🚀 go-pugleaf

        WARNING. POTENTIALLY INTENSE AND UPSETTING SCENES.

        Please note, 99% of the time, gentle reader, the superguy
        digest is family oriented, occasionally straying to areas
        that are not PC, or push the boundaries.
        This one is violent. Bloody. Nasty. Tramatic. Innocents die.

        If this isn't for you, don't read it.  So why did I write it?
        I nearly didn't.  I had to build up a scene that would justify
        or at least explain my hero's actions in the Megacrossover,
        the Industrial Revolution, all of which happens right after the
        end of this episode. (Putting me back in continuity.)
        But it was hard to write, and much of the shock has been lost
        due to foreshadowing and references made to it in things happening
        later. -Amigoid


The doctor leaned back in his leather chair and steepled his thin fingers.
Lying on the couch in front of him was a heavyset man, a man who glowed with
energy.

The doctor coughed, picking up his pen.  "All right now, shall we resume?"

        "Ok, doctor."
        "Lets begin with a discussion concerning this performance anxiety
        you spoke of...."
        "Honest Doc, I was just not in the mood,  I mean, she's pregnant
        and its a distraction."
        "No no no...  I was referring to your current obsessive behavior
         with the concept of continuity..."
        "Oh..."
        "When was the last time you did it?"
        "But, I thought we were talking about writing...oh.  Last April.
          it was the end of April.  Doc is it normal to be an author and
          not do it for more than a month?"
        "Are you still talking about writing?"
        "Um, yeah doc."
        "Then I'd have to say no. Have you had any inspiration?"
        "Hell yes doc, plenty. I was inspired to build the baby's crib,
        right after he kicked me one night. I think I may have to file a
        complaint with M.-Muse.  My wife/muse has been misusing the dust."
        "This is normal behavior?"
        "For her, yeah.  Anyway... Yeah I've had the whole story whirling
        in my head for a month now, and I'm sure the readers have lost track
        of whats going on. And its frustrating, you know?  I had this great
        one-shot for the Rocket-Man for the Historical Superguy I wanted to
        write, but every time I got near the keyboard, the pressure to
        finish my other story just blew the energy out of me."

The doctor folded his notebook closed.  "This is a classic case of
Authoritis-Kaputus-NonConnus-GoFiggus-Realwhirledus-Interruptus."

        "Could you put that in authors terms?"
        "You suck."
        "Oh."
        "Now get off your loosely attached butt and get it written."
        "Okay!  Thanks doc.  I guess if I just finish it things will be better."

The Amigoid strode purposely from the office, as Pickle peeled the mask
off his face and got up from the doctor's chair.  "No problem."



                Finally, at long last, when you least expected it:


                                Spectrum #21
                        The Gould Conspiracy Part III
                by the Amigoid, with crunchy action bits from
                        Robotech_Master and ShadowyWriter

Marie sprinted back to the hotel, her arms and legs pumping furiously.
Her invid heart pounded as she ran.  FIND ADAM! FIND ADAM! The thought
pounded a staccato beat in sync with her shoes.  Why did Spectrum tell
me to run away from a fight?  An invid is a warrior, and Marie was a
stage five Invid, the ultima...ultima...
*YES*
What was that?
*ULTIMA*

Marie's foot caught on a curbstone, and it was only her inhuman reflexes
that kept her from sprawling on the pavement.
"Who is there?" Marie slowed to a stop.  She looked around the streets,
but nobody was nearby. "Who said that?"
*Ultima*
Her head throbbed.  "Who or what is Ultima? Where are you?"
*AT THE HIVE*I AM WITH THE BRAIN*I AM WITH YOU*I AM WITH ALL INVID*
"I need assistance!  Can you contact Wayne?"
*WHY*
"I'm trying to save a human, my ally!"
*HUMANS ARE INFERIOR*HUMANS ARE TO BE ENSLAVED*
*dUDE! tHIS iS lIKE, a wAY nARLY pARTY lINE! oR eLSE tHIS wEEDS lIKE..bOGUS*
"WAYNE! Meet me at the hotel."
*lIKE, wHY?*
"You get to smash things and blow things up.  Spectrum needs help."
*cOOL*
*I HAVE SCANNED YOUR MEMORY. THIS SPECTRUM IS...UNUSUAL. YOU MAY PROCEED*
Marie sprinted onward to the hotel with renewed energy,
her confusion regarding the Invid brain and this new entity pushed aside.


---------------------------


Spectrum looked at the teenager with the camera bag.  "Ok, you know who I
really am.  Call me Lawrence."

        "I'm Parker.  Parker Peterson.  Ace..er, cub photographer for the
        Bob City News-Tribune.  Want a donut?"

        "Listen Parker, we're in a real jam here.  I appreciate you
        helping me distract that mage, but there isn't much more I can
        do right now.  I'm afraid to risk all these innocents.  There is
        five of them, and only one superhero here."

Parker took a deep breath. "Wrong.  There is two."  He opened his camera
bag and pulled out a Shinobi-style ninja mask.  "I am...the Nikon Ninja!"

Spectrum looked at the bag.  Then at the youth. His brow furrowed.
"You have gotta be kidding me.  What do you do, fight crime and then
sell the photos?"  He looked at the crestfallen teen. "OK, lucky guess.
Who have you fought, so far?"

Parker looked down at his shoes. "Today was going to be my first patrol.
Right after I finished my shift, and brought ol' KKK his donuts."

Spectrum sighed and shook his head.  Thank you God.  I thought today could
not get much worse.  He turned his head away from the rookie and stared
across the aisle at a small pigtailed girl, who smiled at him and waved.

Spectrum turned back to Parker. "Listen rookie.  We screw this up and
people are going to die.  You don't so much as wiggle before I give the
word, got it?"  Parker smiled, and nodded.

The Shaman growled at the girl, "Face front.  Or else."  The little girl
frowned back at him. "You're being mean! I was just waving at that sad man,
tryin' ta make him smile." Joseph Redfeather scowled, then relented.
"Go ahead then, little one. You follow your heart...but be quiet."
The Shaman turned his attention back to the man with the goat head mask,
who was still slumped unconscious next to the Shaman.

The bus rounded a turn in the warehouse district, down toward a darker less
traveled part of town, an area where large rats patroled the streets at dusk,
searching for cats.  An area where dark shapes danced on the walls boldly,
even before sunset.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The waitress pursed her lips with some irritation, as the new-hire
adjusted her nametag and twitched her bushy tail nervously.  Damn
lawsuit.  Not only did Dennys have to serve all types, they had to
hire some, too.  "Ok, Miss Lady, lets get busy." Your tables are 16-23,
over in the smoking section."  She watched the anthromorph make a face
at the reference of smoking.  Tough beans.  Let her deal with it for
a couple months. "You've watched the training tape, and you remember you
have to report all your tips." (If you get any, she smirked inwardly.)
"This is a busy restaurant, and we get a lot of traffic from Bob City,
and other local towns.  You work hard, you might even make shift manager
in a year or so. (yeah right).  Now get to work, and I expect you to
have your SSN for me by next Tuesday.  Questions?"

Foxy shrugged, "When do I get to eat?  I'm starved."  She looked at the
head waitress, and her stomach tightened.

The waitress blinked.  "Well. You have been working here for several weeks,
and you've already given me your SSN for the W-2's.  I guess I can advance
you some of your food credit from your first paycheck.  Its the least I
can do for my favorite employee..."

Confused but no less grateful, Foxy mutely nodded and walked to a empty
booth with the waitress.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Spectrum spoke softly to Parker.  "OK.  I understand what you can do.
It looks like these guys play rough.  You better keep moving, or you are
going to be a greasy stain from a fireball spell."  Spectrum glanced at
the singed hair from his hand.  He'd gated away the fireball that the
goat-head was going to cast, and gated in a blast of heat energy at the
same time with his other hand to blow the hole out the wall.  Having
the magical energy ripped away prematurely KO'd the mage somehow.  That
covered Marie's escape.  It looked like that fat mage and the others had
fallen for the ruse.

He looked away from Parker.  The little girl slipped down from her seat
and quickly hopped on the empty seat on Spectrum's other side.  He glanced
at the woman who had been sitting next to her, but she appeared to be
passed out, unconscious, her romance novel in her lap.  The little girl
looked up sweetly and whispered, "Hi Mister.  Don't be sad. Your girlfriend
is with the angels.  I saw a bright light and she was flying away.
Mommy said all good people go to heaven.  Was she a good lady?"

Spectrum's lip twitched, "Yes she was, little miss."

        "Amy"

        "Hi Amy, I'm Larry. This is my friend, Parker."

She grinned. "I have a friend too! His name is Mickey. He's hiding
in my purse but I betcha its ok to take him out since Mommy is taking a
nap cuz all those mean men started yelling. Here. See?"  She fished out
her toy figurine, and handed it to Spectrum.  "He takes care of me when
Mommy and Daddy are gone.  He likes to play, and he always keeps a secret.
You can hold him for me for awhile, he can take care of you too, and you
won't be so sad."

"Thanks Amy."

The little girl hopped off and climbed back into her seat, snuggling close
to her softly breathing mother.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry sir, both of them left the suite to do some shopping.  I can
leave your message for them when they return."

Adam turned away from the hotel's front desk.  At least they'd finally
come up for air, he grinned mischeviously.  The man at the desk had
said they'd not left the room since he'd been there a few days back,
before the whole mess with his girlfriend.  His grin faded.  He had to
find Spectrum.  Spectrum would listen, even if he thought Adam and the
rest were 'kids' he still listened.

Adam walked despondently for the front door.  He looked up just to see a
green haired woman tackle him, panting.
"Holy Shit! Who are you!"
        "Adam!  Thank the Regis I found you!  I have to -*wuuuf!"

Adam kneed her hard in the solar plexus. "I know you!  You are that
Invid bitch that nearly killed Spectrum back in Springfield!"

Marie's breath came in short rasping gasps as she struggled to her feet,
rolling at last moment to dodge another kick. "Yes! I mean, no! Wait!
I am not your enemy, I need your help!  I'm Tornado!  Spectrum's my --"WHACK!
"Stop it! Stop it!" She gasped.  "Spectrum is in trouble! Mages have--"

The word froze Adam as the winded Marie staggered back to her feet.
He grabbed her roughly and pushed her into a elevator, closing the door
and punching the button for their floor.

He jammed his pistol against her head. "Talk to me.  Where is Spectrum?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Something skittered along the wall of the sewer, its eyes glowing in
the darkness, pausing and turning down drains, like it was following a
scent.  Soon the rains would come.  He would be out of the waters path
long before then.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The bus pulled into an empty building.  The children were separated
from the four adults.  The dead bus driver was left in the bus.

"Now," Irving Gould rasped, "we shall begin..."

"NO! PLEASE!" Amy's mother sobbed.  "In Gods name, have mercy!"

Irving flinched, "Be quiet!  You are about to help us achieve our next
level of existence."  He gestured to the frames and harnesses, the firepots
and shallow trenches carved in the ground.  "The blood of innocents, spilled
in this ritual will seal the obligations we have made do our dark lord and
master, and permit our ascendancy..."

"You bastard!" Spectrum growled angrily. "You damned stinking bastard.
You are going to kill us all, aren't you!"

Irving showed his teeth. "Yes.  You are just unlucky, however.  The
children were all we needed. You just happened to be in the wrong place,
at the wrong time."

Spectrum's eyes raced around the room.  Parker stood, tense. Watching
for a opening.  Spectrum growled. "You know, the superguys will find you.
Hunt you down and make you pay for these heinous crimes."

Irving laughed. "Unusually bold talk from a man about to die.  I would
have expected you to be begging for mercy, for a quick painless death.
Instead, you will be the first.  And you will die slowly. Tragor, Dartka,
ensorcel the children."

Spectrum leapt forward, blazing a bolt of flames that struck Irving dead on.

Irving laughed, surprised but for an instant, parried the flame and englobed
the raging hero in a sphere of magical energy. "Foolish hero.  I surmised
you must be more than mere flesh, unlike those other cattle. But you've failed."
He gestured and tendrils of energy lashed out at Spectrum, drawing his life
energy out of him.

Parker could no longer stand still.  The hooded pair chanted, and the room
melted into a sunny grassy field of rainbows and bunnies and unicorn ponies.
Happy little stuffed animals danced around the children, leading them to
the playground.  Peter reached into his bag, and pitched out a flash grenade
at a pink dancing baby goat.  The light was intense, and then image wavered,
the goat changing form back to the mage with the goathorns.

"Now, YOU die, mortal!"  The images shimmered and the baby goat, all cuteness
again, threw a bundle of roses at the Ninja.  Parker dove left, rolling,
as the deadly bouquet struck the schoolteacher, incinerating her.  Parker
leaped behind a candy cottage quickly pulling his mask on, and whipped out
his camera, and...where were his throwing stars?  All he could find was his
bandolier, with donuts on it.

The sound of hoofsteps on a metal roof (The bus? He wondered)
and the Nikon Ninja fingered the strangely hard donut instinctively.
As the baby goat cleared the roof, the Nikon Ninja threw the donut,
snapping flash shots rapid fire with his camera. The baby goat squealed
in pain, firing a happy fun ball at him.  The ninja dodged, but the ball
homed in, bursting in a violent explosion that blew the Ninja over the
grisly tableau below. Time slowed to a crawl, and he noted with odd detachment
how the scene below was one moment children laughing in swings, the next
moment screaming children swinging upside down, like Dante's meat market.
He looked at the wall rushing to meet him.  He felt his left arm snap from the
impact, grinding again as the ground and unconsciousness raced each other to
reach him first.

Gould's eyes opened wide. "So MUCH!" He howled with glee. "As much as I can
ask for!"

Spectrum grated his teeth, struggling against his bonds, his briefcase at his
feet.  "Whatever it takes, you monster! I can keep this up as long as you want
if it means saving lives!  I can gate altiversal energy all day!"

Gould sneered evilly, "Making you as evil as I, eh?  Where does all that
life energy come from? Who dies for you to live? "

"WHAT!?!?! ARrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!"


"Come on kids, climb on up!", the happy coyote sang, "Get a ride on the
wheel!"  Amy and three other children giggled merrily and scampered up
to the ride.  Amy paused for a moment, confused.  "Just a minute mister
dog, I gotta go get mickey an my momma!"  Another child jumped up to
take her place as she backtracked, searching for her mother.
The coyote growled to itself, "You only delay the end but for a minute.
No matter, all I need are four pure children for my medicine wheel."


Parker shook his head.  The landscape kept melting and reforming.  It must be
shock, he mused, from the broken arm.  Something crawled out of the ground
in front of him.  Something man-sized, but inhuman, that seemed to stay the
same despite everything else changing.  It reached out with one of its many
arms and touched the broken arm gingerly.  It tilted its head and its
mandibles moved.  Great, Parker groused. I'm going to be eaten by a giant
spider.
"D you truzt me?" Rasped the thing.
"Heh, thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Parker replied, passing out.

----------------------------------------------------------

Marie barreled out the hotel with Adam in tow.  Pausing for Adam to
suit up, Marie fretted, "Adam, how are we going to locate Spectrum?"
A beeping began on an internal display. "Oh.  Nevermind Adam.  I've got
a lock on Spectrum, now all we need to do is get there fast."

Adam responded over his radio, "Tornado, which way is he?  How can
you find him?"

Marie frowned and shrugged "I guess since Spectrum has a unusual energy
signature, my suit can detect him."  That was the truth, as far as she knew.
But if she could detect him, he was using his power...

"Well Tornado, we better fly HEY!" Adam shouted as Marie suddenly took
off into the air.  Adam quickly shifted to from cyclone cycle mode into
his flying battlesuit, and flew in hot pursuit.

Out of the corner of his eye, Adam spotted an INvid RCB barreling down out
of the clouds.  Adam shouted to Marie, "Tornado! We have an enemy Invid
closing to attack!"

"Like, No Way, dude."
"Adam! Don't Shoot! Wayne's on our side!"
"What?"
"Yeah, like I'm a supercool good guy type, heh, yah."
"WAYNE! Where were you?"
"Like, at the hotel.  There are some luscious earth females that needed,
like, some shade by the pool.  I can't wait to conq, er, I mean protect 'em."
"SHUT UP WAYNE!" Adam and Marie chorused.


----------------------------------------------------------

Blood.  Fresh blood everywhere.  The medicine wheel turned, a mockery of
its true purpose, with dying children as its four spokes, the coyote splashing
and frolicing in the pool of blood. "Yes!" The coyote hissed as it reformed
back to the blood-drenched evil shaman. "The blood of four inviolate
children opens the gate to my transformation!  I can feel it happening!"
The children died, one by one.  A small boy, the last of the four spokes,
coughed blood, and whispered, "I kept my promise daddy...I didn't tell..."

With a resounding crash, Tornado, Adam and Wayne blew through the wall of
grizzly scene, shattering the illusions.  The carnage was incredible.
Even the two Invid warriors were shocked into silence at the raw brutality
of the scene.

"By the Regis!"
"BOGUS!"

Adam stood transfixed. His worst nightmare was coming to life all
over again.  His blood boiled, and his throttle revved. All this
blood and gore...someone was going to pay for every drop.

An inhuman howl rose from the medicine wheel.  "NOOO! WHAT IS
HAPPENING TO ME!  I CAN'T STOP IT!  I'M ARRRRRRGGRROOWWWWLLLLLL!!!"
What had been a man grew and reshaped into a huge white hairy
beast, with long claws, sharp teeth, red eyes, and an evil
disposition, like some kind of yeti gone bad.  Turning to the
dead children tied to the wheel it began to feed.

"NOOOOO!" Adam raged, jamming the throttle to the max, ramming the
creature and carrying the pair out the far wall.  As the aging
bricks crumbled around them, Adam's motorcycle altered, shifted,
forsaking its two-wheeled vehicular form for another shape more
fitting to close battle.  The wheels swung around, the rear slid
up, pieces of the Cyclone adhered to parts of his body armor, and
the gatling gun that had been mounted on the front faring slid up
and back to a storage position behind his right shoulder, out of
the way.

Adam and the white monstrosity crashed through the wall together,
hit the slick pavement of the alleyway, and rolled over and over.
They separated and got to their feet, and the creature lashed out
at Adam with a clawed hand.  Adam dodged back barely in time; if
it had connected, it might have ripped the front of his suit
completely off.

The thing threw back its head and howled a primal scream of rage
and frustration.  Its red eyes narrowed, and it began to advance
on Adam.  To his surprise and slight horror, it spoke, in a low,
growling, inhuman voice.  "I'll boil you inside that shell of
yours, mortal!"  It gestured and murmured something, and Adam
kicked in his thrusters just in time as the place where he had
been standing was engulfed in a pillar of fire.

"You inhuman monster!" Adam yelled.  "Eat this!"  Twin panels on
his Cyclone's chest flipped open and a barrage of armor-piercing
rockets boiled out.  The thing just laughed, murmuring more words
and throwing up a web of energy filaments that caught and
detonated the rockets before they could get close enough to hurt
him.  The web disappeared, its job done, and the creature leaped!

Adam swore, popping the CADS blades on his arms and raising them
to meet the monster's leap.  It impaled itself on the twin
blades, and blood spattered on the pavement and Adam's armor.
The weight would have borne them both to the ground, but Adam's
Cyclone thrusters fired, keeping them upright.  For just a
moment, the creature's face was right up next to Adam's helmet.
Even though the helmet was closed and sealed, Adam could almost
smell the foul stench of the monster's breath.  Then he shoved
forward, throwing the creature off his blades and onto its back.

"I guess that's that," Adam said, sheathing the bloody blades.
"I--"  And then he fell silent as he saw the twin wounds seal
themselves.  The Wendigo got to its feet once more.

"I'm not that easy to kill!" the Wendigo laughed.  "Let's see if
you are!"  It charged him.  Adam leaped, then saw too late that
this had been what the monster had intended.  It was casting some
sort of spell at him!

Adam had one chance, and he took it.  He shut off his thrusters
and dropped like a rock.  The spell, whatever it was, flew
harmlessly off into the sky while the Cyc hydraulics absorbed the
shock of the landing.  Standing once more, Adam reached up and
back, pulling the .50 caliber gatling cannon off his back and
sliding it into position on its right forearm mount.  "I'll see
you in hell (TM), you bastard," he hissed, pulling the trigger.

Armor-piercing, discarding-sabot ammunition, of the type Adam's
gatling gun normally fires, works on a simple principle.  The
shell part of it is standard--a metal casing filled with
gunpowder that expands to propel a bullet down a rifled
barrel--but that bullet is another matter.  The bullet is,
essentially, composed of a pellet of depleted uranium or some
other hard metal, covered by a larger soft-metal (usually lead)
outer casing.  When this bullet strikes something hard--say, a
tank--the lead casing peels off, imparting its kinetic energy to
the smaller pellet, enabling it to penetrate the armor.

But that's not all.  Once the pellet penetrates that armor, it
usually doesn't retain enough kinetic energy to punch through
another layer of armor.  So, it ricochets back and forth through
the interior of the tank, and through whatever happens to be
within that interior.  The armor-piercing, discarding-sabot round
is quite a piece of work.

Of course, none of this changes its effect on soft tissues, which
is essentially the same as for any bullet of that size...

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!
Adam held the trigger down, and bullets penetrated the creature's
body and flew out the other side, blood and gore spraying
everywhere.  The kinetic energy imparted by the impacts was
pushing the Wendigo back against the wall of the next building.
.50 caliber shells were flying everywhere.

"HHHHURRRROOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!"  The monstrosity gathered its
strength, pushed itself up off the wall, and lunged.  Adam stood
his ground and continued to pull the trigger, walking his fire up
the creature's chest.  The line of healing bulletholes moved
upward.  The monster's expression changed to one of fear.
"NOOOOO!!!" it screamed, just before a .50 caliber shell
penetrated its brain and caused its head to explode.  The
headless body slumped to the ground, where it twitched
occasionally but moved no more.

Adam continued holding down the trigger until the gun went dry,
pumping round after round into a body that was now little more
than ground meat.  At last, when the BAMBAMBAM sound was replaced by
the CLICKCLICKCLICK of the empty barrels cycling, Adam came to
his senses, shook his head, and lowered the gun.  Suddenly, he
noticed, he was shaking all over.  He just needed rest, that was
it.  He needed to sit down and breathe deeply for a little while.

Sliding the gun back up into its storage slot, Adam stumbled over
to the hole in the wall they'd made during their exit, walked
back through--and saw all the carnage he'd barely glimpsed
before.  He quickly yanked off his helmet, then fell to his knees
and threw up, right there on the dusty floor.  A few minutes
later, after the dry heaves had stopped, Adam put his helmet back
on and took one last look around him, fixing the scene in his
mind so that he would carry it with him always, and never forget
it.

"Magic," he muttered.  "It was magic that did this.  The mages
must be stopped.  They MUST.  Spectrum can't help but see it this
way as well."  He turned and walked away from the building,
looking for Spectrum.

     The hooded mages chanted in unison as Marie charged forward at
them. Her eyes blazed with fanatics' fire -- she remembered the party
after the defeat of the Power Grangers, and what she had heard there. This
proved it! The mages _were_ evil! They _must_ be exterminated!
     "Damnit!" she growled, closing the last few feet, "How do I run the
chainsaws... Hey! Cool!" Her Black 'n Decker diamond-edged chainsaw
blades popped out and roared as she leaped into the air over the two in
a classic anime-style leap. These bastards would pay for daring to
attack her Lawrence!
     "Diiieeee-eaaaaaiiiii!" she shouted, a battle yell turning to a
scream as the world literally disappeared from around her. She had the
sensation of floating -- weightlessness! Those mages had 'ported her
into space!!

     Wayne blinked from inside the cockpit of his Battloid as the world
swam and disappeared before him. He was in... Oh nooo! The meadow scene
from Bambi!! Wayne gulped as a couple cartoon animals bounded by. No
way!! This must be one bad trip, he reasoned, or...
     Or an illusion.
     Wayne's brow furrowed, and small streamers of smoke rose from his
ears as he pondered. He had navigated his way through many, many acid
hallucinations before, so... If the guy making this doesn't want me to
go near him, he would make himself concealed inside a solid object...
     Wayne grinned, sighting his plasma cannon on a massive oak tree
that stood, out of place, in the center of the meadow. He fired once,
the blast being enough to vaporize the surprised illusionist.
     "Yes!!" Wayne shouted. "Score!!"

     Marie screamed helplessly, flailing around. She was in _space_!!
How?! How long before her air ran out?! Would Wayne, Adam, and Spectrum
even realize she was gone?!
     Marie screamed again as she saw a meteor come flying towards her --
but then the world shimmered for a split second, and she saw a glimpse
of the warehouse again, the hooded mage desperately trying to re-weave
his spell without the support of his companion. Marie simply slammed her
right fist into his chest. Since there was currently a rotating chainsaw
blade extending from her forearm-mount, this made a very, uhm, big
impression on, or rather, in the mage.
     "Guhhrk!" he commented, before dying messily. Marie kicked the
corpse off her blade, her warrior's mind not even considering the death.
He was an enemy and a threat, and now he was simply dead -- to her, that
was all that mattered. Now, to save Lawrence!

Spectrum lay sprawled, twisting and twitching, unable to summon the
energy to overload the mystic bonds pinning him down, Gould stood over
him laughing, drinking in the power.  Again, Spectrum reached for his
briefcase, vainly seeking it for protection but unable to reach it, unable
to deal with the paradox Gould presented him with, and unwilling to
cope with the carnage around him.  Gould watched, and with a gesture,
the case opened right next to Spectrum.  The armor gleamed in the sparking
exchange of energy. "AhAH hah hah! You silly mortal fool. You think armor
can protect you from my power?  Nothing can even slow me down!"

"How about a RJ-11 series Light Railgun?!", a voice behind him challenged.

"WhaT!?"  Gould spun.

        *B_W_R_A_MM!*

Gould paused, inspected the hole blown through his abdomen.
"Well, that would have, at one time...but THINGS HAVE CHANGED!"

Gould gestured and eldrich lightnings crackled from his hand, striking
Marie as she tried to peel herself out of the wall from the gun's recoil.

The goatheaded mage, wounded with a silver throwing star imbedded in
one eye, strode into view, and unleashed a fireball at Wayne.
"YAAAAA!" The RCB blew through the roof of the warehouse of gore, as
the Invid attempted to regain control of his mecha.  Clouds gathered as
evening began, obscuring the full moon.

Wayne landed back in the warehouse.  The mage tried another fireball,
but before he could complete the utterance, something reached up from
the ground beneath him.  The mage shrieked, as a mandible severed his
left arm.  A blinding flash, and suddenly a tabi-covered foot slammed into
his mask, driving the throwing star into his brain.

The Nikon Ninja stood, an arm webbed up against his body.  Bringing his
camera up, he hissed, "Say cheese, motherfucker."

Amy looked around her.  Everywhere was violence and death, everywhere
dead and dying children and monsters. "MAAAAAAAMAAAAA!!!!"

Gould gestured and tendrils of energy tugged at Marie and she screamed.
A blast tore at the tendrils, then slammed into Gould.
He turned.

Spectrum stood, in his armor. A growing corona of energy building around him
as he jabbed a finger at Gould.  "We end this now.  You and I."

Gould laughed.  "You foolish earthling! You want Irving Gould? Then you
can have him, with my complements."

Spectrum unleashed an enormous blast of energy, as Gould leapt, faster
than his fat girth should allow.  He landed heavily next to the screaming
child and a eerie sphere englobed the pair.  He grabbed the child, and
taunted, "Foolish! You are all like cattle, like minor playthings to the
galactic union of mages. When we didn't destroy your world, I stayed
behind, for my pleasure, to bring about my own ascendancy."

"Like, isn't he supposed to be dead!?" Wayne queried.

"Idiot!"  Gould hissed, his face bulging and distorting, "Irving Gould
died a long time ago!"  His arms stretching and tearing.  His mouth
opened wide, wider, and suddenly a bloody beak projected out.
With a soggy rending sound, Gould's head split away in a bloody pulpy mass.

Spectrum blasted the sphere, with greater increasing power.  But the
sphere held.  The thing hissed and suddenly dozens of small tentacles
erupted from the quaking corpse, entwining the small child. "You shall
watch me feed on this last one, human!"

"GET BACK, EVERYONE!" Spectrum yelled.  He glanced at Wayne, Marie, and
the Nikon Ninja.  "There has gotta be a way!!" He looked at the scene.
Then, he blasted forward, ramming his armor against the globe.  The globe
budged, but didn't relent.  Channeling his energy, he heaved, and tore the
sphere free of the ground.

"You have failed human!" The alien mage hissed, as Spectrum flew into the
stormy sky.  Lightning bolts crashed against the pair, but neither seemed
effected.  The mage traced a slick tentacle against the child's cheek,
"I could burrow through her eyes, her ears, oh, how to do the deed..."

"NO!" Spectrum channeled more and more energy into his suit, as warning
lights begain to flash on his internal displays and the pair broke mach 1,
mach 3, as the atmosphere dropped away from them as they rocketed into
space.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Can you see them?!" Adam looked up, scanning the stormy skies.
"They've gone off my scope!" Marie moaned.  "Wayne, get us up above those
clouds!"
"Righty-o!" Wayne powered up his RCB and the pair of armored heros clambered
aboard."
"Wait for me!" Parker leapt up. "I'm the Nikon Ninja, Spectrum's sidekick!"
Maries's eyes narrowed. "You stay here. We'll be back."

The trio flew up into the stormy skies above Bob.  Buffeted about by winds,
they finally cleared the cloud cover over the city.

"Marie! You got him?"
"Yes, but he is so far away..."
"Where is he!"
Tornado grimly pointed up, towards the moon.

------------------------------------------------------------

The globe flashed through the ether of space like a greenish comet.
"Ha aha hahahahaaha! HA HA AH HAHAHA!" The child laughed inhumanly.
Spectrum raged madly against the side of the globe, constantly
accelerating.  The moon continued to grow.  "You can't get to me.
You can't kill me.  You can't even save one child." The Gould/Alien
mocked him silently, psionically, from behind the eyes of the little girl. "Now
I'll get in your head, invade your dreams. I shall become your worst
nightmare."

Spectrum strained. "You despicable creature. You want to know my worst
nightmare?  You filthy stinking space parasite! You may think you are,
but you're not! I've already been there. In my nightmares, I'm not
Bahamode Sigma, I'm not Spectrum, I am just a superguy. One of the
most powerful hero's on the planet!  And the nightmare is, I'm not afraid
to use my power.  I cut loose. Completely. The infinite energy of a
billion altiverses!" Spectrum's mind roared "*** AND I LIKE IT! ****"

**    **    ********         *******  **    **  ********  *******  **   **
**   **     **    **           ***    **    **  **    **  **   **  *** ***
**  **      **    **           ***    **    **  **    **  **   **  *******
****        ********   ***     ***    ********  **    **  **   **  **   **
** **       **    **           ***    **    **  **    **  **   **  **   **
**  **      **    **           ***    **    **  **    **  **   **  **   **
**    **    **    **           ***    **    **  ********  *******  **   **

Scientists and Stargazers would remember that night. As if Bulletproof's
chilling pronouncement over radio free hero did not mark the day indelibly
for mankind, as if the whispered rumors of a gory mass murder weren't
enough, the unexpected creation of a huge crater on the face of the moon
marked this day in history like a celestial exclamation point.


The timing had to be perfect, and it had been.  Armor built to withstand
incredible punishment had served its purpose, and at the last instant Spectrum
had gone intertialess.  The sphere had shattered with the cataclysmic impact,
and in the center of a crater that extended to the horizon, a small child lay,
the airless void decompressing the body slowly.

Spectrum sagged sadly, looking down. He reached for the body.
An alien tendril exploded out, then another, and another, snaring Spectrum's
arm as he backed away in horror. The thing pulled itself free and waving
its tentacles, rasped in his mind,
"You cannot kill me.  I am eternal. My magic can reconstruct my shield,
and my deal with the elder gods has granted my eternal life."

Spectrum grabbed the smaller sphere, rocketing again into space.  This time,
heading for the sun.  The alien raged inside its bubble, "NNO! YOU MUST NOT!"
Spectrum paused, and looked at the earth, a small blue ball.
Then he turned and with all the force he could muster, heaved the
abomination straight at the sun.

Spectrum watched the globe as long as his optics would allow.
"Be careful what you wish for. Eternal life is just another word for hell,
when you're at the core of the sun."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours later.  Rain washed over the flock of police cars.
Inside the wreaked building Tornado, Adam, and the Nikon Ninja answered
dozens of police questions.  A woman sobbed uncontrollably.  Parker handed
over his roll of film, and the coroners lab hauled away the bodies of the
mages and the children.

"You have to understand, ma'am, Trapdoor-Spider Man was trying to protect you,
thats why he webbed you up, and hid you under the bus." Parker sighed.
"He helped set my arm."

The woman continued to sob, "I should have done something. My poor baby, she's
gone!  You are supposed to be heros and save the children. Why did you let
my baby die? Why?"

"Come with me lady," the policeman spoke gently. "You too, Mister, uh,
Ninja, that arm looks like it needs attention."

The Ninja shook his head.  He bowed stiffly. "I will go await my comrade's
return."  The cop shook his head. "Sorry, you're coming to the hospital
with us." The Nikon Ninja fingered a flashbomb. "I think not." With a
flash of light, he disappeared.

Tornado and Adam looked at each other.  "I wonder if Spectrum made it."
Marie strode out the door, looking into the skies, "I'll try my radio
one more time."

Her suitcom crackled to life.
"....bzzzt..*pop*..is Spectrum, I'm coming down.  Give me a signal to
home in on...."

"SPECTRUM" Marie and Adam chorused.  "Are you ok?"

"I don't know if I'll ever be ok after tonight..." came the reply.


WILL SPECTRUM BE ALRIGHT?

WILL ADAM AND MARIE BECOME FRIENDS?

WHO IS TRAPDOOR SPIDER MAN?

WHAT ABOUT THE DONUTS?

WILL WAYNE BECOME A SUPERHERO LIKE MARIE?

WILL FOXY LEARN ABOUT HER NEW ABILITY?

WILL SHE GET ANY DECENT TIPS?

WHAT WILL THE NEW CRATER BE CALLED?

IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM.
        NOT EVEN WHEN YOU CAN NEVER DIE.
                NOT EVEN WHEN YOU ARE TRAPPED.
                        ESPECIALLY NOT WHEN YOU ARE INSIDE THE SUN.

        ...BUT IF WE COULD, WE'D REMIND YOU
                MAN OR WOMAN, GIRL OR BOY, ALIEN OR EARTHER,
                        NEVER MAKE A DEAL WITH A DEMON.
                                THEY CHEAT.

  Now begins the Industrial Revolution...


SUPERGUY.  THE FINAL FRONTIER.


 ) 1994 Lawrence H. Brown, All Rights Reserved.


--
*******************************************************************************
* I cancelled my subscription to reality. I never used the damn thing anyway. *
*******************************************************************************
Lawrence H. Brown HW Release Lab Admin. lbrown@cisco.com (415)688-4487
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