Farewell To Innocence

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Power.

It was all he'd ever wanted.

Not for his own sake.

But to right the wrongs.

And it just so happened we live in a universe with much cosmic radiation left all over the innumerable galaxies. The kind that gives great abilities. One could play around with simple tricks, like making things float a couple feet in the air. Maybe move on to more advanced powers, like harnessing elements, flight, blasts of light, increased might, enhanced sight, endless possibilities, really.

But then there was an amount far beyond this: Enough to make one a Demigod in the most literal sense. The kind that could manipulate the living things. For Life, Or Death, on a massive scale. To traverse entire solar systems like a sports car on the highway. To tower above the mortal things that were beneath them.

-

He was draped in a dark blue cloak. Before him were the bodies of various alien beings who had attempted to stop him from taking what he wanted: The planet had been kept alive now by a new core, made from a battery that stored a powerful essence of the cosmos incarnate. The being reached out to the giant object before him, and was able to feel the energy beginning to be siphoned from the battery into his body, before finally being all his, as the cloak flew off, and for a brief second, allowing him to feel what it was like to have such energy...



Suddenly, residual energy from the battery, that had been taken from the planet's original core, began to grow unstable…and then, the explosion that would hurdle him away, putting him into a coma and injuring his body that was developing into that of a god...

-

And the being born, his true name Noah Bryte, and his former Alias being that of a champion who traveled to the stars to take the mantle of a dying alien hero before him, Captain Beyond, fell from the heavens. Visions of a battle on what was likely his olden space craft began to flood his mind, as he recalled fist-fighting an outlaw who threatened to annihilate an entire planet. And unfortunately, this villain had succeeded, as the frightening images of the destroyed planet came to light: The planet he called home, next to Earth, where he had begun his adventures and met great allies.

Like many others before it, it was unjustly obliterated for the sake of a madman. But that would be changed soon enough…once Noah could find the strength to rise again, as he lay behind multiple bushes on what he assumed was Earth once more, as he lay comatose, yet giving off a mysterious green glow about his body, this being the color of his mysterious new aura...

…He was not far from a neighborhood. In fact, he was probably in a forest near civilization...

And one girl would make the chance discovery that will forver change her life...

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Tara Weaver looked over the small collection of painting supplies she had packed in her dark red backpack, mentally running through the checklist. Canvas, watercolor paper, a few pieces of cardboard, paints of all types and colors, paintbrushes, water, a small bowl...it was all there. With a satisfied smile, she zipped up the bag and waved her hand around the room. The numerous lamps that she used to light her room in lieu of more modern methods were all snuffed out at once, the flames within bending to her will.

Tara was no normal girl. It wasn't like she was a vampire, or a goddess, or secretly dead. But she was magically gifted. Of course, to her, it wasn't all that unusual. Magic ran in the Weaver family, after all. She had grown up around other mages, not to mention the mystical creatures they sometimes attracted, and so she was entirely used to it. What was strange and exotic to others had no effect on her. She just found it interesting, and felt like her family had a major role to play. She didn't know what that role was, but clearly, in a world where magic was often kept secret, a concentrated group of people who could make use of it would be doing something important. And Tara was no exception.

She was young, just eighteen years old, but some had told her that she looked a year or two younger, with her soft face and innocent pale blue eyes. Her hair was a bright, fiery red, and was cut short, the straight locks just reaching her chin. Her clothes further proclaimed her affinity for warm colors: a dull red shirt with long sleeves that covered her arms, a knee-length black skirt, and burgundy slip-on shoes, complete with tall brown socks. It was an ensemble that matched the cool autumn weather, and that was just the way she liked it.

It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, and so Tara planned on spending much of the day in the forest that stretched out near the edge of town. She absolutely loved the fall, and sitting among the brightly-colored leaves with her art was one of her favorite pastimes. Swinging her backpack around and resting the straps on her shoulders, she stepped out of her bedroom and through the small house. Her parents were out at work, but she knew they wouldn't mind if she spent some time out of the house. She made sure to lock the front door on her way out, of course, and made her way through what little town there was between home and the forest.

It didn't take long for it to become clear that there was something weird lurking around in the forest today. Even before she noticed the green glow radiating from behind a few bushes, she could sense the energy the being was radiating. She took a moment to mentally thank her tutor for strengthening her awareness of that dull hum in the back of her head and approached the source of the energy. She observed the being she found curiously, her head tilting to the side like a dog's, and approached.

"Hello?" she tried, wondering if the man (if it was human) could understand her or was even conscious.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

The being that Tara Weaver had attempted to approach began to awaken itself, the sheer power it attempted to hold back upon rising once more causing a powerful gust of wind to go through the forest, as Noah regained the energy he had so freshly taken from the guardians who protected the source, a large battery that powered their planet and allowed them to act as warlords of sorts, invading ships and planets alike with legions of soldiers at their command. As the spacefarer Captain Beyond, Noah was well versed in the concept of 'controlling' a planet by using a giant battery and system of technology on the upper levels of the planet to create a sort of 'planet-bot.' A glorified aircraft, the ones who harnessed it thought. But to the people who it was underneath, it was like a god.

That was in fact almost what Noah became now: Something akin to a god. Perhaps not in the same standing as the christian god, the gods of greco or roman mythology, but a high being above others for sure, a Demigod at least by the standards of most, as he looked at his green glowing hands. At first the amazing power surged through his fists, evidencing his plan had worked. He was now the avenger he felt he had to become. To prevent such crimes as the one he last failed to stop. He suddenly sensed the presence of another, and turned to face Tara, producing a hand that enveloped the girl in a green aura of control: A kind of invisible grasp he held on her. But it was strangely gentle...

"You…You have it in your bloodstream. How is this possible, that you have the power of the cosmos flowing through your veins, child? Answer me!…how could a regular Earthling have gained it so simply?!…No…wait…I see something. A family that began ages ago. One ancestor had the bravery to make a deal with an entity worshipped here as some 'magic god,' ones that understood bizarre creatures spawned by the cosmos... So magic this whole time was nothing more than the radiation of the universe in little bits, presented as ultimate sorcery…"

With that, Noah left the girl alone, leaving behind the long range grip he held on her body, as he grabbed at his leg. Then, his arm, and his entire body ached, as he dropped to his knees.

"The Power!!….I must grow used to it!…Haaagh!!"

And right then and there, Noah fell down, in deathly pain, flesh feeling both a burning feeling, and a shock, as his body adapted to all the awesome powers of the First Battery Core...

"You!…take me someplace safe and secluded, and I will teach you how to understand those powers of yours so they become far more than whatever you can do now!…Hrrnnnk!!…Now!"

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Tara looked on at the strange and seemingly otherworldly being with curiosity lining every inch of her face. She could tell he was extremely powerful, but she wasn't afraid, just...well, curious. Why would she be afraid? He didn't seem immediately hostile, only alarmed. And besides, if he did try to attack, Tara was confident that she would be able to talk him out of it. She had a million and one questions to ask him, but before she could get a single one out, he held her in the grip of what she perceived to be telekinesis.

She listened to him intently, glad he could speak her language, and her eyes widened in excitement. Who was this being? Did he really have such a deep understanding of the inner workings of her skills, the power behind the magic? What a marvelous stroke of luck, she thought, that she had stumbled across a man so well-versed in the power she held. She only knew one other person with such knowledge: the man who had been tutoring her in secret for a year now.

And just like that, the being before her cried out in pain, and all Tara's thoughts turned to concern for his health. She started to ask how she could help, but stopped and nodded her head eagerly at his order. "Of course!" she said quickly. "Right away!" She knew that the deeper parts of the forest were nice and quiet, save for the occasional wild animal that would be easy to scare off if necessary, but she didn't think she had the physical strength to drag him that far. "Can you stand?" she asked without hesitating for even a moment, offering her hand for him to take.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Noah nodded no. But thankfully, he began to levitate himself similarly, as he slapped the girl's hand aside. If she did not have the strength to take him herself, she was not entitled to even touch him without his permission, as he allowed the girl to lead the way, grunting and groaning as he tried to adapt to his new self. He would need a new name. Something other than his old birth name, and the title of Captain Beyond. It just wasn't what it used to be. Just didn't fit who he was now that he had taken on the new form that Tara Weaver was first to witness.

-

Meanwhile...

-

Off in town, people were going about their daily business. Suddenly, a bizarre craft, in the shape of an octagon with a single thruster flame coming out of it, crashed straight into a row of buildings, utterly destroying them all as the bricks fell, and it became nothing more than dust and ashes, this little setup of shops. People began to stare in awe as one of the sides of the large vessel opened, and beams of furious, concussive force and waves of disintegrating heat exploded outwards, a being emerging from the unusual spaceship.



"BEYOND! WHERE IS CAPTAIN BEYOND?!" It Bellowed...

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Though she felt a little hurt at the way he'd refused her offer, Tara was glad to see he could still get around on his own regardless of whatever was causing his pain. "The woods are nice and secluded," she said with a warm smile. "There's a clearing this way..." She began to walk along a path that had been worn slightly by frequent travel. It was mostly her feet that had carved out the path, of course; she knew this forest like the back of her hand. It was an excellent place to visit for inspiration. It struck her that she still had her painting materials on her; perhaps there would be time for another project sometime soon? She started to wonder if her companion had any interesting hobbies of his own, but told herself that there would be time for such things later. While she led the levitating man through the forest, it struck her that they had yet to exchange names. "Oh, I'd nearly forgotten," she said, pushing aside a branch that was in her way. "My name is Tara. What's yours?"

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

"…I suppose I'm still Noah" sighed the great and almighty new demigod, rather pathetically. He'd been unable to make for himself a brand new name that would be beyond that of his prior names. One that, if possible, could be one spoken with fear and desperation. One that his enemies would remember, even in death. Some sort of name to reflect on what he was now, and let everyone know he was a new man. He disliked the girl offering to let him lie down in the wilderness. It would have bothered him a little less as his old mortal self, that he was to sleep on grass. He could have gotten over it. But now, he was above that. He thought he'd experience some hospitality. But instead, he was to be left out where anyone could simply find him. It was the best he had now, and he would wait until later, when he could take over some area to serve as a new headquarters of sorts.

When the two arrived, Noah dropped himself, and proceeded to lay down, the aura fading away as he fell into sweet, sweet unconsciousness...

-

Meanwhile, the destructive half-biological half-cybernetic creature found itself tearing apart the town. It primarily used physical force to try and tear apart buildings, vehicles, and most especially, people. It eventually stopped moving around a moment to begin a thought process inside of its mind that, though was still flesh, it was influenced by the logic process of a machine just as much its former user's original thoughts of greed and bloodlust. And to catch the latest bounty: The man who siphoned power from the battery core of the planet Roque.

"Calculating time to detecting irradiated subject…high. Activating additional armaments to accelerate processes…"

in a mad rush, two barricades of police cars and SWAT teams were already mobilized, and pointing their guns at the bounty hunter from the stars. Snipers cropped up on the roof, as the being began to re-caluclate his current situations.

"Additional processes detected. Will resolve issues via newly equipped armaments…"

Suddenly, the beast began to fire brilliant beams of an orange color into the surrounding targets around him, taking apart the buildings to stop the snipers. The men on the ground attempted to open fire, either striking bulletproof armor made from otherworldly ores mined on some asteroid belt, Or flesh with too few nerves to alert the brain of the horrible pain any other being would have felt.

And as such, the authorities were promptly burnt to a crisp, as the being continued to ravage town, now armed with heat vision.

 

[Moogle-Girl]

"Noah..." Tara repeated, making sure to memorize it. She nodded at him and watched him drift off to sleep, feeling a bit guilty that she couldn't bring her new companion back to her place. Making their way through town would hardly be secluded, not to mention her parents might be back early. Their jobs hardly involved strict work schedules, after all. The forest clearing would have to do for now, at least until Noah was feeling well enough to keep his aura of power down a few notches. Assuming that was even possible for him, of course.

It was at that point that she heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from town. Was someone being attacked? She couldn't tell from this distance, there were too many trees in the way...but she had to do something! Her eyes flicked back down to Noah's sleeping form...she was supposed to be watching him, could she really leave him just like that? Sure, there were many more people that might need saving back in town, but she had so much more to gain from staying here...No, that didn't matter! There were people in danger! Making a snap decision, she shook Noah's shoulder, trying to wake him. He had to know where she was going, and maybe he would even be able to help her.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Noah unfortunately, was unable to awaken. He had entered into a deep sleep, stuck within the confines of his mind, leaving Tara to handle the situation herself for now. His breathing was hard to detect, but it was there. And kept low, to fool attackers. Within his dreamworld, Noah was busy drifting through the atmosphere of a false Earth, and learning his powers in this dreamscape that would in no way affect the real world that was currently under attack by the invader. He began to try and understand the aura he had now been gifted with, a stray blast of green light flying outwards and annihilating the planet altogether. At first he was about to break down, the realism of this unreal world nearly fooling him, until he began to re-materialize the Earth, and all its inhabitants...

…With his own powers.

-

Back in town, the alien bounty hunter was still tearing around town. It couldn't find Noah at all, but it had found the next best thing: Two creatures that seemed to have come into contact with cosmic energy in the past. Two creatures that were around this energy just often enough to have some of it rub off on them, as the bounty hunter proceeded to take on a sprint, the sight of his ballistic locomotion striking fear into many in the area, as it took Mr. And Mrs. Weaver into its clutches, an climbed up a building with his hostages, as it began an inhuman speech in some unknown language of the stars.

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Tara frowned slightly when Noah was unresponsive. Quickly, she scanned him over, and was slightly relieved to see the faint but steady rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive, at least...just...in a very deep sleep? She shook him a few more times, growing antsier by the second as more noises of war reached her ears. When he proved truly incapable of waking through conventional means, Tara gave up, tossed her bookbag to the ground next to the sleeping man, and sped off, tearing through the forest and weaving around every tree with practiced ease. She didn't know what she was running off to confront, but it didn't matter, as long as she could do something to stop it.

~-~

"Let go of me!" Liza screamed fiercely for the dozenth time, still kicking like a madwoman at her captor's armor, her face beet-red with fury but her efforts largely futile. Her eyes were alight with flames in place of pupils, the corners like miniature volcanoes with all the smoke they were pouring into the air. The redhead struggled to free her arms, desperate to pull out a hand so she might cast a spell and burn the monster to a crisp. Spittle flew from her mouth while she let loose with rapid-fire curses that would have made a sailor blush.

Her brunette husband, Darren, was acting far more dignified. His forte was in defensive magic: force fields of all shapes, sizes, and elements, not to mention a wide variety of healing spells. His skills didn't prove particularly useful while he was bound. Much like Liza, he needed to be able to move his arms to direct his spells; otherwise he risked cutting himself wide open. He was biding his time, waiting for the right moment to act, knowing that it was important to stay alert in such a crisis. Still, though, he had to force himself to not look down as the monster climbed higher, lest he lose his composure almost as fast as his wife.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

It was in fact futile, Liza's attempts at an 'attack.' The alien ore that made up the bounty hunter's armor was not even given a scratch as the grip was made tighter for Darren, wrapping around his rib-cage as the alien proceeded to headbutt Liza into near-oblivion, enough to likely dent a tank. And this was him holding back. Majorly. It snarled, scanning the woman over, and deciding she was still alive. He could then use them as bargaining tools...

-

Noah, in his mind, was starting to get a grip on his powers a bit more. But with every rise in power, he had to once again witness both the greatest, and worst moments of his life. Including the planet that suffered destruction because he failed to save it as Captain Beyond.

"Where is Captain Beyond?!" Demanded The Bounty Hunter. "Traces of Cosmic Radiation present on Earth-Dwellers!"

 

[Moogle-Girl]

The fiery woman's cries were quickly silenced when otherworldly metal slammed into her head. She heard the distinctive crack of something within her breaking, and blackness shot over her vision at lightning speed, her body instantly going limp. "Liza!" Darren shouted, his cry coming out as more of a strangled gasp when the monster tightened its grip. That was the last straw. He'd remained calm until then, but no one would ever knock his wife unconscious and get away with it. His tanned face tightened in anger, and he desperately tried to get some kind of field going with a few wriggles of his fingers. He could feel the energy collecting in the air, it was there, he just couldn't get it very coherent...but he didn't dare give up. He would save the both of them or die trying...

It was at that point that Tara reached the edge of the forest and finally got a good look at the alien bounty hunter that was tearing apart the town. Her eyes widened in horror as they scanned the wreckage that was visible from that point. She could hear every scream, like a chorus of tortured animals...

As she ran full-speed through the town, doing her very best to ignore the passerby until she reached the metal-clad beast, she finally noticed that he had taken hostages in his hands. She couldn't tell who they were from the height that the bounty hunter had climbed, but it didn't even matter, their lives were in immediate danger.

"Hey!" she shouted at the monster, as loud as she possibly could, trying to get her voice above the cacophony of noise swirling around her. "What do you think you're doing?!"

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

"Cosmic entity detected, energy ratings low. Has traces of target about her…"

The Bounty Hunter dropped down to the ground, feet-first, tossing aside Liza and starting to crack some of Darren's ribs. He had scanned the smaller being. And he was in fact sensing the energy being collected. This one was more calm and collected. More immediate to harness the cosmos than his mate. Deciding he could handle Liza if she was alone, proceeded to roar like an enraged beast, and proceeded to shove the man into his mouth, ending the human's struggle with a casual 'chomp!,' the bounty hunter coughing it back out and onto the ground, as he dropped the dead body to the side, and proceeded to fire the orange optic beams of great size at Tara, its thundering voice booming through the land as it fired an overpowed beam of almighty force into a helpless young lady.

-

Meanwhile, Noah's unconscious body began to rise…and his eyes would open with a furious white glow about them, as he rose up to the skies, and broke the sound barrier, as he flew towards town with frightening supersonic speed...

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Liza fell to the street and landed heavily. She had probably sustained more injuries from the fall, but she was too far gone to register the pain, and no one stopped to pay any attention, much less help her. In fact, as the town's panicking residents scrambled over every obstacle in a desperate attempt to open as much distance between them and the alien as possible, dozens of them trampled over Liza's body without a care in the world, crushing her further while she laid there, unable to defend herself even the slightest bit. Darren started to scream, and reflexively, he tried to defend her with one of his shields, despite the pain he was already being put through...but it was far too late. The last thing he saw was his wife's body, bloody and battered, as he was bitten nearly in half, the life leaving his eyes in an instant. Darren's corpse was tossed unceremoniously next to his wife's, and the carnage continued uninhibited.

Tara only had a split second to think. She was almost distracted with the fates of the alien's hostages - hostages that looked distressingly like her parents - but she could see the glow of swiftly-charging beams in the monster's eyes. There wasn't enough time to dodge, and the alternative required more strength than she thought she had, but it was the only way. Reacting near instantaneously, she held up both arms, palms facing outward, and unleashed two powerful streams of fire at the bounty hunter.

Her attack met his in a stalemate, effectively stopping it, but the energy required to hold her ground was enormous. She knew she only had a few seconds at the most before she would be overpowered...

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

"Calculating Chance of Success…150% calculated."

-

The Omega beams began to overwhelm Tara's own blast, when A Green wave of energy forcing back the bounty hunter. It was Noah. And he looked pissed. He turned to look at Tara for a moment, and waving his hand: A white aura appeared around the girl, mixing through various colors to try and find her aura color, as he clenched his fist, then let go, having granted the girl some of his own awesome powers to further her own weaker ones.

"You now have a protective aura and the ability to fly, Tara." Explained Noah. "And a power boost for what you call your 'magic.' Stand back and help the town. Grull's mine…"

"Captain Beyond Detected!…"

"…I'm not Captain Beyond anymore, Grull. But If there's anything that's still the same about me, I hate genocide."

Noah flew forward, jamming a knife hand strike into Grull the bounty hunter's chest piece, tearing through it like paper, as he lifted Grull into the air, and began to use an energy infused fist to punch the living daylights out of the alien, then kicking it through a building, and flying after it. He was about to continue the beat down when he sensed a whole other presence…As far away as the moon! It was bizarre, yes, but Noah was gifted with power that existed on the universal level. He tossed Grull into Tara's direction, deciding she was probably done by now, and she could use something to sharpen up her new skills…

And Noah flew up into the air to head for the moon to confront his new target...

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Tara nodded and panted her quick thanks to the interstellar warrior for saving her. She scarcely registered the aura he'd wrapped around her or the bright red color it gave off when it zeroed in on her own aura; there was so much to do and so many people to save. Not to mention she had to make sure those two hostages were alright, they'd definitely require the most therapy of all these people after the stress they were put through. (And that was putting it mildly.) Some shaken part of her mind registered the bounty hunter's name and what sounded like an alias of Noah's.

She could feel the added energy coursing through her body. The rush was exhilarating, like nothing she'd ever felt, but there was no time to experiment. She didn't bother watching Noah completely destroy Grull with strength she could never hope to achieve; she simply took off into the air without even thinking about it, adrenaline fueling every fiber of her being, and flew right over to the broken bodies of Liza and Darren.

Yes...that was indeed who they were. She was afraid of that...and she nearly broke down on the spot when she saw just how badly they were injured. They couldn't be dead, though, that would be ridiculous. Sure, her mother's limbs were all twisted at unnatural angles and it looked as though she had taken a cannonball to the face, but she would survive...she was way too tough to go down so easily. And her father...it didn't matter that there was a gaping, blood-soaked wound in his midsection that revealed all manner of internal organs and shattered bones, he would get up soon and heal himself (and his wife) back to full health, and they would all go home as a family and forget this nightmare. She didn't even bother to check their breathing, she was so confident.

As she hovered there, hanging over her parents (who were surely just asleep), she heard a loud whoosh cutting through the air, and instinctively, she turned to see Grull's heavily damaged form flying right towards her. She shouted in surprise and zipped through the air as quickly as she could, flying to the side and letting Grull crash to the ground, skidding through the streets and causing even more damage on top of everything the bounty hunter had already accomplished.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

In space, where the moon was presently positioned…a figure clad in red was watching the Earth, waiting for the arrival of Noah. This villainous cyborg was known as Karnak, formerly one of Captain Beyond's greatest enemies, one hunting the other endlessly. It had all begun on a planet of sentient machines. Grull and Karnak were the dictators. Ruled with an iron fist. An iron fist of tyranny, that is. Until Noah had found them out, and ended their little operation.

Now the former emperor and his most trusted bodyguard were bounty hunters, Karnak becoming the metal beast he was after being turned into pure energy and being forced to adopt a new form. Now, this form was re-shaping its arm, as it prepared for whatever would come its way. Karnak was more than anxious to lay the smack down onto Noah, revenge driving his psychotic mind, having made many attempts to hunt down Noah, yet failing and being pushed away so far when he was so close to en-acting his violent, gruesome wishes for avenging himself, and the power he once had.

His arm finished preparations, now a literal hand cannon, as a green glow suddenly came up behind him...

"Bryte..." Spoke the electronic voice, pointing the blaster arm at him.

"…I'm not Noah Any more, Karnak. I'm Viridian now."

"Noah, Beyond, whatever your name, your goals are the same. Here to turn me in to the regulators? That is what you heroes do…"

"You're dead wrong, Karnak. I'm here to kill you."

"You haven't the guts."

"You helped that bastard annihilate an entire planet. A planet that, next to Earth, I had begun to call home. A Place where I had new friends, and even my one true love: We were about to start a family when you monsters came and massacred them all…"

And Viridian began to charge his cosmic energy into his fist...

"…Including my unborn daughter!"

And a wave blasted forward, sending Karnak off.

-

The Battle Damaged Grull climbed up from having crashed, and his eyes began to glow...

"Targeting…"

And he produced the omega beams again...

-

"You need to realize your death will be slow, and painful." Threatened Karnak weakly...

"…You need to realize I'm not just going to kill you: I'm sending you into a pocket dimension where you'll be tortured for eternity…"

Karnak pointed his blaster arm, Viridian throwing out a beam of green light as the two created a flash of light for the people on Earth to see...

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Feeling utterly numb for reasons she didn't fully understand, Tara whirled around in midair to face the armored alien beast as soon as she heard his mechanical voice. There wasn't time to think. She summoned up all her strength and again unleashed the full extent of her prowess over fire, but this time, thanks to the boost that Noah had given her, she actually stood a chance. Her face was suddenly hard and tight, far different from the soft and cheerful smile she had been wearing just earlier that day, as bright orange blasts of energy flew from the palms of her hands, meeting Grull's beams for the second time.

She didn't cry out, didn't flinch, didn't do anything but hover and concentrate on forcing all the energy she had through her arms. Grull had hurt enough people. Tara wanted him gone. And she wanted him gone now.

It wasn't long before her own attack started to overpower his.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Grull tried to force her back, re-calculating himself, when the blast pushed him into a building, burning his armor as if he'd been tossed into molten magma rather than mere flames. Grull began to speed forwards one last time: If there was one thing Tara in terms of her skills, or the powers she had prior or even with the boost. Those with lower level cosmic powers didn't always have super strength or protection against physical combat. Especially in Tara's infant state of power. The beams would have done nothing. But now Grull was going to claw her apart-

Waitaminute. Up in the sky! Its a bird, its a plane!…no, it was a fellow in a white suit, possessing similar green energy to Viridian's own powers. And he swooped in, grabbing Grull, and tossing him into the atmosphere, flying up above him and dropping a hammer fist down on Grull's abdomen, and back down into the ground at high speed, making Grull appear as some fireball, as the beast finally died...

The newcomer seemed human in appearance, sporting spiked black hair, and was eighteen like Tara. Notably, his toned body could be seen through the suit he presently wore...

"You're in violation of some space law I haven't heard about yet, Grull!" Exclaimed the newcomer. "There's a NEW Captain Beyond in town, and he's here to take names!"

http://www.atfmb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ion_rayner.jpg

-

Viridian was throwing waves of green energy from his hands, watching it tear apart Karnak's instantaneously regenerating armor, as he in turn shot at Viridian to little effect, the two immediately duking it out on the dark side of the moon, Viridian and Karnak matching attacks blow for blow, blast for blast. Karnak was almost like a cosmic himself, and Viridian was still learning his higher powers, though he knew the more basic ones already.

"Surrender yourself. All injuries you give me will be repaired immediately. All the power you try to force on me, I absorb and become stronger…I AM ENERGY!"

"In That case…"

Karnak grabbed Viridian by the throat and attempted to strangle him, draining some of his energy slowly, before Viridian began to over flow his power into the cyborg.

"NO! What do you think you're doing?!…"