The Many Wives of General Sabretooth



The fingers of Lord Magnus' left hand tapped in rhythm with the toe of Mystique's right boot as they waited impatiently for Sabretooth. The lord had called for this meeting days ago, giving the beastman plenty of time to arrive, but it seemed that he still needed a few extra hours to present himself. Both Magnus and Mystique's patience wore thin, and when the doors of the throne room came open they focused unsavory looks on the party entering.

Sabretooth didn't bother to humble himself or make an apology for his tardiness; he merely strode forward with a pair of large, saber-toothed tigers in tow. On the back of one tiger there sat a young girl with cheetah-like features and spotted, flowing hair. Her hands, feet and neck were shackled to chains that joined the iron collar around her mount's neck, but she maintained a poise of dignity and offered no one the pleasure of her direct attention. In fact, she remained so still that only her wavering tail gave a sign that she was actually alive. Sabretooth seemed especially proud of her company, and though Lord Magnus had nothing to say about it, Mystique couldn't help but throw her own comment into the open. "So now we see why you are tardy, General." A mixture of amusement and disgust pulled her lips back into a smug smirk. "Unfortunately this is not a dinner social. You will have to eat your latest catch outside, after we're done speaking."

The beastman grinned and licked his jagged, yellow teeth. "Already had a peasant on my way in here." The fresh blood on his animal pelt jerkin was a testament to this. "This lucky young thing is going to be my next betrothed."

Mystique shook her head, repulsed by the very idea. "Ugh! You lecherous tick factory. You're getting married again? Your harem already consists of a small nation of amazons."

A deep chuckle rumbled from Sabretooth's throat. "There's always room for you, Mystique." He licked his teeth as he looked her up and down.

"Huh!" She rolled her eyes at that. "Hardly. With all the fleas, I couldn't possibly squeeze in."

"That is more than enough." Lord Magnus' voice was dangerously calm and he waited until both his minions faced him before speaking again. "In the future, General, leave your fiancé where there is no possibility of her sustaining harm. That is, if you value your growing menagerie."

Sabretooth straightened his posture considerably. "Yes, Lord Magnus."

More time passed before the lord spoke again. "Days have gone by since I sent Quicksilver out to return the Scarlet Witch to our fold, and yet I sit without results."

"Lord Magnus, you know these things take time," Mystique said in a gentle tone.

"I am well aware of time's hold over things, but my patience is waning. My son's efforts to retrieve his sister are, so far, unsatisfactory, and your hidden operative has yet to make a move."

"The Rogue is my best understudy," she said with a hint of pride. "If she has not moved, then it is because she sees no reason to. I trust her ability to act in a timely manner." A sneer marked her face as she picked up on the sound of deep chuckling, then she turned to see Sabretooth blatantly laughing at her words. "Did I say something to amuse you, General?"

"Obviously you don't get it, Mystique." He took time to scritch the chin of one of his tigers. "Lord Magnus wants this taken care of yesterday."

The sorceress's expression became indignant. "And I suppose you have a swifter course of action to offer?"

"Why tiptoe around something when you can take it head on?" Sabretooth stepped up to the base of the cone-shaped pedestal that held Lord Magnus' throne. "My harem has been itching for an opportunity to prove their loyalty to me. Let me send them out to put an end to this, once and for all."

"Hah!" Mystique brought her arms to rest across her chest and gave him a doubting look. "Last I recall, all those innocent girls you forced into wedlock were repulsed by the very sight of you. I doubt that would have changed under any circumstance."

The beastman growled like a lion, then grinned. "Their minds change quickly after a little ritualistic brainwashing."

"Well they would have to be brainwashed to stay married to you," the woman muttered under her breath, well aware of the echo that still occurred.

"Not only are their minds warped," Sabretooth said as he turned to face Lord Magnus again, "but their strength and natural abilities are increased. Each one is powerful enough to take on a band of warriors without breaking a sweat! They will hunt down the Scarlet Witch and rend her limb from limb!"

"But will they bring my son back unharmed," Lord Magnus inquired. "I no longer care what happens to the Scarlet Witch, but Quicksilver is all I have left in the way of a legacy. See to it that he returns to me in tact."

"As you wish, Lord Magnus." Sabretooth licked his chops and turned to leave.

Realizing that her assignment was being taken right from under her, Mystique stepped forward and made a protest. "You can't allow that brute to send out one of his grotesque minions; all they think about is killing! Not even Quicksilver would return with all his limbs in tact!"

"If my son is harmed, then the guilty party will be dealt with," Lord Magnus replied. "Now leave me. I have much to think about."

Mystique fixed her mouth to say more, but decided against it. Her lips curled downward into a frown before she turned to walk away. She knew that letting Sabretooth upstage her would ruin her plans for the future of Asterum, so she worked on a new one to get things back under her control. As an idea rooted itself in her brain her expression bordered amusement, but with the beastman's back to her and her back to Lord Magnus, neither one of them were aware of the treacherous plans the dark witch had in store.



Toad hadn't stopped running since he received the death threat from Quicksilver, and he had managed to get considerably far on fear and adrenaline alone. With his mind full, stomach empty and legs too tired to take him any further, he finally settled down to rest in the back of a hay cart he found parked by a stretch of open road. What he didn't know was that the cart had only stopped so its driver could relieve himself in the distant bushes. So while the boy slept soundlessly, the driver returned and continued guiding his horses on their way to a distant region.

It was in the early afternoon of the next day when Toad awoke, and after a light stretch he dug himself out of the thick hay pile to take a look at his surroundings. The sky above his head was being choked by a veil of smoky, red clouds that billowed from a black volcano looming over the horizon to his right. The darkness of the land was frightfully familiar to him and when he turned to see the road ahead, his suspicions were confirmed by the presence of a nightmarish keep and the gates that surrounded it. By some mad stroke of fate, he was back in Newark--the capital city of General Sabretooth's territory. Horrid memories of the day he was first brought there came flooding back into the boy's mind, then without thinking he leaped from the cart and dashed behind a convenient boulder.

The battle-scarred field that surrounded Newark was devoid of vegetation, for the General knew that even the smallest bush would allow more than enough cover for his enemies to use against him. Only a few boulders, ditches, bones and piles of corpses could be found in the way of hiding places, but Toad didn't feel comfortable over the possibility of using any of those options. "Oh man, Toad, how'd you get yourself into this mess," he whined to himself while looking to the road. He considered making a break for it down the path he came from, but a caravan that was coming his way made him rethink that. Instead, he stayed behind the boulder and waited to see who it belonged to.

At the head of the caravan was Sabretooth, returning from his meeting with Lord Magnus. Behind him, four steel carriages followed, each being pulled by a pair of saber-toothed tigers. One of the two who were directly behind him still had the cheetah girl chained to it and when Toad saw this, he instantly became intrigued. Just by looking at her, he could tell that she was young like him, and anyone young in Sabretooth's presence was bound to be in danger. He leaned forward to get a better look as the caravan came closer, then hid himself just as it passed. One of the tigers tried to stop and focus its attention on the boulder he hid behind, but it was quickly pulled away by its yolk partner who wouldn't stand still.

Perhaps fate was forcing the boy out of his normal behavior, but Toad found himself more curious about the girl than fearful for his own safety. After the last carriage passed him, he came out of hiding and followed it to the wrought-iron gateway that marked the entrance of the fortress. When the caravan stopped to wait for the gates to open, he hunkered down and crawled under the last carriage, then used the axle of its wheels as support for himself when the caravan started moving again. Dread washed over him as he saw the base of the gates pass by, but it left as quickly as it came when he thought about the girl again.

The four carriages were taken to a garage where the saber-toothed tigers were unhitched and allowed to wander off. Toad waited until well after the last tiger left before crawling out from under the cart, then he raced for an iron doorway that opened into a thin hallway. He made short work of scaling one of the walls and--using a sticky substance he could excrete from his fingertips--started working his way down the hall using the ceiling instead of the floor. Every time he passed a guard or servant, he would flatten out against the ceiling and wait until they passed before moving again. Not only did this method get him deep within the fortress, but it also helped him listen to the whispers of some servants and find out where the girl was being kept.

"Did you see the new girl General Sabretooth brought in?"

"Yes, she's very pretty. Just like all the others used to be."

"And young. They say the ritual warps them better the younger they are."

"Perhaps, but you can't really tell. Besides, I think it's the spirit of the individual that does it. The more spirit, the more they are warped."

"True, true. That's why General Sabretooth picks the ones who always try to escape. If they manage to get out of the northwest tower at least once, he knows they're worth having as a bride."

Being on the southwest side of the fort, Toad didn't waste any time crawling along the ceiling of several hallways to reach the northwest tower.



Since the morning she woke up to find him missing, the Scarlet Witch had lead her group in a search for Toad. All she could think of was how he must have still been upset over her family heritage and taken off out of fear. The boy had always seemed overly fearful to her, which is why she spent so much energy caring for him. He had become her little brother, and if he was upset with her, she wanted at least to give him a proper explanation before they officially parted ways.

Using Blooper like a hunting dog, the witch and her friends made it far to the northeast in their efforts to find the runaway thief. The trail went cold at a section of open road far north near the edge of Machusa territory. While Sky Fire and her pet checked the road for other clues, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch took time to rest on a fallen log near the roadside. "You know you're wasting your time, don't you," the man asked his sister with a bitter expression. "That Hoppera's taken off and he isn't coming back! We shouldn't even be looking for him if he doesn't want to be found."

"I don't want him to come back if he doesn't want to," Scarlet replied with an equally bitter expression. "I just want to explain things so he isn't confused."

"Who cares if he is? Hopperas are always confused; it's in their nature or some crap like that." Her brother hunched forward and frowned at the dirt and scuffs that marred his fine boots. "Back at the castle we have a few of them as servants, and they're always spilling food and dropping stuff." His lips twisted into a cruel smirk of amusement. "They're pretty jumpy, too. Sneaking up on them is always good for a laugh."

The Scarlet Witch sneered in disgust. "How can you be so pitiless?" She shook her head. "Nevermind. I keep forgetting where you've been for the past nine years."

"Hey, for the past nine years, I've been enjoying my life," Quicksilver stated bluntly. "What have you been doing?"

"Helping others enjoy theirs." The woman rose to her feet and stepped away from the log. "Ever since we left that stable, you've been doing nothing but bellyaching over what a waste of time this is." Her eyes narrowed. "Every mile you've had a new reason for his leaving, and for why we should abandon our search. If I didn't know better, Quicksilver, I'd say you had something to do with this in the first place."

Though it seemed like his deed was being found out, her brother showed no signs of alarm. "I'm just trying to remind you that you're supposed to be showing me what a joy it is to do something for the good of it. So far, I find no joy in this, sis. And if you don't deliver soon, you know what our little bet calls for on your part."

Her eyes thinned to horizontal slits at his words. He was right, of course, but she still didn't want to abandon her quest for Toad. A call from Sky Fire tore the twins away from their argument, and they turned to face her as she came to them mounted on the back of Blooper.

"Got good news, bad news and even worse news for you, Scarlet," the dragonrider began. "Bad news is, Toad's trail really does end here. Good news is, where Toad's trail ends, the scent of a hay cart begins. Blooper and I think he must have hitched a ride in the back of the cart to keep going."

"Great, then we might be able to catch up with him now," the witch replied.

"So what's the even worse news," Quicksilver asked carelessly. "Did the cart burst into flames a few miles down the road?"

"No," Sky Fire replied, her dragon emphasizing her irritation with a growl of its own. "The even worse news is that the cart path reeks of Newark. It must've been one of the delivery carts taking a shipment to the fort."

Scarlet's brow furrowed. "No, that can't be right. Why would Toad go back to Newark?"

"Maybe the little freak's gonna offer himself up to Sabretooth for some physical training," Quicksilver said with a smirk. "Or dinner. Hoppera legs are said to be a delicacy to some cannibalistic cultures."

The two women took great pains to ignore his comments. "Blooper's nose don't lie," Sky Fire stated. "Wether he wanted to or not, it looks like Toad ended up on his way to Newark."

"Well he might have changed paths between here and there," Scarlet said afterwards. "We'll take to the air on Blooper's back and continue to follow the scent. If we don't pick up a new trail of Toad's before reaching the outskirts of the deadlands, then we'll know he's in there somewhere."

"Right." The two sat--one behind the other--on the crook of Blooper's neck, then the dragon unfurled its wings and started taking off.

Realizing that he was about to be left behind, Quicksilver made a quick leap and latched onto one of Blooper's talons. The young man dangled haphazardly while the dragon followed the dusty highway east.



A single door of heavy steel sat atop the spiral staircase within the northwest tower of the General's keep. Behind that door was a small room where his latest fiancé was being kept. The room was dressed in silk drapes and fancy pillows that hid its stone cold and sturdy build, though not even the finest lace could hide the presence of the chains attached to iron stakes in the floor that kept the girl from running off. In the center of the room she sat on a large pillow made of zebra hide and kept her gaze stalwart while she waited to know for certain that she was completely alone. When the click of the doors at the base of the tower finally reached her ears, she immediately set to work tugging, gnawing on and kicking at the stakes in the floor. She even hefted the bust of a tiger above her head and tried dropping it on the links of her chains, but the object was not as sturdy as it was heavy, and it broke into several pieces after just one toss. The girl sighed wearily as she fell back on her pillow; her attempt to escape was not going as she had planned it to.

Just as she was about to make another try, her ears picked up on the vague sound of grunting and pebbles dropping. She sat up and glanced at the only, open window within her room, then slid off the pillow and crawled over to it. Her mismatched eyes--one green, the other blue--peeked over the base, then she gasped as she saw a gangly, grey hand feel its way around on the stone. When another hand came up it made her eyes widen, then slowly she reached one of her furry fingers out to touch one of the hands. The hand flinched, the girl screamed, then she crawled back onto her perch and brandished a pillow. "Whoever you are, I'm armed!"

Toad leaped onto the edge of the window and let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that is one Hell of a climb," he said before sitting on the windowsill and letting his legs dangle above the room floor. "Of course, all those jagged spikes and barbed grooves in the tower wall didn't exactly help, but here I am."

The girl stared at him, slowly lowering her pillow. "Who... are you?"

"Me?" He grinned sheepishly and started playing with his fingers. "Well, y'know... I was just... in the neighborhood... and... thought I'd drop by." His humble and childish way of fidgeting amused her, though she didn't show it right away.

"What are you doing here," the girl asked him. "You're a Hoppera, right? Aren't all you Hopperas supposed to be out learning how to be good servants to Lord Magnus?"

Toad frowned and shook his head. "I don't serve Magnus. I don't serve anyone!"

"You don't?" She sighed. "What a relief. I thought you were one of Sabretooth's spies trying to test my loyalty..." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not one of Sabretooth's trainees?" She tightened her grip around the edge of a pillow.

"I was... once upon a time." The boy shrugged and slid down onto the floor. "But I got away. What's your name?"

Before speaking again, the girl listened in the direction of the door for any signs of servants on their way up to see her. "I, am Princess Felicity of Laskan." Her posture straightened with dignity before she remembered the status of her kingdom. "At least I used to be," she said as she slouched. "Now, I'm just the fifty-fifth fiancé to General Sabretooth."

Toad smirked. "Ah, the big five-five. Very special. By the looks of it, though, you don't wanna be here."

"I don't!" Felicity gave her chains another tug. "I want to get out of here so bad, but, the last time I tried to escape, he made a game out of catching me! He'll probably just do it again..."

"Not if we go out the window," the boy said as he fished around in the leg of his right boot, then moments later he produced a silver lockpick. "See, I'll just use this to open your locks, then you can cling to my back while I go down the tower wall." He hopped over to the edge of her pillow, then knelt down and started picking at one of the chains' locks. "You don't weigh that much, do you? I know some girls hate to answer that question, but I gotta know how much effort I'm gonna have to put in my stickiness."

"Shhhhh!" The girl's tail stiffened along with the rest of her body as she picked up on the sound of movement below. The distant sound of heavy-falling footsteps on cobalt suggested that someone was coming up to check on her! "You've got to get out of here," she whispered to Toad, shoving him away from her pillow.

"But what about your locks," he asked aloud, not knowing of the approaching danger.

"Someone's on their way up here," the Princess continued to whisper. "Go! Get out before you get in trouble!"

When her words finally hit him, Toad leaped onto the windowsill, then started climbing down. Halfway out of sight he looked back at her and whispered, "I'll be right out here! When it's safe, let me know and I'll come back to get you!"

"Fine, fine, just go!" The girl waved him away, then turned to face the room door. Out the corner of her eye she saw that the lockpick had been left behind and when she reached out to grab it, the latch on the door clicked.

With a shove, the door swung open to reveal General Sabretooth. Seeing his bride halfway off her perch was a little curious to him, but his face registered amusement rather than confusion. "What's this? Striking a precarious pose just for me?"

Felicity grinned sheepishly as she slowly bent her extended arm at the elbow and brought her fist up to rest against the side of her head. The lockpick had been concealed nicely in her fingers and would remain there until she could find a perfect opportunity to hide it further. "Hello," she said in an innocent purr. "You... like?"

Sabretooth's look of amusement remained, but as he took another step into the room, the scent of something foreign wafted into his nostrils and his expression fell. He sniffed the air suspiciously to get a better idea of what he was smelling, then looked down at the girl with narrowed eyes. "Has someone been here?"

She sat up slowly, clasping her hands together in her lap. "No one important..."

He sniffed the air again, moving around the pillow she sat on. "A Hoppera's been here. What for?"

Felicity's eyes searched the room as if a reason would present itself. Her mouth opened to speak, but all that came out was air. After a while, she finally gathered up some courage and poised herself to seem dignified. "So one of those annoying amphibians wandered up here. What, am I not allowed to have company? I should be able to talk to someone every once in a while."

Sabretooth stopped his pace in front of the window and turned to look at her. Gradually, his upper lip pulled into a sneer that, in turn, became a seedy grin. "That's what I like about you, Princess," he said in an amused growl. "You got that spirit in you that always comes out when you're trying to get away with something." His palms gripped the edge of the window as he leaned against it, facing inward. "Talk about anything interesting?"

The girl faltered, losing her look of dignity as she fished around in her mind for an answer. "Er... I... ah..."

The General's eyes narrowed, but his grin remained. "Can't remember? Well then." In a swift motion he twisted sideways and reached outside the window. "Why don't we ask HIM!" His right hand latched onto the dirty mop of hair that belonged to Toad, and with little effort he hefted the boy into the room and held him several inches off the floor. Toad flailed for a few moments before wrapping his hands around the arm that held him to keep his hair from being ripped out. Meanwhile, Felicity cried out in terror as her means of escaping had been discovered.

"SO!" Sabretooth's voice came out in a thunderous growl. "You managed to crawl out from under your rock and return to me, huh? What's the matter? That little runaway not giving you enough attention?"

Felicity scrambled forward and gripped one of his pantlegs. "No! Don't hurt him, please!" She searched her mind for something meaningful to say. "If... if you love me, you'll let me keep him!"

The growl that resonated from the General's throat stopped as he focused a dark-eyed gaze on his bride. Once again his lips pulled back in a grin, only this time it was accompanied by a deep and disconcerting laugh. "Love you?" He laughed harder the second time. "I don't marry for love. I marry for SPORT!" With a grunt he kicked the girl aside, then stomped towards the room door. "Come along, little frog. You can have a family reunion in the dungeon, and see how much your relatives have excelled in their training under me." All Toad could do was thrash his arms and legs pitifully while he was carted off.

Felicity crawled across the floor rapidly, stopping only because the chains wouldn't allow her to go the full distance to the door. When it slammed shut and she heard the latch click, all of her body went limp against the stones beneath her. "That poor Hoppera," she thought to herself. "He was actually going to save me...." Her brows knit together as she thought of his fate, then she looked back at the lock he had started to pick. "Maybe... just maybe I can save us both." With newfound determination, she reached for a slit in the pillow where she hid the lockpick. Regardless of the pleasure it would give her husband-to-be, she was determined to escape again.



A light pitch was all it took to toss Toad to the center of a dark and circular room. "Welcome back your brother," the General said to the shadows. "If he survives the quality time he spends with you, his training will begin tomorrow!"

As the door clicked shut, Toad rushed forward to cling to it; however, when he made contact with something, it wasn't the cold iron that the door was made of. His fingers touched fabric and flesh-both of which felt marred and dusty. When he stood up straight he saw a pair of green and glowing orbs at his eye level. The orbs blinked once, then he found himself being shoved to the floor. "Oof!" As he crawled backwards on his hands and knees, he saw several more pairs of glowing orbs looking down at him from the walls. They were all eyes; each pair belonged to a different creature that lurked in the darkness. Toad shuddered at the sound of a collective hiss, then focused on the source of a voice that was raspy and light.

"The Toad is back, yo."

"Yo, the Toad has returned," another voice chimed in. Both were quite familiar to him.

"Newt? Sal?" The names came out of Toad's mouth with a hesitant ring. "That you guys?"

One pair of eyes left the upper portion of the dungeon wall as its owner landed near the boy. "Look, yo. The Toad remembers us."

"The Toad remembers us," the hidden Hopperas said in unison.

"You guys! You gotta help me get out of here," Toad demanded desperately. "We gotta make a break for it! There's this girl, and she needs our help!"

"Why should she peep the first aid, yo," someone hissed from behind him.

Another voice came from his right. "Yeah, we ain't gotta do jack 'cept train yo' pampered ass back down to the flo' where it belongs!"

"Big G Sabretooth said we could spend quality time with you," the first voice stated. "That's exactly what we plan to do."

Toad's face flushed, but the drain of color couldn't be seen by any of the Hopperas who leaped down and surrounded him. Nor would they have cared if they saw it. The final generation of a carefree jungle tribe had been tortured to insanity. The majority of their thoughts consisted of sharing that pain with whatever creature they could get away with harming. This boy who had escaped torture was like a cruel reminder of the past they could never relive. For them, the best way to deal with a bad memory was to destroy its source. Toad knew it, too, which is why his first action was to leap for a high portion of the circular wall and remain as much out of his former tribe's reach as possible. He then yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping to summon some sort of assistance from God-only-knows where:

"I know they say that no one can hear you scream down here, but, HEEEEEEELP!"



The trio of Sky Fire, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch arrived at the mountain range to the south of Newark's battlefield. To the witch's dislike, the cart's trail continued into the fortress below them with no scent of the Toad deviating from it at any time. This meant she would have to face the strongest warriors in Lord Magnus' army just to save her friend. Anyone else would have thought it wasn't worth the effort, since the odds were completely against her, but the Scarlet Witch would be nothing if not determined. After Blooper landed to let the twins off its back, the witch turned to speak to its rider.

"Listen to me, Sky Fire. I want you to go get Captain Remington and a few members of his crew. Tell them I said we're going to break into Sabretooth's fortress."

Her brother was quick to protest. "Are you crazy?! The majority of our dad's army lives there! They'll tear you guys limb from limb before you get a foot in the door!"

"Since you won't rush in there and find out where Toad is, then we have to do this the slow and dangerous way," she said with a sour expression, then looked back up at Sky Fire. "Do you know where the Captain is?"

"I know where he should be," the dragonrider replied. "Last time he sent me a letter he was on the docks of Atlantis. Granted, that was two months ago, but that at least means he's on that side of the world."

Scarlet sighed. "Well, go find him and bring him back here. We'll wait for you, but if you get here and don't see us, you'll know we went ahead."

"Gotcha." Sky Fire tapped her mount on the side of its neck, signaling for it to take off.

After the Dragon became a distant speck in the rusted sky, the Scarlet Witch settled on a rock to think about her next course of action. Meanwhile, Quicksilver took their time alone as an opportunity to further scrutinize his sister's way of life.

"You must have taken some French in your spare time, Scarlet, 'cause you keep saying 'we,' over and over again." The young man brought his arms to rest across his chest while he settled on a rock not far from her. "There is no way I'm going in there to save your little frog-faced charge!"

"What have you to worry about," she asked with a frown. "Since you're considered Lord Magnus' only heir, they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. In fact, you could save us all this trouble by simply walking in there and demanding they let Toad go." Her expression turned suspicious. "You made a deal with me to help me on my crusade to destroy Lord Magnus' empire. Why won't you help me now?"

"Because this has nothing to do with putting an end to our father's empire! It has to do with you, wasting your time on one life!"

"I could use all the help I can get, Quicksilver, and that one life just happens to be part of it!" Scarlet focused her attention solely on her brother. This was unfortunate, because several figures were moving up the mountain towards them. The figures kept well to the shadows and hid behind the jagged edges of the mountainside as they came closer and closer to their target.

"Have you been so tainted by him that you can't see what's going on around you?" The Scarlet Witch motioned to the distant fortress. "Look at the people who make up Lord Magnus' army. If they're not possessed by some demonic power, then they've been terrorized so much that they're afraid to do anything against him!" She paused. "What about you?"

Quicksilver's brows raised high on his head. "What about me?" He was also oblivious to the presence of anything making its way up the mountain.

"Has Lord Magnus put the fear of his awesome power in you?" His sister rose to her feet and took two steps towards him. "Has he made you aware of what it means to betray him? Has he told you of the many assassins he's sent after me--of the bounty hunters that have come my way with promise of great riches should they bring my head back to him?"

The man's stoic expression wavered as he struggled to think up a proper retort. "Well... He was pissed with you for running off! I mean, I was mad, too... for a while." He regained his composure. "But hey. This time he sent me to get you, and I'm not out to kill you."

"No, you're out to do worse," Scarlet said as she turned away from him. "You're going to try and drag me back to that miserable haven so--" She stopped as she finally caught sight of something moving below her. "Quicksilver, look!"

The twins stood together and backed up a few steps as they took in the sight of many creatures coming up the side of the mountain. These creatures were the wives of Sabretooth: hulking, disfigured and magically warped women whom the general had found worth tainting. All fifty-four of them were making their way towards the twins with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes. They were a frightening thing to see, but the Scarlet Witch never backed down from anything so easily. As the wives closed the rocky distance between them, she powered up her energy for a spell she intended to use on all of them at once. But, what neither twin could see was the meddling of a certain sorceress who was still bent on having things go her way.

On another cliff of the mountain range, Mystique stood far enough away so she could not be detected. Her crimson lips pulled into a devious smirk as she watched the attack, and her fingers played with the handle of a black staff. Before the two groups could collide, she raised the staff above her head and chanted, "Let the wives I see from where I stand, be immune to magic from the witch's hand!" The bauble fixed into the staff gave off a green glow and in that second, an aura gathered over each wife that faded as quickly as it appeared. The act was too quick for the Scarlet Witch to catch as she sent a full blast of energy in their direction.

A wave of blue washed over the wives and each one stopped to shield their eyes from its brightness. When the wave subsided, they all stood unaffected by what should have injured them greatly. It was a shock to everyone on the mountainside, though the shock only lasted a few seconds in the wives before they continued their trek.

"Not a bad little bath you gave them, there, sis," Quicksilver commented, "but... shouldn't it have, I dunno, KILLED them?"

Confused, Scarlet took a step back. "I don't understand. They're not even bruised a little!"

"Everything's going according to plan," Mystique said to herself as she pointed the staff in the direction of the wives. "Fog, be more than trick of mind. Cover the mountain; make them blind!"

A veil of dust lifted off the mountain and turned into a haze. No one, not even the wives could see two inches in front of their faces. The twins stumbled through the fog and quickly became separated. But even with this detriment, the wives continued their trudge to make an assault. They relied on their other senses to help them seek out one or the other, and while they avoided clashing with Quicksilver when they found him, each wife tried their hand at attacking the Scarlet Witch.

"Scarlet, Scarlet, where are you," the brother called to his twin; however, it took her a while to answer.

"Trying not to get my head taken off," she called in between dodging claws and fists. "Where did this fog come from? Can't you stir it up and get rid of it?"

Quicksilver stretched one arm in front of himself, then twirled it rapidly in a circular motion. Despite his effort, the fog didn't move. "It won't budge! This stuff isn't natural."

"You just figured that out? Follow the sound of my voice! We have to get out of here!"

"Coming!" The man was used to darting at the drop of a hat, but with the mist almost blinding him, he had to move at a snail's pace to keep himself from tripping. He had already become aware that the wives weren't out to get him, so he didn't worry about stumbling into one of them. His goal was to reach his sister and try to use his influence to keep the wives from hurting her; unfortunately, his goal would not be achieved. Using more magic, Mystique joined the confusion in the fog and changed her form to resemble one of Sabretooth's wives. She enchanted herself so she could see through the veil, then calmly made her way behind the male twin.

"Scarlet?" Quicksilver groped at the fog, then stopped as he felt a hand grip his left shoulder. "Si--AUGH!" He felt the force of something pass through him--he didn't want to believe that it had happened. But, when a jolt of pain shot through his body, he couldn't help but venture his gaze downward. The hand of the false wife was sticking through his midsection, and only while shoving him to the ground did she remove it. With a job well done, Mystique disappeared as fast as she came, and the fog settled back to dust on the mountainside.

"Quicksilver?" While the wives were distracted by the sudden gain in visibility, the Scarlet Witch raced to where she last heard her brother's voice. When she saw him laying face-down with the hole in his midsection, her face flushed of all color before she fell to her knees next to him. "QUICKSILVER!!!" She gripped his shoulders, turned him over, then pulled his head to her lap. The poor man gasped for air and stressed his face with the pain he couldn't express in words.

The wives observed this, but didn't take the opportunity to attack the Scarlet Witch. All of their attention was on the dying man and the fact that they were ordered not to harm him in any way. "Someone has screwed up," one woman declared, then turned her attention on the others. "Someone has screwed up!"

"Someone with a death wish," another hissed, her bloodshot eyes scanning the harem.

"I bet it was you," one accused another, giving her a hard shove. "You're always getting us in trouble!"

"More likely it was you tripping over your own feet," the other barked back, then leaped from the ground to maul her accuser. This began a series of accusations and fights that broke out amongst all of the wives of Sabretooth, taking their attention away from their mission to destroy the runaway twin.

Scarlet was oblivious to all of their infighting; she was too busy trying to hold in tears and keep her brother from drifting off. "Quicksilver... Quicksilver, please. Say something--anything. Just don't fall unconscious!"

Blood splurted from her brother's lips as he coughed. "Scar...let..." His left hand reached up and latched onto her right wrist. "He... told me, I was... immortal..."

"Damn that man for making you so careless," the witch thought to herself, then spoke aloud. "Stay with me, brother. I'll get you out of this." She looked up and saw the wives fighting each other; beyond them was a small cave in a lower part of the mountainside. "Talk to me," she told her brother as she positioned herself to start dragging his body. "Just keep talking, so I know you're still there."

"Hard... to breathe," Quicksilver rasped, then winced as he felt himself being moved. "It hurts... do you, have to... do that?"

"I'm not leaving you here to die. Now shut up and be dragged with some dignity." Scarlet's lips registered a bit of amusement, but that quickly left her as she put all her effort into pulling her brother along the ground.



As the witch managed to get halfway past the quarreling pack of women, more than one of Sabretooth's wives finally noticed her attempt at an escape. "HEY," one wife called to the others, "she's getting away!" They clambered to cut off her escape, forming a wide circle around her.

Brandishing spears, two stepped forward and prepared to stab her to death. "We failed to keep the boy safe," said the largest of them, "but at least we'll get rid of the girl."

"Ye'll nay succeed in that quest!" The declaration came from a man in full armor who was flying through the air as though he had been catapulted. He brandished his sword high above his head and when he landed, the blade was plunged into the back of the wife he landed closest to. With a twist of his wrist, he turned the blade in the woman's body, then yanked it diagonally so it left a jagged cut in her midsection. The monster cried out before she collapsed and all attention quickly fell on the armored stranger.

Scarlet was amazed; she had never seen this man before, yet his attire was all too familiar. His bearded face and fiery red mane were foreign to her, but his silver-and-gold armor, and the blade--with its diamond, obsidian and gold enchantments--all reminded her of the knight she had robbed over a week ago. Was he of the Terra Firma? The answer was yes, and it was presented by the sudden shake of the ground beneath their feet.

The next knight to come up the mountainside was Sir Lancelot, mounted on the back of his steed. The horse was fully armored now and its eyes glowed with a yellow light. When the knight saw the condition of Scarlet and her brother, he immediately unsheathed his sword, raised it high, then declared, "Knights of the Terra Firma, ATTACK!!" In the next instant, the mountainside thundered with the beat of hooves as thirty-six knights and their mounts rode up to join the action. Each horse galloped as though it were running in a straight path; not once did they stumble on their way up the rocky terrain. When the wives of Sabretooth finally realized what was going on, they turned from their mission and raced to meet the challenge that approached them.

One after the other, the knights leaped from their mounts and into the fray. Most of the wives were unarmed, and while they held off their attackers skillfully on their own, it was only a matter of time before each of them succumbed to the blades of the Terra Firma. Lancelot hacked his way through the brutes in order to reach the Scarlet Witch, and when he finally cleared the way to her, he stopped to give her a knowing smirk. Lost in a mixture of awe and confusion, the witch didn't even notice that her cheeks were turning red; however, whatever feelings that were surfacing quickly dropped as the knight was suddenly broadsided by one of the wives and taken out of her range of sight.

"Lancelot!" Scarlet looked down at Quicksilver, then at the surrounding battle. How she wished she could join the fray! But she knew she had to keep up with her twin. Relief washed over her as she saw the knight shove his way past his fellow guilders to reach her once more; his appearance was slightly more ragged, but he smiled nonetheless.

"How fare thee, Scarlet Witch?"

The woman's lips tugged in an effort to smile. "A little worse for wear, but I'll live." She kneeled beside her brother as sadness washed over her again. "But... I think he's dying."

"Oh?" Lancelot dropped to one knee and examined the young man's wound. "Hmmm..." He removed his right gauntlet and placed a hand on Quicksilver's chest. "Nay... Nay, he does not belong to the earth yet." He slipped his gauntlet back onto his hand as he rose to his feet, then he called across the mountainside, "Spearhold! Flailand! Come hither!" Two knights turned their attention from the bodies they stood over and joined him near the twins. "Gather thy mounts and secure this man for transport. We shall keep him with us as we continue our travels." He whistled for his own horse and mounted it as soon as it came. "Care for a lift?" His hand extended towards the Scarlet Witch. "To where dost thou travel?"

She was reluctant to leave her brother, but when she saw the knights take hold of him, some reassurance touched her mind as she accepted the hand that was offered. "Sabretooth's fortress," she replied as she was pulled behind him on his horse. "Toad's there, and we have to rescue him. But... how did you know where to find me?"

"When I found you not within the forest, I simply questioned Mother Earth on your whereabouts." Lancelot gave his horse a light tap and it started up the mountainside. "She knows where everyone is, at any given moment, that has contact with the blessed ground."

"Oh." Scarlet looked back at the three-dozen knights that were following on their own mounts. "But... wait. We can't just go there; we need to have a plan! There's a whole army stationed at that fortress!"

"Yea," Lance replied, "and there is a whole army coming with us to meet them." He motioned behind them. "Look."

Scarlet looked further down the mountain and her jaw dropped as she saw what was there: Several hundred knights were waiting to come up the smoother paths of the mountain. Some flew banners of gold and bronze, which were the colors of the Terra Firma guild. The witch couldn't believe she was seeing so many people willing to fight for her cause; it was a dream she had long had, but never thought possible. A feeling of hope vaguely touched her soul, but was quickly replaced with worry as she saw the two knights who rode with her brother on a stretcher between their horses. In turn, the feeling of worry melted away as she felt her hand being touched by one of Lancelot's. "Fear not, fair Scarlet," the knight stated. "We will rescue your friend, and take care of your brother."

To be taken care of.... To have all of her problems near solving. It was a comfort Wanda was glad to finally achieve.



"PIPE DOWN OVER THERE!"

All of the tainted Hoppera gasped and backed away from one side of the dark room. A familiar and fear-inspiring voice was on the other side of the wall, but it wasn't Sabretooth's. Toad recognized it as well, and while he kept one eye on his former tribe, he made his way to that side of the cell and put an ear to the stone. "Hello?"

"DIDN'T I SAY PIPE DOWN? DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!"

A few Hopperas screamed at the threat and backed further into the shadows. Finally, Toad remembered who the voice belonged to. "Blob! Blob, is that you?"

Silence reigned for a few seconds. "Toad? What're you doing here?"

The boy was relieved to hear the voice of a friend. "Long story, man. What're you doing in Sabretooth's dungeon?"

"Came to the Queen's port town just as General Sabretooth sent troops to raid it. The Captain ordered us to fall back, but you know me, heh. I like to wreck stuff. So I ended up here." The Blob laughed. "It's pretty fun, though. They kept trying to torture me, but after a while they decided to use me to test their army on occasion."

"Heh. Why waste money on punching bags when you got someone invulnerable to physical attacks?" Toad started to chuckle, but his memory of the Princess took that thought away. "Hey, Blob! You gotta help me get outta here!"

"Why? This place is awesome, man! I get tons of action everyday!"

"You'll get plenty of action helping me escape! See there's this girl, and Sabretooth wants her to marry him, but she doesn't--"

"Oh, I see. It's a girl issue, huh?" The Blob laughed again. "So what's this girl like, huh? Is she hot?"

"It doesn't matter, man," Toad yelled. "Look, we gotta save her before Sabretooth turns her into one of those ugly things he calls his wives! You don't wanna see another one of those things created, now do you? Besides, I'm gonna need some muscle to get out of here and get past any guards that might be lurkin'. You like to beat up guards, don't you?"

"Sure as Hell do, man. Okay, okay. I'll get you out, but you owe me big time for this. I was havin' a nice vacation from ship work by bein' a prisoner here! Now stand back, or you might get crushed."

The boy crawled along the circular wall of his cell, making sure he was nowhere near the side where his friend was. Moments later, the room shook and a couple of bricks loosened on the wall as the Blob slammed into it from the other side. The tainted Hopperas cried out with worry, and when another slam created a big hole in the wall, they screamed and huddled together in fear. Light from the adjacent cell allowed Toad to see the condition of his former tribe and he no longer felt fearful of them; instead, he felt sorry. Their bodies were tortured, bruised and mangled from the harsh treatment at the hands of the General. When they gazed up at the Blob's rotund form, their eyes told how truly young and hurt they were. Toad moved out the hole to stand near his friend, but soon after he turned and glanced back at the cowering Hopperas.

"Hey... Years ago, when the Scarlet Witch came and rescued me, I asked you guys to come with. But you were too scared to move." He squatted and beckoned to them with a hand. "Don't be scared now. Come with me!"

"We can't go, yo," a thin, Hoppera girl whined. "Big G'll stomp us into frog paste!"

The Blob slapped his large, leather-dressed belly. "Hey, he'll have to get through me, first, and you guys know first-hand how impossible that is."

All of the Hopperas exchanged looks of uncertainty, then turned to face the hole. "Come on," Toad said as he continued to coax them out. "This is your chance to be free!" Once again the Hopperas looked between each other, and after a while they crept out into the larger cell. The light of the cell's torches irritated their eyes, but they quickly got over it.

"Yo, what now," a small boy asked.

The Blob gave his reply by turning to the cell door and, with a swift kick, sent it flying into the wall across the hall of the dungeon. "Now, we go save Toad's girlfriend."

"She's NOT my girlfriend," Toad declared as he leaped onto his friend's shoulder. "Now come on! She's being held in the northwest tower."

"Right. To the northwest tower! For Toad's girlfriend."

The boy groaned while Blob began a brisk stride through the halls of the keep. Though they were hesitant to leave the safety of their cell, the remaining members of the Hoppera tribe followed closely behind, constantly keeping an eye out for any sign of guards or spies.



The fortress was unusually quiet that day. As the escapees made it further towards the northwest tower, they noticed that no guard or servant could be seen anywhere. It was like an emergency meeting of some sort had been called. When they found the dining hall void of any creature gorging itself on the spoils of war, they knew that something had to have been happening around the keep.

"It's quiet," Toad muttered as he looked around. "Too quiet."

"Yeah, and I don't smell nothin' bein' cooked," the Blob added. "Wonder what's goin' on?"

All of them turned their attention to a door on a far side of the room where they could hear the pattering sound of oncoming feet. The Hopperas hid behind the large man while they waited to see what was coming. When the running stopped, the door opened partway and in rushed Princess Felicity, free from the chains that had bound her to her room. With great effort, she shoved the door closed and turned a latch on its handle to lock it, then she slumped against it and took time to rest.

"There she is!" Toad's declaration startled the poor girl, but when she saw who it was, she felt nothing but relief.

"Toad!" The Princess rushed over to greet the group. "I'm so glad to see you! How did you get out of the dungeon? And who are all these people with you?"

The boy motioned to his friends. "Princess, I'd like to you meet Blob. He's our muscle."

"You the gal, eh," Blob said as he looked her over. "Heh. Didn't know you had jungle fever, Toad."

"Shut up, all right? Geez!" Toad rolled his eyes, then continued his introduction with each Hoppera waving as their name was called. "This is Sal, Newt, Frog, Axo, Croc--" He stopped as he heard something pound on the other side of the door.

"I'd like to meet you all, really," Felicity said, her voice gaining a hint of urgency, "but we have to get out of here! I escaped, and now Sabretooth's--" Before she could offer any suitable explanation, the door on the far end of the dining hall flew open and there stood the General. He was grinning at the prospect of catching up to his bride, but when the sight and scent of the escaped prisoners hit him, a look of pure malice washed over his face.

The tainted Hopperas cried out fearfully and held each other tight as they hid behind the Blob. Toad felt just as terrified as they did, but couldn't find the motivation to move from where he was perched on his friend's shoulder.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELLS," Sabretooth bellowed as he took several steps into the dining hall.

The Blob grinned at the opportunity and positioned himself to meet the challenge head-on. "All right, this is what I'm talkin' about! Let's get it on!"

"No," Felicity shrieked. "We have to get out of here!"

"She's right, man," Toad stated. "We gotta get my clique to safety before we try to take on the General!"

The Blob groaned. "Man, you guys are no fun." Nevertheless, he turned and motioned for the Hopperas to go back down the hall they came from. "GO! The entrance ain't far from here!"

A growl resonated from Sabretooth's throat as he watched them run. "SABERS!" After he bellowed, three of his enormous, saber-toothed tigers leaped from the darkness of the hall behind him, then raced after the escapees. "RIP THEM APART!"



The cries of the Hopperas were full of despair as they leaped and ran ahead of the Blob, taking his direction on which way to turn in the twisting hallways of the fortress. With Todd's help, Felicity had managed to climb on the man's spacious back and catch a ride as he tromped along. For one so seemingly out of shape, the Blob moved with the speed of a herd animal, and his breathing never became ragged. He kept up fairly well with the Hopperas, but the group was still not moving fast enough to escape the saber-toothed tigers. When Toad looked behind his friend, he saw the three beasts closing the distance between them quickly.

"Blob! They're gaining on us!"

The man stopped and turned to face the tigers. "You guys keep goin'! Make the next left and the entrance should be right down the hall there!" His face set into a stern expression. "I'll handle these pussycats."

Without a word of argument, Felicity and Toad leaped from his back and raced to join the tainted Hopperas in their escape. By the time they made it to the turn, the saber-toothed tigers were already attacking the Blob. Their clawing and biting did nothing but mar his leather jerkin and wrist guards. His skin remained unscathed, and their attempts to tackle him to the ground were denied. This continued for a few moments before he finally fought back.

The Blob hardly put any effort into grabbing two tigers by their sabers and slamming them against the walls of the keep. Then, he delivered a swift kick to the final tiger's head and sent it sliding down the hall. "Too easy," he said to himself as he turned to catch up with the others.

Just outside the keep's main entrance, Toad, Felicity and the young Hopperas had stopped and when the Blob caught up to them, he found out why. All the guards of Sabretooth's keep were waiting in a semi-circle to greet them. Earlier, the General had sent them outside to catch the Princess if she managed to make it that far. It seemed that his plan had worked.

"What are we going to do," Felicity asked as she backed close to the Blob.

Toad's eyes searched the area for an answer, then he back flipped onto his friend's shoulder. "Blob! Charge 'em!"

The large man grinned as he slapped his belly. "Thought you'd never ask." He motioned for the Hopperas to stand aside. "Comin' through!"

Before the charge began, Toad once again helped Felicity onto the Blob's back. "Hold on, Princess! We're in for a ride!"

"Are you sure this is safe," she asked as she dug her claws into the leather of the Blob's jerkin.

"Not really," the boy admitted, "but it's the fastest way out!"

After stomping the ground once with each foot, the Blob rushed at the guards and easily shoved aside any who were standing in his way. The unfortunate ones fell and were caught underfoot as he bowled his way through, and the Hopperas that followed him didn't hesitate to add their own footprints to the fallen.



The freight train known as the Blob made a furious dash up the path that lead from the entrance of the keep to the gates. These gates were closed, but he ran through their wrought-iron build as if they were made of paper. And though they still couldn't believe they had made it so far, the Hopperas followed close behind.

At the entrance of the keep, Sabretooth snarled as he watched his soldiers struggle to pick themselves up off the ground. "You imbeciles," he roared at them. "Get up, get out there and RETRIEVE MY BRIDE! And, if any of those amphibians, or that walking cart of fat, happens to be with her when you find her, I WANT YOU TO TEAR THEM APART!" The soldiers wasted no time getting to their feet and racing for the battlefield.

Princess Felicity was never more excited. As the Blob continued his charge, she sat on his shoulder and turned backwards to shout, "Yeah! Thought you had me, didn't you, ugly bastard! Well you don't anymore and you never will again!" She turned her butt in the direction of the fortress and gave it a good slap. "You like? Well you can KISS IT!"

Toad looked highly amused as he watched this. "Y'know, for a princess, you sure talk like a commoner when the mood suits you." All of a sudden he found himself being wrapped in her arms and his face turned a shade of red.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue," the Princess purred. "You know, such bravery deserves at least a kiss on the cheek."

Toad's eyes widened as she leaned in for the kiss. "N-no, you don't wanna do that," he said as he tried to push her away. "Hoppera skin is poisonous to anything but other Hop--" Both he and the Princess ended up on the ground as the Blob came to a halt. They weren't even halfway across the battlefield when he decided to stop. "What's the problem," Toad asked as he climbed to his feet. "We haven't even reached the middle of the field yet!"

The Blob motioned towards the mountain range. "We may not be in the middle of the field, but we're about to be in the middle of a battle. Look!"

The mountains that stood to the west of the fortress glimmered with the presence of the knights of the Terra Firma Guild. Their horses' hooves against the hard terrain were rhythmic like the beating of a drumline as they came down the jagged pathways. Each held a stern expression, a sword in one hand and the reigns of their horses in the other. At the head of the group was Lancelot, still sharing his horse with Scarlet, and when she pointed out the group standing in plain view on the battlefield they rode ahead of the other knights to see who it was.

After hopping back onto one of Blob's shoulders, Toad squinted his eyes and peered at the approaching figures. "Hey! It's that fancy-talkin' knight from Bavil! And he's got Scarlet with him!"

The Blob glanced out along with him. "Scarlet's here? Man, looks like she brought an army with her!"

When the guards caught sight of the knights coming down the mountain, they stopped just outside the gate and looked back at their General. Sabretooth also saw the knights beyond the gate and his eyes burned with anger. He wasn't expecting an assault on his fortress, and it was an outrage that anyone thought they could oppose the Army of Magnus. The next time the General bellowed, it carried across the entire valley floor.

"ALL WHO SERVE LORD MAGNUS, ARISE, NOW, AND SMITE THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE HIM!"

For years the streets of Newark had been deserted; its blackened buildings stood as a testament of the once vast city population. Violent siege at the hands of Sabretooth had left it barren and burned. But, after the General made the call for his troops, the ash-ridden streets erupted with the rise of thousands. The undead, possessed and demonic--all were soldiers in Lord Magnus' dark army. What once was their eyes now burned with ghostly, tinted flames as they marched forward to meet the challenge. Some rode on the backs of skeletal and decaying beasts; all brandished wicked implements of war. The Army of Magnus filed out the gates of Newark and assembled themselves in a wide rectangle to wait for further orders.

At the base of the mountain range, all of the Terra Firma Guild assembled themselves in the same fashion. Meanwhile, Lance and Scarlet finally reached the escapees. "Toad," was the first thing the witch called out as she slid off the horse's back.

"Hey, Scarlet," the boy said as he hopped off the Blob's shoulder. "Look who I found!"

"Nice army you got there," Blob said with a smirk.

"It seems the General has conjured an army of his own," Lancelot said as he looked towards Newark. "We of the Terra Firma will meet his challenge, but all of you should procure a place of safety."

Scarlet turned to him in protest. "The others should, but I will not! I have waited too long for this moment to sit on the sidelines and watch!"

"Yeah," the Blob added, "and I've been gettin' a stiff neck from sittin' in the prison all this time! I need the exercise of a good battle!"

Lancelot laughed. "Very well." He looked to the other escapees. "What of you? Will you aid us in fighting the good fight?"

The Hopperas and the Princess exchanged glances with one another, then shook their heads rapidly at the knight. "We'll be content to watch," Felicity stated with confidence.

"Good," Lance said with a nod. "Head for the cliffs beyond the knights. It will be the safest place for you." The Hopperas and the Princess did as they were told and while they ran for cover, the knight, the witch and the Blob turned to face the waiting army.

By this time, Sabretooth had mounted a saber-toothed tiger and taken his place at the head of his army. He never wore body armor to battle, but did brandish a pair of steel claws that fit nicely over his hands. These claws had gloves that were steel-plated for his protection and talons that extended four inches from the end of each finger. The tiger he rode paced the distance in front of the Army of Magnus, stopping only so that the General could address the Terra Firma.

"Who dares oppose Lord Magnus' army?"

After Scarlet reclaimed her place on Lancelot's horse, the knight spoke out. "I dare! I, am Sir Lancelot Alvers of the Terra Firma! Your master, Lord Magnus, sent an invitation for me to join his army. This is my answer!"

Sabretooth sneered. "Is that so? Lord Magnus is not known for taking no for an answer!"

"Perhaps not, but this will be the last rejection notice he ever receives!" Lancelot drew his sword and when he raised it, the other knights of the Terra Firma did the same. "We of the Terra Firma have made a vow to uproot his hold over the world, and that uprooting begins now!"

"You think it will be that easy?" The General laughed. "Well then. Get on with it!"

"Knights of the Terra Firma!" Each knight shouted a war cry in response, then together they declared, "For Mother Earth, in all her glory!"

The hills came alive with the sound of yelling, roaring, hoofbeats and heavy feet as the two armies charged each other. It took thirty seconds for them to meet in the middle of the battlefield and when they did, the air exploded with the sound of combat. Swords and shields clashed as the front lines of each group pushed against each other furiously. When it came to the point where the individual knights could force their way through, the struggle spread out along the valley and continued with both sides putting up a reasonable fight. Still, with all the opposition being made by the Army of Magnus, and no matter how uneven the odds seemed to be, the knights of the Terra Firma Guild were winning this war. Not a one of them had fallen since the start of the battle, whereas several of Lord Magnus' forces had. This pattern didn't go unnoticed by General Sabretooth, who was working his way through the mob to reach Lancelot and the Scarlet Witch. Whole groups of his troops were falling to a simple blade swing from one Terra Firma knight, and when a knight was under the threat of attack he would simply conjure up a barrier of earth to protect himself. The General was angered greatly by this, making him more determined to reach the knight he wished to slay.

Likewise, Sir Lancelot made his way to Sabretooth by cutting systematically through his oppressors. Scarlet helped by shooting magic at whatever creatures he couldn't keep an eye on and eventually she took control of the horse as he leaped from its back and continued to battle on foot.

Somewhere deep in the skirmish, Sabretooth dismounted from his own ride and marched forward to meet Lancelot. He shoved anyone out of his way who accidentally ended up there, then his armored claws met with the blade of the knight's sword and they stood toe to toe. "Gaze upon your army, General," Lance said through gritted teeth. "They are losing!"

"The Army of Lord Magnus never loses," Sabretooth snarled, then shoved him away.

The knight stumbled several steps backwards, but managed to stay on his feet; however, before he could rush forward to resume the clash, several fighting groups wandered into the space between him and the General. "Everything that comes from the earth, soon must return to it, General," he called over the noise. "Most of your warriors belong to the ground, so we knights of the Terra Firma hold dominion over them!"

Sabretooth roared like a lion, then glared at the battle that surrounded him. All of a sudden his malicious expression changed to a grin. "Why don't we find someplace a little less crowded and continue this," he shouted, then whistled for one of his beasts. A saber-toothed tiger plowed through the warring masses and when it reached him, the General climbed onto its back and rode it towards the north. Lancelot pushed and fought his way past several people before he found a wandering warhorse from his guild, then he mounted the horse and rode after him.



In the mountains to the west of the battlefield, Princess Felicity and the Hopperas watched and cheered the event. From their vantage point, it looked as though sparkles of silver were slowly overwhelming the black pollutants of a large puddle. The action of the battle was very distracting, so much so that they didn't notice it when a condor landed on a cliff above them. The condor was Mystique, and after a quick transformation, she pointed her staff towards the spectators. A series of green bolts left the orb of the staff, each one striking a Hoppera in the back. The amphibious children were turned into frogs before they had a chance to cry out.

The Princess gasped and looked around at the transformed Hopperas before turning to see the sorceress. "Hey," she called up to her, "what are you doing? You better turn them back right now!"

Mystique leaned her weight on her staff as she casually glanced at Felicity. "These Hopperas still have some potential," she stated, then focused a cold glare on her. "You, I don't need." The orb of her staff lit up once more and shot another green bolt, this time at the Princess.

A brief scream was all Felicity could spare as she leaped to avoid the bolt. When it went past her and dispersed harmlessly against some rocks, she thumbed her nose at the Sorceress and declared, "Missed me! HA! Go practice yer aim you scantily clad smurfette!" But before she could say anything else, another bolt shot out of the orb and this one made a direct hit, turning the Princess into an orange, spotted kitten.

"Now I see why Sabretooth wanted to marry you," Mystique commented as she stood up straight. "You're annoying enough to want to torture for an eternity." She raised her staff, and all the frogs were magically transported into a small cage that appeared next to her feet. "But..." She sighed as she picked up the cage. "I'm too busy forging my own empire to torture anyone directly. Pity." The sorceress laughed, and her laughter became the calls of an eagle as she transformed once again and took off with the cage in her talons.



The volcano that sat outside Newark had been passively active for decades, only threatening to erupt with its constant billow of smoke and occasional spit of fire. This was the chosen dueling ground for Sabretooth, who raced up its face while mounted on the back of a saber-toothed tiger. Lancelot and his horse made an effort to close the distance between them and, when they reached a good distance on the slope, the General made his first move by diving off his beast to catch the knight off-guard.

Lancelot was tackled to the ground and as his horse wandered off, he worked on keeping the General at bay. "I will take great pride in returning you to the earth, General," he grunted as he held onto the beastman's wrists.

"Fool!" Sabretooth pushed harder, slowly moving his claws to where he could rake them across the knight's face. "I come from HELL! If you believe you can send me back there, then you really have been spending too much time with your head in the dirt!"

Lancelot gave a final grunt, and with it he managed to roll their pairing over so he was on top; unfortunately, the General was expecting something like this. The moment he had proper back support, he used his right foot and knee to pitch the knight over his head. The force of the fling was enough to loosen Lance's grip on Sabretooth and in the next instant, the beastman rolled onto his feet and charged for his opponent. Lancelot regained mental composure just in time to pivot out the way of a fierce jab, then he followed through by swinging his legs around to send Sabretooth tumbling down the mountain. This gave him time to scramble to his feet and when the General made his way back up the mount, he was met by the blade of Sir Lancelot's sword.

A deep, diagonal gash was made in Sabretooth's torso and it looked as though it should have been fatal; however, it healed seconds later. The look on Lancelot's face was one the General had seen many times before, but it brought him the same amusement. "Do you see how foolish your quest is now? I cannot be defeated!"

The knight's expression became stern as an idea came to mind. "You seem to revel in your boasting, General. Tell me. Were your wives considered unbeatable as well?"

Sabretooth stopped his slow approach to eye him suspiciously. "What do you mean 'were?'"

Lancelot smirked at that. "Because all fifty-four of them fell to the blades of the Terra Firma." He frowned and pointed his sword forward. "If your power is no greater than theirs, then I have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

Sabretooth roared as he lunged forward and swiped at the knight. "Do you know how long it took me to amass such a harem," he snarled angrily, swiping a claw with every two syllables. Lancelot parried each blow, but was gradually being moved towards the volcano's mouth.

"You'll see them soon enough," he said as he took a quick glance over his shoulder. The volcano's rim was only a step away from his right heel.

The General took this opportunity to try another jab at the knight's face, and this time Lancelot backflipped to avoid it, sending him right into the mouth of the volcano. This pleased Sabretooth, who rushed to see the end result; unfortunately what he saw was not Lancelot plunging to his death. The knight dropped for several yards before landing on a platform of stone that he conjured from the volcano's inner wall. Sabretooth roared angrily at this, then leaped in after him.

The heat within the volcano's shaft was barely tolerable, and the armor-clad knight sweated profusely from being there less than a minute. But even as the air became too thick to breathe, Sir Lancelot maintained his concentration over the situation. After looking up to make sure that the General was following, he stepped left onto another, smaller platform. When the General's feet were about to touch the larger platform, Lancelot made it crumble, causing a very surprised Sabretooth to continue his descent. Luckily for the beastman, he managed to latch onto what remained of the broken platform with his right hand--this left him at the mercy of the Terra Firma knight. A look of grim satisfaction settled onto Lancelot's face as he raised the blade of his sword. Then, without sparing a moment for a farewell speech, he swung the blade and severed Sabretooth's hold at the wrist.

The General's roar echoed throughout the volcano as he tumbled towards the molten lava, cutting short as he dropped into it. The splash he made was more than gratifying for Lancelot. "So ends the great Army of Magnus," the knight thought to himself, then kicked the hand so it would go over as well. Surprisingly enough, as the hand arced into the air, an eagle swooped out of nowhere and caught it before it could fall. Suspicion washed over Lancelot as he watched this, then he shook off the feeling and worked on climbing out of the volcano.



By this time, the battle between the Terra Firma Guild and the Army of Magnus had reached its climax. Few of the lord's troops remained standing while most of the knights were still swinging. The last soldier in Magnus' army fell to the blade of a knight just as Lancelot hefted himself into view, then a smile crossed Alvers' face as he listened to the cry of victory from his brothers. Admittedly, it was the most fun the knights had experienced in years and having won the fight just made it all the more enjoyable.

Also by this time, Sky Fire and Blooper had reached the battlefield, and with them they brought Captain Remington and Atrophy, a boy of the Malaisian race, whose bodies always looked as though they were wrought with disease. Likewise, following close behind Blooper was another dragon who was snake-like and bright orange, and as it slithered across the sky its rider sat comfortably on its head. The two dragons landed near the southern edge of the crowd of Terra Firma knights, then Sky Fire called out, "Hey! Any of you all seen Scarlet?"

"I'm here, Sky Fire," the weary witch called as she pushed her way through the gathering. She had lost Lancelot's horse a long time ago during the struggle and suffered a few injuries, but nothing more serious than a gash in her right shoulder that she held tight with her left hand. Her friends rushed from their mounts to meet her as she came into view.

"Look like we miss all de fun," Captain Remington said as he looked around.

"The Army of Magnus has been defeated," Scarlet announced, though the words were unbelievable to her own mind. "The knights of the Terra Firma Guild took on the entire army and wiped them out in the course of an afternoon!"

Several knights were shoved aside as the Blob stepped out of the gathering. "Hey, don't forget me!" He had remained unscathed, though became a little dirty.

Remington blinked at this. "Blob? Y'still alive?"

His crewman gripped his abdomen and shook it a few times. "A little famished, but I'm still goin'."

The Captain frowned. "Y'wouldn't even be dat if you had retreated like I tol' you to! When we get back to de ship, y'goin' t'be scrapin' barnacles 'til you're as t'in as I am!"

Blob drooped at the reprimand. "Aw, man!"

"Don't be too hard on him, Remy," the Scarlet Witch said in his defense. "The Blob was really helpful, and he saved Toad, as well as the rest of the Hopperas from Sabretooth's dungeon."

Sky Fire added her own comment to the conversation. "Speaking of that flea bag, where is he? I would really like to have a hand in roasting his chestnuts."

"In Hell where he belongs." The answer was given by Sir Lancelot, who rode through the crowd on the back of a white warhorse. He started to fall off the horse as he reached the gathering near the dragons, but a few of his fellow knights caught him and helped him to the ground.

After her shoulder was healed by a touch from Atrophy, the Scarlet Witch raced to kneel beside the fallen knight. "Are you wounded?"

Lancelot offered her a tired smile, then asked, "If I said yes, would you make it better with a kiss?"

The knights within hearing range laughed at his query, then laughed harder as Scarlet plucked him on the forehead for good measure. "Don't think that just because you brought an army out of here to conquer Newark, I've suddenly grown fond of you," she said indignantly.

"Oh, we're not done yet," Lance said as he was helped to his feet. "There's still the matter of vanquishing Lord Magnus. Unless you want that honor for yourself."

Scarlet stood up and gave a quick nod. "Just get me to him. I'll take care of the rest."

"Pardon me, chere," Captain Remington said as he stepped forward. He took a moment to bow cordially, then continued to speak. "My ship is goin' t'arrive at de port of Bavil within a few days. If y'feel de time is right, you may use it t'reach Asterum." He glanced at the various knights. "But, I can only take so many o'those before m'ship won't even carry on a stormwind."

"We are prepared for sea travel," Lancelot replied. "We will have ships ready to sail when you are."

"LANCELOT!" One of the knights came thundering through the battlefield on the back of a horse, grabbing the attention of everyone present. "The Hoppera children are nowhere to be found, and this is what has become of the Laskan female who was with them!" He held up the spotted kitten and she mewled pitifully.

Shocked, Scarlet took the kitten and held it up to look at. "Are you sure this is her," she asked in a tone of disbelief.

"We of the Terra Firma can sense her earthen essence," Lancelot noted. "It is the Laskan. Now, can you change her back?"

Scarlet's brow became furrowed as she looked at the knight. "Me?"

He frowned at her. "Yes, you. Are you not a witch? Can you do no more than blast odds and ends?"

The witch cradled the kitten in her arms and muttered, "I... ran away before I could get into that part of my training." She winced as a collective groan rose from the crowd. "Whaaat?"

"Fair Scarlet, I'm surprised you look as fit as you do, let alone survived the battle." Lancelot sighed as he stepped out of the gathering. "We shall just have to take her with us. Undoubtedly, this foul play has something to do with Lord Magnus, so we may be meeting the Hopperas again." He turned to the crowd and shouted, "All right! The time has come to head for the port of Bavil! Regroup and prepare for departure!"

"Shouldn't we do something about that, first," Sky Fire called as she motioned towards General Sabretooth's fortress. "It's kind of an ugly stain on the world, wouldn't you say?"

Scarlet nodded in agreement. "Yes, and the people should know that Sabretooth's territory no longer exists, and that Newark is ready for rebuilding."

Captain Remington smiled as he said, "Scarlet, allow me t'introduce Saint John, a Priest o'de Fire an' Brimstone Guild." He motioned to the rider of the orange dragon. "He's one of de newer additions t'my crew."

Taking that as his cue, St. John signaled for his dragon and it slipped its head between his legs before lifting off the ground. "Y'might wanna move," he called to the others in a distinct accent. "It's about t'get pretty hot here in a minute."

The knights and Scarlet Witch's group of friends all hurried to the nearest mountain range while St. John rode up to the volcano and hovered above its mouth. His hair and eyes burned as he glared at the lava below, then he and his mount dove into the molten rock. Moments passed with no result, then suddenly the earth trembled and the volcano grumbled. A column of lava shot out of the volcano but instead of spraying in all directions, the liquid fire arced towards Newark, splashing down near the city wall. This touchdown marked the start of a river that burned past the wall and made its way through the city streets, engulfing everything that stood in its path. Soon, all of Newark was reduced to a flaming pool of lava--a sight that brought satisfaction to all who witnessed it.

When St. John returned from the volcano, he flew above the others and declared, "The smoke that rises now'll be a signal to the cities in this territory that their days've answerin' to Sabretooth are over!"

"That sounds just fine to me," Lancelot stated as he settled on the back of his horse. "Now. Let's move out!" The knights of the Terra Firma began their sojourn from Newark to Bavil, accompanied by the Scarlet Witch's friends, and Captain Remington's crew.