(Field)
Neil and Austin stood before the gates of the large city.
"So, what's the plan?" Neil asked. "The Heroes will be here soon, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not face off with them head on. How are we going to deal with them?"
"We don't even need to deal with them," Mileva said. "If they're foolish enough to try to face the Ghoul then they will be meeting their own demises."
"Well, maybe, but wouldn't it be a good idea to include some traps anyways?" Austin asked. "I've got a lot of good traps planned out, I think I can really get them with some of these!"
"Um…mind keeping me in the loop?" Neil asked, for all he saw was Austin talking to himself.
"Hm…nah," Austin replied. "You're just the evil minion, you don't need to know what's going on."
"Ha!" Mileva scoffed. "Austin is my evil minion, YOU are less than that!"
"He can't hear you," Austin said to her.
"Wait what?" Neil asked. "What did the demonic deity say about me?"
"Umm…it's not important!" Austin said.
"Well, excuse me for being concerned," Neil replied.
"Enough chit chat!" Austin said. "We've got traps to set, let's go!"
A short time lapse later, and the small army of heroes came up to the city gates. The city seemed different from when Caleb had visited before. Not starkly, but the busy streets were now empty, the life that had buzzed among the town was now dead. Instead a tension hung through the air, ready to be cut within a heartbeat.
"Be careful, be on alert," Sylvander said. "The Ghoul is quick and deadly. Do not give it the chance to strike, because you won't survive."
The group all drew weapons and began to spread out through the empty streets. From behind, the monstrous Rudy crept after them. He kept himself hidden and moved slowly. He glared at the group until he spotted Caleb.
"I've got you now," he said to himself.
(Mountain)
Crazybeard led his crew to the walls of the fortress.
"When I give the word…we storm the place!" the captain exclaimed. "Cut them to pieces!"
"Um, Captain?" Portia spoke up. "Maybe…maybe it might be more effective to try a stealth approach?"
Crazybeard glared at Portia.
"It was actually all the first mate's idea!" she quickly added.
Crazybeard turned to glare at his first mate.
"That…is a great idea!" he exclaimed. "And only the captain can have great ideas!"
With that he bonked the pirate on the head and knocked him into the snow.
"Stealth attack it is!" he announced.
Down below, Judie and Calvin had moved on to exploring a tunnel.
"Now this just screams treasure hoard," Judie remarked.
"You're so observant, I don't know how you do it," Calvin said sarcastically.
"Lose that tone and you might have just conveyed something correct for once!" Judie retorted.
The two saw some movement in the shadows ahead of them. They ran ahead and turned to face Ilona. Ilona showed a look of surprise upon seeing the intruders.
"You two are with the villains," she exclaimed. "Sorry, but I can't let you pass."
"Ugh, of course it's you," Calvin scoffed recognizing their adversary.
"You," Ilona groaned as she sighed. "Just my luck."
"Well, how convenient, you two know each other, don't bother introducing me," Judie scoffed.
"She—" Calvin began.
"I said don't bother and I meant it!" Judie snapped. "I probably know more about both of you than you know about yourselves!"
"Well then you know I'm not going to let you get by easily," Ilona said.
"Oh? And why not? Because there's treasure back there? Bada-boom! Nighthawk worked that out of you without even trying!" Judie exclaimed.
"You're…crazy," Ilona said.
"In the best way, darling," Judie replied. "And now it's time to take you down!"
(Catacombs)
Duke and Eliot walked through the maze while Missy reluctantly followed behind.
"So we're supposed to stop this ritual from happening," Eliot said. "How exactly are we going to go about that?"
"Beats me," Duke replied. "If we keep moving we're bound to find something."
"Or…" Eliot said thoughtfully. "or perhaps we can look for some sort of message. Who built this temple? Some ancient civilization? Aliens? An ancient civilization that was visited by aliens? They must have left us some sort of—"
"Watch out!" Duke exclaimed as he grabbed Eliot and pulled him back.
Eliot looked down to see he had just about fallen into a pit full of jagged spikes.
"Well, that was close," Eliot remarked.
Suddenly, Missy charged at the boys and shoved them both over the edge.
"Whoa!" Duke exclaimed.
His vines managed to sprout out and cling to the wall, but Eliot continued to fall. Duke managed to shoot another vine to him and coiled around his leg just before his head was impaled.
"What the hell was that!?" Duke shouted up at Missy.
"I am NOT a villain and it's time I prove it!" Missy exclaimed. "The world will be better off without you two!"
"But…isn't the way you're going about it…somewhat villainous?" Eliot asked.
"NO!" Missy snapped. "Someone needs to stand up and do what it takes. If I'm the only one strong enough, then I will have to for the good of the rest of the world. Nothing will ever get done if we keep letting you walk all over us!"
Missy began trying to pry off the vines from the edge.
"Can you like…subdue her or something?" Duke asked.
Eliot sighed and closed his eyes. Two of the wolves grabbed Missy by her wings and dragged her back. Duke then was able to pull up himself and his friend. They turned to see Missy surrounded by snarling wolves.
"Okay, that's it," Duke said, "Let's just put her out of our misery if she's going to pull crap like that on us."
"Are you…sure about that?" Eliot asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Duke asked. "She almost got us both killed. I don't care if she's technically on our team, we're better off without her."
"Can we just have a moment to discuss this?" Eliot said to Missy.
The two boys turned around from her. Duke used his powers to cause a bulb to grow around them and seal them of in private.
"I did not know you could do that," Eliot said.
"Neither did I," Duke replied. "I seem to be developing powers as I need them."
"That's concerning," Eliot said. "but an issue for later! For now, we can't afford to do away with Missy."
"Why not?" Duke asked. "You can't tell me there's anything likable or useful about her?"
"I can think of one thing," Eliot said. "If she dies now, and we still lose the challenge…that means one of us will be out automatically. I've calculated the risk and it's not worth it."
"Are you sure about that?" Duke asked. "Because she's crazy and could very well kill both of us before we even have a chance to win the challenge."
"Trust me on this," Eliot said. "We can handle her for now."
The two emerged from the bulb…only to find Missy was gone.
"Well…she left," Duke remarked. "Great, just great. Let's just hope she gets herself killed on her own then."
(Field)
The group of heroes had spread out into pairs to explore the city. Terrified townsfolk peered out from blocked windows and locked doors.
"Clearly a lot of damage has already been done," Hunter remarked. "These people know what's going on…I only hope it's not too late for us."
"I since a lot of dread, pain, and loss," Mona said. "but there's hope still…breathing like a tender heartbeat of a fragile babe."
"Did you get that out of a poetry textbook?" Hunter asked.
Mona opened her mouth, but instead froze. The two were walking down an alley now, outside of view from the main roads. Various shadows were cast along the walls.
"What is it?" Hunter asked.
"Move!" Mona shouted.
She grabbed Hunter by the arm and pulled him into the nearest door, which was fortunately unlocked. In the same instance, a blur with inhuman speed darted by. It made a clear sweep straight through where Hunter had just been standing, he could feel the gust brush against him. Then he was pulled indoors. Mona quickly went to work barricading the door.
"What was that?" Hunter gasped.
"I'd wager to guess exactly what we came here to find," Mona said. "And if that is the case, I should think we might want to make sure it can't get in."
"Right, right," Hunter said as he began to help cover up.
The two seemed to be inside a small shop abandoned in a rush, but still filled with stock. The two grabbed what they could and pushed it against any entrance. As they did, Hunter peered out a sliver of a window that was still open. He saw two soldiers exploring from the other side of the building. As one of them looked away, the other was instantly grabbed by a blur. One smooth motion. From one side to another, something shot across the street and in that instance, the soldier vanished. The other turned around, only to be dragged away next. Hunter and Mona watched wide-eyed, trying not to make any noise. Suddenly the creature was upon them. It only took a sudden flash and the monstrosity was outside the window, its skeletal claws reaching for them. Hunter saw its disfigured animalistic skull glaring against the glass. He swung his axe frantically. Slamming down over and over again at whatever he could hit before him. Eventually Mona tapped him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes to see the creature was gone. The two instinctively clutched each other in panic.
Outside, Caleb was walking in the opposite direction. He saw Sylvander nearby, though they weren't side by side. Caleb peered down another alley and the two were distanced further. Caleb's ears perked up as he heard a noise. He turned around but didn't see Sylvander anywhere and realized he'd wandered too far. He was tempted to call out, but he stopped himself at the last minute. He heard movement again. He looked up, just in time to see someone coming down on him. Rudy leapt down from a rooftop and landed straight over Duke.
"Hey old friend," he said evilly. "Long time, no see."
(Mountain)
Crazybeard and his crew scaled the wall. They watched the limited guards move and each dropped down when the coast was clear. One by one they filed into a hall, continuing to only move when no one was looking, hiding behind whatever they could find when someone was.
Suddenly Crazybeard stood up and announced, "ATTACK!"
"I thought this was a stealth mission?" Portia whispered.
"That's what we WANTED them to think!" Crazybeard laughed. "HAR HAR HAR! Show no mercy!"
Portia just sighed. The crew all drew their weapons and charged out at the unsuspecting soldiers. Portia took the chance to keep inching along the hall though. She got deeper and as she did the surroundings seemed to get darker, more ancient. She came to a flight of large stone stairs.
"This looks promising," she remarked.
She descended and found herself going deeper into the darkness. When she reached the bottom though she saw an ancient, thick wooden hatch. She pried it open and found an underground tunnel.
"As does this," she said.
Up above, Montana and Raven were coming along a ledge that looked down on the fortress.
"Ooh, that certainly looks promising," Raven remarked.
"More than you might think," Montana said as she mimed making binoculars with her hands. "It seems like there's some action going on in there, right. Looks like it's our time to a get a little rough."
Montana eagerly began hopping down along the side of the mountain.
"Oh…alright, is that what we're doing?" Raven said as she awkwardly tried to follow but mostly just slipped her way along.
Inside the tunnels, Judie had lunged at Ilona. Instead of taking the kick to her chest, though, Ilona's body turned to liquid and Judie sprung straight through her.
"Okay…that's new," Judie remarked.
Ilona turned completely to water and seeped ahead of Judie before reforming.
"Neat trick," Judie scoffed. "But getting me wet isn't going to stop me."
Judie charged again, but this time Ilona blocked her.
"That's why I've kept some old tricks too," Ilona replied.
Judie tried to shove Ilona aside but she continued to block and parry her attacks. Every time Judie was close to landing a blow, Ilona's body just temporarily liquefied. Ilona returned fire with a punch that knocked Judie back. The Nighthawk was clearly not amused.
"Well!?" she snapped at Calvin. "Do something! You're the one who beat her last time."
"Uh," Calvin said as he ran at Ilona.
Ilona just held her hands out. Water gushed from her arms and knocked back both Calvin and Judie.
"I told you," Ilona said. "You're not getting past me."
"You know what this calls for?" Judie asked.
"A tactical retreat?" Calvin asked.
"NO!" Judie snapped. "Sorry, force of habit, actually yes! Let's go!"
(Catacombs)
"If you keep going deeper into the catacombs," the mummy explained to BonBon and Teddy, "eventually you'll come to the core of the temple. There you'll find the obsidian tomb, it's been broken, but if you repair it, the seal will be reformed and Mileva will be trapped back inside."
"Ooh!" Teddy exclaimed. "You can count on us! Every little bit! We'll get it done! No sirree, we won't fail now!"
"One more thing," the mummy said. "I have something that might help you."
He guided them over to a shelf where he reached up and pulled down a painted box. He opened it to reveal an ankh.
"This is a powerful talisman," the mummy said, "but it comes with a heavy burden. Only take it if you feel worthy."
"Well," Teddy said, "I think I'm—"
"Sure thing!" BonBon said as she bumped Teddy aside and grabbed the talisman.
As soon as she did it transformed into a pair of bandages and wrapped around her arm.
"Ooh, that's neat," BonBon remarked.
"Well, I've done my part," the mummy said. "It's all on you now. I'm going back to sleep, maybe I can get back to that dream with me and Cleopatra."
The mummy returned to his coffin and pulled it closed.
"Well," BonBon remarked to Teddy, "I guess all we need to do i—"
The two stopped talking when they heard someone approaching.
"What's that!?" BonBon exclaimed.
She and Teddy crept over to investigate. The found Missy awkwardly stumbling towards them.
"Aah, it's one of the villains!" Teddy cried. "Stay back you bad, evil, vile, bad, mean, villainy, bad, horrible, nasty, villain person bad!"
"Hey, hey," Missy said. "You got it all wrong, I'm on your side!"
"Yeah, right!" BonBon said. "Your mind games might work on those of lesser intelligence, but we got something better…smarts! How much did you hear!?"
"Nothing!" Missy said. "But I swear, I'm not a villain. I'm totally here to help yo—"
"DIE VILLAIN!" Todd exclaimed as he wandered by and spotted Missy, tackling her to the ground. "I got you now!"
"Unhand me, you brute!" Missy cried. "Now I know what happened, I must have accidentally gotten switched with you, since there's no way a bully like yourself would ever be considered a hero!"
"Wait! I'm no bully!" Todd pouted.
"Then stop using your strength to oppress me!" Missy barked. "Strength is for helping not hurting."
"Oh," Todd said sadly as he let her go.
Missy got up and dusted herself off.
"Okay," Todd said, "well in that case let's start o—"
Missy promptly kicked Todd in the shin.
"Take that, jerk!" Missy spat. "Once a villain, always a villain!"
"Can I use my strength for hurting now?" Todd asked.
"Why are you asking the villain for advice?" BonBon asked before whispering to Teddy, "This is what I meant about those mind games. Poor guy, all brawn, no smarts."
Teddy nodded sadly.
"You guys are just as bad as the other villains!" Missy spat as she got up to leave. "It looks like I'm the only one around here who's good for anything! Don't expect any favors from me in the future!"
With that she stormed off again.
"So like, should we do something about her?" Todd asked.
"Nah," BonBon said. "Something tells me she's not the one we need to worry about right now. Now come on, we've got a tomb to find!"
(To Be Continued…)
