A Whateley Academy Adventure
The Awesome Job
by
Morpheus
San Francisco Ca, Tuesday May 11th 1982
Darren Carver walked down the sidewalk, his eyes constantly darting about as he looked for potential threats. Other than that, he looked calm and relaxed, an image that he worked hard to maintain. After all, the best way to avoid unnecessary attention was to act as though he belonged there.
Just then, there was a loud ‘BANG’ from down the street. Darren snapped around, ready for a fight. A couple seconds later, he realized that the noise had come from two cars running into each other in the intersection.
“Just a fender bender,” Carver told himself with a scowl of annoyance. “No need to be so jumpy.”
Of course, he’d been jumpy for years, and not just because of his career. He’d been on the jumpy side ever since returning from Nam, though he was usually better at hiding it.
With that, Carver looked at the glass window of the building beside him, taking in his reflection. Brown hair. Lean and wiry. A little on the scruffy side, but not enough to really stand out.
Carver took a deep breath, settling back into the image of being calm and collected. He adjusted his jacket, reminding himself that he was wearing his costume beneath. His eyes went to the glove on his right hand, then he smiled faintly. If anything did happen, he was ready to face it.
Once Carver was ready, he continued on his way, going down the street only a little more before stepping into a building. He had never been there before, but he already knew where he was going. The message from his contact had been very specific about that.
A short time later, Carver found himself sitting in an office across from a tall and stocky man in an expensive suit. The other man was in his late-fifties and had hair and a beard that had both turned dark grey. This was Hansel Averton, though most people in Carver’s business called him Doctor Avarice. Not to his face of course.
“Doctor Averton” Carver greeted the other man in a professional tone.
“Icepick,” Averton responded, using Carver’s own professional name.
Carver nodded faintly at that. “I heard you had a job for me.”
Averton smiled faintly. “Indeed. A recovery job.”
“Naturally,” Carver responded.
Averton...Doctor Avarice, had a reputation. From what Carver had heard, Doctor Avarice considered himself to be an elite collector, one with a wide variety of interests and collections. Most other people just called him a supervillain because of how he chose to aquire his collections.
“I have recently begun a new collection,” Averton began in a pleasant tone, though the expression on his face became almost hungry. “And I have located the perfect addition.”
“And that is where I come in,” Carver commented.
“Precisely,” Averton responded. “I have other commitments at the moment, and won’t be able to retrieve it myself, so I have decided to delegate this task to someone else.”
Carver frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling about this. If this had been a simple job, then Doctor Avarice would have been able to take care of it himself. He wouldn’t bring in someone like Carver unless there were complications that he didn’t want to deal with himself.
Averton pushed a folder across the desk to Carver. Carver hesitated a moment before opening the folder and looking through the contents. It only took a few seconds to confirm that his suspicions had been correct. There were definitely complications. Serious ones.
“Awesome,” Carver said with a sigh.
“I have every confidence that you can manage,” Averton told him. “I’ve heard good things about your work.”
Carver nearly rolled his eyes from the obvious flattery but managed to contain himself. He quickly flipped through the contents of the folder once more before letting out a sigh. There were a few unusual requirements, ones that would make things a bit more challenging This was a bad idea, but he really needed the money.
“I can’t handle this on my own,” Carver admitted. “I’ll need a team.”
“I expected as much,” Averton admitted. “I’ll leave the specifics of that part to you.”
“Good,” Carver responded, his eyes still locked onto the contents of the folder. “But there are some specifics that we will still need to agree on. Financial ones.”
“Of course,” Averton replied with an almost friendly smile, though the hungry look was still present in his eyes. “People may call me Avarice, but I can be quite generous when it comes to getting what I desire.”
San Francisco Ca, Thursday May 20th 1982
Darren Carver took one last drag on his cigarette then casually flicked the butt away. He glanced down at his watch, frowning as he did so.
“He’s late,” Carver muttered.
Then he looked down at himself, at the blue and white costume he was currently wearing. His uniform was a lot flashier than the one he used to wear back in the Army, but it was also a lot more resilient. The material was much better for protecting against small arms fire and shrapnel.
A moment later, his eyes went to his right hand, to the smooth blue gem that was embedded in the back of the hand. This power gem was the source of his special abilities, the ones that people like Doctor Avarice paid him for.
“Icepick,” a familiar voice called out.
Carver looked up and saw a short and stocky black man coming towards him. This was Hardball, his frequent partner on the job.
“You’re late,” Carver pointed out as he tapped his watch.
“Traffic,” Hardball responded cheerfully. “It’s a bitch.”
Carver nodded once, not bothering to argue. He knew Hardball well enough to know that the other man wouldn’t change his ways. All Carver could do was be flexible about it, which was why the actually meeting was scheduled for half an hour after the time he’d told Hardball to be there.
“Everyone else is already waiting,” Carver said, already walking towards a nearby doorway.
When they stepped into the other room, four people were already there waiting for them. This was the rest of the team that Carver had assembled for the job, though most of them had not been his first choices.
“You know Cubik,” Carver said, indicating a tall and athletic black woman who reminded him a bit of Grace Jones.
“Cubik,” Hardball greeted her with a smirk.
Cubik just glared at him as though he was a bug, part of their usual interactions. She stood back, playing with a grey metal box that was only about four inches across on each side. Carver had absolutely no idea what this particular box did, but Cubik’s toys were usually impressive.
“Don’t talk to me,” Cubik warned Hardball, apparently still holding a grudge.
Hardball looked around, then frowned. “I thought you were going to get Wildhammer.”
“She had something else going on,” Carver told him with a sigh. “So, I got Doctor Nightmare for muscle instead.”
Carver gestured to Doctor Nightmare, an older man with pale skin, gaunt features, and dark hair that was pulled back. He looked menacing yet tired at the same time, especially as he leaned over onto his cane. Overall, the man reminded Carver of Count Dracula, if Dracula had been suffering from a bad hangover.
Standing beside Doctor Nightmare was an attractive woman with crimson red hair and a nurse uniform that looked a bit more like a sexy Halloween costume than the real thing. She was holding one of those old-fashioned doctor’s bags.
“Doctor Nightmare is a mad scientist,” Hardball protested. “Not muscle.”
“Perhaps,” Doctor Nightmare said, speaking for the first time. His voice was low and raspy, with a foreign accent that Carver couldn’t place. “But one of my monsters is very much the muscle you need. I shall bring him for this job.”
“All right,” Hardball said with a nod of acknowledgement. “And the chick?”
“She is my nurse,” Doctor Nightmare responded, glancing at the woman beside him. “That is all you need to know.”
The nurse merely gave a polite nod of acknowledgement, though she didn’t say a word. That was about the same reaction that Carver had gotten when he’d asked the same question. He had no idea if that nurse was a girlfriend, assistant, or just another hench wench. It didn’t matter, as long as the doctor did his job.
“And last,” Carver said, gesturing towards the final person in the room, a rather distinctive looking young woman. “We have our second story man…woman.”
“A kid?” Hardball demanded.
The ‘kid’ in question was a teenager, or at least, she looked like one. In their line of work, that kind of thing wasn’t always as obvious as it looked, especially when they were dealing with someone as…exotic as this kid.
She had yellow slitted eyes, pointed ears, and tiny black scales all over her forehead and cheeks. A pair of small devil horns emerged from her forehead, and she had a devil tail swishing back and forth behind her. Then, to enhance the girl’s devilish appearance, she wore a red and black costume and held a pitchfork in her hands.
“This is the Imp,” Carver said, introducing the girl. “She’s a rookie, but Frank Cowan recommended her. Apparently, she’s part of his crew and has been pulling some solo jobs too.”
“Hiya,” the Imp said, flashing a cheerful smile while waving at them.
“She’s a kid,” Hardball protested. Then in a much quieter voice, he added, “And a creepy looking one too.”
Carver nodded, not bothering to argue with that. Instead, he repeated, “Mad Cow Cowan said she’s legit.”
Hardball hesitated a moment before nodding. “Fine. Whatever.”
“So, what exactly is the job?” Cubik asked.
“We’ve been hired to snatch an item from a somewhat secure facility,” Carver explained. “Apparently, it’s kept in a lockbox about so big…” He held his hands out to indicate the size of a shoe box.
“Something that small should be relatively easy to sneak in and slip out with,” the Imp commented, looking thoughtful. “This seems like a lot of muscle for what should be a sneak job.”
“The child does have a point,” Doctor Nightmare said.
Carver snorted at that. “I thought the same thing. But the guy hiring us… Well, he has a personal beef with the person who currently has this item. He wants us to make it obvious. In fact, he specifically said that he’d prefer a ‘forceful acquisition’ in order to make a point.”
“Lovely,” Cubik said wryly.
“And who is the target?” Hardball asked suspiciously. “Why do we need this many?”
“Doc Awesome,” Carver revealed.
“The superhero?” Hardball demanded, his eyes going wide.
“Yeah,” Carver responded with a sigh. “And apparently, he keeps the item in his headquarters, which means, a couple of his superhero buddies might be around too.”
“Now I see why you recruited ME for this job,” Cubik mused. She ran a hand over her metal cube. “I can counteract a lot of his technology.”
“I can slip past his security,” the Imp bragged.
“And my pet can help deal with anyone who gets in our way,” Doctor Nightmare said with a malicious chuckle.
“That is the plan,” Carver agreed. “Now, we just need to figure out the details.”
San Francisco Ca, Saturday May 22nd 1982
The entire warehouse stank of old fish, burnt electronics, and whatever the hell Doctor Nightmare’s pet monster was. The creature looked like it had once been a gorilla, before the mad scientist had done his thing. Now, it was eight-feet-tall and looked mostly like a shaved gorilla with grey skin and gnarled tumors all over its skin.
Carver took a drag from his cigarette, trying to use that to cover some of the stench that surrounded him. The only good thing was that they were nearly ready to go, and soon, this warehouse that they’d used as a staging area would soon be a distant memory. He’d never have to see or smell it again. Nor Doctor Nighmare’s disgusting monster.
“So,” the Imp asked Doctor Nightmare, “What does Magilla eat? I bet that guy can eat a LOT of bananas.”
“Don’t call it that, you frivolous child,” Doctor Nightmare responded to the girl. “This is Experiment Sigma.”
The Imp stared at the monster, who just remained motionless, glaring at everyone around as if it wanted to kill them. Then she shook her head. “Naw. That doesn’t roll of the tongue very well. But I’ll tell you what, Mister Peebles. If you paint him purple, I’ll call him Grape Ape instead.”
Doctor Nightmare glared at the girl, hissing, “Imbecilic child.”
The Imp just turned and skipped off with a grin on her face, quietly saying, “Grape Ape. Grape Ape.”
Nightmare’s nurse just stood back, carefully trying to keep the look of amusement off her face. However, Carver definitely caught sight of it when her boss was looking the other way.
“Damn it,” Doctor Nightmare cursed, grabbing his chest.
A moment later, his Nurse was beside him, opening the doctors bag that she was carrying and pulling out a stethoscope, which she promptly used to check his heart.
“That kid is a menace,” Hardball said.
Carver chuckled. “Maybe.”
The rookie did seem to enjoy messing with people, or at least, she seemed to enjoy messing with Hardball and Doctor Nightmare. She left everyone else alone, except for some light joking. Carver might have agreed with Hardball, except that he’d noticed the way that the kid suddenly turned serious and focused as soon as they actually worked on the planning.
“She’s just dealing with nerves,” Carver pointed out. “Everyone does it their own way, especially rookies.”
Then Carver looked around and saw Cubik, who was seated at a small table with a half dozen of her metal cubes placed around in front of her. Each had different colors painted on them so that she could tell the cubes apart more easily.
Even though Cubik seemed to be minding her own business, Carver had noticed the way that she’d been watching the rookie’s antics. She’d even smiled faintly, though quickly covered it up as soon as Carver had looked at her.
“At least the kid is good for entertainment,” Carver muttered with a shake of his head. “Just not discipline.”
Carver made his way over to Cubik, and asked, “You have everything ready?”
“All my boxes are prepared,” Cubik told him, gesturing to the metal cubes covering the table.
“Good,” Carver responded. “Now, if everyone is ready, we should be able to take off soon.”
Cubik nodded at that. “Any word on if Doc Awesome will actually be there or not?”
Carver let out a sigh. “It looks like we’re out of luck. From what I’ve heard, it looks like Awesome has been hanging around his lab for the last couple weeks, with no sign of leaving. A couple of his people have been keeping him company, so we’ll probably have to deal with them too.”
“Then we deal with them,” Cubik responded evenly, as though this wouldn’t be a problem.
“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to deal with heroes,” Hardball added as he joined them.
Just then, a loud roar filled the warehouse and Carver snapped around to see the monster roaring and beating its chest. It looked pissed.
“BEHAVE,” Doctor Nightmare demanded, using his cane to smack the monster. “I CREATED YOU, SO YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND.”
“Doctor,” the nurse warned him with an urgent note in her voice. She was reaching into the doctor’s bag, not taking her eyes off the monster.
“Experiment Sigma needs to remember his place,” Doctor Nightmare responded, raising his cane for another smack.
The monster let out another roar and then swung its massive arm, backhanding Doctor Nightmare. Nightmare flew across the warehouse until he hit the ground and slid across the floor, his body bent at an unnatural angle.
“Shit,” Carver snarled.
Carver activated his power gem and drew forth its power. A sword made of ice formed in his hand, one that was harder and sharper than what one would expect of ice.
“I knew that thing was going to be trouble,” Hardball snarled as he reached into a pouch on his waist and pulled out one of the metal balls that gave him his codename.
“WAIT,” the nurse called out, not even looking towards Doctor Nightmare’s body.
Cubik was already standing up, a metal cube in each of her hands. However, like Carver and Hardball, she paused to watch the nurse.
The monster looked like it was about to attack Nightmare’s nurse, but she faced it without flinching. Instead, she pulled something out of her bag, something that looked like a slimy lima bean about the size of a softball.
“I told the doctor he shouldn’t rely on such outdated methods of control,” the nurse grumbled.
A moment later, the monster lunged at Nightmare’s nurse, but she threw the giant lima bean right at its chest while leaping out of the way. As soon as the lima bean hit, it somehow stuck in place, then green tendrils began growing out of it and spreading over the monster.
“What the…?” Carver started.
The monster howled in rage, then tried grabbing for the lima bean. However, before it could reach it, it collapsed and fell to the ground where it began shaking as though having a seizure. The green tendrils continued growing over its body…and digging into it. Many of the tendrils dug into the skin and began spreading out beneath it.
It didn’t take long before the monster stopped moving. It remained on the ground, silent and motionless for nearly a minute while all Carver could do was watch. Then, the monster slowly got back to its feet and just stood there.
“I had a feeling that something like this might happen,” Nightmare’s nurse said with a sigh as she brushed her hair back. “That’s why I prepared this contingency.” She looked over towards Doctor Nightmare’s unmoving body and added, “Not that it did him any good.”
“Well, I guess we’ll need new muscle,” Hardball commented.
“It’s too late to get a replacement,” Carver told him bitterly, still not lowering his ice sword.
“I have Sigma…Magilla under my control,” Nightmare’s nurse said, looking straight at Carver. “More thoroughly than the doctor ever did.” She paused at that before adding, “We can still complete the job as planned, on one condition.”
“What condition?” Carver asked, giving the motionless monster a suspicious look while wondering if he’d have to deal with the nurse.
“I get the doctor’s share,” the nurse stated.
“She wasn’t originally supposed to be here or get a share,” Cubik told Carver. “So, if she does the doctor’s job, it’s only fair that she gets his share.”
“As long as I don’t lose any of my cut,” Hardball added.
Carver looked around for the Imp, curious to see what the rookie had to say, but he didn’t see her anywhere. The kid had disappeared shortly after her encounter with the doctor.
“Deal,” Carver said, finally lowering his sword. “But you’d damn well better keep that thing under control.”
Nightmare’s nurse merely nodded at that. “That won’t be a problem.”
San Francisco Ca, Saturday May 22nd 1982
“Are we there yet?” the Imp asked in a cheerful, almost sing-song tone.
“No,” Hardball snapped from the passenger seat of the van, where he was riding shotgun. “Again.”
Carver just let out a sigh, not taking his eyes off the road since he was driving the van. He and Hardball had the front while Cubik and the rookie sat in the back, with all of Cubik’s equipment. Nightmare’s nurse was bringing her pet monster in another truck.
He glanced back at the Imp through the rearview mirror, noting the way she sat back with a cheerful smile on her face, one that looked a little forced. The kid was nervous and was doing everything she could to hide that, including messing with Hardball. But the odd thing was, the rookie hadn’t seemed nervous in the least until they’d gotten into the van to head to the job.
“You know,” the Imp mused. “Hardball sounds like a totally pervy name.” Then she turned to Cubik. “Doesn’t it sound like a pervy name to you?”
“Oh, definitely,” Cubik agreed with a smirk. “And I suppose that makes it accurate. Except perhaps for the hard part.”
“I should NEVER have agreed to do a job with my ex,” Hardball grumbled.
“You never should have gotten involved with someone you work with,” Carver pointed out. “And you definitely shouldn’t have cheated on her.”
Carver looked back at Cubik, pleased to see that at least someone was enjoying the rookie’s antics. Then again, the Imp was messing with Hardball, and that seemed to be the part she enjoyed.
Once they reached their destination and parked, the Imp practically burst out of the side door, immediately seeming more relaxed. That surprised Carver a bit more, because he would have expected the rookie to be more nervous.
“Good talk, Blueballs,” the Imp said. Cubik burst out laughing.
“Don’t encourage her,” Carver told Cubik. He didn’t mind the Imp’s joking around, though he didn’t want to listen to Hardball bitching about it.
Carver quickly checked his gear, not that he really had much beside his power gem and costume. He still missed the comforting weight of a gun, and as always, he had to remind himself of the reasons that he didn’t carry firearms on this type of mission.
“I’m not here to kill anyone,” Carver muttered under his breath. “And I don’t want any accidents.”
Of course, there was also the unspoken reason that none of them were armed with firearms, even though their own powers could be every bit as lethal. Without any visible firearms, everyone involved could sort of pretend that this was all one big game. The heroes would treat them with kid gloves rather than going for lethal options of their own. This way, everyone got to walk away alive. Usually.
“No need to escalate,” he added before looking at the others. “Everyone ready?”
“Ready,” Hardball said, gesturing to the bags full of metal balls that had slung over each of his shoulders. They were a little bulky and cumbersome, not to mention way too heavy for Carver to manage. However, Hardball was strong enough to handle the extra weight, just not strong enough to act as muscle for the group.
“I will be in a minute,” Cubik announced as she opened the back of the van.
There was a small pallet full of metal cubes, all stacked up neatly in the back of the van. Cubik looked them over the nodded in satisfaction.
“Me and Pitchy are ready to go,” the Imp announced, petting her pitchfork as though it was some kind of pet.
The other truck pulled up beside them a few seconds later and Nightmare’s nurse climbed out. She didn’t say a word before going around to the back and opening it up. The monster gorilla climbed out from the back, still silent and behaving oddly, just as it had been ever since the nurse had stuck that giant lima bean thing on it.
“That thing gives me the creeps,” Hardball muttered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “We would have been better off with Wildhammer.”
But a moment later, something else climbed out from the back of the truck. It was Doctor Nightmare…or at least what was left of him. He still appeared to be dead, in spite of the fact that he was moving around. There was one of those giant lima beans on his chest, just like with the monster.
“What the fuck?” Hardball demanded.
“Waste not, want not,” Nightmare’s nurse said unapologetically.
“You turned him into a fucking zombie,” Hardball exclaimed.
The nurse just shrugged. “The doctor would have wanted it this way. He would have been honored to continue his work, even after his death.”
“Forget the doctor,” Cubik told Hardball, apparently forgetting that she was still mad at him. “The nurse is the real nightmare.”
Carver nodded faintly in agreement, though he didn’t want to say anything in front of her. At least, not until the job was done and they’d all been paid.
“Does everyone remember their jobs?” Carver asked.
“I mess with the security,” Cubik answered, “so the Imp can sneak in and find our target.”
“The rest of us knock on the front door and get their attention,” Hardball added.
Carver nodded at that. “Nightmare Nurse,” he started, not sure what else to call the woman. “Your pet monkey will need to force open the main door so we can get through.”
“I understand,” the Nightmare Nurse responded. “We will do our part.”
“Good,” Carver said. “Then we should be ready to go.”
Cubik held up one of her metal boxes, one that looked a little different than the others. This one was painted multiple different colors on each side. She pushed a few hidden buttons on the sides and some of the colors on the thing changed to different colors.
A moment later, the pallet full of metal cubes all began to move. Cubes began to unfold and change shape, one after another, transforming from boxes into little robot spiders. In mere seconds, the pallet of cubes had turned into a small swarm of robot arachnids.
“Go, bots,” Cubik ordered, pointing towards the building they were about to enter. The robots all skittered off in that direction.
The Imp just rolled her eyes and mused, “You know, this probably would have been easier if you’d just let me sneak in BEFORE you announced that we were all here.”
“Forceful acquisition,” Carver reminded her. “Our client wants Doc Awesome to know that he’s being hit.”
The rookie shrugged at that. “Whatever.”
Carver turned and looked at the building in question. It was two stories tall and surrounded with an oversized parking lot, looking like it might be some kind of factory or shipping warehouse. However, he knew that it was actually Doc Awesome’s lab, and that it would be a lot tougher to get into than looks suggested.
“We have incoming,” Hardball abruptly called out.
Carver looked up and saw half a dozen large robots emerging from a bay door on the side of the building. He scowled at that, even though he’d been expecting it. He just hadn’t been expecting it quite yet.
“Sooner than I thought,” he mused. “All right everyone. Time to earn our paychecks.”
Hardball reached into his bags and pulled out two metal balls, each about the size of a tennis ball. He held his hand out with a ball held in it, then he channeled the kinetic energy he controlled into a pulse. The ball shot forward like a cannonball, blasting right through the chest of a robot and tearing a massive hole through it.
“Oooh, nice,” the Imp said, staring at Hardball with a look of interest. She snatched the ball out of his other hand and stared at it for a few seconds.
“Hey,” he protested.
The Imp held out the ball similar to how Hardball had, and a moment later, it shot out of her hands in a similar manner, though hers didn’t go nearly as far and missed any robots by a good distance.
“What?” Hardball exclaimed, clearly surprised to see the Imp copying his signature attack.
“Way too big and heavy,” the Imp mused, apparently talking to herself. “Great idea, but maybe something smaller. Throwing knives or something…”
“Less yapping and more fighting,” Carver snapped.
With that, Carver formed a spear made of ice, then threw it as hard as he could at one of the robots. It hit the robot’s metal chest and dented it, but didn’t seem to do any more than that. He cursed, then formed a sword of ice in one hand and a shield in the other. It looked like he was going to have to get up close and personal.
The rookie ran forward and waved her pitchfork at one of the robots, though she was careful to keep dancing back and out of range. A blast of fire shot out from the head of her pitchfork, like some kind flame thrower, but it didn’t seem nearly intense enough to do anything to a robot. The weapon looked more theatrical than effective.
“I didn’t recruit her for her fighting ability,” Carver reminded himself.
Hardball had already grabbed a couple more of his metal balls and was in the process of firing them at another robot. The second robot was blasted to pieces, just as easily as he’d taken out the first one.
The Nightmare Nurse stood back, but she sent the big gorilla monster at the robots. It tore into one robot, ripping off metal arms and then smashing the rest of the machine as easily as if it had been made of cardboard.
Carver held back, knowing that his particular abilities wouldn’t be of much use against the robots. However, once they got inside the building, then he’d be better positioned to shine.
Suddenly, all of the remaining robots froze in place and then toppled over. Each of them had several robot spiders clinging to their bodies. Carver wasn’t sure exactly how Cubik’s robots had done this, but he wasn’t about to complain.
“The main door,” Carver called out, indicating the heavy metal door that they had to get through. Several spider robots were already clinging to the wall where the security system was located, apparently having shut it down. Now, the door itself just needed to be physically moved.
“I believe that I have the key,” the Nightmare Nurse announced
The gorilla monster began stomping towards the main doorway, but before it could reach the door, a humming sound began to echo from above. The monster paused as everyone looked up for the source of the noise.
“Shit,” Hardball snarled.
Carver looked up and saw a figure in the air above. A man with shaggy blonde hair, square-jawed good looks, and a muscular build. He was wearing a blue and grey costume and stood on a floating platform that strongly resembled a surfboard with jets on it.
“Doc Awesome,” Carver said, annoyed since he’d expected to catch the hero inside.
The very sight of Doc Awesome filled Carver with disgust. The hero looked like he would have been one of the people who’d spat on Carver when Carver first got back from the war.
“You dudes picked the wrong place to break into,” Doc Awesome said.
“You can say that again,” another voice added.
Carver then spotted the other man, who was crouched down on the surfboard behind Doc Awesome. He wore a brown and grey costume with a similar style to Doc Awesome’s.
“And Mongoose,” Carver added, recognizing the man who was known to be one of Doc Awesome’s teammates.
Mongoose dropped off the surfboard and landed on the ground. He made a show of stretching to demonstrate how unconcerned he was about them. He was lean and wiry with a runner’s muscle tone.
“Was that Man Goose?” the Imp abruptly asked.
Mongoose paused at that. “What?”
“Where are your feathers?” the rookie asked in a mock innocent voice. “Your costume is totally off theme, Man Goose.”
“That’s Mongoose,” the hero snapped.
“Whatever,” the Imp responded with a dismissive gesture. “You silly goose.”
The Mongoose lunged at the Imp, slashing at her with his clawed hands. She dove behind the gorilla monster, which brought the hero up short. Carver took the opportunity to attack him, slashing with his ice sword and driving the hero back.
“Take them down, Mongoose,” Doc Awesome ordered, right before he held out his hands and fired a blast of energy from his high-tech wrist bracers.
Carver had to change to defense and block the attack with his ice shield which gave Mongoose the chance to change targets. He went after Hardball, only to have the Doctor Nightmare zombie grabbing at him.
“Hardball,” Carver said, indicating Doc Awesome. “I can’t reach him up there.”
“Don’t worry,” Hardball responded with an eager grin. “I can knock him out of the air.”
Hardball held out two metal spheres, one in each hand, then fired them one after the other at the hero. However, Doc Awesome shot out of the way and avoided both hits before returning fire with two more of his energy blasts.
“Out of reach and too damn fast,” Carver muttered in annoyance. He glanced towards the heavy door, his eyes narrowing. “Get that door open. Once we’re inside, his advantage vanishes.”
“Magilla,” the Nightmare Nurse ordered.
The gorilla monster turned back to the heavy metal door and began pulling on it. While he did this, Carver noticed that the Imp was no longer hiding behind the monster. In fact, he couldn’t see the rookie anywhere. She’d vanished.
“Damn,” Carver muttered in annoyance before he reminded himself that this was the Imp’s job. She was supposed to sneak in and grab their target while everyone else got Doc Awesome’s attention. “We’ve got his attention, so she’d damn well better do her part.”
A moment later, there was a groan of metal as the heavy door was torn loose and shoved to the side, opening the way inside the building. Carver nodded at that and ordered everyone inside.
“Here,” Cubik said, abruptly handing one of her metal cubes to Hardball. “Throw this at Awesome.”
Hardball didn’t question the instruction. He just turned and pushed his kinetic energy into the cube and shot it towards the hero. As with his previous attacks, the hero dodged to the side. However, unlike before, the cube suddenly exploded.
A moment later, Doc Awesome’s jet powered surfboard suddenly went dead and began dropping to the ground. The hero let out a yelp of surprise as he fell, then hit the concrete.
Mongoose was suddenly beside the other hero, guarding him from attack and asking, “You okay?”
“Just bruised my pride, dude,” Doc Awesome responded.
“Mini EMP,” Cubik explained to the team. “I brought a couple of them to mess with Awesome’s technology.”
“Good idea,” Carver told her. “But I wish you would have pulled that out sooner.”
“That would have made the robots easier to deal with,” the Nightmare Nurse added.
Carver looked over at the two heroes, hesitating for a moment. Now would be the perfect time to attack, but taking them down wasn’t their actual goal. They were supposed to break through security, make a bit of a mess, and then get out with their prize. Beating Awesome would just be a bonus.
“Continue inside,” Carver ordered. “Awesome might be off his board, but Mongoose is still pretty fast. The less room he has to maneuver, the better.”
As they all rushed in through the opening, Doc Awesome shouted, “Come back and fight, you chickens.”
Carver looked around, seeing that they were in a large open room, one where Mongoose would have had all the room he needed to run around. That could defeat the purpose of going inside.
“Nurse,” Carver said, indicating the monster. “If you would.”
“Of course,” she agreed.
The monster turned and stood in the doorway to keep the heroes from following them. He had no illusions about the monster being able to stop them completely, but it was bound to slow them down. That would give Carver and his team plenty of opportunity to rummage around and look for additional goodies that they could take with them.
Seconds later, Carver hurried across the large room and into an open corridor while the others followed him. He didn’t know what he was looking for, only that he’d know it when he saw it. Hopefully, he thought to himself, he’d find a big pile of cash. That thought brought a smile to his face.
“Keep an eye out,” Carver warned the others. “If Doc Awesome and Mongoose are here, then some of their other friends might be hanging around too.”
“I hope so,” Hardball responded. “I need to let off a little more steam.”
“I wouldn’t mind running into Great Scott,” Cubik said with a somewhat eager expression. Her eyes darted to Hardball, as though she was hoping to make him jealous. From his sour expression, Carver suspected that she had.
Then, the Nightmare Nurse abruptly announced, “There’s a strange door, like a vault.”
Carver stopped and looked down the side corridor where the nurse and pointed. At the end of the hallway, he saw the door that she was referring to. It wasn’t much bigger than a normal door, but it was metal and looked far sturdier than any of the other doors that they’d seen since coming inside.
“This won’t be the main vault,” Carver mused. “We know where that one is.” That was where the rookie was supposed to be heading. “Maybe a lab or arsenal.”
“Worth checking out,” Hardball said.
Cubik held up one of her metal cubes. “If nothing else, a mini EMP should do wonders for any equipment.”
The Nightmare Nurse looked at Doctor Nightmare, who was her only guard since the big monster had been left back at the main entrance. The doctor just stood there with a drooping blank expression.
“I can send the doctor in first,” she nurse offered. “In case there are any traps.”
“First, we need to open the door,” Cubik reminded them. “And I have just the thing.”
Cubik shifted over to another cube, the one that had multiple different colors all over it and which seemed to be her remote control. She fiddled with the cube and several of her spider robots went skittering down the hallway. One of them climbed the wall, stopped on an electronic control panel, then began to spark.
“The electronic lock is disabled,” Cubik said.
Hardball moved to door, slid back a heavy deadbolt that was on the outside, and then opened the door. He stared inside for a moment, then let out a stream of profanity.
“What the fuck is THIS?” Hardball demanded.
Carver stepped forward and peeked through the door. He blinked in surprise. Instead of a lab or armory, he found himself looking into a bedroom. A little girl’s bedroom, pink walls and toys scattered about the floor. Most of the toys looked broken.
And there, sitting on the bed, was a little girl. She had tanned skin and long dark hair that partially covered her face.
“What the hell is this?” Carver demanded.
“It looks like they were probably protecting one of their kids,” Cubik suggested.
“Then we leave the kid alone,” Carver said, though the others looked at him as though that had been the obvious choice. Even the Nightmare Nurse agreed without hesitation.
“Something is still wrong with that,” Hardball muttered. “Did you notice the bolt on the OUTSIDE of the door?”
“Awesome probably repurposed the room from a prison cell or something,” Carver said, though he wasn’t quite certain of that. Still, the kid wasn’t any of their business and they had work to get back to.
They had gone only a short distance down the hall, when Carver realized that the girl had come out of her room and was following them. She was keeping her distance, but was still trailing right behind.
Carver turned to look back at the girl, who couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. She was carrying a doll, holding it with both hands up against her chest. It was then that Carver noticed that the doll was missing a head. A faint chill ran down his spine as he remembered all the other destroyed toys from her room.
“Why don’t you go back,” Carver suggested, gesturing back down the hall. “You don’t want to follow us.”
The girl didn’t say anything, nor did she respond in any way. She just remained where she was, standing in the middle of the hallway with that doll.
“Creepy kid,” Hardball muttered.
Carver shook his head, not sure what to do about the kid. After a moment, he decided to just ignore her. She’d probably get bored and head back to her room soon enough. Or more likely, she’d see his team doing something and would go running back in fear. A quick glance at zombie Doctor Nightmare assured him that this wouldn’t take long at all.
“HEY!” a voice shouted from down the hall.
Carver looked and saw Mongoose turning a corner and staring at him. A grin formed on Mongoose’s face, though it wasn’t a happy one. Mongoose took a few seconds to just glare menacingly, but Carver couldn’t afford to wait. Since the hero was a low-level speedster with claws, in a few seconds, he was about to become a big problem.
“Incoming,” Carver announced as he dropped to his knees.
Mongoose was suddenly in motion, running straight for them, at least four times faster than any normal person would be able to move. Carver’s hand was already on the ground and a sheet of ice spread out along the floor. The hero hit the expanding ice and continued shooting forward until he slammed face first into a wall.
“Ouch,” Hardball said with a chuckle.
The little girl abruptly began to laugh and clap her hands together gleefully, as though this was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. Her doll dropped to the ground in front of her, apparently forgotten in the moment.
“Why is she still here?” the Nightmare Nurse asked.
The girl looked up at Carver and grinned from ear to ear…almost literally. Her mouth was far wider than that of a normal person, and from that angle, he could suddenly see lots of sharp teeth. Then, he saw the girl’s eyes. They were wild and manic.
“Will you play with me?” the girl asked excitedly.
“There is something wrong with that kid,” Cubik observed.
“Maybe there was a reason she was locked up,” Hardball suggested.
Carver nodded at that, then looked at Mongoose, who was on the floor groaning, with that looked like a possible concussion and probably a few broken bones. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.
“Let’s get going,” Carver said.
They continued moving through the building while the little girl continued following behind, now skipping and humming cheerfully. Carver kept glancing back at her, wondering how he could get the kid to leave them alone.
A minute later, Hardball called out, “More incoming.”
Carver looked up just in time to see a blast of red energy smash into the Doctor Nightmare zombie. His entire torso vanished in a burst of flame and smoke, leaving his head to hit the floor and roll away.
“That was disrespectful,” the Nightmare Nurse said, already reaching into her doctor bag, though Carver couldn’t see what she was grabbing.
A brunette woman in a red and gold costume was further down the corridor, and she was already walking towards them with a determined look on her face. Both of her hands were glowing with a swirling red energy.
“Does anyone know who she is?” Carver asked his team, not recognizing this latest addition. Obviously, she was with Doc Awesome, but other than that…
“Icepick,” the woman exclaimed, clearly knowing who Carver was. “You won’t escape Ms. Scarlett…”
“Ms. Scarlett?” Hardball asked. “Like in that board game?”
The woman responded by firing another blast of energy at them, though Carver threw up his ice shield and blocked the attack, though his shield didn’t survive contact. His shield melted away to nothing in one blast, forcing him to quickly form a replacement.
“Note to self,” Carver muttered. “Don’t get hit.”
Ms. Scarlett was about to open fire again, when she abruptly paused and gaped. “You kidnapped the girl…”
“We did NOT take her,” Cubik snapped back. “The brat just keeps following us.”
Ms. Scarlett snorted. “There is something seriously wrong with her. I’m almost tempted to let you keep her. It would be just what you deserved.”
The Nightmare Nurse scowled. “That sounds pretty damned suspicious to me.”
The heroine raised her hands to fire another blast at them, but Cubik slid one of her cubes down the hallway towards her while Hardball opened fire with an attack of his own. Ms. Scarlett unleashed a blast of energy which destroyed Hardball’s cannonball, but a moment later, Cubik’s box suddenly exploded. Ms. Scarlett flew backward and hit the ground hard.
“You…won’t…get…me…that…easily,” Ms. Scarlett snarled as she struggled to get back to her feet.
The Nightmare Nurse merely walked down the hall towards her, then casually threw what appeared to be a handful of walnuts. The nuts hit the ground around the hero, then began to immediately sprout. Vines grew out of each nut and quickly spread, wrapping around the heroine and each other until there was a net of knotted up vines.
“The vines release a sedative on their surface,” the nurse explained. “They should take Ms. Scarlett out of action.”
“Ms. Scarlett in the hallway with a walnut,” Cubik said with a faint smirk.
Carver snorted at, then looked around. He immediately realized that the little girl was gone, skipping down the corridor away from them while carrying something in her arms. He couldn’t quite make out what it was, though he quickly realized that Doctor Nightmare’s head was missing.
“What the fuck?” he muttered to himself. “What the hell is Awesome doing in here?”
“And they call US the bad guys,” Hardball added with a snort.
“We’ve been delayed a bit longer than expected,” Carver said. “We need to finish up and get out of here before Doc Awesome and his people can regroup.”
“Whichever ones are left,” Cubik added, gesturing towards the now entangled and sleeping Ms. Scarlett.
Hardball grimly pointed out, “We’ve made a good show about breaking in and causing trouble. I’m thinking it’s about time to get out of here. Hopefully, the rookie will have finished her part.”
“Agreed,” Carver responded.
“We should create a little more noise on the way out,” Cubik added thoughtfully. “A couple more mini EMPs should work for that.”
“Good thinking,” Carver told her.
They turned a corner and made their way towards another doorway than the one that they’d entered through, one that was smaller but every bit as thick and heavy as the main entrance. Cubik casually tossed a cube into one of the rooms they passed and Hardball swiped a couple of items he found in what looked like some kind of storage room.
“These might sell when we’re done,” Hardball commented shamelessly.
“It’s what we’re here for,” Carver responded with a faint smirk. “Bonus pay.”
They had nearly reached the other exit when they found Doc Awesome standing in the middle the hallway ahead of them. He had four robots with him, much like the ones they’d seen outside, but much smaller. These ones were only a couple feet tall.
For a moment, the hero just stared at them, then he made a show of slowly stretching and flexing his muscles. Carver wasn’t sure if Awesome was trying to intimidate them or just show off. With heroes, he could never quite tell.
Finally, Doc Awesome said, “You’ve made a seriously gnarly mistake, dudes.”
Doc Awesome had shed some of his gear, equipment that had probably been damaged either by the EMP or the fall itself. Instead, he now carried some kind of energy weapon, a large ray gun, the kind that mad scientist types seemed to favor.
When Cubik pulled out another cube, Doc Awesome chuckled. “Bogus idea, dudette. This baby is EMP hardened, so you can’t fry this one.”
“Disappointing,” Cubik commented. “But I appreciate you warning me before I wasted my cube.”
Doc Awesome glared at her, looking annoyed at that. Cubik just smirked as she put the cube back into a pouch and drew another one instead.
“Drop your weapons and get on the ground now,” Doc Awesome ordered. “This is your one warning.”
Carver chuckled at that while Hardball just burst out laughing. Cubik smirked faintly while the Nightmare Nurse just stood back, rummaging around her doctor’s bag for something or other. Carver had no idea what other nasty tricks she had in there, but he looked forward to finding out.
“You asked for it,” Doc Awesome exclaimed as he opened fire with his gun.
A blast of energy shot right at Carver, but he threw up his ice shield and stepped to the side to avoid taking the hit directly. His shield cracked from the blast but didn’t melt like it had from Ms. Scarlett.
The robots all charged forward, though Hardball immediately destroyed one with one of his cannonballs. Carver swung around and hit another with his ice sword, causing a little damage but not enough. He tried again, this time driving the blade straight into the machine, which worked much better.
“Robots,” Cubik said with a smirk as she dropped one of her cubes.
There was a brief flash of light from the cube, then all of the robots all stopped moving. Hardball kicked one, and it simply fell over. Dead.
“That was quite the bluff,” Cubik told the hero. “Your gun might be hardened, but your other toys weren’t.”
The Nightmare Nurse threw something at Doc Awesome, though the hero jumped back and avoided being hit. The object, a wrinkly black ball about the size of an apple, hit the ground and exploded into a puff of dust. Suddenly, a nasty black mold began spreading over the ground and nearby wall.
“What a waste,” the nurse muttered. Then a little louder, she admitted, “I need to get more monsters to fight for me. Fortunately, the doctor left a few more behind in his menagerie.”
“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” Doc Awesome said.
He reached for a devise on his belt, then paused as he seemed to remember that it had been fried. His expression became even more annoyed than before, which Carver found amusing.
Just then, Hardball fired another attack at the hero. Doc Awesome dove to the side to avoid being hit, but his weapon wasn’t quite as lucky. One of the metal balls just grazed the gun, which was enough to seriously damage it.
While Doc Awesome was distracted, Carver rushed forward and rammed him with his shield. The hero was knocked over, which gave Carver the opportunity he’d been looking for. He raised his sword, then brought it down right beside Doc Awesome.
Doc Awesome struggled to get back to his feet, but it was too late. Carver grabbed hold of him and ice began to spread. In just a couple seconds, a thick layer of ice covered half of Doc Awesome’s body, locking him in place.
“I have a message for you,” Carver said as he slowly stood up and backed away. “Doctor Avarice said to tell you that there is nothing you have that he can’t take.”
“Avarice,” Doc Awesome spat. “So, he’s behind this.”
There was history there, and obviously a lot of it. However, Carver didn’t care enough to bother asking.
“I’m just the messenger,” Carver told him. “And now that the message has been delivered, it’s time for us to go.”
Doc Awesome struggled against the ice that held him in place, but it didn’t do any good. Carver’s ice was a lot harder than any natural ice, which was why it made such a nice weapon. Doc Awesome would remain good and trapped for at least twenty minutes, unless of course, Ms. Scarlett or someone else was able to interfere. That would give them plenty of time to make their escape.
They left the building without any further issues, then ran for the van as fast as they could. Now that they no longer had Magilla, the truck could be left behind.
“Now, to find out if the mission was actually a success,” Carver muttered anxiously.
A moment later, Carver saw the Imp running towards them, holding something that was clutched in her arms. As soon as the rookie reached them, she plopped a box right into his hands.
“Got it,” the rookie exclaimed excitedly. “This is the box with that serial number you gave me…” She pointed to the numbers that were painted on top. “And I left everything else in the vault untouched, just like you said, so that they could easily see what exactly was stolen.” From the tone of her voice, Carter suspected that the Imp didn’t approve of that, but as long as she’d done as instructed.
“Good job,” Carver told her, looking at the small lockbox with the built-in lock. “I just wonder what’s inside. Avarice didn’t tell me that.”
“I was wondering the same thing,” the rookie responded with a cheerful grin and a swish of her tail. “So, I opened it up for a peek…” She flipped the lid open so that Carver could see inside.
Carver stared at the contents for several seconds before letting out an annoyed, “Shit.”
“What is it?” Hardball demanded.
“A complication,” Carver answered as he closed the lockbox and let out a sigh. “But I’ll deal with that later. For now, we need to focus on finishing our escape.”
San Francisco Ca, Sunday May 23rd 1982
Darren Carver paused near the building entrance to look around, trying to spot any threats or possible tails. He frowned, feeling a little nervous as he always did when he was out in public like this. He was too exposed. It would be far too easy for any sniper to simply take him down before he ever even saw it coming.
He shook his head and then took a deep breath to settle his nerves. A bottle of Jack would settle his nerves even better, but there was time for that later. For now, he needed to keep his wits about him.
Carver took a moment to glance down at himself. He was wearing normal civilian clothes over his uniform. A glove covered his right hand, as was normal when he was out in civvies.
“Time to get this over with,” Carver muttered as he turned and stepped through the doorway.
A few minutes later, Carver stopped in front of another door and glanced down at his watch. This was the right place and the right time. He took another breath, then knocked.
“Come in,” came from inside.
Carver stepped into the room quickly scanned it for threats. The only threat he saw was on the other side of an expensive looking desk. Hansel Averton. Doctor Avarice.
“Icepick,” Averton said in greeting.
“The job was a success,” Carver said, not bothering with any pleasantries. He carefully set the lockbox onto the desk. “The box you wanted, and your message was delivered.”
“Good,” Averton responded with a friendly expression that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He turned his attention to the box and his expression became one of greedy hunger. “Very good…”
“Ahem,” Carver said, waiting expectantly.
Averton paused for a moment before he seemed to realize what Carver wanted. He nodded, then grabbed a briefcase from behind the desk and impatiently set it down in front of Carver.
Carver opened the briefcase and saw the stacks of cash. He nodded, hoping that it was all there, though he wasn’t about to actually count it in front of Averton. He couldn’t afford to get that distracted.
Averton opened the box, then paused to stare for a moment. His eyes lit up with excitement and his hands almost seemed to shake as he reached inside to touch the contents. Only then did he turn the box so that Carver could see.
Inside the box, there were three round gemstones, each resting on a velvet cushion. Each of the stones was a different color and each seemed to radiate a certain energy. Carver immediately felt a twinge of power from his power gem as it recognized others of its kind.
“Power gems,” Carver said, looking back at Averton. “All that for a couple power gems?”
“Ah,” Averton responded in a cheerful tone. “These aren’t just any power gems. These ones are part of a set. A set that I have been very keen on collecting.”
“Okay,” Carver said, not sure what else to say about that.
“One of them has the power to influence minds,” Averton explained excitedly. “The second has a power similar to that of your associate Hardball. And the last one, it is an amplifier that enhanced the power of every other gem in the set.” He stared down at the power gems with a look of delight before he deflated a little and admitted, “Unfortunately, I do not know which one is which. Yet.” He’d put extra emphasis on the ‘yet’.
“Well, good luck figuring it out,” Carver said as he took his payment and turned to the door. “Three power gems delivered. My job is done.”
“Four,” Averton abruptly corrected. Carver turned back towards the other villain, immediately seeing the predatory look on his face. “Your power gem is part of the same set.”
Carver scowled at that, though he’d expected something along those lines. As soon as he’d seen those power gems, and his own had reacted to their presence, he’d known that something was up. There had been a reason that Averton had hired him for the job rather than doing it himself.
“Mine isn’t for sale,” Carver told him.
Averton merely smiled, once again taking on a friendly façade, though Carver wasn’t fooled. He had never been fooled by the friendly act.
Suddenly, ceiling panels dropped to the ground as gun turrets descended, two of them, one on each side of Averton. Both of them had the barrels pointed straight at Carver.
“Oh, shit,” Carver said with a nervous gulp. “So, this is another forceful acquisition.”
Avertun chuckled, acting as though they’d merely shared a friendly joke. “Precisely.”
Carver glared at the man, then he glanced up at the two turrets. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he let out a deep sigh of surrender.
“Fine.” He slapped a blue gem onto the desk. “I hope you’re happy.”
“Oh, I am,” Averton assured him cheerfully. “These will be fantastic additions to my collection.”
“Whatever,” Carver snapped. “Since I’ve just been forcefully retired, I’m leaving.”
“I wish you good fortune in your retirement,” Averton said as Carver stepped out the door.
Carver hurried out the building as quickly as he could, glancing around for any signs of a tail. It didn’t look like Averton had anyone following him, much to his relief. Of course, he had a briefcase full of cash with him, so he wasn’t about to take that for granted. That, or anything else.
Once Carver stepped out of the building, he paused to look around again. Then he spotted someone suspicious, someone who was definitely up to no good.
“Hardball,” Carver greeted his associate. “You’re late. We were supposed to meet up before I went inside.”
“Traffic,” Hardball responded with a shrug. “It’s a bitch.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Carver told him. “So, let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
They hurried to the car that Hardball had brought, avoiding Carver’s car entirely. If someone was looking for him, that was the car that they would have been looking for.
Once Carver was sitting in the passenger seat, he took one more look out the windows before pulling the glove off his right hand. The blue power gem was still embedded in the back of his hand, exactly where it had been for years.
With any luck, it would take Averton awhile to discover that he’d been given a fake. And with more luck, Carver would be relaxing on a beach in Cancun by then. Either way, it would be a good idea to keep a low profile for awhile, especially where either Doc Awesome or Doctor Avarice were concerned.
