Chapter One: Unlikely Heroes

Lothor looked at each of those whom he had picked. He smiled. They would do just fine in his mind. He looked over to his partner, Regina, and nodded.

Regina walked up to address the eleven people who stood in front of her. "As we promised you, we would find a planet suitable for our cause. Earth is situated in such a way that we will be able to harness the Emotional Spectrum perfectly."

Auron squinted at Lothor and Regina. He coughed and began speaking by saying, "Does this Emotional Spectrum have anything to do with the Morphing Grid you taught us about?"

Lothor stepped forward and shook his head. "They are different fields. That is why we need to do what we can to harness everything, because they aren'tconnected."

"Also, because of the great number of dinosaurs on this planet, the Universal Dino Energy will also be able to be harnessed." Regina added, flashing a smile to the eleven before her.

App nodded his head in enthusiasm. "Then we will be able to regulate the universe's affairs in such a manner that there won't be any problems, just as you taught us! Magnificent!"

Lokar rolled his eyes and jabbed Zen Aku in the rib with his elbow. He turned to him and whispered, saying, "Oh, yeah, sure. That is definitely the reason why he agreed to this. The temptation for great power had nothing to do with it, I'm sure..."

Zen Aku laughed, drawing Lothor's attention. Lothor slowly smiled and pointed to him. "Do you have anything interesting to share with us? As long as we are a group, we need to all be on the same page. Please... do not hold out on us."

Zen Aku narrowed his vision at Lothor and smirked. "No, nothing to say. I was just thinking of a joke involving Dai Shi's mother."

Everyone in the group started laughing. Dai Shi had taken it upon himself to be the jokester in the group, from the time they had been recruited by Lothorup until that point. His constant joking about everyone's particular differences were starting to get on people's nerves. Hearing someone take a jab directly at him to his face was something no one had dared to do, seeing as he seemed a little unstable at best.

Dai Shi sneered. "I'm surprised you were able to think of anything at all, you airhead."

Lothor bowed before the eleven before him and laughed. "My, my! You all are a bit testy. I guess the long ship ride from space out to Earth has everyone on edge. Let us pack our things and head to our resort. I'm sorry once again: the place where we will be setting up our headquarters is covered by jungle, and I was unable to get a safe landing."

At that, Lokar raised his hand. Lothor pointed at him, directing him to speak. "I have a legitimate question for you: if you have access to a portion of the powers you promised we would be able to tap, why were you unable to clear a path for our ship?"

All eleven venturers stopped and looked at Lothor. None of them had ever thought of asking a question along that vein. Lothor laughed. "Great question! Well, you know how much I believe in running things as close to a business as I can. So, if you go about, destroying your investors' planet, you lose relations and eventually the board of trustees will have your arm tied behind your back and will control the board of directors in such a way that they will in essence be the board of directors! You see, those running this planet can make our lives easy or difficult here. Let's try and not rock the boat, shall we?"

Satisfied with their answer, they placed their bags on the shuttle that had driven out of the spaceship's Hangar Bay. The thirteen members of the group jumped in while Zen Aku programmed the destination for the crew.

As they began to travel, Tidus, one of the youngest of the group, sat down next to Auron. Auron kept mostly to himself, but had come to taking a liking to the young orphan boy. Something about him seemed familiar.

"Excited?" Auron asked.

"Not really." Tidus said. "I'd rather get down to learning about tapping into all these different powers Lothor has been teaching us about."

"Yes. This guy does have quite the tongue, doesn't he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how often do you find someone who is able to show us such amazing feats, then go out and recruit others to share in the wealth? It seems like people with such power would want to keep it for themselves..."

Tidus shook his head. "Lothor told us why: it's to amplify his power. He said he can't get to the next tier without a powerful group of fifteen. Didn't you watch that lecture? He gets to the next level of power, and along the way we get the same thing. It's a win-win!"

Auron gave Tidus a side smile. "I don't know. I don't think I trust everything this make-up plastered clown is telling us."

Tidus shrugged. "No one's forcing you to be here, dude."

Auron laughed. Tidus scooted away from Auron a bit in shock. It wasn't usual to hear the often brooding man do something so jovial. "Like I said, Tidus: the guy has quite the tongue on him. I'm convinced he has something for me. I'm just trying to figure out what."

As everyone continued talking in the shuttle, suddenly a large crash was heard. Zen Aku ran to the front of the cockpit to see the shuttle had hit a large hole in the path.

"Guys. It looks as if we hit a ditch. I'm gonna need some help in pushing the shuttle."

The oldest member of the group, Trueheart, walked up to the front and looked out the front window. He shook his head and started giggling.

"What is so funny, old man?" Octomus asked, slurring some of his words together as he spoke the foreign tongue Lothor had decided the group would speak in.

"Out there. That hole. It is too rounded. Too clean. It isn't natural. This is some sort of trap..."

Lothor sneered. "If that Mesogog has dared to betray me, I'll-"

Trueheart lifted a hand and shook his head. "No, no. We are still too far out for this to be our intended hosts. They don't fit this profile, according to what you told me about them, and our distance to their location. No... I believe these are bandits. Judging by the fact they still haven't attacked us, I'd say they are quite sophisticated."

Lije of the Dawn, a young girl from a secretive civilization that call themselves "the Dawn", stood up and narrowed her eyes as she began walking out of the shuttle.

"Where are you going, little one?" Regina asked gingerly.

"These fools have picked the wrong shuttle to mess with. They should've done their research before targeting us. Lothor picked each of us because of how much potential we have to wield power. Well, I doubt there's any power in the universe that can handle us if we work together." Lije said matter of factly.

She turned around and walked out. Regina began to run after her when Lothor grabbed her by the arm. He tightened his group and shook his head.

"No, let's not stop her." He whispered. "Let's get them to already start using their powers. This is what we want, after all."

Regina smiled and nodded, taking her seat. She looked to the group still staring out the window, looking to see what Lije would do.

"Well?" Regina inquired. "Isn't anyone going to go out and help her?"

Tidus laughed. "You guys weren't kidding when you said you were from the far reaches of our universe. You really don't know Lije's reputation? She's crazy. She can handle herself."

Regina frowned. "But she's just a girl."

Lothor laughed. "Oh, Regina! Please don't insult my ability to choose people! She's here for a reason. Now, let's make some popcorn and pull up a chair. This should be fun!"

Suddenly, a red and white striped basket appeared in Lothor's lap, filled with buttered popcorn.

Dai Shi raised an eyebrow as he saw what Lothor had done. "What in Odin's beard is that?"

"It's called popcorn. They'll use it in movie theaters a lot. Don't worry, it's not important." Lothor said.

As they looked out, Lije began crying. She wanted to look as helpless as possible for her attackers.

The two men leapt from tree branch to tree branch, wanting to ensure they didn't fall for any traps. They weren't stupid, and didn't trust that only the little girl in the group of thirteen they'd seen earlier had come out to investigate.

"Okay, brother. Now what?" One said as they jumped along, encircling the site.

"Well, that orphanage won't feed itself. If nothing changes, we're going to have to strike hard, regardless of whatever trap they are forming. We just need to get in and out quickly before they can get us." The older brother concluded.

"Easier done than said." The younger brother said, swooping down in blinding speed from the tree on which he had been. He felt his older brother quickly falling in pursuit.

Lije immediately stopped crying as she heard them coming with her specially tuned ears. She turned in their direction and calmly pointed a hand at them.

"Star Power." She said matter of factly. A giant blast of power erupted from the star tattoo on her forehead. It crawled down her star, down her neck, through her arm and out her palm. It flew up to the two would be thieves.

"Attack on your two o'clock." The younger brother said.

"I'm aware." The older brother said, already flipping out of the way. He landed on the ground and smiled as he stared at the little girl. Staring at her from that angle, he was able to recognize her clothing and the star tattoo on her forehead. "Oh, Lije of the Dawn. What an honor it is to steal from you."

She grinned and shot another blast of Star Power at the man. He narrowly avoided a second hit, cartwheeling to the side. As he did, his younger brother was hidden near the luggage compartment, trying to unlock it.

As the older brother ran from tree to tree, leaping and dodging as a distraction, Lije was getting more and more frustrated. She had never taken so long to take down an enemy. She was getting impatient and wanted to see him get vaporized more and more.

"Enough!" Lothor ordered, stepping out from behind the shuttle. The younger brother was being held up in the air by him. He had him by the throat.

Lije stopped and stared as the older brother followed suit. He was surprised at the attire this seemingly powerful man was wearing. He looked more like a court jester than a fighter.

"Leave him alone!" The older brother ordered.

"Or, what? You'll leap around until I get dizzy? Puh-leeze. If you're going to make demands, be able to back them up!"

The older brother's eyes began to glow with Red Energy. He focused his power and shot it at Lothor. Lothor's eyes intensified as he saw the power. With his free arm, he extended his hand out, palm facing the older brother who had been trying to steal from them, and absorbed the Red Energy into himself. He then giggled maniacally as he threw the younger brother down to the ground.

"I can feel it!" Lothor yelled. "I can feel it!"

By that point, all of the shuttle's passengers were outside, staring at the odd scene. The younger brother stayed down, fearing what would happen to him should he move. He looked to his brother and shrugged. Seeing him able to absorb his brother's ninja attack baffled him. His brother felt the same way. He only used that powered up attack in dire situations, and he had never encountered a being able to not only deflect it, but straight up absorb it.

"Feel what, freak?" The older brother asked.

"Both of you! Your powers! Hope and Rage flow between the two of you. It's brilliant! The Scroll of Destiny was right again!"

Regina brightened up and ran to Lothor. "You mean, they are the final two?"

Lothor nodded. "Yes. 'Brothers of Rage and Hope will be the final links to the chain' was what the scroll said!"

Lije calmly made her way to the shuttle. Not looking at anyone, she angrily walked into the shuttle. She had never been so embarrassed in her life, and she was furious. Knowing Lothor intended to recruit them made her angrier. It automatically meant they were on par with her in Lothor's eyes, and due to the fact she couldn't destroy him, perhaps even ranked higher. That was impossible for her.

Back outside, the younger brother shrugged. "What are you babbling on about?"

"I'm talking about my group! We are here on a peaceful expedition!"

The older brother scoffed. "Peaceful expedition on Earth? There's nothing here but dinosaurs. Only treasure hunters and fugitives make their way to Earth. They are all doing illegal things, so we steal from them to give to those who need it."

App stepped forward. "We are different. We came here because we felt this would be the best place to start our base of operations. We intend on training and becoming guardians of great power."

Lothor nodded. "Yes. With this power, we intend on healing the universe. We come in peace!" As Lothor said this, Regina did all she could to fight back a smile.

"Well, then. My apologies... If we may, could we help you right your vehicle?" The older brother said, seeing the sincerity in App's declaration. His brother made his way to him as they walked toward the vehicle with one tire stuck in the ditch they had made.

"No need." Lothor said, flicking his wrist. The shuttle lifted up into the air and floated gingerly to a clear location.

"Wow. That's impressive." The younger brother marveled. "I wish I could do that!"

"Wish granted! Well, kind of." Lothor said. "I wish for you two to join us in our expedition!"

"I'm sorry," The older brother stated. "We are busy doing other business."

"Like stealing for others?" Regina said. She knew they were needed for the Scroll of Destiny to be fulfilled, and these two fit the bill perfectly. She didn't know when the next pair of brothers would make themselves available as those two had at that moment. "Listen, if you want to do something real, something that will actually help others, join us."

The younger brother smiled and turned to his brother. "Dude, why don't we give it a shot, huh? What's the harm, huh? If it doesn't pan out, we can always leave."

The older brother looked at his brother. His friend. He thought of the small camp they had a mile away. No food or water. No accommodations. Just waiting for the next band of thieves to appear with treasure for them to steal. They had been out for months up until that point since their last encounter with thieves, and the payday had not been worth it.

"Okay, fine. We'll join you guys for now." The older brother said. "Who are all of you?"

"My name is Lothor. I lead this group. This is my right hand, Regina."

She performed a curtsy and smiled. "A pleasure."

Both young men, remembering their formal training, bowed and said simultaneously, "The pleasure is ours."

App narrowed his eyes and stared at them. "You were trained in martial arts, weren't you?"

The younger nodded. "We started but never finished. We became ninjas."

"Makes sense. I am a master of martial arts. I am App the Samurai." He bowed to them as an introduction.

"Wow!" The younger brother said, jabbing his brother in the ribs. "Dude! It's App! Sweet!"

"Yes... it's 'sweet'." The older brother said, laughing.

As Dai Shi was to introduce himself, with a witty comment ready, Lothor cut him off and began speaking. "You can meet the others later. We must go now. We are already late to our rendezvous. But first... what are your names?"

The older brother smiled. "My name is Jakon."

"And I am Jor."

"Excellent. This will be the start of a glorious alliance! Welcome to the Morphing Masters. Oh, and I want you two to stick close to Master App. Since he already knows a bit of your fighting style, I'm sure he would be a great start to finishing your training..."

As they all began entering the shuttle, Lothor stayed behind and looked to Regina. "Are the others on their way?"

Regina nodded. "I got a message from Zurgane that he, Octoroo, and Ivicar will be arriving shortly."

"Excellent. All is going according to plan. Soon, the powers of the universe will be ours, my dear."

He leaned over and kissed Regina on the cheek. As he did, she looked into the shuttle to see one of the Masters she had recruited, Killian. She winked at him. He smiled and nodded. He turned around, controlling his anger, and sat. He knew it would all soon be worth it. Soon, he and his love would have everything they needed to have all the power in the universe.

. . .

Michael swung his blade in fury. It missed Beelzebub by a hair. The Alpha Demon flew up into the air and blasted Michael with several black and blue fireballs. Michael effortlessly hit each and every one, making them dissipate on contact.

"You will pay for what you've done!" Michael yelled, shooting a beam of White Energy at Beelzebub. He flew out of the way, chalking up another miss for the Ethereal.

Beelzebub laughed. "Me? You're the traitor! Lilith did nothing wrong!"

They both flew toward each other. As they collided, a mix of White and Black Energy exploded from them. The very fabric of space rippled from their hit. They went reeling backwards. Diabolico, seeing the two beings were tired, made his way to his master.

"Beelzebub... We must go. If you continue on, you'll be destroyed."

"I don't care! The Holy War ends now!" Beelzebub screamed, attempting to get the energy to move.

One of Michael's assistants, Tessa, flew over to Michael. "Are you okay, my king?"

Michael spit out white blood from his mouth. "No, I'm not. I'm quite badly hurt."

Tessa flew forward, between Michael and Beelzebub. "His heinous is badly hurt. He will be retreating. This battle will need to be finished another day."

Beelzebub laughed. "Father's archaic rules are only delaying the inevitable, brother!"

"Don't you mention our father! You aren't worthy to have his memory come forth from your evil mouth!" Michael cried out, tears beginning to fall down his face.

Diabolico grabbed his master. "We must go. You are too weak."

"Then help me, fool!" Beelzebub demanded as he saw Michael and Tessa fly away. "Now, while we still can!"

Diabolico shook his head. "Think with your head, not your emotions! If I attack now, that will end the one on one duel Michael has with you, and the entirety of the Ethereal army will come down and destroy us."

"... You are right... Let's head out..." Beelzebub said. He wrapped an arm around Diabolico's shoulders and began flying off through space. Turning to him, he nodded, saying, "Diabolico... Thank you for being here for me. You are a loyal friend."

"To the end, my master. To the end."

. . .

Zeus sat on his throne as his brother, Poseidon, made his way to his throne room. It had been a good deal of time since he had seen his brother. Ever since they had split the universe up, they had become so busy dealing with their day to day duties to uphold their kingdoms that it had been becoming more and more difficult to meet as a family. So, at this juncture, Zeus was happy to see his brother approach him. He stood up from his throne and walked down to embrace this member of his family.

"Poseidon! How good it is to see you!"

"And you, Zeus. You really have outdone yourself here. The palace here looks marvelous!"

"And I'm sure yours does as well."

"So... What is so urgent that you needed to see me?"

Zeus' eyes grew dim. A sad look went over his face. "I'm sorry to say this... I have felt a dark presence. It appeared suddenly somewhere in my sector. I have had a very difficult time tracking it, but recently I felt it again, and it has crossed over to your side of the universe, Poseidon."

"I have not felt it, Zeus, I am sorry."

"Like I said, I have had difficulties tracking it myself. The only reason I was able to is because whenever it first appeared, it was giving off a horribly dark energy frequency. It quickly dimmed down and was nearly untraceable. I only was able to track it as little as I could due to the fact I knew it existed, and knew to look."

"Okay, Zeus. I trust you. I will get Thor to help me track it. I'm sure Odin won't mind me using him."

Zeus laughed. "No, I suppose not. Thor does need something to keep him occupied."

"Also... to where did you track this energy."

"Oh, right. To a small planet in your jurisdiction. It is called Earth."

"I know it. A lot of water there. I'm quite pleased with that. It is overrun by dinosaurs and is usually where we find thieves and such running from being arrested. Well, I'll see what I can do to stop this."

"Fantastic." Zeus said. They exchanged pleasantries and Poseidon began leaving the room. As he did, Zeus called out to him again.

"Yes, Zeus?"

"Please... Be careful. This thing seemed very powerful. Don't treat it lightly."

"I won't, Zeus. I won't."

As Poseidon walked out, Zeus sat back on his throne. As he sat waiting for his first appointment to appear before him for the day, he thought about what Poseidon was about to do. The power he had seen was truly something to be feared. He sincerely was worried for his brother's well-being.

. . .

On Earth's barren moon, the makeshift ship crashed. The crew inside it filed out. They looked out into the unfamiliar black space. They then spotted the Earth.

"That's it." David said, looking to his group. He turned to his wife and gripped her hand tightly.

"So, he's there?" Mary asked, gripping David's hand back as tight as she could. It had been a long and difficult journey, and she finally felt it was at the end.

"Yes, he is. She should be there, too..." He added darkly. He couldn't help but shoot his daughter a look. As he guessed, she had pulled out her sword.

Pointing the sword at Earth, Emma looked down on the planet. Unseen by the mortal eyes of those with her, Red Energy flowed around her. "She will pay. For everything. Everyone. For Henry..."

"Emma, sweetie... please..." Her mother, Mary, begged. "We are here to stop her. Revenge won't bring him back..."

Baelfire took a step forward, leaving his father and the others to gather the stuff from the "raft" to be with his wife. He was trying very hard to be brave for the both of them. He was able to calm her a little as he hugged her from behind. "Emma, Honey. Please. We have to stay focused. This may be our only chance to stop him. And her."

"She betrayed us, Bae!" Emma cried out, dropping her sword and letting the tears flow. "How could she!?"

Bae's father, dragging his suitcase full of spellbooks, made his way over at that point and scoffed. "I'll tell you how..." The man, Rumple, said. He looked to his son and daughter-in-law and curled his lips. "Greed. Avarice. Lust. Wickedness. I was once fooled by these things, but not anymore. But mark my words, I will do everything in my power to stomp her soul out of existence."

"Rumple... Please don't. We don't need this kind of attitude now. We need to focus." David said, trying not to let him agitate Emma once again after Baelfire had calmed her down.

As they began to argue, the three others from the raft finished pulling everything out onto the moon's surface. Will shook his head in frustration.

"What a blinking waste of time this is! Everyone's gone. Get used to it!"

Anastasia scowled at Will as he kept complaining. "Will! Have a heart, will ya!? Lives were literally destroyed!"

Will shrugged. "I may be heartless, but at least I'm getting the job done. Alright!? Sheesh. Instead of wasting time arguing, we should be planning how we'll stop Lothor."

"I believe everyone needs to find their way of coping. We shouldn't interfere with that. This was a tragedy on a monumental level." Belle advised, finishing placing the last of the things in an organized manner next to their "life raft".

Will sighed. "Are you always so blinking optimistic?"

Belle smiled. "If I'm not, who will be?"

Anastasia walked up to Belle and hugged her. "Bless your soul. Thank you for everything. You've been great to us so far. Rumple is lucky to have you."

As Belle and Anastasia spoke, Will made his way to David and his family.

"So, what's the plan, then?" Will asked, looking around.

"We crush the little witch with her own Magic." Rumple replied sinisterly, not taking his eyes off of Earth.

"But first..." David said. "We scout the area. See if Lothor has placed any traps. We all know how meticulous he ended up being..."

Baelfire shook his head. "Who would have believed it was Lothor all along..."

Emma picked up her sword. "Well, he's going to wish he had never been born when I'm through with him. And Regina. They're both going to be dust."

Mary looked at David sadly. "We will get through this, Honey. We'll make this right. Together."

"I hope so, Honey. I hope we have what it takes to bring down Lothor."