Chapter 1: Darkness Descending

[StormWolf]

Ever since the Darkness made itself known to those watching the sky, an uneasy feeling has spread across the world faster than any sickness of the flesh. People fear what they do not know, and even the greatest minds from Earth and beyond could not comprehend what the Darkness really was or what it could do. Without proper knowledge, humanity did what they always did when the did not understand - they attacked.

Two of the most powerful lifeforms on Earth, Superman and Dr. Manahttan, left to fight the Darkness in space, to try and prevent it from reaching Earth and to avert a crisis all together. The world watched in suspense as Superman and Manhattan vanished inside of the mass of Dark Energy. Minutes passed...hours.... days. Superman and Dr. Manhattan were lost. The world is still reeling from the shock and many are still mourning. There is no rest for the wicked nor the good in a time as dire as this.

With lines drawn and sides decided, the world is beginning to divide. There is the Anti-Darkness Alliance, overseen by S.H.I.E.L.D. and lead by the infamous and ruthless Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher. Then there is the self-proclaimed Enlightened Ones lead my none other than Adrian Vedit a.k.a. Ozymandias who may have dealings with HYDRA, but there is no proof on the matter. Because of the rift forming in the world, organizations are choosing sides, and governments always follow the flow of money.

To try and avoid an all-out conflict in these tense times, both parties have gone to London, England where representatives for each party speak before the English Parliament to try and avoid sparking a conflict between super powered factions. The political talks are only a ruse, and both sides are well aware. If it works, that is great news, but it is to draw the eyes of the public while either faction tries to influence the public of London, either through acts of heroism or tactics of fear. While this is going on, there is a series of clues left by those extremely attuned to the spectral energy of the Darkness. Those who are able to decipher these clues take the first step towards victory and dominance in this Cosmic Opera. The time of waiting is over. Now is the time to take action and take initiative.

[Imp]

It had been a long day of big events, meeting heroes of all shapes, sizes, and personalities. There were nice ones like Storm and Starfire, funny ones like Deadpool and Satire, and scary ones like Punisher and Sentry. So much excitement in one day would make anyone tired, a child most of all. Hope had long since gotten bored once Frank started to talking about "missions" and "objectives" and the other heroes followed suit. She wanted to go flying with Starfire but they were all too busy dealing with 'The Darkness'.

Silently moving away from the group of heroes with her cuddly bunny stuffed animal in her arms, she went in to her room to go for a nap, but not without Frank taking note. It was strange that Hope's mother, a New York detective, would trust a man like Frank Castle to take care of her child. Actually, if anyone knew Frank at all as a person, he was the perfect choice for protecting a young girl from... anything. Hope was one of the lucky ones in the Alliance bunker, getting a real mattress with a feather pillow. Jumping in to bed, she hummed her mother's lullaby and eventually fell asleep.

*~Hope's Dream~*

"Wahoo!" Hope exclaimed shrilly with a huge grin on her face as she rode a stark white unicorn over the rolling hills of green grass, through the fields of candy. Her stuffed bunny was alive, straddling the unicorn's horn with joy in its beady black eyes,

"This is great, isn't it Hope?" Bunny said. Hope just giggled as she watched the deer prance by and give her a polite wave or a bow.

"I'm glad you're having fun too, Mr. Bunny! What do you wanna do next? Swing on red vines in the candy forest?" Hope loved the candy forest. What child wouldn't?

Walking out of the candy forest a great silver bear meandered it's way to where Hope was riding on the unicorn and talking to her bunny. While he looked fearsome the bear's face was a mask of calm wisdom. This was One-Above-All the all caring parent for the cosmos and was trying to be the puppet master for this Darkness threat, and little Hope was one of his strings.
He yawned slightly before walking before Hope and sitting on his great silver haunches smiling at the little girl.
"Hello Hope, how are things going with your friends in the superhero base?" He spoke still smiling at the little girl his voice was deep in this form but it held much patience and kindness.

"You have to be kidding me..." Chaos responded to the moment, sitting upside down with legs crossed in mid-air. An evil smile spread across the face of a subtle appearing Buddhist monk: Chaos' current form. The surroundings were disgusting and so was One for the way he was being so kind to Hope. Now wasn't the time for visiting candy land or whatever...

"Time to get serious, friends. Shall we get down to business or do you want to see the world pass by as you feed on sweets? I doubt Darkness likes candy... On second thought, let's stay here!"


Hope hopped off of her one-horned steed, gliding to the candy-forest floor, twirling like a true dancer, holding Bunny by the forelegs, the two of them smiling before the Wise Bear approached, his voice deep and calm. It was like Frank's voice, but softer and kinder and much more sagely, devoid of hate.

"Hello Mister Bear!" Hope cooed, her eyes bright as she relished in the fantastical surroundings of her dream, enjoying the escape from the bunker that Frank called home. He was nice enough to Hope, but for nearly a decade his life had been missing a woman's touch.

"Everything is great! Uncle Frankie is still the same, always gruff and stuff, but there was and Supergirl, and uh...uh Deadpool, and..." she went on and on, listing the alias of every super hero that showed up at the Alliance bunker with great enthusiasm. She was living any child's dream - staying under the same roof as some of the greatest crime stoppers the world had to offer. She was interrupted, however, by a monk-looking fellow, his voice like oil - dark and crude.

"Everyone loves candy...you....booby!" Hope plopped herself down on the soft ground, holding Bunny close to her chest in her folded arms. "And if you want serious, then get out of my dreams! Go hop in Mister Castle's dreams and see who starts haunting who!" Hope seemed to change slightly, her mannerism and attitude still like that of a six year old girl, but at the same time she held an air of near-omnipotence about her. It was her power, her birthright, and her destiny. The Codex of the Universe, some called her, subconsciously holding knowledge of a great many things that should otherwise remain unknown.

"The Darkness is super bad, right? Why are we even arguing? We need to get rid of it... people can die, and then everyone will be sad."

With a tired wave of his large paw One changed into the form of an old man in a brown suit, cane, and fedora. He thumped the cane down and Hope's candy world dream changed into that of an invisible stage overlooking the planet earth as he transported them from the dream world to actual space though it would all seem the same to the young girl.
"No need to be snippy Lord Chaos, Hope's dream is the only way we can communicate with her and you know that." He paced between the two his eyes staring distantly into the future of what could be. The Darkness was going past it's initial purpose which One decided for it, it was supposed to be like a vacuum cleaner but something had gone gravely wrong it was it's own being now and wanted nothing more than to clean up all the multi-verse now.

He couldn't tell why it was acting this way which meant very bad things for the worlds he created, but he couldn't directly intervene this had to be done by the super beings that call the multi-verse home.
"Dealing with the Darkness rests on the shoulders of your friends Hope and Lord Chaos's underlings. All we can do is aim them toward their goals."

"Booby? Get back to me when your vocabulary starts to inherent more adult terms. Now, you look better, One! A bear doesn't fit you. Reminds me of communism with the 'hey let's all be equal and happy!'. Ew I hate that! Capitalism is where I get my love, watching the suffering of the middle and lower classes acting chaotically to make ends meet. Then again... both have positives and negatives with chaos and the sort. But I do thank myself for the Cold War and the War on Terrorism. After all, I did a public service in proving who the real threat was as well as downsizing the population a little."

With a snap of its fingers, the previous upside down monk had now transformed into an upright walking leather-clad dominatrix. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

A piece of black lipstick appeared in its hand and began applying it. "We've got two great factions clashing over places of interest while the Darkness closes in. I may loooove chaos but seriously, can they not just work together for once and upset the balance of good and evil? NOPE! They have to wait till the last second till Darkness is at their doorstep to act on the threat together."

The figure crossed its arms. "Anyway, my money is on the Pro-Dark group. Using it to help advance their tech? Brilliant! Heh. We'll see if that even works or IF the machine even properly works! As for the Anti-Dark. Don't give them too much hope, babe." It turned to smile at Hope.

"They may be stronger but what will they do when the Darkness they kicked out returns? But One is right... I guess we should help them out in some way...Boo!"

"You'd be surprised, Chaos." Hope stood and looked down at the glorious blue marble called Earth. The billions of lives that hung in the balance with the Darkness lurching ever closer, "You and One should know just what your creations can do." Hope gazed down at Earth, seeing every single soul that walked and ate and grew in the night.

"Your Pro-Dark friends are bullies!" Hope blurted, "They do this for money. Don't pretend they don't. That is below you, Chaos." Hope's eyes went cold, an eerie thing to see in a previously bright-eyed six year old girl. "If it isn't money they want, they want to upset the order of things. If your Pro-Dark pawn are as capable as you say, Chaos, why are any of the Anti-Dark still alive? They have their problems, but they won't let fear change them. That is something your bullies could learn from. Frankie won't let fear or greed change the Alliance, and he knows the bad side of humanity better than anyone. He won't let bad people control something as bad as the Darkness."

One was staring intently at the earth then in the direction of the Darkness, he felt another life absorbed and removed from this plane of existence and he felt his heart weep again, it seemed it never stopped these days.
“Enough bickering you two please.” He asked turning slowly to look at both of them before speaking again.
“The balance cannot be upset Chaos, it’ll be more work for you and your brother Master Order and we’ll have to bring the In-Betweener back and let him handle it. And we don’t need that on top of the Darkness threat. I have sent down the clue they’d need to reach their goals. Sentry and Void will know where the Darkness will strike first that's the best I can do” He said looking each of them in their eyes before turning back to watching the planet below them.

"Hmmm... Hopefully they can figure out the clue. Thankfully I didn't touch it or else they'd be screwed! Anyway, I'm off to go participate in a revolution on another planet. I'll return shortly. Hope, thanks for having me of course. Always a pleasure, I'm sure." A smile spread across Chaos's pale face and in seconds, the master of disorder had vanished from Hope's insightful dream.

Hope pouted after Chaos her eyes and aura returning to that of a normal 6 year old girl, still holding the pout she looked at One and said her voice pleading a little.
"One do we really need to keep him around? He's a meanie-head and his voice hurts my ears. we can save Uncle Frankie and his friends without him." One smile gently and shook his head patting the girl's shoulder.
"I know Hope but we need to keep the Multi-verse in balance or Uncle Frankie and his friend will have a lot more trouble than just the Darkness to worry about. Trust me things will work out in the end." She continued to pout but slowly nodded seeing the truth in his deep knowing eyes.
"Ok One but he's still a meanie-head." He laughed lightly ruffling her hair.
"Yes but he's part of multi-verse just like you and me. Now I think it's time to wake up Hope, Uncle Frankie's meeting is over and you should see him off." He kissed little Hope's head and like a life before the autumn breeze, her mind danced and spun it's way back to her physical body back in the bunker.

*Back in the Bunker*

Hope woke up still hugging her now not living bunny in her arms. With a small yawn she slipped from her bed and put her shoes back on exiting her little room in search of Castle. First she went to the meeting room and everyone was gone but after a little while longer of walking she found Castle in his room preparing for the London mission.

"Uncle Frankie, I had a dream and in my dream One said he can't super help you but he can help you, Sentry would know where the Darkness would be and there was a clue you're supposed to look for." Castle looked down at little Hope his mind going over plans and mission specs when the little girl came into his room and as she told him about her dream he didn't ive it much heed but filed it away for later.
"Ok Hope tell One thank you for the information. Now I need you to stay here we're going to London to fight the Darkness. I've arranged for some very nice Agents to watch you until I get back." He grunted a little as Hope tackled his leg hugging it.
"Do you really have to go? It'll be very scary and you could get hurt or deaded!" Castle knelt down and his normally harsh voice softened as he disengaged her from his leg.
"We talked about this Hope, I know the dangers but I have to go someone has to lead these heroes and I'm the best man for the job. I'll be very careful now you be a good girl for the Agents. They have fun things planned and aside from me they'll protect you the best, now I have to continue to get ready head on back to your room I'll come say good bye before I go." Hope pouted but like One she saw the truth in his eyes and sullenly left his room heading back to hers. With Hope gone Castle joined the others on the roof and boarded the transport.

[AlyKun17]

Raven unbuckled her seatbelt as the transport came down. This was just like riding the T-ship back in jump City but much more high tech. Raven really needs to tell Cyborg all these techs she finds when she gets back, given that she gets back. They were in London, England. They were to secure this City and keep the civilians from getting hurt. Dark Matter was spotted here and although most of the citizens had already evacuated S.H.I.E.L.D was still called in to secure the three major buildings of the City. Raven sighed as she stood up from her seat. Beside her sat Jinx and behind them and in front of them sat heros upon heros of different powers. All these supers gathered together to stop chaos from happening. Raven sighed.

Raven threw up her hood that covered half of her face. Her eyes were the only clear things that could be seen from under her hood. Her purple eyes looked at the other heros on board. was it safe to go down? They were to secure the three buildings here. The Buckingham Palace, Covent Garden and Westminster Abbey. Where was she to position herself? She then put her self in the shoes (if the dark matter even had shoes) of the Dark Matter. She let her dark side consume her. What was left of Her demon blood over came her mind but being careful not to be controlled by it. Her eyes were red, but her held her grasp on the back of her chair.

Raven was half demon after all daughter on the inter-dimensional demon trigon who once tried to take over the world using her. After defeating Trigon Raven's demonic side grew weak but you can never fully eliminate what you really are. And so she let her mind be consumed by the darkness inside her and think where she would preferably station herself. Westminster Abbey. For a half demon girl who has a liking for the occult this was the least favorite place to go and yet this was where her dark mind told her to go. Before he was fully consumed by the darkness left inside her she forced it down again gaining control back. She never wanted to do that again, the feel of darkness in her, her inner demon was just too scary. Regaining herself. She didn't expect Jinx or anyone else to follow her but it would be nice if someone did. She spoke to the superheros in her semi-emotionless tone.

"I shall be going to Westminster Abbey." She said. "Anyone else would like to come with me?" She said as she walked near the door of the transport. This mission was serious and Raven took in seriously. Although she had doubt in her mind her team back in Jump City proved that nothing is impossible and so she believed that she can do all things with the help of the people around her. That there is still hope always. Raven was doing this for her team, For the World.

[Nightrel]

After the seemingly long flight, Elena quickly unbuckled herself, standing to stretch. Her legs were getting cramped and she didn’t what to get a real cramp during a fight if they needed to fight. They were in London, assigned to secure three of the major landmarks. Buckingham palace, Westminister Abbey and Convent Garden. She just hoped that they would be able to manage it. Elena looked up to see the girl in the blue cloak stand up as well. She pulled her hood over her head and stood there, grasping the back of her chair. Interesting. Elena pulled her attention away from her, watching as the other’s got up and stretched as well. It would be now or never. She quickly passed the cloaked girl who was distracted, exiting the aircraft before anyone noticed her leave. Giving one quick glance around, she moved out of sight, taking cover in the shadows of the buildings. Elena paused for a moment, deciding which building she should check out first. From what castle had told her, there was a clue in one of those places, a clue that could take them one step closer to defeating the darkness. Of course he didn't know himself where it could be but assigned that mission to her. The closest place to them right now was Convent Garden and even it would take a while to get there on foot but it was still the closest. Might as well check that place out first. Besides she could just use flashstep.

With that decided, Elena let loose her concentrated electric charge, allowing it to slightly crackle before directing the electricity to the bottom of her feet. She could feel herself slightly levitate off the ground and lowered the charge, till she was just about an inch from the pavement. Then taking a step forward, she skated, a blur to others if anyone saw her. A small amount of electricity trailed behind her as she sped off towards Convent Garden. She had to remember the map she was shown, since she couldn’t exactly take it with her but she knew she could manage as she visualized the directions.
Left here. Elena rounded the corner, immediately cutting off the channel of electricity as she came upon the building. She ducked into the shadows again, making her way slowly to the entrance and keeping an eye out for anyone else. Deciding no one was watching she walked right up to the doors, opening it and striding right in. It was a beautiful building, both inside and out, but she had no time to idle and gap. Elena made her way across the place, finally spotting some sort of contraption. She found what she was looking for. That was easy. It was an ornate rectangular device that contained three rotatable blocks that made up the entirety of the shape. Handles protrude from the far sides of the rectangular device that allowed for switching the faces. These three parts all had four faces which each had a single letter. It appeared that all blocks had the letters A,H,O, and Z. The three blocks looked like it needed to be lined up correctly for the clue to be discovered. So far on the designated side, the three faces together read AHZ and thus must not have been correct since it hasn't opened. There must be another combination that will open this...

{l====[\\[ A ][ H ][ Z ]\\]====l}

Elena, studied the puzzle, thinking of the number of combinations that were possible. She figured that there about fifty-one other combinations that could work. Elena knew she didn’t have time to try them all, and she didn’t know how many chances she had at cracking the puzzle. So that strategy was out of the question.
Which one could it be? She pondered. Hmmm….. She crossed her arms, closing her eye’s to think. This was going to be difficult.

[P.K.]

Gwen sighed into her own darkness as she followed Toby's lead as he pulled her on their way to the next destination... some launch pad or other. The 'letter' she had been sent was hard to read since she was blind and even if she could look through Toby's eyes she didn't know how to 'read' that well but she had managed to work some of it out with help after making some excuse to her teacher. Finding a map to this place had been easier said than done having her teacher look that up as well making the excuse she was doing some sort of assignment on it. But... what Gwen really wanted to know was how? How had they known about her? She had worked so hard to keep this a secret despite the fact that there where others out there she just didn't want the attention and she was no hero and doubted she would be of much use anyways. Still it had been clear that she was expected there so here she was walking down the street as if nothing was going on, with her over protective friend. She was considerably agitated and She could tell Toby knew it as well.

With another sigh she listened as two birds squabble over something on the rode before taking off at a passing care.
"Stupid bird." She heard Toby say up in front of her.
"Why? what where they fighting over?" She asked quietly.
"Greasy human food." He said in disgust
Gwen shrugged. "They eat worms Toby what else?" There was no reply only a snort as they continued to walk. In the sudden silence between her and the 'guard' dog she started to think over what exactly she might be able to do that could possible help these people. All she could do was talk to animals at times, control them and see through their eyes, but what good was that in a fight? Sure she could send something to attack someone or something or keep that from happening. Again what use was that?. Closing her eyes she pushed her thoughts over to Toby and a moment later a black and white shaded world filled her mined she gave a small smile but mostly kept it to herself.

It took a few wrong turns and the good part of an hour to find where she was 'supposed' to be but by the time she arrived people where getting off their transport. She kept looking though Toby's eyes studying the scene as he was until he suddenly jerked his head around at some blur at the side of his vision. It was gone in an instant but the sudden jerking movement had made Gwen's head hurt making her mind retreat back to her own eyes. Blinking back into her worldly darkness she sighed listening as several people where moving around somewhere off in front of her.

[AlyKun17]

Raven rounded the corner to Westminster Abbey. She kept her eyes on the map that was sent to her by Castle. She sighed as she took every turn. It was hard to do things all by yourself. She wasn't used to it anymore. Having a team that had your back, It was something Raven got used to being around the Titans. Especially since they were so closely knit together.

"I shall be going to Westminster Abbey." She said. "Anyone else would like to come with me?" She had spoken this to the group, It seemed that no one minded a teenager like her. Who would actually? These heroes were experts, they were the best of the best! And who was she? Raven of teen Titans, Who is half demon and whose father tried to take over the world. She was like a villain. But she sighed and walked on.

Keeping her purple eyes on the map on the vicinity, It was just about time until she reached Westminster Abbey. Lifting her gaze ever so slightly she was met by a huge door. four towers were popping out of the top of the doorway. Such a large door with beautiful carvings on them. Raven moved closer until she could feel the carvings in her hands. They were dusty. Touching the huge doors of the ominous holy building, She actually thought she would burn like those movies that cyborg and beast boy watched about demons and churches or holy things. She tried her luck to push open the doors and surprisingly it opened. Raven didn't expect a lot of people inside the church since everyone had been evacuated already. She came in from the North doorway. Stepping inside very cautiously, She check her map. To her left was a series of Chapels of different saints and tombs of different saints as well. So the dead were here. To her right now was an aisle called Nave and the north and south aisles. And directly forward to the door north of her was another chapel.

Her footsteps echoed as her feet touched the ground, being one who wanted to avoid any confrontation Raven levitated herself off the ground and did her search. What was she actually searching for? Everyone had already been evacuated. No signs of darkness here. She grew curious of the tombs in the church and started her rounds there. The church was huge and ominous it was an old Victorian styled church that has been well kept for all these years. It was beautiful. Raven made her way up some steps into what her map said was the Chapel of Henry VII. Looking around everything seemed normal, for Raven. Black and white tiled floor like the rest of the church and she believed that was the tomb of Henry the VII in the distance from where she was. Such magnificent sights. What would the darkness want here? She said proceeding to the tomb ever so cautiously.

[Nightrel]

After about a minute of pondering, Elena finally decided on a combo. She kept going back to it, so she might as well try it. That's how it usually worked for her. If something stood out among the rest, then she would choose it first. Hey, it was a place to start. Things take her a while to choose, so she resorted to this method. Crossing her fingers, she walked up to the contraption,taking a hold of the handle and turning it. With a spurring of mechanisms the letter H appeared first.
"H."
She grasped onto a second handle, turning it as well. Another spin turned the block into a Z.
"Z."
With the last handle, she turned it, watching as the last block appear with an A.
"and A"

{l====[\\[ H ][ Z ][ A ]\\]====l}

The contraption started, a whirring sound emitting from it as the rest of the mechanisms sprung to life. It seemed to glow as she stood there watching and waiting. If she got the combo correct on the first try, then she would have lady luck to thank. But in her case, she doubted that.

Elena turned her attention from the now spinning blocks, looking out through one of the windows. It didn't seem like the team had ran into any problems so far, so there wasn't any need to rush....yet. At this point if a fight did break out, she knew she wouldn't be able to help, no matter how much she wanted too.... Well, actually, maybe she could send out a couple of E.B's carrying some shocklers to help as a diversion. It would most defiantly confuse the enemy in where the hell these things were coming from. She couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the thought. Too bad she wouldn't be there to see their faces. A plan set in her mind, she kept on waiting patiently, thinking of other ways to help her team out if needed be.

[Imp]

There upon dawn, the craft emerged from the billow of clouds above London, England. Whoever remained in the city must have felt fear overcome them. A fear almost as equal to that of the impending Darkness. What solace one could seek from the coming battle between the two factions could only be found indoors or even far from the city.

Adrian overlooked the site of the trash-filled city. Recent riots had devastated the once beautiful scene and now turned it into nothing more but another battleground empty of hope. If the Enlightened Ones could take the area, its supporters would likely return and praise them for the accomplishment. After all, SHIELD's local base was destroyed in the riots and with that, whoever remained int eh area must have supported the Enlightened Ones unless SHIELD brought in security to purge the area of protestors. Adrian was confident in his abilities as well as his team that they could take the area.

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

After the chopper landed the flightless team members, the diligent group head off to their appropriate landmarks.
"Keep an eye out for enemy activity. Take them out at first glance if you are capable of doing so." Adrian remained at the newly established HQ in London; the Buckingham Palace. All he had to do was hold the area and hope the others could perform their duties with exceptional care...