Ultimate Heroes (IC)

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"Forgive me Iron Man, for I thought you a construct, not a man encased in armor. Such technology was not yet dreamed of when last I walked upon the earth. I meant no disrespect." I turned to the raven haired Amazon. "While I do not know you, I know of you Diana. Your mother is missed in the Obsidian Halls, and welcome back anytime." I looked over the rest of the heroes, noting the hellspawn (have to watch him.),and stopped at the lady.

"You remind me of someone I've not yet met."

"I share that feeling madam. Tis passing strange, but also comforting."
I walked over to the steps leading up the the fabled land of Valhalla, and stopped. "Most of the names you just spoke of i know not, but Kal-El, that name has been whispered in the Hall, and at Honest Johns. I also know of Darkseid. That name is synonymous with death and desolation. Luthor and Von Doom I do not know." I looked over at the Manhunter, then at Thor "What do you need of me?"

 

[AmenRa]

I looked over at the Manhunter, then at Thor "What do you need of me?"

Thor answered, "Stand with us in the coming battles. Presently," he continued, stepping away from Iron Man, "we are sending insurgents to retrieve possible data from Lex Luthor's strongholds." Thor then held up a hand, a signal for Wraith to wait just a minute. Quickly, the Thunder God stepped from the foyer of Valhalla back into the Great Hall, where he disappeared through another heavy, wooden door set into the side of the hall.

Thor returned with a laptop computer, which he placed on the table in the Great Hall. He opened it, and passed his hand over the keyboard.

"This is Donald Blake's," he explained. "He will not mind us using it while he is away."

The computer booted to Windows, and Thor then stepped back. "I had nearly forgotten he left it in my private chambers," he explained to them. "Perhaps it can be useful to us here?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

(( Okay. Testing. Testing. One, two... ))

Glancing away from Captain Cymru, Rayner regarded Spawn quietly. "Sounds like you're ready to get serious. Good. You remind me of me, back in the day... all power and bluster and no idea what to do with any of it. Picked for a gig you never asked for, and losing everything in the face of it, but still doing your best with it."

And he smiled faintly. "Also, by the way... nice character designs. Honestly. I dig the lines and the Evil Twin Goatee on the suited guy, and the post-cyberpunk shinobi routine. I put together some action figures once in my day-job that kinda looked like that, but you really pull that off. Good luck out there."

The Valkyrie who had stood by the Throne of Asgard walked to the two who had escorted Wraith into the Great Hall. With military precision, a changing of the guard occurred, and the two who had recently entered the hall moved to take their place at the throne. But first, they both stopped beside Wonder Woman. They examined her bracers carefully, then looked at the gilded ones they each wore, they both looked to their lord.

"A warrior princess," he said. "A Valkyrie, but not in name," he answered their unspoken question.

The one on Wonder Woman's left removed the wolf pelt that draped around her shoulders, then looked to Thor, who nodded. At that, she carefully placed it around Diana's shoulders, arranging it with a delicate touch. The Valkyrie both then returned to their perfectly upright, military-straight posture, and marched to take their places at either side of the great chair where Odin himself once sat.

Diana quietly examined the Valkyrie in turn, looking upon them, showing them the vambraces that had deflected countless bullets. And she nodded, solemnly, to Thor at his pronouncement as one of them. But she stiffened a bit at the application of the wolf pelt to her shoulders. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"(Actually, I'm--)"

--she frowned. This was one of the most difficult parts of being a diplomat. How could she tell them that she spoke to animals as she spoke to friends, how could she tell them that she was a vegetarian without offending them? Especially given that slaying a wolf would be a badge of honour in a culture in which the gaping jaws of a titanic wolf would help to bring about the end of all things?

She hissed softly at Kyle, jutted her chin at her shoulders. "Lantern. Kyle. Would you-- mind?"

Rayner stared at her for a moment, and then it dawned on him, and he raised his Ring fist. "Yeah, sure, hang on."

And the Ring of Power gleamed and the light swirled around her shoulders, bare beneath the pelt, and suddenly a brilliantly intricate design of chain mail adorned those bare bare shoulders, metallic and yet also resembling darkly verdant nephrite jade, impeccably designed by an artist born, inspired by the armour worn on the arms of their Mighty host, sheathing her shoulders and clasping up neatly around her throat, keeping the wolf pelt from actually touching her skin.

He lowered his hand. "That good, uh, Wonder Woman?"

"That'll do nicely," she smiled at him. "I keep telling you: 'Diana.' We're in the same League."

"You keep saying that," Rayner admitted. "I'm still not sure."

Thor backed away from where he had stood in front of the Throne of Valhalla when he greeted Wraith. The Thunder God took a position beside Iron Man, folded his arms across his chest. "You are a stubborn man, Tony Stark," he said quietly, "A trait shared by us, to my own admission as much as I am a god. But, whether we fit each other or not, whether we speak kind words to one another or not, I am pleased that you fight by my side. It is such that warriors often do, and be it that you are mortal, yet we both wear armor, and we are all children of Mjolnir."

Iron Man stared at Thor at first, as though not sure what to make of this.

And then he rubbed the back of his helmeted head, and shook that head, and laughed a softly digitised laugh. "'Stubborn,'" he murmured softly. "Agreed. But Children of God, Children of The Atom, or Children of Mjolnir, national or extranational or extraterrestrial or extracelestial... this is for The World. And this is for Superman. And there's no better certainty of victory in my mind that to stand with you instead of against you. Well met, Hlórriði."

Meanwhile, J'onn was speaking to Wraith. "We are currently planning an infiltration into Lex Luthor's facilities to discern his involvement in the production of Kryptonite." J'onn then turned to the Batman. "I am sure this question is pointless, but I must ask it: you have not detected any infiltration into the stores of Kryptonite you are keeping safe at Kal-El's request?"

Batman looks back to J'onn and says, "The other Batman got infultrated once while i was trapped outside of time. However it was R'as delivering him the cowl to become my heir. He checked the locks in the cave vault. They were not tampered with."

"Forgive me Iron Man, for I thought you a construct, not a man encased in armor. Such technology was not yet dreamed of when last I walked upon the earth. I meant no disrespect."

Iron Man shrugged. "None taken. I've had worse. Besides, these days I'm almost as much machine as I am man, it's not the first time someone's accused me of being a 'construct.' However, I promise not to think of you as an invader from The Crimson Dawn if you promise not to think of me as a mindless inorganic automaton."

I turned to the raven haired Amazon. "While I do not know you, I know of you Diana. Your mother is missed in the Obsidian Halls, and welcome back anytime."

"I am glad to know that she behaved herself whilst in your twilit plane," Diana inclined her head, "and shall relay to her your hospitality when next I tread the hallowed tiers of Olympus. Glad am I to make your acquaintance at long last, Azrakel."

I looked over the rest of the heroes, noting the hellspawn, and stopped at the lady.

"You remind me of someone I've not yet met."

"I share that feeling madam. Tis passing strange, but also comforting."

Rose narrowed her eyes, and digested this, and simply nodded, speaking a single word: "Indeed."

Wraith moved on in his conversations, and Rayner moved in again beside Captain Cymru. "(There something you need to tell me?)"

Cymru smiled faintly. "(Nothing you need to worry about. Dracula invaded The Sceptered Isle on my world, leading hordes of vampiric beasts, and what you would call 'the home team,' STRIKE-Force Excalibur, summoned all heroes worldly and otherworldly from all corners of The Commonwealth to our aid. One of the warriors resembled this entity before us, though neither of us shared words, nor even names, nor were we ever side-by-side, I saw that he slew vampires with a surpassing passion. He spoke with a Scots accent, and cursed fluently in tongues of man and not of man.)"

Rayner smiled faintly, mirroring her expression. "(I kill undead dudes too, you know. Ever hear of The Black Lantern Corps?)"

Cymru chuckled, and closed her eyes, and leaned her head upon Rayner's shoulder. "(No. But I'd love for you to tell me.)"

I walked over to the steps leading up the the fabled land of Valhalla, and stopped. "Most of the names you just spoke of i know not, but Kal-El, that name has been whispered in the Hall, and at Honest Johns. I also know of Darkseid. That name is synonymous with death and desolation. Luthor and Von Doom I do not know." I looked over at the Manhunter, then at Thor "What do you need of me?"

Thor answered, "Stand with us in the coming battles. Presently," he continued, stepping away from Iron Man, "we are sending insurgents to retrieve possible data from Lex Luthor's strongholds."

And, speaking of which...

He then looks to the hellspawn and says, "Simmons your with me."

"It's Kraven! I am not this Simmons guy!" The hellspawn growled out in frustration, his eyes glowed and he crossed his arms, remaining in the shape of his assassin garments.

"Trust me, Uglypants," Spider-Man smirked softly, bundling the new armour up in his arms and peering about for a place that he could change, "if Bats calls you a name, that's the one you're stuck with. Just ask 'Red Robin.'"

He hits the communicator in his cowl, "Watchtower, Two to Metropolis."

********​

...on The East Coast of The United States of America, in the ugly stepsister to the sister cities of Metropolis and New York City, she who was called "Gotham," stood a clocktower glowing bright against the night.

A woman sat in a wheelchair surrounded by machines both terrestrial and extraterrestrial. Her hair was scarlet and she wore glasses of a cool, clean shape. Her fingers flew across keyboards both composed of actual matter and of hardlight virtual links.

"Batman," she declared, "routing Watchtower teleport to your location. (Your friend scans interesting.) You have Big Apricot incoming."

And ambient matter glowed and space folded and the particles of both "Kraven" and The Bat vanished from that place atop the impossible heights of Asgard and, flickering briefly through the crystal palace on The Moon that was The JLA Watchtower, they then materialised in the prettiest of the sister cities.

Metropolis.

Oracle, she who was called Barbara Gordon, niece and adoptive daughter to the legendary police commissioner, continued to power her fingers over those innumerable keys, glancing between nearly dozens of screens.

Iron Man had pinged her secure line with a datalink she could use to peruse a nearly complete listing of LexCorp's holdings both above board and beneath it. Carefully she sorted that listing, compiling, analysing...

********​

Thor then held up a hand, a signal for Wraith to wait just a minute. Quickly, the Thunder God stepped from the foyer of Valhalla back into the Great Hall, where he disappeared through another heavy, wooden door set into the side of the hall.

Thor returned with a laptop computer, which he placed on the table in the Great Hall. He opened it, and passed his hand over the keyboard.

"This is Donald Blake's," he explained. "He will not mind us using it while he is away."

The computer booted to Windows, and Thor then stepped back. "I had nearly forgotten he left it in my private chambers," he explained to them. "Perhaps it can be useful to us here?"

********​

The bespectacled redhead arched an eyebrow.

She had finagled her link to that isolated little corner of The Stark Dataspine by borrowing some airtime from Stark's "constellation" of ZipSat satellites. But in the web of communications cast by those satellites, she spotted a single new datapoint awakening near the co-ordinates from which she'd just transported Batman and his strange semi-animate cohort, the co-ordinates near which J'onn J'onzz had gotten her attention and then asked her to please hold.

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "'I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea.'"

Her fingers blurred...

"...too bad they didn't use my idea, and they threw together that crappy OS, instead."

********​

The familiar load-up screen suddenly flickered and vanished, replaced by a gleaming holographic mask of a green not dissimilar to that brandished by Rayner. The mask was simultaneously androgynous and subtly feminine, the mask was oracular. The mask was Oracle.

"Forgive my intrusion, Lord of Asgard," she intoned, her own voice digital and completely masked, again only vaguely female. "But I thought this would expedite matters."

Ducking into one of the halls into one of the rest areas, and glancing about before he tugged his mask off, Spider-Man commenced changing from one uniform into another. He had gotten quite proficient at this over the years, though he was no Wally West.

 

[AmenRa]

"Forgive my intrusion, Lord of Asgard," she intoned, her own voice digital and completely masked, again only vaguely female. "But I thought this would expedite matters."

Ducking into one of the halls into one of the rest areas, and glancing about before he tugged his mask off, Spider-Man commenced changing from one uniform into another. He had gotten quite proficient at this over the years, though he was no Wally West.

Thor arched a blonde brow at the speaking apparition on the laptop screen. The famous Oracle, speaking with manners befitting a maiden of Asgard. It was common misconception that the Asgardians were brash and brute, and although loose tongues did wag and tempers often verbalized in the fabled city, it was a smart soul that spoke with temperence and favor.

"You are most welcome here," Thor said to Oracle, "yet I will defer to my colleagues for communication."

At that J'onn stepped up beside Thor. He gave Oracle a set of search parameters, and in a short moment a list of possible targets were displayed. J'onn selected one, and a map overlay was shown on the screen.

"There," he said, "that looks promising." He turned to Spider-Man, who had disappeared. A quick scan with x-ray vision revealed the Spider's position, and J'onn nearly embarrassed himself, but fortunately Parker had only removed his top at this point. Hurry, little Spider, we must depart for Hackensack, New Jersey within the moment.

 

[AmenRa]

The Kingdom of Latveria

“Darkseid informs his army is ready,” Victor Von Doom told Loki. “Imagine it, Apokolyps’ army of genetically altered slaves coupled with my armor technology will be unstoppable.”

Loki leaned forward in the heavy wooden chair. “Yes, yes,” he agreed, “but I think now is not the time to invade. We need to soften them more, firstly. And, I do know my brother, he has undoubtedly gathered more to his cause. These we must render impotent or our plans will be for naught.”

“What do you propose?” the man in the iron mask asked.

“I will summon an old god, a monster from the most ancient of times,” Loki explained. “And, you and I will be present using Lex Luthor’s quantum zone technology to strike against those that respond to this threat.”

Loki stood, gave Doom a bow, and exited the room. He then made his way into the bowels of the castle to a room where he sat and conjured.

And, in the darkest depths of the Atlantic Ocean, something stirred.

 

[ChasNicollette]

(All together now.)

Thor arched a blonde brow at the speaking apparition on the laptop screen.

"You are most welcome here," Thor said to Oracle, "yet I will defer to my colleagues for communication."

Viewing the Thunder God through the laptop's integrated webcam, Oracle inclined her holographic head to him. "I am, as ever, at the service of all who seek to defend this world. Simply ask, and I shall answer."

J'onn then resumed contact, outlining the sort of thing that they were looking for. Swiftly, Barbara provided an itemised list matching that parenthetical array of hypotheticals. Until--

"There," he said, "that looks promising." He turned to Spider-Man, who had disappeared. A quick scan with x-ray vision revealed the Spider's position, and J'onn nearly embarrassed himself, but fortunately Parker had only removed his top at this point.

Peter Parker paused for a moment, a brief twinge from his spider-sense suggesting that he was being watched... but not by a malevolent force. He had stopped, just for a moment, to contemplate the ol' red-and-blues, the uniform that had returned to him so often, no matter what changed in his life, the red and blue uniform was waiting.

But now he glanced up and around and then the whisper touched his easily-underestimable brain.

Hurry, little Spider, we must depart for Hackensack, New Jersey within the moment.

"Jersey?" he scowled. "Seriously? But I don't even know anyone in Jersey."

Having tossed down the uniform top, he held up both the new mask and the old mask, the black mask and the red mask, again on his hands as puppets.

"Spider-Man is a servant of the people," the red mask puppeted, in a fairly brilliant impression of Anthony Hopkins, "he goes where he is needed."

And then the black mask replied, in the voice of Antonio Banderas: "And now he is needed again."

He sighed, and shook his head, and rolled his eyes as he replied to J'onn. "Fine, fine, Hackensack it is, but I promise you it's always bad luck to cross The Hudson."

Hesitating a moment, checking his spider-sense to make sure he wasn't still being eye-balled, s'fine, s'fine, asexual Martian guy could swing whichever way he wanted, Parker wouldn't judge, but secret identities were fragile things and besides which Parker had never once met a high school locker room he liked.

He changed at lightning speed, stopping only to examine his new attire in the mirror-- "'Wait 'till they get a load of me.'" --and webbing his standard uniform into a pouch on his back, hurrying back towards the main hall.

"Oracle," Diana mused, "while we have you here, could you do me a favour? It's been suggested to me that we might fill the void somewhat left by Superman by calling in other Kryptonian heroes, such as Mon-El, Nightwing and Flamebird. It also occurred to me that Superboy might still hold a certain 'street-cred' in Suicide Slum, having superintended a tenement there for a short time."

"That's good thinking," Oracle agreed. "The Guardian of Metropolis, Jim Harper, has already been tasked by The Science Police to work with The Metro-PD as a superhero liason officer. I'll contact him and ask him to include The New Kryptonians in his liasing."

Her human lip quirked, but her faraway hologram remained, of course, expressionless: "And I'll tell everyone to stay out of Batman's way."

"Meanwhile," Iron Man intoned, communicating simultaneously aloud and with The Stark Dataspine, "I've put in motion the paperwork required for a 'dangerous liason' of our own, Diana, see if Latveria will still accept an ambassadorial visit through proper channels."

Rayner cleared his throat and moved up to The Spectre.

"Uh, sir?" Kyle murmured. "Uh, Captain? It's just--"

He tilted his head. "In my other job. I'm an artist. And. I have a lot of respect for, you know, masters of the craft? Guys like Kirby and Moebius and Grummett and Turner and all them. And I know that, back in the day, if you hadn't-- had your shots, you know, and turned into... that you were big on drawing. For awhile, you even drew the comic based on your life, and I-- I have a copy. You signed it for me, at The San Diego ComicCon. I didn't find out that you were you 'till later, you know, that you were Captain America, I found out like everyone else, that thing after 9/11. But I think that. As an artist. You could have been as groundbreaking as any of those other guys."

Rayner held up his Ring hand. "What I'm saying, sir, getting to the point. Is I'm glad you were here for us. As a hero and as an artist. And I'm not supposed to use this badge of office for personal gain, exactly--"

Light poured from the Ring, sculpted and reshaped, smoothed and gleamed, a circular disc...

...out of emerald light and emerald plasma emerged a beautiful shiny new replica of Captain America's iconic shield.

Holding it by the edges with both hands, Rayner offered this to Rogers. "--but, sir, it would be such an honour."

At this, the black-clad Spider-Man strolled in, rubbing his palms together in a businesslike fashion. "Right, I'm back, sorry, had to -- see the tapestries. What'd I miss?"

"Tactical asset deployment and hero worship," Captain Cymru replied, a cool sort of bemusement on her face and in her voice, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Ah," Spidey nodded easily. "Good place for 'em."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

I watched the assembled heroes as they worked on their plans. Most I did not know, but the ones I did were mighty indeed. It was also obvious that technology had once again lept forward beyond my imagination. The telephone that Thor had brought out looked nothing like the phones of the 1950's. I kept following the conversations as best I could until it sounded like they were planning how to reach two of their goals. Maybe in this I could help.

"Excuse me, but I may be of some assistance to you. Most of what you are talking about is going by me, since I last stepped foot on earth was around 1950, but if you need to get somewhere quickly and quietly.." I quickly faded back into the shadows by a beam, emerging out of the shadows from the fire across the room, behind the one called Spiderman, "I may be able to help. I also know a way into Apocalypse, but that way is longer and not without dangers of it's own."

 

[ChasNicollette]

...before Wraith had even finished fully materialising, before he'd gotten a chance to deliver his next sentence, before many of the beings in the room had had a chance to blink, Spider-Man was a blur flashing upwards that hit the ceiling and stuck there.

"Great googly-moogly," he grumbled. "Sneak up on a guy with spidery reflexes, give a guy a spidery myocardial infarction."

Spinning web, he descended on a single strand, dangling upside-down in front of Wraith's armoured face.

"Also, by the way," Spidey harrumphed, "Cloak from Cloak and Dagger called and he wants his entrance back."

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

Wraith

"Since I was born in 1846, I belive I have precidence over the aforementioned entrance. And I apologize for startling you Spider-Man."

Damn he was quick. Quicker than me, and I was fast.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Since I was born in 1846, I belive I have precidence over the aforementioned entrance. And I apologize for startling you Spider-Man."

"Precedence, maybe," Spider-Man mused, swinging from side to side like a contemplative pendulum, "but copyright? In the 1840s, the duration of copyright was only like, forty years, and even if you copyrighted the thing right before you apparently pulled an Elvis in 1950, the duration then woulda been, uh, fifty-sixish years? Sorry, dude, either Cloak's got the rights now or your shtick's public domain. (Which explains why so many freakin' people get their powers from The Darkforce Dimension.)"

(Wraith wasn't the only one impressed by Spidey's speed.

Tony Stark's own biological processing speed had been fantastically enhanced by the Extremis dose, Wonder Woman could deflect bullets almost in her sleep, and Captain Cymru could watch a bullet fly to its target if she didn't blink.

But Spider-Man had taken on platoons of soldiers all firing at once and bobbed through the fire and steel without breaking a sweat. True, he was no Flash, he was no Green Martian, but precognition combined with a superconductive nervous system made him no slouch whatsoever in the lickety-split department.)

"As for making me wet 'em," Spider-Man shrugged, dropping to the floor and standing with his hands on his hips, "ain't no thing but a chicken wing. We cool. So long as you're planning to use that scary on bad guys from now on, we cool."

 

[AmenRa]

US Navy nuclear submarine, 688-i class, USS Montpelier SSN-765

79.8 nautical miles Southwest of the Laurentian Abyss

She moved silently through the ocean, topping the deep sound channel, the large and black thing that shouldn't be there, a naval vessel carrying the latest in technology to fight a war from the depths.

Montpelier was returning to her home port on the East coast of the United States where she had been involved in undersea simulations of war with some of the UK's Trafalgar class subs.

Inside the sub, it was business as usual for the crew of officers and enlisted sailors.

"Sonar, Conn, report all contacts," the sub's commander ordered.

"Conn, Sonar, aye, one surface contact bearing three-two-zero, contact identifies as merchant fishing vessel."

"Conn, aye," and then the captain, like the rest of the sub, became quiet again.

Then:

"Conn, Sonar, new contact bearing zero-nine-five at four thousand yards. Contact is submerged, transitioning East to West at fifty-three knots. Skipper, this thing is huge!"

The sonar technician watched his waterfall display as it rendered sonographic data from the BSQ-Y sonar system. He adjusted a few filters, trying to dissipate what he figured was some terrain interference, because the reported sonar contact was incredibly large. As in, way too fucking big to be a submerged contact. Nothing was this big.

"Classify contact," the captain ordered.

"Sonar, aye, sir, it classifies as a biologic!"

"Blue whale?" the skipper asked. Those were pretty big, and most submariners went their whole career without ever seeing one. Hearing one, sure, but seeing was another matter.

The sonar tech made some more adjustments on the computer, shook his head, and then replied, "Negative, sir, it's too big even for that. It has the mass of a Nimitz class carrier, Skipper. And," he watched the readout, "it's gaining bouyancy. Trajectory puts it coming from the Abyssal area. Range is now twenty-five hundred yards, closing very fast."

Montpelier's captain turned to aft, looking back down at the sonar station. "Closing?"

"It's headed straight for us."

"Full rise on the bow planes, diving officer make your depth seven-five feet!" the captain ordered.

The commands were acknowledged, and the sub began to rise, it's nose shifting to point towards the surface.

"Right full rudder, come to three-six-zero," Skipper added. Best to get out of this thing's, whatever it was, way.

But the thing that pursued the submarine wasn't interested in the submarine at all, and in fact took no note of it being in its way. This thing was an old thing, and had been called by many names throughout its history.

Sea Monster.

Sea Serpent.

Leviathan.

Kraken.

It had the head of a dragon, the body of a serpent, and tentacles that fanned out from its middle body as it moved through the sea. Some of the tentacles had suckers, like an octopus, and some of them had mouths themselves, with sharp teeth that could bite and hold.

And, as Montpelier rose and turned, the monster passed quickly overhead. The creature's wake pummeled the submarine, the sudden pressure from it pushing the submarine down.

Inside the sub, pressure lines burst, and transition pumps seized.

"Power flow ballast transfer pumps have ruptured!" the diving officer, actually a senior chief petty officer, called COB (Chief Of the Boat) yelled.

The sub began to sink rapidly.

"Increase speed to flank!" the captain ordered. The extra power to the sub's bronze screw should push the vessel upwards until they could make the ballast transfer manually. If it didn't, then the sub would continue its descent into the black ocean depths until it reached the point where nothing could save it.

That was what weighed on the captain's mind. He knew the sea was cold and dark beyond the pressure hull of the sub. And, the farther the sub sank, the more the cold and dark the sea would become, with pressure mounting on the hull in incredible pounds per square inch. And then, eventually, the pressure would become such that the hull would fail, and the air inside the sub itself would compress until it ignited, and everyone inside would burn.

And the sub continued to sink.

"Emergency blow!" the captain ordered.

COB vented the water from the ballast tanks by forcing compressed air into them. Montpelier shot to the surface, every crewmember being thrown against the bulkheads as the sub's nose rose like a rocket from the depths. The black hull breeched the water's surface, not unlike some great, dark whale, and then settled and bobbed and rocked among the waves.

Receiving damage reports as he climbed, the sub's captain hurried up the ladder to the bridge atop the ship's conning tower, where, after opening the pressure hatch, he emerged into the salty ocean spray and looked into the night. He saw it beyond the sub, on the surface now, a huge thing that swam atop the water and headed West.

"Oh my God."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Rayner cleared his throat and moved up to The Spectre.

The Spectre regarded Rayner, his eyes soft despite his firmly set countenance.

"Uh, sir?" Kyle murmured. "Uh, Captain? It's just--"

"Steve. Steve is fine."

He tilted his head. "In my other job. I'm an artist. And. I have a lot of respect for, you know, masters of the craft? Guys like Kirby and Moebius and Grummett and Turner and all them. And I know that, back in the day, if you hadn't-- had your shots, you know, and turned into... that you were big on drawing. For awhile, you even drew the comic based on your life, and I-- I have a copy. You signed it for me, at The San Diego ComicCon. I didn't find out that you were you 'till later, you know, that you were Captain America, I found out like everyone else, that thing after 9/11. But I think that. As an artist. You could have been as groundbreaking as any of those other guys."

The Spectre arched his eyebrow as he listened to the staggering explanation given by the young hero. When Rayner finished, The Spectre did a most unexpected thing indeed. He smiled. "You tracked one of those down huh? I thought they were all either molded out in someones attic or lost to the ages. Seems like a lifetime ago... heh, well I guess it was wasn't it?"

Rayner held up his Ring hand. "What I'm saying, sir, getting to the point. Is I'm glad you were here for us. As a hero and as an artist. And I'm not supposed to use this badge of office for personal gain, exactly--"

Light poured from the Ring, sculpted and reshaped, smoothed and gleamed, a circular disc...

...out of emerald light and emerald plasma emerged a beautiful shiny new replica of Captain America's iconic shield.

Holding it by the edges with both hands, Rayner offered this to Rogers. "--but, sir, it would be such an honour."

"Lantern, it would be my honor. Son, allow me to tell you, I have been doing this since before you were born, I have seen a lot of heroes. A lot of good men. I am glad to see that the things I have heard about you, about you being among the those men, well they were an underestimation of your character. You are as much an icon of what's right in this world as I ever was. It is nice to know that there are men like you to carry that legacy. I humbly accept this shield, that I might use it to defend those unable to defend themselves. I ask only that you never forget, you are the new generation. You are the hero for the future. Dinosaurs like me, we are the old gaurd, glad to see the new guard is so well prepared." With a small bow, The Spectre accepts the shield. His smile not fading in the least.

At this, the black-clad Spider-Man strolled in, rubbing his palms together in a businesslike fashion. "Right, I'm back, sorry, had to -- see the tapestries. What'd I miss?

"Tactical asset deployment and hero worship," Captain Cymru replied, a cool sort of bemusement on her face and in her voice, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Ah," Spidey nodded easily. "Good place for 'em."

 

[Drakkwall]

Spawn twisted and turned, shaping his body into a black cloak that warped around the neck of Batman, acting as a disguise for him, and his voice spoke to the bat dressed vigilante as the shroud kept him in the shape. "This should be a better disguise, considering it will be less noticable for us to be noticed, just don't make any gay jokes and I won't make your life harder then it already is batman, I'd rather be the clothe of a beautiful woman then a man." his hellish magic flared for a short moment and then the cloa kshaped shroud emerged with the cloak of the vigilante and the voice of spawn disappeared, not even a slightest glimmer or fragmet remaining of the hell warrior's presence, as he had embonded himself with the very fabric of the black cloak.

 

[AmenRa]

At this, the black-clad Spider-Man strolled in, rubbing his palms together in a businesslike fashion. "Right, I'm back, sorry, had to -- see the tapestries. What'd I miss?"

"Tactical asset deployment and hero worship," Captain Cymru replied, a cool sort of bemusement on her face and in her voice, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Ah," Spidey nodded easily. "Good place for 'em."

J'onn J'onzz stepped up to Spider-Man as he finished speaking.

"We have our coordinates," he said, "and I suggest we move now. As Thor stated earlier, dawn breaks in but a few hours. The cover of darkness will simplify our insertion. I figure the facility we are infiltrating will have minimal staff on hand, probably cleaning crew and night security guards."

The Martian Manhunter rose a few feet into the air, and noted that Spawn and the Batman had already departed. The Martian Manhunter held out a hand. "Although JLA teleportation is remarkable transit, I believe it would be better suited for us to arrive outside the building. A strand of your webbing should be sufficient to anchor you to me for fast travel through the air."

To the Martian Manhunter, slipping through Earth's atmosphere was a simple feat, yet he was cautious when carrying a passenger who was not as resistant to atmospheric friction as he. Not to say that the Spider-Man's physical prowess could not withstand extraordinary flight speed, but he was certain the human arachnid would not be able to withstand the immense pressure and physical matter disrupting properties were he to accelerate beyond the speed of light.

J'onn's plan was to arrive outside the building, slowing from hypersonic travel well away, so a sonic boom would not herald their arrival. J'onn would then drop Spider-Man to the building's roof or side, whichever was closest to the server room location. J'onn would become invisible and intangible, slip into the building, and disable security to allow Spider-Man entry. Once inside, J'onn would stand guard while Spider-Man accessed a terminal and retrieved the data they were looking for.

As the Martian Manhunter hovered in the air and waited, he communicated all of this telepathically to Spider-Man.

 

[camerindrake]

Batman simply walked over to the car that the first robin had dubbed the Batmobile. He simply refered it as the car. He pulls out his security device and hit a button. The security measured coming down he walks over to the top sliding forward.

Batman says in his normal smoky voice, "That will not be necessary. Get in the car. "

He then gets in and hits the starter, The turbine engine whining as it starts followed by the pop of the flames ejecting from its back. The Dark Knight looks over to see if the hellspawn is seated before putting the vehicle into gear.

 

[Drakkwall]

The hellspawn shifted off the cloak of the vigilante and emerged like a shadow on the seat and his chains engorged themselves with the metal of the car and changed themselves into seatbelts. Putting his arms behidn his head the hellspawn hummed softly as batman droveo ff and looked out the window. "Sweet ride, if I had one of these before I went combustion I'd have been able to get a girl for myself instead of just becoming a govermental assassin ,they pay was good but the health care was awful, and let's not speak of the dental."

 

[AmenRa]

Thor

And so, Captain America had once again been given that which made him The Captain America.

The Shield.

It was a symbol.

Much like the one Kal-El of Krypton wore upon his chest. Indeed, like the one the Batman wore, as did Diana of the Amazons. Symbols.

They stood for something.

They meant something.

And the Mighty Thor slowly turned the ancient warhammer Mjolnir over in his hand. It was inscribed on the hammer's face, ancient Runes.

"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."

And, like the shield Steven carried, the light that shone in Tony Stark's chest, Mjolnir was a symbol. And, it meant something.

To all the world, to everything that was Midgard, to all of Asgard, from the white snows of the mountains peaks to the boars hunted by Hogun in the forests, the hammer was all that was the power and the law of Asgard.

And, that meant something.

Thor traced his fingers across Mjolnir's face. He felt the inscription there, thousands of ages old, ancient as time itself. And, he looked again to those that had gathered. Their symbols. Their standards. They who stood for something.

They were united, despite differences. United for a common goal, a purpose of solidarity. And this reminded the Thunder God of the team that he and Iron Man and Captain America once shared.

Quietly, in a whisper near like the wind herself, Thor spoke two words, words which had not been utterred in a very long time.

"Avengers assemble!"

And although the team had long since disbanded, this was a fitting call to the new fellowship of warriors that had gathered together here on the steps of Valhalla.

 

[Abraxas Winterlight]

The Fallen

In a palace atop the world a legend lies broken.
In a palace atop the world fables from long ago watch over one that walks the world today.
In a palace atop the world, lies the broken and beaten body of the Last Son of Krypton.

In a crystal chamber the barely alive body of Kal-El of Krypton lies in a state of stasis while machines and a ghost in the crystalline machine monitor his progress. Winged Valkyries stand motionless, hands resting on swords, awaiting a threat that may come, but unable to sense the real threat.

Superman lay dying, and so far the technology of a dead world could not find the reason why he lay dying.

"His wounds were worse, much worse after he fought the bio-weapon known as Doomsday. Here, in the focused light of Terra's yellow sun he should be whole, but he grows worse. Scans are inconclusive, as if there is something scrambling our devices." Said the golden robot hovering above the softly glowing chamber.

"Patience Kelex. You served the house of El for generations before my birth, and after your rebirth here you continue to serve. Maybe you are looking at this from the wrong direction. I am the direct download of Jor-El, and above all else he was a scientist. Kal-El's wounds, while grave, are physical. In Sol's radiance his cells should be healing, but they instead are withering and dying. Therefore, some outside influence has to be impacting him." The simulacrum paused a second, then looked at the golden robot.

"Have you scanned for Kryptonite?"

"Negative. Stabilization was paramount. Scanning now."

Lights flashed within the crystalline sarcophagus, and in a few moments the golden head of the robot turned to the holigram beside him. "Kryptonite detected. Rads are low, and the wavelengths off. Conjecture is that it is artificially created. Also, levels are increasing. At current rate of increase Kal-El has twelve hours before a lethal dose is administered."

"Initiate red solar spectrum induction and set chamber to stasis." Jor-El said, concern in his voice.

As the warrior women stood guard, while the ghost in the crystalline machine looked on, the lights of the sarcophagus bleed a red light over the body of the Last Son of krypton, and soon thereafter, red began staining the bandages wrapped around him.

The golden robot moved around the broken and bleeding body of Superman, extending sensors and probing the wounds, and then it rose up a full yard in startlement.

"What is it Kelex?" asked Jor El.

"Nanobots detected. They are replicating, and creating the kryptonite, as well as doing tissue damage. The red energy has slowed them, but if a means of neutralization is not found within twenty four Earth hours, Kal El will die. I am not aware of any technology within the fortress that can remove the nanos without also killing Kal El."

The ghost of the Kryptonian looked down upon the body of his son, and made a choice. "Pass all information that you have gathered on to the Justice League, and also tell J'onn directly via Martian mental wavelength."

"Anything else Sir?"

"Pray to Rao for a miracle old friend."

 

[camerindrake]

As Batman drove he looked over to the Hellspawn. As he looks back towards the road he thinks to himself, 'Lt. Col. Albert Simmons. Assassin for the United States government. How much of his colourful past does he know. Obviously he has learned about Chapel being the one who killed him. And Jason Wynn being the one to let Chapel off his leash. I have an idea why.'

Eventually the Dark Knight says, "Wanda."

He pauses for a moment before continuing, "That is the name of your wife. Wanda Blake now Wanda Fitzgerald. Remarried. I had a complete background work up done on you after our first encounter."

He pulls up two buildings away from Luthor Tower. The top opens up and he stands pulling out his grapple gun, "And no you wouldn't have been chasing girls with a ride like this. Your father made sure of that, Lt. Col. Simmons. I may have the raw data. You will eventually have to find the why."

The Caped Crusader then fires the grapple and pulls himself up the building. He then runs across the buildings and stops behind one of the tall air conditioning units and touches the side of his cowl sliding the night-vision into place. he then zooms in seeing the security cameras. He then places an attachment to his grapple. Looking back to the camera he is targeting, he takes aim.

 

[Drakkwall]

Groaning out in frustration the hellspawn kept himself from transforming his fist into a mace and smack the dark knight for his stupidity. "It's Kraven, I am not Simmons, even if I had once been have I been reincarnated and gone through this hell thing again, I am not Al Simmons, and if I was then I am not him any longer, cause I got shit worth of memories when it comes to ole simmy boy. Now shut yer trap and be quiet, I thought you bats were good at that." Grumbling to himself the hellspawn leaped into the shadows and disolved into shadows, the only sign of his presence was a small ripple in the darkness. But he was not gone, in the chambers bellow on the mainpower generator, was a large clawed fist brought into the cords and tore them out, before disappearing int othe shadows, as the lights went out in the building, along with the better part of the security cameras. The head of the hellspawn emerged from the shadows on the wall next to the caped vigilante and the hell warriro spoke up before he disappeared int othe shadows again. "The power is out batman, but they have emergency power for their cameras, I will help you in taking out those in your way, but you better get moving."

 

[camerindrake]

The Dark Knight then gets only inches from the Darkspawns face saying, "And every one of Lexcorp's security detail will know we are coming. And now Mercy Graves will be on the run."

He puts the grapple back away and pulls out the pump action and sets for a five second timer and begins pumping the explosives at the highest corner office. Batman then places the device back into his utility belt and pulls out his grapple and firing it as the explosion goes off. yanking him towards the corner office.

The Caped Crusader places a flash drive looking device into Luthor's computer and hits his mic, "O this is Detective, the device is set, pull the hard drives and wipe him."

He then begins walking towards the personal suite's on the top floor.

 

[Drakkwall]

"If you want to kiss someoen bat boy then don't bother, I ain't got lips. And nobody knows it was handmade, there's a bit of... wild life in these places you can always count on taking the blame, with the right push." The hell spawn smirked before he disappeared into the darkness, in which several glowing eyes opened and the chitter of vermin echoed softly in the air as large blac krats beganto crawl through the ventilation shafts, clawing their way through stone, wires and metal alike.

 

[AmenRa]

The Beast of the Deep

He could see everything.

His sight could pierce the veil of the Nine Worlds. He could see into the farthest reaches of space, and past that, even, until he could see the very end.

His ears could hear the flutter of the wings of a butterfly a thousand worlds away.

He was Asgard's sentinel. The Gatekeeper. The White Gaurdian. He alone held the way across the Rainbow Bridge, and he challenged all who would pass into the Realm of the Asyr.

He was Heimdall.

And on this day, as he stood at Asgard's stone entranceway, he scanned the horizon, pressing his vision into the known and unknown as he had done for an age unremembered.

And those eyes, Heimdall's eyes of the galaxy that saw beyond, beheld a sight he had hoped he would never see. And as those eyes went wide in shock and horror, the Mighty Heimdall gasped aloud, and he turned at once to shout into the upper reaches of the city, directing his voice so that his lord might hear.

"My Lord!"

"My Lord! Come at once and see! The Sea Dragon attacks Thermyscira!"