(This is for Gregzilla, Adri and myself)

"Well, another day, another batch of thugs."  Spider-Man wipes his hands as he sees a group of police begin to cart off the aforementioned gang members.  "Man, this feels good."

After months of traveling all over, of dealing with things like the Heartless, it was nice to go back to just plain old street-level super-heroism.  It was honestly a stroke of luck that he was able to arrive in New York.  True, it wasn't the New York he knew, but it was still the Big Apple.  Firing a web-line, he swings off, ready to do more good.

He arrives on a rooftop, an alleyway nearby.  [i]If it's dark and off the beaten path, there's crime... or rats.  But I'm betting crime.  Then again, maybe it's both.[/i]  Dropping down from the roof, he spots a man wandering in the alleyway.  [i]Nope, no crime.  Just a drunk guy and rats.[/i]  He turns around to leave, but his conscious makes him turn around, offering the man a ride to a local police station for him to sober up.  However, he is confused, and perhaps a slight bit concerned, as the man is no longer there.  "Okay...  Either that was Cloak out of costume, a shadow, or..."  He takes a few steps forward, his feet touching against some puddle.

He looks down.  "Oh, no."  Immediately, the puddle covers over him entirely.

[b]3 days later...[/b]

A flash of light, and Batman steps out onto a rooftop.  Luckily, it was nighttime, and his arrival was not truly noticed.  Reaching into his belt, he extracts his grapple gun and kneels at the rooftop's edge.  He tabs his cowl.  "A.L.F.R.E.D., are you sure Spider-Man's signal came from here?"

Over the world, the Bat-G's AI gives its response.  [i]"Absolutely, sir.  Although the signal has degraded greatly since it was received, the transponder that you handed to him has pinged on this world.  However, I cannot pinpoint his exact location."[/i]

"Then this is going to be a manual search."  Batman releases the tab, and triggers his grapple to fire.  It was time to find a fellow hero.

====

(For Azumi, this takes place in between "Treading Behemoths" and "Risky Business".)

As Batman was searching, pulling the trigger, another flash of light appeared behind him. The woman was shocked to see him at random, yes. It wasn't an everyday occurrence after all. An everyday occurrence would have been getting shot at or humiliated in some way. Or both, albeit probably not simultaneously.

She had two guns on her as per usual. This time it was the Seeker Rifle and the M6S handgun, with the same blades and grenades.

She had chosen this world mostly for some exploration. She needed some time to herself before continuing her quest to expand the InterAssassins in between punishments. Finally she spoke, though watching a silver, think, moon-shaped helicopter of some sort on a nearby rooftop, one with some man in white with a hood who she could not clearly see -- though a green in VISR.

"Hey." What else could she say? She hadn't meant to find him. "Anything going on you need help with?"

Someone in red, meanwhile, was swinging on some kind of rope from building to building, approaching the position of the helicopter on the landing pad across the way. Azumi did not see him, but she could not easily jump this kind of distance. She would need help.

====

(For Kalas, this takes place after the kidnap-rescue thread "Dark Chest of Wonders".)[/size]

Another flash of light appeared on the same rooftop as the Batman and Azumi; this one, however, had not noticed them yet, as his back was facing them. Kalas looked around where he departed, having picked this world at random. His Mauthe Doog companion was once again back on the ship sleeping it off; with all the space around them, it wasn't like he was going to have much luck moving around. The blue-haired hero walked to the edge of the rooftop and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge.

It's been some time since he and Cheryl had been saved from the clutches of that bastard, Ignis Fatuus. He still wanted to kill him for what he did, how he captured them, what he made him...it still made him sick to his stomach. But there wasn't anything they could have done; he had a base, people to attack for him, more allies than he thought he would have had, including that masked man who messed with his mind before. The illusionist was just getting more powerful by the minute...

Kalas sighed, trying to get that off of his mind. He was here to try to clear his thoughts from that particular incident. Instead, without yet taking notice of the two nearby, or the man in red swinging from building to building towards where the moon-shaped helicopter was placed, he took out one of his Magnus. The next of his special attacks, one with a green background with the image of many quick sword slashes, the roman numeral VIII at the bottom.

Only one more to go, he told himself. His gaze then went to the night sky, to the stars above, as he once again went deep into contemplation. [i]'Two years...'[/i]

====

Batman pauses before he flies off.  His head turns around, noticing Azumi, and one other.  He triggers the grapple to detach and retract, and it does so.  He then turns his fully body around, to give his ally his full attention.  "I'm looking for a colleague.  I lost track of him three days ago, and the last place he was pinged at was this world."

(This next part is put up at the request of Gregzilla.)

Azumi nodded. "Any info on this guy I should know? Like what color tights he wears? Considering your other colleagues." She looked out at the next rooftop at the figure who was near the helicopter. The man stands around six feet tall, his entire visage hidden behind a raiment of white.  A cresent moon emblazoned on his chest, a tattered white cape flapping in the wind, and his face hidden beneath a white hood and behind a shadowy mask.  Upon his right arm, he carries a cresent-shaped apparatus, a weapon or tool of some sort.

"Hm... white clothes, cowl, weird helicopter, crescent moon chest insignia... I think I see a white glow on his eyes... yeah, your type. Now, can you give me a lift to that roof? Need to get over there, and unlike you, I'm not equipped to go there." She looked around, seeing someone else coming closer, that one in red. "And that guy? Ring any bells?" She turned around, trying to get a better look at her surroundings...

"Ah sh**."

There he was. Kalas, back in his normal clothing, back to normal. She prayed he hadn't remembered her part in all of that, but knew that was for naught. Still, she needed time, time to avoid him and come back to this later. He'd earned his part in the InterAssassins, yes, but that didn't mean he would let her off easy. That also wasn't counting that she had yet to tell about the Collective, not that she was allowed to say anything. She just wanted to help her mentor, and being berated by him probably would not help. Still, she knew she had to do something. He could fly, she couldn't, and there was only so far she could go. So she sighed, calling to him.

"Kalas, Batman. Batman, Kalas. Gonna head over to that guy over there if you need to follow. If you don't want anything to do with me, go somewhere else."

====

Kalas didn't even need Azumi calling to him to get his attention. He already heard the Mentor speaking with the unfamiliar man, and he wouldn't lie, he felt his stomach churn after hearing her. He remembered catching her when they were about to escape, the embarrassment of having her and everyone else see him the way he was. However, he was also angered to know that she was working for those bastards, indirectly responsible for the kidnapping of himself and the Holy Mother. For that, he had been about to just get off-world, find another place to clear his thoughts before they took notice.

Too late. By the sound of her swearing, she had caught him, and clearly wanted nothing to do with him. He would have left at that, give one retort to his supposed "leader" before looking for a Save Point somewhere...but another part told him to stick around, give some assistance to her and her supposed friend. He would probably need to keep tabs in case she would betray him, anyway.

So, with a sigh, the Divine Child stood up, walked over to the two. He only gave one glare towards Azumi before giving a half-hearted wave to the man in the black suit. In spite of his anger towards the woman, he wasn't going to sell her out; he wasn't like her. "I've got nothing better to do, so might as well help."

====

Batman nods and grabs a hold of Azumi.  Triggering his grapple gun again, he and his companion set off towards the roof opposite their position.  A swift passing of wind over their forms, and the firm impact with metal and concrete confirm their landing on the rooftop.

(Again, this is put up at Gregzilla's request.)

Azumi felt the breath knocked out of her as she was dragged, unfamiliar with this particular mode of transportation, but not questioning it. She landed with a bit of a stagger, looking back to Kalas. She did want to talk to him, to clear the air and get Batman information, but she was not allowed to give it herself. So she just concentrated on her surroundings. The man in white was still there, arms crossed, as another male landed in a crouch. He had on blue tight pants and red boots, and a red higher outfit with white lenses for him to see through an otherwise featureless mask, some black "webbing" over the entirety.

This universe's Spider Man looked to the newcomers, then to the one in white. "What, this your twin brother, arch nemesis, or both, Moony?" he asked about the Batman.

"No, he is not the Hatchet Man," the humorless "Moony" said. "Show no mercy, Spider Man. As he would."

"...right." Spider Man looked to them. "I won't even ask right now. SWAT?"

"Shock troops," Azumi said flatly. "And you didn't ask?"

"Man, as bad as Black Widow..." he sighed, looking to "Moony". "Moon Knight's this guy here, and I'm your friendly, neighborhood Spider Man, though I guess that's readily apparent by now."

Azumi shrugged. "Sergeant Ian. This here's Batman."

Moon Knight didn't have time for this at present. He looked to Spider Man. "I've received information that the Kingpin's men may be making an attempt to rob or destroy the Daily Bugle. Are you familiar with it?"

There were a few moments of silence.

Finally an answer from the webslinger. "Do you even [i]read[/i] the newspaper?"

====

Kalas blinked as the man in the black suit just grabbed Azumi and grappled away to the building. The suddenness of it left him standing there for a moment. "...nice to meet you, too..." Shaking his head, the blue-haired hero brought out his grey wing and mechanical one and followed suite, flying after them. He landed on the building shortly after, just as everyone was introducing themselves.

"Thanks for counting me in, 'Sergeant'..." he said sarcastically, then looked to this "Spider Man" and "Moon Knight" (he had to hold back from asking why anyone would name themselves like this). "I'm Kalas. Before you make any funny comments, it's supposed to mean raven."

The webslinger seemed to raise an eyebrow under the mask, having taken account of the young man's wings. "Hey, you sure you're not one of Vulture's henchmen? Or maybe his evil sidekick?"

Kalas responded with a deadpan, "...I don't even know who the hell that is."

The friendly, neighborhood Spider Man shrugged. "Well, I guess even he wouldn't be crazy enough to hire someone as ridiculous-looking as you. Too easy to track down."

Kalas just rolled his eyes. Great, another one; as if he didn't have enough people commenting on his appearance. Still, he bit his tongue for now as Moon Knight brought up the matter at hand. Something about some head honcho and his goons attacking something. Not all too surprising for someone like him. To Spidey's next quip, the one-winged boy just couldn't stay quiet.

"Probably not. I wouldn't want to read anything that might involve some smart-mouth running around the city in tights."

====

Batman pauses as he stands there, watching and listening to both Spider-Man and this 'Moon Knight'.  Hearing the current situation, he allows the information to digest.  "More than likely, it's a feint.  There's no truly logical reason why this 'Kingpin' would go after a media publisher."  He turns around and looks off in the distance.  This 'Kingpin' sounded similar to Rupert Thorne from his world.  A crime boss, one of the few that could be considered peerless.  "Are there any buildings within the vicinity of the supposed target that are relegated to law enforcement?"

Moon Knight takes some time to think.  He had considered this as well, but the chance that the Bugle would be targeted was still a possibility.  "The closest building that fits that description would the a municipal court building."

"Wait, wait wait...  You're saying that Tons of Fun's trying to fake me out?"  Spidey pauses.  "Actually, that does sound a bit like Shamu."

"There is still the possibility that the Bugle could be targeted, Spider-Man.  We cannot expressly ignore a target for the purpose of finding one with a better chance of being the actual target."  Moon Knight steps forward, his arms crossed.

"In that case, this group should split up into two.  One should go to the courthouse, the other to the Daily Bugle."  Batman extracts his grapple gun again.

"I shall remain behind, to see if I can ascertain any more information regarding Kingpin's criminal activities."  With that, he enters into his Moon-Copter and goes to work.

"Right... and I guess that leaves us four to do the footwork."  Spidey steps next to Batman and fires a web-line.  "So, who goes where, and by that, I totally mean that I call on having the trooper with me."

====

Azumi rolled her eyes, but didn't object. She did want to help, and splitting from Batman would allow them to cover more ground as it was. He could pick the more likely area, while they'd take what this "Moon Knight" had picked up. She looked to the man in white. "If we run into trouble, how do I communicate with you? And how will Batman and Kalas here get the path to the courthouse?"

He was silent for a moment, disappearing into the impossibly small Mooncopter. Then he spoke. [i]"I will have communication with Spider Man. If necessary, I will find your signal and transmit a city-wide map to your ally."[/i]

"... okay, one last thing. What is [i]wrong[/i] with you?"

"Irrelevant. All you must know is I work as vengeance." And the helicopter left, flying off without another sound.

"Sounds like a certain someone I know, though he's more of the night than just vengeance itself." The woman shrugged, looking to Spider Man. "If you drop me, I am so going to kill you." She left aside how impossible that would be, but looked to Batman. "If something comes up, let me know, alright? And Kalas..." She sighed. "Go ahead." She thought it would be better to just get it out in the open, since she was unable to speak for herself on what she wanted so much to tell her mentor. With that, she looked to the web head. "So, you g--"

She gasped, the arm wrapped around her waist gripping closer, and they were off, swinging from roof to roof down the street. Yes, this was not quite the most usual transportation method. But she couldn't really complain with speed.

"I'd say hold on tight, but that'd be a bit redundant at this point!"  The Web-head releases the line as the two begin to plummet towards the streets.  Another web-line fires as this not-so-Dynamic Duo reaches the apex of speed.  The line tightens as the two are propelled sky-high once again.  Another release, another web-line shot, and the reb and blue clad hero runs against the sheer face of a skyscraper, leaping off it and firing one more line, propelling them higher.  He spins a few times in mid-air as he sees his landing spot on top of a building near the Bugle.  One last line sends them up onto the rooftop, the hero landing on his feet.

"So, what were you going to say?"

The soldier staggered a bit, let go, gasping for breath. She was used to some degree of high-flying fights, but they tended to be either under her control to some degree or at least encased within an aircraft of some sort. That was...

"Warn a person!" she shouted angrily. "Some of us aren't freaking superheroes!"

He held up his hands in defense. "Hey, hey! People love the web rides! Time of their lives!"

A deep breath. "Fine, fine, just don't get too comfortable about doing that," she said.

"Don't worry, no reason to worry about that, I've got enough trouble like that as it is," he said, lowering his hands and not elaborating.

She heard some commotion down below. Police sirens. "Hey, have a look," she invited him, trying her best to remain calm and pretend that entire thing hadn't happened.

The man walked over to the roof, looking over as he crouched a bit with her. "...something tells me the Bugle isn't the target."

Azumi watched as about six or so black and white police cars sped down the street toward the direction from which they had come. "You don't say..." she deadpanned, and put a hand to her helmet. "Hey, can you get me that guy's frequency?"

"To be honest?" he asked. "I don't know if I can. But I'll give it a shot."

The ODST nodded slightly, waiting for the frequency, but called in to Batman. "Kilo Two, calling in with the situation. From the looks of things, got some police headed away from our target. Looks like you might be right, so if you aren't there yet, get ready." She hoped that any explanation for her mentor could wait, because she really wanted to talk about it without any kind of combat situation like this.


Kalas just had to sigh, not really liking the idea of splitting up. After all, he and Cheryl got kidnapped the last time that happened. Though it doesn't look like that illusionist bastard would try to track him down again, and if he did, he'll at least see it coming. But, on the bright side, at least he didn't have to stick around with the loudmouth webhead for a bit.

Yes, even he knew this was the pot calling the kettle black. He really needed to find some places where he wouldn't find people with similar qualities to himself.

To Azumi telling him to "go ahead", the Divine Child couldn't help but to frown. As mentioned, he didn't want to sell her out, in spite of his anger towards her. But...she was being forced to work for those bastards, and as much as he wanted to, he can't be the one to pull her out. Not with him still being a target. He wasn't angered at her for possibly selling them out; even though it was a possibility, he knew she hadn't done that. He was angered solely because she was working for them in the first place.

So, once Azumi and Spider Man went their way (with Kalas leaving a mental comment on people needing to learn to warn others before they rush off), he looked to Batman for a brief moment and said, "Well, better hurry and get started then." And with that, he leapt off the building, in the opposite direction from where the two had gone, spreading his wings and flying off. This was more his style; even in a city like this, just feeling the fresh air brush against him was more than enough for him. It was practically his soul...

Kalas shook his head before he could get too deep into this. They were on a mission; no need to go into his personal love of flight. As they continued to make their way, he looked to Batman, who was most likely trailing his own way towards the courthouse. Might as well get it out of the way.

"Listen, er...Bats...can I just call you Bats?" He thought for a moment on how to go about this without selling Azumi short. From what he knew, this was a friend of hers; any hint of anger towards her would just set him off. Sure, he was no diplomat, but he wasn't that petty, either. "I guess I should just tell you about what's happening with Azumi. I dunno if she's told you, or if she's even allowed. Quite frankly, I doubt it." He gave a sigh, before he finally went on to explain.

"From what I know, she's been forced to work with these bastards called 'the Collective'. I've already had trouble with three of them already: Ignis, Dani, and the Scarecrow. There's another, but I don't know anything about her. But either way, I think she needs help. I can't be the one to do it, since I'm a target to them and they might use her to track me down again. Plus the fact that she doesn't want anything to do with me, anyway. But you..." Another sigh. "At least try to talk to her. She's making a mistake with this."

With that out of the way, Kalas went back to the matter at hand. He heard some sirens not far off and went to trail down the source, weaving past the skyscrapers. It didn't take long before he came to a two-story building practically smack-dab in the center. Must be the courthouse, he thought. Landing on the roof, he ducked low, hopefully staying out of sight from any enemies, and looked over the edge after he heard gunshots. He saw the men in uniform ducked behind a vehicle, barely fighting back against a group of red armored soldiers, with guns firing some sort of energy blast as opposed to the officers' relatively normal guns.

Of course, the boy had his own quip for this, "Wonderful. It's like fighting the imperial soldiers all over again."

Still, he had to step in to help out. Spreading his wings once more, he lifted off the roof, bringing his sword and dagger out of their Magnus, and then flew straight for the armored mooks, from behind so they wouldn't catch them. He then flew past them, slamming the dagger by the blunt side against the back of the head of one of the soldiers. They stopped in their previous gunfire to this, their attention now on the winged boy that interfered, who now stopped in midair, facing them with a 'come and get me' expression.

One of the soldiers reached to his helmet, activating the communicator. "Some blue-haired winged freak just stepped in! Get him!"

====

Batman listened as Kalas explained the situation during their rush towards the municipal court building.  He knew the situation in part that Azumi was in, but to get the full grasp of it, and to see just who she was subjected to, especially with someone like Crane... she needed more help than he initially thought.  If needed, he could bring Azumi to Leslie Thompkins... if he could find his world.

However, the sound of gunfire once again draws his attention towards the firefight down below.  Spreading his arms out, he grabs his cape and glides down towards the armored enemies below.  Reaching into his belt, he extracts three Batarangs and palms them.  Landing, he quick-fires all three, each one striking dead center on their targets.

"What?  What is this..."  One of the goons reaches for the weapon embedded in his chest, but is stopped when an electric shock shuts down the suit, as it does to his two other hit allies.

"Contact!  We've got another masked freak here!"  Another set of armored goons turn towards Batman, energy blasts firing his direction.

Back at the Bugle, Spidey fires another web-line.  "Alright.  Let's not dilly-dally, then."  He nods at Azumi.  "You coming?"

====

The ODST nodded, putting an arm on his shoulder. "Come on, let's m--wait." Before he could move, she pointed behind them, to a noise she had heard.

The Moon-Copter was flying by, stopping briefly. Moon Knight spoke. [i]"I have found one of the Kingpin's gliders heading toward the courthouse with his mechanically-enhanced allies. You must move swiftly."[/i]

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she said with a roll of her eyes. "How about this? I hitch a ride on the top of that bird you have, and he goes his own way? That way I can get a good shot off if I need to in a pinch, and I can jump off to let you go."

[i]"That seems... adequate,"[/i] the man said, lowering slightly.

She stepped on, crouching slightly to grab the top. "So let's move."

He indeed did start flying, with her gripping the top, Spider Man swinging on his way at their pace, periodically completely launching himself into the air at random.

Azumi spoke as they moved on. "Just so you know, I'm more prone to using traditional weapons than any of those weird powers. So I'll need something big to blow up some of those heavier mechs. Marines didn't explain that one."

Moon Knight answered calmly. [i]"Marines. I was one once. In some ways it's liberating. Before the padded gloves, the cowl, that cloak. The voices in my head. All gone. Back to the basics. Before the spectacle of it all. When it was a job. Not a religion. When all I knew was what I knew."[/i]

A schizophrenic ex-marine? Okay.... Still, she could understand somewhat, what with serving a woman with a hefty goddess complex on a regular basis. "I can relate."

[i]"Oh?"[/i] A pause as he thought on this. [i]"It's never about what you think it is. Still, someone has to do this. Still, someone has to do the fun stuff. Still, the blade must praise its lord. Still, people want to know, how can I live like this? The blood I've spilled. The blood yet to be spilled. Still, the answer is the same. How could I live any other way?"[/i]

She assumed he was kidding about the "fun stuff" comment. Otherwise he was both a psychopath [i]and[/i] a multiple, or at least a schizophrenic and psychopath. "How do you live with that? With killing your enemies like that, when you might have known things about them? When you had to keep from objectifying them?" She had to know how to handle things with Bruce, after all.

[i]"The risks? The times I've descended into madness? The times I've died? How can I live like this? How could I live any other way?"[/i]

"... I guess you have a point there." She paused a moment. They were getting close to the courthouse, and she could see the fight going on, the many thick-armored heavy troopers there, a few throwing bombs at the courthouse to stick there on a timer. There was also a bomb squad car for concealed detonation. "Just try to keep from following that Khonshu too closely, okay? Is there any other way around it, to avoid worshipping someone if they don't deserve it?"

He apparently would have none of this talk of a lack of piety. [i]"If you do not mind, I will just go back to listening to the voices in my head."[/i]

She was more than a bit deadpan, but had to draw attention to something she had seen on his arms. "...considerate, truly. Just wondering, what are those dart things you use made of? The ones that look like a gibbous moon?"

[i]"Unimportant. They are a gift of the priests of Khonshu. Usable in close and long range for possibly lethal effect if I choose."[/i]

"Okay, so like shuriken. Sounds useful. And this Khonshu? What is his role in things?"

[i]"Khonshu, my patron, is the Egyptian God of Vengeance and the Moon. I am his vengeance--"[/i]

"--and Batman is the night, I know. I went over this." The rest of their travel was relatively silent.

Finally they arrived, Spiderman throwing the last of the smaller tech troopers into another of them to knock him out, grabbing a bomb off of the building and running it over to the car, dropping it in and going for another as another car came. He used a Tech Heavy as a springboard using his webs, even slamming him into the ground and stunning him momentarily as he grabbed another and ran it over. Apparently the police in the area couldn't handle this many armored opponents, not enough gun.

She dropped down off of the copter as it descended slightly, watching as it flew off again, off to what he had been busy with. She was next to Batman. "Sorry we're late," she said, still sounding a bit annoyed with Moon Knight, but saw a large helicopter carrier of sorts coming their way, red like these troops. "Only a few more, guys, we gotta take these out." She sighed at that. How could she take out people like that without lethal weaponry? "Gotta use this," she told him, and drew her handgun, aiming at one of the oncoming Heavies. She shot him once in the shoulder, the explosive bullet making him take a step back before she shot the other, then a knee, then the other knee... she conserved ammunition there, the armor hits enough as she charged forward... and tackled him, slamming his back into the ground. She grunted, punching once, twice, three times into his face with the gun! Finally, she was torn off, slammed into the ground, and he stood up.

She saw, the remaining four bombs were on the courthouse. Spider Man was grabbing one, bringing it over... "Everyone grab a bomb! I can't up there, so just throw it if you have to!" Quickly, she reloaded. They had to move.

(Feel free to Get the remaining enemies on your next post. I'll get the boss over here on mine, or you guys can. I'll give the proper amount of information for its arrival.)


Before the rest of the cavalry arrived, Kalas had been focused on the tech troopers they had at the moment. When the next set of the goons arrived and fired at the Batman, he took the initiative, drawing a Magnus and pressing it against his sword. With the wind energy around his blade, he slashed at the ground, the small whirlwind of his Blue Storm forming right under the armored troopers and sending them flying in different directions. Of course, one of them tried to fire at him while he was thrown, but Kalas managed to block with his winglet, the metal wing thankfully durable enough to take the brunt of the energy blast. With this side down, he felt that Batman would be able to take them out with ease, so the winged boy went to take care of the rest, with enhanced slashes and tossing them to the air before breaking down their defenses.

Right then, he saw another of the tech soldiers arriving on a gliding machine, which dropped a heavier soldier in front of the courthouse. He saw him grab something from his back and toss it right at the building, which stuck on. He also saw the cops bring in a white car with the words 'Bomb Squad' on it.

Bombs. Just what they needed. With a frustrated groan, Kalas just summoned up the Death deck into his hand, as well as deciding to do something different. He merged a Fire elemental Magnus into the deck, and then threw them at the soldiers. Upon contact, they exploded, sending the weaker ones flying once more and the heavy one stepping back just a bit. With that, he then flew for the bomb and tore it right off the building, beginning to fly back towards the bomb squad car while avoiding more fire from the troopers, the shots only grazing by. He tossed the bomb into the car, giving a thumbs-up to the cops afterwards.

The Divine Child had been about to take out the soldiers before him, when he saw more of the machines start to fly in, carrying more of the heavily-armored troops with the bombs. He gave another sigh; they [i]really[/i] didn't need anymore casualties. But, might as well try and make it easier for him and his current ally, especially since the cops didn't have enough firepower.

With that in mind, he swooped down towards one of the soldiers that landed across the street from the courthouse, enhancing his sword with a mid-level Chronos element. The minute he slashed, the bomber was slowed in his movements, once again allowing the Batman to help take it out. He went to his next target, an incoming Tech Heavy that was about to land, and slashed his sword out, sending out the murder of interdimensional ravens of his Shadow Wings. The dark birds surrounded the trooper right when he was dropped, now distracted by the swarm and trying to swat them away. Kalas swooped in, and sent the upward spiral of slashes of his Fangs of Light, sending the elite mook flying away.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to get to the rest of them, the bombs being thrown and sticking onto the building. Not only that, but one of the weaker tech troopers had fired at him, directly at his spiritual wing. He gave a shrill cry, falling to the ground in a violent heap. The boy tried all he can to get back up, get back into the fight before they finished him off. Damn it all, he said to himself, they weren't going to handle this in small numbers...

"Heads up!" That was the voice of Spider Man as he arrived by the fountain and took down the last of the smaller troopers, before he grabbed the bomb and dropped it in the car. Before he went for another, he stopped by the winged boy and hefted him back to his feet. "A bird's no good if his wings are plucked, am I right?"

Though grateful for the help, Kalas showed otherwise on the outside. "And here I was hoping I wouldn't have to stick around with you here."

Spidey just slapped him on the back. "You're welcome. Now how about less complaining, more saving innocent civilians." With that, he swung right back into the action.

Kalas rolled his eyes, but said nothing else, taking out a healing Magnus and pressing it against him to help ease the pain. He also saw Azumi dropped down from Moon Knight's helicopter before it flew off, before she went and fought off one of the Heavies. Good to know she hadn't gone and abandoned them, he thought. Ignoring the pettiness and hypocrisy behind that train of thought, he too went back into the action, giving a boost of his wings and ramming into another of the Tech Heavies that was coming for him. He then flew back, readied his sword...and then pointed it at the trooper, the many illusory swords of his Dream Blade impaling him and taking him out.

It was there that the sergeant shouted for them to grab a bomb. "You don't have to tell me twice!" he shouted back before he flew in to take one of the bombs like he did earlier. The minute he grabbed one, he saw Spider Man swing on over to grab another, quipping, "Got another live one!" before tossing that one into the car. How he could even move that fast was...okay, no thinking about that now. He just went and threw his own bomb into the concealed detonator, about to fly in to grab the last one.

That was, until he saw one of the red helicopters coming to a stop just above them, spotting the Mech it carried. In just one short second, the Mech was dropped, landing in the middle of the streets, the impact knocking back two police cars and an innocent bystander. That was before it rose to its full height, standing at the ready.

Kalas just had to palm his face in more frustration. "That's it. I've had it up to here with enemy machines." Still, he had to help make this easier for them. So he pulled out another special attack as the Mech started forwards, flying high into the air...and then slamming down, stabbing his sword into the ground with a yell, [i][color=teal][b]"Energy Wave!"[/i][/b][/color]

What followed was the plunging wind blow that sent a car flying straight towards the Mech, setting it back and stunning it.

====

Batman looks up at the last bomb stuck against the courthouse.  Firing a line up to a perch above the bomb, he glides to it and hangs upside-down, extracting some tools.  It was a while since he defused his last bomb.  But it was like riding a bike.  Removing the panel over the circuitry, he proceeds to go to work, testing each wire and link to see which held the currents to the timer, and which were linked to the explosives itself.  Finding the right circuit, he pulls out a small solvent and pours it onto the board.  The board sizzles, and the timer deactivates, signaling the neutralization of this final bomb.  "Final one's neutralized."  Grabbing it, he removes it from the building and tosses it.

Behind him, Spidey swings by and grabs the tossed bomb, seeing that this guy was successful.  "Remind me to put you on speed-dial!"  Even if the explosive charge was dealt with, he should still put it in the Bomb Disposal Unit, especially since he didn't want anyone else to get their hands on it.  Swinging over to the robot, he drops the bomb in.  "Alright, that's the last of 'em."  Swinging over to the giant mech, he unloads a massive amount of webbing onto the stunned machine, binding its arms and legs.  Dropping down onto the thing's chest, he feels around.  "There's gotta be a seam around here...  Bingo!"  He fires a pair of web-lines and yanks off the panel, revealing the pilot inside.  "Peek-a-boo!"  Grabbing him, Spidey leaps off the mech and webs up the goon.  Dusting off his hands, he stands with the others.  "Well now, that was easy."

Overhead, another red helicopter arrives, dropping off another giant mech.

The Spectacular Spider-Man stands there, his jaw dropped.  "Now this is just unfair."  Looking over to Kalas, he says, "Next time I say something optimistic, kick me in my tooshie, alright?"  Without speaking any other utterance, he swings towards the mech.  "Let's hope this one's a push...  OOF!"  Immediately, Spidey is sent flying back into one of the buildings.  "Okay, he's not a pushover."

Batman responds by reaching into his belt and extracting a half-dozen Batarangs, throwing them towards the mech's knees.  They impact and explode, throwing up a cloud of smoke.  It dissipates, and reveals scuff marks, and very little else.  Pulling out some more, he throws these ones, albeit they are of an electrical variety.  This time, they don't even reach the mech, as they are shot out of the air.  Realizing that he's out of his offensive toys, he pulls out his grapple gun and fires it.  He begins to glide, but his vantage point is shot, breaking the line and making him drop to the ground.  He shakes himself out of his stunned state to see a car being tossed his way.

It is at this point that aid comes from on high, [url=http://worldofblackheroes.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/ultimate-spiderman-1-unlettered-preview.jpg]garbed in red and black[/url].  A figure swings down in front of Batman and flips over the car, inky black substance shooting off from his forearms, which grab the car and redirects it at the mech.  Landing on his feet, he holds a hand out to Batman.  "Need some help, Gloomy?"

Batman gets back up to his feet on his own.  "Took you long enough."

The Amazing Spider-Man shrugs.  "You know how it is.  I couldn't find the proper uniform, all that fun stuff."

====

[size=1](Will be integrating Greg's post into mine on this one.)[/size]

"... Okay, let's just not talk about how things are from now on. Good? Good." Azumi had had enough as she ducked under the thrown car that the odd other Spider Man threw, the one who Batman seemed to know. Rather than attack at a charge as the Tech Mech was stunned, however, she took out a hand grenade. "Everybody back!" She threw it hard, watching it bounce off of the ground, up to between the legs.... [i]Boom![/i] The stun was extended, the damage dealt even more. "Kalas, you finish it off, I'll get the pilot if you can get him out!"

Before the command, Kalas did have to snark at Spider Man after he was thrown by the second Mech, "Oh, no need for kicking your ass; that thing was right on top of it." Still, he saw that this Mech was tougher than the other; not even that Batman's attacks did a thing. He would have sent another attack of his own to help, but he had used up most of his power, and he knew Xelha didn't have enough of her own to pass over through their mindlink. Just what they needed--

Wait, never mind, someone stepped in at the nick of time. Kalas would have made a comment on it, but then he saw the form of this aid...and just palmed his face. Great, now there were [i]two[/i] web-slinging smart-alecks running around in tights. This was really becoming the best day of his life, he thought sarcastically.

Still, he said nothing to this, raising his arms for cover after Azumi tossed the grenade at the already stunned Mech. With that, he then nodded to the Mentor, giving a half-hearted salute, before flying right up to the Tech Mech while he had the advantage. Without enough of his own MP to finish it off with one last attack, he instead gripped onto the front of the machine and, with his dagger hand, slammed into onto the screen, breaking it open. Through it he saw the tech pilot desperately trying to get the mech moving again.

"Better let go or else, freak!"

Kalas' response? Hocking up some saliva and spitting it right at the visor of the helmet, blinding his vision to an extent. As the pilot wiped at his helmet, losing control of the mech briefly, the winged boy took the time to look over at the controls from his place. "Huh, usually they leave a big red button somewhere around." A shrug of his shoulders. "Eh well." With that, he reached the dagger in and stabbed at the closest button he could find, which conveniently had the words 'Emergency Eject' printed right over it. Kalas flew back as the panel opened up, and sent the trooper flying right out of it, the now unoccupied mech falling back.

The tech pilot slammed into the ground, but picked up his rifle... Only to have Azumi stomp on it, keeping it from lifting.

"Lights out." She kicked him in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

There were more Heavies and normal soldiers, yes, but another helicopter was coming, opening its back as it turned around and landed.

"The mission's blown!" one of the soldiers shouted, all of them getting in the back as the remaining glider grabbed on to the side and it lifted off, the door closing as it left swifter than it had come.

Azumi glared at it, but didn't question too much. "This 'Kingpin' has an operation that big and you're jut letting it run around? He can just land a helicopter in the city and the cops can't do much of anything."

Spectacular shrugged. "We can talk later," he said, looking over at the other, darker clothed Spider Man. "Not [i]another[/i] clone. Which are you? Kaine with your hair cut? Looks like the right color scheme. Some new guy?" He was, however, also wary. The symbiote was not something he took lightly.

Azumi, though, just sighed, nodding and looking to Batman. "If he said anything, we can talk in private later, but after we clean things up here. You fine with that?"

Kalas just scoffed after the troops up and fled like a bunch of cowards, almost giving the thought of just giving chase. But, there was no way for him to go after the helicopter in this state; even if he was at his full energy, he knew his own wings wouldn't be able to pick up that fast. So instead, he reverted his weapons back into Magnus and dismissed his wings, stretching his arms out right after and letting out a deep sigh.

"Phew! Broke out a sweat there." That said, the blue-haired boy went over to the fallen mech suit and sat down against it to take a breather. He looked around, first over at the two Spider Men (he didn't bother to ask what the one they stuck around with meant by the 'clone' thing), and then over to Azumi and Batman. Though he had to frown to the latter two, he just let out another sigh and clasped his hands together.

"So, with our ragtag motley crew of tights, body suit, and armor-wearing good guys assembled...what's next on our agenda?"

====

(I am also integrating some of Greg's stuff into this one.)

A few minutes pass, and the rounded up cavalcade return to the roof, where Moon Knight stands, his arms crossed over one another.  "It appears that the Bugle was a false lead."

The Spectacular Spider-Man stands there, his head cocked.  "I kinda figured that out about halfway through the huge battle at the courthouse.  I'm smart that way."

"Only then?"  The Amazing Spider-Man shakes his head.  "Considering the noggin you have, I would have pegged it at... oh, maybe a quarter of the way through the fight.  And yes, that's a compliment."

"Do you have a lead on where the remaining men went?"  Azumi stares at Moon Knight, waiting for an answer.

"Straight to the point, then.  I followed some of Kingpin's men.  The few that survived disappeared not far from here."

Spectacular looks over at Amazing.  "Are we thinking the same thing?"

"That they're rocking the secret base thing?  Yeah, probably.  After all, henchmen tend to do that kind of thing after a job goes south."  He looks over at Kalas.  "Not speaking from personal experience, mind you.  I just notice these things."

"Do you think that they have their weapons stashed there?"  Azumi looks towards the Spider-Men.  Getting echoing shrugs, she focuses once again on Moon Knight.

"It is highly likely that their location may be the source of their weapons, and not just a storehouse."  Moon Knight turns around and climbs back into the cockpit of his Moon-copter.  "I shall reconnoiter the surrounding areas for other possible bases."

"And let me guess...  We risk our necks entering into the one base you know about."  Amazing sighs.  "Well, it's not like there's much else to do."

"Good luck."  With that, Moon Knight flies off.

"And a happy reconnoitering to you too, Moony."  Spectacular turns around.  "So, there's five..."  He pauses.  "1, 2, 3, 4... Wait a minute.  Where's Tall, Dark and Brooding?"

Azumi turns around.  Where was Batman?  She merely shakes her head, rolling her eyes under her helmet.  He probably got something off one of the goons and was likely tracking them by himself.  "I'm guessing he beat us all to the punch."

====

Kalas just stood by without a word as the Spider Men, Azumi, and Moon Knight discussed the situation, his own arms crossed. Though he had been about to make a few remarks, he just kept quiet; he was just here to help out however he can, so it wasn't like he knew that much about what was going on. He did speak, however, when Amazing turned to address him, where he responded with a shrug, "I'd know, too. Guys like them always run off like little babies when they can't handle the situation."

He went back to silence after that, only rolling his eyes when Moon Knight prepared to head off, leaving them to deal with all the dirty work. Always the same in other worlds, it seemed. Still, he had no real complaint, and just gave a half-hearted wave as the Moon-copter took off. Well, time for the five of them to head on over and...

...or rather the four of them, as he saw that Batman was no longer with them. Kalas rolled his eyes again, glancing at Azumi briefly. "You might wanna tell him to wait for everyone else next time."

The sergeant just shook her head again. "That's just how he deals with things."

"Uh-huh..." Kalas walked over to the edge of the building, bringing his wings out one more time. "In that case, I say we hurry after him before he steals all the spotlight."

"One step ahead of you, Wingie," Spectacular said, firing out a webline. Before he got ready to swing off, he had to ask, "Who's gonna take the trooper this time around?"

"I'll escort her," the winged boy said, after rolling his eyes once more at the nickname (at least it wasn't Blueberry again). "I think we'll head over faster that way."

A shrug of the shoulders. "Whatever you say." And with that, the Spider Man of this universe swung off.

Kalas looked over to Azumi then, kneeling down for her to get on. "So, coming or what?"

At first, the woman wanted to protest, since she had no say on the matter. But, after a moment of reluctance, she just sighed; it wasn't like she had much of a choice. So she walked over and climbed onto his back. "You better not even think of dropping me for revenge."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm saving that for later," he snarked back, hefting back to his feet with a grunt. The armor she wore wasn't making this any easier. "Though I suggest holding on [i]real[/i] tight..."

Before she could say anything, Kalas jumped off without warning, diving straight down the building. Instead, Azumi gripped on his shoulders tightly, her eyes shut as they plummeted down. That was, until he swooped back up into the air, rather violently, which almost made the sergeant lose her grip. Once again, things were out of her control.

"I thought I told you to not even think about it!" she shouted at him.

"I warned you to hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" he yelled right back, weaving to and fro past the skyscrapers, once again in a violent fashion that almost threw her off.

"I swear, you're doing this on purpose!"

"That's just your paranoia speaking!" And then he began to do a series of aerial spins, prompting the woman to reply with a deadpan:

"...and now you're spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless bird-brain."

"You're welcome, 'boss'!"

====

"Hey, hold up!"  Amazing quickly follows, his new suit firing off tendrils to swing and keep up.  He reaches up with Spectacular.  "Who do you think is doing the tech work for Tons of Fun and his goon squad?"

"Tinkerer, maybe.  That is his bag, after all.  Or maybe Osborn decided to outsource.  Those gliders of theirs seemed pretty similar."  Spectacular swings alongside him.  "So, Kaine, when did you get gooed?"  He nods towards the

"I'm not Kaine or Ben or any Jackal-spawn.  Try a different universe."  Amazing continues to swing.  "As for my being gooed, it was not long after I got here.  Besides, you're one to talk.  How long have you had you own goo-suit?"

"Since my last battle with Venom.  Trying not to use it though."  Spectacular swings on, following on Moony's lead.  "What's up with Gloom-pus?"

"You mean Batman?  Think of him like a mix of Cap's skills and Tony's brain, with a touch of Logan's temper."

"Sounds like a charmer."  Spectacular continues to swing, Amazing not far behind.

---

Inside a skyscraper near the waterfront, Batman drops the small piece of tech that he swiped from one of the fallen tech thugs.  He was able to surmise that it was a tracking system, of which he had to do some minor modifications to in order to find their stronghold.

Sticking to the shadows, he finds the source of the thugs' armor:  An bald and elderly man in green armor.  Hearing footsteps moving towards him, he grapples up to a set of pipes overhead.  Beneath two of the tech thugs talk to the man, before each are given a glider and sent out.  He is ready to drop down but the old man's voice cuts through.  "I know you are there.  My sensors detected your arrival.  I suggest you leave before any unfortunate incidents occur."

Batman drops down. "You've been providing weapons and armaments to a criminal element.  I will not let that stand."  He reaches into his belt and extracts a set of cuffs.

"Fool."  The old man turns around as waves of energy begin to shoot out from his armor, each one going towards a green and silver blade inside of indents on the floor.  The blades rise up, eventually grouping together behind the man, creating a set of metallic wings.  "I was going to show you a modicum of pity, but instead, you now find yourself in the talons of the Vulture!"  The man rises up into the air, suspended by the electromagnetically charged suit and wings.  The now-named Vulture flies towards the Dark Knight.

Batman is barely able to dodge the first charge.  Reaching into his belt, his caught off-guard by the second charge, which sends him flying up and out through a rooftop window.  Thrown onto the rooftop he once again realizes that his ranged offensive weaponry are depleted.  Grabbed again, he is thrown off of the rooftop.

With the hastening arrival of his body impacting with the asphalt below, Batman concentrates on his boots.  His suit's SSU recognizes the trigger, and fires off the thrusters on the soles of his boots launching him skyward.  Extracting his shock knuckles, he slips them on as he flies towards the Vulture.

"What!?"  Vulture floats there as a single blow is struck against his armor's chestplate.  He is stunned, but is able to get off a swing of his right wing, striking the darkly-clad hero and sending him back onto the rooftop.

A few blocks away, the sight of a familiar foe catches the attention of a pair of web-swingers.  "Vulture?  I pegged him as fifth choice."

"Seventh for me."  Amazing swings up, Spectacular not far behind.

====

Kalas and Azumi had ended their bickering and violent swerving when they saw the flying foe, as well as Batman being thrown out. The sergeant couldn't help but to grunt; even though her Mentor would do fine, she still had to worry for him. The winged boy, on the other hand, had to say something in response to the web-slingers, remembering the comment that Spectacular said to him.

"[i]That's[/i] Vulture?" he asked first. "I don't see how I can be his 'evil sidekick'. My grandfather's winglet is far more superior to those bladed wings he has."

"Then why don't you test your luck to see if that's really true?" Azumi deadpanned.

Kalas just grinned in response. "Why not? It's been a while since I've had an actual aerial fight."

With that, he flew up ahead towards the building, spinning once more for Azumi to let go and land on the rooftop. She landed right next to Batman, drawing her Seeker rifle after standing right back up. "This is why you need backup," she had to remark to him.

Right before Adrian Toomes could send another attack towards the Dark Knight, he had been knocked away by Kalas, who had rammed into him shoulder-first. With his weapons drawn, he flew right towards him once more. "Why don't you pick on someone you're own type, huh!?"

Vulture brought up the blades of his left wing to block a coming slash from the boy's sword. "You dare face me!?" he shouted before sending his blades right at the winged boy. Kalas raised his sword to defend, though had to wince as one of the blade cut his shoulder.

"I double-dare! How about that!?" He slammed the blunt side of his dagger at the man's face, stunning him for one moment. He would have had another attack in, but Vulture was quick to snap back, throwing the other winged one back impaling all the blades in his wings at once in all directions. The two Tech Gliders flown over right then, ready to engage them in combat.

"Shouldn't that have been my line?" That was, until the Spectacular Spider Man swung right up, using one of the glider's for leverage, throwing the thug right off and bringing himself right up to Toomes. Catching him in a web-line, he pulled himself right towards him, and proceeded to pummel him. "Miss me, old-timer?"

"Spider Man!" Vulture was about to counter the web-slinger with another attack of his wings. However, a shot fired from Azumi's rifle stopped him, hitting the blades and blowing them back just a bit, allowing a few more open attacks for the heroes.

Unknown to them, however, from that shot, something had flown right out of the Vulture's wings. It looked like a piece of a ripped up card, which had flown right towards Kalas before he could fly in to attack. The minute it touched him, the Divine Child felt a sudden surge of energy, a small wind pulse surrounding him. Immediately he had stopped, recognizing this feeling.

[i]'This is...'[/i]

====

At that moment, a few more Tech Gliders rise up.  "About time, you useless cretins!  Attack them!"  Vulture glides back behind them, more than willing to let his lackeys do their job.

Seeing the Tech Gliders begins to swoop in, Azumi shakes her head.  Were they really that stupid?  Taking aim, she pulls the trigger once on her Seeker Rifle.  A single shot shatters the glider of one, who is barely able to grip onto the rooftop.  Looking over, she notices Batman pull up the goon, only to knock him out.

Batman leaps up, grabbing onto the underside of another glider.  Still grasping his shock knuckles, he punches the underside, overloading the circuitry and forcing the glider to descend.  Letting go, he lands on the rooftop and leaps towards the thug, delivering a knockout kick.  Hearing another shot from Azumi's rifle, he sees another thug, this one a distance away from the edge of the roof.  Pulling out his grapple gun, he fires it towards the falling goon, ensnaring him.  Triggering the grapple gun again, the line retracts, pulling the goon onto the rooftop, before leaping over and driving an electrified punch into the goon's armor, knocking him out.

Not wanting to sit on his laurels, the Amazing Spider-Man makes his own way to Vulture, albeit over the bodies of the Tech Gliders.  "One a bounce, two a bounce, three a bounce..."  With each number, he leaps off of a goon, propelling him closer to Vulture.  When he's past the goons, there's only one thing left for him to say, albeit in a Stallone-ish accent.  "Yo, Adrian!"

"What the..."  The Vulture's question is stopped by a punch to the face, which he retaliates, be spinning, creating a miniature cyclone, propelling his assailant away.

Amazing lands back on the roof, Spectacular landing close by.  Spectacular looks over.  "A [i]Rocky[/i] reference?  Really?"

====

When more of the Tech Gliders showed up, Kalas shook his head out of his daze, ready to get back in the fight. He saw Vulture just gliding back, left out in the open while the mooks did the work. This gave him the perfect opportunity to fly in and attack.

"Hey, you better not have forgotten about me!" he shouted as he flew in. However, Toomes certainly had not forgotten; the minute he started to close in, he sent out projectiles straight for the winged boy. Kalas air-rolled to the side to dodge, though grunted as one hit him at his side. He paid no mind to it further, instead slashing his sword at Vulture, who parried his attack. It was here that Amazing had come in to attack before the old man could do anything else, Kalas rolling his eyes at the quip. Even if he didn't recognize where it was from, it was still annoying to him.

That was when he formed the cyclone, which had sent Kalas back a ways in the air. However, he had caught another piece of a broken card that had flown out, feeling that wind pulse once more. He didn't let this distract him this time as all of a sudden, Vulture, rather than go after the web-slinging superheroes, decided to go after him first. The Divine Child quickly flew out of the way of the charge, holding up his sword to defend from the retaliating wind blades.

"You've become a nuisance, boy!" Vulture shouted, swinging his left wing at the boy. He ducked quickly, and then countered by wacking him with his own winglet.

"Glad you think so, bird-brain!" he yelled right back, about to slam his dagger in Vulture's face again. However, Toomes reacted by spinning once more, wind surrounding him and pushing the winged boy back. Finally, he sent out a wind blast straight for him, knocking him off-balance; unknown to him was that from that pulse, another card piece found its way to the boy once more. Vulture had been about to grab for the boy, throw him to the next rooftop, but Kalas regained his composure quickly, sending a quick kick towards the winged villain.

"You think you're so great taking one of [i]my[/i] specialties?!" the blue-haired hero shouted, slashing out and receiving another parry. Adrian Toomes had to smirk right in his face.

"I am more than what you could ever hope to be, child." He sent all of his wing blades impaling out once more, one of them hitting the boy right in the face. "Especially when it comes to that piece of scrap-metal that you wear!"

That had struck a chord. Ignoring the cut in his cheek, Kalas immediately charged at Vulture, tackling him mid-air, and beginning to punch him repeatedly. "Don't! You dare! Say that! About! My grandfather's! Winglet!" At the last punch, one more card piece flew out, and returned right to him. Just one more...

The Vulture quickly threw the one-winged boy off before he could have another kick in. He then spun once more, another cyclone forming and throwing Kalas off even further. Directing more Tech Gliders his way, he glided back once more, ready to send out more projectiles. Kalas glared at the goons before him, about to take them out...until one of the gliders was shot by Azumi's rifle, sending him flying off. And that was when Spectacular swung his way forward, throwing the mook towards another before connecting another web-line for leverage.

"You seem to be hanging in there just fine, Wingie," he quipped as he took out another glider.

Kalas just grunted in response, about to fly on over. "I don't care what you have to say; I'm ready to finish this."

"He's all yours then."

Without warning, Spectacular threw another web-line, this time at Kalas. Before he could say anything, he was flung straight towards Vulture; in a comedic situation, Kalas would have flailed and yelled his head off. But not this time; he just got back into focus, sending a thumbs-up towards Spider Man in response, and quickly swung his sword out to deflect the coming projectiles sent by Vulture. With that, he charged forward at the old man, slamming the blunt side of his dagger right in the gut. Toomes grunted, but then retaliated by slashing his right wing forward, the blades cutting into the boy and sending him back. Following that, he sent another wind blast his way.

However, like before, the blast contained the last card piece that returned to him, even as he was blasted away. With all of the pieces returned to him, Kalas could almost feel them start to click back together, back into a full Magnus. With every passing second, he felt the wind energy gathering up within, empowering him. Yes...this was it...the last of his abilities...all those years of wandering world to world had finally paid off...

"Let me take it from here, guys!" he shouted to the others, flying right after Vulture once more. With the fight nearly over, he felt he could use this to finish it off for good. But first, he decided to have a few good hits in beforehand.

The one-winged raven came up from below Toomes, grabbing his ankle...and then swinging himself in an upwards flip, kicking the man in the face with both of his feet. Vulture grunted, momentarily stunned, which gave Kalas the chance to grab onto the collar of his armor and punch him right in the face. He was about to go for another, until Vulture grabbed him and threw him back in the air, sending him off-balance. With this, he sent all of his wing blades at the boy, all closing in to impale him multiple times.

But Kalas was quick to get back into action, and not only used his sword to knock away the first few blades, but also his winglet, two loud clangs coming from both. He barely dodged the next coming blade, pushing against the blunt side...and then started running across the rest as if they were stepping stones. He jumped off the last, and sent a flying kick at the Vulture, sending him crashing into the building.

Toomes quickly returned the wing blades back to him, and flew straight for Kalas, prepared to throw him off at the last possible moment. However, the winged boy was already one step ahead of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and, before the villain could get a slash in, using him for leverage with another flip before throwing him to the building once more. But the Vulture didn't stop there, once again flying to the boy with his wings once again ready to impale him.

That was when a bright teal aura began to surround the Divine Child, who was quick to parry the coming attack.

"I am the wind..."

Another coming attack, this time the villain getting the hit in by slashing his side again...but not before the blue-haired hero grabbed his "talon" once more, swinging him around.

"The wind...is in my soul!"

"Stop your rambling!" Vulture shouted, kicking the boy away before he could be thrown again. Once again, he was ready to run his blades through on the spot, having grown beyond irritated with this one's constant interference--

[i][color=teal]"Sword Style..."[/i][/color]

One moment, Kalas seemed to have been thrown off-balance once more. The next, a strong wind pulse sent him launching towards the winged villain, as if he were a human bullet, ramming into him sword-first (by the blunt side, anyway) and sending them both plummeting down towards the streets at high speeds.

[i][b][color=teal]"WIND GUARDIAN!!!"[/i][/b][/color]

It was right after that shout that they crashed into the ground, the impact sending another wind pulse outwards, catching nearby cars and very nearly sending them flying. Adrian Toomes let out a groan of pain as he lay defeated, while Kalas stood victorious. In his hand was another of his Magnus cards, with an image of a pulsing wind sphere over a teal background, the roman number 'IX' listed below.

"Now you see who's the real master of the wind..." was all he said with a wide grin on his face.

With the fight done, the Spectacular Spider Man had swung his way down to the ground, carrying Azumi with him once more. He heard what the winged boy said last, raising an eyebrow beneath his mask. "Geez, no wonder I was smelling the bacon..." Shaking his head, he lowered Azumi back to the ground and slung a web-line at Vulture, throwing him to a nearby sign and sending more web to stick him on there.

Azumi dusted herself off, having to shake her head herself. "I'd say the same thing. In fact, I think there's a butcher wondering where it's gone."

The grin was wiped off Kalas' face as he heard the comments, looking over with a deadpan. "Would it kill any of you to give me any praise?"

The sergeant just shrugged her shoulders in response. "I'm just saying as it is. You did a pretty good job there, as much as you can with magic skills anyway."

"Gee, thanks..."

====

Both Batman and Amazing follow close behind, the former gliding down while the latter just leaped.  Both land at around the same time, watching Spectacular web up Toomes.  "Will it hold the old bird, other me?"

Spectacular nods.  "Long enough for the police to get here and get him back in the coop."

Amazing snorts.  "Heh.  You said coop."

Batman nods over to Azumi, and the Sergeant notices this, walking over to the Dark Knight's side.  The soldier crosses her arms.  "What?"

"Kalas told me about the Collective at large."  Batman's voice remains surprisingly, even despite the current situation that his ally was in at this point.  "Why didn't you tell me about this back in Traverse Town?"

"I..."  Azumi uncrosses her arms and grips her left wrist with her right hand, trying to speak but can't.  The contract that she had ensured that.  "I need you to trust me on this."

"Why?"  Batman crosses his arms.  "I need tangible proof that you haven't been fully compromised by them.  With someone like Scarecrow working alongside them..."

"You don't need to worry about that.  I know what I'm doing."  She quickly snaps at him, but slightly backpedals.  "Look, I know I can't say anything about it, but I know how they work.  I can do things on the inside.  I can stop them from going too far.  I'm also very sure I can twist one of them a bit to help us out."

"..."  Batman reaches into his belt and extracts a few items.  "To be clear, I don't fully agree with your assessment of the situation.  Crane alone is enough of a threat, more so with his power ring.  Him allied with anyone else could be catastrophic.  Do not underestimate him.  He will manipulate and connive and terrorize to get his point across, and he doesn't care who gets caught in the crossfire."  He holds out his hand.

Azumi holds out her own, receiving a set of small orbs.  "Bombs?"

"Smoke bombs.  Best for distraction and obstructing an enemy's vision."  Batman reaches for another item, and deposits it in her hand.  "And a gift from Cid.  It's a tech-hacker.  If you get the proper datacard, you can crack encrypted passwords and access certain communication frequencies associated with that datacard."  Having given over the items he felt she needed, he puts a hand on her shoulder, moving up to her neck.  "And remember, if you ever need my help, don't be afraid to ask."  He moves his hand away, leaving one final gift:  a small flexible tracer hidden underneath her uniform's collar.  Turning around, his sight turns towards the Amazing Spider-Man.  "We're going."

"Okay, then..."  Amazing turns to his Spectacular counterpart.  "Well, I guess I must vamoose.  Nice to see you... me... whatever."  Saluting to the trio of Spectacular, Kalas and Azumi, he sees Batman glide away.  Firing a tendril, he swings alongside.

====

Kalas just stood by quietly, not focusing on the conversation between Batman and Azumi (though he did roll his eyes at the comments from the Spider Men). He just looked at the card in his hand, deep in thought. After two years spent as an Interference, he finally had his abilities back. All he needed to do was train with them, get back into shape with them. Then...hopefully...he'll reject the darkness within him for good...

Spectacular saluted right back to Amazing before he took off after Batman, then turned to Azumi and Kalas. "I better get back to Moony. If you guys need any help, don't be shy to call on your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man." With that, he was next to swing off, back to the meet-up point with Moon Knight.

Azumi also saluted her leaving comrades, before giving a sigh right after. She did feel she could handle this herself...but it was still good to have some help either way. The soldier had been about to reach for her neck, to check the tracer that Batman left her along with the smoke bombs and tech hacker. However, she stopped herself; it'd probably be held against her by the Collective, or at least Ignis, if she did so.

Instead, the sergeant looked to Kalas. Though he might have still been sore about the whole thing, she hoped that it didn't completely blind his judgement. "Thanks."

Kalas still said nothing for a moment, placing the Magnus with the rest of his deck. He turned, about to walk off without a word...that was, until he looked back at Azumi and told her, "If you really think you can do this yourself, then telling him was a waste of time. Good luck 'working from the inside'." Not bothering to stick around for a retort, he brought out his wings one more time and flew off, heading out for whatever adventure awaited him next.

Azumi watched him go, her mouth opened slightly like she had been about to argue. Instead she grunted, about to yell after him, but holding it back. She didn't need this. The soldier just turned and walked down the streets, in search of a place to beam herself off this world. There was other business for her to attend to.