Superfreaks/ACRA: Superfreaks Season 2 Trade Etherback #2 (Collecting #'s 6-10)
Martin Phipps
martinphipps2 at yahoo.com
Wed May 16 06:30:47 PDT 2007
Michael King, Mary Bailey and Frank Lopez: crime scene
investigators. John Phelps, Mark Johnston and Tom
Jackson: police officers. Jack Greenspan and Edward
Bailey: medical examiners. Alan Russell and Roger
Roeper: lawyers. These are the men and women 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?
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #6
"THE PHANTOM CYCLIST"
PART I
10:31 am
At the Commercial Bank of Pepperton, Lucy Lang
looked in her till and noticed a wad of cash missing.
She closed her windo and went to speak to the manager.
"There's some money missing in my till," she said.
"Are you sure?" her boss asked.
"Absolutely," she said.
"How much?"
"I don't know exactly how much."
"Then go back and count how much money you have in
your till and compare that to the amount of money you
are supposed to have there."
"Okay."
10:55 am
When Lucy was finished counting and checking, she
went back to speak to the manager to tell him the
results.
"There's one thousand, three hundred and fifty
dollars missing," she told him.
"Just like that? Gone?"
"Yeah."
"And you were at your window all morning."
"Until twen twenty when I noticed the money
missing."
The manager nodded. "Right then. You're fired."
"What?"
"Clean out your desk and go home."
"You can't be serious!"
"Do I look like I am kidding? One thousand, three
hundred and fifty is a lot of money and you're telling
me it was lost on your watch!" He leaned forward. "I
can't prove you stole that money. Not yet anyway.
But I can have you fired. Have I made myself clear?"
"Crystal clear," Lucy said and then went to clean
out her desk.
1:10 pm
"Can I help you?" Naomi, the receptionist at
Pepperton Precinct One, asked Lucy as she came in.
"Yes," Lucy said. "Can I speak to Detective Mary
Bailey?"
Naomi nodded. "Sure. She's in that office over
there."
"Thanks."
Lucy walked over to office Naomi had pointed out to
her, knocked on the door and went in when she heard
Mary tell her to.
"Lucy!"
"Mary! So this is _your_ office?"
Mary smiled. "No, actually it belongs to my boss
but he's away at a convention so I'm using it until he
gets back."
"Wow. So if your boss retires then this becomes
your office?"
"I suppose so. But he's not that old just yet. So,
Lucy, why are here? Is this just a social call?"
Lucy bit her lip. "I wish! I got fired today."
"At the bank? Why?"
Lucy sat down. "One thousand, three hundred and
fifty dollars got stolen from the bank today and my
boss thinks I took it."
"Why would he think that?"
"Because it disappeared from _my_ till."
"And you didn't see anybody take any money?"
"No. It's weird."
"It's not just weird: it's suspicious."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean whoever took the money had to have done it
so quickly that you didn't see him or even notice that
he was there. I think you must have been the victim
of a speedster."
4:35 pm
"Mr. Alda, I appreciate you coming here to speak to
me about this."
Gary Alda nodded. "Like I said on the phone though,
I never gave my super speed formula out to anyone."
Mary grimaced. "You say that and yet you had a
sidekick named Quick Kid back when you were Mr.
Quick."
"Right," Gary said, "but I never gave him my
formula: he was a mutant born with the ability to run
fast."
Mary raised her eyebrows. "If that's true then he'd
still have those powers. Do you know where he lives
now?"
Gary shook his head. "I never kept in touch with
Alan Barry after I quit being Mr. Quick. Last I heard
he had become a patient of Doctor Carlos Javier.
Maybe he can help you."
"Alright then. I'll go see him first thing tomorrow
morning. Thanks for your help."
"No problem."
9:45 pm
"We'd best get back to the precinct," Officer Mark
Johnston said.
"Yeah," Officer Tom Jackson said. "I'm beat."
Somebody suddenly ran in front of their squad car.
"Mark! Look out!"
Mark managed to swerve the car to avoid hitting him.
"Are you nuts?" Tom called out to him.
He appeared to be. "You have to arrest me!"
"Why?" Mark asked.
"I tried to mug somebody! But then HE arrived!"
"Who's he?"
"The Phantom Cyclist!"
PART II
9:01 am
"So who is the Phantom Cyclist?" Detective John
Phelps asked the suspect at Pepperton Precinct One.
"He appeared from nowhere on a flaming motorcycle!
And his head was on fire!"
"His head was on fire?"
"Yeah! And then he walked up to me and he looked
into my eyes and told me that I would feel the pain of
all those who I had made suffer! And I did! So I ran
off and found the police car and ran out in front of
it!"
John sighed. "Look, we can't hold you because we
never found the person who you say you mugged. Nor
are there any out standing warrants for your arrest."
"Nut I've been a bad man! Just because I never got
caught--!"
"Yeah, well, tell you what: you stay here and I'll
call a friend of mine, a Doctor Samuel Leonard and
maybe you can talk to him and maybe he will lock you
up."
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I can no longer
live knowing all the things that I got away with and
all the people who have suffered because of me."
"Yeah. Right." John shook his head as the guy was
obviously nuts.
10:02 am
"Hello, I'm Detective Mary Bailey of the Pepperton
Police. May I come in?"
"Yes, of course," the man at the door said. "You
don't remember me, do you?"
"Actually, I do. You're Scott Grey."
Scott nodded. "And this is my wife, Jean, and
that's our baby, Nathan. He was born just last
month."
"Congratulations. I'm actually here to Speak to
Alan Barry. Doctor Javier said he was staying with
you."
Scott nodded. "Yeah, but he doesn't like to stay
here during the day, not with the baby crying. He
likes to go play video games at the local arcade."
10:31 am
"Alan Barry?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm Detective Mary Bailey from the Pepperton Police
Department."
"Okay."
"Do you mind not playing that game just for a moment
so I can speak to you?"
"Look, lady, I happen to not only have the high
score on this game right now but am way, way above the
second highest score. Why should I stop now?"
"Because it's important."
"I can talk to you and keep playing. You're not
bothering me: to me, it's like the game is in slow
motion."
"So you do still have your powers then."
"The powers I was born with. What of it?"
"Where were you yesterday at 10:20?"
"Right here in this arcade. Ask anybody."
"You didn't stop to run to the Commercial Bank of
Pepperton, steal some money and then run back before
anybody noticed?"
"Do you have any reason to think I did?"
"One thousand, three hundred and fifty dollars went
missing from the bank yesterday and all evidence
points to a speedster being responsible. Care to
explain that?"
Alan shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you ask
somebody who actually was at the bank yesterday?"
"Okay," Mary said. "I'll do that."
11:00 am
"Excuse me! Excuse me! Detective!"
John sighed and turned to face the reporter. "What
is it?"
"I'm Janie Leland from WXPT News. What do you know
about the Phantom Cyclist?"
"The Phantom Cyclist?"
"Yes. What can you tell us about him?"
John laughed. "As far as I know, the Phantom
Cyclist doesn't exist: he's just the crazed imaginings
of a lunatic!"
1:02 pm
"Excuse me, I'm Detective Mary Bailey of the
Pepperon Police. Do you mind answering some questions
for me?"
"Make it quick. There are customers waiting."
"Did you notice anything suspicious yesterday
morning around ten twenty?"
"No."
"Are you sure? No sudden gusts of wind or anything
like that?"
"I said 'no'."
Just then Mary noticed something that broke the
case. "Excuse me, that clock, is it usually ten
minutes slow?"
The teller turned around to look at the clock on the
wall. "Oh that clock's been slow since yesterday. We
just haven't put it forward yet."
"What about your watch?"
"It's fine."
"And yesterday?"
"Yesterday my watch was also ten minutes slow as a
matter of fact but I reset it. What of it?"
Mary smiled. "Thank you. You've been a lot of
help."
9:02 pm
"Thanks for dinner," Janie Leland told her
boyfriend, Peter Storm. "I had a wonderful time."
"Are you sure you have to go?" Peter asked.
"Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just not ready."
He put his arms around her. "It's just that I've
got the hots for you."
Janie felt his body temperature going up. "You
certainly do."
"Oh no," he said, releasing her.
"What's wrong?"
"That isn't because of you."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to go. Now!"
"A moment ago you didn't want me to go. What's
going on?"
"Someone evil must be here in the neighbourhood.
Doing evil things."
"How do you know?"
Peter's head caught on fire.
"Oh my God! Peter!"
"I told you to go!" Peter jumped out of his window
and landed on the motorcycle he had left out in the
alleyway and sped off in search of the evil he had
sensed.
"Oh my God!" Janie swore. "Petey Storm is the
Phantom Cyclist!"
PART III
9:03 am
"Mr. Grey?"
"Ah, Mrs. Bailey! Alan told me you spoke to him
yesterday."
"Actually, Mr. Grey, I'm here to speak to you."
"Oh?"
"You were at the Commercial Bank of Pepperton
yesterday. You stole the money."
"No. Why are accusing me of--"
"Don't lie to me, Scott. The clocks at the bank
were all ten minutes slow after you left. You froze
time and walked in and out of the bank without anybody
noticing you."
Scott looked down at the floor. "We needed the
money. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I'll
pay the money back."
"That's not good enough, Scott. Somebody lost their
job because of you."
"At the bank?"
"Yes, at the bank. And she's a friend of mine."
"I'm sorry," Scott said sincerely. "Maybe I can go
speak to the bank manager and explain what I did."
"You can do that," Mary said, "but you're still
going to jail."
Scott panicked. "I can't. I have a son to raise!"
"You should have thought of that before."
"I just didn't think I'd get caught."
"Nobody ever does."
9:31 am
Peter Storm returned home to find his girlfriend,
Janie Leland, waiting for him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"You saw?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Peter hanged his head in shame. "I don't remember
much after I transform."
"How did this happen to you?"
"When I was a kid, my father was dying of cancer and
a man came to me and said he could cure it. He cured
my dad's cancer alright but then he turned out to be a
daemon who now claimed the right to possess my body
and use it to battle evil as the Phantom Cyclist."
"That's weird."
"Yeah." Peter looked at her for a moment. "You're
not going to tell anybody are you?"
"Me? No."
"Because you _are_ a reporter."
"Right. Well, yeah, I was thinking of telling
somebody about this but I wanted to hear from you
first and, I'm sorry, but daemonic possession is not
the sort of thing WXPT reports on. I mean, it's just
way out there, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. I also know I have to live with it."
Janie looked at him sympathetically. "Hey. It's
okay. I'm here for you now." She walked up to him
and gave him a hug.
"I appreciate that. I really do."
9:58 am
"Hey, Michael, welcome back!" Mary said. "How was
the convention?"
Michael smiled. "It was fine. There was this guy
from Las Vegas who did an interesting lecture on
insects. You know, how you can tell how long a body
has been dead by the number of insects eating away at
it."
"Cool."
"There was also this weird guy from Miami there. He
wore his sunglasses every time he went out, even if it
was a cloudy day, and he talked really slowly. I
swear, after the lecture he went like this," Michael
said miming somebody slowly putting on sunglasses,
"it's time... to go... for lunch."
Mary laughed.
"And he was always squinting. Plus, he never looked
at you when he was talking to you. Almost never,
anyway."
"Maybe he has poor eyesight."
"Maybe."
"So how did things go with you and Lana."
Michael laughed. "So you spoke to Naomi then."
"You know Naomi. She's a real gossip."
"Yeah, well, I'll tell you what I told her: it's
none of your business."
"Hmm," Mary said, "so it was like that, was it?"
Michael gave her a sly smile. "Yeah. Exactly."
4:03 pm
John picked up the phone in his office.
"Hello?"
>>John, it's Susan. Katherine's gone.<<
"Gone? Gone where?"
>>That's just it! I don't know!<<
"Okay. Slow down and tell me what happened."
>>She just got back from school. She was standing
right in front of me. Then she just disappeared.
John, I think somebody has kidnapped her!<<
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #7
"OPERATION SECRET GALACTIC CRISIS-WAR OF
INFINITELY LEGENDARY STORM TIE IN"
PART I
4:31 pm
"Susan, tell me again what happened," Detective John
Phelps said to his wife.
"She was standing right here in front of me and then
she just disappeared."
"Do you know any reason why anybody might want to
take Katherine?"
"It must have something to do with her powers. What
else could it be?"
Just then John's cell phone rang. John answered it.
"Hello?"
>>John. It's Michael. Katherine isn't the only one
missing. It's all over the news.<<
5:01 pm
"We're here at the Legion of Extreme Fans
Headquarters," Janie Leland of WXPT News said into her
microphone, "where five new heroes have stepped
forward to fill in for the missing Extreme Force Six
so that Pepperton may remain safe."
Five would be heroes stood at the podium.
"Good afternoon. I'm Ultimate Man and behind me are
Chesspawn, Mr. Angry, Psychic Girl and Gun Guy. We
are here because, with the Extreme Force Six missing,
our city still needs heroes."
"Could you all explain what you can do?" a reporter
from the crowd asked.
Chesspawn spoke up. "I have the ability to come
back from the death."
"Is that useful?" the reporter asked.
"It is if you die," Chesspawn said.
"I have the power to get very angry when faced with
evildoers," Mr. Angry said.
"And?"
"And what?"
"And then what do you do?"
"What do you mean?"
"So you get angry when faced with evil doers. What
good is that?"
Mr. Angry got angry. "Just what are you trying to
imply, hmm? And what can you do when you are faced
with evil, hmm?"
"Nothing but I'm not claiming to be a hero."
"Why you--!"
"Bryce, please," Psychic Girl said. "There's no
reason to get angry."
"Hey, Diana, you're not supposed to use my real name
in public!"
"You just used mine."
Another reporter spoke up. "And what do you do?"
"You want to know what my powers are."
"Yes."
"I'm Psychic. That's why I am called 'Psychic
Girl'."
"So you can read minds?"
"Uh huh."
"So what am I thinking?"
"You're wondering if I can really read minds."
The reporter nodded. "She's good," he said to the
man next to him.
One more reporter spoke up. "What about you,
Ultimate Man. What can you do?"
"I can do everything the others can do but better!"
"Really? So you can read minds?"
"Uh huh."
"And you can come back from the dead?"
"Sure."
"Have you actually ever come back from the dead."
"No," Ultimate Man conceeded, "but I'm sure I could
and then come back faster than Chesspawn."
"How can you be sure?"
Ultimate Man laughed. "Look, I'm not going to kill
myself just to prove that I can come back. Dying is
very painful, isn't it Chesspawn?"
"Sure is!" Chesspawn said.
"See? Besides, if we're ever in battle, I'm going
to avoid dying because the team needs me." He gave
the audience a broad smile that showed all of his
teeth. "Any more questions?"
5:32 pm
John met with Michael at Pepperton Precinct One.
"I called Doctor Javier," Michael told him. "He
says all of his patients are missing. That's in
addition to the Extreme Force Six."
"So is everybody with powers being taken."
"I wondered that myself so I contacted various
prisons and they tell me that not only are all the
members of the Brotherhood of Masters missing but also
Doctor Platypus and that guy who claimed to be a god."
"The one who killed the bouncer at the Sax in the
City club and then was imprisoned by the Extreme Force
Six in the Anti-Dimension?"
"Yeah," Michael said, "although he was transfered to
a different prison when their prison had to be
closed."
"Right," John said. "So who do you think is behind
this?"
Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."
10:13 pm
Three thugs were attacking a woman in an alley.
Chesspawn shooped down and introduced himself.
"Beware evildoers!" he said. "For I am chesspawn!"
The three thugs weren't intimidated by him at all.
"So what can you do?" one of them asked.
"Um... die?" Chesspawn said.
The thugs laughed.
"You got that right!"
PART II
9:02 am
"Who did this?" Mr. Angry demanded. "Who killed
Chesspawn?"
"We want to know who killed Chesspawn," Psychic Girl
said.
Detective John Phelps nodded. "Now, hold on. The
doctor says Chesspawn is coming out of it. He'll be
alright. In fact, last I heard he was sitting up and
talking. He's talking to a couple of my people right
now."
9:04 am
"Did you see who did this?" Detective Michael King
asked him.
"There were three of them," Chesspawn told him.
"Did you get a good look at them?"
"Pretty good. From what I remember before I died."
Michael nodded. "Chesspawn, this is Frank Lopez."
"Hi," Frank said.
"If you describe the men who atacked you then he'll
be able to draw pictures of them. Do you think you
can do that?"
Chesspawn nodded. "Sure."
9:10 am
John got another call on his cell phone.
"Hello?"
>>John? It's Susan.<<
"Yeah. Hi. What's up?"
>>She's back.<<
"What?"
>>Katherine's back.<<
9:32 am
"I'm Detective Michael King. I'm here to see Water
Lord."
The guard at Extreme Force Headquarters shook his
head. "I'm sorry, Sir, but Water Lord is too busy to
see you right now."
"Then it's true. They're back."
The guard nodded. "He told me to give this to you
if you stopped by." He handed Michael a letter that
Water Lord had signed over the seal.
"What's this about?"
"He says it's about Scott Grey and that you should
pass it on to the judge handling his case."
"Alright," Michael said. "I'll do that."
9:43 am
"I got here as soon as I could," John said. "How's
Katherine?"
"She's fine," Susan told him, "but she's been
through so much."
"I can imagine," John said. "I'd like to talk to
her about what happened if you don't mind."
"Go ahead," Susan said. "She's your daughter too."
"Thanks."
John found Katherine sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hey, Kitty," he said, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"So... what happened?"
Katherine sighed. "It was weird. I was taken by
this guy who called himself the Beyonitor and brought
to this battle world. There were others: there was
Scott Grey and his wife, Kurt Rasputin, Allen Barry,
Harry Roy plus all the members of the Extreme Force
Six, you know Water Lord, Mr. G, Extreme, Amazing
Woman, the Human Spider and Weapon Alpha. Anyway, the
Beyonitor told us we had to fight not only the
Brotherhood of Masters but also Mr. Uoykcuf, the
Insomniac, Doctor Platypus, Zon, Devastatus and this
guy who seemed to think he was Hercules. The winners
of the battle would be sent back home while the losers
would be killed."
"My God."
"But it's okay: everything turned out fine. We beat
them alright but then the Beyonitor renegged and said
we wouldn't be going home and that he had another
challenge for us. So then all of us teamed up and
fought the Beyonitor and forced him to send all of us
back to where we came from."
John shook his head. "That must have been quite an
ordeal for you!"
"Yeah, but it was also sort of cool. You know,
fighting alongside the Extreme Force Six and all."
Her mother got angry. "I don't want you running off
and joining some superteam like the Extreme Force
Six," she told her. "Not until you finish school!"
Katherine rolled her eyes back. "Yes, Mom!"
3:02 pm
"Excuse me, I'm here to see Detective Mary Bailey."
Naomi Chen, the receptionist at Pepperton Police
Precinct One nodded. "She's right over there," she
said, pointing to her.
"Thanks."
Scott walked up to Mary.
"Mary?"
"Yes, Scott?"
"I just wanted you to know that it wasn't my
intention to skip bail."
Mary smiled. "That's okay. We figured you'd been
kidnapped by the Beyonitor like everybody else."
"Oh," Scott said, "so you heard what happened."
Mary nodded. "And in addition to the recommendation
from Doctor Javier, you also have a recommendation
from Water Lord for the judge to go easy on you."
"Oh. Really? Good."
"Anyway," Mary said, "the hearing is tomorrow
afternoon. Please try not to get kidnapped by any
more omnipotent entities before then. Okay?"
PART III
10:15 am
The SWAT team raided the warehouse that had been
identified as the hideout of the thugs who had killed
Chesspawn two days ago.
"Nobody move!" big policemen with big guns, helmets
and kelvar body armour called out to them. After a
few minutes it was determined that they were no longer
a threat to anybody. "It's all clear," the SWAT team
leader said.
Detective John Phelps entered with Chesspawn
following close behind him.
"Are these the men who attacked you?" John asked
him.
"Yeah," Chesspawn said. "These are the guys."
One of the thugs recognized him. "It can't be you?
We killed you!"
John sometimes couldn't believe the stupidity of the
average criminal in Pepperton. "Is that supposed to
be a confession, moron?" he asked. He shook his head.
"Take them away!"
"Nice and slow," the SWAT team leader said. The
three thugs were taken outside where a police van was
waiting for them.
3:15 pm
Judge Kevin Matthews was ready to render his
decision in the case of Pepperton versus Scott Grey.
"Mr. Grey, would you stand up please?"
Scott stood up.
"Mr. Grey, robbery is a serious crime."
"I know your honour--"
"Let me finish. Normally it would require a
manditory prison term but here I have not only a
recommendation from Doctor Javier, a fine upstanding
citizen of this city, but also a recommendation from
Water Lord saying that you have helped the Extreme
Force Six on numerous occasions."
"I have, your honuor."
The judge nodded. "That being the case, and in
recognition of the fact that you are a new father, I
am going to suspend sentencing in this case." He
struck his gavel down on the bench. "You are free to
go."
Scott hugged his wife. He then turned to thank his
lawyer, Roger Roeper, who was happy to finally win a
case.
Alan Russell smiled as well. He was very happy for
them so, just this once, he didn't mind losing a case.
7:05 pm
"I appreciate you coming tonight," Detective Michael
King said.
"You said it was important," FBI Special Agent Lana
Lewis said.
"It is," Michael said as he opened a bottle of
champagne and poured it out into their glasses. "I
thought we needed to talk."
Lana smiled. "You couldn't have picked a nicer
restaurant," she said.
"It is nice, isn't it?"
"So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Michael sighed. "I'm thinking of leaving Pepperton
and going to work for the FBI."
Lana was surprised. "Really?"
Michael nodded. "Sure. I have several years of
service, first as a marine and then as a police
detective. I figure it's a good enough resume that
the FBI would want to hire me."
Lana smiled. "Are you doing this for me?"
Michael nodded. "This way we don't have to drive a
long way to get together. This way we can get to work
together."
"Is it what you really want?"
"Absolutely."
"Because if you change your mind then you'll end up
hating me."
"I couldn't do that."
Lana laughed. "You say that now. But we only met a
year ago and we've only been dating a few weeks.
Let's take our time before rushing into anything."
"Fair enough," he said. He sipped some champagne.
"You know, you could always come here to work in
Pepperton."
Lana nodded. "That's a tempting offer. Really.
I'll think about it."
Michael seemed doubtful. "You're sure?"
Lana smiled. "Where do you think this is going,
Michael?"
Michael laughed. "Now who's going too fast?"
"I'm serious! Look, I'll tell you right now that I
do one day want to have kids and if I do then I'm
going to want to stay home with them. That being the
case, why should I ask you to quit your job right
now."
"You really don't want to go on to be FBI director?"
"I don't even know if the FBI director wants to be
the FBI director. It's a hell of a job."
Michael nodded. "Okay. We'll take things one step
at a time."
Lana smiled and raised her glass. "I'll drink to
that."
They clinked their glasses.
"Me too," he said with a smile.
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #8
TRAGEDIES
PART I
8:02 am
Sean Cole took the stairs to the top of the building
where he lived. He walked out onto the roof. He
stood on the edge and looked down onto the street
below.
Then he jumped.
8:59 am
Detectives John Phelps and Michael King arrived at
the scene. Frank Lopez was already there taking
pictures.
"The position of the body is consistent with him
having jumped," Michael said, "but we would have to go
to the roof to make sure."
"What are we looking for?" John asked.
"Signs of a struggle. Anything that would suggest
he wasn't alone up there."
Just then a reporter approached them an stuck a
microphone in Michael's face.
"Janie Leland," she said. "WXPT News. Any
comments?"
"Excuse me but you aren't supposed to be here," he
said. "This is a crime scene."
"Are you saying Sean Cole was murdered?"
"No, I'm not. Suicide is also a crime."
"So in your opinion is that this was a suicide?"
"I didn't say that either."
"So what is your theory at this point?"
"I don't have a theory."
"But surely..."
"Look," Michael said, interrupting her, "this
investigation is on going and any comment I make at
this point will cloud people's opinion of whatever
results we come up. If I make a guess now and I'm
right then people will say it was a rush to judgement.
If I guess wrong then people will say we're
incompetant. Can you understand that?"
"But..."
"No. No but. In fact, butt out!"
"But..."
"I'm serious!" Michael said. "You people are just
vultures swarming around waiting for something to
happen so you can feed on it and boast your ratings.
We, on the other hand, are here to do a job. Now, if
you don't mind, we need to get back to it."
Just then, Officers Mark Johnston and Tom Jackson
appeared behind her.
"You're not supposed to be here," Mark told her.
"And she knows it!" John said. "Get her out of
here!" He turned to Michael. "Let's get up to the
roof."
9:35 am
If Janie was the least bit upset by how the police
escorted her away from the scene, she didn't show it:
she completed her report from the other side of the
yellow tape and then proceeded back to the WXPT News
studio to edit it for the noon report.
While she was doing this, the mail boy came in.
"Package for you, Miss Leland."
"Just put it on my desk," she said.
After a few minutes, curiosity overcame her and she
went over to see what was in the package. There was
no return address and all she found inside was a video
tape. She shrugged her shoulders and decided to put
it in her VCR.
What she saw wuld have shocked a lesser mortal: it
was Sean Cole making his final testament.
"You thought of me as just a pathetic boy," he said,
"but now I die flying like Extreme to inspire
generations to come."
Janie did one other thing that a regular mortal
would have done in this situation: she smiled.
12:02 pm
"Guys, you need to look at this. It's about the
Sean Cole case."
Everyone in the precinct gathered around the
television as Naomi Chen turned up the sound.
>>You thought of me as just a pathetic boy, but now
I die flying like Extreme to inspire generations to
come.<<
>>That was Sean Cole's last testament before he
jumped off of his building early this morning. This
has been Janie Leland reporting for WXPT News."
Detective Mary Bailey covered her mouth as if to
stop herself from screaming. Her eyes welled up with
tears. "Oh my God," she said.
PART II
1:32 pm
"Did you see the news?" Water Lord asked.
"I did," Extreme answered.
"What have you got to say?"
Extreme shrugged his shoulders. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that it was only a year ago that Diane
Brenton died."
"That was an accident."
"And now Sean Cole is dead."
Extreme's mouth dropped. "I had nothing to do with
that."
"That's not what the public is going to think, is
it?" Water Lord asked him. "You need to learn how to
get the public on your side before this boils over."
"I've saved the entire planet many times over."
Water Lord stood up and leaned over his desk to get
a closer look at Extreme's face. "Remind them," he
said, "or else they could turn against all of us and
have this whole project shut down."
3:10 pm
"Hello, I'm Beau Weinstein and this is 'Beau on the
Go'. With me today are my guests Alfred Wright of the
Extreme is God Society and Justin Lean of the Normal
People for a Normal America Society. They are here
with me today to talk about the apparent suicide of
Sean Cole this morning in Pepperton. Alfred, would
you like to begin?"
Alfred nodded. "Beau, let me just start by saying
that in no way could Extreme be held responsible for
what happned."
"Oh for crying out loud!" Justin interrupted.
"Sean's manifesto clearly stated..."
"Can I finish?" Alfred asked. "Sean Cole was
clearly deranged and Extreme is just an easy target.
He could just as easily have gotten inspiration from a
movie star."
"But he didn't, did he?" Justin asked. "He wanted
to fly like Extreme. That's what inspired him to jump
off that roof."
"He knew he was going to die," Alfred insisted.
"He was deranged," Justin insisted, "and he wanted
to emulate Extreme. That meant trying to fly."
"If he had been able to fly then he wouldn't have
died."
"So that's his fault?" Justin scoffed. "If only he
had been able to fly then he wouldn't have died?"
"I didn't say that!"
"These supers in capes represent impossible ideals,"
Justin insisted, "ideals we couldn't possibly expect
to live up to!"
"What's wrong with inspiring to be better than what
you are?" Alfred asked. "If you reach for the ceiling
you can touch the ceiling but if you reach for the
stars then you might reach touch the clouds."
"And what if somebody feels inadequate because they
can't reach the stars and jumps off of a building in
frustration. What then?"
"We'll have to continue this fascinating discussion
after the break," Beau Weinstein said with a smile,
"because we now have to hear from our sponsors!"
5:01 pm
"Miss Leland?"
"Just a minute! I'm a bit busy!"
Extreme stood there in Janie Leland's office feeling
a bit stupid. "Too busy to talk to me?"
Janie turned to see who it was. "Oh my God!"
Extreme nodded. "It's me."
"What do you want?"
"I would like a chance comment about what happened
this morning."
"Okay," Janie said. "Go ahead."
"Live," Extreme said, "on the six o'clock news."
Janie nodded. "Alright. I'll speak to the news
editor."
6:25 pm
"So, Extreme, what did you come here to say?"
Extreme nodded sadly. "I just want to say to any of
Sean Cole's loved ones out there that I feel sorry for
what happened."
"Does that mean you accept responsibility for what
happened?"
"Not at all!" Extreme insisted. "I just... I just
don't want people to see me as some kind of god."
"That is how some people see you," Janie pointed
out.
"Yes, I know," Extreme said, "but it's wrong."
"Why?"
"I'm just a man with powers. That's all."
Janie nodded. "You can fly. You're invulnerable.
You even came back from the dead one time."
"I wasn't really dead," Extreme pointed out. "Zon
had sent me to another dimension."
"Are you denying that you've encouraged people to
see you as a saviour?"
Extreme shook his head. "I'm no saviour. "I save
people, yes, but I'm only doing what anybody else
would do if you had my powers."
"But ordinary people don't have your powers."
"No," Extreme admitted, "and that makes me special.
But it doesn't make me a god. A god would be able to
bring Sean Cole back. But I can't. Sometimes I feel
just as helpless as anybody else."
7:02 pm
Edward looked at his wife sympathetically: he could
see she'd been crying.
"Mary, what's wrong?"
"It's this Cole case," she told him. "It's getting
to me."
"But you deal with death every day. You don't get
used to it?"
"Do you?"
Edward shrugged his shoulders. "It's different for
me: I extract DNA; I run computer simulations. It's
real for you: you're around dead bodies; you're
talking to victim's families, to suspects. You don't
ever het used to it?"
"It's different," Mary said. "Sean was just a kid.
And he took his own life. How could anyone feel so
helpless as to take their own life?"
Edward nodded. "Our late teens and early twenties
are a tough time for all of us."
"Most of us don't kill ourselves," Mary pointed out.
"No," Edward said, "the vast majority of us make it
through. And that's something to be thankful for."
PART III
11:10 am
A demonstration had begun early that morning outside
of Extreme Force Headquarters, staged by the NPNAS
(Normal People for a Normal America Society). The EGS
(Extreme is God Society) staged a counter
demonstration within an hour of when the first
demonstration had gotten underway, so the police were
called in to keep the two groups separate.
The police weren't ready for what happened, however.
"I strike in the name of Extreme!" a man screamed
out and opened fire at the NPNAS demonstrators with an
automatic weapon that he had hidden under his jacket.
NPNAS demonstrators started dropping to the ground:
it wasn't clear who had been shot and who was simply
ducking for cover. Those who could ran away. EGS
demonstrators likewise backed off, not wanting to face
a madman with a gun.
Finally, one of the officers who had been sent for
crowd control managed to get a clear shot and took him
out. The officer approached the man as he lied on the
ground: blood was exsanguinating from an open wound in
his chest.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" he said and then
wondered how his targets had fared. "Somebody call a
whole bunch of them!"
11:35 am
Officer Jeff Monroe had waited for Detective John
Phelps to arrive at the scene.
"What happened here?" John asked.
"I had to take a shot," Jeff told him, "and I
couldn't afford to miss because I could have hit
somebody in the crowd behind him."
"So you shot him in the chest?"
Jeff nodded. "Is he going to make it?"
"Probably not," John told him.
"I'm sorry," Jeff as he hung his head in shame.
"Don't be," John said. "You did what you had to
do."
12:01 pm
"This is the scene outside of Extreme Force
Headquarters this afternoon," Janie Leland reported,
"after twenty people, all members of the Normal
People for a Normal America Society were shot by
Charles Mason, a member of the Extreme is God Society.
Two people died and three are in critical condition
this afternoon at Pepperton General Hospital. Two
other people suffered minor injuries as the crowd
pushed against them in an effort to escape the
madman's fire."
3:10 pm
"Hello, I'm Beau Weinstein and this is 'Beau on the
Go'. Today we welcome back Alfred Wright of the
Extreme is God Society and Justin Lean of the Normal
People for a Normal America Society as this afternoon
we had a confrontation between their two respective
groups in front of Extreme Force Headquarters.
Alfred?"
"Thank you, Beau. First of all, let me say that the
Extreme is God Society as a whole is in no way
responsible for the actions of Charles Mason, who just
happens to be one of our members."
"Nonsense!" Justin complained. "You're group is a
religion! You've diefied Extreme! And whenever you
have a religion you get extremists, fanatics and
fundamentalists who will inforce their point of view
with a gun!"
"None of us in the Extreme is God Society supported
his actions!"
"But you did support Charles Mason himself! You did
accept him as one of your members! That makes you
responsible!"
"Nonsense!" Alfred insisted on saying and then
reconsidered. "Look, we in the Extreme is God Society
apologize to the families of the victims for what
happened, but I remind everyone that what Charles
Mason stood for is not what we stand for!"
Just then somebody barged on to the set. "I want to
have the chance to speak," he said.
"Extreme!" Alfred said. "Let the man speak!"
"You're not going to like what I have to say,"
Extreme said.
"Here, Extreme," Beau Weinstein said as he stood up,
"take my chair."
"Thanks." Extreme sat down. "I'm here to tell you
I'm not a god."
Alfred smiled. "You're just being modest."
"I'm not!" Extreme insisted. He then sighed. "I'm
an alien."
"An alien?" Justin asked.
"I'm from a world known as Neon. The same world Zon
came from."
"But... but Zon is evil," Alfred said.
Extreme shook his head. "This isn't some fairy tale
where you have good people and bad people or, in our
case, good aliens and bad aliens. Zon was a madman
from my world and Charles Mason was a madman from your
world but they do not do what they do because they are
evil but rather they do what they do because they lack
the conscience that tells us that killing others is
wrong. They are mentally ill."
"No, no," Alfred insisted. "Zon represents all that
is evil and you represent all that is good."
"No," Extreme said, "I am a man, just like you."
"You're a man who can fly."
Extreme sighed. "Does your group worship me because
I can fly? That would be so shallow of you. Or does
your group worship me because you think of me as a
hero?" He looked at Justin. "Because I am a hero."
Justin scoffed. "If not for you, Diane Brenton and
Sean Cole would still be alive. And now you have as
many as five more deaths on your conscience!"
Extreme shook his head. "Neither of you understand:
I'm not all powerful! You can't expect me to save you
all the time! And I can't be blamed if I can't save
everybody!"
"Then what good are you?" Justin asked.
"What good are you? What good is anybody? We can't
measure our worth based on our failures: we have to
get by... we can only get by... by doing our best."
He paused. "I've saved this world time and time
again. But I don't ask to be worshipped. I'm only
doing what I would hope any of you would do in my
place."
There was silence for a moment and then Alfred
spoke.
"Why did you come here?" he asked. "To Earth I
mean."
Extreme nodded. "My world was destroyed by Zon when
I was still a boy. So, you see, I'm not your saviour.
I'm just an immigrant. A refugee. Just think about
that for a moment."
4:13 pm
Cliff Murdock stuck his head into his boss's
office. "Hey, Alan, did you hear about what Extreme
said this afternoon on 'Beau on the Go'?"
District Attorney Alan Russell nodded. "Yes, I
did."
"What did you think?"
"I admire the man for finally coming forward and
telling his story. Perhaps if he had done so to begin
with then we wouldn't have had so many people die
today."
"Oh come on!"
"I'm serious! These supers have a responsibility
not to let themselves get worshipped that way!
Otherwise there could come a day when we willingly
allow them to lord over us... if that day hasn't
already come. And that wouldn't be right."
"Extreme doesn't want to lord over us. He just
wants to help."
Alan nodded. "Right. And when we need his help
then he should help us. Otherwise he should leave us
alone to make our own mistakes."
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #9
SUPERFREAKS: JAPAN
PART I
9:02 am (local time in Japan)
"What do we have here?" Detective Haruto Nakamura
asked.
"He appears to have been crushed," Detective Eri
Takahashi said.
"By what?"
"That's what we were hoping you could tell us."
Haruto looked at the body carefully. He then
noticed that there were indentations in the road
around it. "Look," he said as he pointed to them.
"At what?"
"Those look like toes and this looks like a heel."
"So our victim was stepped on?"
Haruto nodded. "It would appear as though this man
was killed by Gonjira."
Just then, Haruto's cell phone rang. He answered
it.
"Moshi moshi."
>>Are you busy?<<
"Not really. I just finished pointing out the
obvious here."
>>You need to come down to the morgue. I have
something to show you.<<
Haruto wondered what Keiko Suzuki wanted to show him
but then figured she was just going to show him a
body. And as much as he might have liked it to have
been Keiko's own body, he figured it was probably
going to be the body of somebody else, somebody dead.
9:31 am
"What's so urgent?" he asked her.
"This man you brought it didn't just have his throat
slashed by a knife: he had his entire head sliced
off."
"That's ridiculous," Haruto said. "The head would
have fallen off when we moved the body and brought it
here."
Keiko raised her eyebrow. "Really? Take a look at
this then." She yanked to the head ever so slightly
and it popped off. "The head was sliced off but it
didn't fall off so when the blood clotted the head was
stuck there."
"Amazing! What kind of blade would cut so finely as
to leave the head still attached?"
"Only a katana blade. The kind that ninjas use."
"Are we talking an antique blade?"
"Not necessarily. It could be one manufactured by
the Ginsu company."
"A Ginsu katana blade, eh?"
1:04 am
"The reason we asked you to come down," Haruto said
to the Master Ninja, "is because we have a body in the
morgue who appears to have been killed by a Ginsu
katana blade."
"Are you accusing me...?"
"If you don't mind, we would like to test your blade
for blood."
"That would be acceptable," the Ninja Master said.
"And after I have co-operated and I have been proven
innocent then can I go?"
"Not just yet," Haruto said.
"But surely you realize that Ginsu katana blades are
not that hard to come by. They can even be purchased
through the home shopping channel."
"I realize that," Haruto said, "but to deliver the
force necessary to remove a human head with one blow
takes considerable skill. I thought you might know
who besides yourself might possess such skill."
"Any of my students," the Ninja Master said proudly.
"Can you give me any names?"
The Ninja Master frowned. "My students value their
privacy."
Haruto smiled. "Under the circumstances, I don't
think we would have any trouble getting a warrant."
The Ninja Master nodded. "Very well. I can provide
you with a list of names. Perhaps you would like to
accompany me back to my dojo and I can give it to
you."
"That would be fine."
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in space, General Kaiko
had an audience with Lord Kouto.
"Lord Kouto," he said. "What is your bidding?"
"General Kaito! You have failed me again!"
"Yes, Lord Kouto! My apologies! Once again I was
defeated by the Power Scouts!"
"How can it be that my finest General is constantly
being defeated by a group of teenaged human girls?"
"We must not underestimate their raw power, Lord
Kouto! They may be young but they are formidable
indeed!"
Lord Kouto nodded. "In that case, we need to up the
ante a bit! This time when you attack Earth you shall
pilot this world's finest giant robot warrior!"
"You mean...?"
"Yes, General Kaiko! Not even the Power Scouts can
defeat the mighty Golnorak!"
PART II
7:01 am
"Yoko! Get up! Do you want to be late for school?"
Yoko Takahashi opened her eyes and saw her father
standing next to her bed.
"You need to be in school by eight o'clock! You
need to get up now or else you won't have time to eat
breakfast."
"Yes dad." Yoko wished she could tell her father
her secret. Perhaps he would understand. After all,
as a Power Scout she protected the whole world from
alien invaders just as he, as the head of the local
precinct, protected Odong from dangerous criminals.
"Now, young lady!"
Yoko reluctantly sat up and got out of bed.
"That's better. Now hurry up!"
8:32 am
Yoko was in class when her cell phone rang.
"Who's cell phone is that?" the teacher asked.
Yoko stood up. "It's mine, teacher," she said.
"Please switch off your cell phone when you are in
class!"
"A thousand pardons, teacher," she said. "I was
expecting an important phone call. Could I please be
excused for class while I go answer it?"
"No you may not!"
"Please, teacher!" she said, bowing to him. "It may
be an emergency."
"What sort of emergency?"
"A life or death emergency, teacher. I promise you
I would not ask such a thing if it weren't so
important!"
The teacher nodded. "Very well. But return to
class when the matter is settled."
"I will, teacher. Thank you!"
Yoko left class and proceeded to the bathroom where
she answered her phone.
"This had better be imprtant, Mading!" she said.
>>It is! General Kaiko is attacking Earth!<<
"Again?"
>>I need all of the Power Scouts to come here right
away!<<
Yoko sighed. "Alright."
She hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket.
She then extended her rams and started to spin
around. As she did this, her school uniform was
magically transformed into a purple costume that was
similar in style to her uniform except that her skirt
was now so short that her white panties would be
revealed whenever there was the slightest breeze.
Her costume change now complete, she then took out a
make up case and held it up above her. She then
started spinning it around so that the powder dropped
down onto her. The powder started to sparkle as it
landed on her. Soon her entire body was glowing
white. Then she was gone.
8:40 am
Yoko met up with the other Power Scouts (Riko, Miko,
Kiko and Haruna) at Power Scouts Headquarters.
"Good to see you all here!" Mading said.
"You said General Kaiko was attacking," Yoko said.
"So I did."
"Again?" Riko asked.
"Will he never learn?" Miko asked.
"No matter how many times he comes we will be ready
for him!" kiko said.
"What is his plan this time?" Haruna asked.
"He is coming to Earth aboard Golnorak, which is a
fifty foot giant robot?"
"How will we stop a fifty foot giant robot?" Yoko
asked.
"With a fifty foot giant robot of your own."
"Huh?" Riko asked.
Mading smiled. "Each of you is blessed with your
own virtue and, hence, your own powers. Yoko, the
Purple Scout, your virtue is passion. Riko, the White
Scout, your virtue is innocence. Miko, the Red Scout,
your virtue is love. Kiko, the Blue Scout, your
virtue is determination. And Haruna, the Pink Scout,
your virtue is joy. Together you have been undefeated
against everything General Kaito has ever sent us.
"But today your powers will not be enough. I knew
this day would come, Power Scouts, and I prepared for
it! Behold, Power Scouts, your vehicles await you!
Each vehicle matches the colour of the Power Scout
which will pilot it! These vehicles will take you to
face Golnorak! And when you do face it, the five
vehicles will assemble into the mighty Power Warrier!
Good luck power scouts!"
"We shall not disappoint you, Mading!" they said in
unison. Then they each jumped into the air, hovered
momentarily and each fell into the cockpit of the
craft specially designed for each of them.
Mading watched them all intently as they did this.
"I love my job!" he said with a smile.
The Power Vehicles were soon in the air and were
heading to face Golnorak. As soon as they spotted
Golnorak, the five vehicles assembled into one giant
robot, the Power Warrier!
"So, Power Scouts!" General Kaito said. "I see you
have come prepared with a giant robot of your own!"
"Yes, General Kaito!" Yoko said. "We are ready for
you!"
"Ha ha ha!" General Kaito said. "We shall see!"
Golnorak attacked the Power Warrier. The Power
Scouts had not had a lot of practice piloting the
Power Warrier so they appeared to be no match for
Golnorak.
"Ha ha ha!" General Kaito said. "Today is the day I
will finally defeat the Power Scouts!"
"Never!" Yoko said. "Are you with me, Power
Scouts?"
"Hai!" her fellow Power Scouts said.
"Let's take this big bully down!"
The Power Warrier's fists struck at Golnorak and
caused it to step backwards. The Power Warrier then
produced and enormous energy sword and stuck at
Golnorak, slicing it in half.
"No!" General Kaito said.
Golnorak exploded... but not before a small lifeboat
zoomed away.
"I'll be back, Power Scouts!" he said.
"We did it!" Yoko said.
"Yay!" all of her teammates said.
Just then, the Power Scouts spotted a new menace: a
fifty foot tall walking lizard!
"It's Gonjira!" Riko said.
"What should we do?" Haruna asked.
"We should destroy it!" Kiko said.
"Why?" Miko asked. "Maybe it just wants to be left
alone!"
"No," Yoko said. "My father told us last night over
dinner that Gonjira killed a man yesterday. We must
destroy it. Are you with me?"
"Hai!" they all said.
"Then let's do this!"
The Power Warrier attacked Gonjira but Gonjira just
brushed off the Power Warrier's blows. Gonjira then
attacked the Power Warrier with its fire breath.
"It's too much!" Yoko said. "Systems are
overloading!"
The Power Warrier collapsed. With the Power Warrier
defeated, Gonjira just continued walking through Odong
City.
PART III
1:02 pm (the same day)
Yoko woke up in Odong City Hospital. Her father,
Odong City Chief Detective Eri Takahashi, was there.
"Father!" she said.
"What were you doing, my daughter! You could have
been killed!"
"Father, I am a Power Scout! I defend the Earth
from alien invasions!'
Her father scoffed. "You are a high school
student!"
"Where are my friends?"
"They were all seriously hurt and are all being kept
under observation at this hospital."
"I must go to them!'
"No! You yourself may be hurt! Wait until the
doctor comes to see you!"
"I'm fine," she said. "I have healed myself
already. I can heal them too!"
Eri shook his head. "I will hear no more of this
nonsense! You will stay here until the doctor says
you can go home!"
He left.
Yoko looked around the room and saw her make up case
on the table. Good! She would be able to save her
friends! She got out of bed, spun around and her
hospital gown was magically transformed into her Power
Scout costume. She then sprinkled the powder from her
makeup case over herself and disappeared.
She reappeared in Kiko's room. Kiko laid there in
bed unconscious with an IV tube coming out of her arm.
Yoko simply stood next to her bed and placed her
hands on her head and stomach. Her hands glowed.
Then Kiko awoke.
"Are yiu okay, Kiko?" Yoko asked.
"I am now. Thanks."
Kiko changed into her Power Scout costume. Then
Yoko and Kiko went to Haruna's room annd healed her.
The three of them then went to Miko's room. Finally,
the five of them, all completely healthy, were
gathered in Riko's room.
"We must go after Gonjira!" Yoko said. "Are you
with me?"
"Hai!" her teammates all said.
"Then let's go!"
They all waved their makeup cases and disappeared.
1:58 pm
"There he is," Yoko said. "Gonjira."
"How will we defeat him?" Riko asked. "We couldn't
defeat him before and that's when we were the Power
Warrier."
"And yet we shall defeat him!" Kiko said.
"Perhaps we need help," Miko said.
"But who can help us?" Haruna asked.
"I will help you."
The Power Scouts all turned to see who had spoken.
"It's the Master Ninja!" Yoko said.
The Master Ninja bowed at them.
"But aren't ninjas killers?" Riko asked.
"Ninjitsu is a martial art," the Master Ninja said,
"and all martial arts can be used for both good and
evil."
"Even tai chi?" Haruna asked. "Has there ever been
an evil tai chi master?"
The Ninja Master nodded. "Okay," he conceeded,
"ninjitsu is more deadly than tai chi, but like tai
chi it is merely a tool. I am offering you my help."
"How can you help us?" Miko asked.
The Ninja Master drew his Ginsu katana blade. "My
blade can cut into the monster's heart!"
"Do it!" Haruna said.
"Very well," the Ninja Master said. He then lept
into the air and, before falling back to the ground,
drove his blade into Gonjira's chest.
"It hasn't stopped him," Yoko said.
"Use your powers!" the Ninja Master told them. "Aim
for the sword!"
The Power Scouts did as the Ninja Master had asked,
using the combined power of their determination,
passion, love, joy and innocence, they managed to fell
the beast.
"Is it dead?" Riko asked.
The Ninja Master shook his head. "No, merely
stunned." He retrieved his sword.
"What now?" Kiko asked.
"It is up to the civilian authorities to decide what
to do with Gonjira. Perhaps they can take him to an
island where he won't hurt anybody."
"That would be nice," Miko said.
"Master Ninja," Yoko said. "I need to ask you a
question."
"Yes?" the Master Ninja said.
"You are obviously a force of good but if ninjitsu
can also be used for evil then should you really be
teaching it?"
The Master Ninja nodded sadly. "Perhaps I need to
be more careful in the future when I choose my
students."
Meanwhile, at Odong International Airport, people
started to check in for the next flight to Pepperton.
"Passport and ticket, please."
"Here."
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't bring a katana blade
onto the plane."
"Really?"
"You can check it in if you like and you will get it
back when you arrive in Pepperton."
"Very well."
"Is your trip to Pepperton business or pleasure?"
"Business... and pleasure," he said with a smile.
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #10
TURNING POINTS
PART I
9:30 am
Detective Michael King was in Jake's Jewelry store
picking out a ring when a man in a mask walked in and
stuck a gun in the clerk's face.
"Give me all the diamonds you have under this
counter here!" he said.
Michael pulled out his gun and placed it against the
thief's head. "Pepperton Police," he said. "Put it
down."
"You wouldn't shoot me, copper!" the thief said.
"I'm going to give you the count of three. One.
Two."
"Okay," the thief said as he put down the gun.
"Keep your hands up where I can see them," Michael
said as he picked up the thief's gun and put it in his
pocket, all the while keeping his own gun trained on
him. "Okay," he said, "you're under arrest."
10:25 am
After bringing the thief to Pepperton Precinct One
and formally charging him with armed robbery, Michael
went to the morgue to check on another case.
"What do we have here, Jack?" Michael asked.
"I've never seen anything like this," Pepperton
Chief Coroner Jack Greenspan told him. "This man's
head was cut right off."
Michael bent over to take a closer look. "What kind
of weapon could do this?"
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "A katana blade.
Maybe. But the killer would have had to have used
extreme force."
Michael nodded. "So this would have had to have
been a professional killing. With a katana blade. We
don't get too many like this in Pepperton." Michael
saw another body over on the other table. "What
happened here?" he asked.
"Harry Paul. Late twenties. Tourist from England.
It would appear he died from food poisoning."
"No evidence of foul play?"
"None whatsoever. A cab driver said he looked sick.
He brought him to a hospital and he died on the way
there."
Michael nodded. "Still, if he's a tourist then he
would have had to have died from something he ate in a
restuarant or in his hotel. I'll get Mary to
investigate. Let her know what food you find in his
stomach, if any."
"Sure."
"Meanwhile, I'm going to talk to somebody who claims
to be an expert when it comes to ninjas."
1:20 pm
"Thanks for coming down," Michael said.
"What's this all about?" Weapon Alpha asked.
"We found a man beheaded last night."
"Are you accusing me...?"
Michael shook his head. "There's no indication that
the man was killed using retractable claws. We think
the murder weapon was a katana blade."
"A katana blade?"
"Yeah. You once told me there were ninjas operating
out of Pepperton."
Weapon Alpha nodded. "They are usually pretty good
at covering their tracks."
"Yeah, well, this time it looks as though somebody
got sloppy."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Just answer my questions. Where can we find these
ninjas."
"I don't know. We usually just tend to run into
each other."
Michael raised an eyebrow. "Really? See now I've
been living in Pepperton for over ten years and I've
never run into any ninjas."
"Yeah but I have enhanced senses."
"So what? Are these ninjas invisible?"
"They might as well be. They disappear into the
shadows. You could be looking right at them and not
see them. They almost always operate at night."
"Fair enough," Michael said. "If you see any ninjas
then let me know."
2:20 pm (local time in Japan)
"Master Ninja!"
"Yes, Watanabe, what is it?"
"Look at this newspaper."
Watanabe showed the Master Ninja the newspaper. The
headline read "Man Killed By Ninjas" and there was a
picture of his severed head. The article said the man
died in Pepperton.
The Ninja Master nodded. "Pack my things,
Watanabe," he said. "I'm going to Pepperon."
PART II
11:10 am
"Who are you?"
Mary showed him her badge. "Detective Mary Bailey.
Pepperton Police. Are you Philip Martin?"
"Yaeh. What's this all about?"
Mary showed him a picture. "Do you know this man?"
Philip nodded. "Yeah. That's Harry Paul. What
happened to him?"
"He's dead."
"Dead?"
Mary nodded. "Food poisoning."
"Food poisoning?"
"Was he staying with you?"
Philip nodded. "Yeah. We met over the internet.
On a newsgroup. Anyway, he said he wanted to come
visit Pepperton and I said I'd put him up for a
night."
"Did you give him anything to eat?"
"Just breakfast. Sausage and eggs. But I ate it
too."
"Did the two of you go to any restaurants?"
Philip nodded. "Yeah. The night he came we went to
a pub."
"What did he have to eat?"
"The fish."
"Did you have fish?"
"No. I had chicken."
Mary nodded. "That could be it then. Give me the
name and address of this place you went to."
"Sure."
12:10 pm
The Master Ninja was able to get into the crime
scene without anybody seeing him. He wanted to know
if the ninja responsible for the beheading two days
ago was the same one responsible for a similar murder
that took place a week ago in Odong, Japan and,
further, if the one responsible for these murders was
really one of his students.
Just then, Officer Tom Jackson appeared on the
scene. He pulled his gun out. "Stop right there," he
said.
"I am not the one you want," the Master Ninja said.
"I don't know." Tom said. "We're looking for a
ninja and you're the first ninja I've seen all day."
The Master Ninja did not want to hurt the man: he
was just doing his job. Without Tom even noticing,
the Master Ninja took some smoke powder out of one of
his pockets. He then threw it on the floor.
"Hey!" Tom said. The smoke got in his eyes and he
started coughing. When he looked up again, the Master
Ninja was gone.
1:03 pm
"Can I get you anything, Miss?"
"Actually you can. I'm Detective Mary Bailey of the
Pepperton Police. Three days ago a customer ate here
and the next day he was dead. It was food poisoning."
"Food poisoning? My God!"
"So I need you to give me some of the fish you
served him."
"Fish. Right. You know we don't have a lot of
people ask for fish."
"Perhaps that's just as well."
2:45 pm
"Well?"
Edward Bailey was looking through a microscope at a
trace of the fish sample that Mary had brought from
the restaurant. "This stuff is teeming with
bacteria!"
"Enough to kill somebody?"
"Yeah." He looked up. "So are you going to shut
down the restaurant?"
"That's for the health inspector to decide." She
took out her cell phone. "I'll give him a call right
now."
9:12 pm
"You!" Weapon Alpha spotted the ninja that he had
been trailing since the day before.
"Now that you have seen me," the ninja said, "I
can't allow you to live."
Weapon Alpha popped his claws. "Just what I was
thinking." Weapon Alpha moved in for the kill but the
ninja was too fast: in one motion he took out his
katana blade and sliced open the hero's chest. Weapon
Alpha fell to the ground and layed in an ever
widenning pool of blood. The evil ninja was going to
finish him off when somebody else arrived at the
scene.
"Yoshida!" he said.
"Koboyashi!"
The Master Ninja drew his katana blade and
threatened Yoshida with it. "This killing must stop."
"You are going to have to kill me!" Yoshida said.
"Very well!" the Master Ninja said.
And so the fight began. The fight went on for quite
some time, mainly in an effort for the writer to pad
an otherwise sparse story. Finally, the Master Ninja
struck a killing blow.
"You were my finest student, Yoshida. The blood on
your hands is also on mine."
"Go to Hell," Yoshida told him. Then he died.
"I probably will," the Master Ninja said. The
Master Ninja then went to check on Weapon Alpha. He
found a pulse.
"My God," he said, "this man is still alive!"
PART III
7:01 am
Mary Bailey sat up in bed and turned the alarm off.
She then rushed into the bathroom. Edward followed
her into the bathroom after hearing what sounded like
his wife throwing up.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I am now," Mary said.
"You didn't eat any of the fish, did you?"
"Of course not."
"Did you handle any of it without washing your hands
afterwards."
"Of course I didn't handle it. Not without gloves
anyway. It was evidence."
"Yeah but if you handle something with gloves and
then you take the gloves off and handle the gloves
then you're still getting stuff on your hand."
Mary smiled. "It's sweet of you to be concerned
but, no, I didn't get anything on my hands and, yes, I
do wash my hands after taking off gloves."
Edward nodded. "Okay. But perhaps you should go
see a doctor anyway."
"Sure. I'll make an appointment as soon as I have
time."
"You should make time. Today."
"We'll see. Michael already requested a leave of
absense today to go see Lana in Washington. I'll try
to make time during lunch."
"Okay. Fair enough."
8:02 am
Weapon Alpha woke up in a hotel room. There were
bandages covering where he had been cut the day before
by the evil ninja's katana blade. He took a look
under the bandages: the wounds were completely healed.
Then he realized that he wasn't alone.
"I brought some ointments with me," the Master Ninja
said, "and some bandages. I take it your wounds have
healed up."
"I would have healed anyway," Weapon Alpha said.
"Are you sure? The cut was pretty deep."
"I've survived worse." He sat up. "If you were
worried then you should have taken me to a hospital."
The Master Ninja nodded. "I acted quickly to
prevent infection. The last thing you needed was to
be around sick people when you have an open wound."
"I don't worry about that," Weapon Alpha told him.
"I am resistent to infections."
"So your blood is like some natural anti-biotic?"
"My healing factor prevents me from getting sick and
thus my immune system is always at one hundred
percent."
"I see." The Master Ninja nodded. "So you're a
mutant?"
"Yep."
"The man you fought is dead, by the way."
"I don't remember cutting him."
"I killed him."
"Oh."
"He was my student." He offered his hand to Weapon
Alpha. "I'm Yuuki Koboyashi." They shook hands.
"I'm a ninja master from Japan."
"Weapon Alpha. I'm a member of the Extreme Force
Six." He snorted. "So you trained the guy who almost
killed me?"
"I thought you said you weren't in any danger."
"Okay. Thank you for saving me then. But why did
you train that guy in the first place."
"I don't turn away students."
"Perhaps you should be more selective as to who you
take on as students."
The Master Ninja nodded. "I'm actually thinking of
staying here in America. Do you know any people who
might make worthy students?"
"I have an idea."
"Who?"
"You could try the Legion of Extreme fans. They
want to be heroes but they have no powers to speak of.
They'd be perfect for you."
"Perhaps you could tell me where to find them."
12:30 pm
"So I felt sick this morning and I thought I'd come
and see you and find out if anything is wrong," Mary
told the doctor.
"Is this the first time you've felt sick?"
Mary thought for a moment. "No. I also felt sick a
couple of days ago but I felt better after I took a
shower. I didn't throw up."
"I see."
"So what's wrong with me, doctor?"
"I suspect nothing is wrong with you," the doctor
said.
"But why am I feeling sick then?"
The doctor smiled. "I think I know what may be
causing it, but I don't think it's anything for you to
worry about. You might just have to start taking
things a bit easier, that's all."
"Eh?"
"Just come with me and we'll do a simple test,
okay?"
"Okay."
1:13 pm
"Ninja training?" Ultimate Man asked. "I don't need
ninja training. In fact, I dare say I'm better at
ninjitsu than you are!"
"I hate people coming here and telling us we need
ninja training!" Mr. Angry said, having gotten angry
for no apparent reason. "I just hate it!"
"You can't be a ninja," Adam Evers insisted.
"Ninja's haven't been active since the end of the Edo
period in Japan. You must be a fake!"
"Don't ninjas kill people?" Psychic Girl asked. "If
you are a ninja then you know how to kill people,
right?"
"Who needs ninja training when you have guns?" Gun
Guy asked. "In any fight involving a guy with a big
sword and a guy with a big gun, the guy with the big
gun is going to win."
"If this guy joins the group does that mean we're
going to update the roster again?" Raymond Heck asked.
"Because I hate doing that. I have all these
computer skills and all you ever have me do is update
the roster!"
Chesspawn grinned from ear to ear. "Well I, for
one, wouldn't mind a bit of ninja training. If I knew
how to fight then maybe I wouldn't die every time!"
The Master Ninja smiled. He knew he could whip this
group into shape.
9:02 am (the next day)
"Hey! Michael!" Mary said.
"Hey!"
"So how was Washington?"
"Great!"
"I've got big news!"
"I've got bigger news."
"Okay. You first."
Michael smiled. "Lana and I are getting married."
"Really?" Mary looked shocked. "How are you going
to make that work with you working here and her
working all over the country?"
"We talked about that. She's going to quit her job
at the FBI and come to work here. John's okay with it
and so are her friends at the FBI. They're happy for
her. So what's your news?"
"I'm pregnant."
"Great!" Then he noticed that Mary didn't look
happy. "That is good news, isn't it?"
"I just want to be sure that I can still work here
after I have the baby."
"Of course. If you want to, I mean. It's your
decision."
"I'm just afriad of Lana coming here and taking my
job, especially if she's going to be your wife."
Michael laughed. "Look, Mary, Lana isn't going to
be here for a few months and then you'll be able to
take some time off and have your baby. This actually
works out great! Even after you've had the baby
you're still going to need to spend time with it so
having Lana here means you will be able to take time
off whenever you need it. I think this works out
great."
Mary smiled. "Yeah. I guess so." She sighed.
"I'm really happy for you and Lana."
"And I'm happy for you and Edward."
THE END
Martin
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