Avengers: Seven Brides of Set

All Fall Down

The onslaught of serpents plunged the battlefield into chaos. In every direction, a hero was facing off against snakes of various sizes and configurations. The psychics had lost their hold on the seven brides and were forced to defend themselves.

"We need to protect the psychics so they can get back to freeing them," Steve roared as he hurled his shield into the gaping maw of a snake that had ascended from below and hastily slithered in his direction.

"It's no use," Emma cried out, her body bound by a large snake. "The power he has over them is too strong." She flexed her mind and her skin transformed into diamond. With a grunt, she lifted her arms, tearing the snakes leathery hide and severing the bone and muscle beneath.

"There has to be a way," Reed argued. "I refuse to give up hope!"

All around the wrecked street, the heroes directed every ounce of their power at the endless sea of enemies. That every fallen creature only seemed to be replaced by even more did very little to encourage them.

Cap vaulted over a dead snake and landed on the head of another. He slammed his shield down, cleaving its head. The snake let out a great hiss as it plunged to the ground. Steve used the downward momentum to throw another perfect flip. Landing next to Thor, who had just been thrown back by the large beast.

The thunder god stared at the snake as it continue to keep its massive body coiled around the seven. His eyes briefly locked with Dean's and his heart began to furiously pound.

Tears were dancing in Dean's eyes. It was the only sign that there was any emotion in him, for the rest of his face was completely void of feeling.

Letting out a tremendous roar, Thor leaped to his feet and launched himself into the sky. Stormbreaker sizzled with elemental power and the skies above darkened ominously.

"Send your minions to do your dirty work?" Thor shouted, calling Set out. "Let them serve as an example for what I will do to you!"

Large chunks of ice began to slip from the clouds, propelled downward by a quickly spinning vortex of frigid winds. With ease, Thor crafted a dreadful blizzard. The ice swirled around the large snake and began to crash into his snapping fangs. The creature hissed irritable and attempted to hold its position. At that moment, Antman raced forward, his body towering as high as the snake's. He threw a vicious right hook, the combination of attacks forcing the beast to fall the ground.

Without a second's hesitation, Blackagar raced to the fallen snake and leaped into its own mouth, his body narrowly escaping being chewed to bits when the snake hastily shut its mouth.

"What's he..." Hawkeye started to say. But, in a terrible explosion of viscera, the archer had his answer. Blackagar's mere whisper within the snake's body created an explosion that saw the creature's head and a great portion of its upper body raining down on the battlefield in great, bloody chunks.

At the sight of their largest and strongest falling before the enemy, the rest of the remaining serpents began to retreat back into the earth.

"Holy shit," Iron Man sighed.

Blackagar emerged, blood-soaked, a triumphant expression on his face. But the emotion was short lived when a great curtain of red hair reached out and flicked the kings throwing him several feet across the ground.

"You may have killed Set's greatest son, but you should know that his power pales in comparison to what Set will become!" Aegis taunted as he and the brides took up fighting stances.

"There is a part of you that does not wish this," Thor said, his eyes weighing down on Lumen.

"That part is buried deeply beneath Set's power," Lumen fired back.

"Then why are there tears in your eyes, Fair One?"

Lumen faltered, his composure seeming to break down. It was as if a Great War was being waged within. Likewise, the rest of the brides also appeared to be in similar turmoil.

"They're locked inside of themselves," Strange said. "But they're aware of what's happening."

"Kill them!" Set's voice echoed around them.

"Fuck," Sam grunted. "Really don't want to have to fight them.

"We will not be fighting them," Thor said in a level voice.

A bolt of psychic energy launched from Jean and struck Cyclops, forcing him to his knees. At that moment, Sue had generated an assortment of invisible blades and tossed them toward Reed. Aegis reached out with his own power, seizing Cap and lifting him into the air. Medusa's hair wove itself into a sharpened point as it rushed out to Blackagar's position. Spider-Woman raised her hands as bioelectrical energy began to course from them. Talisman targeted Michael and directed a barrage of arcane power in his direction. Lumen took flight, his body easily clearing the space between him and Thor as he hurled a blast of light at his husband.

Cyclops looked up at Jean with confusion. The attack she had thrown at him should have overwhelmed his mind with pain, yet he felt nothing. Reed tilted his head in surprise when none of Sue's invisible weapons touched him, instead slamming into the ground around him. Cap wore a similar look of surprise when Aegis simply held him in midair and did nothing else. Medusa's hair stopped just before Blackagar's face. The attack Spider-Woman had intended to launch dissipated. Talisman's own power faded to nothing once it was near her father. And the light blast Lumen had intended to strike Thor with harmlessly hit the ground beside him.

Thor's stoic expression slowly broke into a grin. "They do not want to hurt us. Deep down, they still have some control over themselves." Looking to the sky, he raised his voice to address Set, wherever he was. "You hear me, fallen god?! Your hold over them is too weak!"

Silence met the assembled team. Then, one by one, the seven brides lost consciousness and fell to the ground.