The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

"The hell?"

Vincent looked to Noelle's form, seeing her hesitate for just a moment suddenly made him question the situation. Was it over already?

The mage's anger hadn't quite yet been satisified, in fact, an eternity of pounding his fists again Lothevis' face wouldn't quench his thirst for blood. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and unleash hell upon the monster that had held a vice grip on his dreams for quite some time. He had managed to hide the fear and agony quite well, standing in front of Muffin like a Valiant Guardian, willing to die for her sake. Truthfully, he was as fearful as any other, and seeing this brought to a head unleashed Vincent Vorpal's fear in the form of violent outbursts that collided against the very body of Lothevis.

Seeing Noelle hesitate had suddenly halted his onslaught, and the anger that lay within' him wanted to show itself, yet Vincent held back.

Held back, to see what the Demons next move would be.

Darkthorne closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his massive muscles rippling with might once again. His shoulders then slumped, and a look of melancholy came unnaturally across his face.

"So different . . . everything . . . everything is different now."

Still ignoring the fuming, ranting Lothevis-thing as it struggled vainly to wrest control from him again, he opened his eyes and focused on Muffin as she knealt on the floor. He made as if to approach her, but hesitated when every hero in the room tensed, brandishing their individual weapons and powers at him. It was understandable enough. They could not afford to trust him. Even the ones that knew him were finding out that they barely even knew him.

He simply sighed again, looking down on Muffin with a poignant resignation in his eyes.

"Beautiful Blueberry . . . I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to save me . . ."

A new sound began to fill the room, and all eyes were drawn to the massive portal. Off in the distance of the interplanar tunnel, a vast sea of fire, wings, and menace raged toward them, the various demonic entities howling and screaming in frenzied bloodlust.

". . . but I'm afraid I have to save you, instead."

Darkthorne moved to the wall where one of the strange crystals still glowed, ripping it off its foundation with one huge hand and holding it aloft before his eyes.

"It only takes one."

Carrying the crystal with him, he tromped to the edge of the portal with rumbling footsteps, looked down on the strange machine, then back at Muffin again.

"400 years . . . so much in my future that any demon would die for . . . and I never knew what love felt like . . . never experienced it. But that other me did . . . and now all of me does. There are more important things than blood and power."

Reaching down with his free hand, Darkthorne pierced the shadow-shield that encapsulated the portal machine with ease, picking it up off the dias and hefting it at his side. Holding both objects, he turned back toward the portal.

"I love you, Muffin. I would rend the sky to steal a star for you to hold, if I could. I will not let him hurt you anymore."

Darkthorne's massive wings unfolded, stretching across the width of the chamber, and he crouched in preparation to leap.

"Take your friends and go. This started because of me, and it will end because of me."

Thrusting off with a forceful push of his powerful legs, the demon known as Darkthorne plunged into the portal, soaring headlong toward the onrushing demon horde, taking the screaming shadow-Lothevis with him.

The situation had just radically changed, but they were still no less in danger.

Feelings later, safety now.

"I don't normally take an authoritarian tone with any of you, but if he's doing what it looks like he's doing, we need to leave . . . now. Those who can fly and are strong enough, carry someone else. I'll get anyone who's left behind."

Leaping to the center of the room, Hunter let his rifle drop, and his cybercytes deconstructed it before it could hit the ground. Vaulting upward toward the open entrance above, he began to travel toward the surface through the quantum flux.

Unable to see, to get a clear view of where she could port to safely, Noelle took to the air. She followed Hunter, heading back into the tunnel of water above them, icing the liquid around them as they passed, hoping to make the passage slicker and faster for everyone else.

Behind them, in the big room below, the noise increased exponentially. The very air seemed to cry out in torment.

Every yard, every foot, every inch she moved upward, she looked for the sky above. Noelle just needed a single sight of blue, and she could get out -- get them all out, and safely away.

"Come on, come on, come on..." she muttered.

Scorpia watched the ejection of the mage's spirit and subsequent departure of Darkthorne with an overwhelming sense of confusion. Then again, that wasn't so new. She'd found lately that she really didn't understand as much as she thought she had. PH's assertion that they get to the surface prompted her to push upward, however, and she flew toward the surface as quickly as she possibly could, ready to aid him in pulling others to safety.

Vincent Vorpal had to be one of the only mages in the entire Multiverse that couldn't fly.

However.. He was adept at jumping. Hunter need only say the word, and within' the blink of an eye the mage had Muffin scooped up. He wouldn't hear a word from her in protest. He understood the bond she shared with Darkthorne, but her safety mattered more to him at the moment.

He wished he could've said sorry to her, but he still didn't quite understand what was happening, he wasn't taking the time to get a better grasp on the situation, all he wanted was to get to safety. So Vincent crouched down, brought his gaze upwards to where his teammates were going, and leaped into the air as hard as he could, powered by a Divine Aura that accelerated his every muscular function.

Muffin only watched Darkthorne go with tear-blurred vision, and let Vincent pick her up without protest. She was limp in his arms, burying her face in the cloth on his shoulder, shaking her head.

"Thanks," she said softly to him, closing her eyes. She was still weak, having given all that she could in exerting her anger on Lothevis.

Gideon gritted his teeth inside his helmet, he didn't like leaving any of his own behind, and regardless of what had happened or the changes that had taken place, it was hard not to consider Darkthorne as one of the people he was supposed to be helping guide and look out for.

But there wasn't anything he could do to help. Two steps and then a slight hop and his powersuits flight system engaged. Taking him upwards and away from the portal, following the icy path Noelle was leaving for them all on the route back to the surface.

Barometra summoned her electromagnetic field around her slowly lifting off the ground. She looked around, not wanting to leave anyone behind, but the other heroes seemed to have their escapes already in hand. With the slightest force she pushed herself into the air, following after Noelle in the others.

Erin had seen enough normal sized nasty Behemoth summoning Thornie portals to know that this was going to get seriously unfun very quickly. Taking off quickly, heading up and out of the room and trying to catch up with those in the lead, wanting to be there to help them out in case anything is waiting for them up top.

Demons don’t sweat. If they did, he would’ve been sweating like a fat man in a sauna.

To make matters worse, Lothevis would not shut up.

How can you be this stupid? The sheer power we could have, we could’ve ruled that world and made it our toy!

Ahead, the swarm of demons rushed toward him, and he toward them. The vast tunnel of fire around them raged and churned.

The sheer strength in you, the magical might in me, don’t you see that was my impetus from the very beginning?

Darkthorne silently weeped tears of black ichor. He wasn’t afraid of death, he’d tasted it so many times in his existence, he had lost count. What he was afraid of was that this would not work, and that he would cease to be . . . and that he would not be able to stop Lothevis from hurting those mortals he left behind. He didn’t know what to think about most of them, didn’t know if he liked them or hated them . . . but he knew that he did not want Lothevis to have the joy of destroying their world and their lives.

I wanted to join with you, to make us both stronger, to give us the chance to rule and explore and dominate as we saw fit! Darkthorne, don’t be a fool!

And Muffin . . . damned mortal female . . . why? Why did he care for her, why did he love her? She was . . . nothing. A Prince could have thousands of females . . . thousands of males . . . thousands of anything. That small part of him, the battle-imp that Lothevis had created and unwitting unleashed as a hero on the city . . . he would’ve died for her. And try as he might, that small part of him was powerful enough to sway him in total. A vast, centuries-old demon heart of prime evil, and it was now forever polluted by loving a mortal. And the part that was both the best and the worst . . . was that he really didn’t care.

You don’t have to give this up! Turn around and lead this rabble! The Prince doesn’t lord over Earth, you could use this army for your own!

The demon horde loomed in front of him, the screams and howls of war all too familiar to his ears. As he rushed to penetrate their ranks, he roared a mighty roar, driving them back with the sheer weight of the fear in their blood for one of his stature. He crashed into their ranks like a professional linebacker through the local Shakespearean actors guild . . . and boggled that he would think such a silly thought.

Listen to me, you SON OF A DEMON BITCH!

Lothevis, shut up. Here’s how this is going to work. I’m sick of you, so I want you out. Out of my head, out of my body, and out of my soul. So I’m hoping this will work. If it doesn’t, at the very least, you will be trapped here in limbo. Now kiss my huge, scaly ass!

Roves of demons roiled around him, unaware of his intentions. He hefted the machine with the Wheel of Destruction at its center. The Wheel . . . a Thing of Fate. Wars had been fought over its secrets, worlds had lived and died for it, millions of lives and souls were bound in its stone. It had been destroyed many times, and always found its way back into someone’s hands, somehow. This time would likely be no different.

Brandishing the crystal shard, Darkthorne uttered one last phrase. He knew it would never be heard, but something inside made him say it . . . made him need to say it. Once more, everything around him grew silent, and he heard his own words echo above the screeching of the demons and the silent screaming of Lothevis. He then brought the crystal down and plunged it into the machine’s circuitry as his own voice rang out in his ears.

“For you.”

==================

To the citizens and heroes—and even the villains—of Paragon, most accounts would be the same. That for a single, brilliant instant, a series of hundreds of lights appeared throughout the city, from strange crystals affixed to buildings, statues, and even tram cars. And as fast as they flashed with light, each and every one of them exploded into dust and vanished in a single instant as some pulse of energy blasted through them.

Lesser reported, but still highly visible, was the column of white fire that erupted and pierced the sky. Trapped within this pillar of supernatural flame were demons, shrieking in agony as they were burned, melted, and torn apart by massive destructive force. Very few would be able to say for certain, but those in Perez Park saw it clear, that this column of bright fire erupted from the center of Everett Lake, itself, accompanied by a tremor in the ground beneath. In no more than a few seconds, it burned itself out, and was gone, leaving no trace of the demons it had eradicated.

With these massive spectacles drawing the attention of everyone who could see it, there passed an event that went unnoticed, even by those who surrounded the lake. A group of heroes appeared out of nowhere on the lake-shore as the crystals shattered and the pillar of fire shot up. They were beaten, exhausted, and looked as though they had been to Hell and back.

The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

Noelle's wave of ice and cold covered the raging, staggering giant, momentarily imprisoning him in a vast glacier. His strength was still great, however, and while he quickly broke out, it was only one more moment of advantage for the heroes that were heaving barrages of shots and strikes at him. His wounds were trying in vain to heal, but without the massive healing factor of the ascendant prince, each bruise, each fracture, each cut, each burn, each puncture and bullethole was being replaced by more and more before any one could repair itself. Despite the power he still had, it was obvious Lothevis didn't know what he was doing without Darkthorne's aid, and was quickly losing this fight.

The Darkthorne-shadow merely chuckled to himself off to the side, staring at the portal device and the Wheel of Destruction as he listened to the fight. Lothevis' howls and roars of pain and frustration tickled him to no end. He made no other move, letting the heroes relish their triumph against the arrogant old fool of a mage.

Muffin jumped up onto his chest, pressing her thumb hard against his large windpipe. She stared at him with intense hate in her eyes and said,

"Go to hell."

She began to press hard, cutting off his air, her other hand holding his head forward to add an incredible ammount of pressure to him.

Lothevis suddenly stopped fighting, despite the fact that he could easily crush this small woman in one hand. He simply sank to his knees as Muffin tried to crush his throat. It wasn't fear he had in his eyes now, however. He was grinning again.

"He knows he's lost," Darkthorne said almost disinterestedly, not even looking in their direction, "and he wants you to kill him. I'd advise against that."

Muffin stood there, trembling with rage, her hand on his throat. She lowered her head, hair falling to either side of her face, and backed off of Lothevis. She turned and spat on him, then, exhaustion finally coming over her, backed away to let the others go at him.

The appearance of Muffin and then Darkthorne threw Scorpia for a loop. Even with what little explanation was given in the exchange between them, she was still completely baffled. But as the other heroes lept to pound on Lothevis with renewed vigor, she erected shields around the newly arrived hero before renewing those around the others.

When the device is mentioned, she looks over at Darkthorne where he floats above the control panel, thinking if she can get over there while Lothevis is distracted, she might be able to help.

Kinetica stood there, still aimed at Lothevis head, ready to blast him back into the wall if he got up and started fighting again.

"So... Uh... Could someone please tell me what is going on? Insane mage on the ropes, potential highway to hell about to open? Answers would be good right now. Solutions even better.", Erin hated all this magic stuff, it made no sense to her semi-orderly world of science and technology. Having seen everything she had seen meant she somewhat had to believe it existed and worked, but it still made her somewhat uncomfortable to have to deal with it.

Muffin shook her head, panting, kneeling on the floor. She said quietly,

"I'm not sure even I know what happened. Just... listen to whatever Darkthorne tells you to do."

Lothevis growled with a sneer, holding his broken and shattered body.

"No . . . kill me. You know you want to. All the pain I've caused. I've been a bad boy."

"That," Darkthorne shouted, "is true! Unfortunately, you've also been a big dick to me, and I don't like that sort of thing."

The shadow-thing finally turned and moved toward Lothevis, who only seethed in silence.

"They easily could kill you now. One good blast from Vincent would bake you like Alaska. But you and I both know that would just send us back to Hell to slumber, and then your bond would happen in silence, and you'd win. Can't have that, can we?"

Darkthorne chuckled as Lothevis fumed.

"You forget, Lothy, I know what you know, because you're still in my head. And I think, for the moment, I want it back."

With a headlong rush, the shadowy Darkthorne rushed at the beaten creature, flying into Lothevis, who jerked backward as if struck. Another shadow was instantly ejected out the other side of the demon body. The smaller, weaker Lothevis version, which cried out in rage.

Immediately getting to his feet, the demon . . . now apparently the true Darkthorne . . . lert out a roar of his own, bringing his power to bear once more, his wounds healing, his bones knitting, his massive wings of shadow flaring out behind him.

The Lothevis shadow tried to rush back into the body, but only succeeded in wrapping itself around Darkthorne like a parasitic, shadowy octopus, spewing curses. Darkthorne didn't seem to care.

Returned to full glory, the massive demon looked down at the heroes, appraising them.

Noelle held another wave of ice at the ready. Was the demon Darkthorne again? And did that make it a friend, or just a new kind of foe?

Pulling her Jacks back, she waited....

The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

Vincent only had to look around one time to see that his teammates were in as much trouble as he was.

Sure.. He could keep replenishing the energy that he was expelling, sure he could keep up with Lothevis, but the clock was ticking, and with Barometra having just collapsed, and with every hero giving it their all and still not being able to phase Lothevis, things truly were looking grim.

"Things.. They just can't end like this." Vincent whispered to himself softly.

Suddenly.. Memories flared to life. Images of the past. Happy images. Faces of friends, innocents that he had saved. Sunsets and sunrises in Talos Island. So many things he would truly miss if he never made it out of here alive.

And Muffin...

A slow curse hissed through the lips of Vincent Cross as his cloak came off. His teammates would have to look away from him, with his ripped cloak thrown down on the floor now, Vincent was glowing violently. His body surged with power as he slid his feet out clenched his fists.

He had no idea what good could come of this, but he had to try something.

So Vincent looked to Lothevis.. Right into his eyes as the Behemoth charged forward, digits extended forward, reaching for him. Just as the demon got as close as it could get without touching Vincent.....

Boom.

Over and over again.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Everytime the creature would get up from the first blast, Vincent would find a way to expel another destructive blast of Celestial energy, throwing the beast back a few steps. His other teammates were safe from the energy that he released. His one and only target was Lothevis. The mad demon had to fall.

He didn't know how long he could keep this up, but he had to keep fighting.

Barometra placed her hands beneath her trying to get up to her feet. Her head was swimming from the impact and every muscle in her body felt drained beyond reason. She felt the invigorating force of Scorpia's medical device as it passed over and noticed the shimmering force field that Noelle had erected around her. It would take a few moments for her head to clear and she hoped that the bubble would keep her safe for that long.

The noises and lights in the room were overwhelming, but with her body drained of electrostatic energy she began to focus her thoughts outward.

Okay, maybe she couldn't hurt the thing....

Not even bothering to look she extended her senses out, feeling for Lothevis' bioelectric emanations. He may have been a magical creature, but he was still a creature...

The substance in Barometra's blood reached outward to the creature, drawing strength from it as she began to sap its energy to replenish her own. No she couldn't hurt it, but maybe she could slow it down...

Lothevis met Vincent's latest blast with one of his own, a rage of dark, unholy energy that met the opposing mage's celestial energy with a peal of thunder, the two forces almost gnawing at each other in their eternal opposition. Lothevis poured on the force, causing Vincent to do the same. With his foe's focus so drawn, the demon beast suddenly spun in place, his tail crashing into the airborne mage like a club, knocking him back.

With a stomp and a burst of evil power, Lothevis followed this up with a burst of oppressive energy that radiated outward from him and blanketed the room. The force of this nova threw all the heroes back and held them to the walls of the chamber, crackling and binding them in place. Even Vincent, with his reservoir of divine energy, could barely move as fast as maple syrup, struggling through the dark mire like a swamp.

Lothevis broke out in another peal of laughter.

"You all fight well . . . but it just isn't enough. None of you is strong enough to face this might."

The beast placed a massive claw to his ear.

"What's that? You want me to crush you now? Love to!"

Slowly but forcefully advancing again, Lothevis flexed his mighty claws and licked his massive jaws, preparing to let loose with the final barrage of pain and death that would seal his victory here.

And then he stopped, his eyes growing wide, as though he had seen something startling.

All of a sudden, Muffin appeared out of nowhere, right in front of the huge creature, looking startled and bewildered, which turned into shock and fear as she gazed up at what Lothevis had become.

He looked down at her and twitched slightly, his eyes becoming momentarily glazed and vacant, then overflowing with rage.

"What . . . what have you done? No! You'll ruin everything! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Raising a massive arm which exploded with jagged, wicked spines, Lothevis moved to crush the young hero where she stood, roaring in absolute fury.

". . . stop . . ."

The single word carried across all the noise, even that of the fiery portal. In its wake, a sea of silence pervaded the room, as all things went quiet. Lothevis froze, only a few feet away from crushing Muffin into the stone floor, his face now filled with fear for the first time.

The black, binding energy suddenly vanished, and in it's absence, a new shadow appeared, halfway across the room from where Lothevis stood. All eyes were drawn to this new arrival.

At first glance, it appeared to be the same astral projection that Lothevis had used before. The differences between this one and that one, however, were all too obvious. Whereas Lothevis' shadow-form had fire in its eyes, this one's eyes were filled with the heart of Hell, the purest, deepest, most intimidating fire any of them had ever seen, casting a reddish glow that rivaled the portal's light. Whereas Lothevis' shadow-form has been made of deep shadow, the center of this thing was like a pit straight into the darkest part of the Netherworld Abyss, drawing light into itself like a minor black hole. The magnetism and force of presence in this thing was palpable, even as it simply stood there and crossed its misty arms.

Lothevis drew back, plainly terrified of this thing, and uttering only a single word in a quavering voice.

"Darkthorne."

The shadow thing floated up into the air, moving toward the demon beast. Despite the fact that it was only 1/15th the size of Lothevis, the gigantic creature cringed away from it.

"Lothevis," it said in a flowing, forceful voice, "you were wise to keep that part of me separate. All the hatred he felt for you, all the strange, new emotions, the unique evolutions . . ."

Alighting on the floor once more, it turned toward the heroes, specifically Muffin.

"So many . . . new things have entered my perception."

Lothevis hissed in a craven manner.

"You're too late, Darkthorne! The bond will still take place, and there's nothing you can do!"

The Darkthorne shadow whirled on him again.

"Think not?! You can feel your grip loosening even now. Your heavy-handed control in that brain is no longer the only force there, and you know it. You have real competition, and your pitable attempt at squatter's rights will no longer work."

Lothevis growled and tried to attain a menacing combat pose again.

"You can't hurt me, demon. You're nothing but a bunch of mist out here."

Darkthorne laughed, an almost lyrically gleeful thing compared to Lothevis' harsh chortling.

"You're absolutely right, Lothy. But," he chuckled, turning back toward the heroes, "I can make sure these gathered warriors can stand against you on a much more balanced scale. Let's see how well you fight when I'm not there to back you up."

As Darkthorne spoke these words, the sharp spines that covered Lothevis immediately retracted, the dark glyphs upon his flesh faded away into powder, and his wounds were no longer healing hardly as fast. Lothevis watched this happen with terror and unease, then looked out at the heroes with a new sense of vulnerability.

"What do you say, champions?" Darkthorne asked them, gesturing toward the weakened beast. "Round two?"

Muffin smiled wickedly, the first to come forward. Her eyes seemed to reflect the fire in her heart, the fire in her fists. She sprinted forward, a blur against the darkness, and suddenly her fist was under his chin in a super-powered punch.

It was incredible - even more powerful than the attack that had helped break the dam in Darkthorne's mind.

Lothevis gasped as dark blood splattered across the walls, down his chest and chin. His head was screwed around in a very unnatural way, but he was recovering slowly, and looking bewildered at this small woman's strength.

She began pummeling him in the stomach with heated jabs, darting back from his attempts to hit her. She let out little grunts, roars, and snarls to match Lothevis', and then shouted,

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

This was the opening Gideon had been waiting for, hurtling across the room to join Muffin in the fight. His fists were glowing with energy as he launched himself into the melee, "I don't suppose *a soft grunt as he threw another punch* you can explain how to *another grunt as another punch landed upon Lothevis* disable that damnable *a two-fisted overhand blow rained down* device, imp?"

Lothevis tried his best to fight, now reduced to only his massive size and his claws for weapons. Try as he might, however, he could not seem to hit the smaller foes. It was as though his coordination was gone, and he no longer had any expertise in utilizing this body.

The shadowy Darkthorne floated over to where the machine sat, still oddly protected by the unholy shield. He ignored the combat going on, leaving the heroes to pummel Lothevis as they saw fit. He deserved no less.

"Just keep doing exactly what you're doing, Doctor," he replied to Gideon's question, "and I'll give you a way."

Picking herself up from the crumpled heap she'd fallen into on the floor after Lothevis' last attack, Noelle saw Muffin Kid's sudden appearance as well as Darkthorne's, and took the moment while Muffin and Gideon and Hunter threw new, invigorated attacks at Lothevis to gather another round of strength.

As Muffin pummeled the giant demon, and Hunter took aim with his gun, Noelle pulled all the ice, all the chill, all the cold from the air around her, and threw it at Lothevis with a violent toss of her arms. As the ice crystallized around him, holding him in place, unable to move, she whispered in a harsh voice, "Hey, hell dude. Freeze."

She knew it wouldn't hold him forever, but maybe it would be enough, for now, until she could do it again -- keep him held, or slowed, trembling with cold as the others pummeled him.

And hoped Darkthorne could find a way to close the portal...

The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

"Uhm... I vote for beating Lothevis up until he tells us what the doo-hickey does. Now I'd really like to hear someone come up with a plan for that though... ", Erin starting releasing the safety locks on some of her suits weapon systems, hoping that when the fight inevitably broke out it wouldn't result in the roof caving down on their heads.

Barometra remained silent as she watched the other heroes gathered. She had absolutely no idea what sort of things this creature Lothevis was capable of and that scared her. After all, he was obviously confident enough to believe he could draw them all here and still win. Whether that was a result of whatever knowledge he had of them or just villainous stupidity was left to be answered.

Instead of speaking she focused on the static in the air around her drawing in an electrical charge.

Vincent shot a glance to Kinetica and nodded, his light reflected off of her armor so that he could easily make out her form.

"I'm gonna have to agree with you Kinetica. Lu Lu here needs a VICIOUS tail kicking."

Vincent brought his eyes from the device that was visible to the group, back to Lothevis' tail.

"So I'm starting to think this is the part in the comic book where you explain your plans for world domination to the group of heroes before the heroes beat you senseless. So how about you hop to it?"

Vincent's hands were beginning to build energy into his fingertips, even his arm was glowing faintly through his cloak. If Lothevis came at him, he'd be prepared, and so would all of the heroes around him. They weren't going to lose. Not like this.

Not to him...

Lothevis began to laugh. A deep, malevolent, hollow laugh that echoed off the chamber walls.

"You still don't understand what you're facing. The power I now wield."

A pair of eyes appeared in the darkness, hovering high in the air. Burning, red eyes that shined with evil fire. They were huge.

"Perhaps that is what I should . . . enlighten you on."

In a near-blinding flash of light, the darkness vanished, and every torch in the room blazed to life, casting a light far brighter than any simple fire should. The heroes could finally see the chamber in its entirety.

It was obviously ancient, with markings and architecture similar to Oranbega. It looked to have once been some sort of prayer temple, or ritual chamber. In the light, it could now be seen that every surface, from floor to ceiling, was completely covered in runic glyphs that had been recently added, drawn in some kind of strange ink that had actually partially eaten away the stone in precise lines. To the south was a very large sigil, a protective ward. The more magically-inclined in the room could feel the power still in it, protecting this place from scrying and magical detection. The chamber was decidedly large. It had to be, to contain the creature that now stood within it.

That it was Lothevis, there was no doubt. The features that had once belonged to Darkthorne still existed within this thing, but it was a small imp warrior no longer. Some of the more experienced heroes gathered here may have heard of the fearsome Baphomet, the Behemoth Prime . . . this thing looked capable of giving Baphomet pause for concern. He was frighteningly tall, his massive horns nearly grazing the curved ceiling above him. He looked much like a Behemoth, but with more draconic features, and was easily larger and stronger than the old monster Baphomet, with massive, jagged spines protruding from his shoulders and key locations on his body. His grinning jaws, easily able to swallow any of the heroes present, seethed with steamy breath of black smoke. Instead of the usual hooved feet of the Behemoth, this creature had almost feline feet, complete with gargantuan claws. Behind him spread his massive wings, made purely of shadow and cold mist. Just like the room around him, this thing . . . Lothevis . . . was covered in glyphs. These ones actually seethed with a black aura that shifted and danced as he moved, spreading his large arms wide.

"This . . . this was the destiny of your small Darkthorne. He was a Demon Prince Ascendant, with the power in his royal heritage to rule surpreme over all demonkind, to be the . . . patron saint of the Circle of Thorns. I now have that power, and I have awakened the potential in his blood with my magic."

He gestured toward the machine.

"As for my unique device . . . rather than tell you, I would prefer to show you. After all . . ."

The device suddenly beeped, activating on some preset control timer.

". . . the sequence has begun."

The demon began to laugh again, but he was quickly drowned out by a keening howl that came from the machine. With a wave of force that could be felt throughout the room, a web of energy extended from the device, shattering the stone wall behind it and carving into the rock in a horizontal oval that nearly matched the diameter of the chamber. The purpose of the machine became immediately clear as a massive portal extended out beyond the chamber, a vast tunnel of fire that extended out to some distant, unseen location. The sound lessened some, allowing Lothevis to speak above it.

"This, heroes . . . is a highway to Hell. In a matter of minutes, an army of demons will overtake this timeless place, and in the year that my spell shall last, they will entrench themselves so deeply it will make the Rikti war look like a schoolyard softball game. If the machine is tampered with, it could detonate with the force of the Wheel of Destruction, destroying a vast swath of this world."

Lothevis suddenly entered a combat pose, his eyes flaring, his wings spreading, his claws flexing.

"You are the only obstacle, and you have to deal with me."

The fear, nervousness, and uncertainty in his allies was palpable to Hunter, but as Lothevis advanced, he knew that combat was inevitable. The outcome of this one was far less known, however.

Without even moving, his cybercytes extended outward from him to instantly build a floating sensor drone that linked with his internal scanners, immediately pinpointing a weak spot on Lothevis with laser accuracy. His cybernetically-enhanced firing arm stabilized, matching the demon’s movements. For every biological creature, there was at least one weak point that was all but universal. The eyes.

Hunter fired his most powerful blast, and Lothevis reeled from the hit, uttering a roar of pain and clutching his face. He then laughed again, revealing his pierced eye filling with blood . . .with then congealed and solidified into a new, perfect eye, which caught Hunter completely by surprise. Responding to the shot, Lothevis threw out his arm, and a volley of spines as big as tree-trunks raced toward their task of impaling Hunter on the spot. With a diving leap, Hunter blinked across the room before the spot he was standing on was perforated.

Instantly, the room exploded into action as his allies rushed to the fight, raining blasts of energy and force upon Lothevis, who only grinned, healed, and gleefully met them head-on, slashing with his claws, throwing spines, and hurling his massive fists as the jumping, dodging heroes.

Hunter leapt around the swirling combat, finding places to take aim and shoot, blasting Lothevis with plasmatic fire, pelting him with smoke grenades and bombs of adhesive web. The demon seemed almost not to notice, inhaling his smoke, tearing through his webs, and healing every burn and bullethole, taking notice only so often to fling spines at him or to attempt to stomp him into the stone. Only Hunter’s quantum relocation matrix saved him, as he continued to blink around the chamber and out of Lothevis’ reach. His energy systems would not be capable of maintaining this pace for long.

It did not look good.

Chaos erupted, and Noelle took to the sky, hovering above the carved floor, tossing ice at Lothevis ineffectually, hoping something would stick. But no -- nothing.

An ice slick laid before the giant melted almost instantly, and even her strongest holds had no effect. She brought forth Jack after Jack, who each ran to the winged monster and took swipes at him with their ice swords, only to be tossed back against the walls, shattering into icicles. She didn't dare get closer, didn't know if she had the strength to be useful. Didn't know how long she could keep this up.

Her force bolts bounced off him like snowflakes.

Noelle continued throwing every bit of ice at Lothevis that she could pull from the hot air around her. Barely able to keep up with the others in offensive maneuvers, she felt her energy draining away from her, and reached again and again for a new reserve, hoping she'd have enough to last through the fight. Hoping that she'd last the fight. That any of them would.

She raised another Jack, gritting her teeth with the effort, and was thrown back for an instant with the electrical force Barrie loosed at the demon. Needing the extra energy she was spending to keep herself aloft, Noelle dropped to the ground, and was on one knee when she saw Barometra fall.

With a curse, and a silent plea, she wrapped Barrie in a protective bubble as she saw Scorpia rush to her side, tending to her injuries.

Turning back towards Lothevis, Noelle tried again to chill. Even if she could hold him for a second, for a moment... it might be enough time. It had to be enough.

"Get 'em, Jack!"

The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

It'd been a few days since Erin and Noelle had last had a chance to hang out and gossip, so with a small lull in their caseloads they had decided to meet up and exchange really juicy tidbits about recent events. Sitting on the edge of a rooftop in Atlas Park, Noelle's living ice-sculpture Jack was roaming back and forth below stopping Hellion purse-snatchers while the two girls above chatted.

"So, anyways, Frankie had left her comm unit on while Ulric was proposing so all of us who were out beating up on baddies at the time got to hear her excited squeal as she excepted," gushed Kinetica, talking loudly about her friends recent proposal so she could be heard over the traffic noise and the swearing of the gang-punks below.

"No way! That's awesome." Noelle grinned. "So much better than having to hear about it all secondhand and stuff. Not that I'm complaining, of course. You know me -- I am all about the gossip!"

Laughing togethor softly, the city seemed to pause and fall silent around them. The traffic noises ended, the wind seemed to pause, the city fell to a sudden standstill. Signals across the comm network died suddenly, even the main comm server back at Doc McAllister's lab seemed to be non-responsive. Only a few faint signals still seemed to be echoing across the city network, and they were coming from the direction of Perez Park.

"Uhm... This is sooo not good. I think someone broke reality... Looks like a couple people are over in Perez Park, you picking up anyone on the Knights network?", Erin asked, more then a little disturbed at the sudden stoppage of time.

Noelle checked her comm. Silence. No outrageous comments from Kessa, computerized chirping from either the MalBot 3200 or the new DNBot 3200, or greetings from Streak. Nothing at all, from anyone. "It's like they're not there."

She got a queasy feeling in her stomach. "Kin, what's going on?"

"I think we should get over to Perez to see what is going. I know Parallax Hunter had tracked Darkthorne... er... Lothevis's activities to there. If this has something to do with him... Glad you are here with me Noelle, I wouldn't want to be heading in that direction on my own. I'll fill you in on the way as to what I know," Erin stepped lightly off the roofs edge, her suits flight system kicking in after the barest moment of freefall. Turning in the air to head towards Perez Park and whatever awaited them there.

Noelle followed, tracking Kin's signal easily enough in the silence around them, leapfrogging in the sky as she teleported closer and closer to the Park.

With Kinetica's rushed briefing on the recent exploits of Lothevis ringing in her ears, Noelle dashed past the statue-like guards at the entrance to Perez Park, and took to the sky again in the Hazard Zone. Twirling around for a moment, trying to get her bearings, she saw a flash of light erupt from Everett Lake and hover in the sky above. With a gesture, she slid through the sky on waves of light, and touched down on the shore of the still lake next to Hunter and Vincent.

Though the two men stood silently, it was a different kind of stillness than that which had affected everyone else in Paragon City. Noelle nodded to them both, polite greetings for heroes she'd met only a few times, though she'd heard much about both of them. "Heya. Nice to see a friendly face -- it was getting a bit too quiet around here for my taste. What's the scoop?"

Vincent had just finished speaking with Muffin on his communicator, and when he turned back to face Hunter, he was confronted with other heroes that had seemingly joined the group. He was shocked to see Noelle standing there and shocked also to see Kinetica joining them, he hadn't realized that Lothevis had included these many people. The thought that even more people would be put in danger made his blood boil. On the other hand however, having the heroes around would give them a great advantage in the final hour.

"Noelle.. Erin.. A battle is about to be joined. I'm sure the both of you are more then ready to face whatever it is that we're about to confront, though I'm not quite sure what Lothevis has in store for us. We'll have to meet him head on."

As the mage finished his sentence, he stretched his arms out and chanted in a dull monotone for just a moment. He called forth the Divine magics lying within' him and brought them to the forefront where they were used to surround him in a magical aura that hardened his skin to the density of steel, it was this same aura that heightened all of his abilities drastically. When he looked back at the group, his eyes were glowing a fiery purple, tendrils of divine energy leaping from his pupils, snaking out into the sky.

Dr. Gideon McAllister was working out some frustrations on a gang of trolls.

The chest plate of his armor had been repaired, that had taken hours of work to get the armor layers off and the internal circuitry re-wired. He'd expected Lothevis to make good use of the abilities of Darkthorne's body, but not like that.

The nightmares weren't helping matters either. Madeline's screams, echoing in his ears all night.

Skyway was improving his mood slowly. He didn't even have to go looking for criminals to arrest. He just had to land atop one of the elevated roadways and they came after him.

For a few moments, he could just loose himself in the fight, put his frustrations and grief on hold for a moment. Until the trolls stopped fighting back.

They stood still, the traffic had stopped, the newspaper blowing down the street just hung in the air.

"Lothevis", Gideon softly spoke.

The boosters in his boots kicked up dust around him as he flew slowly up, the dust freezing in time as he moved away from the roadway and headed towards Perez Park. The powersuits on-board sensor suite showing others moving about there, free in time like himself.

The guards at the gatepost, there to gangs in Perez from coming into contact with those in Skyway stood frozen in the moment, one of them paused midway through a yawn.

Perez itself looked as wild and untamed as it had since the Rikti's arrival. With all the necessity for rebuilding the infrastructure around the city no one had noticed all of the criminals moving in and calling the park and the neighborhoods around it their own until they had settled too well in to roust them easily back out.

The flare hanging in the sky above Everett Lake was new though.

Landing upon the shore of the lake, by the gathered heroes. Turning to try to follow Hunter's gaze out over the waters as he spoke to the group, "If it was any circumstances other then this, I'd be glad to see you all. As it is... What's the situation Hunter?"

Hunter hadn't looked up as the heroes started arriving. Hadn't said a word. He continued to gaze at the water, as if mentally preparing himself for the conflict that was now inevitable. He finally spoke to Patriot One's question.

"The situation is that Lothevis is there."

He pointed to the center of Everett Lake.

"There is a hole in the lakebed. As far as I can tell, it goes down more than half an Earthly kilometer. I detect an immense power signature."

Rising from his crouched position, Hunter hefted his rifle again.

"We should wait a short while longer, in case there is anyone else. It won't matter to Lothevis. He's got all the time in the world to wait for us."

15 minutes. More than long enough for anyone who lived and moved within this time-lost world to see Hunter's flare.

Barometra had eventually shown up, and the gathered heroes had sat in a silence that rivaled the world around them. A pall of impending doom held sway over the lake, and there seemed to almost be a soft pulse from the ground beneath them that could only be felt because everything else was so still.

As the heroes faced each other, a current of unspoken agreement passed among them. It was time to face whatever gambit Lothevis had planned for them. If they were to die, then they would die as they lived, and as they fought.

Hunter stepped to the edge of the lake, and the heroes made ready behind him. Activating his cloaking device--a doubtful safeguard, but still a comforting one--he pinpointed a location directly above the vertical tunnel, and activated his relocation matrix to place himself there. Holding his rifle to him and going stalk-straight, he entered a free-fall, driving straight into and through the stilled water, pushing it outward from him in his passage, and opening the way for his allies to fly, leap, and fall right in behind him.

It fall was seemingly endless. Hunter ignored his sensors, not wanting to know for sure how deep they were going. At last, the water parted, and he was met with the open air of a darkened room. He stopped his fall directly above the floor with his hover unit, touching down gently and immediately bringing his rifle up in a combat stance. One-by-one, the other heroes joined him, each ablaze with their own powers and combat readiness.

The room was lit only by a series of strange crystals around its perimeter, and then only dimly. Not even Hunter's sensory spectrum filters could penetrate it. It was dark for a reason, magically made so, and not even the light given off by his companions illuminated more than a small area around them. The spacing of the crystals seemed to point to the cavernous room being at least 100 Earthly meters in diameter, and the invading heroes were at its center.

The soft clatter and buzz of the heroes' movements and active powers echoed off the stone surfaces, but they did not mask the sound that already existed in this place. Hunter's enhanced hearing picked it up easily as nothing his allies could make.

Breathing. Very deep breathing.

After a moment of comparative silence, a voice slithered out of the shadows.

"Hello, guests . . ."

The voice was familiar. Once that of Lothevis, which was once that of Darkthorne . . . it was different now. Far deeper, with a bass and baritone that reverberated and echoed in the large room, making it impossible to pinpoint.

All of a sudden, the darkness was that much more opressive, as there was now no doubt that there was something else in this room. It was Lothevis, to be sure, but he had become something no one had yet seen. It was almost as though he was all around them, and every hero there felt eyes upon them, a vast malevolence grinning in the dark as it mentally tasted their flesh and nervous energy.

". . . welcome to my parlor."

Noelle swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. This... thing... this Lothevis... was bigger and just all around more than anything she'd dealt with before. She felt thrown in at the deep end, surrounded by heroes who knew the score, while she struggled madly to keep up.

At least I haven't lost my ability to mix metaphors, she thought, with a forced grin.

She backed up towards Kinetica and the others, using the light Vincent put off to see deeper into the gloom... to see the assembled Wheel of Destruction. The wheel she personally had helped locate in pieces throughout the city, handed over for safekeeping to the powers that be at MAGI. The powers that... weren't, apparently.

But it was more than that. Machinery and gears, circuit boards and switches that she hadn't a clue about. High tech stuff, likely to be real powerful. What with the Portal Corp connection... nothing good ever seemed to come out of that place.

No, she corrected herself, Streak came outta there. So maybe there's a way to use it for our means? To rejig it, somehow?

The oppresive darkness bore down on the samll group of heroes, heat seeming to boil up from the ground around them. This deep down in the earth, Noelle figured out why she hated caves so much. It wasn't the claustrophobia... it was the heat, the ever-growing proximity to the Earth's core. She wasn't meant to be here. Didn't know how she got mixed up in it all anyway, but since she was here...

Drawing on the air around them, pulling it towards her, manipulating it, Noelle called forth her Jacks, then surrounded her compatriots in a shiver of arctic air.

As the wintry breezes swirled around them, momentarily -- hopefully -- masking them from the big bad she'd seen briefly across the room, she looked to Hunter who'd led them down here.

"What now?"

Hunter said nothing, his gaze and his weapon trained on the strange device at the far edge of the room. High-power, high-frequency . . . and most worrying of all . . . the quantum flux was roiling around it like a storm.

In a single instant, he could fire a projectilve that would destroy the electronics, or perhaps even shatter the stone . . . but what would happen if he did? This thing Lothevis had created could be for any purpose. It could be some kind of bomb. Even manipulating the controls without knowing what you are doing could result in destruction for everyone in the city.

It was still Lothevis' game. What was assured, though, was that this wasn't his last move to play.

A shiver travelled the length of Scorpia's spine as she tried to follow the sound of the ominous voice in the magical darkness. It was obvious that there was a game at foot - the taunting nature of his tone was unmistakeable. This was about enjoying their reactions. When she spied the tail, she tried to locate its source, frustrated that she couldn't see further into the inky blackness.

The revelation of the huge technologically enhanced stone wheel gave her the deep, abiding sense that she was out of her depth. Though she had suspicions about it, she really had no idea what it was for, but was pretty sure they didn't want to find out. Whatever was going to happen, though, was going to happen soon.

It's that thought that prompts her to return to creating and maintaining her force fields around the other heroes and herself. He - whoever this was, because she still wasn't quite sure - obviously wanted reactions, and she refused to play by anyone's rules but her own.

The silence, the dread, the oppressive heat continued to build. Noelle looked around at each hero as Scorpia threw up her force fields, and added her own bubbles to the mix, hoping it'd be enough to protect them all. Kinetica made some adjustments on her powersuit while Patriot One checked readings on his, Vincent gathered more energy from around them, his glow intensifying, while Hunter stood stock still, staring across the room, Barometra next to him.

With her last question still hanging in the air unanswered, and a faint slithery shuffle coming to her ears from across the cavern, Noelle spoke again, "Someone please tell me they've got a plan."