Dr. Damnation was furiously typing on the small scanner when the sudden sounds of gunshots drew his attention. Unlike all of the other sounds of explosions and such these weren't coming from the warehouse. These were coming from where the local keepers of order had gathered, just a few hundred meters further back from where he was standing.

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the chaos which was quickly spreading. "Mind control? Sleeper agents? Hallucinations?" He asked himself. In the back of his mind he started working out each option, trying to figure out how it could be accomplished and by who. This was a most interesting development after he had recorded a whole bunch of lifesigns disappearing inside the warehouse. It was very likely that these two events were connected somehow. Could it be that the heroes were losing? Now that would be an interesting development.

He chuckled as he watched the gunmen turn on the civilians. "Now this is a very effective maneuver. Bravo, villains." He said with a smile on his face which was hidden by the mask. A stray bullet hit the wall next to him and made him jump. "Shame about all the collatoral damage though." He whispered as he moved to more secure location. He was still next to the burning warehouse and the flames and smoke were growing more intense by the second but it seemed like one of the more safer places around.

From his new position Aleksander could hear one of the heroes screaming in anger and when he found the source it was immediately recognizable as Decoh. Dr. Damnation didn't hold him in very high esteem but he had survived the battle and was still conscious so far so that was something.

"Greetings, Hero." He said in a booming voice when the man was done with his raving. The Doctor approached the wounded man with a smile on his face. "I take it things didn't go so well in there?"

"I got some pretty interesting data though." He put the scanner back into a pocket of his labcoat but hid the neuralizer behind his back just in case. Heroes were notorious black&white thinkers and since he wasn't one of them...it was very easy to mistake him for the enemy...if you were an idiot. It wouldn't be the first time they'd try to draw him into their ridiculous little games.

Decoh, finally calming down, was able to lay on his back and get some air flowing through his body, making the pain slightly more manageable. He soon got lost in thought, debating whether he should just blow a hole in the ground and apologize later or sit there and wait for some type of assistance when he was interrupted by a booming voice. "Well he's certainly dramatic..." Decoh thought to himself and then glanced in his direction to find what looked like a doctor. He was wearing a surgeon's mask, a labcoat, and typing on some random piece of technology... Heh, and I thought the Butler was weird...

"Hello to you" he squeezed out. The Doctor responded. Decoh, biting back his anger replied, "Yea, it pretty much sucks. We were doing good til a second mask-dude with guns and bombs showed up... killing the kids..." Decoh paused, actually feeling sort of sad that he was unable to rescue the kids.. but more angry because he had went through all the work of trying to rescue them to no avail. "So the murderer, launched a bomb that Caucus 'caught', but it seems more like it caught him 'cause it kept going and picked me and Baptist up along with him," he took another pause, realizing he barely had any wind to be long winded, "long story short.. It blew up and we landed out here." Then Decoh started to wonder where the doctor had been during all of this, and why he wasn't hurt. "Where were you the whole time?" He looked up to realize that the Doctor was half-paying attention to him, Decoh didn't really care, he just wanted the pain to be gone.

I got some pretty interesting data though. Decoh watched as the Doctor put his contraption in his labcoat, "Oh?" He rolled his eyes.

Hopefully the fire in the building would soon reach it's peak, or the baptist would wake up... maybe he'd just blow a hole in the ground... Until something happened, he was stuck, but at least there was someone there who was fully functional, might as well ask for his help, "Heyyyy," Decoh so.... "eloquently" began, "Is there anyway you could help us out?" He forced himself to point to Baptist and Caucus, "Wake them up? Or go try to stop all that useless shooting? Please? I'll cook you some dinner," Decoh laughed to himself, "But seriously, we could really use your help, Mister, uh, Doctor, Sir....." Decoh gave up, too much talking, he was getting tired. Hopefully things would turn around soon.

Animal released Marron, who was unconscious or dead from his grip as he heard the gunshots and explosions. Animal quickly got up, he looked towards the direction Caucus, Decoh and Baptist were blown. He then looked at the warehouse that was crumbling down around him. Animal looked at himself he wasn’t hurt like the others, his fights weren’t as bad, so he knew it was his job to help everyone else out. Animal shifted into a dog so he could get the scent of anyone still in the warehouse. He could smell the kids and his heart sank, he knew he could have saved them, but it was to late for him to look back now. Animal ran through the warehouse picking up the scent of someone who wasn’t moving or wasn’t very fast at least. He looked and say Grey-Wraith, he ran over to her and then half shifted into his elephant form, his skin started to turn grey, his nose became long and turned into trunk, he then grew tusks out of his cheeks. After Animal had changed he rubbed his face, after feeling some pain from the change. Animal helped up Grey-Wraith and said “ hang on, I’ll help you out of here.” Animal heard something breaking, he looked up and some wood and other debris that was falling. He held his hands up above him and lifted the debris, he then threw it to the side. And then he picked up Grey-Wraith and says “ sorry, no time to be informal, we have to get out of here.” Animal charged toward the exit and when he got outside he saw all the people going crazy, he scratched his head wondering what had happened. Animal set Gray-wraith down. Animal looked around to find something he could do to protect the people from the gun fire, or someway to stop the gun fire. Animal yells at himself mentally “ Think! Think!” Animal could think of nothing he could do, he was useless in this situation. Animal looked around wondering where the other heroes were, maybe they could figure something out.

"Hm? Oh, yes I believe this experiment has come to an end." The Doctor managed to pull himself fully back into the situation again. "I am Doctor Damnation!...and I'm afraid I can't really do anything about that situation right there. I still haven't ruled out all the possibilities of how it came to be this way."

He turned towards the chaotic fights, which were still going at full force, and got lost in his own thoughts for a moment again. Then he suddenly woke up and turned to the fallen hero. Decoh based his power on energies he borrowed from 'nature'. The exact definition of natural was quite vague though. He remembered seeing the man use energy from the ground once...but obviously he couldn't absorb it through the street or he would've done so already. Aleksander really doubted the man was that stupid. He would never have lived this long if he was. At least not on his own.

His eyes widened when an idea emerged from the depths of his mind. "Try to stake awake, Hero." He said when the wounded man seemed to be slipping away. The Doctor quickly checked the displays of the neuralizer. There was only just enough energy in the battery left. He changed some settings and ejected the battery. It was a small metal cylinder you couldn't buy in any stores. It felt warm in his hand and it was heating up quickly.

"Just a moment." Dr. Damnation said with a smirk on his face which was obscured by his mask. "This will get you your precious energy."

He casually turned the object on the ground next to Decoh. It was already white hot when it hit the concrete and quickly started sizzling, burning a sizable hole in the shallow layer of concrete. After a minute the hole had widened considerably and when the small energy cell was done there was ground visible.

"Et voila." The Doctor said victoriously. "And I like my steak well done."

He guffawed as he stood between all the collapsed figures, drowning out the sounds of gunfire and the screams.

Decoh was going in and out, hearing certain things but not others. "I am Doctor Damnation!"... That name was way cooler than 'Decoh'. He would have laughed at that thought, but he was almost gone. "I still haven't ruled out all the possibilities of how it came to be this way." Damn, was he that smart? Decoh sort of wished he were a bit smarter, but he was fine with being smart enough to not be dumb... Decoh was really starting to lose it, fighting to keep his eyes open, they slowly began to shut. "Try to stay awake, hero," Decoh heard come from the Doctor's mouth.. Yea, how about YOU come take my place, the young man thought to himself, mentally rolling his eyes.

"This will get you your precious energy." Decoh twitched at this next sentence, Energy?! Please let it be natural! Then he felt some serious heat near him and heard sizzling sounds. Damn, whatever the Doctor dropped was HOT. Decoh fought to hold on to his consciousness.

The sizzling continued, and the reluctant hero felt the street under him melt away. Part of his body was no longer on the street.. it was... On the earth under the street! Oh thank GOODNESS! Decoh thought to himself as he opened his hand and placed his palm on the dirt and closed his eyes. He began to visualize the energy from the lacuna-fied earth flowing into him, he felt the dirt giving him energy and charging him. Decoh felt his strength begin to return to him, and at an exceptionally faster rate; because the earth was blocked by the street, the energy of the lacuna had could go no further allowing the earth to store a pretty good amount of its energy within it. Decoh stayed completely still for about a minute then leapt up out of where he was laying. Decoh was "maxed out", he'd actually be worth something this go around.

The hero looked at Doctor Damnation, his eyes wild with excitement, he could finally be of some use. "Thank you sooooooo much! Remind me to give you my address, would you like some mashed potatoes as well?" Decoh began to laugh wildly - see, the energy from the lacuna not only reenergized him but it drastically lightened his mood. He would have to call Ileana at some point and tell her that they were having steak for dinner.

The human holepuncher celebrated, running and jumping for about twenty more seconds then calmed himself, he looked down and noticed a cylinder in the middle of the light hole that had been made in the street. He looked over at the Doctor once again, "Is that what you used to make the hole? You and my sister would get along."

Decoh focused his attention on the chaos going on all around. Damn... this sucks... The young man realized that there was no way he'd be able to handle the situation by himself, even if he was maxed out. "Hey Doc," Decoh glanced in Dr. Damnation's direction, "I know I keep asking a lot of things from you, but do you have any idea on how to wake these two up?" he said, pointing at Baptist and Caucus, "We're definitely gonna need their help," the young man said as his thoughts trailed off again, How do we even know who's hurting or helping who? What will those two be able to do after they come to? How did all of this even happen anyway? The hero was getting a headache, maybe he'd just leave all the thinking to the Doctor.

"You'll have to introduce me to your sister some day then." Dr. Damnation responded calmly. For a moment he wondered who the hero might be talking about and if her mind could even be compared to his (something which would be very exciting if true) but he pushed it aside to answer Decoh's question. The man was exactly as he had expected and he made some additional notes in his mind that might prove useful in the future.

"They're still breathing so that's good. Frankly I was just going to let them recover on their own." He shrugged and walked towards the remains of the small cylinder. "You are so dependant on this 'natural energy' that I wasn't sure you'd pull through on your own. They are somewhat more self-sufficient. Perhaps we could try to figure out the exact nature of this energy you use someday. I find its properties...odd and I suspect the nature of your powers, or rather its limit, is mostly psychological."

The Doctor bent down to pick up the depleted energy cell. Making them wasn't easy or cheap so he hoped this young hero appreciated it. So far it certainly seemed that way. If the cell wasn't too damaged he could probably use it as a very sollid basis for a new one so it wasn't a big loss. He would have to make sure not to keep this new one in his pocket. It might prove unstable...more so than the others.

His skin sizzled as it made contact with the metal shell but he didn't feel anything. It surprised him for a second before he recalled his new power. It was amazing how normal he still felt. He decided to just hold onto to it for a while before putting it in a pocket. Otherwise it would probably burn right through his clothing and he was quite fond of this labcoat.

He turned back to the hero and his two fallen comrades. "I doubt those two will be much help with crowd control of this magnitude." He spoke quickly as he attempted to explain his thoughts. He imagined this would be similar to what it felt like for human-basic individuals when talking to a child. "Caucus' powers are more suited to one-on-one fights. The Baptist's power may prove far too destructive when dealing with human-basic individuals and I assume you do not wish to kill individuals most would consider 'innocent'. Your best bet for a quick and effective solution is Grey-Wraith. It will still take some time to identify the targets though."

"And in the end the situation will just resolve itself. Even without our intervention." He took a deep breath when he finished the last sentence but didn't sigh as he exhaled. He was curious to see what the heroes would do with this new problem.

And if Decoh should somehow still die he should probably spent some time finding out about this sister. He hadn't linked any of the more cerebrally gifted heroes, villains or neutrals to Decoh before but he never let a chance pass to seek out somebody who could compare their intellect to his own.

The Butler sighed to himself as Caucus finished off Bombshell. All was going well, Manzo would be please. The Asian raised a hand to the gun-shot wound in his shoulder, sighing as the blood stained his glove yet again. This was not his ideal situation, but so be it. He glanced to the Grey-wraith, still unconscious. He would have to make do. “Come along children-“ The children stared not at the man in the Victorian suit, but at the scene happening below them. Junoichi gasped, narrowly avoiding the three large men being propelled towards him. His eyes landed on Murphy, the very man he had suggested to kill. He scowled and looked back to the children once more. “Go on, through the hole-shit.” He leapt up to the platform, narrowly missing the two grenades. He drew a serving spoon, prepared to land it in the fiend’s throat, but suddenly things were happening. Bombs were flying through the air, straight towards the children.

The Butler’s stomach dropped. There was blood, very thick blood splattering across his face, his suit and that god-forsaken mask. He stood there, gloved fist clenching as the screams died down all at once. He shut his eyes for a moment and pressed the button on the ear piece, ignoring the flames, the falling beams and the fact that his life was at risk. “Mr. Manzo.” “Yes, Junoichi?” “I’ve failed. Only half of the heroes’ task was completed.” There was an abrupt silence. Junoichi felt as though he would faint. “I see. Well, that’s alright this time, Junoichi. I suppose I’ll have to be more specific with my orders. From now on I want a connection with whoever decides what needs to be done. That’s your order for the next few days, oh and keep doing what you can tonight.” “Hai, Manzo-dono.”

Junoichi dropped down from the platform, approaching the area he’d left the Grey-Wraith in. She was right where he’d left her, her shadow ability appearing to have kept her safe or perhaps it was just luck. He lifted her over his good shoulder, coughing violently. His throat was still sore from his battle with the berserker and seemed to be struggling to filter even pure air down to his lungs. He paused a moment longer, casting a slow glance over the containers. All dead, not a single one left. He turned without hesitation and leapt through the hole in the side of the building that one of the other heroes had made.

There was more chaos ensuing outside, cops turning on one another and the media. This was not an ideal situation. He deposited the Grey-wraith on a sidewalk a good distance from the burning building. He was tired, bloody from both the children and his own wounds (the slash Valkeryie had left had bled through his shirt and down the front of his trousers). He clothes were tattered, his mask frayed. He looked like something crawled from hell, not a hero. He chewed his lip for a moment before sighing lightly.

He started towards the huddled mass of reporters and camera crews, all of which seemed too stunned to move. The Butler walked in front of them, many of them jumping back in fear. “Get out of here, go! They’ll be after you next!” Many of them just stared at the bloody apparition. Junoichi was not known for his social skills, and it was clear these idiots were too shocked to absorb what he saying. So he decided to do things his way.

The media crews got moving when Junoichi began throwing things at them. Of course the spoons did very little damage at the weak speed he was tossing them at, but they all got moving all the same. Junoichi dropped into a sitting position, his coat and pockets completely empty of weaponry. He was pleased with himself.

Diane woke up from a blurry scene. While inside the burning warehouse she vaguely remembered the Butler trying to get her back into the action but the trauma from the fall quickly made her pass out again. Apparently the Animal and Butler had both taken part in her rescue as they were both nearest her position...Now outside of the warehouse?!?!!

She turned around to watch as the integrity of the complex failed, the roof crashing into the floor of the building while more explosions rocked the place. Her eyes widened in horror as her vision returned. Had the kids made it out safe?!? What about the rest of the heroes?!? What about the villains?!? However her moment to think would be interrupted as the deafening sound of gunfire riddled the air. She turned to see civilians, cops, and S.W.A.T all being gunned at by other cops and S.W.A.T! She couldn't believe her eyes at the mass hysteria. More people were dying and there must be something she can do about it. She slowly rose to her feet, wiping the blood from below her nose as her legs shook from getting used to standing once more. She could feel that her nose may be broken and that her face would be pretty banged up behind the mask but she had to continue.

She walked over to where Animal was, grabbing the kid by the arm and moving to where the Butler had sat down. She talked in a panic tone, pointing in the direction of the fray and ducking as a stray bullet whizzed by her."Alright guys, I don't know what happened in there but the shit out here is getting out of hand. I don't care how fast these people run the bullets are going to catch them so we have to do something?!" Grey-Wraith observed the scene, not ever having given anyone instructions before but she figured she had a plan. She hadn't taken the time to notice if any of the others were alright. As far as she knew it was only her, Animal, and the Butler. Still, something had to be done!


"Animal!, I've seen what you can do. I need you to do something about those police & swat cars. Not only do they provide cover for the one's that are going insane but they are also helping the rogue ones coordinate with one another. "She then placed a hand on the Butler's shoulder, trying her best to urge him to stand once more..."Butler, I'm going to do something and I'm going to need you to take advantage of the situation. I've seen how you can move. We need precision and grace!" With those words the Grey-Wraith spread her arms and rose in the air, her eyes glowing a determined red. When she was a good distance above the scene she let out a brilliant white light.

A white light that looked like a target for the rogue agents.

They pointed their guns in the sky and began to shoot at her. The Grey-Wraith quickly wrapped herself up in a cocoon of shadow and began to spin. She fell to the earth like a torpedo, the gravel underneath her splitting as the impact was made. The fear from what she was doing made the rogue agents continue to fire on what they perceived now as the most apparent threat. She just hoped this would be enough time for the others to take action, now alot of the Rogues had been singled out.

[[As Medusa, really pissed at being thwarted by Binary]]

The hideous machine shook in anger as Binary set up her walls and defenses. She had done everything in her power to corrupt the previous lines, frequencies, and databases that Binary had command of. However Medusa underestimated the tech-savvy woman. How unfortunate the poor child wishes to aid those who claim to defend justice. She would make for a great daughter....

Medusa turned around to stare at the countless number of screens before her. It could not be told just how fast her mind worked or what her mind was working on. However, she was confident that Binary now knew she had one hell of a threat to contend with, and had made one hell of a worst enemy.

Medusa was also confident that there were now two opposing guru's of technology vying for control of New Congress. However since Medusa was a living threat, a breathing virus she knew Binary smart enough never to attempt to track her down by tech-conventional means. It would be suicide for one as connected as Binary.

Still...Medusa hoped.

She closed her eyes to connect with her many *children* scattered about New Congress. Technical marvels that served only Medusa's will. Physically she had been able to catch a glimpse of Binary, and now had her face encoded in her memory.

Thus she would send a command out to her children. A very simple one.

Find, and make the value of this Binary a negative one.

In other words, Kill....

Her children would assemble...

[[As Caucus, finally getting the F**k up]]

Caucus coughed as he woke up from the fall. His body ached as he turned to use his hands to raise him up. However as soon as he shook his head he took in everything that had happened!

He roared with anguish at the remembrance of the children being gunned down in front of him and of the two bodies of his former team that were no doubtingly burning within the failing structure. He lost all sense of control and made a mad dash towards the building. He would have thrown himself in the flames to try to rescue anything if not for a team of firefighters that held him back, their teeth gritted in complete determination as they struggled with the enraged superhero.

Caucus continued to struggle until he looked at the arms of one of the firemen. There was blood seeping through his jacket.

"I was shot Caucus, and so were many of my fellow men. By them!"

He turned Caucus around for the superhero to make account of the scene. What the hell was going on!?!?! Why in the hell were police that were sworn to protect and serve gunning down helpless civilians?!?!

Caucus understood what the firefighters were wanting him to do. He closed his eyes and took a big breath, patting the man on the shoulder to let him know that he understood his duty.

Caucus ran to where Dr.Damnation, Decoh, and Baptist were gathered. As of now Baptist was still out cold, Caucus checked his pulse and made note that the man was still out cold. He then turned to grab Decoh, who he finally recognized as the young man he had offered to join the Paradigm a good while back. It was probably a good thing that he didn't then...

Then his eyes made contact with Dr.Damnation. Caucus took the man's demeanor in, instantly noting the uneasiness he felt within his presence. His costume was of a doctor and scientist and his eyes spoke of one devoted to one thing. What that one thing was, Caucus did not know but he had to take a chance. The man had obviously not done away with Caucus, the Baptist, and Decoh who were just completely vulnerable moments ago. Caucus's quick mind then went over the possibility that the man couldn't possibly be an assassination because what point was there to try and get in good graces with a man who had lost his team, and that had been laying K.O.'d at your feet making him a easy kill?

"Decoh, and....whoever you are. I need you to...."

He then watched as Grey-Wraith took to the sky, taking the attention of many of the shooters if not them all when she dropped back down to the ground. A genius plan!

"Alright you two. I don't care how you feel right now there are too many people out here we have to protect and too many bodies on the ground reminding us what will happen if we fail! The bad guys are making themselves known right now so do whatever you can and bring them down!"

Caucus then ran towards one of the S.W.A.T members who were busy shooting at Grey-Wraith. Caucus turned the man around and slammed his fist in his face, dropping him.
He caught the gun of the officer and began to fire at other rogue agents, his military training in full effect as he put down suppressing fire. He himself had been able to get the attention of a number of shooters.

He took a deep breath, breaking from cover to fire at two more officers who went down, their guns firing into the air as they dropped to the ground. Caucus then abandoned his gun, ducking and weaving before throwing himself in a melee against many corrupt uniforms.

The tide was turning.

The Baptist had not been out-cold from the blast. He had just been in shock. He lay there upon the street face down, a single eye open to watch the flames bring down the warehouse where the kids had been shot in cold blood just like his children. The children he mentored and counseled before all of this. Before he became the Baptist.

He had failed. He had watched as his shots towards Murphy had missed, leaving the man to murder the children....

The Baptist couldn't move. He felt himself losing his mind ready to succumb to a rage so great he just knew he would have to be admitted into the nut-house. However something then caught his eye...

He watched as a screaming Caucus rushed towards the fires, probably wanting to rescue those even he knew were dead. He watched as Caucus fought with the firemen to release him to danger, then watched as his mind seemed to change, and he rushed off into the sounds of....gunfire?!? Baptists ears released the sound of dying children and welcomed him into a world of screaming civilians and peppering gunfire. Apparently some police and swat decided that they couldn't take the stress or something and had begun to take out helpless civilians. When would the massacre end? Baptist thought as he rose to his feet looking over at Decoh and Dr.Damnation. He felt something odd about the Doctor but the man probably felt the same way about him. Still, there was a job to do. Caucus had inspired the quick-to-anger Baptist to take action, watching as the star-clad hero began to fight off many of the bad cops & swat. Baptist launched himself in the air with a powerful surge of water and landed in the middle of the crowd, his eyes scanning for any officers not shooting at the right people as he tried to help herd the panicked populous to safety.

The Baptist kept at it for a few moments before watching as a couple of regular uniforms decided that their bullets weren't going to do anything and fire once more into the crowd. They turned to take their aim but found a very angry Baptist staring at them, body surging with electrical energy as his fists were clenched. They fired at him in pure terror and swore as their bullets deflected off his armor. He charged at them, launching one cop violently into his car with a powerful stream of water and immobilizing the other one in a sweep of electricity.

The Baptist then looked around for the other heroes gathered, trying his best to make sure that more civilians made it into cover. Taking out a couple of bad uniforms here and there as the chaos tried to clear.

Dr. Damnation followed Caucus with an amused smile beneath his mask. Such a quixotic individual he was. Aleksander suspected it was a consequence of the discovery of his powers. "With great power comes great responsibility." That's what they said when they wanted to control a meta-human and force them to conform to the current set of morals people pretended to hold dear. This ex-soldier was a perfect example of how effective it could be. Of course there was no mind narrower than that of a soldier. Except maybe that of a religious fundamentalist. One could argue that they were the same though.

Now the hero was approaching him. Despite his many injuries Caucus still looked formidable and showed no signs of exhaustion. As he stood up from checking the Baptist's pulse he looked in control. He looked like a leader. A weaker mind, Aleksander suspected, would've been very eager to follow him. As their eyes met, a chill went down the his back. He was smart enough to know when somebody had figured him out.

"Decoh, and....whoever you are. I need you to-" Caucus said to them in an authorative tone. He spoke to them like he was their leader! The nerve of this tiny little mind! Merely the designation of meta-human did not make them equal, let alone make him his superior. He was about to speak up when it happened.

"Right on time." The Doctor muttered as he shielded his eyes from the almost blinding light Grey-Wraith was producing. It was a good start for the heroes, like he had suggested earlier. They couldn't afford to waste any energy now that they had so little left to give.

Caucus gave a small speech before ordering them to do what they could and running off with the others to go kick some ass. The Doctor stayed behind with his arms crossed, rolling his eyes. "I don't care how you feel right now. We have to play the hero." He said in a squeky voice which was supposed to make a mockery of Caucus. "Well, I don't care how you feel."

When another stray bullet hit close to him, it made him wonder if his skin was now bulletproof. He had theorized that it was but that it might cause minor hematomas (a.k.a. bruises). This was a perfect time to test that theory in vivo. There was no other interesting data to be recorded right now anyway. He could find meta-humans beating up human-basics on any day of the week.

He calmly followed the heroes into the fray.

Daniel Casey was not known to his friends as a man of action. If a situation came up, it was common knowledge that you could find "Dead-run Dan" running the opposite way. So when he had rode past the chaos outside the warehouse, what with cops shooting at each other and superheros coming out of the woodwork, it was no surprise to anyone that he conveniently disappeared.

What the people didn't know was that the image they had built for him couldn't be further from the truth. Turning the corner of Maple and Vine, Daniel dumped his bike in the nearest convenient alleyway and ducked behind some trees in a nearby park to change.

Reaching back into his bag, he pulled out his mask, slipping it quickly over his head. He had already pulled off his sweatshirt and had his pants half down when he had heard the quiet noise behind him.

"Ahem."

Oh crap! Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of about twenty kids and as many parents. A birthday party, he'd guess, judging from the decorations. The kids seemed in awe. Though not likely, this might be the first time one or of them had ever seen a superhuman. The parents, however, had different looks on their faces. Shock. Revulsion. Scorn. Quick, he had to say something clever to distract them!

"Excuse me! Do you mind?"

Well, that shook them out of it. Leaving to an alternative location, namely the bathroom, to finish removing his pants, Recharge, as he had decided this newest superhero identity was to be called, couldn't help but thinking: Well, that could have gone better.

Five minutes, and a quick recovery of his bike later, Recharge was back at the scene of the crime... or not, as the case may be. Did cops shooting cops count as a crime?

Looking up, Recharge couldn't help but notice the whole light show. Ah, that was ol'-what's-her-face's mojo, the shadow-using chick. Living around New Congress, Recharge was pretty well acquainted with her heroes and villains, though for the life of him he could never remember their names. Well, except the Baptist, because that name just cracked him up. He could just see the posters now: "The Baptist wants YOU... to go to church." He didn't even know if the guy was religious or not, but the thought of that had always... you know, now probably wasn't the right time to zone out. It was time for action!

Revving his bike, he zoomed down the road, leaping off a few feet away from some of the psycho, bad-guy cops... at least, he thought they were the bad guys. Well, they were the ones shooting at the shadow chick, which was as good an indicator as any as to them being bad.

The bike tipped over and skidded to a halt, not even managing to take out a single cop. Well, that didn't go according to plan. It should have continued skidding and taken out a whole row of evil-cops, secret agent style. One of these days he'd have to get around to suing those action movies for giving him false ideas.

The bike, did, however, achieve its secondary objective, which was to attract the attention of several of the anti-cops. Oh, anti-cops... that was good. Three, to be precise. One plain cop, with a rather standard handgun, and two SWAT, with sub-machine guns. What followed was, perhaps, the most boring gunfight ever. They all turned, and, in synchronicity proceeded to turn and unleash a hail of bullets in Recharge's general direction. They continued firing until they ran out of bullets, and stood there watching the cloud of smoke that their misses had caused. One second passed, then two, then three. They looked at each other, words unnecessary as their faces clearly asked: "Did we get him?" Then suddenly, from out of the clearing smoke, a voice spoke.

"You know... I thought I was a bad shot, having never taken shooting lessons and all, but you guys..."

BANG! A shot rang out, causing Recharge to pause as a bullet passed itself through one side of his neck and out the other. Apparently he had attracted the attention of FOUR anti-cops. Recharge just shook his head and pulled out a half-eaten candy bar as his regeneration kicked in and removed any traces of damage from his neck.

"You know," he said, not paying any attention whatsoever to the looks of horror on the anti-cops' faces as they watched his flesh flow back up his neck. "It's rude to... oh, excuse me." He took a large bite out of his candy bar. "As I was saying, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're trying to make an important observation... or witty remarks... or engage in martial repartee. It's just not the 'good guy' thing to do. Now, I know you guys are the 'evil-cops' and all, but just by merit of you being cops, you could at least TRY to remember the social niceties. Now where was I?" He pause for another moment, trying to remember what he had been saying before. "Ah, yes. I thought I was a bad shot, but you guys... where did you learn how to shoot, the Imperial Storm-trooper Training Academy? Here, this is how its done!"

Whipping out one of his pistols, he casually squeezed off four shots... three in the head, one for each of the anti-cops in front of him, and one in the general direction of the sniper on the building to his left. It may not hit the sniper, but it would probably hit someone up there, and unless one of the newer superhero's powers was to teleport IN to harm's way, (which wouldn't really surprise him, seeing as how superhumans were a dime-a-dozen nowadays,) it wouldn't hit anyone important. It seemed like cops were also a dime-a-dozen here New Congress.

Of course, said gunfire and short-monologue-to-stunned-gunmen had attracted a little more attention from the anti-cops. Looking down, Recharge quickly counted his ammunition. Recently restocked, he had 15 rounds a magazine, and he had 10 spare magazines, so he had 180 bullets... er, 176, counting the four shots he just pulled off. Briefly, he wondered if he should try to be a bit quieter. Sure, he had just pulled of three, maybe four, kill shots, but as he was actually not all that good of a shot. His current stock of ammo might be enough to take out the six cops whose attention he had just grabbed, but he doubted if they would last him the next group of cops whose attention would be drawn by his shots. Then he just shrugged it off. Since when had he ever cared about the consequences?

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Caucus charge in, which cause him to smile. "Well, it's about time you showed up!" He called out. "What kind of raid would this be without our number one tank?" Sure, Recharge didn't actually KNOW Caucus. And sure, his humor WAS a bit retro. But hey, at least it made HIM smile. Sticking the rest of the candy bar into his mouth, Recharge pulled his other gun out and faced the throng of evil bad-guy cops.

"Ya'll ready for this?" He crowed.

Dr. Damnation had just finished explaining his take on the whole situation and what he thought the best solution should be. "I don't know.... both Caucus and The Baptist are pretty bitchin.. and probably smarter than I am," Decoh laughed, "They'll probably come up with a way to get the tables turning.." As Decoh finished his sentence he suddenly heard an anguished yell, not to far from him. Caucus was awake.

The young hero turned his attention to the near crazed man and watched as he ran off towards the building only to be stopped and turned around by firefighters. The former leader of the Paradigm VIII seemed to have calmed down by the time he made it back to Decoh and the Doctor. Decoh, and....whoever you are. I need you to.... The young hero watched as Caucus' eyes wandered to the sky and followed suit. Grey-Wraith rose into the air, Decoh shielded his eyes as she let out a huge flash of light, and watched her go crashing into the ground surrounded in shadows. Grey-Wraith had drawn the attention of the rogue gunmen, just as the Doctor had predicted. Yea, Binary and Doctor Damnation would definitely get along. New Congress had two genius technojunkies.. though admittedly, his sister seemed more normal than the doctor.

Decoh's thoughts were interrupted by Caucus, Alright you two. I don't care how you feel right now there are too many people out here we have to protect and too many bodies on the ground reminding us what will happen if we fail! The bad guys are making themselves known right now so do whatever you can and bring them down! and Caucus rushed off to go handle the crowd, quickly followed by a now awake Baptist who launched himself into the air, disappearing into the chaos.

Decoh had overheard Doctor Damnation talking to himself in a squeaky voice. Was he making fun of Caucus? The young man fought back laughter and headed toward the crowd, full speed.

It didn't take him long to get to the crowd, and thanks to Grey-Wraith, Caucus, and Baptist, the hero was able to easily point out who the bad guys were. He quickly turned his attention to a group of "cops" shooting at Caucus, perfect. Decoh took advantage of their being distracted, rerouted his absorbed energy to his arms and grabbed one of the rogue cops by the neck, slamming him into another, knocking them both out. Decoh would have to use this lacuna-dirt more often.

The young hero felt something was amiss and dove behind a police car in just enough time to keep from getting shot. He raised his hand in the air and twirled his finger, quickly ridding himself of that threat, only to draw the attention of many more. That blast had brought the young hero his own set of bad guys to deal with, including some SWAT team members. Decoh couldn't help but wonder if he was a hero or a criminal and slid under the police car, making a hole big enough for him to fit through. Firing away at the bad guys that surrounded him once he made it inside the vehicle. Sucks he wouldn't be protected for long though, he was creating so many holes with all that blasting he was doing one would soon mistake the car for swiss cheese. At least he wouldn't have too much to deal with once the automobile had served it's purpose.

Binary narrowed her eyes, masking the weariness building up in her body. She could feel the Medusa withdrawing, pulling off her attack. That was a good thing, because as she danced around the perimiter of her firewall, Binary found herself almost in awe. She could have cracked it, that was for sure, if her own network hadn't been so savagely corrupted only minutes before. And the battle had already raged for minutes, which translated into days in tech-time. All of her tools, her pre-written search programs, viruses, all of it was corrupted, most of it erased. She could rewrite it all in a few hours, but not while taking the offensive.

"Let's do this," Binary said quietly, outloud and through her mind. "I'm installing a few nice tripwires around my perimiter. I've got your signature. If you so much as slide some spyware through a crack, I will find you and trust me," she leaned forward with a snarl, "I will turn your circuits inside out. Understand?" Even as she spoke, she was erasing all traces of herself from around the Medusa's network, altering her own signature, basically making herself invisible again. "See you around," she said, and all at once, gave the Medusa a mighty shove and ran the software to take her back off of the grid. The Medusa's face cut all at once from her screens around her and after a moment, they quietly resumed working order. Binary sighed and wearily pulled up the signal for the communication unit she had been giving out.

"This signal is corrupted and will be terminated. Come see me for a replacement. Binary out." She pressed a button on her console and a satisfying sizzle-pop sounded over the frequency. She had installed a kill function in every unit she gave out. Now, the insides of every device should be a nice melted, destroyed mess. She had a lot more of those stocked up somewhere. She would have to tune them to a new signal, but it wouldn't be too hard.

She was ready to get back to work, and was a bit worried about what could have happened during her absence, but it had only been about five minutes. What was the very worse that could have...

"Holy shit!"

Animal thought about what Grey-Wraith had said, He then nodded and looked at the cars. Animal half shifted into a rhino. His skin turned grey, he grew a large horn, his muscles began to enlarge. Animal then took off toward the cars, he slammed into one police car with his horn poking a large hole in it. He then jumped on it repeatedly, Animal crushed the car and then he moved on to the other cars Animal then got and idea, He picked up the cars and set them between the civilians and the officers. Animal thought this would give the civilians more time to get away. When Animal had the barrier of cars set up, he watched as everyone was doing what the could to help out. He decided he could at least do something while the officers were distracted by Grey-Wraith.

Animal half shifted into a gorilla, his grey skin was replaced by black fur, his horn was replaced by his normal nose, and his muscles stayed somewhat the same. Animal ran over to a officer and grabbed his gun and then punched the man. Animal threw the gun toward the warehouse and went on to punching and stealing the gun of the next officer. When Animal got to the next officer, the man resisted, he shot the gun and it hit Animal in the shoulder, the blood dripped down his arm and Animal became angry. Animal punched the man and he could tell he had broken something on the man. Animal didn’t mean to hurt the man that bad, but something had taken over. Animal looked at the man who was unconscious, Animal shook his head. He changed back into his human form and he hid near the car he had crushed. He took some of his clothing and wrapped it around his wound. Animal then breathed deeply and readied to go back and help.

Junoichi forced the scowl off of his face as he was pulled to his feet. He crouched as the Grey-wraith began handing out orders, his eyes narrowing. Here was the woman who had slept through his own requests, but had now popped up in order to make a flashy re-entrance. He said nothing, there would be time for curt remarks later. He gathered up a few of his arsenal, mostly the spoons he’d been using earlier. He wandered over to one of the fallen Dualitys and pulled the serving fork from his eye. The Butler heard Animal making a ruckus, but ignored it as he picked up a few more pieces of silverware, including the carving knife.

He slowly made his way back to the scene, scowling obviously. This was a mess, they should have just killed the lot of them but many of these heroes seemed hesitant to end life. The Butler slunk into the fray, his slim figure hardly noticed by the murderous cops. The carving knife slit throat after throat as he stealthed through the crowd. It was a daunting task, but the other heroes had finally begun to cooperate. He raised the knife on a SWAT member, frowning when his helmet blocked the slash. He dodged backward, performing a one-handed cartwheel (as his other arm was becoming more and more immobile from the gunshot wound), his heel managing to knock the man to his feet on the landing. The Butler snarled and kicked the man’s helmet from his head before stepping on the man’s arm to keep it stationary. “How bothersome.” He threw the blade between the man’s eyes, lips turning up in a sinister smile.

He peered around, pleased to see that the other heroes seemed to take over. He switched to defense and fell back, nursing his shoulder. He slid out of his jacket rather grudgingly. He didn’t find wearing only a mangled dress shirt very proper. His shirt had a large slice in it which had penetrated the flesh of his stomach, staining the white shirt and the front of his trousers. His pale navel was revealed which proved it to be as thinly muscled as the rest of his body. The arm of his shirt was also bloodied from the gunshot wound that was causing him so much grief. His silk tie was used as a tourniquet reluctantly, but a tie could be easily replaced. He tore a strip of the lining of his jacket and wrapped the wound, wincing softly.

The Butler drew a silver pocket watch from his pocket, scowling. There was no way he’d be able to get breakfast prepared on time.

((Double post, ignore!))

Vasilisa pressed her back to the wall, her chest rising up and down rapidly. A few goons into the fight, and suddenly some maniac started to go nuts, and started killing the innocents inside, along with detonating an explosive. It was a shock to the russian woman, as she covered her head with her arms, the metal limbs stopping chunks of building that flew at her with plinks and clanks. She looked around, and saw nothing that could be done, especially if she was dead, she quickly made her way out of the building, it coming down just after she had managed to get to safety.

Suddenly, a man ran in front of her, as she caught her breath, apperently not noticing her. She recognized him....one of the men that had been around the fellow that had caused the downfall of those who were innocent. She growled and ran to catch up with him, easily stopping him from fleeing as she came to a halt in front of him.
"You! I saw you with the man that did this. You are going to be telling me about him very shortly. Or perhaps I can smash the answers from you?" She said, slamming her robotic fists together.
The man only replied by laughing like a madman. "Oh? You? Hahahheheehehaha! Come and try!" He would exclaim, pulling a baseball bat from his back.
"Those are being magic words." Vasilisa said, bringing her arms up, and finished her stance by taking a mild lean away form him. He ran at her, swinging his baseball bat high; she brought her arm up, as to intercept the blow. At the last second, however, she abandoned the block, and ducked. The man would've thought she was still trying to block her attack, and had thrown a good ammount of force into his attack, now swinging over her head. She slammed her fist into his low ribs, digging her fingers under the very bottom one, and pulling him towards her, and grabbing his shoulder,flipping him over her shoulder. He would surprisingly land on his feet, and spin around, trying to clobber Vasilisa with a one handed swing. This time, she was forced to block the attack, or be hit. The metal objects colided with each other, creating a loud "Tang" sound. She would back away and examine her arm that she had blocked with. There was a small dent in it. She turned her attention back to him. "Sorry, comrade. You're going to need more than bats to break me."

The fight continued when she dropped back to her stance, and the man came at her again. He swung his bat like a manic man, her arms blocking the wild attacks, sparks almost flying from contact. Finally, he left himself open after a wide swing, and she sunk a robotic fist deep into his jaw. Not wanting to lose momentum, she gripped the wrist that held the bat, and twisted it. Her leg shot out between his legs, and her heel hooked his kneecap, sending him toppling to the ground. She brought her leg over him, spinning, and pressed a foot to his throat, pulling hard on his arm. She wondered why he wasn't screaming in agony, like most would've been by now.
"You are a tough one, my friend. You have an iron will." She would say down to him, pulling on his arm a tad harder.
He answered with another one of his laughs. They were starting to get annoying.
The pain inflicting grapple was having no effect on the man. She released his arms, but only to collapse her kness on top of his biceps, kneeling over the man with her sitting on his upper chest. With his arms pinned down, one of her hands would go forth to grab a handful of her opponents' hair, pulling his head from the ground,and reeled back with the other one, smashing into his face, letting go of his hair upon impact. There was two impacts: The iron maiden's fist to the man's face, and the back of his head to the ground. He seemed to halt, if only for a moment, not moving, before his head came forward again.
"I like this view a lot better! HAAHAHAAHAHEEEHEAHAA" His insane cackle rung out again.
"Vhat am I having to do to KEEL you?!" She shouted back, her arms coming back again, the left gripping the right, as her hands smashed down in a two-handed hammerblow to the man's noggin. Again the temporary silence, before he would speak in his mad voice again.
"You know you are very pre-" His voice was cut off by Vasilisa's left hook. Followed by the left, and then right...she continued to pummel his face for a few moments, before rolling forward off her pinned foe, a few blood spatters marking her fists. She pushed herself up, and turned around smirking. He wasn't getting up. She started to turn and walk off.
"Where ya goin', sweetie? We aren't done yet!" She would hear from behind her. She turned sharply on her heels to glare hard at the man whom was pulling himself to his feet. The places on his face she had bludgeoned were healing, right before her eyes!
"...Vhill you just stay down, freak?!" She shouted, growling under her breath.
"Freak? Look who's talkin', titaninum twigs!" He would cry out in response. He hardly seemed tired at all. "We're just warming up!" He said, drawing another bat from his back. He now held two, and was swinging them around his form like some kinda...bat-warrior!

He came at Vasilisa again, whom luckly had an arm for each bat. They came at her as quick as lightning, even her sharpened reflexes had a tad bit of trouble blocking the blows. She was too focused on the bats, when his leg came sharply up between hers, causing her to yelp loudly in pain. It stalled her, to say the very least, and a baseball bat came around, to smash against her shoulder, barely bringing it up in time to keep it from beating against her head. She closed her thighs together, locking his leg between hers. She ducked another swing of the baseball bat, and clasped her hands together, and smashed them against his knee, a loud pop filling the air. She the harshly pushed off on his stomach, cauing him to stumble to the ground, a few feet away. Her own hands sunk to clutch where she had been kicked, her wits slowly pouring back into her.
"Bastard...I was going to do thet..." She muttered out to him, retaking her stance on shaky legs.
"Bet'cha lost som sensitivity down there! HAHEAHEHOOOHAHAAAA." he said, laughing extra hard this time. He reached down to his reversed joint, and popped it foward again, the sickening bone snapping filled the air again, before he placed the leg on the ground, as if nothing had happened! She frowned, and watched as he took his bats up again.

This time she was angry. Truly angry. She wanted this man to be a bloody pulp after she was done with him. She charged him this time, swinging her arms in a fury of blows. The bats made poor defensive weapons, and he was unable to really block much of her attacks. Her fists slammed into him with merciless resolve, the sound of hammer smacking against flesh filled the air time after time, before halting her hands on his shoulders, pulling his head down to meet her knee, a thunderous crack filling the air. She threw his head back up, and delivered a fierce uppercut, sending him backwards, landing on his ass."Those clumsy clubs are looking to be more of a hamper, then an advantage. She would say to him mockingly.

Suddenly he got up and grinned. His hand whirled behind his head, and he flung the baseball bat at her. The russian girl brought her hands up, to cover her body, the bat slamming against it with a loud clang. She losened her guard , and peeked through her arms. When she did...he was right in her face. She felt a large blunt pain against her gut, causing her to bend over. He would then step behind her, wrap the bat around her, forcing it against her throat.
"Saaay good night, little one..." Funnybone would speak to her in a mocking voice.
Vasilisa choked against the pun she had in store, but couldn't utter it. However, she reached up, and grabbed the part of the bat that he was using to strangle her with, and pulled hard. His head slammed into the back of hers, and she was able to struggle from his grip.She stumubled forward, and coughed, turning around to retake her stance against the still oncoming foe. He swung high and low trying to smash Vasilisa as she regained her breath, the girl throwing herself out of the way each time. Finally he swung too wide. She ducked outside of him, grabbing his wrist, placing a hand on the back of his head, and throwing him into a frontflip, landing on the ground with a thud. Still holding his twisted arm, she punched his elbow backwards, and then dropped her elbow on his throat. She quickly pushed herself back to a stand with a handspring, and followed into a backflip. She then ran straight backwards, stopping perhaps 50 yards.... She was going to give him a punch to get up from. Her eyes narrowed, the man was pushing himself up off the ground...she burst into a full spring as fast as she could possibly run. It took barely two seconds for her to hit the man, slamming her fist in the most wicked punch she was known to throw; she called it the Frieght Train, It smashed into her foe's face, sending him flying a good 10 yards. But she wasn't done yet; she had ran past him in the punch. She was behind him now, and her extreme reflexes had prepared her for the oncoming foe. She reeled back, and has hard as she could, smashed the man's chest with her robotic fist, stoping his flight dead in it's tracks. The counter acting forces must've dealt extreme damage to the man; but she didn't know. She bashed him away with a spinning backhanded punch, landing a few feet from her. She reached down to her knees, and rested, her small chest rising up and down rapidly.

"Hey....fauker. Are...are you ded yet? Because I am getting tired of beating the sheet out of you." She said, looking over at him. She wasn't even sure if her was concious any more.

Episode 1: Trials of Champions
Part 3

The story so far....

Even though the rescue had failed the heroes immediately took to the streets outside of the warehouse where they encountered a most perilous situation. S.W.A.T & members of the NCPD had started a killing spree upon the terrorized civilian populous. Through sheer resolve, skill, and uncanny teamwork they were able to break the massacre, saving hundreds upon hundreds of lives. The brave distraction by Grey-Wraith turned the gunmen's attention away from the crowd and upon her giving the many brave heroes assembled a chance to find their marks. Caucus, The Baptist, Decoh, Animal, The Butler, and the Grey-Wraith would be joined by an enigmatic Dr.Damnation and brash Recharge thus strengthening the front-line of justice against those that would see to evil. Vasilisa would leave the finally unmoving body of Funnybone to be buried in the crumbling compound and join the melee outside.Binary had been able to protect herself, and perhaps the lives of the heroes gathered in the streets in her quick resolve to Medusa's tech assault, and as the aerial cameras continued to spin despite the life-saving barricade that Animal setup between the gunmen and the innocents a historic scene would be captured.

As the last of the rogue gunmen went down, the heroes would be able to look upon one another and the whole world would be able to see what they saw....

They had shed blood and had their own blood shed, fought perilously against forces unknown to them, had risked their lives for the protection of each other and in service to those innocents that could not protect themselves, and had put their lives on the line for complete strangers. No matter their personalities, their backgrounds, their motives or their reasons for being there in that crucial moment they had been marked as champions....

As Heroes....

As the news cameras rolled and the commentators rejoiced at the gathering, the people on the streets who could afford a look at the heroes gathered erupted in a deafening applause. Tears rolled down some eyes in gratitude as the 10 gathered were praised for their actions. True there were many lives that were lost, but the news crews, rescue teams, and other emergency forces knew that countless more would have been killed if not for the heroes gathered.

Then the ground began to tremble....

Down the street the ground exploded in a geyser of concrete. From the blast a large tank rumbled forth from the depths. It was equipped with many concussive-energy firing turrets all around, and the main cannon was shaped exactly like a chess piece.

A King chess piece...

A large voice echoed out as 30 figures emerged from the hole as well. They assembled in front of the tank in a formation that resembled a chess table. The King had returned! Disregarding his orders from Testament to exact revenge on the heroes that defeated him, especially Decoh whom he blamed for the loss of his leg. His form could be seen, arms crossed as he pointed orders to his formidable force.

"Enough of this insolence! I shall smite the entire lot of these vermin and reclaim the king's honor!"

The main cannon turned and fired upon the gathered heroes, it's main focus for Decoh and the Butler as they heroes that had engaged King within the warehouse.

The heroes had seen enough action tonight to all be able to avoid the blast. They scattered and dodged as the main cannon fired it's beginning salvo. However because of previously having to blast it's way from the earth, the guns overheated, giving the heroes gathered a chance to recover.

Unintentionally however the heroes stood shoulder to shoulder. Eyes ablaze with determination, hatred, and the adrenaline of combat towards the forces of King gathered before them. His voice echoed loud over the loudspeaker as his force began their charge. The guns of the tank almost prepared to fire once more.

The camera crews watched as the heroes lined up, a couple of them quoting perhaps the beginning of a new Paradigm. The people gathered on the streets watched from a safe distance away and wondered the fates of their champions against this dire threat. Caucus's eyes saw the worried looks of the people and gathered his nerve about him, stepping forward a little and pointing towards the oncoming charge.

"Alright people this ends tonight! Decoh, they obviously have it out for you so give them what they want. From what I've seen your powers. can seriously put some damage on that tank! Grey-Wraith the same goes for you." He then turned to Vasilisa, "If you get a chance, try your best to disable those turrets. But don't make that a priority!" He then turned and looked at the rest of the heroes that were gathered, the oncoming charge of the King's *pieces* nearing them. "The rest of us need to focus on bringing these other clowns down. Be on your guard, this guy has come for round 2 and he doesn't seem the type to play with the same hand twice!"

Caucus then turned and faced the oncoming enemy, determination setting in his eyes as he began his charge at the Pawns that were coming at him. The sheer habit of fighting alongside his former team provoking him to release their fabled battle cry....

"Paradigm! Attaaaaaack!"

((Scenario)) [[Theme music goes good with the battle ^_^]] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDb5WGZQMtY

King has returned with an even more formidable force obsessed with bringing down the heroes and is especially focused on killing Decoh and the Butler. Use this to your advantage as you take on his forces!

His *pawns* have returned and are more powerful. Donning advanced armor (not invincible), they can fire plasma beams from both hands and are very fast, and very strong. There are 16 pawns total, representing the two sides of pawns on a chessboard.



He has a total of 4 Knights. Be wary as these abominations have no physical host underneath their armor. They fear nothing and are very skilled at using their shields that can return to them once thrown. They carry an assortment of medieval styled weaponry and can reattach their limbs if they are lost. The only way to guarantee bringing down these abominations are by removing the head. Finally beware their centerpiece as they are able to fire an extremely dangerous ion ray that singes flesh at the slightest touch.

The knights have seemed to take an interest in The Butler, and move in their charge towards his direction.


There are 4 Rooks, deadly gunmen that use an assortment of energy-based firearms and melee weapons. They are masters of their craft and should never be dismissed upon the field of battle. They are extremely agile as well.


4 Bishops charge high in the air. They are dangerous telekinetics capable of easily picking up cars with their minds and using them as weapons hurling them at extreme speeds. Worry not however as they are only able to lift inanimate objects. But as you are on the streets of New Congress, there are plenty of these things. They can also use their abilities to form shields protecting themselves. Engage with Caution.


Finally there are two queens. They carry a combination weapon that serves as a pulse rifle and pulse lance. Their armor provides enhanced strength, superhuman endurance and durability. However their greatest strength is the ability to increase their physical density at will meaning that they can go from 180lbs to 3tons!


Will the heroes gathered be able to stop the King's charge?

Find out in the exciting Part 3 of Episode 1: Trial of Champions!!!!!

The Baptist rushed into action behind Caucus. He admitted to himself that even though Caucus had slipped up and called them the Paradigm, he couldn't help but feel slightly elated as to the honor. However the time was serious as the King had reappeared with his small army, and Baptist was determined to see an end to tonight's fight. He darted ahead alongside the group, speeding up his run as he jetted on a stream of water. In no time he clashed into the pawns alongside Caucus, reeling as their punches slammed against his armor. These new pawns were significantly tougher than the ones that had been in the warehouse which meant that Baptist would have to get a little more rough himself.

He grappled with a Pawn, falling on his back and extending his legs to send the man flying backwards. He quickly rolled to his side dodging a blast from another pawn's palm. He then extended his own hand sending a fury of water towards the Pawn which slammed him into two others that were coming his direction. Baptist stood up to his feet, stepping hard upon the head of the first pawn he had thrown and sending a massive bolt of electricity through it's mask, killing him. However there were plenty of pawns to go around, and five of them jumped Baptist, doing their best to bring him to the ground. He clenched his teeth under their weight, feeling the power surged through his body as he stood back up with a mighty shout, sending the pawns flying from off him in a flash of water and electricity. Two of the five caught the brunt of the power surge, taking them out of the fight. The Baptist fell to a knee, looking up and sending both water and electricity towards a Knight that was charging with it's shield and spear. The knight did not falter from it's charge from the Baptist's blasts which worried him. As the knight drew near and lunged with it's spear the Baptist would roll, gripping the spear with his right hand by the shaft and standing up to his feet, sending a surge of electricity along the shaft that connected with the knight's body. It began to shake violently however still had enough function of it's limbs to attack the Baptist, swinging with it's shield and bashing him in the side of the head.

Once again Baptist fell to a knee woozy, feeling the arms of two pawns lift him up so that the knight, still shaking could make a charge towards him.

Dr. Damnation chuckled as he watched the others spring into action. "I think Caucus is getting a bit senile with old age." He said, shaking his head. His hand was pressed against his forehead in an attempt to put some pressure on a nasty gash. It was actually quite extraordinary that it was just that though. A well-aimed shot from a handgun straight to his forehead should've killed him (and until a few weeks ago it would have) but apparently his skull had responded quite well to the treatment. It wouldn't take him very long now to get a grip on this whole invincibility thing. After he had perfected that, the next step in his project would be enhancing his strength. It was the logical thing to do now that he could deal with massive forces involved in that power.

For now he would have to do with more conventional weaponry though. When the 'officers of the law' had refused to stop shooting him he had simply picked up a gun that belonged to one of their fallen comrades and returned them the favor. The gun was as SPAS-12 combat shotgun, currently loaded with slugs, and made quick work of their non-invincible bodies. The Doctor wasn't actually sure which side the men he had killed were on but they had been shooting at him so that meant their lives were forfeit. Not that it really bothered him. He had bigger things to worry about.

Somehow Aleksander had ended up in the line with heroes. He remembered predicting where the initial salvo would hit (with 80% accuracy) and moving to the safest place. It had been the smartest thing to do at that moment but now he feared he might be associated with all these goody-goodies. It didn't take the villains very long to make his fears reality. He only barely dodged a bolt of plasma fired at him by a Rook.

"Damn you, you simpletons!" He cursed as he made an awkward lunge for the cover of a car. "If you damage this lab coat, so help me Science, I will slowly dissect you before going Frankenstein on your ass and doing it over and over!"

He checked the shotgun to see if it was still usable. Guns were such unreliable weapons. Especially if he hadn't made it. There was no need to check how many slugs he had left in his pockets because he had counted them all when he had been scavenging them off the bodies.

"It looks like I'll have revisit me research on the effect of a shotgun slug to the face." He muttered before carefully peeking over the hood of the car. It seemed they had forgotten about him already. Such feeble minds...

"For Science!" Dr. Damnation shouted as he jumped onto the vehicle. He fired a round into the head of a pawn which had been thrown off its feet. There was a spark in his eyes as he pumped the shotgun and joined the fight.