"Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!" - Obadiah Stane, Iron Man. 

Will the Eagle's Raven suit live up to Juliana's Crimson Angel? We're about to see!

.............................

"E! Look! I see them!" Ravenna gestured wildly to the large screen that displayed footage from the many security cameras around the Jacker base. Sure enough, a large black jet was streaking through one of the feeds. One of its wings was invisible due to a long crack in the bottom corner of the screen, but it wasn't as if they could expect much better from a TV they'd bought used on eBay. 

"Great," the Eagle nodded, adjusting his mask as he tapped the microphone in front of him and began to speak into it. "Project PROB spotted. Leave the forest traps unarmed and prepare center ring defenses. Remember: the warehouse is our best defensible position. We're trying to draw them in, not push them out." 

"Leave the forest traps unarmed? But I worked hard on those! There's one that would string them up like chicke-" 

"Ravenna," the Eagle held up a gloved hand, stopping her mid-sentence. "Focus on the task at hand. When they make it past our defenses and get into the warehouse- and they will- I will need you to do everything you can to keep them away from where the Hewkins are. Actually, just to be on the safe side, don't let them get down to the basement at all. Keep them occupied on the first floor, and I'd prefer that the fighting not get up to the second. Wouldn't want to damage any of my stuff." He adjusted his mask, before reluctantly adding one final remark. "I really need the Raven today. I hope you understand that." 

"Well, the Raven's ready," Ravenna pulled down her mask before pinning her hood into place. The lightweight plates of black armor fit over her body like a second skin and the tips of her gloves were cut off, leaving plenty of room for her to freely release and recapture her deadly claws. The Eagle had called her greedy and ungrateful when she asked for a combat suit of her own, but nevertheless, she'd found it neatly folded in a box on her bed a few days later. Of course, the hood had been her own addition: she loved the dark, mysterious look it gave her. Ravenna caught a glimpse of her reflection on a blank screen and smiled to herself. All she had to do was bring up Princess Juliana. There was nothing the Eagle wouldn't do to prove that he was every inch her equal. 

"Okay, they're coming out of the jet. It won't take them longer than ten minutes to get in here," the Eagle said, squeezing Ravenna's hand. "Good luck, Rave. I'll be watching you from up here the whole time, and if anything goes wrong-" 

"I'll be fine," Ravenna smiled. "No more almost dying. I promise." She looked down at the Eagle's hand, still wrapped tightly around her own. She wondered if the hand underneath that thick leather glove really belonged to the Eagle or if it was merely that of another Jacked, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him. It was nice to believe that he was really here with her... whether or not he actually was. 

Giving the Eagle one last look, Ravenna curled her hands into fists and started down the stairs. 

.................

"Into the warehouse! Don't let them distract you- no matter what happens, we have to get into the warehouse!" Juliana screamed into her mask's built-in microphone as she laser-blasted a Jacked in the neck while throwing her spear at another. The bloodied spear arced through the air, landing on the ground just to Juliana's right. She sighed. She would get that angle right eventually. 

Project PROB had a relatively easy time getting through the Jackers' infamous artificial forest- it seemed like all their defenses were concentrated here, in front of the colossal warehouse in the middle of their island. If Juliana suspected the Hewkins were being held in the warehouse before, now she was certain. 

Juliana spotted Hayley's conspicuous green suit to her right and watched as she tripped two Jacked with the end of her whip, bounding over their fallen bodies. "Twysted!" Hayley yelled victoriously as she reached the warehouse, running effortless up its front wall out of the range of the Jackers' bullets. 

Juliana smiled. If Hayley was already taking the second floor, she and Roy might as well run in through the front door so they could cover more ground. She raised her bulletproof gauntlets in front of her face, attracting and deflecting the Jackers' fire as she walked toward the door, but stopped in her tracks when she heard Hayley's scream. 

What looked like a large bird had pulled her off the side of the building and was carrying her through the air in its claws- no, it wasn't a bird. It was a person dressed as a bird... the Raven! 

The Raven's jet black wings beat faster as she carried Hayley higher and higher until the two were far above the warehouse's rooftop. Juliana's heartbeat quickened as she came to a morbid realization. A fall from this height could kill Hayley. She looked down at red button on her right gauntlet that would activate her own wings, unsure of herself. 

"Do it," she heard Chase's voice in her earpiece. 

"My grandfather's orders explicitly stated that-" 

"Do you want to follow orders or save your friend's life?" 

Juliana bent her knees, gritting her teeth as she pressed the button. Her wings exploded out of the compression box on her back and she took off, feeling the wind rush through her ears as she shot straight toward the Raven and Hayley. Using the element of surprise to her advantage, she grabbed the Raven from behind, pulling her right wing sharply backward. The surprised Raven abruptly let go of Hayley, who tumbled down onto the warehouse roof. 

Seeing the deep claw marks that marred Hayley's face and neck, Juliana let out a savage yell, punching the Raven in the neck as the two of them pulled each other out of the air, crashing through the warehouse roof and then one of its floors. Landing sharply on the cold ground, Juliana sprang to her feet, grateful for her suit's cushioning. She counted the gaping holes above her. Two. One in the roof, and one in the second floor. That meant she was on the first floor- exactly where she wanted to be in the first place! 

But her momentary joy was replaced by mad fury as soon as she saw the Raven rising to her feet a few yards away from her. 

"I made this suit in memory of my mother," Juliana spat. "You had no right to make a mockery of it! To take the only connection to her I'll ever have!" 

"Oh, I'm sorry, does the little princess have mommy issues?" the Raven crooned mockingly. "Just because you invent something doesn't mean you own it forever. Think about how much worse off our world would be if people like Edison and Marie Curie and Steve Jobs were as selfish and stuck-up as you are." 

"What do you want from me?" 

"I want everything you've always taken for granted and I've always deserved. Money and fame. Love and support. A research lab with top-tier mentors. A throne. And if I can't have all that, then so be it. As long as I get to kill you for everything you've put me through. You're going to die alone and useless... just like your mother did." 

The Raven released all ten of her claws at the same time, all from different directions. Juliana turned her head side to side, assessing their position before willing them all away from her. They scattered forcefully, clattering to the ground in all corners of the room. The Raven pulled her hands into fists, trying in vain to call the claws back to her. Eventually, she took a few steps back, realizing that she had just lost her primary weapon.

Keeping her mental hold on the claws strong enough to oppose the Eagle's powerful electromagnet technology, Juliana raised her palm to reveal a laser-blaster. "I forgot to warn you, but I seem to have a compulsive need to destroy anyone who insults my parents for the way that they died. I'm sorry... it must be my mommy issues," she said as she fired the blaster. 

The Raven fell to the floor, clutching her left shoulder where a smoking hole now marred her armor. Another blast to the same spot would cut her arm clean off. 

"Hey, Jules, there's something I've been wanting to tell you," Chase whispered into Juliana's earpiece as she raised her hand once again, preparing to finish the job. "It's not just my sister. You're my favorite superhero, too." 

A small smile flickered on Juliana's face, but before she could fire her blaster, she felt someone grab her waist, tackling her from behind. She gasped for air as her face forcefully met the cold, hard floor. How had the Raven managed to get behind her before she even noticed she was gone!? 

"Oh, there's something I forgot to warn you about, too," the Raven laughed, pinning Juliana to the floor. "The claws are nice and all, but I don't really need them. Being a cyborg actually makes me stronger and faster than you'll ever be, even with your cute little suit." Standing up, the Raven grabbed a wooden table with one hand, hurling it at Juliana who flew backwards into the wall behind her. As she pushed the table up in front of her, watching two knives embed themselves in the wood, she forced herself to come to terms with a daunting fact. If anyone else in the world had thrown it, she could've stopped that table midair. The Raven's reflexes were far too fast for her telekinesis to be of much defensive use. 

"You upgraded your eyes," the Raven shrugged, referring to Juliana's night vision. "Why not upgrade everything? Being human is overrated, anyway. Oh, that's right, Order rules. Rules to keep all of you good little agents in line. Rules so you don't get too powerful and dare challenge the mighty monarch." 

"No!" Juliana yelled, willing Ravenna's knives free from the table and watching as they shot back toward her. "Rules to keep us from taking over other people's bodies. Rules to remind us that our primary job is to protect the Alpha Box, not to wield it. Unfortunately, you're right about the agent part... I'm working on that, though. It's really selfish and stuck-up of me to admit to my flaws, isn't it?" 

"Stop!" Chase yelled so loudly that Juliana clutched her ear in pain. "Don't you see? She's trying to make you mad. My helmet tells me you're already out of your usual fighting pattern. Anger makes you erratic, vulnerable." 

"I'm fine," Juliana insisted, running toward the Raven, who had easily dodged the two knives and brandished one in her left hand. The Raven pushed Juliana onto a ratty old couch, holding the knife up to her neck, but she grabbed the blade, yanking it out of the Raven's hands and throwing it as far away as she could. Raising her palm to fire her laser-blaster, she realized that the knife had cut straight through her glove, rendering it useless. 

She delivered a powerful kick to the Raven's chest and watched as she flew away from the couch. Expecting her to hop right back up to her feet, Juliana raised her fists in a defensive stance. Yet, to her bewilderment, the Raven stayed on the floor, her arms and legs spread out like a starfish, and began to laugh. 

"The key to real magic, princess, is distraction. The human brain can only focus on so many things at once... and you won't believe what was going on while your brain was so single-mindedly focused on killing me." 

Before Juliana could wonder what she meant, she was hit in the back by three couch cushions. The Jackers who had been hiding silently in the couch during the entire fight stood up, grabbing Juliana's legs. As she lost her balance, falling to her knees, one of them jabbed a needle into her calf. She felt a sensation of numbness course through her body as she fell flat on the floor and her vision began to dim. 

"Jules!" she could barely lift her head enough to see Roy and Hayley rush excitedly into the room. "Get up- come with us. We found Lord and Lady Hewkin!" 

"No..." Juliana whispered weakly as more Jackers poured out from behind statues, under tables, and within crates, swarming the other two Heirs like ants to a grain of sugar. "Please, no..." she mouthed as her jaw went slack and the world faded to black. 

.........................

"No...no, no, no! This can't be happening!" Chase yelled, pacing nervously around the PROBJet as he stared into Juliana's dull eyes on the screen inside his helmet. They couldn't have killed her. No, they'd administered some sort of paralyzing agent that made it look like she was dead. Yes, that had to be it. 

"Chu!" he called, before realizing that the Order Commander had left for Arcana two hours before the mission officially began. He was on his own now. Gulping, he reached for his phone. Juliana had given him the King's personal number, on the condition that it was not to be used except in times of emergency. Something told him this counted as an emergency. 

Fingers shaking, he typed in the first two digits of his password, but before he could finish, his hand dropped uselessly to his side and the phone fell to the ground, shattering on impact. 

"Uhh," he tried to speak, but his facial muscles weren't working right. Feeling as if all the bones in his body had turned to jelly, he fell forward only to find himself looking up at a masked figure wearing a long gray trench coat and faded jeans. 

"Well, hello there, Chase." Somehow, Chase could feel the Eagle's grin through his mask. "Thought we forgot you for a second there, didn't you?"