Avengers: Damnation

Further Inside

The hell hound raced across the bridge and through an adjacent corridor. As he ran, he huffed excitedly and barked back at the collection of heroes who followed him. 

"If he leads us to the boys he's getting the royal treatment for the rest of his life," Lumen promised from Thor's side.

"Most definitely," Thor agreed.

A small assembly of winged creatures darted from a nearby corridor and the dog simply tackled the closest one, bisecting it with a snap of his jaws. Then, before anyone else could react, he spun around, bowed into an aggressive stance and let out a great roar. From his mouth came a large plume of flame that extended toward the remaining creatures and set them ablaze.

"Well-met!" Thor bellowed leaping over to the dog and giving him a pat on the head.

Not to be outdone, the dog took off once again. His muscular body was practically a blur as he raced to the end of the corridor where a large steel door barred their entry. Coming to a stop, the dog barked at the door and his message was quite clear.

"Sounds like there's an army of those things on the other side," Cap warned.

"I got this," Aegis announced before reaching out with a hand and closing his fingers. The door shook as it was torn from its frame. Then Aegis made a fist and punched, sending the door hurtling into the next room. The door-turned-projectile struck a throng of creatures, tossing them far across the massive vault of a room and crushing them against a wall with an audible crunch.

Thor and his dog tore through the entrance first, both of them joined in combat as they assaulted the closest enemies. Amid flames and lightning, they made short work of any who dared to get near them.

"Just need to clear this room and see where Thori wants us to go next," Lumen called out as he snatched a demon by its throat and set it ablaze with fiery light. 

"Thori?" Aegis asked with a smirk. 

"Just kind of came to me," Lumen said with a shrug.

"That's adorable," Aegis chuckled. He spun around and directed a wave of telekinesis into a crowd.

"What about Mighty Dog?" Iron Man asked.

Thori looked over at the Armored Avenger and let out an unimpressed huff.

"Come, Thori," Thor said. "Lead the way, my friend."

Thori let out an enthusiastic bark and charged through the vault and toward a wall of bricks. He stopped there and pawed at it.

"Very well," Thor said with a massive grin. "Shall we, Hyperion?"

"It would be a pleasure," Hyperion said before landing next to Thor.

Taylor looked over at Lumen and elbowed him. "Swooning in three, two..."

Thor swung Stormbreaker at the same time Hyperion was delivering a cracking right hook. The brick wall shattered under their combined might as they began to tunnel through the dense structure.

"One," Lumen said with a smile as he stared at Thor's powerful body as he worked at clearing out the bricks and making a path.

"Our men are so hot," Nightstar said.

"Stop objectifying them," Iron Man groaned. "They're not pieces of meat!"

"Not going to touch that one," Hawkeye muttered.

The tunneling ended and the heroes emerged in what looked like a great big wasteland. Smoke hung heavy in the sky, rising up from piles of what appeared to be burning corpses. The stench of decay filled everyone's senses. Mountains of bones littered the ground, obscuring whatever lay beneath it.