The New Age - Chapter Twenty-Five

    Lug had no idea what had happened to him. The last thing he knew was that he was at the Anglo-Force mansion, enjoying a brief break from the conflict with Darkmagus. The next thing he knew he was in a different place, a dark, damp place, and that he could not move.
    Suddenly light filled the room as a doorway opened. It was then he could see that he was chained to a wall by his wrists. The light blinded him for a while. Then he could hear the sound of a torch being lighted, and the light from the flame then filled the room. The door then closed and a chuckle filled the room. Lug recognised the voice.
    “Can it be? The Dagda?”
    The light moved so that Lug could see the not so pleasing features of the Dagda.
    “I thought the wizard Ringulrun had banished you from the Land of the Gods!” said Lug.
    “So he did.” replied the Dagda. “But this is not the Land of the Gods. This is my own domain here on the Time of Legends. I brought you here for a reason, to kill you!”

    Darkmagus continued to stare at the computer screen, monitoring the two battles that took place near his headquarters. Felicia Martins was getting more and more frustrated.
    “Aren’t we going to do anything else?” she asked.
    There was finally some sign of life from Darkmagus as he turned his chair round to face Felicia.
    “You will take a craft and return to Earth. There you will take command of our final base there and prepare them for an attack.”
    “What about you?”
    “I will remain here.”
    “You can’t be serious. They’ll…”
    Darkmagus stared coldly at Felicia.
    “Do as I say woman, or join the ever-growing casualty list on the surface.”
    With a huff Felicia turned around and made her way to the hangar.

    Finally Watt’s group were getting the hand against the seemingly countless number of laser cannons. While Watt crushed them Red Star fired several blasts, melting them with the heat of those blasts. Then Mighty Man took care of the last of them.
    “Finally a breather!” said Mighty Man.
    “Don’t speak so quickly.” said Watt. “Where are Katrina and Supercop?”
    “And the sentinels for that matter!” said Red Star.
    “You two stay here.” said Watt. “I’m going to look for them.”
    Watt began to fly off into the distance.
    “Wait!” cried Mighty Man. “You might need back-up!”
    “There is no point.” said Red Star. “He won’t listen!”

    An Anglo-Force sky-jet flew over the capital city of Voltania. Tiger was at the helm.
    “I’ve just about managed to work out how these instruments work.” said Lion. “From what I can tell all is well in the streets below.”
    “Then why do I have this strange feeling?” asked Tiger.
    They then began to fly over the royal palace. As Tigress looked out of the window a look of horror appeared on her face.
    “What is it?” asked Tiger.
    “The palace! It’s been destroyed!”

    Slowly Rhiannon and Cosmic Kid made their way along the darkened corridor. The sounds of explosions rang out around them. They could tell a battle was taking place on the surface.
    “We must join that battle.” said Cosmic Kid.
    “We would be of little use. Our powers are still failing us!”
    Cosmic Kid then pointed to a light in the distance.
    “The exit!” he said. “The sounds of battle are getting stronger!”
    The Titan was the first to reach the exit. Pushing open the door a blast of energy came flying through, and Rhiannon only just had enough time to get out of the way.
    “It is as I thought!” said Cosmic Kid. “Anglo-Force are here!”
    Rhiannon soon joined Cosmic Kid at the exit and watched as he fired a cosmic bolt at some of the androids, destroying them instantly. Magus saw this bolt as he was struggling with the Balrog Anthog, much in the same way Gandalf had hundreds of years earlier. He turned to see Cosmic Kid standing in the doorway. He was very surprised however when he saw Rhiannon.
    “Rhiannon? It can’t be!”
    This distraction was all that Anthog needed. With a swipe of his huge arm he knocked Magus away. It was then that Rhiannon raised her hands and fired a powerful burst of energy at Anthog. When the blast hit him it sent him flying back hundreds of feet. The scales in this battle had been tipped in favour of the heroes.

    Red Sun and Supercop finally began to come to. When they did they found that their legs were bound and that they were being carried upside down by the two giant sentinel robots. The robots did not know that they had come to. Supercop signalled to Red Sun. He had something in mind. Gradually he began to shift his bodyweight and he started to swing. After a few seconds he had gained quite a bit of momentum, and we he had got enough he reared back and unleashed a mighty blow. There was a loud clanging noise, but all this resulted in was Supercop hurting is hand. He had, however, managed to gain the attention of the two sentinels. Their attention now focused on Supercop, Red Sun saw her chance. She fired two nova blasts, each hitting the optical sensors of the robots. She then fired two more. These blasts released them from their bonds.
    “Quickly!” said Red Sun. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
    The two of them began to run down the corridor. However, they soon saw that their path was blocked by Felicia Martins, And she had her sword.

    The battle on the surface continued. With the help of Cosmic Kid and Rhiannon then destroyed all of the remaining androids. Now they had to get rid of the dwarves, wolves and dragons. This would not be an easy task.

    Red Star and Mighty Man began to recover from their battle with the laser cannons. They did not know how long they had been waiting when they saw Watt in the sky flying towards them. He landed a few seconds later.
    “Any luck?” asked Mighty Man.
    “I couldn’t find them.” Watt replied.
    “Then as far as I can see we have only one choice.” said Red Star. “We must carry on with our mission, and I have found a place where we can enter.”
    The Russian pointed to one of the hatches that had previously contained a laser cannon.
    “You’re right.” said Watt. “Let’s do it.”
    They were soon entering the tunnel.

    Lug watched as the huge blubbery form of the Dagda walked up and down in front of him, rubbing his hands.
    “I’m going to enjoy this!” he said.
    “Why?” said Lug. “Why have you sided with Darkmagus? He is evil!”
    “You still haven’t learned, have you?” said the Dagda. “I never truly existed! I was placed here by Darkmagus centuries ago!”
    “But if you never truly existed then how do I come to exist? You came before me, and I was meant to be your second, created to be like you.”
    “That I do not have the answer to. But do not worry about that, because in a short time you will not exist anyway!”
    An evil laugh began to sound out throughout the building. This infuriated  Lug. Slowly he began to vibrate his left arm until suddenly he broke the chain and he was free. The Dagda was shocked by this. A second later and he broke the other chain.
    “Now, Dagda, you will die like the dog you are!”

    Tiger, Tigress and Lion began to walk towards the royal palace in Voltania. Crowds began to gather in the streets surrounding the palace.
    “Can you see anything?” asked Lion.
    “No.” Tiger replied. “Nor can I smell anything.”
    “Then it appears that no one was inside the palace when it was destroyed.” said Tigress. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
    “I don’t know.” replied Tiger. “But we must find out who destroyed the palace.