While MYTHOS and the fighting-mad BATTLESTARS attack one end of the subterranean ABYSS base, the Drifters use the diversion to dig into another part of the base! The tank-like mercenary �Earthmover� quickly burrows into the complex � then waits while the Drifters do their search.
Things go smoothly until the Drifters enter a chamber, and are instantly dropped to the floor by intense gravity! Oddly, even Crater is flattened, as his gravity-fed strength is doubly affected by gravity distortions! While two mages cast incantations in an adjoining hallway, two exoskeletoned soldiers casually enter the chamber and taunt our helpless heroes! One of the soldiers � former FBI agent Joe Scully � torments Crater with a piece of meteor rock/�Force Crystal��explaining that ABYSS knows all the Drifters� weaknesses. Our other-dimensional �phenoms� were examined and tested in Canada, even before they went into the suspended animation coffins! Under the crushing force, Jamaleh forgets to use her mind control or telekinesis. The power in Ramjet�s armor is �magically� negated. Stretch slowly oozes along the ground. Things look hopeless�
�Until an ABYSS agent applies a baseball bat to one of the mages� heads! It�s �Michael Rafon�e� � the renegade who helped the team a week ago�though he now looks 30 years older! The gravity field instantly drops, Stretch clocks the second mage from across the room, and both mages turn into shriveled husks! Crater wastes no time in pounding Joe Scully, prompting the two exoskeletoned soldiers to run away! The two split up, going down separate, dark hallways�but Scully suddenly flies back, unconscious, with a foot print on his face! Who was our mysterious benefactor this time? Crater wraps Scully in metal debris, and carries him along.
Continuing on, the hallway ends at a high tech power-generating chamber. Crater�s �seismic sense� reveals a hidden, spiral passage�which leads to a tech-and-rune-covered chamber beneath the first one! It�s a circular room, dominated by a big pentagram on the floor...and a stone sarcophagus at each of the five points. Hallways of jail cells radiate out from the room�and almost immediately our team releases �Full Throttle�, �El Toro Guerrero� and the miniature pilot of the �Ramscoop� armor (all members of the team �Smackdown�). UN agent Robyn Quinn, famed Protector �Mongrel�, and a crowd of other normal and abnormal-looking prisoners are also freed. All look worn and barely conscious.
One of the freed is the engineer Alan Johnson � who immediately rushes to a key panel in the pentagram room, removes a silver band from within, puts the shrinking band on his arm, and storms out! Jam runs after him, and practically drags him back. He apparently has information about this room! (Incidentally, the �bundle of rods� that the band was surrounding collapses into a pile�and painfully reforms into the being known as �Grid�!)
Behind a second panel, Robyn Quinn sinks her hand into a floating sphere of metallic goo�and it shapeshifts around her, into her trademark GAAF energy-armor!
In the stone sarcophagi, our heroes find �Black Fox�, three apparent normals�and Arctica White! But Arctica is visibly scarred and missing body parts�including a leg! Can she recover?? There�s no time for in-depth interrogations, but the aged, embittered �Agent Rafon�e� explains that this enclave was desperately researching healing and regeneration, and most of the abused captives are indeed (drained) regenerators! (�and having them all collected here would explain their scarcity weeks earlier � when Jack Shen needed healing!)
With Arctica nearing death, she needs cold to trigger her regeneration�so Robyn (a.k.a. �Hardbody�) determinedly takes Arctica and Alan Johnson down a dark hall. A flash of cold follows�then the famed silver dragon �Icewing� flies past like a rocket! In the ice-covered hall, Arctica�s condition is now stabilized.
As quickly as possible, the Drifters herd the dazed and weary prisoners back toward their point of entry � only to be stopped in a large corridor by eight cannon-toting, 10ft-tall mech suits; several ABYSS mages; and an uncountable horde of armed ABYSS grunts! The just-released phenoms are in no condition to fight, so it�s up to the Drifters! Crater risks using his trademark �Crater-Maker!� The mages and grunts go flying, while the mech suits�don�t move an inch! They, in turn, blast Crater off his feet! Ramjet rockets towards the mech suits, only to get shot down! The corridor starts to crumble as the mech suits fire at the main group�but thankfully, Jack Shen�s mental distortion field now makes the ABYSS mechs miserable shots!
Jam telekinetically retrieves Crater, and Hardbody collapses the ceiling with an energy missile! The way out is now blocked � but Robyn�s energy-armor shapeshifts into a tunneling vehicle, and burrows a new route to the surface! Jessica (the Owl-Girl) flies Arctica out, and away to a hospital.
At ground level we find a HUGE battle still taking place! Though down a few members, the Battlestars and Mythos fight-on against an army of ABYSS troops and sorcerers! Icewing � and his electricity-spewing mate �T�Lea� � chew through more ABYSS mech suits. The mysterious Doctor Arcane remains at the sidelines, negating unseen magics through his force of will. Not surprisingly, Earthmover seems to have taken his money and left. Though overpowered, the ABYSS still have technology and sheer numbers on their side! The High Morbane �Marcus� � now miraculously 30+ years younger than the week before � indignantly rallies his forces while casting spells!
�and finally, for some reason, the super-terrorists of EUROSTAR are also peppered among the combatants �though it�s not immediately apparent which side they�re on!
Then Inferno Magi appears � angrily teleporting into the battlefield in a tower of flame! Wielding two mystic artifacts merged-into-one (the �Staff of Set� and �Eye of Ra�), Magi blinds everyone with a brilliant flash of energy�and when the Drifters clear their eyes, the ABYSS and EUROSTAR members are knocked unconscious!! Yet the Inferno Magi is still not satisfied. Demanding revenge for �having his mind invaded�, Magi blasts Doctor Arcane � and Arcane is hard-pressed to defend himself! Then the Doctor parts his cloak, and the Egyptian goddess of law and justice emerges! MAYET is no longer a statue�but still not happy!
Outraged at Inferno Magi�s �blasphemous� talisman of power, MAYET consumes the Magi in a giant vortex of fire�soon smothering even the Magi�s flame! Continuing � and drunk with power � MAYET flies around the battlefield�systematically burning to death the unconscious ABYSS agents!! Even the Battlestars are stunned and amazed�though our Jedi Knight, Jamaleh, is strangely mesmerized by it all�and Marcus takes the opportunity to teleport away!
The golden dragon T�Lea leeches power from Boston�s electrical grid and unleashes it at MAYET � to little effect! MAYET immediately blasts T�Lea several blocks backwards�and burns the wings off of Icewing as he attempts a rescue!
STRETCH: �We-we can�t allow this� Somebody should do something!�
CRATER: �Go get �er, Stretch!�
Suddenly a booming voice commands MAYET to stop�and she does. The goddess ATHENA has arrived � her glowing spear crackling with energy! The two �Elders� have met, in ages past, so their exchange starts diplomatically�but soon degrades into angry threats and posturing. A few opening energy blasts are exchanged and shrugged off. Then MAYET manifests her full power�glowing with fire, and growing 60ft tall! Athena likewise bursts with blue energy � and also grows 60ft tall! It�s a catfight for the ages�and the curious Street Rangers �Orb� and �Shear� conveniently arrive in time to watch!
In Stretch�s muddled mind he remembers Mayet�s background. The jealous god SET had supposedly tied Mayet�s power to the �Amulet of Infinite Wrath�, so that her own power destroyed her judgment and inhibitions�turning her into an insane goddess of death and destruction! Desperate sorcerers eventually turned her to stone and hid the amulet. When Mayet apparently awoke without the amulet (in the 1920�s, 30� and 40�s) she was less powerful, but completely sane. But now�?
Stretch alerts his teammates. �She�s got the amulet! We have to get it off her!!� To verify his theory, Stretch stretches under the distracted goddess� giant half-shirt and decorative collar piece. It�s there, but has no clasp! Ramjet tries to knock MAYET down with his patented move-through � but amazingly misses the 60ft target! �Shear� actually helps out, by turning MAYET�s collar piece invisible (so all can see the offending amulet). Stretch helps up Jam, and anchors his teammate around MAYET�s neck while Jam hacks off the amulet! The jewelry falls off, and is immediately encircled by one of Orb�s force spheres! Mayet rapidly loses power and size, and is overcome by Athena!
Athena�s legendary teammates, the PROTECTORS, finally catch up with her�too late to do anything more than sign autographs.
THE WORLD IS SAVED AGAIN�I guess�but questions remain.
- Can our heroes cure Michael Rafon�e before he dies of old age (in a week or so)?
- What will our heroes do with the indestructible �Amulet of Infinite Wrath�?
- How did �Earth�s Sorcerer Supreme� get corrupted by the amulet�s mind distortions?
Will Doctor Arcane apologize?
- What will the Battlestars do, now that they�re (apparently) clear of the amulet�s influence?
- Are the crazed vigilante heroes of other cities still being affected?
- Where will Mayet go now? Can she be trusted?
- Can Inferno Magi keep his new staff and �eye�?
- Just what was the Chicago ABYSS enclave up to? �and why didn�t they arm all their agents with those
devastating double armor-piercing weapons?
- Why was EUROSTAR at the big ABYSS base invasion? Are they connected to ABYSS??
ARCTICA: Will she be able to regenerate her lost leg?? Or get a bionic replacement?
CRATER: What will he do with the captive Joe Scully? Release him (for a price)? Turn him over to the
FBI?
JAMALEH: What strange dreams and impulses are distracting our Jedi Knight?
RAMJET: Will Harmon International continue its suit against Ramjet (and other armored phenoms)?
Apparently Defender is not the corporate CEO, James Harmon IV. What is his connection? �and why
is Ramjet�s armor experiencing power fluctuations?
STRETCH: Will his two personalities merge? Or will his mind become even more unstable?
- If EUROSTAR is now captured, will the courts be lenient with Steeplejack? When will she get her trial?
Can she cut a deal?
- Why is the world-class villain Dr. Destroyer interested in a cave of �Force Crystals�?
- Will WYRM have more missions for the Drifters? �and just why did they want the three
extradimensional Tunguska creatures? Mr. Black and Magog both wanted them to open dimensional
portals!
- �The DEMONS� street gang is still around. Can �Runt� organize them into a major force (�snicker�)?
- Who were the black-clad commandos who destroyed the Canadian ABYSS base?
- Are there any more groups of vampires and werewolves in the local area?
- Will Stalker and the Asesinos come back for revenge (and their money)?
- Is Canadian Family Services still looking for the 16-year-old runaway, Jessica?
- And just what did happen to Fractal?
JUST FOR THE RECORD�
This big showdown featured at least 50 paranormal �players��with maybe 35 in combat (the others were weak and wounded from the ABYSS experiments, and the Protectors arrived late)! Here�s the roll call�
DRIFTERS: Crater, Ramjet, Jamaleh and Jessica, Jack Shen, Stretch, and Arctica (rescued).
BATTLESTARS: Defender, Quantum, Obsidian, Seeker, Jaguar and Solitaire.
MYTHOS: Ikarus, Prometheus, Oracle, Hermes, Minotaur, Gladiatrix, Icewing (and his mate, T�Lea).
SMACKDOWN: Full-Throttle, Grid, El Toro Guerrero, Black Fox and cute little Ramscoop (all rescued).
PROTECTORS: Mongrel (rescued), Athena, Sergeant-at-Arms, Dreadnaught, Ebon Witch, Apparition, Swift, and Marksman.
EUROSTAR: Fiacho, Pantera, Bora, Mentalla, the Whip, Le Sonne, White Flame (he�s healed?) and Durak (he�s alive?!).
Others: Doctor Arcane, Mayet, Inferno Magi, Robyn Quill/�Hardbody� (rescued), Xuesheng (behind the scenes), Orb, Shear, Earthmover, Marcus (the High Morbane), various lesser morbanes, ABYSS mech suits and commandos.
Others rescued: a bumpy, pink-skinned hulk; an electrified man, a shaggy bear/centaur, an air-breathing squid, Cerebrax (the Wonder Cat), and various normal-looking noncombatants (with regenerative powers).