Marcus stood across from one of his many mentors, Wildcat. Atlas (or Green Lantern, which ever you prefer to call him) had only recently started working on his boxing with Ted Grant. Ted was the best boxer on the planet, bar none. Most people would consider it an honor to have an afternoon alone with the guy. But Marcus? Marcus was a Green Lantern. He'd met the Guardians of the Universe. He fought side by side with Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart every other day. Marcus had traveled across the cosmos, defending entire solar systems from catastrophe. He didn't feel honored to stand in the presence of some man. The guy could throw a mean right hook, though. He definitely had that going for him.

"Hands up, Marcus. We're going again." Wildcat ordered, his own hands ready. The Russian boy sighed, bringing his hands up in front of his face and placing his right foot forward. Marcus was a southpaw, so he led with his right hand and used his left to deliver his most powerful blows. "Hit me." Wildcat commanded. Marcus smiled, more than happy to oblige. Atlas took a quick step forward and threw a pair of quick jabs with his right hand. Ted parried both attacks with ease. "Faster, Marcus. Hit me!" Marcus grit his teeth and threw another three jabs faster than before. Wildcat parried the first two and weaved away from the third. "Stewart told me you could fight, but I've seen princesses who could throw a better punch than that." Marcus exploded forward, unleashing a barrage of jabs and crosses. "I'm just warming up old man!" Wildcat back peddled as his younger opponent went on the offensive. He dodged, parried and weaved. Not a single blow landed on the fighter as he showed his mastery of the art of boxing. "Come on!" Marcus yelled in frustration. The Green Lantern threw all of his weight into a wild haymaker. Wildcat scoffed and moved out of the way with the greatest of ease. "Seriously?" Ted Grant moved around Atlas' side and unleashed a hail of punches into the Titan's side. Marcus grunted, falling to the floor.

"Ow." He muttered.

"Get up." Wildcat pulled his new pupil to his feet, patting him on the shoulder before crossing to his side of the ring. "Now come at me. Keep focused, and keep your head down." Marcus breathed in deeply as he brought his bare fists up. He glanced at his ring for a moment, before turning back to Grant and crossing the boxing ring. The two fighters met in the middle, and Marcus started the fight with a left hook. Wildcat ducked under the attack and slammed his fist into Marcus' bare chest. Atlas took in a sharp breath as he struggled to breathe. Ted waited until Marcus was ready before attacking again. Atlas launched a pair of jabs and a cross, which Wildcat dodged and countered with a pair of jabs of his own. "This isn't really fair, I hope you know. Feels like you're wearing brass knuckles." Wildcat smirked, sending a jab at Atlas' face. Marcus blocked the attack and returned with a right hook to Wildcat's side. "Like hittin' a guy in plate armor." He muttered as the two continued their dance. "There are trade-offs." Wildcat continued the conversation as he tried to uppercut Marcus, which the Russian promptly dodged. "I'm slower. More vulnerable." Marcus tried an old one-two combo, which Wildcat parried and countered. "Still faster than I am." Marcus said as he pounded on Wildcat, who didn't bother to dodge. "Ah, hell." Marcus grunted as he took a step back, rubbing his hands together. Ted just laughed.

"Laugh at this!" Marcus leaped into the air, spinning around. Moments before impact a green light construct surrounded Marcus' leg. His foot connected with Wildcat's nose, a look of surprise on the older fighter's face as his head went flying off his shoulders.

"Nice kick. But could you have telegraphed it more?"

"Like you saw that coming."

"Of course I did. Now pick up my head."

Atlas jumped out of the boxing ring and jogged over to the decapitated head of Ted Grant. Marcus picked Wildcat's head up and climbed back into the ring. He reattached the boxing champion's head to his still-standing body. Wildcat tried to move, but his arms flailed erratically and refused to follow his commands. "Well, that's great. You broke it. Didn't even do it legally, either. You just had cheat." Marcus rolled his eyes and went to wipe himself clean of sweat with a towel. "Like I'd ever beat you at boxing. Not that I need to. Muay Thai is more flexible." Wildcat's form disappeared, leaving behind a metal skeleton. "Get Julian to fix this robot and I'll school you at Muay Thai too. Been trained in that since before you were born."

Suddenly Guardian's voice came over the intercom. "Titans, we have work to do." Marcus pumped his fist in the air in excitement. A green light washed over Atlas as his costume replaced his boxing shorts and he began to levitate. "Finally, some action!" He yelled as he flew out of the room. "3, 2...1..Annnddd." Duncan's groan came back over the intercom as he announced the false alarm. Marcus groaned from the hallway as Wildcat merely chuckled, disconnecting from the training robot.

---

Ding!

The elevator opened on the top floor, Marcus stepping out in casual attire. Donning a Batman hoodie and a pair of jeans, the young Green Lantern made his way inside the room and walked towards the living room. Atlas jumped over the couch and landed with practiced ease on the sofa, grabbing the remote and turning on the massive television. Marcus put his feet up on the coffee table as he started to flip through the channels. "Boring. Boring. Weird. Boring." Atlas nearly gave up before he found the perfect show: The Sports Channel. "Here we go." Marcus leaned farther back into his seat and watched as the commercials ended and the Football game began. "Was that a joke, Q? I swear, I can never tell when you're joking."

"B-B-B-"

Marcus visibly shook. His brow folded downwards in such a position that seemed physically impossible as the Green Lantern was filled with such livid anger that he started to flail his arms in a show of absolute shock.

"BORING?!" He shouted in a fit of rage. "Do you have any idea what you're going on about? Sports are the life blood of humanity! The entertainment that connects us all as people! It's the one thing that all people of every language, religion and color can connect with! Ever heard of this little thing called the Olympics? The World Cup? Massive events in history that every man, woman and child across all seven continents sit down to watch and cheer for their local athletes as they battle it out in a contest of strength, skill, speed and teamwork?! What is more pure in the world than kicking a football around at a family gathering? Tossing the baseball with your son for the first time? Do you know how many millions- No, billions of people who you just slapped in the face with your utter slander of the greatest thing since sliced bread?"

With his speech over, Marcus stepped off his soap box and sat back on the couch with the rest of the Titans. The Russian boy took a deep breath before he could go back to enjoying the game. The Metropolis Metros were facing off against their bitter rivals, the Gotham City Wildcats. Gotham City had scored the first touchdown, and the Metros were on the back foot. But the City of Tomorrow always had a plan up their sleeve as they psyched out Gotham's defensive line and ran the ball. "Get him!" Atlas shouted in frustration as the Metros quarterback sprinted towards the in-zone. "NOOOOOO! Ah, come on! Really?! Nobody could tackle that guy? I could have tagged him!"

"Hate the Metros." He mumbled, sitting back into the couch further. "Oh, Julian. That reminds me," Marcus began. "I broke the training bot again. Can you fix it for me? Thanks, Brainy." As Marcus turned to look back at the television set he noticed that most of the Titans had gathered around the couch now. A smug look crossed his face. Heh, I knew my Braveheart speech would sway them. Atlas thought. Marcus settled in and continued to watch the game in relative silence, with only an outburst here and there. He mostly ignored all the talk of the Illuminati, finding the fact that some of his teammates actually believed they were a real threat to be preposterous. The Illuminati were nothing more than a story, created by the actual threats to throw off the common man's scent. Funny how Q could be so close to the truth and still come off as a total loon.

Harvey was bored. He'd just gotten off of work and was waiting for Laura to pick him outside the precinct. "Come on, come on, come on. Where is she?" Harvey repeated under his breathe as he tapped his foot rapidly against the sidewalk beneath his feet. He could have ran home and gotten there in a second, but this whole secret identity thing didn't allow it. People would start to wonder how Harvey moved around so fast without a car. They'd ask questions; and when all of your co-workers are detectives and police officers, acting suspicious isn't recommended. So here Harvey was, stuck sitting on a bench outside the police department, waiting for his sister. She probably stayed late again working on another story. She was always doing that. Which was fine, Harvey guessed, but Laura could have at least called. Was that so hard? Picking up her cell phone and telling her older brother 'Hey, I'm going to be working late. You should just walk home.' Sergeant Smith sighed as he slumped in his seat, nearly dozing off despite the biting cold of the February air. Couldn't it be summer already? Harvey felt so...Sluggish during winter. The speedster considered just walking home when his ear buzzed. He reached up and touched the small bluetooth device, activating it.

"Go ahead, Eric."

Finally, some action! With all the other metahumans running around, you'd think Thunderbolt would be busier. Yet, it seemed all the crime across the city was being dealt by other heroes most of the time. Harvey pulled his coat tighter around himself as his best friend started talking.

"Alright. We've got a robbery in progress on the corner of Roe and Beacon. Somebody's trying to rob Clarie's Jewelry. They've got a meta with 'em, too. A brick by the sounds of it. Bulletproof, tearing steel apart with ease. Sounds like your kind of gig." Harvey looked around. He didn't want anyone to see him race off at mach 300. Once Thunderbolt was sure the close was clear, Harvey took off. He kept his speed low, about mach 50, so that the Lightning Effect kept his clothes intact. He needed to reach his house and change into costume. He dodged around people, cars, and buildings as he reached his house in the span of a single sentence. Harvey unlocked his door and raced into his room, opening a locked chest where he kept his Thunderbolt costume. Harvey changed in a flash before disappearing out the fire escape and racing down the side of his apartment building. The speedster cranked his speed up to max and reached the site of the robbery in seconds.

"Where's my sister, by the way?" Harvey wondered as he observed the situation. Five gunmen, all armed with automatic weapons. They wouldn't be an issue. The real problem was the metahuman. The guy stood at a massive eight foot tall and was covered in stone, head to foot. Oh boy. Thunderbolt thought. He'll be trouble. "Laura's still working on a report. Something about more and more of Lost Haven's biggest companies falling under the influence of mobsters. Really interesting piece, actually." Harvey sighed as the gunmen exited the jewelry store carrying bags full of loot. "Really? What's Gold think?" Thunderbolt asked as he pursued the gunmen to their getaway vehicle. They had yet to spot the hero, who was moving too fast for the human eye to follow. "Gary? Gary's skeptical. Not enough hard facts about these mobsters to start publishing front page stories about 'em. He wants her to keep pursuing the angle, though." The metahuman hopped into the back of the car as the gunmen all filed inside with the loot and started to drive away. "You should probably-" Eric began. "Yeah, yeah. I got it." Thunderbolt disappeared in a flash of light as he reached the vehicle. Harvey began popping the tires, rapidly vibrating his fingers to turn them sharp. The vehicle swerved as the driver lost control of the car, and they crashed into the side of a building.

Thunderbolt stood atop the car, looking down at the stunned thugs. "So you should surrender, because we all know how this is going to go down." Not wanting to go down without a fight, the masked criminals opened fire. They sprayed holes through the roof of their car as they tried to kill the hero attempting to stop them in their tracks. Harvey hummed a tune as he casually grabbed the bullets out from the air. The thugs and their metahuman comrade all exited the car and spread out. Thunderbolt just smiled as they continued to fire until they were out of ammo. "My turn." He announced, launching the bullets at super speed into the thugs. The bullets were moving too slowly to pierce a human's skin, but fast enough to knock out all of the gunmen in a hail of gunfire. The metahuman growled, leaping over to the car an grabbing at the speedster. Thunderbolt jumped over his head and landed a good few yards away. "So what do they call you? Brickhead? Mister Stone?" Harvey quipped as the frustrated meta grabbed the getaway car and tossed it in the speedster's direction. "Name's Concrete!" He growled as Thunderbolt grabbed a pair of the unconscious criminals before the car could land on them. "Your name'll be Con-VICT when we're done here!" Thunderbolt joked with a smirk as he charged the metahuman. "Stop. Stop please." Eric begged over the comms as he watched the fight through the camera built in to Thunderbolt's goggles. "That physically hurt."

"Whatever, you're just jealous of my quick wit."

The speedster unleashed a barrage of punches onto Concrete's abdomen. The Hundred Speeding Fists, Harvey liked to call it. Thunderbolt dashed backwards as Concrete tried to grab his attacker. "Ow. Ow. Ow." Thunderbolt complained as he rubbed his fists together. Concrete laughed as the speedster danced around in discomfort. "Ya can't hurt me, little punk! I've fought with the big leagues! You ain't nothin'." Thunderbolt growled as he considered his options. "Any ideas on how to take this guy down, big man?" Eric asked. Harvey spent a microsecond thinking it over before he thought of another plan. "Yeah. Let's see if he has to breathe." Thunderbolt began rotating his arms at the speed of lightning, creating a vacuum around Concrete as he sucked the air out of the immediate area and the meta's lungs. Concrete fell to his knees on the street, clutching his throat as he struggled to breathe air that wasn't there. It took nearly three minutes before the guy collapsed, unconscious. "Score one for team Thunderbolt!" Harvey cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

"We are so not team Thunderbolt."

"Oh, hey! Shortstack has finally decided to pick up."

"Been busy. I assume you have it handled?"

"'Course I do. I'll have Concrete and his lackies in police custody soon as Eric gives the call."

"Already done, bud."

"Cool. How's the reportin' coming, Laura? Catch any big scoops?"

"First, nobody says scoop." Laura started. "Second, Gary shot me down. We need more information on the guys buying out the financial district before he'll even consider running the story."

"Well, where do we start?"

"All I have is a name. The Cowl."

”You don’t have to do this Polemos, let the woman go. I’m right here, let’s finish this, you don’t have to hurt anyone else.”

Polemos sneered, hate filling his eyes as he went to reply to the hero. Yet, Chike didn't have time to speak. Everything seemed to happen at once. Beams of unknown energy fired out of Icon's eyes and blasted into Polemos' hand. There was little pain, but the sheer force behind the attack and its sudden nature caused Polemos' grip on his sword to loosen, the blade falling out of his hand. Nanoseconds after the blade left Chike's fingers, Icon seemed to burst forward with impossible speed. Polemos felt the hero's fist collide with his chin, the powerful blow sending Polemos off his feet and flying towards the wall. Yet Icon was not through with his vicious and ruthless enemy, grabbing Chike and flying them out of the building and through the sky. Chike roared in frustration as the night club disappeared beneath his feet, powerless to break Icon's powerful grip. Fire engulfed Polemos and Icon as Chike tried to burn his enemy. The attack apparently had little affect on Lost Haven's protector.

“You say that you’re a warrior, that you are War? You're no such thing.”

Polemos struggled to escape Icon's grip as the two of them flew towards Settler's Park. How dare this cretin question his greatness! He was the Avatar of the God of War! This would not stand. Polemos would tear his head from his shoulders. He would use Icon's spine to murder his family. He...He would...GAH! WHY WOULDN'T HE JUST DIE?! The fire created by the Greek shot out from his hands in the form of small spheres, landing inside the park. Soon the greenery would be caught afire. Flames licked across Polemos' skin as Icon and Chike went crashing into the ground, creating a crater beneath them as dirt rained down from above. Chike examined the area around them from the ground. No civilians to take advantage of. Briefly, the man hidden beneath the face of the demon sighed with relief. No one for him to kill. No one for Polemos to hurt. Too bad that wouldn't last. Polemos would slay this capped crusader, and he would conquer Lost Haven and then the world. All who stood against Ares would burn in Hellfire.

“You’re a coward, Polemos, and I’m going to stop you."

"A coward? Polemos spat as he turned onto his back and looked up at Icon. The Greek was battered and bloodied. Yet he had not fallen. Not yet. Polemos would not quit until his bloodlust had been sated. He would not stop until Icon was dead. Or, better yet, bowing the knee. "I'm a god. I do not burden myself with the petty rules of mortal men. You think I will surrender? You think that you can stop me? There is no stopping War. War is inevitable. I am mankind's ultimate end. Don't you see that, Icon? Violence is all these people know. When their backs are against the wall, when they must choose between compromise and war, there is no choice. Not really. It is our most primal desire: to kill. To dominate. We're all monsters. I'm just ahead of the curb." Chike pushed himself to his feet as he finished his mad ravings.

“You’re done, you aren’t going to hurt anyone else.”

Polemos dropped his shield, the object now useless without his sword. Chike let loose a guttural roar as he charged towards Icon. A sonic boom went off as Chike blitzed towards the hero. He slammed his fist into Lost Haven's champion's jaw, uppercutting the so-called superhero. Polemos didn't let up as he leaped up into the air and slammed Icon back into the ground before landing on top of him.

"Once upon a time,
There was a man within this mind.
But now a demon is his bind,
A demon like no other kind!"

Fire shot forth from Polemos' mouth as his madness seemed to take hold. Chike couldn't control himself. Not anymore. There was no way to stop him. Icon threw the madman off of him, the burning figure flying off our hero and slamming into a tree. The wood caught fire as Polemos pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed the broken trunk and used its burning carcass as a weapon to attack Icon. He continued his attack as unnatural fire spread throughout the park. If Polemos couldn't kill anyone, he would destroy any life he could. The tree shattered against Icon's chest as the two supers battled. Blow after blow, the fight raged on as the surrounding life was consumed in hellfire. Polemos laughed like a maniac as he continued his insane rhymes.

"He struck a deal with our lord Ares,
Expecting nothing but a field of berries!
But all he found was blood and death
And now it's like his favorite meth!"

The Greek broke off the contest of strength as he rushed off to grab another tree as a weapon. Icon would have nothing of it as he tackled the fleeing villain to the ground. The hero pounded against Polemos, his blows shaking the ground beneath them. Lost Haven's seismic monitoring agency mistook Icon's attack as an earthquake. The warrior, undeterred but obviously weakened, continued his raving.

"He wants nothing but his freedom,
Nothing but to return to his kingdom.
Yet Ares' grip cannot be broken,
Unless those fateful words are spoken."

In the five years that Harvey had been on the Lost Haven Police Force, he hadn't seen a night worse than this. The skyline was ablaze. The roads were covered in tipped over cars, burnt out trucks, and random furniture. The sidewalks were littered with glass; it seemed there wasn't a window in Lost Haven that some looter hadn't thrown a brick through. Doors were broken in and graffiti painted every vertical surface in the neighborhood. The entire city had been hit, but Little Ulster had seen the worst of it. The once pristine houses created by that unknown angel were back to their old selves: broken, dirty, and hopeless. Just like the people who lived here. Thunderbolt couldn't help but feel sorry for these people. Some of them, at least, were victims of circumstance. Their neighbors were scum, and in turn those people had to become scum to survive. Harvey winced as he saw a dark shape hanging half way out of a second story window. A body, covered in its own blood. Gunshots went off in the distance. This spurred Sergeant Smith to press on the gas peddle harder, accelerating down the street as the police cruiser ran over the junk in the road, dodging the other cars that were currently inert. The radio chatter was incessant as the other officers tried to communicate to each other and make some sense of the chaos. From what Harvey had heard, all six precincts' holdings cells were filling to capacity with all of the new looters the metas and police were dragging into custody. That had created a major problem. The looting hadn't died down yet, and there were still plenty of gangs running around causing havoc. So, the commissioner made some calls and the higher ups came up with a plan.

The Lost Haven Police Department would be teaming up with county and state police authorities to transfer the criminals currently in custody to various prisons across the state. Harvey was part of a convoy that would be transferring to Main State Prison. The prison only had a capacity of nine hundred, and was already nearly full, so the prison would also be holding a transfer to other, smaller jails across the state to compensate for all the new arrivals. It was complicated stuff, most of the officers on staff didn't fully grasp the sheer scale of the operation in progress. But Harvey did, thanks to his enhanced intellect. The briefing said that this particular convoy held around a hundred and fifty of the recently captured criminals. There would be more convoys later, but this first one was the most important. Why, you might ask? Because the commissioner had decided to shove all the metahumans into the first convoy. She theorized that the first convoy was the least likely to be attacked, since the police would have the element of surprise. But Harvey knew that was total bull. The commissioner was deep in the pockets of the city's organized crime, along with almost the entire force. She definitely had something planned.

That's why Harvey brought backup. Thunderbolt put a finger up to his ear, tapping the device twice. Three taps were sent back. Good. Laura was trailing the convoy in costume, staying out of sight. When it hit the fan, and it most certainly would, she'd pop out and take 'em down. Harvey sighed internally at the thought that he wouldn't be fighting in costume like his sister. Captain Emile Hart had asked for Harvey personally when the commissioner put him and Captain Gerald Nehmann in charge of the transfer. If given the chance, Harvey would have just ducked out an joined her. He might even be able to come up with a decent excuse later. But alas, Laura wouldn't have it. They needed Harvey to keep his job, and to do that he needed to stay in character. Corporal Sal Tupp glanced over at her partner as the squad car turned the corner. "How much further to the staging area?" She asked, breaking the silence. Harvey did a quick mental check, knowing the exact answer in less than a microsecond. But he had to hold out, because answering immediately would be suspicious and awkward. Normal people didn't know the exact latitude and longitude of a random location in the middle of a street, and normal people most certainly wouldn't be able to cite that from memory the moment they were asked. "Not too far. We should be there fairly soon."

The staging area for the convoy was bustling with activity. Harvey and Sal were some of the last of the cops to arrive on the scene, and based on the radio chatter they would be leaving the city soon. "Good." Sal muttered as they listened to the radio. "The sooner this is over, the better." Harvey couldn't help but agree with the woman's sentiments. Harvey quickly tapped his ear, signaling to Boom that they would be moving soon. Sal had been looking at Harvey the whole time, and yet was unaware that he had even moved. Super speed had it's uses. Eventually the prison vans started to move, and Harvey was able to pull up behind another squad car as they started to move out. The convoy would be making it's way towards Robert D. Sherman's Airport and dropping the metahumans off into STRIKE hands before heading for the bridge leading to Brooksdale. Once the metas were out of the police's hands, they would be in the all clear. The mob was unlikely to make a hit on the convoy once the metas were offloaded. With that in mind, Harvey felt his heart crawling up his throat the closer they got to the airport. The airport itself would be heavily guarded, with STRIKE having their own metahumans there alongside potential air support. So if they would attack, it would be any minute now. Radio chatter died down as the drive continued.

"Hey, Harvey. I think I see something." Boom said through the communicator. It must be bad. Laura wasn't suppose to vocally contact her brother unless there was an emergency.

Curious, Thunderbolt tapped on his ear four times. He received his answer from the radio, however. "This is Escort-1 to Convoy, we have a problem. There's an obstruction in the road ahead." Harvey and Sal shared a worried look. That couldn't be good. "Looks like an overturned semi truck. What should we do?" The officer asked. "Hold your position." Captain Nehmann ordered. "We need to find another route." Captain Emile Hart seemed flustered by that answer. "Another route?" He raged. "We're sitting ducks! We should merge on to 83rd. It connects onto Timberwood Street a couple blocks from here, then we can take timber to 10th. We'll be back on track in-" Hart was interrupted by what sounded like an explosion. "Escort-12 is down! I repeat, escort-12 is down!" A panicked cop called over the radio as another explosion occurred. The screams of the dying officer echoed over the radio for a full thirty seconds as his squad car was engulfed in flames. "What the devil is going on back there?" Emile asked. "Escort-10, report!" Sal grabbed the radio as Harvey tried maneuvering the squad car out of the convoy to get out of the shooter's line of sight. "This is Escort-8, we're under attack! Some kinda bazooka!" Sal pulled her pistol, looking out the window in an effort to confirm the attacker's location. "Dismount and take cover! Escorts 6 through 10, converge on the final bus in the convoy! Locate the attacker and eliminate the threat!" Nehmann ordered. Harvey and Sal exited the car and moved behind it, pulling out their guns as they checked the rooftops and windows.

A blur of blue and black light raced up the side of the apartment building, heading towards the source of the attack. "Meta spotted!" Sal yelled into her personal radio. Boom reached the lip of the tenement, tackling a dark shape to the ground. "Friendly?" Emile inquired. "Shoot it!" Nehmann cried, and the police opened fire in the general direction. Boom disappeared after dropping off the unconscious thug at the feet of the police. Harvey couldn't help but smile as he watched his sister in action. "This is Transport-4! The prisoners are attempting to leave their seats. They're getting anxious in here!" Harvey and Sal both climbed back inside their squad car and tried to get back into position. "This is Transport-1! We have a major problem. The metas' power inhibitors have gone red! Code black! Code black!" Uh-oh. The metas power bands had been remotely deactivated. Those guys would be tearing through their guards in less than a minute. Thunderbolt held in his communication earpiece, signaling his sister that the metas were escaping. The flash of light appeared again, racing past Topp and Smith's car and towards the front of the convoy. "Meta's back!" One of the officer's reported. Another explosion went off. A massive, hulking man appeared out from the roof of the prison van holding the metas. He held another figure in his hand. "What the-" The brick chucked the person through the air. Harvey watched up horror as Boom slammed into the windshield of his squad car, cracking the glass.

"Boom!" Harvey exclaimed as he unbuckled and opened his door, climbing out of the car to check on her. "Harvey?!" Sal called in confusion as she followed him out. Harvey examined his sister at the speed of lightning. A small trickle of blood fell from her mouth. From what Harvey could see without getting invasive, his sister had only suffered minor injures. She'd heal in a second or two. Corporal Topp pulled her gun, pointing it at Boom. "D-" Harvey started, but he was too late. Sal had already fired. Boom's eyes flew opened as she caught the projectile mere centimeters from her face. Boom grabbed the gun from the corporal, glaring at the officer. "I'm one of the good guys, you dumb broad!" Boom scowled before handing Sal's gun back. Harvey was about to intervene when a police car went flying towards them. Boom grabbed the two police officer, running them away moments before it landed nearby. "Gotta steal your boyfriend for a second." Boom grabbed her brother, running off before Sal could react.

Harvey scolded his sister when they came to a stop in a nearby back alley. "What was that?!" He protested. "She tried to shoot me!" Laura growled in response. "Y- W- Gah! We'll talk about this later!" Harvey disappeared for a second, before appearing again, now in costume. The siblings raced off, appearing as a pair of blue streaks as they returned to help the convoy. Officers were unloading on the metas, who seemed to be thrashing the under prepared police. It would have been a slaughter without the speedsters to help out. Even then...

"We gotta bolt, before Icon shows up!" Concrete yelled to his fellow prisoners as he peeled open another prison bus like it was made of wet tissue paper. Another nearby meta, a horned man in a red luchidor mask, responded. "El Toro never runs from a fight!" The bull-like man charged forward, slamming two police cars out of the way as he impaled a pair of cops. Bullets bounced off his dark trench coat as El Toro threw the dead bodies aside. "Yeah, well, "El Toro" is an idiot." Another meta, this one made of what appeared to be living lightning, responded. The bright yellow figure blitzed toward a squad of police officers, preparing to slaughter them with a smile on his face. "Hey! Nimrod!" The meta turned as Thunderbolt slammed into him, dragging the lightning man away from the police. "The name's Hi-Voltage. And I'm gonna light you up like a christmas tree, hero-boy!" Thunderbolt and Hi-Voltage raced around the battlefield, yellow and blue trails following behind the speedsters as they clashed. Boom appeared before Concrete and El Toro, slamming a metal pipe into the latter's face and fifty punches to the former's groin. The two bricks reeled, looking at their female attacker with vengeance in their eyes. "Nobody hits El Toro!" The bull man cried as Concrete and El Toro charged at Boom. "If you wanted to feel me up, sexy, all ya had to do was ask." Concrete joked as Boom dodged a backhand from the rock-man. "Ew. You're so not in my league." Boom called as she retreated backwards. The speedster gave it a quick thought before deciding to try and deprive the two metas of their oxygen.

Boom dashed around the two bricks at mach 300, creating a small self-contained tornado. Concrete stumbled to his feet, clutching his throat. El Toro seemed more resistant to the attack as he tried to track the speedster's movement. The Mexican criminal reached out a hand, and Boom slammed into the clothesline. Boom coughed, clutching her throat in pain. El Toro lunged towards her, grabbing at the superhero. Thunderbolt, Hi-Voltage in toe, rammed into El Toro. Harvey grabbed his sister and dragged her away from the two angry bricks and a fair bit away from the fight. Boom pulled herself together, joining her brother in attacking the criminal speedster. He was just as fast as Thunderbolt and Boom, but he seemed to have different powers. Instead of a regular human with abnormal speed, Hi-Voltage appeared to be electricity given a crude humanoid form. "You can't hurt me! I'm made'a livin' lightning!" Hi-Voltage bragged as he electrocuted Thunderbolt with a backhand. "We know." Boom returned, a hard look on her face as he dodged the scumbag's attacks. The two speedsters only had to keep Hi-Voltage occupied for another second...Annddd...There! Thunderbolt and Boom kept running as they approached a large body of water. The moment Hi-Voltage touched the water, he screamed out in pain. The thug collapsed into the pond, and Thunderbolt and Boom both circled back around and fished him out. The two shared a high-five as they returned back to the fight. Boom put Hi-Voltage inside a prison bus, a brand new power inhibitor around the unconscious man's throat.

Thunderbolt, meanwhile, had a brick to deal with. Harvey arrived back at the scene to see the police attacking El Toro, and a group of armed prisoners. Thunderbolt slammed into El Toro's back, running the Luchidor through a brick wall as the speedster and brick ended up inside someone's living room. "Give it up, Toro." Thunderbolt began. "You can't win this one." El Toro would have none of it, though. "Never!" He cried as he charged towards Harvey, horns held out. For a brick, El Toro was pretty fast. But no where near fast enough for Thunderbolt not to dodge the charge. El Toro came to a halt seeing Thunderbolt dodge the attack. The super villain turned back around and brought his hands up, preparing to fight. Thunderbolt returned the gesture as he recalled his extensive experience in the art of kickboxing. "A boxer, then?" El Toro seemed to know Thunderbolt's stance, hinting at having some knowledge of the fighting arts as well. "Close." Harvey dashed forward, unleashing a lightning fast front kick to El Toro's chin.

"Gah!" The bullman yelled as he staggered. A speedster might lack the sheer lifting strength of more well rounded heroes, but guys like Thunderbolt made up for that with superior striking power and sheer speed. El Toro, not to be defeated so easily, took to the offense. He took a step forward and slammed his fist into Thunderbolt's chest. The speedster took the air, the powerful blow sending the blue-and-silver hero flying through the ceiling. "Ow." Thunderbolt stumbled to his feet as El Toro leaped through the floor, crawling up into the room where he had sent Harvey. Thunderbolt charged, unleashing a flurry of crosses and hooks to El Toro's head. The bull brought his arms up to defend against the rapid fire attack, trying to find an opening in the speedster's defenses. El Toro broke out with a nasty uppercut; luckily Thunderbolt managed to dodge before dashing back into the fray. Harvey went around behind his enemy, side kicking the backs of El Toro's knees. The disorientated gangster stumbled, and Thunderbolt was quick to take advantage by applying his own uppercut to Toro's exposed chin. "ENOUGH!" El Toro cried. The brick, frustrated, stomped the ground as hard as he could. The blow created a shockwave that collapsed the entire house around the two battling supers.

Meanwhile, Boom and the police had recaptured the majority of the escaped prisoners. Less than a dozen men had managed to get away out of the one hundred and fifty that had been given the chance to escape. Boom would have caught them all, if not for the metas slowing her progress while those lucky few ditched their prison uniforms and blended into the populace. Laura turned as she heard the crashing coming from a nearby house, looking in time to see the rubble come following to the ground all around her brother and El Toro. "Thunderbolt!" Laura sprinted into the mess of broken building and started to dig. Her frantic searching was cut short by El Toro bursting forth from a pile of bricks and wood paneling. "Here is your partner!" El Toro grabbed Thunderbolt by the throat, hoisting him into the air. "He is fallen by the hands of El Toro!" Boom disappeared from sight, before reappearing a moment later right in front of El Toro. Laura leaped through the air, slamming her knee into El Toro's nose at high speeds. The brick cried out in pain as he was sent flying hundreds of feet away and landed a moving truck.

"Thunderbolt?" Boom held her unconscious brother in her arms, sliding down to her knees. She quickly checked his vitals. He still had a pulse, that was good. Thunderbolt's visor was cracked and his costume was torn, and Harvey had a number of gashes across his body. But nothing too serious. Laura could already see the wounds closing and blood drying. She ran her fingers over his ribs, and Harvey winced. "Broke a few of those." He muttered. Laura sighed, her feelings mixed. At least he was conscious now; but those ribs would be bad for hours. "Any internal bleeding?" Laura asked as Thunderbolt sat up in the dirt and dust. "Not anymore. Healing factor kicked in to overdrive when Toro hit me. How's the throat?" The two were standing now, brushing themselves off as the police rounded up the prisoners once more. "Hurts like all hell. I'm lucky Toro didn't break it."

Everyone turned as the sound of clapping echoed throughout the street. "Bravo. Really, quite well done. I didn't expect you to interfere with my plans." A voice distorted electronically congratulated the heroes on their victory. Boom and Thunderbolt both looked around, using their accelerated perception of reality to look for whoever was addressing them. But there was no one to be found. The siblings looked at each other nervously as the voice continued. "But I'm going to need to take these guys off your hands. So, if you'll all be so kind, die."

A bright light blinded the speedsters. Screams were muffled by the ringing out of gunshots. Harvey and Laura blinked rapidly to fix their vision, but by the time they could see anything it was too late. A figure cloaked in grey had either killed or incapacitated the remaining police officers and was making his way toward the speedsters. "You sick bastard!" Boom yelled as she blitzed the unknown assailant. The man, if you could even call him that, dodged the speedster with his own impossible speed. Boom, too stunned to react, found herself being slashed by the man's sharp claws right across her chest. "Nice, aren't they? I call them my talons. Razor sharp ends to my gloves, they can cut clean through steel. They also have the added bonus of containing neuro-toxins. You should be feeling a sharp dizziness, followed by unconsciousness." The villain gloated as Thunderbolt charged at the guy from behind. "Who are you?!" Harvey asked as the guy jumped over his punch. The cloaked figure tossed a disc until Thunderbolt's back, which drilled into his skin and started to beep. "Me? My name is a secret. But since you heroes need a name to scream when you wake from this nightmare...Call me Gray Owl." The disc exploded, and the world was covered in fire as Thunderbolt's chest blew open.

The two heroes fell to the ground simultaneously. Gray Owl looked down at the fallen siblings, smiling. "I wish I could finish you both off. Really, I do. But those pesky healing factors make that difficult, and I don't have the time. So I'm going to take my new army and leave. Nice meeting you kids."

Super-senses. They had their uses, I've told you this before. They let Sentinel find people trapped miles underground. Or they alert him to a plane falling out of the sky that needs catching. Perfect power for a Kryptonian, right? They help guys like Isaac prevent tragedy. Yet...Sentinel can hear everything in the tower. Even down to a pin drop. There wasn't anything he wasn't aware of. That's not always a good thing. He could hear Cell and Thermo bashing their way through hordes of the dead to get upstairs. Sentinel could hear Devil and Magi fighting in the hangar. He could hear Whirlpool, and Static, and..and..

The screams.

He could hear them screaming.

"W-What?" Sentinel muttered as he bashed zombie after zombie. He tried his best to be non-lethal. After all, Rufus thought they could be cured. Isaac stopped fighting when he heard the twins scream. The young Kryptonian whipped his head towards the hangar, using his X-ray vision to see through the metal and stone. He focused in on the T-Wing, and he watched. Sentinel watched the husks tear the girls apart, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. Sentinel felt his lip quiver as his hearing went haywire, like someone turned it up to eleven. Now he could hear even more. Flesh ripping. Eyes popping. Blood flowing. "GEM! SIA!" Sentinel screamed. The Titan impaled multiple husks on his fists, chucking them at super speed into the horde. He charged towards the hangar, using his body as a battering ram. The Kryptonian slammed through the wall, landing with a thud on the hangar floor. The zombies that had been attacking him rushed through the hole Sentinel made, making a mad dash towards the new fleshlings. Sentinel ignored everything else as he sprinted toward the T-Wing at mach 2. He tore through metal like it was wet tissue paper, exploding entire corpses with a swing of his fists. "Lock? Load?!"

Sentinel knew they were dead. He'd watched the husks pull them in half. But maybe his eyes had lied. Maybe he could save them.

The Kryptonian broke through the final door, chucking it out of the T-Wing as if it weighed less than a feather. Isaac stopped in his tracks. The plane was filled with blood. There were maybe half a dozen husks, all surrounding the twins' bodies..Or whatever was left of them. "NO!" Isaac cried. Two beams of heat, as intense as any fire, incinerated the walking dead. Sentinel stumbled past the seats towards where they had been. He fell to his knees in a pool of their remains, searching desperately for any sign of life. Two, beautiful girls, now reduced to nothing but entrails and organs. Not even a limb was left unscathed. Grant tried to speak, but he felt like his throat was stuffed full of chalk. Tears ran down Sentinel's cheeks as the young Kryptonian screamed. His cry was primal, guttural. Inhuman. Sentinel roared like an enraged, mindless beast as he destroyed the T-Wing in a ball of fire. Isaac's eyes glazed over as he walked out of the flame.

Another roar exited Sentinel's throat as he began to attack anything that moved. Zombies and husks fell in spades, heads exploding from the sheer force of his blows. The dead crumbled as they were froze from the outside in. Others disappeared as Sentinel's heat vision erased them from existence. The Kryptonian fought with reckless abandon, destroying everything in his path. Bodies fell all around Isaac as he lashed out. In his blind rage, Sentinel mistook Stunt Devil for a husk. Isaac slammed a powerful fist into the teenager's chest, sending the unsuspecting hero flying with the impact. (Or, perhaps not. Perhaps Stunt Devil dodged the wild blow. It was difficult for Sentinel to make out what was happening.) A normal person would have died. Luckily for Max, he wasn't normal. Sentinel turned his senseless eyes towards Zane, moments from punching a whole in the magician's face. In a moment of cosmic irony, it seemed the husks had decided to target Sentinel and Sentinel alone. The Kryptonian was tackled to the floor by a horde of growling, drooling cadavers before he could hurt his teammate. "RAAAAARGGHHH!" Sentinel leaped into the air, dragging the horde with him as he slammed through the hangar ceiling and flew out into the sunlight. Sentinel crashed into the ground, kicking up dust, dirt and chunks of island as he hit the rocks. The zombies stabbed with their knives and bit with their teeth as they dog piled on top of the steadily weakening superhero.

"NO!" Two beams of bright light shot out of the pile, catching the dead on fire. Sentinel turned his eyes erratically in a fit of panic. He turned the dead to ash in his final throes. Sentinel stumbled, his vision blurry. Another wave of husks was already charging at the weakened Titan. "I'm sorry!" Sentinel slammed his fists onto the ground, using the force of his blows to send a wave of earth into the crowd of husks, smashing them under the weight of the rocks. "I-I couldn't save them either. I can't save anyone!" Isaac was losing it. He was rambling like a madman as he tried to protect himself from the seemingly endless hordes of the living dead. "All my fault!" A husk tackled Sentinel to the ground, more jumping on top of him as the seconds past. "Always my fault..."

Isaac Grant let the void swallow him. The darkness appearing at the edge of his vision threatened to envelop Sentinel forever, yet he couldn't fight it. He wouldn't. Isaac felt his life slipping between his fingers as the husks drained him nearly dry. Isaac used what was left of his strength to grab his communicator. One final message to the rest of the Titans, before Sentinel let himself die. But what should he say? What could he say? "I..." He started, trembling. "...Only wanted to help." Then the little, yellow disk fell out of Sentinel's hand.

Goodbye, world. I deserved every minute of your torture.

I'm no Superman.

They all stopped. Time seemed frozen. One moment, dozens of lifeless, walking husks were biting and pulling at Sentinel. The next? They just...stopped. No more growling or moaning. No more biting. They all rolled off of the dog pile, sounds of confusion and terror echoed throughout the crowd of now-free civilians. Sentinel tried to piece together what had happened as he helped a young woman, about his own age, off the ground. After Eric had appeared and saved Isaac's skin, his hearing had been disorientated by Microbat's screech. Yet, Sentinel still heard the bullet loud and clear. The Kryptonian turned his eyes towards the tower, his eyes locking onto Simone when he spotted her. There was a moment of relief knowing she'd not only survived the attack, but killed the enemy leader. The relief didn't last as the smell of smoke and distant fire reminded Sentinel of his utter failure. The caped hero stepped towards the edge of the cliff he currently stood on, looking out over San Francisco as it burned. Sentinel tried to ignore Amazon as he activated the Titan's communicator. Isaac didn't want to hear what Evan was going to say. They all knew it. When they guessed that the zombies were incurable, they had guessed wrong. Now, they were all bonafide murderers. It was all impossible to take in at that moment. So much had happened in such a short span of time...It was all so surreal. Sentinel looked down at his shaky, weak hands.

"Dear God. What have I done?"

Those were the last actual words Sentinel spoke for the rest of the day. To his credit, Sentinel spent the rest of the day helping clear rubble and rebuild what he could. While some people definitely appreciated Isaac's help, most were not as forgiving. They knew what he'd done. Word traveled fast about all of the corpses Sentinel had left in his quake trying to help. People mocked him. They through bricks, beer bottles and whatever else they could find. Isaac held it together until night fall, before retreating to the remains of the tower to weep. His anguished cries persisted until the next morning.

---

In the Hall of Mentors, Isaac sat. He had curled up with his legs in his chest with his back leaning against the statue of Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl. Sentinel had taken his cape off, draping the alien blanket over himself. Isaac felt so cold. That was pretty uncharacteristic of a Kryptonian, who could brave the temperatures of space. The Titan stared at the ground, watching an ant carrying a crumb out of the tower. Two and a half million people. Dead. That's two and a half million husbands, fathers, sons and daughters who's families would never see them again. How many of those people had died in Sentinel's arms? How many lives had he personally stomped into the ground in a fit of uncontrollable rage? It was impossible to know. More than a hundred, at the bare minimum. What a strange feeling Isaac was overcome with. Not too long ago Sentinel had pledged to give every super-villain what they deserved: a ticket straight to Hell. He had wanted to avenge all the people they had killed. In a moment of universal irony, Sentinel found himself with bloodier hands than most. Even some of the people he had tried to murder in what he had so foolishly called justice were cleaner than he was now.

It's like Isaac's life was some kind of cosmic joke. He tried damn hard to be a good man. To do what he thought was necessary for the so-called greater good. But the universe just threw that into his face, and laughed. You want to save these people? You want to make the hard choice in service of others? Fine. Here's two and a half million people dead because of you! Chew on that for a while why don't ya?! There was probably someone up there, watching this all unfold, laughing as he causes so much pain. Well up yours, whoever-you-are. I'm gonna sit here, wallowing in a pool of my own tears until the world falls apart around me. Never gonna do this hero thing again. I'd only end up making things worse.

Well now, my boy, that's no way to look at things.

Huh? Who are you-

Don't you recognize Uncle Kent Nelson's voice when you hear it, son? Well, not exactly 'hear...'

How are you in my head?

There are things you don't know about me quite yet. A lot of things, actually. I'll tell you when this is all over. But right now, I'm going to need you to get up, my boy.

No! I'm done! FOREVER!

You don't mean that. Superman-

I'M NOT SUPERMAN!

No. No you're not Superman. That would be too much to ask of you, me, or anyone else..

There was a moment of silence within Sentinel's disturbed mind.

What does that S on your chest mean?

I-It's Superman's symbol.

That's right. Superman gave that to you, because he thinks you're worthy of wearing it. And who are you to disagree with the Man of Steel?

Another moment of silence.

What's that S mean, Isaac? What does it stand for?

On Krypton, it means hope.

What I'm asking you to do is hard, Isaac. It's probably the hardest thing anyone is ever going to ask you to do. I'm asking you to hope. Hope for a brighter future, a future where peace and justice reign. Hope for the world to one day become right, whether you see it or not.

How, uncle Nelson?

One foot in front of the other. Don't look back. Keep your eyes forward. No matter the failures, the pain or the trails. There's nothing you could do that can't be redeemed. Even...Even this. Just because you stumble doesn't mean that you're lost...

"...You just have to try harder." The the voice left, as quick as it had appeared. Isaac couldn't explain it. He'd felt so weak, he could barely feel his legs. His chest had burned and he struggled to breathe. But now? He felt better. Stronger, than ever before. He couldn't explain how his uncle had spoken to him. Maybe Isaac had finally gone off the deep end and was hearing things. Or maybe his uncle was a superhero. Both sounded equally as absurd. Sentinel pushed himself to his feet, looking at the statue he had rested his head on. He gave a small smile before his attention was brought elsewhere. The voice of Alexander Luthor vibrated in Sentinel's ears, accompanied by the ever so subtle distortion caused by radio waves. Isaac made his way upstairs to the source of the sound, finding his fellow Titan watching television. Evan looked like a mess, which seemed out of character for the usually jovial (and naked) warrior. Judging by the empty bottles surrounding his chair, Amazon was dealing with the pain however he could. Isaac felt for Amazon. In fact, if Isaac could even get a little drunk, he probably would have joined him.

Sentinel turned away as Luthor continued his propaganda, his attention occupied by the sounds of helicopters and tanks approaching the tower. The Kryptonian looked back at Evan and the TV for a moment, deep in thought. They needed a plan. Now. Sentinel rushed towards the nearest intercom, pressing the alarm button to wake the rest of the Titans. "Gotta give us a minute to get clear.." Sentinel muttered. Isaac grabbed his communicator, flipping it on as he stared out the window at the approaching army. "Titans. Gather in the kitchen! We've got trouble! I'm gonna try and buy us some time to get away. Rao help us all."

With that, the Kryptonian leaped off the balcony and out into open air. One of the tanks opened fire, a shell careening towards the attacking Titan, perceiving the charge as an act of aggression. The round exploded on Sentinel's chest. The Kryptonian, unharmed, landed in front of the tank that attacked him. He tore apart the barrel like it was made of butter and rendered the tank nearly useless before moving on to the next. He grabbed the barrel this time, pulling the entire turret off and chucking it into the bay. One of the helicopters turned its machine guns on Sentinel, opening fire. Isaac moved before the bullets could even land, grabbing the crew of the tank and moving them out of harms way. The Titan jumped into the air and landed on the helicopter, wrapping his fingers around the cockpit and pulling it off. "Parachutes!" Sentinel screamed at the top of his lungs as he dragged both of the airmen away from the free falling helicopter and let them go. Sentinel waited until their chutes popped to continue his assault, careful not to harm accidentally harm anyone. These soldiers were innocent. Just doing their duty. Sentinel made it as bloodless as possible.

Polemos struggled against the grip of Lost Haven's knight in shining tights. Try as he might, the Servant of Ares could not break the hero's hold. The two rocketed into the sky at unimaginable speeds, surrounded by fire and flame. As the clouds disappeared beneath Chike's feet, the man within the monster briefly wondered if Icon planned to throw Polemos into the depths of space. A fitting end to the Greek's rampage, no doubt. But that was not the hero's plan. No, Icon was too merciful to condemn even an enemy as powerful as Polemos to an eternity in the dark void of endless space. The emerald inferno surrounding the two immortal men began to diminish as it was deprived of oxygen. No earthly substance could quench these Olympian flames; yet flames they still were, requiring oxygen to burn. The Fire of Hephaestus now gone, Icon dragged Chike Baatul back to the surface and into the city of Lost Haven.

At this point, Chike was nearly unconscious. He had not taken a breath before Icon dragged him out of the atmosphere and because of this now saw black dots encompassing his vision. Polemos still struggled despite his weakness. He pounded his fists against the knight to no avail, his strength lesser than before. At some point (Chike could not tell how much time had passed. Perhaps seconds, perhaps hours) Polemos found himself being thrown into some strange net. A trap of some sort. The Avatar of War struggled against his binds, yet found the effort as meaningless as it had been against Icon. It wasn't until Polemos saw the Spider approaching from the shadows that he realized his bind was not a net, but a web.

"You stick me in this web,
Like stopping a river's ebb,
Your efforts are pointless O' knight,
For all this will bring is Ares' spite!"

Polemos watched as the Spider inched ever closer. She seemed to be gathering some kind of silk from her arachnid abdomen. What a disgusting creature. Polemos would see her head split in two, crushed under the force of his mighty boot. As the Spider approached to attach her filthy webbing to the Greek, Polemos struggled to free himself. He doubled his efforts, desperate to strike the creature and save his own life.

"Back from me, Spider!
Or I'll drown your soul in Hell's burning fire!
You're just like the knight,
You're nothing beside my might!"

Webbing snapped as Polemos pulled against his binds with all of his strength. A single arm broke free, lashing out at Arachne. Chike wrapped his bloodied fingers around the girl's face. He began to apply pressure, little by little. What a fragile little thing. How easy it would be to watch her head explode. Polemos sneered as he began to mock the creature before he finished it off. Then, when she was gone, Polemos would turn his wrath on the Knight.

"Is my grip too snug?
You stupid little bug!
I'll snap your neck!
I'll break your face!
I'll burn you all!
THAT IS YOUR FATE!"

"We have incoming!"

Sentinel landed on the helicopter with the grace of a drunk elephant. The rogue superhero shoved a fist through the hull of the aircraft, pulling out wires and electronics. The pilots inside the chopper panicked as the Krytponian smashed his way inside the flying war machine, grabbing the pair of airmen and jumping back off the helicopter as it went careening into the ocean below. Sentinel landed back on the island with a loud crash, placing the two soldiers down before leaping off to draw more fire from the encroaching military. Bullets bounced off his broud chest as Isaac rampaged across the Titans' island, defending it from America's own army. This was all Luthor's fault. Isaac vowed to hunt down the president if he survived this, and take him down for all the pain he'd ever caused. Politics be damned, Lex Luthor was the enemy of Superman. The first wave of attackers were thinning as Sentinel dashed around as nothing but a blur, dismantling warmachines and disarming soldiers as he went. Even down here, in the chaos of battle, Sentinel could hear his teammates in the kitchen. Rhea was trying to raise everyone's spirits. Stun Devil seemed confused and perhaps a bit depressed. People's biology betrayed their feelings to Sentinel's super hearing.

Mere moments from dismantling another M1 Abrams tank, Sentinel stopped in his tracks at Pistolera's orders. She sounded serious. Deadly serious. The moment of hesitation was long enough for the tank to turn its cannon on Sentinel and open fire. A shell of depleted uranium exploded as it made contact with Isaac's face. Instead of being obliterated into a pile of gore and blood, Sentinel smiled. Human weapons were pathetically weak. Kid Krypto's heat vision was enough to slice the turret in half and render the vehicle's weapon systems inoperable before Sentinel turned and froze a nearby Humvee with his freeze breathe.

"Whatever good reasons you think you have for attacking the United State's military, forget them. They are not good reasons. We could have gotten out undetected without you smashing the countries defense budget, but as usual you flew off half cocked without a real plan. The team can still get out, but you need to stop before you make things any worse for us. Run now, lose any pursuit, then make a roundabout route to Star City. We'll meet there when I've deemed it safe."

Isaac had to admit, Simone was right. As usual. He'd attacked U.S troops without considering any other plan of action. But now Luthor had even more ammunition for his mud slinging campaign against the Titans. Typical. Sentinel went and made everything worse in his honest effort to keep other people safe. Was there anything the Kryptonian teen could do right?

"Alright." Sentinel responded over the communicator. The military continued to waste their bullets as they fired on Sentinel, even as he stood still. "Good luck. I'll-" Isaac stopped speaking when Eric shouted out his name. Sentinel turned to see Microbat flying out of the tower and towars another helicopter. This one was different from the others, though. That much was apparent. Deciding to investigate, Sentinel used his X-Ray vision to scan the inner workings of the large aircraft. That's when he noticed the Kryptonite tipped bullets. A scowl crossed Isaac's face. "Luthor." He growled. Of course Lex would arm them with Kryptonite weapons. How else were they suppose to beat Sentinel? Did they have weapons for the other Titans, too? There was no time to check as Eric brought the helicopter down before it could unleash its payload. He'd have to thank the bat for that one later. Sentinel watched as the helicopter fell out of the sky, the men manning it already jumping out and using their parachutes. Isaac dashed into action. If that chopper crashed where it was, the men under it would be crushed to death. Sentinel leaped through the air at the speed of sound, slamming into the side of the aircraft. The force of the Kryptonian's charge was enough to change the helicopter's trajectory, sending it flying into the ocean harmlessly. One quick check for anyone inside confirmed they had all escaped in time. Good.

"Microbat!" Sentinel called through the communicator. "Fly outta here! I'll keep the helicopters' attention until your clear!" Isaac placed the device back in his belt before turning back towards the military, firing his heat vision into the air. "Hey! Over here!" The simple tactic seemed to be a success as the air force turned their weapons back on the invincible Kryptonian. Isaac waited, listening. He wouldn't run off himself before he heard the portal snap shut. He strained to listen as Pistolera whispered, catching the coordinates before she sent Accelerate off and left him here to lead Eric and Isaac. It was frustrating being assigned a babysitter, but could Isaac blame them? Sentinel hadn't made one good choice on his own since he had joined the Titans. That would change today.

"Accelerate. We gotta go-" A missile exploded around the Kryptonian as he spoke into his communicator, not batting an eye at the raging inferno. "I'll catch up with you in a minute. I have something I need to say." With that, Sentinel put both of his hands into the air. The explosions and bullets continued to fly for a moment even as Sentinel apparently surrendered. Eventually someone seemed to see and ordered the soldiers to cease fire. There was a tense moment of silence. Nothing moved. All Sentinel could hear was the beating hearts of the men and women in the tanks and helicopters. Sentinel glanced up at an approaching news chopper. This was his chance. Sentinel moved towards a nearby Humvee, looking through it until he found a megaphone. Perfect. The Kryptonian returned to his previous position, a group of marines approaching with handcuffs. He ignored them as they shouted orders for Sentinel to freeze.

"I know you can hear me Luthor." Sentinel spoke into the megaphone, as calm as he could manage after such a fight. "And I'm sorry." The soldiers froze. What was he doing? "I didn't know those people could be saved. I thought they were gone...But that doesn't excuse murder. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry to all the people who lost their homes. To all the children who lost their parents. Blame me for all of it. It was my fault." Sentinel paused, before pointing at the tower. "But don't blame them! I'm invincible. I could have held back. But the rest of the Titans? They're people, just like you. They bleed and they...And they die." Sentinel felt something jump in his throat. All he could picture were the twins as those zombies tore them apart. "My friends were just defending themselves. They had no other choice. Don't blame them. Blame me."

Then he disappeared, leaving the megaphone on the ground.

NAME: Zhib-Ran

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Villain

AFFILIATION: SHIELD, Avengers, formerly the planet Tok and eventually the Squadron Sinister

ORIGIN:

POWERS:

Sample Story Arcs:

Avenger of Earth: Zhib-Ran arrives on earth and begins working with SHIELD to help them make the earth a safer place. He takes on the identity of SHIELD Agent Milton, hiding his true purpose and origin from the humans until the opportune moment arrives for his conquest of the planet. Yet, Hyperion has grown fond of humanity. He would soon remember, however, why his parents hated commoners, and turn on SHIELD and earth.

Conquest of Knowhere: Hyperion arrives at Knowhere, determined to conquer the city as his own and establish himself as king. He is forced to fight the Guardians of Knowhere in his attempt to control the crime hub.

King Hpyerion: Hyperion becomes the king of a planet/society. He rules over them with an iron fist, until someone comes around and forces him to leave.

Squadron Sinister: Once his other plans fail, Hyperion turns towards the rest of the galaxy once more and hunts down the most infamous criminals in the known universe and invites them to join the Squadron Sinister.

Sample Post:



Agent Milton sat on top of a skyscraper in the middle of New York City. The locals called the structure the "Daily Bugle." Apparently it was a facility built for the express purpose of delivering biased journalism to the drooling masses of New York. Mark brought one such piece of propaganda up to where he could look at it: a newspaper, the humans called it. Covered in pictures and writing. Why did this "Bugle" continue to use such an outdated form of communication to deliver its message to the people of New York City. Even here, on the primitive planet called earth, they had more efficient means of transferring information from one location to multiple locations. A network of computers devised many years ago that allowed the public access to the 'information superhighway.' Despite the existence of this system, the Daily Bugle and a number of other outlets insisted on having their opinions transported by hand. It baffled Zhib-Ran, who's own world used a sort of 'internet' to spread news. Everyone carried a device that could be wirelessly accessed at any time by those allowed to present information to the entire planet.

That was another thing this planet, and more specifically the western portion of it, lacked: censorship. Why allow men like this J. Jonah Jameson to spew lies about important public figures like the Spider-Man? The Spider-Man is a hero. He serves as an icon to the people of New York City; the denizens look up to him as their savior. Well, they should, anyway. From what Zhib-Ran had seen, not everyone appreciated the wall-crawler's presence in the big apple. That fact can be attributed to the mud slinging of Jameson more than likely.

"Hmph." Hyperion puffed as he observed the front page. A picture of Spider-Man slinging through New York's skyline. Odd, Zhib-Ran thought. How did they manage to get a shot from this angle? The photographer must have been standing on the ledge of a massive structure to get a shot from that high up. How could he have known the Spider was swinging by at that exact moment, to take a picture without blur? How very odd. Zhib-Ran began to read the article on the front page. It was an opinion piece written by multiple authors. The article raised an interesting question: Should superheroes be allowed to work within the city without regulation by the government? Of course not. Hyperion answered within his own mind. You can't trust an ordinary citizen to do the work of the police. But law enforcement on earth was not equipped to deal with the threats that required the attention of superheroes. Hyperion went on to read the rest of the article on page eleven. The Daily Bugle offered a simple solution: SHIELD. They wanted people to look at SHIELD and see how well their system worked, and how it could be applied to law enforcement at large within the United States of America. Vigilantes are brought in, trained, and given badges before they're sent off to work for the city. They would get a paycheck, benefits, the whole package. What's not to love?

The article failed to mention, and Hyperion failed to realize, the shortcomings of such a plan. For Zhib-Ran hadn't the time to mull over the positives and negatives, because Captain America needed his assistance.

"Agent Milton." A voice suddenly spoke from Zhib's watch.

Hyperion raised the device closer to his face and pressed a button on the side. "This is Milton. Go ahead." Zhib-Ran was still getting used to calling himself "Agent Mark Milton" instead of Zhib-Ran or Hyperion. Why the humans wished for his identity to remain a mystery, Zhib did not know. But he had chosen to work with SHIELD until the day when he no longer needed them. For Hyperion's plans to come into fruition, he needed SHIELD's full trust. So, for now, Hyperion would do as they told. No questions asked.

"Captain America has activated his distress beacon and requested your assistance. He's currently in the Savage Lands, Antarctica- you should be able to find him without too much trouble."

"Of course. I'll be right there."

Hyperion switched the device off and set his newspaper down. He quickly removed his grey suit jacket and carefully folded it up, setting that down as well. Zhib removed a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on before straightening his tie and jumping to his feet. A quick rolling up of his sleeves, and Hyperion was ready for work.

Then he jumped.

Zhib-Ran fell from the roof of the Daily Bugle towards the busy streets below. People looked up and pointed; he could hear screams and calls for help as he rapidly descended towards the asphalt. Time itself seemed to distort as Hyperion activated his powers. Everything slowed down to a crawl. Zhib glanced around with his enhanced vision at the faces of the people below. A moment later, after he had finished enjoying the fresh air, Hyperion began to fly. He suddenly shot forward at speeds approaching light, flying above the New York skyline. He was careful not to get too close to any buildings; his powers allowed him to keep air disruption to a minimum, however there was still the chance that Zhib-Ran could shatter the windows with the amount of air he was kicking behind him at the speed he was going. If Hyperion wasn't able to regulate air flow around him, he imagined flying at light speed would be equivalent to setting off a nuclear bomb in the middle of the city.

Good thing that wasn't a probably for him, isn't it?

It took less than a second for Hyperion to reach the research facility. However, for the extra-dimensional alien, it felt like quite a bit longer. He had to fly up into space and use his telescopic vision combined with his X-ray vision to locate Sam Wilson. Then he had to fly down to Antarctica and traverse the Savage Land without crashing. It felt like an eternity. If Zhib wasn't so experienced with his powers he would have wondered if he reached Sam in time to save him. But he was experienced, so that wasn't an issue either.

Hyperion smashed through the metal and concrete that made up the facilities walls. Debris froze in mid air as Zhib took the time to examine in the situation. The room was filled with what appeared to be dinosaurs in strange glass cases. Cap was looking at one such dinosaur. The good captain appeared to have locked eyes with the creature. Hyperion turned to see a group of AIM agents approaching from another door, all of them armed with state of the art laser weaponry. They wouldn't affect Hyperion; he'd feel them, but it'd probably just tickle. Time sped back up to normal as Hyperion slowed to a stop. The AIM agents entered the room and pointed their weapons at the intruders. However, Cap didn't move. His eyes were stuck on the dinosaur. That was when Hyperion realized that the strange earth creature in the tube must have had the captain under some sort of mind control.

He had to act fast. Hyperion flew forward, right at the pterodactyl. He tackled the beast out of its tube and dragged the flying monster through a nearby wall. And then another wall. And another. Once they were outside, Hyperion let go of Sauron and allowed the monster to get up. The naive "hero" believed it was just some misunderstood lizard, and believed it would fly away after that. "Go on." Hyperion urged. "Get outta here."

Hopefully Cap could deal with the AIM guys on his own, because the dinosaur didn't seem very willing to leave.

Agent Milton sat on top of a skyscraper in the middle of New York City. The locals called the structure the "Daily Bugle." Apparently it was a facility built for the express purpose of delivering biased journalism to the drooling masses of New York. Mark brought one such piece of propaganda up to where he could look at it: a newspaper, the humans called it. Covered in pictures and writing. Why did this "Bugle" continue to use such an outdated form of communication to deliver its message to the people of New York City. Even here, on the primitive planet called earth, they had more efficient means of transferring information from one location to multiple locations. A network of computers devised many years ago that allowed the public access to the 'information superhighway.' Despite the existence of this system, the Daily Bugle and a number of other outlets insisted on having their opinions transported by hand. It baffled Zhib-Ran, who's own world used a sort of 'internet' to spread news. Everyone carried a device that could be wirelessly accessed at any time by those allowed to present information to the entire planet.

That was another thing this planet, and more specifically the western portion of it, lacked: censorship. Why allow men like this J. Jonah Jameson to spew lies about important public figures like the Spider-Man? The Spider-Man is a hero. He serves as an icon to the people of New York City; the denizens look up to him as their savior. Well, they should, anyway. From what Zhib-Ran had seen, not everyone appreciated the wall-crawler's presence in the big apple. That fact can be attributed to the mud slinging of Jameson more than likely.

"Hmph." Hyperion puffed as he observed the front page. A picture of Spider-Man slinging through New York's skyline. Odd, Zhib-Ran thought. How did they manage to get a shot from this angle? The photographer must have been standing on the ledge of a massive structure to get a shot from that high up. How could he have known the Spider was swinging by at that exact moment, to take a picture without blur? How very odd. Zhib-Ran began to read the article on the front page. It was an opinion piece written by multiple authors. The article raised an interesting question: Should superheroes be allowed to work within the city without regulation by the government? Of course not. Hyperion answered within his own mind. You can't trust an ordinary citizen to do the work of the police. But law enforcement on earth was not equipped to deal with the threats that required the attention of superheroes. Hyperion went on to read the rest of the article on page eleven. The Daily Bugle offered a simple solution: SHIELD. They wanted people to look at SHIELD and see how well their system worked, and how it could be applied to law enforcement at large within the United States of America. Vigilantes are brought in, trained, and given badges before they're sent off to work for the city. They would get a paycheck, benefits, the whole package. What's not to love?

The article failed to mention, and Hyperion failed to realize, the shortcomings of such a plan. For Zhib-Ran hadn't the time to mull over the positives and negatives, because Captain America needed his assistance.

"Agent Milton." A voice suddenly spoke from Zhib's watch.

Hyperion raised the device closer to his face and pressed a button on the side. "This is Milton. Go ahead." Zhib-Ran was still getting used to calling himself "Agent Mark Milton" instead of Zhib-Ran or Hyperion. Why the humans wished for his identity to remain a mystery, Zhib did not know. But he had chosen to work with SHIELD until the day when he no longer needed them. For Hyperion's plans to come into fruition, he needed SHIELD's full trust. So, for now, Hyperion would do as they told. No questions asked.

"Captain America has activated his distress beacon and requested your assistance. He's currently in the Savage Lands, Antarctica- you should be able to find him without too much trouble."

"Of course. I'll be right there."

Hyperion switched the device off and set his newspaper down. He quickly removed his grey suit jacket and carefully folded it up, setting that down as well. Zhib removed a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on before straightening his tie and jumping to his feet. A quick rolling up of his sleeves, and Hyperion was ready for work.

Then he jumped.

Zhib-Ran fell from the roof of the Daily Bugle towards the busy streets below. People looked up and pointed; he could hear screams and calls for help as he rapidly descended towards the asphalt. Time itself seemed to distort as Hyperion activated his powers. Everything slowed down to a crawl. Zhib glanced around with his enhanced vision at the faces of the people below. A moment later, after he had finished enjoying the fresh air, Hyperion began to fly. He suddenly shot forward at speeds approaching light, flying above the New York skyline. He was careful not to get too close to any buildings; his powers allowed him to keep air disruption to a minimum, however there was still the chance that Zhib-Ran could shatter the windows with the amount of air he was kicking behind him at the speed he was going. If Hyperion wasn't able to regulate air flow around him, he imagined flying at light speed would be equivalent to setting off a nuclear bomb in the middle of the city.

Good thing that wasn't a probably for him, isn't it?

It took less than a second for Hyperion to reach the research facility. However, for the extra-dimensional alien, it felt like quite a bit longer. He had to fly up into space and use his telescopic vision combined with his X-ray vision to locate Sam Wilson. Then he had to fly down to Antarctica and traverse the Savage Land without crashing. It felt like an eternity. If Zhib wasn't so experienced with his powers he would have wondered if he reached Sam in time to save him. But he was experienced, so that wasn't an issue either.

Hyperion smashed through the metal and concrete that made up the facilities walls. Debris froze in mid air as Zhib took the time to examine in the situation. The room was filled with what appeared to be dinosaurs in strange glass cases. Cap was looking at one such dinosaur. The good captain appeared to have locked eyes with the creature. Hyperion turned to see a group of AIM agents approaching from another door, all of them armed with state of the art laser weaponry. They wouldn't affect Hyperion; he'd feel them, but it'd probably just tickle. Time sped back up to normal as Hyperion slowed to a stop. The AIM agents entered the room and pointed their weapons at the intruders. However, Cap didn't move. His eyes were stuck on the dinosaur. That was when Hyperion realized that the strange earth creature in the tube must have had the captain under some sort of mind control.

He had to act fast. Hyperion flew forward, right at the pterodactyl. He tackled the beast out of its tube and dragged the flying monster through a nearby wall. And then another wall. And another. Once they were outside, Hyperion let go of Sauron and allowed the monster to get up. The naive "hero" believed it was just some misunderstood lizard, and believed it would fly away after that. "Go on." Hyperion urged. "Get outta here."

Hopefully Cap could deal with the AIM guys on his own, because the dinosaur didn't seem very willing to leave.

Moments before Sentinel took off, he felt someone wrap their arms around him. Then the world contorted as Sentinel was dragged at super speed to the outskirts of the city. The trip took seconds. One moment Sentinel had been standing outside Titan's Tower, and the next he was in the middle of some empty grasslands. The sudden stop caused Isaac's senses to blur as he felt himself leave his assailant's arms and go flying into the dirt a few feet away. "Grrragghhh..." Sentinel muttered, rubbing his eyes. He rarely went that fast. Was this what jet lag felt like?

Sentinel took a moment to gather himself, seeing as how he wasn't under attack from whoever had grabbed him. Must have been an ally. Accelerate, maybe? The speedster had stayed behind despite Isaac's suggestion that he get a move on while Sentinel dealt with the military. Sentinel turned his hand, glancing at the figure clad in black leather. Yep. Definitely Accelerate, alright. Nobody else rocks that kind gear. Before Isaac could question Rufus' actions, the speedster set into Sentinel, chewing him out for all of his recent failings and short comings. Usually, that kind of bullshit would make Sentinel absolutely livid. Sentinel didn't take nothin' from anyone, certainly not an asshole like Rufus. But after everything that happened? After all the fighting and death and tears? Isaac couldn't muster enough strength to be angry. Anger was too hard right now. All he had was exhaustion. Isaac was tired of fighting, tired of arguing. Tired of killing. Tired of everything.

So he let Accelerate vent.

It wasn't like Rufus was wrong, either. He spoke the truth. Sentinel never used his head. At least, not in any way that could be deemed productive. Isaac had made plans, sure. But they weren't long term. Everything Sentinel did, he did for immediate success. Like taking Lobo away from the other Titans. Sentinel didn't want anyone else to get hurt; and yes, he accomplished that goal. But without the other Titans he would have never defeated Lobo. Sentinel had wanted to keep his friends safe, so he killed the zombies. That guy in the armor had even said they couldn't be saved. But that theory proved false when Zuggernaut fell and the people returned to their normal selves. He'd attacked the military because, once again, he wanted to protect the Titans. But that effort once more proved to be unnecessary.

It was like Sentinel's life was a broken record. Always repeating the same patterns of thought and realization. Try to save people, realize he should have done it differently. People yell and scream at Isaac because he should've known better. Then Krypto wanders off and moops for a while, promising to be better. And then? And then it all happens again.

"Are you done?" Sentinel asked, once Rufus had finished his spool. His voice lacked any sort of threat to it, only regret. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry?! I don't mean to screw up! I try to do what's best. I try to protect people. That's all I want to do! I throw myself in front a speeding train to save somebody's life, and all they do is whine and complain that I didn't do it right!" Sentinel stopped. He sighed, placing his hands on his head before turning away from Rufus. "You have no idea what it's like to be me. You're a bonafide genius; I'm just some kid from Gotham. I didn't know anything before I got these powers. Seems like anybody else would'a been a better Sentinel than me." Another moment of silence. "Whatever. Like you care about anyone but yourself. Let's just find Eric, so I can fix this and turn myself in. Maybe I'll fit in better at Bell Rev."

The air smelled of salt and fish as Wolverine jumped from the roof of a warehouse onto a nearby pile of shipping containers. Night had fallen over the docks, and most of the people who worked legitimate jobs were home at this hour. All that was left were the scum of the earth, easy pickings for James Howlett. Wolverine hid within the shadows, careful to not reveal himself when a pair of men in suits carrying assault rifles passed by his perch. Professional killers. Just like the guys who had been protecting Henry Jenkins, the scumbag in charge of this sick circuit. Wolverine had made sure Jenkins got what he deserved before heading over to the docks to save the kiddies locked up in the basement. Logan waited until the patrol had passed out of earshot before sliding down the shipping containers and dashing across the street behind a pile of loose steel beams. He took a whiff of the air, separating the various smells that entered his nose. Logan identified ten more individuals surrounding the warehouse, with the last two mobile around the dock. Aside from the smell of fish, oil and rust, Wolverine could smell the kids. All one hundred and twenty three of 'em. Logan was a little surprised to hear that only twelve men were needed to watch over so many mutants. After all, Wolverine could take an army all on his lonesome. Maybe, he theorized, Jenkins' bosses only wanted the more docile or harmless mutants for Trask. Wouldn't make sense to protect a shipment of a small horde of bulletproof kids with laser vision using only twelve guys.

But back to the mission at hand. Wolverine reached into one of various pouches on his belt and pulled out a watch. Three in the morning. He'd have at least two or three hours before anyone showed up for work at the warehouses. Good. In that amount of time, Logan should be able to get all these kids out and to Romulus' people. The boss said he was goin' ta find out where the kids' parents were and send 'em home, so long as that's what they wanted. Of course he was going to try and recruit whoever he could, but there wasn't enough room in Team X's safehouse for a hundred and twenty three super powered brats. Anybody willin' to take in that many mutant kids would have to be crazy.

He slipped the watch back inside the pouch. Wolverine pulled his mask down tighter around his face, before sliding out from behind the cover of the steel beams and making his way towards the warehouse. Shimming along the side of the building, Logan spotted a sturdy pipe leading from below ground to the roof. Weapon X tested his weight against the pipe; once he was sure the metal construct was secure enough to hold all three hundred pounds of weight Logan was carrying around, the assassin ascended to the roof. A mouse would have been jealous of Logan's stealth. The roof of the warehouse was completely flat. A blessing and a curse for Wolverine. On one hand, he wouldn't need to worry about accidentally falling off. On the other hand, the two patrolling guards wouldn't have any trouble spotting Logan when they looped back around for another pass. With this fact in mind Logan moved swiftly. He slid open one of half a dozen skylights that dotted the old structure, slipping inside and landing on a raised walkway.

Now that Wolverine was inside, he had a clear view of the interior of the warehouse. The top floor had seven guards inside with three more guards in the basement. Two of the seven were positioned on the upper walkways, where Logan was now perched. They would have to go first. Wolverine disappeared into the shadows as one of the armed guards rounded the corner and stepped into his line of sight. The unsuspecting trooper received three claws through the face. Logan dragged the body into the darkness and dashed across the walkway. The second guard leaned against a stack of crates, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. The distracted combatant made easy prey for Wolverine. With the walkways clear of spying eyes, Logan had a chance to locate the remaining criminals. Five more scumbags dotted the warehouse. Two of said scumbags ran into each other and decided to spark up a conversation.

"Hey Joe," One of the thugs asked, clutching his assault rifle to his chest. "Did ya hear anythin'...Weird..Earlier?"

"Nah, man. You?" Joe replied casually. This seemed to offset the other guard. "Yeah. Sounded like somebody was gurglin' water. Freaked me out, so's I went to check it out. Didn't see nothin'." Joe just shrugged. "You're hearing things." The guard shook his head furiously. "No way, dude. Heard it clear as day. You think it was one of our boys kicking the bucket?" The guard looked up, worried about the two men assigned to the walkways. The guard tried to scream; but alas, he was too slow. Wolverine fell down from the rafters and decapitated the two guards simultaneously. Blood sprayed all over Logan, who didn't so much as grunt at the sickening display. "Holy shit!" Wolverine's head turned at a hundred miles per hour at the sudden exclamation. Half an instant later bullets started to fly. One of the guards had discovered Logan's presence, and watched him kill two of the guards!

"Hmph."

Wolverine slammed forward like a freight train. Bullets sunk into the charging mutant, but that didn't stop Logan's rampage. He sliced the gun in half with his Adamantium claws before doing the same to the man holding the gun. The final two guards appeared, opening fire as well. They tried to drop the mutant with everything they had. But Wolverine wasn't goin' down that easy, cutting out both guards' throats and letting them drown in their own blood. Now to find the basement entrance. Logan scanned the warehouse floor and noticed a nearby staircase leading downwards. He moved like a shade down the stairs. His speed was incredible. When Wolverine reached the bottom of the stairs, he kicked the metal emergency door off its hinges and caused the thing to fly across the room. The basement was pretty standard. A furnace, a conveyor belt, some crates, and a couple of holding cells with superpowered kids inside.

The remaining three guards turned their attention towards the stairs. Yet when the first one turned around, Wolverine was gone. What?! Where'd he go?! A blood curdling scream caused the guard's skin to crawl as he turned around once more. His fellow mercenaries were both on the floor, eviscerated and mutilated. Logan chopped off both the man's arms, roaring like an animal. The man cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Wolverine shot his knee forward. The sheer force of the attack caused the target's nose to be pushed so far back into his skull that his nose pierced his brain, killing him.

Terrified screams and the sound of crying brought Logan's mind back into the present. Reminded him of the job he was here to do. Wolverine turned towards the caged children, slicing off the locks on their cages. Utterly and completely afraid of their savior the mutants immediately ran for the exit with no regard for the others. Wolverine stood in silence until the room was emptied out.

Another job well done, he'd guess.

Agents of Romulus were waiting outside dressed as police officers and paramedics. They would help the kids. Get them back to their parents, if they desired. The more powerful of them would be tagged and observed, while the weaker ones would be treated of their injuries and released back into the world. So long as they were kept out of Bolivar Trask's filthy little hands, Romulus didn't care what they did. But really, who did?

“I-Is anyone there?”

Atlas anxiously watched the rest of the team shuffle into the hangar and make their way inside the aircraft. He glanced back at Radorion as the shirtless Titan dressed himself for battle. Marcus didn't know Ash well. Or at all, if he was being completely honest. The two hadn't spoken much (Rad wasn't exactly the social type) and what little they had said to one another shed no light on who Ash was. Marcus didn't even know what kind of powers the older guy possessed. Atlas made a mental note to approach the mysterious Titan at some point. After all, it's hard to work as a team if you don't know who's on that team in the first place. The Russian boy averted his gaze after that brief glance. He swept his vision across the rest of Titans East and went over a mental checklist, checking for who was still missing. Ash, Fortress, Cobalt, Kid Q, Thaam...Where were Bit-Girl and Annex?

"Lets rock! Every---"

BAM!

"Huh?" bewildered, the young Green Lantern's head shot back to see what had happened. Lo and behold, there was Bit-Girl: strewn out over the floor. Marcus slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead at the sight of Aria's grate-textured face. Well, there's Bit-Girl. Almost everyone was accounted for. Now all they were missing was- "Oh. I didn't hear you guys come in." Marcus looked over at Kid Q as the faceless man strolled out of the pilot's seat like he owned the place. Marcus probably should have been surprised that the entirely human Query had somehow made it inside the cockpit of the jet without anyone seeing him. But he wasn't surprised. Anyone who shamelessly listens to pop music and dresses in a blue fedora (or, alternatively, dresses like a bat) are expected to be sneaky little buggers. The Question doesn't raise no normal child, yessir-ee.

The small screen next to Atlas' seat glowed with life as the team began to discuss the plan of action. Based on the direction the conversation seemed to be heading, the general consensus between the Titans' various eggheads was that stealth was their best option. Marcus disagreed, but Green Lanterns weren't paid the big bucks to come up with plans. Atlas was here to follow orders and that's what he'd do. Marcus turned towards the screen and typed a few words into a search engine. A couple of clicks and taps later, a blueprint of the bank dominated the length of the screen. Atlas quickly looked over the map before looking down at his ring. As if on cue, the object began to glow. "Ring, download city municipal codes and the layout of the bank. Try to access the security cameras while you're at it." The ring only took half a minute to work its magic. The alien super computer was a truly astounding piece of technology when Marcus thought about all it could do. "Codes and layout uploaded to Central Battery mainframe. I am unable to access the cameras within the bank; unknown software is preventing the bank's systems from accepting my override commands." Marcus wrinkled his nose. "You're an alien computer! Can't you, like, hack it?" Atlas' ring was quick to respond. The voice lacked any sort of emotion, or sapience. "No, Marcus Lev Zelenyy, I can't 'Like, hack it.' I am not programmed to force entry into hostile systems. I attempted to use the proper passwords to remotely access the cameras and I was blocked. I can try again, but the result will be the same."

Marcus sighed and looked back at the computer screen. Robots; so useless. "Tell me if anything changes on that front."

Not much time passed before the jet arrived on scene. Julian and Guardian started tossing out orders, and Marcus got excited. Even if the mission was going to be a cakewalk, at least he could expect to smack a few baddies around. Better than sitting around Titans Tower all day playing Battlebots with Bit-Girl. Atlas waited until the three Titans assigned to move inside exited the back of the jet before unbuckling and moving towards the exit himself. Once the plane had landed, Green Lantern made his way outside along with the rest of the Titans and met up with the police. Julian found the officer in charge and started the pleasantries. While he was busy with that, Marcus took the time to give the bank a look over. Not much could be seen from here. The ring hadn't made any progress with the cameras. "Marcus. I've managed to piggyback on a friendly signal attempting to access the cameras. The one called Julian Luthor has succeeded in freeing the live feed from enemy control." Atlas nodded in approval. "Nice work, Luthor."

"Atlas, any chance you can make a drill strong enough to go under the building, give you guys a option to get in that they won't see coming."

Hrm. Atlas mulled over the idea for a moment before expressing his thoughts to the team's leader. "I can definitely make one strong enough to get us under the bank; no problem. The real problem is keeping it quiet. Tunneling isn't exactly a silent process, comrade." A green hardlight drill about the size of a human being appeared in front of Marcus. "I'll need a soundproof bubble around me while I work. Think you can handle that, Fortress?" Atlas asked, grinning at his teammate. "If that isn't possible I could knock a hole in the roof. Or a wall. Or we could all waltz in there guns a'blazing. Take the enemy down before they know what hit 'em."

I hate flyin’. It’s the worst feelin’ in the world; ‘specially when I’m not the one at the controls. Feels…unnatural. I ain’t supp’se ‘ta fly. Birds fly. Angels fly. Wolverines? Wolverines stay close to the ground. This Wolverine wishes he was close to the ground right ‘bout now.

“Logan.”

Wolverine glanced away from the window towards the young woman piloting the aircraft. Her voice betrayed her stone-cold eyes – she was concerned for her ‘father.’ Logan loosened his grip on the co-pilot’s stick, leaning back in the seat and taking a few short breathes in an attempt to calm himself down. “Logan! Look at me.” James opened his eyes and turned towards Laura, his brow furrowed in frustration. “What, Laura?!” He snapped. The stress of flying was getting to him. “Pull yourself together. You’re Weapon X, and you have a job to do. I don’t have time for your irrational terror.” X-23 chided the veteran assassin and spy for his frankly childish antics. “I don’t like flyin’. That’s all.” The jet slowed to a halt, hovering over the landing strip that made up the top level of SHIELD’s helicarriers. The jet X-23 flew was a specially designed stealth vehicle engineered by the eggheads back at the Program. At the push of a button, the aircraft's armored exterior disappeared by shifting and bending light around the jet. Light particles couldn't bounce off the plane back to the human eye, thus making the jet invisible from visual identification. The jet came equipped with the highest tech jamming equipment ever developed; they were undetectable to radar, infrared and all sorts of military-grade scanners.

In short: the perfect stealth transport.

Laura reached over towards a section of flips and switches, activating the jet's hover engines. Wolverine stood to his feet with a huff and made his way towards the exit. X-23 followed Logan out of the cockpit and into the back of the plane where the Canadian was busy strapping a backpack to his back. Laura grabbed her pack and slung the equipment over her shoulder, hips swaying as she made her way over towards the exit ramp. "We have thirty eight minutes before the next round of inspections." X-23 informed Logan after glancing at her watch. "We'll need to plug in directly to the helicarrier's system before we can download the Hulk files. We won't be able to wirelessly upload the information before we're exactly 2.3 miles away from the 'carrier; at that point, we're outside of their range of detection. If we do this right, SHIELD'll never know we were here."

"That's the plan, darlin'. That's the plan." Wolverine and X-23 stood side by side now. The door slid open and Laura stepped forward, grabbing the safety bar so she didn't fall into the ocean below. She looked down at the helicarrier and calculated her flight trajectory before jumping out of the jet. Laura landed on the tarmac with a subtle thud. Wolverine quickly followed her, shutting the door behind him as he too leaped onto the helicarrier and made his way behind a nearby helicopter. "Server room is on the third floor. Same floor as the main security hub. Only two ways in: the main stairwell, or we jump off the side and grab one of the maintenance walkways." Wolverine informed his teammate, recalling the map of the helicarrier he had committed to memory. "If we go down the stairwell we'll be more likely to run into SHIELD agents. We go maintenance."

The two mutants made their way to the edge of the helicarrier and looked over the side. Clouds floated by under their feet, offering the smallest glimpses of the ocean thousands of feet below them. The two agents stepped over the edge, landing with a thud on the maintenance walkways that peppered the outside of the helicarrier. They made their way inside a nearby airlock, stepping out of the bright morning light and into the dark bowels of the flying fortress. A boiler room of some sort, Logan guessed. There'd be engineers down here. Wolverine motioned for X-23 to be cautious as they made their way through the labyrinth of rooms and hallways towards the stairs. Along the way they spotted dozens of SHIELD engineers busily maintaining the helicarrier. Once on the third floor, Wolverine and X-23 pulled out a device and used it to loop the hall cameras just long enough for them to cross the hallway and enter the server room. Once they were clear, they reactivated the hall's live feed and looped the feed inside the server room. "Twenty three minutes and counting. We're making good time." Laura commented as Wolverine pulled out another electronic and plugged it into a nearby computer. The machines started to interact as Logan downloaded all files related to Doctor Robert Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk. While he was at it, Wolverine started grabbing files for other Superhumans SHIELD had on file. A few caught the Canadian's eye.

"Victoria Parrington, the Valkyrie. Confirmed no X-gene, ex-MI6 and current agent of SHIELD. Powers believed to be mystical in origin...Huh." Wolverine muttered as he continued to scroll through the database. "Victory Von Doom. Confirmed no ex-gene, monarch of Latveria. Origin of abilities unknown. Spiderman, real name unknown. Possible mutant with Spider-like abilities; current resident of New York City-" Laura coughed, interrupting Logan's spiel. "We're here for the Hulk. The rest of these guys are either confirmed not mutants or too weak to grab Romulus' attention."

"Fine, fine."

"Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, possible X-gene. Powers first exhibited after accident involving gamma radiation. The Hulk possesses supernatural strength, durability and a powerful healing factor. Currently residing in the Australian outback under the protection of an unknown meta calling himself 'Loki.' Too dangerous to engage. Sounds like a real party 'ta me."

"Eleven minutes. Time to go." X-23 notified Wolverine. Logan stopped the download and removed any evidence that he and Laura had been there. X-23 screwed with the cameras one last time before the two members of Team X followed the path they had taken to get inside right back out, arriving back at the tarmac with ten seconds to spare. X-23 remotely landed the invisible jet, and Wolverine wondered if they were actually going to get away Scott free.

But it's never that easy, is it?

Pow! Pow!

"Freeze!" A SHIELD agent shouted after firing off two shots with his pistol. "This is Agent John Garret to SHIELD command! Helicarrier Hermes is under attack. Two subjects in my sights attempting to access some sort of stealth aircraft. Backup is required!" Wolverine growled under his breath, unleashing his six claws and charging at the agent. John fired off three more shots, all making contact with Logan's chest. Wolverine continued to charge, impaling Garret on the end of his claws with a roar. "Damn it!" John cried, slamming a fist against Wolverine's head. The force of the blow staggered a surprised Wolverine, who tossed the SHIELD agent away in self-defense. The man stood back up, tearing off his torn shirt and revealing a body made of metal. Sparks flew out of Garret's impaled chest as the cyborg reloaded his weapon and continued to open fire. "Wolverine, let's go!" Laura shouted from the top of the aircraft, lowering a rope down to her partner. Wolverine grabbed the line, and began to ascend.

The jet flew away from the Hermes as Wolverine slammed the door shut and the jet disappeared from Garret's view.

---



A hologram of Doctor Bruce Banner stood in the center of the room, staring behind over-sized glasses at his would be attackers. The Boeing C-17 was manned by eight of the world's most deadly mutant assassins, all of them members of Team X. "Somebody get that guy a chimichanga." Deadpool quipped annoyingly, his thumb jutted out towards Banner. Maverick glared at Deadpool behind his black mask, saying nothing. Across from Maverick and Deadpool sat Wolverine, X-23 and Sabertooth. Logan and Victor were busy cutting holes into each other's foreheads with their eyes, with Laura being the only thing keeping the two from tearing each other limb from limb. "Cut it out you two!" She snarled. Sabertooth lashed out at Wolverine, only for Laura to catch his arm. "I swear, if you don't stop acting like a pair of stupid children by the count of three, I'll cut both of your balls off."

"Perhaps it was unwise to allow Victor and Logan to sit next to one another." Mastodon inquired. The huge elephant man towered over the rest of the team, standing at seven foot six inches tall and weighing almost half a ton.

"I can't be the only one enjoying this." Lady Deathstrike commented as Logan and Victor batted at one another in a flurry of angry, harry fists.

"Do not make me come back there!" Kestrel shouted from the plane's cockpit.

Another hologram appeared beside Bruce Banner. Romulus stood with his clawed hands held behind his back, a respectable six feet and three inches tall. The room became deadly silent at the master's appearance. Even Victor and Logan stopped bickering long enough to listen to Romulus' briefing. "Good." The founder of Rome spoke. "Your target is named Doctor Bruce Banner." Romulus took a few steps away from the other hologram, motioning towards the doctor. "You sure this is the guy from New York?" Deadpool asked. "He's a lot less...Green." Romulus nodded in response to the question. "From our observations, the Weapon X Program theorizes that pain or stress cause Doctor Banner here to transform into the other creature. Whether or not he possesses the X-gene, we do not know. What we do know is that the creature called the Hulk is too dangerous to roam free. Worse, if our enemies were to somehow replicate this monster and find some way to control him, our dreams of a world ruled by mutants would become an impossibility."

"What're we gonna do about 'im, chief?" Wolverine prompted.

"It's simple. We take control of the beast." X-23 glanced at Mastodon before speaking. "How?" She asked. "How we control the Hulk is none of your concern. You should be worried more about how we're going to capture him. Step one of our plan is to have seven of you set up a perimeter around Bruce Banner's encampment." The hologram of Bruce Banner disappeared, replaced by a map of the area. Seven red dots surrounded a single green dot sitting next to a tent. "Wolverine will go in alone to gauge the Hulk's power. From there, Logan, you will attempt to kill the Hulk. If you are success we will know that this entire escapade has been a waste of our time. But if the Hulk proves to be as powerful as SHIELD believes, you are to contact the rest of Team X and have them engage as well. When this happens, Mastodon, you are to attempt to fight the Hulk toe-to-toe. At the same time, Maverick will flank behind the creature and use his anti-healing factor corrosive blasts to weaken the Hulk so that the rest of you can use the sedatives I supplied you with to knock the mammoth out."

Romulus disappeared, and a hologram of the Hulk replaced the map. The green giant towered over even Mastodon. "Looks like he took my chimichanga advice." The plane's interior was bathed in a red light as Kestrel began to speak over the intercom. "Alright. Everyone who isn't Wolverine, grab your parachutes and get ready to jump." X-23, Lady Deathstrike, Deadpool, Sabertooth, and Maverick all stood from their seats and slung parachutes onto their backs, walking over to the back of the C-17 and preparing to jump. Mastodon followed them, however he opted out of grabbing a parachute. A fall from this height wouldn't affect him in the slightest. Maverick could have done the same, however he didn't want to waste his shield jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. The back of the Boeing opened and the team jumped out, two at a time. Mastodon was the last to jump, landing in the sand with a massive thud. No doubt Doctor Banner would hear it.

After a few moments, Wolverine stood as well and made his way to the back of the plane. "You ready, Logan?" Wolverine just smiled at John's question. "Hell yeah. Tell me when we're right over 'im. I wanna hit the big guy from the air."

A few seconds later, John spoke. "GO GO GO!" Wolverine leaped out from the open ramp of the plane and fell from the sky. He could see a figure standing outside the tent, looking up at the plane. And the falling runt. Wolverine loosed his claws and stuck his arms out in front of him. Air rushed by the falling mutant as he gained speed. He was moments from colliding with Bruce Banner and impaling him with a set of Adamantium claws.

"LET'S RUMBLE, MATE!" He cried.

Marcus threw his hands up in surrender as Fortress surrounded him in a soundproof forcefield. "Alright, I stand corrected." He commented over the Titan's communicator. When she gave Knitter a field of his own, he couldn't help but be impressed. His team knew what they were doing; that much was certain. "Let's hope you can handle holding up the roof, Grandma." With that said, Atlas returned his communicator to his pocket. He formed an emerald drill out of pure hardlight and set to work drilling a hole in the ground. It was a bit unsettling, truth be told, to not hear the drill as it tore through the dirt and grass outside the bank. Marcus made sure not to tear up the sidewalk or street, knowing that such an action would be viewed unfavorably by the police and the city's government. Roads were expensive, after all. More expensive than the bank's lawn, anyway. Atlas made sure to turn his communicator up so that he could hear any updates from Cobalt or the team inside. With that taken care of, Atlas began to move underground. The digging was slow going. Atlas could have gone faster if he didn't have to worry about Knitter putting up stable supports for the tunnel. But since he was working with non-lanterns, Atlas would have to settle for sub-par speed as he started to descend into the darkness of the underground. "Getting kind of dark down here." He commented as the sun's light started to disperse as he went ever deeper. Marcus dug about twelve feet down in a semi-diagonal fashion; steep enough that he wasn't wasting time, but level enough that a normal human could climb back up the hole.

He glanced behind his shoulder to make sure Knitter and Fortress were still behind him. Confident that the two were keeping up with him, Atlas began to dig straight. "Ring." He prompted. "Yes, Lantern Marcus?" The ring inquired of its wielder. "Open a map of the bank and triangulate my position. What room am I under?" A map appeared out of the ring for Atlas to see as he continued to drill forward. The map showed that Atlas and company were nearing the lobby, where most of the hostages were. Perfect. Just a few more yards and Atlas would start moving upwards. "You are in position, sir. From here you should have the best view of all the hostages and the hostiles within the vault." The ring informed Marcus. "Thanks, ring. That's all I need." The map disappeared and Atlas started to dig diagonally upwards until he was just under the floor. Once he was sure no hostages were nearby, Atlas stopped digging and created a small explosive out of hardlight. "This should do the trick." He muttered to himself. Now, all Atlas had to do was wait for the go-ahead.

"Team, careful, I don't know how.. But.. They tore the vault doors off...With their uh, hands."

"Oh. Super Strength. That's pleasant." Atlas responded. "Atlas, Fortress, Knitter. Take caution. They have some tricks up their sleeves." Cobalt warned over the communicator. "Will do, boss. I can handle a couple of bricks; no problem." Atlas made sure to get comfortable. "We're just waiting for the go-ahead, Cobalt. Whenever you're ready, give the word."

Character you have created: Jacob Henderson
Alias: Clockwork

Speech Color: None

Character Alignment: Hero

Identity: Secret

Character Personality (Give information on how your character acts, what he/she believes in, how they handle situations):

Uniform/costume: Briefly describe or post a picture of what your character's costume looks like

Origin Info/Details:

Hero Type (Select one): Other: Space/Time manipulator.

Power Level (Select one below):

D. Cosmic (Ex. Silver Surfer, Green Lantern)

Powers (Be Specific):

Attributes (Select one at each category):

Strength Level: Normal Human

Speed/Reaction Timing Level: Normal Human

Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort: Normal Human

Agility: Normal Human

Intelligence: Average

Fighting Skill: Untrained

Resources: Minimal

Weaknesses:

Supporting Characters (Does your character have a significant other? A mother? Friend? Who are they, what do they have to do with your character?):

Do you know how to post pictures on RPG boards?:

Sample Post (Minimum Four paragraphs containing dialogue. As this is an Advanced Level game, Sample must also meet the RPG forum's minimum requirement of 12 lines):