Then, a single, quiet chime.
Hank raised his sword.
Then he felt rage.
He turned to the nearest soldier, who had just taken off a pair of gag glasses with a fake nose attached.
“NEW CHALLENGER!” the intercom shrieked in a distorted chipmunk voice.
Sanford inspected his massive hook. It had been replaced by a giant inflatable squeaky hammer. He sighed. “Deimos. Shut up and squeak.”
The alert on the Nexus mainframe didn’t scream. It giggled.