| Roll Call: |
|---|
 Black Diamond |
 Muskateer |
 Enchantress |
 Firestar |
 Thing |
Guest Starring: FIST |
 Huntress |
 Microwave |
 Night Owl |
 Willow Witch |
It was a typical Sunday afternoon in Central Park. Spring was in the air, the flowers starting to bud. Couples and families wound their way through the large park enjoying a day out. Nothing seemed out of place.
"This is really fascinating," the man-beast known as Brute commented off-handedly. The Freedom Leaguer had joined forces with the Avengers and the Circle in an endeavor to shut down the local DEMON base. (Editor's Note: See Muskateer #10 and Huntress #9 for details.)
Brute was standing out in the open, along with the Thing, the Enchantress, Willow Witch, and Black Fire. A pair of joggers passed within ten feet of the group and never even batted an eyelash.
"Just a simple Spell of Concealment," the Enchantress causally explained. "We cannot be seen or heard by the outside world."
"I find it difficult to accept the idea of 'magic'," the Brute countered. Nuclear physics was a snap. Magic was a whole other matter.
"Why is it that all the technological types are the biggest skeptics?" The Enchantress directed her remarks towards Willow Witch, the other spell caster of the group.
"Oh, you know how they are. They love to tinker with things, take them apart and see how they work," Willow Witch explained with a smirk. "Then put them back together with extra parts to spare."
Black Fire decided to stay out of the conversation. Those who knew of the Circle generally believed that it was a school for mages. That was not totally correct, as the Master would sometimes instruct those without true spell casting ability. As his name suggested, Black Fire was a manipulator of a mysterious force that manifested itself as black fire.
Ben Grimm, better known to the world as the Thing, had heard it all before. Being a former astronaut, he tended to put this faith more in tangible things rather than some indescribable force. But he had been around enough spell casters to get used to the idea, having worked with Warlock and Sargon in the past as an Avenger.
"I'm just trying to understand this force you control," the Brute responded. "Scientific curiosity."
"There's really not much to explain," the Enchantress answered. "I'm a general practitioner, Willow is a sympathist."
"I create an effect on a small scale," Willow Witch explained, "and my magic duplicates it on a much larger scale."
"Fascinating." The statement seemed rather odd coming from the hulking Brute.
"On yer toes, Kiddies," the Thing interjected. "I've jus' got word the infiltration team's inside the base. Keep yer eyes open fer Microwave." The other heroes nodded and turned to observe the park around them.
Within the very earth itself, Microwave made her way along. Her ability to alter herself into microwaves allowed her to move through most solid objects as people would move through air. The heroine had slipped out of the Angel Communications Van moments before Muskateer drove it into the DEMON Base.
Microwave located her target easily enough. Her task was to scout ahead and find a good location for the Central Park team to make a surprise entrance into the base. The unexpected part came when she found out that she was unable to pass through the walls of the DEMON Base!
In spite of her scientific skills, Microwave was unsure just what was used in the construction of these walls. It appeared to be a type of black rock, but felt more like metal to the touch.
All Microwave could do now was follow along on the outside of the base. This development was not a major wrinkle. All she had to do was find a large area beyond the security checkpoint...
Elsewhere, Black Diamond turned off her comlink and replaced it in the hidden pocket of her costume. Her team was within a subway station just off Central Park. One of the main entrances to the DEMON base was concealed somewhere in this station. Fortunately, traffic was low today. Placing her hands in the front pockets of the trench coat she was wearing to conceal her identity, the leader of the Avengers wandered across the station.
Seated on an out of the way bench were two women and a man: Firestar, Aureole, and Kor Hunter in disguise. "They're inside," Black Diamond reported.
"It's show time," Firestar whispered. Aureole just nodded in agreement.
"How about you fill me on your powers?", Black Diamond directed at Kor Hunter and Aureole. "Better to have some idea ahead of time before we end up in battle."
Kor and Aureole exchanged glances, and the archer spoke first. "I have some magical skill, fair maiden, but not to the ability or power of your enchanting comrade. Nay, dear lady, Kor hunts with his arrows."
"Bows and arrows don't seem that special," Firestar noted.
"Ah, if there were only time for Kor to fully demonstrate his archery prowess for you, my sweet. But my arrows are magical in nature, as is my bow."
Black Diamond took the archer's word on it, in spite of the fact she had yet to see his bow. He did have a way with words and had once more brought a blush to Firestar's face.
All eyes turned toward Aureole, who visibly shrunk away from the attention. Finally, she gathered her courage and said, "Magic ring."
Much to the young woman's relief, metallic footsteps interrupted the conversation. The Freedom Leaguer known as FIST had returned trench coat and brimmed hat covering his armor. Black Diamond gave him an expectant look.
"Found the entrance," FIST reported. "Piece of cake to smash it in."
"Good." Black Diamond sat down next to the others. "All we can do now is wait."
"End of the line, people." Muskateer shifted the van into park and shut the motor down. He currently wore the armor of a Demonspawn agent, as did his companions: the Huntress, Night Owl, and Speedster.
"It's about time too," Night Owl complained. The armor had been designed for a man and did not agree with her proportions. "I'm gonna peel this thing off before too long!"
"Let's keep your head, Owl," the Huntress added. The heroine was also uncomfortable in her armor, but it did offer plenty of protection for her.
"We should keep the chatter down," the Speedster advised, "In case there are others tuned to this frequency."
"Agreed," Muskateer answered. "Everyone pipe down, I'll do the talking." Night Owl made an unhappy frown inside her armor, but didn't offer a comment.
The heroes made their way out of the van, trying to look as casual as possible. Behind the secret garage door they had passed through was a large maintenance garage. Two other Angel Communications vans were present, as well as half-a-dozen miscellaneous cars, and one limousine.
On the other side of the bay, two mechanics were busy working underneath the hood of a car. One of them waved, and Muskateer returned the gesture.
"Follow me," Muskateer said.
Opposite from the garage entrance, a single tunnel led away. The disguised heroes made their way towards the exit, each of them waiting for something to happen. Nothing did and they entered the tunnel. It gently curved away into darkness.
"So far so good," the Huntress offered.
"Take a look at this." The Speedster removed his gauntlet and ran his hand over the odd-looking walls of the tunnel. The walls and ceiling of the passage were curved, making the corridor look like a circle with a flat bottom. The wall was constructed of some black substance that had a glassy appearance to it.
"We'd better keep moving," Muskateer added.
"Wait, don't you realize how strange this is? Some powerful acid must have been used to burn this tunnel into the earth..."
"And don't you realize that if we act like tourists, we're going to get caught?", the Huntress tensely interjected.
"Quite right." The Speedster replaced his gauntlet and the quartet continued on along the passage, moving deeper into the earth...
The passageway that Microwave had been following ballooned up into a room. This had happened at least half-a-dozen times by now, but each previous chamber had not been large enough for her needs. The heroine flew straight ahead, silently counting to herself to judge just how large the room was.
This was the largest chamber that she had yet encountered. The others must be getting anxious by now. No need to search any further as this would do nicely for their purposes.
Microwave turned upright and stood on the roof of the chambers. She was still intangible, but the walls of the base were solid to her. Pushing off, Microwave flew upwards to the surface.
"There she is," Black Fire reported, pointing off in the distance as Microwave's translucent form emerged from the ground some ninety yards away.
"'Bout time," the Thing grumbled. The Central Park group rushed to join Microwave.
"I've found a large chamber, about forty feet down," the Freedom Leaguer reported.
"Shall we start digging?", the Brute asked of the Thing.
"Not so fast, boys," the Enchantress interrupted. "Willow will save you some work." The sorceress turned to the young spell caster. "Go ahead, Willow."
Willow Witch sat down on the ground, Indian style. She gathered up the dirt before her and formed it into a small pile. Microwave, Brute, and the Thing all looked on with great interest. This was their first chance to see sympathic magic in action. Once she was satisfied with her efforts, Willow nodded to the Enchantress.
"Inform the others that we are ready to begin," the Enchantress said to Ben Grimm. The Thing took out his comlink and sent the signal.
At the subway station, Black Diamond received the signal. "It's time," she told her companions. They slowly stood up and as nonchalantly as possible, given the circumstances, made their way to the hidden entrance FIST had located.
Down in the DEMON base, Muskateer signaled his group what was going on. Up ahead in the distance, they could just now begin to see what must be the security checkpoint. The group continued forward as if nothing was amiss. They should be just about in position when the attack started.
"Begin," the Enchantress instructed Willow Witch.
The young mage nodded uneasily. She had been on some adventures before with other members of the Circle, but nothing like this. Here she was not only working with the Freedom League, but with the Avengers as well. It was more than a little intimidating.
Willow began to speak the Cymri words that would gather the power for her spell. Her hands moved in strange patterns before joining together, palm to palm. Dramatically, she drove her joined hands into the pile of earth she had formed. Then she parted her hands, breaking the pile in two.
The earth before Willow Witch suddenly convulsed. The ground shook, as it ripped open before the startled heroes. In moments, a gorge some sixty feet long and up to fifteen feet wide had formed before their very eyes.
"And that is sympathetic magic," Willow Witch proudly stated as she stood and dusted herself off.
"Impressive," the Brute answered, not taking his eyes off the rift.
At the bottom of the rift, the strange, black material that constituted the walls of the DEMON base was clearly visible. The sunlight striking it was reflected in odd patterns of color, making it look even more mysterious.
"That's a DEMON base alright," the Enchantress observed. "I'd recognize those walls anywhere."
"You mean this is standard?" Curiosity got the better of Microwave. She had been wondering just what this material was and how it had been created.
"Yes. All DEMON bases are constructed the same way."
"What type of machinery do they use to fuse earth and make it look like that?"
"They don't use machinery," the Enchantress casually explained to Microwave. "They summon a demon and the acid it exudes burns the earth and fuses it into the substance that you now see."
Microwave, Brute, and the Thing all exchanged wary glances amongst themselves and then back at the Enchantress. She smiled and shrugged. "You did ask."
"Uhm, yeah, right..." The Brute looked into the pit at the strange substance below. "Well, Ben, shall we get back to the problem at hand?"
The Thing nodded and stepped up to the Brute. The Freedom Leaguer locked his hands together to form a foothold for the rock-like Avenger. Ben placed his foot on the Brute's hands. With a loud grunt, the Brute threw the Thing skyward, Ben tucking himself into a ball as he flew through the air.
The Thing's ascent slowed and he fell earthward once more, gaining speed and velocity. The Avenger plummeted much like a stone into the pit and hit the outer wall of the DEMON Base with incredible force. The ground shook for miles around from the impact! Even the strange walls of the DEMON base were unable to withstand the Avenger's cannonball assault.
The Brute leaped in after the Thing, with Microwave and the Enchantress flying after the man-beast. Black Fire took Willow Witch into his arms, and the members of the Circle followed the other heroes into the DEMON Base.
The Thing dusted himself off at the bottom of the crater he had formed. Looking around, he found himself in a huge circular chamber some ninety feet wide, with a gaping hole in the top. The numerous tables revealed this to have been the mess hall. It was currently deserted.
The Brute landed close by, making his own impact crater. The others landed much more gracefully.
"Okay, so where in the Sam Hill is everyone?", the Thing wondered out loud. He didn't have to wait long for a answer, as DEMON Agents began to pour in from one of the three exits from this chamber!
Muskateer's group was in sight of the Security checkpoint when they felt the earth rumble. "That's our cue!", Muskateer shouted as he began to close on the Demonagents.
The Huntress kept advancing as well, not bothering to remove her DEMON armor. She could see three Demonwarriors manning the checkpoint. "Speedster and Night Owl need time to get out of their armor," she silently deduced. "I'll just buy them that time."
Raising her armored gauntlet, the Huntress activated the controls and launched a grenade at the guard post. Her aim was true and the concussion grenade exploded amongst the Demonwarriors with total surprise. Muskateer used the armor to follow-up the Huntress' initial attack. He sprayed the area with blaster fire from the Demonspawn's gauntlets.
The Speedster rushed past the Huntress and Muskateer in a blur, followed shortly by Night Owl. The Demonagents were still wobbly from the sudden attacks and went down without much of a fight. The Huntress quickly joined her two comrades at the security checkpoint.
Muskateer brought up the rear, having also now shed the infernal armor. "That was almost too easy," the sword-swinging Avenger complained.
"I think there will be plenty of foes to go around," the Huntress said, her voice muffled by the armor she wore.
As if on cue, metallic footsteps could be heard coming from one of the three tunnels that led away from the checkpoint. An alarm sounded in the distance....
The secret subway entrance exploded open as Black Diamond flew through it. Hunks of wood and brick went every which way. Without pausing, the heroine rocketed down the tunnel behind the concealed entrance. If everything had gone according to plan, then the distant security station had been taken out; the threat of the mines nullified. Still, Black Diamond couldn't be sure. At her top speed she might be able to outpace any explosion and not become trapped.
FIST activated his boot-jets and soared after the Avenger, with Firestar following him. Kor Hunter gallantly took Aureole into his arms and joined the others in flight.
"Time ta clean house!" The Thing grabbed the nearest table to him and threw it at the mass of Demonwarriors that had come to investigate the heroes' arrival. The agents scattered, a few avoiding the missile, others disappearing under it.
Microwave blasted an agent into dreamland while the Brute used his tail like a bat and smacked two other agents into the wall.
"Morbanes!", the Enchantress shouted in a shrill voice. Her hate-filled gaze locked on to one of the lesser Demonpriests as he stood in one of the doorways. Both enemies began spell casting. The Enchantress got her spell off first and the mystic energy slammed hard into the Morbane. He was thrown back into the corridor before he had the chance to react.
Black Fire put the last Demonwarrior down with a dose of ebony flame.
"Now what?", Willow Witch asked, looking around. An alarm could be heard in the distance.
"We'll carry on as planned," the Thing said. "Get inta yer groups and cause as much chaos as ya can! They know we're here fer sure."
"Group two follow me," the Enchantress commanded. She had yet to take her eyes off the Morbane she had blasted. After a moment's hesitation, Brute and Willow Witch followed the sorceress down the passage from which the Demonpriest had come.
The Thing made his way to where the Demonagents had emerged from, Microwave and Black Fire trailing him.
"Incoming!", Muskateer shouted as three Demonspawn agents came into sight. The armored agents had weapons at the ready and opened fired on the heroes!
A steel bolo whipped through the air and wrapped around Night Owl before she could move. "You clowns think this is going to slow me down?" Before the heroine could strain against the steel cables, an unexpected electric shock shot through them!
A second bolo sailed harmlessly past the Speedster, his superhuman agility allowing him to dodge the clumsy attack with ease.
The third Demonspawn fired off a laser from his visor, but Muskateer was prepared. "The serve..." Flashing his sword, he deflected the beam back to its source! It connected in a minor display of pyrotechnics and the agent was sent sprawling out of sight. "...and a beautiful return shot."
The Huntress was spared any attacks, as she appeared to be nothing more than another Demonspawn agent. However, movement off in the other tunnel got her attention. "Look out! There's another group of them!"
The warning came too late for Speedster, as another set of steel bolos found their mark around him. The shock brought the Freedom Leaguer to his knees. An energy discharge from another Demonwarrior rendered him unconscious.
A total of five Demonagents were in the second tunnel. A pair of blasts were fired at Muskateer. "And again!" He deflected the first, but missed the second. It knocked him back a step, but otherwise didn't seem to harm him. "Sheesh, what a wimpy gun! I've had spicy chicken wings that hurt worse than that!"
The last agent fired on the disguised Huntress, but didn't have enough force to punch through the armor. The Huntress retaliated with another concussion grenade fired into the midst of the Demonwarriors. The explosion sent them sprawling like rag dolls.
"Not bad, Huntress." Muskateer rushed them, determined to put them down before they could recover. "You look like you could make a helluva Demonspawn!", he joked.
"Don't make me hurt you," the heroine threatened back.
"This sucks!" Night Owl flexed her muscles and snapped the cable surrounding her. The electricity in the cables had a bite to them, but not enough to really hurt her. Enraged, Night Owl leapt at the offending armored Demonspawn, taking the two down to the floor.
The fight didn't last much longer. Muskateer put most of the Demonwarriors down with an electrical blast from his sword, while the Huntress blasted the rest with her Demonspawn Armor. Night Owl tore through the two Demonspawn with equal ease. Groggily, Speedster made his way to his feet after the bolo had been removed.
A moment later, Black Diamond streaked onto the scene and landed. "Nice of you to join the party, Di," Muskateer said as she approached.
"What's the situation?", the Avenger's leader asked.
"All secure on this end." Muskateer turned his attention to the console at the checkpoint. The security desk had the controls to most of the defense features of the base. "Hey!", Muskateer shouted gleefully. "This thing could cause some real havoc!"
"What do you have there?", Diamond questioned. FIST, Firestar, Kor Hunter and Aureole arrived moments later.
"Well, not only can I disable all the mines," Muskateer explained, "but I can see everything that's going on and use their own weapons against them." Muskateer worked the controls as he spoke.
"Fabulous," Black Diamond stated. "This is going better than I had hoped."
"Don't be such a worry wart, Di. We are the Avengers after all."
"Yeah, yeah," FIST grumbled to himself. "Maybe you'd like to do this by yourself, hotshot."
"The thought had crossed my mind."
"This fight is far from over, Muskateer," Black Diamond scowled. "How about you take care of those mines, and save the chest pounding for later?"
"Way ahead of ya, Di," Muskateer responded, unfazed. "Already done." He continued to manipulate the console, bringing up numerous images of the base. "If only I had a map of this damn place!"
Black Diamond turned to the rest of the heroes. "Huntress, Kor and Aureole are staying here with Muskateer. The rest of you come with me." She didn't even wait for an acknowledgement before taking to the air once more and speeding down the tunnel. Night Owl, Speedster, FIST and Firestar exchanged quick glances and took off after the Avengers leader.
"Hey!", Muskateer complained vainly. "How come I get stuck with mop-up?" Black Diamond didn't even hear the complaint. Disgruntled, Muskateer turned back to the console.
"She can't do this!", the Huntress shouted as she watched the others depart. "Actually, she just did. Great."
"Ah yes," Kor responded in an attempt to lighten the spirits of his comrades. "The reserve guard detail. Not to worry my daring comrades at arms, for I shall spin epic sagas of valiant warriors struggling mightily 'gainst the most extreme of odds! Stories of glory and honor to wile away your boredom."
"Excuse me," Muskateer spoke up from behind the console. "Some of us are working here," he said sarcastically.
"Kor, maybe the stories can wait," Aureole offered quickly. Muskateer sent a message to the awaiting PRIMUS agents, signaling them to begin their follow-up assault on the base, then turned back to the cameras. He had picked up Ben's little group on the monitors.
The Thing led his group, Microwave and Black Fire, further through the base. Coming around a curve, he skidded to a stop seeing quite a few Demonwarriors moving towards him.
"Destroy the infidels!", the Morbane, who headed them, commanded. The Demonwarriors assumed firing positions, one line dropping to their knees, allowing those behind them to fire over them. The incredible amounts of light reflected all around from the glass-like surface of the tunnel while the sound reverberated like a thunderstorm.
A few moments later the firing ceased. The agents were dumb-founded to see that their targets still stood, apparently unharmed. "I think that was an act of aggression, don't you?", Microwave asked the Thing mockingly. She had turned intangible to avoid the concentrated attack.
"This was my favorite shirt!", the Thing shouted, staring at the shredded remains of his garment. The salvo had actually stung the Thing a number of times, but he was unwilling to let on that the Demon agents had hurt him. "Now it's Clobberin' Time!!"
"I think it was an act of stupidity myself," Black Fire commented. "I wouldn't get the Thing mad at me on purpose." The Circle member had slipped behind his rocky ally, using his lumbering form as a shield.
"I'll pulverize ya!" The Thing rushed forward as the Demonwarriors vainly fired at the oncoming hero, trying to slow his advance. Ben crashed into the wall of agents, sending them sprawling.
"Shall we?" Microwave asked of her comrade.
"Yes, by all means,..." Black Fire and Microwave opened fire into the fray, picking off what few agents they could see around the mayhem that the Avenger was causing.
Meanwhile, Black Diamond's group was in the thick of a tremendous fight. An entire platoon of armored Demonspawn had blunted their foray into the base. Now the battle degenerated to a series of individual battles.
Night Owl was at her peak performance this far underground. She was far faster than the armored agents and smashed them about like tenpins. "Bring it on, bucket heads!"
Nearby, FIST grabbed two of the Demonspawn by their necks and rammed their heads together. The incredible suit that housed him boosted its strength with a surge of power. The Demonspawn armor was completely obliterated by the force of the tremendous impact, which didn't say much for the agents inside. FIST didn't even stop to witness his carnage; he fired a laser beam which cut directly through another agent. The armored figure staggered back and crumpled to the floor.
Firestar sprayed around her intense fire. The ongoing attack was beginning to wear her out. She wished silently to herself that she had already started her training with Muskateer. She landed, trying to save energy, but that made her an easier target and was suddenly zapped by three different Demonspawn, downing her.
Black Diamond wasn't faring much better. She had yet to completely heal from her ordeal at the hands of Artemis. Sweat poured down her face and her soaked hair was plastered to her head and neck. She continued to punch and kick at the seemingly endless horde. As she punched another Demonspawn she saw Speedster crash headlong into an agent coming up behind her that her sixth sense had failed to inform her of. Speedster removed the attacker from the fight, but managed to take care of himself as well. Neither stirred.
Diamond slammed her powerful, yet weakened, fist into another Demonspawn and sent him flying down the corridor. She turned looking for another opponent and was hit by two blasts simultaneously. The attacks drove her to her knees.
Night Owl waded in to another squad of Demonspawn, but they were ready for her. As one agent was sacrificed in combating her directly, the other four all fired their electrified bolos at the young heroine. She fell for the feint and was quickly wrapped up, much worse than before. The electricity crackled as she struggled to break free. Not giving her a chance, the agents fired their blasters.
FIST was the last on his feet. He moved over to Black Diamond's side, firing his deadly lasers as the Demonspawn closed in from both sides. "I didn't think you were... the gallant kind," Black Diamond said quietly.
"I was just using you as a shield," FIST said, his blasters firing rapidly at the oncoming agents.
"Charming," she answered, as the black-clad Avenger wearily arose.
Elsewhere in the expansive DEMON domain, the Enchantress, Brute and Willow Witch were having somewhat better results.
The Brute swung his mighty tail, scattering the rest of the Demonwarriors that remained. The Enchantress blasted those few that struggled to crawl away.
"I've heard of shaking your booty," Willow Witch commented on the Brute's unique combat method, "but this is ridiculous." It was all she could do to keep the lyrics from K.C. and the Sunshine Band out of her head. Brute was not making it easy.
"Shake, shake, shake,..." he sang poorly, in his booming raspy voice, as he struck a very un-Travolta-like pose.
"Could you please take this a little more seriously," the Enchantress scolded. She was not amused, despite the hilarity of the situation. Gwen took battles with DEMON deathly serious.
"Sorry," Willow said, holding back a chuckle.
The Enchantress began spell casting again. After a moment, she walked up to a nearby wall and placed both palms against it. "There is someone on the other side of this wall," she stated.
"Allow me," the Brute said, as he strolled over next to the Enchantress. She stood back, as he began to wail upon the stone-like walls. After a few strikes, a small hole formed in the barrier. "Hey, isn't that one of yours?" Brute stepped back to allow the Enchantress to look.
The Enchantress peered into the hole. Beyond it was yet another room that looked like a torture chamber from some old medieval castle. A single light illuminated the room, it was situated above a table that a familiar figure was laid upon.
"Oh my...", Gwen said, her mouth dropping open. "That's Lightburst!"
Back at the Security Station, Muskateer continued to use the DEMON base's defenses against the occupants as much as possible. Watching the monitor to somewhere deep in the base, he was busily mowing down a series of Demonwarriors with a pair of ceiling mounted laser turrets. "Now I see how those kids can get so hooked on video games. Take that! And that!" A moment later, Muskateer's fun was brought to an end, as the agents finally managed to destroy the weapons, but at the cost of many downed warriors. "Damn! Have to find another one of these guns..."
"Uh, Muskateer?" Aureole said quietly.
"Yeah...?" Muskateer looked up to see that the Huntress, still outfitted in the Demonspawn armor, and Kor Hunter were busily firing at a large group of oncoming Demonwarriors coming down each of the three approach tunnels. "Oh, bloody hell..." He leapt over the console and fired a blast from his sword into their masses.
Aureole directed most of the power of her magical ring to protect her with a force field with so many blasts filling the area. She tried to assist the other heroes with magical blasts, but those effects were marginal at best.
Kor Hunter fired away on a glowing bow seemingly constructed of magical energy that he had summoned to him. Explosions lit up the tunnel, dropping agents. The Huntress assisted Kor's attacks with concussion grenades from the armor. Together they downed a number of their opponents, but the remainder swarmed in among the heroes, trying to take them down with sheer numbers. "The enemy is upon us!", Kor shouted.
"No shit!" Muskateer swung his sword with abandon, slashing the Demonwarriors as they tried to close with them. Their enchanted robes were not enough to defend against a weapon that could cleave steel.
The Demonspawn armor was bulky and slowed down the Huntress normal movements, but it also amplified her strength. She resorted to merely punching the offending agents as they swarmed over her, trying to drag her down.
"I will rescue you, fair maiden!", Kor said, as he fought his way over to the Huntress' side. His glowing bow had vanished, but it had been replaced by a pair of glowing short swords. He sliced into two of the agents, giving the Huntress a needed reprieve. "Back to your pit, vile dogs! You shall not harm this beauteous one, for she is under my protection!"
"If you hacked as fast as you talked, this fight'd be over already!", Muskateer taunted. Suddenly another volley of blaster fire rang out. Muskateer turned, expecting the worst, but quickly saw that it was PRIMUS agents arriving to support them. They began to pick off the stragglers, quickly trimming the number of opponents for the heroes.
Behind the PRIMUS Agents, units of Iron Guard agents moved in. The dull silver armored PRIMUS operatives fired laser blasts from their gauntlets, sending any non-engaged Demonwarriors in retreat.
After a few more moments of intense hand to hand combat, the heroes were out of enemies. The floor was littered by dozens of the fallen Demonwarriors.
"It makes my heart glad to see you fight so well with such a manly weapon, my comrade at arms," Kor Hunter said to Muskateer, slapping him on the back as he surveyed their handiwork. "Surely the bards shall spin tales for centuries retelling of the mighty deeds done this day."
"What the hell planet are you from anyway?", Muskateer asked, amazed at Kor's unique perspective on life. He looked around at the destruction and wiped his blade on the robe of a fallen agent. The commander, Corporal Lewis, of the PRIMUS action walked up and met with Muskateer. "Hey, Lewis. How's it shakin'?"
"What's the situation here, Muskateer?", the corporal asked.
"We've got them on the run in a few areas, but these DEMON slime can be pretty stubborn. You think you can keep the stragglers from getting away?"
"We have the entire perimeter under control," Corporal Lewis stated simply. The PRIMUS Commander ordered his troops into the DEMON Base. The well-trained agents complied and were quickly moving down the tunnels, the seven foot tall Iron Guard agents in the lead. Still other agents rounded up the defeated DEMON operatives and began to herd them to the surface.
"Great. I wonder how the rest are doing?", Muskateer asked rhetorically. The Huntress followed Muskateer back to the control console.
"Di's group is in trouble, Muskateer," the Huntress said. She had picked up the communications from the Demonspawn on the radio in her helmet. "They're saying they've got them on the ropes."
"Damn," Muskateer swore to himself. He ran the monitoring cameras through a sequence, before finally reaching one that showed the team's predicament.
"Only FIST and Diamond are still standing," the Huntress said, looking over Muskateer's shoulder.
"I can see that, Huntress." Muskateer considered his options for a moment. "Come on, Muskateer, you can think of something to help them," he said to himself.
"That appears to be the least of our problems," Aureole stated. She was behind the two heroes, pointing at another monitor. The four heroes crowded around the monitor for a view.
"oh... crap..."
All the Demonwarriors had either been put down or had fled. The Thing had their commander, a lesser Morbane, boxed in. The Demonpriest tried to put on an air of superiority, but when face to face with the rocky Thing, it came out rather amusing.
"Nothing shall... save you!" The eyes of the Morbane showed fear. Desperately, he tried to cast a spell but the Thing would have none of that.
"Chuckles, what have you been smokin'?!" The Thing flicked one of his fingers and thwacked the Morbane in the chin. The Demonpriest was sent backwards and hit the chamber wall, sliding down it before coming to a rest on the floor.
Black Fire appeared rather amused as he gave the prone Morbane a gentle prod to see if he was unconscious. "Dude must a been sniffin' Demonweed, if you ask me."
"We should keep moving," Microwave suggested. As the senior member of the Freedom League, the heroine often found herself in command. But this was an Avengers operation, so she deferred to the Thing in this endeavor.
"Right you are, 'Wave." The hallway that the Demon operatives had been guarding curved away from the heroes, but entered into a large chamber before too long.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Black Fire muttered.
On the far side of the room were two lesser Morbanes, along with Lord Evil and Lady Darkness.
"Welcome to your final defeat," Lord Evil confidently stated, while making a grand gesture with his arms.
Strange markings on the floor were between the heroes and the Morbanes. Unexpectedly, a bright light erupted from these markings, forcing the heroes to shield their eyes.
"Arise, Demon-spawn!", Lady Darkness commanded. "Destroy my enemies!"
"What's happening?", Microwave shouted over the roar of power.
Something moved in the light, making a disgusting squishing sound. A horrific smell hit the heroes next. Then an eye stalk peered out at them. Then another, and another and then finally a tentacle or three.
"It's a demon!", Black Fire screamed....
