Dark Tomorrow

Having the attacking gangsters scared off, Bennett turned his attention to the others who are starting to get a grasp on the other metahumans. Looking around, he hopes he could at least incapacitate one of them before they plan their next move. He looks around and notices Steelcage slowing down, due to his armor breaking down. Hoping he could knock him down, Bennett looks around and finds a car, which he hot-wires to get it to work. He pulls forward and hits the Steelcage with enough force to knock him to the ground. He heads out of the car, pointing his shotgun at the downed Steelcage. "Stay on the ground", he says, still maintaining his authoritative voice as he searches for a way to get the guy out of his armor and restrain him for good.

Gilgamesh

As Gilgamesh was in the middle of lifting the gargantuan lummox off the ground, she could only glance at Sanji with a violent twitch of the eye. She wasn't afraid of a show of force, but it was never her intention to kill him. Even so, she slowed their descent down a titch. It'd give her the impact she hoped for, but perhaps it would reduce the risk of a coma.

It is only once it was clear that the heavies were defeated and the gangsters had fled that Minutes Midnight realized they were standing in a rain of chemical irritant. Which was fine, between the gasmasked helmet and the jumpsuit there wasn't any exposed skin or unfiltered breaths so honestly they were safe to just vibe here as they watched the heroes finish off their foes.

"Woo, good work? But we kind of... I think we might need to regroup somewhere safe and figure out what the bold heckie is going on in this time period. I might have somewhere in the subway if no one has raided it in the fifty-odd years we've been displaced..."

Budoka

Even as Plasma went flying, Budoka kept moving, circling around to avoid Salamander's fire blast before charging in right behind it, dashing past Plasma with one arm outstretched as if to clothesline her.

However, instead of tackling her, the outstretched arm would bend inward, swinging at Plasma's throat in a practiced chop that would hopefully leave the villain unconscious but alive.

Robert

"Well, that's a shot suit of armor. Let's...get you outta that before it experiences calamitous dysfunction, shall we?" He then fired a somewhat stronger beam aimed at carving open the shell of Steel Cage's armor to pry him out. Strong enough to cut the armor, but carefully managing the exact power expenditure to make sure he didn't cut too far in.

"I do not know why you went with the interior fire operating system thing," Robert said, using this to dilute the reaction he knew was coming within himself even still.

He needed his distractions.

Robert was so focused on the process of taking Steel Cage out of his armor he didn't even notice the swirve and focus of a steel and black camera mounted on a nearby building.

Revival

Revival breathed an internal sigh of relief as the wind responded to her manipulations. The efficacy of her attacks went some way toward calming the unnerving, alien sense of panic she hadn't been able to shake since she had landed on this rooftop. She could still be useful, after all.

But as the battle drew to a close, it became increasingly difficult to ignore the painful throbbing of her ankle. It had been years since she'd felt pain like it, and without the distraction of an enemy to best it demanded her attention. Now would be a good moment to slip away and find medical supplies, perhaps. But...

She looked down on the confused and routed crowd below. Her comrades were on the brink of victory, a victory which would be witnessed by a sizeable audience, and it would be a waste if she did not seize the chance to properly reintroduce the UDF to the world.

From her place overlooking the city, Revival dropped her hands and called the hailstorm to an abrupt, dramatic halt. A sudden silence filled the air as the sound of howling wind and the drumming of hail disappeared. The air was still, and into this stillness Revival spoke loudly.

"It seems this city has forgotten its manners while we've been gone! It's your lucky day, then. The UDF has returned, and we will set things right!"

Edited by furnacedoor on Jun 19th 2021 at 11:12:03 AM

The World

Nightmare Factory- Church of Crime Headquarters

Genocide watched the time displaced heroes bring down the heads of the New York underworld one by one, displaying skill unseen by heroes for the last tens of years. "Interesting," he muttered to himself, waving away the holographic screen before him and refocusing his attention to the massive crowd of villains before him. "Our mass in New York is canceled for today my beloved congregation of crime, but a more interesting game is now afoot,"

Genocide rose up from his throne and gestured over the crowd with a flourish. "Go out onto the world and spread the word of our gospel, let chaos reign as these heroes struggle against the world we have labored to create!" The crowds cheered, bloodlust flowing through the massive room without restraint.

"Now heroes, show me the strength that brought Dr. Diabolic to his knees, that prevented the true ascension of humanity." the shadows behind him began to ripple as if alive. "And in turn I will show you despair as I bring all your hopes crashing back to the dirt."

Deep Underground- Location Unknown

A pale but large man sat over a desk, molding a clay like substance with surprising amounts of care given how large his fingers were, only pausing for a moment to look up. "Something has gone amiss," he placed down a practically molded statue, something that looked like a cross between a spider and a praying mantis before moving through a cave, stopping over a deep drop off. Down beneath the man's feet stood horrors and monsters that went as far as the eye could see, all seemingly in stasis until the man clapped his hand, one of the many creatures opening its eyes, a deep blue glow flashing through the darkness.

"Kaiju Demeter, go forth into the world and find the source of my disquiet." The earth shook as the creature was pulled from the darkness by a pillar of rock, forced up through the stone above it to reach the world above. "Nothing will interrupt the work of ages, the work of the Creator."

Engine City, Idaho

A display of the heroes engaged - their victory over the gangsters and proclaiming themselves - and flickered on a large screen in the office of the Henderson Factory's Founder. Situated on a large cold steel chair near the center of the dingy and constantly steaming room, countless mechanisms hard at work, was the figure of said Founder. A single cold mechanical eye focused on each individual hero. One after the other. Scrutiny heaped upon contempt - and then a smile.

"A new project idea has come to me." As he got up from his chair, a chute in the corner of the room lit up. Even hotter air billowed out from there, followed by the intense sound of a fast rotator fan. “I know, I know. You haven't had company in ages. That might..." the figure gripped a piece of paper from one of his desks, "...be about to change."

Somewhere, New York City

The info from that security camera was diverted away from its usual recipient first to an unusual sort. It was an agreement of sorts that caused it. The image of the heroes displayed on an old TV, depicting them triumphant in their return. The room was poorly lit and the only source of light came from a chandelier with eight lights.

The light fixture swung and revealed the figure of a voluptuous woman clad in a black and gray mechanical outfit.

It swung to the left and revealed a massive figure, easily twice the size of a regular human being, his shoulders extending in a bulky apparatus to the sides and down to the floor. A red eyed helm on his head tilted. He spoke in a voice that sounded like it was spoken through water, "The jobs will be posted within an hour, I imagine."

Above Earth's Atmosphere- Flagship of the Conquest Aliens

Standing at the helm of the massive battleship that led the invasion of humanity stood a massive creature wrapped in metal armor that covered every inch of flesh, looking down upon the world that had been vexing it for so long. This wasn't the first time the Conquest race had failed to take this backwater planet, but it had proven to be the most costly of all the attempts. Between the monsters and overall chaos of the world there were no strategic points to take, just many small nations each ruled by a being who had no qualm with burning the world around them just to destroy his forces. It was troublesome to a degree that he found uncomfortable.

A small green creature interrupted his thoughts, bringing over a tablet and putting it into the giant's hands. Upon the screen was an image of the heroes standing over their defeated enemies, a picture taken from one of his stealth drones. The figures were ones he recognized, the so-called 'heroes' of the world. Frustration tore through the alien leader as he crushed the tablet, hate flowing through him like a virus. Another interruption to the grand plan.

France- Paris

The members of La Squadra lounged around a comfortable government provided base, the former villains having been touted as the 'heroes of France' ever since their battle against the Kaiju. Of course this was just a stepping stone to them, a fact well known by 'Napoleon' the enigmatic leader of La Squadra who acted as its tactical head. Already his plans for reuniting the whole of France were being put into action, and once that was done he would set his sights much wider.

However, said plans were interrupted by a ring of his phone, showing the actions of New York as sent by one of his spies in the Americas. "Hm, new plans will need to be made it seems," the man muttered to himself, turning to focus on his allies. "How best to use this to my advantage..."

New York City-New York

As the last of the gangsters threw down their weapons and the villains were detained a familiar sound would ring out from the heroes, the sound of their communicators beeping out a tune in a modified morse code they had once used. 'Return to base, New York Office-Zippy'. The last part was a familiar name to most of the heroes, and most likely Minutes Midnight as well. While underage superheroes were largely frowned upon during their time Zippy had been around the UDF for a number of years, acting more as a mascot and friend then an actual combatant. His meta ability had made him nearly perfect for the job, the ability to copy the best traits and attributes of those around him, so long as they weren't granted by meta abilities. He was a perfect statesman, an amazing martial artist, and so many other talents when among the best and brightest people.

He hadn't been anywhere near the chaos of the final battle, being told firmly to stay at base given the seriousness of the assault being made against the lord of villains. The fact he was still alive all these years later might come as a relief.

But given the nightmare around them, the heroes would also have cause to worry. At the very least the communication seemed to be coming from the UDF base built under the United Nations building in New York, so they wouldn't have to go far.

Salamander glowered at Plasma, what a wretched creature, a parasite even. And now it lay so helpless before him was this the state of modern man? Despite the satisfaction of a fight finished efficiently hedid not allow the victory to go to his head. They had brought order to the surrounding streets, at least for a time, but they need more than violence to create a better world. For one thing, they would need some sort of official sanction and support, but he wasn't even sure that governments still existed. To say it was a major concern would be an understatement. He sighed, brute force never was enough to solve his problems, but it served his enemies just fine. Perhaps it was simply the nature of this reality that everything noble crumbled to dust, subverted by the base and foul.

Lost in thought as he was, he was extremely startled by the sudden activation of his communicator. It looked like somebody wanted to meet up with them. ostensibly it was Zippy, and indeed it seemed unlikely that somebody else had gained access both to their communications and to their codes so quickly, but in a world of the extraordinary it was always a possibility. Never the less, they didn't exactly posess a wide range of options. They would have to take the chance.

"I suppose we have our course laid out for us. I suggest we attempt to rendevouz with this fellow claiming to be our, err, whatever it was that his role was." He avoided saying Zippy's name he had no issue with the individual, but his moniker was really most unprofessional. "We shoulkd of course remain with our guard up, it may be a trap, but I don't see many other choices available. The other tasks at hand are to find some mans of detaining the downed metahumans, and perhaps searching for Minutes Midnight's bunker. Does anybody prefer a particular task?"

Gilgamesh

Slamming Bulkhead's big misshapen head into the ground, Gilgamesh took out her sword and held it high, shouting to the heavens in triumph.

"BEHOLD! The great beast has been vanquished, and the great king Gilgamesh stands in glorious triumph! As have the other fearsome heroes and champions that have come to this city's aid in their hour of need! To all those who would bear witness, whatever evil has befallen this city will soon be vanquished, and order will be restored! But to those who would stand against this city's salvation, who believe that justice no longer has a place in this world, know it that does. That true justice continues to live on, as it always has done. For we are living proof. SO SAYS GILGAMESH!"

She was ready to give an encore, but her communicator blasted before she got the chance. "Darn contraption! No better than those confounded charlatans at court!" She had largely gotten used to modern technology in her second incarnation, but it didn't make it any simpler.

"But perhaps we should take a moment to get our bearings? I have no intention of letting our friend's call go unanswered, but it'll do us no good if we rush into a potential trap like a herd of drunken oxen. It may behoove us to learn of the state of this brave new world before we go making things worse."

Edited by kkhohoho on Jun 19th 2021 at 10:28:03 AM

Sanji Sawamura

“Yeah, the kid’s still alive and kicking, though he might not be such a kid anymore. Don’t give him hell, we’ve both been through it,” Sanji sighed, lighting a cigarette now that the battle was over. It was a habit he had never managed to entirely kick. “He looks different, and became more grown up over all these years. So I suppose it’s to be expected that you also treat him as an equal now, does that sound about right to you all?”

“If you want a tour, I can give it to you,” he offered, puffing on his lit cigarette. “But there’s not much to see around here. Save for concrete, concrete, and more concrete. And also broken concrete. Can’t forget about that!”

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 21st 2021 at 9:30:28 AM

Robert

"Sanji!" Robert landed nearby upon finishing up dealing with Steel Cage. He was now feeling much more liberated to finally get some answers about all of this. He knew so little, the idea was eating away at him. His son...his grandson, what happened to them? Little Justin couldn't be...dead? Could he? No, no. He knew his son well enough to know he'd take care of the kid...surely...

"Can you...please...give us all some explanation?" He asked in a pleading voice, "What exactly happened to the world since we were...wherever we were?"

"Where is my son? My grandson?"

Sanji Sawamura

“First of all, there’s this place in Idaho called the Henderson Factory that’s grown exponentially throughout the course of fifteen years,” Sanji said, sticking one of his hands in his pockets. “So if any of your next of kin are still around, that’s where I’d start looking. But I don’t know much about the place, other than it’s a huge conglomerate of production lines and suchlike that absorbed lots of other companies to get huge.”

“As I said, things went to shit after we died, like we were the ones holding everything together,” he continued, more softly, scuffing at the ground with his boots. “Villains came out of the woodwork, warlords arose, that kind of thing, and nobody was as experienced as us, so they couldn’t stop it. Tech has become better, and while more weapons can kill, medicine has really progressed in response to that.”

“Me, I can’t tell you much, but Zippy probably can. I was basically stuck as a thinking statue in a museum—headless until they found my head and put it back on—up about when a lightning strike set me free. Lots of people visited and talked around me. I’m shocked I didn’t go insane. My family pretty much still holds me in contempt, though,” Sanji added, laughing humorlessly. “They even brought their little kids over just so they could point out how bloodthirsty and craven I got, supposedly, after getting these puppies bound to me.”

The hilts of Sanji’s twin nameless blades hummed as he patted them.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 21st 2021 at 9:43:32 AM

Robert

Well, that was both good news and bad news.

The good news he guessed was he could tell where to go if he wanted some answers...Idaho? Idaho? Well, things had changed, and evidently that state was now a center of industry if the Henderson Factory was any indication. It gobbling up its rivals and any of their land though spoke to a monopoly within the state. He'd have to look into the ownership and see what was going on before taking action.

And that would need to wait until whatever was going on here with these villains was taken care of. He also needed to figure out who in all was in charge of nations and states. One problem from back in the day were the despicable leftovers from World War II - the ODESSA. Were they still around? Last he remembered they set up some bases in Argentina before he and the others went to fight Diabolic.

"I recall that Waldher Schreier was still amok when we got pulled into that...time vortex. Did anything happen with him and his ilk?" He had no way of knowing the things that had gone on - personally as well as on the international stage.

"I can't imagine these villains here would get their ideas from themselves. They're not big enough for that. There has to be someone pulling the strings in New York. A big fish directing all the guppies around."

Sanji Sawamura

“Yes, I remember Schreier. Asshole that he was had asshole twins with powers and they’re asshole tourists too. Beat a guy up when he told them they couldn’t take pictures in the museum and then put him on top of me and took more pictures,” Sanji hissed, hands shaking with anger. “The youths of this age are thankfully somewhat okay but those two, I’m going to pay back with all of my capacities. They’re not human.”

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 21st 2021 at 9:52:53 AM

Vibing in the Aftermath

When everyone's communicators went off, Minutes jumped in place out of the sudden beeping coming from everyone else and the explanation wasn't really that comforting.

"Oh, the copycat twerp is still around. Yaknow, I'm still sour after he duped my robotics knowledge. He didn't put in the time to learn. Hmph! Hmph I say! I say we find my bunker, get me a fresh set of robot minions so I'm not running around poking people with a prod and then we'll see about the remains of Heroes Incorporated..."

Gilgamesh

"That's not an abominable plan, but I wouldn't be so hasty." Gilgamesh put a firm hand on Midnight's shoulder, gripping it tight and keeping him firmly in place. "Perhaps my memory deceives me, but not more than half an hour ago, you were standing right at the good Doctor's side. You may not be the devil incarnate, but you have given us more than our share of trouble. Is there any reason we shouldn't leave you with this band of miscreants to share their fate?"

Edited by kkhohoho on Jun 22nd 2021 at 4:07:29 AM

Revival

Revival's instincts urged her to get down there, to mop up the enemy metahumans and let herself be seen doing it. The people who stuck around after the hard part were the ones who got the attention, were more accessible to the various media outlets who were angling for a scoop. She'd been on both sides of that equation, and she knew the formula.

Unfortunately, she suspected the formula had changed a bit in the past few years. She vaguely heard True Steel quizzing Blood Ronin on the state of the world, but while he seemed to be interested in the big players, she wondered about the state of communications these days. His mention of the museum he had been trapped in most piqued her interest, and she made a mental note to visit it sometime soon. If this world was so chaotic, who controlled the news? How had they been reported on when they'd disappeared? How quickly would word of their return spread to the masses?

As she scanned the landscape with a shrewd eye, her gaze fell upon the massive, iconic Mega Screen in the distance. It looked surprisingly intact, even functional, compared to the rubble around it. Another thought occurred to her.

Something had caused this fight. No matter how out of hand things had gotten, Revival sincerely doubted that the level of violence they'd stumbled into was commonplace. The aggression on show had seemed almost desperate, and clear factions had been nearly impossible to discern. What had everyone so scared?

The throb of her ankle pulled Revival roughly out of her ruminations. She had more pressing concerns at the moment.

Below her, Gilgamesh was seemingly attempting to assess whether Minutes Midnight posed a threat. She didn't like the villain, but they'd at least tried to help.

"Gilgamesh, Midnight may be corrupt, cowardly, duplicitous, and downright despicable, but they tried to calm this chaos with us, which is more than I can say for many. We might be better off keeping them on a tight leash instead of cutting them loose."

She gave Gilgamesh and the others a nod. She'd spoken her piece, but she was happy to leave Minutes Midnight's ultimate fate in her allies' capable hands, and this was her opportunity to escape their scrutinizing gaze. If she remembered correctly, there was a hospital just a few blocks from the United Nations building. She didn't know what kind of condition it would be in, but it was her best option.

"I'll meet you at Zippy's place. I have something I need to do first."

Vague, potentially misleading, but not quite a lie. Her modus operandi. Gathering the air currents around her with effort, Revival let the wind carry her off the other side of the building and out of sight.

Budoka

As Plasma slumped over, Budoka caught the villain and slung her over a multi-jointed shoulder, held between two of her right arms.

She recouped with the others, she noted for the first time the villain amongst them.

"Midnight," She said, "Before you lies the end result of villains gaining power. I would ask you to look within yourself, and consider if remaining a villain is truly what you wish. You've helped us today, and it's been long enough that the world has likely forgotten you. If you ever wanted to redeem yourself, now would be the time."

Budoka pulled out her communicator with a free hand, tapping out an affirmative reply. "I can't speak for Gilgamesh, but I won't fight you unless you start it. Regardless of your feelings towards Zippy, I'd recommend coming with us. You're as lost here as we are."

Bennett nods in agreement with the others. "All right. Zippy's it is." He briefly turns his attention to Minutes. "Like Budoka said, we are all in this together. If you with us, we'll work with you. But beware that should you choose to betray us, we will not hesitate to destroy you." He greatly hopes Minutes would be on their side and stay there. But regardless, in his experiences, anything can happen. People thought to be heroes can turn on their allies. And with someone whom used to be an enemy, Bennett still wishes to keep his eye on Minutes and be prepared to fight back should he need to.

Stalwart

“I don't have anything against anyone, so long as we all play nice,” Jackson decided to contribute, letting his cape fall loose again now that the fighting had stopped. “But yeah. To Zippy's. Surprised he's still around...”

He couldn't help but notice Revival's slightly awkward stance, and upon peering closer his eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something.

...then closed it again, catching onto the fact that it probably wouldn't be appreciated shouted out loud. By the time he'd thought to approach her she'd already flown off, and he grimaced slightly. That could've been a really bad slipup.

“...I'll take a longer way 'round. Fly a bit, see what's changed...” he decided, taking off and saluting casually to the others. “I won't be long. Just a scout around then I'll meet you guys there. Won't get into any fights.”

...in theory, anyways...

Edited by Enirboreh on Jun 22nd 2021 at 2:23:52 PM

A Lot Of Heroes, But Only One Villain

"...'Villain' was always the title you put on me. One that I only embraced to show why I was different to all of you. I spent decades trying to prevent something worse than we see here. I sabotaged and destabilized and allied myself with those who wished to gain control so that the conflict you all ignored would not consume our planet in flames! But sure, I'm the bad guy. Whatever. We're way past midnight here on my little clock and now I'm picking up the pieces as much as you are."

Minutes took a deep breath after that rant and made sure the modulation unit wasn't running too low on power.

"My motives were never selfish..."

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh kept staring Minutes down, but slowly removed her hand as she let him go. "One false move and by the name of my mother in the stars above, you will wish you had never embarked on such a path of folly. But you aren't the only poor soul that reality saw fit to stare in the face."

She waved off Jackson, shouting loud enough that he'd have to cover his ears not to hear. "If you don't get into a most glorious brawl, I'll be sorely disappointed! But stay safe, lad! At day's end, we can see about teaching you the art of celebration!"

She placed her sword back in her sheath, turning to the others. "But if the rest of you are off to see the other lad, then I shall gladly accompany you. The sooner we learn the state of this world, the sooner we can bring it salvation. And I would like to know what has become of my true home." By that, she meant the middle east, but she hardly had to tell them what she meant. "Somehow, I doubt we will discover news in this place."

Edited by kkhohoho on Jun 22nd 2021 at 9:11:16 AM

"Yes, that's what the villains typically do, try to justify themselves as doing something good," Bennett shot back at Minutes, before adding "But now's not the time to argue. I think I might scout around the place too. Even go undercover as one of them."

Then suddenly, Bennett uses his abilities to morph himself into a scraggy-looking Caucasian gang member, with a little bit more muscular depth, slightly taller and with a beard.

"I'll meet you all at Zippy's shortly," he says, with even his voice altered, going from his usual dry, deep and gravely way of speaking to something with a slightly more higher pitcher and more smoother way of speaking. He nods at his companions before going off to look around the city.

"You should hold your tongue Midnight" Salamander glared at the gas-masked villian you may cling to idealogical justificantions, but remember that the man you worked with is the one responsible for the world you see before you. There were countless venues open to you to improve the world, especially for one as talented as you, and you chose none of them. I for one would allow you to remain free for the time being, you are of little threat to us robbed of your context, but it is ultimately for the group to decide."

He turned to his fellow heroes "I think that I will attempt to find somewhere to imprison our downed foes. Sanji, is there a nearby prison I might be ab;e to deposit this sorry triad?"

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Jun 22nd 2021 at 10:50:10 AM

Sanji Sawamura

"For goodness' sakes, lay off the poor man, he's just as confused as the rest of you, dammit!" Sanji commented upon hearing everyone attack Minutes Midnight over the things he had done in the past. "For me, his bad deeds existed over several decades ago. I have no strong opinion either way if he joins or not, but strength in numbers is good if he does."

"There is a jail some ways away from here, but I doubt it can hold these three," he added, gesturing at the fallen villains. "And if the law were effective, they'd be in it already. So do what you will with them."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jul 12th 2021 at 9:47:06 AM