Ebon and Rhiannon reached the warehouse-turned-orphanage together, and they walked up to the door. "Let's go see the matron and start getting the children out of he... what's wrong?"

"I don't know. There's a disquiet here, a sense of unease." There was more, but she couldn't quite put it into words. Rhiannon had been with Ebon when he set off for the smaller orphanage. She had a way with children and, having once been the Squire of Old Temple, was not completely unknown to its people. Rather than be idle, she would do what she could to help him until her own assignment was delivered.

He looked up at the building before them. "This orphanage has had more than its share of troubles. Fights among the children, many of them going missing... I've helped where I can, but the matron is proud and refuses to accept more than occasional supplies." Reaching out a black-gloved hand, he rapped on the door which, moments later, opened to reveal a middle-aged woman, her auburn hair streaked with gray. "Good evening, Matron Felia."

The woman blinked at them a moment. "Ser Ilnaren? Ma'am? How can I help you?"

Rhiannon gave her a reassuring smile. "We're here... on behalf of the city, Matron. There's been a threat against this place, and you'll need to get all of the children out so that it can be dealt with."

After a moment's scrutiny, Felia nodded in recognition. "I've seen you before, out of the Barony, haven't I? Well," and she looked from Rhiannon to Ebon, "if it's that serious, of course. I'll get the children up and moving. But where will we go?"

"Some of the new trains are already on their way to help take the children to safety," Ebon replied with a warm smile of his own. "I've arranged for them to be transported to my manor; you can tell them it's a sleepover like we've done in the past, only it's a surprise." As the matron nodded and turned to go back inside, he looked to Rhiannon. "Can you help rouse the children and try to keep them from panicking? I'll start making sure the surrounding buildings are emptied, and get things organized out here until Andu arrives.".

When they finally entered and the children were being rounded up, there was a sense of fear in the place. As the young demigoddess assessed each child in turn and helped to gather their belongings, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was curiosity, mostly, and questions about where they were going. With the last of them readied to board Andu's train when he arrived, Rhi went to collect the cans of infant formula from the kitchen cupboards. Then were no babies in the Ilnaren's charge that Rhi knew of and even there had been, the extra food was always helpful. "Ebon, I've packed up the last of the food for the ... " her voice trailed off when what felt like icy cold fingers brushed against the side of her leg.

When Rhi turned her head she was met with the spectral visage of a boy about eight years of age with his finger pressed to his lips in a shushing motion. "Sh, I have to hide! They will find me!"

Leaving the box on the counter, she crouched down to child level. "No one will hurt you, I promise." She crossed her heart with her right index finger.

"Can you help the others, too? Some are still crying!"

Expecting that her absence would be noticed soon enough, she didn't hesitate to follow down into the cellar. At the foot of the stairs, the fear she had sensed as they arrived was overwhelming; Rhiannon wanted to vomit. Following the ghostly vision brought her to a secondary level, well-hidden from most eyes. Mingled with the smells of dampness and mold, she recognized the stench of death and fresh blood. She muttered, "I'm not ready to see you again, yet, uncle, so don't plan on adding me to your household just yet." It was like walking into a hellish nightmare. Bodies of children were laid out in a careful manner. Whether it was surgical precision or some sort or ritual that had been performed, Rhi did not know, but to see ghostly forms mingled with living bodies was quite enough to send all of her senses reeling! To avoid frightening the children on the upper level, Rhi made use of her limited telepathic gift to reach out to Ebon. Get the children away, now, and warn Phen to keep an eye on the matron until it's known for certain if she's innocent or knew what was going on here! Whatever you do, don't bring anyone else down with you until you see what I found. I warn you, it'll make you angry or sick, maybe both.

-------

Rhi's words sent a chill down Ebon's spine. He hadn't considered the possibility that Matron Felia might have been a willing participant in whatever horrors had been perpetrated here. Even unwilling, if she had been forced to cooperate... he had to know. "Felia? Can I have a word with you?" He stepped off to one side, out of the lamplight and under the shadow of a tree, and waited for the matron to join him.

"Yes, Ser Ilnaren?" She stepped over, looking up at him... and found herself held by his jet-black eyes.

Within his mind, Ebon stepped forward, and found himself in a corridor lined with paintings, and each painting depicted different scenes. Memories, hundreds or perhaps thousands of them; the hall extended out of sight. Everyone's mindscape is unique in some way, he mused to himself as he started down the hall, delving deeper into the matron's past... and then he stopped short. Now why are you curtained, little memory? Stepping up to it, Ebon reached out and started to pull the curtain away, when suddenly a loud moan echoed through the memory hall.

Out in the real world, Matron Felia gave a tiny whimper.

Letting the curtain fall back, he turned back down the hall, spotting more and more memory paintings draped in concealing curtains. Finally they seemed to stop, and so did he, turning back whence he'd come. Shrouded remembrances, and to open them brings pain. I cannot leave you like this, my friend. As he started to walk back to the edge of now, an aura of golden flame began to form around Ebon's head, and as he passed by each curtained memory, tongues of fire leapt out and enveloped them, leaving no trace behind, until at last he reached the gray haze of the present, and stepped back into himself.

"Ser Ilnaren?" Felia was looking at him, a curious expression on her face.

"Yes, Felia... I wanted to remind you that my standing offer of assistance is still out there." He canted his head slightly, looking at her. "Are you all right?"

The matron nodded, her smile brightening visibly. "Yes, I am. I feel like I've been bundled up in a damp, musty old blanket, and now it's gone. Isn't that odd?" Then she looked up at him and nodded. "I think, once this night is over, I may finally take you up on that offer, Ebon. But for now, the children need me... and you should check on your young friend."

He watched her rejoin her charges for a moment, then turned and headed for the orphanage, and whatever it was that Rhi had found.

-------

Quiet footsteps lead Rhi through several rooms with various stages of carnage. With time being of the essence, the living had to take priority over the dead. She could hear Ebon coming down as she followed her instincts and called for help. It was what her sister, the pilot, called ... a command decision. The life signs monitor on her wrist beeped twice and a voice asked, "Misfit Squadron, Calypso Command Station, what's your emergency?"

She steeled herself and answered with a great deal more calm than she felt in that moment, "Patch me through to Fury, please. We need medical transport at ... " a heartbeat passed as she realized the monitor could tell them that, "my coordinates. Several children involved, no status assessment at present."

"Fury advises she will supervise the team on its return and will do an overhead watch of the area while they are on site. ETA ten minutes. Calypso Command out."

While waiting for the team to arrive, dead bodies were separated from the living. Rhiannon wanted to weep for the dead children as well the living ones that were still walking through a nightmare. There would be time for tears when it was over. Now, it was time for the raising of swords, even if it was in the figurative sense, and driving onward.

Ebon caught up with her, and his usually-tanned face was almost ashen; pinpoints of light shone in those black eyes. "Lord and Lady... those monsters, to do that..." He looked at Rhi, and his jaw set in a grim expression. "I recognize the metal from Kruger's descriptions. Ebonsteel." The word was all but spat from his lips. "They were... HE was trying to meld the souls of innocents into dark armor and evil blades, I'd swear it." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and then another, before opening them. "The young ones are away, and Matron Felia is... cleansed now, so she has gone with them." He looked around them, at the broken children around them; none of them looked up to meet his gaze. Some stared intently at something only they could see; others simply stared, oblivious to all but their pain. Then there were the ghosts; he couldn't see them the way that Rhi--or Doran, his son--were able to see, but he knew they were there. "Their experiments were not always successful, it seems."

"Perhaps some souls, in their innocence, were too strong to be turned to evil?" asked Rhi, looking up from where she tended one of the injured.

"That may be... and even those who were trapped might not be fully corrupted. I wonder, would that weaken the ebonsteel, rather than harden it?" Finally Ebon turned to the large door at the far end of the room where they stood. "Have you been through there yet?" When Rhi shook her head, he started towards it. "I'll check it out... watch my back." Crossing the distance, he opened the door and stepped through into a long chamber, with darkened alcoves along the sides and a raised platform at the other end. On that platform lay the very thing that had originally brought the two of them to this place. "Paydirt!" he called back over his shoulder, before starting across the room.

As he walked, he pulled out his Avengers ID and activated it. "Zulu, this is Black Knight. I am at the orphanage target with Elpis; we have located the bomb, in a sub-level, and more..." Ebon took a moment to compose himself. "Children. They were experimenting on children, torturing." His reserved tone cracked for an instant. "Some of them are still alive, and I believe Elpis has called for medical assistance t-" Then he broke off suddenly, hearing a rustling sound from somewhere close by. He focused his awareness then, not on what he could see but what he could feel, the spatial sense that was a gift of his telekinetic talent. "Zulu, DIANA, whoever... if you're going to get someone here to disarm this bomb, do it quickly. We've got company."


((co-written with Rhiannon Brock))

"Torch and Ranger are en route, Black Knight."

The brief response from DIANA, in her unfailingly calm tone, gave Ebon cause to smile as he stepped away from the bomb, into the middle of the chamber. "You may as well come out, I know you're there." The metal of his bracers shifted and flowed, shaping itself into a fighting staff. "Elpis!" he called into the other room, "watch yourself! Try not to kill anyone, death's too good for them!"

Even as he gave the warning, he found himself under attack as dark-clad soldiers charged from the alcoves, axes high. The first one to reach Ebon swung, but he dropped into a crouch as the blade sliced the air where his head had been. Lifting his staff to block another blow, he kicked out with his right foot at another opponents knee; a judicious application of telekinesis at the the point of contact, and the man screamed in agony as his leg broke, sending him sprawling to the floor. Spinning his staff around him to knock his foes back, he leapt up and over their counterattacks like a bullfrog, kicking one and then another soldier in the face to send them, senseless, to the floor.

And so the battle went.

-------

"Try not to..." Rhiannon made a noise that was half humorless laugh and half snort, "Black Knight, I plan to send some of them straight over the River Styx and let the one in charge deal with them."

Dark laughter filled her mind along with a chilling voice, "I see they send little girls to fight against us, such a pity they couldn't send someone with more ... talent."

Another voice answered the first, "And unarmed, too, I think. Quite foolish."

Rhiannon was all too familiar with mind games being used as a distraction. Her Celtic ancestors went into battle naked, partly for the shock effect. She gladly let Raven's goons think she was completely unarmed as she moved yet another child to the stairway to be taken out of the building as quickly as possible. In the back of her mind, she was counting the voices of those in the room with her. Four, five, or was it ten? She heard several distinct voices. Clearly, they found her to be less of a threat than the older and more experienced Ebon. It mattered not to Rhi, she could use that to her advantage just as she had when she got to baby Mara before the adults and was the only thing standing between the infant girl and a vampire that wanted more than blood.

Even to the hardiest of souls, ghosts could be terrifying. The visages of all the tortured children showed themselves to some of the soldiers. In their tormented state, the spectral children's faces twisted into hideous things. It bought time for Rhiannon to incapacitate the enemy by binding them to each other with magical energy that was woven around like the silken and sticky strands of a spider's web. While it might have been part of a curse laid upon Arachne, it had valuable uses.

------

The caliber of Raven's minions does not impress me, Ebon thought as he ducked and weaved and struck with staff and boot, barely using his psi-talent. Their only real advantage is numbers, and that... Then he sensed something, a flash of motion from behind, and dove to one side as a throwing dagger lodged itself in the eye of the man he'd been facing seconds before. I fear I spoke too soon! Assassins, and shrouded somehow; there's a mage or warlock somewhere close at hand.

"Clever little hero," a voice spoke as if in answer to Ebon's thought, "and fast, to react so quickly in the instant it took for my servant's blade to travel from her hand to you." A robed figure stepped from one of the shadowed alcoves. "But can you dodge them all?"

On cue, daggers hurtled through the air from all sides, their course unerringly aimed at Ebon. Until they suddenly stopped in mid-air, inches away from him. "Who says I need to dodge?" The blades fell and clattered on the stone floor as the assassins rushed forward.

Despite his performance with the daggers, the Black Knight found himself hard-pressed against these new foes. They were unfocused, hazy. A glamour spell... hard to see, hard to feel... but I can hear them! Closing his eyes, he expanded his hearing as much as he could, and was able to hold his own for a time. A quick glance told him that Rhiannon was doing better, but they were at risk of being overwhelmed by numbers after all.

-------
"Torch here," Johnny said, tapping the communicator to let Ebon or whoever else might be listening know what he was up to. "I'm on my way to the orphanage. What's going on?"

"We've got company, Torch, and lots of it! Kitchen stairs down ... two levels. There's a crew getting the rest of kids ... " communication from Elpis broke off with flurry of swearing as well honed reflexes kicked in! A rush of wind from a swinging weapon met Rhi's sharp ears. She tucked and rolled out of the way. Her fingers curled around air, but in barely a moment, the weapon entrusted to her as the Squire of Battlefield Park appeared in her hand. She remained still in a kneeling position as if she'd been hit by the slicing blade.

"Poor little bird," a sultry female voice, new to the mix, murmured, "have you broken a wing?" Husky laughter followed as cold fingers touched Rhi's shoulders. "Pity that, you'd make a lovely addition to my collection."

In the dim light, sapphire eyes glittered along with the twirling steel that was turned backward and driven up into the gut of what Rhiannon would later learn was an assassin. In her mind's eye she could see one of the children being tortured, the image drove her onward. Be it justice or revenge, it would be done. When the teenager stood, she twisted the spear to hasten the assassin's trip across the Styx. "I am no bird to be caged. Not by you ... or anyone else," there was bitterness in those words. A cacophony of voices filled her head like bats that had been disturbed and were starting to swarm. They simply hadn't been prepared to see what had been deemed an inexperienced child take out one of their best simply by waiting and drawing the other woman into a trap. Ranger's message had gotten through, but Rhi was making her way toward the sound of Ebon's voice and was cutting down anything that got in her way.

Even with bodies, dead and unconscious, on the floor, Ebon still had his hands full when Rhi managed get through the doorway. Just as the wave of fear had stuck out when they arrived, so, now, did the stink of dark magic. Rhiannon's eyes narrowed and she ferreted out its source, a warlock ... a freaking warlock. "Hey, you," a piece of solid debris was tossed at the warlock to get his attention, "I'm over here. Come play with me."

That was greeted with harsh laughter. "I don't play with children, little girl."

At that answer she snarled like a wild cat, "No, you just murder them." Rhi held up a hand and sent a blast of lightning at the warlock. He stumbled back and had no choice but to focus his attention on the demigoddess. Despite cuts, bruises, and having had her mind invaded, the adrenaline rush kept her moving. When he thought she was pinned, Rhiannon made use of the power in that spear and made herself scarce for a minute! The warlock was now the one at a disadvantage, he had no idea what else was in her bag of tricks.
-------

With the warlock distracted, Ebon found the glamour on the assassins fading, and pressed his advantage. His mind reached out and threw the enemy hard against the walls to either side as he advanced in Rhi's direction. Stay close to the door, don't let them get through. I'll come to you, and we'll take them back to back, he sent to her in a quick and focused telepathic message. Reaching his teammate, he took up position guarding her back while she guarded his, even as the assassins--though not all of them, as several lay crumpled against the walls--picked themselves up and closed in against the pair. Spear and staff lashed out again and again, cutting a gash in an assassin's gut here, shattering one's jaw there... and the two Avengers held the doorway, so none got past them.

"You should have finished me, girl!" The warlock stepped up onto the dais, standing with the bomb there before him. "Our master's will cannot be denied, and there is nothing you can do to save this city!"

Behind him, Rhi gave a mocking laugh while Ebon just smirked. "Oh, do you think so?" Then he looked up at the ceiling.

Sixty seconds had passed.



((Co-written with Ebon Ilnaren))

The look on the warlock's face as energy beams carved a circle in the ceiling was priceless, and Ebon made sure to save that memory, to share with the others when the troubles were over. He looked up as the Torch and then Ranger came through the hole. "Hi there, fellas... did we miss anything?" quipped the armored figure as he landed on the pile of rubble.

Despite himself, Ebon grinned. "We saved you some assassins, though perhaps it would be best, Ranger, if you concentrated on disarming the bomb first, while Torch helps Elpis deal with them. As for me," and he turned to the pile of rubble as it began lifting away from the bomb and the injured villain beside it, "I would have words with our warlock friend."

"Wakey, wakey!"

The warlock awoke to pain, with grinding bones sending fresh agony through his body with the slightest motion. He hesitated to open his eyes for a moment, until a gentle touch against his leg caused them to fly wide open while a cry erupted from his mouth. "Aaaah!"

"Ah, there you are." Pitch-black eyes met that pain-filled gaze, as Ebon stood over him. The man just smiled and shook his head as the warlock chanted a quick incantation. "Sorry, you don't get to cloud my mind a second time, not without surprise on your side. Now we have a little chat." He looked over his shoulder for a moment, then turned back to the prisoner, crouching low. "My allies are cleaning up your works here, yours and your master's... let's talk about that. About what you were doing here."

Summoning what defiance he could muster, the spellcaster attempted to spit in his captor's face, but his mouth was dry. "I will tell you nothing, and you will suffer when my Master rains havoc upon this city!"

"Not only will you tell me," replied Ebon in calm, almost friendly tones, "you'll show me." He stared into the warlock's eyes....

----------

....and then they were somewhere else, a circular chamber with walls of stone and passages leading away in all directions, dimly lit by torches. "Where are we?" asked the warlock, incredulous.

"It's your own mind, idiot. Apparently your mystic studies didn't include much time for self-reflection." Ebon flashed a sneer at the other man. "Too much focus on corrupting the souls of innocents, perhaps? Corrupting your own soul?" He gestured around them. "These are the halls of your memories, fashioned in such a manner as your conscious mind can comprehend. Behind each door lies a moment of your past... shall we bear witness to your sins together?"

Now it was the warlock's turn to sneer. "I regret nothing of what I have done in the service of my Master!"

Ebon regarded him for a moment. "No, you don't, do you... yet most men carry within them the light and the dark together. Have you slain your own conscience so thoroughly, then?" Seeing the other glance away for a moment, he followed that gaze towards a low bench resting against the wall. Approaching it, he dropped to one knee and bent low to look underneath. "No... not dead, merely hiding." Reaching under the bench, he pulled out a small form, a tiny kitten, its silver-grey fur tattered with far too many patches of raw skin showing.

Holding the kitten in the crook of one arm, close against his chest, Ebon stood and raised his other hand to catch the ornate staff that swung towards his head. "Nice try," he said with a smug smile, "but I've been doing this sort of thing for well over a century now." With a shove, he sent the warlock stumbling backwards. "Now tell me..." he asked, gently petting the kitten in his arms, "what have you been doing in with those children?"

Staff in hand, the other man drew himself up to his full height and said nothing.

----------

In the chamber beneath the streets of Rhy'din, Ebon's boot kicked hard against the warlock's broken leg.

----------

A brilliant flash of white-hot light flooded the mindscape, and the warlock dropped his staff and fell to his knees, screaming in agony, while Ebon simply closed his eyes and stood there, petting the kitten. "Well? What were you doing at the orphanage?" he asked calmly.

"My M-master's will."

"What a devoted little toadie you are." The Black Knight closed his eyes again as another mind-searing flash erupted all around them. "Your master has forsaken you, abandoned you to my mercy, which depends entirely upon what you tell me. Why remain loyal to such a one?"

The warlock moaned, head and shoulders swaying forward and back as he knelt. "He will kill me if I tell."

"You assume that I won't kill you if you stay silent." It was a bluff; though Ebon was willing to kill if necessary, he had no taste for needless slaughter. He did not, however, let such feelings color his presence within the warlock's mind. "That's your mistake." In his arms, the cat stirred, then jumped down to the ground and approached one of the corridors leading away, hissing at the darkness. "Well, your conscience has found something it doesn't like. Shall we take a look?"

Reaching down, Ebon grabbed the other man by the arm and hauled him to his feet, guiding--really, half-dragging--him to where the sleek feline avatar waited. Together the three of them stepped into the yawning dark passage.

Doorways led off on either side as they moved down the corridor, and as he passed each one, Ebon stopped to look through. What he saw chilled him to the bone, scenes of torture, of youth corrupted and twisted by agony, rage, fear, and hate. Souls were ripped away in an attempt to bond them to the ebonsteele. It did not always work, and those who could not be enslaved were abandoned to misery... but there were always more children, stolen away from homes or lifted from where they slept in the streets. More grist for the mill.

Finally he had seen enough, and more than enough. "You filth! Ruining innocent lives to craft such abominations!"

"It was my Master's will." The warlock smirked, as shadows swirled and deepened around him. "His warriors will sweep across this city and bring it to heel... as I will do to y-"

The tirade was interrupted by a hissing growl as the cat circled from behind Ebon, towards the warlock. With each step, it grew larger, fiercer, and its once-shabby coat began to shine. The inky shapes that surrounded the warlock writhed and drew back, leaving only a single shadow that seemed to cower behind him.

Ebon smiled, but it quickly faded into a sneer. "The conscience you thought you had frightened into its hiding place has come forth, and it cares not for what it sees. To kill you now might seem a mercy. You don't deserve mercy!" He approached the warlock, who could not tear his eyes away from the silver cat, and held up one hand for a moment before plunging it into the other man's forehead. "I take from you the knowledge of your craft, the means and methods that enabled you to shape such horrors."

The warlock's eyes widened as his mouth fell open in a scream, as doors up and down the corridor of his mind cracked and fell away from the walls, leaving empty stone behind.

However, not all of them came undone, as the Black Knight wasn't quite finished, and he stepped away. "Yet I will not take all from you. I leave you with the memories of the pain you have inflicted, the torment and anguish you have unleashed upon innocent children." He reached out to pet the cat avatar's head as it glared at the warlock. "Our friend here will make sure that you know the full extent of the evils you have wrought. Farewell, little man." With that, Ebon turned and strode back to the center and faded out of the mindscape to the sound of echoing sobs.

----------

Back in the physical world, the Black Knight stood up, looking down at the now-unconscious warlock impassively. Finally he turned to look at Ranger, who was working on disarming the bomb. "This one won't be hurting anyone else... his heart's no longer in it."

There wasn't much time to react; only to act. No time for thought; only for action.

Before Johnny had much of a chance to think things through, Ebon had done something to the warlock to render him helpless, and Rhiannon was leaving to make sure all the kids got out safely.

Ranger had turned his attention to the bomb, warning Johnny to be ready in case he screwed up. Johnny didn't like how that sounded. If the bomb detonated before Rhiannon could get everyone out safely, it would be a disaster.

"If it goes off, I can absorb the blast," Johnny pointed out before Ranger started tinkering with the thing. He turned to Ebon with a worried look on his face. "If he sets that thing off while there's still kids in the building..."

Johnny broke off as another assassin broke through the door, followed by several more. "Don't these guys ever quit?" he asked, rhetorically.

Johnny turned to face their attackers, lifting a hand to throw up a wall of fire between the advancing assassins and Ranger, blocking them from getting close. He'd bought Ranger a little time, but he had to focus all his energy on maintaining that wall.

One of the assassins screamed in agony as he tried to rush through the flames, falling back and writhing on the ground in pain, while another let go of an axe, flinging it toward the fiery wall, only to have it melt in the heat generated by the plasma.

That much heat in close proximity to the bomb made Johnny nervous, but he was in complete control of the flames. Nothing would catch fire, unless he allowed it.

It was up to Ranger now.

The armored figure knelt by the bomb, which Ebon had so kindly cleared of debris. He'd deliberately brought the ceiling down on it to protect it from Johnny's surge of heat when he came down into the basement - fortunately, the young man seemed very capable of controlling that and keeping it localized to himself.

Still, when that wall of flame went up, he flinched. It was a good thing he hadn't started working on the bomb - that flinch would have destroyed everything.

"Okay, first thing. No more surprises like that one. You really want my hands to be steady here."

He turned his attention back to the bomb, noting the characteristic setup, much like the ones he and his partners Zulu and Spartan had encountered a few months before. The copper wiring, the liquid-filled tilt fuses connected to the batteries, and the timer with it's weird runic display.

The three wires leading away from the device and towards the outside, though...those were new.

He reached out and pinched one between his fingers, speaking under the helmet. "Di, analysis."

He waited a moment before the AI spoke to him in its cool feminine voice. "The wire leads outside the building to what appears to be a transceiver device, mounted on the roof. If my analysis is correct, if the signal traveling on these wires to the devices outside is interrupted, the transceivers will uplink to the other three bombs and send a detonation signal."

He swore underneath the helmet. "Any ot'er good news?"

Diana's dispassionate voice came back to him right away. "The transceiver units also appear to be interlinked. In order to prevent a signal from being transmitted, all three transceiver units on this building will have to be disabled at the same time." There was a pause, then she continued. "Sir, the Rocketeer has located the WestEnd device."

He listened while Diana relayed Sergei's recorded message inside his helmet, nodding. "Gimme a sec."

Turning on the outside speaker again, he looked towards Ebon. "Black Knight, I need you to go outside, look on the roof for anything that looks like a transmitter device - a black box, something with an antenna on top of it. There'll be three of them up there. When you find them, you're going to have to destroy all three at the same time. Make sure they're all done at once, because if there's so much as a second's delay, it'll set all the bombs off at once."

He didn't wait for a response, just switched off the external speaker with a mental command and spoke to the AI again. "Di, relay what Ah jus' told t'Black Knight off to de Rocketeer. Make sure he knows not t'remove de batt'ries until de transceivers are dead. An' make sure de ot'ers know de same."

Ebon took no offense at Johnny's brusque response; not everyone had his talent for multitasking. He looked back as Ranger ordered him topside, and gave a quick nod. "I'm on it."

Lifting himself through the hole that now graced the chamber's ceiling, he rose above the street and turned his attention towards the orphanage. Now where are you, little transceivers? The building's roof was highly peaked, and covered with shingles and garret windows, but there was no obvious place to position a single transceiver, let alone three of them. Of course, it's not going to be obvious.

He moved in for a closer look, hovering as he searched each section of the roof and then moving on to another. His efforts seemed to be rewarded fairly quickly when he found... one of the transceivers, tucked in just above an attic window near the northernmost corner.

An old curse slipped from his lips, and then he withdrew the Avengers comm-badge from its little pocket inside his tunic. "Black Knight to DIANA. I've located one of the transceivers up on the orphanage roof, but only one; they're not all together. If you can relay this information to Ranger without distracting him, please do so. Meanwhile, I'll keep looking."

Something about the placement of the device gave Ebon pause, and he looked at it for a moment before turning in mid-air to face away from the building. He rose slightly higher until he could easily see the river that cut through Rhy'Din, and beyond it... The Marketplace. I wonder. Lowering himself back to the level of the windows, he floated along, pausing at each one to examine it carefully. A frown crossed his face when no further devices came into sight along the northwest side, but he nodded in satisfaction when he found the second one set in place along the southernmost window. Closest to the warehouse, but where's the third? I would've expected it to be somewhere around that last corner, but....

Then he looked up, towards the chimney rising above him. Very clever. For there was the final transceiver, tied in place against the bricks with its antenna pointing towards the West End. Now he knew where they all were, so the only thing left was to deactivate all three.

Simultaneously.

"This will require much delicacy," Ebon said to nobody in particular, as he floated across the street and settled atop another roof where he could see, or at least position, all three devices at once. Closing his eyes, he reached out mentally... and his awareness expanded back across to the orphanage, like invisible fingertips stretching forth to slide over that roof, locate the three transceivers, and fix their positions in his mind. Then his telekinesis reached within them, a pinpoint of focus inside each one. "On three," he muttered to himself, before uttering a soft prayer to any gods that would hear him. "One... two... three."

As he finished the count, all three of the transceivers burst from within in silent explosions, scattering small pieces of electronics through the air. Opening his eyes, Ebon listened for the dreaded sound of explosions, and exhaled heavily when he heard none. "Black Knight to DIANA. All transceivers have been disabled successfully."

"Black Knight has successfully destroyed the transceivers, sir. You are clear to proceed with disarming the bomb."

The cool feminine voice spoke in his ears as he was making a final examination of the bomb, walking around it, using the built-in sensor suite in his suit to run scans. This bomb was subtly different from the others he'd come across thus far, but made with the same materials. The devices wired into the setup, with their strange fluid, was another oddity - he could only think that they must be some kind of anti-handling device.

Which meant they had to be removed first.

Mentally he reconfigured the pulse generators in one palm, setting them for the narrowest beam width at a high power setting on the charged-particle mode, before he reached out for the first device and - very carefully, very slowly - lifted it up.

Under it he found the line leading to the mass of copper wiring to the bomb, and another leading elsewhere - probably to the primary power source.

It took him a moment - and a sensor scan of the device - to realize that the device wasn't a battery, but some sort of switch that held the piece within - a conductive plate - afloat and off of the contact points. Whatever the fluid inside was was obviously non-conductive - probably distilled water or pure alcohol, which electricity would not travel through - but if the plate touched the contact points, that would be all she wrote.

Very carefully, he aimed the pulse generator in his hand along the top of the device and with a mental command, fired a swift, thin pulse that sliced the top of it off. Reaching in, he very, very gingerly lifted out the floating 'switch', careful to keep it away from the contact points at either side of it, and tossed it away, before setting the device down.

It took him only a few minutes to do the same for the second and third devices, and then he was ready for the main cables leading to the bomb itself.

He looked around at everyone. "All right, people. Hold on to your hats."

He armed the pulse generator once again, and there was the familiar upcycling whine as it charged. With a mental command he fired the high-powered slicing beam as he swung his arm in a swift line to cut through all three main lines, closing his eyes and unconsciously bracing for the explosion that would come if he hadn't gotten to everything.

A few second later, he opened them, to find him exactly where he was and the basement level intact around them. No one had been blown to bits.

"Well, folks, we're still alive."

Under the helmet, then, he heard Diana's cool voice fill his ears. "I do not believe this is the time for celebration, sir. I have just received word from Spartan that the dragon Pestilence is currently en route with a number of smaller dragons in accompaniment."

He grumbled under the helmet. "More good news." Switching back to the external speaker, he spoke to the others. "Don't smoke 'em yet, kids. I just got word that Pestilence is heading this way, and she's bringing friends."

"Don't smoke 'em yet, kids. I just got word that Pestilence is heading this way, and she's bringing friends."

The relief Johnny felt after Ranger disarmed the bomb was quickly replaced by annoyance as yet another problem was placed before them.

Dragons? Johnny thought. How are we supposed to fight dragons? Fight fire with fire?

In that instant, his concentration wavered, along with the wall of flames that had been holding the assassins at bay. Three came rushing at him, axes held high, and Johnny had just enough time to toss a fireball at one of them driving him back.

"Axes, really?" Johnny laughed, as one took an ineffectual swing at the plasma flames that surrounded his body. "You guys gotta try harder than that," he scolded. "As much as I'd like to play, I gotta go. See ya later, fellas!"

With a rush of flame, he soared upwards, through the floors of the building to join Ebon in the air above the orphanage. There was no sign of dragons yet, but Johnny had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"How the hell are we supposed to fight dragons?" he asked as he rejoined Ebon. He'd fought a lot of strange foes since becoming a superhero, but never a dragon.

"Don't smoke 'em yet, kids. I just got word that Pestilence is heading this way, and she's bringing friends."

"As if we didn't know she'd be coming eventually?" Rhiannon muttered and shook her head. She'd never before stood in a life and death battle against someone that had been called family. She still remembered helping Icer and her mother search for what she'd been lead to believe was a hatchling or young dragon. Rhydin had odd ways, though, and what was days to some was months to others.

Rhiannon requested a secured channel from DIANA before speaking, "Ranger, this is Elpis. If that little fire is ready, make it count. There hasn't been much field test time for it."

((What Rhi's talking about was discussed here))

He gives Elpis a single nod before he steps over to the hole he made, listening as the AI's cool voice cuts in under the helmet of the armor he's wearing.

"Actually, sir, it's not been tested at all, at this time. However, it has been included in all all three of the Phalanx armors. Without knowing its affects, though, I would not rec-"

He waves it away and shakes his head at the voice. "Save it, Di. Could be de edge we need. Activate on all t'ree armors."

There is no acknowledgement from the AI, save for silence as she goes about her business. There is no difference - none he can detect, anyway - as the modification is engaged, or turned on, or however it works. Magic was something of a mystery to him, something he'd not yet had the time to investigate fully, though he was sure there was a science to it somewhere.

Stopping under the hole, he looked up. A moment later there was a screech of thrusters as the armored figure rocketed up out of the hole and into the sky, arching northwards.

Johnny watched as Ranger shot up through the roof and headed north, away from the orphanage, mirroring Ebon's glance. "What the hell is the matter with him? Afraid of a little fire, Scarecrow?" Johnny called after Ranger, knowing he was already too far away to hear him. "Think he knows something we don't?" he asked Ebon just as the man was tapping his comm-badge. Johnny was starting to lose his patience again. If there was going to be a fight, he'd just as soon get it started than wait for an enemy who may or may not be coming their way.

He still wasn't too keen on the idea of fighting dragons. The only dragons he knew anything about were those he'd seen in movies or read about in books. He wasn't quite sure how they were going to fight a pack of dragons, but if they were fire-breathers, his talents might just come in handy. If they were ice dragons, that was another matter all together.

Johnny looked to the sky expectantly, waiting to hear Ranger's reply, not really caring what their orders were. If they were itching for a fight, he'd give them one. He wasn't going to let the city burn, if he had anything to say about it.

As he climbed and turned towards the north, the incoming communications from the others were silently acknowledged. Cutting out all the external communications, he spoke directly to Diana. "Di, gimme a status update."

There was a moment of pause before the cool voice spoke into his ears. "As of this moment, the forces at the Abbey are currently pushing the enemy back. However, there seems to be a number of reanimated corpses on the battlefield which will soon outnumber the friendlies to the point of overwhelming them by sheer numbers. Pestilence and her brood have been halted almost halfway between Rhy'din and the Abbey, but Spartan is down and I cannot raise him on communications. The WestEnd device has been disarmed, leaving two explosive devices remaining. I am still awaiting reports from the other two teams as to their status."

He nodded inside his helmet, then turned the external comms back on with a thought. "Torch, Elpis: you're with me. We're going to help out Icer and Spartan, who seem to have halted Pestilence's progress for the moment. Spartan is down for the moment and can't be raised on comms, so we don't have any further information at this time.

"Black Knight, get yourself to WestEnd and see if you can snag the Rocketeer and the Enforcer, then go check on the other two locations. Start with the one by the watch tower here in the Temple District, see if they need help, then head over to the Marketplace. If everything looks copacetic, gather what forces you can and head for the Abbey."

He cut the outside comms again and spoke directly to Diana. "Di, send out de all call. All de Avengers, ConColor's dragon riders an' forces, everyt'ing we can get hold of. It may look like we got de upper hand, but Ah got a nasty feelin' dat dis is 'bout t'get uglier."

"As you wish, sir."

"I copy that, Ranger." With a nod to the Torch, Ebon headed towards the West End, telekinetic gifts carrying him through the air... perhaps not as fast as his teammates would've managed, but fast enough.