Heroes Uprising Thread 7

Sandra took the opposite approach creating a cosmic powered telekinentic blade, pouring immense amounts of power that the White Phoenix allowed her into it and sending the attack forward to slice though the waves Carmen emitted, splitting the attack. Sandra sent out a disintegration wave causing mass destruction among Carmen's army and fired cosmic fire orbs at Carmen directly. While she had no time to swell on it she took note of Emmet's current state. It would seem he figured out a way to ascend to his own level of Phoenix.

Carmen backpeddaled, the speed force being amplified as it pulsed through her, but Emmet and Sandra easily kept pace with her now, blast of cosmic energy piercing through her defenses to strike her chest. She teleported high above them and began summoning massive meteors to rain down. This was a combination of Madara from Naruto and Gremmy from Bleach. each meteor was charged with the speed and strength forces, so they were barreling down fast and hard.

Meanwhile what looked like millions of clones had appeared, each charging up a superman charged heatbeam, combined with kai-ken times a hundred.

Emmet made a show of yawning, a massive storm of cosmic and divine energy swirling around him before it compressed into his body, his eyes glowing like two miniture suns " Dawling be a dear and take care of the above, while I deal with this lot "

Emmet let out a breath and moved, instantly appearing in one of the Carmen clones and punching its face, instantly shattering it, before turning and generating a rapier of cosmic energy and jabbing two, then an an axe of divine energy and chopping down thirty, he moved in a perfect rhythm to the music that had started playing, each strike more elegant and brutal then the last and the number of carmen clones being destroyed kept increasing, as was the immense speed that Emmet moved at.

Soon the phoenix empowered god was nigh impossible to see, even as the clones kept drawing on the speed force and other type of speed related powers, Emmet's divine powers of creation allowed him to create an entirely new bracket of speed, within mere seconds half of the clones were destroyed, even as more were generated and fired off their heatbeams, each strong enough to destroy a planet, energy absorbed, and sent it back, creating waves of divine destructive energy.

"Of course" Sandra replied confidently to Emmet asking her to deal with the meteor shower. He first action was to absorb and strip the incoming of a great deal of their kinetic energy reducing their speed greatly. She then channelled the Phoenix's cosmic energy into greatly increasing her own speed. As Emmet went about attacking the clones, Sandra did the same to the meteors using the Phoenix's Force cosmic powers to overcharge them with just a slight tap. While the ground was a blood bath thanks to Emmet, the sky was a light show thanks to Sandra.

Fighting though the meteor storm destroying every meteor along the way, Sandra was still gaining ground
and closing in on Carmen. As the Phoenix neared Carmen detected something taking effect on her body, Sandra was trying to convert her form into psionic energy. Carmen speculated Sandra might of wanted to absorb the psionic energy and project Carmen into some type of astral plane where she had complete control, stripping Carmen of her connection to fiction.

Carmen struggled Sandra as she was being converted into psionic energy, but calling upon the light light fruit from one piece, she transformed into light and combined with the speed force with intent of blitzing her with multiple fictional attacks, but Sandra was countering her blow for blow with power of the white phoenix. As Carmen shot straight up, her multitude of limbs all swing as one to unleashe an incalcuable number of attacks, each charged with the speed force and kaio-ken X 100.

" The final curtain call appears to be here " Emmet said as he floated up, a massive, multi winged phoenix manifested around them, shimmering and breathtakingly beautiful.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As Carmens many attacks rained down, Emmet phoenix flapped it's wings and destroyed the attacks while a good chunk were reflected back on Carmen, as she started a counter atttack, Emmet and Sandra appeared on either side of her, it was a fierce exchange of attacks, with each blow seeming like it could blow up a galaxy, Carmens limbs were being torn away, much of herself was unraveling.

With a great scream she forced the phoenix's back, her body was glowing intensely, signaling she was intending to self-destruct and take them with her.

" Oh well have none of that! " Emmet said and snapped his fingers, his phoenix construct extented it's wings out before foldong them so that the wing points pierced Carmen and held her in place, naturally music started playing.




Emmet nodded at Sandra and felt information enter her mind, immediately seeing Emmets idea. Charging up a great amount of power, the two charged from either side of Carmen, space warping around them so that their attacks would strike from every angle, large blades of cosmic energy forming around their arms.

Mien: Phoenix Style!

Emmet: Moonlight

Sandra: Serenade

Mien, Emmet, and Sandra: Barrage!!

A massive explosion and blinding flash of light eclipsed everything.

A moment later, Sandra awoke on the groun, taking stock of her surrounding she saw that she was laying in one of the code:breakers mansion courtyards. Whatsmore was laying on Emmets long, beautiful red hair that had grown quite long. Right beside her was Emmet who appeared to be cradling a book in his arms. He noticed that she'd awoken and held the book up so that she could see the title " The life of Carmen Lopez "

" During that final clash, as she was fading away, I decided to perform a divine miracle " Emmet explained " She resides within this book, in the borders of existence and nonexistence. One day she may very well return, but that will be up to her and her power will be severely depleted, if it remains at all "

"Thank you" Sandra said not really knowing if Emmet had done that for her benefit or not given how she initially didn't want to kill the form SXM ally. While it seemed there was no guarantee Carmen would ever come back, at least she seemed to have a chance and would be much less dangerous if she ever did. As the two reflected on the crazy battle that just occurred Sandra was curious about something. "If I may ask, while I'm doubtful it would ever happen I'm sure someone like you would surely have plans on how to combat myself, Riku, any of us in the unlikely event we somehow got turned against you one day. So I'm just curious that Phoenix form you used on Carmen in our final battle. Was that potentially meant for me if the need ever arisen, as your means of a counter to me having access to the White Phoenix?"

Sandra wouldn't hold anything against Emmet if that Phoenix form was meant for her, like she said Sandra was sure Emmet had strategies to deal with any or all of them if he ever needed to. She was just curious about Emmet's form.

" Thank you for the praise dawling and I may have pondered a bit on how to immobolize certain members of the group " There was a mischevious gleam in his eyes " As for the form I took, that was something I came up with over a millenia ago, it took a bit of trial and error to get the balance and power output to a state that satisfied me. Truth be told I have a closet full of such transformations, different scenarios and occasions and even now i'm still creating more "

Sandra was again reminded of Emmets sheer versatility and his ability to use everything at his disposal in unique ways, he was always evolving and changing.

With a brief flash, Emmets hair had returned to it's normal short length, and white color as he floated to his feet " As for whether I have a method for you...lets leave that as a mystery " he gave her a friendly wink. A moment later the sky lit up and orbs began floating down, placing all of the code:breakers and Katy, unconscious, on the ground.

" Trully that was an incredle battle to behold "a human skull, Archimedes, said as he floated down " Thankfully I was able to shield everyone during that clash. As for myself this is part of the price that had to be paid, I shall return to wholeness in due time "

" It's good to see you existing, my friend " Emmet said, glad that the lich was still among them. He surveyed the unconscious group, they were all fine, but they'd taken a great deal of damage from Carmen and would need time to heal. It was apparent that Riku wasnt among the group, upon Sandra asking if the demon was trully dead, Emmet shook his head.

" No, I dont believe he is gone or more accurate that he will stay gone, theres much about him that he keeps secret and from this a big one will be revealed "

Suddenly a number of portals opened around them and elves came pouring out, crying " YOUR MAJESTY!! You must come quickly!! "

Emmet quickly gave the order the group to be looked afer and teleported himself, Sandra, and Arche to the front of the mansion where more elves were standing around three cots. On one was Miroku, her left arm in a sling and the right side of his face bloodied. On the other two cots was Garfield decapitated head, his eyes gouged out, and a pile of blackened stone fragments which could only be Tesla.

Miroku to kneel and apologize but Emmet waved that away and told him to keep sitting, surprisingly, to Miroku, he was healed of his injuries and Emmet began reading his mind, far gentler then his past mind invasions had been. Sandra and Arche joined him, seeing from Miroku's memories how the battle had transpired. He, Garfield, and Tesla fought against a mysterious young man who appeared to be wielding the power of the phoenix force. The three of them put up a fierce battle, but ultimately one by one they were cruelly defeated.

Dave threw himself in front of them as the young man was about to finish them off, begging for him to stop and that he'd go with him. The mysterious man seemed to accept this and vanished with Dave, not long after the elves appeared, drawn by the commotion and destruction. Emmet clenched his fist, he'd assumed something like this could occur, but this mysterious phoenix force wielder was had come out of nowhere.

He held a hand over Teslas fragments and floated them into the air, under normal conditions, something like this wouldnt be enough to keep her down, but the mysterious man had done more then just shatter her physical form, he'd harmed her mentally and burned her for extra measure. As he began reforming her, absorbing the cosmic and psionic energies keeping her apart, he immediately sensed something....familiar and from that he pieced together something he'd been thinking about for quite some time " Sandra "

He gestured to the energy around Tesla and psionic signature that all psychics held, it was horribly familiar, for she had carried this person for nine months and would never be able to mistake it....her son David.

Sandra expected no less that Emmet wouldn't want to reveal if he had any plans for her, of course why give away any backup plans? She had only questioned the Phoenix form Emmet used as she'd already seen it in the Carmen battle, at that point the cat was already out of the bag, so to speak. But as it turned out that was just one of a number of forms Emmet made long ago, and continues to evolve now. Archimedes reduced to a floating head would soon emerge alongside Tanesha, Roberta, Katy and all the others. Carmen had given them a beating, but Sandra was relieved the three had survived alongside most everyone else. Noticing Riku's absence Sandra had questioned Emmet on if he thinks Carmen had managed kinda the unthinkable, that Riku was actually gone despite his insane regeneration. But Emmet seemed to dismiss the thought, or at least the notion that Riku would be gone for good.

When the elves arrived Sandra, Emmet and Archimedes were quick to the scene. Emmet was correct as usual in his assessment of Tesla. Starting out with diamond crusted skin years ago, she had evolved to take a full diamond form much like Luke's metal form. But beyond that she seen what Metallic did with his liquid metal form and learned from that, managing to convert her diamond form into it's own liquefied state mimicking Metallic's ability. As such simply slicing her up like this would indeed not be enough to stop her under normal conditions. It'd be like trying to kill Katy simply by shattering her while in ice form, when she could just shift to water and reform.

But this wasn't normal circumstances, Tesla and the others had been attacked by someone with the Phoenix Force, the cosmic and psionic influence preventing Tesla from being able to reform. When Emmet gestured Sandra to pick up on who the psionic signature belonged to it left Sandra in complete shock. David but how? He died, Dave had killed him and Chloe. He was also not a wielder of the Phoenix Force. On top of that why do this to Tesla and the others and why did he want this other universes Dave so badly? If it was revenge surely he would have done to Dave what he did to Tesla and the others. But what if that was the answer? Was this really her David, or another David from a different world? Sandra found herself rendered rather speechless by this reveal as these kinds of thoughts and questions ran through her mind.

" It is indeed your David, dawling " Emmet told Sandra, seeing that she was struggling to comprehend what was going on " An older and more powerful version it seems. For whatever reason he's appeared here and captured Dave but I dont believe he only recently arrived "

No, he recalled an incident the hero league had dealt with, where a powerful mutant with volcano like abilities seemed to be under the control of someone, even creating an avian construct at some point that seemed deliberate.

As he worked on Tesla, Emmet noticed that the assault awakened a deep potential within Tesla. As all of her pieces were performly reformed, the excess cosmic energy was absorbed by Emmet with a small portion being used in stitching Tesla back together, sealing all the cracks till was whole again. She levitated back to the ground where her diamond form deactivated, returning her to flesh.

Emmet helped her sit on the cot as she was a little disoriented " It's fine dawling, your back and better then ever...hmm it appears we have some guest "

A moment later, Yama and SXM(James, Felipe, and Anna) appeared.

" Sandra, its been far too long, Emmet " Yamairo greeted both of them as an airship descended overhead. Aaaron Stark in his trademark iron man suit flew down as the ship landed.

"Hope i'm not late to the party " Aaaron said as his armor receded in revealing a rather stylish suit he was wearing. Minerva with Ku-Chan and the other Avengers exited the ship.

" Hmm, I wasnt aware we had a celebration scheduled for today, though both of your groups, Yamairo and the Shadow Xmen, Aaron and the Avengers " Emmet greeted both teams

A portal opened, Kano and Tanya emerged from it, along with the Valkyrie Brynhilda " My apologies Emmet, but I requested they both meet up here and from the looks of things, I see Asgard is not the only one to suffer an attack " Kano nodded at the three team leaders and Sandra.

Sandra couldn't believe it, she was in complete shock. She had been convinced all this time her baby boy had died. This had to have meant Dave lied to her, but where had David been that was outside her reach to find him, and not just that but age so much? Did this mean Chloe was also still alive as well? Sandra felt like she could start crying out of happiness but then she looked at Tesla, and that it was apparently her son that had this to her. The question though this mix of emotions and confusion flooding Sandra only needed one word in order to be asked, why?

Sandra simply remained with her thoughts as Emmet essentially stitched Tesla back together, to put it simply. It wasn't long before Tesla's consciousness would come back to her allowing her to deactivate her diamond state. Sandra came over to check on Tesla as Emmet helped her to a cot to sit and get bearings, the whole ordeal after leaving her disoriented. Tesla cursed as she stated to remember what had happened and that they hadn't been to save Dave.

Suddenly Yamairo and the SXM, Aaron and the Avengers as well as Kano & Tanya had all arrived in quick succession. Yamairo was right, Sandra never shut the SXM out completely and was always in reach if a desperate situation every required her. But since joining the Code:Breakers she had not physically gone back to Genosha all to often. Though with everything she'd been though in her as SXM, much of which was good no doubt but a lot of which were also bad. Maybe it made sense Sandra did not often revisit the place she'd suffered so much trauma. Still Yamairo and James were amongst the others were always going to be dare friends to her, these was people she'd spent years of her life with.

Greeting Yamairo and the others Sandra responded to Kano. "You are right. First was Carmen, then for the few of us that escaped her fictional dimension early, they had to fight my son." Tesla looked up at Sandra in shock as the Phoenix said that. It all made sense, the feeling of familiarity, they were fighting David. So Sandra's dead son returned to life, but for some reason had grown older then they'd last seen him. No wonder Tesla couldn't quite place who he was.

The new arrivals were shocked to hear about what the code:breakers had just been through and it seemed Asgard had undergone it's own attack. Emmet invited everyone to one of the code:breakers war rooms in order to pull information and discuss what had happened

----------------------------------------------------------

" You, I've been in this super hero business for a long time now, been around all walks of life and death and yet I cant decide if this is the oddest table i've sat at " Aaron mused to himself.

The group was now sitting at a large circular table in the code:breakers war room, where Emmet had supplied tea and biscuits. Damn good tea and biscuits Aaron noted, he was sittingwith Tyler, Minerva, and the other avengers. Followed by Yama with Felipe and Anna sitting on either side of him with James cradling some book against his chest. Kano and Yanya with the valkyrie Brynhilda representing Asgard.

It was a circle, but the spot Emmet sat at was clearly the vocal point of the table, Sandra sat on his right with Tesla next to her, then on Emmet left.......was a large human skull resting on an annoyingly comfortable pillow and a small kiddy pool that appeared to be full of human blood that had a decapitated head doing laps.

" Definetly in the top ten " Felipe said

As the conversation started, it quickly decided they were going to have to go further back as the SXM and Avengers were farther out of the loop. Starting with Blackhearts first attack on Asgard and the " birth " of Sonya. Then Dave from an alternate universe appearing and his month here before he could be sent back. They then got to the current events that had transpired.

Blackheart and the Asgardian twins making their second attack and being defeated but not before Sonya was captured by a dark haired woman. Then with Carmens attack on the code:breakers, her defeat and Daves capture. A mental hologram displayed overhead, showing all of the events as they were explained.

Yama was beyond shocked and angry at himself, for not being more involved in all of these events. They'd all worked together over the years but on almost they'd fought against each other, making current relationships seeming to be cordial but distant. Sandra had informed him and the others about Daves passing and they'd held a small service for him, he'd been a friend and ally at one point, before his descent into alcoholism and anger.

Aaron whistled " Jesus, we have missed a lot, kinda surprised about the petty president, I actually had a bone to pick with him about why im being used as the poster boy for his eat the rich campaign for taxes "

" Sensei isnt really gone is? " Minerva asked, it was simply impossible to believe that he could be killed like that.

Emmet shook his head " He'll be along in his own time dawling, i've already prepared " he was referring to the empy seat nextto Arche and Garfield that had a starbucks drink in front of it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

??????

Beyond the boundaries of life and death and mortal comprehension, no where even the gods fear to tread was the abyss where the unknown of the cosmos dwell, horror of horrors that destroy the minds of those who even attemp to understand who cat even a glance. A consciousness was forming itself, drifting through the abyss and passing by its denizens unnoticed, unbothered.

Riku: Ok.....Where the fuck am I?

As Emmet invited everybody to the Code:Breakers war room Sandra had halted James and presented him with the book containing Carmen.  Not wanting to hold up the group she mentally transferred the account of what had happened in the battle to James.  Sandra and Carmen are or were allies of the SXM, friends at best if you wanted to go that far.  But James, he and Carmen loved each other.  It only seemed fair that he was the one to hold onto her.  "I really do hope she finds her way back to you."  

The two then quickly cause up with the rest of the group, Sandra taking a place to Emmet's right and Tesla to the right of her.  "Things are normally... well somewhat less strange than this."  Sandra said in response to the current table layout.  Admittedly the Code:Breakers wasn't the most normal of people just in general, but this today certainly was stranger than most others.  

Information would soon be shared around, normally a dark haired woman wouldn't mean much but after the reveal of David being alive, was it possible that it was Chloe that took Sonya just like David took Dave?  And more worrying Blackheart seemed to be involved.

Before Emmet could say anything, Sandra herself came to the realization that it had been Chloe that took Sonya, while not her child by blood, she loved the girl no less and having cared for her all these years, she instinctively knew it was her daughter. Despite everything going on, she felt a deep sense of reliefe that her children were not dead and gone, but why had Dave lied about what happened and what had he done to them?

With everyone up to speed, the discussion could begin in earnest.

" The kidnapping of Dave and Sonya, it would be foolish to assume these arent connected events " Yama said " But what do the two of them have in common, aside from being past versions of people we know(knew)? "

" Sounds like they both got here around the same time, but little Daveys from a different earth and Sonya is a past version of Tanya thats living here now? " Aaron was still wrapping his head around that one " Whoevers behind their capture have put themselves on the bad side of the code:breakers and Asgard, especially the collateral damage that came about, but why do it? "

Emmet sipped his tea before answering " I have been pondering that as well and have a few theories. Dave hales from another dimention but theres more to it that differenciates from his counterpart of this earth, his immense potential, he's a latent omega level mutant with power over not only space, but time, dimention, and possibly the forces of the universe. Add in that tomorrow he was planned to return home "

Yama rubbed his chin in contemplation " Hmm, but you say its latent and he's still young, he hasnt fully tapped into his own power yet "

" But that doesnt mean someone else couldnt " Archimedes said, making several people at the table jump in surprise that he could talk " I've spent a lot of time with him in the last month and as Emmet has said, he has a great potential, he hasnt fully realized it, but its plane to the more incredibly perceptive and with the right tools and skills, that can be used "

-------------------------------------------------------------------

?????

Riku's consciousness had fully manifested itself now, he remembered the fight against Carmen and her final attack on him that basically vaporized his very existence. It wasnt quite the same as dying, he assumed had that happened he'd probably appear in his fathers corner of hell, but no he was currently wandering the abyss.

His vision was gradually coming back, not that he could really describe what he was seeing, but he was being to gain more control over his current state and direction his course, passing through different areas, each with more bizarre denizens then the last and never lacking in tentacles.

Suddenly the sound of bleeting goats filled his mind as the landscape melted to give way to an endless " forest " with a massive cloud like entity flowing overhead.

" Oh, hey ma, been.....this is like the first time we've met "

"The obvious conclusion is somebody wants to utilise Dave and Sonya for their needs, the latter having latent potential as well, magical potential. But for what goal?" Tanya asked. Tesla would respond adding her thoughts to the discussion "There is a common thread here we should not ignore. Blackheart, a villain Sandra defeated before. David & Chloe, Sandra's lost children. Even you and Kano have allied with Sandra plenty in the past. Could Blackheart be back for revenge not just against Sandra herself, but those who allied themselves with her as well?"

While things seemed disconnected when looking from the viewpoint of the Code:Breakers, SXM, Avengers and Asgard. There was a common link between all things if Sandra was inserted. Sandra responded "If this is some kind of revenge plot Tesla then all we're missing at this point is Shawkun showing back up."

" I didnt get the impression that was Blackhearts aim " Kano said after a moment of pondering " I forgot to mention that an ancient tome was stolen from the castles library, one housing ancient runes said to have been scribed by Odin himself "

" That would would mean its highly like Blackheart and these twins were used as mere distractions to capture not only Sonya but pilfer this book " Emmet mused " Sandra does appear to be a common link between these events to varying degrees "

A gurgling sound could be heard from Garfields pool as the decapitated head had completely submerged himself and bobbed back up, his eyes having regrown and regained his senses and ability to talk.

" FUCK!! Damn that took forever, but wanted to put in that Sandy has been catching a lot of heat too, that fuckface Ventro church has been talking mad shit about her and getting the word out there, but all of that feels super personal, I recognize the work of a hater when I see it "

" Me too " Ku-Chan tossed in " It's maximum petty, whoevers behind it has a real hate boner for her "

Tyler scratched his chin " Well we have a kidnapped dimention displacer, a cloned? magical person, and a stolen book...Now that it's been mentioned, the church of Ventro has been increasingly active lately in their activities, it trully is a cult though, one that I question if even Milo would have been on board for "

The Church of Ventro seemed to have spread all over the world with daily marches of people crying out for Milo to return, this is on type of the large spike of crimes that seemed to increase on the daily, a number of times Milo's name was on the lips of villains and criminals of all leagues.

" It's like their trying to reach out to a god " Miroku said idly " I guess it's not that far off base but their prayers wont reach him "

Something clicked in Emmets head and he sat up straighter in his throne, immediately gaining everyones attention " It appears to be exactly like that, human belief and prayer has powerful latent potential in it, though not as much as it once did in ancient times when we gods used it to empower ourselves and lesser dieties required it to exist, our own Yuri has a good following that empowers him "

" so people are trying to pray Milo back to life? Given how you lot that were there said he went out, that dont seem likely to happen " Felipe said after swallowing a biscuit

" Indeed dawling, the final clash with emperor Fusion and restoring that alternate dimention and timeline completely depleted all of his power and essence, a simple act of prayer alone wouldnt be enough...." Emmet trailed off as his ancient and quick mind seemed to be going over a number of possibilities "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riku suddenly found the landscape had changed yet again, but this time he was evidently yanked to a new place, he sighed and rolled his nonexistant eyes as he knew all too well who it was that grabbed him. As Shug-Nigguroth had been called on to empower his dark conception, another outer god had caught wind of this and curiously peeked in, electing to add his own power to the mix as well.

Riku looked up as the massive and indescribale figure that could be called his other father, the crawling chaos, nyarlathotep. As he had helped to add his power to Riku's own, he'd also put a seal on that half of the demons essense, for no real reason other then being a troll. Though the outer gods influence wasnt completely gone, it was in fact the secret behind Riku's shapeshifting power.

As words in deep speech passed between then, a realization dawned on Riku, that the seal placed on him had been ripped away.

"Maybe prayer alone won't do it, but prayer plus magic?" It was true this church had a real hate boner for Sandra as Garfield and Ku-Chan said. Between the prayers, the book going missing, Sonya being taken, Sandra herself being slandered, not to mention Dave being taken as well. It seemed all too likely this was interconnected. With how Emmet said prayers use to and still do fuel the power of gods to some extent, forcing Dave to probably break open that other dimension along with the aid of Sonya citing passages from the tome. It really looked like someone was getting all the tools together.

" Assuredly magic is the defining tool of whatever this Kain is planning, but I believe it goes far deeper then that " Archimedes stated, gaining everyones attention " Young Dave's part is easy to see, a being with deep connections to the multiverse, though he cant fully control his own power, that does not mean it cant be used by another. As for Princess Sonya, it is highly unlikely she's meant to make use of this ancient tomb, she is indeed a prodigy when it comes to magic, but such ancient text usual take a grand caster level mage "

Kano nodded " Agreed, from what the sacred librarian told me, a sparse few save for the all father himself could decipher the text. But if thats the case, then what is Sonya's part to play in this? "

" I'm afraid im not entirely sure though I have a good idea, unfortunately we need a certain someones knowledge, the one who cast the spell that created her, Riku "

Suddenly a deep dread suddenly filled the room, space seemed bleed an incredibly vast and alien darkness into the space, multi eyeball blinked into existence within it, each one swivelling around the room, taking in everything before each eye zoned in on the starbucks drink on the table before compressing itself into the chair in front of the drink. It existed as a shadowy mass for a moment before a tentacle reach out and gently took the drink, bringint it closer to the writhing mass of darkness.

A mouth formed and took a deep sip from it ".....Oh yeah, thats the good secret menue shit! "

In the blink of an eye the shadowy mass had reformed into Riku, clothed in his usual gothic/steampunk attire. He leaned back in his seat, enjoying the drink " Yo, how long was I gone for? "

" Not that long dawling, in fact your right on time " Emmet told him, as if psychotic mage had been away on a brief trip instead of being annihilated body and soul. A key thing to note about Riku was that he was radiating a monstrous amount of power, either not realizing it or not caring, but it felt different then usual, those with extra senses could feel not only his demonic and magical energy, but a giant increase in psionic energy and some unknown alien energy.

Sandra noted that it reminded her of the outer god Illyria, the final thing to note were Riku's eyes, the ever present pools of black now held glowing irises of some foreign pale color,it was as if they were meeting him for the first time, the true him. Emmet beamed at him like a proud mother and Riku couldnt help but puff his chest out a bit.

As expected Riku was back, though apparently not the same as before. "I swear you're like a Saiyan Riku. You get obliterated and all results in is you coming back better than ever. Though it is good to have you back as we seem to be hung up on a question that requires your expertise." It was going to be quite interesting to see what Riku is capable of now when they get to their next battle. Thankfully being a CodeBreaker herself it wouldn't have to be her that'll be stress testing the limits of whatever this new power is.

Tesla wasn't one with the keen sense to really feel Riku's new power, but she did note the eyes, the presence around him and Sandra calling him better then ever just sealed the deal. "Do you need to be filled in on what's happened or this going to be one of those "I already know everything" despite not being here type deals?" Tesla of course directed this question at the newly returned Riku.

Riku was quickly caught up to speed on the end end of the Carmen battle and the invasion of Asgard, along with the current train of thought the conversation had taken.

" So can you enlighten us on the nature of the spell you cast? " Arche inquired.

Riku took a long sip from his drink before setting it down " Fuck, this is good. Alright I have a grasp on what i've missed, well technically I already knew but its nice getting an explanation while I enjoy my drink. Now, David&Goliaths part is pretty fucking obvious, his dimentional connections, but as for Sasha, its a bit different "

Following another long sip, he continued " Ok, the ritual is in a sense, true magic, like somewhere in between the second and third magics. I found it a long while ago in an ancient library, in a place thats not easy to get too. In general, I can go anytime I want, Anyway ancient, forbidden magic, and me being me I had to learn everything I could out of the place and came across the ritual "

" I'll try to dumb this down as best I can, it creates life, or rather it creates paradoxes by allowing multiple of somethings to exist. Creating life is dicey business on a good day, this ritual taps into, well everything that ever was and creates a soul from the tides of time. As you can see from the living example, a past version of Trailmix was recreated and is now here "

" Hmm, I assume such a ritual has many stipulations " Emmet mused " What are they "

" Well first of all, the ritual itself is incredibly time consuming, I literally set it up several years ago, this was just the window of opportunity to use it. Next, the existence created cant exceed the castors in a ridiculous amount. Trailmix and I are, or were about on par with each other at the time. She may or may not have been a bit stronger, obviously im not admitting to shit. But its enough that ritual was able to work itself out and call forth her past self, from a point in time where she was sure as shit not stronger then me "

Arche's emoty sockets flared with the light of interest " Then the present person the ritual is attuned too, this power difference effects the potency in general? "

" Correct-o, again theres a lot of complicated jargon involved but just look at it as a a barrier around a person thats encompasses their entire being. I couldnt work it on Em or Elmo due to power difference and just overall complexity " Riku explained " I'll also admit I kinda skipped over some steps and made substitutions, a genius mages privelege, which ultimately explains why Sabrina stuck around longer then intended "

" It seems like you unleashed such a ritual in a roundabout fashion " Yama commented " From what I gather Tanya had been plagued by shades from Hel following her ressurection and basically you helped with ridding her of them "

" What Yama is basically saying. WHY? " Aaron cut in " Doesnt really seem like your MO to help people outside of the Code:Breakers....or America as I hate to admit but you've been one of the best damn presidents we've ever had, the bar was in hell but I guess that makes sense and also why am I the poster boy for your eat the rich campaig-

" Yeah let me just cut you off right there dildo man, I dont know if I can really say its because I cared about what happened to Trailmix, but after her fight with Sandra, maybe just maybe I didnt dislike her that much anymore or something and....I just had a feeling that I needed to cast it at that very moment, I'm sure with all the psychic people in the room it can be understood why " Riku said as he sipped more of his drink, that didnt seem to be close to emptying "

Minerva was smiling, hard as it may appeared, there was a part of Riku, miniscule, but it was enough for him to on occasion make decent decisions and care about what happened to people he wasnt involved with or annoyed by. The fact that he'd taken her several others on as students was proof of that, in a way. Kano's train of thought was going the same way as Minerva's, in a way it made him proud of his queen, that she'd somehow impressed a demon that didnt appear to be impressed remotely easily.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sonya sat up with a start, very confused. The last thing she remembered was watching Tanya fight Magnus and then....nothing. Clearly she'd been knocked unconsciuous, but why?

" Oh good your awake "

She turned sharply to see Dave Hudson sitting in recliner beside her bed. The two had become friends while both attending Emmets school and taking magic lessons from Riku. They'd bonded over being time/dimension displaced and become fast friends.

" Dave? What happened and where are we? "

She took stock of the surrounding and it looked like they were in some kind of upscale hotel room.

Dave sighed " Not sure where we are, I was brought here by some guy who's another host for phoenix force, I had to go with him or he would have killed Garfield and Tesla " he went on to explain the whole Carmen situation.

" Seems like Asgard wasnt the only place under attack " Sonya explained what had been happening there before she was taken.

Even Tanya was taken slightly aback that she'd managed to impress Riku at one point, and certainly that the demon would admit, or at least imply that she actually exceeded him in one point at a time. Though it seems he's pretty sure any advantage Tanya did have over him is well and surely gone now, for Riku to even imply something like that at all was pretty meaningful.

Tesla would be the one to focus the conversation once again. "As fascinating as Sonya's creation is, does any of this explain what purpose she's supposed to playing in all this? It sounds like Sonya won't be able to replicate the spell that created her, and even if she could the spell would have taken an incredibly long time to set up. But if we ignore and give Sonya the benefit of the doubt to all that, unrealistic I know but just speculation. Then she still wouldn't be able to summon someone stronger than herself correct? So it still begs the question of why was she worth kidnapping? If Kain and this Fusion Church is linked with the goal of bringing Milo back or anything of the sort, then Sonya is incapable of it correct?"

" Yes and no " Riku sipped on his drink again, making a lot of obscene moaning sounds before continuing " Stop sign has all of my magical knowledge, spells and whatnot, so yes she has that spell stored up in her mind. As has been established already, she lacks the ability to understand it, not to mention in it's in a language she sure as fuck doesnt know "

" But theres one other aspect of the spell, recreating an existence's soul and history requires a special kind of vessel,I was able to bypass this thanks to my special brand of shapeshifting so I just altered my bodies composition to house her. Again this was supposed to be a temporary thing, but forbidden magical hyjinks and allchanged that and when I resurfaced, I had my body back "

" Thats the no, whats the yes part? " Felipe asked.

Riku sighed " This is where basically everything I said may get thrown out the window. Summoning that jackass Milo would be impossible by the rules of rationality, as I said theirs conditions and requirements and he's waaaay to powerful to even recreate him just before his powers activated.......But if you go by irrationality and the almighty power of bullshit, then.....thats a whole different thing, everyone in this room can attest to that "

Arche's empty eyesockets flared with intense light " I can see what your referring too, ours is a world where logical and insanity are separated by paper thin concepts. All that you have explained about this ritual are sound, but a phenomana where the rules are disregarded cannot be overlooked, so too that i'll ask a question. Is Sonya still a viable vessel for another existence to use? "

The room went quiet as Archimedes words and what they meant sunk in.

" Yep, she definetly is, Even with what Em did to make her a real girl, at her core, it's still there "

Yamairo rubbed his chin in deep contemplation, from what Riku was saying, by sheer absurdity it might be possible for Milo to come back....but every fiber of his being and all of the experience he'd amassed over the decades of his career were telling me it was nowhere near an altruistic act, not with everything that had happened and what was currently going on. This Kane surely didnt just want to try and bring Milo back because of hero worship, there was something else there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dave explained to Sonya how something in the room seemed to be nullifying not only his mutant powers but magical ones as well. She briefly attempted but immediately saw that he was right " So, why do you think we were taken? "

Dave shrugged " No idea, but it probably has something to do with the fact that were both not from around here "

Sonya could agree with that as well but neither of them could come up with another reason. They didnt have to wait long to get answers though. A door suddenly appeared on what had previously been an empty wall and opened. In strode a man who appeared to be in his mid twnetie, wearing a dark blue business suit with deep red robes over his shoulders. His hair was a striking red and hung down his back in a ponytail.

Behind him was three figures, the young man who had brought Dave, a woman a few years younger then him with long dark hair, cradling what appeared to be a stuffed bird, and third was hard to pin down. Wearing the same robes as the others, the hood was dark and their body seemed very lumpy and deformed.

" Greetings, Dave Hudson and Princess Sonya, welcome to the church of Fusion! I am Kane, it's leader and the son of Milo Ventro "

"So instead of Sonya summoning Milo back to life, it's possible they want Sonya as a living vessel to house Milo's essence." Sandra, somewhat ashamily being a Phoenix, had to admit she never considered that. Everybody just sorta latched onto Sonya's gift and ability for magic. However that very well could have been the wrong road to follow. Sandra did share Yamairo's feelings though. She loved Milo, her affairs with him while married to Dave are no big secret. The two bonded while trapped together, at a time Marie and Dave were both dead or at least believed to be as much. While Sandra tried to go back to Dave and Milo back to Marie, the two found themselves unable to truly stay away from each other. As short as their public relationship was, it formed a bond between them that never truly separated. But even with that Sandra felt that Milo coming back was not going to lead to anything good.

"If I may pose a question" Tanya interjected. "If Sonya's body is used as a vessel to house Milo's essence, I'm almost afraid to ask but, what happens to Sonya?"

" She would assuredly be obliterated " Riku said bluntly but somewhat not unkindly " It should go without saying but she wouldnt be able to survive the process in general "

This was a somber thought for the Asgardians to hear, Kano put a hand on his wifes shoulder, his expression serious and conveying a promise that he wouldnt allow Sonya to be killed like that.

" Armed with this information, I think we should next discuss locating where their holding Sonya and Dave Hudson so that we may rescue them " Kano stated, he like Sandra and Yama was thinking about the ramifications, Milo had been friend and foe on a number of occasions and at one point he would have loved to see his friend back, but things were different now, Milo had made many mistakes towards the end but ultimately had sacrificed himself for a whole other world, he was sure Milo wouldnt want to be brought back at the expence of an innocent life and he certainly wasnt going to let Sonya be sacrificed.

" I believe the situation may be far worse then that " Emmets tone drew everyone's attention, he'd been an active participant in the conversation had also hung back somewhat as he went over multiple factors and accessed as many future outcomes as possible " We are all in agreement that the Church of Fusions goal has been to resurect Milo, but I believe theirs an underlying motive. This Kano is the ringleader and behind everything that has happened. His motives cannot claim to be those of a hero. I dont believe he wants to bring Milo back in order to " save " the world or some other cliche, I believe he wants something of his, his most defining trait "

The room as silent as Emmets words sunk in, but one by one, it clicked for everyone.

" S-surely he's not after Milo's power?! " Yama exclaimed " That cant be possible....is it? "

Riku nodded " Unfortunately it is, again it would take a hell of a lot of bullshit and rule bending as well as a tremendous amount of skill....there's not even room for the slightest bit of error...but yeah. Using Staplegun as the conduit, honestly the cloning thing may really tip the scale in this, take summon Milo's essense at his prime and adding himself in it to absorb ALL of his powers, not just his base one, dunno if anyone has noticed but Empathic mimicry basically got wiped from the records when Milo kicked the bucket, let alone his particular brand of it "

" So This Kane is really insane enough to try and take in every single power of Milo's, I mean can he seriously do it? "

" At the very lease he believes he can and that can be enough sometimes, more so if their related or something but what are the chances of him being Milo's long lost son or........jesus christ he's from another dimention too " Riku exclaimed, smacking his forehead for not seeing it sooner "

-------------------------------------------------

Dave and Sonya exchanged a look, given what they knew about the Milo of this world and how he had a son and a clone he considered a clone, neither of them were as old as this guy was.

Kane laughed " I can read minds but your facial expressions are giving it away more. Allow me to explain. Like Dave here, I also hail from another dimention, earth-419 to be exact " he took a seat at the small table and two more chair materialized , he gestured for Dave and Sonya to join him, after a moment they did.

" Allow me to explain my history so you can understand why everything is happening. As I said I come from Earth-419, not unlike this earth save for a few defining differences. I explained my father, but allow me to speak of my mother now, Sandra Fuller " his tone became very hostile for a moment before adopting its prior calm tone. The three cloaked figures also reacted in varying degrees of anger at the mention of Sandra.

" I was conceived at the height of an affair between the two, for my father was involved with Mary and Sandra was still married to Dave, the two had been suffering from being unable to conceive children, which in a way drove Sandra further into my fathers arms. I was born but my father was an honorable man and wanted to try and make things work with Mary while still being active in my life. For years things went like this, I was a happy child, unaware of all the discord behind the scenes and the ever growing tension of a loveless marriage.

" I primarily lived with my mother and her husband Dave, but always preferred to be with my father, but both were ultimately heroes and were often gone for long perionds of time to save the earth. I was often left with Dave, I didnt recognize him as a father, but he was a hero as well and never harbored any ill will towards me. I also had the love of the Ventro's. grandpa, grandma, and my aunties, life was good....until it wasnt "

A deep sense of forboding suddenly filled the room, Kane's expression became colder " One day, father came home, covered in blood, and riddled with holes, The man who couldnt been beat, retained his title and save the world from a great catastrophe, at the cost of his own life.At the end he came to me and Sandra, proclaiming his lament that we couldnt have been a true family together and holding us in his arms as he passed "

" I was broken but Sandra....was far worse, she came undone and the dark phoenix rose. Her insanity and grief washed over the galaxy like a wild storm, from which no one could escape. For days she terrorized and destroyed till she was finally neutralized by the greatest minds on the planet. The phoenix force ripped from her body and shattered in such a way that it would take a millenia for it to reform. A power dampening collar was slapped on her, despite all the horrific acts she'd done, the heroes honored all the good she'd done once and Milo's love for her, deciding to place her under a permanent house arrest. The weight of her crimes and my fathers death broke her and she lost herself in alcohol "

Dave was shocked to hear this, he couldnt help but think of this earths version of him, Sandra had said he'd been a major alcoholic cause of their marital problems, but to hear something similar had happened to Kane's Sandra.

" The world was in ruins, so many lives lost and destroyed and all of the worlds hatred was pointed at the mad women that had caused it.....and her son "

"If he really is Milo's interdimentional son then who knows what he's already capable of, like Nick he could already have a less potent version of mimicry and hopes to upgrade to the real thing? Either way we have to stop Kane, especially if this is the plan. As bad as battling Carmen inside fiction was, Milo's powers at their peak will be even worse, much worse." Sandra may of been stating the obvious, but it was worth remembering that the Carmen battle the obliterated Riku, nearly killed the CodeBreakers despite Emmet & Sandra both leading them power, even that battle they really only won due to Carmen losing herself to fiction. The regular state of the Phoenix was not enough to win that battle. Had the opportunity never presented itself to access White Phoenix/Emmet's Evolved form, the two probably would have died as Carmen would have gotten them eventually.

Milo had that power, plus virtually endless others. To think what Carmen did was only a sliver of a fraction of what someone with Milo's peak powers could do, it was scary. If there was ever a battle they legit simply could not win, Kane with Milo's powers could very well be that fight.

( in the basement of the church of fusion )

The space had been altered by magic to allow it to be used for a great work.The air was charged with arcane energis, converging atop a raised alter. A large circle of cloaked woman stood atop the alter,their arms raised high and their cruel voices echoeing as they chanted. In the center was a tall woman her cloak was as ragged as the other women, but made dyed a deep crimson red and appearing as if it was bleeding. Her black and grey knarled hair whipped wildly in the conjured wind.

" YES, I'VE DONE IT!! " The woman screamed in triumph, magic washing over her wart riddled body and causing her skin to literally crawl, but she paid it no mind. Her mouth splitting into a broad grin, showing her black and crooked teeth.

" PRAISE TO MOTHER AMBER! PRAISE TO MOTHER AMBER! PRAISE TO MOTHER AMBER! " The hags all cheered as purple clouds gathered overhead and parted at the middle to reveal a yawning hole of possibilities.

Hag mother Amber had been reluctant when the stranger initially approached her about this great task, but she was glad she'd thrown her hat in with him, now there was nothing that could stop her from getting what she wanted.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kain continued his story.

" The world was in shambles, following Sandra's defeat and imprisonment, any lives had been lost, many for the sake of trying to reach out and reason with her. Dave....her husband had been the first, ever thinking about her when barely noticed he existed. He thought his love could reach her, help her see reason......it didnt "

The disfigured person with their cloak down started convulsing violently for a moment, till Kain raised a hand and they seemed to calm down. He resumed speaking as if that hadnt happened.

" The SXM had been fractured over the initial incident, many wanting to put Sandra down, while others wanted to reason with her. But as her destruction grew and the casualties started hitting close to home, they finally decided to take action. Many were killed, others crippled, few came out unscathed. It was the same with the Avengers, so on and so forth. Emmet had abandonned earth centuries prior and any other incarnation of the code:breakers didnt exist "

" Sandra lost herself in a bottle, having nothing, no phoenix force, no powers, and no Milo. The only things that trully mattered to her. In that house with her was where I was forced to stay. No one had the time or interest to look after me. Food was sent and someone would pop in to tidy up, but that was it. I was a child, none of it had been my fault of course. But when people saw me, saw my red hair, they didnt see the child of a hero, they saw the spawn of a monster "

" For some time things were left like that, years passed and the only thing that I looked forward was the day my mutant powers would manifest, surely I was destined for great power like my father, once I had it I could become a hero and things would change, people would look at me with love and adoration. But they didnt come.....or so I thought, from what I know now I may have always had them, but they couldn take significant form without the proper conditions "

Kains somber tone gradually changed to a more euphoric and somehow darker tone " I'll skip ahead and explain. You see my power is an indestructable stomache and an infinite pallate. I am a true Ventro but you see in order for me to obtain powers, they have to be in a physical manner "

Realization dawned on Dave after a moment and he felt his stomache turn, It was a bit longer for Sonya, but she turned green in the face " You dont mean.......thats disgusting!! "

Kain laughed " Oh how i've heard that so many times, but dont knock it till you try it. Human flesh is quite tasty and mutant is a real treat for the taste buds, especially when I can consme their powers and make them my own. I'll spare you the boring details of what led me to this conclusion, but I will tell you who my first was....even negated, her powers were still there and they were going to waste "

The room shifted away suddenly to a darker one, illuminated by a large tv screen. It's light cast over a figure, a woman passed out on a sofa, cradling a bottle of vodka. Dave and Sonya instantly recognized the passed out woman as Sandra. Kain, a much younger version, early teens walked into the room, holding a butcher knife. He seemed reluctant at first, scared even. But his resolve genereally hardened and he stood up straighter. Eyeing his mother with an intense hatred and dark hunger.

Dave and Sonya felt an intense, invisible force take hold of them and force them to watch the display in front of them. How Kain hacked into Sandra, jarring the woman awake, how she tried to fight back, but was far to weakeneda and eventually succumbed to her sons assault and passed as he bit into her flesh and feasted like a starving man.

" After her was my aunt Rachel, who had forseen to late what I would do and thought she could still reason with me, a long forgotten familial love resurfacing, but it did little to stop me. I devoured her ability to have and prevent anyone else from finding out. My godfather Yama, he'd been a great man, looked after me, taught me kendo. But he'd been comatosed since the fight with Sandra, another source of power going to waste "

Kain stood from his chair and teleported the group to the basement. He nodded at Amber and hag snapped her fingers, Dave was suddeny hurled into the air, a sphere of magical energy forming around him. He suddenly felt intense pain filling his body as something invaded it. He could feel his powers again, but now he was feeling more then he ever had before, like someone had torn away a wall that had been in place and let out a flood.

Amber raised a staff and tendrils of dark energy crawled out and stabbed into the sphere, searching, the hag mother let out a triumphant cackle as she found what she'd been searching for.

" From there things progressed and I was thankful for what Sandra had did, the way she'd left the world made it easy for me to get around and collect, eventually I amassed the necessary powers in which to break free from the prison that was my dimention, I traveled the multiverse and made many friends and allies, I learned many things and from that I learned what I had to do, what I was born to do! "

Sonya was bound in place by the hags, they converged around her and began painting runes all over her body. Amber produced an ancient tomb and began reading from it, Daves screams got louder until a final one split the air and the dimentional walls of the multiverse fractured.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone inside the warroom felt it at the same time, even those without the necessary senses, the profound moment when their world became open to an uncountable number of force " It seems Kains plan has begun Emmet surmised as he rose to his feet. A wave of divine enery washed over Archimedes and Garfield, both instant made whole. An image manifested in the air, revealing the skie, it was a deep purple color, but the trully jarring thing were the large cracks that had formed. This phenomena was happening all over the world, but the source was it was happening in New York, directly over the church of Fusion.

"Well there goes any hope of finding Kain before he could put whatever his plan was into action" Sandra said with a sigh. From what they were feeling it seems things weren't going to get any easier after Carmen. She continued on "It's probably time we get the others up to speed as well" Sandra said referring to Tanesha and such they were still resting after the Carmen battle.

Tanya could tell immediately whatever was going on wasn't good. When Emmet pulled up the "Are those cracks to other dimensions?" she asked, fearing she already knew the answer.