The man known only as the Face, sat in the command tent, looking over the table in front of him in frustration and exhaustion. His hat rested on the table, alongside all of his notes, maps, and the various tools he’d been using to gather information on the barrier and what was occurring on the other side.

Though the Face had managed to learn a great deal, it still wasn’t enough. He knew exactly where the five obelisks were located, as well as who was guarding each one. He had even confirmed that Baron Nevermore was indeed behind this, as the barrier reeked of that villain’s dark magic. Unfortunately, he had yet to discover what Baron Nevermore was after or how to get past the barrier.

With a loud sigh, the Face rested a hand against his golden mask. He would have removed the mask were he able, to rub the bridge of his nose as he used to do when deep in concentration. However, that was not an option. He wore the mask, not to hide his identity, but for a much more important reason. Without that mask to anchor him to reality, he would immediately be drawn to another dimension, one where he had been trapped before acquiring the mask.

“He’s gathering power,” the Face stated, looking over his information. That fact was inescapable.

Baron Nevermore drew power from fear and death, and he currently had hundreds of thousands of people trapped within the barrier, providing him with both. He was gathering a great deal of raw power, far more than he needed to maintain the barrier. Of course, the Face already knew that Baron Nevermore was up to something but, but he still didn’t know what.

“Time is of the essence,” the Face grimly reminded himself, thinking about all of the people who were trapped within that barrier, at the mercy of those villains.

The Face looked up as Ms. Miracle came into the command tent, scowling deeply and nearly radiating her anger. It was obvious that she had a very personal grudge against Baron Nevermore, and he couldn’t truly blame her, not after the sorcerer had once murdered her.

In fact, many of their gathered heroes had personal grudges against these villains. The White Knight had grudges against both Force and Loki, Legacy had one against Loki, and even he, along with his entire team, held a great deal of anger towards Circuit Monger. The Face just hoped that they would all be professional enough as to not allow their grudges to interfere with their performance, or innocent lives could be lost.

Ms. Miracle ignored the Face and went to the opposite side of the tent, to talk to Icarus. However, seconds later, three other people entered the tent as well, Lady Knight, Mystik, and his daughter Gwen…Witch Girl.

Ever since Gwen and Lady Knight met a short time ago, the two of them had remained together, much to the Face’s approval. Gwen needed more friends her own age, especially ones who could understand the complications that came with being developed. In fact, there were several other young developed, such as Ghost boy and the Slackers, and it might be a good idea to make sure Gwen had a chance to meet them.

“I’m afraid that we still haven’t found any way through the barrier,” the Face told the three, guessing that this was what they’d come to him for.

“I tried a couple spells,” Gwen admitted with a disappointed look and a shake of her head, which spoke of how effective her attempts had been.

“I might be able to do something,” Mystik announced, firmly clutching her golden staff. “Unfortunately, my resources are extremely limited…”

The Face held up his hand, to keep her from explaining when it wasn’t necessary. “Your staff is akin to a genie’s lamp, in that it only grants three wishes before it must be recharged…”

Mystik gave him a look of surprise, which quickly turned to one of suspicion. “Now did you know?”

The Face smiled faintly beneath his mask, though none of them could see it. “After the fight with Entropy, I thought you and your staff seemed familiar, so I performed some research. One of your predecessors left behind a journal, where she spoke of the staff of Isis.”

“I see,” Mystik responded carefully. “I’d like to look at this journal sometime, if that’s possible. But for now, I think we have bigger fish to fry…”

“Indeed,” the Face agreed. He stared at her for a moment, then continued, “From what I understand, your staff is quite powerful and versatile, but even so, I am certain it would be of little use against the barrier. Perhaps, once we learn its weakness, you might be able to exploit it…but until then, please do not waste your power. I suspect that when the time comes, you will need all the power you can muster.”

“All right then,” Mystik said. “I guess I can hold off for now. But if we don’t find a way in soon, I’m going to try anyway.”

“Agreed,” the Face told him.

Just then, the Face noticed a newcomer entering the tent. She had dark hair and was wearing a suit, rather than the dramatic costumes that everyone else in the area was wearing. The woman also looked familiar, and it took him a moment to remember where he’d seen her before. She was one of the DAD agents who’d appeared after the incidents with the Black Guild and Entropy, the same one who made sure Mystik wasn’t put behind bars for her previous criminal activity.

The woman looked to the White Knight and held out a badge and ID. “I’m Agent Briggs, from the Developed Affairs Department.”

The Face noticed that Mystik watched the DAD agent with an intent expression. “We’ve met before,” she said cautiously

“That we have,” Agent Briggs agreed, giving him the impression that there was a lot more going on than he knew. As soon as Agent Briggs looked away, Mystik hurried out of the tent.

“How may we help you?” the White Knight asked Agent Briggs.

“There is a glowing purple dome over a large part of Maryland,” Agent Briggs pointed out. “Needless to say, the government is extremely concerned. Now, please tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know how much you’re already aware of,” the White Knight answered, “so I’ll tell you everything we know.”

With that, they began to fill Agent Briggs in on everything they’d discussed during the earlier briefing, and everything that they’d learned since. As they showed her pictures of the villains who’d been part of the initial attack, she suddenly scowled, focusing on one picture in particular.

“She’s dressed like the Scepter,” Agent Briggs pointed out.

The White Knight nodded. We do not know what…if any connection, she has to the previous Scepter.”

“You have an interest in the Scepter,” the Face commented, having notice that this was the one picture she’d been most interested in. Even the mention of Baron Nevermore’s involvement didn’t have that much effect.

“I was part of the DAD investigation into the Black Guild,” Agent Briggs explained, though she didn’t say anything more about it.

Once they’d finished getting Agent Briggs up to date, they left the command tent and went out for a closer look at the barrier. A few of the gathered heroes were still trying to break through the barrier, though the Face suspected that most of them were doing this to keep themselves too busy to think about what must be going on inside.

Glamour Girl floated in the air, firing blasts of swirling light at the barrier. Legacy had out a bone white bow, and was shooting arrows of hellfire against it. Mega, had grown to twenty feet tall and was viciously punching it. Even Gwen had returned to the barrier in order to keep trying her magics.

However, the Face noticed that Lady Knight hadn’t gone to the barrier with his daughter. Instead, she was staying close, though he wasn’t sure if that was because she wanted to stay near her father, or because she was interested in Agent Briggs. The pink haired girl kept looking at Briggs with a curious expression.

Suddenly, the Face felt a tingling through his mask, which made him pause and slowly look around. He felt a presence, one that he hadn’t encountered in years. “Exile,” he announced. “I know you are here.”

There was a shimmering in the air, right before a female figure appeared. The Exile was shaped like an attractive woman, though her body seemed to be made almost entirely of golden metal, a fact that was quite noticeable as she was completely without clothing. Her eyes burned with a green glow, and her ‘hair’ was formed of flowing green energy which trailed out behind her. At first, the Exile was ghostly, then became more solid seeming, though he could still sense that she wasn’t truly there…at least not physically.

“Hello, Richard,” Exile greeted him with the name that he had not used in years. “I should have known you would sense my presence…”

“How could I not?” the Face asked her carefully. “You created my mask, and it remains sensitive to your power…”

“You know this woman?” the White Knight asked the Face, giving Exile a suspicious look. She just watched him with a look of amusement.

“This is Exile,” the Face commented, gesturing to the golden woman, who floated with the bottom of her feet just inches from above the ground. “She inhabits the limbo I would be trapped in, if not for this mask. In fact, she is the very one who gave me this mask…”

“The mask is a part of you,” Lady Knight blurted out in surprise.

Exile nodded and turned her attention to Lady Knight. “Yes, it is a tiny sliver of my being.” The moved closer to the pink haired girl, giving her a gentle smile. “Hello, Joselyn.”

“You know who I am?” Lady Knight blurted out in surprise.

“Of course,” Exile responded with a look of amusement.

The pink haired girl protested, “But we’ve never met…”

“Haven’t we?” Exile asked with a faint chuckle. Then she looked towards Witch Girl and mused, “And Gwen as well…”

“Exile,” the Face asked, his voice tense. “Why are you here?” Then he paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Nevermind that. I know why you are here…” He gestured towards the shimmering barrier. “You’ve come to observe. The fact that you are here, or that you have sent a projection of yourself, strongly suggests that the situation is even more dire than I suspected. You only come to observe momentous events.”

With a faint bow of her head, Exile grimly responded, “This is true.”

“Are you here to help us?” the White Knight asked, still watching her carefully.

“No,” Exile responded, almost sadly. “I cannot help you. I cannot interfere directly….”

“Let me guess,” Lady Knight interjected. “You’ve sworn some kind of oath not to interfere…”

“No,” Exile responded with a faint smile, turning her attention back to Lady Knight. “I have sworn no such oath, other than to myself, nor am I bound by any form of Prime Directive.”

“Exile never helps,” the Face explained, before touching his mask and adding, “Almost never…”

“As I have explained to you before,” Exile told the Face, who clearly remembered her reasoning, though wanted the others to hear this as well. “My powers are too great to be used in this realm. I could easily remove this barrier, but the consequences of that action could be far worse than what you already face.”

Agent Briggs said, “I don’t understand,” while the White Knight simultaneously asked, “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?” Exile asked in a pleasant tone. “Or the law of unintended consequences? Any use of my power results in long reaching ripples, the consequences of which, even I cannot predict. I live in a self-imposed exile in order to protect the world from my power, and I will not risk its existence merely to make things easier for you…”

“Easier?” the White Knight blurted out angrily. “The world is in danger.”

“I am merely here as an observer,” Exile stated. “And even that may be too great a risk.”

Suddenly, the Face heard his daughter cry out, “Oh my God…”

The Face snapped around, only to see Gwen standing at the barrier, with her arm pushed through it all the way up to the elbow. She pulled her arm back out, stared at it in shock, then stepped forward and walked through the barrier as though it wasn’t there.

“GWEN,” the Face cried out, running towards the spot where his daughter had vanished.

While everyone else was staring at the spot where Witch Girl had gone through the barrier, Exile began to fade away. Just before vanishing entirely, she quietly mused, “If nothing else, this should be interesting.”

A couple seconds later, Gwen stepped back through the barrier, grinning as she did so. “You know,” Gwen commented, putting her hand back through the barrier again and asking, “Has anyone tried to just walk through?”

--------------------

Julie sat back in a hard plastic chair that someone had scrounged up, while the rest of the Slackers sat a short distance away. Deadbeat had found a table and a deck of cards somewhere, and was in the middle of playing a game of poker with Nike and Chrome. From what she could tell, Deadbeat was winning, which meant that there was also a good chance that the tiny zombie girl was somehow cheating.

Zero Kay was off talking with her brother, Shiver of Faction Zero. And though Julie couldn’t hear what they were saying, they were both smiling and laughing, which seemed out of place considering the circumstances. Then again, if she had a family member to share the experience with, it might not be so bad.

“We are in way over our heads,” Julie muttered as she looked around at the gathered heroes, feeling overwhelmed.

There were a lot of big name heroes present, and they were going up against some major villains, ones who’d left a lot of dead bodies in their wake. As much as Julie hated to admit it, the Slackers were in over their heads and didn’t belong in this crowed. Then, she chuckled faintly, realizing how much more outclassed they’d be when the Protectorate and Lightning Force eventually arrived to join the party.

After a moment, Julie looked over at Glamour Girl, who was standing up and staring at the shimmering barrier with a grim expression. “How are you doing?” Julie asked her.

Glamour Girl scowled, and for a moment she remained silent. “I’m frustrated,” the blonde admitted after a few seconds. “I hit that damn barrier with my light blasts, at full power, and nothing…”

“And then Witch Girl just walked right on through,” Channel responded wryly. “Your blasts did great against Nevermore the last time. Maybe once we get through, they’ll be a lot more useful.”

“I certainly hope so,” Glamor Girl said, looking back towards the barrier again. “This was the whole reason I was given these powers…”

Julie nodded at that, then gestured in the direction where Witch Girl and Lady Knight were talking. “Those two are about your age, so at least you aren’t the youngest one in the group…”

“I never thought I was,” Glamour Girl answered, gesturing to Deadbeat.

“Bite me,” Deadbeat responded, flipping Glamour Girl off. “You know this body is temporary. Next time, I’ll try to find a dead porn star. A MALE porn star.”

“That is a mental image I do NOT need,” Glamour girl said with a visible shudder.

Suddenly, Chrome smirked, got Deadbeat’s attention, then gestured to the side and said, “It looks like you just got a playmate your own age…”

Julie looked to where Chrome was pointing and immediately saw what her teammate meant. A new group of heroes had just arrived, and Julie immediately recognized them as the Guard. She gulped at that, since several members of that team were former members of the Protectorate. However, her eyes went to Warchild, who was obviously the person Chrome had been joking about.

Warchild looked like an eleven year old boy, with a black and white spandex costume. Normally, she would have gaped in horror that anyone would let a little kid put on a costume and fight crime, but she knew that Warchild was more than he appeared. From what she’d heard, he used to be a grown man until something happened, which not only gave him powers, but also did a fountain of youth on him.

After staring at Warchild for a moment, Julie looked over the rest of the Guard. There was Mannequin, who was a blonde woman who was built like a stripper, and wore a green and gray costume, that didn’t show much skin beyond her face and arms, but still left very little to the imagination. Right beside her was Diamond, who wore a flowing white costume that included a loin cloth and a diamond necklace, followed by Radiant, an auburn haired woman with a white and blue costume, that included a blue cape and a blue domino mask. And then, trailing in the back, was Interface, a Hispanic man in a red and gray costume, with some gray metal armor trim.

From what Julie knew of the Guard, they were short two members. Father Time and Genius, who unlike Warchild, was legitimately underage. That was probably why she wasn’t there with the others.

As Julie watched, the Guard split up and went in separate directions. Diamond and Interface went directly towards the command tent, but to Julie’s surprise, Warchild started towards her. As the apparent boy came closer, it became obvious that he wasn’t interested in her, but in the card game that was going on almost beside her.

“Is that poker?” Warchild asked with childlike innocence. “I’ve never played poker before. Can I play?”

“Sure thing, kid,” Deadbeat said with an almost evil grin. “We’ll deal you in…”

Julie was about to warn Deadbeat that Warchild wasn’t as young as he appeared, then she decided that it might be more interesting to keep quiet and watch. It didn’t take long before her suspicions were proven right, as Warchild quickly won a big around, then made exclamations of ‘beginners luck’.

“You seem to be taking this all pretty well,” Julie told Warchild. “I mean, you and your whole team came rushing over, only to get stuck waiting with the rest of us…”

Warchild just shrugged. “It’s just like back in the army. A lot of hurry up and wait.” That earned some curious looks from the other card players, who apparently didn’t know much about his background as a former adult.

Chrome gestured to the barrier and told him, “Just a short time before you guys got here, someone was able to get through the damn thing. Now, we’re all waiting while the Face tries to figure out how she did it.”

“I’m just a soldier,” Warchild said with a shrug. “I’ll leave that kind of thing to the officers. Just let me know when it’s time to go in and kick some ass.”

Julie watched as they dealt another hand, then got up and decided to stretch her legs. She looked around again, hoping to see that the Face had figured out how Witch Girl was able to get through the barrier, when she noticed Radiant walking up to the White Knight. “How are Ellen and the kids?” Radiant asked him pleasantly, as if they were old friends.

“She isn’t happy that Force is back,” the White Knight responded. “And I’m half surprised she hasn’t come out of retirement just to help go after him. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that she stayed home. We already have too many personal grudges.”

Radiant nodded at that. “I can certainly understand that. And the kids?”

“They’re doing fine,” the White Knight told her, looking rather proud. “In fact, Joselyn is over there…”

“You let Joselyn come?” Radiant asked in surprise. “I know she defeated Force before, but I doubt he’s going to let her get close enough to try that again…”

The White Knight shrugged. “She insisted that she had to be here. You have no idea how difficult it is to argue with a psychic.”

“Especially one who saved your life,” Radiant commented out with a chuckle. “I’m just glad that she’s handling her changes so well…”

This personal conversation definitely caught Julie’s curiosity, but she didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping on them, even if they were talking out in the open, so she slowly walked away. She found herself walking towards another group of young women, who were about the same age as most of the Slackers.

She recognized the green haired girl in the black and white costume with the green metallic trim as Counterweight, a reserve member of the Miracle Men. Julie knew that counterweight had some sort of gravity manipulation power, but not much else about her. And though someone had told her that the other two were Catalyst and Kaboom, she had no idea who they were.

“Hi,” Julie said as she introduced herself to the trio. “I’m Channel…with the Slackers.”

“Counterweight,” answered the one she recognized.

“Hi,” Catalyst said, giving Julie a friendly smile. “I’m Catalyst and this is Kaboom…” Catalyst had a blue and lighter blue costume, with a blue cloak, and some gold metal trim, including her partial face mask and a bow staff which she held in her hand. The girl she gestured to, Kaboom, had tanned skin, long black hair, and a red and grey costume with gold metal trim.

Kaboom gave a nod and a smile. “Nice to meet you.” She gestured over to where most of the other Slackers were gathered and asked, “That your team?”

“Yep,” Julie agreed. “We aren’t exactly a big name team, but we do our best.”

“Trust me,” Catalyst said with a chuckle. “Kaboom and I are quite familiar with that problem…”

“We started the Crusaders when we were back in high school,” Kaboom said with a chuckle of her own. “We were pretty much the garage band version of superheroes…”

“We still are,” Julie told them, feeling a little self-conscious, though not much since these three didn’t seem very judgmental about it, like some heroes seemed to be. “Unfortunately, billionaire sponsors don’t exactly grow on trees…”

“I just wish my girlfriend was here,” Kaboom said with a sigh, before giving a wry smile and admitting, “She didn’t think she’d be welcome in this crowd, so didn’t bother to come.”

“We could use her firepower,” Catalyst admitted with a sigh.

Kaboom nodded at that, then gave Julie a curious look. “I hear you guys took out that asshat Baron Nevermore before… He ain’t no bush league villain…”

Julie smiled at that, feeling pleased that her team was getting some recognition for that. Still, she didn’t want these three to get the idea that beating Nevermore was going to be easy.

“Nevermore had just come back from the dead,” Julie explained. “She was in a new body and wasn’t at full power…”

“Still,” Counterweight added, “Taking down Baron Nevermore at all isn’t something to sneeze at…”

“Definitely not,” Catalyst agreed.

Julie nodded at that, then gestured towards the barrier. “Back then, she took over a high school and turned most of the teachers and students into monsters… If she…or he…is doing that in there…then we might be facing an enormous army. The longer it takes for us to get in, the worse it’s going to be.”

“Damn,” Kaboom muttered while Counterweight nodded agreement.

“Then let’s hope the Face figures out how Witch Girl got through that barrier,” Catalyst stated grimly. “Because if it takes much longer, it may be too late.”