Superfreaks/ACRA: Silver Age Superfreaks #5

[Martin Phipps]

Jim Morgan and Colin McKenzie: detectives.  Craig
Franklin and John Phelps: police officers.  Quinton
Macy and Jack Greenspan: medical examiners.  Darren
Kent and Alan Russell: lawyers.  These are the men who
are truly our last line of defense.  But what about
the capes whose cases they have to investigate? 
Should they be considered a help or a hindrance?

                Silver Age Superfreaks #5

                        Nightfall

                         PART I

3:15 pm

  Pepperton City Police Commishioner Jim Morgan
examined the crime scene with disgust: five victims,
all apparently having been poisoned.  It didn't take a
genius to figure out who was behind it.
  "Hey, Jim, you should see this!" Pepperton City
Chief Medical Examiner Quintin Macy said.
  "What is it?"
  "It's another body.  See?"
  Jim moved in for a closer look.  "Is that who I
think it is?"
  Quinton nodded.  "It's the Kidder."
  "So... he's..."
  "He's dead, Jim."
  "But who...?"
  "That's for you guys to figure out," Quinton said. 
"I'm a doctor, not a detective."

3:20 pm

  The Extreme Force Six, consisting of Extreme, Night
Man, Amazing Woman, Mr. Quick, The Archer and Water
Lord, broke into the Insomniac's secret headquarters.
  "It's over!" Extreme said.
  "Hardly," the Insomniac said.  "You see, I knew you
would find me sooner or later."  He picked up a lead
case.  "Do you know what's in here?"
  Extreme laughed.  "Let me guess: neonite!  But you
forget: I'm not alone, so even if you use that stuff
to weaken me I still have my friends here to arrest
you."
  The Insomniac laughed.  "Weaken you?  Why would I
want to weaken you?"  He opened the case and held it
towards Extreme.  "This isn't green neonite: it's
_red_ neonite!  It doesn't weaken you!  Rather it
suppresses your morality!  It makes you evil!  Now,
join me, Extreme!  And as my partner I order you to
kill your friends!"
  Extreme just laughed.  "Why should I take orders
from you?"  His head started to spin.  "Why should I
take orders from anyone?"  He looked at his teammates.
 "You want the Insomniac?  You take him out yourself!"
 He flew off.
  The Insomniac stood there looking perplexed.  "That
didn't go exactly as I had hoped."
  Night Man turned to Mr. Quick.  "There's something
wrong with Extreme," he said.  "Go after him."
  "Right," said Mr. Quick and ran off.
  The Insomniac laughed.  "Well, things are turning
out alright after all," he said.  "Now there are only
four of you.  Now how will you defeat my killer
robot?"
  A panel opened up in the wall, revealing the
Insomniac's killer robot.
  Night Man nodded.  "Amazing Woman, Water Lord, you
know what to do."
  They both nodded in affirmation and then casually
appraoched the robot and waited for it to attack them.
 They then ripped off the robot's arms.  The robot
turned to get away so they then ripped off the robot's
legs and left it spinning on the floor.
  "Oh dear," the Insomniac said, backing away into a
secret escape hatch he had in the wall behind him.
  "Not so fast!" the Archer said, pointing an arrow at
his head.  "I hereby arrest you under the authority of
the city of Pepperton!"

3:25 pm

  Mr. Quick had followed Extreme as far as the Western
Coast of Africa, having used his super speed power to
glide over the surface of the water, when he suddenly
was overcome by a pain in his chest.
  "Damn," he said, "I think I overdid it."
  He collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

3:40 pm

  At the Daily World, young Timmy Conners rushed into
Peter Whitman's office.
  "Boss, have you seen the latest news?  Extreme is in
Egypt destroying the pyramids."  He looked like he was
going to cry.  "Boss, say it isn't so."
  Peter Whitman just shook his head sadly.  "Glorious
Cleopatra's Spirit!  I hope you're right, Timmy!"

3:45 pm

  But it was true.  Extreme was in Egypt taking the
pyramids apart piece by piece.
  Just then, Colonel Wonder flew down to speak to him.
  "Extreme, what are you doing?" Colonel Wonder asked.
  "I'm destroying the pyramids" was Extreme's answer.
  "Why?"
  "Because it's fun."
  "They are part of this planet's heritage."
  Extreme shrugged his shoulders.  "Why should I care
about this planet's heritage?"
  "I have to stop you!"
  "Do you think you can?"
  And so Colonel Wonder and Extreme engaged in battle.
 The battle went on for several minutes before Colonel
Wonder realized that he could not defeat Extreme
through shear force.  So he landed and did the only
thing left to him: he changed back into Bruce Blake.
  "Where's Colonel Wonder?" Extreme demanded.  "Where
did he go?"
  "I'm Colonel Wonder," Bruce Blake told him.  "If you
want to defeat me then go ahead, strike me down and
kill me where I stand."
  Extreme hesitated.
  "What are you waiting for?"
  Extreme's head started to spin.  "Where am I?" he
asked.
  With a flash of light, Bruce Blake changed back into
Colonel Wonder.  "You're in Egypt," he said.  
  Extreme looked confused.  "Egypt?  How?"
  "It's okay," Colonel Wonder said.  "Just help me fix
these pyramids."

                       PART II

5:00 pm (the same day)

  "I'm really sorry about all of this," Extreme told
everybody.
  "That's alright," Water Lord said.  "There was no
harm done."
  Night Man went to shake hands with Colonel Wonder. 
"We all very much appreciate what you've done. 
Perhaps it is time for the Extreme Force Six to become
the Extreme Force Seven."
  Colonel Wonder smiled and shook his head.  "Thank
you for the offer... but I can't accept membership in
your group."
  "Why not?"
  "Because I am only here on Earth with the grace of
somebody who has his own life to live.  I shouldn't
exploit his generosity.  I'm afraid I have to turn you
down."
  Night Man nodded.  "That's too bad."
  Just then, Pepperton City Police Detective John
Phelps stormed into Extreme Force Headquarters with a
SWAT team behind him.
  "What is the meaning of this?" Night Man asked. 
"You have no right to come in here like that!"
  "We do!" John told him.  "I've got a warrant right
here."
  "What kind of warrant?" Night Man asked.
  "An arrest warrant!" John replied.  "Night Man,
you're under arrest for the murder of Nick Jupiter AKA
The Kidder."

5:30 pm

  Night Man was taken to Precinct One for questioning.
  "The Kidder was found dead this afternoon," John
told him.  "We have a witness who says you were there
at the scene attacking him.  What do you have to say
for yourself?"
  Night Man laughed.  "This is ridiculous!  Yes, I was
there!  I stopped the Kidder from killing more
people!"
  "By killing him?"
  "I never kill."
  "So what DID you do?"
  "I rendered him unconscious so the police could find
him."
  "And how did you 'render him unconscious'?"
  "I used special non-lethal fighting techiniques that
I picked up when I was studying in Asia."
  "I see.  What you mean to tell me is that you beat
him into submission.  And how do you know he didn't
die as a result of injuries sustained?"
  "How do you know he did?"
  "What other theory is there?"
  Night Man laughed.  "You're supposed to be a
detective.  You tell me."
  John sighed.  "You didn't answer my question.  How
can you tell the person between somebody who is
unconscious as a result of you beating him and someone
who is slowly dying as a result of you beating him?"
  "I happen to be an expert."
  "At what?  Beating people up?"
  "At non-lethal combat.  When I left the scene, he
was still alive."
  John smiled.  "That's just it.  You're not supposed
to leave the scene.  You're supposed to stay at the
scene and file a report with authorities as to what
happened."
  Night Man scoffed.  "I am officially sanctioned by
this city's mayor!"
  "And it's beginning to look as though that was a
mistake."
  Night Man crossed his arms across his chest. 
"Nevertheless, you can't prove that I killed the
Kidder.  Until you can I am free to go."

6:00 pm

  Mr. Quick slowly walked back into Extreme Force
Headquarters.
  "Did I miss anything?" he asked.
  Water Lord frowned.  "What happened to you?"
  Mr. Quick smiled.  "I couldn't keep up with Extreme.
 I sort of ran out of breath over Africa."
  "By the Goddess Ishtar!" Amazing Woman said.  "Are
you alright?"
  "I'm fine," he said.
  "You don't look fine," the Archer observed.
  "I just haven't ever exerted myself quite so hard
before.  It took all of my effort just to get back. 
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go upstairs and
rest."

                        PART III

9:00 am

  "Oh, Detective Phelps!"
  "Yes, Brandy, what is it?" Detective John Phelps
asked Pepperton City Precinct One receptionist Brandy
Brat.
  "I just wanted to remind you that you have somebody
coming for an interview this morning at eleven."
  John smiled.  "I didn't forget.  But thanks for
reminding me anyway."
  "No problem."

10:00
  
  "I wanted to wait until you were all here to tell
you this," Mr. Quick said in front of his assembled
Extreme Force Six teammates.  "I'm retiring."
  "What?!" Night Man asked.
  "I have to!" he told them.  "I'm afraid that if I
keep this up then I will die.  The human body just
isn't meant to move as fast as I've been going
lately."
  "You're serious?" the Archer asked.
  "Yes."
  The Archer shrugged his shoulders.  "Then I quit
too."
  "Wait!" Extreme said.  "It can't end like this."
  "It doesn't have to end," Night Man said.  "If they
want to leave then we can start thinking about
replacements."
  "No hold on!" Water Lord said.  "Maybe I don't want
to work with a replacement team."
  "Then perhaps we will have to look for someone to
replace you too!" Night Man said defiantly.
  "Please," Amazing Woman said.  "Everybody calm
down."
  Extreme sighed.  "This is my fault, isn't it? 
Because of what I did yesterday."
  Mr. Quick shook his head.  "It's nobody's fault. 
It's good that I make this decision now rather than in
battle where a mistake on my part could be costly.  It
wouldn't just be my life at stake then."
  "Yeah," the Archer said, "and I've always been wary
about joining this group anyway.  I mean, what do I
do?  I shoot arrows!"
  "That is a very useful skill," Amazing Woman told
him.
  "What?  Compared to flying?  Or super strength?"
  "Look," Mr. Quick said.  "I didn't mean to cause any
trouble."
  Extreme sighed.  "Night Man, perhaps you can tell us
about those replacements you had in mind."

10:30 am

  "Jack, you said you had something you wanted me to
take a look at?" John asked.
  Pepperton City Assistant Medical Examiner Jack
Greenspan nodded.  "Yes, detective.  It's about Nick
Jupiter."
  "The Kidder?"
  "Exactly.  I've determined cause of death: blunt
force trauma."
  "Consistant with a beating at the hands of Night
Man?"
  Jack shook his head.  "No, consistant with the
murder weapon being a gun."
  John looked confused.  "But the Kidder wasn't shot."
  Jack nodded.  "I know.  But take a look at this." 
Jack showed John a plastic cast he had made.  "I made
a plaster cast of Mr. Jupiter's skull.  Notice the
indentations in his skull.  They are not consistent
with fists.  I considered various possibilities before
realizing that only a gun barrel could have made those
marks."
  "But why hit somebody with a gun to kill him?  If
you have a gun then you're hoing to just shoot him."
  "Perhaps because the perpetrator had seen Night Man
attack the Kidder and leave him unconscious and he
wanted to make it look as though Night Man had killed
him.  Night Man doesn't carry a gun, does he?"
  "No, he doesn't."  John cringed.  "How could I have
been so stupid!  The witness who said he saw Night Man
attacking the Kidder would have been the last one to
see the Kidder alive.  He should have been my first
suspect."
  "Not necessarily," Jack said.  "Not if he came
forward on his own accord."
  "Well, he's a suspect now."
  "So are you going to bring him in?"
  "I'll send people to bring him in.  I've got to be
here at eleven to meet with a Mr. Michael King."

11:00 am

  "Nice to meet you.  Sit down."
  Michael sat down.
  "Your resume says that you worked as a forensic
expert in the marines after graduating with degrees in
chemistry and criminology."
  Michael nodded.  "That's right."
  "So why did you quit the military?"
  "It was a question of integrity," Michael said
flatly.
  "How so?" John asked.
  "If an investigation led to one of the officers
being a suspect then we had to either exclude them
from consideration or break off the investigation.  I
couldn't operate under those restrictions."
  "Does that mean you have problems with authority?"
  "No, it means that I believe everybody should be
held accountable."
  John nodded.  "Well then I would say that their loss
is our gain."
  "You mean...?"
  "Yes," John said with a smile.  "You're hired.  You
start work this afternoon.  Is that alright with you?"
  "Abslutely.  Fine.  Then you'll join me for an early
lunch.  Because I have to get back early and interview
a suspect."

1:00 pm

  "What am I here for?" the suspect asked.
  "You're being charged with the murder of Nick
Jupiter, the Kidder," John told him.
  "But I came to you," he said.  "I told you Night Man
did it."
  "That's what you told us, yes," John said.  He
showed the suspect a plastic bag with a gun in it. 
"Is this your gun?"
  "Yeah.  I keep it for protection."
  "Do you know it's got the Kidder's blood on it?"
  "You can't prove that it's the Kidder's blood."
  "Oh yes we can!" John told him.  "Have you heard of
DNA?  We can match the Kidder's DNA with the DNA from
the blood on te gun and then we'll know that you
killed him."
  The suspect grimaced.  "Okay."
  "Okay what?"
  "Okay I did it."
  "Why?"
  "Why not?  The Kidder was a psycho!  Why shouldn't I
have killed him?"
  "Then why tell me Night Man did it?"
  The suspect laughed.  "Night Man's a psycho too! 
They're all psychos!  All these freaks belong in
jail."
  John sighed.  "But Night Man isn't going to jail. 
You are."  John gestured to the two police officers
who were in the room with them.  "Take him away."

                        THE END

Martin

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