After a bit of a hiatus, we're back!
The heroes come together at Moonlight's lair and talk about their strategy. They aren't sure where the glove that Pyre made will take them. They know it'll take them to the matching glove, and probably to Ilijah Intrepid, but since they don't know where he is they don't quite know what to expect. Pyre is pissed and wants to go in fighting, but Jade Eagle and Moonlight favor a more discreet approach. The heroes review the security footage from their fight with Intrepid, and Jade Eagle notes that he has multiple gadgets and artifacts from various times and cultures, including a weird amulet and a dagger strapped to his back. An EMP might short some of his weapons, but not all.
They use the glove and all vanish, reappearing at the Four Corners Monument. Nothing untoward seems to be going on; they see tourists and school groups and the like. The civilians start pointing and taking pictures; Jade Eagle jumps into crowd control mode, while Pyre changes into air and surveys the area. Moonlight steps back and looks for anything out of the ordinary, but doesn't see anything - if Intrepid is here, he's hiding. Pyre looks for anyone who's not shocked by their appearance, and spots a man in sunglasses. He talks with the man briefly, but learns that the guy is blind (hence the dog next to him).
Jade Eagle has people go about their business and looks around, and spots a man at a vending machine. In the reflection, she sees an amulet hanging off his belt - the one she saw in the video footage earlier. She points this out, and Pyre springs into action, changing into electricity and attacking.
Intrepid, however, is prepared. He flips out his amulet and absorbs Pyre. Jade Eagle fires her eyebeams at him to try and fry his devices, but Intrepid reflects the blast back at her and throws her into a crowd of people. Moonlight stretches out his hand and grabs the amulet away from him. Intrepid speaks a quick incantation and the amulet release Pyre, but Moonlight has time to point the thing up and avoid getting zapped.
Intrepid walks forward and stands in the center of the monument, but Jade Eagle swoops in to block him. She tries to talk him down, but realizes that he has no remorse about any of this and asking for help just wouldn't have occurred to him. Pyre swoops over and stands next to her, but just then they hear helicopters. Two transports with AEGIS markings are heading in.
Intrepid sighs, reaches up with both hands, and spins a ring on each hand. He throws whirlwinds up, catching the copters and spinning them out of control. Jade Eagle flies off and catches one, pulling it down to land safely. Pyre changes back into wind and catches the other, but in landing, gets caught up in the rotors and cut to pieces (don't worry, he's fine, just has to reconfigure). Intrepid pulls the device he stole from Pyre out of his coat and starts fiddling with it.
Moonlight, meanwhile, draws on his shadowy powers and telekinetically yanks the device in Intrepid's hands. Intrepid touches a button a wristband and grows strong enough to resist, but Jade Eagle, flying into battle with the AEGIS folks, eye-lasers his wristband. It explodes, but causes enough of a backblast to knock the agents and her down. The device flies out of Intrepid's hands over to Moonlight. Intrepid turns to Moonlight and says that it doesn't much matter - "Execute the order." FLICKER's voice comes from the device, confirming it.
Pyre swoops back in, pissed, and fires his foam-gun, freezing Intrepid to the spot. But the device activates, and Intrepid and the device start to vanish. Moonlight taps into his power again and follows the device, and all four of them vanish and reappear...in the Place Between.
The ship is still there, held up by rocky tendrils. Pyre sees Intrepid standing in front of it, a tear rolling down his face. "Finally," he whispers. Pyre, however, does not care about his emotions. He flies over and grabs Intrepid by the neck, intending to slam his head into the ship.
Moonlight, not wanting Pyre to get out of control, siphons vitality from both Intrepid and Pyre. Intrepid falls unconscious, and a device on his belt covers him in an opalescent putty kind of substance. Pyre is conscious, but slightly weakened (Moonlight just wanted him to chill out). Jade Eagle appears as well, and Pyre tries to get the ship open. FLICKER tells him, however, that her programming has been compromised by Intrepid.
Pyre tries to talk her through it, but she is still struggling. And then, all of this disruption of the Place Between gains some attention - Ghostheart appears.
He tells them to get out. They all agree that they'd love to, maybe he could send them out and they'll never come back? Ghostheart seems like he's considering it, but then Intrepid wakes up and says that he just wants to escape this dimension (by which he means the one the characters live in, it seems). Ghostheart refuses to help him, and Intrepid isn't interested in asking nicely. Ghostheart, finally fed up, throws down green-white fire, and all four of them vanish.
Pyre and Jade Eagle appear in space, amidst a bunch of asteroid. Pyre still has the device that allows him to talk to FLICKER, but she's still not able to respond correctly.
Moonlight, meanwhile, has reappeared back in a cemetery in Halcyon City. Ilijah Intrepid is there, too, and makes his position clear - he's planning on getting back to the "Multitudes" and stealing and plundering his little heart out. He has no particular regard for other beings; if someone dies decades from now of a disease or today because Ilijah kills them and takes their stuff, what difference, in the scheme of things?
Moonlight, of course, does not agree with this philosophy, but before he can really argue, Intrepid points out an incoming fireball. At the center of it is Sol, and she doesn't look friendly.
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