They all appeared downtown in the midst of chaos. Alarms, screams, explosions, fires, and strangest of all, laughter. Even through all the other noise, the sound of that laughter cut the air like a knife. They looked up to find a woman in silver and green armor standing on top of a nearby building. She watched the evil spirits with cold delight as they tormented people. The people that the spirits touched would drop to the ground and lay there in abject terror—some of them going comatose. She turned to look down at the Sentinels. "Well, well. You’ve finally arrived. I’ve been waiting for you. Do you like what I’ve done to the city? The Spirits of Doom haven’t had this much fun in a long time."

The Spirits flew around the Sentinels, screaming and wailing. Gilgamesh used his Sonic Shout to decimate a group of them. But before their very eyes, the ones he destroyed reconstituted themselves in a swirl of smoke…and multiplied. A group of them had Astarte and several pedestrians cornered when Trace combined his power with hers to push the Spirits back. Ever since they’d used their powers together to save Gilgamesh’s life once, they’d discovered that his power of the Earth and her power of life meshed well, augmenting one another.

Anger flared in Gilgamesh’s eyes when he saw them so close together, looking so comfortable with each other. "Don’t destroy them you fools! You’ll only make more of them!"

Trace’s voice held enough disdain to match Gilgamesh’s own. "We know that. We learned from your example. We’re trying to keep them away from the townspeople. If you’re not too busy posturing, do you think you could do something to help?"

Zane and Mia were having better luck. The creatures were quick, but Zane was blasting the air around them with cold. It seemed to slow most of them down a little.

At a slower pace, they were easier for Mia to fight. Her shadow katana was able to absorb the ghostly creatures it touched. The hard part was trying to stop them all. The ones that got past them attacked people running in the streets, striking them with terror before making them catatonic. The Sentinels weren’t doing as well as they could’ve been—a lot of the Spirits were escaping.

The armored woman on the rooftop laughed. "Are you having trouble with my poor little Spirits of Doom? I see that they’re highly vulnerable to your magic katana, girl, but they make up for it in other ways. I’m not disappointed at all. I think I’ll let them attack the stupid sheep of this city, while I keep you Sentinels all to myself." She spread her arms wide and screamed to the heavens. "I am the Nemesis—the scourge of this world! Feel my sting!"

She jumped at the Sentinels, screaming like a banshee. They leaped out of the way—all except Anubis. He stood there staring at her without lifting a hand to defend himself. Landing in front of him, Nemesis lashed out with her whip, wrapping it around his neck. With both hands she yanked it tight and snapped him against the side of the building. Still Anubis didn’t retaliate. He just lay there. Trace and Gilgamesh looked at each other, neither one willing to jump in first—especially if it meant leaving his back open to the other. Zoe stood nearest to Nemesis and had a good shot at her while she preoccupied herself with Anubis.

"Zane, quick! Give me some juice over here!" Zane didn’t say anything, just looked at her with an uncomfortable expression on his face. "ZANE! Did you hear me? Give me enough energy to get off a couple of spears. What are you waiting for?"

"I…I can’t do that. Let me get a shot at her. ARMOR OF TUNDRA! ARCTIC BLAST!" Zane started throwing ice spears, each one trailed by a storm of shards and arctic blasts of wind. By this time, Nemesis had already turned her attention back to them.

She dived out of the path of his first two throws. "Ice. How…quaint." She opened her mouth and spewed a stream of green fire, melting the rest of his spears as fast as he threw them.

Astarte, combining her own powers with the Jewel, zapped Nemesis with a beam of red energy like a laser. It cut across her armor, slicing into her arm. Distracted, she didn’t see Mia coming at her from the other side. She barely unsheathed her naginata in time to block Mia’s strike. When Nemesis was focused, she moved like liquid, every slice flowing smoothly into the next. Mia was having a hard time keeping up with her—especially when Mia started getting that strange feeling she had back at the house. That sense of wrongness she’d had when she’d seen Zane, Gilgamesh, and Trace again. That same wrongness was emanating from Nemesis and someone else…Anubis. What was going on here? Her concentration was so scattered, Nemesis was able to strike her in the side of the head with the blunt end of her naginata. Astarte had held back, not wanting to hit Mia by accident. She now let loose a volley of laser-like shots that sliced into Nemesis.

Trace hit the ground with his staff, causing plants to burst from the earth and grab Nemesis. The vines became super-thick and strong, entwining around her. At first she struggled to break free. Then she laughed, harsh and edgy. Nemesis breathed fire on herself, burning the plants from her with mystic green fire. She and her armor emerged unscathed.

Trace turned to Gilgamesh. "Use your sonic shout!"

"Don’t tell me how to fight when your own ploys fail." Reluctantly, he pulled out his two battle-axes, crossing them in front of himself. "SONIC SHOUT, HHHE…"

Before Gilgamesh could finish his attack, Nemesis wrapped her whip around Trace’s staff and snapped it at Gilgamesh. Its super-dense composition made it a very blunt projectile. Gilgamesh was momentarily stunned—off-balance enough for Nemesis to backflip herself over to where Anubis still sat. She grabbed his robe and pulled him to her. With a whisper both seductive and deadly she said, "Anubis, my darling. Remember me? You took everything from me. Now I’ll do the same to you. But just as you let me live to remember and suffer, so will you—for a while anyway. I’m not going to kill you quickly. That would be too merciful. I want the image of my face burned into your nightmares. I am divine justice. I am retribution. I am death. See you around." She pushed him from her. She turned, her long green hair swaying as she moved. The Spirits of Doom swirled around her, faster and faster until they all disappeared. Only the echo of her cruel laughter lingered behind. A horrified expression froze on Anubis’s face as he realized who she was. Oshay of Clan Kataran. The woman he had loved long ago.