The Beast

by Trop1c

The Circle of Thorns bring...something...over but they can't control it. Can our heroes save the city and perhaps the very world?

The Beast

A Top Ten Adventure

By Josef Koelbl III

Prologue

Cartoran hurried through the cold stone corridors of Oranbega, his long white beard trailing behind him. His aids struggled to keep pace with him and their feet echoed throughout the lost city.

The time was approaching and Cartoran had to make sure all was in readiness. Long had the Circle waited for this moment. From the first reading of the ancient scroll their excitement was almost a physical presence within Oranbega. Now the time was here. The moon, planets and stars all aligned in the proper order in their proper place. The chants had been prepared and the readings had long ago been completed. "Power is at our doorstep.", the mage thought as he entered the cavern the ceremony was to be preformed in.

In the center of the cavern was a large round flat stone glowing blue with the ruins and markings that had been etched with care. Five lines led away from it to four smaller stones with similar characteristics. Upon each stood a Circle of Thorns mage representing the four elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. The fifth line led to a larger stone much like the others. It was raised higher, however, and this was where Cartoran took his place. The attendants spread out around the room circling it, their green eyes glowing with anticipation.

Cartoran raised his arms and began the ritual. "We call upon the Darkness…"

"O-Wah…", was the response from the elementals.

"We call upon the Dusk…"

"Tanna.."

"We call upon the Twilight…"

"Siam…"

"We demand the Power…"

"O-Wah Tanna Siam!"

"We command you come forth…"

"O-Wah Tanna Siam!"

"We command you!"

"O-Wah Tanna Siam!"

"We Command You!"

"O-Wah Tanna Siam!"

"WE COMMAND YOU!"

"O-Wah Tanna Siam…O-Wah Tanna Siam…O-WAH TANNA SIAM!"

Suddenly, all light was drained from the room and a still coldness took it's place. Then an explosion of light and there, in the center of the circle, it stood. Twelve feet tall and covered with thick slabs of muscle. It's appearance was like a Behemoth Overlord but it was black, larger, thicker with a great forked tail that swished slowly back and forth. The demons mouth held row upon row of razor sharp teeth and atop its head sat two curling horns. Its eyes glowed red with anger and its black bat-like wings twitched and fluttered.

"Who has summoned I That Have No Name?", the demons voice grated and rasped like two slabs of concrete scraping against each other.

Cartoran stepped forward, a look of superiority on his face. "We have, Demon! The Circle of Thorns has called you forth. With you at our command, to do our bidding, the world above will tremble and the Circle will have the power!"

The demon studied the sorcerer, looking him up and down. It turned it's head back and forth surveying the room. Finally it's gaze again fell upon Cartoran.

"Command? Bidding? Fool! I serve no one but He Who Has Not Named Me. And the power I reserve for myself!". With that pronouncement hanging in the air it's great fist swept Cartoran aside flinging him into the cavern wall where he fell to the ground dazed.

The mages and attendants in the room fell silent, stunned at this turn of events. Then as one they charged the demon, yelling their battlecrys which turned to screams almost immediately.

The demons sharp talons sliced one of the mages nearly in two. Another was picked up and hurled 30 yards away into the wall of the cavern and then fell 40 feet to the floor, broken and dead. It cut through the Circle like a scythe leaving blood and entrails in its wake.

Cartoran groggily rose to his knees. Slowly he took in the sight before him. The mages, the guides, masters and overlords and even slaves were strewn about. Life had fled the cavern and left behind only misery.

Suddenly the demon was before him. Cartoran recoiled in fear but the animal wrapped its two hands around his head and pulled him to his feet.

"So, fool, you wanted power.", the demon sneered.

Cartoran hung limply in the demons grasp. "I don't understand. The ritual was preformed. You should be in our power, demon." Even now the mage could not understand his failure.

The demon laughed. "Idiot! I am no demon! Look into my eyes, little magician and see what you have brought forth this day!"

Cartoran looked into the glowing red eyes and screamed. And as the animal twisted off his head and tossed him aside the last thought Cartoran has was, "We have doomed the world!"

The demon looked about and sniffed the air. The fear was an almost palpable presence. It heard the yells and calls coming from adjoining chambers. It smiled, flashing it's long razors of teeth and made it's way from the cavern into the cold stone corridors

And Orenbega screamed.

Chapter One

The Lohrman Building stood in the heart of Steel Canyon overlooking Blyde Square. Built in the early fifties it was, at that time, a modern marvel incorporating design and function unheard of in construction and architecture.

The Lohrman brothers, Martin and Albert, had always been at the forefront of development and business in Paragon City. Lohrman Brothers Mercantile Trading had grown from a dry goods store to its present standing as one of the premier precious stones venders in the world. It was as great a source of pride for the brothers as it was a temptation for the criminal element in the city. And with the emergence of supervillains Lohrman Brothers Mercantile Trading had become a very enticing target indeed.

On this day it had proved irresistible to the Freakshow. Seven of them had made their way in through a loading dock, into a freight elevator and up the fire stairs until they reached the 40th floor offices of the precious stone dealers. Visions of millions of dollars worth of diamonds and sapphires danced in front of their eyes. It would be easy, they told themselves. Get in, terrorize the people, get the goods, get out. But things went bad from the moment they stepped onto the floor.

They hadn't counted on an emergency failsafe triggered by an alert guard, automatically shutting the gems in a time locked safe that proved impossible to break into.

They hadn't counted on an alert secretary pressing the silent alarm.

They hadn't counted on the Paragon City police cordoning off the building and sealing every exit.

And they hadn't counted on Top Ten.

Several members of one of the largest and most powerful Super groups in the city descended upon the building. An explosion marked their arrival as a hole appeared in the 40th floor wall. A Tank Smasher and his gang of six stood transfixed for a moment, staring through the gaping hole and into the sunny blue sky over Steel Canyon. Blocking their view was a man and a woman dressed in blue leather, with yellow accents, and a shield of that same yellow upon their chests.

The woman leapt forward, landing directly in front of the Tank. He stood a head taller than her and he looked at his men with a smile. He raised his hammer hand high above his head and brought it crashing down, striking her, trying to drive her into the floor like a nail. The smirk left his face when he realized the blow had absolutely no effect.

The woman smiled sweetly and, flashing brilliant white teeth, whispered, "My turn." She jumped into the air and kicked the Tank squarely on the side of the head. When she landed she unleashed a series of strikes so fast and so powerful the eye couldn't follow her hands and her target was left dazed on his feet. His six henchmen, mouths open in surprise, looked at each other and ran. She smiled and springing into the air, struck the Freak boss with a back kick, knocking him into a wall.

Her partner threw his hands forward and a bolt of pure energy surged through him and into the Tank, hitting him in the chest and knocking him through the wall and into the office beyond, his back nearly bending in two as he rammed into the heavy oak desk inside.

The woman, Buttercup, and the man, General Scrap, leaned in and looked through the hole, watching as the Tank slid off the desk and onto the floor.

"Impressive," Buttercup said, nodding her head.

Scrap grinned crookedly. "Not my first time."

They heard the sounds of battle around the corner and began to make their way towards it when suddenly a blast of white hot flame shot between them. They looked behind them and saw the Tank, on his feet but engulfed in the fire. Slowly he crumpled to the floor once more. The pair turned to seek out their benefactor and in the sky outside the ruined wall hovered Tropic, his eyes leaking red fire and his hands still smoldering.

Gracefully, he glided through the hole in the wall and landed in front of the pair. Buttercup smiled in greeting. General Scrap just nodded his head.

"You're late," the big man said.

Tropic shrugged. "It's a big city," he said in his low, gravelly voice.

The sounds of the fighting beckoned them again and they rushed to join the fray.

Rounding the corner they were greeted with the sight of a Freak Stunner hurtling towards them and not under his own power. Tropic and Scrap leapt to the side and Buttercup practically threw herself to the floor to avoid being struck by the criminal. He flew past them and hit the floor, bounced twice, and lay still.

Buttercup scrambled to her feet and saw WillowWind grinning at her. The energy powers she wielded had caused the Freak to careen down the hall. The dark haired woman yelled to her three teammates as she turned back to battle, "Sorry!", and looked directly into the face of a Freak Chopper, his axe already arcing towards her head.

Before the blow could strike the Chopper was knocked to the side, his head striking the wall with a crack and leaving a large indent in the plaster. A huge blade came crashing down across his chest and he fell unconscious to the floor. The tall woman leaned close to the thug and whispered in a strangely accented voice, "Broadsword beats axe."

She turned to WillowWind. "You OK?"

Willow smiled up at the tall blonde. "I was ready for him. It was part of my plan, Temptations."

"Your plan to get sliced in two?", Temptations grinned. "You may have to rethink your strategy."

She ducked suddenly as General Scrap jumped over her. Buttercup ran past them and said, "More to do!" She continued on, her gaze riveted to the end of the hallway. The remaining four Freaks had appeared there and had to be caught. Willow, Temptations and Tropic followed in their comrades wake.

Suddenly the four thugs were surrounded by a ring of fire and a huge blast of flame engulfed them. Scrap turned to Tropic, his long blonde hair whipping about. Tropic shrugged.

"Wasn't me," he said simply.

The trapped Freakshow dropped and from around the corner Elendil appeared, his hands still glowing from the heat. Tropic smiled slightly. Elendil's powers practically mirrored his own and he nodded his head in greeting.

Elendil stopped and bent over, resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He looked at the rest of Top Ten and shook his head. "That's a lot of steps," he breathed out.

General Scrap laughed out loud. The fire blaster had climbed 40 flights of stairs and still took out four of the enemy. "Better late than never," he said as he helped the man stand up.

The hostages had been saved, the Freakshow were on their way to prison and the police had taken statements from everyone in the city, it seemed. When Top Ten was finally finished with the incident it was almost eight o'clock and night had fallen over Steel Canyon.

They had gathered on the sidewalk in front of the Lohrman Building and were discussing what area of the city was in most need of patrol when a voice called out to them from above. "Did I miss it?"

They looked up and WillowWind smiled in greeting. Her good friend Valya had arrived accompanied by Cadecus. Both were members of the Super group. Valya, a powerful warrior whose control of the earth was absolute and Cadecus, a valuable ally and friend, a fearless healer who had saved their lives more times than could be counted.

They landed next to their friends and Valya asked again, "Did I miss it?"

General Scrap shook his head. "You're late."

Valya frowned. "It's a big city!" She looked at Willow and grinned. "I was all the way at the crash site when I got the call," she said, brushing her thick red hair back from the two horns that sprouted from her head.

Cadecus nodded. "Yeah, I met her at the train in Brickstown and we got here as fast as we could."

Temptations laughed. "You missed it! Elendil had to climb 40 flights and he still took out four of…", her voice trailed off as she looked at her friends. "Cad? Are you all right?"

The tattooed man looked up at her. "I'm…not sure…," he said and fell dazed into her arms.

All around her, her teammates were beginning to waver on their feet. But no, not all of them she realized. Herself, General Scrap, Elendil and WillowWind all appeared to be fine. She had grabbed Cadecus and was holding the dazed man. Scrap supported Buttercup, Willow had Valya and Tropic was holding onto a lamppost for dear life.

And as quickly as it happened, it ended. The four affected heroes stood straight under their own power, shaking their heads as if trying to knock water out of their ears.

Elendil asked the question they all had on their minds. "What the hell was that?"

Buttercup looked up, rubbing her temples. "I don't know. It felt like someone was standing behind me…breathing down my neck."

"And cold. It felt cold," added Cadecus, turning his head from side to side.

Valya frowned. "It was like something was trying to take the strength from me. Like it was taking…sucking the…"

"Life."

They all turned toward Tropic. He was standing at the edge of the sidewalk almost in the street, staring off into the distance.

"What?", asked the General.

"Sucked some of the life out of us," he said quietly and spoke no more.

"But why you guys?", Temptations asked. "How come we all didn't feel it?"

They stood in silence in the cool night air until finally, "Magic!"

They turned to WillowWind, who said it again. "Magic. Don't you see? They all either got their powers from or use or are magic." She looked at Valya, the concern plainly visible in her expression.

"I guess that makes sense for now," Valya said, smiling at her friend, "but…". Her voice trailed off as she tried to think.

"I know," Cadecus nodded, "but what was it? And more importantly…"

"What could have caused it?", General Scrap finished the question, a deep frown etched on his face.

"Something's here that shouldn't be here." Tropic's voice was quiet, no more than a rough whisper.

WillowWind looked at the rest of the team and then crossed to the fiery hero standing at the edge of the sidewalk. "What do you mean, Tropic?", she said from behind him.

He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder, "Something's here," and returned his gaze to the horizon.

Willow turned to the rest of Top Ten and finally they all looked in the direction Tropic continued to stare in. An audible gasp slipped from Buttercup's open mouth and all the hero's eyes widened in surprise.

In the distance the sky above Perez Park glowed a malevolent green. It swirled and glimmered, not the reassuring, restful glow of the force field walls, but a color that was uncomfortable and disturbing. At that moment, two police cars headed for the park sped past the gathered heroes, their sirens wailing like a child waking from a terrible nightmare.

"Something's here," Tropic whispered once more and then, as one, they began to make their way to Perez park.

CHAPTER TWO

Perez Park had once been a beautiful place, a lush green respite from the rapid pace of city life. Families could picnic on the thick grass or see a play outdoors at Gaiman Amphitheatre. Lovers could walk through the tree-lined paths in the depths of the forest, arms about each other, whispering their sweetest thoughts. Everett Lake provided wet blue coolness on the hottest summer day. It had been a beautiful place.

Then came the Invasion. The War. After that, Perez Park became a haven for gangs warring with each other or preying on the unwise citizen foolish enough to enter their territory. A place for living automations to chatter and build. Where the undead and the disaffected roamed freely. And a place where the Circle of Thorns worked their arcane magics.

The animal emerged from below ground, pushing past a wood gate that blocked the entrance to Oranbega. It's glowing red eyes surveyed it's surroundings. It was in the middle of a dense forest, a babbling creek nearby nearly masking the sounds of the prey at hand.

The thing's nostrils quivered in the twilight, the waning sunlight still filtering through the leaves above. It smelled its prey and it's eyes could see the green tendrils of arcane enchantments weaving their way amongst the tree trunks. The monster smiled, it's razor sharp teeth still flecked with blood, and made it's way from the cave entrance into the deep woodland, following the green magic lines.

A moment later it came upon a glade and was bathed in the sallow moonlight just beginning to shine. It stepped out with no fear still following the mystic path ahead.

"Hey! This is our turf, Thorn!", a gruff voice shouted out.

It turned towards the voice and saw a young man in a tattered jacket striding purposefully towards it. His face was painted white like a skull and behind him several of his friends gathered, smirks on their faces.

"You deaf, Demon?", the thug asked. "I said this is our land. Get out!"

"I am no demon," it said matter-of-factly.

The gangster smiled. "No, you're just dead!" The switchblade appeared from nowhere and slashed at the animals midsection. The Skulls murderous grin turned to shock as he watched the blade break off on the thing's hard skin and go sailing into the bushes.

The fiend's clawed hand slashed out and cut the thug in two, torso landing to the left, legs to the right. His friends eyes grew wide at the sight of their severed comrade and as one they rushed forward.

And as one they died. The thing spared them not a thought as he continued on, following the magic trail, killing all in his path.

Top Ten arrived in Perez Park, moving past the police barricades, through the gates and into a graveyard. All about them bodies were strewn. The Skulls and Hellions, Vahzilok and Lost, all lay dead about the park. Some were nearly ripped apart, others sliced open and all still had a look of horror frozen on their faces by the rigor of death.

"My…God," Cadecus whispered, the empathy defender feeling more than the others the terribleness of the scene.

They all walked forward, their boots squishing. Looking down Temptations saw that the ground had turned to mud from the blood of the slain. She was a powerful warrior and death was no stranger to her but the scale here was almost beyond her. "I don't underst…what could have done," she gestured around her, "this?"

Tropic shook his head. "I don't know," he said quietly. His fiery eyes flared bright as he looked at the devastation.

"Did you feel it too?", a voice called to them from above.

They looked upwards and saw the dark form slowly approaching. General Scrap nodded in greeting as Bzald landed gracefully beside them. The black clad figure looked at his teammates, his red glowing eyes the only thing visible from of the dark swirling shadow that perpetually cloaked him.

Buttercup smiled grimly. "Some of us. We think it only affected those with some magic in them."

The dark figure stood silently for a moment, one hand stroking his chin. "That would seem to be the case," he said. "I was in Dark Astoria locked in combat with a Shaman and his cohorts. Of a sudden it came over us both and we two were staggered. His zombie thralls collapsed almost immediately. Luckily I was able to recover more rapidly than my foe and defeat him." Bzald looked at his friends and then the bodies surrounding them. He shook his head. "It was most disturbing."

Elendil glanced about them. "That's an understatement. How did you know to come here? Perez doesn't border on Astoria or Talos Island.

Bzald's red eyes took in the battlefield and said absently, "I exited Dark Astoria and just…followed the feeling." He paused for a moment and said finally, "It led me here."

Temptations listened to the dark man's story. "Well, now that we're here, how do we find…whatever it is we're looking for?"

"Hey! You guys come look at this!"

The gathered heroes turned and saw WillowWind and Valya near the high stone wall that separated the park from the few office buildings across the road. Willow was waving them over and Valya was crouched over a dark form.

As they converged on the two heroines they saw the body was a Circle mage. Tropic and Cadecus squatted next to Valya and examined the remains. It was indeed a Circle of Thorns adept, a Madness Mage by the look of him. Valya stood again next to WillowWind and watched the two men.

Tropic leaned back and stroked his goatee. "Cadecus?", he asked and motioned at the corpse.

The healer nodded and held his arms out directly over the dead magician's chest. A white aura flowed from Cadecus' hands and as quickly as he started, he closed his hands into fists and drew away from the body. He looked at Tropic, shaking his head, one hand tugging at his lower lip.

"Well?", asked Buttercup her gaze shifting between them.

"He's Circle all right," Tropic began, "but it's different. The other bodies here are practically torn apart and he's pretty beat up too, but there's something different about this one." Tropic pointed down at the body. "Look at his skin. It's wrinkled…calcified…like he's been mummified or…" Tropic shook his head and pulled on his goatee again. "I don't know."

"And there's something else." The assembled heroes turned towards Cadecus. "Just now when I tried to get some reading off him, there was nothing." He saw the confused looks on the faces of his teammates. He sighed and explained. "Everyone has some type of aura or…presence…that remains with them, even in death, for a while at least." He paused and looked at the Mage. "He had nothing. Nothing."

Valya looked at the body and then at Cadecus. "Like he'd been…drained," she said quietly.

"Of everything," Tropic whispered. He looked at Temptations again. "You asked how we find what we're looking for…" The gathered heroes of Top Ten looked at each other and then the stiffening remains sprawled about them. Then Tropic's low voice broke the uneasy silence. "We follow the bodies."

Tropic and Temptations led the way, carefully picking their way through the seemingly unending corpses littering the unnerving quiet of the park. The heroes were silent, each lost in thought, all trying to remain focused on the matter at hand and not on the dead pointing the way to…what? The unknown was more worrisome than their surroundings. They had seen battle and death before but, with the exception of a few, not on this scale. Not knowing what they were facing was a frightening proposition.

Still they pressed forward. Up ahead they saw movement and, as one, immediately took defensive postures but quickly relaxed again as they caught sight of the familiar colors of the Top Ten uniform and the four individuals wearing them. The four teammates saw the larger group at the same time and waited for them to approach.

Ryuuhoshi shook his head. "What's going on here?", he said looking over the devastation. "I've never seen anything like this."

Miyaka gripped her katana tightly and nodded a greeting, her short dark hair bobbing slightly in the still night. Deep Phreeze wrapped her cape close about herself, eyes hidden behind her red tinted glasses. Her ice powers warded off the cold but she shivered now amongst the dead. Johnny Cognito stood silent, tendrils of inky blackness gathering at his feet.

"I can't say I'm not glad to see you," General Scrap told them, "but how did you…?"

"We were arresting some Family goons in Independence Port when we saw it." Ryuuhoshi looked up at the swirling green sky. "You can see it from all over the city."

Buttercup frowned. "You can't see Perez from IP. You mean that…"

"You can see it from all over the city," Ryuuhoshi said again.

Cadecus grimaced and looked skyward. "That means the ordinary citizens are going to panic." Like most of the heroes inhabiting Paragon City, Cadecus had little faith in the city's police forces. He and the others had seen them run from trouble too many times to think they could count on them now.

"Then lets find the people responsible for this and finish it before more die," General Scrap offered. "I'll bet that the Circle of Thorns is behind it. Once we track them down we can…"

Johnny Cognito scowled and looked at the bodies near him. "The Circle? Look around you! The Circle are getting killed along with everyone else." He shook his head. "I don't think they decided to get themselves killed en masse!"

Elendil nodded. "He has a point…but I'm willing to bet that they at least had something to do with it." He gazed up at the sky, an angry green cyclone swirling ominously. "Let's keep on going. Follow the bodies and see where that leads us maybe we'll…"

He stopped speaking, interrupted by an unearthly howl. He raised an eyebrow and returned the stares of his teammates.

"I guess we know where we're going," Miyaka said with a crooked smile.

"Stay together," Ryuuhoshi whispered as they moved through the bloody mud towards the sound.

The heroes moved quickly through the park, skirting the thick forest line and following the edge of the small rivulet of water that lead to Everett Lake. They still had to step over the bodies littering the ground but now they noticed more Circle of Thorns among the dead. All of them had the same mummified, drained look as the one they had found.

Tropic and Buttercup looked at each other silently, a gaze of concern between them. The Circle were a group of very powerful magicians. Whatever could do this was head and shoulders above that power. The two heroes knew that what they were dealing with was deadly, dangerous, and maybe stronger than they. They continued on, though, knowing also that they were probably the only thing standing between…something and the rest of Paragon City.

The group emerged on the bank of Everett Lake and followed it towards the gate to Skyway City. They rounded a stand of thick trees and there, in the middle of the Amphitheatre, they saw it, gripping a Circle Thorn Wielder by the shoulders. A green mist was flowing from the helpless victim, from his mouth and eyes, into the open maw of the huge thing. Remnants of the mist drifted upward to the sky joining the swirling mass above.

The Thorn Wielder's body began to shrink in the animal's grasp as his power, his magic, his very essence was drawn away. When the monster had taken all there was, he simply cast the Thorn aside to join the others strewn on the Amphitheatre's stage, all sucked dry of every bit of life and magic. It turned then and noticed the heroes of Top Ten watching it. It sensed the magic in some of them but there was not enough there to warrant it's attention.

Until it heard the scream, "ATTACK!", then Top Ten had it's complete attention.

As one the heroes surged forward assaulting the black demon with the practiced confidence earned with hundreds of battles: melee team moved forward to engage the villain directly and range heroes held back, peppering the fiend with blasts of ice, fire and energy. But it soon became clear that this…thing was not going to fall to conventional battle strategies.

Miyaka sliced away at the thing, striking it with slashing blows, her katana dancing over the hide of the animal so quickly only a blur of silver could be seen. Temptations stood beside her, the great broadsword in her hands hacking down on the ogre's armored hide so hard the impact threatened to jar the blade from her hands. Both blades had the same effect - none.

The demon roared in annoyance and swung it's huge hand, slapping Temptations away. The heroine tumbled in the grass and dirt, a cloud of dust rising in her path. She finally came to rest some twenty yards away at the edge of the lake already rolling to her feet and heading back to join the fray again.

Miyaka continued her attack, still trying to carve the beast's skin, while behind her the blasts from her teammates attempted to disorient their foe. On the other side Ryuuhoshi and Buttercup struck with all the skill of their martial arts training. Thunderous strikes and kicks landed on the beast, hands and feet moving faster than the eye could see. But the thought became clearer in their minds that they were doing no damage at all.

Suddenly, the animal leapt over them and headed out over the lake towards the abandoned boathouse. "Keep after it!", General Scrap shouted. "We've got to take it out before it can do mor…". The rest of his words were lost to the wild sounds of fighting.

Top Ten pursued it, blast after blast hitting the fleeing demon. "We're not hurting it!", Elendil shouted as he unleashed another blast at the beast. He watched as the things tail struck Miyaka and sent her flying. She hit the ground and tumbled across the grass, leaving a smoking trail of dirt.

Ryuuhoshi watched as Miya tumbled away and, in the split second that his attention was diverted, the thing's tail struck him as it swished back. The dark ninja was lifted from his feet and hurled some thirty yards away, finally hitting the ground and somersaulting several times before coming to rest on the cool green grass, dizzy and stunned.

He clambered to his knees, shaking his head, trying to recover. Ryuuhoshi watched the battle with the demon unfold. Valya and Cognito were doing their best to slow it down and the rest of the team were hitting it with everything they had.

Suddenly he saw Bzald swoop in, trying to get a decent shot at the thing. He watched in horror as the animal struck the shadowed controller with it's huge fist. Bzald took off like a rocket, spinning through the air and then hitting the ground and going airborne once more, sailing directly over Ryuu's head. Bzald's back slammed into the hard trunk of a large tree, nearly snapping the man in two. He fell to earth and lay there, unmoving.

Ryuuhoshi ran to his friend. "Bz! Bzald! Are you ok?" He crouched there next to him looking into the red, glowing eyes.

"Can't...move...", Bzald said, his shadowed face a mask of pain and fear.

Ryuu looked up, searching for the healer, Cadecus, when above him Deep Phreeze tumbled overhead and smacked into the concrete of the force field wall with a sickening wet thud. She fell at least twenty feet and lay still.

"Cadecus! Cadecus!"

The healer turned from the battle and saw the ninja frantically waving him over. With a last healing burst, Cad hurried over. He looked down at Bzald and, using his power, determined the extent of the man's injury. He looked over at Phreeze and then to Ryuuhoshi. "Take them to the hospital."

"What?", Ryuu asked in surprise. "Can't you..."

Cadecus shook his head and looked back at the carnage near the demon. "No. Get going! Get back as quick as you can!" With that the healer returned to the fray.

Ryuu frowned, picked up Deep Phreeze and, placing his hand on Bzald, activated the medical transporter and the three heroes vanished.

"Keep at it!", WillowWind yelled. She fired another blast at the thing. Valya had surrounded it with quicksand and Cognito added to it with tar, both heroes striving to slow the fiend down long enough for their team to stop it. Valya and Willow closed in trying to maximize the chance to strike. In back of the beast Elendil and Tropic did the same. Temptations and Buttercup still stood toe to toe with the thing, hitting it with everything they could muster.

Elendil hit it with a huge blaze of fire, not really hurting the beast but certainly getting it's attention. As the beast turned toward the fire blaster its great forked tail swept into Valya knocking her away.

The demon looked down at the blaster and it's clawed hand jabbed toward him. Elendil had stopped his assault for a moment and had taken a knee, resting, trying to regain some of his strength. He never saw it coming.

"EL!", Tropic screamed and pushed the man out of the way. "ARRGGHH!" Another scream burst from Tropic. Looking down he saw the talon of the beast jutting forward from his side. The villain had thrust its sharp nail through him from behind and, just as quickly, it withdrew the claw. Tropic fell to the ground, fire erupting from both sides of the wound.

"TROPIC! NO!", Elendil screamed and rushed to his friend. The fiery hero lay on the ground for a moment and then climbed to his hands and knees. "Trop, are you..?", Elendil asked, fear and concern in his voice and on his face.

"Just…got to…catch…my breath," he said between heavy breaths. Suddenly a scream rent the night air and both heroes turned to the sound. The animal had grabbed WillowWind and held her high above his head, one great hand wrapped around her leg, and was already swinging his arm down trying to drive her into the ground as if she were a hammer.

Valya cried out as she saw the dire trouble her friend was in. She ran towards the beast but knew already she wouldn't make it in time. Elendil unleashed a bolt of pure flame at the thing, hitting it directly in the chest. The demon shrugged it off, still swinging the struggling heroine towards the hard cold earth.

Tropic rose to his knees, dazed and faint from the wound his body was still trying to heal. He took his hand from his side long enough to shoot a weak blast of fire at the black beast. That done, he collapsed to the ground once more, watching helplessly.

The ball of fire hit the beast in the chest again. Howling in agony the thing dropped Willow some ten feet to the ground. Valya made it to her almost as soon as she landed and, scooping her up, practically carried her from harm's way.

The beast turned to Tropic, it's nostrils quivering, and stared for a mere second at the fire blaster. Then it turned and simply bounded away, swallowed by the dense forest of Perez Park.

Near the force field wall a figure appeared seemingly from thin air, wearing the Top Ten colors. "What the hell was that?", it asked incredulously.

"Kunai!", General Scrap called out. He ran to the lanky fighter, holding his left arm tight to his body. "Follow that thing! Let us know where it goes, but for God's sake, don't attack it! Go! Go!"

"Right! Got it!", the stealthy warrior exclaimed and ran towards the forest, already seeming to disappear from view as he neared the thick trees.

Scrap watched Kunai go and then turned to the rest of his team. All had been injured in some way and Cadecus was going to each of them, the soothing green waves of his healing aura washing over them and making them whole again. Buttercup was on her knees, the midsection of her uniform bearing four claw-like tears. Temptations left shoulder pad was missing and the sleeve had split at the seam. Willow and Valya appeared to be all right but both were covered with dirt and sweat. Tropic was in his feet, supported by Elendil. And as he took stock of himself, Scrap noticed finally the deep gash in his arm.

Cadecus came near him and he felt the heal. He looked at his arm again and watched as the wound disappeared. Cadecus nodded at him, "You ok?" Scrap nodded in return.

"Well, we just got our asses kicked," Miyaka said plainly. She too was covered in dirt. Her uniform was covered with grass stains and the seam on one side of the short skirt she wore had split all the way up to the waist, showing, in flashes, the white panties she was so fond of wearing.

"Miya…"

"No, really, every part of our asses were just kicked. If there was an ass in the vicinity, it was kicked." She kneeled down at the edge of the lake and splashed the cool water on her face, washing away the grime.

"Miya…please…," Scrap began.

"She's right," Tropic said quietly, still holding his side as he approached the group. Elendil stayed near but Tropic was standing now under his own power.

WillowWind walked up and rested her hand on his shoulder. "You all right?"

"Good as new," he said, removing his hand from the wound, revealing the two charred holes, front and back, in his costume. Not even a scar remained.

Buttercup sighed and stared into the forest after the beast. "So…what do we do now?"

"Simple," Temptations said. She gripped the hilt of her broadsword so tightly her knuckles were white. She looked at her teammates, her eyes low and growled, "We track it down and return the favor."

CHAPTER THREE

"Simple, huh?", Johnny Cognito frowned as he wiped the dirt from his forehead with the back of his hand. It left a smudge over his right eye but he had already begun to rub his palms together, trying to rid himself of the dark earth. Behind Temptations he could see the HAZ-MAT personnel entering the park, beginning the depressing task of gathering the bodies littering the quiet landscape.

"Look around you, Tempt," he continued, waving his hands, "that thing just killed everything here. It's not gonna be simple. It's gonna be rough…and after seeing how it threw us around I think our chances are pretty slim."

Scrap walked up and laid his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "So, we give up?"

Johnny looked at the man with a smirk. "Of course not, you know better than that." He shook his head and looked at the ground. "But we can't beat it…not right now."

Cadecus nodded in agreement. He eyed the rest of Top Ten. Buttercup kneeled down by the edge of the lake, resting back on her ankles. She stared unseeing into the cool blue water as Miyaka stood next to her fiddling with her skirt, pulling the sides of her white panties up high on her hips so that the front and back dipped below the waistband and out of sight. Cad shook his head.

WillowWind and Valya were standing at the lake as well, Willow brushing some of the dirt from Val's thick red hair and Val pulling a twig or two from Will's dark mane. The leg of WillowWind's costume, where the demon had grabbed her, was torn, ripped down the front and back exposing her smooth, tan skin. Tropic stood near them silently, staring with smoldering eyes in the direction the thing had run off to.

"We need to know more," the defender said. He looked at the group and asked, "What do we know so far?"

"It's big, it's strong and it's pretty much impervious to whatever we threw at it," Buttercup said, absently rubbing her hand over the claw marks in her uniform.

"I don't know about that," Willow shook her head, "I think Elendil and Tropic hurt it"

"No," Tropic frowned. The red-skinned hero turned to Willow and smiled. "I don't think so, but…" He shook his head. "I don't know. Anyway, I'm almost positive it's not supposed to be here." The gathered heroes looked at Tropic expectantly. He shrugged and, shaking his head said, "It doesn't feel like one of their Behemoths."

Johnny squinted an eye at him. "What? Another dimension or something?"

Cadecus nodded, one hand rubbing his chin. "That's entirely possible: another dimension or plane of existence. The Circle are certainly capable of pulling something like that over or…it made the jump on it's own." The healer shook his head, "We just don't know…yet."

Miyaka sighed. "Well, we know we can't hurt it."

"But it can hurt us," the voice said from above. Ryuuhoshi landed gracefully among his teammates, his eyes darting quickly past and around them, looking for the animal they had been fighting. "Is it gone?", he asked, the anger in his voice almost slapping his friends faces.

"Yes, a few minutes ago," Scrap replied. "Kunai is following it." He briefly recounted the final moments of the battle and then asked "How are Phreeze and Bzald?"

Ryuuhoshi looked at each hero in turn when he spoke, "Phreeze is in a coma. The doc's think she'll be alright but they want her to wake up on her own."

"And when do they think that'll be?", Valya asked.

Ryuu shrugged. "Hour, day, week, month. Your guess is as good as theirs. They said they'll wake her if she goes beyond a certain point but they didn't tell me what that point was."

"And Bzald?" Willow eyed the dark ninja.

Even though the bottom half of Ryuuhoshi's face was covered those gathered thought they could see him frown. "They think that…he may have…they don't…"

"Just say it, Ryuu," Tropic said softly.

The ninja paused for a moment and then, "It's his spine. He cracked it on that tree pretty hard. The doctors knocked him out and have him tied down so he can't move and hurt himself further." The heroes were frowning, their brows beginning to knit together in worry and anger. "But there's so much swelling in there they can't tell if any bone shards or nerves or whatever are causing any damage. They said they had to wait but…" He paused again and this time seemed almost unable to speak.

"Go on, Ryuuhoshi," Cadecus urged.

"They think his legs may be paralyzed." The statement hung in the air between them with a presence all it's own. Ryuu looked at his friends, his eyes showing all the emotion he felt. "They don't know."

General Scrap sighed heavily, "Well, let's find some people who know about this thing so we can hunt it down and make it pay." The rest of Top Ten looked at him, anger and resolve clearly etched on their faces.

"Well, we know it hates the Circle of Thorns," Miyaka declared.

"…or needs them," Tropic intoned, pulling on his lower lip.

WillowWind tilted her head as she looked at the blaster. "What do you mean, Trop?"

Tropic glanced at the bodies strewn about the landscape. "The others he killed but the Circle he sucked dry. I don't think he was as interested in their lives as he was in the magic he could siphon from them." The shook his head and ran his hand through his tall spiky hair. "He wanted their magic. Their lives were just a bonus."

"But why?", Temptations wondered aloud.

Cognito shook his head and frowned. "Well, I guess if we need to know about the Circle of Thorns we need to go to the source. And there's only one place I can think of."

"Oh, don't tell me…," pleaded Temptations.

Buttercup sighed, "Oranbega."

"I hate Oranbega," Temptations said simply. The other heroes around her voiced similar sentiments. The magic city stood deep underground, a safe haven for the Circle to practice their arcane spells and brew their concoctions. It was fraught with portals and gates, demons and mystics that gave even the bravest hero pause. But Cognito and Buttercup were right: if one wanted to know what the Circle was up to Oranbega was the only place to investigate.

Elendil nodded. "All right. I think there's a gateway within the thickest part of the park. Let's get going before we…"

"Wait," General Scrap interrupted. "Not all of us."

"Why not?", Miyaka asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's someplace else to go too." Scrap looked at the expectant group and said finally, "Me, Cadecus, Temptations, Tropic and Buttercup will go to Oranbega. The rest of you go see Azuria at M.A.G.I. in city hall. Something this big, they're probably already working on it. Let's find out what they know."

Suddenly Tropic's low, gravely voice was heard, "Look at the sky,' he said quietly.

They looked up and saw the green tempest above them begin to dissipate. The nighttime sky could now be seen through the mist, the light of the stars finally showing through.

At that moment Scrap's communicator sounded. "Yes?…Kunai! Where?…OK…I see…No! No, don't do…I understand but it would be suicide…Yes…Yes…OK…Just keep following it and report back when it moves again…I understand…OK." He placed the device back on his belt and turned to the other members of Top Ten. "It's in Faultline and it's doing the same thing."

The heroes' eyes narrowed and Valya whispered, "We have to stop it."

"All right, let's get going," Scrap sighed. "Let's meet at that park below the Green Line in Steel in…an hour, right?"

They nodded and began moving in the direction of their assignments. Tropic stood for a moment stroking his goatee', a deep frown on his face. The thing was in Faultline now. "Lot's of Thorns in Faultline," he thought. Tropic had the beginnings of an idea about the demon and he didn't like where his thoughts were taking him. He breathed out heavily then turned and caught up to his friends as they sought out the entrance to the magic city.

CHAPTER FOUR

The heroes carefully followed the thin trail through the thick trees, edging ever closer to the entrance of the magic city. All had been there before, on one mission or another, and all had hoped never to return. Oranbega's cold stone corridors seemed never ending, filled with Circle minions and worse. It was a dangerous place made even more so due to the night's events.

As they moved further into the dense forest they noticed that the dead began to appear less and less until finally no bodies were apparent. The team was silently thankful for that; they had seen too much death tonight and this was a welcome respite. They also noticed there was complete silence. No birds. Not even the buzzing of insects. It was as though every living thing had fled in the wake of that monster. It was…disturbing, to say the least.

Suddenly, they came to a glade of soft grass and dirt and across the expanse a formation of rock sprang up just at the tree line. Imbedded in it's face was a wooden door made up of four planks, "NO TRESPASSING" crudely written in black paint over them. They crossed the glade, General Scrap and Tropic in the lead, the rest spread out behind them.

"There it is," Scrap nodded.

"Hey! Over here!", Cadecus called out. The team gathered around the healer as he crouched over the ground. A huge footprint was outlined in the damp earth, the claws clearly visible.

"Well," Buttercup sighed, "we know it was here."

"Or…there could be two of them," Tropic said, his head low and hiding a crooked grin.

Temptations stared at the red-skinned man with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, thank you very much, Tropic," she said with mock outrage. The fire blaster grinned and shrugged. The others looked at him and, shaking their heads, and made their way to the wooden gate and Oranbega.

They pried open the door and entered the city. They stood in a type of foyer, floor and walls of stone, and around them bookshelves holding arcane tomes and artifacts, candles and bones. Directly ahead of them a triangular arch beckoned. Beyond that lie the halls and buildings of the city.

But there was something…not right.

Buttercup breathed in and frowned. "What's that smell?"

Temptations had already noticed it and held her broadsword at the ready. She looked at the archway then turned to her friend. "Death," she said simply and quietly turned again to the arch.

"And blood," Tropic added, the iron-copper scent permeated the place. The others may not have been able to sense it, but the fiery hero could. He had smelled it enough in his long life. And he also knew that the place reeked of it. And he knew how much of it was needed to cause this stench.

"Listen," Cadecus said softly. The heroes looked at each other. There was no sound. No chanting. No shuffling footsteps. Nothing.

General Scrap frowned and said, "All right," and as one they entered the archway and Oranbega.

They felt the eyes on them as soon as they entered City Hall. Here was a place where fledgling heroes began their careers, heads full of dreams of glory, their costumes crisp and clean. In their thoughts every battle was won with effortless skill and defeat was so foreign a concept it didn't even register as a possibility.

Then they saw Top Ten stride purposefully into the building and across the great hall towards the hero assignment offices. The six heroes were covered with dirt and grass stains, their uniforms ripped and torn, but still walked straight with grim resolve. They felt the eyes upon them and heard the murmurs of surprise and paid them absolutely no attention.

They walked to the small hallway to the right of the building and down the few steps to the assignment area. This was the first stop for new superheroes in Paragon City but sometimes even the more experienced crime fighters needed help. Through the double doors on the right were the offices of the Modern Arcane Guild of Investigation and hopefully some answers.

Both doors swung open and they headed for the reception desk where a disinterested young woman sat, a hands free microphone and earpiece on the left side of her narrow face. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight bun and her blouse was buttoned up to her neck. The seam in the sleeves of her business suit was razor sharp. Her lip curled slightly as she looked the heroes up and down. "Yes?", she said with an exasperated sigh, "may I help you?"

"We need to see Azuria right away!", Willow exclaimed.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"An…appointment," Valya repeated incredulously. "Um…No, but…"

"Well, I'm sorry but things are a bit hectic at the moment," the receptionist interrupted. "If you could be lambs and have a seat we'll see if we can fit you in. Thanks"

The heroes looked at each other with astonishment. Miyaka stepped forward. "Look..," she paused to read the nameplate on the corner of the desk, "umm…Renee, this is very important. There's a…"

"And you are…?", Renee cut her off.

"Um…Miyaka."

"And I would know you from…?"

Miyaka turned to her friends her eyes wide, one eyebrow arching upwards. Johnny Cognito answered, "We're from Top Ten."

Elendil nodded, "Surely you've heard of us?"

"So…there will be ten of you…?"

"No, no…it's a Super Group," Ryuuhoshi tried to explain, "and we've really got to see Azuria. It's very impor…"

"Yes…well…as I said it's going to be very difficult to fit you in but if you'll just have a seat over there we'll see what we can do. Thanks so much." Then she turned and answered the phone, effectively dismissing the stunned heroes.

"Oh, that's it," Valya growled.

Azuria looked at the report in her hand and frowned. No matter how many times she read it, it still said the same thing: dead in Perez Park with special attention to the Circle of Thorns; swirling green mist over said park; some monstrous entity causing both presumably. She smiled a bit. "They're all monstrous entities," she thought.

M.A.G.I. had been aware of something for a couple of hours now, ever since they had all felt the…draining. Some of her people were still very wobbly, others, like herself, had throbbing headaches but all still worked, concerned over the occurrence, especially because they really had no idea what was going on. All the information they had was based on second and third person accounts. No eyewitnesses had presented themselves as yet. The only things they were sure of was that it was magical in nature and it didn't belong here.

One of her aides handed her another printout. The mist in Perez Park was dissipating and beginning to form over the area known as Faultline. The young mystic tugged on her lower lip wondering what that could mean when, from outside the double doors, there was a thud and what seemed to be a very short scream.

Suddenly the doors burst open and six costumed individuals stood there, disheveled and dirty. A red-head with horns had a hold of Azuria's receptionist by the scruff of the neck, controlling the struggling woman effortlessly. Azuria pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Renee was very good at her job, but was difficult to say the least. She had been in no less than a half dozen other departments and had been moved from each. It was only a matter of time before some hero or other had had enough of her…abruptness.

"We need to see Azuria ASAP!", called out the horned woman.

Azuria sighed and, looking at the woman said, "Valya, yes?"

Valya's head jolted back in surprise. "Umm…yes. How did you…?"

"We know many things," the young woman replied. She stepped forward confidently. "I am Azuria. What can I do for Top Ten?", she said, smiling at their bewilderment.

Finally WillowWind stepped forward. "In Perez Park," she said hastily, "there's a demon. It's killing everyone. But it takes the Circle of Thorns and…"

Now it was Azuria's turn to be surprised. "You've seen it?"

"Seen it?", Ryuuhoshi snorted, " We fought it!"

"Quickly, come in," and Azuria hurried to call her staff to her.

A sly smile curled Valya's lips as she looked at the receptionist still in her grasp. In a voice that dripped with sugar she said, "Could you be a lamb and wait outside, thanks so much," and with a flip of her wrist tossed the annoying young woman through the doors.

Renee landed with a thud on her backside, the skirt of her prim and proper business suit riding up revealing a zebra striped g-sting and matching garter belt holding up black lace top stockings. She screamed as she tried to pull her dress down and her eyes shot daggers at Elendil and Johnny Cognito as they watched her.

Johnny nodded as he looked at Elendil, one eye squinting at his friend. "It's always the quiet ones."

As he closed the doors, Elendil looked past Johnny to their teammates Miyaka, WillowWind and Valya. Elendil shook his head and said, "Dude, we don't know any quiet ones!"

When they were all gathered Azuria spoke. "Tell me everything you know."

The quiet was the most unnerving. As they crept further into Oranbega the unnatural silence seemed to press in on them like a great closing hand.

They had at last become somewhat used to the bodies lining the corridors and chambers of the magic city. Uncountable numbers of mages and mystics, guides and slaves filled the whole of the place. All were in the same condition as their brethren above in the park: drained of life and magic leaving only a mummified husk which once was human. Many of the Circle had literally been torn apart and pieces of bodies blocked their path on more than one occasion.

At least Buttercup and Cadecus had stopped throwing up. Tropic smiled with sympathy at the woman. Although Buttercup was a very dangerous fighter she was probably the gentlest soul he had ever met. Cadecus was having a harder time of it due to his empathic nature. The very thing that made him an extraordinary healer was also causing him the most distress. It was as if he could feel the pain of the Thorns and it made him very unsteady on his feet.

They rounded a corner and came upon a flight of stairs leading downwards. Temptations had the lead and, holding her great broadsword tightly, began to descend the stairs. She kicked a severed foot from her path and General Scrap watched it tumble down the steps. Behind him Cadecus stumbled slightly and he reached out to grab him.

"You OK, buddy," Scrap asked, the concern evident in his voice.

Cadecus nodded. "Just not used to seeing unpeopled feet rolling around," he smiled.

"I'll try to be more careful," Temptations said over her shoulder and the healer grinned in gratitude.

Another flight of stairs identical to the first appeared in front of the group. When they reached the bottom a huge cavern opened up before them. Wooden bridges spanned the gap between the stone ledge they stood on and an enormous building on the other side of an underground river. Circling the cavern were stone carvings of gigantic heads, waterfalls flowing from the sculptures open mouths.

"Wow," Temptations whispered with awe. As she scanned the area she saw more dead strewn on the bridge and floating below in the water. "They haven't been dead that long," she said confidently.

"How can you tell?", frowned Buttercup.

She pointed down at the bodies in the water. "They're not swelled up yet."

Buttercup grimaced. "Gross," she said matter-of-factly.

"Indeed," whispered Tropic, his gaze sweeping over the building across from them. It was at least six stories tall and they had to search every inch of it.

"Let's get moving," Scrap said and the team moved over the wooden bridge and entered the temple.

They began their search at the top and worked their way down. Every chamber they entered contained the same grisly contents: dead and dismembered bodies. The sightless eyes of the dead stared upwards as if asking God why this had befallen them. The blood of the slain had not had time to dry and their feet stuck in the vicious fluid. Still they continued downwards, examining every room and hallway.

The team reached the bottom floor of the structure. They searched a few rooms with the same results and then followed a short corridor in back of the temple. Suddenly the hall opened up into a large cavern. In the center of the cavern a large flat stone sat, marked with etchings. Five lines lead away from it to five round stone platforms, one larger then the other four.

Tropic froze in the corridors arch. "This is where it came through," he said in a rough whisper.

"Are you sure?", Scrap asked. His eyes surveyed the cave. "How can you tell?"

Tropic strode forward and stood in the center stone. "Here. Look. You can see the scratches from it's feet on it," he pointed down at the slab. "They preformed some type of ritual," he said, waving his hand at the other stones.

"Yes," Buttercup continued, "the lead mage stood there at the larger stone," she paced to it and then to the other, smaller stones in turn. "Earth, water, fire, air," she said indicating each stone circle.

Temptations stood near Tropic, looking at the center slab. "What are these markings on it mean?", she asked pulling on her lower lip.

Buttercup joined them at the slab. "They were just etched in recently," she frowned. "But the language…is that Sumerian?"

The others looked at her with raised eyebrows. She sighed and grinned, "I work with ancient antiquities in the Paragon City Museum of Natural History."

"Huh," Cadecus smiled, "Super Librarian."

Tropic smiled and then turned his attention to the markings. "No, not Sumerian," he shook his head. "It looks almost…it could be…" At once both his and Buttercup's eyes widened and they said in unison, "Arkandian."

Temptations looked at her teammates. Tropic covered his mouth with his right hand, rubbing it back and forth. Buttercup had folded both arms over her chest and looked as if she were going to hug herself unconscious. "So…who are these Arkandians?", she asked.

Tropic and Buttercup looked at each other as if trying to decide if their friends could be trusted. Buttercup finally raised her hand and shook her head as though she were giving permission for Tropic to explain.

The fiery hero took a deep breath. "So far in history, there have been maybe three arcane groups that were evil for the sake of evil. The Hun Lords of the Feuer, who…created me, the Circle of Thorns and the Arkandians. The Hun Lords and the Arkandians are no more. A millennia or so ago they battled it out amongst themselves and regular humans chose that time to strike and wiped them out." He looked deeply into the faces of his friends. "They were evil incarnate and they'd make the Circle of Thorns look like the Girl Scouts." He paused and looked at the slab again. He shook his head. "The Arkandians were worshipers of death, the hands of evil. If the Circle was messing around with one of their spells…"

There was absolute silence in the cavern. Finally General Scrap nodded. "Well, let's keep looking. Maybe the others….did you hear that!"

The group stood shock still and they heard it again. It sounded like a bottle rolling over a cement floor. And it was coming from below them. They hurried out of the cavern to the outside of the temple. There they looked down over a low rock wall to where the waterfalls emptied far beneath the city.

They looked at each other and, as one, leapt over the edge into the deluge.

"We are almost certain this thing is from another dimension," Azuria explained. "The only other feasible possibility would be another plane of existence."

WillowWind nodded her head. "So, Tropic was right."

Azuria looked at the super heroine with a raised eyebrow. "Tropic? Tropic is involved in this?"

"Umm, yes," Willow answered warily, "he and some others from our team are investigating Oranbega. Why? What do you think he's…"

"Oranbega," the young mage cut her off, nodding her head in agreement, "a wise course of action."

Willow regarded the woman with a furrowed brow. Why was she interested in what Tropic was doing? She disliked the secrecy and subterfuge that usually accompanied supers with magic based powers. "It's probably for our own good," she thought to herself, "some of that stuff is wicked…literally." She was roused from her thoughts by Miyaka's next question.

"So what's the difference? Another dimension and plane of existence are the same thing, aren't they?", she said as she looked at a magical artifact tightly sealed inside a glass case. The thing looked to be made of solid gold and as she leaned closer to it, she seemed to hear inside her mind "Free me…free me…free me…" Miyaka stood straight abruptly and stepped backwards.

"No, not really," Azuria was saying, "and don't get too close to that." She waited until the young woman rejoined the group before continuing. "Another dimension is just that: a place where our physical laws may or may not apply. The sky may be green, the grass orange. Truly, another world." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. The headache she had received from the materialization of this new demon was still bothersome. A soothing spell she had cast for herself hadn't taken effect yet. She rubbed her forehead and spoke again.

"Another plane of existence is part of our world but not, if that makes any sense," she smiled. "Think of someplace completely beyond and devoid of reality but still part of it. For example, the home of the gods on Mt. Olympus."

"Or the Democratic party," Johnny Cognito added.

The rest of his teammates turned and stared at him with looks that one would reserve for the village idiot. "What?", he asked innocently.

"No," Azuria said with annoyance.

Elendil nodded his head. "Ok…so how do we send it back or kill it? We threw everything we had at it and barely scratched it. Is there some…"

Azuria held up her hand to stop him. She frowned deeply and looked at the heroes in turn. Finally she nodded her head and said, "There may be a way…"

They landed some 300 yards down, far below the great temple and up to their thighs in dark green water. Several Circle bodies floated about and Buttercup retched again, but luckily did not vomit. Tropic smiled at the martial arts mistress in sympathy and shook his head. She grinned back weakly then turned her attention to their surroundings.

They were in another large cavern, rough rock walls sloping upwards. High above them the waterfalls continued to cascade, pouring hundreds of thousands of gallons of water around them but the level of the water did not change. The team moved forward and found they were in a small lagoon. In its center a circular column of rock rose upwards to the giant building and around it were small caves and ledges. Top Ten kept to the wall of the cavern and began their search.

"This shouldn't be possible," Cadecus whispered. "The water should be swirling around from the waterfalls and the river. The current should be immense."

Scrap nodded. "I agree. But it is the magic city. Things work a little differently here, I suppose."

They rounded a corner and ahead of them on the right was a ramp that lead to a large portal, blue and green color churning madly inside it.

"Portal," Temptations grunted, indicating it with the pommel of her sword.

"Yes, it'll take us back to the temple," Tropic whispered.

His teammates looked at him, the question on their faces. "How do you know that?", Buttercup said with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait," Cadecus whispered urgently. Up ahead there appeared to be another ramp and as they drew closer they saw an altar squatting at it's end.

At the altar was a robed figure and it looked like he was…sweeping?

They surged forward but Cadecus held his hand out to them. "Stop!" he whispered. The teammates held up and the defender strode forward towards the robed man.

When he stood in front of the ramp, still thigh deep in the tepid water he said, "Hello."

The Thorn spun around with a surprised scream and dove behind the table. He gripped the edges of the altar with his fingers and poked his head above the rim so that only his eyes showed.

Cadecus held his hands up. "We're not going to hurt you," he said in his most soothing tone.

The man's glowing green eyes frowned in response. "You are not the masters," he said warily.

"No, no we're not. It looks like they are…all gone."

The robed man's eyes knotted together again and Cadecus could feel the fear rising from the poor fellow. "You are doing a very fine job cleaning this shrine," he said, changing the subject all together.

Temptations and Tropic looked at each other in confusion. "What are you doing?", Temptations hissed at the healer.

Cadecus held his hand low and waved them back. Tropic shrugged at Temptations and shook his head. The fire blaster stole a glance at Buttercup and General Scrap. Both had questioning expressions on their faces as well. Tropic returned his attention to Cadecus and the Thorn minion, ready to attack if the need arose but intrigued at how the healers game would play out.

The minion raised an eyebrow and looked around at his handiwork. "The masters require cleanliness," he said matter-of-factly, an odd statement considering the mutilated bodies

surrounding him.

Cadecus nodded in agreement. "Yes, and they will be pleased." He paused for a moment and then, making a show of surveying his surroundings, said, "if they come back." He waited for another moment, studying the reaction of the minion. "You saw what happened here, didn't you?" It was more statement than question.

The Guide was standing now and met Cadecus gaze. Even though the green eyes were all that was visible beneath his dark hood, the defender could almost feel the fear and worry coming from the man. "They said that it would bring us power," the frightened man said softly. "They thought they could control it."

"What did they conjure up?"

"I do not know. I am only a slave in their orbits."

Cadecus smiled knowingly. "Even I know that masters have no secrets from those that serve them. And I think you are smarter than they imagined." The slave looked up at him and his glowing eyes seemed to be…smiling? Cadecus pressed on quickly, not giving the lone survivor a chance to waver. "What happened here?"

"They brought it forth," the minion began, " all the rituals had been preformed and the stars and planets were in alignment. My master said they had to hurry, the chance to conjure only happens every few millennia." The man sighed. "Then it came and ignored their commands. And it's voice wondered who had summoned He That Has No Name." He paused. "It was very angry and killed everyone in it's path." The Guide gestured at the altar. "Bodies were flung everywhere. One struck me and I hit my head. And this," he waved his arms at the cavern, "was what I found when I awoke."

"He That Has No Name?", Cadecus repeated and he felt Tropic stiffen behind him. He spared a glance at the red-skinned hero and saw a very deep look of concern.

"Yes," the minion answered, "if only they had found the Tablet."

At the mention of the word "tablet" the heroes became even more interested in the minions tale. "Tablet?", Cadecus asked urgently. "What tablet?"

The Guide regarded him as if he were an idiot. "The Tablet of Traume, of course," he said with a raised eyebrow. "It tells all of the Beast, how to direct it or stop it if need be. My masters tried to locate it but it had been taken from its repose and they were unable to find it before the ritual was to be preformed." The Guide shook his head. "They said they were strong enough to control it." He sighed once more. "They were wrong," and then his eyes darted around the cave, waiting for the swift retribution that came for doubting his lords.

Cadecus returned to his teammates. "The Tablet of Traume", he repeated. "Anyone know anything about it?" They all answered in the negative.

"He said it would give them the power to control it or stop it," Scrap nodded his head. "The Circle couldn't find it but we have to. It's almost time to meet up with the others. Let's get going."

Cadecus looked at Tropic. "When he talked about this thing with No Name you looked pretty worried. Why?"

Tropic tugged at his goatee. "In this realm if you know a demon's name you have power over it," he said softly, his eyes low. "It was never named." He looked at his teammates. "There is some plan here of the demon's own making and I don't…hopefully this tablet can help us."

"What about this guy?", Buttercup asked. "We can't leave him here."

Cadecus agreed and returned to the minion. "Thank you for your help," he said quietly.

The man turned and looked at him with a tilted head. It was the first time he had been thanked in…well longer than he could remember.

"What's your name?", the defender continued.

"Name?", he asked in confusion.

"Yes, I'm Cadecus. And you are…?"

The Guide thought hard for a moment, his brows knitted together in concentration. Then he said brightly, "Slave."

"No, no," Cadecus smiled, "surely you had a name once. Think back."

The man looked at the healer and began to concentrate a little harder. With the death of the Circle mages and the lack of their magics, their hold over the man had started to fade. Suddenly his eyes opened wide. "My name is…Steve…Steve…," the green glow began to fade from the fellow's eyes. "Steve Satterwhite…" He pushed the hood back and revealed a man in his forties, hair graying slightly. "I was…in the park…and they…oh, God…I have a wife and…a daughter…" Tears started to stream down the man's face. "Oh, God…how long have I been?…where is my family?…I don't…"

The defender stepped forward and put his arm around the man's shoulder. "I don't know but we'll take you to some people that can find out."

And then the sole survivor of Oranbega left the magic city in the company of heroes.

"The Tablet of Traume," Miyaka repeated, eyeing Azuria, the question evident in the statement. "What does it do?"

Azuria frowned. "We're really not sure. In the ancient texts it's said to hold some power over the demon that 'passes through the gate'. Whether this is the demon they spoke of…," she shook her head, "I do not know."

The heroes looked at each other and Ryuuhoshi glanced at the display cases. "Where is it? Is it here?" He turned to Azuria. "Do you have it?"

The young mystic sighed heavily. "We did."

"What does that mean?", asked Valya.

"A week or so ago, one of our holding facilities was broken into. Several artifacts were taken, including the Table of Traume."

WillowWind raised an eyebrow. "Well, can't you find it?", she asked urgently. "You have ways to track these things down."

"We have tried every measure at our disposal," Azuria said. "They have all failed," she shook her head. "We are at a loss to understand it."

"So let me see if I got this right," Cognito said slowly. "You had the one thing that could stop this demon guy and save us all and you lost it…and now you can't find it."

"We didn't loose it," she said looking down her nose at him, "it was taken."

Johnny shook his head. "Six of one, half a dozen of the other, baby," he said under his breath.

"All right," Elendil sighed, "let's get going. It's almost time to meet the others. Maybe together we can find this thing."

The teammates nodded and began to leave the offices. Willow was the last to go and Azuria reached out and grabbed her arm lightly. "What…?", Willow said in surprise and turned to the young woman.

"The time is coming, child. You must be very brave very soon," Azuria whispered urgently, "know that you are strong enough."

WillowWind took a step back and the mystic dropped her arm. "What do you mean? I don't understand," she said in confusion.

"Tell him…he will know what to do when the time comes."

"What? Who? What are you talking about?", Willow asked but the woman would say no more and was taken by her aides deeper into the M.A.G.I. offices. She watched her go then turned and hurried to catch up with her friends, her mind churning with questions that had no answers.

They all arrived at the small park below the Green line train station in Steel Canyon at about the same time. Ryuuhoshi and Temptations had both exclaimed "Tablet of Traume" in unison and then looked at each other with one raised eyebrow. Both teams then told what they had found out.

"So it's from another dimension or plane,' Valya said, "but Azuria isn't sure if the demon from the tablet is the one that is here."

"Yeah," Willow continued, "she also said some stuff to me while you guys were leaving about being brave soon or something."

"What?", Valya asked. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," said Willow with a short laugh. "And then she said, 'Tell him he will know what to do when the time comes,'" in her best imitation of the mystic.

"Well, what does that mean?", Ryuuhoshi wondered with a confused expression.

WillowWind shrugged. "No idea," and then, "very spooky though."

Tropic shook his head. "Hmm…well, anyway we have to find that tablet."

"Yes," Buttercup nodded, "but you say that Azuria and her people can't find it or sense it?"

"That's what she said," Miyaka scowled.

"Well, there's only two explanations I can think of," Ryuuhoshi added. "One, it's miles away or two, it's shielded from their probes. Maybe we should…" At that moment his communicator began to buzz and he stepped away to answer it.

Elendil continued where Ryuu left off. "I think we should hit all the gangs in town with ties to magic." The others agreed and began counting off the various groups in town who had some association with the mystic.

Cadecus started to tick them off on his fingers. "Hmmm, we have the Hellions, Tsoo, I think we can cross the Circle of Thorns from the list, who else…"

Ryuuhoshi rejoined his teammates, a broad smile on his face. "That was the hospital…Phreeze woke up…they think she'll be ok."

They all breathed a sigh of relief, glad their friend was going to recover. Cognito spoke up, "Now, we just gotta get Bzald squared away and we'll be good."

"He'll be all right," Tropic said confidently as General Scrap's communicator sounded.

"Yes," Scrap answered, "…Kunai! Where…?…I see…ok…no…same thing…just follow it…I know but we're working on something here….we may have a lead…right…keep me posted…ok…"

He looked at the others. "That was Kunai. It did the same in Faultline that it did in Perez. And it's on the move again."

"Where to?", Tropic whispered, a far away look on his face.

"Talos," Scrap answered, "the outer islands."

"Ithaca and Circe," nodded Tropic. Circle of Thorn mages infested those islands and he now had a clearer idea of what the thing was doing. The Tablet of Traume would confirm it once they found it. "We have to find that Tablet as soon as possible."

"Yeah, but we don't even know where to look!", Valya exclaimed.

"Perhaps we may be of assistance in that regard," a woman's heavily accented voice said. Suddenly, surrounding the team in the moon lit park, materialized twenty women clad in charcoal gray second skin spandex, their eyes covered by red goggles and all brandished razor sharp katanas .

Elendil gazed at the women surrounding them and said in a dull voice, "Great. Knives of Artemis."

To which Johnny Cognito replied:

"Oh, Crap."

CHAPTER FIVE

Everything in the little park seemed to come to a standstill, a pause so total that not even sound escaped it. Top Ten stood grouped together, backs to one another, hands all balled into fists, surrounded by the deadly assassins. Tropic stood a bit apart from them hurriedly assessing the dire situation they were now in.

The Knives' leader stood near him. She was tiny, not even 5'2", he estimated, and was clad in the second skin of their spandex battle suits, so tight that the outlined muscles of her abdomen were visible. Her blond hair was short and spiky, and her eyes were covered by the red night-vision goggles all her sisters wore. To her left and right were her bodyguards, twins, with long black hair pulled into ponytails. They both had their swords drawn, their heads constantly moving, ready to protect their mistress with their lives.

Looking over the rest of the warrior women, he saw all were dressed alike and all had their swords drawn. But there was no attack. All this he noticed in mere seconds. Tropic turned to their leader and was about to speak when he noticed the white glow coming from the center of his teammates.

"NO!", he shouted but it was too late. The energy bolt struck one of the Knives and the battle was on.

Miyaka's katana flashed faster than the eye could follow, steel clanging against the swords of the two women who attacked her. Sparks flew from the blades, lighting up the dark night like flashes of lightning. One of the women blocked Miya's blade and the other swiped her sword in a wide arc at the heroines midsection. Miya threw her middle backwards and the enemies' katana just caught the armored fabric of her costume, slashing it but missing skin.

"Bitch!", Miyaka screamed and leapt into the battle, sword glowing with venomous light.

"WAIT!", Tropic yelled at the top of his lungs but the battle was fully involved now, the cacophony of fire and energy blasts, steel against steel and flesh against flesh drowning him out.

Temptations was dealing with two of the assassins as well, her great broadsword darting between the double blades against her. The sword weighed at least 60 pounds but the warrior woman wielded it with ease. The katanas of her foes, however, were strong weapons as well, hot steel folded at least 3000 times made them able to withstand the great power of Temptations sword.

Suddenly one of the women parried a stroke from the heroine. Her partner leapt up and planted a boot squarely in Temptations chest, kicking her backwards. Temptations rolled with the blow, somersaulted back and came up immediately to her feet. She rushed to them again, blades of grass falling from her hair as she engaged her enemies.

Tropic looked around him. All his teammates were in the fight. His eyes flared bright with red fire and he yelled out again, "STOP!", hoping to end the battle.

Buttercup and Ryuuhoshi squared off against the women, their hands and feet streaking in and out, blocking and striking their foes. A Knife warrior kicked at Ryuu's leg but he raised it up, blocking the blow with his shin and, stepping forward with that same leg, reached out and hit the woman with a straight cross in the bridge of her nose. Blood erupted from her face and she staggered back. There was no time for chivalry, truly there was no place for it here, and Ryuu pressed his attack. As he approached, the woman dropped low and swept her leg around in an arc trying to sweep his feet from the ground. Ryuuhoshi had to jump over her leg and, as it went by, she jumped up towards him tackling him in midair and taking him to the ground.

Buttercup was having her own problems. The warrior she was facing had tried the same maneuver her sister had, sweeping the feet of her opponent. Buttercup had been just a fraction of a second too slow and the leg sweep worked, toppling the heroine from her feet and onto the damp grassy ground. Her foe jumped on top of her, mounting her and raining down blow after blow.

Buttercup covered up as best she could and bucked her hips slightly to dislodge the woman. The Knife lost her balance momentarily but continued her assault. The heroine then popped her hips up as hard as possible and the Knife lost enough of her balance that she had to put her right hand on the ground beside Buttercup's head to steady herself. As soon as the hand hit the ground, Buttercup clasped her hands together, entwining her fingers, and ran them down her foe's right bicep into the elbow and pushed down hard, collapsing the arm altogether. Bucking her hips hard again she rolled the woman over and ended up on top of her. Their situations reversed, Buttercup began her own rain of fists on to the dazed warrior.

Valya and Johnny Cognito stood back to back with General Scrap between them. They turned the ground to quicksand and black tar, slowing the Knife assassins and allowing Scrap to target them with his powerful energy blasts. But the women had their own ways of slowing the heroes and the park was soon littered with caltrops, five sided spikes of metal, that hampered the teammates movements.

Elendil and WillowWind took to the air, throwing bolts of fire and energy at the women. The Knives of Artemis soldiers leapt and tumbled, avoiding the blasts and coming closer to the heroes. Suddenly, one of the women launched herself upwards and was just able to grab hold of WillowWind's ankle. She tugged down hard and both hero and villain tumbled to the ground.

"I SAID, STOP!", Tropic shouted at the top of his lungs. His eyes blazed as he raised his flame filled hands high above his head. Dropping them down he aimed a powerful blast directly into the ground in the middle of the combatants. Concentric rings of repulsing fire hurled back friend and foe alike.

Most found themselves off their feet. As his teammates scrambled up Ryuuhoshi squinted at the blaster. "Tropic! What are you…?", but the question went unfinished when Topic raised his hand to gently silence the dark ninja.

Top Ten gathered themselves together, once more surrounded by the Knives of Artemis. Cognito looked at the women around him, the tips of the katanas pointed almost at their throats. "Well, this looks familiar," he sighed.

Tropic paid no attention as he walked purposefully to the Knife leader. Her twin bodyguards rushed to stand in front of her, one blade pointed at his heart, the other at his throat. He stood before the small, blonde haired woman and, looking down into her red goggled eyes, curled his right hand into a fist and crossed it over his chest, saluting as the ancient soldiers did. He stood straight and tall then said, "We greet you with strength and honor and in the name of your Goddess."

The woman regarded Tropic for a moment then gestured with her hand. The two bodyguards moved to their original positions behind her. She surveyed the scene in front of her and motioned with her hand again. The Knives of Artemis surrounding the heroes split in two and quickly moved in half circles to stand in formation behind their mistress. They stood in two groups of nine and, as one, slid their deadly blades into their sheathes, keeping their hands on the hilts of the swords. The twins did the same except their swords remained half drawn, ready to strike.

The leader removed her goggles and stared up at Tropic with pale blue eyes. She placed her right fist over her left breast and said at last, with a crooked grin, "We accept your greeting and are pleased the old ways are remembered."

Tropic extended his hand out to her and they grasped each other by the elbows in the fashion of warriors of old and he said, "Οι χαιρετισμοί, Hecate, αυτό είναι ένας μακροχρόνιος χρόνος."

Sister Hecate smiled up at the red-skinned hero, "A long time indeed. What's it been…50...60 years?"

Tropic thought for a moment then returned her grin. "More like 90." He paused and nodded, "Sarajevo."

"Ahh, yes…the Balkans," she said raising an eyebrow. "Who was that…a prince?…no, I remember now. It was an Arch-Duke. Set things off rather nicely I think."

The heroes listened intently as Tropic and the woman spoke in a language they could not understand. Valya shook her head. "What is that?"

"I think it's…old," Buttercup shrugged.

"Gee, thanks for clearing that up," Valya replied and returned her attention to the esoteric conversation.

"It was a fine piece of assassination, although I don't think your employer counted on a World War," Tropic said with a smile.

"No, he didn't," Hecate said crookedly. "Said the war had frozen his finances. Tried to renege on our deal. Then he tried to renegotiate. Then he paid in full." The Knife leader shook her head and sighed. "Then he died under the most mysterious circumstances."

Tropic laughed out loud. "Served him right."

Hecate smiled and said, her eyes hooded, "If I remember correctly, we spent a month in…Morocco after that. And as I recall, the nights were rather…hot." At the word hot, the tip of her pink tongue licked the left corner of her upper lip. She made no effort to disguise the lust on her face.

Finally, WillowWind spoke up. "Tropic, you know this…woman?"

Hecate turned to the heroine and an evil grin appeared on her pursed lips. The Knife said, loud enough for all to hear, in her accented, perfect English, "How sweet! The cow is jealous!" She looked at Tropic. "Does she belong to you? Is she for sale?"

"COW?", Willow exploded. "Oh, you have got to go!" Her hands glowed white as the energy built up within her. She threw her hand forward to fire a bolt at the smirking woman but at the last possible instant, Valya grabbed her friend's arm and the blast of pure energy shot up and out of the park, arcing over the train station and glowing like a searchlight.

Tropic lowered his head and sighed. He rubbed his forehead then pinched the bridge of his nose. Hecate had always been a manipulator and one hundred years hadn't changed her. She stood there with a serene expression on her face watching Valya and Cadecus hold Willow back. He stole a glance at his friend and saw the anger etched on her face as she struggled against the grip of her teammates. Tropic shook his head and sighed again.

"Hecate!", he called out forcefully enough that WillowWind calmed a bit but Valya still had a tight hold of her arm. "She is no cow," Tropic said firmly, "she belongs to herself and she is not 'for sale'." He stared intently at the assassin's leader and nodded once, almost imperceptibly.

Hecate grinned her sly grin. "Pity. She has…some sprit." The woman looked Willow up and down then turned to Tropic. "I suppose we could have trained her to be less…awkward." Behind her she heard the heroine hiss in anger and her smile grew a bit broader.

Tropic frowned at the warrior. "You said you know something of the tablet. Tell me," he said, trying to get everyone back on track. He had had a feeling since this thing appeared that events were rushing to a conclusion that no one, not the city, not the police, and not Top Ten were prepared for. If Hecate had any information, they needed it now.

Hecate smiled crookedly again realizing her fun was over. She moved until she was directly in front of Tropic, her head only coming to below his shoulders. She looked up at her old friend, "The Tablet of Traume is in the possession of a Tsoo boss named Bright Blade." She had practically spit out the name 'Tsoo'. Even though the Knives of Artemis and the Tsoo were in almost the same business - the mercenary business of assassination, murder, protection, terror, the Knives looked at the Tsoo as thugs and common criminals. The Knives, on the other hand, were artists, in their own minds at least.

The red-skinned hero regarded the small woman. "And you know this…?"

"The Goddess has told us," she said matter-of-factly.

Tropic nodded. "Why does he have it?"

"He fancies himself as learned, a collector of artifacts," she sneered. "He had his men break into the Guild's warehouse and take several objects," she shook her head, "the Tablet was not on his list. They merely took it because it looked…old."

The hero tugged on his goatee for a moment, deep in thought, then finally whispered, "He doesn't know what he has."

"I've heard of this 'Bright Blade'," Cadecus frowned. "He's a master in the 'Lightning School', channels electricity through his sword." He looked at his friends with a raised eyebrow, "Very dangerous. Let me call a contact of mine, see if he can tell us anything." Cad pulled out his communicator and was already dialing as he turned away.

Tropic looked down at Hecate and smiled at his old friend, "Thank you for the information. It's very helpful."

The assassin shrugged. "The Goddess decreed it," she said simply as if she had no control over the matter. She bowed slightly. "Take care, Dread One," and gestured with her hand again. The Knives of Artemis began to move away in formation.

Top Ten watched as the women moved away. As Hecate passed her, Willow whispered loudly, "I'll be seeing you again." The warrior woman looked sidelong at the heroine and grinned, not with fear but with…invitation.

When the Knives were about 30 yards distant Hecate stopped and turned. She looked at Tropic and, of a sudden, headed back to him, leaving her cadre behind. When she finally stood in front of him she paused and then, much to the hero's surprise, leaned into him and hugged him tightly. For the only time that evening, Top Ten and the Knives of Artemis were one; confused.

Tropic stood there awkwardly and at last put his arms lightly around her, gently returning the embrace. When she pulled away from him he stared at her with a bemused expression. "Nice, but what was that for?"

Hecate gave him a sad smile as she held him at arms length. "If you should survive this, Dread One, come visit me. There are so few of us left from the old days and I…"

Tropic nodded, "I will, I promise."

Hecate bowed her head once and rejoined her warriors. They moved out of the small park and as one, vanished.

The teammates all breathed a sigh of relief and Scrap came to stand beside Tropic. "So, you trust her?", the energy wielder asked.

"Trust her?", Tropic said shaking his head, "No. Believe her? Yes."

"Why?"

"Because she's scared. And so are the Gods." Tropic noticed Scrap's expression. "Oh, the Gods exist. They're out there but not many believe in them anymore so they've turned their attention to other matters." He tugged worriedly on his goatee. "But this thing…this demon…something about it has them scared. So they told the Knives about the tablet and the Knives told us."

Buttercup stepped forward with a questioning look in her eyes. "But why even tell us? Couldn't they get the tablet and take care of this themselves?"

"We're cannon fodder," Johnny said flatly. He met the gaze of his friends. "Think about it. We're taking the risk. We're fighting the thing. We might get killed. They don't get their hands dirty."

Tropic nodded, "And, if we fail, they can still step in and finish it. And if we succeed, their goal is accomplished as well."

"Founders Falls," Cadecus said. His teammates faced him. "Contact says he's got a place in Founders Falls. Out near Hutchinson Park overlooking Red River." The healer nodded his head. "Says he's there now."

"Huh," Willow frowned, "I live in Founders Falls."

Johnny Coginito shook his head, "Hmm, I guess they're letting anybody in now." WillowWind and Valya looked at him with furrowed brows and he shook his finger at them saying, "That sounded so much better in my head."

General Scrap looked at the clock visible in the station overhead. 11:30pm. "All right. Let's get over to Founders Falls and see what this 'Bright Blade' knows," and Top Ten boarded the train.

They arrived in Talos Island, the Green Line having no connection to their destination. As they exited the station Miyaka said quietly, "Look," and pointed to the North. The sky above the outer islands churned green with a misty haze. Top Ten stared at it for a moment then turned and crossed the river to the entrance to Founders.

They crossed through to the back of the zone and Hutchinson Park and, finding Bright Blade's home, stood on a hill overlooking it.

Home was not the correct word. Mansion was closer. It stood on at least an acre of land, meticulously landscaped. The rear of the property was mowed green grass and at it's center was a Victorian style maze carved out of a leafy hedge. A large pool and patio of white marble joined the rear of the place. At the front stood a gate closing off access to the winding driveway which led to a circle before the entrance.

The front of the mansion consisted of a red brick main building and two wings off to either side. Large double doors below a rounded window opened into the main building and at its side enormous picture windows adorned the bottom floor of both wings. The building had three individual peaked roofs and square windows lined the second floor all the way around.

The place was huge. The grounds were crawling with Enforcers and Ink Men of every kind and stripe and Sorcerers roamed among them. It was lit up like downtown Paragon. And people were arriving by limousine and foot, all examined at the front gate by two Dragon Enforcers with a hand held metal detector before they were allowed to enter.

Bright Blade was having a party.

The heroes looked down upon the scene, frowns growing deeper as the realization that getting onto the grounds and into the mansion was next to impossible.

Elendil shook his head. "There's no way."

"Maybe there's a blind spot in the back," Temptations began but Ryuuhoshi interrupted her.

"No, look," he pointed towards the maze. Flowing in and out of it were the ghostly forms of the Tsoo Ancestor Spirits. Along with the Enforcers and Ink Men the grounds were, for all intents and purposes, sealed.

Johnny Cognito stood apart from the group and watched the proceedings at the front gate. He nodded to himself and said to his teammates, "There may be a way. Give me ten minutes." He turned and bounded down the hill into Founders Falls.

Cadecus stared after him. "What do you think he's doing?"

"Oh, there's no telling," Miyaka grinned and gazed at the mansion again.

Several minutes later Johnny returned and in his grasp were four or five small plastic shopping bags. The name 'Icon' plainly written on them.

"Johnny, what…?", Scrap began but Cognito cut him off.

"Look at the gate," he said gesturing down the hill.

At the entrance, the Tsoo guards were checking over a pair of new arrivals, both men. The guards ran the metal detector over and around them, they made them hold out their arms and frisked them lightly, they checked their ID's and still looked at the two warily. Finally the pair were admitted.

"Watch," Johnny whispered. Behind the two men were three young women. All were dressed for a night of clubbing in tight, revealing outfits. The guards waved the detector over and around the girls all the while talking and laughing…and then just waved them in.

Johnny held the Icon bags out to Temptations, WillowWind, Miyaka, Valya and Buttercup. "We can't get in, but you guys…just walk in the front door," he smiled.

"Well, not me," Valya sighed.

"Why not?", Willow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Valya pointed to her head. "Horns are just a little too conspicuous."

Tropic nodded his head and looked at Johnny. "Brilliant," he said amazed.

The girls had begun to open the bags and pulled out all manner of different items. All the pieces had one thing in common, however: they were all small, tight and would display a considerable amount of skin.

Buttercup shook her head. "There's no way I'm dressing like this," she stated firmly.

"Oh, come on, Butterz," Miya smiled. "It'll be like a dangerous game of dress-up."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Cadecus stepped forward and sighed heavily. "It's the only way, Buttercup. We can't get in but you can. If you have a better idea…?"

Buttercup looked at her friends then rubbed her forehead. "Oh…all right," she said with resignation. "Where can we change?"

Elendil pointed at a large boulder and grinned, "I believe this rock is free!"

The four women moved behind the large stone and changed into their disguises. Several minutes passed by as the male members of Top Ten and Valya watched the guards at the gate and waited for the girls to appear. The pattern remained steady: the male guests were thoroughly searched while the ladies were given a cursory glance and waived through.

There was a rustle behind them and they all turned to look at their teammates in their 'undercover' outfits. Temptations had on a pair of skin tight lycra jeans and a red halter top. WillowWind had chosen a pair of tight, blue short shorts and a white, sleeveless zip-up hoodie with the word "Paragon" printed in a large circle on it's front and zipped up to just below her bust. Miyaka was wearing a blue micro-mini and a white scoop front tee.

And Buttercup was still behind the rock. "I'm not coming out," she said firmly.

"Buttercup…," Cadecus said, scratching his forehead.

"No, I look ridiculous."

General Scrap stepped forward, "Listen up, Buttercup! Time is not on our side here! So suck it up, hero!" He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

A few seconds later there was an audible sigh and Buttercup stepped out. She wore a pair of black, tight short shorts and a mid-riff bearing spaghetti strap tee. The heroine looked at her friends and frowned, "I feel like Madonna."

"You look…uhh…hot," Ryuuhoshi smiled in sympathy.

"I look like a hooker."

"Yeah, but an expensive one," Ryuuhoshi nodded and then was thankful that Buttercup did not possess an 'if looks could kill' power.

Tropic smiled at the women. "Ok, just get in, find out where he's keeping the tablet and get out. If you run into any trouble just send up a signal and we'll be there. Right?" The girls all nodded. "One other thing. Miya, Tempt…the swords won't make it past the metal detectors."

The two women looked at each other and frowned but handed over their weapons. Tropic grinned at them, said "Luck," and the girls began to make their way down the hill towards the gate.

As they watched them go, Scrap turned to Ryuu and shook his head. "I can't believe you tried to make Buttercup feel better by telling her she looked like an expensive prostitute!"

"It was the only thing I could think of!", he shrugged.

"We're doomed," Scrap whispered and turned to see how the girls were doing.

Tropic watched the women move down the hill and to the street below. They had just rounded a corner and were making their way to the gate when Elendil stood beside him. "That language you were speaking to that Knife, Sister Hece… Hamo…umm Hammertime?"

"Hecate," Tropic corrected.

"Right," El nodded, "what was that?"

"Greek."

Elendil's face furrowed in concentration. "Really? I've heard my share of Greek and it didn't sound like…"

"They're at the gate," Tropic interrupted.

The same tableau played out. The guards gave the women the once over but Buttercup and Temptations hung back. Tempt was always very stoic but Buttercup was quiet and appeared uncomfortable. This drew the one of the guard's attention and he began to be a little more through.

Suddenly, Miyaka was in front of him and, from their vantage point on the hill, looked to be tickling the guard under his chin with her finger. The man threw back his head and laughed and the women were admitted immediately. The teammates on the hill all expelled the breath they didn't know they were holding and watched as their friends walked up the winding drive.

Once they got to the front doors of the huge mansion WillowWind, Buttercup, Miyaka and Temptations looked at each other. They nodded their heads, took a deep breath and entered the building surrounded now by a very deadly enemy.

translated from the Ancient Greek

CHAPTER SIX

Kunai squatted on the hilltop and watched. He had followed the thing from Perez Park to Faultline to Circe Island and now here to Ithaca. He glanced briefly at the green mist clouding the dark night and then returned his gaze to the scene below.

The demon had cut through the Circle here as it had everywhere before. It had grasped them roughly and pulled the…essence out of them, sucking the very life away and leaving only the dried mummified husks; empty shells devoid of everything.

Kunai sighed beneath his mask. The stealthy warrior wanted nothing more than to rush into battle, to test his mettle against this monster. But he knew the thing was much to powerful for him alone. Probably too powerful for many heroes. He frowned. There were thirteen of his teammates in Perez Park and it had cut through them easily, sent two to the hospital and simply, well…defeated the rest.

Scrap said they were working on a lead. "Let's hope it pans out," he thought. He could see that the demon was growing stronger and that, perhaps soon, it might very well be unstoppable. He sighed again and shook his head. Below him, a Razorvine, one of the Devouring Earth, living plant life that were found many places in Paragon City, had gotten in the animal's way and was ripped to shreds. Kunai grimaced as he heard the flora-thing scream.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw three figures streak through the sky and swoop down towards the demon. He realized in horror that they were going to attack and that they had no idea what they were dealing with.

"Get that Behemoth!", barked out the leader and his companions fell into formation behind him.

"NO!", Kunai cried. They thought they were dealing with a normal Behemoth Overlord.

One of the heroes shot a blast of energy, striking the thing in the thigh. The other rushed up and struck faster than light, kicks and fists flying into the demon. The last hero joined in, turning the ground to mud, trying to hold the monster while his team beat it down. Then the worst thing that could happen, happened.

The demon noticed them.

It looked down at the Scrapper pummeling it, the blows feeling less than pinpricks. The brute swung it's huge fist and sent the hero tumbling through the air and finally crashing into the unyielding side of an outcropping of granite. It leapt up and landed directly in front of the Controller, breaking free from the clinging mud easily. The demon grabbed the hero around the waist and simply flung him aside. The man tumbled for at least 40 yards, completely out of control, then came to rest face down in the grass, unconscious.

The Blaster hovered above, pelting the animal with blast after blast to no effect. He watched as his comrades fell before the monster and he hesitated a mere moment. Before he could resume his barrage, the fiend jumped straight up, grasped the hero by the arm and pulled him back to earth. He slammed him into the ground once then held him up studying the dazed man.

"Fool," the demon rasped, "you are as nothing. Soon you and all the vermin here will be less than that." It threw the hero to the ground and stood over him looking to the south. "My power grows. He awaits. The gate beckons." It looked at the super being now cowering before it. "Enjoy the last hours of your life, worm." Then it simply bounded away into the river, slipped beneath the waves and did not resurface.

Kunai raced down the hill to the fallen hero kneeling there, still dazed and mumbling to himself. As Kunai reached the man he looked towards the river, trying to keep track of the animal but it had faded from sight. He knew he didn't have much time before loosing the trail all together but he had to check on the superhero first.

"We're all gonna die," the dazed hero muttered. "All of us…nothing we can do."

Kunai kneeled in front of the blaster, "You alright, man?"

The superhero looked at Kunai but didn't see him. "Got to get away. Hide. Go…somewhere."

The stealthy warrior raised an eyebrow then heard a rustling to his right. He saw the Scrapper that the brute had struck heading towards him. Kunai stood and regarded the man asking, "You ok?"

The fellow continued toward him holding his left arm tight to his body. He nodded once, "Arm's broke. I'll live."

Kunai grinned in sympathy and turned to the kneeling man. "Got to run," he was saying, repeating the same things over and over. "Get away…it's gonna kill us all. Everybody dead…gotta get outta the city." The warrior frowned.

"Listen," he spoke to the Scrapper, "I have to get after that thing before…"

"Go," the man said, "I'll get them to the hospital."

Kunai took to the air and rushed to the spot where the demon had disappeared under the waves. He searched the area, trying to see the shadow of the thing moving under the water. But there was nothing. The warrior skimmed over the surface in larger circles frantically seeking his quarry.

It was gone.

Kunai rose upwards and hovered several feet above the river. "Dammit!", he sighed heavily and rubbed his chin. He looked up into the night sky and saw that the swirling green mist had started to dissipate. "One more pass," he thought, "and then I'll have to call the team." He streaked over the water and began his search again.

As soon as they passed through the double doors of the mansion, the girls almost froze in their tracks. If the outside of the place looked huge, the inside looked enormous. The foyer of the Tsoo leaders home was a polished marble stretching out before them in a large circle. On it's floor, in the center, was a mosaic of crossed swords surrounded by lightning. At the back of the foyer were two circular staircases leading up to the second floor. To their right and left were the entrances to the wings of the estate, a doorway as big as the double doors at the entrance opened to each.

And people were everywhere. The women noticed many of the movers and shakers of Paragon City in the mix: a mayor's aide, a former candidate for governor, at least two judges and a host of celebrities and sports stars mingled with the Tsoo boss.

But, among the partygoers, were also represented an element that even the most besotted guest gave a wide berth. The heroines recognized several of them from the Family, Malta, Hellions and Skulls, the Carnival and the Crey as well.

"Something else is happening here besides a party," Buttercup said, straining to make herself heard over the noise. She frowned as Tony No Thumbs, a Family boss, walked past deep in conversation with a Malta Operations Technician.

WillowWind agreed. "Yes, but they'll have to wait," she said scanning the crowd and the room.

"So, where do we start?", Temptations asked. Her eyes moved constantly, darting back and forth over the room, upstairs and down. She would never admit it but she felt very uncomfortable without her sword and her hand clinched absentmindedly.

Buttercup looked to the left and right, trying to get her bearings, her eyes moving past the thick crowd and finally seeing the large doorways to the opposite wings of the mansion. "We split up," she decided. "Will, you and Tempt go search the right wing and Miyaka and I will take the left." The heroines nodded and began to move apart. "And for heaven's sake," Buttercup called after them, "try not to start anything!"

WillowWind grinned and waved her hand at Buttercup in a "Who? Me?" gesture then she turned with her partner and started edging her way through the crowd.

Miyaka watched the two go and smiled. "Trouble walking," she said about the pair and followed Buttercup towards the left wing.

She grinned and glanced over her shoulder at Miya. "Look who's talking," she laughed. The light airy laughter of the two women seemed to waft over the teeming room and into a pair of attentive ears.

Bright Blade stood atop the dual staircase in his opulent home. He looked over the throngs of party guests below him and imperceptibly sneered. "Cattle," he thought, "sheep." He held most of these people in contempt; rich and powerful not for what they did but simply for who they were. The Tsoo boss would be surprised if any of them had ever had to struggle and claw simply to survive. He looked at them all and grimaced.

However, tonight was about much more than some silly party. True, there were guests here just for the drink and food, but others were here for a chance at history. While there would never be peace between the disparate groups in Paragon City, the old hates ran too deep for that, there could be an 'understanding.' That was what brought the Tsoo together with the Malta and the Family, with the Crey and Carnival, Skulls and Hellions.

Bright Blade grinned crookedly. A chance at history. Then he heard it; the light happiness of a woman's laugh. This one was different from the cackles of the other females here tonight. This sounded…pure. It was the only description that came to his mind and he searched the ground floor desperately for it's origin.

Finally his gaze came to rest on the source of that laugh. The woman was not too tall and not too short. She wore a pair of tight black shorts that hugged her curves and her half shirt displayed her well muscled abdomen. Bright Blade stared for a moment at her hair, blonde and short, just coming to the tops of her shoulders. He was captivated by her laugh and he had a weakness for blondes. He began to push his way through his guests, his eyes riveted on Buttercup.

Buttercup and Miyaka were becoming more and more frustrated as they tried to weave their way through the thick crowd. It seemed that every time they made some progress a wall of drunken partygoers blocked the way. Even though Buttercup was a very calm person by nature the jostle of the congested room sorely tempted her to use her skills and move these people a bit more violently. She felt that time was running out. She felt events were rushing towards something inevitable and horrible. And she swore if she felt one more hand on her rear she was going to send at least one party guest to the "I need a new hand" store. Suddenly she heard a low accented voice directly behind her.

"So, you are to enjoying de party?"

She turned to the voice and saw an oriental man, long black hair tied in a ponytail with a Fu Manchu mustache and beard. He was dressed in a flowing red robe adorned with silken Chinese characters. "Umm, yes," she answered.

The man smiled. "Good, good," he said. "My name is being Hiro but all other people call me Bright Blade" 'Bright Blade!', she hissed to herself , "and I am knowing your secret, I think.", he concluded with a smile.

"You do?", Buttercup asked warily. She moved her right leg back a bit, already on the ball of her foot, ready to strike. She looked past the Tsoo boss to Miyaka standing behind him and saw she was ready to back her play.

"Yes," Bright Blade nodded. "You have crashed the party, yes?"

"Crashed the…," Buttercup's eyes widened in surprise and she nearly breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes…yes…that's it…you're on to me," she grinned at the criminal.

"I am thinking so," he nodded with satisfaction. Bright Blade looked her up and down, a slight leer on his face. "So, how are you liking it here?"

"Well, it is very crowded but you have a lovely home," she said with the brightest smile she could muster. This was better than they could have hoped for. Now there was no need to waste time searching. If she could get this Bright Blade alone they could interrogate him, get him to talk and learn the location of the Tablet, if he indeed even had it.

"Ah, thank you. But is not usually so much with people." The Tsoo boss glanced from side to side. "Perhaps you would be liking to, oh, how do you say…'take de tour'?" Bright Blade grinned a feral grin.

Buttercup flashed white teeth. "That would be wonderful," she said with as much sincerity as she could. The criminal laughed and slid his arm about her waist, steering her in the direction of the left wing of the mansion, her original destination. The heroine almost shuddered in revulsion but kept up her deception. As they walked away she glanced briefly over her shoulder at Miyaka and nodded slightly. Miya nodded once in return then turned and looked frantically towards the right wing trying to get the attention of WillowWind and Temptations before they disappeared from view.

Nearing the double door entrance, Temptations spun around slowly, surveying the room once more before they exited. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed Miyaka and said to Willow, "Look." WillowWind turned as well and her brow furrowed in confusion. Miya gestured somewhat with her head, trying to give her teammates some type of signal. Willow frowned and scanned the crowd. Her eyes widened when she saw Buttercup and the red-robed man disappear into the left wing. She nodded at Miya, who pirouetted about to follow Buttercup, then she and Temptations practically threw the drunken revelers aside as they hurried to catch up to their friends.

Buttercup and Bright Blade walked down the hall making idle conversation. He showed her the several rooms on the first floor of the wing and she noted that most had some type of theme: the shore, a mountain room, one room with five huge fish tanks which the Tsoo leader called his 'undersea' room, and other rooms which were plainly furnished.

But, although the thick crowds of people thinned a bit, there were still too many innocent bystanders to get the criminal alone and get the truth out of him. She dared not look behind her but hoped the team were following her.

They went through the French doors at the end of the wing's hall and they were on the marble patio. The Tsoo boss was going on about the architect and how much this and that cost but Buttercup was barely listening; she was desperately searching for a secluded area so she could get this criminal to talk. But here, as inside the house, people were everywhere. It was less crowded but still, it was not an option.

She thought about getting him into the maze but saw the Ink Men huddled about and the Ancestor Spirits floating in and out of the hedge. She sighed loudly.

Bright Blade glanced at her. "Is there be something wrong?", he asked with concern.

Buttercup's eyes widened slightly. "No…no, everything's fine," she replied with a small frown. Her mind was racing. "C'mon, girl, think…think," she said to herself.

Bright Blade nodded. "Perhaps de night air is being too cool?", he said and pulled her a bit closer.

"Oh, this is not happening!"she thought, but suddenly an idea popped into her head and she let the boss hold her tighter. He leaned in to kiss the heroine but at the last moment Buttercup turned her head. "Please," Buttercup whispered, "all these people…I'm not…," she made a show of looking around and saw her three friends near the entrance to the wing, "isn't there someplace a bit more…private?", she finished with hooded eyes and hoped the look was whorish enough.

Bright Blade smiled broadly and nodded vigorously. "So, you are liking to be alone, yes?" He looked her up and down and Buttercup felt her skin crawl. "I am thinking I have de perfect place." He grinned and, with his arm still in place around her trim waist, lead her to the doors leading to the opposite wing.

They entered the hall and Buttercup saw it was much the same as the left wing. Doors lining the addition were open and, as everywhere else in the Tsoo leaders mansion, was teeming with revelers. But there was a difference. One set of double doors were closed and stationed beside them were two Enforcers.

Bright Blade lead her there and acknowledged the two guards. Beside one of the doors was a numbered keypad with three LED lights at it's top. The Tsoo boss punched in a code and there was a loud click. He opened the door, escorted her through and closed it behind him then turned on the lights.

The super heroine gasped as she took in the contents of the room. It was large with wood paneled walls and a gleaming wooden floor. Windows that extended from floor to ceiling lined the far wall and the pale moonlight flowed through them. Paintings adorned the walls…famous paintings…paintings that should have been in museums and until recently, were. And the room was filled with display cases of every size and shape. Their wood bases shining with a deep polish and their glass tops so clean they were almost invisible.

"Oh, my!", she exclaimed, "what's all this?"

Bright Blade appeared very pleased with himself. "Ah, you are liking. This," he said with an expansive wave of his hand, "this is my collection."

She strode further into the room and walked between the cases. Her work at the museum allowed her to recognize several of the artifacts on display but it was her work battling the various mystic villains in Paragon City that enabled her to pick out the more dangerous items in Bright Blade's 'collection'.

There was the Eye of Agamato, which could be used to talk to the dead. Over here was the Urn of Apollo that would wipe the sins of any who drank from it. Beside that was the Talisman of Borabi. The Amulet of Karim. The Relic of the Tanis. The Wand of Philter.

Buttercup stood dazed between the display cases. Finally she remembered where she was and looked at the Tsoo leader. "Wow," she said softly, trying to sound impressed. "Where'd you get all this weird stuff?"

Bright Blade raised an eyebrow. "Weird? Dear girl, I am having you to know that these things are containing much power," he nodded. "My men go to where I am wanting things and make the acquire." He smiled broadly. "All these things are very important and I study all." He paced around the room as he spoke and came to a stop before one of the larger cases. The boss frowned as he regarded it's contents. "This, however, I am not being sure of. I am just getting it and no know of it."

Buttercup came to the case the criminal indicated and when she saw it's contents one of her eyes widened in surprise. "Arte…?", she whispered then looked furtively at the Tsoo boss, coughing to disguise what she almost blurted out.

It was a sculpted figurine, about two feet tall, of the goddess Artemis. She was wearing an intricately carved breastplate and a leaved battle skirt, the type the Romans used to wear in those old movies. Her feet were shod with sandals and the shin guards she wore bore the same close detail as the breastplate. In the statue's left hand was a bow and between her fingers were three arrows. And her right hand was held high and pointing off into the distance.

The rendering was so lifelike and compelling that Buttercup involuntarily followed the direction of the Goddess's pointing finger until her gaze fell upon another display case. Inside it was a large slab of stone, maybe three to five inches thick, about seventeen inches wide and twenty inches tall. It was covered with ancient writings and runes which seemed to glow weakly.

Bright Blade noticed the heroine's interest and said, "Yes, this I am just getting too," placing his hand in the small of her back and directing her to the slab. "I no know exactly what it am being, but it has a powerful feeling, yes?" He grinned as he looked into the display case.

Buttercup was looking as well but for a different reason. Her skin had become puckered like gooseflesh as she got a better look at the stone. The writing, she realized, was ancient Greek, the same language, she now realized, that Tropic and that Knife woman were speaking. She studied the stone hurriedly and her eyes widened even more.

She had seen this type of writing before and was able to pick out a word here and there. "Beast" here, "old fire" there, and then she translated "through the gate" and her jaw dropped slightly. That was what Azuria had said. "Oh my God," she thought.

It was the Tablet of Traume.

The heroine breathed in sharply at the realization. Beside her, Bright Blade noticed her mood had changed. "Are you all right, my dear?"

Buttercup turned to him and smiled sweetly. "Oh yes, just fine," she said glancing towards the doors. She leaned her head to the side and pushed her chest out just a bit. "Are you sure we're alone?", she asked with a coquettish grin.

Bright Blade eye's were trying to bore holes through her thin shirt as he answered absentmindedly, "Yes, yes…we are being completely alone. I have told them we are not to be disturbing!" He leaned in closer to his conquest.

Buttercup smiled evilly. "Good," and with catlike speed delivered a palm strike with her right hand straight upwards catching the Tsoo leader directly under the chin. His head snapped back and he yelled out in surprise. She grabbed hold of his red flowing robe at the shoulder with both hands and pulled him roughly down, burying her knee in his stomach. The air in his lungs rushed out and she pulled him down again, the point of her knee striking him between his nose and upper lip, and Bright Blade fell to the polished wood floor unconscious and bleeding.

Buttercup stood over the man and brushed her hands. She sighed and looked over at the display case containing the goddess's statue. "Thank you, Artemis," she whispered then leapt over Bright Blade and rushed to the doors. She stopped before them and ran her hands through her hair, making it look disheveled and wild.

She opened one of the doors and, leaning against the edge of the other, cocked her head to the side pursing her lips. The two guards turned to her then looked questioningly to each other.

"You boys look tired," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, take a break," Temptations said from directly behind the men. Her hand grabbed the back of a guard's head and slammed it face first into the thick oaken doorjamb.

"Naptime!", Willow whispered and unleashed a powerful blast of energy from directly behind the other guard. It lifted him off his feet and hurled him into the trophy room. He landed hard and slid several feet over the polished floor.

Miyaka and Temptations grasped the unconscious body of the Enforcer she had struck and dragged him inside the room. The whole incident took less than two seconds and went totally unnoticed by the party guests. Buttercup closed the door and turned to her friends.

Miyaka looked down at the unconscious Bright Blade. "What, you tire your new boyfriend out?", she grinned.

Buttercup frowned with disgust. "You try spending a half hour with the world's biggest cootie and we'll see what you do."

"Well, how are we gonna question this guy?", Willow asked as she looked at the display cases.

"No need," Buttercup said and crossed to the display. She gestured to it like Vanna White and smiled. "Ladies, the Tablet of Traume." The super heroines gathered around the case, staring at their prize. They bent over to get a closer view, their eyes wide with relief and amazement.

Willow glanced at Buttercup and nodded, "You're sure? This is it?" She turned back to the stone and watched the low pulsating glow of it's ruins.

"Positive," Buttercup smiled. "It's the tablet."

"Great," grinned Miyaka, "let's get it and get out."

Buttercup turned away and looked at the doors to the hall. "Yeah, but we need to get it past the guards and all those people out there. Besides I'm sure there's some type of…," she looked back at her teammates and her eyes widened in horror.

Temptations had taken a step back from the display case, her arm was pulled back and her hand had curled into a fist. With one quick powerful thrust, she punched through the glass and pulled the Tablet of Traume from it's resting place. As soon as the glass shattered a siren began to wail and sheets of iron plate slid down from the ceiling covering all the windows in the trophy room.

"…alarm system," Buttercup finished flatly.

Temptations shrugged and grinned at her friends sheepishly, a "Did I do that?" expression on her face as she handed the stone to Buttercup.

"Opsie," Miya sighed.

WillowWind looked at the sealed windows and at the double doors in front of her. "Gee, we were only surrounded before. Now we're trapped and surrounded." She shook her head at Temptations.

"You wanted the tablet, we got the tablet," Tempt said with a firm nod of her head. "Now let's get out of here before…"

She froze in her tracks and she and the other heroines looked at the doors. Outside, faint and coming closer, were the sounds of boots. Marching boots. The sound of dozens of soldiers heading straight to them.

Buttercup turned her head towards Tempt and cocked it a bit to the side. She said through crooked lips, "I cannot believe you."

Temptations shrugged and looked again at the doors. The marching feet grew louder and louder then stopped abruptly. Suddenly the doors flew open and the Tsoo practically flew inside, weapons flashing, bows drawn and arrows ready to fly. The fists of the Ink Men were glowing and the Sorcerers already had the air swirling around them.

"Here we go," Willow whispered and the room exploded in battle. She took to the air, her hands already glowing with power, when she heard Buttercup call her name. Willow turned to the martial arts mistress and saw that the Table of Traume was already spinning it's way to her like a Frisbee. WillowWind snatched it from midair and tucked it under her left arm with a grim smile. Buttercup's reasoning was sound: while her three teammates, Buttercup, Miyaka and Temptations would be on the ground in the middle of the fight, WillowWind's power as a blaster would allow her to strike from a distance. All she really needed to do was dodge arrows and take out Ancestor Spirits, the only members of the Tsoo that could fly. With her right hand free she zoomed above the assembled villains hurtling bolt and blast into the melee.

Buttercup smiled, her lips pulled taunt across her white teeth. At last she was in her element and she waded into the horde of thugs without a second thought. Her elbow smashed into the face of an Enforcer followed immediately by a left hook. Her right leg kicked straight into the stomach of the next foe and as he bent forward the back of her fist struck the side of his face. She leapt up and landed in the middle of the mob, her hands and feet striking with such speed and force that it soon became difficult to maneuver due to the unconscious, broken bodies at her feet.

Miyaka backed up a few steps as the Tsoo soldiers flooded into the room. Even though she could fight, she was much more comfortable with a weapon in her hand. She surveyed the oncoming thugs and her mind repeated the same phrase over and over, "Get a sword…get a sword…get a sword…". Suddenly an Enforcer appeared before her, his face shinning with battle lust and his sharp katana arcing toward her head. Miya crouched low and, as the blade neared, lunged forward and struck the Tsoo warrior as hard as she could in the forearm. He yelled out in pain and surprise as his hand opened involuntarily. The sword tumbled free directly into Miyaka's outstretched hand. She spun about in a wide arc and sliced the man across the chest, blood spraying out in a circle as he twisted to the ground. Miya looked at the sword and said with a smile, "You'll do," then somersaulted into the middle of a Tsoo mob, her new sword flashing in the florescent lighting.

Temptations had waded into the fray at the start and, like Miyaka, had taken a sword from one of the Tsoo Enforcers unlucky enough to cross her path. Unlike her teammate, Tempt was not used to the light weight of the katana and her skill with the great double edged broadsword she normally wielded both helped and hindered her in the fight. Temptations swung the light blade with the strength and power as if it were her heavy sword and the blade cut into the Tsoo with such force that soon the floor around her was littered with severed bodies, torso's hacked in half and a collection of arms and legs that would take the city's coroners several weeks to sort out.

It hindered her because the steel blade was so light it threatened to fly from her grasp on more than one occasion. Her broadsword was almost a part of her and this light blade was taking too much of her concentration. Still, she jumped into the middle of the battle, death and destruction following in her wake.

Buttercup kicked the unconscious body of an Ink Man away and buried her fist in the stomach of an onrushing thug. The battle was going well and there was no doubt that eventually the four super heroines would be able to defeat the army standing against them. But Buttercup frowned. She looked about briefly and saw more Tsoo warriors coming through the open doorway. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!", she shouted over the din of the fighting.

She scanned the air overhead in the large room and saw Willow chasing down an Ancestor Spirit that had gone incorporeal. It solidified for a split second to strike the dark haired blaster but Willow was ready for it and blasted it back into whatever netherworld it had come from.

"WILL! WILLOW!", Buttercup shouted. When she had Will's attention she yelled out. "NO TIME! WE HAVE TO GO…SEND OUT THE SIGNAL!"

WillowWind nodded in agreement and shouted back, "RIGHT…WHAT'S THE SIGNAL!"

Buttercup jaw dropped and she stared up at the hovering blaster. A Tsoo thug saw his chance and struck the heroine with a jab cross combination and blood flowed from Buttercup's mouth. With her teeth clenched together she grabbed her assailant by his shoulder and yanked him to the right. While he was still off balance and moving she clotheslined him so viciously that he somersaulted over and fell to the ground unconscious.

Buttercup yelled up to Willow, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU DON'T KNOW THE SIGNAL!"

"WELL, NO ONE SAID WHAT IS WAS!" Will yelled back as she dodged a barrage of arrows.

"OH, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!", Buttercup shouted as she kicked a Tsoo Sorcerer in the head, "JUST SEND A SIGNAL!"

WillowWind landed near the shattered case that formerly housed the Tablet of Traume. "FINE," she cried out to Buttercup, "YOU WANT A SIGNAL? YOU GET A SIGNAL!" She stood with her legs bent and spread wide, bracing herself. Her whole body seemed to glow as she drew the energy from within herself. Willow held it, gathering it until finally she could contain the power no longer. She threw her arm straight overhead and a bolt of pure white energy leapt from her, through the ceiling and the room above them and then exploding through the roof of the mansion.

WillowWind smiled back at Buttercup and said with a nod, "Now that's a freaking signal!" Two Enforcers tried to tackle her but she giggled and took to the air again knowing that her friends were on their way.

On the hill overlooking the mansion the rest of the team waited. The best case scenario would be their four friends just walking out of the estate. But they knew that that would probably not be the case. Too many enemies, too much ground, too little time. So they waited.

Tropic had stood almost motionless the entire time, arms folded across his chest, one hand tugging absentmindedly on his goatee. Johnny and Elendil sat cross-legged on the ground, talking about Azuria's receptionist and her…interesting choice of undergarments. Scrap leaned against a rock, Ryuu sat on one, and Cadecus stood, all waiting.

Valya had almost paced a rut in the green earth. She looked at the mansion again and shook her head. "Scrap, what time is it?"

General Scrap sighed. "It's about two minutes later than the last time you asked," he answered with a raised eyebrow. Val stared at him for a moment and he sighed again. "It's about one thirty," he said.

"It's too long. How long have they been in there?" Her eyes never left the mansion. "We need to get down there and…"

"They're all right," Tropic cut her off. He turned his gaze to the red head and nodded, "They can take care of themselves. They'll be…"

He was cut off by the faint wail of a siren. Top Ten rushed to the edge of the hill and stared at the brightly lit estate. The alarm was still shrieking and they watched as the Tsoo leader's guests fled the mansion and it's grounds.

Ryuuhoshi grimaced. "You think that's the signal?", he asked looked sidelong at his friends.

"Naw," Johnny snorted, "that's way too tame for our girls!" He gestured at the mansion. "If they were gonna send up a signal they'd…" At that moment a huge blast of pure white energy erupted from the manor, blowing an enormous hole in the roof, it's shards raining down on the fleeing partygoers.

"I think that might be it," Tropic smiled and as one Top Ten launched themselves off the hill and raced to join their friends.

Johnny Cognito nodded his head and said, "Now that's a freaking signal!", then rushed to catch up to his teammates.

Inside the huge trophy room the battle still raged. Tsoo warriors were still flowing into the room and the women, while holding their own were beginning to tire. Buttercup looked up through the hole Willow had blasted in the ceiling and saw the clear, starry sky over Founders Falls. She smiled grimly and returned to the fight. "Well, I asked for a signal," she thought to herself.

Miyaka parried and thrust against the blades of the three Enforcers standing against her. Her blade flashed and steel clanged against steel as she danced among the enemy, slashing and spinning through them. The floor had become littered with bodies and unfortunately, slick with blood. She planted her left foot and thrust with her sword but her foot slipped and she momentarily lost her balance.

One of the men was on her in an instant, his blade arcing toward her head. Miya was able to block it at the last second and, as the blades met, she crouched low, spun and slashed the thug across the abdomen. She rolled away and regained her footing only to be faced with the other two.

Suddenly, from above, she heard her name. "MIYAKA!" She saw Ryuuhosi swoop in followed by the rest of her team and he tossed something towards her. Miya kicked the Tsoo in front of her in the stomach and as he bent forward, leapt up, placed her boot on his back and launched herself into the air. Switching her sword to her left hand she somersaulted once and stretched out her right arm. The hilt of her blade, the one she had to leave behind, found it's mistress.

Miya landed lightly, the two swords in her hands crossed over the throat of a startled Tsoo guard. With a flick of her wrists she lopped the head off the criminal and kicked his body away. She looked at her sword and said, "Hello, baby. Miss me?", then flipped the blade around and, without even turning, thrust it into a Tsoo solider trying to sneak up behind her.

General Scrap landed beside Temptations and handed her the great broadsword. Her eyes lit up as she practically ripped it from his hands. She threw the light katana to the side and charged in among the Tsoo once more.

Buttercup shouted out over the battle, "WE NEED TO GO!"

"WHAT ABOUT THE TABLET?", Scrap called back, not wanting to leave unless the mission was completed.

Buttercup pointed at WillowWind, "SHE'S GOT IT!"

Johnny Cognito had turned the floor in front of him to tar and was holding several of the Tsoo thugs in place. "THEN LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!", he turned to Buttercup. Then from the side, three Tsoo Enforcers appeared and notched their bows. He turned back, ready to jump away, when he saw them. Suddenly Tropic was there, pushing him out of the way.

Johnny hit the ground roughly and spun around to see what had hit him. His eyes flew open in horror. Tropic stood where Johnny had just been, a surprised expression on his face. The fiery hero looked down and saw five arrows protruding from his chest in a tight cluster surrounding his heart. He looked over to Johnny and smiled weakly then collapsed to his knees. The arrows began to smolder and, as he fell over, they burst into flame.

The room became unnaturally silent, all eyes drawn to Tropic's fallen body. Then a woman's scream rent the still air. "TROPIC!", Willow cried out and the room erupted again.

Top Ten rushed to their fallen friend, tossing Tsoo out of the way like candy wrappers. They surrounded the red-skinned man, their voices flowing over each other.

"Is he all right?"

"Let's get out of here!"

"What happened?"

"Somebody grab him!"

Elendil reached down and grabbed Tropic's arm and headed for the hole in the roof, the limp body of the fire blaster trailing smoke from the wounds in his chest. The rest of Top Ten were directly behind them, providing cover, shielding the fleeing pair.

They raced through the night sky for nearly a mile, making sure they weren't being followed, when Elendil finally landed. He lowered his injured friend to the ground and Tropic fell to his knees, then bent forward until he rested on his elbows in the clean green grass.

The remainder of the team landed near them and WillowWind rushed forward, shoving the Tablet into Buttercup's hands. "Is he all right?", she asked urgently, the concern evident on her face.

Tropic was already up on one knee. "Yes," he replied through deep breaths, "I'm good." He rose unsteadily to his feet and his voice gained a bit more strength. "See?", he turned to Willow, "Good as new." The smoke and fire from his chest were gone and only five small scorched holes in his uniform remained. The hot red skin beneath showed not a mark.

WillowWind smiled in relief and was about to put a hand on his shoulder when Johnny Cognito angrily stepped up to Tropic, practically shoving the fire blaster back.

"What's the matter with you?", Johnny cried out.

"What? I don't…," Tropic asked in confusion.

"You didn't think I saw them?", Johnny waved his arms about, clearly upset. "And that's the second time today you've done this!", he went on, remembering the encounter with the demon in Perez Park. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!"

"No, I…"

"Or maybe you're just trying to be the big hero! Is that it? Or maybe you're just showing off for the ladies!", Cognito shouted looking over to WillowWind.

"That's enough, Johnny!", Willow said firmly.

But Johnny kept going. "No, no it's not! If he keeps doing this either he's gonna get killed or one of us is! And I wanna know why!" He looked back at Tropic and took another step closer so he was almost in the blaster's face. "So, why! Why are you doing it! Why!"

"You want to know why?", Tropic growled.

"Yeah! Yeah, I do!", Johnny yelled back.

"SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO!", Tropic shouted back. "Because I can!" He looked around at his teammates. "Do you have any idea how old I am? Do you! As near as I can figure I'm 3,461 years old! I don't even have blood in my veins anymore! When you get hurt and zone to the hospital, I don't need to! I…I may even be immortal…I don't know! So that's why I do it! So you won't…so I'm not…" Tropic stopped speaking and looked at the ground around him, then he turned his head away from them and looked down his right arm to the earth.

An awkward silence followed. The heroes looked at each other then to their friend but he wouldn't look up at them. Finally Temptations spoke softly. "So we won't what, Tropic? So you're not what?"

But the fiery hero wouldn't answer. He continued to look away, embarrassed or perhaps ashamed of his outburst.

Buttercup walked up to the man and stared at him briefly. She dipped her head to look at his face but he tried to turn away even more. She sighed at last and said, "So we won't leave you. So you're not alone." She saw him stiffen a bit and try to turn even more into himself. "That's it, isn't it?" Buttercup shook her head. "What's your life been like, Tropic? All these years…you go somewhere, find friends, maybe fall in love…then watch them all die and move on to somewhere else and do it all over again…"

"Don't you pity me," Tropic whispered.

"Pity?", WillowWind asked incredulously. She came up to Tropic and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek. She pulled away, pecking him lightly on the lips, then held him at arms length. "No, no pity. Because you're an idiot."

"What?", Tropic blurted, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"You heard me. You're an idiot. We can never leave you. You'll never be alone. You know why?" Tropic shook his head. Willow placed one hand on the red-skinned man's shoulder and the other absently on her stomach. "Because we're family," Willow said with conviction.

"Family?", Tropic asked, his lips curled in a small smile.

"Yup," she said brightly, "even Captain Insane-O over there," she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder to Johnny Cognito.

"Hey!", Johnny said with mock outrage.

Willow grinned again. "So, no more taking the big hits, right?"

"Ok," Tropic nodded slowly.

WillowWind turned around and looked at her friends. "I live a couple blocks from here. Let's go to my place, I'll make some coffee and we can figure out what this crazy rock says." The team all murmured in agreement and she started to lead the way but turned at the last moment. "And some of you, you know who you are, may need to take a shower because…well…you stink!" And with that she leapt into the air followed by the laughter of her teammates.

Tropic watched them go then launched himself into the cool night sky, following them with a new word on his lips:

"Family."

CHAPTER SEVEN

If anyone was awake at two o'clock in the morning and happened to be looking out their window they would have seen eleven very battered superheroes flying overhead. They would have noticed seven of these heroes wearing uniforms that looked as if they had been sliced with scissors and thrown into the mud. And they would have seen four very scantily clad super heroines. Top Ten soared through the skies over Founders Falls, across the Liberty Town neighborhood of the zone on their way to WillowWind's apartment.

She lead them to a tall skyscraper overlooking the new university on the right and Williams Square on the left. As the team landed on a 32nd floor balcony they were able to see the tunnel into Talos Island and farther to the left Louis Forest, dark with the telltale green glow of Circle magics sporadically dotting the silent park. WillowWind walked up to the huge sliding glass door and, on the wall at it's right, punched in a series of numbers on the softly glowing keypad. The door clicked and she slid it open.

Stepping inside she flicked a switch and as the room glowed with soft light said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my world."

The heroes entered the large room and began to find places to sit and rest after a long night. Because they entered from the balcony they found themselves in the living room. It was a large airy room with a wooden floor painted black. The walls were a deep purple which blended into a lighter shade as the color rose upwards. The ceiling was a light purple as well with four large black beams extending from the four corners of the room, meeting together in the center where a large wrought iron chandelier hung.

A long sofa draped in swaths of red and black sat against the wall on the right. Pillows of varying degrees of purple adorned it and in front of it rested a large low coffee table made of thick dark wood. A black chain wove its way around the table and down each of it's legs. Across from the sofa a flat fireplace, with no mantle, stood in the middle of the wall. Inside it's hearth lay four logs mixed with dried flowers. Above the fireplace looked to be a large mirror but was, in reality, a 42" flat panel plasma television.

A black iron spiral staircase was at the left of the fireplace. It was a decoration for there was no second floor to the apartment, and on each of its steps dark flowerpots sprouted with flowers of every color. Three reclining chairs made up the rest of the room.

Looking across the living room, one could see into the kitchen through a large square cutout that served as a counter. The cabinets were painted black and the countertops were blood red and Willow could be seen and heard rummaging about, preparing the promised coffee for her guests. To the right of the kitchen was the foyer and front door and another door which lead to a bathroom.

WillowWind exited the kitchen balancing a huge pot of coffee and several cups on a tray. "All right, here it is," she smiled. She looked at the group and pointed to the door by the kitchen. "There's a shower in there for whoever wants to take one." She turned and walked towards another door to the right of the fireplace. "And ladies," she said over her shoulder, "come with me!"

Buttercup turned and gave the tablet to Tropic then faced the rest of the room. "All right, who has my uniform?" She waited expectantly almost tapping her foot.

Johnny rose from his place on the sofa and handed the heroine four balled up ICON bags. "Here. Bet you thought I lost 'em," he grinned. Buttercup took the bags and followed the other girls to Willow's bedroom. "Sure you just don't want to stay in that outfit?", Cognito called after her as he sat back down.

"NO!", she said emphatically over her shoulder.

"I'll get to work on this tablet," Tropic said quietly. He walked to a door next to the sofa. It led to another bedroom, a small room containing a bed, dresser and mirror and a desk. He flipped on the light and walked to the desk staring at the tablet, already beginning to translate the writing in his head.

The heroines entered Willow's bedroom and closed the door behind them. While the living room had a hard wood black floor here a thick, deep black carpet met their feet. The room was big, only slightly smaller than the living room. A black four poster bed was against the middle of the far wall. The bed cover was a blood red and the canopy consisted of drapes of thin gauzy pieces of red, black and purple fabric. The top of the bed itself was almost covered by pillows of every dimension in varying shades of black, from light gray to midnight onyx. The night tables on each side were topped with lamps of twisted iron and dried flowers were sprinkled on their bases. On one wall of the bedroom a sliding door seemed to go it's length and sliding glass doors led out to the balcony again.

On the far wall sat a dresser with a large mirror. The body of the dresser was a deep black and its top a deep red. The top of the mirror's frame was carved. At its top, on the left and right, were etched small bat wings and along the border it came to several points. A doorway led to an enormous bathroom, it's floor a checkerboard of black and red, and contained a shower stall large enough for four people.

The other women had already stripped off their clothes and Buttercup was happy to remove what she was beginning to call her "tramp" outfit. She tossed three of the bags containing the Top Ten uniforms on the bed and Miya, Tempt and Willow went to retrieve them. Buttercup opened her bag and held her uniform at arms length, a frown already etching itself on her red lips.

The costume was a mess. It's midsection bore the claw marks the demon had torn in it at the battle in Perez Park.. One of the shoulder seams had split and tendrils of thread poked out freely. The thing was a mass of grass and dirt stains, rips and tears. It was, simply, ruined.

Buttercup looked up and saw the rest of women staring at their costumes and all had the same expression. "I can't wear this," she said softly. The heroines in the room muttered in agreement.

WillowWind smiled broadly. "Oh, nobody worry," she said brightly and walked to the sliding door. She pushed and watched as the door slid effortlessly open. "You want costumes? I got costumes!"

The sliding door revealed a closet and on it's rack were hanger after hanger of superhero outfits. Some were Top Ten colors, others were just a scheme that had caught her fancy that day. There were at least thirty and the heroines stared at them with open jawed surprise.

"Willow, does ICON have any left?", Temptations asked in awe.

"Probably not," Miyaka answered, already going through the rack trying to find one to wear.

Willow grinned and grasped Valya's hand. "Well, it is my plan to make ICON beg for mercy," she laughed. "Well, we're going to take a shower. If anyone wants to join us, come on!" The two naked heroines padded, giggling, to the bathroom.

Miyaka stopped her search and trotted after them. "Hey! Wait for me!", and the three women disappeared into the bath. Soon the sound of rushing water and laughter could be heard from the room.

Temptations turned to Buttercup and shook her head, a crooked smile on her face. She crossed to the wall and switched on the ceiling fan. Returning to the closet she continued her search. "Well, let's see what we can wear. And we get the shower next."

Buttercup shook her head and idly scratched her thigh. The breeze from the fan caused her to shiver and she looked up, catching her reflection in the mirror. The super heroine regarded herself and smiled inwardly. "First I get dressed like a hooker," she thought, "now I'm standing around naked in a crazy woman's apartment." She sighed. "It's been a very interesting evening." She walked over and joined Temptations as she ransacked the closet.

Forty five minutes or so later the heroines emerged from WillowWind's bedroom freshly showered and wearing clean new Top Ten uniforms. The outfits were all different in some regard; tight leggings, a miniskirt, thigh high boots. But all were Top Ten colors of deep blue and gold, the shield etched proudly on their chests.

The heroes were spread about the room on the sofa and reclining chairs, some laying prone on the floor. They noticed that Kunai had arrived and General Scrap filled them in on what had happened in Talos Island and the disappearance of the demon. The women joined them and Buttercup crossed to the small spare bedroom to assist Tropic in translating the stone. The rest lay about the living room, sleeping lightly and fitfully as the last hours to sunrise crept by.

It was a few minutes after six thirty when Buttercup and Tropic emerged The sun had begun to rise and the large living room started to lighten, the bright rays shining through the glass door. The superheroes started to stir, not fully asleep, yet not fully awake. They all noticed their two friends standing amongst them and the expressions on their faces served to awaken them quickly.

All the color had drained from Buttercup's face and both she and Tropic had the same look in their eyes: worry mixed with grim resolve. And fear. The members of Top Ten looked at them expectantly until finally Buttercup spoke. "It's not a demon," she stated simply.

They looked at each other with raised eyebrows and General Scrap asked, "So, what is it?"

Buttercup looked at Tropic. The fire blaster nodded slightly and gestured with his hand in a "go ahead" type fashion. The heroine took a deep breath and began to reveal all they had discovered.

"The Circle," she began, "in their quest for world domination, I suppose, wanted to bring something over that was powerful, as evil as they were and could be controlled. They found the Arkandian spell…ritual…I don't know…and started their magics." Buttercup looked at her friends. "But they didn't have all the components to complete the incantation as it was laid out."

"Components?", Elendil asked.

"Real eye of newt, wing of bat stuff," Tropic nodded, "which, oddly enough, are ingredients in this thing."

"So, at best, they substituted," Buttercup continued. "At worst, they guessed. The planets and stars were all in alignment and they had no time to search out what they were missing, so they went ahead with the spell." The heroine tugged at her lower lip. "They brought it over but they couldn't control it. And it's evil dwarfed…was more than they could ever have expected."

The gathered heroes looked at each other in confusion. Ryuuhoshi looked sidelong at Scrap then turned to his two teammates. "You said it's not a demon. What is it?"

Buttercup gazed about the room at her friends then sighed heavily as though the weight of the truth would crush them all. She frowned and said softly, "It's a descendant of the first evil."

The statement was greeted with raised eyebrows and looks of bewilderment. Their heads turned towards one another, trying to see if anyone understood what had been said. "What do you mean?", Willow asked with a furrowed brow. "I don't underst…"

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Valya from one of the recliners. "You don't mean…," the fear in her voice was palpable. Tropic nodded once and the color drained from the Controller's face.

WillowWind looked at her dear friend, the expression on her face flowing from confusion to concern and then to frustration. "Look," she said, "I don't want to be stupid here but what are…"

"No!", Cadecus whispered from his spot on the sofa. He stared at Buttercup and Tropic in horror. "You're sure?", he asked, his voice barely audible.

"All right, that's enough," Temptations said forcefully and stood beside Willow. "Explain. What's this 'descendant of the first evil'?"

Tropic chewed on his lower lip for a moment until finally he raised his head and, with the fire flowing from his eyes said, "It's one of Satan's children."

The pronouncement was met by wide-eyed, jaw-dropping silence. The heroes of Top Ten looked at each other in disconcerted puzzlement until, at last, Johnny Cognito asked what they were all thinking. "Satan," he grimaced at Tropic. "The devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Old Scratch. That Satan?"

Tropic nodded in agreement. "Yes, but he really doesn't like to be called 'Old Scratch.'"

"Oh, ok, I won't…wait a second!", Johnny frowned, "you know Satan?"

"It's a long story," sighed Tropic.

Willow sat next to Val and was slowly shaking her head. "That Knife woman, three thousand years old and now you know the devil." She squinted at the red-skinned man. "We are so going to talk when this is all over."

Scrap had his eyes closed and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "All right. Does the Tablet say how to stop this…thing?"

"Yes and no," Buttercup exhaled.

"You know, I'm really starting to get sick and tired of these riddles," Temptations angrily muttered.

"I know," Tropic agreed, "but riddles are all we have." He rubbed his chin and looked out the large glass door. "When these ancient mystics write these guides or explanations or what-have-you, they give you all the answers you need. But they are always couched within some riddle or clue or deeper meaning."

Kunai regarded Tropic, his eyes narrow. "Did it say anything at all that would help us?"

Buttercup sighed and nodded. "Yes. There is one passage about that but…"

"It doesn't make any sense," Tropic finished.

"Well, what does it say?", Cadecus whispered.

"Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be and the Beast shall be slain, scattered to the Four Winds and an Age of Gold shall reign thereafter," Tropic quoted the Table of Traume quietly.

"What the hell does that mean," Cognito asked, his face twisted with puzzlement.

Tropic and Buttercup looked at each other. The heroine said softly shaking her head, "We don't know."

Silence settled over them as though the thickest fog in Dark Astoria had manifested itself in Willow's apartment. The heroes were all deep in thought. What could it mean? "Incite the fire." Valya sipped her coffee slowly. General Scrap stood at the glass doors and stared out over the city. Cognito, Elendil and Miyaka sat on the sofa, their minds spinning through every explanation they could think up. Ryuu sat on the floor, Cadecus in his chair and Temptations stood near Willow, who sat with Val.

"Maybe," Kunai said abruptly, and his voice caused some of the heroes to jump, startled. "Maybe fire is a metaphor. It might not actually mean 'fire'."

Scrap nodded slowly. "That's possible." He stroked his chin, considering what the stealthy warrior had proposed. He began to have the start of an idea. "It could be fire is fervor? Ardor?" He thought for a moment more then snapped his fingers. "Zeal. Emotion."

"Yes, yes," Cadecus agreed. He rose from his seat and started to pace about the room. "Incite the fire, old and gather, released shall it be…," he repeated. "Maybe it means we need to incite the Beast?"

Ryuuhoshi pointed his finger at the healer. "Yeah. Maybe fire is…anger? Do we need to…?"

"That could be it," Elendil said. "The madder we make this thing the more of it's energy will be released." He nodded his head, looking around the room. "We incite it, it gathers it's energy to fight us and then, if we can fight it long enough, all its energy will be released and we'll be able to kill it, defeat it, whatever."

The heroes of Top Ten nodded in agreement relieved to have the bare bones of a plan of action. What Elendil proposed made sense. It meshed perfectly with the Tablet's clue and the room was filled now with talk of implementing their strategy. All were involved with the coming battle's blueprint except Tropic and Buttercup. They looked at each other, concern and worry evident on their faces.

"I'm not sure if this is what we're supposed to be doing," Tropic announced loudly enough to get their attention.

General Scrap smiled and walked over to the fiery hero. "I don't know, Tropic," he said shaking his head. "It seems to answer whatever questions we have. And you said that these magicians who write this stuff write in riddles." He rested his hand on Tropic's shoulder. "If you have a better idea, please…," he finished, waiting expectantly for his friends response.

Tropic frowned and chewed his lip for a moment. He knew that this was a reasonable course of action but something gnawed at him. A feeling that things weren't right. But he had nothing else to offer and he chalked the feeling in his gut up to worry and fear. He shook his head and grinned crookedly at Scrap. "No…no…it's all right. It's a good plan," Tropic said in his rough voice.

"Great," Ryuuhoshi smiled. "Now all we have to do is find this thing."

"I know where it's going," Tropic whispered.

"What? How," Buttercup asked in surprise.

"I've had an idea since it was in Faultline but I wasn't sure then," Tropic gazed around the room until his eyes fell on WillowWind. "Now, I'm sure."

The teammates looked warily at each other then to Tropic. "Go on," Temptations said softly.

Tropic nodded. "Willow, do you have a map of the city?"

Her eyebrow raised in confusion. "Yes…yeah…yeah I do." She went to the kitchen and her friends could hear her slide open one drawer then another, rummaging around in each. A few moments later she returned and handed the map to the blaster.

"There are lines, tendrils, of mystical energy that circle the globe," he explained as he opened the map. It was a simple street map of the city, one Willow had probably bought when she had first moved here. "They intersect everywhere," Tropic continued, placing the map on the coffee table. The heroes gathered around, their complete attention on their friend and the map.

"These intersections, nexus, tend to focus the magic force. And in a few places across the world, these nexus contain power." He looked up at the team. "There was one in a city in California that got swallowed up by the Earth about a year ago. There's one in Cleveland, of all places." He paused for a moment and grinned wearily. "Haven't you ever wondered why there are so many magical groups, good and bad, in Paragon City? Why so many mystic artifacts turn up here? Paragon sits right on top of one of these intersections."

Tropic tapped the map in front of him. "This Beast…it came through here at Orenbega." His finger touched a spot on the map. "It went here to Perez," he traced with his finger to the park. "Then to Faultline," again his finger moved, "and then to Talos," and his finger rested on the map. "Where else in Paragon City is there a large concentration of Circle of Thorn mages?"

The members of Top Ten glanced at each other and then at the map again. At last, WillowWind turned to the glass door of her living room, her eyes staring out over Williams Square. "Here," she whispered. "Founders Falls. Louis Forest."

Tropic nodded and his finger traced it's way to Louis Forest on the map. He looked up at his friends and traced the Beast's route again. Buttercup gasped when she realized what Tropic depicted.

Orenbega, Perez Park, Faultline, Talos Island, Louis Forest. Five points.

A Pentagram. An occult symbol so ancient it was etched within the natural memory of every living thing.

"What's it going to do," Valya whispered.

There was total silence in sunlit room, the heroes' minds spinning at the possibilities. Finally, Miyaka broke the oppressive quiet. "It's going to try to open the gate it came through. That's why it needed all that power from the Thorns."

"Why," Temptations asked. "To go home?"

"To bring home here," Tropic said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Hell on Earth," Cognito said softly.

"Yes," Tropic said simply.

"We're gonna need more people," Johnny whispered to no one in particular.

The silence dragged on, all of them digesting these new revelations. General Scrap strode purposefully to the sliding glass door and pushed it open. "All right," he said with his communicator in his hand. "Let's get over to Louis Forest. Maybe we can get there before it does. Maybe we can be ready for it."

Top Ten moved as one to the window and began to make their way to the forest. As Elendil was about to leave he noticed the communication device in Scrap's hand. "Hey, who you calling?"

Scrap regarded his friend with a raised eyebrow and said one word:

"Everybody."

CHAPTER EIGHT

The heroes made their way over Williams Square, past the highway, and into Louis Forest. They landed on the soft dewy grass, trees and boulders dotting the calm landscape. Here and there the soft green glow of Circle rituals were still evident. Upon seeing the mages conjuring their spells, Top Ten knew that the Beast had not yet arrived in Founders Falls. They also realized it was preternaturally quiet as though before a storm. No birds sang, no insects buzzed. They had experienced this before. It was like Perez Park when they had first encountered their foe.

They stood together, all eyes moving, searching for what was coming. Scrap was still on his communicator, calling in more of the team, hoping that they would all arrive before the enemy.

Kunai was looking over the park, shaking his head. "I don't understand," he rubbed his chin through his mask. "I lost this thing last night. It's nine o'clock in the morning. It should be here by now."

"It's drawn to magic," Tropic shrugged. "There are lots of little islands in Talos. Lots of Circle of Thorns on them."

"Yes. It probably stopped to take some more…magic juice from them," WillowWind agreed, grimacing.

General Scrap rejoined the group, stowing his communicator back on his belt. "Well," he sighed, "I called just about everyone. The people I talked to said they're on their way." He shook his head and tugged on his earlobe. "Left messages for the rest. I hope they get them in time."

"You didn't call me," a feminine voice said softly.

The team turned toward the voice and saw her there, leaning heavily against a tree, as if that was the only thing keeping her upright. She wore her Top Ten uniform, holding the edge of her cape tightly in her right hand. The outfit was covered with dirt and grass stains, she had a thick white bandage wrapped around her forehead and she looked down her nose at her friends through red-lensed glasses.

Miyaka stared at the woman with an arched eyebrow. "Deep Phreeze?" She shook her head in astonishment. "Phreeze, aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"

"They said they wanted me overnight for 'observation'," she grinned crookedly. "They observed me. It's daytime. I left."

Ryuuhoshi crossed to the ice wielder smiling. He grasped her arm and helped her to a small boulder. As she sat he chewed on his lower lip and said quietly, "You know you're in no condition to help us, don't you?"

She looked up at the dark ninja with one squinted eye and said frostily, "You going to try and stop me?" Phreeze's clenched fists quickly encased themselves in ice. Ryuuhoshi smiled under his mask and threw up his hands in surrender.

WillowWind smiled warmly at her newly arrived teammate. "Scrap didn't call you. How'd you know where to find us?"

Deep Phreeze snorted, shaking her head. "You guys are all over the news."

"What?" Buttercup asked in surprise.

"Yeah," the ice blaster nodded then looked in the faces of her friends. She raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "What? You didn't think people would notice?" She looked from one hero to the other. "You fight some kind of demon in Perez Park. Then you have this huge battle with the Knives at the train station in Steel. Then you blow up a mansion. And then you're seen flying over Founders Falls." She paused shaking her head. Finally she said quietly, "The police were looking for you, you know."

"The police? Why?" Scrap stood frowning, arms crossed over his chest.

"You blew up a mansion! But when they got there they found several paintings and pieces of artwork that had been stolen…and several people with ties to a few criminal organizations," Phreeze smiled broadly. "The news said the police think they've busted up an art smuggling ring. Most of the people there had outstanding arrest warrants out on them." She laughed lightly. "Without meaning to you guys wiped about twenty cases from the books."

Willow frowned. " 'Blew up a mansion'…please, I only blew up a little bit of it," she said softly to no one in particular. Tropic lowered his head and smiled.

Phreeze looked around the park, turning her head this way and that, a slight look of pain on her face. "So…where is this thing?"

"That's what we want to know," came a booming voice from above. The heroes looked up to the sky and grinned at the sight. Four more of their teammates had arrived, the yellow and gold Top Ten shield flashing as the early morning sunlight danced across their chests.

Scrap stepped forward with his hand outstretched. "Hey! That was quick."

Lord Nikon landed lightly in front of his friend and shook his hand warmly. "You sounded…well, it sounded pretty urgent."

TuxedoGin and Novak landed amongst the team. "Yes," Tux added, "it sounded like you were talking bout the end of the world." He grinned as he greeted his teammates.

Tropic smiled sadly. "It pretty much is," he sighed.

Cyber-Blade landed next to Miyaka, the two katana wielders nodded in greeting. "That bad?" he asked.

"Knowing this group, it probably is," a new voice called out. The team all turned to the sound and saw a figure speeding up the last few yards of a hill towards them. Umbral Fist skidded to a stop directly in front of Ryuuhoshi. "So, what are we facing? Some kind of demonic purse snatcher?" he grinned.

Temptations scowled at the dark scrapper. "No," the warrior said seriously as she rubbed the length of her broadsword with an oiled cloth. "Not by half."

Buttercup sighed and explained to the new arrivals more of what they were going to face. As she spoke the color drained from Nikon and TuxedoGin's faces. Cyber-Blade and Umbral looked at each other with skeptical expressions.

"You know," Novak said with a shake of his head, "after this is all over I'm just gonna stay in Atlas and arrest Hellions."

The heroes grinned at the energy blaster when a ghostly voice behind General Scrap spoke. "So, it is true then."

Scrap started in surprise, spinning toward the voice, his hands already glowing with power. He dropped his hands when he realized who it was. "Geez, Padre, don't sneak up on me like that. It's been a long day!"

Padre Ares hovered in front of the team and nodded in apology to Scrap. He turned his attention to Tropic. "It is as I feared?" His red horns seemed to glow against his jet black skin and the eldritch fire flowed from his eyes as he stared at the fire blaster.

"Aye, priest" Tropic said quietly, "the Spawn is here."

The dark controller landed in front of the ancient fire blaster. He stroked his chin and muttered, "I have always feared the Thorns would do something…foolish." He glanced up at Tropic. "But on this scale…"

"They made a mistake and it's killing them," Valya frowned. "And then it's going to kill everything else."

Top Ten stood in silence, engulfed in their own thoughts. The reality and desperateness of the situation finally beginning to become apparent. If this Beast was allowed to open the gate, the armies of Hell would stream into this realm. And when all was prepared, when the living had been subjugated, when goodness, light, purity had been perverted, the Dark Master would come and reign supreme over the entire planet.

Hell on Earth.

"Look!" WillowWind gasped. "Look at the sky!"

The heroes looked to the south. Beyond a raised range of boulders the sky had begun to turn a misty green. As they watched it began to swirl and it's color deepen. And then, piercing the quiet morning, a long drawn out scream; a wail of such hopelessness that some of the heroes flinched.

Tropic looked at the teammates and whispered roughly. "It's here."

The nineteen adventurers nodded to each other then raced to battle. They came around a jutting stone and saw for the second time Satan's child. It had grown since their battle in Perez Park. All the magic power it had taken had caused it's size, it's muscle and power to swell and thrive. It was well over fifteen feet tall now. Great slabs of hard muscle twitched and flexed under its oily black skin. It's huge wings fluttered, moving spasmodically in the cool morning sun. And it's eyes leaked green fire, a magic force to powerful to contain.

"What the hell is that?" A voice exclaimed from behind the team.

They turned and saw more of their team arriving, answering the call as heroes are wont to do.

Lord Nikon grinned as they came and greeted each other. There was Dr. Silver, a powerful empath. Blue Fox Sly and Aeroxon, both deadly scrappers. Mr. Heaven and Serridus, two defenders who's energy powers augmented their force field and empathy skills. L33t On3, Ebola Zaire and Flint Fingers, warriors welcome in any battle, a controller and blaster of fire and a scrapper of living bone.

Johnny Cognito grinned, almost in relief. "Am I glad to see you guys!"

L33t On3 smiled back and looked beyond the team to the Beast. "You guys having demon problems?"

Johnny snorted. "No. Devil problems." At L33t's raised eyebrow Cognito pointed at the Beast and said, "Son of the Devil. Trying to open a gateway. Hell on Earth. It's got to go."

Flint Fingers nodded. "Ok, simple enough."

Top Ten watched for a moment as the Beast grabbed and drained an Earth Thorn Caster. It tossed the Thorn's mummified husk aside and tore apart a Behemoth Master. The sky above had deepened in color, the thick swirling green now blocking the bright sunlight and shrouding Louis Forest in shadow.

"So what's the plan?" Nikon asked and grimaced as the thing pulled apart a Guide.

TuxedoGin eyed the monster for a moment then regarded the gathered heroes in front of him. He scowled, nodding his head all the while, then took a deep breath. "All right, we do what we do: defeat the enemy." The team smiled, confidence evident on their faces.

"Right," General Scrap said as he turned from watching the Beast tear apart another Circle mage. "Damage dealers in tight. Controllers, lock him down. Blasters at range. Defenders keep us going." Scrap looked at his teammates, his face grim, as if he were receiving bad news at the doctors. "The plan's simple. We have to get that thing to expend so much of it's power on us, it'll weaken eventually and we'll be able to destroy it." He gazed briefly at Buttercup and Tropic. "I hope that's what the Tablet means."

Tropic sighed and nodded and beside him Buttercup whispered, "I hope so."

Lord Nikon breathed out deeply. "Ok," he said, his voice no more than a rough whisper. "Ready!"

Behind him, one by one, the heroes of Top Ten answered "Ready!". And then, like a force of nature, they charged down the hill.

The Beast held a Death Mage in his vice-like grip, all the magic power of the man flowing in green tendrils into his open maw. Out of the corner of his fiery green eyes he saw the collected heroes rushing towards him. The monster grinned, it's sharp teeth showing in the darkening forest. "Fools," it whispered, and the very ground seemed to tremble. "Are you in such a hurry that you must run towards death?"

The Blasters halted and released their first salvo, peppering the Beast with blasts of energy and fire, electricity and ice. Closer still to the monster the Controllers stopped short, attacking, trying to contain the enemy with tar, radiation, and living imps of fire doing their best to confuse the animal. The Defenders were closer still. Mr. Heaven encasing each teammate in a bubble of energy; Cadecus already sending forth his healing aura. Finally, the damage dealers, the Scrappers and Tanks, in close to the Beast, attacking with all their might.

In Founders Falls it sounded like a small explosion in the middle of Louis Forest. Those looking towards the park saw the green swirling glow in the sky and flashes of light reflecting from it. People new to Paragon City stared in wonder. The long-time residents knew what was happening. Something about this battle felt wrong to them and they gripped the hands of their children and hurried for cover.

In the park the battle was fully joined. The sky lit up with the blasts ricocheting off the Beast's tough armor-like hide. The swords of Temptations, Miyaka, Cyber-Blade and Aeroxon hacked and slashed at the monster, the sharp blades bouncing harmlessly off it's oily skin. The pinpricks of their weapons coupled with the claws and spines of Blue Fox Sly and Ebola Zaire only served to annoy the great demon and it howled it's aggravation to the sky.

The Beast swung it's great fist in a sweeping arc trying to swat away the heroes pestering it. The hand caught Blue Fox Sly full on and sent him hurtling, rolling across the soft grass. The end of the strike glanced against Cyber-Blade and tossed him in the same direction. Blue was able to stop his tumbling and as Cyber rolled past reached out and caught the sword master by the arm. The two men looked at each other and, wordlessly, rushed back to the fray.

Umbral Fist was slowly coming to the realization that this…demon was immune to his dark powers. Touch of Fear, Shadow Maul, Soul Drain were all proving ineffective against the Son of Satan. So he did what he could, hitting the Beast with his bare hands.

"Rotate!" TuxedoGin's voice was barely audible above the battle. "If you need to rest someone will take your place!" He attacked the monster with fervor, punches and kicks bouncing off the thing's tough hide. Buttercup leapt up and delivered a spinning kick to the Beast's side but she could tell it did no damage. Still they fought on trying desperately to make it expend all it's energy on the team.

"Idiots!" The Beast shouted. "You cannot stop destiny!" It's huge tail swung about. Aeroxon was able to jump over it but Miyaka saw it coming a moment too late. She tried to duck, to bob out of the way, but the forked appendage struck her slightly and she fell dazed to the ground. The Beast closed in on it's helpless prey, raising it's foot, ready to stomp one of it's tormentors into the ground.

"MIYAKA!" Temptations screamed and rushed towards her friend. But she knew she was too far away. The warrior gripped her broadsword tightly and watched in horror as the huge foot came down.

Suddenly the monster was encased in a gigantic ball of electricity and another figure swooped in, grasping the prone heroine and rocketing her from harm's way. Temptations breathed out heavily in relief as she saw Captain Denmark gently place Miyaka on the ground a safe distance from the fight.

"Shocking, isn't it?" a voice called from above. Temptations looked up and saw the source of the electric power. Blighting hovered there, the dark haired woman crackling with energy, sending another blast into the Beast.

Denmark flew over and hovered next to Tropic and Elendil, joining them in hurtling blast after blast at the monster. El shouted over, "Glad you could join us!" and grinned at the energy blaster.

"Blighting and I were in Striga thinning out Council when we got Scrap's message," he smiled back. "How come you guys never fight a den of evil shoplifters?"

"It's just not us," Blighting answered back. "Now let's kill this thing!"

All the blasters unloaded on the Beast at the same time. Energy, electricity, fire and ice hit the animal at the same time.

And did nothing.

But Tropic noticed something. The strikes from the other blasters did little more than annoy the Beast but when a bolt of flame from Tropic's hands struck, the monster howled. Tropic frowned and remembered back to the first battle in Perez Park. He had hit it then too and immediately thereafter it had raced into the forest. He squinted at the Beast and thought.

Blighting fired another bolt into the thing. The arcing tendrils of electricity surrounded it and it bellowed angrily into the misty green sky. All around, her teammates attacked relentlessly, desperately trying to whittle the Beast down, wear him out so that he could be defeated. She flew in closer, firing continuously.

"Blight! You're too close!" She heard WillowWind call out to her and started to backpedal away from the Beast. "WATCH OUT!"

Too late! She spun around and the Beast was almost in front of her. Blighting moved backwards as fast as she could but the animal's clawed hand was already moving. The uppercut struck her high in the chest. The thing's talon stabbed deep and sliced up finally exiting from under her chin.

The heroine hung there, hovering, as she watched the scarlet spray arc from her throat. Time stood still and sound ceased. Then Blighting's eyes rolled back in her head and she plummeted to the earth like a stone. She landed with a hard, wet smack, dead before she hit the ground.

Everything stopped. The heroes of Top Ten stared in open mouthed horror at their fallen friend.

"ATTACK!" Lord Nikon's scream was loud enough to shatter glass. And Top Ten unleashed an onslaught that caused the very earth to shudder. Those closest to the Beast assaulted it with renewed vigor. Fists and feet struck in a blur, claws scraped over the thing's skin, bony spines flew at it in rapid succession. Nearby the Controllers turned the ground to tar and quicksand. Fire imps and forms of living stone beleaguered the Beast at every turn. Swords clanged off the monster's hide, their bright blades reflecting the flashing blasts of fire and ice, electricity and energy. A mental onslaught flowed forth as Dr. Silver, Umbral and Serridus tried desperately to get inside the monster's mind to cause it fear and pain.

The Beast laughed, swinging his huge fists. His great forked tail swished back and forth trying to sweep the heroes from their feet. It saw the healer, Cadecus, over the body of the fallen girl. "She is but the first of many," his voice rasped, echoing above the battle. "You should be honored I have taken her!" he said with glee.

Cadecus cradled Blighting's limp body in his arms. He bent close, trying to find anything, just a spark of life, that he could grab, hold on to long enough to pull her back. But there was nothing. Blood covered her chin and the front of her uniform was soaked with it. The healer sighed heavily and lay her gently on the ground, folding her arms across her chest. Absentmindedly, he took the corner of her cape and wiped the blood from her face. He stared for a moment, thinking she looked asleep. He frowned and turned back to the Beast. Gritting his teeth he gathered himself and rushed forward, emanating his regenerating power.

Cyber-Blade saw Cadecus out of the corner of his eye. When the healer placed Blighting back on the ground he knew then that she was gone. His face contorted into a mask of fury. Even though he and she fought constantly, they were teammates. Colleagues. Friends. And he liked her, truly. His eyes blazed as he saw the Beast fighting his friends. He watched as it tossed Ryuuhoshi aside and Kunai leapt over it's swinging tail.

"BASTARD!" Cyber screamed and rushed forward, his katana flowing in a tight arc and striking the monster in the leg. The sword bounced off the thick skin harmlessly but Cyber kept attacking. His blade moved so quickly it left a trail like the light of a sparkler on the Fourth of July.

The Beast looked down in annoyance at the insect repeatedly stinging it. It growled and sent it's balled fist earthward, trying to drive Cyber into the ground like a nail. Cyber saw the blow coming and at the last moment slipped out of the way.

The katana wielder realized he wasn't doing enough, or even any damage, here at the thing's leg. When he saw the Beast's fist coming at him a thought popped into his head. "Oh, this is crazy," he mused. He slid out of the way and, when the animal raised it's hand, Cyber-Blade leapt forward and grabbed hold of the thing's little finger.

He flew up, still gripping the Beast's finger, and when it reached it's apogee he leapt off, landing on the monsters chest, his left hand buried in devil son's right trapezium. Cyber grunted and, yanking hard with his left and pushing off with his feet, suddenly appeared directly in front of the Beast's face.

"What?" the monster exclaimed in surprise.

"Screw you, bitch!" Cyber hissed through clenched teeth and drove his katana into the Beast's right eye.

"YEARRGGHH!" the Beast bellowed in pain and shock. Green magic fire erupted from the orb and lit up the thing's face. It's hands flew up trying to grab it's attacker but Cyber-Blades super reflexes kept him one step ahead of it.

Cyber jumped down, his hand sliding down the Beast's body to slow his fall. The thing's hand grasped for him but he jumped this way and that, somersaulting away and finally landing at the Beast's feet. He smiled to himself as he rolled out of the way of the things open hand.

And into the path of the thing's sweeping tail. It hit Cyber in the back, swatting him uncontrollably into the air. The Beast reached out and caught him with his right hand. He held Cyber-Blade in front of his face, regarding him with his one good eye.

It smiled for a just a second as it felt the rest of the assembled heroes throwing themselves at him, desperate to rescue their teammate. The Beast said simply, "Join your friend." Then with both hands pulled Cyber-Blade apart, dropping both halves of the dead hero to the ground.

Top Ten watched in horror as Cyber hit the ground. They renewed their attack. But one among them thought "This isn't working."

Padre Ares raised his arms, his eyes flaring brightly, and from his blazing fingers he cast forth living bits of flame. The fire imps danced expectantly in front of him, waiting to be turned loose on the great dark figure before them. "Wicked filth!" Ares shouted at the black demon. "You do not belong here!" The imps leapt forward, surrounding the Beast, joining the heroes as they battered the monster.

The Beast looked down at the dark controller. He felt something pulling at him and realized the hero was trying to siphon some of his energy, his power away. The spawn grinned a wide sharp toothed grin. "And what do you know of belonging, fallen priest?" He swept the ground in front of him with his tail, knocking away the fire imps and causing the team to leap and roll out of the way. "If these here knew your true past would they be so willing to call you friend?"

"They know and do not care, son of evil!" Padre shouted and moved closer, conjuring more imps, using all his powers of fire and mind to combat the animal.

Umbral Fist struck the Beast again and again, his dark powers having little effect. He felt the heat as Padre Ares fire imps gathered at the thing's feet near him and joined the little fire monkeys in their attack. Umbral had been able to jump over the Beast's tail as it swept the imps away and as he regained his footing saw Ares coming closer.

Umbral raised his eyes skyward, looking at the Beast's horned head towering over him. It's eyes were glued to the Padre. Umbral turned his gaze to the priest, his brow furrowing, wondering what his teammate was doing. Fire sprang up around Umbral's feet into a cage of living flame, surrounding the legs of the monster.

Padre concentrated, blocking out the chaos around him, his eyes narrowed to slits from the effort. Umbral stared at the Beast. The Beast eyes bore down on Padre Ares and then it lifted it's huge fist high in the air.

Umbral gasped, knowing what the Beast was going to do. Ares was still deep in concentration and never saw the fist come down. "PADRE!" Umbral screamed, leaping over newly created imps and some of his teammates.

Ares opened his eyes, his concentration broken at the urgent calling of his name. He turned to the sound and Umbral was in his face, pushing him away. Padre fell and heard behind him a enormous thud and, almost simultaneously, what sounded like twigs snapping. He looked back and he breathed in, in shock and horror.

Umbral Fist had been quick enough to save his friend but the superhero had taken the brunt of the Beast's hammer-like blow. Umbral lay there facedown on the muddy battlefield, crushed by the monster's fist. Padre Ares ran to him, sliding to his knees as he neared. He turned the limp body over and Umbral's sightless eye's stared up into the swirling green mist above. The dark scrapper was gone.

Top Ten attacked with even more urgency, unleashing their tremendous powers in a concerted effort to end the battle. On the ground, swarming around the Beast's legs, the mighty blows of Ryuuhoshi, Kunai, Buttercup, Blue Fox Sly, Ebola Zaire and TuxedoGin struck the monster at an almost continuous pace. Nearby Valya, Johnny Cognito, Dr. Silver, Padre Ares, L33t On3, Mr. Heaven and Serridus assaulted it with imps of fire, familiars of rock and frost and turned the very ground to tar, ice and quicksand. Their mind powers hoped to slow the Beast down and give Miyaka, Temptations and Aeroxon a chance to hack the enemy down.

The sky around the Beast's head was lit with flashes of power as the blasters struck hard and fast. General Scrap, Elendil, WillowWind, Tropic, Deep Phreeze, Captain Denmark, Lord Nikon, Novak and Flint Fingers peppered the thing with explosions of fire, ice, energy and electricity.

Everything did nothing.

Tropic swooped in, looking at the dead bodies Blighting, Cyber-Blade and Umbral dotting the battlefield. "Enough," he whispered to himself and flew straight at the Beast, hurling blast and blaze. A ball of fire struck his foe directly in the chest, the strike flashing out in a huge circle, reflecting sickly off the green misty sky.

The Beast howled in pain, shocked that anything could hurt it. It scanned the sky frantically for it's attacker. Finally it's fiery green eye fell on Tropic. "YOU!" it bellowed. "It will not be!" it shouted and turned it's full attention to the red-skinned hero.

Tropic pressed on coming closer and closer, his hands shooting fire. He dodged a swipe of the thing's tail, his body spinning through the air, evading the monster's swinging fists.

Aeroxon struck at the monster again, his broadsword clanging against the hardened leg of his foe. He looked briefly into the sky and saw Tropic weaving above the Beast's head, fire blazing from his eyes and hands all the while avoiding the powerful blows the monster swung. Aero gritted his teeth and thought, "Get out of there, Trop!" As soon as the thought finished, disaster struck.

Tropic spun and twisted through the air firing rapidly at the Beast. The fists of the animal missed repeatedly and Tropic was able to strike it almost at will. He flipped away from the thing's sweeping tail and directly into the path of a gigantic hand. It struck him backhanded and the fiery hero rocketed away, tumbling uncontrollably through the green sky. He fell back to earth, hitting the ground hard and bouncing back into the air. He came down again, his limbs flailing as he rolled across the muddy field, clumps of grass and dirt tossed into the air as he churned past. Finally he slowed and he reached out, his hands finding some purchase in the earth.

The red-skinned hero stopped at last, rolling back on his knees. But his momentum was too great and he kept moving until he fell flat on his back, his dazed fiery eyes staring briefly at the sky. Tropic rose unsteadily to his feet and the world began to spin. He dropped to a knee, gathering his strength and watched as the battle raged.

He had finally come to a stop on a small hill about a football field away from the monster. About sixty yards to his right he saw General Scrap and TuxedoGin taking a moments rest, trying to build up their energy so they might attack again. Tropic heard a loud screeching, like metal twisting, and turned his attention to the fighting once more.

Among the heroes in the thick of the fray, Temptations hacked and sliced at the Beast with the same result as the others. No damage, no cuts, not even the inkling of stopping or even slowing the monster from it's course.

The warrior woman gritted her teeth and swung the heavy sword with abandon. She knew the stakes. She knew they could not fail. But Temptations was becoming more and more frustrated. She had defeated the Kronos Titan. She had defeated the twisted Praetorian "heroes". She had even rescued Statesman. And now some overgrown Behemoth Overlord was going to stop her?

"Enough!" she hissed and spun in a large circle, her blade flashing in front of her. At the end of the circle, Temptations put all her power, her strength, into the blow. The broadsword landed hard against the Beast's thigh, the blade wailing in protest. Temptations stared at the Beast, her teeth clenched, and saw not a mark at the point of impact. Then the warrior looked at her sword and gasped.

The mighty blade was broken, split in two by the force of the blow and the armor like hide of the demon. She gripped the hilt tightly, her eyes drawn to the what was left of her sword. It came to two points, the depression between them appearing to her like the bottom lip of a mouth screaming.

She looked from the blade to the Beast and then back once more to her broken sword. The warrior's face seemed to crumple in on itself and then Temptations threw her head back and screamed her outrage to the world. She rushed toward the monster, her eyes narrowed to slits of grim determination.

The warrior woman raised the broken broadsword high above her head and with a cry that echoed through Louis Forest and into Founders Falls below, plunged the mighty sword deep into the Beast's thigh. As though knowing this would be the last strike it would ever make, the blade sank in to the hilt. Temptations pulled the weapon free, mucus green blood flowing from the wound.

The Beast screamed in pain and shock, frantically scanning the earth below for it's attacker. It saw the stained blade in Temptations hand and struck at her with lightning quickness. "You Insignificant flea!" the Beast bellowed. His huge fist pounded the mud next to the warrior, sending her stumbling back. In spite of it's enormous size the thing was swift and before Temptations could spin out of the way, the demon's left hand slapped her flat to the ground like it was swatting a fly. It's right hand quickly scooped her up, holding her by her leg. "Filthy animal," the Beast hissed and raised her high over it's head. "Die!" And then slammed her into the muddy ground.

Temptations was driven into the earth, hitting so hard the snap of her bones could be heard over the battle. The Beast raised her up again and smashed her down once more then tossed the broken body aside. Temptations sailed through the sky, tumbling, and hit the concrete of the force field wall. She landed at it's base and lay still, her body twisted grotesquely, her neck bent at an unnatural angle.

"TEMPT!" Tropic cried, his hand holding his forehead in shock. He could see from her still form that the mighty warrior was dead. But he could spare no time to mourn. Above the fighting WillowWind flew, rushing to check on Temptations. She spun and twisted her way through the fray but as the Beast raised it's hand to strike at her teammates below, it slapped Willow with the back of it's hand. The impact sent her rocketing straight up and then down in a large arc.

"WILLOW!" Tropic screamed and watched as she hit the ground not twenty yards away from him. He ran toward her saying, whispering, over and over "oh no, oh no, oh no." The fiery hero slid to his knees at her side and lifted her into his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief then. Her heart beat strong and her breathing was steady.

WillowWind's face was covered with blood and he took his cape and wiped it from her face, trying to see how badly she was injured. Tropic sighed again. Willow had a deep cut that started above her right eyebrow, circling the eye and then down her cheek. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a big question mark.

Tropic laid her back on the soft green grass and turned to the battle once more, his mind spinning. "This isn't working," he thought. "We're missing something." Tugging on his lower lip he remembered the passage in the Tablet of Traume. Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be and the Beast shall be slain. Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be. Tropic shook his head. What does it mean? What? Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be. Incite the fire, old and gather. Released. Incite the fire, old and gather. Fire, old and gather.

Suddenly, Tropic's eyes sprang open. "It can't…," he whispered. And then the fire blaster remembered the words Azuira had said to Willow: "Tell him he will know what to do when the time comes." "Oh, no," Tropic thought, "no, no, no…" A look of fear covered his face.

But then he looked at the battlefield, saw the bodies of his slain friends, saw the rest of the team engaged in what he now knew was a hopeless cause. Hopeless unless he…

Tropic nodded to himself, the look of fear changing to one of grim resignation. He kneeled at WillowWind's side once more. His face melted into a look of such sadness that it would make the bitterest heart crack. He cupped her face gently with his rough hot hand. Tropic smiled a sad little smile and said softly, "I wish I could see how it turns out."

The red-skinned hero picked up the unconscious heroine and ran down the hill to where Scrap and TuxedoGin still stood, crying out as he ran, "Call them back! I know what to do!"

Scrap and Tux looked questioningly at each other then back to Tropic as he rushed to them. He laid WillowWind carefully on the soft grass and urgently spoke to his teammates. "We were wrong!" he exclaimed. "The Tablet…I know what needs to be done!"

Nikon, Aeroxon and Serridus joined the group, taking a brief rest to regain some of their endurance. Nikon asked quickly, "What is it, Tropic?"

The blaster gestured wildly with his hands. "It's not the Beast we need to incite. We read it wrong!" Tropic looked each of them in the eye. "It's not 'Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be.' It's gather and release the old fire!" The heroes looked at each other with raised eyebrows and furrowed brows, not understanding.

Tropic looked at them in frustration. "Don't you see?" He pounded his chest with his open hand. "It's me! I'm the old fire!" He looked down to the Beast and the battle that still raged around it. "I have to gather all my power…everything and release it all in one huge…" Tropic sighed heavily and looked at his friends. "They knew, all those centuries ago when they carved it, they knew I'd be here," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm the old fire."

General Scrap clutched Tropic's arm. "No! Trop, it's suicide! You can't…"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Tropic shouted. He waved his arm at the fighting. "But we're getting slaughtered! And we're not talking about the city anymore! It's the whole planet now!" He shook his head sadly. "Call everyone back. I'll go in and…"

"Well, I'm going with you," a voice said calmly.

Tropic spun on his heels and saw the healer, Cadecus, standing there grimly. The red-skinned hero shook his head slowly from side to side. "No, Cad, this is…I'm not going to…I won't be…No, you can't. You have two little gir…"

"And I want to make sure they get tomorrow," Cadecus said. He sighed, "Look, you're going to need some time to pull all your power together. That thing's not just gonna be standing there." The healer nodded his head. "I can keep you going…heal you long enough for you to…"

Tropic smiled crookedly and silently gripped the man by the shoulder, his emotions not allowing him to speak when another voice chimed in. "Count me in," it said with a snort.

Tropic looked over his shoulder. "Johnny?" he asked warily.

Johnny Cognito raised his hand slightly as if to ward off the question. "Yeah, yeah I know. Cad there can heal ya, but I can slow that monster down, lock it up, for a while at least. You need time." He looked at Cadecus. "Cad can give ya time to live. I can give ya time to kill."

Tropic frowned. "Johnny, you know that we're not com…"

"Yeah," the controller said, then he shrugged his shoulders, "but I always wanted a high school named after me." Cognito just stood there with a smirk on his face.

Tropic nodded and looked at Cadecus and Johnny Cognito. "All right." He stared down at the battlefield once more and watched for a moment as Top Ten continuously assaulted the Beast. He turned to Nikon and the others. "We're going over there," he pointed to a small hill about 50 yards to the left. "When we see that everyone is out we'll go in and end this," he said with conviction. The fiery hero spared a glance at WillowWind, still laying unconscious near them. "Nobody stops us, ok? And stay low…I've never tried to pull so much…," he grinned sheepishly, "it's going to be a rather large explosion, I think."

General Scrap stepped forward frowning, "Are you sure? This is…" He saw the look on Tropic's face then nodded. The teammates all looked at each other in farewell and silently Cadecus, Johnny Cognito and Tropic turned and ran to the little hill. Scrap sighed and whispered, "Goodbye." Then he, TuxedoGin, Nikon and the others began calling the retreat.

The three men got to the small hill and watched as the heroes of Top Ten fell back, away from the Beast, and started to gather near Scrap, Aeroxon and the rest. Tropic nodded and outlined his plan. "When the last of us has retreated we go in." He turned to the controller. "Johnny, stay at the limits of your power and lock that thing down. Cadecus, tuck in behind me and…well, just heal the hell out of me," he smiled at the healer.

"Literally," Cad grinned.

The three watched as their friends gathered at the hill. Valya was helping WillowWind to her feet, holding the blaster tightly in her arms. Scrap, Elendil, Ryuuhoshi, Kunai, Miyaka, Deep Phreeze and Buttercup, all the heroes who had been there from the beginning, looked down at the three sadly. Tropic waited, watching Ebola, Novak and L33t rush away. Padre Ares was the last, the controller trying to hold the Beast as the others escaped. Finally he too was at the hill with the rest of Top Ten.

Tropic looked at his two friends. "Gentlemen," he said solemnly, "it has been my honor." He and Cadecus shook hands and hugged briefly. He turned and did the same with Johnny, but watching from the hill, TuxedoGin saw that Tropic whispered something in Cognito's ear.

Then, silently, the three rushed toward the Beast.

Johnny stopped about 50 feet out and put his energy in the thickest patch of tar he could conjure. The Beast howled in anger as it's movement slowed.

Suddenly Tropic leapt in front of it and grabbed both sides of the monster's waist, holding on as tightly as he could. Cadecus was directly behind him, head low, the green healing aura already flowing from his body.

"What?" the Beast cried out. When he saw who his attacker was he screamed again. "NOOOO! You shall not stop me! It is destiny!" and began to rain blows down upon the blaster. But the strikes moved so slowly Tropic barely felt their effects.

On the hill overlooking the men, WillowWind finally had regained her senses. "What happened?" she asked, wondering why everyone was gathered around her. "Did we beat it? Is it…" She wiped some of the blood from her face and her gaze fell on the three men below. "Wait…is that…?" Realization at last took hold and she cried out, "OH MY GOD! TROPIC! WHAT'S HE DOING!"

"What has to be done," Buttercup whispered, tears already streaming down her face.

Valya hugged her friend tightly and Willow held on to the controller. "Oh no, not yet, not yet," she gasped between sobs, her face pressed against Val's chest.

Tropic had begun to glow, slowly becoming brighter. The Beast tried to shake the red-skinned man off, to pummel him away with it's great fists, but the blaster would not let go.

Cognito kept the Beast down, slowing it as best he could. But the effort was taking a terrible toll. He could feel himself tiring rapidly, his endurance waning. He pushed more and more of himself out, keeping the thing slowed. He sank to his knees, not strong enough to stand. "Got to keep going," he thought. "Can't…let them…down." Johnny felt something wet on his upper lip and knew his nose had started to bleed. Still he kept sending waves and waves of energy outward, turning the earth around the beast into an all consuming tar. But soon, he had nothing left. He sent out the last of his power thinking, "That's all…I'm sorry…" then his eyes rolled back and he fell face first in the grass, unconscious.

With Johnny gone, the effects of the tar slowly dissipated and the Beast began to strike Tropic in earnest now. He was glowing brighter and brighter, the energy growing within him. Behind him, Cadecus sent out waves of healing power, but with the loss of the tar patch, his output of power doubled.

The blows fell mercilessly and Cad was expending his energy quickly. He kept his head low, not looking up. In truth it had become hard to see. Tropic was glowing so brightly it hurt his eyes. And it was getting hot. Hotter by the second. Cadecus was at the limits of his power. He felt so weak he placed his hand on Tropic's back, the physical contact acting as a siphon, his health flowing directly into the blaster.

The healer's hand began to hiss, his glove burning away, and the flesh of his hand began to sizzle and pop. Then, with one final push, he sent all his health, his hope, into Tropic. Slowly his hand fell away and he slid to the ground near the blaster's feet, lifeless, having given Tropic everything.

Tropic felt the hand slide from his back and knew that Cadecus was dead. He kept on, pulling more and more energy, heat, power into himself. The Beast's fists rained down on him but he barely felt them. The Beast howled it's frustration and anger at the sky, the sound of it's roars echoing throughout Founders Falls.

On the hill above, Top Ten waited. They saw Cognito fall but Tropic was shining so brightly only the most eagle-eyed among them could see Cadecus slump to the earth. They noticed too that it had gotten much colder and they could see their breath as if it were a winter's day. Tropic was pulling all the heat from around them, from the park, from Founders Falls. And a wind had started blowing. It swept from behind them flowing down to the blaster as he drew heat and energy to him.

Tears streamed down Willow's face. The light emanating from Tropic was blinding and, astoundingly, getting brighter. She knew he didn't have much time left. WillowWind caught her breath, her head resting still on Valya's chest, and whispered to the glowing hero, "You're breaking my heart."

Tropic was at his limit but he kept pulling power to him. The Beast screamed and struck him over and over, it's great fists battering the hero. He was taking a terrible beating but ignored it, his blazing fingers sinking deeper into the monsters flesh.

"Impossible!" the Beast screamed. "You cannot!"

Finally Tropic looked up and stared directly into the Beast's flaming green eyes. "GO…TO…HELL!" Tropic screamed.

They say it was as though a star exploded in Louis Forest. The force from the blast caused Red River to overflow into the homes and shops along it's canals. And legend has it that every window in Founders Falls shattered.

The blast washed over the gathered heroes of Top Ten and knocked them off their feet. After the explosion, the park was unnaturally quiet, the silence marred only by the far off wail of car alarms and the sobs of a lone woman.

And Tropic found himself in the middle of a field.

He sat up and looked about cautiously. The grass came up to his shoulders and wildflower of yellow and purple bloomed around him. He stood and saw a dense treeline to his right and towards his left the glade sloped down into a valley, in the distance a mountain range of snowcapped peaks rose majestically into the clouds. There was something vaguely familiar about the tableau.

He sighed. "Well, I must be dead then," he said with his hands on his hips.

"Yes. There is naught I can do about that," a light feminine voice said from behind him.

Tropic spun around and froze, amazed at the sight. The woman was at least seven feet tall, not including the six or so inches she hovered above the ground. Her hair was held back by a simple headband of woven gold and her clear blue eyes gazed down at him with a look of bemusement. Her breastplate was made of gold as well and inlaid with rubies. Her well muscled abdomen was bare and her skirt was the hard leather leaves the Roman legions used to wear. The greaves covering her shins were made of the same gold and from the tips of her sandaled feet to the top of her auburn hair she was surrounded by a pure white glow.

Tropic stared for a moment and then somehow, instinctively, knew who she was. "Artemis," he whispered and sank to one knee in front of her.

She laughed lightly and came to rest before him. "Do not kneel to me, Dread One," the goddess said and put one hand tenderly under his chin.

The hero stood and said calmly, "So, I am dead."

"Aye, even I have not the power to changest it."

Tropic gazed again at the peaceful setting and frowned. "But...this is...it's not Tartarus," he said quietly, fully expecting to find himself in the ancient equivalent of hell.

"No," the Goddess whispered.

"But the things I've done...the people I've…"

She laughed lightly. "Typical mortal," Artemis shook her head, "we hath gifted thee with paradise and yet thou still doth protest."

"But I've…"

"Thou hast saved the world," she smiled, "we gods may be tough but we are not blind."

Tropic smiled weakly then turned to his surroundings once more. "This place looks awfully familiar. I just can't remember…"

Artemis grinned crookedly. "Yes, all is as it was."

The fiery hero raised an eyebrow in question. "Goddess, I have had enough of riddles to last me a lifeti...well, a long time. What is as it was?"

The Goddess smiled again, "All is as it was, Dread One," she repeated and said no more.

Tropic frowned and gazed at his surroundings once more. Her words rang in his ears as would a tolling bell. "All is as it was, all is as it was." He shook his head and turned to her again. She hovered there smiling peacefully at him. He sighed and looked at his feet and then to her. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "Surely she couldn't mean…," he thought. "All is as it was," he whispered and held his gloved hands in front of him.

"Aye," Artemis whispered softly.

Tropic looked into her eyes then back at his hands. Gripping the glove on his left hand he removed it in one quick yank. He gasped and his eyes widened, large as saucers at the sight. No longer was his skin the hot red shade he had been accustomed to, but the tan skin of someone who worked outdoors, as he used to all those thousands of years ago. He stared at the Goddess once more and she smiled sweetly down upon him saying, "As it was."

He removed the glove from his right hand and was greeted with the same sight. "I...I...don't understand," he said, the confusion evident in his voice. He looked up but the Goddess had vanished, leaving him alone in the field.

Tropic gazed at his surroundings once more and sighed heavily. "Gods and Goddesses," he thought to himself, shaking his head. He glanced at his hands again and was shocked to find his costume, his Top Ten uniform, gone. In it's place he wore a simple white tunic, gold and blue piping on the sleeves and hem. And he recalled, from somewhere far in the back of his mind, that this had been his favorite.

He tugged at his goatee, his mind reeling. Suddenly, he heard a light female voice calling out. He turned and in the distance saw a woman heading toward him, waving. She was far enough away that he couldn't recognize her but her voice...her voice was...familiar.

He squinted and could see she wore a long skirt the color of the blue sky and her blouse was a lighter shade of that color. As she neared she called out to him again and now he could see her hair was jet black and shot through with gray and she wore a kerchief to hold it back.

Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he gasped, the breath catching in his throat. "It can't be!", he thought.

And then he said, his lower lip quivering,

"Mama?"

Slowly, the members of Top Ten picked themselves from the ground. The force of the blast had dazed them, at least momentarily, and they looked at each other in apprehension, not wanting to turn to it's source. Then, as one, with somber resignation, they moved down the hill.

Johnny Cognito was climbing weakly to his hands and knees, his strength only now returning. He had been closest to the explosion and his face was red, like it had been sunburned. TuxedoGin helped him to his feet, putting the controllers arm around his shoulders and holding him up.

"Did we…did we win?" Johnny asked, stumbling and trying to stand on his own.

Tux frowned, a sad look on his face as he surveyed the scene around him. "Yeah," he whispered roughly, "we won," and he helped Cognito to stand with the rest of the team.

The power of the explosion had caused a small crater to form. On one side of it lay the Beast, it's maw open in it's final scream and it's black skin bleached to a charcoal gray. Suddenly, a stiff warm breeze kicked up, swirling around the inside of the depression, and, as it touched the Beast, it simply blew away, it's great power turned to ash with no form, scattering into the sky.

Buttercup watched as the remnants of the monster disappeared from view and she whispered, quoting the Tablet of Traume once more, "and the Beast shall be slain, scattered to the Four Winds." Her tears began to fall again and she shook her head. "It was right…the Tablet was right about everything."

But the heroes really could care less about the Table of Traume now as they gathered at the other side of the small crater. Cadecus lay curled on his side, the back of his uniform burned away. Captain Denmark gently rolled the slain healer over and sighed in relief. The only disfigurement his teammate suffered was his burned hand, the one he used to pass his power into Tropic. Elendil dropped to one knee beside his dead friend saying as his eyes filled, "Man, you did good."

Directly beside him Tropic lay, his eyes now devoid of the fire that had burned in them constantly. He stared up, sightlessly, at the sky, his right elbow on the ground and his hand in the air, clutching claw-like at the heavens. His hands had been burned black and the top of his uniform had been burned away. But he had a strange little smile still left on his face, a look of peace maybe…or contentment.

Willow kneeled sobbing beside him, holding tightly to his upraised hand, pressing it tight to her heart.

Ryuuhoshi stood above them, sadly looking down. Deep Phreeze stood next to him and said, absently, "His eyes were blue." Ryuu looked at the ice mistress and reached out, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Tux had at last helped Johnny to the scene. Cognito sighed heavily. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I gave…"

Aeroxon looked straight into Cognito's eyes. "Hey, you did everything you could. We all saw." The statement was met by murmured agreement from all.

TuxedoGin turned to Johnny as he held him up and said, "I saw him say something to you before you all rushed down here." Tux paused for a moment looking at the fallen blaster. "What did he say?"

"He said…," Cognito began, the breath catching in his throat. He began again, his voice cracking. "He said…'Take heart.'"

As the words left Johnny Cognito's mouth the green mist covering the sky over Louis Forest started to clear. The morning sun broke through and a golden beam of sunlight streamed down, straight onto the crater and the heroes. In the distance they could see all manners of super beings making their way to the park. The sky and streets seemed to be full of them.

"Look," Miyaka said softly and the team followed her pointing finger. At the edge of the forest a news van from one of the cities television stations was parked, it's crew out, the cameraman recording, the reporter reporting. They had filmed everything.

"So," Valya sighed, "what do we do now?"

WillowWind was still kneeling beside Tropic. She looked up into the sunny sky, to the town below, to the river and then back to Tropic. She folded his arms over his chest, smiling sadly, and stood beside Valya. She took and held Val's hand.

Willow gazed over the park. She saw the bodies of her friends resting there. Blighting and Umbral, Cyber-Blade and Temptations and at her feet Cadecus and Tropic. She turned to the super group and said, strong and with conviction, "We do what he said.

"We take heart."

EPILOGUE

50 YEARS LATER

The old woman entered the park, her back straight and her head held high, the black pea coat pulled tight around her, warding off the late afternoon chill. Autumn had arrived and the old woman looked at the trees clothed now in their cloaks of red and gold. She walked purposefully ahead, hardly using the black cane in her hand. She smiled knowing her daughter would scold her. The old woman could almost hear the girl invoking the name of the "most respected doctor in the city" and her response would always be the same: "You know why they say they're practicing medicine? Because they're practicing on us!" Her daughter would roll her eyes and shake her head and the old woman would wonder when she had become the child in that relationship.

She approached the bench in front of the monument and a cool breeze flowed over her. She reached up and pushed her hair from her face. It was gray now, almost white, but it still bore a streak or two of the jet black of her youth. She sat gracefully and read the plaque again for the thousandth time. It started with "On this spot" which always caused her to smile. The actual spot was about 300 yards to the left and up a little hill.

She sighed and read the rest of the plaque again. It told what happened and how Top Ten had won out. It listed the dead and it concluded with "They saved the city. They saved the world. They saved us all."

The old woman had always thought that was rather pompous but the city never checked with her or the rest of Top Ten about any of the tributes they created to remember that day. She thought back through the years and it seemed to her like yesterday.

The funeral had been interminable to her. Dignitaries and officials had come to "pay their respects" but it was just political posturing. Statesman had given a speech, speaking with familiarity about heroes he had never met. The old woman remembered she had bristled at that, growing madder and madder. Only Valya's calm hand had stilled her.

Then the procession through the streets of Paragon City, through every zone. The old woman thought that she wouldn't make it but the sight of the people lining the route, standing four or five thick, had caused her to stand straight and hold her head high. She looked up at the sky, it's blue showing between the tall buildings, and out of the corner of her eye saw a shimmering.

She had looked closer and on the rooftops of two adjacent buildings, no more than six stories tall, materialized 100 Knives of Artemis standing two deep. When the procession moved past them the assassins snapped to attention, saluting the honored dead, but the old woman had known they were saluting only him. At the corner of the last building she saw a small, muscular figure with short spiky blonde hair. She and Hecate exchanged a nod and she never saw the Knife warrior again.

The old woman shivered, pulled from her memories. She sighed, staring at the monument again. She thought it was nice, that he would have liked it. It was a simple large square slab of black marble, shot through with veins of gold and red. It raised up slightly and, at it's top, an eternal flame burned. The letters of raised silver told the story.

A story everyone knew. And the Tablet was right about another thing. The Beast shall be slain, scattered to the Four Winds and an Age of Gold shall reign thereafter. When the people of Paragon City learned how close they had come to absolute destruction, when they learned the price that was paid to stop it, to save them, something changed in the city.

They began to take notice, to see the violence and crime around them. And they said, "Enough." Citizen patrols formed. Day care centers, after school programs, sports activities, education and job opportunities were created and expanded. Within a year the Hellions, Skulls and Warriors were almost a memory. Crusading police and district attorneys cracked down on the Family and the Tsoo. Countess Crey was arrested, tried and convicted, Dr. Vahzilok was stopped once and for all, his minions put to their final rest at last.

An Age of Gold indeed.

The old woman sighed and looked at the actual spot where it ended. The little crater was still there, covered now with grass and wildflowers. A large tree grew just above the small depression, almost at the place where he died. She smiled a bit thinking he would have liked that, the shade and the grass.

Her thoughts moved on, swimming in a sea of memory, to Top Ten. After the battle and the funeral, it seemed as though every hero in the city wanted to join them, be a part of this legacy. But Top Ten never recruited another member. Their ranks were filled by the children and now, a few of the grandchildren of their founders.

Cadecus two girls joined the super group and the old woman smiled, shaking her head. Cad had been a healer of extraordinary power and probably the most compassionate man she had ever met. But his girls had turned out to be possibly the deadliest tank and scrapper the city had ever seen. "Funny how things work out," she whispered.

Like Bzald. The doctors said he would never walk again. But the dark controller had his own demons to deal with. He blamed himself for a time, for what had happened. If he had been there, he thought, he might have been able to… So he worked, and trained and pushed himself to his limits and beyond. Four months later he took his first unassisted steps. Seven months after that he was able to take on some of the day to day responsibilities in their headquarters. And two years after that he was back on patrol, finally able to come to some peace with that day.

"Grandma? Grandma, are you here?" a young woman's voice rang out over the park.

The old woman lowered her head and smiled. Then she stood, putting a stern look on her face and turned toward the girl. "I swear, child," she said in mock anger, "I'm here every week, at the same place, at the same time. And every week you ask if I'm here." The old woman made a show of frowning greatly. "I'm going to ask Dr. Silver to take a look at you again and see if there's something wrong inside there," she said, pointing at the girls forehead.

The young woman grinned broadly. "Aw, Grandma, I'm just busting your chops. Uncle Johnny says we need to keep old people like you on their toes so their brains don't get soft," she said brightly.

The old woman rubbed her forehead, her hand finally pinching the bridge of her nose. "Busting my chops." She blew out her breath. "You've been hanging around Johnny Cognito too much. And he's not your Uncle!" The girl smiled at her grandmother. "And if you think I'm soft…try me." The old woman's hands began to glow white and her eyes crackled with power.

"No. Not stupid." The girl held up her hands in surrender. She looked past her to the memorial and crossed to it. She sighed sadly. "I wish I could've known him."

The old woman stood next to the girl and put her arm around her shoulders.

"I mean I've seen the discs of him," she continued, "but I wish…"

The two stood in silence leaning against each other.

Then the girl said softly, "Do you think he would have liked me?"

At that moment a breeze kicked up. Even though it was cool in the park, this wind was unnaturally warm. It swirled around the two women, flowing against them, caressing their faces. The old woman regarded her granddaughter. The girl had gotten the best of both their powers. Energy and fire; fire and energy. And her skin, although a paler shade, was almost as red as her grandfathers, her hair just as blonde. The old woman smiled. "He would have loved you."

The girl smiled back. "He's here, isn't he?"

The old woman touched the scar above her eye and traced it around and down her cheek. "He's always here," she whispered.

The two women looked at each other and at last the girl said, "Ready?"

The old woman nodded and they clasped hands. They hovered there for a moment and then, like rockets, they shot out of the park and over a City of Heroes.

And the eternal flame flickered and burned a little brighter.

THE END