His sensors picked up the massive buildup of energy in the corridor ahead, and he would have found it hard to believe any one person could generate such power without artificial enhancements. The surge of electromagnetic energy shot right off the scope of his detectors and was growing in intensity as he approached. In any other instance, he would have even run a systems diagnostic before believing the magnitudes from his scan.

But he knew his quarry was Magneto.

"How close are we, Shellhead?"

"Contact in less than a minute, Hulk," Iron Man was carrying the green giant by the shoulders as he flew through the large hallway which led to Herobase's main generators. He figured they would catch up to them just before they reached the chamber containing most of the machinery which powered the fortress, "I don't think they'll know we're onto them already, so we should make the most of our surprise attack."

"They won't know what hit them," Hulk exclaimed as his cracked his knuckles.

I hope so, Iron Man thought to himself, Because I don't know if either of us could survive Magneto's counterattack.

Magneto carefully controlled his flight down the corridor. He could sense the energies from the generators emanating up ahead and was using them as a guide since Doom had only had a general idea of where the power cells were. Still, his so-called leader had been able to direct him close enough so that his own abilities could take him the rest of the way. He had to admit Doom's choice of him for this critical task was both logical and intelligent. The man was a genius.

This fact would make destroying him all that more enjoyable.

Something tapped his shoulder, "How much further, Magneto? This force bubble of yours is making me airsick."

Magneto clenched his teeth and resisted the temptation to impale his passenger on the nearest piece of metal, "We'll be there in a few seconds, Abomination. Do you remember your orders?"

"Yeah," The huge mockery of a man put his hands behind his head in a show of boredom, "Babysit, while you trash a bunch of machinery. I'd much rather be with the main force. At least then I'd be able to break someone."

"I sure hope I'll be able to cheer you up, Blonsky!"

Magneto had half-turned towards the source of the voice when he felt his force field shudder. The bubble wavered and dropped several feet to the floor. He concentrated and solidified the bubble, seeing the Hulk, who was on top of the globe, raising his fist for another strike.

Magneto suddenly cut off the field, and the gamma-radiated hero found himself tumbling to the floor, off balance from his swing at something that was no longer there. The Hulk started to get up when a huge foot caught him alongside the head and sent him reeling. Abomination followed the kick with a savage blow to the gut.

"Nice of you to drop in, Banner!"

Magneto was taking to the air again, content to let the two fight it out while he completed his task, when Iron Man, having looped around after dropping off the Hulk, slammed into him from behind. His field was only partially up, and the mutant felt his back twist painfully into a C-like shape just before he was embedded in a wall.

Iron Man backed away and then released point blank repulsor beams from both hands, which drove the Master of Magnetism further into the wall. As a coup de grace, he used whatever ultra-freon his armor had managed recharge in the past twelve hours to coat the mutant. The Avenger let the supercooled liquid fill the entire hole that had been made, until the streams of freon from his armor thinned, trickled, and finally ceased. Magneto was completely encased in near absolute zero ice.

Tony Stark watched the surface of the iced-up hole carefully, alert for any cracks or signs of movement. Several seconds later, the sounds of battle caught his attention and he turned to see how the Hulk was doing.

It was then the wall exploded outward with a fury he had never before witnessed. Huge chunks of metal and concrete-like material scattered like leaves in a hurricane. Several pieces smashed into him before he could erect his own personal force field, and one dagger-like shard over two feet long penetrated the armor and dug deeply into his side.

Tony crouched forward, holding his ground, and pulled the piece out, cursing in pain. It hurts like a sonovabitch, but I think it missed the kidney. He knew he should run a systems check to see if the armor had suffered any major damage, but he also knew that he had no time.

"End of round one, Avenger."

Holding his side, Tony Stark looked up at his hovering antagonist, suddenly feeling very vulnerable indeed.

Heart pounding furiously, Rachel Leighton swallowed hard and tried to hold the explosive-tipped diamond steady in her hand. She felt what must be a zillion butterflies flitting away inside her, and once again she wished the waiting was over. If only she could immerse herself in action, then all of these doubts and hesitations would be replaced with instinct and reflex.

Face it, girl, you are scared out of your mind.

She felt a slight squeeze on her shoulder and turned to see Steve give her a reassuring smile. She smiled back in spite of herself, and began to open her mouth to speak, but he had already moved on, running full tilt. She supposed she should feel honored that he had checked in on her at all, especially since she knew he had a dozen other things on his mind.

But mainly she wished he could have stayed with her.

A slight tremor focused her back on the task at hand. She looked to her right and saw the Black Knight unsheath his sword and crouch. The concentration in his eyes was almost eerie. What was that Steve had told her? Something about the Knight fighting during the Crusades? He didn't look that old. She'd have to ask--

Another tremor, this time pretty close. Steve had said closing the blast doors wasn't going to delay them for long, but it sounded like they were walking right through them.

Yet another vibration, this time followed by a crash. They were almost here. Steve had said there were five doors between them. Or was it four? She couldn't remember. She slipped an explosive diamond in the other hand, looking over at the Scarlet Witch to her left.

The look on the Witch's face made the Knight appear to be daydreaming. Of course, she had a vital role in their little ambush. Rachel only caught part of the plan, since Steve had literally thought of it while on the run. She had been blown away by the first step and missed the rest--

Rachel was nearly knocked over by the noise as the doors and a good section of the wall they were attached to came crashing inwards. By the time she managed to look at the opposite end of the large rectangular chamber, at least a half dozen villains had swarmed into the room, led by a huge brown guy and a floating green and yellow man with horns. She wished she had paid more attention to Steve's lectures on super-villains, especially since that information could now save her life.

Adrenaline flooded her system as she watched the group charge into the center of the chamber. There were at least 12 of them. She thought that the big guy was Juggernaut, and the guy with the extra arms had to be Dr. Octopus, but as for the rest. . .

Suddenly she saw a familiar-looking black costume and skull mask. Crossbones. Her resolve hardened, for she now had a target. Well, Bing, it looks like it's going to be you and me.

"I don't understand," a flying blond-haired woman in green said, "They are here! They should be right in front of us!"

Rachel saw the Scarlet Witch begin to make a hex sign.

Time to fight.

She ran forward at full speed, feeling the odd sensation of growth as the Pym particles were suddenly negated and she reverted to her full size. With the mental command of Henry Pym, and the help of the Witch's probability control to make it happen to everyone instantaneously, 15 heroes seemingly appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the surprised villains.

Rachel threw her two nitroglycerin-filled diamonds at the group, hoping the battle would go as smoothly as the ambush had.

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