Acathla's dimension
Two demons in robes were heading into the castle when a voice called out to them.
"Hey, could you help us with this box?"
The voice was out of the view of the demons, but they thought nothing of it. They were demon priests, here to worship Acathla, nothing more. So they weren't exactly known for their intellect.
"The great Acathla wants us inside," one of them said.
"Okay fine, I'll just tell the Great Lord you were too busy to help get this box he wants inside. What was your name again?" the voice asked and the two priests panicked.
"Just wait, we'll be right there," the other one said quickly.
The two demons walked over, rounding the corner and stepping out of view of the castle. If you stood where the demons had been standing, you would have heard yelps of surprise followed by the sounds of fighting before it quieted. About ten seconds passed before Angel and T'Challa walked around the corner, dressed in the robes the demons had been wearing with the hoods drawn up.
"These robes belong to Acathla's priests, no one questions them. We get in, then we search for the stone," Angel said as he and T'Challa began walking towards the castle.
Silently, T'Challa doubted it would be that easy. The demons they had seen didn't seem like they'd be easy to get passed. Then there was the matter of finding the stone without being spotted. And given how tense Angel was, T'Challa had a feeling he had the same concerns as T'Challa.
Erimos
"The signal's getting stronger; we should be coming up soon on where the stone is," Scott told Bucky and Faith as she walked, looking down at the radiation detector.
"Good, then let's get it and get out of here," Faith said.
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy," Bucky said as they came upon a large hole in the ground.
And inside the hole, they could see a city. Even from this distance, they could tell it was vast. It resembled an underground San Francisco was Scott's first thought. Except cleaner, ironically.
"Well, Willow did they say the lizard guys were intelligent," Scott said after they took a few moments to take it all in.
"She also said they were violent and would probably kill us," Faith pointed out and he nodded, conceding her point.
"So we need to be careful. And if we encounter one of these things, Scott, you shrink down and go get the Stone. Faith and I'll handle these guys," Bucky ordered.
K'un-Lun
Hope, having shrunken down to her Wasp form, was flying through the city, going up to one of the highest towers in the city as she traced the stone.
"It's definitely here guys," Hope said over the Comms as she read the readings on the Radiation Detector.
Tapping her helmet, Hope activated the heat seekers in her visor. It confirmed her suspicions.
"And it's guarded by at least twelve demons," Hope announced as she stared at all the heat signatures.
"And if half the things Angel has told us about the Senior Partners are true, they won't be pushovers," Dawn noted.
"Probably not," Hope agreed.
"So what's the plan Hope?" Peter asked from where he stuck to the wall of the building, Dawn on a lower level.
"Go in there and fight real hard," Hope said sarcastically.
"I like that plan," Dawn said, picking up her broad sword.
"Me to," Peter said as he jumped down next to Dawn, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Hang on."
Peter shot out a stream of webbing, striking the corner of the tower and used it to swing up to the top. The pair of teenagers smashed through a window and landed on their feet, Peter letting go as they came face to face with several nine foot tall, black demons.
"Wow, they are bigger than I thought," Peter noted.
The demons all let out a roar before rushing the pair. Peter jumped into the air, delivering a spinning kick to one of the demons' head, sending him crashing into another demon and sending them crashing to the floor. One of the demons lunged for Dawn but she raised her sword, stabbing it through the chest. It let out a wail of pain as she yanked it out, black blood now coating it and the demon groaned as it fell to the floor. She wrinkled her nose at the blood.
"Gross," Dawn complained.
"How about we fight, then be grossed out?" Peter suggested, dodging a strike from a demon before kicking it in the abdomen.
"Sounds like a plan," Dawn grunted as she swiped at the legs of a demon with her sword.
As Peter and Dawn fought off the demons, Hope flew deeper into the room, finding what she was looking for.
The Reality Stone stood on an altar that looked similar to a display case from a museum. Hope enlarged herself to normal size as she walked towards it. Hearing a nose, she turned to see a black demon like the ones outside standing in the corner. It roared at Hope before lunging for her.
Nameless dimension
Spike, Sam and Lindsey had tracked the Soul Stone to a cave. As they entered it, they noticed it wasn't exactly empty. As they walked through, they saw various statues placed around the cave. And not just ordinary statues, but they were of angels.
"This is spooky," Lindsey muttered and for once, Spike and Sam didn't disagree.
"How did statues of angels get here?" Sam wondered out loud.
"I don't know mate. But do these statues look…odd to you?" Spike asked as he observed them.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked as he looked at Spike but Lindsey had caught on.
"Look at the detail on the statues," Lindsey said and Sam looked at them carefully. "They actually look like real people. This Dimension is supposed to be abandoned, yet these statues look brand new."
"So how are these statues in such good condition?" Sam asked as he caught on.
"I don't like this. Let's get the stone and get out," Lindsey ordered and Sam and Spike didn't disagree.
"For once, I'm with him," Spike said and Sam nodded silently, eying the statues wearily.
The trio began moving further into the cave, passing some statues on the way. Spike, who was taking up the rear, felt movement behind him. On instinct, he whirled and swung his sword but, to his shock, it was caught in the hands of one of the statues, which snarled at him.
"Bloody Hell!"
K-un-Lun
Hope launched a Pym Particle Disk at the demon, who couldn't dodge and it was shrunk down to the size of an ant. It stared up at her, snarling but Hope merely stomped her foot on it, squashing it. Hope then walked over to the Reality Stone, easily picking it up.
Peter shot a stream of webbing into the eyes of a demon, blinding it before Peter sent a flying to its head. It fell down on its back as Peter shot out another stream of webbing, this time wrapping webbing around the legs of another demon as it lunged for Dawn, causing it to fall on its face. Dawn then drove her sword down, beheading the demon. Dawn whirled around, barely dodging a strike from another demon as Peter kicked another one in the chest, sending it crashing into the wall. Hope then flew out, firing a bolt from her Stinger and hit a demon that was lunging for Dawn.
"It's time to go!" Hope shouted.
"Don't need to tell us twice," Peter said as his and Dawn's Quantum Suits appeared around their bodies.
The remaining demons snarled at them but blinked in confusion as the trio vanished from the room.
Nameless dimension
"Duck!" Sam shouted.
Spike dropped to the ground as Sam threw his shield. The shield struck the statue in the chest, causing it to bounce back as the shield flew back to Sam. Sam caught it as Spike sent a knick to the statue's chest, causing it to double back in pain, releasing Spike's sword. He caught it, striking the statue in the chest with it. It didn't cut through the stone but it seemed to cause the statue pain. Spike jumped back, standing next to Sam and Lindsey as they watched as all the statues seemed to come to life, snarling at them.
"Well I think we know why this dimension is abandoned," Lindsey noted.
"Because these things wiped out whatever was here before," Sam said darkly and Lindsey nodded.
"So what do we do Cap?" Lindsey asked Sam, who narrowed his eyes.
"We fight."
Sam threw the shield again as Spike and Lindsey rushed the statues, each whirling their swords.
Erimos
Scott, Bucky and Faith stealthily made their way down the side of the city. Honestly, maybe they should have brought climbing equipment.
"Okay," Scott said once they reached the bottom, checking the radiation detector. "The stone is about a mile east from here."
"Let's just hope we don't run into any of these lizards," Bucky said.
They rounded the corner, stopping as they can face to face with some humanoid lizard creatures, all wielding weapons.
"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Scott grumbled to Bucky.
"Halt human scum! You are not welcome here!" One of them snarled, pointing what looked like a spear at them.
"Trust me; we don't like being here anymore than you want us here. But you've got something we need," Faith said flippantly.
"You're not helping," Bucky told her before looking over at Scott.
Scott gave a barely visible nod before pressing the button on his belt, shrinking down. As the Lizard warriors looked around in bewilderment, Bucky and Faith struck. Faster than they could blink, Bucky was on one, snatching the spear and crushing it in two with his robotic arm. Faith on the other hand tackled one, striking them in the fire with her fist. Although surprised, the creatures quickly recovered, attacking Bucky and Faith with beyond human strength.
And while all this was going on, Scott was running in behind them in his Ant-Man form, seeing, of all things, a flea flying near him. Apparently the fleas here were capable of flight.
Getting an idea, Scott held a hand to his helmet, concentrating. And sure enough, the flea was similar enough to an ant that it flew over, allowing him to get on. Scott jumped on and the flea took off, heading in the direction of the stone.
Nameless Dimension
Spike and Lindsey swung their swords, each striking a statue but this only seemed to anger them, as they snarled. Spike ducked as one lunged for him before punching it. The statue stumbled back but this seemed to be the only affect.
A statue lunged for Sam, who used his shield to block the blows. Sam stumbled back before activating his wings, flying slightly into the air. Sam then thrust his shield into the neck of the statue before activating his jetpack. Sam managed to push the statue back until it slammed against a wall of the cave. It struggled as Sam pushed against the stone with the shield, using the momentum of the jetpack. After a few moments, he heard the cracking of stone before his shield went right through the neck, separating the body from the head. Sam, out of the breath, took the shield out of the wall as he heard movement behind him. As he turned around to face more statues, Sam saw something behind them.
In an opening in the wall, hidden from view by shadows, laid a glowing orange rock.
The Soul Stone.
"Spike, Lindsey, Turn left then look right," Sam shouted.
Spike and Lindsey were standing back to back as they stood surrounded by the statues. Spike looked over, spotting the stone easily with his enhanced eyes.
"Great, we know where it is. And I'm sure our new friends will just stand aside and let us get it," Spike said sarcastically.
"I have an idea," Lindsey said after a moment. "Make a way out and then run like Hell."
"Why? What are you gonna do?" Spike wondered.
"Just go," Lindsey said.
Spike spared Lindsey a backwards glance before rushing towards the statues. He punched a statue, grabbed onto to it and used it as a stepping stone. Spike jumped into the air and the statues heard something fall to the ground. They looked down, seeing a grenade. Lindsey smirked, dangling the clip in his hand before it went off, creating an explosion that rocked the entire cave.
Erimos
Faith slugged a Lizard warrior in the abdomen repeatedly and it stumbled back. Sensing movement behind her, Faith whirled around, catching a spear as another one attempted to attack her. They struggled with it before Faith whirled around; throwing the Lizard Warrior into the one she had been fighting moments earlier. In the process, she had disarmed them of their weapon. Spinning it like a baton, she aimed it at them.
"You wanna dance?" she challenged.
Bucky grabbed one by the neck, tossing it aside before whirling around, using his robotic arm to catch a four foot long tongue that nearly struck him in the back. Bucky then yanked on it, pulling the surprised Lizard Warrior forward and swinging it into the two Faith had just fought.
"Thanks babe," Faith said cheekily.
"No problem dear," Bucky joked as they saw more Lizard warriors arrive. "I hope Scott's having more fun than we are."
Scott flew on the flea as he tracked the stone. Seeing a small stone house, Scott looked down at the Radiation Detector, making sure the signal was right. But the stone was definitely in there, so Scott directed the flea to fly in through a window. Once inside, Scott jump off the flea and enlarged himself.
As he stepped into the room, Scott almost immediately spotted the Power Stone. It was held on some kind of altar, suspended in air by some kind of gravity field. Scott approached it curiously when-
"Human scum."
Scott whirled around. So focused on getting the stone, he'd overlooked the guard standing in the doorway. Rookie mistake.
"Hey. Look, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be taking that," Scott apologized.
"You shall not touch the treasure," the guard sneered, the expression looking odd on his scaly face.
"I know, you're not gonna let me. So I'm sorry about this," Scott said as he pulled out a Pym Particle Disk.
Scott tossed it to the guard, who easily caught it. However, by catching it he activated it and shrunk down to the size Scott had been moments earlier. As the guard tried to figure out what just happened, Scott turned back to the stone.
It was definitely some kind of technology, Scott noted as he examined the altar; which he now realized was some kind of display. Gingerly poking a finger in the gravity field, Scott noted there was nothing dangerous about the it. So he pulled out the two halves of the device Shuri had built for the Power Stone, reaching it and capturing the stone by placing them together.
Faith and Bucky were a little tired as they stood in a pile of the unconscious Lizard creatures. They could hear more approaching when Scott's voice came over the Comms.
"I've got the Power Stone, I'm heading back now," Scott said.
"Good job Ant-Man. When we get back, I might just kiss you," Faith joked.
"I think Hope might have a problem with that."
"Hey, she can join in," Faith joked and there was a beat.
"I don't know how to respond to that, so I'm just gonna go," Scott said and cut the call.
"I think you broke him," Bucky joked as their Quantum Suits appeared.
"Wouldn't be fun if I didn't," Faith said, sarcastically waving at the newly arrived Lizard warriors. "It's been fun, but we have somewhere more important to be."
Bucky and Faith then vanished as they returned to the Quantum Realm, leaving the Lizard Warriors staring in confusion.
Nameless Dimension
Dazed, Sam pulled himself to his feet, coughing against the smoke. The blast had apparently taken out all the statues, but Sam couldn't see Spike or Lindsey through the smoke.
"Spike, Lindsey? You two alright?" he called out.
"I'm here," Spike said as he stepped into few, a little ruffled but otherwise unharmed. "Don't see how Lindsey can be though. He was right in the middle of the explosion."
"Shows how little you know," Sam and Spike whirled around in shock as Lindsey stepped into view with a smirk, not a scratch on him.
"How-" Sam started in shock and Lindsey pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo, similar to the ones he'd worn to avoid detection at Wolfram and Hart.
"To make something complicated simple, this little thing protects me from explosions. Now, can we get the stone?" Lindsey asked.
Spike and Sam exchanged a dark look before waving their way through the smoke which, thankfully, was beginning to thin. After a few moments of searching, Sam found the opening in the wall. Sam reached inside, pulling out the Soul Stone as they all took a look at it.
"Strange, isn't it? That we risked our lives for something so little," Spike noted as he walked away from Sam after taking a look at the stone.
"Well that's why we need to get back, right? Join up with the rest of the team to pull this off," Lindsey said before pausing. "Huh. That's weird."
"What? You see something?" Spike asked as he looked around, gripping his sword tightly.
"No. I mean me sayin' 'team' and meaning it. Kind of like the feeling," Lindsey admitted.
"For now," Spike said darkly.
"Well, we'll see how tomorrow goes," Lindsey said with a shrug, not noticing Spike behind him.
"No, you won't."
Before Lindsey could react, Spike suddenly drove his sword through Lindsey's chest. Sam whirled around, staring in shock as Lindsey stared down at the sword, seeming more shocked than in pain.
"Angel sends his regards," Spike sneered before yanking the sword out.
"You kill me?" Lindsey gasped as he fell to his knees, blood seeping from his wound. "No. I'm just-Angel kills me. You-you just-Angel…"
Lindsey fell face first onto the ground and Spike heard him take his last breath. He looked back up at Sam, who seemed more shocked than anything else.
"Time to go," Spike said, tossing the bloodstained sword down to the ground next to Lindsey.
Sam looked back at Lindsey a moment before nodding. Picking his shield up off the ground, Sam was silent as his and Spike's Quantum Suits appeared around them before they vanished from the cave.
Lindsey absolutely should have been killed at the end of show; he was too much of a wildcard to be trusted. My issue is that Lorne should not have been the one to do it. Personally, I would have had Spike do it. It's pretty much the biggest FU Angel could give Lindsey. He'd be killed by the vampire with a soul, just not the one he spent all that time obsessed with because Angel had bigger priorities.
It's also kind of poetic justice given Lindsey's past manipulations of Spike.
Next chapter will finish up the Heist and then some, so stay tuned.