🚀 go-pugleaf

[Continued From Part Three]

     Night had fallen over the park, and five figures sat around a blazing
campfire, talking, sharing and learning about each other. Where once they
had been surrounded by a tension that had threatened to strangle all,
choking each until something inside died, now there was only an easy
discourse, a sharing that was desperately needed. Though all were still in
some pain or another, they had managed to divide up their hurts and cares,
each helping to lift the other's burden. Somehow, the sum of the parts of
the pain was lighter than that of the whole. The physics of injury were a
universe unto themselves.
     "It's getting pretty dark," said Karen, looking at the sky. "Maybe we
should go and head back."
     "That might be wise," replied Angellica, nodding. She glanced at the
fire and sighed ruefully. "I don't suppose any of us had the foresight to
bring along a bucket with which to put out the fire, did we?"
     "Pyromancy was an... interest of mine," said Avril, removing two
sticks from the ground. "I will put out the fire."
     "Not yet," said Boomer, with a small grin. "Guys, there's something
else we have to do."
     "That being?" asked Angellica, looking at the man with a curious glance.
     "It's high time we buckled down and did something that we should've
done a long time ago. I assume we're going back into the crimebusting
business after we've managed to recover from what happened last week. We
need a name for ourselves."
     "That seems appropriate," said Angel, nodding. "Something to bind us
together. I only wish that Jack was here to be a part of it."
     "He is," said Karen, her voice calm and even. "He'll always be a part
of it, as long as we're all in this together. It's also time that I gave
into something that he wanted me to do for a long while... take a hero name
for myself."
     "What're you thinking of calling yourself?" asked Boomer, his face
painted a dancing red by the fire's flickering.
     "There's only one name that I think I'm comfortable with... one that
John called me after the big battle. Even describes me to a 't'."
     "What is it?" asked Angellica, tilting her head curiously.
     "Juggernaut," replied Karen, smiling ironically. "Just try to keep me
from moving in a straight line."
     "Heh," said Boomer. "Fits. And it's more impressive than surprising
criminals and having them shout 'Damn, it's Karen'! Sounds more like you
walked in on your sister going through your diary than a crime in
progress."
     "You're darned right," smiled Karen, chuckling. "Hey Avril, you want
to get in on the naming game while the going's good?"
     Avril grinned shyly. "I... believe I will ponder my options for now,"
she replied, stripping bark from the sticks that she had retrieved. "But
please, do not let me interrupt your fun."
     "Got it," said Karen, smiling. "Now that I've got a name for me, we
need a name for us. How does the Supremes catch everyone's attention?"
     The silence was deafening. Karen looked at the others with raised
eyebrows and a hopeful expression. Finally, Angellica broke the truce of
quiet.
     "Then we'd either be a musical group or a pizza. No matter what, I
will _not_ stoop to a thirty minute or its free guarantee."
     "Right, just an idea," said Karen, hmming.
     "We could be the 'Pizza Delivery Guys'," said Boomer, grinning. "Our
motto: 'Fast, fresh mayhem with a smile'."
     "I think I speak for everyone when I say 'no'," replied Karen. "Shard
have any ideas?"
     Angellica looked at her companion, then shook her head. "Shard's been
quiet all night. And even if it did have an idea, I doubt that I could
translate the name into English."
     "You know, we're going about this the wrong way," said Boomer. "We're
supposed to be trying to establish a myth, a legend. Let's look at who
exactly we've got in our 'pantheon'. We've got an angel, a titan, a wizard,
a crystal elemental and... um... me."
     "A trickster," filled-in Angellica, favouring Boomer with one of her
so-very-rare warm smiles.
     "Thanks, Angie. And we were brought together by a master of speed - a
messenger, who fell in battle with one of his opposite numbers. Any ideas
from that?"
     "We could go with classic fantasy," said Karen, grinning. "The
'Ringbearers'."
     "You just want to be invited to weddings, don't you?" asked Boomer,
rolling his eyes.
     "The Titans?" suggested Angellica, looking around for reactions. Karen
shook her head.
     "We don't want to rescue too many people who're trying to jump off of
bridges, do we?" she asked. "Besides, we'd be setting ourselves up for one
Hell(tm) of a lawsuit."
     "I believe... the appropriate name may have already been said," said
Avril, as she began whittling runes into the sticks with her belt knife.
"You... we... are an assortment who mirror legends, fables and myths of
this world. Is there a name so fitting as 'Mythos'?"
     A chorus of 'hmmmm' sounded around the fire. A particularly love-sick
hummingbird flew close, then flitted off to find an all-night karaoke
flower, upset in the extreme because he had been awakened for nothing.
Boomer grinned at Avril.
     "Why not?" he asked. "I like it, it's just pretentious enough that
people will confuse us with real superguys and if we don't like it we can
bring it back to get our money cheerfully refunded."
     "I like it too," said Karen, smiling at Avril. "Let it be done."
     "It's very good, Avril," said Angel with a nod, listening to something
which her hovering crystal companion sent into her mind. "I believe that
it's unanimous."
     "Great!" said Boomer, standing up and stretching. "Now let's get home
and fax our name to TFA before we get called something by default...
something stupid like 'Team Ottawa'."
     "You're on," replied Karen, gathering up the picnic leavings. Avril
smiled, rubbed her sticks together and pointed them at the fire, which
promptly flickered and went out.
     "Hm," said Boomer, looking around the nighttime gloom.
     "Yes Boomer?" asked Angellica, raising an eyebrow.
     "Don't suppose anyone remembers where we actually parked?"
***
     Long past midnight, a van and its occupants pulled up in front of a
large apartment complex where Mythos made its headquarters. Boomer had only
been forced to stop singing 'Infinite Bottles of Beer on the Wall' twice,
and for just this one night, all was well with the world.
     "It's too late for us to head on home," said Boomer, with a yawn. "You
want we can just set up some partitions and crash at the ol' HQ."
     "Might as well," said Karen, also yawning. "I've got a few changes of
clothes stashed there in case something like this happened. Just promise me
one thing, please."
     "What's that?" asked Boomer, setting the van's parking brake.
     "No, and I mean _no_ singing, okay?"
     "Not even a round of 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling'?"
     "Are you Irish?"
     "Not really, no."
     "Then forget it, you can't even claim cultural grounds," replied
Karen, jumping out of the van. "Don't make me put a pillow over your head
tonight, got it?"
     "Got it," said Boomer, hanging his head in mock shame. "I feel so
unloved and unwanted. All I try to do is bring a little music into
everyone's lives."
     "Oh but you do," replied Angellica, stepping gracefully to the
sidewalk. "You bring very little music into our lives."
     "You'll all appreciate me when I'm dead," said Boomer, with a sly
smile. "Then I'll be right there to say I told you so."
     "I knew it," said Karen, shaking her head. "The guy's planning to
haunt us. Does anyone have the number of a good paranormal investigator?"
     "Yeh, I think so," replied Angellica, with a small smile. "Shall we
head inside so the neighbours don't think that we're too terribly strange?"
     "Didn't they figure that out already the last time we barrelled out of
here with a twenty kilo twinkie and a bucket of milk?"
     "That was business related," said Boomer. "I mean, how else were we
supposed to stop Sweet Tooth's rampage?"
     "Does this... sort of thing happen often?" asked Avril, blinking in
confusion. Boomer grinned reassuringly at the girl.
     "Nah," he said. "Only every week or so. The rest is a whole lot weirder."
     "I feel so... reassured," replied the mage, shaking her head slightly.
The group mounted the steps and walked up to their studio apartment. Boomer
fumbled with a set of keys for a moment before Angel put a cool hand on
his, tightening it into a fist to keep him from rattling further.
     "Wha--" began Boomer, before Angel's finger touched her lips in a
'hush' gesture. Boomer immediately shut up and looked at the woman,
questioningly.
     "Shard has sensed someone in the apartment," she whispered, nodding to
the door. "There's some sort of energy residue within... what type, Shard
cannot tell but it's blocking it from determining the intruder's identity."
     Karen looked meaningfully at the door. "Boomer," she whispered. "Give
me the keys."
     With a shrug, Boomer handed over the key ring, with which Karen fussed
for several moments, making loud rattling noises. Quickly, she inserted the
key into the lock, turned the handle and shouldered the door, letting it
fly open even as she rolled into the room, letting her eyes adjust to the
darkness as she moved. A figure sat in one of the overstuffed chairs and
she tumbled toward it, jumping to her feet and grabbing at its throat.
Karen's fingers closed on empty air and she felt a gust of wind blow past.
     "Niiiiice," said a familiar voice as a lamp clicked on. "But you
should have had backup with you, Karen. I mean, what if your intruder was a
speedster?"
     Karen turned and gasped as she saw who was standing by the lamp. She
charged again, and the figure didn't move away even as her arms surrounded
and clutched him tightly.
     "JACK!" she shouted, hugging her friend. "Jack... what happened? Where
were you? We thought you were... oh god, thank god you're okay... where've
you been?"
     "Ribs... lungs... air... air good... need air... breath... breath
lovely... need much... need to breathe in... please?" gasped Jack, as the
other members of the team rushed into the room to greet their friend. Karen
wore an embarrassed smile as she let go of Jack, who was able to take one
breath before Boomer gave him a friendly slap on the back, driving the air
away again.
     "Jack, you had us worried sick," said Boomer. "Didn't we tell you to
call first if you're going to disappear from the face of the earth?"
     "Sorry mom," said Jack, with a grin. "But all of my friends were
jumping off of a bridge and I had to get in line too."
     "You owe us a story," said Karen, grinning like a maniac as she spoke.
"You owe us a really _good_ story, and we've got one for you and oh god, I
can't believe it's really you!"
     Boomer put on a bland face and spoke in his best
documentary-presenter's style. "Karen is rather pleased to see you."
     "I'm glad to see her. Heck(sm), I'm glad to see all of you! What
trouble did you guys get into in the last day?"
     "Day?" asked Avril, looking confused. "You have been missing for...
significantly longer than that..."
     "I have?" asked Jack, blinking once, then grinning. "Oh well, I'll ask
the brain trust at TFA what happened. Right now, I don't care. I'm just too
damn happy to be home."
     "So are we, though we might not use the vernacular to express it,"
replied Angellica. "Jack, we have a little surprise for you."
     "Surprise?" asked Jack, with a smile. "It isn't even my birthday.
What've you guys got?"
     "A name," replied Angellica. "Or rather, two names."
     "Names?" asked Jack, looking interested. "Go on."
     "You're looking at a fully titled superguy, Jack," said Karen, with a
large grin. Jack's eyes widened even as his grin did the same.
     "You're taking a code name?" asked Jack, amazed. "I never thought I'd
live to see the day! What do I call you now?"
     "You call me Juggernaut, of course," replied Karen, with a laugh.
"What else would you call a huge woman who ignore walls when she isn't
looking where she's going?"
     "I can't think of anything more appropriate," replied Jack, winking.
"But you said two names?"
     "Two names," said Boomer. "Because we went ahead and named ourselves
when you weren't looking."
     "I knew it! I knew you were waiting for me to vanish forever before
you'd take a name!"
     "You found us out, old buddy," replied Boomer. "The group you're still
in charge of no matter what you might say is now known as Mythos. Try it
out, live it, become it. You know you want to."
     "I like, and I want to hear how you got the name. But before you tell,
I have to make liars of you."
     "Impossible," said Angellica. "I've already earned that title a
hundred times over."
     "Once more won't hurt then, will it?" asked Jack. "I'm giving up the
'Zipper' code name. Thank _heavens_."
     "Awwwwww," said Boomer, snapping his fingers. "I liked that so much."
     "Yes, I know you did, you gave it to me," muttered Jack. "But someone
that... I really hope I see again soon told me who I was, and who am I to
disagree?"
     "Well tell us already!" said Karen, rolling her eyes. "Come on, come on!"
     "Jack the Zipper is no more," said Jack, with a mock solemnity. "There
is now only... Alternator."
     "Sounds like we've all been at the dictionary today," said Angellica,
smiling faintly. "And as ecstatic as I am that you've returned, Jack, I'm
afraid that I'm about to fall over in a heap at any moment."
     "I'm pooped too," said Karen. "Let's get some sleep and tomorrow we
throw a welcome back party for Jack. Followed by a 'filling out the forms
to prove to the government that Jack's alive' party of course."
     "Sounds like a plan," said Boomer. "Help me set up a few partitions,
will you Jughead?"
     "Don't... call... me... Jughead," growled Karen, as the team moved to
set up their sleeping space. They were six that night, and finally whole.
***
As usual, this story is trademarked, all rights reserved 1996 to
Frobozz/Chris Angelini (email:cangelin@uoguelph.ca, homepage:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~cangelin). Everything alluded to is intended as
satire, and no trademark infringement is intended nor implied. Play
baseball. You're only as young as you field.