Astrea composed herself for battle, her eyes locked on the brute. She charged in, flying straight at him with her wings beating fiercely. The brute didn't flinch, and the two exchanged blows, their super strength making each hit a potentially devastating one.
The brute swung a massive fist at Astrea, but she dodged it by a hair's breadth. She counterattacked with a swift kick, but the brute caught her leg and slammed her into the ground. Astrea quickly got up, her eyes blazing with determination.
"You're not going to take me down that easily," she said, charging at the brute.
Meanwhile, the glowing man and woman charged after Danny, their powers unique and formidable. The man could create blasts of energy from his hands, while the woman could generate force fields that could deflect attacks.
"You're not going anywhere, kid," the glowing man said, firing a blast of energy at Danny.
Danny instinctively put his hands up, but soon realized that his mechanized suit was absorbing the attacks. "Whoa, this suit is...," he started to say, but before he could finish, the glowing woman punched him in the face.
The fight between Astrea and the brute was intense, with both of them exchanging furious punches. The brute landed a devastating right hook that sent Astrea crashing to the ground.
As Astrea lay there, memories of what happened in Nectar started flooding to her mind. She remembered Electro beating her, the snarky comments he made about her identity and her parents, and the number of lives she had saved. Her eyes glazed with fury, her fangs elongated, and her pointed ears sprang up.
She got up from the ground, her eyes fixed on the brute. "You're going down," she growled, charging at him.
The brute swung at her, but Astrea dodged it and landed a series of swift punches. The brute stumbled back, surprised by Astrea's newfound ferocity.
Astrea continued to best the brute, her movements feral and intense. She uppercut him straight through the roof, and the brute landed on the ground with a grunt, too exhausted to get up.
Meanwhile, Danny was holding his own against the two glowing individuals. He used his suit efficiently, firing rockets and performing acrobatic moves to dodge their attacks.
"You're not bad, kid," the glowing woman said, impressed by Danny's skills. "But you're no match for us."
Danny grinned, his eyes locked on the glowing woman. "We'll see about that," he said, unleashing a barrage of attacks.
The masked figure watched the fight, frowning at how well Danny was doing. "This kid is more resourceful than I thought," he said to himself.
As the fight continued, Astrea turned her attention to the masked figure, flapping her wings and flying at him with intense speed. However, the masked figure didn't even turn around, simply sidestepping Astrea's attack. She flew straight through a wall, missing him completely.
Danny used his suit to study the fight patterns of his opponents. The suit showed him the window of opportunity in which he should counterattack. When his opponents made the move the suit predicted, Danny dodged and blocked, and at the perfect moment, he unleashed an energy blast from the suit, knocking out the two opponents.
The masked figure noticed Danny's victory and started to back off, running down a hall in the terrorist camp. Astrea punched a rumble off her as she got up, charging right back into the fray. She flew after the masked figure, with Danny following closely.
The masked figure entered a door and closed it, but it did nothing to stop Astrea. She flew right through the door, the impact wave sending the masked man flying across the room. Astrea immediately pounced on him, dragging him back to his feet.
"Where are the Protectors of Planet members?" she demanded, holding him by the collar.
The man chuckled, saying, "Oh, those foolish amateurs. They walked right into my trap and paid with their lives."
As he finished his sentence, the room lights flickered to life, showing the Protectors' bodies on tables. Astrea's eyes widened in shock as she saw the lifeless bodies of the greatest six individual superheroes on earth.
The masked figure took advantage of Astrea's distraction and poked her in the eyes, causing her to drop him. He quickly scurried off, entering a secret entrance. By the time Danny arrived, the masked man was already gone.
A few hours later, PRISM agents arrived in Rushmore, covering the entire terrorist camp and rounding up any remaining terrorist personnel. The Protectors' bodies were taken away, their faces frozen in terror.
Marvel arrived at the scene, furious. She slammed her hand into a nearby table, asking how this had happened. Michelle entered immediately after, trying to calm Marvel down.
"Marvel, we need to focus on finding out who did this and how we can prevent it from happening again," Michelle said, her voice calm and collected.
Marvel took a deep breath, composing herself. "You're right. Let's get to work."
Marvel thanked Astrea for her good work, but when she saw Danny in the mechanized suit, she got mad again. "Danny, what were you thinking? You're just a kid, and you could have gotten yourself killed," she said, her voice stern.
Danny looked up at her, "Mom, I-"
Marvel cut him off, her expression firm. "That is Director Marvel, out here this is business. I don't want any special treatment just because you're my son. You need to follow protocol and listen to orders."
Danny nodded, feeling a bit chastised. "Yes, Director Marvel," he said, knowing better than to argue with her when she was in this mood.
Marvel's expression softened slightly, but she maintained her professional demeanor. "You're going to go back home now, and we'll talk about this later."
Danny nodded, knowing better than to argue with her. He walked away, feeling a bit disappointed but also relieved that the ordeal was over.
Later that night in the midst of rain. Marvel and Michelle held a funeral for the Protectors at PRISM headquarters with Danny, astrea, some PRISM agents and a few unknown heroes showing up in attendance. A heartfelt speech was said, and Michelle asked Marvel after the speech, "How are we going to tell the world that the greatest superhero team is gone?"
Marvel's expression was somber. "I don't know, but for now, we will keep this quiet. We don't want to cause panic. We'll figure out a way to break the news to the world, but for now, let's just honor their memory and keep their legacy alive."
Michelle nodded, understanding Marvel's concerns. The two of them stood there for a moment, paying their respects to the fallen heroes.
As they stood there, Astrea watched from a distance, her eyes still filled with fury and sadness. She knew that this was just the beginning, and she was determined to make sure that those responsible for the Protectors' deaths would pay for what they had done.