Disclaimer: I don't own South Park, DC Comics, DBZ, Akira, Boondocks, Static Shock, The Wire, LOST, Billy and Mandy, Kung Fu Panda, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Teen Titans... or any other media I may have gotten characters from in this story. Not mine. Don't sue! Just enjoy.

Nexus HWR 20.7 Metropolis' Heroes:

FD + 812

Metropolis

The night sky above Metropolis was full of stars and bright moons. For the people of the city below, it was a sight they wanted to take in as much as possible. Millions of them had spent months, or even one to two years living underneath the floating island of the Upper City of Metropolis. The floating island was gone though. The beautifully carved murals covering the bottom of it that used to seem so aesthetic to the people of Metropolis back when they had looked up, now seemed ugly in hindsight, because the sky they could see tonight would have been blocked from view.

Soon that night sky would be a lot dimmer; the stars' light would fade as light pollution from the reconstructing city below increased. Every night the city got bigger. New buildings, rebuilt homes, repaved roads, the city's reconstruction was moving fast. There was even a giant skyscraper built already with a strong foundation near the center of the city, very close to where the government planned for The Spire to be built. The building that would house the Renewed Nexus Government's meetings and business was also already under construction, but it was nowhere near as complete as Wayne Tower. The Spire would ultimately be the taller building, but at the moment as the only high-rise in the city, Bruce Wayne stood above Metropolis.

Bruce had started living in the tower he built as soon as the foundation was set in stone. Some people wondered how construction of his building went so much faster than any other in the city, why the Super Saiyans and their friends helped him out so much, but they were not going to complain to the man who brought them so much food from Pao and the other nations of Awul. Bruce Wayne quickly became a celebrity in Metropolis that everyone loved, most everyone at least.

Bruce stood at the top of his tower in his office on the top floor, facing the windows covering the north side of it. Just above the top of those windows was a giant 'W' that had been put in place earlier that day as construction was nearing an end, and all he needed now were the finishing touches. On the desk behind him though was a switch that was flipped off, and the huge 'W' for Wayne on his building gave off no light. Why disturb a beautiful night like this? Bruce mused, as he found that he himself was gazing up at the stars like he expected many in the city were.

He did not know for how long he was staring into the sky, but a noise brought Bruce back to earth. He did not turn around, though his eyes narrowed a little and he focused on the floor beneath his feet. He could feel light vibrations on the wood, and he heard another sound behind him that made him frown as it was definitely not the creaking of a new building.

"Bruce Wayne," a deep voice began, and Bruce turned around with narrowed eyes and an intense expression to glare towards the open doors to his office. His eyes un-narrowed at the sight, though he kept a serious air about himself, despite the appearance of the child before him. "Why did you come to this city?"

The figure before Bruce was short, and although he was masking his voice to purposely make it deep, it was still clearly the voice of a child. He wore a dark purple cape with a hood that shadowed the top half of his face, though he also had a black mask on under the hood to protect his identity further. He wore a lighter-toned purple shirt with a green 'M' in the center, a pair of green gloves, and a set of brown boots. The kid also had a green question mark sticking off the top of his hood that was connected by a metal spring. "Who are you?" Bruce questioned the boy. It's weird being on the other end of this, Bruce thought amusedly to himself, though outwardly he expressed no amusement.

"My name is Mysterion," the boy replied. He took a few steps into the room and narrowed the eyes behind his mask at Bruce Wayne. Kenny McCormick frowned and continued, "But who I am doesn't matter. What matters is you, Mr. Wayne. Why are you in this city? Are your goals solely altruistic, or do you have some hidden agenda by accumulating all this power?"

"I don't know what power you're talking about," Bruce said, while walking to his left. He walked out from behind his desk and stepped forward with his arms at his sides. He had on a black suit but Kenny had already examined him and could tell from the broadness of his shoulders and way that he walked that this was a powerful man. The fact that he was hiding his strength made Kenny even more suspicious of the man who came to "save" his city.

"The people here praise you," Mysterion said in his deep voice, while at the same time walking to his own left so that he and Bruce were circling each other. He did not like how the strong man was getting too close to him, especially while he himself had no weapons to speak of on his person. He had a yellow tool-belt around his waist but from what Bruce could see, there was only a flashlight on it that looked like one of the ones being given out with the free supplies that he was responsible for bringing to the city in the first place. Mysterion continued, "And at the same time they denounce their old leaders for their ignorance of, and failure to stop, Tetsuo's actions. Most people would accept it if you tried taking control of the city, and with your connections, who could stop you?"

Bruce stopped circling when he was halfway between his door and his desk. This kid's not bad. I have to admit he's put some thought into this. Why don't I humor him? Bruce smirked and the kid in front of him frowned deeper at the look. "And what if that is my true reason for being here? What is it to you? A child? Do you think you can stop me?" Bruce chuckled darkly, "This is my city now."

I knew it, Kenny thought, while his gloved fists balled at his sides. "This is my city," Mysterion countered. He lifted his fists and got into a fighting stance, "And I'm going to protect it!" The boy sprinted forward on small legs so that it took him twice as many strides as Bruce thought it would take himself to get across the room.

Bruce turned his body to the side to dodge the first punch this Mysterion character threw at him, then he reached out and grabbed the boy by the wrist while he was in midair. Kenny jumped before punching to get a better chance at hitting Bruce in the solar plexus, but that came back to bite him as the businessman was faster than he had hoped. Bruce tugged on the kid hero's arm and used the momentum he already had to throw the kid all the way into the wall behind where he was just standing.

Kenny slammed hard into the wall, and he closed his eyes and gasped out in pain from the collision. This is fine, he thought, opening his eyes as he dropped down to his knees. He lifted up on his right foot and put his arms down on his right knee to steady himself. His head snapped up and he glared at Bruce who just turned his body the rest of the way to frown down at him. Find out his fighting style today. Now I know his reason for being here, so there won't be any reason to let him know I'm here tomorrow. Mysterion jumped up fast and rose five feet off the ground. He came at Bruce in the arc through the air and attacked with a couple of punches, but Bruce blocked each with an open hand. As gravity took hold and the boy started to fall, Mysterion kicked hard with his right leg. Bruce grabbed the kid by the foot and pushed him backwards, but he smiled internally as the kid used the push back to flip himself onto his hands.

Kenny landed on his palms then pushed hard to flip himself back on his feet. As he was lifting up to flip up, he reached down and grabbed something off the back of his utility belt that Bruce could not originally see under his purple cloak. He whipped it out fast and threw it in front of him, and Bruce's eyes widened for a second. He brought his arms up fast though to cover his face, right before the loud crackling filled his room along with flashing white lights. Firecrackers? Bruce thought to himself, before spinning to his right and opening his closed left fist in front of his face to catch the booted foot flying at his temple.

"Damn-" Mysterion began, right before Bruce snapped his left arm to the side and threw the boy back towards the middle of the room. Kenny landed on his feet but had too much momentum from the man's throw that he skid over ten feet back. Then the kid rose his harsh gaze he glared at Wayne with through his dark mask, He's strong. Not necessarily a super-human, but he could be holding back to toy with me. His reaction time and senses are great, but the firecrackers worked for a second. He'll probably remember them tomorrow, even if he forgets how this fight ends.

"You say this is your city," Bruce began. He turned to face the boy again who stood on steady legs despite his attacks. I've been holding back though, but I need to with this child. His punches feel like little more than the blows of a normal kid his age. He does not know how to use his strength effectively. It's like how Dick was when he first started, and like Jason... Bruce started frowning deeper and Mysterion thought it was about him calling Metropolis his city. Bruce pushed some thoughts into the back of his mind and he continued in a darker tone, "But you don't have the strength to protect it. You never will. This city doesn't need a kid like you-"

"But it did," Mysterion snapped in his low growl. Bruce stopped his speech and stared into the kid's eyes to see so much anger, and regret, in them. Mysterion's expression darkened and his gaze lowered to the floor, "I saw the darkness in my city, but I could do nothing to stop it from festering, growing out of my control. I was given the chance to make a difference though." He lifted his gaze and glared seriously into Bruce Wayne's eyes. "I despised what this city had become, so I destroyed it."

Bruce's eyes widened for a second before returning back to normal. "How do you mean?" He asked in just as dark a tone as the boy was using.

"Crime was not a problem anymore, this city looked like it had no need for Mysterion, but I could feel something was wrong. And I was right. Tetsuo, Akainu, Gin, Ansem, Giovanni, our High Council was working with the Underworld. At the time I did not know this, but even if they were not corrupt, their government was wrong, their laws were wrong, and things needed to change." The boy took a deep breath and continued in his deep voice, "Alone I could do nothing, but I made friends who shared my beliefs. Our group took down the most powerful government this world has ever known." Mysterion's fists clenched and he stepped towards Bruce, "You can't stop me from fighting for Metropolis. My friends all died for this city. I'm the only one left, but they will not have died in vain. If you beat me today, I'll be back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. I'll return as many times as I have to in order to stop you from turning this city into what it once was. It's going to be better this time. I'm going to make sure of that from the very start so that no seeds of darkness can grow out of control."

"Mysterion," Bruce said, stopping the kid whose speech just finished from charging forward on the attack again. "One of those friends who you mentioned," the start of his sentence was already making Mysterion growl, but the next thing he said made the boy freeze in place and his fists unclench, "was the Green Arrow, am I right?"

Mysterion's unclenched fists re-tightened and he stomped another step towards the person before him. "What do you care?!"

"I was lying earlier, I did not come to take over this city. I was testing you," Bruce admitted. The kid in front of him did not want to believe it so readily, especially since he fully believed he needed to stop this man a minute ago. He did not think he could be tricked so easily. "Oliver was a friend of mine," Bruce added as he could see the boy was doubtful of his claim. As he continued, Mysterion's fists opened up again and the boy's eyes widened, "He came to us for help, and we came to his aid. He said there were not many in his group, but it is sad to hear that all but you were killed."

Oliver, he, if he knew your name... I was wrong. He isn't here, to destroy the city. "Who are you?" Kenny asked, keeping his low voice, though it did not sound hostile any longer.

"I am Bruce Wayne," Bruce replied. Oliver trusted this boy. He came here to protect this city. He deserves a chance. "But I am also, the Batman. If you have not heard that name, you will when-"

"You're Batman?" Mysterion asked in a high-pitched, surprised little boy's voice. He realized he dropped his masked tone and coughed a few times like he had something in his throat. "I mean," he started deeply, "Oliver spoke highly of you. He said the Batman was his world's greatest detective, and a great hero."

Hearing that Oliver thought that of him made Bruce smile, especially considering he never got to say goodbye to his old friend. "So then you came to this city to protect it?" Mysterion asked. This is better than the best case scenario I had imagined. He's not only not a bad guy, but he's a hero!

"I came as Bruce Wayne to make sure this city, and its government, rise again without someone like the person you thought I was interfering. And though crime is low right now, the people sticking together in this time of crisis, dark forces will emerge in Metropolis soon enough. Then, the Batman will appear." After Bruce finished, his eyes narrowed in again and he started frowning at the boy in front of him, "There is no need for a child like yourself to-"

"Let me work with you," Mysterion interrupted. He had already been thinking about it, so he was not going to let Bruce finish that sentence.

"Out of the question," Bruce said just as fast. "I work alone."

"It would be easier with more people! I would know, I've tried protecting this city on my own," Mysterion argued.

"And you failed because you are a child," Bruce scolded the kid, stepping closer while looking down both literally and figuratively at him. "A child with no resources, and no skills in combat."

Mysterion grit his teeth at the mention of his combat ability. He wanted to argue that, but after Bruce stopped him so easily in their fight, he felt it would sound embarrassing to argue it out loud. So instead, after a second of thinking, he shouted, "Train me then!"

Bruce ground his own teeth at the kid's suggestion, because the thought had crossed the back of his mind. He dismissed it then, and he dismissed it again now, "No."

"Why?" Mysterion snapped. "It's my mission to protect this city. You can't just come in and tell me to stop, to trust you alone to save my city. And if you think I'm doing a bad job then why not help me do better?!" The boy frowned. He did not like to beg, and he was not going to. If he doesn't want to help me, I'll train myself. I've been doing that already, though obviously it hasn't paid off, the last thought he had was subconscious and he grumbled at the hard truth he was telling himself.

"Fighting crime is no place for a child," Bruce said, though he did not have much conviction behind his words. When I found the others, they were lost. They were on a rough path and I steered them in the right one. But I failed. Not with Dick, he countered himself as he thought of the young man he had fought side by side with even on this world. A much stronger counter to that though, But with Jason. I let him die. I let the Joker kill him, and when he came back to life... Bruce shook his head, it was hard thinking about his biggest failure.

"I'm going to do it with or without you," Mysterion growled. "And it looks like it's going to be without you." He turned his back to Bruce and stepped towards the doors.

"I can't train you," Bruce said, though he sounded regretful as he did. Mysterion turned and saw Bruce staring down at him with guilt in his eyes. "It ends badly. You think you can stand up to criminals? Real criminals? They'll shoot you without a second thought."

"They have," Mysterion countered. He turned fully since only his head was facing Bruce, and he stepped back towards the hero whose concerns he could see. "If you're worried about me getting hurt, you can stop right now. I can't die."

Bruce frowned even deeper at the kid. "You don't get it. That feeling of invincibility is what's going to get you killed some day," he scolded.

"No, you don't get it," Mysterion snapped back. He reached up and grabbed his hood and his mask, and he pulled them both up and off his head. "Figure if I know your identity, it's only fair if you know mine," he started speaking in his normal voice, the voice of a normal twelve year old boy. "My name is Kenny McCormick, and I cannot die. It's why I said that if you beat me today I would come back tomorrow, because even if you had killed me when I got up here, I would have woken back up in my bed tomorrow morning."

"What are you," Batman began, then shook his head as it did not make sense. "This is-"

"Hundreds!" Kenny shouted at the man who froze with his mouth open. "I have died hundreds of times. Do not tell me that it's absurd because I know that already. It's even more absurd because even if shot myself right in front of you, you wouldn't remember it come tomorrow. You would just go, 'where did you run off to yesterday?'" The kid started panting as he glared at Bruce through angry, and tired eyes. "Decapitated, frozen solid, burned alive, eaten alive, stabbed, shot, suffocated. I have been to Heaven and Hell, I have been a ghost and a zombie, and I am seriously sick of dying!" He shook his head like crazy at the end and waved around his arms in frustration as he shouted it. Bruce just stared at the kid in silence, the confusion slowly leaving his face as he actually did believe him for some reason, and he felt bad for the kid. A look of pity replaced the confused look of disbelief, but when Kenny saw that pitying expression his fists clenched even harder in anger.

"We have the same goal," Kenny said. Bruce looked into the kid's eyes to see the rant was over; the boy was done and back to business. This was Kenny's last attempt though, "We both want to protect this city, and you say I don't have the skills to do it. Then help me. Oliver trained me a little, but he never believed me when I said I couldn't die. None of them did, and none of them remembered when I tried proving it." Batman grimaced as he thought about what the kid was implying. "I'm going to keep fighting," Kenny declared. "I'm going to go out there and fight crime every night, and every night I'm probably going to die doing it. Some of those nights though, hopefully I'll be able to stop the crimes, or at least disrupt them in some meaningful way before I'm killed. And I know it's going to hurt. And I know I won't be doing much. But just the chance that on some of those nights I'm going to make a difference, is reason enough for me to risk dying another thousand deaths."

"You won't have to," Bruce said. Mysterion's gaze that dropped to the floor with a seriously dark look on it at the end of his final sentence, rose back up with a shocked yet hopeful expression. "I believe you, so don't go killing yourself to prove it. I believe you, Kenny McCormick, and I believe you can make a great hero." He gave the kid a small smile, and finished, "With some help that is."

FD + 819

Batman and Mysterion stood on top of Wayne Tower. The two of them were in uniform, having just stopped some attempted midnight looting. The medical tents still set up in the southeast of the reconstructing city were not well guarded, and the ones who came to steal some drugs pushed right past the night shift nurses. The heroes arrived before the Marines, and the crooks were tied up and dangling by their ankles when the Marines finally got there.

"I'm leaving the city," Batman said, using his own fake deep voice as he spoke. While in costume he never stopped using it, even when he thought they were alone, just in case.

Mysterion stopped staring out over the city with a watchful gaze, though internally he was very happy about the way the night turned out. Batman had told him that despite his power, he was not allowed to die on patrol. Although he had died once already in the past week, it was only once. Luckily for him, Batman did not remember his death so to his partner he was still following the rule. He also did not want Batman to know that he had let him die, as from what he could already tell through their time together, he was not Batman's first apprentice.

"You're leaving?" Kenny asked in Mysterion's voice. "For how long?" The 'W' of Wayne Tower was illuminating the sky tonight, and there were thick gray clouds above them that chose that moment to start drizzling rain on them.

"A while," Batman replied. He kept looking off the roof into the eastern distance. "You've done well this past week."

"But I still can't protect this city on my own," Mysterion interrupted quickly. It was something he never would have said a week ago, but after seeing what it was like being a hero with all of Batman's resources and skills, he could not go back to what he did before. Listening to police frequencies and trying to spot crimes from rooftops was a hundred times less effective than the radar Batman had, which was only one of the many benefits of working with the Dark Knight.

"At the moment, you are not alone," Batman responded. Mysterion looked at him confusedly and he explained, "The government soldiers are trying hard to prove to the citizens that they're on their side. Crime will stay low for a while as the Marines and the others regain the people's trust. Thus this is the best time for me to put my plan into action."

"What plan?" Mysterion asked.

"I did not plan on stopping with Metropolis," Batman said. He stepped right up to the ledge and looked far off of it, looking beyond what he could see and to the future. "We cannot rely on the government forever. Governments can be corrupted. This Renewed one might be different, but then again it might not. Either way, this world is more than just Metropolis, more than the rest of the RNG too."

Mysterion's eyes were huge. "How much do you want to protect?" He asked. Bruce turned to the kid who was looking at him skeptically. "This world is huge. Awul alone is the surface area of my entire Earth. You can't save it all."

"You're right. I can't," Batman specified himself and Mysterion became confused again. "On my world," Batman continued, "a group of heroes including myself banded together in times of crises. We donned masks and capes and were branded The Justice League."

"Whoa," Mysterion whispered. Almost like, Coon and Friends, but with real heroes. He calmed his awe so he could ask, "So you want to get your old team back together?"

"I would, I really would," Batman said, but he sounded disappointed and upset as he did. "But Shazam, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Black Canary, and the Green Arrow are all gone. Almost everyone in the old Justice League died since coming to this world." Mysterion stayed silent as that sounded rough for his new mentor. Batman continued without hesitating to think on old friends though, "Which is why I am setting out to find new heroes. There are a few others from my own world who I plan on locating, but I also hope to find new heroes from universes other than my own who want to help me on my mission."

"This continent has been clear of monsters for well over a year, but it was not safe. It might be the safest place on this world now though," Batman said. He looked down at Mysterion, "The Justice League's goal must be peace and stability for the whole world though, not just one continent. I am going to get the League together, and when it comes to it I will ask my allies for help in ending tyranny on Nexus." Mysterion opened his mouth but Batman held up a hand motioning for him to stop before he started. "You can't come with me though. I need you here, to protect this city as we have been. My technology is at your disposal. I know your parents are in the city, so I could not claim that you are my ward, but I was still able to come up with a good story as to why you will have full access to my building. You're on a science internship working with my R&D department."

"What if I can't do it alone?" Mysterion asked. "What if I let the darkness rise again? I will try as hard as I can, but I might need help. What do I do then?"

Batman paused and he thought deeply for a few moments. Finally, he answered softly, "If you feel the need, you can gather your own team while I'm gone. It's up to you, but do not tell them who I am." Mysterion nodded in understanding but Batman elaborated anyway, "You must put them through intense vetting yourself, but only I decide who knows my identity. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," Mysterion answered. "I'll set up my own base of operations outside of Wayne Tower too," he said it before Batman could tell him, as he suspected his mentor would in a second. "Now that people know who we are, it would be a little too obvious who the Batman is if I brought them here."

Batman chuckled once, "Good. I know I can trust you to keep this city safe while I'm gone."

"I won't let you down," Mysterion pledged.

Present

Metropolis Primary School

10:30 P.M.

"Yo homies, what's shakin'?" A short boy with black hair slicked behind his back in dreadlocks walked onto the playground behind the school for the youngest kids in Metropolis.

Three older men standing ahead of him turned their gazes his way. One of them sat on top of a bridge in the middle of the playground connecting two sides of a jungle gym, while the other two were just leaning against poles below. A tall young man in a gray hoodie turned towards the small boy and under his hood the younger boy could see him smiling. "Young Reezy, my nigga," Bodie walked over and dropped his fist down while Riley Freeman brought his own fist up. Riley knocked his fist back down and then the two fist-bumped and laughed. "We're doin' good. How's it shakin,' young blood?"

"Aight, aight," Riley said with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked towards the jungle gym and at the shorter teen behind the one he was close with. "Poot," he said with a nod towards the teen leaning against the playground. The older boy nodded back, then Riley looked up at the one sitting on the bridge's railing. Without looking away from that man he asked his friend in front of him, "Yo Bodie, who's this nigga?"

Preston "Bodie" Broadus glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Riley with a slightly nervous expression. The man on the bridge looked older than the two boys in their late teens who had dropped out of Metropolis High School. He had dark skin like the rest of them, but when Riley looked his way, the man's skin suddenly turned a deep shade of purple, then pitch black. His body turned into shadows as he dropped off the bridge to Riley's level, then he seeped across the floor on the dimly-lit woodchips around the playground floor.

"Whoa-hoa man," Riley said with a growing grin on his face. The older man stopped on the floor in front of the kid who did not look all that surprised by his action. He came out of the ground and towered ten feet tall over the boy whose face he looked down at. "That's one sick ass power bro," Riley said, gazing the man's shadowy body up and down.

Ebon Evans was expecting a different reaction from the ten year old in front of him. The older teenagers he had been dealing with were a good deal afraid of him, but this boy seemed calmer. "Hey kid," he began, his voice almost as dark as his body, and actually sent some shivers down Riley's spine. "How'd you get that scar?" Ebon nodded at Riley's face and the kid who had just started to get nervous smirked and lost all his fear.

"This thing?" He questioned, pointing a finger up at his forehead and a four-inch gash across it that had long-since healed. "I was fighting the Marines, when suddenly Lex Luthor sent a bunch of robots to kill us all. So I started fighting them too, took down a dozen of them with the blicky on my own- dat dat dat dat! Before one finally got me with a cheap shot."

Sure he did, Ebon thought, though until the end of Riley's speech he did not actually feel like the kid was lying. Ebon's eyes were the only features visible on his face, glowing white, and his dreads that started up on top of his skull became just indents on his pitch black body standing in front of Riley. "So Riley," Ebon began. "These two tell me you have information on the heroes of Metropolis." He took a step towards the kid and looked straight down into his eyes. "Tell me."

"Ohh man, hey Bodie," Riley looked left at the teen next to him who was trying not to look afraid while also gawking in a little shock at how calm Riley was being. "You didn't tell me nothin' about squealing like a little snitch." Riley spun back to the tall figure, "Why should I tell you a thing?!"

"Because I work for the Underlords," Ebon said, and Riley's body tensed up. "And I could have your entire family abducted, with a single word." Riley's eyes widened more, and Ebon lowered his head down so it was only a foot above the kid's staring straight up at him. "So I'll repeat, what do you know about this city's heroes?"

"Yo, tell him Riley," Poot Carr began, pushing off of the playground. He looked serious and Riley could see a holster sticking off of his waist. He did not see a weapon on Bodie, but now that he glanced over again he did see a large bulge in Bodie's sweatshirt pocket that his hand just subtly slid into. Poot stepped closer to the kid who backed up a step only for all of the others to move in towards him. "We want those heroes gone," Poot continued, "so that our business can grow here. NEG was too strict on laws to try anything serious, but Akainu and Tetsuo are dead, and the new government is lenient."

Riley hummed, then looked up at Ebon and said, "I'd agree. In fact I thought about asking you what you wanted to know for at first, you know? To get in the action myself, but then I remembered what that crazy hoe Mandy did to the last Underlord she found, and the guys who worked for him." Riley saw the older man flinch, and the kid chuckled to himself. "Tell you the truth though, I never woulda told you niggas who Mysterion is. And I sure as Hell wasn't gonna let this guy know that Batman's not even in the city anymore."

Ebon's glowing eyes widened for multiple reasons. The first reason was that he learned the Batman was no longer in Metropolis. The second reason was that the kid was telling him that he wasn't going to say anything, which did not make sense with the information he was giving out, unless he was really, really stupid. Ebon considered that option, but took it off the table when he saw Riley's eyes dart to the right. Ebon Evans turned himself, and standing there on the side of the playground, just at the edge of where the lights in the back of the school that never turned off reached. The kid stood there in a purple cape with a green question mark sticking off the top of his hood.

"Shit," Bodie said and he pulled out his pistol. He snapped his head to Riley while pointing his gun over at the hero in the darkness. "Riley, you set us up?"

"Yo Bodie, don't try actin' like you didn't think this nigga was gonna kill me," Riley snapped back. The kid looked back and forth between the three older people in front of him, "You niggas are fuuuucked!"

"Why did you tell them about Batman?" Mysterion questioned, his voice dark and muffled like he was masking his voice.

"What's it matter?" Riley questioned, while lifting up his left hand. He held it in front of his body, then brought his other hand over to his left wrist where he had on a watch that the others did not notice before. Riley tapped a button on it, and out of the device came a suit that wrapped around the short kid, surrounding him in a costume of dark purple spandex that was actually very durable. "We're gonna kick their asses, right?" Riley asked with a laugh through the mask that covered his face.

Damn it. Bruce, I'm sorry. You told me to pick three people to help me out at max, and I definitely picked wrong here. At least, his brother was just about the best pick I could have made. As Kenny thought it, Ebon Evans spun around because he noticed something. The other two with him spun as well and looked back up on the playground, where standing on the pointed roof of one of the jungle gyms, was another small boy. This kid was in a full black costume pulled tight to his body, but the top of it was a little wider around his head considering there was a huge afro tucked under his mask that only revealed his eyes. He had a red bandanna around his forehead, and in each hand he held a black baton made of steel that did not look deadly, but sure looked like it could pack a punch.

'Head back to Metropolis' they said. 'It's the last place they'll look' they said. Well what about stupid brats who think they're heroes? The Hell am I supposed to do about this? Could kill them all, Ebon glanced around, even at the teens behind him who knew his face.

The most infamous kid hero in the purple cape stepped forward and held up a shuriken in his right hand. "Prepare to get apprehended, evil-doers," Mysterion called out.

"Shit dude, I've heard some of the things Mysterion does to people he catches," Poot said and took a step back so he was closer to his friend.

Bodie had his gun pointed up at the kid ninja in all black, then over at Mysterion, trying to keep all his opponents in check. "You niggas bout to get your asses whooped," Riley yelled, pulling out a pair of nunchucks as he did and spinning them around at his sides. "And tell your friends my hero name, Trappin Nigga 69!"

Ebon looked to his side at the kid who shouted that but his narrowed eyes darted away fast. That kid is the smallest threat. His eyes darted towards the kid in the purple cape who yelled over in a deep voice that Riley could not use that name. I have heard of this Mysterion, and the kid on the playground's giving me a bad vibe. Ebon's eyes darted to the kid on the playground who was scolding the other kid almost like a big brother, telling him that kids are going to be looking up to him now and he can't be a bad role model. These kids are fucking playing around, but I'm going to kill them. Don't know if there are any others around here, but I can't let any of them escape. The metahuman controlling shadows sank into the floor.

Huey Freeman leapt off the top of the playground and did a half dozen front flips on his way down. Poot spun and rose his gun, but the black stick in Huey's right hand extended two feet right as Huey whipped it down. He hit the short older teen with a shaved head in his right arm, and a loud 'pop' sounded as it dislocated. "Oh shit!" Poot yelled and dropped his gun as his arm went limp. He stumbled backwards, while Bodie aimed his gun at the ninja kid and fired.

Huey dove left into a roll, then sprinted forward before Bodie could aim again. He was going for the older boy's gun, but a loud dink echoed out into the night as a shuriken slammed into Bodie's pistol first. It was right when the teen was pulling the trigger again, and the gun exploded in his hand as the bullet tried firing out of the pierced barrel. "AHH!" Bodie yelled, falling backwards as blood splashed from his mangled hand.

Poot fell to the floor and scrambled backwards using his one good arm and pushing both feet on the woodchips. The ninja boy sprinted in front of him towards Bodie and slammed the screaming teen in the left temple with a steel bar, then immediately turned back towards Poot. Poot pushed away faster, only for his back to hit the jungle gym. Huey sprinted his way, and Poot spotted the dark skin in the slit of his mask, and the teenage drug dealer just whispered under his breath in the last second, "It's like a, a black ninja."

The kid slammed both of his black batons straight into the teen's gut, and Poot collapsed to his face. Riley came jogging over while Huey looked at the crumpling teen's back, thinking, Black Ninja? That's not bad.

"Yo Huey! Why didn't you let me get one of-" Riley froze, and Huey looked up with huge eyes at his brother. Riley knew it was behind him, he could even see everything around him get darker right as it did, but the sweaty kid holding shaking nunchucks did not want to turn around.

"Put down your weapons or the boy dies," Ebon said, his voice cold. A hand rested itself on Riley's right shoulder, and the boy became terrified as he understood that moving an inch would mean his death, and he could not even see the pistol Ebon was holding at the back of his head.

Huey could see that pistol though, and he did not know what he was going to do. Damn it Riley. What the Hell were you thinking letting your guard down? "You can control shadows, that's a-" Chk Ebon cocked the pistol and the sound made Riley flinch, while making his older brother close his mouth and narrow his eyes.

"I won't say it again," Ebon said.

Riley's nunchucks dropped from his shaking fingers. Huey bent down slowly and he placed his weapons at his feet. Then, he kicked them forward so they were out of grabbing range. Riley wanted to shout something cocky, but they were seriously in a bad place here. This is nuts! The cold steel of the barrel of Ebon's pistol pressed against Riley's temple, and the metahuman said, "Now you, Mysterion."

Kenny McCormick stepped forward while unbuckling the weapons' belt around his waist. "Let the boy go," Kenny said in a deep voice. He dropped the belt and held his hands up, "Take me as a hostage instead."

Huey and Riley looked at Mysterion with wide eyes. Neither of them knew who the masked figure who came to recruit them was, or how he knew so much about the Underlords, but they did not expect the vigilante to risk his life for them on their first mission. Mysterion continued walking towards Ebon Evans who kept his hand on Riley's shoulder but pointed the gun Mysterion's direction.

Ebon smirked, though his mouth was invisible to the boys who could only see darkness other than his glowing white eyes. Taking out Mysterion will be a good way to rise through the ranks. "Are you sure," Mysterion began, and the villain started to lose his smile, "that you want to kill Batman's apprentice?" The masked hero asked, and Ebon froze as he thought about those words. "You're from his world, Ebon Evans, so you know exactly how brutal he could be."

Ebon took a step back, his hand coming off of Riley's shoulder, while the younger boys stared at Mysterion in shock for a second, then to the villain whose eyes were the size of plates. "How did you-" the metahuman began, but stopped as he had no idea how the kid knew his name, or how he knew what world he was from. It scared him so much, for a second, and then he decided to stop being afraid. "Fuck you," Ebon said, his voice deep and serious.

Kenny realized what was happening and he dove for his belt of weapons. BANG A gunshot went off in the night, and Mysterion's body in mid-flight got spun off course with blood splattering out of him. "YO!" Riley shouted, leaning back and covering his mouth as he watched the kid drop motionless to the floor. He was about to run towards him, but Huey grabbed his brother by the arm and started running fast towards the jungle gym. He got them between the metal bars and dragged his brother behind a wall, BANG dink BANG dink

Ebon snarled as his bullets slammed into metal poles of the playground instead of the children running between them. I have to kill them, but, he looked up and around at the dark sky above him. Any second now someone's going to come here. Gunshots draw too much attention, and if that Mandy chick gets here before I'm gone… Ebon dropped into the floor, becoming a shadow and praying that with his Power Blocker he would not be detected by the authorities. Alright, so a few kids figured out my name, and they know my face. So what? I'll be notorious, and that's it. While I get to bring back news that Batman's out of town and that Mysterion's been taken care of.

Huey and Riley stood behind a steel slide on the playground, panting and waiting for more bullets to come flying at them. After thirty seconds, sirens started to come close to them, and the boys figured that their enemy would have escaped by then. They came out of hiding, and both of them walked towards the smallest limp form on the ground, in a puddle of blood that soaked his uniform. "Damn, he got fucked up," Riley said, though he sounded a little sad as he did.

"Yeah," Huey said softly in response. He reached down, turned the kid over, and saw that the boy's eyes were still partially open, though no longer moving. He had a hole in the upper left side of his shirt, right over his heart, and his uniform was all red around it.

"Let's take off his mask," Riley said, reaching down for the bottom of it. "I wanna see who-"

Huey grabbed his brother by the wrist. Riley tried prying his hand free, but Huey glared him in the eyes, and he said, "We were given strict instructions on what to do if he died. Weren't you listening?"

"No! I didn't really think he was going to! He's Mysterion!" Riley looked back down, "Or at least he was. He's fuckin' dead now."

"Maybe," Huey muttered, looking back down at the kid who was oddly specific about his instructions. "Anyway, let's get him out of here before anyone shows up looking for-"

Headlights turned on on several sides of the park and pointed in at the kids. "Don't move! We have you surrounded!" Someone shouted into a megaphone, and the two masked vigilantes standing on blood-stained woodchips spun around in shock seeing so many police cars behind those bright lights. They snuck right up on us, Huey thought, annoyed at himself for being so focused on Mysterion's body that he failed to notice.

Out in the perimeter of police cars, James "Sawyer" Ford looked over the open door he stood behind and examined the two targets. "They're just kids," he muttered, lowering the assault rifle in his hands a bit. Sawyer turned right and snapped, "Hey, tell everyone to put their guns down."

"No can do, Sergeant," Captain Cedric Daniels replied. The tall, dark-skinned, bald, police Captain put the megaphone back up to his mouth. "Put your hands up and get on your knees."

"Fuck the police!" Riley shouted out at them, and the sound of the immature unarmed kid's voice made a lot of the cops lower their weapons a little, wondering what it was they were responding to.

"Shut up and let me handle this," Huey growled at his brother, as he actually understood what kind of situation they were in at the moment. He put his hands up in the air above his covered afro, but he called out as he did, "We were helping out Mysterion, and we fought an Underlord member. He got away, but those two were his accomplices, and local drug dealers." Huey lowered his arm to point, and he felt more confident when the cops did not yell at him to put his hands back up.

"Mysterion?" Jimmy McNulty muttered. The homicide detective put his pistol back in its holster, then looked closer at the two boys and saw who was on the floor between them. "Oh damn," he whispered, and he put a hand up through his hair. "Is that…"

Captain Daniels also noticed what many of the other cops were seeing, and he called out, "Move in." The officers charged into the light of their spotlights and ran towards the kids who continued to stay still, though considering they did not look like they were trying to fight back, the cops stopped pointing their guns at them. Daniels walked straight towards Huey who sounded more compliant than the one who shouted 'fuck the police' and he questioned, "What were you two doing here?"

"Like I said," Huey began before his brother could get them arrested with whatever disrespectful thing he opened his mouth to shout. "Mysterion asked for our help in apprehending these criminals. I know it was not a sanctioned assignment by the Metropolis Police Department, but Mysterion and Batman believe the Underlords have a spy in the department, so we had to do this on our own."

"A spy in the department," Daniels repeated, not sounding very skeptical, almost like he believed something like that was not far-fetched at all. He glanced around at the cops running around him, the ones putting cuffs on the injured older teens who were slowly coming-to. Daniels saw McNulty shaking his head in frustration and snapping at those teenagers who were dealers on their old world too, but Daniels was not focused on Poot or Bodie at all. He focused on a few of the officers around him in particular, Who can I trust? Who can help with this?

"If you wouldn't mind," Huey continued, and Daniels looked back down at the boy. "I need to get Mysterion's body somewhere. It's important."

Riley nodded his head up and added, "Yeah, let us get outta here already."

Daniels frowned at the idea. I should take these two in. They could be lying. I also need information on the Underlord member they fought. If there is a mole in the department, it won't be safe to keep those kids there. What's the smart move here? Should I call the Commissioner for this one? He's still wounded from the bombing at the Spire, but this might-

A gust of wind came into the playground and everyone there felt shivers down their spines. At first it seemed like a small breeze, but the winds continued, and some people looked up. Their gasps made others look to the sky, and they watched as a small girl and a skeleton lowered to the ground on top of scythes. Mandy stepped off her scythe right next to Captain Daniels, who had sweat all over his face at the sight of their terrifying government leader, and the skeleton. He started giving a short explanation of what had occurred here though.

"Who's that?" McNulty whispered to the man on his left, while motioning at the skeleton with his head.

Sawyer was hesitant to respond, but he had heard a rumor, and he muttered quietly in response, "That's the Grim Reaper. Apparently he's Mandy's servant." Jimmy McNulty would have thought it was ridiculous, if the skeleton was not holding the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Mandy frowned at the scared preteen boys in front of her, then down at Mysterion's body. Whatever was going on tonight couldn't have been that important if Mysterion and these two were the only ones dealing with it. Grim says Mysterion can't die, at least, not for long. I'll ask him what happened here later after he's been revived. His associates need to be allowed to leave though. "Release these two from custody," Mandy said. Suddenly, the decision was taken out of Daniels' hands, and he was not all that disappointed by it. By the girl mentioning "custody," it sounded like he had done his job already and detained the boys for questioning, and now he was still following orders by telling them they could leave.

Huey and Riley grabbed Mysterion by an arm each, hoisting him up to carry on their shoulders, and the boys ran away from the crime scene while the cops parted to the sides for them. No one wanted to argue with the girl who had held up an Underlord's head above all of Metropolis. Mandy mentally smirked at all the officers' reactions, while continuing to frown outwardly. As she got back on her scythe she said, "Keep up the good work. We'll start a search for the escaped Underlord member first thing in the morning."

Mandy flew off, and Grim sighed but got back on his scythe and followed after her. "Hey Mandy," he called after her in a Jamaican accent. "What are we going to do about these Underlords? We've got help but even you didn't know someone was coming tonight."

Mandy was thinking the same thing, and deep in her mind she growled, "Hey infant! What's the meaning of this?"

"I know not what you mean, foul girl," Stewie replied in surprise through their mental link, suddenly awake in his room that he shared with a sleeping Brian Griffin who lay at the foot of his bed.

"Some Underlord member came to the city tonight. I don't know what he was doing here, but Mysterion knew about it when I didn't. How is it that I don't have the most information?! Remember what I'll do to you if you lie to me."

Stewie thought about the green portal to the underworld and all the monsters he saw inside it. "I swear I had no idea! Lots of missions go on around the continent without every Underlord knowing. If Mysterion knew however, then it is likely that Bart got him a message somehow. The two of us are currently not together."

Mandy hummed to herself and mulled over what the younger boy said. After a few seconds she snarled mentally, "This isn't moving fast enough. Don't wait for orders we can manipulate. You are an Underlord. Create an opening yourself. I don't care if it will expose you, because if it works, there won't be any Underlords left."

Stewie gulped, wondering if she intentionally did not say "except for you." "Got it. I'll do my best."

"Do even better." Mandy said, then cut off the mental link. She turned her head to Grim who was flying silently on her side since he knew what she was doing and knew it was better to leave her alone than to distract her. "Grim, at the moment we have no good leads, and the Underlords have been very quiet lately." She stopped flying and looked up at the two moons in the sky and all the stars around them. Then she looked down, not at the city below, but at the ground below that, and then even deeper. "Let's go visit Billy."

A/N Thanks for reading! Poot and Bodie are drug dealers from the show The Wire, and Ebon Evans is the main antagonist from Static Shock. McNulty and Daniels who appeared as cops back during the Battle of Metropolis are from The Wire too, while Sawyer is from LOST. Riley and Huey are the main characters from Boondocks too, which is a show I love. They also fought in the Battle of Metropolis alongside Shrek against Captain Hina and her men first, then against Luthor's robots. Ebon also appeared before when Takao and Bart were joining the Underlords at the same time! Just as a recap for these characters we haven't seen in a while. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As we end it we again see another character who may show up in a coming arc now, as Mandy says she's going to visit Billy... who is dead... while Luffy and Rin are on their ways to Hell! Not to spoil anything! XD lol but the foreshadowing shouldn't be too tough to work out! No reviews this time, so no responses. If you guys enjoyed the chapter, leave me a review telling me what you think. Comments. Predictions. Questions! I always love to hear some feedback. 'Til next time!