Gar sat up from the attack and then quickly turned and covered Chase with his body, his wings acting like a wall behind him. Another wave of energy exploded out, destroying the energy barrier protecting the facility from prying eyes.
“We can’t stop this thing!” Chase yelled.
“We have to try!” Admiral Prometheus replied and then let loose a blast of mental energy at the enemy.
The floating book was pushed down toward the ground by the force of the mental strain.
Dr. Stone joined Prometheus and used his mental powers to further attack the enemy. He said, through his mind, “this avatar is weaker to mental attacks. We can suppress its awesome strength.”
More heroes with mental powers joined the battle and attacked the avatar with their minds. The book closed up and the glowing energy from it dimmed.
Nightshadow called out, “everyone else! Get ready!” He held up his hands and then slammed them to the ground. A great wave of shadow spread out and heroes vanished like the floor had dropped beneath them.
One by one, heroes appeared out of dark circles near the Avatar of Magic and attacked it, giving it no chance to see them coming. All the while, it was being restrained further by the mental onslaught.
“We can do it!” Hotwings called out and blasted the avatar with lasers.
All at once, there came a concussive wave of sound and force at the same time. The book released another explosion and the attack against it was stopped. The heroes moving via shadow were thrown first, the mental attackers all hit the ground, holding their heads in agony.
A ball of energy formed in the center of the Avatar as it prepared yet another eruption of magical energy.
“WATCH OUT!” Nightshadow slapped the ground again and all the heroes vanished for a single moment in a dark void.
The wave of magic spread out, sending even more of the debris scattering further away.
Everyone reappeared and gasped in a breath. Chase demanded, “what did you just do to us, Nightshadow?”
He gave off a coy grin. “You were compressed into a black hole for a fraction of time. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You saved us. But, that was...uncomfortable.”
Dr. Stone held up both hands to his head and focused his mind. “We have to hold it at bay!”
“That didn’t work last time.” Chase said.
Dr. Henderson ran over. “It helped. The magical power of the avatar is off the scale. However, as the heroes use mental attacks, the frequencies of the magical morphons become unstable. If we can destabilize it long enough, we might unravel the corrupted magic and bring it down. We need magically inclined heroes to attack it when it is at its most vulnerable.”
Chase clicked her comm. “Krystal Fae, we need magic support, now!”
She responded, “on our way, I have The Wizard with me and Santa. We felt the magical disturbance.”
“Get here! I don’t know how long the heroes can hold it at bay.”
“On it.”
Chase looked at the avatar, listening to it screech and the heroes contend with its random acts of magic. “Gar, I’m not ready for this. This world is not safe in my hands.”
“BADGE is in your hands, not the world.”
“Right now, it feels like the same thing.”
The Wizard rode on the back of his dragon with Santa’s sleigh to his right, and Krystal Fae to his left.
“Do you see what I’m seeing?” The Wizard pointed down.
Krystal flew up closer. “Yes. There must be several hundred World Corp merc vehicles in that convoy.”
The Wizard said, “I see some U.N. Military, U.S. Military, and about five dozen of those augmented heroes. Where do you think they’re heading?”
“The same place we are.”
The Wizard frowned. “They’re heading to help stop the avatar?”
“No. I think they’re heading in to attack the heroes.”
“This isn’t good.”
Santa called out, “we don’t have time to worry about them. If we don’t stop that avatar, this entire world is in danger.”
“You’re right, of course. Come on, let's move!” The Wizard coaxed his dragon along and all three sped up.
The trio of magical heroes covered the distance quickly. The night sky was broken by the amazing light ahead of them. Where the storage facility was, there was now just debris and a circle of heroes defending themselves from the unrelenting attacks by the avatar. A large group of heroes stood off to the side, focusing their minds on the avatar.
“I can sense it. The avatar’s magical power is weak. We can strike.” The Wizard said.
Santa said, “we have little time. Those mental heroes are about to lose their grip on it.”
Krystal charged her hands with magic. “Then we take it down.”
She stopped about ten feet above the avatar and stuck her hands into the air like she was pushing her fingers into a wall of thin glass. The air cracked and crumbled. Santa joined her on the other side, pushing his hands into the strange field of magic around it. Finally, The Wizard and his dragon met this magical barrier and crashed right through it.
The book lost the light emitting from it and fell to the ground. It screamed and screeched, blasting magical attacks that were far less threatening than before.
The Wizard landed right next to it and put his hands inside the pages. He chanted a strange language and pulled his hand up. A blue light with shadows of black flowing through it stretched out of the book like pulling gum from a sidewalk. It held tight for a moment, but then burst free. He threw the energy into the air. Krystal Fae and Santa destroyed it with two well-placed blasts of light.
Everything quieted down, the book now closed and laying on the ground. There was a hesitant calm, followed by a slight movement from the heroes. Dr. Henderson ran a quick scan from a distance and then rushed over to the avatar. She smiled and called out, “it’s back to dormant. All signs of the corrupt energy are gone.”
“Chase!” The Wizard ran over to her with Krystal Fae behind him.
“What?”
“We have another problem.”
She almost asked when they heard a distinct rumbling in the distance. “What is that?”
Krystal said, “the problem. A massive army of World Corps mercs and augments are coming and they have backup from the U.N. This place is about to be overrun.”
The news seemed to overwhelm Chase for a moment. She lost most color in her face and she looked for rescue from anyone. Santa jumped down from his sleigh and came over to her. “Angela, the wise course of action is retreat. The heroes here are in no shape to fight that force, and even if they did, it would just start a war. That is what the World Corps has been trying to do all along.”
She gave a quick nod and then looked over at Justin. “Sound the evac, tell everyone to head for the station and orbital arena.”
“Right away.”
Santa smiled. “I will do what I can to stall them. Get these people to safety.”
“I will, father. Just...don’t get hurt.”
“Bah! I can handle a few hundred enemies. Besides, I’m not going to fight them, just distract.”
Soon, the gathered heroes and BADGE scientists were evacuating the area quickly. Heroes that could teleport were working hard to move everyone. Chase had to stop Midgard and others like him from going full rogue and attacking that approaching army. For her first days as leader, this was a trial by fire.
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