In one instant, the world was shattered around them. Fiery debris rained down upon their bent-over heads as Richard’s body flew over Mickey’s taking all the impact of the falling dangers. He shuddered painfully as a chunk of wall smashed into his helmeted head, most of the impact absorbed by the alien material. Enough of the impact remained to give him the king of all headaches.

Copious amounts of smoke billowed into the room causing their lungs to reject the tainted air. Coughing violently eyes settled upon a figure gliding through the air and emerging from the smoke. Dark black armor glinted in the moonlight as flames flickered up and down the right arm and ice covered the left arm. The eyes glowed an unearthly yellow and stared around the room as boot clad feet settled onto the ground.

“Chris!” Mickey cried out as his eyes settled upon the two.

“Die.” The single word was all he uttered before flames and ice rained down upon the two heroes.

SUPERSTARS

Part III: The End is the Beginning is the End

By Scott Redmond

Conference Room

The room was emptier as usual as Night Thrasher moved through the door a thick folder in his hands. It was obvious he was all business as he was in costume instead of a suit. Not once could any of them recall him being out of costume since their arrival in California. Sil sat at one end of the table as Julie sat beside her clearly fidgeting and nervous about her inclusion.

“Where is Nova?”

Used to Thrash’s brash, almost on the cusp of rude, semi greetings Sil sighed. “Richard is in the infirmary. Visiting his friends. Team meeting when the majority of the team is laid up or missing seems almost a waste Dwayne.”

“We’re at work. Codenames only.” Turning towards Julie he opened the folder and stared at it for moments before returning to stare at her. “Powers, Julie. Known as Lightspeed. Spent years as a member of the Power Pack. Had run-ins and associations with the New Warriors before. Is this all correct?”

“Umm yeah.” Holding her tongue she waited for the end just like she had been warned before. “That’s me.”

“Do you know why you’re here?”

Placing her hands down flat on the table her throat was cleared. It wasn’t hard to guess but she wasn’t sure what and why her continued presence was required. Better to find out than keep playing his sick game. “I helped you apprehend a real hot head. Figured you have to do that debrief thing or whatever they call it on those shows.”

“Thrash get to your point, and stop leading the girl around.” There was a slight edge to her tone as Sil’s eyes moved to catch his through the mask. After all they had been through she was one of the few that could talk to him that way and get away with it.

Grunting in slight annoyance he turned back to the younger girl. “You have grasped your powers well for someone that hasn’t used them in years. Your timely intervention at the bar was appreciated.”

“What he means is that without your help, Mickey probably would have been killed and thanks for helping drag our bacon out of the fire. That about sum it up Dwayne?” The two women shared a small smile as he just grunted once again. “We were wondering if you were looking to join the team. You seem to mesh well with the current members and your powers would be a welcome addition. We understand if the matters that brought you here take precedence.”

“I came to Los Angeles to be an actress, so I think I’m gonna have to pass.”

“How is that working out?” Once again he cut right to the chase of the matter.

Frowning Julie wondered just how much he might have on her in that file before him. “It’s going really well, thanks for asking.”

“Hmm is that why you’ve been turned down for twenty auditions in just the last week or so? Even those commercials for that new burger place. Seems like it’s leading right to a star on the Walk of Fame.”

“Thrash!” The tone in the room shifted as Sil bristled with anger. It was not his right to go there and he knew it.

“I’d appreciate it if you would stay out of my personal life. My auditions may not be going the way I want them too, but I hung up the tights and costumes for a reason. I lost my childhood running around playing superhero, and what did I get out of it? Nothing. No one even remembers Power Pack. So now I go to school and try to make something of myself.”

Flashing lights filled the room as the alarms ripped through every inch of the room. Moving quickly Night Thrasher was across the room accessing the security cameras. Nothing but static greeted his eyes as the camera from the medical wing was inactive. “There has been a breach. In the medical wing.”

Running out the door with Silhouette right behind him not a glance was spared Julie’s direction. Sighing she stared after them for a few moments before mumbling and dashing out the door. It couldn’t hurt to at least see if she could help in someway. At least she didn’t think it could.

Warehouse District

The metal bonds were tight but not tight enough to keep a Princess of Atlantis captive forever. Eventually she would break free and have vengeance upon her very captors. So swore Namorita. Grumbling she strained against the meal once again feeling it slightly weakening again. It was slow going.

The bed beside her lie empty as Darkhawk was long gone. Her curiosity over his disappearance was hidden away behind the massive bank of anger that permeated every thought and action.

“Subject is once again straining against bonds. Note; increase sedative dosage by ten percent next time. Must counteract the faster metabolism and strength of Atlantean physiology.” With a click the handheld recorder was shut off and dropped on the one table present in the sparse room. Clad in a long white lab coat Dr. Trainer made her way over to her captive. “I trust there are no ill effects fro the sedatives I should know about. Being your doctor and all at the moment.”

Many human and Atlantean curses were at the tip of her tongue but she would not give the woman the satisfaction of seeing her ‘broken’ so easily. Staying silent she drew out every iota of her royal attitude to put it to good use. Many had called her a bitch of the years but that cold interior attitude had served her quite well and she couldn’t care less what others thought of her.

“The silent type hmm. Pity your friend wasn’t the same way. His tongue had a habit of getting him into trouble.” Checking the vitals on the machine she pulled out the chart of the scans of the DNA extracted. “Atlantean. Quite useful in the production of our wonder drug I dare say. Hmm the genetic code of your body is dare I say, perfect. Too perfect to be natural. No by the scans and the deliberate care of the sequencing I’m going to say a clone.”

Turning away she ignored the woman as a sneer appeared on the doctor’s face. Her clone heritage was only really known to those closest to her. It was not something one ran around announcing to the world. Princess Namorita feared no one, but to live amongst the humans she had to keep a low profile. The heroes and others of the surface world did not have pleasant encounters with the ideas of cloning.

“The intricacies of your DNA interest me unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I could spend years, no decades decoding and recoding and studying what makes you who and what you are. Just think of the applications and the Nobel prizes. And the admiration from the one I admire. Oh Otto, it would be glorious.”

Turning slightly for the first time her eyes settled upon the human woman’s. “Big talk for a common criminal. From super villain to drug peddler, the good Doctor must be very proud of you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Redness shot across her face as she tried unsuccessfully to curb the anger. “Otto will see what I am. He will know I am his equal, and soon he world will as well.”

“Major delusions of grandeur.”

A small scream ripped uncontrollably from the woman’s lips as her hand connected with her captive’s face. Grabbing a syringe she stabbed it into the soft neck flesh before pushing the plunger down. “Enough. It’s time to prepare for the autopsy. I hope your last words were worth it. Say hello to St. Peter for me or whoever is in charge of where abominations go.”

Breathing became erratic as her lungs scrambled for air. Her vision became fuzzy as her hand broke from its restraints and tried to grab for one of the three identical women hovering over her. Grabbing nothing but air she fell back onto he gurney and fell into absolute darkness.

Medical Bay

Fire surrounded the room as the blue and yellow clad figure dove through the air avoiding another torrent of ice sent his way. Twisting in mid-air, a stream of energy shot from his hands striking his opponent in the side of the chest and sent him spinning. Sliding across the floor, Nova leapt up to examine his handiwork.

Darkhawk stumbled back from the blow holding his chest. The pain subsided as he growled and hurled a handful of fire and ice towards his teammate. His mind screamed at him to stop trying to hurt his friend, but his body wasn’t responding. For the first time ever, somehow Chris had summoned the Darkhawk armor and instead of him being replaced by the android body. The armor was connected to his normal human body. If the process had worked normally, he might have been all right as the drugs would have been purged from his system.

Grabbing his head tightly he watched Nova dive behind a bed to avoid the attack. It felt like hundreds of fingers crawling through his head like insects. It was annoying and somewhat painful but part of him was dying for ore of the sensation. The addiction was setting in. “Stand still!”

“Chris this isn’t you. Whatever Trainer did to you, resist it. We’re your friends.” Ducking, his helmet protected him from the heat of the passing fireball. Glancing over it was easy to catch sight of Mickey hidden across the room near Vance and Angelica. If she could awaken them it might give them a better chance. In the meantime a diversion was needed. “Besides you know that I could kick your ass with both hands behind my back.”

The covering bed was blown away as he stumbled away under the pressure of the fire. Before he could move his mind-altered teammate was upon him, his fiery hand grasping Richard’s tightly. It wasn’t hard to feel the heat intensifying even through the advanced material his suit was made of. “That’s more like it Powell. Was beginning to think you lost your balls during the Darkhawk transformation.”

“You wish.” Iced fist struck Richard’s face as the fire fist let up and reeled up with a nasty uppercut.

Pain throbbed through his entire jaw as two fists shot up to send his friend sailing across the room. Groaning he turned over to find two pairs of black boots in his vision. Raising his head slightly a small wave was thrown up to greet his arriving teammates. “Sil. Thrash. You two have the best timing. It must be your power.”

Grabbing the outstretched hand for their leader and benefactor he was upon his feet. Turning they watched Darkhawk pulling himself from the ground the fire and ice seeming to sputter some. The high was wearing off. Without the drug he would be reduced to the regular powers of Darkhawk.

“So what’s the plan?” Silhouette’s crutches were gripped tightly as she waited anxiously.

“Hit him high and hard.” Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth Night Thrasher was across the room his weapons in hand. Striking his foe in the face he didn’t let up as his attack shot down for quick jabs to the chest followed by a sweep of the legs.

Catching each attack, Night Thrasher was tossed across the room right into the medical cabinet. Glass and thousands of dollars of medical supplies were now all over the floor. Nodding the two remaining team members moved as one rushing him, Silhouette from the top and Nova from the bottom. A giant shield of ice shot up stopping the upper attack right away, as Nova just barreled through it.

Jumping aside, it was easy for Darkhawk to avoid the attack and send Nova shooting out through the wall. Turning he caught his friend in the back with a blast of fire sending the space hero tumbling towards the street below. None remained save the unconscious team members.

“Stay away from them!” Julie stood firmly between him and the others as she tried to stop herself from shaking. It took great mental power but she achieved it as her hands glowed with power. “I’m warning you.”

Striding forward, he ignored her warning. A flash filled the room as beams of pure light shot from her hands striking him in the chest. Darkhawk’s body was lifted from the ground and hurled backwards right through the same hole Nova just went through. Tumbling to the ground he smashed into a parked car sending glass flying into the air.

Nova shot back into the room looking around and staying alert for any sign of his foe. Glancing around confused he caught Julie’s eyes as she stood staring at her hands almost in disbelief before she regained her composure.

“Where did he go?”

Her only response was to point out the wall. Moving over, he stared down only to see the figure dashing away probably headed for another fix. If he got another hit they would be hard pressed to take him down again. Night Thrasher was still unconscious leaving the decision in Richard’s hands.

Sighing, he helped Silhouette up. “Sil, we need to chase him now. He’ll lead us to not only Namorita and his fix, but also Dr. Trainer as well. She’s the key to shutting this down for good.”

The woman nodded as she took stock of their teammates. “Just us, then. No one else is in battle condition.”

Glancing at Julie, he chucked a thumb her way as Silhouette looked at him strangely. Nodding, she moved over to Julie’s side. “Julie, we need your help again. Just with this one thing, and then we won’t bother you again. I promise. I’ll personally destroy your file to keep Thrash from accessing it again.”

“All right, but after this I’m done. I gave up this hero gig for a reason.” Moving towards the hole she stared down at the street. “Someone always gets hurt in this game. Usually the ones we least expect.”

Warehouse District

It was common sense that when one has a particular addiction they will seek out the place they can easiest satisfy that addiction. Drunks to a bar. Drug addicts to the streets or their local dealer. When it comes to a specialty drug like MGH, the options are far more limited, even to those that know where to find it. There was only one place Chris knew to get the item he craved.

Bursting through the rotting doors he moved unsteadily through the warehouse searching for the woman. She had to be there with the miracle drug that would make him feel strong again. Pushing another door open he entered the lab spying her at the massive lab station.

“I need more!” Staggering against the lab station he grabbed his helmet and flung it off. “There wasn’t enough! I’m turning weak again.”

Pushing the microscope aside, Dr. Trainer sighed and crossed her arms. “You’re body is burning the drug faster than it can be produced. The data from this experiment is quite illuminating. Giving a superhuman the abilities of other super humans seems to have an adverse effect upon the person’s psyche as well as the fact that their own power causes the new powers to burn out quickly. I know quite a many super villains that would pay greatly for such information.”

Cringing he held his head tighter trying to push the pain away. “I don’t care, what about my drugs!”

A metal tentacle slid under the table looping around the surprised man’s ankle before the other three grabbed his other ankle and arms. Flinging him into the air his body hit the ground like a rag doll, even bouncing somewhat. Groans slid from cracked lips as the struggle to stand again began. A high-heeled boot slammed into his back driving the struggling body to the ground again. “In case the message was lost in translation, the experiment is over. You won’t be getting your drugs.”

A group of the hired help dashed over to heft the unconscious hero off the ground. “Dispose of the body. Preferably where the heroes won’t find it. We need to prepare the Atlantean for dissection.”

“Over my dead body…well you know what I mean.” A mental note was made to work on the hero banter in case it was ever needed again, as Julie crashed through the skylight Silhouette tightly holding onto her outstretched hands. “Basically step away from the hot blond blue chick!”

The door burst open as Nova joined the party coming to a stop far enough from Trainer to avoid the tentacles but close enough to show her his charged hands. The last time they fought she had caught him off guard. Not this time.

“This is all you brought? At least this data can help my experiment notes. Subject was able to incapacitate majority of team before burning out too much to continue.” As the recorder moved from her mouth a blast of light struck the woman across the face. Falling back the device rolled across the floor.

Surging forward, Silhouette was upon the falling woman slamming her crutches into the woman’s chest before flipping back to avoid the lashing tentacles. Julie ran forward her body still glowing as she unleashed another blast of light striking two of the tentacles and driving them back.

“She’s mine.” The other two backed off as Nova strode forward dodging each tentacle as they shot out towards him. Getting in close his fist flew out striking her in the face. A blast was sent to the side frying one of the attacking tentacles. Another blast joined the first but the other direction repeating what had happened on the other side. Two out of four were out for the count. “Had enough?”

“You wish.”

A foot lashed out, striking his chest with an audible grunt falling out of his mouth. Striking again she caught him in the back sending him down to the ground. As the foot came in again he grabbed it and slammed her to the ground.

Standing tall, he gave her body an extra kick sending it flying across the room right into one of the walls. As the Doctor’s body sagged the sore fist was shaken to see if just maybe the pain would be flung away as well.

Sirens in the distance could be heard as the heroes stood triumphant. They had rescued their teammate. Stopped the bad guy and the drug she was pumping onto the street. The only problem was the unconscious body of Darkhawk begged the question, at what price victory?

Champions Building
Rooftop

“Trainer is secure in prison. The team did well.”

Frowning, Richard turned his helmet tucked in pocket and stared at the speaker. “That’s not true. The team was pretty much decimated. A second-rate Spider-Man foe and one of our own team took us down to below even half our roster. The medical bay still has a few stragglers recovering within.” Running a hand absentmindedly through his hair, he continued. “We could have done better.”

The shadows parted as Dwayne Taylor, sans costume, emerged. “Your team is alive. Sometimes that’s the bright side you have to cling to.”

“That may not always be enough Dwayne. The team needs work. We need something to bring us together.”

Glancing over the edge at the growing moon a slight frown crossed the man backing and leading the new team. “You just may just get what you want Richard. Bad tidings are in the air, and the rumor mill. Just remember the old saying, careful what you wish for. For it just may come true.”

A click sounded as the access door closed leaving the acting team leader alone. Staring at the city lights far below he stared deep into the soul of the city. Something was coming, that much was clear. The question rattling through his mind was if they were ready, or if what was coming was something they couldn’t ever prepare for. Dropping his hands to his side he headed for the stairs leaving the thoughts for other nights. Right now there was a woman waiting in his bed, and for once he wasn’t going to let her down. The moon and its bad tidings be damned.

NEXT: A tie-in to Runaways “Threaded Moon”. Vampires are loose in Los Angeles as the sun is missing. The Runaways are on the case, but what are the new to the city heroes up to in the meantime? Hope they have enough holy water and stakes cause it’s going to get messy!

Author’s Note

Finally at long last the end of Champions first arc has arrived. A year for three issues, not my best effort. I could talk about how life had gotten tough and the loss of a job and a crappy love life cut into my writing time, but the truth is I let my writing spirit die. Left it out on the slab and set the vultures upon it watching it be feasted upon till nothing but scraps remained. I let people down by not keeping deadlines or showing some semblance of work, but most of all I let myself down. The first series I pitched outside of The House of Ideas was Champions, well the first incarnation I planned that is. After one issue the series crashed and burned. The hopes were higher for this second shot at the series.

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t as satisfied by these first three issues as I should be. I feel they were rushed and didn’t come together as I planned. In fact the whole series suffered a bit from what I had planned, but through sheer force of will that has changed for the next slew of issues. From a tie-in issue to Runaway’s current arc, to an underwater prison. From Darkhawk’s fight against his addiction to MGH as well as his new status, to Nova and Turbo’s very long distance relationship. I hope you’re all ready for the ride, cause I know I’m ready to provide it to you.

Scott Redmond
December 2008