Heroes Uprising Part 6

This thread is to continue the story of HU. The previous thread for reference is listed below.

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Sandra felt the telepathic equivalent of a sigh inside her own mind. The entity in her head loosened its grip and relaxed. Roberta agreed completely with Sandra or at least she would like to. "That sounds right but..." she trailed off as the sounds of gunfire, explosions and cries for help surrounded her. It felt almost exciting. She grabbed Sandra's hand and squeezed it gently trying to calm herself down.

"Lets get out of here." Sandra took that as a queue to teleport away. At that moment the world around shifted again. Now they were in the skies over D.C. Sandra was in the distance burning away all MRD forces sent to stop her from causing untold amounts of destruction. Kano and Roberta were on there way to stop her.  

"Oh I remember this. We had fun here." Roberta said with a smile that slowly faded realizing she didn't want to say that. The black hound was pacing in front of them and for a moment she understood what it was doing and maybe what it really was. "Thousands died for no good reason at all this wasn't....Sandra it was fun right? I bet you she thinks it was."

Sandra had killed many times in the past in either a misguided attempt to keep peace or out of anger. But fun wasn't exactly the word she would use to describe things she had did. However Roberta was a bit more understandable. Sandra held Roberta's hand snugly in her own and gave her girlfriend a smile. "Well I'm not sure if fun necessarily describes it. But to each their own." Sandra wasn't surprised Roberta would say something like that given what she was, and wanted to subtly reinforce that she was here for her.

Minerva blushed deeply as Scott complimented her " O-oh thank you! " and there went her volume control " I mean, thank you. It's all thanks to Emmet taking time to help me " when he'd first mentioned that Scott wanted to go out for another date she hadnt thought anything of her appearance. But Emmet said it wouldnt hurt to dress up a little and the thought of being dressed up by him was too tempting to pass up.

She was wearing a short emeral dress, a white jacket, and sandles. Her hair, out of it's usual ponytail, hung freely. She wore light makeup, complete with red lipstick. She'd never worn makeup before and it felt so nice " You look really nice too, i've never been on a motorcycle before, but it sounds exciting "

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" Well Aziza I find you to be a most intruiging women and look forward to working with you, welcome to the code:breakers " Emmet said warmly as he extended his hand out. Aziza returned the smile and shook his hand.

" Likewise, so shall I meet my new coworkers? "

Emmet nodded and teleported them to the room where Emmet's true self was sitting with Glory, Katy, Tesla, and the others. Upon arriving, Emmets clone vanished as he stood up " Attention everyone, i'd like to introduce you to Aziza, the newest Code:Breaker "

"Wow another one. You guys are going all out on staff upgrades today." Tesla walked over to greet Aziza with a handshake. "Welcome I'm Tesla Nova, currently of the Avengers." Katy raised a eyebrow towards something Tesla just said. "Wait, currently? Are you bored with them already?" Tesla never really answered a shrugged slightly. When she left SXM she did so to find a new experience, something different. She thought Avengers would be a good place but they appear to e more the same. Well their different, but at the same time still kinda the same. It was a bit hard to pin down, but the best way to put it was they wasn't different enough to what Tesla had hoped for. So yet another career path, has the opportunity present itself, wasn't out of the question.

Scott smiled, finding her loss of volume control when he complimented her cute and charming.
"Emmett did an excellent job, that's for sure, but the beauty is yours and was always there."
Scott looked down at his rather average clothing, knowing that nice didn't really describe what he was wearing.
"Well, I appreciate that lie."
He laughed a warm, good-natured laugh and headed to the elevator with Minerva. They traveled down to the Avengers garage, where Scott's motorcycle was currently being stored.

"Yeah, my main vehicle back home is an SUV, because my job as a P.I. requires me to have an inconspicuous vehicle. If and when I return home, though, I'm definitely taking this back with me."
Scott put on a black leather jacket and black fingerless gloves, looking like a classic movie star greaser but without all the grease in his hair. Getting on the motorcycle, he started it up while Minerva got on the back.
"Make sure to hold on tight, sweetie."
Revving the engine a couple times, he then moved out of there at a steady speed, easing into city traffic.

Scott's control of the motorcycle was excellent, a result of his highly-trained observational skills and reflexes. He weaved through traffic with perfect control, never going too fast or too slow. Having Minerva holding onto him sent warmth through his body and put an unshakable smile on his face. When they reached the Fun Palace, he parked the motorcycle and turned it off before extending the kickstand and getting off. After making sure Minerva got off okay with one hand in hers, he gestured to the Fun Palace with his other.
"I saw this place while I was on patrol one night, and thought it would be great fun for a date."

Scott gently let go of Minerva's hand, having decided that he would let it be her choice if they held hands or not. He was more worldly, experienced, and wizened with life experience, and knew that the best thing for this relationship was to let Minerva move forward with it at her own pace. Walking side-by-side, he proceeded with her into the Palace and stopped at the counter. This was the first decision of the date, how it would be paid for, and while tradition dictated that Scott should pay for it, he wanted Minerva to have a voice in that decision, as well.
"So, do you want to split the cost of everything? I mean, I don't mind to pay for everything, but I just wanted to hear what you wanted, too."

"Don't be boring, if you can't have fun hurting people then you probably shouldn't do it at all." Roberta or at least one version of her that was speaking knew this wouldn't get them anywhere. The Roberta Sandra knew was already trying to break out and trying to keep this game going while Sandra and Emmet was around probably wouldn't work. The black hound in front of them disappeared as Roberta dropped to her knees as she finally regained full control.

"I would like to try this again with you both." the voice echoed in both Roberta and Sandra's mind as the world around shifted back to Emmet's mansion and time sped back to normal. "Maybe Tanesha can come to. All I want is for my sister to be happy. Even you won't be able to sense what's eating away inside her."

As the voice faded Roberta seemed confused on the surface, but she had a feeling of what it could be. Sandra even saw a bit of it in the future version where all that was there was self hatred.

"My my, that was a experience. Are you feeling alright Roberta?" Truthfully Sandra did lie a bit when within Roberta's presence, there where times she did quite enjoy taking lives, ruling over others and flaunting her powers as a goddess, deciding on a whim who lived and died. But admitting to that at that time would of been a mistake, Roberta was struggling and Sandra knew she had to maintain the voice of reason, even if it wasn't completely truthful.

It was clear Roberta's struggles wasn't over, but things where different this time around. Tanesha and Emmet where alive and well and Sandra herself was not a slave to Illira. In the future Roberta was alone and gave in to her temptations, but that won't happen this time around.

Minerva pondered how to respond to Scott's question. She'd always heard that it was customary  and generally expected of the man to pay for everything. But that didnt sound right to Minerva, she wasnt poor. Her mother had made sure that she had a good amount of money to get her started and Aaron had been more then generous with her paycheck " I'd like if we were equal in this, in paying for things " she said firmly, though still smiled. She was glad he'd mentioned it.

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Aziza nodded at Tesla " A pleasure to meet you " she shook the womans hand, noting the firmness, it was said you could tell a lot about a person based on their handshake and Tesla had a good one. Kaiser stepped forward to greet Aziza next

" Welcome, I'm Kaiser, if my mother has vouched for you then you must be very skilled "

In the span of his introduction, Aziza noted he'd accessed her and and probably plotted multiple ways to disable and kill her, he was caughtious, a very good sign. One by one Noah, Elspeth, Christian, Iko, Glory, Genesis, and Adrian introduced themselves. They appeared to be quite the mixed bunch. She smiled, knowing that she was going to fit in quite nicely here.

Suddenly a void opened up in the middle of the room, Riku staggered out, clutching a bottle sake in one hand and his pants in the other, leaving his in his shirt, tie, and jockstrap " Hey bitches!! I know you must have caught my kickass debate! "

Emmet laughed " Yes dawling, of course, you were fabulous in every way and made your stance clear and direct. You've paved the path to the white house for yourself and I couldnt be prouder "

Riku grinned broadly " Shucks, I swear i've been waiting all day for that, Emmet praise is the best praise " he laughed, showing just how drunk he was " I feel like celebrating people so lets do it " in the middle of this he paused and shook Aziza's hand " Welcome to the code:breakers " before doing a back flip onto the stage. " Lets start this off right! "

Riku:
Yeah,
It's officially the biggest midget in the game.
I dunno.
Make way for the S.O.V.

[Chorus (x2):]
Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession.
Love me or hate me, that is the question.
If you love me then thank you!
If you hate me then fuck you!

I'm fat, I need a diet.
No, in fact I'm just here lying
And I ain't got the biggest breast-s-s, but I write all the best disses.
I got hairy armpits, but I don't walk around like this.
I wear a big baggy t-shirt that hides that nasty shit.
Ugh!
Never had my nails done.
Bite them down until they're numb.
I'm the one with the non-existent bum,
Now I don't really give a....Ugh!
I'm missing my shepherd's pie
Like a high maintenance chick missin' her diamonds.
I'm missin' my clippers lighters.
Now bow down to your royal highness.
No! I don't own a corgi.
Had the hamster - it died 'cause I ignored it.
Go on then, go on report me,
I'm English, try and deport me!

[Chorus (x2):]
Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession.
Love me or hate me, that is the question.
If you love me then thank you!
If you hate me then fuck you!

I'm that funky little monkey with the tiniest ears.
I don't like drinking fancy champy,
I'll stick wit Heineken beers.
Whoops, might burp in ya face,
A little unlady-like,
What can I say?
Well oh gosh I'm not posh, me, I wear odd socks.
I do what I'm doing, yeah!
So everybody's entitled to opinions,
I open my mouth and shit I got millions.
I'm the middle kid, the riddle kid,
I'll make you giggle till your sick
Cause my nose jiggles while I spit.
Yeah I do have some stories
And its true I want all the glory.
Go on then, come on support me,
I'm English, try and deport me!

[Chorus (x2):]
Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession.
Love me or hate me, that is the question.
If you love me then thank you!
If you hate me then fuck you!

Love me or hate me
Love me or hate me

So I can't dance and I really can't sing.
I can only do one thing,
And that's be Lady Sovereign!
So I can't dance and I really can't sing.
I can only do one thing,
And that's be Lady Sovereign!

[Chorus (x4):]
Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession.
Love me or hate me, that is the question.
If you love me then thank you!
If you hate me then fuck you!

[x2:]
Love me or hate me
Love me or hate me
Love me or hate me
I can only do one thing,
And that's be Lady Sovereign!


Riku  danced around the stage and belted out the lyrics to the song doing a number of different dance moves, most of which revolved around shaking his butt. The others laughed and clapped along. Emmet started bringing food and drinks into the room as the song came to an end.

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The Kree planet had been complete devastated, goblin fire ravaging the the planet to it's core. Most of it's cities and been destroyed and many of it's people were dead. The Kree king Romlock was on his knee's before Godric, completely bound by the mans power. Trie as he might, he couldnt break free, forced to watch as his planet and people were murdered by this cosmic monster.

" Well " king " looks like your planets gone to shit and all because you sided with brother and helped him lock up my friend. Now, i'm giving you a choice, since i'm nice like that. Release ID of your own free will or i'll force you to do it "

Romlock struggled to raise his head " The almighty Goblin King can't do that himself? Sure it's in your power to free that beast "

Godric shrugged " I dont know what you did, something's keeping my power from waking him up. Impressive, but you know " he leaned in closer, his gaze boring into Romlocks skull and causing searing pain " I like it better this way "

Romlock screamed as the pain grew worse and worse, not only his own pain but the pain of his people were being transferred to him. He flopped onto his stomache, coughing up blood. How long could he hold out, it felt like he was barely present, so much of him was gone now. He reached out and a glyph appeared in the air. Upon touching it, it released a massive wave of energy that shot from the planet and straight to ID " P-please forgive me for what i've done " he fell unconscious as Godric teleported to ID.

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Cassandra gripped the kitchen counter for dear life as energy flashed through her body, pain and pleasure beyond measure. What was Godric doing? What did it matter, she'd already made her decision, helped set something horrible in motion. As Nick ran over to her, she clung to him, the most important person to her.

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Dave stood up and popped his neck, he felt ready now, while Godric was doing his thing, it was time to set his own plans in motion and that made him think of a few people in particular that could help him. Closing his eyes, he focused and everything became open to him, it didnt take long to track them down and bend space to appear to them all at the same time.

" Been awhile, Shawkun "

Nick was worried about Cass, "what's wrong" he asked. Cass didn't really know how to respond and just said it had something to do with the Goblin Force. Nick found this a little strange, Cassandra was manufactured with the Goblin in mind and grew into it almost without effort, certainly a much easier time then Sandra with the Phoenix. He wondered why it would suddenly be causing Cass trouble now.

-----

Katy had managed to greet Aziza with the others before Riku started his song. Sandra came in mid way through the song, Roberta having gone with Tanesha. With the song ending Sandra approached to greet the new recruit, while also linking up with Emmet. "Welcome to the team Aziza, names Sandra. Like our fabulous leader I to am a Phoenix." "Emmet did you feel a spike in cosmic energy just now? I think it was Cass."

-----

"Well, this is unexpected." Shawkun said in response. Of all the would be heroes that SXM could send and they choose the teleporter. He must have been weaker then he thought. "I figured somebody would be sent after me for killing Juliet, but first Tesla and now you? I'm starting to think SXM are purposely doing this to get rid of the scraps."

Shawkun seemed to be out of the loop a lot of what was going on. He assumed Dave was still SXM, and likely assumed Dave wanted revenge for all the hardship Shawkun had caused his family. He even seemed unaware of Dave's new power. Something had happened to this man, a warrior who once took Milo on head to head now reduced to little more then a mortal, the handful of powers in his arsenal a sad pale in comparison to his glory days.

Dave was aware of a few ways to get Shawkun back up to speed however. One could feed him a few Omega level mutants, they could slaughter entire cities allowing the soul reaper to reek the benefits, or the quickest way if possible, get Shawkun into the realm of the damned.

" Ha, your informations a little outdated, allow me to refresh it for you. Fuck the SXM, I cut ties with them awhile ago and feel better for it. Dont really care about who you've killed, doesnt seem like it's amounted to much for you " he looked around the small apartment that Shawkun was holing up in.

He flopped down on the couch, coughing as it kicked up a cloud of dust.

" Make yourself at home " Shawkun said with a roll of his eyes, though he kept a careful watch on the man. Yes, something was different about it, something big.

" Go ahead, take a look " Dave said as he summoned two cans of beer and handed one off to Shawkun " You can read souls cant you "

Shawkun took the offered can, but didnt open it. Instead he gazed deeper and glimpsed Daves soul, it was bright and pulsating with so much power that Shawkun began salavating, such temptation. On reflex, he reached out to snatch Daves soul, but couldnt. He wasnt used to being twarted and it only made him want Daves soul more " Whats happened to you? You dont seem like the little house husband of Sandra's "

Dave narrowed his eyes " And again, outdated information. She dumped me in favor of being with two chicks.......all the years we'd been together, our children, family, all the struggle and love, just pissed down the drain "

" Hmm, how....unfortunate and pathetic, are you that lacking as a man. Though I suppose next to the late Milo Ventro, no man would measure up for her " he delivered this line casually as he opened the can. Dave could tell that he was trying to get a rise out of him, make him attack and be sloppy.

For a moment they sat in silence and Dave reflected on his extensive history with this man, going all the way back to his soul tournament. Dave had been so desparate to save Sandra, he loved the sweet girl that he'd saved from Troy, loved her with all his heart and look where it had gotten him " I wanna make a deal with you "

Shawkun raised an eyebrow " Do tell "

" I help you back to your former glory and you help me kill Sandra, sound simple? "

" Simple and imbecilic, what's your game " miss " Fuller. Surely you can't expect me to believe that you really want to asssist me, let alone kill the phoenix. Your smarting over her rejetion, but deep down you still love her, you want her back, blah blah blah and other bilge "

Dave starred at Shawkun for a good while before gesturing and three people appeared in the room. All mutants with strong powers, people Dave used to known and who trusted him " How is this for a peace offering? "

Shawkun eyed Dave's sacrifice. Nikolai Busama, Roger Hamilton, and Mikey Gretisky. A decent offering, better then the scraps he'd been feeding on. The 3 men suddenly just dropped to the floor as the reaper claimed their souls, none of which seemed to resist. "Lets say that I take you seriously. Is killing Sandra enough for you Dave? Sandra has proven to be, hmm, stubborn in the past. While killing her probably isn't on Milo's level of impossibility, she has died in the past a few times. But the pesky bird always comes back. Even if you do destroy her Dave, she'll just exist comfortably within the Phoenix Force itself.

Alternatively Dave you can give her to me and I promise the rest of her infinite existence will be pure suffering and pain. It will be the closest thing to hell that girl will see." While Shawkun wanted to see just how serious Dave was, he also certainly wanted to claim ownership of a spirit so tightly woven with the Phoenix. He'd took her soul in the past, and each time the Phoenix had come with her. So there was no doubt in Shawkun's mind that it wouldn't happen again.

Scott smiled and nodded as Minerva agreed to share the cost 50-50.
"Sounds good to me."
After they finished up at the counter, they made their way further into the Fun Palace. All manner of games could be found here, from old-school manual games like ski-ball to video arcade games. It was a wonderland of gaming fun, and Scott could already see the potential. Stopping at a ski-ball game, he decided he would like to do that.

After starting it up, he took hold of the first of the three little brown balls that were dispensed. A side-effect of Scott's intense training was that he had a talent for angles, able to calculate exact trajectories in his head like a master of geometry. With just enough force, he rolled it to the exact point that it went into the top hold perfectly. Two more times got him a perfect score, and he smiled triumphantly. Turning to Minerva, he gestured to it.
"Do you want to give it a try?"

His stomach rumbled a bit, telling him it was time to get something to eat.
"I guess I'm a bit hungry," he chuckled.
Looking over, he saw a food building in the center of the gaming buildings.
"Why don't we get a couple snacks after this? Can't hurt to have something to snack on while we play."
He stood back to give Minerva room to work, interested to see how she did at ski-ball.

Minerva starred around in wonder, she'd never been to a place like this before and was trying to take everything in at once. She recognized a few games as they were present in the Avenger tower, but for the most part, everything was new to her. She watched Scott at the ski-ball, impressed with his skill at the game. As he offered her chance to play, she immediately stepped up.

Taking the first of the balls, she held it up and starred at the spot he'd been throwing the balls out. She hurled the ball with a quick and twirled around, scooping the next two and throwing them before the first one went into the hole. in rapid succession they all went into the top one, giving Minerva a perfect score. She clapped, jumping up and down " I did it! "

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Dave watched the three men fall without an ounce of sympathy, he starred at Shawkun for a good while before speaking " That's along the lines off why were talking now. Believe me I know how difficult it is to kill a phoenix. If you think your capable of doing that, then I certainly wont stop you, not that I could of course "

Shawkun narrowed his eyes " True, if it were the you i'm accostomed to stomping all over. But you've got your hands on some serious power, it's not many people that can fight my power off. Even in my current weakened state, claiming your soul should be less than childs play. Hmm, I'm going to assume this has something to do with the Goblin force, yes i'm aware of that, that level power isnt something that goes ignored "

Dave chuckled " I'll let you in on a little secret. This world is about to get fucked, in the worse possible way. I'm not talking about emperor Ventro's bullshit, I mean something trully terrible is coming and i'm sure you'd rather be on it's side then against it, right? "

Shawkun cradled the can of beer in his hand as he decided on a responce " That's always been my main motive, I dont really play well with others, but if you do as you claim and help me achieve my full power, then I doubt i'll care much. Claiming Sandra's soul will be the icing on the cake, not to mention all the others, SXM and avengers and that ilk. Hmm what of the other phoenix in the equation "

" Leave him, that's Godric's twin brother and his prey, he'll be the one to deal with him, leaving Sandra as fair game "

Shawkun shrugged " I can work with that, pecuilar as I find him to be " Shawkun was thinking back to his first encounter with that man and his bizarre musical based powers, another aspect of the phoenix or something exclusive to him? " I'll ask you again, just to get it out of the way, are you sure this is what you want? You have children to think about, fifty or so last time I counted. Sandra's child  fetish and all "

The beer can disintegrated in Daves hand " Part of the reason to just end it all, our children dont matter to her, not really. She has a new life and new lovers, she's having fun being a psychopath. Hell, she'd probably kill the children just so they wouldnt get in the way of her new life "  he closed his eyes as he saw Chloe, David, I dont remember the vector chicks name, and Cassandra. He loved them all so much or he had, he wasnt sure anymore " To answer your question, yes i'm sure and i'm ready for this all to end "

Dave was such a weak man, not physically of course as his new powers was nothing to scoff at, but clearly his years with the Phoenix had taken it's toll mentally. So Sandra dumps him and because of that Dave decides to condemn everyone he had cared for. Quite pitiful, but Shawkun wasn't about to complain, Dave was looking to be quite the useful pawn to help him restore his powers. "You can rest assured Dave, I have claimed Sandra's soul multiple times before and I can do it again. But even with your offering, I won't be able to get near the Phoenix with this level of power. I need my true strength back, the millions of souls I once had but where stripped away. At my prime I fought toe to toe with Ventro himself. You help me regain that power, and dealing with Sandra will be but a simple task."

Shawkun could tell Dave was hurt. He suspected Dave might eventually have second thoughts. But as long as Shawkun regained his true power first, it wouldn't matter. At that point even Dave's newfound abilities would be helpless, and with Ventro gone nobody would be able to stop him. Dave will never see Sandra again, regardless if he likes it or not.

"So Davey boy, what exactly is your plan to restore my lost glory?"

Dave grinned wickedly " Well, I think this weak man has an idea that may appease to you " He stood up and stretched out. It was getting close, but everything had to happen at a certain time, or so Godric said anyway " I'll be back in an hour then......i'm taking you to hell " his heart was beating so loudly in his chest and he could feel the sweat beginning to spread over his skin. It was happening, it was really happening. Sandra, the love of his life.

" Your at a crossroad, it's not to late to turn back "

" Fuck that! Lets do this "

" Is all of this really worth it though? "

" It certainly wasnt worth it to her! "

" There's still love, if not in your marriage but in your past and the future your children have, do not do this "

" If not Godric then Sandra would probably do it herself, don't give that bitch the satisfaction, it's your time now! Don't fucking waste it!! "

Shawkun merely watched Dave as he had his " episode " space was warping sporatically around them and Dave appeared to be talking to himself or multiple things were talking through him. In the end, the spacial warping stopped and Dave went still, when he turned to Shawkun, his eyes were pitch black and pulsating with crimson energy " One hour Shawkun, be ready " and with that he was gone.

Shawkun smiled " Whatever you say, Void "

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Aziza shook hands with Sandra " A pleasure to meet you, Sandra, I know all about you. I look forward to working with you " Who hadnt heard of Sandra Fuller? Looks were deceiving for she certainly didnt appear like a power mad, maniac. But Aziza had a good eye for people and Sandra seemed like a good person, deep down. But regardless, it wasnt her place to judge someone, merely live her life. She wandered over to the snack table and started making a plate, contemplated if there were any songs she could perform.

Kaiser meanwhile had forced Riku into some shorts as he continued regaling everyone with the debate and what apparently happend after.

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Godric teleported onto the surface of ID's immense body, the planet was waking up, but it was a slow process, so he kicked back and summoned up a large bottle of whisky. He mentally scanned the planet earth and started locking onto multiple people all over the world, he cracked his knuckles in anticipation " Well bro, guess it's time to say your goodbyes "

Sandra spoke telepathically to Emmet so not to disturb Riku and his story.   "Your new friend seems nice enough.   Should be interesting to see what she's capable of."   Sandra found herself a seat, it was nice to get out with the others.    Roberta was still in the back of her mind, hopefully she didn't drag Tanesha into a situation like before that Sandra herself had been in.     Sandra wasn't entirely sure if Tanesha would understand what was going on.

-----

Shawkun disposed of the bodies in the room then had nothing more to do but simply wait.    This day had taken a unexpected turn, but if Dave was truly foolish enough to give into Void and follow through with this plan, well a new overload was about to be born.

Emmet stepped onto the stage, intent on putting on a grand performance for everyone present. In that moment, he smiled. He felt such happiness and joy, his own and everyone's in the room. His gaze lingered on his children, it was so nice to have them here, it had been so long since he'd seen all of his children all together, after this Godric problem was taken care of, he would gather them all together for a family reunion. He grinned further as he pictured all of his grandchildren and so on. He opened his mouth to begin the song and froze.

" Well little brother, I dont think you'll have to worry about a family reunion, since your family is about to dissapear "

Emmet fell to his and screamed in pain, clutching his heart. An intense pain had sprang up and in his minds eye he saw her " Amelia " one of his daughters had just been killed. He screamed again as more pain came up and images continued to flash before his eyes. More of his children were killed and the pain of their deaths backlashed onto him.

" NO, NO, NO, NO, NO STOOOOOOP!!! " He screamed and tried to get to them, protect them. But chains of goblin energy burst from the ground and held him in place. The code:Breakers immediately leaped into action, attempting to break the chains as Emmet continued to scream in pain begging Godric to spare them.

Emmet thrashed and drew more and more cosmic energy as Sandra hammered away at the chains. Almost blind with pain, he could see Glory, Elspeth, and Kaiser suddenly dropped to the ground,writhing in pain as Goblin fire began bathing their bodies.

" I SAID STOP!!!! "

Emmets voice boomed and with an act of sheer force and will power, broke the chains and drew his three children to him, a giant bird construct wrapping around them as Emmet fought to protect them while reaching out to get to the rest of his children. Time seemed to come to a complete halt as the the cosmic energies of the phoenix and goblin raged across the earth. Finally though, it all dissipated as Godric withrew back. Emmet collapsed, his whole body felt numb.

" Their....gone " he spoke bare above a whisper as the others frantically checked on Kaiser, Glory, and Elspeth " My....children are.....gone "

It looked as though the 3 Emmet had managed to save would pull through.     Sandra could feel the rage bellowing in the pit of her stomach hearing Emmet's faint words.     There was a certain line that one did not cross, and that line was family.     Sure, Sandra may of been a bit more distant from her own family as of late then Emmet was but her motherly instincts was still there, if Chloe, David, Abigail or Cassandra ever needed her, she was there for them. And if anybody was to ever touch them, they had wrath to fear.

Sandra had become close to Emmet, he was family after all. So a attack on him or his extended Sandra counted as a attack against one of her. It wasn't a game of one-up each other any more, this meant war now.

Scott watched as Minerva skillfully tossed the balls into the topmost ski-ball slot one after another. He smiled as she celebrated her success.
"Good job."
He went over to the food tent with her and they picked out their own snacks. Scott had gotten himself a burger, and bit into it as soon as he stepped out of the tent. It was tastier than he expected, and his eyes widened in surprise a bit.

"Man, this is really good for something you get at a carnival-like place. The flavor of it is more like something you would expect to find at a restaurant."
He went over to the batting cage game, and set the ball shooting machine at a normal pace. Picking up the metal bat, he hit the first ball as it came out, scoring a home run but not a perfect one up center field, which was denoted by placing the ball within a small yellow glowing square for maximum points. This seemed like a fun activity to do while they talked. Since this was their second date, he thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other's pasts better.

"So...We both had a history of honing our powers and training that brought us to this point. Your magic and everything that goes into your background is so interesting to me. I'd love to hear about your history and what brought you to The Avengers."
Scott hit a second ball as it came in, this time hitting a home run on the left side. As the baseballs kept coming, he continued to hit them, not all being home runs, but all landing in fair territory nonetheless. He found talking while hitting baseballs at the batting cage to be an oddly relaxing way to communicate.

Kaiser groaned and rubbed his head, it had felt like his body was on fire, something he'd experienced a number of times before, but not like this. Seconds, he'd been seconds from a agonizing death. He broad his hand up and glared at the moisture. He couldnt remember the last time he'd crie, if he ever had " Are you two alright? "

Elspeth was looking away, her body shaking " Y-yes i'm fine, but what about mother? "

Emmet was still on the floor, muttering quietly to himself. Jonathan burst through the door and ran over to him " What the fuck happened?! I just felt him in complete agony " Christian explained what happened and Jonathan and his eyes immediately went to Elspeth, he let out a sigh of relief that she was ok, as well as Kaiser and Glory, but his heart went out to all of the othrs that hadnt made it.

" Alright then " he lifted Emmet up, bridal style, and started carrying him off " There's a lot thats gonna need to be done, Godric's not playing around anymore. A move like that is just the opener and we need to get ready for a fight. But for now.... " his words trailed off as he felt how cold Emmet was in his arms.

Kaiser started to rise but, his knees wobbled weakly and he started to fall, but Noah was there instantly " Don't worry, i've got you " Riku was at his other side, giving him a solemn nod. Iko and Katy helped Elspeth, while Tesla and Aziza helped Glory. They moved to Emmet's main bedroom where the floor were placed on his giant, king size. Emmet had yet to speak coherently, mind seemed to be in tatters as his heart broke.

Riku was leaned against the door frame as he watched. Jonathan and Christian were sitting right next to the bed as Emmet's children hugged him and tried to console their mother. It was difficult to watch, even for someone without a soul " Well this sucks "

" Yeah, it really does " Adrian said as he walked over to Riku " I didnt care that much about Godric before, but now I wanna peel him like a banana "

Riku nodded, a sinister smile crossing his lips " Your being too polite, gonna need to up the ante " he pulled out his phone and sighed " Were gonna need help on this one, Godrics got those god slayer jackoffs, the twisted witch, Tanesha's kid or something and who knows what else " he sent out a series of messages to the SXM and Avengers " Guess we should call in the angels " he was a little less annoyed about this, simply do to the state of things. If they were gonna fuck Godrics shit up, they were gonna need them.

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Godric tossed his head back and laughed " Ha, that was a rush. Didnt get all of them, but whatever, I think little brother got the message. You awake yet, ID "

The planet shook violent beneath him as it fully came alive. Two giant eye stocks burst from the ground in front of Godric and blinked rapidly. The ground behind him opened up into a deep gorge and rocks flew out.

" UGH, GOOOOOODRIIIIICCC?! HOOOOOWWWWW LOOOOON WAAAAASSSS IIIIII OUUUUUTTTT FOOOOOORRRR? "

Godric shrugged " Details my man, all that matters is, your free and i'm free. So why dont we pick up where we left off? "

ID rumbled again in a sign of laughter " YEEEEEEEESSSSS, IIIIII'MMMM SOOOOO HUUUUNGRYYYYYYY "

" I thought you might be, which is why that tasty Kree planet is ripe and ready for you "

He teleported back into space and summoned up a giant keg of beer as he watched ID start to draw the Kree planet towards him.

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Meanwhile in Canada deep in an underground bunker, a giant test tube a human, male adult, burst and flooded out. The dropped onto the floor and coughed " Damn, it's been awhile since I had to fall back on this trick " William Spayde had been working in his lab when the goblin fire started to consume him. He had enough time to activate one of his mitotic clones before being killed. This William Spayde retained all of the formers memories.

drying off and changing clothes, he immediately started working on seeing what exactly happened.

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Minerva sat down and ate the hot dog and chips she'd bought, it was suprisingly tasty. She watched Scott in the batters cage, she'd never payed attention to sports before, so his use of the bat struck her as a little odd, more so his technique. Though she stopped herself from commenting on this, he was playing baseball, not handling a sword.

" Oh, um " she wasnt sure of what to say at first. But thankfully Emmet had schooled her on this before sending her off " Well I grew up in a town called Madride, my fathers family had inhabited it for centuries. Our family has a lot of influence there, it's blacksmiths are said to make some of the finest swords in the world, all thanks to my family. Growing up it was me my father, mother, and older brother Xander Jr,named after my father and his father before him "

She paused to take a sip from her oreo shake, it was a tad difficult to talk about herself like this, but something about Scott and the ease of his personality, really helped " As I said before, my families magecraft is passed down the lines by the male child. Father has tirelessly trained Xander for years and left me in the care of my mother, women arent allowed to learn the Mercury family's cherished sword magic. But the thing is......i'm very good at it, my mother said talent like mine hasnt been seen in the mercury family for generations. So, in secret she helped me practice. All under the guise teaching me her families arrow magic "

" My father keeps a bunch of books on sword magic, so my mother was able to help me. My childhood was nice, more or less. I ran about played with the other kids in town, I helped my mother do chores, cooking and cleaning. I practiced for hours at a time, to try and make my father proud, though I knew I could never tell him about this.A part of me felt.....glad for this, this was just for me, for Minerva. Well, one day I was in the woods practicing and Xander caught me. I was worried he would tell father about this, but he didnt, instead he wanted to see what I could do. He's very proud you see even though his magecraft is'nt really where father wants it to be "

" So we fought, at first I held back, not wanting to give to much away, but as we continued and he started bragging more, I just kinda....let go. I defeat him very easily and he didnt take to it very well. He accused me of cheating or cursing him and ran to tell father....... " she trailed off now as the memories came back "

Sandra, Katy, Tesla along with the rest had gathered back up where met before, Emmet needed time to deal with all that just happened. Sandra telepathically reached out to Tanesha, Cassandra, Abigail and others informing them of the Godric treat and the attack that just happened. Cass had been to Emmet's a few times when she visited Sandra, she knew of Emmet so this news hit her hard.

Tesla realized they needed all the help they can get, she took out her phone sending texts towards SXM, Avengers, and Kiya to inform them. Kiya actually responded pretty quickly with "on the way". Looks like the cyborg mercenary would be joining them soon.

As the Goblin Fire engulfed Glory she could barely even hear her own screams over the the screams of the Ayakashi within her. The Demi God absorbed so many phantoms over the years and they all suffered alongside her now. The only coherent thought she could form was of a wish "Father, help"

When Tesla and Aziza helped Glory up they could feel another presence. "I got her." Yori said as he picked up his daughter. "I guess a father still has to do this every once in a while."

"Dad?" Glory said weakly as she was carried into Emmet's room. "I don't..."

"I know you didn't call me to help you." They both saw Emmet on the bed in a more vulnerable state than any of them has ever saw him. He sat her down letting Glory get her footing. She was strong, but what Godric did still made her stumble before she could make it to the bed on her own just to comfort Emmet. She wasn't able to completely understand what happened, but watching her own mother who was so strong in such a state enraged her. The phantoms inside all spoke wondering what to do. Yori could feel their confusion give way to the rage his daughter felt.  

"We still have time right now. Just wait and don't let it consume you just yet."  

"Really?" she asked knowing that Yori himself was about to explode with Chaotic energies that could rip Paris in half.  

When Riku called in for help at least one Angel was already on their way to see what was going on. "Even light years away I could hear the cry of my favorite Phoenix." Tie appeared in the hallway and walked over to the door. One look was all she needed. "I'd give a legendary pep talk but I suppose this
is a family moment. So, if you're looking to fight Godric well he has a new friend. My brother is currently trying to evacuate a planet that is being eaten by the glutton."

Scott listened to Minerva as she started to talk about herself, absentmindedly hitting the balls as he absorbed what she was saying. He had never heard of a town called Madride, and would ask her about it when she was done telling him her story. It was an interesting thing for him to imagine, one family inhabiting a town for centuries. It was rare for a family to do that in the mundane world he lived in, but he guessed it was more common for families of magic users. By the sound of it, when a young woman of magical family lineage married a man of another magical family lineage, she joined his family's lineage. Just like certain Asian cultures that Chiang had taught him about, some magical families sounded very patriarchal, and Scott's open-minded views left him unsure what to think about that.

One thing she had mentioned that he could well understand was the pride of making great swords. Chiang had instructed him in the use of all existing swords on the human plane, and he had learned well the craft and love that went into making a weapon like that. Just as humans had their famous blacksmiths and those who cherished that craft, it was natural for the magic world to have their own, as well. He had also noticed a slight slip-up on her part, referring to her older brother as "Xander Jr." rather than Xander III, which would have been the correct name for him if he carried the same name as his father and grandfather. He did not comment on it, but listened as she described the patriarchal lineage of her family's magic. He had never known magic to be gender segregated, so it was interesting to hear what she said about it.

It was easy to see Minerva's dilemma from the way she described it, and Scott could see the conflict of holding a child back in order to hang on to a centuries-old tradition. It would be a painful burden on Minerva, and he was sure that at least part of her father also felt that burden. No matter how ramrod a tradition, it was natural for parents that loved their children to want to see them grow, and Scott could see how the shackles of tradition could inhibit growth. Scott had never heard of weapon-based magic except from Minerva, and knowing the different specialties of her family perfectly explained why flying swords were her primary weapon. She described the rest of her childhood as normal to a degree, not all that different from children in the mundane world. One thing she said about feeling sort of happy about learning sword magic just for her was something he could relate to, as his private investigation practice was a source of pride for him after he had spent years honing his skills to protect his entire world.

Much of her story had been positive, but if everything had worked out okay, Scott would most-likely never have met Minerva. There was the inevitable trouble that drove her from her family, and now he was hearing about what it was. The child that was forbidden to know Sword Magic was actually the better practitioner, and this revelation had no doubt had devastating consequences for the family. When a man lives by a rule, how should he respond to his wife going behind his back and teaching his daughter what he felt was not hers to learn? How damaged would his pride be when his son who he so religiously trained was no match for the natural talent of a daughter who should not have known his family's magic? Scott knew that shit had hit the fan big time after Xander had told his father about Minerva defeating him, and the painful memories of what happened next had caused her to trail off.

Scott turned to Minerva, seeing her looking down after trailing off.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me about that part if you don't want to."
The sound of a ball being released was heard, and Scott waited a few seconds before turning and holding the bat at his waist like a sword. As he turned, he perfectly pulled the bat up so that the tip connected with the ball and shot it right into the center field home run zone before continuing the spin to stand normally again. He had timed when the ball would be within range in his mind and let his body do the rest, completely trusting in his senses to get the job done. It had been hard to reach this level of complete trust in himself under Alan and Chiang's training, but after enough time and practice, he was there now.

"Where is Madride? Is it a hidden city somewhere in this dimension?"
Back home, there was an academy for magic users that functioned as a safe haven and learning institute for those of a magical nature. It was the rival school of Shadowgreen, a place that changed location everyday to ensure the safety of its members, and invisible to the uninvited. Scott had dealt with magic users as a student of Shadowgreen, but none used magic like Minerva described or had. Augmented humans like him fell more into the sphere of the mutant domain and infrequently encountered the magically-aligned, so it seemed like such a twist of fate that he would fall in love with a woman from the Magical world.

Another ball was launched, and Scott tossed the bat into his other hand. Turning when it was within range, he struck it with a one-handed upward thrust and hit the center field home-run zone again before turning back to Minerva.
"I am interested to hear the rest of your story, I just understand if there's tough parts you'd rather skip over."
The whole time she had told him his story, he had been able to mentally construct a picture of what it had been like in his mind, and his heart felt for her, feeling every emotion she must have felt. Empress Enjela had instructed him in empathy during his time at Shadowgreen as part of his training to wear the mantle of Earth's Defender, and this training had produced these characteristics within him. For this reason, through his eyes, he was able to connect with Minerva and absorb the totality of what she was telling him and how she had felt without distraction, his body dealing with the baseballs entering this emotional sphere without his mind leaving Minerva and her story.

William landed in Paris via a transporter and immediately headed for his mothers place. Looking into his sudden attack, he hadnt been able to find out exactly who'd done it. He didnt have any particular enemies and he stayed off the grid. So by process of elimination, he deduced it had something to do with his mother. He contacted some of his sibling and for the ones he got answers to, via crying significant others, it seems it had been a mass attack and he had managed to survive it while others had not.

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Emmet was still in a state of grief while the others discussing the upcoming battle with Godric. But he couldnt bring himself to trully care, not after what had happened, all that had been lossed. He shuddered and sobbed as he continued to see all of their faces and hear their screams of pain. How could he be so powerless? A mother should be able to protect their children.

Aziza was standing near the others as they talked. Seeing Emmet like this, made her think of the past and her own daughter, who hated her to the point that she swore to kill her. All a mother wanted was to keep her children safe, for them to be happy. Age didnt really factor into it, just their hearts beating. If anyone were to harm Pharah, nothing in this world would protect them from her.

Emmet was grieving, and he would be for a long while, but she got the feeling he would be able to bounce back in time to face his brother and whatever else he was putting together.

" You have such confidence in me, miss Aziza " Emmet choked out, her thoughts had been strong and forward, not for him to miss.

" Am I wrong? " Aziza asked and Emmet didnt answer at first, he took a hankerchief and Glory handed him and whiped his tears away. Suddenly his head snapped up as he sensed someone at the front door.

William found himself teleported into Emmets bedroom, his fist raised, just a second away from knocking on the front door. He didnt appear to be suprised, more like used to this sort of thing, he merely looked around the room till he spotted Emmet and his siblings " Oh hello- "

" WILLIAM!! "

Emmet flew off the bed and straight at William with such force that it caused a sonic boom to echoe outside. William immediately held his arms out and wrapped them around Emmet. Emmet sobbed into his chest, saying how happy he was that his son was alive " How did you survive Godric's attack? "

" Ah, uncle Godric, I should have guessed. Well mother, I like to be prepared, I realized a long time ago that my immortality wasnt as absolute as i'd like it to be, nowhere near yours. So I started tinkering with the cloning process, a few centuries later and i've perfected the technique and I can say i'm fairly satisfied. You see I started with mitosis and......... " he trailed off using lots of medical terms that most people in the room didnt understand, but they let him talk as Emmet was clearly hanging on every word.

" But I digress, i'm glad to see you all survived it too " he said to his siblings " I've talked a few others that managed to as well and can see many others didnt make it " he didnt like that Godric had killed his brothers and sisters and caused his mother pain, it wasnt what you did to family.

" Wait, the others? " Emmet asked, shocked. He hadnt been able to sense anyone else but Kaiser, Elspeth, and Glory. But William had surved so maybe, Emmet closed his eyes and focused, his grief and pain had oscured perception, so that was probably why. For now he gasped as he sensed them. So many had been slaughtered, but a lot of them were still alive as well. Emmet had saved more then he thought he had and some of them had protected themselves.

" Oh, oh yes " glimmering tears poured down his cheeks, but from happiness " I havent lost all of my babies " he called the others over and William soon found himself engulfed a mass hug. Everyone was smiling now, Emmet's happiness was radiating, seeming to fill the whole mansion, making even Jericho smile.

" Alright, i've shed enough tears now, it's time for battle! " Emmets outfit immediately changed to fit his mood

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

As well as everryone else's clothes, SXM and Avengers alike, tailered to fit their personal taste and to add extra defense, for the clothes were solidified cosmic power.

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Minerva thought for a moment " Hmm, yes I believe Madrid is cloaked, i've lived their my whole live that I never thought of it as being an unknown place to outside people " for the moment she wanted to avoid the events that transpired after her duel with Xander, it still felt so fresh in her mind " Oh, there's magic schools here too, I've never been, unfortunately. But my mother told me stories, she attended one when she was little, but just briefly. She always said it was a very enjoyable experience "

" Honestly i'd like to learn more magic too, I love my families magic very dearly, but there's still so much that I don't know, that I can accomplish. I've been thinking about this a lot, since joining the Avengers, there's so many mages and they all have such unique magecraft. But it's a little difficult to actually talk to them about it, I was always raised that a persons magecraft was personal, not something to show so brazenly to others. But I don't quite get that feeling from Natsu and the others "

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Cassandra gasped and sat back on the ground, covering her mouth in horror. Godric's words coming back to her now and the sacrifice of a thousand lives. Had Emmet's children all died because of her? No! no that couldnt be it.....could it? Everything had a price to it, was this something she had to pay for being a part of Sandra? Godric had said that her origin was the same as her mothers, that she was fated to go the same way......and have the same end.

She hugged her knee's close, Godric had forced this all on here, just as a sick joke. He wanted her to help him, but he wanted mess with her as well and he'd succeeded, she brought her hand up and summoned some goblin energy. She suddenly felt revulsed now, this power that she used, that basically belonged to that monster, had been used to kill so many people and hurt someone deeply.

" Godric, you changed my origin and now i'm different from Sandra, right? I don't know how much of that is true or if i'm bound by some inescapable path, but I know this. I'm not you, I'll use this power for good and i'll do everything I can to make sure you go down "

She floated back to her feet as her and Nicks clothes changed.