//------------------------------// // Conferences // Story: Equestria Girls: The Empowered World // by KrspaceT //------------------------------// "I don't understand....why do you let those nobles question you like that? You know so much, how could they possibly think they know better than you" Her voice back then had been high and childish, a squeak closer to that of one of the freshman trio (who she had forgotten to punish, though given the circumstances since she'd let them off the hook for now) than her current voice. As much as it pained her to admit, her younger voice suited her filly form quite nicely. Her mentor, reclined on the ground, listened to her juvenile questions with her seemingly limitless patience. A part of her felt rather proud for managing to strain said patience, but that wasn't here or now. "I know so much, Sunset, because I've had years to learn. I've lived for many centuries, and I've learned much during that time. Often the hard way. However, no one can ever truly know everything." Her mentor's horn glowed, causing dozens of glowing symbols to appear around the two, dancing as if performing a ballet of sorts. A spatula and a plow, a dance shoe and a boat wheel, a hammer and a snowflake; they and many others danced to their own little tune. "Knowledge is gained through the life one lives, just as much as one gains beliefs and dreams. One can read all one wants about sailing, but only a sailor who has braved the seas for years can truly say they know everything about it, and even they will be proven wrong when one fishes out a giant squid." "Giant squid?" "Yes Sunset, a giant squid. I can show you the newspaper articles tonight if you like." And she did. They were rather interesting. "Of course, encountering unknown denizens of the deep is very rare, so most of the time the sailor will always known more about the waters than I could over hope to if I didn't take a sabbatical for a while to experience it myself. Sadly, I cannot, so there will always be ponies who know more about crucial parts of Equestria than I do. I need to listen to their advice when I make any decisions that would impact farmers, construction workers, or pastry chefs in order to make the wisest decisions." "Oh....." Sunset mused, thinking about that for a bit, before her wide eyes blinked in confusion. "Then, why do the nobles think they can tell you what to do? What do they know how to do that you don't?" "Bureaucracy and mindless paperwork." ....For more recent thoughts entered the mind of Sunset Shimmer, currently lying on her mattress with a locket in hand. "Now, I'm the lucky sailor who stumbled upon a giant squid," she mused silently as she watched the locket move back and forth, dangling above her face like a pendulum. For just when she thought she had figured out this place well enough (Democracy, bipedal movement, human bodily functions, advanced technologies, wild weather patterns, etc), it threw a curveball right at her. Several in fact. In the span of only four days she had regained her magic because of some sort of explosion, (never mind how that had even happened in the first place), found two of her classmates gained powers as well, and found what looked very much like an Element of Harmony. Of course it wasn't anything like what she had read about them, but then again Celestia was hardly a perfect cut and paste so why should the magical artifacts of ultimate power be any more alike between worlds? And now she had one: a key to ultimate power was now in her hands. Of course, it wasn't THE element. She remembered the colors mentioned in Celestia's lessons, and this wasn't the element of magic. It was just generosity. Nothing special at all, especially when compared to magic. But she supposed that without it, the set wouldn't be complete and the full power could not be used. It was also a start. She had one, and now she just had to find the other five. There was the....elephant in the room though, (that was the phrase, right? It wasn't some other earth-exclusive giant herbivore?) Rarity and Fluttershy had shown power as well, and it wasn't magic. Magic did not create constructs like that, nor did it allow you to turn into hybrid creatures. Did they get those powers when she got her magic back? She had assumed that she was the only one affected: that she would be the only one in the world with powers. But now she was outnumbered by two people she regularly tormented..... That could only end in so many ways, none of them good for her. Did they know about the Elements? Would they seek their power as well? Was she going to have to try and find the other five in a race with a girl who could probably literally turn herself into a dog and sniff them out? Of course, when there was a dog, there were ways of throwing it off the trail. .... Fortunately, humans wrote books. In fact, the sheer quantity and variety they wrote rivaled her own kind. Including books on how to stop dogs, snakes, giant squid, and all matters of creatures that her potential foe, once the local pushover, could turn into to attack her. And they had bookstores, very large bookstores. Filled with so many, many books, made by hundreds of authors with multiple perspectives and thoughts on the subject These bookstores did not have night guards, or cameras for girls who teleported . Sunset launched herself off her bed. By the time she landed, she had appeared on the carpeted floor of a local bookstore. Was it Barnes and Noble? Probably. Clapping her hands together, Sunset was began her shopping trip. ... "Seriously? How to Keep Your Homicidal Bunny Happy and Not Murdery Who would even buy this? Back on the shelf you go." ... "Dogs 101: Types, Temperaments, and Training.....potentially useful, if only just to make Rainbow go away." ... The Venom of the Cobra: How to avoid being bitten, and how to avoid dying after being bitten? Well, I suppose the answer to the second question is 'don't get bitten in the first place. But, given that I am pretty sure these are the snakes that spit....." .... "Penguins, the Complete History; Why not?" ..... "How to Kill Giant Squids in 8 Easy Steps-Huh. That's...convenient. Eh....feeling nostalgic enough I suppose." ..... "The Dragons of Komodo?! Wait, humans actually have dragons among them? Not sure what this giant lizard thing is, but I can't ignore this" .... "The Heart of the Capybara: the South American Powerhouse. Okay, what exactly is a Capybara? Huh...well it probably eats meat or has claws or something so better take this with me." .... And so Sunset continued on her merry little way, taking a copy of any book she found that has at least a sensible title in reference to the animal kingdom of this world. These books would be invaluable in forming counter measures to keep Fluttershy from stopping her master plan.....and Sunset could not believe such a thought would ever enter her mind. Fluttershy, the meekest poster child for doormats world wide; stopping her? Well, this world was crazy enough that perhaps even that made some sort of sense. Eventually she had roughly 200 books, and she had to teleport off to get herself a shopping cart from the local giant soulless megastore to carry them all. It was also a nice place to hold the fizzy drink she had also picked up while shopping. Having reached the children's section, Sunset felt her trip was now complete. She no longer needed help figuring out the written language, so no more help from caterpillars. Turning her cart around for one final check through the store, Sunset idly noted the covers to some of the books she passed: romance, vampire romance, dystopian romance, dystopian vampire romance, some guy with giant glowing constructs of energy...... She abruptly stopped, several books in her cart tumbling as she did so. Entering the aisle Sunset found herself faced to face with several books, paper and hardbacked, with various men, and other lifeforms she could not identify other that what appeared to be a squirrel, in green and black. All of whom were forming constructs much like Rarity did. The books had a phrase, a title shared between them all: Green Lantern. "....Not quite the right color...." Sunset noted, picking one up and rapidly flipping through the pages of one book titled 'Sinestro Corps War' quickly "But this green is....fairly well drawn. Never read one of these things before....but the resemblance......how uncanny....." She quickly threw the book about some Sinister Corps into her cart, followed by the glowing forms of over half a dozen other books titled Green Lantern. Once she had a copy of every book, she then noticed some of the other books dotting the shelves around it. Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Teen Titans, Nightwing, Icon, Static, Animal Man, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Aquaman.....dozens of named 'Superheroes' if she recalled correctly, all dotted this shelf, all labeled with the same logo as the Green Lantern. DC. If Rarity had the powers of just one of these heroes......would others show up with similar powers? While it was somewhat unlikely that she'd run into, say, Bon Bon of all people dressed in some sort of armored leotard colored like a flag, would it hurt to at least be prepared for such a issue? In the end, the fact that she wouldn't be paying for any of these books won out, and so they joined the cart and soon departed the store with her. .... The next day saw Fluttershy walking to school, a smile on her face. The sort of smile that had been a rarity on her for quite a while now. It had been a somewhat....awkward magical carpet construct ride back to her place. Then again, two super-powered beings who just happened to be former friends had just fought each other only for one to snap the other (her) out of feral delusions, then the bully showed up who just also happened to have super powers stole Rarity's new locket that had restored her sanity and then teleported away. They then had to skedaddle when they heard the barking of Winona nearby. While Fluttershy adored the dog and said dog would likely not attack them, it would alert the Apples. Things would have gotten weird if they had to explain what happened to their apples. ".......So...you can make things now?" She had asked Rarity, who frowned. "I've always been making things, now they just happen to be glowing purple". "And Sunset.....Sunset can take things without touching them, and teleport, and who knows what else. It's like, she's a witch or something." "Well, she always did act like a Slytherin...." Rarity mused, a slight smile on her face. Perhaps the comparison was amusing, or maybe it was just her fondness for the books. "......Do you think that she could come back and get us?" "Do we have school tomorrow?" Rarity replied dryly. "Um, I think so?" "Than yes, she probably will come for us then." Rarity looked like she was already mentally preparing herself for it. "Fluttershy," she said after a few moments of thought, sounding somewhat nervous to bring the idea up "I was, just thinking. Perhaps we could....form a, shall we call it, alliance of sorts?" "Alliance?" "Yes. An alliance. Sunset is likely going to end up in our business, now that she knows that we have these....abilities, and we know she does. She might even be able to seriously hurt you or I one on one. But two against one...." "So, what you're saying is that you want to be together as a mutually beneficial duo who share our own personal abilities and observations in order to better both of our lives?" Fluttershy translated. "I suppose so." "So, you're asking if we can be, friends?" When everything had fallen apart, Rarity and Fluttershy had not been at odds. While their friendship had not survived, it was not through Rarity lying to her. Perhaps because of that, they could possibly, maybe....... "I suppose we could.....try it out once more" Rarity sounded hesitant, but rather hopeful about the whole thing "I mean, we can't take back the past, but perhaps, maybe, we can just ignore it for a while. Focus on other things, like our resident witch with a big old B." Fluttershy, now imaging Sunset dressed like the horrible and wicked Bellatrix, whimpered a bit "Can we...talk about anything else than Sunset the Death Eater?" "....You have something in mind?" Rarity asked. ".....I did get a coupon for a two for one at that shoe store on Bell Boulevard. Maybe....you can tell me when the best time to go, my coupon only expires at New Years...." "That cute little place, but of course! Now, it really depends on if you want new boots, or new sneakers because if you want the best brands, then you really should go...." Fluttershy had felt, light, almost breathy as they talked. They fell into conversation so easily, like nothing had ever happened. All through their talk, Fluttershy had trouble identifying what this feeling in her heart was, or why it felt as if the world was a bit brighter. Then she remembered: She was happy, but in a way that did not involve the love of an animal or an elder. A friend her own age, something she had once had, but lost.... It had been so long..... "Fluttershy? Dear, are you crying?" Fluttershy was startled out of her own thoughts by Rarity's concerned tone. She brought a finger to her eyes and found tears flowing freely. This realization brought on a round of sniffles. Concerned, Rarity comfortingly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Darling, what's wrong?" What did she even say to that? Why had she turned into some feral monster? Why did she barely remember what happiness was happiness was. How did she even begin on explaining why smiling-once such a familiar concept-actually hurt after so long. Why had everyone important to her turned on her and one another? Instead, she asked a question. "Rarity...why'd we stop being friends?" Rarity was taken aback. "I...I don't know. We used to be so close, but after the fighting, we just...stopped, I think." Fluttershy was quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you're back." Rarity blinked, but gave her a small yet brilliant smile. "So am I." "Oh, Fluttershy! So good to see you!" Fluttershy stopped, both in step and in thought, as the sound of a motorbike approached her from behind. Turning, she was met with the familiar sight: a policeman with black and bronze with a white helmet, blue shades, and a brown mustache riding the motorbike that matched his dress uniform. His name was Officer Wyatt, and he was a very nice man. "I didn't see you yesterday, I admit I was worried about you." He greeted as his motorbike paused, moving to the curb as to not block traffic. Fluttershy bowed her head slightly, a bit ashamed. "I didn't mean to worry you like that. You must be so busy and all....." "Think nothing of it" Wyatt waved her concern away "You are never a bother to me. In fact, it's people as kind as you that makes me glad to be alive. Who wants to live in a world with only the cruel?" "No one?" "Exactly! That's how everyone should live, making sure that the world is a less cruel every day! That's why I'm always on the prowl for the cruel, and why you help out at the animal shelter so often!" "Everyone deserves a little kindness." Smiling, he turned his attention back to the forward traffic, restarting his machine. "That they do Fluttershy, that they do.." The cop took off, and Fluttershy continued to school. ... As expected of the industrial level production factory that is the High School classroom, surprised murmurs arose when Rarity and Fluttershy sat together, but lecture quickly took attention off the two. For English Class was required, difficult, and today featured something vaguely interesting. Today, instead of trying to determine what The Catcher in the Rye is truly about, or trying to understand Hamlet, they were going over myths. "Many myths could be considered universal: stories that were repeated and retold across many distinct cultures separated by immense geography. The myth of the dragons, the flood, the mermaid, and the lost cities, all of these myths are found all over the world among even the most distinct of cultures." It might have just been Rarity, but it seemed that the moment 'cities' were mentioned Vinyl actually looked briefly interested in anything but the loss of her music. Until then, she had mostly looking at Fluttershy with unusual focus. Perhaps Vinyl had only just realized she had been absent yesterday? "Many of these myths differ greatly: see no other example than the dragon. Dragons are depicted either as guardians of wisdom as they are in China and Japan, or villains as they are in the myths of Christendom. Similarly the details of the lost cities differ between cultures: with Christians believing the kingdom of Prester John to be a lost kingdom of hidden Christians, hidden among the pagans and Muslims, while cities like Camelot and Atlantis were spoken of in past tense, as great civilizations lost to time itself. Some, like El Dorado, were believed to be hidden in the jungles, while others like Shambhala were said to exist inside the earth." "Ohh! Ohh! Miss Yearling, don't you mean Shangri-La, and isn't that in the mountains of Tibet or Nepal or......Bootan? Bootah? Booyah?" The English teacher shook her head in exasperation as a certain exuberant student interrupted her lecture, as loud as ever. "You mean Bhutan, Pinkie, and Shangri-La originates from a novel in the 1930's, James Hilton's Lost Horizon. It is based on ancient stories from Tibet about similar cities, and may in fact be inspired by Shambhala." "Oh....." ".....Beyond characters myths also share many similar stories. Stories of great heroes are extremely common, as are stories of great floods. Greek, Norse, Native American, Biblical.....these stories are nearly universal." "So, does that mean there was actually a flood?" Fluttershy whispered in a terrified tone of voice, as if imagining such a flood happening now. "Perhaps: at the end of the ice age water levels did rise drastically as the glaciers melted away. The stories may be referring to such events that had passed down through oral histories. Or perhaps humans understand the destructive forces of floods and imagined their worst case scenarios". Frowning, Rarity leaned to the latter theory. Worrying was something she doubted was new in humanity. "Some stories in myth are written in part to link them to more contemporary works. For example, when Christians were converting the Norse they noted the stories of the Nordic end of the world and used the rebirth of humanity in tandem with their own stories of Adam and Eve. In doing so, they were able to convert Northern Europe. Other stories connections are more likely coincidental: several recent archaeological findings by the Doctor Edward Auguter finds mention of stories, written at similar times by people as far apart as the Olmec, the early Roman Empire, the British Celts, the Scythians, and Han China talk of similar stories that all originated from the same time: of warriors clad in shimmering light battling threats described in a variety of ways, but all in the same manner: a battle with inhuman creatures. These tales are not uncommon in mythology: see the Minotaur or Grendel. Yet the fact that very similar stories all emerged from the same periods in history....it makes you think doesn't it?" Class quickly entered the more classically boring part, where every student was told to write a full page about why things like Dragons and lost cities were so universal, partners allowed for brainstorming, etc. It was frankly amazing, Rarity thought to herself, how easy and frankly fun this activity had become. Typically, she'd be forced to partner up with someone she didn't know or wanted in her pants, and the entire process would be grueling at best, day in and day out. But, today partnered with Fluttershy, they blazed through it: her organizational skills and Fluttershy's attentiveness to detail regarding mythological creatures and particularly animals combined together into one engine of perfection that had the entire project done with time to spare. Finished so early, Rarity beamed a bright smile at Fluttershy and engaged in one of her absolute favorite past times: gossip. Pinkie, barely a quarter of the way through her own project, glanced at Rarity and Fluttershy with a smaller smile than she usually had. Fluttershy leaned forward and Rarity whispered something in her ear, prompting a small fit of giggles from the former. After a moment, Pinkie shook her head and went back to her work, but couldn't help glancing every so often at the reunited pair, each time the smile on her face fading away until, near the end of class, all that remained was a frown. .... Eyeing the recently reunited duo with a frown on her face, Sunset darted her eyes back into her locker as she began to shuffle her books around. Some books were deposited, no longer needed for the day's classes. Others were taken up for upcoming sessions. She also had to switch out her 'I am superior to you underpaid teacher and already did your assignment in class' reading material: last class really ate up her page count. Luckily she had more than enough material to keep her busy, even if she didn't bring her recently obtained books to school on account of the recent police call. The school's library had a rather deep selection of fascinating literature: The Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit. In the past, Sunset would have scoffed at such books as pointless, but...she was bored. Few of the classes remotely challenged her, and fewer still of her classmates were any academic competition worth any attention. Hence the reason why she was getting started on a curious book called Dracula. Of course, books older than any human did not cause her to ignore her other problems. Namely, the fact that she was outnumbered, and there was no easy way to fix that. Arranging something to break the two apart now would be too suspicious. It was unfortunate, but there was no way to separate the two at this present time. Well...no. Nothing she'd be willing to violate her admittedly sketchy morals over at the very least. "When you can't fix a problem, you've just got to live with it. You can take the two of them, and neither has the charisma to unite the school in song and dance against you. You have bigger things to deal with at the moment." Wait, where had that thought come from? Who would unite the school through song and dance against someone when it'd be so much easier with blackmail and sledge hammers? Sunset blinked, and looked below her locker's door to notice a familiar set of blue skinned legs, shorts, practically audible seething fury. Unless she was vastly mistaken, Rainbow Dash, presumably waiting to ambush and taunt her over something insignificant and pointless. There were two ways she could handle this. She could close her locker door, come face to face with Rainbow Dash, and presumably have a shouting match. Or she could keep the door open and busy herself with the first few pages of Dracula and either wait for Rainbow to lose it and leave or slam the door shut. Either result would piss Rainbow off, so it was a win-win. A full two minutes later, she heard what could only be described as a growl and Rainbow slammed the locker shut. "You know, I really appreciate you closing that for me-it took you what, a 120 seconds with me just standing here ? Anyway, I really appreciate the effort but I'm afraid it just won't work between us-you see, I'm a beautiful prodigy and your nothing but a rabid mutt, so please kindly buck off." Her dry comment did nothing to make her go away. "We have some unfinished business Shimmer." Rainbow apparently had not forgotten their near fight yesterday, interrupted only by a certain Principal. But she wasn't here now to stop it. Sighing, Sunset dropped her books. If Rainbow was this insistent on challenging her like this, then she was going to have to learn to deal with the consequences of such. The question remained: would Rainbow have to invest in a wig, or whatever it was humans used for facial hair? "You really shouldn't drop your books Sunset. I know that algebra is boring and the textbook is like a brick, but no reason to treat it that way. Bricks are nasty for the janitor to clean up after...." And just like before, the fight was prevented from even starting, as Principal Celestia showed up behind her, startling Sunset. "Now, you're going to pick those up and be on your way, right? Same to you Rainbow, class is starting soon isn't it?" The look that Rainbow gave her as she left suggested that this was not going to be merely a two-off event. .... Thursday morning found Rainbow Dash fumbling at her locker, complaining. "I mean really Scoots, what is it with Celestia showing up whenever I'm about to teach Sunset a lesson! Does she stalk me or something!?" Scoots, or Scootaloo as she was better known, shrugged "I don't know....but isn't there some old saying about twice being coincidence, three times being coincidence...." "And five times makes me think Celestia can freakin' teleport," grumbling, Rainbow opened her locker, as a paper out of place swung out of it. Now, Rainbow's locker normally had many things out of place. It was madness to try and describe the interior, and some odd molds may be growing deep within. However, this paper had much nicer handwriting on it that any of Rainbow's scribble.....Sunset Shimmer's handwriting. Scootaloo managed to grab the paper before it hit the floor or flew into someone's face, the two tomboys looking it over in surprise. Rainbow Dash, Look, you want to fight, I want to shut you up, and if we keep this up your way both of us are going to find the bottom of Principal Celestia's patience. Meet me Saturday afternoon at the Junk Yard, we will fight there. If you don't show up, you chickening out will be spread through the school. If you are unable to read this, then congratulations you are illiterate. Here is a map of where I expect you to be. Sunset Shimmer Below her signature was a crude and rather mocking cartoon map of Canterlot with a dotted line from school to the junkyard. Ripping the paper in half, Rainbow seethed in fury. ..... Late at night in Canterlot, the unmarked and plain truck came to a stop in a fading lot well off the beaten path of the average citizen, or the police. The headlights pierced the darkness in the lot, revealing a narrow band of decrepit asphalt and concrete wall of a nearby building in the otherwise pitch black night. Two burly men exited the side doors, dressed in all black suits that spoke of either secret agents or hideously conspicuous mob thugs. They were talking rather casually, despite the situation. ".....So, did you catch the game last night?" One man that might have been ruggedly handsome before he'd fought and lost a battle with a concrete wall said casually, even as he scanned the surrounding area. "Couldn't. Kid wanted to catch that new Daring Do Movie, again, and the wife got on my case to drive her there. How many more of them are there, really? They started getting old after the first two: now they're just a pain." "As many of there as there are books and profits from adapting the books. Although, I'll admit that series is getting ridiculous. I mean really, who ever heard of book adaptions being good enough to do the entire series in full?" "Well there are the Harry Potter films, and the Lord of the Rings....." "Besides them." "...Then why did they mess up the one with the dragon in it, or the one with the Greek stuff?" "A lack of dedication, authorial oversight, and terrible actors." The larger man checked his phone.".....Shouldn't the guy have gotten here by now?" the conversation had reverted to serious business. "I mean really, these steroids aren't going to sell themselves." "Relax, you know how those upper class types are like. They hate when us 'lowly street urchins' are late, but they take their merry time. But they always bring the big money." "Yeah, and maybe this time they might actually pay us enough that I can just put my kid through college so she can make the money to see her own damn movie...." "Your kid's 12." Any more complaining about movie and college was quickly silenced however when a thunderous crash split the night, startling them as a massive crack split the solid concrete wall illuminated in the headlights The two men slowly turned to one another, white as sheets. ".....Maybe it's the Crystal Prep guys testing out the 'roids?" "Or...Oh god. Denny was right." The shorter thug said, backing away as imaged of every single comic book he'd ever read flashed through his mind. "No." One said, a crazed determination in his eyes. "Denny is a drugged up crazy bastard. This is reality. I refuse to accept that something as ridiculous as a costumed hero in tights is going to...." The air promptly filled with the shriek of metal being torn apart by sheer physical force. A distant shout arose about someone tearing apart their imported Ferrari rang through the air. The two minions promptly ran for their truck and high tailed it. .... ".......Go to Canterlot, my ma says. Crime here is low, she tells me. You won't die like you would back home, she implores. Ha ha ha ha ha....." "Please stop freaking out: I'm driving and I suddenly want to get back to my kid and her Daring Do obsession." As the minor criminal minion who was freaking out tried to calm himself, he looked out the window to enjoy the comforting, sweet familiar sight of the bad parts of downtown Canterlot (also known as middle of the road for his home city). Then he looked at the side mirror, and it promptly had the opposite effect. A masked woman in purple and black, adorned with a giant hat, chasing their speeding vehicle...at eighty miles an hour. On foot. While carrying a beat up, rich looking person who they were meant to sell their drugs to. And gaining speed. There was only one obvious conclusion. "........Darkwing Duck is chasing us man, Darkwing Bleeding Duck!" "Did you get into the supply while I wasn't looking again?...." the driver complained about his partner's hysterical rantings. A quick glance out the window revealed nothing, let alone any sort of duck. "Look, if you are having a panic attack, I totally understand that. We're fleeing from some drugged up crazy, and nothing's gone right today. Tell you what, let's just drive for a while, and then we can get a nice drink....." Then the sound of metal being burst apart rang out, right from behind them. The roof of the trailer burst as something ripped through it. "Oh god, I was right! Sweet lord why did I have to be right?" .... One beat down later found the two knocked out, bruised, and laid out in the trailer of their vehicle with their steroids. Their buyer lay with them, his Crystal Pep shirt clearly visible. The masked vigilante snorted at them. The fighter turned, ready to leave, when a gleam caught her eye. Something was glittering under the steroids. Without much effort the vigilante lifted the boxes up, revealing a golden locket on the ground. Using her foot to drag it out, the vigilante picked it up and looked at it for a few moments. The vigilante then crouched, before leaping out the hole she made in the trailer earlier, locket now in hand. And the recording stopped. Six individuals who had attentively been watching all frowned, deep in thought as the recording ended. Five of them were mere images on a monitor, their faces and voices obscured for security sake, labeled only with code names: C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5. The sixth individual, however, was physically present. "...It appears we can declare her as fact, rather than mere rumor, Enforcer. Someone's playing superhero." C1 observed. "The question is, who created this hero? One of our competitors perhaps?" C2 questioned with interest. "Hard to say, I generally leave a signature on my subjects, and most scientist capable of human augmentation would do the same, so a dissection should reveal the ones behind it. Unless...possibly someone is trying to remain anonymous" C3 stated with clinical interest, as if dissecting a human was something casual. "It is possible this is not the work of a earthly force. We should observe." C5 spoke with caution. "Regardless of who or what made her, our little masked crusader is an asset we should obtain or destroy before it become a threat." C4 had a vaguely military edge to his tone. "While I enjoy massive manhunts as much as the next guy, I admit going in without a plan of attack would be reckless at the present time. You can hardly call yourselves a secret society if you go tear a city apart house by house looking for our Clark in the Haystack after all." The Enforcer pointed out. "So what, we just leave the superhero alone. How wise is that?" C2 exclaimed in clear concern. "We could......or we could make use of this." The Enforcer turned to C1 as he made this point, brow raised curiously. "This girl wants to play hero, right? Then, why don't we use that. I've long asked myself how it is we can really see how our own superhumans fare in proper combat, particularly as the age of the super soldier comes at last. Can merely putting them in battle with testing robots and average humans really show their strengths and weaknesses. Only a proper battle can reveal that. This superhero, shall become our quality tester. At the same time, how better to show off our mass producible superhuman products than a live demonstration, in the middle of a city. It leaves such a better impression on our customers than the well worn desert, no?" "So, what, we basically use her as our test monkey, and our commercial? Amusing...." C3 sounded eager to see the results. "Yes, amusing.....and traceable. Whose to say that they won't follow the trail of superhumans back to us, specifically me!" C2 demanded. "Be discrete: your a businessman. I'm sure you have plenty of experience dodging investigations, just don't use anyone who can be traced to your company." C5 sagely explained. "....Regardless of where this superhero comes from, the fact that she's shown up now is somewhat concernng, if you recall the recent trends on our moon base." The enforcer reminded them before they could start arguing about costs again. "Yes, things have been rather nasty in the last two years haven't they. I do appreciate all the samples you've sent to Angolomois as a result." C3 stated rather begrudgingly. "Not a problem, who doesn't love killing aliens? Though I must admit, the side effects from that blood transfusion have been an even greater prize than the sheer thrill of battle." The Enforcer laughed. "But, as enjoyable as it is, you don't pay me to just kill aliens, do you?" Waving his hand, the enforcer brought up several holographic screens, most displaying a series of alien text with a translation below them. A few screens showed various images of aliens: a menagerie of shapes and sizes, colors and sheen, some looking like something from earth made alien, and others truly, bizarrely, eldritch unknowns to humanity. A larger holoscreen appeared behind the enforcer, showing a rather blank galactic map labeled with several of the galaxy's larger features revealed to it, as well as where the earth was in it, before shifting and being updated with a series of alien star maps adding information to it to reveal several hundred more planets, what appeared to be massive borders of multi-system governments, and a lot of overlaid confusion as data overlapped with multiple alien languages and interpretations, before solidifying into a more clean, organized piece of data with English. "Over the last few months, through liberal use of my masters in astrology, liberal torture of important individuals both human and extraterrestrial, exceedingly easy manipulation of spineless morons, and lots of bodies, I've obtained all the information I need to present you the Milky Way." "Welcome to the Galaxy, you mean," C2 quipped. No on responded to his joke, which seemed to upset him. "As you can clearly see," The enforcer noted the map without any sign of delay "Earth seems to be somewhat remote from the main hubs of intelligence in the galaxy. We exist in the Orion Arm, yet the closet sentient worlds known to these aliens appear in the upper reaches of the Sagittarius. It is possible that they simply have not explored it enough, but given that the northern end of the galaxy is similarly sparse the possibility that the entire southern expanse of the Orion, Perseus, and Cygnus arms are humanities is a strong possibility." "Yes, I can see that most of the worlds known are closer to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy...." C1 observed, before narrowing his eyes at the single world in the northern half, a world that seemed to be exactly opposite of Earth "The World where the Star and Satellite Don't Move Right?" "The species I was able to make our own Rosetta Stone out of are a very literal people. They called themselves, in their own tongue, The Ones with 5 Nostrils Who Think. They described everything this way: their star ships translated to 'the transports across space' as it was. So, while I was able to decipher terminology that we know of, like food or asteroid belts, the names of these races are not known. However, they do have descriptions for what I can only guess to be five major powers, and I have managed to translate some other races descriptions for them with some effort, though they retain the shared issue ." He first noted the center of the galaxy, where three of these powers lied. Each held large chunks of the core and neighboring regions: the largest spread out from the upper-center like a great fan that looked like it was invading the two below it, the second occupied the western section and appeared to be suffering from both extreme fragmentation from attacks by the northern group and from simultaneous, almost spotty incursions west and south, and the third, the smallest, occupying a rather solid territory that seemed to form a barrier in the direct expansion of either of the others south to Earth. "The northern entity seems to be called, in various translations: the Empire of Brutalities, of Deceptions, of Death, the Exterminators of 10,000 Worlds, and the Bringers of Armageddon. They are said to have lost their homeworld due to a civil war, and seek to rule the universe." "That....is embarrassingly cliche." "But admirable C3." C4 noted. "The second is known as the Judges of Madness, the Sphere, the Traders of Deceit, the Great Forgers, the Squids that Hide, and the Creators of Servitude. From what I can tell, unlike the first empire they do not conquer their victims, but instead trap them in servitude via treaties and manipulation." "So, more like the Japanese or Dutch than say, the Russians." C2 observed. "Correct. We have the most complete astrology of this territory, and the worlds of the empire that they appear to have taken from this group. Most of the aliens that have shown up to give us this information, and their biological data after their deaths and analysis." "Yes, yes I did." C2 was rather smug sounding about it. "The third world has....frankly, nicer names to it. The Republic of Friends, the Alliance, the People of Democracy, and the Resilient. This appears to be a, Galactic Republic of sorts." "Well damn, I hate the Prequels." C5 complained. "I did not read anything about space knights, so I doubt it is that republic. This group appears to be a pretty determined group, with a lot of guts. They are fighting both groups, mostly under what I suspect to be a truthful desire to liberate brutalized worlds from nasty conquerors. They are struggling though." "Good guys never do win, do they." C1 snarked. "Oh, you never know." C3 commented, but laughed 0.3 seconds afterwards. "No, no they don't," the enforcer noted the two other groups, one off to the east of the Empire and the Republic, and another to the northwest of the empire, the sides of the empire forming a bit of a road between the empire and just short of Earth's opposite in the galaxy. "We know less of these two: apparently they are not actively involved in the wars yet, though if I was a betting man I would say the Empire will likely confront them in the future. The first is known as an Imperium, but beyond that I have found no descriptions. This implies it is also an empire, though how it ranks against the other is a question I cannot answer. The second is a group with more descriptions to it, and are known as, The Others, Those Without Mass, Those Marked by V, and The Enlightened Swarm." "Sounds Lovecraftian." C4 noted, "How pretentious." "If you rule star systems, I think you can afford to be so." C5 pointed out. The enforcer paused, as if listening to something only he could here before he snorted in annoyance. "Excuse me. There's something I need to take care of." "Did...Did the Enforcer just walk out on us?" C4 asked. "Yes." C3 said, sounding rather bored. "So, we're not going to acknowledge this blatant act of disobedience?" C4 asked. "Oh, we all know he has a random, disrespectful asshole tendency that pops up every now and then, but the point is he gets the job done, one way or another, brutish methods be damned." C5 said. Sensing a lull in the conversation, C4 changed the subject. "Aliens, superhumans, I still think we would be better served with creating better weapons instead of just messing with their DNA. There is no point in creating our own army of Supermen if we don't have a gun that can kill him first." C4 growled as C3 laughed. "You want better guns to kill people with, do you? I mean really, have you ever heard of that annoying trash people spout, that guns don't kill people but people kill people. Well, it is because of me that that is now true: people can kill people so much better than with a mere machine gun now." "I created the technique." C2 stated petulantly. "And who perfected it?" "With half you budgets I managed to create a gun that kills virtually everything you two Frankensteins have made with your corpses and mad science." C1 loudly cleared his throat, silencing his feuding trio of underlings. "Puh, mortals." C5 scoffed. The all stopped and listened attentively as a distant roar reverberated through the space that was even picked up by the speakers, followed immediately by another, somewhat more human sounding roar. There was one, two, three meaty thumps, another roar that soon turned into a whimper that was in turn followed by the high pitched and pained yelp that ended abruptly with a shockingly loud "snap". Several moments later, the enforcer returned, clothing noticeably the worse for wear. "Your shirt." C1 commented as the man smirked, his features now more visible. He was a massive man, a temple to musculature and height. The man stood near 7 feet tall, and growing as of his alien blood transfusion. His mohawk and beard were snow white, but not from age. His garb was a black muscle shirt and pants, adorned with a silver belt and arm bands made of metal. Around his neck was a silver collar, with a T framed by a pair of large bull horns set in between his collar bone on the jewelry. Below the collar was the claw marks that had sliced through his shirt, but failed to break his skin. "My apologies," the enforcer spoke in a deep voice "There was a six hundred pound brown bear outside, breaking into my trash" He scratched his chin in thought. "Do any of you know a good taxidermist? He was met with silence before C2 cheerfully spoke up. "Do send me the fleshy leftovers, I have some ideas of what to do with fresh Grizzly Bear DNA." C2 sounded rather interested in the prospect "Now, as to the first product line to test.....I have just the one in mind."