Chapter 1, Season 4 - The Age of Power

An unknown location, an unknown time.

"We've been waiting long enough. It's time to show ourselves."

"So this is it then? The plan is in motion?"

"It is. Are the calculations set?"

"Indeed they are. The location is as precise as-"

"Just a simple answer was fine."

"When will he leave?"

"I'd say right about now."

"Then what do we do now?"

"We wait. Wait until the mission is over. This is how it ends. This is how it all comes crumbling down."

IO Headquarters

Life was good.

In fact, it couldn't be better, Jones thought as he walked along. The new Island? A success. Every day new loopers found their way out of the loop and made their way to the Island, where they were accepted with open arms. There hadn't been any incidents until just a week ago, with an attack on the newly opened city. Can you believe it? A city! Jones was watching the birth of a new society.

"Calling Agent John Jones to command. I repeat, calling Agent John Jones to command."

"Well, duty calls."

Cup of coffee and hand and a pep in his step, he made his way to command, ready to start off the day. More than likely Slone wanted him. Yet another development of saving reality, he assumed. Seemed to be a lot of that these days.

The doors opened to the newly refurbished command center, adorned with digital maps of the ever-changing landscape of the Island. The inhabitants were determined to make a better life, constantly developing new technologies from whatever they had available. What made it even better was that whatever the inhabitants did, it affected the loop, so all changes made transferred over to the other. From Slone's reports, Geno was very pleased.

"So what can I do for ya Doc? Did we win the skirmish in reality 659?"

"That's still ongoing, Jones. I called you here today to talk about a new development in the Omniverse."

"What does that mean?"

"Recently our experts have picked up significant changes among the Omniverses' populus. There seems to be a rise in what we've taken to call the 'metahuman'."

"Sounds science-y. Not my department."

"Let me simplify. Metahuman means someone with extraordinary abilities. Some realities call them superpowers. A suit of armor, maybe, or unnatural strength. For whatever reason, there's been a spike in those types of beings, and it's peaked the interest of Geno."

"Let me guess: another experiment?"

"That's right. You know in the loop people lose their abilities. He'd like to see what happens after they escape and realize they have those gifts. They could be a source for good, or the opposite."

"Did you find some already?"

"We have a few, and as of right now they are on the Island. I called you down so you could see the newest of them make it out." Slone gestured to a screen in front of the two of them, and it began to show live footage from the Island. It followed a man in a black, high tech bodysuit. Not heavily armored, but looked to me made of a sort of flexible metal with a full face covering. The interesting part came from the fact that he didn't use guns. Instead, he brawled his way though using his fists, with raw strength that Jones hadn't even seen.

"This guy? He's a powerhouse!" Jones said, completely in awe. Despite having not seeing his face, there was a rage in the man that was evident through his skill. Powerful strikes, but controlled. Skillful.

"The storm's almost closed. Not every day you get someone who gets through first try."

There was the last person, a snapshot of Jones. To avoid confusion, all of Jones's snapshots were referred to as Jonesy, and Jones couldn't help but wince as he saw Jonesy get pummeled with a flurry of fists, and ultimately get eliminated. Then the light surrounded him, and he vanished.

"He'll now be making his way into the loop. I'm leaving it up to you, Jones, to keep track of him. Geno wants to see how a superhuman like him will adapt to his new surroundings. If this goes well, then I'm sure more will join him and the others in the future."

"Copy that."

Not a bad assignment. Out of universes that Jones had seen, lots of the superhumans turned out to be the most benevolent people to ever grace the Omniverse. Surely this had to be one of them, right?

The Island

Darkness. And suddenly, light.

Where am I

The grass felt soft, even through the suit.

What am I wearing

The sound of footsteps, rumbling through the ground.

Who am I

"Hey there, friend. Welcome to Athena!"

Omega sprung up with frightening agility and grasped the man by the throat.

"Where. Am. I."

The man grasped at his arm hoisting him in the air. It was pointless: his grip was unbreakable. The man spoke in barely a whisper.

"..you're on an island..akk…we call it Athena…"

And so the grip was released. The man fell to the ground, catching his breath.

"Can we (huff) be chill now? I meant no harm."

"That. Over there." He pointed towards a crowd of structures in the distance. "Tell me, what is that place?"

"That? That's Tilted Towers. Listen," The man said as he stood up. "let's find you some lodging first. Introduce you to some, then we can figure out what to do next. Is that a plan?"

And so the response was a fist to the chest.

"Do not stand in my way." He spoke as he walked out into the distance.

Shit. Gotta warn them, thought the man, recovering from the assault. Thankfully, after the assault months ago, they were better prepared for threats. On his wrist was a communication device, a commlink.

"Island response team, this is Battlehawk. A potential threat is heading towards the city. Intercept him. He is hostile. I repeat, he is hostile."

Power.

That is my gift. I have strength. All others are weak. All others can be crushed. All others can be controlled.

These were his thoughts as he walked towards the city. This city, he thought, was puny. Small. If he wished to assert his dominance, then what better way to start than with the centerpiece of the civilization?

"I'm going to need you to stop where you are."

A voice from behind. Heavily obscured, as if it were computerized.

Without looking, he spoke. "Who are you to tell me what to do."

"Well, how about this: if you don't turn around right now, I have a sniper trained on your head. You can guess what happens next."

"My armor is harder than steel. You could not hope to pierce it."

"Maybe not. I'm going to guess though that those eye pieces aren't. Why take the risk?"

Slowly, the man in black turned around only to be met with a man with a similar visage. He was dressed in blue armor, with the top of his face covered with a metal faceplate.

"The name is Carbide, and as of this moment, you are to stand down and come with us. We know you're new here, and we'd like to help you get settled here."

"And what about my wants?"

"See, here's the thing. This is a society. You can't just go around choking people to near-death. Ol' Battlehawk up on the hill almost died because of you."

"Did he now? And how is it that you came to find me here? Perhaps he sent you a warning?"

"Indeed he did. We don't know your intents, and we prefer to stay safe rather than be sorry later."

"I told him to stay out of my way. Now he will certainly be sorry he ever interfered," He said as he started walking.

"Stop right there, right now!"

"Out of my way."

Dammit.

The man in black was approaching fast. Only one thing left to do.

"Armor on."

With a sudden burst of energy Carbide's suit powered up, and the armor around his fists became energized. The man struck fast; Carbide was faster. He came in with a left hook from the side. Blocked. Front jab. Evaded.

"Impossible."

Time for the rebuttal in the form of a fist to the face. The man fell to the floor out cold.

"So much for strong armor. Squad Leader, you can reveal yourself!"

Hiding in a bush was the leader of the defense team on the island, a normal man, but a great leader. "You have no idea how painful that was. The amount of branches and thorns poking me was equivalent to hell."

"All for the greater good, sir."

"If that's how you want to look at it. We can't have him running free," As he glanced down at the menace lying there. "Take him to the prison. We'll keep him there until we come up with a better alternative."

"Yes sir!" Carbide responded as he hauled the man over his shoulder, and he blasted off using his built-in hover jets in his boots. Now there was one less problem on this island.

"Aaaaand, Cut!"

"You can't be serious! That was a perfect scene!"

"Well, Rex, it wasn't perfect enough! Zoey back there was looking through the damn telescope! We can't have mistakes like that!"

"But you haven't seen! There's a m-"

"Shut it! Get out of the camera's view!"

The island was in the middle of filming its first ever movie, and it was going swimmingly, for the most part. Here they were, trying to wrap up filming at Dusty Depot, a collection of three warehouses, and of course things just keep going wrong. First, it was a coffee cup left on a table. Then Rex forgot his lines (he's only supposed to growl), and now this. Being the director, Abstrakt was trying to make sure this film was the best it could ever be, but not when he was working with incompetent idiots.

"Listen people, I don't think it's so hard to get this right!" Deep breath. "Let's do this one more time. Everyone back in their spots!"

"But- "

"No buts! I don't want to hear it! We are going to get this scene done, God help me, it will happen!"

And off in the corner, Rex decided to look through the telescope too. "Listen to her! She's right!"

Now that the anger was wearing off, Abstrakt finally started to think more clearly. "About what!?"

"Take a look."

So Abstrakt walked over, put his eye to the telescope, and there it was, clear as day. Hurtling straight towards the island was a meteor.

"Oh shit."

And now the situation was real.

"Put up a flare! We've got to get the Council of Heroes over here, pronto!"

The Council of Heroes formed shortly after the Tilted Towers assassinations. It consisted of the Squad Leader and Carbide, as well as other legends like Valor, a woman that had otherworldly strength, and Venturion, who had a very powerful suit of armor and was the intelligence operative of the group. Together they responded to threats around the island, no matter how big or small. As Carbide flew through the air, he was the first to spot the flare.

He turned on his commlink tuned to their headquarters. "I've spotted a flare near the depot. I'm on my way to respond. More than likely those burglars are back at it again."

As he approached there were only three people and a decent amount of film equipment. They better not ask me to make an appearance, he thought as he touched ground. As much as he appreciated the love from the people, sometimes it did get to be too much.

"Well, citizen, what seems to be the problem?"

There was some visible relief on then face of the man before him, but even though a mask concealed half his face, the fear in his eyes was still visible.

"Thank God you came so fast." Shakiness in his voice. More panicky than most problems he'd responded to. "You're going to want to see this. Zoey over there found it through the telescope."

Everyone knew about Zoey, the outgoing, joyful, candy-obsessed girl. But when Carbide glanced over at her, there was nothing about her demeanor that said 'joyful'. That couldn't be good. And as he looked through the telescope, that fear was confirmed.

"Oh shit," he whispered under his breath.

"You see the problem."

That was an understatement. What he was seeing was the biggest catastrophe the island had ever seen. Can't show panic, everything's under control. Gotta put on a good facade.

"What's your name, citzen?"

"Abstrakt, sir."

"Well, Abstrakt, rest assured the situation is under control. I'll have the Council deal with this immediately. I assure you, everything will be alright."

Now the relief in his face seemed genuine. Good. Word would spread about the meteor, and the last thing that the people need is panic. Leave the worry to the heroes.

"Thank you, Carbide."

With a quick salute, Carbide activated his jets and took off, leaving only relief behind with the others. If only he had that same peace of mind.

"Are you shitting me? Tell me this is a joke. Please, I beg of you, tell me this is a joke!"

"It's not, sir. I saw it with my own eyes."

The Squad Leader held his hand up to his forehead, obviously deep in panic-ridden thought.

"Venturion, you handle all the radars and sensors. Tell me some good news."

"There's some small hope. The meteor looks to be made of a relatively fragile metallic material. If we can by some chance fragment the meteor, we can make the main body small enough to only cause a crater. The meteor, by my calculations, is expected to make landfall in two days time."

"And where's it headed?"

"The impact zone will be Dusty Depot."

"So how do we fragment it?"

Valor finally spoke up. "If I may sir, I have a suggestion."

"At the moment I'm open for anything. Go ahead."

"I'm the strongest of the group, but I can't fly. Since we have no missiles to shoot at it, give me a suit to fly, and I can hopefully shatter it with a few hits."

"But the risk involved-"

"It has to be done. I'm willing to take the risk."

There hadn't yet been a time where any of the group had to put their lives at risk, so for Valor to volunteer for this was truly a show of character. There still hadn't been any deaths since Skull Trooper and Power Chord, and those losses still hung in the air around the Island. To lose a heroic figure like Valor would be severely detrimental to the people. But as she said, the risk had to be taken, and everyone in the room knew it.

"…Fine. Venturion, you work on getting Valor an upgraded suit. Myself and Carbide will clear out Dusty and make sure everyone stays clear of the damage zone. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir!" They all said in agreement.

"Then let's get moving!"

2 days later

Venturion was right. The meteor was about to enter atmosphere in five minutes time. Valor had her suit upgraded with jet boots specifically tailored for high-altitude flights, and she was as ready as she could be. Dusty was cleared out, and no one was anyone near the impact zone.

"Are you ready Valor? There may be no coming back from this."

"I know, sir."

"Good to hear." The Leader paused, obviously silently hiding his worry. "Venturion wants to speak with you."

Venturion walked over, data pad in hand. "At the speed you'll be travelling you should be able to fracture the meteor in one solid hit. Make sure you stay on an exact collision course, and all should go well. The meteor will be in safe striking distance…now!"

Carbide started the countdown. "Blast-off in three…two…one! Go!"

With that, Valors' boots activated, and in less than a second, she was almost out of sight.

The thrill of flying was extraordinary, but there was no chance to lose focus. With every second the meteor came closer and closer into view, and it didn't disappoint. At this rate it'd be contact in ten seconds.

Valor brought her fist back, ready to strike. Five. Four. Three. Two. Now!

With a punch that could shatter a moon she struck the meteor, and the results were immediate. The meteor splintered into multiple different, smaller parts, except for one pod in the center. The feeling of joy was quickly replaced with the realization that she had to destroy as many parts as she could. She left the big one alone; dusty was cleared out, it would be safe. The problem was the splintered parts that would damage other parts of the island, and there were dozens of those. With a quick change in direction, she flew straight towards as many pieces as she could, ready to shatter them.

"Here it comes! Venturion, fly away! Carbide, you take me! Let's get clear of the Depot!"

Carbide flew up into the air, Squad Leader in hand. When he looked up, he could see the blur of motion that was Valor destroying as many fragments as she could. She didn't get all of them, though. As he looked across the Island, he could see multiple tiny explosions. Nothing too dangerous, but enough to cause chaos. And then there was the big guy. Carbide felt helpless as he watched the meteor strike on the warehouses, and the explosion that followed right after. He had never seen anything so beautifully dangerous before as the fire rose up to the clouds, and the aftershock of dust soon exploded outwards of the impact. Even up in the air the shockwave from the impact could still be felt. But what mattered was that the mission went according to plan. Cleanup would be able to begin after the fire dissipated. Now, Carbide could finally breathe a sigh of relief as the smoke started to clear from the sky.

Epilouge

The prison was home to many of the island's felons, from burglars to vandalizers to nameless beings. In one cell sat a man dressed in black, deep in thought.

They will not keep me here. They will regret what they have done.

A sound from the cell next door. A new inmate being shoved in.

"You can't keep me here! The Knight will find me! He's the true ruler of this island!"

A Knight? Interesting.

"Who is this Knight you speak of?"

"What?"

"This Knight that you threaten with. Who is he?"

Obviously the man was not expecting conversations this early into his sentence.

"The Black Knight? He's only the true leader of this Island. One day he will claim dominion over these lands, and we shall rule!"

"And where could one find this man?"

"Why do you want to know? I don't even know you!"

A shockwave rocked the building. Strange. And not even seconds later did a flaming rock from the sky come crashing down onto the wall separating Omega from the world. In fact, his whole section of the prison was decimated, as well as the wall of the young Knight.

"That may be the shortest stay in prison I'll ever have", the young man remarked.

"I have a proposition for this 'Black Knight'. Tell him I am interested in being his ally."

"And what name should I give him?"

"Tell him Omega asks for a meeting."