The Guardians: Volume II

by

Eric Metcalf

Mike could hear the angry shouts as he and Rich descended on the lift. One voice was definitely Jake's, with Wraith's a counterpoint. Aria was getting in a word edgewise, but not much more. This was a testosterone fight, and Mike was sick of it already.

Mike hopped off of the lift before it even touched down, with Rich right behind him. They strode forward towards the door of the practice room, the obvious source of the noise. As they walked in, Mike took a second to look around. Jake, in his armor, had Wraith by the collar in the center of the room, with Aria and Mind Mistress pulling on his arms and Techno watching from the other door. All of them except Techno were yelling, with the words just blending into a general din.

"CEASE AND DESIST!" Mike roared, broadcasting telepathically as well as verbally. The force of his command stunned all of the others, and every eye turned towards the door.

"Okay, that's better," he said, quieter now, but his eyes showed nothing but cold fury. "Talk about can't leave you alone for five minutes. Mister Pryor, you will release Wraith right now. Aria, Mind Mistress, release Crimson Knight. Now." They complied quickly, backing away from each other as they did so. "That was a disgrace, pure and simple. We're supposed to be a team here, not a bunch of costumed prima donnas who quit and start blaming each other once the going gets tough. All of you should be ashamed. Don't say anything, Crimson Knight, just listen. I am going to write this incident off as a result of stress and exhaustion. To prevent a repeat, we are all going to get on the lift and go upstairs, and then I am going to lock the lift out for a period of ten hours. That way, we can all get a good rest and come down here ready to do some constructive work. Now move it."

"Hey, man, I wasn't part of this," Techno protested. "I've still got work to do."

Mike walked over to him and put one hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I know this is hard, but you've got to let up too. You're overworking yourself and you're not going to do good work pushing yourself like that. Just step back." Techno didn't look convinced, but he nodded.

"This is absurd," Jake yelled. "We need to be down here practicing, not goofing off."

Mike turned towards Jake, his eyes blazing. "That is enough insubordination for one day, Mister Pryor. You of all people should know that soldiers husband sleep when they can, because they may not be able to sleep again for several days. When we go into action against Arcanus and the Chosen One, I need this time in top form and not strung out and dead on their feet. Now you need to swallow your own pride enough to admit that your body needs rest as much as anyone else. Now, everyone on the lift." The Guardians obeyed although Wraith and Aria moved more quickly than Crimson Knight or Techno. Crimson kept his eyes on Mike with what Mike was sure was a baleful glare under the armored visor. Techno just trudged along with his eyes not really seeing anything. Mike understood how he felt. Techno and Wind Shear had just started to get to know one another and then this happened. Jake should know better; he was just letting his guilt get the best of him.

"That's the Mike I remember," Rich whispered as they walked to the lift. "Never let 'em see you sweat."

"I need your help here, Rich," Mike said telepathically. "I need you to ride herd on them if I'm not around. I didn't realize Jake would be this volatile if he was beaten. Keep him in line when I'm not around before he does something really stupid and costs us Bravo team."

"Wilco," Rich thought back. "I just hope the girls can hold on for a few more hours."

Kat whimpered as she huddled in one corner of the cell. The cement floor was filthy but she couldn't stand, at least for a while. She had just been returned by Arcanus from another 'training session', and she was too sore to stand and too frightened to head for one of the beds. She couldn't bear being alone here, and that's what she was. Alone, frightened, abused and helpless. After the night Carlysa gave her Firemane's powers, she believed that she'd never be helpless again. The past, days? Kat couldn't remember. Everything blurred together. Meals, rapes, some fitful sleep, all blurred together.

A slam from outside the cell brought Kat's head around. She gasped and crouched lower as she saw Alex carrying Terry down to the cell. She looked to be unconscious as she was curled up in his arms like a child. Alex looked larger carrying Terry like that.

He opened the door to the cell easily with one hand, keeping the other under Terry. He kept his eyes on Kat as he strode across the cell and laid Terry gently on one of the mattresses that passed for beds. Kat wanted to move, to make a break for the open cell door, but she just hunched lower. Even if she could fly, Alex could move faster than she could on her best day. It would just earn her another rape as a 'lesson.' She could do without any more of those.

As soon as Alex had locked the cell and gone up the stairs, Kat pulled herself up and started towards Terry. She tried to move too quickly at first, and her sore groin brought her up short. She concentrated on taking shorter, slower steps and managed to stagger over to Terry's side.

When she reached Terry, Kat gasped in shock. Terry's pale flesh was crisscrossed with angry red welts. Her full, firm breasts were especially red and bruised. Kat saw the usual fluid around Terry's crotch that indicated a rape. But the rest was new. While Arcanus had slapped her on occasion, he had never beaten her. This was a first class beating.

"Oh," Terry moaned, "the bastard."

"I'm here, Terry," Kat said, as soothingly as she could.

Terry opened one bleary blue eye at Kat. "Hi there, kid," she said softly, her voice hoarse.

"What happened?"

"Asshole whipped me," Terry said, then moaned again. "My back too. Damn, it hurts to lie here, but it hurts even worse to try and move."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Terry chuckled softly, then coughed. "Sure, you could heal me. But you don't have your powers either." Terry made a low sound, and Kat thought she was coughing again. Then Kat noticed the moisture around Terry's eyes. She wasn't coughing, she was sobbing.

"C'mon Terry, don't go to pieces on me," Kat said.

"Never thought, I'd be, so, helpless," Terry sobbed. "Never been, this long, before."

"No, Terry, please don't," Kat said, her own eyes burning now. "If you give up, I've got nobody."

"That's what, he kept saying," Terry sobbed. "If you, had your, powers, this would be, fun. Wouldn't hurt, a bit." Terry looked up as she felt something hot splash on her cheek. It was one of Kat's tears, falling off of the girl's face as she leaned over Terry.

"Hey, Kat, don't cry," Terry said, trying to stop her own tears. "Don't cry. You've got to, be strong."

"How?" Kat wailed. "You're always, the strong one."

"Maybe not, this time," Terry groaned. "I don't know, how much more, I can take. Next time, I may break. Don't let 'em, break you."

Kat looked down at Terry with all the firmness she could manage with tears streaking her cheeks. "Take your own advice."

Terry chuckled, then groaned again at the pain. "I'll try," she muttered, "but no promises."

Alex sank down into the lushly upholstered chair across from Arcanus. The wizard already had a brandy snifter filled and was drinking sparingly. Alex's glass of Dom Perignon was on the low coffee table in front of him. He picked it up and took a sip. He didn't care fore the taste of champagne much, but he wanted to seem refines and this was the only name he knew to ask for.

"Powergirl is quite stubborn," Alex said at last. "Your suggestion of beating her to emphasize her weakness didn't work. The idea of interfering with their sense of time also does not appear to be working."

Arcanus shook his head slowly. "Patience, dear boy. You could simply control her mind, you know. You have certainly demonstrated that power."

Alex scowled. "I don't want to, though. I want her to come to me of her own free will."

Arcanus sniffed. "What does it matter, so long as she obeys you?"

Alex looked at him probingly. "Then why haven't Wind Shear and Firemane come over to you yet?"

Arcanus smiled thinly. "Oh, Wind Shear is ready to break; I'm simply waiting for the right time. You see, I enjoy watching little Kat trying to deal with her two increasingly dispirited friends. I intend a coup de grace for her spirit that will break her will for all time. However, I feel that this is taking too much real time. The Guardians are no doubt attempting to develop tactics to counter your powers. They are quite inventive, you know."

Alex snorted. "Bring 'em on. I'd welcome the chance to bash their heads again."

"This would be a moot point if you'd simply done what I said in the first place," Arcanus reminded him, putting some venom in his words.

Alex swallowed. His failure to finish off the defeated Guardians was still a sore point. "Look, I didn't. So, what's your plan for dealing with them now?"

Arcanus glared at Alex. "Well, any direct confrontations stand too much of a chance of them doing something unexpected and wounding or defeating us. On the other hand, if we let others handle them, they may not suspect us, and will be powerless to do anything even if they suspect."

Alex thought hard, but he still wasn't sure what Arcanus was getting at. "What are you getting at? What others?"

Arcanus smiled, a broad and decidedly evil gesture. "Oh, just some old friends from my Shadow days, some friends with absolutely no love for the Guardians. Come, we will need to leave soon."

"One more time," Mindstar called. "Go." Four sparring robots came charging across the gym floor. The Guardians were spread out in a line, with Mind Mistress behind the rest of the team. Strongarm was to Mindstar's left, with Techon, Crimson Knight, Wraith and Aria off to his left.

"Strongarm, far end, my grab" Mindstar yelled, designating a target for them. This was the new tactic; two Guardians attacking one opponent together. It had taken two rounds to get things down; now, they just had to do it right again.

"Whenever your ready," Strongarm said. Mindstar reached out to the robot with his telekinesis, spreading a web of invisible energy. He still didn't have this technique down how he wanted it, but it was working so far. The robot charged forward until it hit the web. Mindstar poured energy into the web, wrapping it around the robot and holding it still.

"Now, Strongarm," Mindstar called.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Strongarm replied, dropping his left fist almost to the ground as he ran up to the robot, which was struggling against Mindstar's telekinetic bonds. With a bellow, Strongarm swung his haymaker up from the floor, slamming his fist into the robot's chest. The robot flew backwards as Mindstar released his telekinetic grip on it. The robot slammed into the floor several feet away and shut down.

"Mindstar, center left," Mind Mistress called. Mindstar swung his head to the right. The robot beside the one he and Strongarm had taken down was firing at Techno, preventing him from backing up Crimson Knight. While the blasts were only mild stunners, they hurt enough to keep Techno moving.

"Strongarm, your turn," Mindstar barked.

"Got it, boss," Strongarm replied. He charged forward and grabbed the attacking robot from behind, spinning it around to face Mindstar. The robot's weapons were in its hands, which were pointed out to its sides by Strongarm's hold. Mindstar loosed a bolt of mental force into the robot, knocking it back into Strongarm. Mindstar fired another bolt, scooting Strongarm back a few inches and shutting down the robot.

"Cease fire," Mind Mistress called. "That's all of them." Mindstar glanced around. After the robot attacking him had been defeated, Techno had finished off Crimson Knight's target, while Wraith released the unit he and Aria had been pounding on. Only Techno showed any damage, and that was just some scorches on his chest plate.

"Okay, good job, team," Mindstar said. "Let's go upstairs and take a break." They all nodded and fell in behind Mindstar as they headed for the lift.

"Hey, fearless leader," Techno said, "how come we've been fighting three or four robots? We're only goin' after two guys."

Mindstar turned and stared at Techno. "Who says it's just going to be Arcanus and the Chosen next time? Semper preparatus."

"Sempa what?"

"Always prepared," Crimson Knight answered. "The Coast Guard motto. Always prepared for anything."

A black oval sprang into existence outside a tall, concrete wall. Arcanus stepped out of the oval first, with Alex behind him. Arcanus looked up at the towering wall, at least twelve feet high with another three feet of concertina wire topping that. Guard towers stood above the wall at intervals, but they were well between the nearest towers, in a place that made them hard to see in their black garb.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Alex asked. "Prisons aren't exactly easy to get out of."

"You saw it, not I," Arcanus replied, "and this prison is designed to hold people with superhuman abilities. However, I do not believe that it is designed to handle the range of abilities that two wielders of magic can call upon. Come, let us proceed." They both vanished as each activated his invisibility powers. The guards saw nothing except for a slight flutter in the wire, as if something had flown over it.

Suddenly the alarm began blaring, sirens coming on all over the prison. "The supply building," one guard yelled to others as he began charging across the prison yard, "something tripped the alarm in the supply building." The brown-uniformed guard, wielding shotguns and nightsticks, charged towards the lonely building in one corner of the massive prison yard.

"That was too easy," Alex whispered to Arcanus as they slipped inside the main cellblock. "They shouldn't have all gone."

"There will be a few left," Arcanus whispered. "However, with the alarm already sounding, the cells are locked down, but another alarm will not be noticed. Still, we must move quickly. What we need first is this way." Arcanus led them away from the cellblock, down to the storage rooms below the prison where the personal effects for the prisoners were stored. On Alex's clairvoyant scouting trip, they had discovered that the weapons and equipment for the imprisoned Shadow Empire operatives were also stored here.

The alarm was still hooting as Alex blasted the lock open. He and Arcanus moved quickly, grabbing a few bags that Alex had found for them before. The bags were all conveniently labeled with the prisoner's name and assumed name, and all of the prisoner's items were packaged together. This made grabbing the items for a few select individuals very easy, and they were small enough that the bags vanished inside their invisibility fields.

"Come on, we have to get upstairs before they try to shut down the alarm and find this door open," Arcanus said as they finished. They slipped out through the door and moved down the corridor back to the cell blocks just as the first guards came down to check the properties room.

"Quickly now," Arcanus whispered when the guards were past. "They will find out what is missing shortly." They ghosted up into the cellblock, heading for a specific section they had found earlier. For one reason or another, all of the imprisoned Shadow Empire operatives were kept together. That made their job much easier.

A few short blasts from Alex and they were in the cell bay. The alarms kept hooting as the guards hustled towards the properties room, still one step behind the intruders.

Arcanus strode up to the first cell. The occupant was a tall woman with chestnut hair tied back in the same ponytail as always. "Black Queen," he called as he appeared.

The woman swung around, squinting through the bars. "Arcanus? Is it you, traitor? You left us for dead at the White House. Why are you here now?" Rumblings came from the cells down the line at the voices.

"If I had stayed, I would have been captured then, and not here now to give you this." He held out her black blade, still shining as if it had never left her hand.

"This forgives a lot of things," she said. "Stand back." Hefting the sword, she swung it easily across the row of bars, severing the thick steel as easily as cutting taut wire. Another slice along the bottom of the bars freed the cut sections to fall out, and the Black Queen stepped out of the cell.

"I never thought I'd see this again," she purred.

"Hold it right there," a voice bellowed. Arcanus turned to see two guards charging towards them, shotguns in their hands. Arcanus extended his hand and loosed a fireball at them. They just stood, stupefied, as the explosion slammed them backwards, their clothes scorched from the blast.

"Alexander," Arcanus called. Alex reappeared, holding the remaining bundles. Arcanus spoke quickly to the Black Queen. "My associate will go with you to free the others. Work quickly. They will contact the Guardians as soon as they discover who has escaped." The Black Queen smiled once at Alex's chiseled form, and then they ran down the cell bay.

Mike stood at the head of the conference table, uncomfortably aware of the fact that neither he nor any of the others had showered since their practice. Still, he needed to do this now, while their memories were fresh. "Okay, let's run down the last round. Here, we've got four targets, with still only three teams. That means," he ran the tape of the practice forward until the robots split up, "that one team gets doubled." He pointed to the screen. "This time, it was Team 2, CK and Techno." He let the tape play forward a few seconds, showing Techno dodging one stun blast, but getting hit by a second.

"Those shots really sting," Juan groused, rubbing his chest.

"That keeps us from getting lazy," Mike replied. "Now, Team 2 goes defensive. Techno, as the hammer, has to defend himself instead of supporting the anvil, CK. Right call?"

"Yes," Wraith answered. "If they get double teamed and Techno goes down, he's no good to anyone. This way, he's still up when one of the other teams makes a kill and can back them up."

"Wrong," Jake said. "If Techno keeps his focus and makes one good shot, my target goes down, and we can concentrate on the other one. We shouldn't have to wait for help."

"Hey, wait a minute," Juan snarled. "I'm the one with my cojones in a sling on this one. I've got to have a chance to break down and defend myself."

"In this case, Techno, you're right," Mike said, loudly enough to forestall any objection from Jake. "With only one extra hostile, you can go defensive and wait for backup. However, what if there are five or six hostiles?"

"If you're out powered, breaking down takes too much time," Rich said. "We'd have to tough it out."

"Easy for you to say," Aria countered.

"This time, Rich is right," Mike said. "If only one team is doubled, that's one thing. If two or three teams are doubled, we can't break down. It will take too much time. So, if we're up against more than four opponents, stick to your assignments." Techno and Aria started to argue, but Mike cut them off. "No arguments. I know it puts the hammers at more risk, but I'm a hammer. I'm putting myself at risk. If we have to team up to drop them, then we need to do it even if we're outnumbered. Our goal has to be whittling down the enemy strength as fast as possible, and the hammer-anvil tactic is designed for that."

Aria wasn't about to drop the issue, but she was cut off when the alarms suddenly began hooting and shrieking. Mike slammed his fist onto the talk button on the table. "Mindstar here. What's the alarm?"

The screen behind Mike fuzzed and resolved into a TV image of a prison. "We have a major incident in progress at ParaMax 1. Respond immediately."

"Para-what?" Techno asked.

"ParaMax 1," Mike replied. "Short for Paranormal Maximum 1. The first prison refitted to handle criminals with paranormal abilities. Our old Shadow Empire buddies are in there."

"Safe bet that's whose breaking out," Jake said. "Probably Black Guard getting their leaders out."

"Negative," Carpenter said. "Evidence points to Arcanus and his new buddy. Besides, the paranormal operatives are persona non grata among the Black Guard since the end of the war. Respond immediately and contain the situation."

"You heard the man," Mike said. "Let's move it. Techno, do you have that trick up your sleeve?"

"Not right now," Techno answered as the table started to descend, "but I've got it ready. Give me a tick when we hit bottom and I'll get it."

"We'll see you in the bird," Mike replied. "Let's move."

The prison yard at ParaMax 1 was a scene of chaos as prisoners grappled with increasingly desperate guards and each other. Searchlights from the walls shone down into the melee, but guards and prisoners were so thoroughly mixed together that the guards on the walls couldn't fire for risk of hitting their own. However, the guards in the yard weren't going to last much longer; many were badly injured and were still standing only because they knew that they would be killed in seconds if they fell.

"Quite a little riot you started," the Black Queen said to Arcanus as they stood by the prison building, out of the melee. She had traded her prison garb for her black armored bodysuit and she held her sword tightly, as if afraid to sheathe it.

"A means to an end," Arcanus replied simply. The Black Queen cocked an eye at him, but he refused to say any more.

"I say let's get in there and mix it up," Mr. Pain declared. "I've been itching to kick some ass for a long time."

"Patience, oh angry one," Arcanus replied, "it would not do for one such as yourself to be cut down by a stray shotgun blast." Two roaring booms sounded at that second, punctuating Arcanus's words. "You are not bulletproof."

The Dominatrix sniffed. "Not my kind of party anyway. I was never much on gang-bangs. Let's wait until this thins out some, and then we can have a real party."

"Arcanus," Alex said, "they're on the way."

"Who?" Pain asked.

"The Guardians," Arcanus stated. "I believe they will satisfy your appetites for violence."

"Heads up," Mindstar called. "We're on final." The Guardians all released their seat belts and stood up, moving towards the two doors automatically. Mindstar, Strongarm and Techno stood by the left door, and Crimson Knight, Mind Mistress, Aria and Wraith stood by the right. They all looked determined, but Mindstar could sense their uncertainty. No one liked jumping right into the middle of a riot, especially if one was likely to become the focus of that riot. Since most of the criminals in ParaMax 1 had been put their by the Guardians, they weren't going to find my admirers below, and those that they did find would be battered and bruised.

"Remember, our job is to break the momentum of this riot, and get the supers back under control. The guards can take it from there." He pushed the door open, creating a windbreak to cut down the slipstream as they exited. Crimson Knight did the same on the right. "Fight as a team and don't get dead." Mindstar looked out the door. Below, he could see the prison yard, with its roiling mass of prisoners and guards. Then he saw a group of figures standing near the main prison building. One appeared to be wearing robes, and some of the others looked familiar.

"Head for that group near the main building," Mindstar yelled over the roaring wind. "I think those are our targets. Three, two, one, go." He grabbed Strongarm and jumped out. Techno's boot jets roared behind him a second later. Mindstar spared a quick glance over his shoulder, and saw that Crimson Knight's two pairs had also exited cleanly, and the Protector 1 was pulling up into a higher orbit, safe from any stray ground fire. That taken care of, he focussed on flying over the riot itself and landing near the targets.

"The Guardians," the Black Queen called. Black Rook and Black Knight moved up behind her, with Pain and Dominatrix to either side. "We've been waiting a long time for this."

"Hey, wait a minute," Pain said as he squinted at the figures falling into the glaring light of the spotlights, "where are the two original sluts? Who the hell are these newbies?"

"New recruits," Arcanus said. "They are no match for the original team in power or competence. Surely no difficulty for such experienced fighters."

The Black Queen glanced back over her shoulder. "It almost sounds like you're not going to stick around, old buddy."

"Look," Alex called. The Guardians were landing. Strongarm, Mindstar, Techno, Mind Mistress, Crimson Knight, Wraith and Aria landed in line, facing the group of villains. Black Rook, Black Queen, Black Knight, Mr. Pain and the Dominatrix shook into a line facing them, with Arcanus and Alex hanging back, Arcanus's hand on Alex's shoulder. Some of the nearby rioters turned at the sight of the Guardians flying overhead, but most were too engrossed in their battles to notice. The rest were smart enough to avoid the area, since this fight would undoubtedly get messy.

"Arcanus," Mindstar called, pointing at the robed figure. "This is your doing. Stay and fight."

"Awfully sorry," Arcanus said as a black oval sprang into existence behind him, "but my part here is done. Enjoy yourselves."

"Techno," Mindstar yelled, but the man was already in motion. He raised his left arm towards Arcanus. A soft chuff of compressed air was the only noise, and Arcanus didn't even notice as he and Alex stepped into the oval and vanished.

"Your only way out is through us," Mindstar called. "You're outnumbered. Surrender and go back to your cells, and we'll go easy."

"Oh, and spare your kiddies the fun of facing the Shadow Empire's finest in battle? I think not."

"Have it your way. Guardians, engage."

"Attack!"

Both sides charged forward into action. The Guardians split into their hammer-anvil teams, with Mind Mistress taking a couple of steps back, behind the action. The Shadow Empire team charged in, most heading for Mindstar and Strongarm.

"Strongarm, get Pain," Mindstar yelled.

"Easy for you to say," Strongarm growled, but he stepped forward to intercept Pain. Crimson Knight angled for Black Rook, and Wraith charged at Black Knight as soon as he saw the man's speed.

Wraith attacked first, snapping a quick punch at Black Knight. The punch landed, but Black Knight didn't even grunt. Black Knight replied with a punch of his own, clipping Wraith on the chest. Wraith grunted but didn't stumble. Aria shrieked a sonic attack at Black Knight, but he dodged it effortlessly.

Mr. Pain smiled as Strongarm moved to block him, but he stopped smiling as he felt an invisible fist close around him, holding him tightly. "Wha?"

"Oh no you don't," the Dominatrix snarled as she saw Mindstar's eyes glowing at Pain. She snapped a whip strike at Mindstar, but the whip glanced off of his force field and didn't connect.

"Nice trick," Black Queen growled. "Too bad it won't save you." She cut loose with a bolt of black energy that hit Mindstar hard, pushing through his force field and pushing him back.

"Hey, that's the Mark Three Shadow Knight armor," Black Rook said as Crimson Knight closed in. "Where the hell'd you get that?"

"Wouldn't you love to know," Crimson replied as he tried to grab Black Rook. The maneuver surprised the other armored figure, and Crimson was able to get one arm around his opponent's chest.

"Adios, asshole," Techno said as he raised his fusion blaster and fired. The pistol vomited an energy pulse that slammed into Black Rook's chest. Black Rook yelled as the pulse burned a hole in his armor and into his flesh beneath, and he slumped forward in Crimson's hold.

"New trick," Strongarm smiled as he stepped in to deliver a left hook to Pain's jaw. The punch landed flush, snapping Pain's head back and sending a gout of blood spurting from his mouth. The impact pushed him out of Mindstar's mental grasp, but the damage was already done.

Wraith stepped behind Black Knight and grabbed him by the shoulders, swinging him into a full nelson hold. Black Knight pulled forward, trying to lever Wraith over his back, but Wraith was strong enough to keep himself from going over and leveraging Black Knight back up into position for Aria to have a shot. She obliged a second later, shrieking another sonic blast. This one caught Black Knight flush. He yelled as the force of the blast drove him back into Wraith, who held his ground and pulled on Black Knight's arms, trying to force them out of socket.

"We've got to work together," Black Queen yelled to Dominatrix. "They're taking us apart."

"Agreed," Dominatrix called back. "Mindstar first."

"You got it," Black Queen replied. She fired another energy blast at Mindstar just as the Dominatrix cut loose with her whip. Mindstar froze between dodging each attack, and was hit by both. The attacks knocked him from his feet onto the ground, stunned and unconscious.

"Techno, engage Black Queen" Crimson Knight called as he launched towards the designated target. He flew directly at her, his fists outstretched. She held up her blade as if to ward him off. He slammed into her, but he struck only her force field and glanced off, his left arm ringing with the impact. Techno fired at her, but his shot likewise glanced off of her force field.

"Aw, no way," Techno said.

"Way," Strongarm growled. Strongarm swung a left hook at the Black Queen, but she slid to one side and let the punch fly by wildly. She turned back into him as he stepped by, slicing her sword into his belly as he stumbled by. He grunted in pain as the sword bit through his tough hide and into his flesh. Dominatrix followed up Black Queen's strike with a whip shot to the temple. Strongarm stumbled back from the hit, his head ringing and his vision blurred. He could also feel the weakening attack of the Black Queen's sword, draining his vitality.

"Keep it up," Crimson Knight yelled to Techno. They both fired at Black Queen. The combined firepower broke through her force field and staggered her back, but she didn't fall.

"What does it take to get you down?" Wraith snarled to Black Knight as the speedster soaked up yet another of Aria's sonic attacks without falling.

"More than you've got," Black Knight replied, but he still couldn't break free from Wraith's hold. They were in stalemate.

"Your turn, shell head," Dominatrix yelled, lashing out with her whip at Crimson Knight. The metal-weighted tip caught Crimson Knight in the helmet, stunning him as he stumbled back. Black Queen beat Techno to the shot, loosing a bolt of dark energy at him before he lined up another shot. Techno dodged the shot, but only at the cost of losing his own opportunity.

"Hi guys," a new, female voice cut in from behind Wraith. He started to turn, only to meet a fist to the head. The punch knocked him from his feet and spun him around. Black Knight flew away from Wraith and managed to land on his feet.

"Who are you, bitch?" he grunted at the tall woman towering over Wraith.

"hera," Aria cried as she loosed a sonic blast as the amazon.

"Ungh," hera grunted as the blast hit her, but it didn't knock her down. "I'm an old friend of these two. I'll play with them, you go help your buddies."

"No need to tell me twice," Black Knight said as he got to his feet.

The Black Queen strode over to Mindstar and raised her sword, point down. Mindstar groaned, but he wasn't fully conscious yet. "This, Mindstar, is where your career ends."

"Hold it," Mind Mistress yelled. The Black Queen froze, unable to move a muscle.

"What, are, you, doing?" she gasped out, forcing her throat to form the words.

"I'm inside your mind," Mind Mistress replied, glaring at Black Queen. "Now, put down the sword. Slowly."

The Black Queen's face contorted with strain as she fought to keep her muscles from carrying out Mind Mistresses command. She could barely keep her arms from moving to the side. "Get, her," she yelled at the Dominatrix.

"She's mine," Dominatrix yelled back, breaking into a dead run at Mind Mistress. Mind Mistresses eyes widened, but she didn't move or break her concentration on Black Queen. As Dominatrix ran past Black Queen, she stopped suddenly. Mindstar's fist had suddenly become implanted into her stomach, as the hero had rolled to the side and struck upwards just as the Dominatrix passed. The blow knocked all of the wind from the Dominatrix's lungs, and she hung limply around Mindstar's fist.

"I don't think so," he groaned as he picked himself up. He looked at the Black Queen, still frozen in place by Mind Mistresses mental power. "As for you," he brought one elbow up and slammed it down on the base of the Black Queen's neck. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped to the ground as she passed out.

"Gotcha," hera yelled as she jumped up and caught Aria's dangling ankle. "You're mine, honey."

"Sit down, bitch," Techno barked as he fired his pistol into hera's exposed back. Hera collapsed in a heap, releasing Aria.

"Thanks, Techno," Aria said.

"De nada, senorita," Techno replied.

Pain tried to get back to his feet with a roar. "Sit down," Strongarm snarled as he slapped Pain down. The backhanded blow was enough to knock Pain out.

Black Knight stopped where he was and glanced around. All of the Guardians were standing up and looking at him. None of his compatriots were still on their feet. Mindstar glared at him and raised his eyebrows as his eyes began to glow orange. Black Knight sheepishly raised his hands over his head.

"Thanks a lot," the prison warden said to Mindstar as he pumped his hand vigorously. "I don't know how we'd have stopped them without you." After the Shadow Empire team and hera had been beaten again, it had taken a telepathic shout from Mind Mistress to convince the rest of the rioters that they would be better off back in their cells. The warden and others believed Mindstar had taken a hand in that, but he was too weak to do much in that regards. Still, he didn't want to disabuse them of the notion, although he insisted that Mind Mistress have an equal share of the credit.

"That's our job, warden," Mindstar said simply. "We put that crew away; we need to make sure they stay there. Still, I think this was a set up."

"A set up?"

"For us. Arcanus instigated this, but he left as soon as we got on the scene. We've been tracking him for a while, and I think he was trying to get us off of his trail."

"Ah. Where are Powergirl and Firemane? I was, expecting, to see them as well."

"They're, temporarily incapacitated. That's related to why we're pursuing Arcanus. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to see if we have any new leads on Arcanus." Mindstar strode away from the warden, who was still spouting thanks, to where the Protector One now sat in the middle of the prison yard.

"Tell me you've got a lead, Techno," Mindstar announced as he came on board.

"Good news and bad news, chief," Techno replied as he looked up from his laptop. "Bad news, no current contact with the bug. Must have found it. Good new, I set the system here to record all signals from the bug, and it went live when fired." He motioned Mindstar over.

"See, this is when we first engaged." A red dot and a blue dot were superimposed in the middle of the screen. "The blue dot is us, for comparison, and the red dot is the bug. See," the red dot vanished and, after a second, reappeared near the edge of the screen. It didn't move perceptibly for several minutes, and then vanished. "Now, this thing reads GPS coordinates, so it could be doing the twist while he was at his pad, and this wouldn't show it. Now, I doubt he knew was tagged for several minutes, but since he's a teleporter,"

"He'd have gone straight back to his base," Mindstar finished. "Good work, Techno."

"So, we're going there now?"

A groan from Wraith interrupted Techno. Mindstar looked around the cabin. He, Wraith and Strongarm had taken some serious punishment. He still didn't feel one hundred percent. Wraith and Strongarm were more seriously hurt. "I hate to say it, but not right now. We've got to get back to base and patch up our wounded. Then we'll go after Arcanus. I just hope we get there in time."

Kat shivered again and hugged her knees closer to her chest. Alex and Arcanus had come down and taken Terry and Jinn upstairs, it seemed like hours ago. Both looked determined rather than eager, and also they looked kinda mad. She hoped they weren't going to hurt the girls again. While Arcanus hadn't beaten Jinn yet, Kat knew he was capable of it.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs got Kat's attention quickly. She turned, still curled up, to look at the cell door. Alex was leading Terry down to the cell, and Arcanus was following with Jinn. Both girls looked out of it, like they weren't really there.

"Ah, Kat, the girls have something to say that you need to hear. Powergirl?"

Powergirl looked blankly at Kat, as if she didn't see her, and then she turned and knelt down before Alex. "I swear to serve and obey the Chosen One." She and Kat gasped at the same time; Kat gasped with surprise and Terry gasped in pleasure as her powers came flooding back into her.

"Excellent, Powergirl," Arcanus said. "Now, Wind Shear?"

Wind Shear didn't even look at Firemane; she just knelt on the stone floor. "I swear to serve and obey Arcanus." She too gasped in pleasure as her powers returned.

"As you can see, Firemane, your two friends have surrendered to me. Give up this useless struggle and you can again be free and powerful."

Kat looked from Terry to Jinn. They looked so happy, so powerful as they stood beside Alex and Arcanus. Terry was always stronger, more determined, more powerful. If she couldn't beat them, how could Kat? Kat staggered to her feet, stumbled forward across the space between her and Arcanus, and knelt at his feet. She felt hot tears, tears of shame and regret, well in her eyes and roll down her face onto the floor beneath her. "I swear to serve and obey Arcanus," she choked out. She felt the collar around her neck unlock and drop off. "I'm sorry Rich," she whispered as her power came flooding back. It felt so good, it almost covered the ache inside her heart.