[Hellfire]

On the eve of the Wave 13 release, C3G proudly presents the next chapter of Johnny and Lord Pyre's exciting story ...

S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
3:57 PM PDT | 8/31/12

"Let's get this show on the road, folks!"

Nick Fury, with a duck and a roll, fires on the advancing cyborg. He laughs as the bullets bounce harmlessly from his steel skin. "Did you really think you'd get the drop on Brainiac, kids?"

Like a flash, he appears behind the beleaguered leader, knocking him to the ground. "He's smarter than every meatbag on this entire planet combined!"

Batman, on the far end of the battlefield, hurls his grapple onto the radio tower beside him, landing on the platform around which Iron Man deftly spins. The suit is virtually invisible as it darts through the smoke-filled air; Batman, raising a trio of batarangs, throws them into the empty air. From nowhere, a hefty suit of black armor crashes to the ground.

"Thanks Bats!" shouts Tony Stark from within the chassis. Iron Man just as quickly disappears, flying into the air, a hail of blasts and bullets firing on the vigilante. "Sorry Bats!"

The Cyborg Superman continues to toy with Nick Fury, eyes glowing a a deep crimson, when he suddenly finds himself clotheslined to the asphalt beneath him. A streak of flame is the only hint to his attacker. Regaining his bearings, the machine's body begins to resew itself. "You're going to regret that one...!"



S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
4:04 PM PDT | 8/31/12

"FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" he shouts as the demon cackles, rings of flame encircling him, darting to and fro. Suddenly, the light around him seems to disappear - pure darkness, and a deep and foreboding voice, seem to be the only things left in the universe.

"Tandy, now!" it cries.

Three rays of light slice through the dark, blinding in the midnight glow. He grabs his eyes on impulse as a stronger beam of light shears past him - this time, tearing a hole to the Helicarrier around them. Like the warmth of the summer sun, the cyborg feels... renewed. Cloak, on the other hand, is less than enthused - the strange Superman watches impassively as he covers his shadowed wound.



S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
4:08 PM PDT | 8/31/12

Iron Man continues to strafe the heroes, but Dagger, ducking beneath a propeller blade, shoots more rays of light at the fake Superman within Cloak's aura.

"You stinkin'... GAH!" Once again, the Spirit of Vengeance darts past, keeping the destroyer from approaching his assailants. Ghost Rider closes in again - only to meet a hard metal fist, knocking him from his bike. It slides across the Helicarrier with hellish sparks and monstrous screeches.

Again, the strange Superman - glowing spheres of sunlight in his hands - begins to move, landing alongside Dagger without obstruction. She raises her hands to fight, but something hangs over the two. She can only watch as he reaches toward her, slowly, assuredly.

"Who... what are you!?"

At last, it speaks. "I am the Eradicator."

With that, she falls.

"TANDY!" shouts Cloak, his calm demeanor instantly broken. Like some abomination, a thousand limbs of shadow burst forth as Eradicator, struggling in vain, is pulled into his world. The cyborg, struck with a sudden sickening dread, seems almost impressed.



S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
4:15 PM PDT | 8/31/12

He begins to struggle with the eldritch hero, watching as Iron Man flies in to approach. "Come on, bring in the cavalry already!" the metallic menace shouts to the shell.

Tony Stark, from within his prison, chuckles. "I don't think so!" Suddenly, the camouflage flickers and the armor tumbles to the Helicarrier floor. "Bats, now!"

He appears from the darkness, sending forth a shower of batarangs. The suit's eyes flicker red, then fade. With some effort, Stark tears himself from the heavy metal and crawls to freedom.

"Well, that was fun," he says, dusting his suit. "Now how 'bout we finish this?"

From behind, the suit slowly rises. In a slow, metallic, and chillingly familiar voice, it speaks: "As if it would be that easy, human."

The suit grabs him by his neck and locks eyes. "...Ultron," the engineer mutters, unwilling or unable to struggle. With ease, the immortal machine tosses him from the side of the ship. Less than a moment after, nearly a dozen suits burst from within the Helicarrier. They march in slowly, but a hail of missiles sends them scattering. Six stealth jets pass by overhead. Nick Fury, on the ground nearby, smirks. "Cavalry's here."



S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
4:15 PM PDT | 8/31/12

Still assaulted on all sides by the swarming tentacles of darkness, Cyborg Superman fights through as his machine overlord slowly approaches. Batman swings forward, again throwing Batarangs - one, with perfect aim, catches Henshaw in the head. Without a cry or a whisper, like a crashed computer, he crumples and falls.

Batman ducks and rolls toward Ultron. "Unfortunately," the machine says impassively, "I will not be so easy a prey."



Shrouded in darkness, he climbs beneath the engine where Cloak lurks. Despite the chains of Zarathos and claws of the Bat, despite the concentrated fire of the entire Helicarrier, he tears through Cloak's defenses, pulling the Eradicator free of his grasp and tossing the husk aside.

"And now," he says, "you have lost."



S.H.I.E.L.D. HELICARRIER
4:26 PM PDT | 8/31/12

The Eradicator flies above; along with Ultron, he sends showers of energy across the battlefield, tearing asphalt asunder. Speedball and the Ghost Rider, despite their agility, can barely dodge the blasts. Unbeknownst, Batman swings alongside the engine, watching, waiting as the program runs its routines. He dons his gauntlets. He lands.

With a strong, swift punch, the Eradicator turns a sickly green and falls to its knees. Nick Fury, just climbing to his feet, shakes his head. "Kryptonite. Always come prepared, eh?"

The Bat scowls as Ultron turns his attention toward him. "Not this time."

From afar, yet another voice - alien, cold, and resolute - begins to speak. "No, Caped Crusader. Not this time."



UNKNOWN LOCATION
5:59 PM CDT | 8/31/12

A man, clad in a ragged purple jumpsuit, hunches over a flickering computer screen. "My name," he says, "is Lex Luthor. But if you've found these files, you’ve likely put that together already."



He squats, alone, in a damp and dank cave - or perhaps, what was once a basement, a shelter, a subway. There is no sound at the moment save the whirr of a computer and the constant drip of dirty water, but behind him is the softly brilliant light of a strange and suspicious machine.

"It has been... four months? Five? I no longer remember when that insufferable, illogical, so-called '12th Level Intellect' revealed himself to the world. The rifts have been smaller, since. I doubt it's his doing, though I can't say I would be surprised..."

He stands up, back straight, standing tall before his audience of one. "But I digress. Needless to say, the world has not quite recovered from this magnanimous event. He and that infernal machine have done the unthinkable. He is, perhaps, the first being in history to play me for a fool." He pauses, as if forgetting. "And destroy human society, of course.

"And so, here I stand. I cannot be certain if this machine will function, or if I have enough power remaining to bring forth a single man. But time and space are fluid these days... and so, I must begrudgingly entrust mankind's future to the cold hand of fate. If I succeed, the tide may turn at last. If I fail... I can only hope another takes up my mission. This is Lex Luthor, signing out."

With a click, the monitor switches to black, but the whirring does not cease, or even quiet. Behind him, the machine seems to grow brighter, bolder, braver. Taking a half-shattered pair of goggles from the ground, the man crawls over to its steel innards, tying wires and sealing holes. After a few brief minutes, he stands once more, self-satisfied. He takes the lever and pulls it.

The buzz of the machine takes on a frantic pace, the light turns erratic. Even with his eyes covered, he must shade them; even without force, it pushes him back. The generator seems to crackle and burst, then explodes into a shower of sparks, but the machine – now screaming, crashing, booming – only moves faster.

"Yes!" he shouts, "Yes! I knew it! Lex Luthor alone is worth a thousand cosmic rifts!"

Suddenly, the light changes, forming a glowing, incandescent orb, at least ten feet in diameter. The man tears the goggles from his head, greedy smile growing on his face. It flashes once more, and, silhouetted and haloed before him, floats the new arrival. Slowly, his smirk fades, his teeth grit.

"No," he says, fist clenched in staunch denial.

A red cape flutters.

"It can’t be."

A blue costume shines.

"Why him!?"

The Man of Steel has returned.

Tomorrow, keep an eye out for the story arcs conclusion while printing out your Wave 13 cards