| Roll Call: |
|---|
 Black Diamond |
 Muskateer |
 Enchantress |
 Firestar |
 Lightburst |
 Supreme |
 Thing |
Guest Starring Scarlet Sabre |
 Sorceress |
 Texas Ranger |
In the depths of the Crimson Claw's ship, Muskateer, the Scarlet Sabre, and Ace explored a seemingly sealed off level. Unexpectedly they discovered that they were not alone...
"All right, Destroyer, yer gonna have to go through me", Muskateer said, drawing his sword and pointing at the new arrival. In the same motion, he stepped ahead of, and in front of, Scarlet. He imagined that Ace was somewhere behind him, still invisible. "Let's make it a fair fight and leave your 'guard dog' out of it."
Out of the shadows behind Destroyer his ever present aid, the powerful psionic Menton, emerged.
Scarlet fired up her sabre. "Hey, it's not like I'm a shrinking violet or anything!" Upon seeing Menton, she added, "Oh hell... I had enough trouble with his little sister as it was..." (Editor's Note: Back in Troubleshooters #5-7)
Surprisingly, Destroyed didn't attack. He just stood there silently, as if in contemplation. "Shall I remove these minor obstacles?", Menton questioned.
"Stay out of it, blondie!", Muskateer growled, his eyes not straying from Destroyer. "So what's it gonna be, Doc?"
"I have not the inclination to attack you, else we would not be having this conversation, whelp," Destroyer finally answered. "Time is of the essence. You three will fit nicely into my plans. Very nicely indeed."
Muskateer was momentarily taken aback by Destroyer's announcement. It was certainly not what he was expecting to hear! He shot Scarlet a brief glance. Her face appeared as confused as he imagined his did. Then he turned back towards Destroyer. "Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?", Muskateer said doing his best Gary Coleman impression.
"Here's what you will do...", Destroyer started to explain.
"Up'n at'm, cowboy!"
The man called Texas Ranger struggled to regain his senses. He couldn't completely recall his last thoughts before wakening here, wherever here was. Some unseen attack had taken him out of the fight in the hanger area of the Crimson Claw's ship. Opening his eyes, Ranger could barely make out a large armored man standing over him.
"No time for nappin'!"
His vision clearing, Ranger could see that it was Centurian of the Superior Seven. They were no longer in the hanger, but rather a corridor. "Whoa--- feels like I've been kicked by a mule."
"An Armadillo actually," Centurian answered as he offered his hand to the prone hero. "A big armadillo."
"Shucks, everything is big down in Texas," Ranger replied as he was helped to his feet. "Thanks for the hand, pahdner."
"Hey, we Lone Star boys need to stick together."
As Ranger stretched, Defender approached carrying Silver Arrow over his shoulder. "I found Silver Arrow in the wreckage," the Champion reported. "He took the brunt of that explosion. His condition appears stable, but I'm no doctor."
The Texas Ranger looked both ways down the corridor that the heroes were currently in. Nothing was recognizable. "Where do we go from here?"
"Logically, we continue onward and try to accomplish our objectives," was Defender's answer.
"We've got company." Targets on Centurian tracking sensors had just appeared. "Six bogies approaching. What's it gonna be, boss? I say trash the suckers myself."
Ranger nodded in agreement. "Bushwack the sidewindah's before they bushwack us!"
"We're supposed to be avoiding trouble, remember? Still, attacking before being attacked does make sense." Defender considered potential battle plans for a few seconds. "Centurian, you lead the way. Soften them up, then Ranger and I will follow."
"Works for me", Centurian answered with a laugh. Activating his jetpack, the Superior Seven member streaked down the corridor. Defender and Ranger followed after a few seconds, Silver Arrow still slung over Defender's shoulder.
The corridor passed rapidly below Centurian as he rocketed down the hallway. All the while he continued to scan the targets coming into range and charged his plasma cannon. The crooks wouldn't know what hit them.
Once in visual range, Centurian's plan of attack went out the window when he recognized his targets! There were a trio of villains-- Howler, Vibron, and Freon, but with them were three unconscious heroes-- Firestar, Speedster, and Lightburst. "Oh hell! Can't go around fryin' good guys!"
Instead of firing his weapon, Centurian dove to about knee height and settled on knocking the villains and their burdens to the floor. It all happened so fast that none of the criminals had a chance to react.
Defender and the Texas Ranger came in while Howler, Vibron, and Freon were still prone on the floor. "Howler is the most dangerous! Take her out, Ranger!" Defender fired off his rocket bolos, wrapping up Freon in their coils. A follow up electrical blast dropped the ice- wielding criminal.
"Sorry about this, lil' lady..." Concentrating, Ranger created a thought ram that staggered the sonic villainess. Without her sonic defense field, she was an easy target. A second ram put her down.
Vibron got to his feet and started to run off. His attempted flight didn't escape the notice of Centurian. "Aw, no ya don't, punk! You ain't getting away that easy." Centurian took aim, only to be interrupted by Defender. "Hey! What gives?"
"Let him go. Defeating villains is the least of our worries." Centurian shrugged and continued to scan for new threats while Defender bent down to examine the three rescued heroes. Even now, Speedster was beginning to come around.
"Man, are my ears ringing!" Speedster sat up, his hands rubbing his ears. "What happened?" Looking around, the Freedom Leaguer spotted Howler lying unconscious on the floor nearby. "Never mind. I can figure it out for myself."
Assisted by the Texas Ranger, Firestar came around next, followed shortly by Lightburst. "Is it all over?", the young Blood asked groggily.
"Sorry, lil' lady," Ranger answered, "but the coyotes are still in the hen house."
Firestar gave him a puzzled look as she tried to figure out just what that meant. "My head hurts bad enough as it is, TR. You're not helping it any."
"We were in the cellblock...", Lightburst explained as he regained his wits. "We were attacked..."
"You're safe now," Defender answered in a reassuring tone. "We could sure use the addition of your numbers. We've been separated from the remainder of our group from villain attacks."
"The way things have been going, I'd prefer to stay in a large group," Firestar responded wearily as she rose to her feet. Seemingly it had been nothing but one battle after another.
"Now what, boss?" Centurian asked. "And what do we do with our sleeping beauties?"
"Leave them. We have more important things to attend to. Let's continue on this way and see what we find." Defender led the heroes down the corridor, and further along inside the ship.
The trio of Muskateer, Scarlet Sabre and the invisible Ace arrived down at the computer core level with little interruption. "I still can't believe Dr. D actually helped us," Muskateer mused as they examined the command complex for a place to input Jaime safely.
"Obviously, he has his own agenda," Scarlet retorted. "Destroyer always did play by his own twisted code, leaving it up to us to figure out his motives. However, at the moment, I don't know or really care what he's up to."
"I'm just glad we didn't have to battle him and his aid, Menton," Ace added quietly. She wasn't much help in the technical department, so she kept a watch on the area, while Scarlet Sabre and Muskateer worked on the computers.
"Probably wouldn't've been much of a fight," Muskateer grumbled.
"Turning fatalistic now, are we?", Scarlet cajoled. She began plugging the wiring interface into the opening Muskateer had created. "Like I said earlier, you've not been yourself tonight."
"Just bein' realistic. Not that I wouldn't have gone for it." Muskateer hooked in a few wires from his borrowed equipment and then using his sword, sliced out a section of a circuit bundle. "There that should let Jaime get inside and do her thing."
"It'll do," Scarlet offered, as she communicated to her cyber-entity that it was safe to enter this system. "Now we just wait."
"I always have been good at hacking into systems." After a moment's pause, he added. "Pun not intended."
"Whew, I must be tired to completely miss that bad of a joke."
"Either tired or just lucky." Turning towards his other current comrade's location, Muskateer added, "Hey, Ace, how's it looking out there?"
"Still all clear," came the heroine's reply. There was noticeable tension in Ace's voice.
Muskateer leaned wearily against a computer console. He turned towards Scarlet as she began conversing, but not with either himself or Ace. "Wow," Scarlet suddenly said out of the blue. "I think I would have taken her out if I had been given the opportunity myself."
Catching Muskateer's puzzled look, she explained, "Jaime just got a call from Hel-- uhm, the Huntress. She was attacked by Artemis herself!"
"She's okay?", Muskateer asked.
"So to speak. Jaime says she's not out of the woods yet, but is en route to lend her a hand." (Editor's Note: As seen in Huntress #14)
Muskateer nodded in response. "Multi-tasking is a wonderful thing. Wish I could do it."
"Jaime says she'll let us know what happens."
"Glad to hear she's still alive anyway." Muskateer had wanted to deal with Artemis himself. He had enough problems of his own at the moment however. "So how's Jaime progressing?", he asked.
"Surprisingly well." The Scarlet Sabre concentrated for a moment, as if listening to a far off voice. "She has located the teleportation circuits and just about has them all disabled. She's completing the last one now."
"Great. That was faster than I would have imagined."
"Yeah, for being alien technology, it seems to be surprisingly compatible," Scarlet answered.
"Well, as they say, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth." After another pause, the Avenger added, "What the hell does that mean anyway?"
"It's a fancy way of saying that you shouldn't reject a free gift. But in this instance, I'll take the horse and run," Scarlet answered with a shrug. She moved over to the computer interface, closely examining them. "You know, these terminals look like they were designed for humans. Or humanoids at the very least." She reached over and disconnected Jaime's plug-in. "Okay, she's out. The teleporters are completely shut down. The dome is locked into this location."
"Stand back," Muskateer said, raising his sword. "These things aren't gonna be used by anyone again for a while." Jamming his sword down into the console, Muskateer fired off two bursts of electricity into the mechanism. A chain reaction of sparks shot out from numerous interfaces and screens around the room.
As Muskateer proudly surveyed his handiwork, he was suddenly interrupted by a loud, piercing scream of pain from behind him. The two heroes abruptly turned to see whom they guessed to be the Crimson Claw himself standing over a fallen Ace. Blood flowed down her back in crimson streams that stood out sharply against her black costume. A dark hooded robe obscured the alien's features. Only its glowing, inhuman red eyes could be seen.
"You humans are beginning to try my patience," the Claw said simply. "The damage that you have caused will take weeks to repair. You shall pay for this transgression with your lives."
"You can try, lizard breath!" Muskateer trained his weapon on the master villain, while Scarlet fired up her lightsabre. They were not prepared for the bulky, robed figure to move so quickly.
The Crimson Claw rushed the Scarlet Sabre, but she barely dodged the wicked slash of his bloodied clawed hand. Returning the attack, Scarlet hit the villain directly in the side, but her energy weapon passed harmlessly through and out the other side. The Claw didn't seem the least bit discomforted.
"Oh hell," she mouthed, as the Claw struck again. The Claw easily sliced through Scarlet's protective costume and tore into the flesh beneath. Scarlet doubled over in agony.
"You bastard!", Muskateer shouted as he swung with all his fury. However, just like Scarlet's earlier attack, the Avenger's blade made little contact with the alien villain.
"You are all insignificant insects. You cannot hope to harm me with your feeble assaults." With a backhanded swing, he struck down the wounded heroine. Scarlet was spun away and landed unconscious on the floor.
"Man, I haven't come across anything that my sword couldn't cut," Muskateer lamented to himself. "Have to try something else."
Bounding past the Claw, Muskateer sprang up behind the villain and inserted his blade into the Claw's body. Touching a stud on the hilt, he discharged a burst of electricity into the Claw.
If he felt anything, the Claw didn't show it. He reached back with a blindingly quick slash and further rended the front of Muskateer's armored tunic. Blood began to flow as the villain opened new wounds across the hero's chest.
Gritting his teeth, Muskateer swung again with all of his might. The Claw flinched as the blade passed through yet again.
"I almost felt that, worm!", the Claw thundered, as he grabbed Muskateer by the front of his costume. He lifted the hero into the air with one hand and slashed at his throat with the other clawed appendage.
Desperately trying to fend off the killing stroke, Muskateer raised his arm to block the blow. The arm went numb from shock as the razor sharp nails ripped through.
"Die, pitiful creature!" The Claw screamed as he flung the hero away from him.
Muskateer flew over a dozen feet through the air before landing on top of a computer console. Dazedly, he rolled off it and landed roughly on the floor. He could hear the Claw slowly approaching from behind, intent on delivering the fatal final strike. His mind shot back to a few hours ago and his last words with Gwen. "I'm not going to see her again," filled his mind.
And then, there in front of him, through vision blurred by pain and exhaustion, he saw her beaming face. He didn't notice that her hair was much darker for some reason, or that she wasn't dressed in her standard costume. But it was her nonetheless. He waited what seemed like an eternity for the Claw to strike and end it.
However, before that could happen, Gwen knelt over him, touching his arm and his head. "I am with you, my love. I always will be. Now rise and strike down our foe!" The pain began to dull ever so slightly and Muskateer's sword began to glow with a crimson light. Hearing the Claw now over him, Muskateer turned and thrust the blade into the villain once more.
This time, the alien roared in pain. An unearthly howl filled the air as the Crimson Claw staggered back from the wound. Muskateer's blade pulled free of the body, covered in a yellowish, mucous-like substance.
"You... you have managed to harm me!" The Claw staggered away a few steps, holding himself up by bracing on some nearby equipment. It held a clawed appendage over the wound, still not believing that he had been injured. "You are not worth risking death to kill personally."
Muskateer wearily pulled himself to his feet. "Gotcha running scared now, huh, Claw?", Muskateer said, barely over a whisper. It was a chore just to stand. He limped towards the Claw, as the villain backed away from the red glow.
"You will not survive this affront," the Claw hissed and with that, he simply vanished.
"Coward," Muskateer stated indignantly.
Unseen by anyone, Captain Lightning of the Superior Seven moved through the ship's systems. In his lightning form, the hero could enter into circuitry and travel where virtually no one else could. However, the systems of the Claw's ship were protected by anti-intrusion programs and other barriers. Important systems were too heavily shielded to gain access to. Weary of the struggle, the Captain departed the ship's system, finding himself in a curved chamber.
The inner wall of the curve was filled with many transparent glass-like panels, permitting sight into the open area beyond. Behind the windows was a huge chamber, circular in shape. It was some sort of vast playing field and the chamber Captain Lightning was currently in was several stories above the Arena floor.
Several control panels and chairs were placed before the observation windows. "This must be the control center for this area... Something like a gigantic combat simulator. I'd love to take this home with me." Intrigued, Captain Lightning took a seat and examined the controls. As he did, the flash from an energy discharge caught his attention. Looking back into the arena, he could see fighting going on below. Much to his surprise, there were several villains doing battle without a hero in sight! The participants were easy to recognize-- Dr. Destroyer, Menton, Halfjack, Borealis, Lord Dire, Sunburst, and Black Paladin. Well known criminals one and all. (Editor's Note: As shown in Troubleshooters #12)
"I wonder what's going on--??" Puzzled, Captain Lighting watched for a few moments. Suddenly, several of the villains converged on a trio of emerald gems. Borealis claimed one and its energy was absorbed into his body. Unexpectedly, a blackness came over his form and shadow monsters started to come out of his body! "What in the world--?!"
As Captain Lightning continued to watch, the villains forgot their differences and each concentrated on the flood of shadow creatures coming from Borealis. In spite of their impressive power, the master criminals were quickly lost from sight in a virtual sea of blackness. Like a tide of pure darkness, the creatures began to fill the arena, rising upwards towards Captain Lightning's observation chamber.
"There's got to be something here I can make use of," the Captain thought to himself as he scanned the controls with urgency. "But what?"
Back in the Computer Core, Muskateer stared wearily at his weapon. It still glowed with a remarkable reddish light that seemed to emanate from inside the metal.
He looked around briefly. "Gwen...?" But his question hung in the air unanswered. Had he only imagined the beautiful sorceress' arrival and timely intervention? "Maybe my mind's beginning to play tricks on me. If not, then where is she now? If so, then how'd this happen?", he asked still holding his now crimson blade before him.
A moment later he snapped himself out of his contemplation, as his thoughts turned to his injured companions. "Man, the Claw did a number on these two. Me too, apparently," he said to himself, regarding his still bleeding wounds. Somehow the Enchantress' touch had given him the strength to keep going, in spite of his wounds.
Shucking his cape, Muskateer began to tear it into strips. "So much for this cape. These things haven't been holding up too well. I wonder if Tara will give me a refund."
Ignoring his own wounds for the moment, the Avenger went to work on the women. Using some of the strips of cloth from his cape, as well as the head scarf and waist sash from Scarlet's costume, he fashioned crude bandages to cover their injuries and stop the bleeding. "They've both lost a lot of blood, but I think they'll be okay in the long run."
Finishing with them, he turned to addressing his own injuries. Using what was left, he fashioned a few crude bandages to cover his torso and injured arm. As he was working, a loud scrapping sound was suddenly heard coming from beyond the elevator doors. "I already gave at the office!", Muskateer shouted sarcastically as he worked quickly to finish the bandaging process. "Sounds like whoever it is really wants to get in here."
A moment later, he was ready, glowing sword in hand. As he closed in on the doors, he could see huge rends torn into the metal. Just behind the barely functioning barrier he could see and hear three growling and hissing creatures. "Shoo."
The door burst open as the creatures smashed against it, crashing into the room. "Don't listen too well, do you?" The nine-foot tall demonic looking creatures had been sent up to this level at the Claw's mental direction. Their previous foes on the level below had disappeared suddenly and they were still looking to satisfy their blood lust. "Well, you guys are way too ugly to be selling Girl Scout Cookies."
Near exhaustion, Muskateer wasn't about to try any fancy moves, as the largest of the three Wrath Demons closed in. This fight would be simple hacking and slicing. Before it could rend its human target with vicious claws and teeth, the man struck first. As the glowing weapon struck the Wrath Demon the creature was engulfed in a flash of crimson light and disappeared in a puff of sulphurous smoke.
Muskateer had the breath knocked from him as the remaining two demons crashed headlong into him, taking him to the floor. He kicked at one, which tried to gnaw on his leg, as he worked to free his sword arm from the grasp of the other. Twisting his sword, he managed to slice a limb on one of the demons, who let out a terrible wailing howl. Smoke erupted from the creature where the wound was opened.
"Cry baby," Muskateer growled, too tired to think of anything clever at this point in the fight. He wrenched free from the wounded one and slashed the creature at his legs. The blade rent the monster in two and it vanished much like the previous one.
The wounded Wrath Demon backed away, now fully aware of the danger it faced. Muskateer pulled himself slowly to his feet and pointed the blade in its direction. The demon shrank further back and growled in protest.
"Look, I ain't gonna chase you around the joint." Pushing a stud on his sword hilt, the Avenger was rather surprised to see a bolt of crimson energy shoot from the blade's tip. It slammed into the cowering demon and eradicated it. "Cool. Raid Demon spray. Kills demons dead."
The flood of Shadow Demons emerging from Borealis quickly spilled out into the rest of the ship. In one of the cell blocks, the raiding team led by Black Diamond had just found out the hard way. The elevator shaft was now filled with the dark and misty creatures. Their chalk white claws and fangs were seemingly their only solid body part. Each hero found themselves surrounded by untold numbers of these things.
"Retreat!", Black Diamond shouted. The noise the creatures made was so loud that she doubted that anyone could hear her. Dozens of claws raked the heroine, slicing and tearing her costume mercilessly. Her skin was dense enough to resist being pierced by her attackers, but not everyone here was that fortunate. Still, she was being worn down by the sheer number of attackers. Diamond tried to strike at her enemies, but she couldn't seem to connect. It was as if these dark creatures were really not there. But the pain from their claws and teeth told her that they were all too real.
Imperial, quickly realizing that they were outnumbered, teleported away with American Eagle, Blizzard and the Marksman. Likewise, Dimension Man, Sidewinder, and Sabre each heard Black Diamond's order and acted upon it. Each teleported away, Sabre taking Jaguar, Crusader, and Mind Titan with him.
Supreme struggled against the onslaught. Like Diamond, the attacks were more of a hindrance than harmful. And just like Black Diamond, he seemed unable to lay a finger on the Shadow Demons. Likewise, the armor worn by Warhawk, Resonator, and Aftershock protected them from serious harm.
"I don't get it!", Warhawk shouted, his talons not finding a foe to rend. "How can they hurt us, but we can't touch them?"
Aftershock didn't have any answers either. His vibe pulse just seemed to pass harmlessly through the invaders. Resonator's sonic blasts were just as ineffective. Brainstorm was backed against a wall, his telekinetic shield desperately trying to stave off his attackers.
"Light! They're vulnerable to light!", Starburst shouted, witnessing the remarkable effectiveness of his own attacks. The young hero's energy pulses filled the hallway with light. A light that destroyed the Shadow Demons that it touched, and drove away those it didn't. "I'm actually hurting these things!"
Black Diamond struggled through the horde, reaching the elevator, as a half dozen of the vile creatures clung to her body. Grasping the metal door in her powerful hands, she forced the portal to close, sealing off this level from the dark invaders. As she turned from the door, a blast from Starburst cleared the Avenger of her parasitic opponents. Diamond slumped to the floor upon the completion of her task, exhaustion clearly written on her face.
Behind her, Starburst continued to fire away, scattering the Shadow Demon flood. In short order those that remained were destroyed, leaving the hallway with only seven extremely weary heroes.
"Di! You okay?" Supreme rushed towards the Avengers leader.
"Just tired," Diamond panted in response. "But now we're trapped here."
The sounds of raking claws could be heard on the other side of the elevator door. Already the heroes could see groves being worn into the metal.
"Not for long, from the looks of it," Supreme stated discouragingly.
In the other cell block, the elevator door was also being shredded. But no passengers were disembarking as the car for this shaft had been disabled earlier by Muskateer. (Editor's Note: As seen in Muskateer #15)
The claws of the Shadow Demons finally created a large enough opening for the invaders to swarm through. They exploded into the hallway beyond only to find it devoid of targets to devour. The creatures looked around, puzzled. They could sense prey here only moments ago...
Safe within the voids of her Shadow Cloak, the Sorceress watched the Shadow Demons. The wave of mystical energy that the opening of the gateway had created had momentarily overwhelmed the Superior Seven's mage. Once recovered, she realized that invaders were rapidly approaching. The tingling from Spinnerette's danger sense confirmed this. The heroes and those they had rescued retreated into the Shadow Lands for safety.
"Right now Shadow Demons are filling the hallway," the Sorceress reported. Her eyes glowed white with the magic that allowed her to see into the real world.
"I don't see what the big deal is", Comet lamented. "We could have handled them. I don't like running from a fight."
"Trust me, my friend. In this instance, prudence is indeed the better part of valor. We could not have withstood the assault of hundreds of these creatures."
"Hundreds?", Spinnerette repeated, not quite believing what she was hearing. "Then it's a full scale invasion!"
"So what do we do about it?" The question came from Tritium. Her teammate, the giant Obsidian, stood behind her.
"We find some way to repel the invaders," the Black Phantom calmly stated.
"Easier said than done," Tanya answered. "Like the demons we encountered earlier, these ones are quite vulnerable to light and magic, but little else. Unfortunately, those who have the type of powers that can seriously harm these monsters are few in number."
"Then we find some who do," Spinnerette said after a pause. "We'll continue to rescue the captured heroes. We may get lucky and find someone who can hurt those things."
"Sound reasoning,"Tanya nodded in agreement. Slowly she walked a few feet in the misty shadow plane. However, she also moved the same distance in the real world. "The occupant of the next cell is Shadow Queen."
"Definitely not a light projector," Tritium noted sarcastically.
"No, but someone who needs to be rescued." Wrapping her cloak about her, Tanya moved out of the Shadow Lands and back into the real world. This method of rescuing the prisoners was time consuming, but with the demon horde loose in the hallway outside the cells, it was also the safest.
More and more Shadow Demons came through the gateway that was Borealis. There was no end to their numbers. They spread throughout the ship, not caring who they encountered. Heroes and villains alike were washed over in this dark tide. Centurian's sensors alerted him to the approaching demons. But not even this information could prepare him for the sight of a wall of dark creatures as it descended upon him and his companions. He repeatedly fired his plasma cannon, but it didn't seem to stop the invaders. Attacks from his companions didn't seem to harm the strange creatures any either. Centurian's sensors were no longer useful, as they now detected living beings everywhere. He could no longer differentiate between friend or foe.
The three Wrath Demons having been dispatched back to their home dimension, Muskateer leaned wearily against a nearby wall. He bent over and put his hands on his thighs to catch his breath. "I think that must've been the worst of it." He rose up again and took one step towards the injured teammates lying on the floor of the chamber.
The sound that stopped him in his tracks at first sounded like thunder. Or maybe it was more like the crash of a tidal wave. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Fast. Muskateer turned back towards the elevator shaft and backed up a few more steps, his weapon pointed in front of him. He thought for a moment about getting Scarlet's lightsabre, but his left arm was virtually useless and there didn't appear to be time to get it anyway.
Then the first two dozen of the Shadows Demons burst out of the elevator shaft, followed by what seemed like an unending stream behind them. "Holy shit....!", Muskateer screamed as he hacked into the advancing swarm. The crimson-glowing weapon slashed through two and three of the creatures at a stroke, bursting them into sulphurous steam with each swing. It was only mere moments before Muskateer disappeared under the wave of darkness.
In X-Factor #4!
