The Illuminati left Auberon’s palace feeling slightly discouraged. They had spent so long looking for the Aurelius, only to find nothing. Their only comfort was that he had not been in Shambhala: Abaddon still had not captured him.
Returning back to San Francisco, the heroes found their city and their home in ruins. The terrain had been drastically altered, with spikes of stone and earth piercing the ground and thrusting towards the sky.
The Illuminati moved to help the panicked citizens while Xcris began to scan minds looking for an explanation: four demons, each able to assume the form of one of the four elements, as well as command it, had only recently appeared and were rampaging across the city. Tick-tock and Deimos conducted their own searches, with Deimos’ hunt from the skies yielding two of the foretold monsters…
Ka’s flame blast missed Deimos but it did not fail to get his attention. While the young Nephilim jumped into battle with him, Fu attacked the hero from behind and began to suffocate him.
Soon the aquatic Sui and earthen Chi joined the fight, with Tick-tock and Rumble handling the ground forces, leaving the fight above them to Deimos, William Benson and Coup. Xcris continued to scan the minds of the beasts, learning their tactics and directing her teammates in battle.
As the battle progressed, it became obvious that the demons were not going down easily. When Rumble ended Sui’s existence, the heroes began to find their spirits lifted up again.
It was a short-lived victory though as Chi vanished into the earth… returning with a familiar face to the Illuminati. Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew, was back…
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