the whole "feeling his socks on his feet" was still weirding out daniel. it was just so nice. chances were, nobody would understand the love of socks that daniel would have for at least six months after this. besides the abilities granted him by the phoenix itself, it and maria had taught him to control himself. a quick telepathic scan was telling him that it was time to do something outside.
[break]the world was coming to an end outside the building, and daniel was taking the time to put his boots on. of course, who walks onto some kind of battlefield without their boots? just outside his room, all kinds of Phoenix lackies were rushing to defend the building from "hero" lackies: men and women that daniel would have previously considered allies of some degree, no matter how low that degree was. it would be a shame to fight all of them, but what had they done for him? maria had given him more assistance in the first five minutes they had spent working than the collective of the initiative's best in seven years. they were all uselessly fighting for nothing, not reaching for higher goals, not pushing others. another scan of the fighters was a relief, though, to daniel; he wasn't fighting his sister. it was battle-time then.
[break]his door slowly creaked open to reveal that the fight was nearing by the second. the cowards that had bowed down to Phoenix as soon as it landed were giving in just like before. the few that stood a chance seemed to have been overrun as soon as the loads of heroes had poured in. they were legion, but he was to be the exorcist. a crack of a grin split into daniel's face for the first time in ages. honestly, he was ready to show off his new guns.
[break]another single step put him in the path of anyone trying to reach maria. the boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath; getting cocky wouldn't help maria. the singed red, white, and blue flags and columns adorning the hall were soon to be ruined even further. some quick finger-stretches' time away and the first of the "heroes" were arriving to him. the heat of his breath was just suddenly getting a lot warmer; a clue that the first threads of his phoenix form were showing off. his eyes began to burn with the same fire that was enveloping him. no need to worry, though. it was only psychic fire. it sounded a bit spooky to daniel, but he was still new to the concept, still willing to give it a chance.
[break]figuring that the only way to make good out of the situation he was in would be to have a bit of fun, daniel curled three of his fingers on each hand, leaving only his thumb and index finger pointed straight out; a makeshift gun if ever he had seen one. target acquired, thumb down, and daniel saw each one fall in a flash of telekinetic glory. he still had no wish to kill any of these people; they just hadn't seen how great Phoenix was yet. they needed to see how it had helped him, how maria had given him a new life. it wasn't even just some bonus power that Phoenix had granted him for as long as he was loyal. maria was teaching him to take control of his power on his own. it was his next move to push these thoughts into everyone else's heads. he didn't intend to invade, only plant. they would learn. they only had to see.
[break][break]NOTES: How exciting! I only just got here and Pulse is already fighting. Score!

He was not fool enough to challenge the might of gods. Once, he had stepped into what people of the world would call Hell, and stepped out of it relatively unscathed. He remembered the incident as if it was yesterday; sometimes, he thought he could still hear an authoritative voice whisper into the back of his head: 'Have you come to be judged?'

It had never been as true until the moment he stepped into Austin, Texas. The ground was scorched from battle, and the people were either going crazy for Phoenix or because of Phoenix. He didn't see what the deal was until he caught wind of Phoenix making generals for herself in her bid to create a new world.

J was not here to be judged, nor was he here to judge. He was here as a witness to a god he did not believe in. Whether she was false remained to be seen.

Above him, the sky crackled with heroes engaging brainwashed soldiers who fought with psionic abilities. The ground shuddered with the might of foot-soldiers bearing the gift of telekinesis as they faced the Initiative's resistance efforts. J noted that there humans granted gifts by Phoenix were at their core, still very much human. They bled.

J avoided a stray volley of metallic feathers that speared the ground they landed upon. With more purpose in his step, he approached the building that led to Phoenix and her host.

Before the building were a few men putting up psychic barriers to prevent entry -- J shattered those without effort. They were but obstacles in his way to his target destination. He entered the building after shattering the barriers; the men did not pursue him, for their sole duty was to maintain the barriers.

Some heroes were engaged in their own part of the fight. J walked into the building, where brainwashed worshippers were ready to fight, even at the cost of their own lives. One of them was nicked by a laser and perished almost instantly. Some others fell, but their comrades were not deterred.

Phoenix's soldiers were once normal citizens. Now, with all inhibitions removed, they were brutes. They had power, and weren't afraid to use them.

They were now fair game.

And then J remembered what he had heard, in a different time: 'Only those with with My blessing and true purpose can rise above their limitations and benefit from all the gift offers.'

J - or Grey, as the people of Arkham called him - unsheathed his claws and ripped through the crowd of brainwashed fanatics.

The world was fair: The strong survived and the weak perished.

pulse genesis RULER

these people were all just wrong. they had no idea of it, so they couldn't help themselves but fight. pulse didn't feel as though he could punish them as though they were knowingly being bad. they needed a slap on the wrist, like a child, since the poor fools couldn't have any idea what was really happening. pulse could feel his patience wearing thin, though. even after a few of his assailants had been brought down, the others continued to ignore him. even people he had fought beside over the years were plainly acting as though he was a maniac, or even brainwashed. they would need more convincing from the empowered minions of Phoenix.

[break]the methods of some of the more powerful heroes were beginning to wipe through his so-called allies. it was difficult to think that his allies were utilizing needless violence, especially since he had to clean their messes up. he didn't exactly approve of their methods, and refused to think of them as friends, but they were on his side, after all. Phoenix had trusted them with powers, and he expected them to go through with its wishes. there were those that would not, as with any army, no matter how noble. however, even a few losers with no backbone were unacceptable. pulse took a deep breath and felt his mind expand. his eyes rolled back in his head as the boy pushed his will into each and every one of their weak psyches. they were the tools of a new hive mind, thoughts pulsing in and out of the king's brain. each one was a part of a single entity. outsiders would not be allowed in; anyone forced to fight for him would not take nicely to him pushing them. (not that his allies would either, but they didn't matter so much.)

[break]eyes and ears from all over the building led pulse to the conclusion that they were not currently fighting a winning battle. it wasn't so much the fodder that were creating a problem for Phoenix's army. it had more to do with two fighters, conveniently fighting from roughly the same very nearby location, though not seemingly together. pulse recognized one, the man with the eyes: he would be a problem that pulse did not look forward to. genesis was a "hero" that pulse had never liked too much. even his own rowdy ways of dealing with things didn't measure up to the carelessness of genesis. he had heard his fair share of stories, none very pretty. the other, however, pulse didn't recognize. another man, but with an affinity, it seemed, for breaking through the barriers that many of his men had taken time to put up. pulse didn't like that. it would be a question of whether or not pulse's personal shield could handle a skill like that. it wasn't good to feel fear like that, though. it had never gotten him anything but stuck with no voice in a large group of adults. he would just have to deal with these two in particular before it costed him too many lives.

[break]slowly, the group rejection of his mind became enough of a nuisance not to ignore. pulse allowed himself to let go of the hive mind and the messages of peace to his adversaries. if nobody would allow him into their mind in peace, he would have to show them a real reason for their submission. he would have to stop their leaders. pulse began his walk towards the two threats. he had to be cautious with them. pulse had never taken the time to figure out genesis' powers. he knew it had something to do with the sun and being from space, though. he certainly had no way of putting him in shade or throwing him back to space, but a mental assault would have to do. such a brutish mind couldn't possibly take much to conquer. tendrils of his telepathic presence spread like a leak onto the whole battlefield. they weren't exactly visible, though pulse could imagine what they would do to anyone that happened to be caught in them. it wouldn't feel nice, to say the least. he did his best to avoid his own teammates, but if his enemies would show no inhibition, why should he?

[break]pulse invaded each of their minds separately, preying on their fears and worries with the skills that maria had taught him. those with no strength would fall instantly. others could last a while, but fears are fears, and even those who have faced their fears have weaknesses. for most, their own weakness was their thoughts. it was foolish to send so many feeble-minded heroes to defeat pulse, even if they didn't know he would be there at the time. he thought that the higher-ups would be a bit more careful than that.

[break]for the wall-breaker, pulse would have to gauge his strength. a series of increasingly stronger telekinetic walls were expanded from around pulse's body. it would surely take some time to go through that, no matter how strong his ability to break through them might be.

[break][break]NOTES: genesis grey RULER God damn, I didn't mean to take so long and I'm so very sorry to everyone. I went on a trip and I wouldn't have signed up to be a part of the event had I known that the two would interlock. OTL Please forgive me. I'll be around frequently now.

it was an odd experience, being simultaneously in this many people's heads. they were in pain, they were being difficult, everyone one of them, and he wasn't enjoying the experience of pushing them past their limits. he was a hero, and heroes didn't hurt people unless necessary. his allegiances had changed, but they weren't to evil or anything; he was just on the unpopular side, still trying to do good. Phoenix was humanity's benefactor. daniel retreated from the minds of those who weren't giving such a big problem to his men. though he had largely lost control in pushing into their heads, it was easy enough to identify who to withdraw from.

[break]for those who would still create a problem for the defense of maria, daniel decided to attempt to focus more on them, putting on all the pressure he could. rubbing his palms, daniel he let psychic heat leak. bright orange burst from his hands, streaking in all directions on its way to those of his enemies strong enough to warrant his attention. these were the people he deemed it necessary to hurt. they were the ones who would ruin peace for everyone, who would let him become a hero that hurt people. supposedly, the fire would surround their minds in extra sizzling-hot power, burning them if they moved past the boundaries he placed. it was no guarantee, and maybe this grey, whose name pulse was finding to be a difficult thing to pinpoint in a head that felt so crowded, could break through those blocks like he could the physical ones. a good number of his telekinetic walls were being broken already as the grey fellow did his odd flailing motion.

[break]this single person was the one pulse was becoming most afraid of. the powers that he was most comfortable with seemed to be simple playthings for this grey. his defenses, his walls, his resistances were shattered with what seemed to be minimal effort. besides that, grey was proving difficult to subdue mentally as well. it felt like grey, alone, was a crowd of people jammed into one skull, and the effectiveness of pushing them was untraceable. pulse felt that there was nothing wrong with persisting, but it was beginning to seem futile.

[break]his thoughts and mental assaults were interrupted as a simple young man with a shiny, blue body approached him. upon allowing his mental presence to return, pulse identified the man as ice and surrounded his body with his telekinetic armor once again, but filled with his new psionic fire. he wasn't physically weak either, and he wouldn't let these people imagine him like that.

[break][break]NOTES: genesis grey RULER feel free to do whatever you want with the ice guy, or just leave him for me to control. either way.