He stood atop the massive Arlaaekan tank, known to few outside of the grand Arlaaekan army as The Warbringer, continuing to watch in disdain as Earth's heroes fought with all they had against the relentless onslaught of the the Arlaaekans. He wanted nothing more than to jump into the fray and deal with the so called heroes himself, however, he had orders from the Autocrat himself: 

“Stay the course, and observe. Only strike when you must.”

	The Autocrat's words still echoed in his mind, and while he would never dare disobey a direct order from the leader of the Arlaaekan people, as he was well aware of the fates of the few who have, he still wanted nothing more than to get his hands dirty. And for a moment, he thought that his chance had finally arrived.

[color=c0c0c0]“I’ve got a message from my fellow inhabitants of this rock that we call home: pack up your army of E.T.’s back onto your flying saucers and go bully a different planet. We [i]really[/i] don’t like bullies here on Earth,”[/color] the armored hero, “The Iron Knight,” told him. 

Beneath the half mask covering the lower portion of his face, The Outsider's mouth curled into a sneering grin. Then, there was a commotion as a creature began rampaging nearby with tentacles reaching out, slaughtering some of his men while at the same time sending humans scurrying in every direction. The sudden appearance of the inhuman creature got the attention of the armored hero, who moved away from the Warbringer and toward the creature who was wreaking havoc on the ground below.

No sooner had the armored Guardian turned his attention to the bizarre entity below than had something else caught the Outsider's attention. On the street below, the silver and cobalt clad hero known as Icon fought off a legion of Arlaaekan soldiers. As the Outsider watched Icon in action, he began to scowl beneath his mask. To the Outsider, Icon represented everything about this world that he hated, a world that had left him to die and forgotten about him. 

However, to the Outsider, that was another life, one that he had mostly put behind him. A life that he could finally put to rest with the destruction of his home world. However, before he could witness the destruction of Earth, he wanted to slaughter its heroes, starting with Icon.

[center]***[/center]

	They just kept coming.

	No matter how many of the invaders they put down, more of the teal skinned marauders just arrived in what seemed like wave after never-ending wave. Only to be beaten back by the Guardians, as well as a number of other super powered beings, only the cycle to replay itself. 
[color=c0c0c0]“Guardians, is anybody going to do anything about the tentacle monster rampaging through the streets?”[/color] Iron Knight's voice came through the Guardians' communicators. 

[b] “Tentacle monster? Wha-”[/b] Icon was cut off as a black and purple blur appeared before him, Icon recognized him as the man who had been standing on top of the gigantic tank. Before he could react, the figure grabbed him by the throat, and with one hand hoisted him into the air and then slammed him down onto the street, shattering the pavement beneath him. In a single motion, he picked Icon back up and connected with a wild round house right which staggered the hero, and then followed with a kick which struck Icon in the chest, sending him crashing through the front of a nearby storefront. 

	Icon lay among the rubble as he tried to get his bearings. He had been surprised by the ferocity of the sudden attack. He rolled over and slowly got to his feet, and when he did he found himself again face to face with the black and purple clad invader. The thing that struck Icon about this adversary wasn't the immense power that he seemed to possess, but that he was different from the others.

[b] “You're human.”[/b] Icon said as his attacker moved closer to him.

“I was.-” the Outsider admitted. “-a long time ago.” He finished as he lunged for Icon who evaded the attack and countered with a right hand, which missed its mark. The Outsider hit Icon with a back hand and in one fluid motion reversed direction and followed up with an elbow to Icon's temple, the blow knocked the hero back. Staggered by the blow, Icon wasn't able to protect himself when his attacker unleashed an incredible energy attack which blew him back through the front of the storefront. Icon rolled several times before coming to a stop in the street. As Icon looked up, he saw that the store that he had just been thrown from was engulfed in flames, and the man who had so easily tossed him aside was striding toward him.