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All comments and critiques are welcomed here and on my Google Docs(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OusqXuu_0KVzTlvVXsHdaYyqEm87JNuWHQUy71lLuxM)

For other chapters, I will post them on here later. But you can find the archives on my FA and Tumblr with pics included.

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ecchimultiverse/

Tumblr: http://ecchimultiverse.tumblr.com/

For first looks and more illustrations, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ecchimultiverse

First Chapter | Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATRONS:
CHRISTOPHER FLOYD, DONALD MORGAN, ANDREW L, & MAXIM

All comments and critiques are welcomed here and on my Google Docs(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OusqXuu_0KVzTlvVXsHdaYyqEm87JNuWHQUy71lLuxM)

For other chapters, I will post them on here later. But you can find the archives on my FA and Tumblr with pics included.

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ecchimultiverse/

Tumblr: http://ecchimultiverse.tumblr.com/

For first looks and more illustrations, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ecchimultiverse

First Chapter | Previous Chapter |  Next Chapter

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATRONS:
CHRISTOPHER FLOYD, DONALD MORGAN, ANDREW L, & MAXIM

Chapter 18: Reunion

Two days had passed since Gemini visited Justice’s hometown, Sunnysville. During that period, the two only met during debriefings at the D.A.B. headquarters regarding Gilgamesh’s interrogations and fieldwork. It was always an awkward tension Justice could feel between himself and Gemini. And it seemed to increase whenever Gene talked to him in Gemini’s presence. He wished he had the answers to resolve the situation, but the crossroad of choosing “the one” had been difficult. It came to a point when he questioned if he even loved Gemini or Gene and was not just lusting after them. Thankfully, the past few days had been a helpful distraction.

Currently transformed and located inside of the Barticle Troy Mall, Marvelous Man twirled into the air. The musclebound superhero activated his flight power to stay airborne for a few seconds; dodging a bolt of lightning crackling into the ground where he once stood. The floor splintered into fragments that briefly flew into the air. In retaliation to the electrical attack, Marvelous Man threw his golden wreath at the caster.

The golden wreath whistled in the air, as it whirled itself towards the attacker. The assailant knocked it away with his weapons; a pair of short-handed axes with magical runes etched on them. Spurts of electricity arced through the axes, while the etched runes glowed a soft blue. Upon failure of striking the assailant, the wreath sailed back to Marvelous Man.

Marvelous Man caught the projectile and stared down at the foe. The magical axe wielder was a man who looked to be about as young as eighteen. His skin had a pigmentation so dark, it was nearly black. And his body had a trim muscle tone that bulked at his back and thighs like an Olympic wrestler.

The young man wore a hunter green loincloth with two leather belts. The brown belts crossed over each other in an x-pattern and sagged at his hips . It had a loop on each side as a means of acting as the short-handed axes holsters as well. Adorned on his shins and forearms were bracers made of zebra pelt, and his footwear consisted of simple, brown sandals.

The young man shouted, “Come down and fight me, coward! Or is your fear of a Skeleton Lord guardian that great?”

The Skeleton Lord guardian clanged his magical axes together, while he glanced about. The etched runes on the enchanted weaponry glowed a brighter intensity of soft blue light. Electrical discharge dances around the axes with more frequency, as the weapons’ blades vibrated from the loud clash.

“Your so-called heroes are afraid of Zareb the-...where is everybody?” he said.

The Barticle Troy Mall was completely empty; emphasized by Zareb’s comment reverberating the vacant building. Other than the Skeleton Lord guardian, the only people on the first floor with him were Marvelous Man and Octomentist. Zareb’s eyes shifted about in search of a supposed audience.

Marvelous Man called out with his thoughts, “Gene, he’s figured out we got everybody evacuated. I think he’s gonna make a break for it. Is it ready yet?”

“We require a few more seconds, Marvelous Man. Gemini is applying the final parts,” telepathically replied Gene.

The electrical tribesman glared up at Marvelous Man before looking down at Octomentist. The female superhero, draped in her red kung fu gown, held all eight of her cybernetic arms up in a battle-ready position. Zareb flexed a confused eyebrow while seeing Octomentist transform her golden arm into a golden tendril.

Octomentist then whipped her golden tentacle-like arm in an underhanded motion. The tendril darted towards Zareb; moving downwards before curving up the moment it got close to touching the ground. Upon reaching its target, the golden tentacle coiled around the electrified axe in the supervillain’s left hand. the tendril tightened, as Octomentist immediately placed one of her chrome-plated arms on her transformed Gold Arm. Any electricity emanating from the magical axe traveled down the conductive golden limb; only to be absorbed by the prosthetic superhero’s Lightning Arm. Zareb tugged and chopped at the golden tendril with no success.

Seeing the Skeleton Lord guardian momentarily distracted, Marvelous Man flew towards the villain for an opportune surprise attack. As the musclebound superhero raised his legs for a dive kick, he instantly realized he reacted in the wrong way. He could see it all unfold in slow motion.

Zareb released his caught axe, while simultaneously waving his other electrified axe in an upwards motion. An arc of magical lightning released from both axes and reached out to one another. Upon connection, the tethered axe reacted by leaping towards Octomentist. It spun like a buzz saw; wrestling away from the golden tendril’s bind. The magical axe zipped past Marvelous Man, as it drew closer to the eight-armed superhero.

Releasing her Lightning Arm’s clasp over the Gold Arm, Octomentist raised her chrome arm in attempt to block. The tendril form of the Gold Arm retreated back; trying to reshape itself into a more defensive attire. The speed of the whirling axe was far greater than the Gold Arm’s shapeshifting and collided with the superhero’s Lightning Arm with a loud clang. The chrome arm had saved her twice at the same time, as it had immediately absorbed the axe’s extra discharge it gave off. The impact of the enemy’s weapon threw Octomentist backward; causing her to land on her back. As for the axe, it pierced into the ground next to her head.

Marvelous Man was distracted by the commotion and miscalculated his diving kick. His legs pounded into the ground only a finger’s length away from the Skeleton Lord guardian. Tremors from the error travelled up his legs; making it momentarily feel as if his overly-muscular limbs had stepped onto a sword’s blade until it rammed into the hilt. The vibrations and shattered flooring caused Zareb to stumble back and nearly lose balance. Distracted by the blundered attack, the electrical arc connecting the two magical axes lost focus and completely severed.

Zareb spat, “Cursed wretch.”

The Skeleton Lord guardian turned around and proceeded to flee towards the mall’s exit. Marvelous Man activated his flight powers; his legs too shaky from the impact to do an on-foot pursuit. At the same time, Octomentist stood up. Her face looked unamused, as she sharply exhaled through her nostrils.

The disk in her right shoulder socket rotated her set of chrome-plated right arms, until it located the correct cybernetic limb. She then placed the chrome arm, that was known to Marvelous Man as the Gravity Arm, on her chest and activated it. A dark aura emitted from the arm; causing Octomentist to become weightless. Leaping forward before the nulled gravity completely took over, she aimed another cybernetic arm behind her. The arm was none other than her Air Arm and activated to jet a stream of compressed air out of her palm. Octomentist reacted at the same time by assuming her body in a more aerodynamic position through leaning forward.

“Gene!” shouted Marvelous Man’s thoughts.

Fairuza telepathically replied, “It’ll be up in 3-2-1-!”

As Zareb was about to pass a row of columns, a paper-thin wall of rainbow-like light materialized between the white columns. The electrical tribesman collided into the flimsy sheet of light as if it were a solid wall. His face and body looked as if he had smooshed up against a glass panel.

“Magical barrier successful. Subject is now contained. Well done, you two!” said Fairuza.

Marvelous Man flew towards the trapped Zareb, but was cut off by Octomentist. With the Air Arm providing propulsion, the eight-armed superhero zipped past Marvelous Man before he could accelerate. Octomentist crashed into Zareb’s back in less than a second and tumbled to the floor.

The electric tribesman slid down to the floor after the sudden compression; momentarily knocking the air out of his lungs. Zareb then pushed himself up, while using his axe as a prop. At the same time, Octomentist deactivated the Gravity Arm and Air Arm; ending the martial artist’s ability to fly. The prosthetic superhero then braced for landing and rolled herself back onto her feet. With all eight arms flexing into an intimidating pose, she was back to being battle ready.

As Marvelous Man began to catch up to the two fighters, Zareb held out his axe. The magical weapon shot out its bolt of lightning in an attempt to reconnect to its fallen twin. Sailing past the two superheroes without interference, the electric bolt bonded with the axe stuck into the ground. The Skeleton Lord guardian then pulled back the electrified axe in his hand; signaling the other one to react.

The musclebound superhero turned to watch the magical axe yanked itself from the floor and flew back to its twin. It began its usual spinning motion; slicing through the air at such a rate that the blade blurred. While flying back to Zareb, the electrified weapon slightly altered its course. The axe flew a wide distance around Marvelous Man; keeping outside of the hulking bodybuilder’s reach. It then began to curve itself towards Octomentist’s exposed back, and Marvelous Man was helpless to stop it in time.

Marvelous Man screamed, “NO!!!”

The Skeleton Lord guardian grinned ravenously, as the mystical axed was nearly an arm’s length away from murderously grinding into Octomentist’s back. The eight-armed superhero took a step forward and immediately spun around in a counterclockwise motion. Reaching out with her Lightning Arm, she perfectly timed her revolution and grabbed the electrified axe by the handle. As she completed a full rotation, she swung the magical weapon into Zareb’s right shoulder. The electric tribesman sank to the floor once again with the electrical current between the axes cutting off.

“Daughter of blight!” he cursed.

Dropping the magical axe in his hand, Zareb flinched in pain. The Skeleton Lord guardian rose a shaky hand towards his axe-embedded shoulder, as the blue light emanating from his enchanted weapons died. Streams of blood slowly seeped from the wound; drifting down the midnight skin.

Octomentist huffed, “Shut up. It’s only a flesh wound. Just be glad I didn’t decide to hit your arteries after trying to pull that boomerang shit on me.”

The prosthetic superhero turned to look at Marvelous Man.

“Hey, Naked Justice. Before you patch him up, let me just do one more thing,” she requested.

While twisting her waist back towards the wounded Skeleton Lord guardian, Octomentist formed her hands into a fist. She struck Zareb with four chrome-plated right hooks with each attacking different areas of the enemy’s left side: the temple, ear, cheek, and jaw. Upon quadruple impact, the electrical tribesman slumped face first onto the ground and into unconsciousness.

Octomentist shook her right hands, “Okay, now you can do it.”

Marvelous Man silently hovered over to the unconscious Zareb and landed next to the foe. He commanded the light within himself to flow to his hands in preparation for healing. The light within him obeyed and began illuminating the bodybuilder’s meaty hands. Placing one hand next to the wound, Marvelous Man placed his other on the magical axe’s handle. The musclebound superhero took a breath to brace himself for what he would do next and began to feed his light. He recalled the happy memories of Papa Ares giving him ice cream and cookies for breakfast the day after Ares caused him to dislocate his knee.

Pulling out the weapon with a quick yank, Marvelous Man commanded his light to begin healing. The light complied and extended itself over the wound. Seconds ticked by as the wound slowly sealed itself up, and the bloody stream came to a gradual stop. With the job done, the hulking bodybuilder deactivated his power and stood up.

“He’s stablized for now. I didn’t heal his concussion, because I’m pretty sure he’d wake up before we could contain him,” he reported.

Marvelous Man called out with his thoughts, “Gene, can you turn off the barrier? We got the guardian.”

“I acknowledge,” telepathically replied Gene.

The translucent barrier began to dissipate, while Octomentist fished her chrome hand into her belt pouch. Pulling it out a second later, her hand revealed a flat device within its grasp. The eight-armed hero then pressed a button on the gadget’s center and tossed it onto the unconscious Zareb. Upon landing, the device beeped before fastening itself on the back of the Skeleton Lord guardian. The machine began to leak metallic threads that lengthened and coiled about the enemy. Footsteps from beyond the pillars could be heard, as the expanding threads had completely mummified the enemy. Once bundled up, the device emitting the metallic threads beeped again and emitted a dark glow similar to Octomentist’s Gravity Arm. The bounded being then floated off the ground and hovered at the same level as Marvelous Man’s knees.

Octomentist smiled, “Thanks for the assist, Naked Justice. It’s always interesting when I’m teaming up with you. Gotta say that you are just a magnet for weird. Well, see ya.”

As she began to leave, one of her chrome arms reached out to grab the levitating perpetrator. She silently dragged the detained subject behind her, while the echoing footsteps grew closer. A thought crossed Marvelous Man’s mind.

“Oh, hey. I think we need him. He’s related to the Skeleton Lord case that you helped us with last time...well, him and the knight your team caught yesterday,” spoke up Marvelous Man.

The musclebound superhero thought back to yesterday’s ordeal. Marvelous Man and his team received an order to investigate a new supervillain that had appeared in the city. It was a man in an overly-decorated knight armor wielding a glaive polearm with designs similar to the weapon used by the Skeleton Lord. The supervillain proclaimed its loyalty to the Skeleton Lord while attacking civilians. There were no fatalities, but many were injured with sliced wounds. When Marvelous Man and the others arrived at the scene, the knight had already been defeated by Octomentist and was being transported back to the Arkos Division headquarters.

Octomentist stopped, “Big man, I’d like to help you out, but I can’t. Arkos Division needs the wins it can get if we want to get some more funding.”

“Oh, please! Arkos Division has their finger in nearly every technological pie. I know they can recoup any loss of funding the Nemesis Branch steals,” said a male electronic voice.

The two superheroes turned their heads to spot Gemini and Gene walking towards them. The Soulem was now garbed with a few more accessories for field duty; a pair of red-framed glasses and a brown messenger bag with the D.A.B. logo printed on it.

Gene frowned, “And to reiterate Marvelous Man’s statement, we need him. The D.A.B. and the Skyway City police need that guardian for questioning in regards to his relations to the Skeleton Lord.”

“And the police can question him when they get their subpoena. But for now, he’ll be kept at our headquarters where we can keep him safely contained,” coldly replied Octomentist.

Gemini’s mood rings transformed to orange.

He rolled his eyes, “Let’s not dive into that bullshit, alright? You guys can only handle all the sci-fi stuff. Every time you guys tried to put the supernatural or magical shit in your prisons, it would pretty much literally blow up in your faces. I should know. I’ve witnessed it a couple times.”

The Soulem pointed his white, rubbery finger at the encased perpetrator.

“He’s a magical being, okay? We really need him. You can poke and prod the knight all you want, but this one stays with us. Or did you not notice the lightning bolts coming out of him?” stated Gemini.

Octomentist snapped her fingers, “Thanks for reminding me. I gotta confiscate those axes. Huh…”

As the eight-armed superhero moved to search for the magical axes, she paused. The others looked to where she gazed and spotted the rune-etched weapons already disintegrating into the usual black smoke the Skeleton Lord used for forming weaponry. The axes had already decayed halfway; any attempt to preserve them would be a fruitless endeavor.

“Well that takes care of that,” she shrugged, “Look, I was the first on the scene here, and that gives Arkos first dibs. I can’t deny you guys from visiting him, since the D.A.B. is involved with the police this time. But that doesn’t mean I can hand him over. If you don’t like the rules, take it up with a congressman.”

Marvelous Man could hear Fairuza speaking into his head.

“Unfortunately, she’s right. We’re going to have to let her go with this one,” reported Fairuza.

The men said nothing. Marvelous Man could not argue at all, since he had no idea what the rules and bureaucracy surrounding the situation were. With nobody to question Octomentist, the prosthetic superhero left with the bounded suspect in tow.

Marvelous Man consoled, “At least we saved the day.”

“Yeah, but one of our leads got taken away,” complained Gemini.

Gene crossed his arms, “Marvelous Man is correct. What is important is that we saved the day and mitigated any further disaster to the fellow civilians of the grand shopping mall. We still have the Gilgamesh locked in our headquarters, and he is by far the worst of the three.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” sighed Gemini.

Gene frowned, “However, I do feel the worries at how easily these recent victories were achieved without the help of higher ranked individuals. If their purpose was to strike fear into the common man of Skyway City, they did not try hard enough.”

“I am also bothered that there might be another guardian biding their time to appear again. I will immediately return to headquarters and review our previous encounter with the Skeleton Lord. Marvelous Man, perhaps you should see if any of the evacuated civilians need any medical attention,” he continued.

Marvelous Man nodded, “Yeah, sure. I can do that.”

The bunny demigod turned to Gemini.

“Gemini, I believe you can help us by requesting the police to submit the subpoena for visitation rights. We must question the other two guardians the Arkos Division have incarcerated at their headquarters,” suggested Gene.

Gemini looked away, “That’s not what I’m here for, but whatever. You’re apparently the boss, I guess.”

Marvelous Man glared down at the Soulem, as Gene frowned.

“Because you are new, I will excuse your rudeness for now. Be advised that you should be kinder to your teammates, and you WILL respect a man of the royal Totochtin lineage. Do you understand?” stated the Totochtin prince.

The musclebound superhero could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise, as the noticeable tension between Gene and Gemini grew. It was a conflict between the two men he loved, but he could not bring himself to decide on a side to pick. The Soulem’s digital eyes dueled with the bunny demigod’s for a moment before flicking away.

Gemini sighed, “Fine.”

The Totochtin prince did not reply to the bulky Soulem’s impolite response and proceeded towards the mall’s exit. The hulking bodybuilder and his Soulem friend said nothing and continued to watch Gene leave. The sound of Gene’s footsteps echoed heavily in the empty mall.

Once it seemed that the rabbit superhero had left the building, Marvelous Man turned his gaze back towards Gemini. The embarrassment Marvelous Man felt towards Gemini’s remarks was now replaced with anger. The color on Gemini’s mood rings had returned back to white, as the Soulem looked up at Marvelous Man.

“THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” roared Marvelous Man.

The husky Soulem slightly cringed, as his mood rings had flashed to yellow. His eyes narrowed in surprise to Marvelous Man’s outburst; as if Gemini were a deer caught in the headlights.

He hesitated, “Wh-what? I’m not his robot butler. He can ride my dick for all I care. Besides, he should be respecting me. I’m the one that drew the symbols incantating a barrier. All he did was use his energy as a power source.”

“Don’t act like that’s what this is about! I’m okay with you shitting all over me. I deserve some of that. But not Gene, alright? You don’t get treat him like that,” said Marvelous Man.

Gemini fired back, “He doesn’t treat you right either! You’re just another conquest for him. I don’t get how you can still love him. I’m the better choice!”

Marvelous Man stared down at Gemini in bewilderment. He opened his perfect lips before pausing. He could feel another emotional tirade bubbling up along with his eyes becoming flushed with tears, but he did not want anybody to witness it. Remembering his D.A.B. shoulder patch kept him telepathically connected to his other team members, he slid his jacket off. As his black leather jacket hit the ground, the bitter taste of his true feelings came tumbling out.

“...What happened to you, Gem? You got that new body, and it changed you for the worst. You’re so mean and selfish now whenever you don’t get your way...What happened to my friend, Gem?” he teared.

He continued, “I thought...I thought I could make this work. I get that you’re dealing with new emotions and stuff. So I thought that I just wait it out a bit for you to come to your senses, and then we’d figure out this...complicated stuff. But you’re being a dickasaurus rex, man.”

“Wha-no! Don’t say that…” said Gemini.

Marvelous Man snapped, “But you are! How can I know that you’re right for me when you keep pressuring me to choose you. You kept talking about trying to understand me a couple days ago, but I don’t think you really get me. It’s hard for me to choose...But I think you’ve made it easier for me.”

Gemini could only gape at Marvelous Man’s lecture, as his mood rings shifted to blue. Marvelous Man looked at the ground before turning away from Gemini. The musclebound superhero headed further into the mall; trying to get further away from Gemini seeing tears ready to stream down.

“Justice…” whimpered Gemini.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thumping his colossal body around a couple more corners, Marvelous Man began to slow down. He felt he had put enough distance between himself and the Soulem and started to look for a place to sit. Spotting a wooden bench a small distance away, he lumbered towards it.

The hulking bodybuilder sat himself down on the bench and hugged himself. Marvelous Man wiped his cheeks; removing the streams of tears moving down his face. He felt so many sensations when saying how he felt about Gemini. It felt toxic and blocky. His mouth was feeling wet and bloated, while his throat felt lumpy and dry. Marvelous Man told himself he needed to calm down. He reasoned that the people outside of the mall might need his healing powers, and heroes don’t have time to cry when people need help.

A voice spoke behind him, “Hey, slag. Been a while.”

Marvelous Man froze. It was a familiar voice that he had not heard in a while. It was deep, male voice that carried a stereotypical cockneyed accent. It was a voice that came from none other than his first and humiliating encounter with a supervillain.

Spring up from the bench, Marvelous Man quickly spun around. He glared at the last person he expected to see today.

He confirmed, “PB&J Gang…”

“Yeah, that’s us. I see you’re trying topless style this time,” smiled the peanut butter villain.

Marvelous Man took another look at the sandwich spread foe. The first time they met each other, the PB&J Gang were five sentient creatures that would fuse into one being. The leader of the gang was a round, rectangular being made of peanut butter. Its underlings were four gelatin beings that took the color and flavor of different fruit jams: Strawberry, Grape, Blueberry, and Raspberry.

They were currently combined with the leader as the torso and head, and the jam-like followers taking the form of the limbs. With the peanut butter leader being the head, his face was fully formed to look like a carved jack-o-lantern with a soft yellow light glowing within. It also had small horns pointing out of its head; dull but still menacing to viewers. Yet, there was something odd about the PB&J Gang that Marvelous Man noticed.

Marvelous Man inquired, “Hey, wasn’t there five of you?”

The peanut butter leader frowned. It was obvious to anybody that the combined version of the PB&J Gang appeared to be incomplete. They had the legs, but there was an arm-shaped jelly limb missing from the merged person.

“Yeah, Strawberry’s been taken...And it’s why I’m here,” he sighed, “I really didn’t want it to be like this, but...I don’t got a choice in the matter if I want him back...Really sorry about this, mate.”

Holding up his grape-flavored jelly arm, the PB&J Gang clenched his only fist. The gelatin being then motioned his fist to open as if it were trying to mimic an explosion. The sandwich spread supervillain said nothing as seconds ticked by.

Marvelous Man took up a fighting stance, “What’re you…?”

A gurgling noise echoed from the bodybuilder’s stomach. Marvelous Man could feel something beginning to build up inside of himself. It felt like he had just eaten a light lunch. But then it started to change; feeling the light lunch become a full meal. The pressure in his stomach increased to the point of overeating pain starting to develop. Marvelous Man hunched over to grab his abdomen.

“Ack! Wha-what did you do to my stomach?!” he gasped.

The PB&J Gang slowly walked towards him. His face was not exhibiting any pleasure at his actions.

He explained, “Do you remember when we first met, mate? My crew and I were having our jollies robbing the bank, and you showed up trying to be all big and impressive. I graped your face, and you swallowed some of it. Now luckily, you never bothered to get yourself checked. Which made tracking all the easier.”

“And funny thing about our biology, we can force ourselves to grow. So we never get digested. All this time, you had a piece of us in you, ya slag. We’re like that myth about gum staying in you for seven years. Only we can do it forever. And what you’re feeling right now, that’s us growing way faster than you can digest,” continued the PB&J Gang.

Marvelous Man’s stomach groaned louder, as the hulking bodybuilder could feel his belly start to expand. His own abdomen was beginning to slightly swell against his arm. Marvelous Man then felt a sensation of something coming up his throat like acid reflux. He could taste grape jelly in his mouth.

The musclebound superhero shouted, “...!!!”

Marvelous Man stood there shocked before trying to scream for Gemini. Nothing he tried to yell was being vocalized; as if someone pressed the mute button on his voice box. The bodybuilder gripped his throat, as he realized the inside of it was still coated in grape jelly.

Now standing only a step away the muscle demigod, the PB&J Gang thrusted an underhanded punch at Marvelous Man’s swollen belly. A surge of purple gelatin erupted from Marvelous Man’s mouth, as the overly-muscular bodybuilder fell to the ground. He laid there; crippled in pain.

“Can’t let you call out your friends, Naked Justice. At least not yet. When I get Strawberry back, then you can call out to your friends with your spells or communicators or whatever. I’m beggin’ ya. Just play along for now,” said the PB&J Gang.

Marvelous Man’s eyes widened with renewed hope. He thought as hard as he could to mentally call out for his teammates. Realization hit immediately upon realizing that he left his jacket on the other side of the mall. It was the only thing that carried the D.A.B. magical communicator patch. The only solution to that problem would be to clasp his golden bracelets together, transform into Justice, and then switch back to being Marvelous Man with a new black leather jacket equipped. It was a risk that could work...if it was not for his transformation being voice activated. Hope crashed into the pits of his jelly-filled stomach with full comprehension that there was no way out of this situation.

The PB&J Gang enlarged their purple gelatin hand big enough to pick up an adult human. Wrapping his wet fingers around Marvelous Man’s hulking body, they only managed to grip half of the giant anatomy. The sandwich spread being lifted the muscle demigod before laying the front side of the bodybuilder onto his peanut butter back.

The overly-meaty limbs of Marvelous Man sunk into the peanut butter substance like quicksand. Marvelous Man panicked and tried to thrash about; fearing complete engulfment and suffocation. As he tried to struggle, it only increased the pain in his stretched stomach. The overstuffed belly had limited his movements and caused his mighty arms and legs to be incapable of budging effectively within the thick entity.

In a last ditch effort, the muscle demigod activated his flight power. He managed to gain some lift, but the peanut butter back reacted to the escape attempt by flexing. Clenching down, the smooth peanut butter surface had transformed into a muscular back filled with deep valleys and large cords that any muscle enthusiast would be jealous of. Marvelous Man was being pulled down once again; feeling like light unable to escape the immense gravity of a black hole.

The PB&J Gang sighed, “Settle down, mate! I’m not trying to kill ya. Just trying to keep you from escaping. I need you alive anyways if I want to make the trade.”

Marvelous Man ceased his movement. There was something interesting about what the PB&J Gang had been trying to tell him. He wondered who was holding their friend at ransom. With his body relaxed, Marvelous Man slid deeper into muscular, peanut butter back. The sinking finally came to a halt; just as the bodybuilder’s inflated gut was pressing into the muscled backside and the connecting joints were about to be immersed.

The muscle demigod was glad that he was no longer being merged into the supervillain. But the situation was now incredibly uncomfortable due to his overstuffed stomach. Locked into place with the PB&J’s hard, muscular back pressed heavily against his belly, it felt like he was being punched at an excruciatingly slow pace.

“Oh, right. I guess I better tell you who’s making me do this,” mentioned the PB&J Gang, “It’s that new guy that’s been on the telly for a bit. You and the D.A.B. have been fighting him. Calls himself the Skeleton Lord.”

Marvelous Man’s eyes grew wide again.

The sandwich spread supervillain continued, “Yeah, he’s one fucker I don’t want to tangle with again. The crew and I didn’t know it was him when we tried to prank him. Thought he was some homeless guy. Turns out he’s got that weird power with that black smoke and making bones just shoot out of him. He was able to do other stuff that I never seen anybody else do, but I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“...But the one thing that’s got me proper scared is that he said he knows how to kill us for good. And I can tell that he is a man that doesn’t see the point of lying. I ain’t taking that chance with my own kin,” he finished.

Marvelous Man’s heartbeat pounded at a rapid pace. The Skeleton Lord had a motive but kept doing things with no decipherable pattern to it. Marvelous Man thought back to what Gene had said about the previous guardians being too easy. If there was a fourth guardian or any sort of intelligence he could gather about the Skeleton Lord, this might be his only chance.

The PB&J Gang turned to the mall’s alternate exit, but then paused.

He scratched his chin, “Now that I said all that out loud...it’s probably better if your friends find you faster...I’ll just leave a trail. They should be smart enough to figure it out. Plenty of cameras here to spot us anyways.”

The sandwich spread supervillain resumed marching towards the alternate exit while leaving behind a gelatin footprint with every step. Marvelous Man felt a drop of renewed hope that everything would work out. He could also feel that the growing grape jelly within him had reached his intestines and were inflating to max capacity. The bodybuilder was glad he had practiced with extreme-sized sex toys, as his body was accustomed to feeling full in the bowels and being extraneously stretched there.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After being transported outside the mall, Marvelous Man was snuck into the sewers through a large manhole. The muscle demigod obliged to the PB&J Gang’s request and illuminated himself to light their way. He lost track of the many turns his sticky captor made, and he was at a loss of what part of the city he was in. Time seemed to drone on, as the nasty stench within the sewers faded from Marvelous Man’s senses.

While being carried to the Skeleton Lord’s location, the hulking bodybuilder endured the PB&J Gang’s ramblings on the many mischievous adventures the gelatin supervillain had. Every now and then, the PB&J Gang would go back to how they met the Skeleton Lord. Marvelous Man eventually managed to put the small tidbits of information together and came at a conclusion.

The PB&J Gang had stumbled upon the Skeleton Lord huddled underneath a highway overpass by a drainage system. They attempted to steal the Skeleton Lord’s cloak out of sheer dickery. The ancient evil did not find this action humorous and retaliated. The Skeleton Lord had been feeding on the rats in the area and was able to sever the Strawberry arm from the combined PB&J Gang. The Skeleton Lord held Strawberry at ransom and had them do two things. The first was to find an area full of misfits that would never attempt to contact any police or superheroes and use it as a new hiding place for the Skeleton Lord. And the second was to bring Marvelous Man to the new hiding place.

With the end of the journey seemingly near, Marvelous Man noticed the PB&J Gang turning towards a metal door and not another tunnel. The sandwich spread being pushed open the door to reveal another tunnel. Upon crossing over to the new area, Marvelous Man considered they were no longer in the sewers. A stale breeze flowed past muscle demigod, as he observed a set of metal tracks lined across the tunnel. The PB&J Gang then walked down the dimly lit tunnel before turning into a clearing.

Marvelous Man gasped at the familiar surroundings. The clearing was a concrete dome stained in splatters of dark red. Lined against the walls were rubles of the makeshift homes destroyed by Marvelous Man’s encounter with the Skeleton Lord. Lines were beginning to connect in the musclebound superhero’s head, yet no solid conclusion could be found. The Skeleton Lord’s new hideout was somewhere in the ghettos outside of the Ridgemont subway station. But for what purpose would the Skeleton Lord come back to the area the supervillain was discovered at?

The gelatin being continued moving through the clearing and up the stairs. Upon breaking through the subway entrance, daylight casted itself on the two. The buildings before them were just as Marvelous Man remembered them; forgotten architectures rotten and gored of most of their interior. The PB&J Gang wandered further into the ghetto, as Marvelous Man kept watch for any suspicious activity.

Chunks of time passed, as the supervillain meandered through the many bend and turning into different streets. The PB&J Gang finally came to a halt, as the gelatin being looked at the structure in front of the two. It was a two-story townhouse that was hidden behind the alley of two boarded stores. It barely had any blue paint left on its ruined husk, and whatever windows that were not broken had cracked panes. The air surrounding the structure not only carried the scent of a dead home but also its residents.

“Brace yourself, mate. It’s really ugly in there. The sods been feeding but hasn’t dealt with disposing the scraps...you’ll see what I mean,” said the PB&J Gang.

The sandwich spread supervillain twisted the knob and pushed forward. As it fully opened, Marvelous Man could only see blackness inside without any signs of light or electricity. The stench of decaying flesh and wood increased, as the PB&J Gang entered the townhouse. Marvelous Man could no longer handle the foul odor and began to lower his face closer to the peanut butter back. The hulking bodybuilder was slightly alleviated by the gelatinous being’s peanut butter scent mixing in with the rotting stink.

Activating his illuminating powers, Marvelous Man’s light carved through the darkness to reveal the source of the death stench. The muscle demigod spotted corpses of humans and transpecies propped against the walls and flurries of flies buzzing about. As his captor moved through the house to a set of stairs at the end of the hall, Marvelous Man could see that the dead had different times of death. Some had recently died with colors still flushed on their skin, and others were past rigor mortis and had begun to bloat and leak rotting fluids.

The PB&J Gang muttered, “And this is why you don’t do drugs or let supernatural things into your body.”

Marvelous Man looked at the limbs of the corpses they passed by, while his captor proceed up a staircase. He observed syringe injection scars and crudely-made magical seal tattoos on the forearms. There were also runic designs painted in red on the skin; some cracked but still recent. A memory of what the PB&J Gang told him earlier about the Skeleton Lord’s first ransom demand lit up in his mind. “Find an area full of misfits that would never attempt to contact any police or superheroes and use it as a new hiding place for the Skeleton Lord”. The musclebound superhero had seen enough crime dramas to figure out this townhouse’s recent purpose before becoming the Skeleton Lord’s new hideout.

Reaching the top of the steps, the PB&J Gang now stood in the hallway of the second floor. There were three doors; one on the left and right side and one at the end of the hallway. The doors on the sides of the hallway were open, but the door at the end remained closed. Realizing the Skeleton Lord is most likely behind that door, Marvelous Man’s heart rate began to escalate. It dawned on the musclebound superhero that this was his last window of opportunity to escape.

Every instinct in Marvelous Man told him to run, but his resolve was stronger. The muscle demigod remained still, as his captor carried him through the hallway. The PB&J Gang’s pace was slow and seemed to drone on for eternity. Yet it was only the span of seconds before reaching the end of the hallway. Placing a grape jelly hand on the knob, the PB&J Gang slowly opened the door with a low creak.

The noise of cartoon sound effects softly echoed in the air. The walls and ceiling were covered in the same whisping black smoke the Skeleton Lord expels. Barely cutting through the darkness was the dim orange light of a lit candle; resting on the ground. Marvelous Man could see a molded mattress nearly turning black and lying dangerously close to the flaming candle. There was also a human-like figure slightly depressing into it; dressed only in a red cloak with a bulging hood. Marvelous Man’s breathe ceased, as he came to a realization of who it was.

The Skeleton Lord did not pay the two any attention upon entering his room. He appeared enamored with a smartphone in his hand; the screen’s light shining against the red hood. As he swiped his peach-pigmented index finger across the phone’s screen, the device played another soundbyte of cartoon noises and kids cheering. Seconds continued to pass, while the PB&J Gang stood there.

“...H-hey, boss? I brought him,” spoke the PB&J Gang.

The Skeleton Lord’s boney finger paused in midair, as the robed man looked up. Even with the phone’s light shining into his hood, darkness continued to obscure his face. The Skeleton Lord then laid his device onto the moldy mattress before standing up.

He spoke, “My apologies. I was distracted by the glass tablet. The technology here is much intriguing. It really feels like yesterday for me when the common man rode on horses and not those self-driven chariots.”

“But I digress, one should always knock before they enter. It is, after all, quite rude to barge into one’s room. Especially with royalty, such as I,” continued the Skeleton Lord.

The PB&J bowed, “Uh, er, r-right. Sorry...my lord.”

“That’s better,” replied the Skeleton Lord, “And even better is that you accomplished all that I tasked you with. You faired completely better than my other three guardians.”

He sighed, “And I hear that in these times it is the third that is supposedly the charm. Though perhaps the fourth will fair better. Well, since I am in a most excellent mood, how would you like to be my fifth guardian?”

Marvelous Man swallowed. This confirmed what Gene Lightfoot had been guessing. There was a fourth guardian ready to be let loose. The only problem was that he was not sure which one it was. The muscle demigod remembered in the previous fight with the Skeleton Lord, the supervillain was armed with a scythe sword and shield, a glaive polearm, and a pair of short-handed axes. The fourth weapon the Skeleton Lord used was probably used briefly before being disarmed and never registering in the heroes’ heads.

“Please, m-my lord...I appreciate the offer. I really do...But...I just want my friend back, please,” declined the PB&J Gang.

The Skeleton Lord scratched his chin, “Hmmm...I’d normally kill you where you stand after you slapped away my most gracious offer...BUT! We did have a deal. And a king must always honor their word. Besides, I could always find you again whenever I please.”

“Allow me to secure the cargo first, and then I shall release your compatriot into your care,” he stated.

The Skeleton Lord waved his hand. The whisping darkness covering the walls and ceiling stirred, as tentacles of the same material sprouted from it. The black tendrils reached out and ensnared Marvelous Man’s massive body. The ceiling tentacle cupped underneath the massive pecs, as the corner wall tentacles looped around the thunderous thighs and grappled over the mountainous shoulders and hairless armpits. Once secured around the colossal bodybuilder, the whisping tendrils pulled.

The muscular peanut butter back trapping Marvelous Man showed no resistance; releasing the muscle demigod without a sound or any peanut butter residuals on the meaty limbs. After lifting the musclebound captive out of the PB&J Gang, the tentacles around the shoulders and thighs began to retreat back into the smoky walls. The wall tendrils that were returning to their dark source loosened their grasp; only to gently slide down the overly-muscular extremities.

As the tentacles that traveled down Marvelous Man’s legs, it then encountered the leather black boots the musclebound superhero wore. Without any signs of resistance, the whisping black tentacles effortlessly stripped the footwear from the muscle demigod’s milk chocolate skin. The wall tendrils then reasserted their grip around Marvelous Man’s wrists and ankles, as the leather boots fell to the wooden floor with a dull thunk. The only thing left now clothing the hulking bodybuilder was the golden wreath and bracelets and the American Flag battle bikini.

The ceiling tentacle, wrapped underneath the watermelon-sized pectorals, rotated Marvelous Man; situating the muscle demigod to face front towards the ceiling. It then dragged the muscle demigod to the center of the room and hanged the bodybuilder superhero at the Skeleton Lord’s waist level. The ceiling tendril released its hold over Marvelous Man’s torso and completely returned into the ceiling’s darkness, while the wall tentacles retreated further into the wall corners. With the wrists and ankles still restrained by the wall tentacles, the gargantuan limbs were pulled along with.

Fearing his ligaments would be torn off, Marvelous Man attempted to struggle. His heavy body wiggled about, but he came to an eventual still seconds later. Right when his body parts were stretched at the maximum, uncomfortable point of feeling his joints dislocate, the tentacles ceased their retreat. Marvelous Man was suspended in a spread eagle position; his limbs bounded with no room to bend.

The Skeleton Lord held a finger up to his unseen chin; appearing to plot something nasty if Marvelous Man could see his face. The ancient evil waved his hand and the wall tentacles reacted. The black tendrils attached to the hulking bodybuilder’s legs began to move sideways, while pulling the meaty legs further away from each other.

Marvelous Man was confused at such an action, but it then became apparent as to what the supervillain was trying to do. The Skeleton Lord was trying to test the muscle demigod’s limberness just for sadistical fun. His overly-muscular legs easily spread apart but came to a thankful halt once Marvelous Man’s limbs were positioned into a perfect split. The Skeleton Lord must have realized any further could do severe harm to the musclebound superhero and ceased the whisping, dark tentacles movement.

“Hmmm, impressive,” the Skeleton Lord murmured, “I would not expect a gargantuan star child to have an acrobat’s flexibility.”

Marvelous Man’s frustration and fear increased, as he was tossed from one helpless state to the next. He wished he had Gene’s ability to turn this frightful situation into a sexy one. The musclebound superhero consoled himself that he could still turn the tables by activating his illumination power as a means of escaping the Skeleton Lord’s dark elements.

The Skeleton Lord mentioned, “Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten about your illuminating abilities. You may not have your golden ocarina in hand, but I would be a fool to not take the precaution.”

The man cloaked in red snapped his fingers. The whisping, dark tentacles shattered, as it revealed underneath its layer solid bindings made of bone. The lingering hope Marvelous Man had once again sunk back into his jelly-filled stomach. The only thing the superhero’s light could do now was reveal what specific white shade the bones probably had.

“And with my requirement fulfilled...” announced the Skeleton Lord.

Waving his boney hand into the air, the Skeleton Lord caused the whisping darkness in the ceiling to stir once again. A noise similar to thunder lightly rumbled, as an object fell from it. The object fell in front the PB&J Gang and crashed with a wet splat. Marvelous Man barely had time to glimpse at it, but it appeared to be a sort of gel-like substance.

The PB&J Gang squatted, “...Strawberry? That you?”

The object lunged at the sandwich spread being’s left shoulder; springing like an alien blob. Upon contact, the gelatin creature shapeshifted into a left arm that fitted perfectly into the peanut butter shoulder. The PB&J Gang petted the new arm.

“It’s alright, love. You’re safe with us now,” he said.

The PB&J Gang looked up at Marvelous Man, as he began to back away. Even though Marvelous Man could only see the gelatinous being from an upside-down perspective, the musclebound superhero could still see the frown and sadness in his eyes.

He waved at the bodybuilder, “Well...I’ll let myself out. Have a nice chat, Marvelous Man.”

The PB&J Gang then fell to the floor; shapeshifting into a large puddle of mixed jelly flavors and peanut butter. The shapeless mass immediately flung itself out of the room and out of Marvelous Man’s sight. With the only “ally” Marvelous Man had in Skeleton Lord’s presence gone, he slowly turned his focus back to the ancient evil. The panic in his heart had risen again.

“Ah, that’s right. I had not been given the pleasure of learning your name...or the Totochtin’s for that matter. So the star child has been entitled the Marvelous Man?” hummed the Skeleton Lord.

As the muscle demigod swallowed in nervousness, he realized something. The grape jelly coating the inside of his throat had receded back into his bloated belly. And the overeating pain he had been feeling during the transportation capture had also faded; he no longer had his overfilled stomach literally weighing him down. Even though Marvelous Man had been bounded and stretched without room to wiggle, he still had some sliver of chance to escape from the Skeleton Lord’s clutches.

Marvelous Man answered, “Yeah...it’s what I call myself.”

The Skeleton Lord walked around Marvelous Man; tracing his fingers against the rippled, muscular mass. The hulking bodybuilder shivered from the ancient evil’s touch. It felt cold and dry, and the fingers gracing upon the smooth skin tickled Marvelous Man’s nerves. And every time it seemed the supervillain’s body was about to collide with one of the bone fixtures attached to the musclebound superhero and the wall, he simply phased through it like a ghost. It was as if his own bone powers could not affect him in any negative aspect.

“Hmm, such a vague name. It’s as if you are trying to convince yourself that you’re special,” he commented, “Ah, but that is not an implied insult towards you! Merely, that if someone other than you had chosen to inherit such a name, they would be such a pathetic being.”

As the ancient evil rounded himself in front of Marvelous Man’s head, he stopped. The Skeleton Lord reached out with his skinny fingers and placed them upon the muscle demigod’s golden laurel wreath. He lifted the Olympian ornament from Marvelous Man’s temples with gracious ease. The Skeleton Lord held it up to his face, as he glided his fingers upon the wreath’s smooth and sharp edges.

“But you...you carry it quite well. You are special. You are marvelous. You are not the strongest fighter in your party. No, your party members have made that point quite clear. YOU are the most important member. You are the healer. You help your comrades continue to fight with renewed vigor. And you assist them in areas they are weak in and unknowingly push me to my limits. I can never use my common bag of tricks with you around. Without you, they could never hope to contend with me,” he continued.

Even with the Skeleton Lord so close, Marvelous Man could still not see the supervillain’s face. The bulky horse skull bulging underneath the red hood seemed to be casting its own shadow to mask any facial features. The muscle demigod did not dare use his illumination ability; for fear of angering the Skeleton Lord and most likely resulting in a quick death.

Marvelous Man questioned, “And that’s why you had me kidnapped?”

The Skeleton Lord tossed the golden wreath to the side of the room; curiosity apparently sated. The laurel ornament clanged onto the ground outside of Marvelous Man’s visuals. He slid a hand back into his red robe.

“Mm, well, no. I wanted the Totochtin. But when that pathetic sap creature bargained for your capture instead and saying how easy it would be for them, I took the chance. Getting rid of you would make things flow much more easily. To think that all those legions of wizards and priests, and it was you that hindered me the most,” answered the Skeleton Lord.

No matter what, the only thing the Skeleton Lord obsessed over other than the world’s destruction was Gene Lightfoot. Marvelous Man was aware of how after their first encounter, the Skeleton Lord seemed to have a soft spot for the Totochtin prince and never used lethal harm on Gene. He still could not figure out if it was due to Gene’s power or libido that caused such reaction.

He shuddered, “So you’re going to kill me?”

The Skeleton Lord cackled in a high pitched shriek. With no room to flinch, Marvelous Man could only react to the shrill noise by flexing his meaty pectorals.

“I will admit, the idea did cross my mind. But no, I will not kill you. You have a mighty body that seems to mend itself. Even after Gilgamesh crushed your hand into an unusable lump. Itzcóatl made sure to report that after witnessing your other encounters with my guardians,” said the Skeleton Lord.

He continued, “My intention with you is to use you as a wellspring of power for me to draw upon. Tell me, has your generation created a device for such empowering circumstances? Or do things like the glass tablet still need mana or soulbindings?”

“...You mean a battery?” said Marvelous Man.

The Skeleton Lord mused, “Battery?...Battery, battery, battery...a funny name, but it also sounds simple. Yes, you shall serve as my battery. I am still not at my fullest of forms and require more energy. I might not be able to attain lust energy from you, but there are other ways I can obtain what I need from you.”

He knelt down to Marvelous Man’s ear; his breath spraying a putrid warmness. Marvelous Man’s head bent away in a futile attempt to keep any sort of distance between the supervillain. The musclebound superhero could sense the disgusting lips almost touching.

“And while I would love to, su-su-su-su, sip on your fear, fear energy is but a droplet. And when my name was known to all living, I drank oceans,” slurped the Skeleton Lord.

Standing straight up, the Skeleton Lord walked towards Marvelous Man’s burly arm. His exposed hand dragged across the muscle demigod’s shoulder, while his withdrawn hand came out of the red cloak with a curved knife crafted of bone.

He declared, “Let’s start with your blood.”

Marvelous Man’s eyes went wide, as he struggled. With his extremities bounded, the hulking bodybuilder could only sway his hips about in a feeble attempt to move away. The only thing that moved from the squirming was the bulge in his thin, battle bikini; lewdly flopping around. He knew now was not the right time to escape, but he did not want to be cut.

Lowering the bone knife, the Skeleton Lord dragged the blade across Marvelous Man’s inner forearm. The overly-muscular superhero closed his eyes and winced; bracing for pain. As the knife slid down the forearm, it could only press into the skin without actually breaking it. The Skeleton Lord held up the bone knife for a closer examination upon discovering the failed incision.

Marvelous Man slowly opened his eyes; wondering if the deed had been done. He expected it to really hurt, but it felt like he was being cut with a child’s plastic butter knife. Looking over at the supposed cut, he then breathed a sigh of relief.

“It appears that without Gilgamesh’s strength, I cannot pierce through your baby-soft skin. Though I should not be surprised, since I failed to impale you the first time we met,” sighed the Skeleton Lord.

Marvelous Man’s eyes flicked with confusion, “I’m...sorry?”

The muscle demigod was not sure how to take the Skeleton Lord’s comment. It could be worded as a compliment, but the supervillain said it with a disappointed tone. And with Marvelous Man’s innate sense to help people, he could not help but offer an apology.

“It’s alright. Though I do appreciate you being a good sport about this,” said the Skeleton Lord, “I’m afraid with your constitution, turning your blood into energy is out of the question. And you would most likely be resistant to flesh absorption magic. Alas, I suppose we will have to resort to the backup plan.”

Marvelous Man held his breath. He desperately hoped the backup plan did not involve killing him. What the hulking bodybuilder did hope for was just being raped by tentacles and milked for lust energy like Gene probably would have been if kidnapped first. At this current point, Marvelous Man wished for anything but death.

“And that entails having your life energy drained. You’ll barely be able to wiggle a finger, but you will still live and be stuck here as my battery,” explained the supervillain.

The Skeleton Lord looked away, “I am sure he will survive. We perfected it on...what did they call themselves? Drug addicts? He can heal himself. It will be fine.”

Marvelous Man glanced at where the ancient evil was staring at but saw nothing. The musclebound superhero now felt uneasy. The Skeleton Lord was already crazy for trying to destroy the world, but it became more apparent of how mentally unstable the supervillain really was.

“Itzcóatl!” called the Skeleton Lord.

A man’s voice immediately responded. Marvelous Man could not see him but knew the stranger came from behind the Skeleton Lord.

He replied, “Yes, my lord.”

“Bring me the bowl,” commanded the ancient evil.

Turning his attention back to Marvelous Man, the Skeleton Lord resumed turning the muscle demigod into a living battery. The Skeleton Lord walked towards the hulking bodybuilder’s waist while dragging his unarmed hand over the valleys of muscle. Marvelous Man shuttered from the cold, tickling sensation.

As the ancient evil reached the bodybuilder’s waist, he crept his molesting hand across the cobblestone abs and underneath the American flag bikini. The Skeleton Lord then grabbed the battle bikini’s side and yanked it up. With the bone knife still in his other hand, he held it underneath the gripped elastic fabric.

The Skeleton Lord tugged the blade back with a quick jerk. The threads of the bikini showed no resistant; cleanly cut through by the bone knife with a quick ripping sound. With one part of it cut, the supervillain reached over to the other side of the bikini to repeat the procedure. The result was the same, as the Skeleton Lord began to peel away the sliced battle bikini in a almost ceremonious fashion.

The last remnants of Marvelous Man’s clothing fell to the floor without making a sound; leaving the musclebound superhero exposed with his super package drooping in the air. Marvelous Man would feel humiliated if he were not used to having his clothes destroyed. The actual humiliation he had been feeling was being captured and helpless to the Skeleton Lord’s desires.

The supervillain chuckled, “I thought it was possible you were stuffing your briefs, but I have been proven wrong. This is surely another reason if anyone else were to inherit your name as the Marvelous Man, hehe. Most impressive as a display of manhood...but I highly doubt you could sow your seed into a woman with a club such as that. And with a man of your stature, the babe would surely kill her in childbirth.”

“Thanks...I guess,” said Marvelous Man.

The muscle demigod felt at a loss for what to do. The Skeleton Lord’s actions felt confusing and terrifying. Struggling to prioritize, Marvelous Man tried to focus on what needed to be done. He needed more information for Gene and the D.A.B., and he needed to escape. There was no way he could fight the Skeleton Lord on his own.

Unless...he tried to poison the Skeleton Lord with his own dark ability. He could keep the ancient evil incapacitated by reactivating every wound the Skeleton Lord had. It may be damaging to the superhero’s psyche, but it was the only thing he could think of. But with Marvelous Man’s current predicament, the supervillain would instantly see it and kill without hesitation. The Skeleton Lord might not be able to pierce his skin, but the supervillain might be able to do other things to kill him without damaging hulking bodybuilder’s epidermis.

The most probable time to strike would have to be right when the draining begins. The only problem to the breakout rides upon the Skeleton Lord’s assistant being in the presence of the energy drain. The unseen man might have an ability to stop or kill the musclebound superhero. Marvelous Man figured that would have to wait until the opportunity arises.

The overly-muscular superhero spotted something materializing next to the Skeleton Lord. The figment had transformed into a man with skin shaded as dark as mocha. His clothing was simple: a loincloth with a knot formed at the front and a hoodless cloak. Both fabrics were colored in red and outlined with teal. The colored apparel reminded Marvelous Man of the Aztec paintings of its people illustrated in the high school textbooks. Adorned on his head was a wooden headdress mask carved to look like a snake. In his hands, he carried a blue kitchen bowl.

He spoke, “I have brought the bowl, my lord.”

“Wonderful,” said the Skeleton Lord.

The bone knife the ancient evil wielded dissolved into a whisping darkness before dissipating into nothingness. Turning to the Aztec-like man, the Skeleton Lord dipped his index and middle finger into the bowl. The supervillain stood there for a second before swiveling his body back towards Marvelous Man.

Marvelous Man could see the dipped fingers coated in a red liquid, as the Skeleton Lord began applying the substance. It appeared that the supervillain was drawing something on him. Feeling that he was now on good relations with the supervillain, the musclebound superhero figured now was a good time to begin the interrogation. He gathered the courage to speak up, while the Skeleton Lord was busy finger-painting his massive body.

He started, “So...is he your fourth guardian?”

“Itzcóatl? Yes, he is. He is the vengeful hunter and my most loyal guardian. The other three joined me out of fear, honor-bound, and misguided whimsy that became shame. But Itzcóatl joined me for the sake of bloodlust,” clarified the Skeleton Lord.

Marvelous Man felt it was a good start. This could be useful for Gene and the Demonic Authority Bureau to know, but it might not be enough to devise a countermeasure. He had to press on for more information; especially with the guardian’s ability to reappear anywhere.

He questioned, “So what can he do? Teleport?”

“It would be a godsend if he could. But alas, no. It is a tad more basic for a hunter like him,” hummed the Skeleton Lord.

It did not seem like Marvelous Man would get anymore answers regarding Itzcóatl. If he persisted, the Skeleton Lord might lose his good favor. It was time to change topic.

The hulking bodybuilder inquired, “Oh...what are you painting on me?”

“I suppose it would not hurt me to tell you. I am scribing runes on you to act as a sort of...safeguard. When there is only the last drop of your life energy in you, this will activate and protect you. I do not wish for you to die an early death, after all,” said the Skeleton Lord.

He looked away, “Yes, I’m sure I’m doing it right. The last few survived before we ended their miserable existence.”

Marvelous Man thought back to what the Skeleton Lord said earlier. The supervillain managed to perfect something by the implication of testing it on the drug addicts. His thoughts then turned to the corpses downstairs. All the dead bodies seemed to show signs of drug abuse and probable supernatural magic for hallucinogenic purposes. There was also the recent runic designs painted onto their skin. Had they been guinea pigs for perfecting the runic safeguard?

“Uh, okay. So how are you doing that bone stuff and all of this? I don’t see you using spells or magic circles. So how do you do it?” asked Marvelous Man.

The Skeleton Lord moved towards Marvelous Man’s head and began to apply the red substance on the superhero’s face. The scent of the liquid paint became apparent to the muscle demigod, while the ancient evil drew runic symbols. It smelled like iron; a pungent odor that caused Marvelous Man to instantly recognize what the red paint truly was. Just like in the abandoned subway, it was blood.

The supervillain replied, “That. Is a secret.”

Marvelous Man was not sure how much time he had left before the preparations for his energy drain were complete. He could feel the blood on his upper body and face still wet on his skin. The hulking bodybuilder began to feel frustrated, as the Skeleton Lord moved towards his legs. None of the answers he could get did not give a direct answer towards a weakness or an element the D.A.B. could use to their advantage. Once Marvelous Man escapes, the ancient evil will flee to another location and become impossible to find.

“Then...what destroyed your purpose? That’s what you said to me last time, right? What caused you to want to...turn the world into ash?” he said.

The Skeleton Lord froze. Slowly turning to stare at Marvelous Man, the musclebound superhero felt a fearful chill coursing through.

He hissed, “Do you think you could save me? That by trying to understand me, I will weep seas of tears and change my ways? Hmmm?”

A tentacle grew from the ceiling of whisping darkness and lashed out. It coiled around Marvelous Man’s neck; strangling with the crushing strength of a python. The hulking bodybuilder tried gasping for air but could only gurgle.

“All those priests and shamans that came alone in an attempt to consult me...saying the same thing. And I told them all the same thing. I. DO. NOT. CARE. I refuse to accept any change! I refuse to let my family go! I do not care that my power perverts the cycle of life and death! I was happy when everything stayed the same!...I wasn’t alone,” he shouted.

The Skeleton Lord continued, “Time magic is impossible. No god, devil, or otherworldly would accept my requests. And you so-called heroes. You heroes were the cause of everything to fall apart! Always chasing and killing anything to bring glory to your name! You all made me like this! You destroyed my world! My happiness! My family!!! So that is why my purpose was destroyed! That is why I will destroy all existence!”

Marvelous Man continued to struggle for breath, while his bounded body shook. He could hear his heartbeat throbbing in his head. The world felt like it was being enveloped by the Skeleton Lord’s darkness.

“...My lord,” said Itzcóatl.

Seconds past before the smoky tentacle relented. The tendril retreated back into the darkness covering the ceiling, while releasing its grip from around Marvelous Man’s throat. The hulking bodybuilding coughed; flooding his lungs with as much air as he could. The Skeleton Lord turned back to the overly-muscular legs and resumed painting runic symbols.

The supervillain cleared his throat, “My apologies. My...passions carried me away.”

Marvelous Man did not dare speak again after regaining the his breath. He allowed the Skeleton Lord to carry on painting in silence for the next few minutes, as the musclebound superhero started his escape plan. Marvelous Man closed his eyes; focusing on his fear of death, his helplessness without anybody to save him, and the hatred he wanted to feel towards the Skeleton Lord. He could feel the poison within him stirring. It wanted to feed on the negativity and hurt those who hurt the muscle demigod.

After the painting was completed a minute later, the Skeleton Lord walked over to Marvelous Man’s head. He placed his bony fingers around the bodybuilder’s cranium; gripping the head gently. The Skeleton Lord slowly exhaled, as the fourth guardian placed the bowl of blood on the ground.

A green aura began to glow from the Skeleton Lord’s hands and vibrate against Marvelous Man’s skull. Seeing the light, the musclebound superhero figured the draining had begun. Now was the moment to strike!

Marvelous Man commanded the blackness within him to strike. The poison obliged and fed the harbored negativity. His head glowed its own dark, whisping aura; whispering its dark secrets in a hushed voice. Upon contacting the Skeleton Lord’s glowing hands, it analyzed the ancient evil’s medical history.

Whatever element was helping the Skeleton Lord to be easily mended after suffering obliterating attacks had now disappeared. He was now lethally vulnerable. Mortal. The history of the supervillain’s injuries was endless. Many times did it receive deathly blows and reactivating those old wounds would instantly kill the Skeleton Lord to the extent of being atomized. There was also mental trauma, but few had healed or remained repressed.

Something else caught Marvelous Man’s attention. Within the Skeleton Lord, there existed two more beings. One was a horse, but it seemed to be anchored to the equine skull bulging underneath the supervillain’s red hood. The other seemed broken at a first glance, but a continued look at it revealed it was incomplete. The strange entity seemed to have the quality of a familiar imp but it was still different. The musclebound superhero needed the poison to analyze it more; it was an odd curiosity.

Marvelous Man then felt a tingling sensation in his head; similar to a pins and needles tingling whenever there was low blood circulation. The musclebound superhero cursed at his error. He had been distracted for too long that his energy was already being drained. Marvelous Man commanded the poison to reactivate all of the Skeleton Lord’s old wounds. The muscle demigod felt no response from the blackness; only the increasing tingling sensation traveling down his neck.

A terrible realization hit the hulking bodybuilder. The poison he sent out had been absorbed into energy for the Skeleton Lord. As a last ditch effort, Marvelous Man commanded the light within himself to shine as bright as it could. He could feel the pins and needles tingling now encompassed his humongous pectorals, while the light obeyed.

The light glowed, but it too had become affected by the supervillain’s energy drain. Its brightness was less intense than the room’s candlelight. The muscle demigod’s illumination could only keep lit for a few seconds before being absorbed; fueling the Skeleton Lord even further.

With his last window of opportunity shut before him, Marvelous Man felt at loss of what to do now. It became harder to breathe, as his meaty chest was now paralyzed and can no longer heave or flex. The draining process has currently spread the tingling sensation over his abdomen; shallowing the bodybuilder’s breathing even further.

The muscle demigod’s body gave off one last act of reflexive defiance against the energy drain. It engorged its sexual muscle with as much blood as it could. The defiant penis throbbed with life; straining to reach the ceiling and flexing its large veins hidden underneath the skin.

As the energy drain passed over the rebellious erection, it could only momentarily stand proud before crumbling and losing all vigor to the Skeleton Lord’s hideous action. It would now only take seconds before the hulking bodybuilder’s overly-muscular legs to be taken over. Marvelous man’s thighs flexed wildly in a sad attempt to shake off the drain’s progress, until the paralyzing effect had fully struck.

“I had expected your giant body to have double or perhaps triple the amount of energy a common man would have,” spoke the Skeleton Lord, “But you...you have so much more. I had expected a rich well and have found a lake. I wonder if the legendary Mana Stones had this much power in them?”

Marvelous Man could not reply even if he had wanted to. His vocal cords had long been overcomed by the nefarious energy drain, and the pins and needles sensation had now reached his toes. The mighty superhero was now completely powerless. Too weak to move any muscle, and the dwindling hope of being rescued had been buried.

“Rejoice, hero. For I will not have to prey on any miscreants outside of this city’s security for sustenance. I only need you for energy. Be happy at your newfound purpose, my Mana Stone. My battery,” taunted the Skeleton Lord.

The hulking bodybuilder stared up at his captor; trying to catch a glimpse at the Skeleton Lord’s face. The ancient evil still had the red hood casting a shadow and shielding any sort of facial recognition. Marvelous Man tried to feel furious at how he could never see the supervillain’s true face, but his senses began to skew.

The room felt like it had started to spin, while his mind felt dizzy. His vision began to blacken; just like when he was strangled. Sweat perspired all over the muscle demigod’s body, while his skin had taken on a clammy texture. The painted runes began to glow a dim red light that slowly grew in intensity. Marvelous Man struggled a final thought before losing consciousness.

He prayed, “Papa, mom, dad...I’m sorry. I failed. I’m so scared...I don’t want to die here.”

Next Chapter

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Poor Justice. If only he had himself checked out before, it would not have ended up like this. ;n;

I do wonder: How will The Skeleton Lord be able to keep Justice's life energy at the right level for him to drain and sustain & empower himself, but not kill Justice?

 

I feel rather bad about Gemini too. I am glad that Justice told Gemini the truth, but I kinda feel bad that Gemini is now no longer (at least you seem to imply that) a rimantic option for Justice. ='( I just hope that the talk made Gemini come to his senses and be his old self again. Cause: I bet that if Gemini would have been his old self, that Justice would have gravitated more towards Gemini than Gene. ='3

Also: I am surprised to see the Skeleton Lord so "merciful" towards the PB&J gang. I mean: I would have expected him to destroy that gang after he secured Justice. =0

And Skeleton Lord's story seems a little similar to Batman's story in Superman VS Batman. =0 I mean: Batman saw all the destruction and death Superman left in his fights with General Zod and all. And he decided to use Batman to give Superman a little lesson and all.

But I wonder what would happen if he would have gotten his world back & his family. Would he indeed change back to what he was before. Or would he not accept it and eventually destroy the very thing he longs for.

And I am definitely curious to see what the others will do to free Justice from his grasp. And also to see how they will restore Justice back to his full strength. And what lasting effects Justice will have from this. Or when Justice would be restored to full strength he will activate his dark abilities and atomise the Skeleton Lord like he said he could and what that would do to his psyche & to his relationships to his friends and all. I wonder if he can heal the effects or can be healed from them by either his parents or his friends in some way. IF those ppwers would not distance him from his friends and relatives. Or eventually make HIM an all powerful villian that can only be healed by the love and affection he longs for, etc. =3

 

Ugh, why does this story always make my mind buzz with questions and theories and hypothetical scenarios that would be awesome etc. xP lol

 

Oh one last thing: WHERE THE FUCK ARE JUSTICE'S PARENTS IN ALL THIS?! >=(

I mean: They are watching him all the time after all. You made that clear in a previous part. And they are practically unable to keep themselves from meddling in his life. So why aren't they helping him?! THIS is definite neglect on their part. (I bet both his parents are out fucking some other god and his grandfather is happily playing war games in warring countries seeing which human faction will dominate the other and all. >=( ) What use are theywhen they dun even help their child in this situation, when his life is LITTERALLY drained to just 1 single drop. >=( If my character were in that universe and saw that.he would litterally burst into his parent's room, drag them from whatever partner they are using to get off and kick them into the mortal world to help Justice. It might be a cheat, but if they would not do that they would not only risk his life, but their own and everyone else in their existence too. >=(

(Sorry. ^^; I get so mad at parental neglect. Even fictional literature ones. ^^;; )

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10 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Poor Justice. If only he had himself checked out before, it would not have ended up like this. ;n;

I do wonder: How will The Skeleton Lord be able to keep Justice's life energy at the right level for him to drain and sustain & empower himself, but not kill Justice?

 

I feel rather bad about Gemini too. I am glad that Justice told Gemini the truth, but I kinda feel bad that Gemini is now no longer (at least you seem to imply that) a rimantic option for Justice. ='( I just hope that the talk made Gemini come to his senses and be his old self again. Cause: I bet that if Gemini would have been his old self, that Justice would have gravitated more towards Gemini than Gene. ='3

Also: I am surprised to see the Skeleton Lord so "merciful" towards the PB&J gang. I mean: I would have expected him to destroy that gang after he secured Justice. =0

And Skeleton Lord's story seems a little similar to Batman's story in Superman VS Batman. =0 I mean: Batman saw all the destruction and death Superman left in his fights with General Zod and all. And he decided to use Batman to give Superman a little lesson and all.

But I wonder what would happen if he would have gotten his world back & his family. Would he indeed change back to what he was before. Or would he not accept it and eventually destroy the very thing he longs for.

And I am definitely curious to see what the others will do to free Justice from his grasp. And also to see how they will restore Justice back to his full strength. And what lasting effects Justice will have from this. Or when Justice would be restored to full strength he will activate his dark abilities and atomise the Skeleton Lord like he said he could and what that would do to his psyche & to his relationships to his friends and all. I wonder if he can heal the effects or can be healed from them by either his parents or his friends in some way. IF those ppwers would not distance him from his friends and relatives. Or eventually make HIM an all powerful villian that can only be healed by the love and affection he longs for, etc. =3

 

Ugh, why does this story always make my mind buzz with questions and theories and hypothetical scenarios that would be awesome etc. xP lol

 

Oh one last thing: WHERE THE FUCK ARE JUSTICE'S PARENTS IN ALL THIS?! >=(

I mean: They are watching him all the time after all. You made that clear in a previous part. And they are practically unable to keep themselves from meddling in his life. So why aren't they helping him?! THIS is definite neglect on their part. (I bet both his parents are out fucking some other god and his grandfather is happily playing war games in warring countries seeing which human faction will dominate the other and all. >=( ) What use are theywhen they dun even help their child in this situation, when his life is LITTERALLY drained to just 1 single drop. >=( If my character were in that universe and saw that.he would litterally burst into his parent's room, drag them from whatever partner they are using to get off and kick them into the mortal world to help Justice. It might be a cheat, but if they would not do that they would not only risk his life, but their own and everyone else in their existence too. >=(

(Sorry. ^^; I get so mad at parental neglect. Even fictional literature ones. ^^;; )

That's what the painted runes were for. At the last minute, it will activate and protect him from being killed by the draining.

 

And you're right, Skeleton Lord should've killed them. But that was a bit too predictable, so I decided to do something a bit left field. Cause as it's been shown, he doesn't have all his marbles together lol. And how dare you compare Skeleton Lord's story to Batman VS Superman XD But I'd say he would have gone back to being his old self if he got what he wanted before deciding to destroy everything.

 

Yeah, MM's dark powers is very emotionally damaging and is pretty much forcing his pain onto others. And I've been through that sort of thing and it can become addictive. If he uses it too much, he could actually turn villain. And who knows, if it actually happened, maybe love would be the only thing that could heal him.

 

Awwww, that's so kind of you to say that X3 I hope I can keep this entertaining for you. We're getting close to the end, so hopefully I'll be able to wrap it all up. If not, I know you'll definitely have be by the ass about it XD

 

As for Justice's parents...they're on a road trip? And for the most part, they only detect Justice when he's doing something in their element. Torture and kidnapping isn't exactly a war, artistic/healing, or love thing. But seeing as they're one to meddle, I wonder how they'll take it when they do find out what happened to Justice... ;)

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3 hours ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

That's what the painted runes were for. At the last minute, it will activate and protect him from being killed by the draining.

 

And you're right, Skeleton Lord should've killed them. But that was a bit too predictable, so I decided to do something a bit left field. Cause as it's been shown, he doesn't have all his marbles together lol. And how dare you compare Skeleton Lord's story to Batman VS Superman XD But I'd say he would have gone back to being his old self if he got what he wanted before deciding to destroy everything.

 

Yeah, MM's dark powers is very emotionally damaging and is pretty much forcing his pain onto others. And I've been through that sort of thing and it can become addictive. If he uses it too much, he could actually turn villain. And who knows, if it actually happened, maybe love would be the only thing that could heal him.

 

Awwww, that's so kind of you to say that X3 I hope I can keep this entertaining for you. We're getting close to the end, so hopefully I'll be able to wrap it all up. If not, I know you'll definitely have be by the ass about it XD

 

As for Justice's parents...they're on a road trip? And for the most part, they only detect Justice when he's doing something in their element. Torture and kidnapping isn't exactly a war, artistic/healing, or love thing. But seeing as they're one to meddle, I wonder how they'll take it when they do find out what happened to Justice... ;)

Yeah, but the thing is: How will ThebSkeleton Lord "recharge" his "battery"? ^^; I mean: You can't use a battery again if you can't recharge it right? ^^;;

 

Lol, actually. I kinda like to think that he at least has some honour in himself still and honours an agreement or "contract" that was made with him. It would make him seem like he is not all bad (which I believe he isn't. He is just a broken man that has lost everything and kinda went insane). =3

Lol, come on. I know the movie was shitty, but you gotta admit that Skelleton Lord's hatred of Superheroes kinda is similar to how Bruce Wayne got angry towards Superman for ignoring the collateral damage he caused in his fights and all. ^^;;

And i see, i kinda hope he will get it. Or that he would be able too see his parents and his friends and beloved again somehow and they would be able to convince him to stop and change back. Or that Justice would be able to conjure his harmonica and play a tune that would pull at the heart strings of the Skeleton Lord, temporarily making it so he feels remorse for what he is doing and free him. But the latter one would be a little too much of a cheat. xP The first one would be difficult though. x3 (Though I do wonder why the gods of time refuse to send him back through time to save his world from destruction. I think that should they have done that, maybe Skeleton Lord would actually be a sort off hero himself. =/*chuckles* This part gave me quite some sympathy towards him. x3 lol )

 

And I am sorry to hear that you had a period in your life where you inflicted your pain onto others. ='( I do hope that writing stories like these and having friends and admirers and all, will leep you from going back to such a period ever again. ='3

It would be quite an interesting subplot for the story though. MM's dark powers and the effect it has on his mind and emotions. I do believe he never told anyone about them before and what it'l like to use them and all. Plus: It would actually give Justice the true answer to who he should pick to be his one and only. I mean: Only someone he truly loves completely and someone who loves him completely would be able to save him from a life of villiany and return him to his real self. ='3 But than again, it IS kinda cliché. xD lol It'd be the: "Love conquers all" trope and all. xP lol

 

Of course you do. 83 <3 <3 The whole story has been entertaining and I KNOW that you will be able too keep it that way. 83

And hell yeah I will be. >;P I wanna see a good and neatly wrapped up ending where all parties involved will get the ending they deserve. 83 <3 (which will be hard to do I know, BUT I believe in you. ^^ <3)

 

And Idk, I mean: In war torture is used quite often I believe. Either for fun or for extracting information forcefully. So technically: Torture IS a part of war. ^^;; Also: Torture has been called artistic by some too, because you need to be creative in the way you torture the person you need information from. Also: Is what MM does with his dark powers not a form of torture as well? I mean: Some forms of torture is just a lerson forcing his or her pain upon someone else after all. ^^; And some say that Love can be a form of torture as well, especially when it is love unanswered or when the person that is the target of their love breaks the heart of the lover. ^^;

And I do believe Justice's parents will be furious as heck when they know. xD i think: the dark sides of his parents would reveal themselves and could possibly totally obliterate Skeleton Lord if they well desire it. xP lol But I do hope that should his parents be there, Justice would ask them not to. But to try and use their powers to heal the Skeleton Lord's broken spirit and heart. Maybe instead of saving his litteral "world", they would be able to save his family and friends & their families. To keep them safe from whatever harm would befall them. Than keep them hidden and show them what happened too the Skeleton Lord and teach them how to heal him before returning them to him in present time. But also making sure that they are protected from his powers so he can not lash out against them in disbelief or panic. =3

Just wondering though but: Is it not usually the case that gods of Love, also have the power over hate (as it is just the other side of the same thing). And healing also has harming (just look at some JRPG's with the zombie effect. When they're hit with healing magic they get harmed. ^^; )and war should also have the power over peace, because peace is just the absence of war. like if War would take a vacation and not do his job for a while, peace would reign after all. =3 So in some way he too has power over peace. ^^;

 

I really can not stop thinking about new and possible ways to "save" the Skeleton Lord. He says that he doesn't want to be saved nor that he wants to change back to who he was. But I think deep in whatever is left of his heart, he actually wants just that. For someone to save him from what he has become and to be someone who is cared for and about again. It really seems like he lost his family and friends when he was still quite young and thus his whole world collapsed, especially if it was caused by collateral damage from Super hero fights. For a child a Super hero is the ideal and symbol of everything that is good and just. Same goes for their family and friends. But if one such symbol is the cause of the death of all the others, the symbol will be corrupted into a symbol of pain; anguish; loneliness; death & unjustice for the child. Which kind off seems to mirror Skeleton Lord's feelings towards super heroes and the world that woreship them. =0 he has been disillusioned and had his heart & soul broken when something he considered good and pure killed off his "world" and did not feel remorse about it. =0

...whoa, I went deep & psychological there. ^^; I do believe I am right about this though and that all of his actions so far are caused by it and that in a way he is still a child that wants to be with his mother and father again and is unable to move forward in his grief. Even if part of him wants too, and the most part of him wants to go back to how everything was back before his world fell apart, just like a child who's life has forever changed in the worst way ever would feel. =0

Welp: Those are all my thoughts for now. x3 I hope some of them are correct and that if they are, they will help you write the next chapter ( s) of this story. x3; lol

I do have to thank you for this story. <3 Kinds helps me with reading people to, which can be hard for an autistic person like me. x3;

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11 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Yeah, but the thing is: How will ThebSkeleton Lord "recharge" his "battery"? ^^; I mean: You can't use a battery again if you can't recharge it right? ^^;;

 

Lol, actually. I kinda like to think that he at least has some honour in himself still and honours an agreement or "contract" that was made with him. It would make him seem like he is not all bad (which I believe he isn't. He is just a broken man that has lost everything and kinda went insane). =3

Lol, come on. I know the movie was shitty, but you gotta admit that Skelleton Lord's hatred of Superheroes kinda is similar to how Bruce Wayne got angry towards Superman for ignoring the collateral damage he caused in his fights and all. ^^;;

And i see, i kinda hope he will get it. Or that he would be able too see his parents and his friends and beloved again somehow and they would be able to convince him to stop and change back. Or that Justice would be able to conjure his harmonica and play a tune that would pull at the heart strings of the Skeleton Lord, temporarily making it so he feels remorse for what he is doing and free him. But the latter one would be a little too much of a cheat. xP The first one would be difficult though. x3 (Though I do wonder why the gods of time refuse to send him back through time to save his world from destruction. I think that should they have done that, maybe Skeleton Lord would actually be a sort off hero himself. =/*chuckles* This part gave me quite some sympathy towards him. x3 lol )

 

And I am sorry to hear that you had a period in your life where you inflicted your pain onto others. ='( I do hope that writing stories like these and having friends and admirers and all, will leep you from going back to such a period ever again. ='3

It would be quite an interesting subplot for the story though. MM's dark powers and the effect it has on his mind and emotions. I do believe he never told anyone about them before and what it'l like to use them and all. Plus: It would actually give Justice the true answer to who he should pick to be his one and only. I mean: Only someone he truly loves completely and someone who loves him completely would be able to save him from a life of villiany and return him to his real self. ='3 But than again, it IS kinda cliché. xD lol It'd be the: "Love conquers all" trope and all. xP lol

 

Of course you do. 83 <3 <3 The whole story has been entertaining and I KNOW that you will be able too keep it that way. 83

And hell yeah I will be. >;P I wanna see a good and neatly wrapped up ending where all parties involved will get the ending they deserve. 83 <3 (which will be hard to do I know, BUT I believe in you. ^^ <3)

 

And Idk, I mean: In war torture is used quite often I believe. Either for fun or for extracting information forcefully. So technically: Torture IS a part of war. ^^;; Also: Torture has been called artistic by some too, because you need to be creative in the way you torture the person you need information from. Also: Is what MM does with his dark powers not a form of torture as well? I mean: Some forms of torture is just a lerson forcing his or her pain upon someone else after all. ^^; And some say that Love can be a form of torture as well, especially when it is love unanswered or when the person that is the target of their love breaks the heart of the lover. ^^;

And I do believe Justice's parents will be furious as heck when they know. xD i think: the dark sides of his parents would reveal themselves and could possibly totally obliterate Skeleton Lord if they well desire it. xP lol But I do hope that should his parents be there, Justice would ask them not to. But to try and use their powers to heal the Skeleton Lord's broken spirit and heart. Maybe instead of saving his litteral "world", they would be able to save his family and friends & their families. To keep them safe from whatever harm would befall them. Than keep them hidden and show them what happened too the Skeleton Lord and teach them how to heal him before returning them to him in present time. But also making sure that they are protected from his powers so he can not lash out against them in disbelief or panic. =3

Just wondering though but: Is it not usually the case that gods of Love, also have the power over hate (as it is just the other side of the same thing). And healing also has harming (just look at some JRPG's with the zombie effect. When they're hit with healing magic they get harmed. ^^; )and war should also have the power over peace, because peace is just the absence of war. like if War would take a vacation and not do his job for a while, peace would reign after all. =3 So in some way he too has power over peace. ^^;

 

I really can not stop thinking about new and possible ways to "save" the Skeleton Lord. He says that he doesn't want to be saved nor that he wants to change back to who he was. But I think deep in whatever is left of his heart, he actually wants just that. For someone to save him from what he has become and to be someone who is cared for and about again. It really seems like he lost his family and friends when he was still quite young and thus his whole world collapsed, especially if it was caused by collateral damage from Super hero fights. For a child a Super hero is the ideal and symbol of everything that is good and just. Same goes for their family and friends. But if one such symbol is the cause of the death of all the others, the symbol will be corrupted into a symbol of pain; anguish; loneliness; death & unjustice for the child. Which kind off seems to mirror Skeleton Lord's feelings towards super heroes and the world that woreship them. =0 he has been disillusioned and had his heart & soul broken when something he considered good and pure killed off his "world" and did not feel remorse about it. =0

...whoa, I went deep & psychological there. ^^; I do believe I am right about this though and that all of his actions so far are caused by it and that in a way he is still a child that wants to be with his mother and father again and is unable to move forward in his grief. Even if part of him wants too, and the most part of him wants to go back to how everything was back before his world fell apart, just like a child who's life has forever changed in the worst way ever would feel. =0

Welp: Those are all my thoughts for now. x3 I hope some of them are correct and that if they are, they will help you write the next chapter ( s) of this story. x3; lol

I do have to thank you for this story. <3 Kinds helps me with reading people to, which can be hard for an autistic person like me. x3;

Justice has the healing factor like Wolverine. So getting close to dying isn't enough to kill him.

 

Also, the Skeleton Lord was being metaphorical when he said his world(not literal) was destroyed. But I realize now that it might be misleading, so thanks for mentioning that. I'll have to find some way to correct that. Sorry, but I can't go into any more in-depth detail without spoiling stuff DX But to answer the stuff about gods not helping...they're selfish dicks lol. You ever cracked open a book about mythology? 9/10 they're doing something for their own benefit and don't care who gets hurt. Very few are benevolent XD

 

And it's not really a period in my life that I hurt others. It's something that I deal with every day, because its always a choice. But I realize that I wasn't a great person in the past to those closest to me, and I try to be a better person because of that. Whenever I'm hurt cause of a friend/family member's mistake or I come upon misfortune, I took up my mom's practice of trying to say every hurtful thing I can think of to make myself feel better and bring people down. It can feel numbing and addicting to do at the moment, but I feel terrible when I dwell on it and how it affected the people I said to. Focusing on the painful things of the past and pushing it onto others is not the way to progress. It's poisonous...and it's something I never meant to incorporate into the story but it just happened. Justice has the power to heal and inspire others to do great things or poison them and force them to relive their physical or mental traumas. And it kinda terrifies me how his power can reflect real life. You can either focus on the present and build towards the future or get caught up dwelling on the past and its regrets. It's because of stuff like that this story that was supposed to be comedic and porny became serious and sorta reflected on issues a person can have(with sexy elements; it is ecchi after all lol). I didn't even really realize that the story's theme was sorta about loneliness, culture shock, and how people cope with those sort of things in different ways until 10 chapters later when I reflected on the story's progress.

 

Yeah, I had a feeling you'd go into those loopholes XD And as much as I want to tell you why they did not take action yet, that would be going into spoiler territory lol

 

I get what you're trying to hint at, but a god taking inaction over their duty does not count as having dominion over their opposite element lol Apollo is the exception, since he's a god of healing and plagues. But I won't deny that such things are actually two sides of the same coin. It's like that Avenue Q song, "The more you love someone, the more you want to kill them" XD

 

Geeze, I would love to explain about the Skeleton Lord but that would be spoilers DX But let's hope he can be saved~

 

There are some things you are off, but you're still in the ballpark ;3

And thanks...it really makes me happy you say that. It fills me up with inspiration to keep trying! I'm pretty awkward in real life, and my part-time job is selling/demonstrating stuff in a Costco! lol It's still hard to read people as well, but I try to notice certain physical reactions or empathize on how I would feel in their shoes. It's really hard to not have everybody in my story working together without a problem, cause it's what I truly want. But people are chaotic creatures, so it can be a bit of a challenge to emphasize what a person is closed off on, stubborn about, or just plain illogical. I want everybody to be open about how they feel so there's no miscommunication and everybody can compromise and get along. It's the one thing that always ticked me off about comic book superhero stories: miscommunication(the constant cliche to force people to fight each other or create tension). But I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that I can have a hard time opening up about stuff and be illogical with certain people or things...But thank you so much for reading it! I will keep trying to make this story Marvelous~

(Sorry I took so long to answer. You put a lot of work into your comment, and I wanted to be sure that I gave it the Justice it deserved ;3)

 

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1 hour ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

Justice has the healing factor like Wolverine. So getting close to dying isn't enough to kill him.

 

Also, the Skeleton Lord was being metaphorical when he said his world(not literal) was destroyed. But I realize now that it might be misleading, so thanks for mentioning that. I'll have to find some way to correct that. Sorry, but I can't go into any more in-depth detail without spoiling stuff DX But to answer the stuff about gods not helping...they're selfish dicks lol. You ever cracked open a book about mythology? 9/10 they're doing something for their own benefit and don't care who gets hurt. Very few are benevolent XD

 

And it's not really a period in my life that I hurt others. It's something that I deal with every day, because its always a choice. But I realize that I wasn't a great person in the past to those closest to me, and I try to be a better person because of that. Whenever I'm hurt cause of a friend/family member's mistake or I come upon misfortune, I took up my mom's practice of trying to say every hurtful thing I can think of to make myself feel better and bring people down. It can feel numbing and addicting to do at the moment, but I feel terrible when I dwell on it and how it affected the people I said to. Focusing on the painful things of the past and pushing it onto others is not the way to progress. It's poisonous...and it's something I never meant to incorporate into the story but it just happened. Justice has the power to heal and inspire others to do great things or poison them and force them to relive their physical or mental traumas. And it kinda terrifies me how his power can reflect real life. You can either focus on the present and build towards the future or get caught up dwelling on the past and its regrets. It's because of stuff like that this story that was supposed to be comedic and porny became serious and sorta reflected on issues a person can have(with sexy elements; it is ecchi after all lol). I didn't even really realize that the story's theme was sorta about loneliness, culture shock, and how people cope with those sort of things in different ways until 10 chapters later when I reflected on the story's progress.

 

Yeah, I had a feeling you'd go into those loopholes XD And as much as I want to tell you why they did not take action yet, that would be going into spoiler territory lol

 

I get what you're trying to hint at, but a god taking inaction over their duty does not count as having dominion over their opposite element lol Apollo is the exception, since he's a god of healing and plagues. But I won't deny that such things are actually two sides of the same coin. It's like that Avenue Q song, "The more you love someone, the more you want to kill them" XD

 

Geeze, I would love to explain about the Skeleton Lord but that would be spoilers DX But let's hope he can be saved~

 

There are some things you are off, but you're still in the ballpark ;3

And thanks...it really makes me happy you say that. It fills me up with inspiration to keep trying! I'm pretty awkward in real life, and my part-time job is selling/demonstrating stuff in a Costco! lol It's still hard to read people as well, but I try to notice certain physical reactions or empathize on how I would feel in their shoes. It's really hard to not have everybody in my story working together without a problem, cause it's what I truly want. But people are chaotic creatures, so it can be a bit of a challenge to emphasize what a person is closed off on, stubborn about, or just plain illogical. I want everybody to be open about how they feel so there's no miscommunication and everybody can compromise and get along. It's the one thing that always ticked me off about comic book superhero stories: miscommunication(the constant cliche to force people to fight each other or create tension). But I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that I can have a hard time opening up about stuff and be illogical with certain people or things...But thank you so much for reading it! I will keep trying to make this story Marvelous~

(Sorry I took so long to answer. You put a lot of work into your comment, and I wanted to be sure that I gave it the Justice it deserved ;3)

 

Dangit!!! I hate it that you can't tell me more cause it'd spoil so much. I wanna know but also not want to be spoiled too much. xD lol

Hmmmm: maybe you can tell me if I am right about being sympathetic towards the Skeleton Lord & if he is or is not quite the bad guy he seem to be.

*thinks* Tbh, I would love too see a chapter with only the Skeleton Lord in it. Like the emotional outburst having caused him to think about what happened to him and everything. You know: to get to know him better and all. Because there seems to be such a big story behind him and all. <3

 

And I see,  i am sorry to hear that you did that. ='( I hope that you are able to break that habit at least most of the time. =') <3

And yeah, kinda funny huh? x3 thinks* I wonder why it became that way though. How you added things into it that can mirror real life and added so much more serious themes into instead of making it just stay a comedy & all about "cheap" porn. =3

 

And no, I do not really say that War has dominion over peace. x3 lol I guess I do not really have to say what i mean as  you seem to already know what I meant. x3 Though like with love: Many people say: "The line between love and hate is very slim", most people also consider that love can always change tinto hate at any time after all. ^^;; But yeah, seeing the opposite side of their elements, a god of one of them should also know the lack of such, after all. xP lol

 

And yay!! I am glad that even though I do not have all the answers, I am still on the right side of the court so far. 83 <3 <3 <3

 

And please do not worry about not being able to read people. Trust me, almost everyone aren't e to read a lot of people. =3 <3 And yeah, I do get what you mean though, but do not worry about it though. =3

And also: I know you will be able too keep it Marvelous. >;3

 

And thanks for doing my comments Justice everytime. ='3 <3 It means a lot to me. <3

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(Don't know how to delete a post I messed up on...)

Edited by EcchiMultiverse
Mistake. Meant to hit "Quote" first
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2 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

Dangit!!! I hate it that you can't tell me more cause it'd spoil so much. I wanna know but also not want to be spoiled too much. xD lol

Hmmmm: maybe you can tell me if I am right about being sympathetic towards the Skeleton Lord & if he is or is not quite the bad guy he seem to be.

*thinks* Tbh, I would love too see a chapter with only the Skeleton Lord in it. Like the emotional outburst having caused him to think about what happened to him and everything. You know: to get to know him better and all. Because there seems to be such a big story behind him and all. <3

 

And I see,  i am sorry to hear that you did that. ='( I hope that you are able to break that habit at least most of the time. =') <3

And yeah, kinda funny huh? x3 thinks* I wonder why it became that way though. How you added things into it that can mirror real life and added so much more serious themes into instead of making it just stay a comedy & all about "cheap" porn. =3

 

And no, I do not really say that War has dominion over peace. x3 lol I guess I do not really have to say what i mean as  you seem to already know what I meant. x3 Though like with love: Many people say: "The line between love and hate is very slim", most people also consider that love can always change tinto hate at any time after all. ^^;; But yeah, seeing the opposite side of their elements, a god of one of them should also know the lack of such, after all. xP lol

 

And yay!! I am glad that even though I do not have all the answers, I am still on the right side of the court so far. 83 <3 <3 <3

 

And please do not worry about not being able to read people. Trust me, almost everyone aren't e to read a lot of people. =3 <3 And yeah, I do get what you mean though, but do not worry about it though. =3

And also: I know you will be able too keep it Marvelous. >;3

 

And thanks for doing my comments Justice everytime. ='3 <3 It means a lot to me. <3

You're right about being sympathetic towards him. The Skeleton Lord used to be a good person. And while I could go into a separate chapter explaining the Skeleton Lord, this is Justice's journey and trying to understand the Skeleton Lord. So there will probably not be a separate chapter.

 

Well, I wanted to be Justice to be likeable, and then a friend of mine said the story was too boring. So I redid everything and tried to be a bit more realistic about how people reacted to things and the consequences that followed. Then I realized the story was still boring and needed a big bad to fight. Then I realized that the big bad needed some sort of backstory. Couldn't just be evil for the sake of it or else it wouldn't feel very exciting. As for the characters I inserted, most of them were OCs I created a long time ago and realized they would make it easier for new characters to be introduced and help the plot along. So yeah, what started as a comedy became a drama with pockets of comedy, heh. But I don't regret it. I want a gay action hero that's actually hot and fights bad guys. Since I couldn't find that anywhere except the discontinued Midnighter, I'll do it myself X3

 

But yeah, Book 1 should be finished in a couple more chapters. I got a commission slot with BaconKing on FurAffinity, so I should have an illustration of Gilgamesh(from Chapter 15) soon

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6 hours ago, EcchiMultiverse said:

You're right about being sympathetic towards him. The Skeleton Lord used to be a good person. And while I could go into a separate chapter explaining the Skeleton Lord, this is Justice's journey and trying to understand the Skeleton Lord. So there will probably not be a separate chapter.

 

Well, I wanted to be Justice to be likeable, and then a friend of mine said the story was too boring. So I redid everything and tried to be a bit more realistic about how people reacted to things and the consequences that followed. Then I realized the story was still boring and needed a big bad to fight. Then I realized that the big bad needed some sort of backstory. Couldn't just be evil for the sake of it or else it wouldn't feel very exciting. As for the characters I inserted, most of them were OCs I created a long time ago and realized they would make it easier for new characters to be introduced and help the plot along. So yeah, what started as a comedy became a drama with pockets of comedy, heh. But I don't regret it. I want a gay action hero that's actually hot and fights bad guys. Since I couldn't find that anywhere except the discontinued Midnighter, I'll do it myself X3

 

But yeah, Book 1 should be finished in a couple more chapters. I got a commission slot with BaconKing on FurAffinity, so I should have an illustration of Gilgamesh(from Chapter 15) soon

I really hope he can turn back into a good person. ^^ Not a hero or anything, but at least someone who is back to normal and no longer is consumed by grief and loneliness and heart break and all. ='3

And awwwr, but I wanna learn so much more about the Skeleton Lord. ;n; I wanna know about the back story you created for him, how his world was destroyed and how he fell into madness and let the anguish inside him reign over him. Thus how he went from his true self to becoming The Skeleton Lord. 83

Shouldn't every comic series, or story series, or cartoon series that has a villian in it have at least a scene in it where they show the origins of the villian. So we can connect with them more? 83 <3 A hero is only as good as his greatest villian after all. ^^

 

Lol, I'm glad you did ut yourself. MM is definitely one of the best Superheroes I know. 83 Especially because he isn't invincible like some superheroes in the comics and one TV. *cough-cough*Superman*cough*. I hate those, because they are so difficult to actually connect with. ^^;;

And I am so glad you created Skeleton Lord and made him a good person gone bad through traumatic experiences and all. It is easy to connect with him because in rl it is easy to let sadness and depression take over after such a great loss and all. =3

I am very grateful to that friend of yours that said the story was boring, if he-she hadn't said that, we wouodn't have this wonderful story. 83 <3 <3 I just hope I was able to help you too. ^////^ <3

 

And OMG!! 8D That artist is awesome! I can hardly wait. 83

 

Oh and *points at me* You know? My Digisona (Digimon fursona) used to be a superhero too. A gay one  coincidentally. >;P lol

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16 hours ago, Hanugumo said:

I really hope he can turn back into a good person. ^^ Not a hero or anything, but at least someone who is back to normal and no longer is consumed by grief and loneliness and heart break and all. ='3

And awwwr, but I wanna learn so much more about the Skeleton Lord. ;n; I wanna know about the back story you created for him, how his world was destroyed and how he fell into madness and let the anguish inside him reign over him. Thus how he went from his true self to becoming The Skeleton Lord. 83

Shouldn't every comic series, or story series, or cartoon series that has a villian in it have at least a scene in it where they show the origins of the villian. So we can connect with them more? 83 <3 A hero is only as good as his greatest villian after all. ^^

 

Lol, I'm glad you did ut yourself. MM is definitely one of the best Superheroes I know. 83 Especially because he isn't invincible like some superheroes in the comics and one TV. *cough-cough*Superman*cough*. I hate those, because they are so difficult to actually connect with. ^^;;

And I am so glad you created Skeleton Lord and made him a good person gone bad through traumatic experiences and all. It is easy to connect with him because in rl it is easy to let sadness and depression take over after such a great loss and all. =3

I am very grateful to that friend of yours that said the story was boring, if he-she hadn't said that, we wouodn't have this wonderful story. 83 <3 <3 I just hope I was able to help you too. ^////^ <3

 

And OMG!! 8D That artist is awesome! I can hardly wait. 83

 

Oh and *points at me* You know? My Digisona (Digimon fursona) used to be a superhero too. A gay one  coincidentally. >;P lol

Sorry, I can't let it all spill out in one chapter X3 I will not make that same mistake Naruto and Bleach makes by going into the backstory of every villain and side character just to extend their run time but ruin the quality of the action/narrative. It will be revealed, but only due to plot relevance.

 

Thanks a lot for saying all that X3 And I thank you for sticking with me and telling me on what to improve on. It never occurred to me that Gemini was being an unacceptable asshole in the later chapters until you brought it to my attention.

 

Oh really? I'm surprised your Digisona isn't your icon.

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