The SuperStarr Chronicles
Disclaimer: "Okay, who brought the dog?" - Louis Tully, Ghostbusters
Chapter 16: Night of the Daemons, Part 5!
Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii was a place that had a reputation for being a relaxing paradise. A land of sun, sand, and sea. However, in real life, Hawaii was...more complex than that. And that statement was especially true in its capital city, Honolulu.
Two heroines stood atop a building in the city known as the Big Apricot. They were both Native Hawaiian. One was a more mature woman, her long black hair tied into a ponytail. There was a streak of gray in her hair, the only real indicator that she was quite a bit older than she looked. She wore a red high-collared one-piece swimsuit-like costume with orange leggings, and red flat-soled shin-high boots. Her costume also had elbow-high red gloves and an orange utility belt that had a golden circular belt buckle with a stylized flame on it. Her eyes were covered by a red domino mask with white lenses.
The second was a teenager. Her eyes were covered by a matching domino mask, only hers was black and sported a red five-pointed star on it. Her costume was a black midriff and shoulder-baring high-collared top with black pants and red hi-top boots. The top had a red five-pointed star on it. The pants and top also had small white shiny dots all over them, making it look like she was wearing a star field. Her pants were held up by a red utility belt. Its buckle was silver, with a red five-pointed star on it. Her arms and hands were covered by a pair of red gloves that reached to her shoulders.
"Like, this city looks totally beautiful from up here." Lisa Leialoha, aka the astrology-themed heroine known as Star Sign noted.
"Indeed, my young friend." Tandy Waihe'e, aka former First Liner Firefall agreed. She smiled at her young protege. "It certainly is." The dark-haired elder heroine put her hand to her ear, as she heard the police scanner in her earpiece click on.
"All units, there is a disturbance at Kapi'olani Park!" The scanner stated. "Suspect has been described as a brunette woman wearing a blue-and-yellow costume. She appears to be armed with what looks like pink truncheons, possibly made of hard light."
"What's up, Firefall?" Star Sign asked when she noticed the scowl on Firefall's face.
"She's returned." The veteran heroine frowned. "Joystick."
"Joystick?!" Star Sign blinked. "Like, that total loony tune?"
Firefall nodded. "Yes, the thrill-seeker."
"Like, doesn't she have anything better to do? Doesn't she realize how much she is messing up her karma?"
"Joystick doesn't share your belief, my young friend." Firefall reminded the younger heroine. "We must head to the University."
"You got it, Firefall!" Star Sign grinned. "Time to show that totally grody gal what happens when you stack up some bad karma!" Firefall smiled, then her body turned into flame, making her resemble a female version of the Human Torch. Star Sign's own body became sheathed in silver energy. The two heroines flew off.
Kapi'olani Park
Kapi'olani Park was the second oldest public park in the state, located in Waikiki, a neighborhood of Honolulu. Named after the queen consort of David Kalakaua, the park was the home of the Honolulu Zoo, and the Waikiki Shell, an outdoor concert venue. It has also hosted many a sporting event. But today, this park was where a woman was going to have some fun. And her idea of fun was causing mayhem.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Janice Olivia Yanizeski, aka Joystick, cackled like a madwoman as she kicked a cop in the gut and then nailed him in the jaw with one of her energy truncheons. She looked around at the group of downed police officers, groaning in pain. "Man, you cops are no fun to play with! I'm so bored!" She theatrically yawned. "Come on! I'm here to have some fun! Life's too short for being so boring!"
"If fun is what you want so badly, perhaps we can provide." Firefall called out as she and Star Sign landed.
"Like, this totally is not good for your karma, Joystick." Star Sign added.
"Oh, yay! Superheroes!" Joystick grinned happily. "You guys are always fun!"
"Why are you here, Joystick?" Firefall demanded. "Are you on a job?" It was not an unreasonable assumption. After all, the thrillseeker was a mercenary by trade.
"Not today!" Joystick answered with a smile. "Today, I'm just here to have some fun! To enjoy life! Live it on the edge, baby!"
"And your idea of fun is to beat up policemen and be a nuisance." Firefall scowled, crossing her arms.
"Nuisance?" Joystick cackled. "Oh come on! I just believe in living life to the fullest! Taking risks! After all, we only live once! Might as well enjoy it while we can!"
"Like, you can totally do that without picking fights." Star Sign groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Joystick grinned. "You know what would be fun?" She assumed a martial pose and twirled her hard light truncheons. "If I kicked your asses." A sneer formed on Firefall's face.
"Joystick, I survived the Mor-Taxans' bringing doom to the First Line. You and your big mouth are no challenge to me."
"Bad things happen to those who do bad." Star Sign added. She smirked and punched her palm. "And you totally have this bad karma coming!"
Bla Bheinn
"So, what's the plan?" Craig looked at Clara, Ian, and Megan.
"She's right." Lila nodded. "We need a plan for this."
"Yeah." Pietro agreed. "I mean, we have no idea what we're blundering into, and Toad is still useless."
FWHAP!
"Ow!" Pietro yelped, rubbing the back of his head where Lila smacked him.
"Don't be a jerk!" Lila snapped.
"I can sense my sister inside the mountain." Megan said, pointing at the famous geological wonder.
"How'd she get in there?" Fred wondered, scratching his head. "You guys remember when we did that thing at that camp with the X-Geeks?"
"Yeah, that was when we first ended up teaming up with them to fight the Juggernaut." Lance recalled.
"Maybe there's a mineshaft or something." Fred suggested. "I mean, there was one in that mountain."
"No mineshafts in Bla Bheinn, lad." Ian told the Texan. "It's never been mined. There's no valuable metals in it."
Fred blinked. "...oh." Pietro muttered something, but then got smacked again. Megan walked up to the mountain and reached out to it. A part of the mountain's front seemed to shimmer until it revealed a tunnel.
"A tunnel!" Paul exclaimed.
"Crazy old witch must have magically dug her way in." Clara deduced. Lady Daemon blinked. This tunnel was familiar to her. How was it...of course!
"Clara..." Megan said. "Does this old tunnel remind you of anything?"
The blonde Canadian racked her brain. "Sort of..." She scratched her head in thought. "I'm not quite sure..." Her eye widened when it came to her. "Oh my God."
"What?" Craig asked.
"Kids, remember when I told you all about how I first met Meg here?" Clara asked. The young mutants nodded. "Well, the Nazis were holding that ritual...within Bla Bheinn."
"Aw, hell..." Ian groaned.
"I thought we destroyed that damned site." Clara scowled.
"We did." Meg nodded. "Alisabeth must have rebuilt it."
"That explains why the entrance wasn't caved in." Clara scowled. "I do remember that we caved it in afterwards."
"This makes no sense." Lila frowned. "Why would Alisabeth reuse this old cave if she knew you guys could find her here?"
"Maybe she's lazy." Pietro shrugged.
"Alisabeth always did have an issue with overconfidence..." Ian muttered.
"You all also realize this is an obvious trap, right?" Lila continued.
"We can take anything that witch can throw at us!" Fred smirked, punching his palm.
"Not to rain on your parade, Big Guy, but Alisabeth Daemon likely can wreck us." Lila told him. "She's packing magic." The English girl shrugged. "I bloody hate magic..."
Clara sighed. "It is a trap, but I don't think we have much of a choice. We have to go in there." The group carefully approached the cave.
"We're going to die..." Pietro groaned. "I don't want to die here. I never even got to romance any bonny Scottish lassies..."
"If Alisabeth Daemon has her way, you won't to get to romance any lassies, you idiot." Craig growled as he grabbed Pietro and shoved him into the cave. The others then followed. He glanced over at Lance, who seemed to be somewhat distant. He was staring at the short sword in his hand. "Why are you staring at that sword, Alvers?"
"...I don't know." Lance said.
"You've been looking at that thing for most of the trip. Where'd you get it?"
"Uh, Lady Daemon gave it to me." The geokinetic answered.
"You may want to be careful. Knowing her, that thing may be cursed." Lila muttered. Meg snickered at that.
"Lassie, if I wanted ta give the boy a cursed sword, he'd know it was cursed." The blonde Scotswoman teased. The earthshaker's eyes widened.
"WHAT?!" He yelped.
Megan chuckled and waved it off. "Don't ye worry, lad. That sword is just fine."
"Oh." Lance blinked. "That's...nice." He frowned at the sword. "It's weird. It feels like I've used this before."
"Huh." Craig shrugged. "That is weird."
"I don't like this." Ian scowled as he looked around. "This is way too quiet."
"I agree." Clara concurred. "This gives me the creeps."
"It involves the Daemons, that's not surprising." Lila grunted as she checked her Laser Crossbow. The group then walked into a large round chamber. At the other end, were a pair of large wooden double doors with a metal door frame. Lining the top of the chamber were a ring of lit medieval-style torches in metal frames that made the Brotherhood think of the imposing metal fences seen in front of haunted houses in horror movies. Within the chamber, there were several destroyed pieces of furniture. "Where are we?"
"It's a lounging area." Ian recalled. He looked at a red stain on the wall. "And this is blood."
"From what?" Fred asked.
"Nazis." Clara said. She smirked at the stain. "Amazing it's still here. This came from me ripping out a Nazi soldier's throat."
"Yeesh." Pietro winced. "Guess you're not that different from your crazy brother, huh?"
Clara scowled at the silver-haired speedster. "I killed in service of my country. He does it for kicks."
"Am I the only one who's a little freaked out by this?" Paul winced as he looked around. "I mean, this place looks like a scene from a horror film after the monster has finished its rampage."
"I'm with Paul on this. The hell happened here?" Craig concurred.
"A battle to save the world, lad." Ian said grimly. "I'll spare ye the details."
"We've seen horror movies! We can handle it!" Fred insisted.
"Sonny, there is a big difference between the gore in celluloid and the carnage of real-world atrocities, lad." Ian advised.
"What's celluloid?" A confused Fred blinked.
"Celluloid was used to make film that photographers and filmmakers used to make photos and movies back in the day." Lila explained.
"Oh." Fred blinked. "They still use that stuff?"
Lila shook her head. "Not really. It's expensive, difficult to make, and very flammable." She looked around and shuddered. "Bloody hell. I'm not surprised a Daemon is involved in this carnage. After all..." She glanced at Ian. "We know what really happened to the Hindenburg now."
"I think it's a little unfair for you to say that, lass." Ian said. "What happened at the Hindenburg was a horrible tragedy."
"The Daemons are the reason why those passengers died." Lila countered.
"It was Alisabeth's fault." Ian clarified. "Do you want to know why she was on the Hindenburg? The exact same reason she is here now. She wanted to use the passengers as a sacrifice. Kill them all and use their souls to bring the Outer Dark on to our plane of existence. Meg and I stopped her, but the whole thing ended up blowing the blimp up." The auburn-haired man sighed. "We tried to stop Alisabeth from killing a bunch of people in her mad quest for more power, and those poor passengers died anyway. It felt like we failed."
Paul patted Ian's shoulder. "You said it yourself, Ian. It wasn't your fault. Nor was it Meg's. You guys still managed to stop Alisabeth from bringing those Outer Dark guys to this world."
"Aye." Ian nodded. "But it still felt like we failed. Let me put it to you like this, lassie. How would you feel if someone assumed you were a bad person because a member of your family did something horrible? That is what you are doing to Megan, young lady."
"You can't really blame me." Lila said. "Considering the reputation the Daemons have. They don't have it for nothing."
"I understand that." Ian nodded. "But still. I don't think it's rightly fair to condemn Megan as a bad person for a reputation that was not her fault." As Ian and Lila spoke, Clara and Megan were having a conversation of their own.
"Meg, don't get me wrong, I consider you an old friend of mine. I really do." Clara turned to the blonde Scotswoman. "But do you really think it's a good idea to bring the kids here?"
"It was not up ta me, Clara. The cards told me to bring your kids in." Meg said as she reached her hand into her coat. She pulled out a deck of tarot cards.
The blonde Canadian feral rolled her eye. "Of course. The cards told you." She muttered.
"I understand your concern." Meg smiled. "But destiny requires them to be here."
"Even if it could potentially get them killed?" Clara harshly whispered.
"You're quite fond of them, aren't ye?" Megan said.
Clara shrugged. "Eh, I stumbled into these kids, and as such, I think they need something resembling proper guidance."
"So, playing den mother?" Megan teased. "Wouldn't be the first time ye played mummy. How's Nia doing, anyway?"
"Fine, last I checked." Clara answered. "I called her not long after I returned to Earth. Didn't want to worry her."
"Well, between the two of us, there's another reason why the cards told me to bring you and yer new wards here."
"What?"
"Tell me, Clara." Meg smiled. "You ever considered that maybe it was fate that you encountered these kids?"
Clara shook her head. "I don't believe in that stuff." The blonde scowled. "My brother liked to try and pull that stuff. That I was destined to be a monster like him. Like hell I'll let that happen."
"I think you were intended to be a 'den mother' to those boys of yours." Meg said. "The cards told me that a new path will open up for them here. They'll need you, old friend. They're going to need a proper mentor. And I know you can do the job."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Nia turned out just fine." Lady Daemon smiled. "Those kids need ya, Clara."
"You do have a point." Clara admitted. She noticed a pair of large wooden double doors on one wall. The doors were lined with metal, with a pair of large silver handles.
"Mr. Dukes, if ye would?" Meg asked.
"No problem!" Fred smirked as he walked towards the double doors. The powerful Texan gripped the handles of the doors with his meaty hands. The blond-mohawked mutant tugged at the handles. He let out a grunt as he tried to pull the doors open.
"Wow." Lance said.
"I don't think I've ever seen Blob unable to force a door open before." Pietro blinked in amazement.
"What're the odds that Alisabeth has magically gimmicked the door?" Lila grunted. She pulled out a device from her belt and started pressing buttons on it.
"Is that...a calculator?" Ian glanced at the object in Lila's hand. Sure enough, it was a white calculator with black and blue sides.
"It is." Lila nodded as she continued to type. "TI-Nspire CX II. After I...obtained it, I modified it with various tech I had lying around. Upgraded the memory, the CPU, added a whole bunch of new features. It's now a full-on tricorder." A wicked smirk appeared on the girl's face. "And it can still help with your maths."
"What's going on here?!" Fred exclaimed. "What's with this door?" He grunted and punched. "Urg!" He grunted. The big Texan looked at his fist, observing the purple energy that briefly danced on his knuckles. "Whoa, is this that magic stuff? Tingly..."
"Okay, maybe we should leave now." Pietro said.
"Naw, we need you." Craig said. The speedster thought about that.
"Well, it is always nice to be needed." Pietro smirked smugly.
"If worse comes to worse, we can use you as a human shield." Craig joked, getting himself a glare from Pietro.
"I hate you..."
"I think she magically gimmicked the door." Lila said. She pointed her modified calculator at the door. The device beeped and she looked at the readings on the screen. "Yeah, there's an energy field around the door. She gimmicked it."
"How can you detect magic with that thing?" Fred asked. Lila shrugged.
"Energy is energy, mate."
"I have this handled." Lady Daemon waved her hands, and they started to glow. She chanted some words and then she pointed her hands at the doors as her chanting reached a climax. She fired an energy beam at the doors. The doors seemed to glow for a brief time. Lila looked at her modified calculator.
"I don't detect any energy fields around the doors." She announced.
"Now you may do your thing, Mr. Dukes." Meg smiled. Fred scowled and cracked his knuckles.
"NO DOOR STOPS THE BLOB!" He roared and punched the doors.
WHAM! KRAK!
The mighty punch smashed the doors to pieces.
"Bit much, ain't it big guy?" Clara teased. Fred scowled.
"These doors sucked!" The Texan powerhouse snapped. The group walked through the doorway, and found themselves in another large round room. And in the center of it was the meteorite on a round marble slab. "Hey, there's the rock!"
"I'll grab it." Pietro smirked. "I'll be long gone before she-hey!" Craig grabbed his shoulder and whacked him upside the head, making the silver-haired speedster yelp.
"Don't be stupid!" Craig snapped. "You really think that Megan Daemon's twisted sister would just leave that meteorite lying around to be taken by anyone?!"
"He's right." Lila nodded. "If my time as a thief taught me anything, it's that is that if something valuable is lying around like this, then you should assume it has one hell of a security system protecting it."
"You are a smart one, child!" Alisabeth's voice complimented loudly. A column of bright crimson light appeared around the meteorite.
"Told you all!" Lila exclaimed. "I'm betting that's magic there!" God, I hate magic!
"I did not want to seem like a rude hostess, so I decided to make some...arrangements for your entertainment." Alisabeth cackled.
"Hey, isn't the ground getting...darker?" Paul noticed.
"Yeah, it is." Craig confirmed.
"Oh, hell..." Lila pointed at the ground with her Laser Crossbow. "I told you all this place would have a security system!"
"Be wary of anything!" Clara ordered sharply.
"No need to tell us, old friend!" Ian pulled out his gun. From the shadow-covered ground, beings started to emerge. Monstrous hunchbacked beings with glowing yellow eyes and jet black fur around their shoulders. Their bodies were otherwise covered in shining obsidian scales. Their flat human-like faces had wide mouths filled with jagged sharp teeth. Their four-fingered hands were tipped with sharp claws.
"I hope you enjoy the...entertainment that I arranged for you." Alisabeth's voice cackled out.
"We're going to die..." Pietro whimpered.
"You may." Craig growled. He whipped out his nightstick and started to twirl it. His star-covered eye started to glow purple. "But I don't plan to!"
"You think a bunch of demons scare me, sister?!" Megan said, her hands glowing.
"Nice claws, boys." Clara taunted with a smirk, showing hers off. "But mine got more mileage."
"Let's just fight these things!" Fred yelled. And with that, the fight was on.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Clara roared as she sliced one demon up with her claws and tossed a second into a third. "I've fought tougher and scarier things than you, you ugly beasts!" She noticed the demons being sucked into the ground. The hell?!
"Eat laser arrow, ya ugly bastards!" Lila fired a barrage of energy arrows from her Laser Crossbow at some of the demons. One charged towards her, but ended up getting an energy arrow to the brain.
"Eek!" Pietro cried out as he dodged one of the demons' claws. Another inch to the left, and said claws would have turned the silver-haired mutant's spine into spaghetti. No room to run! No room to run! I need to run!
Lance gulped fearfully as he backed away from one of the demons.
"Aren't you cute?!" The demon taunted mockingly with a laugh. "You with your little sword." Lance held his sword out in front of him. "What're you gonna do, boy? Cut my head off?!" He laughed as he stalked towards Lance. "I doubt you even know how to use that thing." Lance felt his back touch the wall. He panted in panic. The brunet mutant knew he couldn't use his powers here. After all, it would result in his friends getting crushed, and Bla Bheinn likely getting destroyed. Scotland would want his head for that!
CHOK!
The demon's taunt was interrupted by a xiphos going through its throat. The earthshaker yanked the old sword out, and the demon fell dead. Its body sunk into the blackened ground. Lance blinked at the ancient weapon in confusion.
"The hell...?" He muttered. The brunet Illinoian mutant heard a roaring. He turned around and saw a couple of demons charge and leap at him. The young mutant's body seemed to go on autopilot. His arm stuck with the xiphos like a cobra going for its prey, slitting the demon's throats. Another demon slashed at Lance with a clawed hand, but he masterfully dodged it, sliced off the offending arm, and stabbed it in the heart. At least, Lance hoped that was where its heart was.
"What...what are you?!" The demon hacked out before it collapsed and died. Like its compatriot, the demon's dead body sunk into the ground. Lance gaped.
"I...I..." He stammered. Another demon tried to charge him, but the young mutant was able to roll out of the way, and slashed at the back of the monster's legs, making it scream and fall to its knees. Lance then jumped up and stabbed the demon in the back of the neck, the xiphos exploding out of the demon's throat. The earthshaker gritted his teeth and yanked the ancient sword out, as the demon collapsed. "What the hell?!"
"Whoa, Lance!" Fred said as he punched a demon out. "That was awesome!"
"Since when could you fight like that?!" Pietro exclaimed. "Gah!" A demon knocked him aside.
"Heh. Punk." He kicked Pietro in the side.
Thwack! BOOM!
"AGH!" The demon screamed as an explosive arrow bolt hit it in the back and made it explode.
"Watch your back, you androgynous silver-haired idiot!" Lila snapped, then shot a few more laser arrows at some demons.
"Hak! Androgynous?!" Pietro coughed out.
"I don't know!" Lance exclaimed. A demon tried to ambush him, but it got its hand cut off and throat slashed for its trouble. It was like the earthshaker had suddenly become a master swordsman.
"Way to go, Lance!" Fred whooped as he tossed one demon into another, both of them falling into the ground.
"HA!" Lila exclaimed as she blasted a demon with an energy arrow from her Laser Crossbow. She then blasted a couple more. "That's right, ya ugly hell-spawned bastards! Come and get you some!"
"Don't get cocky, lass!" Ian warned as he dodged a demon's strike before shooting it. He then kicked another demon aside. It also got a bullet between the eyes.
"Yeow!" Paul exclaimed as he deftly dodged a demon's slash. "HA!" He kicked the demon in the gut, and then grabbed its arm and gave it a judo throw. He then finished it off with an eye laser blast to the face. The young Los Angelan mutant grimaced.
I feel sick... Paul thought. I know that these are monsters and they have no qualms about killing us, but still, I feel lousy. Despite his thoughts, he still was able to keep his eye on the ball. Using his knowledge of judo and aikido, he was able to send one demon that was charging at him into another. He shook his head. I will never understand why things like this exist. "You know, if you guys were nicer, people might actually like you!"
"We're going to like nicely tearing you a new one, boy!" One of the demons Paul tossed into each other snarled as it leapt at the mutant teenager. Paul just downed it with a roundhouse, then finished that one off with his eye laser. He shook his head.
"YEAH!" Fred whooped as he chokeslammed a demon. "I love Scotland!" He punched out another demon. "Hey, get off me!" He yelled as some demons jumped on him and tried to hack away at him.
"There's no end of them!" Clara exclaimed as she kicked one demon away and punched another one in the throat. One slashed her across the back. "AGH! Dammit!"
"This is just typical of you, sister!" Megan growled as she blasted some demons with a magic missile, then gave another one an elbow to the jaw and then a point-black magical blast in the face. "Never had the courage to face us!"
"She fears you, m'love!" Ian smirked as he shot a demon right between the eyes with his gun. He then took another one down with a roundhouse kick and then gave it a bullet between the eyes as well.
"Shouldn't you be running low on ammo right now?" Lila asked as she blasted a demon with an energy arrow. "I haven't seen you reload your gun."
"Magically-enhanced, lass." Ian grinned. The two heard high-pitched screaming. They noticed Pietro trying to fight off a demon. Well, more like the demon was tossing him around. The two looked at each other and sighed.
"And he likes to say Todd is useless." Lila muttered. She then shot the demons off Pietro.
"I have no room to run!" The speedster exclaimed.
That's not surprising. Lila scowled. Little wanker is used to being able to use his speed to fight. He's useless without it. At least Kermit can kick hard. Hope he's doing alright on the ship...
Clara's spaceship
Todd Tolensky sat in the captain's chair, covered in blankets.
This sucks. I hate the cold. Todd thought bitterly. He looked around at the bridge. At least this bridge is nice and warm. The young mutant let out a sigh. This stinks. Why do I have to be stuck with this stupid mutation? It ain't fair. Everyone else gets cool powers and stuff. Hell, that blue fuzzface can teleport! But me? I have to be a damn toad. Who did I anger in a past life to get this?! He looked around. At least the ship is nice and warm.
"Probably don't need these blankets that much." Todd muttered. The young mutant took a few blankets and put them aside. "That's better." I wish someone stayed with me. At least so I'd have somebody to talk to. He sighed and got up. The amphibious mutant decided to stretch himself out and do a few backflips to get the stiffness out of his muscles.
"Well, at least I feel a bit more active now." He mumbled. Todd's yellow eyes looked around the ship's bridge. "Man, this is some impressive lookin' bridge." He hopped around, looking at the consoles. "Straight outta Star Trek, yo. Maybe Lila can show me what some of this stuff does. I wonder which button fires the photon torpedoes."
"Weaponry is activated at the tactical console. You are standing at the pilot's console."
"Whoa!" Todd yelped as he leapt into the air a bit. "Who?! What?! Who was that?!" He looked up at the bridge's ceiling.
"I am the ship's computer."
"Oh." Todd blinked. "Dude, this is just like Star Trek!"
"I am not familiar with that reference."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Todd nodded. "So, uh...what do you...do?"
"I aid the ship's crew in maintaining this vessel." The computer answered.
"Huh. That makes sense." Todd scratched his head. "Figures." The young mutant was then hit with a bolt of inspiration. "Hey, uh, can you show us what the others are doing right now?"
"Scans are inconclusive. There appears to be a strange energy that is causing interference with my sensors."
"So, you can't show me what they're doing?"
"I am afraid I cannot." The computer answered. "I can show the exterior of the mountain, though."
"Well, alright. Do it." Todd ordered. The large screen across from him showed the exterior of Bla Bheinn. The amphibious mutant frowned at the image. "Yo, you sure you can't scan in there?"
"Affrimative." The computer confirmed.
"Awww, nuts." Todd flopped down on the captain's chair. "Well, that sucks." Hmmm...Todd found himself thinking. If I were a Starfleet captain, what would I do? He then noticed something on the screen. "Hey..." He pointed at the base of the mountain. "What is that? Can you enhance that?" The screen performed a closeup on the area Todd pointed at. "That's a tunnel!" He snapped his fingers as the solution came to him. "Hey ship, can you launch a probe with a little camera in it?"
"Of course."
"Then do it, yo!" Todd ordered. "I want to see what they're doing!"
"Probe launched." The computer announced. From a panel on the ship, a small silver sphere flew out, around the size of a tennis ball. The sphere flew into the tunnel. Another window appeared on the ship's viewscreen, showing what the probe's camera was seeing. Todd watched this on the viewscreen.
"Can the probe scan anything?" Todd asked.
"It can try."
Todd nodded. "Okay, then do it." Man, this bein' captain stuff is fun! I should do it more often!
"Energy interference is preventing clear scans. Visual acuity is unaffected."
"Oh. Okay." Todd said with a nod. "Explains why we can still see what's going on..." The probe went inward and watched the battle. "Holy-! The heck are they fighting?!"
Bla Bheinn
"This is ridiculous!" Craig exclaimed. He smashed one demon in the jaw with his nightstick, and then blasted another one of them with his eye laser.
"They just keep coming at us!" Paul exclaimed as he flipped out of the way of a demon trying to charge at him, then blasting him with his eye laser.
"We can't keep fighting like this forever!" Clara yelled as she kicked a demon aside.
"She's right!" Lila added, blasting another demon with her Laser Crossbow. "There's too many of these things!"
"For every one we kill, two more appear!" Ian concurred, shooting more demons with his gun. "Gah!" One shoulder checked the former soldier, knocking him to the ground. He ended up dropping his gun.
"Ian!" Meg exclaimed.
"Get off me!" Fred roared as he tried to throw a couple demons that jumped on him off of him.
"They're swarming us!" Lance exclaimed. "GAH!" A demon knocked his sword out of his hand. The rock walls of the mountain seemed to come to life, forming tentacles that grabbed the heroes by their wrists and ankles. They were then pulled to the wall and bound with their limbs pulled in forty-five degree angles.
"Urg..." Fred grunted as he tugged at the rock binding his wrists. "I don't get it! I can't break these! I'm the Blob!"
"It's magic, you lardbrain!" Pietro snapped. Alisabeth Daemon appeared in a flash of green light.
"I do hope that my pets did not rough you up too badly." The mad blonde Scotswoman said. She petted the head of one of the demons like she was rewarding an obedient puppy. "After all, I do need you all...reasonably intact."
"Let us go, you jerk!" Paul yelled.
"I'm sorry, lad. I'm afraid I cannot do that." Alisabeth smiled. "After all..." She sauntered over to Paul. "I need you right here just like this." The blonde pinched Paul's cheek.
Clara snarled. "Never could face anyone in a fair fight." Alisabeth shrugged at that insinuation.
"Why would I? After all, I'm more powerful a sorcerer than my dear sister ever was." She smirked.
"So you say." Megan scowled.
"As much as I love the whole villainous banter thing, I'm afraid I do have other things to do." She waved her hands over the meteorite, said hands glowing with eldritch power. The mad sorceress chanted ancient words, the language of her masters. A beam of sickly green-colored energy erupted from the meteorite. The beam hit the ceiling, and it spread out into a swirling portal.
"What is that?!" Lance exclaimed.
"It's the portal to the realm of the Outer Dark!" Megan answered.
"What's she gonna do?!" Fred exclaimed.
"She's gonna sacrifice us." Ian said. "Use our blood and souls to help bring Kthara to Earth."
"Who's Kthara?!" Pietro yelled.
"The Queen of the Realm of the Outer Dark." Alisabeth said. "My mistress."
"We're going to die..." Paul whimpered.
"Never thought I'd go out being a sacrifice to a demon goddess." Craig grumbled. Clara glared at Meg.
"If we make it through this, Meg, remind me to kick you in the mouth."
"I never got to romance any bonnie Scottish lassies! I never got to get my own tartan! I never got to see Paris! Why, God, why?!" Pietro wailed. Alisabeth sneered at the speedster, and then nodded to one of the demons by her side. The demon grunted in answer to her, walked over to Pietro and gave him a backhand across the mouth. "OW!"
"Is he always like this?!" The blonde sorceress asked the bound heroes.
"Yes." Lance nodded.
"Wow." Alisabeth blinked. "...really?" A nod from Lance. "Huh. I actually feel a bit of pity for you lot."
"Can you kill him first, please?!" Craig snapped.
"Mistress Kthara will be pleased, Alisabeth Daemon." One of the demons complimented.
"I certainly hope so." Alisabeth nodded. "Now then, to finish this ritual." She continued chanting. As she chanted, lines of green energy snaked from the green portal. They moved over the ceiling, went down the walls, and then reached the bound heroes. Their bodies glowed green, and they writhed in pain.
"AGGGGH! It hurts!" Pietro screamed. "It hurts!"
"What is happening?!" Paul exclaimed.
"The tendrils are a channel..." Megan grunted out. "They'll be how she...extracts our souls..."
"Aye, dear sister..." Alisabeth smiled. She pulled out a small ceremonial-looking dagger from a pocket in her dress. "And once I take all of your blood, I can complete the spell and bring my mistress into this plane." She smirked as she sauntered towards Fred.
"Yeah, right!" Fred mocked. "Your little knife can't hurt me! I'm invul...invuh...unhurtable!"
Alisabeth laughed. "You really believe that, lad?" She held up her knife. "This here little knife is mystically treated. It can even cut your thick skin. Nobody is truly invincible, lad." The blonde's smile grew more mad and wicked. "You should be honored, me large friend. Your blood and soul will be used to help usher in a new age. The Age of the Outer Dark."
"The Age of the Outer Dark. That sounds like a bad death metal band." Craig grumbled. Alisabeth glared at the former gang member. She scowled and marched over to the young mutant.
"You know, for being such a little smartarse, I think I'll cut your throat first."
"NO!" Paul exclaimed. Craig shot his twin a quick glare, then turned it on Alisabeth.
"You needed to send a bunch of demons to weaken us, you needed to restrain us and mystically disable our powers, and yet you think you're the tougher of the Daemon sisters?!" Craig added. "That's hilarious!"
Alisabeth smirked. "Whatever gets the job done, lad." What the mad sorceress or her demonic minions didn't realize was that a certain small silver ball was hovering at the entrance to the chamber, watching this potential horror show going down.
Clara's spaceship
"Aw, geez!" Todd winced as he saw what the probe was transmitting. "I gotta get out there and do something..." I mean, Lila, Clara, and the Starr twins are pretty nice to me. I can't blow up the mountain, that'd hurt them. But I'd have to go out there...in the cold... He rubbed his arms. "I wish it wasn't so cold out there..."
"I cannot do anything about the weather, but perhaps I can help with your sensitivity to the cold." The ship's computer offered.
"Really?" Todd blinked at the ceiling.
"Indeed." A hologram of a green arrow appeared. "Follow the arrow."
"Uh, okay..." He hopped off the seat and obeyed the computer's order. The arrow moved through the air, and Todd followed it through the ship. The arrow led Todd to a room. The curious amphibious mutant teenager blinked as the door opened and revealed its contents.
"What?!" He blinked in shock. The room was a glorified closet. "What, some clothes?!"
"This may help." The computer said. The green arrow appeared again, this time much smaller, pointing at a particular item. Todd hopped over to it and pulled the item of clothing down: A green-and-brown fur coat. He blinked at it.
"This ugly-ass coat?"
"This coat over your costume could help provide extra warmth." The computer explained. Todd shrugged.
"Eh, what the hell?" He muttered. A little while later, the ship's door opened. Todd had changed into his costume, with the fur coat over it. He had also found a wool hat and scarf. The young mutant pulled the hood of the coat over his head.
"How does it feel?"
"I'm actually pretty cozy." Todd smiled under his scarf. "Welp, wish me luck." He hopped out of the ship and headed towards Bla Bheinn.
"Good luck!" The computer said.
Bla Bheinn
"Whatever gets the job done, lad." Alisabeth smirked. She raised her dagger. Craig just glared at her. Todd hopped up to the wrecked door and peeked inside. One of the demons noticed this.
"Mistress!" One of the demons yelled as he spotted Todd. "An intruder!"
"Aw, crap!" Todd muttered, his yellow eyes widening.
"TODD, RUN!" Clara screamed. "GET OUT OF HERE! GET HELP!"
"CALL STEPHEN STRANGE!" Meg added.
"Kill that ugly little thing!" Alisabeth ordered. "I'll finish the ritual!" Several of the demons charged towards Todd. One of the demons' mouths started to glow. It barked out a blue fireball. Alisabeth's eyes widened.
"No, you idiot! We're in close quarters!" She snapped. The fireball hit the ground in front of the young mutant.
BLAM!
"GWAAAAAAAAA!" Todd yelped as the blast sent him flying into the air. The screaming amphibious mutant ended up flying towards Alisabeth.
"What?!" The mad blonde sorceress exclaimed. "OOF!" She yelped out as Todd knocked into her, sending them tumbling out of the way. With her knocked aside, the meteorite's emerald glow faded. The portal still remained, but the lines of magical energy coming from it also faded.
"RAHHHH!" Fred roared as he broke out of his rocky bonds. He fell forward, landing on his stomach with a grunt.
"Nice job, lad!" Ian whooped.
"Fred! Get us down from here!" Clara ordered.
"You got it!" The powerhouse answered. Moving as quick as he could, he broke the rocks binding the others.
"Get off me, ya stupid boy!" Alisabeth yelled as she kicked Todd off her, making him grunt. He rolled a short distance away. "God, that bloody little-GAH!" She turned and saw Darkstar's feet heading towards her.
Whack!
"Guh!" She grunted as Darkstar dropkicked her.
"You hurt the Frog, you get some pain!" Craig snapped. He charged towards her, twirling his nightstick. Alisabeth scoffed.
"Please." Her hands started to glow. "Ya think a little stick scares me, boy?"
"Like that's my only trick!" Craig snarled, his star-covered eye starting to glow.
Fwazzzz!
Craig started firing beams of energy from his star-covered eye. Alisabeth quickly threw up a magical field over himself, blocking the purple lasers.
"Stupid witch and her stupid magic-Hey!" Craig yelled when a demon tackled him.
"Gah!" Alisabeth yelped when Paul kicked her legs out from under her.
"Grrr..." She growled when she saw Paul leap up into the air, about to hit her with an elbow drop. She rolled out of the way, causing the purple-birthmarked Starr twin to hit the ground with a grunt. She kicked Paul away, only to dodge a sword strike from Lance. She created a sword of magical energy and blocked another sword strike.
"Ye fight well with that sword, lad." Alisabeth smirked. "But I got decades over ye."
"Big talk, ya blonde bimbo bitch!" Lance snarled. He let his body take over as he struck with the xiphos. The two continued trying to cut into each other with the swords.
"The demons are trying to swarm us again!" Craig yelled as he blasted away a demon.
"Is that what these things are?!" Todd exclaimed. "YIPE!" He dodged a swipe. "Whoa!" He dodged another one.
"Hold still, you little-!" The demon started to snarl.
BLAM!
A gunshot blew out the monster's brains, and it collapsed into the ground. Ian held up his smoking gun.
"Thanks!" Todd said.
"Yer welcome, lad!" Ian nodded. He turned his head and blasted another demon. He looked up and saw the portal was still there. "Megan! We have to shut off that portal!"
"If I can get some breathin' room..." Megan snarled as she blasted away a pair of demons with magical attacks.
"Hey!" Pietro exclaimed as he dodged a demon's swipe. "Watch the face! WATCH THE FACE!"
WHACK!
"AGH!" The speedster yelped when a demon backhanded him. It caused some blood to fly out of his mouth. The blood hit the meteorite, and the green glow intensified.
"Oh, no!" Clara exclaimed.
"Nice work, Maximoff!" Craig yelled.
"Wait, I didn't need that much blood to trigger it?!" Alisabeth blinked. She shrugged. "Ya learn something new."
Megan looked at her in disbelief. "...how did you not know this?!"
"Kthara never said anything." Alisabeth shrugged. Megan fought the urge to facepalm hard at what her sister just said. A cackling was heard throughout the chamber.
"That ain't good." Todd shuddered.
"Who's doing that?!" Lila exclaimed.
"Look!" Paul pointed at the portal. A cackling face appeared in it. It was the yellow-skinned orange-haired face of Kthara. Her red eyes burned with a sense of triumph. "Who is that?!"
"Kthara!" Meg gasped in horror.
"You have done well, Alisabeth! Now, hurry! Take their souls!"
"I got that handled, mistress!" Alisabeth grinned and picked up her knife. She lunged towards the nearest Brotherhood member: Lila Cheney. The Londoner had been getting to her feet after being knocked over by a demon. The British-Indian girl gasped and tried to turn her Laser Crossbow on the sorceress, but she would not be fast enough...
"Get down!" Megan Daemon tackled the interstellar teleporter, sending her to the ground. She then blasted her mad sister with a magical burst.
"AGH!" Alisabeth howled as she was sent flying backwards into a wall. "Guh!" She hit the wall and fell hard on the ground, her knife falling out of her hands.
"You alright, lass?" Megan asked. Lila just nodded in shock.
"NO!" Kthara yelled.
"What about the portal?!" Clara yelled as she tore a demon in half. Meg saw Fred slam a demon into the wall.
"Dukes!" She called out to the large mutant teenager. "Pick up me sister!"
"Yeah, sure!" He went over and picked up the dazed Alisabeth.
"No no no no no!" Kthara yelled.
"Now what?!" Fred asked.
"Toss her arse in!" Megan yelled. The Texan powerhouse tossed the blonde sorceress into the portal.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Kthara screamed as Alisabeth slammed into the portal, it and her seemingly exploding in white light.
"Welcome to primetime, bitch!" Craig whooped as the portal vanished, trapping Alisabeth in the realm of the Outer Dark.
"Well..." Pietro muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's over at last."
"Thank God, yo." Todd nodded. "Can we go home now?"
"Yeah, I'd like that very much." Pietro agreed. "God, I'm agreeing with Toad."
Whap!
"AGH!" Pietro screamed after Craig smacked him upside the head.
"Can we take home some haggis?" Fred asked. "That stuff is good."
Lance gave him a look, his face slightly going green. "How can you eat that?"
"It's good!" Fred defended.
"Yeah, going home would be a good idea." Clara nodded. She glanced at the meteorite. "Let's get this thing back to its proper owners first."
Dreagmore
"Thank ye very much for returnin' our town's beloved meteorite." Mayor MacDougal said with a smile as Clara handed him back said meteorite.
"I'm just glad we were able to return it in one piece." Lady Daemon responded with a smile of her own.
"I would love to come back here again." Fred said. He rubbed his hands and licked his lips. "I want to have some more of that haggis!" Lance and Pietro looked at each other, their faces going slightly green. Ian laughed and lightly smacked the powerhouse's shoulder.
"Nice ta see at least one o' ya appreciates fine Scottish cuisine." The auburn-haired man chortled.
"Well hopefully, you'll all get to visit Dreagmore again...under more pleasant circumstances, of course." MacDougal said.
"Of course." Clara smiled. "I'm sure the kids would love to visit again, wouldn't you?" She looked at her young charges.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Lance nodded, looking up from his xiphos.
"I definitely would." Paul nodded. "Hopefully, we won't have to fight any more demons." He shuddered. "Man, that was scary."
"Hopefully that crazy broad Alisabeth will finally get the hint and go away this time." Craig grunted.
"As long as we don't have to eat any more haggis..." Pietro muttered, rubbing his stomach. Oh God, I can still feel it trying to wreck my insides...
"Definitely not going to miss the cold weather." Todd shivered and rubbed his arms. "I'm only coming back here in the summertime, yo. And I thought the cold back in Bayville was bad, man..."
Lance handed the sword back to Lady Daemon. "Here's your sword back." He found a part of himself was not willing to give up the sword, like it was rightfully his.
The blonde sorceress smiled. "I can see it in your eyes, lad. Don't you worry, I'll take good care of it."
"Uh, thanks." Lance nodded, rubbing the back of his head. Lila then walked up to Megan.
"Hey, uh...I just want to say...thanks for saving me life." Lila said. "And...sorry about that whole thing."
"Don't worry about it, lass. I've heard worse." Megan assured warmly.
Clara looked at Megan. "Next time, old friend, if you want to invite me and the kids to Scotland, please don't drag us into fighting demons and your feud with your sister."
"Don't blame me, blame the cards." Megan held up her tarot deck. "And besides, this'll help put them on a better path. Trust me on this." The blonde feral sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Megan had a point. She just hoped that it wouldn't cause some nightmares...
Daemon Castle, a week later
Lance's xiphos hovered in the air, surrounded by what looked like green rings of light. Lady Daemon stood in front of the sword, waving her glowing hands around it.
"What're you up to, m'love?" Ian asked as he walked up to her.
"You remember the Alvers boy?" She asked.
Ian nodded. "Aye, I remember him. Had no stomach for fine cuisine." Megan smiled in amusement.
"Well, seeing him use this here xiphos like a master, I decided to look into it." The Scotswoman said. "And I think I figured it out."
"What?"
"There is a connection between the boy and the sword." Lady Daemon said. "I wish I had remembered to ask him something before he returned to America."
"What's that?"
"If he had any Greek blood in him. I think the boy is a bit special." She picked up a book about the ancient Greeks. "You see, this sword is no ordinary sword. It was used by an ancient Greek commander named Dominicus. He was an officer in the Athenian army. It was forged from the iron of a meteorite, and believed to have magical properties. It was said that as long as he had his star iron sword in hand, he was invincible in battle, like he was favored by Ares himself."
"So, what happened to him?" Ian asked. "If that whole thing about him being unstoppable in combat is true..."
Meg snickered. "Battle wounds aren't the only thing that can fell soldiers. It wasn't combat that ended Dominicus's life. It was believed to be an illness. It was said that with his dying breath, he stated he will return, announced by his sword."
"Sooo...you're basically sayin'..."
"Aye. We got a case of reincarnation here." Megan nodded.
Los Angeles, California
In an office building, a strawberry blonde woman sat at her desk in an office. She was watching some footage on a tablet, twirling a pen in one of her hands. Her gray eyes behind her stylish gold glasses twinkled in amusement at the footage she was looking at.
"No information has been found about these mysterious new superheroes that appeared in several spots in Cleveland, working alongside this fair city's own superhero, Kid Razor. Our own Jennifer Stein tried to ask the Kid of Rock 'n' Roll about them, but unusually for him, the self-proclaimed 'Fearless One' has not revealed anything. This is Alex Ramirez, WKYC."
Hmmmm... Kate Kildare thought as her mind worked over the footage she just saw. I did want Hestia to be a public relations firm for a superhero. Too bad I couldn't get Hardcase. But I get the feeling this strange new team of heroes will definitely need some representation. Now, how do I go about finding any information about them...
Whoof, this conclusion was a rough chapter to write. I wanted to give this adventure a satisfying conclusion, as well as open up the possibility for Alisabeth Daemon returning to menace our heroes in the future. I think for the next storyline, I want to do something a little less...intense. Maybe just the gang dealing with life in Bayville High.
As I mentioned before, Firefall first appeared in Marvel: The Lost Generation #12 (March 2000).
Star Sign first appeared in Avengers: The Initiative #14 (August 2008). Her real name was never revealed in the comics, so I gave her the name Lisa Leialoha. The alliteration is a nod to Stan Lee, and her surname is a nod to Native Hawaiian comic artist Steve Leialoha, who is notable for his work on the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman's first series, the Steeltown Rockers miniseries, and Fables. And we'll be seeing more of Firefall and Star Sign in the future...
I had originally intended to use the New Universe character known as Gladiator who first appeared in Starbrand #10 (November 1987). I even had an origin story planned for him as an old enemy of the First Line. However, reading about him, I had come to realize that he should be the kind of villain faced by a team of heroes. So, I decided to use Joystick instead. She first appeared in The Amazing Scarlet Spider #2 (December 1995).
The Mor-Taxans are a nod to the 1988 War of the Worlds television series. They were the "Martians" of that series. In the SuperStarr Chronicles universe, the First Line fell saving the world from them instead of the Skrulls. It's also a subtle connection to Killraven, as he fought the Martians.
Kate Kildare first appeared in The Order #2 (August 2007). The "Hardcase" she mentioned is actually an Ultraverse character, who first appeared in Prime #1 (June 1993).
WKYC is Cleveland's NBC affiliate station.