🚀 go-pugleaf

     It has been said that Andy Awesome is the greatest hero on the planet,
barring Superguy, of course.  His dedication is legendary.  His drive
extraordinary.  In many ways, he truly is the embodiment of the word `Awesome.'
Even the crisis of the death of two of his team's members -- and the resulting
damage to his reputation -- was not enough to change the true hero Andy was.
     It would probably be too much to ask that such a paragon of virtue also be
able to sleep well at night.
     "Hey," Linda said, slipping up behind the Awesome Force leader and resting
her head on his shoulder.  Her voice was thick with sleep.
     "You ought to be asleep," Andy said.
     "You too."
     "I don't need much rest."
     "Rats are nocturnal creatures."
     Andy chuckled and stroked her hair.  He was staring out one of the near-
indestructible windows on the titanic Awesome Force One airship.  The cold moon
of late winter was out there, melting into early spring.
     "So what's bothering you?" Linda said.
     "What do you think?"
     "Well, let's see.  It could be leftover guilt over Skids and Miche.  It
could be the news that Dangerousman's left the planet.  It could be those
strange reports we've gotten from the Xolchipalian Defense Forces about some
Satanic Warship.  It could be the increasing tensions surrounding magic users
and magi, and the increasingly loud voices calling for their restriction.  It
could be the devastation of Downtown Bob City.  Or it could be the fact that
it's Dan's turn to cook dinner tomorrow night and you've used up all your
excuses to be off the Airship."
     Andy laughed.  It was a tense laugh.
     "It's Unorthodox Girl, isn't it?"
     "Unorthodox Lass."
     "Whoever."
     Andy sighed.  "Yeah.  It is.  I... wish we'd heard something more."
     Linda chuckled slightly.  "For all your talk, it's hard to put your faith
in someone else to get the job done, isn't it?"
     Andy nodded.  "It is.  I mean, I've devised eighteen different strategies
for an Awesome Force retrieval scenario in the last three hours, and I don't
even know who has her.  I tell myself that Trashman's a great leader, and that
the A.L.U.'s got the power to get the job done, but...."
     "But you're scared that your decision to not get the Awesome Force
involved will get Unorthodox Lass--"
     "Girl."
     "--whoever killed."
     Andy nodded slightly, and sighed.
     Linda turned Andy's face towards her, and kissed it lightly.  "Andy, down
on terra firma, people die every day.  It's something we hate, but we have to
live with.  We're incapable of being everywhere at once.  Even the Dash and
Relativity Woman can't be everywhere at once.  Sometimes you have to make a
hard decision, and then you have to live with it."
     "I thought you were against the decision not to get involved."
     "I was.  And I am.  But Andy... you're in charge.  And you're... well, my
friend and leader, if nothing else.  You made a decision.  And I'll support you
in it.  I ripped my heart out blaming you once -- I won't do it again."
     They kissed again, and looked out at the full moon.  The clouds were
rolling in around it.
     "I just hope she'll be all right," Andy whispered, and Linda had to agree.

                                 The Adventures
                                     of the
                          Adjusted League Unimpeachable
                                 Guest Starring
                                     Healer

                                   Episode #73
                           "Origins Volume the Third"
                "Unorthodox Biochemical Revenge Part the Twelfth"
                                       by
 Eric, Lord Sabre, who isn't nearly as depressed as this storyline might suggest

                               NOTES ON CONTINUITY

      Pretend this series is taking place in late February and Early March.
  Pretend it's taking place during the period of time that encompassed Episode
               Three of "Yesterday's Hero" by William R. Dickson.
              Pretend the Industrial Revolution was just beginning.
                     Pretend it doesn't matter much anyhow.

                                NOTES ON CONTENT

  What more can I say?  This story's nasty as Hell.  I don't apologize for it.
               If you like your Superguy light, delete this post.

                                   * * * * * *

     Olson swung the Cobra in a tight, fast motion.  It struck with an audible
*crack*, raising a welt and coming away with blood clinging to the metal.
Trudy's flesh shuddered as he paused three seconds, then hit again.  Three more
seconds, and the other shoulder blade.  Only a second and a half passed the
next time -- catching her by surprise.  That forced a yelp.
     "It could have been so easy for you," he said coldly.  *Crack*  "You could
have made it so easy on yourself..." *Crack*  "All you had to do is play ball
little girl..." *Crack*.  "It's all..." *Crack* "your" *Crack* "FAULT!"
     The blow hit her upper thighs, below the buttocks.  She was sobbing now,
but it was an involuntary sob.  She wasn't giving out.  She wasn't giving him
the pleasure of begging.  He swung harder, again and again.  This time an
alternate blow to the cheek, then another shot to the lower back....
     She wasn't giving him the pleasure, but one look at Olson's face and you
knew she didn't need to.  The cold face that had ordered torment after torment
was grinning now.  The man without passion felt on fire... *alive* now!  Let
her fight -- he didn't care!  He refused to care as he hit her again and again.
     "See what you've done?" he asked her in a patronizing voice.

                                   * * * * * *

     Touch-sensors went active.  Internal defenses primed.  The Hartford Area
Mega-Intelligence Bureau Secret Laboratory prepared for the most dangerous, the
most desperate of all situations -- discovery.  Key personnel were already
moving into the Exodus trains, which would whisk them miles underground to Cape
Cod, where the M.I.B. Submarine Base would provide them with an escape to the
Prince Edward Island safe house.
     Certain personnel had to remain behind, of course.  They had to block the
intrusion.  They had to coordinate the defense.  They had to blow up the
tunnels after the personnel who left, so that the security breach wouldn't
extend too far.
     One man was not evacuating, coordinating or guarding, though.  He was
running.  Running with speed no human could match, endurance no human could
believe.  He wasn't running for the Exodus Station.  He was running into the
deepest bowels of the Lab.
     His name was Thomas Kim, and his world was going to Hell.

                                   * * * * * *

     Six miles was not far to cover.  The Adjusted League Unimpeachable could
have covered it in half a minute or less, if they wanted to.  At least two of
their members could have covered it so quickly they almost wouldn't have
noticed the passage of time.  But this time they had to go slowly.  They had to
be careful.  If they hit like gangbusters, their missing member might well be
killed.
     Trashman was not himself running the distance.  He was being carried in a
reddish bubble of Xolchipaliax radiation along with Healer and Kid Solipsism.
But he wasn't relaxing as they moved.  He was scanning the field that they were
approaching.  Watching for some sign.  Watching for some hint of trouble.
     It was the first time since the battle with the Awe-Inspiring Force and
the League of Unconcerned Scientists that he was leading a strike team of his
most powerful into battle.  So much had happened.  So much had changed.
     Had Andy Awesome felt the nervousness before he went to Russia?  Had he
glanced all so surreptitiously at his team as they moved out to do their jobs?
Had he tried to figure who wasn't coming back?
     No.  Not like this.  Andy didn't have Dangerousman watching over his
shoulder... waiting for the mistake to be made.
     Trashman closed his eyes.  He didn't have time for this.  He had to be
sure.  He had to be firm.  It was Trudy Unorthodox's life he was playing with.
     ][We're in position,][ Spandex Babe sent over the mental link Healer was
providing.
     Trashman nodded and opened his eyes.  It looked like an empty field, but
the Masked Bruce had already scanned it and found the entrance.  It was a
question of going in.
     ><Masked Bruce,>< he sent over the link, ><into the air.  Open the
entrance -- one pulse and make it surgical.  Don't let any of the framework of
the hatch be removed -- that way any alarms will stay silent.><
     The Masked Bruce nodded and hit the air.  His suit protected him from
scanning.  His Tihorn fired a laser that burnt into the sod and into the metal
of the entrance.  He lifted the cut-away pieces out with a Tractor/Repulsor
beam, and gave the high sign.
     ><Dash -- GO!!!!><
     In a blur, the Fastest Girl You've Met was down the hole, moving too
quickly, Trashman hoped, for pressure sensors or electric eyes to note more
than a bobble.  Like one, the A.L.U. descended, following.  Following
Trashman's lead.
     And Dangerousman was watching....

                                   * * * * * *

     The metal rod slammed into Trudy's back.  It angled down, slashing into
her backside and the back of her thighs hard enough to leave slick red trails
of blood after it.  It fell again and again.
     Trudy stared forward.  She had no more screams in her.  Pain was nothing,
now.  It was as though she weren't even part of the torture.
     A small fragment of her soul knew she was going to die.  Olson was going
to beat her to death.  But she didn't care.  She had beaten him.  She would die
free.  And Olson would have to live with that for the rest of his life.
     It let her be peaceful.  That was nice.  She had never known peace.  Not
really.  Her father had abused her, her mother was gone -- who knew where.
Even her time with the Adjusted League had been time of conflict.
     She was glad she had been with the Adjusted League.  She was glad her life
had meant something.

                                   * * * * * *

     Kim skidded to a stop outside of the Metagenetics Lab.  He didn't like
coming down here -- he didn't like confronting the abominations within...
abominations he condoned through his inactivity.  He could smell humans inside
-- when this sector should have been clear.
     Which meant he had to check it out.  He had a duty to his people before he
secured Unorthodox Girl.
     He looked through the protective glass door.  It was Doctor Green.  She
was trying to sedate or lure a wolf into a carrier.  The wolf was growling.
     It was still a wolf.  It was unbroken.  And Doctor Green was trying to
break it before she left.  Trying to save it, when it didn't want to be saved.
     Kim tried the door.  It was locked.  His passcard would open it, but take
precious time...
     Kim's muscles swelled.  The beard sprouted and grew on his face, as he
felt the beast grow strong within.  With a snarl, he ripped the door off its
hinges.
     Doctor Green whirled, and saw Kim... *really* saw him for the first time.
Her eyes were wide with fear.  Fear and... something else.
     "You were supposed to have left fifteen minutes ago!" Kim growled.  He
resisted the urge to rip the woman's heart out, though the beast wanted to.
Oh, it wanted to.
     "But... I -- I can't leave Buck behind.  I can't!"
     Kim looked at the wolf.  He had suffered.  Suffered hideously... but he
remained a wolf.  He remained strong.
     Kim looked at the tranquilizer gun in Doctor Green's hand.  The beast
wanted to tear it from her.  "Sedate him," Kim growled.
     "I... I can't.  Metagenetic expression... he's immune to it!"
     Kim stared a long moment at the wolf.  "Get out." he said to the human.
     "But--"
     "GO!!!" he roared.  He had no time for this.
     Doctor Green moved, grabbing the dolly that had the other wolves locked in
it.  The docile ones.  Kim ignored them.
     *I cannot carry you out of this place,* he said, trying to make the
battered wolf understand.
     The Alpha stared back, his back was straight.  He was free, even in the
cage.  He wasn't asking for help.
     Kim let the beast slip away, and again became the man.  He unlatched the
cage.  With a bound, Buck was out and running down the hall.  Kim didn't know
if he'd live.
     And now he had to secure the prisoner.

                                   * * * * * *

     Oddly enough, the capture of the Dash was the first indication the
Hartford Lab had that the invasion had begun.
     Kim's instincts had driven him to call an alert, with the expectation that
the Adjusted League Unimpeachable would be the invading force.  As this had
always been a possibility, specific measures had been adopted to neutralize
them.
     The Dash was the most dangerous threat.  She was the only superguy on the
team that had been rated Alpha level in powers -- the same rank as Relativity
Woman, Mighty Guy, !, and the like.  A full subcommittee had been appointed to
develop an Anti-Dash weapon.
     It was hard.  Oh, they expected she couldn't outrun a laser or a particle
beam -- at least, not consistently.  But developing a machine that could detect
her, track her, lock on her and fire with a better than one percent chance of
hitting was next to impossible.  In fact, the efforts of the subcommittee led
to incredible strides in the field of defensive weaponry... but nothing, no
matter how high tech, that could possibly stop the Dash.
     The head of the subcommittee, Special Agent Furr, had finally all but
given up, gone home, and asked his five year old son.
     His son had told him what to do.  Of course it worked.
     The Dash had explored the first three levels of the base in two and a
quarter seconds.  She was pushing all out, but had to be careful.  She then
moved to level four--
     And was startled at how long the corridor was.  It had to be a mile or
more in length.  But a mile didn't mean much to her -- she ran down at a slow,
easy three hundred thousand miles an hour--
     And barely felt the first barrier as she slammed through it.
     Ten sheets of three inch thick plexiglass had been lowered into the
corridor. They were designed to be nearly transparent.  Each was a hundred feet
from the last.  The Dash hit the first and obliterated it, pain and a
concussion flooding her instantly.  She was too surprised to attempt to stop,
so she smashed through the second one.  She lost her footing then, but her
inertia carried her through the third... the fourth... the fifth....
     All the Dash could sense was the impact of having three hundred bowling
balls dropped on her every quarter second or so for about three seconds.  When
she burst through the tenth barrier, she skidded along the rest of the
corridor, which had a teflon coating to reduce her friction.  She was still
going several times the speed of sound when she slammed into the metal wall at
the end of the corridor.
     A restraining wall dropped into place and locked tight.  The battered body
of the Dash was secure in a little cell all its own.  Even if she recovered --
which at her metabolic rate, she would -- she would be trapped.
     Down another two levels, an alarm went off in Control.
     "We have the Dash," Burns said.
     "Damn.  Hit active alerts -- it's started."  Bankert pushed the intercom
button.  "Special Agent Olson to Control.  We are under attack.  Repeat, we are
under attack."

                                   * * * * * *

     Olson's head snapped up and looked at the remote pickup.
     Trudy laughed.  "I told you," she croaked.  "I told you my friends were
coming."
     "Your friends think you're dead."
     "Stop lying.  You've lost."
     Olson looked down at Trudy.  He dropped the metal rod.  "Have I?" he
asked.  He then looked over to the one-way mirror.  "Paul, get up to Control.
Pongress, eliminate the subject.  Make sure there's no way to identify the
remains.  Let's go."
     Olson strode out of the room, straightening his suit.  If he heard Trudy's
mocking laughter, he gave no sign of it.  Paul caught up to him, and the two
stepped into the express elevator, designed to bring them to the Control level.

                                [End of Part One]