Earlier

Mr. Dr. Possible sighed with exasperation at the familiar sound of the sound barrier being broken, not even bothering to lower his evening newspaper. He frowned as his eyes began to sting and a chemical stink assailed his nose.

"Boys, what have I said about using noxious chemicals around the house?" he shouted.

"Its not us dad!" Jim yelled, running into the room.

"You've gotta see this, dad!" Tim yelled, close on his brother's heels.

Mr. Dr. Possible lowered his newspaper and followed his sons' pointing fingers to the window. His jaw nearly dropped in shock and horror.

Three things, each resembling a cross between a squid, a dragon and a jet, hovered over Middleton. Each had the long, cigar shaped body of a jet, except bloated like some living thing left to rot under the water. The planes' turbines were still present, only now they were mounted to long membranous wings jutting from great rents in the sides of the metal body. Dangling down to the ground below were three long chains of torsos, each rippling and seething in the breeze.

"James! Are you seeing this?" he heard his wife call from the living room.

"I am," he called back, rubbing at his stinging eyes.

"Whoa-" Jim began.

"Freaky." Tim finished.

"Look at that!" Jim said.

"Gross!" Tim added.

For a moment, Mr. Dr. Possible couldn't see what they were talking about. Then he saw a stream of humanoid figures being passed down the chains to the ground. As the figures reached the ground, they began to shamble down the street.

"Zombies!" the twins cried, and as one turned and ran for the basement. Mr. Dr. Possible was turning to follow them when the first explosion rent the air. He whirled back to the window in time to see the flare of a rocket shoot up from one of the floating things and hang in the air for a second, before spiraling down into a shop. The spine chains detached and clambered down to the ground as the three hovering things began to rise and circle, sending more and more rockets down into the town.

Mr. Dr. Possible was already running as the explosions began to fill the air.

"Anne, boys, get to the garage-" he was cut off as another explosion blew the windows in. He spun to stare out the window. The van of the shambling zombies lay shattered in the street before the house.

"Hicka bicka boo!" Jim cried, holding a remote control aloft in triumph.

"Hoosha!" Tim yelled, slotting another rocket into its launcher.

The nearest floating thing turned, and three rockets streaked towards the house. They were met midair by three smaller rockets from the twins' launcher.

When the thunder had died, Mr. Dr. Possible found his wife at his side.

"I'll pack the car, you leave a message for Kim when she gets back." she said, pushing the Kimmunicator into his hands.


Now

Dr. Director studied the two ninja guarding the hanger door with interest. She poured essence into the threads of fate, and, as by chance both of the ninja were looking opposite directions, she slipped between them.

She should have known, however, that such a simple manipulation of fate wouldn't fool those trained in a mystical martial art, even if it was just the root of the lotus. As they were both Yamanouchi graduates they spun silently to follow her, guns in hand. Before they could draw a bead she swatted the guns from their hands. One gasped quietly as his right index finger broke.

They cart wheeled backwards, one handed in the case of the ninja whose finger she had broken, and came to their feet, guns in hand. She felt her eye twitch as they tried to fade from her sight, and she grinned. It was exhilarating to be able to meet them as equals. When she was just one of GJ's top agents, instead of its leader, she had run into Yamanouchi agents from time to time, and had always envied them their powers.

She closed, and their shock at the failure of their technique caused them to freeze for long enough for her to disarm them both again with an outside kick. The both retreated again, flipping further back down the corridor. As they regained their feet, they brandished long knives seemingly from nowhere.

Dr. Director just grinned wider. As they had been indulging in their acrobatics, she had scooped their pistols up and trained them on where the ninjas' heads would be. The ninjas' eyes widened as they stared down the barrels of their own guns.

With lightning precision, she engaged the safeties and ejected the magazines. A gunshot now would undo all their courtesy in not making any sounds that could have alerted any other guards. Ninja training had its vulnerabilities. She shifted her grip on the pistols, grasping them by the barrel so she could use the butts as clubs.

The ninja with a broken finger lunged, and she sidestepped gracefully, bringing a pistol butt down on his left wrist, breaking it and swept his legs, sending him to the ground. A small scream escaped his lips as he caught himself on his broken wrist. A kick to the side of his head took him out of the game.

The other ninja stood, watching her intently. As she turned to face him, he darted forward, his knife out in a controlled thrust. She sidestepped, bringing a pistol butt up to catch the blade when she felt something strumming in the back of her mind. She could see the second blade appear in his other hand. She could see it slide through the gap in her defenses her dodge had created. She felt it slide between her ribs, not a mortal blow, not to one such as she, but far too close for comfort. And then she was parrying the first knife with the pistol, the second knife still as yet hidden in the ninja's sleeve.

She caught herself and reversed her sidestep in a movement impossible even for an enlightened mortal such as her opponent. The second knife slid past her, and she brought the second pistol down on the ninja's temple. He collapsed in a heap beside his partner. She knelt beside him and liberated the access key to the hanger bay from his pocket.

Less than half a minute later she was speeding away from the base in one of WEE's hoverjets. When she had judged that enough time had passed for the alarm she had set to go off, she thumbed the button to open a comm channel.


Sheldon Director, also known as Gemini, head of the World Evil Empire looked up from his plans as the base alarm went off. A second later, the main screen of his command center opened and he was greeted with the sight of a one eyed brunette woman in Global Justice uniform.

"Well, Sheldon, it looks like I win again. Good luck shutting down the autodestruct sequence."

The screen went blank as she ended the call.

When the massive man spoke, his voice was a hiss of barely controlled rage.

"Who was that woman?"


The Unrepentant Dragon Coiling in Fire and Darkness, also known as Doctor Drakken sat slumped at a workbench, snoring softly.


The two men stood in the gallery over the factory floor. Below them, the final touches on the Warstrider were being completed.

"I hear that your wife's Exaltation has reemerged. May I assume you have offered to mentor her?"

"Of course."

"And your Lunar mate? Rumor has it his Exaltation has also found a host. It must have been hard, losing them both like that. I understand the Deliberative committee has determined that it was a flaw in the Essence converters that caused the explosion, which caused a critical overload under the strain of combat with the Raksha. There was some contamination in the Factory Cathedral where they were constructed. It seems that the Deliberative is considering an audit. We cannot afford the loss of more Celestial Exalts to faulty equipment."

"To true. Luckily, I have some experience in training young Exalts. She should be ready to take an active place in the Deliberative in just a few decades."

"Yes, fortunate that. Fate has not been kind to you, to loose them both so many times."

"It is the nature of the Dawn and the Full Moons to throw themselves into battle. I just wish they would wait until they were truly ready before throwing themselves into the fray."

The two men stood in the gallery over the laboratory. Below them, the finishing touches were being put on the housing chamber of the Colossus.

"There is much rumor about your project. No one is exactly sure what you are trying to achieve. The Mask of Winters is particularly curious. I have been sent to assuage that curiosity. So, what are you doing?"

"It is quite simple, really. Do you know what the greatest failing of the Deathknight is?"

"No, but I'm certain that you'll enlighten me."

"Continuity. Our masters spend a great deal of time an effort preparing their Deathknights for service. Should a Deathknight fall, the are set back to square one. But what if that power could be preserved? It would offer an immense advantage to the cause of the Neverborn. It would also ensure true immortality for the chosen of Death."

"Everyone knows that an Exaltation can't attach to a dead soul."

"True. A soul needs both Hun and Po to be a candidate for Exaltation. A dead soul has one or the other, never both. However, there were some rather interesting experiments before the Usurption into true resurrection through recombining the Hun and the Po. The experiments were a failure, but there were certain implications in what they were able to manage that I have chosen to explore. I have reached the stage where I need to test my theories. But your master is already well aware of all this. Which is why he sent your Monstrance of Celestial Penitence on before you."

The first man didn't have a chance to react as the obsidian blade slid into his back. He gasped and collapsed, feeling both blood and Essence draining from his body.


The Daiklave of Infinite Forms, Shamshir, The Perfect Lance, The Lotus Blade

Rating: *****

The Daiklave of Infinite Forms was one of a set of eight daiklaves crafted at the height of the First Age, one of Orichalcum, one of Moonsilver, one of Starmetal and one for each of the five types of Jade. Each of the Daiklaves was designed to be the ultimate expression of the magical material it was made of.

The Daiklave of Infinite Forms is crafted from purified Moonsilver and solidified prayers to Everchanging Luna. It is unknown what the blade's true shape is, if it even possesses such a limiting quality. It is known that the first Lunar to wield it chose the curved form of a scimitar as its template, and in the second age it wore the shape of a Dire Lance.

In the hands of an attuned Lunar, the Daiklave of Infinite Forms may take the form and qualities of any two-dot or lesser artifact weapon that may be made of Moonsilver or any mortal weapon or tool as a simple action. No matter what form the Daiklave takes, it adds an extra +2 to Accuracy and Defense above and beyond the Magical Material bonus.

The true power of the Daiklave does not make itself known until the blade is attuned to a Lunar Exalt and a three-dot Lunar hearthstone is placed in its single hearthstone slot. The hearthstone provides no bonuses or advantages except allowing the Daiklave to access its full power. When these conditions are met, the Daiklave gains the power to assume the shape, statistics and powers of any three-dot or lesser artifact weapon that can be made of Moonsilver or any two-dot or lesser artifact that can be made of Moonsilver.

Speed: 4, Accuracy: +8, Damage: +6L, Defense: +5, Rate: 3, Minimums: Str **, Attune: 8

Stats for Reaper Diaklave form, includes magical material bonus