Mazes and Monsters

Part 6

"You must be proud, Callisto! Your people love you so much! Too bad their misplaced loyalty will be the reason of their downfall!"

Callisto thought in disgust that Mole Man was acting like five-year old. He just couldn't stop talking since his sensors detected intruders inside of Coliseum.

The dwarf rubbed his hands together in delight, "Think about it, queen of Morlocks! Today they will die in vain! You'll hear their screams and see them burning!"

Her stomach was twisting into knots – Mole Man's taunts wounded her deeply. But Callisto forced herself to stay calm when she answered, "I had a lot of time to think when I was in your jail. And you know what? It's too early to congratulate yourself, Grumpy. Don't make me laugh suggesting that you know Nightblade better than I do. He is anything but a fool, and you showed your hand by sending an invitation. You could as well add the word "TRAP" in the end of your letter. What's the matter, genius? You finally lost what's left of your mind?"

His fake smile turned into a frightening scowl. Mole Man slapped Callisto across the face, hardly.

"Very brave of you to hit me when I wear these chains," she licked the blood from her upper lip. Callisto expected him to hit her again, but instead he ordered his goons, "Gag her". When it was done, the dwarf said sweetly, "Don't bother to insult me, my dear, I'm not going to kill you… not yet. Enjoy the show!"

Mole Man pushed the button on his staff, deactivating the hologram.

Crimson Dynamo cursed her luck. That was exactly the kind of situation she wanted to avoid. Yelena had to face heavy armored opponents with a squad of half-repaired robots. None of the Sentinels in her disposal was Omega Class, and she wasn't able to use the big guns from her arsenal.

Five Prowlers were busy holding back Mole Man's cannon fodder; the rest of the robots concentrated the fire on the giant beasts. The monsters slowly advanced, the fire from energy cannons made them stagger backwards and roar in pain, but the damage was superficial.

Caliban hissed as he sunk the claws into Moloid officer's throat. The blood of slain enemies covered his thin gray body like a war paint.

Dzemal cried out, "Dave! Moloids at two o'clock!"

Dave Landers broke open a shotgun and reloaded it. Two Moloids rushed forward before Landers could shoot, but they were blocked by Litterbug.

Nico hid behind the Sentinel's back when the stray bullet grazed her leg. The teenage sorceress touched the graze, examined the blood on her fingers and chanted, "When the blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge!"

When the hologram faded, Callisto's eye opened up widely in surprise. Morlocks came after her, but they weren't alone. Nightblade's army was surrounded by the battle robots.

Bruce Banner built Sentinels with a single purpose – to hunt and kill all the mutant population. How could Jason force the mechanical predators to fight on his side?

Do you need to ask? It's Jason, he can move heaven and earth for you. For the first time since the capture Callisto allowed herself the slightest gleam of hope.

Whatever Mole Man thought about the appearance of Sentinels, he did his best to hide his feelings.

"KILL THEM!"

Callisto tried to find Jason among the Morlocks, but couldn't.

It felt like hours had passed since the hideous creatures of Mole Man began their assault. The battle, despite Razorback's best efforts, quickly turned hand-to-hand. Crimson Dynamo wished she could do more to help Morlocks, but stopping three monsters was more important.

Cybelle was the first to fall. While trying to find a better place to shoot from he was hit squarely in the stomach with energy blast.

Sunder, a hulking mutant with greenish skin, raised both fists with roar and delivered a powerful slam to the Moloid's head, crushing his skull into pieces. He kicked another Moloid, crushing his chest, and hurled his fist towards the third, turning his face at the bloody mess. Two Morlocks with the machine guns followed the giant, covering him from the flanks.

Two Moloid soldiers pointed the energy rifles at the drill car. Thin Morlock with elongated head formed a mirror-like shield, reflecting the rays back. The weapons exploded, killing Moloids instantly.

Lizard monster lost one of its eyes thanks to a lucky shot from the plasma turret. Enraged, the beast demonstrated that it had better weapons than claws. The beast opened its mouth and spewed a stream of acid at the Prowler. The acid was powerful; even Sentinel's tough armor started to dissolve.

PROWLER UNIT #104993 REPORTING. DAMAGE IS SEVERE. SYSTEM EFFICIENCY: 36%.

Crimson Dynamo cursed again.

For Callisto it was a day full of surprises. The arrival of Sentinels was unexpected, but then she saw Iron Maiden in the middle of their squad (now I see who tamed these tin cans, she thought) and the well-built guy who wore a mask and a red & blue outfit with a spider emblem. The twin brother of Spider-Girl punched everybody who came too close to Healer.

If Avengers survived, it's a miracle! But when they've been hiding all these years? And… where's Jason?

A new wave of attackers was driven back by Caliban and Scaleface in her reptilian form. Callisto smiled; Moloids had bitten more than they could chew with these two.

Her smile attracted unneeded attention from Mole Man's bodyguard. Worm threw her a dark glare. Callisto pretended to ignore him. Worm disgusted her – not by his appearance, but he was the only Morlock who served the mad dwarf willingly.

Maybe it was good that she was gagged. Who knows what she could say to this traitor.

An hour earlier I'd welcome death with open arms; but not now, not when I have a chance to survive.

When the giant lizard swung its spiked tail as a whip, Captain Spider grabbed Healer unceremoniously, leaped into the air and landed on the wall.

"Let me go, you big ape! I must save him!"

Captain Spider yelled back, "Do you have a deathwish?" He forced old man to turn his head back and see the fate of the wounded Morlock. The mutant was crushed to death by the severed head of Tracker Sentinel.

Healer looked in dismay at what was left of his patient and said, "Sorry. And… thank you".

"You are welcome".

Rockman dived for cover when the bullet shattered the windshield. Unfortunately, the drill car wasn't designed to withstand a barrage of bullets and laser rays.

I need to divert their attention from the machine.

Rockman grabbed the gun from the rear seat, jumped out of the car and fired, killing three Moloids at once. The weapon he used was a modified plasma turret removed from the broken Sentinel. Rockman wasn't a good shot, but with the guns like this one a physical strength was needed more than a precision.

Morlocks with white eyes tried to jump on the young witch from behind. Dave Landers killed them with a heavy heart.

As the final incantation of her spell was completed, Nico raised the Staff of One. The words in Latin flow from her lips with ease. The tip of the staff started to glow brightly.

Nico's head was swimming. Doctor Strange warned her to expect nasty aftereffects from this spell. But she wasn't prepared to feel like the staff was drinking her blood. Nico couldn't stop the spell, so she had to hold in by the sheer force of will.

The mesmerizing blue light from the staff began to engulf the whole cave.

Captain Spider landed on the ground carefully; Razorback was waiting for him.

"Spider? We have a plan that needs your special skills. We must move fast, the light is the distraction we needed".

Flash asked, "What about Healer?"

Old Morlock smiled, "Started worrying for me at last?"

Razorback tapped wall-crawler on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Spider, we'll take care of him".

Callisto spent a lot of time with brainwashed Morlocks, so she immediately noticed the changes in the mutants touched by the blue light. The mist in their eyes began to dissolve.

Callisto smiled victoriously; she doubted that Mole Man included magic in his equations.

The battle, already as chaotic as it could be, turned into a scuffle. A lot of Morlocks came to their senses enough to understand what's going on. They opened a random fire targeting all the Moloids in the line-of-sight range.

Callisto recognized one of them - Erg from Drain Dwellers tribe. He killed two Moloid soldiers and one officer before he was caught in crossfire.

The moment of sadness was fleeting as the woman finally noticed the blue-skinned figure, standing next to Razorback and the spider-themed Avenger.

Jason! Thank God, you are alive!

Yelena's army was reduced to twelve Prowlers and four Trackers.

PROWLER UNIT #104993 REPORTING. DAMAGE IS IRREPAIRABLE. SYSTEM EFFICIENCY: 13%.

The sight of her robots destroyed one by one filled Crimson Dynamo with a sudden sharp fury she never expected she held. Three and a half minutes ago Tracker Sentinel was pierced by the horns of the spiked monster and trampled under its hooves. Now she was losing one of the Prowlers, the robot was slowly dissolving after the encounter with the acid.

PROWLER UNIT #104993 REPORTING. DAMAGE IS IRREPAIRABLE. SYSTEM EFFICIENCY: 5%. SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN...

It was her mistake; she underestimated the monsters' ability to withstand physical damage. Snail monster was the worst; its shell was too thick for the energy cannons, it was almost invincible. Two others were wounded by the robots, but they were far from death.

The lizard was ready to attack again when the blue figure dropped on its head, taking the acid-spitting beast by surprise. The sword gouged out the monster's remaining eye. Before the paws of the newly blind beast could grab him, the blue mutant jumped off its head, leaving the sword in the eye of the lizard. Captain Spider grabbed his hand and slowed the fall, but the spiked tail hit the heroes in mid-air, knocking out both of them.

Rockman approached the blind monster stepping extra careful to avoid the claws. The lizard was thrashing and convulsing on the stone floor. Rockman placed the barrel of his gun between the beast's jaws, set the charge to maximum and fired. The monster choked on its dying howl.

Callisto saw Nightblade regaining consciousness. Thanks to his healing factor, it was fast, but not fast enough, because he landed among the enemies.

Mole Man reached into his coat pocket, taking out a small pistol. Callisto paled; it didn't take long for her to remember the last time that gun was used. She started wiggling like a worm on a hook, trying to scream, to warn Jason… but the gag didn't budge. Mole Man grinned at her ineffectual efforts. He raised a gun and fired a single shot.

BANG!

Blue mutant slumped to the ground, with the dart lodged just below his shoulder blade.

The cave was filled with the echoes of Mole Man's triumphant laughter. He exclaimed, "You are finished, Howlett!"

To be continued…