Avengers: Damnation

The Heart of Darkness

Aegis grunted in the darkness, low and pained. Lumen, with Modi and Magni cradled in his arms, unleashed a soft glow and watched as Aegis stood tall, his arms extended over his head. His entire body was trembling from the exertion of keeping the rubble from falling in on all of them. Lumen promptly directed a wave of photons around them, fortifying the telekinetic shield.

Aegis locked eyes with Lumen and gave him a shaky smile. "Thanks, dude."

"We need to get back up there and find out what the hell happened," Nightstar said, his body overflowing with dark purple energy. "I highly doubt that a sneak attack from Loki is going to do anything but piss Nelvannu off."

Lumen looked down at his sons and they stared back up at him, their expressions serene despite the circumstances. "I'm so sorry, boys," Lumen whispered. "You deserve better than this."

"It's not your fault some primordial dickhead decided to have the boys abducted," Aegis spoke up.

"But he'll pay for it," Lumen whispered to his boys. "Daddy's going to fuck him up."

Both boys giggled, their expressions reminding Lumen so much of Thor that his heart swelled.

"I bet if they were older they'd be fighting with us," Aegis said.

"Probably," Lumen agreed before rising to his feet. "Now. Let's get back up there."

Aegis nodded, then slowly brought his arms back, his telekinetic energy seething around him like blue flames. Then, with one deliberate motion, he punched his fists into the air and the debris exploded upward. At once, Nightstar and Lumen flew up after him, all of them rising up out of the lower levels in a blaze of power. As the smoke cleared around their hovering bodies, they caught the sight of a horrific fountain of darkness spewing up from the ground, its tendrils clinging to the ceiling high overhead. As it moved, the floor beneath it continued to get chewed up from the force of it. Thor, Hyperion, Iron Man, Power Princess and Snowbird hovered above while holding onto anyone who couldn't fly. Thori was draped across Thor's shoulders- an image that would ordinarily inspire a chuckle.

"Fools, all of you!" Nelvannu's voice boomed across the room. The darkness that stuck to the ceiling swirled about, a massive face forming at its center. "You think you're tricks have stopped me, but I am the master of this realm. And everything in it. And with all of you here, none shall leave! You will die here, heroes!"

Thor hurled Stormbreaker right into the center of the face and it shattered the darkness. Nelvannu's noxious laughter echoed and the darkness burst apart. The ceiling exploded Aegis rushed up to the air.

"Kyle!"  Cap cried out from Iron Man's arm.

Aegis reached out and caught the massive amount of debris like before, and his head immediately pounded with the most tremendous ache. Blood dribbled from his nose and he winced at the pain.

"Kyle!" Cap repeated as he watched his lover struggle.

But then the debris began to rise up. Aegis, his body now relaxed and still, floated up with it. The aura of power that surrounded him gradually shifted from the glow of energy to a great explosion of fiery blue power. Then, to the great shock of everyone, the power gathered at his back and expanded in the form of great, flapping wings. The head of a bird shot out from above Aegis and let out a triumphant caw.

"Lumen, what's going on?" Cap shouted. "It's the same thing you were doing!"

"No," Lumen called out. "It's not quite the same."

"Whatever it is, it's got Nelvannu on the ropes!" Hawkeye cheered.

"Impossible," Nelvannu muttered. "Two cosmic birds in my realm?"