AN: Hello everyone, this is a continuation from a previous story I did forever and a half ago. Though this is a "sequel", I view it much more as a reattempt since I read over it recently and I feel as if it could've been better. In order for you to understand what's going on you may have to read the previous title. Thanks for your time, and I hope you have a very enjoyable read.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

On top one of the many skyscrapers in the beautiful Brazilian city, Brock sat on the edge of the skyscraper with a leg dangling of the edge. Standing behind him was Artemis, a friend, a master, and someone he genuinely liked being around. Quiet moments like these, watching the parade from afar set him at ease which was something he needed. Especially after saving the world and going back to being a nobody.

"I wish I could go down there." Artemis muttered to herself.

"Really? Looks fun doesn't it?" Brock aksed.

"It reminds me of festivals back at home, I don't miss them but I'd like to see one."

"Carnival is nice, I would take you but I don't want you to end up a dancer."

"Back at home there were dancers at the festivals. I remember a thing or two, not only that but a fellow Godess Kali taught me the art of belly dancing." After Artemis had said that Brock's eyes widened a bit, his mind wandering off to rather lewd thoughts. With a light tint flaring on his cheeks, he asked.

"Oh...that's nice of her, perhaps some time you could show me?" He slyly suggested.

"Sorry Brock, it's an intimate dance."

He smiled to play off his disappointment, looking back down to the parade making it's way through the street. Rarely did he ever get the chance to view the Carnival so closely, it was usually through the screen of a television. The bright lights and colors dancing around set him in a trance, he was captured by the beauty of the show. A hand found itself on his shoulder, he was surprised at the suddenness of Artemis. Her touch radiated an odd warmth, something that was very foreign to him. It was almost motherly in nature, he looked up at the woman, his eyes met hers as the sounds of the party seemed to fade away. She stood at least three or found inches above him, he wasn't the tallest Champion after all. After a moment in staring into each other in silence, Artemis spoke.

"You will always be my Hunter, even if the Elders will it." Even though he had no idea what would bring her to say this. He appreciated moments of genuine emotion Artemis and him shared. He didn't mind her usual sass, sarcasm, and snark it was nice for her to stop and be real with him.

"And you'll always be my friend, even if the Elders are against it." His response brought on a warm smile in return, they went back to watching the festival like before.

If he were asked if before this day if he had anything for Artemis, he would've said yes. But now, he knew he was in love with her. If he had the chance, he'd marry the woman right on the spot. If he were able to marry Artemis without anyone knowing, which would be impossible. It was considered taboo amongst both Gods and Champions to pursue a relationship with their partner. Jayson was an exception due to his popularity amongst the Nexus. He wanted to avoid the embarrassment of telling his friends, and marriage was overrated anyways. But for now, Brock was content with staying as just an apprentice.

Toronto, Canada

"This is bullshit." Suzie had muttered under her breath, she was currently struggling with college work. She also cursed her decision to got to college, Cabrakhan annoyed her to no end about going to college. She knew college would be a lot of work for her but she wasn't aware of this much. Entire mountains of work were piled on top of her desk, she only arrived last week and already wanted to graduate. She'd rather do anything else than all this meaningless corporate bullshit.

"I really wish I could hang with the team again. I'm really starting to miss them." Suzie glanced up at her computer, her background was of her and the team taking a picture at Margret's house. It was the night of the big party, that night she met her best friends for the first time. She really wished she could go back to when things were simple. Even if that meant she wouldn't be a champion. She wanted a normal life, she didn't even know why she was a champion.

"I need a break, good thing Amir isn't here. He'd pitch a fit if he caught me smoking, him and Cabrakhan." Suzie pulled a rather long joint from a bag off the floor next to her desk. She fished a lighter from her pocket and gave it a light. Smoking was strictly prohibited on campus, but Suzie being the free spirit she is, she disregarded campus rules and did her own thing. If Cabrakhan saw her now, he'd be very disappointed in her. Giving up on an assignment and engaging in "delinquent activities". At this point she was too far into her smoke break for her to care about how Cabrakhan felt. She felt all her troubles slip away within a few short minutes, so what if her project was due tomorrow? She was in the zone. As a matter of fact she was so zoned out that she didn't her the lock turn and hear Amir walk through the door.

"What the hell Susan?!" Suzie was startled by the man's entrance, he began coughing as he inhaled the smoke. It was as if his presence caused her to sober up entirely.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry Amir!"

"Susan we're gonna get in so much trouble this time. I told you to stop smoking in the dorm!"

Suzie leaned back in the computer chair and continued. She planted her feet on the table and started to slowly seep back into her zone.

"Get your feet off my computer Susan, you're gonna mess it up."

She couldn't help but laugh at the irritated foreign exchange student. Ever since they became roommates she enjoyed getting reactions out of him, whether it be braking rules or flirting. Some times a bit of both.

"You don't like my fuzzy socks? I bought em for you." She put on her best sad puppy face causing the boy to get flustered.

"Let's not do this Susan, you know both of us could get kicked out. And if I get kicked out I'm going back to Britain, then I'll end up going back to India." The concern in Amir's voice was very evident, and she was loving it.

"C'mon Amir, you're so uptight. Just shut up and smoke with me."

"No, I can't deal with this anymore, I'm going to find a new roommate." Amir began to pack his things, she was surprised he was actually going through with this. "I've stayed in here too long, and I'm not going to risk expulsion by residing in this dorm anymore."

She couldn't let Amir leave, who would do her homework or run out and get her snacks. Also who would she tease when not in the Nexus, and she almost forgot he's good company. He had all his things gathered and was just about to leave when she spoke up.

"If you stay I'll give you a kiss on the cheek." Amir froze in place and began to unpack all his things.

"I can't believe you make me do these things. You truely are a silver tongued vixen."

"I missed you too Amir."

Saint Petersburg, Russia

"Alright, let's try again." Dmitri stated as he pulled up the smaller Champion onto their feet.

"Can't we go on a date like regular people?" Aaliyah asked.

"Doesn't a dinner and movie sound boring though? It's too slow for my taste."

Aaliyah rolled her eyes at his statement.

"And you don't think sparing is too fast for me? I didn't have a problem doing this the first few times, but now it's ridiculous. Can't we just be like other couples?" Her question caused him to cup his chin and think. Perhaps he'd give what she said some serious thought.

"Nah, we aren't a regular couple. We're cooler."

Never mind that, he didn't put thought into it. She could forgive him for being somewhat naive early on in the relationship. But they had been together for three months and haven't been on the ideal date. To most a date at the very least is a dinner and movie, but to Dmitri it was throwing his girlfriend around on a practice. And it wasn't in a good way.

"I don't know about you, but tossing around your girlfriend isn't what people would call...a date. That and you're not very affectionate, the first month was great, then things went down hill. You treat me like I'm one of your little friends instead of a girlfriend."

"Well isn't that the point?" Dmitri asked.

Aaliyah raised a brow, not knowing exactly what he meant.

"You're my girl-friend correct? I do what I do with my friends, except with you."

Dmitri found himself on his rear end from Aaliyah slapping him across the cheek. She stormed off out of his home and left Russia via portal.

"Damn, girls are a handful." He muttered and tapped the red stinging hand print on his cheek.

Boston, Masachusetts

In Boston, Oscar was having a crisis of his own. Boston was still under heavy reconstruction from the battle and even a curfew had been enacted. A reflecting pool and memorial wall had been built as well, it was something Oscar found himself visiting regularly. Coming to terms with the what happened that day, but moving past it was the tough part. He still had dreams about it, he even had the scar left from where the Darkbeast pierced his chest. But in the not so wise words of Suzie.

"It's the down side of a job like this, we have to make the hard choices and have to deal with the consequences." Her words found their way into his head. Every now and then she had a her spurts of brilliance, but that was as rare as blue moon.

" If only school was as easy as being a champion." He muttered under his breath as he entered the classrooms. Oscar took his seat in the back of the class since most seats were already filled in. Since the class hadn't started yet he drew his phone from his pocket, Brock had messaged him two minutes ago, pestering him about the usual.

'I know you may think it's weird, but you should totally go after Bellona.'

He let out a deep sigh, it wasn't that he thought it was gross or immoral to be with a God. But there was a severe discomfort at the thought of it, mainly when it came to things like mortality and the fact his life would be in her hands. Bellona was beautiful, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it, but those were just thoughts. Not only that, but when there's an alien demon invasion and you're going through puberty, you're mind isn't in the right place. He looked back down at his phone and responded quickly.

'Not happening Espinosa.' He made sure to include Brock's surname to make sure Brock felt the added venom.

'Fine, is there at least a someone? ;)' Oscar smirked, and then gave Brock his answer.

'No, there's no one. I'm flying solo.'

Oscar glances up to see if the teacher finally entered the classroom. The teacher wasn't there but standing in the doorway was someone that caught his eye, a girl with beautiful chestnut brown hair. Her locks ran just right past his ear lobes, which were studded with diamonds. She had lovely fair skin, not too pale nor tan, and her eyes were that of an icey blue. Oscar found himself staring and oggoling like the love struck fool he is. Her head began to turn in his direction, his head shot down so that he could avoid making eye contact with her.

So maybe there was some one. But Brock didn't have to know, as a matter of fact no one had to know. Except Jayson, he really needed some advice. Even though Oscar could handle most girls, some one like her, left him a quivering mess. He'd been fortunate enough to converse with her a few times and was lucky enough to not embarrass himself. However, just the thought of embarrassment deterred him from doing so. How could he save the world from utter annhilation, but be reduced to a child when in the presence of a pretty girl. He looked up from his phone only to realize the girl had disappeared from her spot.

"Hey, are you Oscar Holloway?" Her voice startled him on the inside, despite it being so soft and soothing to the ear.

"Uhh, yeah that's me, what's up?" He attempted to play off his nervousness with bravado and swagger. He was unsure if it was working, but she hasn't walked off laughing so the odds were in his favor.

"So you're the guy who I've been hearing about." His eyes widened a bit, he was screaming on the inside and his mind went to the worse case scenarios. Had he been discovered as a Champion? Did she some how figure out he had a crush on her? Or perhaps she heard about the "teddy bear incident". He was hoping for the the first one more than anything.

"What have you been hearing?" He calmly asked.

"Only that you're the best batter in Boston, and that pitching arm of yours is straight lethal." He was flattered at her compliments, it was a surprise she had heard of his accomplishments. "Coach Willis wants to know if you re interested in trying out for something else. Since baseball season is over."

"What's the offer?"

"He wants you on the football team, you have a good arm, you can catch, and run fast. So running back or quarterback is a good spot for you. But if you really want to impress some people, go running back."

He was surprised that the football coach wanted him on the team. The football and baseball players have been known to be aggressively competitive, which surprised him even more. If he were to take this offer, this would most likely impress her, so he decided to take the coach up on the offer and even test his luck a little bit.

"Which one would impress you?" His response got a chuckle out of her, which was a good sign.

"Honestly, I think you could do some serious damage as running back. I've seen a few of your games, and the crowd goes wild when you leave the opponents in dust."

"Well running back it is."

"Good, my name's Beverly by the way, Beverly Kelly." She offered out her hand.

He took a moment to pinch himself before he gave her soft hand a nice firm shake.

"I'm gonna tell the coach your answer, he'll be pretty happy to hear. And I'll be happy to cheer for your first game." He couldn't help the red tint flushing over his cheeks, Oscar ran a hand through his curly black mini fro, Beverly came to a sharp stop turned back to him. She fiddled in her jacket pocket and pulled a small slip of paper.

"I almost forgot, here's my number in case you need to get in touch. Bye Oscar." She then walked out of the class, and he watched her every step of the way. He definitely wasn't in love, not one single bit. After entering her number, he sent a text to Brock confirming it.

'THERE DEFINITELY IS NO ONE!' He forgot to turn off caps.

He then followed with a text to Jayson asking for help.

Nexus

"Try turning it on then off again." Solomon suggested as he took a seat on the couch's arm rest.

"It's not that simple Solomon. This isn't your grandmother's radio we're talking about, this is highly advanced technology. And how do you get here?" Solomon answered Jayson's question with a shrug. He always answered that question with a shrug.

"I have my ways, and so far the Elders haven't killed me for it. Or that floating head thingy."

"Whatever, I need you to hold this." Jayson tossed a small glowing blue orb, the size of a golf ball at Solomon. He caught it and began to inspect the object. "Don't drop it. Too much agitation and it'll level this place entirely." Solomon's face went ghost white.

"So this thing right here can kill everyone here?!"

"No I'm just fucking with you, the Nexus has a stabilization field in and outside of it. Of it were to break, all the cosmic energy would be absorbed into the Nexus. But on Earth it would have the destructive force of three nuclear bombs. Maybe four." Solomon wiped a singular drop of sweat from his forehead.

"What is this for anyway?" Solomon asked.

"Cabrakhan wants me to help him assemble a translocater. It's essentially something that'll allow Janus to teleport us with making a portal and risking enemies going through." In Jayson's hand was a small square cartridge, the item he'd been tinkering on for hours, possibly days even.

"That'd be super helpful, but you and Cabrakhan are serious nerds."

"I gotta use my degree some how, you just focus on getting that diploma sonny." Jayson had him there, Solomon was still in his junior year. He had gotten held back for missing class due to a lengthy suspension. Which may or may not have been because of him putting fireworks in one of his teachers cabinets.

"I won't make any promises Jayson."

"You're bright Solomon, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, just don't be an asshole." Solomon didn't know if he should be flattered or a bit offended.

"Did someone say asshole?" A large blue figured had materialized from thin air, and wrapped their arms around Jayson.

"Oh, hey hon." Jayson casually greeted Kali.

Solomon thought it'd be rude to watch, but he was curious on the logistics of this relationship. He heard stories from the other East Nexus Champions about these two, most of them being described in horrific detail about their sexual deviancy.

"What're you doing love?" Kali asked.

"Working on this translocater, it's supposed to help us in the field. I can't get it right though, but I have a vague idea on what to do." Kali planted a peck on the side of his temple, and Jayson smiled as he worked.

"That's great, I'm so proud of my little scientist Champion." They were surprisingly normal, which was a shock considering Kali wasn't a human.

"Thanks for the sentiment Kali, I might've figured this shit out. Me and Cabrakhan just need to test this out, then we'll just make copies and distribute it to everyone. Maybe when the North Nexus Champions start doing their thing we'll let them test it."

"They haven't started fighting yet?" Kali asked with surprise evident in her voice.

"We just got our armor fitted and weapons forged by Ares, we haven't hunted any Darkbeast yet." Solomon spoke up form the coach, Kali raised a brow at this and began to mutter to herself before speaking once again.

"Don't be nervous, they aren't that tough, the tough ones are the ones with names. Unnamed Darkbeast are very weak."

"Thanks for the tips Kali."

"Hey Solomon, can I get the core?" Jayson held out his hand, expecting what he needed.

"What's that?" He asked.

"What I asked you to hold and not to lose." Solomon began to look around nervously, until he noticed the smell of smoke. He looked down to see a searing hole in the couch. He looked through the hole, noticing it not only went through the couch, but the floor and several others under that, until a shriek was heard underneath them. "Solomon...where's the core?"

"JAYSON!" Cabrakhan roared from several floors beneath them, Jayson swore under his breath knowing he'd be in deep trouble.

Elsewhere in the Nexus

"Again." A cold voice ordered.

Several shards of metal soared through the air, ripping through the clay bodies of the training dummies. They hit the ground twitching violently as rocks flew from their wrecked bodies.

"Good job, let's try this again." She summoned another group of clay soldiers, only for them to be destroyed by another volley of metal.

"What did the Elders say Nu?" Peter blankly asked.

"Huh?" His question caught her off guard.

"About the battle? Did they ever talk to you about it?" His question caused Nu Wa to go quiet for a moment. It was as if she were trying to remember.

"They talked to all Gods about it. They weren't angry at us, they never are angry with us. All we were told was that, we must continue our training and we must quell this threat. They hold out on us a lot, four seprate beings with three different faces with three different minds. Sounds like a bunch of confusion to me." Peter had been very confused at what was said, this expierence was vastly different from his. He was starting to wonder if what even happened with him was real.

"I talked to a floating head."

"That wasn't an Elder, it's the avatar of the East Elder. You're not ready to see the Elders themselves." He sighed at that, he was starting to hate the fact they were never "ready" enough. Even though they saved the damn realm. "But I think you're ready." A her hand was placed on his shoulder, a warm feeling flowed through him. Then suddenly it was replaced by a burning chill sensation coursing through his shoulder. Nu's face wore a shocked expression.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked.

"Don't be mad, but I froze your shoulder." He looked onto his right shoulder, to see his entire shoulder covered in a thick sheet of ice.

"Thanks Nu."

AN: Thanks for reading the start of a new and better story. I'm feeling better about this series already, since my grammar and writing skills have greatly improved since then. Constructive criticism would be very much appriciated, since this story can't improve without it. And I'm open to anyone who'd like to help write this with me. My buddy Twinblade is helping me out again, and we're very open to anyone else who wants to join. Expect a new chapter some time, the wait may be long due to certain factors and since I'm not making fast food chapters anymore. Thanks for reading this and peace out.

-GB