The Story
Chapter 35
"Island of the Dolls"
Youth in Asia: Part 3 of 4
Brainchild, Giza, Lupo, Amphibius, Barbarus, and Whiteout stared at Joe. Everyone paused for one split second, and then, the battle began again.
Lupo and Amphibius attacked first, bounding towards Joe. Lupo bared his claws, while Amphibius brandished his clawed gauntlet. Giza and Barbarus charged close behind, leaving Whiteout and Brainchild unable to use their distance powers. As the two nearest attackers approached him, Joe rolled over Brainchild's lab table, groping for his scattered weapons. Amphibius' leap landed first, pressing onto Joe's back just as the Scavenger slid his arm through Venus' girdle. With the same motion, Joe slammed his fist down on the trigger of Pyro's flamethrower. Lupo howled, and the smell of singed fur filled the room, while Amphibius' gauntlet became a simple latex glove, and raked harmlessly across Joe's face.
With the seconds of bought time, Joe slipped free of Cestus, and grabbed one of his wayward Nega-Bands. Wielding it like brass knuckles, he swatted Giza aside. By then, though, Barbarus was upon him, swinging two of his four fists into Joe's chest. Only the increased durability granted by the Nega-Band saved Joe's life. As it was, the wind was knocked completely out of him, and thanks to Amphibius' quick recovery into a choke-hold, the wind wasn't coming back. Brainchild raised his gun, aimed at Joe's head, and pulled the trigger.
The beam went far wide, thanks to a last-second kick from Shanna's prone body. The beam struck the back of Barbarus' head, dazing the giant. Before anyone else could react, Shanna leapt to her feet, channeling all her momentum into a hard punch that put Whiteout down for the count. As his air supply dwindled low, Joe, panicking, took flight straight up, slamming through the next six layers of the mutates' tower. By the time he pireced the fourth floor, Amphibius was out. Joe dropped back down to Shanna's level, where the Savage Land's She-Devil was wrapping up the battle. All of the Savage Land Mutates were dazed; a few well-placed kicks and Nega-Blasts finished them off.
Thirty minutes later, Joe bid Shanna a fond farewell.
"Sure you got all of your gear back together?" Shanna asked, with a grin.
"Pretty sure," Joe laughed. "It all seems to be here. Plus this baby." Joe patted the thick radar case scavenged from Brain Child's lab. "This hand-operated navigator should point me straight back towards Madripoor- and I can make pretty good time with the Nega-Bands. My friend Chuck is in trouble, and I've got to save him."
"Of course I wish you the best of luck," said Shanna. "And I even have one more item to add to your collection." Shanna reached behind her neck, and unfastened a leather cord bearing a small metal cross. "It's an old Savage Land luck talisman," Shanna explained. "It's crafted from the Savage Land's vibranium ore. I hope it helps you in your quest." She slid the cord around Joe's neck, and tied it in the back.
"Thank you- thanks so much," said Joe. He clasped Shanna's hand into his own. "When I finally get Chuck back, when this is all over-we'll come back and visit." The two heroes stepped away from one another, and waved one last time. And then, Joe launched himself into the air, aimed for Madripoor, and disappeared into the sky.
The red beam slid closer and closer to Charles'...well, you know what it was aiming at. It moved closer. Charles was beginning to panic. Okay, think Charles, think! he shouted at himself. Sinister wouldn't hook you up to a deathtrap for the hell of it-he wants to study your powers. He said my hands are destroyed, that I control the Negative Zone LIKE it's my hands. But that doesn't mean I HAVE to have hands, does it? Maybe I could do- "This!" Charles concentrated on his hands, on their shape and form, then s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d that picture in his mind. His hands bent into long, skinny poles, which Charles easily slid out of their restraints. Then, he snapped his hands back to their original shape, and launched a Nega-Blast at the oncoming laser. The machine blew open with a loud bang. In the shadows, Mr. Sinister applauded.
"Bravo, Mr. Negativity, bravo. Your powers are advancing along quite nicely now. You will make a fine addition to my Marauders yet."
"Your what?!?" gasped Chuck. "Forget it, Sinister- I'll never join you!"
"So you say," Sinister sneered, "But a time of Testing will be upon you soon. It is your destiny to join me."
"Look, cut the crap," Charles shouted. "You tried to kill me, and you think I'm going to join you? No way! I'm out of here, Sinister. Now, are you going to tell me who the third Hopkins brother is, or am I going to tear this whole lab out from around you?" Sinister's eyes widened in fear for a split second, and Charles knew he had the advantage.
"There is no third Hopkins brother," Sinister confessed. "It's just a trick I use to keep people guessing. Now, if you're going to be leaving, Mr. Negativity, do so. But be warned- you will see me again." Sinister pressed a hidden button, and a door slid open in the far wall.
"Later!" Charles called. He called upon his Negative Zone powers, now spread to encompass his shoulders, and flew straight up through the roof of Sinister's lab, into the seemingly abandoned warehouse above, and then into the streets of Madripoor.
In a flying car racing desperately towards Madripoor, Agent Ryker filled CJ in on the details of the plot he'd uncovered. "Viper's active in Madripoor again; that much they told him, and that much is true. Kyle's assignment, ostensibly, is to figure out what Viper's so interested in, and who the other crime boss competing against her is. But you're dead right about their choice of Kyle-it's a setup. True, he took to the S.H.I.E.L.D. training pretty well, but they're actually hoping he fails. See, some time ago, Kyle was exposed to cosmic energies- cosmic energies that Viper once controlled, too. S.H.I.E.L.D. is hoping that that connection will be enough to spark Viper's personal attention. In fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. actually linked the news of Kyle's... experience to one of Viper's underlings, hoping to get Viper involved. And when she does... they've wired his costume to explode."
"WHAT?"
"You heard me. They're giving Kyle twelve hours to have Viper in custody, her mystery package in his possession, and her rival for control of the package revealed. If that hasn't happened, BOOM! At least they rid the world of a bunch of cheap crooks and terrorists."
"But that's- that's crazy."
"Yeah, well, there are strange things going on in S.H.I.E.L.D. these days. That's why we've got to get to Madripoor, find Kyle, and get him out of that suit just as soon as possible."
The sky car dipped to one side, and continued on its course to Madripoor.
The red beam slid closer and closer to Kyle's...we've been over this once, people. It moved closer. And closer. Kyle struggled furiously against the shackles holding him in place, but to no avail. Finally, the desperation and adrenaline rush within his young body reached a critical point. Kyle screamed, and all of the bottled energies within his body- Phoenix force, Kree power, and all, sparked within his body. Viper howled with glee, and pressed two metal discs to the side of Kyle's head. All of that power rushed through Kyle, into Viper's body. The two twitched spasmodically as the power transfer ran it's course. As the laser threatening Kyle's life stopped, so did the drain.
"AT LAST!" roared Viper. "I'd thought I would use your body, worm, to once more tap the power of the Cosmic Cube. But this... this is so much more than I expected. Seizing the Ultimate Weapon from that pompous Asian will be child's play now!" In demonstration of her new power, Viper unleashed a blast of energy from her hands, decimating a nearby table and its contents. "I must go now, to learn how to most effectively manage these new powers of mine." Viper cackled loudly as she strode out of the room. In the doorway, she stopped, and turned back to her underlings, as though with an afterthought.
"Kill him," she ordered. And then she was gone.
Charles turned yet another loop through the skies over the island of Madripoor. "Still no Joe," he said to himself. "Surely he can't have gotten that far." Charles' flight path took him over one of Madripoor's many piers. Here, a thin Asian man was contracting some sort of deal with a short, small-framed woman and a tall, cloaked figure Charles assumed was a very large man. The Asian man was unloading an ornate treasure chest from his small tug using an old lift-and-haul dock mount. Suddenly, one of the cables holding the chest aloft snapped, and the chest teetered by a single chain, just a few feet above the young woman!
Charles was there in a flash, swooping downward with all the speed his powers could muster. Both hands curled tightly around the chest's gilding and held it fast from falling any further just as the second and final chain broke. With his somewhat enhanced strength, Charles had no problem first holding, then lifting the chest above his head. He lifted himself a few feet higher into the air, intending to put a little more distance between the chest's probable descent and any bystanders. As he rose, though, Charles was alarmed by a roar of pain and anger from the cloaked figure.
It wasn't a word, or a phrase, just a sound of rage. The big man reached upward, actually leaping straight into the sky to catch Charles' ankle, and drag the hero to the ground. The chest slipped from Charles' hands, and clattered to one side. Charles aimed both arms at the big man, and let loose a Nega-Blast. The man's cloak was torn away, revealing an enormous, diseased, hairless giant. The Chinese man screamed at the hideous sight, and from the shadows of the boat sprang five ninja, clad in the red robes of the Hand.
"We've been set up, Roughhouse!" spat the young Asian woman. She pulled two gleaming beams of light from her robes, pointed one at the Chinese man, and laughed cruelly as a beam of blinding light struck the man and nearly instantaneously incinerated him.
Before Charles could join the fray, two more combatants stepped from the shadows. A young man, probably about his own age, Charles realized, hovered in mid-air, borne aloft by two thick, scaly wings. Below the Sauron knock-off stood a large Asian man in an orange-and-blue jumpsuit. He was easily as large as Roughhouse, with the same inhumanly large proportions found so often in the Marvel Universe, but something about this man still seemed awfully young. Like Bruce Lee meets Rage, Charles thought to himself.
"Good evening, ladies and gentleman," the big man said. "We are Dragonwing and Tough Love. I shan't insult your intelligence by indicating which of us is which. Suffice it to say, we are here for the contents of that selfsame chest for which you two- or is it three? parties are about to contend. Well, then. Let's get to fighting, shall we?"
Can't even tell who's the bad guy here, Charles thought. Though I certainly don't like the looks of that woman with the energy-knife. Best just to get this chest out of here, and sort it all out later, I guess. Roughhouse, Tough Love, and two of the five Hand ninja converged on the chest, but Charles was still closest. Rather than just pick it up, Charles curled his arms entirely around the chest, clamping it tightly against his body. Then, as the other contenders approached, he lifted himself easily into the air, and out of their reach. Left behind, both of the red-clad ninja attacked Tough Love, slashing at him with their katana. Undaunted, Tough Love ignored the swords (which shattered against his thick skin), choosing instead to drive home a roundhouse to Roughhouse's rough-hewn face. The pocked villain went sailing into the air, crashing into a metal structure with a tremendous crash. Sparks flew everywhere, then quickly died as the villain pulled himself from a mass of tangled electric cables. Within blocks of the pier, all of the lights shining from streetlamps and buildings' windows flickered, then died. Roughhouse roared, and leapt back into the battle.
The red laser beam slid closer, and still closer to Kyle's prone body. Beads of sweat rolled from Kyle's face as the deadly light reached just inches from his painful, bloody demise. Kyle felt the heat from the cannon's discharge, and then, it was upon him. And then it was dead. No blood stained Kyle's new S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. Just moments from his death, Kyle was saved by some sort of freak power outage. And furthermore, even as the laser cannon shut down, so, too, did Kyle's restraints pop open. Probably an automatic safeguard, Kyle figured.
Kyle drew his laser pistol (tied as he had been, Viper apparently didn't bother to disarm him), and hopped up off the table. He strained his eyes against the dim light, thinking he perhaps could see a few humanoid shapes in front of him. Suddenly, the failsafe generators kicked on-line, and the complex was again bathed in the glow of fluorescent lighting. And, sure enough, two technicians (the two who had run the now-defunct laser cannon) were standing about six feet in front of him. Before either scientist could react, Kyle had dropped one with a shot from his pistol. Then, as the other reached for a gun of his own, Kyle crossed the distance, threw the man against the wall, and held his laser pistol against the man's face.
"Go ahead, punk," spat Kyle. "Make my day." The scientist's bottom lip quivered. He fainted. And then, a loud boom, the sound of a nearby explosion, sounded throughout Viper's Madripoor base. Someone else had entered the battle, and Kyle intended to find out who.
The small island nation of Madripoor appeared first as a blip on a radar screen, then as a distant spot, and was now finally looming into view. Joe was coming up on the south portion of the island. As he approached, Joe could hear the sounds of a battle being raged just a few blocks away. Yeah, that's gotta be Chuck, he thought, and turned himself in that direction.
Just seconds before he arrived on the scene, though, Joe was distracted by something even more dangerous than whatever was going on in that fight. The slender, green-clad form of the evil terrorist, Viper, caught Joe's eye from a nearby rooftop. He swooped in closer. She doesn't see me yet, Joe realized. I could take her out from here- one blast. Is that her? I think so.... yeah, yeah it's definitely her. Joe's wrist kicked quickly as he fired a quick beam at Viper. The energy flew straight towards it's target, then splashed away harmlessly at the very last possible second. Viper turned around. "Who-?" she began to ask, until she quickly realized where the attack originated.
"Ah," she chuckled. "Looking for your friend? He's long since dead, I assure you. Shall we send you on your way to meet him?" Viper gestured absently, and a beam of tremendous force erupted from mid-air to launch itself at Joe. Unable to activate the Wonder Glove's forcefield with his hands full, Joe was forced to block with Brain Child's radar machine, which melted away into slag. Viper fired another bolt. With just an extra moment's reaction time, Joe was able to mentally deactivate the Nega-Bands flight power, dropping him quickly underneath the blast, below the rooftop, and out of Viper's line of sight. Just before he landed in the alley, Joe reactivated the power enough to slow his fall. Can't go toe-to-toe with THAT, he figured. I hope to God Chuck isn't dead. But she seemed so sure. It's got to be a mistake. Or a cruel trick. I'll find him. I swear I will. Joe suddenly noticed that the loading bay doors had been torn off the building on which Viper stood. Chuck, he figured. Joe stepped into the building.
Charles flew further and further across the island, turning his head to check his back frequently. He was obviously much faster than the man with the dragon wings, but Charles was laden with the heavy chest, and the dragon guy probably had a bit more flight experience. For whatever reason, Dragonwing was quickly closing the distance between himself and Charles. And, he couldn't be sure, but Charles was pretty sure he saw Dragonwing sprout thick dragon claws. Well, I hope it's not fragile, Charles thought. He stopped, spun to face his pursuer, and then dropped the chest, which sank rapidly towards the ground below. Dragonwing panicked, and spent a full second debating between attacking Charles and chasing the chest. Charles spent that one second blasting Dragonwing squarely in the chest with a Nega-Blast. The wings and claws vanished as the young man fell unconscious, and Charles caught the powerless mutant by his jumpsuit collar.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and Charles whirled at nearly superhuman speed to face the threat. As Charles spun, he drew his empty arm in a long line in front of his body. In it's wake, Charles' arm left an after-image, which deepened in intensity. There was a flash of bright, terribly bright white light, and when it cleared, Charles was staring at a very shocked green-clad woman with green hair. Skipping a few seconds back in time, Charles realized that Viper must have attacked him with a source of very powerful energy, which his body instinctively shunted to the Negative Zone. Cool. After dropping Dragonwing somewhat harshly to the edge of the rooftop, Charles closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, drawing all of the power possible into his arms, then launching it at Viper, who countered with a beam of white light from her eyes. The two combatants poured the power on, each knowing that failure would mean death.
Mei Lei slid her energy daggers back into their sheaths. The ninja fell to Roughhouse had fallen to Tough Love was beaten by her. Only the chest remained. Her eyes scanned the rooftops. She began to walk, slowly, in the direction the young men had taken.
"Yoo-hoo! Viper! The Rising Sons are here to play with you!" Spoilsport's sing-song voice echoed throughout the chamber. She was in the lead, skating in circles. Close behind were the Sign, Jet-Black, and Nightwind. Kyle gulped. They hadn't seen him yet, but it was only another moment....
"Nightwind! S.H.I.E.L.D. guy! Get rid of him!" The Asian assassin summoned her darkforce sword, and leapt at Kyle, swinging her sword wide to block any laser blasts he might fire. Kyle closed his eyes, and waited for the sword to pierce his chest.
Instead, Kyle heard a loud boom, followed by a dull thud and a choked cry. Kyle opened his eyes, looked up, looked down, and then brushed the plaster off his shoulders. A gold-plated, richly ornate chest sat squarely on Nightwind's unconscious body. Kyle shrugged, and aimed his pistol at Spoilsport, who was sweeping up on him from the right. Kyle fired, and missed, sending his shot into the room beyond. A moment later, the shot came bounding back, darker and stronger, and knocked Spoilsport off her feet, against the wall, and to the floor. Two down.
The Sign pressed two fingers against the rock tattoo on his left forearm. The magic within activated, and Viper's whole compound shook as a giant earthen fist came from the island floor to take Kyle in it's grasp. From somewhere deep within the center of the stone hand, a muted voice cried, "Oh damn."
Clearly, whatever force had torn its way into the building had quickly worked its way into the chamber next door. Joe took a cautious step forward, not to anxious to land himself in another fight he'd no chance of winning. Suddenly, a laser bolt flew by Joe's head, narrowly missing his face and singeing a few of his hairs. Joe quickly retaliated with a Wonder Bolt of his own. Another pause to assess the situation, and Joe realized that the beam which had attacked him was significantly less powerful than Viper's had been. Confidant in his abilities, Joe jumped into the next chamber even as the ground beneath him began to shake, rattle, and roll.
Okay, Threat Assessment Time, Joe told himself. Guy who looks like Raiden from Mortal Kombat, Guy who looks like Wheelie from Return to Oz, Big rock fist. Lord, why me? Jet-Black sped towards Joe, guns blazing. Bullets ping-ed harmlessly off of Joe's force field. As Jet-Black drew close, Joe drew his Sunsword, flared it to maximum intensity, and slit a trench in the floor in front of him. Jet-Black's wheels caught in the trench, and the cyborg Knievel went sailing into the air. His forward movement was stopped quite easily by the wall. One down.
The Sign tapped another tattoo, and was instantly bathed in an electric blue glow. He vanished. Joe spun around, dialing the Sunsword's intensity downward as he sliced outward in an arc. The Sunsword caught The Sign in mid-reappearance.
"They never learn," laughed Joe. The Sign fully appeared, and staggered back and forth, unconscious, but not yet down. From within the hand of stone, a voice called, "Finish Him!"
Suddenly, a beam of white light shone from the heavens, piercing the ceiling, and enveloping the Sign. Skin melted away to muscle, which dripped from the bones that fell into unidentifiable dust. Somewhere, a voice said, "Fatality."
Charles felt his powers ebb. There was, in theory, a limitless amount of energy at his disposal, but pouring so much of it through his body so quickly without a break was rapidly tiring him. Still, Charles knew that the moment he stopped producing energy, Viper's power would overwhelm and destroy him. Charles gritted his teeth, and prayed that she was as close to collapse as he was.
Just then, the ground began to shake, rattle, and roll. Charles couldn't feel it in mid-air, of course, but he could see the building on which Viper stood began to vibrate. Viper's footing slipped, and her beam of energy flew off into the night sky. Charles sighed in relief, and turned his own power off. Viper glared up at him.
"I could destroy you," she cried, her eyes full of venom. "But not yet. First, I will conclude my business here, so that I may later savor your death to the fullest. I shall claim my prize now, then be off. You have been warned." Her arrogant posturing completed, Viper raised both arms above her head, as a diva might, begging for applause. A pale white light enveloped her body, like a spotlight, then broke its way through the rooftop, vaporizing the metal and plaster. In this tube of ridiculously powerful energy, Viper floated, unharmed. Slowly, she sank into the building, practically daring Charles to follow. Down through the hole the chest had made, he did.
Mei Lei picked her way through the rubble which had once been her mistress' headquarters. In the center chamber, a young man in a strange uniform stood near a giant stone fist, a pile of unconscious bodies, and- the chest! Mei Lei scampered towards the chest, practically oblivious to the pillar of light on which Viper was now descending.
"Fatality," said Viper coldly, addressing Mei by her given 'code name.' She drew up short. "The chest has been broken. You mustn't go near it." Mei instinctively took a step backwards. "This thing, Mei," Viper continued, gesturing at the young man in the green coat. "Has irritated me. You may kill him for me." Mei bowed, and threw herself at Joe.
It took Joe a long second to realize that Viper, not he, had killed the Sign. He cleared his head, and his conscience, just in time to hear Viper's order. He turned around as a small Asian woman with two energy daggers leapt at him. Joe ducked under her assault, and ran over to the large stone fist. Fatality shot at Joe once with each of her weapons, but though the heat was intense, no harm came to Joe from inside the Wizard's force field. Fatality leapt again, just as Joe had hoped. With strength stolen from the Mighty Thor, Joe uprooted the stone fist, and swung it baseball bat-style in front of himself. The fist punched Fatality squarely, and sent her flying aside, soundly beaten. A follow-up plan hit Joe just then, and he threw the fist at Viper.
Charles' path through the center of the building ended in an open chamber. Charles arrived just in time to see a giant stone fist crash against Viper and shatter. Kyle came tumbling out from within! For just a split second, Kyle and Charles made eye contact, and then Kyle screamed, and vanished. Charles remembered what had happened when Viper's energy field had touched the roof of the building. Kyle was right there in that energy field. Poor Kyle....
Viper laughed. She bent down, and pushed aside a few shards of the ornate chest. It had been weakened by its trip through the building, and shattered completely during the Sign's earthquake. Underneath the shards, Viper found the one thing the chest had contained, the prize she'd strived to win from her Asian adversary. Viper lifted a small, stone doll, one foot tall, from the floor, and held it in a gloved hand. She looked up at the two disturbingly persistent young men she'd battled earlier.
"I'll kill you both soon, I promise you that," she said. And then, with another laugh of delight, Viper vanished.
* * *
Charles and Joe looked at one another, each becoming truly aware of the other for the first time.
"I knew you weren't dead," said Joe. Then, "What happened to your arms?"
"Long story, I guess," said Chuck.
The two knelt over the broken remains of the chest. Joe absently ran his free hand across the fabric of Kyle's S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform.
"He's gone, you know," said Joe. "Viper's light..."
"I know," said Charles. "I saw what it did to the roof."
"The roof," laughed Joe. "You should've seen what it did to The Sign. Vaporized him. All the way from his sandals to that stupid hat of his. Dust." Joe stood, and lit a cigarette.
"What do you want to do about these other guys?" Charles asked, indicating the scattered array of villains and ne'er-do-wells.
"I-" said Joe, beginning a sentence he'd never finish. He took another long puff on his cigarette, exhaled, and smiled. Chuck smiled back at him; they'd both realized the same thing. "That stupid hat of his," Joe said again, laughing.
"But Kyle's uniform is fine," said Charles, picking it off the ground to prove his point. He tied the uniform around his waist, saving it for when they next found Kyle. "Kyle must be doing some new, stupid, omnipotent thing."
"Which means the best way for us to get back with him-"
"-is to follow Viper!"
"Right," said Joe. He tossed the half-smoked cigarette aside. "Asia," was all he said. It never occurred to either one of them that they'd not find Kyle in all of Asia. They knew he was alive, and they were on their way to get back to him. The two zipped into the air, back through the holes in the compound, and turned themselves to the west. To Asia.
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Chapter 36
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