(1) Jack Diamond sat in the restaurant of the StarChylde Casino when he noticed an attractive blonde enter and attempt to get some help. Rescuing her from the advances of a drunken lout, he learned that Rad was attempting to find the local hero Jack of Diamonds, as she has a desire to become a super heroine. Sitting her down for dinner and calling his uncle, Lance, Jack organizes a contact for her. Meanwhile Migraine - fresh into town from living in St. Louis - also entered the restaurant, having been conducting his own search for the mysterious hero. Eavesdropping on their conversation, he likewise plans to join the meeting.

A couple of miles away, Mr. Cool, a newly arrived hero in Las Vegas, was on patrol in his limo when a large crowd drew his attention. A large female lizard had walked out of the desert, drawing a great deal of attention. Clearly confused by the mass attention, the lizard lady accepted his assistance in getting out of the fray and into the limo. As Lizz told him her story of being on the run, Mr. Cool asked Jackie, his driver, to take them someplace to hide out and get some food. She said that the best place to hide was in plain sight, and the best food was in the StarChylde Casino.

Meanwhile, Shard, having just moved to Las Vegas from Colorado, was searching for her male friend, who had decided to make gambling his career. Tracking him down to the StarChylde Casino, she was about to drag him away from the slot machines when she saw people moving en mass away from the cashier's cage, where The Oddballs were attempting to rob the casino. This human stampede also drew the attention of the heroes in the restaurant and entering, as well as Arden Jacobs, another meta-human passing through town.

A fight ensued with the villains and heroes appearing to be equally matched, each side giving as good as it was getting. After Lizz, Arden and Shard piled on Dark Phoenix; In-forcer was grabbed by Rad and knocked unconscious by Manifest Density, who was tricked into hitting her by Jack after getting stunned by Migraine. Seeing the fight as a no-win situation, Wanda the Witch teleported the four original members out as The Weird desolidified and rode an energy wave from Mr. Cool through the outer wall. While the villains had gotten away, the heroes had stopped the robbery and protected the innocent bystanders.

As the casino security moved in to handle damage control and public relations, Arden Jacobs slipped out inconspicuously while the rest of the heroes were invited upstairs to meet the owner of the casino. They all traveled up to the penthouse to meet Macarthur Duncan.

Once upstairs, Duncan treated the group to food and explained his desire for a Las Vegas safe from the crime and corruption that plagued the city. Having grown out of the days of mobster rule, the latest influx of crime revolved around villains using the casinos to launder money and lay low. Asking the group to join together, he offered to provide them with a headquarters based within the casino, one floor beneath his own penthouse, and meet all of their financial needs. They all agreed to join.. Transferring the get together one floor below, the group began to list what was needed for their base.

(2) Two weeks later, after everything had been delivered and those who wanted to had moved in, Duncan was making a final tour when he received a call from the owner of the Excalibur casino. The Sun Lords were reported to have entered incognito to launder some stolen money, and the new hero team in town was asked to come. Mr. Cool, his powers having changed to those of a super-speedster, ran ahead to confirm their presence while Jack of Diamonds called up their file on HeroNet. In the midst of the conversations, Migraine communicates with Rad telepathically, which caused the mysterious woman to freak out.

While Migraine chases after her to apologize, Duncan speaks to Jack of Diamonds about the team needing a leader. When Rad escapes from the headquarters through a window, the alarms alerted the others, causing a stir among the troops over what teamwork was supposed to be about. Jack took off after the shape-shifted Rad, while Jackie attempted to get everyone moving toward the villains. Mr. Cool and Shard quickly exited for the casino, while Jack watched Rad become a street person and start her trip toward the Excalibur. When she notices his presence, he states that he is on his way to the casino. She shapeshifts back to her primary form and the two of them continue their journey. Meanwhile, Migraine reached out mentally to scan a member of the Sun Lords, locking onto the mind of Vermillion. Jackie brings around the hovercar and transporting the remaining two heroes to the Excalibur.

In route to the casino, Shard mysteriously disappears from the group, leaving the arriving heroes under-gunned for facing off against the Sun Lords. Upon arrival, Jack of Diamonds sneaks over and disconnects Sunspark's power source while Rad punches her into a wall, then switches her attention to Concussion. Migraine starts pounding on Vermilion's mind from a distance while Lizz attacks Termoflex, much to her own regret.

The villains begin to gain a distinctive advantage until a errand blow from Thermoflex knocks over a statue of Lancelot, revealing the entombed form of Stalwart, a missing-in-action hero from the 1960's. Before the hero from the previous generation could regain his senses or the fight could continue, the Champions of Justice arrived on the scene to lend a helping hand. Between the two teams, the tide was quickly turned against the Sun Lords, leading to their defeat.

The Champions revealed that their arrival had a two-pronged purpose: to aid in the fight and assist Star Knight N'tx'n in tracking down a missing alien shapeshifter. After a brief conversation with Rad, N'tx'n managed to break through her mental blocks and prepare her to leave. Meanwhile, Jack, Keymaster, and Charcoal begin to speak to Stalwart, who freaks out when the realization hits that four decades have passed. He takes off, with Keymaster on his trail. After Rad has grabbed ahold of Turbo, insulted the planet and punched Morning Star, Turbo sweeps her and the Star Knight up and races off to get the twin shapeshifters and get them all off the planet.

A press corps, who wants interviews with the new team and asking about the Champions last-minute save, greets the remainder of the group outside. Once questions have been answered, the two teams regroup at the StarChylde Casino to continue their discussion. Migraine brings up the S.L.U.T.s, and their involvement in bringing him to Las Vegas. Keymaster arrives moments later, reporting that he had lost Stalwart after the hero had punched through an innocent's engine block. With the understanding that the Lucky Seven would take care of helping Stalwart, the Champions left.

Meanwhile, Ravenclaw - having recently left his long-time friend Avatar behind and traveled to Las Vegas for some RnR - began his voyage into the city. Attracted by the idea and shows of the Excalibur, he found himself in front of the battle scene, discovering that there was a new hero team in town and that they were connected to the StarChylde Casino. At the same time, Stalwart traveled down memory lane until Migraine uses his telepathy to contact Stalwart, assuring him that there his friends and were willing to help. Once convinced, he came to the StarChylde Casino.

As he entered the casino, Ravenclaw spotted him and established a telepathic connection with Stalwart. This being second time this had happened in the short time he had been awakened, Stalwart reacted by mentally shouting out at both men and telling them that he wanted to meet face to face in the foyer of the casino. It was there that he finally met the diminutive mage, as well as Migraine and Mr. Cool, who invited both of the newcomers up to the Lucky Seven's penthouse to talk. Adjourning to the elevators, the duo was introduced to a now-out-of-costume Jack, and the quintet went upstairs to talk.

After sharing backgrounds and abilities, the remaining members of the Lucky 7 extend an offer of membership to Stalwart and Ravenclaw to join them. They agree, allowing the group to make decisions for the future. With Migraine elected as chairman, the group agrees to pursue the connection between Las Vegas and the S.L.U.T.s while Stalwart begins to acclimate himself to the present.

(3) After agreeing that one of their first duties were to find and stop the S.L.U.T.s in Las Vegas, Mr. Cool, Migraine and Ravenclaw (the latter two in civilian clothes and disguise) started visiting the local, less reputable strip joints on the city boarder, holding to the terrorists' modus operandi. After a couple of days of searching, the trio arrived at the Happy Homewrecker. Outside, a local church group was protesting the organization, only to be routed by their pastor, informing them that getting into the face of sinners was not the best way to win them over to God. As the crowd began to disperse, both Migraine and Ravenclaw spoke to the pastor, interested in what he had to say.

Meanwhile, Jack of Diamonds was assisting Stalwart in familiarizing himself with the changes in society since his hibernation and touring the city. Back at the Star Chylde, a group of paramedics entered the casinoto tend to Migraine's grandmother, who had a relapse.

As the trio prepared to enter the strip club, Migraine received the call from Duncan with the news. Leaving Ravenclaw and Mr. Cool to continue the investigation, he rushes off to meet with Jackie and the hovercar to get back to his grandmother. The two men proceeded to enter, going over to the bar and drawing the attention of a couple of the strippers in the process. While Ravenclaw talked up Farmer Betty, Mr. Cool drew the attention of Knight Stalker. When Stalker tried to dabble in mind controlling Cool, he knew they were in the right place and called Jackie to bring in the reinforcements. Jackie had just returned Migraine to the Star Chylde when her cell phone rang, told by Mr. Cool to gather up the rest of the heroes and bring them to the Happy Homewrecker. She calls Jack and Stalwart to get them ready for the pickup.

When the hovercar lands in front of the Happy Homewrecker, Stalwart hits the ground, absorbing the qualities of the concrete before storming the door. After busting it down and taking out the bouncer working the door, the battle starts. Seeing a bunch of the employees rushing toward the basement stairs, Jack throws his loaded dice, knocking the lot of them for a loop and destroying the staircase. Chocolate Starfish, Star Spangled Stripper, Starz (Stripez had been sent out by Stalker to buy purple hair dye during her "seduction" of Cool), School Girl, Boy Toy and Dominatrix Barbie all quickly joined in on the fight, turning the strip club into a battle zone. The combatants paired off in several close battles until Migraine returned to sway the fight to the heroes' advantage; his grandmother had recovered quickly from the relapse and was resting comfortably. With all of the other terrorists unconscious, Boy Toy was forced to surrender.

Remembering that the strippers and bouncers were trying to get to the basement, Jack suggested that they check it out. Migraine agreed with the idea, but Ravenclaw - remembering his meeting with the Star Knight N'tx'n - decided that he should take Knight Stalker to him for questioning. After disappearing with the prisoner, Migraine suggested that Stalwart and Jackie stay upstairs to gather up the prisoners while he, Jack and Mr. Cool investigated below.

Having Mr. Cool move the big chunks of debris, the trio went downstairs and began looking around. The first room investigated turned out to be Dominatrix Barbie's genetics lab, complete with captives and torture victims. One of them was a (former) woman by the name of Diane: a genetics experiment gone wrong, with an enlarged cranium, withered legs and fur. While Jack released the victims from their bonds and Migraine checked them over for medical needs, Mr. Cool helped take Diane off the wall and escorted them upstairs. Migraine and Jack continued searching the basement and found their weapons storage, including a mini-nuke. With the arrival of the police, the heroes turned over the prisoners, reported the weapons and took their leave, knowing that they had succeeded in completing Migraine's first case as a super hero.

(4) In the attempt to bring the group closer together through an evening out, Ravenclaw finally managed to purchase tickets to the Excalibur's Merlin show. After a brief training session in an alternate universe, the group returned to the StarChylde Casino to get ready for a night on the town. Dressed to the nine's, the six members of The Aces went down to the rented limo for the trip across town.

Once inside the theatre and the show had started, both Jack and Ravenclaw made comments about how unbelievable it was until a vortex opened on stage releasing several mystic warriors from Dulling Mire who had tracked the diminutive mage from the alternate dimension. As Jackie worked crowd control to ensure the public's safety, a battle ensued with Dominion mind-controlling Stalwart to attack his friends until taken down with the help of a sacrificial strike by Mr. Cool. Jack faced off against the fiery Firestorm until Migraine was able to assist, while Ravenclaw baited Low Blow, Quagmire and Sash into dropping their guard for various takedowns.

About the time the team was finished disposing of their opposition, another vortex opened on stage, this time ushering the arrival of the New Pendragons. They revealed to Ravenclaw the fact that the war with the Warlords was finished. Therefore, the curse had been lifted, allowing the wizards to escape their millennia-old prison. They also explained that they were going to be staying in the alternate dimension to help the natives rebuild their civilization and guard against any further uprising by the surviving wizards, who would be imprisoned. Expressing a desire to have Ravenclaw join them in Dulling Mire, Ravenclaw was torn between the two teams, finally choosing to leave with the New Pendragons. Expressing his gratitude to the Aces, he summons Jade and his belongings and willingly returned to the dimension that once served as his own private hell.

(5) As Independence Day entered late afternoon, Jackie invited the boys to join her in attending a local church's parking lot fair. As she, Jack, Brady, Frank and Mr. Cool entered the fairgrounds, she wanted to go on the Ferris wheel with Jack, while Brady and Frank were greeted by the pastor and Mr. Cool wandered off on his own. After a brief introduction, the pastor, who broke up the Happy Homewrecker protest, recognized Brady. After explaining the purpose of the fair and inviting the two men to the service following the festivities, Pastor Kyle excused himself to speak with one of his congregation.

A few moments later, the heroes' attentions were drawn to the pastor once more, this time due to his loud discussion. Apparently, the man he was speaking with had not only been responsible for the strip joint protest, but had now hired a group of super-powered mercenaries to attack the Chicken Ranch outside Las Vegas. Realizing that there was a situation that the Aces should handle, Migraine called the group to reassemble. While Jackie summoned the Air-imus, Jack and Frank snuck away to the parking lot to change.

As the hovercar arrived, the pastor, who insisted on going along to help, joined Jack of Diamonds and Stalwart. On the ride, Pastor Kyle revealed that he had been a member of Freedom Force (the original group) before entering bible college. As they arrived on the scene, he proved that he had some combat savvy by launching himself into battle against Black Widow after identifying Ronin. Following his lead, Stalwart absorbed the properties of the aluminum in the hovercar before grabbing the female ninja and flinging her into the fire-throwing Flambeau before Hardbody jumped at the chance to battle the strongman. Meanwhile, Jack attacked Harvestman while Jackie left for help.

As the battle raged on, Jackie was less than a quarter mile away before running into a jeep filled with ranch hands from Phoenix. After explaining the situation, most of the men wanted to head back to Vegas and avoid the fight. One of them, however, wanted to stay behind. Once his friends were gone, Jackie called him on staying behind, recognizing something in him as heroic. Taking him back to the ranch, the stranger jumped into the fight, giving the heroes the numeric advantage.

With Ronin and Flambeau down, Hardbody continued to trade blows with Stalwart while Solaris absorbed the flames and blinded Black Widow and Harvestman. Neither Pastor Kyle nor Jack seemed willing to battle a blinded foe and waited until the villains could see again before continuing the fight. Black Widow made a run for it, with Jackie in the Air-imus on her heels, while Jack and Pastor Kyle worked together to take down Harvestman. Stalwart tried to convince Hardbody to quit, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. After trading another set of blows with Stalwart, she was finally dropped by a leg sweep from the pastor.

With the ranch secured, Solaris, Jack and Stalwart took off after Jackie and Black Widow, only to find that the spunky driver had captured the villain. As they joined her in the hovercar and headed back to the ranch, they discovered that she had bluffed Black Widow into believing that the Air-imus was fully armed and convinced her to surrender. Upon their return, the prisoners were turned over to the sheriff's department. As they headed back toward the city, Jack invited both Solaris and Pastor Kyle to join the Aces. After much discussion, Pastor Kyle agreed to join under the stipulation that he not regain his former code name - Captain Combat - and assumed the new name of White Mask. Solaris also had some difficulties in joining, calling Phoenix only to learn that the trouble at the Festival of Lights had led to Glenn making arrangements to take the kids away. He flew off to investigate the situation, vowing to return if he suddenly found himself without a job.

The Aces returned to Pastor Kyle's church and, as he went inside to get ready for the evening's service, Jack and Frank searched the area for Brady and Mr. Cool. While a few people seem to remember people meeting their descriptions, no one knows where they disappeared to. The search will continue for the next week and a half, off and on. The mystery will be added to by the fact that Brady's grandmother is still at The Sleeve, being tended to by the private nurse, eliminating the idea that he just left town. Despite these disappearances, though, the heroes will go about their normal lives (after all, its not the first, second or third time teammates have vanished without word).

(6) (Co-GMed by Kenn Hallaron) * The Great Darkness Saga crossover * Jack, Jackie, Frank, Sion and Pastor Kyle are enjoying each others company in the StarChylde Casino's Karaoke bar when a call comes in on Jackie's cellphone, informing the group that they are being asked to come down to the morgue to identify the body of Lizz, one of the founding members of the group. Once there, they meet several members of Las Vegas's Crime Scene Investigators. After identifying their fallen comrade, they learn that she was murdered in a farmhouse outside of town; a scenario that sounds very familiar to Jack, who asks if there are any other victims. The chief coroner reveals that there were two others, plus a dog, found on the scene. Realizing that they had, in fact, lost Shard as well, the heroes ask for a moment to talk amongst them. Once alone, Pastor Kyle prays for the three victims and holds a brief ceremony / pep talk, followed by Stalwart taking command and dividing the team into two groups: himself, Jack and Jackie would hit the streets to gather information while Solaris and White Mask went to the farmhouse to see if there was anything missed.

In route to question some street contacts, Jack suggested a change of clothes before hitting the streets, which led eyes toward the StarChylde Casino. Noticing that the entire floor of their headquarters was pitch black, the group made their way back to base to discover that the nurse of Rose Elmwood (Migraine's grandmother) was dead, Duncan was unconscious and bleeding, and a large, black hole in space hung in her bedroom, which in turn released shadow creatures from inside it.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, Solaris and White Mask arrived at Shard's farmhouse to find a similar portal spitting out creatures of its own. With Sion being the first one in, the beasts seem to take an instant dislike to him and attack with deadly intentions. With White Mask fought to keep the creatures at bay, Solaris healed himself of the wounds and used his light-based attacks on destroying the beasts, the portal and half the kitchen.

Back at the StarChylde, Stalwart fought off the emerging creatures as Jack checked on the quickly-recovering Duncan and debated calling on Carmen - on of the support staff for the Champions of Justice that he had encountered a few months before - before calling Jackie in where they could protect her if more attacks occurred. When White Mask calls in to compare notes, a blast of flame erupts from the portal, causing the duo at the ranch to race home.

By the time they had returned, the fire had been put out and Solaris used what he learned at the farmhouse to close the portal in the base. Still not knowing what had caused the portals or who had captured Rose, the team became concerned that another attack on the super hero community was underway and began checking with their sources: Jack went to HeroNet while Pastor Kyle called his old teammate Sentinel. While both were doing this, a message was dispatched over HeroNet from Keymaster, informing everyone of the current global crisis and asking for anyone with similar cases to report in.

While Solaris used his matter manipulation abilities to begin "healing" the fire-damaged base, Stalwart called in what the Aces had experienced, triggering a visit from Mirage of Project: Eclipse who teleported the team to Champions Island for a meeting of heroes from across the nation. As Solaris had troubles with a flirtatious Charcoal, White Mask was reunited with his friend Sentinel, Stalwart with Lady America (from his days of being the sole hero of Vegas in the 60's), and Jack with his uncle, the private investigator Lance Diamond. Solaris was also reunited with The Hero, who was with fellow ex-Crusader Bass Line and updated Sion on the situation with the foster children.

After a brief meeting with the other heroes, a delegation was chosen to return with Stalwart, White Mask, Jack and Jackie (Solaris close to travel with the Project: Eclipse group to tend to medical needs) to Las Vegas to find the darkness-wielding assassin plaguing their city. Upon being teleported back to their headquarters by Mirage, they discovered a new stable darkness wormhole open in their living room.

* Six Months Later * In addition to building a working relationship with the LVPD by helping with various crimes along the strip, the heroes have also worked toward developments in their own lives. Pastor Kyle has been working on aiding Sion in gaining legal citizenship in the United States, as well as studying for his GED, looking at local colleges and guidance in spiritual matters. Frank has taken the opportunity to track down his family and learn more about what happened during his imprisonment. Jack and Jackie have decided to be "just friends," with the former taking occasional leaves to visit his other ports of call and the latter remaining aboard as the team's driver and general Girl Friday. As usual, Duncan remained secluded and mysterious, providing for all of the team's financial neads. Finally, about a month ago, Brady's grandmother finally succumbed to her illnesses and departed from this world. After handling all of the final arrangements, he once again left St. Louis and returned to Vegas, resuming command of the Aces.

(7) While Jack, Jackie, Pastor Kyle and Frank all prepare to join Sion for his citizenship ceremony, Brady returns from wrapping up the last affairs from his grandmother's death and heads directly for the courthouse for the event. Meanwhile, Sion arrives early, encountering his usual flirtations from women. Carolina, a Mexican immigrant who is also taking the oath, manages to draw his attention with her wholesome intentions and the two agree to meet after the ceremony. Brady also manages to make a romantic connection on his way through security with an assistant D.A. named Latisha.

Once everyone has arrived and court is in session, Brady greets his teammates telepathically while taking note that his new friend is working in on the cases that are being brought before the court before the ceremony. He decides to scan the prisoners while watching the proceedings, getting a feeling of their overall mindset. As court continues, however, two of the bailiffs and a pseudo-lawyer move to remove one of the prisoners by force. After Migraine mindblasts the "lawyer", the rest of the team does what they can in their civilian IDs to distract the bailiffs and save the innocents. Jack is particularly noticeable in his typical flamboyant way, drawing most of the attention to himself. After Brady blinds everyone in the courtroom, Sion moves to disarm the bailiffs while Jack slips out a side door before the police arrive.

The police quickly take charge of the situation, escorting Migraine and Stalwart (the only two heroes that managed to change into their costumes) into another room for a quick report while the other witnesses (including Pastor Kyle, Sion, Jackie, Tish, the judge and Carolina) are questioned before being released. The swearing-in ceremony is canceled and rescheduled for two weeks later, given the circumstances.

(8) While Sion and Brady prepared for their first dates with Carolina and Tish, Jack and Stalwart took to the streets to patrol. While out, they swung by the park, where a body had been found shot and hands removed. While there, they found a bum who seemed to be a witness to the crime. After questioning him for information and convincing him that he needed help, the duo called in Pastor Kyle, who took the man back to his church's shelter.

Meanwhile, at the Rainforest Café, Sion and Brady are waiting for their dates when they witness a woman with multicolored hair picking up a sports car and trying to shake the occupant free. As they both moved to go change, Brady was stopped by Tish's arrival, leaving Sion to deal with the situation on his own. Once outside, Solaris confronted Hardbody, only to find the man in the car calling for a pick-up. A man with long, black hair and gold armor arrives, informs Solaris that his "mistress" wants him, and takes the hero and the car occupant with him. Realizing that something had gone wrong, Migraine arrives to find an empty street.