Crucible: Sacrifices Made

Crucible was amazed at the speed of the woman!  She lunged, spun, and slashed with a savage grace that he could barely comprehend.  Even though he had literally burned the air from her lungs she was still relentless.  There was something more there than mere skill though, he could somehow tell that she could sense weaknesses in his defense that he didn’t even know existed, but so far his Orichalcum skin was up to the task, but just barely.

created at: 06/30/2014

He shaped the metal skin around his fists and forearms into spiked gauntlets mirroring the cesti that his fallen comrade Moon Knight had favored.  The villainess would remember who she had killed!  Those same spiked fists snapped forward quickly and connected, but lacking Crucible’s normal power.  He knew to swing full force would leave him vulnerable if he missed his target and with such a deadly opponent he took no chances.  He did not like his chances fighting this assassin on his own but he was drawn to her, to what she apparently knew of his past.  Who was Hephaestus?  The insane warrior woman trying to kill him had said that Hephaestus had “created” him, had “made him strong.”  What the hell did that mean?



Sabanion roared into the melee, spinning and slashing with claw and tail.  The swordswoman was again impossibly quick, she leapt and cartwheeled in midair to avoid the whipping tail that sought to tear at her legs.  As she landed her position was perfect.  She poised to strike and Crucible knew she was in perfect position to finish him, but then she stopped as she caught a glimpse of what was happening behind her.  The young Russian girl had opened some sort of portal and pulled Mary Jane and the altar through it with her.  The insane assassin literally flew at the portal, but was too late.  She crashed through the wall in the adjoining room.  Crucible took a deep breath realizing that the young Russian had probably saved his life.  He ran to get a better view of what had happened to his deadly opponent.  Damn, he thought as he looked at the women rising from the rubble and steeled himself for another round.


(published June 30, 2014)