#even if it isnt lit. same dimension. it is.

[istherewifiinhell]

I have like three diff pieces of paper with turtles time fuckery on it and its very enriching but not quite. As nicely diagramable. Really sad cause im trying to figure out if it did sim. Simletain. Uh. Things at the same time circumstances. The hs words. You know em.

[nickdempsey]

Jason Stross vs The Multiverse

So some quick context, fellow Tumblr user @cratmang created an SU character, Conga Tourmaline, an interdimensional traveler that travels through and studies the Alternate Universes of Steven Universe.

They currently have two posts on her on their blog, which goes into better detail on her character.

So I reached out to them and asked if it would be ok to write a quick thing where my character Jason Stross meets her.

They said yes, and the result is an SU OC that isnt an SU OC being tied into an alternate version of @ask-whitepearl-and-steven, an alternate version of @lab-raised-steven, a hint of @revolver-d‘s Black Pearl, an even smaller hint of Symbiotic Titan, and topped off with Doom.

And some Trailer Park Boys for good measure.

Without further ado, I hope you read this and enjoy. lol

_ _ _ _ _

It was clear that Jason was in some sort of space station. Where said station was on the other hand, was the real mystery.

Any time he would have a chance to see through the windows available, all he would see is a thick fog of grey and orange. While he wasn’t sure where he was, one thing was clear.

He surely wasn’t on Earth.

Whoever it was that did abduct him, was of a background he was unfamiliar with, as the technological architecture in no way resembles that of anything he had ever seen. It was still Alien.

With all of that said, however, he was unsure if the unknown entity, or entities, were hostile.

He was stripped of his armor and equipment, leaving him in only his Second Skin suit. If whoever was keeping him here wanted to kill him, chances were he would have already been dead before awaking.

As he walked through the space station, one thing he saw more of were speakers, practically outlining the hallways and rooms of the large structure. Some such speakers, in the distance, seemed to be functioning.

Jason began to travel down the massive hall, toward the other far off end to investigate the source of the noise. As he stepped closer to the source of the sound, which all conveyed in a large lit room in what seemed to be the center of the station, it seemed as if the sound itself was music.

Jason stood confused as he began to recognize the sound. It seemed like familiar music, which more or less seemed to confuse him even more. The guitar strums from the music made it sound like the Earth genre of music known as “Country”.

As Jason approached the main room, he reached down to his thigh, almost out of muscle memory, to retrieve his blaster, only to be reminded that all he had was the Second Skin suit on him.

He had to be careful, as he was not 100% positive that his “host” was friendly. He continued to silently step into the room.

What he saw was a single figure, dancing along with the music. Their back was turned to Jason, so they did not notice him.

The figure in question, was nearly covered in green. Their four arms moving carelessly in the air along with the beat of the music. Jason wasn’t sure if what was at the top of her head was either a hat or hair, but the green object made sure that they stood a good two feet above him.  At first glance, Jason would have guessed that the figure floated, but after further examination, it appeared to be standing on metallic legs.

As Jason stepped forward to the figure, almost on cue as he came close to six feet, the figure turned around, still following the beat of the music. It was then Jason saw the few view of them, their long pointy nose, their goggles shielding their three glowing green eyes, and the headphones over their ears.

It was odd, other features of his captor made it seemed as if they were a Gem. That said, as he got closer to them, their suit seemed to be of other origin than Homeworld. As he got a closer look at their legs, he saw that they were much smaller than expected. The legs seemed to have ended in rather small and sharp points.

The headphones they wore were probably more for show due to the already blasting music, which didn’t turn off, only lowered in volume significantly as the figure recognized the human in their presence.

“Oh excellent!” The figure said as she clapped her four hands together. “You’re awake.” She giggled as she walked past him quickly. “I bet you hear that one a lot.”

Her voice was oddly cheery, seeming to be more focused on the excitement of the music. The most noteworthy factor of her voice was that it seemed as if it were of three different people speaking in unison.

Some of her arms were still flailing the in air to the music as she reached into a nearby drawer to dig through the container.

“No… no… not it.” She kept saying as she rummaged through. “Aha!” She said as she pulled put a round glass bottle of a reddish-brown clear liquid. She returned to Jason, who realized a bow was wrapped onto the neck of the bottle.

“Welcome, Jason Stross!” The Green figure said, as she handed Jason the bottle. “To my Studio!”

Jason took the offered glass bottle, still keeping his eye on the figure welcoming him. As he looked down at the label of the glass container, the description of the contents caught his eye. He looked back up. “Is this-?”

“Coaxian Brandy.” The Figure interrupted with a smile. “Pre-Genesis. Very rare.” She explained. She then extended one of her hands out to Jason. “We apologize, Jason. Please allow me to introduce ourselves, Conga Tourmaline, Interdimensional Traveler, Occupant to the Throne of Loki, unrivaled in magic and technology!” She said in pride, seeming as if it was a name Jason should have heard by now. She reached for Jason’s hand to shake it. “Most call me Conga.”

Before Jason could ask anything else, he heard the lyrics of the song blasting through the speakers.

“No one’s got your back, but whose got your belly?” The speakers yelled at the two.

“What the hell is that?” Jason said to Conga in a demanding tone, his confusion turned into agitation.

“Oh, sorry.” Conga said in a humorous manner as she reached for a control panel. The country music quickly turned off as the speakers switched to a more electronic song.

“Now what the hell is this?” Jason asked Conga, his agitation lowered, but still present.

“You don’t recognize it?” Conga asked. “Jason, it is your theme song after all!”

“What?” Jason asked. “I don’t have a theme song. I’m not some fictional character, where the hell am I?”

Conga raised her finger as if to explain the creators of the two of them, NickDempsey and Cratmang, discussed the possibility of her and Jason meeting. However, Jason was still human, and couldn’t possibly comprehend the possibility of the Fourth Wall’s existence. She decided to go for option B for her explanation of their interaction.

The time to decide on how to explain to him seemed to be more than too long for Jason, as he began to step closer to Conga, seeming to be more threatening.

“Listen.” He said in an authoritative tone, you’re going to tell me or- “

“Jason Stross, even without our Interdimensional Powers, I am still a fusion of three Gems. Three.” Conga said, almost in a bragging matter. “I believe that we would be considered a difficulty to harm, even by the great Reaper of Kul-Baris- “

“Don’t call me that.” Jason demanded; his aggression grew back up.

The phrase sent a chill down Conga’s back, or spine if Gems could have one. It was enough to understand why some lesser Gems in this dimension to grow fear upon the mere mention of her human guest.

“I don’t suppose ‘Blue Diamond’s Pet’ is a better title?” Conga asked, receiving the same glare from Jason. “That was a joke.” She was quick to say.

“Why am I here?” Jason asked. “Why did you kidnap me?”

“Kidnap?” Conga asked, as if to defend an accusation. “We saved you. You were almost killed by that Black Pearl!”

Jason remembered the encounter in Angel City. He was responding to a series of complaints of disappearances, only to find the violent Gem in question.

Jason had to admit, much to Conga’s defense, the Pearl did beat Jason into an inch left of his life.

“Fine.” Jason said to Conga as he placed the bottle of liquor on a nearby table. “So, you did, but that still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Well, as I’ve said…” Conga began her explanation. “During our interdimensional travels and studies, I’ve tended to notice you a few times when investigating a few AUs.”

Jason looked at Conga with a combination of confusion and curiosity. “AUs?”

“Alternate Universes.” Conga said as she moved past Jason toward a door on another side of the room. The door was closed until she approached it, causing it to open to reveal a darker lit room. The only source of light seemed to be from a series of screens inside the smaller room.

Conga looked back to Jason, as if remembering that he was still there after a split second of forgetting his presence. “Right this way, please.”

Her demeanor looked more or so like someone excited to show him a project.

Jason slowly began to approach the room, looking from behind Conga.

The source of the light, evidentially, was a series of large, floating screens flying around the small room.

“Alternate Realities, to be specific.” Conga began to explain in an amused and excited way, almost as if she had rehearsed her speech. “Universes vary. All are different. Be it a small difference, such as an object being a different color, or something huge, such as a historic event ending in the opposite way.”

A screen descended between Jason and Conga, who presented the screen to him.

The screen showed Jason in his Paladin armor, along with three other beings. Two of which were Gems Jason had not seen before. One was a Pearl, lacking any color and an eye. The other Gem, which seemed to be closer to Jason in the image, was a Blue Gem, a few inches under Jason’s height. The Gem in her chest was suspiciously a familiar shape. An odd shape to be in a Gem that small.

The third, was a small child, which seemed to have a Gem of his own pointing out of his forehead. The sight was odd, he knew he never saw the kid before, but he seemed familiar at the same time.

“I first found out about you in an alternate universe of White Diamond Steven…” Conga said to Jason.

“Huh?” Jason asked upon hearing the name Steven. “You mean the kid in Beach City? With the Crystal Gems?”

“Exactly!” Conga excitingly said. She then pulled another screen showing only Jason in a cell.

A thick wall of glass separated his cell with another, holding what seemed to be the same kid from Beach City they were just talking about.

Unfortunately, the two seemed miserable in their location, almost seeming trapped.

“This one is an alternate version of the Lab Raised AU.” Conga said as she pushed the screen away from the two, directing Jason toward the rest of the screens. “You seemed to be in so many alternate versions of the universes I was looking into, we did some digging and saw alternate versions of your own universe.”

“Alternate versions?” Jason asked Conga, looking over to another passing window which revealed him sitting in a booth, sharing a table with a man wearing red goggles and a large, black hat covering his long, silver hair. The other man seemed calm, while Jason had an expression of agitated annoyance on his face.

“Exactly!” Conga said excitingly. “Technically speaking, the universe you are from is an alternate version of your original universe.”

She was only met with the facial expression of more confusion when she looked at Jason Stross. “Right…” Conga said as she continued on her spiel.

The words that came from Conga’s mouth seemed to have went from one of Jason’s ears through the other, as he just continued to look at the other “windows”. Some seemed to be recreations of previous events he had been in, minus a small detail or two.

Then the few that really caught his attention, seemed to be windows into other worlds. Places that Jason would never see himself being in.

However, he was still there. In each window, different in one way or another, he was still there.

One however, caught his attention.

“What’s the deal with this one?” Jason asked, interrupting Conga Tourmalines lecture on the infinite universes.

Conga looked over to the window Jason was looking over to. “Oh!” She said excitingly, walking over to Jason and the window. “This one is interesting.” She resumed her excited tone. “This one is similar to this current universe.” She explained. “Only, except of arriving on Earth, you arrive to the planet of Argent D’nur.”

Jason looked at the window, studying it. While he had “less than pleasant” feelings about his time on Earth, it now seemed like cake walk next to the universe he was currently looking at.

He only saw a small glimpse of it, but it seemed more than enough.

All he saw of his time in “Argent D’nur” was him, in complete, unfiltered fear, as he was grabbed by the collar of another human in an arena looking environment.

The other figure in the window, however, complimented Jason’s fear, with complete, untainted rage as he raised his fist to punch Jason’s entire head out of existence.

Due to no audio feed, Jason could not tell what the other being was saying at first, but he could read lips. If Jason was right, the other being was saying “Rip and Tear.”

“Unfortunately, you do not last long, in that universe.” Conga said in a sudden grim tone.

[kirbythoughtsihave]

He who has conquered the Star

AN: SORRY I wrote this like an hour ago and I am falling asleep right now

    There once was a legend on an ancient planet. A planet of beings so wise and powerful, that only they could defeat themselves. They knew of this, and in order to stay safe, they encourage friendship as much as possible. This worked, and the pitfull of many was fixed by the beings of seemingly infinite wisdom, however even the smartest of minds couldn’t count on luck.

    A group of ancients began to work on the power of friendship, and how it could be used for good. This pleased many, as frenship couldn’t be harmful, right?

    The group tested everything, gathering survey to inform, stalking for info, and experimenting with their own bonds for the sake of knowledge. This disturbed the other ancients and they tried to help the group. This only provided more test subjects as the group lied about their feelings and waited to see the results of this path.

    In the end, they found that friendship could be physically manifested and that it could be used to create and destroy. They created tools; tools of hope, dreams, and power. Wish granting devices and cretors that created on their own. However, that group wanted to learn more, so they focused more on the components of the friendship.

        Hear, Soul, Mind, and Dark were all the components of friendship. This puzzled the group, how could matter of darkness be a friend, and so they isolated the component, into a matter most dark, and with this condensation of darkness, a being was born.

        The scientist freaked out and tried to destroy their creation,but all of the energy would be abused by the void. The group screamed for the other ancients, and they came rushing by as the dark being tried to consume the group. The whole planet tried to fend back the being of their own creation, the being trying to find the group that created it. All it knew was destruction; whether it be from it or them.

    The void absorbed every bit of magic and technology thrown at it, and created spawns to help with the search, until four individuals joined forces to fight against a common threat. These four allies used the matters that the matter of dark was missing and forge them into sphere and used those sphers to imporsion the monster.

        The battle was won, but the lives lost caused the planet to become inhabitable. The planets intrade with the ancients home collapsed without an economically infrastructure, and the group, the indirect destroyers of planets, were scattered in hiding, may they be out of shame, or out of fear.

        This only got worse, as the way to create beings out of matter became known, people foolishly began created life. However, things changed.

    A group of sorcerers combined all the matters of friendship, gave the creation a heroic heart, and took away all traces of darkness. This bore two beings, of yellow and pink, however that story is for another time child.

    Kirby shook themselve,’ why were they having flashbacks now,? We are in ANOTHER DIMENSION...’. Their eyes darted to their side. Dark Meta Knight, Darouch, and Marx were annoying Meta Knight as Susie and Magolor observed. Rick, Kine, and Coo were talking to some of the helpers who were...helping. Gooey was floating next to Ribbon and Adeline, and the girls had nevose looks on their faces. Taranza was talking to Bandanna Dee and Dedede, most likely about government stuff- the sort of thing that made Kirby fall asleep whenever Dedede complained about it during a meal.

    Speaking of meals…”Hey Adeline. Is STILL LIFE ready?”

    “Kirby...I just used it.”

    “Yeah but…….that looks to be boss coming up”

    The artist looked in front to see several essence surround an elegant door, and paused. “Guys! I think that’s where all these portals are coming from!” The group all stopped their conversation and examined the gold door that was coming up.

    “Okay, are we all healed?” asked Bandanna Dee.

    “I could go for some food right now”

    “But are you healed?”

    “...Yeah..” The group did a double check, Kine and Darouch were missing some health, but the group was in great condition. With that, they entered the door to the corrupted officiant.

(0^0)

    Everyone felt tired, they had just fought Hyness and the Three Mage Sisters. The helpers that helped were collapsed by the body of Hynessx leaving only the dream friends and Kirby standing(besides the aforementioned sisters). The Sisters opened a portal back to the Gamble Galaxy with four warp stars waiting for them. They restored Hyness's heart, and were on the warpstar when another portale appeared. The star allies look at Hyness in suspicion.

        “Juh? Japologa, but this is not me Majaja.”

    The allies looked at each other and sighed, ‘welp, I guess we’re doing this’ was a common thought among them.

    “Wait, I might be able to help.” Hyness summoned the pink spheres of legend and shot them at each of the warp stars. The stars lit up and combined in a flash of light, and each crating a bigger star, a STAR SPARKLER. The allies nodded and hopped on in a four single file line, one group per four stars. As they entered into the darkness they heard a faint, “We’ll take care of anything that comes out!” from the mage sister below.

    Inside the portal, the darkness faded as the group ended up on a large flat mirroring surface, as what looked to be the galaxy watched. In the center layed a morphing blob of sharp spikes of darkness. It molded itself into a giant form, larger than any being that Kirby and the gang have ever fought sans Star Dream.

        The giant was TRUE VOID TERMINA, and it was a titan on darkness.

    Eyes appeared all over the body and the four stars split up to take the down. Rick, Kine, Coo, Gooey, and Marx took the left, Adeline, Ribbon, Darouch, and Dark Meta Knight took the right. Taranza, Magolor, and Susie shot the eye in the back, while the main four took the eyes in the belly and on the head. The titan’s face mask flew off as Kirby’s star flew inside.

    “This is gross,” mutter King Dedede.

    “Said the person who was eating rotten food earlier,” quipped Meta Knight.

    “Possession!’

    “Guys could we not fight each other in the middle of fighting someone else” said Bandanna Dee.

        “Fine”

    “Fine”

    The Shell came off with the combined forces of an electric  hammer, sword, and sphere. The force of the shell blew the four friends out of the body of the void.

           Void Termina’s body directed the newly unleashed power brought upon by the removal of the shell and wings of a familiar foe sprang from it's back. The white and red wings had eyes form on them, and the star allies knew that they had to do this phase again.

           The titan's body cramped up in pain from the shots fired by the four stars, and was sent crashing into the ground with the loudest thud some of them have ever heard.

           Again, the face-mask fell off, but this time the four Star Sparklers rushed into the body of the colossal. Then their eyes met with eyes most familiar.

“ Kirby...what”

“Kid...explain”

“How”

“What”

“Who”

           Kirby froze. Those eyes. The eyes of the star traveler. The eyes of a created being, the eyes of puffballs. They were staring at them with the innocence of a newborn. Kirby stared at the being for what seem to be an eternity, but both knights were re yelling at them. They glanced at their friends, eyes in confusion, panic, and fear. The knights’ eyes were one of fearful recognition.

“You recognize them”, stated Kirby

“They….the eyes”

“What's going on?” asked Gooey.

Kirby laughed and said with a sign,” There were tales of the star conqueror. The being that came on a spring breeze. Living anywhere and consuming all.”

“ Why does that thing look like you demanded Susie.

“For they are me and I am them. We were made the same, but the experiences we had changed us.”

“What about us?” asked Dark Metela Knight.

“You were created by that wizard, right?  What made you think he had the right recipe, o’or winged one?”

“Kirby, stop talkin’ like that” said Dedede.

“ Apologizes, but this is a family matter an-” Kirby was cut off as a laser was shot at them. “ Oh right, final boss.”

The dream friends rushed at the boss, swinging everything they had, and used the confusion and betrayal as fuel to fan their flames.  The orb laughed and smiled as the final blow came down, knowing the fate they will receive. The orb exploded and everything went to white.

(0^0)

Kirby woke up to the burnt face of Zan Partizanne tending their wounds. “ What happened?” asked the pink puffball.

“After you left we fought a butterfly and then there was an explosion on the other side of the portal and all of you guys came out with magical injuries.”

“ If you really think about it...isnt everything a ma-”

“That's it, you aren't getting the wait on your explanation.”

“Wwwaaa-”

“ EVERYONE!!! KIRBY IS AWAKE!!”

         The room flooded in with helpers and dream friends. They all had a pensive look on their faces. “Kirby...what was that?”

Ohh..ohh…

“ It's a long story,but here's the abridged version.”

[ohgoddard]

Fist of Fire.5.

Reverse laughed a hearty laugh. Around him, sitting along a long wooden table were several other people doing the same. Clasping each others hands and roaring. Beer was aplenty there in bottles and cups, as the bar was lively with discussion and music. It was the first evening after his club meeting, and Reverse was feeling happy for once. Around him were his friends, his family. People he grew up with. The members of Laurens SHS.

“We don’t get to get together often do we?” one of them said. “Well, we did all go our separate ways, I’m just surprised to see us all here.” Reverse looked over the attendance. While Laurens SHS originally had 13 members, only 9 remained. He took a quick swig of his mug, then stood.

“Thank you all for coming out here today and help me beat up several children.” The audience cheered and raised their drinks, men and women alike. “I would like to propose a toast, a toast to our fallen comrades and a toast to our continued health.” Several nods and cheers from the table came. Reverse raised his glass, and others did the same. “A toast to Huntsman, to Meteor” Reverse paused and let out a deep breath, “And to Helios.” “TO HELIOS!” The party took a hearty swig and Reverse sat down. Everyone went back to talking, but Reverse was content to just sit back and be in the moment. He always did this in this group. He liked to sit back and let everyone else speak. It’s his rest for bringing everything together, which is how it always worked. Reverse thinks back to his time in the Laurens SuperHero Security and chuckle at how he always had to formulate the plans of attack, pick the dinner menu. Not because he was told, but because no one else would. Even Mr.Laurens, while he was brave and righteous, was a very forgetful man. 

But those were the days. The days when he and his buddy Tapout would disguise themselves and take on amateur boxing tournaments, only to get caught by Mr.Laurens who was betting in the crowd(he bet on them knowing their identities,but was still cross they decided to do it in the first place). They would be out to amazing places in the US, touring the largest cities and going to the wildest parties. However, only as bodyguards or bouncers but it was still something. And it definitely beat the alternative, being out on the streets and scrounging for scraps. I really lucked out when I met Mr.Laurens, Reverse thought. A smile creeped its way upon his face.

Reverse’s train of thought was interrupted when he picked up on a conversation happening to the right of him. “....but isnt it strange how we all ended up in Atlanta though? Like it is almost weird how we all had career defining moments that brought us all to this one city.” That had been something that had been bugging Reverse for a while. He only took the job in the AHA because of how many of his old friends were down here. He had asked them why they all came here and got a variety of answers. Most of them were job offers, they were all ex-pro heroes and this was a growing city. The first to come here though, his buddy Tapout, said he was on the trail of the villain Reverse can only think about as The Betrayer. It was not his name but it was the only thing he dare name him as. Tapout had followed him to Atlanta and looked for him for months before his trail going cold. He eventually grew roots in the city and decided to stay there, starting the chain of all the old Laurens SHS crew coming down. Well, Reverse thought, not all.

Reverse remembered the day he heard the news that the famous Hero Couple Huntsman and Meteor were lost in the fight. They were overseas and were fighting the warlords in the newly broken China, when the villain Guang He broke a mountain ontop of them. Even though Guang He was shortly defeated by Forest King, their deaths still shook the world. And Reverse.

Tapout, who was sitting at the other end of the table, stood up and stretched. “Well, it was nice to see all of you. And thank you, Joseph, for letting me use my abilities again. I missed punching through the dimensions. And to teenagers? Say no more.” The table collectively had a small laugh. Tapout was an average sized guy, standing around 5’9 and had a very stocky body. His age and lack of hero work had done works on him, and his rotund stomach and flabby arms showed it. One could describe him as if Mario became a real person. He could still put punches downrange though. “Think nothing of it, tiptap. Glad to have you here,” Reverse replied, raising his mug. “Alright alright, I think I ought to head home now. My wife will start asking questions. Keep touch now ,yall hear?” A trail of goodbyes followed him out the door, and the group went back to laughing and drinking away the night.

Tapout was whistling, hands in his pocket, on his way home. Atlanta was a lively city even at night, with traffic backed up for miles and music blaring from every bar and restaurant. The buildings climb ever and ever higher as space grows more and more limited, but thats just the life cycle for the big city. Tapout had lived here for a good deal of time now, around six years now, so he knew the city like the back of his hand. Which was impressive, as Atlanta was known for its lack of urban planning and its gloriously awful sprawl. Tapout turned down one alley, then the next, walked over a bridge and under another, the streets turning quieter as he approached the less traversed and more residential parts of the city. The tall brick towers were dark, save for a few lights on the windows. He was moving down the last Alley when-

“Took you long enough”.

Tapoout halted. Standing at the other end of the alley was standing a tall, slender figure dressed in a three piece suit. The alley was lit with three malfunctioning bulbs on wall lights, and they did very little justice lighting up the danger in the situation. The man in the suit was leaning against the wall, holding an oak wood cane. Upon his head was a long tophat and a pair of dark spectacles rested on his nose. “Tapout, its been too long.” Tapout stood their, terrified. Years ago, he came to this city tracking him down, but now that hes here? Tapout instantly took his fighting stance. “You will not get away this time you punk. You’re not going to do to me what you did to Victor.” The man in the figure laughed, the lights flickering for each breath he took in. “No, I will not do to you what I did to our ‘righteous and caring’ leader. I want to take my time. See, you trailing me here set me back by YEARS.” When he screamed that final word, the ground itself shook and the lights flickered. “It has taken me so long to rebuild what I had destroyed in D.C,  longer because of you.” The figure pushes himself front he wall he was leaning on and begins to take a small, leisurely walk towards Tapout. “I’m going to get my revenge on you, once and for all. And its going to be all too easy. Your family has made you weak, while I only grew stronger. You made yourself fat and slow, while I only grew more power.” Tapout throws off his coat he was wearing, revealing his outfit. A t-shirt with jeans, not the most flexible outfit, but he could make it work. Tapout threw a punch and, out of nowhere around the figure, seven fists come out to attack him. All seven land upon the figure in different spots and he’s thrown back. He flies down the alley, and Tapout pursues. The figure was laying on his back, but started laughing. This makes Tapout pause, and stands and watches in horror as the body begins to rise. Floating in the air now, looking down at tapout, was the figure. “You’ve gotten weaker, just as I said.It used to be in the old days you could throw a hundred. Seven? That is pathetic. You’ll find me not lacking in mine own skills however. In fact,”  as he was speaking the man raised his hand, “ I have some new tricks.” Tapout went to throw another hook but found hismelf stopped. His arms, legs, whole body found itself halted in place. It could not move an inch. Then, his body began to rise as well. “Do not worry about your family, dear. I came by and took care of them. No one will ask any questions as to your disappearance. Its a big city, after all.” Tapout grit his teeth, his anger taking control. He nodded with his head and around the figures came ten iterations of him, headbutting the figure. Disoriented, he loses control on Tapout and he falls the to ground. And as he did so he heard several snaps.

Tapout was laying on the ground, legs and arms broken from the fall. The man in the suit, now no longer floating, was walking towards him. A hand was on the top of his head, rubbing it.

“I must admit, i’m surprised. I did not think you had anything left in you.” Tapout looks up at the man in the suit, and spit on his shoes. “You”, he spoke through a bloodied nose,” wont get away with this. We’re..we’re all here.” The man smiles, then kicks Tapout in the face. “Oh, I know. I brought you all here. It didn’t take much, you know. A call here, a favor there. Giving each a reason to come. The only ones who I couldnt get here were the ‘Wonder Couple’ and Reverse. And those problems took care of themselves. In fact, I was even overjoyed when I heard Reverse died. He was the only one of you pathetic rejects who even had a chance of beating me, and with his death to that monster I unleashed in Boston? I am practically given the keys to the country.” Tapout looked up at the man in the suit, and coughed up blood. But, then he started laughing. “You *cough* you idiot. You wont get away with this, Planeteer.” The man in the suit kicked tapout in the stomach, causing him to cough up more blood.

“I’ve always hated that name. Its a shame it came to this, Tappie.” He leaned in, inches away from Tapout’s head. “But I need to get rid of all connections I have to my past. Sorry to say that you’re the weakest.” As he said that, he straightened up, then raised his cane behind his head. 

“And by the way, the name has been changed. Its Emesh now.” His cane came down upon Tapout’s head, and it all went black.

Reverse had awoken that Saturday morning with a headache, a sign of his age catching up to him. He fell out of bed and stumbled into his kitchen, pouring himself a cup of much needed coffee. After a few minutes of his headache subsiding, he sat down on his couch and turned on the TV. He always watched the news in the morning, a force of habit due to his hero days. They were running the usual schlock today, break in this, political scandal that, taxes-

“This just in, Breaking News. Former Professional Hero Tapout found dead in alley this morning by landlord.”