Dr. Victor Tennison was beginning to dread this assignment. Tennison, among the newest of the scientific elite to work for VIPER, had been assigned to the El Paso research station. Advanced weaponry had been his chosen field, although after the unfortunate incident with the Retaliator weapons VIPER was not to eager let him tinker with guns. (Editor's Note: As shown in Huntress #4-5 and Muskateer #2-3)
Instead he had been 'exiled' to this Texas secret lab. As if that was not punishment enough the local weather conditions were not to his liking. Victor adored the winter season in general, snowflakes in particular. It very rarely snows in El Paso.
Dr. Tennison had been a good little scientist during his exile, obeying orders without question. But the latest developments had really started him to wondering.
With very little explanation, a major project had been initiated by the lab's top scientist. The experiment involved the artificial creation of superpowered beings. Several teenagers had been kidnapped and experimented upon. Tennison was monitoring their progress and charting the results.
While this experiment made sense, VIPER was always trying to find new ways to create its own supers, the project was only started after a most unusual woman had arrived at the lab. She appeared to be the girlfriend of the Nest Leader, but Tennison suspected that she in fact was manipulating the man; that she was super-powered herself.
Tennison continued to monitor the test subjects. He was seated at a control console that overlooked the teens' room. The subjects were unconscious, laying on mobile beds. Their limbs were strapped down for protection. VIPER-like uniforms were worn by each subject. The experiments were proceeding quite well, with the exception of Subject Three.
The door to the lab slid open and the Nest Leader's girlfriend entered. Her name had never been given to Tennison, but he had heard her referred to as 'Dominance'. The woman was good looking, but had a fierce, domineering attitude with an arrogant edge. She stood about 5'6" with short brown hair and sultry, glowing, green eyes. Dominance wore a forest green body stocking with decorative ocher 'wings' that stretched from arm to arm and over the shoulders, along with black trunks, high black boots, long black gloves, stylized black triangles inside and outside her upper arms and thighs, and a black semi-circle at her neck. A pistol rested in a black holster on her right thigh.
"Report, lackey!", the woman commanded. Tennison had heard about what happened to those who tried to argue with the woman. They were never the same again. So he simply chose to put up with the woman's colossal ego.
"Subject One and Two are progressing along projected parameters. We've been experiencing problems with Subject Three."
"How so?", she asked.
"All her monitors went dead during the night," Tennison reported. "The equipment was checked and found to be in perfect working order. So, we swapped equipment from the other subjects to use on Three. It also failed. The equipment works fine on first two subjects, but it repeatedly fails on the third."
"How can this be?!"
Tennison considered for a moment. He figured that she would want explanations and so spent the morning trying to make sense out of what happened the night before. "It probably has something to do with the projected profile of her powers. In my---" Tennison never finished his thought as an explosion was heard off in the distance! The power failed and the lab plunged into darkness. Emergency lights kicked in a moment later, illuminating the room weakly in their reddish glow...
"This is unacceptable!", Dominance screamed and stormed out of the room. "I'll have the hide of whoever's responsible for this!" Tennison ran after Dominance and promptly went in the opposite direction from her. Whatever was going on, he wanted no part of it. This disaster wasn't going to be blamed on him! If this lab was going to go up in flames, it would go without Dr. Victor Tennison!
Trailing behind the hero was a man in a white and golden yellow costume. His torso was golden yellow, a black halo emblazoned on his chest, with white portions on his sleeves and legs. Golden yellow boots, gloves, and pointed half mask completed his outfit. He was borne aloft by large white feathered wings, which matched his completely white hair. A medieval broad sword hung in the scabbard on his belt. The winged trainee was having to work to keep up with the armored hero.
"Oh, give me a break!", Archangel said to the leading hero. "We're not kids! Right, Tigress?"
Still further back, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with feline grace, was a young woman. She wore an orange and black outfit. Her torso was partially covered by a black top which went over just her right shoulder. A diagonal cut-out bared part of her right side, as well as both shoulders, showing off her perpetual tan. Black trunks with a v-shaped waist were worn over orange tights with black stylized tiger stripes along the outside of both legs. These reached down to her mid-calf, leaving her lower legs and feet bare. Similar 'sleeves' extended from mid-bicep to mid-forearm, also exposing her hands. An orange mask with black inverted triangle, covered her face, except for her mouth and her long brown tresses billowing behind her as she went. Her costume was completed by a golden tiger head medallion on a chain around her neck and strings of animal claws around her throat, waist, wrists, and ankles.
"Darn right, 'Angel! If tin-can man wants to go off on his own, it's fine with me!"
"Don't tempt me!", Centurion shouted back.
"Settle down, Centurion." This new voice came from the communication system inside his armor. The speaker was the leader of the Superior Seven, Captain Lightning. He was overseeing this mission from the team jet, Lone Star 3. "We're supposed to be cooperating, not trying to show the trainees up."
"Yeah, yeah", Centurion replied back. "I wouldn't dream of losing the kiddies. Nothing new to report. Centurion out."
The Tigress hesitated for a moment on a nearby rooftop, her own communicator allowing her to overhear the conversation. She put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out in Centurion's direction. Archangel just shook his head and continued to pursue the armored hero.
Elsewhere inside the Lone Star 3 high over the skies of El Paso, Captain Lightning closed the communication circuit. "So far, this search has turned up nothing", he relayed to his comrades. For the last several hours the combined groups had been searching unsuccessfully for their quarry.
Seated nearby was the man known only as the Gladiator. Piloting the jet was the Superior Seven member known as Titan. "They will turn up", Gladiator responded. "There have been far too many reports of young para-normals appearing in this area the last few months for them to simply vanish on this day." The unusual number of para-normals was what this joint venture was all about. The Superior Seven had received reports of several monstrous creatures active in the El Paso area. These creatures needed to be stopped.
"Hopefully", Gladiator continued, "we'll be able to find some new recruits for the Young Champions program. Far better to receive a proper training than to use trial and error in learning about their powers."
The Young Champions program was a recent endeavor created as part of Sanctuary, an island in the South Pacific that was a combination resort/club for the super-powered set. The Gladiator was the leader and mentor of this team of inexperienced supers. The program gave new para-normals training and education; helped them come to terms with their powers. It gave them the company of like individuals. Some of the first students were already nearing the end of their training.
"I'd like to get to the bottom of all of this", Captain Lightning added. "Something must be causing this outbreak of new supers. Besides, the Superior Seven applaud your efforts. We're always happy to help Sanctuary out any way we can."
"It is much appreciated."
"Let's hope that we can reach them first. There have been reports that the Phoenix is in the area. She might be after them as well. Let's see how the other search parties are fairing..."
In a different part of El Paso, the second search party was continuing their surveillance. A man whose body was ablaze with bright yellow and orange flames flew lazily through the sky. Starbolt, as he was known, flew rings around his companion.
His companion was Tanya Chamberlain, better known to the world as the Sorceress of the Superior Seven. The Sorceress was an extremely beautiful woman. Her costume consisted of a dark green body suit, armless, legless, with matching high gloves and boots. A dark blue hooded cloak was draped over her shoulders. Her lustrous red hair nearly reached her waist. Her eyes were bright green.
The Sorceress regarded her companion. She too was borne on the wind, aided by her magical Shadow Cloak. "Careful, cousin," Tanya warned, "you'll singe my cloak. Magic items are not all that easy to come by."
"Looks like you need to find yourself a faster one, cuz."
"This cloak has a long and storied history. It would be a shame to lose it through carelessness."
"Well, excuse me!", Starbolt exclaimed. "Just trying to have a little fun. This isn't the most exciting of assignments."
"I'm in agreement there." After a pause, Tanya asked her relation, "Are you enjoying your training?"
"Not particularly. I think I'm just about done with the Sanctuary project. Most of the members of the team really do need help with their powers. Not me, I've been practicing most of my life. Just some fine tuning and I'm ready for prime time!"
"It was still probably the best thing for you to do. Your powers are very unique, even for our family. That's saying something considering just how odd our family is."
"Tell me about it," Starbolt mused. "I'll never forget the little tiff Edward and I had in Paris. Come to think of it, I bet most of France won't forget it either!"
"And if you're a really good boy, someday they may let you back into the country."
"Hey, we didn't cause that much damage. Besides we were just messing around. He is a jerk though. Weird too." Starbolt thought back to that infamous day and to his encounter with his distant relation, Edward Vandeleur. A smile formed on his flaming features from the memory.
"Edward may be morally challenged, but outside of Adrian, he's probably the most powerful member of our 'illustrious' family," Tanya stated.
"Yeah, well, odor isn't everything," Starbolt responded sarcastically. Just then, the Sorceress' wrist communicator starting beeping. "Sounds like dinner's ready. I'm starved."
Ignoring her cousin's latest comments, Tanya landed and reported in. "Tanya, here, Captain. What can we do for you?"
"Any luck with your search?", Captain Lightning asked over the com link.
"Unfortunately, we have had no new developments to report."
"Yeah, this place seems deader 'n a doornail," Starbolt added. "I thought we were gonna have some action!"
"The day's still young. You might still get your wish. Cap out." The communicator's signal ended and the pair once more took to the air.
The last of the search parties also passed over the El Paso skyline. The Superior Seven monitor, the Comet, didn't know just what to make of the Young Champs trainee he had been paired with. He tried not to stare, but it was difficult.
The woman went by the name of Sapphire. From what he had heard, she was an alien who had just recently arrived on Earth. Sapphire physically resembled a human female, to a point. Her skin was light blue in color, her hair a darker shade of blue. To top it all off, she was seven feet tall!
Sapphire couldn't fly like the Comet, so instead she covered blocks at a time in huge leaping bounds!
"That looks difficult. Are you sure you wouldn't rather have a lift?", the Comet asked. Once more, Sapphire was leaping through the sky near the Superior Seven member..
"This ground is too soft", Sapphire commented offhandedly. She was forming impact craters with each landing. "Why do you humans tolerate it? This lift would aid me in my jumping?"
"That's asphalt and concrete you're smashing down there, Sapphire. I wouldn't exactly call it soft. And I was offering you a ride so that you wouldn't have to jump all over town. I think the street crews would be thankful as well."
"Is it a local custom?"
"Well, most people do expect the city streets to be usable. All those pot holes you're making are going to make someone a little upset," the Comet explained.
"I think that I shall never fully understand you humans. Your ways are strange. Nonetheless, I will respect the local customs. You may proceed with your 'lift'."
However, before Comet could carry out his comrades wishes, a tremendous explosion occurred several blocks away! Black smoke quickly began to fill the sky.
"We better check this out!", the Comet said to his companion. Activating his wrist com link, Comet alerted the others to what had happened. "There's been an explosion a few blocks from our location."
"Investigate the situation, Comet", Captain Lightning ordered. "Everyone else will converge on the scene. The exact location is being fed into your communicators. Lightning out."
Scooping up Sapphire, the Comet soared towards the sight of the explosion.
The source of the smoke was a small, nondescript storage building in a warehouse district. Patches of fire were spread intermittently here and there, but none were overly threatening.
The Comet set down before the main entrance and released Sapphire. Carrying her had been a strain. In addition to being much larger than a human female, she was much also much heavier.
"Does fire bother you?", the Comet asked.
"Should it?", was Sapphire's response. She never seemed to give the sort of answer that Comet was expecting.
"No, I guess not. Let's check this out." The Comet gestured towards the large trucking door and added, "Would you care to the do honors?"
"With pleasure", Sapphire said, advancing on the doors. She grasped the metal overhead door and ripped it apart with ridiculous ease. The metal screeched in protest under her hands.
Comet flew into the warehouse and immediately spotted several armed persons in green and yellow uniforms fleeing from the fire. "VIPER Agents!", Comet shouted.
"Are they foes?"
"Yes!", Comet replied as he dodged incoming gunfire.
"A challenge! Defend yourselves and prepare for battle!" In response one of the heavy weapon agents took aim and blasted the azure warrioress. She hardly flinched before letting fly with the rent metal door. It crashed into a couple of the VIPER agents sending them sprawling like tenpins.
"Good shot, Big Blue! Let me have a try!" Comet raced directly at another group of VIPER agents and smashed into them, a pyrotechnic display of energy erupting around his hurtling form. As he slowed down and turned for another pass, the Comet could see that Sapphire had finished mopping up the remainder of the agents. The last unconscious VIPER operative still dangled from her fist. She let him drop to the floor and turned to her ally.
"Well fought, Comet. Pity, these 'VIPERS' didn't put up much of a fight."
"No, but there's usually lots of them. We must have uncovered a nest!" The Comet activated his wrist com link once more and alerted his teammates of this latest development. Scanning the warehouse, the heroes soon located the exit through which the VIPER agents had been so hastily evacuating. Normally it would have been hidden, but in their hasty flight, the portal had been left open. After a momentary pause, the duo descended further into the hidden base...
Inside the base, the woman known as Dominance was fuming! She had traced the source of the explosion to the base's power plant. The villainess was unfazed by the carnage she walked past. Dead and wounded were everywhere. Pleas for help fell on her deaf ears. Picking her way through the debris and rubble, she reached the entrance to the power plant.
Inside she found a body laying near the high voltage breaker panel. The thing was huge, well over seven feet tall with a dark greenish-brown hide that more than anything resembled that of an alligator. Dominance immediately recognized the creature as the Caiman, an earlier failure of this experiment.
"I should kill you, you misshapen beast!", Dominance nearly screamed as she drew her pistol and pointed it at the prone half-man, half-alligator.
Unknown to Dominance, they were not alone in the room. A man in silvery armor appeared in a huge opening in the wall. The Caiman had breached the base from the sewers of El Paso leaving gaping holes in the wall as he passed.
The figure in the silver armor paused at the sight. Hunting monsters was his pasttime. However, this particular hunt had taken an unexpected twist. "VIPER", he cursed under his breath eyeing the charred remains of a uniformed agent laying in the power plant.
The word was enough to attract the attention of Dominance, who spun and eyed the new arrival curiously. "How nice, a new toy to play with", she said, as she brought her awesome mental powers into play. Her mind reached out and attempted to overwhelm the mind of the newcomer.
The stranger was faster. He raised his armored gauntlets and repeatedly fired blasts of silvery-white light at Dominance. She screamed as the light tore into her. Her costume was armored for protection, but it was overmatched. Dominance spun on her toes and ran for it, cursing the entire time. The stranger in silver did not bother to pursue, the mental assault having nearly overwhelmed him. Instead he turned his attention to the unconscious Caiman.
As Dominance ran, more reports began to come in. More supers had been spotted and they were invading the base! Finding a safe hiding place in a small lab, Dominance planned her next move. She quickly realized that there was only one option left to her. Dominance reached down and removed a hidden communication device from her boot. "Dominance to base, come in."
"Report." The voice of a man came from the communicator.
"The base is being overrun by heroes. All appears lost," she explained.
"Understood. Putting emergency contingency plan into operation."
Dominance replaced her communicator and stood perfectly still. A shimmering haze came over her body and she slowly vanished. At the same time, a new, monstrous figure appeared in her place. It grasped its head in pain and lumbered forth looking for things to kill...
Outside the base, the Lone Star 3 was coming in for a landing. Slowly it descended into a large parking lot half a block from the burning warehouse. Starbolt streaked in just as the craft touched ground. His cousin, the Sorceress, was following as best she could.
"All right! Action!" At last this mission was going to offer Starbolt some of the excitement that he craved! Without waiting for the others, he streaked into the burning warehouse and was quickly out of sight.
The hatch on the Lone Star 3 opened and its occupants disembarked. The Sorceress landed next to them.
"Gee, Tanya, your cousin is a real hot head. Pardon the pun," the Titan said. Titan wore a dark green and red costume. He was named with good reason as he suddenly grew to thirty feet in height!
"I can not argue with you on that point, comrade."
"Some day that trait could get him into trouble," the Gladiator commented as he donned his fighting helmet. It, like the rest of his battle gear, resembled something that an ancient Roman gladiator might wear in the arena.
Captain Lightning appraised the situation. "We've got VIPERs fleeing on foot and who knows how many more inside. Tanya, Titan, corral those wayward snakes. I'm going inside the base-- Might get a shot at their computer network this time."
"Gotcha, Cap!" Titan stomped off with the Sorceress flying behind him.
"I'll assist your people on the surface," the Gladiator replied. "I have not your mobility should the base suffer further explosions. Good hunting!"
"The same to you!" Captain Lightning's blue and yellow costumed form blurred and shifted to that of a stroke of lightning! In this state, he streaked towards the VIPER's Nest.
VIPER Agents were flying every which way as Sapphire plowed her way through the surging masses. To her, they were little more than toys in the hand of a child. Sapphire's people were a proud, warrior race where combat was highly valued. But Sapphire was unique among her own kind-- a mutant. Her strength and stamina were far beyond those of even her own people.
No longer finding any challenges on her home world, she had journeyed to the planet Malva and its Great Arena. Within a year of her arrival, Sapphire was the undisputed champion-- and became bored. There were stories of a great warrior-- a previous champion-- who had left to seek yet another world where great warriors did dwell. The previous champion, Firewing, had come to this small blue world known as Earth. Sapphire followed. A battle between the two undisputed champions of Malva would truly be glorious!
And so Sapphire arrived on Earth via arcane ritual, just like Firewing before her. Like him, she was granted the ability to speak the tongue of the Earthmen.
Sapphire found Earth to be very confusing. On the surface it appeared to be what she dreamed about-- one huge, planet-wide arena! The number and variety of superpowered beings was astonishing. But they played by strange rules. Eventually, Sapphire heard of a place called Sanctuary where superbeings gathered. She went there in search of combat. There she encountered the Gladiator.
Her battle with the Gladiator was humbling. Never had she encountered any opponent so skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Sapphire was never able to land a blow that did any damage on the Gladiator. Likewise, Gladiator had trouble hurting his foe. For hours they fought-- to a stand still.
Gladiator explained the concept of the Young Champions to Sapphire. While she didn't need combat training, she did need to learn the ways of Earthmen. Sapphire accepted and began her studies. It was an honor to learn from one so skilled in combat. While off duty, she served on the security force at Sanctuary. Few of the guests ever argued with her.
To Sapphire's dismay, the VIPER Agents were more interested in fleeing than fighting. Still, they were many and carried strange weaponry. Their guns didn't hurt her much-- more like stings from insects. Lost in battle lust, Sapphire had lost track of the Comet. "He is a warrior," she thought to herself briefly. "He does not need to be looked after like some small child."
Another unit of VIPER agents appeared and Sapphire took the battle to them.
Once more outside the base, the fleeing VIPER agents were easily rounded up. The sight of more supers was enough to make them think twice. A few decided to test the Gladiator's combat skills and were quickly laid out for their troubles. The Sorceress and Titan were content to contain the snakes.
Their forces were bolstered as the last of the heroes arrived. Centurion streaked in, powered by his armor.
"Alright! Snake bashin' time!" If there was one thing that the Centurion hated,... actually there were quite a few things he hated, but near the top of the list was VIPER. Centurion had been a scientist working for BLADE Incorporated on a battle suit. VIPER entered the picture and tried to steal his work. He ended up using the suit to repel the agents. That incident had just begun Centurion’s troubles with VIPER. Now it was time for a little pay back!
Kicking his jet pack into high gear, Centurion soared into the warehouse. The systems in his armor began to scan the immediate area. Entrances to the Nest were noted, a general layout soon followed. Centurion streaked into the base, plowing over VIPER agents as he went.
Archangel arrived next and drew his sword. There were several dozen snakes on the surface now-- far more than the three supers already there could contain. "Need a hand, gorgeous," he said as he glided past the Sorceress.
"Your assistance is appreciated, Archangel. Hold the right flank and we'll have these snakes contained."
"You got it! I've never been to a snake rodeo before, but what the hey? This is Texas! Yahoo!" Archangel stretched his wings and soared off to contain the serpents. "Get along, little snakey!"
Bring up the rear was the Tigress, and she wasn't happy. Centurion wouldn't give her a lift, and Archangel wasn't able to carry much more than his own weight due to his unique bone structure. She was missing out on all the fun!
The Tigress leaped the distance between two buildings, spanning more than fifty feet, with feline ease. She ran across the second roof top and came to a stop at the far edge. Her sharp senses detected something down in the alley below her. There was movement-- a trio of snakes attempting to sneak away!
The Tigress licked her lips and leaped from the edge, tumbled in mid-air and landed effortlessly before the startled trio.
"And here I thought was I was going to miss all the fun! Let's party, boys!" With that, the Tigress leapt at the surprised agents.
Captain Lightning met no resistance as he made his way into the VIPER's Nest. He deliberately avoided the enemy. In his lightning form, his touch could be fatal to them. Besides, his comrades were already more than a match for any VIPER Agents. No, he had much bigger game in mind.
For years Captain Lightning, and the Superior Seven, had been encountering VIPER. Slowly they came to learn more about their enemy. Each VIPER's Nest was akin to a franchise-- independently owned and operated. Dealing with the individual Nests was not difficult, but a new Nest would quickly appear to replace the defeated ones like weeds in a garden.
In spite of these victories, the true masters of VIPER remained beyond reach. They gave orders to their individual Nests via the Serpentine Network, an advanced computer system was the Captain's guess. Typically, those in the nest would destroy the Serpentine Network before the base would fall, denying the victors its secrets. Perhaps this time would be different-- something had gone wrong at the VIPER Base before the heroes had arrived.
Captain Lightning located what he was seeking-- a computer terminal. Without hesitation, he plunged into the system and propelled himself into Cyberspace. The real world disappeared and was replaced by a bizarre landscape. Reality was a groundless void. There was no up, no down, nor any gravity to pull you either way. Crystals represented the individual computer nodes-- all of which were contained within one great crystal-- the nest itself. There was perfect symmetry here-- all the crystals were perfect geometric shapes and they themselves were arranged in perfect geometric patterns. The whole was incredibly beautiful. Such perfection and order was unexpected. It resembled nothing like the Cyber-realms that Captain Lightning had ever visited before.
Data paths, beams of light, connected the whole together like the strands of a great spider's web. At the center of the web was the Communication Crystal that Cap had only heard rumors about. It was the heart of the Serpentine Network. All the data paths in the nest lead to it. Numerous other strands connected this great crystal with dozens of others. A world wide web indeed!
Captain Lightning was lost in the wonder of it. There was an entire world in here. A world known only to a precious few. But he shook himself from that-- he had work to do, files to try and salvage.
Rummaging through the node he had entered, he randomly accessed files. Most were trivial-- an environmental program, games, and other such things, but not what he sought. The deeper he dove, the more secure the files became, the harder they were to access.
It was around that time that Captain Lightning became aware of a presence-- an entity. Looking he saw that it was huge-- a monstrous shadow fell over the crystal that was this Nest. Cap's mind began to process the whole scene-- it was a figure in robes... A being so huge that it literally filled a quarter of the sky of this cyber universe. Its face was a skull and in its hands was a ribbon of energy in the shape of a scythe.
"Oh my God...," Cap said to himself. "It's the Grim Reaper! Only in green robes... Someone has one sick sense of humor!"
The Reaper was gigantic; to it Cap was little more than a spec of dust. The apparition raised its scythe and with a quick stroke slashed the Communication Crystal, destroying it. The effect was like a bomb going off. A wave of energy was released from the Communication Crystal in all directions. Any Crystal the wave touched was shattered. The data paths crumbled.
Captain Lighting dove back into the Crystal he had entered seconds before it to shattered, grabbing whatever files he could and escaping the destruction of this portion of Cyberspace. Behind him, the crystals were all shattered and blown away on the Cyberwind. The green Grim Reaper turned and departed; its work was done...
The Comet soared down a deserted hallway. Screams had drawn him this way. He followed a gruesome path-- bodies and blood were everywhere. Most looked dead-- their skulls ripped open. It was nauseating and the Comet didn't dare look any closer.
Rounding the corner, the Comet came face to face with the horror behind the mutilations. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide behind his mask.
"Bad brains!!", the thing screamed as it reached for the frozen hero...
So far, this hadn’t been as exciting as Starbolt had hoped. VIPER agents were everywhere-- either down from the explosion or taken out by one of the other supers. He spotted Sapphire and waved to the azure giantess, then flew off.
Movement off in the distance caught Starbolt's eye and he went to investigate. Something silvery appeared in a far doorway and Starbolt eagerly flew after it. Maybe it was a supervillain to fight!
The room beyond the doorway looked like some sort of power center and it was heavily damaged. A man in silvery armor was in the room.
"Hold it right there, friend, or I'll fry your butt!"
Photon groaned to himself... this was one hunt that had taken too many twists...
Sapphire surveyed the scene of her latest battle. VIPER agents were strewn out everywhere. With her was the Centurion.
"Man, you sure made short work of these bozos!" Centurion wasn't easy to impress, but Sapphire had impressed him. "But, geez, don't hog them all!"
"Was it improper for me to do so?" Sapphire hoped that she hadn't broken yet another arcane Earth ritual.
"No-- it's just--" A scream brutally interrupted Centurion’s reply. "Hey, that sounded like Comet!" The sensors within Centurion’s armor locked on to the source. The armored hero launched himself into the air, with Sapphire following as best as she could.
Centurion rounded the corner and came face to face with the most gruesome sight he had ever seen in his heroic career. Even Sapphire paused when she saw it, and she had seen many things in the Great Arena of Malva.
The Comet was held aloft by his neck in the hand of a horrific creature. It was man-like-- perhaps once even being human. Skin no longer covered its body, muscle tissue and bone were openly visible. Its rip cage was uncovered and its spine could be easily seen. Puss dripped from its open bowels. The smell of decay that came from this thing was nearly overwhelming.
But that was not the most horrific thing of all. For in the creatures other hand, was the Comet's, now removed, brain...
