Saturday Super Stories - The Event 4 B

"I have pulled from The Knowledge tales from the Event that ravaged two universes.  I start at the beginning and will tell the important parts, and while there are many stories to be told, this will be quick."  Chief Archivist of the Catalogers.

“Many things have been culled from this universe, many lives lost, some heroically, some fruitlessly, but everything and everyone met has had an impact.  Some people and places are the same regardless of the world on which it lay, it spreads like an infection.”

“A smart man once said ‘There is more than one of everything.”

The Event 4 - Dopplegang’land B “Jack Rabbit Versus Blrrr”

In the farthest reaches of Antarctica the Adventurers of the Undiscovered were exploring a fault line crack that burrowed deep into the crust beneath the glacier surface.  Barnabus adjusted the harness and released a bit more of the tension on the line lowering Warren further into the crevice. 

“Do you hear a buzzing sound Barney?”  Jeremy asked.  Barnabus Alexander also known as Jack Rabbit of the WMD looked up at him and began to speak as Jeremy vanished in a spray of blood and death.  A streak of red blurred fast and it was only his accelerated vision and brain power that allowed him to keep track of it at all.

The red began to slow down and stopped at the other edge of the crevice, the red it seemed was only what was left of his cousin and the man’s suit was in fact silver and white.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you chief.  Bad shit lies beneath the arctic sheath.”

“I, who…what did you…”  Barnabus couldn’t find the words to express himself in that moment.

“The names Blrrr, your universe invaded mine and my team and I were sent here to negotiate your surrender.  But I’m going to go ahead and kill as many of your people as I can before I get pulled back to my universe.  Also I really mean it, you should stop what you are doing, gonna get that guy killed and release one of the universes most horrible things like ever on the universe.”

Confusion racked Barnabus’ brain and he still couldn’t get everything to work, he already felt himself releasing the harness and the line begin to slide away from him as his body began to move into its speed zone.

“Thing you are exploring down there is called Horizon, super evil she-bitch time traveler.  Real name is Josephine or so she told us when I released her on my world.  Us hyper-kinetics always seem to be science guys, and we always have a group, be it challengers, adventurers, or explorers, doesn’t matter the universe we always come here and release this abomination against reality.  My group is also called Horizon, we named ourselves after the thing we united against and killed to save the universe.”

“WHAT ARE YOU?!” Jasmine screamed.

“I am he and he is me.”  Then Blrrr was gone and time reverted to normal speed and Barnabus realized that the fight hadn’t even started and it was over and he had lost, blood poured from the holes punched in his sternum and then he heard Warren slam into the ice below.

Jasmine ran to him and tried to call the WMD and warn them but it was already too late, the end had come and they were to slow.

Saturday Super Stories - Mythology 109 Part 1

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

Sapphire and Wynn tumbled through the abyss of time and space and fell for a long time, she was sure she was screaming but no sound escaped her lips.  But before she could register the change she was out and slamming into the ground from a great height and Wynn followed her by landing on her ass.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he pulled himself free.  She pushed up from the ground and brushed herself as she began to take in her surroundings.  They were in a vast cavern surrounded by short buildings, none higher than two stories, and none of them had any windows.  Wynn pointed above them and there were more on the walls and ceiling.  Sapphire frowned and attempted to get the scope of this city and found her mind couldn't comprehend it, so she narrowed her field of vision to what was directly in front of her.

“There has to be someone here that has answers.”  She pointed to a random road and began walking.

* * * * *

Walters knelt down until her upside down face was equal to his.  “So you were telling me about this place?”  Sapphire shook her head a moment confused.

“How did I get here?”  She asked.

“That’s always a good question.”  The line holding her dropped a few inches closer to the vast of chemicals brewing underneath her.  “Now continue with your story.”

* * * * *

Sapphire stumbled one step and she grabbed a wall for support, it was warm to the touch.  “Are you okay?”  Wynn asked from behind her.  She shook her head, and took a few deep breathes before pushing back off of the wall.

“Something is messing with my head,” she looked around to make sure she was still within the odd city.  “I thought I was somewhere else for a minute.  Let’s go it must be side effects of the trip to get here or something.”  Together they moved through the empty streets looking for some kind of life or clue as to where they had ended up.  There answers came in the form of a small building with smoke pluming from its chimney.

“Well there

* * * * *

we go, finally… what?”  Walters landed a solid punch on the bridge of her nose and knocked her down.

“Pay attention kid or this training isn't going to help you any.”  He whipped his leg around and she managed to block it at the last second and he continued to spin and landed a foot into her midsection, she grunted and he headbutted her completely to the floor.

She shook her head, “Something

* * * * *

isn't right here…balls…”  Wynn looked back at her a look of concern of his face.  “It’s getting worse.”  Sapphire collapsed in a heap on the road, Wynn rushed to her side as the door to the shack opened and the occupant exited.

“Welcome to the Hollow City Wynn Hunter, please pick up Mercedes and bring her along.  We have much to discuss.”

Mythology 109 - Part 1 “Odyssey”

“I travel from place to place fighting evil where I can find it.  But in truth I am searching for my family, we have been displaced all around the world over the years.”  Damien Lockheart spoke to the tape recorder sitting in front of him.  He looked the young journalist in the eye as he spoke.   She smiled at him and nodded for him to continue.  “I didn't start out in life as much, and had no aspirations to be anything greater than the lush I had become over the long years of hanging out with my degenerate friends.  I had hit ‘rock bottom’ as they say and it took the loss of a dear friend of my brothers and then my brother for me to wake up and try and get my life back together.  But in truth the disease was always there just waiting to wake up again and it took me being buried alive to finally break free of its curse and on that day I was reborn and Damien Lockheart occult detective walked into the world.”  He smiled inwardly as his personal joke.  He wasn't lying to the reporter, just skewing the facts into something she could print.

“So you are a recovering alcoholic and a master of occult knowledge who works with the police and local government bodies to try and gain leads on the whereabouts of your brother, mother and your brothers’ best friend?”  She prodded.

He nodded back at her.  “That is the truth of it.”

“So how did I come about this?”  She reached under the desk and pulled out a journal, his journal that had been lost several years ago in the wastes of Africa.

“I lost it a long time ago when I was in Africa dealing with a zombie outbreak, not disease zombies mind you, but the good old fashioned demons infesting the bodies of the recently deceased zombies, much harder to kill, and some of the fresher ones can run, devilishly a pain in the ass in you don’t mind my French.”

She rolled her eyes.  “My cousins and I were in the region at the same time as you and managed to seal away the Black Idol of Calabash'zt, the source of the demonic incursion.  We had actually been wondering who had cleared most of the infestation before we managed to seal it.  I found the journal in some ruins that were filled with bodies.”

“Ah the siege zone, I was held up there for almost two whole days.  That’s the problem with zombies day or night they just don’t stop trying to kill you.”  Damien took a sip of the tea she had bought him, and then ate a handful of the fries next to the last few bites of an overcooked burger.  “So you’re the younger cousin of Barnabus Alexander?”  She nodded.

“Jasmine Bethany Caulders, the information and research member of the Adventurers of the Undiscovered.  Barnabus leads us into such strange and wonderful places, just last year we found an Amazonian colony hidden in the depths of…wait I shouldn't tell you that.  Wonderful woman, deadly fighters, strange gods though, Barnabus has taken to worshiping a rabbit or hare god now.  Happy that he found religion, but weird-ed out slightly by the amount of brown hares he has bought for around the house.”  Damien shook his head.

“So if there’s anything else?”  He inquired.  She shook her head back at him and passed the journal back over.  He held up a hand, “Keep it, maybe it will make a great book someday.”  She smiled and tucked the book back into her satchel.

“There was one final thing I wanted to mention though, off the record,” she clicked the recorder off, “Through our travels we've come across several different mentions in various cultures of the Hollow City and an immortal that lives there.  Other than that we have nothing but I felt that information might be of use to you somehow, since in your journal you reference immortality several times as potential leads for your family.”

“The Hollow City eh…”

TBC in Mythology 109 Part 2

Demonology 107 - Part 3

My name is Mercedes Whitman and I'm a hero on a foreign world. I am the daughter of two heroes, and was trapped on this Earth during an Event that sealed the way back home forever. They call me Black Sapphire when I’m out patrolling, and these are my Blogs.

Sapphire moved quickly and quietly across the chain links towards the temple, occasionally glancing backward once in a while to watch Wynn pick and chose his steps carefully. She sighed and continued toward the temple and the fountain, watching the shadows for any sign of movement. The cloud cover broke as she stepped onto the ‘floating’ island, the sun igniting the stained glass windows that could be seen within and on the wall before her.

She looked it over quickly, but couldn't make sense of the images without being within and having the sun lighting the way for her. She turned and waited for Wynn to finish trekking across the links and assisted him down to the ground, motioning for him to be quiet and to follow her to the doors.

They swung open silently and motes of dust swirled in the air, catching the sunlight and further obscuring the windows. Each wall would have held two massive frescoes, but whatever had caused the partial destruction of the northwest wall had knocked at least three of them down. As soon as the dust settled, Sapphire gasped and stared at the north corner, on which was a slanted wall and the largest of the stained glass visions: Pandemonium in all her glory. To her left hand was Discord, in another glass window. Only Jerusalem Walker seemed to be missing from the trinity.

“There is a similar temple in Sham’bala. No stained glass, but there are frescoes on the walls and they are prominently of Jerusalem Walker,” Wynn said from her side.

“Then that implies a third temple, if this one is for Pandemonium and the Sham’balan one is for Walker. Discord is the third, and has no temple.”

“That we know of. But if she was to have a temple or city of her own... where would it be? Sham’bala and Carcass sit on the intersections of the eight major lei lines of Earth and the galactic ninth that runs through them both, linking good and evil like two halves of a coin, as it were,” Wynn replied.

“Pandemonium wasn't evil; she died a hero when she sealed the Cascade.” 

Wynn shook his head before responding, “She was the darkest one of the trinity. Jerusalem Walker embodied what was good in the universe and Discord the neutrality. Each was a representative of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, and when they came to this barren universe they created the balance of the three.”

“How do you know this stuff?” Sapphire asked.

“They taught us many things in Sham’bala. Jerusalem Walker left behind many teachings. He loved to write, and there are hundreds of volumes of text in which he revealed the creation of the universe... and the world from before. He was the real hero of the trinity, and if it had been up to him he would have sacrificed himself to seal away the Cascade.”

“Always with the teaching, aren't you?” Sapphire knelt down and thought back to those last moments…

"But...why does it have to be you?" Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Because of what I represent. When I am gone, the world will be a better place." She turned away and leaped across the void. The Cascade shuddered and snapped back in on itself and ripped and tore at the Universe. The Armada was lost, and the Cascade was gone.

…Sapphire stood and nodded at Wynn. “You’re right. I was with her just before the Cascade was sealed and something she had said hadn’t made any sense to me at the time. But it does now. She was the darkness in the hearts of man, and when she died, that shadow left the human soul, making the world a brighter place. It was why we have had so much peace since that day. It also makes me wonder why the Shrulk broke that peace all those months ago. Why did it come forward when it did?”

“I have no idea, but just to let you know, we aren’t alone in here.” Wynn pointed at four thrones which were facing the fountain, one was shattered and empty, but the other three each held a person watching the fountain, two men and a woman. They stared straight ahead and did not move.

“This can’t be good…”

Demonology 107 - Part 3: “When Walks the Dead”

My name is Damien Lockheart and this is my journal. If found, please mail it to the Raven Estate in New York.

Joanna paged through the book, reading entries that seemed interesting to her, but ignored most of them. The journal had belonged to an occult detective, and he seemed to be searching for his brother, mother and a close friend who were all lost to him some time ago. She frowned at the whorish nature of some of his cases, and smiled when he shared some insights on who he was before he came to this Earth. She was certain he was an alien, and that his real name wasn't Damien, but beyond those facts she was lost.

She had found the book a few outings before she had started to read its contents. It was found during one of the adventures with her cousins, and she had held onto it, fully intending to mail it to the Raven Estate when she had arrived back stateside... but she could not seem to let it go. She needed to meet this mysterious man, and perhaps go on an ‘investigation’ with him, but his cases always seemed to center around clues that he tried to use to find his family.

“Hey, cousin, if you’re done reading that damn book again we need to move out. We got word of a herd of Yetis rampaging through Oregon and Washington,” Barnabus called down to her.

“If they are in the U.S. then they are Sasquatches,” she returned.

“Nope. Yetis. Trust me. It’s going to be awesome.” 

She sighed and closed the book. She was going to find this "Damien" someday, and it was going to be one hell of a story.

TBC in Demonology 107 - Part 4

Team-Building 104 - Part 4L

Team-Building 104: Part 4L - "The Voyage Home: The Harvest"

7 Days Ago – The armor touched down safely on the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in Megalopolis and immediately started to klaxon loudly. It didn’t take long for the resident superheroes to arrive on the scene to investigate.

“What are you doing here?” SuperDude asked it.

“Looking for you, actually,” It responded. “I have been sent by the government of the United States in an attempt to recruit you to be a part of a team of like-minded individuals.”

“That work at the beck and call of the bureaucrats?”

“Not entirely. I work with a business man that will be able to provide funding should we need it. But the government is starting to grow scared of the amount of heroes/vigilantes that are popping up these days and does, in a way, want to police them. That’s why they are forming the WMD, the Weapons of Mass Destruction. If I am able to gather enough people, there are plans for a small satellite group called the IED.”

“It seems like a solid idea. Let me think about it Mr…?”

“Warmonger. I am called Warmonger.”

6 Days Ago – “What in blazes?” His fingers stabbed at the keyboard and pulled up the satellite imagery. A small craft was entering the Earth’s atmosphere and heading towards North America. He started to get readings and suddenly it vanished. He growled under his breath and set another program to estimate where it was headed based of the telemetry.

Several hours passed and he had a guess. New York City. Suddenly another computer pinged as strange readings appeared in Megalopolis. The Dark Avenger stood and pulled on his cowl.  It was time to meet the man called SuperDude by the press.

5 Days Ago – The Dark Avenger watched the one called SuperDude from the shadows on top of a building nearby. The readings had led him to an alien being attacking the hero of Megalopolis. He watched as they talked; a guttural growling noise that ended in a question. He dropped down and spoke up. "Not everyone likes you."

* * *
Thomas walked through the streets of downtown Detroit searching for the local hero he had heard rumors of, a young black youth who called himself Jive. Apparently he was a sound-manipulator of some kind.

He rounded the corner as two thugs peeled away from the shadows of an alley to follow him. They were quickly joined by another two and then a fifth. He smiled and continued to walk until they totaled seven strong. He stopped in the middle of the street and turned to acknowledge them.

“Evening, gents. I don’t suppose you’re the welcoming committee?” They snickered and two pulled out knives.

“That’s funny. Rich guy like you gots to have a wad of cash on you as thick as my…” A roar ripped through the street and he was blasted right out of his shoes and into the wall next to a parked car.

“JIVE!”

“Damn right!”

4 Days Ago – SuperDude frowned at the position of leadership, but everyone seemed to listen  to him. Amazona had taken off to find her ‘god’ and they were headed to a Veterans Hospital outside of New York City on the insistence of ‘Jack Rabbit’. He secretly wished that this Dark Avenger fellow would step forward and flat out say he wanted to lead but he could feel him nudging him in the right direction. Within a day and a half they already had five people, and possibly by days end two more. How many powered people were out there in the world?

3 Days Ago – Finding the Mystic City of Sham’bala had been difficult and the recruitment of one of its most powerful sorceresses had been surprisingly easy. She had been bored and eager to escape the confines of her ‘prison’ to go out and visit the real world beyond the mountains and fogs that hid the city from the world. She had mentioned another student of the magickal arts who may be useful; a master who could use literary works to summon assistance.

* * *

She was called the Wolf and she was tracking poachers through the wilds of Africa. They had been killing elephants and harvesting their ivory for weeks.  She had begun to track them down and eliminate them one by one.

Night had slowly crept in and she was nearing the final camp deep in wilds. She had lost the scent hours ago but she knew deep in her soul that she was close. Suddenly the night was lit up by a flare and she turned in the direction of it, moving slowly.

Sounds of fighting came in with the wind. She moved faster and witnessed a heavily armored warrior fighting against the remaining poachers. Their guns fired uselessly against the metal hide and she thought she could hear it laughing at their attempt.

She paused and pulled the hood around her and shifted into her wolfen form, growing in size and strength. Calling on the gifts of her ancestors filled her with awe and calm, knowing that she was carrying on the heritage of her people.

Leaping into the fray against the poachers caused immediate panic among them, and gave the armored warrior pause for a moment.

“Wolf?” It asked in a male metallic voice. She growled in response and began her attack. “Oh, she’s gonna be a complicated one…”

2 Days Ago – They watched from the shadows as William Tell ran around his city using whatever technique he could to go from place to place quickly. His accuracy was deadly when needed but also passive. In a matter of several hours he had caught several looters, robbers and he was tracking a rapist.

“He is going to kill that man.” SuperDude spoke up from the long quiet.
The Dark Avengers eye’s narrowed. “You’re right. We have to step in.”

1 Day Ago – “I know of a ship that can get us to the depths where we think this city is.” Jack said when they were flying towards England.

“Really?” The Dark Avenger said over his shoulder.

“I wasn’t always a hero. For a while I was a pretty damn good explorer of the unknown. That’s how I stumbled on to Amazona and her people. We have a ship that I modeled after the Nautilus from that book.” Jack seemed proud as he reflected.

“That’s better than the submarine I would have stolen, I suppose.” The Dark Avenger smirked.

* * *

Warmonger had recruited his last two heroes in Brazil and Antartica; a plasma-wielder protecting his village from slavers and the Columbian Mob attempting to find a beachhead to move their businesses forward. The other was a creature made of energy, hiding in the icy wastes to avoid killing anyone because of its nature.

Thomas had convinced them easily to come to America and attempt a new life there. So he had picked up the others from one of his bases and started to track the attacks on the other heroes, some of which had hit the news. ALIENS ATTACK EARTH, the headlines blared.

Now…

::MANY OF OUR BROTHERS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THIS WORLD!!::
::THOUGH WHEN WE CAME HERE WE WERE ONLY THIRTY FIVE HIGH-BLOOD STRONG, WE NOW HAVE A HUNDRED LOW-BLOODS!::
::WE SIT UPON THE PRECIPICE OF AN ANCIENT STAR FORCE THAT POWERS THE HIVE MACHINE AND BOLSTERS OUR NUMBERS!!::
::THE PRIME ARRIVES SOON, AND WITH HIM WE CAN TAKE THIS WORLD... AND THEN THE UNIVERSE!!::

The Harvesters roared in agreement.

********

SuperDude spoke to the Harvesters as they exited their ship. “We do not wish to fight you. Get back in your ship and leave the Earth and we will allow you to do so as long as you promise to never return to this place.”

“Do you really think that will work, buffoon?” Amazona called up to him. SuperDude shrugged.

::YOU WILL FEED US FOR CENTURIES ALONE, FLYING ONE!! WE WILL TAKE THE PRIME AND ALL OF THE OTHER SUB-FORCES AROUND US. THEN WE WILL DIG AND TAKE FROM THE SOIL!!::

Conjuressa gasps quietly.

SuperDude looks down at her. “You understood that?”

She nodded.

“We all understood that.” The Dark Avenger said. “She magicked us, I think.”

She nodded again. “Understand, but not speak it. Our throats won’t make those sounds. I have no idea how SuperDude is able to,” she frowned.

::SILENCE!! YOU ALL STAND IN THE WAY OF THE HARVEST, AND WILL DIE OR BE CONSUMED!!::

The Harvesters all leapt forward and began the attack on the WMD and the IED.

* * *

A pair of Harvesters circled below SuperDude as he hovered above them. They glowered up at him and punched a few buttons on their harnesses and twisted a dial. He felt energy drain from him. He glared back at them and plasma lanced from eyes and slammed into them, superheating the metal and burning their skin.

“They still seem to want to eat me.”

“No shit?” Conjuressa said. Fire blasted from her hands and froze three smaller Harvesters in place. “HAH HAH FUCKERS!! Didn’t see that coming did ya, bitches?!”

* * *

The Dark Avenger took two quick steps forward and drew a large knife from the small of his back. Spinning around as he drove the blade into the elbow joint of one of the Harvesters he sliced clean through the bone and muscle dropping the limb to the ground. It roared in defiance. “I think I noticed something.” He spoke into his headpiece. “Each one this guys has an insignia on their harness at the left shoulder. Like a rising sun only the rays are between two and seven in number. The five, six, and sevens all drop pretty easy.  Whoever is number one is the leader.”

“I have eyes on number one, he’s coming out of the ship and he looks... human.” SuperDude spoke and he flew overhead providing support where it was needed.

* * *

Warmonger spoke up finally, “I’m inside the ship.”

SuperDude glanced to the armor fighting three of Harvesters by itself. “I can see you fighting --” he started, before being interrupted.

“Yeah, I multitask really well. Anyways, they have some crazy readings in here, and if I’m reading this correctly their main objective is SuperDude and secondary targets are Conjuressa, Amazona, King Hrolf, King Carp and Jack Rabbit. Plus they are mining some kind of power source from Central Park and I think they have one chained in their ship.”

“We need to crack the ship open then, and release it, and that will stop the harvest of the Central Park source.” SuperDude said.

“Can you upload the ships specs to me?” The Dark Avenger asked.

“It’s uploading now.”

“Enough talking,” Amazona ripped the insides from one of the aliens and swung them into the oncoming horde of weaker ones attempting to overwhelm her. Hrolf dropped down and sliced through three of them in a single swing.

“I agree.” He said before spinning around and bringing another two down.

“Keep them busy and I’ll figure out the weak spot on the ship and have SuperDude crack it open like an egg.”

“We also need to figure out what the leader is planning. He’s just standing there, and I think he has some kind of shield protecting him.,” Jack Rabbit responded.

“Why do you say that?”

“I keep getting bounced or shuffled away from him when I get close. A few feet for sure are no man’s land.”

“Damn.” The Dark Avenger started reviewing the schematics and knelt down as his brain worked through the information.

* * *

Jive spoke up, “I got this one.” He opened up his mouth as wide as it would go and began to scream. It was a slow build, and low, until it started to build towards its crescendo which erupted in a cone outward from him. Waves of soil were pushed away as the sound headed for the ship. The ship rang like a bell when the sound wave first struck it, and then it began to vibrate.

The heroes defended Jive from the waves of Harvesters looking to protect their home, ship, and food supply from the attack. Finally the ship cracked along the seam that the Dark Avenger had spotted and the roof slid open. The ground started to rumble along with the ship as light spilled forth from the opening.

One massive shudder ran the entire length of Central Park, knocking everyone to the ground. The ship hopped into the air, the landing struts ripping free of the soil beneath them. Trees toppled and a wave of water crashed against the far bank of the lake.

The Harvesters seemed to panic with these developments, some fumbling with their harnesses which seemed powerless now. The weaker of the Harvesters collapsed as if drained or they just had their strings cut by an invisible puppet master. The remaining High Blood dropped their weapons and placed themselves on the ground in a passive position, surrendering.

“Well I would have loved to say that was easy…” Rabbit popped in.

“It’s not done yet.” The Dark Avenger said. “The leader is still standing.”

“He didn’t fall when all of you did, either.” SuperDude said.  He turned in the air to face the leader. “We’ve beaten you. Surrender now and perhaps we can confine you to a lower security prison and not the SPIRaL.”

The leader began to laugh. “That’s funny. I cannot be contained. I am the last survivor of a dead universe. I have lived countless eons alone. That is until I found the Harvesters, parasites eating at the edge of existence. They need the Star Force to live and I needed pawns to break free of my tether in the dead universe I was lost in. So we struck an accord. I fed them one of the greatest Star Forces ever created and brought them here as soon as I could sense another like myself out in the void. A few weeks ago I sensed one.” He paced back and forth on the ground in front of the ship as the soil continued to churn.

“Are you seriously doing a monologue? Wait does this make him our arch-enemy or something?” Jack Rabbit asked.

“That does seem to be the case.” SuperDude responded. “Do you have a name, fella?”

“Yes I do, but unfortunately I tire of this game. We shall soon meet again.” The leader vanished in a pop.

“So.. we won?”

TBC in Team-Building: The Epilogue

Team-Building 104 - Part 3I

Team-Building 104: Part 3I - "Galaxy Quest: Deep Space... NEIN"

"Oh, I borrowed him from the Chronicon Helveticum (1734–36), by Gilg Tschudi. The poor bastard didn't have the stones to return to the tale I stole him from." The Literary spoke quietly through the pane of glass separating him from the costumed hero.

SuperDude frowned. "What do you mean 'borrowed?'"

The Literary smiled. "I absorb books you see. Through that absorption I am able to summon things from them, be it a person, place or thing. With significant preparation I can summon events." The Literary stopped, a confused look on his face.

SuperDude smiled. "Thank you for your assistance." He turned and walked away from the visitor area of the prison. "You were right."

"I usually am." The Dark Avenger responded. "Whilhelm Tell is his given name. and he's Swiss. I suggest we start there."

"I'm en route," Jack Rabbit spoke up.

"I could have teleported us," Conjuressa interjected.

"We're good," three of them hastily responded at the same time.

********

He drew back the string and pulled it taut. He held the shot and his eyes followed the tip of the arrow as he targeted the criminal about to attack the civilian. He smiled wryly and let the bow do its job. It flew straight and true and punched right through the man’s jacket at the shoulder and popped into a seam in the brickwork behind him; pinning him in place.

The woman continued on her way as the man struggled to get free. William walked into the alleyway casually and stopped in front of the man.

“Who are you?” the man spoke in his native German tongue.

“William Tell,” he replied quietly. “You will be punished for your crimes.”

“But I didn’t commit a crime, you stopped me!” The man countered.

“That may be true. But the reason I knew of you was because this was not your first offense. That would have been your third. I tracked you by talking with the women you raped. You are not a killer, but what you do is punishable by death.”

“Death?!…But…”

William pulled a blade from his boot and drew his hand back to plunge it into the man’s heart.

“…Stop!” He cried out.

“Yes. Please stop," said a voice from above spoke. William turned to find SuperDude floating behind him. “Heroes do not kill.”

William narrowed his eyes. “Who are you to judge my actions, foreigner?”

“An ally, I hope. We have heard stories of your deeds around this city and wanted to recruit you in our cause against the Harvesters.” SuperDude continued to speak clamly.

“I have not heard of these 'Harvesters.' Why should I care?”

“Because what they are planning threatens the whole world. Truth be told, there are not many heroes with the capabilities to fight them head on.”

William narrowed his eyes even further and placed a hand on the bridge of his nose and rubbed it. “If they attack the world, then they will eventually attack my beautiful city. I will help you... for a time.”

TBC in Team-Building 104: Part 4J

Team-Building 104 - Part 2D

Team-Building 104 - Part 2 D: "Nemesis: The Search For..."

The servos in his suit's joints whined and he took the turn at 60 miles an hour. His shoulder skipped the brickwork, and pain erupted along his side. "WHYINTHEHELLISTHISTHINGAFTERME??" His words blended together.

"Hunting people with abilities," the voice in his ear spoke. "Take the next right and stop at the end of the alley." Jack Rabbit slowed to 45 and slid into the alleyway and stopped. The Harvester arrived seconds later; he roared at Jack and stalked him slowly, using its massive, long forearms, knuckling the ground like a gorilla. It paused and its mouths opened, and it seemed to taste the air. Its head turned up just as SuperDude landed hard on top of it, driving it into the ground like a nail.

"Good plan," SuperDude spoke over his shoulder.

"All my plans are good." The Dark Avenger stepped from behind Jack Rabbit. "Smart thinking, putting the police band in your head piece. Easy to hack though."

"Who are you people?" asked Jack, shaken.

"Allies, and maybe future friends." SuperDude said.

"Huh, well if you're recruiting, I have the perfect candidate for you."

*******

I'm a pretty normal fella. I was raised by two loving parents with two younger brothers and a cousin that we adopted when she was younger, right after her parents had died in a car accident. I was always a bright guy and really took to learning, absorbing any knowledge I could get my hands on. I suppose that's why I became a doctor.

I have two degrees, and my doctorate is in Progressive Molecular Biology. In layman's terms, I use biological nanotech to augment a person, helping them overcome their physical limitations. I make humanity better through the application of science.

I was in a general medical practice for several years before being recruited by Genicon, a cutting-edge technological firm that had been around since the 1940's. Here I would find my niche, and move the world forward one augment at a time.

After little more than a year I was brought in to assist with one of the few government contracts that the company held. It was related to my field and dealt directly with augmenting humanity using the nanotech techniques I had developed. They were farming raw DNA from a subject and boosting the augmenting process by leaps and bounds past what I had been using.

Using these new techniques, I developed the Accelerons that I tested on myself, granting my already-athletic body greater speed and stamina. Further testing was needed because there was a flaw; my metabolism had also been enhanced, and I needed to eat constantly. Also, my body was vulnerable to the friction that my enhanced speed generated. My skin burned as I ran.

Some time passed before I realized that Genicon had been infecting people at random using inoculations and tracking the random drug trails to test the effects of their augmentation process. They were creating a world of super-powered individuals. I left right after that with the intent of finding a way to fix everyone.

This was when I recruited my brothers and cousin to check out some rumors. We found a woman in Greece, and from her I found religion and a suit of armor that prevented my eventual combustion. One of her deities was affiliated with rabbits and speed, and I adopted his mantle as I way of worship after I left her lands. Covering the modified armor in the fur of hares, I became... Jack Rabbit!!

TBC in Team-Building 104: Part 2 E

Genicon: "Making You a Better You, Organically"