Battleforce #6

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Multiverse Presents

Battleforce #6
Spellbound

Written by Joel Sawyer (Glippernip)

Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)

Multiverse logo created by Tony Peterson (Starfall)

[Spider-Man Beyond]

James ‘Half’ Nelson found himself in a horror show. The hero Windstorm had called Chicago PD and told them of a crime scene. Nelson and his crew walked into a place where monsters lay dead or dying. Some of the monsters looked like humanoid, human-sized insects. James had never seen anything like them.

“Chief,” one of his crime-scene experts called, “I think you’ll want to see this.”

It gets worse? Nelson asked himself as he walked briskly to where his teammate indicated. Stashed in a closet on shelves sat a varied number of chemicals, many of them sensitive or restricted by the US Government.

“I just wanted you to confirm,” the investigator said, pointing to three of the substances.

Nelson choked at what he saw. “Call Washington,” he sighed. This was going to be one big headache. “We need a full team here. Can we locate our paranormals?”

“They only told us they had other business. Windstorm left a contact number.”

“Good,” Nelson said grimly, “We need to know anything they know.”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Perseus yanked, but the chain held. It was beginning to piss him off.

“How long are you going to keep trying?” Windstorm asked.

Both of them were in a stone cell chained to the wall. So far, despite his belief in his strength, the chain and walls would not break. The chain seemed to be steel, the walls ancient stonework. It didn’t make sense. “Until I’m absolutely sure I cannot break free,” Perseus whispered, “and then I’ll probably try some more.”

“So, what do you think of Spellbinder?” Windstorm said.

“Is this really the time?” Perseus asked, annoyed.

“We’re not doing anything else. Do you get a weird feeling around her? Sort of a spooky vibe?”

“I’ve noticed. I ignore it. She’s a friend.”

“Yeah. Cute as she is, I could overlook it, too.”

Perseus shook his head slowly in disbelief and said, “Well, lets find a way out of here before you ask her out, OK?”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

A nameless but busy bank:

Step One: ‘Accidentally’ take out the alarm link to the police.

Amazingly right where the alarm line ran, the wall facing away from the street suddenly burst inward, accompanied by the surprised shouts and screams of the bank employees and patrons alike. In the new entrance stood a huge man. He stood 6'10" tall and had the body of a weight lifter. Blond hair fell past his shoulders, a fuzzy blond moustache exploded from his obviously once broken nose, and his square chin seemed just a bit big for the rest of his face. He wore a red sports singlet with matching boots and wristbands, and a black jacket with the word “Powerhouse” written across the back. He roared and flexed his muscles at the startled bank denizens.

Step two- Take out the video equipment.

“This is a stick up!” the big man screams. With ease, the muscleman lifted a heavy metal desk and threw it aside, the desk tearing through several small dividers and just happening to destroy the video recording machines. The cameras still worked, but nothing saved the images. Quickly, he barricaded the exits and acquired the money from each of the tellers’ drawers.

“Now to open the safe,” he shouted. Gotta sell this to the crowd, he told himself as he pretended to try to rip the safe door from its place. He knew he couldn’t do it, but he wanted to make it plain that he was stupid. Exaggerating, he wiped his brow. “Guess this is enough,” he grunted, taking the backpack full of cash. He left through his home-made entrance carrying a heavy stone garbage can. He expected at least one police man.

“Put the money down and surrender!” Starknight shouted. He stood directly in front of the exit about twenty feet away.

Whoa, this is unexpected. The robber puffed himself up. “Well, well, a new challenger for Powerhouse Pritchard,” he roared. “Let me tell ya one thing, brother. Do you really think you can climb the peak and knock the biggest, baddest mountain ram from the top? Can you reach the ultimate summit? Can you take me away from the Championship of the world?”

“Can you please shut up?” Starknight interrupted.

With a grin, Pritchard threw the heavy waste can. Starknight clumsily blocked, the can breaking in two on his arm. Pritchard followed up by clotheslining Starknight, the unprepared armored hero hitting the ground hard.

“Whooaa, yeeaaahhh!” Pritchard shouted. “Yer goin’ down 1, 2, 3, dig it!”

I hope to God this guy doesn’t become my arch-enemy, the Knight thought.

Starknight stood and charged at Powerhouse, who flipped the metallic titan into the bank, with more screams from those who hadn’t sneaked out of the branch already. Chagrined, Starknight climbed to his feet only to have a waiting Pritchard trip him. Starknight on his belly, Powerhouse slammed a full-size SUV down on him.

“Jabroni,” Pritchard laughed.

Just then, Starknight’s sensors detected something new and very near start up. His processor quickly identified the signal: a satellite GPS system. With little leverage, it took Starknight over a minute to get the vehicle off. By then, Powerhouse had ‘left the ringside area’.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Caribbean Isle, old cell:

“I’m going about this all wrong,” Perseus spat. He had continued trying to break his chains. “Obviously it is augmented to resist, but I’m extremely strong, nearly invulnerable to physical damage, and have a huge amount of stamina. This may resist my all-out escape attempts, but I wonder what will happen if I do not use all of my strength but keep a constant pressure up. I certainly won’t hurt myself trying.”

“Why are you trying so hard?” Windstorm asked. “Lets just wait until someone comes along and jump them once we’re free.”

“That only happens in movies,” Perseus answered irritably. “Maybe Centaurus plans to just keep us here until we die. In real life, successful jail breaks happen as a result of hard work and doing something your jailer doesn’t expect. I’m not going to just wait.” Perseus set himself and started to pull.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Shawnee looked up as Centaurus entered. She was not chained nor did she need to be. The wizard had placed her in an anti-magic field. She could not access her magic and she could not exit the field, which kept her in the far left corner of the room. Of course, his magic couldn’t touch her right now, either.

“So why do you keep me alive?” she asked softly. “Why not eliminate me?”

“You do not understand what is at stake,” Centaurus rumbled softly, with little of his anger or bravado apparent. “Sooner or later a war of magic will break out. It would be unfortunate if I destroyed you.”

“Then give up this slavery you conduct,” she insisted. “Why force them to build you a temple?”

“Pah! A temple.” Centaurus smiled and chuckled, an almost gruesome sight on his bestial face. “This reality is mine by right of power, and this site is a strong source of mystic energy. You accessed it yourself with that impressive attack earlier. After today, you will leave me to my business or I will destroy you.”

As Centaurus turned to leave, she added, “Will you tell me about this war?”

Centaurus paused. “You should ask Desmond. It is not my place to explain this to you.” He left her alone.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Powerhouse Pritchard pushed his way out through the pumping station door. He felt pretty disgusting, really, but he had a lot of money in the backpack. Once he laundered the money, he would likely be a millionaire when his take was added to the gains from his two previous heists. He chuckled as he turned the corner, seeing his old Ford pick-up parked to the side of the sewer access.

As he approached the truck, however, he heard twin high-pitched whistles and then a loud WHOOMP! as his truck exploded. He stumbled back and looked around.

“My truck!” he shrieked. “What the...?”

“Your freedom is next,” Starknight told him, stepping from around the sewer access gate.

Pritchard’s mouth dropped open and his eyes bulged. “How...?”

“You don’t understand what you are up against,” Knight told the wrestler. “You caught me off guard before, but I have many resources.”

Powerhouse lost his bravado. “That was my truck!” he shouted. “I’ve had that truck for ten years!”

“My bad,” Starknight shrugged.

“My ass!” Pritchard bellowed, advancing.

“Your ass is going to jail.” Starknight fired a pod from his left side missile port. As it reached Pritchard, it popped, and a net made of steel cable strands trapped him.

Pritchard flexed, grunted, pushed, and sweated, making a great deal of noise as Starknight watched passively. Finally, to the pinging sounds of snapping cables, Pritchard ripped himself free.

Starknight promptly caught Powerhouse in another one.

“OOOH,” Pritchard growled with frustration, his temples starting to throb. “You think this will hold me? The unmeasurable strength of the Powerhouse? When I reach you, I’m gonna open you up like a great big can of sardines. Of course you realize, this means war!”

“That last part isn’t even wrestling. You stole it from Bugs Bunny. Then again, wrestling isn’t known for its originality.” Swear to God, if he fixates on me and tries to become my Joker, I’ll kill him, Starknight mused.

Meanwhile, after Knight’s last comment, Pritchard huffed and puffed and ripped his way out of the second cable-net. He tossed the backpack full of greenbacks to the side and charged. Starknight’s next two mini-missiles slammed into Pritchard’s chest, knocking the wrestler back, and Starknight followed with twin crimson energy beams. Pritchard smashed into the burning husk of his precious Ford, then slid to the ground unconscious.

“Of course, the aim was to not let you reach me,” the two-legged tank added.

From off to one side came the lonely sound of one pair of hands clapping. Starknight looked over to see Ace casually sitting on a short concrete wall that lined the area. Ace, dressed in his blue and black body armor and helmet that looked more like a flight helmet than cycle headgear, hopped to his feet and strolled over.

“How long?” Starknight asked tersely.

“Pretty much the entire time,” Ace replied. “I followed helicopter reports of your movement after your scuffle at the bank. I watched you, wondering why you were waiting here.”

“He used a GPS system to navigate through the sewer system. Damn clever if you ask me. My sensors recognized his wireless signal, and I followed his device.”

Ace nodded, chuckling a bit. “And your antagonistic talk? Are you just that much a smart Aleck?”

“Nope. Our meeting at the branch showed me that he’s a better fighter than me in close quarters. I wanted him angry, to come straight at me, make it harder to dodge my ranged attacks. I’m... still pretty new to this, so I wanted to play to my strengths.”

“Did a good job of it, too, and that brings me to why I’m here. I’m not accidentally in your town, Starknight. I think America needs a few more paranormal crimefighters. I’m heartened to see you active, not simply disappearing now that the Techno-Warriors are captured.”

“Machine Maker is still loose.”

Ace nodded his agreement. “Still, I’m looking to help some of the newer heroes achieve a greater level of proficiency. Simply, you stated you aren’t as skilled in hand-to-hand fighting. I can arrange training, free of charge, training that plays to your strengths. Your armor gives you great physical strength, and you should know how to use it.”

“I’m listening,” Starknight responded.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Lee Wakefield still felt tired.

He was the only survivor of the USS Chesapeake, an American nuclear submarine lost in the Atlantic Ocean (BF#4), and no one could explain why. The sub had been submerged deep when it had radioed its first distress signal. Yet Lee had been found floating on the surface. Nothing else had been recovered.

He shouldn’t be alive.

Yet, as he sat in his hospital bed with no energy, awaiting the next battery of tests, he decided he needed a walk, no matter how tired he was. Three days cooped up in this military hospital, he needed some sun and fresh air. He stood up, hobbled over to the window and opened the shade.

When the sun’s ray fell across him, he felt better. In fact, he began to feel good, strong.

Without a mirror, he couldn’t see his eyes begin to glow.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Windstorm awoke with a start. He looked at the watch hidden in his glove.. He had been asleep for a couple of hours.

In the dim light of the cell (which was creepy by itself; neither man could figure out where the light came from, it just seemed to exist), he could see Perseus still set, still pulling.

“You’ve been pulling that for almost four hours?” Perseus nodded at Windstorm’s question. “Give it a rest, man,” Windstorm croaked, his throat dry. “What keeps you from being stone-cold bored?”

“I’ve been remembering Beatles songs in my head, starting with the first song on their first album and onward,” the strong man said.

“You remember them all?”

“No, but enough to keep my brain occupied. It’s called discipline.”

“Well if you ask me...” Windstorm began.

And the chain broke. There was a soft pop as the magic died, and without the mystical help, the metal chain stood no chance. Luckily, Windstorm’s bindings were not meant to withstand Perseus’ strength. Now that he could reach it, he snapped the chain with ease.

“I’ll be,” Windstorm marveled.

“You certainly will,” Perseus replied with a smirk. “Now it’s our turn.”

To Be Continued...