Heroes Uprising Part 6

Tesla took a swig of her own beer and responded to the strippers request. "You know what, sure, why not. I'm down for a dance." It looked like Chu was going to enjoy a high so Tesla would enjoy the dance.

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Tanya was shocked when the device was turned on her but after a intense delay there seemed to be no effect. As her wounds began to heal Tanya stood, she knew her rage power wouldn't last much longer but Razon didn't know that. Tanya reformed her energy sword again, she had to assume that her powers protected her but it was just a guess. "Looks like your vial plan to corrupt the queen has failed. Now lets finish this!!" Tanya took off at super speeds looking to meet Razon in one last attack that would end this fight. This man seemed all but invincible, but Tanya had proven she could hurt him. And if he can be hurt, he can be slayed. But did she still have enough power remaining to pull it off.

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"Hopefully the other freed prisoners will by us time." Cass ran with the others, they needed to get escape this place. Cass knew she wouldn't be to much help as long as these cuffs was still on.

Marcus noted a few traits some of the heroes Klaus scouted that was similar to those who already joined. He was lucky to get the people he has now, and the ones Klaus found were impressive and varied enough to represent the diverse group of heroes he wanted.

"I agree these candidates are fine. I'll handle the little details, so right now they can come in." Marcus got up and gestured for Klaus to follow him as they headed to the elevator.

"The meeting is in the training structure next door. Bring them there and we can get this started."

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Stage Transition: Basketball

The robotic feminine voice echoed throughout the room as the center of the room morphed into a basketball court. A basketball appeared in the middle of the court and two people got up from their seats too the side and walked into the middle of the court.

"Pick up the ball. I'll let the midget go first." Avery was already a little annoyed as he walked on the court. He tossed his jacket over back to his seat.

"We'll see who's short when your ankles are gone." The short teenage hero Pink Devil ran up to the ball and immediately grabbed it. Just as Avery tried to guard her he found himself in front of a after image as Pink Devil jumped up to the hoop and dunked the ball. Avery turned around to see the now extremely smug kid grinning at him.

"That was a foul! Gnomes aren't supposed to dunk."

There were three other people there, but they were mostly either sleeping or "cheering" on the players. "Mr. Goodman do you need any help? I can let you borrow my armor if you need it!" Sheriha teased while trying to stifle laughter. The former Egyptian soldier watched the game with interest. These two people who fought together not too long ago were already fighting over a little disagreement over who got the most kills. She still didn't know why they're solving it with a basketball game.

"I didn't know Ms. Jackson play Basketball. Impressive." Pretty Boy or Rory Hanson watched genuinely impressed by his comrade.

"Shut up Ken doll call me Pink Devil, Devil but never pinkie!" her sensitive hearing picked up the comment just as she was ready to shoot on Avery.

"My apologies Devil!"

There was one more still there fast asleep in his seat. Yasuri Chichika before hand simply said "Wake me when the others arrive." before heading back to sleep.


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Scott and Alfred arrived at the headquarters. There were several buildings both containing separate facilities. The one Scott was brought to was a training facility. The entire compound was populated and busy. While on the outside the building itself didn't seem special it was built with no windows and it appeared like a massive box. The training facility seemed to not contain any structural weaknesses.

"Come this way sir. If Master Wayne is not present he will be on his way. I do suggest speaking with the individuals inside. These are other heroes Master Wayne has gathered and it is highly likely you may be working with them." It was just some advice Alfred personally gave Scott, but he knew the young man would likely have done it anyway. Inside there was a lobby even similar to one of a corporate building. They made their way towards the center of the structure and into the training room. There Scott could see the basketball game going on. "I will now take my leave Mr. Young."

Scott turned to see Alfred off only to notice that the butler was gone already.

" This is certainly a lively bunch "

Tabitha entered the room and lowered her hood, shaking out her long, pink hair. At her side was Eliza in a simple blue dress, she looked around room, not used to being in such a place.

" Tabitha, Eliza good to see you both here " Klause greeted them, Eliza smiled and hugged him

" Uncle Klause! Thank you for inviting me, this all seems so amazing " Klause patted her head somewhat affectionately

Tabitha was checking out the others, she could sense some with magical power as well and was curious what they could do.

" WAAAAAAAIIIIITTT "

Suddenly a person came frantically running into the room, but tripped. Showing amazing reflexes, Klause jumped and caught him " Calm down young Chiharu, your right on time "

Chiharu Aizen blushed deeply as Klause set him down " Oh, Thank you Mr.Bauer and sorry, I thought I might have gotten the times wrong, it happens a lot " he turned to the others and bowed deeply

" H-Hello i'm Chiharu Aizen, I hope we can become the best of friends! "

Eliza was about to greet him when she sensed something and whipped around, a tall figure dressed in a trench coat, fedora, and large boots. He was giving off a suspicious aura, but not an exactly bad one. He remained in the doorway for a moment before taking a few cautious steps in the room.

" Dont worry Louis, your among friends " Klasue put a friendly hand on the mans shoulder " This is Louis Abioye, along with Eliza Stone, Tabitha Rasputin, and Chiharu Aizen, they are here to join the team "

When they arrived, Scott thought the building was strange, unlike anything he had seen before. There were no windows and it seemed like a large box, though he could sense much activity going on inside it. He listened as Alfred advised him to speak to the other heroes that he would be working with.
"Yeah, I'll do that."
When they arrived, he was surprised to see two of them playing basketball. Of the two playing, he recognized Avery, who he had met during the battle against Godric.

The others he didn't recognize, though he suspected that some of them had fought during the demon invasion of Earth. He stepped forward, approaching the three watching from the sidelines. One seemed to be asleep, but the other two were actively watching the game.
"Hey, there. My name's Scott Young, codename Crusader. You can call me Scott or Crusader, whichever you prefer."

Scott held up his right arm and black and gold armor appeared on it.
"This is Valor, an alien soul that lives inside my body. His shell manifests on my body as armor and can also act as a weapon. He can't communicate with you except by telepathy, but he greets you all as well."
The armor disappeared and he stood there normally once more. It would be interesting to meet these other heroes that Marcus recruited and see what their goals were.

The moment Scott walked in Pink Devil was in the middle of getting one last point. Avery noticed Scott and pulled out his Dagger from its sheath. It morphed into a dark black sword aimed towards the ball. Pink Devil just shot the Basketball through the air, and as it traveled to the hoop a stream of flames flew straight towards the ball. It took barely a moment for the basketball to turn to ash.

Avery's sword now covered in flames, swiftly returned to it's dagger form and sheathed. "Damn I guess we gotta stop the game since we're getting guests." Avery sighed, barely even attempting to show any genuine disappointment. "Too bad it was a good game to."

"You Bi-"

"Hey Scott, valor wassup!" Avery ran towards him. They weren't particularly close, but Avery didn't mind a new member to the team. Especially since Scott seemed like a more traditional hero. "Been awhile man. I see you got roped into this to."

"He's not the only one." Yasuri Chichika said as he began to wake up. His red and black kimono loosely clung to him, but luckily there were no issues with it staying on his body. Sheriha on occasion snuck a peak at his exposed chest. Eventually everyone turned to see Klaus come in with the rest of the heroes. Not unlike the group already present these people were diverse and definitely had their own quirks. Chiharu's entrance made the latter rather obvious.

"Well since we're introducing ourselves. My name is Sheriha or call me by name callsign Instinct. The drooling boy with the sword is Avery Goodman."

"Oh shit am I drooling?"

"The well dressed young man in his suit making me feel under dressed with my black tank top and jeans..." Sheriha smiled watching his face turn a little red. "is Rory Hanson."

Rory stood with a posture similar to Alfred's but his calm smile and more relaxed demeanor put everyone slightly at ease. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I may not be very strong, but I will do all I can to help."

"The cutie still in her school uniform is...

"It's PINK DEVIL! Get it right and this badass will always have your back." She pointed to herself looking incredibly smug, but Sheriha couldn't help but laugh."

"Well you heard it from the source, and last but not least Yasuri Chichika."

Yasuri stood up completely and looked all the newcomers with a discerning eye. "Interesting, you can call me Yasu if it's easier. In order to build trust I wish to inform you I was once an assassin. However, I do believe in the mission of this organization, and will fight by your side as a comrade."

Scott turned as Avery greeted him and Valor.
"Avery, it's good to see you again," he said, shaking the young man's hand.
He chuckled as he said that Marcus had filed him not it, as well.
"Well, you guys helped fight for my world, so it's only fair that I do the same for you."
The sleeping man some up, and they were then joined by several new heroes. Marcus had obviously been busy with his recruiting efforts, but it was nice to see so many people fighting for a noble cause.

Scott listened as a woman calling herself Sheriha introduced herself, Avery, Rory, Pink Devil, and Yasuri.
"Nice to meet all of you."
Pink Devil in particular was amusing, since she reminded him of Nick when he was younger. It surprised Scott that Yasuri was a former assassin, but Marcus obviously trusted the guy and he wasn't about to hold anyone's last against him.
"As long as no innocents are harmed, I won't have any issues with anyone."
He turned to the new arrivals with Klaus.

"My name is Scott Young, codename Crusader."
He manifested the armor of Valor in his right arm.
"This is Valor, an alien soul who lives in my body and whose armor can appear on me. He can only speak by telepathy, but he greets you warmly, as well."
He willed away the armor and stood by to see what would happen next. Of his new allies, several of them looked and seemed quite capable, so they were off to a good start.

" Alright, please come in "

A tall figure in deep purple robes, a large headset, and a skeletal face entered the room " Emmet, you honor me by allowing me this chance "

Emmet smiled " Your welcome Ulbert or would you prefer Nexus? Please have a seat "

Ulbert sat down in the offered chair " Simply Ulbert would be nice " he folded his bony hands in front of him, waiting like a student in front of the principle.

" Ulbert it is, well I have the file you sent me, plus some additional research I did myself, your quite the impressive mage, with a rather interesting beginning " Emmet said as he flipped through the file " Can you go over it and your general interest in joining the Code:Breakers "

" Well it's hard to not want to work with a being as great as you are, I've looked into this team, not an easy thing as there seems to be a mysterious force around the name itself. But there appears to be a condition that I met "

Emmet nodded " Quite, There are some conditions to being a Code:Breaker, but when its all said and done, I look for people who seem like they could devour the whole world " Ulbert felt his entire body vibrate from the simple act of Emmet smiling a particular way at him.

" I have to say im even more interested in joining your team !@#$ "

Emme'ts expression froze momentarily and Ulbert felt an even greater pressure, for a moment it seemed like the world would collapse. But as quickly as it started, it ended and Emmet was smiling as pleasant as ever.

" A sparse few people know that name, mainly my children and fiancee, with three very old friends, how is it you came across it? "

Ulbert took a moment to gather himself " ....I wanted to embold myself to you, though I fear ive overstepped, I apologize "

" A tad, but you certainly have more of my attention now, leaving that aside. Lets hear about you "

Ulbert nodded " Of course, I was born Ulbert Gown many centuries ago in a little village. My family was renowned for their use of time magic and I was no different. I went to the families founded school of magic excelled, im sure it all sounds very idylic but there was something, something I felt that was missing. I found it by chance, in the form of a stowed away book on Necromancy. The second I opened the book, I was hooked and plunged in finding a great talent for death magic. Naturally my activities were discovered, I was young and reckless and using my classmates for experiments. I fled the school and after much debate, went down the pathway to lichdom. From there I went through my new existence, mastering as many forms of magic as I can "

" While I was indulging in my desire to impart knowledge on the youth, my apprentices spell went awry and bound his soul to my existence, he's....alright but I feel his mind meshing with mine at times, he was of a decent sort and I feel him compelling me towards thing i'd long since cut ties too "

" Quite a tale Ulbert " Emmet said, having enjoyed hearing it " So to appease this mans sense of justice you come here? "

" In a sense, as I said i've looked into this team and feel like it would appeal to me, I sense a great darkness here, I'd love to join it "

Emmet jotted a few things down then put the file away " Hmm, well then Ulbert Gown, welcome to the Code:Breakers "

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Tabitha rolled her eyes, she was mildly annoyed by this lot already, thankfully she had a riddiculously high tolerance for jackasses, thanks to going to school with HIM " It's nice to meet all of you " she took note of Scott when he entered and introduced himself and something was living in in him or something.

Eliza marched her over to Scott and extended her hand " Crusader, such a wonderful name, it's nice to meet you, i'm Eliza Stone " Eliza found this newcomer to be quite hanndsome and his heroic name appealed to her.

Chiharu greeted everyone as well, while trying not to make Klause let go of him " H-Hi, you all seem like very good people "

Louise was leaning against a wall, remaining silent. Tabitha wondered what his story was, she assumed he probably had a deformed appearance or something. Personalities aside, she did wonder what all these people were capable of.

After Sandra and Katy got tidy up the two girls decided to go their owns ways. Sandra gave her friend a teleport to New York where she crossed the portal into Earth 1, planning to track down Nick and give him a visit. Meanwhile Sandra arrived by Tani and the others "Hey girls, sup?" For having gone though basically a war with Emmet during sparring, she seemed to actually be in a pretty cheerful mood.

Scott smiled and shook Eliza's hand as she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, Eliza."
After they were done shaking hands, he let it drop and took note of the others who were less gregarious. Though they may have been more stand-offish, he could sense through Valor that every one of them was sincere in their desire to make a positive difference in the world. Turning back to Eliza, he smiled warmly.
"So, how did you come to join Supers Unite?"

After entering into Earth 1 Katy went to text Nick, them having exchanged contact info the night they met. However there seemed to be no reception to his phone. Wondering what to do the only option Katy could think of was to go to Shadowgreen, maybe somebody there had seen him. Making her way there Katy made her way to the receptionist office. Finding somebody that was on staff Katy got their attention. "Hey I'm looking for a man named Nick Baker. I'm not from around here but I figured this might be the best place to come to try to find him. Think you could help?"

As Katy approached Shadowgreen, she was stopped at the gate and given a security check by a mutant named Scanner, who beamed a red laser down the length of her body. He confirmed that she was not carrying any weapons and also verified that she was a mutant.
"Go on in, miss," he said politely after he was done.
A receptionist looked up as Katy asked about Nick and typed a few keys on her keyboard.
"Nick's with the Shadow Force, so you'll have to ask them about his whereabouts. You can take that elevator over there down to the fourth floor basement, which is where they're operating."

"Thank you" Katy responded politely for the help. Getting into the elevator Katy descended to the forth floor basement. Katy proceeded to look for somebody from the Shadow Force, spotting a man Katy walked up him getting his attention with a polite hello. "I'm looking for Nick Baker, do you know where he is?"

As everyone slowly began to start talking there were a certain amount of tension there. Not anything serious, but in the end they needed to trust each other soon with their lives while being strangers. This wasn't anything strange to most of them, but right now everyone wanted to know more about each other to relieve any real doubts.

Rory approached Tabitha noticing the power with in her. The way she seemed to speak indicated something very familiar. "Ms. Rasputin, its rare for me to meet anyone with your skills here." he was specifically referring to her magical ability. Rory's own unique abilities allowed him a more detailed view on one's magical ability. He's also met more than a few Magus, and most gave off a certain aura his own master had. However, many magus were very hesitant to reveal their power or abilities in anyway. He wanted to be respectful and not reveal too much of what he sensed. "If you don't mind me asking, but when I use my abilities could you potentially give me your thoughts on them?"

"Hey! Chiharu right? Klaus to? You two don't seem too bad. Want to show me your powers real quick?" Pink Devil asked mostly really curious and nosey about Chiharu and why he seemed so clingy. Plus showing off her powers in front of people she deemed capable was always fun. "We tested it out earlier and this room can bring in dumbass robots for us to fight. Y'all in?"

Avery was really interested in Eliza. Less due to her appearance and more the fact she was clearly skilled with a blade. Few people gave him that impression, and he was far more likely to geek out over sword talk. However, he seemed more drawn to Louise Abioye who was far more wary than the others. He approached the tall man and seemed to either not notice or simply ignore his clear inhuman stature. "Hey we won't bite. Well the girl who bites isn't here, but you know what I mean. As I said before my name is Avery Jackson it's nice to meet you." he reached out his hand for handshake.

Sheriha looked at Yasuri and noticed how calm he seemed as he watched everyone. It was certainly strange since she's seen him in a fight and how much he enjoyed it. He looked at with a disarming smile "Don't worry, if you're worried I can't control myself you can set your concerns aside. I promised you all that I would never do anything to betray you."

"I'm not too worried. Don't worry I'll let you tell or show everyone your little fetish at a better time. Plus in a moment we're going to be really showing off our abilities. They'll know everything they need to by then." Sheriha said as she walked away remembering that one moment in Chicago with Yasuri that was both unnerving and oddly attractive. Right now she walked over to where Pink Devil was talking to Chiharu and Klaus.

"I hope Emily isn't bothering you too much?"

"SHERIHA NOOOOO!!! Emily is the most basic white girl name STOP!"

Tabitha shuddered for a moment, why did she feel like something was scanning her she regarded Rory carefully, she could sense some magical energy from him, but it was kind of strange " Uh you want me to judge your magecraft?....sure I suppose "

Go away, he's mine! thought viciously though smiled nervously " O-oh sure? " he sighed when Klause finally let him go and took a few steps back, advising pink devil to do the same. Chiharu held up his right hand and made a small explosion " M-My sweat has certain properties to it that lets me make explosions to varying degrees " he made a few more explosions, each one getting stronger. Out the corner of his eye he was watching Klause, hoping he was impressing him.

Klause gave a nod of approval " excellent work Chiharu, hmm A training session doesnt sound like a bad idea, if anyone is interested we can have a quick round " his mouth twitched slightly as Sheriha and Emily had their interation, it felt so nostalgic. Chiharu

Louise starred at Avery's hand hesitantly after a moment he produced a large, gloved a apendage and carefully shook Avery's hand " Louise Abioye, a pleasure " Avery noted that Louises voice sounded like a thousand tiny insects all talking at once, but managed to convey a kind greeting.

" Klause invited me, he's an old family friend and said this would be a good place for me to go, this is all kind of scary, but i'm happy to be here and hope we can all work together really well! " she smiled shyly, she perked up a little at the mention of sparring, it would be a good chance to show everyone what she could do

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Minerva had been eating breakfast when a void opened up in front of her, she cleaned her bowl and immediately went through. The room she entered was large, the walls were adorned with many magical objects from wands and staves to amulets and rings. Many book shelves filled the room as well, filled with magical tombs and porn magazines, surely this must be Riku's room.

Riku was sitting on a big, heart shaped bed with black sheet " Morning Minnie, have a seat " he pointed to the recliner in front of him. Minerva sat down and smiled as Ku-Chan zoomed towards her and hugged her face " Matilda i'm so glad your here! "

She patted him affectionately " It's good to see you too, oh! right " Minerva pulled out the large bag of magical items Riku gave her at the start of the journet to hell. Riku gestured and all the items flew out of the bag to their places on his wall. She started taking off the bracelet but Riku stopped her

" Keep it, it only works for females and while I can shapeshift into one, I dont have any real use for it. Oh and do you want that too? " he pointed at Ku-Chan "

Minerva was suprised but nodded " Of course I do "

" Oh Minerva, i'm so happy. He was going to send me to the glue factory! "

" I was not, truthfully this is more for the sake of research. I made him with eternal magic, so him being with you will probably give me more data "

Minerva gasped, eternal magic was the creation of spells that were rumored to last forever, not something just anybody could use. Hearing this really made Minerva feel happy that she was being taught by Riku.

" Aywhoo lets get down to business...and defeat the huns! Ha but yeah yesterday was a complete shit show and you certainly went through it. I had an observation spell in place so I basically recorded everything. Watched it earlier with Emmet and....yeah shit show. Now were going to watch this crisp footage and review it "

Minerva sat up a litter straighter as the room darkened and projector started.

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Emmet was giving Ulbert a tour of the mansion when Jericho suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway. Emmet casually stepped out of the way and leaned against the wall as Jericho lobbed a blast of chilling darkness at Ulbert, who blocked it with a barrier

" Ah Jericho, my precious student, how have you been? "

" What is he doing here? " Jericho demanded as he summoned large bone hands and were using them to try and crush Ulbert.

Emmet shrugged " He applied and I approved it, though I wasnt aware of your relation to him " he said this a little too casually. A few minutes later the hallway was in shambles as two opposing undead forces were fighting " Well as entertaining as this has been " he snapped his fingers and the undead vanished the hallway returned to normal "

Jericho glared then turned " Fine, him being here wont bother me, actually I can show him how far my skills have exceeded his " with that Jericho teleported off.

Ulbert laughed " He's as energetic as ever, not that I dont understand his animousity I was always hard on him, but I think he knows how much it helped him become such a great mage "

" Ah to have students, I recent aquired two new ones "

The two discussed teaching methods as they continued the tour.

With Katy gone to Earth 1 to visit Nick, Sandra returned to Paris. Quickly detecting her girls being in he main dining room of the code:breakers base, Sandra teleported in arriving instantly near the group. "Hey, we having a little get together. Mind if I join?" Present was Tanesha, Roberta, Garfield and interestingly Eva. Sandra had seen Eva around, said a few words in passing and such but haven't really interacted with her a whole lot. Maybe this was a good chance to get to know another Code:Breaker.

Tanesha smiled when Sandra appeared " Of course, Riku's petty ass just left, so were done with political take over talk "

" Besides, it's always good to have more red heads around " Eva put in, flipping her own crimson hair and taking a sip from her mug.

" So what have you been up too this morning " Tanesha asked.

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The lights turned back on as the footage ended, it felt so surreal watching all the events that she'd been present for yesterday, there was even some video of Scotts fight with Satan. She took another handful of popcorn as Riku stood up and summoned a white board.

" Alright, like I said that was a total shit show, Matilda can you tell me all the things that were wrong with that display "

" Um, my personal battles or everyones "

" Oh girl i've got shade for everybody, but we'll focus on enemies, those lousy excuses for demons, you what fuck it. Were calling them pixies for now on cause I refuse to acknowledge them as demons "

Minerva thought for a moment " Hmm, they didnt seem to behave as what most demons would be thought too. The most terrifying aspect of them was their sheer power, as themselves I.... "

Riku nodded " Good answer Mimi, Lets also not forget Metal Pixie, who fell pray to fucking talk no jutsu, thats just sad. All in all one of the biggest issues was you and Katy, you were both so far outgunned it was riddiculous. Katy won through the power of the DBZ fandom and you won because of my brilliance. Though to give credit where it's due you awakened to two amazing abilities, so good job Maude "

Minerva smiled at the praise and took a sip of her ice coffee that Ku-Chan refilled " Thank you sensei, oh! Is my power bothering you? It's still new and I find that im releasing it without intending too "

" Eh im fine, it's not strong enough to bother someone like me " he said with a hand wave " Back to the subject at hand, Katy's experience definetly showed through, so she gets a point, but it immediately gets taken back due to her choice of beau's the level of shade coming her way is astounding. Noah was a little outmatched, but his newly awakened psychopathy shone through brightly. Ashe was awesome, didnt worry about him, and I dont care about the last member "

Ku-Chan giggled " He did manage to beat Satan "

" Circumstancial, he had an item nobody else had and was basically the only thing that could stop that giant Pixie, basic mechanics of any game, minimul points. But all that aside Moesha, you definetly have some talents as a mage, as I said before, one of the things you lack is the basics, well be going over that plus some added stuff "

" Sensei, I cant thank you enough for this, really it means a lot " Minerva said bowing her head.

Riku flopped back on his bed and starred at her " Hmm, I have no real issues with it, but do you really think this is a good fit? I am a demon of hell, a better hell mind you, I dont know what deeper good you think you see in me but it's shallow as fuuuuuuq. My karma rating is as negative as it can get and I very much fall into the evil category. So I have to wonder why a good and pure little flip like you wants to learn magic from me "

Minerva was taken aback " Um well you see-"

" You could easily get into the clockworks academy in London, I have a friend that teaches there and could make a recomendation, some of the best mages in the world teach there. I should know, since I went there, believe me they'd love you "

" Oh, that sounds lovely, but-

" Or better yet, since our world and that other earth or connected, you could probably learn there, that place we were at last night was a school, doubtless they have a magical corriculoum with what they think is good magic and probably is, by somebodies standards. You could be side by side with your precious love, in that little cocoon of goodness, purity, and moral superority, since your so good and pure and-

" I AM NOT!! "

Minerva screamed then covered her mouth, shocked at her outburst, she couldnt believe she'd just did that. Riku for his part just smiled plesantly.

" Your not? I find that hard to believe, thats certainly the put forth, of someone who wants to do the right thing and save the world, a beacon of good, a tower of purity. someone who would never do anything bad, but stays in her lane "

Minerva looked down at her hands and found they were shaking, his words they werent bad, but they didnt feel right either.

" You seem quiet now Mildred, why is that? Why do you seek the presence of a demon, when so many good humans would fit you better? "

".......Your honesty.....Im not stupid and I know the kind of person you are, you do as well and you make no apologies for it, you dont hide and pretend, not really. I've always wanted to be able to be myself, to know who myself is. But.....I've never been allowed to "

Riku was leaning backwards, grinning broadly " Oh? And why is that? Do tell "

Minerva wasnt sure what she should say, but realized this was a step she needed to take " My father has held this image, that only men can learn the families magecraft and that women have no place but to serve a man. Im good at magic, very good, far ahead of my brother Xander, but it never mattered to my father, it enraged him if nothing else " she shuddered and rubbed her arms, still feeling the phantom pain....I had an older sister "

Riku's sides were starting to hurt from suppressing his laughter " A s-sister? "

" Yes, an older sister, her talent was even greater. My father of course told her she would never amount to anything and should never try to use her magic. But my sister was proud, confident and stood up to my father, they fought all the time.....then my sister didnt come home, they searched for her but....only found a bloody dress " tears were flowing freely " My father, never cried. Not even at her funeral, he seemed happy if nothing else, after that his hatred and anger towards me grew worse *sniffle* "

Ku-Chan patted Minervas cheek and wiped her tears away with a cloth " Poor Minnie, that sounds so horrible! "

" Thank you, but eventually I was able to get away and it's thanks to my mother. She usually sat in the background quietly, but as I grew older, she seemed to find strength and helped me. I havent been back home since, havent tried to contact them, I dont want too, especially not Him! " her anger poured into that one word and it was more then Riku could stand. He opened a small void and dunked his head in, laughing like a hyena for a solid five minutes. Eventually he pulled himself together and sat up.

" Well Maddy, thats a story, still not seeing why you want to learn magic from a demon "

Minerva sighed " Your an excellent mage, the fact that your a demon isnt irrelevant but the most important, I feel like the best teacher I could possibly have is you. Please, dont throw me away, I'll do anything you want "

Riku thought about that " Well theres absolutely nothing I want from you Mariah, wellll maybe just one thing, tell me what you ultimately want, your greatest desire "

Minerva tried to speak, but the words werent coming out. Riku placed a hand against his ear and gestured for her to come over. After a moment she did and whispered into his ear. Riku jerked back, his smile so big now that it split his face, he tossed his head back and howled with laughter " AHAHAHAHAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, OMG thats so fucking cliche, but im not mad at it HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA " He wiped a tear away and grinned darkly at her, his teeth like razors.

" Alright Minerva, i'll teach you, but ive changed my mind on one thing, i'll teach you, i'll you ONE " evil " spell and your going to master it, it'll help you with that little goal of yours, hahaha yaaaaasssss " he was getting hyped up now, he pointed at her, a black armband appearing with a red symbol

" Thats my mark, shows your from my camp.Dont take it for granted, honor and never forget that the great demon mage Riku sees some value in your otherwise worthless existence and is imparting wisdom on you "

Minerva looked at the band fondly " Thank you, sensei. I wont let you down, i'll work hard "

She considered hugging him, but quickly thought against it, instead pulling Ku-Chan over. She hugged him as Riku loomed over, a trully horrifying exspression on his face.

Sandra returned Eva's comment with a slight smile in agreement while finding herself a seat with the group. Tanesha would ask about her whereabouts, Sandra was expecting as much as she left before Tani or Roberta was even awake. "Don't worry, I haven't gone far. Myself and Katy had just started some training Emmet." That would come as a bit of a surprise to her girls, Sandra wasn't one that had really shown any interest in training. So to jump into it so suddenly, and with someone as brutal as Emmet, it wasn't really the response anybody would of expected from Sandra. "What about you all? You mentioned Riku, does he have and world domination plans yet?" Sandra asked the question in a joking type of manner, clearly not being serious.

"Oh I see. You ask Emmet instead of your girlfriend with knowledge on every single form of combat. I see how it is." she turned around, folded her arms and pouted. It didn't take a telepath to realize she wasn't serious. Roberta like many in the Codebreakers could see how skilled Emmet truly was just by the way he walked. Sandra and Katy would learn much from having him as a sparring partner.

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Rory didn't notice the lack of interest in Tabitha's reply. In fact his eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought. Of course, he still made sure to reign in his excitement. "Thank you, Ms. Rasputin you are most kind."

Avery was surprised by the voice slightly, but it only increased his curiosity. Even Louise's hand felt unlike any human he's met. "Well if you need anything Louise I got you!" he smiled brightly meaning every word he said.

"Yo napalm sweat I fuck with it." Emily nodded in approval at Chiharu's ability. Of course the thought of other bodily fluids causing explosions randomly popped into her head.

"Sounds good Klause." Sheriha walked away and got everyone's attention. She was already informed on the training room's capabilities and what commands to issue. "Prep the room for Stage 1 combat."

"Stage 1 Combat is being prepared. Please make your way to the designated safe zone." A series of red arrows appeared on the floor and lead to a room currently being built out from the west wall of the room. It only took a few seconds, but it was all white the same color as the wall, but big with no visible windows. Enough room for over a dozen people to fit inside comfortably. The inside was furnished like the living room of a billionaire with food and drinks there.

Sheriha looked at the new comers and was extremely curious about their abilities. "Alright so who wants to go first?"

"Come now babe, it's not like that. I want want to expand my knowledge on the Phoenix as well as to learn to fight better. Emmet can help in both those regards." Sandra realized Roberta obviously wasn't really mad anyway.

Scott nodded as Eliza said that she was brought into the organization by Klause.
"Oh, I see. We haven't met, but he seems dedicated to Marcus' cause. He reached out to me through his butler Alfred, and after we met and he explained his intentions, I agreed to help out in any way I could. I'm sure this will be a great place to hone your abilities and help keep the world safe from harm."
Eliza seemed like a sweet girl eager to make a difference, and he wished her the best.

Scott looked down as arrows appeared and everyone was told to move to the designated safe zone since Stage 1 Combat was about to begin. He walked into the safe zone, which was furnished like a rich man's living area. It was apparently time for some kind of combat training, something Eliza seemed excited about. He had noticed the sudden perking up she had displayed during their conversation at the mention of sparring. This would be a good chance to see the powers of his new comrades in action. Crossing his arms, he prepared to watch closely at what they could do.

Richard was walking past the elevator when it opened and a blue-haired woman stepped out. He recognized her as the woman that Nick was pursuing, and smiled at her when she asked about him.
"You're Katy, right? I'm Nick's older brother and Field Commander of Shadow Force, Richard Baker."
The two shook hands, having not formally met the other night.
"Nick's not here, he went to Nirvana for training this morning with Chiang."

Richard thought about it for a moment.
"If you want to go and see him, I think you can mentally or verbally reach out to Chiang and he can open a portal for you. Scott has more experience with that than we do, but I believe he told us that's what we should do if we ever needed to meet with Alan or Chiang."
Seeing Mike and Julie walk by, he got focused again.
"Well, I have some work to do and won't keep you, but if you need anything else, let me know."
Richard then turned and walked away, taking a seat at some monitors to keep an eye on satellite feeds from Earth 1's major cities.

The man Katy spoke to after exiting the elevator turned out to be Nick's brother.    He seemed like a kind, if not busy man.     It was good to see that this kind of attitude ran though Nick's family, it helped her feel just that bit more secure of Nick as a person.    It was explained that Nick was on Nirvana getting training, not to different from Katy herself who's started training with Emmet and Sandra.   Hmm  a energy blaster trained by a Buddhist holy man, and a water user being trained by a cosmic entity.     Having a bit of a competitive edge, Katy couldn't help but wonder which of them would ultimately turn out stronger.

With a newfound excitement to see what Nick was up to, Katy thanked Richard as he explained how to get to Nirvana.    Richard would return to his business and having spent so many years hanging around telepaths, Katy figured reaching out mentally would be her best bet.    Upon doing so a white spirit gate opened up, these portals where a little different to the fire paths she'd come to know from this world, which did prompt a very slight hesitation.    However Katy stepped through was brought to Nirvana.

" More like global trolling and cleaning up possible threats to his trolling and pettyness " said Tanesha. Everyone seemed suprised that Sandra had gone to Emmet for training.

Garfield whistled " Damn Gina and your still in one piece? I go to him for training cause I wanna learn sweet kung fu moves and he always smears me all over the arena, I mean I learn a ton of stuff and it's definetly upped my game, but....it's scary as fuck! "

" I have to agree,  I went a round with him and definetly noticed a significant boost in my skills....but never again or not anytime soon " Eva put in " Kudos to you, if your looking to learn battle skills and how to wield the phoenix better, you definetly struck gold "

" It's already too much training with Riku, though maybe we could do some training together " said Tanesha, referring to her, Sandra and Roberta.

A thought suddenly occured to Eva " Hey Sandra, you used to be with the Shadow X-men right? know anything about Luke? "

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As the tour came to an end, Emmet stopped in front of a door " And here is your room dawling " he opened the door, revealing a good sized room with a bed, closet, and desk " Natrually your free to decorate it how you wish, welcome to the Code:Breakers " he sent out a message to everyone " Welcome Ulbert Goown, for he is the latest Code:Breaker " an image of Ulbert appeared in everyones minds "


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Emmet imparted the Code:Breaker symbol on Ulberts left arm and bid him fair well. Ulbert walked around the room and after a moment, threw himself onto the bed " Wooow, this is so cooooool " Ulbert groaned, his apprentices emotions shining through again, but he decided to let it be, for the moment.

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" Oh, i'd to volunteer! " exclaimed Eliza, she jumped forward with a great leap and landed nimby at the center of the room " Armor of the king! " Gold and blue armor adorned her body " Excalibur Galatine! " A sword materialised in her hands and adopted a fighting stance, waiting for the training to start.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow, she could sense some strong magical energy at work, though the girl didnt appear to be a mage, her weapons were arthurian and that sword, she could sense the power of the sun from it, this was going to be interesting.

Sandra was amused at the response to Riku (of course it all comes back to pettiness), and started off responded to the comments about training first. "Indeed, the man doesn't pull any punches. To be honest I thoroughly received a ass whooping this morning. Thankfully I learned long ago how to recover from damage, if not for that me and Katy would be hella sour right now. I realize what I've gotten myself into won't be easy, but even from this first session I feel like I've learned a lot. That man will beat the holy hell out of you, but his lessons stick."

While it was never easy to admit the truth, Sandra realized there was little reason to downplay what happened. Everybody who's trained with Emmet seemed to have a similar experience to her own, and despite being a Phoenix herself, it still seemed pretty unreasonable to think she would of fair any better right away. In regards to herself, Roberta and Tani doing their own training "That would be nice. I've been thinking that we need to do more together anyway." Sandra really didn't want to fall apart in this relationship like they did with Dave, and she hoped to correct her mistakes from that failed marriage.

Finally there was Eva. "Yes I worked at the SXM for many years. Pretty much my entire time from my powers surfacing nearing a decade ago until my joining the Code:breakers just a little while back, all those years have been spent in SXM. As for Luke, yes I know him. I don't know him intimately or to the same personal level as say Katy, but he'd been a good friend and solid hand to have around. I've seen him a lot in social gatherings and have worked besides him multiple times. What kind of details are you looking for?"

Just as Eva was about to answer the news of Ulbert was received. "Looks like another new member. This merry band of misfits is really growing, huh?"

Chiang and Nick had returned to the Meditation Room, and his student was going back into his training when he got a mental appeal to open a gate to Nirvana. It was from a woman he had never heard before, but a quick analysis of the voice revealed that it was Katy Karma, a hero from Earth 616 that had accompanied Scott into Hell. It seemed like she wanted to see Nick, and he felt that maybe he could use a break in his training.
"Nick, you have a visitor."
Nick looked up in surprise, not expecting anyone to come to Nirvana looking for him.
"Who is it?"

"A miss Katy Karma is here to see you," he said with a smile.
"Katy?" Nick replied, his mood lifting at the sound of her name.
"Let's not keep a lady waiting."
Chiang and Nick headed to the front gate of Nirvana, where Katy was standing after exiting the portal.
"Welcome back to Nirvana, Ms. Karma," Chiang greeted her with a gracious bow.
"Hey, Katy," Nick said in a friendly but less grand fashion.


"I'll go and make some tea. Excuse me."
Chiang left then, leaving Nick and Katy alone.
"Sorry about not letting you know that I was leaving Earth. I meant to be back tonight to check in with everyone. How are you doing?"

Katy smiled when Nick and Chiang approached, looks like she had finally found him. Chiang left to make tea and Nick was left along to talk with Katy. "I'm doing alright, started training with Emmet and Sandra. After finishing up today's session I decided to come and see what you was up to. Won't lie, you certainly make a girl run through enough hoops to track you down. So, what's up Nicky?" Katy said the female version of the name in a fun and joking manner.