Avengers: Damnation

Horrors

Strange felt the dark presence near his physical body and knew he had to return to himself immediately. Though he knew it was viral that he be able to help the others navigate the maze of this corrupt little world of Nelvannu's, he was more than aware that he could not do so dead.

The dungeon greeted his senses as his eyes snapped open and he inhaled the damp air. But it was the sounds that he was most aware of. Something was scraping along the floor in the distance and Strange knew that something dark and twisted was approaching from the shadows. Rising to his feet, he glared into the darkness. "Show yourself," he spat.

"You may wish you had not made such a request, sorcerer," several voices cut through the darkness. Then, with one greats two forward, the speaker stepped into the blue light.

"What are you?" Strange asked as he took in the horrendous sight before him.

The creature had countless legs of various shapes, sizes, and types ranging from something resembling a human, tentacles and hooves. From the waist up, a pulsating mass of tissue opened up like a grotesque flower, it's countless limbs twitching about as one strong arm clung to a gigantic sword which it dragged behind it. And rising up from the thing's neck was a host of freakish, mutant heads. Each face was a mess of features that barely resembled anything remotely human. The eyes, all misshapen and strangely colored conveyed only one message- hostility. And when the mouths opened up again, it was a bone-chilling laugh that escaped them. The cacophony of unnatural chuckling filled the dungeon, permeated Strange's head.

"We are the Tormentors," the beings spoke in unison. "A collection of lost souls the master has fused together. And there is room for another..."

"Fuck you," Strange barked at them as gleaming Tao Mandelas filled his palms. The air around him became charged with magic as his new, sickening enemy lumbered toward him.

"What is that?" Aegis asked once he, Lumen and Nightstar approached the edge of the mist and were met with a large body of still water. And across the glassy surface...

"What's that tower," Lumen pointed out.

"Something tells me it's not a spa," Aegis sighed. "Great."

"We should check it out," Nightstar said. "It's the only landmark we've seen so far."

"Together," Lumen said in a firm voice. "We stick together."

Together, the three of them floated up off of the ground and flew together across the water. The closer they came to the tower, the more tense Lumen felt. His head was swimming with a multitude of emotions- Aegis's, Nightstar's, and his own. But there was another emotion lurking in the distant recesses, gradually gaining more presence the closer he flew to the tower. A sickening anger was blooming within his mind, gradually unfolding like some deadly flower.

"Something is in there," Lumen said as he slowed to a stop and hovered.

The others looked at one another in slight confusion. "I mean, yeah," Aegis said in a gentle voice. "I'm sure there is."

"No," Lumen said in a cautious voice. "There's something really dark in there."

Aegis looked over at his friend and rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to be afraid."

Lumen shook his head. "I'm not afraid," he calmly stated, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "But they should be."

Aegis's expression of concern shifted to one of awe. He knew Lumen very well and understood him to be one of the kindest and most gentle-natured people he knew- sometimes to his own detriment. But he was also a person of profound strength and will. And Aegis knew that he was about to see the far reaches of his friend's strength.