Last Man Standing - Episode 1

(Limit City; Night)

Limit City was a large, sprawling metropolis and home to more than two million people. While this city was known as one of the most technological-advanced in the world, which was also one of the reasons it had been renamed ‘Limit City’ a few years back, it was also known as one of the most crime-ridden.

Because of the technological advances found in the city, many otherwise common criminals were given extraordinary powers, making life hard for the large police force and everyday civilians of the city. Because of this, many law enforcers and even brave citizens had found ways to gain powers as well as a means to combat the criminals.

Currently, it was around four in the morning. Most of the city had gone to sleep, although there were indeed some people still awake. Traffic was slow, the streets were quiet and crickets were heard chirping.

That was all about to change…

Without anyone around to see it, a dark portal appeared in the air high above the city. A dark face with glowing red eyes poked out of the portal. Looking around a few times, the face disappeared back into the portal.

A few seconds later and countless dark beings fell from the portal, numbering well into the hundreds. The beings landed on the streets, looked around curiously and scurried off into the shadows, where they vanished from sight.

(Limit City; Morning)

Two figures ran down the crowded sidewalks on the city, roughly pushing people out of the way as they ran by. People who observed the two saw that they were both green-skinned aliens, although the one doing the chasing had a darker shade of skin.

“Out of the way!” The fleeing alien shouted as he pushed people out of the way.

“I’m not letting you get away this time, Phars!” The chasing alien shouted.

“You always say that, Chezzkoff!” The fleeing alien shouted as he looked back.

The chasing alien growled and held up his left arm, revealing that it looked like a robotic skeleton. People watched as electricity started building up in the robotic arm, quickly covering the entire arm in bright lightning. As he ran, the alien lashed out his arm, firing a ball of electricity at the fleeing alien.

Looking back, the fleeing figure saw the projectile coming and jumped to the side. The ball of lightning struck a fruit stand, obliterating it and sending fruit everywhere.

Seeing the destruction, the fleeing alien laughed. “Your aim is slipping! You’ve always been a bad shot, but that’s just sad!” He jeered.

Suddenly, while he was looking back, the fleeing alien flew headfirst into a solid object. Landing on his back, the alien looked up and saw that he had run into a wall of glowing, purple energy.

The two aliens looked to the side and saw a new figure approaching. It was a human man with fire-red hair, wearing shades and dressed in a trenchcoat. He had a clenched fist, which was engulfed in the same energy as the wall.

“Help is appreciated, whoever you are.” The chasing alien said with a smirk.

“It was mainly to get you two to stop running. You’re scaring people and causing property damage.” The newcomer said as he unclenched his hand. The energy around his fist dissipated and the energy wall vanished altogether. “This guy owe you money or something?”

The fleeing alien growled. “A minor setback, but nothing I can’t fix.” He said. “We’ll meet again, Chezzkoff.”

In front of everyone present, the fleeing alien vanished from sight, literally disappearing into thin air. The chasing alien growled. “I almost had him that time!” He said.

“Mind telling me what that was all about?” The red-haired man asked. He seemed surprisingly unsurprised at what had just been seen.

“That guy is a ruthless hitman. I’ve been chasing him for as long as I can remember.” The alien shook his head.

“Gordon! What’s going on?” A female voice asked. The two men looked and saw a brunette girl wearing a sleeveless coat and with goggles on her head coming over. “Who’s this guy?”

“I apparently just interrupted a feud.” The man said as he looked at the alien. “So where’d he go?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know.” The alien replied. “Once he vanishes, he can go pretty much wherever he wants.”

“You’re not from around here, are you?” The redhead man asked.

“Good observation. I just chased him into the city.”

The man gave a shrug. “Not that it matters to me. My girlfriend and I were just passing through ourselves.” He said. “The name’s Firefox.”

“I’m Diva.” The woman added.

“Fyx Chezzkoff. It’s a pleasure.” The alien said as he started walking off. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find the guy that just vanished.”

“Who was he?” Diva asked.

“Ykkz Phars; Professional hitman that does whatever he wants for as much money as he can get for it.” Fyx replied. “Now that he’s gone, it’ll take me forever to find him again.”

Suddenly, a nearby alleyway turned dark, catching the attention of all three. They looked at the alley and saw some strange, black, shadow-like beings emerge from the darkness in the alley. They looked like grotesque insects made of shadow and citizens that saw them ran and screamed in an attempt to flee the creatures.

“What the heck are those things?!” Diva asked.

“I don’t know, but they don’t exactly look friendly.” Firefox noted. “I say we get out of here.”

“You can’t be serious, Gordon! These people can’t protect themselves from those things!” Diva pointed out. “We need to help!”

Firefox paused and sighed, igniting his fist in purple energy as he looked at Fyx. “You think you can lend a hand here?” He asked.

Fyx sighed. “Fine.” He said.

(Business District)

A third-floor window of a large bank was broken open from the inside. Many people scrambled to avoid falling glass, which shattered on the pavement below. A lone figure emerged from inside the window and stepped onto the windowsill. He was revealed to be an overweight man dressed like a clown. He held a large bag, likely containing stolen money.

Looking down, the clown saw a couple of police cars gathering on the ground. He gave a smirk. “These people just never learn.” He said as he extended a hand.

A wave of cold air emitted from the clown’s hand, freezing almost instantly. The clown quickly formed an ice bridge that crossed from the windowsill he was standing on to the building across the road. Another easy heist and another quick and effortless getaway.

Suddenly, a manhole cover flew from below and smashed into the bridge the clown was walking across. The clown quickly lost his footing and fell down to the road below, falling onto the hood of one of the police cars.

“You’re under arrest, Bleak!” A policeman shouted as he approached the fallen clown.

“Not in my lifetime!” The clown said as he extended his hand and encased the policeman in a block of ice. “Who the heck did threw the lid?!”

“That would be me, comrade.”

Bleak turned and saw a large, muscular, bald man with a beard approaching. He had what looked like a permanent black eye and didn’t look amused.

“Call me Blackeye, comrade.” The man said in a Russian accent. “Talk about luck. I just so happen to pass through the city and I come across a common thief that’s asking for a beating.”

Bleak growled as he got up, freezing another policeman that tried to get too close. “The entire police force of five cities has been trying to arrest me for years.” He said. “What makes you think you can?”

“Sheer muscle, comrade.” Blackeye cracked his knuckles.

Suddenly hearing the sound of ice shattering, Bleak and Blackeye looked to see that one of the policemen had been broken from his ice prison. They saw another muscular man wearing a grey tank-top and green bandana standing nearby. The newcomer went over to the other frozen officer and punched the ice prison, obliterating the block of ice and freeing the officer with his bare hands.

“Word to the wise, pal.” The newcomer said to Blackeye. “Don’t leave someone frozen for too long or they’ll die of suffocation.”

Blackeye lifted an eyebrow. “And you are?” He asked.

“Barney Callahan.” The man replied. “And you need a little lesson.”

Blackeye narrowed his eyes and approached Barney. “You are far too cocky for my tastes.” He said.

Bleak looked between the two strongmen before deciding to slip away unnoticed. “Okay. I’ll let you to have your little quarrel while I go over here.” He said.

“CLOWN!!” A new voice screamed as something hard struck Black in the back of the head.

Bleak collapsed to the pavement and quickly got up to look at his attacker. The new person was a tall and thin woman with long, black hair. She had a crazed look in her eyes and a sledgehammer in her hands.

“What’s your problem?!” Bleak asked. Blackeye and Barney were by now fighting each other.

“Clown…Evil clown…” The woman said, gripping the handle of the sledgehammer with white knuckles. “I won’t let a clown get the better of me…They’re always conspiring against me!”

Before Bleak could reply, the woman screamed in fury, hefted her sledgehammer over her head and ran at him.

The civilians and policemen could only watch the scene in stunned silence. On one side of the chaos was two strongmen that had only just met and were currently trying to beat each other with raw strength. The other side showed an insane woman chasing an evil clown with a sledgehammer.

“So…Who are we arresting?” One of the policemen asked the captain. He didn’t get a response.

People suddenly started to notice that the bank Bleak had just robbed had turn black. Out of the foundation of the now-blackened building emerged several shadowed beings, whom looked menacing enough to frighten most people away. Setting their sights on the two fights across the street, the beings made their way across the street.

Blackeye was the first to see the creatures. “What…What are those?” He asked.

Barney paused and looked over his shoulder to see the creatures. “Hey…That’s not good…What are they?” He asked.

The insect-like shadow beings snarled menacingly as they approached the group. The woman ran in front of the two strongman and suddenly tripped over Blackeye’s foot, landing flat on her face. Bleak took this opportunity to run off and make his escape.

Barney hauled the woman to her feet. “Excuse me, miss…” He said.

“Uh…Sandy. Sandy Burtoni.” The woman said.

“You know anything about those maniacal creatures that are coming towards us?”

Sandy looked and saw the creatures. She screamed again. “SAND WEAVALS!! THE INVASION HAS BEGUN!!” She screamed as she hefted her sledgehammer again and ran at the creatures headlong.

Blackeye and Barney exchanged glances before charging in to help her.

(Shopping District)

A two-pronged claw lashed down and struck a baseball bat, which blocked the attempted attack. People watched as the gray-furred poodle girl was fighting off the huge, orange insect with a clawed hand with nothing but a bat.

A one-eyed bloodhound watched from afar and folded his arms. “Don’t kill her, you fool! We need her alive!” He ordered.

“We only need one of them alive.” The insect sneered. “I can kill the one that can fight back!”

A younger poodle with a blue jersey and red baseball cap looked on in fear. “Sis!” She said. “Keep your guard up!”

“Erin, stay back! I can take these two!” The older poodle girl ordered.

“How long do you girls intend to keep this up?” A sinister, reptilian voice asked. Everyone looked to see a humanoid snake in a business suit walking over, hands behind his back. “It’s tiring having to chase you around everywhere.”

The elder poodle growled. “Hiss. Usually you just send your lackeys to do your dirty work.” She said. “Why are you even here?”

“I want that gem, Misty. I’ll be getting it either way, so I suggest you just hand it over.” Hiss said, eyes narrowed.

“You’ve been trying to get it from us for what seems like forever. What makes you think you can get it from us now?” Misty asked.

“Bloodhound. Insecticide.” Hiss told his two lackeys. “Why don’t you show these two firsthand?”

Insecticide, the giant insect, gave a sadistic smirk and continued to clash with Misty. The one-eyed dog, Bloodhound, approached Erin, the smaller and younger poodle, who stepped back a few steps in fear.

Bloodhound suddenly tripped over something on the sidewalk and fell flat on his face. Bloodhound looked back in anger and saw that a lone figure in a purple cloak appeared to be sleeping on the sidewalk, although his face was covered with the hood of his cloak. Because of this, the only way Bloodhound could tell that he was asleep was the loud snoring coming from his form.

Bloodhound growled. “Get up, you fool.” He said, kicking the figure in the side, causing him to jerk awake.

“Ack!” The man said. “Ugh…What year is it?”

“What idiot falls asleep on the sidewalk?!” Bloodhound asked as the man got up, revealing himself to be a shrouded man of medium stature. Erin quickly scampered aside to put some more distance between her and Bloodhound.

“I resemble that resentment, you know.” The man said.

Bloodhound narrowed his good eye. “Who the heck ARE you?” He asked.

“Uh…Khall.” The man said. “Boy. You’re a BIG puppy, aren’t you?”

“I’ll ignore that.” Bloodhound said sharply. “Now get out of my way.”

“Hey, you’re the one that woke me up.” Khall shrugged.

Meanwhile, Misty was still using her bat to clash with Insecticide’s claw. It took a couple of minutes, but Misty managed to get the better of the large bug and forced his claw away from her.

Seeing Insecticide stunned, Misty swung her bat and smashed it into the side of the bug’s head, knocking him down. As Insecticide was stunned, Misty turned to glare daggers at Hiss.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” Misty said. “Now that you aren’t in the safety of your office, nothing’s stopping me from pounding your face in here and now.”

Hiss, although intimidated, scoffed. “You may want to focus more attention on your sister.” He said.

Misty froze, then looked out the corner of her eye. Erin was now safely across the street, as Bloodhound seemed to be preoccupied with a strange guy in a purple cloak. However, when she looked at Hiss again, she saw a fist coming at her face, knocking her down.

Hiss couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re in over your head this time, dear.” He said. “Face it. This time, you have no chance.”

Suddenly, the portion of the sidewalk between Misty and Hiss turned pitch black. The two looked over and saw that a small store that the piece of sidewalk was connected to had also turned black.

Suddenly, insect-like beings emerged from the shadowed building and started crawling towards the group.

“What the blazes?!” Hiss asked aloud.

“This has to be one of your tricks, Hiss.” Misty growled as she got to her feet.

Hiss growled back as he pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it at one of the beings. Hiss fired a shot and the creature screamed as it collapsed to the pavement and burst into bits of shadow.

This seemed to make the other ones more mad and they approached Hiss. The snake turned to his men. “Boys, we’re getting out of here! Pull out!” He said.

Bloodhound looked up and grunted as he looked down at Khall. “We’ll finish this later.” He said.

Khall shrugged. “What did we start?” He asked.

Bloodhound didn’t respond and hauled Insecticide to his feet. As he was getting hauled off, Insecticide glanced at the bug-like creatures, almost intently.

Misty pulled out her bat and saw that the creatures were starting to swarm her. Erin quickly approached her from behind. “What the heck are those things?!” She asked.

“Erin, get back!” Misty said.

Khall suddenly walked in from the side and looked at the creatures. “Wow. Did a truck of black paint suddenly spill over a bunch of big bugs or something?” He asked.

“Can you fight?” Misty asked.

“I think so. Comes and goes.” Khall said as he pulled out a couple of daggers.

“That doesn’t exactly help, you know.”

(Unknown Castle)

A large, middle-age castle stood on the edge of a forest, towering above the trees around it. This castle had been abandoned for centuries before a lone man inhabited it and made that his home.

This particular man was a genius inventor specializing in mechanics. He preferred to seclude himself from civilization as a means to keep his inventions a secret. In fact, he had been named a mad scientist by people due to his inventions.

In a large, dark room, this particular man was sitting at a large computer, looking at a screen that appeared to be a huge radar. He watched as several large, dark blots appeared on the radar.

“That’s strange…What the blazes is this?” The man asked. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

The man pressed a button on the computer desk and opened communications to his assistant. “Janice, would you come in here?” He asked.

“Certainly, Dr. Photon.” A robotic voice said.

The door to the room opened and in walked a robotic woman with blonde hair and dressed like a secretary. She walked over to where the man was sitting. “What seems to be the problem, sir?” Janice asked.

The man turned in his chair, revealing a man with orange-brown hair, a goatee and solid, glowing yellow eyes. “Janice, take a look at this radar.” He instructed. “Tell me what you see.”

Janice looked at the radar. “It appears that there is a spike in dark, otherworldly energy centered in that city. Limit City, from the looks of things.” She explained.

“Indeed. That energy just appeared from out of nowhere.” Photon explained.

“What do you suppose it is?” Janice asked. “It certainly can’t be anything good.”

“I know.” Photon nodded.

(Busy Street)

A shadow being roared in pain as Fyx’s metal hand slashed through it, bisecting it and destroying it. Fyx saw several other beings jumping at him, but the green alien started charging electrical energy. Lashing out his hand, Fyx unleashed a wave of electricity on the beings and destroyed the lot of them at once.

“These things just keep coming!” Fyx shouted. “Where are they coming from?!”

“From the blackness of the shadows, it looks like.” Firefox replied as he ran a being through with a blade of purple energy. “The bigger question is what we have to do to keep them from spawning altogether.”

Firefox continued to fight off the beings that were charging at him, swinging his energy blade to decapitate several of the beings. Turning his energy into a ball and chain, Firefox swung it around and destroyed several more beings.

“Lee, how are you holding up?” Firefox asked.

Firefox’s brown-haired girlfriend, as it turned out, was holding her own fairly well. Because she didn’t have any weapon-based powers, Diva was forced to use mainly melee attacks to take down the beings that were rushing her. Diva smashed an arm into the head of a being, then kicked another in the stomach.

“Chew on this!” Diva shouted as she grabbed one of the beings by the arm and hurled it into a group of the others, forming a large mass of bodies. Once all the beings were together, Diva let out a loud scream, sending a shockwave towards the beings that shattered them all and destroyed them.

Once she was done, Diva looked back and saw another being coming at her. “I don’t think so!” She said as she spun in place and gave the being a punch to the face. The being flew backwards, hitting its head on the sidewalk.

A lightning bolt suddenly flew over Diva’s shoulder and struck the being she was fighting as it was getting back up. Diva looked over her shoulder and saw Fyx aiming his metallic arm at her. He quickly resumed his fighting and blasted another few beings with another spreading bolt of electricity.

“I was doing fine on my own, you know!” Diva shot.

“You need to finish your opponent, because I don’t think these things are capable of mercy!” Fyx snapped back.

Diva grumbled and turned to keep fighting.

Firefox swept his hand, lashing a wave of energy at a group of beings, slicing a few in half and scattering the rest. However, when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that more beings were spawning from the ground, and looked like they were appearing by the dozens.

“This isn’t working! They’re coming too fast!” Firefox said.

“What do you suggest?” Fyx asked.

“We can’t win like this.” Firefox said. “We need to run and regroup for now.”

Diva looked around. “Looks like all of the people ran away.” She noted. “I think we’re okay to run if we need to.”

“…Okay. We’ll run for now. I honestly don’t like our chances, myself.” Fyx said.

With that, the three fighters turned and ran off down the street in an attempt to get away from the strange beings.

(Business District)

A huge fist punched through a being’s head, completely destroying it. Blackeye pulled his fist back and swung his arm backwards, striking another being with the back of his fist.

A few of the beings tried to jump Blackeye from behind, but the Russian strongman was quick to throw them off and stomp on them hard enough to destroy them as well.

“These things just keep coming!” Blackeye grunted as he gave a couple of beings a roundhouse.

“Don’t I know it!” Barney shouted back as he rammed his elbow into a being. “This is getting us nowhere!”

“What do you propose we do?!” Blackeye asked.

“I don’t know! Just keep fighting!” Barney said as he grabbed a being and threw it into another. “Sandy! You still with us?!”

“EAT HAMMER, SAND WEAVALS!!” Sandy screamed as she chased a few beings around with her sledgehammer. She swung her hammer wildly, managing to destroy a few of the beings as she ran.

“I don’t think she was with us to begin with, comrade.” Blackeye noted.

The two strongmen tried to ignore Sandy’s rage-filled screaming as they continued to take apart the strange beings with their bare hands. Barney quickly picked up a being and threw it at another being, one Blackeye was fighting. This disoriented the two beings and gave Blackeye the chance he needed to destroy the two of them.

Sandy crushed a few of the beings with her hammer and leapt at another, kicking it in the back of the head. Sandy quickly pinned the being down with the handle of her huge hammer.

“Okay, sand weaval! I have you where I want you! Tell me what you know!” Sandy shouted.

Some beings tried to jump Sandy from behind, but the black-haired woman saw them coming out of the corner of her eye and spun around, swinging her hammer at the same time. She struck all of the beings in one blow, but when she turned back to the one she had pinned, it was getting back up again.

Quickly destroying the being, Sandy rushed towards the two strongmen and swung her hammer several times on the way over, taking out beings left and right.

“So what now?” Sandy asked.

“There’s too many of them.” Barney muttered. “Unless anyone else has any better ideas, I suggest we retreat.”

Blackeye grit his teeth. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“Should we make a path, then?” Barney asked.

“Yes, comrade. I think we should.” Blackeye said with a smirk.

The two strongmen rushed towards an oncoming group of beings together and plowed through them, taking a lot of them out at once while Sandy brought up the rear, swinging her hammer and taking out the stragglers.

“FOR THE SHIRE!!!” Sandy screamed.

(Shopping District)

Misty smashed her baseball bat into the side of a being’s head, destroying it. Another couple of beings tried to jump her while she was distracted, but Misty was quick to destroy those as well.

“There’s no end to these things!” Misty growled. “What gives?!”

Seeing another couple of beings approaching her from the side, Misty swung her bat and took them out, but in doing so left herself open for another being to jump her from behind. The being clawed at Misty’s back, causing her to shout in pain and try to shake it off.

Suddenly, a baseball struck the being, knocking it off Misty’s back. Misty quickly turned and smashed the downed being with her bat, destroying it. Misty looked ahead and saw Erin running over, having thrown the ball.

“Erin, stay close!” Misty said. “You can’t fight these things!”

“I know! I know!” Erin nodded. “Just remember to keep your eyes open, sis! These things might be smarter than they look!”

“If one was able to get the jump on me like that, I can’t rule it out.” Misty muttered as she smashed another being. “Where’s that purple guy? He still alive?”

Erin looked around and spotted Khall, who was using his daggers to parry the strikes of a being multiple times in a row. However, it looked like he was trying to strike up a conversation with it at the same time.

“…And so I said ‘Nah-uh!’, and she said ‘Ya-huh!’, and at first I didn’t believe it, but as time went on, I learned to realize that it was right all along! I mean, what are the chances of that, right?” Khall said casually as he appeared to block every attempted strike from the being he was fighting without even trying.

“What’s with that guy?” Erin asked. “He doesn’t even look like he’s paying attention.”

“I’ve been trying to ignore it, honestly.” Misty grit her teeth. “If I take my eyes off these things, they’ll strike.”

Khall stabbed a being with one of his daggers, killing it and realizing what he did about a second later. “Ack! Sorry about that!” He exclaimed. “Sometimes I forget what I’m doing!”

“You’re SUPPOSED to kill them, you dolt!” Misty shouted. “They’re trying to kill you!”

“Oh?” Khall blinked. “Well, THAT’S not good.” He said as he resumed his fighting, this time fighting normally.

“Misty, this isn’t good! They just keep coming and they come faster than you can kill them!” Erin admitted.

Misty growled. “You have a point, Erin. We may have to make ourselves scarce.” She said as she looked at Khall. “Hey, ninja-boy! When I give the word, we make a break for it!”

“Sure thing! Care to tell me what it is we’re breaking?” Khall asked.

“BANZAI!!!”

The three turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw two strongmen plowing through the crowd of beings, while a black-haired woman with a hammer was bringing up the rear (and had been the one to scream).

“Gang way! Gang way!” Barney shouted.

“Have they been fighting those beings as well?” Erin asked.

“Then we aren’t the only ones fighting.” Misty said. “That also means that there are even more beings in the city.”

A lightning blast suddenly erupted from the side and struck several of the beings that the girls were fighting, destroying them. The girls looked and saw three more figures running towards them, the green alien being responsible for the lightning attack.

“Three more?” Erin asked.

“Boy! Has everyone here been fighting these things?” Khall asked. “That’s so neat!”

“We’re trying to get away from these things!” Firefox grunted. “Why are we running into them again?!”

Blackeye smashed a nearby being. “We’re trying to get away ourselves, comrade.” He said. “Does…Does anyone know a place where we can regroup?”

“A safehouse?” Diva asked. “We’ll need to find a building these things can’t enter.”

“We’re getting nowhere standing around like this!” Barney urged. “Come on! We need to go!”

The united group of nine quickly made a break for it, running through the group of beings to continue fleeing. Barney and Blackeye once again led the way so they could provide an opening for everyone to run through.

(Rooftop)

Bleak stared down at the streets from high above the ground. He appeared to be safe on the rooftops, since the beings didn’t seem to be climbing the walls for now. The overweight clown scratched his head, wondering what was going on.

“This doesn’t make any sense. Where did those things come from?” Bleak asked aloud. “And…They seem to be driving off the so-called heroes…”

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Bleak spun around and formed a sharp blade of ice in his hand, seeing a yellow-green alien with mismatched eyes approaching with a smirk.

“Don’t worry. I’m not your enemy. Not yet, anyway.” Ykkz Phars said. “I just express a similar interest in those beings as you do.”

Bleak, eyes narrowed suspiciously, put the blade of ice away. “You ran into them as well?” He asked.

“Sort of. I have to say that I’m impressed with the apparent powers those things have.” Ykkz admitted. “Look at how those heroes fought them. For every one of those things they struck down, three more spawned.”

Bleak gave a nod and folded his arms. “I think that, if something isn’t done about it, we may have an unstoppable invasion on our hands.” He said. “For the life of me, I don’t even know where those beings came from.”

“I know.” Ykkz said with a smirk. “Very interesting, isn’t it?”

(Office Building)

Hiss stood in his office, staring out at the large city from his huge bay window. The humanoid snake put his arms behind his back as he appeared to be in thought. Bloodhound and Insecticide stood behind him, wondering what their boss was thinking.

“Those things appeared out of nowhere and kept rushing us as we were leaving.” Bloodhound pointed out. “It’s no question that they’re here to invade.”

“I know. But I’m currently wondering how we can use this to our advantage.” Hiss said.

“What advantage?! Those things will do nothing but destroy!”

“I’m aware of that.”

Insecticide formed a crooked smirk. “I think I know what you’re getting at.” He said. “You want to form some kind of alliance with whatever’s leading those beings.”

“Indeed. If we can get on the good side of those beings, they could prove to be great allies.” Hiss said. “They could help us achieve complete control and we will hardly need to do anything.”

Bloodhound narrowed his good eye. “I don’t see any good in this idea, sir.” He said. “Those things are liable to turn on us completely.”

“I say we give it a try.” Insecticide said. “I think it could work.”

“Thank you, Insecticide.” Hiss said. “Good to see that ONE of you has their head on straight.”

“I’d be happy to go and find them myself and try to make peace with them.” Insecticide said.

“Permission granted. Those beings may have an easier time liking you because they resemble you.” Hiss nodded. “Make sure you get on their good sides.”

“I will, sir. Don’t worry.” Insecticide said as he turned and left the office, casting Bloodhound a glance as he did.

Bloodhound could only watch the giant bug leave the office, good eye narrowed darkly.

(Unknown Castle)

Photon watched the carnage on a huge monitor. Having picked up the spike in energy on his radar, Photon turned his attention to his drones in Limit City to see what the big fuss was.

“Janice, what can you make about those beings?” Photon asked.

“My records show no sign of those beings anywhere, Dr. Photon.” Janice said in a robotic, slightly-monotone voice. “It’s clear that they are indeed the source of the spike in otherworldly energy we picked up.”

“Indeed. However, the biggest question is what world they came from in the first place…” Photon said. “Janice, take a note.”

“Certainly, sir.”

“Keep tabs on those beings and make an attempt to find out all we can about them.” Photon explained.

“Of course, sir.” Janice said. “To be honest, I don’t sense much good to come from them.”

“I know. If things get too out of hand, we’ll need to find some kind of weakness.” Photon said.

“You assume that it would come to that?” Janice asked.

“Anything is possible and we have to assume the worst.”

(Museum)

“Did any of them follow us in?” Diva asked.

“I think we’re good.” Barney nodded.

The nine people walked into a large, open room in the museum and got into a big circle to discuss their plan. However, at the moment, their thoughts were obviously elsewhere.

Misty held her head. “What the heck ARE those things?!” She asked.

“We don’t know. They seemed to just appear out of nowhere.” Fyx replied. “But here’s what I’m wondering: Now that they’re here, what do we do?”

“We can’t fight our way out of the city. Those things will just overrun us.” Firefox shook his head.

“So…What? We just find a way to kill them and keep killing them?” Khall asked. “Doesn’t sound like much of a plan.”

“Comrade, it’s all we can do at the moment.” Blackeye shook his head. “We can’t get out of the city, so we need to find a way to destroy those things in order to do so.”

Diva sighed. “Great. A fight for our lives, huh?” She said. “Just so we can escape?”

Erin looked down. “Man. This is so scary…” She said. “How can those things even be destroyed so that no more spawn?”

“They have to have a weakness. We just need to find it.” Fyx shook his head. “However, in order to do that, the nine of us are going to need to work together.”

“I’m with him.” Firefox said. “The only people any of us have to rely on at this point are each other. The only chance any of us have at getting out of the city alive is to find the weakness we need and destroy those beings from the inside out.”

The weren’t any objections with the others, as they all remained silent. It appeared that everyone agreed that this was something they needed to do.

“We may as well get acquainted with each other while we’re here.” Barney suggested. “We’re all in this together, after all…”