Sara sliced any Dark hunter that came within arm’s reach of her. Some went down, some lived to hop back and try again, or catch a burst of bullets stitching across their body.

She heard the flat crack of Nick’s rifle from somewhere above and behind her. Every target he shot went down with a big hole through it. She didn’t have time to watch the bodies fall.

Ryan and Seek appeared and disappeared at the edge of her vision. She nodded at the hunters going down to a stabbing or a beating. Any they left wounded died as soon as she could stab their victim with the lion sword.

The titan began ripping buildings and the street apart with its hundred hands. It flung the giant rocks at the opposition attacking it. No one could pass. And being a living trebuchet would insure that.

Superman appeared and punched the titan in its knobby head. It staggered back from the blow. He swung again, trying to push the menace out of the way.

“Superman?,” said Tyler. “Superman.”

“Nasser and the others are trying to deal with the giant,” said Sara. “We’re just the distraction.”

The Dark’s air force joined the fray, swooping down on the adventurers opposing the horde. Lines of energy cut through their flight paths. Shields took some of the blasts. Burning bodies happened when they didn’t.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Tyler. He directed his attention to spindly wall crawlers trying to flank them. His pistols went brrr. Smoking bodies fell to the ground.

Fire blasted out of the alley where she had left the others. She glanced over. A well endowed woman with horns stepped out of the alley. Small flames danced around her nose and mouth. A tail waved under the skirt of her dark dress.

“Who’s that?,” Sara asked. She booted one of her enemies into the inner wall.

“I don’t know but she can light my fire any time,” said Tyler.

“That kind of talk is going to get you in trouble one day,” said Sara.

Superman and the titan engaged in a high speed boxing match. The Dark had a hundred hands that moved faster than a speeding bullet, and hit like a train. The living statue fended off most of the blows, but was still taking a beating from his opponent.

“I refuse to not try to pick up a sexy woman with a big crocodile tail,” said Tyler. “It’s all I got in this life.”

Sara shrugged. He had shown up to help her with the rest of his friends. She would protect him from the Dark. He was on his own with any stupid decision he made.

Freelancers had formed up around Sara and Tyler. She didn’t know where they had all come from. Somehow that part didn’t matter. What mattered was the amount of matter and energy they were pouring into the line of monsters trying to keep them from the wall.

“We have to move up and clear a spot so we can get to the gate,” Sara called.

“Have no fear, young lady,” said a guy with blond hair, too many muscles, and a big smile. “I’m here now.”

The guy jumped across the gap from where Sara and Tyler were trying to push through to the middle of the monster encampment. When he landed, he created a shockwave that drove the Dark back on a wave of force.

“Another Superman?,” asked Tyler. He blasted something with two heads as it tried to rush him.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care as long as he’s on our side,” said Sara. “Let’s see if we can help him clear the riffraff.”

“I’m right behind you,” said Tyler.

The two of them began to push on the monsters, splitting the flood with their

weapons. Others joined them, adding on their own weapons to the assortment. The Dark came apart under the barrage as the freelancers tried to march to where the blond muscleman was slamming his enemies with hands like Christmas hams.

The titan went down on one knee as Superman landed a punch to the face. Another barrage of energy beams and missiles took advantage of the stunned target. The giant rocked against the wall and struck part of it away with its body.

“I think we’re drawing guys from the other side of the hub,” said Tyler.

“I’m not surprised,” said Sara. She chopped down something without bones and with too many limbs. She kicked the body out of the way. “We’re getting stalled in the open. We need more people to help us push.”

“Tell me about it,” said Tyler. His pistols sawed through two monsters that tried to grapple with him.

A small circle of light appeared around one of the hunters that had circled the fighting and was trying to flank through the alleys between the damaged buildings. The circle sliced through the monster before splitting into two. The two circles leaped to the next nearest monsters, shrank to a pinpoint to leave parts of things on the ground, expanded and split again.

The circles became a wave, pushing through the defending beasts. Each one cut down fueled another split. That gave the charging freelancers a chance to target the bigger problems without worrying about the smaller ones dragging them down.

“I don’t know what that is but I like it,” said Tyler.

“I think Nasser found something to help clear the mob out,” said Sara. “We can use it to push.”

“Right behind you,” said Tyler. He poured lead into something trying to get back together. That was enough to push it next to a monster getting chopped apart. And then the glowing ring grabbed his target and sliced it apart too. “Kill stealer.”

Ryan and Seek joined them, forming a square. It was hard to read Ryan’s white mask, but Seek snarled at the enemies trying to close within stick range.

“We’re trying to head in to the wall,” said Sara. “Any thoughts?”

“That’s the craziest thing I ever heard,” said Seek.

Ryan pointed to where the muscleman had grabbed a member of the Dark army and turned it into a bludgeon against his enemies.

“That’s where we’re going,” said Sara. “I don’t think we want to be really close while he is doing his thing, but we want to add to the damage.”

Ryan nodded. He led the way, knifing any enemy that got too close as they fought their way forward.

Other freelancers grouped around Sara and her escort. They seemed to be using her and Tyler as a spearhead to hit the wall. They only had this one chance for force. If the gate was able to swing through the battlefield, then they would have to retreat and think of some other way to punch through the enemy army.

She didn’t want to lose this chance after finally forcing some way to get to where she wanted to go.

The titan went down. Superman kept pummeling it until it couldn’t fight back. He picked it up and threw it over the outer wall and into the rim. That was going to be trouble at one point for someone else, but there were more Light forces there, and they were more willing to shoot at the Dark.

“Steer right,” said Sara. She pointed at the hole in the wall. “That’s where we have to go.”

“They did a number on things,” said Seek. He kept an eye on a hunter who looked like they wanted to try to rush. A big woman with a glowing helmet seemed to be scaring it into staying back.

“We’re going to have to hold that wall for an unknown amount of time,” said Tyler. “This could get messy quick. Nick and the others need to stop dragging.”

Bob and Sheira arrived on a slide. Bob made sure to throw some spikes at the Dark as he supported Nasser.

“All we need is Wayne, and we’re back together,” said Bob. “Nasser says he has enough for a few more spells, but they’re going to have to be small.”

“See if you can get all these people to the gate, Bob,” said Sara. “We need a hard point so we can get all the freelancers through.”

“That’s some ambition,” said Sheira. “I think I like it.”

“Can do, Sara,” said Bob. He held up a hand to attract everyone’s attention. Then he pointed at where the battle of titans had knocked down part of the inner wall. His slide turned and started that way.

“Tyler,” said Sara. “We need to join the muscle man and do a fighting retreat along the wall. Can do?”

“Does a bear go in the woods?,” asked Tyler. “Let’s roll these goobers up. I want to watch Jeopardy again.”

Sara rushed the line. She swung the lion sword as fast as the rabbit allowed. The muscle man engaged in a shadow colored troll for the amount of time it took him to pummel the poor monster into a different shape and launch it into the sky with an uppercut.

“We’re fighting our way down the wall to the gate,” Sara shouted. “Every Dark thing between here and the hole we blasted has to be put out of the way.”

“Never fear,” said the mountain of muscle. His grin seemed a little manic at this point. “I can punch through anything.”

“Let’s go,” said Sara.

The surviving Dark tried to rush the two freelancers. They should have run.

Sara’s temporary helper plowed through anything trying to close with him. Splatters of ichor answered most of his punches. Stronger hunters survived the punches, but were flung out of the way across yards of distance.

Sara used the ox and rabbit to increase her speed and strength to superhuman levels. Combined with the sword, they allowed her to chop through anything that got too close. The dog talisman healed up any shot that landed. She had to keep adjusting her position to keep up with her companion, but they were making progress.

She spotted a familiar figure in the distance. She frowned. That couldn’t be who she thought it was. She smiled. It was.

Wayne made his way through the army. Every monster he touched went down with broken limbs and smashed skulls.

“My friend is coming,” said Sara. “Keep going. I’m going to try to wait on him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said the muscles. “It looks like they loosed a

dragon on us.”

He pointed at a winged shape descending on the battlefield.

“We’re all going to be on fire if we don’t hurry,” said the strong man. He splattered a lesser monster with a short punch.

“Go ahead,” said Sara. “I’ll stop it.”

She just didn’t know how.