---

They knelt on the lip of hell and stared down into its hot, deep, unblinking face.

USAgent adjusted his new, thicker tunic to get a bit more comfortable position from the insulated electric cooling elements Rhodes had worked up for him to wear during the coming assault. Hercules had laughed at the offer and Rage eventually decided against limiting his motion, and Spitfire didn’t believe she’d be moving slow enough to be affected by the heat to an extent her accelerated metabolism couldn’t compensate for. Jack didn’t think the pads were going to slow him down much, as he was used to fighting with a lot of gear and a shield weighing him down, but it might keep him alive long enough to make a difference.

“Come, my friends, let us go rid my Uncle’s realm of these rats and save our noble friends!” Hercules said, slapping Rage on the back in his excitement, unintentionally destabilizing the nervous youth and causing him to tip forward and fall into the abyss. He let out a short curse as he disappeared, but Hercules only laughed harder as he leapt forward eagerly into the depths. Spitfire only sighed and shot down the hole quickly and would, hopefully, catch Rage if he needed it.

USAgent checked his rappelling line and toggled his cowl microphone. “Agent to War Machine, you got me?”

“I hear you, Agent,” the voice of Jim Rhodes said over the link. “The signal booster Kymaera planted on the lip of the tunnel appears to be working. So long as you remember to place the boosters at regular intervals we should have no problems.”

“No problem,” Jack said, taking one last deep breath and then kicking free of the lip. “Geroni-fucking-mo!”

---

Two Hours Ago…

After calming down Kymaara on the docks, the group had traveled quickly back to Hydrobase, which was stationed roughly five miles from where the portal too the Master of the World’s lair was located. Convening quickly in the upper conference room the assembled Avengers ate a quick snack and rehydrated while Jacqueline Falsworth-Crichton, the superheroine form WW2 known as Spitfire, comforted Dr. Diane Newell, the co-creator of the Hydrobase project and one of the two scientists permanently overseeing the experiments occurring there. Her partner in the endeavor, her husband Dr. Walter Newell, was also the sometimes-Avenger Stingray, who was missing and presumed a prisoner of the Master of the World, who had attacked the surface world with a zombie-like army of Lava Men.

The Master’s plan was the topic of heated discussion between the gathered Avengers. “How exactly can this so-called Master use an 80+ year old android to turn lava into Lava Men?” asked Jack Daniels, the brash Avengers known as USAgent, to those at the table.

The Olympian demigod known most popularly as Hercules just shrugged as he downed another bottle of Belgian beer with a grimacing face, having confided in his recent drinking buddy that it ‘tasted like baloney’. Said drinking buddy, the teenager in a man’s body named Elvin Haliday, better known as the New Warrior Rage, rubbed his hands together nervously as he tried to participate. “Maybe it has to do with his blood?”

“What blood?” USAgent replied cynically. He turned to the man seated to his right and asked with a confused face, “You might know this Rhodes, since you rely on armor for everything, but does WD-40 count as blood?”

James Rhodes, the armored Avenger known as War Machine, ignored him and turned to Spitfire. “Lady Crichton, you might have a thought on that. Didn’t you get a transfusion from Hammond that restored your youth and speed?”

Jacqueline gave both Elvin and Rhodey a gracious smile for their respectful comments, and nodded. “Yes. I had been injured and Jim’s blood rejuvenated me, somehow. I’m afraid I don’t know all the details, but I do think it was his blood that caused me to have my vision this morning. I believe I have a connection to him that was previously unknown and activated due to the distress he is undergoing.”

“Anything else from your vision you can remember?” Diane asked, having composed herself some. She took a seat next to the last member of their group, keeping her distance from the unpredictable young woman who, until recently, had been like a daughter to Diane.

“Not really,” Spitfire said, taking a seat on the other side of Kymaera, who she had spent a few months traveling the world with a few years ago. Seeing her in this mutated yet beautiful state upset Jacqueline greatly, but unfortunately it was a secondary concern at this time. “Just flashes. The Master seems to have a plan to use Jim to transform all of the world’s lava into his version of Lava Men, which will all but destroy the inner workings of the Earth and shatter the planet. How he’s going to do this and get away alive is unknown.”

[Oh, well, I’ve done a bit of research on that,] said a disembodied voice. A green digitized image of a head appeared above the table suddenly, drawing all the attention of everyone in the room. P.L.A.T.O. continued, [The Master of the World has been a common and recurring foe for both Alpha Flight and the Sub-Mariner, and was involved in several engagements with Prince Namor and his late wife, the alien known as Marrina, who was a member of the alien race called the Plodex. Apparently one of their ships crashed on earth 40,000 years ago and transformed a caveman into the megalomaniac who now calls himself the Master of the World.]

“That’s an old caveman,” Elvin said, then blushed as he realized he’d spoken out loud.

“Bah, it’s not that old,” Hercules said, still barely paying attention.

Closing his eyes and counting to ten, Rhodey continued, “PLATO, how much technology of the Plodex does the Master have access to? Could that be the heart of his plan?”

[That is likely, though the full extent of the Master’s assets is unknown,] PLATO continued. [It was reported that he was trapped in one of their ships for thousands of years, and it is possible that he has caches of technology scattered around the world. Or, given his enhanced intellect, that he has recreated comparable technology, or perhaps invented improved versions. He is quite intelligent…for a caveman,] PLATO added, smiling at Elvin.

“And if he could do that, he’s bound to have built himself a spaceship,” USAgent said, nodding. “He builds his army, which doesn’t breathe or eat or sleep so he can just pack them into a box they can’t melt through, and tows them across the galaxy with him in his ship, attacking worlds at his leisure.”

“Probably the homeworld of the Plodex first,” Spitfire said, “and since tectonic action such as ours common on thousands of worlds, if his technology works he can recreate his soldiers as needed. It’s brilliant…and terrible. He’s going to kill billions and billions of sentient beings.”

“Ok, so we have a reasonable idea of his plans, or at least a worst case scenario. How do we stop him?” USAgent said. “He’s got a nearly unassailable corner pocket, tireless and brutally powerful warriors, and at least two hostages.”

“Simple details,” Hercules said, finally interested in the conversation. “I have fought many battles against greater foes in the Underworld. I do not fear this Master; once he is given The Gift, he will cease this madness.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Herc,” War Machine said. “The Master’s gone toe-to-toe with the entire Alpha Flight team and also Namor several times.”

“Well, with the Canadians I understand his success, but Namor’s a tough cookie,” USAgent said. “Plus, he’s got to know we’re on to him now so he’s going to have defenses planned for each of us, and we aren’t as hearty as you are; the heat down there is going to be killer.” Jack paused and turned a quick grimace of apology to Diane. “Don’t worry; Walt’s suit has emergency support capabilities. I’m sure he’s fine.” Diane made no response.

“Then let’s use his assumptions against him,” War Machine said. “Spitfire, can you make a few trips to the Works for me for some equipment?” Jacqueline nodded and pulled her mask on. “Good. I’m transmitting a list to PLATO now, he’ll have it ready. Here’s the coordinates,” he added, handing her his Avengers Communicard with the information displayed and watching her disappear. “Diane, we need to move Hydrobase to the underground tunnel.”

“No problem,” Diane said, standing. “We’ve got anti-grav units built into the underside with motors stationed around the outer edges for repositioning. It’ll take about two hours to get there.”

“That’s not a problem, it’ll take that long to get the equipment installed, and that’s if we can get Namori…I mean, Kymaera, to assist me.”

All eyes turned to the blue-skinned woman sitting at the table staring straight ahead with minimal reactions. She had agreed to don a one-piece suit of mesh material but had not spoken since they’d arrived at Hydrobase. Rage had filled them in on her past transformations into Kymaera during their New Warriors days, but even he had not been able to get through to her. She’d never been this consumed by her alternate persona before.

This time, however, she did turn her head and fixed her eyes on Rhodey. “I…will help. Uncle Walter needs me.” Her voice was raspy but stronger and clearer than it had been before. Her razor-sharp teeth were frightening to observe when she spoke, but her black eyes had softened slightly and her hair had darkened to a nearly blonde color. Her muscles rippled like a wave as she leaned forward. “But this Master will pay for what he’s done to him…and to me.”

---

Now…

They’d traveled a few miles into the hot, dark undergound and everyone but Hercules was panting. USAgent was amazed at the fact that they could see without the night-vision goggles they’d brought; a dull red glow permeated the tunnels they walked in from splotches of some substance on the walls at regular intervals. They turned a last corner and saw a larger opening ahead with clear, yellow light spilling from inside. They crept slowly to the edge and peered inside.

The cavern beyond was huge and multi-layered, including pieces of technology that none of them understood doing activities they could only guess at. Dozens of the Master’s pet Lava Men were scattered about, and through an open portal on the far wall they could see a table in the midst of a huge collection of machinery, upon which lay the violated body of the Original Human Torch. Every bit of Jim Hammond’s body was open and jammed full of wires and circuits coming and going from him, trailing to the equipment, which was humming and making a noise that everyone in their party recognized…the hum of building power.

Lighting fast, USAgent’s hand lashed out and clamped tightly on the upper arm of Spitfire, holding her in place as she started to streak off to help her friend. She turned a fierce glare on him and started to shout at him before USAgent’s other hand clamped over her mouth, quieting her. He pointed with his head at the center of the cavern where a stone throne had been erected and sitting upon it was a man in a white, blue and red costume with a gaudy helmet covering his face as he worked at three floating terminals, seemingly oblivious to what was happening around him.

On the floor at his feet was Stingray, his helmet ripped off and the sweating, ebony face of Walter Newell could be clearly seen. He appeared to be fading in and out of consciousness, but was clearly alive…for now.

“Stick to the plan, lady,” USAgent said in a low voice. “Get Walter out of here and then come back and assist Rage.”

“Jim needs me,” Spitfire retorted. “This abominable situation cannot be allowed to stand!”

“Stop it!” Jack hissed. “You were in the trenches in the war with hundreds dying around you daily. Would you have pulled this shit with Steve?” Spitfire’s eyes tightened and her lips thinned. “I get that it’s your friend, all right, and I’ll help him, but you have to trust us and stick to the plan. Do you understand?”

“Fine,” Spitfire said. “But if he dies…”

“Understood,” USAgent said, turning to take in Hercules and Rage as well. “Everyone ready?” The two men nodded and tensed in preparation for the shout they knew was coming…

“Avengers Assemble!” USAgent shouted as he leapt to his feet and loosed his shield, arcing it into and through the necks of several slow-moving Lava Men as he made a last ricochet and blasted directly toward the face of the Master of the World…who calmly reached up and plucked the shield from the air as if he’d expected it.

Spitfire had more success, streaking forward past all enemies and throwing Stingray over her shoulder and taking off back the way they’d came. Hercules also had a successful entrance, having leapt high into the air and crashed down into the heart of the largest clump of Lava Men, crushing two beneath his feet and quickly defeating the rest with powerful swings of his golden mace. He did not slow as he continued to seek out and hammer into rubble every Lava Man he could as he made a direct charge toward the Master, who had casually tossed the Agent’s shield aside and stood, crossing his arms.

Rage followed Hercules’ lead and plowed through all Lava Men as he proceeded directly to the room where the Torch was, stopping only long enough to sink his steel-hard fingers into a huge boulder and drug it with him to the portal and jamming it in behind him, wedging it as tight as he could. He knew the Lava Men could pound their way through in time, but he hoped he’d only need a few moments to handle his part of the plan. Activating the headset he wore beneath his mask, he directed the camera and sensors at the scene before him and spoke into the microphone. “Rage to War Machine, are you receiving?”

“I’m here, Elvin,” Rhodey said over the earpiece. “That’s…that’s a bit over my pay grade,” he said over the link. “PLATO, Diane and I are going over the data now, and we should have some idea soon of how to disconnect him safely…I hope.”

Elvin gulped as he looked at the wires and began to pray.

Outside, USAgent was dodging and weaving between the Lava Men, who strangely enough did not move faster in their home environment than they did on the surface. The same couldn’t be said for Jack, who was feeling the strain already; if it weren’t for his cooling packs and Power Broker muscle and stamina enhancements, he didn’t think he’d even be conscious now. Using small pouches of explosives and acid, he was whittling away at the Lava Men, but until he got to his shield he was defenseless. He was also annoyed that the Master had foiled his opening attack so easily, but it only made him more aware of the danger they were actually facing here.

It apparently had done nothing to concern Hercules, who had finally cleared the foot soldiers and stood before the Master with a smile on his face. “Surrender, villain, and I shall only incapacitate you. You will not destroy the world while they Lion of Olympus stands.”

“Then don’t,” the Master said seconds before Hercules froze and toppled over backwards, slamming into the ground like so much dead weight.

USAgent, having just knelt to pick up his shield, observed this and said, “Well…shit.”

“Fools!” the Master said, throwing his hands up even as he kicked Hercules savagely in the side, flipping him across the ground and into the far wall. “You underestimate me to your doom! If you had any possibility of stopping my plans do you seriously think I’d have allowed you to get this far?”

“Then why do it,” USAgent said as he leapt forward and swung his shield, impacting an energy barrier around the Master. “Hell of a chance to take letting a god into your house.”

The Master chuckled as Jack’s second attempt was just as futile against his barrier. He lashed out almost languidly and backhanded the Agent away, flipping the super-soldier over his own throne brutally. “I will grant you that Hercules is one of the most formidable opponents on this planet, and one of the few I would not dare face on an even field of battle. But he’s hardly an equal concern to the likes of Thor or even Namor. What he possesses in might and fighting skill is nothing compared to my intellect.”

“Thor!” Hercules shouted from the floor, his rage boiling. “Thou shalt pay!”

“So you have some sort of energy beam or transmitter that can shut people down, big deal,” USAgent said as he pulled himself to his feet. “It can’t be that good since I’m still moving. What’s the matter, your Vista freeze?”

The Master’s growled in annoyance. “You think it a weakness that I created within a few hours an emitter capable of targeting Olympian DNA and incapacitating without a fight?”

“If you were so smart you’d just have built a disintegrator and vaporized us all in the tunnel,” USAgent said, tightening his grip on the stone chair. “You know, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best!” With a grunt, he wrenched the heavy stone throne from the floor of the cavern and hurled it at the Master, who was a fraction of a second too slow to avoid the large projectile in time and it slammed into him, driving him across the room and into the wall hard.

Sagging to his knees, USAgent gasped for air, choking in the oppressive air. “Herc, you done taking a nap?” he gasped.

“Nay,” Hercules grumbled. “I still cannot move below my neck.”

“His personal shield’s too strong,” Jack said, observing the throne begin to shift. “Brute force is not the answer.” His mind was still spinning as he leapt away from his position just as the Master hurled the remains of the throne back at him.

“Dog!” he shouted as he pulled himself out of the impression in the wall he’d made. “You fight the inevitable with a determination that is respectable but misplaced. This world is worthless, having been abused and manipulated to a point where it is not worth saving. Better to destroy it and move forward.”

“Bullshit,” USAgent said as he flew back into the fight and slammed his shield brutally into the Master’s face, rocking him back from the powerful impact. “If you truly felt that way you’d just leave on your own. You’re just tired of losing to your so-called ‘lessors’ and, like a spoiled brat, are going to break your toys so no one else can play with them. And people call me immature!” He ducked to avoid a punch from the Master but leaned into a kick instead, which flung him back to the ground.

“Enough!” the Master said, slamming his foot down into Jack’s chest, crushing the cooling elements but, fortunately, not his ribs. “I have had enough of your prattling! Do you have any idea how annoying your ignorance is?”

“I’ve heard that before,” USAgent said, smiling through his bloodied teeth as he pulled his hand from one of his belt pouches, holding up a long rounded object. “Here’s something I stole from a friend that you’re going to love!”

Flicking his wrist, he hurled the purple arrowhead directly at the Master’s face where, upon impact with his energy shield, it erupted into an incredible blast of sonic energy, the sound ripping through the cavern and caused the Master, who was directly in the path of the blast, to scream and clamp his hands over his ears. He screamed again a moment later when Jack flexed back and kicked, launching the Master off of his chest and into the ground behind him.

Crawling to his feet, USAgent pulled out a small taser-like object from his belt and slammed it down onto the Master’s back. Having read the files PLATO had obtained, he and War Machine had expected that the Master would still be employing his protective shield, which they hoped would be susceptible to a sonic attack that would allow USAgent time to try to disable him with a super-charged electrical attack that would, hopefully, short out his armor using plans Rhodey had ‘obtained’ from Tony Stark’s old armor disabler he’d invented back in his Armor Wars days.

Watching the energy flow over the Master’s form made USAgent laugh and for a moment filled him with hope that this was finally over. But those hopes were dashed when the Master kicked out suddenly and cut his legs out beneath him and he fell into the Master’s outstretched hands, which began to choke him.

“You have failed, USAgent!” the Master said, easily regaining his feet, dragging USAgent upright and slammed him against the wall. “My armor and knowledge is superior to anything you could possibly throw at me. I will grant you that you have been more successful than others in the past, but your life is now at an end. I will grant you one last statement, if you wish.”

The blackness crawling across his vision slowed as the Master lessened his grip briefly and Jack gasped and smiled. He was disappointed it had come to this, the Hail Mary pass that likely meant everyone on his assault team was dead but the world might, just might, make it. He was a soldier, however, and he took as deep a breath as he could and said, “USAgent to War Machine…bring the rain!”

---

Without a delay, Jim Rhodes keyed in the activation switch and then bolted from the monitor room, locking his helmet into place as he did so. He engaged his boot jets and rocketed into the air just as a massive explosion erupted beneath the water Hydrobase now floated upon, the sound audible to him with the speakers in his helmet. He plunged into the ocean, his suit’s emergency air packs having been installed during the wait for the attack to start, and he observed his handiwork.

The ‘candy cane’ tunnel opening into the underworld was listing to the side, its base having been destroyed with massive quantities of explosives planted by Kymaera, who was not swimming under the hook of the tunnel, pushing it away form the opening and allowing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to roar down into the depths. From what his armor could read, crouched at the top of the tunnel was Walter Newell, his bio-signs weak but stable as he worked to make his Stingray suit functional enough with his spare helmet brought to him by Kymaera to assist.

Down the tunnel raced Spitfire, who had started her return journey later than she’d intended, slowed by the effort of lifting Walter from the underworld back to the hook in the tunnel without smashing them into the roof. She was easily outpacing the wall of water behind her, but it would only be seconds once she returned before the cavern was flooded. She toggled her communicator to let Rage know she was coming and just as she was entering the cavern he was pushing the bolder aside and allowing her access.

He slammed the bolder back into place just as the water hit, and it took all of his concentration to hold it tight to the wall, keeping all but a few spurts of water from entering the chamber. Spitfire looked at his handiwork with Jim’s body and noted he was less than halfway through PLATO’s holographic instructions on how to disassemble him from the alien machine, and she began to finish them at super-speed while her young protector held off the water, but neither of them was certain they could hold out long enough to pull this off.

Outside, the world was nothing but a haze of pain for USAgent. The Master’s grip on his throat had not tightened but it had remained steady as the explosion following his announcement had shocked the Master. “You…you’re insane!” the Master said, shocked to his core. “You’ve just killed yourself!”

“Better…me…than…world,” USAgent said just as the water hit. He and the Master were bowled over by the first impact, but by the slightest of luck they plowed into a wide pillar of stone that the Master managed to grab hold of while keeping his other hand holding USAgent.

“You die now, fool!” the Master said, beginning to push his head below the raging water, which buffeted his battered body and he began to choke down the cold, salty death.

“Unhand him!” a powerful voice said even as the Master’s grip on USAgent’s throat disappeared. He coughed, weakly wedging his shield into the gap between two outcroppings and hanging there, nearly drowned like the proverbial rat. His rolling eyes saw that his savior was Hercules. Ha! USAgent thought. My attack freed Herc…that’s something, anyway…

Hercules was overcome with rage and slammed both fists into the Master’s back, driving him to his knees before lashing out with a brutal knee, driving the Master’s head into and through the stone pillar, which shattered. “Your hour of reckoning is at hand, Master!” Hercules said as he stomped down on the Master’s stomach, doubling the villain up in pain.

“Per…perhaps, miscreant,” the Master gasped, furious but impotent. “But your fury has cost your friend his life!”

Hercules realized his error even as he spun on a dime and dove into the river of water passing by on his right side…the same river that had formed when he’d destroyed the pillar and all associated stone stalagmites adjacent to it…including the ones that USAgent had been clinging to for dear life. Within a second Hercules was lost into the dark tunnels of the underworld, desperate to find his teammate.

Laughing, the Master crawled to his feet and brashly stood in the flow of the water, his damaged armor still able to anchor him firmly. “None can stop my plans!”

A blue missile of rage and power surged out of the water behind him and two hands like vises closed onto his shoulders, crushing the armor and some of his bones as he was drug back into the depths of the river and pulled upstream and away from his lair. Kymaera intentionally slammed him into the walls and floors of the tunnel as she jetted up the flooded passageway as quickly as Spitfire had run it, and they surged out of the tunnel and into the ocean and then into the sky and away, arcing off into the distance from Hyrdobase and back towards the Los Angeles harbor in the distance.

Floating near the bottom of Hydrobase, War Machine observed this and cursed. “That wasn’t part of the plan,” he muttered as he plugged the cable from the equipment mounted onto one of the anti-gravity module on the bottom of the base into his chest uni-beam projector and activated his patched and re-wired system. Instantly a beam of pure yellow power shot forth from the anti-gravity projector and a cone of energy formed and stretched from the bottom of Hydrobase and extended through the water until it covered a slightly larger area than the hole they had made, and then the space within the cone began to drain as the water inside poured into the drain and was gone, with the energy cone forming a seal that held the rest of the ocean back.

It was intended to be the method of escape for the underground team, but without Kymaera to help retrieve their friends it was a race against time for them to make their way out before War Machine’s emitter crystal fried, which could go at any time. “War Machine to USAgent or anyone alive down there…you’ve got maybe 5-10 minutes to get your asses topside or you better have your water wings on. Also, Kymaera has absconded with the Master and I can’t leave to assist her OR save his life, depending on what’s going on. So all in all, the shit’s hit the fan, children!”

---

“…hit the fan, children!”

Those were the first words that Jack Daniels heard when consciousness returned to him and he found himself coughing up water and looking up into the soaked face of Hercules, who was kneeling over him with concern etched on his face. Hercules patted him on the back as he purged the water from his lungs and stomach, but that didn’t keep Jack from noticing Hercules turning and spitting a mouth full of water of his own onto the damp, slick floor. What must have happened hit USAgent and he began to gag again. “You didn’t!” he gasped.

“’Tis not the gift I usually give, at least not to a man,” Hercules said, wiping his lips, “but the alternative was death, my friend, and just think! You now have the powerful breath of the Lion of Olympus pumping through your body!”

“No wonder I feel like I’ve been on a bender,” Jack said, pushing up onto his wobbly knees. With all seriousness he clamped Hercules on the shoulder. “But…thank you.”

“I owed you one,” Hercules said, reaching behind him and pulling out USAgent’s shield. “And I didn’t even loose your shield.”

“If I prayed…or even believed in gods…I’d sacrifice a lamb in your honor,” Jack said, gratefully taking his shield back.

“That was always more Bacchus’s fetish,” Hercules said, crossing his arms. “I always preferred…”

“HEY!” Spitfire’s voice cut into their conversation as she stood next to the boulder that Rage had pushed aside, the towering black man standing behind her holding the still exposed body of Jim Hammond in his arms, wrapped in a clear plastic body bag. “If you two bints are done knobbing each other, let’s get the hell out of here!”

---

Kymaera stopped short of slamming into the still-recovering dock but let go of her bundle and observed with satisfaction as the Master of the World slammed into the dock, plowing up the wood as he slid and bounced to a painful stop in a crumpled shipping container. She landed and walked with purpose toward him, ripping the container off of him and tossing it aside. She bent, her webbed hands like iron as she clamped onto the Master’s shoulders, lifting him into the air.

“Change me back!” she screamed.

The Master was in the rare position of not knowing what the screaming super-hero was talking about. Usually when he faced a hero this furious, he knew exactly why and was enjoying the loss of control on their behalf. In this case, with his armor and body both battered to near non-functionality, black spots spinning through his vision and blood on his lips, he was at a complete loss. However, he did have an idea of who this woman was and also who her cousin was, so he didn’t feel quite like giving her any sort of satisfaction, whether she killed him or not.

“No,” he said, smiling cruelly, as if he was holding out on her.

“Aaargh!” Kymaera said, drawing her fist back and slamming it forward like a pile-driver into the Master’s head and stomach, brutally beating him around until she was straddling him and launching her fists into him like pistons.

She didn’t know how long she’d being doing that before a voice got through her head and a hand gingerly touched her shoulder. “Namorita! Stop!”

She turned and was just barely able to hold her strike, which was fortunate because an exhausted Stingray stood behind her, his dark face exposed, sweat and water streaming down his cheeks. Walter knelt next to her, not taking his eyes off of her, and checked the pulse on the bloody, beaten Master. He found one that was strong yet strange, and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t killed him.

“It’s ok, Nita, it’s over,” Walter said, pulling his gloves off and dropping them to the dock next to his helmet. “He can’t hurt any of us any more. It’s over.” He put his bare hands on her shoulders and looked into her dark eyes. “Trust me, dear…you’re safe. Nothing can hurt you now.”

Kymaera stared at him for a long moment, her breath still ragged and her razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the reflected sunlight. Then she slumped forward, her brow growing heavy as she sagged into her ‘uncle’ Walter’s arms and began to sob. The terror that had consumed her nearly a half-day ago when she was being squashed and burned by the falling Lava Men, the pain ripping through her body along with fear and desperation, all of it slid from her shoulders even as sleep began to claim her.

Within seconds of falling asleep, Walter began noticing that her skin began to lighten and within a few moments her color had returned to a rich, beautiful pink, her blonde hair flowing over her smaller frame as Kymaera faded back into Namorita. Walter checked her pupils and saw her eyes had returned to their crystal blue color. Tears had begun streaming down Walter’s face as he hugged the tormented young Atlantean girl to his chest and he didn’t look up until he heard a roar of boot jets and watched War Machine land next to him and approach carefully, his weapons trained on the Master.

“Stingray, are you all right?” War Machine asked after confirming the Master was down.

“Yes, Jim, I’m fine,” Walter said, smiling and nodding to the sleeping girl. “We both are.”

“Well, that’s fucking wonderful,” a new voice said, one that was equal parts rough and annoyed, not to mention loud. Both heroes turned to see a red-haired middle-aged man stomping toward them wearing an unflattering full-body blue jumpsuit with the insignia of S.H.I.E.L.D. attached to the shoulder and a brown, unattractive bowler cap wedged onto his head. Dum Dum Dugan stopped just inches from War Machine and looked, unimpressed, up at the impassive metal masked man, the squad of a dozen SHIELD storm troopers stopping in position behind him. “You better have a good god-damned reason for this, Rhodes. Just what the hell do you think you’ve been doing?”

Rhodey sighed, attempting to figure out how he could explain the last 6 hours in a way that wouldn’t send Dugan off on an unrecoverable tangent of rage. After deciding there really was no good way to start, he figured he’d just state the obvious and go from there.

“It’s all USAgent’s fault.”

---

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To Be Continued...

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