JigSaw had had a good run. But now Orion and Kalibak were converging on her in the wake of the Hulk. And the green monster was already pounding against JigSaw's force field and finding it somewhat less than impervious.
In truth, JigSaw was rapidly using up her last reserves of mana. She had nothing extra to spare for D.J. and Sindy's defense now. It was all she could do to protect herself. Herself and the child whose life was tied to all their lives...
Moments later, she and her child were the only ones left to defend. Lightray, grimacing sadistically, strolled over to D.J. and Sindy in turn, blasting each of their brains out with a flash of laser light.
JigSaw's heart sank inside her as she continued to weaken. But Diana was alive--and Mort and Rincewind could be restored, maybe, if she could just outlast the Supers, access some more mana, and ... and ...
And she was grasping at straws, she realized. It was impossible. All she could do was go down fighting.
And she did. Somehow, from somewhere, she summoned up additional will and strength, held the Supers off. She couldn't imagine how.
Yes, she could. That tell-tale rainbow shimmer in the background--it was Sawyer's Vortex, still watching in the wings, waiting, hoping for her to somehow restore its master. It was feeding her power! It must sense that its expectation was doomed unless JigSaw survived.
If I do survive, she promised mentally, if there's any way I can retrieve this situation, I will restore my brother, whatever it costs me...
But the power feed just wasn't enough. She was still losing ground--not as much, but she was gradually being overpowered. Desperately, she looked for weaknesses to exploit. Mainly in the Hulk--the raving monster wasn't even trying to defense himself, just continually pounding away at her continually weakening defense screen. Layer after layer caved before him as the long minutes passed. Outside, beyond her attackers, JigSaw was dimly aware of the She-Hulk breathing her last, felled by an internal brain hemorrhage, and Barda expiring from blood-loss. Mr. Miracle was already dead, killed instantly when he fell from his aerodiscs. But the Hulk, now free of his cousin's control, merely redoubled his efforts, and beside him Orion blasted away with the astroforce, Kalibak beat savagely with his power club, and now Lightray flitted in and out, probing for week points in the screen. It was only a matter of time.
How JigSaw held out as long as she did she was unable to say. But it was hours. The sky above had lightened again to dawn, and strange things were happening to it--the whole world seemed to be ringing like a bell, almost as if something were pounding to get into it the same way the Hulk was pounding to get through her shield. But the end was inevitable, even though the day was far advanced before JigSaw's shield finally shattered before the Hulk, and the creature strode in to take her by the throat.
She felt rather than sensed the Vortex leave, and knew that even it had given up the struggle.
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Sat Aug 9 00:53:20 2003
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