INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

Part I

By Wesley Overhults

Manhattan

Ricky Calusky breathed in the stale, dirty air of New York City and sighed happily.  It was good to be home and it was even better to walk the streets instead of being stuck in Detention or the Vault.  He had a new job now and it was time for him to show this town exactly what its new favorite son could really do.  In order to do that, he would first have to ditch his babysitter though.

“Our boss is going to be in town soon but he wants us to get the others up to speed,” informed Fagin after finishing the call on his cell phone.  He pocketed the phone and looked at Excavator, unsure as to what he should make of the kid.  “Let me do the talking.  I’m the one who’s good with people.”

“It’s cool,” assured Excavator with a nod as the two of them went into the hotel room and looked at the rest of their team.

Ana Kravinoff perched on the seat of her chair, tensed up and coiled like she was about to pounce on the next person that shot her an unfriendly look.  Whether she was conscious of it or not, she was playing with one of her hunting knives and the look on her face said that she was decidedly unhappy about her current position.  Sitting on one of the beds was Komodo, a young woman who had studied under Dr. Curt Connors in her time at ESU.  Komodo’s body had undergone the same mutation that Connors’s had after she ingested a version of his Lizard formula.  When she saw Fagin and Excavator enter the room, she slunk down from the bed and then rose up to a standing position.  Fagin could hear the shower running and he assumed that the fifth member of the group was the cause of it.

“He’s in the shower,” said Ana simply, nodding to the bathroom door.

Excavator had never seen an odder collection of individuals in his entire life and that was saying something since his father was a member of the Wrecking Crew and he himself had once been a student at Xavier’s.  Helix had told him that there were great opportunities for him in this new crew and Ricky was willing to take a chance on these people if it meant he could get a big score out of it.  It didn’t mean he trusted them though.  As a product of the streets, Ricky learned the valuable lesson that trust must first be earned.  Helix had his trust because the mystery man had bailed him out of SHIELD custody.  It didn’t mean Ricky trusted these other people though.

“Our employer wants us to go over some things before he arrives later tonight,” informed Fagin.  “Get him out of the shower so we can talk.”

Ana casually flung the hunting knife and watched the blade sink into the wood of the bathroom door.  The thunk that it made was enough of a knock to let Mako know that he was needed outside.  The Atlantean opened the door and stepped into the room, crossing his hands in front of his chest in a gesture of annoyance.

“Had a hell of a time getting him to put on some clothes,” noted Komodo.  “Not that I’m unappreciative or anything.”

“I don’t give a damn about that,” cut in Fagin.  “Our boss has laid out the objective.  He’s taken an interest in Genetech, which shouldn’t surprise anybody who knows him.  The only problem is that Genetech isn’t too keen on being under new management.  He wants us to change their minds.”

“How?” asked Komodo.

“The only way we know,” answered Fagin.  “He’ll go over the final details when he gets here but he wants to make something very clear.  Killing isn’t just a perk of this job, it’s a necessity.  If the board won’t go quietly then we’ll make them go and the messier the better.  He wants to send a message to anyone who won’t get in line with the new regime.”

“Everybody okay with this?” inquired Excavator, trying to hide his nervousness.  He was a thief and a thug but he wasn’t a killer.  Unfortunately, it seemed that right now he didn’t have a choice.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.  It seemed that Helix had chosen well when he put together his group.  All of them, whether they knew it or not, had many things in common.  They all knew how to get the job done and they would all go to any lengths to accomplish it.

“Good,” said Fagin.  “C’mon, we’ve got a job to do before the boss gets here.”

SHIELD Helicarrier

“This better be damn important.”

Daisy Johnson was going to turn in for the night but she had one last thing to attend to before she could catch some sleep.  Unfortunately, it meant that she had to deal with Lucy Cervantes.  It wasn’t that Quake didn’t like Lucy, or Gadget as she was commonly known as.  Daisy actually thought that Gadget was pretty cool, albeit in a weird and quirky way.  No, the problem came from getting the young genius to focus on things.  The girl couldn’t stay on task to save her life, always flitting from one project to the next like some computer-savvy butterfly.  The only thing that Lucy could ever stay focused on was finishing her armored suit, the one she had been working on for years in a desperate attempt to imitate Iron Man.

“I think it is,” admitted Gadget.  “You know how we have that list of companies to monitor?  Well, there’s some funky stuff going on with Genetech and I thought someone should take a look at it.  I tried to talk to Fury or some of my other superiors but, well, you know how they are with me.”

Quake knew exactly how they were with Gadget.  That was another reason Quake didn’t have a problem with the younger girl, because she felt sorry for her. SHIELD was content to let Gadget hang around in her workspace and crunch numbers all day but they rarely had time to notice her work unless it was something too large to ignore.  Sometimes, Daisy thought that Lucy preferred it that way, if only so it gave the girl the privacy she needed to work on her pet project.

“What’s going on with Genetech then?” asked Quake, knowing that she could be in Gadget’s workshop all night waiting for the girl to come out with it unless she prodded her along.

“Someone’s been buying up a lot of their stock,” explained Gadget as she led the way over to the computer and turned the monitor so Quake could see.  “In fact, they now have a majority.  I traced the buyers back to their sources and found that they’re all one person.  I’m getting a lot of dummy stuff though.  Whoever is doing this is going through a lot of shell companies to get what they want.”

“Which means they’re probably not very legitimate,” realized Quake.  “I can’t say off the top of my head who exactly has a grudge against Genetech but I’m sure the list is a long one.  Check back with me tomorrow morning and make sure you keep your eyes out for anything else suspicious.  Also, try to get some sleep.  I know you love that armor, Lucy, but you work on it all the time.  Would it kill you to get a good night’s sleep?”

“I still need to work a lot on the gauntlets,” admitted Gadget.  “I mean the bulk of the weaponry will be in there.  I’m working on some new variations of the tech I found in our archives and I’ll need to hit the firing range soon so I can test the stuff out.”

“Good night, Lucy,” said Quake though at this point the younger girl was lost in thought.  “Keep me posted and I’ll have my team get on it if something turns up.”

“I really think I need to have a few weapons not in the gauntlets,” continued Gadget, oblivious to the fact that Quake was about to close the door and leave her alone for the night.  “I mean Iron Man has his uni-beam in his chest cavity so I could go with something like that.”

Daisy sighed and then yawned, traversing the Helicarrier in order to return to her quarters and get some sleep.  Whatever was going on, it could wait until the morning.  She assumed that when she returned to Gadget’s workshop, the girl would still be rambling and Quake decided she could just catch up on whatever she just missed.  She still couldn’t figure it out though.  Genetech was once a major player in the corporate world but it had fallen on some hard times recently. Whoever was doing this buyout was actually doing the company a favor by saving it from bankruptcy.  Still, it seemed way too suspicious and Daisy was very aware of Genetech’s shady history.  It was definitely something she planned on looking into in the morning.

Walter Rosen was not a happy man, especially not these days.  After the debacle involving the New Warriors and Psionex, Rosen had missed spending the rest of his life in jail only by the smallest of margins.  It was only through the grace of God and his expert legal team that he was allowed to still roam the streets as a free man.  It was unfortunate that some of his subordinates had to take the brunt of the punishment that was meant for him but Rosen was willing to live with that.  Having lots of money helped ease what was left of his conscience.  However, that revenue stream was drying up.  Ever since that incident, Control had completely disavowed him and left him to his own devices.  Without their funding, Rosen and his company were in the midst of a downward spiral that could lead to bankruptcy.  There was something else going on though.  Rosen was keenly aware of what was going on with his company’s stock.  Someone was trying to buy the company and for the most part they were succeeding.  The only thing really standing in the way of that mysterious party gaining control of Genetech was Rosen himself.

“I don’t care how much they want for it, I’m not selling,” said Rosen over the phone before ending the call and putting the device back in its cradle.  He grumbled under his breath as he turned up the volume on the television set so he could catch the nightly news before heading to bed.

Even if Rosen had muted the volume, he still wouldn’t have been aware of what was happening.  Fagin led his gang of thugs closer to Rosen’s palatial estate. They had already taken care of the guards that were patrolling the perimeter.  Ana could move as silently and skillfully as a jungle cat when she was on the hunt and Komodo was equally as stealthy.  The guards had gone down without a fight and without making a sound to draw attention to the unwanted guests.

“Ana, slip inside and be ready to strike on my command,” ordered Fagin.  “Komodo, you and Mako keep an eye out in case there are any other guards. Excavator, you’re with me.  We’re going in through the front.”

All the members of the group nodded and moved to carry out their leader’s orders.  Excavator was still nervous about this job.  Knocking over banks and doing smash-and-grabs on grocery stores was one thing but this was something completely different.  This was the big leagues and Ricky felt more than a little out of his depth.  He couldn’t let the rest of the crew know that though.  If they could tell that he was squeamish about this then there was no way he’d be able to make a name for himself with them.

“We’re just gonna run up in this guy’s crib?” he asked Fagin.

“Yeah, pretty much,” answered Fagin as he rang the doorbell.

“What?” asked Rosen as he answered the door, the tone of his question decidedly unfriendly.  He wasn’t in the mood to play games with punk kids.

“Walter Rosen,” said Fagin.  “We represent the man who’s interested in buying out your company, a man by the name of Helix.  We were told that you were one of the only people standing in his way and we’d like to come to some sort of settlement for your shares of the company.”

“I’ve told the board that I’m not selling,” stated Rosen.  “I don’t care who you two work for so you’re wasting your time.”

“I’ve got all the time in the world to waste, Mr. Rosen,” said Fagin, looking past the CEO and nodding to Ana Kravinoff.

Ana pounced on Rosen in seconds and held one of her hunting knives to his throat.  She pulled him back into the house to clear some room so that Fagin and Excavator could step inside and talk things over with Rosen.  Fagin motioned to Excavator to close the door behind him as they entered the house while Ana forced Rosen to sit back in his chair, still keeping the knife to his throat in case he did something stupid.

“You people will never get away with this,” stated Rosen.

“As if anyone would really care about you at this point,” reminded Fagin.  “That company of yours is bleeding money, Rosen.  It’s going to go under and then some vulture will pick it up for whatever spare change he or she has in their pocket.  Our employer enjoys the work your company does, Rosen.  Genetics is something very near and dear to his heart so you can rest assured that he’ll take very good care of your company once it’s his.”

“How much is he offering?” inquired Rosen.

“Oh he’s not asking anymore, he’s just going to take it,” said Fagin.  “You had your chance and you blew it so now it’s time for you to get cut out.  Rest in peace, Mr. Rosen.”

Ana knew a cue when she heard it and before Rosen could utter a single syllable of protest, she slit his throat with her knife and watched the blood run down onto his clothes.  She pulled a tissue from a nearby box and wiped the blade of her knife with it before putting it back in her belt.  Excavator watched as Fagin patted the corpse on the shoulder and then headed for the door.  Ricky’s gaze lingered on the dead body, having never had the previous opportunity to examine one up close and personal.  This wasn’t like it was with the D-Generation when their victims were all nameless bystanders.  This was the big leagues though and he couldn’t panic.

“You’re apprehensive,” stated Ana.  “I can smell it.”

“A case of cold feet, Calusky?” asked Fagin as the three of them stepped outside and rejoined their teammates.

“No, I’m good,” promised Excavator.  “I said I was down and I’m down.  We need to bounce though.  Don’t wanna take a chance and hang around too long.”

“True but I think we need to give Mr. Rosen a proper burial,” decided Fagin before glaring at Excavator.  “Do the honors, Ricky.”

“‘Scuse me?” asked Excavator.

“Bury the place, Ricky,” ordered Fagin.  “I want the whole house six feet under unless you’re too scared to finish the job.  People need to see what happens when you mess with us.”

“That’s a little harsh,” admitted Excavator.

Fagin morphed into his mutated form with lightning-quick speed and wrapped his giant hand around Excavator’s throat.  The ground began to rumble as Ricky struggled against Fagin’s grip and the rest of the team tensed and held ready in case Fagin needed them to attack.  Excavator stopped struggling after a moment and just simply nodded.  Fagin released him and changed back to his human form.  Excavator dusted himself off and turned his attention to the house.  He concentrated on the ground beneath it and it began to quake angrily.  He didn’t really want to do this but it was better than the alternative.  This was the big leagues and Ricky Calusky wasn’t going to disappoint.  He tightened his mental control on the dirt beneath the house and gave it a simple command: sink.

“Good job,” said Fagin as everyone watched the mansion become swallowed up by the giant sinkhole that was now under it.  “I think we’ve had a very successful night.  The boss is going to be very pleased.”

SHIELD Safehouse 23

“We’ve got a lot to go over so I think we should go ahead and get started with the briefing,” stated Quake.  “I’d like to introduce someone to you.  Her name is Lucy Cervantes but most of us call her ‘Gadget’.  She’s been one of our tech people for awhile and she’s the one who first brought this to my attention last night. I’d like to turn it over to her now.”

“Hi,” said Gadget nervously as she looked at the Secret Warriors.  “For the record, Daisy talks about you guys all the time so it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Something tells me she never says anything good about us,” cracked Wipeout.

“Ignore him and go on,” suggested Finesse.

“Right, so SHIELD has a list of companies that are kept under surveillance due to shady stuff in their pasts,” explained Gadget.  “Genetech is one of those companies and I was monitoring the recent stuff going on with their stocks.  Someone was buying up a lot of it, enough to make a majority so they could take over the company.  I’m having a hard time finding out who that person is but it’s definitely one person, I know that much.  Anyways, I told Daisy about this last night and she said she would look into it in the morning.  That was before . . . well, you probably know what it was before.”

“Genetech’s former CEO was Walter Rosen and he was found dead at his home late last night,” confirmed Quake.  “I had to personally go to the crime scene this morning and use my powers to help dig the body out.  Someone not only killed him but put his entire house six feet under.”

“The odds of that occurring naturally are extremely small,” noted Requiem.  “You’re suspecting foul play.”

“Calusky,” realized Wipeout immediately.

“Who?” asked Composite.

“Ricky Calusky, more commonly known as Excavator,” explained Quake.  “Mr. Calusky is the son of one of the Wrecking Crew, Piledriver by name.  Frankie has had firsthand experience with Excavator when he went to Hope Springs to apprehend Calusky after he escaped custody during a prisoner transfer.”

“He was in lockup when I left Hope Springs,” assured Wipeout.  “Your trained monkeys that you sent with me can vouch for that, right?”

“Someone broke him out of custody before we could secure his ride to the Vault,” said Quake.  “To date, Calusky is the only villain at large that could cause something like that, making him our primary suspect.”

“He’s a geokinetic then,” decided Finesse, shrugging off the weird looks the others were giving her that she was completely accustomed to at this point.  “Are we ever going to get done with cleaning up your messes, Frankie?”

“Calusky’s too dumb and clumsy to pull off something like this,” stated Wipeout.

“But he’s not too dumb and clumsy to not follow simple orders,” noted Quake.  “As of right now, we’re working under the assumption that Calusky was hired to do this by whoever is the one trying to buy out Genetech.  Walter Rosen was the biggest obstacle in that person’s path and now Excavator has just helped remove that obstacle.”

“So you want us to look into Rosen and see if we can turn something up then?” asked Neon.

“Lucy will be tracking this mystery buyer electronically but I need eyes and ears on the street,” said Quake.  “Sebastian will need to question Rosen and find out what he knows about his murderers.  Once that’s finished, I want you guys out there trying to track down Calusky and whoever he’s working for.  I have a feeling this thing isn’t going to end with just Rosen.”

“I’ll be patched into your radio frequency in case you need me or I need you,” assured Gadget.  “The bosses won’t let me go out into the field so you’re going to be on your own with that but, electronically speaking, I can do whatever you need me to do.”

“We’ll take care of the grunt work then,” decided Composite.  “Let’s go watch Sebastian talk to this dead guy.”

Helix often felt like a big fish in a very small pond.  He couldn’t imagine how normal people could stand to live in such a small, mind-numbingly mundane town. In truth though, Helix didn’t simply live in Hope Springs.  Helix owned the town.  He had infiltrated every level of its infrastructure so that his influence was inescapable.  With most of the town’s populace completely unaware of it, Helix used the town as a giant research lab for his genetic experiments.  It provided him with ample opportunities for human testing and its small, secluded nature meant that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself.  It was a perfect training ground but he grew weary of the town and its residents.  It was time to spread his wings and fly to a different nesting ground.  New York was the perfect place to spread his influence to a larger network of people and Genetech was the perfect instrument for that.  With its high concentration of superhumans, New York could offer him plenty of new opportunities for his experiments.

“Both of you be nice to my new employee,” he ordered his two pets as he stepped off his private jet with their leashes in one of his hands.  He moved across the tarmac to the private limo that awaited him.

The limo’s door opened and Ana Kravinoff was the first to meet him, taking special note of his pets.  Watson and Crick both sat at their master’s feet and looked at the young huntress, sensing some sort of primal kinship with her.  Helix smiled at his pets, knowing that Ana would make the perfect keeper for them.

“Jackals,” noted Ana before reaching out her hand to pet both of them.  “They are unusually large.”

“The products of good breeding,” said Helix, pleased to see that both Watson and Crick didn’t snap at Ana the second her fingers came into reach of their jaws. “I engineered them myself.  I’d like you to take them out into the field at the next opportunity.  They’re quite loyal, mostly to me of course, and I think you’ll enjoy working with them.  Boys, up.”

Both of the jackals hopped into the limo and immediately sat on the floor.  Ana and Helix wasted little time in following them into the limo before the driver closed the door for them and returned to his station.  He started the car and began driving them to meet with the rest of the team Helix had assembled.

“Our assignment went well,” noted Ana.  “I am concerned about things.”

“Go on,” prodded Helix, listening intently to the report from one of his most loyal employees.

“The boy, Excavator, he is nervous to get his hands dirty,” said Ana.  “I am not sure about our leader.  Fagin is . . . unfit I think.”

“He’s eager to please as always,” translated Helix.  “I’ve known Fagin all of his life.  In fact, I created him.  He’s always been trying to win the favor of his father. It’s one of the things that’s made him such a good asset to me over the years.”

“He forced Excavator to bury that home,” noted Ana.

“Overzealousness,” scoffed Helix.  “I had designs on moving into that home once I made my permanent residence here.  I suppose I’ll just have to find a new one, not in the same neighborhood of course.  The property value on the surrounding homes is probably atrocious now and of course there’s the added police presence.  I prefer to keep a low profile and enjoy my privacy.”

“You know that I am in your debt for my earlier failure,” reminded Ana.  “I do not mind killing but . . .”

“You question the nerve of your teammates,” finished Helix.  “It’s alright, Ana.  I consider all of you my children and I will keep such concerns in mind when I address them at the meeting.  Tell me, Ana, was growing up difficult for you?  I imagine so without a proper father.”

“I do not understand the question,” said Ana, a perplexed look on her face.

“I didn’t have a father either,” confessed Helix, his hand absently reaching down to scratch the head of one of his pets.  “Biologically of course I did but he was never a part of my life.  You see that’s why I wanted you and the others, Ana.  That’s why I wanted to be the one to mold you and shape you, to be the father that none of you ever really had.  We’re all bastards, Ana, and you and the others are now my bastards.”

“He said there were at least three of them,” informed Requiem once he completed his interrogation.  “The two boys were the ones he spoke to but he said he never saw the third one.  That one stayed behind him the whole time with the knife that they used to slit his throat.  One of the two boys matched Excavator’s description though.”

“So we need to start figuring out where Calusky would hang out,” decided Composite.  “Any theories on that one, Frankie?”

“He’s probably out there trying to get into some bar with a fake ID or something,” said Wipeout sarcastically.  “The guy is strictly amateur.  He’s got no skill as a thief and he’s not intimidating enough to be an enforcer.  I’m surprised he had enough guts to do what he did to Rosen.”

“You’re one to talk about skills in thievery,” said Finesse.  “From what I’ve seen, you let your power do all the work.”

“That’s an insult that I take very personally,” retorted Wipeout.  “I happen to be a very great thief and I’m telling you that this guy sucks at it big time. Sebastian, what was the description for the other guy?”

“Rosen described him as having brown, almost-red hair that was slicked back,” began Requiem.  “He had ‘beady, little eyes’ and looked decidedly ‘shifty’.  Rosen also mentioned that he had a few piercings in one ear.”

“That sounds really familiar,” said Composite.

“That sounds like Fagin,” stated Finesse.  “I thought that toad had crawled back under his rock and stayed there.”

“Who’s Fagin?” asked Neon.

“The guy that three of us can thank for this wonderful new job,” cracked Wipeout.  “You seriously think Fagin’s involved in this whole thing, Henry?”

“Hate to cut in but I’ve got something important,” said Gadget into the radios.  “I’ve got word that Genetech’s board of directors are calling an emergency meeting to discuss Rosen’s murder.  If this person wants Genetech then all they have to do is show up to that meeting with their little goon squad and clean house.”

“Which we’re not going to let happen,” decided Composite.  “C’mon, guys.  I think it’s time we ran into some old friends and find out more about what the hell’s going on.”

Genetech Corporate Headquarters

Excavator looked at the inside of the Genetech corporate headquarters and couldn’t deny that it was very plush.  He could get used to accommodations like that. He knew that his father never had it this good in all his years as a criminal.  Ricky liked to think that his old man would be proud of him if he could see him now.

“This is going to all be ours once Helix takes control of the company,” stated Fagin.

“Nice digs,” admitted Komodo.  “Our boss really knows how to spread around the wealth.”

“Never got swag like this before,” admitted Excavator with a grin.  “Better not get used to it though.  We got some company.”

The group of young villains saw Genetech’s personal security begin to surround them, security batons and firearms at the ready.  None of them seemed especially worried though.  Realistically, guns and clubs didn’t scare them.  In a few moments, their boss was going to own this entire company so there was no reason why they should fear anyone or anything.

“You wanted to get your chance in the big leagues, Calusky?” asked Fagin with a wicked grin, keeping his eyes focused on the security personnel.  “I don’t think you’re going to get a better chance than this.  You know what the boss wants.  Let’s show these people why we’re their replacements.”

With that as the only warning, they began their attack.  They waded into the Genetech security force without pause, shrugging off or avoiding the bullets from their guns.  Much like their employer, they wouldn’t be denied anything more in life.  They knew what they wanted and they were hungry enough not to let anything stand in their way.

Next Issue: The Warriors must protect Genetech’s board of directors against Helix and his hit squad.