The Story
Chapter 33
"Marauded"
Youth in Asia: Part 1 of 4
"So, we're going to go to Harry's apartment, and try to find he and Rina, right?" asked Joe.
"Sounds good to me," said Charles.
"Sure," said Kyle. "But... Harry's apartment is in Washington. How are we going to get all the way across the country?"
"Please, allow me, Supercools," came the answer. All three of the Supercools turned to look toward the sky as a floating car dropped to the ground. A thickly built, dark-haired man in a purple jumpsuit sat in the driver's seat.
"Who are you?" asked Joe.
"My name is Agent Ryker," said the man. "And I'm here to give you all the help you need."
"Agent Ryker?" asked Kyle. "You work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"I can't tell you who I work for," came the answer, "But I assure you, I know exactly who you are, and if you guys want a lift to Washington, you've got it."
"Sounds good to me," said Joe, moving towards the Air Car. Charles grabbed his wrist.
"Wait, Joe," he whispered under his breath.
"What?" asked Joe. Charles glanced toward Agent Ryker, then pulled Kyle and Joe aside.
"It could be a trap," Charles said.
"Huh?" asked Joe.
"You know," said Charles, "A trap. We've never heard of Agent Ryker, and it's awfully convenient that he should show up right now, isn't it? What if he's here to lure us into an ambush? What if one of our arch-enemies sent him?"
"That is an awfully good point," Kyle nodded.
"We don't HAVE any arch-enemies," Joe exclaimed. "We're not even superheroes!"
"That, too, is an awfully good point," agreed Kyle.
"We have arch-enemies!" insisted Charles.
"Like who?" Joe asked. "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows?" He giggled at the memory of the man with the Bwah-Hah-Hah!!!!!
"Okay!" said Kyle. "This is what we'll do. We-" Kyle's words were cut short by an electric crackle in the air nearby, followed by a flash of blinding light. As the spots in front of the Supercools' eyes cleared, a young woman faded into view. She couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a skin-tight, purple bodysuit, and a long, flowing black cape that seemed to shimmer with the same stellar pattern that ran through Chuck's hands.
"Hello, Supercools," said the girl. "My name's CJ. I'm your daughter, and I'm here to warn you about the future."
All three young men acted simultaneously. "Our daughter?!?" they shouted.
"Yes, that's right," CJ nodded.
"Um... which one of us is... you know, your father?" Joe asked.
"Actually?" came the reply, "You all are. It's complicated, and I don't want to go into it."
"I think we need a minute to discuss this," said Charles.
"It could be a trap," Charles said.
"Huh?" asked Joe.
"You know," said Charles, "A trap. All of a sudden we've got a daughter? It's awfully convenient that she should show up right now, isn't it? What if she's here to lure us into an ambush? What if one of our arch-enemies sent her?"
"That is an awfully good point," Kyle nodded.
Suddenly, five cloaked figures jumped from the shadows. "Supercools-prepare to meet your doom!" shouted one of the figures.
Chuck spun around, aiming his Nega-Hands at Agent Ryker. "A-ha! I knew it was a trap!" shouted Charles. Agent Ryker held up his hands. "It wasn't me, I swear!"
Chuck spun around, aiming his Nega-Hands at CJ. "A-ha! I knew it was a trap!" shouted Charles. CJ held up her hands. "It wasn't me, I swear!"
"No one is 'responsible' here, heroes!" shouted the lead figure. "We ambushed you ourselves. We- the Marauders!" With that, all five villains threw aside their cloaks, revealing Scalphunter, Arclight, Harpoon, Riptide, and Scrambler - Mr. Sinister's Marauders. "Prepare to meet your death!"
"Hi, my name's Joe," Joe said, seemingly to no one in particular. Then, he dropped his voice several octaves, and picked up the other end of the conversation. "Pleased to meet you Joe, I'm your death." Back in his normal voice, Joe asked the Marauders- "Come on, guys- who talks like that? I mean, really?" As he spoke, Joe reached into his pocket, and pulled out his CESU.
Suddenly, Arclight's hand slapped the ground, sending out a force wave that scattered Joe, Kyle, CJ, and Agent Ryker. Just in time, Charles rose off the ground, and aimed both hands at Arclight. A beam of Negative Zone energies flew from his hands, striking the mutant in the chest and knocking her to the ground.
Though Arclight was temporarily removed from the battle, she was not the Supercools' only foe; that was Chuck's undoing. With his hands occupied by the power blast, Charles was defenseless to avoid one of Harpoon's hurled slayspears. Charles caught the blast of energy square in the face, and fell to the ground, hurting pretty badly. Harpoon followed with another volley, but then, CJ was there, swirling her portal-lined cape around to swallow the beam, then whipping it back at Riptide. The vicious criminal was stunned, and dropped backwards, with just enough time to throw only three projectiles. Agent Ryker's hand flashed to his hip. He drew his energy pistol, and fired four shots. Three knocked Riptide's weapons from the air. The last hit Harpoon in the leg, dropping the Marauder.
As Joe hunted for his CESU (knocked from his hand by Arclight's initial attack), and the other combatants recovered in the brief lull that followed, the Scrambler hurled himself at Kyle, his hands crackling with electricity. The two made contact, and the Scrambler's power kicked Kyle's powers into overdrive. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the Scrambler's power kicked Kyle's powers into overdrive. Bright orange fire erupted from Kyle's eyes, engulfing everyone in cosmic flame. The effect lasted only momentarily, but when it passed, everyone's powers were gone.
"Oh my God!" said Chuck. "I've got hands again!"
"We don't have time for this bullshit!" shouted Scalphunter, more to himself than his teammates. He pulled a particularly wicked looking device from his belt, leveled it at Kyle, and fired. A thick, barbed dart went streaking at Kyle's head. From his vantage point on the ground (still searching), Joe was the first to notice. And then, the strangest thing happened. Joe did something noble. Joe pushed off with arms and legs, and knocked Kyle aside. The dart punctured the back of Joe's neck, and Joe fell back to the ground.
"Daddy!" cried CJ. She leapt to the side of her "father," and tried to pull him back to his feet. "Daddy? Are you alright?" Joe opened his eyes, and fixed CJ with the most evil look she'd probably ever seen.
"Don't." said Joe. "Don't call me 'Daddy.'"
"Wrong one, Scalphunter!" spat Arclight, seeming more than a little annoyed. She jerked the weapon from Scalphunter's grasp, and fired again. With Joe knocked down, CJ attending to him, Ryker trying to reload his weapon, and Chuck gaping at his return to flesh, no one was on hand to block this shot. Kyle took the dart in the cheek.
"There!" the amazonian woman cried. "We're done. Let's get the hell out of here!" The Scrambler pulled a small metal tube from his coat pocket, and pressed the button on one end. A glittering hole tore in the middle of the sky, and the Marauders slowly backed into it. "Later, suckers!" laughed Arclight.
"No!" shouted Chuck, finally catching on to the battle around him. He leapt for Arclight's weapon, curling his fingers around the gun just as the Marauder made it to the portal. With a flick of her arm, Arclight hurled herself, the gun, and Mr. Negativity through the collapsing energy field. And with that, the doorway closed, leaving Joe, Kyle, Agent Ryker, and CJ looking very puzzled, and more than a little nervous.
"Just fucking great!" Joe shouted, brushing himself off. He stood up, and raised an angry fist at Kyle, Agent Ryker, and CJ. "You lost Chuck! How the hell did you lose Chuck?"
"He just jumped at the portal-" began Agent Ryker.
"Yeah, I know that!" Joe yelled. "And I would've stopped him, but I was busy saving Kyle's dumb ass from the Marauders' weapon!"
"It still hit me," Kyle noted, woozily.
"Right," said Joe. "Don't get me started on that."
"I- I might be able to pull something out of my cloak that could track him, but I'd have no idea where to even start looking."
"Don't bother," said Joe. "We'll just wait here for five minutes, while Chuck gets his bearings, then I'll bang these Nega-Bands together, and when he pops in here, you guys can ask him where he was. Meanwhile, I'll be there, and I can start to find my way back. Between the two of us, we should be able to catch up to one another before too long. Everybody clear on the plan?" Scattered affirmatives came from the three heroes. "Good," Joe continued. After a pause, and another lit cigarette, he added, "I'm sure it's what Chuck, our leader, would want." Then he shuffled to retrieve his CESU, mentally counting Chuck's five minutes.
"Mr. Negativity must die in the next five minutes," echoed a harsh voice. Charles was standing in the middle of a looming metal building, lined on all sides with complex machinery. He was surrounded by five very tough, very dedicated looking Marauders.
"Oh damn," he whispered. Seconds later, Charles lifted himself off the ground, just in time to avoid Arclight's mutant-made tremor, which instead knocked a hapless Riptide on his ass. From his vantage point in the sky, Charles absorbed Harpoon's slayspears and Scalphunter's bullets, then converted the energies of those attacks into new bolts to keep Riptide and Arclight off their feet. He wasn't winning, but he certainly was holding his own. But, I swear there are five Marauders now. Riptide, Scalphunter, Harpoon, Arclight... Who am I missing? Scrambler! Just as Charles remembered the last of his enemies, the young asian man's hand curled around Charles' ankle. For a split second, Charles felt his whole body tingle with the Negative Zone energies, and then he was face-down on the ground, waiting for that final blow. When it didn't land, he looked up.
He was in a different room. Great, thought Charles. I must've blacked out. His attention focused once more on the room. There, towering over Charles with a truly regal presence, was the pale-skinned, shark-toothed Mr. Sinister, flanked by his five Marauders. They were standing in front of a complicated experiment, which seemed somehow to involve a tiny redheaded baby girl, floating in a viscous fluid. Mr. Sinister spoke.
"Welcome, Mr. Negativity, to my laboratory. Or should I say "Charles Hopkins"? Oh, yes, I know exactly who you are. I've been following you now for quite some time. Your mutant power. It... fascinates me. We shall come to be very close friends, you and I. Very close indeed." Mr. Sinister reached towards Charles.
Suddenly, a loud CLANG! reverberated through the room, as Joe "The Scavenger" Faust popped into view. Charles, now wearing the Nega-Bands, launched a powerful bolt of Negative Energy at Mr. Sinister, blowing the mad geneticist's face off! Meanwhile, Joe was tearing into the Marauders.
Riptide spun wildly, launching spikes, blades, razors, and shruiken at the two young heroes. Joe valiantly threw himself in front of every projectile in sight, chuckling inwardly as the weapons spontaneously transformed themselves into flower petals, and drifted gracefully to the ground.
The single Wonder-Glove blast that Joe shot back at Riptide turned into nothing but a lot of pain for the whirling mutant. "What are you trying to do," Joe asked the mutant, "change into your 'Wonder Woman' costume?
"Chuck! Let's get out of here, now!" Joe yelled, simultaneously swatting Scrambler aside. "No powers, no scrambling, stupid." Joe muttered at the mutant terrorist. Charles launched several more bolts of energy, knocking Harpoon and Arclight aside.
"What are you doing here?" Charles asked, flying to Joe's side. "Why didn't we switch places?"
"Sinister's lab must be teleportation-proofed. That's all I can think of," Joe replied. He casually reached over, seized Chuck's wrists, and knocked the bands back together. They returned to Joe's wrists. "You can still fly without these things, right?"
"Sure," said Charles, flexing an imaginary muscle.
"Good," said Joe, launching a Nega-blast towards the roof of Sinister's lab. For the first time, Charles noticed that Joe's uses of the band were always tinted in gold, while his always appeared black. Filing the information away for use some other time, Charles lifted himself off the ground, and made for Joe's makeshift exit. Joe, being both a faster flier (with the Nega-Bands, of course), and having a head start, reached the hole several moments before Charles did. Thus, Joe didn't hear Mr. Sinister cry out-
"Wait!" The pale-skinned monster pulled his still-reforming body from the pile of rubble Joe had created. "Leave now, Mr. Negativity, and you'll never know about the other one. The third Hopkins brother!"
Charles paused; he couldn't help it. Mr. Sinister's seemingly impossible news was just enough to slow Charles down. Before he could make a decision, Charles felt a burning pain in his back, and new that he had waited too long. He knew that he was falling, and he knew that he would be unconscious before he hit the ground. He even remembered why, at the last second. Scalphunter. Nobody was watching Scalphunter.
Two seconds after he cleared Mr. Sinister's roof, Joe stopped, looped around, and hovered in place. No Chuck. Sure that his friend must have gotten in to some kind of trouble, Joe powered up his gauntlet-mounted forcefield, and dropped back into the building. He needn't have bothered.
"Empty?" Joe whispered to himself. This was the same building, surely- the hole in the roof proved that much. But the place was empty. No, not just empty; the building was dusty as well, as if no one had been here for years.
"Chuck?" Joe asked the room. There was no reply. "CHUCK!" Joe shouted. "CHUCK! Where are you?" His heart was racing faster and faster. Joe was sure he'd just left his friend here a few seconds ago. But then where was he? Joe's eyes began to water. Tears were rolling from his eyes, he could barely see. His heart thumped in his chest, as though it were trying to break its way free of his ribcage. Joe's hands began to shake, and he felt now as though he were sobbing. Where is Chuck? The room began to spin. Everything was topsy-turvy. It's a trick. thought Joe. A trap! That's when the floor came racing up to meet him. Joe's eyes closed.
"Where did he go?" Kyle wondered aloud. "I mean, why didn't Chuck take Joe's place or whatever?"
"I'm not sure," Agent Ryker said. "I don't really know, but I don't like the way this looks."
"Tell me about it," said CJ. "I just got here from the future, and I still haven't had a chance to tell you guys what's going on."
"I suppose that's true," Kyle nodded. "But I don't think we need to talk about it now. Let's concentrate on finding Joe and Charles first, and then you can tell us whatever you need to, alright?"
"Okay," CJ said
"Good," Kyle continued. "The Marauders are, from what I know of them, a group of terrorist mutants. They're normally based in New York, but I guess they don't have to be anymore. They don't really strike me as the space-going types, though. So I think it's safe to assume that Joe is with Chuck, and that Chuck is with the Marauders, and they're all on-planet somewhere. CJ, do you still have something in your cape that might track down Joe or Charles?"
"Maybe, yes, but not until we're somewhere near them. Like the same city, for instance. I don't have anything that can work on a global scale."
"I do," said Agent Ryker.
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Chapter 34
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