Christy opened her eyes. She found herself in a small square cell, with a bright, sparking laser wall over the doorway. Through the laser she could vaguely make out Jaccie and Jesse held in two cells across the room. Jaccie was sitting upright in her cell, but Jesse was lying on the floor of his. Christy couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not.

Then, Mab’s armored face appeared before hers, smirking at her through the laser wall.

“Good morning, sleepy-head. You’re probably wondering where you are, hmm? You’re on my ship, in the holding cells. Awful place. I believe at least seventy people have died in that exact spot you’re sitting on.”

Christy glared at the woman. “Let us go,” she said in her most authoritative voice she could muster.

Mab laughed softly. “You certainly are a brave soul. But I don’t have time to waste playing with you. I have to go collect a few more bodies for our collection. I’ve just received word that your King has been apprehended, and the psychic and the little girl just threw themselves out a window. And we still need to clean up the fast one. I’ll be back in a bit… oh, and throw yourself around the cell as much as you like… I do love seeing my prisoners staying energetic. Ta,” she whispered, then slunk out of the room.

Christy waited a moment, to make sure Mab was gone. Then she crawled to the laser wall. “Jaccie,” she called through the crackling light.

“Christy? Where did she go?” Jaccie called back.

“She said she was going back to the base. King Matt is down and Brinn and Sarah Kay aren’t doing so hot. We have to get out of here to help them.”

Jaccie snorted. “And how do you propose we do that? I tried my laser cannon, the metal in the cell refracts the light, and my scanners can’t find and stress fractures of weakpoints fragile enough for me to break.

Christy, frowned, thinking. “How’s Jesse?”

Jaccie didn’t respond for a moment. “I’m not sure,” she said slowly. “I think he woke up once, but I think that kick to the jaw is keeping him from talking.”

Christy was about to respond when she heard the doors hiss open again. She looked up and tried to see who it was, but the visitor kept themselves out of sight. Suddenly, the laser wall before her gave a great sputtering whine, and flickered out of existence. The lasers caging Jaccie and Jesse were extinguished as well. The three of them (well two, since Jesse was unconscious and Jaccie had to carry him out) sprang out of their cages to see a cloaked figure standing at the control console.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Nullifier,” Jaccie growled.

“Not exactly,” said the cloaked visitor. The voice was obviously female. The visitor turned and lowered her hood.

“Bethany!” Christy exclaimed. “We’re don’t have time to kick your butt right now, we’ve gotta-”

“Wait,” Bethany said, holding up a hand to silence Christy. “I’m not here to fight. …I’m here to help.”

Jaccie raised an eyebrow. “And we should believe you… why?”

“I set you free, didn’t I?”

Christy frowned. “It’s hard to skewer people with your katana when they’re blocked by a laser wall.”

Bethany smirked. “Okay, not the best proof. How about this…?” she asked, reaching behind the console and dragging out Mab, bound and gagged. Mab’s talons worked tirelessly against the cables holding her captive, but did nothing more than make aggravating noises.

Christy nodded slowly. “Alright… I’m convinced.”

Jaccie shrugged. “And even if you’re not good to stay, you’re helping us out right now, and that’s good enough for me.”

Bethany smiled. “Good. Now, we can leave her in one of the cells while we go get the rest of your League together. We’re going to have to hurry or they’re going to get Brinn and Sarah Kay… I think it’s too late for King Matt and Jake.”

Christy’s eyes narrowed. “Then let’s go.”

Jaccie raised an eyebrow at Christy, disturbed by the normally plucky girl’s sudden change of attitude, but said nothing. So Bethany dragged Mab into one of the cells as Jaccie reconfigured the laser walls so that they could only be deactivated with a password of her own devising. After that, the four of them (Jaccie hoisted the snoozing Jesse over her robotic shoulder since he was still unconscious for some reason) headed for the ship’s exit, running as fast as they could, hoping against hope that they weren’t too late.

********

Sarah Kay looked over at Brinn. He had obviously expended a lot of energy keeping the two of them afloat after their leap from the window, not to mention running through the halls carrying her. He had a small pool of blood beneath him, no doubt from the plate glass stuck in his back. His eyes were slowly opening and closing, as if he was having problems keeping consciousness.

She, however, wasn’t doing so well herself. After Maeve had used her powers on her, she had felt significantly weaker, and that last burst of fire she had sent at the Hunter Sister had significantly drained whatever reserves she had left. Brinn had shielded her from most of the glass from the shattered window, so that she only had a few scratches and shallow cuts on her arms and legs. Her eyes stung from the blood that had been running out of them, and her vision was somewhat cloudy.

She could see the two Hunter Sisters Medea and Medusa working their way down the side of Headquarters, but couldn’t find the energy to move or call for help. She watched helplessly as Medusa leapt from the second story window and stood only a few hundred feet from the two downed Leaguers.

“You two certainly put up a good chase,” Medusa admitted with a cruel smile. “But I’m afraid this little game has come to an end. Good-bye, Leaguers.”

But before she could take a step towards them, the window directly behind her shattered (Sarah Kay suddenly realized just how many windows had been ruined today, and almost winced at the thought of the expenses to fix them all) and a small, metal ball with curved spikes running around it smashed into the back of her head. She fell face-first to the ground as the little spiked ball ran up the side of the building and knocked Medea off the wall. She fell screaming to the ground and landed on her head with a cringe-inducing crack.

The ball rolled over to Sarah Kay, stopping about a foot from her head. The metal plates of the ball suddenly rearranged themselves, and Septroy stood over her.

“Ma’am, this area is no longer secure. I suggest we get you and your companion to a safer location,” squeaked the little robot authoritatively.

“Septroy…?”

“Yes, ma’am, it is. But I must insist you make no more attempts to speak, as the amount of physical stress you have endured in the past few moments have no doubt made that a strenuous task.”

She smiled weakly at the little Septron, and he winked one of his bright blue eyes at her.
“Oh, how sweet,” said a cold voice from behind Sarah Kay. She slowly turned her head to see Maeve standing in the ruined doorway of the HQ, her armor blackened and charred from Sarah Kay’s attack, but with a dark smile despite her condition. “The little robot, back from the dead, to save his little friends. But didn’t I already kill you, you aggravating little machine?”

Septroy turned to face Maeve. “To be completely truthful, Miss, you did nothing of the kind. I simply deactivated myself so that it would appear as if you had overcome my systems and defeated me. Once you were distracted with apprehending the members of the League, however, my systems re-activated, and I moved the Jake Human to a more secure location, tended to his wounds, and then came for these two.”

Maeve’s smile cracked as she curled her lip at Septroy’s response. “Impudent little toy, aren’t you? No matter. I will reduce you to scrap metal, and then I will slaughter the children behind you.”

“Wait,” said another voice. Mab emerged from the woods, followed by Bethany. “Sister, we have a visitor.”

Maeve frowned. “Ah, if it isn’t the little secretary of our employer.”

“You mean my employer,” Mab corrected.

Maeve rolled her eyes. “Whatever… what is it, Beth?”

Bethany’s face contorted as if she wanted to say something rude, but restrained herself. “It’s Bethany,” she said coldly. “And I have a message for you.”

“And that is…?”

“I would duck if I were you,” Bethany replied with a wide grin.

Maeve cocked her head to the side in confusion as Jaccie leapt from the woods and loosed a few energy bolts from her arm cannon. The bolts slammed into Maeve’s chest, sending her flying back through the doorway into the ruined foyer.

Mab smiled as her armor and skin began to shimmer with a blue light, and melted away, leaving Christy standing in her place.

“Thank you, Brinn,” she said as she ran towards him and Sarah Kay.

No… problem… Brinn’s voice said weakly in her head. She smiled at him as he slowly opened his eyes. Wasn’t that hard to do… It’s not like I have pieces of glass stuck in my back and just tried to fly…

Christy rolled her eyes. “He’s bleeding profusely and still he’s sarcastic.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jaccie said with a grin. “His condition just gives him another excuse to hate life.”

Brinn tried to glare at her, but found it took to much effort, so he settled for simply saying, Shut up… you… whore…
Jaccie was about to respond when Maeve stepped back out of the Headquarters. She was massaging her neck as Medusa and Medea suddenly stood up as well. Medusa centered her helmet as Medea snapped her neck back into place. Morgan suddenly came around the side of the building, electricity running along the length of her arms.

Maeve smirked. “Get yourself out of this situation, children.”

Christy stood up as Jaccie aimed her arm cannon, Bethany drew her katanas, Jesse ignited his Lightracquet and Septroy drew his Septro-Pistols. The five standing Leaguers (and Bethany and Septroy) surrounded Brinn and Sarah Kay, since in their current states they would be no help to anyone, and were in definite need of protection.

“Don’t mind if we do,” Jaccie and Christy said in unison. Christy giggled in spite of the situation.

Maeve took a step towards them, but there was a blur of motion behind her, and suddenly she was on the ground. She looked around her, but saw nothing. Another blur zipped past Morgan, and she was sent flying into the side of the HQ. The two remaining Hunter Sisters spun around frantically, trying to find their attacker.

Suddenly, Jake appeared at Christy’s side. His face was no longer covered in blood, though he looked quite a bit paler than before, and his eyes had dark circles beneath them.

“Hey, honey. What’d I miss?” he said cheerfully, kissing Christy on the cheek.

Christy, completely baffled by the fact that her boyfriend whom she had assumed was pretty much dead was now standing right next to her, stood there speechless. After a moment, however, she let out a squeak of excitement and threw her arms around Jake, knocking him to the ground.

“You’re okay!”

Jake smiled. “Surprised? I wouldn’t allow myself to be outlived by you silly Asians, that’s all.”

“Then you’ll have no problems watching her die first,” hissed Maeve as she lifted herself off of the ground.

“Not today,” came a voice from behind her. Maeve spun around to see King Matt standing behind her, Pocky Sword in hand.

Maeve cursed loudly. “How is that everyone we’ve killed today is still alive?! Medusa, I gave you one tiny assignment, and you couldn’t even-”

“It’s not her fault!” Medea snapped, stepping towards Maeve. “Her snakes bit him, and he should have been paralyzed.

“Oh, I was,” King Matt interjected. “Septroy, however, got in contact with a friend of mine by the name of iDoe, and she sent a few Septrons with some antidote to your sister’s paralysis toxins. Actually, speaking of iDoe, I believe she was sending some reinforcements…”

No sooner had King Matt said this then there was a blinding flash of light, and there was another person standing in the midst of the ensemble of Leaugers and Hunter Sisters. Michael Macbeth looked around him as if slightly unsure of how he had gotten there.

Brinn raised an eyebrow from his place on the ground. Michael…?