"One Universe" RPG thread.

[The Question]

We walk through the corpse scattered door. All of this carnage and.......and it barely even catches my eye. Am I that numb? Was the Spider guy right? Am I just another psychopath? Am I........just as bad as Creed now. I just......I just fell back into it, didnt think didnt question, I was given orders to kill and I did, even when I didnt have to, but didnt I have to? I mean they would have killed us if they got the chance. Am I so screwed up as to not know when I should and shouldnt kill? I aint never gona wind u like Creed. But here I am, workin side by side with this big bag of psycho. Crackin jokes, just like before.......before he killed them. Before he murdered every team member he had in cold blood, save for James and Heather, not that he didnt try. Am I losin it? I know I cant trust him, but its almost like knowing that, and knowing who he is, understandin him, allows me to work with him. Dont get me wrong, i dont understand why he finds murderin his frinds a gay ol' time, but as far as the rage, and as far as just knowin who he is...................I dont know, its almost like im comfortable, like Im back in the habbit of things. He knows I hate him, and I know he hates me, and its almost like in a sick way, that makes us friends, but were not. I dono. I just dono. Come on Logan hold it together. Yur not crazy, yur not a murderer, yur not a psycho, yur nothin like this licebag! SNAP OUT OF IT! Its time to go. We move down the corridors, lookin for just some sign of a bridge, bout 15 minutes go by and nothin, no guards no nothin. Evrything in heres so different, not at all yur steriotipical sci fi crap. Finaly we reach a Big black door, some sorta alien markings on it, I aint got no idea what the hell it is.



What do you guys think? Should we knock? Think its the bridge? Gota be, what the hell else could it be?

"Probably. And yes. We should knock."

I pull my hand back, clench my fist, and punch the door, causing it to bend inward. I then grab the sides and rip the door off.

"It's only the polite thing to do."

 

[wiegeabo]

"OK, the buliding's clear!" the firefighter yells out.

"Well, it better be or your gonna have some uncomfortable people in a few seconds." Standing in the basement, I walk up to one of the support pillars. This building half fell during the attack, but this section stayed up with a few people hiding inside. Not very smart but they're out now. Well, they better be.

See, this buliding here, or what's left of it, is gettin' ready to fall all by itself, and the smart guys figured it should come down now before anyone else shows up and gets put in danger. So that's where yours truly comes in. Not sure why I'm doin' it. I was all ready to just head on up to see ol' Chuckles and make sure he didn't survive the attack. But knowin' that school of his, he probably made it through just fine. That's ok. Means I get to squash his shiny head myself.

Well, better just get started I guess. Gettin' a runnin' start, I just plow right through the pillar. The whole building starts to rumble, but it ain't fallin'...yet. I walk up to another pillar and put my fist through. Now the building starts shakin' and comin' down. Yeah, that's better. As I stand there smilin' the whole dang thing collapses ontop of me.


"Holy ****!" the firefighter says. "You think he's ok in there?" "Hell," the police office says as he helps some people over a pile of debris in the street. "That big son of a ***** was fightin' with aliens. I bet he's just fine."

The rubble begins to move and shake and I bust out the top of the pile. I walk over the two guys, clapping my hands together to wipe off the dust. "See," the cop nudges his friend. "Told you."

"Well, got anything else for me to do?

They just look up at me. "Nothin's coming to mind."

"Good. Guess I'll be on my way then." I start walkin' off, but I realize I'm not sure where I want to go. I could go up to Chuck's school, or I could go with the others on that rescue mission. I ain't no hero, so rescuin' the others don't matter much to me. But gettin' another shot at Darkseid...yeah, I like that idea.

I turn back to the cop and fireman. "Hey, either of you know where Tony Stark lives?"

 

[MaskedManJRK]

IC: Doctor Octopus

Of all the bars in all of New York, I have to walk into this one.

It is so slick of sex and drugs that it makes my skin crawl. The men are burly, disqusting imbaciles, and the women are sleazy ****es who knees shake of addiction. The most hideous thing of all is...they are human.

The true textbook defination of human should be the being weak and not doing anything about it. Like Rand said, "I am, I think, I will." All it takes to reach the God--the Atom--is to will yourself to fly, but the human race will just won't do so.

No matter, I shall liberate them later. Now, I have business to attend to.

I walk further into the grease-stained asylum of heathens, a trenchcoat concealing my metallic betters. I find the man I braved into this hellhole for--a man with valuable knowledge of the illegal jobs, things I will need to do in order to further my expiriments.

"Ah, Dr. Octavious!" The man wears a pressed white suit, pink in complection, and wears bright yellow sunglasses just on top of his balding skull.

"You told me you have information on good paying jobs?"

"Direct, I see?" His voice almost sounded Russian in dilect. "Well, let's sit in one of the booths here and have a friendly conversation about it, yes? Do you want a drink?"

"No." We move to a booth near the end of the bar. A waitress with sagging skin and stretch-marks across her belly orders the man (he calls himself Scavenger, I never got his real name) a Scotch on the rocks and Scavenger starts speaking about how good the bar supposedly is and how the waitresses are "willing to do just about anything for his money." "I am getting impatient, Scavenger. Tell me what you have, or I will take my business elsewhere."

"Okay, okay!" Scavenger says, arms in the air, trying to sound professional, "I apologize, Dr. Octavious, for my tangents. Lets start business, shall we?"

He proceeds to talk about some of the jobs he knows about, stopping only to take sips out of his glass of poison. I, as politely as I can, listen intently to Scavenger's ravings, until he drops a hydrogen bomb...

"Then there's some stuff going on at Wayne Enterprises--you'd like them, seeing as how they technically made you and all--"

A tentacle rushed from under my coat, under the table, on onto Scavenger's throat without anyone noticing.

"...Would you repeat that last segment, please?"

"N-no reason to be ma-ad, Dr., it's--it's just word around the campfire stuff--I--" I squeeze hard on his throat for a few seconds before loosening enough for him to speak.

"I repeat, would you repeat that last segment? If you don't, my tentacles will each grab a limb and--"

"Okay, okay! Rumors are that...some members of Wayne Enterprises was part of the funding that you and Mr. Irons' expiriment. It's--it's circulating that one of the head men of WE paid off one of the scientists to make your accident happen. That's all I know, I swear!"

It is silent for a few moments in our booth, while I considered what Scavenger had recited; then I squeezed his throat harder than ever, the bones near his spine slowly cracking.

"You fool! Otto Octavious did not become a God from mere business peddlings of lesser mortals! I have been chosen by my God, the Atom, to raze the world into his image!"

The other tentacles move violently, thrashing the table, ripping out of the trenchcoat.

"Because of your blasphonies, I will now have to kill you, everyone in this useless waste of matter, and destroy the very memory of this 'Wayne Enterprises' off the face of this Earth. Do you understand me?"

Scavenger's throat cracks more and more.

"Answer me, you foolish human!" His throat snaps completely, the flesh tearing apart by the sharp metal of my tentacles. Scavenger's body shudders and collapses onto itself in a heap. I drop him to the ground, the tentacle that killed him wiping the blood off itself with his overcoat. "Pitiful..."

The others inside the bar, even those normally too intoxicated to move, has noticed me. I hear mutterings of "freak" and "mutant" and "murderer," but I never hear the word that truely fits me: "savior."

I notice from the corner of my eye one of the more fit men waving a pool cue towards me. My upper tentacles both spring into action, the right grabbing the cue-weilding hand, the other on his left ankle. I turn towards him.

"Ah, does the Roman soldier intend to stab me with your spear? Do you see this, ladies and gentlemen? This is defience at its very finest--defience against your savior!"

The tentacles each lift the man into the air and pulls in their oppisate direction. In a matter of seconds, the man is practically ripped in half, and are thrown into my crowd.

"Like your ancestors, you will bow before your savior! Unlike the last man that held my position, I will not turn the other cheek. I wipe my brow with this 'New Testament.' You have all been very sinfull towards your God, the Atom..."

The screams inside the bar mutliplies into the night. None of them escape.

They were all sinfull against our Atom, at the very most, this Wayne Enterprises, who wish to take credit for my Lord's blessing upon me as His prophet.

Because of their blasphonies, I will rip every single member of this beaucracity apart. Every. Single. One...

 

[Johnny Blaze]

The sun sets on the outskirts of a small mountain village in the Austrian Alps. Out on a small plateau, a shepherd tends to his herd of sheep as he begins to take them to lower ground and to the safety of the farm for the night.
For the past ten hours the man has sat and stood by diligently as he protected his sheep from any harm. Spending ten hours in the sun, the man had a giant appetite worked up. He was looking forward to returning to his family for supper. His wife was going to make him a special dinner tonight: sauteed goose liver with onions. His favorite.

The man smiled and salivated as he thought about the hot meal awaiting him. First though...he had to get the sheep to safety. No telling what predators may be lurking in the witching hour.
The man walked past a giant oak tree, the sheep leading the way. The good part about this job was that the sheep were so accustomed to this daily routine, that he could just let them walk towards the farm without having to lead them.

If the shepherd’s mind was not preoccupied with food, he might have noticed the tiny green flame as it appeared out of thin air under the giant tree.

No, the shepherd slowly made his way down and around the mountainside pathways, oblivious to it all. In truth, he is lucky that he did not witness what was about to happen. If he did, he would not get a chance to enjoy his wife’s goose liver and onions.

As the man rounded the corner and the sun grew smaller, the green flame grew larger. Soon, a minute after it had originally appeared, the flame, now the size of a basketball, exploded in a bright green flash of light sending mystical fire everywhere. The tree went up immediately, it’s entire majesty burning in mere seconds. The grassy ground of the plateau caught up just as quickly, and the fire began to spread everywhere.
Amidst it all, in the very center of the blaze, knelt a man clad in dark robes the color of the night. His entire person was shrouded in a hazy green aura.
Seemingly oblivious to the flames, the man slowly rose to his feet, measuring up close to eight feet in height. The giant of a man looked around at his surroundings and at the green fires burning everywhere.
With a sigh, the man stretched out his hand and began to mutter something under his breath. Suddenly, all the mystic flames began to dance as if in the middle of a hurricane, but there was no wind. Then, just as suddenly, the flames seemingly flew into the man’s large hand and disappeared. Even the great flames that had engulfed the oak tree were absorbed by this creature. And a creature he was.

A creature of magic.

A creature of hate.

A creature of chaos.

The man looked again at his surroundings and spoke, “Well...this does look promising. Much better than the last world.”

Looking down to the valley below, the man saw the town with all of the buildings lit up due to the onset of night...and smiled.

“Well, I might as well go have a chat with the locals. Perhaps they will be kind enough to divulge some of the nuances of this reality.”

With a quiet chuckle to himself, the man waved his hand and disappeared.

 

[Watchman]

And now time for the opening act he thought to himself. The invasion rocked New York but his studio was still intact. A glass dome came down from the celling and was placed on his head.

"Not good enough" he said to himself. "Well now everyone must bow to me". He raised his hands in the air and all the lights in the studio turned on. "People thought those aliens had great power but they are nothing compared to me!" An image of the earth seem to manifest from thin air and he started to hover. He extended both arms and the image went up in flames. A cloud of smoke appeared and he teleported to his brand new creations.

"Well the stage is set...Lights, camera, action" he pressed a button and the two robots activated "Go my creations and cause havoc for everybody". One flew through the roof and out to the sunighht above:

The other ran through the door to the outside:

"Well it's time for me to get into costume" more smoked swirled around and he wa in a familiar costume. He opened a window and climbed to the top of the roof. He looked on to the destruction of New York "Now New York look upon your newest danger the Amazing Spider-Man HAHAHAHAHA!" he jumped of the the roof and started to swing to the next.

 

[Sparta*]

<Victor Von Doom>

"Mankind will pay for what they did to me.....to my parents" Victor said from his laboratory in a secluded monestary high in the snowy mountains of Tibet.

"I was only a child when they were taken from me...leading me to be raised by gypsies because of humanities animosity. When the time comes...when I am ready, I will unleash the fury of my unbridled revenge upon them all...man, woman and child alike" he said as his voice echoed through the large stone chamber. He paused as he walked past one of the many mirrors in his laboratory to relish in his own vanity...something he loved to do. He pulled himself away from his self adoration and returned to his task...

"Technology alone is not enough......I must master the arts that my mother so dearly loved.....Ironic how the black arts that caused my mother to be destroyed by humans will utterly aid in their own destruction" Victor said opening a small velvet pouch, as pentagrams, talismans, various smooth stones and other objects fell onto a table.

"My powers in the black arts are undeniable...and soon I will be a sorcerer of unparalled power...but equally strong is my intelligence...a combination that will bring everyone to their knees before me!" He said pulling a cloth off a large invention he has worked on for months.

"This, my trans-dimensional projection device, will allow me to contact you Mother...no matter where your soul is. I must know that you are okay...I must know what you want me to do to avenge you!" Doom said powering on the machine...

"All my hardwork...all my planning...this truly is a piece of my genious realized" he said placing black candles in a circle beside the machine.

"May this circle of candles light your way to me my mother" Doom said adjusting the machine as a bright light eminated through the room. The light dissappeared as a small ball of lightning began to crackle...it slowly expanded revealing a black swirling vortex

"It has begun......"

<Victor Von Doom>

All around the room, darkness crept into every corner drowning out the light. The candles blew out on their own, and Victor could hear voices and shifting all around him. He turned to see if anyone was behind him, but there was nothing there. He turned back to the swirling vortex, and waited. Moments later he heard a voice calling his name...it was getting closer and closer.

"Show yourself ill-fated soul! I, Victor Von Doom, fear not death...nor darkness!" He waited a few moments for the being to appear. The machine sparked and rumbled but it was doing it's job for the moment. The grim visage of a woman slowly faded into vision infront of Victor. She appeared ghastly and pale...and around her arms were thick heavy chains that pulled her body down with the weight.

"Mother........?" Victor said

"It is I Victor...you look so handsome my son...I have not laid eyes upon you since I was of this world, years ago" she said

"And not a day has gone by that your generous sacrifice eludes my memory...I owe everything I have to you my dear sweet mother...and that is why I vow to save you" Victor replied

"None can save me now my son...my soul resides in Mephisto's dimension where no corporeal form may enter" she said "he is cruel, and merciless...I would not wish my fate upon my damndest enemy"

"I CAN save you my mother, and I will. Nothing is beyond the grasp or comprehension of Victor Von Doom, and if I have to destroy every cursed soul in Mephisto's dimension to free you, I will" Victor said sternly. The machine began to spark violently

"No Victor, I am beyond saving..." she said "remember me as I was, and I will be with you always..." pieces of the machine began to fall off, and the darkness began to pour back into the giant spinning vortex. His mother slowly faded from vision as she reached out to touch him. Suddenly, the candles re-ignited and before Victor could make a move, the room was as it was before he put his technological mastery and black magic skills to the test.

"No. You are not beyond saving. Nothing is beyond my intellect, my power...my determination. I will save you, and then I, inturn, will unleash hell upon the Earth, for that is what you have suffered for me, my mother" Victor said to the now empty room. He reached his hand to turn of the smoldering machine, but just as he was about to disconnect the power, the machine exploded. Victor instinctively covered his face with both his hands, for that is what he valued most. He immediatley ran over to one of the many mirrors in his chamber with his face still covered. He felt blood running down his hands and he feared the worst.

"NO..." he screamed as he ever so slowly removed his hands from his face. He had a cut on his cheek, and one across his chin. The injuries were not serious...they would scar, but the average person would take it in stride. Doom though, was definatley not the average person...he valued his appearence and egotism over much in this life.

"NO NO NO NO NO! THIS WILL NOT DO!" Victor said as he smashed his fist through a wooden table, splintering it in half, he then backhanded some vials sending glass crashing everywhere. "No one can see me like this...NO ONE...not until I find away to heal my face..."

He opened the room to this chamber with one hand, and covered his face with the other. He walked into the hall, and summoned the first monk he saw.
"I require a mask welded, monk...one of steel and iron...and I require it immediatley" Victor said

"What is it? Is everything alright" the monk replied

"Everything is extremly far from alright!" Victor snapped back "Just do what I ask!...DO IT NOW!" The monk was taken back, but quickly hurried off. Victor had never taken that tone with anyone around the temple since he arrived 2 years ago. He usually kept to himself...studying, testing, and constructing various things in his dark chambers alone. The monk found his behaviour this day quite peculiar, and knew something was not right.

 

[Sparta*]

<Johnny Storm>

I've had to sit in this room, this depressing white room watching Sue on a hospital bed. I can't even bring myself to make fun of Ben. What would I say? I have to break this silence! WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!?

Reed is gone.

Ben knows it, I know it. How do you get back to normal from something like this? Just because I act like I don't like them doesn't mean I don't. God Im a kid compared to them. It's all very complex, erm... stuff about being cool and uh... stuff.

There must have been something I could do. So I saved people from a collapsing building. So what? I couldn't save Reed. Couldn't save my family. I could have used the nully-whatsit for Reed. Then he would be fine...

Jeez. I sit sparking up my fingers, letting a tiny bit of flame loose. I watch it, where's the cocky old you now Johnny? Now we're four good guys down, Reed, Spider-Man, That Archer dude and... the guy with the weird hair... Wolverine, that's it. And that walking talking tin can thinks they're in hell... "Oh, thanks for putting my mind at ease".

I look over at Sue, she's stirring. She wakes up. I don't say anything, just hang my head. What do you say at a time like this?

"Reed's gone...isn't he Suzie?"


Oh, yeah. That helps. Blockhead.

<Mister Fantastic>

"I...I don't know Ben" Sue replied "My mind is telling me he's gone...but my heart is insisting there is still hope" She said looking at Johnny and Ben with a glimmer in her eyes. "I won't give up on him! I can't..."

"I dunno Suzie...with that alien freak invading Earth, there isn't enough hope left in this city to fill a taxi" Ben said "...but you did say Reed vanished into thin air, didn't you Suzie?" Sue nodded "Then i'm not giving up...i'm with you all the way! Reed is smarter then I can even possibly imagine...whatever happened to him, where ever he is right now, he'll let us know he's alright...some how"

"Yeah! If we don't have a body, there is no proof that Reed is dead" Johnny said

"Exactly. I know if we work together we can find Reed and bring him home...thank you Ben, thank you Johnny!" She said hugging them both.

"Reed's one of us Suzie...i'd do it for any of you...except maybe torch head" Ben said with a smirk "Well, where do we begin?" Ben said

"We have to find out everything we can regarding the Ultimate Nullifier...a little more information might light our path" Sue said hopefully.

OOC: Sorry for the little bunny Turtle, if you have any objection to it, I will gladly edit

 

[LibrarianThorne]

IC: Green Arrow

The bridge was expansive. Arund it slumped unconscious soldiers, and around them cowered what looked like the poorest people he'd ever seen. They were covered in rags, and looked upon the heroes with fearful eyes. He took a quick look around the soldiers, slumped over consoles or lying on the ground, and he ran over to the nearest human looking person he saw.

"Who are you? Do you know where we are?" he said as he laid his hands on the shoulder of the unfamiliar man. The other man looked at him with unmitigated horror before yelling something in an alien language and fleeing to the other side of the bridge, where huddled the other humans.

"Well, I can see that was a fantastic idea."

 

[Victor Creed]

We busted through the door and nothing, just a buncha hobos standing around a room full of soldier layin all over the ground. The guy with the bow and arrow is playin ambassador and not doin too good a job. He managed to scare the crap outta that alien guy.

"Well, I can see that was a fantastic idea."

Guess ya dont speak Alien. Seems strange though that a buncha hobos are the only thing conscious up here.

Guess these people aint on the hive mind. I sniff the warm air in the ship. Too many new smells and a few familiar scents. I can smell the stink swarmin off Logan, and my favorite smell on them alien scum.

I've broken outta places like this before and there's one thing they gotta have that should help. I'm guessin there's gotta be some sorta serveillance console around here. Hopefully it'll be workin and we can find a camera by the hangar.

And what good's that gonna do us? It ain't like it's gonna draw a map for ya.

Shut yer yap. Any of you got a better idea?

 

[TheTurtle]

<Mister Fantastic>



"We have to find out everything we can regarding the Ultimate Nullifier...a little more information might light our path" Sue said hopefully.

Right.

"So how are we gonna do that then? I mean, what do we know about that kinda stuff?"

They look at me. I'm probably saying things I shouldn't, dampening the hope and yadda yadda yadda.

"Well it's just, the only person that knows anything about that stuff, is Reed"

Ben just stares at me, angry at my doubt. I guess he needs me to believe we can find Reed. I turn my head away.

"Yeah well we could give it a try. You know, to find Reed...

And to keep the walking Gargoyle here from crying himself to sleep tonight"

 

[Midnight Ice]

Captain America lands his jet and gets out just as Superman flies off.

"Damn, I was wanting to talk to him about what he brought to this planet. Another time I suppose. Right now there are more important things for me to deal with."

Captain America helps people leave the destruction and helps them get the care they need. He feels a certain pride as he helps others, when he returns lost children to their parents that they lost in the invasion.

"Its good to be back."

 

[Watchman]

"O.K up next for the role of Rick Blaine in the remake of Casablanca... Quieten BecK" the movie producer says. Beck walks out to the stage holding the script in his hands. "Well show me what you got". Beck starts to read his lines but is interuppted by the movie producer.

"Thank you that will be all"

"But I didn't finish"

"Yes but your just not right for this role. You're not what were looking for". Beck just stood there looking at him. "Will you please get off the stage? Next... ah Mr. Affleck".

Beck stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him and slammed the door. "At least I didn't make Pearl Harbor" he said under his breath. His friend was waiting for him on the outside.

"So man how did it go?" he ask. Beck just gave him a cold stare. "Not so good eh well I got a plan to make you famous".

"And what's that, Dan?"

"Well you could always dress up in some sort of costume and fight one of those new heros running hahaha. You know dress up in one of thos aliens costumes you made and threaten the city or kidnap the mayor" he said jokingly.

Beck thought about it and came up with plan he was going to become the greatest villain ever. He looked back at his friend and said, "Shut up Dan"


New York-Now

He saw his target an armor truck that had crashed the guards were making sure everything was all right. His spider suit had devices on it control the robots and illusions. He pushed a few buttons and the Captain America robot rounded a corner and headed for the truck. He jumped and landed on the roof of the truck with a thud.

"What was...Spider-Man?!" the imposter Spider-Man jumped and punched the guard in his face while the other was fumbling for his gun. A shield flew through the air and smacked the gun out of his hand.

'Captain America? What are you doing?" he found himself web to the truck. The Spider-Man took out a bag and started to fill it with money. He gave the heavy bag to the robot and he pressed button on his wrist.

"Well Captain America I think its a job well done but now time for us to give are auidence some shock" the robot reached out and grabbed one of the guard's neck and snaped it. The impster swung off and the robot ran off the scene back to the studio.

Hiding in an alley was what Mysterio was hoping for for. After the alien attack people would be trying to get footage of something. A man walked out of the alleyway holding his video camera and wondering what the heros have done.

 

[The Question]

We busted through the door and nothing, just a buncha hobos standing around a room full of soldier layin all over the ground. The guy with the bow and arrow is playin ambassador and not doin too good a job. He managed to scare the crap outta that alien guy.

"Well, I can see that was a fantastic idea."

Guess ya dont speak Alien. Seems strange though that a buncha hobos are the only thing conscious up here.

Guess these people aint on the hive mind. I sniff the warm air in the ship. Too many new smells and a few familiar scents. I can smell the stink swarmin off Logan, and my favorite smell on them alien scum.

I've broken outta places like this before and there's one thing they gotta have that should help. I'm guessin there's gotta be some sorta serveillance console around here. Hopefully it'll be workin and we can find a camera by the hangar.

And what good's that gonna do us? It ain't like it's gonna draw a map for ya.

Shut yer yap. Any of you got a better idea?

I walk into the bridge.

"Let me take a look at things."

I walk over to the console and start looking at the computers.

Crap. I can't make heads or tales of this stuff.

Wait, what's this?

Looks like schematics. Hmmmm.

"Okay. From what I can tell, they use a sort of wormhole generator for deep space transmitions. I could probably get it working and send a transmition to Earth. However, the same phrase apears when refering to the transmiter as in passages that I think refer to the wormholes that got them to Earth. I'm thinking that they have bigger versions. Maybe a means to get us home. However, none of the schematics point to anything that says the wormhole generators are on the ship. Meaning, we might have to go planetside."

 

[Johnny Blaze]

The Dark Lord waded through the towns streets, invisible to all. There was not much activity other than a few townsfolk here and there walking the cobble stone streets.
The Dark Lord had come to realize that he was in Europe. Specifically either Austria or Germany.

More importantly though, he felt that he was close to his goal. Close to his return...and his revenge.

Still, he would have to tread carefully. This world, like most of the other, undoubtably had it&#8217;s share of heroes. Sadly though, those other realities did not have a Fate. Maybe this one does. The thought of killing this reality&#8217;s Fate did bring a smile to the Dark Lord&#8217;s lips.

He did not want to attract the attention of this world&#8217;s heroes onto himself directly. At least not yet. He was still weakened in power from the recent reality warp. He needs to recharge his magical energies.
Sadly though, there are none of sufficient power here. It was time to go hunting once again.
Still...it would be a shame to leave this little hamlet unmolested.

Walking up to stand behind one of the townsfolk, a little girl that couldn&#8217;t be more than ten years of age, the Dark Lord gently placed his hand on her shoulder. As soon as the Dark Lord&#8217;s hand made contact, the little girl&#8217;s eyes turned a bright green. But, soon the green faded away and was replaced with a bright red.
The small child let out a low guttural growl and began to foam at the mouth like a rabid animal. Searching the street, she immediately rushed towards an older man and, with a feral howl, leapt onto his back, taking a large bite of flesh from his neck. The man screamed in pain and fell to his knees and bled to death as the little girl moved to find her next victim.
She would not be alone in her hunt though. The man she just savagely attacked would join her as a creature of undeath.

The Dark Lord smiled as he took in the scene. The chaos was marvelous. Still, he had other motives to transforming the child into a monster other than random cruelty. In the eventuality that he required assistance, he could control her and all the zombies created by her and her victims. He would have a small army of the undead at his command if need be.
He did like to prepare ahead. Just in case.

&#8220;Now this town knows the touch of Mordru. Something this world will soon come to dread.&#8221;
Soon the man the girl first bit slowly rose to his feet. His eyes a deep shade of crimson as he began his hunt.

It was time for the Dark Lord to begin his hunt as well.
With a gesture, Mordru opened a portal and stepped through. Leaving the town and it&#8217;s people to the hands of fate.

 

[twylight]

Dinah lead the children into the Stark Mansion, stepping carefully over the broken glass from windows, lead crystal chandaliers and mirrors. The day light was just beginning to show on the horizon as it bathed the city in a stark light. Illuminating the damage from the night before. Phone lines were down and Dinah was desperately worried about her mother, but remained focused, stopping off at Tony&#8217;s Lab and picked the children up, She&#8217;d carried them most of the way as they rested their sleepy heads on her shoulders. She&#8217;d thought of taking them to the hospital, or the refugee areas, yet why? They would only get shuffled around.

By the time she&#8217;d reached the mansion they&#8217;d woken up, rubbing their eyes then allowed Dinah to take their hands and lead them inside.

&#8220;May I help you?&#8221;

Dinah spins at the sound of Jarvis&#8217;s voice, and sees him holding a broom and dust pan full of debris.

&#8220;Yes&#8230;Iron Man sent me.&#8221;

Jarvis nods.

&#8220;And the children?&#8221;


Dinah dropped the childrens hands as they looked around in awe and turning her back to them she lifted her mask.

&#8220;It&#8217;s me.&#8221;

&#8220;Ms. L&#8230;&#8221; He stops and raises his eyebrow.

&#8220;Black Canary&#8221; He corrects and Dinah beams.

&#8220;You recognized it!&#8221;

&#8220;Of course, she was the &#8216;Blonde Bombshell&#8221; if I do recall. There wasn&#8217;t a single boy who didn&#8217;t have a poster or pin-up of her.&#8221;

Dinah raised her eyebrow as she placed her mask back over her eyes. Her mother as a pin-up? Something she knew about but to here it from the reserve butler&#8230;

&#8220;And these are?&#8221;

Dinah walked back to the children and turned them around, her hands on their shoulders.

&#8220;Roy and Mia.&#8221; She said placing her hands on their respective heads as she said their names.

&#8220;I could have taken them to the shelter however they must be busy there. Please make sure they have so food and sleep.&#8221; She said as she flashed him a smile on her way out the door.

She paused at the doorway, the pink light from the morning light touching her hair.

&#8220;Also, make it known to the disaster relief people that Tony Stark is using the west end of his mansion as a shelter. The organizers can move in immediately.&#8221;

She said before rising into the air and flying towards Gotham, leaving Jarvis to wonder.

Dinah made her way quickly, helping along the way as she saw needed, the 20 minute flight to Gotham City turned into and hour and a half before she found herself outside of her mothers floral shop.

&#8220;Mom? MOM?!&#8221; Dinah called as she surveyed the damage. The display window lay shattered on the ground, the glass shards wedging themselves into the delicate petals of the flowers.

Carefully crawling through the window Dinah landed with a soft *crunch* on the floor of the shop.
&#8220;Mom?!&#8221; she raced through the store, her hair trail behind her, whipping across her face as she turned and looked in every corner. After a fruitless search she quickly made her way back through the window and raced the few blocks to her family&#8217;s home.

Racing up the steps she tried the door and found it stuck.
&#8220;Mom? MOM?!&#8221; Dinah called as she banged her shoulder against the stick door.
She stepped back and focused, bringing her leg up in a strong kick. The door flew off its hinges and took the dresser of draws that stood against it on the other side with it.

&#8220;MOM?!&#8221;

&#8220;Dinah?&#8221; a faint voice came from the kitchen.

&#8220; MOM!&#8221; Dinah raced through the living room and found her mother emerging from the hidden basement, an old WWII pistol in her hand.

&#8220;Mother!&#8221; Dinah leans over and helps her mother up, taking the pistol from her hand as she dusts herself off.

&#8220;What are you doing with Dad&#8217;s gun?&#8221;

&#8220;Well I had to protect myself somehow. You don&#8217;t think I&#8230;&#8221;

Her mother stops as she looks up and sees Dinah.

&#8220;What in the WORLD! Dinah why are you dressed up like&#8230;like..&#8221;

&#8220;Like you?&#8221;

&#8220;Not what I was going to say. But yes. What do you think you&#8217;re doing?&#8221;

&#8220;Saving the world.&#8221; Dinah says as she walks out of the kitchen and up the stairs her mother following her.

&#8220;Oh No you aren&#8217;t. You know exactly how I feel about you running around like a hero.&#8221;

Dinah sighs, knowing it would come to this, just&#8230;not this soon.

&#8220;Look. It was a one time thing.&#8221; she says as she turns and faces her mother.
&#8220;There was a big bad man and someone had to step up and stop him. Besides, it&#8217;s a new world now, heroes are stepping up from all over the place.&#8221; She mutters as she pulls open a small door to the attic stairs and mounts them.

Her mother fumes behind her.
&#8220;I will not allow it. I WILL NOT! Dinah you know this!&#8221;

&#8220;I&#8217;m to old for you to tell me what to do.&#8221; Dinah pulls out a trunk from the corner of the attic and unlatches it.

&#8220;No, you aren&#8217;t. Think about Tony!&#8221;

&#8220;I am thinking about Tony.&#8221; She flips the lid up and dust flies into the air

&#8220;And what are you..? Dinah..NO! Don&#8217;t touch that!&#8221;

&#8220;It&#8217;s not like you use it anymore.&#8221; Dinah said as she surveyed the neatly folded black and blue costume in the trunk, a black mask lay on top in almost perfect condition. As soon as she said it Dinah knew she crossed the line.

Diana Drake Lance scooped the costume out of the trunk and held it against her chest, the mask fluttering to the floor.

&#8220;Dinah, I don&#8217;t know what you think you are doing, but you are NOT doing it with my things.&#8221;

&#8220;I&#8217;m doing what needs to be done! Look, I&#8217;ve been shot at, carried away to a secret underground lab, had a HUGE monster try to destroy every city in the world AND I&#8217;ve been up for 38 hours straight. I don&#8217;t have time for this.&#8221;

She says, her voice rising, her head ready to explode, why did this have to happen now? Why the drama? Why? And on her first time out too.

&#8220;You did it and you enjoyed it.&#8221;

Diana Lance&#8217;s voice went low.
&#8220;And look where it got me. Your father is dead because of it Dinah, because of my life as a &#8216;hero&#8217; and you&#8230;.who knows WHAT Dr. Fate and them did to you when you were young. I wanted you to be normal and have a normal life.

And you did&#8230;everything was fine, the JSA broke up peacefully and we lives our lives peacefully, lives which we suffered for and earned with our years of sacrifice.
I do NOT want that for you Dinah.&#8221;
Her voice rose with the last sentence.


Dinah knelt down and picked up the mask that had fallen to the floor, taking off her makeshift one she placed her mother&#8217;s old one over her face.

&#8220;The heroes died off mother and now they are back. They are back and none of them has the sense of history I do. They can go off and get into a group but who knows what will happen. They might have a twisted sense of honor, or something worse.
But I can be there, I can remind them of what heroes fought for before. Justice and Freedom.&#8221;

Her mother made a discussed sound.
&#8220;You are still young and immature Dinah, you sound like Ted.&#8221;

Dinah stood up straight, her voice straining and eyes stinging with tears at her mother&#8217;s harsh tones. Her mind not even bothering to wonder which Ted her mother was talking about.

&#8220;These are good men Mom, and we might be idealistic but isn&#8217;t that what we need? All those years, it was the dark age of heroes. Now they&#8217;re back and we can make a difference.&#8221;

&#8220;&#8217;Men&#8217;? Dinah, they are all powered, you can scream. They&#8217;ll never take you seriously.&#8221;

Dinah crosses her arms.
&#8220;That&#8217;s not going to stop me and you know it. You were the only woman and had no powers at all yet they took you seriously. I have to go.&#8221; She brused past her mother and ran down the stairs to the front door.

&#8220;Dinah..&#8221; Dinah turned in the doorway, her mother on the stairs above her.

&#8220;For Tony&#8217;s sake&#8230;please&#8230;remember what happened to your father&#8230;&#8221;

&#8220;Tony isn&#8217;t Dad mom.&#8221;

The mother and daughter looked at each other as the morning sun filtered through the paneless windows, before Dinah turned to go.

&#8220;I love you mom.&#8221; and she left leaving the elder Black Canary on the stairs, who clutched her old memories with tears in her eyes.

&#8220;Be safe Dinah&#8230;&#8221;

 

[wiegeabo]

I'm tired.

I haven't felt this tired...in so many years I can't think. But the new Flash and old Flash kept Keystone and Central City safe from the invasion. It was a long haul, but we held out until those aliens were gone. Not sure how or why they left, just glad they did.

Joan's in the kitchen whipping me up something to eat. Bless her. She was a rock through this whole thing. She kept us fed and going through those long hours, and when you're a speedster, those hours are even longer.

I listen as she bangs around in the kitchen and thank god I married her all those years ago. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, even better than getting my powers or my time in the JSA.

Happy and exhausted I settle down in my chair and flip on the tv. Let's see if any news reports are up. See just how much damage this world took. There aren't many stations running, but those that are up show a lot of devistation around the planet. I shake my head at the insanity of it all. Too many cities, too few heroes. Not like the old days.

But then, a reported starts talking about how it could have been much worse. How costumed individuals around the world began to appear and fight off the invaders. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I knew a few heroes had popped up here and there, but to learn that a whole new batch with powers are fighting around the world...that sure takes me back into my memeroies.

I keep watching the various newscasts. At superspeed, it's not that hard to keep up. Then I see something that stops me in my channel-changing tracks. I fuzzy newsfeed from New York shows various heroes helping out with the aftermath. The picture was a little blurry, but I could swear one of them looked like Black Canary! But she gave up this life so many years ago. I guess when the chips are down, all us old heroes get back into the game.

Then the video becomes clear as it pans across Canary again. I can finally see it's not her. Looks a lot like her though. Costume has some similarities, similar features, that blonde hair?...!!!

"DINAH!"

I stand up out of the chair like I hadn't spent the last day fighting an alien invasion. Dinah! What the hell is she thinking?!? Her mother's going to kill her, if I don't get to her first!

I rush out of the house, then quickly rush back in, eat the delecious meal Joan had made, and give her a kiss on the cheek as I rush out again. She smiles. She's used to that.

As fast as I can, I rush towards New York.

 

[wiegeabo]

Whatisshethinking,howcouldshedothis,whywouldshegoagainsthermother'swishes...
And just that quickly I'm in Gotham.

I head for her mother's place, but not before noticing the condition the city is in. Some places aren't that bad off at all. Relatively untouched. Other areas are in shambles. But I don't stop.

In just another couple of seconds I'm on the right street and I see Dinah leave out of the front door. I'm mildly surprised her mother let her live. I rush right up infront of her before she's gotten very far, and stand there with my arms crossed over my chest.

"And just what do you think you are doing?"

 

[twylight]

OOC: The Lances live in Gotham And darn you're good.

IC:

Dinah jumps back a little as a figure in red stops in front of her.
She smiles, trying to brush the pain from her face.

"Uncle Jay!" He studies her hard, his arms across his chest and she looks down. Her father died when she was young and in many way's she'd had half a dozen fathers to watch over her.

She looks over her shoulder at the house and takes a few steps away before speaking.

"Look, I know this is putting you in the middle but they need me..us...they need heroes and mom..." she glances at the house again remembering the all to fresh fight with her mother.

"You know I love mom and I would never do anything to hurt her." She pauses before adding quickly.

"Unless I thought this was really important. There are two way's to go about this, let them go on completely rudderless in the planning of a new group, or with someone to help them. I might not be the best fighter, but I do remember the principles the JSA was built on and if I can at least remind them of that, then I've done something to keep this country safe."

She looks at him levelly, yet with love, never wanting to hurt any of her family, or act less than humble in regard to their superior experience.
She again thought of her mother and hoped she could patch things up.

 

[TheTurtle]

<Eddie Brock>

J.J sits there, going through the pictures. Chomping on the mother of all cigars. He stops when he sees one of Spider-Man in the suit... MY SUIT!

"Who the hell is this then?" he asks. I sigh, and point to the strands of webbing coming from the suits fingers - seems to have picked up a few new tricks.

"Another Spider-Freak running around terrorising New York eh? What's this bloody world coming to!"

"It's not a new one. It's him. It's Spider-Man"

J.J looks at me as if I'm stupid. If we had the suit we'd be able to rip that tiny head right off his fu...

"Well Brock. I'll give you $100 for the lot."

I sit there waiting for him to laugh. Then I remember I'm dealing with Jameson here. Notoriously tight fisted Bugle Publisher.

"Not worth my time. These are the only photos out there of an ALIEN INVASION!!! Jeeeeeesus J.J, what do you have to get a photo of to hit a grand round here?"

"Natalie Portman naked on some exotic beech clinging onto Brad Pitt makes a good start."

I roll my eyes, and reach out to pick up the photos. He puts his hand over mine, stopping me.

"Fine a grand." he quickly scrawls a cheque, and hands it over to me.

I begin walking to the door of his office, pausing when I hear him say

"Spider-Man, trying to hide identity, Aids Alien Invasion... that's it!"

I smile, mission accomplished Eddie. Give yourself a big pat on the back. Turn everyone against the wall crawler, tear him down to nothing. Then, with the whole city on my side, destroy him.

Score one for Eddie Brock.

I open the door, and leave.

 

[wiegeabo]

OOC: The Lances live in Gotham And darn you're good.

IC:

Dinah jumps back a little as a figure in red stops in front of her.
She smiles, trying to brush the pain from her face.

"Uncle Jay!" He studies her hard, his arms across his chest and she looks down. Her father died when she was young and in many way's she'd had half a dozen fathers to watch over her.

She looks over her shoulder at the house and takes a few steps away before speaking.

"Look, I know this is putting you in the middle but they need me..us...they need heroes and mom..." she glances at the house again remembering the all to fresh fight with her mother.

"You know I love mom and I would never do anything to hurt her." She pauses before adding quickly.

"Unless I thought this was really important. There are two way's to go about this, let them go on completely rudderless in the planning of a new group, or with someone to help them. I might not be the best fighter, but I do remember the principles the JSA was built on and if I can at least remind them of that, then I've done something to keep this country safe."

She looks at him levelly, yet with love, never wanting to hurt any of her family, or act less than humble in regard to their superior experience.
She again thought of her mother and hoped she could patch things up.

I look down at Dinah as she explains her actions. When she's finished I grab her in my arms and give her a big hug. "I'm just so glad you're all right," I say. I put her down.

"And about all this hero stuff,..." I think back on her childhood. The JSA pretty much helped raise Dinah. Heck, I love her like she was my own little girl. And I realize it's our own fault she's doing what she's doing. Her mother always wanted to keep her out of the game, but we did our darndest to disobey that and train her anyway. Between the hours Wildcat trained her to fight, and all the stories we told her about our glory days...I'm not surprised she's doing this. Helping all those people like I saw on the news. "...your mother would kill me if she heard me say this, but I'm so proud of you." Then I let the fatherly sterness come out in my voice, "But so help me, if you don't keep yourself safe, you'll have to answer to me." Yet, I can't help but smile. So much like her mother, just as stubborn and heroic.

Then something she said hits me. Forming a new group of superheroes? I can't believe it. After all these years. And Dinah's right, they'll need help and guidance, or they'll tear themselves apart. Or worse, get themselves, and innocents, killed. "About this group you mentioned...think they could use an old warhorse like me to show them the ropes?" At least this way I can keep an eye on Dinah. Make sure she doesn't get killed, and that her mother doesn't kill me. Oh, I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

 

[twylight]

I look down at Dinah as she explains her actions. When she's finished I grab her in my arms and give her a big hug. "I'm just so glad you're all right," I say. I put her down.

"And about all this hero stuff,..." I think back on her childhood. The JSA pretty much helped raise Dinah. Heck, I love her like she was my own little girl. And I realize it's our own fault she's doing what she's doing. Her mother always wanted to keep her out of the game, but we did our darndest to disobey that and train her anyway. Between the hours Wildcat trained her to fight, and all the stories we told her about our glory days...I'm not surprised she's doing this. Helping all those people like I saw on the news. "...your mother would kill me if she heard me say this, but I'm so proud of you." Then I let the fatherly sterness come out in my voice, "But so help me, if you don't keep yourself safe, you'll have to answer to me." Yet, I can't help but smile. So much like her mother, just as stubborn and heroic.

Then something she said hits me. Forming a new group of superheroes? I can't believe it. After all these years. And Dinah's right, they'll need help and guidance, or they'll tear themselves apart. Or worse, get themselves, and innocents, killed. "About this group you mentioned...think they could use an old warhorse like me to show them the ropes?" At least this way I can keep an eye on Dinah. Make sure she doesn't get killed, and that her mother doesn't kill me. Oh, I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

Dinah smiles broadly as he hugs her.

&#8220;I promise, I&#8217;ll be safe.&#8221; She wondered how she could not be safe with Tony hovering around her. Literally and figuratively.

"About this group you mentioned...think they could use an old warhorse like me to show them the ropes?"

Dinah claps her hands together like a small child.
Heroing&#8230;with a legend, her Uncle. She tries to act her age as she replies.

&#8220;I&#8217;m sure they could use you. In fact there is going to be a meeting at the Stark Mansion in New York City pretty soon. I was just heading there. If you'd like to come.&#8221;
Dinah winks.

&#8220;Though have you asked Aunt Joan?&#8221; Dinah raises her eyebrow at him.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The camera opened on Lex Luthor. His face would soon be seen on television screens all over the world. Right now, he was sitting behind his desk in his penthouse office in Lexcorp Towers.

"People of Earth, I am here to offer my congratulations. We have done it. The forces of the alien known as Darkseid have been vanquished. I was right to have faith in the human race. In our darkest hour, we were able to pull together and save our planet, our way of life, from destruction."

Lex Luthor's triumphant expression darkened, and a well-rehearsed look of sadness filled his eyes.

"But our has victory has come at a great price. The loss of Reed Richards, one of the finest, bravest men I have ever known. All his years of intensive exploration and research led to this moment, where he used his mastery of technology to destroy Darkseid and his ships. But in doing this, he made the ultimate sacrifice. He gave his life, so we could all live."

Then, once again, there was a fire in Luthor's eyes.

"Men like Reed Richards define what a hero truly is. Alien beings like Superman attracted these malevolent forces to our planet, but they were unable - if not unwilling - to put an end to this war. It took a human being, a man just like you and me, a man with a family, to save us all. Because when the hour of need arrived, it was the human race who rose to defend all they believed in. I have heard stories all around the world of citizens rallying against alien invaders. As we speak, Captain America is in New York City, providing aide to injured survivors. And I have led a tactical assault from my base of operations here. We have all done our part."

Lex Luthor leaned forward, a smile spreading across his face for the first time in the press release.

"If we have learned anything from this great battle, it is that we do not need so-called superheroes to save us. I believe that there is a hero in all of us. We just need to find the strength to let that inner good rise to the surface. Thank you - my thoughts and prayers are with you all."

 

[Sparta*]

Right.

"So how are we gonna do that then? I mean, what do we know about that kinda stuff?"

They look at me. I'm probably saying things I shouldn't, dampening the hope and yadda yadda yadda.

"Well it's just, the only person that knows anything about that stuff, is Reed"

Ben just stares at me, angry at my doubt. I guess he needs me to believe we can find Reed. I turn my head away.

"Yeah well we could give it a try. You know, to find Reed...

And to keep the walking Gargoyle here from crying himself to sleep tonight"

<The Return Of: Mister Fantastic>

"That's not funny Johnny" Sue said in her big sister voice. Before they could move an inch, they heard a faint voice on the air...

"sue...help me" The voice said

"It's Reed!" Ben shouted

"Tell us what we have to do to help you Reed!" Sue replied quickly

"my lab......particle diffuser..." the faint, echoed, voice continued

"We have to hurry" Sue said running over to the lab followed directly by Ben and Johnny

"We are at the particle diffuser Reed...now what? what do we do?" Ben said

"reverse the feed...compound particles..."

"If the particle diffuser scatters particles, he must want us to reverse the machine so it compounds scattered particles back into their original state!" Johnny said

"But how do we do that?" Ben said

the voice did not answer

"REED??!" Sue shouted

again there was no answer

"We have to try...I've seen Reed work on this machine before, I should be able to figure it out...I hope" Sue said as she began working on the machine. Reed had stopped talking so she feared the worst, and inturn worked as fast as she could.

"Okay...here goes nothing" She said as she switched the machine on. A loud hum noise eminated from the machine, and they waited. Moments past and nothing happened.

"We're too late..." Johnny said hanging his head down "Reed's gone..."

"NO! No......we can't be to late..." Sue said as tears began to form in her eyes...her new found hope of saving Reed had just been crushed.

Suddenly a black swirling ball appeared before the 3 heroes. It kept on getting bigger and bigger as surrounding particles were drawn into it. It was an amazing sight to see...it was like a swirling vacuum, sucking in all the unstable particles around it...congealing them into one. In minutes all the particles were nearly combined into a solid humanoid figure.

"Reed...?" Sue said walking over to him...she touched his face to make sure it wasn't a dream.

"It's me Susan my darling...thank you for rescuing me" he said softly

"You rescued all of us from the Apocalypse stretch-o...it's the least we could do" Ben said, trying to hide the tear forming in his eye

"It's great to have you back Reed" Johnny said "You never realize what a person means to you until they are gone"

"I know Johnny...you three were my inspiration...the reason I did what I did, and the reason why I fought so hard to keep myself together. I'm sure you are all wondering what happened, so i'll explain it to you. It was wrong of me not to tell you all in the first place. I was summoned by a being known as Uatu...he is from an ageless race of aliens that have watched the galaxy for millenia. He warned me of Darkseids invasion, and told me of a weapon that would be able to stop him. That weapon was the Ultimate Nullifier. He also mentioned that the user of the Nullifier would almost certainly perish...unless...they put their mind in a state of ultimate and utter concentration. I remembered this when I used the Nullifier on Darkseid. My particles scattered, but through my utmost concentration I was able to keep them contained, inturn saving myself momentarily. I didn't know how long I could hold on for...but I had to see you one last time Susan. I then rememberd my particle diffuser and how it worked...then a thought occured to me. If I could somehow communicate with you three, I could get you to reverse the machine so it combined particles as opposed to spreading them out and destroying them. It was a long shot, but it worked, i'm guessing mainly based on the elasticity of my body, and the pliability of my particles" Reed said.

"I don't care how your back, I'm just so glad that you are back you big geek!!" Sue said with a big smile as she threw her arms around Reed and kissed him

"I'm just glad the Nullifier didn't destroy the Earth like Darkseid said it would...I wouldn't have held on, and fought so hard, if you were all destroyed...you three are my life, and I did what I did because I couldn't fathom the thought of you, and the rest of the world being inslaved by that mad titan" Reed said

"Where is Superman, and the other heroes?" Reed asked

"Superman went home to Metropolis, and the other heroes are meeting at Tony Starks mansion soon" Sue said

"Then that is where we have to go...it's time I made an apperance" Reed said

 

[TheTurtle]

<The Return Of: Mister Fantastic>


"Then that is where we have to go...it's time I made an apperance" Reed said

Mansion? Mansions mean, babes and hot tubs and that kinda thing. I wanna go.

Then again, it's probably going to be them going all soppy over Reed "oh my god your alive" stuff.

Yeah he's back, that's great... but... c'mon.

"Do I gotta go? Cause I could probably use some time just to hit the skies, clear my head you know"

I point to my head.

"Lot of stuff going on in here y'know"

"Like what sparky? Ooooh the latest sports car, ooooh supermodels."

I smirk, and shoot a tiny flame at Ben, setting fire to his pants.

 

[wiegeabo]

Dinah smiles broadly as he hugs her.

&#8220;I promise, I&#8217;ll be safe.&#8221; She wondered how she could not be safe with Tony hovering around her. Literally and figuratively.

"About this group you mentioned...think they could use an old warhorse like me to show them the ropes?"

Dinah claps her hands together like a small child.
Heroing&#8230;with a legend, her Uncle. She tries to act her age as she replies.

&#8220;I&#8217;m sure they could use you. In fact there is going to be a meeting at the Stark Mansion in New York City pretty soon. I was just heading there. If you'd like to come.&#8221;
Dinah winks.

I smile as she gets so excited. Guess I still got the superhero stuff.

&#8220;Though have you asked Aunt Joan?&#8221; Dinah raises her eyebrow at him.

I slap my hand against my head. Joan! That's the problem with being a speedster. Sometimes you think too fast. "You stay right here, and I'll be back in a minute...literally."

I'm gone, and in no time back home. Joan's cleaning up the kitchen, so I quickly sit her down in a chair and finish the job. While I'm zooming around I'm telling her what's happened. "Dinah's the Canary now...(zoom zoom)...told her I'm proud of her...(zoom zoom) joining a new league of superheroes...(zoom"

"WHAT?!?" Joan yells without missing a beat to get my attention. "New league? And Dinah?" Not for the first time, I think that all those years of being married to me have given her the ability to listen at superspeed.

"Um, yeah," I say a bit sheepishly. I slow down to normal speed. "I mean, a bunch of those new heroes are getting their own group together. Dinah's planning on joining to help them out. With all those years growing up under us, she'll be a wiz. But they're going to need someone with actual experience, and since I was already there..."

"You already volunteered, didn't you?" Joan says with a smirk.

"Well, to Dinah, yes."

"Oh...all right. So you don't break you word to Dinah. And you keep an eye on her."

"I always will."

"And you keep yourself safe, or you'll answer to me."

"...that's what I said to Dinah." We can't help but laugh. I give Joan a deep kiss for being so understanding. I'm a lucky guy. Then I rush into the kitchen for a couple of apples and the quick energy they'll provide, and rush back to Gotham.

Dinah's standing there still waiting during the couple of minutes I've been gone. She knows her uncle so well. I pick her up in my arms and keep running.

"So, where this Tony Stark guy live?"