Izzy stopped his truck a block from the LC tower.  Wordlessly he, Anna and Tyrese got out.  Izzy had bandaged up his minor burns from his fight with the sorceress, and had donned a fresh shirt, his pants still frayed and singed.  He ran his hands along the brim of his hat, weathered and well worn.  The spurs on his boots rattled with each step.

Anna was wearing a mask for the first time in over a month, a thin red domino mask.  It wasn’t about protecting her identity; where they were going, everyone knew her, but it was about taking back the identity that had been stolen from her.  She didn’t have her armor, but it wouldn’t have done her much good in her current state.  She was still weak and out of shape, the heavy armor would only slow her down.  She wore the red bikini she’d worn the first time she’d donned her mask.  It still wasn’t a very practical costume, so she’d donned tight black yoga pants and a thin grey jacket over her costume, as well as a belt that held a heavy metal pipe.  It wasn’t her baton, but the extra weight did well to offset her lack of strength when she swung it experimentally.  It was something, and she was starting to feel like Siren again, even without her power.

Tyrese got out behind her.  The 6’ 8’’ giant wore his black sleeveless black hoody, and black track pants.  He clenched his massive fists, wrapped in weighted black combat gloves.

“Well, shall we do this?”

Anna spun in surprise at the voice.

“Come on out Mira,” Izzy said.

Two garbage cans on the corner disappeared, revealing Mira LeBlanc, lounging casually on a pop up chair, one leg thrown up over the armrest.  

“Who’s ready to fight some Legends?” she asked, a cocky grin spreading across her features.

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Izzy said.

She rolled her eyes.  “You know we’re going have to.”

“I know,” Izzy said.

“Mira, I never got to thank you, for saving me,” Anna said.

She shrugged.  “Don’t worry about it.  Who’s the giant?” she asked, looking at Tyrese.

“This is Tyrese.  He’s deaf,” Anna said, signing to Tyrese that the newcomer was Mira, Izzy’s sister, and an illusionist.

“Can he do anything?” Mira asked.

“He hits really hard,” Izzy answered.

“Fair enough,” she said, getting up and stretching before pulling her long auburn hair back and putting it in a bun.  She was wearing a white tank top and grey cargo pants.  Anna eyed the handle of the gun tucked into her waistband.  Mira reached behind her chair, pulling something else out.

“Jesus, is that a grenade launcher?” Anna asked.

“Yes it is,” she replied, running her hands along the weapon.

“Mirage specializes in distraction.  The name of the game is get to the top of the tower.  If the Sea Witch isn’t there already, she will be.  The rest of the LC will probably try to stop us.”

“And I’ll try to keep ‘em busy.”

“But a grenade launcher?”

“This ol’ thing?  This is just to knock on the door.”

“Exactly,” Izzy says.  “If they’re fighting us, they’re controlled.  No killing.”

“Yeah yeah,” Mira said.  She raised the weapon to her shoulder, looking along the barrel.  “Knock knock, assholes,” she said, mouthing a “boom” as she pretended to fire.

Izzy rolled his eyes.  Anna gave him a worried look.  Anna didn’t know Mira’s whole history with the LC, but she knew Barrage’s little sister wasn’t exactly a fan of her brother’s team.

“We’ll be-”

Izzy noted the small puff of air, and the shadow out of the corner of his eye.  He also saw Tyrese react to it, slower than him, but still impressive nonetheless.  There weren’t many people the teleporter couldn’t sneak up on.

But Izzy was one of them, and he knew Eidolon’s moves.  The teleporter always attacked from behind, and he went for the most dangerous target first.

Izzy pointed his left fingers over his right shoulder, firing blindly.  There was a grunt and thud.  Everyone turned, seeing the man in the black body suit lying on the ground at the foot of the wall of the alley.  Tom Laskey, the Eidolon, the LC’s resident teleporter.

“One down,” Izzy said.

Mira looked at the collapsed teleporter and then back at her brother.  “They already know we’re here.”

“Still, let’s not be rude.  Go knock on the door.”



Ursula poured through the ancient tomes.  Lady Sapphire’s personal library held more secrets than she had ever dreamed of.  Even the mundane stuff that was left out and not warded with powerful magics that even Ursula had trouble accessing was more impressive than what most practicers of the arcane ever saw.  

None of her impressive new spells at her disposal could help her locate what she was looking for.  Everything was organized in a purposefully chaotic disarray that only the Sorceress of Sapphires could fathom.

Still, Ursula could speed read faster than anyone alive, naturally gifted and magically augmented, with a perfect photographic memory.  Everything was stored in full in her memory, ready to be called upon at a moment’s notice.

“I’m glad you came.”  

She was prepared for this inevitability, but even still, the voice sent chills down her spine.  Even with Siren’s power and more arcane power at her disposal than she’d ever had, Lady Sapphire was a force to be reckoned with.

“It saves me the trouble of having to find you.”

An imperceptible twitch of a single finger was all it took, and a prison of smooth, translucent blue crystal formed around the Sea Witch.

Sigils painted on Ursula’s body glowed in activation.  Cracks formed in the sapphire cage, growing spiderwebs that soon exploded outwards.

“I expected more,” Ursula spat.

“Don’t worry.  I’m just protecting my library.”  She moved, lightning quick, her feet gliding across the floor.  

Ursula had counted on her getting close, but the speed at which she moved still caught her off guard.  By the time her wards activated, black tentacles erupting from the floor, Lady Sapphire was already upon her, her dainty yet incredibly strong hand wrapped around her throat.

The tentacles swarmed in on her, but Lady Sapphire rocketed upwards, carrying the Sea Witch with her.  The blue sorceress held the witch above her, smashing her through the vaulted ceiling.

Ursula’s black fingernails sharpened into razor sharp claws, and she slashed at the arm holding her throat.

Lady Sapphire cried out, letting go.  Ursula went flying, rolling across the roof.

The Sorceress of Sapphires hovered above the hole in the roof, calling out the magical black ink that had been injected into her skin and sealing the wound.  She stared down at Ursula, the Sea Witch still lying on her back, laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“The goal was always to make it to the roof.”  She gestured, and black ink bubbled out of the concrete, forming an intricate series of runes and sigils and wards.

“When?” Lady Sapphire asked.

The Sea Witch shrugged.  “Sometime last week.  You only knew I was here because I was ready for you to know.  Now, bear witness, to my apotheosis.”