RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Hero Revolution [Return to Mandelovia] #3

I close the paper, and take my coffee.

“Do you think they were the same heroes of Chicago, Guido?” asks Lorelei. Guido is the secret identity I use here in the circus. Edulcore Cicciotto is officially dead for the world, and for now that’s for the better.

I watch the girl in the eyes, and smile. “No. it has been Santa Claus to bring down TriVex. It’s all written here, there is even a picture”.

Lorelei laughs, and sits in front of me. “That ghost! He is really a man! Not a lazy boy like you!”

“Thank you for the boy, but I’m really 34! And I am not really lazy, since my show is the best reviewed one of the whole circus.”

“Yeah, yeah. But you and your friends should train more, you know…”

“Yes, I know… by the way, today is the last day in Thunder. Where are we going next?”

“Don’t you know? Nobody has yet told you? We are going on an international tour! Tomorrow we’ll left for Europe. First stop, Mandelovia!

The circus went just like it always did. Everyone did their part, and the crowd cheered. Everyone was pleased.

"Great job, guys!" Eurostar said. "It's intermission time. Let's rest up and be back in fifteen minutes."

The group headed outside the tent to do whatever until it was time to get back to work. Mxy and Naecken decided to get something to eat, and Eurostar gave the new guys a quick tour of the grounds. Tobias went to rest up outside of his trailer.

"Hey, can I get your autograph? Your act is so cool." The boy asked. He was only about four years younger than Tobias, and looked strikingly similar.

"Sure, kid," Tobias said. "Who should I make it out to?"

"Trevor," The boy said as Tobias signed the book. "Thanks. I've seen your show every chance I get."

"Thanks... I guess," Tobias replied. "Intermission's almost over. Back to work. See you around, kid."

"Yeah," Trevor said. "See you around."

12:50 pm
Eurostar hanging on a revolving board , and a beautifull girl throwing knifes at him.

13:35 pm
A demon appears in one of Chicago´s alleys. It kills a bum, and uses the skin as a coat.

As Mxy does his magic number (the owner of the circus was reluctant to have a magic number because they are not espectacular enough... Mxy proved him wrong), he notices a familiar face in the crowd... a good looking gal looking at him.
Then he remembers... it's Shirley! The girl he met in Chicago!
He ignores that she spoke to Mick hours before leaving Chicago... in fact, she's the reason Mick stayed with the team.
Shirly of course doesn't know two minds live inside one body, so she thinks she's looking at Mick.
After the show ends, Mxy tries to find her in the crowd leaving the circus, but she left in a rush... she has a plane to catch.
"Too bad I have to go to Mandelovia, I'd like to get to know him better" she thought before leaving.
Mxy bumps into Naecken.

Neacken: Are you Mick?

Mxy: No, I'm Mxy, I'm not Mick--

As the light in his eyes dissapears, Mick inmediatly throws the top hat on his head away and leaves the coat in the floor.

Mick: Dammit, this things keep coming back, no matter where I hide them...

Naecken: Hello.

Mick: Hi, Nae. Wanna grab a bite?

"Er... yes" Naecken answers, wondering what Mick means.

They go to a cafeteria. Mick orders a burger.

Waitress: And what can I getcha?

Naecken: Umm... a bite?

Mick is eating his burger, when he notices the telephone in the counter... that reminds him of something.

Mick: HOLY SHIT!

Waitress: Hey, watch the lenguage!

Owner: We don't serve that kinda thing here, mister! If you don't like the burger you're free to leave!

Mick: I'm sorry, it's just that I remembered that I have to call someone... can I use the phone?

Owner: Go ahead. No long-distance calls, sonny!

"Sure..." Mick says, as he starts dailing a number in Chicago.

Mick: C'mon, c'mon...

Naecken: Who are you calling?

Mick: My roomate... I haven't seen him since -- Hi? Paul?

Naecken: ...since hi-paul...?

Mick: Paul! How're you, man! I'm alive, yes... No, no... What? I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you... Look, I just called to say I was OK... OOOK, bye... Oh, and do me a favour, man... could you call my mom and tell her I'm OK? No? Nevermind, then... bye.

Mick hangs the phone and sighs...

Mick: Ufffff... I'm glad I took care of that. Let's go, Nae.

Naecken: I cannot leave. I must finish my coffee.

Mick: Did you... order that coffee?

Neacken: No.

Mick: Then it's ok to leave. Lets go.

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: I'm Not Mister Mxypltk ]

"Thank you, Chief," Dr. Henry Quantos replied, trying to hide the sorrow in his voice. "Your next assignment is waiting for you here at the office..."

"No prob, Doc. Bibbo out."

Quantos sighed as he thought of how the promise and potential of that brilliant young man had been utterly wasted in this preventable tragedy. Kristofer Schanz just seemed to have been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was hit by that sports-car. If he believed in it at all Quantos would have thought that Schanz had just run into a streak of bad luck...

“Tomorrow, Guido” she say, smiling to me softly.

“Tomorrow. We’ll travel by ship, I presume.”

“No. We’ll go by plane. The tour is slated to start in two days.”

“By plane? And all the stuff, the tents, the vans?”

“Mr. Wong has sold everything, and new equipment is awaiting us in Mandelovia.”

“Oh! I never imagined that circuses work this way…”

“They don’t, Sardella” says a voice behind me.

It’s Mr. Wong, the circus’ owner which has just entered the van.

“Good morning” I say, in a low tone.

“’morning. Circuses don’t work in this way, but we must leave America as soon as possible.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Because things are changing in the government. Word on the street is that the research on the metahumans have been put to an halt. A forced stop, that has caused some shakes in the politics. And since then, the police has been put on our tail again. I have spent a lot, year ago, at the time of the first great hunt of metahumans, to have the MCCA out of my circus. I don’t want to go trough all of that again, so we leave for some time.”

“How much?”

“Weeks, months, years, who knows? Not until things settle down here. You see, Mr. Sardella, there are person in Washington and at Langley, I have heard, that are somehow relating this circus to the group of metas that have taken down the TriVex tower. I don’t know if this is true, and really I don’t want to know. But we’ll leave tomorrow anyway…”

“I have business that keep me here in the USA…”

“Let me to be clear, Guido: your group is quickly becoming the most important attraction of this circus. I have given you a place to rest, a job, a cover, when you arrived to my circus in Chicago, without asking who you were and why you would work here. I think you owe me something… Remember, I don’t want to know if you are the so called Revolutionaries, and even if you are I don’t give a damn about, but that’s only until you work for me. Leave, and I will consider myself free to sell the information to whoever pay for it. And don’t even think of closing my mouth, because I have… friends… here to watch over me.”

I look at him in the eyes, without saying anything.

“I’m sure you will stay with us. See you later, Sardella” Wong says, and leave the van.

“Wow! I can’t believe he thinks you are the ghost! It’s so absurd!” says Lorelei, laughing loud.

Sometime I believe she is the only one to not know my true identity…

"Yes." Eurostar nodded his head.

"Working for the circus?"

"You could be a clown?"

"Cool!" Larry was obviously excited. A bunch of childhood dreams all rolled into one was all that he could think of. Running away and joining the circus! Traveling to foreign lands! Becoming a super-powered, costumed adventurer! "Cool!" he reiterated.

"Where you going, Larry?" Eurostar asked.

"To design a proper costume...and to decide on a code name!"

Eurostar grinned as Larry walked away mumbling possible code names to himself.

"Super-Lance...Sir Lancelot...LanceMan...The Boiled Lance..."

"Hmmm..." Eurostar said aloud. "Please don't pick The Boiled Lance, my young friend!"

-NOTHING in this caravan is voice-activated. NOTHING. I have to get up and walk everywhere. Want to turn on the microwave? Get up and walk. Want to turn on the light switch? Get up and walk. How the hell do 2001 people handle all this walking?

-I have to actually stand up to use the toilet. Well, half of the time, anyway.

-Public transport. Enough said.
(Mental note: Ask someone if rocket packs have been invented yet).

-The bed is the wrong shape. All rectangular and flat and stuff.

-The sky is an odd shade of blue. It's disconcerting.

-I still haven't been able to figure out how to play... "CDs"... on this stereo Mr Wong put in my van.

Mr. Wong has provided each of us with a passport, I wonder where he has found them. I guess money can open every door…

Before leaving for the airport, I have made a last trip to the bookstore, to buy a Tourist Guide to Europe, and now, while we are on the bus that will bring us to the Robert Kamphausen International Airport of Thunder City, I have opened it on the Mandelovian section.

quote:

---

(Originally posted by Chewy Walrus at Athanon, slightly altered and added on by your truly Europerson)

MANDELOVIA

Mandelovia sits in the European world as almost an enigma. Many people outside of Europe have never heard of the nation, and even European school children have difficulty locating it on a map of the continent. Nevertheless, Mandelovia stands as a beacon among the nations and cities of Europe.

HISTORY

Sometime in the late thirteenth century (the exact date has was included in The Foundation of Mandelovia by Boris Mandelov; unfortunately, all copies of this book were burned by the Nazis during World War II), Boris Mandelov, a prolific inventor and prominent member of the magistrate council of Ivan the Great, grand duke of Muscovy. Mandelov, being one of Ivan’s most trusted friends and advisors, was sent to expand Russian territory to the water front. Mandelov left and founded a small port city of Mandelovia, which he named for himself, as Ivan’s insistence.

Shortly before his death in 1505, Ivan signed a document that cemented the small city as a sovereign nation, capable of maintaining itself on a global scale. Immediately after, Mandelov and a few close advisors and friends, drafted the Mandelovian Charter, which served to lay out the system of governing. In the first (and only) unanimous vote in Mandelovian history, Boris Mandelov was named the nation’s first President-Prime Minister in 1515.

Mandelov then appointed his Congressional Parliament, which would govern the nation in his absence or incapacitation. They included Italian fisherman Zacaria Sardella, Bavarian soldier Hollis D’goon, German philosopher Ludwig Strauss, and British sailor Sir Gregory Mark. These four men assessed different areas of the Mandelovian government and offered aid and advise to President-Prime Minister Mandelov. Sardella was named Head of Internal Affairs, D’goon, Head of the Mandelovian Armed Forces, Strauss, Head Justice, and Mark, Head of the Treasury.

Mandelovia still holds to these traditions today, looking back to their great hero and founder Boris Mandelov. Since it’s inception, Mandelovia has not grown much, however, and is classified by some not as a nation, but, instead, as a city-state.

GOVERNMENT

The Mandelovian system of government, as it stands in the Mandelovian Charter, is run by two branches – the administrative branch and the governmental-legal branch. The administrative branch is the alternate name for the position of President-Prime Minister. A PPM, as they are called for short, is the monarchal-republican ruler of Mandelovia.

Every six years, the Presidential-Prime Ministerial elections are held in Mandelovia. During this occasion, the winner of the majority vote wins the seat of Mandelovia’s chief administrative officer. However, according to Article 9, Section 27-B of the Mandelovian Charter, “if a President-Prime Minister is not selected, then all the powers granted unto him and his position are to be given in full to the Congressional Parliament’s Security Council.”

The Congress-Parliament is the governmental-legal branch of Mandelovian government. It consists of four equally powered Heads and one hundred citizen members. The “Heads” are the Head of Internal Affairs, the Head of the Armed Forces, the Head of the Treasury, and the Head Justice. These men are appointed by each President-Prime Minister and serve for as long as he does. The one hundred citizen members, however, are elected annually from among the populace.

The Head of Internal Affairs oversees everything about the city of Mandelovia herself. He supervises the construction of roads, buildings, highways, and railroads. He watches over the agriculture and farming areas of Mandelovia, making sure that the general populace is cared for. He also makes sure that Mandelovia’s second largest industry, tourism, is maintained in all efficiency. Most importantly, however, the Head of Internal Affairs looks out for the personal well-being of every Mandelovian.

The Head of the Armed Forces has obviously been placed in charge of all forms of Mandelovian military. Mandelovia has a gifted army and navy, which consists of every able-bodied male member of the country. (For this reason, some critics claim that Mandelovia’s military is nothing more than a militia.) However, there are full-time officers, who keep the peace among the population. The other members are considered “off-draft” until a time of war, something that Mandelovia has very nearly never experienced. The Head of the Armed Forces is in charge of enforcement of the laws set in action by the rest of the CP.

The Head of the Treasury assumes command of Mandelovian commerce and economy. This man monitors every aspect of Mandelovian commerce, mainly interstate trade, as Mandelovia’s isolationist tendencies are concerned (see the section entitled Foreign Relations for more information). He also monitors businesses and makes decisions regarding the national economy of Mandelovia as a whole. The Head of the Treasury is also in charge of maintaining Mandelovia’s budget, making sure goals are met and spending is not superceded.

The Head Justice heads up the “legal” half of the governmental-legal branch. He sits at the head of all courts in Mandelovia, while an appointed twenty-five of the one hundred elected citizen members of the CP (Congressional Parliament) sit as the jury. All criminals, enemies of state, and other law-breakers come before the Head Justice.

The one hundred citizen members of the CP are elected annually from among the populace to make laws and decisions regarding the governing and running of Mandelovia. All laws must be passed by a three-fourths majority vote, then approved by both three-fourths of the CP Heads and then by the PPM. Any laws that are not twice approved are sent back to the citizen members for review and revision, or for complete omission.

The President-Prime Minister is above the CP Heads, as he is the one who appoints them, but, in order to maintain a favorable balance of powers, the Heads and the PPM must each stand trial annually in what is called the Mandelovian Council and listen to the grievances of the population. As they are looking out for the good of the populace, any decisions made at the Council are to be set in action by the Heads and PPM immediately, no questions asked.

In retrospect, Mandelovia is a democracy, a monarchy, a republic, and an oligarchy, yet it is also none of these things. Mandelovia was set up as having a unique system of government since it’s inception, and that uniqueness has lasted even to this day.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Aside from a near entry into World War II, Mandelovia has remained the most neutral country in all the world. The Mandelovian Palace has been the location of a number of peace talks for warring European nations. Mandelovia’s neutrality has been said to even rival that of Sweden and Switzerland.

The main reason for Mandelovia’s neutrality is her isolationist tendencies, much like those practiced by the early Americans. Mandelovia’s first PPM, Boris Mandelov, knowing that a small nation like Mandelovia was likely to be pressured by larger nations, set up what was known as the Mandelov Isolation Act of 1519. This act said that Mandelovia, as a nation, was to remain a separate, sovereign entity from other nations. The act prohibited the country from forming military alliances and set the Armed Forces up as a defensive measure only.

Since Mandelov helped put the law into action, other measures have been made to isolate Mandelovia from the rest of the world. The Sardella-Mark Act of 1522 prohibited Mandelovia from participating in any foreign trade, forcing them to build their own economy to suit all their needs, and thus promoting self-sufficiency. In an address made after the Second World War, President-Prime Minister Mortimeri Stanton said that “Mandelovia shall, under no circumstances, participate in this global ‘team-up’ known as the United Nations! Our forefather, Boris Mandelov, meant for Mandelovia to be her own nation, and, as I stand here before you today, I declare that that shall be!” This speech prompted the passing of the Stanton-Passor Act, which forbade Mandelovia from joining any sort of “League of Nations” or sending ambassadors to other nations.

Mandelovia’s isolationist tendencies have not dissuaded tourists from entering her borders. Mandelovia’s tourism, actually, is at an all-time high. While Mandelovia is, by it’s nature, a melting pot of different cultures, those various cultures have made Mandelovia, the stunningly beautiful land of heritage that it is today.

ECONOMY & COMMERCE

Due to the Sardella-Mark Act of 1522, trade and sales among various nations is forbidden in Mandelovia. Because of this, Mandelovia is incredibly self-sufficient. However, despite the tabs kept on trade, foreign merchants representing large corporations manage to move to Mandelovia and set up their own places of business. Examples of this would include McDonald’s, the Gap, and Nike.

However, Mandelovia does most of its food growth right in the city. Hydroponics laboratories placed at various temperatures allow for almost any type of food to be grown for Mandelovian sale and consumption. Genetically engineered beef, poultry, fish, and other meats largely have replaced farming in Mandelovia, though some farms do exist on the outskirts of the country, just beyond the city limits. Clothing production is also solely Mandelovian (with the exception of the “foreign merchant” stores).

The Mandelovian unit of currency is the Sed, which has been in circulation since 1947, when the Congressional Parliament decided to change the unit from the florin it had used during World War Two. The Sed bears the image of Boris Mandelov on one side and a picture of the Mandelovian Palace on the other.

The Mandelovians are largely capitalists, though there seem to be very few that fit into the “lower class” lifestyle. Mostly are fairly well off with fairly well-paying jobs. Most are involved with Mandelovia’s chief product, technology, such as computers, software, and items that seem very futuristic compared to the tech used by the rest of the world. (It is said that Mandelov, the gifted inventor, had prophetic visions of future equipment and used that foreknowledge to build Mandelovia into the technological marvel that it is today. This is also said to be the initial reason behind the often disputed Sardella-Mark Act. However, this “fact” is merely speculation and hear-say.)

THE CITY

The city of Mandelovia basically consists of two main parts – New Mandelovia and Old Mandelovia. Old Mandelovia is the part of the city that has been standing since it’s inception more than five hundred years ago. The buildings there are very old, yet some (for example, the Mandelovian Palace) have been upgraded to include the latest in Mandelovian technology.

Among the buildings and attractions that exist in Old Mandelovia are the Mandelovian National Museum of Art, the Boris Mandelov memorial, and, in the heart of the city, the Mandelovian Palace

New Mandelovia is the more modern area of Mandelovia. It includes many of the software companies and other businesses, as well as the offices of the Congressional Parliament Heads. What Old Mandelovia lacks in 21th Century “magic”, New Mandelovia more than makes up for with it’s advanced technology used on everything from street lights to ways of beating pollution.

Outside of New Mandelovia are the centers of “normal” life in Mandelovia. Toward the land-locked side of the country, farmers and shepherds care for their flocks, animals, and vegetables in order to provide just some of the food supply for all of Mandelovia. On the sea-board side, Mandelovia Harbor houses a great number of ships, which are used for fishing, sailing, water skiing, and other aquatic activities. In a secluded area of the harbor is the vessel of Zacaria Sardella, which has been docked in the Harbor since 1580. A ways out from the harbor sits the D’goon Lighthouse, named for Hollis D’goon, the first Mandelovian Head of the Armed Forces. Some, however, argue that it is named for WWII General Mortirmeri D’goon. However, since the lighthouse was built and named in 1953, it is almost impossible to know which.

THE COUNTRY

Altough very small, Mandelovia shows a very environmentally different territory, stretching from the subtropical seaside to some of the highest peaks in Europe, with nearly artic conditions. It also sports the only European desert, well known among geographers for its peculiar shape: it is perfectly circular, an event so rare, or better to say, impossible in nature, that many have speculated it could hark back to an unspecified “alien war” fought in an ancient past on our planet, using nuclear devices.
Apart from these silliness, the country of Mandelovia mirrors the variety of its cultures, presenting a vast array of flora and fauna, typical of very different places. So, not far from Mediterranean monks seals sun bating on the beach, we found the ptarmigan of the boreal tundra, and while in the top of the mountains lives birch and Scottish pines, in the coast we can found palms and olives tree.

---

The memories of the desert come to me. The manifestation of my powers, the death of Lorena, the meeting with Danny. It was mere weeks ago, it seems like years have passed…

A large man in uniform talks to a tall woman, with black-bluish hairs, tied under the hat, blue eyes, a perfect nose and large, sensual lips, painted of a deep dark nuance of red.

“We have localized our man, lieutenant Ljzavet”.

“Where is he, General Bulgacov?” The voice of the woman is deep and warm, with an accent that betrays her Siberian origin.

“He is hiding in a circus. An American circus.”

“Must I leave for America, then?”

“No. The circus is just leaving for Mandelovia. You will be waiting for it there."

All went right trough the check in, nobody in charge of the security suspected that our passport are false. But maybe they knew, and were happy we were leaving. Who knows?

Nowhereman seems the most excited, he keeps telling that maybe TOMB will help us to find our lost memories. How visiting the cemetery of Mandelovia would open our eyes on his personal reality is anyone guess, but maybe we should simply stop to listen to him, and bless the fact that at last is maybe the best hand to hand combatant of our group.

Anyhow, all went straight. No demons showing up in the parking, no MCCA agents coming out of the toilets, no marine serpents, armed lizards and zombies arriving to spoil our departure.

We took our places on the plane, we took flight, and now the Atlantic is under us, and all is perfect.

Mxy, Danny, Lance and Tobias are exchanging ideas about living in the past or the future, in a three or five dimensional place, and that seems perfectly normal.

Nowhereman and Kristogar Velo keeps talking secretively, I think Velo is trying to make sense of the reality the British is experiencing. There seems to be a strong bond between the two.

Naecken sits behind them, and listen closely to their talks. After the “change”, he has become a totally different beings. Where before he (or they) seemed to know everything was happening, to have the right answer to all my questions, now he is like a children in a word he doesn’t understand. For me, it’s like I have lost a friend. The only true friend I had in this mad world

But there is another person for who I care a lot. Lorelei, the contortionist who had given me a place to rest in her van, after our was destroyed.

She sits near me. We talked a lot, I enjoyed every word we exchanged. There is a strong bond that is creating between us, and a sexual tension is mounting fast. I don’t want to have things going quickly, I don’t want a stable relation, not with a son waiting to be rescued, somewhere in America.

But this woman is special, and now sleep, her head lowered on my left shoulder.

I am about to fall asleep myself, when my eyes catch a title on the newspaper the man at my right is reading: “Thunder City Central Bank robbed Christmas night”. Right when we levelled TriVex. What a coincidence.

Then, all turn black. There is no plane, no passengers, no friends or Lorelei. Only the sky above me, and the ocean below.

And in front of me floats my costume, empty, but shaped like someone is wearing it. And it talks: “Beware, Edulcore. You are near the last station. Be prepared. Follow your heart, a second chance will be granted to you. Only then you will feed the serpents”.

I open my eyes. The plane is still here, with all the passengers, and the hairs of Lorelei still stroke my cheeck..

I only dreamed.

I'm not comfortable with this. Not at all.

I'm flying in an antique.

"Jesus, calm down..." Tobias says.

"What?" I say to him.

"You've been fidgeting the whole trip. Surely you've flown before," He replies.

"Never on anything this... old."

Both of us are silent for a moment.

I look ahead, to a small box suspended from the ceiling a few metres in front of us.

"What the hell is that?" I ask Tobias.

The box is about a foot and a half wide, and is entirely black. There seems to be a glass cover over the front, and there's some sort of control panel at the bottom.

"That? That's a television," Tobias says to me, looking a little puzzled. "What, you don't have TV in your time?"

"Sure, we have TV... but not like that," I reply.

Suddenly, pictures appear from behind the glass cover.

"Well, I'll be damned..." I say quietly.

"That thing'll rot your brain, you know."

"...shut up, Hal..."

How the hell did it turn itself on?

Oh. I see. Just to my left is a stewardess holding... something black. Some sort of hand-held control...

"It's two dimensional..." I say.

"Yes. Yes it is," Lance replies.

I can't help but thinking, once again, how primitive this time is.

My lungs suddenly feel... congested. And a little itchy. I cough loudly. I do it again.

Damn. This sucks.

I feel a little... dizzy. I keep coughing.

"Danny, are you okay?" Someone says. I think it was Mxy. Or Mick. One of the two.

"Yeah... I just need a glass of water," I say, getting up.

"When I was three my mother took me to Canada to visit my cousins," Tobias said. "I always thought about going there to visit them someday."

"What's wrong with him?" Mick asked as Danny was hurrying down the aisled.

"Air sickness?" Tobias thought. "Let's see what's on t.v., Mxy."

"I'm Mick, not Mxy.... Oh, shi-" Mick's eyes started to light up as the top hat and overcoat appeared.

"I love doing that." Tobias said.

I have heard his words, and now I can't stop to wonder.

This is not the first time he flies. He has fled from Mandelovia to Chicago with me, weeks ago, after he appeared in the desert, arriving from the future, if what he has said to me was real.

I traveled hidden inside him, in ghost form. And now, he seems to have forgotten everything.

I remember it, so it has happened. Changing history has nothing to do with it. There must be something else...

Or meybe IT has to do. Maybe changing HIS past, is altering OUR future, and now his own set of memories keeps changing out of synchro with the rest of reality.

Could he be a walking time-bomb?

[ 01-12-2002: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Kristogar doesn't pay attention to the time traveler's apparent sickness, worrying too much about hiding his own pain.

Naecken takes a look at it and asks; "Why is it round?"
"Sorry? What was that?" replies Eurostar.
"The sand...why is it round?"
Eurostar explains the myths and legends about the place, and secretly hopes that he has finally reached the transformed Naecken, but his only reply is; "I see."

And then Naecken looks outside the window, and says with a calm voice; "Who are they? And why are they fighting?"

Eurostar almost jumps out of his seat to take a look through the small window.

Two men in halfplate armor and swords are floating above a cloud, fighting with swords that ignite lightning each time they strike.
Luckily not one bolt hits the plane, and the scene is soon lost behind them.

He recalls a news report about two brothers living just outside the border of Mandelovia, named White and Red Scorpion. Hunted metahumans that may or may not be responsible for many deaths of innocent people in their brawls, with others or themselves. They too live on the run from the government agencies.
Naecken starts to rise from his chair, but Eurostar stops him; "It´s not the best time to do anything now. We will have to wait until the next time we see them. Who knows, they may show up in Mandelovia?"
Naecken looks at him with his red, unemotional eyes. Then relaxes and sits down.

"Agent Digigrrl, will you turn that television off?" shouted Dr. Henry Quantos from his laboratory, where he'd been going through and approving Chief Bibbo's plans for their upcoming mission. "DIGIGRRL?!?"

Quantos reluctantly rose from his desk and impatiently stormed over to the empty recreation room, muttering something about common decency, and was about to turn the television off, when something stayed his hand. He listened and watched.

"--world's luckiest man! And he lives right here in Mandelovia!"

" 'World's luckiest... man'...?" Quantos muttered, frowning and rubbing his cropped white beard in thought.

"We caught up with the world's luckiest man earlier today, after in only one week he had won the Mandelovian Lottery, won a privately-sponsored trip to Space Station Mir, and became the Chief Executive Officer of a multi-national company -- BountyLand Foods, Ltd -- when he won the controlling stocks of the company in a card-game mere hours before they skyrocketed up in value!

"But what do we know of the world's luckiest man? Very little, it would seem, beyond his name: Pete 'the Chimp' Glover. Up until this week this Charlie Chaplin-like 'little tramp' was a drifter, originally from Newfoundland, who had worked in an acrobatic act with his father in the circus as a child."

"Mr. Glover, to what do you account your recent skyrocket to success?"

"I be'n jinxed afore. N'arn jinxed a'more."

"That story and more, coming up next, on Mandelovia Today!"

"Hmmm..." Dr. Quantos murmured in thought. "I think I'll have to send Chief Bibbo on one more mission before the next one..."

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: TheTimeTrust ]

Mxy complains about how the flight seemd to last days, Nowhereman complains about being in Europe, Danny complains about feeling sick, Kristogar complains about his knee, Lance complains about the airline food, Neacken complains about how they should have taken care of the men fighting in the sky, Tobias complains about everyone complaning and Eurostar complains about the group of terrorists pointing guns at everyone.
The rest realize Eurostar is right and they start acting against the terrorists.
They start protecting the other passangers without using any powers, while Eurostar and Tobias move at super-speed (so fast nobody can see them) and quickly take the guns away.
In two minutes the terrorists are defeated without any sign of metahuman activity, so the guys can go back to their whining.

[ 01-14-2002: Message edited by: I'm Not Mister Mxypltk ]

The trucks are followed by the collection of caravans that house the various circus performers and stage crew.

And right at the back of the unlikely parade, is the bus carrying us all to the site.

I have to admit, I still feel a little uneasy watching the road dominated by antiques.

Eurostar is sitting next to me.

"Danny..." He says.

"Yeah?" I reply, turning to face him.

"I couldn't help overhearing you on the plane. You said you'd never flown before... but you have. When I first met you, we flew from Mandelovia to the United States..." He says.

Shit. He's right. Why didn't I remember that?

This must be the third or fourth time it's happened.

Memory losses. Temporary lapses in my recollection.

"Damn... you're right," I tell him.

"Why did you forget this?" He asks, sounding a little worried.

"Well... I didn't want to tell anyone. But lately, I've been getting... memory lapses. I've forgotten things... never anything this big, though..." I explain to him.

And it's true. I have.

"I have this theory... maybe your memories are out of synch with our reality, due to your being here changing the timeline..." Euro explains.

"Maybe... or maybe it's something to do with that fact that I had my brain cut open, and bits of another brain shoved in there. That's bound to cause some damage," I reply.

"...perhaps..."

Damn. What the hell is going on here?

"Hal," I say quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm assuming you've got all the information on my body stored inside you. My genetic patterns and all that... you'd know exactly how everything's supposed to be running."

"Of course. How else could I tell the microbes which particular DNA strands to mess about with?"

"Right. So... could you run a check? On my brain? See if everything's in working order?"

"Like a diagnostic?"

"Something like that."

"Sure. This something to do with those memory blackouts?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I can do that. No problem. But listen, I'll need to knock you out cold for a few hours to do it properly."

"Uh... okay. We'll do it when we get to the site, and my caravan's set up."

"Sure thing."

"Well... it's all taken care of," I say reassuringly to Eurostar, smiling at him.

I wish I could feel as reassured as I sound. This isn't exactly the most well-tested medical procedure.

"Monsieur Glover?" a French waiter says, holding a tray full of bottles and wine glasses while averting his eyes from the frolicking going on in the hot tub.

"Ya?" the 4'11" Pete 'the Chimp' Glover shouts as he takes the foot of the former Miss America and tries to tickle her enough to make her lose control of her laughing, while carefully tugging at the bikini string of the Playboy bunny next to him. The ex-wife of Billionaire Terrence Holloway, feeling neglected, begins blowing into his ear.

"Your... beer, Monsieur..."

"Sleeman's, ya twit! Some smart one you is. If I 'ad a face da likes a yers, me son, I'd walk backwards," Pete says as the girls titter and giggle. He makes rings with his finger at his temple as the French waiter waits. "Stun as me arse he is... now knock off!"

"Oui, Monsieur..." the waiter says, leaving the beer and the wine glasses on a tray by the hot tub.

Pete throws a thumb back to the retreating waiter, saying, "Buddy whasisname has a head hard as the knockers of Newgate..." He laughs heartily at his own joke while the three ladies look at each other with confused looks and giggle politely.

"This is wrong, Pete."

"Eh? Whassat, boy? Who said 'at?"

"Nobody said anything, Petey," the Playboy bunny whispered as she ran her hands over his scrawny and hairy back.

"Could'a swore I heard..."

"You are using your gifts purely for your own selfish gain. Shame, shame..."

"Dere's somebuddy 'ere!"

"There's nobody here but us, sweetie," the former Miss America says as she begins sucking on his gnarly big toe at the end of one of his unusually large feet on such puny legs.

"Your good fortune and powers over the laws of probability give you a responsibility to help all of mankind!!!"

"AAAHHHHHHH!!!" Pete shouts as he jumps out of the hot tub, wearing nothing but speedos. "Geddafuckawayfromee!"

"What's wrong, Petey?" the ex-wife of the billionaire says, concerned.

The window shatters at that moment as several bullets whiz by him. The three ladies duck into the hot tub as Pete leaps behind a table.

The door breaks down just then. "EVERYBODY DOWN! NOW!!!"

This new figure runs into the room and over to the window and fires three shots into the air, then runs over to the cowering Petey and picks him up, throwing him over his shoulder as he runs out of the room.

"I guess that's the end of the party..." the Playboy bunny complains as she crosses her arms and pouts just the way Hef taught her to...

In any other place they would have been outcasts, in a circus they can be stars.

The biggest surprise was after the arrival at the Mandelovia Airport. No, I’m not referring to the terrorists act. That was normal administration for us, the training we had in the last days have given fruit, and now we are able to use our powers in a cohesive manner, without hampering each other. We are good, I have to admit.

The merit for it goes to Kristogar, which is a great coach for “superhero” action routines. He still doesn’t want to talk to me about his past, but apart that, he is great. I asked him to take the mantle of the leader, but he refused. “The leader should be Nowhereman, he has the natural gift to lead many men in the field” he said. I looked at him with a puzzled look, and he laughed loudly. “You consider him crazy, Cicciotto?” he said.

“Frankly, yes. I can’t see how a man that sees the world totally different from us can led us in our mission. But the strange thing is that weeks ago one of the being that forms Naecken has said the same thing. What do you know about Nowhereman?” I said.

“Nothing you don’t know yet. But I can see he has very impressive abilities. And the things about the other reality… It’s something to investigate, not to dismiss so easily…”

The conversation was stopped abruptly by the arrival of Mr. Wong, and we never had the time to resume it. Maybe later, I hope.

The surprise I was referring to was the new vans Mr. Wong has reserved for us. Three big caravans, all black with a red and white logo “The Sardella Brothers”. Way out cool.

I am in the back of one of them, with Mxy and Kristogar, to explain them my idea.

“Guys, we need a little more space for us. Some sort of secret cabinet for the guns that Kristogar keeps creating, some sort of computer able to hack into the governments networks… those sort of things…”

“You want a Hero Headquarters?” says Kristogar, smiling.

“More or less, yes. A place out of the reaches of any curious people, where we could talk freely and prepare our plans…” I say. “And since you are a technological genius and Mxy is a being from the fifth dimension, I was thinking of a tessaract…”

The two looks at each other. “Yes, that could work” says Kristogar. “We could connect the three vans with a multipurpose room…” continues Mxy. “And since outside the three dimensional space there is no gravity, we could have the meeting place on the floor, the monitor section on the ceiling and maybe a training room on the walls”.

“So, it is possible?” I say, excited.

“Well…theoretically yes… but where will we find all the materials to build it?”

I know a place where all the needed stuff surely should be… Malvan-X. Here in Mandelovia.

"Yes, Chief? What is it?" Quantos said, frowning.

"I think you'd better come with me," Bibbo replied, gesturing.

Dr. Quantos rose and followed Bibbo to a secure room away from the surveillance cameras. "I followed Glover like you asked over the last day or so and made my observations, but..."

"But?"

"...But there were some other guys following him around, too." Bibbo stopped and looked at Dr. Quantos directly. "They had weapons."

"Ah," Dr. Quantos said, considering. "Please... go on."

"Well, I quickly secured myself in the bathroom of Glover's suite when a waiter walked in with drinks for him and his... ah... guests."

"Mm-hmm..."

"When the shooting began I had no choice but to come out of hiding, fire back at them, and get Glover out of there as quickly as possible."

Quantos rubbed his throbbing temple and groaned, "Don't tell me..."

"Yep," Bibbo said. "I had to bring him here."

"Bibbo, have you any idea how dangerous this man could be?" Quantos said suddenly. "I've been studying the notes Schanz had written up which he had on him when he was killed and it looks like this Mr. Glover may have swallowed some kind of 'probability drug'...!"

Bibbo looked back at Dr. Quantos blankly, as if saying, "So?"

Dr. Quantos realized the point hadn't hit home. "Chief Bibbo -- those same apparently metagene-induced abilities over the laws of probability which made him the world's luckiest man also have the potential of making anyone around him extremely UN-lucky!"

"You mean, like... us?"

"I mean this whole damned company! Malvan-X could this very minute be affected by negative waves of probability that could destroy her, or at least make her prey to anyone who wishes to take advantage of her!"

"Oh... crap," Bibbo said, thinking inwardly how strange it was that the Doc referred to the company as 'her.' Was he referring to the company really or the CEO herself, he wondered. "Well, does it make a difference whether or not he's unconscious?"

"I pray to God that his unconsciousness will work only to our advantage," said Quantos as the two stepped into the room where the drugged and unconscious puny form of Pete 'the Chimp' Glover had been laid on a makeshift bed.

As Chief Bibbo turned to leave, Dr. Quantos said over his shoulder, "Thank-you, Chief. You did the right thing."

"Thanks, Doc. I'll get to work on beefing up my security forces right away."

"And Chief?"

"Yes, Doc?"

"Your next target has arrived in Mandelovia. Try to follow procedure as we had outlined it earlier, all right?"

"No problem, Doc."

As Chief Bibbo left, Dr. Quantos considered the gaunt, diminutive, wiry frame of Pete 'the Chimp' Glover, the so-called "World's Luckiest Man," and began working over in his mind how he could begin to teach this man how to use his abilities in a controlled manner.

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: TheTimeTrust ]

"THEY ARE GONE!!!" somebody shouts, with a voice that sounds like two voices at once, both filled with hate.

"Now, now, Ktl... don't get excited" another voice says.

"What doessssss he mean gone? Whosssss gone?" a reptile voice asks.

"Who do you think, Knell??? THEY left the country!!!"

"WHAT???"

"They will be back eventually"

"You knew about thissssssssss????"

"Of course I did. They don't worry me at all, but I must keep an eye on them anyway... just as I keep an eye on many people on this planet"

"You knew this and you didn't tell us? You KNOW getting rid of them is the only reason we put up with you!"

"K is right. No Ciccioto, no help, misssssster mysssssssterious!"

"You are wrong, my friends. Something much deeper than that unites us. Something I pretend to gather... And don't call him K. That could lead to confusions"

Ktl and Knell gather together to discuss the situation...

"I sssssssay we trussssssst him thissssss once..."

"Yes... His plans, or what we know of them, can be very persuading... besides, he's incredibly powerfull..."

Before they comunicate him his decition, the mysterious man smiles...

"Say, Naecken? You once helped us build a temporary headquarters...remember that?"

The black devil turned, and looked at him with an expressionless face.

"Nooo...I do remember a monster though..." He sits down and starts to lose himself in contemplation.

"Great!" exclaims Kristogar. "He´s a vegetable. A rather strong and dangerous looking vegetable, but still...a vegetable."

"Shhhh." Eurostar sits down on one knee in front of Naecken and grabs his hands.
"Please, Naecken. You have to remember. It would help us immeasurably if you could recall some small part of what you did."

Naecken shows signs of strain on his face. And he replies with a heart splintering wail; " I can´t remember!!!! Who am I?!!!

He stands up, and suddenly runs out the door into the dark, wet night...

[ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: T5 ]

I leave the van, running in the direction that Naecken took.

I run at superspeed but there is no trace of the composite being. But is he really still a composite being?

Before the fight with the black dragon in Chicago, he kept talking with different voices. Now the voices, the feminine angelic one, the human, the demonic, and the others are gone. He always has the answer to my questions, now he is really like a child. Mxy said that when they both were inside the dragon, Naecken Said that he had to sacrifice himself to defeat the beast, but also that where before there were five, now there would be six. Are the former beings still inside Naecken, unreachable but alive, or are they gone for real?

Finally, I find the big, black demon sitting on one of the docks on the harbour. One time, one lifetime ago, I had a boat here. But those days are long gone.

“Naecken. Hi. What are you doing here?”

“Thinking” says the tall being.

“Thinking about what?” I ask, sitting next to him.

“The past. But I can’t go back before the battle at the Zoo. I found myself near Mxy, confused and dizzy”.

“The word Quadnink don’t ring you a bell?” I say, remembering a name Naecken spoke about those days.

“Quad… nik? I can’t say I never heard before… but, no, I don’t know what it is…”

“Well, if it sound not completely new, there must be some memories of before still in your brain”.

He looks at me. “Really, Edulcore?”

“I can’t see any other explanation. The struggle you went to defeat the monster has been a shock for you. There was a human part, an Earth boy among the various beings that formed you, and for him the battle should have been unsustainable. So, I think, he simply shut down, and the other four beings went along him. So, your brain is like on automatic pilot, now. No memories, no toughs. We need to reach the part of your brain where the old consciences are sleeping, to bring them back.”

“And you can do that, Eurostar?”

“Sorry, Naecken, I can’t. I don’t even know where to start. You need a psychiatrist, and a good one”.

Left eye. Open.

...and with that, I'm awake.

Everything feels okay... no throbbing headache... no paralysis. I haven't wet myself during the night, and that's always a plus.

"Hal?" I ask softly, still lying in bed huddled beneath the warm covers. The Mandelovian nights were colder than I had expected. I'm still used to January in Australia...

"Danny." He replies.

"Did you do the check?"

"Of course."

"...and?"

"And what?"

"Did you find anything wrong? Anything to account for the memory loss?"

"Actually... yes, I did. A few damaged cells in the part of your brain that deals with memory. Most likely left over from when Doctor Feldman got scalple-happy in there."

"And did you fix it?"

"Of course I did. It was simple... a few damaged brain cells... all I had to do was reroute a few of your artificial cells."

I should test this.

Edulcore said I didn't remember the plane trip I took with him from Mandelovia, when we first me.

But... I do. I remember it clearly. The plane. The food. The stewardesses.

...the stewardesses...

...yes, I can picture it all vividly...

"Nice work, Hal."

I jump up out of bed. And I'm so pleased, I almost don't notice the cold.

Almost...

Damn... I need a jacket.

"I keep telling you, we didn´t see what happened. There they were with guns in one moment, then beaten up and tied down with other peoples ties and our lifejacket straps." she blubbered.
The well dressed man sighed and walked out of the room.
He took his mobile phone and said; "Voice Code 4, activate scrambler."
A beep later, he said; "We have a lead, Sir. Yes...I will...Same follow up procedure as last time? Okay. Yes, I begin tomorrow."

Explosions from the business district of the town. I took Naecken by his left arm and run. We were there in less than two minutes. The scene was amazing. The two metahumans we saw from our flight were fighting a duel, and each hit of their swords caused an explosions shattering the glass of the many shops on the road, or opening large cracks on the ground.

“It looks this time we must intervene, pal” I said to my demon friend. “Put the bystander to safety, Necken, while I go to the circus to alert the others”.

And I run to the circus; I called on Tobias and Nowhereman, asking him to awake all the others. Me and Tobias left instantly to give help to Naecken.

While the two tall brothers, the Red and the White Scorpions were fighting totally careless of all the innocents around them, the black short horned demon was securing the people, bringing them to safety. Me and Tobias began to do the same, because I didn’t want to attack the two before all of our friends had not arrived.

A “pop”, the noise of one of the portals opened by Mxy, announced their arrival. Mxy, Nowhereman, Kristogar Velo and Larry Lance appeared out of nowhere.

And now I begin to shout orders. “Me and Tobias will take their swords away. Then Naeken and Kristogar will attack the two Scorpions, bringing them close together; at that point Mxy will create a cage for them. In the meantime, Lance, Nowhereman and Danny will keep to put the pople to safety”. But suddenly I realize that Danny is not here.

“Nowhereman! Where is Danny?” I ask.

“His van was empty. I haven’t been able to find him!” responds the Brit.

Their swords emitted strokes of lightning that hit both of the combatants and the nearby cars and houses around them.
They simply ignored it...their almost invulnarable skin took it all without a scratch.

One of the brothers managed to take hold of the others wrist, so they were locked in strained armwrestling.

That´s when they saw us.......

Eurostar: NOW!

Following Eurostar's orders, he and Tobias run to get take the swords away from the brothers, but they are faster than they expected, and get out of the way before they can slow down, making Tobias and Eurostar bump into each other like Larry and Shemp...

Kristogar and Neacken start attacking the two Scorpions, as Lance and Nowhereman start taking the people to safer places, and Mxy ran from one side to another.

Kristogar: Mxy!!! This is as close together as we can get them!!! Create a cage around them now!!!

Mxy: Uh... Cage... Allright...

Mxy moved his hands and a giant tea cup appeared trapping the two brothers inside.

Nowhereman: What the hell are you doing Mxy??? That's not a cage!!!

Mxy: I'm sorry!!! I don't know what a cage is!!! I'm under a lot of stress, ok???

Lance: At least make it something stronger before they--

Before Lance can finish the giant cup blows into pieces, reavealing the two incredibly pissed brothers inside.

Lance: Oh, nevermind.

Kristogar: All we did was getting them more angry!

[ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: I'm Not Mister Mxypltk ]

To elaborate... I'm sitting on a steel chair. My arms are handcuffed behind it. My legs are handcuffed to the chair's legs (or "footcuffed"...). Two guards with antique- but still rather scary- guns are watching me at all times.

This kinda sucks.

I'm going to slip into past tense, for just a moment.

I went back to sleep after I'd gotten up to check on my midnight brain surgery. I woke up sometime around dawn to the feeling of a hand clamped down on my mouth and a needle injected into my arm. I think there were three men dressed in black in my caravan.

I detest invasions of privacy.

That's something I've noticed about this time... people are less... private. More open... and... "touchy-feely".

But anyway...

I woke up. Three men injected me with some sort of tranquiliser. I blacked out.

I woke up here, cuffed to the chair. A man in front of me introduced himself as Bibbo. I recognised him as the man who had his hand over my mouth. Probably not the best first impression for either of us.

Bibbo was trying to explain something to me.

"You see, Danny... may I call you Danny?"

He didn't wait for an answer before continuing.

"You see, Danny... you're what the guys in the lab coats call a 'chronal anomaly'. Rumour has it that you're from the future. And that spells bad news for the fragile fabric of space-time. Now, our head scientist, Dr Quantos, he thinks he can fix you. But until then, you're staying right here."

Then Bibbo got up, patted me on the head, and left. The two guards stayed behind. And then I started having a flashback.

...and that about brings us back to the present tense.

So I'm here, in this chair.

I can escape from this. I have super powers.

I just need to think of something...

I can’t believe we have taken down the whole of TriVex full of lizard guards AND a marine serpents only a few days ago, and thwarted a terroristic act this morning without even been seen, and now we are beaten up by these two puppets on steroids.

I could easily kill them both. Just reach them in my invisible form, turning ghost my hands and ripping their heart away. But I don’t want to kill them. I want to stop this madness, but I don’t want to kill them. Why are they fighting? Who gave them these swords?

Many question that needs answers.

“Kristogar! Those swords… what kind of technology is that? Mandelovian?”

“Mandelovian? You can’t find a sword like those on the whole planet!”

“You mean?”

“It’s some kind of alien device. I should look at them closely, tough…”

“You know alien technology? You know aliens?”

“Well… I think we have no time to talk, now!”

The two scorpions brothers are fighting Naecken and Nowhereman, while Mxy looks at them helpless. Lance and Tobias are on the ground.

“Mxy! COWS!”

The ultradimensional being, at that word, smile. “Oh, finally something I know!”

And suddenly, instead of the two enormous metahumans, stand two large black and white spotted cows.

Kristogar looks at me very puzzled. “It’s a very old trick of him” I explain, smiling.

The policemen are beginning to gather around us. “A portal, Mxy!” I order. And we disappear, only to reappear a few blocks away.

“Sorry, I’m tired” apologize Mxy.

“No prob. Looks, it’s Tobias with a van”. Our speedster, just before we left, run at the circus to take a means of transportation for us.

We get on in a rush, and head for the circus.

Danny’s van is empty. No trace of him, no clues. Where’s him?

“The bed is still warm” notes Nowhereman.

“Yeah. If only we had a way to see what happened here!” I whisper.

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chewy in Hero Revolution #2:
"Oof!"
Walker flew into a bulkhead across the room, shattering it as he clattered to the floor. The former geneticist winced as he pulled a foot-long shard of glass from his bleeding arm. Tossing the glass away and reaching up with his good arm, Walker grabbed a headset - one that he used to communicate with the rest of the EPS - and slid it onto his head.

"Walker to I.G.O.R. Come in, I.G.O.R.," Walker hissed into the microphone piece.

Static.

Walker swore silently as he peeked over the desk that shielded him from the carnage outide. And there he saw him, haloed and shrouded in a striking crimson aura.

Agent Turner.

Walker had to admit that this was unexpected, yet also terribly ironic. He had just found Turner's metagene cloning schematic, and now the man stood fifty feet away destroying his headquarters and maiming his team.

Walker sighed, slipping down onto the ground, which was covered with tin bits of wire, glass, and metal. His mind wandered as he ripped off a large piece of his labcoat, wrapping it tightly around the puncture wound on his arm, where Turner had telekinetically shoved a large shard of glass.

"We didn't even see him coming!" Walker hissed, thinking back to how Turner had busted in. He and Tweed had just finished mapping the metagene schematic when a large unseen blast knocked the two from thier positions. Tweed rolled safley out of the way as Walker had turned to see I.G.O.R. hovering there with Agent Turner lurking behind him.

Then, I.G.O.R. started firing.

Turner had somehow turned I.G.O.R. against them.

When Owens and Reynolds showed up to see what was going on, Turner was prepared. As he sent his scarlet energy coursing through their bodies, the two were hurled across the room.

A swift blow from an unseen Tweed caught Turner off-guard, but he quickly recooped, grabbing the crimeboss by the neck and tossing him through the large computer monitor.

An empathic wave of fear hit Turner's mind, but he quickly overcame it, telekinetically ramming Vidalia's head into a metal wall until the empathic connecion was severed.

The blinding flash of light erupted from Reynolds' skin as the man began floating in the air towards the assailant. Covering his eyes, Turner swatted the man away, his sin dimming to the point of total lack of illumination.

It was Walker who attempted the final assault. A piece of lead pipe in his hand, the man screamed, running at the glowing red form of the former MCCA uber-agent.

Suddenly, without warning, Walker's body stopped mid-lunge. The pipe in his hands slowly slipped from his fingers and began spinning rapidly around his head, stopping at Turner's leisure to swat him in the head, the gut, the groin, or the knees. Laughing, Turner had then hoisted him into the air, lifting man pieces of glass from the shattered monitor that the unconscious Tweed still lay in.

The shards began orbiting Walker's form, like electrons rotating an atom. Finally, the pieces began to make cuts on hs body. His face. His chest. His hands. His feet. And, finally, the shard that impaled him in the arm. Then, Turner tossed the man telekinetically across the room, as though he were a ragdoll.

Now, Turner bellowed with laughter, waking over to the computer banks as I.G.O.R. began downloading all the files on the EPS Central Core onto disk for the mad agent gone horribly rogue.

"This ain't over yet," Walker called feebly, but enough to attract Turner's attention.

"WHAT?" Turner laughed maniacally. "Look around you, Walker! I've WON! I know all about this place. Your operation, your team, your headquarters, your... help," Turner chuckled motioning to I.G.O.R., who was busy downloadng more system files. "What can you possibly do to defeat me?"

"Meet the wild card," Walker said smiling, pressing a button on his blt. A metal door slid open, revealing the menacing form of Agent "John Doe"... the most powerful metahuman known to man.

And he looked none too happy...

---

Miles and miles under ground.

Laying on a cot in a glass cell is the thing (for lack of better word for the cloned-metagene-human-hybrid-being) once known as Agent Turner. The side of his face is bruised, a shade of a black and blue mixture, matched by the bandages holding his ribs in place.

He lies there in blue hospital scrubs with no shoes. Everything in his cell is fragile and can not be used as a weapon in any form, nor used to break the thick glass that holds him.

A collar around his neck insures that he can’t use his powers. By the time his fight with Agent Doe had ended, Tweed was able to regain consciousness and make a collar to negate Turner’s immense power, thanks to the info in the files retrieved from Tri-Vex.

Finally when Turner was down, Tweed took it upon himself to give Turner a few good kicks in the ribs, breaking most of them. Turner stayed conscious and smiled as he spit up blood with a “heh.”

Footsteps bring Turner to his feet, two people have entered his “home.”

“Doctor Walker, what do I owe the pleasure?” Turner said with a smile, just before noticing the beautiful woman who stood by his side.

Dr. Walker eyed Turner with a cold stare, his face still beat up from the fight, deep cuts across both his forehead and cheeks. Turner stepped closer, doing the same. Only the glass stood between the two men.

After a few moments, the woman finally broke the stare down.

“Mr. Turner, or Stevens is it?” She began her voice smooth and sweet. “I am Doctor Valerie Bullynski, a psychiatrist, here to help with your… problem.”

“Well, Val, it is a pleasure to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but I seem to be a little restrained right now.” He looked back at Walker, than back towards her, “Maybe another time.”

Walker turned towards Valerie, “Be careful with this one, he is much more disturbed than the others…”

“I’ll be the judge of that, Doctor, now if I could be alone with the patient.”

“Sure. Just don’t turn your back on him.”

Dr. Walker exited, leaving Valerie alone with Turner. She took a long breath and let out her first question.

“How are you feeling?”

“Who are you?” asks Eurostar.

The woman: “Call me Sonja. I was near this van two hours ago, and I saw four men capturing your friends”.

Eurostar: “Do you know who those men were?”

Sonja: “Yes I do. Malvan X security guards.”

The others heroes begin to talk. Tobias: “Do you trust her, Eurostar?”

Eurostar: “I don’t know if I should trust her. But we have no choice. We’ll attack Malvan X!”

Lance: “And what about her?”

Eurostar: “She will come with us!”