Embrace Change ( C.O.P RPG )

   “It’sss been to long now” The Queen said sitting upon the throne, for ages her people, have been without a home, without direction, and without purpose. Many of her tribes culture was dying, and the civilisation right along with it. One must be aggressive when deciding acts for the present that will affect the future, but one must be wise in handling the consequences In the future, as a result from the past. She knew this, but she also knew that if she didn’t find a place to call home… her race would be extinct like so many of the other races from her world.

She sat on her throne, with her hands at her temples deep in thought, the whole skrull armada approaching said destination…Earth. She didn’t pick earth to settle down upon because of its color or its beauty, rather its people. It was a wide known fact in the cosmos that the Earthlings were the most, divided group in the universe. Separated by Race, and nationalities, fighting against one another for some form of supremacy; It was the perfect place to launch and invasion. The simple minded fools were too caught up in hating each other to see that, they were a mere microcosm of a huge universe, and they’re ability to mobilize as a planet was only a few odd hours off from being put to the test.

The Queen was the Queen for a reason, it wasn’t just the shade of her green skins that made her appealing, more so her personality; Forceful yet, graceful, very poised. She was a calculating person; all of her decisions were put together years in advance.  This invasion of earth took place, when the armada was 12 light years away. Years ago, Skrull agents infiltrated planet earth and took hold of some of the most famous people’s identities; among these famous people were various figures within the hero community. The replaced resided in chambers on various ships of the armada, they would be safe for now.

She laughed holding her staff in her hand as she looked out at earth, it was almost too easy. Taking a group of people whom already hated each other, then given them more of a reason to be fearful of each other…and the structure would crumble. A full scale skrull takeover would commence…and then finally the promise would be fulfilled. Her people would have a place to call their own, towards the earthlings she would show no mercy, if they couldn’t unite in peace they wouldn’t unite in capture.

“What are your thoughtsss?” the advisor asked as the queen continued to gaze out at the 3 rock from the sun. The only thing on her mind was total take over, still holding on to her staff she turned to her advisor and smiled. “Tell the Aramada to hold on…but let our operatives we have hiding on earth know they can start whenever they feel they are ready. “Let’s do it right this time” 

Sunlight bathed the land as it set; an orange glow hovered over the red head and blonde child playing baseball, the glow hovering over the green field as they played a mother and daughter happy and free. Champion City glowed in the light, the high towers and buildings bathed and warm, the water surrounding the island sloshed against the sand with a happy shush that could only be heard by those walking the sand hand in hand, a lovers paradise on a heroes island.

“OUT” Screamed Sarah as her daughter raced past her on the pitch kicking sand up at her mum as she ran, using her super speed to hurl around the diamond as Mistress Redhead raced to catch up with her, laughing the whole time. Her daughter ran rings around her, literally, Chevie had benefitted from her mother and father’s strong family background, her DNA charged with energies that were still untapped, the girl was a powerhouse but had not yet shown everything she could do. “I WIN I WIN” the little one laughed as she raced around Sarah’s short form, with lightning quick moves Sarah swung her leg and tripped her daughter as she ran, the girl flying up into the air and flipping as Sarah jumped to catch her, tickling her gently the girl laughed and squirmed, smiling up at her mum “MUMMMM I’m too old for tickling!” the girl giggled as they played a bit more, the dark creeping across the grass as the two Lockheart girls lay puffing on the ground.

Groaning as she hauled  herself upwards Sarah smiled at her daughter and ruffled her hair, “come on chica, time to head home” her daughters ever growing hand slid into hers and the pair of them walked back to their car both covered in grass and mud. Navigating the streets and yelling at her daughter for playing with the stereo Sarah could not help but think how happy her life was and how much she loved her husband and daughter, life was good. Smiling to herself she hummed along to the radio as David Bowie sang about the space man “Ground control to Major Tom” she sang along as the countdown in the background began to trigger something deep in her mind… the music escalated as Chevie sang mocking the song her father loved “this is ground control to Major Tommmm” The shock of the spark in Sarah’s mind almost tore the black sedan off the road, Chevies voice screaming at her mum as she slammed on the breaks… her true self kicking in… “THE STARS LOOK VERY DIFFERENT TODAY” Sarah shouted her eyes closing for a moment, before waking up and smiling at the girl.

Turning carefully to Chevie she smiled a bright smile and reached over to hug the child “I am so sorry darling, mummy got a shock” the smile continued as the Skrull warrior inside MR’s body drove them back to the tower, to begin the mission.

Champion Tower

Chevie ran ahead of her and hugged her dads legs before dashing inside to get to her favourite television program, Skrull Sarah smiled at her husband kissing him on the cheek as he came out to greet them “Darling we need to talk” Sarah’s voice changed to display serious as she moved inside the building, nodding and smiling at the few team members inside the building, almost all the teams were housed off the base, only a few remaining in the tower. Leading the husband Soverign Son to her office she sat him down and ruffled through the cabinet, her jeans stretching as she moved clasping the file she needed “I need you and the Shadow Squad to head off into the jungles of Peru, we have a report that there is an army of rebels trying to take over a town and using the children to train for special op missions” Mikes face showed the disgust he felt as he listened to his wife “we need you and the team to head out there and take a look at it” the Skrull smiled at Mike, trying very hard to keep her face calm enough that he did not notice, Mike stood up and kissed his wife on the forehead “we will leave tonight” he said as he walked out, unaware his wife was not his wife. “Thank you dear” she said to his back, making him pause and turn to her a funny look on his face “dear?” laughing he walked off muttering about how old she was getting. Sighing heavily the Skrull MR sat at the desk and began to go through the files in front of her, as the night crept on carefully she went about the normal tasks, putting Chevie to bed, saying goodbye to the Shadow Squad and eating dinner with Eclipse at the main table in the large room, all the while protecting her true self from them all.

The next day

Chevie woke with her mother standing over her, a pillow clasped in her hands as she tried to suffocate the girl in her sleep. Chevie moved fast, the moves her dad had showed her kicking in as she swung out from under her mother’s hands “mummm???” she screamed, tears streaming down the girls face as the Skrull swung out trying to grab the child, Chevie jumped, hovering in the air briefly before spinning a body kick at Sarahs face, the Skrull falling to the ground her face distorted with anger at the child, they had no information that the girl was this strong. Looking up at her face the Skrull watched with horror as Chevies body and face began to change.

Chevies face glowed, her blonde hair turning bright white her eyes glowing bright purple as she spoke her voice deeper and darker than her age “YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER” the girl advanced on her mother and slam a fist into the woman’s face, knocking the Skrull out cold. The little girl stood over her mother’s body, shaking she began to look normal again as she dragged the woman through the tower, it was early morning most of the members either out or asleep she dragged her mother’s faker through the building and into the cells downstairs, locking her in just as the Skrull woke up, its face green, its ears pointed, Chevies punch had knocked the change out, Sarahs face coming back over its green flesh as the Skrull dragged itself up to the door, screaming at Chevie to let her out, Chevie just looked at her mother’s distorted face and frowned, reaching into her pocket she dialled her father’s number from her pink cellphone getting an answering service she left him a message.

“Daddy, mummy is an alien, can you come home”

Vine City

 
In the aftermath of the Great Earthquake, Vine City had changed dramatically. The chaos brought the bad guys into the light as they struggled to gain control of the City. But in the light, the criminals were vulnerable. Thanks to the Crimson Avenger and the Vine Titans (along with a hero named Fulcrum), the parasites had been purged from the City. And when Eclipse uncovered the remains of a cave used by his superhero grandfather, Thunderbird, he put the Crater into use, developing a system called Big Bro, from which he could monitor the activities of the entire City and control the crime. In this new era of peace, the Vine Titans moved out, relocating to an area in dire need of their services. But the changes don't stop there. 
 
When Kaligar Roxom, the Symaarian known as Warsman, declared war on Earth, Eclipse was one of the heroes who met him in battle. Believing that this fight could be his final stand, Jason altered his costume to resemble the Thunderbird in order to honour his grandfather. After a battle of ridiculous proportions, Eclipse lucked out and severed Warsman's arm from his body, soon after which the alien retreated, most likely to return another day. Then, Eclipse was recruited by Mistress Redhead to take down a group of rogue Fundamentalists. There, Jason met Damian Rayne, or Hesperus, and discovered that his supposed 'destiny' was only part of the real truth and everything he had believed in was a lie. The two boys had an intertwined fate, one would die trying to destroy the world, the other saving it. Hesperus planned to kill Eclipse as a way of bypassing this destiny altogether. After escaping death at the hands of his 'brother', Eclipse was recruited into the ranks of the Champions of Peace as the Lieutenant to the Trinity, consisting of Nighthunter, Mistress Redhead and Kurrent, as all other hero teams were dissolved, reforming under a single, united banner. Now, Eclipse faced yet another change... 
 
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"He left?" Eclipse repeated in disbelief as he wobbled slightly on the pole he was balancing on. 
"That's what I said." His mentor replied "Focus." Nighthunter repeated for the twelth time as he arched his arm backwards, attempting to throw a heavy ball at his student. 
"I'm focusing!" Jason snapped in return, shifting his weight a little. He was balancing on his hands atop a 20 foot pole, an insane exercise Jake had invented in order to test his sidekick's balance. 
"Some sort of personal issues, not the sort of thing that he'd want to be broadcast to everyone on the team." Jake explained as he released the projectile. "No powers." 
"Yeah, yeah..." Eclipse grumbled as he swung his leg down, knocking the ball away with his foot and trying to stop the pole from toppling over. "Well, are you guys gonna replace him?" 
"Why do you think I arranged this random training exercise?" Nighthunter smirked. 
"What are you--agh!" Eclipse hissed as his body shuddered and he had to quickly change position in order to stay upright. "Stupid cape." He grumbled as the black nano-fabric fell over his face. 
"We took a vote while you were busy in Vine City." Nighthunter continued, as Eclipse mentally commanded his cape to get out of his face. "It was a tough call, CellPhoneGirl was pretty close to getting the gig, Nobody got some votes before he pointed out that he didn't want the job and I think Closure voted for himself, but it's official. Welcome to the Trinity, Mr. Dodd." 
A stunned expression crossed Eclipse's face as he slowly toppled towards the ground. 
  
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"I need a new costume." Eclipse suddenly said aloud as he sat atop a building in Vine City, reflecting on Nighthunter's revelation and nursing his bruises. "This thing... It's supposed to inspire fear in the hearts of criminals. It's been an effective tool in intimidating the scum of this City, but now I've got a whole new challenge." His thoughts flashed to the brightly coloured costumes of Andferne and Kurrent, and even his own original costume. "Now I have to be a symbol of hope. Besides, I miss the feel of the wind in my hair..." The Teen Wonder ran his hand over his smooth cowl and his nano-suit reacted. The cape shrank out of existence and the top of the cowl opened up to reveal Jason's jet black hair. The spikes on his gloves disappeared, removing the elements of fear. "I've been the Crimson Avenger for six years" Eclipse frowned, examining the new costume, which retained the red and black colours. "Time for a change in colour scheme, I think." And the suit reacted to these thoughts again, as the red faded away, replaced by yellow and blue. "Heh, guess it's true that heroes wear primary colours." The young hero grinned as he realized that he had now used all three primary colours in his costumes. 
 
"I couldn't agree with you more, Jay-bird!" An enthusiastic voice replied behind him, causing Eclipse to leap to his feet in a fighting stance. He went to reach for his bo-staff before realizing that this new suit had no belt. The sun was low in the sky and obscured his vision, causing the figure who had spoken to appear as nothing more than a silhouette.

 
"Do I know you?" Eclipse replied defensively, quite taken aback. He could only recall one person ever using that nickname, referring to the fact that his original costume resembled a brightly coloured bird. But he hadn't seen that person in over a year... Surely it couldn't be...? 
 
"Course you do, I'm just standing in front of the sun to create a dramatic effect. I thought it would be cool." The figure started to walk forwards as Jason remained in his defensive stance. "Really I'm just glad you've still got that same stupid haircut, the new duds really threw me off." The figure stopped, now obscuring the sun with his body and allowing Eclipse to see him fully. "Titans forever?"
 
"No way." Eclipse dropped his fists (and his jaw) and gaped at the person before him. It was the Arach-Knight, founding member of the Vine Titans, MIA for over a year and Jason's first friend in the superhero community. "Drew?" 
 
The spider-themed hero removed his full-face mask to reveal a brown haired young man. "The one and only!" Andrew replied as Eclipse's own mask melted away and the two heroes leapt at each other, colliding in a hug and the joyful laughter of two reunited friends.    

Nobody's Office, Champion Tower

Los Angeles

Champion City 

 Their tired souls seemed  relieved  to finally be back to a place they could call home, Shadow Squad had been out for five nights straight, tracing a  paedophile  rink. Chasing down leads and finally they had a break. All it took was one stray e-mail and they had managed to trace it to one of the inner circle, or the commanders as they liked to call themselves. They had been working for years building bridges with, hiding behind a  cyber  wall preventing the law from catching up with them. Mike had enjoyed splintering one of the men's collar bones making sure he would never be able to use his "camera Hand" again. Every member of the squad had been under strict  orders not to kill, instead they had removed the fingers of everyone who had been  evolved. Mike had made sure that the police had enough evidence to make he charges stick, while Crazy informed the press, by the end of it they would be lucky if one of them made it to the stand. It was a sicking and bloody job. Now they where all looking forward to some food and a shower. Mike had kept a close eye on both Talon and Dark Huntress while they where on mission and he would have to set sometime aside to speak to her.  The  Shadow Jet landed, everyone bounced a little as the tires touched the Champions tower landing pad. The black jet stood out against the white surroundings, it was top of the range, the trinity had invested a lot of money insuring that it was fast, untraceable and most of all as deadly as the crew it carried.

The Jet door ​opened and mike caught a pink flash from the left of his eye. His daughter had crossed the hanger , he felt the  weight  of her around his leg before he saw her and smiled down at his daughter as he picked her up. Standing aside he let the rest of the team pass. A tired smile broke over Crazy Eights face as he rubbed  Chevies  hair, the rest of the team nodded respectfully at Sarah as she walked towards them, Mike kissed the top of  Chevies  head and put her on the ground, as soon as her two feet touched the ground she was off heading into the same room as the rest of her fathers team, no doubt to take control of the TV before  DH  or Crazy got the chance. There was something  diffrent  about her smile but Mike could not place it, she leaned in and kissed his cheek  “Darling we need to talk” . Darling Mike  touhght  to himself as he turned and followed her, he knew from her tone that there was another mission waiting for them. He took in his wife as she walked, he always enjoyed the black leather uniform she picked out. He admired the Tower as they went The Trinity had put a lot of resources into building the many head  quarters  that various heroes called home. She took a seat behind her desk and Mike sat across from her, she slipped a file across the table, almost knocking over a picture of the family at the zoo.   “I need you and the Shadow Squad to head off into the jungles of Peru, we have a report that there is an army of rebels trying to take over a town and using the children to train for special op missions”  Mike glanced over the file and the efforts the men had already gone to, those that failed lay in open mass graves showing the children what would meet them if they failed in their training.

 “we need you and the team to head out there and take a look at it” He caught a twitch on her face and ignored it, leaning over the desk he kissed her on the head.  “we will leave tonight”  he said, he would have to break the news to the team, but they all knew what they signed up for, the longer they took, the more people died. He knew he needed to talk to  DH  before the next mission and sighed as he stood to leave. Just as he went to leave   “Thank you dear” . Mike stopped and looked back at her his eyes flashing over her, as if questioning something about her.  “dear?" he said walking off, must be the stress of old age he said aloud to himself as he turned into the food hall. The food hall was open 24 hours and had chefs that would prepare anything that was ordered, he looked over to see the squad sitting with each other and saw Crazy lift a large  package  and chuck it towards him. "It was in your locker, thought you would  want  it" Mike caught the package and smiled, he would have to ask Crazy how he got the pass code to his locker. Mike placed the package under his arm and went to sit down.  Uchi  removed an empty tray from the seat and Mike nodded " Okay  guys bad news, we have another mission,  leaving tonight. Get a shower clean up and be back at the jet in two hours you will find the files in your rooms." the sound of metal chairs on a stone floor sounded as  all of them stood and began heading out. "Huntress wait a moment we need to talk." she looked back at him and walked back to the chair.

Mike waved to the kitchen staff "Give us some space guys." they walked off without a word. Huntress sat in the seat next to him. He pulled out a gun and placed it on the table between them. "Your in a dark space just now,  trust  me if anyone knows that it's me" lifting his hand he pulled down the collar of his costume, a rope burn sat round his neck, "I watched my first family burn, " the pain still  stang  as he said that. "  i  listened  to their screams and the laughter of the man that killed them." Mike moved his eyes to the gun "so  im  not going to be a  hypocrite  and tell you it's easy, or that it gets better with time.  Im  just going to tell you what someone once said to me... Do you think this is what he would  want, do you honestly think he wants you to take your life in his name, to run from the pain rather then face it.  Im  here for you when ever you need it, but do not expect me to feel sorry for you or to go easy on you." Standing he pushed the gun towards her "if this is still what you want take it and finish the job, because your endangering the team with your actions in the field and I would rather you did what you had to without taking anyone with you. If you want to face the fear and live for him then I will see you in two hours." Standing he walked from the table leaving the gun behind him, hoping with  everything  in him that she would make the right choice. Part of him wanted to hug her and tell her she was  okay  but he knew that this was the best way for her, it was a hard path and when she was ready she would find someone to share her tears with.

Throwing  the package onto the bed he had a shower , he walked out into the room and opened the package that sat on the bed, he knew what it was, he had waited months for it.  Nighthunter  and Mike had spent months going over the design and the several pieces of  tech  that now hid with in it. Mike had waited to put on this uniform since the day Andy died. the fabric was light and soft against his skin, it could withstand a bullet at close range. closing his fist he held out his arm and a red, white and blue shield appeared with an  electronic  shaking his arm it vanished again. turning to look in the mirror he looked the navy blue uniform up and down, a large singe star sat in the middle of his chest and to each side of it three white stripes followed round his chest and onto this back. It was a good fit and allowed him the freedom to fight. Mike removed his eye patch and smiled, his eye had fully healed it had taken almost a year but it was now back to it's normal self, placing his holsters on his thighs and his side holster mike picked up his bag and headed to meet his team. MR wished the luck  as they got on the jet and Chevie gave each of the team a big hug Mike waited and looked at the entrance to the Jet "Daddy where is Cass" Mike got down on one knee and kissed his daughters cheek "She'll be here" he winked "have a little faith."

 Rebbecca went to the city to go shopping for clothing after all she needed a break from working with the Champion's and most of all she needed a break from her family. Today was going to be a special day for her this meant, not hearing screaming and fighting all day long. Rebbecca smiled brightly just thinking about the thought and looked up at the blue sky she could hear the birds chirping, which she always loved and the sun was very bright today which made her ocean blue eye's shine. So for her the day was going good so far. She then spotted a clothing store which interested her but every store interested her well that's what her husband Kastiel would say. She peered from outside the window and saw the place was crowded with people. If the store was crowded with people, then she knew this store was good to shop in or so it seemed. Rebbecca sighed and opened the two glass door's and stepped inside but suddenly the crowd started to go nut's, everybody gathered around her even the new's station was there. " Ms. Montgomery.....?! Ms. Montgomery.... Is it true your with the world's biggest team of heroes the Champion's Of Peace?!". Rebbecca looked at the crowd nervously and quickly pushed the door's opened and ran across the street.
 
While running she could hear the crowd chasing after her which she hated, Rebbecca sighed and had no choice but to strip off her regular clothing to turn invisible because she forgot to bring her blue hero outfit, after doing this she kept on running and could hear the crowd shouting where did she go. Rebbecca sighed and looked up at the sky yet again her day was ruined, so she decided to head home invisible. After a day of running from the people of the city, Rebbecca finally made it home trying to catch her breath, she then turned visible and walked into the kitchen where she noticed Kastiel, Warsman, and her two kid's staring at her strangely, suddenly Kastiel stood up and grinned. "We've been expecting you Ms. Montgomery!". Rebbecca looked at her family strangely and backed up a little bit. " Kastiel.......?". Suddenly her husband stretched his arm's and punched her in the face knocking her out cold....
 
Suddenly a female Skrull walked out of the living room and went into the kitchen where her fellow Skrulls stood. She grinned widely and looked down at the ground where Rebbecca's body stood. " Finally we have came out from hiding, no more we have to hide from the earthling's! We could finally rule this planet and we could thank our queen for that..... Now get Ms. Montgomery body out of my sight!". The female Skrull watched as her teammates dragged her out the door, she then smirked and her body shape shifted into Rebbecca. " Today..... We will crush the earthling's one by one". She laughed and turned invisible making her way out of the building.
 
 

“Even in the beds of heroes deception lays itself down like a blanket cast out tempting all those who pass by to rest in its grasp.” The joining of this new alliance of a hero team caused a knot to turn in the young girl’s stomach. For in every organization that grasp control over the land every new team that arises within that team bent on abolishing war and hate war and hate grow with in certain circles. And eventually the what was thought to be the saviour of mankind turn out to be the destruction of it. Yet despite this Laura was never fully equip to work alongside a team she did her own thing, proof would have been her previous mission where she directly did do her own thing, honestly it astounded her why she was still a valued member of the squad…if she was valued at all which despite what she wanted to believe, she actually was.

Previously the young youth had had the pleasure of sitting with her team mates and well what most people would call socializing she called it torture. Besides the natural attempt to create a conversation with her, everything was well alright. Leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed she realized that she was starting to doze off and sat right up casually. Over the past weeks she had been probably getting an hour maybe two hours of sleep, it had nothing to do with the missions for they were equally spaced but she was too busy too many questions that needed answering despite the fact she refused to sleep in any room that the heroes might have assigned for her, she’d never give into their pitiful charity.

On seeing Sovereign Son renter the expression on his face was not a good one, as her mouth worded silently “another mission..” if she could speak it would have been in one of those reluctant moans  followed by a hand running through her hair " Okay  guys bad news, we have another mission,  leaving tonight. Get a shower clean up and be back at the jet in two hours you will find the files in your rooms." For a few seconds she remained in her seat before noticing her leaders glance, and call out the Dark Huntress, instantly she got up from her chair and left she knew when she needed to leave a situation or when a privet talk was underway. Though she didn’t have to get ready her body didn’t work the same so she’d just…hang around the base since she had not had the joy of looking around.

She kept her eyes on the floor head cast downward as the tips of her fingers glided against the wall. Each hall way seemed to be the exact same as the other the walls the scents nothing special how could there be it was just heroes in their natural habitat. Until it stopped. Her head jerked upward as her eyes searched violently around, before realizing she needed to regain some composure. With a spring in her step her feet sprinted down the hall and behind a corner, as her back pressed against the wall. Her eye lids drew to a close while she fully studies the scent a moment before letting out a deep sigh, for a second she thought it to be War Killer. Yes she knew he was recently moved up into the leader of the main team but she’d not seen him since the hospital and despite it being obvious she tried her hardest to stay away from him. This however never stopped her from checking up on him every now and then, she liked keeping tabs on those who had gotten closer to her than usual. She felt like a scared animal at times and hated it but he showed her kindness and care when all she had accepted was hate and rebuke….

As the loud clank resonated of the jet doors closing Laura made her way toward the bulk area where usually the missiles were being stores. After her close call in the halls she didn’t need to take chances. The faint chattering of people could be heard as she rested her back against the silver icy wall. For a jet it was as silent as death, she was fully assured this baby could sneak up on anything- lighting thunder and tears a backend sky a crimson sea as it stretched out before her.- Her head snapped upward hitting full force against the metallic divider her face twisted as she cringed slightly rubbing the back of her head as she let out a silent groan. Flashes, she’d been having them since…well she lost her voice. It was weird though whatever she saw never seemed to make sense, there was no logical it was illogical and not able to understand, but suppose that’s what dreams are for a moment, what did hers mean?

Moaning slightly she slowly and lightly leaned her head against the wall as she placed her hand around her throat feeling the scare that stretched round it. “So many words I would say.” she thought to herself and instinctively mouthed the words in silence. As much as she tried to keep herself calm the fact she had no voice….scared her. She could no longer warn her team mates if the situation presented itself she might have never been good at expressing herself verbally and possibly seldom did it in public but the thought of not having a voice at all sent a dagger through her chest, and icy dagger that tightened her chest. And slowly but surely her eyes drew to a close as exhaustion overwhelmed her and her thoughts.

 Laura was a strange person usually when people dream they recall nothing of it but her dreams were vivid plastered in her imagination in her mind but they always ended hideously, with people dead bodies on the floor…

Laura’s body fell flat to the ground as she gasped for air, the icy cell walls shook as the echoing of her body force against them resonated all the way up. Pain surged through her limbs as she attempted to lay on her back as she did her eyes flickered adjusting  themselves to the light. I dim yellow brightness gleamed down at her little body  outstretched on the floor, the recent information of her trial against her hate toward humanity along with ultimate and obvious sentencing of death had caused her to snap. There were people in this world she need to live for people who had pushed her to become this. Gambler, despite his heart of ice and untrustworthy manor she was determined to have him return favour toward her, no matter how hard she would try, Kurrent he kept pushing her pushing her beyond any limit making her get better. The Hunter he gave her a home when there was none, Darkchild made her realize how honestly weak she was.

Then there were people who had cared for her: Precise her father before she knew the truth he knew it and since she joined Crimson Rose since he saw her he cared for her, determined to make her stronger to face the world, Sylver she was a sister to the young girl when she had no one to turn to even when her own brother forsook her Sylver was there they had history together and like she always said, they went through hell literally together. Not many other people were left except the obvious due Eclipse and War Killer which she had well who had befriended her slightly one more than another but each individual each person she had met brought her to this point and she would not disappoint them, she would not give up she never would she had to live, live for him fight for him she had too...

A door burst open as men protected from feet upward stood pointing their engineered guns at her. Her body didn’t move didn’t even flinch as he the man who had previously entered approached her before hitting her side with the back of his gun. Rolling on her face as she spat out blood her emerald eyes faded to that of a deep yellow as she glared at him a moment “You’re not escaping us this time.” He said with that disgusting smirk on his face. He didn’t know though what happened a moment he had a fully loaded weapon aimed at her head the next moment the gun dropped to the floor and the men behind him gasped in horror, for his hands along with the gun were both on the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

A cry resonated in his voice as he shouted out cures to the little girl in the corner, her eyes were unseen for her hair cast a shadow of her face, “You little….” he cried but before he was able to in a flash for all he felt was the rustling of wind a thud sounded as his arm fell to the ground. He continued to scream out in pain as he staggered backward his eyes searching desperately for the girl but once again he was not quick enough, there was a long silence he didn’t dare move until a drop of liquid fell upon his nose. Slowly looking up his eyes flared in terror as Laura’s swift claws sunk themselves into his spine shattering it instantly with in his back. As she landed on him she kicked the large metallic door shut locking it automatically giving her some time alone with this man. She continued to dig her claws deeper and deeper into his spine before slowly moving her claws downward to his hips.

He begged her to stop pleaded for her to stop…she was deaf to those pleads to his whimpering to his pathetic weeping. Though her emerald eyes or what use to be emerald eyes were covered by her unravelled locks of hair it could be well seen that little Laura was enjoying this, for on her face only known to her was a smile not a grin a smile her teeth that fell to a tip in a devilish smile. She could feel his warm intoxicating blood as it poured from his mouth and back, its sweet smell filled her nostrils. Her eyes flickered slightly as she could hear the unlatching of the door, her emerald eyes returned once more as she removed her claws from the now seemingly dead officer’s body. Getting to her feet she prepared for the guards to swarm in but oddly enough as the doors swung open a single man stood there unarmed.

Her glance never lowered and she never let her guard falter for a moment her lips were locked tightly as the blood slowly slid down her own claws twirling around her hand.“Let’s talk” the man said in a rather calm tone as he leaned against the wall, he was wearing regular clothing nothing to protect him not even a weapon which didn’t help her suspicion. Her brow raised in curiosity as even against her better judgment she lowered her wrist a moment giving him the OK to speak. “I know who you are and I know that no matter how hard you fight you’re not getting out of here-“ her eyes peered at him as her fits slowly began to clench “At least without my aid.” The fists that she had began to form dropped as her eyes for a moment flashed with shock before regaining herself. Him help her escape? She didn’t know him, she had never before seen him and he wanted to help her?  

“If….” preparing for the worst she mentally readied herself to lung at him sure she’d escape with him….dead. “If you join The Champions of Peace, they have a division entitled Shadow Squad I am to be the leader, you’d be interested to know that Sylver a former Wolf Pack Team mate has also decided to join.” Laura had been locked away in these cells for only no one knew how long she had no Idea of what was going on but seemingly enough this…man told the truth. Oddly there was a kindness in his eyes, an unknown kindness something she had seen in the eyes of so seldom a person, he had the look that always occupied the young hero War Killer’s eyes. Letting out a heart filled sigh she slowly approached him as her claws slid in place. Passing him by their eyes locked a moment before she stood motionless at the scene before her.

At least a dozen guards laid dead on the floor, death she could not tell but they were all dead. It had only been the longest a minuet between when she shut the door and after and yet all of those men were killed, he didn’t have aid she would have picked up another scent he did this by himself. And then it dawned on her: She had underestimated him, if he wanted her to join his squad she was assured he could have done it by force but he didn’t he asked, he always asked-

The jerking on the jet in motion broke Laura from her slumber as her head slowly lifted. Letting out a deep sigh as she licked her lips wondering why things had to be this way, why he recruited her, but over time it had became apparent that Sovereign Son was more than just a soldier he was a soldier with a kind man’s heart, even never replying verbally to anything he said he would always check with her if she was alright if she was okay with her job on a mission whatever, sure he ordered her but he never had to use those words he just had to ask and he did. Shaking her head attempted to not allow herself to get lulled to bed once more Laura cracked her neck as she slid out of the cargo bay and into the corridor leading to the cockpit to see if they were jetting off or if she was to just sit and wait longer.

Despite her absent mindedness the young girl could not brush off the fact that she had noticed a slight shift in the earths centre of gravity, possibly off slightly not even by a whole number but there seemed to be a much less of a forceful pull as if there was something other than the COP space-base. Running her and through her velvet locks she pushed aside her wonders as she prepared to once again attempt to socialize with her team. Walking casually out of the corner of her eye she noticed something that caught her attention....her shadow.

The Pentagon, Virginia, Six Days Ago…

“…So you want to serve your country, correct?” A deeps voice asked out at Charles as he sat back in his seat. He was sitting in a semi-large office, his leather chair placed in front of normal sized wooden desk which had stacks of papers and folders laying nicely organized upon the surface along with a few picture frames and small gold name stand which read “General Manson” that was placed at the front of the desk for anyone who entered the room to see it right away, so they would know exactly who this room belonged to. “Yes sir, I feel it’s time I do more for my country than I have been. The world’s a dangerous place, and I want to help in any way I can.” Charles answered with a serious tone. Ever since being asked to join C.O.P.’s, he couldn’t help but feel that it was time for him to step up, do more than he was doing. During his time with the Titans, he would simply patrol across roof tops at night, like some kind of vigilante, but that wasn’t who he was, he was a soldier, born and raised to be a hero to the people, serving his country, it was in his blood, it’s who he was.

 “I read your file, the boys had a hard time digging up any info on you, but I guess that happens who you come from another world.” The general said as he stood on the other side of his desk, he simply stared out the window, his back turned to Charles as he continued to speak, “But it’s nice to know that we still have soldiers ready to fight, no matter what America they come from.” He said with a short chuckle as he turned towards Charles, his arms behind his back. “I want to do my part sir. But like I mentioned before in my evaluation, I’m only doing this as volunteer work only, I’m not looking to get paid for doing what’s right, and I want to make sure that you fully understand that anything C.O.P.’s related comes first. Sir” Charles said as he started at the general, making sure he knew where his allegiance stood. “Heh…you and those costume wacko’s, I can’t say I’m a fan of them, at least not now when they’re all banded together for some ‘greater good,’ you guys are just asking for trouble.” He said as he took a seat in his chair, leaning back as he ran his hands through his aging gray hair, resting them behind his head.

Charles stood up from his chair, “I understand sir. But with all due respect, Champions are here for the people of the world, it’s comprised of people who just want to make the world a better place like any other decent person, I know some might fear a large army of super-powered beings all united together, but I can assure you and the President himself that the safety of the world couldn’t be in better hands.” Leaning back in his seat, the general took a moment to think as the sound of his chair squeaked as he slightly rocked back and forth, a small grin now visible upon his face, “I’ll keep you to your word, son…” he said as he leaned forward, stretching out his arm to shake Charles’ hand, “... welcome to the forces, Mr. Barnes. Go make your country proud.” With a smile now clearly visible on his face, Charles reached out; tightly gripping the general’s hand as he shook it, “Thank you for your time, General Manson.”

“How the meeting go?” A voice asked from behind as Charles shut the door as he exited the general’s office. Already recognizing the voice, he turned with a grin on his face to find Eclipse standing front of him, now in his new costume. “Good, I can tell they’re not big fans of supers, but he was happy to have me as a soldier.” Charles replied as the two began making their way down the white tiled floor hallway. “I heard about Kurrent. Congratulations on joining the Trinity by the way, I don’t think I got a chance to congratulate you yet…” Charles said as the two continued down the hall, making a left turn down a now blue carpeted hall, “…kind of funny when you think about it, just a few months ago we were kids fighting robot bears in Maple City, now we’re all grow up and apart of the greatest superhero team in history…time flies when you’re saving the world, huh?” He said with a smirk. “Yeah we are, which is actually why I’m here.” Eclipse said. Charles began to look at Jason with a confused look on his face, “What do you mean?” He asked, his voice now having an awkward tone as he wasn’t sure what Eclipse meant. “I mean with me joining the Trinity, I’m going to be all over the place now, which means I can’t lead the Champions any longer.” Upon hearing this, the two stopped walking; now standing in the middle of the hallway, people and other workers continuing to walk by the two, trying to not run into them as they looked and stared at the two heroes. “So who’s going t lead the team than if you’re not able to?” Charles was already Eclipse Second in Command, and because of that he feared the words Eclipse was going to say next. “That’s why I’m here; I wanted you to lead the team.”

“No way, dude. No, not going to happen.” Charles said as he began shaking his head. “Why not? I think you can do it.” Eclipse asked as he stepped back, letting a lady in blue dress shirt and skirt walk pass them. “Why?? Uh, maybe because I don’t have the leadership skills or any experience when it comes to leading a team, why not just pick someone who does have the training, like Cly or one of the other members?” Charles blurted out as his tone rose. “Because you’re my Second in Com--“ Eclipse tried to say only to be cut off by Charles. “No, no way. I’m not letting you pull that one on me, E.” Charles said as he leaned back towards the wall behind him, getting out of the way of a worker who was carrying a box of papers. Eclipse rolled his eyes as he soon become frustrated, “Oh come on! I’ve see you in action, and I think you can do it.” Charles threw his arms up as his continued to argue with Eclipse, “When?! And stop saying that! The last time I came close to leading a team I almost got myself killed and Talon had to save my butt! Sure, I might have got caught up in the moment a little and wasn’t technically ‘leading,’ but it still proves my point.” Charles continued as he pointed his finger at Eclipse, trying to make his point.

Just standing there, Eclipse’s eyes looked at Charles finger which was now in his face as Charles continued to argue with him. His eyes then looked back up at Charles, the look of seriousness on his face, “I think you do it, Chuck. Isn’t that why you’re here in the first place, to serve the people, to step up your game and play a bigger role in the world? If anything at least try it first before turning it down, you my surprise yourself at how well you do…” Eclipses serious look disappeared as a slight grin began to creep across his face, “…or y’know, crash and burn, making me regret ever offering you the job, but let’s try to think positive.” Charles lowered his finger as he stood back, trying to not chuckle as he ran his hands over his mask, as if he were running them through his brown hair. Letting out a deep sigh, he then turned back to Eclipse, “Okay, fine…but on one condition: I want a soda machine full of free Dr. Pepper in my office, you do that for me and you’ve got a deal.” Charles compromised with a smile as he let out a soft laugh. After letting off a chuckle, Eclipse extended his hand, shaking Charles’, “Deal.”

Present Day, Champions Tower…

The light of the sun shined through the windows of the tower, brightening up the inside of the building, casting small shadows while also introducing the world to a new day, while glaring off its outer interior, causing it to shine above all the other buildings in Champions City, making it a beacon of hope to those who looked upon it from below or from high above. Making his way down the hallway, “Maybe I should talk to Cell?” Charles thought to himself as he looked off at the city below, the light shining in through the window, glaring over his uniform. Blair was one of his closest friends, one of the first people he’d met when he came to this world, not to mention she was the leader of Vine Titans, his leader; maybe he could learn a thing or two from her. As he thought about this, he continued down the hallway, making s sharp turn on his left as he came upon his office, which as he walked closer to, the doors automatically slid open as he entered, closing behind him as he walked across the blue carpet, making his way over to his desk which was placed in the middle of the round circular room.

Flopping down into his chair, he bent over, opening one of the cabinets as he then pulled out a can of Dr. Pepper. Letting out a deep sigh, he spun his chair around, opening the soda can as he did, looking out the window as the sun light shined inward while he took a slight sip of the drink, his mind soon began to wonder, “So what now?” He said out loud as he began asking himself that some question. He couldn’t believe he let Eclipse talk him into this job, he had enough things on his mind as it was, he didn’t need the responsibility of a whole team on his shoulders, he’d rather be out on the battle field and not in this cramped office, he’d rather be trying to locate Talon, it had been months since he had even seen her, he couldn’t help but think about what they had been through last time they were together, what he had put her through, it only added to the list of things that kept him up through the nights. Spinning back around to his desk, he slammed his head upon the table, lifting it up and slamming it back down onto the desk’s surface out of frustration. “Feeling the stress there boy scout?” A voice spoke out from across the room. His eyes quickly shot open as her voice echoed through his head, it was a voice he hadn’t heard in what felt like years even though it really wasn’t, it was a voice he thought he’d never hear again, a voice he’d never forget, “Vessa?” He asked out of shock as his head rose up off the desk. Across the room she stood, the girl known as Nightstorm, the first girl Charles had ever fell for….literally. She stood across the room, the door to his office closing behind her as her green emerald eyes stared at him as he sat in his chair on the other side of the room in total shock. “Long time, no see, huh?” She said with a slight grin on her face as she looked away from him, trying to not make eye contact.

“Where…where have you been? Where did you go? When did you get back???” His mouth opened and the questions he had spent nights on the top of Titans Tower wondering about came pouring out like running water. Her body moved swiftly across the dark blue carpet as she made her way over to his desk, sliding her hand across its surface as she made her way around it towards Charles, “I…I’ve been gone…in space I mean. I just got back recently, but I knew that I had to see you as soon as possible, I had to speak to you.”   She spoke with a soft tone as he leaned back on his desk next to his chair as he looked up at her. Not saying another word, he looked forward, remaining silent as she continued to stare are him with a worried look on her face, “…Charlie?” She asked with a concern tone in her voice. “You…you didn’t even say goodbye…” he got up out of his seat as he walked over towards the window, leaning his arm up against the glass as he glared out at the city below, watching random heroes flew by, their capes flapping through the air as their costumes shined brightly as the sunlight bounced off of them, “…not even a simply ‘goodbye’ Vess, was that too much to say? Was it just too hard to say to my face?!” His tone began to rise, only to settle down as he let out a deep sigh, leaning his head up against the window as he forced himself to stop speaking for a moment. The room remained silent for another few minutes, neither of the two willing to open their mouths. Turning back around, his back now pushed up against the window as he looked back at Vessa “I…I’m sorry, I should have raised my voice like that. I’ve just been stressed out lately, and I guess it’s starting to get a little overwhelming for me.” He said as he lowered his head, his eyes now staring at the blue carpet, not willing to look up at her face, at those emerald green eyes….what was it with him and girl’s with green eyes?!

Slowly she made her way over towards him, her soft hand placed gently on his cheek as she raised his head up so that he was now looking into her eyes, “Why are you letting this get to you so much? Why put so much doubt and worry on your shoulders?” She said softly as he thumb moved slowly across his cheek. “I just…I just don’t want to mess up, okay? I just don’t want to lead them on a mission and get them killed; I don’t want to be responsible for that. But oh no! Eclipse and everyone else think I can do it! Everyone says I have the skills and that I’ve shown that I can lead these guys when I haven’t, I can’t okay! I’m...I’m going to mess up, I’m going to mess up and someone’s going to get hurt or killed because of me, because I did something stupid or gave the wrong order, and…” he turned away from her, breaking their eye contact as he turned his body back towards the window, trying to not look at her, to let her see him like this, so weak, so afraid, he didn’t want her to see him like that, “…I just don’t want to lose anyone else, I don’t think I can take it okay, I don’t think I can handle losing someone else, I lost my parents, I lost my whole world, was so lost and confused and then I found this world, found a new home, new friends, a new life worth living for...I just don’t think I can take losing another person I care about, not again.” His voice was quivering now, his eyes filled with tears as he tried with all his might to hold them back.

A sweet smile appeared upon her face as he stretched out her hand, clasping the poor hero’s shoulder as she turned him back towards her, now able to see the tears that were building in his eyes, “Oh, Charlie. You can’t put that kind of pressure on yourself, you had no control over any of those things, and they were out of your control, stop putting this burden on yourself. Yes you have lost so much, but you’ve also gain so many new things in the process, don’t let the past hold you back from enjoying the future you’ve found for yourself, from the people you’ve found, from the people how care about you…” spoke softly to him as she leaned her head in towards his own, “…people like me.” His eyes closed as he leaned in forward as well, their noses rubbing against one another as their lips touched, his arms slowly rapping around her back as she placed her hand on his head, pulling him in more as they continued their gentle embrace. For a moment they simple stood there, their arms around one another, only to have his eyes open as he broke off the kiss, “Vessa, please…” He said as he slowly pulled himself back. She stared at him with a surprised look, partly shocked by this action, “Wait, what’s wrong? Did you not miss me?” She asked with wonder as she would have expected him of all people to be happy to her return, which he was, he couldn’t deny that fact, how could he? “What? No, I did…it’s just, I lot’s happened while you were gone, and I just don’t think this is the best time for--“ Beep! Beep! Beep! He was the suddenly cut off from what he was saying as his communicator of his desk began to go off.

“This is War Killer, what’s up?” He asked as he held the communicator up to his mouth. “We’ve got a situation down here in the War Room, sir. We need you to come check it out right away.” A voice spoke out through the device back at Charles. “…I’m on my way” He said as he looked over at Vessa who remained behind him. “What’s wrong?” She asked curiously. He put the communicator on his belt as he turned back towards her, “I don’t know, but I have to go see what’s up. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to deal with this when I get back, okay?” He said as he picked up his shield which was sitting leaned up next to his desk on the ground. “No, no, it’s fine. Go have fun saving the world; I’ll be here when you get back.” She answered with a smile on her face, watching as he exited the room. As the door closed behind him, her sweet smile quickly turned into a devious grin as she pulled out a small communicator device, “This is Sleep Agent Codename: Nightstorm reporting it. He seems to be feeling the pressure of being assigned to his new position exactly as we expected. He doesn’t suspect a thing.” She made her way back over to his desk, taking a seat in his chair as a Skrull alien voice spoke back to her through the communicator. “Understood. Preparing to move into phase two as planned.”

War Room, Champions Tower…

The elevator door opened as Charles quickly made his way down a long gray hallway as he came up onto two large metal doors. As the two doors slide apart, he swiftly made his way into one of the bases War Room’s, “What’s the situation, boys?” He asked as he made his way into the center of the room where a large round table was placed, chairs circling it as a small little holographic globe type device was place in the center of the table. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, he looked around, seeing the room covered in computer monitors, C.O.P. personnel keeping track of any and every possibly threat around the globe, making sure that if there’s a problem that they were the first to know about it. “Sir, we’ve got a situation in Alaska that you might want to see.” A male worker answered as he stood next to Charles as he activated the holographic system, creating a 3D globe of the earth. Using a keyboard on the table to punch in the exact coordinates of where the situation was located, causing the globe to spin around until it stopped on the state of Alaska, quickly zooming in on a large lake area surrounding by a small forest of trees with snowy mountains circling the lake as well. Zooming in even further, the globe locked onto a large crashed space ship of some short just on the edge of the lake, leaving a large creator in the surrounding forest. “Okay, so what am I looking at here exactly?” Charles asked as he leaned back in his chair while keeping his attention on the globe. “Precisely ten minutes ago a small space ship of unknown origin entered Earth’s atmosphere from, crashing where you see now, sir.” The man said as he showed Charles a replay of the ship bursting through the atmosphere thanks to the footage captured by C.O.P.’s space station, watching as the ship literally broke apart as it came closer towards the ground, finally impacting into the forest, sending dust and trees into the air, sending a small tidal wave across the lake, slamming into the forest on the other side. “My gosh…” Charles whispered as he watched the footage, “…has anyone been affected by this and has the army begun their own investigations yet?” Charles asked as he turned back to the man. “No, sir. As far as we can tell the army has put a stop to any investigations under our request, they said we have the first move and have given us permission to check out the crash site before they do anything else.”

Turning his attention back to the screens, Charles rested his hand under his chin, propping his head up on the table. “Well at least they’re not giving us any trouble, so that’s great news. What’s the worst we’re looking at here?” Charles continued to ask questions as he wanted to make sure he knew full well on what they were actually dealing with here. “Um, as far as our scans can tell, the ship is letting of a low radiation reading. Sir if you want, we could simply call in the Guardians to deal with this, I’m sure your team has more serious issues to attend to.” The man said as with a flash, the globe disappeared. Getting up out of his chair, Charles quickly made his way over back towards the exit, the worker now walking beside him as Charles continued speaking with him, “No, this would be a great way to see how well the team works together. We’ll call it a practice mission. Alert the Champions of the situation and tell them to assemble in the docking bay asap. Also, send an order up to have a jet ready for my team in fifteen minutes…should be enough time to get everyone here and ready. Looks like it’s time to put this team to the test!”

It had been what seemed already weeks since Hotaru took up Eclipse’s offer and joined Champions of Peace, but her reason for joining was not to really help people, it was to use their sources to find her mother, Feral Nova, who hadnt been seen since she was brought back from hell. Sitting in the C.O.P. information room she sat in front of a large computer, reading anything that had something about her mother, or anything that would sound like what would involve her. She hadnt even met any of the other members, as soon as she stepped foot in Champion City she dedicated all of her time to finding Stephanie.
 
Leaning back in her seat the Princess of Pyro rubbed her eyes, she couldn’t remember the last time she had a good nights rest, looking around the dark room was silent, she hadnt heard from anyone, not even Eclipse since she got here. The only thing that could be heard was the growling that was coming from the pit of her stomach. “I guess… I should eat SOMETHING.” She sighed, pushing herself away from the computer and walking away, stretching out her limbs as she made her way to the HQ kitchen.
 
Sitting down she began to pour herself a cup of milk as she grabbed a hold of a banana, she could feel her eyes heavy as she ate, working like this couldn’t be good for her. Leaning back into the counter she flipped on a plasma TV that hung on the wall, switching the channels less than a second apart form each other, her fingers suddenly stopped moving as something caught her eyes. Almost choking on her milk she was drinking she turned up the volume, it was the local Solace City news and it was none other than Tia Sha and her mom right there on the TV screen!
 
‘That’s right Jack, this is what we saw yesterday, Feral Nova came to the city demanding to speak to the Ninjan Queen, Sha, and less than ten minutes upon speaking to her, the two took to the skies and left the city, leaving the rest of us wondering what is going on? Our sources tell us that they flew to the middle of the Pacific ocean and engaged in battle, but less than five minutes upon fighting they disappeared, no one knows were their whereabouts are right now, but we do know that the U.S. Military IS looking for them to capture the once We Are Legend team member and imprison her.’ Hotaru flipped the TV off as she quickly ran up to her room, she had to get to Solace City, find out everything she can about what happened and find her mom before she and Sha kill each other in battle… again!
 
Her door slammed against the wall as she ran in, her bags still unpacked as she began to fumble with them, trying to get them open without ripping them apart. But before she could, a outfit caught her almond eyes that layed along her bed. Slowly standing up she picked it up, it was a thick black outfit with a cape and a full face mask. She looked at it a bit confused, was this hers? The sound of paper hitting the ground caught her attention as she picked it up, it was a letter from someone.
 

Hey Taru,
 
Just thought you would want a new outfit for the new team! Glad you decided to join with us, and I can’t wait to see you!
 
Blair

Nothing but silence filled the dark land, it looked like some place that would be in space, yet there was not one star in sight. Blair walked on what appeared to be a never ending trail, the farther she walked the more she wanted to see where it would take her. She stopped when she nearly reached the end, to see a giant beautiful Raven that stood in one place. It seemed to yell out something to her, though she couldn't hear anything. As she took a few steps forward, the ground below broke through. As she fell the bird screamed louder, Blair was only able to make out the word "Danger." The young girl woke up from her sleep wondering what the hell the bird meant by Danger.   
 
Walking out of her bedroom, Blair had been dressed from head to toe in her Cellphone Girl outfit. In about 2 hours her squad meeting would begin, so she figured that her team mates will start taking her more seriously with her wearing that, since she has been going to them in her pj's. As she passed through the Kitchen she began to wonder about how the past few days have been kinda odd. While walking down the street, or even at the Mall there were a few people that would just stare at her. Usually people would be running up to her to get her autograph, but they just stared at her which creeped her out.  
 
One of the things she had to do on her way to the meeting, was to drop off this outfit she designed for Hotaru. Blair missed having that girl on her team, the two had been through Hell and back with each other. Blair even nearly died once while saving her life from a missile that blew up the old Vine Titan's Jet. Taru is even the daughter of the great hero known as Feral Nova, who is also Blair's Mentor. Sneaking into the girl's room, she carefully laid out the costume onto the bed, with a note tucked inside of it, and with that she left the room with a smile.  
  

the two hours later 

To dream is to believe which only makes life the more fascinating.  Diverse cultures and nationalities represent what people are but not who they are.  One thing that can truly define a community are the personalities shown that can inevitably describe a nation.  Today the day settles on such a blissful evening, three family members sit around a table just staring and commenting on one another's looks.  Clarice, Marissa, and Joan Zeraz can't help but laugh at this gathering.  Never once had they truly talked like a typical American family and though it seemed odd because of their many differences, it felt so right.  The first one to break the awkward silence was the eldest of the group, the original 'bestest' heroine, Marissa a.k.a Katanna (for those who still remember) 
 
Holding a portrait of the first wave of Gods Watchful Eyes, the happily unstressed retired crime fighter slaps her nephew on the forehead.  Peering out the dim window, she takes a glance at the town she has warmly called home.  Turning to her only family the grinning single mother decides to give a lovely speech.  Lifting up her cup she speaks ever so softly.
 
"One thing I can tell you about your dad was that he was too caring.  The man would grab a band-aid for me for the littlest cut.  Sure we went through some troubles but in the end he acted as a noble knight for his baby sis.  Now I look at you and my long lost sweetest sis and I can't help but tear up.  Not only does this make me wanna cry but that Kanye West song really reminds me of why the VMA's are not like how they use to be.  I want to make a toast for better days.  Zeraz Industries is better than what our parents and your grandparents ever imagined.  Also congrats Joan for gaining membership in the Champions of Peace.  Its what your aunts and dad always dreamed up.  Living in the spotlight and truly being a hero" 
 
They simultaneously sip on their 'expensive' red wine and like an idiot the Son of Thunder gets his shirt dirty.  "Gahhd! Really did you have to use your powers.  Then I'm called the child!"  Giving the evil eye to his aunt Clarice the Conclusion to every Complication runs to the nearest restroom.  Changing his entire wardrobe the once again rich playboy pops his collar and is ready to return to his night with the family but is interrupted by a slam at the door.  He quickly grabs his favorite adamantium dagger and positions himself for combat.  "Hey kiddo" 
 
"Dad?"  Jonathan Rafael Zeraz stood confidently in front of his beloved son.  His heart beat so quickly that thoughts could not be formed.  Breathing deeply the consistently conflicted hero walks closer to his dad while hiding the dagger inside his sleeve.  "Why the hostility son.  Your aunts were happy to see me"  Blowing out some air the Son of Thunder hoped his aunt Clarice would give off some sort of message but like always Joan Rochelle Zeraz a.k.a Closure had no such luck.

  "Wost. Job. Ever." grumbled Paragon, as his words echoed off the empty wall of the Champion's of Peace's new orbital watchtower. Civilian staff wasn't scheduled to arrive for another few days, so he was all alone. "I hate monitor duty...." The steady ping of a radar bounced around the metallic chamber containing the long range scanners, early warning systems and various other space scanning technologies that the Guardians required for picking up any otherworldly threats to earth. "Can't believe Gerald tricked me into taking his turn...." Paragon looked over the plethora of screens again, with still no change to anything over the last 12 hours. "Man, space is boring without ring slinging battles. Forgot how much I hate it out here." he said to no one in particular, fiddling with his green lantern ring. He still hated the curse it seemed to have brought him, and only had worn it twice since Tempest had been killed. He still had no idea why he held on to the ring anyways, or why the Guardians hadn't even just given it away to anyone else in the sector. 
 
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a blip on the radar. For a second it seemed like a massive fleet of ship were holding just outside of the asteroid belt, then suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Weird." said Paragon, poking at the screen, then shrugging it off as a weird energy flux, or space dust. Another few moments of staring at the screens passed before he broke off into singing "Space Oddity" and listening to the sound waves echo all around him, keeping him amused. The hours stretched on as the space station made another pass around the globe before Paragon received a phone call interrupting the monotony.
 
"Doctor Mac, it's Cameron Montenegro, from the Jeffersonian Institute. Umm... We've got a case here that we could really use you for."
 
"Realy Monty? You called me up on my time off for another case? Can't Dr. Gordon handle it herself?" 
 
Cam paused for a moment, before whispering into the phone. "Honestly, man. She doesn't seem the same lately. I mean, she still the same uptight woman she usually is, but something about her seems off, y'know? Almost alien"
 
"Does it stop her from doing her job well?"
 
"Uh... No?"
 
"Then she can handle it by herself, while you identify the particulates in between internet forum rants about "aliens taking the places of people" and "Andferne's still alive" and whatever else you talk about there on conspiracyvine.com. Probably just her time of the month, or whatever."
 
Dr. Montenegro just sighed. "Fine. You're probably right. We still on for the Red Sox/Nationals game on Sunday?"
 
"You know it, man. Brooke's been looking forward to it all week. Someone's just showed up. Buh-bye."
 
The teleporters sprang to life, for a moment, only to have nothing happen. "Ummm... Nobody? You there, or are the teleporters on the fritz?" he called down toward the teleporter bay, looking around, trying to see something.
 
"Space suit up! We're going to Mars!" Yelled a voice from an invisible mouth behind him, and echoed off the communicator in his ears, startling him only slightly. In all his years with the invisible hero, he still sometimes couldn't tell where he was, or whether he was wearing pants. 
 
Paragon took a look at his Green Lantern ring one more time, considering wearing it for the mission, but quickly changed his mind. "We've got Light with the same thing, and I still don't like wearing the ol' green tights." he thought to himself, slipping the ring in his pocket. "I'll bring it just in case. Shouldn't need it. What's going to happen? We fight some little green aliens? Ha!"

 Cass was tired. She was drained both emotionally and physically, a feeling that was very rare for her. She wasn't used to it and she didn't like it a single bit. At. All. She had made a mistake, a bad one. She looked down at the slowly healing scars on her wrists. They had been incurred with an adamantium weapon and they would never entirely heal, they would stay there as a reminder, a reminder of how afraid she had been, how cowardly she had been, a reminder of her love for him. She would learn to live with them. She closed her eyes and listened to the whir of the jet's engines as she held her head in her palms. She hated showing weakness like this, she deterred it, but she was tired of being such a proud little soldier and pretending that she didn't care that the love of her life was dying. She was just....tired. Cass knew that she was acting like somebody with a deathwish, she knew that she had almost blown this mission for them and she felt disgraceful about it. She....she was not this person. This was not her. She was not the needy little girl who needed people to love her, who broke when they left her. That wasn't her and she hated that that was what she was seemingly turning into. She missed being the cold soldier, killing f**ked up men and working towards her mission of vengeance. Life had been simple, it had been easy, she had known her purpose. Now everything was confused and emotional and she was endangering the welfare of her team, of the people she had come to know as family and that wasn't fair to anybody, not even close.  

She sighed gratefully as the jet touched down. She couldn't wait to get back on the ground and get something to eat. Normally she loved flying, but when all you wanted to do was escape yourself, being cramped in an inescapable place with a bunch of people was not anywhere close to ideal. She walked past Mike and his family, giving cursory nods to Sarah and Chevie as she made her way straight to the kitchen. She had an insane metabolism, more than likely due to her healing factor and she had to eat a lot to keep her energy supply up. Cass sat down in one of the chairs and started shoveling lasagna into her mouth by the forkful. It was her absolute favorite and what her mother always used to make on Sunday night dinners. She tried not to let her mind wander to the last real Sunday dinner that she had been a part of, the one that had happened on the night of her family's massacre. She shook her head, as if physically shaking it could shake the thoughts out of her mind. She put down her fork and nonchalantly watched as Crazy tossed the package to Mike. She sighed. Crazy. He certainly lived up to his codename. But he had protected her during one of their missions, needlessly putting himself in harm's way to make sure that she was OK and that had earned him a slight measure of trust. She finished chewing her enormous mouthful of food as she heard Mike start talking.  "Okay guys bad news, we have another mission,  leaving tonight. Get a shower clean up and be back at the jet in two hours you will find the files in your rooms." She rolled her eyes. Of course they had another mission. Why would they get any down time. It was as she heard her own thoughts that she realized how selfish she was being. She started to stand up when she heard Mike start again. She knew what it was going to be about as soon as she saw him wave away the kitchen staff. She was appreciative that he was affording her this small amount of privacy. She watched the rest of her teammates walk out of the room, and smiled as she noticed Talon's hesitancy. She gave her a slight nod of her head, letting her know that everything was fine, that it was OK to go, and got up and sat in the seat next to Mike. 

Two Hours Later

Champions Tower

Jess was walking throw the hall of the Champions Tower, lonely she starts to think to herself.

“Great life I have… I’ve been trying to solve the whole riddle of my life, I knew something was wrong when I touched that statue, but I didn’t think it would turn this extreme”. Jessica Sighs. “Basically my whole life it’s a lie… I thought I was a normal girl living a normal life but I was wrong… My boyfriend doesn’t exist and my girlfriends are just some illusions of my mind, I thought I was born in a farm, and my parents were murdered by some evil company, I also thought I was adopted and my adoptive mother disappeared when I was 11…   and my dad took care of me all by himself.”

 But it was a lie! She yells out loud.

 “My true story is that I was stolen when I was a baby by to spies… They injected me with a poison that gave me false memories, the man is my “adoptive father” and the woman is my “Adopted mother”… And When I touched that statue it was just the begging of the end… The false memories started to vanish and I started to remember some certain things…” Jessica opens a door; walks throw the room and sits on a couch.

“My other personalities were released and when my “mom” thought she murdered me…But  I was just gone… I gained new powers like telepathy and telekinesis after my “resurrection”.

Jessica hears her phone ringing, she grabs it and answer the call, It was Gregory, The man she believed to be her father.

“Jessica, my dear!” Her father says

“What?” She answers

“Return to our house, honey… Please I’m begging you!” He cries begging her

The young lady annoyed with her father’s voice turned off the phone.

“He doesn’t sounds like him… He’s different he never cared about me… I’m on this team for almost 3 months and he never called me… and that’s why I’m here, to be far away from that liar… I joined when I still was Burning Sun, I wanted to make new friends… and I had a chance to fight against crime with the most powerful superheroes form the world. But the pressure was just too much I quit Burning Sun and I became WaveLight, because of my new powers and my true life story, I’m a new woman now and I’m not the old foolish stupid girl that was… not anymore.”

The girl felled asleep on the couch thinking of her mistakes and her adventures as a superhero.

Two Hours Later.

Jessica woke up screaming, she had a terrible nightmare, and she dreamed that her mother was killing her.

WaveLight changed her clothes immediately and she starts to fly in derection of the meetings room to hear her squad leader, CPG.

After hearing her “boss”, Jess still very sleepy asked CPG “We are protecting the tower against what… Exactly?! She smiles.

Champions Tower, Docking Bay…

With great speed, an elevator began rising up the elevator shaft, making its way from the towers war room’s which were located in the bottom sections of the tower to the docking bay which was stationed on the top floors of the tower for obvious reasons. Standing alone in the slightly large elevator, Charles reminded silent as his mind focused on the mission at hand, he stood up straight, his hands placed comfortable behind his back as felt the force of the elevator as it made its way quickly up through the level’s of the headquarters. Upon hearing the slight ding, Charles swiftly made his way out as the elevator doors opened, finding himself in a large docking bay. Looking around, he could see multiple jet’s and other forms of transportation which were all used to aid in getting the members of C.O.P.’s where they needed to go in a moment’s notice, no matter where their mission was, making his way across the hard metal floor, he even saw a space ship, he assumed it was most likely used mostly by the members of the Guardians since that was more of their style.

Turning his attention towards one of the jet’s that was being prepped for launch, he noticed a young lady in a tight, black uniform whom was waiting by the same jet he was heading towards. Upon walking closer towards the girl, he quickly realized that it was his former teammate from Vine Titans, Hotaru, he had remembered Eclipse mentioning of her joining the team last time they spoke, and Charles couldn’t help but to smile at the fact of seeing an old friend. “Good to see you could join us, Pyro Girl.” He said to her with a grin as he walked up next to her. But his smile began to fade as he noticed a slight bit of frustration in her posture, which he couldn’t help but wonder about, he had heard of her mother, the hero known as Feral Nova and what had happened to her recently, Cell was always talking about her former mentor. But this had been the first time he had spoken or even seen his fellow former Titan since the team disbanded upon the formation of C.O.P.’s, and being as he counted her as one of his close friends, he couldn’t help but try to be nice, “It’s good to see you, I’m glad you’re doing okay.” He said to her with a soft voice as he placed his hand on her shoulder, his smile returning once more.

“Sir.” One of the docking workers said as he made his way behind, Charles. Taking his hand of Hotaru’s shoulder, he turned to the worker. “Is the jet all ready to go?” Charles asked as he looked over towards the elevator, seeing as other members of the team arrived just in time. “Yes, sir. She’s good to go whenever you’re team is ready to leave.” The worker said with assurance in his voice as he turned to get back to work. “Thank you.” Charles said, turning back to his team. Taking a moment as he looked upon his teammates, most of whom he knew little to nothing about other than from the files he had read thanks to the team’s database, and because of this he couldn’t help but to be a bit nervous, add the fact that he’s use to being alongside them being given the orders instead of being the one who gave them. “Alright, well I’ll try to make this quick since we need to leave right away. But first I’d like to thank you all for being able to make it, I’m new at this and I don’t know most of you very well, but I hope to learn more about you as we work together more in the field, and hopefully be able to earn all of your trust along the way. I was informed on my way up here that Risky will be unable to make it, and I haven’t heard anything from Con or Closure which means we’re going to be doing this mission without them for now. And as for Cly, I don’t know where--“ But with a loud roar, Charles was cut off as he suddenly looked up, seeing as the two large metal hanger doors which were once the ceiling to the entire bay began to move apart, allowing sunlight to dash down upon the gray metal floor, and with the light, came the large green dragon known as Esmeralda, her wings flapping against the air in front of her, sending dust into the air as she descended towards the ground next to the team, along with her dragon rider who rested upon her back.

“Perfect timing, Cly. We were just about to leave.”Charles said with a grin as he turned towards the armored clad knight and his mighty beast, his hands propped up on his sides. But quickly he turned away, making his way towards the stairs which lead up into the team’s jet. “Alright team, let’s get a move on! I’ll give you all a run down on our mission once we get airborne. Cly, I guess you’ll just have to follow behind us, I don’t think she’s going to fit in this puppies’ cargo bay.” He said with a smirk, he hadn’t known Cly long, only had he recently joined the Titans upon them moving to Maple City, and even then Charles didn’t have much time to get to know Cly, or any of the newer members of the team for that matter, much before the team was broken up and spread out between the different C.O.P. team’s, but he had saw Cly in battle and respected the former leader of WAL even so.

As he made his way into the cockpit, he took a seat in the pilot’s chair, looking over at the pilot seat which sat right across from his own, he left it to whomever wanted it since he didn’t know who was a trained pilot and who wasn’t, he figured he’d let the rest of the team figure it out. With everybody now seated, Charles buckled himself in, playing with the different switches and buttons which were laid out all over the front and overhead dashboards, as the engines fired up, the jet slowly began to rise into the air thanks to small rocket engines that were under the jet’s belly, sending dust and other debris across the docking bay as the jet rose higher into the air until it finally was hovering above the tower itself, “Alright boys and girls…let’s fly!” And with a push to the throttle, the jet’s back engines fired up instantly, sending the plane blazing off into the cloud filled sky.

In Route to Alaska…

With a push of a button, Charles activated the jet’s auto-pilot along with linking the ship’s com-link up with Cly’s communicator so that he could listen in from outside the plane, as he then spun his chair around, facing himself towards the rest of the team who were seated in the rows behind him. “Okay everyone listen up. Here’s the situation: Just a little under an hour ago, a space ship of unknown origin made its way through the earth’s atmosphere, crash landing in Alaska, causing minor damage to the surrounding wilderness…” Pulling out a small laser type pointer that popped up from his seat, Charles activated a holographic module of the ship as it impacted upon the planet’s surface, “…our mission is to investigate and to make sure the ship is not emitting any leather or harmful radiation, or any other type of energies for that matter that could possibly harm the surrounding suburbs, the good news is these suburbs are low in population and are a good ways away from the wreckage itself…” he then pointed a red laser at the hologram, pointing out the ship as it literally breaks into two pieces as it comes closer towards the ground, “…and I just got this intel from HQ, apparently their still getting footage in from the boy’s up in space, and now we’ve learned that what we thought was just one huge wreckage is now showing that the ship actually broke into two as it broke through the planet’s atmosphere…” Being a little more creative with the laser pointer, he formed a holographic lay out of the area to appear, showing a large lake in the center of the map, along with a small section of snow covered forest tree’s surrounding the lake. The hologram then showed as the two pieces broke apart and moved away from each other as they came closer towards the ground, finally impacting into the ground a good distance from one another, “…and because of this, we’re going to have to split up into groups once we land. So okay, here’s the plan: Slight, Hotaru, and myself will make our way towards the first wreckage.” Using the laser pointer again, Charles zoned in on one of the pieces of the ship that was marked on the map as “W-1” which was located at one end of the forest, right next to the lake, inside a large crater which was formed upon impact. “Charge Up and Guyver will go with Cly, I want you three to take a look at the second half of the ship.” Using the pointer, he caused the map to move, showing where the other half of the ship was located, showing that it had crashed in a large section of the forest, just a mile or two away from the other half.

“We go in, we make sure this thing is under control, is that understood? So far it just looks like a space incident, but we’re here to make sure this isn’t worse than we think. Also this is our first field mission as a team, so look out for your fellow teammates, rely on each other and work together, no showboating under any circumstances, I’m not going to let anyone get killed out there, do I make myself clear?” He spoke with seriousness in his voice as the hologram faded away as silence filled the cockpit. With a slight grin on his face, Charles leaned back into his seat and spun back around, “Good. If anyone has any questions, speak now. If not, then just sit tight. We’ll be landing in ten.”

Alaska Airspace…

The jet came to a slow stop high above the snow covered trees, snow blowing up into the sky, causing a mist of white snowflakes to fill the air as the plane began its decent towards the ground. With a slip of a switch, the landing gear unfolded and appeared from under the plane, the shocks of the tires taking the impact, allowing the plane to land softly on high flat hill that over saw much of the forest. “Alright, Champions. Let’s move out.” With this order, he quickly unbuckled his seat belt, making his way to the back of the jet, along with the rest of his team, which led to a stairway that had been lowered to the ground already. A chilling gust of wind crept across the flat hill top from the mountains afar as the Star-Spangled Hero took a good look at his surroundings. “Okay, Slight and Hotaru, you two are with me. Everyone else, you’re with, Cly. Keep in contact with your communicators, if you find anything suspicious, contact the other team. And watch each other’s backs at all times.”

And with this, Charles and his team made their way off into the forest. The sound of feet moving through the snow covered ground was all that he could hear for a moment, in truth, he was a bit surprised at how he was slowly starting to get the hang of being a leader, even though he did feel as if his orders were only being half heard at times, he couldn’t help but understand why some of them would underestimate him, most of the team didn’t know him, sure they may have heard of him, but he knew that for them to trust him as a leader, as a fellow teammate, it was going to take some time. He could only hope he was doing a good job so far. The terrain was much hillier than the holographic map showed; the trees were more spread out as well which did make it easier to maneuver through better. Making their way down to an opening, they found themselves looking at one of the pieces of the wreckage as it stuck up out of a large crater, with part of it submerged in the lake. From the looks of it, this was the front of the ship, as no form of engines could be seen, only a type of observation deck in the front, which was most likely the cockpit. Taking a light lead, Charles made his way first down into the crater, his wet boots that had been covered in snow that had melted mixed with the dirt, covering them in a combination of snow and mud. Taking a look at the ship from the bottom of the crater, it was just a little bigger than their own plane, maybe twice as large, but it was only one half of the whole thing, he didn’t even know how big the other part was, which could only make him wonder what this ship was doing in this part of space, and even more frightening, what could have brought something this big down like it had?

Turning back to Slight and Hotaru whom he assumed followed him, he continued to study the wreckage more to see if he could tell if the ship was emitting any type of fuel, pulling out a small scanner, he began to test the area for any detection of high radiation, only to find the levels as normal. Walking around to the other side of the wreckage, he noticed a large door that had been ripped open, “Slight, Hotaru, come over here and check this out.” He said as he called out after having strayed away from them a bit as he took a better look at the ship. Taking a closer look at the door, it appeared to have been ripped open by the looks of the tears and marks of the door, “Looks like something forced itself out from the inside…” he said out loud as he began to look around, looking to see if he could find any type of cracks or footprints, “…makes me wonder if this was a cargo ship of some kind, judging by its size, it’s built to carry something large.” Which only made his fears worse, the thought of a cargo ship crashing isn’t the bad thing, was worried the young hero was what the ship was carrying was what scared him.

Looking into the ship, he could see that the door way lead down deeper into the ship which was shrouded in darkness, only bright enough to see so far thanks to the light of the sun. Taking a moment to think, he then turned back to Slight, “Slight, I want you to wait here. If anything else comes out other than us, stop it. Stand guard while Hotaru and I investigate are little mystery ship here. If anything happens, regroup with Cly and the others.” And with those orders, Charles began to make his way into the ship, making his way down the dark hallway. Pulling out a small flashlight, he began to shine the light through the darkness, finding them both at the bottom of a stairwell, looking back up he could see the light shining in from the outside, but he turned from the light and began to make his way deeper into the darkness. Looking over at the Princess of Pyro, he smiled as it remained him of being with the Titans again, them all going on these crazy adventures together, Cell leading the way, heck he could even hear Animal Kid making a bad joke about how the boogie man’s going to get us in the dark and it only made him smile even more.

But looking back over at her, seeing her in her new outfit, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was reflecting how she felt right now, the dark suit reflecting the dark time she seems to be in, he remembers Eclipse telling him about her mother, Nova, and how she has been desperately trying to find her, to save her he guessed in a sense, “Hey…I’m sorry about your mother.” Charles muttered out as he stopped walking for a moment, his voice lower than normal. “You know ever since you left, Cell just couldn’t stop talking about you, she wouldn’t stop trying to find you. I mean, we all went looking for you…but I think when you left, just how randomly you did, out of all of us, she took it the hardest.” Turning towards her, he put his hands on her shoulder, finding it hard to make eye contact through her now dark mask, “And I kinda know what you’re going through right now…well I know what’s it’s like to lose the people you care about is all…I know you’re mom’s not dead or anything, but I guess it feels like you’ve lost her still…and you can’t blame yourself for that, you shouldn’t blame yourself for what’s happened to her, you had no control over any of that, I know you may feel like you could have been there for her, and you might feel like you’ve let her down for not being able to help her…but that doesn’t mean you still can’t help her now…” as smile then appeared within the darkness, “…and it doesn’t mean you have to do it all on your own either. Eclipse told me how he found you, how he offered to help you in your search to help your mom. And well, I’m telling you the same, I know Blair would as well, I know she would without a doubt, heck I know any of the Titans would have your back in a moment’s notice…I know we’re not ‘officially’ Titans anymore…but like Eclipse says, we’re Titans Forever, even if we’re on different teams, we’re still family till the end, and family watches out for each other….I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you ever need any help, don’t be afraid to ask, we’ve got you’re back, Tura, you don’t have to face this world alone.”

He quickly shut himself up, taking his hands off her shoulders, he began to make his way back down the hallway, leaving her to think about what he had said…hoping that it made at least some sense, “I….I’m just going to check out the command deck…if they have one I mean…uh, just check out some of the things down here…if you’d like I mean, if you find anything, just hit me up on my communicator.” He said with an awkward tone in his voice as he continued to make his way down the dark hallway, his flashlight the guide he had now.

Looking around more, pointing the light in all directions, he could see the damage the crash had done to the inside of the ship, pieces of the ceiling falling down, sparks flying out everywhere, but…”Where’s the crew?” He asked himself as he found what appeared to be a way to the command deck. No one, not a single soul in the whole ship, not even a few dead bodies…it was as if no one was onboard. “Maybe that’s what caused it crash?” He began to wonder, thinking maybe it was just an abandoned ship that drifted into our neck of the woods. Coming up to two metal doors which slid together, he could see slightly inside, seeing that it was the command deck, sliding his shield in between the doors, letting out a small grunt, he put his leg up against the fall, pulling hard on the shield as he pried the doors open, causing them to let out a high pitch screech as they did.

Making his way into the room, he found himself looking at another empty room, only this time he found it filled with multiple computer monitors, all still on. “Well what do we have here…?” He said out loud as he made his way over to the computer in center of the room. Taking a seat in the chair, he began playing around with the alien controls, trying to see if he could get anything to work…only to his surprise, did he find himself looking at the ships logs, and thankfully, the screens were all touch screen, making it where he could just click and pick even if he couldn’t actually read any of what he was choosing. Clicking the most recent entry in the computers logs, which causes a map to quickly appear on his screen, showing the ship as it made its way from a planet Charles didn’t recognize to the Milky Way Galaxy and finally to Earth. “Okay, so you were meant to come here….but why?” But before he could look any further, he suddenly heard something moving behind him. “Who’s there?!” He shouted as he quickly stood up from his seat. Looking around, his eyes locked onto a figure hiding in the shadows, “Hotaru? Is that you?” But as his eyes better focused in on the figure, he could see that it was a man. Making his way out of the shadows, Charles saw that it was Slight of all people, “Slight? I thought I told you to wait out--?” But before he knew it, he was then violently sent flying across the room from the might of Slight’s punch. Slamming into a computer monitor that was hanging from the ceiling, causing it to shatter as his body slammed into the hard metal floor below.

Picking himself up slowly, he looked up to see Slight walking over towards him. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he began to order Slight to stop, “Stand down, right now, Avery! That’s an order!” But his shouts went unnoticed as Slight leaped up into the air, bringing his arms down towards, Charles. Holding his shield up, allowing it to take the impact of Slight’s attack, but even then, his blow caused Charles’ legs to give out, sending him tumbling to the cold metal floor once more. “Okay, something’s not right here!” He thought as he quickly rolled his body out of the way as Slight slammed his foot into the floor, creating a large dent in the metal floor. “Well, duh, Sherlock! Your own teammates attacking you!” He yelled at himself as he got to his feet, his knees still shaky, but still active enough to leap over the one of the computers as he dodged the Slight’s attack as he slings the computer monitor that Charles had slammed into at him. “Why isn’t he using his powers? He has a whole lake right outside and yet he’s using pure strength…but why?” As he thought about this, he found himself caught off guard as Slight literally rips one of the metal chairs from the floor, slinging it at Charles. “Uh-oh!” He managed to yell out as he threw his shield up, letting it take the main force of the impact, but still sending him flay across the room. Slamming against one of the glass observation windows, Charles let out a slight scream of pain as he felt a sharp striking pain shot up through his spin and back, his shield falling from his hands and unto the floor as his body slammed onto the metal floor once more.

With a loud THUD! Slight landed right in front of Charles after leaping across the room. Grabbing Charles by his neck, he held him up off the ground, his hand tightly grasping around his neck, his grip tightening as he began to try and suffocate Charles. Blood running from his mouth, down his cheek and onto the floor, the young hero tried desperately to gasp for air, only spitting up blood instead. His hands grasping Slight’s hand which was wrapped tightly around his neck, trying to pry it off, but having no luck. His lungs giving out, Charles knew he was running out of time, he had to think! He couldn’t let it end like that! Not when he has a whole team counting on him! His hand shaking as his eyes looked upon Slight wide open as the life in his eyes began to fade, Charles could feel his hand moving across his belt, searching desperately for something to use, anything! Slight looked upon the defeated hero with a sinister smile upon his face, but his eyes shot open as is grasp around Charles’ neck loosened. His head shaking, Slight slowly began to look down, shocked to see his chest had been punctured by none other than Charles’ Kabar knife sticking out of his chest. And like dominoes, the two slammed onto the ground, gasping for the air he could now have, Charles held onto his neck as he began to cough and choke erratically, spitting up more blood from his mouth as his lungs began to receive air once more.

Leaning up against the wall, Charles looked over to his knife sticking out Slight’s chest, shaking his head in disbelief; he slowly crawled over to Slight’s now dead body. Slowly pulling the knife out, only to be shocked to see that the blood which covered his knife’s blade was not red…but green! Looking back at Slight in confusion, he jumped back slightly as Slight’s dead eyes turned black and his skin morphed into a more green colored state. His eyes wide open, Charles moved over towards the dead body, still confused at what had happened, but he knew exactly what he was looking at, “Skrull.” Looking over at the computer screen, seeing the map that had this ship arrive here, seeing this Skrull disguised as his fellow teammate, he quickly realized, “Oh, No! I just walked my whole team into a freakin’ trap!!!!” Shouting that out loud, he grabbed his shield as he jumped to his feet, jolting towards the door, only to stop dead in his tracks as the doors immediately closed shut! “No!” Charles shouted as he bagged against the metal door, slamming his shield upon it, trying to break his way through, but he quickly felt a sharp pain run up through his body, the beating he had taken from the Skrull Slight had done more damage than he had at first realized. Thinking fast, he pulling out his communicator, “This is War Killer calling to everyone, get away from the ships! Get away from the ships! It’s a Trap! I repeat! It’s a Trap!!!” But all he heard was static from his communicator, which only made him worry more, his team was walking right into a trap and he now had no one to warn them.

“Oh, don’t worry about them, hero…” Looking up, Charles’ day just got worse as he saw himself looking up at three men who looked just like him! “…no, it’s yourself that you should be worrying about.” Said one of the Skrull War Killer’s as he they all three stood over Charles, who simply looked up at his three wannabe’s in absolute confusion, “Man….I really hate this job...”

Somewhere in Peru

As more and more team members began to file into the hangar area, just outside of the jets airspace, War Killer began the introduction, expected by all. Slight was actually glad that it was he who was in charge. As many times as he promised himself that he would be a 'team player' and 'follow' Eclipse, there was still the resistant part of him that would have never allowed it to happen. The two of them had never gotten along, and it was a shame too, he seemed like, on rare occasion to be someone that Slight would like. Back in Lebanon Kansas, where Warsman had attacked, Slight saw that part in him, but in the months between then and now, their already unstable relationship became non existent. But with War Killer in charge, he was much more at ease with the idea of being lead.  
 
“Alright, well I’ll try to make this quick since we need to leave right away. But first I’d like to thank you all for being able to make it, I’m new at this and I don’t know most of you very well, but I hope to learn more about you as we work together more in the field, and hopefully be able to earn all of your trust along the way. I was informed on my way up here that Risky will be unable to make it, and I haven’t heard anything from Con or Closure which means we’re going to be doing this mission without them for now. And as for Cly, I don’t know where--" Avery was much more concerned with actually getting to the where they were going. So, whatever it was WK was talking about now, could be drowned out. That was a habit of his, not listening. One that he never cared to fix, but one that he knew would be a problem in the future.   
 
They all boarded the jet, and War Killer sat in the cockpit, toying with the buttons before taking off. Slight sat in the very back of the plane. Another habit of his. The stand offish nature that usually reared its head when he was put into situations like this, being on a team, having someone tell him what to do. As they took off, Slight peered out the window to see Cly and Esmerelda trailing behind them. It was such a cool thing to see, dragons were supposed to be of myth and legend but again, in this world he wouldn't have been surprised to see Ninja turtles.  
 
War Killer began to speak again, this time about the actual mission. Slight listened intently, or as much as he could. There was something mesmerizing about flying without actually doing so; about being in the air, but having a comfortable chair to sit on and relax while gliding upon the currents. Investigate. Contain if necessary. Hotaru, War Killer. That was all he needed to know, with his attention being drawn by the nature outside the metal bird. The rows of seats in front of him obscured his vision of the holographic projection that War Killer had pulled up, but Slight payed attention anyway. He watched the topography, mapping it out in his mind. And then the plane landed. As they filled out, WK had one more note of precaution. If anything should go wrong, which Slight didn't think would, they were to contact the members of the team informing them of the situation. It seemed leader-ee- enough, and so they were off in different directions.  
 
As they walked, Slight noticed Wars's face. His expression was one of confusion, and Slight knew why. The location did not match the holoprojection at all. The tree population was much less dense, and the area was sculpted with hills. Although odd, it wasn't anything that would impede their mission. The other member of the mini team, Hotaru, Feral Nova's daughter, hadn't said a word since they arrived. In fact, Slight didn't even know what she sounded like; but he knew what was going on. Her timidity to speak was just a defense mechanism for her hurt. The pain of not knowing whether your mother is dead or alive is something no one should have to go through. But so many of them had. Slight knew that viral depression all too well. He had lost his family more than two years ago. Maybe it was why he was the way he was. The knowledge of loss and guilt are powerful things, and to deal with them one needs time to grieve. His was done, although he loved them all dearly, and missed them a lot, he had moved on. And as cold as it sounded, the heart can't last in sorrow.  
 
Taking it upon himself to help her in her grieving process he walked up beside her. "I knew your mother. She was an amazing woman." She gave no response, and so he continued. "I know what that feels like, what you're going through. I lost all of my family, but I can tell you this, as bad as it seems now, things will get better. Always remember that. Even a little is still better." War Killer was up ahead, and Slight caught up, leaving her behind with his words. They came upon the ship. It was demolished, and rightly so. Anything that crashed from way up in the atmosphere should be. Guiding them closer to the entrance, looking to be where the door was, War Killer was silent for a bit then handed out the orders. He and Hotaru would investigate inside, while Slight was to stay exteriorly.   
 
He waited, and wondered what the other team was doing. He wondered if they were as bored as he was. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Slight looked over his shoulder after hearing footsteps from the darkened abyss that was deeper within the ship. There was not a lot of time between War Killer giving them the orders, and him hearing the footsteps but he really hoped that they, or either Hotaru or WK' were heading his way. He knew that the ship was too big to see within that short period of time, so he thought it was one of them coming back, most likely War to get some kind of equipment from the ship, allowing them to see better. But, on the other hand; conversation, a friendly face something that would break the banality of the Brummel laconic sights was what he desired right now. The footsteps continued to grow louder, signaling they were closer, or at least one of them was.  
 
Not actually expecting survivors form any kind of crash, especially form one as harsh as this one. His expectations were more or less metaphorically solidified, when only Hotaru's head reared from the mangled door that was. Slight immediately felt uncomfortable. Not because she made him feel that way, but because there as an instant ominous energy that fell over him when he saw her, but he ignored it. Unsure of what to say to her, he kept silent. "How is your family"? Again he was put off by such an absurd question. It wasn't even a half an our prior to telling her about his ordeal. And what's more, Slight knew of Hotaru's secret, but not so secret anguish, and he'd tried to help, and for her to ask a question as blatantly mean as this was unexpected.  
 
He gave her the benefit of the doubt, maybe like he had done so often before, she had drowned him out, and was her attempt to break the proverbial ice. But what came next was absolutely, shockingly out of line. All of this time, he hadn't spoken to her, half heartedly feeling a little threatened, and wanting to kick her teeth in, she had the audacity to say "You will be with them soon" His brow furrowed into a grimace. He looked up at her, in a way that had to scream "Would you like me to kill you now or a little bit later"? Now speaking, "What the hell are you talking about. You know what happened to my family, because I just told you like twenty minutes ago." Suddenly, Hotaru jumped down from her perch upon the ship, in an instant attack.  
 
Hotaru's face had changed now. From a complacent look to one of intent to cause pain. Her sleek body descended on top of him. Slight collapsed to the ground on his back, the wind knocked out of him, and the daughter of one of his idolatries startling his stomach pummeling his face into the ground. Pushing her off of him with all of his might, he got up, rubbing his face vehemently trying to assuage the stinging pain. Her strength was surpising, but Slight had fought Feral Nova before, and so he just though it was hereditary or something. Hotaru began to taunt him with dirty comment, a verbal assault that no one should have to endure. "Your mother was a whore" When they died, none of them remembered you" "Even if they were still alive, do you think they would approve of your lifestyle" That last one, among all of the verbal abuse, was a sore thumb among numb fingers. No one but a couple of people knew that Slight was gay, and Hotaru was definitely one of them that didn't know.  
 
Instead of using words, the Hydro Hero decided that the time had come for physical confrontation. She had attacked him without cause, and he knew she knew better. Something inside of him told him to go all out. He reached out to his side, the snow began to shift and lift. It rose into the air, forming an icicle. Slight flung it at Hotaru, impaling her breast, and propelling her body up against the ship. The icicle pinned her there, and Slight walked up to her. Noticing an immediate change in her face, from a pretty young girl, to a monstrous alien visage. Something was wrong here, and if this wasn't the real Hotaru them where was the real one, and if she, it, had attacked him, what the hell was going on inside the ship.  
 
 "Come in" "War Killer, Charles can you reply...What's the situation. Hotaru. Anyone" Before he entered the ship, Slight sent a message to the other half of the team. "Everyone be direly careful. There is something very wrong here. I don't know if you noticed but this isn't at all what the topographic map showed us, and now there are" He paused wondering if they would believe him. " aliens copying how we look, and trying to kill us. I'm going to go look for Hotaru and Charles in the ship." With no response from any of his messages, Slight began to worry, maybe this was more than just a crashed ship? Whatever it was, it had the stench of baleful rot all over it. 

Crazys hands were shaking and the gun raddled between his palms as he held it to the mans head. Sov in a stern tone barked at Crazy "You will fall in! He is taken care of, they all are Crazy." Crazy pressed the barrel of the gun to the mans head and squeezed the trigger slightly. The sound of the trigger reverberating within the mans head, tears streamed down his face "I swear I didnt hurt anyone!! It wasnt me!!" Crazy roared an picked up the man by the shirt "DIDNT HURT ANYONE?!" Pistol whipping the man across the face he barks "ONE HUNDRED! ONE F!@KING HUNDRED!!" He slams the man into the wall his fists balled up in the mans shirt he throttles him "Those children will NEVER be the same again because of men like you and those who followed you!! They are scarred for life, and you tell me that you didnt hurt anyone?!" Putting the gun to his head again he went to squeeze the trigger when SS grabbed his wrist, their was a cold deathly silence in the room. At this time it was only Sov and Crazy Eights dealing with the leader of the rink, the others had been given orders to leak it to everyone and Crazys role was to leak it to the press after they were done here.  
 
"Mike...remove your hand and let me do this. The world will be better without this sick f@#king bastard, after Im finished I will do my job." Mike squeezed a little bit harder and Crazy looked at him out of the corner of his eye "You will do as you are ordered! Release him and holster your gun NOW!" Crazy stared at the man that had scarred hundreds of children for the rest of their lives....then he pulled the hammer back an holstered his gun. Glaring strong at Sov..he walked away towards the door then stopped. Flicking his wrist a throwing knife slide down his sleeve and into his palm, he spun fast and launched the knife. It slammed with a loud thud into the mans groin and pinned him to the wall that was behind him. Screaming loud in pain an agony he cursed an cried as he tried to remove the knife, Crazy didnt smile as he normally would of he simply opened the door an turned his head so that Sovereign could hear him "He can still speak in court, just wanted to remove his weapon so he could never hurt another living soul." Crazy slammed the door behind him. 
 
Lighting a cig as they flew home the flight was all too quiet, they all had done their jobs. Crazy wanted to do more but he knew they couldnt, if they killed them all they would never get their day in court which in his mind was sh!t. The scumbags should all rot six feet under with a bullet hole between their eyes. A text came on his phone and he read it "It is done old buddy, we destroyed their other bases." Crazy had contacted an old friend as he was making his way to a pay phone to leak the information about the pedo rink, he wanted for sure that no one would ever pick up where they left off. Once Mike found out what he did he would be furious with him, something they would get over soon. And soon all the memories of what happen that day left as they landed, and Chevie smiled at him. The little cuss was the sweetest thing he had ever seen in his life, but something was off her smile. He shook it off thinking it was the stress of the day an ruffed her hair up a bit before making his way to the locker room. Going through his locker and finishing he went into Mikes, he had figured out his code a long time ago when the man was drunk and he asked for it. All he gave then were clues that were not so subtle an he took the package out from his locker an left the Locker room. Tossing the package to Sov he told him it was sitting in his locker, Sov stared at him probably wondering how he knew the code. Chuckling as he walked away he made it to his room JUST as the intercom went off and told it was time to go.  
 
Their mission was to stop an army of rebels in Peru, using children to do their dirty work. Ignoring the intercom for a moment he walked into his room and changed into a custom made outfit, one that had dozens of slots for knives an daggers. He put on a belt an body strap that held a total of 6 guns, he was going to make this personal. Up close and Personal, because after what he saw today anyone who messed with children specially children Chevies age were going to regret it. And nothing Sov told him or ordered him to do was going to stop him, snapping a varied amount of knives an daggers into their slots he walked out of his room and towards the hanger. Mary chimmed in "Jacob....were going to make them all bleed right?" Jacob in total control answered "Yes we are going to kill every single one of them." 

Open Sky

She dipped her right wing, and glided left, closing the distance between dragon and chopper. Slowing down at the same pace as the copter, she fluttered the ends of her wings and hovered in mid-air like a butterfly. A fifteen foot gap was between Esmeralda and the chopper. Cly waved a hand to one of the men inside, and jumped. Landing on his hands, he slowly lowered his legs to the ground, then stood on his feet. He greeted the three passengers and one driver with a friendly tone. "Hello soldiers! What brings you through these skies?" One of the soldiers, the one with a M4 in his hand, said quickly, "Test run of the new support chopper, Dragon Rider." Cly's eyes drifted from one to the other, looking carefully at each one. He said smoothly, "Really? Then why do you have all these weapons?" Motioning with his left hand towards boxes filled with assault rifles. A different soldier spoke, one with a half used, lit cigarette in his mouth. "They were already on the chopper, for simulation purposes." The rider looked at the smoker, who looked serious as a hardened Army soldier could. Cly put his hand on the foregrip of the M4 in the man's hand. "Mind if I look at it?" The soldier hesitantly let it go, and Cly brought it to his shoulder. He pointed it towards Esmeralda, and pulled the trigger.

BANG! A 0.223 bullet shot out and ricocheted off of her dragon scales. "Simulation? With live rounds?" The third of the men reached for a handgun and pulled it out. It was quickly stopped by Cly's hand. "Ah ah ah." He grabbed hold of the man's wrist, twisted it, and in moments, had taken down all three of them to the floor of the helicopter. The fifteen year old dragon cried out, >>Look out Cly!<< He looked towards the driver, who had turned around in his seat and held a RPG. In a humorous tone, Cly said, "Wait...are you serious? This isn't Halo were you can use rockets at close range and survive." The driver didn't respond, but it was already too late. The rocket at the end of the launcher fell to the floor, severed in half, unable to be used. Cly finished sheathing his sword. "I'm fast with my sword." Cly took down the pilot and took control of the helicopter. Minutes later, he landed it to the ground, and sent out a message for police to come pick them up. The pilot called out, "Wait! How did you know we had stolen the helicopter?" He smiled. "First off, Army guys today wear digital camo, and that's woodland, second..." He continued to go on for tens of seconds. Esmeralda nudged him with one of her claws. >>Ahem...we are suppose to be at the Champion Tower...right now!<< His eyes widened. "Whoops! Let's go."

Champion Tower

Descending through two large metal doors, Esmeralda landed to the ground softly. War Killer looked towards them. “Perfect timing, Cly. We were just about to leave.” The team leader smiled, and made his way towards the team jet. He looked back at the dragon and knight. “Alright team, let’s get a move on! I’ll give you all a run down on our mission once we get airborne. Cly, I guess you’ll just have to follow behind us, I don’t think she’s going to fit in this puppies’ cargo bay.” Esmeralda looked at War Killer, then at the jet, then back at War Killer. >>Thank you for not forcing me to cram in that contraption.<< She let out a puff of smoke shaped like a heart that drifted towards War Killer's face and dissipated upon contact. Cly looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "What exactly was that?" She shrugged her shoulders. >>Was what?<< War Killer entered the jet, along with the rest of the team, and took off. Esmeralda extended her wings, and followed.

She didn't have a problem keeping up with the jet, having demonstrated flying at Mach 3. Activating their communicators, Cly and Esmeralda listened in on the mission briefing that War Killer was telling the team. They would be teamed up with Charge Up and Guyver. The rider used to be the leader of the team We Are Legend, and knew Guyver well. Charge Up on the other hand, he didn't know her really at all. Moving from riding on his dragon's back to riding on the top, sides, underside, and wings of the jet kept himself entertained. He was even tempted to use his sword to carve logos of Champions of Peace into the frame of the jet, but was warned by Esmeralda that any change to the body of the jet would change it's aerodynamics significantly. He agreed. Soon after, the air changed from cool to cold. Snow filled the land as far as the eye could see, they had entered Alaska.

Alaska

Landing into the snow, everyone piled out of the jet. War Killer spoke, “Okay, Slight and Hotaru, you two are with me. Everyone else, you’re with, Cly. Keep in contact with your communicators, if you find anything suspicious, contact the other team. And watch each other’s backs at all times.” The knight nodded his head, and said to War Killer. "I'll keep in contact." He then went off with his group and said to Charge Up, "Guyver already knows this, but Esmeralda over there only kills what she eats. And she doesn't eat humans." Fluttering a short distance up in the air, Esmeralda looked down. >>You know I can hear you, right? I'm not some mindless beast that is driven by instinc...A SNACK!!!<< She dropped down to the snow and ran far ahead, up over a hill. When the rest of the team caught up, all that was left of the moose was bones. Esmeralda said, still chewing the last of the moose meat. >>I take it that's part of the ship?<< Cly looked around at the damage that the aircraft had caused in it's landing. Debris, cleared out snow, and toppled trees. The rider said eagerly, "Charge Up, Guyver, Esmeralda, let's split up and search."

"What is this...?" Cly said, alone, as he ran his fingers along some of the high tech equipment in the downed half of the plane. Being different than any technology he had seen, the knight continued to search, and stopped in front of two large, thick metal tanks. He withdrew his sword, and slit one of them. Fluid trickled out, which he set his fingers in, then smelled. "Not like any kind of fuel I've encountered." He paused as he heard the sound of footsteps. It was Charge Up, along with Guyver standing beside her. He looked surprised. "Finished already you two? Find anything worth while?" Charge nodded, and continued to walk towards Cly. "Yes, we found a very rare creature." The knight looked interested. "What is it? And where is it now?" Guyver said coldly, "A dragon." Cly's eyes widened. They both jumped at him at the same time. He was too stunned to react, and was slammed down against the ground. Guyver quickly stood to his feet and stomp kicked Cly in the face, a distraction for Charge Up. She grabbed hold of the rider's legendary sword, the sharpest sword in existence, and pulled it from the sheath. With a mighty swing, she swung it towards Cly's neck and took off his head. Or rather, she would have, but his sword didn't seem to be sharp, and hit his neck like a baseball bat. Cly coughed up blood as his wind pipe was crushed. Any normal human would be beyond their capacity to continue fighting, but Cly was not any normal human, he was a normal human that had the willpower of an army. Charge yelled in rage, "Why is it so dull?" And took another swing towards his neck.

Catch! Between his pointer finger and middle finger on his right hand, Cly caught hold of his blade. With pain, but not anger, he twirled his sword around in his hand until he was holding the handle. With a flick of his wrist, he cut Charge's hands, shallow but painful, and stood to his feet. Guyver threw a punch behind Cly, which was blocked, and countered with a bash to the head with the handle of his sword. Guyver went out cold. Charge had pulled out some strange weapon, and had her finger on the trigger. With a wave of his sword, she screamed, as her weapon fell into two pieces along with her trigger finger. Seizing the oppurtunity, he took her off her feet with a sweep kick, then knocked her out as well. He would have normally said something humorous, but his mouth was filled with blood, and he couldn't speak. He cuffed them and eyed them over. What he saw next made him happy and sad at the same time. The two who had assaulted him were not Charge Up and Guyver, but beings with the ability to take on different forms. Skrulls. He reached for his communicator, and it was all static. Cly stumbled outside, leaving a trail of blood, and looked around for any signs of the rest of his squad. A pillar of smoke blew up from the snowy ground a hundred feet off. When Cly arrived, he stuck his sword in the ground, and made a large circle in the snow. The snow fell down, as if held up, and revealed a large space filled with all sorts of dangerous weapons and traps, oh yeah, and Esmeralda. 

In a distant possible future where thugs own the streets of Champion City, deaths have become the common fade, and skrulls roam through the night and day.  In the center of all this sudden misfortune, three mercenaries skip across the rooftops.  Clara Mass, Cell Phone Girl, and the Dark Huntress search the perimeter to make a clean escape.  On their trail are the malevolent green creatures of another world.  Withholding a wide array of alien tech and locked on the females.  The trio of warrior women quickly jump off a high roof and into the darkness. 
 
Blair screams like a baby at a PG-13 movie but is soothed when she lands safely on the concrete floor.  "Your welcome hun"  Clarice kisses her on the forehead and signals her two allies to follow.  However, the trained redheaded fighter is startled by the appearance of a large bouncer.  He was indeed human and was working as the main guard of a skrull's night club.  "Lady your kind aren't allowed here.  Get the hell back before I'm--"  The Dark Huntress kicks the man across the chin, karate kid style, and stretches her limbs immediately after the rapid assault.  Cell Phone Girl upset over the action slaps Cassidy's forehead.  "What was the point to that you nimrod?"   
 
The now offended agnostic young woman pointed to the open door.  "The supposed Mistress Redhead is in there you dumbass.  This is the only way to kick her ass.  Its guerilla warfare ladies"  They walk in watching for any sudden movements but a large receding curtain reveals their presence.   
 
Posed like Charlie's Angels the band of misfits confusingly stare at the crowd of alien conquerors.  In the center is a redheaded madame clapping and simply smiling with not a single worry in her world.  "Sing puppets!  Sing!"  Clara Mass grinned, Cell Phone Girl pouted, and the Dark Huntress began to sing.  "Follow my lead"  She whispers to her nervous teammates trying to soothe their minds. 
 
Snapping her finger in a diva fashion, Cassidy commands the music player.  "Give me a sexy beat!  Now good evening all you alien freaks I hope you don't make me dessert.  I'm here to sing such a song that ya never heard before!"  Twirling into the center is the beautiful Blair in a ill-tempered mood.  "Who needs a man when you gotta skrull?  I never knew how strong you were tell I met the Queen.  For those who scare and terrorize...kudos to you!"  Getting closer and closer to Mistress Redhead, the redheaded Clarice takes the lead.  "Its a dawn of a brand new age and its time you knew!!"  Together in harmony they sing that slow final note.  "That the one and only Champions of Peace are back in town!  Blam!"   
 
A bullet shreds the flesh of their major enemy and like a ghost they were gone and soon the vision ends as fast as it had begun 
 
Present Day:   A demon princess lost in a faraway land, the redheaded reality-warper arrives in the middle of Champion City, marvelous indeed but the atmosphere felt insidious.  Frazzled by the chaos illuminating in her conscious, Clara Mass massages her temples in order to reestablish her mind-set.  A vision of death, torture, and disassembly with a hint of a musical manifested inside her head but disappeared as fast as it had arrived.  Cracking her fingers as well as neck the trained mercenary is released from her trance as she looks above to see such a wondrous sight.  
 
Champion Tower as most have called it holds a legion of super-heroes prepared for combat and always trained for any worse case scenario.  However, would they know of an invasive attack on Earth?  Was it possible that their ranks were already adulterated by the alien seed?  Laying her hand on her left ear the uncertain aunt checked for disturbing air frequencies.  From frightful quivers to loud thuds a confused relative of Closure was now frantic.  Slapping her face the former agent of Sector Eleven regained her composure.  
 
I've fought the Breaker Envoy of Sentron as well as his brother in hand-to-hand combat.  Therefore, stopping his assault on Earth while other heroes were off fighting a war on Ninjeta.  I have spit in the face of death itself.  I have dealt with much worse!  I was once the sole leader of a group of trained killers, I can handle this.  I can bend reality to my will!  I'm Clara Mass and it is time everyone else knew that but instead of making a cocky entrance, I need to figure out if anyone else is having the same problem like me.  I think I hear some-- 
 
A little girl in a petrified tone tries contacting an outside source but it goes right to voice mail.  She leaves a message so scared that no one will come.  The glass beside her shatters as an exhausted Clarice Michelle Zeraz intrudes the premises.  Using her powers can often cause trauma or weakness but this time it was just dizziness.  Invading Champion Tower was rather easy compared to ordering a happy meal at Burger King.  Insistent on aiding the frightened child the redheaded Clara Mass places her hand on the kid's shoulder. 
 
"Don't be scared I'm here to help"  Looking at the direction from which the girl stared the redheaded oracle could see an odd figured female.  "I think I can help save the day but kid where's your daddy?"  On the other side of Chevie was a the young woman that was Cell Phone Girl who was also concerned with the state of Mistress Redhead's daughter.   
 
"Hi there stranger.  Have you seen the ugly green lady?"

Vine City

“So, where have you been all this time?” Eclipse asked casually as he telekinetically tossed one of the villain’s henchmen into a wall.

“Honestly? No clue. Maybe I got abducted by spider-aliens and they wiped my memory…” Arach-Knight replied, vaulting over a crowbar-wielding goon and firing a few web bullets at a colourfully dressed criminal.

“You dare strike El Chupacabra?!” The villain screeched. He was dressed in a colourful and spiky variation of a costume that looked remarkably like Zorro’s.

“What’s up with this guy’s accent, anyhow?” The Knight asked Eclipse, acting as though El Chupacabra wasn’t in the room. “He’s clearly Australian, but he’s got a Spanish name?”

“Not to mention that chupa-cabra literally translates to: ‘goat-sucker’” Jason chuckled.

“Ha! Learn something new every day!” Drew grinned as he fired a web line at the villain’s head. El Chupacabra was so surprised by the actual meaning of his name that he didn’t even react to this. “Seems you and the Titans did a great job cleaning up this city. The villains here used to actually be threats.” The spider-themed hero added as he pulled his target closer with the web, smashing his knee into the criminal’s head.

“Yeah, the earthquake I told you about really brought all the major players out of the woodwork.” Jason nodded, taking care of the last few lucratively dressed henchmen with his hands. Since the change in costume he had abandoned most of his gadgets and relied on his powers and hand-to-hand fighting. “All in all, it actually worked out pretty well for Vine City. The death toll wasn’t even in double digits and, while the property damage was unavoidable, the good news is that most of the villains here are in custody.”

“The bad news is that there’s no-one decent to fight around here anymore.” Arach-Knight replied, nudging the unconscious goat-sucker with his foot.

“Well, if you’re looking to get back into superheroing, I can help you out.” Eclipse smiled mysteriously.

Champion City

“Wow.” Drew gaped at the huge city, the skies and the ground full of superheroes. “Dude. Did you guys just recruit anyone in a pair of tights?”

“We’re a little more specific than that, but I guess you summed it up pretty well.” Jason grinned at the expression on Arach-Knight’s masked face, clearly visible even through the fabric. “Anyway, since Kurrent left recently, I’m one of the three big leaders. So, if you wanted to be a member…?”

“Hell yeah!” Andrew immediately responded.

“Excellent!” Jason’s smile widened. “Well, basically, we split the team up into squad’s, since--” Eclipse paused with a frown as he noticed his friend’s expression change. He appeared to be in pain, or recalling a painful memory. “Drew?” The young hero asked cautiously.

“Hnn? I’mma… I’m fine!” Arach-Knight replied, shaking his head like a dog trying to dry itself of water. “It’s just… I dunno… Will you think I’m crazy if I mention the phrase: ‘voices in my head’?”

“We live in a crazy world.” Eclipse shrugged, not taking his eyes off his friend. “What kind of voices?”

“I think… They want me to do something.” Drew said finally. “Can’t make out what it is they want but… It’s something. Something important. Like my whole life boils down to this one thing that I’ve got to do. You of all people know how that feels.”

“You’ve got that right.” Eclipse agreed “Though since you left I found that my destiny wasn’t exactly what I was always told--”

“Wait.” Drew suddenly said, in a voice not quite his own. “I… I feel like I already know what it is I have to do… I just don’t want to do it. It goes against my principles, against who I am. I’d never be able to live with myself if I went ahead with it. I feel like I need to warn you. There’s a terrible danger approaching, but… Agh!” Arach-Knight lashed out at the air with his fists. “I don’t know what it is!”

“Hey, Drew, calm down.” Eclipse grabbed his friend by the shoulders firmly. “We’ve got plenty of telepaths around here, we’ll figure this out. Oh!” Jason slapped a hand to his forehead. “But before I forget, there’s someone you need to see. She’ll kill me otherwise!”

“Ah!” Arach-Knight replied enthusiastically, seeming like he was returning to his old self. “How is Blair?”   
 

Champion Tower

  
With a flash of red light, Eclipse teleported himself and Arach-Knight into the tower. Quickly locating CellPhoneGirl and her squad, the Phenoms, the two young heroes ran over to Blair as Arach-Knight threw his arms wide open, ready to hug his old friend and fellow Titan founder. Eclipse, meanwhile, spotted Chevie Lockhart, the daughter of Mistress Redhead and Sovereign Son. She appeared to be pretty distraught. Using his nano-suit Eclipse was easily able to keep up with events within the team, so he knew that Sov Son was out on a mission with the Shadow Squad. Redhead should still be in the Tower, so the question was why Chevie had gone to find Blair instead of her mom. "What's wrong with your mom, Chev?" Jason asked, easily deducing that to be the cause of her misery. He bent down and sat of his heels so he was eye-level with the young girl. 
"She..." Chevie seemed to be having trouble getting the words out, or even processing what had happened. "Just, come down to the sub-basement. I'll show you." 
"The sub-basement? But that's where the containment cells are... Why would--?" But Chevie had turned away and began to lead the way down to the cells. "Come on team." Eclipse said to CellPhoneGirl, Arach-Knight and the assembled Phenoms.

  Looking down the hall she saw a woman walking towards the two, positioning herself in front of Chevie she waited to see who it was. ""Hi there stranger.  Have you seen the ugly green lady?" Blair flinched when she heard Clara call her stranger, so she figured that the woman might have forgotten her, unless if she calls everyone that. "Stranger? Wow Clara, and what do you mean by ugly green lady?" Puzzled, she quickly glanced back to check to see if Chevie was still behind her. Then looking over the girl, she saw two guys standing not to far from Chevie.


"Hey Blairy" The teenager froze in place as her jaw suddenly dropped. It was her old friend Arach-Knight, he had gone missing for quite some time now. Him disappearing on the team was one of the many reasons why Blair has some abandonment issues, even when he wrapped his arms around her she just didn't know what to exactly say to him. After all of this time she thought about the many things she could say to him, asking him why he left, to where did the spider-aliens take him to.


 The day he went missing was actually the day Blair planned to confess her feelings towards the guy, for months after he was gone she would not give up on finding her friend. She stayed up endless nights with Eclipse searching, looking for whatever clues to where he might have went. After a while she just figured that he might have died somewhere, though wouldn't they have at least found his body by now? 


When he pulled away from hugging her, tears began to uncontrollably fall from her shocked eyes. "Drew... is it.. really you?" She pushed herself into his arms once again, with her right hand she lightly touched the back of his head. With her left hand she gently lifted his mask til it reached his pale nose, she moved in to kiss him on the lips. Then she carefully pulled back, and stared right at him. "Drew.. I've been waiting a year to tell you the way i felt. But why did you leave us? Where the Hell did you go? 
 
 
  When she then noticed Eclipse talking to Chevie, she felt that she would have to wait to hear his answer, and focus on what happened to the girl. "Just, come down to the sub-basement. I'll show you." "The sub-basement? But that's where the containment cells are... Why would--?" After he replied to Chevie, she just ran heading towards the basement. "Something crazy is going on here isn't it?"

Underground Laboratories

Alaska

the city of angels, a town of many people and most that you would never expect to see. Stars and fakes and strange people, Gerald was no stranger to the crazies that had lurked there. He was an average joe on a team of the most powerful people the earth could gather for the most part. Gerald had always demanded respect and now he had gotten it he was second in command of the Guardians and way proud of himself for doing so, he treated himself to fine wine and as he sipped it gagged and and said “this is disgusting.” Now he remembered why he wasn’t into drinking alcohol at all really, it was the damn bitter and warm feeling it gave him after sipping it.

Looking at his alarm he had seen that nothing was happening and had waited to pass the time by doing something fun. He went on a patrol of the streets but as usual the streets where clean since they where aware of the new hunter on the streets Gerald. He’d cleared out nearly every gang and drug ring that had kept the vile streets running clean of drugs and crime in the last few weeks. He got a ringer on his alert, time to go back to the base, a portal had opened before him with a swirl of colors blue and orange like a nice twist of the two, he stepped between it and he was at the Guardians satellite. Gerald had gotten nauseous and thrown up everywhere because..that’s what happens when you portal travel, for the most part.

Gerald saw his friend Strafe there someone he hadn’t seen in quite some time, it felt good to have a friend around him who had been a rookie at the same time as him and had witnessed all the things he had for the most part. They had been on some extremely tough missions together and had even fought in the past, thought it was a sparring match. Strafe was the closest thing to a best friend he had the team and it felt good to have that, so he had someone to relate with Gerald had wanted to know   Strafe had been throughout the time in his somewhat noticeable absence from fighting the good fight. Gerald heard over the speaker and his communicator "Space suit up! We're going to Mars." It was the head honcho supposedly Nobody, who Gerald had also worked with in the past when he was an ICE Dragon, they where seemingly family due to the commitment that it takes when they where there.

They had stepped into the space ship looking upon the glistening white tiles and seeing all of his team members abroad the ship Gerald sat down at the control of the ship and blasted toward mars, onto the distance he had seen all sorts of things that space could offer, the stars moons and various other things..he could see earth shining as bright and beautiful as ever…the next stop was Mars and what awaited them nobody could have seen coming.

Con returned to his office in the Wallace Enterprises corporate building to find a letter at his desk. The letter read of an enticing future for all heroes, a team that could truly make a difference. Next was a meeting with Mistress Redhead, an old friend he had met through Sovereign Son many years ago. He agreed to the idea and told WAL of his choice. Then he found himself chasing after lowlife scum to get his children of another life back. He fought through hundreds of goons to reach the well connected kidnapper. Con was standing in front of Mr. Big, his children behind him, his men encroaching on the position. In the confusion of his men entering the premises Mr. Big escaped. Constantine's children were safe and he was on the hunt. He awoke to a punch, blood spurted from his mouth, everywhere was sore, he could feel a point in his neck where he'd been injected, Con was drugged. The walls were dark and dingy and he received yet another punch to the face making his head roll, he struggled to pull loose from the chair he was tied to. Mr. Big knew something he didn't. The boss stood over the chair he was tied to, laughing, as Con received another flurry of punches, blood dripped from his nose and mouth and cuts across his face, he stared deep into Mr. Big's eyes and told him there was no mercy for him, there was something different but familiar about the foe. Then Con drew his eyes away from Mr. Big's, he now stood in a very fancy room, the back wall simply glass, Con had bought down Mr. Big's corporation and as he stood with his hands firmly clasped around the crime lord's neck, choking the life from him, he felt nothing but the need for revenge, whilst his children were saved the harm was already done. Then Mr. Big flew, Con let go and he crashed through the window, gliding through the air, he splatted against the cold hard pavement of London streets. Woman's screams and peoples gasps tore through the cold night air and everyone looked up at the twenty story building and they saw Constantine, standing high and mighty as always, the decider of who lives and who dies. The balance.
 
A couple of days later as Constantine brought down six armed men robbing a bank in broad daylight, his fists pounding into their skulls, their blood in the streets, mixing with that of the twenty innocents they killed, he was surrounded by police and as the sixth man came down, with two broken knees and a minor concussion, they raised arms telling him to raise his. He stayed in a cell overnight, not sleeping, he did not need it, he looked up at the moon and reminisced, of times on the moon, of distant stars, of Earthly adventures and all the times he had been put in a cell. He knew what was wrong, Britain was going through a new age, rebuilding an empire with Sir Scott Wallace to lead, the most productive Prime Minister to date. After Judgment Day, when Rina tried to ruin everything, Con and his soldiers of Wallace Enterprises managed to take control of the situation and save Britain from itself, so as the last PM turned out to be a dragon and half of the candidacy wiped out, Britain's government had no where to turn and the Queen and Parliament appointed owner of Wallace Enterprises, Scott Wallace, to lead the way just as he did on J-Day, with that Scott and, ironically, Constantine were appointed the high honour of Knighthood and Britain has been peaceful since. So it was time to get rid of Constantine's brutish antics.
 
Constantine sat in the cell, unmasked, but the face underneath was unknown, he appeared to be ruggedly handsome, more so than the average Joe, with luscious blond locks of medium length, brushed behind his ears drawn back so none would blur his vision, his eyes were a deep chocolate brown that could be endlessly stared into and to top it off he had a bristly blond beard with flecks of gray at the chin, as well as a few scars around eyes, mouth and neck. He figured as the symbol of Constantine had been around for over two decades he might as well look the part, nobody knew that he had only taken over from his past self a year ago. The records would have minimum, he was a hack job, Michael Hayden Constantine, unemployed for the majority of his life, uneducated, orphaned at birth, raised in St Almonds Orphanage (A Wallace owned organization), where Mrs. Haggard will tell you he was always quiet and inconspicuous, a trait he'd apparently always posses, he was a bum, living on the streets, crime fighting was his life, he stole what he needed to get by, he has no dental records, no listed family, he was once a janitor of Southend High School, worked in a retail store, had a short and classified contract with the government, he had infiltrated Wallace Enterprises by working with them and stealing gadgets, but he was most notably (on record) Michael Constantine PRD(Paranormal Research Detective), a supernatural hunter, who ran a back alley business for five years but eventually lost funding, to the world he was a bum, didn't have a penny for a shower. Of course it was all lies (for the most part), power was good.
 
As he sat in his handcuffs an officer came to release him, still cuffed he was escorted through a crowd of reporters questioning him on everything, his mask was off, his identity was known, the news was everywhere, Con hung his head and ignored the flashing lights as cameras snapped his picture and the quick remarks the reporters made to him, he let the hands of the law guide him through the unlawful to a black, family owned, Mercedes. He sat in the office with Scott, and they discussed everything, they decided it was best Con left the country for a while, It was the most peaceful Britain had been in a long time and any crimes could be easily sorted by the Wallace boys, Britain was covered and if anything to drastic happened his name would be called. So he accepted a jet and flew over to Champion City, from which he could save the world. He had been operating with the C.O.P.s for about a month, he had his room set up into computers and all manner of devices from where he could run his own data feed receiving news throughout the world, it was not like the cave, so the computers spanned across the whole wall space sanctioned as his room. He sought out any dangers, teleporting himself into Russia, France, Egypt, America, doing what needed to be done and zipping out, he had not been to sleep ever since he was unmasked all those weeks ago, he was unsure whether any of the Champions knew that, if they did they would probably make him rest, but he did not need it, he was wired differently, unless something huge was to happen he was fine with only resting once a month, he was running superhero 25/8. He had seen a few members up and about in his sleepless wake, breezing across shadow squad a couple of times he never really stopped and talked. He was monitoring the world as he received the message from War Killer, the kid, he figured there was no point him going, you hardly needed a whole team to search out a crashed spaceship (which he had not yet had time to look at), so he told WK to call if backup was really needed, that was when he heard a commotion outside. Stepping out of his station he saw a bundle of team mates in the corridor and Chevie crying, this was not good, he had promised to watch over and look out for her if ever her parents pass on, well he was not sure if he actually told them, but it was definitely an eternal promise. So from afar, in the shadows, he followed them to the basement.

Champion Space Station

 Champion Space Station

Paragon slipped the helmet of his spacesuit on and looked himself over in the mirror. "Suit looks pretty damn good on me." he thought. The whole suit was almost like a power armour, protecting him from both the vacuum of space, and small projectitles. He had also taken a few creative liberties of his own, and made his version of the suit look like it came out of a Halo game, and matched his usual white and gold colour scheme. "I look like an ODST in this getup." he chuckled to himself, as he made his way to the docking bay to meet up with the rest of the team.

After a quick debriefing from Nobody, the team moved into the ship and prepared to head to Mars. The Guardian One was well equipped, and in good hands, piloted by Nobody and Gerald. It was no Icebird, "But only because it lacked the personality.", he would say to others. The trip was a relatively short one, but Paragon could feel the eyes of some of the others, almost judging him for not just using the Green Lantern ring, like Light did. Paragon just shook off the feeling, and tried to work on some cases to keep his mind sharp.

The ship touched down on the dusty red surface of the planet with a relatively smooth landing.

"Everyone who can't breath, make sure to have your suits ready," commanded Nobody, as he pushed the door release button on the ship. The ship depressurized with an audible hiss as the door opened and stairs deployed. "Alright, were going to break up into groups. Gerald you will take Paragon and Light, while I go with Strafe Prower. If you find something, report in. Do not engage until we are all together. We don't know what we are up against out here and it's a long way for us to get any support."

The team split into their respective groups, and Paragon looked at Gerald. "I'm going to go ahead and do some high-speed, ground scouting." he told the group leader. In reality, Paragon just wanted to test out his recently discovered super speed at low gravity. Before Gerald had a chance to respond, Paragon was gone kicking up a trail of the red Martian dust behind him. "I'll give you my coordinates if I find something, and we'll investigate them together." said Paragon into the communicator built into the helmet, going faster and faster. His speed was increasing with every step as he raced across the cold surface of the planet. He had covered a nearly fifty kilometres before something caught his eye. Olympus Mons. The highest mountain in the solar system. "Should I go for the fastest mountain ascent in the history of the solar system? I don't see why not!" he laughed into the comm, forgetting he had left it on. With a hard right turn, he made his way toward the base of the dormant volcano, and hit the slope at top speed. The feet of the spacesuit clicked off the surface of the ancient rock as the summit loomed closer and closer. "I swear, there's something about this mountain I should be remembering here..." he thought, as he approached the top. "Meh. Can't be that important if I don't remember it. 100 metres to go!" With the final distance to the top, Paragon began to announce his victory over the communicator. "Ladies and gentlemen, with a climb time of fifteen seconds, your new galactic record hold for fastest mountain climb, Para.... Oh crap! The magma dome collapsed! That's what I was supposed to remember!" His last step onto the top of the volcano fell into nothing, resulting in him tumbling down the walls of the crater. "Ow! Ow! OW!" could be heard through the comm system, as he bounced, flipped and skidded his way down the steep walls toward the bottom. He hit the floor with loud thud, stirring up a final cloud of dust, as he came to a sudden and very painful halt.

"A most graceful landing as ever, Cowboy." laughed an all too familiar female voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

Paragon blinked several times, and wiped the red dust from his visor. It couldn't be her. Could it?

"Tempest? Laura? Is that you?"

 Skrull Charge Up stood outside the Vine's Baxter Building after kidnapping the real Rebbecca and her family, the humans had no chance of winning this time since the queen has been planning this invasion for awhile. The female Skrull grinned widely just thinking about the idea made her feel excited, but it was a matter of time before she would get ready to lead her Skrull squad to attack the Champions. Skrull Charge Up looked up at the sky and got down on her knee's praying to the queen to give her hope and power. After finishing her prayer to the queen the female Skrull who was disguised as the invisible hero known as Charge Up stood up and began to take her leave heading towards the Champion's Tower, she then mumbled something under her breath while crossing the street. " Get ready to die homo sapiens!!!".
 
 

Two Hours Later! Outside The Champion's Tower!

Alaska!

  “The hour of the invasion is neigh” the Green skinned woman said watching the other ships in the armada get into place. The Earthlings were suspecting, but none of them could understand the severity of what was about to happen. Visions of the civil war and the events of “All Hell” flashed in her mind. “That being devoured our home world, like the prophecy foretold...No one believed me; they believe me NOW!” She said to herself walking in front of her Super Solider guards, on her way back towards the command deck. Earth was so huge, bright and full of life; soon to be replaced with Skrull life. Still gazing out towards the earth she bent down on one knee and said a prayer to the prophets that predicted this moment. “You have told us of this place called Earth, and it was you that lead us to this moment.   With the success I will construct statues in your honor.”

The whole ship deck grew silent; there was not a solider than wasn’t on one knee this mean so much to her because in her eyes they believed in her; she found unity in her people, and they found strength in her.

Pushing up off one knee she walked over to the command deck, there she messaged every Skrull in her network, those that had been in the adjacent ships as well as on earth.   “Attention everyone…as of right now all plans are a go! I repeat this is you Queen Attack!” With that the ships of the surrounding Armada quickly sped off into Earth.   On entry the spaceship absorbed the heat from the atmosphere; the turbulence from the entry made for a bumpy ride, however once the ship stabilize it stay in orbit high in the clouds.

“I want a complete purge of every aspect of this planet, the oceans, the mountains, the cities everything, I don’t want a human being standing!” The Queen hissed. Looking at the monitors the solders took to the cities and began there “purge”. “This is all possible because of the lack of trust; these earthlings have for each other, without their usual hatred towards one another this might’ve been a tad bit troubling.”

Watching on the various monitors as the Soldiers took to the street and instantly began to lead the attack on earth. The Gigantic mother ship lay high in the atmosphere depending on the place where the sun hit one might be permitted to see the gigantic vessel. Had they not captured many of earth’s leaders this endeavor might’ve turned out differently.

 The heat of the jungle seemed to hit him like a wall as he exited the shadow jet. The air was thick and clammy, much like the foliage they stood in, the Shadow jet had landed without a sound and Mike paired the teams off, Talon with Dark Huntress, Crazy with himself they where to locate the base and nothing more, radio contact was to be low but not silent. Crazy and Mike took the north path and began their decent into the green, it seemed the further they went into the jungle the darker the colors became, no longer the bright and vibrant lime green of the outer leaves, but a dark emerald. Crazy lifted a hand and stopped to take some water and threw down his gear bag with a heavy thud, the two old war dogs sat on the roots of two ancient tree’s “You going to talk to me about going behind your back.” , Mike took a large gulp of water and then looked deeper into the darkness a head. “No need to, you did what I knew you would.” Crazy followed Mikes eyes “Well glad we got that sorted then.” Mike brushed himself off and stood “I said there was no need to talk to you about, it what is done is done, I never said we where sorted. you know the price” Crazy sighed and stood “Fine” he rolled up the sleeve on his uniform he flexed his arm, “Go on.” Mike smiled and balled up his fist, “Don’t cry like a girl now.”Crazy smiled “Don’t punch like your wife.” Mike let his fist fly, aiming passed the arm, Crazy whole body vibrated for a moment and then he fell to his knees.  “mother f@cker, “ he said with gritted teeth, Mike Smiled “Now we are sorted.”

Gun fire made both their heads snap Crazy grunted “Came from the north, four clicks. Go I will catch up.” Mike nodded and then wished he had not hit Crazy as hard as he did, it would take him longer to set bertha up. The gun fire stopped and so did Mike lifting his head trying to catch the slightest of sounds, but it was the smell that caught him first, burning flesh.. He flew in that direction ignoring the branches as they slapped him in the face, a small line of crimson blood poured out of a fresh cut below his eye as he came to a stop. The heat was almost overwhelming and he quickly found the cause, it was just nature that he pulled out his gun, a reflex as he fired the bullets that headed straight for her, he knew that it would make no difference. Her head flicked up as the gun fired, she moved as if mimicking a cat, she had become completely animalistic in her movements. The bullets melted into a slick silver puddle before her. Licking her lips she smiled mockingly, while circling Sovereign Son. He was a play thing to her, something to toy with, Her eyes flared and the ground around him erupted into flames, he was now trapped with her. Throwing the pistol to the side he locked onto her orange eyes. A whirling noise floated over the air behind the flames and Mike hit the dirt and covered his head. A spray of silver bullets slammed into the wall of flames, each one falling to the ground like a tear drop.

The jungle had been ripped apart by Bertha, the whirling stopped and Crazy stood with a small forest of destruction around him. Feral let out a blood curdling laugh, This was not the Feral of old, he knew she had changed since her time in hell, but she was living up to her name sake. He rolled over to see what the creature was up to and he found himself pinned to the ground, her hands burning the fabric of his costume into his flesh, she tilted her head, her teeth gleaming at him, the heat she was radiating was so strong Mike had to turn his head “GET OFF HIM YOU B!TCH”, then he felt the weight lift and he sprung to his feet. Crazy let out a scream of pain as he wrestled on the ground with her. He was punching and head butting any part of her body that he could, Mike watched in horror as Crazy’s costume melted into his flesh with every punch. He grabbed her ears and pulled as hard as he could before slamming his head fully into her face. Smoke rose from his fore head as he let go and hit the floor, Feral staggered if only for a moment before heading back to Crazy, her eyes now full of rage. Crazy lifted his smoking hands, the blisters now filling with puss as his flesh still boiled and gave her the finger.

She went to pounce but Crazy was gone, Mike rested his friend on the ground next to him and Feral’s head whipped round to where Mike was now standing, her animal instincts going crazy, trying to solve the puzzle of how Mike had saved his friend. “You don’t get to do that, not to him.” Mike said as he reached into his combat pockets and removed a set of black fingerless gloves. She snarled at him, the heat was rising. “I don’t do this often, I try to rely on my skill rather then show my power. For years I have kept this a secret.” He heard the others coming to their position; the fight had obviously caught their attention. DH and Talon stopped at the flames and saw the three combatants “Stay there Mike ordered.” Feral hissed, he knew part of her understood what he was saying, he wondered if she felt the change in Mikes body. “ You see I have spent years mastering fighting techs, training my mind becoming a stronger person, day by day. Never relying on the one power I do have, the power I passed onto my daughter. Because when I finally used it, with everything I learn… I was scared of the damage it would do.”

Feral Snarled again and then fell to the floor a large cracking noise echoed round the jungle as she let out a scream of pain. “That’s your body catching up, would you believe I never even put a hand on you? “mike said slowly walking over to Feral who clawed at him, while her other hand reached for her knee. “I used the air around it; traveling faster then you can see I compressed the air between my hand and your knee, shattering the bone., soon you will feel the ringing in your ears where I bust the ear drums and then you will pass out from the pain, it’s just a case of how long it takes for your body to realize what has happened!” Mike cracked his neck “You will walk again, I don’t doubt it.” He said before her head hit the ground, she was feeling weak, her ear drums exploded sending her body entering into shock, her eyes blacking out from the pain that now ran through out her. He looked around and used his speed again to clear deal with the fire. DH and Talon walked into the circle and headed towards Crazy. “bag and tag her, we are taking her home.” Mike said before lifting Crazy. His pocket began to vibrate Placing Crazy down Mike picked up the phone.

Placing it to his ear he heard the message, he waited and listened no emotion entered his face. The phone dropped to the floor and he span on his heels, Eclipse would look after Chevie for the time being, he knew there had been something wrong with MR, he should have trusted his gut. Should have listened to what his mind was saying. He pulled his two side arms from the back holster and pointed them at Talon and Dark Huntress. Crazy was waking he was in pain but was still willing to fight, “What the hell.” Mike simply said “” and even in his beaten state Crazy pulled his guns on the girls as well. was a long story… “Now tell me something only I would know", Mike said to his two team mates.”

Dim white lighting above cast downward a ghostly shadow of her figure, as she glided within the jet passages ways. Laura usually did a routine sweep of the air craft to ensure no local passengers or unknown devices were onboard, she was just paranoid that way. For in all her time here she had realized that in truth it was not the villains that needed to be feared but the heroes the false messiahs of mankind that each year came with a new promise to deliver civilization from the grasp of evil, in truth they deliver them to a deeper grave and continue digging deeper. The moaning almost undetectable moaning of the engines from their previous flight rang over and over in her ears like the whistling of a kettle rising and dying with second’s in-between.

After realizing that she still had one hour to kill she had devoted her time to studying the vessel to her best ability. The thoughts in her mind rang as hard as the bells on the Christine Chapel, she attempted to silence them each step forward. She didn’t like being here with heroes; she always never felt comfortable. How could she? A hero was what she was in earth 529, of course she could give slack and say it was different then than now but she knew that these white clad angels withheld their devilish colours only in the midst of civilians and those they did not trust, she knew they didn’t trust her, she liked it that way.   Due to her previous experience of being a hero she just would never be able to trust them, except, maybe a handful?

Tick, tick…tick- alerted her instantly as her eyes darted behind her spinning a full 180 degree turn. The sync of her claws as they unleashed with their dim low vibrant tone shattered the silence joining the dripping that resounded from behind one of the doors iron clad doors. Her emerald eyes searched the corridors and the dark corners as she remained in fighting stance. Was she over paranoid? Was she maybe a little tense? Retiring and resuming to inhale deeply she leaned against the icy thick wall as she placed her hand over her eyes a moment. “I am going insane” she mouthed though obviously no words escaped past her lips. After inhaling once more deeply she straightened herself as her eyes flickered adjusting to the light.

Her surroundings were the exact duplicate as they were when she had previously closed her eyes. Losing her grip on time she once again made her way toward the cockpit of the jet. –Blood stained walls and crimson pools flashed before her eyes as the never ending screams of torment sounded in her ears. She fell to her knees her hands over her ears cringing in pain wishing for silence. Her eyes fastened shut as her breathing transformed into gasps of clean air for all she smelled was death- Staggering to the wall her nails dug deeply into the metal as like a frightened animal she held on for dear life. The same ghostly lighting hung above her as her surroundings slowly faded to the natural appearance of one of the jets hall ways. Curiosity and fear swept through her like a Sothern gale as she attempted to figure out what was happening. She was not supposed to be seeing this! There was no connection, why was she seeing this? Yet one thing though the images had flashed and gone, one thing remained imbedded within her mind: The screams of the girl the icy screams the little girl.

Regent was something she did her best not to provoke with in her yet it remained there lurking with in the back of her mind. Her dark locks of hair slung over her face casting a darker shadow that already hung upon her. Flashes were normal she had experienced them before it didn’t matter her personal life was a wreck as is it didn’t matter to her any more, all that mattered was her team and completing her mission as a member of Shadow Squad. So regaining her composure and calming herself she returned to the main area of the Jet where hopefully she would run into a few of her team mates.  As she neared the door that would let her enter the front area of the jet a sudden jolt and the noise of the engine starting confirmed her suspicions: The Shadow Squad was on their way.

Laura seated herself silently on the padded upholstery her legs crossed and her fingers drumming upon the metallic table placed before her. Her emerald eyes peered at each of her team mates on deck as a deep sigh escaped her dry lips. Leaning back a moment she rested her eyes against the back wall and stared up at the ceiling. She had packed a bag with equipment, retaining devices and a weapon encase she needed to use other abilities of others other than her claws.ETA was in 10 minutes.  “I need more time.” she mouthed and as if time had instantly leapt forward the sudden jerk of the wheels as they skidded against the ground caused her head to shoot up. As the large bulking door lowered dust was flared into the air like a sudden earth quake as it scattered misting up the air. A hot heavy sun beat down upon the individuals of Shadow Squad as they all retained virtually near awaiting their leaders orders.

With an annoying glare at Dark Huntress Laura found herself paired with her female team mate. Without a voice there was no way the young assassin would have been able to tell her female partner that right now she needed to be alone, yet running off without a word would look suspicious? And she already had enough suspicions placed on her small shoulders already she did not desire anymore.  As she looked at the woman she shrugged her shoulders and offered a slight smirk before crouching in the ground and writing a message. “I am going to run ahead follow my trail and keep up and don’t die.” Assuming that her stamina was slightly stronger than Dark Huntress she was hoping to at least be a few yards in front of her. Nodding her head Talon was off in a flash.

The dense forest of vines and branches that blocked her way was swiftly sliced apart in sync motion with her feet. Every now and then she leaped over a fallen drunk or a skinny stream that had managed to be sustained even within the hideously heated weather conditions. Her night coloured locks of hair violently beat against her sweat drenched face and they stuck to her skin like leeches.  Cuts littered themselves upon her bare legs and arms as thorny branches and vines snagged upon her, yet she ignored them for what else could she do? Laura was no telepath she had noticed something had changed, though putting her finger on it was virtually impossible since she had no sense beyond what her mutant and Lycan abilities had. And due to Gemini still in Limbo she was helpless to whatever might have occurred.

Snap! Her leg twisted backward as her body fell heavily against the moist soil. Mud splattered her face its heated consistency stinging her face. The backpack that retained placed on her weighed her down as she dug her nails deep into the soil. Scrounging to her feet as she briskly wiped her face and spat out any that might had entered her mouth instantly her sense alerted her to something that she must have missed prior due to her running like a chased animal. “Dang it!” she thought to herself and she instantly spun on her heel. There was another scent whether it had appeared out of nowhere or she was not paying proper attention that didn’t matter. Two other scents were near it no doubt Crazy, and SS’. Her emerald eyes flashed like the sun beams that heated her back as she leaped in the air grabbing one of the think branches that extended itself over the rocky terrain that was before.

Her hands tightly clasped around it as she made a 180 degree spin before perching herself upon it a moment. Slowly gathering her balance she stood to her feet as to inhale the air from a higher location.  She knew the mystery scent and she knew that there was not much time. Leaping off the branch as her body rolled on the ground before lunging upward she knew another thing. This was a distraction and she had been tricked. Sweat drenched her tight fitting attire that now seemed to be lose due to the tears and rips scattered upon it. Her feet pained as if she was walking on coals her body felt as if she was nearing a volcano, the temperatures were rising. She could hear a struggle continuing before her which caused her feet only to move faster despite the pain.

Her teeth dug deeply into her lip drawing blood that ran down her chin to her neck staining her clothes. Her hands were wide open ready and able to grab and vines or anything that could possibly help her get there quicker. “You’re going to be too late.” A voice in the back of her mind whispered but she didn’t listen she didn’t care too much was at stake she needed to be present. Fire its scorching flames were the first thing she saw let alone felt. The heat from the flames was unreal it was supernatural beyond any fire she had ever witnessed. Dark Huntress appeared allotter the moment she had arrived causing her brow to raise curiously.

Yet the young Lycans attention was swiftly returned to her leader and fellow team mate who literally were locked into a viciously hot battle with the now insane Feral Nova, at least insane from the one Laura knew and had read about. In truth Talon had never met the Fire goddess before in person but she had witnessed her acts while she was still a hero, while she still had a mind. Yet there was a connection between the two: They both had been used by Darkchild. Gladly the X-23 presence had been suppressed due to sever training but after seeing what was occurring now Laura wondered if she would end up the same, and would have to be taken down by her team mates.

  “Stay there” those words were like daggers to her heart as she snapped back into reality. She wanted to intervene but she knew that she would not be much help. Feeling like a helpless puppy she pulled out an energy weapon she had snagged upon the ship. It shot beams of raw energy that she knew would not work on this…well all she could really call this thing right now was a monster. Nevertheless she needed to be prepared for anything, and anyone. An ear shattering and milk cuddling scream resounded with in the jungle walls as no doubt all the wild life around the team scattered out of fear. The body of Feral Nova fell with a large thud to the ground and the next thing known her leader was speaking.

 “I used the air around it; travelling faster than you can see I compressed the air between my hand and your knee, shattering the bone., soon you will feel the ringing in your ears where I bust the ear drums and then you will pass out from the pain, it’s just a case of how long it takes for your body to realize what has happened!” Unable to aid Laura listened intently, in truth she didn’t know of this power that Sovereign Son spoke of yet all she knew was that him without seemingly much effort had taken down one of the most greatest heroes and darkest villains in record time using a technique that she could not even attempt to fathom. The fire died down with the help of their leader as Laura approached into the circle that once held the battle field for these two legends.

Crazy still was knocked out but gladly still alive which brought some relief to her face. “Bag and tag her, we are taking her home.” A smirk appeared on the young girls face as she readied hand cuffs; obviously she had no clue about any confrontation yet she always enjoyed being prepared. And though mere hand cuffs could not regain the feral beast these could due to their chemical lacing toxin that would keep the fire goddess unconscious until removed. Yet she’d never really tested them so she would see if they actually worked.  The next noise she heard was the ringing of the communicator as their villain nullifier answered it.

Laura knew he moment the phone dropped to the ground something was amiss.   Yet when he reached for two firearms that were located on him and aimed him at Dark Huntress and herself she knew something was amiss. Crazy now regaining consciousness saw where his friend was pointing his weapon and followed and now another gun was aimed at the two female team members. “What the hell.” was the words that left her leaders lips and settled with in the air that now seemed to tighten each minuet.  Anger was boiling in his eyes and she knew that her fears had been confirmed. Instantly without a single word she stepped in front of Dark Huntress removing her weapon and handing it behind her to the Huntress. Looking over her shoulder with her emerald eyes she shot a smirk before letting out a deep sigh and saying.

“No need for questions, I’m your answer I’m…the one. “ A speedy metamorphosis took place as her once black locks were replaced with orange toned hair that fell to shoulder length. Her pail compaction ceased as her skin tone faded to jade. Her eyes retained their same emerald colour as she retained her scattered attire. A more serious look fell upon her face as her lips tightened while she slowly raised her hands. Taking in a deep sigh she spoke again “Right now a siege has started upon the Champions of peace. The teams have been invaded and members have been replaced. “   Shaking her head a look of guild crossed her eyes “I’m not your enemy….I never was I was just placed here as a spy though I seldom did for my attention was regarded elsewhere.”

Her face faded into a firm look as her hands lowered as she said stronger and securely “If you kill me you would have deprived yourself of valuable information, information that in truth could save countless lives, and maybe the life of your wife but we can’t waste time. I do not ask for your trust, for I’ll do what every ou command and fill out any task as a team mate or as a Prisoner of war I don’t care as long as….” she paused as she curled her lip inward and lowered her eyes “The young hero War Killer, he and his team are being ambushed in Alaska by a Skrull attack I was not informed of…in truth they had lied to me countless times before.” Her eyes darted up at Sovereign Son  as she cautiously approached him “ Please, I will play whatever part all I ask is to aid in whatever way you can the main team that is now stranded in Alaska and surrounded by   Skrulls, if you do not intervene they will die, and your hope of defeating the empire will be already more hopeless than it already is.”

Crazy walks behind Mike slowly as they make their trek through the jungle, something he really really doesnt enjoy. Talking to the others inside "Peru...why dont they just call it. Place where you will be itching for weeks and pissing blood from drinking water for after you visit?" Mary chimes in "Then genius you shouldnt have refilled your canteen with the stream water laced with sh!t an piss....moron." Zeek says some choice words in return before coming back to reality and watching Mike. The man hadnt changed since the mission before, he was slightly more irritable but anything else hadnt changed. He knew exactly what had gone on after they finished the mission, what he had done and who he did it too. It wasnt a far fetched thought that even as Crazy was ordering the deaths of all the bastards he knew it was happening, the way Crazy had reacted during the mission and immediately after it was obvious to someone who had known Crazy for the time Mike had. 
 
Another sip of his water brought a horrible taste to his mouth, but it was water none the less and even who he was an how his body worked. Water did its job it replenished him, he watched Mike as they both sat on the roots of an ancient tree.  Mike was taking in everything around him and was being quiet, even more so than usual so Crazy broke the silence   “You going to talk to me about going behind your back.” , Mike took a large gulp of water and then looked deeper into the darkness a head. “No need to, you did what I knew you would.” Crazy followed Mikes eyes “Well glad we got that sorted then.” Mike brushed himself off and stood “I said there was no need to talk to you about, it what is done is done, I never said we where sorted. you know the price” Crazy sighed and stood “Fine” he rolled up the sleeve on his uniform he flexed his arm, “Go on.” Mike smiled and balled up his fist, “Don’t cry like a girl now.”Crazy smiled “Don’t punch like your wife.” Mike let his fist fly, aiming passed the arm, Crazy whole body vibrated for a moment and then he fell to his knees.  “mother f@cker, “ he said with gritted teeth, Mike Smiled “Now we are sorted.” his head still ringing from the blow he was still able to recognize loud an clear what happened. Both his an Mikes heads darted towards the sound of the gunfire.   “Came from the north, four clicks. Go I will catch up." Mike took off quickly an silently, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Crazy opened the large bag he had brought with them, his own personal favorite weapon. Setting her up was a quick task after so long fawning over it, wondering when he can use her. Shes too loud for most missions but this one if they confronted their target it wouldnt matter. Noise was the least of their worries, loading her up with the chains Crazy smiled "Bertha...i wanna make many many little Berthas with you baby." Crazy stopped suddenly, Gun fire again from  the direction where Mike had taken off "Mike?!" their was no return fire....this meant either the enemy was dead or Mike was. Crazy strapped Bertha around him and ran as fast as he can coming to a clearing and smelling the blood he saw her a wall of flame between her and Mike. Thinking too himself "B!tch better not have." the smell of burning flesh filled his head with thoughts he didnt need to have of Mike dying in pain. Then he let her rip, Squeezing the trigger a whirl sounded and soon a rain of bullets filled the air. The bullets slammed towards Feral only to stop and fall to the ground, she laughed as she pinned Mike to the ground. His team mate no his friends life was more than anything at the moment and he screamed "GET OFF HIM YOU B!TCH!!" tackling her to the ground. HE didnt think he just did, no thoughts of what her powers would do to him or was doing to him ever came to his mind. His fists slammed into her puffs of smoke coming off them as the fabric of his uniform quickly melted to his skin soon he resorted to head butting her. He didnt feel the pain, the first punch was filled with pain but after nothing she had thankfully burned his hands and upper body so much the nerves that send pain to the brain were severed. He continued slamming his body into hers, finally grabbing her by the ears. The others inside his head were screaming to stop, but of all the people inside his head. The ones who give him his code name Crazy Eights two were the ones who were Mikes best friends. They saw him not only as a team mate or equal but a brother, his grip on her ears enough to rip them off he pulled his head back an slammed his forehead into hers. A small trail of smoke came from his forehead as he fell backwards to the ground, as he laid there he could her almost growling. With a smile he forced his body to move an raised his arm flipping her off, after that all went silent. His body now was telling him to stop moving, the burns were so great his head was just a mass of puss and scars starting to heal. His ear drums were popped and all he could do was watch...suddenly he was somewhere else. Looking around slightly he saw Mike had him under his arm, he was talking to Feral but his face was away so he couldnt read his lips all he could think was "He better be saying something badass." passing in an out of consiousness he watches as Mike does a one over on Feral. Using his powers, something Crazy has only seen twice in his time with Mike. Something that almost scared him, then it was over. Nova was on the ground out cold, Talon an Huntress were around him staring at the aftermath of his attempt at fighting Feral. He tried forcing a smile but the muscles in his face werent healed yet. 
 
Mike lifts Crazy, then feeling Mikes phone ring he is sat down on the ground again. Thinking to himself "Jesus will you make up your f@#king mind, up down up down STOP!!" Suddenly Mike was drawing his guns, and in a instant no force was needed Crazy too acting on impulse and following Mikes moves he too drew his weapons aiming them at Talon and Huntress. His hearing was slowly coming back to him and he could hear Mike order the two to tell something only they would know about him Crazy thought "What the hell is going on!!" He sat up slightly getting a better view. Now his hearing was back he heard Talon speak. Suddenly the little vixen that scared the absolute sh!t out of him was scaring him even more, her shape changed entirely. Her skin green and her hair orange, he pulled the hammer back on his gun an aimed both guns at her. He was now standing watching her, then she spoke   “Right now a siege has started upon the Champions of peace. The teams have been invaded and members have been replaced. “   Shaking her head a look of guild crossed her eyes “I’m not your enemy….I never was I was just placed here as a spy though I seldom did for my attention was regarded elsewhere.”

Her face faded into a firm look as her hands lowered as she said stronger and securely “If you kill me you would have deprived yourself of valuable information, information that in truth could save countless lives, and maybe the life of your wife but we can’t waste time. I do not ask for your trust, for I’ll do what every ou command and fill out any task as a team mate or as a Prisoner of war I don’t care as long as….” she paused as she curled her lip inward and lowered her eyes “The young hero War Killer, he and his team are being ambushed in Alaska by a Skrull attack I was not informed of…in truth they had lied to me countless times before.” Her eyes darted up at Sovereign Son  as she cautiously approached him “ Please, I will play whatever part all I ask is to aid in whatever way you can the main team that is now stranded in Alaska and surrounded by   Skrulls, if you do not intervene they will die, and your hope of defeating the empire will be already more hopeless than it already is.”  

Jungles of Peru

 Her blonde hair bobbed under the pink floppy eared hat she wore as she ran for the down stairs area, half the Champion tower followed carefully, each of them questioning her. Her mum was in trouble and she needed help, she had checked her phone regularly and her dad had still not phoned, she was scared and there was a really weird smell coming from the containment area. Grabbing Eclipse by the hand she looked him square in the face, ignoring all the other people surrounding them she pulled him down to her level as they stopped outside the door to the containment area.

“Mummy is not right, you have to help her!” her eyes were wet, but her jaw was stern, her green eyes, tinted with purple and blue echoed her father’s so strongly sometimes it was hard to see where she ended and her parents began. Her little hand squeezed his tight as she opened the door, the air system whooshed as they opened it, the darkness lit only by a glow from the contaminate cell where the green form wrapped in the typical black leather cat suit worn by Sarah sat, hunched over with its hands hanging off the edge of its knees. The long red hair hung low over its shoulder, giving up the face; it kept certain features to mess with the heroes, its mouth twitching into a smile as they all entered the room, raising its eyes to stare at them she flashed her teeth at them growling slightly.

“You think you can hold me?” the creature stood and tapped its ear “my queen speaks even as you approach” rushing at the bars, Chevie jumped behind Eclipse and looked at the other who had followed them into the room. Each of them shocked to see their leader so transformed; Chevie listened to the humming of their thoughts and shook her head whispering “It’s not my mummy”. The others ignored her, except for Cellphone Girl who reached down and squeezed Chevies shoulder carefully as they watched the creature, pacing the cell like a caged dog. “My queen will rule you all and I will have your guts for lunch”

A sound echoed overhead, a whining like a siren alerted them all to the danger looming, the skrulls eyes widened with joy as she grabbed the bars, climbing up them and jumping back in a flip of joy “MY QUEEN CALLS AND WE COME” The Champion tower began to shake and shudder, each of the heroes ducking low, instinctively as the Skrull MR continued “We attack and you all stand here, waiting to be led, without your leader’s you are all weak and easy prey, your king is dead your people are going to bend under OUR RULE!” her voice screamed to meet the wail of the Champion tower siren as the heroes rushed up the stairs, Chevie waiting watched the Skrull as Eclipse followed the others up stairs, ready to face the initiated attack from the Skrulls. Reaching the bars Chevie stared at the woman long and hard, her eyes draping over the form she was so familiar with, the creature leered at her, hissing slightly “You miss your mummy little girl?” Chevies hand rose, the bars shifting as her powers swelled, the creature began to stir, agitated, “what are you doing child?” Chevie continued to move forward, her eyes glazing over as she a scream erupted from the Skrulls form, its skin melting as Chevie charged her energy at her false mother. As the heat swept through the creatures innards, it exploded with a pop, green flesh splattering the edge of the cell, bits of black leather mixed in as red hairs clung dripping off the bars.

The girl shook herself out of the powers control and turned, her little hands dropping against her sides, she tilted her head back at the creatures mess, glancing over her shoulder she spoke “you don’t touch a Lockheart” her purple shoots padding up the stairs, she followed the others out to the danger above. Seeing the skrulls ships through the windows attacking the tower, she was dragged off to safety, no one noticing the dots of green on her skirt.

ABOVE IN THE SKRULL SHIP CONTAINMENT UNITS< HOVERING OVER EARTH MR AND THE OTHER CHAMPIONS REPLACED BY SKRULLS ARE EACH KEPT SEPARATED AND DRUGGED….

MISTRESS REDHEAD….

Sarah had lost her voice for the screaming, she kicked out at the plastic plate holding the food and drugs they had been fed on for weeks, while the creatures hurt her family below. Her eyes were red and blistered from weeks of tears and screams, held alone in a small black metal room, she had a slab for a bed and was fed once a day, a green hand sweeping through a hole and throwing food at her.

Twisting her body on the floor she tried to stand but slumped against the wall. She had held off from eating for days when they were first taken, doing everything she could to try to attack and hold off the creatures, but hunger overtook and she finally ate, the drugs knocking her out and keeping her brain soft and pliable. She had dreamt of her daughter running through fields of purple, her little green body clutching at her father’s green skin as they ran to join the other skrulls on earth, cheering and yelling in the joy of the invasion. She had awoken from the first round of drugs days later, with no idea of where she was or what she was doing here, once again handed the food, she refused again until hunger took over. The cycle continuing for days, until the day she had heard a voice, a familiar voice across the hall.

The hand had slipped through the hole as usual and she had once again tried to grab it and break the wrist, only to be zapped with a taser type weapon and knocked out of breath on the floor, she had heard a woman’s voice across the way screaming, it sounded so familiar, it sounded like Charge Up. She thought she was dreaming, the water and food being drugged she had no real concept of time, and figured perhaps hearing her friend’s voice was a way to try to keep sane…. But that hope, that hope that she was not alone kept her from going truly mad as she once again tried to form some sort of plan, some way to get herself back home and find out if the others were safe, and discover.. if it was possible that she was not the only one taken.

Light streamed as the door opened, Sarah squinted as the slim form of the Skrull guard stood in the doorway, grabbing her and hauling her out into the hallway she gasped as she looked around, the light hurting her eyes and mixing with the drugs she could feel the cold grate underneath her as she heard them speak in their language, barking orders at other cells, the guard that had her slipped a device around her neck and pulled her too her feet, slapping her when her legs slipped out from under her. Standing and swaying the drugs affecting her movements, her red hair stuck to her sweat lathered brow as she opened her eyes again, staring across the room she gasped as she saw young Talon struggling against her guards, Charge next to her stood tall and straight looking scared and watching MR her mouth forming the words “Sarah” she could hear others around her but could not see them.

Green hands gripped her arms and dragged her down the hallway, she struggled against them, kicking out hard and using her elbow to slap she heard Talon and Charge do the same behind her, the others following suit, each of them screaming as the collars sent a massive electrical charge through their bodies knocking them out hard.

Sarah’s face hit the metal hard as she went down, passing out blood dripped off her head down the grates.

Down in the containment cells of the Champion Tower, Eclipse couldn't believe what he was seeing as a green creature paraded around in its prison, disguised as Sarah Lockhart, Mistress Redhead, member of the Trinity, wife of Sovereign Son and mother to Chevie Lockhart. She was a Skrull and Jason had no way of knowing how long this monster had been around. Squeezing Chevie's hand tightly, partly to reassurre himself, the young Champion allowed the little girl to take shelter behind him. He couldn't begin to imagine how this would be making her feel. “You think you can hold me?” The alien leered, indicating its ear “My queen speaks even as you approach” Alarmed by this news, Eclipse started to consider the situation, as Chevie whispered “It’s not my mummy”. Squeezing her hand even tighter, he flinched and crouched low to the ground, as if to protect Chevie from whatever threat loomed above them, as the entire tower shook with a rumbling sound. The rest of the assembled Champions reacted in the same way, but the caged Skrull reacted with joy and laughter. “MY QUEEN CALLS AND WE COME! We attack and you all stand here, waiting to be led, without your leader’s you are all weak and easy prey, your king is dead your people are going to bend under OUR RULE!" 
 
Rushing up the stairs with the rest of the team at his heels, Eclipse stood awestruck and horrified at the entrance to Champion Tower, gazing through the windows to see an entire Skrull armada assembling to take over the world. It was an invasion. And the Skrulls had been preparing for it right under their noses for who knows how long. And whether the invaders had any influence on events or not, what the Redhead imposter had said was true. Earth was without its leaders. Andferne was long dead, Nighthunter was absent, Kurrent had left, Sovereign Son had been sent away and Feral Nova had turned to evil. The world's greatest heroes were nowhere to be found and Earth was in its time of greatest need. But who would lead the planet to victory and freedom? Who was left with the willpower and the determination to command the legions of Earth and hold back an invasion years in the making? Casting his eyes around in panic, Jason rested his gaze on the golden statue of the fallen Andferne, who had suggested the formation of a team like the Champions of Peace. Reading the inscription on the base of the statue, Eclipse felt a sudden realization. 
 
'The world still needs heroes' 
 
Turning to face the assembly of heroes, Eclipse levitated into the air, looking into the eyes of each and every Champion in the audience as he turned on his communicator, speaking to the Champions around the globe, as well as those in the Tower. "Champions of Peace, this is Eclipse. Our leader, Mistress Redhead, is a Skrull invader. The army now approaches. The Skrulls think they have us beaten, before this war has even truly begun. Our great leaders are nowhere to be found and the trust we once had for each other is shattered by the revelation that one of our own is one of them. They think we are destroyed, with no way back from the brink. But I want each of you to ask yourself, what is a hero? Because regardless of your moral choices and how you see yourself, everyone chosen for this team is a hero, a Champion of Peace. To me, being a hero is a job, a duty more sacred than any other on this Earth. It is our responsibility to face the threats that normal people can't comprehend, to stand in the path of an unstoppable force and hold back the storm, when nothing else can. A hero is willing to give up their own life to preserve what is right. Today, we fight to preserve this planet. You may be frightened by the prospect that you may have to sacrifice your own life to save the planet, but that is a small price to pay!" 
 
"I know this, because ever since I was a child, I was told that it was my destiny to die saving the world. As I grew up, this became a fact that was totally unavoidable. In the end, this one fact has defined my existence. I have already given up my life a hundred times over to save this world, as many of you have. Every time we choose to put the fate of this planet over our own personal goals, we give up a part of our own lives. All of you here have done this, all of you are heroes. What is the purpose of a hero, if not to sacrifice their own happiness so others may enjoy the wonder of life? We are the greatest assembly of heroes the world has ever known. And though we are divided and weakened, we are not defeated! A hero is never defeated! Even when his body is broken and burned and laid to rest with other mortals, he is still not defeated! Andferne continues to inspire millions of people everywhere even now, and all of you will do the same! If we perish this day, we will do so in the knowledge that our noble sacrifice will inspire the next generation of heroes! And if they perish, they will inspire the generation after them! This cycle will never be broken, because heroism is at the core of every creature on this Earth. As long as a hero remains on Earth, these invaders will never succeed! All it takes is one hero, to change the course of history. Be that hero!" 
 
Lowering his communicator, Eclipse shot back down to ground, leading the assembly of heroes to the docking bay. "For every member of this team that can't fly, there is a fighter jet here, loaded with enough power to pose a serious threat to pretty much anything. Now I know that giving you access to these jets in the current untrusting climate probably seems like poor judgment on my part, but I promise you this. If any of you are Skrulls and decide to take one of these jets and use it against Earth..." Raising a hand and seizing one of the non-specialised jets in the area with his gravitational control, Jason clenched his fist, causing the plane to instantly compress into a crumpled, steel mess. "I'll do that. Understood?" Looking around at the faces of his team-mates, the young hero knew he had made his point. "Good. If you can fly, take whatever weapons you need and take the fight to these ships If you can't, take a jet and get to work. Contact me whenever you bring one down, I'll make sure it doesn't fall to the ground and cause any damage. Chevie..." Eclipse addressed the little girl, bending down to her height with a grin. "You're with Blair. I know if I told you to stay here, you wouldn't, so at least this way I know where you are." Leaning forwards and hugging her tightly, Jason whispered into her ear. "I'll find your mom. I promise." 
 
Standing up straight and levitating into the air, Eclipse looked around and realised that Arach-Knight was nowhere to be seen. Assuming that he had simply jumped into a jet, Jason noticed a hole in the ceiling clearly created by Esmerelda and telekinetically ripped it open even wider, so the rest of the team could follow. "Alright team. Good luck, and remember, stay in contact. We're in this together, if we fight as a team, we can't lose!"

Clarice covered her mouth in sudden shock as the green impostor malevolently disrespected the Champions of Peace.  Within the containment center of Champion Tower, the daughter of Mistress Redhead, Chevie acted both courageous and strong.  She was surely the child of two great fighters when ending the life of a alien monstrosity while staying calm.  Traits too admire indeed and although events unraveled ever so quickly, Eclipse and Cell Phone Girl kept the little girl by their side.  Running up the stairway, the gathered heroes listened too their optimistic leader. 
 
Eclipse lead the assembly of heroes to the docking bay.  He spoke with such charisma that soothed the bits of fear some teammates withheld.   "For every member of this team that can't fly, there is a fighter jet here, loaded with enough power to pose a serious threat to pretty much anything. Now I know that giving you access to these jets in the current untrusting climate probably seems like poor judgment on my part, but I promise you this. If any of you are Skrulls and decide to take one of these jets and use it against Earth..." Raising a hand and seizing one of the non-specialised jets in the area with his gravitational control, Eclipse clenched his fist, causing the plane to instantly compress into a crumpled, steel mess. "I'll do that. Understood?" Looking around at the faces of his teammates, the young hero knew he had made his point. 
 
Clara Mass grinned but immediately departed from the group.  Running up too the highest level in Champion Tower the redheaded mercenary loaded her gorgeous, ebony AK-47 in preparation for her battle with former friends.  Across the room stood a confident Closure and his team of mass-murderers.  Sucking on a watermelon lollipop the deviant intruder clapped for Clarice Michelle Zeraz.  He was somewhat amazed that she was still breathing.
 
"I must applaud you for your persistence and heart.  You were obviously aware of your nephew's disappearance but what is so pathetic is his supposed friends did not even notice.  However, on the bright side my Queen will be delighted too have your head beside his as a trophy.  She wishes to dissect you like one of Earth's amphibians.  Your family is not human Ms. Zeraz.  I wonder how the Champions of Peace never figured it out."  Clicking a peculiar device, the Closure poser activated slave collars on the necks of the Termination Squad, which instantaneously made them attack.  Running forward in her last attempt of doing some good in this world, Clarice noticed a framed photo on the wall of LstPaladin and Andferne holding Lexicat, beneath it said ' Ice Dragons represent the good in life. They fight for freedom and to protect the ones they love'.  A memoir to the past and surely to raise hope for future heroes.  It gave Clarice strength, it gave her the will the fight to the very end, it gave Clara Mass the power to end disarray.  A blind white light encompasses the top floor, shattering windows and breaking furniture. 
 
The golden spear of Danielle Marionette lays within the skull of a psychopathic skrull.  Broken collars reside on its chest while Clarice on her knees, looks at the deceased carcass.   
 
"What have I done?" 
 
Your aunty for the first time in eleven years had warped reality.  Even though she saved the lives of her friends and sent them away to a better place, erasing their minds of all that was sinful, she ended the life of another creature and eliminated a nearby flying vessel.  So, aunty began to bleed an awful lot and no one was there to care for her.  Rocking back and forth your aunty Clarice cried her sorrows away, she thought she was fighting for the greater good when all she did was erase what was wrong.  Your aunty was actually crying for the first time since she was five and not a soul in the Tower was there to comfort her pain.  As for daddy you ask well he was fine for your aunty's telepathic screams gave him the push to fight in the midst of peril.  Your daddy was thrown on the floor, bleeding from his forehead, and when he looked up he saw his leader, he saw Sarah Lockheart.   
 
"G-get upp!"  He yelled as if it would make a difference.  Joan was ashamed of himself, embarrassed of what Jason Dodd would think, humiliated by his current state.  Closure and Eclipse are not the best of friends but whether Joan admits it or not, he is jealous of his younger counterpart.  Trained by Nighthunters, raised to be perfect in many fighting techniques, involved in groups like the Fundamentalists as well as Future Conquerors, this heroic duo have more in common than any other Champion of Peace.  No matter their similarities, Joan still envies Jason for the boy has more respect and is simply better than what Closure will ever be.   
 
"Come on!"  A headache caused by his relative's telepathic screams unlocks the slave chain on his neck.  Closure spits blood down the grates, cracking his knuckles, the now adrenaline pumped Son of Thunder punches one skrull in between the eyes, knocking it down.  "Ahh!"  An electric staff stabs his lower back and Joan Zeraz falls to his knees.  Charge Up, Mistress Redhead, and Talon were around him in perpetual agony but there was nothing Closure could possibly do.  Yet, the Son of Thunder would not quit...he wanted to prove he could be as good as Eclipse.   
 
"I can help your Queen win swiftly without a hassle.  Bring me to your cockpit....I know exactly how to decimate Champion Tower with one single strike."  Its all he could think of, Closure was thinking as fast as he could, his eyes roll back and time moves forward.

Solace City 

 While being in the Containment Cells with the other members of Champions of Peace, Blair was blown away when she saw that Mistress Redhead had been a Skrull all this time.  “MY QUEEN CALLS AND WE COME”  Not knowing how to exactly react to what the monster was saying, she felt to just say silent, for now at least. “We attack and you all stand here, waiting to be led, without your leader’s you are all weak and easy prey, your king is dead your people are going to bend under OUR RULE!” Seconds after the impostor spoke, the Champions' siren went off, quickly following Eclipse she ran up stairs to see what they faced. "Wait.." Halfway up the stairs, Blair noticed that Chevie had not been with them. She walked down the stairs as fast as she could only to see the girl killing the Skrull. "Oh my God..." She whispered to herself. Walking a few steps backward, she waited for Chevie to meet her halfway up the stairs so she wouldn't know what Blair had just witnessed.  
 
When the two reached the others, they saw Eclipse beginning to levitate, which meant he was going to give a speech since he usually tends to that during his speeches.   "Champions of Peace, this is Eclipse. Our leader, Mistress Redhead, is a Skrull invader. The army now approaches. The Skrulls think they have us beaten, before this war has even truly begun. Our great leaders are nowhere to be found and the trust we once had for each other is shattered by the revelation that one of our own is one of them. They think we are destroyed, with no way back from the brink. But I want each of you to ask yourself, what is a hero? Because regardless of your moral choices and how you see yourself, everyone chosen for this team is a hero, a Champion of Peace. To me, being a hero is a job, a duty more sacred than any other on this Earth. It is our responsibility to face the threats that normal people can't comprehend, to stand in the path of an unstoppable force and hold back the storm, when nothing else can. A hero is willing to give up their own life to preserve what is right. Today, we fight to preserve this planet. You may be frightened by the prospect that you may have to sacrifice your own life to save the planet, but that is a small price to pay!" 
 
After hearing Eclipse's little speech, Blair couldn't help but have chills go down her spine by how amazing it had been. They were always even off the top of his head, he would most definitely do good in politics if he ever tried it.   "For every member of this team that can't fly, there is a fighter jet here, loaded with enough power to pose a serious threat to pretty much anything. Now I know that giving you access to these jets in the current untrusting climate probably seems like poor judgment on my part, but I promise you this. If any of you are Skrulls and decide to take one of these jets and use it against Earth..."   Blair felt kind of dumb for not really understanding the last part of what he had just said, but with a smile she just went along with it hoping she'll be able to ask someone afterwards. 
 
 
    "Good. If you can fly, take whatever weapons you need and take the fight to these ships If you can't, take a jet and get to work. Contact me whenever you bring one down, I'll make sure it doesn't fall to the ground and cause any damage. Chevie..." Eclipse had told the little girl, as he bent down to her eye level. "You're with Blair. I know if I told you to stay here, you wouldn't, so at least this way I know where you are." Leaning forwards and hugging her tightly, Jason whispered into her ear. "I'll find your mom. I promise." 
 
Blair felt sad to see what Chevie was going through, though she was happy to know that she'll be able to watch over her during the time of the invasion. Maybe being with her would lead her to help finding her mother. "Alright team. Good luck, and remember, stay in contact. We're in this together, if we fight as a team, we can't lose!"       
 
Cellphone Girl gently grabbed Chevie's little hand, as the two began to walk to split their separate ways to take care of many skrulls as they could. "Chevie.. i promise i won't let anything happen to you, though from what i saw you do to that impostor earlier i'm sure you could do fine by yourself. But i know your mother wouldn't be too happy if someone let you fight these things alone. Also, while we are fighting these Skrulls, maybe we could play some kind of game. Something kind of like Hide and Go Seek, the two of us will be the seekers, who will be looking around for your mommy. Sound fun and could you remind me to pick up my Rocket Launcher on the way out?" Adding the last part, Blair had hoped to make it sound a bit less scary for the girl. 
 

 A few minutes later. 

"I have hit my quota of crazy b!tches for the day. She'll revive soon enough. We can question her on the jet." Mike’s eyes moved over her, “Put them on the ship, the containment bay will hold both of them” his voice was as distant as midnight. He replaced his pistols and turned to Crazy who swore as he replaced his, Mike pulled out a combat knife from its place on his shoulder, cutting a thin line on his arm the blood began to pour already, he bent down next and cut Crazies arm. Crazy went for his gun and Mike pressed his already healing wound against the cut, Suddenly Crazy began to heal. “My healing factor goes into over drive for about an hour after using the super speed. It heals the damage that the speed causes. Im not like other speedsters my body is not use to the sudden bursts, im still human and if it was not for the healing factor my ribs would have been crushed with the pressure, my hands would be broken and I would not be standing.” Mike turned away from Crazy who was now standing up… “You been checked for STD’s right.”  Mike hated that Crazy could always say the right thing at the right time, Mike’s mind was racing, Chevie, his wife. What the hell was going on with his family, he knew something was wrong with the way MR was acting he knew and he never acted he never trusted his gut. His eyes closed as he walked on to the jet followed by what remained of his team. When they opened he seemed colder “Crazy take us to safe house 12 we need to pick up a few things”.

On the flight Mike opened a com on all COP channels “This is Sovereign Son, we have been invaded. It makes sense that the first place to strike will be Champion Tower. Shadow Squad are headed there. Trust only those you can… We will be on site in twenty minutes, the line stops with us.. Good luck” As he cut off the coms link the jet landed and Crazy looked at Mike and then at DH “we ready for this?” Mike moved to the door and looked out at the old warehouse and walked out into the cold night sky “we will be”. As the doors opened to the warehouse a black 1967 chevy Impla looked back at them. DH looked at the two of them “We stopped for a f@cking car” Crazy put his hand on her shoulder “That’s not just a car, it’s made from the same metal as Andferne’s shield, it’s a freaking tank.” Mike took the keys and threw them to Crazy. “She’s yours “Crazy lost his smile the serious tone taking over.  Mike cracked his neck “My daughter is in Champion tower, I don’t need to tell you what’s on the line for me, but if these creatures get past us the world will be next. We are an hour a head of any of the other teams that were off world or on another continent. Trust me when I say we will not fall until the rest of the C.O.P’s arrive. It’s been an honour.” And then Mike was gone, the air still spinning from where he had once stood. Crazy smiled at DH “We better catch up with him before he has all the fun”.

Chevie head span to the left, flashing lights where breaking out all over the sky, thousands of Skrulls now stood in front of Champion tower, inside the building everyone was getting ready for the onslaught and then Cheive smiled and ran to the window. “daddy is here” she screamed her face pushing against the window.   Mike stopped dead at the edge of the army, he pulled out his pistol and opened fire, each shot a kill shot. He was at one end of the battle and the rest of the Champions where at the other end, Slowly some began to turn and face him as the others marched on towards his daughter. He dropped the pistol and removed his spare, it would take too long to reload and he was out numbered, before long they were firing back and he just kept moving forward, when his gun ran out he moved onto his knife, a blast rang out knocking him off his feet. He could smell the burning as he pulled himself from the floor a laser was pointed at his head and Mike waited for what was coming next. But two head lights broke the darkness between him and the Skrull sending it flying. Crazy kicked open the door and DH copied the movement and   she offered her hand to Mike pulling him to his feet, they stood back to back, firing into the horde that now surrounded them.   “go for clean kills only” Mike yelled over the noise “Mike we need to get away   from the car DH had a plan..” Mike looked over at Crazy still firing into the skrulls, blood where soaking their feet. “what “.. DH smiled  “Just get down.”   Mike hit the dirt as did the others. The car exploded in a ball of fire, almost indestructible shards of raven metal flew into the army, killing everything in a twenty foot radius.

Getting up they looked at the army still around them, “Dig in and fight” mike said. “DADDY” Chevie screamed from the window and as the Shadow Squad stood to fight, their bodies began to tingle and they appeared behind Chevie who was now smiling. Ran and hugged her father “Daddy I missed you, so I got you back.” Mike smiled and rubbed her head, her powers where becoming more and more dangerous… turning to Crazy, Mike went to speak but before Mike could finish, Chevie interrupted “I also brought the firey lady and skrull Talon to the tower too. “ Mike looked down wide eyed this was getting serious, how had Chevie had even known about the two creatures, “okay thanks honey.” Crazies mouth was open in a gasp and DH held in a little snigger. “Honey you stay with dad, we are going to go down stairs and look at those things mommy was looking at half a year ago.” Chevie took her father by the hand and dragged him to the stairs the rest of the team followed, the descended to the lower floors of the tower. After several security checks they made it into the heat of MR’s labs and found several suits of armour. Mike walked over to one and ran his hand over it, MR had began making them when her spine had stopped working, Stark had provided her with his original blue prints. She had began making the suits when she was in section 8 “more fire power” was never a bad thing she said and guess what she was right.

“Daddy, where is my suit.” Mike smiled “Mummy never finished it honey, she will when she gets back I swear.” Turning back towards the armour “CMS11254” he said with a business voice. One suit sprang to life, it was red and silver  “suit locate, my wife.” The suit burst upwards and into the a series of pipe lines that MR had built into the building. Turning back to his team he smiled “Crazy the one with the big gun is your’s MR designed it for you. DH you should be able to fit into one of the older suits MR made for herself or you can stay and watch over my daughter, but I have to go and get my wife back.” Mike turned and moved to a suit that echoed MR’s and got inside, as the CPU powered up he watched the red blip on the screen and where it was headed. It was time to get his wife back.    

The brilliant light that shone outside only crept so far into the hull of the ship. The darkness permeated deep into the ship, binding sight to only the broken part of the ship. The silence of his own footsteps reverberated within the metal walls, and provided little solace to the fact that he was alone. Slight weighed the decision: risk being seen by using his bioluminescence and drawing attention to his self; or not use it and have to rely on his other senses, hearing, smell to anticipate any threats that might attack him. He continued to walk in the same general direction further into the inner workings of the ship. It was in times like this that Slight used to think about his life, past, present and future. It hadn't been a month for the team's life, and they've already been hit with something he didn't quite understand at the moment. Aliens attacking the world was nothing new. Not knowing the entire scope of the recent threats wasn't knew either. What was knew, and frankly frightening, was those aliens trying to infiltrate the ranks of the hero world, and possibly otherwise, by copying their identities. And of course, with that revelation, the scope of what has already happened, and what could happen was a worrying as well. 
 
He ran his hands along the cold wall, and found a corner. Turning it, he continued to walk in silence. With his other hand, he tried again to contact his team members. "War Killer" There was no response, except for white noise. It was so frustrating, knowing that he would have to search the entire ship to find either one of his team. He knew that Charles would never be so irresponsible as to shut off his communicator, and although he didn't know Hotaru that well, he figured the same for her as well. "Hotaru. Come in. Anyone...Hello"  Still there was no response from each of them. So he continued, using the walls to guide his way.  
 
Then suddenly, he heard a small clanking noise. Nothing so loud as to where he would in any circumstances heard it. But the silent darkness Slight now found himself in had a way of sharpening the senses not regularly used to see. The pinging continued as he walked further and further into the hallway. Then there was a sudden dart of light, that disappeared as quickly as it had lit up. It was a spark, and as he continued to down the way, more and more of them appeared until he reached a room lit up with computer monitor light. There were three men standing, Slight saw them only from behind, and they were all wearing the same thing. It hit him a bit later that it was the exact likeness of War's own uniform. The connection was made that they were all look a likes. Bursting into the room, all three alien WK's turned to face him. "Get away from him"! Slight bellowed. Ready for battle, two of the importers rushed towards the Hydro Hero. Slight forced his hand outward sending a telekinetic brace around each one of their necks, holding them up into the air and slamming them into the wall. From previously gained knowledge of the battle he had with the one outside, there was no way a blow like that would keep them down, but it would give him time to rescue Charles from whatever they were trying to do to him. The last one continued to toil away over his body. Slight flew right into his side, tackling him to the ground. Over him, the alien, Slight formed telekinetic fists over his own, and punched away at the aliens face. The energy bore the brunt of each hit, allowing him to have more physical ability to continue. The bloodied face of the monster turned involuntarily the side, and exhaled. A notable way to know that he was done for, or it was done for. He stood up to the table, much like one you would find in a doctors office. Looking at Charles face, there were dried blood spots on his lips and a gash over his eye. Looking towards his stomach, he saw the beginnings of a scalpel incision. That was a problem, a wound like that would be a problem in the long run if it were not healed soon. 
 
Slight unstrapped his feet first from the table. Then his arms and hands. He was half conscience, only able to retreat to moving when nudged. "I've got you. And I'm gonna get you out of here." He got no response. Not that he was expecting one, but he swung War Killers arm over his shoulder and neck, and helped him walk out of the room. To his surprise, the two aliens that attacked him first were still out. Maybe he was stronger than he thought. He listened to WK's heavy, hindered breathing, and tried to go faster but he stopped. "Ehhh" he sighed in discomfort. "Not so fast...My leg..." He didn't need to continue. "Alright...Sorry." Slight said knowing to go slower. The two heroes continued in silence until they reached the breached hull of the ship. A smile crept over his face, not exactly happy but more relieved that they had gotten to this point unscathed. As they exited, he squinted from the glare of the sunlight reflecting off of the snow. He laid War Killers body on the ground, and knelt beside him. Holding his hand out over him. The snow began to shift, as it melted and collected around his hand. The Water Guardian put the water covered hand on the stomach wound, and the water glowed icy blue signifying the healing process. Once it was done, War Killer sat up able to speak. "They're called Skrulls" Was the first thing he said. "When they were trying to do whatever it is they were going to do, the leader of that little brigade spilled the beans on their plans. I guess they thought it didn't matter because I was going to die anyway. Slight...This is bigger than anything I've ever seen before. They are planning to take over the Earth, and by what they told me, They're capable of it. I don't know if anyone else knows about this but we've got to gather this team up, and head back to HQ" 
 
Just then, a voice broke through on his communicator; which he thought was broken.   "For every member of this team that can't fly, there is a fighter jet here, loaded with enough power to pose a serious threat to pretty much anything. Now I know that giving you access to these jets in the current untrusting climate probably seems like poor judgment on my part, but I promise you this. If any of you are Skrulls and decide to take one of these jets and use it against Earth..." As if destiny sat next to him, a sonic boom exploded in the air above him, revealing a horizon of Skrull ships heading the way they had come. It looked exactly like the one that lye nearby them. Slight tapped his communicator trying to get in touch with Eclipse, but again it did nothing. Frustrated, and faced with a dilemma Slight looked toward War Killer. "I can help." He sort of gave him a puppy dog eye look, telling of his idea. "Those ships are heading for the cities, I know it. I can fly, and you heard him. The island is in danger, and I can get back there and help." He pleaded his case to his squad leader. "Okay... You can go. I'll stay and round up the team, and get back to COP's Island after that." Slight was elated to know that he was going to be of some use. He stood up and thanked Charles for the opportunity. 
 
Leaving him there, Slight flew off, chasing after the ships. The air whipped past him, and although he was gaining some ground on them, he needed to go faster. "Come on" Digging into his own abilities, he pressed himself to go faster and faster still. Far quicker than he'd ever gone before. His eyes began to dry out at the speed he was going but before he knew it, he had reached the ship that lagged behind the rest of them. "This will have to do" As big as it was, Slight was confident that he could do some damage to it. Flying around to the front of the ship, he saw the drivers of the monolith stare at him with awkward looks. He didn't notice the gun that peeked from under the hull. Blitz. A red ray of plasma energy shot him in the chest, knocking him down below the ship. As he fell, it shot out two more rays, and he dodged them both. Regaining his ground, or air, he clenched his hands together, and an orb of telekinetic energy formed between the two. He pushed his hands up towards the bottom of the ship, releasing the pent up energy within the orb. As it traveled up with brutal force it formed into a spearical shape. Crushing its way through to the top of the ship and exiting out, Slight evaded the ship as it fell, smoking. Looking on to the others as the sped off, witnessing one of their own destroyed. 
 
He was amazed. COP's tower was in sight. How fast were they going, and how fast was he going? He dove down to the tower, entering as he heard the jets beginning to start. 

 While hearing Eclipe's speech about the skrulls Jessica was thinking about the several things that had come to mind in that same moment. "Oh great... Now our leader is a skrull too... That is just awesome and now that's me just being sarcastic... What should I do? That's a good question... Just wait for orders and be a good girl like you always were." Throw the speech she also heard something about leaders and trust and that made her think again. "Geez...My supposed fellows could be skrulls too!! Should I trust them? I mean if our leader is a skrull anyone of us could be one too..." Eclipse asked "What is a hero?" too every Champion member. "A hero?? What's a hero? Something I am not for sure... I'm just a coward... a girl who pretends to be a hero but deep inside I'm nothing..." "A hero is willing to give up their own life to preserve what is right. Today, we fight to preserve this planet. You may be frightened by the prospect that you may have to sacrifice your own life to save the planet, but that is a small price to pay!" After hearing the rest of Eclipse's speech she sat on the floor. "I'm not a hero... but I'm willing to give up my life for saving this small world... Actually if I die it would be like a miracle, maybe I'm exaggerating but I have no life... I'm just doomed with this damn powers, I don't have a family, I don't have a social life, and I really don't wanna mention my school status... I guess I don't have anything too lose if I die... 
 Her phone starts to ring. "Aw... I received a text message... Lemme See..." Jess starts to read the text and burns the phone with her powers. "Great!! My boyfriend just dumped me!!He mentioned something about me not having time for him... Of course I don't have time for him! I'm a superhero!!".
A few minutes later she hears her squad leader speaking to the rest of the champions members. 
"For every member of this team that can't fly, there is a fighter jet here, loaded with enough power to pose a serious threat to pretty much anything. Now I know that giving you access to these jets in the current untrusting climate probably seems like poor judgment on my part, but I promise you this. If any of you are Skrulls and decide to take one of these jets and use it against Earth..."  "OH! I can fly... Perfect lemme just grab some weapons like CPG said and... I'm ready! Let's Fight those nasty and ugly faces skrulls! Remember use your head not your powers... Wait maybe I should use them both!! We can't lose... I won't let those freaking aliens take over our world... " Jess started to fly. " I can't forgot to contact CPG if something is wrong!!!"