In lieu of not having Maria's company for the day due to school, Mew decides to drag Joe Dark and Alura with him up to Sancturia to hang out.

Seeing the facilities the city has to offer makes Joe Dark long for a sense of normalcy, but no matter how hard he tries he can't escape the fact he's a dead man walking technically.

And Alura's not from this world either, so getting to live on their own and provide for themselves is currently impossible. Joe Dark worries Mew might not be able to keep this up forever, and doesn't want to be a burden.

Mew breaks his concentration when he senses someone's watching them from the crowd. Indeed, Joe Dark notes a middle-aged woman staring at them amid the crowd.

Mew considers checking her out but Joe Dark assumes she's a crazy stalker, which leads Alura to learn what that means and attempt to attack the woman to defend Joe Dark.

The woman tanks her pitiful punches and giggles, wondering who the little spitfire is.

Joe Dark pulls Alura back and wonders who the hell this old lady is. The lady wants him to mind his manners, and that's enough to make Joe Dark want to leave.

But as he turns, the woman recognizes his glare as the same one his father gave him. Joe Dark gets dizzy, and oddly quiet.

Mew has to question WHICH father exactly, causing the woman to mock his lack of brains in the family.

Mew then pieces it all together that the woman might very well be their grandmother.

...Yet she's an Aurian. Living in Sancturia, not on Earth.

After a basic "No shit sherlock", the woman wants Mew to get with the picture.

Joe Dark points out they can't be Aurians cause of a lack of a bracelet, but the woman remarks on them having their father's bad blood screwing that part up.

To further explain this though she invites them to her house so they can have a little privacy. Alura objects by kicking the woman in the ankles, only for the woman to disarm her with a flick, saying she likes her spunk.

Mew has his doubts but wants to speak with her for a little bit anyways.

When they arrive at her house though, they are shocked to find what appears to be remnants of demons on her walls and some old slightly worn down guns above her mantle.

The woman offers them all sodas and then finally introduces herself. Her name is Regina Carbon, Ex-Demon Hunter.

The last name pegs her as the grandmother on their mother's side, but as far as the demon hunter schtick goes, well...

Turns out there's been no successful supernatural incidents reported on Earth over the last few decades because of her.

And her heightened senses with the supernatural helped her recognize her bloodline's familiar energies when they were causing havoc here a couple months ago.

She congratulates Mew on booting Gravitus out finally, even though she boasts she might've been able to kick his ass herself.

She laments being caught, saying age is catching up on her...Or perhaps its because Mew has his mother's eyes.

Regina's pretty in the know about a lot of things because she pestered Auris on it, since three of the same energy signatures that happened to be related to hers wasn't exactly normal.

She continues to have a disdainful tone towards their father though, prompting Joe Dark to demand answers on who they were, refusing to sit by and let her crap on his family.

Regina only hunted them down in the first place to answer their nagging questions. First she starts off talking about her lovely daughter Lumina, their mother.

Mew and Joe Dark receive quite the shock when it turns out their mother was a wild child who loved to pick fights and get into trouble a lot. Regina even pulls out pictures as evidence.

Lumina was so bad she was even nicknamed the Ferocious Azure Lion. She was a runt too, even all grown-up, but the fire in her heart more than made up for it. And she had the brains to match too.

Mew thinks this explains Alex and Joe Dark's craziness a little, which both Joe Dark and Regina take issue with.

Joe Dark then wonders about his father.

His name was Abraham Whiter, a tall, quiet and lanky man that always had the scent of a demon on him.

Regina never approved of him and thus Lumina eloped with him down to Earth. But there is a story behind Regina's dislike of him.

It starts all the way back with the Nine Elemental Tribes, specifically the Clan of Shadows.

Following the absence of the Elemental Overlord and Dark King, one clan, the Whiters, created the Diavolo Manifesto, a tome that drained the rest of the clan of their darkness so that they may offer it as tribute for when their king returned.

But the tome proved to lure in many a foul demon as they traveled the various worlds, and the Whiters' numbers were thin.

The leader of the clan thus chose to absorb the knowledge and darkness of the remaining members into the tome, then fuse it with her newborn child, beginning a cycle of inheritance that would last until the Dark King returned.

The Whiter descendants continued to hypnotize new mates to ensure future children, having eventually made their way to the same Earth Sancturia wound up.

However, the birth of Abraham sparked rebellion. He denied his purpose and destroyed his home, killing his parents to put an end to the cursed cycle he was nearly coerced into.

But in doing so...He alerted Judas Jeremiah of his presence.

Having known about Sancturia from the knowledge of the tome within him, Abraham sought refuge there, and that's when he met Lumina.

Auris used her clairvoyance to keep Abraham hidden from Gravitus while he stayed there. And in a short time, Lumina and Abraham fell in love with one another.

But Regina disagreed with their marriage, so the two eloped to Earth, and Regina never saw them again.

Joe Dark refuses to believe that's the end of the story, but all Regina knows is that they were both struck down by a comet. Joe Dark doesn't believe THAT either.

Regina rises and stares Joe Dark down, damning him for judging her when she had to burden outliving her own daughter.

Joe Dark thinks she's a biased old crone, so in love with her daughter that she wouldn't even recognize that she had up and abandoned HIM.

Regina slaps him down in one swift blow, forcing Joe Dark to listen as she lectures him on how much Lumina truly loved him. Though she never SAW her daughter again, she still received her letters, and learned about Joe Dark through them.

Joe Dark trembles and he dashes out the door, with Alura trying to follow him.

Mew wants to follow too, but first picks up a letter Regina had stored away for this moment. The letter talks about "Joseph" and Alex, and how even after their spat Lumina loved her mom still.

Regina sinks into her couch and admits that to the very end, Abraham delivered these letters through a dark rift. Her hatred aside, the man loved her daughter truly to the very end.

Mew thinks she should apologize to Joe Dark now, and Regina agrees...For as little good it'd do to him.

Mew wants to come back someday to hear more stories about his parents, then heads out to find Joe Dark.

He's pissed off and barely has the energy to think straight. He's so lost without an answer as to why his mother abandoned him.

Mew wants to find an answer too, and believes they have one thing connecting all their mysteries together.

The man who tormented Alex, targeted their parents, and the death of the Darks...Judas Jeremiah.

The man may be dead, but his base of operations no doubt still exists out there. And Mew knows a perfect someone to help them find and infiltrate it.

Naturally that's Saturn. They're able to coerce her to help due to Joe Dark asking for it instead of Mew.

Her super intelligence allows her to quickly filter out a much of electronic noise and junk data and figure out where Judas Jeremiah's hidden base is.

She's shocked a guy like him and all his shady dealings went under her nose for so long and is more than happy to help the group deliver justice.

Joe Dark thinks it'd be better to let Alura stick behind but she wants to help him learn the answers. Even if she doesn't understand what's happening, her enthusiasm is felt.

Saturn uses her teleporter systems to get them approximately where the base is in Arizona's desert. After Mew gives Joe Dark and Alura some cool air, they follow Saturn on her hot pursuit of the base's secret entrance.

She finds it in record time, brags like usual, then guides them down into the base proper.

Its buried far underground, with the walls made of a material Saturn notes doesn't originate from Earth. Area 51 is suspected, but that's dumb. Invaders ain't exactly subtle.

Once they get to the very bottom they find their facility, which is eerily empty, but had been recently accessed.

Saturn turns on the lights and is disappointed the guy in charge isn't here. Then she learns he's dead and is super disappointed.

Joe Dark demands she get them access to the database and Saturn humbles him by making him say "Please".

Saturn then easily blitzes through the firewalls and traps in place on the computers in order to gain them unlimited access to all the data stored within.

She simplifies the search process for them so they can use it like any other computer.

Each of them sits down, takes a computer, and begins searching. Mew starts off trying to look at Judas' biography and winds up getting some pretty obvious "Believe me I'm a good guy" backstory vibes from it.

He then tries to look at his political side and doesn't have much luck, beyond a bill he passed to void adoptions in the USA. He had created this law to make it easier to collect stray children for his Ultimate Warrior Reborn Project.

There's a lot of dead data in some of these files cutting off parts of the text, but Mew's able to decipher it well enough to relay it to Joe Dark.

Mew then eventually stumbles upon the article for Subject 09874...Alex Whiter.

He winds up scrolling through roughly 3517 days of entries detailing the acquisition of Alex Whiter and the horrible experiments done to him that led to his insanity, the adoption of the Phoenix of Destruction persona, and also how he was made to be the one to eliminate the Dark family.

By the time its over Mew understands now that somehow, Judas knew about Alex and Joe's true heritage and wanted to acquire them specifically to build an army of super soldiers to fight gods.

He tried to avoid watching the video footage connected with the article but tragically, Joe Dark winds up doing so instead.

Mew can't stop it in time and ends up gluing his eyes to the screen, watching as a young Alex gets tormented and breaks right before their very eyes.

By the time the video is done Joe Dark goes berserk and starts tearing apart the computers around him, shouting and demanding that Alex be given his life back after the pain he suffered through.

He then crashes on his knees and starts whimpering, truly coming to understand how much of a damn fool he was to go after Alex.

Alura and Mew can't do anything for him except leave him alone. Saturn plays this off coolly, which even Mew thinks is too much.

Saturn bluntly replies that surely he doesn't believe she wouldn't have done something about Judas has she known it was going down.

Mew resumes his focus on finding more on the truth so this can't repeat, wondering just how much of the government knew about this...

Mew winds up stumbling upon something actually very crucial for Joe Dark to know. Turns out someone close to the family is still alive. A man by the name of Julius Talbain, whom Joe Dark recognizes as the former family butler.

It gives Joe Dark some hope back, and Mew has Saturn print out the info on the guy so they can use it later.

Joe Dark, back to his senses a little, then starts murmuring about how Judas KNEW about them this entire time.

A few brief moments of thought later Mew randomly decides to type "Sancturia" into the computer...and gets results.

A few diary entries mention Judas getting in contact with a benefactor that provided him technology AND information to further his goals. The two were definitely planning to betray one another someday.

The name of the benefactor? Gravitus.

The news stuns Mew and Joe Dark, but gets Saturn laughing and thinking its all a joke until she sits down and looks at the screen herself.

She then hastily starts looking through a bunch of files connected to the deal between Judas and Gravitus, and winds up realizing there was a good reason why its been so easy to access the serves...Implying that its HER technology that comprises this base.

She struggles with this news for a moment before rapidly returning to her old self to continue the investigation.

Before being interrupted she had discovered a secret buried deep within the base and wants to go check it out, guiding the others with her.

Deep inside they wind up finding a rather eerie but familiar looking capsule. Despite it being empty Saturn chooses to investigate it and discovers one last startling fact.

Judas Jeremiah, or rather, Prometheus? He's not the first iteration of himself. The capsule had access to his DNA and every time he died it created a new body for him, transplanting memories and the like.

And he's been doing this ever since 4,000 BC at the minimum.

Mew's starting to think they were dealing with the reincarnation of the god who brought fire to humanity. But before that line of questioning can be pursued, a self-destruct alert goes off.

The capsule had its own separate traps installed into it and now they've got to bail. Joe Dark picks up Alura and all of them hurry out the door just in the nick of time.

Though this trip revealed a lot, Joe Dark's still no closer to a truth he's satisfied with than he was before. Now he just feels like cursing out a bunch of dead people and feels like he's lived just to suffer with that knowledge.

Mew doesn't know how to deal with this and for now, can only offer to take him home.

Saturn, however, doesn't like seeing Joe Dark's give-up attitude and forces the data regarding Julius Talbain into his hands, telling him to never give up on the truth.

If they ever need another conspiracy busted, she's her gal, but for now she's got other business to attend to halfway across the universe.

And as a matter of fact, it involves a certain biology loving weirdo...

She busts right into Macros' lab with an explosion and confronts him with handcuffs, demanding answers to why one of HIS capsules was involved in the Prometheus conspiracy.

Macros answers truthfully about how, through no fault of his own he insists, Capsule 789415 got tainted with the DNA of a dying being and wound up out of his control.

He offers sincere condolences to what happened to all the people who died because of it but Saturn honestly cannot arrest him for a crime caused by a man with a delusional ego.

Saturn lets him off with a warning and prepares to leave. However, Macros notes the wound in her pride now that she's learned of what Gravitus did behind her back.

Saturn ensures him that this revelation changes nothing, even if she's obviously masking her feelings. She still plans to be the superheroine she's always strived to be, and will fix Gravitus' deceit with the power of justice.

Once she's gone, Macros takes a look at his tablet, and notes that the capsule that exploded left behind one final message...Of Prometheus' most recent reincarnation, two months ago.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Joe Dark has decided to take Alura with him to find the man named Julius Talbain, who has been living at the Dark family's West Coast manor for the last few months.

Their bus ride drops them up before the front gate and they seemingly sneak up to the manor door undetected.

However, then both of them find a gun to their heads with a demand that neither of them move. With Joe Dark unable to even poke his head back he's forced to answer the man's questions for a bit.

The line of questioning leads to Joe Dark recognizing said man as Julius...Though his butler packing heat was certainly not in his memories.

Alura then mentions Joe Dark's name casually and Julius' attitude shifts on the spot. He puts both guns to Joe Dark's skull and demands the truth.

Joe Dark continues to insist he is who he says he is, and even starts listing off things the man should know until he lands on the one thing no one BUT Joe Dark could've known about...That Julius used to call him Blackberry as a joke.

Julius disarms and collapses in a fit of exhaustion, believing he had lost Master Joseph forever.

Joe Dark gets down on his knees to assure the man he's the real deal, then lets Alura know they can trust him.

Julius then invites them inside the manor to discuss the gap in their respective knowledge regarding where they've been.

The manor's décor invites nostalgic memories for Joe Dark, as he takes a seat on the living room couch, and Julius provides both his guests warm chocolate milk, himself partaking in tea.

It'd be nice to relax, but Julius has to get right to the point.

Joe Dark doesn't want to get into the nitty gritty quite yet but abridges his tale as a long road and that he's discovered the truth of what happened to his parents.

Julius then explains his ties to the Dark family. He's Ex-CIA, covert ops. He met Joe Dark's father years ago during a Middle Eastern war and had his life saved by him. He vowed to follow him thereafter, as he was a man who learned how dirty the world was during the war and strove to fix it.

Joe Dark's father quickly rose to the ranks of Senator after returning overseas and with the benefits that rank provided, Julius and him were able to uncover the truth about the Secretary of Defense, Judas Jeremiah.

There were documents detailing his involvement in the incident known as "The Day a Bullet Rang Through the Earth", which occurred in 2020. Said event began with the murder of the President, continued with the swift disarmament of all nuclear weaponry, and led to the massacre of one-thousand billionaires.

Julius and Senator Dark had to hold this information close to their chest until there was the right time to expose it, in fear of Judas retaliating.

But the further they dug in the more they unearthed, including the Ultimate Warrior Reborn Project.

Senator Dark staged firing Julius for his own safety, but in truth Julius continued to work in the shadows as "The Eye in the Dark".

When Senator Dark and his entire bloodline died save for the adopted Joseph, Julius worked tirelessly to put a bullet in every person Judas Jeremiah sent to capture Joseph. Cops, FBI, even his former CIA comrades, he didn't stop until he could ensure the child's safety.

But one day Joe Dark just...vanished, and the guilt aged Julius immensely until this day.

Joe Dark can't believe he did all that, and Julius isn't proud.

Yet hearing all that, Joe Dark can't bring himself to lie. He tells Julius...everything. The truth about his disappearance, his life up until now, including becoming the Dark King and meeting his true brother.

Its astounding to take in but Julius chooses to believe him. Julius has some relief that Prometheus died for good, but also feels like the karma came too little too late.

Joe Dark then wonders something...If there was a note left behind in the basket he arrived in.

But there was nothing except a blanket to keep him warm.

However, on the topic of notes, there's something Julius wants to show him, and takes him and Alura upstairs to Senator Dark's old study.

Bringing out a DVD he had hidden on his person the whole time, Julius sets up a small TV and plays what's on it.

Its a message from Senator Dark to Joe Dark, asking how he's doing. Senator Dark, with the full knowledge he was going to die, wanted to ensure that his honest feelings got through to his son in the end.

Yes, Joe Dark was adopted, but Senator Dark never saw Joseph as anything but his real flesh and blood child. All he can hope...is that in his short time with him, he raised him proper.

And that no matter what, he stand tall and proud, never gives up on his dreams, and never be afraid to make mistakes.

Joe Dark falls with nothing but tears in his eyes and a mournful farewell to his father at long last.

Julius gives him some space, feeling tearful himself.

There's so many conflicting feelings that Joe Dark has to sort through, many of which related to who he should be...A Whiter? Or a Dark?

Who provides the decisive answer to his question: "Who am I?"

...Surprisingly, its Alura, who manages to hug him and say that to her, he is Joe Dark.

And she's right. His parents were the Whiters, but his family is the Darks. And that's who he shall be. Now, and forever...He is Joe Dark.

He thanks Alura and leaves to speak with Julius, feeling as though he's gotten a lot of baggage off his shoulders.

Now, there's one other thing Julius has to reveal, and opens up a secret passage behind the bookcase. In there is so much money it'd make any national bank drop their jaws in shame.

Alura starts getting greedy while Joe Dark, admittedly allured by the fat stacks of cash, finds he cannot accept all this money.

Ultimately there's a ton of people who Prometheus hurt with his megalomania, so Joe Dark wants to divide the money up and give it to the affected families.

Julius couldn't have been prouder of him for that choice, and shall work on that immediately.

However, he does advise keeping some of the money for himself...After all, he's going to need to be able to keep ownership of this manor.

With Senator Dark's passing, Joseph is the rightful owner of this manor.

Joe Dark has to take a moment to catch his breath before he can accept such a heavy burden, especially since he can barely even afford a roll of toilet paper.

Not to mention Mew...

Joe Dark asks Julius to give him a moment and then returns to Mew's place via a dark rift. He knocks on the door and has Mew come outside to chat in private for a moment.

After getting him up to date on his successful reunion with Julius, Joe Dark hesitates with his decision to choose to move into the manor.

But Mew is nothing if not supportive...Maybe a little too supportive.

It angers Joe Dark that he's taking this so lightly now of all times, because despite all the crap he flung at him Joe Dark loved living with him, faults and all.

Mew didn't have to be so generous to a guy who tried to kill him but he did, and believed in second chances when Joe Dark felt he had none left.

He'd give up the world if it meant staying with Mew...But knows he can't be tethered to him forever. He has to get out there and make something of himself, and teach Alura more about the world.

Mew stands and looks him in the eyes, saying softly that he understands, even joking that it took him long enough to get out.

...But if things go south, he's always got a place to live here. So he hopes that he doesn't screw it up, cause he was a noisy sleeper.

Joe Dark forces a smile and then hugs Mew, telling him he'll always be a part of his family.

Mew only has one request...That Joe Dark call him brother again. Joe Dark chuckles and then leaves without doing that, making Mew somewhat upset.

Joe Dark then returns to the manor, and has one last chat with Julius, requesting that he stay here.

He needs someone to teach him how to survive in a normal world, and knows he can trust Julius.

Julius is delighted and honored to serve, once again.

And thus, Joe Dark begins his new life here, prepared to explore a new horizon...

Story 7 END