*Author's Note - Well, this is it! This story is being continued in a book I am not yet finished with, but I will be adding on occasion to here what I have already done.

As for the main story, after this we're going to be diving full on into MMPR. The first MMPR book will have a lot of scenes directly from the episodes but with revelations about what wasactually going on. Book Two will be a lot more focused on the events surrounding the episodes but not much from the episode itself. Thank you all for reading and have a great New Year weekend!

1993: Justice League - Reborn

1993 AD - Universe M54331Z-B1

Noah Bennet, agent of Alphabet Soup, sat in a waiting cell. He knew not that General McKnight was too busy to release him, his partner known as The Haitian, or his daughter from this situation. McKnight's tasks with getting his newest task force, Global Strike, up and running blinded him to his other memos and notices. Noah was going to be stuck at the station being interrogated by Officer Matt Parkman for a while.

Sitting in the cell with him was a host of characters that normally wouldn't have had anything to do one with the other. To Noah's right was a nurse named Peter. Normally there wouldn't be anything special about him, save for one thing: his last name was Petrelli. Noah found it curious that the sequence of events that culminated in the hospital brought in the brother of an up and coming United States Senator. Even though he was a Freshman in the senate, the rumor mill had already been spouting out tidbits of a potential run at the White House. What spiced things up even more were Senator Petrelli's ties with Alphabet Soup, more specifically General of the Army Rex. Coincidence or fate, Noah knew not. In the end it was something Noah decided to keep tucked into the back of his mind. What else made Peter "interesting" in Noah's mind was something he had witnessed himself: the man came back from the dead.

Having had a scalpel "embedded" into his skull, he was for all intents and purposes deceased. Yet, a few moments after having expired Peter found himself alive once again, standing up before those who were in the room with him. Then, to make him even more "interesting", he seemed to be able to pick out things about Noah. Things that Noah was thinking about.

Sitting on a bench across from Noah were two Japanese gentlemen. One was named Hiro, the other Ando. Bennet knew very little about the two, especially since they spoke mostly in Japanese and only to each other. One thing which was of note was how Hiro insisted that he was a "superhero". Normally Noah wouldn't put too much into the ravings that sounded as if they bordered on the insane, but the past few years working in Alphabet Soup caused him to think differently. He had seen child prodigies with gifts he could have never believed were possible. Girls able to make drawings come to life, men able to increase their height, people with mind control... the list went on and on. A man from Japan claiming to have a super power wasn't out of the question at all.

The other person in the room had her head on his lap, resting. She was his daughter, Claire. She meant the world to him, and when he had discovered that during the massive evacuation of the city that she had been shot, it nearly destroyed him. His visit to her in the hospital resulted in what brought them all to Claire's hospital room: a man named Sylar was there, with what appeared to be massive telekinetic powers. For whatever reason, he was trying to murder Claire and anyone who stood in his way. In a tangle of events Noah was yet unable to wrap his mind around, Sylar was injured (killed, perhaps?) and Claire was saved. Before they could rejoice further, Officer Matt Parkman of the AGPD brought them all downtown for questioning.

The one thing that bothered him the most in all of the mess that had happened was what exactly had happened to his daughter. She was refusing to speak about it, making it difficult for Noah to ascertain the situation. He knew Claire had been shot, but having inspected her quickly before being detained Noah could see virtually no signs of any gunshot wound on her, let alone the normal sluggishness of being treated at a hospital for a life threatening gunshot wound (of which Noah had much experience with). The whole situation was "interesting" to say the least.

Has my Claire-Bear joined the ranks of the special candidates Kaplan and McKnight have been trying to harvest for Alphabet Soup? That was never my intent for her and her brother... I... Do I want them involved in this organization at that level? No, I don't... But how can I hide this!?

Noah's mind was racing with different thoughts about the horrors he knew happened behind the scenes of Angel Grove. Kids being shipped in to be experiments in GA Rex's massive science experiment. And when some of the subjects didn't perform well, he knew they had "special" encounters with a certain Agent Richie Mendoza. Noah was not ready to gamble Claire's life to have to have one day a chance to "meet" Richie.

"Dad? Who was that man with you?" Claire asked suddenly, breaking the train of thought Noah was having.

"Oh... he's just a friend of mine from the office," Noah half-lied.

"He seems rather adept with a knife for a man who sells paper..." Claire muttered.

"Where is this coming from, Sweetie!?" Noah asked, going into the offensive to not have to answer anymore questions.

"It's just that... When I was being escorted to the evacuation site, I heard someone mention your name... but he called you Agent Bennet. Dad... what is going on!? I mean, I was shot and now I'm fine but I was dying but then I wasn't and now I have no scars and the man wanted to kill me and he made me float and, and, and... ahhhh! What's happening!?"

Noah's heart was heavy with sadness for his daughter. She was obviously going through the same trials he was, but from a different angle. Something was happening to her she couldn't possibly understand. And on top of that, some loudmouth from the agency practically painted a bullseye on Noah's back when it came to the subject of what he really did for work.

Noah sighed. "Honey, I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this."

"Really?" Peter said suddenly, breaking his silence. "An explanation for why I saw your daughter dying in my arms, then minutes later be completely fine? An explanation for why I can hear your thoughts about working for General McKnight and some weird organization named after children's soup? About how you were thinking of my brother, the senator? About how we were all attacked by a superhuman man who threw a projectile at me, who murdered me, yet I'm still alive? What's your explanation? Or will I have to wait for... what's his name...? Hmm... there! In your thoughts! Dr. Kaplan? Dr. Harlan?"

Claire stared at Peter, frightened. "Daddy... what is he talking about!?"

Noah sneered, standing up to tower over Peter. "He's a sick man, Claire. He's been through a traumatic experience and doesn't know what he's talking about."

Peter stood up, sneering as well while staring Noah in the eyes. "You live such a sad life. I'm not able to hear everything you've been thinking, but just from what I heard... you're sad, Agent Bennet. Lying to your family every day!"

"Shut up!" Noah yelled, grabbing Peter and slamming him into the bars behind him.

Meanwhile, Hiro furrowed his brow before speaking to Ando in Japanese. "Are you understanding what they're saying?"

"Yes, the nurse Zombie man says he can also read minds and that the man in the horn rimmed glasses is lying to the cheerleader. Zombie Man says Horn Rimmed Glasses works for the government," Ando recapped.

Hiro pursed his lips. "He's her father, but... if he's a G-Man perhaps he is dangerous to the cheerleader... Should we take her from here?"

Ando raised an eyebrow. "But your powers...?"

"I have been testing them. Ever since that man called The Haitian left the room I've been able to stop Time," Hiro stated. "I think he is somehow blocking my powers."

Ando shrugged at that revelation. "Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? How does stopping Time get us out of a locked cage?"

After sitting for a moment as Peter and Noah struggled, thinking about what Ando said, Hiro nodded. "You're right. I will wait until they open the cell again before getting out. Until then, we just hope the cheerleader stays safe."

Ando nodded. "'Save the cheerleader, save the world.'"

"Daddy! Please stop!" Claire yelled, tears streaming down her face.

"Tell her the truth, Bennet!" Peter yelled as Noah dropped him to the ground and got him in a double arm bar.

Straddling Peter's back, Noah looked at Claire. He was about to tell her to sit back and let him take care of things, but seeing the look of horror on her face gave him pause. He realized what he had done: he'd shown her who... what... he really was. An agent of the government willing to do anything to anyone to get things done.

"In other words," Peter stated, reading Noah's thoughts. "You're a monster, Noah."

"Hey!" Officer Jerome Stone shouted, approaching the cellblock. "What's going on in there!?"

Noah let Peter go before standing up and adjusting his blazer. "We're fine, Officer Stone. Fine."

Peter pulled himself up and laughed. "Yeah. Just peachy."

"Well, you're free to go, Mr. Petrelli." Stone said as he began to open the cage. "Your brother apparently has a lot of sway with our chief..."

"Nathan is here?" Peter asked, shocked.

"This way, Mr. Petr-" Stone began before Hiro stopped Time.

Looking to Ando, Hiro sighed. "Oh, I wish I could teleport..."

He began dragging Ando out of the room. As he did, his eyes fell on the scared look Claire had on her face. Sighing, he lifted Ando up and put him back on the bench. Concentrating, Hiro resumed Time.

"-elli." Stone finished as Time resumed.

Peter began walking out before pausing in front of Claire. Turning to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Be careful. Don't trust anyone. Especially him," Peter stated before Stone ushered him out.

Claire looked at her father and folded her arms across her chest. "Daddy... please... please tell me what he's talking about."

Noah smirked before sitting back down on the bench. "Alright, Honey... sit down. This may take a moment..."

All the while, Ando looked to Hiro in confusion. "Hiro? Why didn't you get us out of here?"

Hiro smiled. "Because we are supposed to help the cheerleader. As long as we are here next to her, she is in our line of vision and we can help her. If we had left, she'd be all alone."

Ando nodded slowly. "Good point."

"Okay, now please translate for me what he father is saying!" Hiro asked his friend excitedly.

. . .

Matt Parkman pounded his fist into the table and stood up. He'd been trying to question The Haitian, but nothing was working. Not the way Parkman had grown quickly accustomed to doing. He'd gotten quite used to being able to read people's minds (though it wasn't a perfected art yet) to get the information he was needing in the short amount of time he'd had the ability. But for whatever reason, he could not read anything from The Haitian.

"Your records say you are mute, Mr. Sheku. But I know I saw you speak to Mr. Noah Bennet when I was handcuffing all of you. Now please, tell me what was going on in the hospital room... now!" Parkman yelled.

The Haitian pointed at a piece of paper he had written on earlier. On it was his official statement of what happened. Many of it completely contradicted what happened, things he knew would be on hospital cameras in the hallways. He didn't care, though, because he knew Alphabet Soup would be able to erase that footage and help ensure whatever he said as having happened become official in the police reports.

Parkman sneered and stared at The Haitian. "Who are you!? How are you able to block me!?"

The Haitian knew not of any abilities he had. He had, apparently, been given the ability after the events of the eclipse earlier that day of blocking other people from using their abilities. It had worked for him when facing Sylar, and it was working for him while he was being questioned there by Parkman.

"I'm going to figure out what's happening here. Mark my words." Parkman said as he hit the intercom button in the room. "Take him back to his cell. He's not being released due to his statement contradicting everything I've seen in the footage. Bring me the nurse."

"Sorry, Parkman. Can't do that. Senator Nathan Petrelli picked him up."

Scoffing and shaking his head slowly, Parkman pushed the button to reply. "Then get me the other 'paper salesman', Noah Bennet."

. . .

Sitting at his favorite Italian restaurant in Angel Grove, Nathan looked at his brother seriously. He had just been told by Peter everything that had happened. From Claire, to Sylar, to dying. Taking a slow and calculated bite of his fettuccine, he nodded.

"You understand this can never get out, right?" Nathan asked his brother.

Peter looked at him in shock. "Excuse me? Kinda hard when my name, prints, and face is all over this. Camera footage, to say the least."

Nathan smiled. "That can all be... overlooked. I have friends in the right places here in Angel Grove."

Peter furrowed his brow. "You're serious!?"

"My political career would-"

"Oh, shut it, Nathan. How does everything have to come back to your career, huh?" Peter demanded angrily. "It's like you don't even care that I came back to life!"

"Please... lower your voice, Peter." Nathan said, looking around. "And you have to understand how crazy it sounds, Pete. You really think people will believe that you can read minds, or come back from the dead?"

That's like me telling people that I suddenly was able to fly... Peter heard Nathan think.

Suddenly, an image appeared in Peter's mind. It was of Nathan, staring out the window of the Alphabet Soup facility. He could see the eclipse that had started. The same tingling, painful feeling Peter had felt was crawling through Nathan's body. As that happened, Nathan had looked down and suddenly had seen himself floating above the floor. Peter watched through Nathan's eyes as Nathan dropped to the ground, suddenly turning around and sprinting in fright up some stairs. Standing on the roof, out of breath, Nathan was looking at his own hands. Suddenly, he was floating again. Up and up, higher and higher, faster and faster. Peter could feel Nathan's heart pounding faster and faster the higher he went. He then felt Nathan begin to direct his body. Actually fly through the sky, defying gravity. After a few moments, Nathan had landed back at the Alphabet Soup facility.

The image ended. Peter shook his head before looking back at his brother. He was shocked.

"Everything okay, Pete?" Nathan asked, taking another bit of pasta.

Peter reached out and grabbed Nathan's free hand. "You can fly!?"

Nathan's eyes grew to be as large as saucers. "What... did you say?"

"I told you, I can read minds Nate. You flew!? Why would you keep this from me!?" Peter demanded.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about..." Nathan stated, laughing falsely and taking another bite of food.

This cannot be happening... I'm going to be the next president! No... I can't have this happening... What can I do to keep Pete quiet? Ship him away? Nathan thought.

"Ship me away!?" Peter gasped, standing up abruptly.

"You're telling the truth...?" Nathan stammered, realizing Peter was really hearing his thoughts.

I have to call my security detail to knock him out. It's the only way to calm him down so we can think things out. I can't have this ruining my political career! Nathan was thinking desperately.

Peter's hands were shaking. He didn't know what to do. He was scared, not knowing what to do next. He realized his brother's selfishness wasn't going to be anything but a detriment to him. He turned around and began sprinting as fast as he could toward the back door of the restaurant.

"Peter! No! Come back!" Nathan yelled as his security team started sprinting after both him and Peter. Nathan then turned to them and motioned for them to get Peter.

Bursting through the door, Peter found himself in a dark alley. Frowning, he turned left and began to run as fast as he could down the narrow area. His heart stopped when he hit a dead end. Turning around, he saw the three hulking guards rushing toward them, Nathan following behind. Swallowing hard, Peter closed his eyes and jumped up to see if he could perhaps grab the top of the brick wall to climb up. What happened next shocked him. Instead of jumping up, he flew up.

Higher and higher until he was nothing but a speck in the sky. Laughing incredulously, he directed himself toward the hospital and shot toward it like a bullet. The wind whipped past his face as he did so. It was the most exhilirating experience of his life. He didn't know how or why it was possible, only that it was happening.

Meanwhile, back in the alley, the security team looked around in confusion They hadn't seen Peter fly away, but knew he had gone in that direction. The wall was too high for Peter to have reached, but there were no other outlets for him to have gone.

The only person with a hint of what could have happened was Senator Petrelli. Furrowing his brow, Nathan pulled out his phone and dialed a phone number.

"I need to speak with GA Rex immediately. Tell him it's Senator Nathan Petrelli and that there is a very... delicate situation happening here in Angel Grove that he needs to be made aware of immediately."

. . .

Hiro sat in the cell, fuming as The Haitian sat across from him. "He's here again! Blocking my powers! What do we do if he tries something!?"

Ando sighed. "I don't know, Hiro. Maybe we could fight him?"

"You think you two could take me on? I guarantee you that I would drop you both in three seconds flat," The Haitian responded in Japanese.

"Ahhh!" Hiro screamed, jumping up and landing with both feet on his bench.

"You speak Japanese!?" Ando cried out in amazement.

"I have to speak many languages in my line of work," The Haitian stated simply. "Now, you are the third person who has accused me of blocking powers. Explain now."

All the while, Claire watched the trio speak in Japanese. She knew not what was happening, but was growing more and more irritated by the prospect that the man her father had brought into her hospital room seemed to be getting the two Japanese gentlemen who helped save her life agitated.

"I am Hiro Nakamura. I have the ability to st-" Hiro started.

Ando jumped up and cupped Hiro's mouth with his hands. "Shut up, Hiro! The less he knows about us, the better!"

The Haitian slowly stood up, cracking his neck. "Okay, fine. If you won't tell me, then I'll beat it out of you."

"With the girl watching!?" Ando cried out in shock, still covering Hiro's mouth.

"I've done worse." The Haitian said simply, stepping forward to attack.

. . .

Matt Parkman was having as much success with Noah Bennet as he was having with The Haitian. Not because he couldn't read his mind, for he was able to do that just fine. What he was having problems doing was figuring out what Noah was thinking. Agent Bennet had figured out early on what Matt's power was and had begun thinking in Italian.

"Italian, huh?" Parkman said, pursing his lips and nodding sarcastically. "Fine! Don't make me resort to old school interrogation tactics!"

Noah squinted his eyes as he pulled off his glasses. "Really, Officer Parkman? If you move forward one bit, I'll ask to see my... well, you know who. Then this little session of ours is over until he arrives. Plus, I'm sure your superiors are already drawing up paperwork to reprimand you in being hostile towards the victims of a crime."

"Victims!? You came bursting into a hospital with loaded weapons, and now you're lying about what happened!" Parkman shouted.

"Lying? How so? Does not my statement match nearly word for word with my co-worker's statement?" Noah asked. "And you can't honestly take the word of my daughter or the man who was hit over the head seriously. One was suffering from a concussion and the other traumatized because she was nearly murdered. I think you should be focusing your efforts into finding this Sylar character."

"Ridiculous! Mr. Bennet, I have footage showing Sylar floating out of your daughter's room! Of one of the Japanese guys being in the hallway outside your daughter's room before vanishing! Of them entering your daughter's room after you and Mr. Shuku, not before like you both stated!" Parkman countered.

Bennet smiled and shrugged. "I'm sure once you go over the footage again, you'll see where your mistake was. I guarantee it."

The people for who I work, Officer Parkman, are very resourceful. Bennet thought-spoke directly to Parkman, who he knew would pick up the message. Don't dig any deeper into this. And... and I believe your talents are being wasted here. You don't even make fifty thousand a year, do you? What would you say if my company hired you, with a salary of half a million a year?

"What!? A paper company!?" Parkman blurted out with a laugh while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" Bennet asked, feigning ignorance.

If you drop this and let my partner and daughter go, I promise you that my company, who I really work for, will be able to give you riches far beyond what you're currently getting here. Bennet thought. If not, I guarantee you will be living in a nightmare for the rest of your life, and you'll be working traffic duty for the remainder of your career.

"What!? I-" Parkman began.

Before he could utter another word, the lights went out in the room. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear quite clearly.

Parkman? This is not a normal outage. I cannot hear the backup generators coming online, and I know you guys have them. Someone is here and I'm sure they are targeting me... or worse yet, my daughter for who knows why. Noah warned Parkman.

"Sylar..." Matt stated, furrowing his brow.

My thoughts exactly. Let me loose and I can get us out of here alive. Please... don't let him get to me or my daughter. I promise you I will tell you everything you need to know, but for now please listen to me...

Parkman, biting his lip, began to take out the keys to uncuff Noah's right hand from the chair he was on. He couldn't quite explain it, but being able to read thoughts also gave him the ability to the intent behind those thoughts. He knew Bennet was telling the truth, and the prospect of making more money in a year than he would have seen in his entire lifetime was more than he could ignore.

As he felt his wrists go free after Parkman stumbled around in the dark, Noah stood up. "Okay, stay close and follow my lead. This man is capable of some crazy things, and we need to be ready. Use your ability to check for his thoughts and let me know as soon as you do."

"What then?" Parkman asked.

Noah sneered as he felt his way through the dimly lit room to the door. "Then we finish Sylar off like we should have back at the hospital."

. . .

Claire jumped up and stood in between The Haitian, Hiro, and Ando. "Stop! What are you doing!?"

The Haitian furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Move, Ms. Bennet. This does not concern you."

"Lies! Of course it does! They are only here because they tried to save me!" Claire protested.

"Yes! Save the cheerleader, save the world!" Hiro proclaimed.

"Now you listen to me. My father already told me about the company he works for, and how he is a government agent who translates for diplomats and how it's undercover, but what is up with this violence!?" Claire asked, telling The Haitian what she thought was the truth her father had told her while Parkman had been interrogating him.

The Haitian chuckled. "He told you that, yes? Interesting... Yes, that is exactly who we are. But these two are not who you think they are, Claire."

Claire furrowed her brow. "Oh, yeah?"

"They were telling me of their plans to kidnap you and hold you ransom. That's why I was going to attack them. I am sorry, I just didn't want to alarm you," The Haitian lied.

"No! It not true!" Hiro yelled in broken English.

"He's lying! We're here to help you!" Ando insisted. "Why else would we have stopped that Sylar man!"

"Yeah, this isn't making any sense... What is g-" Claire began. She stopped talking, though, as soon as the lights went out.

"Stay close!" The Haitian cried out, standing in between Claire and the door to the cell. "Stay close and I will keep you safe!"

"It's him! It's him!" Hiro cried out in his native tongue.

"You have to do something Hiro!" Ando begged.

"I can't! My powers are being blocked still!" Hiro said in a panic.

Claire felt her insides turn to ice. Flashes began in her mind. She imagined herself once again hovering over her bed, staring at the man in the hoodie who called himself Sylar as he lifted her up and paralyzed her limbs. She remembered watching as Sylar murdered Peter, and threw her father up against the wall. She remembered the panic she had felt then and those same feelings were there again.

Tears falling from her eyes, she shook her head violently. "Please... please no. Please don't let him hurt me again..."

The Haitian stood tall and brave. "He knows he cannot do anything to me. Not as long as he is around me. Apparently, Ms. Bennet, I can block whatever powers he has. You will be safe."

Then, suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream was heard from within the cell. It was coming from Ando.

"The devil! The devil! He's here!" Ando screamed, pointing up in the rafters.

Claire, Hiro, and The Haitian looked up. Fear swept over all of them as they saw two red eyes in the rafters staring down at them. Before any of them could flinch, they saw the eyes quickly move from rafter to rafter until it landed in front of the cell door.

"Ahhhh!" Claire screamed in terror. "Please no! Please! Someone help us!"

"You have no power here, Sylar!" The Haitian proclaimed. "Leave now or I will break you!"

In silence, the two red eyes continued their penetrating gaze at those in the cell. Before their very eyes, they watched as the cell slowly opened.

"No... no!" Claire screamed in a panic.

"Hey, you! Freeze!" Someone from the other end of the room yelled.

The red eyes turned momentarily to see who it was who had entered the area. Using his night vision, he pounced ahead to incapacitate the guard.

"Hurry! While we have a chance!" The Haitian told Claire as he began to drag her out of the cell.

"We have to follow them!" Hiro yelled, pulling Ando to follow them into the dark hall.

"We're all going to be destroyed!" Ando yelled, weeping like a baby.

As The Haitian took a step into the hall, he suddenly felt Red Eyes jump on him. Being shoved to a wall, he clenched his fist and rushed at the glowing red eyes as if they were targets. He swung, but missed.

"Heh..." Red Eyes stated. "I live in the darkness..."

Before The Haitian could move again, he felt his legs get kicked out from under him. Suddenly on his back, Red Eyes mounted onto his stomach and punched him twice before knocking him out.

All the while, Hiro was trying to pull Claire toward the light of the door at the end of the hall. Ando had sprinted ahead, holding the door to make sure it wouldn't close and lock on them.

Suddenly, Red Eyes flew through the air and landed in front of Claire and Hiro, blocking them from the door.

"Ahhh!" Hiro screamed as he closed his eyes to stop Time.

"Wait! Don't!" Red Eyes cried out. "I'm a good guy!"

It was too late. Hiro stopped Time and began pushing Claire toward the door. As he did, though, he grew curious to see who their assailant was. Opening the door wider to let in more light, he gasped when he saw who it was. Concentrating, he started Time back up.

"Drat!" Red Eyes proclaimed. "I was too late..."

"No! We are still here!" Hiro said happily from behind him.

"What are you doing!?" Ando cried out, terrified.

"No! He was right! You guys are trying to kidnap me!" Claire yelled, ripping free from Hiro and running toward the light.

Red Eyes sighed and nimbly jumped over her, blocking her path again. As he did, she gasped. The light washed over him, showing him who he was. He was a man she had heard of from some of her school professors and old history books she had found, left behind and which had accidentally survived the Book Purge of the Eighties. He was the star of many comic books and other types of stories. It couldn't have been him, but there was no mistaking it.

"You... you're..." Claire gasped.

Red Eyes nodded. "Yup. I'm Batman. Now c'mon! We don't have a lot of time before they come for you!"

. . .

By the time Parkman and Noah made their way to the cell, it was too late. The lights had come back on, but his daughter was gone. They saw The Haitian's unconscious body lying outside the cell, along with a line of security guards that had been strewn along the way. Noah fell to his knees in distress.

"My baby... my baby! No!" Noah screamed.

Parkman shook his head. "This isn't Sylar."

"Excuse me?" Noah asked, suddenly gaining some Hope.

"Sylar, according to Petrelli, murdered him. These other people are still alive. It doesn't fit his MO," Parkman stated confidently so to give Noah a reason to believe his daughter was yet alive.

"What now, then?" Noah asked, confused.

Parkman turned to him and folded his arms across his chest. "Now? Now you take me to this company of yours. I'm very interested in how things will be at my new place of employment. If they are powerful enough to edit surveillance footage, as you so subtly hinted at before, then we should be able to use their resources so we can track down whoever did this to your daughter. We will find her, Bennet. I promise."

. . .

Claire sat in Batman Beyond's jet next to Hiro and Ando as they flew away from Angel Grove. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been out of the city, but that wasn't the most important thing on her mind.

"So, you're telling me my father works for an organization that kidnaps children, drugs them, and monitors them for the government? That's insane!" Claire stated.

"That's insane? Not you surviving a lethal gunshot wound? Or a man levitating you in the air? Or a group of spandex wearing superheroes using giant machines to fight space aliens? I'm sorry, but it would seem as if me telling you about Alphabet Soup would be the least of your worries, Ms. Bennet." Batman Beyond stated as he continued flying.

"You trust Batman-san. He a real hero!" Hiro proclaimed happily.

"I'm glad to know my name is known around the world, Mr. Nagamaka." Beyond replied with a smile.

"No, it is Nakamura," Hiro corrected.

"Right..." Batman replied.

"Wait... how do you know us? What happened?" Claire asked.

"Well, my... um... boss has been studying Alphabet Soup for quite some time. They have been doing some really dangerous stuff lately and I was already in town getting ready to bust another of their projects up, but that resolved itself... sorta... There was a man involved in that thing I was doing named Gabriel Grey. I used my... er... resources to keep an eye on him. After we were able to compile all of our data we saw what happened to you. We don't know why this started to all of you, but once we saw what was happening we decided to bring you guys in for a little... thing we have going on. To stop Alphabet Soup once and for all."

Hiro's face lit up like a firework as Ando finished translating to him. "We can be the Justice League!"

"The what?" Claire asked in confusion.

Batman Beyond laughed. "I can see the censorship of what really happened with the Superhero Registration Act didn't reach out to your country. And that's actually kind of what my boss has in mind with people like you guys..."

"People like us?" Claire asked.

"I don't know why, but it seems like that eclipse that happened today triggered something inside of you and a few other people. It unlocked something latent in you. Bru... we'll figure it out soon. But until then, we'll just deal with that and use your abilities to stop Alphabet Soup from continuing its horrible experiments on you guys," Batman stated simply.

"Why should I believe you?" Claire asked, though something inside her was believing every word he said.

"You don't have to. Once we get where we're going, I'll show you all the evidence you'll ever need," Batman stated.

"Where exactly are we going, Mr. Batman sir?" Ando asked.

"New York. A little place I like to call Gotham City."

. . .

Peter had scrambled to get all of his belongings out of his hospital locker. After he had done so, he had made his way to his loft in the city. He frowned when he saw his street blocked off for construction, where the monster attack had happened to greatly damage his block. Decided to try out his new power, he flew up to the top of the building and entered in through the roof entrance. After a few moments, he found himself in his dwelling place, collecting what essentials he had to take with him. He was done with Angel Grove and was ready to start anew somewhere else.

Figuring he had plenty of time, he shrugged and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Sitting on the couch in his one room apartment, he began to surf the internet on his laptop. Maui, Jamaica, Australia... he began to look through the different options to start anew. And with the ability to fly, he figured he could go wherever he wanted and leave whenever he pleased.

"Welcome to freedom." He said as he ate a spoonful of cereal.

"Freedom, Pete?" Nathan asked, making his presence in the room known.

"Ah!" Peter screamed. "Nate!? What are you doing here!?"

"After seeing how you raided your locker at the hospital, I figured this was the next logical place that you'd go," Nathan answered simply. "I'm just glad you decided to take a break before leaving or I'd have never caught you. Australia, Pete? I'm sorry, but I can't have you leaving. Not like this. What if someone finds you, huh? That could ruin my presidential bid. You know how long I've been working on this, right?"

Peter sneered as he got up, tossing his bowl across the room. Nathan flinched as he heard it hit the wall, shattering into many pieces.

"You don't even care that we can fly, do you!? Or that I can't be killed, huh!?" Peter screamed.

"You can't fly, Peter," Nathan said. "It's all a delusion you've created in your scarred mind to deal with your near death experience."

"Oh, yeah!? Then how did you get here, huh!?" Peter asked incredulously.

"I'm a senator, Petey. I can go wherever I want," Nathan stated with a scoff.

"Then how did I get here?" Peter asked. "The streets are blocked off."

"I don't know how you did it, Pete, but you sure as heck didn't fly," Nathan said sadly. "Now please... let's go get you some help."

Peter clenched his fists before yelling angrily at Nathan. "Why are you lying!? We can fly!"

"Prove it," Nathan said with a smile. "Levitate where you are. Right now. Read my mind or something."

Peter began to concentrate. All he could hear as he stared at Nathan was silence. He then tried jumping up to float, but nothing happened.

"Wait... what!?" Peter asked, confused.

Nathan sighed. "See, Pete? You're sick. Let me get you some help. I know of some good docs who-"

"Alphabet Soup!? Oh, heck no!" Peter screamed. "Just keep your government pals away from me! I'll prove to you this is all real!"

Before Nathan could move, Peter grabbed a pen from off the floor and jabbed it into his thigh. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor, blood gushing out from the wound. Pulling the pen out, he pointed.

"Peter, what are you doing!?" Nathan demanded in a panic.

"I'll heal! You'll see!" Peter screamed, ignoring the waves of pain.

"Help! I need to get him to a hospital!" Nathan screamed.

Peter watched in shock as several security guards busted through his door. As he grew lightheaded, he looked to Nathan.

"They... they flew here, too?" He said woozily.

"No, you idiot! I told you I gained access as a senator! The blockade let me through!" Nathan screamed. "Hurry before he bleeds out!"

Peter shook his head as his vision grew blurry. "What...? This... this doesn't... make... sense..."

Nathan watched sadly as Peter blacked out. Pursing his lips, he directed his men to take Peter out to the car waiting below. He gave them instructions to take him to Alphabet Soup's main facility. As he did, the other member of his party made himself known: The Haitian. After he had been taken back into Alphabet Soup with Parkman and Bennett, General McKnight had decided to test The Haitian's new abilities in the field and had instructed Nathan on what to do. He and The Haitian had snuck into Peter's apartment, and with The Haitian's neutralizing ability Nathan would trick Peter into thinking he had no powers. The plan had been to convince Peter to go with them voluntarily, but the end result seemed to work, too.

"He should be fine once he is out of range of my abilities," The Haitian told Nathan to comfort him. "His healing should come back into play and the wound will disappear."

"And what is your range?" Nathan asked.

The Haitian shrugged. "I don't know yet. Now let's head downstairs so we can head back to the facility."

"You head down in a moment. Give Peter a chance to heal before you inhibit his powers again. I won't be heading back with you guys in the car," Nathan stated.

As Senator Petrelli headed to the door, The Haitian looked at him in confusion. "But how will you get back to the facility, Mr. Petrelli?"

Opening the door, he turned back and flashed his famous politician's smile. "I think I'll fly."

. . .

Claire stared at the monitors in the Batcave in shock. Scenes of her father strong arming parents into "letting" the government take their children, or suffer the unspeakable consequences. Watching her father usher kids from their homes kicking and screaming, causing some of them to never get to see their families again. She saw his involvement with Alphabet Soup's initial superpowered groups called the Royal Flush Gang and the Ultrimen. She watched scenes of Astronema breaking into the facility with Ecliptor and how her father had tried shooting the young girl down.

"I... I don't care if she was destroying people there. She was still a little girl. How can you just shoot at a girl like that?" She asked, confused about the man who she saw on screen before her.

"I am very, very sorry Ms. Cheerleader." Hiro said, bowing. "But you are with the Batman now! He fix everyting!"

Turning to Batman Beyond, Ando pursed his lips. "But... you were active in the sixties! How are you still alive?"

Batman Beyond smiled. "It's a mystery, huh?"

"That's because it wasn't him," A gruff voice said from the shadows. "The Batman you are thinking of was me."

The four people turned and and stared as none other than billionaire Bruce Wayne stepped out from the shadows. Claire felt her jaw drop.

"Is this some sort of a joke? You're Batman?" Claire asked.

"Bruce! What are you doing!?" Batman Beyond asked in shock.

"If they are going to be a part of our new Justice League, I don't want them thinking we are holding out on them. We all need to be on the same page," Bruce said to Batman Beyond before turning his attention to Claire. "And judging by your reactions, I think you are willing to join the fight, right 'Miracle Girl'?"

Claire blushed. "I... I guess... yeah. I can't just stand by as these kids are ripped from their homes."

"Good. And as for you two..." Bruce said, looking to Hiro and Ando. "What are your powers? It's hard to tell from the footage. Teleporting?"

"Hiro can stop Time," Ando reported to Mr. Wayne.

"Interesting... That would make you extremely unstoppable. How is it that you were not able to stop Sylar, then?" Bruce asked.

"I am not able to keep Time stopped for very long, the Batman," Hiro answered. "I took too long, and he almost destroy me."

"I see. We'll have to save you for the final act." Bruce said as he stepped toward his computer.

"Well, what's the beginning act, Mr. Wayne?" Claire asked, curious. "Are we really teaming up to do this?"

"Yes. But first, you will need to meet the other members of your team. They are different than you two, Hiro and Claire. They are what we used to call Metahumans. A lot of the people you see in Alphabet Soup right now are Metas, people who have powers above and beyond those of normal Humans like me and Terry," Bruce explained.

"Terry?" Claire asked.

Batman Beyond raised his hand. "That'd be me."

"One of Alphabet Soup's goals outside of creating new Power Rangers, learning how to manipulate Time, or exploiting Metas is to create artificial Metahumans using bionic implants. All of these things are... terrible... and we must stop them before they succeed. Over the past few weeks Terry and I have been doing research, trying to find some Metahumans who can help us out, help us re-establish the Justice League. Come out now, please."

As Bruce ended speaking, several people made their way into the room. They each wore fantastical outfits, more outrageous than the one before them. They were several people Omega Ranger recognized from the Superhero Registration Act and the preceding war that had happened nearly forty years earlier. He was shocked to see them still alive after all of those years.

"First up we have Mr. Braddock, also known as Spider UK. He has the abilities of a spider: super strength, agility, and can shoot webs out of his wrists.

"Billy Batson, also known as Captain Marvel. Using Magic he obtained from a Wizard he met from another dimension, he can transform from the young man you see before you into a super powered hero who rivals Sup... a good friend of mine from long, long ago.

"Micah Sanders, who we call Tech Boy. He can communicate with any piece of technology and can wire it and get it to, for the most part, do what he wants. He's actually the reason we were able to find out what happened to you, Claire. While we were spying on Alphabet Soup, Micah was able to track Mr. Grey to you guys. The man who began to call himself Sylar."

As Bruce mentioned Sylar, Claire tensed up a bit. Noticing that, Bruce nodded slowly.

"Do not worry about him, Claire. The bullet wounds Ando gave him were extensive. He'll be very lucky to have survived them." Bruce stated, giving Batman Beyond a knowing look.

Beyond sighed. He knew Bruce was stretching the truth about Sylar and the severity of his gunshot wound. He knew all too well Bruce's training tactics and how Bruce was willing to bend the truth to get the results he wanted.

"Continuing our introductions, we have Flash Thompson who used to work for the government as an agent. He now goes by the name of simply Venom. Some of his abilities are similar to Spider UK. He is a man who is attached to an alien Symbiote who grants him his great abilities, which also include tendrils and many other powers the ooze comprising his power suit can give him.

"Next is Daphne Millbrook, who goes by the name of Flashette. She is, as far as I can tell, the last Speedster left on Earth after the others mysteriously vanished forty years ago. She can tap into a universal power known as the Speed Force, giving her amazing speed.

"And my protege, Terry McGinnis aka Batman Beyond. I trained him up to be as good a fighter as I was back in my prime. He is a Human with no powers, using a suit made of special nanites which helps him in several situations. I serve as the voice in his head, guiding him and helping all of you on the field by extension."

"Don't worry," Batman Beyond said with sarcasm laced in his voice. "It's not nearly as annoying as you'd think. Hehe..."

"It's great to meet you two. Hiro with the ability to stop Time, and the unkillable Claire Bennett." William Braddock stated, smiling at the two.

"This. Is. Amazing!" Ando cried out.

Trying to compose himself, Hiro stepped forward and bowed to the heroes before him. "You are all legends. I am proud to be by your side. I will do all I can to help you."

"I like Miracle Girl for Claire. As for Hiro..." Flash Thompson said. "How about Time Master?"

"That sounds awesome!" Micah said eagerly, looking to his best friend, Billy.

"Dude, our team will be unbeatable!" Billy proclaimed.

Bruce sneered. "Don't let their naive optimism taint you. This will be rather difficult, especially with recent developments. If you'll look here at the hologram on the table beside Terry, you will see a layout of the Alphabet Soup facility Micah was able to make for us. Terry and I found a small hole in their security system. As cliche as it sounds, it is an air vent leading from the outside into the cafeteria on the third floor. The plan is for Spider UK to swing overhead from one building to the base of the Bat Jet which will be flying incognito over the building. As he swings, with Flashette in one hand, he will let go of her when I give him the go ahead. Flashette will run as fast as she can, and the trajectory she get her into the air duct. With the practice we already had in place, she will be able to vibrate through the walls of the air vents and land in the cafeteria. From there, she will place a floppy disk into the computer of the cafeteria workers, giving Tech Boy a way past McKnight's advanced firewall.

"Once the systems are down, Batman will lead Venom, Marvel, Time Master, Spider UK, and Miracle Girl from the Bat Jet down into the cafeteria. From there they will join with Flashette and get as far as they can, with the goal being the fifth floor where they keep the files Dr. Beckett left in his office on the Quantum Morphers. From what I have surmised, only you can move when you stop Time, correct Hiro?"

"Correct," Hiro said after Ando caught up with the translation.

"Then this is where you come in, Time Master. If you are able to, freeze Time and run into the room. Look for a box, but don't put your hand in it. That is the box containing the Quantum Morpher. Run out of the room, unfreeze Time, and get Batman to rush you out as fast as possible. At that point, it will be up to the discretion of the rest of the Leaguers to get themselves out, whatever way possible. It's a shame Hiro can't stop Time for long periods, but this is what we have to work with."

"Um... what do you mean by 'if you are able to' when you told Hiro his part of the plan?" Daphne asked. "Are you saying there's a chance he won't be able to use his power?"

"Yes," Bruce said. "That leads us to the problems this plan could meet along the way. Through our surveillance provided by Tech Boy, we were able to see that there were two other people affected by the eclipse who are now employed by Alphabet Soup. A Rene Shuku, also known as The Haitian, and a Matt Parkman. The Haitian is able to stop powers, as Hiro is able to attest to. I believe he is able to also stop Metahumans from using their powers, too. That would render Flashette, Time Master, Tech Boy, Spider UK, and Miracle Girl powerless. We would need to depend on Batman and Captain Marvel if you lot encounter The Haitian.

"We also need to take into account something GA Rex has brought into the facility. He is trying to weaponize something Micah reports to us as being called 'Zocato Guns'. From what I've been able to tell, it can completely destroy Magic spells."

Billy sighed at that. "Making me a little boy instead of Captain Marvel."

"And if their tech is able to detect your Magic, you can believe General McKnight will use them to incapacitate you, Billy. That is why Batman will be leading this mission. He is the only one of you lot who can keep going, no matter what."

"And what about Parkman?" Claire asked. "I remember him. He was the policeman who took us in for questioning."

Bruce nodded. "Thank you, Claire. Parkman is, from what I can tell, a mind reader. He is actually the most dangerous person in that building and I as of yet have nothing to combat his threat. I am not sure what his range is yet, but if he happens to be near your group, he will hear your thoughts. He will know of our plans, and know we are in the building. He will cause the security to be increased around the Quantum Morpher, and trigger the alarm to get you guys in a heap of trouble."

"The only thing we can do is cross our fingers that he doesn't trip the alarm, or that we don't cross paths with The Haitian. But you know the moment we are spotted in the building, The Haitian will be deployed by McKnight," Batman Beyond stated.

"That's why we need to move as fast as possible." Bruce stated gruffly, looking at his ragtag team.

"Uh... what's my role in this? I can't exactly do much except not die," Claire asked, confused.

"You and Captain Marvel will be upfront and center," Bruce stated.

"In other words, we're the bullet shields." Billy said, winking at Claire.

"I was going to speak with you about this later, but yes. You take the hits so that the others won't have to," Bruce explained. "From my scans on you, though, I can tell you can still feel pain. I will drug you up a bit before you go, but it won't numb you completely. Is this something you are willing to do?"

Biting her lip, Claire looked up at the monitors again. The footage had been paused, and it was on her father dragging a young boy by one arm, kicking and screaming from his house. That little boy's look of terror on his face filled her with Rage.

"Yes. Yes I am." Claire stated, looking to the team around her. "We will get through this."

"Uh... question?" Ando asked.

"Yes?" Bruce answered.

"Why can't Flashette just rush into the room and grab the box when no one is looking?" Ando asked.

"Thank you for reminding me. Although it is very expensive for them to use, they do have access to generators in their building that generate something they call 'Anti-Speed Force'. The minute Daphne is detected there is a chance they could cripple her powers," Bruce answered. "Micah believes McKnight's paranoia put sensors in the building to pick up when Speed Force is used to activate the generators."

Daphne sneered. "'Crippled', Bruce? Nice choice of words..."

Bruce pursed his lips. "Sorry, Daphne. That wasn't purposeful. Anyhow, if it is true what Micah believes he found, then it would be very irresponsible of us to make her the crowning jewel, and only facet, of the plan. Daphne... if for whatever reason Micah is wrong and you are able to get to the Quantum Morpher, then do it. My gut tells me it won't be that easy, though."

Daphne sighed. "I didn't, either. If and when I lose my powers, I know what I gotta do."

Bruce and Batman gave each other knowing looks before Bruce nodded. "Thank you, Daphne. And remember, all of you, that we are a team and we'll do everything we can to get you all out alive."

"Why don't we ask the Power Rangers to help?" Claire asked.

Bruce snickered. "From what I can tell, their team's leader is an alien by the name of Zordon. I... I don't know anything about him and I don't trust him. He has strong ties with SHIELD, who I don't see eye to eye with. I think we're better off without someone like him 'helping' us."

"Okay, then," Batman Beyond said. "Let's do this!"

. . .

Claire watched from aboard the Bat Jet as Spider UK and Flashette stretched on the roof a half mile away from the old building which was, in secret, the main facility for Alphabet Soup. She wore a simple pair of jeans with a black hoodie and a mask around her eyes Bruce had told her once belonged to an old sidekick of his. She looked beside her at Hiro Nakamura who sat, looking out the window nervously. Bruce had given him bionic contact lenses to get him to take off his glasses. He also had a wardrobe change: instead of slacks and a polo shirt he wore a black shirt, black pants, and a long black trench coat. As odd as it sounded, those slight changes made Hiro completely unrecognizable to her. Bruce had joked saying he had a good friend in the old Justice League whose identity was concealed solely by a pair of glasses which was the inspiration for Hiro's new look, or "Time Master".

Claire found herself holding her breath as Spider UK shot his webbing out of his wrist. Holding Flashette in one hand he swung forward with all his might as his web hit the bottom of the massive Bat Jet. Right as he was swinging over the vent, he let go of Flashette. In a literal flash, she zoomed into the vent and vanished.

A few moments later, Micah turned from his computer and gave everyone an okay sign. "We're in. Security is down. Now go! Go! Go!"

Breathing for the first time in what felt like ages, Claire stood up and followed Batman Beyond. Before she knew it, she had Flash Thompson grab her and jump out of the plane with her. Looking up, her smiled at her.

"Don't scream, okay?" Flash asked as the black Symbiote oozed over him.

Suddenly, she was looking at a mouthless, black slime covered man. She did all she could to stifle a cry as they landed on the roof. She looked up to see Hiro being carried as Batman Beyond landed on the roof alongside them. She then saw what looked like lightning erupt from the Bat Jet as a large, muscular man in red tights and a white cape flew down and landed beside Spider UK, who also landed beside them from his place under the Bat Jet.

"Billy!?" Hiro asked, amazed.

In a deep voice, he nodded. "In the flesh!"

"Stop wasting time!" Bruce grumbled through Batman's intercom.

Batman Beyond looked to everyone on his team. "Old man says to hurry up. Now!"

"Don't demean me in front of them, Terry." Bruce said, shaking his head slowly from the Batcave.

Venom scooped Claire up in his arms and leapt into the vent. In what felt like endless, winding tunnels, Claire was suddenly in the Alphabet Soup cafeteria. Looking around, she was shocked to see Daphne on the ground, struggling to crawl up into a chair.

"Daphne!? What's happened!?" Claire gasped.

Daphne gave Claire a pained smile. "Occupational hazard. You see, before I was a Speedster I was paraplegic from birth. I knew the risk coming in that I could be severed from the Speed Force..."

"We gotta get you out of here!" Claire cried out as the last of her team made their way to the cafeteria.

Daphne shook her head. "The sensors have already alerted the building that there was a surge of Speed Force. We don't have time to waste. Just... get back here for me as soon as possible, okay? Hurry!"

"She's right! Go!" Batman cried out. "Miracle Girl? Marvel? You guys lead the way!"

Ignoring the knots in her stomach, Claire pushed ahead. She had a somewhat lightheaded feeling as she took each step. She was unsure if that was from the drugs Bruce Wayne had pumped into her or from the sheer stress of the situation. It was probably a mix of both.

Meanwhile, on the floor below, a security officer walked with Matt Parkman by his side. "Are you getting anything? We've already taken the Speedster down, but we need you to find him!"

Matt gave the guy a look. "Sorry but I'm still new at this, got it?"

Suddenly, Parkman heard something. A voice he had heard momentarily at the police station when The Haitian wasn't near him. It was the Japanese chatter of Hiro Nakamura. Focusing on that, he suddenly hear Batman's thoughts not too far off from Hiro's.

Okay, there are the stairs. We leave the third floor and head up to the fifth... Almost home free... Batman thought.

"Wait... They're on the third floor!" Parkman declared.

"They!?" The security guard cried out as he began to radio for back up.

"Yeah... lots of them!" Parkman revealed. "And they're heading for the fifth floor for some reason."

"The Quantum Morpher!" Dr. Harlan was heard saying over the radio frequency. "You-"

From the Bat Jet, Micah sighed heavily. "Tech Boy in to Batcave. I finally got past their firewall and deactivated their walkies, but... it's too late. Parkman found them and they are being surrounded soon."

Cursing his luck, Bruce radioed in to Batman Beyond. "Terry! Don't use the stairs! They're onto you!"

"Then what!?" Batman asked, confused.

"Have Marvel create a hole in the ceiling and you guys go up from there," Bruce said, thinking on the fly.

"Hey Cap! Bust through the ceiling and make us a path! We've been outed!" Batman declared.

Captain Marvel nodded. Jumping up, he flew through the ceiling just as he was ordered. Once again, Venom grabbed Claire and helped her through the hole. As he did, she saw Spider UK help Hiro up, with Batman trailing to ensure they weren't being followed.

"Okay, we're clear," Batman Beyond said as they landed on the fourth floor.

"You'd think that," A voice said from the other end of the hall.

Turning around, the team saw a tall and muscular man standing at the end of the hall. Via Batman Beyond's cowl camera, Bruce stared in shock. The suit was slightly different, black instead of blue and the flag was a little more than what he remembered, but it the resemblance was uncanny.

"Steve...?" Bruce stammered out. "Captain America!?"

Batman Beyond had heard many stories about Captain America. How he was the leader of the government run Avengers and was as noble a man as there ever was. Of all the Avengers, Steve Rogers had been the one who Bruce had the most respect for. But Batman Beyond had been told how Captain America had met his end: during the Great Battle of Metropolis, Superman had punched Doomsday. Doomsday had lost its balance and had swung one of its protruding bones into Captain America, impaling him and ending his life on the spot.

"That's impossible." Batman Beyond stated, stepping forward toward the black suited man. "Captain America!?"

The man laughed. "No, but very close! I'm the new and improved super soldier. You can call me US Agent."

"They re-opened the Super Soldier project!?" Bruce gasped. "Micah, how did we miss this!?"

On the Bat Jet, Tech Boy began doing massive searches through the entire mainframe for any mention of the Super Soldier project. "I... I don't know! I'm not seeing it anywhere!"

Batman shook his head. "This is separate from Alphabet Soup, Bruce... Hey, US Agent!?"

Smirking as he slowly made his way to the New Justice League, he answered. "What, Batsy?"

"You're here with SHIELD, aren't you?" Batman asked.

US Agent nodded. "Yup. When the Power Rangers were nearly defeated by their own kind, Fury called us in to take care of things should Zordon fail. Looks like it was a good thing he did. You lot are in violation of the Superhero Registration Act."

"SHIELD!?" Bruce roared in anger. "Stand down! Everyone retreat!"

Batman Beyond shook his head. "He's only one guy! We can take him!"

That made US Agent bark with laughter. "You're still pretty green, aren't ya? Wet behind the ears? That's not how SHIELD operates. We already got our agents surrounding your jet plane outside and the rest of my team closing in. It's over for you terrorists."

"Terrorists!?" Claire roared. "You're the guys kidnapping children for Alphabet Soup."

"Whoa, whoa! I have no idea what Rex and McKnight are doing here, and I don't care. I work for Fury and the United States government. And I am being given orders to get my team to bring you lot in for registration... or execution." US Agent said as he pulled his shield off his back straps.

"Your team?" Hiro asked as Ando finished translating from the Batcave via his special earpiece.

"Yeah! The New Avengers!" US Agent revealed, rushing forward to tackle Batman Beyond.

Captain Marvel moved with lightning speed and punched US Agent before he could get close. "Retreat! Now!"

"But the Quantum Morpher!" Spider UK yelled.

"It's over!" Bruce yelled to the whole group. "Get out now! We aren't trained for something like this!"

Venom laughed. "I am. I was one of these guys, Bruce. Now it's time to show them my friend. Let's do this Venom style."

Jumping forward, Venom landed beside Captain Marvel. As US Agent blocked a blow from Marvel with his shield, Venom spear tackled the black clad Avenger and slammed him into a wall.

"Head out! Now!" Batman ordered.

"But we can't leave them!" Claire shouted.

"They're big boys. They can take care of themselves." Spider UK stated as he dived back down to the third floor.

"No, they're not! Captain Marvel's like twelve!" Claire argued, turning back to help.

"Get off me!" US Agent yelled, throwing Venom off of him. Then, focusing, he tossed his shield like a frisbee at Captain Marvel.

Dodging the blow, Captain Marvel ducked under the flying shield and punched US Agent as hard as he could. In doing so, though, the shield was flying straight toward Claire.

"No!" Hiro screamed, freezing Time.

Rushing to her, he gasped when he saw how the shield was mere inches from her neck.

"It's a good thing you did that, Hiro!" Ando was heard saying. "Bruce said that he doesn't think Claire can survive without a head."

"You aren't frozen!?" Hiro gasped, moving the shield back to be facing US Agent.

"No, it looks like you only froze the building and some of the outside of it. I guess you have limits?" Ando suggested.

Unfreezing Time, Claire gasped when she found herself suddenly not facing certain death. She turned to Hiro and laughed.

"My guardian angel," She declared.

"For life!" Hiro stated with a smile.

"Oof!" US Agent cried out as both Venom, Captain Marvel, and the shield hit him.

"He's out cold! Let's head onto the fifth floor!" Captain Marvel declared, busting another hole in the ceiling.

"No! Follow orders!" Bruce barked. "Terry! Manage your team now!"

"I'm trying!" Batman Beyond yelled from the third floor. "I'm just swamped with SHIELD agents down here with Braddock. They came out of nowhere! We weren't expecting this, Bruce!"

"Welcome to being a hero!" Bruce roared. "You know better than this!"

"Yeah, by myself! I don't know how to run a team!" Batman Beyond complained.

"Argh!" Bruce shouted. "Micah, you okay!?"

"Umm... no. There's a man in armor floating outside the Bat Jet trying to beat down the shields. Sorry, I didn't want to worry you. I'm trying to hack his suit right now," Tech Boy answered.

Bruce sneered. "Tony... Micah!? Fly out of there! I can't have Iron Man taking that ship and tracing it back to me!"

"But what about-?" Tech Boy began.

"Now!" Bruce barked.

"This is a disaster." Spider UK proclaimed as he knocked out a SHIELD agent.

Meanwhile, Venom helped Hiro and Claire up to the fifth floor. "Alright, according to the graph, that big door down there will have the Quantum Morpher. Hiro? Freeze Time and take us home!"

Smiling, Hiro closed his eyes and started concentrating. Upon opening his eyes, he frowned. Time had not stopped.

"I no understand?" Hiro stated in confusion.

Claire sneered. "The Haitian..."

Looking up, they suddenly saw The Haitian standing next to a young woman in SHIELD gear. She had a metal rod in each hand. She wore a look of determination on her face as she stared at the four.

"I am Agent Hunter, but you can call me Mockingbird. Surrender now, or be in a world of pain," She warned.

Scoffing, Venom stepped forward. "We just took down your pretty boy US Agent, dearie. Your power blocking friend has no effect on me or Muscle Man here."

"Oh, right... I forgot about that. What was it you can't handle? Oh, yeah! Sound," Mockingbird stated. "Daisy! Now!"

Spinning around, Venom gasped as he saw another SHIELD agent standing at the end of the hall. She wore metallic gloves on her hands with wiring coming out of them. Pointing both hands at Venom, several pulses erupted from her hands. Before the Justice League could react, the agent known as Daisy Johnson hit Venom. The sound waves hit him so hard that they caused his Symbiote to be ripped off his body.

"Flash!" Claire cried out.

"You were right!" Daisy shouted to Mockingbird. "I'm just out of range of The Haitian! Good call!"

Hiro looked to Captain Marvel. Whispering in his ear, Marvel nodded. Picking Hiro up, he began flying down the hall as fast as he could with Hiro in his arms. Daisy sneered and began shooting sound blasts at Marvel as hard as she could. Using his arms to protect Hiro, Marvel flew until he landed right in front of Daisy before collapsing.

Daisy laughed. "For a second I thought I wouldn't be able to take you down, big boy!"

Slipping out of Marvel's arms, Hiro got up and bowed before Daisy. "You out of Haitian range? Me, too!"

"Huh?" Daisy asked.

Focusing, Hiro closed his eyes. Before Daisy could attack him, Hiro froze Time.

"Yatta!" Hiro cried out.

"Hiro! Bruce says you need to hurry!" Ando told Hiro.

Gaining composure, Hiro began running toward the room at the other end of the hall. As he did, he saw that during the commotion several SHIELD agents had converged upon both Claire and Flash Thompson. He also noted other SHIELD agents in the middle of gathering the Symbiote, Venom, into a container. Shaking his head, knowing he couldn't do anything at that point, Hiro trekked ahead.

Sighing with relief as he saw that The Haitian couldn't affect him once he was already frozen, Hiro picked up a pipe he saw on the floor and began beating the frozen Haitian over the head.

"Hiro!? What are you doing!?" Ando demanded.

Bruce smiled as he nodded slowly. "He's making sure that once Time resumes, The Haitian will instantly fall down unconscious and allow Claire access to her powers, as well as Spider UK should he be able to make the trip to the fifth floor with Terry. Smart man."

Opening the door, Hiro crept into the office. Looking around quickly, he saw the box holding the Quantum Morpher sitting on Dr. Beckett's former desk. Smiling, he grabbed it. He then rushed as fast as he could out of the room, hoping to rendezvous with Batman Beyond as was planned. Unfortunately for him, right as he stepped foot out of the room Time resumed.

"Uh-oh..." Hiro said as he saw The Haitian fall to the ground and Mockingbird turn to see it happen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hiro standing at the door.

"Oh no you don't!" She cried out, lunging at him and hitting the box out of his hands.

"Ouchie!" Hiro cried out as the rods hit his wrists. He watched in agony as the Quantum Morpher box flew out of his hands and slid across the floor toward the SHIELD agents taking the unconscious Flash Thompson.

"Take that box and don't look back!" Daisy cried out as she rushed toward Claire.

"Come here, little girl. No need to fight!" The officer grabbing at her said.

Pursing her lips, Claire knew what she had to do. She saw that he had her in a headlock, so she did the one thing her instinct told her not to do: she began twisting her head in the direction opposing the head hold. Normally it would have been extremely painful, but the medication inhibiting her pain receptors were working well. After a moment, the SHIELD agent felt Claire's neck snap.

"Oh... oh, no! I killed her!" The agent cried out, dropping her and running off.

A few moments later, Claire pulled herself up and "fixed" her neck. Looking down the hall, she saw Mockingbird cornering Hiro so he couldn't escape, with Daisy closing in as well. Sneering, she rushed forward with all her strength. As she hit Daisy from behind, she heard her collarbone snap in half from the impact. Daisy fell to the ground, twisting to fall onto her back. As she did, she shot a blast of sound at Claire. The impact hit her hard and caused her to fly into a door.

As that happened, Captain Marvel woke up. Standing up, he saw no evidence of Flash, the Symbiote, Claire, or the Quantum Morpher box. He did, though, see Hiro about to be massacred by Mockingbird.

"Get Hiro out of there now," Bruce ordered into Captain Marvel's earpiece. "Follow orders for once. Please!"

Nodding, Captain Marvel shot forward. He flew down the hallway as fast as he could. Clenching his jaw, he flew past Mockingbird (knocking her to the side) and grabbed Hiro. Before Hiro could think, Captain Marvel had barrelled through several walls and had gotten them both outside safely.

"We did it, little dude!" Captain Marvel declared. "We- agh!"

Holding onto Hiro tightly, Captain Marvel was hurtled through the air. His cape was smoldering still from the blast as he righted himself. Looking up, he was shocked to see Iron Man floating in the sky above him.

"Wow, a Superman clone. Haven't seen a flying muscle man in quite some time." Iron Man stated, laughing. "I may be old, but I can still kick yer tail. Let's tango!"

"Get out of there with Hiro now!" Bruce roared. "We cannot have Rex getting his hands on him!"

Nodding, Captain Marvel turned around and flew off. Every bit of his ego was pained at having to do that, but he knew it was for the best. Without looking back, he flew toward Gotham City.

Back at the building, Claire stood up slowly. She had the wind knocked out of her, but upon regaining her composure she found herself in a room. Looking to her right, she gasped as she saw Peter Petrelli lying on a bed hooked up to a machine. Moving quickly for fear that either Daisy or Mockingbird would come rushing in after her, she unplugged the machine and began shaking Peter.

"Wake up! Wake up!" She screamed.

"Huh...? What am I doing here...? Claire!?" Peter said, shaking his head. "What's going on!? Where's my brother!?"

"I don't know about your brother, but we gotta get out of here! There're bad guys everywhere and they're trying to destroy us!" Claire demanded.

Sneering, Peter stood up and nodded. "I'll get us out of here. Just stay close."

"You're not going anywhere," The voice of an older gentleman said as he appeared in the doorway holding a bow and arrow.

"That's Hawkeye. Geez I'm surprised he's still alive and mobile," Bruce said over Claire's earpiece. "He's an expert marksman. Be prepared to take an arrow, because he doesn't miss."

Peter smirked as he saw Hawkeye. "Hey, old man. You sure you wanna be pointing those arrows at us?"

"Tell your friend to shut up!" Bruce told Claire, not recognizing Peter from the videos Micah showed him.

"I will put you down if I have to," Hawkeye warned.

"Wow... you're a robot..." Peter said incredulously. "Nothing going on in your mind right now but the mission..."

"Stand down now! Give me that girl!" Hawkeye warned.

Peter smirked. "It's like that man said, right Claire? 'Save the cheerleader, save the world.'"

As Peter turned around and grabbed Claire, Hawkeye let an arrow loose. It hit Peter right in the middle of his spine. As he felt his legs begin to lose feeling, he floated up into the air.

"You're flying!" Claire gasped.

As blood spurted out of Peter's mouth, he turned around and flew out past Hawkeye. The Avenger turned and shot several arrows out after Peter, hitting both him and Claire. It was too late, though. Peter flew out of the building following Captain Marvel's path of holes in the wall he had left behind before vanishing into the night sky.

"Hawkeye in to McKnight. The Bennett girl has escaped with Senator Petrelli's brother. Apparently Petrelli can fly. We were able to secure the Quantum Morpher, though. And we have Flash Thompson and his Symbiote."

Sitting at his desk, he sighed at the good news. McKnight told Hawkeye to report back to the main room with the other New Avengers. He then looked at his security monitors. On one he could see Batman Beyond and Spider UK fleeing out of the building the way they came in, through the cafeteria air vent. On another monitor he saw Matt Parkman and a security team pushing a gurney down a hall with Flashette on it. On yet another, he saw the Symbiote being given to Dr. Phenomenus while a team strapped the unconscious Flash Thompson to a bed.

"Not bad..." McKnight said with a smile. "They came in to steal my property, but I force them out and get to keep hostages and gain a new weapon. And they also lost the element of surprise! Haha! This is the closest they will ever get to the Quantum Morpher!"

. . .

Bruce Wayne sat in silence in the Batcave as Ando helped Micah out of the Bat Jet. He stared at his monitors, just as McKnight had done. On one he saw Batman Beyond and Spider UK meet up on a building, finding an unconscious Peter Petrelli being nursed by Claire Bennet. On a second monitor, tapped into a satellite he owned up in space, he could see Captain Marvel racing across the nation with Hiro in hand, heading toward Gotham City. He then looked back at the Alphabet Soup facility, with Iron Man flying around it seemingly doing victory laps as he shot sparks into the sky as if they were fireworks.

Sighing, he buried his head in his hands. His first mission with the New Justice League was a monumental failure. They had lost the element of surprise and two soldiers to the enemy. They gained nothing and lost everything.

Sneering, he slowly stood up. He could hear every bone in his body creak and grind as he tried to stand erect. His years of bodily abuse as Batman had caught up with him in a bad way, but it didn't do a thing to his mind but make him stronger. Staring at the monitors, he nodded slowly.

We lost the first round, but we will win this war.

. . .

The man stood in the alleyway and pointed his hand at a soup can he had placed on a dumpster. Suddenly, a blast of ice erupted from his hand and froze the can.

"That's what I can do, guy. You really think I can make it big in Hollywood with something like this? I dunno... I've been trying to figure out what I can do with it ever since the eclipse and I found out I can do this. When I found your letter in my mailbox saying you were looking for people with abilities gained from the eclipse for your movie, it felt like the universe was giving me an answer, ya know?" The man stated to the gentleman standing next to him.

Smiling, the man nodded. It was Sylar, who after having threatened a surgeon to work on him (subsequently murdering him), had begun a letter campaign to cause people with gifts to come out and reveal themselves to him. He was starting in small towns around California to not get caught. The man before him was the third victim to bite.

"Oh, yes..." Sylar said as he used his telekinesis to throw the man up against a wall. "The universe certainly did lead me to you. It was Fate."

"What... what are you doing!?" The man cried out.

"I'm becoming stronger. Stronger so that the next time I meet the cheerleader, nothing will stop me from getting her powers." Sylar stated as he began to saw the man's head open with his telekinesis.

As the man screamed in terror, all Sylar could do was smile. One more power... one more to make me special... to make me unbeatable. I'm coming for you Claire, and when I do? I'll be unstoppable.