The Mad Genius Acquires the Knowledge of the Twenty-Four Num Galaxies

The Crystalline Fortress hovered dominatingly over a magnificent city. Pulsating with energy as it is surrounded by dozens of powerful beings who are attacking non-stop. The cosmic energies of the universe poured from their bodies as they attacked.

Some were dressed in tight spandex with symbols or images on their chests. Others were dressed in everyday clothing but their power revealed how out of the ordinary they were.

They were joined together with one purpose, to destroy the crystalline fortress. However, none of them were able to affect the fortress at all. For all of their power, they could nothing to the floating crystal mountain.

Flying near the gigantic structure, a man and a woman looked grimly as all of the heroes fought against it.

Virtuous Crusader and Miracle Woman of Mars were very worried as they witnessed energy pulses grow faster. "Do you think he can do it?" Miracle Woman asked. "Absorb the knowledge of the twenty-four num galaxies?" she asked.

"He's merely a mortal human, how could he?" Virtuous Crusader responded.

"What others find impossible to accomplish; he finds as easily accomplished as turning over his hand," Miracle Woman responded.

"Then why has he never been able to acquire the power he desires?" retorted Virtuous Crusader.

"Because he's picky," she responded.

"Picky?" he asked.

"He doesn't want just power, he wants the greatest power!" she said as her eyes sparkled. She clearly held this common foe in high regard. Even a hint of awe could be detected in her voice as she complimented him.

"I say he's incompetent," Virtuous Crusader snorted.

"Then why have you never been able to defeat him given all of your natural assets?" She responded.

Virtuous Crusader raised an eyebrow as he looked at Miracle Woman. Miracle Woman and he were the two greatest champions of justice on Earth. Naturally, he always believed the two of them should be together, but she never seemed interested.

If he were being honest, she never seemed too interested in any male. Sometimes he suspected she was a lesbian. However, looking at her current expression, he realized there was one male she seemed to pay attention to, Gene Alexander the Mad Genius. This realization filled him with jealousy and rage.

"Why do you seem so interested in this mortal human? Despite how weak he is you always seem to approve of him. Aren't you a warrior of justice? How could you hold this villain in such high esteem?

"Villain, who says he's a villain? Has he ever stolen anything, murdered anyone, declared himself the master of the world while attacking innocent people? The only thing he's ever done, as far as I can tell is fight for a place in this world using nothing other than his incredible intellect. He has overcome all of us while being nothing more than a mere human," she finished.

"If you think so highly of him then why are you here trying to stop him with the rest of us?" he asked.

"He's being too reckless this time. It's as if someone has pushed him into a corner. He's acting erratic, he's never done anything like this before. He's had this fortress for years but merely used it for exploration and as a base of operations.

Now, he's trying to absorb all the knowledge of the twenty-four num galaxies? He could have done this years ago, why now?" she asked.

A flash of malice could be seen in the eyes of Virtuous Crusader as he listened to Miracle Woman. He knew why Gene Alexander was desperate, he was the cause of that desperation.

Gene and Virtuous Crusader were enemies from the moment they met. It was like both of them understood the nature of their relationship. They fought too many times to count. Through their fighting, Gene came to know everything about the Virtuous Crusader, and what he learned scared him.

Unknown to everyone, including Miracle Woman, Gene's mad bid for power was always aimed at preventing Virtuous Crusader from realizing his goals.

In the mind of Virtuous Crusader, he was the most powerful being in the universe and therefore everything in the universe belonged to him. No one could compare to his power which seemed to continue to grow continuously.

No one knew his power growth was the result of stealing the cosmic energies of living beings. He absorbed the cosmic energies of all of the heroes discretely.

With regular or unimportant people he would just gobble up their lives without worry. He was careful not to get caught but he didn't care for their lives at all.

Sometimes, his appetite became so big he would completely absorb not only a person's cosmic energy but their life energy. He didn't do this very often for fear of being discovered.

He was unrivaled in one versus one matches but even he couldn't stand against the combined power of all the powerful beings, not yet at least.

The only person who knew his secret was Gene Alexander, but no one would believe him because he lacked the power to be heard. Instead of giving up, Gene fought secretly and openly against Virtuous Crusader and his allies.

Things came to a point of desperation for Gene Alexander when Virtuous Crusader in a fit of rage absorbed the lives of Gene's friends and family.

His family and friends usually stayed in his fortress, but he left Earth to investigate a cosmic phenomenon. Before he left, he put all the people he loved on a hidden island protected by many of his most profound inventions. He thought they would be safe.

As he was leaving Earth, Gene learned of some plot Virtuous Crusader was hatching and stopped him. This last defeat was the final straw for Virtuous Crusader.

Even Gene was caught off-guard by Virtuous Crusader's next actions. Not only did he find Gene's family and friends but also to kill them all.

When Gene returned to Earth, he was taunted by his enemy until he revealed to him what he had done to everyone that he loved.

In a fit of desperation, Gene teleported the entire population of the Mercantile City to somewhere else and activated the plan he hoped he would never need. He was too weak against the Virtuous Crusader and he needed more than just intelligence he needed power! Power even greater than what his enemy could ever acquire.

The only way to acquire that power was to take his intelligence to a level beyond anything possible. He needed the knowledge of the twenty-four num galaxies to help him acquire the strength he needed so desperately.

As Virtuous Crusader and the Miracle Woman of Mars continued their discussion, they suddenly heard a maddened voice projected from the Crystalline Fortress.

"I've succeeded, succeeded do you hear me?! Virtuous Crusader, you're going to pay for what you did to my family and friends!

Once I have the power to rival yours, we'll see who the superior one truly is!" he yelled as he cried out with rage and sorrow.