RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Hero Revolution #5 [Hide And Seek]

"Hal, how about some fins?" I say out loud.

Within seconds, my fingers and toes extend. Webbing grows between them.

"Gills?"

I feel slits opening up in my neck. It's a strange feeling. They begin to expand and contract, struggling for air. Although, not being in water, they're not finding any.

"That feels damn weird... anyway, it's probably pretty cold in that river. Anything you can do about that?"

"How about whale blubber?" Hal suggests.

"Sounds good."

I take my shirt off. I feel my body expand as a thin layer of blubber covers me, to shield my body from the freezing temperatures of the underground river.

I try not to think about what I look like. The startled expression on Pete's face says it all.

"You're actually goin' in that river?" Pete asks.

"Yeah. Gonna swim downstream a bit, see if I can find Sam. If the theory holds, there's an underground civilisation somewhere along this river..."

"...an' that might be where they took Sam?"

"Exactly."

Pete nods slowly, taking this all in.

"Okay. So, what you want me t' do?" He asks.

"Just stay here, for the moment... hopefully, the guys will be coming through any second now. And keep the cat safe."

Lil' Jo purrs, rubbing up against Pete's leg.

It occurs to me that I have no idea what the time is.

"Hey, Pete... do you know what the time is?

"Nope... sorry buddy," He answers.

Damn.

And, with that, I dive into the river.

I'm breathing easily. I'm kept warm. And my fins are keeping me swimming at a great pace.

My powers rock sometimes.

I can't see a thing, though. But that's not important. If there is some sort of village down here, I doubt it would be underwater.

I decide to pop my head out of the river every now and then, to look at the shorelines running across it.

After about ten minutes of swimming, I see it.

An underground village.

...holy shit...

This is like something out of a bad sci-fi novel.

The cavern is huge. The biggest open space I've seen while down here below the surface. It's probably about the size of a football field, with the height of a two-storey house.

Recesses are carved into it's walls all along the length of it... presumably various living areas and so forth. Fires are lit all around the place, lighting the whole area and keeping it relatively warm.

And the people...

The people are sitting clumped around the fires, in groups. They're warming themselves. Some are cooking meat over the fires.

I try not to think about what the meat might be.

They're all incredibly pale.

I guess a lifetime without sunlight will do that to a person.

I take all this in within seconds.

And I'm instantly terrified by the whole thing.

Wait... is that...?

Shit. It's Sam. He's being led into one of the caves.

In seconds, he's gone. Disappeared into the inky blackness of one of the village's many caves.

All sorts of heroic plans of action run through my head. I could charge up there, grow myself something... I dunno, something powerful...

...take on dozens upon dozens of savage cannibals myself...

No. This isn't going to work. I'd most likely be killed before I even got anywhere near Sam.

Damn. I'll have to go back and get the rest of the guys.

I hope they've dug through that rock wall by now.

I duck my head under water, and head back the way I came.

“Who?” “What?” said the heroes, but only Mick noticed the nearly invisible smile on Sonja lips, and the fact that the tattoo covering her body from leg to neck, had disappeared.

Then, Kristogar saw a small hole in the wall. “Quick, follow me!” he shouted.

"How odd" Kristogar says to himself "From this point on, the floor we're crawling on seems different than the one we have been crawling on so far... It seems more fragile... almost like ceramic"

"Mick...?" Shirley says, visibly uncomfortable because of all the dirt.

"Huh...?" says Mick after a couple of seconds. He was distracted because of what he just saw Sonja do. He turns his head to Shirley (who is right behind him) and says "Oh, uh, what, babe?"

"Can't you just... you know... get all super and get us the hell out of here?" she says, wiping the dirt from her jacket as she keeps crawling.

"Oh, uh..." Mick says nervously "Actually, I... My powers are too unpredictable, you know... They are too crazy to be used here... that silly, uh, those silly powers..."

"Oh" Shirley says.

"...and think they have a crush on you so I don't want them anywhere near you..." Mick mumbles.

Tobias (inmediatly after Mick in the line of crawling heroes) hears Mick mumbling and turns to him...

"Man, don't you think that's a little selfish of you? Mxy could help us better than you can in this situation..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right... OK, here I go..." Mick stops, and opens his mouth to say "M--"

Suddenly, the floor under him cracks, and he falls.

"MMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"

"MICK!" Shirley screams, looking at him as he falls to the ground.

"Mmmm, I should have guessed it..." Kristogar says, rubbing his chin "We have been crawling above the ceiling of some kind of chamber all this time..."

"I don't think this is like a chamber, man!" Mick yells "This is way more spacious... it's like a whole, I don't know, a whole football field down here..."

"What do you see down there, Mick?" Sonja asks.

"Well, caves..." Mick says, looking around "Lots of caves..."

"I say we all jump down there!" Lance suggests "It seems a lot more comfortable than being here..."

"Yes... I don't wanna crawl anymore..." Shirley says "Lets jump"

"Uh, guys..." Mick says looking at something the others can't see "You might wanna reconsider that idea..."

"Oh? And why is that?" Kristogar asks.

"Well... Believe it or not a group of, uh, 'underground angry willagers' is approaching..." Mick answers "And they don't look happy..."

As soon as she realizes Mick is in danger, Shirley tries to reach him with her hand.

"Mick! Take my hand, before they reach you!" she yells.

The pressure she puts in the ceiling makes it crack even more... and so she falls, followed by Naecken... and then the rest of the group.

As soon as they hit the ground, they realize they are surrounded by the underground people.

"Fascinating... I think there's an underground civilisation down here" Kristogar says, getting on his feet.

"Well, duh" Mick says.

"Well aint that sumthin?" one of the underground people says "Looks like weir on a lucky day, dontcha think?"

The underground people start examining the group. The group is getting prepared to attack, if they have to.

"Hmmm... Oh... Gooood... Razor's gunna luv this one..." one of them (a pale man using a big red hat) says as he goes over each one of the heroes... then he reaches Naecken, that is still getting on his feet and is facing the ground "An' what do we got here?"

Naecken lifts his head and looks at the underground man.

"omygob" the man says, eyes wide open.

"What, Red? He's got sumthin on his nose or sumthin...?" another underground man says, as he gets a closer look to Naecken "oh my..."

The other underground men gather around as Naecken wipes his nose.

"...Gob" they all say at once.

[ 03-29-2002: Message edited by: I'm Not Mister Mxypltk ]

"Good..." he thinks "The last time I saw the guys they were on the other side of that tunnel... I guess they shouldn't be too far from here"

He walks into the tunnel and finds... a dead end.

"Dammit!" he says out loud, "I guess I took a wrong turn somewhere..."

Danny notices the voice inside his head is saying something.

"What?" he says to himself "Are you sure? But it's impossible... This can't be where I left them, this wall wasn't... here..."

Danny then notices that the wall in front of him is made from several big rocks... and he understands that the tunnel where he left his friends collapsed like the one he was in a few minutes ago.

"Oh, shit..."

He starts looking around and scratching his head as he listens to the voice inside his head.

"What do you mean?!" Danny says "Of course they made it! Yes, I know that the reason why I survived to the collapse of the other tunnel is probably because I was with Pete, but... What do you mean 'where's Pete'? He's... I left him..."

Danny stays frozen for a second.

"Oh, shit..."

Somewhere else...

A big pale man carries Pete and Lil Jo like sacks of potatoes along the caves.

"HEEEEEEEELP!!!" Pete yells "HHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!"

The big man drops them next to a stake Sam is tied to, and ties Pete to it too. A group of men is standing near them. In front of them is Razor.

"What dewey do wit' da rat, Razor?" the big pale man asks, after realizing Lil Jo is too small to be tied to the stake.

"Jus' let the dang thing run. Fock it" Razor answers.

"LEMMEGOLEMMEGO!!!!" Pete yells "DAMNBALDIESLEMMEGO!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"

"You're not helping, man" Sam says, turning to Pete "Just shut up, OK?"

"ok" Pete says.

Razor looks at the two prisioners with a smile on his face.

"Eh, sir..." Pete says, calmly "What are you planning to do with us?"

"Guess?" Razor says "We gunna eatcha, buddy!"

Pete starts yelling again, as Sam sighs...

"WATAHELLYOUBEMEANCALM>/:%$!? WEBEDALUNCHMEATMATE/:%$!"

Razor turns and looks at the two. He signs. Obviously annoyed at Pete's ramblings. He hates when his diner talks back.

"Shhhhh. Come on buddy, calm down!"

"CALMEYOUBEDOWN. MIFREAKINOUTHERE!" Pete blurs out, than quickly catches his breath.

Sam signs, also annoyed. Hits the back of his head on the stake they are tied to.

"Ok, I can-"

"WATYOUCANDODON'TMATTER." Pete looked all around, "WEBELUNCH!!!"

Lil'Jo looked up towards Pete and signed.

Sam, who finally has had enough, grows an extra arm out of his neck and covers Pete's mouth.

"SHHHHHHHHHH!" Sam looked around, noone was looking at them, "Ok, look, here is the thing, I can break us out at any moment. The only thing is that there are a lot of them, only two of us-"

"Meow!"

"Ah, three of us? Anyhow, we can't take them all. We need back up, and fast!"

" PHEW. ABAYEAHBA."

[ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: GoozX ]

"You're trying really hard not to say 'fucked up', aren't you?" Hal replies.

"Apparently people don't like swear words in this time. They get offended."

"Feh. It's two thousand and two. People are old fashioned."

I was back in the underground river that ran alongside the underground village, with my head poking ever so slightly out of the water.

Before me, illuminated by the light of at least a half dozen large campfires, is the main cavern that I had seen last time I swam down here.

Only this time, there's quite a difference.

The team is here. My team. And the villagers are gathered around them. Except... they aren't attacking them.

They don't seem hostile at all.

It almost seems like they're worshipping something...

Someone...

They're all huddled around...

...Naecken?

This is almost funny. They're worshipping the big black guy as if he was some sort of God.

And Mick, Shirley, Sonja, Kristogar and Lance are gathered behind Naecken... hoping that their associating with the object of worship will protect them from the villagers' wrath.

But what's really worrying me is what's going in the nearby cave...

I swim downstream a little, only a few metres. Here, separated from the main cavern by a few metres of rock (but probably connected by a tunnel or two) is a second chamber. This one's smaller, about the size of your average living room.

And in the middle of this chamber is two stakes.

Gathered before the stakes are a group of the villagers, preparing torches to light.

And tied to the stakes... Sam and Pete.

Shit. Crap. Damn it.

"That's a problem, right there." Hal says.

"Do you state the obvious just to piss me off?" I reply softly.

"Pretty much."

Okay. Assess the situation...

In the main cavern, most of the team is gathered, and apparently being treated rather civilly by the villagers due to their association with Naecken. In the small cavern, Sam and Pete are about to be char broiled.

And here I am. In the river. The villagers don't know I'm here.

Shit. What the hell am I supposed to do in these situations?! I'm not the hero. I'm the whiny guy from the future who just mopes all the time. I can't deal with these high pressure situations 'cause I've never been a superhero and I can't be a superhero...

Okay Danny. Calm down. Breathe.

So what do I do?

I go and make sure that the tribe mean no harm to the rest of the team... hopefully their worshipping of Naecken will hold out for a while.

If I can be sure it's safe there... then I'll tell the guys about Sam and Pete. Then hopefully our big demon friend can pull some strings, and get them set free...

If it's not safe in there, then I stay hidden, and figure out a way to free Sam and Pete...

Seems like a sound plan.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether I can pull it off without getting killed... or eaten... or both. Probably both.

I start swimming back towards the main cavern.

"But we have never stopped! We have sacrificed and prayed at your stone of power all this time. Come i will show you." says a more trinket clad man, who rises to his feet and rushes off to the other side of the village.

Naecken shrugs and follows him, with his friends tagging along behind, grinning at the people staring at the strange group of outlanders in their midst.

A huge obelisk stands majestically in the center of an underground lake, with huge carvings and symbols. Five pentagonial shapes connected by lines can be seen at the center of it.
inside the pentagons there are jewels of different colors...blue, black, red, green and white.
Above it, the face of Naecken in great detail.

"Well, I'll confess that it is intriguing," Tweed said, puffing on his cigar. "What did you say this thing did again? And why's this guy's metagene so 'fascinating'?"

"Well," Walker began, looking at the younger man lying in hibernation stasis, "it seems to me that this man's metagene has a different consistency from others that I've seen." The doctor slid into a nearby chair and pushed a few buttons on the bulkhead next to the man's stasis chamber.

A small holographic image of a strand of metahuman DNA popped up, rotating along a horizontal axis. "You see these?" Walker asked, indicating a group of interestingly postioned nucleotides. Tweed arched his eyebrow and nodded. "These are the combinations that make up the metagene for enhanced strength, speed, and senses."

Tweed huffed, blowing a billow of smoke out of his mouth. "So, what's the deal with the sword, then?"

"I was just getting to that," Walker said, glaring at Tweed a bit. "When we procured this specimen, this sword was in his hand." Upon having said this, Walker raised the sword slightly. "Upon our... removal of the sword and the placing of this man in stasis, we found this..."

Walker pressed some more buttons on the bulkhead and soon the metahuman DNA image was replaced by one of normal human DNA. "He no longer bears the exact combination. I'm not sure what it is, but something in this sword activates a latent metagene in this individual."

"Fascinating," Tweed said, removing his cigar and touching the katana himself.

"My thoughts exactly," Walker nodded, once again studying the sword.

"I don't feel anything," Tweed said, touching the hilt of the sword. "Why won't it work for me?"

"I'm not certain," Walker said. "For some reason or another, it wouldn't work for me either. I'm guessing it only works for him." Walker nodded his head to the hibernating man. "At any rate, I want to keep it over for testing."

"What about him?" Tweed said, tapping the top of the man's stasis bed.

"Oh, I suppose we can let him out," Walker said, shrugging. "Have Reynolds fit him with a restraining collar. If he does get ahold of this sword, I don't want another fiasco like we had when we brought him here. Poor Ms. Owens hardly saw it coming," Walker said, remembering the gash that the female EPS agent had sustained during her bout with the man.

"What's this guy's name again?" Tweed said, preparing to dehibernate him.

"The records on file indicate that he is one 'Stephen Richards'... but he's young, so he probably goes by 'Steve'," Walker shrugged, walking toward the door.

"I gotcha," Tweed said, nodding.

"Oh, and, Tweed?" Walker said right before his exit. The man in white turned and arched an eyebrow again. "Make sure to keep this one away from Cicciotto. I'll not have that upstart trying to cause any more dissention here than there already is. Got me?"

"Loud and clear," Tweed said, a smile running across his face.

I need to cross the cavern. Get over there. Meet up with the team. Very soon.

But how the hell do I get across without alerting all the villagers scattered around...?

I look up.

And a solution presents itself... sort of.

"Hal... I got an idea," I say, looking at the ceiling of the cavern. It consists of hard packed dirt, and arranged haphazardly in rough rock formations that protrude downwards.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Hal says.

"Sure am."

"I suppose you'll be wanting some claws then."

"Yup. And a prehensile tail."

Within seconds, I feel my new appendages growing.

This is always the worst part. It bloody hurts.

I look down at my new claws, then swing my hand into the rock wall next to me. The claws stick tight.

"Excellent..."

I swing my other arm into the all, slightly higher. This one sticks too.

And so I go on like this... arm after arm. Slowly climbing higher up the wall.

I really hope those villagers don't spot me...

After a few moments, I'm hanging upside down from the roof. I'm gripping one of the rock formations with my claws, while steadying myself on another with my tail.

I cross from one rock formation to the next. Carefully and quietly... but still as quickly as I can manage. Sam and Pete need me to reach the rest of the team.

It takes me about three minutes. Three agonisingly long minutes. But by the end of it, I'm at the other end of the cavern.

I hope they're still okay...

I'm still hanging from the roof, pressed right up against the back wall of the huge chamber. Directly beneath me is the cave that I saw the team disappear into moments ago.

Right next to me, curiously enough, is another cave. Much smaller. Barely enough to fit one person through. There must be whole networks of these things, possibly extending for miles.

Okay... just gotta climb down this wall.

Suddenly, I hear a loud crack.

The piece of rock my tail is gripping comes apart from the ceiling.

Oh, shit...

It hits the floor with a deafening crash, and breaks into a thousand pieces. It echoes around the cavern.

They heard me. They must have heard me.

I've got no choice.

I jump into the tiny cave next to me, before any of the villagers can spot me.

Oh, crap. I don't know where this tunnel goes. I could be getting lost, hopelessly lost... that was stupid of me... I was supposed to go into the big cave the other guys went into, now I'll lose them and Sam and Pete will be killed and it's all my fault...

I'm sliding. Sliding downwards, really, really quickly. And it's really, really dark.

I shut my eyes.

The end of the tunnel takes me surprise. But here it is anyway. I tumble out of the tunnel, sliding across the floor a few metres, then coming to a halt.

My eyes are still shut. I think I'm scared to open them.

I hear people around me. Voices. Footsteps. Shit, the villagers have me, I'm a goner...

I failed Pete and Same...

"...Danny?" A familiar voice says.

I open my eyes.

It's Tobias.

"Wow. That kinda took me by surprise," I say. I stand up, and look around. We're on the bank of a large underground lake, and there's some sort of carving in the centre.

One of the villagers is standing next to Naecken, explaining something. He stops when he sees me, and looks at me funny.

"Oh, yeah... reverse tail and claws..." I say. Hal complies.

"Where have you been?!" Tobias says to me.

"Some swimming. Some climbing. Anyway, more important things... Sam and Pete are tied up in a nearby cave, and they're about to be set alight!" I yell. The team turns to me, concerned looks on their faces.

"Naecken... you seem to have some sort of authority down here. Anything you can do to help them out?" I say.

"Oh my!" LLance shouts! "The demon made a funny!"

"This is serious, Naeken!" Danny said rather flatly.

Naecken smiled an evil little grin and began conferring with the villagers. It wasn't long before they were taken to their two friends and they were released.

"Where do we go from here?" LLance asked aloud.

Everyone just looked at one another as nobody was sure what their next move should be.

"We need to get out of here. And the country. So we can regroup and find my good friend Eurostar. Where is he?"

[ 04-06-2002: Message edited by: GoozX ]

"No" Neacken says, looking at Danny right in the eye.

"Yeah he is, man..." Mick adds "You gotta accept that"

"Yeah" Sam says "Who are we talking about, again?"

"He's not dead" Naecken says.

"Look, Naecken..." Sonja says approaching him "Some of us didn't know him too well... but we all felt his death"

"Uh, guys?" Lance asks "Why don't we discuss this after we escape this place?!"

"He's not--"

Suddenly, the rumbling in the background increases considerably. The place is literally falling apart.

"Something's approaching" Kristogar says, looking at the bigger tunnel.

"Something big" Tobias says "Should I go look?"

"Too dangerous" Kristogar asks.

"Shouldn't we be runnin around and screamin?!" Pete asks, scratching his head.

"Well, the local people seem pretty calm..." Mick says, pointing at the large group of underworld people standing around Naecken's statue "They gotta have a good reason for that..."

"Yessir da bestest reeson!" one of the underworlders says.

"Please tell us what the reason you are so calm is before we pee in our pants" Lance says.

"You know what the thing approaching is?" Kristogar asks Razor.

"Yep" Razor answers.

"And you feel it's safe to stay here. So, it's nothing to worry about?" Kristogar asks.

"You kiddin...?! Can't you listen to da damn thing?!" Razor says "Itsa lot to worry about!!!"

"Then why are you so calm?!" Mick asks.

"Cause..." Razor says, turning to Naecken "He's gunna kick it's ass! Only da Gob o' Gobs can do it!"

The team is left with their eyes wide open.

"Gulp!" Lance says.

"Don' worry" one of the underworld people whispers in Lance's ear "I's okay to pee in yer pants down 'ere"

"It is eir." Razor said, standing his ground. "The time of our diverence is eir."

LLance turned intangitable, as the other prepared for what ever beast was ahead.

Danny whispered to himself, "Claws, thick skin, something quick!"

Danny cletched his hands, as his appearence changed. His hid grew shronger.

Naecken planted his feet on the ground, he looked around, everyone was now counting on him.

The far cave wall came down, from the shadows a pure white being appeared. Looked around, the creature smiled, his appearnce almost identical to Naecken, except his oily white skin and light blue eyes.

He spoke, I AM MERCY AND VENGENCE

The being pulled a sword from his chest. It also glowed.

Naecken looked at his teammates.

"..."

"Don´t know, but the look is familiar, like something I have seen in a dream before...a girl..."

"Prepare to meet the challenge!" booms the loud voice from the white being.

Mick turns to Naecken;
"If we distract him, could you knock him out or something?"

"Sure. I mean...I will try..." he said flexing his huge muscles.

The shapeshifter ran for the beast´s feet dodging eye blasts that turned the ground into melted glass wherever they struck.

The villagers cheered.

Suddenly the beast turned his attention to Naecken;
"You do not belong here! You are a mistake! I will eradicate you as the cosmic anomaly you are!"

That´s when the shapeshifter formed and merged his arms into a long chain tying his feet.

Naecken took his que and jumped into the air, and struck the being with all his might.

The result was quiet unpredictable.
It shattered into hundreds of copies of itself, no more higher than a garden gnome.
And they started to pile up on Naecken...

[ 04-12-2002: Message edited by: T5 ]

The blackened demon known as Naecken fought off his garden gnome sized twins when they out numbered him, taking him to the ground. Tobias quickly ran over, kicking three off Naecken before three others grabbed his feet. Danny and Pete charged in, grabbing Tobias by the arm, taking him away from the pile. The little creatures ripped apart villagers TIME TO PAY FOR YOUR SINS TO HUMANITY! Creating a bloody mess on the walls. Naecken lanched up to his feet, sending the creatures off his huge body.

LLance turned to the villagers, "Run!" he than turned back to his friends, "Run!"

The team began running down the darkened caves, "Guys, this way!" Tobias yelled, his voice echoing throughout the tunnels. All a sudden, his bruised and bloody body hit the dirt in front of Danny.

"Ah no."

A huge robotic dog slammed his metal feet into the ground. Behind the team, a few of the gnomes formed the creature once more. Before anyone could really react, the ground below them collapsed, sending the team straight down hitting pavement hard as a rock. The new cave was pitch black. Danny's eyes glowed green.

"Guy's, you are not going to believe this!"

"What's up man?" Mick asked.

"Luck is with us!" Danny responded and walked further into the darkness "Hold on a sec... I think I once read about these."

Danny hit a switch and lights turned on all over revealing an old railline and cars.

"Think it still works?"

"If it does," LLance continued "Than we got our way out of here!"

Of course, right now, the ceiling has a huge hole in it.

The train is rusted and dust covered. Freight cars extend behind it, seemingly remnants of some long-forgotten mining operation.

I hope the damn thing still works.

"Into the train?" I ask.

Without anyone answering, we all clamber into the first carriage. Kristogar sits in the drivers seat, frantically inspecting the controls.

Falling rock from the gaping hole in the roof draws my attention upwards. For a split second, the hole seems to cover up completely.

...what the hell?

Oh. Right. It's being blocked. By something very large... oh, no.

The huge robotic wolf comes crashing down to the floor next to us, with a deafening noise.

"Make train go fast now!" Sam yells out.

On cue, Kristogar throws a lever. The train lurches forward, slowly. The engine rumbles it's complaints. The creaking of long-disused gears and wheels echoes around us.

The wolf stands up, and throws a paw down towards us.

In an incredible display of good timing, the train picks up speed at that exact moment and shoots off into the tunnel.

The End.

"...was naked the last time I got on one of these antiques..."
"...just luck, pure luck..."
"...I know..."
"...was talking like Mushmouth..."
"...I know..."
"...introduce me to all your friends sometime..."

"You know, this feels pretty cool," Mick said. "This feels like a ghost train, sorta."

"How can a train be a ghost?" Naecken asked, then continued without an answer. "What happened to those people back there was not right. The thing that was with them was not right, either. We should not have left."

A heavy silence fell over the wannabe adventurers. Larry Lance was the first one to break it up. "We had to leave, Naecken. They couldn't be saved. They were eating each other, for chrissakes...that wasn't living, and there was no reason for us to die for--"

"What the hell are we doing?" Danny blurted out. "This whole thing...I don't know, it feels as if we're a bunch of fucking amateurs--sorry about the language, but all we're doing is going from place to place getting our asses handed to us and...well, does anybody even remember what we're doing anymore?" Another silence fell after Danny stated what needed to be stated.

"Eurostar will know," Naecken said. "That's why we need to find him."

"Could somebody please tell me who Eurostar is and why he's so important?" Sam asked.

"He was the main man around here, basically," Mick explained. "The one who knew what to do and we would help him do it. He died when Malvan-X was destroyed..."

"How long ago was that?" Tobias asked. "Am I the only one who's lost complete sense of time? Shit, when did we last see daylight?"

"In the desert," Pete chipped in. "Those worms and the mist..."

"Are things always this hectic with you people?" Shirley asked Mick.

"I was just wondering that myself," Sam added, overhearing her.

"God, I hope not," Mick said. The team chuckled wearily. It was the first light-hearted moment that they shared in who-knows-how-long. At this point, any little joke would've gotten a laugh.

The train creaked and groaned as it slowed down to a halt. Kristogar and Sonja stepped back into the passenger car where the rest of the team sat. "We're at another station. We might be able to figure out what to do from here," he informed them.

The door opened. In front of them stood an impressive battalion. A War-Mastiff, a robot worm and a mechanical wolf were there, but appeared to be in a resting position. Hundreds of guns were pointed at the group. Twenty six others, unarmed, were scattered about. In the middle of all of this stood a tall, bearded man, dressed entirely in black, and with a brass hook where his right hand should be.

The snow in Stockholm made the visual range only a few yards, and the lonely Call-Girl at the street corner was thinking of going home...when a car stopped in front of her.

A man inside motined her to come to the car window.

The street was empty except for a few kids throwing snow balls at street signs.

She hesitated, but soon reconsidered. She needed the money.
The window opened as she bent down to see who it was.
A young man in his early twenties smiled and asked;

"Are you looking for work?"

She shrugged; "Do you have any to offer?"
"Sure. Jump in." he replied by opening the door for her.
She climbed inside.

The young man´s flat was luxurious and almost spotless.
They began with a shower and soon ended up in the bedroom.
Never before had she encountered such a eager young man. And so young. usually she only got the bored middle-aged wife cheaters.
So the night wasn´t so bad as it usually was.

Her thoughts went to her two lost kids...taken from her a few months back when they discovered her profession.

Suddenly a burning sensation could be felt in her lower abdomen.
She looked down, and the man had just stuck a knife inside her.
To surprised to scream she just looked at him.
His eyes were aflame with murderous intent, and he struck her again...this time in her right lung.

The pain made her unnable to scream, so she tried to roll away, but he impaled her again and again.
Taking great joy and time.

Her last thoughts seemed rather silly...at least she died in a clean bed.

*End of Interlude*

"Uh..." Mick said, looking at his friends "Yes?"

He watches as the dazzled look on their faces is replaced with a deadly serious "ready for rumble" look.

"Yes!" Mick says as everyone takes fighting possitions, and then he turns to Shirley "You stay over there, li'l lady!"

"I won't argue with that..." she answered, getting back into the train.

"All right..." Nemo said, sighing. He turned his back to the team and started walking... then he added "Attack"

The robots seemed to wake up all at once. All the guns clicked on the same second.
Without wasting any time, the group jumped at the army.

"...mxy..." whispered Mick, as a small explosion covered his eyes with light.

Sam seemed nervous at first, but the confidence the rest of the group soon spread to him, and the fear was replaced with the excitement and adrenalin rush everyone else was feeling.

All the kinds of robots reacted inmediatly to the movement and jumped too, to meet the guys in the air.
All Shirley could hear from the safety the train gave her was a gigantic clash when robots and freaks collided.

"Oh my God..." she said, covering her mouth, unable to close her eyes or look away "Mick..."

The next thing she saw was a rain of metallic pieces ad dust. When the view cleared, she could see the group standing truimphant in the middle of a mountain of destroyed killing machines.

The soldiers where as amazed as Shirley was to see this. For a minute, all they could do was scratch their heads, waiting for Nemo's orders.

"How the hell did we do that?" Sam asked Lance, that was standing next to him, without moving from the herioc position the group was displaying.

"Don't ask me" Lance said, without looking at him "I just made everything except my knucles intangible, closed my eyes, and started punching around"

"So that was you" Sonja said "Try to watch who and where you are punching, or next time I swear I'll kick your intangible ar--"

"YOU LEAVE US NO CHOICE" Nemo yelled from afar, interrupting Sonja's arse "BUT TO EXECUTE YOU THE OLD FASHIONED WAY"

"Whadda he means 'ol fashioned' way?" Pete asks.

His question is answered when all the soldiers make their guns click once again, and prepare to shoot our heroes to death at Nemo's order...

"NEMO, WAIT!" Kristogar Velo yelled. "We'll come along peacefully!"

The others, Sonja and Tobias in particular, couldn't believe that Velo had said that.

"Say that again?" Nemo said.

"We're tired, beaten up and we don't want any more bloodshed. We're willing to compromise."

"Compromise?" Nemo chortled. "Velo, explain to me why I should negotiate a deal with those on death row."

"Dude, you know Captain Hook?" LLance asked. Velo ignored him.

"Because," Kristogar replied, smiling, "we could still do more damage to you than you could to us. You saw what we just did. You can't afford to lose much more."

Nemo hesitated. Moments that felt like hours passed by while he contemplated. "You agree to come along? As prisoners?"

Kristogar nodded. He could see the rest of the group seething at him, so he quietly whispered, "this battle will not end today. We'll get them next time." They didn't appear to calm down, but at least there was no incident.

Nemo's soldiers were just as incredulous. He mumbled to them from one side of his mouth, "Remember D'goon's orders." They seemed to understand what he meant by this.

The soldiers very slowly and cautiously surrounded the metahumans, all guns ready. A few soldiers checked out the old train.

Two things happened at this point--first, one of the soldiers led Shirley out by her hair. Recognizing that she didn't have any powers, he apparently was going to take a few liberties with her. Second, two soldiers found Li'l Jo, and unable to corral the cat, were aiming their guns.

To the first action, Mxy immediately raised his hand. Kristogar's eyes widened as he saw the look in Mxy's face, and Velo reached out and grabbed Mxy's hand, feeling the fingers of Mick Harrison's body crunch. With his other hand, Velo fired a laser shot to the soldier that was roughing up Shirley, shocking him into unconsciousness...which had to be a better fate than what Mxy had in store.

To the second action, the reaction happened in the blink of an eye. Tobias grabbed the guns of the two soldiers and knocked them into unconsciousness as well. Everybody on both sides once again got into fighting positions.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Nemo was screaming his orders desperately. Amazingly, no shots were fired.

On the other side, Kristogar stepped out in front of his team, in between them and Nemo's forces, to prevent them from letting this get out of hand.

There was a stalemate, and a tense silence. Mxy repaired his hand.

"Nemo," Kristogar yelled. "If your men get fresh with us again, with any of us," gesturing toward Li'l Jo and Shirley, "all bets are off. You understand me?"

"Damn straight," Tobias muttered, feeling that Kristogar redeemed his earlier action of surrender.

"Understood," Nemo responded. Soldiers once again surrounded the group as they were finally led out of the caves.

As they were walking away, Danny spoke to Pete. "You know, what we just did, destroying those robots..."

"Yeh?"

"That felt great." The others silently nodded their agreement.

Why had they agreed to follow these soldiers?
They could easily have beaten them with their powers.
And why had he felt a connection to that white underground monster? Maybe he had seen it before?

Then there was that strange tugging feeling inside his very core soul. A tug to the south.
Something or someone wanted him to go there.

He looked at his friends, and decided to play along with whatever they had in mind.
Whatever it was that was calling him, was getting closer.
So he relaxed and searched the faces of his comrades for a sign of anything that would indicate a signal for him to break them free...

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: T5 ]

“Don’t go near the new guy, or you know what will happen!” said Walker. He can’t use one of his collars on me, but he doesn’t need it to keep me in chain. Every now and then, he comes to my compound holding my son, and rubbing heavily his neck. With the most evil smile I ever saw on a man.

So, even if there is no way this fortress can keep me imprisoned, I am. Prisoner of my love for a little kid that happen to share my complete genetic imprint. My clone. Myself, in a way. In reality, a baby so cute that I can’t stop to think it is my SON.

These days, that go trough an infinite series of tests and routines of training, I nearly never think about the friends I have left on the other side of the Atlantic, nor to the Time Trusts, who promised me happiness. My mind is set only over the way to free me and the kid. But although I spend much of my free time to wander along this underground building in air form, completely undetectable even from the most sophisticated apparels of walker, because when I turn into hydrogen I am just that, like all the other hydrogen in the air… well, in the months I have just spent here, I have found no absolutely way out.

Before my “death”, it would have been easy… I could, than, turn intangible and making people in contact with me turn intangible as well. Those days, I could have taken my kid for his hands, and simply run away to the surface, and far, far away, where Walker wouldn’t never find me.

Now no.

I can turn into gas, but I can’t make other people turn gas.

So there is no way I can’t hold my son without being solid, and the instant I turn solid my “colleagues” in the EPS are ready to stop me. Especially “John Doe”, the one that seems to have magic powers. I doubt he would be a match for Mxy, and surely he wouldn’t have been for the old Naecken (for the new one, who knows?), but surely he seems created to fight me. He has powers that give him total control over nature, over the elements… exactly what I am now. There is no way I can leave this place alive.

So, my only goal, for the moment, is to be able to hold, for the first time, my son.

I never touched him.

I saw him for the first time in a photos, in the hands of Doc Quantos, a lifetime ago in Mandelovia. Then for a moment in Thunder, at the TriVex Corporation, in the hands of Knell, just moments before we levelled the building. And then here, in the hands of Walker, that first time, when I awoke after having tried to sneak inside the building undetected. How ingenuous I was.

Since then, I have seen many times, nearly every day. Sometimes it is Walker to walk to my cell with the kid, to reassure his power over me; mostly it is myself which turns into air and winds to his place, to watch him unseen.

Usually he is in custody of Vidalia. Vidalia Owens, the girl of the EPS team. A true femme fatale, with piercing green eyes that seems to read right inside your mind. And maybe she is really a telepath, I don’t know. In truth, I don’t know much of every member of the team, and sometimes I wonder how I am supposed to work along people I don’t know. Secrets, distrust… how different is this team from the one I come from.

Anyway, I was talking about Vidalia. She is taking care of my child. She keeps him in her quarters, which looks like a greenhouse. She is a plant lover, and dress always in green.

To finally hold my baby, I came to the conclusion that I must work on her. For weeks I tried to talk to her, but she never even listened to me.

Some days ago, she arrived in bad conditions. It was the fight with the new guy, Stephen, the one with the Japanese sword, the one I must not talk to, that left her in those conditions. Her defences were not raised, and finally I could talk with the girl.

Basically I didn’t learned anything about her, her past or her powers, but I was able to make a first contact. We talked about plants, and flowers. Well, I talked mostly about vegetables, the only kind of plants I really know, but that amused her, somehow relieved her. She smiled, and then she laughed.

It’s funny to think how the first time I saw the woman, back in the Zoo many months ago, I felt an instinctive dislike for her, while now I was feeling a strong attraction for her as the talks were going on. Usually I am able to judge a person at first sight, this is the first time I failed so miserably.

Just when I was going to get in touch with her, she had to left, called by the voice of Walker coming from the communicator on his collar.

“Wait! Can I ask you a thing? Next time, would you bring me a seed of your favourite flower?” I said. She whispered a softly yes.

And now, many days later, she is here, in front of the open gate of my compound, with a very small seed in the middle of his open hand. “Here’s the seed. Now, would you explain what…”

“Shhh!” I whisper, putting my index finger in front of my closed mouth.

I take carefully the seed between my thumb and index, and put it in the middle of the other hand. Then I close the fingers over it, and change the hand into soft, brown earth. I pump water, and nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and many other minerals to the seed, raising the temperature and the humidity of the soil around the seed. And it, nurtured perfectly, germinates in a matter of seconds. Out of my fist come a little stem, with two minuscule leaves, but soon the stem grow, many others leaves appears, and finally a bud opens, petals stretches out and the flower, finally appears.

Vidalia marvels at the happening.

“It’s for you” I say, handling her the plant.

She takes it and run away.

The flower was a daisy.

A simple, yet beautiful daisy.

As Steve returned his fork to his tray, the door opened and two men walked in. One Steve recognized immediately. He was the one who'd taken his katana away. The other wasn't nearly as intimidating, but still seemed very smart - perhaps too smart for his own good.

"Ah, Mr. Richards, just the man I was looking for!" Dr. Charles Elias Walker said, smiling a lopsided, condescending smile. "How are you this fine day?"

"Been better," Richards muttered, picking at his food.

"Now, now, Mr. Richards, it's not polite to play with your food..." Walker said, sliding into the seat across from Steve and indicating his accomplice to do the same. Steve looked inquisitively at the balding man in orange taking a seat beside Walker.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Walker said playfully, slapping his forehead. "Allow me to introduce to you my esteemed colleague, former Head of Metagene Research at the late Tri-Vex labs, Dr. Walter Curie."

"Hey," Steve said, unenthusiastically raising his fork.

"Greetings," Curie said excitedly, a hungry gleam in his eye.

"Now, Mr. Richards, I just wanted to bring my colleague in to tell you how excited I am to bring you into our elite little cadre here. Dr. Curie would like to ask you a few... questions."

"Questions?" Steve asked, looking from Curie to Walker. "What kind of questions?"

"Consider it your entrance exam," Walker said smuggly.

"Firstly," Curie began immediately, "how long have you had this... magnificent sword?"

"Number of years ago. After my dad died."

"Interesting," Curie said, jotting a little note on a small memo pad. "And where did he get it?"

"From a friend," Richards said with a shrug.

"I see," Curie said. "And how long have you had these... abilities?"

"Ever since I've had the sword," Steve said, taking another mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Could you make your answers a bit more specific, Mr. Richards?" Curie said, putting his pad onto the table, visibly perturbed.

"No."

Curie's face became red as the man stood up suddenly and exited the room. Walker followed Curie out with his eyes, then redirected his gaze to Richards.

"That was brave, kid," Walker said, leaning in closer to Richards' face. "Tomorrow. Three AM. Training room. I'll bring your sword. You bring yourself. Clear?"

"Crystal."

With that, Walker stood, exiting the room. Steve Richards was once again alone.

"Don’t. I won’t give it."

"I don’t understand why not. Why did you just agree to be executed?"

"I’ve got a hunch. I’ll explain it later."

"Why not right now? We’ve got time."

"I wouldn’t want to offend our hosts," Kristogar kept ducking the question. Tobias sighed, but before he could press further the truck stopped. The team was led out, and found themselves before a building, about six stories high. They noticed that it was almost morning.

"This isn’t a prison, is it?" Sam asked.

Nemo simply said "No," as he led everyone inside. There was an elevator on the first floor, but Nemo simply walked by it and led the way up a flight of stairs. Everybody was quietly, and awkwardly, bantering with one another about nothing and anything in particular.

Kristogar took this opportunity to talk to Naecken. "Listen:
I need to thank you for holding back as you have. I know how much you can do..." He trailed off without finishing the thought.

Naecken replied in a strangely simple manner. "I do not understand your actions, but you gave the order." Kristogar was getting more and more concerned about the team--they were inexperienced, unfocused and impatient, relying only on their fight-or-flight mechanism. He didn’t mean to, but he temporarily assumed leadership when they stepped off the train. And now, if his hunch was right, they were about to enter negotiations with a man who could talk circles around them. He’d have to step in again.

Finally, they made the top floor. They continued until they got into a room that no soldiers except Nemo were allowed in.

"That’s strange," Sonja said.

"Why’n that?" Pete asked, in his unique way.

"They’re letting us have the numbers advantage in here," Sonja explained.

"We already had an advantage, with our powers--it doesn’t make much difference," Mxy pointed out.

"So why did we surrender again?" Tobias asked Velo before they entered an inner office, with only one desk with a man sitting behind it. Nemo walked over to his side without saying a word, and faced the team with a scowl on his face.

"Hello, ‘Revolutionaries’," the man behind the desk greeted. He noticed the cat that was among the group members, narrowed his eye and looked to Nemo, perhaps expecting an answer. Nemo didn’t give him one, so the man continued. "I’m General D’goon, the dictator of Mandelovia."

"The guy who ordered our execution," Tobias added, crossing his arms.

"Hm, yes. Of course, that order will be lifted if you agree to do something for me. That is, leave the country, and never come back. A plane is coming in very soon, and if you’d let it, it will take you to an island in the Carribean called La Perdita. I figured you’d appreciate that, since it’s a society open toward metahumans. Whatever you do from there is your own business, as long as you don’t come back here."

"Why capture us just to release us?" Kristogar inquired.

"I wanted to show you what is at my disposal," D’goon answered. "And believe me, there’s plenty more where all of that came from. I wanted you to see what I could do to you if you decide to reject my generosity."

"Uh huh. And we should agree to not to kick your ass now because...?" LLance retorted.

"Why aren’t we doing this in the Palace?" Kristogar asks abruptly.

"Because you might have found that atmosphere hostile. I wanted this to be a friendly little...chat." D’goon turned back to LLance. "You think I got to this position without
friends in high places? Pay attention who you’re talking to, whelp. And remember that you don’t want to cause any incident, lest you get an international price on your head."

Kristogar speaks up again. "Why would you do this for us?"

D’goon sighed. "Because, I also have some...non-friends, let’s say, in high places. I do this favor for you, you owe me one. In case I need some assistance, you provide it. If you don’t, well, I can always just kill you." D’goon smiled at his last remark. "The choice is yours, Velo."

Kristogar shook his head. "No, General. Our group is not a dictatorship. Give us time to discuss."

D’goon sighed again. He and Nemo exchanged a glance, then the General turned his attention back to the team. "We’ll give you five minutes." He got up and walked out. Gutsy, to say the least, to leave the team alone. They were quiet for a moment, wondering who should be the first to speak up.

"So, uh...what are we gonna do?" Sam asked.

"We give our opinions and decide what to do," Kristogar stated, not really helping matters any. "We should accept the offer. If we ever need to, we can always strike him down later."

"So why delay the inevitable?" Danny asked.

"I agree," Tobias began. "We should just take him to the fucking cleaners and get out of here."

"And then it all begins again--the running, the fighting, maybe we’ll be captured again and be killed this time. Our luck can’t last forever. Trust me, this is the best option," Kristogar said. "Why delay the inevitable?" He thought for a moment. "If it is inevitable that we must fight D’goon, and Nemo...we’re not ready for it now. We may be later. Perhaps being an ally, even for only this one agreement..."

"I don’t think we should indebt ourselves to a fascist bastard," Sonja replied.

"Hm. Naecken? Mxy? You’re the most powerful ones here, what do you think?" Kristogar was acting as sort of a mediary.

"I do not think we should leave," Naecken said. "There is much that needs to be done here. But I do trust you, Velo. I have seen greatness in you before."

"Um. Mxy?"

"Why don’t I just teleport us out of here?" Mxy wondered. "I could get us to La Perdita, or anywhere else."

"You sure you have the energy for that? You seem pretty tired," Kristogar observed.

"Maybe I am," Mxy admitted. "But I also think we should consider what we’re doing. Putting ourselves in the services of a dictator?"

"I don’t care what we decide, I’m not doing any service for D’goon," Sonja muttered.

"I have taken into consideration every possible outcome of our situation. Trust me, people, when I say that this is the best way out. Trust me," Kristogar said. Another moment of hesitation.

"Dammit," Danny said. "Okay, Velo, I trust you. Let’s get out of here."

"Can I put in a vote?" Shirley asked.

"Sure, we are being democratic here," Kristogar told her.

"I just want this to all end. I want to actually sleep in a bed somewhere. Let’s just get the hell out of here."

Mxy seemed to soften at Shirley’s words. "Alright, count me in."

"I think we can take them," Sam said. "We should just kill D’goon and the guy with the hook."

"I don’t know," LLance said, trying to think. "It seems easiest to...let’s take the first plane out."

"Pete, you’re unusually quiet," Kristogar remarked. "Anything to add?"

"Shite, I dinnow," Pete said. He considered for a moment. "This’s...no mer fightin’. Les’ go."

"If you guys really think we should, I’ll agree," Sam joined the conversation again.

"I still hate the idea...," Tobias added. "But first, Velo, why did we surrender? I mean, if there was an execution order--"

"The order was lifted long ago," Kristogar quickly replied. "Otherwise, why were the
machines deactivated when we first saw Nemo? Otherwise, why would Nemo try to capture us, just to kill us later?" The logic set in.

"Well, you could’ve just said that," Tobias said.

"Even so," Danny started. "We could’ve just fought the other soldiers. They didn’t have anything to take us out."

"You didn’t notice, then, that twenty-six of the ‘soldiers’ were roaming around unarmed?" Kristogar asked.

"So?"

"That may not mean much to you, but--" D’goon and Nemo re-entered the room.

"What is your decision?" D’goon asked intently, already prepared for the answer.

"We’re accepting your offer," Kristogar stated, before turning to the rest of the group. "Any of you can back out any time," he said to them, testing and almost daring them. Nobody spoke up.

D’goon breathed a sigh of relief. "I’m glad you see things my way--"

"We don’t," Sonja interjected.

D’goon continued. "--and remember that you owe me one."

The plane arrived less than one hour later.

(Really great ending for a very cool story. Go start the next one!)

[ 04-20-2002: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]