"The electrabeam. Frank! Do we have the power?" ElectraWoman whispered.
Ali chuckle as he raised his rifle. "Gene, at least I know that I'll have the satisfaction of avenging your death!"
"We may not have the power!" Hefflin said as DynaGirl fired her beam. She caught Ron's eyes as the glow of the electracomp and the beam basked both faces in a green glow. His eyes were terrified, glimpsing his mortality.
Her blond partner pressed some buttons without a response. "Frank, we need the electrasheild," ElectraWoman hissed.
"We don't have the power with ElectraBeam on..........." The Castle erupted in a deafening report as Ali unloaded his rifle into the hapless royal minister. He immediately screamed in agony as he let go of the gargoyle. DynaGirl watched the beam be pulled down over the edge.
"No!!!!!" she screamed as part of the beam was cut off by the slate. "Frank! Help!" Ron disappeared from view, as he free fell, agonized with his body riddled in bullets.
Ali chuckled. "One down, two to go. Charged up Princess?"
"Ron! No!" DynaGirl was screaming as ElectraWoman looked in disbelief. Then she saw a flash of light come from the other side of the castle.
"DynaGirl, duck!" She pulled her hysterical partner down on the crest, as the area erupted in a hailstorm of fire. But the blond had held on to both the roof and DynaGirl. "Come on, DynaGirl, to the north tower!"
"No!" the protege cried as her partner pulled her.
Ali raised his rifle. "It's a turkey shoot!"
"Frank, give us the electrasheild!" Instantly they were covered in glowing lights as Ali let loose his next rounds. They reached the tower. "DynaGirl, look for a flash. That gives us two seconds before the Princess fires again." The mentor found a door, and maneuvered the lock. She hit her electrabeam, as it smashed in.
"There it is!" DynaGirl screamed.
"Full shield power Frank!" Whammmm!, the two heroines were smashed into the wall, as the blond grabbed the door jam with one hand, and her partner with the other. She pulled her in.
"Damn!" shouted Ali. "We may pay for this one. But the time has come for the business." He looked back at the King. A guard stood by him.
"When 8AM comes, or you receive my signal, insert this syringe into his IV. His death is our last business here."
Inside the tower, DynaGirl bent over sobbing hysterically. The girl held her hands to her face, as tears filled her gloves.
"I saw his eyes as he was shot! I couldn't hold him up!" ElectraWoman held her, trying to console her minor's pain. Then, the blond had a stunning flashback to when Judy was her intern. Lori remembered the girl crying hysterically at a motorcycle fatality. Detached from the moment, the blond saw the naive girl at the start of her maturity, and now, again in trauma, but on the verge of womanhood.
Finally, DynaGirl pulled back. Her ponytails had fallen out. Her face was covered with tears.
"DynaGirl, are you alright?"
"Yes," she said, looking down at the ground.
"DynaGirl, I'm so sorry," came a voice from the electracomp.
"Frank, we'll be even more sorry if we don't figure out what to do next."
"Information comming from the Agency confirms the Ali is a relative of the Saudi royal family. You can fill in the rest." ElectraWoman squinted, as DynaGirl rested her wet face on her gloves.
"Did they believe this is over nuclear material?"
"The chatter was originally believed to refer to creating a bomb to 'redecorate' Manhattan."
The heroines looked at each other. "That doesn't leave us much of a choice, Frank," ElectraWoman said, shutting her eyes.
"Portascope has found the way to the Castle Watch barracks, and from there there should be a passageway to the mines."
The blond leaned back against the cold stone wall, as some tears made their way down her cheeks. "How can we save Alex?" She fingered the pendant that Ron had given her.
But DynaGirl was staring ahead, seemingly in a daze. For the first time in her life, she began to know what hate was.
The superbarbie looked at her partner. She paused before they descended to the stairway. "Remember, Ron gave his life for us. He believes we are the only ones who can save the King."
On the stairwell on the fifth floor, Ali met with all available Arabian Guards. "Where are the rest?" He snapped, alarmed at only 8 guards being on hand.
"We sent 10 into the West Tower."
"And they haven't returned?"
"No sir." He glared with his eyes.
"We must go at once to the rendezvous. Follow me." Minister Berger had showed him the elevator to the subterranean levels.
"Frank, what's on the other side of this door?" ElectraWoman spoke into her wrist device.
"Castle records show it is the barracks. But portascope is feeding back a bio alert. Use your ElectraRespirators." She reached down to her boot. "And ladies, be prepared. This may be an ugly sight." They gulped, and then pressed the screens of her electracomps.
"DynaGirl," ElectraWoman spoke through her respirator, "I don't think this night will get any easier."
The super blond opened the locked door with the electrabeam, and entered a pitch black room. ElectraVision kicked in on a low level. The air was smoky, as the blond vixen could make out bodies on the floor. They slowly walked, carefully looking in each direction, seeing body after fallen body.
"Frank, what happened?"
"The barracks of the Castle Watch were gassed. ElectraScan counts 186 bodies fallen in this building."
DynaGirl gasped. "I don't believe this!" Both their eyes were stinging from the residue of the gas. Some bodies were face down. But other were up, with hands clenching their throats, or some with their eyes open.
"Frank, there is suppose to be a tunnel from the barracks to the plutonium port."
"Portoscope is searching through the Castle's security records. I will lead you as best I can. On your left are two doors. Try the one to the right." ElectraWoman looked down at a Watchman, in his underwear, blocking the door. She kneeled, dragged him out of the way, and went through the door. DynaGirl followed behind.
"You can remove your respirators." They inserted them back in their boots.
"That was ElectraGhastly," DynaGirl sighed.
"It shows us the powers we are against." ElectraWoman looked at her charge, but she seemed alright.
"Now ladies, look for stone stairs leading down." They found them. "You will probably loose crimescope during your descent. I may be able to broadcast you a signal through the port's wiring. Until then, good luck!"
"Thanks Frank." They both said.
The blond pressed a few buttons, lowering ElectraVision, as they began their descent. The air was cool yet stale. The walkway was carved out of stone, perhaps an ancient escape route. Two minutes into the descent, they hit a flat area. It led around a corner. ElectraWoman's sixth sense suddenly went wild. She paused in the dim light, looked back at DynaGirl, only to feel herself shoved against the stone wall. Staring at her were two wide, furious eyes, as she felt a cold blade against her throat.
"Wohan die ihr rute?" The voice commanded.
"What?" DynaGirl snarled back. A gun was pressed into her face.
"Wohan die ihr rute? LOYALTY!?"
"We are loyal to King Alex of the Buchanans," ElectraWoman answered slow and steadily. The arm pulled back. And then he saw it. The medallion that Ron had given her.
The hysterical eyes flashed disbelief, as the voice muttered "Nova Regina Terra? Nova Regina Terra!"
Other voices repeated this in an obsessive manner. The bodies stepped back as DynaGirl looked at ElectraWoman with that incredible sneer. "Would you tell me what is going on?"
"I don't know DynaGirl, and I don't want to guess."
Suddenly, a tall and older man stepped forward. "We are the remains of the Castle Watch. I am Captain Brady, the highest rank of survivors."
"I am ElectraWoman, and this is DynaGirl. We are both of the United States, but are personal guardians of the King, and right now, we are at Tourenbourg's disposal. As you can guess, there has been a coup tonight, and the King is in great danger."
The electravision revealed around 20 soldiers. They were actually kneeling. Then the heroines heard the unbelievable. "Ave Nova Regina Terra. Ave Nova Regina Terra. Ave Nova Regina." ElectraWoman turned around, with a contorted face of disbelief. DynaGirl was about to giggle.
"Wait Wait Wait," she held her gloved hands up. "I know Latin, and I think you're nuts!"
"The prophecies are being fulfilled," one soldier muttered in the back, in English.
"Where are you going?" The Captain asked on his knee.
"We believe that this attempt on your government is all about stealing plutonium, and selling them to rouge governments. We need to go to the ports."
"There are supplies ready for shipment Monday," volunteered the Captain.
"Is this all you have?" The blond inquired.
"The barracks were caught off guard. They were wiped out. We don't know of the soldiers in the Castle."
"One is trying to save the King right now," said DynaGirl. "Unfortunately, Minister Elander has been killed."
The soldiers let out groans and cries. "You bring us sad news. He was one of us not five years ago. What can we do, Queen Electra?" said the Captain.
"We need to find them and stop them!" answered DynaGirl.
"An international thug by the name of Ali Baba has connected with a rouge terrorist group. They may have large numbers," the heroine said .
"Not large enough," responded a cool voice from a nearby watchman. "We are superbly trained. And we fight to the death. As long as the gas doesn't reappear."
"Yes, but despite your training, we must minimize our loses. We want us to live and them to die," the blond cautioned. She proceeded to grab a sword from Brady, and raise it. "Men of Tourenbourg, we need your bodies and your brains. If you use your skills and intelligence, I promise you that you will live to tell Tourenbourg of the day you saved your kingdom. If you pursue the oncoming battle with just emotion, your kingdom will perish." She turned with the sword, leading them down the stairs.
Into the depths of the earth they ventured, down hundreds of feet. The stairwell became narrower with tighter turns. The superheroines couldn't see the Captain ahead from the curving of the passage. For minutes they proceeded. There was room for only one at a time, as the spandex of the arms brushed on the cold, wet stone. Then, gradually, there was a little more space. The air became less stale. And then ElectraWoman saw a light flash on her electracomp. She had a signal.
"Stop!" she hissed, as the soldiers were slow to respond. She struggled past the watchmen ahead to reach the captain, as a solemn DynaGirl followed. "Captain Brady, we are near the port."
"Yes we are."
"I have communication with an outside source that can help us." She typed into her wrist device, as the Captain looked on. They were still for several minutes.
The elevator opened as the villainous party entered a large stone cavern. There were clumsy artificial lights on stands around the edges. In the center of this were a pile of 10 large metal containers. Beyond, the floor sloped down towards water, some 100 feet away, where a small submarine was positioned. On the side of the walls were numerous tunnels. Beside the illegal cargo were 50 troops, all in the arabian guard outfits. Each was outfitted with semiautomatic weapons.
"Be prepared for company," Ali said to the troops. Thirty formed a circle around the booty, as the rest began to move the contraband into the underwater vehicle. They worked without talking. Ali supervised them, as the princess scanned the tunnels for the heroines.
"OK, Captain, here is the deal. There are many bodies in the chamber we are about to invade. Let's assume they are well armed. If we continue, your men will be easy targets." The blond kneeled, as her electravision grew. The captain kneeled beside her.
"Any ideas?"
The super barbie drew in the dirt of the floor as DynaGirl tried to follow the conversation. Their conversation was soft, and intense. Finally, after 5 minutes, they stood.
"Men, we are about to enter into a battle none of us ever expected to have on our soil. We are going against a force that outnumbers us five to one. But we have only the option to succeed."
ElectraWoman grounded herself with her knees spread and her arms akimbo. "Watchmen, you will do Tourenbourg no favor by sacrificing your life to kill one, two, or three of the enemy. We have a saying in America, 'Let the other poor bastard die for his country.'"
"George C. Scott, right?" asked DynaGirl. ElectraWoman coughed lightly, then continued.
"As your Regina Terra, I order you to carefully guard yourself and each other, before you obliterate the enemy." She was beat red, but she had to use the powerful expression for the soldiers to use their brains besides their emotions.
The Arabian Guard slowly moved the metal containers. With the majority of the soldiers guarding the contraband, it took longer to load. Ali was nervous, as the first two containers took ten minutes to carry onto the submarine. The men were returning, ready to carry the next two.
"Ali!" hissed the Princess. The mistress turned, facing an entrance by a section of flood lights.
"Ready Guard!" Ali commanded. ElectraWoman and DynaGirl jumped out, into their confrontational poises of arms akimbo.
"Ali, you fiend!" Yelled ElectraWoman as DynaGirl's electrasheild went on. The men opened up on them, as hundreds of rounds of ammunition bounced off the shield, with ricochetting bullets taking lights out. Then ElectraWoman saw the flash from the Princess' eyes, as the blond vixen hit her shield as well. Blahhhmmm! The force of the explosion pushed the heroines back into the tunnel, as more lights were damaged. But as the beam was fired, more guns opened up. From the darkened tunnels entering all around the chamber, guns fired, not at the Arabian Guard but at the lighting system. Ali was in pitch black before he realized what was happening. The only light he could see was from the electrashield, as the heroines were still in the mouth of the tunnel, on the ground. He suddenly grabbed the Princess, as several flares were tossed into the center of the chamber. The Arabian Guard look around for second, trying to make sense out of this situation, as Ali pulled the Princess out of the center of the room.
"Go!" He signaled the submarine as the crew closed the doors. He ran into a tunnel by the water with the Princess.
The ear shattering sound of semiautomatic weapons as the Watchmen opened up on the hapless Guardsmen. The Arabians fired in every direction, especially at ElectraWoman and DynaGirl. But the shield held, as the invaders became easy targets for the men of the Castle Watch. It took only fifteen seconds for the bullets to stop hitting the electrashield at a furious pace. Ten seconds more, just a few. Then, none.
"Keep your shield on full power, DynaGirl," commanded ElectraWoman as they stood up, and walked into the chamber. Five flares were burning around a pile of bodies. The first of the Watchmen approached, still firing into bodies. In a few seconds, the 18 men had made their way in, as they double checked each body with bullets and a slice of the sword. DynaGirl was repulsed. But the cool ElectraWoman took no notice, as she looked for Ali Baba. No sign. Then, the submarine. Again, that had disappeared.
ElectraWoman pressed her electracomp for the electratrack. She saw a set of two foot steps heading into a tunnel by the water.
"Frank, do we have the power for an electrasplit?" The blond heroine asked into her wrist.
"Barely. If you go to one shield, you should be alright." ElectraWoman turned hers off, as more gunfire went off nearby, and a mortifying grunt followed. DynaGirl was nauseated.
"Captain, where does that tunnel lead?" The voltage vixen asked, pointing with her fingers.
"Great strategy, Queen Electra. That is an abandoned shaft, leading two hundred feet. There is a pit in the middle of an opening at it's end."
"DynaGirl and I are going in after Ali and the Princess."
"No, we must finish them off."
"If you didn't notice, the Princess packs some explosive hardware."
"We must protect you."
"The prophecy you keep talking about? The Queen is suppose to avenge the bane of the kingdom." He paused to think, as she continued. "Look, we've dealt with Ali and the Princess before. Give us three minutes."
"OK. We will wait for you." Five Watchmen broke away to follow them to the entrance. ElectraWoman grabbed two shields from soldiers nearby.
"We'll try to use these instead of the ElectraShield. We will only get one chance." The junior nodded solemnly, but only she knew that the outcome would be different.
They crept on trotter tiptoes into the entrance of the cave. "Don't look anywhere near the Princess. Stay behind me!" The blond led her guard in, as both held up a shield. They saw light coming from around a bend. Both knew that Ali now had the upper hand, as they crept along the side of the tunnel. As they made their way round the corner, ElectraWoman could see the back wall of the opening, and a gaping hole in the floor. Their boots made a very soft scraping sound, as she realized that neither villain was in sight.
"DynaGirl, you fire the electrasplit!" she whispered as she held up her shield. They were at the mouth of the entrance, as she whispered, "1, 2, 3" They pounced in!
There were Ali and the Princess, standing, and smiling calmly. ElectraWoman looked shocked, as her charge hid behind her cape.
"You look so surprised, Voltage Vixen. Did you expect us to fire upon you, risking a cave-in? The Princess packs a mighty punch." ElectraWoman's lips moved apart, as she looked confused. "I know that our only chance of escape is with one of your electracomps. And I bet you don't have the power to do what you want!"
"Now DynaGirl!" she whispered, but the junior had already stepped out from behind her. ElectraWoman heard the electracomp pressed, and looked at the Princess. But all she saw was a grin of delight! And then she felt something on her wrist. She looked at her wrist to discover that she now had two electracomps!