[Superfreaks/ACRA] Superfreaks Season 2 #12

[Martin Phipps]

Michael King, Mary Bailey and Lana Lewis: 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 #12

                         APOCALYPSE

                           PART I

Ten years ago

  "Dad?"
  "What is it, son?"
  "What do you do?"
  "Excuse me?"
  "What's your job?"
  "Oh," Edward Alexander Goodhead said.  "I'm a
businessman."
  "What kind of business do you do?"
  Goodhead's eyes narrowed.  "Why do you want to
know?"
  "My teacher asked me to tell you--"
  Goodhead grabbed his son by the shoulders.  "Why
would your teacher want to know my business?  Who is
she working for?  What could they possibly hope to
gain by--?"
  "Dad!" young Edward said, now clearly frightened and
with his eyes welling with tears.  "She asked the same
question to everybody.  It's our homework assignment!"
  "Ha!" Goodhead said with a laugh.  "A clever scheme
indeed!  Your teacher asked everyone, did she?  But
does she really care what the other kid's parents do? 
I don't think so!  This is some mad plot to meddle
into my business!  Well you can tell her that it won't
work!  No outsiders may interfere in the Goodhead
family business!  Do you understand me, son?  Nobody!"
  "Yes, Dad," young Edward said.  A single tear leaked
from his right eye.
  "Enough of that!" Goodhead said.  "Be a man!  My
God, you'll be in high school soon!  It is up to you
to carry on the Goodhead family name!  You must not
embarrass this family!  Do you understand me?"
  "Yes, father!"
  Goodhead nodded and released his son from his grip. 
"Good," he said, "no begone with you.  I have work to
do."
  Young Edward peered over his father's desk.  Upon
seeing this, Goodhead immediately slapped him across
the face.
  "I know what you are thinking!  I will not have you
spying on me for your teacher!  That is final!"
  Young Edward nodded sadly and then he meekly walked
back to his room.

One year ago

  "Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior?"
  "Who wants to know?"
  "I'm Jeff Munn.  I worked for your father."
  "So?"  Edward shrugged his shoulders.  "I'm not
interested in my father's business."
  "You're going to have to start being interested in
it," the man said, "because it is all yours now."
  "What do you mean?"
  "Your father is dead."
  "Dead?  How?"
  "Shot in the head with an arrow."
  "Shot in the head with an arrow?  Who would do such
a thing?"
  The man shrugged his shoulders.  "Most likely the
assassination was arranged by the Extreme Force Six."
  "The Extreme Force Six?  Why would they have him
killed?"
  "Some of your father's business practices required
him to venture out of the bounds of the law."
  "And for that they killed him?"
  The man nodded.  "You will be trained in your
father's business.  It is what he would have wanted. 
That way you will be able to one day use the resources
you now have to one day get your revenge."

One week ago

  "It does not serve our company's best interests to
fund this kind of research," Jeff Munn argued at a
Goodhead Corporation company meeting.
  Goodhead Junior was nonplused.  "This is my company,
Mr. Munn.  I will do with it as I see fit."
  "With all do respect, we on the board here have the
necessary business know how to keep this company
afloat."
  Goodhead Junior smiled.  "I remember you, yourself,
telling me that my father would have wanted me to run
this company as I saw fit."
  "Yes, but--"
  "Are you now telling me that I am nothing but a
figurehead?  A patsy who will continue business as
usual so that you all may continue to finance your own
schemes?"
  "Our so-called schemes are what is keeping this
company solvent!"
  "Do you respect my authority or not?"
  "I--"
  "Answer the question!"
  "Please understand, we are here to help you to--"
  Goodhead Junior pulled out a gun and shot Jeff Munn
between the eyes.  He fell backward onto the floor.
  "That was a yes-no question," he said.  He looked at
the other members of the board.  "This company is not
a democracy.  People here are to do as I say or," -He
waved his gun at the body of Jeff Munn- "face early
retirement."  He smiled.  "This meeting is over."
  His entire board of directors spontaneously
applauded him.
  "Yes, yes, very nice.  Now somebody clean up that
mess!"

Today, 9:15 am

  "Care to tell me what you think?" Pepperton Police
Detective Mary Bailey asked.
  "Is this a test?" Pepperton Police Detective Lana
Lewis asked back.
  Mary shrugged her shoulders.  "It's our first case
together.  I thought I'd give you the opportunity to
examine the crime scene ahead of me."
  "Well, if you put that way, it sounds like you're
doing me a favour."
  Mary smiled.  "Well?"
  Lana nodded.  "First of all, this isn't the primary
crime scene.  This is a body dump."
  "And why do you say that?"
  "There's very little blood and none of it is
splatter.  It looks as though somebody shot this man
in the head and dumped the body here for us to find."
  Mary nodded.  "I agree."
  Lana smiled.  "So what do I win?"

10:58 am

  "What do we have here?" Pepperton Police Detective
Michael King asked.
  "His name is Jeff Munn," Pepperton Chief Coroner
Jack Greenspan said.  "Mary and Lana brought him in."
  "What do we know about him?"
  "We know that he worked for Goodhead Corporation. 
He was a member of their board of directors."
  "Goodhead Corporation?  As in Edward Alexander
Goodhead?"
  "That's right."
  Michael nodded.  "Alright.  I'm officially taking
over this case."
  "Is that wise?"
  Michael sighed.  "If Goodhead Junior is anything
like his father then he isn't going to like anybody
snooping around his business."
  Jack gave him a disapproving look.  "They're adults,
Michael.  And Lana is a former FBI agent."
  "And Lana is going to be my wife.  It's natural for
me to want to protect her."
  "She might not want her protecting her."
  "Tough.  I'm also her immediate superior.  If she
wants to complain then she can speak to John but then
he'll tell her that it is _my_ decision who gets
assigned to what case."
  Jack shrugged his shoulders.  "Just as long as you
know you won't be getting any tonight.  That's all."

1:23 pm

  "I'm afraid if you want to come in here and treat
this company as a crime scene," Goodhead Junior told
him, "then you are going to have to get a warrant."
  Michael was non-plused.  "And waht if we find
something?  It would reflect badly on you if you were
to officially go on record as being unco-operative."
  Goodhead Junior smiled.  "I'll take that chance.  We
Goodheads place a high regard on privacy."
  Michael nodded.  "Alright.  But I'll be back
tomorrow with that warrant."
  "Perhaps you will.  Perhaps you won't.  This company
makes a significant contribution to this city's
economy and I doubt if any judge in this city will
issue that warrant."
  Michael nodded.  "I see.  Well then, I'll be sure to
investigate as to exactly what 'contributions' this
company has made, specifically in regards to any that
may have been deposited directly into the bank
accounts of any judge who would refuse to issue me a
warrant."
  "Are we done here?" Goodhead asked coldly.
  "I think so.  For now."
  Goodhead nodded.  "Fine.  The way out is the same
way you came in."
  Michael nodded.  "Alright."  He left.

  A few minutes later, Doctor Peter Hanks walked into
his office.
  "Did the cop see you?" Goodhead asked.
  "No," he said.
  "You're sure?"
  "Your men had me locked away the whole time he was
here."
  Goodhead nodded.  "Good.  Because I don't want
anyone to guess what we're up to.  Is the formula
ready?"
  Peter nodded.  "It's ready for human testing.  All
we need is a volunteer."
  "You have a volunteer," Goodhead said.  "Me."

                         PART II

One week later, 9:31 am

  Harry Roy was walking along the road, minding his
own business, when somebody in black body armour and a
black mask flew down and grabbed him off the road. 
The flying man held Harry in the air well above the
streets below.
  "What the Hell?"
  "Don't give me that crap!" the man in the mask said.
 "You knew this was coming!"
  "Knew what was coming?"
  "You killed my father!"
  "I didn't kill your father!"
  "Didn't you?"
  "Well--"
  "Do you even know who I am?"
  "Who are you?"
  The mask retracted so Harry could see his face. 
"I'm Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior."
  "Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior?"
  He nodded.  "Edward Goodhead was my father."
  "Okay."
  "Okay what?"
  "Okay so I did kill your father."
  "That's what I thought!"
  "Wait!  Your father killed my mentor!  I killed him
out of revenge!  If you kill me now then that would be
no different from what I did!"
  Goodhead shrugged his shoulders.  "So?  I'm the bad
guy, remember?  I'm supposed to be able to kill
without remorse."
  Goodhead threw Harry down to the streets below...
but he was caught by Extreme just in time.  Extreme
carefully placed Harry safely on the ground and then
threw up to where Goodhead had been hovering.
  "You've been a bad boy, Goodhead," Extreme said. 
  "Bite me!" Goodhead told him.
  Extreme just smiled.  "You know, Goodhead, you just
tried to kill my friend here and he's going to testify
to that effect so, whatever else happens today, you're
going to go to prison for a long time."
  "Ha!  Your friend killed my father and was out after
only a year!"
  Extreme shrugged his shoulders.  "Some people would
call that a long time.  In any case, there are two
ways this can go down: the easy way or the hard way. 
Trust me, you don't want it to go down the hard way."
  Goodhead snorted.  "Don't be so sure.  My powers go
beyond flight!  I'm also super strong!  Maybe strong
enough to beat you."
  Extreme sighed.  "Alright then.  The hard way it
is."

10:22 am

  "What the Hell happened to him?" a nurse at
Pepperton General Hospital asked.
  "He resisted arrest," Extreme explained.
  "Amazing!" Doctor Joel Horner said.  "He appears to
be healing right before our eyes!"
  Extreme nodded.  "Then we've got a problem.  We're
going to have to move him to a secure facility."
  "I'll make arrangements," Detective Michael King
told him.  "There's no doubt a suitable cell waiting
for him at Pepperton State Prison."  He sighed.  "Are
you absolutely sure that the amount of force you
applied was necessary?"
  "If I had applied more force than necessary,"
Extreme told him, "then he'd be dead now."
  Michael nodded.  "No doubt."
  "We should leave the patient to rest," Doctor Joel
Horner said.  "It's only right."
  Michael nodded.  "Fine.  We'll have two officers
stationed outside the door."

10:55 am

  An old man wearing sunglasses wandered into the
hospital and spoke to the lady at the reception desk.
  "I'm looking for Edward Alexander Goodhead's room,"
he said.
  "Room 301," she said.
  "Thank you."
  The old man took the elevator to the third floor. 
Officers Mark Johnston and Tom Jackson were standing
in front of it.  He walked up to them.
  "Excuse me but you can't go in there," Mark said.
  "That boy is my grandson," the old man said.
  "I don't think so," Mark said.
  "What's with the sunglasses?" Tom asked.
  The old man pushed the two officers aside and went
into the room.
  "Stop!" Mark said.
  The old man took off his sunglasses.  His eyes were
solid black with no discernable pupils.  Suddenly the
pupils faded and his pupils returned.
  Mark and Tom followed the old man into the room.
  "Where am I?" the old man asked them.
  Suddenly, Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior woke up. 
His eyes were solid black with no discernable puils.

                        PART III

One week later, 9:01 am

  Judge Kevin Matthews addressed the jury at the
inquest into the death of Edward Alexander Goodhead
Junior.
  "This is not a trial," he said.  "The members of the
Extreme Force Six are not to be found guilty or not
guilty.  Our purpose here is to simply determine how
Mr. Goodhead died and what the circumstances were. 
There is no question of Mr. Goodhead not having died
at the hands of the Extreme Force Six.  That is not in
dispute.  The verdict you will render today is whether
the act commited by the Extreme Force Six was
justifiable, excusable or criminal.
  "I remind you of the meaning of these three terms. 
A justifiable act is one which is commited when no
other option was available, say for example in order
for the perpetrator to save his own life or the lives
of others: acts commited in self defense fall under
this definition.  An excusable act is one which is
commited under duress and under circumstances in which
one can understand and excuse the resultant act: this
includes any act commited when the perpetrator is in
legitamate fear for his or her own safety or the
safety of others.  Such a fear need not seem
reasonable after the fact: this then includes cases of
temporary insanity.  Finally, a criminal act is one
which is, in fact, a crime.  It need not be a
premeditated act.  If you find the death of Edward
Alexander Goodhead to be a criminal act then this case
will go onto trial at which point the question of
whether or not it was premeditated would be
considered.
  "As this is an inquest and not a trial, no witness
is to be considered on trial and cannot be compelled
to answer any questions that do not have any direct
bearing on the case.  The witnesses are, nevertheless,
to be considered under oath and can be charged with
perjury should they be found to knowingly provide
false testimony.  Pepperton District Attorney Alan
Russell and Pepperton Public Defender Roger Roeper
each have the right to call witnesses to this inquest.
  "Mr. Russell, you may call your first witness."
  "Thank you, your honour.  I call Extreme to the
stand."
  Extreme got up and literally glided over to the
witness box.  The bailiff swore him in.
  "Mr. Russell, before you begin, I must remind you
not to ask Extreme any questions about his personal
life.  The remaining members of the Extreme Force Six
have already vouched as to his identity."
  "Understood, your honour."  He walked over to the
witness.  "Extreme, could you tell us in your own
words what happened on thst afternoon one week ago?"
  Extreme nodded.  "I had just returned to Extreme
Headquarters.  Water Lord, Amazing Woman, Weapon
Alpha, the Human Spider and Mr. G were all there. 
Suddenly, somebody crashed through the wall.  It was
Goodhead."
  "Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior?"
  "Yes.  We had fought once before, that very morning.
 He had tried to kill Harry Roy and I stopped him.  He
ended up in Pepperton General Hospital.  And yet here
he was, stronger than ever.
  "I under estimated him.  He defeated me easily.  My
teammates all rushed to fight him but, even together,
they were no match for him.  It didn't make any sense.
 Then Professor Vincent Stomper arrived with Ethan
Stanley Boyle."
  "Can you explain to us who these people were?"
  "Yes.  Professor Stomper is a professor of
paranormal phenomena at Pepperton State University: he
had helped us out once before with a case involving
two high school girls whom the local police suspected
of being involved in witchcraft.  Ethan Stanley Boyle
we had never met before but Stomper vouched for him:
he was, apparently, a daemon hunter and he carried
what he called a 'spirit sword'."
  "So Edward Alexander Goodhead Junior was now a
daemon?"
  "They said he was possessed by a daemon, yes. 
Professor Stomper claimed that he had sensed the
merger of the daemon with Goodhead and knew that their
combined power would be a real threat so he contacted
Mr. Boyle and the two of them came by Extreme Force
Headquarters right away and had arrived only inutes
after Goodhead himself.  Boyle claimed that his sword
would stop the daemon but when he swung his sword at
Goodhead, he only laughed at him."
  "So the sword had no effect on him."
  "Supposedly it did.  Goodhead became weaker. 
Stomper told us that we would have to kill Goodhead to
kill the daemon inside of him and that this was the
only way.  Certainly there seemed to be no point in
subduing him: Stomper told us that he would only be
weak initially after being struck by the sword and
that he woukd be back to full strength within
minutes."
  "So what did you do?"
  "We piled on on.  Fists, feet, retractable claws,
webbing, we threw everything we had at him."  He
looked over at the jury.  "When we were finished, it
was quite clear that he wasn't getting up."
  Alan Russell nodded.  "Thank you.  No further
questions."
  "You may step down," the judge told him.

  The remaining members of the Extreme Force Six were
then questioned, one at a time, as were Professor
Stomper, Ethan Stanley Boyle and Harry Roy.  The
officers involved in the Stephanie Baxter murder case,
Tom Jackson, Mark Johnston, John Phelps and Michael
King were also questioned.
  
  "Detective King," Alan Russell said, "Professor
Stomper claimed that killing Mr. Goodhead was the only
option that they had.  Do you agree with this claim?"
  "I trust Professor Stomper's judgement in this
matter," Michael said.
  "But it wasn't the daemon who would have wanted
revenge against Extreme but Edward Goodhead himself. 
If it was the daemon who was in control then why would
they have gone to Extreme Force Headquarters?"
  "I believe Professor Stomper already answered that
question."
  "I am now asking for your opinion."
  Michael nodded.  "As Professor Stomper said, the two
of them may ahve formed a kind of symbiotic
realtionship: the daemon may have at all cost wanted
to keep control of Goodhead because he was so powerful
and Goodhead would have actually wanted to be the
daemon's host because the daemon made _him_ more
powerful.  The question of who was actually in control
would have ultimately been irrelevant because they
were now acting as a single entity, neither of them
wanted to be separated from the other.  And together,
they were a grave threat indeed and, as Professor
Stomper correctly surmised, would have remained a
great threat until they were both dead."
  "In your opinion."
  "In my opinion, of course.  You _did_ ask for my
opinion."
  "So I did."
  "No further questions."
  "You may step down," the judge told him.
  He got up and returned to where he had been sitting.
  "Are there any more witnesses to be called?" the
judge asked.
  "No, your honour."
  The judge nodded.  "Very well then."  He turned to
face the jury.  "You will now deliberate based on what
you have heard.  You will be given as much time as you
need to reach your decision while you are sequestered
in the jury room.  Bailiff, please escort the jury
outside."
  "Yes, your honour," the jury said.
  The jury were brought to their room to deliberate.

  Extreme went to speak to Michael.
  "Thanks again," he told him.
  "No problem," Michael said.  "I was only telling
them what I believed to be the truth."
  "Are you quite positive this will go our way?"
  Michael thought for a moment.  "There's no question
that the Extreme Force Six was attacked and that you
were acting in self defense.  The question comes down
to whether or not you were ligitamately in danger.  I
think that the evidence precludes the fling of any
criminal charges."
  Extreme nodded.  "Let's hope the jury agrees."

  The jury came out again after only about a half an
hour.
  "Have you reached a verdict?" Judge Matthews asked.
  "We have," the jury foreman said.
  "Could you hand the verdict to the Bailiff?"
  The jury foreman handed the verdict to the Bailiff
and the Bailiff handed the verdict to the judge.
  "I see," he said.  "Please read the verdict so that
the court may hear it."
  "We find the death of Edward Alexander Goodhead
Junior to be justifiable."
  Roger Roeper breathed a sigh of relief as did almost
everybody in the courtroom.
  "That's good right?" Extreme asked Michael King.
  "Absolutely," Michael said.  "Justifiable is much
better than excusable because it would now be much,
much harder for Goodhead Corporation to sue the
Extreme Force Six for wrongful death.  He did, after
all, attack you in your own headquarters and cause
considerable damage.  If anything, you should think
about suing them."
  "Don't think we won't," Water Lord said from the
back of the courtroom, his powerful hearing having
picked up their conversation.
  "The city will also file criminal charges," Alan
Russell said, "against anyone responsible for the
human experimentation that led to Goodhead getting his
powers."
  "Is that sort of human experimentation illegal?"
Extreme asked.
  Michael nodded.  "It is if we can show that they
knew what Goodhead was capable of and what he might do
if he had the powers."
  Alan Russell nodded.  "It would be the same if they
had handed Goodhead a gun."
  "We could get them for conspiracy," Michael
explained.
  "Good luck with that."
  "Thanks."  Michael turned to look at Water Lord. 
"And good luck with the lawsuit."
  Water Lord just grunted in reply.

                         THE END 

NEXT: The return of the Beyonitor and the Wedding of
Michael and Lana!

Martin


 
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