Triumph: In memory of their fallen companion, the heroes of the Infinite Seven have chosen to rename their group Triumph! Dragonfly, aka Aaron Majesky - winged martial arts master; The Adept, aka Rick Pennington - master of mystical movement; Cazmonster, aka Caz Greenbaum, super-strong cyber-werewolf; Palisade, aka Steven Chen - Biosuit powered defender; The Gray Robe, aka Sydney Koenig - Druidic mistress of the Earth; and The American Attitude, aka Barry Stills - Hyper-sensory, skateboarding streetfighter.
In the end, dragonfly reflected, Misto's plan amounted to little more than “get him”. Of course, it was far better than he and Cazmonster had been doing; if not for Misto's ability to sense magical energy (an ability shared by most sorcerers, seemingly), they all might very well be wandering around the rubble-strewn yard he found them in. Instead, moments ago they had broken through a retaining wall leading to a hidden chamber. There inside the chamber were The Adept, The Gray Robe, and Angela the Vampire, all tied up to some sort of ancient syphoning machine. Nearby lay an unconscious and bio-suitless Steve Chen. There also was Sarth , a ten-foot tall monolith of a being in traditional ancient Egyptian god form, down to the stylized hyena head he sported.
That head was now being punched in the face, rather ineffectively, by Misto, the white costumed hero with blue cape and mask the heroes of triumph had just met.
"Ummm, didnt't he say he was some sort of great sorcerer or something?" The American attitude asked, dumbfounded by Misto's tactics.
"Something like that," Cazmonster answered, rushing toward the machine that was holding his friends hostage.
"Misto, what gives?" Dragonfly asked as he flew into the giant beast, sword in hand. This attack was similarly effective to Misto's.
"Sometimes, you just gotta punch a villain!" Misto replied just before Sarth's powerful arm sent him flying.
Meanwhile, The Attitude had sent Bill an Transcender to check on Steven Chen. "He doesn't look good," Bill noted, cutting the chains that were holding Steven.
"I think I can help.". Transcender concentrated on the temporal field immediately around Steven. It was like reaching into a fish tank. He waited for just the right moment, and then grabbed the field. Using his own aura for fuel, Transcender slowed the flow of time around Steven.
"That should give him a chance," he nodded to Bill.
Magma swooped in and rained fire on Sarth, peppering Dragonfly with shrapnel as she did so.
'Hey, watch it!" Dragonfly shouted back at his new teammate. So far, he wasn't overly impressed with this new bunch.
That head was now being punched in the face, rather ineffectively, by Misto, the white costumed hero with blue cape and mask the heroes of triumph had just met.
"Ummm, didnt't he say he was some sort of great sorcerer or something?" The American attitude asked, dumbfounded by Misto's tactics.
"Something like that," Cazmonster answered, rushing toward the machine that was holding his friends hostage.
"Misto, what gives?" Dragonfly asked as he flew into the giant beast, sword in hand. This attack was similarly effective to Misto's.
"Sometimes, you just gotta punch a villain!" Misto replied just before Sarth's powerful arm sent him flying.
Meanwhile, The Attitude had sent Bill an Transcender to check on Steven Chen. "He doesn't look good," Bill noted, cutting the chains that were holding Steven.
"I think I can help.". Transcender concentrated on the temporal field immediately around Steven. It was like reaching into a fish tank. He waited for just the right moment, and then grabbed the field. Using his own aura for fuel, Transcender slowed the flow of time around Steven.
"That should give him a chance," he nodded to Bill.
Magma swooped in and rained fire on Sarth, peppering Dragonfly with shrapnel as she did so.
'Hey, watch it!" Dragonfly shouted back at his new teammate. So far, he wasn't overly impressed with this new bunch.
“Sorry,” Magma apologized weakly, continuing her assault from a safer angle.
Sarth, sensing Cazmonster's attempt to free the Adept and the Great Robe, turned and funneled mystical energy through his staff. Cazmonster barely stood up to the brutal magical assault, but somehow he managed to keep pulling at the contraption with all his might.
Weakly, The Adept looked up at Cazmonster. "You'll never get it. It's mystically anchored."
Cazmonster looked up at his friend. "You watch me."
The battle was not going well. The heroes were throwing everything they had against Sarth, to little avail. Finally, with a herculean effort, they managed to drop the behemoth to one knee. But the assault came at a cost. From Sarth's staff came a wide burst of magical energy. As the American Attitude flew toward the godling on his skateboard, the wave hit him, and he passed out, flying through the air from his forward momentum. Magma crashed to the ground, her flame extinguished to a sinder.
"Almost got it," Cazmonster winced, putting all his weight into one great backwards pull. The Adept watched in disbelief as his bonds were sundered. Dropping from the platform he'd been tied to, The Adept struggled to his feet and looked his old friend in the eye.
"Amazing," was the only reply he could manage. then, getting to his feet, The Adept set about freeing his other two friends, Angela and The Grey Robe.
The Adept freed The Gray Robe first. Moving to Angela, he was shocked to find her body even more pale and lifeless than usual. Spending a moment, The Adept shook his head. “There’s no soul there. She’s been completely assimilated into Sarth.”
Sarth, sensing Cazmonster's attempt to free the Adept and the Great Robe, turned and funneled mystical energy through his staff. Cazmonster barely stood up to the brutal magical assault, but somehow he managed to keep pulling at the contraption with all his might.
Weakly, The Adept looked up at Cazmonster. "You'll never get it. It's mystically anchored."
Cazmonster looked up at his friend. "You watch me."
The battle was not going well. The heroes were throwing everything they had against Sarth, to little avail. Finally, with a herculean effort, they managed to drop the behemoth to one knee. But the assault came at a cost. From Sarth's staff came a wide burst of magical energy. As the American Attitude flew toward the godling on his skateboard, the wave hit him, and he passed out, flying through the air from his forward momentum. Magma crashed to the ground, her flame extinguished to a sinder.
"Almost got it," Cazmonster winced, putting all his weight into one great backwards pull. The Adept watched in disbelief as his bonds were sundered. Dropping from the platform he'd been tied to, The Adept struggled to his feet and looked his old friend in the eye.
"Amazing," was the only reply he could manage. then, getting to his feet, The Adept set about freeing his other two friends, Angela and The Grey Robe.
The Adept freed The Gray Robe first. Moving to Angela, he was shocked to find her body even more pale and lifeless than usual. Spending a moment, The Adept shook his head. “There’s no soul there. She’s been completely assimilated into Sarth.”
A look of wrath rarely seen on Cazmonster’s face appeared. He was beaten, weakened. But now, Sarth the demigod had angered one of the strongest, fiercest superheroes on the planet.
Cazmonster turned as Sarth was standing, halfway to his feet from his friends’ attacks. He started at a powerful run, moving at incredible speed toward his target. Sarth was only a couple feet bigger than Cazmonster; it was a clash of titans. THe cyber-werewolf slammed into Sarth with a breathtaking force so powerful the kinetic energy released by the attack knocked all those nearby to their feet. Cazmonster bounced off Sarth’s powerful force-shield, but in return, that shield was shattered.
Across the room, Misto stood. Now was the time. Raising his fists, he channeled all of his mystical energy into one blast; Sarth staggered as the energy hit him square in the chest. The Adept, seeing the powerful villain on the ropes, entered the magical battle with his own mystic blast. With no shield against the raw magical energy of two sources, Sarth screamed in pain. Finally, slamming the foot of his staff on the floor, the Egyptian demigod disappeared in a flash of light, defeated.
“Hellz yeah,” Misto said from across the room, walking out to his fellow combatants. “We rocked that fight!” Misto slapped a somewhat stunned Cazmonster on the back and walked up to The Adept.
“Hey, name’s Misto. You must be The Adept.”
“Umm, yeah. Listen we lost a team member here today...”
“Impressive mystic blast, Adept. I sense a lot of the juice in you.”
The Adept stood still-faced at the insensitive hero before him. Nevertheless, he had to agree. Misto’s own power level was on par with, possibly even beyond his own level, when it came to raw power.
Transcender broke the silence. Approaching The Adept, he said “the Chinese guy is in bad shape. We need to get him to a hospital; I can only hold him so long.”
The Adept nodded, and opened a portal to the best hospital in Chicago. “Take him on through.”
Dragonfly wandered over to his fellow heroes, nodding to The Adept. “Nice play, Rick, Misto.”
“Wish I could say the same. That ninja crap didn’t do a lot of good,” Misto noted abrasively.
“Glad to see you, Aaron,” Rick said. Syd gave both gentlemen a big hug before she addressed Misto.
“Look, butt-monkey. These are my friends. We’ve been through more than your little macho pea-brain can possibly comprehend, including stopping an alien invasion and cutting off a criminal syndicate’s attempt to take over the world. You might be the master of fighting god-men, but we take care of our own, best we can. So take off to where-ever you’re from and leave us to grieve our dead.”
Misto was completely silent. Nodding assent, he leapt into the air, through the ceiling, and was gone.
“Nicely done,” Dragonfly said to Syd.
“I get the feeling we haven’t seen the last of him,” Cazmonster noted.
“Maybe not, but next time, he sees us at our best,” The Adept said. “For now, we need to take care of Angela.”
Three days later, back in Stevenson...
Steven Chen stood at the head of the group. There was no religious leader in the cemetary, only the heroes of Triumph. The new members stood quietly back from the core group a bit.
Steven Chen stood at the head of the group. There was no religious leader in the cemetary, only the heroes of Triumph. The new members stood quietly back from the core group a bit.
“I loved her,” Steven said. “I found out too late how much. Angela wasn’t human, anymore, not in the biological sense. But she had feelings, and a soul. Sarth took that from her, and tore even her tortured existence from me, from all of us. If I ever see that bastard again, he will die, or I will.
“In the meantime, I’m done. This has taken all my will. Triumph will have to continue on without me, as well as Angela. Palisade died the same time she did. Since I’m making changes, I think it’s time I tried to make things work with my father. So, in addition to leaving the team, I’m leaving CIU.”
Aaron came over and put a comforting hand on his friend’s back; Steven was too macho for a hug. “I understand, man. We’re gonna miss you, on the battlefield and off.”
“I had a great time working with you guys. I’m going to miss all of this as well,” Steven said, his thick Chinese accent coming back much stronger suddenly.
A few days later...
“Okay, team. Let’s see if everyone’s here,” the Adept said from the head of the table in the Citadel meeting room.
“The Adept, that’s me. Dragonfly, check. Cazmonster, check. The Gray Robe, check. The American Attitude, check. Magma, check. Magma, you’re melting your water bottle.”
“Oh, sorry,” Magma said, embarrassed.
“Transcender, check. BB, check. I guess that’s everyone now. We started as three, and then we were the Infinite Seven. I guess Triumph can make do with eight.”
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