Commander
Larratus almost bit a chunk off his cigar as he was introduced to Dr. Vampire
and heard about the new threat of mystical artifacts set loose on their world.
“Is there
anything else this nutjob wants to throw at us today?” Larratus shouted, “We
just got the location of Professor Zombie. We need to get to him and take him
out of all this. He’s the one who probably knows who turned off the sky!”
“Unfortunately,
I can assure you; you don’t have that kind of time,” Doctor Vampire said
apologetically. “These items can do anything from killing thousands to
destroying your world. My team of guardians and I would be glad to help you. In
fact, you will need our help.”
“Why don’t
you just tell us what these items are and let us decide for ourselves if we
need help that we don’t know from Adam?” Larratus said.
“Because
even the time it takes to introduce ourselves may be too much of a luxury,
Commander.”
“You know,
let’s just do this and get it out of the way,” Sandstorm said, “Bring in your
team so we can get to know each other at least a little and lets go get these
things.”
Sandstorm
looked around to his team who all nodded their agreement.
“Oh fine!”
Larratus growled. “Well come on then, where are they?”
Dr. Vampire
touched the colorful latch button for his cape and a portal of light appeared
in the room. As his teammates of the Strykeforce Guard came through, each was
introduced.
The first
man to step through gleamed in silver armor with a black star that centered on
the right side of his chest with points that reached from up across his visor
to his right knee. A white falcon stood on his shoulder and he held a dazzling
sword with a pair of four pointed shuriken attached at the hand guard;
Lonestar, the Starknight. Starknights served the good side of the balance to
far reaches across galaxies under the guidance of the entity, the Crimson King.
Each knight travels with a mystical animal companion that is impervious to
damage and cannot die until it’s owner does. The falcon could not only fight by
his master’s side with devastating precision, but also carried the ability to
heal others. The sword and armor also carried mystical properties to protect
the knight on his missions and travels. The shuriken could fly straight and
true and also be sent as a beacon for aide.
Next a woman stepped through and
dropped men’s jaws at the sight. None of them had ever seen an Elven woman
before, slender and beautiful in colorful leather garb with light pink bloused
sleeves. A silvery tiara held her fiery red hair in place as she walked. Dreamseer
could enter men’s minds and do a variety of things, to include invoking dreams
or nightmares.
The man who next came through regarded the room with a scowl and
slightly fluttered his huge black wings. His long black hair was tied back in a
pony- tail and his sideburns went clear to his rigid jaw. His fists clenched in
leather gauntlets as he strode to a far corner of the room. The Kyte wasn’t
known for being particularly friendly. He was a warrior and saw little use in
small talk or frivolity.
Finally a woman in a long tan trench coat carrying a
red staff stepped through and the portal closed. Lady Traveler could open
portals to nearly anyplace anyone wanted to go. Electrode almost couldn’t
take his eyes off her long wavy black
hair and her mist blue eyes could pierce a man right through.
With short
introductions out of the way, Dr. Vampire brought out a hand held monitor.
“This will
tell us when the first artifact appears. I suggest keeping this monitor here
and that we split into smaller teams. That way we can hopefully reclaim the
items maybe two or three at a time. Until then, I can tell that several of you
are exhausted. You should get some small amount of rest while you can. The
monitor could go off at any time.”
“I just
have to point out, how do we know we can trust any of you?” Atomizer asked.
“I can
vouch for them,” Nightfall said, “Council Interpol knows the Strykeforce pretty
well.”
“And I can
only assure you, my friend, that we are here to help,” Dr. Vampire answered.
Atomizer
nodded and he wanted to rest but having so many new faces made that difficult
to do, especially that of the Elven lady. All the same he decided to sit back
and lower the brim of his hat. In his mind, it never worked to show too much
interest in a woman too soon.
Agent
Redeagle was already laying back on a table across the room with his eyes
closed. He was exhausted. Redeagle didn’t have the energy reserves of
people like Sandstorm and Electrode. He was glad to gain a little rest period
after so much action.
Nyhtwulf
approached Blacktide, “Shall we talk away from the others for a moment?”
“Sure,” said
Blacktide and suddenly found himself on the roof with Nyhtwulf. “Okay, they
might wonder about that.”
“We made a
deal,” Nyhtwulf said.
“Yeah, we
did,” Blacktide answered slowly.
“I am ready
to uphold my end of the bargain now that I can communicate again. I have a new
life, new freedom.”
“Where will
you go?”
“Actually,
I would like to stay with your team and continue on this mission.”
“Well, we
could sure use your help,” Blacktide said.
“I am glad
to help. So, are you ready for me to sever our connection?”
“Um, you
know, actually, what if we were partners?”
“Partners?”
“Yeah,
everyone on the team has a partner to work with and we could be partners. We
could team up on jobs against the bad guys. And if we were partners, maybe it
would be better if we didn’t lose that connection, you know?”
“I think I
do know. If this is truly what you wish, Larry Blacktide Peters, I will honor
it and be your partner.”
“Yeah, I
think that would be alright,” Blacktide smiled. For the first time in his life,
it looked like he had someone he didn’t have to worry about hurting.
Inside the
building, Anubis stood next to Nightfall, looking in on the Vagabond.
“How’s it going
with stinky sourpuss in there?” Anubis asked.
“Well, he
gave us the location of Professor Zombie and thinks we won’t send him back to
his home planet. Too bad for him, he’s wanted for a lot of interstellar crimes.”
“Peach of a
guy,” Anubis said. “But he can’t use his powers, huh?”
“Not with
those handcuffs on. They were designed by an inventor with the FBI, Anthony
James. They suppress powers of anyone they’re on.”
“Handy,”
chuckled Anubis, “get it? Handcuffs? Handy?”
Nightfall
groaned, “Oh that’s terrible.”
They were interrupted
by a beeping noise from the other room.
“We have
the location of an artifact, no; we have two!” Dr. Vampire shouted from the
other room.
“Well, what
are they? These men don’t go into missions without at least a quick briefing!”
Larratus said firmly.
“Well,
Commander, one is in Chicago and it’s called the Skull of Sphidra. It can be
worn as a helmet and grants it’s wearer great psychic powers while possessing
them with the spirit of Sphidra, the Spider God.”
“And the
second one?” Commander Larratus wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know.
“One of the
Scythe’s of Death himself.”
