[Izulde]

We were flooded with angry emails from fans. "Why'd you feature Vexxer Daemonchild when he was just in one part??!!!" "Ranged attacks shouldn't work in The Rigged Table according to the CBU Players Handbook. Why did they?" "Too many people went to jail this issue!" And so on.

When I went to the writers, Sal said, "We've already figured this out. Check this: So Grand Knight Assay, Medusa, and Vexxer Daemonchild are still working together, right? They've heard about how the Agents of CATS took down Colonel Deft and Xtinction, so they recruit QuadBod to go after them. Gold Star joins because he's angry about his mom, Princess Corral, getting sent to jail, and wants revenge on every superhero he can find."

"Sounds good. So obviously we'll have Agents Fortuna, Torrent, and Spark join. What else were you thinking?"

"Well, since The Nuclear Family has already been working with CATS, Mister Meltdown steps in and Big Chill joins him. It'll be another Nuclear Family/CATS teamup, and it'll be a banger, considering Arthur and company lost to a lot of these guys a few issues ago."

"Let's do it."

***

"Holy crap, dude! The Nuclear Family and CATS against Grand Knight Assay, Vexxer Daemonchild, and Medusa! That's gonna be a great fight that's gonna tip the balance of the universe!"

Geoff couldn't help but smile at Trent's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, and it'll combine the two universes we like."

The boys went to the basement in Trent's parents' house, cracking open Mountain Dews. Geoff took his usual chair and Trent sprawled out on the couch as they started reading the newest issue silently.

The Nuclear Family and Agents of CATS were at Capsey Manor discussing their next move when they were suddenly attacked. Grand Knight Assay brought two Vulcan Shock Troopers with him but the heroes found cover and avoided injury.

The Big Chill blasted ice at Grand Knight Assay, QuadBod, and Vexxer Daemonchild, stunning and injuring all of them with perfectly timed hurls.

Medusa wasn't going to let that fly and snake-bit Big Chill. A rifle blast from a Shock Trooper later, and he was out of the fight. Things were looking grim for the heroes when Mister Meltdown punched Assay hard and Agent Spark's Inferno Blast took the leader of the Knights of Vulcan down, also sending Vexxer into a panic state.

"Damn you CATS!" roared Vexxer, as the Shock Troopers fled the field, dragging the unconscious Assay with them.

Medusa's attempt to Snake Bite Agent Torrent failed thanks to a rushing Wall of Water, but then Gold Star struck from the air with an explosion of energy that perfectly hit Agent Torrent to knock her out and wound Mister Meltdown. It wasn't enough to prevent Mister Meltdown from knocking out Vexxer, however.

Things were once again looking grim for the heroes, but Agent Spark gave them a faint flame of hope when her fire blasts hit QuadBod and Gold Star. Still, Mister Meltdown's efforts to heal himself failed, still putting things in a precarious position.

A precarious position that became nearly untenable as a flawless flurry of punches by QuadBod followed by another energy bomb by Gold Star knocked out Spark and put Fortuna and Meltdown on the verge of collapse.

A collapse that came when Medusa snake-bit Meltdown. Fortuna fought bravely in a 3-on-1 and nearly knocked out QuadBod, but finally a final Snake Bite by Medusa secured the victory for the enemy.

"Let's leave them here," Medusa suggested. "The toxin might kill them and we need to get Vexxer out of here."

"Yes, and I need medical assistance," muttered QuadBod.

Gold Star wanted to argue, but he was outvoted.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, looks like it. The rest of it is ads," Geoff said. "Was a hell of a fight Fortuna put up though."

"Yeah... it was crazy though. I totally thought the CATS were gonna win."

"Me too."

The friends went to get snacks and play Comic Book Melee, chatting about their classes as they fought. Geoff took Midnight Fox as he usually did, while Trent used Gold Star.

As usual, Trent won nearly every time.