Reticence Saga

Severed Web

Chapter 26: Race the Devil

"Well, folks, in case you haven't taken a good look at the sky lately, we've got a giant alien warship hovering over our heads. What does it mean for us? To me, it looks like we've got a 50/50 chance of either invasion or planetary destruction. And I wouldn't be surprised if these aliens are here because Spider-Man did some stupid thing to tick them all off."

Chole glared, drying her hair at the feed from the Jameson. The first thing she'd done was to go to the ship and get some things from her room, and a shower. She'd expected the first attacks to come from Jameson and was waiting patiently for Fury to go into rant mode next. The Bladestorm wasn't exactly subtle.

Chip walked in and said, "Say, Chloe, have you heard of an organization named SWORD?"

"You mean SHIELD?" asked Chloe.

"No, SWORD. Aria says one of their ships is closing on us," said Chip.

Chloe sighed. With Matt still planetside, that made her the superior officer. "Put them on," she sighed.

An image of a stern-looking woman with bright green hair and matching sunglasses appeared on the monitor. "Attention alien space vessel," she said, "This is Director Abigail Brand of the Sentient World Observation and Response Department. Identify yourself and state your intentions."

"Look, I've been trapped in New York for 2 months. I've been irradiated and turned into a pterodactyl. I have EARNT some peace and quiet!" snapped Chloe, her eyes glowing green before Chip pushed her aside.

"Hi...Miss Brand, was it? My name is Chip. We're juuuust here to pick up Miss Roph so she can have the evil controlling her removed and..." he said cheerfully, before looking at the orders from Matt written on a post-it "-fired into the nearest sun."

"I repeat, identify yourselves," said Director Brand.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "I'm Moonshock, previously known as Dakota and Gamma Wolf. Surely Fury's kept a file on us and passed it on to you."

"Is there a reason you've parked a ship the size of several city blocks near Earth?" said Director Brand icily.

"It's our main ship, which took a considerably longer time to catch up with us than we anticipated," said Chloe, giving Chip a dirty look.

"Hey, we had to deal with Kree and Skrulls on the way here," said Chip, "It was not an easy trip."

"Yes, we'll be discussing that," snarled Chloe, her hair getting a few blonde stripes.

Director Brand was apparently looking through some data before saying, "Fury confirms your identities. But you neglected to mention previously the scale of your ship."

"Nobody asked," said Chloe stubbornly

"You could have informed us and saved everyone a nasty scare," said Director Brand.

"Jameson still would have spun it to sound like we were invaders," said Chloe in annoyance. Brand didn't really have an answer to that, before Chloe continued, "When can we expect Megan?"

"That may be some time," said Chip, "Her 'Lady NegaMorph' persona is proving to be a hard nut to crack." Chloe turned to glower at Chip. "Well, she's had a few extra years to bake herself in," said Chip.

"And you were going to tell me WHEN?!" snapped Chloe, her eye twitching as the blonde colour spread.

"Hey, I'm just catching up on what's been going on," said Chip, "But it looks like we may be here a little longer. As such, you should know that the Constructicons have taken up a side job while we're here."

Chloe snapped, "I DON'T GIVE A SMEG!"

Chip slid back an inch before he said to Brand, "Can you call back later?" looking back to see Chloe, off screen was in gamma wolf form, "I think I'm about to be panel beaten."

"Uh, yes, we can speak later," said Brand.

Chip smiled nervously before hanging up just before he was grabbed.


Matt, meanwhile, was overseeing some troops from the ship as they stripped any tech out of the coffee shop bunker. Nothing was being left behind. It was very clear that this outpost has become too compromised to remain here. And there were a few things too advanced even for this Earth.

"Ok...finish unpacking that reactor and wiping the hard drives," he said to a tech before heading up to the store front and out into the street, rubbing his temples. The longer a Virk personality has remained dominant, the harder it is to suppress. And Lady NegaMorph has been at the helm for about three years here.

Gary was with her, Megan currently occupying a cell at the Triskelion. However, for Matt, there was the horrible feeling, to him that it might be too late. The Megan they knew would never have mutated his local self into the bird things, wherever Autumbra and Iceshaide had gotten to.

Akhlut has also disappeared, though there was no telling if he went with them. At least Taurus and Manticora were back to their proper minds, though it would still take years for them to recover from what was done to them.

That reminded him...he had to convince Fury to let them take Megan, and to go easy on Manticora. But right now, it was looking bleak with Megan. He wasn't sure if even the Guardians back on Avalar could bring her back.

His wristcomp beeped at that. "Reminder...meeting with Director Fury and visits to Megan Roph and Manticora..." it said.

Matt sighed and changed to anthro form, looking at one of his men. "Finish up here. I have to be somewhere else," he ordered.


Nick Fury had a pretty grim look on his face when Lazard came in. "You're not still sore about that unannounced arrival, are you?" asked Lazard.

"You could have warned me your ride was as big as Sword's Peak station," said Fury.

"How comes I haven't seen Sword's Peak before? Or SWORD in general?" asked Lazard.

"SWORD exists to deal with extraterrestrial threats, as well as collecting information and exploration of other worlds," said Fury.

"Nice to see one Earth that doesn't try to wait till the hostile aliens are kicking in the door," said Matt.

"But that's not the topic we have to discuss," said Fury.

"I know that tone," sighed Lazard.

"You realize I can't just simply release a criminal into someone's custody," said Fury, "And Lady NegaMorph has racked up a lot of crimes."

"Her uncle will rip a hole in the Triskelion to get her out," warned Lazard.

"Listen, Matt, I've seen many super villains. I can get a bead out of who's most capable of redemption. And Lady NegaMorph doesn't seem likely at all," said Fury.

"And we need her. There's a mutagenic plague back home. She was on an expedition to find a cure when she got stuck like that. We have specialists back home for this...and we need the information in her head if it's there," sighed Lazard.

"I don't think she's likely to cooperate," said Fury.

"I'll decide that. We also have the correct containment for her. She may be playing nice but I've got my own share of villains. She's waiting," said Lazard.

"Waiting for what?" asked Fury.

"That's what I'd like to know," said Lazard.


Lady NegaMorph was fuming. She'd been caught, thrown in a SHIELD cell with a set of floodlights preventing her from using her shadows to port out...and she was opposite that traitor, Manticora who seemed to enjoy rubbing it in.

"You only have yourself to blame," said Manticora, "I told you messing with Wakanda was a bad idea."

"Shut it!" snapped Lady Nega, trying a shadow bolt only for the lights to blaze on, extinguishing her magic.

"You'll never make parole with that attitude," said Manticora.

The sound of footsteps was heard at that, Lady Nega smirking and shifting to Megan's form as Matt came into view, with several troopers from the ship. "Manticora," he said calmly, before looking at Lady Nega.

"Lazard," said Manticora, a little uncomfortably.

"Matthew. My name is Matthew," said Matt, before looking at Lady Nega. "Drop the act, I may be capable of being tricked but that wouldn't even fool Morph," he snapped.

"Matt, you have to let me out before she takes over again," said 'Megan' desperately.

"I'll give this to Wakandan power armor..." said Matt, walking over to the controls before glaring at Lady Nega, so only his glowing eyes were visible. "They've got a really sensitive lie detector," before he stepped back again.

"You don't even know how that thing works," snapped Lady Nega.

"I know...but that outburst worked so well," smirked Matt, looking over at Manticora. "Now what about you?" he said.

"Hey, I warned you about her insane plan and turned myself in," said Manticora, "Doesn't that count for something?"

"It does," said Matt, checking a readout, "Chip and my ship's AI could probably cure Megan's mad science on you if you want."

"Ha! She already missed her train there!" said Lady Nega, "It's hard-set by now and irreversible!" Manticora stared in horror, eyes wide at that, Matt's look darkening at that.

"I promise you we'll do all we can for you," said Matt before turning towards Lady Nega, "But as for you..."

"What about me?" sneered Lady Nega.

"If we can't get rid of you out of Megan's body, I'm sure Megan won't mind if we dump you on Nirn for the rest of your natural life," Matt snarled darkly.

"You'd never do something that extreme," said Lady Nega.

"It's that or I hand you over to the Combine...and genetic weaponry is a capital offense everywhere in Nullspace," said Matt.

"Wait, who all have you told?" asked Lady Nega with genuine concern.

"Nobody, yet." said Matt darkly.

"Then let's try to keep it that way," said Lady Nega.

"You better relinquish control now," said Matt as he turned to leave, "Because you'll get a lot less gentle treatment on Avalar."

"Oh please, I'll be out of here in no time," sneered Lady Nega.

Matt looked at the guards. "Keep an eye on her. Any SHIELD goons object, tell them to object to me. These cells tend to have revolving doors," he ordered.

Matt walked out of the detention level, only to find Gary standing right outside. "How long have you been waiting there?" asked Matt.

"Enough...you think ma'cherie is that far gone?" said Gary gloomily.

"It's pretty bad," said Matt, "She's done quite enough to warrant more drastic measures."

"But Kala was with the Virks for a time, but you saved her," protested Gary.

"Kai was in control for a month or two at most. You and Megan were here for years. Lady NegaMorph's had time to bake herself in."

"But it's not hopeless, is it?" asked Gary.

"I...I don't know...I really don't," said Matt sadly.

Gary sighed. "I need some clean air..." he said sadly before walking away.


Lady Nega glared as they left before managing to get a small device out of her shadow, turning the small communicator on and whispering, "Pick up...pick up."

She shot a furtive glance at Manticora, who appeared to be reading. If only she could deafen her ears for a few minutes.

A voice came over the comm, happily on reduced volume, "Miss NegaMorph. I thought we told you to only use this for an emergency?"

"This is an emergency," hissed Lady Nega, "A really big one. I'm in enemy hands right now."

"Oh please, SHIELD are nobodies. Serve your time," said the voice with amusement.

"You think I'd be calling if it was just SHIELD? Lynch has got me locked and he's planning on carting me offworld," snapped Lady Nega.

There was a pause at that. "That is different. We can't have the NSC interrogating you...or those separatists of theirs. I'll send a team to...take care of you. Stay where you are," said the voice.


Retilk, a Consortium splitter, looked up at Tenebra on another video link. "This could be a problem," he said calmly after cutting the connection to Lady Nega.

"I don't see why. She hasn't come close to developing a cure," said Tenebra.

"That we know of. I've seen some of the results of her tests. She's smart...smart enough to work out a counter-virus," said Retilk sternly, adding, "Your godfather is no doubt planning to take her back to Avalar too. Once that's done, you run the risk of them fixing her."

Tenebra frowned and said, "Even if she can't make that cure, she would be a very considerable force on their side. She's almost Ekta-level powerful."

"Shall I send one of my special teams? The dead are rarely a problem after all," said Retilk.

"You may, but my godfather is off-limits," said Tenebra.

Retilk rolled his eyes. "Take a lesson that my rival, Romanov, never learnt. Don't obsess over Lynch. It'll be your downfall," he sighed.

"I am not obsessed over him," said Tenebra.

"Well, not the same way," said Retlik, "He wanted Lynch's head on a plate. You want Lynch's head at your-"

"Get...your...squad...ready..." snarled Tenebra.

Retilk smirked, "Not yet...we still have the price to discuss."


Gary headed for Central Park. It was a lovely day and should have helped him clear his head, but he also saw a lot of couples in the park. He sighed to himself as he sat on a bench. He knew the real Megan was still there. Zola's synthezoid proved it, even if it was a horrible yank at Gary's heart. He couldn't possibly imagine if they had to lock up Lady Nega forever.

He sat down on a bench with a sigh, looking around before muttering "I'd give anything to have ma'cherie back."

As he was gazing at his feet, he felt an unexpected chill, which seemed out of place on a sunny day like this. Then he heard the sound of someone walking down the path, with the click of a stick. "You look troubled, young man," said a smooth voice. Gary looked up to see a man with a black suit with a black overcoat, which ought to be sweltering. He carried a silver cane and had slicked-back hair. In a way, he reminded Gary of Norman Osborn.

"Can I help you?" Gary asked carefully.

"Actually, it's I who can help you," said the man. With a flick of the wrist, a card appeared in his other hand, "My card."

Gary took a look at the card, "Mr. Pheles?" asked Gary, "Is that Greek?"

"Why yes," said the man, "In fact, 'Pheles' means 'loving' and I'm well-acquainted with matters of love."

Gary rolled his eyes. "I have a girlfriend...she's...just unwell at the moment." he said

"Perhaps I can help with that," said Mr. Pheles.

Unseen by Gary, a guy was walking his French bulldog up the path. However, when the bulldog spotted Mr. Pheles, it froze. It whimpered, backing up with as much of its tail between its legs as it could before turning and running, dragging its owner behind it.

"I do not know. I do not think you are the sort to work miracles," sighed Gary.

Mr. Pheles chuckled and said, "Oh, I wouldn't call them miracles. More like...wishes."

Gary paused, raising an eyebrow, "That is not funny."

"Well, I suppose you have little to laugh about right now," said Mr. Pheles, "Isn't your girlfriend facing the hangman's noose?"

"What?! No!" snapped Gary.

"Ah, well, she might not make it that far anyways," said Mr. Pheles.

Gary jumped to his feet at that. "I don't need to hear-" he snapped.

"Just a moment," said Mr. Pheles, "You won't be able to save her that way so easily. She's too steeped in darkness for the light to shine out. But wouldn't it be easier for all if that darkness was gone?"

Gary paused, before spinning, transforming to his gargoyle form and lifting Mr. Pheles to his beak. "Ok...how do you know this?" he snarled, his eyes white.

"I see many things unseen," said Mr. Pheles with complete relaxation, "And what I see for you dear sweetheart is a very short future."

"Talk," snarled Gary.

"You're aware of her business partners," said Mr. Pheles, "The ones who gave her such...exotic supplies."

"You work for them?" snapped Gary.

Mr. Pheles said calmly, "I'm more of a...business rival. Now I'm sure you realize their transactions are a bit outside of the law. Do you think they would want other people to know about them in detail?"

"Then how do you-" began Gary.

Mr. Pheles said "You really think my associates like witnesses?" Gary let go in horror before taking off. Mr. Pheles watched Gary fly off with a smirk. "Rook takes knight," he said to himself.


Chris yawned, looking at the Bladestorm's scanners. Not that they expected trouble. This was Combine space and the Kree had already learnt to keep clear. "Warning...gravimetric signatures detected at mid range marker...confirmed...rip engine signatures...class 5."

"Ok, that's odd," muttered Chris, "We didn't send for anyone."

"Vessels emerging...Raptor class heavy cruisers...no registry," said the computer.

That certainly rang a few alarm bells. Chris decided to call Matt before the actual alarms started ringing.

"Alert...incoming photon missiles." before the ship shook.

"Are they insane? Aria, code red!" snapped Chris.


The first two cruisers to sweep by vanished in fireballs as they caught full broadsides from Matt's ship, the others splitting up to harass the far larger vessel, all except one that blazed past and headed for Earth.

Chris's warning wouldn't be reaching Matt soon, not with the cruisers' attacks disrupting communications. The cruiser didn't bother trying to land, it would run the risk of the local heroes, instead disgorging several pods towards where its target was.


The Triskelion's alarms were already going. Sword's Peak had already alerted SHIELD about the incoming assault. Their trajectory was unmistakably the Triskelion. "Somedays, I wish we still had the Tricarrier," said Spider-Man, "At least that's a moving target instead of a stationary one."

Matt ran past. "The hell's going on?" he yelled over the alarms.

"We're being invaded," said Spider-Man.

"Oh, who this time? Chitauri? Skrulls? Nobody better blame me if it's the Kree," said Matt.

A second later, a green pod smashed through the roof, the hatch opening to let a winged reptilian out. "Splitters?" yelped Matt, the splitter opening fire with a rifle that blew plate-sized chunks out of the walls.

NegaMorph came through a door and asked, "Did I hear someone say-"

A blast hit him in the head at that, as two more splitters climbed out the pod. "Spread out!" yelled the leader, its face and voice distorted by a helmet before some webbing hit its arm and it looked over at Spider-Man.

"Do you have a reservation?" asked Spider-Man.

The splitter chuckled before grabbing the webbing and pulling. Of course, Spider-Man has long since learned how to roll with the punches. As well as use one's yanking the thread to his advantage. Because that extra momentum added to the kick.

Kicking the splitter however was more like hitting a brick wall. "Huh...that tickled," sneered the splitter, aiming a palm that crackled with electricity before there was a boom and suddenly its head was gone, an orange line spreading from the hit and reducing the body to ash. "No pulling the punches!" yelled Matt, aiming his rifle again.

"Uh, any idea who the space dragons are?" asked Spider-Man.

NegaMorph regrew his head and said, "Oh please. They're not even close to that." A bolt of lightning blew him up again. "Gonna feel that in the morning." he rasped.

"Splitters..." snapped Matt, firing and forcing another to duck back.

"From our neck of the woods," said NegaMorph

"Bladestorm, this is Lynch! We need backup down here now!" Matt yelled into his communicator.

"Kinda busy right now!" snapped Chris's voice.

"We got splitter mercs down here!" yelled Matt, the splitters turning as a squad of SHIELD troopers burst in at the far end.

"And we've got splitter cruisers up here!" snapped Chris's voice.

"Who the hell are they...after? Oh God..." said Matt, paling.


Lady Nega smirked as she heard weapons fire, looking at the guards. "Sounds like trouble," she sneered, the guard snapping "Shut it, traitor."

Manticora looked upwards and asked, "What's going on?"

"My ride..." sneered Lady Nega.

The trooper snapped "I said shut the hell-" before a hail of heavy caliber rounds gunned him and his teammates down, a red-armored splitter walking into view with two in silver armor.

"Ah, just in time," said Lady NegaMorph, "Now if you could just shut off this spotlight, we can get out of here."

"There's a change of plans," said the red armored splitter, opening the door but not shutting down the lights.

"Uh, you brought your own teleporter?" asked Lady Nega.

"Your services to the Romanov family have been appreciated," said the trooper, aiming his rifle at her.

"Uh, wait a moment, can't we talk this out?" asked Lady Nega.

"No..." said the trooper before he heard one of his men screaming, clutching his face, smoke rising between the splitters' claws.

Having willingly turned herself in with the intention to reform, Manticora had been given a lower-security cell. As such, it was easier for her to break out of it.

The other trooper aimed and began firing, Manticora blurring and dodging the shots before her tail lashed out and cut the splitter's throat. The last one glared, taking aim at Lady Nega. He was going to finish the job, dammit.

But then Manticora loomed up behind him. Given her poisonous abilities, it was easy to overlook one of the manticore's greatest weapons: her triple row of teeth. Lady Nega yelped as her ex-minion used said teeth to tear the throat out of the last trooper who, like his fellows, collapsed into ash. "Nice...now turn this security-HEY!" she snapped as Manticora locked her back in.

"Sorry, but I don't trust you being on the loose," said Manticora.

"Traitor!" roared Lady Nega, hammering on the door.


Gary landed outside the Triskelion and stared in horror to see all the damage, medics helping SHIELD agents. "No, no, no," he said desperately before running for the door.

A couple of agents tried to stop him. They might as well have tried to stop the sea, Gary tossing them aside and running through the halls. While Gary was no Hulk, he was practically unstoppable. Everything in his path was thrown out of his way: foes, friends, debris, even doors that didn't open quick enough.

He finally burst into the brig, seeing three piles of ash, Manticora leaning against the wall. "Hey there, Beaky," she said.

Gary ignored her and went to Lady Nega's cell, "Ma'cherie, are you alright?"

"Oh look, another traitor," sneered Lady Nega.

"So nothing has changed," said Gary with a sigh.

"Nope...but her supplier just sent a kill squad after her. Maybe she'll be more receptive now?" said Manticora.

"When I get out of here, I'm making a rug out of you!" snapped Lady Nega.

Manticora sneered at that before she said "Gary...you ok?" noticing Gary hanging his head as he shifted back to human form.

"I just had...a bad premonition," said Gary.

"Premonition? About grouchy getting her just desserts?" said Manticora.

"I've been trying to reach my beloved's true heart for months now!" snapped Gary, "And every time I think I'm making progress, the door keeps slamming in my face. I just...I just don't know what to do anymore..."

"Hey...there's always hope," said Manticora with a toothy grin

"That's what I keep telling myself, but they're threatening to imprison her on a world without her memories," said Gary.

"Hate to say it, but what if they're right?" said Manticora, Gary glaring and storming off. Manticora turned to Lady Nega and asked, "Don't you feel the littlest bit moved?"

"Oh, Megan is. I can hear her scratching at the walls. Me? I don't care. You both betrayed me," said Lady Nega with a yawn.

"You really are the worst," said Manticora.


Gary landed in the darkened park, looking around. "Come on...where are you?" he muttered.

"If you really needed me, I could have just come to you." Gary turned to see Mr. Pheles. "Rough day?" he asked.

Gary stared before managing, "How...how did you?"

"I'm a man of many means," said Mr. Pheles, "But I think your girlfriend's dilemma is more important here."

"Why do you want to help?" snapped Gary.

"Well, I'm a bit of a sucker for romance," said Mr. Pheles, "Tales of star-crossed lovers move me."

Gary thought, envisioning Megan being sent down to that Darkrift prison world forever before he said, "What do I need to do?"

"Oh, just a little service," said Mr. Pheles, a parchment appearing in his hand. Gary opened the scroll, skimming his eyes down. "The fine print doesn't mean a thing," said Mr. Pheles quickly, "Just sign it."

Gary glared, reading further before his eyes started glowing white. "Her soul?" he snarled.

"Well, in a manner of speaking..." said Mr. Pheles.

A second later, the scroll was shoved in Mr Phele's mouth, Gary snarling, "Get stuffed, warlock."

Mr. Pheles removed the parchment from his mouth and his eyes turned yellow. "That was a costly mistake," he said, his voice getting an echo to it.

A second later, a gargoyle's fist hit him, Gary taking off, muttering swearwords in French.

Mr. Pheles watched the gargoyle fly off. His eyes were still aglow, but it was his baleful smirk which was his scariest feature.


"This is proof she'd be safer with us," snapped Matt, pointing to the feed showing the splitter attack.

"Lynch, you are aware we're not unfamiliar with alien invasions," said Fury pointedly.

"That's nice. How are you with extra-dimensional aliens?" said Matt rudely, starting to lose his temper a tad. When Nick started to pull up files, Matt quickly said, "Forget I asked."

Chris said icily, "There's also the fact that she's a Nullspace citizen and, before she went nuts, a member of our crew."

"And how can I be certain that she won't give you the slip the instant your backs are turned?" asked Fury.

"She won't. Her uncle won't give her the chance," said Matt.

"That isn't quite enough to convince me," said Fury, "Lady NegaMorph is one of the more dangerous criminals we've dealt with. She's right up there with Doctor Octopus and Taskmaster in certain regards. And your conduct doesn't assure me you'll be able to handle her."

"Then allow me to introduce the sort of villains in our hold," said Matt darkly.

Chris cleared his throat and said, "Er, Captain, perhaps this is not the best course of action to win this debate."

"Excuse me?" asked Matt in a low voice.

"We still don't know where Taelina ended up," whispered Chris.

"You mean you haven't found her yet?" hissed Matt, switching to splitter.

"You were the one wasting time being Stark's lab experiment and gadding off to Wakanda," retorted Chris, switching to splitter.

"Cause I was armorless," hissed Matt, before looking at Fury, "I request a recess."

"Fine," said Fury, "But you better drum up something more convincing."

Matt pulled Chris out into the corridor. "Get Aria, get Fenris, get everyone...FIND...TAELINA!" he snarled.

Then Gary walked up to them and asked, "Is Megan's appeal going well?"

"No," said Matt and Chris in unison.

"Fury doesn't think we're responsible enough to take Lady Nega with us," said Chris.

"And we won't look responsible until we find Taelina," said Matt.

"Who?" asked Gary.

"Didn't we introduce you?" asked Matt.

"Not that I recall," said Gary.

"Taelina, daughter of Hircine, almost brainwashed me into being her mate, currently engaged to Fenris," said Matt.

Gary seemed to be slowly processing what Matt told him, though some of it was clearly not computing. Matt sighed and said, "Look, there's a semi-divine werewolf somewhere out there and we need to find her."

Gary paused before asking, "Have you tried a locator spell?"

The other two paused before Matt grabbed Gary by the shoulders so they were eye to eye. "Why didn't you suggest that earlier?" His manic eyes suggested that Mr. Sanity was out to lunch. In cases like this, it was better to apologise or agree as the situation required. Plus there was the fact he'd pulled a New York clan type gargoyle eye to eye with apparent ease.

"You do realize that we don't really have the skill to cast such complicated magic," said Chris.

"What are you talking about? It's just a simple clairvoyance spell," said Matt.

"We need a wizard..." said Chris before looking at Gary, "Anyway, where were you?"

"Trying to get some help for Megan," said Gary, "It didn't pan out."

"Anything we should be worried about?" asked Chris.

"I don't think so," said Gary, "I showed him where to shove his offer."

"Good for-what offer?" said Matt, his mental alarm bells starting to gently tinkle.

"Oh, he offered to help out Megan, but he wanted her soul," said Gary.

Matt and Chris stared at that. "Oookay...well done. We're leaving tomorrow," said Matt finally.


"I wonder why Megan never took us here," said Gary as he, Matt, and Chris walked through Greenwich.

"Because she'd know better than to mess with the Sorcerer Supreme," said Matt.

Gary paused at that, "Good point." as they looked around.

"Ok...so...what's his zip code?" Matt said

"Uh...I'm not quite sure..." said Chris.

"Wait a moment," said Matt before narrowing his eyes and looking through the corners, "Oh, there it is."

"How the hell?" snapped Chris as Matt headed for a random house and knocked on the door.

As Gary and Chris approached, they could see the gargoyles outside the door and the peculiar large window on the top floor. But as they were walking up the steps, the gargoyles let out an angry hiss. "Yeah, not impressed. Is the doctor in?" asked Matt, knocking on the door again.

The door opened up at that. Gary looked inside at the corridor with its long red carpet, several podiums with mystic artifacts on them, and eye-catching wallpaper. "Fancy," he said.

Matt called "Doctor Strange?"

Chris winced. "Subtlety much?" he hissed.

"No time. If we don't show Taelina off, Megan's a permanent inmate of SHIELD," Matt snapped.

They walked into the main hall. Gary looked around in appreciation. "Very impressive," he said, "I wouldn't mind working in a place like this."

"I have a bit too much help right now, actually." Doctor Strange came through one door and said, "I've been expecting you."

"Oh thank God. We need help finding Taelina," said Chris.

"Finding?" asked Doctor Strange.

"Yeah, we kinda-" started Matt. "You're here!" cried a familiar voice. The three guys turned to see Taelina rush into the room, wearing a maid's uniform. She immediately grabbed Matt in a bear hug. "You finally came for me. I was this far from snapping," she gibbered, Matt noticing the nervous twitch.

"Yes...we...were..." he said carefully, making the universal hand wave behind him to play along.

"Oh, this is where she ended up?" asked Chris.

"You didn't know?" asked Doctor Strange.

"Well, funny thing, we were coming to see you to ask for your help in finding her," said Gary.

Matt and Chris facepalmed as Taelina paused. "You weren't looking for me?" she said darkly.

"Thanks, Gary...you're on bathroom cleaning duty for the rest of the year if we live through this," growled Chris.

"Oh, they have been looking for you," said Gary.

"How long?" asked Taelina.

"Uh...since this morning," said Gary.

Matt whimpered as Taelina snarled and began to squeeze him, gasping, "Two...years..."

"Uh, well, since we've found her, I guess our business is concluded, so I guess we'll be showing-" started Chris before Taelina grabbed him. "Mercy," whimpered Chris.

Matt staggered over to Doctor Strange as Taelina tore her maid outfit off to reveal her armor and more important, daggers underneath. "What the heck did you do to her?" he said weakly, wincing as there was a snapping noise.

"I tried to teach her self-control and decorum," said Doctor Strange, "But clearly they didn't stick."

"She is the daughter of a hunting god," said Matt conversationally, before he called, "Don't get too close, Gary. She might get you-oooh too late." as Taelina jumped at Gary next. "Well we can't take her to Fury like this. She could be like this for ages," Matt said as Gary fell at their feet and, despite digging his claws in, was dragged back into the melee.

"Er, Doc, you wouldn't happen to know any calming spells, would you?" asked Chris.

"I believe so but they will just send her to sleep," said Strange.

Matt sighed. "Remember me," he said, before walking towards Taelina, standing over Chris and Gary who had matching spiralling eyes. "Taelina, I'm sorry we didn't come looking for you," he said carefully.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN IN HERE?!" snapped Taelina.

Matt thought. The last time he'd seen her was during the Mysterio thing. "A few days?" he asked carefully.

"Well, you'd know better because time has no meaning in this madhouse!" snapped Taelina.

"Come on. I'm sorry. If I'd known you were here, I'd have come. We thought you'd ported back to the ship," said Matt, taking a step forward carefully.

Taelina slapped Matt and snapped, "Did you even try to see where I was? Or were you too busy running around with your friends?"

Matt staggered back, his nose bleeding. "Ow...look...we're ready to go. We just need to convince the locals to let us take Megan and then you and Fenris can have the run of the agri-deck for a month," he managed, wiping his nose.

Taelina glared at Matt before saying, "No interruptions. Anyone who comes in is fair game, literally."

"I'll lock and soundproof the door myself," said Matt, adding "But no destroying the farmer drones when they harvest for the ship's food supply...deal?"

Taelina gave a long sigh before saying, "This isn't over. I'll have a talk with your bullheaded sister later."

"Deal. Doctor Strange? Can I have my crewmember back?" Matt asked, shaking Taelina's hand in agreement.

"Take her," said Doctor Strange, "I'm hoping something of what I taught her will remain."

Taelina laughed, "Yes...it's 'never try to clean a house with more than 3 dimensions'."

Doctor Strange sighed before saying, "Well, at least I can see you out intact." With a wave of his hand, all the damage to the guys' clothes and bodies were healed.

"Not bad. No wonder you're called Doctor Strange," said Chris.

Gary looked down at his hand before saying, "Didn't get everything."

"Something wrong?" asked Doctor Strange. "I've still got this," said Gary, holding up his index finger to show there was a papercut on it.

Strange peered at it. "Strange...my spell should have easily healed that," he muttered. He held Gary's hand and peered carefully at the cut. He frowned and asked, "What did you cut this on? Was it one of my books?"

"I haven't touched them yet," said Gary, "But I think it was from when I shoved that warlock's contract into his mouth."

"Warlock?" asked Strange.

Matt nodded, "Yeah...some joker tried the 'sell your soul' contract on Gary."

"Describe this man," said Doctor Strange.

"Uh...dressed all in black, slicked-back hair, and he had a silver cane," said Gary.

"Did the cane look like this?" asked Strange, making an image of a cane appear.

"Uh, yes," said Gary, "Funny, I never paid much attention to the skull on the top."

Doctor Strange said urgently at that, "And his name?"

"Mr. Pheles," said Gary.

Doctor Strange sighed and said, "I was afraid of that. The man you encountered was the favorite mortal guise of Mephisto."

"Who?" asked Chris

"One of the most powerful and evilest demons to walk the earth," said Doctor Strange, "And if Gary cut his finger on his contract, it means he signed it with his blood."

"Gary? Did you not read the fine print?" said Matt in the sort of tone you'd imagine a volcano would make before it erupts and makes the lives of the local villagers really interesting.

Gary didn't appear to hear Matt, his face having gone totally ashen. "I sold my soul to the Devil himself?" he asked weakly.

"Well, Mephisto isn't the Devil.," said Strange, "There are many infernal forces that have a strong claim to that title. But he is one of the greatest demon lords in the netherworld."

"I sold my soul..." whimpered Gary again.

Taelina walked over. "Souls are overrated, trust me." she said, before Chris pulled her away.

"Gary, listen to me. What did he try to bargain with you?" asked Strange.

"He...he offered to help Megan. To take out the darkness so her real self could some out..." said Gary.

Matt pulled out his comm. "Draco...you there? Go check on Megan..." he said into it.

"So he sold his soul to protect his love and signed unwittingly," said Strange, "Yes, this is good. That puts the forces of good on his side and gives us some leeway to win his freedom back."

"Great. We just gotta beat up the bloody devil!" snapped Matt, before his comm buzzed. "What's the news on Megan?" he snapped into it.

"She's doing...very well actually," said Draco.

"How so?" asked Matt carefully before yelping as Gary grabbed his comm, which was attached to his mech arm and snapped "Put her on, Draco."

"Gary, is that you?" asked Megan's voice, sounding a lot more pleasant than last time.

"Ma'cherie...is that really you?" said Gary in a small voice.

"Yes it is. The other one...she's completely silent now. I don't know what you did, but thank you," said Megan, her voice raw with relief and gratitude.

"Ok, we're leaving. Let Mephisto track us in another universe," snapped Matt.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," said Strange, "Gary is bound to him now. As long as Mephisto has claim on him, Gary can not leave this world."

"Let's test the theory," snarled Matt, looking at Gary before snapping into his comm, "Bladestorm, I want a Pelican down here now!"

"It won't work." warned Strange.

Matt glared, "I'm not leaving anyone behind."

"You are dealing with powers beyond mortal command," said Doctor Strange.

"C'mon, you're Sorcerer Supreme, you handle that kind of power all the time," said Matt.

"Dropships in the street," said Chris.

"Yeah, bet your devil never had to deal with space travelers before," said Matt as they headed for the entrance.

Taelina sighed, before following, "You'll find he might." as Gary was dragged outside and towards an idling dropship, a load of New Yorkers watching in confusion.

"Ok, let's go!" yelled one of the crew.

"Ok, we get on this ship, we fly you straight to the Bladestorm, we pick up Megan, then we put a cosmos between you and that soul-dealer," said Matt, "Get on."

Gary walked up to the Pelican before he could walk onto the ramp, he stopped. "I can't," he said with a frown.

Matt blinked. "Really? We really are gonna get Megan if I have to drop a MAC round on the Triskelion. Come on!" he snapped, pushing against Gary.

"Really, I can't," said Gary.

"Stop fooling around," said Matt before trying to pick Gary up. After a minute, he transformed to dragon form and tried to pull, lifting him up. "Gary, unclench your feet!" snapped Matt.

"I'm not!" cried Gary.

"Fine, we'll just take a bit of road to go," said Matt before smashing the street.

A second later, one of Gary's feet glowed and shot down to the earth below, talons digging in...and a second later, Matt faceplanted into the ground. "Ok...challenge accepted," he said in a muffled voice.

"Matt, I don't think I can leave," said Gary.

"Well, I'm not giving up that easily," said Matt before getting on the comm, "Chip, where are your construction workers? What do you mean they took up a job?"

On cue, a rumble was heard, several yellow trucks and construction vehicles coming into view. "Damage control," Matt muttered before saying "What do you mean 'how did I GUESS'?" he snapped, accidentally crushing the com.

A cement truck/bulldozer pulled up and a voice called, "Ok, we got a call about some nutjob tearing up the street..." The speaker paused when they saw Matt. "Oh, of course it'd be you," he said flatly.

"I'm trying to unglue a crewmate from the ground," said Matt, looking to where one of the Pelican crew was using a laser cutter.

"Here, let me," said the excavator before extending the scoop.

Gary yelped and screamed "NOOOOO!" in terror, envisioning himself with a pegleg.

Matt looked at the vehicle before calmly pulling out his blaster. "Oh...go robot form or I eject your oil stores into a black hole," he said, ignoring the panic.

The excavator turned into Scrapper and said, "Fine, this may need more precision anyways." With that, he retracted his hand and extended his drill.

Gary stared before screaming in a high-pitched voice and taking off. "Way to go. Does Chip need to explain that organics need all their limbs and they are not interchangeable again?" said Matt glaring at Scrapper.

"Hey, I was gonna be careful," said Scrapper.

Chris was peering down at where Gary had been staring. "Uh, Matt, could you, perhaps, try to smash this spot?" asked Chris.

Matt looked over. "Why?" he snapped, stomping over to look.

"Well, up until right now, Gary was immoveable and this spot was indestructible," said Chris.

Matt glared before aiming his blaster and firing just as Chris noticed a pipe that said 'Flammable'. "Oh sme-" he began.


Megan looked out her cell window, a small fireball blossoming in the city. "What's going on out there?" she muttered.

Chloe, her guard, muttered, "I have no idea. Chris rambled on about Gary having trouble getting on a dropship."

"Is he not going to be here soon?" asked Megan.

"I'm sure he's on his way," said Chloe.

Manticora, back in her cell, snapped "Does nobody think it's a little weird that she's suddenly fine?"

"I think she's just trying to mess with us," said Chloe.

"I think I'm right here," said Megan sarcastically.

"Which is the only reason you're putting up this act," said Chloe flatly.

"Fine, I can get that. I think I know how you felt when Silvia was in control," said Megan gloomily.

"You're not gonna get me that easily with a sob story," said Chloe.

Megan sighed, before pausing, "Do you hear a scream?"

Chloe and Manticora tilted their heads. Their sharp hearing actually could pick up the sound of someone screaming. And it sounded like they were getting closer.

A second later, Gary flew in and into an open cell, shaking. "They want my leg...I don't want to be a pirate," he gibbered.

Chloe sighed. "Great...finally snapped...least he'll fit in more with the crew," she muttered, walking towards him.

Then Gary grabbed Chloe, lifted her up, and started shaking her. "I SOLD MY SOUL TO A DEMON LORD!" he screamed.

Chloe gibbered, "That's nice," before her eyes blazed yellow and she shifted to royal werewolf form and the places were swapped as she literally roared in his face "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" blowing Gary's hair back.

"I was worried that Lady Nega would be banished and in the park I met a creepy man in black who said he could take out her darkness. But he wanted her soul in return so I shoved his contract into his mouth. But the guy was actually the demon lord Mephisto and I cut my finger on the contract so it's signed in my blood. And now I'm bound to Earth and I can't leave with you guys because the devil owns my soul!" gibbered Gary in one breath before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Chloe looked at Megan who shrugged, before at Manticora who said, "Sounds weird enough to be true." Chloe dropped Gary and locked him in.

"So...just to be sure I heard that right; I'm back in control of myself because my boyfriend sold his soul?" asked Megan.

"Uh...I think so. I'll need to confirm it with someone more coherent," said Chloe.


A little later, the group were back at Doctor Strange's, Megan in cuffs and Gary still out cold.

"Ok, this may look bleak, but I bet there's a way out of it," said Spider-Man, "If only Daniel Webster was still alive..."

Chloe snapped, "Well he's not. We need a loophole."

"I'm afraid this deals with a power far greater than mine," said Doctor Strange.

"The forces of darkness?" asked Chloe.

"No, legal contracts," said Strange.

Megan snapped angrily, "He didn't actually sign it. It can't be legal."

"There is a certain amount of leeway that works in our favor," said Strange, "That deal was made for a selfless wish, unknowing of the consequences. However, my personal experience in these matters is only secondary."

"But you're the Sorcerer Supreme, magical master. If you're not sure..." said Megan gloomily.

"But you have to know how," said Spider-Man, "You're our only hope."

"No, Spider-Man. There is another," said Strange.

Matt snapped, "Ok...enough cryptic smeg. A straight answer. Who can help us? The life of one of my crews is at risk."

"There is one man I know of who made a deal with Mephisto, found a way out of it, and got the better of him," said Doctor Strange, "That said, he's not a man that should be approached lightly."

"Where is he?" snarled Matt, his eyes glowing in reptilian form.

"You will find him in Death Valley," said Doctor Strange.

"That's Death Valley, California, right?" asked Spider-Man.

"Who is this person?" asked Taelina calmly, who had attached herself to the group. Unsurprisingly, nobody had trusted her alone at the Triskelion

"Johnny Blaze," said Doctor Strange, "But you would know him better as the Ghost Rider."

"And if he refuses to help, I'll turn him into a real ghost." snarled Matt, stalking off.

"Your friend is an unusual dragon," commented Strange.

"How many dragons do you know that can breathe pure plasma?" asked Chloe.

"Not that," said Strange, "Most dragons seek to build up a hoard of treasure, knowledge, or livestock. But it seems his friends are his treasures and he guards them as jealously from those who would take them."

Megan smiled, "Aw...he does care."

Chloe said, "He also hoards enough firepower to blow up Jupiter...wait...is that why he's angry?"

Doctor Strange said, "I have yet to meet the dragon who tolerates thieves."


Death Valley, one of the driest deserts on the planet. It certainly earned that name when the sun was blaring down at high noon. Fortunately, Matt and his friends arrived there after sundown.

Matt himself was still in full dragon form, looking around with narrowed eyes. "Where do we find this Ghost Rider?" he said in a deep dark voice.

"According to the good doctor, he'll find us," said Chloe.

Manticora gulped. "But...me and the wolf lady used to be bad...DID YOU BRING US AS BAIT?" she snapped.

"You better get ready to repent real fast," said Spider-Man.

"You've met this guy before?" asked NegaMorph.

"Sure, we helped Hulk save the Earth from the Kree once," said Spider-Man.

Matt's horns glowed for a second before his head turned and he took off into the night without so much as a word. A second later, the sound of a motorbike was heard getting closer, Taelina drawing one of her blades.

Presently, a light could be seen coming up the road. It wasn't just a headlight though. As it got closer, it became obvious it was firelight from the flaming wheels of the motorcycle. And when it was almost upon them, they could see that cyclist's head was also a flaming skull. Even Chloe felt nervous, shifting to her own werewolf form and aiming her rifle.

The motorcycle came to a stop in front of them. The baleful glare from the fiery eye sockets fell upon them all. "There are many sinners here tonight," said the Ghost Rider, his voice coming out deep, rumbling, and demonic.

Spider-Man came forward, "Hey...it's not what you think." A shape could barely be seen circling above out of range of the light.

"Spider-Man, I remember you well," said Ghost Rider, "A true champion and protector of the innocent. But they are far from innocent. They have much to answer for."

Gary gulped, practically tasting the worry coming off the werewolves and Manticora and the terror off Megan, who he stepped in front of.

"Wait, wait, I'm sure they're all sorry for whatever they've done," said Spider-Man, "Right, guys?" Megan just stared like a deer in the headlights.

However, Taelina snapped, "I don't have to answer to you. I am not one of these weak mortals for you to judge. I am the daughter of the Lord of the Hunt!"

Ghost Rider turned his glare toward Taelina and growled, "Then this night, you shall be the one who is hunted."

"I'd love to see you try," sneered Taelina, charging even as Spider-Man called out. Ghost Rider whipped out his chain, which burst into flame as he swung it. Taelina sneered, jumping over it and continuing her charge. "Too slow," she sneered, aiming a slash.

However, as she was swinging her sword, she happened to look directly into the Rider's eye sockets. An unprecedented feeling of fear shot down Taelina's spine. "You have claimed many innocent souls for your demon father," said Ghost Rider darkly, a clink heard as Taelina's blade fell from limp fingers. "Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocent," growled Ghost Rider as he gripped Taelina's shoulders.

Chloe was trying to aim, only for Taelina to be in the way before looking up to see a shape divebombing. "NO!" she yelled, before a blur grabbed Ghost Rider and let him go, sending him rolling across the ground, before a feral dragon landed protectively in front of the now-collapsed Taelina.

"I will not tolerate thieves. Not even from a reaper of souls," it said darkly.

"Not now, Sokaris," groaned Chloe.

Sokaris gave a cold sneer as Ghost Rider got up.

"Don't think you can get me to give in to my guilt. I have none. I am a proud member of the Sun Dragon clan. We were bred for greatness. In any case, all you will be scorching would be the soul of my host. Perhaps a small-minded, petulant mortal, but he does hold the noble trait of-" said Sokaris before Ghost Rider swung his chain around the dragon's neck.

The chain wrapped around Sokaris's neck and pulled itself tight, choking off his boasting. "You talk too much," said Ghost Rider. Sokaris struggled before rasping something.

"Hey, cut it out," said Spider-Man, "We didn't come for punishment, we came for help."

"The guilty deserve to be punished," growled Ghost Rider.

"Is that all you believe, Johnny Blaze?" asked Spider-Man.

Sokaris felt the chain weaken at that, pulling himself free and whipping his tail out. "You dare? We come for your help and you dare to steal from me?" he roared, before spitting another fireball.

A lightning bolt hit Sokaris's nose at that. "You, hush up!" snapped Chloe, "We don't have time to deal with your inflated ego."

"I will not allow anyone else to be taken, sister," hissed Sokaris, his eyes glowing ominously as he watched Ghost Rider cautiously.

"Listen, we need your help to get our friend's soul back," said Spider-Man.

Ghost Rider glared, looking around before focussing on Gary, walking forward and briefly pausing as Sokaris gave a warning growl before continuing. Ghost Rider gave Gary a silent stare. Considering he only had a flaming skull, it was impossible to read his mood. Eventually, he said, "Your soul is in bondage, but your heart remains pure."

"It was an accident. I was turning him down. I wasn't going to let him anywhere near Megan," said Gary quietly.

"Your soul is too good for him to keep," said Ghost Rider.

"But if this is reversed, what happens to Megan?" gulped Gary.

Ghost Rider looked at Megan for a while. "Her darkness has been removed. If your soul is returned, so is her darkness," he said.

"Whatever happens I lose," sighed Gary.

"I won't be suppressed so easily," said Megan.

"Ma'cherie...your other...it may be too strong. It made you do terrible things...even to me," sighed Gary, gesturing to himself..

"And how would I be able to live with myself knowing you paid the ultimate price for giving me freedom?" asked Megan.

"Megan..." said Gary quietly before Megan stomped up to Ghost Rider.

"Now look here, bonehead. I don't want Gary as this demon dufus's plaything so tell me what we need to do...NOOOOW!" she snapped, before her anger faded and she realised who she was snapping at.

"Megan, back away slowly from the Spirit of Vengeance," said NegaMorph.

Megan gulped, letting go and smoothing the creases out of GR's jacket and backing up at surprising speed.

"So, er, we have a bit of wiggle room considering extenuating circumstances," said Spider-Man, "Can't we just challenge Mephisto for Gary's soul?"

"None of you can challenge him. He would simply sweep you aside," said Ghost Rider darkly.

"You sure? I've read plenty of stories where the devil is challenged," said Megan.

"Mephisto is no simple devil," said Ghost Rider, "He would only respond to the challenge of a superior opponent."

"Like who?" said Sokaris, speaking finally.

"There is one...not a human soul but I doubt getting his aid would be easy," said Ghost Rider.

"Where would we even find him?" asked Chloe.

"Strange will know where he is," said Ghost Rider coldly.

"Oh come on!" snapped NegaMorph, "We just came here from his place!"

"Who is he?" asked Sokaris.

"He was known as Draconus," said Ghost Rider, "Until he was sealed away centuries ago."

"Oh you gotta be kidding," muttered NegaMorph, facepalming.

"Maybe it's a coincidence?" suggested Gary.

"Oh come on! This isn't even serendipity! It sounds more like some hackneyed attempt to write out of a corner!" snapped NegaMorph.


"Absolutely not. Draconus was sealed away centuries ago for a reason," said Strange angrily.

"And you've just been letting him collect dust all this time?" asked Chloe.

"Oh, there is no dust, trust me," said Taelina.

"He ruled half of Europe at his height in the Dark Ages and would have taken the rest had the Sorcerer Supreme of the time not imprisoned him," said Strange with a sigh, his anger spent, "He, as Ghost Rider says, was able to steal a way of...immortality from Mephisto when he wormed his way out of the contract he signed."

"Is this one of the immortalities with a catch?" asked Spider-Man.

"That same immortality was the reason many western dragons vanished," said Strange.

Chloe gulping, "Body snatching, I read about it when I was in the companions as Mist."

"Uh-huh, starting to see the logic in keeping the evil dragon sealed," said Spider-Man.

"But he's the only one who knows how to get Gary out of this deal," said Megan gloomily, adding, "He was caught once. Surely you can do so again."

"Draconus won't be cooperative without a bargain," said Doctor Strange, "And for that, I will require something he would want."

Matt sighed, stepping forward. "Of course it's gonna be me. Draconus can't get out of my life," he snapped before Chloe could object.


Naturally, Doctor Strange didn't keep the more dangerous artifacts where anyone could just pick them up. He had a locked room where he kept magical weapons of varying levels of darkness, which once included Mysterio's helmet.

Matt, following along gulped, looking at some of the nastier things till the two stopped at a life-sized obsidian dragon statue, the scales outlined in ruby. "That's him?" said Matt, before jumping as the eyes flared as it spoke.

"A Sorcerer Supreme visits me, I am honoured," the voice dripping with sarcasm.

Despite his terror, Matt resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Maybe NegaMorph was right, this was pretty cliché.

"So...one of you finally comes to visit me. Is it to taunt me at how easily I was fooled into giving up my true name? Is it to remind me that you apes don't need my people's wise guidance? Or are you finally here to put me out of my misery?" sneered the dragon.

"Draconus, we're here to bargain," said Strange.

"Oh, and what do I have that you want so much? It's not like I can keep you from chipping anything off," said the statue.

"You once tricked Mephisto into releasing you from the contract that gave you the ability that earnt you this fate," said Strange, only to be cut off as the dragon statue laughed deeply.

"And now you want me to say how it was done? I don't think so. What are you going to do? Leave me in your cellar? Turn me to stone?" Draconus sneered.

"I am going to offer you a way out," said Matt.

"Oh, the little hatchling speaks. And what do you have to offer, you half-breed?" sneered Draconus

"You can't leave here without a dragon body, can you?" asked Matt.

There was silence at that. "Oh...oh...what is it called? Bail? The sorcerer is letting me out?" laughed Draconus before all mirth ended. "So...what are your terms, doctor?" he said in a serious tone.

"You are to challenge Mephisto for the ownership of a soul, one that belongs to Gary Lesog," said Strange.

"Hmm...and what do I get in exchange?" asked Draconus.

Matt said, "A trip to Avalar and a fresh clone body once the job's done. As long as you drop the soul stealing and keep your end of the bargain."

"An interesting offer, even if it's spoken in gibberish," said Draconus.

"This is your only chance at redemption, Karak," warned Strange.

The statue fell silent before Draconus/Karak said jovially, "I accept."

"Ok, so what do I have to do?" asked Matt.

"Sorcerer...if you will," said Draconus politely.

Doctor Strange held up a hand and started speaking a long incantation. Matt didn't really know much of what he was saying, but he heard the name 'Karak' a few times.

The statue began to crack at that, bits falling off, before just the front of the head fell down, before shooting onto his face, the back growing around his head as he was knocked out of sight


"Ok, we agree, when this is over, we beat Matt up for that stupid volunteer idea," said NegaMorph.

Chloe nodded. "After Kala finishes with him. All in favour?" she said.

"Aye," said most of the group, excepting Gary and Spider-Man.

"Wait, I thought you agreed with Matt's choice," said Gary to Taelina.

"I just wanted to be included. And I still begrudge him for leaving me as a maid in that madhouse," said Taelina.

"Did she have a uniform?" NegaMorph whispered to Chris.

Chris said, "That's classified." before he leaned in. "The evidence is on secure server 12. You didn't get it from me," he whispered with a smirk.

NegaMorph said innocently, "I have no idea how they got onto the server."

Then the far door opened, Doctor Strange walking in, before the doors grew to let a dragon in. While it seemed to have some Avalarian qualities in the basic shape, that's where it ended. It was covered in black scales, a faint red glow coming from the joints, and his eyes. His muzzle was more saurian, and two pairs of horns came from the back of his head, a row of sharp spines running down the spine to a tail point that glinted with sharpness. The dragon practically glowed with arrogance, but also with the intelligence to not let that arrogance control his actions. This was a dragon that had survived where others failed by being the most cunning and intelligent of his people.

Its eyes went across the group, looking down before he got a suave and misleadingly charming smile. "Greetings," he said calmly, bowing his head only to gag as Chloe shifted to dragon form and slammed his head into the floor.

"If my brother's not in there somewhere, I'll make sure you have a permanent squeak...crystal?" she hissed in his ear, holding his head squished against the floorboards, the dragon saying in a slightly squeaking voice "Crystal."

"Nice to see you use your dragon muscles for once," commented Megan.

"She's standing on my windpipe," rasped the dragon.

Strange smiled to himself before he said, "This is Draconus. He has sworn on his magic that your brother's spirit is intact but sleeping."

Draconus rasped, "She's dislocating my spine..."

"So how do we go about challenging Mephisto anyways?" asked Spider-Man, "It's not like he left us his phone number."

Chloe stepped off Draconus who straightened up in an attempt to regain his dignity. "Mephisto has an ego worthy of Bahamut himself. He would have left some sort of sign," he said, calmly.

Gary fished around in his pocket before pulling out Mr. Pheles's business card. "Does this count?" he asked.

"Urgh...Mephisto," Draconus muttered as Chloe looked over Gary's shoulder.

"There's a number alright..." she said, before shifting down to her rarely-used anthro dragon form. Everything about this Draconus said 'bad news'

"Well at least this fool kept good company," said Draconus, eying Chloe's backside.

Chris paused before he said to Strange a little manically, "You know, if we run, we might make it to the door before she explodes." before Chloe just seemed to do nothing

Spider-Man sighed and said, "Looks like she doesn't care."

"Oh, she cares," said NegaMorph, "I know her well. It's not always about immediate retaliation. Sometimes, it's the long game, allowing insults to pile up so when it reaches critical mass, it'll be all the sweeter to-" Just then, Draconus punched himself in the face. "Of course, Matt can't wait more than five minutes," said NegaMorph.

Draconus looked more surprised than hurt, looking at the offending paw which waggled its middle claw at him before sticking only the middle finger at him. "Strong will," he muttered before he took the card, muttering before he said something, the air in front of him becoming mirror-like, a burning landscape on the other side.

"Wait, wait, wait, I need to test something," said NegaMorph before turning into Slushy, forming a snowball, and tossing it through the portal.

Draconus sighed before 'accidentally' tail-whipping NegaMorph flying, "Mephisto...I would have words regarding theft."

In a burst of flame, a red demon appeared on the other side of the portal. He was pretty much what everyone expected the devil to look like, only a bit more suave. The only resemblance he had to his mortal guise was his facial structure and the cane he was still holding.

"K-...Draconus when did you get out?" the demon said as if they were old friends.

Draconus's eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb. You've taken something of mine," he snarled, a faint rumble felt.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're referring to," said Mephisto, "If anything, you took something from me."

"The gargoyle. He's one of mine. I will have him back," snarled Draconus, the rumble causing a few rattles before he composed himself.

"You must be confused. He has nothing to do with you," said Mephisto.

"Use your eyes, demon. You can tell there's more to me right now," said Draconus.

Mephisto squinted before he began to laugh. "You're just that outworlder," he sneered.

Draconus said darkly, "So you refuse then," ignoring the comment and his eyes glowing.

"Oh, Draconus, I wouldn't miss this for all the souls in...a small church town," said Mephisto, "I do hope your seconds are ready to compete."

Draconus paused at that before saying, "Of course. I believe there is a park nearby. Sundown? I know filth like you prefers the dark." accessing his host's memories and ignoring his rogue paw trying to extend its middle claw again by stepping on it with the other.

"Well, you better make this exciting for me," said Mephisto, "I'd hate to have to call in your debt because you bore me."

"You know as well as I do that contract was void long ago, Mephisto...sundown?" the dragon sneered, cutting Mephisto's angry reply off by closing the portal. "What a nasty little annoyance," he said mostly to himself before looking at the others. "What? I may have signed a contract of his. Doesn't mean I liked him," he said indignantly before muttering, "Where in the Nine Realms am I going to find a phoenix and glacierite in a few hours?" to himself.

Megan said, "Erm...I could probably help with that."


Of Lady NegaMorph's mutated minions, three have been accounted for. Manticora and Taurus were both in SHIELD custody. Akhlut had struck out on his own, but had been spotted off the coast of India and now SHIELD's naval division is pursuing him. But Iceshaide and Autumbra had both seemingly disappeared.

In fact they hadn't gone far. The first thing they'd done was to nick what was left of Lady Nega's cash, enough to buy some privacy just outside the city.

It seemed a pretty stop-gap measure. Eventually, they'll need to find someplace a pair of anthro birds wouldn't draw attention. But right now, they just wanted some alone time.

"Maybe we should go to Brazil. No extradition treaty," suggested Autumbra, kissing Iceshaides shoulder only to get a clonk on a beak.

"An icebird in the tropics?" she snapped, the mood gone in a puff.

"What? Have you seen the brightly-colored birds they have in South America?" asked Autumbra, "And there's the Andes if you want something more to your type."

"Urgh...can we afford to get that far?" sighed Iceshaide, adding, "Maybe she left...something back at the lab that can make us at least look human?"

"Like she wouldn't have left some hexes and wards to keep looters out?" asked Autumbra.

"Oh please, she was too cocky for that. What's she gonna do? Send someone after-" began Iceshaide before they both covered their heads as the wall to the right of them exploded inwards, a black-scaled dragonian walking in calmly.

"Hmm...should be right about...ah, there you are," said the dragon.

"Who the hell are you?" snapped Autumbra, tossing a fireball that exploded on the dragon.

"Toast?" laughed Iceshaide, before blasting and freezing him solid, the two walking up. "SHIELD should have sent an Avenger," she sneered, before the dragon's fists burst through, grabbing and lifting them both up by the throats.

"That was hardly polite," snarled the dragon. The dragon squeezed their throats, not hard enough to really choke them, but hard enough that they couldn't talk. "Now, allow me to extend an offer while I'm still in the mood to be courteous," said the dragon, "Lets ignore the fact you wear the skin of two dear departed friends, faces you aren't fit to even look at and get to what I need from you."

Iceshaide gave Autumbra a look that clearly expressed 'what is he talking about?' Autumbra could only shrug as much as he could.

A second later, the dragon squeezed again, choking them for a second. "Your better is speaking. You will work for me...for one day..." he snarled, tossing the two back, before waving a hand, a portal opening to a cave, mountains of gold and jewels shining behind it. "Do it right and you may fill your pockets from my hoard," he said, before the portal vanished. "Fail me, and I will gut you," he said darkly, his eyes glowing red.

Iceshaide coughed and asked a little raspy, "Just for the sake of argument, what if we don't want to work at all?"

"Then I tell the others out there you attacked me and I incinerated you in self-defence," said the dragon calmly before leaning in, "So...do you wish to be rich...or dead?"

"So...what exactly are we doing?" asked Autumbra.

"You will be pretending to be my departed friends. I care not what your actual names are. For the day, you-" he said, pointing at Autumbra "-will answer to the name, Ash. And you, my dear, will answer to the name Frost." he said, pointing at Iceshaide. "And remember, if you screw this up and somehow escape me, I'm sure dear Ms. Roph's friends will be happy to kill you in my stead," he said

The two birds exchanged a look. Well, there was much to gain and everything to lose here. There was pretty much only one choice.

"Deal," they said in unison before gulping as the dragon smirked, his eyes starting to grin. "Then let's make sure you dress the part," he said, his claws glowing green.


"Uh, he did know they were robots before he attacked, right?" asked Spider-Man, looking at the mangled remains of the guardbots. They weren't really the best model. Apparently Iceshaide and Autumbra got the cheaper ones.

"I don't think he cared," said Chloe carefully, before Draconus, still wearing his humanoid form, walked out of the smoke. "Ladies and gentlemen, my trusted seconds," he said.

Autumbra walked out, looking annoyed, wearing light leather armor, faint runes seen if you looked carefully enough. "This sucks," he muttered before he said, "Just wait till you see Icesshh...Frost...this sucks."

"I'm not coming out!" called Iceshaide, "No small hill of treasure's worth this!"

Draconus sighed, making a small golf ball-sized fireball in his claws before blowing it in the direction of her voice, a sizzle and yelp heard.

"Come on, Frost. It's not any more revealing than what you usually wear anyways," called Autumbra.

"Bite me, Autumbraaaaaaaaaa...Ash..." snapped Iceshaide before she stomped into view. Iceshaide walked out, looking embarrassed. She was probably like that because she was mainly just wearing a blue leotard that left her shoulders bare and had a big cut down the front. The armor did come with gloves and boots, but they looked more like they were meant for a fashion show than for battle. Iceshaide grimaced before pulling on the back. "This thing's giving a wedgie like you wouldn't believe," she griped.

"I had to compromise. Glacierites are very...let's say emotional. Usually they use ice to form their armor," Draconus explained to the selection of glares.

"Tried that once," said Iceshaide, "Couldn't really move much in it."

"I've explained to them what is at stake...and a geas so they don't use their real names by mistake. It's harmless..." Draconus added.

"Do they even need to take part in these challenges?" asked Gary.

"That depends. I doubt it...if Mephisto buys this, he already learnt that my old friends were able to best his finest," said Draconus, a slightly sad reminiscent tone in his voice.

"Right, so what should we expect with this?" asked Spider-Man.

"Three trials...chosen by the challenged," said Draconus.

"The 'challenged' being him," said Spider-Man.

"Yes, he will have to give us time to prepare. That part is magic even older then he is. Magic that cannot be countered," said Draconus.

"At least we know the devil has to play by some rules," said Gary.

"Not by much. If this doesn't work, you are all doomed. He cannot touch me. I won against him at his own game. You however..." said Draconus.

"Uh, pardon?" asked NegaMorph, "Why wasn't this brought up before?"

"You never asked," sneered Draconus.

"I hate it when people say that," grumbled NegaMorph.

"Now then, I suggest everybody hold still." said Draconus, the ground below them starting to glow.

"Uh, can't we just use normal transportation?" asked Chloe.

Draconus gave his suave smile, "Now where's the fun in that?" before the group fell into the glowing ground...


...and surfaced in the middle of central park, Draconus back in his dragon form, and definitely bigger, towering over the trees. "Hmm...5...4...3...2...1..." he muttered before brimstone could be smelt

"Ugh, why does the underworld have to smell like rotten eggs?" asked Chloe, pinching her sensitive nose.

A burning portal opened, Mephisto walking into view with several other demons. "Mephisto, as you can see, I am here, and so are Ash and Frost," Draconus sneered, looking down at the demon.

Mephisto let his eyes wander. "Yes, you put together quite a motley crew," he said dryly.

"So have you, the usual dregs. Is your precious Prince of Darkness still angry at you?" sneered Draconus.

One of the larger demons snarled "You will not speak to Lord Mephisto like-"

The response made the gang, and even Autumbra and Iceshaide step back as Draconus opened his maw and a stream of orange energy shot out, engulfing the demon with a deafening roar that brought to mind eruptions and earthquakes. It seemed to go on forever before stopping, nothing left of the demon but a patch of glass and some blotches of lava, the gentle plinking of the glassed rock cooling. "Your minions need to remember the rules," said Draconus darkly.

"I do hate it when that happens," said Mephisto with annoyance, "They always whine so much when they're regrowing their bodies."

"Then they should know their betters. Now then. I repeat my formal challenge, unless you want to join your friend. You of all people know I can easily repeat to you what happened to him," said Draconus darkly.

"Don't presume too much of yourself, Draconus," said Mephisto, his voice becoming deeper and echoing, "I am here at my own amusement."

"Yes...you said that all those years ago too, just before I vaporised your body. I challenge you for the soul of Gary Lesog," snarled Draconus.

"And by what right do you challenge me?" demanded Mephisto, striking the ground with his cane. Immediately, the darkness loomed up around everyone and Mephisto seemed to grow taller in the bleakness. "Do not forget who you speak to. I am one of the Infernal Lords! I will not be talked down to like a mere peddler of wishes!" yelled Mephisto, his voice rising up to a demonic roar as angry hot winds whipped the heroes' faces.

Draconus smirked. "And I am bonded with a mountain of fire whose name you will never learn. I'm sure our battle will be a tale for the ages, ballads would be written at the sheer destruction as we fight to yet another stalemate," laughed Draconus, before he said, "And of course, the powers that be, to whom even my god and your master answer, would destroy us both as punishment. Or, you can have another shot at me. The original one that got away. I place the souls of those present, including mine as collateral," sneered Draconus.

"Excuse me?" snapped Chloe, "Don't we get a say in this?"

Draconus turned to look, Chloe blinking. This gaze was one of surprising pleading.

"Hey, I like Gary, as much as I can like a milquetoast doormat," said NegaMorph.

"Hey!" snapped Gary.

"But my soul was hard-earned and I'm not going to see it treated like a poker chip," said NegaMorph.

Mephisto looked at them. "Their souls are worthless anyway...but Miss Roph's..." he sneered, Draconus getting ready to object.

"Wait a minute," said Gary, "I sold my soul to save Megan's."

"Well, if I lose, you'll get your soul back and she'll be free," said Mephisto, "And if you lose, you'll both spend eternity working for me. Sounds like a win-win to me."

Mephisto turned to look at Draconus who sighed, "Acceptable."

Mephisto smirked. "And I have the perfect challenge, the very one you and your pets beat so long ago: brains, brawn and speed," he sneered.

"Is that all?" asked Draconus, "You're not putting up a hard fight this time."

Chloe gulped, before Mephisto said, "So...are my terms accepted?"

Draconus nodded. "As you wish. Now get out of my sight. I trust you as far as I can swat you not to sabotage my challengers," he snarled.

"Take your time," said Mephisto, examining his nails, "It's not like you're going anywhere." Mephisto vanished with a flare of fire at that with his minions, laughing all the way, before Draconus shrank down to a horse size.

Then Chloe smacked Draconus upside the head and snapped, "What the smeg was that?! Didn't your parents ever tell you never to bet something that isn't yours?!"

"If I hadn't, the remaining option would have been force. Mephisto is no fool. I had to tempt him into acting with greed instead of brains," snarled Draconus.

"By offering up everyone's souls?!" snapped NegaMorph, "I'm surprised that the Lord of Lies didn't sniff out that big whopper."

A second later, NegaMorph was pinned under the suddenly-larger Draconus. "You dare call me a liar? There is no dragon in the Nine Realms who would lie. I've destroyed kingdoms for lesser insults," he snarled in a deadly low to NegaMorph, close enough to smell the volcanic heat on Draconus's breath.

"Funny, that doesn't get brought up in the stories," said Spider-Man.

"It's not something we advertise. If so, we could have been the prisoner of every two-bit warlock on Midgard. It's why my people left for the other realms," said Draconus, his voice getting quieter before he let NegaMorph up. "We must prepare. There are no rules against there being one entrant on the test of speed. But you must choose your finest scholar and warrior for the first two," he explained.

"Well, at least we can easily drum up something for those two," said Taelina.

Chloe looked at Taelina. "I assume he won't let you or me enter the test of brawn," she finally said.

Draconus nodded his head. "He learnt that when I stepped on his finest warrior. My subjects laughed for days," he chuckled.

"Anyways, surely a Demon Lord would be wanting a competition with finesse," said Taelina, "What did you think you would be doing? Arm-wrestling one of his demons?"

"The werewolf makes a point," said Draconus.

Taelina said, "Then it's settled. I'll handle his attack dog."

Draconus said, "And which among you is the scholar?"

"Well, if you're looking for raw intelligence-" Spider-Man started.

"Let's not hold back on this," said NegaMorph, "I'm sure you have a lot of brainy friends, but we're going up against a demon with high stakes. We're bringing in our own super genius."

"Super genius? Bold words," said Draconus with amusement.


"So you need me to do your 'trial of brains'?" asked Chip.

"We can't bring any less than our best into this," said Chloe.

"I'm just a tad concerned about how much I am at stake here," said Chip.

"You're the smartest guy on the crew," said Draco cheerfully, adding, "You'll wipe the floor. Draconus says it's the best of three in this challenge."

"I hope you've at least considered who will be needed for the other challenges," said Chip.

"Chloe can't take the might challenge. Apparently Draconus was the last dragon to do it and he just made himself big and stepped on his challenger," said Draco.

Megan added, "Taelina volunteered apparently."

"Pity, Chloe's gamma strength could really have been put to good use," said Chip.

"But at least we can count on Taelina," said Megan.

Draco and Chip exchanged glances. "How much have you been told about Taelina?" asked Chip.

"She's some sort of werewolf variant from Nirn," said Megan.

Chip said, "Who managed to smash through Matt's 001 mental block like it was wet paper."

"She tried to take Matt for herself while he and Kala were having a spat," said Draco.

"Aggravated by mind-influencing field emitters," added Chip.

"She also tried to stop us from rescuing Kala from another realm," said Draco.

"One of the least awful realms there, but still not easy to get to," added Chip.

"And she's only with us because her father thinks she needs some humility," said Draco.

"Her father being the Daedric Lord of the Hunt," said Chip, "Who I understand tried to invade this world in the same adventure that led to Chloe getting gamma powers."

"My sister hardly was acting with my fathers consent," said Taelina's voice in the doorway, making everyone jump, adding, "Draconus said the brawn fight will start shortly. Miss Lynch said I could 'take the kid gloves off'."

Chip pulled up some files and said, "Wait a moment, I think the incident with Bahfeliz is separate from-"

"I suggest you study what you actually need to for your brains trial," said Taelina, "These demons are less bound by honor than my kind. They are not trustworthy."

Chip paused before Taelina added, "And they won't talk about science." Then she walked out.


Megan and Gary were heading to one of the coffee shop bunker's cafeteria's, Chloe having arranged some drones to watch the fight, wisely not wanting the two anywhere close to Mephisto.

"So...do you feel much different without your soul?" asked Megan.

"I'm not really sure," said Gary, "How do you feel without your darkness?"

"Lighter...but I feel a little weaker," said Megan, "Uncomfortable, even my shadow powers are gone...but it's nice to feel human again."

The two walked into the cafeteria and paused, seeing Autumbra and Iceshaide sitting at a table facing each other, the two turning to look. "Oh look, honey, it's Dr. Moreau and her thug," said Autumbra darkly.

"Gary is not a thug," said Megan.

"Really? Between the two of you, you kidnapped me, my girlfriend and my sister." snapped Autumbra, before he snapped, "I can't even remember my old name."

"And I'm sorry about that," said Megan, "If I had any power to stop my other half..."

"Bullshit," muttered Iceshaide darkly, the two standing up, "You really think sorry will cover it?"

"If I could do anything to undo what she did, I would," said Megan.

"Yeah right," muttered Autumbra darkly.

"Maybe we should take it out of her hide," said Iceshaide, making an ice dagger appear in her hand.

Megan screamed as it was thrown, only to miss her, Autumbra sending three air blades in a swing, the blades missing again. "The hell?" he snapped before the door burst open, three Bladestorm marines aiming at the two and dragging them off.

Once they were gone, Megan started shaking, before looking at Gary with a nervous grin. "I'm at least glad Lady Nega added some mental tricks to stop them attacking her."

"They shouldn't have done that," said Gary.

"If I was in their shoes, I'd probably have done the same thing," said Megan, "I've ruined their lives and I don't have any way to make it up to them."

There was a click from the room's screen, the feed flickering to a circling drone.

"Well, at least we can watch the games from here," said Gary, trying to lighten the mood.


Draconus and Mephisto exchanged glances from across a circle, a mix of different runes around it. The place chosen was an abandoned and empty warehouse, chosen for the fact nobody would notice. "Your friends aren't here," said Mephisto with a smirk.

"They don't need to be. Just you, me and our chosen champions," Draconus said smoothly, before the two looked up at the drone watching from the roof. "And our private audience of course," he added calmly.

"Oh, Draconus, you always were terrible at theatrics," said Mephisto.

"Nothing theatrical about it. I just don't trust you to go for Mr, Lesog and Miss Roph directly," said Draconus.

"I hope your champion could put on a better show than you can," said Mephisto. Draconus chuckled, before the door behind him opened, Taelina walking in, in her leather armor, two daggers in her hands and a sword across her back.

"Slightly better, but let's see what she can do against this," said Mephisto. He tapped the floor with his cane and part of it turned into lava. Presently, a demon pulled his way out of it. He looked mostly humanoid except for having orange skin, being 15 feet tall, and having two faces, each forehead having three small horns. "Ready to rumble, Belathauzer?" asked Mephisto. The demon's two mouths grinned savagely before reaching down into the lava and pulling out a large club that looked like it was made from volcanic rock.

Draconus looked down at Taelina. "Are you prepared, oh champion? All arrangements made?" he asked.

Taelina smirked before saying, "This is going to be so much fun."

Draconus nodded. "To the death or dispersement...or first out the ring. Which will be the same result," he said, stepping back and hissing something, half the runes lighting up as Mephisto muttered a dark spell, the rest lighting up before, just for a second, a dome of red energy surrounded the ring before vanishing.

Belathauzer chuckled as he hefted his club. He easily towered over this whelp. Draconus paused at that. "Mephisto, can you at least have your fighter remove his size advantage?" he said darkly.

Mephisto sighed and said, "Belathauzer, it will be too quick a fight." The demon gave twin scowls before shrinking to two-thirds of his height, now the same size as Taelina. Taelina smirked before throwing her daggers and charging, drawing her sword from her back scabbard. The daggers only nicked Belathauzer who roared before swinging his club.

Taelina was in mid leap when the blow caught her with a crunch, her bent out of shape body sliding across the floor to a still. "Hah...it seems history will not repeat himself," sneered Mephisto as his champion raised his club before he noticed Draconus was smirking just before a green magic spun around the 'dead' wolf who was gently lifted to her feet, her eyes now glowing yellow.

"Well...someone's got a nice little club," she sneered, her hand glowing red and her leather armor morphing into a red and black obsidian, a bandolier of daggers made of the same material appearing on her person before finally, a claymore, again the same, appeared in her hands. "Let's try this again, shall we?" she said, a helmet finally forming around her head as she spoke, contoured to her snout and just letting two red glowing eyes visible.

"Draconus, this is outright cheating!" snapped Mephisto.

"Is it?" asked Draconus, "I don't recall there being anything in your rules against this."

Mephisto's eyes narrowed as he realised there wasn't...and the ancient powers wouldn't let him alter it at all. "Belathauzer, rip her apart!" he ordered, the demon smirking before charging, Taelina dodging and swinging her blade out, nicking the back of his knee.

"Let us begin the lesson," she sneered, "Lesson one: Might hardly makes the best hunter. Speed and dexterity and cunning work so much better." She backflipped away from a downward blow from her opponent.

"Lesson two: what may appear to be an advantage could also be a weakness," said Taelina before leaping forward and punching Belathauzer in both his faces.

The demon staggered back, making another blow, Taelina ducking and raising her sword to slice through the club, taking the top off. "Lesson three: A hunter must have many talents," she said, sending a trio of ice spikes from her hand into the demon's chest. Though they melted quickly, this just meant the wounds were left open.

The demon snarled before throwing his weapon aside and charging with a roar, Taelina leaping to the side and putting her blade out...at neck height as her opponent ran by, the demon vanishing into dust before his head hit the ground. "Ameteur," she said with disgust, her armor and weapons vanishing, leaving her leather armor behind before she turned to Mephisto and giving a mocking bow. "Taelina...favored daughter of the Daedric Lord of the Hunt," she sneered.

Mephisto glowered and said, "This realm already has enough competitors without other demons applying their trade here."

"Oh, I did not come to ply my trade but when Lord Draconus presented me with a challenge...well, my father would be most disappointed if I turned it down. Honestly I expected more of the local daedra than some bullish oaf," she sneered, before Draconus said in an amused tone, "That's enough, my champion. Let us not rub salt in the wound. I believe this challenge is mine, Mephisto."

"One bested challenge does not give you victory," said Mephisto.

"No...but it's not good for you. He lasted even less time than when you sent him against me. Till tomorrow?" Draconus laughed. Mephisto glared before vanishing with a blaze of fire, his side of the runes vanishing, Draconus reaching down and scraping one rune away, the dome appearing again for a second, just to shatter.

"I expected Mephisto to bring out someone stronger," said Taelina.

"He underestimated me for this round," said Draconus, "Though I doubt he'll do that again."

"I agree. Chip is indeed a genius...but not in our world," said Taelina.


Chip glared as the bunker computer said, "Information not found." again. It seemed the NSC had left this bunker a long time ago and taken most of their data with them.

"I thought this place was more frequently manned," muttered Chip.

"Data was last updated 45 cycles ago," said the computer.

"Probably hasn't since Lady Nega wiped out the team stationed here," muttered Chip, "You'd think the guys would have taken the time to update their files. Wait, what am I saying? I should know better."

"Local magic was declared low priority data," said the computer.

"Of course it was. It's so easy for magic to fall through the cracks until it's needed," grumbled Chip.

"Is there any other information you wish to find?" asked the computer.

"Can you look up all heroes and villains who utilize magic?" asked Chip.

"Please select threat level between 1 and 10," asked the computer.

Chip sighed to himself. This was going to be a very long cram session, and yet not long enough. "Wish I had more time to study. Figures even the local Draconus would be a pain," grumbled Chip.

"File located. Formed by Splitter Empire Intelligence Service. File was found in Empire facility in Norway. Species Dragonic. Threat level 10. Aliases: Draconus the Black. Karak the Bloody. Oh God, Give Me Back My Leg. Lord Draconus of the Spine Mountains," said the computer, various shots ranging from camera shots from range to ancient drawings.

"Draconus was unique among western type local dragons in that he hoarded living creatures. He controlled a large section of Norway and was thought to have hideouts in Germany in the Black Forest. At his height, he had an empire ranging from multiple cities and a population of subjects of 700,000. Files indicate he was also well versed in a range of magics. One mate: Sela the Thunderous." The file changed to a dragoness who, apart from a similar double pair of horns like Draconus, looked not dissimilar to Chloe.

"Draconus was contained by the Sorcerer Supreme of the era and thus was unable to join the exodus off the Earth realm in response to the increased skill of western human civilization to neutralize and destroy western dragons. Two known associates. Ash, a phoenix warrior from Alfheim and an ice bird species known as Frost from Jotunheim...locations unknown. Recommendation: Do not engage or attempt to cooperate with subject."

"Very interesting...but is it useful to me?" muttered Chip.

"Known weaknesses..." began the computer.

"Yes?" asked Chip.

"...None...tin can," said the computer, Chip twitching.


One angry experiment reaction later...

"CHIP...WE NEEDED THE ARCHIVE!" snapped Chloe, shaking Chip, before making him look at the burnt-out screen. "Do you see the problem with virus blasting it?" she snapped.

"I always make backup saves," said Chip, "You never know when something is going to get corrupted later."

"So you cursing it to silicon hell was you backing it up?" snarled Chloe.

"You try cramming for a test you weren't prepared for and see what kind of mood you're in," snapped Chip.

Chloe thought about that before sighing. "I remember when I was just an evolved ape," she said before she glared at Chip, "Anything useful? Anything at all?"

"I found out why Draconus prefers to hit on you and not Kala. Where is she, by the way?" asked Chip.

Chloe shrugged before she paused and Chip, his back to her, noticed her shadow shifting to dragoness form before he was picked up. "What did you say?" she growled.


Draconus had shrunk his form to a more human size form so he could read up on some of the history he'd missed before the door to his room exploded. "Now, unless some things have changed in the last few centuries, it's customary to knock," he sighed, before closing his book and looking at Chloe.

"Ok, buster, I think we need to get a few things straight between us," said Chloe.

"Her name was Sela..." he said, cutting her off, still not looking up. "She'd actually been raiding farms in my kingdom. So naturally I had to show her out," he said in a calm voice, before saying quietly. "She was the most beautiful thing I'd seen..."

"That would be sweet, but there's one little problem," said Chloe, "I'm not Sela. Your current host is my brother. And that makes things far too uncomfortable to even think about."

Draconus didn't seem to be listening as he continued, "We had a wonderful few months. But then she had to head south with her wing, down to the Black Forest...and one of you humans decided to creep...into the cave she was in..." he said, his voice trailing off, Chloe noticing his claws were digging into the floor.

"I have no interest in you, Miss Lynch. Looking at you causes me nothing but pain. It reminds me of my failures. I suppose I went mad. I turned to the darkest of magics to bring her back. I even went to that worm, Mephisto," he sighed, before looking at Chloe darkly, "He will have his last laugh, like he did with me when I succeeded."

"Right..." said Chloe, slowly backing up.

"I understand my current host has a mate," said Draconus, "Is she as beautiful as you?"

"To my brother...yes," said Chloe.

Draconus sighed. "Tell her to treasure the time she has..." he said before he said darkly, "She's not actually gone. That demon just made it so she could never come to midgard. And of course that thrice-damned sorcerer imprisoned me when my brethren left this world."

Chloe was starting to get the vibe that all those centuries of isolation had taken a toll on Draconus. "So...how is Chip coping? I assume he is prepared," he said, stretching.

"He's...been cramming hard," said Chloe, "Magic is not his usual field."

"He should continue...oh yes," said Draconus, pausing at the door before, his eyes glowed and a fist of stone grabbed Chloe. "I've tolerated it but I've had enough. The next time you wear my beloved's face, I'll rip it off," he said with a smile, eyes glinting of madness before releasing her and walking past her.

"Never thought I'd miss the first Draconus," muttered Chloe.


Chip gulped as he appeared from Draconus's portal with the dragon himself. "I assume you are ready. The challenge is simple. Mephisto and I will question the challenge's champions. I will question his, Mephisto will question mine...as in you," he explained.

"It can't be that easy," said Chip, "There's gotta be some kind of catch."

"Three questions each...best wins," said Draconus calmly, adding. "You will probably just need one correct answer. Demons know nothing about my people. That's how I beat him last time."

"And that was how long ago?" asked Chip pointedly.

"Oh please, demons are traditionalists. That lunk head he chose for his strength champion's proof of that," laughed Draconus, before there was a rumble and Mephisto appeared opposite them. "No champion, Mephisto? That could be considered a forfeit," Draconus taunted.

"Just a moment," said Mephisto, "I had to search quite a lot for this one." An orange portal appeared beside him and he reached into it. He pulled out a man in a green wizard outfit who had a very stylish Van Dyke beard.

"Who is this?" said Draconus angrily.

"Wait, wait, I know this," said Chip, "That's Baron Mordo, one of Doctor Strange's mortal enemies and one of the few who is mortal. Wait a minute, I thought his file said he was banished to the Quantum Realm or something."

"And it took me a long time to find him. But he was more than willing to accept aid to get out of there," sneered Mephisto, before clapping his hands together, "Now our challengers are all here. Would you like to begin, Draconus?"

Draconus sat down, before saying, "Question one: Where did Lord Bahamut and Lady Tiamat take our people?"

Baron Mordo smirked and said, "Simple, Vanaheim, the closest realm to Asgard."

Draconus's eyes narrowed before he said darkly, "A correct answer."

Then Mephisto turned to Chip and said, "Well, little machine it's your turn. What gesture is required for the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak?"

Chip paused at that. "Erm...do you require a demonstration?" he asked, showing his six hands for proof.

"Well, we don't know if you've gotten it right unless you can show it," said Mephisto smugly.

Chip paused, as Draconus said, "You do realise if he gets it wrong, there'll probably be an impressive feedback." Chip gulped.

"Uh, here goes nothing," said Chip, "By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak..." He tried to do a particular gesture with his hands. With a flash of red light, a jackalope appeared. "Uh...it might be from Cyttorak," said Chip unconvincingly.

The jackalope looked at Chip before hissing and leaping at him, only for a fireball to incinerate it. "That's a fail," sneered Mephisto.

Draconus glared before looking at the baron. "Question 2," he said, before leaning in to the baron who found himself sweating a little before Draconus hissed in his ear, "What's my name?"

"Is that all?" asked Baron Mordo, "You know how badly that went for Rumpelstiltskin."

"Then you should have no trouble at all," sneered Draconus.

"No problem at all, Karak," said Baron Mordo.

Mephisto smirked before Draconus started laughing. "Wrong...have you not checked? Has any mortal here called me that? My name is Draconus of course."

"But that is your ancient name," protested Baron Mordo.

"It even said Draconus on my cell," sneered Draconus.

"I suppose that is technically true," said Mephisto with annoyance.

"A free lesson, Baron. Dragons never have more than one or even two names. I never said which name I meant," Drconus sneered.

Mephisto glared and said, "My turn, little robot. I hear you've come from afar. Perhaps you can tell us what are the necessary precautions for setting up a dimensional portal."

Chip looked crestfallen before grinning. "Easy...6 ionic crystals, a spell or device to keep you safe from reality fields, 4000 Teravolts of energy to break through the barrier and a quantum supercomputer to make sure you get where you want to go and doesn't instead end up scattered across a million realities and ultimately disintegrated," he said smugly.

"That sounds mostly like scientific gibberish to me," said Baron Mordo.

"He asked me the precautions for a dimension portal. He didn't specify a magical one," said Chip.

Mephisto glared at his slip up. "It's a draw," sneered Draconus.

"Only for now," said Mephisto, "We've got one last round."

Draconus turned to glare at the baron. "Finally, what was the name of my capital?" he snarled.

"Oh ho, trying to trip me up, eh?" asked Baron Mordo, "You've never had a true capital. You were always nomadic, moving from one den to the next. And you never truly bothered to name any of them."

Draconus glared, before snarling "Correct." before 'accidentally' knocking Baron Mordo flying with his tail as he walked back to his position.

Mephisto gave Chip a leering smile and said, "Well, it looks you'll only be able to match up to my champion in this round. That is if you can get this next question right." Chip gulped at that. "For your final challenge, name the number of pages of the Darkhold collected by the Mad Monk before he was put to death," said Mephisto.

Chip blinked before saying, "Erm...200?"

"WRONG!" boomed Mephisto's voice, "The trial of brains goes to me!"

The two watched as Mephisto left with a laugh, the baron sitting up before yelling, "Hey...you can't leave me here with these freaks!" Then he paused and looked at the two "I...mean...fascinating machine AI and handsome example of a superior magical species," he said carefully.

Draconus saying "We're gonna beat him up anyway, right?" to Chip.

"That was an unfair question!" snapped Chip, "How was I supposed to know that? I demand a rematch! What about a fiddle contest?"

"I already pushed my luck with the question about my name," said Draconus, the baron trying to inch past them.

Mephisto reappeared with a puff of smoke. "Quite right," he said, "Just be glad I'm only looking to claim one soul from this contest. And believe it or not, I hate the fiddle."

Baron Mordo yelped. "Don't leave me with these-YOU JERK!" he snapped as Mephisto vanished again.

"Uh, would you really have wanted to go back with him? You know, where there's fiery pits, gnashing teeth, and demons that'll torture you for eternity?" asked Chip pointedly.

"Plus, I'm not going to kill you for that shot at my race," said Draconus with a friendly smile, before he hooked Mordu by his collar and lifted him up, "After all...you humans can live through anything." Then he looked at Chip, "I bet I can skip him across the river."


"He lost? Why did you send him? Couldn't you have picked someone who knew their way around magic?!" snapped Gary, pacing back and forth.

"I did not choose him, honourable gargoyle. Your friends did," said Draconus.

"Gary, we're still tied," said Megan.

"Your mate is right," said Draconus, "You can still prevail with the trial of speed."

"Easy for you to say," snapped Gary, "Your soul isn't on the line, if you even have one."

Draconus's eyes glowed ominously, only for Megan to snap, "Gary Lesog, you apologise right now."

Gary took a long breath and said, "Right, sorry. I'm just...I'm not confident about this right now. I mean, who could outrun the devil?"

"He's not allowed to compete. If he was, me and him would have settled the challenge of strength and brains personally. He will have to choose challengers like we will," said Draconus darkly.

"You don't need to be rude to him," said Megan, "He did apologize already."

Draconus looked surprised at that and the scene seemed to feel like it could go one of two ways. In one, Draconus vaporised her...but instead, he turned to Gary and bowed his head briefly, "My apologies for my shortness."

"Uh, alright," said Gary, "Just don't let it happen again."

"You don't either," snapped Megan, Gary flinching.

"Now...show me your fastest," said Draconus.


Naturally, the trial of speed was in the form of a race through Death Valley. As an electric dragon, Chloe was the fastest flyer among them. And there was only one man who could outrace the devil. Ghost Rider glared at Draconus, who naturally hadn't been happy about it.

"You feeling ok, Chloe?" asked Megan.

"Well, honestly, I haven't been practicing my flying so often," said Chloe, "I'm a little worried."

"You're one of the fastest flyers here," said Gary cheerfully.

"Between you and the Ghost Rider, I don't think you can lose," said Megan.

"Your most likely opponent will be Blackheart," said Draconus calmly, making a glowing orb appear that started to reshape, showing Blackheart. Inside the orb was the image of a black demon. He didn't look much different than the average demon aside from having the head of a porcupine...or a porcupine for a head. There were so many spikes that only his red eyes could be seen.

"Man, even in hell, the mullet lives," joked NegaMorph.

"So what's so terrible about this guy?" asked Spider-Man.

"He is the son of Mephisto," said Draconus.

"Oh, trying to make his father proud, eh?" asked Spider-Man.

"Actually, Blackheart has been trying to dethrone his father for ages, last time I checked," said Draconus, "But I'm very certain that Mephisto would have strong-armed him into this."

"Who do you think the second one will be?" asked Megan.

"Uh...a giant bat monster that looks like it's been fused with a giant fly monster..." said Spider-Man.

"What makes you say that?" asked Gary.

Spider-Man just pointed upwards. They looked up to see an unholy creature descending towards them. It did look mostly like a giant bat, except its hind legs were insectoid legs, its face was mostly taken up with huge compound eyes, and its lower jaw and tongue were so long that it couldn't close its mouth and thus it drooled constantly.

Mephisto and Blackheart appeared at that, both wearing human guises. "It was...a little short notice," Mephisto sneered.

"I suppose that's one of the wild beasts that live in your realm," said Chloe with disgust.

"Specially trained, yes," said Mephisto, smugly, before looking around before back at Draconus, "This path is hardly worthy."

"We're still tied, unless you want to concede," said Draconus.

"No...but I think we can choose a better place to race," sneered Mephisto

"Plenty of open space to race in," said the Ghost Rider. Considering they were at a crossroad in Death Valley, it couldn't be more appropriate.

"The rules are simple, whoever gets to the edge of the valley first wins for their side," said Mephisto.

"Of course they stay on the path..." said Draconus, his eyes glowing, the ground shaking as a smooth road was crushed out of the ground, weaving towards the valley's far edge.

"Showoff," said Megan.

"Shall we get this over with?" said Draconus darkly.

Blackheart waved an arm as several pieces of road rose up together. Then they formed together before melting slightly into a new shape. Finally, it took on a horse-like shape as fire went up and down its sides and its legs broke free of the ground. Blackheart climbed onto his steed before asking, "Ready to race?"

Chloe glared, shifting to her dragoness form as Ghost Rider's bike appeared in a flash of flame. The bugbat screeched as it got ready to take off.

"Ready...get set...go!" called Mephisto, smirking at Draconus as the four shot off.

The desert sands were blown back by the power of the flyers' wings and the road became melted by the riders' passing.

Draconus stepped back before walking over to Spider-Man, keeping his eyes on Mephisto. "Follow them if you can. I don't trust Mephisto not to cheat here."

"Uh, I may have spider-proportionate speed, but I'm not nearly fast enough to keep up with them," said Spider-Man.

"And you're not in the race," said Draconus pointedly with a smirk.

"Right, so I can pilot the jet," said Spider-Man.

"Indeed...which is what I would suggest if I was allowed.." said Draconus smugly.


Chloe expected she could easily outfly the bugbat, but it was faster than it looked. "This would be the part of the race where we trade witty banter, except you can't talk," said Chloe.

The bugbat hissed and spat a globule that narrowly missed and hit a cactus, which burst into flames and melted.

"Napalm spit, lovely," said Chloe dryly.

The demon hissed and started trying to catch up, spitting another globule.

"Hey, you don't see me spitting at you!" snapped Chloe. The bugbat hissed. Chloe glared and spat a lightning bolt back before looking ahead and turning a corner to see Blackheart's ride in front of her. "Hey, you were behind me!" she snapped.

"It's called a race," sneered Blackheart.

Chloe glared before trying the trick she'd seen Matt do once, cracking her tail like a whip and finding herself leaving Blackheart in the dirt, only to turn the corner to see him again. "Ok...what the hell?" she snapped before hissing, turning her head to see the bugbat latching his fangs into her tail.

"Ok, Beelzebat, this is where I get rough," snarled Chloe. Beezlebat hissed, clawing his way up her tail. "Now get off!" snapped Chloe, swinging herself around.

Beelzebat hissed, thrown flying, but not before he clawed down her right wing's membrane before he hit a rock with a splat. Chloe hissed with pain as she tried to flap her wing, but that demon left some holes in it. "Well...that's me out," she hissed, gliding to a landing.


"One of your racer's gone," sneered Mephisto. Draconus glared as Mephisto continued, "It's been a long time since I had a demonic gargoyle. A few weeks in my home and Mr. Lesog will be a fine specimen." Then he looked at Megan, "And you will make a fine demon mage."

Megan cringed at that. "You leave her be," snapped Gary.

"Ah, ah, that's part of the deal," said Mephisto, "She is the one who put herself on the line so you can have this chance. Wait...where's Spider-Man?"

Draconus said, "He's not a pawn in this or a prize. He's free to do what he wants."

"Well, it matters not," said Mephisto, "This is one race the Ghost Rider isn't going to win."


Ghost Rider was encountering the same mystery Chloe had, that Blackheart seemed to constantly keep ahead. Something was amiss. Blackheart's conjured steed shouldn't be that fast.

"What's wrong, reaper? Can't keep up?" sneered Blackheart.

Just then, there was the woosh of jet engines overhead as the SHIELD jet flew over them.

"Hey!" snapped Blackheart.

"Mind if I watch?" asked Spider-Man's voice from the jet's speakers.

Blackheart glared before speeding up, trying to dodge the jet's searchlight, before he sent a fireball at Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider swung his chain and knocked the fireball away. The fireball flew forward and hit the road ahead, causing it to crack in several places. The two racers approached the damaged area. But that's when things started to get weird. Blackheart's steed zigzagged all over the road, never crossing any of the cracks.

Ghost Rider however went over the cracks. "Interesting..." said Ghost Rider before throwing several fireballs, this time taking out large sections of the road on either side.

Blackheart's steed ran around each obliterated part of the road, even though it would be easier to just go across. Ghost Rider's eye sockets glowed as he got closer. Now he could see something he hadn't before. Whenever Blackheart's steed touched the road, it didn't just step on it, it briefly merged with it. "Spider-Man, Blackheart's steed isn't just made from the road, it is the road," yelled Ghost Rider.

"Oh, you figured it out," laughed Blackheart.

"But if he's literally riding the road, then that means..." started Spider-Man.

"That I can win the race at any point," said Blackheart, "I just wanted to see the looks on your face first. Though you don't have much of a face anyways."

"Not if there's no road," called Spider-Man, a missile shooting out from the road and blowing the section ahead apart.

"What?!" snapped Blackheart. He tried to slow down, but as soon as he got to the destroyed part, his steed crumbled beneath him. Unfortunately, he still had plenty of momentum and went tumbling down the road after that.

"I think that evens the playing field..." called Spider-Man.

"Draconus will be able to invalidate this challenge when he finds out," Ghost Rider said darkly.

Blackheart laughed, as a yellow dragoness silently came out of the shadows behind him. Blackheart winced as he got up. Immortal demon or not, taking a tumble down a rough road still hurts. "This isn't over..." he growled.

"Yes it iiiis..." said the resonant tones of a pissed-off lightning dragoness behind and above him.

"Keep your distance," said Ghost Rider, "Blackheart is still dangerous."

"Oh please. One flat demon coming up," sneered Chloe, rasing her front paw as a fist. But as the fist was about to land on her, Blackheart grabbed it and threw her away in GR's direction.

Ghost Rider jumped off his bike just in time before Chloe landed on it. "Good luck winning now. It won't matter if I've cheated if I cross the line first," Blackheart laughed, before speeding off.

Chloe winced as she sat up. "Uh...sorry about your bike," she said sheepishly.

Ghost Rider just glared before he said, "Apologies will not beat him."

"Well, unfortunately, I can't just fly after him until my wing heals," said Chloe, "And you can't just run after him on foot."

"I won't be on foot," said Ghost Rider before swinging his chain and wrapping it around Chloe's neck.

Chloe gagged at that. "Hey...what the hell...are..." she said, her voice trailing off as her eyes began to,glow.

Ghost Rider swung up onto her back and sat down on her back. "Let's ride," he said.

"I...am...not..." began Chloe. However, Chloe was seized by a powerful compulsion. She had to run. She turned and galloped towards the road. Her feet began leaving molten footprints as she grew hotter, flames burning over her body as skin gave way to bones.


Back at the finish line, Draconus suddenly twitched wildly, Mephisto actually looking concerned. "What is wrong with you?" he asked with disgust.

Draconus shook his head, "It seems my host wants to punch Ghost Rider for some reason...I wonder why?"


Blackheart meanwhile was laughing as he kept ahead. This was too easy. Those flaming bones could never keep up with him, not without something to ride.

He looked down at that, seeing a glow behind him before looking behind for a second before double-taking. It was definitely the Ghost Rider catching up with him, but now he was riding a flaming dragon skeleton.

"Oh come on!" he snapped, throwing a fireball only for the dragon skeleton to grab it in its jaws and swallow it.

Blackheart ran even harder. He was not going to lose this race to a fossil, no matter how recent it was. A blast of red lightning, smelling of brimstone, barely missed him at that.

The dragon's wings spread out. There was nothing between the fingers but flame, but the dragon was able to flap them anyways and soon started rising off the ground.

Blackheart glared before concentrating on running, looking ahead to the finish line. But he could feel the heat behind him. And there was a feeling of static electricity… He tried to run faster, pushing it to his limit before yelling wordless rage as Ghost Rider's steed flew over his head. The Ghost Rider didn't even bother to look back at Blackheart as he drew closer to the finish line.

Mephisto joined in the anger as Ghost Rider crossed the finish line, Draconus laughing before walking over to GR. "That better not be permanent," he said in a jovial tone.

Ghost Rider jumped off the dragon skeleton's back. The flames vanished as Chloe's flesh was restored, which included her wing membranes being mended.

"Foul! Blatant cheating. Flying over the finish line is hardly crossing it!" roared Mephisto.

Chloe, gasping from her transformation back, snapped, "And does bonding with the road for a cheap fast forward count?"

Draconus turning with glowing eyes. "What?" he snarled.

Blackheart had caught up by then. "Speaking of cheap, that road you made was pretty shoddy," he snapped, "Getting blown up by mortal missiles so easily."

"Strangely enough, I expected you to keep to the rules set by the powers that be," said Draconus darkly, his throat starting to glow.

"Is it my fault you never heard of copy protection?" asked Mephisto, "I mean, Blackheart hijacked your road so easily."

"What...but it was-" began Blackheart, before a blast from Draconus incinerated his physical body.

"Well, by my count, that's two wins for us and only one win for you," said NegaMorph, "Now hand over my niece's boyfriend's soul."

Mephisto smirked before the contract appeared in front of him. "Null and void," he sneered, incinerating it, adding as he vanished, "In its entirety." Draconus's eyes widened.

Gary gave a sigh of relief. "Well, that was a little nerve-wracking. But at least we can all go home now," he said.

Draconus however turned to look at Megan, who was blinking rapidly, rubbing her forehead. "Restrain her!" he ordered with a roar.

"Uh, Megan?" asked Gary. He didn't notice her shadow getting darker than normal, becoming solid black before five red eyes appeared in it.

Megan was groaning in pain as Gary approached before her eyes shot open to reveal they were red and she grabbed Gary by the neck. "Hi, honey," sneered Lady NegaMorph.

"No, no, no!" said Gary desperately.

Lady NegaMorph sneered before saying, "Yes," before kissing him, black smoke flowing out and around Gary and her.

"Now wait just a moment, young lady!" snapped NegaMorph. A blast of red magic blasted NegaMorph flying.

Ghost Rider swung his chain, but a blast of magic caused it to swerve off and tangle up Chloe as she was pouncing.

Draconus took a step back at that, though not in fear. He watched as Spider-Man swooped in. This was his chance. Spider-Man shot several web blasts at Lady Nega, hoping to anchor her to the ground.

"Not so fast, spider boy," sneered Lady Nega, cracks heard from the cloud engulfing Gary. "Honey...crush the bug," she sneered.

"Uh, Gary, aren't we good friends?" asked Spider-Man nervously.

Then Gary came roaring out of the cloud in monster gargoyle form. "Not good enough!" yelped Spider-Man, jumping away.

He looked over at that to see Draconus taking off at that, in a hover. "Uh, Draconus, a little help here," called Spider-Man.

Draconus turned to glare before he said in a lofty voice, "Why would I help a human when I can go home?" before he winged away in the direction of Las Vegas.

"GET BACK HERE WITH MY BROTHER!" roared Chloe as she struggled to get out of Ghost Rider's chain. Chloe turned to glare at the Rider, grabbing the chain "I am going after my brother," she snarled, her eyes catching fire again.


"Of course I was coming back," sneered Lady NegaMorph as the others tried desperately to fight Gary, "Mephisto told me he already planned for it. Either Megan lost and he'll reunite us in the Netherworld or she'll win and his contract gets voided. And now I'm right back where I belong. And the best thing is...your heavy guns have buggered off. You can either let me go...or die." The air filled with tennis ball-sized energy orbs, Lady Nega firing one at a rock as demonstration, the boulder exploding into gravel.

NegaMorph regenerated and said, "I think you're overestimating yourself. I'm still strong enough to deal with you."

"That's why..." said Lady NegaMorph, before all the orbs shot at her uncle. "I was aiming at you. Gary...come," she ordered, opening a shadow portal as the others scattered to avoid the explosions.

"Megan, stop!" yelled Spider-Man.

"Megan had her chance," said Lady Nega. With that the two stepped back into the portal, which sealed up before a boom was heard in the distance, followed by another.

"Great, Fury's not gonna be happy with me," said Spider-Man.

"We have greater concerns now," said Ghost Rider, pointing towards the sky.

The group turned to see red flashes in the distance, coupled with repeated faint booms.


3 minutes earlier...

It hadn't taken long for Draconus to reach a suitable location. He could see some human city nearby...acceptable losses. He spat another fire rune into his circle which glowed and set in before he sensed something...brimstone. "Rider, even I can sense the darkness from that...Sin City. You really think anyone would miss it?" he said, not turning as he concentrated on the last rune.

Once it was finished, he could open a portal to Vanaheim...the mages of his people could easily find him a new body and he could drop this fool of a host off with the Asgardians to be reunited with his fool friends.

"Gambling is a big part of this city," said a female, demonic voice, "Care to wager how long you'll last against me?"

"Oh, this should be fun," smirked Draconus, his eyes glowing before he turned and spat a blast of energy at the voice.

A barrier of heat hit his blast and made it explode. A skeletonized, flaming Chloe stepped out of the shadows. "Incidentally, the odds don't favor you," she said.

"You really are desperate. I don't even know what to be here," snarled Draconus.

"Too bad. You've got some carryon that's not allowed to leave this planet," snarled Chloe.

"You'd get him back in a few weeks," snapped Draconus loftily, sending several more fireballs.

A flaming skeletal wing blocked the fireballs. "Not waiting that long, and I trust you as far as I can throw you," said Chloe, "Shall we test how far that is?"

"And you can't exactly kill me either," sneered Draconus, the runes below starting to glow, the ground starting to shake as the ground inside the circle began to ripple and fade. "Can we keep this brief? My ride is going to be here shortly," said Draconus.

He was forced to throw up a wall of ground that blocked Chloe's blast of lightning. "Oh...is that hell energy getting to you? Reapers are chosen quite carefully," Draconus sneered, though inside he was concerned.

"Reaper? I didn't see him holding a scythe," sneered Chloe.

"Different names for different species," sneered Draconus, "So unless you want your brother to die-" Draconus hovered in place as the lightning closed in and paused, and Draconus sneered. "- you can't touch me. I however..." he said, his eyes glowing and two huge slabs of rock sandwiching Chloe before he looked down at the portal below.

"I will finally be free of this wretched world," said Draconus before diving towards the portal.

Draconus heard a faint voice snap "No thanks." before his left wing tipped slightly, resulting in him face slamming into the side of the portal and rolling in, Draconus spitting out a fang and managing a dizzy "Ow." as he vanished.

Chloe shrieked in a voice that could chill a heart before diving in, her eyes focussing on the spiralling dragon inside the rift. "Get back here you!" she snapped, diving at Draconus.

"Get off me!" snarled Draconus in a panic, clawing out before the portal spat them out into the air, Draconus steadying himself and taking a deep breath. Clean air before he turned to see vast mountains, small holes, well, small from this distance with the dots of dragons watching. "Home," he said happily, switching to his almost song-like native dragontongue, "Now I find a mage to-" he began before a blast of lightning sent him flying at high speed and through the trees and digging a trench all the way to the foot of the mountains, several dragons of various sizes scattering in panic.

"Ok...that...was a good blow..." he managed before Chloe lunged at him again, blasting him again as she lunged, Draconus shaking in soundless pain before she clawed him across the face with one paw, then with another.

"GET OUT OF MY BROTHER!" she roared.

"I'm...trying...to..." began Draconus before Chloe shrieked again, causing more dragons to scatter in panic as her form's shriek caused terror, before she began slamming his face into the ground repeatedly before slashing him again.

"OUT!" she roared before a rumbling, but somehow gentle voice said "What in the Nine Realms is going on out here?" Chloe looked up and for some reason wanting, just for a second, to bow her head as one of the biggest dragons she'd seen strode into view, lights shimmering off platinum scales.

The dragon looked between the two with concern before he looked to a green dragon by his side. "Fetch some healers while I sort this out, please," he said in that same almost fatherly tone before he looked at Draconus and sighed.

"Draconus, home at last and again wearing another skin. I hope it is to give up your ways finally," he sighed before he noticed the wounds and looked at the skeletal dragoness. "And you, it has been a long time since the Spirit of Vengeance has chosen one of my children. Is there a reason you attack him?" he said calmly, though his voice had a barely perceptible edge to it now.

"Because that parasite is using my brother's empty head to nest in! And who are you to say I can't pulverize him for it?!" snapped Chloe.

"I am Bahamut, father god of all dragonkind, no matter what universe they live in, my daughter," said the platinum dragon kindly.

Chloe's glowing eyes flickered to normal for a second as she almost bowed again, before they turned back and she snapped, the spirit speaking, "This one is guilty of crimes across the ages. His soul belongs in one place."

Bahamut raised an eye-ridge, before Draconus coughed out "All...all for her..."

"Yes, he's going straight to Tiamat," growled Chloe, the Spirit of Vengeance burning in her eyes again.

There was a cry at that, a yellow dragoness, old but looking shocked, swooped down to Draconus, the two conversing. "Mephisto tricked him. He got his mate back, but he would never leave Earth in his own body," said Behamut calmly.

Chloe glared. "It makes no diff-" she snarled, making to lunge, only for her to be grabbed by a translucent spell that dragged her up to Bahamut's eye level, his eyes and horns glowing.

"You have no say here, Spirit. I sincerely doubt even on her best day that your host would condemn her brother just to get poor desperate Draconus. Your host is another...but, as is fairness..." he said calmly, adding in a dark tone, "If you feel up to fighting for the right." The Spirit howled and readied to spit a fireball, the fire in her ribcage blazing before Bahamut smirked and blew lightly, as if blowing out a candle, the glowing energy that was the spirit flying out of Chloe and back down the portal, leaving a dazed lightning dragoness that was gently dropped.

Chloe blinked and asked, "What just happened?"

"You have reminded me why I forbid the Spirit of Vengeance from using my children when we left Midgard," said Bahamut softly, as two dragons ran up to Draconus. Behamut said calmly, "It was not your fault. The Spirit of Vengeance is more...used to humans. It would not be surprising you lost control."

"Uh...that jerk still jacked my brother," said Chloe.

"My child, look, what do you see?" asked Bahamut. Chloe looked to see Draconus and the lightning dragoness's heads leaning on the other's shoulders, muttering. "Did you not ask what he lost when he won against that demon? He was cursed. His body could never leave Midgard...and she could. So when me and my...mate brought our kind here..." he explained.

"Even so, that doesn't give him the right to take my brother's body and do a runner," said Chloe.

"Love can make anyone desperate, young one. That is not to say I approve...but I understand," said Bahamut calmly.

"So what are we supposed to do about this?" asked Chloe, "I just can't leave him here."

Bahamut's eyes glowed again, Draconus flickering before it was like a double image, leaving Draconus, healed on one side and the still-being healed Matt, in dragon form, on the other.

"Oh lord, the portal!" yelled Chloe.

Bahamut smirked. "Draconus, if I remember him, had quite the ego, the human city is safe...though shaken," he said, before saying, "And you and your brother are welcome here."

"Is this one of those places where time passes faster than in other realms?" asked Chloe.

"My child...even if it is only by half-blood. You require rest...for both the body and soul and your brother is in no state to travel," said Bahamut calmly.

"Ok, but we've kinda got someone running loose back where we came from," said Chloe.

"Yes...her. I am afraid it was too late when you and your brother arrived..." said Bahamut.


"Hurry, honey. You heard those troopers. The bitch is back and I am not in the mood to stick around," Autumbra snapped in a panic.

"As if I need to be told twice," snapped Iceshaide, "I should have known all that 'turned-good' spiel was too good to last."

"Lets just hurry!" yelped Autumbra, the lights flickering before going out for a second.

"Aw nuts," muttered Iceshaide before the lights came back on to reveal they were in a clearing outside the city, a cloud revealing the moon. "Okaaay...is this one of our abilities?" said Iceshaide carefully before she looked before she said "Erm...Omnirus?" Autumbra looking to see Omnirus and his gang tied up near their ship.

"We don't wanna talk about it. Just don't tell anyone, ok?" Omnirus grumbled.

"Uh...who are we gonna tell?" asked Iceshaide.

"Excellent question," said a hated voice.

"Aw no," muttered Autumbra before the two's shadows sprouted black tentacles that grabbed them. "Hi boss...still subtle as ever?" Autumbra taunted. If he and Iceshaide were going out, he was gonna annoy the hell out of his ex-boss.

"I'm afraid the time for subtlety has passed," said Lady NegaMorph, "We must work in haste now."

"And what if we told you where you can shove that offer?" said Iceshaide sweetly.

"I gave you your powers, I can take them back. But there won't be much left of you after I do," said Lady Nega.

"Bite us," said the two birds in unison.

Lady Nega grinning evilly, making two bugs made of shadow fly over to them and crawl into their ears. "Ew...what was that meant to ARRRRRGH!" said Iceshaide, before she and Autumbra started screaming, their eyes turning solid black before they stopped.

"Much better. You're so much more productive when you don't waste time with contrary arguing," she said.

"Yes, mistress," said Autumbra, his voice having a strange echo to it before they looked over to see the lights of approaching SHIELD ships.

"Ok...everyone on the pan-dimensional bus," Lady Nega snapped.

Omnirus snapped, "Hey! What about us?"

Lady Nega paused to look at them. "I suppose I'll need one of you to fly this thing until I figure out the controls," she said.

The experiments exchanged nervous looks at that. The experiment crew called out "Not it' at high speed, Omnirus saying "Not it...BLITZNAK!"

Once inside, Lady Nega, to Omnirus's annoyance, sat in his chair, before to his amusement had immediate trouble with his height settings, her knees near her head. "Not one word. Get us out of here!" she snapped.

Omnirus looked innocent as he thought hard. If he was roped along, he'd end up in prison or dead for sure at the hands of some local. Buuuut...if the Lynches caught up first... "No can do. Engines need time to de-ionize. Should be ready by tomorrow afternoon," he said, clicking a switch that replaced the clearing with a holographic forest. "I mean, we could take off, but last I checked, you non-experiments don't take exploding well," he said with a smug grin.

"Is there any way to speed up that deionizing?" snapped Lady Nega.

"Exploding," reminded Omnirus cheerfully.

Lady Nega glowered before saying darkly, "Do you at least know how to adjust the seat height?"

Omnirus briefly looked at the red button on the side before lying smoothly, "It was like that when I got the ship. No idea."

"You're not that short all the time," snapped Lady Nega, "What about when you're in that amalgam form?"

"That takes up a lot more space than you think," said Omnirus, "Not to mention you draw a lot of attention when you have so many mismatching limbs."

"You're not gonna tell me, are you?" said Lady Nega.

Omnirus grinned, "Not a chance in hell. Now I need to go fix the engines, given only I know how out of everyone present."

Lady Nega sighed, her hands slapping down on the sides, including the red button, the seat shooting up and embedding Lady Nega in the ceiling. "I get the feeling this is going to be one of those plots..." she said darkly.


A little stay in Vanaheim was just the R&R that Matt and Chloe needed. Sure, there was some trouble when some Shadow Nyxes attacked Chloe, but they soon learned the errors of their ways. The ones that got away, anyways.

The dragons' home was quite a nice place, reminding Matt of Old Warfang. Bahamut had insisted on Chloe getting some proper armor, a chestplate for her dragon form that was apparently made from some platinum scales. Then there had been that one last thing...


The two Lynches watched as the mages worked on the portal, this one far more stable when they heard two pairs of talons landing and turned to see Draconus and Sela. Matt took a step back. "Back for more grand theft body?" he snapped.

Draconus sighing, Sela nudging him forward. "I...apologise. I simply thought of getting home to my beloved," he said, though it was clear he wanted to be anywhere else.

"And I'm sure your beloved was just as desperate to get you back," said Sela,

"After all, why else would she allow the Spirit of Vengeance to possess her?"

"Close, but I'm his sister," said Chloe flatly.

Sela paused. "Oh. My apologies, Lady Lynch. I meant no offense. It is good to see you are a strong warrior," she said, adding, "Consider the armor a gift. Lord Bahamut commissioned it but I paid for it. A lightning dragoness needs armor worthy." before she walked over and whispered in Chloe's ear "Plus how would the males cope without a dragoness to keep their heads screwed on?"

The two laughed, Matt and Draconus looking at each other. "They're plotting..." Matt said in a small voice.

Draconus nodded, "I sense dark days ahead."


The two burst out of the portal and into the sunset of New York. "You know...maybe me and Kala should honeymoon there? It's nice to have a dragon city without Moneybags," Matt teased, getting a flick across the snout, before he tuned his comm into ship channels. "Tell me Megan's in a nice toasty cell," he said.

There was a long uncomfortable silence. "Is this thing on?" asked Matt.

"Erm...how angry would you be if I said no?" said Techo's voice.

Matt said, "Hypothetically...extremely..."

Chloe chimed in, "How long has she been loose?"

"Er...since you left..." said Techo.

"Just to make sure, that was only since yesterday, right?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah, you've been gone about 17 hours. Thor told us where you were..." began Techo tactfully.

Matt snapped, "I was in a hospital den most of the time."

"And how come you haven't found her yet?" asked Chloe.

"NegaMorph here. She's either keeping her head down, on a ship or has left on said ship. Aria said she detected no rifts and she'd never stay low...so she must have a ship somewhere," said NegaMorph's voice.

"Then we better watch every possible angle she could leave Earth from," said Matt.

"Her last shadow jump was to a forest outside New York. SHIELD got there too late," said Techo calmly, adding, "We put some of our boys on the ground too quietly...nothing."

"Still, I'm not completely sure she's gone," said NegaMorph.

"Why would you say that?" asked Matt.

"Well, if I know her like I think I do, I wouldn't leave without a parting shot," said NegaMorph.

On cue, Matt and Chloe's comms buzzed painfully, before Lady Nega's voice said "Is this thing working? Good. Hello, Lynches, uncle. I notice you've been looking for me. Let's make it easy." The two dragons winged to a halt as a ship shimmered into view before two blasts knocked the dragons down and into a jumbotron with a crash. "Ooooh...that looked like it hurt," laughed Lady Nega, adding, "Sadly, I can't stick around. Thanks to your meddling, the splitter consortium's after me. I'll have to go straight to the source now. If you come after me, it'll be at your peril."

Matt probably would have been paying hard attention to what Lady Nega was saying, but that jumbotron hurt his head alot and there was a distorted buzzing that sounded like JJ Jerkface.

He heard NegaMorph reply in a furious tone, "I'm not letting you steal my niece. I'll find you."

"Oh please. You're hardly the general you once were," sneered Lady Nega, the ship lighting up before a portal opened in front of it.

"Rift engine," groaned Chloe, pulling herself free and lunging, the ship vanishing and the portal closing just before she reached it. "Well that's great," snapped Chloe, "She's completely beyond our reach now."

She expected Matt to literally explode with fury. Instead, he had a toothy grin. "No..." he said smugly, "She played right into our hands..."


Finally another chapter. And just in time for Halloween. And what could be more in tune for Halloween than a deal with the devil? Unfortunately, it looks like Lady Nega has once more gotten away, but she's not going to elude the gang for very long.

Sorry about the long delay. The next chapter will be the start of an extensive arc that I wanted to be finished I started posting it. It shouldn't be nearly so long before I start posting it. Keep an eye out for it and please review.