PART I

(Note: some liberties have been taken due to failing memory and to provide a more fun read)

 

Part III

“What is it?”  Scion spun on her heel ready to face a new adversary.
“Something’s coming from that door.” his finger pointing to illustrate the correct passage as Marshall Strong, who had also sensed the intruder’s approach, leapt up to the ruin of the catwalk above the door.
Scion flew to join Strong and lie in wait as the Dark Warrior prepared to greet their latest nemesis.

They didn’t have to wait long.
The door buckled and flew inwards, crashing to the floor just a few feet from the Dark Warrior as a large, bald man, rippling with muscle, wearing a garish black and white costume sporting a large A on his chest and a cape asked

“Where’s the chick?”.
“It’s just you and me Kojack! Lets go!!”

The Alpha Male’s eyes squinted as he told Spec that he was claiming the girl for himself just as twin beams of scarlet energy lanced towards his sole target.
Fortunately, Scion, given to a burst of rage-induced, adrenaline-charged speed, from being referred to as “the chick”, was fast enough to fly down to the ground, grab the blasted steel door and charge the Alpha Male with it. Her attack managed to both shield her and Mr Spec from their assailant’s energy beams as well as to slam the Alpha Male down the hall into a solid concrete wall.

Without missing a beat Scion followed up her attack, charging toward her opponent. The Alpha Male was just as powerful as Scion however and as she was charging towards him he dislodged himself from the wall and charged her right back.

“I’m not a chick jerk!” Scion shouted at the testosterone pumped villain.
“No…Yer a BITCH!!” he shouted back as he proceeded to punch Scion hard enough to send her sailing back towards the door.

The Dark Warrior and Marshall Strong, benefitting from their ample training and experience, which Scion lacked, bided their time waiting for a clear opening to strike at the Alpha Male in the narrow hallway.

Scion reeled from the force of her assailant’s punch and from the leering look on his arrogant face, it showed. She had never been physically hit that hard before and she knew, despite the brutish schoolyard arrogance of this macho fool, she needed to take him seriously. Thus far, he had always kept his feet on the ground, which she hoped meant, he could not fly.

Before he could land another blow, she took off and flew over and behind him, landing a quick blow to the back of his head that knocked him off balance allowing her to connect with an uppercut that lifted him off his feet and halfway to the ceiling. Following in the wake of momentum generated by her blow, she charged as much ionic energy into her fist as she could, and landed another telling blow onto his jaw as he came back down, hoping to stun him. Before she could test the results of her attack, the Dark Warrior and Marshall Strong, sensing their opportunity, launched their offense.
The Dark Warrior was first, screaming down the hall like a demonic missile and slamming into the Alpha Male’s midsection as he stumbled to his feet. The force of the blow sent the Alpha Male sailing and imbedded him into the concrete wall, with only his hands and feet visible outside the gray debris. Marshall Strong was next, wailing on the villain’s form, further embedding it into the wall itself. By the time he was done the Alpha Male looked more like insulation than a Super villain.
As Marshall Strong looked at his handiwork, he noticed the villain’s form was rocked by spasms as crimson energy flashes emanated from him.
“Hmm…I guess Scion paralyzed him after all”
The Dark Warrior raised an eyebrow and commented, “Incapacitated and paralyzed is better than just paralyzed”.
“Agreed and well timed since I doubt anything friendly is going to come out of those elevators when the doors open”
Scion’s eyes grew wide “Oh no… more of them!”

Scion’s speed and recklessness placed her at the elevators first. As she sped to the opening door she caught sight of a man that looked remarkably like Steve Buscemi dressed like Mr Orange from Reservoir Dogs except that he had red hair and a red goatee and looked absolutely insane.
He also looked as thin as Steve Buscemi and Scion surmised that maybe his powers were not based upon physical strength so she crushed the elevator doors together to seal him inside.
As she braced the doors with her mighty hands, crumpling the metal to seal the doors, a fist smashed right through them and slammed into her jaw. Her head snapped back but she held her ground and did not let go of the doors. A leering face appeared in the new hole in the elevator doors.
“Ya can’t keep the Anti Christ out baby!” he sneered.
Scion looked hard at the macabre Jack Nicholson-esque image before her and punched the Anti Christ dead in the face…..and pulled her hand back in intense pain realizing that she had just broken it.
The Anit Christ tittered madly at her “I’m invulnerable ya dumb bitch!”.

“Oh yea… eat this!” Marshall Strong screamed as he pointed his pistol directly into the hole smashed into the doors and fired a blazing salvo of shots that ricocheted across the enclosed surface of the elevator like the silver orb of a pinball machine. Repeated muzzle flashes lighted the hallway and the smell of cordite was thicker than incense in an airport. When the gun finally went silent, Scion could see a trickle of blood flowing from the Anti Christ’s temple as he screamed at Marshall Strong: “I actually felt that you jerk!! I’m going to kill you!”

With those venomous words a gout of thick, billowing flame poured from the Anti Christ’s screaming mouth and engulfed the entire hall outside the elevator. Marshall Strong ducked but was somewhat singed while Scion’s ion shields held. The Dark Warrior’s body simply adapted to the flame rendering it harmless.

Meanwhile the Dark Warrior had already determined how to defeat the Anti Christ and the mysterious blonde woman standing behind him in the far corner of the elevator that no one but him had spotted.

“Scion!” the Dark Warrior shouted “Grab the bottom of the elevator and lift!”

Following her more experienced teammates lead Scion grabbed the bottom of the elevator car and quickly pulled it free of the safety locks, which snapped with a sharp crack, until she had raised it above her head.

“Got it Mr Spec.”

The Dark Warrior flew under the Elevator car with Scion and pointed up as the two of them took off like rockets pushing the car straight to the top of the shaft with enough combined force to break orbit.
As they rushed skyward through the elevator shaft they could hear the shouting of the Anti Christ inside. Aside from the shouting, Scion could feel rather than hear, a low hum. A moment later she began to bleed from her eyes, her nose and her mouth. She then began to feel a dull ache throughout her body as well as a more distinct sharper pain at the areas from which she was bleeding. Shrugging it off she focused on the task at hand guessing that this may be another of the Anti Christ’s abilities. A tap on her shoulder turned her head.

The Dark Warrior was issuing instructions “We’re almost to the top!” he shouted
“When I give the word push as hard as you can and break off back through the nearest set of doors and into the building or we’ll crush ourselves against the reinforced springs at the top of the shaft. You got that?”
Scion nodded

The Dark Warrior looked upward for a few more seconds then shouted “NOW!”

The two heroes shoved the elevator car ahead of them and blasted through a set of double doors into a top floor of the building as the elevator slammed into the apex of the shaft with the impact of a bomb. The entire building shook as the large metal compartment crumpled in on itself and split open with the force of the impact. The Dark Warrior saw a bloodied, blonde figure fall from the ravaged elevator car and sped to catch her. His superior reflexes taxed to their limit, he managed to break her fall just in time to save her from a gruesome death. As he checked her still form he found her breathing and pulse a bit ragged but steady enough to convince him that her life was in no immediate danger. As he brushed her bloodied mop of blonde hair out of her face he heard struggling from above him inside the elevator shaft. He laid the girl’s body down and walked to the edge of the shaft and looked up. There he saw the Anti Christ, bloody and battered, dangling from the debris of the elevator car.
“If Mary’s dead I’ll kill you all!!” he screamed. “I’ll avenge you Bloody Mary!”
“Well that explains who she is and what caused this...” Scion said as she wiped the blood from her eyes and nose.
The Dark Warrior winked at Scion as he pointed to the Anti Christ and clenched his fingers into a fist. “Going down.” he said as he blasted the Anti Christ’s handholds with vibro-bolts.
As the Anti Christ began to fall down the shaft Scion hefted one of the elevator doors and flew at the his falling form. She braced the door against her arm and caught the villain between the shaft wall and the slab of metal with an echoing crash. She then pulled the broken door up and slammed him across the face with it once before swinging it over her head and smashing it down upon his with all her might, sending him hurtling down the shaft like a comet to land with a very wet and ugly splat.

To Be Continued

FINALE

Having made sure that C.H.E.S.S. agents were on the way and after finding a good spot for the hostages to await them, Scion flew back up the stairs to rejoin Marshall Strong. When she ascended the stairwell, a disturbingly familiar sight greeted her. Marshall Strong was fighting a swirling storm of animated sand.

“Silicon Valerie!” Scion shouted.
A face formed in the shifting waves of sand. Recognition burned into the particles of it’s shifting eyes.
“You!!”

“Nice to see you Val. Shall we dance or would your rather just give up this time?”

The only answer Scion received was a painful blow to the back of the head.

“I ain’t done yet baby” a gravelly voice shouted.

Unwillingly to take her attention off of Valerie, Scion charged her full tilt and swung a flurry of blows, not one of which was able to connect with her constantly shifting target.

“I’ve learned a few tricks since we last tussled honey”
Her voice sifted across Scion’s ears like sand across ancient stone.

“You can’t touch me but I sure as hell can touch you…Hard!”

Long tendrils tipped with spikes formed from the ambient sand swirling about and lashed out at the two heroes. The dusty bludgeons battered both Marshall Strong and Scion.

“Scion!” Marshall Strong shouted,
“Focus on the Anti Christ. I’ve got a surprise for Valerie here!”

“The Anti Christ!” Scion exclaimed "...but I thought…"

“I’m baaaa-aack” the Anti Christ Hissed through a regenerated but mis-set jaw.

As Scion turned she saw that apparently not only was the Anti Christ strong, able to spout gouts of flame, incredibly impervious to harm but also able to regenerate. However judging from his misshapen form, regeneration was not the same as reintegration.
The Anti Christ Hobbled after her on inverted legs that did not seem to join properly at misaligned hips. His right arm hung low and his arm ended in more of a claw than a hand. His left shoulder was placed too high upon his collarbone giving his arm the appearance that it hung from a hump instead of a joint.
Despite his dilapidated appearance Scion could not take pity or mercy on him since it was obvious he was still intent on murdering her.
Circling around to the left of the Anti Christ she lined herself up, placing her target squarely between her and the now open elevator shaft. She stepped back a few paces and then took off at top speed ramming him into the elevator shaft wall in the exact same spot she had slammed him into previously. Again she punched him in the jaw, then brought both her fists high above her head, and slammed them down upon him with such force that the entire building shuddered. As the Anti Christ sped to the bottom of the shaft like a meteor once again, Scion could hear him screaming... 
“Not Again…..!!!”
followed by a very loud and wet crunch.

“Maybe he’ll stay down long enough for C.H.E.S.S. to vacuum him up.” Scion thought to herself.

Marshall Strong had managed to dodge Valerie’s attacks and frustrate her enough to get her to follow him to within reach of a ruptured access panel and some dangling cables that were attached to some very odd looking machines. Most likely they were of the Burning Man’s devising and may have been part of his process to create Meta Humans.

“ I’ve got some shocking news for you lady!” Strong quipped

“What’s that you worm!”

Strong’s reply was to kick the access panel while ripping the electrical wires out of the cable housing and shoving the ends into Valerie’s shifting body of sand. Tapped into the main electrical supply of the building, enough raw current shot through her body to cause her indescribable pain and render her inert.

“Nuff Said..” Strong snorted.

After having dropped the Doctor off into the capable hands of Galen Hospital’s trauma ward the Dark Warrior was speeding back toward the building to catch the Burning Man.

“No way is he getting away after..”
The Dark Warrior stopped in his tracks.

His enhanced senses directed him to look just to his left and down the block. There running down the street like any other thug was the Burning Man. Running like a common thief, pushing innocent passers-by out of his way.

Wally Spec turned slowly, lining up his shot and taking aim.

At the last minute he thought he would prefer a more direct approach to take this scum down. Something a bit more personal…and painful.

The Dark Warrior accelerated to top speed and smashed the Burning Man directly into a brick building. Debris flew everywhere and the Burning Man was unconscious before he even knew Spec was there.
The Dark Warrior knelt down and grabbed the unconscious but still burning, Burning Man, from the rubble and flew off to deliver him into C.H.E.S.S. custody as well as to learn the final fate of Dr Apocolous.

End

   She's tough, well mannered and she can produce detailed and well written reports. This whole Mr. Spec thing is making me feel a little old though. Let's just stick to Wally, shall we????

   D.W.

THE ONI wrote on Feb 7^th, 2010 at 4:55pm:

You Got it Mr Spec!!   

STORMDANCE wrote on Feb 8^th, 2010 at 1:56am:


Forget it kid......