World War Warsman (RPG)

He sat in a hard metal chair, tapping the arm restlessly with his power fist while his left hand held up his head by the chin. The guards, whom he dwarfed in size by comparison, looked at the giant they had escorted in the room with total fear. Having him in such an enclosed space was dangerous, but he had an air of calm around him today. The tenth hour of imprisonment had passed by without much trouble, for it was the day that he had the chance of negotiating with the spokesman of the United Nations. When the clock ticked noon, he grew impatient. Fresh from an ordeal regarding a failed attempt at rebuilding his home-world, he wasn’t in the best of moods. He was imprisoned as soon as he landed on Earth, thus adding to his displeasure. He finally had a chance to ask why this was and it was the human who was late. Almost growling, he kept his power fist from balling around the stub of the chair’s armrest yet couldn’t help but leave imprints of its fingers in the material. Finally, the door he had been staring at opened and he relaxed his posture. Two more guards entered the room with shotguns, adding to the two behind him with electric batons. A new sound added to the crackle he had become accustomed to after the past few hours as one of the guards set a laptop on the table and opened it, plugging a microphone into the appropriate socket before turning it to the prisoner. The man on the screen, a well-dressed man of older age with a well-trimmed beard, seemed startled by the alien’s wrinkled, war-torn, skin, but quickly regained his composure even while under the gaze of the prisoner’s cybernetic eye.

“Mister Kaligar Roxom, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know why you are here?”

“No. Enlighten me.”

“You are here because of your intent to re-establish yourself. Due to your vast criminal record, we do not want you here.”

“And what has stopped you from doing the same to other villains?”

There was a pause.

“I thought so. I want to address something to you, ambassador,”

“Yes?”

“The humans are not supreme. They cannot police me before they can police themselves.”

“This is not just a matter of your criminal record, Mister Roxom,” he was a professional, not even remotely letting the previous comment affect him. Kaligar sank back into his chair, intrigued. “This is also a matter of keeping order. There have been concerns that you want to destroy the human race, that you want to conquer our world, and that you want to wipe out any clue that we were here.”

“That is absurd. If any of that were true, I would have already done it.”

Another pause from the man, and he adjusted his glasses before speaking again.

“That does not pardon you from your past attempts to-,”

“My past attempts have nothing to do with the present,” Kaligar interrupted. The man on the screen seemed flustered, but allowed him to continue. “You’re just afraid of me.”

“We do not fear you, we merely wish for you to go away.”

“Is that why you went to the trouble of erasing my records?”

He seemed stunned, like the alien wasn’t supposed to know that.

“I’m not stupid. It seems the people of Russia still haven’t forgiven me for the Light Wars incident. I do not blame them. They are a proud branch of the human race, but they are as violent in politics as they are on the battlefield.”

“It is true that the Russian government has given us information regarding you as Czar, but nothing about that.”

So Kaligar’s guess was right. He felt betrayed and his heart wrenched itself a little tighter knowing that he led those people once.

“Stop playing dumb. The humans will go to any lengths necessary to ensure that the world runs like they want it to. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Then explain how it does work.”

“I don’t want to bore you with the details.” Kaligar adds a smug grin, earning him a wince from his audience.

“We can handle ourselves perfectly without you.”

“You’ve done a miserable job so far.”

“We don’t need your help.”

“Nor do I need your judgment. I am not going to be imprisoned on a mere technicality.”

“You are imprisoned because you’re a murderer!”

Kaligar’s lips parted wider as he sunk into his chair.

“So, we’re approaching the subject of murder eh?”

The man on the screen adjusted his glasses and looked down his nose at the alien. Waves of remembrance washed over Kaligar’s mind, bathing it in the memories of Symaar. He did not want to lose his home for a third time. Regret and sadness soon became anger, and he spoke again.

“You humans are some of the most violent creatures I’ve met. Your overinflated sense of self-superiority is sickening. I hold respect for very few of you.”

“We don’t need your respect. We don’t need anything from you. We just want you off our planet.”

“You don’t realize how lucky you are to have a planet, do you?”

“Just because you don’t have a home doesn’t mean-,”

“Doesn’t mean what? That I can’t show you the truth? The universe is a big place, ambassador. You were never alone and always watched. The human race is spoiled. Perhaps I should teach it manners.”

“We don’t want your-,”

“You might not want it, but you need my help. You need this test.”

“What test?”

“Isn’t it obvious, ambassador? I’m declaring war on your miserable Neanderthal-derived people.”

“W-What?” he gasped. The soldiers in the room prepared their weapons to escort Kaligar back into his cell. There was always a risk of this getting out-of-hand.

“I will humble the human race, ambassador. I will humble them all from the superhumans to the vermin of society. No-one will be without knowledge of their inferiority in the scope of the cosmos. To better suit all challengers, I shall meet them in Lebanon, Kansas – the exact center of this country.”

Ignoring the soldiers, he stood up out of his chair. When commanded to sit back down, he turned and faced the wall opposite the door. He flicked at the concrete, making it fall into an artificial avalanche resulting in a large opening. Below him were twenty stories of cells, but beyond him was freedom. He inhaled deeply through his nostrils as the electric batons and shotgun shells bounced off his body. The guards stopped after the first attempt to bring him down. It was entirely pointless and they backed off. The ambassador watched in horror as Kaligar turned back around, saluting him along with smiling at him. His eyes flashed with a subtle white aura as he took a leap into the air, landing at the foot of the prison complex before taking a stroll down the main road. He ignored the sirens and bullets ricocheting off his back, smiling at his pleasant surroundings. He deliberately kept the tracking device on his ankle. The press would release his destination in a matter of minutes. He didn’t want to keep them in suspense, so he knelt low and soared into the heavens in a single bound. He predicted that he would reach Lebanon just as they were receiving the news about his escape. They would be ill-prepared for his attack.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the laptop, the ambassador stuttered. The cameramen from all major news networks stood still for a moment. It was the ambassador who recovered first.

“That alien bastard.”

Emergency News Bulletin

 
 
"Breaking news: The villainous alien known publicly as 'Warsman' escaped US custody today. Kaligar Roxom, guilty of countless murders across the globe, was taken into custody following a brief absence from our planet. The government sought to meet an agreement with Roxom and get him to agree to leave our planet, where he is no longer welcome, peacefully, but he refused and, instead, declared war on the planet. In Roxom's own words: 
 
'I'm declaring war on your miserable Neanderthal-derived people -- I will humble the human race -- from the superhumans to the vermin of soceity. No-one will be without knowledge of their inferiority in the scope of the cosmos. To better suit all challengers, I shall meet them in Lebanon, Kansas --' 
 
The government has begun emergency evacuations in Lebanon immediately, which, while the city has a relatively small population, may not be completed before Warsman arrives. The government urges all ordinary citizens to stay in their homes or, if close to the city of Lebanon, get as far away as possible. By no means should anyone engage this threat. However, for the superhuman community, the President has issued a temporary superhuman draft: 
 
'This alien has declared war on our entire planet, and as President of the United States, I will not stand for this. As the United States government, we will do all that is within our power to stop this monster. But we may need some assistance, from the heroes who have long protected our world from threats of this nature. For the time being, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and until Warsman is stopped, any superhuman who meets his challenge and engages him in combat will have the full support of the United States. I am declaring Kaligar Roxom, known as Warsman, Public Enemy No. 1'"
 

Lebanon, Kansas

Eclipse arrived on the scene the second he heard Warsman's challenge, he didn't stick around to hear the President's rushed announcement. A few moments ago Eclipse was in Vine City, tying up a few bank robbers for the Police to find, but then was alerted, by his high tech nano-suit, that Warsman had escaped. The reason he was alerted was because Warsman was on his "List". The List was comprised of the greatest known threats to both America and the planet as a whole and included Gambler, Darkchild and Final Arrow. But Warsman was possibly the most dangerous on that list, because he was the one most likely to pull off something like this. Gambler was capable of slowly gaining control over a country, but only Warsman would declare war against the human race. Jason's computer system monitored the activities of each villain on the list and alerted him, through the nano-suit, whenever something high risk occured. Like, for example, someone declaring war on the planet. The Teen Wonder had teleported back to his base and watched half of the news feed, leaving the second he heard the words "Lebanon, Kansas" 
 
And now, he was here. Whether Warsman was still in the air, waiting for gravity to bring him crashing into the city, or hiding a few miles away, ready to jump in and surprise the heroes, Jason had no idea. Eclipse considered the possibility that he was the first to arrive, as not every hero had the ability to teleport, and started to try and think up a plan. He thought of how it probably would have been a good idea to develop some gadgets specifically to fight Warsman; or to boobytrap the area before the alien could arrive; or even to summon help before he rushed into battle. But he had done none of these things. "Nighthunter would be disappointed in me." The Vine Titan noted, realizing that he had brought nothing to the battle with him, save his nano-suit and standard utility belt. "But I'm not Nighthunter. And I've got something he doesn't..." he added with a grin, as the nano-bots covering his palms folded back to reveal his skin. 
 
There, dead in the centre of each hand, was a black, crescent moon birthmark. These two markings identified Jason Dodd as the chosen one, who would one day sacrifice his own life to save the world. "Is this the day I realize my destiny?" He suddenly wondered aloud. It certainly wouldn't be so strange. He knew that his ultimate fate would occur when he was still young and Warsman was declaring war on the planet... If Eclipse were to sacrifice his own life to stop the rampaging alien, that would no doubt save the world. "I could die today." Jason said bluntly, rooted to the spot. Normally he had some confidence that he wouldn't die, believing that until he achieved his destiny, fate would not allow him to perish, yet now the young hero was faced with the very real possibility of death. Instant and unchangeable. Today could be the end for the up and coming protector of Vine City, founder of the Vine Titans and student of the great Nighthunter. "If I die..." Eclipse gulped, clenching his fists "I die with the knowledge that my friends will live." Images of all those he knew flashed through his mind: Blair, Charles, Percy, Hotaru, Brian, Jake, Gerald... Heck, even Avery. Then Eclipse remembered his encounter with a future incarnation of himself, one who cheated his destiny, but still ended up fulfilling it, in a way. He remembered how the future Eclipse wore a costume inspired by Jason's grandfather, the Thunderbird, Vine City's first crimson avenger. As these thoughts filled his head, Jason felt his nano-suit changing to fit the image: his cape extended up over his head, meeting the domino mask to form a pointed cowl; his utility belt and the gadgets within snaked its way around his chest, becoming straps, which met the cape under a large bird insignia; and finally, the colour scheme changed, becoming darker as his entire lower body was covered in black. With a grin, Jason seized his indestructable bo-staff for what could be the final time, awaiting the arrival of Warsman.

Freelance hero work was where Slight belonged. Even though he enjoyed being on a team, and he like the aspects of having a set home, and base of operations, it was just not for him. Every team that he'd been on, he'd quit. But quit is such a negative word, and because of such, he didn't think of it as quitting. Slight made sure that with every leave, he left the note that he was always a friend and if they should ever need him, all they had to do was send out the call. But, the solo life was the right one for the Water Guardian. The worst thing about being on a team is that you have to wait for your other comrades to make a decision. That was something Slight, as a free agent didn't have to do. 
 
With all this being said, he knew that with what he just heard, a team up was the only option, if success was to be achieved. And success was now paramount. As of right now, Slight sat inside a small diner. One of those old timey joints that have a jukebox, and pink paint on the walls. He sat alone in a booth, watching the pedestrians go in and out of the greasy glass doors. The one thing that reminded him that he was not thrown back in time was, the flat screen television plastered on the wall. The oldest waitress in the establishment, walked up to his table, with a small white pencil, and pad of paper. Her glasses were thick, and her hair was done up in a bun. She had rosy cheeks. "What'll you have hun"? She asked in a delighted voice. Slight was unaware of her presence until she spoke though. "Oh, um... I guess I'll take some french fries...Oh and could you bring some hot sauce with it too please"? She gave a quick and polite nod, and walked away. Slight turned back to the television screen. The bar keep was flipping through the channels, and talking to a patron at sitting at the bar. 
 
At first, he wasn't sure of what he had just seen. He couldn't be sure because it was just too bizarre. But acting on a certian intuition, a gut feeling built up through the years, he asked the keep to turn the channel back to the news station. He began to read, because as always in these places the volume is turned all the way down.  I’m declaring war on your miserable Neanderthal-derived people.” “I will humble the human race, ambassador. I will humble them all from the superhumans to the vermin of society. No-one will be without knowledge of their inferiority in the scope of the cosmos. To better suit all challengers, I shall meet them in Lebanon, Kansas – the exact center of this country.”  Slight read it over and over, and couldn't believe it. It was like it was some type of joke or prank, nothing meant to be taken seriously, and yet, the words war are never meant with jovial intent. 
 
Slight hurried away from his booth, and pushed out the doors. It was just then that the ancient waitress came to the table with his fries, and Texas Pete. She hollered at him that his order was ready, and Slight being the person he was, went back to the table, and gave her fifteen dollars. Way more than the actual price of the french fries, and way more than a tip. With that, he left the food, and the waitress at the little diner. 
 

Leaving Fairfax Virginia

Vis Vires HQ, Kyoto, Japan

She sat at home, waiting for news of the outcome of the meeting. She knew that it was not going to go well, she didn't need any powers to tell her that. Kaligar was misunderstood by the governing bodies of Earth and humans were understood perhaps a little bit too well by Kaligar. What they didn't seem to understand was that he had lost everything that he held close to his heart and that he had very little left to lose. Whatever his course of action, she would be there with him. He was for all intents and purposes, her brother. He had lost his entire family, his wife his children and everybody that he shared a blood tie to in his world, in one fell swoop. It was hard not to draw parallels between the two of them, very very hard. The only saving grace that Cass had had was the fact that her brother managed to survive as well, Kaligar had no such luck. He had managed (or so he thought) to re-build his planet, only to find that it was a charade, a mirage and lose it again. Could the even comprehend the pain of losing everything that they held dear, every hope that they had in the world not once, but twice? He had come back to Earth to find solace, only to be confronted as a criminal, as a traitor to the planet and the one place that he had left to him in the universe was now gone. Could they imagine that pain? Cass couldn't, but she could feel it every time that she was in close proximity to him, he broadcasts his feeling like no other and the pain, the utter sorrow and hopelessness, it nearly cripples her every time that she is near him.   
 
It was then that her Blackberry started vibrating. She took it out of it's holster on her hip and looked down at the screen to see who it was that was calling her. "S#!t." She knew that this wasn't going to be good, it was her contact at the UN. "Hello?" "It's happened, Ms. O'Rourke, he's officially gone off the reservation. We will now be launching into effect nearly every counter-measure. Be assured that steps have been taken to ensure the safety of the heads of state and know that no punches will be pulled when it comes to taking down this....thing." "I couldn't care less about the heads of freaking state. I want hourly updates on the movements of any and all troops against him." She hit the power button on her phone, ending the call, and placed it back into it's holster as she began walking back towards her room.       

It was as she was gathering her weapons and her go-bag in her room that she heard the announcement. She always kept the TV tuned into one of the news stations as she packed and today it was especially important to be up to date with whatever information, whether correct or not, that the government was providing the public. Her ears perked as she heard the president's voice. "This alien has declared war on our entire planet, and as President of the United States, I will not stand for this. As the United States government, we will do all that is within our power to stop this monster. But we may need some assistance, from the heroes who have long protected our world from threats of this nature. For the time being, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and until Warsman is stopped, any superhuman who meets his challenge and engages him in combat will have the full support of the United States. I am declaring Kaligar Roxom, known as Warsman, Public Enemy No. 1." She took a deep breath. The government had initiated their plan faster than she had expected and in a grander scale. Cass had been expecting them to call on heroes, but this was just asking for villains to come out of the woodwork and fight against him, expecting to be pardoned by the government. The situation had gone to hell and it had gone there quickly. She waited for them to replay the breaking news bulletin, as she had missed the first part. " I shall meet them in Lebanon, Kansas" She rolled her eyes. That was her brother, always one for grand gestures. Of course he would choose the center of the country as his battleground.  

Lebanon, Kansas

San Diego, California

Violent Entrance:

“Isn’t it obvious, ambassador? I’m declaring war on your miserable Neanderthal-derived people.”

Decoy Elite watched the video, a frown on his face. This was not a very good turn of events.“So he declared war on humanity?” Decoy asked the general. The general nodded. “Yes, he needs to be stopped. He’s too dangerous.” Decoy raised an eyebrow. “And you want me to take him down? Because I’m not taking him down, I can’t. You see, when you’re an expert at killing, you tend to learn who you can take down, and who you can’t. This guy, he’s in the can’t category. He’s too big, too powerful, and most importantly too smart. Smart guys are always trouble, doubly so when they’re really strong.” The general sighed. “We don’t need you to kill him; we need you to distract him and any allies he might have.” Decoy gave the general a surprised look. “Allies?” He asked. “The giant killer alien who declared war on all of humanity has allies?” The general nodded. “The superhumans tend to pick sides in this kind of thing; there will be those who choose to help the alien. But the normal humans, the ones that matter to you, will be on your side.” Decoy sat there, silent for a few minutes. Finally he spoke. “Alright, I’ll do it. But I expect double my usual fees for this one. And I’ll need any info you can give me on this alien, I don’t care if it’s even rumors or lies I need to know everything.” Decoy sat up and headed for the door. “Get me a ticket on the next flight to Kansas.”

A lot of heroes and villains like fancy costumes, but not Decoy. His costume, if you could even call it that, was composed of ski mask and a large trench coat. His face completely hidden by the mask and his presence masked by his low level telepathy, he watched and waited for the drama to unfold. He spotted a few well known heroes and even what seemed to be a villain. Decoy wasn’t worried about these dangerous few, for the Decoy who was wearing the mask was in fact an illusion layered in an illusion, always helps to be safe. The real Decoy Elite was actually sitting in a coffee shop a nice distance away. Still another Decoy was patrolling the general area, looking for possible allies of Warsman. Decoy grinned as he drank his coffee, he had all the angles covered, or so he thought. The small crowd of heroes and villains that had formed was expected, but they still left quite a few unknown variables for Decoy to worry about. He had a plan, but anyone of those few could ruin it with a few stupid moves. Decoy’s good mood was finally terminated as he thought of the traitors, those few who had joined Warsman in his war against humanity. Decoy could understand why other aliens would join Warsman, but other human? It made no sense at all. Decoy couldn’t stand these traitors and had decided to make them his special project after this mess was over. But for now, he had to deal with Warsman. Decoy sighed. This is going to be a very long day.

Kansas City

Lebanon, Kansas

Candles burned a subtle light in the darkness of the temple. Skulls of holy warriors ordained the pedestal, monuments of wax and wick atop its metallic surface. Reflecting in that surface was the face of a large figure that was dwarfed in comparison to the monolithic structure he was praying to. Books were strewn about him, pages staked and marked with red ink to indicate holy passages and hymns of war. A deep voice rang out from the figure as he knelt, his magnificent suit of golden Terminator armor catching flicks of flame as they danced around him. He had held this position ever since he arrived in Lebanon that past hour, ever since he declared war on Earth. To him, this was a great purge of heresy – a crusade that will weed out the weak from the strong, and leave those few to rebuild a greater society than there were ever dreams of.

But still he prayed.

Another moment passed before he stood. Offering one last bow to the altar of the Holy Navigator, as was written with gold upon the brow of the device, the figure opened a door close to the back of the temple, allowing a few seconds of true light to enter it before he closed the door behind him. A second, smaller figure followed suit. In the broad daylight, the details of the first man’s armor could be seen. It was not obscenely golden and was dulled to ensure that it was not blinding to look upon. Yet, the heavens split the rays of the Sun upon it and made the wearer the very image of an angel. The pelt of a spotted greater daemon hung from his shoulder – a trophy to demoralize daemonic forces. Red jewels decorated the armor’s surface, the largest being that of a bleeding heart crowned with four eyes in the center of the breastplate. He held that very stone and looked upon the clouds, basking in the glory of his god. The smaller man who had followed him intruded this moment, albeit apologetically, and knelt.

“Brother-Captain Kaligar, your sister will be arriving shortly to console you.”

Without moving, the man called Kaligar – possessing a face of undeniable strength – acknowledged the presence of the young Librarian with a thunderous reply of: “Thank you, Brother-Librarian Alexander. Is the host assembled and ready to return to the Vis Vires headquarters?”

“Yes. Have you made your peace with the Holy Navigator?” the man called Alexander answered, on his feet now.

“I’ve done so a long time ago, Alexander. When she arrives, instruct the tech-priest to activate the teleportation matrix.”

“Yes sir. But, if I may inquire, why do this? We can help you combat these so-called “super” humans.”

The Librarian respected Kaligar enough not to read his mind for the answer. Kaligar placed a hand on Alexander’s shoulder, standing easily a head taller than he. The Symaarian had to have stood ten feet tall in the Terminator armor.

“Because you don’t stand a chance, Brother Librarian, none of you do. At best, you may inflict a solitary wound upon them. I must fight this fight alone. I have had visions from the Holy Navigator many times.”

Alexander looked upon his superior officer and, for an instant, saw not the warrior he had become accustomed to calling Battle-Brother. Instead, he saw a face crowned in light – a true angelic being. But this was only an illusion. Soon, Alexander collected his wits and recognized the halo to be the hemispherical design of the Sun implanted on the armor just behind Kaligar’s head. He bowed his head in reverence. The tech-priests had honored his Battle-Brother with the finest armor in the Inquisition. He felt the prestige literally radiating from him. Such a force gave him hope.

“I shall not fail.”

Alexander nodded, although he looked weary. Kaligar took his hand from the Librarian’s broad frame and asked for his helmet. Alexander did not move as he commandeered a servo-skull using his mind and relayed the message to a monk. That same monk procured the unbreakable golden helmet – holy runes and battle-hymns, along with the signature of the Holy Navigator, inscribed upon it in red – from the center of the altar and shambled forth to Alexander. The Librarian took the helm in his hands and offered it to Kaligar who, in turn, placed it within the grasp of his power fists, the ammo belts attached to the heavy bolters underneath them rattling with his movements, before sliding it over his head, his hair flowing in the wind from underneath it. The jade eyes burst into light as the inner mechanisms and various targeting systems and sensors activated themselves by the presence of Kaligar’s unique brainwaves. Alexander stepped back and knelt, offering his blessings to his Brother. The monk had long ago walked away, as commanded by the Librarian, and joined the chanting within the temple. Alexander stood after a moment, bowing to his Brother-Captain before entering the thin vale of light the monastery offered as well.

Cassidy was close. Kaligar understood her psychic presence and waited. As Brother Alexander led her outside, the Librarian stepped back to allow them some measure of privacy. The tech-priest within the monastery was given the signal and with a slow whirring sound, the monastery building levitated for a solid minute before vanishing into thin air. It was then that Cassidy spoke.

“1. Do you see why I wanted to be at that meeting, now? 2. What's our course of action? Do we just wait?”

“Whether you attended or not, the outcome would have been the same,” he replied with a heavy, and somewhat unsettling, metallic drone to his voice – a side-effect of the helmet.

Her second remark surprised him. Only now did he truly look upon her. She dropped an armory in a bag onto the ground with a loud and dead thud. He smiled underneath his helmet.

“We take the battle to them. That is where the Inquisition is at its strongest. The heretics who assemble before our congregation will be purged, and then this planet will be cleansed and made safe for the righteous.”

He began moving, expecting Cass to follow him, his joints not in the least impeded by the immense suit of armor. Each step he took was a tremor as he made for the intersection of Chicago and Main Street, the monastery he ordered to consecrate for the practice of Last Rites having been in the ruins of the city library. It was a straight shot and the fact that a building had risen above the ground momentarily before totally disappearing would be a strong indication of his and Cass’s whereabouts.

There was then a brief moment of peace and Kaligar stopped walking. He looked around, transfixed by how the Sun emerged from the clouds in streams and rivers of light interrupted only by the grayness of the soon-to-be raining sky. But, a voice brought him back to reality. It was a voice he had not heard before, yet he was compelled to remember and to know it. He turned his attention to five humanoids, four being the guardians of the one in the center. That central man wore a smile convincing Kaligar of pure intentions, yet he had an air around him which was immersed in unsettlement. He was a possible heretic, maybe even a daemon, but Kaligar granted him to speak.

“Good day, dear Dmitri Kosokov. Or how shall I call you, last of the Symaarians? You need not to worry; I have an interesting proposition for you.”

“I have no time to discuss any further engagements, human,” he said, only slightly perturbed, continuing his pace. “If you want to talk, then we shall speak on the battlefield.”

Kaligar stood at the intersection, having expected his allies to follow him this far. It was no surprise that those who sided with Earth assembled before him at this very spot. They had seen the temple vanish and came running. He surveyed each and every one of them, recognizing only a few. To the surprise of none, he spoke.

“Your defense is admirable. I shall remember all of you in a battle-hymn dedicated to this day.”

He hoisted the heavy bolters on the bottom of his power fists into firing position.

“Come and get me.”

A click from inside the armor, and a hailstorm of 1.00-caliber bullets erupted from the barrels.

Eclipse stood and waited, arms crossed, as still as a rock, with the wind causing his cape to billow out behind him. He missed the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair, but at the same time, this costume was more practical if he ever wanted to establish a secret identity. Domino masks don't exactly hide much. Eclipse was still racking his brain for some sort of plan, some form of attack, but he had nothing. There were no tactics, no strategies, only one idea, screaming in the back of his mind and drowning out everything else. A single idea: let go. If this was his destiny, if he should die here, then Jason should finally just let go of it all and unleash his full potential. It was the only way he could possibly take down Warsman. Gadgets meant nothing, he wasn't the chosen one because he was a good inventor, it was because of his power. Sheer power. Unleashing all of that would surely stop Warsman and, if it didn't... The teen wonder hadn't a clue what could. He noticed the presence of others, some heroes trying to save the world, some just guys who wanted a piece of Warsman. One of the individuals approached Eclipse and, looking out of the corner of his eye, Jason recognised Slight, his former team-mate in the Ice Dragons. The guy who got him an ice sculpture for his sixteenth birthday, unaware that it was quite possibly the most horrible choice of a gift for Eclipse. 
 
"So, I guess you heard too. Good, because we're going to need every little bit of help we can get. I'm one of the few people that knows what Warsman can do, and right now the only option I see is to end him. I hope that we can work together, and put everything behind us." Slight held out his hand, his bare arms and large hair contrasting with Jason's full red sleeves and sleek cowl. Jason's nano-suit glove folded away, leaving his hand bare so he could shake Avery's hand properly. "I don't like the idea of taking another's life, but if that's what it takes to save the world, I guess I don't have much of a choice." Eclipse replied, surveying their surroundings yet again. Still no sign of Warsman. "And I may not know the specifics, but I know what he can do. He can destroy the world. That's why we have to stop him." Jason put emphasis on the word 'we' and glanced at Slight. At that moment, a building in his peripheral visoon levitated off the ground and then vanished out of sight. Turning his head swiftly, the young hero pointed at the site: "There!" and sprinted down the empty street to meet Kaligar Roxom. 
 
At the intersection of Chicago and Main Street, Eclipse skidded to a halt, staring down his opponent. Finally, he was face-to-face with Warsman. He had faced Gambler before, but a fail-safe in his suit placed there by Nighthunter had prevented him from engaging the King of Kings in combat. Eclipse had since thoroughly examined his nano-suit and he knew that nothing would interrupt this battle with Warsman. And that thought terrified him. “Your defense is admirable." Warsman boomed, speaking to the assembly of 'heroes'. Eclipse was surprised that these were all the heroes who had shown up, but assumed that most of the heroes were waiting for Warsman to be weakened by the first wave. "I shall remember all of you in a battle-hymn dedicated to this day.”    Kaligar readied his weapons. "Come and get me." And with those words, Warsman unleashed an immense torrent of bullets upon Earth's defenders. Eclipse was sure that the others would have some method of deflecting or avoiding bullets, but he reacted first. Summoning his power over gravity, Jason focused on each individual bullet (which was no mean feat) and altered its personal gravity field, anchoring them to Warsman. The majority of the barrage then started to slow down in mid-air, before stopping, like a ball which is thrown up into the air, and plummeting back towards the one who sent them in the first place. 
 
But Eclipse wasn't able to focus on all the bullets at once, and missed a good chunk of them completely. Three such bullets were headed his way and, so focused on his task, Jason didn't notice them heading for his heart, until... They were stopped. Eclipse glanced to his left to see Slight, using his own telekinesis to stop the bullets from piercing Jason's flesh. "Thanks! Now, you know where to send em!" Eclipse yelled over the sound of flying bullets, pointing at Warsman and running out of the line of fire, now that he had sent most of the bullets to distract Warsman. The chosen one then lifted both hands behind his head, drawing a great breath, before bringing his arms back down, summoning a great bolt of electricity, which rocketed torwards his opponent. He then vanished in a flash of red light, teleporting to the other side of Warsman and doing exactly the same thing again. As with redirecting the bullets, Jason didn't dare to hope this would harm his enemy, he was just trying to distract him. Teleporting back to Slight's side, Eclipse took a bottle of water from his belt and tossed it to the hydrokinetic hero. "Try and get him wet!" Eclipse nodded towards Warsman with a smirk, holding up a hand which was dancing with electricity. "Thunder clouds might help..." he added, jerking his head towards the sky before looking around to see how everyone else's attempts to subdue the beast were going.

Connecticut

Lebanon Kansas

Cass walked beside her brother, knowing that the time for battle was fast approaching. She was as armed as she could be and still be able to move fluidly. She had her kukris, her sword and two guns in a dual shoulder holster. She was ready for bloodshed and in a mood to kill. It was as hot as hell and she was anxious to get going. It was then that she heard the words.  “Come and get me.”   She immediately pulled her kukris and spun into action, a wonderfully macabre ballet. There were so many who were completely useless, who were nothing more than cannon fodder. She used her superhuman reflexes and moved faster than they could keep track of. She slid up behind one man and slit his throat, using her gun to simultaneously shoot another, who looked like he might be a slight bit of trouble. He was big, burly and moving fast, until she put the bullet between his eyes. She re-holstered her gun and slid out her other kukri, seemingly dancing through the crowd. Her movements were fast, graceful and fluid and you could tell that she loved what she was doing.   

The Uncaring Jackal:

“I have no time to discuss any further engagements, human. If you want to talk, then we shall speak on the battlefield." Said Kaligar seemingly without any interest. The huge man left without anything else to say, taking no serious attention to Isaac and his small party. "My, how interesting. Kaligar, the dreaded Symaarian is really something. Ignoring this whole mess and focusing solely on his own objective. His levelheadedness is so amusing it's even honorable." He stood there wondering when one of his Drone Guardians warned him "Possible Code-711 is in the beginning sequence." It meant the citadel-temple is about to conduct a long-range teleport. "Prediction?" Isaac asks. "63 percent. The probability is rapidly rising... 64 percent." The report was quite convincing. "I see. Despite being a villain of all humanity, he still have the heart to care about others. Just the way I've heard. Excellent." One less problem to worry about. (How are the preparations?) Isaac asks his home base via telepathic link.( Code-227 in progress. Code-424 is incoming in 20 minutes.)

Isaac has a revealing smile. He's obviously happy at the news. "We're moving out then. I hate being in front of the public but I think I make an exception this one time. The event about to unfold is going to be really interesting."  Isaac’s expression is like a jackal’s. He and his bodyguards take up their pace and search for an exit. Isaac has no intention of leaving Kaligar alone, not for now. Luckily, they find an emergency exit just in time before the teleportation starts. Once out Isaac cloaks his and his Drone Guardians’ presence with an illusion. It is far from perfect but he doesn’t have an intention to hide and lie in wait for long. For him this illusion spell is just a measure to avoid unwanted attention. He keeps in hiding and happily observes Kaligar’s actions.

“Come and get me.” Warsman said, unleashing a hail of bullets at the assembled heroes. Decoy cursed as he manifested his first Decoy behind the titanic villain. While he prepared to attack he noticed Eclipse, who seemed to be countering Warsman’s attacks quite well. The young hero didn’t disappoint, it seemed that he might be able to do some damage to Warsman or at least distract him until someone who could arrived. Decoy decided to himself to jump into action. Commanding his first Decoy to rid itself of the invisibility illusion and replace it with a much more fitting one. The Decoy grinned at Warsman, its blood red eyes full of evil and hate. Fire surrounded the decoy’s now massive body, it was now nearly the size of Warsman himself and just as dangerous looking.  “Yo! Big guy, thought you might want to know this is gonna hurt.” It yelled at Warsman and with that the decoy sent a cascade of flames at Warsman.

Meanwhile Decoy sad smiling at a coffee shop far away, happily drinking. Suddenly he felt the presence of an unseen opponent somewhere near his patrolling decoy. He decided against attacking the source of the presence but made a mental note to check it out later. He also took note of the Dark Huntress, who was slaughtering most of the human law enforcement that had arrived. Before he could challenge her himself, a new face arrived and did so for him. Decoy sighed as he watched the two female fatales go into combat. It seemed that the only person he’d be dealing with was Warsman himself. With as sip of his coffee Decoy Elite continued to plan.

Warsman unleashed hell on them, firing a wave of bullets. Eclipse lifted most of them off course, but several bullets flecked off of Tank's chest while he laughed. He watched a few heroes make their moves and watched Dark Huntress raise the body count. Redheads. Gotta love 'em. Suddenly, some lady came in wielding a big sword and the two got into the most epic cat fight ever. Tank felt so at home with the violence. Nowhere else had he seen this many superpowered beings tearing each other limb from limb. He stood in the middle with a big, goofy grin as stray bullets and other attacks bounced off of him. 
 
Finally, his fists began to glow and he marched through the crowd, bumping up against Eclipse. "Watch it!" he growled and continued onward. The building orange energy in his fists got brighter and grew along his forearms. He looked ahead at Warsman with determination. This was supposed to be his day, his time to rule the world. No one would steal his crowning moment, and all who tried would perish.
 
As he drew closer to Kaligar, he charged, full speed and ready to run down anything in his path. Warsman was tall, strong and very dangerous. That armor of his wouldn't crack easy, but both his fists had the explosive power of an artillery shell at this point. As he charged, Tank jumped off a dead body and soared towards Warsman. He locked his fists together. The matched force of his strength and the explosion would be devistating. As he descended down on his enemy, he swung downward, aimed at Warsman's golden helm.

He looked upon their ragged faces. They had sacrificed much to be here and in their determined eyes, each peering at him with a distinct glitter that showed they will not back down, he noticed a faint glow. He understood this to be the fire in their hearts, their unbending spirit that stuck by the most primitive of their ideals and morals. They wanted to protect what was theirs. As Kaligar opened fire, very few were caught in the first barrage and those who were had little more than scratches upon their bodies. The boy, Eclipse, demonstrated his innate talents of telekinesis for a friend whom Kaligar recognized as being Slight. He knew Slight not from his face or name, but from the power he exhibited. He had faced the Oracle once before. Slight’s very presence hinted at its power, submerged within him just under flesh and bone. But he focused instead on those few whose primal fear of intruders lead them to get close to him, throwing bombs upon the surface of his armor or trying to engage in melee. There was no damage from the grenades tossed his way nor was he able to be defeated in close quarters. He shuddered under a select few blows, but came back strong enough to tear skull from stalk of neck, arm from pit, leg from socket, or even torso from waist with singular swipes of his enormous hands. After the immediate attack, he returned to firing his bolters, resuming the carnage on a spectacular scale. Organs and blood already drenched his armor, making it into a macabre mountain of golden death. The bullets only magnified its glory, spilling eyeball and brain matter as heads were impacted, fingers from hands that were raised in defense, and marrow from cracked bones. Limbs fell from the sky, ribcages were left empty and broken, and still they came in waves to attack him. Very few succeeded in getting past his bolters. Cass had left his side to the affair of warring with another redheaded woman, whose body radiated with daemonic presence. She was part of the cult of Khorne, the Blood God. She would be dealt with by the Inquisitor if Cass did not destroy her. For now, his business was with those who assailed him and lived at the moment.

Eclipse and Slight had long ago deflected his bullets back at him – which were now among the countless other shells, crumpled by his telekinetic shield. The same occurred with the boy’s attempt at splicing his armor apart with lightning, as it merely followed the course of the protective hull and disappeared into the growing darkness of the rainclouds. He observed the child’s bravery. He would be remembered in a battle-hymn all his own if he died this day. Ignoring him presently, he turned his attention to another warrior whose powers revolved around the elements. He provided some useless banter before expelling a wall of fire. The untamed whirls of light and heat caused him to shield his face from the initial blinding effect, but he grew accustomed to the sensation and blasted at the new foe with a volley of bolter rounds. Just as he was turning to face the newest wave of his opposition, he was struck by a massive explosive force just above his brow. The impact drove his feet into the ground and his telekinetic shield suffered hefty damage, cracking completely before fading away. His armor, however, held – especially that of his helmet. His jade eyes glowed menacingly at the man’s face as Kaligar threw his hands at his enemy’s, intent on gaining the bonus of surprise as he moved awesomely fast in the immense armor, lobbing his monumental fist at the man’s stomach.

Tank could feel the armor give way beneath his fists, the heat of the explosion running up his arms. As the smoke cleared, he saw that Warsman's armor had not a dent or crack. He had been pushed back and taken off balance by the blast but recovered quickly. Obviously, some sort of telekinetic barrier was in place, but no more. Before Tank could even flinch, Kaligar's massive fist drove into his stomach and he hurtled like a cannonball through the wall of a building across the street. As he skidded along the linoleum floor, he swept rubble and dust off his jacket and his face. "Not bad." he grunted, picking himself up off the floor, "Not bad at all. Looks like I'm gonna have to pull out my finisher a little early."
 
His fists began to glow and he looked down at the immense energy flowing through them "It's a shame, really." he said to himself, "I was really starting to like that guy." he bent down on one knee, rearing back both his hands. "Maybe I'll put flowers on his grave." 
 
As he slammed his fists down hard on the ground, he bellowed a loud battle cry, "BLAMMO!" his hands made contact with the ground and the energy dispersed in two massive explosions, Tank being caught right in the middle. The incredible power of the explosions shot Tank through the roof. His body was straight, like a spear. Already, his entire body shone with building energy again. This move was called the Hiroshima and he had killed many people with it. Every time he executed this move, the face of every person he had ever killed with it flashed before his eyes, those hilarious split seconds remaining of their lives when they look up to see him coming at them. As he reached the peak of flight, he spun several times in the air and shot back down, fists stretched out aimed directly at Warsman.

Eclipse stood up, and faced him.  "I don't like the idea of taking another's life, but if that's what it takes to save the world, I guess I don't have much of a choice."  "And I may not know the specifics, but I know what he can do. He can destroy the world. That's why we have to stop him."  Slight agreed that taking another persons life was barely ever an option. He prided himself on the fact that he had never consciously killed anyone, even though there were the times when he lost control. But, Warsman was different. Death, the end of the world destroyer was the only plausible option presenting itself right now. Eclipse held his hand out, and the suit he wore peeled back to reveal his hand. Under his breath, Avery whispered..."Cool". It was.
 
The air that surrounded this place, changed. Its staleness changed. Having powers that connect you with the earth, nature, your surroundings, one becomes aware of the faintest changes within its composure. And the air, had turned from stagnant to frenzied. A sure sign that Warsman on his there. And sure enough, in a small sight distance between him and one of the buildings that towered over them, a structure rose into the air, and vanished in the blink of an eye. When the dust cleared, Warsman was there. Along with another woman who Slight didn't recognize.  Immediately, Eclipse the Boy Wonder sprung into action. But not before Warsman, blasted off a spray of bullets. Eclipse was able to stop most of them, but when he failed to capture all of them within the gravitational field he created, Slight used his own telekinetic powers to protect his head from splattering all over the battlefield. Then, in a frenzied barrage of teleportation, he sent two different lightning bolts at Warsman. Appearing back at Slight's side, he gave the Water Guardian a bottle of water from his holster. "Try and get him wet." 
 
For a second, Slight was like, "What the hell is this bottle of water going to do to that behemoth"? But then he realized something, in times of warfare, doubt was a luxury afforded only by the dead. Tossing the bottle of water aside, he focused. He had to time the attack just right in order for it to enhance the damage of the lightning. The Hydro Hero raised his hands in the air. The storm clouds that had formed in the minutes of battle, were full of rain. His power of the element of benevolence was absolute. The air dispersed over Warsman, when a waterfall from the heavens poured from the sky. But, in the second that the attack was going to make contact, he was gone. Such speed from a monolith like that was unexpected, and frightening. 
 
That's when Slight came up with an idea. Part of the reason why this fight was being held was because of the way Warsman was treated after returning from calamity. He was shunned and threatened. Rebuked in every sense of the word. There were plenty of other people and beings on this world that had done horrible things, one person came into mind. Darkchild came to mind. What was so different in Warsman case? He wondered. 
 
And that is when it struck him. Diplomacy. Maybe if Slight could convince Kaliagar to cease in his conquest, maybe the world, the UN, would reconsider their response to letting him become a World Citizen. Now, the only problem was, with all the fighting he was doing, how was Slight going to be able to make a calm connection with him. He couldn't call a time out, and he couldn't fight and talk to him at the same time. Truly a dilemma. The only option was to use the Oracle. A power deep within that he could access, or that would fully take over him, and destroy everything in sight. 
 
Needing to be away from the chaos, Slight flew up into the clouds. He could maintain peace here. The Water Guardian began to meditate. Looking deep within, he could feel the power trying to rise to the surface, trying to take over. It was something he couldn't allow. Suppressing, and controlling that power was a difficult task, but it had to be done, for when having access to the Oracle a whole list of abilities were in his grasp, one of which was telepathy.  
 
There. He felt it, and made the connection necessary. "I need you" Just after finishing that statement. Slight's eyes were turned from a hazel brown to an icy blue light. He touched his head, looking down at the fray. He saw Warsman maiming, and he sent the message out. "I've seen what you have been through, and I've seen what you've done. But, I still wish to help you. Stop this. I implore you. The lives that will redoubtably be lost if this warfare continues is not worth it. Think about what you went through with your home, would you really wish that on anyone, much less want to be the cause of it. Please. If I can convince the UN to allow you world citizenship, and you allowed back in this planet, would you call of this conquest"?

Longshot stood amongst the crowd of heroes, and some villains, of earth ready to defend their home and the innocent people of earth. He wanted to sit down and talk with Kaligar, negotiate. But once he delivered his battle speech ensuring their demise, fate had been sealed. As wave after wave fell at the hand of Warsman and the dirt refused to hold any more blood, Longshot began his attack. As Warsman crushed people and the heroes began their assault, Longshot flipped backward quite acrobatically in the armor. Once he had fallen back to a safe distance, he drew an arrow, took a knockout gas attachment from his belt and clipped it on the arrowhead. He drew back on the string and eyed carefully for a place to shoot. "No one said there'd be any armor. Why the hell does he need armor?" he mumbled to himself. 
 
Looking down the shaft of the arrow, he spotted a fold between two golden plates of his armor, meeting at the shoulder. "Bingo." he shot the arrow which hit clean on the target, catching between the plates. A gray cloud of gas dispersed from the arrow and shot straight into Warsman's face. Hopefully, he didn't have an alternative air supply in that helmet. 
 
He watched Slight  bring rain down on the battlefield. A battle in the rain. he thought, Perfect. Wiping drops of water from his eyepiece, Longshot quickly drew two more arrows and attached explosive bits to them. He aimed for the square middle of the chest, hoping to help crack Kaligar's armor. Then, they would stand a chance. "Gold is a soft metal." he whispered, pulling back the bow string, "Arrogance has its price." And with that, the two explosive arrows flew straight for Warsman's chest.

  "Better than you have tried and failed. My name is Cassidy and I may die today, but it sure as hell won't be at your hands." This child was feisty. She stood up, readying herself for a fight to the finish, a battle Malice wholeheartedly interned to win. She pulled Jo out the ground with one hand, in one swift move, it was above her hand once again. But instead of attack, she lowered her weapon pointing it at the other red head. "Don't be so sure of yourself child." With a menacing smile she charged. But, she not ready to directly engage the young warrior in close combat yet. She wanted to gain room for the attack she had in mind.
 
On her blade there were small holes. Malice swung Jo above her head, causing the wind surrounding the metal to whistle, and whip. She did so, so that in a way, the screeching air sounded like some sort of song. But, this song was nothing more than a call, a beacon to her beast. She lowered Jo to her side, and a gust of wind came up from behind her. The rubble flew by, meshing image with her strands of bloody hair. 
 
The light that shone down, was blocked out for just a second, and then a great red and black dragon decended in front of her. Landing head facing her, the beast named Draak lowered its head, allowing it's master to take reign. Malice commanded, "Burn her to the ground"
 

Berlin, Germany; The Previous day

One hour later

A few hours later

Now

She held tight onto her kukris as she watched the other woman with rapt interest. She had the uncanny feeling that if they weren't trying to kill each other, they would be great friends and she was able to respect her quite obvious battle prowess. She may respect and be wary of her abilities but that in no way meant that she was planning on losing this battle. Cass' eyes widened as she saw the other woman pull her imposing sword out of the ground. "Don't be so sure of yourself child." Cass got ready to either dodge or move in for close quarter combat, which was where she excelled.  
 
Cassidy stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the imposing, regal figure swing the sword above her head, making an enchantingly musical sound. If you listened closely, you could hear the notes of a song. She wondered what function it could possibly serve, other than to distract opponents. Her eyes widened as she saw the gust of wind rise, the woman's hair whipping in the wind. She could feel a sense of foreboding settle over her and knew that something was about to happen, something that she most certanly would not like. 
 
The dragon appeared and her heart skipped a few beats, she could feel it beating heavily against her ribcage and for one of the few times in her short life, felt  fear. Cass had never encountered anything even remotely resembling this....dragon. She had no idea if her empathy or limited telepathy would work on it and she didn't want to give away the extent of her telekinetic abilities. Nobody knew the true range on them, including her and if worst came to worst she could always attempt to use them to tear apart the dragon. For the time being, she decided to use it as a purely defensive measure and covered herself in a telekinetic shield. She watched the dragon lower it's head and heard it's masters's words. "Burn her to the ground."   She started running towards the woman, completely bypassing the dragon, coated in her shield and ready for a fight. She had no worries whatsoever that her shield would be able to hold up and had realized that this new being wasn't something to fear, it was something to be wary of. Thanks to friends of hers, she had been able to test it in many circumstances, including a test chamber that simulated the vaccuum of space. She was not worried about an animal breaching it. It spewed flames at her as she continued running, weapons at the ready and completely unharmed, it was a magnificent sight, made even better by the fact that it caused her no harm. "Did you really think it was going to be that easy?"

Decoy cringed in pain as he was hit but the mental backlash from Warsman’s attack. The behemoth was even stronger than he thought. Suddenly there was another burst of physic energy as Tank’s attack blasted through Warsman’s telepathic shield. Decoy grinned despite the pain, without the shield Warsman wouldn’t be more susceptible to his attacks. As Decoy began to focus for his next physic attack he noticed one hero, Slight actually trying to reason with Warsman. "I've seen what you have been through, and I've seen what you've done. But, I still wish to help you. Stop this. I implore you. The lives that will redoubtably be lost if this warfare continues is not worth it. Think about what you went through with your home, would you really wish that on anyone, much less want to be the cause of it. Please. If I can convince the UN to allow you world citizenship, and you allowed back in this planet, would you call of this conquest"?   The hero spoke, and Decoy sighed. This was not the kind of situation for diplomacy. Decoy focused on his attack, but silently he hoped Slight would succeed. It seemed that more and more heroes and villains were poping up to attack Warsman, but Decoy had a feeling that even if they were successful there’d still be quite a bit of trouble. He resolved to end this as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile Decoy manifested his decoy in front of Warsman, floating above the crowd. It glared at Warsman, it’s eyes glowing with physic power. “Okay big guy, I may not be the strongest or the most powerful. But I can take you down.” Decoy said glaring at Warsman. “But I have just what it takes to take you down. Give up now or you’re going down, hard.” Big words, but they still had a little force behind them. Decoy’s secret weapon required a large chunk of his telepathic power but it was powerful enough that it might even cause someone as powerful as Warsman some serious problems.  Amidst all this chaos Decoy floated, ready to end it all in one swoop.

He lurched forward with the force of his own punch, backing away to watch the man he had sent across the way topple a wall off the side of a building with his impact. That same building, within a matter of seconds, was torn asunder with the sounds of a ferocious blast that launched the mysterious psychopath high into the atmosphere. For now, Kaligar concerned himself with the projectiles of a man whose agility outmatched his own for the time being, his bow launching various trick arrows in his direction. There was a cloud of gas, oxygen filtered through it by Kaligar’s helmet, which did provide him with limited sight for an instant. He swept it away with his massive arm and caught two arrows in his breastplate, having them explode simultaneously after a moment. He trudged through the resulting smoke and disturbed debris from below his feet, aiming a few more shots at the perpetrator who, quite cleverly, kept his distance. It was then that Kaligar noticed the rainfall, but there was a subtle roar along with the gentle patter that was growing louder.

Covering his head, he faced the full force of a raging waterfall as it toppled along his form. Luckily, he had begun to reconstruct his telekinetic shield – starting with the top half – and the water followed its egg-shaped pattern for the most part. The water drained off in all directions and its anger was quelled, but there was another sound that troubled the Symaarian. There was a voice, not coming from any earthly plane of thought, but from his own mind. He tried imagining it away, but it persisted. Only then did he recognize it to be the Oracle.

“I've seen what you have been through, and I've seen what you've done. But, I still wish to help you. Stop this. I implore you. The lives that will redoubtably be lost if this warfare continues is not worth it. Think about what you went through with your home, would you really wish that on anyone, much less want to be the cause of it. Please. If I can convince the UN to allow you world citizenship, and you allowed back in this planet, would you call off this conquest?”

He conveyed his own thoughts to the entity responsible for invading his mind. He did this as a metal giant hurled its sword at him. Even the Kaiser had come up in arms against him. He raised his arm in defense, catching the blade as his feet sank into the raw and moist earth. He gripped the blade and brought it to his side, throwing his unoccupied fist at the German ruler.

“My decision is absolute, Oracle,” he began thinking. “You are a god. You, of all people, should understand my mission,”

He let go of the Kaiser’s blade, taking his own power sword from its sheath to have it bask in a terrifying orange glow ripe with holy fire. Whether he had hit the German before or not, it would come down to who could cut the deeper wound. He raised himself out of the ground and ran ahead at his foe, swinging his blade once as it sliced through the air with a furious crackling sound.

“I will purify this world of the witch, the daemon, and the heretic. You cannot convince me otherwise. This planet will be purged in the name of the Holy Navigator. Its taint will no longer see either the light of day or the dark of night.”

While he was combating the Oracle on a mental level and the Kaiser on a physical level, he did not have the chance to notice a telepath floating above them. But what he did notice, as he looked up to the sky, made his eyes, hidden behind the unbreakable helm of the Holy Navigator, widen in sheer and total awe.

In that split second, he saw the madman from before bursting through the clouds with his eyes made livid and his lips parted widely.

In the split second after, he saw Lebanon literally picked up and scattered to the winds of Kansas with atomic fire.

But still, he lived. He knew this because the first sound he heard after the deafening blast was the frantic beating of his heart. He struggled from the wreckage of his armor, the helmet being the only surviving piece. The orange glow of his power sword told him of its durability. It would serve him better than the sluggish power fists he had wielded prior to the explosion. He tore the wires that remained in his arms from them, wincing at the initial pain. Blood did not fall from the open wounds, even as he strained them to make him stand on two legs. He took the daemon pelt from his armor and tied it around his waist, the head of the creature dangling from the right side of his waist like a pistol. His hair followed the flow of the new wind, now gone unchecked by any structure, and he observed the area for survivors. It was then that the sun began to set. His back to the west, the rays of purple and orange and red breaking through the storm clouds, there was a strange phenomenon he had hidden under his Terminator armor. As the light caught his form into an otherworldly and beautiful image, two wings in the color of ivory stretched from his back.

The jade eyes of his helmet flickered to life, quickly observing the growing darkness and preparing the lenses for night vision. The rain picked up in torrential, blinding waves, each droplet that fell on Kaligar’s power sword instantly vaporizing with a vicious hissing sound. Lightning strikes became apparent, attracted to the site that was once Lebanon. The rolling thunder of these bolts was overtaken by the Symaarian’s words, as he spoke once more, his voice still metallic under the guise of the helmet.

“Is that all? You have stripped me of my armor, and for that I must say congratulations.”

The Kaiser's sword was caught by the alien, and Symaarian managed to hit him squarely in his chest with a power fist, creating a wide but shallow indentation in the necrodermis shell that served as his body, but it did not cause him to flinch or move, for the Kaiser was physically incapable of being moved against his will.  Within moments, Kaligar had raised his orange glowing power sword, ready to commence an epic clash of the two titan's swords, he struck another blow at the Armored suit of the German Emperor, but this time it was caught by the battered Necrodermis shield, the orange sword clashing against the Black Eagle coat of arms sending a massive spray of sparks everywhere and making the shield red-hot with a good scratch mark on it.  But before the Teutonic terror could strike a blow, a massive explosion from an idiotic Amerikaner's fist created a blast of energy equivalent to the Little Boy that obliterated the city of Hiroshima in Japan 65 years ago.     If he were a normal man, this blast would have instantaneously fried him and left only a black stain on the ground where his shadow used to be, but the Kaiser had lost his fleshy body many, many thousands of years ago, and thus the blast merely managed to scorch his platinum armorskin while leaving it white hot , giving the suit a glowing appearance, while tattering his once magnificent cloak and completely incinerating the bearskin he had worn on his shoulder.  As he had anticipated, the blast did not kill the Symaarian, it only managed to destroy his golden suit of armor, leaving his unbreakable helmet and Daemon skin cloak. 
  
His gaping sores oozed neither blood nor puss, but another more magnificent sight emerged to replace his ruined armor, two great ivory colored wings spread from his back while a torrential downpour rained down upon him, vaporizing on the Symarrians blade.   The Rain instantly vaporized on the glowing hot armor of the kaiser, creating a steam cloud that grew bigger with each rain drop that fell upon it, slowly cooling the armor, while the lightning's flash and the searing glow of the armor was hungrily devoured by the pitch blackness that hid within the armor's visor, the pitch blackness that is Wilhelm's disembodied soul.    The mundane darkness was easily pierced by the intense glow of the necrodermis armor, his Alien foe stood face to face with the Emperor from another Multiverse, with massive waves of heat awashing all the awed onlookers, virtually every known material would be instantly vaporized at the ground zero of an explosion of this magnitude, but there he defiantly stood, his armor heated up to 25,000 degrees celsius, already causing the ground he was standing on to bubble and melt.   And somehow, through all this, the Kaiser's cloak and the cloth around his armor did not seem to suffer any further damage, perhaps it too was heat proof.   
 
"I see that you are still alive, just as I had expected.  Though I cannot say the same for the city.  But do not assume I fight to save this decadent country and it's people, I too am here to humble it, but my goal is not to purge it, I must conquer it for the glory of the Fel Imperium and the Dark Nine.  As you should know, Terra is not big enough for two would be world conquerers. "  he thundered, his metallic voice thick with an prussian accent that oozed with authority and charisma, though the enormous amount of heat that he was radiating distorted it somewhat.  He raised his sword arm, channeling his magical prowess to draw the potential electrical energy from the clouds above, striking himself again and again with lightning bolts while preventing the electricity and thus the heat within from escaping his to the ground, doubling his temperature while charging himself with electricity.  The pile of corpses around him instantly set ablaze as the water in them vaporized.  Cars melted, houses caught on fire in spite of the rain, and the steam cloud surrounding him got ever larger, charging itself with the electricity stored in the Kaiser's frame.  "I have three ways to crush you, I can do it with Magic, physical force, or psionics.  Or any combination of the three.  Your choice mein opponent." the kaiser mockingly suggested.   
 
He knew that he could not out-pace the Symaarian, so he wasn't going to bother, his plan was to outlast the former Russian Tsar, as great as his endurance was, Wilhelm was physically incapable of tiring.      He began a slow walk towards Kaligar, electrical arcs dancing around the cloud of superheated steam that surrounded him.  From a distance, it looked like an angry storm cloud of it's own.  "I'll admit, I haven't faced an worthy opponent in a while.  Don't disappoint me." he sneered as lightning danced around his defensive electrical steam cloud as the vast amounts of heat he was emitting continually replenished it.  He willed two portions of the electrified superheated steam cloud to separate from the primary cloud with his magic, using them to put pressure at Kaligar's flanks, surprisingly, the clouds began to discharge lightning bolts at him, all the while Bismarck advanced ever closer at a slow and steady pace, his blindingly bright form concealed by the steam cloud, but even the cloud could not fully hide the brightness of his superheated frame.  As he got closer the steam cloud began to discharge it's electricity at Kaligar, throwing large bolts of lightning towards him with deadly intent.  
 
He finally used a water controlling spell to force the primary steam cloud skywards to prevent Kaligar from flying upwards to escape, constantly hurling lightning at him while making it's ascension.  This act revealed finally revealed the full white hot glory of his superheated frame, the sheer amount of energy it was radiating made it brighter than the sun, making him appear as a fifteen foot in diameter glowing hemisphere to those who were able to look, though a T-shape black pit was visible where his visor was, as even his intense glow was hungrily devoured by the darkness that comprised his soul.  Though the light would almost certainly be filtered out by the Symaarian's helmet, the Kaiser knew the importance of psychological warfare, this entire display was meant to shaken the resolve of Warsman and his surviving allies.  "Bask in my burning glory!  For I shall end your schemes before they even begin in the name of the fatherland!" he boasted pridefully before charging, roaring various war cries in German.  But the one that could be heard the most clearly was "DEUSTCHLAND UBER ALLES!" which was roared with more volume than a jet plane taking off at point blank.  His long sword was raised high, though most people would not be able to see it past the intense glow his white hot frame emitted, as he came within reach he swung his sword with immense ferocity, the blunt force alone would have been enough to crumple up an M1A2 Abrams tank like a cheap toy found in a cereal box with enough energy left over to total an russian T-95 tank.  The entire scene seemed to be a propaganda stunt, to convince his people of the total superiority of Germany over the feeble heroes of the decadent nation of America.  

His disappearance from the world startled the human community for one of its defender, golden defender seemingly vanished without a trace. No contact with his teammates of The Ice Dragons, his disappearance amongst them would not go unnoticed in anyway. Simon hid himself amongst the cosmos and elements in outer space, voyaging to many distant homes. Ruling his pluxian people who need their Golden King. Bring peace and life to his home, his intergalactic role played a much bigger importance in his life than Earth after it was the Superhuman capital in the multiverse, they possessed more than enough defenders to help keep their planet from self annihilation. If that wasn't not a reason for his departure from Earth, it was his fear of the Void manifesting and taking control over him in a mental and physical state. The Void will forever be a major threat to the world if Simon was to have a mental breakdown. As he wander through the infinities of intergalacti traveling, Chrysander was embraced by the conscious of his father. 
 
"Eon, I thought you abandoned me to be my own King. What seems-"
 
"Chyrsander, there is not much time at hand for us to discuss certain matters. I gave Earth my last son for a reason, there are test to be overcome and the Light shall overcome the darkest night. Goodbye my Son.
 
"Eon, Wait! Don't"
 
Without another syllable said, Eon's conscious disappear and left Wonder Man to ponder the words he told him. The Golden Man levitated and sat in the opening of space, thinking. "I gave Earth my last son for a reason, there are test to be overcome and the Light shall overcome the darkest night. What does He mean by that? Darkest Night? Wait the Darkest night was the Light Wars, Light Wars? Light Wars?........" The Golden Wonder looked up with a grim look, focused to the core. Finally a single word left his mouth. "Warsman......". Not wasting another second, Simon started towards Earth. 
 

Manhattan, New York City

Warsman was as stubborn as he was powerful. Even when asked by a force of the cosmos, a power unfathemable to all minds, which does not happen every day, he stayed in the rut of world conquest. Slight, allowed the power of the Oracle to subside. His eyes returned to normal, and he noticed the clouds around him had darkened. As he descended, there was a thunderous clap. And then a flashing burning blaze. It was an unknown attacker. The Hydro hero protected himself with a telekinetic wrapping, but he had to wonder, who else was hurt. 
 
The searing heat given off by the nova attack, would have surely evaporated all the water in the city, and most of the surrounding area. This, along with the clouds still hanging, drenched with water in the air, Eclipse might suffocate from the vapors in the air, if he hadn't already died from that blast. Slight held his hands down toward the ground, fingers sprawled out. He felt the existing hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the air. Swiftly pulling his hands up above his head, clenching them into fists, the Water Guardian controlled the water vapors in the air below to combine with the existing clouds. This in effect would allow it to fall as regular rain water. 
 
Descending again, he saw Warsman unsheathed. His armor must have been destroyed in that blast. It began to pour rain. Torrential waves falling from the sky. Slight could use this to his advantage. He landed about 100 feet away from the fray. There was another monolithic creature plated in silver colored armors. Warsman and it, him or her, began to battle it out. Slight blinked, and there was another man that had entered this fight. And he recognized him. He couldn't believe his eyes, honestly, couldn't take what he saw as truth. Simon Williams had returned. Slight had heard of their rivalry, but he'd been gone for so long that he didn't think he even knew his way back.
 
The rain beat against his face, his hair had now been drenched and fallen to either side of his head. His black suit was shiny with water, but as it was water resistant he was not wet. Taking to a run, Slight, wanted to get near Eclipse again, so that they might formulate a plan. It was amazing how well they worked together when they weren't leering at each other. Stopping on a dime, Avery liquefied his body suit and all. Now, with the rain pouring and not stopping for any time soon, he could travel through the sheets of liquid without being noticed. 
 
He searched for only seconds. Traveling through water was much easier than travel in physical form. Slight reformed taking shape, without gaining any mass form the extra water around him. There was no sign of Eclipse. Figuring that he was gone, in every sense of the word, a certian anger took over him. There was no real source for it, because Eclipse and Slight were not close, Slight really didn't want to kill anyone, but because he thought he was dead, Warsman had to die. Focusing in, he connected with every rain drop in the vicinity. In past battles Slight had taken on some of the feircest fighters ever known, one of them was Feral Nova. In that battle, Slight was near death, and in turn he essentially created a hydrogen bomb, by separating the hydrogen atoms within the water that was near him. But now, he was stronger, mor skilled. 
 
With his arms outstretched, Slight collected the raindrops that fell constantly into a tunnel form. It whipped, and folded into itself, growing in potential energy. Then, as his hand grew closer and closer together, Slight separated the hydrogen atoms out from the oxygen atoms. Allowing them to seep out. Leaving a cylinder of explosive power. Forming a telekinetic canon of sorts directed at Warsman, and everyone fighting him, Slight clashed the atoms together, shooting a blast of epic power at the World Ender. But then, a blitz of lightning fell down from the skies. From the flash appeared Eclipse. Avery's eyes widened in pure fear. If he hadn't died from that first blast, he could very well die from this one. It was too far gone to stop, the only hope now was for him to somehow escape it.

Eclipse could only watch in awe as, in a matter of seconds, Warsman was pummelled with fire, arrows and explosions. He noticed clouds starting to appear in the sky, the rumbling of thunder echoing in the distance as the clouds turned darker, before unleashing a torrent of water upon the battlefield, focused on Warsman. "He did what I asked..." Eclipse muttered, before a grin appeared on his face. Knowing Slight, he hadn't expected the hero to actually follow his lead, so he was pleasantly surprised. Speaking of Slight, it was then that the Teen Wonder spotted the young hydrokinetic flying into the sky, through the clouds. Jason leapt into the air himself and followed suit, breaking through the pitch-black clouds to reach the pure, absolute light of the sun above them. Shielding his vison with a hand, the hero blocked out the sun as he looked around for Slight, before noticing him levitating, completely still, eyes closed, almost meditating. "Don't tell me the guy has telepathy on top of everything else!" Eclipse groaned, lowering himself down through a parting in the clouds to observe the battlefield. There weren't too many combatants who remained close to Kaligar, so it was safe for Jason to unleash his full electrical might. He tapped into the electrical fields of the clouds, summoning the dormant power of lightning within. 
 
Thunder tore through the area as lightning struck the ground a few miles away. Eclipse noted the exact spot where the bolt had hit the ground, and set off another. It hit the exact same mark with another deafening rumble. "I've still got it!" The hero smiled, before noticing something odd. Where previously no-one had stood toe-to-toe with the alien invader, save for the exploding man who had been knocked aside not too long ago, there was now a giant, covered in metallic armor not unlike Warsman's own. The pair were exchanging blows, but that wasn't the odd thing Jason had noticed. What was odd was the glowing ball of energy rocketing towards the ground, heading straight for Warsman! Quickly identifying the energy-ball as the exploding man from earlier, who had pushed Jason aside in order to get a shot at Warsman, Jason was utterly speechless as the man made contact, causing an ear splitting explosion of epic magnitude, with a mushroom cloud to boot. As the cloud faded away, much of the city was revealed to be completely levelled, while the two combatants, Warsman and the armored stranger, still stood. They were alive! Warsman's armor was mostly destroyed, but Eclipse knew enough about the Symaarian to know that he was still a force to be reckoned with if he had nothing but his fists. So there was only one way to stop the unstoppable monster: take away his fists. 
 
Jason reached his right arm up and over his back, putting his bo-staff back in his belt with his other hand as his nano-suit and cape folded aside to reveal a sword, sheathed on the hero's back. Eclipse cast his mind back to when he was under the control of the villain, Madros, and the training he was forced to undergo as the madman's apprentice. This training included training Jason in the art of the sword, in which Madros was a master. Madros did not excel at a great many physical excercises, preferring to use his brains and inventions to better his opponents, but the man was a skilled swordsman, no doubt. Then, Eclipse recalled his tutelage under Nighthunter, where he learned that his heroic mentor had his own sword, a sleek, but powerful katana. It was at that moment that Jason decided to get his own sword. He found a swordsmith who specialised in broadswords, Madros' weapon of choice, and had the man forge him a sword. Using his powers over gravity, Eclipse had made his sword lighter than the average broadsword, so it was as light and deadly as Jake's katana, while maintaining the heavy destruction it was known for. But now... Jason had to try something he had never tried before. To cut Warsman, he would need more than just an average blade. He would have to slice through the atoms that made up his body. 
 
Eclipse was the chosen one of his kind, the fundamentalists, born to be far more powerful than any other, with the power to control all four fundamental forces of nature. For the first time in his life, Jason would have to summon the power of the nuclear forces. Drawing a deep, clear breath, he put his index and middle finger together, held the blade flat, and touched the sharp edge of the sword with his fingers. Lightning struck the ground as he made contact, and Jason felt the familiar feeling on his palms as his birthmarks began to glow a blinding white, though still covered by his gloves. He ran his fingers along the blade, lightning striking the ground at random in quick succession as the chosen one struggled to maintain control over his power. Sweatdrops formed on his forehead as the blade crackled with energy, only a few more inches... Done. Letting his left hand fall limp, Eclipse examined the sword closely. It still looked mostly the same, but the sharpened edges had a greenish, glowing tinge to them, only visible in poor light. This meant that, whenever he willed it, Jason's blade could separate the atoms of the materials it cut through. "I have to kill him." Jason tried to convince himself. "An explosion that might as well have been nuclear barely phased him, there's no other way. I need to end this." 
 
Resigning himself to what he believed to be his destiny, Jason Dodd turned back to face the ground, to see that the armored giant had been harnessing his random bursts of lightning, using them against Warsman while spouting his own nonsense. That was when Eclipse finally recongised who the giant knight was: the Kaiser. From Germany, he had counquered nearly all of Europe with his might. If he were to win the fight against Warsman, it was not to protect the world, but to claim it as his own. If the Kaiser was allowed to defeat Warsman in battle, it would send a message to the entire world that he would not, and could not, be stoppd. But before the great Kaiser could deliver the killer blow, a golden light appeared, protecting Warsman from the attack. It was Simon Williams, Ice Dragon and hero. Eclipse felt conflicting emotions, glad that another hero was here to help, but unable to fathom why Simon chose to save the enemy. "Alright, now or never, Jason. Better make a distraction." Summoning all the power of the heavens, Eclipse unleashed two dozen lightning bolts at once, all headed for the exact same spot a few feet away from the assembly of Simon, Warsman and the Kaiser. As the powerful bolts crashed into the Earth, Jason teleported, appearing behind Warsman with a flash of red light, hoping the brightness of the lightning would blind his enemy to his presence and distract all others. 'This is it, kid.' Eclipse thought to himself as he raised the blade, leaping into the air until he was level with Kaligar's head and then sweeping his sword diagonally, seeking to slice the atoms of the alien's  muscular neck apart. 'Time to save the world.'

Longshot watched as a dragon appeared seemingly out of thin air to aid one redhead in a fight with another. This was indeed the strangest day of his life. Tank shot through the roof, and knowing the attack he was about to execute and the level of power on the battlefield he was intending to hurt, Longshot had a few seconds to run for cover. He slung his bow over his shoulder and shouted something made indistinct by the heavy rain and the crack of thunder. He quickly turned around and ran down an alley, kicking up mud with every step. He could see the orange light descending on the battlefield behind him. He ran for a nearby dumpster as he heard the deafening boom of the explosion. The ground was tossed up in a hellstorm chasing behind him. He jumped up into the dumpster and shut the lid. The metal box tumbled and rolled, thrashing the archer around violently. The dumpster crashed through a building and the violent torent outside seemed to subside. His ears rang and he looked around, disoriented. Kicking open the lid, Longshot rolled out of the dumpster, coughing and fell on hard concrete covered in ash. He looked above at the pail sky, light leaking in through the giant holes in the roof and walls. 
 
Longshot stepped outside the building to see complete and total devastation. Most of the town was leveled and now stood a gargantuan knight before Warsman, armor white hot with absorbed heat. All around, a spectacle of lightning and energy being hurled back and forth erupted on the battlefield. Longshot took up his bow. "GYAH!" he cried as he dropped the bow, realizing his arm was broken. 
 
Heat rose from the ground on which he stood, scorched and laden with ash. He drew an arrow and lay on the ground sitting up at an angle. Longshot held the bow with his feet at either side of the grip. Holding the arrow in his good hand, he put it to the string and drew it back, aiming at the eye hole in Warsman's helmet which still remained unlike anything else of his gold plated suit. Slight floated in the air high above, bringing down heavy rain and lighting on the smoldering plot of land, formerly Lebanon Kansas. No sign of Tank so far, maybe the bastard had finally blown himself to hell. If only. Eclipse moved swiftly, ready to strike down on Warsman with his sword. Did everyone here have a sword? Knowing that he would need a helping hand to finish the job, Longshot looked down the shaft of the arrow aimed precisely at Kaligar's eye. "Watch the birdy." He whispered and shot the arrow.

The German just wouldn’t stay down.

The Kaiser rose to his feet, debris falling off his glorious plated armor. Those few stubborn pieces that remained were instantly vaporized due to the Kaiser’s irradiated body. Kaliger gripped his power sword and folded his wings close to his body. They would only be targets. The Kaiser produced a strange cloud of several kinds of matter, be it solid, liquid, gas, or plasma. At least this is how Kaligar perceived the magic his foe summoned. Sparks shot out of the mass as it grew and shrank, pulsating to the rhythm of the universe. Kaligar heard no incantation. This is what worried him the most. What else could the Kaiser do? The hull of his armor hid many secrets, one of them being the ability to survive a nuclear blast unscathed. The rain continued its downpour, hissing along the length of Kaligar’s sword as if to pace along the seconds. In fact, it was only a few heartbeats since the Kaiser initiated his spell. He was making spectacular progress. But, among the slap of water against already moistened earth and its evaporation while in contact with his weapon and the Kaiser’s broad frame, he realized something. The thunder and lightning had increased in ferocity, but not just around him. He was facing a living vortex of storm, wind, and sky, and the Kaiser aimed it right at him!

From the palm of his hand, the Kaiser summoned a typhoon of pure electrical energy. At the very instant it reached him, however, Kaligar slapped it away. Smoke rose from his skin, but only momentarily. He quickly examined the impact area, unaffected, and took up a defensive stance with his power sword. Three quick strides was all the Kaiser needed to come upon the Symaarian, who raised his blade above his head, ready for the enormous pressure of the creature’s indomitable strength. He closed his eyes, his legs tensing in order to keep his kneecaps from taking damage. But, the moment of devastation never came. He opened his eyes and was immediately greeted with a blaze of gold light. His wings fluttered and he blinked in cold astonishment.

“Simon?” he asked, his jade eyes reflecting the light.

He watched as he shot the Kaiser with a cruel blast of red concussive heat from his eyes, unsure if it would matter to the already-burning creature. He caught the scent of disbelief. He turned around, finding no-one. But the muscles in his legs cringed and took flight, leaving the helmet of the Navigator in their wake. Some breed of odd explosion followed, and then a figure appeared from the smoke.

The boy, Eclipse, descended upon where the Symaarian would have been with a sword distinguished by a faint green glow. Kaligar ran his fingers along the broad edge of his power sword, making a loud and thunderous crackling sound. He kept his focus on the boy. They were only a few yards apart yet, even through the crescendo of rainwater, he could feel the boy’s self-disappointment. He was trying to live up to the mantle of Nighthunter. Kaligar smirked.

“How adorable, the babe of the family wants to wear his father’s clothes,”

He flapped his wings menacingly.

“Too bad your mentor isn’t here to save you. You could have had a chance,”

Kaligar’s youthful face, crowned with regal silver hair, only gave a glimpse of any sort of merciful intent. It was when he turned his gaze fully upon Eclipse that his murderous plans for the boy became apparent. The jade windows pierced into the soul of the boy, scouring his very existence for meaning and purpose. He wanted to become a hero. He wanted to save people. Kaligar sighed as he realized this.

“You want to help people? I’ll tell you something, boy,”

The sound of an arrow slicing the air came to his left ear. He quickly caught it by the shaft, the arrowhead just past his enclosed fingers. He dropped it nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on Eclipse.

“All it takes is one bad day for a hero to lose all meaning. Do you know what happens after that?”

He raised his sword, the length of it that of his 6’ 8” body, and pointed it in an arc at the wreckage beyond them. He shouldered it afterward.

“When will you have your bad day? Or have you already had one? All it takes is a split second for you to realize nothing is sacred, that nothing is worth preserving. All I have left is my belief in the Holy Navigator, but I was lucky,”

He started making his way toward Eclipse, his wings extending and retracting at intervals.

“What will you have when that split second comes to you?”

He stopped at about two yards from his opponent.

“Is today that day?”

His jade eyes surveyed the boy once more before he took his sword to his side. In the moment of a thunderbolt, he moved to strike, lashing out with a mighty swing.

 The Kaiser's blade was caught by yet another hero, who attempted to reason with Warsman once again and even had the audacity to fire upon him with an eye laser, but the german emperor was completely immovable for he had not willed to be moved, the heat of the blast only serving to make him hotter, multiplying his heat by five fold.  The German emperor was beyond bright now, the very ground began to vaporize at his feet, his very form was radiating pure energy now in enormous amounts, though the sheer amount of it stored within him meant that it would take quite a while for him to cool down at this rate.  To the untrained eye, Wilhelm would appear to be an energy being, but if one could see past the burning brightness, one would see the finest suit of full plate armor ever constructed, topped by two magnificent platinum colored horns with even more majestic crests, these served as his crown.  
 
"So another Foolish hero emerges, my spies across this multiverse have told me much about you Simon.  Including your rivalry with Herr Roxom, but you are not to interfere in the business of the Fourth Reich.  So I will kindly ask you to please step aside."  he says bluntly, his metallic voice full of authority and charisma, his voice made one felt like he should be in charge; that he should be giving all the orders, even as the immense heat he emits distorts it, his Charisma works it's insidious way into Simon's mind, it sounds so convincing, even though his tone is blunt, it still carries the sort of Charisma that would make men like Hitler and Napoleon green with envy.  As he spoke, he uses his vast magical prowess to further enhance his Charisma, further lowering the chance of Simon to resist.    
 
"You want to help people yes?  Then reason with me, you know that Kaligar despises all life on this planet, and my goals are Alustric at heart.  I ended poverty in the nations I conquered, so you can trust me.   Help me and my cause, and I will make sure that it will be worth your while." he continued, magically dimming his glow so that his body was visible, though it was still glowing somewhat.  His Charismatic voice was full of energy and passion, so convincing and full of his enormous force of will.  But if Simon refused, he was ready to use a combination of his magic and psionics to crush his will and force him to do his bidding, and was mentally preparing himself to fight the hero in case both failed, recalling every file he had read about him with a machine like quality.
 
He then saw a teenager, whom he identified as eclipse, apprentice of the Nighthunter.  He had heard of his story before, but recalling it only saddened him, it reminded him too much of the unfathomable amount of loss he had already suffered, his entire home multiverse was gone, and he was force to feel the combined loss of each of the alternate selves, his loss was so complete, that not even his old body remained.  Still, he could not help but think that the boy must have had some kind of plan, few would attack a Symaarian without some kind of hope to cling to.  His quick vision saw an arrow pass by, while many heroes were fond of such weapons, the make of the arrow allowed Wilhelm to figure out the perpetrator, the hero who called himself Longbow, for so far reaching was the Kaiser's spy network that not even heroes who had just arrived on the world scene could escape his notice.   Nonchalantly, he picked up the discarded helm of the holy navigator but dropped it when he felt an excruciating pain, the helm was cursed to harm the soul of any non-symaarian it touched.  
 
As he was easily the tallest object in the pile of rubble that was once the hamlet of Lebanon, lightning sought him out naturally, always raising his temperature and the amount of electrical energy he was storing, the former at a fairly steady pace, the latter skyrocketing to immense levels.  Those who had claimed that out of the two heads of the German nation, that the dreaded Kommandant was the more physically fearsome of the two; had forgotten one important caveat; the Kaiser's array of powers was always the more versatile of the two, and that is how he managed to maintain his power.  He finally decided to discharge the vast amount of energy he had stored within him, from his left hand emerged a vast bolt of lightning, enough energy to power a city the size of London for a week, and from his right a beam of pure thermal energy, with plenty of visible light to add the extra intimidation factor.  The heat ray was inconceivably hot, hotter than the core of the sun, at 30 million degrees centigrade, and concentrated in a one and a half foot in diameter ray.  
 
The heat ray t was directed at the now distracted Kalligar, and the lightning bolt was directed at his equally distracted sister.  He would kill two birds with one stone.  He had carefully orchestrated the massive show of his power so that the remaining heroes present would see the utter futility of resisting him when the time to silence the arrogant mouth across the sea that was America came.  The lightning leapt from his left hand with a thunderous roar as loud as an atomic bomb, while the heat ray seared it's way towards Kaligar at the speed of light.  As he did this, the steam cloud around him finally ascended into the sky, where it condensed and rejoined the clouds above, while his glow disappeared completely.  But the gnawing darkness in his visor looked like an extremely inviting target.  

In the midst of a battle unfathomable by all other standards, a head popped out from the crater in the heart of the town of Lebanon Kansas. Tank had emerged from the bed of ashes on which he lay and looked around at the destruction, buildings wiped clean from the surface, rain turning mounds of ash into thick black paste. "Oh lawdy, did I do that?" he said in a false Georgia accent. He picked him self up off the ground, knocking the dust and debris from his jacket and hair. He watched as the battle still raged on, Warsman fought valiantly, still standing after taking the explosive force of Tank's devastating move point blank. He raced into the heart of the battle, throwing himself between Warsman and Eclipse.
 
Tank turned to Eclipse and eyed the boy, tough and resilient, ready to die in this fight. Judging by his face, he had some fit with "destiny" or "fate". Tank had seen a million fighters with such beliefs in his travels. "Beat it, kid." he snarled, "He's mine. You can have whatever's left to hack to bits." He then turned to Kaligar, pointing back at the teen hero behind him. "Teenagers, huh?" he chuckled, gazing up at the hulking warrior before him, his golden helm gleaming in a single proud ray of light poking through the clouds. Secretly, the human bomb was in awe at this sight. "Now listen, pal. I like you and I'm gonna let you live. But, I'm gonna need a souvenir. How's about your spine?"
 
The Daredevil Detonator fell on one knee, as if he were about to bow before Kaligar. However, he began to charge, focusing the energy into his legs, chest and back to keep Warsman from seeing the glow until it was too late. Soon, Kaligar would strike and he would steal the joy of Eclipse's first kill. Or perhaps he should let the boy kill Warsman. Heroes delude themselves that they would never take a life but one circumstance permitted it. The taste of blood and the pride of the victory would corrupt him. He knew the affect it had. Once Eclipse killed Warsman, he would do anything to get the feeling again. So perhaps he should step aside and let the boy wonder take his prize. 
 
Not in a million years.

The burning breath from Draak seemed to be doing nothing more than delaying the inevitable end of the young warrior. Malice was pleasantly surprised at her durability even though, she herself had not really done anything to hurt her. Draak raised its head at her command of pulling his reigns upward. She could see Warsman, and only him. Everyone else that had entered the scrimmage was just an insignificant blur. Her focus was on the man she wanted as her own, her King. Yes...Malice had grown an infatuation with the muscular destruction. Cassidy, as she called herself was only a hindrance to the ultimate goal of partnership, in war and love. 
 
A thunderclap. Then a great flash of light came from nowhere, but destroyed everything. Draak new well enough to protect its master. His wings were more durable than most anything. He folded the sinuous leathery contraptions before them both protecting them from the blast. Soon after, it began to rain, not unlike the pours in the ancient city of Ogmire. "Up" Through the thick pelting of raindrop, the red and black dragon flew up high. When it had reached the heights the Queen of War desired, Malice rubbed Draak upon the neck. "You have served me well, Go back to the Empire and eat your fill." She stood up, with her sights on Cass. Malice held Jo above her head, and jumped from the back of her beat. Allowing Jo to lead her way, the Queen of War plummeted to the softened grounds below. She knew that even in all of the moisture the dried up dirt from years of tempered heat would not yield so fast to water. 
 
Leveling her body out, while she was still falling, Malice brought Jo above her parallel. The ground grew closer, and closer. "CLANG" The sword's edge broke into the Earth. The ground breaking under it's mighty metallic punch. The carnage began to unfold as the ground shattered in a sprawling v formation, directly for the other Redhead. But she was not done yet. Taking a running start, she gracefully jumped from broken boulderish ground, to close the gap between the two enemies. Leaping into the air, with only about 15 feet of space between them, Malice swung Jo by her side, causing her body to become a spinning top. A spinning top of decapitation. In the blurred fury of her attack, Empress of Tears saw an oncoming elemental detraction. She could tell that it was directed at her target, and nothing was going to end her, except for Malice that is. She, propelled herself farther than she originally wanted, in order to negate the attack. Holding Jo out, she caught the lightning bolt within her sword, it's enchanted metals seething with energy, she whipped it away, directing the bolt back into the heavens.

As the arrow flew, aimed for a crippling shot into Warsman's eye, he simply reached out and caught it. "Damn!" Longshot growled. Obviously, Kaligars senses and reflexes matched his own. He stood up, his right arm limp and useless. His coat tattered and his armor scathed, Longshot limped onto the battlefield, refusing to surrender because of his limitations. 
 
He looked around at the devastation, the blackened sky. Rain pelted him and he took out another arrow, attaching a knockout gas bit. He scanned the crowd, carefully selecting a target. The German was too powerful. He had withstood the heat of a miniature nuclear explosion and didn't budge and still, he fought on. He watched as the two redheads dueled, the dragon vanishing from the fight and the woman who rode him fell to the earth, cracking the ground beneath her sword. Having little faith in his chances of stopping these two, Longshot sat down in the mud, held his bow with his feet and put the arrow to the string with his good hand. "Play nice!"  he snarled and shot the arrow between them. He instantly got back up and ran onto the battlefield, past Warsman who dueled against both Tank and Eclipse. 
 
There had been had been no sign of Decoy Elite since the explosion. Longshot needed to get him back into the fight. He jumped into the crater, sliding down the muddy slope in the rain. He looked around, finding his ally's unconscious body on the ground. It was obviously a decoy, but Longshot didn't care. He knelt down next to him. "Come on." he said, "Come on, you need to wake up." he began tapping him on the face, but still, he didn't finch. "Wake up dammit!"

Eclipse was blind, like the rest of them. He had been to the brink. He had not been past it. Kaligar marveled that he was still alive after the initial sword strike and that the man called Tank was still alive despite blowing himself up. The Symaarian looked between the two, seeing their motives. Just as Tank was about to reach him, there was a pause in the air. Tank began to float backwards, attracted to the opposing side of the battlefield, and Kaligar rested his gaze back on Eclipse who, using Tank as a distraction, began using Kaligar as a living gravitational magnet. Cars began hovering and crashing close to him, yet he kept focus on Eclipse. The boy was not to escape.

He raised a fist, telekinetically drawing the bend in the universe around him to it. Opening his hand, he flattened it again and the cars fell down with a thunderous orchestra of cracks and whistles. Kaligar smirked and tensed the muscles in his legs. But he stopped in this quick motion. Eclipse’s hand sparkled with a dangerous light. Kaligar felt himself smile as he allowed the inferno to consume him. A tower of flame replaced the automobiles falling around him. Such was the gas fire that the rain could not pierce it for a moment. Yet Kaligar emerged, footsteps crunching the smoldering car parts and charred bones and ashen flesh of those who had fallen this day. The smell of overcooked human organs was intoxicating to him, taunting his senses, and he inhaled deeply. He noticed the slicing effect of a blade through air and quickly took a defensive strike by lashing out with his power sword, instantly blocking the incoming attack. His jade eyes reflected Eclipse’s perfectly, infiltrating his mind. He made his voice audible in the boy’s mind as he threw an uppercut from below the conflict of metal and willpower.

“What are you trying to accomplish?” he asked.

But just as he was about to continue with his attack, a blinding flash of light became apparent from his right flank. He looked to the light, though not directly at it, and hurriedly assembled all the parts of his telekinetic shielding into a cone-like device, concave throughout and designed to aim the blast back at the Kaiser. That German bastard never ceased in his tricks. The sun-like beam impacted the shielding, which held, but it ate away at its enemy force; ninety percent integrity, then eighty percent, dropping to seventy…soon, only fifty percent of the original shielding was left. Deciding the best possible course of action, he abandoned the shielding for the sky and watched as the light trickled down to a simmer below him.

Tank stood between the two, the electricity of their hatred flowing into him, as he lunged at Warsman, fists swinging, he dropped to the earth with a loud THUD! He felt as though the whole world had been turned on its side, yet everyone else remained standing and fighting as normal. He felt dragged, ash and dirt were kicked up into his mouth at he clawed at the ground, trying to stay in one place. Taking wide handfuls of the earth, Tank trudged on towards his opponent but suddenly, the ground he held broke off and he fell, his body flailing wildly as he plummeted sideways. 
 
As he fell, Tank firmly grasped the corner of a wall still left standing. He swung his arm up over the wall and pulled himself up. The rickety wooden wall, severely weakened by the explosion, held him as he lay there, pressed up against it by a skewed form of gravity. All around him, he watched, green with envy, as his enemies fought on without him. The German began to unleash some sort of blinding blast of heat energy, to which Tank barely evaded his eyes. Warsman and Eclipse continued their duel. Huntress and this mystery warrior woman brawled viciously and Longshot remained in the fight, somehow. Tank rested his head on the wall when, suddenly, he heard a long, lumbering CRACK! that moved through the wood. Immediately, the wall gave way and Tank cascaded towards whatever plot of ground he was inevitably going to hit. Whilst falling, Tank cried out his usual phrase of "GOD DAAAAAAMIIIIIIT!"
 
With a harsh thrust from the earth, Tank smacked down on the hard surface after falling what appeared to be nearly half a mile straight down. He got up and dusted himself off, he had done worse, he had jumped out of airplanes without a parachute and gotten back up without a moment's rest.  
 
He shook the dust out of his hair and looked at the far off Kaligar. "I try to punch him, he's got a forcefield. I do the Hiroshimaon him, he walks out of the crater without hardly a scratch." He leaned forward and dug his hands into the earth. "Let's see how he like it when I rip out his heart." 
 
He climbed on the ground, rapidly digging his fists deep into the dirt and pulling himself up. He ignored the vast amounts of ash he was inhaling and kept. Now wasn't the time to worry about his well being for the first time. Getting a lucky break when he came to a V shaped crack in the ground one of the redheads had made, Tank found himself within reach of Warsman again. He steadied himself, standing on all fours. "I'm takin' you with me this time." he growled and jumped for his enemy, already feeling the drag of gravity pulling him back. He planned to tackle Warsman and either be anchored to the spot by his weight and strength, or pull him down with him and finish Kaligar alone without any interruptions from any boy wonders

 The being went unmoved, Simon only seemed to increase the potential of its power.  "So another Foolish hero emerges, my spies across this multiverse have told me much about you Simon.  Including your rivalry with Herr Roxom, but you are not to interfere in the business of the Fourth Reich.  So I will kindly ask you to please step aside."  he says bluntly, his metallic voice full of authority and charisma, his voice made one felt like he should be in charge; that he should be giving all the orders, even as the immense heat he emits distorts it, his Charisma works it's insidious way into Simon's mind, it sounds so convincing, even though his tone is blunt. The Golden Wonder's face was as stern and serious as ever. Never before Simon was more focused and intense, his intention was neither good nor bad. "Foolish, my friend the only being that's foolish is the feeble minded life form before me. I don't know who you mistaken me for but I'll tell you my brain is too complex for your simple persuasion to work. Now I'll give you the option of safely removing yourself from the battlefield and no harm will be done to you." Wonder Man removed his grasp from the blade and allowed the German being to establish his decision but not without keeping his guard up to par. Lightning bolts from the heaven descended and struck on the ground before Warsman, the German and Simon himself. Being shocked in the process, the Golden Man felt the lighting running through his core, phasing him slightly. Turning his attentions to Eclipse and the other combatants. "Please leave now, allow me to speak with my brother. If you stay you'll only be injured or killed." Many attacks directed at Wars and Wars retaliating increased the amount of stress on Simon's mind. Sweat began to penetrate through his pores and poured down his face. He tried keeping distant from everyone, only he and Kaliger understood the pressure Simon underwent. 

"Aargh, get back now ." he commanded. "You not safe from us Golden boy, No One IS!!!" Simon fought to control himself and what lays within him. The being projected a beam of energy towards a distracted kaliger. Without thinking further more Wonder Man dashed into the beam being bathed by the some of the beam before it struck the shield of Warsman, though hurting him for a moment he absorbed the energy sufficient enough to generate heat to the life for years. The Void lose power where Wondy gains from the light element within. The heat only amped it, like he sun dipped. After the smoke cleared, Wondy stood to his feet in front of the symaarian and the German. His body let off smoke from the sheer amount of energy in his body. 

He placed his head down and sighed. "You're only going to make me stronger, since your motivate was not to walk. I have no choice but to break you." Looking up with a dashing smile, emitting light energy resembling a miniature star. Simon took off at the massive being with tremendous speed breaking the Mach speed limit, a rush in attack would be rather dumb but yet clever. Using his quickness and agility, he left an afterimage in front and in the back of his combatant. Coming back around excess the speed of light, he attempted to punch the kasier with enough sheer force to break a piece of the moon the size of Baltimore at high speed, trying to land at least six of these brute full punches aimed at the abdominal of the being, in effort to crash the strong plated armor he possessed. 

 Dashing back as quickly as possible, he tried reaching out a telepathic link to Kaliger. "Listen I have a powerful telepathic block up enough to shield my mind from the Phoenix, so it would be hard for him to know what I'm telling you. Now We need to crash his armor, the armor must have weak spots for mobility. Weak spots should be the sides of the abdominal, under the arms, behind it's knees, the elbow points, and etc. If we could crack the armor I could telepathically break it's mind. There is a link so you can project your thoughts back. Time is sufficient." Wonder Man kept his guard up watching his surroundings all the heroes and villains beside him ready to strike. "Listen I don't want to hurt you, please fall back now." No one heeded his warning everyone wanted glory instead of life, instead of teaming up as a whole, everyone wanted the glory to themselves. Greedy life forms, none worthy of leaving the battlefield alive much less leaving at all. Eclipse, son of Nighthunter, one of the greatest heroes trying to live up to his Father's reputation formed a force field around Tank, another one Warsman challenger and hurl him back a few yards away so he could take on Wars with no interference. Two females had a duel of their own and no one cared to interrupt but everyone wanted Warsman so. Like the very mentioning of his name with like tasting the sweetest wine, the gay taste on their tongue would have one's soul quivering. Tank tried to spear the Symaarian, his motive being to pin him to the ground and explosion like he did before. The first time He managed to get away but this time if Tank was to enter the grasp of The Golden Wonder, won't get off so easy. 
 
He clapped his hands together, trying to filled the area with dust and the offenders would be unable to see whose who. Wondy charged at Tank with accelerating speed and terrifying force, trying to spear and lock on to him. Simon attempted using his gruesome strength and bear hug Tank. For him to self destruct his molecules would have to be moving at a vast speed level. Trying to squeeze the air out of his system and put him to sleep.

The Kaiser's adversary came at him at mach one, but the Kaiser was quick enough to erect an arcane barrier of force, dulling the impact to a thousandth of it's original power, which was still a massive amount of force.  The remainder of the impact was absorbed by his shield, the metal absorbing the blow with ease, though it groaned somewhat under the strain.  "Impressive, but ultimately you underestimate the power that is magic; and like so many others you assume that I indeed possess a body under this armor.  I do not, mein body was lost long before you were ever born." sneered the Extrauniversal emperor as he unleashed a spell to mentally crush the Golden wonder.  To further augment the spell, the Kaiser used his own psionic power.   The Spell was meant to do one thing and do it very well, temporarily reduce the intelligence of it's target to the level of an insect so that the Kaiser could quickly mop up the stupefied victim.  Not waiting for the spell to take effect the Kaiser slashed his six foot Necrodermis longsword which was capable of slicing through anything, save other Necrodermis objects, power weapons, and the very toughest of psionic, technological, or magical barrier at the second alien.   Not even Simon's invulnerability could protect him from the necrodermis blade.
 
"I find your attempt at protecting your 'brother' to be noble, yet ultimately foolish.  He is beyond reason, you of all people should understand that, he will not rest until mankind is extinguished as a species in this universe.  But no, you insist on protecting him; so who is really the hero here?" taunted the Hochmeister of the Teutonic knights.  "And I know all about your weakness to mental assault, and I am a master at breaking the psyche."  he boasted before unleashing another devastating mental assault upon wonder man, this time the combined magical and psionic assault was meant to outright lobotomize the Plutoxian, although temporarily.  "If you will not bow to me, then you will suffer like none have ever suffered before!" he snarled before increasing the ferocity of the psycho-magical assault.  "Your mind is my plaything!" he boasted as he continued the psycho-magical barrage on Simon's fragile psyche.     
 
The Teutonic titan turned his attention towards Kaligar, where he fired off a volley of five orbs of pure force, each being five feet in diameter and packing enough force to level a city block, all concentrated in one spot.  The orbs were transparent, but they distorted the images of everything behind them.  To follow up the volley of force orbs, the german emperor fired off a cone of pure cold, which sapped the energy from everything around it, reducing the temperature of everything within 15 feet of it to nearly absolute zero, stopping just at the Symaarian.  "Tell your holy navigator that the Dark Nine send their fondest regards." he laughed.  The Dark Nine were the physical embodiements of the nine evil things in the omniverse, the Baernolar, head of them all, was the incarnate of evil, the original source of evil from which it all flowed.  Unquitus, was undeath; Grak was war; Verax was hate; Zorath was Tyranny; Ix was destruction; Nevik was corruption; Lort was antipathy; and Ziphus was darkness.  
 
The kaiser had noticed that his lightning bolt had been deflected by a human female who he could immediately recognize as a servant of Khorne.  This troubled him, the gods of the warp were typically subservient to the dark nine on account of the Dark Nine's vastly greater power.  Had Khorne sent this pawn as a way of interfering in the affairs of the Dark Nine by proxy?  But that would be something that would have to wait for his debriefing report to the Baernolar.  Right now, he was focused on being the one to defeat Warsman to gain a political victory for the Fourth Reich.  He again noticed the idiotic Amerikaner who called himself Tank, this time preparing himself to tackle Warsman with another one of those explosive attacks.  But Wilhelm's quarrel was not with tank, his fight was with Kaligar.  He noticed the second Amerikaner who had deigned to equip himself with the bow and arrow, and with his arcane sight, he could tell that his arm was broken.   
 
In order to show that he was capable of mercy, Wilhelm did a surprising maneuver and sent a cone of healing energy towards longbow, which would mend his arm and allow him to continue the fight.  Though it was obvious that this was again, a propaganda stunt rather than something done out of the kindness in his heart.  Wilhelm then continued his psycho-mental barrage, aiming to crush Simon and put him out of the way.  

 Decoy hadn't woken up and Longshot watched helplessly as the battle commenced. He had been a fool to think he could have been any help. Warsman was too powerful for him. Suddenly, the sharp pain in his arm began to relax. His fingers began to move and he held up his arm, turning a dial on his eyepiece. After a few seconds, it took an x-ray. It seemed as though the pieces of his bone were being temporarily held together, allowing his arm to work. Whoever or whatever was causing this, he was greatful.
 
He took up his bow and charged back onto the battlefield. He stayed low as random projectiles and energy blasts flew back and forth. Sliding in the mud, he took refuge behind a destroyed brick wall. His arm was still a bit stiff and hurt to move, but it worked enough to operate the bow. Putting five arrows to the string, two with tazers, two with knockout gas and one with an explosive bit, he took aim at Warsman. The explosion had left him disoriented, his aim wasn't a hundred percent, but at this range, with a target that big, he had no excuse to miss.
 
Longshot drew back on the string as tight as he could. The bow curved in his grasp and he eyed the target carefully. The bow wobbled slightly in his hand, but he steadied himself. "This was supposed to be my vacation!" he growled and fired the fan of arrows at Kaligar. 

He tried raising a shield. In every fiber of his being, he prayed that he was quick enough.
 
But, as his conscious mind was focused on Eclipse, the Kaiser seared his body with two of the concussive orbs he had sent his way. The first tore off one of his wings from the stalk, leaving the other dangling by skin and flesh. By the second orb, he had managed to protect himself (somewhat) and deflect most of the force with his shield. The remaining three bounced harmlessly to the ground, sky, and beyond. Meanwhile, Kaligar observed the blood pooling at his ankles from his back. He felt lightheaded, but forced himself to remain stalwart. He had not come this far to fail now. 
 
Clutching the grip to his power sword, he reached behind him with his unoccupied hand and tore the remaining wing from his body. Although they would heal and grow back given time, he didn't need the added inconvenience of a broken limb. He straightened his posture, smiling. Suddenly, cars began to bend and break under a mysterious force. Solid steel structures that had weathered Tank's attack were flattened. Upon a second glance from the strange occurrence, one would see Kaligar laughing. Great spires of rock and earth jutted from the ground. A fissure appeared below him, and he floated above it on pure psychic energy. Lava plumes rose from the depths, breaking the night into an aurora of oranges and yellows and reds. The smell of his own blood invigorated him. His life-fluid gave him new reason to live, new reason to fight and to die in the name of the Holy Navigator.

As new and unruly foes entered the fray, Slight was still worried about one thing. How they were going to defeat Kaligar. It seemed like no matter what he did, no matter what anyone did, he rose to meet the challenge, and stopped it. That wasn't until, another beast unleashed as series of energetic orbs upon him. Slight believed that his name was, Dreadnaught, and saw that he was more than equipped to handle the likes of Warsman. But, that did beg the question...If, and once Warsman is out of the equation, what was this one going to do?
 
Pondering was left unattended, fore the ground began to quake, and the cars that had survived that catastrophic blast began to yeald and capitulate to whatever was causing them stress. Slight, for a second thought that he saw a strike of worry, in his eyes, at the fact that he was unaware of what was to happen next. Lava began to pour out of ground, spewing upward and landing causing multiple mini rivers of fiery harm. Ash fell from the sky as well, and it began to mix with the lightened rain to cause sort of a falling mud. One could not help but think of Pompeii right now.
 
He knew that if any of that lava hit the open gas leaks that had sprung out from the earlier blast, there would be a whole knew slew of problems to take care of. Not only would it increase the already damaged area, but that destruction would carry out in other cities as well. The Hydro hero would stop this. Noticing that he had not seen Eclipse in quite some time, and that he knew he was not hurt from the attack he loosed, Slight was unwary about his fellow hero. 
 
The rain that fell was already heated, so it would not do enough to harden the lava rifts. Slight, condensed columns of rain and ash, chilling them to lower temperatures. Each lava rift began to turn from the vibrant fiery colors associated with volcanoes, and began to super cool, and harden into rock. At least now, there would be extra barriers formed to stop the explosions, he thought would come. And, if this battle were to end on a favorable note, there would be marvelous obsidian to take home.

The Kaiser's plan was working flawlessly, the efforts of he and the others were slowly grinding the former Tsar into the dust, and already, the Kaiser's force orbs had torn off one of Kaligar's wings, leaving the other hanging by a thread.  But Kaligar had a ferocious will, and tore off his remaining wing and straightened his posture, giving a worrisome smile before laughing as a massive spike in psionic energy began to destroy the remaining cars and tear holes that stretched all the way down to the earth's mantle.   Now the Lava didn't worry Wilhelm in the slightest, he could survive being dumped into the core of a gas giant, but the fact that Kaligar was able to tear apart the 40 mile thick crust of the Earth did in fact worry him, not many psions possessed such vast amounts of power.   
 
Ash mixed with the rain in the sky to create mud, while the other particles rubbed against each other, building up a charge, before releasing it in a vast display of static electricity known as lightning, and it was an awe inspiring display of electricity to be sure.  But the Kaiser had seen this kind of display countless times over the course of his multi-billion year life span in various other universes; such a display did not impress him.   Wilhelm acted quickly and outstretched the fingers in his left gauntlet, and from each finger a five foot flaming orb of rock was summoned forth from parts unknown.  Each orb hurled itself at hypersonic velocity, and would hit warsman with meteoritic fury.  But not one to rest on his Laurels, Wilhelm used his arcane power to hurl two orbs of lightning, each possessing enough electricity to power a large city for a month.   
 
He finally dug the tip of his broadsword into the ground, sending a wave of magical energy to create a great earthquake, a full 9.0 on the Richter scale.  The Ground buckled and cracked like jellatin under the enormous force, sending the Lava every which way while hopefully disrupting the footing of the Symaarian, any remaining building collapsed under the full minute of shaking while the firery orbs of rock homed in implacably towards warsman.  The hero known as slight decided to make rain, but the lava that hardened was torn open by the earthquake, however, most of the lava was trapped in chasms deep enough to accomadate it, which then hardened in the rain at an ever so slow pace.   

The Kaiser proved a more devious force than the Symaarian had previously thought. The projectiles continued to hammer away at his shield, eventually causing it to crack but not fall away. Weakened, the telekinetic barrier barely held out being drowned in molten rock. In fact, it actually allowed some of the lava to pool inside in its splintered state. Shaken, Kaligar took to the skies above the lurching columns of liquid fire. He sighed heavily. His throat was dry, and he could hardly think with all the chaos around him. Simon, in all his deluded glory, made one of his speeches only a self-righteous nitwit like him could concoct. But Kaligar noticed his muscles tensing to take flight.

In an instant, the Symaarian and Simon’s fists met in mid-air, causing a sonic boom effect to take place. The shock wave ripped the earth far below them asunder and spread the ash above them beyond the reach of the atmosphere. Simon left to pursue other matters, mainly the Kaiser, and Kaligar descended to take his fight to the others who assembled to oppose him.

His boots touched the surface of what was once Lebanon, now a crater and a monument to the war that had swallowed it whole. He looked from Slight to Tank and finally to Eclipse, casting an especially hate-filled gaze at the latter. The sniper whose arrows threatened him from a distance was nowhere to be found among the group. He was most likely hiding, seeking a vantage point outside of the inferno. That familiar noise came to his ears once more. Of course he sought the most opportune time to strike. The arrowheads pierced his torso. He did not move, or even flinch. He tore the one closest to his heart from his flesh, examining the tip coated with his blood. He threw it down and followed the same pattern with the others, dropping them nonchalantly as his wounds bled in unison.

“Do you see, now, that it is pointless?” he began.

“The only two capable of matching me in combat are bickering among themselves. How appropriate that even your saviors cannot decide what and how to accomplish their own individual goals.”

He took a step forward, aiming himself at Tank. His eyes shifted for a moment, though, and he launched himself with impossible speed at Eclipse, his arm outstretched to shred the boy’s head from its stalk using his forearm.

 Simon allowed the void to take over him just as his mind was failing, the Void attempted to force it's tendrils into the Kaiser's armor, but Wilhelm would not be so easily defeated.  He raised an arcane barrier of solar energy, knowing that the void was weak to it.  He attempted to play on the Kaiser's distraught psyche, but the emperor had seen terrible things before; the future didn't worry him in the slightest, and allowed the void to futiely attempt to throw him, laughing as the void found that no amount of physical force could move the German Emperor against his will.  Two time bombs placed earlier by Simon then exploded, allowing Simon to reassert himself, and once again he made a self righteous speech.  "I understand my prospective my wrong but it is with reasoning my plan was to take him off the orbit and offer him a world in my own universe where he could recreate his race but the Kasier and The Void is right..."  "Kaligar is beyond reasoning. I must do what is right in my Heart......Stand down, I have to handle this situation alone. If I fail to do so then pray for tomorrow."  "Kaliger, You are my brother but I can't abide you destroying humanity, your destruction ends here."  
  
The naivety of the plutoxian was staggering.  Surely one who has been across even this backwater universe would realize how wrong the philosophy of idealism was.  Turning towards Warsman, Wilhelm was pleased to see that his magical barrage was withering the Symaarian King's telekinetic shield away.  He took to the skies as molten rock pooled into the cracks of the shield and sighed heavily.  In a matter of moments Kaligar and Simon's fist met in mid air and created a sonic boom that destroyed what Tank's Hiroshima attack, Warsman's mantle uprising, and his own Earthquake had not leveled in the city.  Several arrows pierced the Symaarian's hide, which struck Wilhelm as odd, an arrow capable of so much as breaking the skin of a Symaarian would need a very special material or a tremendous amount of force.  But even then, the Alien simply tore out the arrows and ignored what must have been no small amount of pain.    Soon, the Symaarian king made his own speech; dictating about the futility of resisting him before launching himself at enormous speeds towards the teenaged boy named eclipse. 
  
But before Wilhelm could concentrate on Kaligar, simon again attempted to move the Emperor, but once again, Simon's attempt failed utterly, though he was able to heave and pull with no small amount of effort, it availed him nothing.  "You idiot, you utter fool, I cannot be moved against my will by any force, not by magic, not by the power of the mind, not by brute strength.  And now you shall pay the price for touching the emissary of the Baernolar!"  thundered Wilhelm, his voice going from charismatic to utterly terrifying and menacing, a voice that made that of the void's look like a silly child next to an angry deity, the voice of the conquerer of a thousand multiverses.  He raised his broadsword, capable of cutting through any material save for the material that composed the Emperor's armor and power weapons, for it was composed of Necrodermis, the strongest material in all existence; not even simon's skin would provide any more resistance to it than empty space would.  It would slice through Simon with infinite ease; and put an end to his infuriating idiocy.  He rained down the broadsword upon Simon at his skull, ready to kill him right here, and if the sword connected where Wilhelm wanted it to, it would bisect Simon. 

Eclipse lowered himself out of the air, falling to his knees the instant his feet made contact with the rubble that once was Lebanon. "I've never given up before..." Jason said slowly, in total shock. "But I've thrown everything I have short of a nuclear explosion at this monster. And I already know that won't work. Nothing will." Looking up, Eclipse watched silently as Warsman summoned molten magma from beneath the Earth's crust; as Simon Williams battled the power of the Void and the power of his opponents; as the Kaiser proved how he had managed to conquer multiverses. "This battle is fought by Gods, not men..." He gasped, resting his head in his hands at a complete loss of what to do. Nothing worked, he couldn't possibly overpower the Symaarian. He was too strong. "I could sacrifice my life as the prophecy dictates... But that wouldn't kill him." The young hero realized, thinking of how his mentor had sacrificed his own life to defeat King Hyperion in the Light Wars. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" 
 
Suddenly, the world shook, as the Kaiser used his magic to summon a massive earthquake. Stumbling to his feet, Eclipse anchored himself to the ground with his gravitational powers and waited it out. But as Simon Williams took flight and crashed headfirst into Kaligar Roxom, Jason's grip on the Earth was torn apart by the huge shockwave created by such a powerful collision. The crimson avenger was hurled off his feet, landing further away with a crash. Coughing up ashes and dirt, the teen wonder lifted his head off the ground to see Warsman still relatively unharmed by the many attacks thrown his way. Arrows pierced his flesh and blood trickled down his torso, but still the one who had declared war on the planet was alive, tearing the projectiles harshly from his body, unaffected by the loss of blood. But before the arrows had made contact, Warsman had cast a hateful gaze Eclipse's way, one that said: 'I'm coming for you next'. So, as Warsman aimed himself at Tank, a sudden thought crossed the mind of the Vine Titan. 
 
'He's bluffing.' Jason thought, raising his eyebrows as the Symaarian prepared to rocket towards Tank. 'He's not going for Tank. He's coming for me! Better think fast, Teen Wonder! No point in dying if you don't take him down with you!' But Jason didn't think. He reacted instinctively, silently, raising a gloved hand to point the flat of his palm at Kaligar. As Roxom poised himself, ready to take off and charge, the crescent-shaped symbol under Jason's glove began to glow. The pure white glow of the birthmark shone through the nano-suit as the alien invader left the ground, changing direction at the last second to Eclipse, as the young detective had predicted. And then, at the split second before Warsman tore his opponent in half through sheer speed and strength, a faint green glow appeared all around the hero, exactly the same as the glow which had decorated his sword. Eclipse had summoned his power over the nuclear forces again. Now, anything or anyone who made contact with the field around Jason would have their atoms separated. A sword would be split in half; a limb would be severed; and a body would be cut straight down the middle if it tried to pass through. But at the speed Roxom was moving, it was inevitable that if they made contact, in the moment before Kaligar was cut on a molecular level, he would hit Jason. That blow could end Eclipse in an instant... But now, it could also end Warsman.

They all stood before Kaligar, heroes and their villains. Some stood to save their world, others stood to destroy it first. Warsman was a worthy foe, and if Tank were ever to let someone take his place as the final destroyer of earth, it would be him. Most were beaten and bruised, but still they stood, others were broken and dead. Tank eyed Warsman with ferocity and snarled, ready to finally take on his challenger in a test of strength one on one with no interruptions. He and Eclipse were before him, the two most determined to finish the alien warlord. 
 
Tank's fists tightened and a sinister smile stretched across his face as Warsman took one step forward and suddenly raced in his direction. "That's what I'm talkin' about! BRING IT ON!" he stood straight, ready to let Warsman plow into him, smash him against the wall and then he would cave the alien's head in with a powerful strike. His was giddy with madman's glee as Warsman raced toward his chosen opponent, but he abruptly turned to Eclipse, ready to attack. Tank watched as the teen hero stole his prize. "HEY!" he shouted, "NO FAIR!"
 
As Eclipse readied himself for Warsman's charge, Tank dove into the crater which he had made in the heart of the ash-laden wasteland that was formerly a sweet little town in Kansas. At the bottom of the crater were dozens of wrecked cars that Eclipse had thrown at Warsman. They had rolled down here and piled up. He stood before the heap of ruined vehicles and picked them all up. "Boy blunder thinks he can take my kill. No f**kin' way." he muttered as he crushed the gargantuan mass of cars, compacting them, crushing them together. As the metal began to form into a giant ball, Tank snapped it in two with little effort. He then took these two metal half balls, each about the size of a small boat and drove his hands into them, forming solid metal gloves. He raised the immensely heavy metal pummelers as though they were weightless and looked at them with admiration. "Groovy." he said and leaped out of the crater. 
 
Reaching the top of the crater, Tank looked at his enemy. "Warsy, I'm hoooome!" he shouted and raced towards him, ignoring Eclipse. He jumped off a pile of bricks and flew high into the air, descending down on Kaligar, fists raised. "Warsy, you got some 'splainin' to do!" he growled.

The site was officially insane. It had been for quite some time though. Everything was gone. It was like nothing had even been here beforehand. The dirt itself looked as if it were in pain. None of them had even stopped to look at what had even happened to the world around them. And even if they did, Slight was totally sure that it would not be enough deterrent for them to cease this senseless squabble. But, Slight felt it. He felt the Earth scream in agony and pain. In many ways he was connected to the world, and he could feel when something was wrong. Usually that feeling came with pessimistic thoughts, or worried feelings in general, but right now, he was in turmoil. And it had to stop...somehow. 
 
The biggest, and only question remained: How do you stop it. There was the obvious, which entailed the world being taken by Kaligar. Then there was the option of obliteration from the Oracle, but once that happened, there was no telling what controlled that force. Another option was to continue to attack, and attack, killing the world around them. Slight knew none of them would go for any option but the latter. It was like humanity had left all of them, even the ones that were here to stop Warsman had reverted to the ways of a caveman. Loosing all sense of responsibility. Eclipse for instance was using attacks that could very well kill Warsman, although they didn't. Slight knew that Eclipse was all business, and that he had the good sense to control himself. But looking at him now, he didn't even recognize the man that used to be a hero.
 
Slight, wasn't blameless either. But compared to the others, he was playing. The numerous thunderclaps of the powerhouses that entered this battle amazed and frightened him. Simon William, Tank, Dreadnaught, Warsman...All of them were completely out of the Water Guardians class. It looked like it would be the end for him and Eclipse if a miracle were not to spontaneously happen. 
 
It was then, in his altered state of near defeat, Slight noticed something. It very well might have been the miracle that he needed so much. He flew nearer, dodging the flying debris. It was blood, or whatever Warsman had inside of him. Warsman was a Symmarian, a very similar race, other than the obvious differences. Their bodies on the outside were to say the least, anatomically equal to that of humans. The Hydro Hero was walking out on faith with the assumption that they needed some sort of fluid to carry the nutrients to every part of the body, much like humans. He knew that with humans, he could control the water and blood flow within the body, and so he wondered if it were true for the World Conqueror as well. 
 
If this didn't work, nothing would. Slight flew nearer to Warsman. Evading Tank and Eclipse. While Simon and the Kaiser fought, he would take this chance to enact the ultimate form of hydrokinetic power, otherwise known as bloodbending. Holding both hands out, he secreted waves of hydrokinetic energy, directed at the partially open wounds of Kaligar. If he could somehow control the fluids within his body, every ounce of liquid within his body would come rushing out in a great deluge.