Gallion, the once peaceful city that now bleeds corruption. The mayor of the town has requested help for what he's calling a "supernatural disturbance". We sent a small squad to deal with this problem...however they haven't responded. So now we're sending you (Insert Name) to tackle this problem. We've seen your abilities before and we know you can handle this situation. Your mission is simple, stop whatever this "supernatural problem" is and locate our missing squad. We know you can do this (Insert Name), Good Luck!
Sincerely
Charles Hayter, Director of the U.E.D

Anthony Darson read the letter one more time and laughed at it. He looked up at this so called peaceful city and laughed a second time. All he could see were buildings, no residents just buildings. He had arrived in the city an hour ago thanks to his built in jet boots and he still couldn't find anyone. Did the mayor of this town evacuate the entire city?

"Must be quite the problem," he said to himself as he activated his jet boots again.

Flying over the city of Gallion was a hawk, but this was no ordinary hawk. This hawk happened to be Alex Corbin, a nature raised human that became specially gifted some would say. The city below his site looked vacant, empty, lifeless he could barley sense the presence of animals around. What he could make out were a few rats, and mice scurrying around looking for scraps of what ever they could find. Flying down closer to one of the buildings he perched himself on a ledge of a building and looked around.

The letter he received mysteriously enough was memorized into his head. This was the place where he was asked to help. But to help what? and who? more precisely. This place was giving out odd vibes, and most of them did not sit well with him. Alex stayed perched on the building ledges and stretched out one wing and glided his beak through the feathers cleaning them.

Mark Smith read the letter he had received, and looked out over the city he had been directed to go to. He did have to wonder what had happened - the city was pretty much deserted, and there wasn't even a criminal to be found.

I must have ate something, or the mayor must be smoking something, Smith thought with mild bemusement, and formed platforms of light that he then stepped on and caused the platforms to float himself across the city. Something very odd was going on.

Brason Demarchia was sitting at home, trying to get his thoughts flowing again. The only thing that ever really kept Destrudo at bay was his own inventions that prevented the use of any power. And as long as Brason could remain in control. He had to be careful not to get mad at anything, otherwise the entire world might be devoured in Destrudo's wrath. It was very much a curse that he carried with him. He had some how managed to defeat the demon on the Celestial Tundra when he was five, however he believed that it was the demon's will to be defeated, because he had always been a part of his mind. He grimaced slightly and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes had slowly started changing colors and so Brason had to regain control of his mind... and the easiest way to do that was to fly.

Brason headed out the door and pressed a button that he had attatched to his right forearm. His entire body was encased in his hero suit and he allowed his mind to roam free, gripping is wrists and feet in his mind. He lifted them up off the ground, smiling as everyone started getting smaller and smaller until they all seemed to appear to be ants. His mind relaxed slowly and he could feel a wave of calm wash over him as he slowly glided through the air.

Anthony deactivated his jet boots a second time. He had stopped at a park because he noticed what looked like another human being walking around. Anthony approached the man who appeared to be walking aimlessly.

"Excuse me," Anthony called out to him.

The man ignored Anthony and continued walking around. Anthony placed his hand on the man's shoulder and spun him around. The man's eyes were wide open and seemed to never blink. Anthony released his grip and backed away from the man who continued about his business.

There's definitely something strange going on here, the question is what's causing this?

Zeron looked over the city from the top of a building with an expression that almost resembled joy. Although no one could see it due to the fact that the mask he wore allowed no one, not even his own henchmen could see his face.

Finally...A new area to set up operations in. No more Shade to interfere in my operations and possible new recruits.

One of his henchmen walked up behind him and nervously saluted him. "Sir. We have scouted out the immediate area and have found that there is...something wrong with most of the population here. They wander around the city almost as if they are in a daze."

"Clarify."

"Thats all we know right now sir. We plan to capture one of the citizens as soon as we establish a base of operations and examine the test subject."

"Good. You are dismissed."

The henchman nervously saluted again and ran down the stairs as Zeron continued to look over the city. There was something wrong here. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to establish a base of operations here.

He turned away from the view of the city and began his descent down the stairs into the building.




Shade watched the clouds pass by the window as personal jet continued on it's way to Gallion city. That was where her nemesis had fled after their last battle and it was there that she hopefully be able to finally capture him.

It's a faint hope...but this time both he and I will be in unfamiliar territory. Maybe this time I'll finally get him.

Alex also known as wolf flew off from the buildings ledge and glided down towards the ground and turned into an acutal black wolf with bright yellow eyes and started running. Since he had gotten an airial view of the city it was now time to get a more eye ground view of it. Wolf enjoyed being in this form the most, since at a very young age he was raised by wolves and grown to consider animal life more family that any human could be. As he continued to run around on the streets of the city he spotted a citizen.

This citizen was walking like they're mind was no longer they'res. Like some inner desire now controlled them and they'd do anything for that desire. What was strange to him is that this person didn't even notice Wolf as he walked on all fours passed her. Turning around slightly he watched as the lady continued to walk down the street.

This makes two signs that something is very wrong with this place. I don't like it. he thought to himself before continuing his search of the city.

Mantis crouched , perched on a building ledge, looking at the roof of the building he was on. Yes, that's right, he wasn't looking over the vast empty vista of the metropolis, he was backwards, staring at the building he was perched on. But he didn't do this out of his own stupidity, by far, his own stupidity wasn't that stupid. He was staring at someone, something, that was aimlessly wandering about like a zombie, only far less interested in your brain.

The person approached Mantis slowly, wandering forward until Mantis produced a hand, which produced a finger, which he then used to stop the person as they came into contact with it. The person remained in one place, but proceeded to keep moving forward, aimlessly, thoughtlessly. Mantis cocked his head to the side in curiosity, still holding the person in place with his finger, as he studied their blank, stupid expression.

"You're supposed to say: 'BRAAAINNNZZZ'! Okay? Say it with me: 'BRAAAAAIIIINNNZZZ'!......Hm? Not working," he stated, straightening his head.

"Well, the mayor must have serious issues with surgical malpractice in Gallion, 'cause it's got nothing to do with the living dead, that's for sure!" Mantis spoke into the air.

Well, better get this guy down, before he stumbles over the edge," Mantis said, grabbing the man, and jumping down to the streets below, setting him down, he waved as he wandered off.

"Go, be free, join others of your kind," he joked, as he turned around, and crouching down he jumped, soaring into the air like an eagle! Then after the laws of physics kicked in, he began to descend; then he rinsed, lathered, and repeated. Although he had no flight, he could jump great distances, and from what he could see when he did get airborne, the city was, well, like all the other guys have quite obviously said above, abandoned, excluding a few wandering lobotomy patients, there was nothing.

Mantis took another leap, lifting into the air he looked about quickly, before landing as gracefully as he could. Looking up, he saw a man in armor, and another lobotomy patient wandering about not too far away. Mantis stood up, and remarked to the armored man facing away from him, "So, you enjoying the sights, or staying out of malpractice lawsuits by lobotomizing the lawyers?"

Mantis made no moves, but he was cautious, he didn't know whether the fellow in the armor was causing the aimless wanderers or not, but he wasn't taking chances.

((Sorry if you didn't want to come into contact with anyone yet Cyborg. I'll edit the post accordingly, if necessary.))

Blackhawk glid through the skyscrapers of the city, noticing the lack people, vehicles, or even artificial light. This must be bad, if the whole city has been evacuated. He thought. He spotted two others like him in a park, along with what appeared to be an ordinary citizen and and went in for a landing.

"Woo!" Captain Crowbar shouted as he ran through the streets, whacking anything in his path with his crowbars.He was loving this, an empty city, noone to get the way of his crowbars. Until he ran into someone, seemingly a civilian, and couldn't help but take a whack at him. However, there appeared to be no reaction, and even someone as insane as Captain Crowbar could tell that something was off.

Your mission is simple, stop whatever this "supernatural problem" is and locate our missing squad. We know you can do this Vengeance, Good Luck!

Reading the letter that he received about Gallion before putting on his mask whose eyes glowed an eerie red colour illuminating the skull motif on it. He then raised his hood to cover his white hair from being visible from the back of the mask.

Supernatural Problems are my speciality he thought as he drew his Scythe from what he could only describe as a spiritual plane of existence the same place as he had struck that deal to seek out injustice as Vengeance.

Before he died he would never been seen dead in this angel of death getup but as a super hero a little bit of a fear never hindered him in his fight against his enemy's.

I hope no one mistakes me for a villain again he though as he phased straight through the wall of his apartment and set off for Gallion.

((Odd, I thought I posted))

Anthony continued to stare at the man as he continued walking without a path. The one person he actually finds and of course the guy is some type of mindless wonder.

"So, you enjoying the sights, or staying out of malpractice lawsuits by lobotomizing the lawyers?"

Anthony chuckled at the man's statement and slowly turned around to face him. He stared at the man for a few seconds after noticing his bug based costume. If he had to guess he'd say it was either based off an Ant or a Mantis.

"I'm here to fix a problem this town is having. Now judging by your outfit I'm thinking you're here for the same reason, or you're responsible for this."

Erebus floated among the clouds, looking down at the so called metropolis of Gallion city below him from a birdseye view. Not a single human in sight. As far as he knew, there was no curfew that took place - the buildings and skyscrapers were completely hollow of life... uninhabited.

He continued to soar through the sky. There was definatly no curfew. Nor any evacuation. Erebus was well informed, but obviously not to this extent if his contacts have been effected by whatever has occured.

Suddenly, he spotted something in the distance. Something soaring through the night sky ((is it night time? i'll edit if otherwise)). Even through the darkness, he could see a man darker than the night. He flew using what appeared to be jet-propelled boots. He made a landing on a building. Erebus kept his distance; he wasnt open to making any allies yet until he knew what was going on.

He followed the man to the park, where soon more peculiar individuals turned up. He his within the shadows of the upper buildings, and watched the scene below.

As Smith was floating around the city, he noticed several oddly dressed individuals - though he himself did admit that his clothing was a bit odd as well - gathering in a park area. He floated down towards the group, but did not get off the light platforms, just in case he needed to make a break for it.

"So, what brings you guys here?" Smith asked, curious to see why other had come.

((Its 3pm currently, sorry about the lack of adding that I should have posted it was daylight somewhere.))

"So, what brings you guys here?"

Anthony turned to face the second new comer of the night. Three men in costumes, all in the same area? They all had to be here for the same reason, they just had to be. He saw two others but he couldn't help but feel like there were more as well.

"I'm Titan, I'm here because the UED asked for my help and you are?" he finally said to him.

((Sorry about the delay))

"I'm Titan, I'm here because the UED asked for my help and you are?"

"My name is Candlelight," Smith responded. "And I'm here for pretty much the same reason." He allowed his platforms to dissipate, seeing how he was talking to a friendly. "Do you have any idea what's going on? This place is almost deserted."

Anthony nodded over to Candlelight as he introduced himself.

"Do you have any idea what's going on? This place is almost deserted."

Anthony shook his head at the question.

"I wish I knew, if I did I could at least begin to try to figure out what's causing all of this. What about you Bug Man, do you have a clue what's going on?"

Mantis' antennae wiggled a bit as he listened to the conversation, and his head twitched when Titan asked him, "What about you Bug Man, do you have a clue what's going on?"

"For the record, I'm Mantis. As for the situation at hand I'd have to say that this city has serious issues with their brain surgeons, and if that's not it, then no, no clue whatsoever," he responded, rubbing his arm and looking about.

The fact that there were multiple heroes showing up in one area, and no explanation to the situation at hand, even from those who contacted them, did not sit well with Mantis. He felt very uncomfortable, and it wasn't because of the other two nearby, something was just...wrong, and he didn't like it.

Zeon was watching the city once again. The base of operations had been set up and his henchmen were out attempting to capture one of the citizens. All was going according to plan.

His train of thought was interupted by yet another henchmen coming up to him.

"Sir..we have managed to capture one of the citizens. But we can't seem to find anything wrong with them."

Zeron turned to the henchman and looked down at him.

"Continue researching it. Gather all available data from the citizen and once all the data has been gathered release it back into the city with a tracking device. I want it's every movement tracked.

"As you command sir."

Zeron was about to turn back around to observe the city when the henchman spoke up again.

"There is something else sir. We have been noticing that there seem to be quite a few heroes gathering in the city. We have background checks going on them as we speak."

"You have something else to say?"

"Yes sir...it's Shade. Her jet has been reported entering the airspace above the city. I believe that she's found us sir."

"Dispatch two fighter jets to take her down. She's more vulnerable in the air then she is on the ground. You are dismissed."

The henchman nodded once, spoke into a communicator and then turned back toward the stairs. Zeron watched as two fighter jets screamed by overhead and smiled.

“Dilated eyesight, limited motor functioning, and a possible lack of general awareness, or simply a lack of ability to display such awareness.” Meta commented to himself as he examined one of the mindless citizens. Meta spent long periods of time alone and talking to himself helped him think. He still had to maintain his voice modulator as well practice his sound interpretation, and a person that is in their right mind might hear him. “A lobotomy possible, but unlikely. It is more than likely that this is the administration of a psychotropic drug, possibly airborne or in the water supply. They cannot have been like this for long, otherwise these people would be suffering from malnutrition. Plus mindlessly wandering still takes energy and these people cannot walk forever.”

Meta patted the citizen he was examining on the head and shooed him off. He walked to the edge of the building he had climbed to observe the city and searched the view, hoping to see something different this time. Meta did see something different this time. Focusing his sight, he noted that a group of people were gathering in an open area right below him. Not the best place in his opinion, exposed to whatever could have possibly rendered this city quiet, and the fact that two fighter planes flew over him in that instance reinforced his belief. They also caused him to lose his balance and fall off of the building.

At first Meta's fall was broken by a conveniently placed catwalk, which not-so-conveniently was rusted to the bone and broke under his weight a moment later. Then he manged to grab a leg, which was crumbling from age and crumbled fully at that moment. On the rest of the way down, he managed to hit and fall off of every possible, and in his opinion evil, ledge he could until he flatly on his back. Meta laid flat on his back for a moment, regaining his sense of balance, before getting up and dusting off his clothes, goggles, hat, and weapon, none of which had been jarred loose or fallen off.

“For the record, that is not my ideal entrance. My ideal entrance is walking, or maybe running, but never falling. I don't like burning that much, but that mainly depends on my mood.” Meta commented as he walked up to the forming group. “That all being said, I also don't like being out in the open in a dead city when jets are flying about and people in funny costumes are making big targets of themselves. So I am going to into some random alley or building, where I'm less likely to be watched, and you can follow me if you want.”

Erebus continued to watch from the shadows, at the oddly dressed individuals gathered around and introduced themselves.

"...what is this, a freak convention?" he muttered under his breath. He flew away, towards one of the tall skyscrapers overlooking the city. None of this made any sense. This city was dead, save for a few strangers gathered together.

Suddenly, he heard the screaming engines of two fighter jets up ahead. This brought great interest to Erebus; something was definatly not right, if somebody had sent two firebirds into the city.

He soared through the sky, cold wind breezing against his face as he pursued the Fighter Jets.

"Lady Shade! We're under attack!" The pilot's panicked voice came from the front of the plane

Shade's head snapped up and she began to instantly issue orders, despite the fact that she had been fast asleep only a moment ago.

"Begin evasive manuvers." She said calmly as the plane banked sharply to the right and then to the left. "What do we know of our attackers?"

"The jets bear the mark of Zeron. He must have found out that we were entering the area and is trying to take us out before we hit the ground."

Zeron...I will admit it. He has chosen the worst time to attack. The jet is unarmed.

"Continue with evasive manuvers and began broadcasting a distress call on all frequencies. Hopefully someone will pick it up and help us out."

Vengeance arrived on the outskirts of Gallion after the long trip (Sorry had exams.)

Floating is not flying, I really need to find a faster way of travelling! he thought to himself as he landed on the roof of what appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse.

Adjusting his cape and costume he took a moment of respite letting the cool night air blow in his face before putting on his skull motif mask again.

Proceeding to the centre of city he saw what appeared to be an aerial dogfight going on overhead from the looks of it was a small private jet, hotly pursued by two fighters and another much smaller figure pursuing them.

Looks like fun. Removing his tattered cape he wrapped it around his Scythe

If there is no shadows in the sky, I'll have to make one! Using his spiritual energy he threw his scythe up into the night sky.

His cape opened up creating a shadow against the moon big enough for him to teleport to.

He then opened up a psychic communication line with figure following the jets who appeared to be flying unaided.
"Do you require any assistance?"

"Do you require any assistance?"

Erebus was suddenly disturbed during his pursuit. He thought he heard a voice in his head. It was too synthesised to be imagined in within his head. He felt a sudden connection with his mind to another, in a non-controlling matter. Not too mention, he sensed the presence of another's energy levels close by; and it was quite powerful.

There could be one explanation; there was another Psion near by. He began forming words within his mind and sent a reply while continuing on course towards the fighter jets.

"It depends whos side are you on really. I'm meerly on a hunch. Do you know whats going on here in the city?

"It depends whos side are you on really. I'm meerly on a hunch. Do you know whats going on here in the city?"

Vengeance paused for a second feeling the resonance from the reply by the unknown figure in black, a type of resonance that could only be caused by another psionic beings mental thoughts.

How do I end up getting involved in these things? he wondered to himself.

"Despite my appearance I am here to help, as for what is going on in the city your guess is as good as mine..." He replied as he pursued the person and the fighters.

"Saving an unarmed jet from two fighters appears to be a good place to start." Increasing his speed he floated along side this black clothed person.

"I am Vengeance. Vengeance is mine, I will repay."

(Phantom Knight, feel free to control Vengeance for the dog-fight if you want.)

((Nah, its fine. There are two Fighter Jets there, so one for each of us :) Thanks anyway))

"Saving an unarmed jet from two fighters appears to be a good place to start."

Erebus gave it some thought. "You do raise a good point.". He looked next to him, and saw the intimidating figure, soaring through the sky along side him. He was dressed like a Grim Reaper, bearing a Skull-like mask and a large Scythe. It didnt seem very unusual to Erebus, because he himself encountered many people with supernatural abilities.

"I am Vengeance. Vengeance is mine, I will repay." The Grimreaper spoke to him outloud. Erebus powered up full speed ahead. He grabbed the hilt of his Sword sheathed to his back, readying to pull it out..

He managed to get behind one of the Fighter jets, avoiding the powerful exhaust breathing a powerful torch flame. Erebus charged his Psionic Powers and focussed them in his hand. He flew directly above the jet and started the dog fight by throwing a splash of purple energy along the armor of the plane that caused a grooved dint.

Anthony looked up in the sky to see a plane in the sky being pursued by two fighter jets.

"That plane, someone in that plane must know something about this city here otherwise those fighter jets wouldn't be attacking it. Even if those people don't know anything they still need our help," he said powering up his jet boots.

He was about to take off when he looked back over at the other two.

"Can you fly Mantis?" he asked. "If not perhaps Candlelight could help you, in the meantime I'm going to match my helmet's frequency with the jet's."

He powered down his boots and being the tech wizard he was, he was able to accomplish his task in a matter of seconds.

"Attention crew members aboard this jet, this is Superhero Titan. We will be there shortly, just hang on."

Anthony then looked up and saw two other beings preparing to engage the fighter jets.

Well this just gets better and better

Elsewhere a powerful being has sensed the large amount of power gathering in the city.

"Good...it is almost time"

Shade was almost thrown out of her seat against one of the wall as the Jet continued as her pilot continued to try and evade the fighters that were relentlessly trying to shoot them down.

"Attention crew members aboard this jet, this is Superhero Titan. We will be there shortly, just hang on."

Shade looked up as the odd voice echoed throughout the jet.

Another hero? What are the odds of running into one out here?

A large explosion ripped across one of the wings as one of the fighters scored a direct hit on the wing of the plane.

"Lady Shade! They've hit us!"

Time to go.

Shade ran forward and grabbed the pilot and then ran back into the main compartment of the plane where she usally stayed during flight. She took a quick look at the damaged wing before grabbing the pilot under the arms and then jumping out of the plane just as it was engulfed in a firey explosion.

She looked up at the wreckage of the plane that was falling around her to see two more costumed heroes engaging the fighter jets in combat.

I hope that they see us falling. I wasn't able to grab any parachuts and we seem to have quite a fall ahead of us.

Her thoughts were interupted by the sight of one of the fighter jets breaking off from combat with the figure who was fighting with it and then turning and heading toward her.

Thats not good.

Anthony waited for a reply from the jet but instead he got an explosion instead. It didn't take his HUD more than a few seconds before it identified two people falling from the plane. He activated his jet boots and soared into the sky towards the two. Lucky for him the woman was holding the other one making it much easier for Anthony. He flew next to them for a few seconds before grabbing the woman. He noticed one of the fighter jets coming at them and began flying down towards the city.

"Friends of yours?"

"Can you fly Mantis?" Was all he heard before he recoiled from Titan's launch, soaring off in a heroic display of fire and flight. He never heard anything else Titan said, even the comment afterwards about being aided by Candlelight went unheard, as Mantis had been distracted in thought.

"No, that's alright, I'll just stand here, you go on, I like watching," he remarked sarcastically to no one in particular, although he did acknowledge the fact that Candlelight was still there.

He stood, eyes transfixed on the sky as he watched Titan closing in on the civilian jet. But before Titan could make it the plane erupted into flames, Mantis shaking his head, but keeping his eyes on the sky. Yet no sooner had he noticed the explosion did he notice Titan grab a falling woman, who in turn was holding another woman, but no one could celebrate just yet, as he saw a fighter jet break off to intercept Titan, who was soaring towards the city, and the ground.

Mantis acted, running towards where Titan seemed to be going, he shouted back at Candlelight, "Nice meeting you!"

With that he launched himself into the air in one powerful jump, gaining altitude at tremendous speed, he clenched his fists, mantis-like blades and spikes erupting from under the forearms of his carapace, lifting his hands in a way that resembled someone with two daggers trying to stab something with both hands, lifted above his head, and then....*Thunk!*

He hit the soaring jet, as it'd gotten close enough to the ground for him to reach it, slamming his spikes into it's hull; he jerked, as he was caught by the sheer force of the fighter as it flew at intense speeds. His whole body ripping back, but his hold onto the jet never lessened, his bones cracking (and a few undoubtedly broke) at the sudden whip-like jerk.

His body adjusted to the inertia, and he proceeded to scale the jet, inch by inch, as traveling up it could be perilous if he didn't take it slow. He finally made it to the cockpit, where the woman inside was already prepared with a handgun.

'As if you wouldn't notice a giant bug plastering to the side of your jet,' He thought, smashing his spikes & blades into the glass bubble, the spikes puncturing, but doing nothing else.

'Great, military grade,' he thought, slamming his arm down again, and again, aaaannnd again, until finally the cockpit couldn't take anymore and he finally shattered a hole in the glass, the pilot veering off course from attacking Titan, and straightening so that she wouldn't crash as she attempted to shoot Mantis. But before she could react Mantis had crawled in through the small hole, the pilot being jerked around, and shooting aimlessly, blowing holes in the glass, and damaging the delicate instruments of the fighter jet, the pilot pausing as she realized what she'd done.

"Yep, that's a--all you," Mantis remarked to the pilot, who turned to pull the ejection lever, but was knocked out cold by Mantis in one easy punch, before she could do so.

With that, Mantis grabbed the pilot, and launched himself out of the cockpit, smashing through the glass, he went soaring through the air, and then landed like a drunk, as he hit the ground hard, tumbling forward due to the pilot he was carrying.

"Maybe next time I'll launch myself clean through the cockpit window, seems to work better than mangling my arm trying to smash through it," he muttered to himself, walking off to where Titan would be landing, dragging the unconscious pilot by the collar.

"I hope they have insurance," he said out loud as he heard the jet's explosion as it crashed into a building.

When he reached the spot where Titan would presumably be landing, he shouted out to him (however far or near he was), "Sorry, I got envious, I wanted my own person too!"

((Sorry to take away all the fun, but a Superhero is a Superhero!))

((Actually the pilot is also female.))

"Friends of yours?"

Shade looked up at the hero who was slowly heading down toward the ground and shook her head.

"Arch-enemy actually. He must found out that we managed to track him here and decided to get rid of us before we landed."

She watched in complete facisination as another hero managed to take out the jet that was heading toward them, and looked down to see that the hero had not only managed to take care of the jet but had also managed to capture the pilot alive.

Not bad...Not bad at all.

The second jet, seeing that it was now out numbered and possibly out-gunned decided to cut it's losses and turn around and head back to territory that Zeron was currently holding.

She looked up at the hero again and smiled gratefullly at him. "I feel I should thank you for saving the life of my pilot and I. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Smith watched in awe as Titan and Mantis saved the people in the jet. He was actually glad to be near people like that, seeing how effective they were. He then saw the second jet turn around. I am not letting that guy report our location, he thought.

"I'm going after that jet," he said to the other heroes, and formed a light platform to step on. He then rose into the air quickly, and then shot ahead like a bullet toward the second jet that was fleeing. He was able to grab a hold of the back of the vehicle, and then put his hand near where the engine was, and released a blast of light from his palm. The energy was enough that Candlelight was nearly blasted off the plane himself, and he then realized that the jet was losing altitude. He quickly but carefully slid down towards the cockpit. The pilot was surprised for a second, but then tried to move the jet to shake off Candlelight. However, Candlelight quickly released another charge of light at the glass over the cockpit. Glass shattered and flew everywhere, and one fragment grazed Candlelight's arm, leaving a small but painful cut. Candlelight then took the pilot out of his seat, and then leapt off the plane, dropping towards the ground. At the last moment, he formed a light platform to stop himself and his prisoner, and heard the plane crash and explode behind him. He then floated over to where the other heroes were. He put his arm around the pilot's neck and pointed two fingers to his head, ready to shoot a bolt of light through the pilot's head if the need arised.

"Alright, who wants to interrogate this guy first?"

As Anthony got closer to the ground he saw Mantis waiting for him to land.

"I feel I should thank you for saving the life of my pilot and I. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Anthony turned off his jet boot and safely landed on the ground. He put the woman down and looked over at her.

"The name's Titan, and the pleasure is all mine Miss..."

"Alright, who wants to interrogate this guy first?"

"I believe our new friend here would like to, seeing that the pilot works for her nemesis." Anthony said pointing to the woman.

"The name's Titan, and the pleasure is all mine Miss..."

"Shade. And my pilot's name is Leira."

"I believe our new friend here would like to, seeing that the pilot works for her nemesis."

"As a matter of fact I would like to question him."

She turned to look down at the prisoners with a blank expression that had then both shuddering within moments. She grabbed one of the pilots and held them up slightly above her head.

"Tell me where he is hiding."

No answer.

She gripped the pilot's throat and began to squeeze as hard as she could. "You will tell me where he is hiding. Or I will leave pieces of you for him to find."

"H-He will kill us if we speak. And a death at your hands is better then what we would recieve if we went back after answering your questions."

Shade sighed and dropped him to the ground. "Go back to Zeron. And tell him that I will be waiting for him."

The pilot looked up at her, stunned that Shade was letting him go.

"What are you waiting for? Go! Tell your master that I will face him and this time he will not escape. I am ready for him."

The two pilots quickly got to their feet and began to run into the dark streets of the city.

Shade smiled under her mask. The micro-tracker that she had attached to the back of the neck of the henchman was transmitting loud and clear.

She turned back to Titan and smiled at him. "You have been most helpful and I must thank you for rescuing my pilot and I. But I believe it is time that I resume the hunt."

Erebus floated above the gathered costumed freaks, crossing his arms. His hair was moving with the constant wind. "Well, looks like they took all the fun out of this." he thought to himself, unconciously speaking telepathically to Vengance, the Grimreaper.

He floated downwards and made a safe landing on his feet, finally revealing himself to the other heroes. His expression was very plain and stern as he exchanged a look at each of the heroes that stood before him. He saw the one called Shade release the two pilots who were controlling the fighter jets. He was unaware that she placed a tracking device on their backs. "Is that a wise thing to do? They may still have useful information..."

He glanced at the armored man named Titan.

"Looks like everything is under control." he began. "Now if you dont mind, just telling us who you people are and what the hell is going on in this city?"

“Nice light show.” Meta said to himself as he observed a few of the people who had been gathering literally fly up and take out the two jets with little to no problem whatsoever. He in fact did not find some inconspicuous valley as he had originally suggested, but instead walked over to the spot where the heroes landed after their little skirmish. Meta was now taking an interest in them and making quick observations about them as they went about the business of introductions and interrogation. If you could call it that. No real threats, just the typical 'tell me what I want to know or die' trick that proved effective only against cowards or civilians. Fanatics were the tough cookies, but they could be broken if worked on long enough and with a little imagination.

“Now if you don't mind, just telling us who you people are and what the hell is going on in this city?” said the man in black leather who had just flown down to them.

“If any of them knew that, they'd probably already be dealing with the problem.” Meta replied, and then added with sarcasm toward the other heroes “To be fair though, great job with the interrogation. I bet it really took all of your creative juices to come up with the 'you'll end up in pieces' line. I personally would have asked about what was going on with the stupefied population.”

"Well, looks like they took all the fun out of this." Erebus thought to himself, unconsciously speaking telepathically to Vengeance.

"Yeah, I was looking forward to showing you what I can do." He replied still floating above everyone.

Instead of landing where everyone else was he decided to make his entrance more impressive, landing a few streets away from everyone else he turned intangible before phasing through the ground.

As he approached the location where everyone else was he began to hear the voices of the people from above.

"-I personally would have asked about what was going on with the stupefied population.” a synthetic sounding voice said.

Floating out of the ground in the middle of the bunch of heroes with his scythe in his right hand and eyes glowing through his skull motif mask he spoke outloud "I am Vengeance."

Turning towards the strange looking individual with a featureless face apart from a pair of goggles on his head
"You are not human are you?" he asked with a hint of interest.

Anthony became overwhelmed by the amount of people all showing up. All these heroes were being gather in one area for a reason, but what? He looked to his left and saw a few civilians all walking around with dull expression on their faces.

What's causing them to act like this?

Suddenly the civilians who were walking around stopped and looked at the group of heroes. They started screaming and running towards them. Soon they were joined by more civilians who began to pour out of the buildings.

"Well this just got interesting,"

"Well this just got interesting,"

Erebus glances at where Titan was staring. Hordes of civilians; men, women and children, were running towards them. They had the look of rage within their eyes, and the need for violence is pulsating through their veins. Erebus wasnt telephatic, only kinetic. He couldnt find out what was the matter with these people.

"It looks like we have more work to do..." His hands were engulfed with Psionic Energy. He charged up the energy within his hands and unleashed a large wave that knocked the blood thirsty civilians on their backs. He didnt get all of them, which explained why singles of them continued running towards them.

Erebus fired bursts of Psionic Energy to each of them in a very defensive-kata like form. He only modified the energy levels of each projectile to a non-lethal force, because something was clearly wrong with these people. He didnt like the idea of killing them if there was a reason of their current condition - a reason Erebus was to find out for himself to make a better judgement.

"Do we kill them, or knock them down until we find out whats going on." he said to Titan. Another civilian came at Erebus at a close range. Erebus grabbed the mans arms, positioned himself behind him without letting go of his grip, then fired a burst of energy that sent the man many yards away from the heroes up in the air.

The civilians were completely focused on getting to these heroes. They were practically throwing themselves at them. Anthony did his best to push them back without severely hurting them. He switched his gauntlets to stun lasers to avoid killing the civilians. He began shooting blue beams from his fists at the civilians, knocking them back.

"Do we kill them, or knock them down until we find out whats going on."

"The second option, something definitely isn't right here. They went from mindlessly walking around to berserk...as if on cue," he replied.

Candlelight watched as the civilians suddenly began to attack the heroes. This surprised him, as the civilians were acting oblivious moments before. He pointed two of his fingers forward and was about to shoot a bolt of light through an attacking civilian until he heard Titan make a comment.

"The second option, something definitely isn't right here. They went from mindlessly walking around to berserk...as if on cue,"

Candlelight silently cursed, but did have to admit that Titan's idea was the more practical of the methods. Making sure he wouldn't kill any civilians, Candlelight charged up and formed a medium sized ball of light in his hand. He then raised his hand up, and then struck it down into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked down some approaching civilians. Hope that doesn't trip some of the heroes," Candlelight thought.

“What, you haven't even taken me out to dinner and you're already questioning whether I'm a being that is not human? How rude is that?” Meta questioned back, though he quickly shifted his attention from the Grim Reaper and toward the mob of ravenous civilians charging toward them. Before he could say anything else, some of the other heroes immediately leaped into action and started to disable the civilians. Futile, since there were hundreds if not thousands of them. The heroes needed to get to higher ground like a roof, whether the civilians would not be able to use overwhelming tactics and where the group would be able to talk without having to punch a baby every three seconds. Before Meta could say this however, some bright hero decided to smash the ground. This caused Meta to lose his balance and face-plant the ground, which was shortly followed swearing as he got back up.

“Don't do stuff like that!” Meta shouted to whoever had created the shock wave. “It makes some us, I don't want to name names, a bit dizzy. May not be entirely adjusted to the concept of walking. Just saying. Also, I vote we get on a roof or something. Just saying.”

“What, you haven't even taken me out to dinner and you're already questioning whether I'm a being that is not human? How rude is that?” Meta's response caused a chuckle from Vengeance as he imagined the prospects of two super heroes eating dinner in a restaurant.

Vengeance also lost his footing as Candlelights shock wave hit the ground sending him tumbling to the pavement onto his back with several civilians ready to attack.

"Ummphh!"

This can't be good! He thought to himself before getting dog piled by the civilians that were still standing.

Although he didn't possess the physical strength of many of the experienced super heroes, he had other gifts using his link with the spiritual world was able to summon his scythe which had became dislodged from his hands when he fell.

The scythe illuminated in a red ethereal glow and flew into the pile of bodies and straight into his black gloved hand.

I hope this works... he thought as focused his spiritual energy onto his scythe he managed to send out a crimson shockwave emanating from the scythe and sending the people flying through the air like ragdolls.

Luckily the thick layers of his costume protected him during the assault although his ragged cape looked a bit more ragged after that.

"That was not fun!" He said as he pushed one of the civilians back from where he was.

"-Also, I vote we get on a roof or something. Just saying.” The silver skinned being said.

"Yeah, I vote we pull back from this position it's far too open here."

“Don't do stuff like that! It makes some us, I don't want to name names, a bit dizzy. May not be entirely adjusted to the concept of walking. Just saying. Also, I vote we get on a roof or something. Just saying.”

Candlelight couldn't help but grin, and was glad that his bandana his his part of his face. It was obvious to him that the being who was calling him out was talking about himself. Candlelight also had to agree with the hero's suggestion.

"Yeah, getting up somewhere is a good idea. Oh, and by the way, I was being practical."

"Sir we're under attack!"

Zeron didn't have to look far to see that. He and a small group of henchmen had gone out to obeserve the heroes and possibly kill a few of them when suddenly the civillians had gone beserk.

Now...stuck at the top of a two story building Zeron and his men were holding their own. They had the only path to the top of the building covered and Zeron was paying no attention to the civilians. He was watching Shade through the scope of a sniper rifle.

Hold still...

Shade looked up in confusion when she heard the sound of gunfire and saw a massive armored figure targeting her with a rifle.

Zeron...

Shade began to move out of the way just as Zeron took his shot. Shade heard a sharp crack echo through the air and then felt a sharp surge of pain go through her leg just as a few of the civilians turned their attention to her.

“Practical?!” Meta replied as he smashed in the face of a particularly ugly looking human with the butt of his rifle. Or at least what he considered to be ugly. Meta spent a lot of time on human-dominated worlds, though he hadn't quite developed a full idea about beauty in their terms. “Practical is buying two sets of batteries in case you lose one of them or they don't work or when you find something that needs two sets. Practical is NOT trying to rock the boat. Don't rock the boat. It's bad and I get seasick easily.”

Amidst the chaos as the heroes swatted the horde of flies that were the civilians, Meta suddenly heard gunshots. Well, not heard, but perceived them in his own little way of hearing. He turned to look and saw a group of men on a rooftop, apparently defending themselves from the human horde without a regard to casualties. Meta might have opened fire as well, though he had no proof that these civilians weren't being mind controlled and opening fire on them would not be a good first impression. He noted that one of them was not concerned with the horde however, and was sighting in on the group. It could have been to just see who was in the group, but that was quickly nullified when he heard the crack of a sniper rifle.

The sound of flesh being punctured brought Meta's attention to the woman who had just been saved from a dying jet. He rushed over to help her immediately, taking the liberty of knocking a few heads together on the way. Meta always loved getting into brawls with humans, though he always had to pull his punches or he'd crack their skulls open. As soon as he reached the woman, he took less than a second to examine the wound. This was partially because it was a gunshot wound from a sniper rifle and there was not much to examine. If it was a high-powered rifle like a 50 cal, then it would have ripped her leg in half. In this case, the leg was merely punctured in the calf and would heal nicely over time, if given the proper attention. The brown cloth wrapping around his face and neck would do fine in bandaging the wound for the moment. He took it off, revealing his silvery skin of a face with enigmatic runes engraved in every spot, with no real facial features such as eyes or a mouth. The leg was bandaged quickly, and the civilians were shrugged off easily. The sniper was still out there though and Meta was in the mood to play.

“Sorry to do this lady, but I don't think you're fit to party.” Meta apologized as he scoped her up and made a break for one of the now-empty buildings, hoping to be able to reach the rooftop before the sniper could reload and hone in on his target again.

Titan was too busy to notice the armored man with the sniper rifle on the roof. Once he heard the shot however he turned to see Shade on the ground and watched as some guy tended to her wound and got her to safety. He turned his head over to where the shot came from and saw the armored man.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," he said over to the group.

He activated his jet boots and flew over to the building to where the sniper and the other armed men were. He powered down his boots and looked over at the large figure.

"And I'm guessing you're Zeron," he said to the armored man. "As much as I hate to say it I can tell you're not responsible for what's going on here. I'm not one for asking for help but right now we could use it." he said trying to reason with him.

He didn't even seem to notice what was happening down low while he tried talking to Zeron. Like how he failed to notice the larger group of civilians forming down low or how he failed to notice they were no longer attacking but beginning to form a circle. Or how the police of the town were beginning to pop up armed with their pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns. Or how the police began to take aim at the group of heroes down low, at Meta and Shade, and at Titan and Zeron. Suddenly all the heroes heard a voice inside their heads including Zeron.

Don't worry, soon the fun will begin said the creepy voice.

"And I'm guessing you're Zeron. As much as I hate to say it I can tell you're not responsible for what's going on here. I'm not one for asking for help but right now we could use it."

Zeron simply stared at the hero as he considered the proposed alliance between himself and the heroes.

"No." He said in a booming voice and he brought back his rifle and prepared to crack it over the head of the hero who had the nerve to ask him for help.

Don't worry, soon the fun will begin

Zeron looked up in suprise at the sound of the voice that echoed through his head even as he rethought the idea of working with the heroes.

Is it possible that whatever is controlling the civilians is telepathic? If so, that makes it a very dangerous opponet. Perhaps a temperary alliance could prove benificial.

He looked down at the armed men who were taking aim at the assembled heroes down below.

"Henchmen! To me!" He roared as he turned back toward the hero. "On second thought...yes. Whatever is controlling these people is powerful if it can control an entire city."

Erebus downbelow with the other heroes fought to defend themselves from the rampaging zombie civilians. It was hard not to kill them, because Erebus had no idea what was going on inside of their heads.

He performed a series of katas he carefully executed, mixing his own Psionic Powers to deliver blows to the raging civilians. In his mind, he began wondering; he lived here in Gallion, a metropolis housing millions of people. It was even safe to clasify Erebus as a fellow resident; while a bounty hunter and a vigilante within the darkness of night. How could he be uneffected by whatever happened to these people?

Soon, the fighting had stopped. The civilians had suddenly calmed, and formed a circle around the uneffected vigilantes. He huffed and puffed, while staring at the surrounding civilians. What were they doing?

Soon a patrol of armed men came into the scene, aiming there weapons at the heroes. He suddenly heard a voice inside his head. A cold, sinister voice.

Erebus unsheathed his katana. The blade sung as it was open in the crisp air. "I think we now have a reason to defend ourselves through our own brutal methods." he grunted.

"On second thought...yes. Whatever is controlling these people is powerful if it can control an entire city."

Titan just nodded his head as a response to Zeron. He would have made some type of remark had he not been focused on the armed civilians.

"I think we now have a reason to defend ourselves through our own brutal methods." he grunted.

Titan looked over at Erebus and his now unsheathed katana.

"Hold up, if we kill them that makes us just like them. No, whoever's doing this isn't controlling us for a reason...I think this thing is testing us."

He down at the group below and suddenly had a thought. He leaped off the building and turned on his jet boots. He began firing lasers out of his hands to force the civilians to shoot at him. His armor would be durable enough to withstand the bullet onslaught...at least he hoped.

"Candlelight," he called down to him. "I need you to blind these civilians and I need everyone else to disarm them while they're distracted."

"Candlelight," he called down to him. "I need you to blind these civilians and I need everyone else to disarm them while they're distracted."

"Disarm them? They are trying to kill us, and you want me to help disarm them!?" Candlelight was having trouble seeing the logic or the practicality in Titan's methods, to put it mildly.

"Whatever. I'll listen to you just this once." Candlelight then absorbed some light and released it in a nonviolent blast, briefly causing his vision to turn white.

"Alright, sic 'em boys!"