Londyn stood in silence, wearing a black suit. Captain Hot Devil, Aurora Legion, and the Nova Guardians stood beside her, similarly dressed save for the masks they wore to indicate their hero personas. In fact, the whole crowd was dressed similarly.

Everyone was present. Heads of state, chiefs of the militaries of Earth, the Pope. The Secretary-General of the United Nations was officiating under its flag, and the flags of every nation on Earth.

They all stood before Icy Falcon’s frozen grave at Paraguana. It had been agreed to transform the site into a monument.

Today they held a funeral for the fallen.

Jets of every nation flew overhead in formation. Soldiers in dress uniforms stood at attention. What naval ships remained stood in the sea, cannons at the ready to give their salute.

And then one by one, the Secretary-General called up each military chief, from every nation that had participated, each one accepting a medal on behalf of their military’s sacrifices. In addition, the President of the United States accepted a medal on behalf of the people of Cincinnati, and the Presidents of Venezuela and Columbia and the Prime Minister of Curaçao each accepted one on behalf of all the civilians who perished when the battle expanded beyond Paraguana.

Each nation would later hold its own ceremony, to grant individual awards to those who had braved the line of fire.

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers and military personnel had given their lives to hold the line. And they would not be forgotten. The memorial site was still under construction, but they had finished the lists. Monuments made of stone and steel and alien metal, formed from the wreckage of the military vehicles of both Earth and the Vophae, with the name of every individual who died that day carved into it. Londyn had lent whatever grav-tech and supers she could spare to ensure it would be completed on time.

And then came Londyn’s turn, on behalf of the ILS and the world’s heroes.

She took a deep breath as she walked up to the podium.

This victory had been purchased at the cost of many lives.

Icy Falcon.

Master Elegant Katana.

Misty Guardian.

Spitfire.

The Purple Ox.

Doctor Titanium.

And many others, not to mention those who had been crippled, injured, or else driven to retire.

And it was not limited to the heroes.

Director’s Assistant Wilson.

Head of Security Gabriel Miller.

Armory Master Carol Siahaya.

Tawfeeq Rahija.

Feng Yating.

José Agramonte.

And many others…

All the ILS personnel she had ordered into the field, killed or missing in action as a result.

She swore in her heart once again to protect the world. To make sure their sacrifice was worth it in the end.

She accepted the medal and returned to her seat.

And then…

The source of a great deal of talk.

Arachnalich rose and made her way to the podium.

Everyone had an opinion on her presence here. Some had proposed that Director Green represent all the supers on the battlefield. Some had proposed perhaps Councilwoman Dayal might serve as a less controversial stand in. But in the end the organizers of the funeral and the world leaders had come to an agreement surprisingly quickly.

Whoever she was…

Whatever she had done…

She and those who followed her had come to the Earth’s defense in their moment of greatest need. And not a small number of them had also laid down their lives in its defense.

Questions of law and justice could wait for tomorrow.

Today they honored the fallen.

Whoever they may be.

The Rabid Catman.

Bloody Iron.

Doctor Vulgar Shadow.

Names like these adorned the monument as well.

A reminder that in the end, the villains and monsters belonged to Earth as well. And Earth to them. They had not abandoned the rest of the world in the critical battle, when everything was on the line. So whatever they’ve done before and whatever may follow after, that choice would not be forgotten.

And then life went on, for the Director’s work was never finished. Londyn had but a day after the funeral before she stood in front of her Council once again.

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously, Director.”

“I take everything seriously, Councilman.”

“Do you now? Director, someone hijacked the world’s nuclear arsenals, forced us into war unilaterally, and organized the villains and monsters into a force that rivals the League. There is no higher priority, and yet you are spending your time on scavenging and looting.”

Of course, publicly, the world’s leaders had gone and claimed credit for the declaration of war against the Vophae…once victory had been achieved. No mention to the public was made of the shadowy mastermind who had made the decision for them.

Privately though?

Privately they were frightened beyond all reason at what a certain someone had achieved. A certain someone who hadn’t even been identified yet.

Well, they were not wrong to be frightened. Just about the reason why.

“I disagree.”

The councilman straightened his back.

“You…disagree? That someone like this is not a threat?”

“Not at all. This is an extraordinarily serious and dangerous turn of events. And beyond their capabilities, whoever is responsible needs to be held accountable for the unilateral declaration of war. What I disagree with is that there’s no greater priority.”

“Oh? And what’s the greater priority, Director?”

“The Vophae Imperium.”

“The Vophae Imperium has been handled, Director.”

Londyn couldn’t help but hold her forehead.

“Please tell me you don’t honestly believe that, Councilman.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Fine, let me lay it out for you then. We are at war with the Vophae Imperium, Councilman. What we ‘handled’ was a fleet under the command of a High Admiral. Not an Emperor, Councilman, an admiral. We have not defeated the Imperium. We have defeated a single fleet of the Imperium, Councilman.”

“...it was quite the large fleet, Director. And High Admiral has certain implications as well.”

“Are you willing to bet the Earth on that, though? That fleet seemed large to us, but we know nothing about the true extent of the Vophae Imperium. Maybe that fleet was everything they had, and they will never recover from this loss. But what if that’s not the case? What if that was just a single fleet of many? What if their empire spans the stars, and their economy can churn out fleets like that on a daily basis? And if so, what do you think they’re going to do when they find out we killed a High Admiral and wiped out one of their fleets?”

“...”

“We barely know anything about the Vophae as of this moment. So we need to prepare for the absolute worst case scenario. The armies of Earth were decimated in that fight, Councilman. We are all but defenseless should a second fleet arrive. I do not intend to leave it that way. Reverse engineering Vophae technology and preparing our defenses for the second wave is the top priority. Period. Whoever hijacked the nukes did not destroy the Earth. The Vophae will. I will dedicate everything I can spare to tracking them down but I am not going to compromise on the safety of Earth.”

“...can’t we rely on that Xiong Huang figure?”

“Councilman, did you read the dossier I provided on her?”

“Of course, Director, what are you implying?”

“I’m implying you didn’t. Because if you did, you would not dare to suggest that. Look, the Mistress of the Eternal Night Sect answers to no one and doesn’t give a crap about any of us. She didn’t come to our assistance. She came to fight her own battle with the Vophae. We just happened to be there, so she used us. But don’t believe for a single moment that she would raise even one finger to help us otherwise. She fights only for herself.”

“...couldn’t we…”

“Let me stop you right there. She refers to herself as the ‘Great Immortal Mistress of the Eternal Night Sect’. She could wipe out the ILS and all the armies of Earth without breaking a sweat. She is possibly centuries old. There is no title or duty we can offer or demand of her that would make her even consider working on our behalf. She would consider it an insult and beat us to death if we tried. The only possible thing we could do is declare her absolute ruler of the Earth and have the entire planet grovel at her feet. And then maybe, maybe she might consider defending us, as her property. Or she might see through the obvious ploy and beat us anyways. Up to you if that’s a viable option. I, for one, just consider it fortunately she hasn’t decided to subjugate us to her will. And I would prefer to keep it that way.”

“...”

“No Councilman, the best thing we can do about Xiong Huang is leave her alone and hope she does the same. If we would like the Earth to remain both safe and independent, we must look to our own defense. So the Vophae come first.”

Well Londyn was exaggerating a bit. She was pretty sure the Vophae were going to be very occupied at the moment. And she was also pretty sure that Xiong Huang would in fact come running to defend the Earth…or rather a particular person that happened to live there who may also ask her to defend everyone else.

But still, she wasn’t going to rely on that. Mostly out of principle. And her dislike of that psycho.

And well, the Councilman was exaggerating too, so she was just fighting fire with fire. Now that the threat was gone, the nations of Earth had returned to their normal squabbles, the United Earth Coalition being the last casualty of the Battle for Earth. And they had a grand prize to squabble over. Every nation, corporation, organization, and half-competent inventor were now racing to grab whatever Vophae wreckage they could and start reverse engineering. The Vophae had clearly outclassed the militaries of Earth and pushed the ILS to the limit. If someone managed to master even a bit of that technology, perhaps they could rule the Earth.

And reach the stars beyond, including the even more advanced Vophae wrecks scattered about the solar system.

So of course, the…most definitely ‘objective’ half of the Council desperately wanted Londyn focused on something else. Anything else.

But well, they were far too late in any case. Most of the battlefield wreckage had been claimed by either the ILS or the AVS, as the only two organized forces remaining on the field when the battle had concluded.

Which was a whole other can of worms that Londyn would worry about another time.

Because first, she had plans for all that Vophae tech.

Oh, did she have plans.

““Good afternoon, all you denizens of the planet Earth. This is GNN and I’m your host, Brendan Baird, bringing you all the updates you need. Today we’re here to talk about the latest concerning the Battle for Earth and its aftermath."

"First of all, we’ve received word that the United Nations has come to an agreement at last. The Paraguana Memorial and the immediate area surrounding it will be granted a special status, and managed by United Nations staff. Due to this, the Paraguana Memorial will be open to all the people of the world without the need to go through Venezuelan customs, though visitors to the Memorial will still need to go through the normal channels to visit anywhere beyond that. Join us later tonight for an in-depth look at the plans for the Memorial, as well as the details of the agreement and the benefits to Venezuela.”

“Speaking of the United Nations, we’ve heard that behind the scenes negotiations regarding the so-called ‘Association of Villains and Superbeings’ are still underway. As of now, the United Nation has not yet decided whether to recognize and open discussions with the group, but GNN’s sources state such prospects seem increasingly likely. To discuss this topic, we’ve brought on our super analysts: Lacey Cook and Liam Reynolds. Lacey, Liam, how are you today?”

“Doing great, Brendan.”

“I as well, thank you for asking.”

“Well let’s get into it folks. So, the Association of Villains and Superbeings is supposedly in talks with the United Nations, what’s your take?”

“I’ll be honest, Brendan, I don’t like this.”

“Oh? Can you elaborate on that, Liam?”

“It’s in the name. Villains. They are not even bothering to hide that, no they’re proud of it! These are unrepentant killers, murderers. And they’ve clearly no intention of changing their ways. We shouldn’t be negotiating with people like that, period. Take this Arachnalich that’s leading the thing. There’s talk she went and massacred an entire town by hand, completely unprovoked. This is a deranged killer with no regard for life. And they want to let her walk into the United Nations now?”

“Well those are certainly heavy accusations. Lacey, do you agree?”

“I don’t, Brendan. Yes, this…AVS is certainly concerning and none of its members have the greatest history. But, I think that’s where we have to change our focus. Up until now people like that didn’t bother speaking with anyone at all, they just went and did whatever they wanted until the ILS was forced to put a stop to them. Now these people have gotten organized and shown a willingness to cooperate, to talk, to engage with society. I think that’s an immensely positive development that should be encouraged.”

“And you would just ignore all the terrible things they’ve done, that they planned to do, that some of them still plan to do? What would you say to their victims, to their families, Lacey? What sort of message does it send when we welcome these kinds of people with open arms?”

“Of course, we shouldn’t just ignore their crimes, Liam. But look at it this way. We have a chance here to put a stop to it once and for all. If we can talk with these people, if we can get them to use words and not weapons, if we can address their concerns and desires, if we can get them to engage with society instead of lashing out against it, then perhaps we might solve the desire for villainy entirely. A chance to create a future where villains are not stopped, but never feel the need to resort to villainy in the first place. I believe that is a chance worth taking, even if we must forgive the unforgivable to do it. And we should also consider their participation in the Battle for Earth. Even if they are not truly repentant, they’ve shown that they’re willing to be a part of the world. And that’s something we should encourage, as much as we can.”

“Personally I’d rather see them brought to justice. We can’t just let people like this break the law and get away with it. Participation in one battle does not excuse a mass murder, however helpful they may have been. There are some people, who due to their own choices and actions, shouldn’t BE a part of our society. I’d consider pushing mass murderers out of the loop to be entirely fair. And how do we know they’ll even follow any agreements they make? They haven’t shown any willingness to follow the law prior to this point, what makes us think they’ll do so now?”

“That’s my point though, the fact that they are now choosing to participate in the discourse may lead them to also follow the rules surrounding it. And if we never give them an opportunity to rejoin society, then they never will.”

“There’s another factor to this as well. The AVS has come out and announced they have begun to reverse-engineer Vophae technology, and have shown some promising prototypes already. There are rumors the ILS has a similar project underway but so far the AVS designs are the most advanced that have been shown to the public. What do you two think of this development and how do you think it will impact the ongoing negotiations?”

“Again, it makes me deeply uncomfortable, Brendan. We’ve seen what a villain can do with our own technology. I shudder at what they might do with the alien tech.”

“I’m actually encouraged by this.”

“You’re encouraged? By a bunch of advanced alien tech in the hands of villains?”

“Not by that, by the fact that they announced it publicly and showed us their designs. Clearly they want us to know about this. What that tells me is that this is intended as part of the negotiations, as an added incentive to engage with them. Which means it is far less likely they have any intention of sudden violence.”

“I doubt they’ve shown us everything though. Who’s to say for every engine and power source they’re developing that they don’t have a dozen weapons under development?”

“They probably do, but so does everyone. The point is though, that they’ve chosen to show what they’re doing to the world. No one else has done that, not even the ILS. That shows they believe letting the world know about it is more beneficial than maintaining secrecy. And to me that signals they are at least thinking about their public image.”

“I would guess they just want leverage to force out more concessions.”

“But that’s far better than using the technology to take those concessions by force. Which, again, is a very positive development for these people, in my opinion.

“Do you agree, Liam?”

“Not at all. I think it’s dangerous to leave this technology in their hands. And there’s no way they’ve shown us everything they’re planning. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if all this was to distract us, lure us into complacency so they can strike once they're ready.”

“Healthy suspicion is one thing, Liam, but what would you suggest we do?”

“What I said before. Bring them to justice. Let the ILS or the government handle the tech. And if any of those villains truly mean well with their research, let them fall in line once they’ve served their time, do things the right way. If they truly aren’t planning anything malicious, then why not just join the ILS or a normal research foundation? We don’t need to bend over backwards for them just because they happen to be smart or useful.”

“That would mean war between the ILS and the AVS, Liam. We just got done fighting one war. In fact, from what Director Green said we’re not even finished with that one yet. We can’t afford to fight amongst ourselves while the Vophae are still out there.”

“I still don’t think that’s a good excuse to let mass murderers run free, much less treat them with honor. Let them give up their ways and fall in line. But as long as they call themselves villains, they shouldn’t be surprised if we treat them like villains.”

“Well, I’m sure either way, these discussions will continue for quite some time. Thank you for your time, Lacey, Liam.”

“Thank you, Brendan.”

“Any time, Brendan.”

“This is GNN and we’ll be back after a short message from our sponsors.”