“I don’t like this shit,” Ay said. “Something ain’t fucking right, and we’re walking right in to the middle of this shit storm.”

“Your big ass was the one who wanted to come here. You want turn back and go home.”

“Fuck, no! We came this far. We’re going to find that damn thing.”

“Fine. Then shut the fuck up.”

Ay glared at Tee, but she said nothing else.

A blast of energy shot their way and sliced the barrel of the AR-15 from the stock. Both women turned to see a balding African American and a Filipino girl coming towards them.

The Filipino drew a katana from her sheathe and pointed it towards Tee and Ay. “You know, we can hear you bitches from halfway across the damn city. And I sure as hell am not going to let you find the Norn Stones.”

“Stupid bitch!” Ay’s hands went to her charm necklace. She pulled two charms free. In just over a second she held a cutlass and parrying dagger of her own.

Tee took a more direct approach. She lunged towards the black man and his ray gun He fired his weapon. The blast struck her in the shoulder. She felt it slice straight through her flesh, but she could not feel any pain. The change was already coming. The muscles in her arms and legs thickened, as did the hair follicles that lined each. Her fingers drew back in to her hand. Her nails sharpened and elongated in to three inch claws. The pupils of her eyes stretched in to vertical slits as orange fur sprouted all along her face. The tigress in her blood cried for blood.

A brief burst of human intelligence through the animal rage told her she faced Death Ray. And her animal senses agreed on how best to proceed.

She lashed out with her claws and caught Ray in the hand. The ray gun flew from his grip. She pounced, driving them both to the ground.

Ay lashed out with her own weapons, but the woman with the katana cut her off. The katana sliced in to her long sword with every strike. Ay knew continued strikes would leave her without her sword, but she couldn’t figure out how the bitch was doing it.

“Bitch, who the fuck are you?”

“Name’s KaTanya. And that sorry ass blade of yours is going to get you killed.”

“Eat shit and die!” Ay ducked down low. She swept a foot out and drove it in to KaTanya’s kneecap. The leg buckled. Ay swung her sword down for the deathblow.

KaTanya swung her sword up at the last possible second and cleaved Ay’s blade in two. The katana swung around again and sliced straight through her parrying dagger as well.

Ay went for the charms on her left wrist, but she felt the blade press in to her neck. KaTanya’s face showed no emotion as she held her weapon steady.

Tee drove her claws deep in to the sides of Death Ray’s skull. He gasped in pain as the blood flowed down in to his eyes. Tee howled at the smell of blood. She drove his head down in to the concrete again and again, not even stopping when she heard the bone of his skull crack. She left his limp body on the ground and turned back to the others.

KaTanya shoved the blade deep in to Ay’s neck. Ay shuddered as all the will and energy drained from her body. She collapsed to the ground. Her eyes remained open. Her body occasionally seized. Otherwise she did not move.

KaTanya turned to face the low growl of Tee. Tee held her claws at the ready, Death Ray’s blood still dripping from their tips. KaTanya stepped in to a forward stance and held her blade low and ready to strike.

They didn’t detect the bolts until they struck. KaTanya caught one in the right shoulder blade, while Tee’s struck her in the throat. KaTanya’s eyes went wide as the world lost all coherency and she toppled to the ground.

The tiger blood that coursed through her veins allowed Tee to fight off the drugs long enough to turn and see her attackers. The two red-cloaked figures left no doubt as to their identities. Her entire body recoiled in anger and fear.

She hurled herself towards the Crimson. But they were ready for her. Two more crossbow bolts struck her stomach and her cheek. As she lunged forward again, more bolts struck her right arm and left leg. She stumbled as she took another bounding stop. She staggered forward and fell face first to the ground.

The Crimson walked to their fallen prey. Rambert turned to Jean Philippe. He spoke in quick, quiet French. “What should we do with them, cousin? Cleanse them?”

“No, Elke would not have us do so on the eve of the wedding. We will have to secure them and bring them back to the tower.”

Rambert nodded.

“Besides,” Jean Philippe said. “They will make a great tribute to protect us from the dark. Their bodies will soon be gone, and their souls will finally be freed.”

*****

They formed a loose semi-circle as they looked down from the raised cliff at the Q-Zone. Hundreds of men, women, and children, all fiercely loyal to the Great Question, hustled and bustled about their daily business.

Johnny B. Goode kept close to Jack ever since they met up back at the big kid’s house. He wished he could have left the lug at home, but he knew they would need him in this battle. Double Cross and Everyman were a few steps ahead of them. And Everyman was none too happy.

“How in the hell are we supposed to get pat hundreds of loyal followers and stop this damn empire. Even if we can take out several hundred people, we still have Conundrum, Mouthpiece and all their super-cronies to barrel through. It’s not fucking possible, Cross!”

Double Cross nodded. “You’re probably right. It wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t have help on the inside. Fortunately, we do.” “An insider? Who?”

“Her name is Doctor Dawn. She was a government agent up until a few months ago when her and her partner Mister Midnight came to the city. After the Question killed Midnight, she tried to attack Antagonist. All she managed to do was get captured and enthralled. But what Antagonist doesn’t know is that she and Midnight were equipped with a failsafe in case they were ever captured behind enemy lines. We send the right signal to her power implants and her light abilities go haywire. Everyone unprotected in the area will be blinded for weeks.”

“And we sweep in and strike.”

Double Cross scratched his beard as he surveyed the crowd. “Not to say it’s going to be easy. My guess is that at least ten percent of folks will not succumb to the light. And that most of the metas in the area will find a way to overcome it. The four of us will be in for a tough fight. It’s too bad we couldn’t find Ray and Bob.”

Their stop a few hours earlier at the offices of Death Ray and Bob Cat came up with nothing. Both men seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. They left a message on Ray’s planner, but they all knew they couldn’t depend on the duo’s arrival.

“We make do as best we can,” Cross said. “We fight to win. The four of us may end up beaten and bruised, maybe even dead. But we can’t give up to Antagonist is stopped. You with me?”

“I will stand by your side.” The voice boomed down from the sky above.

Johnny cheered for joy. Jack mumbled something under his breath. Everyman couldn’t help but smirk at the overly-popular hero and his pretensions about war.

Titan touched down in the midst of the other metahumans. His cape flapped in the wind as he looked over the rag-tag team.

“After chatting with your young friend, Johnny, I cannot help but understand the problems you face in this city. I have come to give what aid I can in your battle.”

Double Cross looked at Everyman. Everyman looked at Jack Flash. But it was Johnny who finally chimed in.

“With you helping we can beat them from here to Sunday!”

“He’s right,” Cross said. “We can use, maybe even need your help. You’re more than welcome to join our merry band.”

Titan nodded. “When do we move?”

“Six hours,” Cross said. “Everyone get prepared. We’re going to war.”

*****

Dumpster shambled his way through the door, held open by Flower. The young woman wore a hemp shirt adorned with a variety of wildflowers. She ushered him through in to the Secret Garden.

The Gardener met them as soon as the door closed. He looked at the muck-covered creature. “What brings you here, friend?”

Dumpster let out a low, mournful bellow. Flower looked on confused as the Gardener nodded his head.

“I understand, my friend. I never thought this day would come, but I understand.”

“What are you talking about?” Flower said. “You understood him?”

“Prepare yourself for attack, young one. They are coming.”

“Who? What the fuck are you talking about, old man?”

“The new men, the post-humans. I know not what to call them, but they are the enemy of the Garden. And they come for its life-giving energy.”

“I came here to get away from the fighting, not to walk my ass right in to it.”

“I am sorry, young one. Truly I am. If you wish to leave, do so now, before they arrive. I will not think ill of you if you leave this conflict.”

Flower didn’t speak for a moment. Her mind raced through the possibilities. She wanted peace. That’s why she left the Divide and Tee and Ay in the first place. She just wanted freedom from constant struggle and a battle just to survive. Now she was faced with another battle. A battle for everything she now loved.

“I’ll do it.”

The Gardener gave her a light pat on the shoulder. “I knew we could count on you.”

A bolt of energy struck the Gardener from behind. His eyes widened as a hole burst through his chest. His lifeless corpse seemed to move in slow motion as it fell to the grassy floor.

The attacker was a man with patchwork skin, some black, some white, some in-between, all fused together seamlessly. Steel plates covered much of his fatigues, but from his stance and how he held the rifle jutting out of his wrist she could tell he was military. She hurled a telekinetic spike straight towards his chest. It struck the plate over his right breast bone. The plate crumpled as he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

The ground that started to rumble beneath their feet.

An earthquake here? Is that even possible? But the increasing rumbling made it feel all too real.

I can’t win this. I need to get out of here.

An Indian woman, naked except for a loin cloth, leaped up and over Flower. Her long dark hair flowed behind her as she struck the floor and continued past. Flower turned just in time to see a massive wolf-man hurl itself in to her side.

Her skin turned instantly cold where the wolf’s fur brushed against her skin. The creature lashed out with its claws, but Flower used a blast of TK to push herself up and over the wolf-man.

She flew up and over the creature. As she fell back to the ground, she could only watch as a metallic shell formed over the Native American girl. Her body transformed in to a sleek robotic shell, she hurled a fireball out of nowhere towards Dumpster.

The flame immediately set the sewage in Dumpster’s skin ablaze. The muck-man cried out in pain as his skin burned away as well.

Flower hit the ground, but it was already too late. Joined by a woman in a leotard covered with circuit paths, the wolf-man, the soldier, and the Native American robot-girl surrounded her.

The robot-girl spoke in a steely soft voice. “Contain her.”

Flower could do nothing as the other three attackers surrounded her. The girl in the sleek white leotard that seemed to meld with her equally pale skin raised one gloved hand and a shockwave of energy ripped through her body.

Flower’s vision fluttered. She had the briefest sensation of tumbling downwards before everything went black.

Fox turned to the others. “Shock Value, Frostbite, secure the metas. Salvo, open a communication line. The masters will wish to know the location is ours.”

*****

Able touched down in the blasted wasteland of Pisa. He heard tales in the past of the damage Detroit suffered in becoming the Divide. But never before had he seen such a war zone.

No time for sightseeing, he reminded himself. I have to find it before the others get to it.

As to others, he knew there were a lot of them. He could detect ten metahuman signatures within a mile of him, several in close proximity to one another. The fight for the Norn Stone, and in turn his artifact, had begun.

He followed the image in his head coupled with his tracking segment past the tower where every other meta’s attack seemed to be focused. He followed his invisible trail past the tower and in to a flatland of cement and rubble.

It’s here. I can feel it. I’m right on top of it. Where is it? Where?

He looked down at the cement on his feet. I’m right on top of it!

Able turned his attention downward and hurled a concentrated blast of flame across the scarred concrete. He felt the heat rise on the surface as he continued to hurl flames across the ground. He kept his eyes constantly searching for any sign of upward air movement.

As the flames coursed across a pile of rubble that once framed a door, he saw the fire crackle and rise above the ground. Jackpot.

He rushed over to the pile of stone. He quickly ripped the stones from the earth. It didn’t take long to uncover the manhole cover beneath the scattered rocks. A blast of heat loosened the screws holding the manhole cover in the ground. He yanked it free with all his strength.

Able summoned a flame in to his hand and shined it in to the darkness. The sewer below was almost nonexistent. Caved-in walls turned the room in to more of a pantry. The walls glittered with gems, mostly rubies and emeralds. He didn’t want to begin to guess where they originated. Someone or something had gathered them and horded them here.

Able hopped down in to the cavern. He flashed the flame over the surfaces and looked past the gems. Looked deeper across the walls. It took him only a minute to find what he sought.

It looked like nothing more than a smoothly polished rock. About two inches in diameter, it was a flattened stone with a slight recess in the center. Able could feel the energy radiate towards his skin as he passed his hand over it.

A Norn Stone.

He knew the legends, but had never really thought he would see one. Dozens of metas had come and gone in the Divide in the hope of finding one of the powerful objects. Many died in battles over one. Now this one was in his grasp. His hand shook with anticipation as he reached out for it.

Power surged in to his veins as his fingers brushed around it. He lifted it from the wall and it felt like lightning struck him. The hair on his arms stood up as his heart pumped faster, his breathing quickened. He felt alive in a way that he never felt before. He was reborn in the light of the stone.

He looked at the stone in his hand as it slowly melted in to his flesh. He wondered if he should be terrified, but could only watch in rapt fascination as the stone disappeared beneath his skin. In moments, two concentric brown rings that appeared as little more than a tattoo were all that was left on his palm.

He could feel every living thing now within miles of him. From the smallest blade of grass to massive monstrosities living below the city, all were under his purview. Metahuman energies surged across the entire city. He could feel their abilities, knew their powers as even they did not.

And he could feel it. The staff is here! Right behind—

He felt the staff poke in to his back. He looked back over his shoulder at an impossibly thin man in a high-collared long coat. The item in his hand, the item pressed in to his back seemed impossibly long. It looked like a traditional shillelagh, but it seemed to stretch back in to forever.

Able realized his quest was at an end. The staff was before him. And it may just be what killed him.