Opening File: The Maw of Annihilation
The Maw of Annihilation, or the Mortis Internecionem, is the vast Warpstorm placed in between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy. The estimated size of the Maw is currently unknown but it is estimated to be the approximate size of an entire galaxy. By some impossible science that this remembrancer is both unaware of and would most likely be driven mad by, the massive Warpstorm exists in multiple universes as the Immaterium spans the multiverse.
This has allowed for the Ruinous Powers to become stronger than ever due to now having a surplus of emotion from countless universes to feast on. New daemons have appeared, billions have fallen to the Gods' sway, and new Daemon Princes and Chaos Champions have made themselves known to the multiverse.
Suffice to say, the Imperium was nearly overwhelmed by the appearance of the Maw. Chaos incursions have skyrocketed to where several Primaris chapters have been stationed at several sectors to prevent further rebellion, countless regiments of Imperial Guard have been deployed for various systems, and the Administratum have been overwhelmed with requests for help, to where hundreds of millions of surfs have been converted into Servitors just so 1/4th of the paperwork could be finished.
The Orks and Eldar have been focused on fighting these incursions as are the Tau. The Dark Eldar have seemingly disappeared, and the Tyranids seem to have been stalled by these massive incursions.
Fascinatingly, due to the Maw's presence in multiple universes, this has caused the formation of stable Warp currents that allow for travel to other universes. These currents are quite massive, akin to a facsimile of the Webway. However, despite the advantage that this gives Chaos, this currents are able to be of use for the Imperium as there is nothing stopping them from using them.
Close File
Cadmus Headquarters
Amanda Waller had just walked into the meeting room of Cadmus where General Eiling, Dr. Hugo Strange, Emil Hamilton, and Dr. Milo had gathered at. Tala had gone missing since the opening of the Maw, so Waller considered her lost.
It was not just another day at Cadmus as much as another day could count for an organization dedicated to safeguarding the future of humanity might be. For the last few weeks, they had been getting messages from some unknown benefactor, who claims he's here to help but he needs both their and the League's help. He requires the latter for their might and them for their projects.
The general was obviously skeptical, but Waller allowed it as she subconsciously knew this man had to be serious.
It was only when she sat down at her seat was when another one of their mysterious benefactor. A holographic screen came on showing an image of a male figure with no features against a grey background. There was a feeling that if they did otherwise, that he'd force their bodies to do them against their will.
"HELLO, MADAM WALLER, GENERAL EILING, AND DR. HAMILTON. I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE ASSISTING ME WITH MY GOALS."
The voice that came out was scrambled and filtered, obviously to hide his identity from everyone else. Yet there was something forceful and commanding about it, like it was like God had come down to guide them.
Waller simply remained composed as she folded her fingers, "We are quite thankful in turn that you are assisting with ours."
"I AM ONLY DOING WHAT I BELIEVE IS RIGHT. GETTING TO MATTERS, HOW HAS THE EXPERIMENTS BEEN PROCEEDING?"
At that question, they all took out their papers and Dr. Hamilton began his report, "So far... They have been promising. The Psyker and Reality Bender specimens you've sent, along with the inhibitor devices, has given us much needed information on how the human mind and body can channel the power of the Warp. The metahumans and mutants however have been... less than reasonable. We've sedated them for now but we are getting results as we speak."
"EXCELLENT. I WILL SEND YOU FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, BUT IN THE MEANTIME WE MUST BE DISCREET. HOW GOES THE EXPERIMENTS IN REPLICATING THE BLACKSTONE SAMPLE I HAVE SENT?"
"Those are where things get interesting." General Eiling interjected, "According to our doctors, the replicants have the same repelling and amplifying properties as the original. However, the problem is the replication process itself; it take several hours to make a single metric ton of Blackstone, which means we will not be able to produce enough to meet the deadline you've ordered."
"HAVE YOU DISCOVERED ANY SOLUTIONS FOR THIS SITUATION?"
"So far, none. But we are experimenting with converting different material into Blackstone." The general replied.
Waller then finished with, "As you can see, we have given you promising results and will you give us the data on the Justice League?"
"VERY WELL. I WILL SEND THE DATA AFTER THIS MEETING. IN THE MEANTIME, BEGIN EXPERIMENTATION ON VARIOUS MUTATIONS AND METAGENES ON VAGRANTS OR PRISONERS, PEOPLE THAT SOCIETY WILL NOT MISS. WE MUST ENSURE THAT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE DO NOT CATCH WIND OF OUR PLANS."
General Eiling spoke up again, "Sir, if I may? What is the endgame you are planning with these experiments?" In truth, the General was rightfully suspicious of their new benefactor, but he played along because Waller claimed that she trusted him.
"ALL IN GOOD TIME, GENERAL. BUT I MUST GET BACK TO THE LEAGUE BEFORE THEY GROW SUSPICIOUS. REMEMBER WHAT I INSTRUCTED AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR DATA ON THE PROJECTS I REQUESTED. REMEMBER; WE MUST NOT LET THE JUSTICE LEAGUE CATCH WIND OF OUR PLANS."
Their benefactor cut the connection, leaving the rest of them to their devices. Their computers pinged as one of their technicians claimed that they had received both data on the Justice League and further instructions. Waller ordered that Milo and Strange begin the experiments as instructed while she and the general examined the next instructions. But when the two left, Waller and Eiling still remained in the meeting room.
"What do you think about our benefactor, General?" She sternly asked the general, whom also had a similarly stern expression.
"I'm not sure. You claim to trust him but I just keep having a feeling that I can't shake off." Eiling comments, putting a hand to his chin in thought, "The fact that he's come in our time of need has raised an eyebrow for me."
Waller nods. The benefactor's appearance just after the disaster was suspicious but given that he claimed he had a plan for it, and given their circumstances, she was willing to take whatever she could. And with the push of a button, she sent their benefactor all the research data he requested.
"Let us hope he knows what he's doing." Was all that Waller could say to the General afterwards.
The Watchtower
The Emperor logged off on his transmission to Project Cadmus and as their data was sent to his terminal, examining it before leaning back against his chair with his hands behind his head. From what Cadmus had given him, it was possible that for the first two types of specimens to be controlled and for their powers to be regulated or negated. As for their research into the second two types of specimens, that one was more complicated; according to Milo, specific DNA patterns are causing irregularities in certain subjects, whom had to be put down. Maybe it's something akin to mutations in Gene-Seed, akin to Chaos corruption or reactions to new DNA.
Because of this, he was unsure as how to isolate certain metagenes as they could have adverse reactions to the certain subjects. But the Emperor would continue on as he always had, already thinking of ways to resolve this issue.
The next thing to do was to check on how the Blackstone projects were proceeding with both Cadmus and the League. The Galactic Guardians would arrive in two weeks time, which would most definitely give him reinforcements, but the Emperor still needed to have those devices made as for the next stage of his plan.
Unknown to him, Martian Manhunter was watching him from the ceiling, intangible and invisible, having heard his conversation with Cadmus. Staying silent as the Emperor walked out of his lab, with it sealing behind him, the Martian phased back through the wall.
J'onn phased through the floor of the meeting room where the founding members of the Justice League were waiting around the table, minus Batman due to his connection to the Emperor. Other superheroes were there as well, arms crossed and wondering what was happening.
"Well, J'onn? What did you find?" Superman asked Manhunter as he sat down on his chair and folded his fingers.
"The Emperor has made contact with Cadmus. He seems to be give them specimens for the experiments he cannot perform here on the Watchtower." J'onn reported, stoic as always, "It seems he is attempting a sort of super-soldier program to compensate for the lack of his Astartes."
The other superheroes made sounds of disgust while the founding members looked outrage, shocked, or kept their composures. The Emperor had been acting quite suspiciously since the incident with his experiment with the Powerpuff Girls and the RowdyRuff Boys. Those six seemed amicable enough but whenever the League tried to inquire about the Emperor, they'd calm up and wouldn't speak until another subject would be brought up. Batman was thankfully more open, but he claimed that the things that the Emperor has shown him would make them want to kill themselves, what was worse was that they didn't think he was exaggerating.
"This is an outrage!" Wonder Woman banged her fist against the table, "The Emperor is experimenting on innocent people and we are doing nothing to stop him?!"
"Yeah! Enough is enough! We need to stop the Emperor!" Supergirl yells, with Captain Marvel and several other heroes roaring in agreement. However, before any of them could go after the Emperor, Flash raised his voice to calm them down.
"Guys! It not that simple!" Flash says, silencing them before he continued with a heavy sigh, "The Emperor's our only shot at beating Chaos! Believe me, if it were up to me, we'd stop him right away! But..." He visibly deflated when he continued, "It seems that he's our only solution to fighting Chaos."
The others stopped and seemed to be contemplative about it as the Flash continued again, "Chaos isn't something we can just defeat. They will sacrifice anything to get what they want and they want the multiverse. We can't argue on morals when dealing with an enemy that's void of any."
Flash's speech placated the heroes as they all calmed down, Wonder Woman just growled but sat back down albeit pouting childishly.
Green Lantern just sighed, "The problem is that the Emperor's keeping so many secrets. Maybe some that stay secrets but secrets none the less."
Superman sighed as well, "Not only that but he has Batman, the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys under his thumb. The latter two would rather die than admit any of his secrets, and the former seems like a close advisor to him. Just... what on earth did he show them that made them so loyal to him?"
None of them knew what made the seven so loyal to the Emperor and that terrified them.
Unknown to the heroes, the shadow of Batman was gazing on them, unseen in the sterile halls before retreating without notice into the shadows.
Batman fell to the floor after jumping down the vents, stoic as always, walking through the sterile halls of the Watchtower to the secret laboratory of the Emperor's, whom was waiting for him along with the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys, whom the Emperor had renamed the Sisters of Sanguine and the Brothers Armorym respectively as a sign of their undying loyalty to the Imperium while as a whole, they are known as the Acolytes of the Emperor.
The Emperor was wearing a black leather trenchcoat over a black suit with a gold vest and tie, completed with polished black shoes. The Sisters and the Brothers were all wearing the advanced Power Armor that Estalius had promised; the Sisters' resembled the Adeptus Soroitas while the Brothers' resembled the Adeptus Arbites but without the helmets, robes and coats respectively intertwined. However, their armors seemed to have an organic aesthetic to them, more akin to a polymerization of an armor and a second skin.
He was sitting in an office chair and his Acolytes had attentive and stern expressions.
"So, how'd they react?" The Emperor asked in his usual acidulous tone, implying that he already knows how they reacted.
"They were outraged at first but Flash placated them. They're now discussing what to do about the secrets we are withholding." Batman replied honestly.
They all sighed in annoyance at yet another one of the League's arguments on scruples and morals, something that none of them needed at this time. The Emperor simply stood on his feet and pondered what to do as he paced around the room.
"Good lord, I am fucking sick of these moral discussions!" Buttercup seethed at this, tired of these talks of scruples and what is right, "Chaos is just a few months away and we're still arguing about this!"
"In-fucking-deed." Brick deadpanned, very much annoyed by the circumstances.
Blossom was most certainly annoyed but kept her composure as did Boomer and Bubbles, but Butch had annoyance practically written on his face.
"To defend humanity, we ourselves must give up what makes us human." Boomer quoted sagely, causing the others to look at him weirdly and for the Emperor to turn around from him looking out a window in thought.
"Nice quote." He complemented before turning back to the window, thinking about his next plan of action.
"Thanks!" Boomer gave a cheerful smile before explaining to the others, "I heard it in a movie."
Butch looked at confused, "What movie? We haven't been to any movies since we came out."
The Emperor was ignoring the oncoming discussion on that topic as did Batman, both staring out the window and at the planet below. It hadn't shown any more signs of Chaos corruption except for the various cults that they purged. However, the purges were what was sparking these discussions; the Justice League was obviously very much against these purges but he kept telling them that the only way to keep these cults from spreading was to purge them to the last member, no matter who they were.
While he could understand their discomfort with this, the fact that this has happened eight times already was really getting on his nerves. Fucking damnit, he needs a break for a bit.
"So," The Emperor turned to his Acolytes, with a laidback demeanor, "Any of you seven up for a day out?"
They all looked surprised but Bubbles took up his offer before any of them else did, so she got to go. He told them that they were to stay behind at the Watchtower and guard his lab, as well as act as if they didn't know anything as the League were acting the same way. The Acolytes just groaned childishly but didn't complain while Batman remained stoic.
Bubbles got dress in a white shirt with a pair of Denim jeans, a Denim jacket, and white shoes while the Emperor just changed into a beige trenchcoat as they went off. The blonde told him that she wanted to got to Detroit and because E didn't give a crap, that's where they went.
"Hey, can you please try to tone it down on the swearing?" Bubbles requested of the Emperor, as they walked to the teleportation deck, "Cause I think that the throne-bound version of you with the Text-To-Speech device is rubbing off on you. I... know it's been rubbing off on me." She looked down with red cheeks, twiddling her fingers.
The Emperor raised an eyebrow but said nothing and shrugged as they headed to the teleportation deck.
Unseen to them, a cockroach that possessed a blue carapace with golden etching and growing eyes attached to long tentacles was watching the entire conversation from a vent. When the two left, the tentacles retracted into its body before it scurried away to parts unknown.
Unknown
In a warehouse unknown to most, was the Arkian Cult. Though more akin to a militia than a cult, the Arkian Cult was dedicated to ensure the death of the Emperor of Mankind in the name of the Chaos Gods. Though because they must be discreet, so they must not receive the gifts of the Gods until they amass their numbers to a great enough size.
Their leaders were of three: the first one was a tall and slender man with a shaved head, horizontal scar through his blue eyes and a beard. He was clad in a leather jacket, black shirt, black pants, and motorcycle boots. The second was a shapely young woman with long black hair and a white mask with two eyeholes. She was clad in a black and grey striped long sleeved shirt, black pants with a belt, and knee high leather boots. The third was a tall and thin man with short beige hair and green eyes, a glasgow smile scar, and a perpetual sadistic grin. He was clothed in a black tanktop, grey khakis, black sneakers, and a grey hoodie with the sleeves tied around his waist.
These three are Tavin, Cera, and Hart respectively. They are the leaders of the Arkian Cult.
Hart blew the contents of his stomach down a bucket as Cera stood beside him, patting his back. The two then got to the others with Tavin, whom almost looking concerned.
"You alright?" He asked his friend, whom unsurely nods, before the former pulls out a bottle containing a protein shake to the latter.
"Oh, no fucking way!" Hart refuses, pushing the container away, "I fucking hates these shakes!"
"You need 2,000 calories an hour or your body's gonna quit on you." The cult's main leader says sternly as he forces the protein shake in his teammate's hand.
"I can't do this shit, man." Hart moans as he takes the drink.
"Tough shit, Hart." Tavin retorts, as he chides one of his men like a kid, "Alright? You heard the doc; Your heart is getting bigger, balls are getting smaller, your immune system's for shit. That Substance Zero shit is killing you."
Hart then interjects saying, "Hey, you don't know shit about it, Tav!"
"I don't wanna know!" He retorts again, leaving no room for argument, "And ya done. Okay? No more of that shit. Ya take too much of that shit, ya gonna melt into goddamn pile a goo!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Hart replied, flippantly as he took another drink.
Tavin sighed. Sometimes Hart's attuite made him more trouble than he was worth, if only due to his mutation granting him the ability to regenerate severe to fatal wounds in an instant. But because of how much he's abused it, he's had to take Substance Zero to keep himself from mutating further. Substance Zero was a compound made by one of the chemists in another Chaos cult, it functions as a way to keep Chaos mutations in check but they failed to mention that it was incredibly addictive and soon Hart kidnapped said chemist so the latter could produce more.
Still, while Hart was able to keep himself under control for the most part, he was walking a thinning line.
Cera was more controllable than Hart but she still was a Slaaneshi. Apparently, she had arrived from somewhere called the Imperium, a future where apparently Nazis had taken over the galaxy. Great. The Nazis win in the future. When the Imperium begins forming, he'll just lay in a tub of hot water and slash his wrists.
Tavin himself didn't really grow up on the right side of the tracks. His mom either beat him or was off fucking some guy while his dad barely even knew he was there even if he wasn't drunk off his ass.
Detroit
The duo arrived in Detroit, it being Fall meant that Estalius wasn't unusual for wearing a trenchcoat nor was Bubbles for her Denim jacket so they wouldn't raise suspicion about who they were. Especially because the people didn't know about how she and her sisters were aged up ten years, along with the brothers. Both just prayed that nobody noticed the similarities between her present-self and her younger self.
Thankfully, the streets seemed too busy to notice them. Some were either talking to each other or on their phones, coming in or out of malls or clothing stores for those "End of the World" sales that had been popping up everywhere. How the planet hadn't descended into anarchy yet, Bubbles'll never know. She at least kept quiet until they got to a restaurant where they'd decided to got to, a host waiting with a deceptively sunny grin.
"Hello! Welcome to Redtail Grill! Table for two?" The Host inquired of the two, before he got a good look at Bubbles and grinned, "Say, who's the hottie?"
"This is- uh... my wife." The Emperor ad-libbed as he wrapped an arm around a flustered Bubbles' side and pulled her close to him, who's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "We are celebrating our one year anniversary."
'W-Wife?!' Bubbles screeched in her head, embarrassed and dismayed beyond belief at the thought of marrying the Emperor, yet she didn't protest his words. And, in the most lustful parts of her mind, she couldn't help but think about how the Primarchs would react if she became their stepmother.
The host seemed amused as he gave another grin and lead them to a booth in the corner of the restaurant where they had just cleaned. The two sat down with Estalius removing his trenchcoat and both looking at the menu, when he suddenly gave Bubbles a teasing grin.
"I noticed that you didn't protest when I told them that you were my wife?" He teased her, causing Bubbles' face to turn deep red and glare at him.
"Please... drop it, E." She tried to sound menacing but due to massive amounts of... thoughts in her head, her words came off as meek than menacing.
Estalius just held up his hands while giving a charming smirk.
Unknown to either of them, the host got into the empty restroom and hid in a stall before pulling out a radio and whispered into it.
"Scarlet Sondra, this is Concrete Cock. The Big E has arrived in Detroit. I repeat: The Big E has arrived in Detroit." He then paused as he took in what he just said before uttering, "Also, I'm choosing the goddamn nicknames next time!"
"Roger, CC." The radio worker answered, before turning to a red robed woman sitting next to him, "Tell the triumvirate that the Emperor is in Detroit. We must act now."
The robed woman nodded before running to a flight of stairs that lead to 4 people over looking the operation. The facility was a simple warehouse in Detroit, filled with lackies and slaves in red robes that were finishing their plans. And to the leaders, judging by the novitiate in front of them, there was new to be held. She bowed to the triumvirate, sycophantically.
"My triumvirate; Brother Numon has encountered the Emperor and one of his Acolytes. We are ready to proceed." She unveiled in hushed tone to the 3.
"Excellent, Sister Daga." Tavin whispers to the novitiate, his voice raspy and odious, "Tell Brother Numon to begin... Operation Morningstar."
"Roger. Beginning Operation Morningstar." Numon nodded as he got the transmission to begin. He exited the bathroom stall and restroom before slinking to the kitchen, looking side by side as he approached the drinks that the Emperor had ordered for him and his Acolyte.
Working fast, Numon produced two vials from his pocket; one filled with red and one filled with black. He uncorked the vials before pouring the first into the Acolyte's drink and the second into the Emperor's drink. Numon quickly stuffed the vials back into his pocket before getting the drinks on the tray and took it out to the dinning area, making sure as to not bump into any tables or any other employees. If he messed this up, they wouldn't get another chance to enact their plan and that they would probable kill him.
Thankfully, he got to the awaiting duo just in time.
Neither of the two said anything other than thanking him for their drinks, Numon quickly got to the backroom just as they took a drink. He pulled out his radio and whispered into it, "SS, this is CC. The payload has delivered. Repeat: The payload has been delivered."
Back with the Emperor and Bubbles, the former smacks his lips at the taste of the drink from his beer, before commenting, "Tastes weird."
"Mine tastes like cherries." Bubbles comments, taking another drink from her glass of Nuka Cola.
Both just shrugged it off but they noticed a difference in taste with the next order of their drinks. They asked the waiter why but he claimed that it was simply a problem with the machines. Both were suspicious but dropped it after seeing a fire in the kitchen that entertained most of the people. Later, they ordered some minor food, a steak for Emps and a burger for Bubbles, and paid the check.
They exited the restaurant and walked down the sidewalk. So far, their day was okay, a few kinks, but nothing that was worth complaining. But, little did they know that the good day they were having was about to take a dark turn.
A few minutes of walking, the Emperor noticed that the people around them were staring at them, like a Fenrisian wolf stalking its prey. They watched the duo for what felt like an eternity with Bubbles catching on as well when she noticed a couple staring at her. They stop and look around the block they were at; nearly every 'civilian' within the street and the street adjasent from them were gazing upon them, like they were prey in a trap.
Bubbles was about to react before the Emperor put a hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "No sudden movements. We'll just move slowly move away from them. When they lose interest, we bolt for the Watchtower."
His Acolyte nods slowly as they continued walking away, praying that they get away before anything happens but they were stopped when all of these 'civilians' surrounded them in a square formation. Their faces were blank like automata, before they spoke as one like reciting from parchment.
"Emperor of Mankind. Belicara of the Sanguine. Today is the day you perish." They all drew various weapons; clubs, blades, even guns, all directed at them. Their targets were unfazed even as they began to close in on them.
"So, we're surrounded by 500 people, armed to the teeth while we have no ways to defend ourselves whatsoever." The Emperor snarked in his usual manner, unintimidated by the crowd.
Bubbles let an arrogant smile creep on her face, as her hands went a lit with energy, "You make this seem like it's going to be a challenge."
"Indeed, I am." The Emperor grinned arrogantly.
The two yelled in fury before rushing at the crowd, whom roared back.
Ten minutes later...
Three cultists were thrown at a concrete wall before being impaled by a Haloshard arm, curtosey of the Emperor, whom roared and swung the arm around, flinging the bodies at the other cultists at neckbreak speeds, killing any other cultist they hit. Bubbles roared as her eyes blazed blue before her eyes beams halved or disintegrated any and all cultists caught in it. More were crushed by her punches, scared away by her furious roars, or rended to ash by her beams.
When they had a chance to breath after the death of the last of the cultists, the two nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Bubbles was on her knees, panting like her lungs were on fire, while the Emperor just had his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
"Damnit... I'm exhausted." The Emperor panted, trying to stay on his feet and trying to figure out why. He managed to help Bubbles to her feet but she had her arm over his shoulder to kept standing. Just then they heard the sounds of a crowd, they turned to see the shadows of a crowd armed to the teeth, reflected by the fires and lights started from their fight.
"Oh, are you fucking kidding me?!" Bubbles yelled, more exasperated than scared as the two of them were exhausted to the point of collapse. And the fact that neither of them had any weapons on themselves. And the fact that they were outnumbered by 3,000 to one.
They then heard someone shouting behind them, they turned to see four armed men, dressed in green camo, grey pants and tall black boots. Despite that, they all had distinct appearances; one was bald, another had glasses, one had a beard, and the last had a baseball cap. After the duo making their way to the four, and them introducing themselves to the duo, (The bald one was Harry, the bespectacled one was Dan, the bearded one was Eugene, and the capped one was Mack) they all heard a shout from behind; The crowd had just turned the corner and were running straight at them. Thinking fast, the six ran to a nearby apartment complex and ascended the outside stairs before Eugene kicked open the door.
"Keep that door shut!" The Emperor yelled, causing Bubbles to slam the door shut, and just in time as a myriad of men loudly banging along with feral clamoring against the door followed soon after.
Just to be sure, Harry holstered his gun and lifted up the baby blue couch unassisted. With a angry yell, rammed it against the door, right after Bubbles got out of the way. Sam and Mack then grabbed the cabinet and pushed it up against the couch, further reinforcing the makeshift barricade.
The team was finally allowed a moment to catch their breathes before Eugene checked the windows.
He knocked against the windows before reported, "No use. They're all over the streets, and even if we can hunker down here for a while, we only have enough ammo and supplies to last for an hour!"
"Fuck!" Harry swore, looking around the room, "We need a way out."
Bubbles got an idea. She started tapping her hand around the walls before moving around the flat while stomping her foot to the floor. She stopped at one of the rugs when she heard the tapping she made came back hollow. The Acolyte then pulled back the rug to find a concrete trapdoor.
Finding that it's locked, she shouted to the others, "I need a grenade!"
Harry responded by throwing her a sticky grenade. Bubbles caught it, pulled the pin, and planted in on the trapdoor.
"Everyone clear!" She yells as she dives for cover. The others over turned whatever they could hide behind before the grenade detonated, sending dust and stone through the room, leaving the newly made hole in the center of the flat.
Before any other them could jump into the next flat through the hole, Mack and Harry noticed the banging and clamoring had stopped. The two looked at each other before looking at the door behind their barricade when suddenly bullets pierced through the couch and cabinet but the two got out of the way just in time.
Mack tumbled back before he looked to the hole in the floor, "Follow me!"
The lieutenant got up when the bullets from the other side of the barricade came crashing and jumped down the hole. He stumbled for a second before he was tackled by 3 thugs before he had a chance to react.
"Mack!" Eugene yelled as he dove in after his superior. The trooper landed into a flat of similar décor before turning to his right to see the three thugs struggling to kill Mack while dogpiling. Eugene grabbed the thug in the middle and threw him to the floor before shooting him twice in the chest, and then did the same to another thug that attempted to shoot him and another thug that attempted to rush him.
Thinking fast, Sam looked to his right and saw a fire-axe on a plague on the wall. Wasting no time, Sam ripped the axe from the plague and jumped down the hole and swung his axe down at the thug to the left, embedding it in his shoulder. The thug cries out in pain but attempts to grab the axe before Eddy used it to drag the thug away the dogpile, then he dislodged the axe and swung it down into his chest, killing the thug.
Mack, whom lost his hat, blocked and dodged the unfocused blows of the thug that kept him pinned until he pushed him down and blew his brains out with a shot from his pistol.
As the rest of the team got down, the Emperor checking the door, only to close it almost immediately, "They're coming!"
Just then, the door was slammed from behind and gunshots pierced the wooden frame. Suddenly, the Emperor got an idea. He ran to the sink and opened the bottom of the stove, before reaching in and ripping out a propane tank. He then opened a refrigerator, emptied out it's contents, and shoved the tank into it and closed the door.
"Bubbles, help me!" Estalius yells as he struggles to move the fridge. She saw what he was doing and went to his side and they pushed the fridge to the door, with it making surprisingly good cover when the zealots on the other side opened fire with the militia provided cover fire.
Finally, making it to the door, the Emperor gave his partner his plan, while holding a single grenade he stole from Harry.
"When I pop this, turn it around to face the door! Ready?" He shouted to Bubbles, whom nodded before both counted down, "One! Two! Three!"
The Emperor then pulled the pin, opened the fridge door, threw the grenade in, and Bubbles forced the open refrigerator to face the door. Everyone in the room them jumped for cover as the fridge exploded, sending flames to scorch the zealots to a crisp while it went flying through the room like a falling brick.
Suddenly, before anyone else could do anything, another more powerful explosion rocked the building, along with several searing sounds coming closer. A horrid realization set into everyone in the city as a wave of white smoke was seen through the window.
"Is that-?" Bubbles trails off, almost scared.
"EVERYBODY, BRACE YOURSELVES!" The Emperor yelled, ducking for cover as the cultists and mutants that were coming up fled for cover. The militia guys all dogpiled in the bathroom while Estalius dived behind a couch. Bubbles only had a second to duck as the white wave hit the building. Glass and stone shattering before her sight and hearing gave way to silence.
At Channel Nine news, an anchorman with black slicked back hair and a blue suit with polished black shoes came into the station while greeting everyone else. He was about to prepare for another day at work, albeit in a good way as there had been a slew of interesting stories coming in since the rift opened, none of these political and social issues to spew about. He just adjusted his tie and came in with an affable smile before sitting down at his chair.
"So, what's the top story today?" The anchorman asked, only to get a sheet of paper from a horrified assist. He looked at her in concern before he looked at the paper. His eyes widened and his jaw slacked, he looked to his assistant and said, "Is this serious? Is... This isn't fabricated?"
She shook her head, "No. It's been confirmed by the National Guard."
The anchorman simply put his head in his hands in disbelief for a minute then asking the camera man, "How long until we go live?" The answer was 30 seconds. He eventually regained his composure before they counted down for the broadcast.
"An... unimaginable tragedy has hit Detroit today." The pause was not him acting. Hell, even the most hardest of skeptic watching could see that he was not acting even if he wanted to, "The infamous city in Michigan was set blaze by White Phosphorus bombs that were detonated all across the area. A cloud of the biochemical weapon has sheathed over the city, obscuring it from anything aerial view."
The Watchtower
"However, fires have been reported all across the area and our experts theorized that the cloud will dissipate within the next 24 hour, preventing emergency services from actions. We are currently awaiting the number of casualties, but it is likely that they are in the near hundreds of thousands."
There was an overhead shot of Detroit from one of their helicopters presumably, before explosions rocked the city from a hundred points. Waves of white immolated entire square miles of buildings as people on the streets attempted to flee, only to be consumed by the white.
Back at the Watchtower, the League were all watching in horror as the city of Detroit was engulfed in White Phosphorus. The founding members were still with frozen stares, the other heroes either were frozen or had to sit down from the shock.
Batman and the Acolytes looked worried for the Emperor and for Bubbles as Buttercup and Blossom immediately dashed for the teleportation deck with the Brothers Armorym following behind, only Batman remained behind.
Megaville
"For... anybody that in Detroit that survived the bombs... please hold on. Help is coming. Maybe not now but..." The anchorman couldn't continue as he broke down in tears, with his hands to his face.
In Megaville, Dexter, Jack and Honeydew were just as frozen as they had their pets in their arms. The former two were silent with wide eyes and slackened jaws, while Jane looked like she was about to burst into tears.
The leaders and scientists of the Global Defense Force were rendered silent from the news. Jonathan Utonium nearly had a heart attack as he leaned against a table to kept on his feet, Nora Wakeman and Jenny were staring at the screen in horror, and for once, Professor Membrane was rendered silent.
Mayflower Apartments, Detroit
Back in the flat, Bubbles was knocked unconscious from the force of the blast, while smoke filled the room due to the fridge being singed from the explosion. The most damning feature that decorated the room is the door, which was surprisingly still on it's hinges, cooking the dead bodies of the cultists and mutants that tried to kill them.
One of which was still alive and despite the third degree burns to his face and chest, he attempted to crawl to the flat to finish off the duo, only to fall dead with a bullet to the skull by another cultist.
The gunshot woke up Bubbles, whom started coughing while trying to sit up. She attempted to open her eyes only for her to be stopped by a hand that she recognized as the Emperor's. She felt him putting a finger to her lips before whispering with his head to the revealed hallway, "Be quiet."
He turned to the right from where he was to see the militia, whom were hiding in the bathroom. Their guns were raised at the doorframe, their faces hard and nerves steady as was their heart rate. The Emperor looked in the doorframe for anything that could be happening.
In the hallway were dozens of cultists and mutants wandering around, presumably looking for them.
Their eyes were swaying, hands palming their guns and knifes with rapt desire for their blood, some licking their lips in hungers as they dart their heads looking for the two. One of them stepped forwards, inching closer to the doorframe, causing the militia to tense, guns pulled tighter, their fingers itching on their triggers, while the Emperor slowly gripped the broken leg of a chair in his hand.
After a minute, one was about to step in only for a crash to ring out, moving their attention down the hall.
The Emperor just groaned as he laid back against the couch he was hiding behind before he attempted to get up only for him not to feel his legs. He looked down see that his legs were now riddled with shrapnel, glass, rebar, and dust. He tried to move them but they only twitched bonelessly, a kin to a snake.
"Oh, that's not good." He muttered to himself.
Estalius just turned to Bubbles, whom looked alright but there was a white powder on her eyes. She stirred and tried to get up only for him to put a hand on her shoulder and force her down.
"Bubbles, wait." The Emperor puts two of his fingers to her eyes as he attempts to comfort her, "The powder that's on your eyelids is from the White Phosphorous bombs. It will burn your eyes if you open them."
The blonde woman seemed to go rigid, raising a hand to touch her eyelids with her fingers brushing on the powder. The Emperor slowly looked around where they were hiding and dragged himself around the apartment, trying to find something that could help them, but all he could find that wasn't smoldered and burnt was a hi-powered laser pistol and a bottle of water.
"It'll have to do." Estalius just ran with it as he didn't have a choice, grabbing the gun and bottle before dragging himself back to Bubbles, whom was still as a bone yet calm and collected. He uncapped the bottle and poured the water on her face, rinsing the powder off her. Bubbles coughed harshly, rubbing the water off her face with her sleeve before she got up, then seeing the Emperor's legs.
"Holy shit..." She whispered, staring at his before looking at his face, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, ya know; just got a few dozen shards of glass and metal stuck in my legs. Other than that, I'm just peachy." The Emperor snarked, clearly annoyed by stupid questions, "Look, we need to get out of here. Can you fly?"
Bubbles nodded, but when she tried, nothing happened. She tried to fly again only for nothing to happen again. Bubbles tried to use her laser vision or super-strength, only to find that she was void of her powers. She looked at her hands and then to the Emperor in dismay, "What happened to my powers?"
The Emperor himself was puzzled before he motioned to her to come closer. When she did, he placed a hand on her neck. Her body was shrouded in a golden veil for a second or 3 before he removed his hand and muttered in realization, "Antidote X. They must have spiked your drink with a dose of it."
Bubbles' jaw dropped, "ANTIDOTE X?!" She shrieked in utter fear, a little jarring given that she had adopted a rather stoic attitude in the last few years she'd been in the Imperium of Man. Then again, given that she could only live if there was Chemical X in her body, the concoction was a kin to poison to her.
"Relax, there's only enough of it in your system to suppress your powers. Other than that, you're fine." The Emperor waved off, before looking at his hand only to see a cut that was healing very slowly on his palm. Black specks danced around the clotted blood until they disappeared as the cut sealed. Estalius opened and closed his palm as he pondered what was going on, that was when it hit him.
He smacks his lips at the taste of the drink from his beer, before commenting, "Tastes weird."
"Those clever fuckers." The Emperor swore as he figured it out. It was a virus, akin to a bloodborne strain of the Life Eater Virus. This one, however, seemed to be unable to affect inorganic matter and would consume itself when it consumed the infected. Thankfully, due to all of his shards carrying the regenerative abilities of a Perpetual, his body was fighting it off but it was destroying as many cells as he was regenerating; meaning while he probably wasn't gonna die from it, it would still be a while before his powers overwhelmed it.
And by a while, he means maybe a few hours, possibly longer.
Combined with that and the fact that Bubbles can't use her powers for an equal amount of time, they don't have any weapons or supplies, and that there were hundreds, possibly thousands of cultists, anarchists, and thugs ready to skin them alive and rape whatever's left, means that they were in quite the pickle.
Oh, well. This wasn't the first time The Emperor was wandering the ruins of civilization without his powers and it won't be the last.
"Bubbles." He commanded his Acolyte, whom immediately straightened at hearing her name, "We need to get out of here. But I can't walk with all of the shit in my legs, so you need to remove all of it."
His Acolyte nodded with only a little hesitation before Sam came out from the bathroom with the militia circled around the entrance. He offered to help and Bubbles agreed, but before they did, the latter asked the Emperor, "You sure you don't need anything to bite on?"
"Don't worry. Just get it over with." He replied, unconcerned.
The two looked at each other for a second before they went ahead with it. Bubbles grabbed the longest piece of rebar and slowly extracted it from the Emperor's leg, inch by inch, the surface coated in blood and fluid while Sam gently plucked out the largest pieces of glass and metal. They then moved to the smaller pieces with Harry providing some tweezers, Sam actually had to dig quite deeply into the leg to remove a particularly stubborn piece of metal in the tibia, which made a crack when he retched it out. And by the time they were done with the feet, it was more like they were talons rather than feet due to how deep some cuts between the toes were.
And the whole time, the Emperor didn't react. He sometimes jerked but never once did he let out a grunt of pain, grit his teeth, or even breathing sharply. The Emperor kept his composure the entire time. Though she knew that he'd gone through worse, Bubbles was still unsettled by his lack of reaction.
She watched as the wounds began to seal up slowly before she and Sam wrapped them in bandages in case that they opened up, then she slowly put some spare tall boots that Sam offered over them so Estalius could walk without aggravating the cuts in his legs. With that out of the way, the militia told them that they had to leave because they're worried about their families. The two let them go out, before Bubbles wrapped an arm around the Emperor's shoulder and heaved him to his feet. He hobbled slightly, but stood regardless.
"Okay," He whispered while put emphasis, "Now go easy."
Bubbles nodded crookedly, assisting him with walking as they exited the ruined flat.
The Watchtower
A lot of the members of the Justice League were forced to remain at the Watchtower, due to the excessive amounts of White Phosphorus gas around Detroit. Batman had told them that Superman and Wonder Woman, along with the Sisters and Brothers were going in for a closer look as they were some of the only ones who could get in close and be fine.
The teleportation desk started up just seconds later. The heroes and crewmates at watched as the two founding members of the League and the five disciples of the Emperor came back, the former two looking dejected and the latter five looking frustrated.
"Well?" Green Lantern asked, "Anything?"
"It's no good." Blossom answered and informed everyone, while trying to calm down Buttercup, whom looked like she was ready to murder someone, "The storm isn't made of regular White Phosphorus; it's been chemically modified to where contact with the smoke will immolate flesh. That and if it's inhaled, it'll scorch your innards."
"Not only that, but it's also laced with lead and Kryptonite particles." Superman states, looking ashamed that he can't go in and help, "My X-rays vision is useless and the Kryptonite particles will make it impossible for me to enter. If anybody with wind powers tries to blow it away, they'll just redirect it to another location and the people there would suffer another disaster."
The Flash then cut in with a dejected expression, "Which means... all we can do is wait."
Everyone else seemed just as dejected and frustrated as them.
Mayflower Apartments, Detroit
From now on, after today, Bubbles swore that if she encountered any metahumans that bemoan their powers or felt like it made them monsters, she'd smack them upside the head. Unless their powers really do suck.
Without her powers, she was unable to just fly herself and the Emperor out of here, use her superspeed so she could get supplies for themselves, or even use her X-ray vision to find the exit or make sure that they wouldn't get lost. The Emperor's psychic powers did help but what didn't was the fact that, for now, he could only walk if he supported himself on something, meaning she had to help him with walking until his body destroyed the virus. At least he wasn't complaining about the pain and was helping her.
So, him and her had to make due for now. The Emperor still had that gun he found in the apartment two were half way down a corridor to the exit after almost half an hour of going through hallways and taking the stairs due to the elevator being broken.
"Again, are you sure you'll be fine?" Bubbles asked Estalius, concerned for his health.
"Relax, kid. I've suffered worse injuries." The Emperor assured as he limped on with Bubbles still assisting him through the hallway, "Let's just pray that that radio isn't far from here."
The Acolyte nodded as the two continued their trek through 7th floor. But the silence permeating the air was broken when a machete wielding cultist charged at them from an apartment across from them, screaming like a manic.
The cultist attempted a downward slash only for his machete to meet a tonfa-like blade made from bone in Bubbles' hand. Before he could react, parried the machete, smacks the thug around with the blunt side of the bone tonfa, before slashing the latter's calve.
Another armed cultist emerged from the flat left of them in a frenzy, only to be met with a hard jab to the neck curtesy of the Emperor. Yet another cultist attacked from behind but was stopped by a kick to chest from Estalius and a slash to the throat from Bubbles. The Emperor then clotheslined a headband thug before stomping on his neck, killing him instantly when another was stabbed in the throat by Bubbles.
Quickly realizing that they can't fight like this, she had the Emperor rest against the wall while they both dealt against the thugs that were closing in.
Another machete wielding cultist with wild hair came charging at Bubbles with a feral scream, swing wildly with the woman blocking or parrying every blow before he was floored by Estalius punching him in the gut with a psychic fist. The same with another thug only this time he was thrown to the Emperor whom snapped the former's neck.
The cultist that was sent to the floor got up to attack again only to meet Bubbles' bone tonfa and her knife through a stash in the neck. A short haired thug came screaming down the hallway towards them, only to be met with the Emperor's fist, smacking him upside the head.
Bubbles ducked when two more cultists came swinging before she parried their blows with her knife. Pressuring the two, she stabbed the one on the right in the chest before the one on the left retaliated with wild swings. That cultist could barely get in a few blows when he was then stabbed in the leg, sending him to his knees before he was roundhouse kicked in the face by Bubbles.
A cultist running from the south side of the corridor was intercepted by the Emperor who, with a loud growl, slammed the thug into the wall, turning his face into mush. Letting that cultist slide down the wall as blood spewed from the corpse's neck, another thug came charging only for the Emperor to punch him hard in the chest, caving his ribs in and impaling the bones into his lungs.
Meanwhile, a screaming cultist came around the corner and slashed at Bubbles whom dodged before twirled around, sideswiping the thug which ended up knocking him to the floor before she stabbed him in the chest. Another one came screaming with an axe, only for Bubbles to do the same song and dance ending with a jab to the waist and torso.
The Emperor grunted as his legs was still numb due to the nerves in his knees and feet still struggling to function, yet he limbed towards his companion in an attempt to help. He then heard a moan and saw a thug trying to stab him, which the Master of Mankind responded by slamming his foot down on the cultist's head, crushing it to a pulp. The Emperor then wiped the brain matter off his foot before continuing to limb towards his Acolyte.
Back with Bubbles, she front-kicked a thug in the chest twice before twirling around and snapped another cultist's leg in half, backhanding him and stabbed him in the side of his neck. Before she could extract her knife, the other thug grabbed her from behind, snapping one of the bones in her wrist. Bubbles cried in agony before both of them dragged themselves to another west part of the hallway before she elbow-jabbed the cultist in the stomach until he let go before grabbing the cultist and throwing him to the floor, dislocating his arm and stomping on his jaw.
Yet again, two unarmed cultists came from behind just as she retrieved her knife. One punch connected to Bubbles' right arm before she spun away from a hand chop, the cultist then spun back and attempted an elbow jab but she caught before punching him in the ear, making him stumble for a sec. The other cultist tried to right hook the woman but the latter caught it and kneed him in the stomach, sending him to the floor before the first cultist got back and tried to throw a punch, which was caught. Bubbles used this to force the to the floor before he kneed the latter in the face, breaking his nose in the process.
The other one growled before delivering a series of intercepted blows against Bubbles before the latter kneed him in the thigh before she held the side of the zealot's head and rammed it against a light, shattering it and then slamming his head against all of the tiles below the light, crushing his brain and skull. The only thing the zealot could muster was a chunk of blood bubbling from his lips before he fell dead.
Bubbles was finally given a chance to breath, her hands cupped her knees as she panted heavily when she saw the Emperor limping towards her. The Emperor looks impressed.
"You're a beast, kid." The Emperor gave Bubbles a grin as the latter assisted the former with walking again.
Bubbles then looked at her master again, "You doing better?"
He looks back at his legs and then looks at her, "They're healing." The Emperor then paused and asked, "Say, how'd you form that bone tonfa?"
"I..." Bubbles was about to explain but her words faltered when she realized that she had no idea how she did so, "I'm not to sure."
"Whatever. Let's just get out of here." Her master waved off, and the two immediately got to trudging the exit. Before they could make it any farther, a cultist burst from an apartment, raising a gun while screaming, "FUCK YOU, MOTHERFUCKERS!"
He fires 8 times while the two ducked to avoid the shots before the Emperor whipped out that high tech pistol and fired. The bullet pierced the left cheekbone of the crazed man, whom went silent as his arm dropped and his left eye rolled into the back of his head before he fell dead.
The two looked at each other, still surprised at what just happened before they checked themselves. They were completely fine, no bullets had hit them or even grazed their clothing or skin.
"That man must have had the shittiest of luck." Bubbles quipped, making Emps chuckle as they got further down the hallway.
After several more flights of stairs and one point of stopping so Bubbles could raid a venting machine for food, they finally managed to get to the bottom floor and to the lobby.
It was utterly desolated; the floors were covered by the burnt-out and smelted corpses of people that they couldn't identify as either civilians or cultists, boiled blood sulfated the floors, powder from the White Phosphorous bombs obscured whatever color or designs were painted on the walls or floor. Furniture was immolated to where they seemed more like horrid art-pieces than furniture. The entrance was obliterated with the walls torn down by the blast and the doors blown off their hinges and imbedded in the ceiling.
Speaking of which, the two couldn't help but to stare at how a ruined wooden door was somehow imbedded in the porcelain ceiling.
"Can... Can wood really pierce stone?" Bubbles asked the Emperor. She considers herself highly intelligent, given that the Emperor effectively raised her and her sisters, but that doesn't mean she had a degree in physics.
"Well, depending on the density of the wood and the amount of kinetic energy transferred from the blast, I'd say... maybe." The Emperor hemmed and hawed, a little bit amused by this event but got back to business, "Besides that, we need to go and find someplace where we can call for help. Maybe like a radio station or something. Without your powers and with my injuries, we have to get somewhere safe to recuperate."
Bubbles nodded and they walked out to the ruined city. It was almost apocalyptic; block after block sported nothing but gutted, obliterated buildings that stand at bizarre angles. The sky was awash in dark grey with clouds that seemed to be ablaze in white fire, as if the sky was rendered blank. Something sulfated the air, like death was creeping to them with his scythe near their necks.
The most horrid part was the sea of corpses that stretched across the ruined streets, farther than one's eyes could ever fathom. Most were immolated beyond all recognition, some were missing limbs, while whole sections were missing from others, and some were just reduced to heads or torsos. Details could barely be many due to sheer scale of the dead that overflowed the streets, a smell as horrid as it was recognizable; the stench of the dead.
Bubbles just had a slackened jaw while the Emperor remained calm. However, they heard footsteps coming near them. It was a 28 year old man with chin-length brown hair, clad in a white shirt under a black jacket, black pants, and black tennis shoes, covered in ash. Hanging from his arm was a backpack filled with junk food, regular food, drinks, and water. In his right hand was a handgun that was most definitely loaded.
The man seemed to noticed them but didn't do anything when he saw that they were armed. They just stared for a moment in silence before it was broken by the man, whom breathed out, "Christ... I thought I was the only one left."
"Same." The Emperor lied, with Bubbles catching on what he was trying to do, "I-I'm Derek. Derek Halls. And this is my wife, May."
Bubbles waved to the man, smiling kindly.
"Well... um... My name's Warren. Warren Kallinger." The man introduced himself, before looking to the apartments and asking, "Um, by the way, are some of the apartments in there still intact? My place is burnt to a crisp."
The two looked at each other, before Bubbles answered, "Well, we passed by a few on our way out. They might be okay to stay in." She then got an idea, "Say; is there any place nearby that might have a radio or something?"
Warren looked puzzled but thought about it and snapped his fingers, "The hotel I used to work at; the Hilton Garden Inn. I-It's got an emergency radio in the manager's office. It's just 2 or 3 miles from here."
"Oh, thank you." The Emperor actually breathed in relief, "Say, why are you looking for a place to hide?"
"And face down the lunatics that are prowling the streets?" Warren questioned before he scoffed bitterly, "Maybe for a braver man. Me? I'm just gonna find a place to stay until help comes. Anyway, thanks. I'll get out of your hair."
He walked into the building without another word just as the two walked off to that hotel, trudging in the silenced city.
Channel 6 news station
The anchorman just sat in his chair, awaiting the next report of the Detroit Incident to come in. So far, there ratings have hit an all time high, maybe the executives love that but he didn't. Not being able to do anything while he stayed here weighed on him like chains.
"Everyone!" He was snapped out of his thoughts when one of their editors announced something, "I got some magic happening! Some of my hacker buddies managed to find that camera feeds from Detroit are still up! They pulled some of the feeds from the cameras and sent them to me!"
The people seemed to light up at that before they got to work. They gave the anchorman new papers for the report and began to countdown before they began rolling for live TV, "T-This just in! We have confirmed survivors in Detroit! This confirmation was given to us via the following video feeds, which were retrieved from anonymous sources. We warn viewers that the following footage contains disturbing imagery which may not be suitable for younger viewers."
The first feed was filled with static at first before it showed the interior of a ruined gas station station, covered in scorch marks, white powder, and ash. Some shelves were overturned but all still had food on the racks, refrigerators were still working and held drinks still cold, and the counter seemed fine with the exception of the dead body laying on the register.
Suddenly, a slam was heard offscreen. Another one came after a second before a crash rang out and a man came into view. He was quite tall and lean with brown hair, wearing, from what could be seen, black pants, black shoes, and a black coat. The man's clothing was raggedy and covered in ash, his posture was somewhat hunched with how he panted like an animal. He turned to the shelves with almost a mad expression before grabbing a small bag of chips and ripping it open.
"Oh, thank you Jesus. Thank you, God." The man breaths in relief, taking handfuls of chips and stuffing them into his mouth, chomping loudly. After a minute, he finishes and breaths out in relief as he tosses the empty bag away.
"Okay, Warren, plan; get food, get a weapon, and find a place to stay until help comes." The man they now know as Warren talked to himself, trying to come up with a plan, "Yeah. Let's see what they have."
For the next three minutes, it just showed Warren wandering around the gas station collecting food, drinks, water, supplies, and gear, and putting it all in the bag he got from outside. When he went to the counter, he pulled the charred corpse of what could only be assumed to be the clerk or cashier off the cash register and opened it, taking all the money out and packing it into his coat pockets. Warren noticed a cabinet by the register and opens it to reveal a pistol and ammo clips.
"Huh. Lucky me." Warren said to himself as he checked the gun while putting the clips in his pants pocket.
Suddenly, a crash was heard offscreen. Warren immediately reacted by raising the gun to where he heard the noise come from. The door to the janitor's closet shook slightly, earning Warren's attention
"What's that?! Who's there?" He growled out, slowly exited from behind the counter and crept through the aisles to the janitor's closet. Slowly, extending his hand, he grabbed the knob and turned it, slowly letting the door creak open. Then he swung it open and pointed his gun in the closet.
"FREEZE, ASS...hole?" Warren shouted before trailing off when he didn't see anything. He lowered his gun and looked in the closet, not seeing anything other than some cleaning supplies and a broom that laid on the floor. The man scratched his head for a second before muttering, "Oh, God, I'm losing my damn mind."
Warren was then seen holstering his gun and then muttering, "Relax, Warren: no one will ever know. He dropped it when they went off. You'll be fine."
That was the last thing he said before the feed cuts out completely, but not before a sentence appear for a brief frame.
'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.'
XXX
The second feed showed a ruined sidewalk with two figures; a man and a woman, both covered in dust and ash. The latter had long blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, wearing a Demin jacket over a white long-sleeve shirt, Demin jeans and white tennis shoes. The former had shoulder length brown hair and shining gold eyes, wearing a ruined business suit, dress shirt, and black dress pants. His legs were covered by knee high leather boots, but bandages were clearly visible, signifying that he was injured. The fact that the woman was assisting him with walking outright confirmed it.
The duo were walking down the sidewalk, charred and dismembered corpses lined the street, gutted and wrecked building spanned block after block in the background. It was then that viewers saw that the man was holding a slick, black, hi-tech looking pistol and the woman was holding a large, serrated and decorative knife.
"Hey, set me down here." The man requested.
The woman slowly set him down next to a corner of a destroyed building, he groaned in pain with his head back against the wall. The blonde, meanwhile, looks around the corner with the large knife ready, as if looking for something that might pop up and get them.
"See anything?" The man asked his companion.
The woman shook her head, "Nothing yet. It's getting dark though."
"Then is there anything down the other street?"
The woman shook her head, "Still nothing."
"Then I think we should get to the hotel before sundown. We'll be sitting ducks then." The man replied, with the woman wrapping an arm under his armpit and across his shoulder as she was helping him up. He grunts slightly but was fine despite the obvious pain.
"How far away do you think the hotel is?" The woman asked, as she examined him up and looked worried.
"I'd say a few more blocks. Maybe half a mile." The man guessed on the top of his head, "Now, let's go. If the cultists find us, we're fucked."
They began walking again before the feed cuts out again.
'Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world.'
XXX
The final feed was the most unusual. It showed a dark empty room at an odd angle with light shining in a doorless entrance. Offscreen, distorted voices were heard from somewhere. Not only that but the video had tears and static, signifying damage to the camera.
"Are they dead?" A male voice broke the silence, hereby referred to A for convenience.
"Of course, they aren't dead! They'd survived worst!" Another male voice spoke, now known as B.
"Oh, relax. We have hundreds of people left and they're at their most vulnerable. We can kill them." A female voice spoke, now referred to as C.
During all this, the camera went red and statically. The words "Nine Legions. Nine Towers. Nine princes for the Ruinous Powers." were displayed in white for a brief few frames before it returned to normal.
"Well, where are they now?" A asked either B or C.
"Most Trusted Son, such a title ironic. For he dragged the galaxy to the fell chaotic."
It was C that responded, "Don't know but we're searching for them."
"The Urizen desired the truth, desperate for the faithful's salvation. Yet his search paved the path to damnation."
"Then tell them to shoot on sight. We must kill them while we have the chance." A tells her.
"The Crimson King sought knowledge, his curiosity stoked and swayed. He was the greatest game for the Changer of Ways."
"I still think we should just use flamethrowers. They're more effective." B chimed in.
"The Illuminator was resplendent, nobility and glory beyond all measure. Thus came his fall to the Prince of Pleasure."
A responded, "I don't know. We need a new plan."
"The Lord of Death weathered through the unspeakable vague. He sought his trepid strength from the Father of Plagues."
"I got an idea." C interjected, "We have our fodder act as spies. They can simply look around the city and if they spot them, they call us and then we plan from there."
"The Red Angel slaughtered, his fury a world would flood. Forever now bound in slavery for the God of Blood."
"I..." B seemed to hesitate, "I guess that's a good idea. We just have to get them while we still have enough time to deal the killing blow."
"The Lord of Iron is forging, expression sour and stern. Unbending became broken to the dreams unheard."
"That does sound like a good plan." A agreed.
"The Night Haunter hunted the gilded and guilty, tormented by the sight. Fitting, he fell to the dark like those he haunted in the night."
C began humming, a smile clearly on her unseen lips.
"The Lords of Serpents veiled themselves in the cold blight of lies. Their true purpose forgotten in the Imperium's eyes."
"Then that settles it." A finished, "Have them find those two and we'll launch the attack."
"Vile traitors, you days are short and thin. To the sword you will for your greatest sins."
It cut back to the anchorman, whom was slightly shaken but composed, "That is all we have for now. We will continue to give updates throughout this complete tragedy. May God bless the survivors."
When the cameraman signaled that they were off air, the anchorman immediately yelled out to the editors, "Randy, what the hell was that?!"
"Yeah, Randy!" His cameraman yelled in agreement, "What was that occult shit on the last video?!"
The editor in question stutter, genuine in disbelief, "I-I don't know! The guys all said that nothing weird was in the last feed!"
The Watchtower
"...the fuck?" Was all Buttercup could say to describe her reaction to the final feed. Don't get her wrong when the second feed showed Bubbles and the Emperor were alive, she was overjoyed like Blossom but they and the rest of everyone on the Watchtower were befuddled by the last feed.
"Wait..." Brick voiced out, gaining the Acolytes attention as he put his hand to his chin, "The poem... It's referring to the seven Daemon Primarchs."
Blossom caught on, the gears of her enhanced mind turning, "So that means... a Chaos Cult."
They all had hard expression after that and headed out to Detroit, sprinting to the teleportation deck and punching in the coordinates before anyone in the Watchtower could react.
Tannermen Flats, Detroit
"Alright, everyone, check your corners." Dan commanded, hoping that they wouldn't get ambushed by the cult again.
The other three checked each door they came across. Thankfully, this floor seemed empty so they could breath a sigh of relief as they gathered their bearings so they could come up with a plan.
Unknown to them, someone was stalking them around this floor.
"So, what do we do now?" Sam asked their de facto leader after they confirmed they were in the clear, "We can't call for help, nor do we know what happened to the others."
The de facto leader responded, "We can't give up now, we need to-"
He was cut off (quite literally) as he was decapitated by two katanas. As his body keeled over, Cera was standing there behind him with her arms at her right, as if she had swung something.
Reacting quickly, the three raised their guns before opening fire on the killer, but it was futile as she seemed to blur away, with their bullets hiding nothing before Sam was impaled by Cera's katanas suddenly imbedding themselves in his chest and neck before being decapitated. Eugene attempted to fire on her but the hand that he was holding his gun with was slashed off and then his head was impaled through the mouth before he could do so.
Sam twirled around, managing to get Cera in his sight and attempted to open fire before a thrown butcher knife was suddenly imbedded into his gun's barrel, causing it to backfire and explode. Barely getting out a 'Shit!', the last of the group attempted to flee but was then stabbed in the throat by another butcher knife. He was only able to let out a cold gargle before he keeled over onto the floor, dead.
After she killed the last of them, Cera pulled out a walkie talkie and called her leader, "Tavin. The militia have been deal with. The Emperor and his Acolyte are still nowhere in sight."
"Don't worry." A staticky reply came from the radio, "We found them. They're heading for the Hilton Garden Inn. Head there and kill them."
Cera nodded and ran off, holstering her katanas. By her were six men, the leader of which was a 30 year old man with dark skin, dark hair with a beard, wearing a light green shirt, red hoodie, grey sweat pants, and grey sneakers. The leader of the Machete Cult, though more a gang than a cult.
After walking for almost 2 miles, the Emperor and Bubbles finally had gotten to the Hilton Garden Inn. It was in nominal shape, a few broken windows and the roof was somewhat collapsed but nothing that wasn't a big problem. The entrance was in ruins but the lobby was intact, meaning that they could just get the radio and call for help.
By this time, the Emperor had healed enough to where he could walk unassisted, though it in a hobble or limb, but even that was slowly lessening with each passing minute. Bubbles, meanwhile, was close to fainting from exhaustion, her legs were almost asleep, her lungs were on fire, and she could swear that her heart was near to bursting. Clearly, the Antidote X also affected her stamina as she remembered the trek through Baal and that was for over 3,000 miles.
Despite that, Bubbles still had enough energy left to stay awake, with the Emperor now assisting her in staying awake. The two then got to the lobby where Bubbles collapsed on the nearest couch, nearly passing out while the Emperor hobbled to the manager's office. Thankfully, he found the radio on the desk of the manager, who was now a bloody corpse with a ice pike imbedded in his head.
"Huh. Guess someone went postal." The Emperor joked before he checked the radio to make sure it was still working. After confirming it did, he began tuning it to different signals and frequencies, hoping to get something so he could call for help.
In the streets, the Acolytes were flying over the buildings, the helmets formed from their armor had built in filters that prevented their lungs from being scorched by the smoke. The designs for the Sisters resembled that of the Soroitas' helmets but the designs for the Brothers was more streamlined with two illuminate that started at the temples before going horizontal akin to eyelines and then trailing to the chin.
"See anything?" Buttercup asked the others, her voice muttered from the filters in her helmets.
They all shook their heads and kept searching. Little did they know that they were searching in the polar opposite of where their Master and fellow Acolyte was. But a staticky noise filled their comms when a faint but recognizable voice came through.
"...H-Hilton Garden I-*BUZZ* ...We're at-*BUZZ*" Static cut more than a lot of the transmission out but the voice was the Emperor's. Unfortunately, due to the faintness of the signal they couldn't pinpoint where it exactly was coming from but given what was said, they think they could make some assumptions.
The Emperor laid back against the wall of the lobby, his eyes closed in exhaustion, though he didn't go to sleep. He suddenly felt a weight pressed against his chest and left side. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Bubbles was curled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder akin to a lover's embrace. A grin spread across his lips as well as rolling his eyes before wrapping his arm around her.
Oh, he was never gonna let her live this down.
Ten minutes later, Bubbles groggily awoke before rubbing her eyes, only to see that she was curled up next to the Emperor. Just as her face turned a blistering red and herself nearly fainting from embarrassment, she saw that he was asleep. His head was against the wall with his eyes closed, the soft snore issued from his throat akin to a softly played harp.
Bubbles paused before her expression melted into a smile. She gently pressed her lips against his cheek and leaned against him for comfort.*
Unseen to either, were the hundreds of figures slowly approaching from the emptied streets of Detroit.
When she next opened her eyes, Bubbles was meet with a grey ceiling. Blinking in confusion, she sat up, only to see that she was laying in a bed in one of the hotel rooms. A cabinet with an intact flat-screen was in front of the twin beds, a miniature refrigerator sat beside on the left with a desk on the right. The door leading to the hallway was closed, but when she turned her head she saw that a note was beside her laying on one of the pillows. Raising an eyebrow, the Acolyte took the paper into her hand and read it to herself.
"Bubbles, the cult attacked us while we were still in the lobby. I tried to wake you but you were out cold, so I hide you in one of the rooms while I lead them away. If you wake up and you're still in the hotel room, try to find the radio again and call your siblings. It shouldn't be far from where you are. Also, if the time is 9:00 when you've awakened, you still have about 3 hours before the Antidote X clears your system.
"Good luck, E."
Bubbles looked at the clock and it showed that it was 9:08. Great. She still had 2 hours and 58 minutes before her powers slowly returned and the hotel was now infested by those freaks from that cult.
Lord, she hated Mondays.
Getting up from the bed, Bubbles went to the door and opened it, only to reveal what the blast had warped the building into. It was an open hotel with the lobby visible from the floor she was standing on, each floor had concrete railings for obvious reasons, while what remained of the skylight was on one of the café tables. So far, the interior was in good condition and it seemed easy to navigate.
Suddenly, she heard a scream from a further part of the hallway.
Raising an eyebrow, Bubbles crept towards the room where the noise came from, carefully stepping over the dead bodies of other residents and people that'd been slain when the bombs when off in this building. Suddenly, a thug wearing a white long sleeve shirt and green kakis stepped out of a flat, grinning sadistically, not noticing that Bubbles was there.
"Man, that's too much!" He laughed with his friends before noticing the Acolyte standing in the hall, his grin fading akin to snuffing a candle.
The two simply stood there, staring at each other for god knows how long before the thug yelled, "She's here!"
Bubbles sprinted away before they could come after her. Little did she know, it was the Machete Cult, tormenting a random woman and her week husband that were still in the building as a past time until the higher ups gave them new orders.
She sprinted down the corridor only for the white shirt thug to catch up to her. The white shirt thug swung at Bubbles whom dodged, before she slammed him into the wall and kneed him in the gut. The thug dropped his machete as the Acolyte left-hooked him across the face before the former wrapped his arms around the latter's waist and forced her around to the wall.
Bubbles responded by kneeing and elbowing the thug multiple times to no effect. Hearing the other cultists on their way, Bubbles continued to struggle against the equally struggling thug which sent them to the balcony. The warrior then used their momentum to throw the white shirted thug over the edge, whom was sent flying down 3 stories before he landed hard on the railing, breaking his spine in twain.
Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Bubble was forced to dodge a downward slash from a hoodie wearing thug who continued to swing wildly only for her to dodge more before sprinting off to the door leading to the next floor.
Before the hoodie thug could follow her, he yelled to the two thugs that reached the balcony, "Up! She's heading up!"
The two responded getting on the railing and climbing to the next floor, but then the red shirted thug stopped in front of the balcony to stare at the dead body of his best friend. His breath grew heavy and ragged as he swore he would kill that whore.
Upstairs, Bubbles sped down the hallway and to the balcony until she saw the thugs crawling up the railing across from her. Thinking quickly, she sped to the nearest hallway before any of them could see her. The Acolyte reached the last apartment of the hallway only for it to be locked.
The Acolyte frantically knocked and tried to get the door, but then she turned to see the thugs barging into the hallway. The machete cult leader extended his arms in a t-pose, stopping his cronies as they had a standoff with her. Bubbles slowly stopped trying to open the apartment door, staring down at them.
All was silent as he stepped away from the door, the gang and the officer staring down at one another. Sweat gleaming, breaths shaking, fists clenched, and teeth gritted.
"It seems we got you right where we want ya, sweetie." The Machete Cults leader stated arrogantly, as he twirled his machete with a sadistic grin.
"Then it seems you are mistaken," Bubbles scoffed unintimidated before finishing with something that she'd always wanted to say, "Omae wa mou shindeiru."
After an unspoken moment, they all charged, sprinting towards each other, screaming ferally.
One of them attempted a downward slash when he closed the gap, only for Bubbles to catch it and strike him in the side, making him drop his machete before the woman stomped on it and kicked it away. She then knife-handed the guy in the neck before pushing him aside as the dreadlocked thug came charging, attempting a thrust before he was twisted around and elbowed in the shoulder, and then using his momentum to send him to the floor. After that, Bubbles caught a swing from the red shirted thug before punching him in the ribs and using the force to slam him into the wall.
Before she could deliver another blow, Bubbles caught a swing from the cult's leader before kicking him in the shin, then chest, then head, and then back as the other kicks forced him to face away, slamming him to the wall before Bubbles knee slammed the red shirted thug hard in the chest, slamming him into the wall as well. She threw the red shirted thug away from her while simultaneously dodging a machete swing from the gang leader, who then threw a punch which was blocked before the leader used this to knee Bubbles in the gut, pushing her to a door.
The Acolyte doesn't give the leader the satisfaction of hearing her grunt in pain as she dodges a thrust from the leader, causing his machete to become embedded in the door behind her. Seizing the opportunity, Bubbles elbowed the gang leader in the jaw before roundhouse kicking him in the hip, but the dreadlocked thug came screaming like a madman before he tackled the blonde woman, sending both to the floor.
Not giving Bubbles a chance to react, the long haired thug raised his machete with a feral yell and brung it down but the Acolyte barely manage to move her head out of the way. She then pushed the thug off her and elbowed him in the cheekbone but before she could get up, the other white shirted thug grabbed her leg and pulled her away.
"Take the leg!" The thug yelled to the red shirted thug, whom got up, albeit in pain, grabbed a machete and readied it over his head. But before he could, Bubbles twisted her body around, allowing her to use her free leg to hit Red Shirt in the gut and knee, making him drop his machete in pain, before Bubbles then wrung her leg from White Shirt's grip before kicking him in the chest, making him turn away when Bubbles then kicked him in the kidney.
As he was send back, Red Shirt got his machete back and attempted another swing only for Bubbles to catch it and forcing the latter's hands down to the floor, nearly breaking the bones in her hands. Bubbles grabbed the machete and swung at White Shirt, whom tumbled out of the way, before Dreadlock came back swinging, forcing him back, only for Bubbles to block a vertical slash, kick him in the gut and then kick him in the back.
Twirling back around, the officer dodged a swing from White Shirt, whom attempted to strike again only to be parried twice before Bubbles kicked him in the gut and twirl around again to block a strike from the Cult Leader, who dodged two more before the former slashed across the face of the latter with his machete.
The Cult Leader pressed his hand against the wound, screaming in agony while he falls to the floor. Red Shirt, seeing his leader down, gained a furious expression and attempted to take down Bubbles, but the woman intercepted him, forcing both of them to fall to the floor before the latter grabbed Red Shirt's head and slammed it to the floor, breaking his nose.
White Shirt charged only for the officer to kick him twice in the torso, before Bubbles attempted to grab the machete, only for the Gang Leader to slash down in the area where he would have reached, causing the officer to practically leap out of the way, cartwheeling back and getting up to kick White Shirt in the face while dodging a pincher attack from Dreadlock and Red Shirt.
He then went back and forth with the two thugs, punching, kicking, kneeing, and elbowing them before he kneed Dreadlock so hard, the door he was send into broke in two, sending the thug tumbling into the flat.
Red Shirt swung for Bubble's head and managed to slash her shoulder before he was tackled the former into the door behind her, which somehow didn't break, before the latter punched him in the jaw, kneed him in the ribs, and slammed him against the door behind him again. Crying out in pain from all the blows, Red Shirt didn't even get a chance before another breath as Bubbles grabbed him by the neck and said, "Give your friends my apologies... IN HELL!"
The Acolyte leapt backwards, taking Red Shirt with her. The force from the move sent the former into the flat while the latter was impaled on the throat by the sharp edges of the broken door.
Blood spewed from the thug's throat, staining the floor while he issued his dying gargles from his mouth before the sounds ceased. The woman then muttered to the dead thug, "I wish you a pleasant journey, you addled pig."
The Acolyte got up as the bruises from all the strikes slowly faded, before he attacked a dazed but recovering Dreadlock, whom responded by trying to slash at him, only for the woman to catch his arm and perform three rapid strike to the latter's arm, shoulder, and face respectively before kneeing him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and throwing him into a cheap table, that collapsed on impact.
After only a second for breath, Bubbles then heard two yells coming from the hallway before the Gang Leader and White Shirt came jumping into the room, machetes raised for slaughter.
Bubbles ducked a slash before avoiding a left hook, both from the Gang Leader whom managed to get a right hook before his opponent struck him twice in the chest, sending him tumbling when White Shirt struck next. He didn't even have a chance to get in a swing as Bubbles blocked his arm and kicked him in the stomach before the Gang Leader came back with a kick to Bubbles' sternum, but his next move wasn't so lucky as the woman caught his arm when he attempted a slash.
The Acolyte then forced the Gang Leader into a hold before judo throwing him into the stove, shoving empty pots and pans to the floor. The Gang Leader groaned as he squirms on the stove he was currently on as his friend attempted to fight Bubbles.
Keyword; Attempted.
White Shirt's next strike was caught yet again before Bubbles got him into a hold, the two spun around before the woman twisted his arm downward, forcing the machete he was holding into his gut, before grabbing the machete and slashing him across the neck. As White Shirt's body twisted away from her while falling to the floor, due to the force from the slash, Bubbles finished the job by stabbing him in the chest.
Not even a second later, Dreadlock got back up and kicked her in the face, faster than she could react. Stumbling back, Bubbles barely had anytime to react to Dreadlock's next kicks that sent her tumbling over a couch. Stumbling back up, she blocked Dreadlock's next strike when the latter jumped towards her over the couch, but Dreadlock moved so quickly that he managed to land blow after blow on her before attempting a chokehold with his legs.
The two struggled for a few seconds before Bubbles forced herself to twirl around, causing Dreadlock to slam into the nearest wall. The force of the impact caused the thug to let go and fall to the floor, groaning in pain from a concussion.
Bubbles' attention then snapped to the Gang Leader whom had gotten up from the stove. The Gang Leader dodged a right swing from her before landing a strike to the Acolyte's side and chest before she landed a blow on his cheek and a kick to the ribs. The thug leader responded by grabbing the back of his opponent's neck while blocking and grabbing the arm that she tried to strike him with, locking both in a hold for a moment before kneeing Bubbles in the stomach.
This strike broke the hold before the thug's next blow allowed Bubbles to armlock him and hit him over the shoulder with a punch, but the Gang Leader dropped down to the floor, forcing the woman down with him. The leader then left hooked Bubbles in the face and used the hold to pin the latter to the ground, but she got both of her feet around the thug's throat and wrenched herself out of the hold before slamming him to the floor.
Releasing the Cult Leader, whom writhed in pain, Bubbles got back up and grabbed the gang leader by the shirt, forcing him to stand before striking him hard in the gut, knocking the leader out of his stupor. Reacting quickly, the Cult Leader blocked Bubbles' next strike before hitting her in the gut, elbowing her in the collarbone, and wrapped her arms around Bubbles' back before throwing her over the shoulder to the floor. Not giving the woman a chance to recuperate, the thug tackled Bubbles back to the ground while wrapping his arms around the latter's neck, choking her.
Struggling against the Cult Leader's chokehold, Bubbles manages to grab the former's neck and flipped him over her shoulder to the floor before headbutting the Cult Leader in the face, breaking his nose. The thug howled in pain, holding his profusely bleeding nose, while Bubbles grabbed his head and pulled him a few feet before putting him in a chokehold, out of irony or karma, before he managed to wrench himself free.
Using the opportunity, he quickly grabbed Bubbles' chest, lifted her up and slammed her into the floor twice, dazing her before he picked her up and rammed the both of them into the wall with Bubbles taking most of the force. The woman groaned in pain before regaining her bearings, elbowing the Cult Leader in the back and kneeing him in the ribs then grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him by the wall. After a brief struggle, the Cult Leader managed to twirl themselves around before throwing Bubbles aside and into the kitchen.
The Acolyte tumbled around the floor for a second but managed to get up in time to see the Cult Leader pick up his machete and start swinging. Dodging three or four swings, Bubbles blocked him mid-swing before twirling around to elbow the thug in the gut then striking his knee and calf, and as the thug fell to the floor on the stricken knee, she finished the job by grabbing his head and jabbing him in the back of the neck.
The thug gargled for a second before falling over to the floor, seemingly unconscious.
Bubbles finally managed to catch her breath, panting heavily for a minute before she limped out of the apartment, looking around the corridor before starting her trek to find the radio and to signal the others, not noticing the Cult Leader get back up and glaring murderously at the woman. Taking a stand, the thug utterly bellowed in fury as he charged at the officer, whom turned around, startled by the yell. Before Bubbles could react, the Cult Leader tackled her to the floor before putting her in an insanely tight chokehold.
The Acolyte managed to stand up but the leader's grip was iron, no matter how much she struggled or tried to wrench himself out of it. Bubbles' face slowly turned blue as the Cult Leader's grip was cutting off her circulation, making her struggle harder.
"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD FUCK WITH ME?! YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT?!" The Machete Cult Leader bellowed, as continued to strangle the Acolyte, "WE RULE THIS CITY AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, YOU BITCH! FOR I AM-!"
Suddenly, seven bone spikes burst from Bubbles' back, impaling the Gang leader in seven places, silencing his tirade. The Gang Leader gargled out heaps of blood and lets out several wet choking sounds as his arms undo their hold and his eyes gain a glassy hue before his entire body goes limp while blood flows from his wounds.
The release of the thug's strangle caused Bubbles to release a massive breath as she pants and coughs heavily before the weight of the corpse causes the long spikes to break off from her back as the corpse thuds ungracefully onto the floor.
Unfortunately, the breaking of her bones caused the Acolyte to grind her teeth trying to keep herself from screaming in pain. While she and the Emperor were trekking through the city, she discovered that she had the ability to manipulate her flesh and bones, by accident when she tripped on a body and the veins in her wrist shot out and wrapped around a lamppost, stopping her fall. But if she broke off extra flesh or bones that she formed, it caused unbearable amounts of pain, if only for a few moments. The Emperor told her not to use it unless in emergencies as it could be a mutation of Chaos.
Bubbles panted heavier as the pain slowly subsided and as her wounds healed. Desperately, she tried to crawl her way to the radio but fell unconscious, on the concrete floor.
Unknown to her, the wall from the far end of the hall was breached by Buttercup whom came charging in from outside. She looked around until she saw her blond sister laying on the floor, causing her helmet to recede liquescently into his armor, revealing her face stricken with worry as she immediately sprinted towards her sister.
Buttercup knelt down and took the thankfully unconscious Bubbles into her arms as Blossom and the Brothers traveled through the breach that the brash Sister made in her rush to find their master and fellow Acolyte. The ones still awake scattered to find the Emperor after Buttercup woke Bubbles up by gently slapping her on the cheek and they all decided to go into groups.
Blossom and Bubbles would search for the Emperor, while Buttercup and the Brothers would purge the Arkian Cult. Buttercup went with Butch, while Brick and Boomer went solo.
A cultist yelled as he swung down against the Emperor, only for the former to be impaled on a Haloshard spike, curtesy of the latter. After dealing with that, he scanned the room he found himself arriving in for a moment before ripping open whatever desk, bed, or closet he could see, hoping to find anything useful. And what he found where some guns, a bunch of porno mags, and drugs respectively.
When the Emperor turned around, he saw that the door he came in through was missing. He blinked owlishly in confusion but remained calm. Before he could use his powers to create an entrance, a huge fist decked him across the face. The Emperor stumbled before he saw the perpetrator, whom had emerged from a rapidly closing entrance in the wall.
It was Hart, grinning sadistically before he punched the dazed Emperor so hard that it threw him into the wall.
"HAHAHA!" The thug laughed heartily (HA!) as he threw the gun away, "This little punk ain't so tough!"
Before Hart could get in another word, Estalius suddenly formed two psychic arms that grasped the thug's chin and back of head before forcing his head backwards in a blink of the eye.
The thug stumbled for a second before keeling over, his face frozen with a surprise expression. The Emperor scoffed as he got up from the floor while dusting off his hands, this was one of the many times he was glad he had his powers. He walked up to the wall where the door should have been and patted around for a second. It was all solid concrete, so either he was hallucinating or the walls somehow physically altered.
Whatever, he just needed to use his powers and he could-
The sound of bones crackling derailed his train of thought. Estalius turned around to see Hart's body slowly getting back up as his neck slowly forces itself into its normal position. He could see the bones and vertebrae healing and straightening before Hart seemingly returns to consciousness while stretching for a second.
"Gotta admit," Hart chuckled, rubbing his neck with his right hand, "That hurt."
The Emperor looked bemused, "What the?"
The man just chuckled again and used the Emperor's moment of confusion to slug the latter in the face. Estalius stumbled for a second before he roundhouse kicked Hart in the neck, the latter reacted by twisting out of the way before delivering a series of punches to the Emperor's face, causing him to stumble back and then psychically throw a large piece of concrete at Hart, which hit the latter in the jaw. He screamed in pain as his jaw was dislocated but before it regenerated, the Emperor then delivered an elongated psychic fist to Hart's face before placing his hand on the floor and twisting his arm in a way so his feet bashed into Hart's face, sending the grunting thug to the floor.
The Emperor got back to his feet while he shoved his arm back into place before putting his foot onto Hart's chest and grasping his left arm with both his hands.
Hart immediately put two and two together, and sweated bullets, "N-n-now I know what you're thinking. Should I rip off his arm? And the answer might surprise y-"
The Emperor interrupted him by ripping Hart's arm out of it's socket. The thug let out a bloodcurdling scream with his face contorted into one of immense agony before glaring murderously and twisting his body out of Eddy's pin, grabbing his waist with his remaining arm and slammed him into wall, pinning the officer by the neck.
"You bastard," Hart growled at the Emperor, "Do you know how long it's gonna take for me to regrow my arm?"
The Emperor blinked owlishly before saying, "Pardon me, what-"
"Boop."
A white pseudopod then burst from the stump which caused Estalius to make a sound of disgust. Suddenly, the appendage quickly became more muscular and stiff as joints form and fingers split from the tip, expanding into functional digits before the skin flowed over, albeit slightly paler.
Hart tested his new limb before saying, "Thanks to the blessings of the Gods, that was a waste of effort. But if it makes ya feel better," Hart's voice then became much more angry, "That hurt like hell."
"My mistake," The Emperor remained unintimidated, "I'll aim for your head next."
Hart chuckled, actually amused, "And what makes you think you're gonna get a next time?"
Buttercup and Butch wandered into the ruins of a rather spacious hotel room, checking each corner for any signs of any Zealots hiding. Buttercup searched the bathroom and the kitchen while Butch searched the porch and closets. After a minute, both came back and they admitted to finding nothing.
Then, Cera came from under the bed and attempted to slash at Buttercup's tendons, who leapt out of the way. Butch raised his bolter at her, only for the zealot to yell, "Wait! Don't you wanna make this fight to be fun?"
Butch and Buttercup, the latter having just pulled out her bolter, both halted and gazed at each other for a second before gazing back at Cera, whom smirked, "Come on; what fun is there to be had in simple mop ups? The struggle of your opponents fighting back? The thrill of dodging the swings of blades or bullets? Wouldn't it more fun to let this drag out?"
The two then gazed at each other again, contemplatively, before looking back at the psycho and holstering their bolters. Butch got into a boxer-like stance while Buttercup got into more of a Capoeira-like stance, Cera merely grinned under her mask while unsheathing her katanas.
Butch started by kicking a small piece of stone at Cera, whom cleaved it in half before she pulled out a handful of knifes and threw them at Buttercup, whom ducked as they were imbedded into the wall while the Acolyte grabbed and threw a filing cabinet at the psycho. She only responded by slicing the cabinet in half but couldn't react in time when Butch slugged her across the face, causing her to drop her katanas but remained on her feet after skidding on the floor.
The masked zealot simply cracked her neck before kicking Butch in the chest and then striking him twice in the face. She then twirled around and tried to right hook an approaching Buttercup, who blocked it before Cera roundhouse-kicked her across the face, sending her back. She then knife handed Butch in the neck when the latter attempted to sneak attack her before she backflipped and twisted to face him then she delivered a series of punches to Butch's chest and face.
Buttercup then kneed Cera in the back before the latter twirled around, kicked her in the knee, and then kicked her in the sternum, causing her to stumble back while Butch tackled Cera into the wall. She kicked the male Acolyte away from the wall before right hooking Buttercup in the face before the latter elbowed her in the ribs, grabbed her shoulders and kneed her in the face, and then threw her across the room, though Cera landed on her feet.
Butch ducked a kick from Cera, only to be meet with a spear finger to the throat, causing him to fall to the floor, gagging for air before he sweeped his legs, causing the psycho to fall to the floor. Buttercup then came in screaming with a pair of bone-saws she'd stolen from Cera, swinging downwards, slashing a table in half as Cera rolled out of the way, getting up as she grabbed her katanas.
The two clashed with Buttercup pressuring Cera back as the former swung and the latter parried so quickly, it was a blur of clangs and movement. Cera ended the clash by kicking Buttercup in the gut, causing her to stumble back, grunting. Before Cera could strike again, Butch clotheslined her in the ribs before quickly grabbing her and throwing her into the wall nearest from them.
The two fighters just dusted themselves off as Cera got back up while brushing off the dust, before brandishing her katanas. Buttercup did the same with her saws and Butch picking up a crowbar that had fallen from the bifurcated table, twirling it between his fingers before brandishing it, both of their faces etched with a frothing grin.
With Boomer, he ducked behind whatever cover he could find as Antidote X laced bullets flew over his head. Dozens of thugs and gangers from the Cult were shooting in this large part of the level while he fired back taking at least 13 of them but they weren't getting that far especially with Tavin at the him.
"You can't hide, Followers of the Corpse Emperor!" Tavin shouted before they shot more, "This is the day you die!"
The thugs continued shooting, blowing holes into the walls while he managed to shoot down at least 10 more before the thugs all concentrate fire at him, nearly piercing the collapsed pillar of stone.
Seeing that he needs to fin, Boomer yelled to his bolter, "INFERNO BOLTS!"
The bolter makes a and he opened fire, sending all kinds of flaming projectiles at the thugs. The criminals all screamed as they are set ablaze while Caleb grabbed a nearby thug as a human shield, from screams as his flesh melts from all the incendiary rounds hitting him. The head thug threw away his shield as he dived out of the way of the incendiary rounds.
After a few moments of hearing flesh crackling under the flames, Boomer got up from their cover, all panting and sweating as they stare in silence for a minute before he shouts to himself, "Why didn't I do that in the first place?!"
Thinking that maybe he was indeed an airhead, Boomer didn't see Tavin hiding behind a wall.
Brick looked behind and saw the entrance behind him disappear but before he could do anything, a shot rang out. Twenty thugs, armed with bats, blades, and guns, were standing in the corridor with sadist grins on their faces, ready to rip and tear.
Brick only raised an eyebrow before putting his gun down and raising his fists.
The thugs grinned in approval before Brick did a sprinting leap as claws grew out of his knuckles of his armor. The first thug in front of him didn't even get a chance to act as he was impaled in the throat by Brick's claws. Before the others could do anything, Brick slashed another thug's neck and kneed another before impaling him through the jaw.
One thug with a blade tried to slash him only for Brick to duck and grab his leg before twisting it out of place. The thug screamed in pain before being silenced by a tendril of black through the head from Brick's palm, which then retracted.
Another thug fired at the Acolyte only for him to catch the bullets with his fingers and twirling around, causing the bullets to return to sender, hitting his sternum and heart as he fell over. Before two others could react, Brick had impaled both in the chest with his claws which then broke off from the force of the impact of the impact.
Having fallen after killing the two, Brick twirled back up before he formed two black sabers with red markings from his wrists before brandishing them at the remaining thugs.
"Go on." Brick challenged, arrogantly, "Make my day."
The remaining thugs looked at each other, before grinning and brandishing their weapons.
Boomer continued firing on Tavin but he seemed to... blur as the bolts hit him before they then hit the walls before they exploded, causing Tavin to give him a smug smirk. The Brother Armorym scowled and reloaded his bolter, but these aren't normal bolts. Suddenly, Tavin raised his hands and black lighting blazed from his palms, cleaving towards Boomer whom sidestepped away and fired.
It speared through the air and towards Tavin, but as he blurred, the bolt glowed a bright silver that seemed to negate the blurs. Tavin barely had a moment to move out of the way before the bolt hit the wall behind him.
Tavin was speechless, staring at the destroyed wall with wide eyes, "What the fuck?!"
"Blessed Bolts, Heretic." Boomer retorted, shooting again, only for the leader to dive out of the way and behind a wall.
"You know something, you shit?! I went through hell because of your superheroes!" Tavin grunted as he taunted Boomer while he fired from behind his cover, "It was just a simply robbery cause I couldn't pay rent. But I rotted for 5 years in Blackgate because of the system. Because of Batman! Because of your country!"
"My sister and I lived in fear because of the Imperium." Cera gritted her teeth as she blocked a strike from Buttercup, "We watched as people like us were killed or burned alive through no fault of their own, just because they were different. My sister refused to use her powers because she was so scared of what would happen to her."
"It's because of you motherfuckers that we became who we are." Hart growls, as he slammed Eddy's head into the floor, "When I was ten, my ma and bros were gunned down just for stealing some food because we barely had enough to even have a roof over our heads. I was on the streets for 3 years until I found the others! It was here that I won the game life played!"
The room was silent until the Emperor growled.
"You never won, Hart; you lost." Estalius seethed at his opponent, "And you know what? I feel sorry for you. You're nothing but a sad little man in this shithole of a city who can only feel power by hurting others. All because people hurt you and you wanna hurt them back."
Hart's teeth gritted in anger, "You're gonna regret those words!"
"You know what, Cera? You're pathetic." Butch retorted, as he socked Cera in the jaw, "Society doesn't guide you are, your actions guide who you are. Yeah, you're right to be scare cause of your powers, but I went through worse. I never had a dad and had been living in fear for what others thought of me. I could have been like you, Cera, but I'm not."
"BE QUIET!" Cera roared as her opponent dodged a swing from her blades, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
"He does!" Buttercup roared back, holding the psycho's arms, "We both do! I grew up in the Imperium, on Baal all alone, just myself killing to survive. I never had anything there to hold onto! You did, and you threw it away!"
"You went through hell?" Boomer asked incredulously, before laughing sarcastically, "All of us went through hell, Tavin! Some of us just decided to do something better than just being animals! You weren't arrested not because you were framed! You were arrested because you did the crime and you paid for it!"
Tavin gritted his teeth in rage as he reloads his pistol.
Hart uppercuts Estalius, sending him flying but he managed to land on his hands before backflipping to his feet and throwing an elongated punch. The zealot managed to dodge and grab the Haloshard arm, only for spikes to grow rapidly out of the arm, impaling his hands. Hart cried out in pain before the Haloshard arm enlarged, becoming is shape to a scaled spike ridden tentacle then an arm.
The Emperor then used the fact that Hart was hooked onto the arm to slam him into the walls, dragging him around before throwing him into the floor. Hart coughs up a chunk of blood before he managed to grab the Emperor by the face only for Haloshard to grow on his face and form spikes that pierced his hand. The zealot roared in pain then tried to right hook Estalius but the latter managed to duck out of the way before placing his hand on Hart's chest.
Suddenly, Haloshard formed and speared through Hart, slamming him into a window which was smashed from the impact. Hart gripped the sides of the window as he was being pushed by Eddy downwards, literally hanging on the edge of the window's frame.
The Emperor grinned, "See ya next fall, Hart."
Hart's eyes went wide, "NO WAIT-"
He didn't get in that last word before the Emperor retched his hand from Hart's chest. The zealot was sent to a screaming death as he fell into one of the many heaps formed from the White Phosphorous bombs. He screamed harder and flailed his limbs, frantically trying to grasp something but crashed into the heap. He gargled blood before he saw the Emperor raising the high tech pistol he had kept hidden.
"Regenerate from this." The Emperor quipped.
He fired once and the bullet hit a massive piece of metal. The sparks from the impact, igniting the White Phosphorous powder nearby. Hart only had a chance to let out a scream before he disappeared into the blaze of white fire.
The Emperor twirled his pistol, cowboy style before holstering it in his pocket, smirking, "Always did like my meat well done."
Just then, the wall behind him collapsed to reveal Blossom and Bubbles charging through, weapons raised and faces furious, which faltered they saw that the Emperor was unscathed. He gave a smirk.
"Took you two long enough." He joked.
Cera's mask shattered at a swing from Butch, causing her to fly into the wall, cracking it. The zealot managed to remain on her feet but she was now hunched as her mask then shattered, pieces falling to the floor to reveal her face.
Her face was beautiful but marred with scars that ran down, across, and aside, the nose was scarless, but her lips had many piercings that appeared to be infected, and her eyes were a dull grey yet ablaze with sadism.
"Guess your outside reflects your inside." Buttercup cracked, putting her stolen bone-saws in a reverse grip.
Cera just gave a sadist laugh before flying to the duo with a leap, katanas drawn to skewer them. They moved as the blades pierced the floor, Buttercup then twirled around and severed Cera's hands and feet before Butch impaled her through the heart with his crowbar and threw her away, sending the zealot into wall with the crowbar pinning her like an art paint. Blood and fluid spewed from her mouth, the stubs were spraying blood like a fountain of sanguine, her body twitching and spasming, yet her expression was one of rapt delight.
"I-Incredible!" She managed to gurgle out from all the blood in her mouth and throat with a rapturous expression before Buttercup silenced her by slashing her head off. It flew from her neck, twirling in mid air before it hit the ground like a sack of meat.
"Yeah." Butch says as he rips his crowbar out of the corpse, "Incredible that you thought you had a chance."
The two did a secret handshake with their weapons before they holstered them and walked out of the room. There, they saw the Emperor, Blossom, and Bubbles coming down the hall. They all greeted each other again, with Butch and Buttercup jubilant that their master was alive.
"Say; where'd that psycho bitch go?" The Emperor asked the two.
Butch and Buttercup look at each other before the latter replied with a smug smirk, "She lost her head."
That most certainly got a laugh out of the Emperor, especially when he saw Cera's headless body. Blossom and Bubbles rolled their eyes but had playful smirks.
Brick decapitated the 19th thug before he twirled around to see the 20th thug, with his gun raised in terror. Steeling his nerves, the final thug roared in fury before firing his assault rifle.
The Acolyte only twirled around his black sabers, blocking all the bullets as he slowly approached the thug. The thug continued to scream and fire as Brick got closer and closer before his gun clicked, indicating that it was empty. Terrified beyond words, he dropped his gun and tried to run, only to be impaled through the mouth by one of Brick's black sabers. He retracted the blade as the body fell to the ground, slumping like a sac of meat.
Brick just dusted his hands and flew off to rejoin the others.
Tavin dived out of the way of another Blessed Bolt flew beside him, jumping onto a piece of concrete before diving at Boomer, screaming with zealousness and fury. A knife appeared out of his sleeve and he came diving toward Boomer... only for several bolts to imbed themselves in his chest. The leader of the cult was thrown to the walls, breaking his spine. He could only let out a small 'Shit' before the bolts detonated, metal and fire reducing his body to a paste of blood, bone, and pulverized viscera.
Boomer scoffed as he rested his bolter on his shoulder, while looking at whatever remained of Tavin's coat, "Waste of a good leather jacket."
He looked up, seeing the others flying down, with Blossom carrying the Emperor down and Buttercup doing the same for Bubbles. Boomer saluted the Emperor as did the others before he asked, "So, what now?"
"Take care of the rest of cultists first and then we'll signal for help." Their master ordered, before looking outside, ponderingly, "I think the White Phosphorus storm will dissipate in a few hours, which gives us time to rest and recuperate."
The Acolytes all nod, Brick, Buttercup, and Butch continue their search for the rest of the cult while the rest stayed on the ground. Bubbles leaned against the Emperor as they all sat on one of the intact benches, causing Blossom and Buttercup to look at their sister with a hint of jealousy, and the latter asking, "Since when did this happen?"
Estalius just rolled his eyes and smirked while laying back and lighting a cigar that he produced, "Since I saw her killing the fuck out of half a dozen cultists by herself."
Bubbles just blushed and looked down modestly.
6 days later...
After a while, the storm had finally settled down enough for the Justice League, Sky Patrol, MIB, and the authorities to move in. They were horrified to say the least but they steeled themselves enough to get the job done. The Justice League and Sky Patrol went to search for survivors and most thankfully did, some were injured or crippled but brought in for the authorities to transfer to the hospitals in others cities. The last of the charred bodies in the streets had just been put into the heaps that neither the MIB nor the authorities couldn't identify, even to the greatest efforts of the League. Warren was found later as he began explaining his story to the authorities as to what exactly happened.
The Emperor and Bubbles told everyone what happened, the latter hiding her abilities to manipulate her flesh with the former just recovering from the virus, and they were sent back to the Watchtower while the remaining five stayed behind to help with the others.
Fire teams were busy putting out the fires from the bombs while also washing the powder and blood off the streets. Construction and demolition crews were destroying buildings and moving away the debris to begin rebuilding the city of Detroit. But all those who knew deep in their hearts knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again.
By the time they had experts on site, they had estimated that around 68,000 people had perished in the fires of the bombs.
For the Imperium, this would have been an acceptable lost at nipping the bud off before it could spread.
For this world, it was a loss beyond measure.
Channel 9 News
The anchorman came in to the news station again for the job. The mood was more sullen and sorrowful as they had yet again had to talk about the bombing of Detroit. He hated it more than anything but it was still his job, and he had to do it.
Adjusting his tie, Kent Brocken just steeled his nerves and cleared his throat as the cameraman counted down. With each second that passed, it seemed that a weight was pressed on him that he couldn't imagine. A weight that had been pressing on his shoulders to where it felt almost impossible to move from the chair he was in. A weight that made the last second feel like an eternity.
"Today is a sad day." Kent Brocken began, the words seemingly coming out of his throat against his own volition, shifting his papers and looking the most earnest in his career, "It has been one week since the bombing of Detroit, and the fallout will likely be felt for years to come. Not only has this event taken the lives of over 68,000 people, but has reduced the infamous city in Michigan to an utter wasteland. Experts say that it will take at least a couple years, maybe even a decade, to restore the city to its former glory."
Detroit
"Even as we speak, survivors are still being found and fires have yet to be put out. It is likely that the clean up may take weeks to finish before reconstruction can begin."
Superman, along with Brick and Butch, lift up the rubble of a collapsed building, allowing several emergency services to enter and rescue the trapped survivors, with the former using his X-ray vision to point out where they were. One of which was a twelve year old girl who'd lost her leg, clinging onto her mother as both were carried out by the firefighters. After the civilians were all vacated, the three lowered the rubble from the building, staring off as the dozens walk along, numb to their surroundings.
The Man of Steel had a sorrowful expression at seeing so many dead, while Brick, feeling sympathetic, patted him on the shoulder as did Butch.
"The several thousand survivors have either been hospitalized for their injuries or have been rendered homeless and are now being transferred to shelters across the state of Michigan. Authorities have claimed that they have yet to determine who the responsible for the mass bombings, but they believe a militia calling themselves the Arkian Cult is responsible."
At the Hilton Garden Inn, a team of forensics specialists came to the hotel for any clues while the firemen and the police were taking out the bodies. They had searched the hotel for anything but came up blank until they had gotten to the penthouse. There was a series of books and bodies, equipment and devices splayed all around the room with a single body dressed in a ruined grey suit laying in front of the porch.
One of forensics' blinked as he brushed away some dust and debris from in front of the body, revealing a detonator remote. He puts on a pair of plastic gloves and puts it into a bag.
Lansing Police Department
"What is known is certain: the history of the world will be forever changed with this one event. We may take up armed or may enter a realization of the pointlessness of war and take down our arms. I can only predict and think about this things, but we can never truly know the way the tide will turn. But in this anchorman's opinion; if they ever find who is responsible for this, I hope they die slowly and painfully."
The chief of police in Lansing sits stoically as he looks over the paperwork he's been assigned by the governor, while the people around him were all in a frenzy to get things done. But then, one of the interns came bursting into his office.
"Sir, we found a match of the fingerprints on the detonator." The intern announces, "It's one Warren Kallinger."
The chief stared stoically, which a twitching mildly visible before muttering as he stood up, "Let's get this bastard."
"Yeah!" The Intern cheered as he ran off for the cars.
The Watchtower
"I could go on but enough. All in all, we must weather through this, as we have weathered through 9/11, the riots, and wars that America has experienced. And ponder what kind of insanity would drive anyone to do this. So, to everyone out there; please, no matter your views, no matter your politics, no matter your race or gender, please let us unite in mourning for all those that have been lost in this horrific event. I am Kent Brocken, and God bless America. Thank you and good night."
The league all watched the closing lines of the message. Most were sorrowful and mourning of those that have been lost, most have even rested a day off to spend with their families, which was granted. With the founding members, most were openly mourning with Manhunter, Batman, and Green Lantern keeping their composure and even then they had sorrowed expressions.
With the Emperor and his Acolytes however, they were as stoic as ever. Sad yes, but stoic. As is the resolve of Inquisitors both puritan and damned, stopping to mourn the lost but moving on to forever defend humanity from the things that would see us torn down. Such is the reality of those in the Imperium until the Archenemy is defeated.
"I'm guessing things like this happen often in the Imperium?" The Flash's inquiry stilled the Emperor's thoughts as the former noticed the latter's unfazed expression at the newscast. He also saw the other heroes looking at him with the same inquisitiveness.
The Emperor sighed, putting his hands in his coat pockets, a forlorn expression adorning his face, "More than you can fathom. It gets easier after so many times, but maybe the first one always sticks."
Flash sighed, leaning against the wall, "Then I'd hate to see what an all out war looks like."
"You and everyone else in the multiverse, Flash." Was all the Emperor said, sounding both tired and resigned to the future, "You and everyone else."
Bubbles lean on him, intending comfort, as her sister and the brothers simply nod grimly as they all stared off into the thing that is their home.
And that's all folks!
Let me tell you; this event is gonna have some serious consequences for not just the characters, but the world at large. Especially for the next chapter, as it is gonna focus on Warren cause I have something planned for him.
*If you think I'm shipping them, then you must think that I am a complete and total loser of the lowest quality. Which I absolutely am. *Chuckles* Just kidding. Feel free to ship them if you'd like it or not.
Feel free to PM me if you wanna make a reaction fic or make a TV Tropes page!