RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Vanguard Europe #1: On the Job

"Come in! Come in! Is anyone there?" the crackling voice shouted from the radio speaker. Its electronic tune echoed in the empty bridge. The view from the forward window ran across the deck of the large cargo ship. Ice hung off the rails and covered the deck. Instead of the deep blue of the ocean, beyond the hull lay a wasteland of white. The ship was incased in a prison of thick ice. Inside, the radio still called out with no one replying.

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Paris, France

Adem Different stood on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. He looked out over the City of Lights. {Adem, Paragon has put out the notification.} The AI broke the silence and serenity of the moment. Adem turned his arm and looked at the forming screen on his wrist. {Vanguard Europe's first client is scheduled for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. He wants everyone there for debriefing. I have taken the liberty of booking you on the next train to Munich.}

The alien turned his arm back around and continued to look out over the city scene. After a moment, he turned and began to decend the stairs.

Munich, Garmany, 6:00 AM

Penny was already up. She was in her apartment kitchen, wearing nothing but a pink chemise and slippers. Oscar was rubbing her ankles, hoping she would open his can of tuna faster. Like any other multi-tasker, Penny was also putting her contacts in, buttering her muffen, and fixing her coffee.

"Stop crying, Oscar, here's your breakfast. I haven't even eaten mine yet."

Penny mentally reread the files from the e-mail she recieved that morning. Her meta powers gave her the abilty to access anything digital. But Penny always had a hard time explain how her powers worked. She was about to read text, but not in the same way one reads from a computer screen or a book. It was more like thinking of some recent memory.

"Let's see...Paragon's client should be there at around two in the afternoon...I'll need to order lunch for everyone..."

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Drake was dressed in his old NightWatch uniform with his helmet tucked under his arm. He looked straight forward and smiled broadly as he began speaking. "Hi. I'm Drake Marshall. When I protected the people of Milwaukee as NightWatch, my greatest ally was Blackburn Information Systems. It didn't matter if it was a natural disaster, an alien invasion or a supervillain like Jonas Cascade. Blackburn information Systems are up to any challenge..."

"CUT!"

Drake threw his head back and groaned "Oh, man! What is it this time?"

The director walked over to him. "There was a stage hand in the shot."

"Uh, sorry." Said the stagehand sheepishly.

"OK, we need to reset a few things. I'll call you back to the set when we're ready."

Drake walked over to where his wife Jessica was standing "You know, this wasn't what I had in mind when you said I'd have to make up joining Vanguard Europe to you in a way that involved me having superhuman endurance."

Jessica smiled wickedly "That was the idea."

"You're lucky you're cute enough to get away with being so mean."

"It's a gift."

Drake was about to put his arm around her when his pager went off. "Aww, what now?" He read the display "Looks like we've got a mission." Drake leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then he smiled broadly again. "I'm so sorry I can't keep filming this commercial."

"Yeah, right." She sighed and then went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Better get going"

"See ya. Love you!" Drake shouted as he ran off.

"I love you too." She called after him and then added under her breath. "You big goof."

The director panicked as he saw Drake go. "Wait! Where's he going?"

"To save the world. I just hope he remembers to wash off the makeup first."

"Paragon, I do remember saying to you that I would fight with Vanguard whenever you called. But I imagined you would give me more than a seven-hour warning."

Doc Paragon smiled. Lykopis and he were standing in the main hall alone. The Amazon was wearing her battle armor. Since it was chilly in Germany, it was her winter gear. Which meant she wore a massive wolf-hide coat in addition to the corset and girdle. Even the leather boots were lined with fur. "I am sorry, dear Lykopis. But I would advise you to get use to it."

Lykopis frowned, but she did not seemed truly bothered or irritated. "I think," continued Paragon, "you have the capacity to adapt well."

Lykopis was looking at Penny's desk. "Yes. I have found myself making more changes in the past year than in the past decade." She picked up a framed photo. "Hmmm...she did strike me as a cat person." She spoke louder so Paragon could hear her. "Honestly...why did you pick me? What could you possibly see in me?"

"You struck me as very independent--"

"Which is why I am called a castrating bitch behind my back."

"I wasn't finished, Lykopis. You use to be part of one of the greatest armies History can recall. And you were one of their champions.

"Now sing to me, Calliope*, fair-voiced Muse,
Of Athena's beloved
Lykopis, who sung as she slayed.
Artimis blessed this she-wolf,
Giving her long life.
How she bays at the door of men,
Dragging them to the street,
drinking their lifeblood in the evening.
Whilst she laughed
And drew her bow across the sky,
Sisters, mothers, daughters,
Fell one by one.

But look now, Melpomene**!
How the wolf must hunt alone,
And sleep alone!
Shut in her cave,
Seeking no challenger,
Waiting to be greated by
Persephone***, pale Bride of Hades.

"Are you surprised I knew this old poem? Etched on the foot of a statue of Artemis and a wolf. I read that poem on a trip to Rome. And I heard of Merlin's Lykopis and put two-and-two together. And I thought to myself 'this is a sort of girl that needs to be on a team, otherwise, she's unhappy. Vanguard is just what the doctor ordered."

Lykopis laughed. "It was mistranslated. I did not 'sing as I slayed'. I know this sounds very stupid nowadays, but I...use to howl. I suppose when one does not have access to cable or a phone, seeing a girl covered in blood with a sword and howling is rather frightful."

"What was it like? Being an Amazon and everything."

Lykopis raised and eyebrow and looked thoughtful. "Pretty much what you have read in the books. We pillaged. Destroyed towns. Leveled cities. Sometimes I think we wasted our powers. Imagine if we had used our deathlessness to better our countrymen.

"But I was young and stupid then. I only cared about the killing. That is why they called me Lykopis. I always worshipped Artemis in my own manner, and I wanted to name myself after one of her creatures.

"Do you know why I don't warm up to anyone? Paragon...I have seen people I loved bleed and die. I am the last of my kind. What is the point of making friends? I outlive all of them."

Doc Paragon smiled. "I would watch my back if I were you, Lykopis."

The Amazon didn't return the smile. "In what way?"

Now Paragon was laughing. At least his laughter wasn't annoying like Merlin's. "You are well on your way to growing a heart."

Lykopis was going to say something mean when Drake entered the room. "Boy. Danny would freak if he saw that coat."



*Muse of epic poetry
**Muse of tragedy
***Hades kidnapped his wife from her mother, Demeter

"You look tired, Mr. Marshall," Penny said as Drake drug himself through the front door.

"I flew in the private jet all the way from Wisconson," he informed her as he took the hot mug of coffee that she was offering.

Adem walked in through the doors. "Where have you been?" Penny asked him. "We were expecting you back yesterday."

"Paris is full of history and culture," Adem responded. "I found it all too fascinating to leave immediately, so I took a later train."

"Paragon has been waiting for you. He's in his office."

"Thank you, Penny. Good morning Drake. Is that make-up you're wearing?" Adem turned on his heels and walked down the hall to Paragon's office.

Drake looked a Penny for a second. "I think I'll go wash up."

The naked wild woman paced back and forth in the small, metal cage. Blood covered her mouth and lips, dripping down her body. She touched the bars of the cage and was reppelled violently from them. She hissed loudly in pain. She knew they were enjoying this. The dark eyes which watched her from afar. The tormentors who constantly hounded her and her husband.

"Lauren Spector."

The voice was cold, emotionless. The owner of said was standing directly in front of her, she realized. She had not detected anyone. Why could she not see-the shadows. The shadows were many in this place.

"You are a wild animal. You are in the last moments of your life. You do not deserve to breathe the air on Earth, nor see the light of day. You shall disappear from this world and never reappear in it again. The shadows will envelop you and in the last moments of existence, you will find time to repent your beastial life."

"In accordance with the laws of the inhabitants of the Twilight Realms, I, the Shadow Chancellor, representative of the Unseelie Congress, find you guilty of treason, murder, collusion, and much more."

Edmund Gaunt, the Shadow Chancellor, stepped forward out of the darkness, his hands upraised. Dark patches of shadow matter formed around his hands, tendrils growing outwards as malevolent shapes took form. Lauren Spector hissed and screamed as the shadow beasts devoured her alive as her cage vanished back into the darkness from which it was born.

Gaunt turned to face the indistinct forms of the Congressional gathering. "What of the other Spector, the husband?" One of them asked.

"I have not yet uncovered his location." Gaunt answered still showing no emotion.

"Is this case become too much for your vaunted abilities to handle?" Another Congressional asked.

"I have been the Shadow Chancellor for over six hundred years. I have yet to encounter a case I could not handle." He answered curtly, his manner betraying the first sign of emotion he'd shown in a long while.

"Very well, bring Spector to us. He will face the Tribunal. So mote it be." And with that, the Congress retreated into darkness.

Gaunt sidestepped into a nearby shadow, disappearing only to reappear in an alley adjacent to a busy London street. It was then that his cellphone went off. "Gaunt." He answered, fishing it out of his coat pocket.

"Edmund, you're late." Paragon's voice chided him over the line.

"Am I?" he said, stepping out of a dark corner of Paragon's office as Drake Marshall walked through the door, toweling off his face.

Berlin, Germany...

Above Berlin, Germany actually...

Icarus Sidewinder soared blissfully over the city of Berlin, soaking up the sun through the open visor of his helmut. His father had told him to warm up (and reacquaint himself) with the auxiliary jetpack while he continued to work on the primary. Though Icarus was a bit put off by the prospect of flying the lesser pack, given his lack of other acceptable options, he had no other choice. And, while this pack was not quite as fast or maneuverable, it was able to suit his purposes fine.

A beeping noise within his helmut interrupted his up-'til-now peaceful flight as Icarus rolled his eyes and quickly pressed a button on his chest console. Almost immediately, Icarus' breathing apparatus deployed from his pack, which the pilot detached and placed over his face. Sidewinder, however, was not short of oxygen. Rather, he was receiving a phone call.

"Sidewinder," he almost sighed into the microphone located within his breathing apparatus.

"Icarus, it's Paragon." The voice of Doctor William Paragon entered the pilot's ears through the speakers mounted in the sides of his helmut.

"William!" Icarus called, seemingly elated to hear from his friend and employer. "What an unexpected surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Unexpected?" came Paragon's dubious reply. "Did you not receive the page I sent you nearly twenty minutes ago?"

Icarus laughed in spite of himself. "Of course, I did! I merely wanted to test my equipment before heading to Munich. That is alright, yes?"

Paragon's reply was immediate and decisive. "You can test your equipment on your own time," he answered, his tone a touch scolding. "Right now, we have a client requesting your presence alongside your teammates. Understood?"

"Crystal, William!" Icarus said, smiling as if at some private joke he'd just told himself. "I'm over Berlin at the moment in the secondary pack. I should be about ten minutes, okay?"

"The rest of the team is waiting, Icarus."

"Ta, William!" Icarus answered, severing the connection. Then, sliding his visor down, he began to accelerate, veering in the direction of Munich...

Twenty minutes later...

Paragon sat at the head of the meeting table, drumming his fingers against the dark wood surface rhythmically. The other members of Vanguard Europe sat around the table, displaying varying degrees of boredom.

Edmund Gaunt's mind flowed back to his earlier dealings that morning almost as an involuntary impulse. Drake Marshall kept rubbing at his face, making sure he'd gotten all the make-up off. Adem Different rechecked his figures, trying to acertain how long it should take for someone traveling from Berlin at Icarus' speed to arrive in Munich. Lady Lykopis kept squelching the urge to tackle the next thing that moved in the room as she fought her boredom probably harder than anyone else in the room realized. And, Link Fox - who'd just arrived a few minutes earlier - was wondering to himself why he hadn't bought that extra croissant.

"Hey, everyone!" came a voice from the doorway. The entire team looked over to see Icarus Sidewinder standing in the doorway, dressed in form-fitting designer jeans, a vintage t-shirt, aviator sunglasses, and Converse high-tops. His hair, as always, was perfectly coiffed. He wore a black duffel bag slung over his shoulder and carried his jetpack's carrying case in his hand.

Dumping his 'luggage' on the floor, he turned around the seat next to Edmund Gaunt and sat down, clapping the man on the back. "Hey, Perry! How's it going?" The Shadow Chancellor glowered as his face seemed to become more shadowed than usual.

"Icarus..." Paragon began. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, right," Icarus said, laughing a bit. "That. Well, I arrived ten minutes ago, like I said, but I can't sit very long in my flight suit, so I had to change out... obviously. And, then, I realized that I had the worst case of helmut hair you've ever seen which my vanity simply cannot allow!" He shook his head a bit with a flourish as he made that last point. "So... yes. Sorry, everyone."

Everyone stared at the pilot blankly. Then, Drake Marshall leaned in to the person next to him. "Dang, this guy's way more effeminate than Lyko--" Marshall stopped short and his eyes widened when he realized that he was talking to the She-Wolf herself. The Amazon arched an eyebrow, as though daring him to finish. Drake gulped audibly. "--pis..." he finished weakly.

"Is that so?" the warrior said. "And this from a man who does not know how to wash his make-up off properly?"

Drake swore silently to himself, pulling a mirror out of his pocket and checking his face again for any cosmetic remnants that might still be lurking.

"Alright," Paragon said, rising from his seat. "Now that everyone's finally arrived..." He shot a glance over at Icarus, who was obliviously chuckling at Drake. "...we can begin."

The painting shifted to an image of the Atlantic Ocean. Its focus was on the upper part of that body of water, above Greenland and Norway. "Our client is a shipping company out of Norway," Paragon began. "They became concerned when one of their ships did not return to port in Trondheim. Using GPS satellites, they discovered that the vessel had veered far out of the shipping lanes." Yellow lines ran back and forth from Greenland to Norway. A large red dot began to blink far above them.

"So," Icarus said in sheer boredom, "the boat is floating in the middle of the ocean. What's the problem?"

Paragon continued with the voice that accentuated the information Icarus had been too impatient to hear. "The ship is actually frozen and immobile. The occurrence is not uncommon. Normal protocol in this situation would be for an icebreaker ship to be sent to extract the trapped vessel. The problem is that all attempts at radio contact from the company itself and other vessels have gone unanswered. They fear foul play."

"What was the cargo?" Adem asked.

"According to the company's lawyer, prawns."

"Prawns?" Marshall let out in confusion. "You mean...... shrimp? It was a boatload of shrimp?" Paragon nodded in answer. "Who would want that much shrimp?"

"Someone throwing a really big party," Link Fox replied.

"Where is this lawyer?" Lykopis demanded of Paragon.

"Penny is assisting him with our paperwork in my office."

"I would like to question him. I know how to make sure he tells us the truth. The whole truth."

"I'm sure you do," Paragon's voice became authoritative as he motioned for the Amazon to keep her seat. "Rest assured that I have spoken with him in length about this case as well as done my own research into the matter. I also consider myself a good judge of character. With all those facts taken into consideration, I can state with the utmost confidence that he is in fact telling us the truth as he knows it." William now turned his attention back to the rest of the group. "After all prawns are the largest export of Greenland."

"The concern comes for many reasons. The company is involved with other industries of Norway including petroleum and whaling. This has made them a target for eco-terrorists in the past. They are also unraveled by the growing number of incidents involving extremist metas that have sprung up globally since the seizure of Manhattan. For those reasons we have been hired to go in first to assess the situation. Our clients will then act based upon our findings.

"Prepare yourselves. You leave in thirty minutes for Norway. From there you will be transported via helicopter to the ship. It is unsafe for the chopper to land on the ice, so you will be lowered to the ship's deck. It will remain on standby on an oil platform, but extraction will take close to an hour and a half. Keep this in mind before taking an actions, and dress for cold weather."

"Here is everyone's plane tickets," said Penny as she passed them out to each member. Vanguard Europe found themselves hanging around Penny's desk in the lobby as she presented them all with some folders. "I've also checked to make sure everyone's passports are updated. Mister Different, we had to make special arrangements with you, but everything's in order."

Adem nodded. "I'm still an illegal alien?"

"In most countries, I think so."

<So what does that make me? Illegal programing?>

Penny was use to Jym by now. "You'll be taking a small private jet to Norway. Hovden Airport in the town of Orsta-Volda, to be exact. There, Paragon's helicoptor will be ready to fly. Hope everyone enjoys the trip. I certainly don't get to travel much."

Icarus leaned onto Penny's shoulder. "Hey, you can have my seat, Miss Penny. I'll just fly around outside. I'd love to see you don some skiing outfit."

Penny didn't bat an eyelash. "Mister Paragon predicted you would say something like this. He says you're going to sit next to Lykopis -- that way, she can hit you if you do anything stupid."

Icarus turned around. Lykopis was grinning and fingering one of her blades. She turned look at Paragon, who was entering the main lobby. "Oh," she said to Paragon, "I would do it to."

Icarus shot Lykopis a mean glance. "Kiss ass."

The Amzon just batted her eyes. "Dumbass."

Adem and Drake talked as the VE field team made their way to the plane. "So, what have you been doing with yourself, Adem?"

"Well, I thought it would help me assimilate to earth detective cultures if I learned more about them. So I have been watching shows to learn about how earth detectives work."

"Oh, really. There are some pretty good forensics shows out there right now. Jessica won't watch any, though. She gets queasy looking at all those autopsies. . .What have you mainly been watching?"

"Well, my favorite is Kojak. . .Oh, and Columbo is good as well. . .The Bat-Man and Robin...Ironsides. . .Murder, she wrote. . .I'm learning all their techniques. . .Oh, wait a moment." Adem fished around in his pocket and pulled out a small lollipop as his nanites restructured his clothing into an exact replica of Peter Falk's rumpled Columbo outfit.

"Who loves me, baby?" Adem mumbled with the lollipop still in his mouth and smiled a little too wild smile. Drake unsuccessfully tried to stifle his laughter.

"Adem, you might want to learn a little more from real detectives and less from old tv shows."

The trip to Norway was fairly uneventful. Icarus was highly amused by Adem's impression of Jessica from Murder, She Wrote. Drake read through the mission briefing a few more times. Link was munching on a buscuit while watching The Matrix on a portable DVD player. Guant and Lykopis were both quiet and kept to themselves. Over the years both had learned to appriciate the tranquility before a conflict.

The six heroes landed in Orsta-Volda and departed from the plane. They looked like normal people dressed for some outdoor wintering sport. Drake was in a light gray hooded jacket and darker pants, carrying only his bag of equipment. There were plently of pockets in his suit for electronic gear, and he wore dark goggles to sheild from the wind and snow. Lykopis marched behind him. Her corset was mostly hidden behind her fur coat. There was a faint jingle jingle from the metal of her weapons hitting each other underneath the fur. Icarus followed them out next. He was wearing his usual flight gear. The cold air was not too different from the cold experienced at higher altitudes. Adem's nanites formed a better insulating coat than his Columbo outfit. He found it amusing to watch his breath condense in the cold mountain air. Edward Guant look as cheerful as a grave as he marched off the plane. The low temperature did not seem to affect him as much as it did the others. Last but not least, Link Fox exited the jet, carrying a large cappacino and wearing a blue winter hiking outfit.

Drake found himself glancing at Link. He didn't bring any weapons. He doesn't seem to have any powers. Why did we bring him?

Lykopis spoke up, and Drake turned his attention to her. "Well, Paragon said the helicopter would be ready."

Nearby a massive MI-26 was warming up the engines. Drake took a look at his team and motioned for them to head over to Paragon's private helicopter.

"Sure is roomy," said Icarus. He was right. There was still room for seventy-four more people. "I tell you, Paragon's a funny guy. He's got the goods. All the same, why not join us on the field? He's damn near invincible."

Lykopis provided the first guess. "He has lost a similar group of friends before." She didn't add, "Like me." That is why you have trouble with these guys, do you not? Each of them reminds you of one our your old friends. Drake is very much like Diana in nature and personality. And there is something about Megera that is reflected in Icarus. Adem and Europa share common ground, even if he is a displaced alien.

"He doesn't seem very bothered by their absence," said Adem. "Perhaps he thinks his skills cannot aid in solving the problem."

"It's a lot simplier than that," said Link. Everyone was surprised to hear him talk like that. "Paragon's got tons of crap to do. We're just another business for him." Drake gave a nod. Well, at least he can read people.

Lykopis had taken an interest in Drake's mission briefing. She glanced at the page of the document. "Am I reading that right? What is the name of the ship?"

Drake stopped what he was reading and look to where Lykopis was pointing. "The ship's called The Abaddon." Both Lykopis and Gaunt pricked up their ears when Drake called out the name of the ship. "What of it?"

"Funny."

"Funny?"

Lykopis shrugged. "Not funny-funny. Like odd-funny. I just did not imagine a Norwiegian ship having a Hebrew name like that."

Adem turned to the Amazon. "It is ironic. What does it translate to?"

"It means 'ruin and destruction'."

Drake laughed. "Not exactly something you would name your kid, eh?"

Lykopis shook her head. "I have heard the name before...only once, mind you. The last book of the Christian text--" by this she meant the Bible "--I think it is Revalation. Abaddon was an Angel of God. He guarded the abyss."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then they heard the pilot over the intercom. "Hey guys, we've reached the coordinates. You guys ready to climb down the rope?"

"All right, team, who's fir-" Drake Marshall began as Lykopis brushed past him and began moving down the rope towards the ship. "What are you waiting for?" She called back up.

Drake sighed. "Okay, Gaunt, you're. . .where's Gaunt?" The Vanguards looked about the helicopter and saw no trace of the Shadow Chancellor. "Oh, right. He said he'd meet us on the ship." Link Fox said after a moment.

Drake put a hand to his face. This was not going how he'd imagined.

"Can't let Perry have all the fun." Icarus stated, locking on his flight helmet. "Step back, gents!" Icarus launched out of the doorway and flew downwards to the ship, buzzing past Lykopis.

"How do I get into these things?" Marshall said, after narrowly avoiding being fried by Sidewinder's rocket afterburst.

"You'll do fine, Drake." Adem patted Drake on the back and handed him one of his Kojak lollipops.

"Thanks. Let's get going, shall we?"

The team walked through the ship’s deck.

“Empty,” Drake commented.

“You have a keen eye for the obvious, oh fearless leader...” Icarus immediately said, as if he had been waiting his whole life for an opportunity to say those words.

“It is colder than usual out here...” Adem added. “Maybe the crew is inside trying to keep themselves warm.”

“Let’s go inside, then,” Lykopis said, walking towards a door that led to a cabin. She was the first to reach it, and as she placed her hand on the handle she felt that it was completely frozen even in spite of the gloves she wore. As she moved the handle to open the door, the rest of the team heard a snapping sound.

“What happened?” Link asked.

Lykopis turned back to look at the rest, and showed them the broken handle in her hand.

“Great work, Lykopis!” Icarus said, as he started clapping. “Now how are we gonna...”

Before Sidewiner could finish the phrase, Lykopis turned back towards the door and with a single impulse from her left leg charged against it. The door fell to the floor and the Amazon stood inside the dark cabin.

“...get inside,” Icarus ended. He stood open mouthed watching Lykopis as the rest walked into the cabin.

It was completely dark inside. Link found a light switch next to the door as he walked in, but when he pressed it nothing happened.

“I feel it’s remarkably colder in here,” Edmund said as they walked deeper into the ship, “and the cold doesn’t usually bother me.”

Icarus considered asking Lykopis if being cold all the time bothered her, but he discarded the comment because he couldn’t find a proper way to phrase it to make the joke understandable. It was too cold to think straight.

The team moved around the bridge. Adem and Drake specifically were paying close attention everything around them, looking for something. Anything. Lykopis adjusted her sword to allow her to unsheath it quicker. Icarus Sidewinder shuffled around unhappy with being cooped up inside. He'd rather be flying. "Maybe I should fly around and see if the crew abandoned the ship," he finally spoke up.

"And go where?" Gaunt asked. He seemed to be almost sniffing the air for something. In reality he was using another type of sense that the others didn't possess. "There's nothing but miles of ice all around."

"It's better if we check the ship first," Drake answered while unzipping one of his pockets.

"Maybe a recon flight then," Icarus was anxious.

"We did a fly by before departing the helicopter," Marshall answered. A small two way communicator appeared from his pocket. "I also don't want anyone going off on their own." The young hot-shot's lip twitched as though an aweful taste had been left in his mouth. "This is VE Ground Team to HQ. We're on the bridge. Still no sign of the crew."

"Copy, Ground Team. Maintain open channel. HQ out."

Marshall put away the communicator. "Ok, guys. What do we have so far?"

Adem's hovering light moved back and forth across the instruments of the ship. "The lights aren't the only thing that aren't working. Everything else is down as well. We might find the rest of the ship like this as well."

Edmund brushed ice away from the window. "We're close to a ley line. Energies are bouncing around everywhere."

"And I'm out of Scotch," Link said shaking his flask.

Link Fox turned his flask completely upside down, to reassure himself that he was, indeed, out of scotch. "Maaannn. . .wonder where the galley is on this tub?"

Link found himself briefly blinded as Icarus switched on his helmet lights. "So sorry, Link." Icarus turned his beams towards the hall in front of him.

"Damn, Icarus, can you turn those down a bit?" Drake asked, squinting in the sudden brightness.

"Afraid not, they're for night flying, you know." Icarus stepped forward, deliberately starting to walk faster, as he was becoming greatly impatient with their progress. Or lack thereof.

"All right, we need to find the crew. So we'll split into smaller groups and search different areas of the ship. Adem, go with Icarus. Gaunt, Lykopis, you're together. Link, you're with me. Let's go, crew. And if you find anything unusual, contact us on your communicator." For the first time since joining Paragon's group, Drake was starting to feel a bit of that old Nightwatch persona emerge. It was a good feeling. One he hadn't really felt since taking the desk job with Blackburn. Though he was grateful for his wife's generous nature, which had helped him on numerous occasions, he didn't like feeling beholden to other people. And, the physical activity was doing him a lot of good. He'd missed this.

"And who made you the leader?" Icarus turned, blinding Drake, briefly.

Putting his hand up over his face, Marshall simply answered. "Paragon. Now do your job, Sidewinder."

And with that, the teams split off into the darkness of the ship. . .

"The Abaddon. I was surprised you picked up on the meaning of the name. You show knowledge that I didn't think you possesed, Lady."

Lykopis brushed some dangling cables from her pathway. She and Guant were walking through a dark passageway. Lykopis's eyes were trained to darkness, and Edmund was not hindered by it. In fact, he seemed to be more at home in the darkness than in the light. "I come from a dead culture, an extinct religion. I had to blend in throughout the centuries into whatever society I was hidding in. I took the position of a Jewish shepardess at one time. Only for about a decade -- after ten or twelve years, the old men wonder why my hair did not gray or why I did not marry their sons."

They walked a little further. Lykopis found she wasn't able to lead any longer. She allowed Edmund to pass her so that she could follow. Lykopis heard the sound of his feet faintly, and followed directly behind him.

They made their way to the engine room. It featured a massive engine -- twice as high as Guant -- and several propulsion devices. Lykopis was no longer worried about the lack of light. The eire thing now was the lack of noise. Normally, there would have been a massive roar coming from the gears and a monotone hum from the computer system. Nothing, no sound, but the occasional pat from falling water.

"There's something evil around us."

Pat. Pat. Pat.

Lykopis nodded to herself. "You do not need to be into the paranormal to know that." She took a sniff of the air and sneezed. "The air...that stench..."

Pat. Pet. Pat.

Lykopis recognized the smell. Her thoughts were confirmed when her foot stepped into a puddle. Pat. The liquid was too think to be water. Pat. Something above their head was dripping blood. Pat. "Get on the radio with Drake. Tell him we have found some bodies. I do not think we will find anyone alive on this ship after all."

"Any idea what killed them?" Lykopis asked Guant.

"I can sense their souls were ripped from their mortal bodies and were silenced. They were not just killed, Lady, they were damned. Do you comprehend?"

"I was raised to think that after you die, you cease to exist if no one remembers you." My own fate, eventually. Gaunt nodded. He had forgotten Lykopis was raised in a pre-Christian world where Heaven and Hell had different, more primitive, meanings. "Still, I cannot tell what killed them until we let in a little light. Can you find an auxilery switch somewhere to get the lights working agian?"

Gaunt agreed to help her look, but seemed saddened that the lights would be on. Both combed the walls, hoping to find something that would aid them in powering the room. Lykopis bumped against a massive handle near a still-warm section of the wall. The emergency battery. She pumped the handle three times before a faint hum could be heard. The emergency lights turned on, and even a few computers were online again. The room was not as bright as it would have been under normal circumstances, but it was enough for the Amazon and the Shadow Chancellor to work in. The radio Gaunt was wearing buzzed.

"It's Iracus. Someone turned on the lights?"

"Lykopis and I have turned the emergency power."

"Good. Adem was getting tired of my helmet's gear."

Drake came in to. "Good job you two. Check out the room, tell me if the sailor's...bodies...provide any evidence of what happened."

Lykopis walked towards the nearest one. The chest cavity was ripped open. Ribs were spread outwards, like some recently slaughtered pig. "I think we can find evidence for the cause of death."

"I agree."

Lykopis bent down closer. She placed her hand around one of the exposed ribs. "The bones are shattered. The flesh is torn. Something...something bit him..."

This casual observation alerted Gaunt. It reminded him of some old memory, some trivial fact deep in his mind. His senses became more hightened.Now, I know what to look for! "Yes...I can see his footsteps...I even know the order in which he killed...yes...yes...Lykopis, ready your sword."

Lykopis actually grinned as she pulled her sword from its sheath. "Yes, enough with the talking and thinking part!" She looked at Gaunt for a moment, puzzled. "So what did this?"

"Not what, but who. Lord Asbjorn, the demon bear-hound, has been awakened. We need to start running...now!"

Lykopis ran as light and as swift as a deer in spring while Edmund followed behind, skipping between shadows and slipping past slivers of lights. All along the walls were dark lines from the blood of the dead men. "Bear-hound?" she gasped, trying to speed up. "Gaunt? What manifestation of Ceberes is this?"

"You're not too far off," said Gaunt, in speech unaffected by the running. "You spend a lot of time in Norway, Amazon?"

"More than I intended," she replyed back. "Damn cold. Why?"

"Asbjorn is a hellhound. He is mentioned in epic poems and songs as some son of Fenrir."

"I recognize that name," shouted Lykopis, still running along the corridors. "Fenrir was the demon that took the form of a giant wolf. He was strong enough to challenge the gods, before they chained him below the earth. At the end of the world he will break from his prison and devour Odin, king of the Norse gods." Lykopis thought for a moment. "It has been a while since I have battle a creature like this. Too long. I should have brought a bigger sword."

"We need to find the others. Asbjorn is as large as a bear and much stronger than one. We can't fight him alone."

Icarus turned off his helmet light while pocketing his radio. "Well, you heard it here first. Miss S&M and Captain Creepy turned the juice back on."

"I heard," Adem said squatting down across the room.

Icarus craned his head, trying to get a look. "What do you have over there?"

The alien stood as much as he could without bumping his head against the ceiling. "One of the crew," he answered.

Sidewinder walked over and tried to hold his lunch down when he saw the corpse. "Loo...ks..... like..... the firrrrrrrst mate," he managed to stumble out without vomiting. He quickly moved back once he noticed he was standing in a pool of blood.

"This," Adem began, "frightens me."

Icarus could swear that his teammate didn't sound frightened at all. "Yeah. What kills a man like that?"

Different moved over to the young pilot. "It's not the means of death that frightens me. It's what has happened since. Or, should I say, hasn't happened." The young man looked puzzled. "Icarus, we are in sub-zero temperatures." Icarus Sidewinder could feel that the alien detective wanted him to say something right now, but didn't know what. Adem's face moved closer to his, too close by most cultural standards. "Why is it that the blood has yet to freeze?"

"I knew that," he said while backing away from Adem. "I just wanted to see if you were all that you're supposed to be. That's all."

"Really? Then what is the next obvious question?" Once again there was a long silence. Icarus felt a little creeped out by the smile that now crossed the alien's face as he spoke again. "How did Drake know there were bodies?"

"Lykopis told......... She didn't mention the bodies," Icarus's realization echoed in the air around him. Adem, with the same creepy smile, shook his head. "That wasn't Drake?"

"Possibly not," Different responded. "We had better go check in on our friends." The two turned and walked out of the room. "Congragulations, Icarus. Today you had the first of hopefully many profound toughts."

Icarus and Adem continued moving throughout the ship, Adem's cautious eyes darting this way and that. Icarus, trying desperately to get the image of the slaughtered sailor out of his head, turned to Adem.

"You never answered my question," he said to the alien. "What kills a man like that?"

"Myself, I have encountered several things that can kill like that," Adem said, almost off-handedly. "Some even more deadly. None, however, hear that... smell."

Icarus sniffed the air. "You're right..." he muttered to himself. "What is that?"

"I can't say," Adem said. "It is, however, beginning to get stronger as we continue along this course."

Icarus reached down and pulled his firearm from his side. He shot a glance over at Adem. "You know, if you've got a weapon, now would be a good time to pull it out..."

"I'll be fine," Adem said as the two continued along. As they walked, the smell grew stronger and more defined.

"Geez," Icarus muttered, grimacing furiously. "It's like onions and ozone..."

"Sulfur," Adem said knowingly. "There's a faint hint of sulfur..."

Turning the corner, Adem and Icarus came face-to-face with a mound of brown fecal matter.

"Oh my..." Icarus turned around, heaving his breakfast on the floor behind him. Adem, in the meantime, studied the shit with a wary eye.

"This," he said, pointing at the mound that took up the better part of the corridor, "likely came from whatever killed the first mate."

"So?" Icarus said, wiping his mouth. "It's a pile of shit! We've gotta find a way to go around it."

"No," Adem said as his nanites formed a latex glove on his arm. "We look for clues."

And, with that, Adem plunged his hand into the mass, searching for anything helpful he could find.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Icarus choked. "...again..."

Gaunt and Lykopis raced through the shadows, Gaunt's mind working feverishly, while Lykopis just wanted something to fight, to kill, to keep her mind off of the recent tragedies she'd suffered.

"The energy bouncing around. . .a carnivorous beast. . .massive cold and frost. . .the bodies still warm. . ." Gaunt's voice carried and then dropped as he moved from shadow to shadow. Lykopis could only make out a fraction of what he was saying.

"Gaunt, slow down! What are you saying? Where is this demon bear creature?"

"Did Marshall sound. . .off. . .to you?" Gaunt paused and turned back towards the amazon. "We did not mention the bodies, how did he know of them?"

Lykopis stopped suddenly. "Do you think this Lord Asbjorn has taken them?"

"I do not know. I--" Gaunt stopped and tilted his head at a slight angel. "Listen. . ."

From the distance came a shrill, high pitched whistling, an almost undulating, inhuman tone to it's pitch.

Lykopis gripped her sword handle. "What is that. . .?" She asked quietly.

"I am a fool." Gaunt answered. Leaning back against the wall, the Vanguards listened for the whistling. "I thought only of our location, I was not looking at what actually was happening."

"Gaunt, what are you saying, you're making no sense." Lykopis' hand shook slightly as it rested on her blade.

"There are legends of these beings across the world. In Nepal, they are known as Yeti. In Ireland, the Grey Man, in North America, Sasquatch or Wendigo. If the whistling begins again, cover your ears."

"But why?"

"The stench of evil that hangs off of these beasts is powerful. Gloom, despair, and madness will overtake your mind, and you will fall victim to them. They are also shapeshifters. We are all in great danger."

"Do you think they've captured Drake and Link?"

"I fear. . .that is exactly what has happened. . ."

The conversation stopped as the whistling began again.

"Gaunt. . .Gaunt, stop!" Lykopis was attempting to catch his attention without alerting whatever was doing the whistling.

"What if you weren't wrong the first time?"

"How do you mean?" Gaunt looked over at the Amazon, as a normal person would if they were looking over their glasses. His glasses however, did not move.

"What if there is a hellhound here, and these Wendigo as well? What if there is something. . .more. . .at work here than what we've seen so far?"

The Amazon continued, "You said these things can cause madness. . .that we might be affected by them?"

"Yes. . ." The Shadow Chancellor answered, grasping her point, yet allowing her room to finish it.

"How do you know we have not already been affected by them?"

****************

Outside the ship, walking across the vast plain of ice, several hairy, forms made their way towards the ship. They were easily eight feet tall. Wind and snow slightly obscured them from the vision of any who might see them. Were there anyone around to see them, that is.

Upon reaching the ship, they cocked their heads to the side, as if listening for something. Within moments, several of them leaned their heads back began whistling, various repetitions of the eerie, inhuman undulating sounds heard by Gaunt and Lykopis earlier. As if they were answering a call.

*******************

Within the cargo hold of the ship, something ate away at the entrails of another crew member of the ship. Something that seemed a man, or a wolf, or a bear. Or some horrible combination of all three. Turning away from it's meal, it's ears perked up as saliva and blood trickled from between it's lips. A low growl began to rise in it's throat as the sounds of the bizarre, inhuman whistling reached it's ears.

Drake opened his eyes, but didn't see anything. The last thing he remembered was walking in the darkness with Link. Now everything was even darker. At first he thought he was lying on the floor, but slowly he realized that the cold surface that touched his back was actually a wall. He couldn't move his hands or feet. Something, he didn't know what, was keeping them bound to the wall.

He could hear a strange continuous noise... a machine? No, something like an animal. It sounded like a dog eating. A very big dog.

As Drake's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see a faint light coming from under a closed door to his right, and two bodies moving directly in front of him. One of them looked like a big dog, indeed... and the other one, that stood still against a wall as the dog moved in front of it, looked human. Except it had no arms. The dog was eating from the man.

"LINK!" Drake yelled, as he realized what was going on in front of him. The eating sound stopped, and Drake saw two inhuman eyes looking at him from the darkness, and realized the dog had turned towards him. The eyes grew big incredibly quickly, and Drake could suddenly feel and hear the dog's breath very close to his face.

But that wasn't what terrified Drake the most. Even as the dog smelled him from head to toe, Drake kept his view locked on he armless form of it's previous victim on the wall front of him. He needed to know if it was Link or not. He didn't care what Link's contract with Vanguard said, he wasn't going to let him die. And as he watched the injured body, he saw the impossible happen.

The body, in spite of its condition, stood up and started walking towards Drake and the dog. But the most surprising part was yet to come. As the man walked, Drake saw his arms grow back in a matter of seconds.

The man picked up something from the floor (maybe a piece of wood, maybe a tube), and smashed the dog in the head with it. The dog turned to face the man, who quickly moved around it, positioning himself to Drake's right. The dog moved as well, always keeping the man in front of itself, and stood prepared to attack to Drake's left.

The dog threw itself against the man, who, clearly prepared for this movement, got out of the way, making the dog crash with the door to Drake's right. The door was knocked down, as the man had predicted, sending the dog outside the room and serving as a temporary distraction.

The light coming from the hall outside flooded the dark room and illuminated the bare chested man that now stood in front of Drake. His arms were paler than the rest of his body.

"You grew your arms back..." Drake said.

"Not for nothing," Link Fox replied with a strange grin, "they called me The Worm."

"You'll have to explain that to me later," Drake said, still attached by hands and feet to the wall. "Get me out of here before that thing comes back!"

Link used the metal tube he hit the hound with the try to break the hardened goo substance (or at least he hoped it was goo) that held Drake. Only now that Link was closer to him, Drake noticed that he had a short beard, and that his now messy grey hair was a little longer than before.

"One down, three to go," Link said as he freed Drake's left hand, right before he was tackled down by the returning hound. As Link got pinned to the floor, Drake used his free hand to reach for something on his back...

Link stared into the dog's open snout before a cloud of it's breath blinded him. But instead of biting him, the dog let out a growl of pain and jumped to the side, letting go of Link. From the floor, Link saw Drake holding a bloody sword.

"The dog seems to be afraid of your little knife..." Link said as he got on his feet. The hound had moved to the room's corner and stared at the sword without making one movement.

"Well, it's no ordinary sword," Drake replied. "Jesus, look at that thing. What is it?"

"Looks like a hellhound..." Link said, as he approached the terrified dog and bended to take a closer look. Link was taken by surprise when the dog made an impossible leap and landed behind Link and Drake, proceeding to run outside the door. The Vanguardians ran to the door, but when they looked at the long hall in front of them there was no sign of the creature.

"Damn," Drake said. "I hope there aren't any more of those things..."

"Why? We have your sword to scare them away..."

"I don't it was the sword what scared it, but it's cut. If we run into more than a couple of those things we'll in troubles. I'm gonna..." Drake reached for his communicator. "Shit."

"What?"

"My communicator. It's gone."

Link felt his pocket. "Mine too."

"We're completely incommunicated. That can't be a coincidence. The dogs don't seem smart enough to do something like that."

"You think something else took over the ship?" Link asked.

"Something smart. As if the helldogs weren't enough..." Drake started walking through the hall. "This is definetely gonna be a tough one."

Link followed him, and he couldn't help forming a grin in his face. It was good to be back. "...been a long time since I rock and roll..." he thought.

"A watch?" Icarus stared with a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"The stainless steel seemed to be too much for the creature's digestive system," the alien detective said while examining the face of the battered timepiece. "A fine watch it is, too."

Icarus held his pistol tight in his hand as he continued to look out for whatever it is that had caused such a mess. "I don't think now is the best situation to admire men's jewelry."

"But take a look," Adem moved the watch closer to Icarus's face.

The young pilot winced at the odor still attached to the watch. "It's nice. It's nice. Put it away and I'll buy you one for Christmas or something."

"A touching sentiment, but totally unnecessary," the detective responded. "This watch not only tells the time, but the date as well. It stopped three days ago less than an hour before the ship left the shipping lanes." Adem looked at the display panel under his sleeze. He paused and, then, seemed to gaze out into nothing. "A break down analysis of the fecal matter shows high sign of fibers, both natural and synthetic, that more than likely comes from the quick and primal feasting upon the crew. There are also high amounts of protein, zinc, iron, and vitamins typical of seafood. This indicates the likelyhood of the cargo also having been devoured along with the crew. Quite a ravenous appetite."

"Do you have to tell me all this?" Sidewinder said adjusting his flight suit a bit.

"The watch suggests that the attack began before the ship went off course. Taking all that into consideration, one can hypothosize that if the creature responsible has the intelligence to navigate the ship, the constant demand to feed would prevent it from moving so far away from a food source. Thereby, another being had to redirect the ship. A crewmember? One last act of sacrafice to protect his fellow sailors and trap the assailent in a frozen prison?"

"Oh, yes, brilliant deduction, Holmes," Icarus said in a faux British accent and condescending tone. He was very surprised when Adem responded.

"I don't like to brag, but it was rather ingenious. The reality of it is still in question. Not to mention that it has yet to explain what it is we're dealing with or how it came to be on board in the first....." His sentence was cut short by a loud noise coming from the bulk heads.

"That's coming from outside," Icarus said as a mixture of banging and scratching echoed around them. "Like something clawing at the hull."

"Yes," Adem agreed. "More than one, by the sound of it."

Another series of scratches and bangs fill their ears. "Sounds big," the pilot said between the unnerving noises.

"And dangerous," Different added. "Quite dangerous. There's only one thing to do." He stared straight into Sidewinder's eyes. "You had better go check it out."

Lykopis and Gaunt both heard the wolf-like cry. "It is him," she said. "Lord Asbjorn."

"Haunting, isn't it?" Gaunt replyed back. He was still walking ahead of Lykopis.

Lykopis listened again to the sound. "He is injuried."

"How could you possibly know that?"

Lykopis laughed. "Have you forgotten already? I am Lykopis, my name means 'wolf'. I know a cry of hurt dog when I hear it." She paused for a moment to think. "It is too bad. I like wolves. I like all dogs. I like being near them. Too bad this one is a demon, is it not?"

This was Gaunt's field of knowledge. "The hellhound is neither good nor evil. They are tools. Their purpose can be for good or for evil. A dog in the control of one man can save lives, or it can destroy lives. You of all people should know and understand this."

Lykopis walked ahead. "So the real question is...who is pulling the leash..."

There was another call -- this time, it was the strange wail they had heard earlier. Lykopis felt her mind grow numb for a moment. The whistling seemed to pretty...so soft...and yet so loud and terrible...and yet...Lykopis found herself strangely tickled by it.

"Gaunt...I...I want to kill the hellhound. Does that seem strange? Let me kill the hound...Let him hear me howl, as I did when I was young..."

Yes...it would feel good to kill it...yes? Yes! Kill the hound, cut the throat, rip into the hide, stab it until it bleeds and bleeds and bleeds. Kill the hound. You want to do it...

***

Guant was surprised that Lykopis ran ahead of him. He tried to stop Lykopis, but some unexpected power was in her arms as she pushed him into the wall. Gaunt found himself pinned to the wall as Lykopis ran down the hall, her hand at the hilt of her sword. "Lykopis...I told you not to listen to them! Lykopis?"

***

Lord Asbjorn was licking the wound on his side. Drake's sword had cut into the flesh. Though it did not matter much. Asbjorn's skin was little more than dried hide draped over a few sinews of muscle and tendon and a heavy skeleton. He had been stabbed before, and he was not much worse from it.

He roared again in defiance, spitting out dried blood and bits of flesh from his gums in the process. He was a half-decayed animal, stuffed with maggots and grubs. Around his rotton neck hung a metal chain that dragged to the floor. It was a little tight around the neck, and it had gone deep into the flesh, causing more infection and decay. But Lord Asbjorn did not care. He was too busy thinking of his next move. Besides, as far as he could remember, he had always been like this.

But from the other end of the hall Asbjorn could hear another call.

"Aroooooooooooooooooooooooow!"

It sounded like another wolf. Asbjorn pricked up the shreaded cartiladge that made up his ears to listen. He almost began wagging his tail -- perhaps another from the pack was coming to help him. This thought quickly died, however, when he saw the source of the sound.

Lykopis was running towards him, her massive sword in her right hand. Her eyes were glazed over, and she had no idea what new thoughts had crept into her mind.

Icarus readied his pistol as he stepped away from Adem, who stood stoically in the corridor, not making any move to follow.

"You coming?" Icarus said over his shoulder to the alien sleuth.

Adem merely smiled a lopsided smile and turned back to the feces he'd been digging through earlier. "You'll do fine," he said. "I have faith in you."

"Great..." Icarus mumbled under his breath. "Going up against something big and freaky and Captain Boy Scout teams me with Inacto the Wonder Alien..."

The scratching became louder as a growling sound began to come from the other side of the wall. Icarus wished he were outside and able to fly. Flight was more than his escape - in many ways, it was his biggest tactical advantage. He had basic hand-to-hand combat training, sure, but what did it matter if one was able to literally rise above the problem.

As Icarus neared the source of the distrubance, he was reminded that the only tactical advantage he had now lay in his right hand. He tightened his grip on his pistol as he walked up to the bulkheads.

The snarling and growling was almost deafening now, as whatever it was on the other side seemed to be getting angrier and angrier. The smell of sulfur was stronger here as well. Icarus placed his left hand on the door, preparing to open it and go in shooting. He didn't know how much damage his pistol could do, but it was doubtless it would do nothing.

With a quick shove, Icarus heaved the door open and fired several shots along the wall where the scratching was coming, emptying an entire round of ammuntion into the darkness. The scratching and growling were quickly replaced by a canine-like yelping and a light *THUD!* Running his hand along the side of the doorframe, Icarus found the lightswitch, suddenly illuminating the room.

It had once been the captain's quarters. That much seemed obvious by the surroundings - a toppled desk, a broken chair, a torn-up bed, and shattered frames around the room, probably diplomas or certificates.

That, however, wasn't what attracted Icarus' attention. Rather, his eye was drawn to the large, greenish dog that lie on the floor, six bullet holes adorning his side. His four eyes were shut in pain and blood lay pooling around his underside.

"Good shot," Adem said, having walked up behind Icarus without the pilot's knowing. Icarus jumped, grabbed his chest, and glowered at Different. "I knew you could do it," the alien said, smiling as he brushed past Icarus and began surveying the room.

While Adem looked through a tattered, hand-written book on the captain's desk, Icarus approached the animal, peering closely at it.

"What is this thing?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"He looks canine to me," Adem said, not looking up from his reading. "Judging from the scraps of cloth stuck in his teeth, I would imagine he was the one responsible for eating the occupant of this room."

"The captain," Icarus said with a degree of certainty.

"Quite so," Adem nodded, leafing through the drool-covered pages.

Icarus continued looking at the dog, entranced. "He was clawing at this wall... like he was trying to get out of here."

"The real question, Mr. Sidewinder," Adem responded, finally looking up from the journal, "is who or what put him in here in the first place..."

"Uh-huh," Icarus said, walking over to Adem. "Listen, Sherlock, I'm not a moron. I can figure some of these things out on my own."

"Then, enlighten me, please," Adem said, not sarcastically, but very genuinely, "who or what put him in here?"

Before Icarus could answer, a snarl entered his ears. Turning quickly, the Vanguards saw the greenish dog standing and staring at them, eying them with a piercing stare. The blood on his chest was now dripping onto the floor, mixing with the blood that trickled softly and slowly from the bullet holes in his side.

"I thought I shot him!" Icarus said in disbelief.

"You did," Adem said from behind him. "Next time, however, you need to make sure that he's dead..."

Gaunt had regained his composure only to watch as Lykopis lost hers. She lashed out at the beast in a savage clash of steel and bone, striking hard and howling and laughing madly.

She was a wild thing, full of graceful fury and fierce skills. Gaunt caught himself admiring her. This is not a good thing. She is lost within the hold of the wendigo. If the hellhound does not kill her, she will fall into a deeper madness and finish herself.

Under the sounds of Lykopis' battle, Gaunt heard the otherwordly tune begin again. He steeled himself against it's effects and began to follow it to it's source. I dislike leaving her behind, but if I do not free her from the wendigo, she will be of no use to anyone. . .

The Shadow Chancellor made his way down the hall, following the eerie whistling tune. Arriving at a cabin, he listened at the door. There was breathing inside. Movement. Something stumbled over something.

Gaunt began to concentrate as shadow matter formed around his hands. A small, single bladed axe soon took shape as he readied himself.

He slammed into the door shoulderfirst, knocking it open, and raise his axe above his head. "Thank god you came!" A familiar voice startled him and prevented him from going further.

Looking forward into the cabin, the only light provided by a small desk lamp, Gaunt saw the outstretched form of Drake Marshall, laying on a bed, and holding his arms over his stomach. His communicator lay off to one side. "Help. . .me. . .it got me. . ."

"Marshall? Where is Link? What attacked you?" The Shadow Chancellor lowered his weapon and slowly moved towards the VE field team leader.

". . .hellhound. . .it was too fast. . ." Marshall's eyes were pleading with him. "please. . .help. . ."

"What happened to your. . .VILE BEAST!" Gaunt swung his shadow weapon at Marshall, attempting to take off his head as the wendigo shifted into it's natural state.

The creature laughed a guttural, sickening sound, as it slipped backwards and away from the Shadow Chancellor. Gaunt noticed the creature's abdomen was still wounded.

"So, he did take a bite out of you." The creature hissed at this, and took a swipe at the Vanguardian. Gaunt stepped backwards out of the range of the lamp's rays and disappeared into the darkness. "I have a few tricks of my own, beast." His voice sounded from nowhere.

****************

On the other side of the ship, several more wendigos pounded their way into it's insides, climbing aboard the vessel. . .

Lord Asbjorn was taking things well. Lykopis had come running towards him, waving her sword around. Her skills were top-notch, but as she struck his skull she seemed less graceful. The Wendigo's call could induce her to fight, but it could not induce the training that comes with a free mind.

Now, Lykopis's blade was sharpened before the battle. And her arms were strong enough to crack bone. And yet, Asbjorn remained standing, as blow after blow hit the roof of his skull. Finally, Lykopis howled in rage and swung harder than she had before. "You will die!"

The blade lodged itself into Asbjorn's skull, and Lykopis felt her fingers slip from their grip. She fell over backwards. The back of her head struck the wall, and her eyes darkened.

***

"Wake up, Amazon."

Lykopis groaned, and then realized who was speaking to her. Lord Asbjorn's massive head, twice the size of a bear's, was hovering over her body. The strench was awful. He did not seem to be aware of the insected running along his fur or the drippings from his mouth. Her sword was still stuck in the roof of his head.

"I spared you this time because I could see in your eyes they had control over you. Do not be so foolish as to think that you can resist their cry. Next time the madness takes you, I will bite your head off."

His voice was deep and loud and roared like a furnace. But it was what he said that caught Lykopis off-guard. "You called me Amazon. How do you know what I am?"

Asbjorn laughed. Grubs spilled out of his mouth, and Lykopis felt a new wave of nausea hit her face from his breath. She brushed a spider off her face. "I am familiar with Cerberus. He is of my pack, you see. I have seen the females from your pack. Well, I have seen their shadows."

"My sisters," said Lykopis, grinning. "The other Amazons. Cerberus guards them in the land of the dead."

"He is here, on this ship, the same as you and I. Cerberus says you can be trusted. I hope for your sake he is right."

Lykopis was confused. "But you were attacking us."

"We were attacking the Wendigo. You got the way."

"We were trying to figure out what the hell is happening on this ship." She stood up, unafraid of Asbjorn. "Wait. You are going to stop attacking us, correct?"

Asbjorn did not reply at first. "...Cerberus said you could be trusted. He said nothing of the others. Garm, I believe, will finish the rest off. I will not deny any in my pack their share of flesh."

Lykopis grabbed the handle of her sword to pull Asbjorn's face towards hers. "Listen to me, Danish dog, those men are my friends. You hear me? They are not to be harmed." She twisted the handle a little bit, and Asbjorn grunted from the pain.

Then, he began laughing again. "Danish dog? Ha ha ha..." Lykopis covered her nose. Asbjorn shook his tattered hide and let out a mighty howl. Three or four howls could be heard afterwards. "It's been too long since someone has been so brave in my presense."

"I am about to get a lot braver," said Lykopis, her fingers dancing around the sword handle. "Now tell me...what is going on here?"

The greenish hellhound known as Garm growled in aggravation, eying his prey with sadistic malevolence. Adem Different stood behind Icarus Sidewinder, neither really knowing what the next course of action should be.

"Shoot him," Adem said, almost calmly.

"What?" Icarus asked, shocked at Adem's sudden insistence on shooting the creature. "Where were you three minutes ago? Did you miss the part where that didn't work?"

"It won't work if you're looking to kill him, no," Adem answered, "but what if we're only looking to escape?"

"Okay, point taken..." Icarus said, trying not to stare directly into either pair of Garm's eyes. "Still, how am I supposed to reload while I've got this thing boring into my soul?"

Before Icarus could make a move to stop the alien, he sauntered in front of the man. "Leave that to me," he said, as the nanites began working to change the alien's garb. Almost instantly, Adem was decked out in the wardrobe of a Spanish matador, complete with long red cape. "I saw this work on other such large beasts while watching a television program a few months back. Hurry and load while I provide the distraction."

Icarus stared, dumbfounded, as Adem began waving the red cape as though the hellhound were a bull getting ready to charge. "I -- you want me to..."

"Please, Icarus," Adem replied. "We haven't much time."

"Right."

As the pilot emptied his clip and searched his person for another, he recognized the dog growling more fervently. The hair on the scruff of the animal's neck was beginning to stand on end, as was it's tail... a tell-tale sign that this thing was getting ready to attack. Adem wasn't distracting the dog at all... he was only making it angrier.

"Listen... maybe you should stop that now..." Icarus said, finally finding a spare clip in one of the pockets on his flightsuit.

"Have you reloaded?" Adem asked, raising an accusatory eyebrow towards Icarus.

"Not quite," Icarus said, dropping his empty clip to the floor. The clattering of the cartridge on the metal flooring was what did it. Garm snarled as he leapt toward Adem. Without thinking, Icarus ducked to the floor, shoving the clip into his gun.

Meanwhile, as the dog leapt, Adem quickly sidestepped the animal, capturing its head in his cape, leaping onto the creature's back and pulling the cape towards himself as a means of momentarily ensnaring the beast.

When Icarus looked up, he was amazed to see Adem, sitting comfortably on the back of Garm, with a large smile on his face while his steed thrased about violently. "Hurry, Sidewinder!" Adem almost seemed to laugh.

I guess this is what passes for urgency... Icarus said, taking aim at a spot on the red cape. The gunfire echoed in the small chamber as the hellhound fell to the ground. Removing the cape from the beast's head, Adem revealed that Icarus had made a precise hit between the middle set of Garm's eyes, stunning the creature for an indefinite amount of time.

"He will not be out long," Different said, grabbing Icarus by his sleeve. "We'd better get out of here..."

The Vanguardians rushed out of the room and back the way they came down the hallway. As they ran, Icarus began to notice an eerily familiar high-pitched humming sound, coming from further up the corridor.

"Do you hear that?" Icarus asked.

"I was about to ask you the same," the alien responded. "That is not one of those hounds."

"No," Icarus shook his head in agreement. "I've heard it before. During preliminary trials for Project Icarus in the mountains of Scotland. Locals had stories about a Grey Man or something..."

"Interesting," Adem said, already deep in thought. "What brings it so far this way?"

"Damned if I..."

The pilot stopped short as he looked in front of him. Adem, a bit faster and, thus, slower to stop, skidded into Icarus, coming to a halt. Before them stood a large creature covered in short brown hair. Its size was massive, almost filling the entire corridor. It seemed to look deep within both Vanguardians... and know them well.

Suddenly, Icarus was consumed by an inexplicable, overwhelming fear. He had felt this before, in the Scottish Highlands. If only he could remember what he was told there...

Heavy footsteps began to sound behind Icarus and Adem, padding quickly through the corridor where they'd come. Turning hesitantly, Icarus beheld the snarling form of Garm - angrier than ever, a bullet hole between his eyes oozing black blood down his snout.

More than anything else, Icarus Sidewinder wanted to fly, to break free from the ship and just escape into the unknown. It was not his nature to be afraid... but, as he found himself and his colleague trapped between two ravening creatures, he found fear slowly overwhelming him.

And, that, perhaps, scared him most of all...

"I am quite tired of all this!" Adem shouted with a hint of chuckling. "I refuse to scurry around this ship like a trapped nirt-heim."

"A wha...?" Icarus began, his heart racing with every moment he had to sit between the hellhound and wendigo. "Different, what in the Hell are you doing?"

"A certain amount of decency must be expected, even from so called monsters," the alien replied. "If it demands to chase me around this vessel for the duration of the night, I shall no longer ablidge him. It is now a battle of wills."

"One piece of advice, Adem," the young pilot said as his gaze shifted from the hellhound to the giant, hair covered wendigo. "Let the Wookie win." Sidewinder's trembling thumb pulled back on the hammer of his pistol. His mind raced with the grim possibilities that surrounded him.

The hellhound inched a little closer. Adem continued to yell at the wendigo, who stood with a confused expression on his face that was then covered with thick layers of fur that hid it from plain view. Long ago the alien had learned English and many other of the Earth languages. For that reason, he had ceased to use his translator and brushed up on his own personal use of the native tongues. While he verbally abused the creature before him, Adem Different slid back and forth from his own language to many of the Earth ones he knew, making his sentences broken and disjointed to neighboring ears.

The brilliant idea that leapt into Icarus Sidewinder's head surprised the young man. It surprised him so much that he, at first, did not recognize it as his idea and almost shot it out of panic. The jetpack was unuseable inside the ship...... at least as a flying machine. But a quick and subtle changing of the mixture inside would prove very useful. Slowly and stealthfully he used his free hand to pop open the small side panel. His fingers twisted the small dials inside before he closed the panel shut once again. The pack came to life. Instead of a human propelling flame, a thick cloud of smoke billowed forth. Within seconds the room was consumed by it.

Icarus grabbed the ranting alien and dragged him to the ground. He could hear the growl of the hellhound as it shot through the air above him. The sound of a brutal fight soon followed. The pilot turned of his pack and yanked Adem's arm, pulling the teammember behind him as he fled the room.

Adem's words were now solely in his native tongue. {The mouth on that guy!}

Icarus looked down at the arm he held in his grip to see Jym's face on a small screen. "Where did you come from?"

{We became worried when no one reported in after the last transmission. Hey! Do you sing the praises of the Lonely Ones with that mouth?!}

"So Paragon sent you to check up on us?" Icarus asked while locking a door behind him.

{No. Paragon left not too long after you did. Penny and Gustave sent me.} The AI seemed to be darting his eyes around the room in a curios fashion, much in the way a young child does.

"Gustave? I don't know any Gustave!"

{Of course you do not. I mean, it is not like he just works in the same building with you or anything. Maybe if you would come downstairs every once in a while you could meet the other people who work with you.}

"I'm sorry," Adem said, shaking his head. "I don't know what came over me. I just lost all control."

{Listen. Adem's nanites are detecting a strange frequency coming from engine room. Maybe someone with a physical body should go down there and check it out.}

"Jym."

{Yes, Adem?}

"Shut up."

Gaunt prepared to strike at the beast as it emitted a strange rattling, gurgling noise and fell backwards onto the floor with a loud THUD! Gaunt noticed a purpleish liquid trickling from it's mouth.

Stepping out of the shadows, he leaned in towards the beast and looked at it's pale yellow eyes as they began to glaze over. Dead. he thought to himself. But what is death to creatures such as these? I must learn more. . .

Gaunt removed his dark glasses and placed them in a side pocket of his overcoat. The dark orbs of the Shadow Chancellor gazed into the filmy eyes of the wendigo and Gaunt felt himself grow colder as things went dark. . .

*********************

It was cold. Far, far colder even than it had been on the ship. Gaunt forced himself to move, to stretch his limbs. He was curled in a ball to keep warm. Apparently he'd been sleeping. He noticed he was covered, buried, in something.

He forced himself up and found he'd been covered by a small mound of snow. Moving out of the snow and brushing himself off, he took in his surroundings. A fierce wind blew, chilling him and cutting, almost as if it were made up of knives. The sky was dark, yet off in the distance he could see massive spires ahead, slightly lit. He set off towards the spires.

He walked for what felt like hours, yet saw no change in the weather or skies. Finally, he approached the spires, his legs weary, his mind tired. He noticed they were inhumanely massive megalithic structures, covered in markings and reliefs, resembling nothing on Earth.

Yet, one thing did resemble something, didn't it? Several images of the wendigoes covered many of the spires. Images of them gathered in what appeared to be a large room around an altar. And one of them held something in his hand.

The next image was of the beasts in a wooded area, hunting for food. Hunting humans. There were other images, the beasts were fighting what looked to be the hellhounds Vanguard had encountered. Ancient enemies. . .and we got in the way of their battle. Gaunt thought to himself.

He heard the eerie, undulating, piping sounds again and darted around the side of the spire he'd been studying. Peering around the corner, he noticed a large band of the creatures making their way towards the largest spire. They entered, opening the massive stone doors and went inside.

Gaunt followed behind them, slipping inside the door just before it slowly slammed shut.

Gaunt stood in the shadows watching as the creatures gathered around a small altar, much like the one he'd seen depicted on the spire he had studied.

One of the creatures stood in the center, leading the chanting. Gaunt surmised he was the priest, or shaman. The priest creature lifted up a small, onyx crystal that was flat on each side and the other beasts bowed before the priest as a light flared from within the crystal.

The light seemed to spread out and engulf the entire room, Gaunt included. He could not see and had turned away, shielding his eyes.

Then the light was gone, and Gaunt looked around as his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings. He was in a heavily wooded area, just off a hillside. He sounds of battle nearby. Creeping off to the side, Gaunt peered over a ridge and noticed the beasts fighting off a group of highlanders. They must be mad. Surely they know they cannot defeat these things.

Gaunt watched as one of the seemingly berserk warriors swung his Claymore in a wide arc and shattered the small crystal the creatures had used to travel between worlds. They've been stuck here for centuries.

Gaunt felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, startled. He turned and looked face to face with Drake Marshall and Link Fox. "Edmund, are you okay?" Drake asked.

Gaunt turned away and put his glasses on again. Link Fox looked over the corpse of the wendigo. "Man, this guy stinks."

"The wendigoes have been trapped on our world for centuries, with no way home. This one was coming to meet them, he was going to return them. . ." Gaunt began.

"How was he gonna do that?" Link Fox asked, as he began tossing a small, black crystal up in the air.

"With that." Gaunt answered, pointing at the crystal.

"Oh." Link said, as Drake took the crystal from him.

"We have to get rid of these things." Drake stated firmly.

It was at that moment, that the group of wendigoes chose to enter the room by violently smashing through the walls of a neighboring room and surrounding the Vanguardians. "Excellent idea, Drake." Link commented.

Adem and Icarus made their way towards the engine room, following the recomendation Jym had given them. "What do you suppose is there?" asked the flier to the alien.

"Nothing pleasent I'm sure," was all the alien would say in reply.

Turns out the signal Jym had been concerned about was actually two hellhounds and a human. A live human.

"Hello boys," said Lykopis, on the back of a hellhound. "These are Lords Asbjorn and Cerberes, guardian of of their underworlds."

If Asbjorn was the epitome of decay and rigor mortis, then Cerberes was the epitome of bodily perfection. Just as the Greeks idolized the human body and sculpted it with the ideal image in mind, so Cerberes seemed melted from bronze and cast into the ideal form of a wolf. His muscles were massive and taunt, the flesh hiding the magnificent lightning that ran in his nerves. There was not one scrap of fat of strand of uneven hair on his body. His black tail twictched as if it had a mind of its own. And instead of one head, Cerberes bore three canine heads with narrow jaws and clean white teeth. His red eyes were bright beacons and all six ears were alert. Asbjorn looked quite ragged next to this purebreed 'dandy', but it was also appartent between the two hounds that Asbjorn outranked the Greek guardian of Hades.

Icarus spoke first. "Oh shit, there's two more."

"They wont hurt us," said Lykopis. "Asbjorn promised me."

"So long as you don't get in the way of our duty," said Lord Asbjorn. "Ever since this snowmen came into this world, we've been trying to eradicate them."

"But they--"

"--keep on--"

"--refusing to die," said the three heads of Cerberus.

"It seems to me," said Lykopis, "that we need to regroup. Let us go find where Drake and Link and Guant are at. We can decide then what Vanguard needs to do."

Icarus pointed at Asjborn. "With them? The Tim Burton version of Pluto and his trusty three-headed sidekick? Didn't they kill some of the people on this ship?"

"Only the humans that the Wendigoes tricked into attacking us," said Asbjorn. Lykopis looked embarassed. "You mortal humans seem to fall for their tricks very easily."

Adem looked at Lykopis. He smiled faintly. "I assume you were 'duped', Miss Lykopis."

Lykopis merely gritted her teeth. She was eager to change the subject to something else besides her embarassment. "Can we just go find Drake now?"

"The snowmen are indomitable and harsh foes," Absjorn said as he headed the group downt he hallway. Cerebus brought up the rear. "For centuries they have soiled our domain. They must be.... removed."

Icarus itched with nervousness. "Thanks for using removed instead of disemboweled. It gives it more of a PG feel."

"Do not disrespect them," Lykopis grunted towards the young pilot. "They have served the dieties of this realm since time immemorial."

"Do they get paid by the maul, or is it a group rate?" he whispered back the the Amazon.

"I wish you would learn to hold your tongue like Adem," she spat back at him. "He at least has the respect not to question the servents of the gods."

Icarus and Lykopis stopped in mid-step and looked at each other. A very obvious fact had just come to their attention. Adem wasn't there. The two hellhounds noticed as well. Cerebus's three heads growled in unison.

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Adem Different moved slowly across the engine room. Once he had a an opportunity, he had detatched himself from the group when the conversation had become intense. The thing about nanites, they eliminated perspiration and phermones that one's body may produce. He was no back in the engine room searching to the frequency that his nanites had detected earlier. Call him paranoid, but he felt no need to place his faith on the words of honor on a creature involved in the massacre of an entire crew and his own teammates.

In one corner, he found a fine powder. His fingers traced through it and examined it closer to his eyes. After a few moments of running his thumb and forefingers through it. The detective brought the powder up to his nose and sniffed. Then, the alien stuck out his tongue and licked it. The nanaites went to work breaking down the structure. It was crystallian but contained many elements not found on Earth.

"Jym," Adem ordered into his arm, "get me Drake and Gaunt."

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The hellhounds were becoming angered. "What trickery is this?" Absjorn asked. His lip lifted up in a snarl. The creature's teeth stuck out like daggers.

"Did we go up?" Icarus asked Lykopis whose hand was inching down to her sword's hilt.

"I believe so," she responded.

"How far?"

"Very far, I should say."

"All the way up?"

"I cannot say."

"Let's hope so," he said as he pushed a button on his pack. A tiny rocket shot out from the top and ripped through the steel. The pilot grabbed the Amazon and engaged his pack. The two soared out of the ship and into the cold. Ice and snow wafted down and through the hole he had made. "I knew you'd end up in my arms before too long, babe."

"Do not anger me, boy."

Link Fox didn't know how long he'd been screaming. All he knew was that he'd been screaming and as his voice finally died off, he began to come back to his senses. Gaunt and Drake were standing in front of him, fighting off several of the wendigoes. They appeared to be on the deck of the ship.

Gaunt was apparently agitated and yelling at someone. After a few moments, Link began to hear sound again and realized it was him that Gaunt was yelling at. ". . .when I tell you to close your eyes, do it and keep them that way! The shadowrealms are not for mortals to look on!" He finished off as one of his shadow beasts traded blows with one of the snowmen.

Icarus Sidewinder circled around and dropped Lykopis onto the ship's deck, before rocketing off again and began circling above. The amazon pulled her sword and screamed an ancient battle cry in the name of the three faced goddess she had foresworn many years ago.

A growl erupted from below decks and Cerebus and Lord Asbjorn punched a large hole through the ship and leapt up to the top to join the fray.

"Gaunt!" Drake yelled between swings of his broadsword. "You said we had to send these things back with the crystal! How do we do that?"

"We have to find Different! Jym's AI is capable of scanning the crystal and activating it to send the beasts home!" Gaunt hurled shadow matter into the face of one of the beasts and stabbed at it with shadowblade. The beast swiped at him with a massive paw as he ducked and backed away from it momentarily.

Lykopis howled with fury as she leapt upon Cerebu's back and lopped off one of the snowmen's limbs. One of Cerebus' heads snatched up the putrid arm and began to gobble it down. "If we send the snowmen back, Cerebus and Asbjorn have promised to leave!" The amazon yelled between strikes.

"And we're supposed to just take their word for that? Sorry, princess, I don't think so!" Icarus responded, emptying an entire clip from his pistol into the eyes of three of the wendigoes as he rocketed past them.

"You would do well to put your faith in us, mortal." Asbjorn muttered, ripping into the heart of another wendigo.

"Bad dog. You ate my arms." Link scowled at Asbjorn, as the hellhound growled back at him. "Tasty. . ." The beast licked it's lips and growled at the man once called "The Worm."

"Guant says that we need to find Mr. Different," said Lykopis into the leftmost ear of Cerberus. "He needs to be up here, with us. Can we handle it?"

"Amazaon--"

"--just--"

"--hold on."

Lykopis gripped onto the loose folds of skin in front of her like a bullrider. Cerberus barked and ran back into the inside of the ship. "I hope Different is still in one piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiece! Back into this hell for both of us, I see!" The three-headed dog jumped over debris like a horse on a foxhunt. The Amazon could hardly hold on to Cerberus. He was heading towards the engine room.

"Wise words--"

"--for someone--"

"--who's never been there."

Lykopis laughed. "And I do not intend to go there anytime soon." She sighed softly. "Although I do miss them." Lykopis cleared her throat and shouted loud enough for Cerberus. "Slow down! I see Adem up ahead!"

"Miss Lykopis--"

Lykopis didn't have time for small talk. She grabbed the alien by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up on top of Cerberus. "You. Up there. Now."

Adem didn't seem too comfortable riding on the back of a giant dog. "Are my service requaried?"

Lykopis nodded. "I would say so." She kicked her heels, signaling to Cerberus that his passangers were ready. "Link has the crystal that can send these Ice Men back. We need you to activate yet."

Finally, Icarus thought as he barrel-rolled through the Arctic sky. Being trapped in that ship, Icarus had felt very cramped and claustrophobic, but under this limitless expanse, he finally felt free!

Shoving another clip into his gun, he zoomed downward, picking off various wendigoes as he descended. The simian beasts seemed to be getting more and more numerous, pouring forth from the bowels of the ship almost as though two were being created for every one that got killed.

"This isn't good," Sidewinder muttered into his helmet. "There seem to be more and more of them. I can't pick 'em all off from the air."

"Then get down here!" the voice of Vanguard field leader Drake Marshall sounded in his ear. "Paragon's files said that you were in the military! Time to put your training to good use!"

"All I know is basic hand-to-hand!" the pilot said, shooting a wendigo in the back of the head at point blank range. "Besides, there's no way you'll get me to willingly get into a fisticuffs with an opponent that much bigger than me!"

Marshall was silent for a moment as his heavy sword sliced through the midsection of an oncoming yeti. His face was contorted, not from battle, but from deep thought. Finally, the leader spoke.

"Icarus, get yourself in a position where I have a direct line of sight!"

"What?"

"I've got an idea!"

The pilot elevated himself about twelve feet from the deck and hovered there, picking off any of the wendigoes he could in the process.

Slicing through another wendigo, Drake looked up at Sidewinder and levelled his left arm right at the man. As the former vigilante tightened his fist, a grappling line shot out of the top of his gauntlet, wrapping itself around Icarus' right wrist very tightly.

"What the hell?!" Icarus yelled, tugging at the wire. "What'd you do that for?!"

"Do they have clotheslines in Sweden, Icky?" Drake yelled, smashing a wendigo in the skull with the blunt edge of his broadsword.

A wry smile spread across the pilot's face as he got yet another crazy idea. This one didn't scare him as much, though. After that last one, he was ready.

Flying out a bit farther to stretch the line, Icarus suddenly took a nosedive toward the deck. All the members of Vanguard Europe stopped for just a moment to watch the pilot on his descent. Even Gaunt seemed a bit concerned about the cocksure Sidewinder.

Six feet before his face met the deck, Icarus levelled out, creating a straight line with the grappling wire around his wrist. And he began to fly towards the edge of the deck.

"Vanguard, down!" Drake yelled as the hero took off into a sprint, stabbing wendigoes as he ran... and shoving Link onto the deck to get him out of the way.

The two managed to keep a steady pace and, as the members of Vanguard Europe hit the deck (literally), the wendigoes were caught in the wire, each of them falling onto the cold metallic surface.

Looking up from the devastation the two were causing, Drake Marshall noticed a very serious problem. The two of them were nearing the edge of the ship. Quickly.

"Icarus, we've gotta stop!" he yelled, afraid to stop suddenly at the speed Icarus was going.

"No worries, chief," Icarus said, reaching over and deftly unraveling the cord around his wrist. Drake skidded to a stop, his heavily-tractioned shoes keeping him from falling overboard off of the icy deck as the pilot soared out over the water.

Looking back at the fallen wendigoes, the former NightWatch jumped back into the fray. "Excellent work, Icky!" he yelled, running a fallen yeti through the chest.

Icarus chuckled. "Where do you get all those wonderful toys?" came the pilot's voice through the all-team communicator. "I'm gonna have to put a bug in my dad's ear about that!"

Drake smiled as the pilot circled around, reloading his gun and firing off more shots at the creatures, who were slowly starting to rise once more.

"Alright!" Drake yelled into his communicator. "If you're gonna get rid of these things, Adem, now's the time!"

As Drake, Lykopis, Icarus, Gaunt, and the hellhounds did their best to keep the wendigoes pinned down, Adem had Jym scanning the crystal, searching for the right frequencies with which to activate it's teleportation capabilities.

"There is a problem." Adem said, looking up at the group, as they struggled with the creatures. "Even if we do send them back, someone will have to go with them and destroy the crystal, so they do not return."

The Vanguardians looked at each other in turn, not exactly sure of the meaning of this. They had just come together as a group. And now one of them would be asked to sacrifice themself.

"I am the logical choice." Gaunt said, after a few moments. "I already know what their world is like. I can hold the creatures down until we are transported. I will go. Adem, give me the crystal."

"Wait, wait, we can't just do this." Drake began.

"You are needed as leader, Drake. No one else is equipped to cross the great distance this would require." Gaunt countered. Adem looked up at these words.

"We will remember and honor you." Lykopis folded an arm over her chest in deference to Gaunt's sacrifice.

"Score one for Eddie Munster!" Icarus offered as the group glared at him.

Adem handed Gaunt the crystal as Jym's frequencies began to match up, manufacturing an eerie simulation of the undulating whistles the group had heard earlier. The crystal began to shake and hum as light built from inside it. The snowmen struggled and strained against the shadowfolds that Gaunt had created to hold them back.

He was losing the battle. There were too many of them. He began to falter. The light grew brighter and the beasts surged against their bonds of dark mattter as The Shadow Chancellor struggled to hold them in check.

The onyx crystal shook in Gaunt's grasp as the wendigoes began to move as one, pushing off their bonds. "No. . .I will not. . .lose this. . .!" Beads of sweat poured down Gaunt's face as he attempted to hold them. And the crystal. . .






Fell from his hand.

Adem's reflexes kicked in as the alien's muscles shot him forward, allowing him to leap over his teammates and catch the crystal in his hands. As Adem fell towards the struggling wendigoes, the light grew brighter from within the crystal as Jym's harmonics matched the crystal's frequency.

"No. . ."

"ADEM!"

"What did he just. . ."

The crystal flared up with a blinding burst of light, and when the Vanguardians eyes cleared, the crystal, the wendigoes, and Adem Different, were all gone.

The hellhounds bayed and howled in the setting sun, their age old enemies vanquished. They turned their attentions to the Vanguardians. Growling and scratching at the deck of the ship, they began to step forward.

The Vanguardians took battle stances, Drake with his broadsword, Icarus with pistol and a lead pipe he'd found on the ship, Gaunt with shadow matter, Lykopis her sword and shield, and Link. . .Link stood behind the others.