I feel like using this forum for stuff. So I'm going to post a preview from an upcoming chapter of The Champions. It won't be the one for this Saturday. I won't tell you what chapter it's from. But if there's demand, I can keep regularly posting previews for The Champions, or for Aegis and Runaways.

The first guard opened the door and stepped inside as Melissa walked over to the bed. While she had her back turned, she pulled out the stud on her watch. She turned back around as he approached, a big grin on his face. You deserve what you're about to get, she thought.

She raised her hands up to his face, then jammed the stud into his neck. He let out a sharp grunt of discomfort and grew angry, but then a look of confusion crossed his face, and finally panic. "You . . . !" was all he could get out before he started to wobble. Melissa grabbed him and turned him around as his partner looked in. She pulled the pistol from his waist holster as the other guard did the same. He fired off a couple shots, but she hid behind his partner, whose body armour kept the bullets from reaching her. She fired back. The recoil hurt her arm, but she managed to hit the guard with two shots, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to recover, she held the pistol in both hands and carefully aimed. The next shot hit his jaw.

"So much for the Hippocratic Oath," she mumbled, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest. "OK, I don't have long before more guards come, so I'd better move fast. I can think about the fact that I killed someone once I'm safe."

She grabbed more ammo off the guard she'd poisoned, then poked her head into the hallway. There was no one there at that moment, but that wasn't going to last. The other guard had an assault rifle, so she picked it up.

She had no idea where she was or which way led to an exit. She decided to go right. She sprinted down the hall, passing by an intersection that some guards were coming down. She kept moving, hoping to find somewhere easier to defend. She looked back and saw the guards come around the corner. She turned and fired a burst from the rifle. One of the men went down clutching a hole in his throat, the others ducked back around the corner. Three down, God only knows how many to go, she thought. In retrospect, this was probably a bad idea.

Here's a preview of my Final Justice tie-in chapter.

Julienne and Sledge faced each other. She hadn't even bother to put on her costume, and instead wore denim shorts and a loose white t-shirt. Sledge ogled her openly, and flexed to show off his own body. He wore his costume – red jumpsuit, blue gloves and boots, and a mask that left his eyes and mouth uncovered – and held his futuristic-looking alien sledgehammer.

"If you wanted me alone," he said in what he obviously believed was a flirty tone, "to get all sweaty and personal, you could've just asked."

"Cute," she replied contemptuously. "The name of the game is to land a hit on me."

"What do I get if I win?"

"A shower. Now shut up and attack me."

He adjusted his grip on his hammer and considered his plan of attack. This wasn't the first time they'd sparred, and she always got the better of him. It never helped when she dressed so sexy. It was hard to concentrate with such a hot body in front of him.

He charged and took a swing . . . and promptly found himself hitting the floor as she threw him. He got back to his feet, and looked at her as she smirked at him. "Is that all you've got?" she asked in a withering tone. Sledge scowled. She was in one of her more aggressive moods. That was always a pain.

He continued to attack her, and she continued to avoid and counter his attacks. Luckily, the hammer made him pretty much invulnerable, but he still got annoyed about it. "All right," he finally said after a particularly hard take-down. "That's it. I'm done."

"Already?" Julienne said. "You're pathetic."

"Hey, fuck you, bitch! I was just taking it easy on you because I can't bring myself to hit a girl. But we both know I'm a hardcore badass. We keep this shit up long enough, you'll get tired, and I'll kick your ass, no problem."

"You think so?" she said. "You get all your powers from your hammer, right? I wonder how tough you'd be if someone took that away from you?"

She ran towards him. He swung his hammer, but she ducked under it, then grabbed his arm and threw him again. She kept a hold of his arm as he landed, then grabbed his hammer with her other hand. She used her leverage to twist the hammer out of his grasp. Once he'd let go, she tossed it away, towards the door. Then she let go of his arm and walked away.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Total badass. Thanks so much for taking it easy on poor little me."

"Yeah, well," Sledge grumbled, "you took me by surprise, that's all."

"Good thing the people we fight will never do that, huh?" she asked in a condescending tone.

Sledge smiled. "Hey, let's drop the act," he said. "We both know why you're acting so hostile towards me. You want me. No shame in that."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. It's obvious to anyone who looks that you've got a thing for me. So why don't we stop fighting it?"

"You . . . arrogant, deluded, chauvinistic idiot. Want you? I want you to leave me alone. You're a pig, and you're not my type. Besides, I already have a boyfriend, remember?"

"Yeah, but you don't really have a boyfriend, do you? It's been months, babe, time to face facts."

Julienne eyes and mouth opened wide in shock and outrage. She was too angry to even speak for a moment. Oh, wow, Sledge thought. I not only crossed the line, I took a running jump over it, then doubled back to take a shit on it. She's going to kill me, and I'm going to deserve it.

"You . . ." she whispered, trembling with rage. "How . . . how dare you?! How dare you say that to me! Do you think I need to reminded of how long it's been?! Do you think I don't count the days he's been missing? You have no idea what I'm going through! I cry myself to sleep every night! My heart breaks all over again when I wake up every morning and remember what happened! There are days where I feel physically ill from worrying about him! The only thing that's kept me going – the only thing – is the hope, every day I wake up, that this will be the day I find out where he is, and that he's OK! And you – you just come along and tell me to accept that he's gone! Just to get me to sleep with you! You want to fuck? Well, you can go fuck yourself, asshole!"

"Hey, Julie, look," Sledge said uncomfortably, reaching out to put his his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't," she slapped his hand away, "touch me. Don't you dare touch me right now. After what you just said, you're lucky I don't kill you. Get out of my sight. Now!"

She turned away from him. He paused for a moment, then turned and walked out, grabbing his hammer on the way. When she heard the doors to the training room shut, she looked back to make sure he was gone. Then, she dropped to her knees, all her strength having left her body, and wept.

A minute later, she heard the door open. "Julie?" a female voice asked. "Are you OK?" Laura walked over to where Julienne knelt, shaking. She put her arm around Julienne. "Julie?"

"I can't do it any more," Julienne whispered through tears. "I miss him so much."

"Shh, shh," Laura held her close. "I know. It's OK."

"I just can't do it any more. I can't go on. It's too hard."

"It'll be OK," Laura said. "We'll find him."

Julienne gave no response beyond her pained sobs.

Eventually, Julienne fell asleep. Laura gently lifted her, and carried her to her room and put her to bed. She watched Julienne with pity. She had known how hard things had been for the girl, but she had no idea Julienne was in such shape. She brushed some hair out of Julienne's face, planted a comforting kiss on her brow, and left her to sleep.

A girl's night out did nothing to make Julienne feel better. She returned to her room, and found she wasn't alone. A woman sat on her bed. She wore a blue costume covering her full body, a black belt, and a blue mask over the upper half of her face. Light brown-red hair came out the top. It was Shift, a shapeshifting supervillain Final Justice had encountered a couple times.

"How did you get here?" Julienne demanded. "How did you know where we are? How did you get past all the security?"

Shift chuckled. "You're not the only ones with government access. But I came here because I have a proposition for you. I hear you're looking for someone. We know where he is. I will tell you now. "

"You're a horrible deal maker. What's the proposition if you're going to tell me anyways?"

"The proposition is this. We need help getting in somewhere. If you help us, we take you straight to him. If you don't help us, you find your own way. Interested?"

"Where's Will?" Julienne demanded.

"You mean your ex?" Shift replied with a smirk.

"No," Julienne slowly walked over, "I mean my fiance."

"Not any more, he's not."

Julienne grabbed her by the neck, picked her up, and held her against the wall. "You're a lying whore. Just tell me where he is."

"Oh, come on," Shift continued. "You didn't think he'd be faithful to you for four months did you? That he wouldn't eventually come to accept his situation, and make the best of it?"

"Shut up!"

"I'll give him credit, he held out a lot longer than I expected. I went to him every night, in all sorts of forms, and he kept rejecting me. But he slowly broke down. After a couple months, I went to him like this," she shifted to Julienne's form, and even spoke in the French accent, "and he finally gave in. It's not cheating when it's with your girlfriend, right?"

"Get out of my shape," Julienne growled.

"Of course," Shift returned to normal. "At this point, I don't even need to look like you. When I go to Will, no matter what form I take, I rock his world."

"Fuck you!" Julienne threw her to the floor. "I should kill you for lying like that!"

"Lying?" Shift chuckled. "Deep down, I think you know that I'm telling the truth. And that's what really hurts you, isn't it? Knowing that I've fucked the guy you like. Left him gasping and groaning as I've ridden him until he blows his load in me."

Julienne glared at her, but she feared that Shift was telling the truth. "Just tell me where he is. Please."

"Oh, it's not going to be that easy," Shift got up, brushed herself off, and sat back down on the bed. "I'll tell you, but you're going to have to earn that knowledge."

"What do you want?" Julienne asked in defeat.

"What do I want?" Shift repeated the question curiously. "I think a better question is, what do you want?"

"I want Will."

"I can give him to you." Shift took Will's form, but with legs.

"How dare you?!" Julienne shouted.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," she said with Will's voice. "I guess I did make a mistake, though, didn't I?" The legs shifted away into stumps. "There, that's better. It's me, perfect in every detail. Exactly as you remember me."

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Julienne asked angrily.

"What? I'm just sitting here. Care to join me?"

"Of course not! I'm not cheating on Will. Especially not with a girl!"

"But I'm not a girl. I'm the man you love. And it's not really cheating, either."

"You're sick."

"Come on, gorgeous. It's been a few months. You can't tell me you haven't been feeling a little worked up."

"Stop it! Please, just stop." She stood with her back to the wall, and her face in her hands.

"Hey, hey, it's OK," 'Will' said, standing to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm here. Everything will be OK." 'He' lifted her head and gently kissed her on the lips.

Julienne shoved 'Will' away gently. "No! This is . . . this is wrong! It's cheating!"

"How can it be? I'm Will in all the ways that matter. And besides, Will wasn't faithful to you, either. So why worry about it? Just go with it." 'He' kissed her again.

Julienne's head was swimming. She felt so confused. Everything Shift said made sense. She'd always worried that Will might have forgotten her. And what man could hold out against a master seductress like Shift? And the kiss felt so nice. Not exactly like how Will used to kiss, but it had been so long.

Shift sensed Julienne's will weakening. It was time for the final touch. "When we're done," she said, "I'll tell you everything."

Wow. Very.....intimate and descriptive. It works. I like it.

Louise Hart stood against a wall. She was a lovely young girl of 17 with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a long coat, and red high-heeled boots poked out from the bottom. She looked at the bank across the street, feeling a mixture of excitement and fear. She'd knocked off a couple nightclubs that had refused to let her perform, but a bank – that was different. It was a lot bigger, and more final. She could still change her mind, and turn away from crime, but once she entered that bank, her path would be set. Was she ready to cross that line?

She smiled. She was ready. She walked across the street and entered the bank. There, she threw off her coat, revealing the barely-there red costume underneath. She held an empty duffel bag. "I'm Shrieker! Everyone on the floor!" she shouted. Everyone looked at her. "Now!"

Everyone looked at each other uncertainly. She let out a scream that caused everyone to clutch at their ears as it deafened them, and they dropped to the floor. Then she stopped. "Thank you," she said snidely, ignoring the alarm. She hopped behind the desk, stumbling slightly as she landed (stupid heels, she thought), and strutted over to the vault. The main steel door – she was surprised at how much it looked like a normal door; she'd expected it to be bigger and rounder, like in movies – was open, but a smaller, cage door blocked entrance.

"What a nuisance," she sighed. She took a deep breath, then screamed again. The door was blown off its hinges, hitting the wall across from her. She walked in, and proceeded to fill the bag with money. She used her scream to smash open safety deposit boxes, and took anything of value from inside. As she worked, she sang to herself. If anyone in the bank could still hear, they would've been impressed with her singing voice. Alas, it would be some time before any of them could hear again.

"Anyone else hear that?" Ferro asked.

"I think we all heard that," Matter Man said. "Sounds like trouble. Let's go."

They were only a couple blocks from the bank, and Ferro set them down outside it before Shrieker was done. "Remember, everyone," Psyche said. "Do try to keep property damage to a minimum. We just moved here, it wouldn't do to get a reputation for destruction so soon."

"Whatever," Tiny grunted. "I'll take care of this guy easy." He walked towards the bank. A cop car arrived.

Shrieker walked out of the bank as Tiny reached the door. They stopped in front of each other. Before Tiny could react, she let out a shriek, and sent him flying back. "You sure took care of that guy," Ferro joked.

"Shut up," Tiny grunted.