into the orange navigation matrix. At the same time, K'un L'u smashed Hyper Superion's head against the podium that held the lanky alien's pink data orb. Satisfied she had incapacitated her commander, K'un L'u bolted from the bridge as her rod flew back into her hand.

She had just entered the docking bay full of invasion ships when a broad, black, blue, red and silver mechanical man stepped in her way. Its hand and forearm fashioned itself into a spear and took a stab at caped warrior. She deflected the stab with her rod and threw a punch with her free hand that landed on the machine's side. The mechanical man didn't flinch as it brought a three-pronged foot down on top of K'un L'u, pinning her to the ground and then grinding away. The fingers of its other hand became whip-like extensions and slithered their way around her throat. K'un L'u herself thrashed about unsuccessfully while the mechanical man brought its square metal teeth down upon her rod to try and tear it away from her. As ever the case, K'un L'u's technology was not to be underestimated. Her rod, too, became snakelike and coiled itself around the mechanical creature's joints. In the next moment the rod snapped back into its original shape, breaking the machine apart at the seams.

K'un L'u immediately whipped herself to her feet and broke for one of the large, dark, dual purpose monoliths that served on one hand to transport world breakers and on the other hand as walls that cornered off their prey from escaping. She slipped inside the nearest ship and its wall rose to seal her inside. K'un L'u touched her rod to the ship's minimal navigation interface and fed her thoughts through the rod; it was a map to the world breakers' final destination; Earth.

As the monolithic ship floated away from the docking platform, the robotic creature had reassembled itself and jumped onto the flat surface of the craft. It began clawing viciously to gain access while another world breaker, a giant squid of sorts, slinked onto the docks and cast globs of corrosive jelly at the escaping craft.

When the rectangular monument reached the boundary of the black sphere, a voice came out of everywhere all at once. "LET K'UN L'U GO. PROCEED ACCORDING TO PLAN." The voice was so deep and resonant that it anguished every world breaker aboard, gripping them with pain before casting them into unconsciousness. The giant squid spread out across the dock's platform and the sentient machine fell away from K'un L'u's vessel as the hull of the black sphere allowed the craft to dissolve through into interstellar space. Wounded by her mechanical enemy, K'un L'u drove the ship to its top speed before diverting her attention to her injuries. It was going to be a long time before she saw another star again so she ordered the ship, through her rod, to place her into suspended animation and wake her upon arriving on Earth.

Marcus blinked his eyes furiously as he withdraw his access to the alien's thoughts. "Sorry for the welcoming we gave you," he said to K'un L'u. "It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. It took you a long time to memorize the map that brought you here. Any idea how long we've got before they arrive?" K'un L'u shook her head in the negative.

As Marcus spoke, he was cautious not to appear grim. The fact was that he felt energized, even happy, glimpsing the massacre of fuzzy caterpillar-like creatures as seen through K'un L'u's eyes. This made Marcus question his heart's desires; was he evil? The feelings were getting harder to ignore and disguise. Marcus thought he should feel more conflicted given his faith and it worried him that darkness spreading inside him almost felt natural. Deal with this later. Yeah, okay, deal with it later, Marcus thought to himself.

Marcus spoke to General Asak though he kept his eyes on K'un L'u. "She's for real, General. We've got serious trouble heading our way."

"That figures," the officer grunted as he dropped his fork again.

"I realize I appear as a female to your species. But on K'un L'u, we had no gender," K'un L'u mention to Marcus.

That's when Dr. Lefebvre interjected. "Pardon our ignorance, K'un L'u. About that; you may not be female but you are humanoid. Are humanoid lifeforms common?" the physician asked.

K'un L'u was direct to the physician. "Yes, the humanoid form as you call it was quite common throughout the universe. Why this is I do not know. But its time may be coming to an end. All life may soon come to an end."

Upon that sour note there was an absurdly long moment of silence. The curdling air was cut in two by Lt. Lucian who had cleaned off his plate with a speed common to military service members. "Are we having dessert tonight? Just asking, seeing how we might need the energy."

General Asak pushed his seat out and stood at the head of the table. He pushed his plate towards the young lieutenant. "I'm going to go make a call to the Pentagon. We're going back in."

July 19, 2020...Tokyo, Japan

Three men entered the East Garden of the Tokyo Imperial Palace with tourist brochures in hand. They looked inconspicuous as possible dressed in matching track suits though of different colors; a fit man in blue, an older, taller and thinner man in black and a snarling-faced man in a red jacket and black pants. They strolled as casually as possible around some ponds and occasionally adjusted their baseball caps, pulling them low to throw a shadow over their faces. After perusing the grounds they walked in unison to the edge of a moat, across from which high stone walls rose out of the water. Above the walls towered a white Edo-period castle with dark grey roofing.

The thinnest and most frail looking of the men stared fondly upon the simple but imposing structure; he could only imagine how it must have appeared to invaders centuries ago who had never seen such a building. He spoke Chinese to the man in blue immediately on his left.

"Sergeant Koo, sir, must we really destroy this building? It is a part of history," Than Xi – Ghost – asked almost inaudibly.

The mind reader did not turn to look at his underling but instead forced his response into Than Xi's mind. We have orders, Private Xi. You can either comply or I will force you to comply. Is that what you want? Or is the glory of China what you prefer?

Than Xi replied without saying anything aloud. Of course, Sergeant, we are here for the glory of China. The corners of Than Xi's mouth drooped.

Corporal Wang, would you like to fire the opening salvo? Sergeant Koo telepathically asked the man a step behind him.

The man nodded and removed his baseball cap to reveal a sliver of strange metal lodged in his skull just below his shaved hairline. A new era begins now. Glory to the new Chinese Empire, the late 20's soldier answered emphatically, without speaking. The sliver of metal in his head began to glow bright red until a slicing bolt of energy was unleashed upon the castle's wall. The lashing out threw scree into the air and nearly split the building before the men in two.

Sergeant Koo looked up into the partly sunny skies to observe a huge tank-like man falling towards the ground. Red Star and Armada, you two will tear the castle to the ground. Ghost and I will deal with the police and any military response, the fit sergeant ordered his men. Today, China rises anew.

...

At the same time in Washington, D.C., General Asak and Marcus were seated before the vice president's desk. The vice president herself appeared uncomfortable, like she was trying to maintain some kind of innocence after being caught red-handed taking cookies from the cookie jar. Flanking the former secretary of state but a step behind her stood an older officer and gentleman, Major Haggen.

"I said I was sorry," Vice President Hardy said coldly.

"You're sorry, Madame Vice President?" General Asak pointed a stubby, accusatory finger at the president's second. "Marcus Michaels is an American hero. Who knows whose hands the alien would've fallen into had Mr. Michaels not been on our side."

"The Mega Dudes may have had something more to do with that," the vice president reminded the officer.

"That aside," the general continued, "You cloned a super human – seven times – as a contingency plan to deal with Mr. Michaels? And you've lost them all to exactly the person Mr. Michaels warned us about?"

"Madame Vice President, I want you to know that I understand," Marcus interrupted. "You didn't have a good reason to trust me at first. It would have been better if this Anja girl had been brought into the fold like Ms. Elfar, but that's in the past now. We have a worse situation to deal with."

Major Haggen, who had been standing like a wooden plank, swayed like a tree in the wind when he spoke towards General Asak and Marcus. Her closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"The Nameless is in control of the Anja clones and you want us to prepare for an alien invasion at some undisclosed time in the future? Let's imagine a hypothetical scenario: assume the invasion takes place and the UNRT die fighting them off; who's going to stop The Nameless from taking over the world? Madame Vice President, I say we deal with The Nameless right away."

"I would love to and probably could have by now, but you guys are hand-cuffing me," Marcus snipped.

"How are we hand-cuffing you, Mr. Michaels?" the vice president asked.

"You don't want an international incident. I get that; you need permission for us to enter another country. But what we need to prepare for goes beyond countries. If you want us to deal with The Nameless first, you need to let us do it anywhere, anytime, however we see fit." When it came to his family's murderer, Marcus felt the need to assert his feelings on the matter.

A moment before finishing his sentence, an old-fashioned rotary phone on the vice president's desk rang. She didn't stop to excuse herself as she reached for the phone; when this phone rang, it was important. The three men in her office waited patiently as the politician 'hmmed' and 'uh-huh'-ed over the phone. "Help is on the way," the woman stated firmly. She returned the phone to its cradle and shook her head with pursed lips.

"You don't want to be hand-cuffed, Mr. Michaels? You've got it. Four Chinese super humans are tearing up the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and ordering Japan to surrender. The Chinese have either lost communications or are being silent on purpose. Go do what you have to do. The leash is off," Vice President Hardy shooed.

General Asak and Marcus turned to each other expectantly. "I'll need to take K'un L'u with me," Marcus advised.

"You think I'm going to say 'no,' kid. How fast can you get there?" the general answered.

"We'll be there in five minutes," Marcus grinned.

...

Amid the toppled walls and chunks of stone of the Imperial Palace, the UNRT along with K'un L'u appear out of a rippling of blue-and-white light. Marcus doubled over and fell to one knee, momentarily incapacitated.

"Marcus is gonna need a minute or two. Gaia, you're protecting him until he recovers. Once he recovers, you two will aid the police," Captain Drake – Air Force – said, assuming command. "I'll deal with the blaster first then help whomever needs it." Air Force pointed at Lt. Lucian, "You and K'un L'u are stopping that tank-looking whatever-the-hell-it-is."

K'un L'u twirled her rod in her hand. The alien didn't like taking orders but knew to bide the time until she could assess the strength of these super powered humans. Assessing their strength would provide critical intel K'un L'u figured, especially considering a heightened sense that told her that Air Force, Lt. Lucian, Armada and Red Star had both become infused with metal from her rod.

K'un L'u and Lt. Lucian began walking towards the heavily armored Armada who had just smashed its way through the base of the main building and stamped inside. "It is interesting that the metal from my rod has fused itself to the gauntlet Marcus fashioned for you, young man," K'un L'u talked to the shorter lieutenant. "Marcus told me this device will render the metal man useless. Before you do this, I would like to measure the strength of your enemy."

"Uh, you can call me Erik. And I'm not sure your plan is a good one. These guys might be a serious threat," Lt. Lucian answered falling a step behind.

"For the sake of your planet, you should hope that they are," K'un L'u barked before launching herself with a massive leap into the entryway left by the cyborg. She landed, sliding a bit across the floor, right behind the behemoth. "It looks as though the metal of my rod has fused itself to your armor, large one. Tell me, how strong has it made you?"

The tank-like man was about to knock out a pillar that was holding up the floor above it. The figure ground itself to a halt before it could fully wind up. Instead, it swiveled completely around at the waist to face the alien. "You," an electronic voice said in Chinese. The monstrosity of metal swung its arms apart and flattened its hands. It brought them together on either side of K'un L'u.

The alien spread out her own arms to prevent herself from being crushed but was not strong enough to fully stop the attack. "Aaaaargh," K'un L'u reverberated as she just barely held the cyborg's overwhelming hands at bay. Fearing she'd be crushed, K'un L'u let go and ducked beneath the hands while at the same time creating a large mace out of her shape-shifting rod. The tanker's hands smashed together with a boom. When it brought them back apart, K'un L'u stood and swung the mace upwards in an arc. The clash of unearthly metal against unearthly metal flipped Armada onto its back.

"Yes, it is me," the extraterrestrial answered the half-man, half-machine in Chinese. "You are fortunate in that your armor is infused with my rod's metal. You would have been destroyed just now otherwise."

Without replying, Armada's huge metal foot kicked out from the lying position and smacked K'un L'u against the stone wall. She let out a loud breath and fell out of the impact crater onto her knees. Armada whipped out its legs and threw itself into a standing position, a remarkable move for such a large and heavy creature K'un L'u thought. A steel cable from Armada's wrist bracer rang out and ensnared the alien around the neck.

K'un L'u's rod glowed for a moment before she cast it into a long sword and swung it in a circle to slice the earthly metal cable. Then she ducked under a punch, made the sword into a large round shield and body-checked the behemoth with as much force as she could muster. Armada staggered but did not come off its feet, so she led with the shield and body-checked the cyborg again. It waivered. Again. The third blow slammed the huge object through the building's foundation but collapsed overhead beams on top of K'un L'u's head. Annoyed but not hurt, the strange warrior shrugged off the wood and dust to stand face-to-face with Armada who was already back on its feet. Armada reared its fist and K'un L'u cocked the shield as it became a rod once again. Before either could strike, though, K'un L'u was blasted backwards by a slicing bolt of red plasma that left a scorch across her gold armor.

Lt. Lucian had ducked having taken notice of the Chinese man, Red Star, floating nearby just a moment earlier. Another minute closer to the action and he would have been decapitated. The junior officer raised his metal glove towards the man hovering forty feet off the ground and was about to unleash his nullifying power when the Chinese man started spinning like a top in midair. It was a controlled spin at first but then the man started wobbling uncontrollably until an invisible hand let go and made Red Star spiral hard to the ground. The man was not knocked unconscious but was surely hurt, his red and black track suit shredded by the rocky ground cover.

"Stop that battle suit," Air Force commanded the lieutenant as he took over the Chinese man's airspace. "I'll help Marcus and Gaia stop the other two." The captain sped off in his lightly armored blue-and-yellow pinstriped flight suit towards a line of police cars.

"This thing worked once," Lt. Lucian spoke to himself as he viewed K'un L'u get stomped into the ground by Armada. He looked at the gauntlet melded to his right hand. "Hope it works again," he finished as he tread carefully into striking distance.

Overwhelming the main entrance to the palace grounds were a score of police cars. Some were overturned by the gangly tentacles of the characteristically reserved Ghost who had thrown the vehicles about to prevent the police from taking cover. Also laying on the ground were many SWAT officers, most wounded but others shot to death when Whisper's mind control antics had them turn their weapons upon each other. Whisper stood among the dead and injured men smugly when a gale force wind came out of nowhere and swept him face first into a squad car, knocking the breath out of him.

Ghost had turned himself intangible when he felt like the wind would overtake him. He turned around to see Air Force coming towards him and would not be surprised if other super humans appeared on the scene. It did make him sad that he had to fight, though. The quiet Chinese man glided towards Air Force and met the flyer halfway. When they otherwise would have clashed together, Ghost turned his arms into a multitude of tentacles, turning back into solid mass and wrapping himself around Air Force like a human octopus. The captain tugged at the tentacle around his body while trying to maintain flight, but he started losing altitude.

Fortunately, a mass of bees so condensed and black swarmed Ghost's form and began stinging without remorse. Ghost became spectral once again to avoid a thousandth sting while Air Force had suddenly switched sides and created a tornado which gathered the bees and sent them into the stratosphere; Whisper's doing.

Gaia, shrouded by a cloud of moths, went undetected by Whisper as he focused on controlling her flying teammate. Using her emphatic power over other life forms, Gaia commanded the tree nearest to Whisper to uproot itself and throw itself down on the mind controller. Green leaves and branches smacked Whisper to the ground. Pinned, centipedes and roaches started crawling all over Whisper and biting him. Even if this wouldn't kill him, he'd be too distracted to use his powers, she assumed. Air Force had been released by now and stood in the sky facing the immaterial Ghost.

"Stop right now. Stop right now and we won't hurt you," Air Force demanded while pointing towards the ground.

"I don't want to fight," Ghost spoke back softly in Chinese, after which he felt himself become material again. In fact, he became so dense he sank like a rock and impacted on the ground like a miniature asteroid. The reserved man was not hurt by the fall and stood up from the small depression in the ground. "What is happening?" he asked himself as he noted the extreme heaviness of his arms. There wasn't much time to think about it as all of the air in his lungs was sucked out by Air Force. Unprepared for such an attack, Ghost clawed his neck and gasped desperately for a breath but passed out after a minute.

Striding up to the fallen Ghost was Marcus who pushed the Chinese man over on his back with his foot. Air Force landed beside Marcus.

"Nice work, Johnny," Marcus affirmed. "I hadn't thought of doing that."

"I've been trying to use my powers more creatively ever since the Kazan landing. How'd you turn him back into a regular person?" Air Force asked as Gaia approached them.

"Didn't. I reversed his powers," Marcus answered.

"I hadn't thought of doing that," Air Force replied. The two men laughed while some rumbling was heard in the background.

"They haven't stopped that thing yet?" Marcus questioned about K'un L'u and Lt. Lucian. He studied Gaia and Air Force for a moment. "Gaia, can you help K'un L'u and Erik out? Air Force and I need to talk to the mind reader." Gaia set off for the palace's main hall while Marcus and Air Force folded the fallen tree branches back to get a hold of Whisper who had injured his left leg under the weight of the tree.

Marcus reached down and grabbed the collar of Whisper's track suit and pulled him out from under a thick limb with nothing but his natural strength. He pulled the Chinese man up almost off his feet to bring the Chinese team leader eye-to-eye. A moment after staring at each other, Whisper's fingers curled and he cried out in agony until he bled a tear. Marcus smiled from ear to ear; he looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"What the hell are you doing to him?" Air Force wanted to know.

Marcus turned his head towards the captain. "As we approached him, I determined his weak point. He's a physic and a telekinetic, so I turned the tables on him with a full counter. The mental feedback he got when he tried to control me must've hurt real bad." Whisper groaned loudly but was still conscious.

"What the hell do you guys think you're doing here?" Marcus shook Whisper.

"We are soldiers of the People's Republic of China, soon to become a new Chinese empire. This is the first salvo in a war you and your allies cannot win." Whisper tried to sound cocky and defiant despite his injuries.

"Could've fooled me," Marcus retorted. "Doesn't look like you guys are doing so hot right now. We've already beaten three of you. As much as I'd like to keep giving you a hard time, I hate to tell you and your band of merry men that your Chinese pride shtick isn't going to stop what's coming to kill all of us."

"What are you talking about, American, more aliens?" Whisper's head bobbed and his eyes rolled back; he was fading.

"Actually, yeah, and this is what it looks like." Marcus pierced Whisper's mind with the memories he collected from K'un L'u.

Lt. Lucian was standing right behind Armada who had just landed two heavy blows against K'un L'u's shield. "This ought to be close enough," the junior officer spoke as he reached out his gauntlet. A moment later, it made a sound like a small jet flying by. The cyborg stopped fighting, stood up straight and paused for a few moments. K'un L'u lowered her shield just enough to look over its edge at the armored figure in front of her. Surprisingly, Armada quickly spun around at the waist once again and raised its huge fist overhead. K'un L'u could be fast but wasn't going to be fast enough to save the young man. Instead, the alien could only taste the surprise in Lt. Lucian's eyes. But as the heavy fist came down, the lieutenant's gauntlet became an even bigger hand than Armada's and caught the Chinese tank's balled up fingers in mid-swing.

"Holy shit!" the junior officer exclaimed. If Armada's programming allowed expressions, the cyborg would have been surprised, too.

Lt. Lucian twisted the captured fist back towards the heavens and exposed the side of Armada's torso. K'un L'u came in with a strike to the half-robot's exposed ribs with her rod which wrenched the cyborg sideways. The alien then raised her rod and smacked Armada under its helmeted jaw, snapping its head backwards. When Lt. Lucian released his grip, his metaled glove turned into a hammer and joined K'un L'u in taking shots at Armada, staggering the huge machine-man back a step at a time.

Not to be outdone, though, Armada began to spin around at the waist with its arms and hands extended. It smacked K'un L'u clear of the immediate area and Lt. Lucian was bowled over. He would have been killed had he not raised his hammering hand to protect himself. With the alien and her human accomplice temporarily neutralized, the tanker steadied itself to continue its attack. Calculating that K'un L'u was the bigger threat, Amada started towards the extraterrestrial who was pulling herself up alongside a large wooden pillar.

From all around, though, Armada's sensors became clouded by the flurry of thousands upon thousands of flying ants. From the ground, a blanketing army of smaller ants rose up the cyborg's legs and infiltrated the slotted vents through which the Chinese hulk expelled heat. Sacrificing themselves for the greater good, the ants electrocuted themselves as they chewed Armada's wiring, causing the half-robot to jerk to and fro. Recognizing the upper hand, K'un L'u threw her rod at Armada's feet and watched it form a gigantic ball around Armada, effectively trapping the cyborg inside. An occasional fist rammed up against the inside of the makeshift prison but did not break through.

Standing casually among the partial ruins of the palace's foundation in her beige pant suit, Gaia sounded business-like. "Were the two of you playing with that thing? That is not why we are here."

"That thing is really strong and my glove's neutralizing power didn't work on it," Lt. Lucian panted as he defended himself and the alien. "Came with some other neat tricks, though," the young officer grinned at K'un L'u.

"Your gauntlet's power did not work because my world's technology cannot be used against itself except as a blunt instrument," K'un L'u explained as she put a hand on the spherical cage. "Lt. Lucian is correct; this being – a cyborg is what you call it? – is exceptionally strong. This will be helpful to our cause."

"I'm glad you think so, K'un L'u. But I don't know how we are going to convince the Chinese to help us," Gaia said. The trio stood there to monitor their prisoner whose chewed circuits were making its jailbreak less possible by the minute. Farther afield, the situation was only marginally better.

"It is an American lie," Whisper objected at the visions in his head.

"It is true," Marcus insisted as he shook the wounded soldier. "You know you can't fake these memories, the emotions. You think you can fight these aliens off by yourselves? Hell, five of us just kicked your asses. But if you join us, there might be a China after it's all over."

Whisper – once a naïve and humble private, now a sergeant – couldn't imagine his country not existing. If China didn't exist, he didn't exist. But he saw the visions Marcus forced into his head, felt what K'un L'u had gone through and though he relished the thought that any other country would perish at the hands of an alien invasion, knew his own country would perish, too. He wondered if it was worth making a deal with the foreigners in order for all of their countries to survive. Maybe if they survived the impending invasion, Whisper and his team could bring China to new glory then.

"We'll help you for now, American. But do not think that this makes us friends," Whisper settled.

"We just need to get along long enough to save the planet," Marcus replied. "After that we can all get back to fighting each other. But as you can see, you don't want to piss me off." Marcus let go of Whisper's jacket and the Chinese man slowly placed his head down on the pillow of the earth.

"Is he okay?" Air Force asked.

"Yeah, I just turned his brain off for a little while. He's sleeping," Marcus explained. "Let's round these guys up and get back to our little hideaway. We need to plan our next step."

...

Hours later, Sgt. Koo's eyes flickered to life. He was lying on a bed of white sheets in a pale yellow room. The shade of the walls was made brighter by an influx of light through a window on the other side of the room. He sat up quickly which caused his head to pulsate. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a tall, gold-gleaming figure to his left. Sgt. Koo looked to see K'un L'u standing beside him. Instinctually, he tried to take control of her mind. The alien didn't budge.

"I have prepared for your powers. You cannot have control of my mind without my consent, one who identifies as Whisper," the unwavering, shiny black-skinned warrior spoke. "Behave and I will control my own mind so that I do not kill you."

July 30, 2020...Ninewa province, Iraq

Two rusty, rickety olive-green flatbed trucks with canopies over their hold kicked up dust upon their approach to a training compound's front gate. Deathcamp helmed the wheel of the first truck and strangely enough, steered the second truck as well. The second driver followed closely behind the leading vehicle, close enough to see seven more of himself sitting in the rear of that transport. The seven Japanese men sat on either side of the glorious freedom fighter/notorious terrorist, Khalid Atef. Sitting on the floor among all these men was an Australian cameraman whose heart was in his throat. The cameraman checked his video camera's setting over and over again; the only way to remain remotely calm.

In the back of the second truck sat five clones of Anja, the young Madagascan woman who was covered from neck to toe in beige tactical wear. She stared straight ahead unfazed by the mission's requirements much less the severely pot-hole lined dirt road. Graveyard, Shadow Princess and the girl with one arm, Madina, sat among the compliant clones. Sitting on the floor among them was a second, Arabian cameraman. Knowing they were close to the gates, Graveyard leaned towards the videographer.

"Do your job and you'll be released unharmed. If you don't do your job, everything I shown you will become a reality," Graveyard warned through his skull mask. The enforcer leaned back and half-heartedly brushed dust off the lapel of his expensive suit.

What could the cameraman do? He bristled with nervous energy in anticipation. Either he'd be shot by the terrorists or not video the operation to the Indian man's satisfaction. At least he could try to do his job right or die trying. Yes, these were both better options than Graveyard's visions coming true.

The one, true Deathcamp stuck a hand out the leading truck's window and made an 'okay' sign. He lowered his hand and made a fist which he used to rap on the thinning metal of the driver's door; that was everyone's cue. Deathcamp sped the truck up towards the guard shack but slowed down as men in black garb jumped in front of the gate. They waved and pointed their AK-47's purposefully, ready to use their weapons. Deathcamp stopped the vehicle, raised his hands and sighed as he listened to the loud, angry chattering of an unfamiliar tongue.

Wearing royal blue American army fatigues, Khalid Atef jumped out of the back of the truck and came around front pointing his finger at the three guards. "You!" he spoke in Arabic to the closest man, a Syrian insurgent. "You, open the gate immediately or I will kill you a thousand times!"

The Syrian's mouth opened but words were lacking. He jawed several times and held his weapon at half-mast until he found his voice. "I apologize, sir. We didn't know you had left the compound," a shaky voice defended itself. The Syrian's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the truck. "Sir, again, I apologize. Ah, why is the driver of the truck an Asian man?"

"You dare question me!" the bearded leader erupted. "I said I would kill you a thousand times but instead I will just kill you once. Khalid Atef drew a sidearm and a shot spiraled out of the gun's barrel and into the Syrian's head. The remaining two guards looked unsurely at each other before one of them ran towards the shack to raise the gate and the other radioed up his chain of command.

The man clicking the button on his short-range radio suddenly found himself face-to-face with a deathly looking twin. The disturbing grey character snatched the radio away from the man and drove a combat knife into the radio man's abdomen. The doppelganger twisted the knife, raised it and pulled it out at an angle, eviscerating the guard. The guard raising the gate never saw his double who had come up from behind and crushed the base of his neck with the wooden stock of its AK-47. Both shadowy figures became wisps of smoke once their respective hosts were killed.

Dressed in the latest fashionably-expensive and skintight athletic wear, a Brazilian women wearing sex as an accessory walked upon behind Khalid Atef and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I thought you were aiming for subtly until we got inside the compound, amour," she pouted her lips.

"I lied, Princess," the leader of the terrorist cell frowned. "I admit wanting to be the one who struck first. Cameras are rolling?" asked the principle terrorist as he morphed into a taller, skinnier yellow man.

"Of course," Shadow Princess slipped back. She motioned 'come hither' to the cameramen behind her as the rest of their company spilled out of the trucks and advanced through the gate. A wailing sound woke from its nap and pierced the desert air. "We're on the air," she quipped like a game show hostess.

As Thiha's group walked into the main corridor between two concrete buildings, they walked as a singular huddled unit. Armed Arabic men swarmed the rooftops and entered the streets. Each man's nose and mouth were concealed by black scarves which served to accentuate their rabid, hate-fueled eyes. Each man took aim at the strangers with their fingertips poised to trip their triggers. Gunfire exploded from every possible angle but it was some of the compound's men who were struck by the gunfire ricocheting off Thiha's force field.

Thiha reached his hand out behind him and curled his first two fingers. "Now, dear Madina," he said.

The young, one-armed woman closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on Thiha; she concentrated on accelerating his powers. "You're ready, sir," she replied upon opening her eyes. Lowering his fists to either side, Thiha ordered Madina to give Graveyard and Shadow Princess a boost as well.

Despite their best efforts to keep their fingers on their triggers, every weapon – every gun, rifle, bayonet, every small vehicle, every clothing button or fastener, in fact everything belonging to the compound's men that was metal – was ripped away and flew hastily into the air to reach a height unattainable by the black clothed soldiers. Most men rubbed their wrists after straining to hold on to their weapons but soon forgot their injuries as they watched all the metal dance like angels above their heads before bending into useless shapes. The men then had to run for cover as the metal fell out of the sky as a hard rain.

Undaunted, the real Khalid Atef appeared at the far end of the first two concrete buildings. "Kill them with your bare hands! Do it now!" he demanded all his men. Black masked men with wild in their eyes ran in crazed zigzags toward Thiha's group. In response, Thiha's group fanned out into a wedge formation with Deathcamp and Anja clones intermingled, flanking either side. Deathcamp and his lot drew their swords and Anja's clones took off their gloves.

Within several feet of the invading formation, the counter-attacking wave of thirty some-odd Arab men sank to their knees and looked with despair towards the sky with outstretched arms; they were blanketed by an overwhelming fear that their god, Allah, did not exist and this made their cause for naught. "I was wrong!" screamed one Arab man whose neck tantalized the edge of one Deathcamp's samurai sword. "There is no Allah! Spare me and I will be loyal to you," the man pleaded with the Japanese soldier. "Kill me now; there is no reward in this life or in heaven," another Muslim implored. The distraught men begged for mercy in every direction underneath the multiple hands of Deathcamp and Anja.

One Deathcamp smiled for a brief second, looked at Graveyard, tilted his head at Thiha, and slowly blinked his eyes. 'Kill them,' the unemotional blanket order came from Thiha. Heads rolled onto red soaked sand while other Arab men evaporated into ashes on the day's light breeze.

Khalif Atef took a step back in disbelief before regrouping. "They are infidels! Kill them or they will kill you!" Atef's few remaining men grabbed whatever was handy – glass bottles, a plank of wood, wiring – and created a second attack wave that poured between the buildings and separated their leader from Thiha's crowd. Before the men could bunch together, though, they were disposed by mirror images of themselves that beat on them as viciously as they intended to do to their enemy. The men that managed to fend off their doppelgangers were no match for a certain woman's killing touch; they turned to ash before the pale blue, indifferent eyes of Anja.

Khalif Atef began to run from the compound out the back gate while the last of the religious fighters had hastily collected small homemade bombs to hurl at Thiha's group. Explosion after explosion rocked the compound's buildings, but when the dust cleared it was apparent that a half-domed force field had completely protected the invaders. Then Graveyard stepped in front of Thiha and took over the battle. Every Arab man within a hundred yards fell to the ground in the fetal position with their eyes shut so hard that the veins in their eyeballs burst. The men babbled incoherently until their throats gagged with fluid. The last bit of resistance literally had their hearts explode with fear.

In the distance, another hundred yards or so away, Thiha spotted Atef running from the scene. "Are you still filming?" Thiha asked the Arab cameraman. The videographer shook so much that the thin man had to assume he did nod in the affirmative. "Make sure you get this next bit," Thiha smirked.

The leader of this incursion reached out a hand and found the fleeing Atef still within the reach of his telekinesis. Thiha drew the man backwards, making Atef's heels dig trenches beneath his feet. Once the zealot was close enough, the freedom fighter/terrorist was hurled through the air directly into the waiting hands of Graveyard. The Indian held the man aloft by his neck with Atef's pointed toes scraping the dust off the ground.

"You are Khalif Atef, the regional leader of the Islamic State?" Thiha asked in Arabic.

Graveyard relaxed his grip only enough to let the man speak. "I am Khalif Atef. You have captured me but I will not speak. I am not afraid of you. If you kill me, a thousand will rise up in my place. The world will come under the rule of Allah no matter the cost."

"He is very defiant," Thiha laughed in English as he looked around at the members of his small army. He returned to the Arabic tongue. "I have no interest in making you talk. I am indeed here to kill you and the thousands that rise up in your place." Thiha looked into the cameraman's lens. "I am here to do what the rest of the world's governments will not which is eliminate the threat posed by those who wish to cast people's lives into darkness. If governments will not protect its people from the likes of you, I will. I can make the world safe." Thiha turned away from the camera and spoke in English once more. "I will make the world safe. This is because I have the power of a god. All of my companions do," Thiha gestured to the various members of his group. "While we want to be loving gods, we can also be vengeful gods. We will do what is necessary to bring about the peace the world's governments only say they want."

Thiha motioned for Anja to step forward towards Atef. Then he pointed at Graveyard to release Atef. Graveyard dropped the man into his boot, kicking Atef in the gut which left the prey gasping for air in the dirt. "I have imagined a death suitable for you, Khalif Atef. I have decided you will be killed by a woman. The insult is very intentional, I assure you," Thiha said in Arabic.

Atef looked up just in time to see Anja's place her palms on either side of his head. Like the human equivalent of someone taking a long, quick drag on a cigarette, the terrorist turned into a column of ash.

Thiha turned towards one of the cameras while he lost his smile. "This is not a favor to the civilized world. There is no civilized world. But when we are done," Thiha tapped the lens of the camera, "there will be."

December 15, 2057...Manhattan, New York

Melanie walked towards the edge of the skyscraper's rooftop with Christopher trailing behind her.

"I'm sorry if it feels like I'm pressuring you but you've barely talked to me for a day now." Christopher took Melanie by the arm to try and slow her down. "Did the old man tell you something?" he asked as his breath condensed in the air between them.

Melanie shook off his hand and started warming up, literally. "Nah, he didn't tell me anything." She paused. "He let me read The Book."

"What?" Christopher put up his hands as if in defense. "What did you read? Something bad?"

"The Book, it knew things 'bout the past, accurately. And if it's all accurate..." Melanie trailed off and looked out towards the horizon. "I need ta go clear my head."

Christopher grabbed her arm again but let go to spare himself a burn. "Ow! Don't do that. Stay here and talk to me. I don't want to be with someone who can't talk to me."

Melanie faced the edge of the building until her enveloping flame snuffed itself out. She dropped her head. "Do ya know why the old man doesn't want ya ta read The Book?"

"Yes," Christopher answered. "If we know too much about the past, he's afraid we'll change something, assuming that's even possible. And if we change something, he's afraid it will change everything."

"The invasion, do ya know about the invasion?" Melanie asked.

"A little. I know we're all there. The Mega Dudes, Third Power, UNRT, the Chinese and the thin man and his followers," Christopher said.

Melanie put a question to the Mega Dude softly. "Do ya know you're going ta die during the invasion?"

Christopher stared at Melanie blankly. His lips were parted but he didn't say anything for a minute. He started to speak under his breath. "How can I die in the past and be here today?" he asked mostly himself. He knew, though, that such a scenario was entirely possible. His own timeline was linear no matter how much jumping back and forth between the past and present he did. He cleared his throat and steeled his eyes.

"Doing what we do, whether we say it out loud or not we accept the dangers. We do what we do despite the risk because it's the right thing to do." He was trying to convince her as much as himself.

Melanie half turned towards him. "And what about us? Do I want ta keep getting ta know a dead man? Isn't love important? Isn't it the most important thing in the universe?"

"Is the love between two people more important than the lives of billions of people who also want to love?" Christopher surprised himself. Ugh, I'm starting to philosophize like Rock Star, he thought.

"So I'm not that special to ya?" she asked as she looked back at the skyline. "That's too bad. Ain't a lot a people can keep up with me." She smiled sadly.

Christopher blinked furiously, dumbstruck. "I try to love everyone equally. It has been difficult with you; yes, there is something about you that makes me think about you more. A lot more."

The two heard shuffling steps and the clack of a cane behind them. The old man with curly white hair and his constant companion, Madina, walked up and stood beside Christopher.

"It is time for you to go home now, Miss Conrad," the old man tapped his cane grumpily.

Melanie nodded with a frown. "Just as well, I suppose," she replied.

"Wait," Christopher stated. "What do you know about the invasion? Am I going to die?" he asked the older man.

The old man and Madina looked at each other for a moment. Then the man's aged lips opened. "Yes. You will die during the invasion." It was a fact spoken unemotionally.

Christopher's heart rate increased and butterflies rebelled in his gut. "How much time do I have?"

The old man set his cane before him with both hands and looked down. "I cannot answer that. I cannot tell you how either."

Saline pooled around the edges of Christopher's eyes as he looked at Melanie. "You're not sending her back. She's staying here," he demanded.

The old man looked up eyes wide. His jaw muscles tensed. "She is going back. You do not have a say in this."

Madina slipped her lone hand out of the sleeve of her dark pea coat and pulled the collar tighter around her neck. She closed her eyes and focused on the old man. A rippling circle of air danced at the edge of the building in front of Melanie.

Convection currents distorted the air around Melanie. She was locked in a gaze with Christopher but spoke out the side of her mouth towards Madina. "Hey, one armed lady. The old man can give ya your arm back, so why don't you let him?"

Without opening her eyes, Madina replied instinctually so that her concentration wouldn't be broken. "You Westerners take so much for granted. I choose to live with one arm; it reminds me of the hell this world used to be. It reminds me to stay focused on making this world better than it was before. It reminds me of the sacrifices that are necessary to bring forth the greater good." Madina paused. Maybe her words wouldn't be lost on the younger woman. "Go! We can't keep the portal open much longer."

Melanie kissed Christopher goodbye with her eyes. "We coulda been somethin.' See ya soon, babe."

Melanie engorged herself in flames and jumped into the circle of light. At breakneck speed with the wormhole collapsing, Christopher plunged after her. The old man dropped his cane and fell on his hands and knees. Blood trickled out of his mouth and onto the toe of Rock Star's boots before the sound manipulator scooped him back up. Rock Star stood him up with Madina's help and the pair helped the old man limp towards the stairwell. A voice of surprise chimed in from behind them.

"Where the hell are we?" Kaitlin wondered atop Manhattan.

"I told you we were from the future," Rock Star answered without turning back. "You're not supposed to be here. Or maybe you are."

...

A few hours later in the evening, Kaitlin found herself walking the city blocks with VinZenT. She'd been to New York City once in her life when she was eighteen, when she visited her American boyfriend at the time. Long distant relationships never work out if you're not there to see the other person change; Kaitlin felt that way about Manhattan now. Many of the buildings were the same; grimy but with an energetic charm, though much fewer people roamed the streets in the future. Kaitlin remembered hearing a slew of foreign accents walking down the pavement in America's Great Melting Pot but here, in the future, the Melting Pot seemed to have evaporated many of its ingredients. It was still New York City, but long gone was its seedy underbelly, its constant threat of something unsavory that once gave the metropolis so much electricity. Low watt street lamps teemed like a forest to cast any light on the evening's proceedings.

For a couple of blocks VinZenT made small talk with Kaitlin as she listened to him with half an ear while observing the city all of her eyes. VinZenT stopped her at the door of one business whose aroma of stewed wine, red-and-white checkered curtains and small, antique yellow table lamps held the promise of Italian food. My dad's place, Kaitlin thought she heard VinZenT say.

Kaitlin finally passed the shock of being in the future when VinZenT pulled out her seat for her without lifting a finger of his own. As he slid the chair underneath her and towards their table for two, her mind began to cohere and synthesize what she'd seen so far. The time for small talk had passed.

"Do you ever wonder how we got our powers, what happened?" Kaitlin put to VinZenT as he sat down across from her.

"Oh, we know how we got our powers," he answered almost dismissively. "The old man gave us our powers; me, Brawl Boy and Rock Star anyway. Christopher is a little more complicated but it's not like we're the result of some mad scientist's experiment or a random accident like you read about in old time comic books."

"Uh huh. And who is the old man, the guy Rock Star and that Madina girl were helping? Who's he exactly? You know, I've met him. He's the one that put me in touch with Melanie and Ella."

"That is the old man, yes," VinZenT nodded. "We're not really sure exactly who he is. He talks a bit like someone with both know, someone in the past with a certain vision. But they don't look that much alike."

"If he can shape shift then it would be the person I think you're talking about," Kaitlin spoke as she lifted a glass of wine to her lips. "Mmm, this is really good wine." She took another sip and slipped it over her tongue a few times. "It's really good. But the texture, there's something different, something...unusual. It's not a bad thing, just unusual."

"You'll never guess why," VinZenT smiled. "Thing is, that's not really wine, not like you know it. We actually don't harvest plants or animals for food or drink anymore." Kaitlin didn't quite understand but VinZenT's hand on her own assured her he'd explain. "Something happens – in your future, our past – that made us understand that all life is precious. All life. So instead of getting food from plants and animals, we synthesize almost all of it."

Kaitlin threaded her fingers between VinZenT's and responded a bit robotically, "Human beings are no more special than any other life form; the experiences of one life form are as important as any other's, especially when it comes to suffering. We've got to stop life from suffering." With her other hand, Kaitlin took a grand sip of wine.

VinZenT smirked and unlaced his hand. "Sounds like you got that from Rock Star," he laughed. "You almost had me."

"Did not," Kaitlin pretended. "I've got a mind o' my own, you know. A girl can have opinions."

"Yes you can," VinZenT replied. "As long as you don't hurt anyone with them, not physically anyway. That's a big no-no these days."

"But what if they want to be hurt?" Kaitlin asked. They looked at each other with suspicious eyes.

"Meaning?" VinZenT asked.

Kaitlin leaned forward and whispered, "Sex can get a little rough sometimes. Some people enjoy a little pain with their pleasure."

VinZenT slouched back and slung an arm over the back of the chair. "I'm usually the one who does the seducing. You're barely giving me a chance to get started."

Kaitlin was still leaned forward so that her words didn't stray too far. "Sorry," her mouth stretched at the edges. "It's just that I haven't had a good roll in the hay since I got my powers. Your friend wasn't that interested; maybe he's not a real rock star."

"John's a smart guy. More likely he's read up on your powers like I have. We even talked about it when we got drunk one night, how sex with you might work given the exchange of...energy. We never came to a conclusion beyond the likelihood that it would be dangerous," VinZenT conversed unapologetically.

"You talked about me? I think I feel a little bit dirty!" Kaitlin cursed under her breath. She leaned closer in. "Do you want to do something about that?"

"Life is important. Experiences are important," VinZenT lifted his glass and swirled the wine a little. "So let's live a little. Though, we really should finish our wine first."

Not that he needed to but Kaitlin figured making a woman wait was part of his seduction technique. Men are so much simpler when it came to seducing them, she knew; be a bit forward, bat your eyes and smile. So who seduced who here? It didn't matter as long as life was going to be lived consensually between the two.

The next morning...

"Time to wake up, Ms. Grant."

The Mega Dudes' sponsor was sitting on the edge of the bed. Kaitlin slowly opened her eyes to the morning glow made all the more luminous by the white décor of VinZenT's apartment. She lifted her eyes to the old man and then over his shoulder at Madina. The first of the Third Power pulled the bed sheet tighter to her chest for privacy then turned over towards VinZenT who was still sleeping by her side.

"Don't worry, Ms. Grant. I assure you that he will not wake up," the embattled lips of the man spoke.

"What do you want?" Kaitlin asked in a low, flat voice.

"It is time for me to send you home." A wrinkled yellow hand placed itself on her shoulder.

"What if I don't want to leave yet?" Kaitlin said flatly once again as she fixed her eyes on the slumbering Italian man.

"I am afraid I must insist. What has happened cannot be ignored. You were there and so it must be." The old man leaned on his cane to stand up. Kaitlin rolled over and leaned up on her elbow.

"Where? Where was I? Why are you lot so focused on making sure the past happens?" she questioned.

The senior scoffed as if it were obvious. "If the past does not happen exactly as it did, the pleasure you experienced last night will never have happened. Your life will never have happened. Nothing will ever have happened." Kaitlin rolled her eyes and started to roll over once again.

"Do you still think about becoming a god, Ms. Grant? Do you still entertain the thin man's offer?" Kaitlin stopped in mid-turn and came back around. The old man continued.

"You are more inclined to side with your friends than him, I know. But unlike the others you are still waiting for him to convince you. You want him to convince you. Do you know that with an ascension in power, we take on more responsibility than most of us are ever prepared for?" Kaitlin glared at the white-haired man and said nothing. "By all means, continue to think about it. But there will not be much time for that. You will soon attain more power than you could ever imagine. Believe me, you will not like it."

Kaitlin's voice went nasally as her nose crunched up. "Because you know the past."

The old man looked away. "I know the past. I know what happened those fateful days. And I know your history with men as well."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" The super woman reached back to shake VinZenT while keeping her eyes on his benefactor. The Mega Dude was dead asleep and wouldn't wake up, so Kaitlin reached for her clothes at the foot of the bed. She began to dress herself beneath the sheets.

The senior shook his head softly. "You will see what I mean very shortly." He turned towards the one-armed woman. "If you will, Madina, my dear." The one-armed woman said nothing. She did nothing but close her eyes.

"I am sorry, Ms. Grant. I am so, so sorry," the old man said as a rippling disc of blue-and-white light appeared between him and the English woman. "I am more sorry than you will ever know. But time...is immutable."

Kaitlin peeked out from the covers and before she could even gasp at the sight of the disturbance, she was swallowed by the vortex of time.

August 20, 2020...Kansas, USA

A few hours earlier, Christopher and Melanie found themselves plunging out of the sky. They quickly took control of their fall and lofted back into the air from where they could assess the world below them. But first, they would discuss the world between them.

"Chris, whatta ya doing here? You're from the future. Ya shoulda stayed there," Melanie advised.

"My future is you. I should stay with you, that's what I should do. Whatever happens, happens; it can't be changed," Christopher responded.

"Are ya sure? No matter what, you're gonna die during the invasion?" Melanie voice trembled a little. She wasn't so sure the future was immutable. She wanted to be told it could be changed.

"As far as we know, the future can't be changed. As far as we know, nothing at any point in time can be changed." Christopher dipped up and down on the summertime convection currents before swooping in close enough to risk burning himself. The following statement he made clear and punctuated. "That means that I am supposed to be right here with you right now."

Melanie smiled, then frowned. "When I was readin' The Book, it was hard ta understand the time table. I don't know how much time ya have."

"I'm not going to stop living because I know I'm going to die. We're all going to die someday. So let's make the most of whatever time we do have," Christopher softened.

The flyers looked to the ground far below them. A nondescript highway with nothing noteworthy but a roadside diner marked the terrain. Looking around the horizon, there wasn't much else in any direction.

"There must be a reason why we're here," Christopher noted.

"Then let's have a look," Melanie warmed up.

She shot like a cannon to the surface, pulling up at the last moment so that her landing wouldn't have the dire consequences a meteor impact otherwise would. Christopher fluidly sailed in and put his boots to the ground beside her. They closed the distance between themselves and the diner with their eyes and ears open, alert just in case.

Ella, wearing an oversized baseball cap and sitting in an old, cushioned booth lowered the lemon meringue pie from her lips as she peered out the window and saw them coming. A little boy in the booth in front of her pointed furiously, insisting to his mother that she turn around and Look! Look! But before the mother could catch a glimpse of them, the super couple disappeared as though they'd never been there. The mother initially thought she'd caught something in her peripheral vision though maybe she was wrong, so, she dismissed the child's insistence as simple, youthful antics. A moment later she noticed that Ella in the booth in front of her was also suddenly gone.

Under sunny skies but cool air dotted with tiny goblets of light, Ella appeared instantaneously in front of Christopher and Melanie. "Do you two know how to be discreet? This may be the middle of Kansas, but that's not an excuse to be in costume." The older African-American women thought for a moment and continued. "Do you need to be in costume right now? And where did Kaitlin and Rock Star go? Rock Star walked out on breakfast a minute ago and Kaitlin insisted she had to follow him."

Christopher and Melanie turned towards each other with enquiring eyes. They turned back towards Ella. Melanie lifted her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothin' goin' on that we're aware of," Melanie said. "Where are we?" she asked looking at the roadside diner's sign.

"More like where have you been? 'The future according to Rock Star. Did you have a good time?" The tone in Ella's voice was sardonic.

"Not really," Melanie's chin lowered.

"The Pull," Christopher interjected. "If two of us came here to the past, that means two people had to go to the future. Your friend Kaitlin must be with Rock Star."

Ella rolled her eyes and head. She reached into the front pocket of her white pants and retrieved a set of keys. She tossed them to Melanie, which the mistress of fire caught. "That's our SUV over there," Ella nodded towards a blue rental. "I'm going to get the food we were all eating packed up and I'll meet you there in a minute."

She could have been where she was going much quicker or even yesterday, but Ella took the wheel instead. Gravel crunched under the SUV's tires as the trio pulled out of the parking lot. The digital compass on the dashboard indicated they were headed east. Nobody said anything for several minutes until Melanie became restless in the passenger seat beside Ella.

"Where we goin'?" Melanie tried to ask innocently.

"Dodge City, Kansas. Home," Ella said flatly. She didn't take her eyes off the road. "I'm going home. I ain't doing this anymore. I got family to look after. So do you, Mel."

Christopher leaned forward and put a hand on Ella's shoulder. "It must be difficult to be away from your family for so long. But you can't quit this. You have powers, powers you can use to help make the world a better place."

Ella shrugged his hand off. "I don't have to use my powers for anything. It was exciting at first, but you guys..." she looked at Melanie "...didn't need my help for all that. You would've gotten it done on your own. All that super hero business did was take me away from my family and remind me how horrible human beings can be."

"I've been ta the future," Melanie said. "It gets better, the world I mean. But it's not goin' ta get better unless we do what we can do."

Ella shot Melanie wide, annoyed eyes. "And what might happen in the process? Do you know there was video of that fight we had in Russia with the Chinese? You disappeared after that fight. Your son probably thinks you're dead after what that bruiser did to you."

Melanie's chin lowered again. Ella set her eyes back on the road.

"After that, I went with Kate and Rock Star to Australia. You know what happened there? We tried to take down a top trafficker and I wound up in a conversation with the thin man. He wants to make the world a better place, too. Now I don't know who has the best ideas about what makes the world a better place but I can't help feeling like I'm a pawn in everyone else's game. I'm not a pawn. And I don't want to die doing this. And I don't want to be away from my family anymore."

Christopher slumped back, himself annoyed. "When it comes to making the world a better place, I'm pretty sure putting a big dent in human trafficking counts. Isn't that worth some risk to yourself? Isn't that worth a little time away from your family?"

"What's more important, Christopher?" Ella began, "Making yourself and your family happy or risking that in order to help everyone else?"

"Maybe you just need to find a balance," Christopher looked out the window.

"Mel, do you have a problem with me going home?" Ella asked.

"Naw, not really," Melanie said quietly as she remembered The Book.

"Funny, Christopher, your friend Rock Star didn't have a problem with it either. When I told him and Kate I wanted to go home, Kate was upset at first. Then your boy whispered something to Kate and suddenly she didn't have a problem with it either. So that means I'm going home." Ella's hands were steady on the wheel.

Melanie turned and nodded to Christopher. Christopher folded his arms.

"Fine," he relented. "I still think that if you have powers, you have an obligation to use them for good."

"Yeah, well, a lot of people who have power use it to abuse other people. I abused my family when I went off to use mine," Ella countered.

"Maybe some things are bigger than us," Melanie thought out loud. "Maybe we should start thinking of everyone as family."

"That's going to get awkward between us," Christopher spoke towards Melanie in a rare moment of comedic wit.

Everyone laughed as the load lightened. Melanie was happy she was having this kind of effect on Christopher. Christopher was pleased whenever Melanie smiled. Ella was glad that they stopped arguing with her.

In a few hours, Ella would walk through the doors of her house and maybe not be greeted by her ailing mother who sometimes forgot things. Ella, though, could never forget who cared for her as a child. Save the world or repay the debt? For Ella, the most important part of the world lay in a small space. In that small space, Ella was certain of her place.

August 26, 2020...Western Wall, Jerusalem

Despite the exceedingly hot, dry air, Abhi Basak strode comfortably into the Temple Mount's courtyard in his standard three-piece suit. His violet tie was loosened, the collar of his white dress shirt was undone and he took swigs of water from a bottle at regular intervals. A hat complimenting his attire kept the sun off his head and his eyes in the shadows. Madina walked beside him in a modest dark-tan dress down to her ankles and wore a white-and-blue paisley-patterned scarf to cover her head, chest and arms. Though in reality she had but a single arm, their infiltration of the holy site called for a prosthetic arm to prevent any undue scrutiny.

The couple set themselves in the center of a group of people waiting to take their turn at the Jewish place of worship. They watched as a score of men, women and even children placed their heads and faces against the Wailing Wall and recited prayers. Other pilgrims placed folded parchments of paper containing their prayers in the cracks of the limestone fortification. Many worshipers shed tears, so strong was their faith. That was about to change.

One young girl, Sara Baum, was facing the wall with her eyes closed and fingers embraced in a deathlock. A feverish trail of saline streamed down her face as she requested the impossible; a plea for world peace. She burned every available calorie to get that message all the way from her heart to heaven above. But in Sara's attempt to request peaceful coexistence, its vehicle – her will – ran not into the prayer wall, but a wall of darkness, despair and sorrow. She felt like someone had ripped hope out her chest and the knowledge of God right out of her mind. There is no God. There can be no world peace. None of this means anything. We are all going to die.

Sara looked hesitantly to her left and then her right. All of the adults around her were crumbling to their knees. Tears soaked their faces not because they were deep in rapture, but because none of them had ever been so terrified. Sara herself rocked like a jackhammer when two hands placed themselves gently on her shoulders from behind. She craned her neck backwards and saw a face of death haloed by the sun. And it spoke.

"Do not scream, child, and you will live to see tomorrow," Graveyard soothed.

He pushed Sara backwards into Madina's waiting arms. Madina knelt down and sheltered the little girl's head with her one arm. Sara shook so wildly, any more fear and the child was going to have a seizure. Madina nodded to her companion. Graveyard kicked aside an elderly man to give himself more room. Contemptuous of the dying cockroach, he reached both fists back behind his head and brought them forward, crashing against the wall.

The entire holy wall shuttered. The thunderous noise reverberated for half a mile and put boots on the ground; every spare security officer not within the immediate perimeter was in route. The sound of hard soles on stone quickly echoed their way towards Graveyard's ears.

"I need more, kamsin," Graveyard said to Madina. "The perimeter is not wide enough yet."

"No, no more. You'll kill her." Madina loved Abhi but he couldn't make her violate her own conscious. All Graveyard could hear, though, was the sound of gun-toting men drawing closer.

"Madina, you have such a good heart," Graveyard bowed his head as his fists lay against the wall. "Maybe you can accelerate the child's ability to resist fear. Can you accelerate us both at the same time? Try," the skull-masked man asked gently.

Madina closed her eyes, held the girl tighter and imagined the strength of the two people magnified ten times. Soldiers headed their way spilled onto the ground like buckets of water before they reached the courtyard. The child's lungs opened up to let fresh air inside. And Graveyard's fists battered the ten-person high wall like sheetrock.

Dust chalked Graveyard's threads. The sleeves of his suit tattered, unable to withstand the punishment he was dealing. Fist after fist punched through the holy wall until it was porous enough for Graveyard to kick entire columns down. Limestone tumbled over like toy blocks on the several trees beyond the wall. The whole time, a hundred people groveled at the Indian man's feet as God escaped their hearts. They curled further into tiny balls as their venerated site was torn down before their eyes.

Sara watched as well, watched Graveyard desecrate the Jewish holy site. She tried to tear away from Madina thinking she could stop the man that towered over her, but Madina was too strong for her. It was only when Graveyard was done and left the wall unrepairable that Madina released the child from the shelter of her arm and body. Freed, Sara stood against the man's leg and laid into him just as he'd done to the wall.

"Why did you do that?" Sara screamed first in Hebrew then in English. "What have you done?" Her little hands bruised themselves against the thighs of Thiha's enforcer but she did not relent. To Madina's surprise, Graveyard snatched the girl by the throat and hoisted her into the air so they were face to face.

"Abhi!" Madina protested.

Graveyard ignored her and focused on the child. "You've heard of the Holocaust, little girl? Blink twice if you know what I'm talking about." Short of breath and unsuccessfully clawing at Graveyard's wrist, Sara blinked twice; she was young but not ignorant. "During World War II, your people suffered greatly in Nazi internment camps. Their suffering was so great, they put God on trial for abandoning them to such evil. They even found God guilty. But what they didn't know was that God did not abandon them; God was never there to begin with. The same is true today; your God is not here to stop me because He does not exist." The strongman drew the child's face closer to his mask.

"I exist. I am a god. And I have allowed you to survive this so you can tell everyone what happened here and who is responsible. You will tell everyone what I can do and that it is time for them to stop worshipping things they cannot see or actually touch. You can see me. You can feel me. I am Graveyard. And I am fear."

Graveyard released Sara and she dropped to the ground sideways, twisting an ankle and knee. Madina's mouth went agape. She went to aid the little girl but Graveyard grabbed her by her one arm and dragged her along with him. With his other hand, Graveyard reached into his pocket, took out a mobile phone, punched in four-digit number text and hit 'send.'

A few seconds later, several 'sleeper' Deathcamp agents went live in and about the Temple Mount. They had been laying low waiting for Graveyard to finish his task. Activated, they tore concealed weapons out of their own flesh that had healed over and attacked tourists, worshipers and security persons alike with handguns and short swords. With people fleeing in all directions and security fighting back while trying to figure out what exactly was going on, Graveyard stuffed his skull mask down his shirt and tore his suit away. In a white dress shirt and matching cotton pants, he vanished into the chaos with Madina in tow.

At the same time twenty-five-hundred miles away in Vatican City, a Swiss guardsman monitored a security camera that kept watch on the main floor of Saint Peter's Basilica. As groups of tourists milled about the statues, gazing up at the painted dome and contemplating the frescos, one group stood out to the guard. He brought his eyes closer to the screen and tapped the glass.

A fellow guard noticed his Renaissance-clad coworker's behavior. "What is it? What are you looking at?" He brought his own head towards the screen.

"This group of people, these nine Asian men; they all look very similar face and they're all exactly the same height. They all look very uncomfortable, too. And these black women with them, three of them; triplets? Doesn't that seem strange?" the first guard wondered.

"It is unusual, but look, they're acting like everyone else. That man just took a picture. If there were a problem, they would never have made it beyond the security checkpoint," the second guard assured and started to walk away.

"Mmm, the three women are all walking in different directions now. They've all got a pamphlet in their hand and they're approaching the guards on the floor," the first Swiss man updated. He zoomed out so he could see more of the group as they dispersed a little. "Um, the Asian men look like they're taking off their shirts." The guard's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are they doing?"

The second watchman quickly shuffled back to the monitor. Several men of the group had removed their shirts and were digging their fingers into each other's bellies. Pain distorted their faces as they did so but they did not stop. Both guards – along with nearby tourists – watched in horror as the men pulled short, bloodied, high-impact plastic daggers from each other's abdomens. Other men in the group pulled fragment- and smoke-grenades from each other's bellies. The Swiss Guards on the floor started to push the young Malagasy women who approached them aside to see the spectacle (and subsequent nearly instantaneous healing) but the women dropped their pamphlets and latched on to each guards' wrists. The three pairs of guards only had moments to look on in horror as their bodies turned from red to black to grey ash. In short order, they had given their lives in service to the Vatican as they said they would.

The Asian men whirled and lunged and speared. Tourists fell to the ground from grievous stab wounds while others threw themselves to the ground in order to get under the billowing, low-lying fog that was sprawling across the building's interior from the smoke-grenades. All three of the Malagasy women, a triplet of Anya clones, dropped to the floor also. Staying under the cloud, they could watch for more Swiss Guards entering the fray, easy to spot in their blue-and-yellow uniforms. One confused guard had stopped near a clone and was turned into a column of ash from toe to head. As was their plan, the triplets crawled back to the center of the floor, occasionally stomped on by a fleeing tourist who wound up never fleeing at all.

Once the women were reunited, one of the Asian men dropped out of the smoke and laid on the floor with them. "It is okay for you to go to the exits now," he coughed and pointed in two directions. "Go there and kill a hundred before they flee. If more guards come, kill as many as you can then go meet my brothers outside. They will make sure you get to safety outside the city's walls."

One replica, one that didn't seem so complicit in her eyes reached out to touch the man but stopped herself. "Is it you? Are you the real Mr. Misora?" she asked.

"No more than you are the real Miss Anya," the man replied stoically.

"What are you going to do? I know the plan but..." the uncertain clone hesitated.

"We will continue to provide this distraction. We will wound or kill as many as we can before we are taken down by gunfire. We will take the pill our creator gave us that will make us appear dead. Then in their morgues, we will rise from the dead just like in the stories the people here believe. Then they will see us as gods. Now go!" the older man shooed.

Two clones broke for one exit, the questioning one broke for the other. As they crawled on elbows and knees they couldn't help but vanquish a civilian or two before reaching their destinations. As the two Anya duplicates stood up at their exit, they waved their arms for people to come towards them and escape. It was a vile trap; they added heaps of ash to the already befuddled air. The lone Anya, Anya One – the original, first clone – did not command her designated post. She escaped outside the building alongside many other tourists, some who were unfortunate to come in contact with her skin. Those that got passed her never realized how lucky they were, smoke obscuring the reality of the situation. Anya ran past a score of Swiss Guards rushing the building and ran as fast as she could until she reached the thick stone walls that surrounded the city-state.

Anya One knew exactly where to be; far enough away not to be injured by the explosion that bore a hole through the wall from the outside but close enough to break in that direction once she had the chance. As small stones and dirt peppered the ground immediately following the blast, Anya One dashed for the breach and was soon coveted by several gun-toting copies of Deathcamp. She jumped into a white service van with the naturally cloned men a split second before the tires squealed their way down the street. Anya One bounced around the carriage as the van barely threaded the polizia cars headed in the opposite direction.

Two blocks clear of Vatican City, the van was almost bowled over by several detonations from Saint Peter's Basilica itself. The van teetered but righted itself, unlike the magnificent and meticulously painted Catholic dome – once the tallest dome in the world – which collapsed, capping the ruins of the centuries' old shrine.

Convinced they would get away, Anya One stared at one of the master-of-arms. The aged soldier hardly blinked at her. "It is easy to kill, Mr. Misora. But I'm not sure it is a thing we should do."

The un-killable weapons specialist sitting across from her smirked, reached into the chest pocket of his tactical vest and pulled out a mobile phone. He punched the screen with his thumb several times, swiped once or twice, then handed the phone over to Anya One. "It is something we should do. It is something we have to do the cripple resistance to the new world order. If you want people to stop dying, Miss Anya, we have to kill the ones who most easily aspire to violence first." His voice mocked her naivety, a tone of suspicion underneath that.

Anya One looked at the screen. News footage was pouring in from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It was Thiha, both prophet and harbinger of death.

As thousands of Muslim men in their white frocks surrounded the Kabba, kneeling and bowing in prayer, Thiha – in an orange-and-yellow striped suit reminiscent of Firefox – was engulfed in flames high above the cubed holy building. He was eventually spotted by one pilgrim when the young man lifted his head, the gentleman thinking he was seeing the Sun at first. But when the burning figure began to descend – which the Sun did not do – the worshipper had no choice but to elbow the men beside him, rudely interrupting their prayers. He directed their eyes towards the sky directly above their most sacred mosque. Gasps, wonderings and arguments quickly spread amongst the people in the enclave. Some arguments came to fists as anger erupted into violence against those who dared to suggest their prophet Allah was returning from Heaven. It just couldn't be, could it? There had been no sign, no warning.

Thiha let their speculation mount as he descended like a feather on the wind. Thiha looked down upon the thousands of men and smattering of women with the power of a god; they were so curious – hungry to know – baited with such anticipation that they forgot their prayers here of all places. Thiha swiveled his chin from side to side as from high above these thousands surrounding the sacred cube-shaped building looked like a mound of ants. A child's contempt or visciousness would see these ants burn under a magnifying glass. But Thiha was an experienced man, knowledgeable of the ways of people. Ants never deserve their fate at the hand of a child experimenting with power, Thiha knew, but grown men are not so ignorant of what they can do. When they do claim to be, such as many of the men under Thiha's feet, they have chosen to be willfully ignorant. They choose archaic traditions because they have survived for so long with it; doesn't it follow that their belief is the reason why? Their belief also benefits them because it allows them to oppress other people. Only, Thiha didn't think these traditions allowed people to thrive. Traditions only allow some people to thrive or be free, the ones willing to exercise power. And when traditions clash, such powerful people use their slaves and their followers to hold onto power. The thin man knew this drive to be born out of an unwillingness to admit such people know no more than anyone else. Such traditions are not fit for the future Thiha envisions at the moment. The proponents of such antiquated traditions must be exterminated.

As he steadily lowered himself as if on an invisible elevator, the clamoring of the men below grew louder. It's a disturbing cacophony of elation and anger, of both joy and madness. Their disturbing denominator to Thiha is that they are all acting out of confidence, that they know what is or is not before them. They are not willing to admit their ignorance, that they don't know what this fiery phoenix is roiling above them. If they knew they would run. If they knew, they would know their god is false and a real one is here, now, and it is going to set their world on fire.

Thiha whipped out his arms and turned his hands down towards the ground. A blanket of flame cascaded like a waterfall below him, down on top the heads of the assembled worshippers. Worshippers' hair burned acrid right down to their roots, their scalps rolled up like paper and their white skulls were blackened. Many of their eyes popped with boiling hot blood, their nostrils cauterized and their tongues charred like small steaks. The lucky ones died within seconds. Others fell into shock having lost many of their senses from the waist up. Near the exits of the enclave, believers stampeded the doors and each other, not taking a moment to wonder where their god was to save them as they tried to save themselves.

Thiha set his feet down upon the top of the Kaaba and turned into a globe of fire. For a moment he was a minute star until he decided to go supernova, utterly evaporating every person within fifty feet of the building. The deadly, fiery theatrics laid open a wide, circular berth even the most devout could not survive. After he snuffed out his own flame, the thin stepped down an invisible staircase to the smoked marble floor and walked many feet to the nearest living victim.

The man was barely alive, largely unable to curl himself up into a protective ball. His white smock was singed at the edges, his face turned molten red and black, his ears charred to round stumps, his eyes now black tokens of the man's soul which was fleeting. Gasp, pant, wheeze – the man's throat was seared beyond modern medicine's ability to help. Medical aid was futile for the man at this point.

Thiha knelt down and placed a hand on the fallen man's shoulder. "You are dying, my friend," Thiha said in Arabic. "Where is your god to save you? Where is your god to heal you? I can heal you. Would you like me to do that?"

There was enough life left in the man to nod emphatically. Thiha smirked. "Of course you want me to heal you. When your life is on the line, you turn to the god closest at hand. I don't blame you."

The thin man's bony hand warmed but not with malicious intent. Regeneration crept over the man's body like a vine. Halfway to full recovery, Thiha pulled his hand off the man. "There. You will live now but not without ever forgetting what has happened here today. You will never forget being in the presence of a true god." The reedy Burmese man stood up and surveyed his destruction. The less injured continued to scurry for the exits while sirens drew closer to the scene. He wasn't satisfied yet.

Thiha walked about the injured, groveling masses. He looked upon them alternating between wide-eyed pity and shrugging his shoulders in contempt. He lifted one blinded man's chin up so he could revel in his hollowing victory then immediately felt regret that the world, such as it is, forced him to do this. The carnage was nothing Thiha hadn't seen before. He stomach had gotten used to it but now it disgusted him on a more intellectual level. He let the man's chin fall and stood up to continue his observations.

"You claim to know something your senses cannot tell you is there," Thiha stated with a pinch of anger. "So why not continue to call out for your god when I take some of your senses away from you? You call out but your words fall upon nonexistent ears. That is why your god does not come to help you. You have been praying to nothing. You have been praying for nothing. You have made a pilgrimage here only to be a lamb to my slaughter. You have travelled from nearby and far away to be made an example of. If your god were really there, would they let this fate befall you?"

Thiha heard the drumbeat of combat boots. A hundred soldiers in desert-brown fatigues took up positions along the top of the wall surrounding the Kabba's enclosure. They wasted no time in setting their sights on the thin man and chambering a round. But in the split second before they could pull the trigger, the hundred men were struck to the ground with the tail ends of familiar guns wielded by ashen-colored twins. Unprepared for the attack, these guardians were beaten by something like themselves without mercy. White marble stained red.

In the courtyard outside the Kaaba's immediate area, Shadow Princess pursed her lips and blew herself a kiss beneath the cloak of her hijab. Using tradition against her enemies was entirely too easy but she was nonetheless pleased with the bloodbath she wrought. After taking the moment to enjoy herself, the Brazilian beauty resumed the act of wringing tears from her eyes like a helpless woman. She carried on in her head-to-toe disguise, no one suspecting a woman capable of such a massacre.

Thiha chuckled as he watched Shadow Princess employ her powers and made the soldiers fall by their own hands. He resumed walking about the Kaaba. The thin man happened by another crippled man who had one ear untouched by his fire. He leaned over and pointed his mouth towards the man's fleshy half-shell. "Your god is not coming to save you. No one is coming to save you. You die here, today. Only the man I healed over there gets to live through this," Thiha eventually lightened up. The yellow-skinned man opened his arms wide, not to make a gesture of open loving arms, but to demonstrate confidence that he could not be taken down. He turned slowly about as he made his statement.

"Muslim, Christian, Jew; it does not matter. Today you feel the wrath of living gods, ones who are angry with you because despite all your prayers, you have failed to make the world a better place for everyone. Your beliefs – your mistaken beliefs – have allowed you to unquestioningly cast stones against each other. You go to war over faith. Do you realize how wrong that is? You spill each other's blood in the name of what you want to believe, beliefs so flimsy you are living in the day and age where you have to misconstrue evidence and distort logic to support your beliefs because you know that faith itself is not a good enough reason to believe anything. You hide the fact that you simply want power over each other behind the idea that if everyone conformed to your beliefs, the world would be a much better place."

Thiha brought his fingertips together and brought his bottom lip over his top lip. "Perhaps you are right." He parted his digits and wagged his index finger. "But more likely you are wrong about a world under the heel of your current beliefs. These gods you pray to have been absent for every prayer, every cry for peace. And yet mysteriously, they are always present to justify the worst you can do to each other. Does this not strike you as odd? Even if your gods were there, they are doing more harm than good. They act like petulant children seeking vengeance for their own self-inflicted castration. They are cruel and heartless. But in reality," Thiha waved his finger severely now, "These gods are merely projections of your own heart.

"Today, new gods rise and replace the old. But unlike Jesus whom some of you believe died to take away the sins of the world, today we take away the sins of the world by disposing of the true sinners. We envision a new world without people who need to assert their dominance over each other, who are constantly mistaken, who have never seen fit to question themselves and the consequences that brings."

An English Muslim fortunate enough not to have had his trachea scorched spoke up from his knees. Like most of the others he was burned and blinded, but his faith resolved him to bear the pain and subsequent punishment. "And do you not question yourself, Iblis?"

Thiha turned around, tilted his head to the sky and rubbed his chin. "Actually, yes, I do question myself. Quite often, really." He brought his head down and began making strides towards the man he'd half-healed earlier. "And that is the wisdom of a god, not a devil. Do not be tempted, sir, to fall into the trap of portraying anyone who disagrees with your beliefs as being in league with Satan. Remember that you too are someone's Satan, meaning of course the devil is just a matter of perception. Stop and think about how many of your perceptions are false."

Thiha looked upon his very own Lazarus with half a heart. He squatted down beside his deformed victim and said, "Remember this day." Then he raised himself back up, raised the man into the sky on an invisible crucifix and put him up and over the wall of the Kaaba's enclosure. "The rest of you," Thiha spoke loudly, "Now is the time to voice your final useless prayers if you are able."

More sirens signaled some impending arrival. "If those are ambulances, they are too late," Thiha joked before clenching his fists. His balled up fingers shook until at last he turned his palms over towards the ground. The bodies of his living victims grew denser.

As one man described his body to his soul at the very last instant: It feels as though the weight of the world is coming down on me. Except, the weight of the world is coming from within me. I am pressed against the ground and unable to lift the giant steel girders my arms and legs. The pressure of my skull against the marble ground; I cannot imagine what my breaking skull is going to sound like. I want to scream but there is nothing in my lungs to scream with. My bones turn to dust and my tissues becomes gelatin. Praise be to Allah, I am no more.

The cries of abject horror and hollow, echoed crunching was Shadow Princess' cue. She peeled off her ruse and walked through the entrance to the Kaaba's courtyard. The woman put her hands on her hips and struck a leg out. She treated the scene like a runway. She'd seen enough fashion for one day, though. The beauty fanned herself with her hand. "Are you done, amour? It's very hot here."

Thiha felt a rising tide of blood wind its way around his feet. His stomach sank to the bottom of the sea but he was buoyed by the necessity of his actions. Sacrifices had to be made. Satisfied for the time being, the plan was far from over. Those who would not join his mission still needed to be dealt with.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he held out a hand for Shadow Princess. "Yes, we are done here. I expect everything else has gone according to plan. I just need to address our pursuers and then we can rest."

Shadow Princess walked carelessly through the sinew and blood in her Prada boots. She took Thiha's hand and they disappeared in an implosion of blue-and-white light.

An hour later, Thiha, with darkened, baggy eyes appeared on every television, every mobile phone, and was heard on every radio throughout the world. Some people tried to turn their devices off, even unplugging them, but Thiha was still there to make sure he was heard. At their undisclosed oceanfront location, Marcus, his team and their Chinese 'guests' were also watching.

"Hello," came a greeting in over a hundred different language. "Today you have witnessed several catastrophic events. No doubt you are asking 'why'? Many of you supported me when I destroyed terrorists on their own soil. Now, in the next breath you condemn me for attacking one of the foundations of terrorist beliefs; religion. While you think there is nothing wrong with your dogmas, it is just a more subtle, milder form of terrorism used by savvy men to control you to their advantage. Even those of you at the bottom of your religious hierarchy use religion as a tool to persecute others. While using a set of beliefs to persecute others is not unique to religion, it is the most obvious example I chose to make an example of.

"The gods you worship are false. They do not protect you. They do not comfort you. And they are not testing you with these attacks because they are simply nonexistent. In this darkest hour, realizing your gods would not come and help, you probably wondered why The Mega Dudes did not appear as they so often have during a catastrophe. I, too, wonder. Perhaps because they are not gods. If you want gods so badly, then you will look upon me and those like me. We are true, we exist and we have power over you. All of you. Even the richest man in the world now bows before us. We will usher in a new world order, one that is just and right, one in which you can live truly free and have no fear of anyone else who wishes to harm you. Although you think it is we who are harming you with these attacks, be assured our work is meant to purge the world of fanaticism. In no way does fanaticism make the world a better place. Fanaticism is cancerous and must be eliminated.

"Which brings me to Marcus Michaels. Are you listening, my brother? Marcus Michaels is a god just like me. However, he is a fanatic who desires the world just as it is. He stands in the way of true peace because of his beliefs. He has chosen the wrong side. But just as I am full of wrath, I am also benevolent. So I offer my brother one last chance, one last chance to join me and take his rightful place in the order of things. Join me, Marcus, join me on the right side of history or I will be forced to remove you from my path. All of you on Marcus' side, join me or you will be severely punished. That is my only offer; take your rightful place as a god or defend this forsaken world and suffer the consequences.

"You have twenty-four hours to decide. After that, I am withdrawing the offer. Decide quickly, brother. Do not make us come after you. That will make things much worse." Televisions, phones and radios went blank for a few seconds before they resumed their usual tasks or programming. The gravity of the situation was not lost on the citizens of the world; everywhere people stood or sat in silence under the uncertainty of the future.

Of course, Marcus and his team had watched. They were all sitting in the dining hall when Thiha took control of the television. As the thin man ended his transmission, K'un L'u surveyed Marcus from head to toe. She carefully considered the rest of Marcus' team; two men enhanced by K'un L'u technology, an empath of non-human lifeforms and potentially a telepath, a tank, another man infused with metal from her rod and a shape-shifting ghost. If these squabbling humans could not reconcile their differences, the alien was going to have to choose the stronger side, the side that would do what is necessary, in order to save this world from what was coming.

Sitting on a blanket in a grassy field somewhere in the Midwest, Melanie and Christopher touched their lips together. They didn't see or hear Thiha because when they were together, those moments were the entire world and nothing else mattered.

August 27, 2020...The Black Box Secret Facility

General Asak just finished speaking and set his boxy covert satellite phone on the mahogany desk before him. Marcus and K'un L'u walked into the general's modest but finely decorated office and stood side by side, inviting the veteran to look up.

"That was the Chinese patched through from Washington," the veteran put bluntly.

"What did they say?" Marcus asked bluntly in return.

"They're unhappy that we've taken their boys into custody for what they did in Tokyo. After what your 'brother' has pulled, they want their toys back so that they can properly protect their country." The general folded his hands and placed them on his stout belly.

"What did you tell them?" Marcus asked second.

"'Qu si ba.' Means 'go to hell' I think." General Asak puffed a cheek. "I hope that's what I said anyway. Do you know why I asked the two of you are here?"

K'un L'u looked at Marcus blankly but Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "You're going to tell us it's time to take The Nameless down? That's what I want to hear personally."

The general snapped forward and shot out a pointed finger. "I don't give a damn what you want right now, kid. You two are the ones telling me there's an invasion coming and you make it sound like we're going to need every man and woman available." The general leaned back in his chair and eased off a bit. "Kid, I know The Nameless killed your family. I'm sorry. But you're going to need to give The Nameless a chance to repent if this invasion is going to be as bad as you two say it'll be."

Marcus' jaw dropped and his eyebrows slanted towards the bridge of his nose. "This guy is out there murdering innocent people; lot's of them! He wants us to join him."

"This nameless man you speak of, he does not know about the impeding invasion," K'un L'u spoke to Marcus. "Perhaps if he knew, he would reconsider his position."

"After the invasion is stopped, if we can stop it, then maybe you two can settle your differences," General Asak finished.

Marcus was almost snarling. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You really want me to work with this guy? You think this guy and his band of murderers care about anyone other than themselves?"

"Their own survival depends upon joining us," K'un L'u stated. "If you refuse to cooperate, you may have to be the one who is stopped."

Marcus' nose crunched up and he ground his teeth. "This is bullshit! Justice needs to be served."

The officer sat upright and clasped his hands together on his desk. "You're a God-fearing man, Marcus. Doesn't justice belong to God?"

"I am his instrument," Marcus growled. "God demands justice; He'll allow me my vengeance."

"Don't forget you're not entirely innocent, kid. You'd be smart to remember what happened in Brazil," the officer reminded Marcus of the civilian's life he accidently took.

"I don't have to listen to this," Marcus spun around. He headed for the door in a haste.

"Where are you going?" the general interrogated.

"To clear my head. Think!" Marcus stormed out of the office, to the outside deck and away into the clouds.

"He'll be back," General Asak told K'un L'u. "In the meantime, make sure the Chinese are on board, if you're as resistant to the telepath's tricks as you say you are."

"I am when I am prepared," K'un L'u scoffed.

"Good. And do you think you can start repairing that giant metal battle suit in the basement hanger?" the general asked as he pulled out some files and opened the folders.

"I can," K'un L'u stepped forward. She leaned over and placed her hands on the officer's desk. "And you should spend as much time training your soldiers as you do studying the enemy. I will not do everything for you."

General Asak nodded carefully. "I'll take that under advisement, K'un L'u of K'un L'u." The two stared each other down for an indeterminate time. He knew the extraterrestrial could kill him with a 'gentle' slap to the jaw.

...

Just a few miles away, Marcus had come to rest on a haystack of rock a few hundred feet from a stony coastline. He sat with his forearms resting on his thighs as seagulls whooped about him, apparently unafraid of his presence.

"Alright," Marcus spoke with The Nameless in mind. "You wanted me think about that day? Let's do it."

The muscled man took several deep breathes to sooth his nerves. He tried to eliminate The Nameless one's face from the picture box in his head and let it fade to black. Deep, deep breathes. With each one he exhaled completely. Marcus simply wanted to return to that day he was sitting in church in Atlanta with his family. He didn't want to relive the event but he wanted to see it remotely, as a third party from the outside. Concentrating, Marcus' powers took him back to that day like some spectral fly on the wall. He is there in spirit above himself. His wife Simone and his daughters Marilyn and Naomi are sitting on his right.

A few rows in front and across the aisle from him and his family is the nameless man. With his eyes closed, Marcus softly uttered, "Slow, slow. Let's see what happened." The thin man is just sitting there, creased around the eyes a bit but otherwise calm as can be. Marcus himself below is shifting in his seat a bit. Then it happens in a flash; Marcus' anxious face and the onset of a body quickly burning out of control.

"Slower," Marcus breathed inaudibly among the birds.

This...this is wrong, spectral Marcus thought of himself below, that man's entire face sagging. It is himself – not The Nameless – that was glowing white-hot, a fever consuming him so quickly no one around Marcus, not even his wife beside him, had even a moment to think about it. As a blinding annihilation wave radiated outward from his own body, the phantom Marcus saw the young Burmese man rattle as his body, too, become as white-hot as Marcus.' In the second that the scene ticks away over the course of a minute for ghostly Marcus, fellow churchgoers started to turn about, unsure what was happening. At this point, the energy pouring out of Marcus had already killed his wife and one of his daughters. The Nameless explodes with energy in the following moment and the Burmese man's wave of obliteration scorches everything in its path as well. The ashes of victims and their clothing float in the air like snow. The two annihilation waves met on a collision course and in a second flash, almost everyone in the building gave up their spirit. Everyone was dead except Marcus and The Nameless. Marcus, overwhelmed by the energy, was knocked unconscious to the floor almost naked but otherwise unscathed. The thin man became an animated, black-charred skeleton.

Stunned by the revelation, Marcus watched the past, watched as his nemesis stood up from the pews as barely more than a set of bones and put himself back together bit by bit. The phantasmal Marcus flitted thoughts through his head. What happened to me? Did I cause this? Did I kill my family? Marcus' closed eyes shifted back and forth, extremely confused.

He opened his eyelids and found himself almost hyperventilating. It scared the birds on the rocks enough for them to take flight and let their guest squat there. No, that can't be all there is to it, Marcus thought. Got to do it again, got to get inside my head this time. Again Marcus focused on deep breathing. Guilt crept from his heart into his mind over and over again and each time he would have to shake these ensnaring webs out of his head. Eventually he settled down enough to invoke his powers. This time his mind shot from the future into his mind in the past, except that all he could do was hear his own thoughts at that time.

Feels hot in here. I'm nauseous, too. Maybe it was the steak we had out last night. Nah, I would've felt it sooner. Ugh, it's getting even hotter. I'm burning up. What the hell? Is it just me? No one else seems uncomfortable...

From there Marcus' inner dialogue failed to keep up with the situation. Again he saw himself explode with light and fire before The Nameless did. Undeterred, Marcus replayed the sequence again more slowly. Nothing. Again, slower still. The continued attempts did little to shed light on the situation, except...there. Something in the back of his mind running like a subroutine on a computer, something subliminal. Marcus has to delve there, into his subconscious.

In this deep recess of his mind, future Marcus couldn't hear coherent thoughts so much as feel them. Deep down inside the man he once was, that man seemed to know he was about to explode with power, knew there was nothing he can do about it because this power was unlike anything the world had ever known. He shouldn't have this power; it's almost god-like was the feeling. But he couldn't avoid it. It was going to happen. And he was going to be the cause of what happened next, the death of innocents following this rebirth. Oh god. No one should have so much power. No one should have so much power. I am not God, finally came some coherent string of words in his head. His subconscious then looked into the future. Innocent people are going to die. My family...I'm going to kill my own family! Why can't I stop this?

Before the deed was done, the specter of Marcus sensed his subconscious' guilt, leading to a disturbing revelation: If he cannot control this power he's manifesting, there needed to be someone to stop him. As future Marcus sensed his past-self brimming with an imminent internal nuclear explosion, he looked upon another man, the last person he laid eyes on before his exploding powers overtook him – The Nameless. Marcus felt his past-self give away a measure of his powers. It was to be an insurance policy if he ever lost control of the powers he was about to gain, an insurance policy he gave the thin man.

Marcus eyes popped open. Birds dipped and scooped upon the air. Waves crashed against a rocky shoreline. The de facto leader of the UNRT sat wretched upon a pillar of coastal rock, knots curling up in his stomach. "I killed my family. Simone, Marilyn, Naomi; it was me. I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't know what was happening. And then I killed all those people." He turned his palms up and looked at them, the damage they could do. But this wasn't what was going to bother him most. Marcus thought about his victims' suffering and though he knew it to be brief, a subtle wave of pleasure washed over him. When he realized this feeling for what it was, the wave crashed and pounded against his soul. How could I feel such a thing? he almost vomited. His guilt was suddenly magnified tenfold.

He had to shake off this feeling, maybe focus on something else. But the twinging of his heart would only get worse as he tried to escape himself.

Marcus realized that for some time now, he blamed someone else for what was actually his sin. "It wasn't his fault," Marcus dipped his head in remarking on The Nameless. So many confusing thoughts swirled around the self-sytled hero's head, so many questions. Why does The Nameless want Marcus to join his side? Why hasn't The Nameless killed him instead? That's the reason why Marcus gave the thin man power. Maybe the thin man is right to want to kill Marcus now. Is it possible to live with the guilt of killing your family even if it was an accident? Is one necessarily guilty of a crime they didn't mean to commit? If these powers were ultimately given by God, didn't God know what was going to happen? Is there anything to actually atone for? Is it all part of a larger plan?

Watching the sea lurch forward toward the shore and recede, Marcus tried to push these thoughts aside and concentrate on the present moment. Is there a way to stop myself before anyone else gets hurt? he wondered. Marcus focused and attempted to divest himself of his powers but he knew each time he opened his eyes he was still radiant with the power of a Seedling, or whatever K'un L'u called it. Maybe he could throw himself onto the rocks below and into the water. Maybe he would be knocked unconscious and be unable to heal himself and drown. With his jaw muscles rippling, Marcus stood up and gathered all the guilt he could muster. He didn't feel guilty enough, though, as some barely conscious but overwhelming desire – the pleasure he felt when he exerted power over others – made him question the idea that the world might be better off without him. A thought crossed his mind; as he was about to step forward towards his demise he remembered the impending invasion.

If I do this, billions of people might die. Is this all part of your plan, God, to have me sacrifice my family for the sake of the world? Everything you do, everything you let happen, God, there's a reason, right? Yes, yes, this is all part of your plan. With my family safe in heaven, I don't have to worry about the steps I'll have to take to protect the world. When it's all over, maybe I can join my family. When it's over, God, you'll reunite me with my family despite the things I've done, right? That's it. That's exactly it. I trust you, God.

Marcus took an unsteady step back to regain solid footing. There is an invasion coming which brings with it the possibility of redemption. But the next step is trickier. How do I tell the thin man that he was right about me? Can I forgive him enough for all the innocent lives he's taken recently so that we can work together? I know I'm not innocent but he's murdered people intentionally. And that's my fault; is he going to rub my nose in it? We just need to agree long enough to turn back the invasion. Then God will tell me what to do about him. God is going to guide me through this, Marcus trusted.

Invigorated by his faith, Marcus stood straighter and more firm. He let the waning sun warm his skin before setting sail into the sky.

...

Back at the Black Box Facility in a florescent lit concrete hanger below the main living quarters, K'un L'u stood atop a platform next to the Armada battle suit which had a panel of its shoulder armor opened to expose some wiring. Lt. Lucian stood at the base of the platform with a handful of different colored wires of varying widths. Although he didn't have a good view, the young officer could see what looked like human skin running through the armored figure's upper arm.

"Something alive in there?" the junior officer asked the alien who had just torn out a bunch of shredded wires.

"Indeed, Erik Lucian of Earth." The answer was K'un L'u's idea of a joke, having recently surveyed some human entertainment, most notably Star Trek. The attempt at humor quickly turned serious. "I give your primitive scientists credit. They have fused a human being to Marcus' battle suit design. I believe you call this a 'cyborg.'"

The lieutenant opened and closed his right hand. He himself had his gauntlet fused with metal from K'un L'u's rod which then fused to his body. He supposed he was a cyborg, too, though decidedly more human, at least in appearance. But what if the alien metal that had combined with Marcus' glove had taken over any more of his body? Might it still? The visitor's technology had taken over more than just the glove Lt. Lucian originally wore; the gauntlet had now crept up to his elbow.

"So if it's part human, doesn't it need something to eat?" Lt. Lucian asked to distract himself from troubling questions.

"That will be taken care of shortly. Hand me the blue and red eighteen-gauge wires you hold, young Erik," K'un L'u asked with her eyes set on the machinery before her.

As she reached underneath the armor plating and replaced the wires, the hanger's elevator door opened. The three remaining Chinese squad members strode into the grey-walled enclosure as a close knit group with Sergent Koo at their helm. They were dressed in U.S. Army fatigues; General Asak's idea of trying to get them to feel like a part of his team. Accompanying them a few steps behind was Captain John Drake who was dressed down in a white t-shirt and blue jeans.

"You wanted to speak to the Chinese, K'un L'u?" the captain said. "Here they are. I'm going back upstairs and lie down. I've got a splitting headache."

K'un L'u looked up from her work. "Please stay, Captain. There is a reason for your headache I will explain in a moment." K'un L'u delicately put some tools down on a tray table beside her, like a careful engineer. Then she jumped over the railing of her raised platform like a parkour athlete and landed on her feet in front of the Chinese sergeant. She stepped aside and ushered the ranking Chinese man towards the man-machine.

"Thank you," Sgt. Koo tilted his head politely. He walked toward the armor with a yellow hand-sized cube in his grasp. When he placed his palm against a similarly sized panel on the cyborg's chest, the panel turned red then dropped open to reveal a bay for the cube. The non-commissioned officer placed the cube in the deck and watched the panel close. A very low and even hum started the process of digesting the cube. "Mr. Leung will be replenished soon. The repairs are going well I trust," the sly-eyed soldier inquired.

"Your teammate will be sufficiently repaired soon enough, Sgt. Ho Koo. Do you know why I asked you to come down here?" K'un L'u asked.

The sergeant smiled with his mouth but not his eyes. "I do not, my extraterrestrial friend, as I cannot seem to read your mind. In fact, I'm having great difficulty reading anyone's mind here. Can you tell me why this is?" Sgt. Koo entered K'un L'u's personal space and tilted his head up to observe her pupil-less eyes.

K'un L'u stared down at this man she could snap like a twig despite his fit build. Then the alien smiled with her entire face.

"This is the reason for your headache, Captain. The sergeant's attempts to enter your mind are thwarted by the fact that your bones have been infused with my technology and made you resilient to telepathy and mind control, though not immune," K'un L'u explained still staring at Sgt. Koo. "It is why, Sergeant, you can barely read Mr. Chenglei Wang's mind right now." K'un L'u looked in the direction of the man with the shaved skull whose forehead featured a sliver of the extraterrestrial's rod. The man tried to restrain a sneer but was largely unsuccessful.

"Although," the extraterrestrial continued offhandedly, "One does not need telepathy to know that your underling wants to lash out at me at this moment."

K'un L'u turned toward the stationary armored suit and rapped her knuckles on its shell, possibly as a wake-up call.

"I should also let you know, good sergeant, that everyone else who hasn't the benefit of being half-alien is wearing a telepathic dampening device of Mr. Michael's own making. He is quite clever when he wants to be," K'un L'u teased. "It is my hope that you will soon see no need to seek power over us with your abilities as it is imperative that we stand together."

"That is why she asked us here," the blaster, Chenglei Wang, spoke. "She wants us to turn away from China."

"If you want to save China, you're going to want to hear her out," Lt. Lucian chimed in. Captain Drake stood quietly in the background ready to take action if necessary.

"Save China? What are you talking about alien?" Wang asked. His tone was snotty and skeptical.

K'un L'u inched closer to Sgt. Koo and pierced a gaze through him. "I told you before that I have to choose to let you into my mind. I'm going to allow you that opportunity in just a moment. When you see what I have to show you, your nationalist sentiments may be diminished. Do you wish to proceed, Sergeant Ho Koo?"

Sgt. Koo's nostrils flared and his jaw edged to the right. "What is in your mind that is so important?" he asked rhetorically. He stared back at the extraterrestrial, concentrated, and began his incursion. A full minute went by in which Sgt. Koo and K'un L'u stood motionless like two ancient specimens preserved in amber.

This made Chenglei Wang – Red Star – impatient. The slice of K'un L'u metal imbedded in his forehead began a faint red glow. "What are they doing? If this is some kind of trickery..."

Than Xi – Ghost – who had been standing idly by Red Star, frowned. "Give them a chance, comrade. Let's not be quick to violence," the demure man said in Chinese.

Red Star's ember grew brighter. "Nonsense. This is a trap!" The Chinese man's exasperation saw Lt. Lucian shoot a look towards his captain. Unseen by Red Star, Captain Drake readied himself to control the air in the hanger to his advantage.

"Wang," came unexpected edginess in Ghost's voice. "I will not allow your antics to jeopardize my family back home." Ghost's arm became an elongated tentacle that wrapped around his teammate's throat. "Calm. Down. Please."

As Red Star heard the familiar whirling and clacking indicative of Armada's systems booting, he calmed himself just enough to bide his time and think of his next move. Then his commander and the alien unlocked themselves from their invisible embrace. Sgt. Koo had seen the battle of K'un L'u and the alien's escape from the world breakers. He had seen K'un L'u set a course for Earth and read her mind why. The ranking man turned to his subordinates.

"We...must join these people in combat. There is something coming we cannot defeat alone," Sgt. Koo ordered somewhere between certainty and uncertainty. The sergeant noticed his second in command ready to take action despite Than Xi's readiness to stop him. "Stand down, Red Star. If you love China, we will need these people to help preserve it."

"We are Chinese, comrade! We need no help from these fools!" Red Star barked. The sliver of foreign metal grew to maximum brightness.

Sgt. Koo threw out a hand. "Stop, Chenglei Wang!" The red glow diminished but the angry Chinese man was not entirely held back. It was as K'un L'u said; Sgt. Koo's telepathic abilities had very limited effect on those imbued with K'un L'u's metal. Red Star was still straining to fire off a slicing red bolt of plasma.

So tired of the fighting, Ghost tightened the noose around his comrade's neck. Seeking to put Red Star's insubordination down quickly, Ghost extended his tentacled arm with lightning speed and smacked Red Star's head against Armada's chest. Sgt. Koo's second was out cold. "My apologies, Sergeant." Ghost released Red Star and the man fell to the floor.

"Do not be sorry, Ghost. I am glad to see you using your powers without being ordered to do so." The enlisted man look upon Than Xi like a father seeing his son grow up. Sgt. Koo stepped over to Ghost, sized him up and put his hands on Ghost's shoulders. "There is something terrible coming here, to Earth. There is going to be an incredible battle. If I should fall in combat and are not there to guide you, you may need to take initiative. You will need to ascend, Private Xi, if need be."

These were the first words of earnest encouragement from his superior officer. Ghost nodded shortly. "Yes, comrade, I understand."

As Ghost came to this understanding, Armada had woken and did not understand why Red Star was lying at his feet and his team was surrounded by the people they had recently fought. The giant cyborg threw its arms out wide and flung K'un L'u clear across the hanger. Her quick reflexes instinctively let her roll with the blow and left her annoyed but relatively unscathed.

Lt. Lucian was batted clear of the machine-man, too, but had shielded himself with his gauntlet in time, probably preventing his own death. The young officer found himself sailing and not landing, aloft on a cushion of air that brought him around and back at the Chinese tanker. His gauntlet became a huge hammer which he slammed against Armada's chest. The armored soldier stood strong but was moved a few feet back, tearing up the hanger floor in the process.

Lt. Lucian landed on his feet and stood before the giant like an underdog boxer. "Thanks, Captain Air Force," the lieutenant shot out of the corner of his mouth.

"Just 'Air Force,' Lt. Lucian," Capt. Drake informed his junior officer as he readied himself to take flight. To do what against the cyborg he hadn't figured out yet.

"Armada, stop!" Whisper ordered while mentally trying to reach the human part of the metal figure. As with Red Star, Whisper found his telepathy weak. The robotic Chinese man curled its fingers into fists, ready to strike again.

"Always fighting! I am tired of this right now," Ghost spit. He turned himself intangible and floated up in front of Armada's visor. "Comrade Leung, you will stop fighting right now! We were wrong to attack Japan and these people stopped us. We are all on the same side now. These are Sgt. Koo's orders!"

"Why were we wrong to attack Japan? Those orders came from above Sgt. Koo, from The Party," an electronic voice objected in its native tongue while poised to fist fight Lt. Lucian. "Do you not want China to be glorious, comrade Xi?"

"I will explain, Ghost. Stand down for the moment," Sgt. Koo said calmly. He approached and stood before Armada fully exposed. "We all want our country to be glorious. We can be glorious without conquering others, though."

"We were ordered to show our power to the world, comrade, and take back what rightfully belongs to China," Armada spoke.

Sgt. Koo was silent for a few moments. Until a few minutes ago he was as much a militant nationalist as the huge piece of metal until he envisioned the entire earth falling before the world breakers. He asked himself if Japan really did belong to China. On whose authority? Where was it written? If it were simply a matter of winning a war or battle and claiming land, Japan belonged to the Japanese. When his team attacked Tokyo and were defeated, Japan rightfully remained in the hands of the Japanese. And this defeat stung Sgt. Koo more personally than he cared for the rest of China's pride.

"There is a time and place for fighting, Armada. Trust me, you will most certainly taste battle again soon," Sgt. Koo reassured not wanting to remain silent for too long. "When we do battle, it will be alongside these people, not against them." Sgt. Koo stood firm and puffed his chest out a bit. "I order you. If we do not join with these people, China will disappear altogether."

"I think you are growing weak, comrade Koo," the electronic voice accused.

"Maybe it is you who are weak, cyborg," Marcus spoke in Chinese as he entered the hanger. "Maybe sometimes it takes more strength not to fight than to fight. But if it's a fight you want, I'll make you a deal." Marcus took off the bomber jacket he was wearing and tossed it aside to reveal his thick biceps. "Pick any one of us here to fight. Whoever gets knocked down first, loses. If you win, you can go back to China. If one of us wins, you follow your sergeant's orders."

The half-man, half-machine considered its options. The muscular African American man taunting him was the same man that designed its armor; he might know a weakness so fighting him would be ill advised. The scaly, black-skinned alien could take a beating and dish it out as well. And although Lt. Lucian was bereft of armor, he had a transformative metal gauntlet that Armada had already seen block one of his blows. If he wanted to fight his own teammates – two of whom had apparently defected – Ghost would be the most difficult to fight given the unenthusiastic Chinese man's ability to phase and shapeshift. Red Star was lying unconscious face down on the floor, so Armada didn't know where that teammate's allegiance lay. Then there was Sgt. Koo; but what if Sgt. Koo whispered something in his ear and he threw himself on the floor? The prototypical American male, John Drake, in t-shirt and jeans, looked to be the most innocuous. Armada uncurled a metal digit and pointed.

"You, the one who is a captain. Air Force you said your name was?" the cyborg said in English. He didn't know the captain's power but there was something about the man that infuriated Armada. Perhaps his above average looks were something once taken from the machine-man, maybe the officer just looked really American, almost like a movie star. Either way, Armada thought of John Drake, absent his flight suit, would be most easily defeated.

The captain unfolded his arms and turned his palms up. "What the f...? Why me?" Capt. Drake's lips parted as he popped open his eyes.

"You heard 'em, Johnny," Marcus said as he leaned against a steel pillar and ushered his teammate forward. "If you knock him down, he's with us. If you get knocked down...don't get knocked down," Marcus recommended. He patted the officer on the shoulder and stepped away.

"Okay, fine," Capt. Drake snapped. He waved everyone away from himself and the armored behemoth. "Give us some room. Give us some room." The cyborg before him crouched a bit to lower its center of gravity and put its fists up.

"Do not kill him," Sgt. Koo said to Armada.

"I can make no such guarantee, Sergeant," the bulk of metal replied.

"On my mark..." Marcus raised his voice, "Get set. Go!"

Armada lurched towards his undersized opponent while Air Force threw out his hands in front of himself. Less than ten feet in front of the officer, the cyborg was met with hurricane force winds that formed a wall and kept it from advancing. Since it took Armada's full power to take a step towards the American, the Chinese tanker decided to switch tactics and aimed its wrist-mounted machine guns at his enemy. The shots went wild, however, as the wall of controlled air had circled around the cyborg faster and faster and lifted its arms up towards the ceiling. Marcus was caught with two rounds that penetrated his stomach in the process. While they were grievous wounds, Marcus was able to heal himself immediately before K'un L'u could even check on him. Swiftly, Air Force had created an incredibly strong vortex around the armored beast and Armada was lifted a foot off the ground. The cyborg sensed this immediately so it fired a steel cable to anchor itself to the ground. The cable successfully pieced the hanger floor and the battle suit was set to reel itself in when it felt itself lop backwards from a narrow and very solid burst of air. The Chinese team's enforcer fell on its back with thunder upon the hanger floor. There might as well have been a small earthquake.

"Alright, Robbie the Robot, the show's over. You're on our side now," Capt. Drake piped before anyone could get over their surprise.

K'un L'u marched over to the beaten cyborg and held her hand out to help Armada up. "You are formidable, one who is named Armada. Fortunately for us, you chose an opponent whose power you did not know. I am glad you will be on our side and not against us. In time you will see the importance of combining our forces," she said in Chinese. The cyborg embraced her grip with its own. With her enormous strength, strength only slightly less than Armada's, she hoisted the armored man up to its feet.

"We will at least spare, alien," an electronic statement returned.

"I would enjoy that, warrior," the alien replied.

"What the hell is going on down here?" the stoutly built General Asak inquired as he entered the hanger bay with Eshe – Gaia – by his side. "K'un L'u, I asked you to repair that thing, not damage it more." No one said anything; everyone else present just looked at each other with a bit of a knowing smile. With a taut face, the general turned his attention towards Marcus. "You're back already. You want to explain what's going on here?"

"We're all good down here," Marcus replied. He came up to the senior officer and entered his personal space in order to take his ear. "Hey, I've got some explaining to do. I don't know if it's too late to stop The Nameless. But if we can stop him and not kill him, maybe he'll see our side of things. If the Chinese can..."

"My office. We'll discuss it there," the officer grumbled. He gazed at everyone but Eshe in the hanger with daggers in his eyes. "Let's go." General Asak turned about to beat a hasty retreat when an apparition appeared above the assembly of super humans, but it wasn't Ghost.

Though the man was translucent, his skin was notably a shade of dark yellow and his black hair unbrushed and wild. His frame was wiry but straight and confident. It was Thiha.

"So glad I finally found you all. It certainly is easier when several of my children are in the same place at the same time." Thiha's face was turned up, bemused.

"Children? What's he talking about?" General Asak put to Marcus.

"Hopefully Marcus has figured that out by now, General. At any rate, your time is up. Either you join me or you will fall before me," Thiha warned.

"There's been a complication," Marcus led. "It's you who need to join us!"

A deep, maniacal laughter filled the hanger. "Your time is up. We'll settle this very soon, at a time and place of my choosing." Thiha quickly faded entirely from view.

"Wait, no!" Marcus flew into the air. "Wait!" But Thiha was gone.

General Asak looked the cyborg over and considered the fact that the figure wasn't going to fit comfortably in the dining room upstairs. "Marcus and I are going to my office for a chat."

"We'll need K'un L'u, too," Marcus said.

"Fine," the general responded and motioned for K'un L'u to come along. "Everyone meet back here at zero-eight-hundred for a briefing," the veteran ordered. "And make sure you're paying attention."

August 28, 2020...Melbourne, Australia

A hot, early evening breeze blew Melanie's strawberry-blonde hair behind her like wispy thin flames as she shut the Land Rover's door behind her. Her six year old son came shooting out the door of their house like a cannon ball, exploding with excitement as he rushed headlong into his mother's crushing arms.

"Mommy, mommy, are you finally home? I really missed you!" Melanie's surfer boyfriend had always told the child that boys don't cry but her son was bursting with tears of joy.

"Oh, I missed ya, too, kiddo." Melanie shagged the boy's dirty blonde tresses and puckered her lips against his cheek.

"Mommy!" the boy suddenly put his mother at arm's distance, "You were on the news! You and The Mega Dudes were fighting a giant robot! Did it hurt you?"

Melanie was aware of the video of herself fighting alongside The Mega Dudes in the Russian suburbs but hoped no one had recognized her. It's hard to fool your own son, though. She shook her head 'yes' at her son, but not too eagerly.

"Yeah, it got a few good shots in but we're Conrad's and we're tough." The twentysomething mother lightly knuckled her son in the arm. She stood up with a hand on the boy's head and headed for their fenced-in backyard. As she walked she looked back over her shoulder at Christopher who was in the Rover's passenger seat. Another nod 'yes' and Christopher opened the door, stepped out and stood tall. He trailed Melanie and her son to the back of the house while the child remained oblivious to the man. All her son could do was talk about that damned video.

With a fence and a tree obscuring the view of her yard, Melanie took her son to the back door and sat him down in a wooden deck chair. "Sweetie, there's someone I want ya ta meet. Do ya know who this is?" Christopher, in a stuffy black jacket, presented himself to the boy.

The boy's hands were folded in his lap but his eyes were ablaze. He looked at his mother and back at this man and then his mother again. "Mommy, is he...?"

Melanie's mouth flashed teeth and her eyes brightened at Christopher. Christopher own eyes were obliging as he shrugged his shoulders and eagerly slipped off his extra clothing as if it were a strait jacket. Unrestrained, the stubble-faced Mega Dude stretched his dark, angular, metal, bat-like wings out from behind him to reveal their full eight foot wingspan. They were sharp, durable and battle tested. Although he was dressed in board shorts and a graphic tee, Christopher folded his arms and stuck out his chest in full on superhero mode. Jaw hanging to the floor, Melanie's son was unusually speechless. Not so for the boyfriend, Eli, she left behind.

Her surfer boyfriend from another life creaked the back door ajar. He, too, stood amazed, beer in one hand and his other hand wiping his brown locks out of his eyes. "I'll be arse over tits, the kid wasn't kidding. I didn't believe him."

Melanie's son turned towards the fourth wheel. "See, I told you so," he said and made a face.

"Good to have ya back, Mel," the surfer remarked unsurely, his eyes floating back and forth between Melanie and Christopher. He held out an arm as if asking for a hug while motioning with his head towards the kitchen. "Ya've been gone a while. Ya said ya got a few months gig in 'Zealand. Is there anything ya wanna talk about real fast?"

Melanie thought her soon to be ex was acting strange. Then again, she wasn't the one who just realized their other half was a superhero and hanging around super men. "Ya, sure. Let's go inside for a tic."

Christopher took a knee in front of Melanie's son. "So you've seen me and the other Mega Dudes on TV, huh? What do people say about us?"

The boy's mouth rushed to keep up with his thoughts. "Oh, you guys are the coolest! Me and my friends pretend we're The Mega Dudes all the time. Whenever there's someone in trouble, we're there! We help people, except..." The child's face sank. "The news people on TV, they don't know why The Mega Dudes weren't there when those bad people killed everyone in the desert."

This was some of the news the two supers had just recently caught wind of. The outside of Christopher's eyes creased. "I don't think there's a way I can explain it that'll make sense," he replied with a pat on the boy's knee.

In the kitchen, Eli flicked the burners of the stove on and off. "Coulda told me ya had super powers. Why didn't ya tell us?"

"Sorry, buggah, it just happened so fast. I was scared o' my powers at first but then I really liked it, then someone put me in touch with these other women and we went to Russia and acted like real heroes, ya know? Then these Chinese guys caught up with us and then The Mega Dudes – Christopher – saved me..."

Eli leaned against the stove and pointed his chin out the door at Christopher. "What's his deal, then? Showing us your fancy new friends? Why else is he here? No one's in danger right now."

"Eli...I'm kinda with him now, right now, anyway. It's complicated," Melanie looked down. She was met with silence and the sound of feet shifting on the floor. Eli swept the hair out of his eyes again.

"I've been taking care of your son. I've been keeping the house up and makin' sure the bills get paid. Did ya know last week I placed second in the MG?" Eli informed Melanie. He took another look at Christopher who was playing with the boy. "Did I mention I work, too? Does he work? Does saving people from burning buildings and crashing planes pay well? Maybe I can get in on that."

"Look, I'm sorry, buggah," Melanie mugged. "We had a good run, yeah? I didn't mean for this to happen. I just...I have more in common with him."

Eli looked away and rocked his head 'no.' "Mel, we have stuff in common. We both surf, we both like to eat snags and we both like zombie movies. What do ya have in common with him?" Eli gulped. He was angry but needed to restrain himself from getting into a scuffle with Christopher; he'd seen how strong and tough The Mega Dude was. Eli couldn't fight a giant armored robot.

Melanie made motions with her hands, trying to begin a sentence. "We have super powers that we use ta help people. We can both fly really fast, though I'm faster. And when I fly I'm pretty much indestructible. His wings are indestructible, too." Melanie's face lit up when she talked about them. But when she took a moment to reflect upon these things they had in common, she had to admit they were superficial and that she needed to explain more. Eli's slack jawed and moist-eyed expression obligated her to find a better explanation.

"We just 'get' each other," Melanie said. Eli had moved forward and was about to interject but she put out a halting hand. "I know we get each other, too, but Christopher and I are in the same place right now. We believe we have a responsibility to help people because of the power we have. I mean, what else would you do with super powers?"

Eli thought about it but not nearly long enough. "I'd win a lot of competitions."

"And that's why I'm with Christopher now." Melanie eyes were a bit puffy. She may have yearned for a life of adventure but never considered the impact it would have at home. She'd already left her son for months and now she had to let Eli down without crushing him.

She started in again. "I guess I coulda used my super powers ta get rich or be famous. But when you have these kinds of powers, Christopher and I think you should use them ta improve the world and not just your own life." Melanie's heartbeat was irregular. She wasn't used to having adult conversations.

"Some people don't see it like that, Mel," Eli responded. "Bankers, CEO's," he kidded a bit but then turned serious. "Ya also got this guy out there, 'The Nameless' the news calls him, and it sounds like he wants to kill ya guys. You've seen the news, you've seen what he's doin,' right?"

Melanie flattened lips agreed. The news of the past few days signaled the end of her alone time with Christopher. Having read The Book, she knew this was coming.

Eli continued. "This Nameless guy has super people with him, too. What are ya going to do, all of ya are going to get inta one big fight? Ya could die. Are ya willing to take that chance and leave your son without a mother?"

Melanie's shoulders sank because Eli made good sense. But there was more to the situation she thought she should make him aware of. As she prepared to open her mouth, her son ran from the backdoor to his bedroom. Christopher had retracted his wings and put his hands in his pockets and looked away after a quick glimpse of Melanie talking to Eli. Melanie's son ran back out the door with his Mega Dude action figures in his hands.

"Since you've been paying attention ta the news, Eli, have ya heard anything about aliens landing in Russia?" Melanie asked. The ex smirked and jiggled his head waiting for her to say more. "Well an alien did land in Russia and she – they call it a 'she' – is working with some folks from the UN. I ain't met her but she's proof there's life out there. She's not alone either."

"I don't know what you're goin' on about, Mel," Eli folded his arms.

"She's telling you the truth. And what she was going to say next is that an alien invasion is coming," Christopher spoke as he walked in through the back door. Melanie's son stayed in the backyard and twirled in circles as he made his action figures fly.

"Look, bro, we're having a private conversation here. I don't want to throw down with ya but I will if ya don't respect our privacy," Eli rumbled.

"I know you're upset. I understand," Christopher calmed. "But what she's trying to say is that there is something bigger than us about to happen. If Melanie doesn't go on being a superhero, there's not going to be a world for you or her son left to live in."

Melanie lowered her head and shot a sideways glance at Christopher. "That makes me think about Ella," Melanie frowned. She brought her head back up. "We still have to take care of The Nameless first. Though, I guess we'll survive that. We'll survive the invasion, too, if The Book is right."

"Remember, we can't kill him," Christopher remarked in reference to the villain.

"Yeah, I know, but he's not mentioned in The Book during the invasion," Melanie responded.

"Who talks like this? Y'all are crooked. Am I still a part of this conversation?" Eli said, his face red and flustered.

Melanie walked up to Eli and took him by each arm. "Eli, we're here to see muh kid for a little bit. But we can't stay, buggah. We have to go take care of this bad guy. We don't know how long we'll be."

"You're going to leave your son again?" Eli violently shook her off in protest. Melanie's son wasn't his and although he'd taken a liking to the boy, he didn't like the idea of being forced into the role of being a fulltime father. "I suppose you're going to ask me to take care of him again? Ya got some nerve, Mel."

Melanie and Christopher pointed their heads at each other and then at the ground. It certainly was a tough thing they were asking of Eli but that didn't explain the pins-and-needles they started feeling all over their bodies. Their figures felt stretched apart and shrinking at the same time a moment later. The two looked at each other anxiously.

"What's going on?" Melanie asked Christopher, for whom the sensations were vaguely more familiar but still sufficiently strange.

"I'm not sure. It feels like The Pull but different somehow," he said back.

The pair of superheroes suddenly disappeared in a chimera of blue-and-white light. An accompanying gust of air blew dish towels and lighter utensils around the kitchen.

"Dammit!" Eli stammered as he slammed a hand down on the counter top.

...

"Open your eyes," a honey-dripped female voice whispered.

Melanie slowly parted her lashes and blinked to clear her vision. Her head was a little woozy but she perked up when she saw Christopher standing in front of her in a white tuxedo. He had shaved his five o'clock shadow and was holding out his hand, inviting her to take it. When she reached out with a white gloved hand, she noticed she was wearing a silk dress and felt her hair plastered to her head in an up-do. To Melanie's left stood an older African American woman in a black robe and wearing a clerical collar. The woman held an antique book open as if ready to read from it. Looking over her right shoulder, all her friends and family were seated on white chairs. When her hearing cleared, Melanie processed the sound of distant, crashing waves. They were all poised on a sea cliff with a late afternoon sun bearing down.

"Good thing we didn't tell him we wanted to get married," Christopher's reverbed voice said from seemingly far away. Melanie looked back at him.

"I want to rewrite history," Melanie said more to herself than to Christopher. "We have to rewrite history." She took Christopher's hand and the couple turned towards the officiant who began speaking but Melanie didn't recognize any of the words. They seemed foreign. Before long the words were fleeting on the wind. Her vision clouded.

She blinked furiously and forced her eyes open as fully as possible. The mistress of fire was on her hands and knees and looking down at a red carpet. Fifty feet in front of her, a brawny man in a skull mask was standing before a white marble alter, stained glass windows overhead. Turning her head to the right, she saw Christopher on one knee, a pained look on his face while his wings spread out. She turned her head to the other side. Melanie didn't like what she saw. The time had come.

Circa 2024 A.D...Approaching the Solar System

The soft exoskeleton of the navigator, Xillick, moved its appendages through an orange web-like control matrix. "Hyperrr Zzzuperrrion, zzzirrrr," the human-sized insectoid turned its body toward the captain's seat, "Wwwe wwwill complete ourrr jump zzzhorrrtly."

Hyper Superion rested its stretched green forearms along the armrests of his throne. Its legs were stretched out before it as the alien commander slumped back. The instigator of billions of deaths could barely keep its inner eyelids open; centuries of the inner conflict between guilt and self-preservation had taken its toll. But there was also the matter of the future-scan.

During the hundred-and-forty year jump from its previous victims' planet, Hyper Superion had run a number of future-scans on the next objective, Earth. Each time the report was complete and the tall, green man read the report from its pink relay orb, the information provided was ambiguous. "I do not understand it," Hyper Superion would say each time to his lone companion at the helm, Xillick. The pilot could offer no advice; its sole purpose was to fly the ship until it was time to invade, at which time the creature would secure the ship unless called into battle. Such was the case at the Battle of K'un L'u.

The pink orb throbbed anew with luminescence. Xillick informed Hyper Superion that the latest future-scan was complete which made the commander look lazily at the orb as it sat like a forgotten woman on a pedestal. Three lanky fingertips reluctantly plucked the small orb from its perch and brought the globe to the alien's somewhat bulbous head. Information...information...uncertainty. The future-scan told Hyper Superion some relevant information but certain details were obscure or even missing. Hesitation and doubt mixed with the being's guilt seeped emotions from the leader like a leaky boat. It might as well have been chumming the waters to bring a shark around. Hyper Superion snapped to attention, brought its hands up and curled its fingers. "Protect!" It demanded. Like many times before, an invisible protective shield projected by its yellow wrist- and ankle-bands circled the two crewmembers.

"REPORT," a two-ton voice demanded.

The thing Hyper Superion answered to was only heard and felt but almost never seen. It had seen He Who Is Without a Name twice, though; once when his world fell to ... and once at the Battle of K'un L'u. Hyper Superion wished never to see the thing again, not because whatever it was was hideous, but because of what ...'s presence meant. Having just 'read' the latest future-scan, the ship's captain was afraid it'd see ... here, now. It didn't want that knowing what ... would do upon hearing the latest future-scan update.

"I am afraid I have news that may disturb you," the nine-foot tall extraterrestrial tensed its face. "The future-scans are not providing me with detailed information. As I indicated in my last report, multiple Seedlings have taken root on the planet. This in itself would not be terribly troubling except that the future-scan is not providing any information on the capabilities of these Seedlings. There are also several beings of increased power that do not appear to be Seedlings at all. However, I believe it would be fair to attribute this to K'un L'u's interference." Hyper Superion balked at his next sentence.

"SPEAK," the loud, ghastly, ghostly voice instructed after the hesitation. The thing spoke as if it already knew. The captain supposed that ... did. Its force field was holding but what if ... didn't like the information?

"Given this report and its lack of clarity, it would be best to assume a substantial amount of resistance from some of the planet's inhabitants. I humbly suggest we attack the planet from afar, from beyond their ability to strike back. The methods employed – such as boiling their oceans – would be crude but it would weaken the inhabitants. I will have to calculate the amount of time necessary to properly weaken the inhabitants before a more direct assault so that we do not have to face a situation similar to the Battle of K'un L'u." Hyper Superion figured that his lord wouldn't accept any loss of life that was not by their direct hands. The alien knew ... wanted the inhabitants to suffer properly. Hyper Superion was right.

"UNACCEPTABLE. ALL LIFE MUST BE SUBJEGATED FORTHWITH THEN THEIR SUFFERING EXTRACTED. THEN THEY WILL BE EXECUTED." The green-hued alien's force field started to buckle under the voice's displeasure. "DEVISE ANOTHER STATEGY."

There was nothing Hyper Superion could do but bow and agree to the words. There would be an invasion but perhaps the initial head-to-head clash could be avoided? Such was the commander's mistake at the Battle of K'un L'u. The longest serving member of the world breaker army would prefer something other than a blunt confrontation if it were possible, but a direct assault would fulfil its master's desires more quickly.

"RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES."

Its force field had survived the presence of the voice for hopefully the last time. The invasion was nearly at hand. Hyper Superion gazed woefully at a large three-dimensional display of the Solar System. "All life will be erased soon," the lean being spoke to its navigator in contemplation. "We will be the last ones in all the universe."

The insectoid crewmember either didn't know to mask its feelings or lacked the emotions to suit the occasion. "Then ourrr mazzzterrr wwwill fulfil promizzze?"

Hyper Superior put his enlarged head into a deep bow. "Of course, Xillick." The truth was, the green alien didn't know. In fact, in the back of Hyper Superion's mind was the possibility that ... would renege on its promise. As always though, the ship's captain reasoned they were all closer to the end of the universe than ever before and that, for it, was something of an advantage. When ... showed Hyper Superion what it would do to it if it declined the invitation to join ...'s army, joining was never in question. Hyper Superion would put the rest of the universe under its heel because the alternative was too grave to live through again. But even now that frightful scene, forced into Hyper Superion's mind long ago, didn't escape it. Looking at the third planet from the solar system's yellow sun, Hyper Superion recalled that fateful day an enormous, black-chrome marble appeared in the sky above his planet...

An otherwise ominous, seven mile wide mirrored ball hung in Hyper Superion's sky for three of its planet's days. The globe had appeared suddenly and without warning, which would have worried most other races of sentient beings. But Hyper Superion's people were gentle and inquisitive. They viewed the object as something curious, something new in the universe to be known and was doing them a favor by revealing itself to them. Hyper Superion at the time – its name then something less pronounceable – was unusually intelligent among his people and hence one of their leading cosmologists and physicists. It was put to Hyper Superion to answer questions about the fantastic black sphere.

"It's quite fascinating, really," the beanstalk of an alien began to explain in a worldwide transmission from its triangular, pyramid-paneled laboratory. "If you hold your info-globe to your head," it instructed its people to take their pink orbs and make contact, "You will see the dimensions of the black sphere are literally perfect in all respects. It is perfectly smooth as a result. Acoustically, it is resonating at the same frequency as the Cosmic Background Radiation, which as you all know is the thermal radiation that permeates the universe as a result of the universe's initial inflation billions of years ago. Other than this, there is not much we can tell as the sphere continues to hover exactly ten-thousand meters above us. Tomorrow, we plan to probe the surface of the sphere with robotics to get a better idea of the density of the object and determine whether it is hollow. We need to do this as our ground-based instruments have been inconclusive regarding this matter."

During the tail end of Hyper Superion's transmission, a cacophony of noise grew within and outside of its lab. The scientist reached for its own info-globe, held the pink orb to its head and understood why; the massive polished object was descending. The descent of the sphere was deliberate and controlled; the opposite of one massive object crashing into another. This suggested to Hyper Superion that either the sphere or something inside it was intelligent. Eventually, the sphere came to a halt, hovering this time a mere meter off the planet's surface.

The broad 'landing site' was twenty miles from Hyper Superion's lab. It kept its info-globe to its head to remotely view the scene as recorded by drones, a scene in which scores of Hyper Superion's people had begun to gather around the base of the seven mile wide black ball. As red light waned with the setting of a red sun and a paler light took footing with the rise of two smaller blue stars on the opposite horizon, thousands had created a perimeter around the sphere. When the red sun finally set and the blue suns had fully risen, a crack of thunder came from the sphere that deafened everyone present. Legions of Hyper Superion's people were bowled over as they covered their ears and barred their eyes. When the whipcrack had passed, everyone stood up again. Those on the side of sphere where the red sun had set looked up to behold a twenty foot tall figure whose black, glossy skin looked as though all the cosmos' stars were painted across it.

The figure before them had two eyes that burned like yellow suns. Other than that, it had no distinguishing facial features. The visitor was otherwise built much like themselves, though more wide in its relation to its height; somewhat the opposite of Hyper Superion's kind. The thing stood almost statuesque, turning only its head to survey the beings before it. By Hyper Superion's calculations, it was determined that most of its people would see contact with alien life at some point in their approximately thousand yearlong lives – but they never expected such a curious being. In fact, speculations about extraterrestrial life was more imaginative than the thing that stood before them; this being was unexpectedly similar to themselves, sans their green skin, average stature and humanoid facial features. The alien among them was still strange enough to warrant the many inhabitants surrounding it to get closer and see for themselves.

When the number of spectators had reached almost three-thousand, some of them within arms reach of the largely motionless being, a voice spilled forth from it that was so abysmal it nearly fatally wounded those standing closest to it.

"DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM PEACEFUL. PLEASE GATHER AROUND. I HAVE SOMETHING I WANT TO TELL YOU," it said.

Watching remotely from the lab, Hyper Superion observed the mere voice of this creature seemingly shatter the bones of the people immediately surrounding it. Seven-to-eight feet tall themselves, green figures fell to the ground like quivering matchsticks while others not as close by leapt back instinctively when their eardrums burst, olive-tinted blood spilling forth. People even further back felt their two hearts race out of synch, something none of them ever experienced before. Given that their scientists had tamed their planet, there wasn't much Hyper Superion's people knew to be afraid of. Over generations, fear itself had almost been completely bred out simply because there wasn't much need for it. Fear had returned, though many weren't aware of the emotion such as it was.

It is making a mistake. It doesn't know what it's doing, Hyper Superion reasoned. The green man watched and waited for what would happen next.

Except to observe those fallen before it, the being who had not spoken its name continued to stand near motionless while inside itself, its heart and mind filled with electricity. The pulsing energy within brought about elation, a strong lump of pleasure in its throat, a tidal wave of white hot euphoria. The feeling came and went throughout its body like a flash flood. When the excitement subsided shortly thereafter, it longed for the next needle in the arm. Words boiled to its mouth. But those words it knew had to be calculated. They would come forth with greater softness.

"I am so sorry," the visitor spoke in their language. "I did not mean to harm anyone. Please care for your wounded. The rest of you gather around. I will reveal the wonders of the universe to you."

This was Hyper Superion's job. The scientist had to rush there and record everything this figure said firsthand. Its people already knew much about the cosmos but apparently not enough if this being could suddenly appear among them. The genius gathered several odd-shaped recording devices and pushed a button on a large, white hexagonal drone. The drone rose into the air beside Hyper Superion and it followed the scientist out the door of the lab. Every muscle pumping, the lanky, emerald researcher practically threw itself down a triangular staircase. Not accustomed to such bursts of physical exertion, the green figure eventually fell forward on the stairs. It tried to break its fall by flashing its three-fingered hands out, but when its palms hit the ground this only served to send unfamiliar pain signals up the creature's arms. Hyper Superion would have contorted its face had it more facial muscles, but it remained focused on the task at hand – getting to the landing site – and this allowed the scientist to ignore most of the pain. Hyper Superion stabilized itself on its two feet and dashed off again. It hoped one of its people's few transport vehicles would happen by soon as the scientist didn't know if it was physically capable of covering the distance in time to hear everything.

As Hyper Superion rushed to the scene, green people swarmed the area surrounding the curious monolithic extraterrestrial. Their mouths were all agape, their eyes all but oblivious to the scores of service drones evacuating the wounded from the creature's immediate area. They edged closer and closer like mindless drones themselves, marching towards the promise of new knowledge.

Hyper Superion continued a breathless race toward the landing zone before it flagged down a service transport vehicle; thankfully this cut down the travel time quite considerably. Within moments, the planet's leading researcher could see the seven mile wide black marble quite well now that it was halfway there. At this point, the white, hexagonal drone accompanying the researcher began beeping an alarming red. The scientist took its attention off of the sphere and practically smacked its pink info-globe to its head, annoyed at the interruption. Hyper Superion squinted at the internalized information at first, then knew before the techno-organic orb had completed transmitting its data that the news was dire. It should have guessed this was coming but Hyper Superion's own curiosity concerning the great black sphere delayed running this particular report. The report, a geological survey, concluded that the mass of the black sphere was tearing the local tectonic plate apart. The effect was subtle but accelerating. Again, Hyper Superion concluded the alien didn't realize the danger it was presenting; to think another living creature would do something like this intentionally was not in the nature of Hyper Superion's people. Taking the pink ball from its head, the scientist looked in the direction of the visitor and heard a long, dreadful moan.

"Do not be afraid," the twenty foot tall pillar had spoken as it walked among the sea of dwarfed people. It waved a hand over the tops of their heads as it passed by them in groups, which instilled in their mind's eye a unique experience; to stand on the surface of a star and live. They were seeing a place their guest had been that they could never go themselves. The immediate crowd, numbering near a thousand, saw through the eyes of another and could look down at their feet and see nuclear fission actually take place while they suffered nothing. The great star-skinned alien asked them if they wanted to see more to which a thousand heads bobbed eagerly. It asked them if they wanted to feel more and a thousand heads bobbed feverishly. "Then it shall be so," the visitor said.

Invisible to the outside, the inner world of these people turned from a glimmer of wonder into an unimaginable fire. Every nerve of their being was poked with white hot needles over and over and over again. For many people, this was their first time feeling anything like this. Their grief went to depths they didn't know was possible. The pain was relentless as the alien among them thrust their experience deeper. The black-skinned thing forced the relentless pain into their souls but kept it from boiling over into their physical bodies where it might kill them. Their minutes-long mental suffering made their visitor lightheaded for a brief moment before it waved another hand over the masses like a sickle and allowed their inner world to break free of its constraint. Flames of stellar heat bubbled the skin of the crowd from green to black, resulting in a chorus of shrieks heard for miles. Those people still migrating to see the alien had now ceased in their tracks, the ancient biology they'd forgotten having taken over. They didn't know why intellectually, but they all started to turn away. Those with the most primitive DNA started to run from the giant black chrome ball; something told them the sphere was to be dreaded.

Having heard the cries of distress, Hyper Superion and his advanced DNA switched the automatic vehicle's controls into manual. It raced with new purpose towards the scene. I must communicate with the visitor before it is too late, was the scientist's concern. The concern, or perhaps nervousness, saw sweat dribble off the green man's head and into its eyes, stinging wildly as it tried to keep its eyes open. When Hyper Superion was finally on scene, it had hoped the unfamiliar stinging from its sweat-soaked eyes were casting an illusion – a thousand people lay scorched and dead at the feet of the animated column. Service drones hovered over the bodies unsure what to do; they weren't programmed with care instructions for dead bodies. Death was ceremonial among Hyper Superion's people and almost never natural. Unsure what to make of the situation, the scientist nonetheless advanced, this time on foot. It stepped over the bodies of its people to within a few feet of the extraterrestrial.

"What...what have you done? Do you understand what I am asking you? What have you done?" Hyper Superion was not used to asking sentient beings questions about their motives, not even its own kind.

The dark thing drew up an accusing finger at pointed it towards the new arrival. It spoke from out something other than a mouth. "You are special," it said in Hyper Superion's tongue.

"You understand our language. That is good; you know what I am asking you then," the scientist replied, a slight downward curve to its brows. It was unbelieving towards the scorched victims all around it.

Still pointing, the visitor spoke again. "I. Answer. To no one!" the black marvel stated in a voice that made the green man wince. "You are special among your people, are you not?"

Hyper Superion turned half his body away if it needed to run. "I am a scientist. But my status is not particularly special."

"Yes, you are, little green man. Did you not attempt to run the distance to be here just now? Your people are not used to such effort. Yet you did this. You ignored danger. You ignored pain. You are uniquely capable of suffering more than the others of your kind." It lowered its finger.

Hyper Superion supposed it were true that it ignored possible danger and even pain to get to this point, having put the unfamiliar feelings aside to be here now. Originally, the curiosity seeker felt the need to be present for the revelation of information. Now, Hyper Superion thought there might be a different reason though it didn't know what that reason would be. What was more important was to stop any more suffering.

"You have killed many of my people. And the sphere you arrived in is tearing the ground beneath us apart," the scientist engaged with uncharacteristic hostility. "I no longer care why you are here. You should leave now and not return until you see the need for more caution." Hyper Superion turned to fully face the creature. The visitor was unmoving but emanated something more than harmony. Hyper Superion felt pleasure, no, amusement beaming from the alien.

"You will bring the rest of your people to me. If you do not cooperate, I will kill you and then I will kill all of them."

The yellow eyes of the thing flashed with laughter but Hyper Superion's ears ached. The audacity of this thing! It sees nothing wrong with extinguishing life? How is this possible? I could have no part in such a thing ever! "You will leave my planet now!" the scientist demanded. The tall, green other-worlder balled its three fingers, marched up to the extraterrestrial and slammed its fist against the thing's belly. Something popped and cracked; two of the scientist's fingers. Hyper Superion grasped the injured hand with its good one and tried to analyze the sharp shock. It looked up at the black monstrosity looking down at it. "Leave my planet," a more docile Hyper Superion whimpered this time. It had felt the thing's hide. Though there was no means of hurting it, the researcher wanted to remain defiant. Defiance – another new feeling. It was too many emotions to process at once; they obfuscated the simple flowchart of action that normally ran through its head.

"I will leave your planet when you have made your choice," the creature offered.

"What...choice?" the green man and its broken hand and didn't really want to know.

"Let me show you," a deepening voice answered. As the voice echoed away, Hyper Superion was transported to another place, a non-place, somewhere the scientist was deprived of senses. After what seemed like days, sensations rang in again. A pinch here, a nip there, multiplying and magnifying over the course of hours. Hyper Superion would become hot, no, cold, no, hot; the being couldn't never tell for sure. Discomfort graduated to agony. Agony graduated to anguish and pushed electric spasms through the scientist's body when the pain finally became too much. Every pore then began to ooze olive blood. The plasma filled the green man's eyes, ears and mouth. And just when it had come to the point of submitting its life, having every fiber of its being torn apart atom by atom, the scenario began all over again. Four times, five times, losing count. The scientist knew that in death there are no feelings. An eternity of feeling like your dying was far worse by comparison. Hyper Superion woke after the last indeterminate bout of torture and found itself on its knees in front of the monolithic stranger. The scientist recalled how fossils of its ancestors had displayed skulls with ducts that presumably secreted a liquid. It now knew why.

"I will torment you for eternity if you do not bring your people to me. Bring them to me and I will spare you. You will never know the suffering I have shown you again," the alien said.

Hyper Superion knew the thing meant it, knew it could do it. Grimaced, the scientist scanned the horizon for any of its people. "Why are you doing this?" it asked as it spent more time recovering from the sudden ordeal than weighing the option become a traitor.

The creature spoke in a gentle tone, a tone that mocked the scientist precisely because it was kind. "The weak ask 'why.' The weak value kindness and sympathy. The strong do not ask for permissions because they do not need to. The strong take because the weak have no option but to allow it. I am going to take what I want from your people because you cannot stop me. You will betray your own kind because when shown eternal damnation, you will drown your morals in an abyss in order to survive."

The scientist's face flushed with veins. Hyper Superion rocked back and forth on its knees knowing what this thing said is true – it was not willing to suffer eternal torment to save millions of its own people. Why would it if this alien was going to kill them all anyway? The visitor may not even need its help but the reason why it was asking was irrelevant in light of the consequences.

"Lie to them. Force them. You will do whatever you must to bring them to me, little one," the antagonist ordered. "I will even give you power."

Hyper Superion burst with searing nuclear radiation from the inside out. "Today you become 'Hyper Superion.' You are bound to me now, Seedling," the former scientist heard the thing faintly say from seemingly far away. Hyper Superion throttled with vitality. "Do my bidding or you will suffer my wrath," the visitor reminded.

At the word 'wrath' Hyper Superion became clear-headed and focused. Its wrists and ankles were circled by yellow bands of energy. The newborn herald floated inches above the ground to return immediately to its laboratory. Hyper Superion needed to access the worldwide communication grid. "Come back," the enhanced terrestrial would go on to tell its people. "There has been a grave misunderstanding. I have cleared things up with the visitor. It is our friend. Look; see what it has done for me?" Hyper Superion would remark about its somewhat altered appearance. "It will do this for you, make you more powerful and knowledgeable like me." The words were deceptions; Hyper Superion was leading its people to slaughter. It was a new thing, to want to survive especially after what the beast showed it, literally a living nightmare.

A planet full of elated then destroyed smoldering bodies later, the giant star-strewn thing took Hyper Superion into its ship. "I will release you from your service peacefully when my objective is complete," it told the collaborator. Hyper Superion didn't really believe it but the alternative had to be avoided for as long as possible. It would do anything to avoid that alternative. Anything to avoid the alternative.

Returning its thoughts to the present, to the bridge of the great black sphere, the eyes of the ship's captain wandered off across a 3D map of everywhere it had been and conquered. While its eyes wandered, Hyper Superion thought of Earth. "I do not know you, Earthlings, but you would have done the same as I. You will think of me as a monster but when faced with such terrible, horrible choices, we all wind up monsters in the end," It said inaudibly. The former scientist's head sank to where its heart had once been.

August 28, 2020...The Black Box Secret Facility

A grim-faced Marcus tossed a glance to either side as he got out of the elevator and entered the grey concrete hanger bay that glowed with morning sunlight. He strode out of the lift beside the stocky General Asak whose expression was as hard-nosed as ever. The two men bore down on an unlikely assembly; Eshe in a blue pantsuit sat with the more casually dressed lieutenant and captain at one metal picnic table, a trio of US army fatigued Chinese men at another. Standing and keeping watch over them all was the noir, scaly-skinned alien, K'un L'u, and the enormous cyborg Armada. General Asak pointed a finger at his UNRT and swung it towards the table where the Chinese sat, effectively telling everyone to sit at the same table – both literally and figuratively – while avoiding giving the Chinese any orders. He didn't want to order them around anymore than was necessary, not yet anyway, not until his assembled team here was in the thick of battle. Once everyone was seated with K'un L'u and Armada hovering, the veteran threw a dossier on the table, spilling its contents of profiles and photographs.

"We don't know how much time we have so let's talk about what we're up against," the general's scruffy voice said. Four chunky fingers slid a photograph away from the rest of the documents, a picture of a lean, dark yellow-skinned man maybe three inches shy of six feet tall. "This," the ranking officer nailed down the photo with his index finger, "As some of you know, is The Nameless. Don't know his real name; it doesn't matter anyway. What does matter is that he's basically a mirror image of Marcus in terms of what he can do. He can imagine any power for himself but we are assuming he can only possess one power at a time; we're basing this assumption on altercations between Marcus and The Nameless in New York and Russia."

The older but fit enlisted man Sgt. Koo interjected. "A mirror image? Mr. Michaels, can you only assume one power at a time?"

The general's eyes sawed through Sgt. Koo. He contemplated the Chinese man's quick analysis and continued. "There's more to The Nameless' powers but that's on a need to know basis."

Captain Drake raised his hand carefully. "General, excuse me. We don't know what this guy has planned for us. After the attacks he pulled off in the Middle East, I'd say we need to know as much as possible right now."

General Asak's jaw locked up and his nose flared as he let out some air. He didn't want to reveal what Marcus had told him about the powers he gained just prior to Zero Hour. Marcus had just told the veteran several bits of key information in confidence and the general had begun to think of Marcus less as a weapon and more like a human being. Lacking a son himself, General Asak wanted to bring Marcus closer to his vest and protect him from unnecessary danger. Providing more information about The Nameless and Marcus' powers, whether now or later, could make Marcus vulnerable at some point. The commander chewed on the decision to tell the team like an overdone steak. Ultimately, he gave up trying to bite off a piece. "You don't need to know right now, Captain."

"You're right, Sgt. Koo," Marcus suddenly said standing tall and upright. He was going to lead this team into combat and wanted them to trust him. They needed to trust him now and even more so when the impending invasion arrived. He needed to tell them everything. "You're right about my powers; I can only have one power at a time. So can The Nameless. The catch is, he can't use any power that I'm using. We can't both use the same power at the same time. If he's super strong and I decide to be super strong, I get to be super strong and he doesn't. Now, this guy's really smart and probably figured this out a while ago but I don't think he knows that I know; I just realized this yesterday. That might give us a key advantage in fighting him if we can't bring him around. What I'm saying is that if we got to fight him, if anyone knows what power he's using, you communicate that info to me and I can take that power away from him. This tactic could force him to abandon whatever plan he might have."

K'un L'u, who was standing behind everyone seated, stepped forward. "Can you tell me why there are so many Seedlings, Marcus Michaels? I've never seen so many Seedlings on one planet before. While this may be a favorable situation for us come the invasion, this is not normal prior to the arrival of the world breakers."

Marcus bowed his head. Part of being a leader was to take responsibility for your actions. "Because I created him; I created The Nameless. I did it because I thought no one should possess the power of a god. So, I gave him some of my power in case I let my powers corrupt me. But it looks like he thought kinda of the same thing when I gave him his powers and he created many of you. Eshe, Sgt. Koo, Private Xi; your powers came from him. Others, too. But I didn't know what kind of person he was when I gave him powers. Even so, I admit I'm ultimately responsible for all the trouble The Nameless has caused. I accept it. Now we have to stop him before our little conflict goes any further. You all know what's at stake."

Eshe looked down and batted her eyelashes. She touched her fingers to another photograph and slipped it towards General Asak. "What do we know about the other members of his little army? Tell us about this man in the skull mask."

Marcus looked at Eshe and remembered what that man had put her through, having shared thoughts with her just prior to K'un L'u waking up from her 'coma.' Graveyard tried to compromise her integrity by threatening her with damnation, but Marcus trusted she couldn't be broken so easily.

General Asak chimed in. "According to facial recognition software, that's Abhi Basak, aka Graveyard; once a low level employee at an Indian tech firm. He seems to be able to generate fear in other people and affect a large area. He's also very strong but we don't think he's on the same level as Armada or The Mega Dudes' Brawl Boy. His parents have been questioned and they claim not have heard from their son in over a year; they say he's a shy man, if you can believe that. We suspect he's The Nameless' lieutenant. I'd say we should worry about him but the rest of The Nameless' crew is just as nasty."

The general reached for another photograph and pushed it front and center. It showed a fashionably dressed woman shopping for Coach purses. "Not sure what this woman calls herself or exactly who she is but she has the ability to make a short-lived, unfriendly replica of you that will attack you."

The next photograph was of a late, middle-aged Japanese man in a solid-colored olive green jacket. Two handguns were holstered on either side of his waist and a katana was slung across his back. "Deathcamp. This guy's not known for shooting off at the mouth. He may be quiet but he's skilled with a variety of weapons and it appears his ability to not die is always active. After what Gaia here did to him in Russia during K'un L'u's landing and what Marcus did to him in Rio, we've concluded he can replicate himself. But, if his power is taken away, he can be killed."

Sgt. Koo pointed his voice towards Marcus. "You have the ability to nullify powers, too, Mr. Michaels?"

"Yeah," Marcus answered bluntly. He didn't mention that Lt. Lucian's gauntlet could do the same.

"I have this ability, also," the enlisted leader mentioned. He narrowed sly eyes at Marcus. Marcus returned a steely cold look. The ranking veteran observed them both.

"I hope you two don't get in a pissing contest when shit is on the line. You both need to focus on this." General Asak put yet another photograph front and center alongside some sketches. The photograph was of a young, dark brown-skinned woman standing next to Graveyard. Although she was wearing a coat, it looked like she might be missing a hand or an arm. Conversely, the sketch was of wire thin, middling dark-skinned woman with pale blue eyes. Her name and age – Anya, teenager – were written next to the drawing.

"We don't know who the woman in the photo is or what her powers are if she has any. She was there alongside Graveyard at the Western Wall," the stout veteran stated. "But the girl sketched here is Anya. I got her information from one General Haggen, who told me that this Super was captured in Malagasy and was to be used as a weapon against Marcus and others like yourselves if the international community felt like super humans had gotten out of control. After what happened in Vatican City, it looks like she's working for The Nameless. I don't have any information on how this happened. Her power? She can turn anything she touches to ash. This power might come in handy if we can get her to turn it on her companions."

"I think I can get her to do that, General," Sgt. Koo's tongue slithered. He sat up straight but relaxed, his head tilted. "It looks like I will be invaluable to this operation."

K'un L'u stepped up behind the sergeant and placed her heavy hands on his shoulders. Though the Chinese leader was in good shape, his shoulders sank from the weight of the alien's hands. It reminded him that he may be powerful against other super humans but that K'un L'u was not human and not easily prone to his mental tricks.

"Let's talk strategy, General," K'un L'u put forth.

"First we give The Nameless a chance to hear me out," Marcus interjected quickly.

"Forgive me, Marcus Michaels, but that does not seem the wisest course of action. We must quell his underlings first," K'un L'u returned.

"I agree with our alien Amazonian," General Asak said. "We don't know what The Nameless' plan is but since we outnumber him, we think, he'll probably want to take us by surprise. Each one of his people are equally dangerous but we can't fight if we're afraid to. We'll have to knock out Graveyard first and then the slender woman so she can't make facsimiles of us. Deathcamp can't die but he can be knocked out like anyone else. We might have to kill the girl Anya if she forces anyone's hand. We'll have to wait and see about the young woman with the missing limb. If we can take down his people first, The Nameless might be vulnerable enough to listen to Marcus."

Captain Drake raised his hand again. "Do you have a plan to keep this from getting messy, sir? Are we playing man-to-man coverage or some kind of zone defense?"

"As you know, Captain, war is controlled chaos. We'll play man-to-man coverage the best we can. Here's how I want it broken down: K'un L'u, you'll take on Graveyard. Since you're not human and you've shown resistance to Sgt. Koo's telepathy, my hope is that you'll be immune to the Indian's fear effect. Eshe and Lt. Lucian will take out doppelganger girl. Sgt. Koo and Private Xi will cover Anya; if she can't touch you, Private, she can't kill you. Captain Drake and Corporal Wang will put Deathcamp down. Wang," the general shot at the surly Chinese man, "Feel free to go nuts on the guy since he can't die, especially if there's more than one of him. Captain, move fast but make sure you stay out of the corporal's way. Armada, you're going to back up Marcus as he deals with The Nameless. Is everyone clear on their roles?"

Marcus curled his lips against each other. "What if The Mega Dudes interfere? They stopped me the first time I tried to put The Nameless down."

"Hmm," the savvy veteran thought. "If The Mega Dudes, or for that matter the Third Power, get in the way, Sgt. Koo I want you to break off from our group with your people and keep any third party out of the UNRT's way. I'm sure the chance to get even with either of those groups wouldn't bother you. That would change everyone else's tactics slightly, though. Hmm. In that case, everyone will stick with their assigned target except for Eshe; you'll have to cover Anya. Just make sure you keep her more than an arm's length away." Everyone stood around waiting for the next few words. The commanding officer clapped his hands together. "Alright! We don't know how much time we have so everyone go get suited up. Eshe, Lt. Lucian, Sgt. Koo, Private Xi and Corporal Wang; follow Marcus to the arms room."

"The arms room?" Lt. Lucian didn't understand.

"Did I stutter, soldier?" General Asak bit his tongue. "Yes, the arms room. I want everyone in tactical gear and carrying a pistol and a combat knife. What if your powers fail? Always have a contingency plan, kid." The general waved people towards the door. Then he pointed at their extraterrestrial guest. "K'un L'u, why don't you and Armada run through some hand-to-hand combat drills while Captain Drake gets his flight suit on." The alien grinned and nodded. K'un L'u couldn't see for sure but suspected the cyborg was grinning, too.

Captain Drake walked across the hanger to where his thin, malleable, metallic blue flight suit was secured behind bulletproof glass. He didn't actually need it to fly but it came with some armaments that might be useful. And, like the glass, the suit was bulletproof. I hope that's not necessary, the captain thought as he suited up then lifted his aerodynamic helmet off its dais. As he started walking back towards K'un L'u trying to show a resistant Armada how to throw a particularly brutal uppercut, the flyer got a strange tingling sensation in his stomach. The sensation expanded outward towards his finger and toes. He started to feel like he was expanding and shrinking at the same time. Soon, his thoughts and vision became a little cloudy though he could still see K'un L'u and Armada turning towards him and approaching, apparently perplexed. Maybe they were looking at the blue-and-white chimera that had started to form between them all. The officer's mind went blank as he felt like his intestines were ripped out his throat and quickly put back in its place.

Captain Drake dropped his helmet and it rolled away from him on a red carpet. His brain throbbed against his skull so hard, he could feel the pulse of the blood vessels in his head. The captain wobbled back and forth and from side to side on his knees waiting for his vision to clear up. It did as the throbbing subsided but he wasn't waking up to good news. He was kneeling in front of Graveyard, the man in the skull mask and three piece suit.

"It doesn't always hurt so much, American. But teleporting this many people can be taxing for everyone involved. So I've been told." The brawny Indian man cracked the brown knuckles of his fists against each other. "I'm...afraid...that's just the beginning, though." Graveyard thrust his leg straight out and into the captain's belly.

Air Force careened backwards several feet, crashing through some wooden benches until he came to rest besides a woman he didn't see clearly at first. If his head wasn't woozy before, it was now, after bumping it against one of the benches as it split. Good thing the suit provided some armor, was all the man could think. Lying on his back, he turned his head to one side. There were two strawberry blonde women on their hands and knees and two Christophers, wings wide open, trying to stand up.

I'm down. Marcus, I'm down, John Drake tried to say but no words came out. He knew the words hadn't come out. This...this isn't good, the captain thought as a very young, reedy African woman stepped over him. Her eyes were wide with a light blue tint and her teeth were clenched. Damnit. Dammit. I love you, Liv. I love you.

August 28, 2020...San Francisco, California

Ella Baudin felt sore from head to toe, reeling as if her body had been slapped against a concrete slab. Her head felt like a balloon filled with too much water and she tried to contain the pressure by slipping her fingers into either side of her wavy, shoulder-length hair and squeezing. As she heard a crash – the breaking of wood – someone spoke and the soreness and pressure began to ease. Then Ella felt she could open her eyes. She hoped she hadn't passed out while cooking her mother's dinner; Béarnaise sauce is so temperamental. As her eyelids parted, she decided the scene before her was much worse than she'd hoped. And her sauce was definitely going to be ruined.

Ella found herself seated in a church pew, slouched, but straightening herself up as she regained her composure. A 'congregation' filled the benches and aisle before her. Sitting immediately in front of Ella sat the most talkative of the Chinese men the Third Power came into conflict with back in Russia – probably their leader – a fit man but not overly so. In front of him and blocking her view of the stage was the enormous hunk of metal that had inured Firefox. In the pews ahead of her to her left she saw the other two Chinese men, the one that almost strangled her with his shapeshifting arms and the other one with the slicing red laser he shot from his head of all things.

"What the hell happened?" a voice immediately on her left asked. Ella turned her head to find an American officer slouched beside her, possibly a lieutenant if she remembered a cousin's insignia at all. A gunsmoke-and-silver speckled gauntlet sheathed the man's right hand and forearm. She'd seen him on the video taken in Japan when the Chinese attacked Tokyo.

"Hey, I've seen you, on the news," he acknowledged back. The lieutenant then lifted his eyes to the rest of the scene. When he did, his eyes widened, then they narrowed.

"I'm Archlight," she breathed his way. "I think we're in a bad way," she said and he nodded as she continued her own survey. Across the aisle to her right she saw more people from the attack on the Japanese capital; Marcus and Gaia, and they were shadowed by a scaly, black-skinned, gold-armored woman who was quick to her feet with a rod in hand. The pair were unfearful of the Amazonian-like warrior, but Ella and all these people were surrounded by identical Asian men in green army jackets who brandished automatic weapons. Between some of these men stood identical young women, light brown skin, all thin as reeds. There must've been twenty people surrounding them.

"I am K'un L'u!" the tall, gold-plated woman stated.

"I am Graveyard," a man's voice answered back. Ella leaned to her left, almost landing her head on Lt. Lucian's shoulder, and caught a glimpse of a man in white, boney mask standing on stage beneath an effigy of Jesus on the cross. The man raised his hands quickly then just as quickly lowered them, saying, "I am fear." Ella's mouth went dry, her heartrate picked up and her breath grew short. She wanted no part of this situation. She cowered her head beneath the edge of the pews. The officer beside her did the same. I'm-I'm-I'm scared, he said to her. Ella was too frightened to respond. All she could do was listen.

"You are cannon fodder, masked man," the snake-skinned woman said. She was shaking but she was still on her feet. "I am not human. Your fear effect is having a limited effect on me." The extraterrestrial raised one corner of her mouth and revealed bright, white teeth marked by two vampiric fangs. The rod by her side glowed before it morphed into a double edged battle axe.

"This battle does not concern you, alien," the masked man in his three-piece suit returned. "You may join me if you wish. Otherwise, I will allow you to walk away from this before you are harmed."

K'un L'u tightened the grip on her axe handle as it caressed her hip. "This does concern me. And you have no say in what I can or cannot do. You are not the leader. Where is The Nameless? Marcus and Whisper..." K'un L'u pointed at Sgt. Koo sitting across the aisle in front of Arclight "...will have words with him."

Graveyard dropped his shoulders and shook his head 'no.' "The man you're looking for will be along shortly. You will deal with me in the meantime." The Indian enforcer watched as the inhuman started to bring her axe to bear. "So be it," he remarked.

A stunningly beautiful woman in tight black and white athletic wear stepped out from behind Graveyard and flicked her wrist. "Have it your way, sweetie," she said as she raised an eyebrow and smiled.

In the extraterrestrial's peripheral vision, someone appeared alongside K'un L'u. She turned just long enough to see herself beside herself, except that this K'un L'u warrior's skin, armor and cape were all ashen color. That's all K'un L'u was allowed however, for the next moment this shadow image swung its own axe underneath K'un L'u's chin. The alien warrior was helicoptered over Ella and Lt. Lucian's head and through the church's wall. Shadow Princess tilted her head at the doppelganger, indicating to the shadowy figure that it go and finish off the nuisance. The body double mindlessly obeyed and smashed its own exit out the church wall to follow its prey.

"I hope the rest of you are all frightened enough to sit and listen now," Graveyard said as he stepped down from the stage. The strongman skulked up to Firefox who was grounded in front of Armada and grabbed her under the chin, pulling her face up towards his own. "You, you're going to do exactly what I say."

"Don't-don't hurt her," Christopher chattered. "Puh-please." This was the second time Graveyard had gotten the drop on Christopher; the first time was in New York. Both times were equally difficult. Christopher knew he had to do something but he was paralyzed with nausea on one hand and afraid of the consequences of taking action on the other.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Mega Dude, not yet anyway. She's the one who will do the hurting," Graveyard muttered through his mask. The Indian looked up at two of his subordinates, replicas of Deathcamp. "Bring Mr. Michaels up here."

Two heavily armed Japanese men slung their sub-machine guns around their back and slid in between the pews to rustle up Marcus who was lying on a bench in the half-fetal position. "No. You-you don't need to-to do this," Marcus protested. The two Deathcamps apathetically tightened their grips around his arms. They dragged the former fire fighter towards the stage and threw him on the ground between Graveyard and Firefox.

"Too scared to use your powers, Mr. Michaels?" Graveyard questioned the tight-eyed leader of the UNRT. "That's too bad. Miss Conrad here is going to set you on fire and burn you so badly, your power to heal yourself will be useless." Marcus ground his teeth against each other as he braced for the punishment. "Miss Conrad," Graveyard began as he projected a bit more fear into her, "If you think you're frightened now, imagine how much worse it will get if you don't do what I say." Trembling, with her hands over her face, Eshe – Gaia – knew all too well the horrors the villain could show you. "Proceed, Miss Conrad."

Trying her hardest to steady her hands and bring them higher as she stood on her knees, Firefox pushed fire towards her fingertips. She never felt the burn itself, rather it was a massive though not unpleasant tingling instead. Her hands began to turn yellow like the Sun. "I'm really s-sorry, mister," she said to Marcus. "I-I can't stop." The young Australian woman reached her hands towards Marcus' body. Marcus inched away the best he could but it wasn't going to be enough. Her fingers were inches from his body.

A thunderous crash saw a third hole breach the church wall. The K'un L'u impersonator sailed high above everyone for a moment before decaying into a chain of smoke. K'u L'u herself came jumping through the breach, landed beside Marcus and kicked him clear of the immediate area as gently as she could. Firefox's hands came to rest on the belly on K'un L'u's armor and scorched the extraterrestrial's armor black. K'un L'u pushed Firefox back, tumbling the pyrokinetic hero towards Armada's feet. Christopher watched helplessly and was overcome with guilt for not being able to help.

Graveyard himself was not distracted by the sudden turn of events. Her grabbed the alien by one arm and twisted it behind her back before throwing another arm around the otherworldly fighter's neck. He spun her around to face Shadow Princess.

"That's a very useful power you have," K'un L'u growled at the Brazilian beauty.

Shadow Princess curtsied. "Thank you. Too bad you weren't occupied a little longer. Would you like me to make you another playmate?"

"No need," Thiha's voice rang out. The thin Burmese man staggered a bit when he exited the confessional that was adjacent to the stage. He pointed a finger at the metal monstrosity of Armada. "I think I have successfully reprogrammed our large friend here to our liking." Thiha swung his finger from the cyborg towards K'un L'u. "Armada, engage your target."

Graveyard spun K'un L'u around once more and shoved her towards the battle suit. The broad side of the Chinese giant's fist sailed through the air towards the alien's chest. K'un L'u's reflexes were quick, though, and she ducked underneath the punch. With a bright glow, the battle axe in her hand transformed into a broad sword, whose sharp tip she thrust towards the bulwark's shoulder joint. With the battle suit being infused with the same substance K'un L'u's weapon was made of, the meeting of the metals produced a sharp, screeching pitch that nearly deafened everyone. Unharmed as the alien missed her mark, Armada swung its torso one-hundred and eighty degrees and tried to catch the extraterrestrial with a backhand. K'un L'u jumped straight over the machine-man and threw her broadsword at Graveyard mid-arc. The enforcer tried to shield himself by crossing his arms but was still caught by the flat side of the projectile. He was slapped back against the granite alter which cracked as he bounced aside. K'un L'u landed with ease and recovered her sword but Armada threw a mule kick backwards which crushed the warrior through the alter Graveyard laid by in pain.

Rolling around as he recovered from the blow, Graveyard heard the alter crumble when K'un L'u smashed into it. His eyes filled with fury beneath his mask as he reached for her collar. "You're going to pay for that," he grunted.

"Nah, I don't think so," Marcus responded. Along with the rest of his team, he'd been freed from Graveyard's fear effect when the Indian man was hit, at least for the time being. Reacting quickly, he amped himself up and lunged at the fear monger in order to stop him from hurting K'un L'u. A moment before Marcus had planted his feet beside the two combatants, he switched his powers so that he couldn't be affected by fear in case Graveyard recovered too quickly. The UNRT leader reached for the pistol strapped to his right leg; he'd kill Graveyard if he had to. But then Marcus heard the cries of the rest of his team; they sounded as if they'd been cast back to the moment they first exited their mothers' wombs. Had the Indian man recuperated already? Graveyard looked like he was still in pain and too focused on K'un L'u to be casting fear. Thinking quickly, it occurred to Marcus that playing along might be advantageous. He sank to his knees, dropped his gun, strained his eyes and wrinkled his forehead.

"Graveyard is not the only one who can frighten you," Thiha explained as he waved Graveyard away from the alien. Armada stepped forward, scooped up K'un L'u in one hand and pinned both her arms to her side. Thiha approached his planet's visitor who bared her fangs at him.

"You are quite a specimen," Thiha acknowledged K'un L'u. "Very impressive in person; you took a hit from the cyborg and you are still alive, fighting back even. I wish I had been better prepared to take you from Kazan. Now look at you; you fight alongside Marcus, a man unsure of himself and unwilling to accept his role for the benefit of all mankind. So, I apologize for that. Please, join me in reshaping my world as it should be and leave this weak-willed human to his fate at my hand."

"You are very shortsighted, nameless one," K'un L'u snarled. "It is you who should join us, for you know not the peril your entire world faces. Join us or we will kill you all for standing in the way." In truth, the alien was still weighing the strength of the enemy. If the two sides couldn't come to an agreement, whose side was strong enough to aid her against the world breakers?

"Yes, that is very amusing, friend," Thiha laughed. "But as you can tell, you are contained, I have your accomplices too terrified to speak and my gunmen have them at gunpoint just in case. I am willing to talk this through or we can be done with you and take your extraordinary weapon as a souvenir." Thiha flashed his white teeth at the extraterrestrial. "Do you wish to talk?"

K'un L'u scoffed. "I've heard of your plans for this planet. I don't care. There are world breakers coming to this planet and you're not going to stop them without my help. Either help us or risk us removing you from our path."

Thiha wagged a finger around. "Oh, the Earth is always in peril. Do you not know this? As for the immediate situation, I am feeling very confident right now. Though, I do wonder where Ms. Grant is. We are also missing three Mega Dudes." The thin man approached Christopher and lifted him by the chin to question the winged man's tightened face. "Where are your friends, Mega Dude? Is this not an emergency situation?"

Marcus was surprised the one Mega Dude was already here. He could certainly use their help, assuming they'd be on his side. Marcus assumed so since The Nameless had Christopher at his mercy; it seemed the two were at odds. As he pretended to be frightened, the UNRT leader spied the gun he had dropped. He could lunge for it and try to get off a round, but if he didn't score a head shot that killed The Nameless immediately, the man would heal himself. Marcus also saw that the risky move would put him at the mercy of Graveyard who was beside him and had recovered to one knee. If nothing else, making himself immune to fear gave Marcus time to think. Plan A was out. Plan B, gain to power to project fear and take it away from The Nameless? No, that would leave him vunerable to Graveyard's fear. Damn. He was going to have to think of a more clever way to utilize his powers.

"We-we just want to t-t-talk," Marcus muttered. "Just w-want t-to talk."

Thiha whipped about while K'un L'u's strength was just short of enough to free herself from Armada's grasp. "You want to talk now, brother?" he laughed. "Before, I wanted to talk and you wanted to kill me. Now I want to kill you and you want to talk. What could you possibly want to talk about, brother?"

Marcus turned his eyes upon the rail thin women with the shaggy afros and the armed Asian men with automatic weapons at the ready. His eyebrows signaled hopelessness as his gaze swept around the army encircling his team. "H-how do you have such a-a-a large army? A-and why-why are they all alike?"

As he spoke, Marcus thought about making everyone else immune to fear, but the moment he switched powers he would be overcome with fear himself and he'd be too frightened to keep applying his power. Another bad plan. Most everyone would probably be gunned down before they knew what was happening anyway. Then he thought about teleporting himself outside and hopefully out of range of the fear effect. Or, he could hope The Nameless would come closer so he'd have a better chance of making a head shot. Marcus didn't want to have to kill The Nameless anymore, first because the man wasn't responsible for the death of his family, second because murder was a sin and third because Marcus needed him to fight the world breakers. Yet the possibility of killing The Nameless gave Marcus immense pleasure; the idea sent a wave of warm ocean water over his heart. The former firefighter was stuck between reason and emotion. He needed more time to think. Maybe if there was a distraction, Marcus could lock out The Nameless' powers and talk to Whisper telepathically to tell him to lock out Graveyard's powers. They'd still be surrounded, though. Marcus considered how long he and Whisper would need before Marcus could switch to super speed and subdue their perimeter. It was a very risky plan. He needed that distraction. The sound of police sirens wailed in the distance.

"We're wasting time. We should kill them now," one of the armed Asian men spoke from the circle.

Thiha dropped his shoulders and turned his palms face up. "You are right, Deathcamp. It is time to remove these obstacles from our path." Thiha stepped back over towards Armada and K'un L'u. "We will start with this one," he winked at the alien, "And see how many of them we have to kill before the rest agree to join us." He tilted his head at the cyborg. "Armada, kill her."

The machine-man hoisted K'un L'u above its head and brought her down against the floor like a freight car. The extraterrestrial laid there stunned while Armada raised the other fist and brought that down on top of her, too. Wood and concrete crumbled. Marcus winced at the sound of thunder hitting the ground but wasn't sure what to do. Desperate, he figured he'd have to risk going for the gun. He damned himself for dropping it in the first place. He stopped himself a moment before lunging, though, having devised a new, more sound strategy. Stupid, he said to himself, I should have thought of it sooner. Marcus carefully counted his adversaries. The young woman whose power he didn't know was missing. It didn't matter at this point.

"Is she dead yet?" Thiha asked Armada as he took a look at K'un L'u lying flat in a crater. The alien stirred after a moment of stillness, even after a third and fourth blow. And she clung to her rod, no longer a sword. "She is very resilient," Thiha laughed. "Take her rod away from her, Armada, and strike her with it. I am curious to see what happens."

But as Thiha issued the order, a swirl of blue-and-white light encircled him. The light suddenly encircled each member of his army as well. "Uh oh. Very clever, brother," escaped Thiha's lips before he and his team disappeared altogether. Free of fright, everyone pushed saliva down their throats and took a deep breath. Marcus keeled over and spat blood out of his mouth. He rolled around like he'd been mortally wounded.

Firefox turned to her left and reached out to Air Force who was lying in a pile of broken wood. "You alright?" The man turned on his back and rocked like an overturned turtle.

"Why did I sign up for this?" Air Force gurgled.

Firefox felt a hand on her other shoulder. It was Christopher looking at her with a rock solid expression. "Remember, we have to keep the peace. No one can die," he said. She nodded back at him. Firefox knew what was on the line; she'd been to the future and read The Book. But she wasn't quite sure how the two of them were going to stop everyone from tearing out each other's throat right now. As she assessed the situation, Christopher stood up and walked over to Marcus to check on him.

Unsure of Christopher's motives, the super human Chinese man, Red Star, was pleased to have something to do. "Mr. Michaels said you might try to interfere, Mega Dude," Sgt. Koo's right hand man said. The sliver of metal in his forehead glowed a red color and unleashed a slicing bolt of energy. Christopher was struck on his indestructible wings but the kinetic energy did throw him across the stage and splashing into a pipe organ. Satisfaction lifted the ends of Red Star's lips as a visibly annoyed Christopher righted himself. "Round two," the Chinese man mumbled in his language.

Outside the church, Thiha and his crew along with the hulking cyborg fell a few feet to the ground. Graveyard twisted his ankle a bit and Shadow Princess scraped a hole in her shiny, skintight leggings. "Oh, you don't mess with a girl's clothing," she scowled as she slipped a finger through the tear. Screeching tires then distracted her and she looked up to see a score of police cars piling up in the street.

Thiha got up and dusted himself off. His teeth ground together. "We do not have time for this," he snarled. He watched as more than a dozen police cautiously pointed their guns at the enormous, armored war machine. He heard one police officer radio for military assistance. "Armada, Deathcamp, all of you. Eliminate the police. Graveyard, Shadow Princess, Anya's...where is Madina?" he looked around curiously. "She must still be hiding inside. The rest of us – we're going to kill everyone," Thiha ordered as he led the march back towards the church's entrance.

Armada settled its bulk between the police and Thiha. The machine-man pointed its wrist mounted guns at the police and open fired with large caliber rounds. Squad car's burst like popcorn as officers fell over either killed or wounded. The men in blue returned fire but their ammunition ricocheted off the cyborg's impenetrable hide. Several clones of Deathcamp suppressed any remaining able-bodied police with their own automatic machine gun fire.

Thiha walked with a purpose up to the large, wooden church doors and pulled on the door handles to no effect. Supposing they were locked – Do they think this is going to stop me? – Thiha waved Graveyard to the fore to break the doors down. But as Graveyard was about to throw his arms against the doors, the doors flew off their handles and knocked Graveyard backwards and tumbling over Thiha, Shadow Princess and the Anya triplets. Scraped up and tattered, Graveyard bounced to a landing at VinZenT's feet.

"Now, now, children, stop fighting; let's be adults here," the white-suited Mega Dude chimed with beaming eyes.

Thiha rolled his eyes and threw his hands up. "I honestly do not know who to kill first."

Unaware of the situation escalating, Armada began striding faster and faster towards the police cars. The cyborg reached out its arms to overturn some vehicles on the policemen but was brought to a dead stop when Brawl Boy fell out of the sky with two fists and crushed Armada's head into the ground. With the battle suit lying face down, stunned, Brawl Boy quipped, "That was me being nice, buddy. Don't get back up if you know what's good for you."

Deathcamp, several of him, scattered while several others open fired on Brawl Boy. A bullet shattered the oversized sunglasses the Mega Dude was wearing. Brawl Boy took them off, observed the damage, and threw them aside. "I knew those weren't going to last," he said walking away from Armada and towards the church.

Thiha decided to ignore VinZenT and returned his attention to the church entrance. He ushered his team back towards the entry but stopped in their tracks when Rock Star appeared in ripped denim jeans and a black leather jacket. "Going somewhere?" the young man asked. Thiha just tilted his head at him. Rock Star was going to knock Thiha and his gang down with a low frequency blast, but found he'd lost his powers instead. "Uh-oh," Rock Star frowned. It was actually Whisper's handiwork, glad to get a measure of revenge on the Mega Dudes for their tussle in Russia.

Thiha's chest let out its air as he flung a half-clenched hand at Rock Star. The grown-up child-soldier then threw his other hand at VinZenT. Thiha telekinetically threw both young men up and away from his gang towards the street. Their path no longer blocked, Thiha, along with Shadow Princess and the Anya triplets, left a recovering Graveyard behind at the base of the church steps while gunfire continued to erupt between the police and the cadre of Japanese gunmen.

"VinZenT, plan X!" Rock Star shouted.

"What the hell is plan X?" VinZenT yelled back.

"Save yourself! Break your fall or you're going to ruin your suit!" Rock Star advised as he sailed through the air.

Using his power of telekinesis over the elements, VinZenT eyed one of the trees lining the road. He commanded the wooden branches to come together like a spoon, dip, and catch him in its basket. But this is all he had time for; another split second and Rock Star was going to wipe out on the pavement. Fortunately, the blur of a shiny, metallic blue suit zipped passed VinZenT. It was Air Force, who snatched Rock Star up at the last possible second. As he set himself down, Air Force let Rock Star stand on his own.

The captain put a halting hand up to Rock Star's chest while twisting his head back and forth between the Mega Dude and Graveyard who was now recuperated and arching his back like a gorilla.

"The Russians are supposed to put you guys down," Air Force snipped. "I'm not sure that's the right call. You need to tell me whose side you're on before this guy turns around and blankets us with fear!"

"We're not on anyone's side!" Rock Star said. "Listen, Graveyard's fear-power is usually line-of-sight but he can be enhanced by the woman with one arm. Good thing is, I think he's out of her range at the moment. If you can keep him occupied – fly fast enough around him so he can't draw a beat on you – I can sneak up on him and knock him out now that my powers are returning."

With Graveyard beginning to turn about, Air Force pointed a small wrist-rocket towards the Indian. Rock Star batted the captain's arm down immediately. "Hey, they may want to kill us but we need them, as many of them as possible. No one dies if you can help it. Now go!" Air Force immediately jetted towards Graveyard at Mach speed. As he did, Rock Star heard an explosion of gunfire on either side of him. He ducked and swiveled his head from side to side but the reflex wasn't necessary. VinZenT, a few meters away, had turned the barrels of two of the Asian men against each other, riddling each other with bullets.

"They're going to heal and wake up eventually," VinZenT noted of the two Deathcamps. "Do we really need all of them?"

Rock Star rubbed his chin. "Deathcamp's replicas – and Anya's clones – will act in accordance with the original's thoughts and behaviors. Problem is, we don't know which ones are the originals and if we don't know who the original is, we can't get them to change their behavior. What do you think; are they really alive if they can't act of their own free will?" Rock Star asked this as he watched Graveyard throw wild punches at the air in an attempt to knock the lightning fast Air Force down. "Dammit; philosophizing is only as good as the time you have to think about it," the rocker mumbled to himself as the two Deathcamp duplicates visibly healed. He reached down and put a hand on either man's chest and vibrated them into a gelatinous mess of sinew and blood. VinZenT looked away in horror. He wanted to vomit.

"What the hell? You just told Air Force we needed everyone," VinZenT exclaimed.

"I'll take responsibility for my actions," Rock Star's grim lips fed VinZenT's ear. "For now, lay out the rest of these Deathcamp guys." The musician very silently walked away at a hurried pace.

Inside the church, Ella's head stopped spinning from the effects of fear in time to see Red Star blasting away at Christopher. Though the flyer's wings were indestructible, the kinetic energy of Red Star's piercing red plasma bolts knocked the hero around the stage. In front of the stage, Ghost had shape-shifted his arms into tentacles, wrapped them around Firefox's neck and arms and pinned Firefox down so she couldn't take flight. The Australian tried to burn the Chinese man off herself but Ghost would phase himself, back off, re-solidify, knock her down with an octopus-like arm and wrap her up again. Ella heard Thiha's voice behind her as he was entering the church and decided that's where her attention needed to be, so she turned around. Kaitlin was standing in her face.

"One way or another, this will all work out fine," Kaitlin said. It seemed to Ella that the English woman was unusually soothing in her voice. "Stand with me, Ella," Kaitlin said as she helped lift her middle-aged friend up. The two stood tall as they faced an angry Thiha and his rogues who were striding across the church threshold.

"I warned you ladies," Thiha griped. "I gave you a choice and you did not see that my way is best. Too bad," he glanced at a pair of Anya to his side.

"Wait," Kaitlin peeped too late.

Two wire-thin, maroon women lunged forth at Ella and Kaitlin. Both took a defensive posture that wasn't necessary. Lt. Lucian had jumped to the fore and blocked the clones' outstretched hands by transforming his gauntlet into a shield. The twins put their hands against the shield and laid their bodies into it, but the alien-infused technology resisted Anyas' decaying power. Lt. Lucian himself pushed back and sent the two clones sprawling back to Thiha and Shadow Princess' feet. The Brazilian hissed uncharacteristically.

Ashen-colored doppelgangers appeared beside Lt. Lucian, Ella and Kaitlin. Lt. Lucian's mirror image clashed a sharpened sword against the young officer's shield while Ella was punched in the face to the ground by her shadower. Kaitlin's mimicker kicked her in the stomach and punched her in the head also, backing Kaitlin up towards the stage. Kaitlin didn't fall, though. With a bloody nose, she egged her attacker on.

"Is that all I've got then?" her English accent barked. "I hit like a girl! C'mon, harder!" Kaitlin stood her ground and refused to be backed up any further. Fury had funneled itself into a well deep inside of her and had to get back out in a hurry. The right moment had come. The British lass sprang clear over her twin and drove a foot into the chest of Ella's doppelganger, the force of the blow turning the magic thing into a wisp of smoke. Given the moment's respite, Ella arched her head back to see Kaitlin's grey double about to step over her. The light manipulator gathered trillions of photons and blasted the copy into a similarly smoldering wisp of air. I didn't kill her, did I? Ella silently worried.

As the sound of alien metal on alien metal clashed immediately behind her and made her wince, Kaitlin reached out a hand to Ella and rocked back to bring Ella to her feet. "I've got your back, babe," Kaitlin assured.

"Thanks, Kate," Ella responded offhand. She looked past Kaitlin to stare at Thiha and gnash her teeth. "I'm sick of this fighting," she said. "I'm supposed to be home taking care of my mother." Ella pointed directly at Thiha. "You're causing a lot of trouble. I don't want to hurt you, mister, but enough's enough."

"Ella, wait. Maybe you shouldn't do anything to him," Kaitlin tried to get Ella to consider. But it was too late. The forty-something African American woman unleashed another torrent of photons and apparently vaporized the Burmese troublemaker. Even Shadow Princess was surprised to see Thiha vanish from her side. That's when the two Anya, previously rebuffed by Lt. Lucian, charged the Third Power anew but were annihilated by Ella's wrath. "Stop making me do this!" Ella yelled.

Thiha's voice sounded a moment after Lt. Lucian and his ashen copy had embraced and thrown themselves through a large stained-glass window to the outside. Everyone looked towards the stage where Thiha had Marcus in a chokehold and a gun to his head, having used super speed to gain the advantage.

"Our friend here is still healing," Thiha spoke. "Teleporting people takes a lot out of you. He knew this but did it anyway because he knew he could heal from it. But, it takes time." Thiha put the gun against Marcus' thigh and pulled the trigger. The bullet splashed blood across the floor as it tore through Marcus' femoral artery. "As long as he is using his powers to heal, I do not have to worry about him." Thiha shot Marcus again, this time in the lower back.

Gaia jumped over her pew towards the stage. She thought about attacking The Nameless but instead weighed something General Asak had once told her; it costs the enemy more resources to deal with an injured soldier than a dead one. Gaia snapped her head back towards the church entrance, towards Shadow Princess. The shadow-maker was supposed to be Gaia's responsibility after all.

"What's happening to me?" the beautiful Brazilian grimaced as her skin started to prick all over then sting and burn. Flesh all over her body began to bubble, blister and melt away. "Aaaaa, querida!" Shadow Princess turned red all over her skin and collapsed in a heap from the shock.

"Princess!" Thiha wailed. Invoking super speed once again, in less than an instant Thiha had gone from holding Marcus hostage to his fallen teammate's side. He momentarily laid warm, glowing yellow hands on the woman and just as quickly was gone again. The next instant saw Kaitlin mummy bound in cord while Ella found herself outside the church with bullets whizzing by her head. Gaia remained where she was to see The Nameless return to Marcus' side to torment her friend some more.

"Ah, where were we?" Thiha grinned amidst bolts of red plasma fired upon Christopher.

Red Star inched closer to Christopher who had cocooned himself inside his unyielding wings. The Chinese man was intent on making Christopher pay for The Mega Dudes' interference in Russia. And once he was done with Christopher, he'd turn his attention to Firefox who had burned his face in that incident. Driven by retribution, Whisper's corporal poured it on. Each successive blast pressed the bat-winged man against the church wall until at last the Mega Dude spilled into the streets outside. Now gunfire bounced off Christopher's wings.

Rock Star himself needed to get back inside but first he had to help Air Force neutralize Graveyard. With the Indian's back turned to him, the punky-haired twenty-something yelled at the flyer to clear Graveyard's airspace. The fear monger whipped about much quicker than anticipated but Rock Star was already prepared.

"You again!" Graveyard snarled.

"I'm flattered you remember me from way back in New York. Only this time the gloves are off," Rock Star replied as the tingling in his body warned of impending fear. He snapped his fingers in the enforcer's face which made a deafening pop. Graveyard's head flew back as his mask split down the center. Blood flew out of the enforcer's nose. The once firm Indian man fell limp and landed on his back, unconscious.

Rock Star had another mission to focus on but had just seen Christopher tumble into the street. VinZenT was busy turning Deathcamps' weapons upon each other in an attempt to incapacitate them for a little while, at least long enough for the local police to regroup. Brawl Boy was swatting at other copies of Deathcamp who seemed to think concentrating their firepower on the enormous mass of muscle would help defeat their enemy. Behind the gunmen, a clone of Anya was creeping up and reached out a hesitant hand towards Brawl Boy. Rock Star spotted Air Force overhead who seemed to be surveying the battlefield.

"Air Force," the soundman spoke directly to Captain Drake, "Put that Anya down before she touches Brawl Boy! I've got something else I have to do." Rock Star slipped away with the sound of a ninja into the church.

The shiny, blue metal suit swept out of the sky and unleashed a hail of bullets from its gauntlets to strike the clone of Anya in the legs. The teenager threw herself at the ground in agony and was no longer a threat. One duplicate of Deathcamp peeled itself off the attack to pay Anya some attention but quickly reminded himself not to touch her.

"Why did you hesitate?" the Japanese fighter asked as Brawl Boy's fist crushed one of his brothers beside him.

"I...I don't know," the girl writhed.

The score of Deathcamps surrounding Brawl Boy were suddenly picked up by a gale force wind that just as abruptly slammed them back down against the pavement, knocking them out. Satisfied, Air Force turned away from the hulking young man to help Christopher who was still being pinned down by Red Star's slicing plasma surges. Before being struck yet again, Christopher was thrown high into the sky, leaving the next bolt of red plasma to cut a sharp valley across the street. Once airborne, Christopher regained his composure and flexed his wings wide, hovering to observe Red Star making his way through the breach he helped create. The Mega Dude was going to go in for a shoulder tackle when he caught the Chinese man start to spin uncontrollably, caught in a whirlwind of air and small debris. Red Star was then hoisted right at Christopher. The winged avenger swooped towards his aggressor and laid a solid right cross against Red Star's jaw. The Chinese man's body went limp and started to fall but was cushioned by a pocket of air and laid gently on the ground.

Air Force flew towards Christopher which made one of the Mega Dudes' wings half shield himself. The captain showed his hands. "I'm not trying to fight you, Mega Dude. I think we make a good team," Air Force stated.

"Glad you're here to help," Christopher responded. He looked down to see his teammate, Brawl Boy, get snared around the neck with a metal cable and snapped back towards a reinvogarated Armada. The metal beast threw an elbow into Brawl Boy's head and staggered the eight foot tall man from the future. "Help VinZenT round up those Asian men and Malagasy women. I'm going to help Brawl Boy."

While the captain wanted to be friendly, he didn't like being given orders by non-military personnel; especially if the order from the civilian was questionable. "You help VinZenT. I'll help Brawl Boy. I've already knocked that thing down once. I can do it again."

Realizing time was a factor on the increasingly chaotic battlefield, Christopher relented. "Okay, then, get to it!" and the Mega Dude sped away.

Gaia ran down the church aisle and stepped over the fallen Shadow Princess. She knelt down to set her knee across the lithe Brazilian's chest. If The Nameless was going to hold Marcus hostage, Gaia was going to hold one of The Nameless' people hostage, especially one her enemy seemed to have a particular interest in. "Now we've got one of you, Nameless!" Gaia sounded off. Now where were we?"

Although Ella had been removed from the church, she returned to Kaitlin's side at literally the speed of light. She burned the cord away that had her English friend tied up with laser-like precision while keeping one eye on The Nameless. Ella stood like a column thereafter and gave everyone in her immediate vicinity a damning look. She took a step, wanting to bear down on The Nameless but Kaitlin had gotten up and tried to restrain Ella. Ella's nose crinkled at Kaitlin.

Meanwhile, Whisper backed up on Ghost who was literally tangling with Firefox. After locking out Rock Star's powers earlier, Whisper had been laying low and scanning everyone's thoughts. As Ghost squeezed Firefox's ribs with his shape-shifted arms, Whisper communicated with the private telepathically. She's not a danger to us. She has no allegiance to The Nameless. Let her go and apologize. One among us is posing a different threat, Whisper whispered.

Ghost swiftly retracted his elongated arms but had to turn himself incorporeal when Firefox lit her hands up with fire. Ghost raised his hands, raised his eyebrows and stuttered in English. "I am sorry, Miss! I don't want to fight you anymore. I made a mistake. There is another threat I think." Ghost's English was choppy but clear enough to be understood. Firefox looked at The Nameless, looked at Ella, Kaitlin, Whisper and Ghost and felt they had things under control. The Australian mistress of fire scorched a path through the air on her way outside to find Christopher.

Christopher was whirling and whipping his way through the air himself as he aiding VinZenT in suppressing the duplicates of Deathcamp. The Mega Dudes' work was made difficult by the fact that once VinZenT had a Deathcamp shoot himself or another duplicate or if Christopher cut down one of Thiha's soldiers with his razor sharp wings, a minute or two later they would spring back to life after healing. When Christopher cut yet another down before it could sneak up on VinZenT, Firefox flew up to meet her paramour at his side.

"You're okay! But this is a mess. How can I help?" Firefox asked.

Christopher wanted to kiss her almost out of reflex. But the situation was much too grim and urgent for that. "These men with assault weapons can heal themselves quickly. According to our files, though, they won't heal if wounded badly enough while the original Deathcamp can survive almost anything. We need to find the head of the snake!"

"How are we going to do that?" VinZenT yelled over the gunfire and sirens.

"VinZenT, round up all of the soldiers together," Christopher planned. "Then, Mel," he paused, "I'm going to need you to turn them into ashes."

"Chris, I can't kill them! You're not supposed to either!" Firefox protested.

"I've talked about this with Rock Star and the old man. They're more like robots, Melanie. They'll mostly act in accordance with what the original has in mind. They're not really their own people. We're not sure they're really people," Christopher argued as his wings batted away one Deathcamp wielding a katana. The de facto leader of his group, Christopher felt his argument was a little flimsy and if they had time, they would sit down for a beer with Rock Star who thought about these things more often. Still, the Mega Dude felt a critical need to turn the situation to his advantage and right now there was too much carnage. The fog of war has clouded morality.

"I...I don't know, Chris. Heroes shouldn't kill, should they?" Firefox hovered alongside Christopher in her orange fireproof costume, revealed now that her street clothes had burned away. The conflict knotted her stomach, but that knot unraveled after she thought about what all of this was building up to, what she'd read about in The Book. Killing the dopplegangers of Deathcamp was probably a necessary evil – no – an unavoidable evil.

"Well, we have to do something!" VinZenT said. The telekinetic latched onto as much metal Thiha's men were wearing and slung them through the air one-by-one against a riddled police cruiser, the blow hopefully being strong enough to stun the men long enough to compile them. Eventually the pile grew to fifteen men.

Firefox ascended above the pile and trembled. "Tell me this necessary, Chris. Are you sure?"

"Look at all the police they've hurt and killed. I wouldn't ask if I thought there was a better way, Mel," Christopher lulled. "We might be heroes, but sometimes we have to take extreme measures and do unheroic things. Bearing that burden is what makes us heroes."

The tear Firefox shed immediately evaporated into steam while she stretched her fingers apart to unleash a cascade of fire down upon the antagonists. Duplicates, clones, copies – whatever you wanted to call them – screamed as their flesh was burned down to the bone, then their bones to black. Firefox hyperventilated, closed her eyes and turned her head away until the cries died out. Ashes floated on the breeze. Firefox practically fell to the ground and took a knee aside the glowing remains of the pile. Christopher observed the ashes to watch for signs that the original Deathcamp was regenerating. Nothing. He damned himself for putting Firefox on the spot. His need to console his love outweighed his guilt at the moment, however, so he landed gently beside her and touched his hands to her shoulders. Several police, from their view point, had just seen the young woman kill over a dozen men. While she may have saved many of the police officers, their training drove them towards her to arrest her. Hearing the officers, Christopher draped his wings around Firefox and turned his wings edges out to keep the officers at bay and secondly so no one could see his lover weep.

VinZenT wanted to be sympathetic toward Deathcamp, too; he himself accidently killed Burya in Manhattan. While he knew the risks inherent to having super powers, he wasn't sure that taking any life – whether intentionally or accidently and whether one had no choice but to erase a life – was ever heroic. The old man, The Mega Dudes' benefactor who was out there somewhere in the future, had told The Mega Dudes to prevent the loss of life at all costs whenever they came into conflict with other super humans. Curiously to VinZenT, the grizzled old man – Madina always by his side – always qualified telling The Mega Dudes to preserve life at all costs until the world breakers arrive. Thinking about all this would have to wait, though, as Brawl Boy and Air Force battled the giant cyborg. Waving police officers away, Lt. Lucian inched up on that battle. The chic, young Italian man figured the trio could handle themselves and headed inside to help stop the factions warring inside the church. That was until he was confronted by Anya.

Thiha pressed the barrel of the gun he was gripping into the hole in Marcus' lower back. Although the UNRT leader was healing, that's where all his effort went. He didn't have any more strength to untie himself from the arm around his throat. His will power was the only thing that kept him going and all he could do right now was listen to his self-proclaimed brother chat.

Eyeing the score around him, Thiha saw he was outnumbered by Whisper, Ghost, Ella, Kaitlin, and Gaia who had Shadow Princess at her mercy. K'un L'u, too, was struggling to recover but looked like she would soon enough. Graveyard, Thiha's army of Deathcamps and the remaining Anya were nowhere in the immediate vicinity. He had an ace or two up his sleeve, though, and the first one gave him enough power to lock out everyone's power, assuming Madina was still in play.

"Okay," Thiha smiled with his gun grinding into Marcus' back. "It is time for everyone to listen very carefully."

"No!" Ella was defiant. "You'll let him go in a show of good faith. You and I both know I can get to you in less than a split second. I don't think the Egyptian lady back there holding onto your Barbie doll is in the mood to negotiate either." Everyone took a paused stance, waiting. "You better choose quickly," the African American woman said impatiently.

Thiha held his Aline, at Gaia's mercy, in high regard. She was his lover and unquestioningly loyal, committed to his vision. Should he lock out everyone's power or try to match his manipulation of time with Ella's and spirit Shadow Princess to safety? If he locked out everyone's powers, he could just shoot Marcus and gun down whomever he wanted. It was never originally Thiha's desire to kill anyone – taking over the world and realizing his vision would require a good deal of assistance – but at the same time he couldn't leave someone alive who might resist the fulfilment of his dream. The former child soldier had read Sun Tzu's The Art of War and knew that to destroy one's enemy completely is the only real option in war. Maybe it would be wisest to lock out everyone's power and try to sway them all one last time. He was prepared to sacrifice his mistress if necessary, though; his vision was that important.

"I'm sorry," Rock Star whispered into Madina's ear from behind. She'd been hidden from view in a discrete balcony overlooking the church's entrance but the Mega Dudes' echo-location had ferreted her out. "You're going to forgive me someday," the leather-jacketed man said before he snapped his fingers which felt to Madina like a punch inside her head. The one-armed woman passed out and swooned into Rock Star's arms. He let her down gently and laid her on the red carpeted floor. He patted her on the cheeks to try and bring her back around so he could attempt to have a civil discussion with her.

"If all of you will take a moment to notice, I have disabled your powers! This is for my own safety," Thiha grinned. "This is your last chance to join my revolution, to make the world a truly better place." In Thiha's gut something was wrong, meaning nothing was unusual, none of the euphoric tingling that usually accompanies using any particular power to a mass effect. Using a power usually meant feeling it in one's viscera or head. When Madina was accelerating someone's powers, as she'd done for Thiha and Graveyard before, the person being accelerated knew it. Better not let anyone know.

"What other vision do any of you have? Do you not wish the world to change? Then you are not worthy of the power I have given you." This was part of the Burmese man's intended speech but now he was also stalling. Thiha felt no tingling at all now which caused a bead of sweat to form on his brow.

"You say you gave us powers?" the light user questioned. Ella's hands glowed with a gathering of pale yellow photons. She still had her powers. "If you gave us powers, you can take them away, completely. Go ahead, take my powers away and give them to someone else if you want."

"I'm afraid he can't do that, miss," Whisper slipped in a calm voice. "He himself has no powers at the moment. It is I who have locked him out of his abilities."

Thiha took a gulp. It was true. A thousand butterflies collided in his abdomen. He was as helpless as the day Burmese militants slaughtered his parents and forced him, as a child, into their army. For all the powers he had, Thiha once again found himself on the losing end. Before this entire scenario, the former child militia member increased his intelligence to map out every contingency. Nothing was going to work out, though, all because he didn't take into account his own desire to gloat, especially over Marcus by defeating his 'brother' in a place of worship.

Thiha didn't have much natural strength to hold the larger, more muscular Marcus down for long, not now with his captive almost healed. The corners of his eyes slunk unevenly and he placed the gun in his hand at the back of Marcus' head. Then Thiha pulled the trigger.

There were several gasps. Gaia let "No!" shoot from her mouth.

The shot whizzed by Whisper's head and lodged itself in the wall near the balcony overlooking the main entrance. Marcus had turned intangible, spun around at a frightening speed and made himself solid again. He grabbed the gun away from The Nameless with one hand and threw his other forearm against his antagonist's chest, knocking him over and pinning the thin man to the ground.

"You thought this would be funny, to confront me in a house of God?" Marcus scowled. Having The Nameless at his mercy flushed the UNRT leader with warmth. Despite logic telling him to spare his enemy for the future, Marcus' soul was begging him to kill the man. "You thought I wouldn't kill you in here so maybe I should take you outside. What do you think?" Marcus forcefully laid his forearm against Thiha making it difficult for his enemy to breathe.

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Marcus Michaels." Marcus looked up to see K'un L'u standing over him majestically in her gold armor. With one hand she grabbed a fistful of Marcus' shirt and threw him clear of their nameless troublemaker. The UNRT leader tumbled to a stop between the pews at Ella and Kaitlin's feet.

VinZenT silently scanned his immediate vicinity for any natural element he could use to protect himself. Anya was approaching him but she didn't seem intent of attacking him; her hands weren't reaching out. The Malagasy teen didn't seem to know what her body position should be. The smartly dressed Mega Dude latched onto a manhole cover just in case.

"I'm so sorry for what I've done," the girl said in broken English. "I didn't know there would be so much chaos, so much fighting. He said we were going to make the world a better place but then he asked me to kill people. I don't see how killing anyone makes the world a better place. What do I do?" The very first of Anya's clones sensed an error in her ways, only partially convinced by The Nameless to try and change the world by accepting her godhood. Maybe she was too young to understand. Her water-lined doe eyes pleaded with VinZenT to give her a new direction.

A shadow came up from behind the wiry teenager. Graveyard loomed over Anya like a skyscraper. "You betray us, now, at this hour? Then there is no place for you in the new world." The bulky Indian man didn't bother casting any fear over the girl. He simply sent a rock hard fist into Anya's spine. VinZenT was splattered with blood thrown from the teenager's mouth. She plopped on the ground with a sickening slush. Anya writhed as she gasped for air while warm, red fluid filled her lungs. Thiha's enforcer paid VinZenT no mind and stalked away.

"NO!" VinZenT exclaimed, rushing to Anya's fallen body. Completely ignoring Graveyard, VinZenT's mastery of elements would now be tested. Maybe he could force her bones and blood back into place. But the young Italian was no surgeon; he'd never tried to put a human body back together. CPR maybe? Her ribs were already broken and had punctured her lungs probably, he thought. Doing CPR probably wouldn't help if Anya couldn't get any oxygen into her lungs and into her bloodstream. VinZenT's face turned white when he remembered accidently killing the Russian woman in Manhattan. He didn't want anyone else to die in his arms. The Mega Dude reached his hands towards the African girl hesitantly, on one hand knowing what touching her might do to him and on the other hand not knowing what else might help her.

"It's okay, sir. I did not want this life, not after what happened to my sister who is also my mother," Anya gurgled. "I remember her life. I remember everything that happened to her. She was killed trying to escape the people that wanted to abuse her power." Anya's eyes struggled to stay open through the pain. "When I was sent to eliminate The Nameless, the thin man raised her memories that laid inside of me. He encouraged me to take vengeance upon the people who wanted to abuse my powers and thinking of us as something other than human, as if that were reason enough to for them to do what they did. He told me to take my place as a god above such lesser people. I listened because I was angry for my other self. But killing is wrong, isn't it? Isn't it always wrong?" VinZenT nodded silently as the sound of a thunderous brawl played in the background. "How can anyone look into the eyes of someone they have made suffer and think it is right? Am I not grown up enough yet to see?." Anya seemed to become dizzy and slurred so much in speech as to become unintelligible.

"No! C'mon, hang in there!" VinZenT insisted. Despite the risk, he latched onto her and shook her. He was unharmed as Anya was not conscious to use her powers and stopped after a few moments when some of her words sunk in. While life was precious, hadn't The Mega Dudes been sent to police the peace between super humans so that they could be used to battle the impending invasion? While the details of that coming invasion were kept from VinZenT, he suddenly felt like he was being used to use Anya all over again.

VinZenT dragged the wiry girl up onto his knees, cradled her with one arm and with the other hand, turned her face towards him. "Hang on just one more moment." Anya opened her eyes wide, lucid for who knows how much longer. "I think I can help you. I want to, but I want you to know it wouldn't be just because I want you to live. We need you to live. Do you want to live?" he asked carefully.

"I don't want to be used, sir. If I can't live for myself, please let me go. Please, mister," Anya gripped him with slight, failing strength. There was plea enough in her voice for him, though. The Mega Dude began to cry. His tears fell on Anya's blue-striped black garments and mixed with her blood. "Thank...you," the Malagasy teen squeaked. Despite her age, she may have made the wisest decision of anyone present. VinZenT let Anya slide to the ground. He stood up and faced the church entrance. Graveyard had already disappeared inside. He stood up to follow.

Armada crushed a ball of curled fingers against Brawl Boy's wide chest. The biggest Mega Dude stood his ground but the earth gave way underneath the giant, leaving a trail of broken asphalt in its wake. Brawl Boy caught the next fist thrown at him, lifted it into the air and returned a punch of his own into what would be the cyborg's stomach if it had one. The force of the blow stunned the metal beast for a mere second before it began to move again. Knowing what the future held, the hulking man was holding back, not wanting to damage Armada. The brawler also took into consideration that using all of the strength at his disposal would leave himself exhausted. So they were fighting to a stalemate. How was he going to stop the rampaging monstrosity?

"Back off and give me some room, Mega Dude!" Air Force yelled as he streaked by. He stopped and hovered in the air behind Brawl Boy for protection. "I've knocked it down before. I can do it again."

"Okay, buddy. If you can flip it over and put it on its face, maybe I can hogtie it with this." Brawl Boy removed the steel cable Armada had snared him with from around his neck while at the same time dodging a blow from the runaway train.

Stationary in the air, Air Force created an intense gale force wind that lifted the cyborg ten feet overhead. But just as the wind manipulator was about to reverse the air flow direction, Armada pointed its wrist at the captain and fired a small rocket, similar to the one Air Force tried to use earlier. Brawl Boy instinctively jumped between Air Force and the explosive and turned his back to grab and hug the UNRT soldier to his chest. The rocket struck the giant across the mid-back, leaving a huge black smudge mark and ruining yet another of Brawl Boy's custom tailored shirts. Otherwise, the Mega Dude was unharmed. Air Force's ears took a beating, though, and the officer thought his hearing might be permanently lost. Armada fell back to Earth and landed on its feet. Spikes ejected from the cyborg's hands, feet and joints as it closed the gap between itself and Brawl Boy.

Behind Armada, Lt. Lucian had come running. He punched the ground with his metalized right hand which sent him arching over several police cars. The junior officer turned his gauntlet into something resembling a lobster's claw and came down with it around the metal-man's waist. Armada was throw into the pavement face first and pinned down. Then Lt. Lucian's claws pointing themselves deeper into the ground. "Trying to do something like that?" the lieutenant sounded off.

"Yeah, thanks!" Brawl Boy returned. The musclebound fighter grabbed a fistful of metal cable and stepped violently on the cyborg's head once again. He grabbed the metal-man's arms and held them together behind its back with one hand. The other hand snatched a leg, yanked it back and tied three of Armada's limbs together. "Keep it trapped if you can," Brawl Boy said. "We need to contain him until this squabble is resolved."

"Sure thing," Lt. Lucian chimed, "As long as I don't get into another fight with myself – talk about self-loathing – I think I've got this."

"If you guys have this living tank under control, I'm going back to help stop The Nameless," Air Force said.

"Try to help create a peaceful outcome," Brawl Boy advised. But Air Force had already sped off and couldn't hear him anyway.

Flying into the church and startling most everyone, Air Force noticed Marcus recovering and flew to his side to help him back up. The two men nodded at each other before Marcus buried his brows at the alien.

"What the hell are you doing, K'un L'u?" Marcus wanted to know. The UNRT leader's eyes glowed a violent orange.

The regal alien had feigned being injured by the cyborg. It had hurt her momentarily in their scrap, but she played up her defeat to see how the warring factions would fight it out. Now she put her foot on Thiha's chest and touched her rod to his belly. "Move, nameless one, and my rod will shock you before you can turn intangible." She raised her head to Marcus. "What am I doing, Marcus Michaels? I am making sure we retain the strength we need for what comes next. I am impressed with what I've seen from many of you. With all of you together, this planet may actually survive."

Thiha shot a perturbed look at Marcus. "What is she talking about, brother?"

Marcus glanced at The Nameless then returned wary eyes to the extraterrestrial. "It's what we wanted to talk to you about, brother. But you insisted on a fight. Kinda glad you did, though. It's good practice," Marcus smirked.

"Oh, so you have no real intention of killing me. You finally took my advice and discovered the truth about us. There is hope for you after all," Thiha remarked to his closest 'relative.'

"There will be less hope if you continue to chitter, human," K'un L'u interjected. "I have given you all the chance to test yourselves. Now it is time to put your bickering aside and unite against a common enemy. There is an invasion coming. Your world is going to come under attack. You need to come together under my direction and be prepared."

"I'm not that good at taking directions, alien," Graveyard said in a raised voice. He lurched forward, his head slunk low. K'un L'u was the only thing in his tunnel-vision. The Indian man generated as much fear as he could without Madina's help. K'un L'u's mouth unexpectedly dropped open, her eyes like those of a puppy dog. The moment she realized there was no use resisting ... and its breakers of worlds played over and over again in her mind.

"We. Are. Gods. And this is our world," the skull-masked man gnashed. He pushed Ella and Kaitlin out of his way as he made his way down the aisle. Everyone was poised motionless, shocked by the turn of events. No one suspected any of them besides the cyborg had the power to stand against the extraterrestrial. Graveyard thrust his hand around K'un L'u's neck and lifted her off the ground. "Get off our planet," The Indian warned.

Kaitlin was tantalized by the display of power. Although she knew something of the impending invasion, as vaguely detailed to her by VinZenT, she wondered what would happen post-invasion. Assuming any of them survived, maybe super humans should take their place as gods above men. It was only logical if it were going to be super humans that saved the earth from being conquered.

Frustrated, Gaia struggled to bring the unconscious Shadow Princess to her feet. A swarm of bees entered through a broken stained-glass window and surrounded the life-form empath. "Kill her and I kill the Brazilian woman," she shouted shakily from across the church.

Graveyard looked over his shoulder. "I admire your strength, Eshe Elfar, defying me despite knowing what I can do to you. Join me and we will take our rightful place among these lesser people."

Thiha scooted himself from underneath K'un L'u to give himself some room and stood up. "Join you? Put her down, Abhi. I am curious to hear more of what they are talking about." Thiha's hands grew icy cold and white but was mindful to switch to mind control if necessary if the man he thought was his subordinate did not comply.

Marcus was about to switch to super speed himself and tackle The Nameless' enforcer but an arc of crooked light crossed the church. Lightning pierced Graveyard and struck K'un L'u as well, throwing both of them several feet. "Enough!" Ella demanded. "I don't care if more aliens are coming! And I don't want to be involved in the rest of you arguing over who's a god! No one here is a god!"

Kaitlin placed a hand on Ella's shoulder. The English woman thought about everything The Nameless had said about becoming deities. Given the gifts of everyone present, couldn't they make the world safer for everyone else, peace through superior power? They just needed to utilize their powers properly and have someone lead them with a unifying vision, someone who couldn't be defeated. Kaitlin supposed Ella didn't have to be a part of it, but would she opposed the rest of them if they did try to subject the world?

"You are correct, miss, none of you are gods," Deathcamp spoke as he flashed a blade across Gaia's back. The bees around the empath and her quarry dispersed as the UNRT woman shrieked and collapsed on the floor. Stealthily coming out of hiding, Deathcamp – the original Deathcamp – drew his katana above his head and rushed towards Kaitlin. Caught between the thoughts of seriously considering godhood and how her powers might work against being stabbed, Kaitlin froze in place. At the same time, VinZenT had come rushing through the door to track down Graveyard, but found himself a step behind Deathcamp instead.

"None of you are gods. I am the only god, a reluctant god, for I cannot die," Deathcamp explained as he began to bring the katana down on top of the English woman. As VinZenT saw Deathcamp's blade split the air, he instinctually flipped his hand forward to deflect the steel weapon.

Just as instinctually, knowing full well Ella had at least some ability to manipulate time, Rock Star shook Madina who had just come out of her slight concussion and was on her feet. As they stood in the balcony above everyone, the guitar playing Rock Star pointed to the African American woman below. "Accelerate her now! Now! NOW!" he ordered. Too rattled to weigh the request, Madina put her gaze upon the woman. At an atomic length between Ella's skin and Deathcamp's sword, the church's hall exploded in white light.

August 28, 2020...Everywhere, All At Once

Ella's vision became an overwhelming blizzard of bright particles. It was as if all the inanimate objects around her disappeared except for the faintest outline, barely contrasted against other non-living things. Everyone around her turned something of an off-white color and appeared locked in step, or at least time had been reduced to an imperceptible crawl for them from Ella's perspective. The African American woman stepped safely to one side of Deathcamp's sword and glanced him over. Looking into the deadly man's fixed gaze, Ella could see that Kaitlin was the intended target. Taking stock of the rest of the church hall, she waved her hands about to see if she could raise anyone's attention. All she could do, though, was succeed in shuffling the snowflakes of light from her view.

Ella figured she had either frozen time for everyone or that she was moving at near light speed herself; she wasn't sure. Regardless, she found herself alone with all the time she wanted to think. The forty-something woman's eyes came to a halt on The Nameless as her look scanned the white room. Something about him commanded her attention right now and the more she looked, the more she noticed his pale yellow aura.

The aura surrounding The Nameless expanded into finger-like tendrils that trailed off in various directions. Ella began to look at these vines of light more closely and realized they were something like strips of movie film. Studying the nearest pale yellow branch frame-by-frame, so to speak, she could see The Nameless break into super speed, tackle his own deadly soldier as Deathcamp's blade razored Ella's skin. Then The Nameless froze the swordsman solid with a sub-zero touch. In this scenario, the Burmese man appeared to fall over next, apparently exhausted, only for Ella to notice a wry smile creep across the face of the telepathic Chinese man. Whisper announced he made The Nameless 'go to sleep' while Ghost tangled up and restrained Graveyard. Marcus then raced across the room to heal Gaia who had been mortally wounded by Deathcamp. With The Nameless' small army defeated, The UNRT and the Chinese men regrouped and argued with The Mega Dudes as to what to do with The Nameless, Graveyard, Deathcamp, Shadow Princess and Madina. The Mega Dudes said they would take custody of The Nameless and his people while Marcus and K'un L'u said they will take their adversaries and 'recondition' them. Christopher warned the UNRT and the Chinese men not to test The Mega Dudes, which wound up angering K'un L'u and caused her to attack Brawl Boy. Firefox sided with The Mega Dudes while Ella herself took a knee, wounded, with Kaitlin tending to her. Air Force and Lt. Lucian defected from the UNRT to help The Mega Dudes. In the ensuing battle, fearing defeat, Marcus killed The Nameless, Graveyard and Shadow Princess in cold blood which appeared to energize him. After coming off his high, Marcus teleported all of his people away.

Ella swallowed; she'd seen the future, further than ever before. Then she realized, no, she'd seen a future. Why am I to do this? What does it mean? the light manipulator questioned. This was too big and Ella felt too small. Who could resist, though? Who could resist such power and the want to know more?

Using her finger, Ella swiped back along this reel of film to trace a divergence that lead to Marcus. She traced it until she saw the tendril meet up with the UNRT leader, who was standing frozen in place next to Air Force. Tracing a new line away from Marcus, Ella saw the same scenario unfold until a point in the future where Christopher and Firefox meet with Marcus and K'un L'u in an effort to come to peaceful terms ahead of an alien invasion. But when Christopher told Marcus he'll eventually be held accountable for the murder of The Nameless and his people, Marcus flew into a rage and a fight broke out. The Mega Dude and Firefox are killed by Marcus even as K'un L'u tried to stop him. As she studied the alien closer, Ella saw that K'un L'u had her own threads tied to her, and one thread tied the warrior at this particular moment back to where K'un L'u was time-locked in the present. Spinning around to observe everyone else in her immediate vicinity, the most tentative member of the Third Power witnessed tendrils spreading everywhere, creeping and winding their way from one person to another, connecting them all in one way or another.

Ella returned her focus to the one pale yellow tendril tied to K'un L'u where she stood in 'the present' to explore another stream of possibilities that connected the alien to the swordsman. Ella became a ghost in her own shoes as she watched Deathcamp cut her down then turn his sword against Kaitlin, killing her, too. Whisper telepathically gained control of Deathcamp but just for a moment as the Japanese man was quick to draw a gun and fire on the mind controller before he could be completely stopped. The Chinese team leader took two bullets in the chest and one in the neck before VinZenT took a telekinetic hold of Deathcamp's pistol and made Thiha's soldier shoot himself in the head. The Nameless then moved quickly – but not at super speed – to assist his fallen comrade (in another scenario he moved to aid Ella and in another, Kaitlin). It was Marcus who caught up to him in the blink of an eye, however, and wrapped his hands around the grown child soldier's head and snapped his neck sharply. K'un L'u jumped on top of Marcus and electrocuted him with her rod. Then the alien commanded Whisper to take control of Marcus' mind and heal The Nameless before it was too late. Once The Nameless was healed, K'un L'u beat Marcus mercilessly while Ghost was ordered to restrain Air Force. With Marcus unconscious and unable to heal himself, K'un L'u announced that she would take command of all the super humans. Most everyone agreed reluctantly until Rock Star asked Madina to accelerate his powers and he knocked everyone out in the church with an earthshattering sound blast. Fast forward to Rock Star, Christopher, Firefox, Brawl Boy and Lt. Lucian spiriting K'un L'u away and imprisoning her in a special facility. In this future, the UNRT continued to war with The Nameless' army resulting in heavy civilian casualties. While this happened, the Chinese men had returned home to aid their military in annexing the Korea's, Mongolia, India and Indonesia.

Ella noticed an interesting vine spreading from Whisper. Halfway through the preceding scenario, when K'un L'u announced she was assuming leadership of all the super humans, Whisper tilted his head up towards the balcony where Rock Star and Madina oversaw the proceedings. He apparently took control of Madina and her powers, accelerated himself and took control of everyone's mind, including K'un L'u's. Further into the future, what becomes Whisper's army rampages across the world and gives himself the godhood The Nameless promised but couldn't deliver. At the insistence of the former army sergeant, Kaitlin slaughtered the family of a military rival. Ella's heart weighed like lead knowing Kaitlin would never do something like that. That is, until she followed a thread back to Kaitlin in the present.

Something was odd about Kaitlin's aura and her tendrils; Ella could see further back, back into Kaitlin's past. The Third Power's light bearer saw all the way back to Kaitlin's first meeting with The Nameless, at the bar in Bristol. Before she left the bar, Kaitlin rebuffed the old man's warning about The Nameless as the English woman became excited about the possibility of becoming a goddess. Teaming up with The Nameless at that point was going to get Kaitlin killed at the Kazan Landing, making a tear slip down the side of Ella's face. Why would she team up with that man? Maybe for the excitement, but Ella was no psychiatrist. Ella frowned, rocks in her gut; maybe she didn't know Kaitlin that much at all. Just a slight difference in Kaitlin's thinking would have...

Scene after scene, no scenario seemed to play out particularly better than another. Ella had to push further, further into the future to see the far reaching effects of each of the nearly infinite scenarios. And this she could do because she herself had all the time in the universe. How much further could she see? The African American woman felt her age as she pushed her mind as far as it would go along any given tendril. She could only push her vision so far, though, as each time she came up against something of a wall; a black wall she could not see beyond.

Ella could not see far enough ahead in any possible reality to observe the alien invasion some of the others had talked about. Every thread of time she could see led to the same place, a blackened wall that eats all light, like a black hole but with a sentient, malevolent purpose. Was this simply the limit of Ella's powers or something altogether different and worse? There was little to indicate an answer either way other than the black wall simply felt...mean. The wall was a roadblock that even seemed to halt time, it was that bad.

Ella withdrew her focus from the black wall and spread her sight out across the receding timelines. There! There was something, something possibly good, but something that would cost dearly. Ella saw world peace. In only one alternate reality did Ella see world peace. But there would be sacrifices. It dawned on Ella that none of these visions were mere glimpses of what could be, but what could come to pass by her choosing.

The woman of light was never particularly religious, though when pressed on the question of God's existence always replied that of course there was a God. She did this mostly to avoid arguments even if ultimately she believed it. Or thought she did. Now she felt like she was in God's shoes – in possession of awesome power and the ability to act upon it.

Is it my responsibility? I have no right. I never wanted this. This is beyond me. I can't be a god. I can't make this choice; it's not mine to make. No one should make this choice, Ella thought. She didn't want to use her powers anymore but she couldn't stop. Something outside of herself was forcing her. Eventually, Ella traced it back to Madina. The Afghani woman was virtually frozen in time, unable to stop accelerating Ella even if she wanted to. There was only one way to stop this madness: choose a timeline. Which would be the most responsible choice? Ella weighed a world no longer at war but she'd have to do something terrible to make it a reality; something extremely, unconscionably terrible.

I can't take all those lives, Ella reminded herself as she grimaced at the one tendril of time and space that stretched from K'un L'u in the future all the way back to herself at the present moment. Just because I have the power doesn't mean I should. But I have to choose to escape what's happening to me. All choices seem equally bad. There's no peace unless...

What would God do? Ella ultimately asked herself. She burned with shame for thinking she could know the mind of God even though so many people had done just that throughout history. Ella thought about those people; what did they say? She'd heard some of them say that sometimes terrible things happen because it is part of God's greater plan. Wouldn't peace on Earth be a part of God's plan? How terrible does an act have to be to make God's will become a reality? Would Ella's one heinous act be enough? According to a certain vision of the future, yes. Unbound by time and space like everyone and everything else around her, Ella nonetheless felt bound by something more ethereal, like half-an-angel and half-a-demon stuck between Heaven and Hell.

They don't know what's about to happen to them, Ella thought about the warring factions around herself. No one knows what's about to happen. They will never know. Only I will know. And the price, the price. Is this what it's like to be a god? If any of them knew, they'd never pursue godhood. They wouldn't think twice. You wouldn't think twice if you really knew, Kaitlin. It's just too much. How much stronger God must be to bear this.

Ella looked beyond the individuals surrounding her inside this house of the Lord. She wondered how much fervor she'd have to pray with to be forgiven for what came next. She was going to purge all of the super humans. Nearly a million people were going to die. K'un L'u was going to be left alive to lay waste to the world's armies. Ella would banish herself. That was the price of world peace.

The reluctant super human brought her spectral form back in line with the true moment at hand, back where she was under Deathcamp's blade, less than a hair's width away from death. Ella closed her eyes and with a fleeting thought, kissed life as she knew it goodbye. She chose. She chose and released her stranglehold on time.

A silent sphere of white light exploded across San Francisco. The citizens of the city had long expected The Big One, the cataclysmic earthquake to rival that of the disastrous earthquake that hit the area in 1906. They were not ready for this; a detonation of light to rival a nuclear weapon. Everything within city limits – people, buildings, bridges, parks – was annihilated without a sound. Not a single one of a million people had the chance to scream. In their wake, in a twenty foot deep crater at the heart of the explosion lay a devastated K'un L'u on her face. She lay still and smoldered like a dying ember.

At the far edge of the devastation along a highway, a man who had been temporarily blinded while driving had slammed on his brakes and was hit from behind by another driver. The airbag had saved his life although it had momentarily stunned him. He staggered out of his vehicle and blinked until his spotted vision began to clear up. He reached into his left pocket and took out his smart phone. "Call 911," he told the device. No one answered but in the man's mind they did. Looking ahead of his car, the man told the imaginary dispatcher, "It's gone. San Francisco, it's just...gone."

Ella had taken advantage of her own acceleration to turn herself into a being of pure light. As such she wouldn't be affected by the Sun's radiation. She could exile herself there, near the star, and no one would ever know. Surrounding her, nineteen super humans also turned into light and were held in an unconscious state. Maybe she could find other inhabitable worlds among the stars for them to live. Or she could keep them here, punished alongside herself. She would keep them with her, yes, because there is the black wall, too. How long would this exile last? Maybe time had no meaning to a god, even an unwilling one at that. That, or the Sun itself was Hell and Ella self-imprisoned herself here as eternal torment for her sin. She'd said it many times herself; no good deed ever goes unpunished. More accurately, no deed goes unpunished.

October 4, 2024...Hollywood, California

Like a tall, athletic woman in black skin makeup and Amazonian battle armor striding passed movie cameras and underneath lighting fixtures, K'un L'u is the real deal; an alien warrior bent on vengeance. The extraterrestrial walked through the studio, past a green-screen until she spun and seated herself in a director's chair. Hot on her heels followed a short and willowy but well-toned brunette in a black lycra suit with built-in Kevlar. A telescoping battle staff rested on the woman's thigh. She stood like a small pillar behind K'un L'u, poised like a bodyguard, not that the alien needed one.

A young blonde makeup artist approached and the bodyguard waved the young woman off. The set worker grimaced and recoiled from the signal, guilty of a force-of-habit. K'un L'u pulled the lycra'ed woman's arm down, though. She was not as automatically dismissive of the artist as her associate.

"You there, young lady, come back here. I want to talk to you," K'un L'u ordered.

The blonde woman circled back around. She chewed her lip as she handed her makeup kit to a cameraman and walked back towards the default world leader. The half-Hispanic, half-white woman halted two feet before K'un L'u and hung her head as if she'd done something wrong.

"Stand upright, woman. Be proud," K'un L'u said. "Tell me your name."

"My name is Maria Theresa," the blond straightened up.

"How are your studies progressing?" K'un L'u surveyed the woman from head to toe as she waited for an answer.

"I'm doing okay, I think. I'm not at the top of any of my classes but I'm not at the bottom either. My best grades right now are in hand-to-hand combat." The makeup artist by trade looked around and surveyed the movie production crew. There were several people she thought she could defeat, the decidedly older black woman at the catering table most easily of all. "I can demonstrate if you'd like, ma'am."

K'un L'u stood up, pointed at one of the camera men and gave him a nod. Both the man and Maria Theresa gulped, the man for the young woman as he started filming, Maria Theresa for herself as K'un L'u cast a shadow of strength over her.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Maria Theresa. Please, demonstrate your combat expertise," K'un L'u said casually. As her eyes were fixed on the scaly-skinned alien, Maria Theresa was kicked in her stomach by the woman that arrived with the alien. The mixed-race woman tumbled head over heels until she flopped onto her stomach. She gasped and groaned as she tried to pick herself up. The willowy woman stepped with a purpose towards the youngling.

"Nevermind the pain, Maria Theresa. Prepare for the next attack," K'un L'u advised.

The surprise had taken the wind out of Maria Theresa's sails and she struggled to push herself upright while short of breath. The skin beneath the set worker's neck fanned out the moment she saw the short woman snap her telescoping battle staff out to its full length. A quick swipe caught Maria Theresa under the chin so hard it lifted it to her feet and staggered her several steps back. The half-Latina was so stunned she didn't notice a rivulet of blood stream down her neck. Instinct took over, though, and her heart began to race and started pumping blood to her muscles. K'un L'u's short assistant swung the battle staff like a bat sideways and Maria Theresa ducked it.

Even so, the short brunette followed through her swing and miss with a roundhouse kick that the younger woman blocked downward with her forearm. But the alien's second completed her spiral with a right cross that thumped against Maria Theresa's chest. The young woman felt a split along the left side of her breast bone that she knew would feel terrible later, but right now she had to counter attack. She threw a left jab, a right upper cut and another left jab. The brunette woman moved her head to avoid the first jab and uppercut and parried the second jab with her staff. Maria Theresa followed up with her own kick to her opponent's stomach but the force of the blow was absorbed by her opponent's Kevlar. Exhausted and with the chest pain coming on, the mixed-race artist left herself wide open for the brunette to throw her forehead against Maria Theresa's nose. Blood gushed out of the young woman's nostrils as she fell on her back and bounced her head off the floor. The brunette immediately stooped over to check her prey's pulse.

"Is she dead?" K'un L'u asked.

"She'll live," the alien's companion spoke curtly.

"Good. Perhaps she'll have learned something from this," K'un L'u said to the brunette. Then the extraterrestrial turned towards the camera which was documenting the incident and walked towards it.

"This woman, Maria Theresa," the alien said, pointing, "Thought she was prepared but she allowed herself to be blindsided. Even given the opportunity to strike, she failed miserably as my student here, Liv Drake, bested her with ease. I came to this studio today to remind everyone that what you are preparing for is not a game or a simulation. If Maria Theresa indeed had her highest marks in hand-to-hand combat, you planet will fall before the world breakers. They will laugh at your attempts to oppose them if this is the best you can do." K'un L'u scorned at the camera. "Perhaps what many of you are lacking is the proper motivation." The alien motioned for Mrs. Drake – Air Force's wife – to come forward. "Liv Drake, why have you excelled at your studies?"

Air Force's spouse brought herself before the camera. "Shortly before the Cataclysm, I spoke to my husband who was part of a team of super humans. Those super humans were working with K'un L'u at the time, trying to bring several rogue super humans into their fold precisely because of K'un L'u's prophecy. It appears that following the devastating battle in San Francisco, all of the super humans, including my husband, were killed and only K'un L'u survived. My husband, air force captain John Drake, believed in the prophecy and wanted to participate in resisting the world breakers. K'un L'u did not advance her current agenda of preparing us regular humans for an alien invasion because she believed there were enough super humans to aid her in what was to come. But with my husband and all the other super humans gone, each one of us have to take our survival in our own hands. We have to be responsible for our own destinies now and not leave it in the hands of others. Like K'un L'u has said, everyone will participate in what we all have to face or we will die. We'll all die." With that, Liv Drake stepped back and the current world leader stepped up.

"Many of you are not preparing hard enough. If you don't want to live, so be it. I will give you the choice to opt out of your schooling. Be it known, however, that resources will be scarce for you then and made more available to those who think their survival is important. I will not allow resources to be wasted on the dead. If that is the destiny you wish to pursue, then do that," the extraterrestrial explained. Even without pupils in her red eyes, the cameraman knew the alien was looking at him through the sheer force of her gaze. Her stopped recording.

Liv Drake snapped the battle staff back to its shortened length and attached it to her thigh. "Do you really think we'll be able to fend off the world breakers?" she asked K'un L'u.

K'un L'u's head circled towards the short brunette. "With a little more preparation time and enough willpower, yes, we will turn back the world breakers." Liv Drake didn't bother to ask what would happen after that, but K'un L'u was looking towards that time. The current upheaval of everyone's society and culture were only the baby steps towards the alien's new world vision.

A middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses and tussled blond hair approached the pair. "Is there anything else you want to record, K'un L'u, a more dignified statement from a podium perhaps with the green screen behind you? That way we can integrate the artist renderings of the invaders?" the man asked in a slightly elevated pitch.

"We'll dispense with the artist renderings and include them in a dossier that will be made available to everyone electronically," K'un L'u instructed. Immediately thereafter, the alien felt a great tug from her rod, as if it were trying to get her attention. Something was disturbing the dimensions of space-time and somehow the rod was sensitive to this. K'un L'u snapped her chin towards Liv Drake.

"We have to return to Air Force One right now and get to the Aerospace Command center. They're arriving." K'un L'u ground her sharp teeth. "I was hoping they wouldn't arrive so soon." The duo hastily exited the studio into a cleared alleyway. "Hold on, Liv Drake." The extraterrestrial wrapped her left arm around the short brunette's waist and pulled the woman tight to her. K'un L'u's right hand swung her rod towards the sky and the two launched into the air towards LAX.

...

A mere ten miles from the surface of the dark side of the moon, a seven mile wide black sphere melted into the visible spectrum of light, completing a jump through space-time using knowledge unknown to human beings.

"Jump complete, zzzir," the jelly-like insectoid navigation informed the captain. "Zzzhall I bring the zzzhip into their atmozzzphere?"

"Hold our position for the moment, Xillick," the green, nine foot tall captain responded. "We should expect that K'un L'u has prepared for our arrival. I need to inspect the inhabitant's communications since the jump to prepare an appropriate battle plan. Keep us out of range of their observational equipment until further notice."

Hyper Superion lifted its pink orb from the podium near its command chair and touched the sphere to its green forehead. The being closed its black eyes, concentrating on filtering out any extraneous information. "Very interesting," the captain spoke mostly to himself. The alien's thin green lips pressed themselves against each other before opening up wide. "I will need to consult...protect!" The weight of a voice from the ship's bowels almost killed the pair before Hyper Superion's protective yellow bands could create their force field.

"REPORT," said an ominous voice.

Hyper Superion looked up even though the voice came from everywhere at once. "Pursuant to my previous report of the situation regarding the Seedlings, there are no Seedlings on the planet Earth besides K'un L'u. It appears that the Seedlings that were present destroyed themselves having come into conflict with one another. This occurred approximately four of the planet's years ago. K'un L'u was involved in that conflict but survived and has been preparing the population for our arrival. It seems she has been trying to recreate her home world here but with limited success seeing how the inhabitants are frail creatures."

"TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE SEEDLINGS," the voice directed. Whomever or whatever the great sphere housed in its belly didn't usually care for much detail. And the voice this time seemed less malevolent in its tone and sounded more curious than was normal, Hyper Superion thought. The captain was obliged to answer as its force field gradually began to weaken.

"Interesting, really. Two of the Seedlings were exceptionally durable in their own right and could have easily survived the physical explosion that decimated a large swath of land." Despite the danger of its force field collapsing, the former scientist in Hyper Superion rose to the fore after being long dormant. The green alien itself wanted to know more about the Seedlings' infighting seeing how just the presence of so many of them had never been recorded before. There were other factors at play as well. The lanky captain continued.

"Some of the Seedlings should have survived the force of the explosion as they were near invulnerable. And others had powers that would have kept the explosion from affecting them. Also very strange is the fact that four of the Seedlings are not from the current time-stream." Hyper Superion wasn't sure how ... would take that news.

"THEY ARE CALLED 'THE MEGA DUDES,'" the voice knew. "I HAVE SEEN THEM."

This revelation surprised the ship's captain only slightly as ... had displayed some precognition in the past. But did the knowledge Hyper Superion's master possess as the result of a precognitive ability suggest that the Seedlings might reappear during the invasion? Maybe they had escaped the cataclysm by returning to the time they were from? Hyper Superion wanted to investigate the destruction of San Francisco more closely.

"I humbly request some time to analyze the details of those Seedlings' disappearance so that the invasion can proceed more smoothly," Hyper Superion requested.

"REQUEST DENIED. PREPARE TO SUBJEGATE THE PLANET EARTH," the voice spoke with some urgency. "MY TIME HAS COME. I WILL BE FREE." The bombastic uttering vanished as quickly as it had set upon the captain and its navigator.

Hyper Superion felt rushed. This final invasion should be more well-planned and better prepared for given the air of mystery surrounding the Seedlings. Something deep in the alien's core twisted and told it to be concerned. It didn't want to fail this final mission. Not so close to the end.

"Xillick," the captain spoke to the insectoid navigator in its orange web-matrix, "Open up the channels so I can address everyone onboard. Then begin our descent slowly, at one-hundred intervals per micro-oscillation. Remember, we want them to be afraid. The anticipation will undermine their ability to reason and it'll give us time to see exactly what they've prepared for us."

The gelatinous thing touched a blob of light in its matrix with a pincer. "You may zzzpeak at will, zzzir," Another pincer touched another blob of light and the massive black globe began to move into the Sun's electromagnetic radiation from behind the moon's dark side.

"Attention all crew members," Hyper Superion spoke. A shape-shifting metallic man, a grey-skinned, sharp-toothed beast rippling with muscles, an animated pile of diamonds in a humanoid shape and a globule of purple light perked up at the sound of the intercom. A shaggy, donut-headed telekinetic tri-pod with three eyes and a squid-like animal the size of a whale took note of their captain's words on an astral level. An alien mermaid swam back and forth in a tank and listened to sound vibrations traveling through the water.

"Attention. We have completed our jump and have arrived at our final destination. This is ...'s final objective. Since our briefing in the war room during the jump, new information has been uncovered. With the exception of K'un L'u, the afore mentioned Seedlings are no longer an issue and will not be part of the forthcoming battle. This will alter our attack. My revised strategy is to use My-Ana-Ra..." Hyper Superion was referring to the mermaid "...to draw a crowd and subjugate them. This should bring K'un L'u to the desired location. Once the last K'un L'u-nian reveals herself, Boxxar8778, Xyphox, and Squaquado will defeat her and drag her before me for this planet to see. Then the entire planet will understand there is no hope. Make your final preparations. Remember what is at stake. Remember what none of us want; failure. Remember what is at stake. Remember. The attack will commence shortly."

Back on the bridge, Hyper Superion viewed a vast array of images from across the planet below. Children playing in a field, a team of men building a house, two adults entwined in each other's arms, a family sitting down for dinner, a drunken father beating his son, a third-world militia entering an unarmed town and shooting all the males, a bomber plane dropping inferior explosive weapons on a city. There is as much good on Earth as there is evil. But that is about to be overturned and suffering multiplied. K'un L'u may have warned the inhabitants but they really have no idea what they're facing – extinction. They will be destroyed, but not before suffering horribly. And that's why the green-hued alien was leading this charge, precisely to avoid the suffering its victims will now experience.

I have never seen a higher law than ... itself, Hyper Superion thinks. Pray be that there is, that it holds ... true to its word and will let this army disband into peaceful oblivion once this is over. I am sorry for what I am about to put you through, Earth. You would make the same decision I did, though, all those oscillations ago. That being so, we are all guilty. But may we all find peace in the end.

...

On Earth, K'un L'u and Liv Drake arrived at NORAD's Cheyanne Complex. After entering the underground facility through a twenty-five ton blast door, the pair walk into the belly of the command center. Facing several large-screen televisions in a streamlined room of militarized cubicles, K'un L'u pointed at the middle screen with her rod.

"You're looking for a seven-mile wide black sphere somewhere between us and the orbits of the planets Venus and Mars. We can feel them," the alien leader said in reference to herself and her rod.

A mid-level officer at one station shook his head. "My apologies, ma'am, but we need to narrow those parameters if we can."

Liv Drake noticed the man's insignia, marched up to him and grabbed him by the patch identifying his branch of service. Her anger gave her strength and lifted the officer from his seat. "You're an air force captain. Do your rank some justice and think quickly." She released her grasp on his arm which let him fall back into his seat.

"Stand down, Liv Drake. You'll have your chance. Captain, build me a network of satellites that are monitoring near-Earth objects with an emphasis on anything that gives us a view of the Venus, Mars or your moon. Their ship has a highly reflective black surface and is difficult to get a visual of. I'll fix that when you're ready," K'un L'u assured.

A few minutes passed with nothing but the clacking of keyboards on computers. Adjustments were made in satellites orbiting the planet. The alien and her human bodyguard waited, arms folded. Eventually and without fanfare, the officer said the network was ready.

K'un L'u walked over to the man's station and touched her rod to his computer keyboard. There were a few small sparks and the keyboard began typing by itself furiously for a few seconds and stopped. The rod instructed the network to search for a massive object resonating at the same temperature as the Cosmic Background Microwave Radiation. In less than a minute a red circle partially obscured by the Moon appeared on the officer's monitor. He transferred the picture to the overhead screen.

"They jumped in closer than I thought they would," K'un L'u glowered. "They'll be attacking sooner than expected."

Liv Drake elevated and protruded her jaw. "What do think their strategy will be?"

"They have two likely courses of action," the extraterrestrial on Liv Drake's side mulled. "Knowing I am here, they will either try a planet-wide assault since I cannot be everywhere at once, or they will try to draw me out and isolate me, hoping to defeat me first before launching a full-scale attack. I have a plan for the latter but not the former."

Liv Drake paced in her lightly armored lycra suit. "So we can do nothing but wait."

"You and I will go to back to Air Force One and prepare for one of those possibilities. Major," K'un L'u turned to the ranking but silent officer shadowing her since she arrived. "Notify the entire planet that war is at their doorstep. The world breakers have arrived. It is time for everyone to fight or die. Ready the space-bound nuclear weapons. I doubt they'll do much good but I want the world breakers to know we are going to fight back with everything we have. Am I understood?" Inspired by his leader's grit, the ranking officer saluted and stepped away to initiate the alert.

You are ahead of schedule, Hyper Superion, but no matter. I will put you through what you have done a thousand times over. And then I'll destroy your master. This I swear. I am K'un L'u!

October 5, 2024...Shanghai, China

An hour after sunset in the middle of Huangpu River, a blue half-humanoid, half-fish raised her head above the waterline. A ferry was passing by with two hundred or so passengers en route to dock in Shanghai proper. The Chinese citizens aboard were commoners; children, adults, bicycle riders, rickshaw drivers even. All have been in training, though.

One young man was headed into the city from the outliers to see a girl he met in a flower shop a few days ago when he went to buy a bouquet for his mother's birthday. He'd heard of Westerners doing things like that and was a fan of Hollywood movies, too. In every movie there was action and romance, a perfect combination as these were the two experiences in life he longed for the most. The action was coming soon enough, he knew, as he patted the dadao – his Chinese saber – that was slung around his waist. Everyone travelled with their weapon these days as K'un L'u had warned that the invaders could come at any moment. Just hours ago the extraterrestrial announced that the world breakers had arrived. He had to make a declaration of love now, at this very moment, in case there were no more moments to come after this. The teenager, just eighteen a month ago, imagined resisting a planetary invasion and sweeping his beloved off her feet during the victory parade. Then he heard a low but distinct warbling sound.

The pitch changed constantly and pulsed non-rhythmically but it wound like a worm through his ear and wrapped a piece of silk around his mind. The din was foreign, clearly not human and probably not of this world, but instead of being cause for concern, made the youngster's eyes flutter. The young adult's eyes wanted to roll back into his head, the euphoria not unlike the moment he watched the flower shop girl wrap his mother's bouquet. But this was stronger, even more lovely and enticing. He walked to the starboard side of the ferry and would have walked straight off the deck if not for the guardrail. Everyone on the boat walked to starboard side, even the captain and crew. They bumped about each other like mindless, undead drones, the whites of their eyes staring out into the world.

The sound grew louder and all the passengers' heads swelled. Blood poured out of their eyes, ears, nose and mouth; enough blood to thicken already polluted waterway. What started off inside everyone's minds as an ambiguous rapture turned to despair when they couldn't cry out in pain. The inside of their bleeding throats had cut off any possibility of a scream and they couldn't see where to turn for help. Ecstasy devolved into panic as pressure built in their skulls, balloons about to burst. And just when they'd lost hope that anyone could help any of them, their skulls exploded and two-hundred-plus headless human beings collapsed on the deck. A few spilled overboard.

The ferry continued toward the Shanghai dock slumped on its left side as seen from land. The dock workers waiting for the ferry to arrive suspected something was wrong when they couldn't radio the captain and had their suspicions confirmed when the red-soaked ferry bumped roughly into the dock wall. More than two-hundred bodies, no heads. Once the shock had passed, the two agents looked at each other with strained eyes and hooked mouths. One finally reached for his radio when they heard the low but distinct warbling sound. The noise wasn't pretty at first but it touched something warm in their souls. Surveillance cameras recorded the resulting carnage, informing the local police that something strange was occurring. Was it part of the attack? The People's Republic of China issued a countrywide alert.

...

On the tarmac of a remote mountain airstrip in Colorado, an army corporal raced towards K'un L'u's presidential aircraft. He launched himself up the stairs into the belly of the plane, looking up and down the aisle while trying to catch his breath. He finally caught site of the world leader with Liv Drake by her side as they fitted a third woman with body armor, armor very similar to K'un L'u's though it was a dingy grey.

"K'un L'u, Madame President!" he huffed. "General Asak said you're not answering his calls. We think the attack has started. Something happened in Shanghai, China."

The alien paused and stood up from her work. "You humans don't listen very well. I told the general to send a courier. They're monitoring our communications. What happened in Shanghai, China?"

"A ferry full of headless people rammed a dock along the river. Then large numbers of people started gathering along the riverbank. They're all just standing there, unresponsive. Everyone that gets sent to investigate winds up joining the herd of people."

"They're trying to draw me out by using My-Ana-Ra to seduce a crwod." K'un L'u narrowed her brow and pointed her chin at Liv Drake. "Perhaps we should give them a taste of what they are asking for."

"Agreed, ma'am," Liv Drake answered. She stood in front of the third woman, a tall woman of mixed races, and pulled the fastener of her breast plate tight. "I want to make sure one last time that you're okay with this, Angel. You know what's being asked of you. It's probably going to be a suicide mission."

The woman, Angeli DeAngelo, stared Liv Drake in the eyes. Her pupils constricted. "I know what is being asked of me." She moved her gaze and fixed it upon K'un L'u. "Will I be remembered?"

K'un L'u approached the woman. "Great battles are always remembered, their greatest warriors even more so. Make me believe you are a great warrior. Tell me again why I should send you on this mission."

The woman stood as upright as possible, a slight arch to her back, though. Her otherwise femininely angled jaw radiated a granite determination. K'un L'u and Liv Drake stood ready to cast judgement about her worthiness.

"Because I am Angeli DeAngelo and I am human. We will not roll over like lambs and be slaughtered for anyone's amusement. Human beings, we, are born into a world that is red in tooth and claw. We must spend every moment of our lives fighting not just for our own survival but the survival of our species. Struggle is at the core of our existence. It can never cease. To cease fighting is to die. To be alive we must win and to win we must vanquish those who would see us fall. This day there is no retreat, no surrender. My entire world, nine billion lives, are at stake. We will all fight and I would be honored to be the first to meet our attackers head on."

A long forgotten yet familiar feeling welled in K'un L'u's abdomen. "You possess the spirit of the K'un L'u," the alien acknowledged. "The world breakers will be quite surprised."

Earth's otherworldly leader didn't move to address the corporal standing by. Instead, her tone let him know he was being ordered. "Tell General Asak this plane is leaving for Shanghai, China in fifteen minutes. He will continue to coordinate the nuclear weapons. Right now, I want satellite coverage of the shore banks where the crowds have gathered. Once I am captured, I anticipate that their ship will move closer to the Earth. Then I will surprise them where they least expect it."

Military personnel like General Asak assumed nuclear missiles would be enough to give the enemy pause. K'un L'u assured them that it would not be enough. And when they see what comes for them, that will be a most important moment, the extraterrestrial thought.

K'un L'u tugged on Angeli's armor to make sure it was ready. "Let's make our final preparations," she said to Liv Drake.

...

Hours beforehand, approximately ninety-three million miles away, the Sun's visible radiation masked not only her internal dialogue but Arclight's body as well. It's here, the moment I couldn't see beyond, Ella thought. Marcus and K'un L'u; they weren't lying. The world breakers have come.

Ella tried to utilize her powers to see the future ahead of the great black sphere's arrival, but found the film strips of time she saw back in the church a moment before The Cataclysm collapsing back upon the enormous marble. It was like the future was uncertain surrounding the world breakers, as if time collapsed back upon their future like one of the Sun's magnetic storms that created arches of plasma. Ella's precognition had been neutralized through some unknown force. What could do that, she didn't know, but it sent a flood of ice through her incorporeal body.

Fortunately, her other powers were intact. Ella's attention turned towards a cache of super humans that she had turned into waves of light like herself. Being able to manipulate them in this form, she held them in stasis so they couldn't fight amongst themselves. I have spared you all for this exact possibility. The question is what do I do now? Do I send you all back to aid K'un L'u immediately? Do I wait? I should wait; see what the world breakers are capable of. If they're as dangerous as Marcus and K'un L'u said, we'll need the element of surprise. But how will I know when it's the right time if I can't see the future anymore?

Redemption hung on the precipice of the correct timing. Like everyone else who had ever lived without fantastic powers, Ella was going to have to take a chance and hope for the best.

April 26, 2056...Brooklyn, New York

A withering old man balancing on a cane shuffled along the trees of Prospect Park's wide lawn. He was outfitted in a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar and dark slacks made of a slick material. It was eleven in the morning and the sun occasionally broke through the leaves swaying overhead to make the man's curly white hair luminous. This was his favorite part of the day, when he got to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. During the walk, he'd take the time to let the colors and shapes around him penetrate a little deeper. Tree bark, something he once observed as basic and fundamental, was alive with miniature canyons and a certain dead brown that seemed more alive than not when he gave it a chance. His walking meditations let him escape for an hour a day, a way to forget the past he wished he'd never been a part of. And the worst part of the past, he hated to think but could not deny, was that it had a way of repeating itself. Today would be one of those days.

His eyes, puffy not from age but from experience, caught sight of four young men on the open lawn. At this time of day, this day of the week, the park would normally be bustling with activity but it was unusually wanting for an audience. Just as well as the old man, his yellow-skinned, scarred face empty of expression, somehow found himself here for the four particular people that were present. Once his aged eyes caught sight of them, every beautiful thought left his mind, expunged by the pencil's enemy, an eraser known as the past.

"We are all just prisoners," the aging man murmured to himself.

The four young men in their mid-twenties occupied the middle of the park's manicured green grass. One of them sported sunglasses but no baseball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. The slight chocolate tone to his skin indicated he was of mixed heritage and he was the most muscularly toned of the bunch. He was the one tossing baseballs at a curly brown-haired fellow with a five o'clock shadow and a white t-shirt batting the balls at two men far behind the pitcher. One of those men had spikey black hair common to rock musicians and wore a graphic muscle tee while the other wore an unsoiled white track suit. They both wore baseball gloves to haul in the fly balls with ease. Their heights varied little; the shortest at 5'6" and the tallest at 5'10".

The young men normally practiced baseball or some other sport on their lunch break from university. They made absolutely sure they did on days their medical classes were in the morning as sports gave their minds a much needed break from the gravity of their studies. University wasn't easy; four to eight years of advanced studies put most of their recreational activities on hold, so down time was not to be wasted. This was the way of the world these days – everyone was trained in the sciences, math, medicine, philosophy, art and of course, combat. Because you never know.

The senior hobbled on his cane away from the trees into the open. He walked toward the quartet and they tried as they may to ignore him for invading their space. Eventually he wandered in between the fielders and the pitcher where his presence became too obvious to ignore.

"Can we help you, mister?" the batter raised his voice.

"Baseball," the old man sputtered. "Never really played the game to be honest, but I understand the concept. I would like to try and catch a ball. Can you hit one hard as you can?" The man let his cane drop and squatted like a real outfielder. Each one of the four shrugged their shoulders and resumed their positions.

"Sure," the solid young batter affirmed. "This one's going for the fences, Mister...what's your name, sir?"

"Oh, do not worry about my name. It is not important," the elder returned. Then he quieted his voice. "Now kindly hit the ball."

The mulatto man wound up and threw a proper fastball at his friend who launched the ball a split second later towards the tree line. The old man didn't stand much of a chance of catching the ball, at least not until the ball rapidly lost momentum and fell out of the sky and softly into the elderly man's hand. The two outfielders put their hands on their waist while the batter scratched his head. The pitcher just shrugged his shoulders again.

"Another one, buddy?" the pitcher asked with a raised glove to receive the ball.

"Perhaps, if you can catch this," the interloper said looking at the ball. He shot a sideways glance at the pitcher and hurled the ball so fast they barely saw his arm move. The pitcher wisely put his glove up to protect his body as it was clear he wasn't going to catch the ball. Instead, the ball hit the thick part of his glove which slammed into his body and knocked him over. The batter swiftly dropped his bat to aid his friend who was stunned but not harmed. As the old man walked towards the two on the ground, the batter looked up at him.

"You're a 'super,' aren't you?" the stubble bearded, tallest youngster asked. The old man didn't answer.

The four convened along with the gentleman in the center of the lawn. "Have we done something wrong, sir?" the long-haired man asked.

"No, no, quite the opposite really," this older person in his white shirt and dress slacks indicated. He looked out of place in the group, a bit refined compared to their age.

"My name's Vincent," the youngest in the track suit offered as he put out his hand for a shake.

"Yes, I know. You are Vincent." The old man turned toward each of them one at a time. "And you are John." John turned to the batter with raised eyebrows. "And you are Christopher," the man surmised of the batter. "And you are Paul," he said of the bowled over pitcher. "My name is...Oh, I forget sometimes." The senior rolled up one of his sleeves and held his hand out towards his cane which he left in the outfield. It came flying back into his grip though that wasn't much of a surprise.

Christopher started to help Paul to his feet but didn't take his eyes of their company. "What is it we can help you with?" Chris asked in all seriousness.

"He was there, buddy," Paul remarked as he studied their guest from head to toe. "Yeah, he's old enough," came out a little more excitedly. "He was there to fight the world breakers!"

The old man grinned from ear to ear, tried to hide it but couldn't. "Well, now, I am not here to talk history right now. I am here to talk about the four of you."

"Concerning?" John asked semi-seriously. He wasn't star struck or alarmed, just a bit skeptical.

"You are correct, I am a 'super' as you young ones sometimes like to say. I was there. I helped fight the world breakers," the old man affirmed to Paul. The man took a moment to close his eyes, take a deep breath and raise his chin to the sun. "I was there and so were you."

"Excuse me, mister? That's impossible." Chris said. "You might be a 'super' but I think you've got your people mixed up. It's 2056."

The old man lowered his head and scowled at Chris. "Nothing is impossible. Almost nothing anyway; we cannot seem to escape death." It seemed to Christopher that their company was talking to him personally. John diverted the man's attention, though.

"Then would you care to tell us how it's possible?" John asked.

The old man spun in a circle and swung his cane overhead until it came down towards Vincent. Vincent had sharp reflexes and stopped the cane with a hand. He tugged on it but the old man held firm.

"Take it from me!" their company barked. "Use your mind. Use your mind to take it from me." The man tugged back.

Vincent's pupils shrank as a fierce migraine came on. He released the cane and staggered backwards as he held his head which felt like a bomb about to go off. The youngest of the four fell to his knees and his eyes glazed over. But no sooner had he fallen ill than he recovered, blinking his eyes rapidly to wipe the sheen away.

The weary man opened his mouth again, a liquid red tint lining his gums. He pointed his cane at Vincent. "I said use your mind and take it from me."

Vincent threw out his hand, made a fist and pulled hard back towards his body. The walking cane ripped itself out of the old man's hand, flew through the air and cracked Vincent in the head.

"Holy! What the heck just happened?" Vincent queried as he rubbed the goose egg on his forehead.

The odd man out laughed out loud while the other three young men were left open mouthed and speechless. "You may not be a natural but you will get the hang of it," the experienced voice said.

"Vinny, buddy, you're a 'super'!" Paul exclaimed.

"You're all 'supers,'" the old man bleat. "Vincent can control any natural element with his mind. John, you can manipulate sound. Paul, you are the strongest human being – the strongest being – in the universe. And, you, Christopher, you will fly on indestructible wings."

"That's very funny, old man," Chris didn't laugh. "Those were the powers of The Mega Dudes. They disappeared after the world breakers were fought."

"You four are The Mega Dudes," the elder smiled wide, feeling a bit young again. "The Mega Dudes were from the future. They were born, so to speak, today. Here. Right now." No one said anything. "Are you not all at the top of your classes?" A hint of annoyance had snuck back into the man's voice.

Still rubbing his head, Vincent spoke up. "Actually, I'm not all that good at math. My counselor says I spend too much time dating."

"I'm not good at math either," Chris informed. "I got a C in economics last semester."

The old man rolled his eyes half closed more as a sign of resignation than of defeat. "It is too late now. I have already given one of you your powers. What is going to matter is your commitment to preserving life. And you four are inseparable, correct, and would do anything for each other?"

"Chris and I fight sometimes but we get over it in a day or so," John answered.

Now the senior snorted in mock defeat. "Oh, well, it doesn't matter. We've already started."

"What exactly does this mean? What do we have to do?" Chris questioned in monotone.

The old man closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. His mind reached out like an octopus to read theirs. When he opened his eyes he waved his arms to gather the four young men in front of him.

"It seems you all have some concerns," the embattled elder nodded. "What exactly will becoming The Mega Dudes mean? It means that you will be excused from the rest of your studies and I will become your mentor. Your next phase of training will be more intense, meaning you will have to say goodbye to your friends and families for some time. John, I know you ultimately wanted to be a musician but that dream will have to be abandoned for the time being."

John scratched his chin with one hand while his other arm was folded across his chest. "I suppose the power to control sound would be handy for a musician, assuming I eventually play music again. And assuming The Mega Dudes survived the invasion. History's a little fuzzy there."

The old man said nothing, just lightly clenched his teeth.

"I'm not going anywhere," Chris interjected. "I love my family and I'm not leaving my girlfriend. I'm thinking about marrying her. I'm not throwing that away."

"Does your love for a single person outweigh your love for your entire species? Do you remember what the world breakers came to do?" their elder asked. "If you don't join me, history might be changed. This entire planet could perish and none of you ever born."

"Hmm. Either we've joined you or you found someone else to take Chris' place, seeing how we're all still here. History never changed," John reasoned.

"Well, I'm taking charge of my history right now," Chris rejoined. "I'm not becoming a Mega Dude."

The old man had read Chris' mind a few minutes earlier. It was an unfair but necessary advantage. "Christopher – that's what you'll like to be called very soon – you are a fan of history. You have read the way the world was before The Cataclysm. You think it makes much more sense for the people to live the way they do now, being well educated in many subjects and holding life in the highest regard. You are proud to be a citizen of the world in this day and age, is this not so?"

Chris paused and pursed his lips. "Sure, I suppose."

"I know the future," the old man said taking his cane back from Vincent. "I think it is the young woman holding you back. You are youthful and in love but she is not your destiny. She will not understand what you are about to become. She will not accept the duties you must perform over time spent with her."

"I don't think he'll leave her, dude," Vincent interrupted. "His girlfriend's pretty hot." Both Chris and their company burned through Vincent with furrowed eyes. Vincent diminished in his posture. "Sorry."

"What duties are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"You will become Protectors, keeping this world safe from infractions of the civil code. And when the time comes, you will be there to fight the world breakers," the old man said.

"You mean like Firefox, Protector of the Australian Territory?" Paul wondered.

"Just like that, Paul," their potential mentor affirmed. "Though your roles will be more involved." The old man smiled and his face lifted, jovial again. "And you will get to time travel."

Vincent was infected with enthusiasm the moment he received his powers. "I was on your side the moment you said we could quit university. I'll miss the Friday night parties, though," his voice trailed away.

Paul put a hand on Chris' shoulder. "We have a duty as citizens of the world to do this, buddy." Then Paul turned his attention to the old man. "And once we beat the world breakers, we can go back to our old lives here and now, right?"

The old man actually didn't know how to answer that. He didn't want to say 'no,' that once one is a Protector they are always a protector. And he sure wasn't going to say that maybe not everyone survives the invasion. So for now he answered with a curt 'certainly.' Then he became weak in his muscles and soft in his bones. He leaned heavily on his cane and coughed. He almost fell over but Chris and Vincent each caught him by an arm.

John rubbed his eyes and felt an intense but momentary headache. When he opened his eyes, the world seemed different. He had a cosmic sense that everything around him was humming, some things louder than others, but nonetheless resonating with a frequency he could sense. "I think I have super powers," he laughed.

"Yes, I have been giving you your abilities for the past few minutes. I was trying to do it slowly to conserve my energy," their company clarified. His lips were clearly tinged with blood. "I am very tired now. I need to get back to my home. Christopher, you will take me there. There is something I need to show you."

"What do the rest of us do?" Paul waved his hands.

The old man lifted his head as high as he could and cleared his throat of a thin layer of red liquid. "Go to your homes and have a conversation with your loved ones. Ask them what they would do if they were chosen to save the world. Then tell them you have been selected. Show them what you can do. Hope that they understand. I hope all of you understand. If you do, you will meet me at this address," he slipped Paul a business card with gold ink on it from his pants pocket, "Meet me here the day after tomorrow."

Paul rested his hands on his hips. "Not to be rude, but I couldn't help but notice I don't have any powers yet, buddy."

Their new friend hunched over a bit as he laughed then coughed into a white handkerchief and turned it red. "I did not think so long ago but you are a funny young man, Paul. I will certainly grant you powers beyond your imagination. Just be patient as I will need all of my strength to give them to you."

Chris put his arm around the old man's waist. He swung the senior's arm over his own shoulder to hold him upright. "Okay, okay. Where to?" Chris asked.

"Manhattan. I have a building not far from Central Park," the older of the two tread forth with the help of Chris and his cane.

"A whole building?" Chris asked.

"There are not as many tenants as there used to be," the old man explained.

Little more than an hour later, Chris and his host's assistant – an African woman with one arm and a darker skin tone – were riding a freight elevator to the basement of a hundred story building. The woman hadn't said a word since introducing herself as 'Madina' and motioned Chris towards the elevator while the old man shuffled off with little more than, "See you in a bit." The silence was mercifully short-lived as the elevator was quick. When its door opened, several more glass doors before them asked to be opened. Madina emotionlessly pointed the way and followed closely behind Chris as they opened gateway after gateway into a large dark room lit with a single light.

That light with thin but focused upon a heavy book dense with pages sitting on a marble podium. There was a quill pen and inkwell beside the book, something Chris had only seen in a history book. What lay on top of the book intrigued Chris more, though. It was something of a heavy pipe, gunsmoke grey but flecked with silver. It reminded him of a fantastic battle, such as he knew it, whose major weapon was demoted to a paperweight. As he thought about it and who it was said to have belonged to, he felt a magnetic attraction, as if both the rod and himself were reaching out to each other.

Chris turned to Madina who was wearing a beaten pea coat. "Is that...Is that the Rod of K'un L'u?"

"Yes, it is." Madina let him set his eyes upon the rod again to contemplate this fact. "What does it mean to you?"

"It was as much of her as she was of it. Historians speculated that the two had a symbiotic relationship. It's not clear what happened to her," Chris finished as he imagined the former alien leader of their world wielding her weapon.

"She fell in battle with the world breakers," Madina said briskly.

"Were you there, too?" the younger of the two asked.

"I was," came more brief words. "Would you like to hold it?" Madina put to Chris after some silence. She notice the young man hesitate, not sure if he wanted to and not sure if he had the physical strength. "It is as heavy as you think it is," the woman remarked.

Chris stepped forward and reached his fingers out towards the rod and a non-threatening spark cracked between them. Chris withdrew his hand at first but tried again and this time the spark did not surprise him. He pulled with all his strength until the rod rolled off the book and plummeted to the floor, taking Chris with it most of the way before he let it go. Madina's cheeks swelled and eyes lit up along with a grin. It was the first emotion he'd seen from her.

"I can't hold that. It's too heavy," Chris shook his head. He was a little flush in his own cheeks, feeling a bit conned. But he still felt it tugging at him and him at it.

"You will not have to hold it. It is going to hold you," Madina spoke.

"I don't understand."

"You will," the war veteran answered. Then her behavior softened. "First, I want you to think about Christopher. What did he look like? Have you ever seen him fly? Who was he?" Chris' eyes blinked as he scratched his chin.

Madina squinted her eyes at the rod as if it could feel her stare. The alien artifact began to tremble, then bounced a bit off the floor making Chris' eyes go wide. Without warning, the rod leapt off the floor and splashed itself across his chest. Tendrils of strange metal entwined around his body, eventually snaking around Chris' back. The young man wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He wasn't scared and didn't know if he should be. That's when the metal tore into his body and fused with his bones. A moment later, dogs several blocks away perked up their ears.

Chris lay on his face, shaking spastically until two bat-like wings ripped themselves out of his flesh and spread themselves open. Christopher was born, though worse for wear. The youngster looked up, face dripping with sweat, eyes vacant of coherence.

"I didn't give it permission to do that," he forced through the shock.

"Everything that has ever happened never asked anyone for permission," Madina said, her blunt mood returning. "The rod sensed your future self from across time the moment you walked into this room. Neither of you had a choice."

Chris lowered lifted his head several times. Eventually he lost too much blood to stay conscious even as his wounds began to visibly heal. He collapsed at Madina's feet. She walked away without a word, letting the old man know as he monitored her telepathically that it had been done.

Her sponsor could rest for a bit now, not having had to expend his own energy on this event. The old man was going to need his rest and ready himself for Paul's transformation. That effort was almost going to kill him. Though he knew it wouldn't, he wished it would if only to be free of responsibility. The fate of an entire planet rested with his plan. Could any man – could any god – bear that burden?

October 6, 2024...Shanghai, China

Shortly after midnight, a crowd of people rocked like unprovoked, thoughtless zombies, swaying back and forth to the voice of an alien mermaid. The night air was cool on the skin, crisp, though this was not nearly enough to waken them from their slumber. Nor was the increasing volume of the sleek, black military chopper swooping towards the shore through the valley of high-rise buildings.

Hovering directly over the largest concentration of people, K'un L'u braced herself in the doorway of the helicopter and surveyed the mindless crowd. Then she looked out over the river but the sky was too black to see much of anything.

"We need a sonar sweep of the river," the warrior ordered over the roar of the chopper blades. "Bring us over the water."

The pilot did as instructed and arched his aircraft over the waterway while his co-pilot monitored a tablet in his lap. The tablet, wired to a sensor in the nosecone, bounced soundwaves off the riverbed and gave a clear representation of the underwater topography. Nothing unusual showed up. The co-pilot shook his head 'no' at K'un L'u.

"Take us a quarter mile up stream then a quarter mile back in the other direction," the alien barked. Once again, the pilot complied while the co-pilot monitored his tablet. Nothing on the sweep upstream. Nothing on the sweep downstr...wait, there it was. Something. Something large; twice, no, three times as big as the helicopter. The co-pilot waved frantically at his leader and pointed at his device. K'un L'u leaned into the cockpit to take a look.

"That is not My-Ana-Ra. That is Squaquado, similar to what you call a squid but much larger and more dangerous. I cannot fight it in the water. I'll have to draw it out. If we are fortunate, My-Ana-Ra will be on land." K'un L'u tapped her ears to make sure her noise cancelling earpieces were operational. "I will take that chance. Set us down on that intersection over there and let me off. I will search for the singing creature on foot."

A minute later, the extraterrestrial stepped off the aircraft onto her adopted planet and studied the throngs of enslaved people. They weren't quite as mindless as they seemed, gently swaying to and fro but slowly making their way towards a nearby factory building. A large, silver, sliding metal door served as the gateway through which the victims streamed like a brook towards something irresistible. K'un L'u whipped the rod off her waistband and mingled with the crowd, her hope being that the world breakers would probably not attack her directly for fear of killing any more people right now. It would give her a few extra moments to evaluate what she was up against.

As K'un L'u passed through the large doorway of the factory, a bonfire glinted gold light off her alien armor. Standing before the skyward flames was a blue-tinted mermaid with her arms raised, singing a song K'un L'u couldn't hear – didn't want to hear – or she'd be subdued just like the humans forming a ring around My-Ana-Ra. K'un L'u approached but stopped short of the wall of flesh adulating the aquatic idol from another world. She pointed her rod at the world breaker.

"My-Ana-Ra, I am here to liberate you," she warned.

The mermaid wavered her head and continued to whistle through her gills. My-Ana-Ra's head pitched like waves from side to side and back and forth, then set her moist eyes on the world breakers' mutineer. "You're here to kill me is what you mean."

K'un L'u didn't hear her nor could she read the mermaid's lips as she probably spoke in a foreign language. "I am here to liberate you," she repeated. "If you don't want me to liberate you, perhaps you can call on Squaquado for help. I understand it's nearby."

"There's no need for that, traitor. I have help right here," the sea monster replied.

Out of the corner of K'un L'u's blazing right eye, what first appeared as a two-ton piece of factory equipment morphed into a wide, black, blue, silver and red metal man with large blocky teeth. It laid heavy metal foot after foot into the concrete floor as it approached her and turned its left arm into a lance. Not one for many words, Boxxar8778 thrust its medieval spear at K'un L'u but struck the ground as its target jumped overhead, just clearing the thing's head and landing behind the mech. The alien protector was still under imminent threat and immediately raised her rod to deflect the hand strike of a humanoid her own size, but who was made of a bizarrely animated diamond substance. A rainbow of colors flared off its skin.

K'un L'u went on the offensive and brought down her rod from overhead to smash the carbon-based lifeform but missed and shattered the ground. As the carbon-based invader took another swipe at her, K'un L'u grabbed its wrist and swiftly bent over to use her own momentum to throw her attacker. Not that the throw would have harmed the thing much, but the diamond construct was caught in mid-air by the three-pronged grip of the mechanical beast and set down safely on its feet.

"Why are you fighting us, K'un L'u?" the diamond man asked in a gravelly voice. "You know you cannot win and that we're not going to kill you. You know we're going to drag you before ... for punishment. You know what happens then will be worse than death."

"Xyphox," K'un L'u snorted though she couldn't hear a word the thing said. "You talk too much."

"You speak as if you don't remember me," the glimmering figure sounded disappointed. "Do you not remember how many innocents we doomed together?"

As the crowd around My-Ana-Ra grew larger, K'un L'u considered a spool of heavy chain next to her. She slapped her rod back onto her waist and grabbed the end of the chain which had a winch on it. With all of her strength, K'un L'u ran towards her two enemies and slid like a baseball player underneath Boxxar's metal pillars of legs. With a speed faster than the metal man could maneuver itself, she scaled Boxxar's back, wrapped the chain around its neck and jump off and crushed Xyphox under her knees, pinning the diamond man to the ground. She wrapped the chain around its neck, too. Boxxar had already turned an arm into a saw by now but K'un L'u batted its saw away from its neck, wrapped its arm in the chain and restrained the appendage behind Boxxar's back. Xyphox was getting back to its feet soon enough but the warrior woman stepped back Xyphox's way to stomp the refracting thing to the ground to secure its ankles.

"These weak metal chains will not hold us very long," Xyphox laughed as the tough carbon man noticed K'un L'u begin to slow and breath heavily. "Hmm, it looks as though your long flight to Earth in stasis has left you somewhat weaker than before. Do you remember how many more of us there are?"

K'un L'u took a deep breath and was about to say something in response despite not knowing what she was asked. She looked at the Xyphox's bright, angled and chiseled features and scowled. She was about to reply but was slapped sideways into a pile of metal pipes by the tentacle of the giant squid that had taken to the land to seek her out. K'un L'u slid off the clanging pipes like a rag doll and struggled to keep conscious after the unexpected blow.

The giant red-and-pink squid slithered a tentacle around the world leader's waistband to wrest away K'un L'u's rod. As the space cephalopod brought the rod towards itself, it bristled as if upset by some circumstance. Xyphox looked at the monstrosity but wasn't sure what it wanted as only Hyper Superion was able to communicate with the beast effectively. Xyphox ignored its fellow breaker for the moment to stalk K'un L'u. The three invaders lined up next to the struggling warrior with Squaquado still wriggling irritably.

"You're already injured, K'un L'u. How many more of us do you think you can fight? Do you remember how many more of us there are?" the diamond man asked his foe again.

Xyphox turned around the moment it heard the murmurings of a large crowd of people. Boxxar and Squaquado followed suit. Something like a ball bounced towards their feet. My-Ana-Ra's head rolled to a stop at Xyphox's feet.

"There are ten more of you," the real K'un L'u spoke from over the mermaid's slain body, silhouetted by the bonfire behind her. With a curled upper lip, K'un L'u removed two noise cancelling ear buds from her ears and threw them into the fire. Abandoning her words, she leapt off her stage and charged the trio while her rod turned into a broad battle-axe. Before any of them could react appropriately, K'un L'u swung her axe sideways and smashed Xyphox into a million little pieces.

"Nine!" her tongue whipped up and down.

From the confines of the great black sphere's bridge, Hyper Superion let out an uncharacteristic roar. "She has defeated My-Ana-Ra! That will make subduing the inhabitants more difficult! And now Xyphox! I do not believe it."

The leader of the invasion force doubled over immediately thereafter, almost collapsing to one knee. The navigator, the insectoid Xillick, didn't flinch as it sat in its orange matrix of light. The world breaker had seen this happen before during the battle of K'un L'u; when K'un L'u was able to strike down three of the world breakers, Hyper Superion absorbed the fallen soldiers' powers. It was by using the powers of fallen world breakers that Hyper Superion was able to finally subdue K'un L'u who was then inducted into the world breaker army once the rest of her planet was conquered. Xillick's compound eyes observed Xyphox's defeat immediately after My-Ana-Ra went down which brought the insectoid's commander to both knees. The debilitating process would be short-lived, though, and Hyper Superion rose as strong as ever.

The ship's captain summoned a 3D representation of Earth and manipulated the hologram with its three green phalanges. It spun the world until it was facing the North American continent then placed a single digit on the eastern seaboard.

"Her little surprise is the only advantage she had. This works to our benefit, though; she has raised the hopes of the planet's inhabitants. Unfortunately for you, K'un L'u, you cannot be in two places at once. Attention, world breakers!" Hyper Superion put out across the ship's multiple communication lines. "Ooloo, Transmutus, Komos and Viquay. Quickly, take a score of monoliths to the location I am programming into your dropship now. Seal off the island of Manhattan and subject the inhabitants. Once the earthlings see how easily we can subjugate 1.7 million people despite K'un L'u's leadership, their hopelessness will increase and we will be able to extract more suffering from them." This was the green extraterrestrial's immediate order and wanted it wanted carried out in a hurry. After ... had seen The Mega Dudes in a vision, Hyper Superion was concerned they might show up and complicate matters. The commander needed to suppress K'un L'u right away.

Xillick curled its gelatinous soft exoskeleton forward a bit as if nodding in agreement with the captain's orders. But then Xillick heard his commander say I will go deal with K'un L'u myself before the situation deteriorates any further and this made the bug turn sharply towards Hyper Superion.

"Do not worry, Xillick," the lanky being said with a reassuring glance. "When I defeat her, I will bring her back here. I will not leave you unprotected for long."

...

"We have to pull it apart piece by piece!" K'un L'u barked as she was pinned to the ground by Boxxar's metal arm. Angeli DeAngelo – posing as K'un L'u – had her legs wrapped around the metal monstrosity's waist and was trying to pull a plate on its back off. Using the full force of the hydraulics K'un L'u designed into the imitation gold armor, Angeli was able to bend the plate as it started to come free. Boxxar8778, a savvy fighter, countered by rolling over onto its back and almost crushing the imposter under its weight. Boxxar quickly straightened up to stand over Angeli and posed for a killing blow to the chest but K'un L'u was already on her feet, too, and bent the sentient robot's thigh with a tremendous blow from a mace.

As the two Earth defenders fought the motorized construction, the giant squid Squaquado batted attackers away like flies with its tentacles. Chinese citizens, young and old alike, had been forced to train for this moment and attacked the creature once they became free of the mermaid's choral spell. K'un L'u knew that once human beings were faced with the very real possibility of their own death and saw an invader defeated, they would rise to the occasion. Largely ineffective, the Chinese with their bullets and bladed weapons couldn't do much to penetrate the squid's thick, blubbery hide. They needed something more precise.

Liv Drake, clad in a black Kevlar suit, jumped off a metal staircase as high as her willowy frame would allow. She held a long spear made of the finest steel on Earth over her head with both hands and thrust it downward as she fell. One of Squaquado's eyes exploded with an oily pink fluid that covered K'un L'u's closest confidant from head to toe as she landed and slid down the monster's side. The squid let out a series of quick, gnashing clicks as it tugged the spear out of its eye, ignoring the scores of people still trying to stab it. Its other eye widened once the foreign object was removed and it lifted all but two of its appendages to bring them back down at once, rocking the floor of the factory to bowl over its human assailants. Most everyone knocked over got back up to continue the attack but the squid unleashed a spinning maneuver that wiped its immediate area free of attackers, injuring, stunning or knocking most of them out. Liv Drake had skipped free of the whirling tentacles, however, and found herself standing weaponless under the giant's one good eye. She took off running towards the metal staircase she launched herself from for cover.

At the same time, K'un L'u had a good grip on one of Boxxar's arms while Angeli pulled on the other arm for all her hydraulics would allow. Pull with everything you have, Angeli DeAngelo! K'un L'u instructed her pupil. But even with enhanced strength Angeli was still too weak to counter K'un L'u's strength pulling in the opposite direction. K'un L'u was overpowering her pupil and both Boxxar and Angeli found themselves dragged towards Earth's leader. The robotic creature countered by lifting an arm and Angeli into the air and using the imposter to try and club K'un L'u. K'un L'u let go of Boxxar's arm and slid in front of the metal thing while Angeli bounced off the floor, her armor cracking. Fueled by her pupil's waning capability, Earth's protector moved swiftly to create a long sword out of her rod and brought it back behind her in preparation of thrusting it forward with every ounce of strength into Boxxar's electronic core where its consciousness lived. In mid thrust, there was a flash of emerald light and K'un L'u was kicked in the ribs clear of the battleground. She smacked against a cauldron of molten metal, dropped her sword and rolled to a stop on her face.

"I didn't expect you so early, Captain," K'un L'u drooled a dark purple fluid. She reached for her shapeshifting rod before forcing herself to elbows and knees. "Is the invasion already going so poorly? You're worried about something. Worried enough to teleport here. Does ... know you're wasting valuable energy?"

Hyper Superion's thin green lips gave its best imitation of a human smirk, something resembling contempt. The invasion leader reached down and grabbed the fake K'un L'u's cape, pulled her off the floor and reached for Angeli's forearm bracers, pulling them off as if they were paper. The miniature hydraulics that enhanced Angeli's strength broke away in the process. Then Hyper Superion put three fingers around Angeli's thigh and crushed the woman's bone, but not fatally so. Angeli screamed as she was tossed through the air at Boxxar's feet.

"Did you think you could make these pitifully weak creatures into something resembling K'un L'u? If either of us are worried, deserter, it should be you," Hyper Superion spoke with an uncharacteristically impatient tone. He looked around at the people struggling to recover from Squaquado's small earthquake. "All of you should be worried."

Behind Hyper Superion's back, Squaquado was still attempting to wrangled Liv Drake. The diminutive woman slipped between pillar and post to evade slithering tentacles until she ran into a dead end. The well-trained soldier whipped herself about and brought out two short knives from behind her back. She was going to cut the alien cephalopod to ribbons if it tried to tangle her up.

As K'un L'u and all the other people present returned to their battle stances and readied themselves for what was probably going to be their last stand, Hyper Superion shot an order over his shoulder. "Stand down, Squaquado. Don't bother yourself with that creature's capture. We're going to end this right now," the commander announced loudly.

"Agreed," K'un L'u spoke as she acted as though she had never been knocked down. "This ends with me killing all of you."

Hyper Superion laughed in its foreign way. "That is unlikely, K'un L'u. You know what happens when you defeat anyone but me; I will absorb their power. You saw this happen when we broke your world."

"Okay, just you then," K'un L'u snarled.

The captain of the great black sphere considered this. Earth was the world breaker's final conquest and though never much of a warrior to begin with, decided to make things more interesting by doing something the alien had never done before – gamble. Except that a scientist – a good scientist – never gambles.

"People of Earth," Hyper Superion announced in Chinese so that everyone around could hear, "I am Hyper Superion and I have come here to enslave you. K'un L'u, your adopted leader, stands in my way. I challenge her now to single combat. If she wins, I will take my army and leave. If she loses, all of you will suffer the fate we had in store for you."

Squaquado slithered up beside Boxxar who had pinned Angeli's good leg down with its metal foot. Both world breaker soldiers had never known their commander to be so reckless. Just this once, though, Hyper Superion wanted to know what sport might feel like. It would be the invader's last chance for anything resembling such an experience. It was going to be everyone's last experience of anything.

K'un L'u shifted her stance. Surely this was a ruse. "Rules?" she asked. Liv Drake cautiously made her way out from underneath the metal staircasing to see.

"No rules. We'll do what is necessary to defeat each other," the tall, skinny alien responded.

"Good," K'un L'u said lowly.

In the next instant she was charging her foe, her rod unchanged in her hand. She brought the rod up for an overhead strike and, within striking distance, tensed every muscle needed to break the breaker. Hyper Superion pursed his lipless lips and let out an uneven warbling sound. K'un L'u stopped dead in her tracks the moment before she began her strike. So did every person nearby, freezing at the sound, eyes rolling back in their heads. Hyper Superion balled its three fingers, stopped singing and smashed K'un L'u dead in the face with a diamond hard fist. K'un L'u's blunt nose gave up a fine mist of dark blood as her head flew backwards. Almost losing her balance, Earth's protector righted her ship.

"You're faster than I remember," K'un L'u said as she wiped her bloody nose with her forearm.

"Yes, I am fast. But I am not using my speed," Hyper Superion spoke. Confusion abound as no one had seen Hyper Superion actually strike Earth's leader. Hyper Superion sang again, forcing everyone's mind into a sleep. The world breaker calmly walked up to K'un L'u, frozen in place, and kicked her in the gut. She doubled over and crumpled to the floor before Hyper Superion even stopped whistling the mermaid's song. K'un L'u's cosmic rod rolled out of her hand and across the floor. Hyper Superion reached down, picked it up and stood dominate over his opponent.

"Do you surrender?" her former captain asked. "Or would you like me to beat you to 'death' so I can absorb your powers?" Hyper Superion studied the heavy rod it held. "That would be interesting. I never had the chance to study your remarkable rod before."

A solar system spun around K'un L'u's head. "You're going to be...very surprised...when I kill you all," she gurgled.

Hyper Superion simply shook his head. The alien threw out a wrist and the yellow band that encircled it flew off and bound K'un L'u's arms around her waist. Even if she'd been at full strength, K'un L'u knew she probably could not break free. She struggled no further. Hyper Superion shifted his feet to move in a circle to survey the look of defeat in the eyes of the planet's inhabitants.

"People of Earth, your champion has been defeated," the unwanted visitor said in Chinese again. "Inform what leaders are left among you that we will return shortly. Right now, we have business with K'un L'u to address." The commander knew that the anticipation of their return would help maximize the humans' fears. Their will to fight had been broken; they couldn't possibly stand up to the world breakers who had so easily defeated K'un L'u.

Hyper Superion grabbed K'un L'u by the neck and tossed her into Boxxar's arms. Hyper Superion motioned for Boxxar and Squaquado to follow and the trio walked unchallenged outside the building. A rectangle monolith three stories high opened its foremost panel to welcome them inside. The monolith swallowed the quartet silently, set its panel back in place and began to move weightlessly into the early morning sky. Back inside the factory, Liv Drake attended to the badly wounded Angeli. With one of Angeli's red contacts fallen out, the two were able to look at each other with sunken eyes. Their best hadn't been nearly enough.

...

Eight minutes later in the super-hot plasma of the Sun, Arclight's own fears would've eaten her stomach alive were she not incorporeal. Ella didn't know what to do; she wasn't a strategist. K'un L'u was captured and New York City was about to come under siege. The mistress of light contemplated the likewise incorporeal forms around her, the fellow super humans she held in unconscious stasis. Like the truncated risk taken by the lanky green alien that subdued K'un L'u, Ella had to take a similar chance. She floated up to Thiha and 'touched' a finger to his forehead.

Thiha, in a bright ghostly form, awoke. "What...what is this? What is going on? It is very bright here. You, Ms. Baudin, the light bearer; I was just beside my brother. Where are we all of a sudden?" all came out hurriedly.

This isn't how Ella wanted her first conversation in years to begin. "I need you to settle down. Things got complicated in the church. I took care of all that, though. I took everyone prisoner, here, in the Sun. You haven't been on Earth for almost four years."

Thiha 'blinked.' "You are much more powerful than I imagined," Thiha would have smiled. "You are a..."

"Don't say it," Ella warned. "Listen to me. Something terrible has happened. Marcus and K'un L'u were telling the truth. An alien invasion has come to Earth. I had left K'un L'u there because she would be the catalyst for world peace but these aliens have defeated and captured her. She's under transport while New York City is about to come under attack."

"Yes, of course, everyone hates New York," Thiha joked.

Ella bit her spectral tongue. "I need you to figure out what we need to do. Understand how desperate the situation is if I'm coming to you?"

Thiha sort of frowned at the insult. "At least you did not go to Marcus."

"I don't know him as well as you. You're the one who wants to be a god. Well, this is your chance," Ella spoke.

"I will need to go inside your mind and see all you have seen," Thiha replied.

"And take over my body?" Ella responded dryly.

"If I cannot control your power as well as you do, that would be unwise for us all. You want to save Earth? Show me," Thiha grinned. "At least I am asking nicely."

Ella paused for a long time. "Do what you have to do."

...

A few minutes had passed as the world breakers' monolith ascended to their heaven sacked in black. Almost ten miles above the Earth's surface, Hyper Superion quietly considered K'un L'u, shifting his look between her and her rod that the captain held. Her resistance was just prolonging the inevitable which the commander wanted to get to as soon as could be. If K'un L'u had just stayed on their side, Earth would have already surrendered. Boxxar and Squaquado stood silently by their anguished leader in the drab spacecraft, not particularly willing to see what ... was going to do to K'un L'u. None dared defied orders, though.

As Hyper Superion imagined what it would be like to be in full control of K'un L'u's rod, their black monolith of a ship shuttered violently and there was a whining noise like a failing aircraft engine. The captain summoned a chest-sized 3D hologram of the ship's controls and was taken aback, baffled.

"We're losing altitude. We're returning to the planet's surface," Hyper Superion informed his soldiers.

Hyper Superion wondered if it'd done something wrong and ... was sending them back to finish their job immediately. The tall, rectangular black slab came down faster than it had risen but it was not out of control. It set down right near the factory abruptly, with a jolt, but without much damage to the ship itself though the pavement had buckled. Then Hyper Superion, Boxxar and Squaquado snapped their heads around sharply at the sound of a ton of metal on metal. The noise was followed by the slow creak of the ship's hull being torn apart at its indiscernible hinges; an impossible sound that made Hyper Superion's browline rise in surprise. Boxxar lowered itself and sharpened its arms while the giant squid waddled around to face the door.

The mouth of the monolith moaned like a dying man and the ship's panel was suddenly ripped away and thrown down on the ground behind a walking tank named Armada. A few yards before the world breakers stood a thin man with a pearly-toothed grin who was flanked by three Chinese soldiers in black U.S. Army uniforms.

"Welcome to Earth!" Thiha smiled. "I understand you are here to conquer us."

Hyper Superion lowered its chin and raised its eyes. "Subjugate them. Do it now," the captain ordered.

October 5, 2024...New York, New York

Out of the cloudless, bright blue afternoon sky, hundreds of black monoliths obscured the sky like locusts. Hundreds of them of various large sizes, great heights and width, slammed into the coastline surrounding the island of Manhattan, sounding like bombs but building instead of destroying. A wall resembling monstrous blank dominoes smashed bridges and docks to pieces, alerting the citizens that it was time to fight for their lives. Sirens called New Yorkers to arms. Professional soldiers and police officers in Kevlar, riot gear and heavy weapons poured out of their stations like water. They were not going to go down without a fight. K'un L'u warned everyone not to be taken alive.

At the corner of Water Street and Maiden Lane, in front of Wall Street Plaza near Pier 15, a sand-colored Army Humvee parked itself. A young, fair-haired lieutenant popped his head out to ascertain the situation from the pocket of the large caliber gun turret. Before him, a blocky, shadowed wall stretched to the north and also to the south. The monoliths had interlocked, making the wall look smooth and unscalable. It looked as though the only way out was going to be by aircraft. Certainly an aircraft would be shot down, leaving few other options. Although inexperienced in war, the young man did not envy pilots right now. The lieutenant, Lt. Mitchell, slipped a hand inside his left breast pocket to retrieve a picture of his family; would he survive this? He thought he was dwelling on it too much and opened his eyes after a moment's meditation only to find that he could not see.

"Hey! Hey, did it just turn pitch black?" the officer's voice trembled. If it had, why did he still feel the sun on his face?

"Shit! I think I just went fucking blind," the Hispanic sergeant driving yelled.

"Me too! Me too!" the lieutenant's corporal confirmed as the enlisted man in the passenger's seat took his finger off his rifle's trigger. "What do we do? What do we do!"

It was too late to do anything. Air so frigid came over them so quickly that their skin, even their lungs froze over. They were locked in place, their core temperatures brought so low so fast they were effectively placed in suspended animation. No one within six blocks stood a chance; the surrounding vicinity had been turned into sparkling crystal ice castles and snowmen. From around the corner of the frosted Wall Street Plaza building scooted a forty foot tall tripod, pushed along by a single back leg and pulled forward by two front legs. On top of the skinny masts of legs was a ring-like body with five evenly spaced moth-like antennas. Whatever it was had no eyes but could sense the world all the same, much to the disadvantage of Earth's defense. Rounding the corner behind the strange tripod were three more foreign lifeforms – a grey-skinned, gold tattooed demon with sharp teeth, a gold humanoid with but a mouth for its face, and a basketball-sized thing radiating of purple light.

"Good work, Ooloo and Viquay," the gold humanoid said to the tripod and ball of light in a bizarre language. "We'll maintain this attack formation and bring this city to heel quickly. Komo," it said to the demon, "Of course you know what to do if we run into any resistance."

"That's about as far as you're all goin'!" an accent rained down from high above.

Two members of the alien quartet raised their heads to a burning halo of feminine fire, a miniature sun whose heat was already turning nearby ice back into water. "So y'all are the world breakers. I've read about ya. And I know how ta take care of the gargoyle!" A waterfall of fire cascaded toward the devilishly toothed demon whose squat body wasn't built for speed.

The gold humanoid reacted quickly, though, and punched the demon so hard it bent the malleable metal of its golden arm. The ferocious grey-skinned world breaker split in two, one falling beside the fire fall. The second was turned to ash beneath Firefox's feet. Her mouth deviated to one side as she raised an eyebrow.

"So much for solving that problem quickly," she fretted.

The gold humanoid pointed at the tripod while simultaneously changing its body to fire-resistant pure quartz sand. The antennas on the ringed head of the tripod worked themselves into a frenzy. Clouds accumulated to blot out the sunlight while cold winds started to whip themselves into a vortex around the fire woman. The flames radiating from Firefox's body strained to remain focused, destabilizing her flight and seesawing the Aussie like a top about to fall over. Though tough to harm when she was in flight, Firefox was in danger of being whirled into unconsciousness. Unexpectedly to the world breakers, the vortex of wind dissipated and Firefox stabilized and made herself even hotter than before. A man in a skintight metallic blue flight suit dropped out of the sky and came to a screeching halt a few yards in front of the invaders.

"Two can play that game," Air Force quipped.

With a mastery over air, the captain hit the humanoid sand creature with a narrow squall that peeled grains of sand off the surface of its body. As the creature was blasted, the leader of the alien quartet reached down to touch the street and turned its body into asphalt. At first, its feet merged with the street's surface to prevent itself from being blown away altogether. Then the creature dissolved into the road like water and reformed out of the street behind Air Force. A quick forearm smash to the air controller's back toppled him forward like a playing card. With Air Force down on all fours, the being went to lay a kick into the hero's minimally armored ribs but the captain was snatched away by a speeding Firefox returning a favor. With the air force officer under one arm, she decelerated and landed softly beside a muscular African American man in a black and blue shirt. On either side of him stood Lt. Lucian, Gaia and Kaitlin.

"Looks like we got the numbers," Marcus smirked over the few yards between him and the world breakers. He cracked his knuckles, unafraid of what he'd seen while inside K'un L'u's head.

The now asphalt-bodied extraterrestrial tilted its head sideways. It caught Marcus' meaning; it'd studied the primitive Earth languages before arriving for the purpose of taunting its victims. "I am Transmutus. Yes, at the moment you have the numbers but you do not have the power," the world breaker returned to Marcus.

Upon the alien conqueror finishing its words, the ball of purple light floating beside Transmutus turned a variety of colors in quick succession. The mash-up of heroes found themselves blinded without warning. Within the moment, Transmutus had stepped to his sharp-toothed grunt, the grey demon, Komo, and laid into his chest with a heavy fist. The gargoyle split into two, the two then swiped at each other and became four, the four violently smacked each other and became eight.

Transmutus breathed in quickly through the large mouth just below the center of its face. Turning its attention back towards Earth's defenders, it spoke in its mother tongue to its subordinates, "Remember, don't kill them. Take as many of them alive as possible."

"Don't know what you're saying. Don't care," Lt. Lucian quipped dryly. He blindly flung the gauntlet of his right arm towards his enemies and the strange, metal glove let out a loud whoosh. Sight was restored to the band of champions. Firefox threw out a hand of her own and drenched the nearest demon in fire, turning it to cinder.

"How did they do that?" Transmutus worried aloud. The goblet of purple light let out a series of 'cuck' sounds that made sense to no one. "Colder, Ooloo," the chief of the quartet ordered.

"How do you want to do this big guy?" Kaitlin shot the question over to Marcus as she felt the skin on her arm bristle at the dropping temperature. "My walking lighter and I don't know your team very well. Myself, I usually just start hitting things." The Brit wasn't scared of the invaders but thought maybe a toe-to-toe fight might not be the best idea. If anything, she was concerned she wouldn't prove to be the god Thiha said she could be.

Marcus simpered at the sound of Kaitlin's accent but looked over at Eshe. "Gaia, can you help the other ladies run interference while me and the boys take out their leader?"

Eshe had just recovered from a bit of shock. From her point of view, it was only minutes ago she had defied Graveyard only to be cut down by Deathcamp in a sneak attack. She knows she died – or at least there was a tunnel of light – and was revived on the streets of New York just moments ago by Marcus' healing ability. And it was curious how knowledge of this scenario and what was expected of her was in her head as she came around, clear as a bell. Eshe was not distracted by the cold air on her back where Deathcamp's blade had slashed her garments, rather she focused her attention on the four invaders before her and dipped her head up and down. Not wanting to waste time, Marcus took her nod as a 'yes.'

Kaitlin leaned over to Firefox. "Be a sweetie and vaporize those demons before there's any more of them." Kaitlin leaned the other way towards Eshe while keeping her eyes on her adversaries. "Uh, what exactly do you do miss?"

"I have friends," Eshe replied staring straight ahead. "I'll take the walking tripod down." Then she stepped forward into Firefox's line of fire, making the flyer take to the air.

Gaia raised both of her arms to the side with her palms face up. Everyone felt the ground shift under their feet for just a moment. She was stepping into the middle of the fray, halfway between the world breakers and the world savers but stopped just beside a manhole cover. When her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, the metal plate guarding the entrance to Manhattan's sewer system wobbled and slipped aside and out poured millions upon millions of roaches, beetles and black and red ants. Two buzzing black clouds descended out of the sky, clouds of countless mosquitoes, flies and bees. The buzzing became a roar the closer the flying insects descended which caused everyone present to take note. Though many of the insects did not survive the cold air and fell by the wayside, their huge numbers created enough ambient warmth for them to survive and at Gaia's command, attack with ferocity. The ground insects swelled around the tripod's feet and climbed up its legs, biting along the way. The clouds slammed into the tripod's ringed body and bit and stung without mercy. Temperature, still dropping moments ago suddenly found itself on the rise again as the tripod teetered.

"Very impressive," Transmutus said to itself in its mother tongue. An asphalt hand motioned the purple ball of light towards its body. Viquay, the sensory depriving being of pure energy, melded with Transmutus' body into a humanoid of pure purple light. "I need more from you, Ooloo. Hang on! Bring me storm clouds right now," strange words ordered.

Fiercely grey clouds gathered immediately high over the combatants as the tripod waned to and fro, on the verge of teetering altogether. The sound of gigantic boulders in the sky rumbled through the atmosphere, causing Marcus to look at Air Force then snap his eyes up at the clouds. Air Force understood and threw his hands up towards the heavens. But before he could disperse the troubling mists, a blinding, crooked bolt of electricity unfolded out of the clouds, into Transmutus, and out its fists thrust forward. Before Kaitlin could jump in front of her, Eshe received the brunt of the lightning bolt which travelled through her and arced aside to strike Firefox out of the air. The electricity attack also knocked Kaitlin, Air Force and Marcus down. Lt. Lucian survived the shock having protected himself by absorbing the energy with his gauntlet. Eshe was hardest hit, though, and drifted backwards like a leaf to the ground.

Kaitlin popped back up off the ground as quickly as she'd been blown off her feet. "Doesn't anything ever go according to plan?" she muttered before redirecting the electricity she collected into the circular torso of the forty-foot weather machine.

The long, spiny legs of the peculiar Martian stiffened up straight for just a second followed by a desperate, lengthy 'oooooo' sound. Even Transmutus twisted its neck over its shoulder to assess the health of its soldier. Ooloo became white as a ghost as a series of earthquakes shuttered through its body.

Hoisting himself up off his belly on one elbow, Marcus breathed a plume of heated breath as he healed himself. "That thing's gonna blow," he said getting himself up to one knee. Marcus didn't know the consequences but Transmutus did. The band of demons ran to Tranmutus' side who then raised a hand to cover his fellow breakers under an umbrella of purple energy.

"Force field," Marcus whispered to himself. He moved his arms and hands into a semicircle, encasing the giant tripod inside a telekinetic snow globe. Ooloo exploded in a sea of blankness, Marcus grunting to keep to field intact. Satisfied that danger had passed, Marcus relinquished his force field. A forty foot tall, forty foot wide ball of ice and snow beautified the frosted grey and white streets of New York. Transmutus dispersed its protective canopy while Marcus tried but failed to mask a smile of satisfaction.

"It appears we underestimated Earth's defenses. Tell me, human, how did you do it; how were all you Seedlings hidden from us?" Transmutus spoke to Marcus.

"I guess you weren't looking in the right place," Marcus snorted.

He strolled over to Lt. Lucian who had scraped his knees falling to Eshe's side. The UNRT leader leaned over and gently pushed the lieutenant aside. He reached down and laid his hands on the dark spot charring Eshe's chest but got back up again after a few seconds, his face a blanket of stress. Lines creased along his forehead and dropped into the bridge of his rising nose.

"She's dead," Marcus told, staring at Transmutus.

"Bring her back to life!" Lt. Lucian shouted while Kaitlin checked on Firefox's vitals.

"Can't do that, kid. She's in God's hands now," Marcus replied, still focused.

"You are a god!" Kaitlin insisted as she helped the momentarily stunned but otherwise unfazed Firefox to her feet.

Marcus felt a hand on his shoulder. He tilted his head to give his ear to Air Force's bruised cough, most of the electrical damage absorbed by the captain's flight suit. "Can't you help her? Can't you bring Eshe back to life?"

Marcus paused. "I...I don't know. Even if I could, no one should use that kind of power."

Kaitlin walked right up to Marcus and whipped an open hand across his cheek. "But you have no problem killing. You'll take life or save life but not return life? Have you thought about any of this?" the Third Power's spearhead vented. Marcus' mouth split open but a single word didn't come out.

"You are a curious species," Transmutus pulsed with energy. "Defeat is on your doorstep yet you squabble amongst yourselves. Perhaps you are all looking forward to suffering." Everyone turned their heads to glare at their world's uninvited guest. "The suffering has already begun, though. Ooloo was a channel, a portal, drawing the weather from your planet's poles here. This let the temperature of your poles rise a few degrees. The ice there is already melting, inundating your coastlines. You can't stop everyone from suffering."

The next few words reverted to alien origin and caught the attention of the seven demons beside the world breaker. "Again, don't kill them unless you have to. I want the brown-skinned man and the woman beside him taken alive most of all. Of them all I suspect they can withstand the most amount of torture."

Entirely too small a target as they clustered together, Marcus, Kaitlin, Firefox, Air Force and Lt. Lucian watched as the gold-tatted gargoyles swiped at each other again. Seven into fourteen and then fourteen into twenty-eight. The band of demon began to rush the defenders. They trampled Eshe's body under clawed feet as the quintet backed up. In a flash, the demons overwhelmed Kaitlin and Lt. Lucian, pinning them to the ground and threatening to bite them, gnashing their jaws within inches of their faces. A putrid saliva dripped out of the razored mouths of each fiend and made Kaitlin and the junior officer's hearts pound.

Marcus had instinctively become incorporeal and floated above the fray while Air Force cast each approaching enemy aside with powerful gusts of wind. This did little to help the situation as each demon that fell hard against a building or the pavement split in two again, creating a literally growing threat. Firefox was marginally more effective as she incinerated each demon leaping at her with concentrated bursts of fire. After she racked up her sixth small victory, she jumped into the air, pointed all of her fingers at Transmutus and unleashed fury. When she withdrew the fire, she saw the alien standing completely unscathed.

"Poor choice of tactics, flyer," Transmutus mocked. "In my current state of pure energy, your convection currents are ineffective." Firefox turned her mouth up on one side, unsure what to do next. Then her sight was taken once more. And although she was highly resilient to physical damage in flight, something both tingled and scorched through her and sent her flush against the building behind her. Dazed a second time, she peeled off the building and fell face first toward the ground but was grabbed by a pair of demons who crushed her into the street. Transmutus floated up into the air to square off with Marcus.

"You're intangible," the world breaker noticed of Marcus. The alien had a smile in its voice. "I can change that." Marcus thought he was safe as the energetic, purple humanoid flew up in his face but a hand upon his untouchable body turned him whole again, victimizing him with gravity. Air Force's quick reflexes, though, put himself back in the air in a split second, catching Marcus and setting him on his feet before his friend pounded the pavement.

"I can do that, too," Marcus looked up and answered. "Energy and mass, two sides of the same coin, right? Had to aquire some knowledge when I wanted to do some engineering." The muscled man squinted at his opponent while Air Force created a hurricane force ring of air around the men to keep the demons below at bay. A piercing gaze turned Transmutus back into a mouthed but featureless humanoid, a slightly bumpy texture of gold to its body but purple in skin-deep appearance.

"Impossible," Transmutus gulped in another language. "Only world breakers have these kinds of power!"

"Yeah, don't know what you said but I hope it was the last thing you wanted to say," Marcus jibed as he increased his density, buckling the road underneath his feet. "Air Force!" the fireman called out. "Throw me a fastball!"

Marcus and the captain were simpatico. With a flick of the wrist, Air Force whisked Transmutus full throttle at Marcus. A dense right upper cut bent the humanoid back upon itself, a feat only accomplished by the world's best yoga masters. Enjoying the rush washing over him, Marcus half turned and parted his hands in Firefox's direction while Air Force swept the leader's immediate vicinity clean of attackers. Demons sailed off Firefox and she was able to scramble to her feet and gasp for air.

Marcus picked up a foot and stomped on Transmutus, leaving a footprint in its malleable body. Stepping back he spoke to Firefox out the corner of his mouth. "Light this asshole up."

The dragoness breathed a concentrated stream of fire through her hands and liquefied the world breaker into a pool of purple sludge. With nearly a dozen gargoyles reigniting their own attack, the Australian hero clenched her fists and surrounded herself in a globe of fire. The invaders were lost to Air Force's winds when they all turned to dust. "And I thought demons enjoyed Hell," Firefox growled as she cooled down. "Let's finish this."

Lt. Lucian was already on top of his situation. Being pinned down with demonic aliens breathing in your face tends to make one terrified. As one of the demons had clawed too deeply into his flesh, the first Native American in his family to join the military silently pleaded with his gauntlet to do something. It responded by winding itself around the junior officer's entire body. No sooner had the young man been alarmed than he felt completely safe again, armored from head to toe. And the armor gave him greater strength than the toothy monsters pinning him down. Lt. Lucian struggled to stand and pushed his temporary captors away carefully as he could, mindful not to create more.

As if the demons had more powers, they drifted into the air above the lieutenant's head. It was soon clear this was not their doing as they flailed about, the dozen or so left, as they left their sure footing. By now, Kaitlin had also been set free, her captors also held aloft by Air Force standing nearby. A glowing, orange jet stream flowed by each of the demons and blackened them until there was nothing left but fine, dry parchments of flesh which fell like the dreariest snow. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief but remained dense just in case. Firefox floated to the ground satisfied that danger had passed. Kaitlin dusted herself off, annoyed that her clothing was dirty and threadbare.

Lt. Lucian's armor retracted itself and became a gauntlet on his right hand and forearm once more. He didn't feel very useful in this fight, though armoring up might come in handy later; there might be more world breakers to deal with, though these thoughts were secondary. Seeing her broken, lying on the street, the lieutenant became more concerned with Eshe. He knelt down beside her once more.

"Marcus, are you sure you can't do anything?" the junior officer asked while he fixed his eyes on Eshe's lifeless face.

The tall African American, in part recalling what Graveyard had done to Eshe, turned his head away. "Erik, kid, how many times do you want her to die?"

The young Native American looked up at his leader. "I think she'd die as many times as it takes. That's our job, right, captain? That's what we signed up for," Lt. Lucian spoke over to Air Force.

"Only the dead have seen the end of war. Plato said that," the captain responded. "She's earned her rest. All of us will keep fighting so that there's someone left to remember her."

"Let's take this fight to them," Marcus said, cracking his knuckles in preparation for the next battle.

Kaitlin sneered at the UNRT's front man, not really forgiving him for not bringing Eshe back. She agreed with Air Force to let the Egyptian be charioted into the next life, whatever life there may be. Buoyed by their success here, Kaitlin also agreed, reluctantly because Marcus said it, to take the fight to the world breakers. But by taking the initiative, the English woman figured everyone should be present.

"What about the others fighting in China right now? They're up against the world breaker's general," Kaitlin argued as Firefox joined her side.

"My 'brother' can handle it," Marcus replied. "The rest of us? K'un L'u had an alternative plan, one that didn't include us fighting on our own turf. We're taking this to their house. We're gonna surprise the hell out of them."

Marcus motioned the quintet to gather close together while Eshe laid at their feet. They would have liked to give her a proper burial but time was not a luxury right now. It was just as well; as Marcus opened up a swirling, circular gateway of blue-and-white light, Eshe's body began to break down into water and soil which seeped into her asphalt bed. In the few minutes after the quintet departed, Eshe's body had been reduced to its basic components and returned to the earth, ocean and winds from which it came.

While a warming but still cool wind wound its way around Wall Street, a puddle of purple sludge began to solidify. It stood up in a human way, started to look as though it might split into two things and eventually became a gold humanoid and a ball of purple light. The ongoing breeze brought a million ashes back together and reformed a grey-skinned, gold-tattooed demon. Ooloo's long spikey legs began to rattle, kicking like a fallen giraffe to raise itself out of the ruins of the building it'd fallen into.

"Our master has resurrected us," Transmutus witnessed looking at its hands. The leader of this faction did not detect its opponents anywhere nearby which could only mean one thing, that ... will deal with the Earth's defenders itself. "We will continue to subjugate this planet. We march!" Transmutus began to take steps, raising toe and heel over the dispersed remains of Eshe Elfar's body. As the world breakers continued on their way, a white flower grew quickly, springing out of the street in their wake.

October 6, 2024...Shanghai, China

The shape-changing mech Boxxar8778 shifted its way out the monolithic spaceship first, fashioning its arms into chainsaws. It smashed the buzzing saws against Armada's breastplate, creating a wickedly awful sound like hundreds of steel claws on a blackboard. Yellow sparks lit up the night while metallic smoke filled the air. With Armada's armor being infused with K'un L'u metal, though, the cyborg took little damage. The Chinese tanker countered the attack by grabbing both of the robot's deadly arms and turning them outward, opening up the space between the two. Armada followed up by leaning in with a headbutt to Boxxar's chest, barely denting it. The machine-man grabbed its robotic attacker by the neck and clamped on a vice-like grip of inhuman strength. The ensuing, shrinking embrace made Boxxar's blue-lit optic sensors flicker. The cyborg released its grip on the robot's other arm to clamp another hand around the world breaker's neck and finish the job, but no sooner did a terribly thick, fleshy tentacle smack Armada away like a flea, sending the well-armored man tumbling back head over heels right past Thiha. The gigantic, otherworldly squid, Squaquado, wriggled its way out of the invader's craft while Boxxar leapt over the top of its fellow soldier and landed its taloned feet on Armada's arms so that the tanker was pinned down. The rest of Boxxar's black, blue, red and silver body changed into something resembling an old-fashioned oil rig pump; long through the body with a large hammer of a head. The world breaker bobbed its head up and down, hammering it against Armada's. It sounded like two trains colliding over and over again.

Sgt. Koo – Whisper – tilted his head to one side and nodded at his second, Chenglei Wang. Then he turned his head to the other side and nodded at Than Xi. Red Star and Ghost knew their orders, given to them by a voice inside their head that was not their own. Red Star blasted off above the monster squid while Ghost approached the creature's powerful tentacles. Squaquado lashed at Ghost but its limbs went right through the otherwise delicate soldier and smacked fruitlessly against the ground. The giant cephalopod swiped at Thiha next but the thin man casually stood in place, confident he would be protected by Whisper's men. Thiha's confidence was reassured when Squaquado's attack was defeated by a slicing red bolt of energy from Red Star's head, cutting off the world breaker's appendage near its body. A liquidy wail sailed across the dock. Hyper Superion's taut eyes, nose and mouth flashed anger across the extraterrestrial's face.

"Perhaps you did not think it would be this difficult," Thiha beamed through pearly whites. "I will give you one more chance to leave this planet peacefully. You can have your mutineer back but I would like you to leave her rod with me," Thiha offered Hyper Superion nonchalantly. The tall, green alien stepped out of its ship, K'un L'u unconscious at the nip of its heels. A mere fifteen feet separated the two gangly adversaries.

"I have allowed you to have your fun, to grow a small weed of hope." The lanky invader sank its shoulders and looked away, its gaze to outer space. "But you have overplayed your hand. I will end this now. All I have to do is invoke My-Ana-Ra's powers and speak..."

A throbbing pain swelled inside Hyper Superion's head. The aggressor tried to say words but strained and failed to open its mouth. Within moments the creature was unable to form a coherent thought. The formerly benign scientist dropped to its knees and clenched the sides of its head. Thiha turned around at the waist and acknowledged Whisper with wide, bright eyes. The commander of China's Four Dragons was fixated on their kneeling adversary, oblivious to Thiha's approval. The dreams of becoming more powerful than ever that preoccupied Sgt. Koo during everyone's time in stasis were now a reality; he was bringing a conqueror to their knees. Sgt. Koo's every fiber vibrated with the scorching electricity of being a conqueror in his own right.

Ghost continued to approach the enormous alien sea creature in incorporeal form while the large beast tried in vain to knock Red Star out of the sky with its hysterical, uncontrolled tentacles. Squaquado's one good eye was too focused on Red Star weaving through its attacks to see the lowest ranking Dragon penetrate its blubbery hide and disappear into its body as if swallowed whole. A moment later, the giant squid's limbs suddenly extended themselves straight out, Red Star thinking the miscreation frightened by something. Squaquado hadn't been scared, though; there hadn't been time for the creature to reflect on such feelings as it was overwhelmed by an intense, mortally wounding pain. Four pointed spikes jutted out from within the massive cephalopod's body causing the mucous coated animal to collapse and spread itself across the pavement like a frayed, wet rag. Red Star snapped his head towards the dead monster's unaffected eye, exploding it into a grey-black sludge with a slicing bolt of red plasma.

Ghost appeared out of Squaquado's body with his face slack but body physically unaffected. He'd defeated this world breaker easily enough, though he almost wished it had been harder. In fact, the private didn't see how the world breakers had gotten their reputation, how they conquered so many worlds, in light of how easily they were being beaten at the moment. And when the invaders were defeated, what then, all the super humans return to bickering among themselves? Will they continue to fight and what for, survival? That's what they were doing now. Would they continue to fight for no other reason than to impose their will upon weaker people? It was beyond the realm of this simple fisherman's mind. People never seemed to learn but what could he do about it? Ghost had played his part here, done what was asked of him. How much longer was it going to go on? Maybe it would take less time to let the world breakers win. Little did little Ghost know how much strength Hyper Superion had gained upon Squaquado's defeat.

Thiha walked up to Hyper Superion completely unworried as he watched the green extraterrestrial tense every muscle just to inhale a breath. "You are the leader of the invasion force but I do not think you are the cause of all this trouble. Please call your master so that we may have words with them and I will make your death painless," Thiha said, ignoring the booming sound of metal on metal nearby.

From down on one knee, Hyper Superion stopped struggling and took a full breath. "You have no idea what you are asking," the world breaker responded. Hyper Superion looked up at the Burmese man before him whose head whipped around at the sound of Whisper crying out in excruciating pain.

"It's too strong," Whisper groaned in Chinese, his eyes squeezed shut so hard they were bleeding. How could this be? Wasn't he a god? The sergeant's lips spread apart and his teeth chattered, "Watch out!"

Thiha instinctively turned incorporeal like Ghost but it didn't help. The bands of yellow energy that encircled Hyper Superion's wrists and ankles flew off the extraterrestrial's limbs, expanded, and snared Thiha, Whisper, Ghost and Red Star around the waist and restrained their arms against their side. Though both intangible, the energy bands confined both Thiha and Ghost, much to their surprise. Red Star fell out of flight in an uncontrolled manner, poising him for a nasty landing until a cushion of clouds provided by Hyper Superion softened his crash, still resulting in injury to his right ankle. The world breaker needed the man alive.

"Judging by the increase in my power levels, your friends have defeated my soldiers on the island of Manhattan. It does not matter; we will win. Then you will all meet the one who is beyond a name, and take my word, you'd prefer me to kill you here and now," the invading alien talked. The tall green leader pointed to its robotic underling and shouted, "Convert their ally, Boxxar8778!"

Armada was still being pounded underneath the heavy hammer of Boxxar's head, unable to get up as the robotic feet pinning the cyborg to the ground were as strong as itself. Had Armada's armor not been infused with K'un L'u metal, it surely would have cracked like an egg by now under Boxxar's assault. But the Chinese tank was intact so far, though its visual display was showing signs of static and the cyborg could hear volts bubbling in whatever part of its brain that was still human. After a particularly hard blow that caused Armada as close to a headache as a half-machine, half-man could have, its visual display cleared long enough to observe thin strands of metal wire flow out of Boxxar's appendages and slip between the gaps in its own armor, a similar tactic once used by Gaia.

The encased Chinese man had once been convinced that he would become a national hero if his wounded body were fused to an armored shell. Already an enlisted soldier and his body mutilated during an operation involving North Koreans, it hadn't been that difficult to get Longwei to agree to the procedure. Once grafted to the armor and given the codename 'Armada,' though, Longwei felt less in control of himself than ever, noticing codes in the robotic software fused to his brain prompting him to act in the desired manner of any superior ranking officer. Could a cyborg have regret if it were more a robot than human? Was the Chinese man really human at all anymore? Was he more of a he or an 'it' now? He felt more like an animated object than a man.

Once upon a time, Longwei Leung had been proud to follow orders. Now, he didn't know whose orders to follow anymore, not after the thin man had taken control of its programming in San Francisco. While Thiha had given Armada control of itself again in the here and now – or at least that's what the cyborg was being led to think – Armada could feel Boxxar's wires attach themselves to its circuitry and start changing its mind again. Allies began to feel like enemies but for no other reason than a foreign electrical stimulus.

No. Not anymore.

I am Longwei Leung. I am Chinese. I am a soldier. I am a Chinese soldier; soldier. Soldier. No?

A memory, far away it seemed, maybe suppressed, wafted across Longwei Leung's mind. A young woman, her narrow angular face so close to his he could go beyond her eyes and smell her soul. She smelled like a field of grass early in the morning, before the dew had burned away. "What do you want?" she asked Longwei against the grey-blue morning sky. It was an invitation. And although his face was flush with excitement, supposed rational thinking overcame emotional desire. Kiss the girl and have no idea what the future would hold for them or enter the military like his father wanted as a way out of his family's destitute situation. Leung's future had already been decided then as well. Things had always already been decided for Longwei. It wasn't going to happen anymore.

No. I am Longwei Leung. I decide who I fight for. I have a mind. I am still human and my mind is my own. I am not programming. I am human! And the human soul is stronger than any steel.

Armada was running his software now. One special feature of Marcus' design was the ability to gather ambient electricity. Boxxar's own 'eyes,' its light sensors flickered again unexpectedly as Armada began building a charge though Boxxar didn't know what was occurring. The world breaker was focused on its immediate task and not concerned with running a diagnostic check. All Boxxar was aware of was its failing strength to keep Armada's rising arms pinned down. The truer machine of the two raised its hammer head for a full force blow to compensate only to be suddenly cast aside when Armada released his charge. An ear-bursting pop caused Boxxar to return to its original humanoid configuration and land on its back. Armada, lying on the street himself, stomped both his feet on the ground which brought his feet over his head, down, and the machine-man into a charging stance. The Chinese tank took several steps, leapt into the air and came down with his fists clenched together. The pounding of metal on metal could be heard well over a mile away.

With K'un L'u unconscious and Thiha and three of the Chinese men subdued, Hyper Superion watched the champions fight to standstill. "Perhaps you do not know, Longwei Leung," the invader's general said, "That Boxxar8778's metal is a strong as your K'un L'u-infused armor. You will only defeat my soldier by pulling it apart, and that I will not allow to happen." Hyper Superion raised a three-fingered hand to employ some fantastic power but instead felt something cold and sharp rip through its neck, in one side and out the front. Broad, shallow eyes looked down to see the tip of a spear laughing at the world breaker.

With two hands, jabbing with a lance of the world's finest, unforgiving steel, Liv Drake's voice sounded from behind the tall, green trespasser's back. "This is our planet. You cannot have it!"

That should have been impossible; Hyper Superion had gained Xyphox's diamond tough body when K'un L'u destroyed the world breaker. Warm liquid trickled down Hyper Superion's chest, inviting the alien leader to panic but it did not. The world breaker grimaced as it focused on liquefying its form with Transmutus' power only to find that it no longer possessed that invader's power either. Now Hyper Superion's hearts began to race.

"I-I don't understand. Did ... resurrect my soldiers?" the general stammered. A three-pronged green hand caresses the tip of the spear. Hyper Superion turned its bulbous head around best it could to see who had brought it low. "A human? A regular human. A lowly human," the leader was surprised. The world breaker studied Liv Drake from head to toe. She was a supple, wiry woman, small in stature whose daring dwarfed her height. "So fragile yet so brave. That must be why ... saved your planet for last."

Hyper Superion wanted these to be its last words; it'd be happy for its role as a harbinger of death to finally come to an end. But the alien knew that ... would not let this be. The trickle of blood stopped and the world breaker's heartbeat returned to normal. "I am sorry little woman," Hyper Superion said as it snapped the spear tip off.

The invader twisted sharply at the waist and struck Liv Drake across the side with K'un L'u's rod. A thudding sound was accompanied by the sound of multiple ribs snapping. Liv Drake awkwardly toppled backwards for several yards, causing additional injury to her head and spine. But as Hyper Superion followed through with the blow, K'un L'u was standing right there as well and snatched her rod from the world breaker's hand with her superior strength. Hyper Superion made an expression of fear familiar to human beings as the leader of Earth reared back with her rod glowing into a sword.

"Surely it must take your lord and master great energy to preserve your life. How much energy is it willing to sacrifice I wonder?" K'un L'u asked as she came around and separated Hyper Superion's head from its body. "You were a scientist once," the alien warrior breathed. "Go explore the afterlife."

The bulbous green head rolled to a stop where Squaquado's mass of a body was squirming back to life. K'un L'u picked up Liv Drake's spear tip and strode towards the beast, stopping at Hyper Superion's head. "I advise you to stay dead," she said before stomping on the leader's head and spreading the contents of its skull across the road. Then she plunged her sword into one of Squaquado's eyes and the spear into the other. The giant of a squid fell dead again.

No sooner had K'un L'u put her opponents to death than was grasped by the back of the neck and thrust face first into the asphalt by Hyper Superion.

"You are a fool, K'un L'u," the world breaker sparked. "I had just enough of My-Ana-Ra's power left before her resurrection to put you in a trance the moment you took your rod back. Then I used my speed, the speed you feared. I was so fast you never noticed," the world breaker uncharacteristically gloated while grinding the scaly-skinned warrior's head into the ground. "You cannot begin to hope to defeat us."

Hyper Superion looked up from crushing K'un L'u into gravel.

"So that's what you're afraid of," a man in a skull mask bowed his arms with fists. "You're afraid of losing." Confident just a moment ago, the leader of the world breakers had suddenly lost all confidence and felt like jelly in its limbs. Graveyard snapped his hands forward and grasped either side of the green alien's head and stared soul to soul. "Let's find out why."

Thiha's enforcer wormed his own mind into the most primitive reaches of Hyper Superion's brain. There it was, a memory – Hyper Superion's motivation for subjecting worlds to unspeakable suffering – rooted firmly and ever present. But unlike the times he's used his powers previously, Graveyard could sense more than actually see what Hyper Superion feared. The tall, gangly green man with the bulbous head being pulled apart atom by atom over a million years until it were on the verge of death, then revived to be subjected to the torture all over again. And again. And again. The Indian man had to restrain himself and remain on the periphery of the memory or get lost in it. This horror show was not something Graveyard ever imagined doing to another; he didn't imagine having that much power. But if he did...

Graveyard backed up out of the world breaker's mind and slipped his hand around his enemy's throat. "I would kill you but we both know your master, whatever that thing is, will bring you back to life."

The former scientist from another world quivered with fear though the effect was merely physical. "You can kill me a hundred times and it would pale in comparison to what the one who has no name can do to me," Hyper Superion responded.

Graveyard heard something in the invader's words, something curious. The enforcer slipped a sideways glance at Thiha who was bound, his own 'leader' whose real name he didn't use. The Indian made a mental note to himself and inched his nose closer to the world breaker's face while tightening his grip. "What do you suggest I do with you then? Your forces here are beaten."

"Just for the moment. Two more of my soldiers have been restored to life and they are rallying your own kind against you. You should surrender," Hyper Superion advised. The extraterrestrial wasn't being arrogant; the leader was afraid and telling the truth. "Fighting – striving for hope – will simply make the inevitable worse." The alien of olive blood quivered surveying the scene; its captured Seedlings, its dead soldiers, Armada and Boxxar still pounding it out and K'un L'u rising with her sword to her feet. "While you are all remarkably powerful, you are nothing – less than nothing – to the one who enslaves us. Even if you somehow truly beat us, my lord cannot be defeated, cannot be bargained with. You have no hope."

"It looks like we have you defeated for good, sweetie," a sporty, toned Brazilian woman chimed in as she walked up behind Graveyard and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I am just a foot soldier," Hyper Superion said back. "Mere cannon fodder meant to spare the nameless one its energy."

Shadow Princess huffed. "Your 'master' sounds very lazy."

Graveyard turned his head to the woman. "No. I came across another thought in this creature's mind. Their master needs energy, harvests energy from the suffering of living things. It needs the energy for something but even this creature does not know why. We're both surprised their master revived them."

"Well, while you're figuring out what to do with our green friend here, can someone please put an end to that incessant banging over there?" the fashionista thumbed towards Armada who was still hammering away but merely denting Boxxar.

Graveyard withdrew the smile beneath his mask as he watched K'un L'u approach and swing the tip of her sword underneath his chin. Shadow Princess backed away, knotted her lips and prepared to invoke her power.

"Stand down, fear monger. You are not in charge here," K'un L'u ordered.

Defiant, Graveyard didn't flinch. "That's right; I forgot you got left in charge when the rest of us disappeared. We're back now, though."

K'un L'u pushed the tip of her sword just enough to pierce Graveyard's skin ever so slightly. "We do not have the luxury of these quarrels," she growled. "I will lay you low if you do not heel."

"Why do you think you should be in charge?" the well-suited muscle man asked as he bared his throat.

K'un L'u's sword moved so fast that Graveyard couldn't have stopped her if he wanted to. It was fortunate for him he was not the world leader's mark. The fear-inducing man saw half of Hyper Superion's head lob into the air instead. Graveyard instinctually let go of the creature's neck and K'un L'u cleaved the rest of the world breaker straight down the middle of its body. Olive green blood splattered the Indian man's fine but battle-worn threads.

"Because while you play," K'un L'u started to answer Graveyard, "This world breaker's overlord will ponder whether it is worth all the energy necessary to resurrect its general. While it ponders, we plot."

With Hyper Superion dismembered, its yellow bands of energy evaporated, freeing Thiha and three of the four Dragons. Than Xi tended to Chenglei Wang who nursed his injured ankle while Sergeant Koo and Thiha stood up side by side.

The black-scaled alien pointed her sword at the Brazilian woman. "You make shadow creatures, do you not, female?" The slim but athletic woman folded her arms and turned her head away, then nodded 'yes.' K'un L'u's sword pointed at Sergeant Koo next. "This woman will create a doppelganger of the cyborg and you will control it and help the cyborg pull the world breaker's robot to pieces. Do it now," Earth's leader instructed.

Shadow Princess was not thrilled to be ordered around and took the command as an inconvenient request. Aline Melo flipped her long, dark hair back, rolled her eyes, huffed and snapped her fingers. A gunsmoke-colored version of Armada appeared beside the tanker and raised a fist to attack its likeness. Whisper focused best he could through the sting of blood clouding his vision and managed to take control of the visage. The doppelganger put its fist down on Boxxar's head and grabbed the robot under its apparent chin. Armada grabbed one arm of the sentient machine and the duo proceeded to pull in opposite directions. A million tinctures of metal snipped the air until at last Boxxar's head split from its shape-shifting body. 'Shadow' Armada fell on its hind quarters then tossed the robot's head into the nearby river. Not finished, the two hulking armored things pried open Boxxar's breastplate to reveal a cubed, clockwork metal heart. Armada took it in his hand, pulled it out of the machine's torso and crushed it. Electric sparks fizzled from between his fingers and died. 'Shadow' Armada faded and blended into the night.

Thiha clapped his hands together, a wide smile indicating happiness with their success. "That was wonderful! What shall we do next?" he inquired to K'un L'u.

K'un L'u had walked over to the mortally injured Liv Drake, knelt, and held Captain Drake's wife in her arms. She looked fondly upon her student but did not have much time to address her wounds before the sound of an angry crowd exiting the nearby factory grew closer. "We need to leave. There are hundreds of people nearby and they have been turned against us by My-Ana-Ra."

"Oh, you are worried about the mermaid? I can fix that," Thiha bobbled his head jovially towards the factory for a moment. The crowd approaching Earth's defenders began to quiet and become less organized, lowering their various weapons as they forgot why they were marching into the streets. "Okay, I have taken care of her. What is your next order, fearless leader?"

"What did you do?" K'un L'u asked.

"Oh, I just removed all the water from the creature's body. Nothing difficult," Thiha chuckled.

"You'll heal this woman now so she can continue fighting. Then we will get a message to General Asak and tell him we need to launch our nuclear missiles immediately."

"And why are we launching nuclear missiles?" Thiha asked not having the opportunity to mind-link with the alien after waking from stasis in the Sun's corona.

"Because if we don't keep the unspeakable one focused on protecting its ship from a nuclear strike, it's going to capture us the moment we step on board," K'un L'u responded.

Thiha raised his eyebrows, an index finger and his voice. "We are going up there?" K'un L'u nodded in the affirmative. "Good! I have always wanted to be an astronaut," the thin man chirped.

October 6, 2024...NORAD's Cheyanne Complex, Colorado

General Asak leaned over the shoulder of an air force lieutenant who was shaking his head 'no.' The senior officer was looking at data on the screens before him which was mostly a series of numbers in red or error readings. The general put a stubby, calloused finger on one parameter and then another.

"What's wrong with our instruments? Why are we getting these readings on the alien spaceship?" General Asak asked more rhetorically than not. The Arab lieutenant in his crisp, pressed pale-blue shirt answered anyway. He wanted to have an answer; the man might never get another chance to show what good his college education was.

"I don't think that the sphere is giving off false readings, sir. Actually, it's incredible what it's doing; the ship is absorbing the signals from our various sensors so that we can't know much about them. Radio waves, thermal imaging, x-rays; nothing is giving us data about it. The ship is even absorbing most light, which should be impossible without it possessing the density of a black hole. It's only thanks to K'un L'u adapting our satellites that we know its position, now halfway between us and the moon. Sir, it's obvious that any aliens capable of interstellar travel will possess technology we can't comprehend."

The general hadn't heard half of what the lieutenant said. Midway through the junior officer's speech, the veteran had rubbed his puffy eyes in hopes of curbing the nearly debilitating, sharp pain in his mind. The pain had come on suddenly, like an arrow shot through his head. Only the arrow was a phrase. The phrase repeated, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. A hand on the lieutenant kept the general steady until the pain subsided. The last thing the stocky general heard from his subordinate was '...we can't comprehend.' It didn't matter; the veteran had gotten the message from K'un L'u. He grumbled that he would have preferred a phone call, but nonetheless the time had come.

"Yeah, well, let's see if they understand this," General Asak's scruffy voice remarked into the younger man's ear.

General Asak brushed off the younger man, heaved his chest and yelled across the room to another man in dress greens near a communications array. "General Constance, get Russia and China on the horn. Operation: Thunderstrike is a go."

The other general hesitated and looked up from a tablet he was holding. "Are you sure, Asak? If this doesn't work..."

"There's no guarantees in life, that's why we fight for it. Yes, I'm sure. K'un L'u wouldn't be giving me the go ahead if she were dead," the general sounded.

The lieutenant seated beneath him raised a finger. "But, sir, like I said, we may not be able to comprehend the invader's capabilities. Whatever signal you've gotten could be a trick."

General Asak turned his head down at the young officer. "If they can trick us that easily, we don't have a prayer, son. Now, let's get those goddamn missiles launched," the general clapped.

...

One hundred thousand miles above the Earth, the great black sphere – an omen of suffering for millions of years – become host to invaders. Marcus, Kaitlin, Firefox, Air Force and Lt. Lucian spilled out of a blue-and-white shimmering disc and onto a smooth, glossy black deck that glowed with a reflected orange light. Marcus curled up into the fetal position as he spewed reams of blood onto the floor. Air Force quickly took to the man's side, his faced taut with concern.

"I'll be...alright," Marcus sputtered. Blood trickled from his mouth to the floor. "Never...teleported so far...before." The leader of this incursion balled up with each cough. "Might take...a little longer...than usual...to heal myself."

Air Force quickly studied the length of the deck – miles long perhaps – and more of a bridge than a simple floor. On either side of the bridge towered thick black columns from some unseen depth below, ribbed with neon orange tubes. Captain Drake pointed to his next in line.

"Lt. Lucian and Firefox behind us. Kaitlin, with me in here, in front. We need to stand our ground until Marcus recovers," were the captain's orders. The quartet surrounded their point man, shoulders tight and ready. Ready for what, they didn't know; the orange light of the pillars didn't extend far into the darkness. Everyone nervously crouched and huddled when more blue-and-white light disturbed the air a few yards away.

Thiha, K'un L'u, Graveyard, Shadow Princess and the Four Dragons appeared out of blue-and-white nothingness and fell face first on the floor. Like Marcus, Thiha similarly curled up in agony. "That...was much further than I thought...it was going...to be," he said snorting his own body fluid. He couldn't help but nearly choke on his own blood. Shadow Princess took a handkerchief from her lover's pocket and dabbed Thiha's mouth.

K'un L'u, expecting the trouble of teleporting, landed on her feet. She looked down the bridge one way, then the other.

"Good thing everyone knew where to go," Air Force remarked.

"I used my rod to find our way," K'un L'u responded without addressing Captain Drake directly. She studied their whereabouts instead.

"Then how did Marcus know where to go?" Kaitlin quietly slipped Firefox's way. "Something doesn't feel right," the English woman said even more lowly.

K'un L'u pointed her rod down the long side of the bridge with a snap. "We need to go this way, right now."

"Are ya blotto?" Firefox stepped up. Fire danced on the tip of her fingers as she directed attention to Marcus and Thiha. "We ain't getting' on without them 'til we know what we're up against."

"We don't have time," K'un L'u's voice went deep. "They can catch up. We have to get to the inner chamber and preoccupy our enemy before the nuclear missiles strike."

"Nuclear missiles?" Kaitlin's brows stitched. "Mind filling us in on the details, your highness?" Kaitlin said backing up Firefox.

"If the thing that awaits us is using its energy fighting us, that is energy it will not be using to protect its ship from your nuclear weapons. Marcus and the thin man will catch up to us and teleport us back to Earth before we're killed in the blast," K'un L'u explained.

"Go...ahead," Marcus instructed as he held his arms to his chest. He moist eyes opened and closed in quick succession. "She's right. We'll...catch up."

K'un L'u quickly dismissed her distressed colleague and took a few steps to her side. She raised her head to Armada. "We are the strongest. We will need to lead the way. Everyone stay close together for now."

As the eleven super powered beings started across the bridge into the dim orange night ahead of them, something in the air, something of an unidentifiable shape, approached them quickly. K'un L'u fashioned her rod into a shield and crouched. Lt. Lucian followed suit with his gauntlet. Armada raised his left arm defensively. Everyone else huddled behind the trio.

The closer it came, the more the object fell towards the ground. It finally hit the polished floor with a sickening slop and slid with flailing limbs to a stop at K'un L'u's feet. It was the badly beaten, ragged body of the gelatinous insectoid navigator, Xillick. Xillick's corrosive and poisonous spew soaked the alien's own body and bathed everyone's nostrils with a pungent, burning scent. K'un L'u peeked her left eye out from behind her shield down at the devastated body of the world breaker.

"It's Xillick, the ship's navigator. I don't understand," K'un L'u fretted.

Understanding was several hundred yards in the distance. A sound reverberated throughout the area, the sound of enormous, lumbering footsteps landing like explosions. The faint orange light began to shimmer along the outline of a figure across the bridge ahead of them as it drew closer.

"Maintain our defensive stance!" K'un L'u barked.

Everyone was curious, though. Graveyard was curious but not afraid; he was the master of fear. He steadily rose to get a better look. Headed their way was a mighty creature, twenty feet tall, with small stars and galaxies peppering its dark surface. Its eyes grew yellow with more intensity the closer it became. It stopped a few yards before the group, stood up tall and seemed to take an impossibly deep breath.

"I AM THE BEGINNING AND THE END," it spoke in a bottomless, androgynous voice. Everyone recoiled under the weight of the words as if each one were a bomb. Despite being shielded by K'un L'u and Armada, the rest of the quarrelsome band of fighters were knocked off their feet, even Lt. Lucian who was shielding himself, by the force of the words spoken.

Though each word of the sentence was the equivalent of being punched in the head by a champion heavyweight boxer, Kaitlin absorbed the energy. She scrambled back to her feet, shouldered her way between K'un L'u and Armada and stood before the monstrosity, dwarfed. Her voice defied her stature.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" Kaitlin fired back with equal bombast. It was another blow to everyone who wasn't prepared. The thing standing before them didn't flinch.

Air Force crawled on his belly, propelled along by his elbows, to Marcus' side. "Marcus, I know you're hurt but we could use some protection right now," the captain said to his wincing, dazed friend. Air Force swung his head towards Thiha next. "I'm talking to you, too."

The teleport had taken a lot out of both men, but Thiha had been wounded many times as a child-soldier and saw through the pain. "I will...accelerate my brother's healing so that...he can protect us," the Burmese man squirmed. "But then it will take me...more time to heal." Thiha knew he was only able to think right now as long as the creature advancing on them spoke no more. He groaned from deep in his gut as he focused through his pain to heal Marcus.

The two using their healing powers together sped the process tenfold. Marcus popped up to his feet, good as new with a hop in his step. "That's what I'm talking about!" Marcus cracked. But the god-like man did not shield his fellow soldiers in this war, he threw his hands out at the towering figure to entomb it in a force field. "I got it," Marcus spoke confidently, "It ain't going nowhere." At his word, Air Force scrambled to embrace Thiha in his arms and flew off into the darkness with him.

"THE WEAK FLEE," The thing said with a muted boom. "THEY ARE WISE."

Either taking Marcus' word for it or out of curiosity, Kaitlin side-stepped towards the being with glancing eyes. "I said, what are you?"

"WHERE ARE THE HUMANS YOU CALL HIDEO MISORA AND MADINA? I REQUIRE THEM."

Graveyard was just as curious as anyone but wasn't willing to risk his own neck; he wasn't afraid, just savvy. The skulking skull-masked man decided to use his power in a unique way and remove all fear from Kaitlin. The English woman walked to the foot of the humanoid being and looked all the way up at its face from below the thing's knees.

She gritted her teeth, raised her nose and buried her eyebrows. "What," she grinded, "are you?"

"I AM GOD," it answered.

Marcus almost lost control of the force field keeping the thing in check. "I'm going to knock your teeth out just for saying that," he snipped.

"IS YOUR CREATOR NOT GOD?" the being directed at Marcus.

"You're not my creator. God is my creator," Marcus rumbled, his fists clenching his black skin white.

"THEN I AM GOD," the otherworldly humanoid informed.

"This thing is really going to piss me off," Marcus let everyone know.

K'un L'u had grown restless during the short conversation though her eyes never left the monster. Her dark face had coiled as she remembered what the world breakers did to her planet. During the dialog, every muscle fiber in her body had tensed until she had every last bit of strength at her disposal. She no longer cared to think why the creature had not already tried to enslave and kill them or whether Marcus really had the thing trapped; she was focused on a delivering a single, devastating blow. She leaned over to Marcus.

"The moment before I strike, release your hold on it," she said. Marcus wordlessly consented with a quick nod. "Keep it talking," she added.

"If you're God, then why did you create us? What is our purpose?" Marcus asked. Marcus knew there could be only one answer.

"TO DO GOD'S WORK," the cosmic being replied.

The answer was simultaneously specific and vague to Marcus. "And what work is that?"

"TO MAKE LIFE SUFFER."

"If our purpose is to suffer, then you will lead by example," K'un L'u interrupted and leapt like a bullet at the creature. Her rod became an ultra-sharp javelin in her right hand which she brought around, over her head and down with both iron-like hands. All of Marcus' breathe shot out of his lungs when he dropped the force field, leaving K'un L'u to bring all of this to a quick end.

The javelin clinked off of the creature's star-strewn hide. K'un L'u's body smacked hard into the immovable object, bruising her down to the bone and dashing her revenge. The warrior began to fall backwards while Kaitlin below her stepped to the side, but the self-proclaimed deity snatched its attacker in a grip so vicious it cracked K'un L'u's golden armor. The thing then lowered its fist and threw K'un L'u at the ground so hard, the bridge almost broke apart. Earth's relentless leader whimpered uncharacteristically as she bounced once and went limp.

"DO YOU STILL HAVE HOPE?" the idol asked them all, knocking everyone but Armada down.

"You're damn right!" Firefox announced as she bounced back and blasted off, nearly singing the group. Near the thing's head, the fire woman roared from her heart as she lit into the creature with every last bit of spirit she had. Yellow and orange flares whipped around the god-thing. It didn't flinch, didn't make a sound. No one would have heard it anyway as Armada's wrist blasters erupted in gunfire to aid Firefox. Red Star took two steps, sprang up into the air off his good ankle and sent a piercing bolt of red plasma from his head into the evil creature's chest.

Marcus tapped Sgt. Koo on the shoulder. "Get inside that thing's head if you can!" he demanded. Then the former firefighter slapped Lt. Lucian on the back and nudged him towards the monster. Marcus increased the density of his own body as much as possible and left potholes in wake of his footsteps. Lt. Lucian's gauntlet became a hammerhead. Kaitlin ducked for cover as the teammates slammed against the thing's legs with everything they had.

Nothing. No effect in the slightest.

"YOU HAVE NO HOPE," the voice bombed. Firefox flitted away, her hands over her ears to try and protect herself, her high resiliency while flying sparing her somewhat from the force of the thing's words. Red Star looked like he was punched in the gut; he doubled over and was forced from the air by some unseen weight. Marcus, Kaitlin and Lt. Lucian were both blown to the ground; the lieutenant's eyes glazed over after hitting his head on the deck. Armada's gears strained to stay grounded but the cyborg held fast. Sgt. Koo, Ghost, Graveyard and Shadow Princess had wisely taken cover behind the human tank.

Even so, Sgt. Koo winced at the sound of the thing. He was also wincing at his own hesitance; he didn't want to get inside the head of something so powerful after what being inside Hyper Superion's mind did to him. Sgt. Koo's eyes were still bloodshot and throbbing from that mental feat. He was going to have to be sly if he were going to slip past whatever defenses the creature had. The sergeant huddled up to Private Than Xi.

"Ghost, get inside the being like you did with the sea monster," Whisper prompted the private in Chinese. "It cannot harm you if you are incorporeal." Sgt. Koo didn't know this to be true; it was merely a gambit.

Than Xi frowned at his commander. He let out a sigh and floated right through Armada directly towards the space invader. The twenty foot tall humanoid looked down at the private. "A FUTILE TACTIC," it boomed again, laying out everyone not under cover once more.

The slick black-surfaced beast stretched its hands out, provoking orange bolts of electricity to extend from the orange ringed pillars flanking the bridge to the monstrosity's fingertips. A storm of acid-colored bolts grew until Ghost was caught in the crossfire. The modest Chinese man screamed louder than all the collective screams in his life. His body twisted around itself until he went utterly flaccid and fell like a rag doll into Armada's outstretched arms. Armada swung his head around at his commanding officer but Sgt. Koo was lying on the floor in the fetal position, his eyes wide open but staring at nothing. Armada called out to his sergeant but Whisper was lost somewhere in the billion years of memories of the being.

"I feel like we are never going to get around to shopping today," Shadow Princess pouted. She rolled her eyes, stepped out from behind Graveyard who was sheltering himself behind Armada and made her fingers dance at the thing with no name.

A twenty foot tall ash-colored doppelganger appeared face to face with the greatest of all world breakers. The Shadow Princess' mirror image raised its fists and brought them towards the deity's chest. The great thing defended itself, grabbing its opponent by the wrists in an effort to halt the attack. As it stepped back to brace itself, it was grabbed from underneath one arm and restrained by Thiha who had enlarged himself to the creature's height. The creature turned its head sharply, seemingly surprised at Thiha's sudden appearance. And as suddenly as Air Force had returned Thiha to the fight had he snatched up Kaitlin and brought her to relative safety behind Armada where she struggled to hang onto her pent up energy.

"We have it, brother!" Thiha yelled excitedly.

Marcus scrambled to his feet and made himself as strong as possible. He jumped up and wrangled the other arm of the being while the doppelganger slipped around the waist of the otherworldly thing and put it in a chokehold. That's when Graveyard stepped up and blanketed the thing from head to toe with his fear effect. Without Madina around to accelerate him, Graveyard had to be more resolute than ever. His cheek muscles almost ripped themselves apart given his effort.

"You fear us and will leave this world," Graveyard spittled.

"I HAVE LIVED AN ETERNITY. I FEAR NOTHING." Despite feeling like they were being blasted by the mind-ripping voice, Marcus and Thiha struggled but held firm. They would have tried to cover the thing's mouth but it didn't seem to have one. Graveyard managed to stand his ground as well, determined to control this thing that would take his victim's away from him.

"Yes, you are afraid," the Indian sensed inside the dark pit of the creature's mind. "I can feel it. You're afraid of living another eternity."

"I WILL NOT LIVE ANOTHER ETERNITY," the deity spoke louder.

The skull-masked man staggered back and lost his concentration. The animated stars and galaxies that peppered the surface of the monstrosity began to shift and align into different patterns. The symbols couldn't be anything other than ancient. The cosmic ciphers flew off the being like hundreds of fireflies and illuminated the air. Both Marcus and Thiha lost their grip and were hoisted before the creature on invisible crucifixes. Everyone lost control of their bodies and powers as they were helplessly lifted off the ground and paralyzed in midair. Kaitlin, who had been trying to hold onto the energy of the world breaker's voice, felt the energy ripped out of her chest, her hopes of using it to her advantage suddenly dashed. The deity reached out its arms again towards the orange-lit pillars and filled the great hall with vivid-colored lightning. Electricity coursed through Earth's defenders, making them all cry out in pain. Even Armada, who was more parts machine than man, felt the intense sting of voltage.

"DO YOU STILL HAVE HOPE?" the great thing asked in an invigorated tone, slapping everyone's ears with its voice.

Marcus, his head bobbling from the combined assault, found he could do nothing to protect himself but speak. "You can't be God. God wouldn't do this. God is kind and merciful. God is love. So what are you?"

The orange electricity recoiled and a hush fell throughout the great black sphere. Although still held motionless among hundreds of ancient symbols dancing lightly in the air, the threat of pain was no longer imminent. The words that followed could still shell-shock the uninitiated, but Marcus, Thiha and Sgt. Koo's soldiers were no longer so inexperienced. Or maybe the thing wanted its captive audience to listen, listen and understand, and they could only do that if taken a step back from the threshold of overwhelming pain.

"YOU ARE MARCUS MICHAELS. YOUR BELIEF IN GOD IS STRONG. BUT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD IS." The deity drew its head closer to Sgt. Koo. Sgt. Koo's eyes had still been wide open but drew a bit heavy the closer the thing came. "TELL THEM, HO KOO. TELL THEM WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN."

Sgt. Koo snorted the air, an attempt to get oxygen to his brain and remember where he was. He lifted his head but cast his eyes down as he blinked furiously, seemingly in agony. Tears began to stream out of his eyes. "It created us. Not...not directly. It created all the life in the universe so that it wouldn't be alone in its suffering. At first, it wanted to understand why it existed, but no one could ever say. When it became frustrated and angry, it discovered that it felt more alive – stronger – when it made other living things suffer. That's when it figured a way out. As suffering makes its powers stronger, it thinks it can use all the energy it gains from suffering to break the universe apart because...because the universe is its jail cell." Just having scratched a few thousand years of the deity's mind was almost enough to drive the Chinese man mad. There was too much detail to give and this was almost all Sgt. Koo had the strength with which to speak.

Marcus' face almost contorted with a laugh of madness, too, figuring it was his god that must've imprisoned the creature. He didn't understand. Sgt. Koo was going to make it clearer, though.

"It saved us for last because we are its most perfect creation. We are the most perfect because we can suffer more than any other creature," the ranking Dragon explained.

"MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN," the being practically whispered.

Marcus' face became a tight black-and-cherry ball. His head welled with disbelief. "No; it's impossible. It's just messing with your mind, Koo. We are not its children!"

"YOU ARE MY CHILDREN," the creature reiterated. "YOUR SPECIES' BELIEFS IN GOD ARE AN INFANTILE ATTEMPT TO DENY THE AWFUL TRUTH, THAT YOU WERE ALL CREATED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF SUFFERING. NONE OF YOU CAN FATHOM A CREATOR DOING THAT TO YOU, AND SO YOU REJECT IT WITH LIES. AND THIS MAKES YOU SUFFER EVEN MORE, YOUR INNER STRUGGLE TO DENY WHAT IS OBVIOUS. THE LENGTH YOU WILL GO TO IN LYING TO YOURSELVES HAS BEEN UNPARRELLED ACROSS THE UNIVERSE."

"You're nothing but the Devil," Marcus returned in uneven words. "You're a master of lies. You're trying to make us disbelieve, that is where you draw your strength from." But in the back of Marcus' mind, belief and experience collided. Didn't he enjoy the suffering of other too much? Didn't it make him feel physically and mentally stronger? "I will not be tempted to disbelieve," Marcus announced both to the thing and to shore up his own beliefs.

"WHAT YOU CALL TEMPTATION IS A VEIL OVER WHAT IS TRUE ABOUT YOURSELVES. YOU SAY YOU WILL NOT BE TEMPTED BUT THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO KEEP YOURSELF FROM WHAT YOU TRULY DESIRE, AND THIS MAKES YOU SUFFER.

"HUMAN BEINGS ARE ALWAYS SUFFERING. YOU WERE GIVEN ALL YOU NEED IN THE WOMB, THEN MERCILESSLY BORN INTO A COLD, UNFORGIVING WORLD THAT GIVES YOU SO LITTLE. THERE, YOU MUST FEAR EVERYTHING TO BETTER SURVIVE. AND TO BETTER SURVIVE, YOU MAKE EACH OTHER SUFFER, YOU MUST TRY TO HAVE POWER OVER ONE ANOTHER. THIS SURVIVAL MECHANISM IS MADE STRONGER WHEN YOU BAND TOGETHER IN GROUPS.

"YOUR TRIBES FEAR THOSE UNLIKE THEMSELVES, FEARFUL THAT SOMETHING DIFFERENT WILL DIMISH THE PRACTICES OF THE GROUP AND COMPROMISE THE ABILITY OF THE HERD TO SURVIVE. YOU DO THIS EVEN THOUGH THE HUMAN SPECIES, ITS POPULATION, GROWS UNCONTROLLABLY. YET YOU CLING TO YOUR TRIBES AS THOUGH THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIBE AND IS SOLELY FIT TO POPULATE THE PLANET. YOUR SPECIES WILL GO TO WAR AND COMMIT GENOCIDE TO DRIVE THIS POINT HOME DESPITE ITS OBVIOUS FALSEHOOD. YOUR SPECIES WILL DO ANYTHING, TWIST ALL LOGIC, TO KILL ANOTHER AMONG YOURSELVES YET NOT SEE THIS AS THE TRUE DANGER TO YOUR SPECIES' SURVIVAL. YOUR SPECIES IS SO FOND OF THIS SELF DECEPTION THAT YOU HAVE GROWN TO KILLING EACH OTHER FOR SPORT, FOR PLEASURE IF NOT FOR PRACTICE. TO OPPRESS ANOTHER OF YOUR OWN KIND IS NOT REQUIRED FOR YOUR OWN SURVIVAL BUT YOUR SPECIES REFUSES TO UNDERSTAND THIS, HAVING GROWN TO LOVE YOUR OPPRESSING. HOW YOU COMPLAIN WHEN THEN OPPRESSED. YOU WILLINGLY FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THAT COOPERATION AND KINDNESS, YOUR ONLY WAY THROUGH THE DARKNESS THAT IS YOUR LIVES, ALLOWED YOUR SPECIES TO GROW AND CREATE CIVILATION. BUT YOUR SPECIES HAS SUFFERED THROUGH THE AGES BECAUSE YOU ULTIMATELY CANNOT HELP OVERCOME YOUR BASIC INSTINCTS. ONLY WHEN FACED WITH THE ENTIRE SPECIES' DEMISE DO YOU ALL SEE FIT TO COOPERATE. EVEN NOW, NONE OF YOU THINK OF ALL THE GOOD YOU COULD HAVE DONE WITH YOUR POWERS HAD YOU USED THEM TO HEAL THE SICK OR MITIGATE A CRISIS. NO, ONLY THE MEGA DUDES SAW TO THAT. INSTEAD, YOUR SPECIES RESISTED K'UN L'U'S ATTEMPT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD IN YOUR ABSENCE THOUGH IT WOULD HAVE BENEFITTED YOUR SPECIES IN EVERY WAY. DURING YOUR ABSENCE, THE WORLD HATED HER FOR TAKING AWAY ITS ABILITY TO MAKE EACH OTHER SUFFER.

"IF I NEVER CAME TO THIS PLANET, YOU WOULD STILL BE AT ODDS WITH EACH OTHER. YOUR SPECIES WOULD STILL BE PRACTICING ALL ITS MEANS OF OPPRESSION – IDEOLOGY, RELIGION, TERRORISM, MURDER, RAPE. YOU ARE QUICK TO BE ENVIOUS, GREEDY FOR MORE THAN IS NEEDED FOR YOUR SURVIVAL. YOU WILL DECIEVE, RISE TO ANGER AND BE BRUTAL IN YOUR QUEST TO DOMINATE EACH OTHER. YOUR SPECIES IS SO INSANE AS TO DRIVE OTHERS INTO POVERTY AND THINK IT LAUGHABLE. YOU WATCH EACH OTHER STARVE AND DO NOTHING. YOU ARE THE MOST SELFISH OF ALL MY CHILDREN THROUGHOUT THE COSMOS. THUS, YOU ARE THE MOST SUFFERING OF ALL MY CHILDREN. YOU ARE MY GRAND DESIGN. YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE PRIZE."

"No, it can't be true. I've seen the future. I know the Earth survives," Firefox struggled to say.

"YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH. YOU ARE LARGELY INCAPABLE. NONETHELESS, YOU WILL SUFFER ALL THE SAME," the deity began to conclude.

"Tell me," Marcus grinded through clenched teeth, "About love. You forgot to mention love."

"YOU ARE OF A NAÏVE, CHILDISH SPECIES, MARUCS MICHAELS. LOVE, AS YOU CALL IT, WAS MERELY THE GENETIC MUTATION THAT ALLOWED YOUR SPECIES TO BOND LONG ENOUGH TO REAR OFFSPRING, TO SPREAD ACROSS THE GLOBE IN NUMBERS GREAT ENOUGH FOR ME TO HARVEST. LIKE CREATING MY SEEDLINGS, LOVE GIVES YOU HOPE, HOPE BEING THE ONLY THING THAT SEES YOU THROUGH ALL YOUR SHORT-SIGHTED GOALS. IT IS YOUR ONLY HEDGE AGAINST A CRUEL, HARSH LIFE. DO I MISPEAK, MELANIE CONRAD?"

"Love..." Firefox said through a cloud of pain. Her ears rang so loudly she almost couldn't hear the being anymore. "...Love can sacrifice itself. What will you do when someone so loves the world, they will sacrifice themselves for all of us?" Firefox was near extinguished on her invisible cross.

"I SENSE YOU HAVE SEEN SOMETHING I HAVE NOT; YOU HAVE READ WORDS. I WOULD RIP THEM FROM YOUR MIND IF I THOUGHT THE NEED. BUT I HAVE PLANNED EVERYTHING. NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW. YOUR LIVES END HERE. I WILL TAKE MY LEAVE AND SUBJEGATE YOUR PLANET AND TAKE WHAT I NEED," the dark creature said.

"Not going to stay and torture us, brother?" Thiha asked feebly, his head barely aloft and trying to formulate a plan through his pain.

"MARCUS MICHAELS WAS THE ORIGINAL, SOLE SEEDLING I REQUIRED. BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU AND MARCUS MICHAELS DID THAT DAY YOU BURNED THE CHURCH TO THE GROUND," it spoke almost laughing, "I NO LONGER NEED ANY OF YOU BUT THE ONE-ARMED WOMAN AND THE UNDYING MAN. ALONG WITH THE REST OF HUMANITY, THEY WILL FULFIL MY REQUIREMENTS. NOW I WILL TAKE MY LEAVE AS THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS K'UN L'U HAD MODIFIED ARE MOMENTS AWAY FROM DESTROYING MY GREAT SPHERE. I GO NOW TO EARTH. YOU WILL ALL GO NOW UNGLORIOUSLY INTO DEATH."

A massive, fifty foot tall monolith descended from somewhere unseen and silently landed behind the being. As the creature backed into the opening mouth of its transport craft, its ancient white-and-yellow symbols returned to create stars and galaxies on its skin once more. As the mouth of the drop ship closed and climbed out of sight, the congress of super beings fell out of the air, most of them landing awkwardly on the hard deck. Their powers were returned to them but all but Armada who landed on his feet were immediately ready to use them.

"How much time do we have?" Air Force groaned as he rolled over on his back, trying to collect himself.

"Seconds," Sgt. Koo whispered. Even after the creature had forced him to speak, Whisper had lingered in the thing's mind, plumbing for something, anything. Desperately searching the expanses of the being's memories, the sergeant did not notice his body had mostly withered away. He had suffered the ravages of time, turning into a dehydrated husk of skin and bone until at last he chanced upon what he needed; a memory of the being trying to see its own future. In the memory there was a wall of light. The dark thing could not see past the wall of light.

"There is still hope," dribbled out of Sgt. Koo's mouth like pebbles. He could feel himself dying but he had to let the others know. His muscles shredded themselves just for trying to speak but weren't they about to die anyway? A soldier never surrenders, especially not a soldier in the People's Army. "This being is not so unlike us. It, too, does have a fear. There is a moment it cannot see beyond. A veil of light that warps time blocks its view of the future. If you can reach that moment, the one moment will be vulnerable, you will have a chance."

"Not...coming with us, Koo?" Marcus asked in a weak voice before turning himself over to see that the sergeant wasn't going to make it.

"Six seconds," Whisper softly breathed into the floor beside his mouth.

"I have an idea," Thiha said as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. "But I am not strong enough yet. Marcus, brother, I will need your help."

"Do it now," Marcus ordered with everything he had.

"Sgt. Koo, if you have anything left," Thiha soothed as the missiles began their chain reactions in Earth's upper atmosphere, "Synchronize Marcus' mind with my own." Thiha looked around for Kaitlin and found her writhing on the floor not far away. He just as quickly looked away from the English woman.

"I am sorry, Ms. Grant," Thiha said.

...

A fifty-foot tall black monolith dropped out of the early morning sky. It came down quickly but in a controlled manner, as if some intelligence were behind its descent. No one noticed it coming; nearly everyone on the planet was either in despair watching the news or falling to the world breakers in China or the eastern seaboard of the U.S. But the thing that did not have a name had still arrived as its army marched to victory without much trouble. The craft touched down on one of the lawns near at the foot of India's nearly four hundred year old wonder, the Taj Mahal. The dropship sunk three feet into the turf before its inconspicuous doors opened to reveal its hold. The great being, cultivator of Seedlings, void of almost all light when you set your eyes upon it, stepped out onto Earth's soil. It turned to face the country's most famous landmark.

No tourists were visiting this wonder of the world today. That didn't mean the building was left unguarded, though. Poised in front of the Taj Mahal, four young men stood fast. Christopher spread his sharp, silver-flecked bat-like wings and cracked his knuckles.

"This ends here, now," he said.

October 7, 2024...NORAD's Cheyanne Complex, Colorado

In the late night, General Asak dragged his baggy eyes over the shoulders of the Arab lieutenant to the screens before the younger man. Red lines traced the trajectory of the nuclear missiles locked onto the great black sphere's coordinates. They grew closer and closer until a red circle indicated they had detonated but the red lines disappeared in the next instance.

"What happened?" the general's hoarse voice questioned the lieutenant. "Did they detonate or not? Is the alien ship still there?" the general continued as he pecked the junior officer's keyboard for a response.

General Asak wasn't even concerned with the field- and news reports pouring in by radio, phone and television. He didn't care to watch the few world breakers roll over Earth's defenses on the overhead monitors. Instead, General Asak was focused on a single mission – blow that goddamn ship up.

"I don't know what happened, sir," the young officer replied as he surveyed data across several computer monitors. "The missiles should have detonated. It looks like the spaceship is still there, though, but it is now holding its position according to the data."

"Goddammit," the general muttered. Despite the fact that the missiles would have dumped radiation into the upper atmosphere, General Asak had always wanted to use nuclear weapons. What incredible power they possessed! He was relieved not to have to use them on human beings, though. But alien aggressors? That worked. Only now, when would he ever get the chance to completely blow the shit out of something again? The lieutenant noted the thick disappointment in his commander's muted expression.

A captain a few seats away piped up. Pale green symbols on a black screen blinked as they travelled in various directions across the monitor. "General Asak," the man said without looking up, "A single craft of some sort appears to have left the mothership. If it stays on course, it'll be setting down somewhere in India."

"Maybe it's our people," the general hoped.

"Sir!" a female officer's voice rang out. "The Mega Dudes have just been spotted in Agra, India. They've asked the military to clear the area around the Taj Mahal."

"Goddammit," General Asak muttered again. "That can't be good. They only show up when there's an emergency...Who's on communications?" he asked as he looked around for a raised hand. "I don't care how you do it but I want that alien ship hailed to see if we can get in touch with our boys and girls." The senior officer finally looked up at the overhead screens and caught the spliced clips of the world breakers breaking human resistance. Reports followed that people were being round up and put in cordoned off areas within black, monolithic prison walls.

"If the world breakers have stopped Marcus and K'un L'u, I don't know what the hell The Mega Dudes might have up their sleeve," the general shook his head.

I hope you're okay, son, General Asak thought of Marcus.

...

"YOU ARE THE MEGA DUDES. YOU WILL FALL," the self-described deity said to the quartet of young men backgrounded by the world famous ivory-white mausoleum. The voice failed to move The Mega Dudes, but this did not surprise the unwelcome visitor.

Rock Star, clad in a brown bomber leather jacket, held up his hands in a halting position. He was modulating the volume of the monster's voice.

"Yes, we are The Mega Dudes," the musician answered. "Still hate that name," he said in a much lower voice. Then, raising his tone again but a little drier, "But no, we are not going to fall."

"YOU DO NOT BELIEVE YOUR OWN BRAVADO," the thing said to them all.

"We're from the future. Your future. Everyone's future," Christopher said. His stance was strong and upright, chest out, wings spread and ready at the go. "So excuse us if we're feeling a little bit confident."

"THE FUTURE IS GOING TO CHANGE," the twenty foot tall being stated.

"Not today it isn't," Christopher bared his teeth. With two fingers, the bat-winged man pointed them at Brawl Boy and then swung them towards the world breaker. "Batter up."

Brawl Boy, largest of all the super humans, curled his fingers up and began a charge across the lawn. The thunderous footsteps seemingly alarmed the entity standing before The Mega Dudes as it threw out a hand, causing the stars and galaxies that painted its skin to fly towards Brawl Boy. As in the great black sphere, the stars and galaxies became ancient symbols suspended in midair, though this time as a barrier – a wall – against Brawl Boy's charge. The big, thick-muscled hero slammed against the barrier with impossible human force, but neither Brawl Boy nor the symbols gave way.

"YOU ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH," The Mega Dudes' adversary announced.

Brawl Boy took a step back and ground a foot deep into the soil. "Buddy," the powerhouse turned his head aside, "I'm the strongest being in the entire universe." He reared back a fist and launched it at blinding speed. Brawl Boy's knuckles against the symbols would have broken everyone's eardrums had it not been for Rock Star keeping the volume of the battlefield in check. Everyone but Brawl Boy's eyes were in shock instead. The symbols had cracked.

"THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE," said the monstrosity intensely. Although it knew it would say that, it said it still.

"Meh. That's what they all say," Rock Star quipped.

"That's what they all say," Brawl Boy repeated right before launching a two hand blow against the celestial's wall. The symbols cracked a little more.

"More. You have to give it more, Paul," Christopher demanded. They both knew what it would mean. If Brawl Boy used absolutely everything he had, he'd wind up exhausted and weak, no longer any help. The strongman nodded without looking back.

Another punch. And another. Claps of thunder fracked the Taj Mahal's walls. The symbols were fracturing, too. Brawl Boy roared from somewhere down inside and made a noise that sounded like it came from the very center of the Earth. The next punch made the ancient symbols splinter like a million diamond chandeliers. Brawl Boy fell down on his rear end, holding the hand that landed the last punch.

"Ow," he said, his oversized sunglasses askew. "I think my hand is broken."

The world breaker raised its opposite hand this time and let loose a cannon's roar of purple energy at the hulk. Christopher was prepared, though, and had swept around to protect his friend. He swiftly landed between the two combatants and brought his wings up like a shield. The energetic burst of plasma struck Christopher's wings and dispersed harmlessly. Christopher threw his eyes over towards VinZenT who looked back before returning his gaze to their enemy.

As the cosmic being lowered its hand, a score of super humans and an alien companion appeared out of blue-and-white light behind the world breaker. Marcus, Thiha, Air Force, Lt. Lucian, Firefox, Armada, Red Star, Ghost and Sgt. Koo's dead, dried husk of a body, Graveyard, Shadow Princess and K'un L'u's limp form tumbled onto the lawn. Marcus had blood virtually pouring out of his mouth and was gasping for air. His eyes ballooned from the effort. He collapsed on his stomach with his arms and legs splayed out. Kaitlin was nowhere to be seen.

"THE OTHERS HAVE ARRIVED. YOUR RESTISTANCE ENDS NOW," the intergalactic menace spoke.

Thiha had dragged himself on his elbows to Marcus' side. He nudged his brother-in-arms but Marcus didn't move. He mulled using his healing power but knew there was precious little time. The thin man looked around for Sgt. Koo but he, too, had fallen but permanently. Thiha, weak from constant battle, was going to have to mentally link everyone himself.

"No," Lt. Lucian whispered at the thin man apprehensively. Thiha's plan had skimmed across his brain like a stone skipping water; enough of it was there for him to get the gist of it.

The plan called for sacrifice, for the lieutenant's sacrifice. Family, friends, his girlfriend – he was being asked to give all that up. He was being asked to give that up and go down fighting, just like Eshe had. What had they said as she lay fallen before him in New York, that she knew the risk? Maybe it was different when you know it's coming. The young officer dragged his eyes across his forearm, along his gauntlet which had been infused with K'un L'u metal and been creeping up his arm ever since that day. His eyes welled with saline. This was expected of him as a soldier; sacrificing yourself for the greater good, to do your duty even knowing how it's probably going to turn out. Okay, he said inside his head and sighed. Who knows? Maybe I'll survive, an unconvincing thought went.

If this doesn't work, Christopher began to hear across his mind in a voice very familiar to him, I don't know what we will do. I guess we'll all die. Die now or die later – what difference did it make? Firefox made the difference. The winged man looked over at her and she was shaking her head furiously, convulsing with tears as she gasped. If the past was inevitable, they knew what was about to happen.

Christopher turned to face the great world breaker. His head was slung low, eyes pitched towards the matted green blades of grass beneath him. "Our resistance doesn't end now. You end now," he said.

"WORDS," the cosmic being answered.

Christopher's thighs exploded him into the air high enough for his wings to take over and send him soaring. Lt. Lucian began jogging towards the monstrosity from behind its back. With each step, the young lieutenant's gauntlet spread its dark-grey, silver-speckled metal up his arm, around his shoulders, over his head and down his legs. As his light jog became a sprint, Graveyard had been instructed in his role and used his remarkable strength to snatch K'un L'u's rod out of her unconscious yet still vice-like hand. Thiha's enforcer swung from the waist and launched the rod above Lt. Lucian's head. The Native American man, now armored from head to toe, jumped with enhanced strength to catch the rod. Once in the lieutenant's hand, the rod began to expand into an immense shell. Christopher screamed out of the sky towards the entity's face. He pulled up a moment as if trying to halt himself while his wings began to grow into a curved wall as well. The Mega Dudes' wings, rooted in his back, burst forth with growth and made Christopher cry in agony.

"USELESS," the world breaker spoke. A blue-and-white light began to develop around the huge being.

"This thing is going to get away," Air Force announced.

The moment he finished his prediction, a blinding white light spread across the land. Everyone was bathed in it, blinded by it, lost in it and held at a standstill in time. Everyone but Christopher, Lt. Lucian and Thiha.

The Mega Dudes' wings, Lt. Lucian's armor and K'un L'u's rod combined and spread to create a globe around the twenty foot tall creature, effectively imprisoning their enemy inside. Thiha reached up with a hand as he laid on his side and blinked several times.

"I am sorry, sister. Your last words should not be a scream," he whispered.

Kaitlin, stored with the potential energy of a nuclear missile and unable to speak as her mind and body were bent beyond agony, was teleported inside the spherical chamber. For just a moment through her blood-stroked eyes, she caught a glimpse of the destroyer of worlds. She knew in that moment why Thiha had cast her outside the great black sphere. As she looked upon the giant, black creature – this moment seemed to be lasting forever now – Kaitlin didn't fret about her dying. Her heart plummeted instead having been taken advantage by another man. But this was far worse than ever being struck by her ex-husband. After gaining her power, she thought she was going to get to live life on her terms. She had fought, literally fought, to free others from their bondage and do the same. In the end she was to be used as a pawn. But the fate of humanity right now was far from her thoughts. She did wonder if any of the others had been similarly used or asked to sacrifice themselves. Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe this was the punishment for thinking she could be a god. With mega-tons of force screaming to escape, Kaitlin was sure of no thought. Then she exploded with unimaginable energy, the most she'd ever absorbed.

When the white-out subsided, Ella – Arclight – was standing at the base of the sphere. The twenty-five foot sphere before her began to crack like an egg and pieces of it fell away from the shell and dissolved on a breeze. The casing crumbled and collapsed like papier-mâché in a careless child's hands. Eventually, the cloud of gunsmoke and silver dust was whisked away, leaving Ella at the feet of the greatest threat the world had ever faced, still standing firm. Only, along its sleek black hide, hundreds of short, fine white marks ran like fault lines. At Ella's feet lay Lt. Lucian, stripped of his gauntlet. He was covered in radiation burns. He was swept away on a strong wind to Air Force's feet who promptly lifted his fellow soldier up in one arm.

"Did we get it?" the young officer asked weakly. "Did we get it?" The lieutenant's captain looked down on him with a serene face. Lt. Lucian would have returned the look with anguish but his pain was so great that focusing on his sole question was the only thing keeping him lucid. "Did we get it?"

Air Force gave him a short, insincere laugh. "Yeah, we got it," the captain lied. "Good job, lieutenant. You can rest now." Air Force tossed his head over his shoulder at Thiha who has coughing up blood from the strain of teleporting Kaitlin. The captain then took a quick look at Marcus who was still unconscious. Would Marcus have helped anyway? There was no aid for the lieutenant right now.

"Did we get it?" Lt. Lucian asked again, his eyes dilated wide towards the blue sky.

Air Force dropped his head, raised it, and dropped it further several times. He put his hand in front of the junior officer's mouth and curled his fingers into a ball. Lt. Lucian convulsed to suck in more oxygen but there was none to be had. The young man's eyes strained to open wider as if that would help, but his captain had stolen every last bit of breath. The captain looked away as the lieutenant shuddered less and less, bit by bit until he had stopped and gone limp. Air Force stood up, his head still turned away, turned towards the giant in their midst.

"DO YOU SEE YET?" it asked.

Brawl Boy, sitting on his hind with his legs laid out before him, studied the being. "Where's Chris?" he wondered aloud rhetorically.

"Where's Christopher?" Firefox asked genuinely. She knew the answer but simply did not want to accept the truth; the monster was right about that. Having anticipated the moment, tears had run rivulets down her dusted, dirty cheeks.

Brawl Boy leaned to one side and placed all his weight on his good hand to push himself up. He shouted over to the armored Chinese man. "Hey, Armada, buddy. Will you give me a hand?"

"I will aid you, Mega Dude," came the reply. The pair started marching towards the cosmic entity.

"THE TWO OF YOU ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH," the being warned.

"Then I will help them," Air Force answered. He raised his arms at his sides and threw them down with a colossal roar.

The highest recorded wind speed on Earth is three hundred miles per hour. The gale that whipped up Brawl Boy and Armada shattered that record and threw them towards their adversary at just over the speed of sound. Brawl Boy balled his one good hand and Armada interlaced his mechanical fingers to form a larger fist. The combined force smashed against the world breaker, breaking its skin. Brawl Boy slumped lifelessly to the ground while Armada landed on his feet next to Ella. There, Armada hunched over the light bearer as they were showered with heavy fragments of what they hoped was the monstrosity's body.

Deathcamp, whom Ella had just returned with along with Madina, looked up over the heads of Marcus and Thiha's band of fighters. His sharp eyes saw what was left of the world breaker before anyone else. "You are all going to die," the Japanese man stated emotionlessly. The being still stood its ground, nineteen feet tall with smooth, obsidian skin with miniature stars and galaxies dotting its surface.

"Ungh!" VinZenT fell to his knees. The grass stained his white pants and for once he didn't care. He was too tired; his forehead moist and lines cut crevices at the sides of his mouth. "I did everything I could to leech the heavy metals out of its coat, but it didn't matter. Chris is dead and it didn't matter."

"It...it does matter," Firefox stammered. "Everything we do matters," she said so softly only dead souls heard her. She bulleted straight into the sky and lit herself up brighter than the Sun. "Better move, Ella," she advised her friend from too far away.

Everyone including the world breaker looked above themselves to stare into the newborn star. Armada engaged every last gear to take Brawl Boy up in one arm and round up Ella with the other. The tanker took off running in no particular direction but away.

Firefox burned with an intense, glowing, pale yellow fire so hot that for the first time she felt the burn of her own powers along her skin. She knew it was there and about to consume her if she didn't let it go, so she pointed her index finger down with her thumb hitched behind it, like she was pointing a gun. A wire thin, concentrated burst of super-hot fire shot into the top of the cosmic adversary's head. Everyone but Ella shielded their eyes as the being's black sheen turned near white. Firefox, knowing she was nearly indestructible in flight, then used herself as a projectile and descended beyond the speed of sound with her fists leading the charge. Air Force watched her the best he could follow. Though he didn't know her plan, he figured he'd give her a boost knowing that the faster any object moves, the more force it'll strike its target with. A hair's breadth from the world breaker's head, she was snatched away by the creature's unbreakable fingers. As it cooled from near white to black again, it clamped her in its hand like a doll before its yellow eyes.

"MY EXOSKELETONS WERE FORGED IN THE HEARTS OF DYING STARS. THEY ARE DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND THE GRAVITY OF A BLACK HOLE. YOU THINK YOU POSSESS THE POWER TO BREACH THEM? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YET? YOUR ATTACKS ARE HOPELESS." The world breaker started to turn its head slowly around the battlefield. As its yellow eyes passed over each individual, they all felt heaviness in their heart. Like lead in their chests, their hearts began to drop into their feet. Except Red Star; he grew angry. The shard of K'un L'u-ian metal in his forehead lit with neon red fire.

"China will never surrender! China cannot be defeated!" the enlisted Chinese man defied in his mother tongue. A slicing bolt of plasma struck the being's hand in an effort to free Firefox. But like Firefox's attack, a plasma burst that would have killed a lesser creature might as well have been a gnat's bite. Chenglei Wang found himself suddenly and violently torn from where he stood and into the being's other crushing hand. The end of days stared the two helpless super humans in the face.

"THE THINGS YOU FIGHT FOR THAT YOU THINK ARE SO MUCH LARGER THAN YOURSELVES. YOU," the world breaker brought Red Star a little closer, "YOU FIGHT FOR COUNTRY. YOU ARE RABID, ROBOTIC SOLDIER FOR YOUR FLAG. BUT WHAT IS A COUNTRY BUT A LARGE TRIBE MADE OF SMALLER TRIBES? AND WHEN YOUR COUNTRY ENTERS INTO A DEAL WITH ANOTHER COUNTRY OR ASSIMILATES ANOTHER, WHAT IS IT BUT A LARGER TRIBE STILL? AT WHAT POINT DO YOUR LOYALTIES BEGIN AND END? NO COUNTRY, NO TRIBE HAS LASTED FOREVER AND WHEN YOU REALIZE THIS YOU SEE HOW ARBITRARY YOUR LOYALTIES ARE, BASED ON SO LITTLE. TO HAIL ONE TRIBE OVER OF ANOTHER WHEN YOU HAVE MUCH IN COMMON MAKES YOU ALL LESS LIKELY TO SURVIVE. BUT YOU ALL DO THIS ANYWAY TO CARPARTMENTALIZE A WORLD AND A UNIVERSE TOO LARGE FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND."

It squeezed the soldier's body harder and harder until the Chinese man was forced to expel every last breath in the form of a bloodcurdling scream. Red Star's bones began to snap – CLIKT, CLIKT-CLIKT – while Firefox ignited in flames. Then her flames jumped from her to Red Star in the creatures other hand, searing his flesh. A deeply satisfying – and therefore unsettling – aroma of fat and muscle tissue waft across the field until the Chinese man exploded into bits and the shard of K'un L'u's rod fell to the ground. The cosmic being shook its clenched fingers.

"YESSS," it hissed. The cosmic creature's chest seemed to heave with pleasure. Heads began to turn towards each other. Could anyone do anything? Did anyone have a plan? Something? The world breaker brought Firefox to its face.

"AND YOU, YOU FIGHT FOR LOVE, THE MOST POWERFUL HEDGE OF ALL AGAINST A UNIVERSE THAT GAVE YOU LIFE ONLY TO TAKE THAT LIFE FROM YOU ONE DAY. YOUR SPECIES HAS SPOKEN COUNTLESS PLATITUDES OF THIS EMOTION. IT BINDS YOU TOGETHER EVEN WHEN REASON SCREAMS OTHERWISE. BUT YOU MUST HAVE IT; IT IS THE MOST PERFECT ANTIDOTE TO YOUR RAGE AGAINST CERTAIN DEATH. WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW IS THAT I HAVE GIVEN YOU THIS DRUG TO AMPLIFY YOUR SUFFERING WHEN YOU LOSE IT. DO YOU SUFFER THE LOSS OF CHRISTOPHER, MELANIE CONRAD?"

The thing's grip tightened. Firefox refused to give up. With her bones on the verge of breaking, she recruited all her muscles to free herself. Once she knew it was hopeless, the best she could do was stall, maybe give the others a split second more.

"Why...why are you doing this?" she whimpered.

"WITH THE ENERGY I HARVEST FROM YOUR SUFFERING, I CAN BE FREE OF THIS UNIVERSE," her captor explained. "I CAN EXTRACT THE MOST SUFFERING FROM YOU HUMANS, HARVESTING MORE THAN ENOUGH ENERGY TO BREAK MY PRISON CELL OPEN. THIS IS WHY I MADE YOU. AND AFTER WHAT MARCUS MICHAELS DID – BEFORE THE EYES OF HIS GOD NO LESS – I AM ASSURED TO HAVE MORE ENERGY THAN I NEED."

Armada had revved down his engine and placed Ella and Brawl Boy beside Thiha who was conserving his energy and had still not gotten to his feet. Nearby, K'un L'u stirred beside Marcus who was waking up and growing stronger by the moment, his healing power more effective the better he felt. This prevented Thiha from using his powers to heal himself.

Though mostly unconscious since the great black sphere, K'un L'u's mind kept aware of every word the assassin of her world spoke. It was her fury that drove her to wake. To give life just to take it away? Her battle plan thwarted, her attacks deflected, her body battered, beaten, nearly broken; this could not stop her from rising once more. She staggered in a broken line to the foot of the monster in their midst, bent at the waist to pick up the shard of metal once home to Red Star's brow, picked it up with two scaly fingers and held it up to the Sun. It had called to her and she answered.

"For all your bluster, evil thing, one of the reasons why the Battle of K'un L'u cost you so dearly escapes you," she began.

Marcus took a deep sigh although he had returned to full strength. Was this thing standing on their planet really God? If so, it wouldn't matter what powers Marcus and the others had, they wouldn't be able to put a dent in it. If everything the creature was saying to them were true, extreme measures had to be taken to stop it. But what right did he have? He himself was not a god. Who was he to consider even for a split second...His 'brother's philosophy' had begun to warp his rationale. Do the powerful ever ask themselves what right they have to do anything?

Marcus looked back on his life, born without much power like most everyone else. Then he recalled graduating from firefighter academy where he gained lifesaving skills. Today, he had even more lifesaving skill, yet he failed to use them to save Eshe in New York. Why did he let her die? He gulped at the thought of the lie he now knew he told, that to save her wasn't his place, that she had gone to God and she was better off for it. The former lifesaver compared who he was once to who he was now and discovered it was who he was today that could save the planet from this creature. He'd begun to consider a way. A cold burn spread across his face and chest.

He gave up trying to muscle their way out of this fight and set a piercing gaze upon the monstrosity. He searched for the being's weak point, looking for another avenue. His jaw slackened and the corners of his lips frowned when he discovered how little they could do to the world breaker to stop it. His stomach twisted into a tight ball at the thought. He wanted to vomit; he could feel the acid build in the bottom of his throat. But Marcus suddenly felt light as air, accepting what had to be done. After all, it's not like what he needed to do had never been done before, at least not according to the Bible. Marcus knew himself not to be a god, but accepted himself as his god's – the real God's – instrument.

From one knee he placed a hand on Thiha's shoulder and whispered to him, "Heal. I'm going to need all you're determination for what comes next." The thin man nodded silently but didn't smile.

"The reason the Battle of K'un L'u cost your army so dearly, you foul creature who knows no name, is that like the K'un L'u, the metal we forged is alive," the gold-plated warrior continued her speech. "It has as much fortitude and bravery as I who still stands before you." She lowered her hand a bit and held the shard in her palm. "And like all life, it can grow in unexpected ways."

Unseen by the best human eyes, the airborne microscopic remains of the world breaker's first exoskeleton bonded with the alien metal shard, forming a larger substance, crystalizing and growing into a new rod, a stronger rod than had ever been created by the K'un L'u. The black scaly-skinned warrior curled her fingers around the silver-flecked new weapon. She looked up at Firefox being crushed to death. "Finally, I get to unleash my full wrath upon you," the lone survivor of K'un L'u breathed.

Her powerful legs pushed her beyond the Earth's gravity, over the head of the zealous monster. K'un L'u brought her hands together while the rod fashioned itself into a single-bladed axe with the sharpest metal edge the universe had ever known. The fury of a billion K'un L'u-ian souls screamed from beyond the grave and gave the mighty alien warrior strength that only until now Brawl Boy possessed. A quick swipe saw the being's hand fall from its forelimb. The hand opened its fingers and released Firefox whom K'un L'u caught with one arm as she landed on two unsure feet. The centuries old alien rolled Firefox's injured body onto the lawn, took two steps towards Marcus, looked him in the eye and said, "Let not K'un L'u's revenge be for nothing, Marcus Michaels." Every last bit of energy in her body, every last ounce of fight – fighting this thing and fighting to stay alive – evaporated out of her mouth. K'un L'u's body stiffened and collapsed on her face with her limbs flayed out. The axe fell out of her dead fingers onto the grass.

The monster's yellow eyes studied its severed limb for a moment. It roared so loud and fiercely that the field was torn asunder. Grass, rock and soil raked the air. Had Rock Star not been present to modulate the creature's voice, the sound would have killed them all. Dark purple blood dripped from the hand cut off at the wrist for a few moments then stopped. The world breaker's head swept the entire field.

"THE SUFFERING YOU WILL ALL ENDURE..." The voice was no longer confident, assured. The being's voice was uneven, almost broken. Its anger scratched like sandpaper against everyone's skin. Through half-opened eyes, anyone who dared looked saw the wrist begin to glow yellow and a hand begin to reform.

Marcus grabbed Thiha by the shirt and pulled him up. On their feet, Marcus' cheeks swelled. "When I say 'go,' accelerate my powers," he said to the thin man.

"There does not appear to be anything we can do, brother. I would have thought of it," Thiha talked back.

"You're going to need to trust me. You've always wanted me to trust you? Well, it goes both ways." The muscular man stepped to Thiha's side and got in Graveyard's face. Shadow Princess stepped up and glared over the Indian enforcer's shoulder, ready to defend her teammate. Marcus glared back.

"You two think you're special? This thing thinks it's a god. It's going to take another god or two to beat it," he spat. Shadow Princess raised her chin, flush with her ascension from secretary to goddess. Marcus set his eyes back on Graveyard. "You want to be the master of fear? Get inside that things head, deep inside." The man who fought fires snapped his head back at the Brazilian beauty. "You, too. Try using your powers in a new way. Create conflict in that monster's head. Keep that thing's mind busy for as long as you can." In the blink of an eye Marcus had vanished from their personal space and stood chest to chest with Deathcamp who had been closely guarding Madina.

The aged Japanese man whipped out two blades; a samurai sword and a shorter, stabbing sword. It was more of a reflex than out of apprehension. Marcus' tone would sooth the killer. The UNRT leader softened his brows and unclenched his teeth.

"When our factions clashed in Rio, we captured one of your...duplicates, I guess you might call him. I stripped him of his powers long enough for him to die. As he was dying, you know what he said? He said 'thank you.' He thanked us for putting an end to what otherwise would be an eternal life on Earth. And since that man was you, I can't help but wonder if you want the same thing. Do you want to be able to die, Hideo Misora?"

Deathcamp sheathed his swords behind his back and tilted his head. He reached inside his jacket to a pocket near his breast. His hand returned with a small photograph. Somewhere lusciously green – a Japanese garden perhaps – Hideo sat on a bench cheek to cheek with a raven-haired woman, older, but stunning for her age. "You have the power to reunite me with my wife?"

"Yeah, in a manner of speaking. Has she passed?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. We were in a car accident. It was very terrible," Hideo began to produce tears. "I survived because I was given my power just moments before. It was what distracted me. It was because of that I ran the car off the road," he said looking away to moisten the dirt with his tears. "The thin man promised me he would let me die after I helped him complete his mission. Of course I said I would help him."

Marcus put a hand behind Hideo's closely shaved head and brought the man's nose to his own. "Look, I know how it is. I know exactly how you feel. And that's why I'm going to let you die; I'll fulfill his promise for him. To do that, I've taken your power from you, permanently."

Hideo pulled his head away and wrung out his arms and legs. "I do not feel any different, gaijin."

"You will when you die," Marcus said gently. He patted Hideo on the shoulder and leaned to the side to talk to Madina.

"I don't know how much a part of all this you think you've been," he began. "But it's time for you to play your role, a really important role. And it's simple. All you have to do is when I say 'go,' accelerate his powers." Marcus pointed to Thiha. "If you fail," Marcus looked into her soul, "We all die. We all die horribly. Everyone on the planet. But we can end this," he put a solid hand on Madina's shoulder which was missing its limb. "You have the power to help end this. Can you do it?" Madina slowly dropped her head just once to say 'yes.' The man turned to step away when Thiha grabbed him by the arm.

"You can take powers away, brother?" the lanky Burmese man questioned.

"I gave you power. You gave some of those powers to others. Now I have to take some of them back," Marcus stated. He wrestled his arm away from Thiha and marched up to Ella who, glowing with fireflies of light, was standing in Armada's shadow.

"In a moment, I'm going to leave and go do something. When I do, I want you to manipulate that thing's perception of time. Bring that thing's inner world to a crawl." Marcus' voice was sandpapery the closer he drew to his defining moment. "Our only chance to weaken that thing enough for us to take it down depends on you guys keeping it distracted long enough for me to do what I have to do. Can you do that?"

"What are you going to do? Is it really going to make a difference?" Ella sulked.

"What I'm about to do, yeah, it's going to make a big difference," the former lifesaver replied. His words were barely wet, tacky. He walked toward K'un L'u's axe, bent over, took a deep, heavy breath and picked it up.

"Thing's damn heavy," he noted as he brought the axe's broad side to his face and closed his eyes. "Good thing I took the Indian's strength from him," he said quietly to himself. He opened his eyes, looked around at everyone and then up at the world breaker. Then he turned his head towards the open field and his body followed. "Is everyone ready?" His chest heaved.

"GO!"

The cosmic entity's hand was almost finished re-growing. But Madina concentrated on accelerating Thiha's powers, linking to him like one car battery to another, exciting Thiha's cells into overdrive. Thiha in turn poured a heaping of acceleration on Marcus. The UNRT leader vanished in a blur, imperceptibly leaving the battlefield and leaving those behind whom he asked for help to play their parts.

Graveyard slipped his mind inside the creature's and quickly found what he was looking for – that moment the world breaker could not see passed. That moment was Ella's fault; she screamed in exertion as she bent time to a crawl around the twenty foot tall adversary. The creature never heard her, though, her cries too far in its future to be heard. Graveyard anchored his powers to this moment and amplified the being's fears of the unknown. The destroyer of worlds had its resolve further weakened by Shadow Princess who, dangling her fingers at the monstrosity, created a dual mind inside it, one that did not want to break any more worlds. Fear and internal conflict wrapped in a time distortion waylaid the ancient traveler. And to be as safe as sure, vines jutted out of the ground, thousands of them, rising and spiraling and twisting, snaring and wrapping the being from toe to head. The vines tightened with a sudden snap and pulled the cosmic thing to the ground with an earth-rattling thump.

"Gaia," Air Force whispered.

October 7, 2024...Worldwide

The first head came off on the road north to New Delhi. A young Indian man's head left his shoulders and hit the roadside without warning. It would have startled his fiancé had her head not also been severed. A child nearby, their sight maybe obscured by some dust in the wind, was alarmed; they saw no reason for the pair's death. The two were standing hand in hand, enjoying a final moment together before having to dig in to fight the world breakers when it just...happened. Cries, screams, gasps further away called the child's attention. The seven year old snapped his face toward the north, towards New Delhi up the road where heads and the bodies they once belonged to dropped in the street and smeared the road red. The trail of blood became a river that stretched north to New Delhi where the population of just over twenty-two million was halved in moments. The city devolved into a sea of crimson liquid.

Faster. Faster, faster, faster. I have to do this. Faster. It's the only way. Faster. Faster! This way they don't suffer. They don't suffer and I don't benefit from it.

Some things do not enter the conscious mind, though, and Marcus did not understand that he was still spurred by the lives he was taking and the consequences for the survivors. Each death excited him more and pushed him far beyond any known human potential. The scorching friction of his own body meeting air resistance flayed the flesh from his body, but with Deathcamp's power and his adrenaline pumping his heart like a jackhammer, he healed as quickly as he was dying. The citizens of India possessed no such power and fell one after the other, no warning, none at all. They would think it was the world breakers. They all would. The red river left New Delhi and turned southwest towards Mumbai, population almost nineteen million.

Don'ttt thhhiiinnnkkk. Marcus' thoughts were falling behind, blurring into the past. They couldn't keep up. He forged ahead on instinct, a singular task in his mind.

Surat, India. Karachi, Pakistan. Tehran, Iran. Baghdad, Iraq. Istanbul, Turkey. Bucharest, Romania. Budapest, Hungary. Vienna, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Amsterdam, Paris. Stretches of water did not stop the firefighter come demi-god. His speed was so great his feet hadn't time to break water tension. London, Dublin, Reykjavik and Nuuk, Greenland fell in succession. Marcus hit the North American continent and slaughtered Quebec City and Montreal in Canada. No sooner had a quarter of the planet turned blood red than Marcus saw the Empire State Building in New York City, if only for a fraction of a fraction of a second.

The job the world breakers had done corralling masses of people saved the hurdling object some trouble and would, to crews sometime later, save them some of the trouble of travelling too far afield to identify the dead. But Marcus, not satisfied with the four million or so lives taken in the city's five boroughs, scoured the crowded eastern seaboard for more lives. Even if he wanted to stop at this point, his thoughts were a continent behind him. The sun rose behind him but his westward tract was going to catch up to the night. He found the resurrected world breakers in Washington, D.C. first.

Marcus cleaved the weather controlling alien tripod, Ooloo, in half first. Transmutus lost his golden head next. Marcus had struck the demon soldiers, Komo, but hadn't taken the time to notice he'd only made more of the creatures. There was nothing the UNRT leader could do to the spikey purple ball of light, Viquay, and so ignored it. The world breakers left behind had no idea what had just transpired or what was transpiring down the eastern U.S. coast as they thought about it.

Mexico City. Bogota. Brasilia. Rio. Buenos Aires, then west across the South American continent to Santigo in Chile. Marcus skipped across the Pacific Ocean in the dark. Melbourne and Sidney. Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were hit after that. A quarter of a billion people fell shortly thereafter in China on the way to Tokyo. With the red circle at the center of the Japanese flag blotted out by death, Marcus returned to Agra. A hundred miles before reaching the Taj Mahal, he'd begun putting on the brakes. His timing need to be precise. If it wasn't, he might kill someone he didn't intend to kill.

With the glossy black-skinned world breaker flat on its back, held there by the living earth, Thiha forgot about accelerating Marcus. He turned his attention towards the invader and silked his mind around Graveyard's fear effect and Shadow Princess' power which was making the creature second guess itself. Avoiding his allies' powers, he studied the space creature's thoughts and memories for a weakness. But as he probed around he felt the being's mind figure out how to resist its attackers. With the entity's hyper-focus, it began to doubt itself less and dissolve any fears of living another eternity. It realized time had been slowed down for it and accelerated the pace of its own thoughts. Thiha spread his gaze across and through the cosmic being's physical body looking for another solution. At the literal core of the world breaker, the grown child-soldier was astonished by what he found.

"And there you are," the once aspiring god said softly. There was only one way to get to what he'd found. Thiha telepathically communicated the information into Ghost's mind with a note. This is the last thing we will ask you to do, little Ghost. I know you want to go home. I promise you can go home when this is over. But you must be quick; our hold on the monster is fading. It will not be distracted for much longer.

You all promise home, Private Xi silently answered back. You all lie! I will not. And I cannot; I tried once on its ship and instead it captured us. Can you not do it? Ghost's body was slack having given up hope. He had no confidence that anyone but the monstrosity was going to come out on top of this despite the sudden pause his fellow super humans had given the creature.

Thiha had learned from the warlords that kidnapped him as a child that you should not do your own dirty work unless you had to. Knowing Ghost failed the first time on the great black sphere is precisely why he asked the Chinese man to try it again. If he failed, Thiha would still be the most powerful soldier on the field, for however much that was worth.

Do not do this for the world, fisherman. Do not do it for us here. Do it for your family and your friends. And if you do not want to do it for them, do it for your own peaceful solitude. Thiha heard a sigh whiff across the private's mind and saw there the image of a long, almost flat, almost forgotten rowboat. Yes, do it for the solitude of sitting on the river, casting your line in the water, fishing in peace. There will be no peace until this is done.

The Chinese soldier turned the cloth of his U.S. army fatigues away, shrinking from the task, hiding his head behind his shoulder. He paused a moment, tsk'ed, and came back around. There came a reluctant, Okay. Ghost became near transparent and floated unthreateningly on the wind towards the grounded invader. His small, narrow frame sank into their adversary's chest.

Out of seemingly thin air, Marcus appeared after Hideo Misora's head went flying from his body. The Japanese man's body slipped to the ground with a gun each hand, as he had been tasked with protecting Madina. But Hideo's job was done now; his decapitated head looked utterly peaceful, as if waiting for that moment Marcus would fulfil his promise. Marcus did and stopped just beside Graveyard where he heaved K'un L'u's axe and buried it in the Indian man's chest. Shadow Princess' face was splattered with blood. Her jaw dropped open and she curled her fingers with indignation. The firefighter's eyes sparkled with yellow electricity and he stood with his back hunched like a hungry, mad animal. Exhaust exited his nose and mouth. He was practically breathing fire.

Marcus had been gone nearly four minutes. Ghost was gone less than one despite Ella's time manipulation. The low ranking soldier found what Thiha said was there and now deprived of its prize. Ghost reappeared out of the giant's torso with a tentacle wrapped around the upper arm of a humanoid being no taller than any of them. Ghost's winding appendage unfurled and tossed the naked, wrinkled and grey body of their great enemy to the ground between Marcus and Thiha. The private was frowning. Ghost's eyes looked lazily upon the being's twisted, withered, remotely human face and said, "This is what thinks it is a god."

His heart and head still racing, Marcus didn't hesitate to reach down and hoist their enemy to its feet. "You ugly son of a bitch! You don't look so tough, do you? You're mine now," the invigorated leader snarled.

The creature opened its crooked eyes from their half slits and snarled back through something resembling a mouth. "You do not possess the power to kill me. I will still take this world," it responded.

"There's not much left to take! I just slaughtered half the world to keep you from getting your hands on them," Marcus barked.

The thing's eyes widened with equal parts surprise and anger. Crooked teeth formed words over a shriveled tongue. "Then I will take all of you and make your suffering last a million years until I have the energy I need."

"You don't have enough energy left to overpower me! That means I'm the only one taking anything around here anymore," Marcus shook his head vigorously from side to side. His hands glowed with a fierce red energy while the thing seemingly at his mercy radiated with an intense green light along its skin. A ball of yellow brightness grew around the two, trapping them inside. Marcus and the world breaker traded fierce battle cries, less to intimidate each other and more to draw on their powers. The ball became brighter and more luminescent until no one could see what was happening, no one but Ella.

"Oh, god," she slipped. She said it unaware of the context.

The budding yellow sun went supernova, throwing its light beyond the combatants on the field. And then it was gone. And there was silence. The sky was blue once more. Under the blue sky Marcus, radiating with an energy much more felt than seen, held the sagging body of the world breaker above him by the throat. His other hand waited open nearby.

"You are a false idol! I've have taken all of your powers from you! You said you weren't going to live another eternity? Maybe not in this world but I am sending you to hell. Forever!" Marcus plunged his free hand into the being's chest and tore the powerless creature in two with almost no effort. Looking fifteen feet taller than he really was, Marcus dropped the broken breaker on the razed earth and let its deep violet blood water the ground. Multicolored flowers and green grass grew out of the soil moments later. Earth's most powerful super human was radiant in his victory. Or what he thought was victory.

Despite the supposed death blow, the two halves of the supposedly dead cosmic being stirred. Cells regenerated, tissues repaired; both halves were becoming whole again and alarmingly quickly.

"Dun look like you got all of it. Whadda we have ta do ta kill this thing?" Firefox looked on in horror and she leaned in for a closer look.

"We have to tear it apart atom by atom and scatter it, Firefox," VinZenT came forward and said. His face was heavy, bags under his eyes. The future fashion icon was far from concerned with appearances right now. "I guess this is where we violate the code. This is where we take life. Is it okay to take a life to prevent more suffering? I don't know. It's what we're going to do, though." It was a gruesome thing to be done in VinZenT's mind, but he concluded this to be among the burdens of being a hero, if that's what anyone wanted to call it.

The Mega Dude spread his hands over the world breaker's torn body parts and began to strip the being's cells of their vital substances, their trace minerals and metals. Rock Star joined his teammate's side and with a thought began to vibrate the creature's cells apart. The rocker tilted his head at Firefox who lit the monstrosity's body afire with intense heat vision. The world breaker turned to loose ash and divisible, invisible particles.

"Air Force, get rid of this thing," Rock Star requested flatly.

Captain Drake spiraled into the air and created a whirlwind around himself. The ash and smoky remains were swept up and swirled around him as the air master rose higher and higher; ten thousand, twenty thousand, until almost out of sight at thirty thousand feet. The winds surrounding him grew fiercer and fiercer like a hurricane above the planet. The officer threw his arms out and dispersed the winds to the four corners of the Earth. If the world breaker was going to come back from that, it was going to take a long time.

Air Force was on the ground seconds later. "I think it's over."

A reverberating voice echoed. "It's over," Marcus acknowledged.

The death of the horrible thing that had no name was felt on the other side of the world. Relieved of its bond, the sense-stealing ball of purple light – Viquay – left the side of the demonic Komo soldiers in Washington, D.C. and ascended to the heavens never to be seen again. People who took K'un L'u's training most seriously figured out how to defeat the demon fighters – with fire, ice and electricity – and, working together, rid the planet of the vicious creatures within a few hours.

Back in India, the thin man strode up to Marcus who was floating six inches off the ground, practically exalted. "We have done it, brother!" Thiha exclaimed. But his excitement just as quickly turned to uncertainty. "But what exactly have you done?" the dark yellow Burmese man asked as he put up a hand to halt an angry Shadow Princess from confronting Marcus about Graveyard.

Marcus slowly returned from his ascension to the earth below him. Though still present, his gaze was set somewhere far beyond his immediate surrounding. "I did what had to be done. I've taken countless lives across the world just now to starve the monster and weaken it. I don't expect someone with less power to understand. What I had to do; it's why God chose me to be the ultimate Seedling. Only I could put our adversary in a position from which we could completely defeat it. And I did. You must all look to me for guidance now. I know what's right."

"You know what is right?" Thiha laughed. It was an insincere, broken laugh. "I found its weakness. Than Xi tore the monster free of its exoskeleton and made it vulnerable. We were on the verge of defeating it while you were off, what, brother, taking innocent lives?"

"You, too, are guilty in that respect, child," Marcus' voice deepened.

"Child? I am not your child," Thiha said with a scrunched face. His nose warped and mouth curled with indignation. "What I wanted was to create a world in which we protected people from themselves, brother. I made mistakes, yes, but what I have done...what you have done is much worse."

"What is wrong is wrong," Marcus replied. "I regret what I was called upon to do but there was no other way. Had I not devised my plan, you would never have exposed the creature. That is why I am now above you," Marcus finished and stared away.

"Above me?" Thiha squinted and stammered.

"I am very annoyed with all this," a blood splattered Shadow Princess chimed in. She made a strange hand gesture in the UNRT leader's direction. "I will make you pay for killing my brother-in-arms." An ashen-colored doppelganger interrupted Marcus' thousand yard stare and snapped a fist towards his face.

Marcus, his eyes lit with a yellow fire, caught the speeding fist with his hand as if he had all the time in the world to stop it. In one continuous move and with hardly any effort (and even less expression) he twisted his shadow image's arm, raised it over the doppelganger's head and brought the arm around to choke the figure with its own limb. Without even looking at her, Marcus raised his other hand with his fingers splayed open, then snapped them into a ball. Shadow Princess' heart was torn from her chest, arced through the air and landed in the dirt at Marcus' feet. The Brazilian woman's beauty was lost in a twisted anguish that quickly turned to a despaired realization. She dropped to her knees and fell over sideways, a lifeless doll.

"Brother!" Thiha exclaimed before falling to his lover's side in blink of an eye. He bent over and gripped her tight by the arms. The thin man glowered at his partner and pushed a healing factor into Shadow Princess' body but she didn't seem to be getting any better. "Why did you do that, brother?" Thiha asked from saline lined lips.

"She is beyond your power to repair," Marcus informed. His arms were outstretched and his head was raised to the sky with his eyes closed. The big man shuttered with delight. "I crushed the rest of her organs before you reached her. Those who oppose me must be destroyed if I am to lead the world into the next era, the golden age of God. I will create Heaven here on Earth according to God's laws. He's given me the power and authority to reshape the world according to His vision. I must do my duty."

Thiha was silent and raised his head but slightly to look around at the remnants of Earth's defenders. Rock Star, VinZenT, Firefox, Ella, Air Force, Armada, Ghost and Madina stood around awkwardly. Brawl Boy lay on the ground, spent and unconscious. The lanky Burmese man closed his eyes and grinned, then the grin was gone. Thiha rose slowly and surely, his bloodshot eyes askance at the ground. There was no smile in his face or voice. Rather, his tone was level but with the slightest hint of anger, fury contained. "Brother, do you know why God made the devil?" he asked.

The former firefighter brought his head down and around. He turned his muscular body to follow his head which was now turned upon his symbolic kin. His eyes turned a less fiery, pale yellow. He answered, "God didn't make the devil. God made an angel who disobeyed him. The angel, highest of all angels, was punished for his disobedience." Marcus grinned from ear to ear; his cheeks were slack without worry. "Now I am highest of all angels. I will carry out all of God's orders."

Thiha's expression was flat, a granite plateau. He raised his head and looked down his nose at Marcus. "And do you know why the devil opposes God, brother?" It was the least sincere 'brother' Thiha had ever used towards Marcus.

"The devil wanted to be God, to take God's throne from him and rule the universe," Marcus spoke lightly, his eyebrows floating without worry.

"No, Marcus Michaels," the reedy super human replied. "The devil did not want to be God. The devil saw God for what he is, a dictator, an evil deity whom you can choose not to follow but who punishes you for making that choice. The devil understood that God created free will for the express purpose of reveling in punishing non-believers. The devil saw God create and allow all manners of evil when God could have simply not allowed such things to be. The devil, a step away from being a god himself, was created as God's conscience. Even God knew what he was doing was wrong but could not stop himself. So he created a high angel to oppose him at every turn so as to not let God's power go unchecked. Their war has raged since the beginning of time but this is where that story ends. This is where the devil – maligned this entire time – fulfils his destiny and stops God. This is where I stop you."

"The devil is making you say these things, Thiha. I am not God and you are not the devil. Yes, I gave you your powers but don't get your mythologies mixed up." Marcus' nonchalance was belittling now. His halfway smile was contemptuous. "You don't have the power to stop me or God's plan. Now, either you join the ranks of angels or I'll put you down like a dog." The two walked slowly towards each other until they were a foot apart. "You can't take my powers away, Thiha. You can't use any power while I'm using it. You know this."

The thin man had finally guessed correctly. He counted on Marcus thinking he was doing exactly that, trying to use his powers to deprive Marcus of his. With Marcus attempting to regain the power he originally lost to the thin man, he didn't realize Thiha was telepathically coordinating a strategy with the remaining super humans.

It's true, Rock Star assured everyone silently linked, This is what happens. This is what we do.

Are you sure? Are you really sure? Ella questioned wordlessly.

Yes, the spikey black-haired man communicated back. Time is immutable. Everything that ever happened, will happen. I was asked not to, but I read The Book, the book that details what happened here today; even the last few years. Everything in it has come true even though we tried to change it. Just ask Firefox. Believe me, I know how sad that sounds. But we're all prisoners to what cannot be changed. We are going to do this. We have to. We have no choice. Marcus is not going to give us one.

Melanie Conrad's thoughts were silent, conveying more of an emotion than actual confirmation. Ella relented.

One person abstained. I can't do this. He's my friend. He means well. We just have to get him to calm down, Air Force pleaded quietly amongst the group.

He's not your friend, Rock Star responded. He used you as a tool to pursue the The Nameless. Only later did he know about the invasion. Only then was it important to him to save the world. And then, as you can see, he was going to save the world from itself anyway, the way he saw fit.

C'mon, we can just knock him out, Air Force came again. We can reason with him, can't we?

Start relieving him of his breath, please, Captain Drake, Thiha asked by command. He will now kill everyone who opposes him in the slightest, even you.

"Argh!" Marcus cried in anguish. He folded over with his hands on either side of his head, his eyes squeezed shut. "Can't hear myself...think." There was a screamingly loud and shrill noise in his head that grew louder by the moment. Soon, his teeth were quaking from the blare. Marcus was able to turn his head sideways and open his eyes enough to see Rock Star with his hand outreached towards him. "Why...are you...fighting me?" he asked through shortening breaths.

As Marcus unsteadily raised his own hand at Rock Star, Madina jumped in between the two. "Because you do not have the right. Because you are not God's messenger. I have seen a thousand men like you! You are no angel; you're just drunk with power," she berated.

Rock Star spun his hand around to turn up the volume. "The powerful never ask for the right, Madina. Marcus has gotten too powerful so he no longer thinks he has to ask our permission to do what he wants. He's forgotten that he should be using his powers to protect those that can't protect themselves or help those in trouble. Isn't that the way it should be?" the sound manipulator glanced over at Thiha.

Thiha snorted a confirmation; something to think about later. Then he smiled but there was no joy in it. His top teeth were brought over his lower teeth and exposed by his raised upper lip. The smile was hungry for justice for Aline. He bent over and placed his hands on Marcus' collar. He pulled Marcus towards his face as the UNRT leader teared from the pain in his head.

"What I do now I take no joy in, Marcus. You have given us no choice," Thiha rumbled.

"You can't...kill me," Marcus replied short of breath. "I can't die...anymore." The muscle bound man backhanded Thiha away like a fly. The thin man snapped back head over heels but wasn't knocked unconscious. Thiha quickly got to his knees and wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his forearm.

"Someone contain this man," Thiha asked as he considered the immortality Marcus had taken from Deathcamp.

Armada stomped up behind Marcus and wrapped his huge metal arms around his body in a bear hug. "Do not struggle. I am stronger than you," the man inside metal spoke.

While Marcus had great power, he had trouble fighting off Rock Star, Air Force and Armada's powers at the same time. He just needed to concentrate long enough to turn incorporeal. The screaming in his head was making that extremely difficult, though he was almost there. Just a little more. A little more. More. There! Then nothing? Marcus felt his bones and muscles grow a bit more dense, more heavy and solid but not so much Armada couldn't handle it. The demi-god's eyes went wide with surprise. What went wrong? The confusion, the noise, the restraint; it was now too much to overcome. All Marcus could do was watch Thiha approach one more time.

"I had to reverse your powers so you could not escape, Marcus. I am sorry for this. We could have been brothers," Thiha spoke solemnly as he placed a finger on Marcus' forehead. "Now I must place you somewhere you cannot harm us, harm anyone, ever again. But I will take mercy on you; I am going to take your memories away first."

Marcus' eyelids peeled back so far the whites of his eyes made his pupils look like pinheads. With his last breath he whimpered, "No, please, no. I'm sorry. So sorry. So...what...what's happening? I don't understand what's happening!" He squirmed in Armada's arms but the strength he'd taken from Graveyard paled in comparison to the cyborg's. The battle suit squeezed the firefighter tighter, just to be safe.

"Those with too much power always say they're sorry when it is too late. They never mean it," Thiha said as he watched Marcus struggle, gasping for breath, his eyes bulging out of his head from the pain and confusion.

"NOOOooo," Marcus finally bellowed until he went limp. His eyes were barely slits, his eyelashes fluttering. Each breath was quick and shallow. Thiha dropped his finger from Marcus' forehead to the broken man's jawline and lifted the self-proclaimed angel's chin high.

"You have done something too terrible to forgive. For that, I am going to put you in the perfect prison, one from which you can never escape."

Thiha reached out a long, skinny arm towards Madina. "Everything," he asked kindly.

She nodded in the affirmative, closed her eyes so tight crows landed beside her brow, and silently screamed every bit of acceleration she could give into the thin man. Stress lines swarmed across Thiha's face as he turned away from the intense blue-and-white shimmer that appeared before Marcus. The thin man visibly shook as he turned away from the light and unsteadily brought his other arm up to request Ella's assistance.

"As far...back...as you can go; as far back...as we can both go," the strand of man quivered. Snipets of short, thick black hair started to turn grey. "Do this...and you can go see your mother again."

"Oh, really?" Ella questioned. "Will you take my powers from me, too? Are you going to take this burden off my shoulders?"

"Ms. Baudin, I...will not take your powers from you. You must be there...in case...I, too, go mad. Now, please," Thiha began to rock. The stress rattled his bones.

The light bringer stepped forward while becoming a florescent apparition. Globules of oddly fluctuating light floated from her body into the whirlpool swirling before Marcus. "I hate that you're right. I suppose there is no going home after what we've done anyway, from what we have to do now, because of who we are."

"We are obligated...enslaved perhaps...by our powers," Thiha shook. He wasn't going to last much longer.

As fireflies of warped time were sucked into the vortex, Rock Star faced the swirl, dismayed by exactly what was happening. "You're going back! But it's not enough; it has to be tuned! It has to be tuned or there can't be any life!" he screamed with a fury that would have surprised himself had he a moment to think about it. The vibration he poured into the vortex shredded the clothes he wore. He shrieked inside and out, not suspecting exactly how much he was required to give which was more than a human body could withstand.

Thiha's eyes went completely bloodshot as he snapped them up towards Armada's face. "Now," the wiry man cracked.

Armada's gears whirled Marcus overhead. The cyborg pitched the UNRT leader into the cyclone of light at terminal velocity. The gateway swallowed the amnesiac in a shower of multicolored sparks casting Marcus back in time, back billions of years, back to the beginning of the universe. Rock Star collapsed to the ground in a heap of shredded clothing. Thiha staggered backwards but was steadied by Madina's one good hand. Beads of sweat on Madina's forehead had driven lines down her cheeks and along her jaw; she, too, was exhausted but saw to it that Thiha was taken care of. Ella simply floated to the ground as she became less florescent and more human. The African American women let out a heavy sigh.

"What did we just do?" she asked low, rhetorically.

Out of a gust of wind, Air Force appeared suddenly by Ella's side and grabbed her by the arm and shook her. "What did you just do?" The light bearer just looked at him.

VinZenT walked up toward the two, waved a hand and telekinetically forced Air Force to release Ella. "Marcus has been sent somewhere he can't hurt us anymore. Rock Star – John – told me..." The Mega Dude began an explanation as he dragged Rock Star's limp body up and over his shoulder. "After he read the book, John told me Marcus was going to be imprisoned at the beginning of the universe. Doing this prevents that thing, if it ever resurrects itself, from getting its hands on Marcus and torturing him long enough to get the power it needs."

Thiha bobbed his head weakly. "Yes...that is what...I did. It was...the only way to keep Marcus...out of his own hands for good."

The Chinese private's head snapped sideways. His pupils constricted.

"John's theory," VinZenT continued, "is that sending Marcus back to the beginning of time is what caused the Big Bang, that his arrival there disturbed the singularity that was the universe back then and created such instability that the universe expanded because of it. I don't really understand it but that that's the way John explained it to me. " VinZenT walked over to his other fallen teammate and laid a hand on Brawl Boy's shoulder. A blue-and-white light began to swirl above VinZenT's head.

Ghost – Than Xi – was a fisherman and by no means well-educated. He understood what had happened, though. "So the thing we fought that Mr. Michaels finally defeated, was that Mr. Michaels?" the private asked hesitantly.

VinZenT didn't say anything as the maelstrom began to descend upon him and his team. "The Pull is here to take us back to the future. It's up to the rest of you to make that future. I'd say good luck if I didn't know what was going to happen to all of you."

Thiha, now white-haired and wavering like a feather, cleared his throat. He was older now, battle-scarred from an exertion of power he had no choice but to use. "And how...do you know?" his now scruffy voice questioned.

"We tried to change the past," VinZenT reported. His voice echoed through the time-tunnel. "As soon as Burya died in New York, we knew we were bound to what happened in the past. Time doesn't care what we want, that's what the old man would say." VinZenT gave a warm and charming smile for camouflage. Then, along with Rock Star and Brawl Boy, was engulfed by the chimera and sailed upstream in time.

"Time does not care what we want," Thiha considered on wobbly legs but his voice growing stronger. "Nor do our powers. In a way, our powers used us. We were never really in control of them, were we? Did we have a choice but to do what they allowed us to do? Too many of us have made the mistake so many people given power have made; used them to elevate ourselves. But K'un L'u has shown the world a new way, and The Mega Dudes have shown us that way is good. With our powers, we will make sure no one abuses their power anymore."

The thin man breathed deeply but was interrupted by a cough as he tried to heal himself. His powers had been diminished, at least for the time being. Healing was going to take longer than usual. Madina, looking at her companion's flagging strength, realized this and steadied Thiha by wrapping her one arm around his waist.

"What the bloody hell do we do now?" Firefox said as she looked around. Thiha, Madina, Armada, Ghost, Ella, Air Force and herself stood waiting for one of them to take the reins. Otherwise they were mere people touring one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Ella raised her head to the sky and let the sun warm her face, trying to warm the dark tide that rose within. "We go home and get with our families; hope they survived Marcus' butchery." As she spoke, the lawn that had been razed to churned dirt during this great struggle grew green with new grass. Life was renewed right there for the naked eye to see. "And then we do the duty our powers obligate us to do and not merely what they allow us to do."

Before Air Force could ask what that meant, he hesitated at the thought of his wife and what might've happened to her. The captain, with a lump in his throat, was about to speak up but Thiha waved him off with a feeble wag of his finger. The thin man cleared his throat again.

"Ms. Baudin did not know what she had set in motion when she put us all in stasis for what happened in San Francisco. Ella put the world on the path to peace at the end of K'un L'u's heel and though we are not sure of the alien's real reasons, elevated everyone across the globe. K'un L'u forced the human race to accept and start realizing its potential. Those of us standing here are going to finish her work. Then we will stand watch and make sure no one misuses the gift we will give them."

The air force captain had one more question. "Who will watch over us and make sure we don't abuse our powers?"

"Each other, of course," Thiha tried to smile. "That is how it should work. No one's power should ever go unchecked. Unfortunately, Marcus thought otherwise."

The uneducated private Than Xi made an educated guess. "The world will see us as criminals after what Mr. Michaels did. They will want to punish us for his crime," he said.

"We'll not tell the world what he did," Madina come back rudely. "We'll say it was the world breakers." The whites of her eyes were not to be argued with.

Thiha, older and scarred, stumbled forward with Madina's aid to Graveyard's dead body. The axe that had killed the strongman and nearly half the world's population had reconfigured itself into a rod now familiar to them all. His lanky build bent over and tried to grasp the rod but it was much too heavy. He released his hold, drew back then reached down again. Thiha made his hand intangible, curled his fingers around the rod, made it transparent and lifted it with ease. He brought it up to his face and gazed upon it in wonder.

"Someday, we will give this to someone who is worthy of it," he mused. He considered its power, what K'un L'u said about her rod's true nature and had a realization light up his eyes. "Or maybe someday it will choose someone who is worthy of it."

Air Force lifted off the ground just above everyone's head. The sun above haloed his body. "Everyone go home and tend to your families. Let's honor the dead," he ordered sternly at first but then grew soft. "I'll...I'll brief General Asak on what happened, mostly what happened. And I'll give him no choice but to accept what comes next. Then all of us will meet in New York in two week and figure out how we're going to do this. He'll let us know where," the captain jerked his head at Thiha, "Won't you?"

Thiha affirmed with a nod.

The officer continued. "I've been an officer in the military for most of my adult life. I was proud to serve my country. My country doesn't take precedence over the world, though. Once we work out the details, we'll put the message out. We're going to tell the world K'un L'u wasn't done and that the path she started them down will be the one we walk from now on. We'll lift everyone up, or at least we'll try," the officer finished. He had been a patriot but now understood what it meant to be a citizen of the world and fight for all people.

Ella, her expression contrasted against her increasingly florescent body surrounded by fireflies of light, spoke with an even greater understanding.

"Earth is the only planet to survive the world breakers. We're going to protect all of its life. Then, one day," she lowered her voice, "We'll spread life across the universe again."

Ella disappeared in a shower of sparkles. A bouquet of multicolored flowers suddenly burst to life in her wake.

October 29, 2019...Bristol, England

Click to listen to "[Requiem for The Nameless"]

The aged, dark yellow-skinned man dragged himself up the slotted, curved staircase towards his second floor suite. Each step he lifted his foot up felt like it has going to tear his thigh from its hip. Although with difficulty these days, he could have summoned more strength for the task or made his leg light as a feather. But now, so close to the end, he wanted to remind himself what it was like to be a mere human again. Another step, excruciating pain. As he often did in difficult times, he spread a wide, toothy grin across his face, creating more lines in his already cracked face. As he set both feet flat on top of the staircase, the brows beneath his short, curly white hair floated light.

After a short amble down the hallway, he slipped inside his room after surveying the corridor for anyone else. He could have made himself invisible but he promised himself he was done using his powers; mostly anyway. Using his powers hurt nowadays and he almost didn't survive using them to get himself here to Bristol, thirty-eight years in the past. But he had to be here; if he were never here, Kaitlin Grant would never been put in a position to save his life and worse, be his chess piece in defeating Marcus. Her sacrifice, for which consent was never given, helped save the world. Surely she was unwise to any of this as she finished her drink in the bar downstairs while picking at the envelope he gave her just minutes ago. As with everything but the future, that was in the past now.

The old man plopped the moderate weight sagging his reedy frame down on the edge of his bed next to the nightstand. He lifted the receiver of the in-room phone and pushed the button for room service. "Yes, I would like the Roast Cod and your most expensive bottle of white wine," he said. He placed the phone down as if it were an eggshell, stood up and took a few steps to the window, and looked down at the string of lights illuminating the alleyway in the early evening.

Almost a half hour later, a light rap came at the room door. He scrambled the few feet to the door and opened it wide for the service cart, saliva filling his mouth as carefully prepared fish wafted into his nose. A healthy, young, white man no more than twenty wheeled the service cart inside. In one graceful move he presented the wine bottle, removed the cork from its neck, poured a glass and swirled it to release its aroma, then finished by unveiling the cod from beneath its silver dome. The well-proportioned lad bowed crisply and presented the bill.

"Your signature for the room charge, please," he said.

The old man took a thick envelope from inside the fine thread of his jacket's vest pocket and threw it down on the service cart. The young man gleaned a score of Euro bills inside, the edge marked in green hundreds. "Sir?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Your name is Kent Brownington" – damn, he hadn't wanted to use his powers but old habits die hard – "And I'd like you to sit with me for a while."

"My apologies, sir, but I must attend to other guests," the twenty year old responded. "Please sign the bill if you'd be so kind," he stated and began to turn away.

"Ah!" the old man reached out. "This really would be worth your while. While I admire your dedication to the job, you stand to make more money in the next few minutes than you could make in a lifetime working here. If you will humor me, all I require is your ear."

The young man looked back though he hadn't quite committed his body yet. "How's that, sir?"

"I need someone to hear my confession. It pays one million Euros," the coarse old voice replied. The young man took a closer look at the money, took to a dark leather chair nearby and sat with his back straight as a board.

"Good," the older of them nodded. The more experienced man sat back on the edge of the bed and pulled the cart to himself so that he could slip his fingers around the wine glass. Silky, sweet liquid with a hint of butterscotch glided over his tongue. The old man held the glass out so his baggy eyes could get a good look at it. "The wine is overpriced. Not your fault," he said flippantly.

"You said you had something to confess, sir?" the attendant responded.

"Mmm, yes." Withered old fingers left the wine glass and took up the silverware. He deftly separated a piece of cod from the whole. "You heard about what happened in New York City a few days ago? What do you think about that?"

"I'm not really sure, sir." The young man's board-like attention eased into something less formal. "There's not much detail and you know how the news channels speculate. The Mega Dudes were involved somehow, so were they there to stop some terrorists or was it a super human conflict? No one seems to know for sure."

"A super human conflict; I guess you could call it that. I was there, you know," the old gent spoke without looking up from his dinner.

"You mean in the city? It's fortunate you weren't hurt. What did you see?" The budding adult threw formality to the wind and leaned forward in wonder.

"I was hurt, actually. One of The Mega Dudes punched me right in the face," the old man said with a cloud of air. "He actually knocked me out when all I wanted to do was talk. Goodness, it does seem like decades ago," he said as if he were speaking to God somewhere above.

"Forgive me, sir, but how did you survive being punched by one of The Mega Dudes?"

"Oh, well, for one thing I was much young then. Or younger now. Ah, time is funny like that. How does one reference oneself when two of you exist in the present?"

"Sir, I don't follow," the youngster leaned back on the verge of exasperation. He could apologize and return to work but the money, if the old man were serious, kept him hanging on.

"I was there in New York City. I was one of the people The Mega Dudes had a problem with. In the past, anyway. You see, I am from the future. Now, I know that seems fantastic but bear in mind that we now know that super humans in fact exist. Time travel? Well, that, too, is real. None of us would be here otherwise." The attendant was shaking his head slightly. "Now I am sorry," the old man continued. "I am being cryptic again. Allow me to be clearer.

"You live here, several decades in my past. My younger self also lives here, though I forget exactly where I went immediately following the New York incident. That is to say, I do not know where my younger self is right now, not exactly. One of these rooms I think; I do not care to remember. But I remember that I had a vision back then. Unfortunately, my youthful arrogance got in the way." The old man parted a piece of cod from the whole once more with delicate precision and slipped the fish into his mouth. The fatty flesh spread a warm, tingly feeling over the senior's tongue; nothing like it was eaten in the future. "Mmm, I had almost forgotten what an animal tastes like."

"Is everyone in the future a vegetarian, sir?" the skeptical youth questioned.

"We are not even vegetarians," the old man answered seriously. "We eat meat and plants, but it is all synthetic – grown in special labs. None of it is far from the real thing; it is close enough in fact that people who still know the old ways are okay with the prohibition on slaughtering or uprooting life for food."

The young man's father ate steak religiously every Sunday night at the pub. Suggesting his father do otherwise was unthinkable. "I'm not sure people will ever give up eating animals, sir."

"Oh, I assure you they will. I am from the future, remember? You do not have to believe me; you will be paid all the same." The curly-haired man swished some wine in his mouth. "Now, back to my confession.

"You see, I squandered my powers fighting other super humans who were unwilling to help realize my vision when I could have spent more time helping people the way The Mega Dudes did. I could have been there in emergencies or to help heal the sick or to lift people up, maybe help improve lives by improving who people were. I was shortsighted back then, these days. Ah, I thought it would be enough to be a god above the rest of humanity, that super humans could simply police them for their own safety. It took someone from another world to demonstrate that my vision wasn't enough to elevate mankind, when elevation is exactly what they needed."

"Aliens, sir?"

"Super humans, time travel, an old man who wants to pay you a million Euros to tell you an improbable story – are aliens that much of a stretch?" The old man laughed and a wide, pearly white smile spread across his face. "Ha, ha, I assure you there will be aliens and that you will probably not like what they come here to do."

"And what will they do, sir?"

"There will be one at first. Her name will be K'un L'u and she is almost as strong and durable as the Mega Dude, Brawl Boy. A few years from now San Francisco will be destroyed when the lot of us super humans come to blows, which I admit is mostly my fault. One of us will use her powers to stop our madness and remove us from the planet. But she is going to leave the alien behind and the alien is going to destroy all the world's armies to stop us from making war with each other. That was the first step of her plan."

The old man threw back the rest of his wine, filled the glass once more and pushed it toward the young man. "I insist," he said. "You will not need this job once we are done here." The young man hesitantly brought the glass to his lips, sipped quickly and swallowed reluctantly. "Your tastes will be refined in much the same way age refines youth," the old man explained. "Experience is a valuable teacher."

"Now, as I was saying – Once the world's armies were destroyed, she slaughtered the many politicians. She went on to slaughter all manners of local leaders, clerics, priests, imams, rabbis the world over. She was relentless. She did this because humanity was weak, too weak to face what was coming what with there being no more super humans around." The senior pointed his finger in the air. "K'un L'u knew, she knew, that there was something terrible coming to the planet and that if humanity had any chance of surviving, people had to change their ways. She saw that people had to stop fighting each other and start fighting for each other. Not even us super humans understood that at the time. We may have had fantastic powers but they were nothing compared to human nature."

The attendant sipped the wine more slowly now, let it sit on his tongue and considered how it felt.

"Once she rid the world of its so-called leaders – people who did nothing more than pit people against each other – K'un L'u instituted a policy that everyone the world over receive extensive education. Mathematics, science, languages, and most importantly, military training. There was going to be one army, a world army, to prepare for a coming invasion. But this was also simply the alien's way; her world had fallen in a battle with an army of world breakers and I assume she wanted to preserve the memory of her world. Humanity was weak by her standards but thought she could show us a new way, a better way, one that could survive an almost unstoppable alien invasion."

The young man was taking careful sips now, thoughtfully contemplating each drop.

"The world breakers arrived on Earth early, before K'un L'u could finish converting the world to her ways. It was going to be a slaughter the alien had seen many times before, firsthand. She had a hand in it, slaughtered many herself," the elder mumbled as he churned a piece of fish in his mouth. "At any rate, she almost fell before these world breakers. Us super humans were not far away, though, held in stasis off-world by one of our own. By necessity, we were returned to Earth and successfully defended the world against the alien invasion. And we were only able to do this by putting aside our differences, most notably our ideas about gods and to a lesser degree, our visions of grandeur."

The young hotel employee was leaned forward now, perhaps more enamored by the wine than the story. He was almost at the bottom of the well now and had begun respecting each sip of wine. Despite his youth, he was a quick learner. After the last lingering drop, the young man raised his head. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm not sure I heard the confession."

The old man grumbled. His nostrils flared not at the youth's disrespect but for being forced to acknowledge a grievous mistake.

"After we turned back the invasion, us supers could have disbanded and maybe tried to lead normal lives. But to be in our shoes, what could anyone have done? Could we have possibly gone back to our old ways? Could we let the world go back to its old ways and let all K'un L'u's work fall by the wayside? Those of us that survived the world breakers combined our efforts and saw K'un L'u's vision through at my request. And I was the one who took the world off the consumption of life – with a little help from the planet itself, interestingly – as K'un L'u would have wanted it, I believe." The old man, white stubble roughing his face, held up his fork in front of him and studied the last piece of cod. He said nothing for a long time.

"Sir?" the attendant finally interjected.

"Human beings stopped consuming other lifeforms after it was understood what the world breakers had done over the course of millions of years. The alien army, they marched across the universe in an effort to eradicate all life but not without making it suffer first. They made life suffer horribly. And so I believe this obligated us to spare life as much misery as possible. Had we not stopped them...obviously I would not be here now. The future would not exist."

Putting the glass down, the young man leaned back in the leather chair. "I'm curious to know how you stopped them, sir."

The senior put his fork down on the plate and pushed the service cart away from his seat on the edge of the bed. "There was a man; I do not like to say his name anymore. He was the most powerful of us all – he was in New York with myself and The Mega Dudes a few days ago – and he did something to stop the world breakers from getting what they wanted. What he did...it was very, very terrible. The invaders were weakened by being deprived of the prize they sought and this man was able to kill the one that led them once the rest of us super humans exploited the creature's weakness. Hmph! Even though we had won the day, we paid a price so great that what this man did could not be forgiven. But he did what he thought was right; he was so convinced! And for that I rushed to imprison him before the world could be harmed any further."

The youth was invested in the tale now, the wine having made his head a touch lighter but attentive. "And you did what you thought you had to do."

"Doing what you think you have to do is often not the thing that should be done. Though, I suppose things could not have turned out any other way..." The old man dropped his head and exposed the thinning spot of white hair on the back of his head. "We sent that man back in time, so far back we would never have to worry about him being a threat to the world."

"Why didn't you send him into the future instead?" the keen young man questioned.

"Because maybe he would still be a threat to what life still existed in the future. My crime is that in my haste to put him in the past, I did not stop to fully consider what he was going to become, that he was going to survive the very beginning of time after he'd stolen immortality from one of us supers. I have made many bad decisions and this may have been the worst."

"Why, sir? What happened after that?"

"Almost immediately after sending this man back in time, I realized what we had done. Truly realized it. That man became the very one that created life just to march across the universe and make it suffer. Do you understand what we did? We created the circumstances that made life possible but is also why life suffers. What that man did to save this planet may have been terrible but our mistake was worse an incalculable number of times over. Millions and millions of years of suffering and death are on my hands," the old man's eyes welled.

"But the other supers helped you," the attendant noted.

"Yes, but I made the call. The others would not have thought to do it on their own." The old man slunk a bit. Then he stood up and staggered to the window and looked down at the string of lights below his room once more. He raised his arms and put his hands on either side of the window.

"And now I am on the verge of death. I think that my death should be horrible and painful and last a millennia, as if that will atone what I have done. But there is nothing anyone could do to make my death as agonizing as it should be. That person is gone. So, instead, I will pass soundlessly here in this hotel bed after you leave."

The young man grimaced and stood up. Maybe he should be done listening. He moved toward the door, put one hand on the handle and stopped. "Sir, why did you come to the past to die?"

The old man didn't turn around. "Because it happened, or happens. I needed to be here personally to give a young woman some information, and a warning. I am not sure what good the warning did. But by having come here, I have run out of power. I do not have the strength to keep healing myself, to continue on living for life's sake. With everything to be done completed, I can go to sleep a hypocrite. And this is the way of life in the universe, to suffer to the last, to suffer especially upon death." The old man turned his head a slight bit but didn't look at the younger of them.

"Do not forget the envelope. It is okay, I assure you. Also in the envelope are directions to the rest of what I promised, one million Euros. I want you to take the money and spend it lavishly. Go to New York City and perhaps sow your oats, as they say." The old man gave a scruffy laugh and shone his white teeth. "Just be careful not to get in trouble. And do not name any result of your carousing 'Christopher.' Though you will undoubtable make a good father, I sense your son will not have much of a sense of humor." The senior internalized his laugh now. Holding back rocked his chest unevenly for a few moments. "Enjoy the rest of the wine, too."

The young man quietly returned to the tray cart and began to wheel it out of the room. He swung the door open quietly and pushed the cart through to the other side. He stepped across the threshold and held the door open a moment longer with his arm.

"Goodnight, sir. Sleep well," the attendant smiled softly.

"Goodnight, sweet prince," the old man almost coughed. The doored clicked farewell and opened up a lonely place of dying. "And flights of angels sing thee to rest."

The senior ambled awkwardly to the bed, hit his knees on the frame and fell forward. Through the slightest, mocking pain, he crawled on all fours across the puffy duvet towards the headboard. He flopped on his back and propped a pillow under his head with what little strength he had left. The old man could feel his strength flag but lacked the proper fear.

Instead, his flesh tingled red all over, flush with unfulfilled desire. Where is the pain? the old man wondered. There has to be pain. I am guilty. There has to be pain for what I have done. The tiredness in his bones – once ever-present – was now gone, replaced by a featherweight skeleton. He felt like a leaf on the wind as the periphery of his vision grew full of a faint yellow light. The senior's timeworn soul prepared to leave the station, its white feathered wings spread invisibly across reality. Breaths of life became fewer and farther in between. Fewer. Farther. A warm ocean washed over the old man from head to toe. And then he understood.

The universe does not punish the powerful. It was made to contain power. In doing so, it does ask for some humility.

Thiha – former child-soldier of Burma with forgotten ambitions of godhood – died quietly in Bristol, England at the age of fifty-eight. His body, never identified, was buried in an unmarked grave in the countryside.

Click to listen to the Alpha vs. Omega theme song, "[Paradise (What Is Not Ours)"]

October 4, 2024...The Dark Side of the Moon

The seven mile wide great black sphere sat quietly beyond the scope of Earth's instruments, its captain studying a variety of attack scenarios. As was the nine foot tall alien's habit, each scenario and its probability of success were calculated. After thousands of world in which billions of scenarios were calculated for success, this was the first time Hyper Superion had ever come across a result in which the world breakers were defeated. The former scientist swallowed the length of its protracted neck, knowing its master would detect its uncertainty. Hyper Superion instinctually raised its protective force field to protect itself and the navigator once more time.

"REPORT," an ancient and demonic voice ordered.

"Now that we have entered Earth's present time-stream, I have the most accurate future-scans to date," the ship's captain frowned. It was likely ... knew what Hyper Superion was about to say anyway but the commanding officer of the world breaker army was obligated to report all news whether good or bad regardless.

"There are three-hundred forty-three possible outcomes to a frontal assault." Hyper Superion cringed and prepared to strengthen its force field, if at all possible. "One of them predicts our defeat."

"YOU KNOW HOW THIS POSSIBLE."

"This future-scan predicts one of the Seedlings are powerful enough to hide the others from our prediction algorithms. This will make a direct assault by our forces result in a stalemate. Then the Seedlings will come here to the ship in an attempt to destroy you. Though this will result in losses for them, they will continue fighting."

"THIS I HAVE SEEN. CONTINUE."

"As the battle progresses, the future-scan says there is a moment your pre-cognitive abilities cannot see beyond. As far as the prediction algorithm is concerned, this increases the possibility that we will be defeated."

"IF I CANNOT SEE BEYOND THAT MOMENT, IT MEANS THAT THAT THE UNIVERSE IS UNCERTAIN OF THE FUTURE. THIS IS DEFINITIVE PROOF THAT SPACE AND TIME CAN BE RIPPED ASUNDER. THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF DEFEAT, NO HOPE FOR EARTH'S DEFENSES, NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT."

Even as the force field started to crumble, Hyper Superion was very hesitant to take chances. It had been many oscillations – eons – since being inducted into the world breaker army and they were all terribly close to their captor releasing them from their bonds, benignly, as promised. For most of the world breakers, their allegiance hinged on this promise.

Although the green alien had been in service for millions of years, the memory of one of its conversations with ..., then near the beginning of their war bond, drifted across Hyper Superion's mind. The ship's captain recalled a talk the two had on the eve of their fourth invasion. Could the former scientist talk its master into waiting just a little while longer?

"Forgive me, but, once – a long time ago – you worried time is immutable," the captain shrank as its force field began to collapse.

"TIME AND I WERE BORN TOGETHER BUT NOW I AM MORE CERTAIN THAN EVER THAT NEITHER OF US ARE IMMUTABLE. IT MUST NOT BE IF I AM TO ESCAPE MY CONFINES. I WILL EXTRACT UNTOLD SUFFERING FROM THIS PLANET AND FINALLY ACQUIRE THE ENERGY I NEED TO TEAR THE WALLS OF THE UNIVERSE DOWN. NOW, MAKE YOUR FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. I WILL HAVE PEACE."

And just as Hyper Superion's protective shield collapsed, the voice was gone and threatened it no more. The commander rose to stand sure and straight, but was not entirely certain what its master meant.

Xillick, the ship's navigator, cast many a worried compound eye through its orange matrix of light at its commander.

"Don't worry, Xillick," the captain consoled "Everything will end here. I have no plans to live this nightmare any longer than necessary. Soon we will be free and have never known this life at all. Yes, soon, we will all be free."

FINI

About the Author

John J. Vinacci is a freelance academic and content writer with a B.Sc. in Philosophy. In his free time, John enjoys writing fantasy and science fiction, adventure hiking, and playing guitar and bass. He lives in Hawaii with his wife and their two fascist cats.

