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[h2][b]Hours Earlier…[/b][/h2]

The old man sat in a worn fraying chair as the television blared the 24-hour news coverage, mainly discussing the same few facts and theories regarding the domes that crossed America and the terrorist group behind their formation.

[b][color=fff200]“Ngggggg! Fifty-three!”[/color][/b] yelled Dennis, before collapsing and just laying prostrate on the carpeted floor of the training room.

[color=fff200]“I don’t get it.”[/color] He puffed.  [color=fff200]“The Golden Rod can lift, what, 7 or 8 tons?  Why the hell have you got me doing all these push-ups?”
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The original Aquilifer turned his head away from the television, [color=aba000]“Ten tons,”[/color] he corrected.  [color=aba000]“At least back when I used it.  And why?”[/color]  He turned away, trying his best to not butcher an Ancient Greek quote.

[color=aba000]“Πᾷ βῶ, καὶ χαριστίωνι τὰν γᾶν κινήσω πᾶσαν”
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[color=fff200]“’Kay.”[/color] Dennis replied, somewhat slackjawed.

[color=aba000]“It’s about Archimedes.  [I]‘Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth’[/I]… to paraphrase.  Kineso or kinaso… it’s been a while since I last used the Ancient Greek.”
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[color=fff200]“You say ‘kineso’, I say ‘kinaso’…”[/color] Dennis sang in jest.

[color=aba000][b]“REGARDLESS…”[/b][/color] the old man continued firmly, [color=aba000]“The Golden Rod is a hell of a lever.  But ultimately, [b]YOU’RE[/b] the fulcrum.  The place to stand.  And you’ll be able to do more with it, the more you look after yourself.”[/color]

[color=fff200]“Fair enough.”[/color]

[color=aba000]“And you’re not fooling anyone with that ‘fifty three’ nonsense.  You’re on thirty four.”[/color]  He returned to the television.  Dennis groaned loudly.  The old man smiled.

Rolling over to go back to his push-ups.  He’d been lifting car husks with the Rod earlier, and working on aim for blasts and other versatile uses, but the old man always insisted on starting and ending training sessions focusing on his own general physical fitness.

[color=fff200]“Speaking about doing more with it…  What exactly are we working out for right now?  What’s next on the agenda?  Helping those heroes bring down the domes?  This Pax Metahumana-rama thing that’s going on right now?”
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[color=aba000]“Hmm.  I don’t think so.”[/color]  Alan started.  [color=aba000]“Lot of people working on that as is.  But you know what’s been getting almost completely ignored..?”
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The old man hit a button on the remote, which played some recorded footage.  The television flicked over to something that Dennis had seen plastered all over the news.  Something that terrified him on the day that it happened.

It was amateur footage of an in-house college football game at LHU.  A game that would never be concluded and one of the darkest moments of school history.

Dennis had faced Demons with the Golden Rod before… but could he be prepared for THIS level of monster?

[color=aba000]“Your brother was an alumni.  Still had a lot of friends there.  Particularly since ground zero hit the football team.”
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Dennis was an alum as well.  But, as always, an afterthought.  These weren’t ‘his people’.  But the message still resonated.

[color=aba000]“This is exactly the kind of thing Sean would deal with.  If he were still with us.  And who’s there to defend them?”
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Darkness literally devoured masses of people on the television.

[color=aba000]“This Nightmare has gone on too long.  You’ve been looking for a message, a coming out party?”[/color]  

He paused the tv as the footage showed the beasts at the centre of the disaster.

[color=aba000]“It’s time to wake people up.  End this Nightmare garbage.”

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