GHOSTS OF THE PAST, OMENS OF THE FUTURE

Part I

By Desmond Reddick

The Stratoplane screamed through Earth’s atmosphere and came to an almost dead stop hovering over the rooftop patio of Time’s Tower. The Kahalian technology of the plane was something the Thin Man had mastered over the years, and yet it still impressed him. It was integral to cleaning up the mess on Gladius.

That was why Bruce came back to pick it up to aid in the post-battle hangover. The Challenger wasn’t there when he returned to pick up the plane, but he was also a member of the V-Battalion, so Bruce just assumed he was on duty in Symkaria for some reason or another. The Stratoplane was key in escorting the slaves of Gladius to various cargo ships and military envoys of their respective races or allies. It was tedious but rewarding work that took weeks, but they were able to get everyone who wanted transport on their way home.

The Majesdanian they met during the Gladiatorial battles stayed on Gladius with Myrmidon and much of the crew to try and turn the floating fortress into a force for good. The future of Gladius was certainly up in the air. Bruce and the rest of the team had their doubts, but they were certainly hopeful. There was no doubt that they would be keeping an eye on what happens there.

After weeks of hard work sorting out who was who and what race they all were, a little R n’ R was certainly called for. But when the Stratoplane sensors instinctively zeroed in on what was going on fifty-odd storeys down, display screens materialized out of thin air in front of each hero on the Stratoplane. The screens showed clearly that the Challenger was being attacked by several super powered thugs.

Bruce turned in the swivelling pilot seat and looked back at, for better or worse, the members of the new Liberty Legion. He thought for a moment of the thrill of battle back on Sky Isle and Gladius before the sadness of what he had done set in.

Blue Diamond, tired of waiting for Bruce to say it, stood and walked to the rear of the Stratoplane.

“Door!” he said as the cargo hatch opened. His healthy complexion disappeared in a wave of azure as his skin turned to diamond underneath his costume. “Let’s go, Legion!”

The Challenger felt the rush of air from the darts rushing past his head as he dove backwards through the air to avoid them. Thankfully, the street had long cleared of onlookers. Every one of the dozens of sharp projectiles could have found a victim on a busy street. Quill, the man who had launched the sharp organic sticks from his body, shrugged and more quills quickly popped through his skin, replacing the ones he’d launched.

Landing in a crouch, the Challenger dodged a flurry of blasts emitted from the eyes of a short elfish-looking guy unfortunately named Peepers. They were called Mutant Force. Challenger had never faced them before but had read their file on the Vanguard II. Last he heard, they were incarcerated after a battle with SHIELD and other super powers in the desert. They called themselves The Resistants then, as they have in the past; low-level mutant terrorists like them tended to lose focus in their goals and, as a result, change identities like normal people change clothing. They were relative lightweights in the grand scheme of supervillainy, but for a non-powered man like him, they would still prove difficult to defeat on his own. Even with the ace up his sleeve.

Burner cursed wildly, his long white hair lifting up off of his head as waves of heat emanated from his body. However, every flame he shot out of his hands or caused to erupt on the ground was quickly snuffed out. The Challenger couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he was stifling back tears.

The Shocker stepped out from around the corner of the Time’s Tower building. The Challenger never thought he’d see someone so ridiculous-looking as the electric fella Spider-Man tussled with, the one with the crazy quilt costume. But this guy, who just happened to share the same codename, had him beat. The purple and blue spandex combo combined with the red lobster pincer gauntlets took the damned cake.

As Shocker opened the pincers on his arms, Challenger deked to the right, grabbed Peepers off of the hood of a car and held him as a shield. That didn’t stop Shocker – tendrils of electricity crackling between his pincers – as it appeared that he was willing to fry his bug-eyed pal to get to Challenger. Which is what would have happened had that whistling noise not signalled his failure.

It sounded like a bomb. Challenger knew to dive out of the way before the diamond form of his teammate crashed into the pavement in front of Shocker. For a second, the street liquefied; the cracking and rolling cement aftermath threw Shocker and Peepers to the ground.

Iron Cross slowed her descent with the jets in her boots and squared off with Quill as Thin Man leapt off of her back to check on Challenger. Red Raven swooped in with a war cry. Before Shocker could look up, she crashed the butt of her spear down onto the back of his head while he lifted himself from the wreckage.

Quill pointed his fist at Iron Cross and let fly the quills on his arm. They bounced off of the armor in all directions. Before Quill could shoot again and endanger her friends, Iron Cross let loose a hard jab at his chest and sent him rolling through the street.

Peepers, who had gained enough footing to lift his body out of the crater left by Blue Diamond, aimed his vision at Iron Cross and got enough of a blast off to damage the hydraulics in her leg. She dropped to one knee with a resounding SKRNNK!

Peepers, satisfied with himself, stepped back not thinking about what became of the missile that hit the pavement in front of him only moments ago. Blue Diamond, in human form, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. He spun Peepers around and punched him in the right eye in one fluid motion. Peepers crumpled back to the ground in a heap.

“Are you alright?” Bruce was on one knee helping Challenger to his feet. Challenger’s eyes went wide as the serpentine form of Slither climbed onto Thin Man’s back.

The scaly body of a man began to elongate around Thin Man’s neck and chest. With the head of a snake, Slither opened its mouth and flicked its tongue in Thin Man’s ear.

“Ssssssssuper-heroesssssssss. Ssso ssstupid. Ssslither will crush the air from your lungsss.”

Thin Man laughed heartily as he felt a connection to subspace crackling through him. He quickly flattened his body and wrapped it around Slither.

“That’s what I love about you stupid, powered thugs. You never do your homework!” He pushed hard with his head, pulling his body tighter and crushing all of the air out of Slither. The snake man choked out after a sharp guttural noise.

AGHK!

“No ess’s in that one!” Bruce laughed as he retained normal body shape, and an unconscious Slither hit the ground. The other heroes came to rest, having beaten down every member of the Mutant Force. Save one…

“What’s the matter with him?” Blue Diamond jerked his thumb over in Burner’s direction. He was on his knees sobbing.

A hard wind came up and a blur of black and yellow materialized into a beautiful young woman with short dark hair.

“He’s upset because every time he started a fire, someone so fast he couldn’t see blew it out. I’m Grace, by the way!”

Challenger looked at Thin Man and Blue Diamond and shrugged. “We need to talk.”

As if on cue, the Liberty Legion turned on their heels, fists clenched. They were in formation and battle ready before they’d even seen the war machine. It looked like a SWAT team armored transport unit, but it was over twenty feet long with an accordion joint in the middle. The giant tires rolled easily over the rubble created in the beat down the Legion had delivered upon the Mutant Force. The pavement crunched loudly under the great vehicle, but the vehicle itself was incredibly quiet for something so large.

Two long planks of corrugated steel dropped from the side of the front and back portion of the transport with a CLANG!, bridging the distance from the vehicle to the ground below. Out of the transport, in single file, marched two dozen troopers garbed in what looked like black and white riot gear.

The Legion dropped their guard as it appeared the troopers had no interest in them. They went around the collected group of heroes and began snapping collars – Vault standard issue prisoner transport power suppressors – around the necks of the Mutant Force before getting them to their feet and binding their hands with zap straps.

“Great work out there!” The voice boomed from a skinny, suited man. Thin Man thought he was a spook immediately. “Mutant terrorists can really put a dampen on your afternoon, you know?”

The man laughed.

“Who are you?” Thin Man was not hiding the abrasive tone in his voice at all.

“Don’t worry, Thin Man right?” the spook waited for a second for Thin Man to nod, and when he was satisfied that the Thin Man wasn’t going to, all congeniality drained from his face. He fished a badge out of his chest pocket and flashed it at the heroes. “I’m here to clean up. That’s who I am.”

Challenger threw a wild and heavy punch at the young girl’s head. She had her feet planted and secured in titanium shackles, but with the speed that she moved her head, he had no chance of connecting. Challenger’s grunt echoed through the Time’s Tower training room. It wasn’t fancy, but it was a great, safe spot for working out one’s powers. It had been a long time since they had needed to test someone’s powers and the Challenger was in his element.

“That’s good, Grace. Really good.”

“Thanks, old man.” Her sly smile betrayed her youthful cockiness. She was very resourceful. For someone so new to adventuring, she was a great help bringing down Volcan some weeks ago. She was also very advanced in the knowledge of her speed powers. She claimed to be the result of an experiment by Robert Frank, the Whizzer. Challenger would have to investigate by talking to some of the people Frank served with. Maybe they could shed some light on why Frank would have been conducting such experiments before he died. Until then, he would live up to his name and challenge Grace to push her limits.

“Now, counter it.” He barely finished the sentence before letting loose a wild haymaker. She easily dodged it by throwing her head back and, in one swift move, she grabbed Challenger’s wrist and pulled him toward her. In a flash of dizziness, his eyes set, and he realized he was spun around in a choke hold.

It was the first time he could remember being thrown off balance in hand-to-hand combat. He chuckled to himself. Whoever she was, she was good. He would actually have to try next time.

Blue Diamond and Thin Man watched Challenger try to land a punch from the upstairs viewing window of the training room.

“The girl’s not very forthcoming with her past, is she?” Blue Diamond was rubbing his thumb against the side of his pointer finger, making a rubbing noise that Thin Man could hear from where he stood. It was a contemplative kind of thing.

“Not everyone likes to talk about the past, Elton.” Thin Man stared through the window. Though, it was easy to see that he wasn’t watching the training at all.

Blue Diamond turned and looked right at Thin Man.

“Bruce, we should talk about Gladius.” There was genuine concern in his voice.

“There’s nothing to say, Elton.” Thin Man looked out the window, pretending not to be bothered. But not even the man who could contort and twist his body into incredible shapes could hide the pained look on his face. He had torn the tyrant Menos Cynn to pieces. Surely, he deserved it like all those Nazis he hunted down. But even he knew that he went overboard, like he did only a few days earlier when he’d taken down a whole platoon of Kree soldiers on Sky Isle. All of them had to be stopped. Red Raven, Davia’s father, is the only other person who knew about that, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Even Bruce would say that he did go overboard. He revelled in the bloodshed; he was exhiliarated by it; he was lost in it. And it scared him.

“I’ve faced the darkness before. I’ve lost people close to me, too. You have to talk about it if you’re ever going to move past it.”

Olalla. The name rang through Thin Man’s mind. Every time he thought about her, it was like seeing her dead all over again. He’d gotten revenge and even went to jail for it, but he didn’t feel any better. It wasn’t the right thing to do, and he knew that. But all he could think about is that it needed to be done. There are too many of the bad men in this world, and someone needed to be there to put them down. Bruce was beginning to get sick of being lectured about it.

“Just weeks ago, the tables were turned,” Elton continued, “and you can’t tell me that you don’t stand behind your own words, Bruce.”

“You went on a road trip to the fountain of youth with an alien ballerina, Elton. It’s not the same.” Bruce immediately felt bad about saying it. He only wanted the conversation to end.

Blue Diamond started to say something but stifled the anger with a gasp of air. He exhaled slowly and walked away. He got to the door of the viewing room and turned back to Thin Man.

“We’ve all got ghosts in our past, Bruce. Some of us choose to not be haunted by it all the time. I hope for your sake you get there too.”

Senator Robert Ralston struggled to push the tiny button on his cell phone with thick fingers. He hated the thing, but it was necessary to keep him dialed in to what was happening at any given moment. Things happened much faster these days, and if he was going to achieve what he needed to in the next few years, he had to grasp every opportunity to do so.

Thierrault told him on the other end that the Mutant Force was in custody and that the Liberty Legion had caused a lot of damage to the surrounding area in the battle. His press secretary was already working on spinning the showdown. Politics had the same old sharp edge to it in the digital age, but it all had to happen in a much quicker and more covert way. The public was cynical and would take every chance to jump up and down, shouting from the mountaintops, about how bad their government was. In the same way, though, there was much more around to dull their senses and keep them enthralled and occupied. At least that’s what Ralston was hoping for.

Ralston turned back around in the grand hallway of the airship Vanguard II. He had worked so hard to procure funding for the V-Battalion lately that he was finally happy that things were looking up. At eighty-six years old, most people his age would be lucky to be having their lives winding down. Things were only just beginning for old ‘Rebel’ Ralston. F. Scott Fitzgerald was full of shit; Ralston was an American whose life had had a second act, and now he’s headed for a third.

The door to his left slid open to reveal the huge meeting room of the Penance Council. The ruling body of the V-Battalion met every two weeks to discuss world events and where they may be needed in the coming days. They would go over policy and procedure so that they could act quickly given crises that they may have predicted. It was a necessary evil, but, God, it was dull!

The round table saw a huge cast of former heroes, and Ralston was sure he’d need a calculator to get anywhere near an accurate count on the years of battle experience in the room. He passed the former Human Top and Fred Davis Jr. – who took up the mantle of Bucky after the original died – on his way to his seat beside Roger Aubrey.

“Sorry, gentlemen.” He undid the button on his suit jacket and sat down. “Apparently my secretary is havin’ some trouble runnin’ Texas in my absence.”

There was scattered laughter, dwarfed in the massive meeting room.

“As I was sayin’, it looks as though the problems in Northern Africa will not need V-Battalion intervention, but we are all clear on procedure if they do. Now, movin’ on to Pentagon memo 6.12: are there any questions as to the procedure here?”

Roger Aubrey turned to his left to address Ralston more than the Penance Council. Aubrey was one of the most terrifying heroes in history. During his reign as The Destroyer, he cut a path of terror across Nazi-controlled Europe in the forties. Even before that, he was fighting Nazis as the tiny Dyna-Mite long before that with The Crusaders. That, along with his years hunting Nazi war criminals, had to make him foremost amongst people singlehandedly responsible for taking down Hitler and his cronies. He was a hero that the majority of the world had no idea existed.

“Bob, I’m not sure I feel comfortable with the V-Battalion operating within the United States. Isn’t this a SHIELD issue?” Roger sat back with several nods and words of agreement around the table. Aubrey, himself a Briton, came to wonder how the United States government garnered so much control over his organization.

“There will always be SHIELD involvement, but we can’t get caught with our pants down in the event of a disaster again. We need integration of government organizations. It’s the only way to zero in on the sleeper cells of various terrorist groups operatin’ in America. Otherwise, our children might be sayin’ ‘Hail Hydra!’ every mornin’ at school instead ‘a the Pledge of Allegiance.” Ralston was not new at political speech. He knew how to answer a question in a way that made it almost treasonous to disagree with. As one of the Howling Commadoes, Ralston fought tooth and nail for his country, but he preferred to do verbal battle. There’s a lot less crawling around in foxholes and a lot more satisfaction in victory, especially when you can see your enemy’s defeat in his eyes.

“You’ll excuse me if I’m a little bit skeptical, but this does go against our entire mandate.” Aubrey knew that, when the V-Battalion was concerned, he was the top cop, but there were a lot of bureaucrats in the government and on the Penance Council that he had to go through.

“Well, then I’ll ask you to excuse me for bein’ blunt, Roger, but we’ve got a new mandate.”

“I have a question.” Fred Davis Jr. stood on shaky legs. The injury that took him out of service sixty years ago was amplified with age. He still made it a point to stand when addressing the Penance Council. “It’s always been my understanding that Fifth Columnists and sleeper cells were the realm of the Liberty Legion. Now that it appears they’re active again, why don’t we just bring them into the fold.”

“Good point, Fred.” Ralston knew he’d have to dance in this meeting so he was well-prepared for any argument. “Homeland Security is quite worried about their wanton destruction in New York this morning. After the nightmare in Seattle, the White House is naturally a little apprehensive about sanctionin’ anymore hero groups.”

“Except those it already sanctions?” Davy Mitchell, formerly the Human Top, was always the advocate for the field team. It had something to do with his grandson’s job security. Ralston couldn’t blame him; he even admired him a little. There weren’t a lot of senators with sons in the service. However, there weren’t a lot of senators with sons who could beat a commerical airliner in a race across the country.

“Of course, the V-Battalion is safe from government intervention.”

Aubrey sat forward. “As long as we play ball, right?”

“As long as we play ball, yes.”

The tension hung in the room heavily.

“And the Liberty Legion?” Fred stayed seated to ask that question. He did not look impressed.

“They, like many other super-teams, will have an eye kept on them. Look gentlemen, with so many battles goin’ on in populated cities, innocent American citizens are dying. These super-heroes need to be monitored. If they step out of line, they will have to be put down.”

Next issue: As the team tries to get to the bottom of things, government tensions mount and a line is drawn in the sand. Plus: more fighting.

Author’s Note

I just wanted to thank you for reading this issue, and I hope it’s enough to get you to read more. I have a very clear direction for these heroes over the next little while and have always had a love for Marvel’s WW2 era. I want to thank James McKenna for establishing these characters in the MO universe and recommend that you go back to read his excellent first five issues in this series if you haven’t already. Please let me know what you think of the direction I’m taking. It should be pretty well laid out over the first three issues. Stick around, it’s going to be a fun ride.