 |
| Redeagle ready for action |
Commander
Larratus leaned on a podium and stared at a blank doorway from the front of the
briefing room. He clenched his teeth. No one could ever move fast enough for
Commander Larratus. If two particular bodies didn't come through that door
soon, he was going to have a coronary. Finally, Atomizer and Agent Redeagle
came through the door and the Commander banged his fist on the podium.
“Do
either of you know what the word emergency means?” Commander Larratus shouted, “Never
mind, sit down and shut up. We've got the most serious business this side of
World War 2 going on!”
Neither
man said a word as they sat down. They both knew this
was just Commander Larratus and his way. Saying nothing about it and just doing
the job were always the best idea.
“I
trust you two have been next door?” the Commander said.
“We
have,” Redeagle answered.
“That
is the condition of every police precinct in New York city right now. Cameras didn't catch much but their weapons emitted enough light that we did get some
views of what they were wearing. Take a look at these photo printouts.” The Commander
tossed pictures to both men, “We are going to go out on a limb and assume that
the field of darkness and their attack are not coincidence. What’s worse is
that the dark is worldwide. The attacks, however, are not. We have no idea why
that is. What we do know about this phenomenon is that it’s blocked all forms
of radar. Every airport in the world is effectively frozen. We have no way of
communicating with our satellites or seeing what is up there. Cell phones are
useless, but land lines work fine.”
“So what do we do?”
Atomizer asked as he looked over the photos. “Start looking for these shooters?”
“Not just yet. Gentlemen,
right now this is being considered worse than the worst case disaster scenario.
In the case that an event of the worst scenario occurs, we have an emergency
protocol. It’s called the Emergency Draft Protocol and your first assignment
will be to execute it. The idea is to
recruit the people with the biggest, baddest powers that we know of. While
there are some registered parahumans that are signed up to be on call, we only want
a certain crew, handpicked if you will. Unfortunately, I have just one file for
you. You need to talk to this man. Lombard Ogleson worked for the CIA and quit
a few years ago. He ran missions to Vietnam to retrieve P.O.W.s. He also did a
lot of search and destroy missions.
Rumor is that he’s become a vigilante. You find him and see if you can
get him to come back. See if he can connect us with any other parahumans that
might be interested. If you really need something to motivate them, tell them
it’s going to be the end of the world anyway. They have nothing to lose. There
have also been reports of a newcomer to the city; a guy with the head of a dog,
flying around healing and helping people. See if you can locate him and find
out what he’s about. From what we've seen, he isn't part of the problem.
There’s just one more thing I want you to know about Lombard Ogleson, don’t
tick him off. He may not be long on patience because of the conditions he quit
under. It’s all in his file. Any questions?”
“Yeah, boss, I have a
question. I’m looking at his list of powers here and I wonder, if we should
happen to make him mad, what do you suggest we do?” Redeagle asked.
Larratus rubbed his
face with both hands and sighed long and loud. “Just don’t make him mad, okay?
If you do, you might not be back.”
“Commander, have there
been any demands?” Atomizer asked.
“No, and we find that
particularly disturbing. Now get out of here!”
Lombard Ogleson stood
in his backyard, surrounded by privacy fence and stared up into the darkened
sky. He moved some of his sandy brown
hair back over one ear and strained to listen. He could feel deep within
himself that this was more than just an absence of light. There was no wind and
the temperature was already ten degrees cooler. Even from standing in his
backyard, he could feel the thing above his world, he could feel its
effects on the land around him. Lombard could feel these things because he was
the most powerful elemental man on Earth. He walked as one with elements
and the patterns of weather anywhere he went. In the CIA his codename was Sandstorm.
Lombard walked back
into his house and turned on the television. Most broadcasts were disabled with
exception of local channels by cable transmission. News reports permanently
took over all that were left.
“There’s still no
reason given or found for the darkness covering the Earth. Reports of police
station attacks have come from all across the New York area. Meanwhile, looting
clashes with vigilante justice and the Mayor calls for a State of Emergency.
All remaining police have been called to duty. So far the President has had no
comment, but we eagerly await some statement from the White House. A new hero was spotted in New York today as he
healed frightened people on Staten Island. Bystanders report that he was scary
at first because he has the head of some form of dog. The hero has been
unavailable for comment. Witnesses say he calls himself Anubis.”
Lombard snorted at the
report, “It’s the head of a jackal, you idiots.” He turned off the television. “And
I really doubt the President can do a blessed thing.”
Lombard sat in his
favorite easy chair and stared at the silent television set. He knew someone
would be coming. They would want him to come back. While he had no idea if he
wanted to work for the government again, he definitely planned on doing
something about the situation.
 |
| Nightfall |
“Dear God,” the fireman
murmured just loud enough to hear.
“Not quite, the name’s
Anubis. Is there anyone inside?”
“We aren't sure. We
can’t get close enough.”
“Okay, you can stop
staring at me and get back to the fire. I’m going in to look around.”
“But the fire,” the man didn't have time to finish as Anubis darted through a broken set of windows.
The flames licked at
him but did not burn him. He suspected he might be resistant to fire.
“Bulletproof and
fireproof too, very handy.”
The warehouse was filled with burning crates
and towers of fire loomed all around him. Suddenly, he could sense two things;
the weakening of the structure and a rapid heartbeat that wasn't far away.
“Far out.” He mused over his recognition of
this power and dashed through the obstacle course of voracious flames. At first, he stopped stunned at the sight of
her. He had never seen such a beautiful blonde woman before. He snapped back to
reality when he saw the metal beam lying across one of her legs. In a millisecond he knelt over her. He barely
gave her shocked expression a second glance as he grasped the metal beam and
lifted it away. After tossing it aside with a loud clank, he stooped to look at her broken leg. She couldn't pull it away as he lay his glowing hands upon it. Bones knit back
together and gashes sealed under shredded clothing. Her expression went from
anxiety to amazement and he lifted her from the floor.
“Is there anyone else
in here?” Anubis asked her.
“No, they left me to
die.”
“Well that’s not going
to happen today.” He
thought of his revenge in the desert and the fire he summoned to engulf the
terrorists. “I wonder if I can reverse
the process.”
“Reverse what process?”
He ignored the question
as he concentrated on the flames. From him there came a wave of blue calm that
washed through the building and the flames died away in its wake.
“Wish I thought of that
sooner. Well, let’s get out of here.” He
lifted to the air and flew her out of the building through another window. As he
flew he felt her touch the side of his face. When he noticed, she jerked her
hand back, surprised at her own curiosity. He landed near the fire trucks.
“Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
He set her on her feet
gently and finally took in the sight of her. Her eyes were a deep green and her
hair gave her a kind of glow, even without the sun. She wore a bodysuit of blue
that seemed like a uniform. The one pant leg was shredded and her face
was patched with soot. Even so, he thought she was gorgeous. She studied his face
with deep interest and then he realized why.
“I guess you never met
a dog like me before?”
She smiled, “Don’t you
mean a jackal? Anubis has the head of a jackal.”
“Hey, you’re good. Of
course, I’m not the real Anubis. I was remade in his image.”
“I had no questions.
You really scared me at first, but now I’m grateful. Thank you for saving me.”
She brushed her hand to the side of his face.
When she touched him he
felt his heart flutter. Then a wave of guilt washed over him. How could he feel
this way after losing Ella? He only just lost her. He decided to try and change
the subject.
“Oh, you’re welcome.
Who left you in there?”
“They had on dark
helmets and I couldn't see their faces. There were just too many and they had
some high tech weapons. I guess they didn't want to leave any witnesses.”
A fireman interrupted
them, “Hey, did you put that fire out?”
“Oh, yes I did. Sorry I didn't do it sooner, I just didn't think of it. I’m still learning all my
powers.”
“Well, you’re awesome
in our book. Thanks a lot.” The men clapped and cheered.
“Great thanks, guys.”
Anubis looked around quickly, she wasn't there.
Back behind the
building she stood, scrutinizing some of the burnt structure.
“Leaving so soon?”
Anubis asked as he landed next to her.
She smiled sweetly,
“Sorry, but I had to get back here.”
“Well, you just
answered my next question anyway.”
“What’s that?”
“Why you counted as a
witness to them. You’re with some law enforcement and they caught you. I
thought that your jumpsuit looked like a uniform, but I don’t recognize it.” He
looked at her pant leg and noted that it looked as good as new. “Hey, how’d you
change so fast?”
“I didn't, they’re self-repairing.”
“Wow, okay, you need to
tell me more. What’s going on here? Why didn't those guys just kill you with
their high tech weapons?”
“Because the Professor
wanted to punish me.”
“The Professor?”
“Yes, Professor Zombie.
He’s who I was investigating. We hoped to stop him, but we’re too late.”
“Nice name, is he the
cause of that?” Anubis pointed to the sky.
“No, but we think he
knows who is. I hoped to use my power on him and find out once I caught him.”
“You have a power? Why didn't you get out?”
“You’re so cute,” she
laughed slightly. “It’s not that kind of power. I’m called Nightfall because I
can cause mental blackouts by skin contact. While I have a person knocked out I
can read their thoughts. Zombie’s men grabbed me before I could get close
enough.”
“Oh, sorry. I don’t
know a lot of powers except for my own and the ones I read about in the paper.”
“And you don‘t know
your own that well.” She teased.
“Okay, okay. So tell me
more about the Zombie.”
“He was a brilliant
scientist; a true genius in his fields of genetics, robotics, and medicine. He
worked in Africa to cure diseases that were mutating. As the story goes, he
caught a flesh eating virus that he was trying to cure in a village. In order
to save himself, he had to cut off his arm and part of both of his legs. He
stopped all work at that village and went into seclusion. He built himself cybernetic
replacements and something in him changed. He didn't want to save any one
anymore. He wanted to rule them instead. So he created what he called, the
Immortality Formula to make people serve him.”
“That’s incredible. So
his people are immortal?”
“In a manner of
speaking. They’re immortal, but they aren't exactly alive anymore either. He
started with the village that gave him the virus and moved on to countless
others. No one has been able to get close to him since.”
Anubis thought he would
be sick. “That’s why he’s called Professor Zombie.”
“Exactly.”
“So how do you stop
them? Is it like the old horror movies?”
“We don’t know, but
they all wear motorcycle helmets, so maybe you’re on to something. I do know
that my power doesn't work on them.”
“How twisted. He doesn't deserve to be called a Professor. So, who are you with?”
“My team is called
Caliber 5, we’re with Interpol.”
“International Police?”
“Um, actually, that’s
Intergalactic Police.”
“Wha?”
“Yes, it’s called
Council Interpol. It’s actually rare that we get involved in planetary matters,
but we found evidence that this could be bigger than Earth itself.” She looked
up to the dark sky. “We were right.”
Jump to: GZ Legends 7
Jump to: GZ Legends 5
Jump to: GZ Legends 7
Jump to: GZ Legends 5
No comments:
Post a Comment