As Iron Eagle flew over Paragon City with four people hanging onto him, he was painfully aware that they were all staring at him. He shrugged. It couldn't be easy, he thought, to begin in a high-mortality field like this, and then
be teamed up with a third-generation hero.
He'd been doing this since he was as old as these kids, first as a sidekick, and then, after his father died during the Rikti War, as Iron Eagle. His father, the second Iron Eagle, had been a hero since he took over his father's role after he'd forced the old man to retire after he lost his leg, fighting Earthquake, in 1965.
His grandfather, the first Iron Eagle, had actually started his career as a member of the Storm Korps. But, in the final year of the war, he had been placed in command of a group of ordinary soldiers, and an American squad had forced them to retreat towards Bergen-Belsen. When he saw the inside of the place, he surrendered immediately.
While he'd been in prison, the war had ended. He'd stayed in prison for five years after that, but for all that, he still came out of it better than Deutche Blitz and the rest of the Storm Korps who lived to see Nuremburg. Eventually, the Statesman had talked him into serving the rest of his sentence in community service. He had saved both Paragon City and Europe many times after that. By the time he lost his leg, fighting Earthquake near Mt. Etna, he'd been long since forgiven.
"We're there," said Beth, shaking him out of his reverie.
The Circle of Thorn's holy grove was only reachable through back-paths in Gaiman Woods. It was immediately obvious to all five of them, when they got there, that they had arrived in the middle of a ritual.
"Hail, Odegra! Dark Queen between worlds, accept this paltry offering of souls, that you may better respond when we free ye!"
Iron Eagle searched his on-board computer for any info, and the results left him cold. Odegra had come to Paragon through a rip in space-time, back in the seventies, and almost destroyed the city. The Freedom Phalanx had finally trapped her between dimensions. If she got loose now…
At this point, the gagged victims began floating towards the glowing vortex on the other side of the grove. Suddenly, all five heroes jumped out from behind the rock, and began fighting through the priests. Solenoid started throwing electricity through the crowd, stunning dozens. Anyone left, would face the fists of Red Beth, or the competent swordsmanship of Caliburn. Fridge, meanwhile, threw up ice-walls to catch the devastating spells of the more experienced mystics, while Iron Eagle fired rockets at the monsters they had summoned, and tried using wave harmonics to close the vortex.
And then, just before the second victim was sucked in, the vortex finally collapsed. Iron Eagle grinned. Now to concentrate on the leader. Solenoid had forced his way threw the crowd, and fired a blast of electricity at the gem on the leader's staff.
"No!" the leader exclaimed, with genuine fear in his voice. "It's too powerful, I won't let you!" He blocked the blast with an energy-wall, and was about to strike back, when Red Beth caught him with a kidney punch. Then she knocked him out.
"Well," said Iron Eagle, when it was over, "that went well. I got the police on my radio; they just need us to hold them for a bit, while they get here.
While they were waiting, Caliburn stooped to pick up the staff the leader had been using. He hefted it, experimentally. "Hmm. Interesting," he said.
"What?" said Iron Eagle.
"With most mystic artefacts, the power is evenly distributed along the whole object," Caliburn replied, thinking. "With some, the power has a focal point, say a design on the front. But this, this gem," he pointed to the gem, "this gem is the only part of the staff that has any power. The rest is just wood." He broke off most of the staff, to prove his point. Nothing happened. "But the power in the gem, that is strong." He looked at Iron Eagle. "You're gonna wanna take a look at this at the lab at Freedom Plaza."