The space-borne heroes now found that they had a problem, and it was a problem Magus could not help them with.“I have extended too much of my energy in the battle.” explained Magus. “And even if Khan and I joined our powers we couldn’t make it then either.”
“This is incontinent, but not catastrophic!” said Red Sun.
“We could fly!” said Nuclear Man.
“But we are over a million miles away from Earth!” said Supercop.
“I could form a sphere around us and the fastest of us all could fly it at top speed.” said Khan. “The newcomers to space will enjoy the trip.”
“I’m new to everything.” said Nuclear Man. “I’ll enjoy it!”
“Why hurry at all?” asked Mighty Man. “The war is done!”
“No!” said Rhiannon. “No, it’s not. I can tell, the Earth’s still in danger!”
“Are you implying that Darkmagus replenished his forces on Earth, even though we destroyed his command base?” asked Watt.
“No, there has been no invasion.” Rhiannon replied. “I think I’d know, but the danger is there. We’ve got to get to Earth. I’ve got to get to Earth!”
Rhiannon then extended her arms, and with a flash of light she vanished.
“You never told us she could do that Magus.” said Red Sun.
“There’s a lot about Rhiannon you don’t know about.” Magus replied.
“I for one believe her.” said Watt. “Let’s go!”
The oceans of the world had never seen anything like it as Jock Muir’s “Bessie” plunged into the depths of the ocean carrying the remainder of those summoned, including the injured Tigress, who had gone along against the wishes of her brother.
“Bessie will get us through the trench if anything can!” said Muir.
“Heading for minus 36,000 feet I’d sound a bit more definite Jock.” said Reid. “Heading there to drop into a volcano, I’d sound a lot more definite!”
Poseidon and Aldair looked out of the windows as they continued to plunge.
“The theory that sleeper agents are hiding inside the Earth sounded good on land Father, but we’ve never spotted any saucers trying to the trench!”
“We have seventy-one per cent of the world to wander Aldair.” replied Poseidon. “How often do we come here?”
“After we fight them underground how will we know that they’re all defeated?” asked Chameleon.
“We won’t.” said Solo. “I believe there will always be some of his forces that we’ve missed. If our allies have done their job in space we should have everything covered. Darkmagus’ forces will be crippled for a long time to come. To me that counts as a win.”
Then Poseidon turned away from the window.
“We’re here.”
“Entering the rift now.” Muir reported.
The temperature began to rise both outside and inside. The occupants of the craft felt like they were being roasted for a Sunday lunch.
“Come on Bessie!” Muir whispered. “It’s only a little heat!”
The craft continued to plunge until, suddenly, they stopped.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived!” Muir smiled.
The hatchway opened and they began to disembark. They were relieved to feel solid ground beneath their feet. White Knight took in a deep breath.
“This is the freshest air I’ve smelt in years.” he said.
Techno-Man looked up as the water moved over their heads.
“Looks like they keep the ocean in check with that force-field.” he said.
“Well, now we are here how the hell do we get in?” asked Chameleon.
Colossus One stood motionless for a few seconds.
“My internal sensors have detected a hollow point in the floor twenty seven feet in front of my position.”
Ape then walked over.
“Here?”
Colossus nodded. Ape then reached down and pulled a large chunk of the floor. They had found their entrance. They gathered round the hole and were amazed.
“Bloody hell!” said Godbold. “How deep is that thing?”
“I’d say about a thousand feet.” said Reid. “Maybe eleven hundred. We’re clearly on the outskirts of their control centre.”
Suddenly a flash of light appeared nearby, and when the light dimmed Rhiannon appeared.
“Who the hell are you?” said McCloud.
“I am Rhiannon. I was with Magus and the others.”
“Did they win?” asked White Knight.
“Yes, yes.” Rhiannon replied. “But I knew the danger was here, so that is why I came.”
“We can do with any extra pair of hands we can get.” said Poseidon.
“Then let’s get going.” said White Knight. “We have a war to win!”
Those who could fly took others, and soon they were making their way down the seemingly bottomless pit.
The Acolytes sat outside the mansion deep in meditation. Merlin and Gandalf stood watching them, and to the untrained eye they now looked older than ever.
“That will be enough for today.” said Gandalf.
Leacock looked worried.
“Are you two okay?” he asked.
“We are fine Thomas.” Gandalf replied. “Fine.”
“Because of you we’re fine.” said Merlin.
“We’re getting close, aren’t we?” said McCloud. “Close to the point where we will change.”
The heroes made it to the main centre. White Knight motioned for everyone to be quiet.
“Charlie, can you use your powers to listen in?” he asked.
“I can try.” Marvel Boy replied.
Marvel Boy closed his eyes, and soon he could see an image of the main chamber. It seemed that a crisis meeting was in process.
“We have to assume everything’s gone to hell.” said Felicia. “With the uplink near Lock Ness destroyed we have no idea what’s happening on Mars. If Darkmagus had won Earth would be over-run with our reinforcements by now.”
“We may soon be forced to make our final stand.” said the Dagda.
“If all else fails one of us will detonate the device to destroy this world!” said one of the Ring Wraiths.
“That’s it!” said Zachary. “I’m out of here! There’s no way I’m going to blow up this planet! Beatrice!”
Beatrice and Zachary then moved towards the exit.
“It was a stupid idea to join with Darkmagus anyway!”
“We can’t let them go!” said Xusia.
“Let them!” said Felicia. “We can do without them!”
Marvel Boy turned to the others.
“They’ve got a bloody bomb big enough to blow up the world!”
“I want someone to guard the device!” said Felicia. “X! You will do it!”
One of the androids led X away.
“Ring Wraiths, you will guard the saucers. Though I believe that when Earth explodes we explode with it!”
“If we don’t do something soon we’ll all be blown to kingdom come!” said Marvel Boy.
Then they heard a noise behind them and the room was suddenly full of androids.
“Spying where we?”
The battle began. Muir fired his sting blasts, and White Knight, Adam and McCloud used their swords to disable some of the androids. Then Solo heard a noise and saw that the floor was starting to crack.
“Look out everyone, the floor’s starting to…”
It was too late. The fight had caused the floor to collapse, and they soon fell onto the chamber below where Felicia was still addressing the troops.
The dust soon cleared, and then the battle really began. Lug soon got to his feet and saw an unwelcome face.
“Dagda!”
Then Chameleon and Tiger joined Lug. The Celtic god tried to hold them back.
“No!” Lug cried. “He is mine!”
It was too late as the Dagda picked up his huge club and swung it at them. Tiger and Lug were able to duck but Chameleon could not. The Dagda’s mighty club connected with Chameleon’s skill and a second later he slumped to the ground. He did not move.
“No!” Tiger cried. “He’s dead!”
It was then that Lug charged the Dagda, and once again they resumed their battle. Other battles included Colossus One using his strength against Thudd the giant, and Starscream using her sonic scream to destroy several androids. The most vicious battle, however, seemed to be the one between Lug and the Dagda. They exchanged blow after blow, and they were evenly matched. Then Lug caught the Dagda unawares and knocked him off his feet, but the Dagda soon countered by kicking Lug in the midsection. The Dagda was about to move in for the kill when Lug reared back and connected with a mighty blow, a blow so devastating that the Dagda’s android head was knocked clean off. Without his head the Dagda could not function and he fell to the ground. Lug was shocked by this.
“He was just an android!” said Poseidon.
The battle continued. Solo used his agility to outwit the androids, Axe Kid decapitated several with his trusty axe, Changer used his power to knock off several as an elephant, and Rhiannon used her mighty power to take care of many at one.
Soon Tiger, Tigress, Solo and Raven made their way to the hangar. It was there they saw the remaining flying saucers. They also saw the Ring Wraiths. They were about to prepare themselves for battle when the Ring Wraiths started to vanish. It seemed they knew a bad cause when they saw one.
“Get rid of the saucers!” Solo shouted.
X and several of the androids stood guard near the massive bomb.
“I never knew this thing could be so big.” said X.
“We must guard it with our lives!”
They were suddenly interrupted by a group led by Stingray, Lion, Ape, Godbold and Goldeye.
Take care of them!” shouted one of the androids. “They mustn’t abort our mission!”
Another battle began. While the others took care of the androids Stingray moved towards X. The strange man was moving towards the bomb, and it looked like he was about to detonate it.
“No!” cried Muir.
X seemed to pause. He then shook his head as if he was shaking off the cobwebs. He then looked round at Muir and reached into his pocket. It was obvious he had some sort of device in his hand. Taking it he threw it into the battle. There was an explosion and several of the androids were destroyed. It seemed that X had regained his senses.
The battle continued, and it did not go well for the forces of Darkmagus. From her monitor in the main chamber Felicia could see that all was lost. She turned to Xusia.
“They can’t detonate the bomb!” she said. “Get us out of here!”
Xusia raised his hand, and a few seconds later they were gone.
The battle did not last much longer. The android’s numbers were getting smaller by the second. Soon the bodies of the androids lay all over the place. The Ring Wraiths had deserted them. Felicia Martins and Xusia had teleported away. Zachary and Beatrice had fled before the battle had even started, and the giants Krank and Thudd had been subdued.
A sense of happiness swept through the heroes until they realised they had lost one of their number.
Then the ground began to rumble, and suddenly the roof began to cave in. They thought they would be under attack again until they saw that it was the space-borne heroes arriving on the scene. At first they seemed pleased to see them until they saw that Watt was carrying a body, the body of Star Man. After landing Watt walked over to Lightning Kid.
“Steve, I’m sorry.”
Watt comforted Lightning Kid as he broke down realising that he would never see his father alive again. The profound sense of loss was disturbed when the astral images of Merlin and Gandalf appeared in front of them.
“Heroes of Earth, attend!” said Gandalf.
“Even though you have lost two of your comrades you have covered yourself in glory.” said Merlin. “The moment is nigh for the Acolytes to do the same. Return to them now with all of our hope!”
It was soon afterwards when all of the heroes returned to the mansion. A brief service was held for their lost comrades, but then they returned to the business at hand. The Acolytes had one last step to take.
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