The Story

Chapter 19

"Deerfield Turns Deadly"

Charles, Joe, Rina, and Milo were watching television in the living room of the Supercool Mansion. “Kyle” padded softly up behind the large couch that held all four of them. He casually reached around one side, dug his claws into Charles’ warm flesh, and tore out the throat of the young man he’d once called friend. As Charles began to drown in his own blood, Rina tried to react. But Kyle was ready for her. He thrust the now-ebbing power of Charles’ Negative Zone hands into the young girl’s face. With her powers just now activated, Rina felt her face explode in every slow, exacting detail.
As Milo leapt over the couch at his teammate, Kyle drew a laser pistol, and blasted a hole straight through the young man. Then, he turned and fired at Joe’s hand, burning it and forcing Joe to drop the little red ball which would’ve activated his powers. Joe turned and ran from the living room. Kyle pursued.
Joe wound his way quickly through the mansion, to the Supercools’ Communication Room. As the systems booted, Joe routed a call to every available team he could think of.
“Ororo?” Joe asked the monitor. “Steve? Reed? Vance? Anyone? The Mansion has sustained massive damage. I don’t even know if this transmission’s being received. If you can hear me, you need to know what happened here. The Supercools have been hit hard. Worse, we were taken totally unaware. We’ve been decimated. If you respond to this distress call, be advised that the mansion security has been deactivated from within! As hard as it is for me to say this, you need to know… we’ve been betrayed by one of our own! Incredible as it sounds- Kyle Reeser has gone insane. As near as I can tell… Charles was the first to die. I’m the only one left standing to make this message, and he’s seen to it that my powers are negated. It’s our own fault, really. We never should have trusted Kyle when he started speaking so oddly. We just thought it was Kyle being weird. Maybe it is? We knew so little about him before; he could’ve been evil all along. Wait!” Joe turned to face his murderer. “You?!?” he cried. “You may have killed the Supercools, but the dream will never di-“ Joe’s final words were cut short by a searing laser blast to the face.
“I’m not trying to kill the damn dream!” shouted Kyle. “Just you!”

A loud knock at the door woke Kyle from his reverie. “Kyle? Are you in there?” It was Rina’s voice. “We’re going to get breakfast now- do you want to come?”
“Very well,” said Kyle. He dressed quickly, and joined his teammates outside.
“You were making some odd noises when I knocked,” Rina said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” said Kyle. “I was just having a wonderful dream.”

As the Supercools finished their breakfast at the greasiest greasy spoon they’d ever seen, they discussed the road ahead.
“We should be in Indianapolis by dinner time, no problem,” said Milo.
“Actually,” said Joe. “I was kind of hoping we’d stay here a little while longer.”
“And do what?” asked Rina.
“And go,” said Joe, building suspense, “SEE LILA CHENEY IN CONCERT!!!!” He held up the promotional flier he’d found the night before.
“Kick ass!” said Rina. “I loooove Lila Cheney! I have ALL her albums!”
“That sounds like fun,” said Milo.
“Sure,” said Charles. “It’s not like we’re in a hurry or anything.”
“No!” cried Kyle. “I’ll never promote that shrill harpy! The woman is vile!” Everyone turned to stare at their bizarre friend. “But you guys have a great time, okay?” Kyle said.
“Great,” said Joe, sounding only a little confused. “The concert’s at 8:00 tonight. I’ll renew our rooms and then walk into town to pick up the tickets. Anyone want to join me?”
“I’m up for a walk,” said Rina. “I’ll go.”
“Actually,” said Milo, “I wanted to run the van into town for gas and things. You guys want a ride?”
“Nah,” said Joe, “The clerk at the motel said the ticket office is only a couple of blocks from here. It’s a nice day for a stroll.”
“Okay,” said Milo. “Chuck, will you come with me?”
“Sure,” said Charles.
“I shall spend the day in my room,” said Kyle, raising himself out of his seat. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but turned and left without another word.

Joe paused to light a cigarette as he and Rina began their jaunt into town. He nearly choked on the nicotine as Rina surprised him with her news.
“I slept with Milo last night,” she said.
“Pardon me?” Joe said incredulously through his coughs.
“I mean, I didn’t sleep with him. But our room has a double bed.”
“Oh,” said Joe. “And?”
“And, well, I’m not sure, but I think I kind of like him. And I think maybe he likes me, too.”
“Well, you are a little slut, aren’t you?” Joe asked.
“No!” said Rina. “It’s not like that!”
“Not like what?” Joe pressed his argument. “You’d known Kyle for, like, two days when you launched yourself at him. And as soon the two of you hit a little snag, you’re in bed with some guy you met yesterday!”
“I know, I know,” said Rina, obviously vexed. “But Kyle’s started acting so- strange. And Milo, he’s really sweet, and sensitive, and-“
“And what happens when he has a bad day?” Joe asked. “Are you going to make a pass at Chuck?”
“I don’t think so,” Rina said, sounding more confident of herself. “I think Milo and I- I think that’s what’s supposed to be. Kyle and I could’ve been something, maybe, I guess, but if we’re having problems already…”
“Hey, whatever you think is right,” Joe said. He stopped to crush his cigarette.
“Thank you, Joe,” said Rina, giving her friend a hug.
“Easy with the affection there, slut,” said Joe. He smiled, and Rina laughed. They continued their walk into town.

“I want you guys to know how much I appreciate you taking me in and all,” Milo said.
“You’re the one with the van,” Charles pointed out. “You sort of took us in.”
“Seriously, though,” said Milo. “I’ve had a lot of fun with you guys. You’re great, Joe’s fun, Rina… Well, Rina’s spectacular, and Kyle-“
“He’s not normally like that,” Charles said. “He’s been acting really strange lately.”
“I know,” said Milo. “I mean, I gathered as much. That’s kind of why I wanted to talk to you. I know Rina’s really going through a tough spot, with Kyle being so distant and all. I- I really care about her, and I want her to be happy. But I certainly don’t know how to approach Kyle about her.”
“I don’t know how to approach Kyle at all,” said Charles. “I was surprised to find out how interested in each other they were, and now that he’s uninterested again… I just don’t know what’s going on in his mind.”
“Well, I hope those two get their romance straightened out in a hurry,” Milo said. “I can’t bear to see her- to see them, I mean- so unhappy.”
“Right,” said Charles.

* * *

Sarah Bentley was a quiet girl. She didn’t really have any friends, and everyone at her high school just knew her as that “creepy, depressed girl.” Her parents were too busy fighting custody battles to spend any time with Sarah. In fact, when Sarah was kidnapped by a dimension-hopping, six-armed witch/assassin, it took four days for anyone to notice she was missing.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly. Milo, Charles, Joe, and Rina spent the day in Joe and Charles’ room playing cards. Kyle spent the day alone in his room doing God-only-knows what. That night, the friends changed into their last set of clean clothes and prepared for the concert.
“Kyle?” Joe shouted, knocking on the door to his friend’s motel room. “We’re leaving now.”
“Good,” spat Kyle.

The concert was amazing. Rina was thrilled to be watching one of her favorite singers, and though Joe had never heard Lila’s music before, he quickly became a big fan. Milo went through all the requisite motions, though he seemed more enthralled by Rina than the concert. Even Charles had a good time, though Lila Cheney’s music was anything but Country. Just as Lila kicked off her encore with her own remix of “We Built This City on Rock and Roll,” Joe slipped away from his friends.
“Where are you off to?” Rina asked over the buzz.
“Start a fight,” said Joe, smiling.
Milo, Charles, and Rina were left to scream as Lila got to the part about ‘the Supercools.’

Kyle paced his room back and forth, talking to himself.
“I’ve gotten all the information I need from them,” he said. “I don’t need to spend any more time with them.”
“I could just kill them, that would be fun.”
“But they have been polite to me. They seem to care. That’s nice of them.”
“And it has been fun being human these past couple of days.”
“Plus, they do have powers. I might be able to twist that to my advantage.”
“I suppose I’ll continue being ‘Kyle Reeser.’ For now anyway. Hell, maybe I’ll just go to the concert after all. Even if that Cheney bitch will be there.”
Kyle slipped on a jacket, and began walking toward the concert hall.

As the concert finally died down, the audience began to file out of the arena, everyone anxious to make their way to the stage doors from which they were sure Lila would emerge. Most of them didn’t even consider that Lila’s mutant teleportation powers would move her and her crew straight from the stage.
Milo, Charles, and Rina stayed in their seats. Joe hadn’t returned yet, and they didn’t want to lose track of him.
“I’m back!” Joe announced suddenly. He was grinning from ear-to-ear, and Charles knew immediately why.
“I’m Guido,” said the monstrously muscled man standing behind Joe. “Would you kids like to meet Lila?”
“Oh my GOD!” said Rina. “Yesyesyesyesyes!”
“Oh my GOD!” said Charles. “I got to meet Strong Guy!”
Joe shook his head sadly. Milo shrugged.
Guido led the Supercools to the stage. A tall, thin man in a black “Lila” jumpsuit pulled his greying hair back into a ponytail, then began to move all of Lila’s equipment into one corner of the stage.
“That there’s Frank,” said Guido. “He’s our one-man roadie; found him out in space. He puts Lila’s equipment together for easy transport. Frank can move all that stuff even faster than I can, and gentler, too. No one knows how he does it. You guys wait here, I’ll go see if Lila’s ready for you.” Guido walked toward the other end of the stage, where Lila was emerging from her dressing room. As the four friends waited for their brush with celebrity, Joe glanced about the stage. His eyes made contact with the red pupils of Frank, the roadie. Suddenly, Guido’s words came rushing back to him. Found him in space; Moves all that stuff; gentler, too; his name is Frank; Frank, as in Franklin Hall; hey, I never actually said all this stuff. Shut up Guido, I’m thinking! Sorry.
“Everyone, look out!” shouted Joe. “That’s no roadie, that’s Graviton!”

“Fool!” spat Graviton. “I had hoped to remain in secret longer, until I could learn to make Lila Cheney’s power my own! It was my fascination with teleportation which drew me to her, just as it was my fascination with teleportation which gave me the power to do this!” With a sweep of his hands, Graviton sent sound and light equipment flying towards Charles, Joe, Rina, and Milo. Before Guido or Lila could react, the Supercools were buried under several tons of twisted metal.

Kyle entered the theatre through the rear entrance. He arrived just in time to see his comrades buried by flying debris. There’s no way they could’ve survived that impact, he thought to himself. Oh well. I guess that makes my decision for me. It’s too bad, really. I think I would’ve saved their lives. Kyle turned to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the debris twitching.

“I knew that would work!” Joe shouted as a crimson wave of energy knocked the rubble away from himself and his friends. In the few seconds they’d been hidden, all four young people had managed to shed their concert duds in favor of their “work clothes.”
“Since when do you have a forcefield?” asked Charles.
“Since way back when,” said Joe. “I was thinking that the Wizard’s Wonder Gloves generated a forcefield, but I wasn’t sure, and I never really wanted to experiment with all the buttons in the middle of combat. When I saw all that metal coming at us, I figured, what the hell? It’s time to start experimenting.”
“Oh my God!” shouted Guido, realizing for the first time that the kids with him were more than just ordinary humans. “It’s X-Force! But with a completely different line-up!”
“It doesn’t matter who they are,” said Graviton. “No one can resist the Force of Gravity.” With a wave of his hand, Graviton knocked all six of his opponents to the floor.
“He’s right,” Joe managed to choke out as he felt his weight increase exponentially.
“Can’t breathe,” choked Charles.
“Can’t even concentrate to teleport,” said Lila, gritting her teeth under the strain.
“Can’t forget to tape Friends tonight,” Guido muttered. He then added, “What? I really don’t want to forget!”
Blackness crept up on Lila, Guido, Rina, Joe, Charles, and Milo. As they lapsed into unconsciousness, each knew that death was soon to be upon them.

Well, I guess I should save them, thought Kyle. I can always kill them later. He began to run at Graviton, his body building muscle mass all the while. Have to be stronger, he thought. Something fiercer. Faster. Stronger. Meaner. His already-long red hair began to grow longer by the second. Soon, hair was sprouting from every inch of his body. Kyle looked down at his hands and saw them flatten and then expand, shaping themselves into paws. Kyle bent at the waist and hit the ground just in time to pounce forward, striking hard against Graviton’s back. The villain was unconscious before he hit the ground, pinned under the weight of an eight-foot tall, red hellhound. The creature who was once Kyle threw its head back, and howled.

The hyper-gravity-induced blackout only lasted about a minute. Slowly, each of Graviton’s victims began to raise his or her head, and gently shake the cobwebs out. As Joe, Charles, Guido, Lila, Rina, and Milo did so, they were greeted with the unbelievable image of Kyle sitting happily atop Graviton’s unconscious body.
“Oh my God,” said Joe. “No Powers Boy beat Graviton!”
“No Powers Boy?” asked Guido. “His code name is No Powers Boy?” Tears began to well in Guido’s eyes as the hulking mutant began to laugh hysterically. “Bwah-hah-hah! HA! Bwah-HA! That’s the stupid thing I ever heard! Bwah-hah-hah!”
“Hey, shut up!” said Kyle, looking a little miffed.
“Oh, excuse me,” said Guido before giggling a few more times. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt me!” Guido held a straight face. For about thirty seconds. “Bwah-hah-hah!”
“Yes,” said Kyle. “That would be a shame.” He looked Guido straight in the eyes. All the laughing stopped.
“Hey man, I was just kidding,” said Guido.
Joe sensed an awkward situation looming.
“Uh, I think we’d better go now,” he said. “Thanks a lot for the concert and the tour you guys- it was great.” He gathered the rest of the Supercools around him like petulant children, and filed them out of the concert hall one by one.


Back to Chapter 18
Chapter 20
Back to the homepage
1