NATURE VS. NURTURE

Part II

By Wesley Overhults

SHIELD Safehouse 23

“I knew he couldn’t stay out of trouble,” said Composite.

“None of us can,” reminded Finesse.  “I assume we’re going to have to go down there and bail him out.”

“He wants us down there so we can get another shot at Helix,” corrected Neon.

“And we’re taking it,” stated Finesse.  “All of us have questions that only he can answer.”

“No, the three of you have questions that he can answer,” corrected Neon.  “He’s already played us once and now you want to drag us into another fight with him and his goons?”

“He started it this time,” reminded Finesse.  “Do I want personal revenge?  Yes, absolutely I do.  However, I think we can all agree that with the information Gadget gave us about the police department’s computer systems mirroring the ones Genetech uses, we can safely say that Helix has that department in his pocket.  Are you going to tell me that it’s a coincidence that he’s in town at the same time as the funeral?”

“It’s not a coincidence,” said Requiem.  “We all know that.  He wouldn’t bring that pack of murderers with him unless it was important.  If Frankie’s mother was involved in something connected to Helix, I might be able to find out what.  I would have to be closer to her grave than here though.”

“If you’re going then I’m going with you, Sebastian,” stated Neon.

“Then we’re going to need to book a flight,” decided Composite.  “How are we going to do that without alerting SHIELD to what we’re doing?”

“Sounds like you need someone to work her magic.”

The Warriors turned and saw Gadget standing in the living room with them.  Finesse smiled though it quickly returned to a neutral expression that was her default.  When Gadget had informed the Warriors about what was going on with Wipeout, Finesse had spoken with the girl about possibly accompanying them.  Judging by the suitcase in Lucy’s hand and the laptop bag slung over her shoulder, it seemed that the young hacker was ready to depart.

“She and I decided it would be good for her to come along,” said Finesse when everyone looked to her for answers.

“I can’t remote hack that system,” explained Gadget.  “I’ve already tried and it didn’t work.  If you plug me into their network though then I should be able to do anything you need me to do.”

“You don’t have to do this,” reminded Neon.  “This is our mission, not yours.”

“You guys are my friends,” said Gadget.  “So should I book us tickets or what?”

“We need something faster than that,” said Composite.  “I don’t think our car flies like the other ones SHIELD uses.  Something tells me we’re not trusted enough to get a privilege like that.”

“Oh I can clear us usage for one,” assured Gadget.  “Gimme a few minutes with a computer connected to the SHIELD network and I’ll get it done.”

“And this is why she’s needed,” said Finesse.

As the rest of the Warriors went with Gadget to find her a computer that would plug into the network, Composite and Finesse hung back for a few moments.  He shot her a glare that said he didn’t enjoy her going behind his back by getting Gadget involved in this mission.  Finesse customarily ignored any ill feelings that were directed towards her no matter who they came from.  She saw an asset that needed to be used and she got that asset into play.  It was nothing more and nothing less for her.

“You made a judgment call without me,” said Composite.

“You were too busy annoying me with your insinuations about my feelings towards Frankie,” she countered.  “Again, I’m exasperated at trying to figure you out, Henry.  I’m starting to get a clearer picture though.  You enjoy the feeling of power this position gives you, maybe a little too much I think.  Perhaps Daisy was wrong in naming you our field leader.  Maybe it should’ve been someone else.”

“You mean like you?” questioned Composite.  “You never even wanted to lead this team, Finesse.  You never even wanted to be a part of it in the first place.  You’re just here because you got caught, remember?”

“I’m not a leader,” stated Finesse.  “I’ve never wanted to be.  If you’re so worried about me stealing your job then maybe you should talk to Daisy about it when we get back from our little trip.”

“Maybe,” he decided.  “Tell me this though.  If you never wanted to be a leader, why the hell are you so damn good at it?”

Composite left the room before Finesse could even form an answer.  She didn’t have one though.  She tried to formulate one but she couldn’t come up with it.  She had a forceful personality, most of the time it was abrasive.  Yet somehow, she had gotten her teammates to follow along with this crazy plan just like they had followed her when she was trying to get at Helix the first time.  She had never asked them to do anything, never even cared if they would do it or not.  They did it though.  They followed her into the fire and they almost got thrown into jail because of it.  Was it possible that she really was a leader after all?

BioSynth Headquarters, Hope Springs, Arkansas

“So what’s up with us being here?” asked Excavator.  “This place looks like a cheap-ass version of our place.”

“This place was where I got my start,” said Helix as he and Excavator stood in Thomas Zane’s office.  “I let Thomas run the company these days but he knows that I have final say over everything.  I outgrew my pond though.  Of all my new children, you should know best what that’s like, Mr. Calusky.  You’ve been living your whole life looking for a bigger score, haven’t you?”

“Guy’s gotta dream,” replied Excavator.  “So why screw with Jensen then?”

“Because if I put enough pressure on him then he will beg his friends to join the party,” answered Helix.  “I want all the Warriors here so they can finally know the truth.”

“Look, you been good to me but I gotta know the score,” said Excavator.  “I don’t wanna get in too deep, you know?”

“You’re showing some rare foresight,” noted Helix.  “I take it your last experience with the Warriors brought that on.”

“I got into this game because I wanted to be bigger than my old man,” said Excavator.  “This thing here is nice.  It’s steady, you know?  My old man never had good work like that but I dunno . . . some of these people I roll with now . . .”

“You have an issue with Fagin,” said Helix.

“He’s reckless,” said Excavator.  “I didn’t wanna bury that guy’s crib but he made me.  He’s gonna end up makin’ us do something that’ll get us offed.  You got a good thing down here with the cops and you got enough cred up North to make us legit.  Steppin’ to SHIELD though, that’s acting reckless.  You step to the wrong people too many times and you’re gonna get got.”

“I’ll take your words into consideration but right now I need some privacy with Thomas,” said Helix as Zane came into the room.  “Make sure no one comes into the office until the meeting is over.”

“Done,” said Excavator, taking up his position on the outside of the room.

“Nice to see you again, Thomas,” said Helix.

“You as well, sir,” said Thomas Zane.

The two men looked almost identical in their matching suits and facial features.  One could almost say they were father and son and they would be partially right.  Zane was another of Helix’s creations, grown in a test tube and bred for the single purpose of running BioSynth while Helix had time to focus on the rest of his pet projects.  No one in town knew that Helix was the one who really ran BioSynth and the one who controlled most of the town’s powerful people.

“I assume your people in the police department have taken that evidence I gave you and have sent out their dogs for Mr. Jensen,” said Helix.  “How was the funeral if I may ask?”

“He gave a nice speech about the importance of giving to others,” said Zane.  “It was moving I suppose.”

“Giving is overrated,” stated Helix.  “I prefer taking and I’m surprised he doesn’t share the philosophy given his former line of work.  The woman was a good asset but unfortunately the project she was involved in fell through.  Those results were . . . disappointing.”

“You provided well to compensate her and her son,” said Zane.  “Was that out of sentiment, sir?”

“No, merely getting her to keep her mouth shut,” answered Helix.  “Keep the police on Jensen’s trail and see what happens.  I won’t put my people into play until I’m sure the rest of these so-called Secret Warriors are in town.”

“Understood, sir,” said Zane.

Helix nodded as Zane left the room.  Helix stepped out into the hallway and motioned to Excavator to walk with him.  He was making use of Zane’s luxurious home as a base of operations to house him and his underlings.  They would retire there for now until it was time to implement the next step of his plan.

Detective Isaac Allen rubbed the bridge of his nose and tried to think.  The police had been scouring the town ever since Wipeout escaped at his mother’s funeral.  Allen had been a cop long enough to know when something wasn’t right.  He wasn’t a native of Hope Springs.  He came from Chicago where he had been a decorated detective there as well.  However, that city was no place to raise a family and Allen had relocated his wife and his daughter to Hope Springs at his wife’s insistence.  She had family that lived in a neighboring town and she enjoyed being closer to them.  At first, Allen had agreed about Hope Springs being a more idyllic place for raising their daughter but he didn’t know now.  Some of the things he had seen in the police department were questionable at best and completely unethical at worst.  Allen didn’t play things that way though.  He was an honest cop and he wanted to stay that way until retirement.  Unfortunately, getting to retirement meant keeping his head down and keeping his mouth shut.

“We’ve been looking for this kid all day and we can’t turn up anything,” he said as he sat in his car with his partner.  “His mutant power or whatever it is lets him be halfway across town by the time we can catch up to him.  Why the hell would the chief make us do this?”

“Beats me,” replied Allen’s partner.  “The chief calls the shots.  Stiffs like us just do what we’re told, right?”

“Something’s not right,” said Allen.  He mulled things over in his head but nothing added up.  “It’s like he’s trying to run us ragged or something.”

“Who, Jensen?” asked Allen’s partner.

Allen was about to correct his partner but then he stopped and realized that probably wasn’t the best idea.  Every cop in town respected the police chief and no one wanted to cross him.  If the chief told his subordinates to do something then they did it.  Suggesting that the chief was doing something illegal would be career suicide.

“Yeah, Jensen,” agreed Allen, biting back the words he wanted to say.  “There’s one place we haven’t checked out though.  Jensen and his mom used to live in an apartment.  There’s a chance that if the place is empty then he could be using it to lay low.”

“That’s why you’re the senior,” said Allen’s partner as he pulled the car out of the parking space on the side of the street.  “I’ll have records get us the address and we’ll be over there in no time.”

Wipeout hadn’t been back to the apartment ever since he left town.  He had kept whatever he wanted and then had just pawned the rest to get the money he needed to get out of town.  The apartment was empty now save for the furniture that was there when he and his mother had first moved in.  He was a child back then, a child who was both angry at the fact that he was fatherless and hopeful about still being able to be like all the other children his age.  Frankie wondered exactly how one person could live with such conflicting emotions for a long period of time without being torn apart.  When he had discovered his powers, he knew that he was never going to be normal.  That didn’t mean, however, that he couldn’t have all the things that the other kids his age had.  It just meant that he had to acquire those things through ignoble means.

“Place hasn’t changed,” he said to himself as he looked around the old apartment.  “We had some good times here.  Shame this place went to crap.”

He sat on the floor and tried to figure out what his next move would be.  He could always skip town but that would be admitting defeat.  No, he had to stay and fight because if he turned tail and ran then Helix had won again and he would never get the answers he wanted about the man’s connection to his mother.  So he had to stay in town then but he couldn’t keep dodging the police forever.

“Can’t even call them because they’re probably in the air,” he muttered as he looked at his phone and thought about calling Gadget.  “Just have to keep moving I guess.”

He was having trouble catching his breath from all the times he had liquefied his body in the past twenty-four hours.  He had never morphed that many times in that span of time before.  It was putting a strain on his body and it was starting to catch up with him.  He needed some rest but he knew he wasn’t going to get it until this whole nightmare was over with.

“HSPD, open up!”

Wipeout cursed under his breath as he heard something bang against the door.  He got back to his feet and began checking his surroundings for an exit strategy.  He was too tired to morph again so he was going to have to fight off the cops.  The battering ram wasted little time in knocking down the door and the police came pouring in.  The ceiling above their heads caved in on them thanks to the pipes rupturing courtesy of Wipeout.  The police officers were drenched and it gave Frankie enough time to figure out his next move.  A wall of water shot up out of the floor in front of him and he used the torrent like a shield to stop any incoming projectiles that the police wanted to throw at him.  He needed to get the hell out of there but he was having a hard enough time staying on his feet.

“What the hell are these things?” he asked himself as three floating, metallic balls came through the window and put themselves in front of him just as the concentration for his water wall failed and it splashed all over the floor.

The balls emitted streams of smoke that set up a screen to cover Wipeout’s escape.  Requiem teleported into the room and got his hands on Frankie enough to teleport both of them outside.  He was relieved to see the rest of the Warriors surrounding him to protect him.  It was comforting to know that he still had his friends.

“Just a little something I thought up,” said Gadget as the three metal orbs returned to a compartment on one of the gauntlets she was wearing.  “Not as good as repulsor rays but I think it’s pretty cool.”

Once they had gotten to the apartment complex, Gadget had unveiled her secret weapon.  The contents of her suitcase was her armor, or at least the parts of it that she had ready to test out.  The gauntlets were completely functional as was the chest plate.  Instead of a helmet, she had designed a visor with a HUD that would help her control her best and most innovative weapon.  The metallic orbs were housed in compartments on her gauntlets and could be discharged at will.  They contained a multitude of tricks like the smoke screen she had used.

“Took you guys long enough to get here,” said Wipeout.

“You’re lucky I felt like being helpful today,” retorted Finesse.  “Now we need to get out of here and figure out our next move.  Those cops won’t be disoriented forever.  Where can we go in this town that we will be undisturbed for a few moments?”

“Nowhere for very long,” answered Wipeout.  “I’m trying to think of . . .”

“Freeze!”

The Warriors turned and saw Isaac Allen pointing his gun at them.  Most of the police were still inside the apartment but some of them hung back outside in case their target got away.  Requiem warmed up his teleportation ability and readied to jump the Warriors away from the apartment complex.  Allen cursed as he realized what was going to happen and ran towards the group of fugitives.  He managed to get inside the teleportation field just before the Warriors vanished, thus making himself vanish with them.  The whole group appeared a few blocks away and it was then that Allen noticed he was heavily outnumbered.

“I’ll take out the trash,” promised Finesse as she saw they had an unwanted traveling companion with them.

“Listen to me for five seconds,” ordered Allen.  “I don’t think you’re guilty, Jensen.”

“So why the hell were you the one who was trying to cuff me at my mom’s funeral?” pressed Wipeout.

“It’s called doing my damn job,” retorted Allen.  “It’s true, we’ve got lots of evidence down at the station connecting you to plenty of petty thefts.  My problems is with how the evidence got there.  I’m thinking someone planted it and whether it’s real or not we can’t use it if it’s been compromised.  So you and your friends can keep running and I can keep chasing you, or we can try to work together to figure out what the hell’s going on here.”

“Well we can’t do it out in the open,” said Composite.

“So we’re back to my question then,” said Finesse.  “Where can we go in this town that we can have a couple minutes to think?”

“You’re going to have to get the cops off your back,” stated Allen.  “The only way you can do that is if I take Jensen in.  I’ll protect him while he’s in police custody and it will give the rest of you time to find out where that evidence came from.”

“There’s something else you can do while you’re at the station,” said Gadget as she pulled out a device from her pocket.  “Plug that into one of your computers so I can get into the network.  I can’t hack that system from the outside but this will give me a way in.”

“You’re asking me to take a huge risk,” reminded Allen.

“Working with us always comes with risks,” said Composite.  “It’s a good play, Frankie.  Are you in on this?”

“Yeah, I got it,” said Wipeout as he let Detective Allen cuff him.  “Look into a company called BioSynth.  It’s a company that’s like a second-rate version of Genetech and it wouldn’t surprise me if its CEO was in league with Helix.  The CEO’s name is Thomas Zane.  Look him up, Gadget, and look into that company.”

“We’re on it,” promised Composite.  “Be safe, Frankie.”

“When we decided to be part of this outfit, I told you that you’re probably going to be the death of me,” said Wipeout.  “Guess I was partly right.”

Composite only nodded before Requiem teleported the rest of the Warriors away and left Wipeout alone with Detective Allen.  The two of them looked at each other as Allen pocketed the device Gadget had given him.  He put his radio up to his mouth and pressed the button to talk.

“This is Detective Allen,” he said.  “I have the suspect in custody.  Repeat, I have the suspect in custody.  We’re two blocks away from the apartment complex where we first tried to apprehend him, going north.  Suspect will be cooperating fully with us so do not use excessive force in taking him in.  I repeat, no excessive force is required.  Suspect is voluntarily coming downtown with us.”

“I hope you guys understand that any force is excessive in this situation,” said Wipeout.

“Hopefully so,” agreed Allen.

“So right now it looks like that cop plugged my gadget into the computer system because I’m in,” said Gadget as she stared at her computer screen.  “Flashing those SHIELD credentials was a good move.”

“Yeah, the guy at the desk looked spooked already so it was pretty easy to get a room,” said Composite.  “You wanna bet this is the same place where Frankie stayed?”

“It’s the only hotel in town,” said Gadget.  So I’m looking through the police’s evidence logs and I’m not really seeing anything in here that would warrant the whole force going after Frankie.  See what I just did there, by the way?  Warrant, you know like police warrant.”

“Yes, you’re very clever,” noted Finesse drolly.  “So if the police don’t really have anything on Frankie then why are they going after him?”

“He said to check on a company called BioSynth,” reminded Neon.

“Yeah I’m already doing that,” confirmed Gadget.  “Huh, that’s weird.  It’s like he doesn’t even exist.”

“Like who doesn’t exist?” asked Composite.

“Thomas Zane, the head of BioSynth,” she answered.  “I mean there are some documents to prove he exists like a birth certificate and social security and stuff but there’s nothing to indicate he was alive before like fifteen or sixteen years ago.  There’s no school pictures, no record of previous employment, nothing.”

“Which means he’s either lying about his true identity or something else is going on,” realized Finesse.  “Frankie said that BioSynth was like a second-rate version of Genetech and Helix obviously wanted that company for a reason.  BioSynth might’ve just been his practice ground to hone his skills.”

“Skills at what?” asked Composite.

“Genetics apparently,” answered Finesse.  “What can you find about the chief of police here?”

“Same thing as Zane,” realized Gadget after a few keystrokes.

“You think these men are artificial people?” asked Requiem.

“Like clones or something?” added Neon.

“I think we need to investigate this company further and I think it’s only going to happen from the inside,” said Finesse.  “We’re going to have to raid that place and see what we can turn up.  Right, Henry?”

“Right,” agreed Composite.

“When do we get to do something?” asked Fagin as he and the rest of Helix’s goons stood around in Thomas Zane’s office with their employer.  “You brought us all the way out to this town but we haven’t been able to really do anything.”

“Patience, Fagin,” said Helix in return.  “Assuming that everyone behaves accordingly then you’ll soon get your chance for some action.”

“Sir, I’ve got a report from security that there might have been a break-in,” said Zane over the speakerphone.  “Should I tell them to apprehend the intruders?”

“No, leave that to my happy brood,” decided Helix.  “You all have your orders.  I expect nothing but perfection so don’t disappoint me.”

“Perfection,” repeated Fagin as soon as he and the others were out the door.  “You heard what Helix said.”

“If you wanted to get up on the boss’s jock then we coulda left you back in the room with him,” joked Excavator.

Ricky’s remark earned his spine an abrupt and painful meeting with the wall as Fagin morphed into his mutated form and clutched the younger boy by the throat.  Excavator didn’t flinch this time like he had the first time back when they were standing in front of Walter Rosen’s mansion with Rosen’s dead body inside.  He had seen enough of how this operation worked to know that it was going to go down in flames.  It angered him because he thought this time was finally going to be the time he got his big break.

“You’re lucky we need you, Calusky,” warned Fagin.  “Otherwise I’d just cut you out with the rest of the dead weight.”

“You ain’t gonna do nothin’ till the boss says so,” retorted Excavator.  “You ain’t got the balls to cross him so you just wait like a good boy and do what he says.”

Fagin smirked and then let Excavator go, preferring to get back to his mission so he didn’t disappoint his employer.  The rest of the group moved with him but Ana Kravinoff lagged behind though her pets tugged at their leashes and begged her to continue on.

“If you want to take control of this pack then you’re going to have to do more than just run your mouth,” she told him.

“And if I wanna just get the hell out of here?” questioned Excavator.

“You would have already done so,” countered Ana, shrugging and then departing.

Excavator stood there in silence for a few minutes and wondered why he was still doing the job he was doing.  Life as a super-villain wasn’t as glamorous as he thought it would be when he ran away from his grandparents.  It wasn’t as if he had any stellar alternatives though.  Being a fry cook at a fast food place didn’t seem very glamorous either and that was the job he was destined for given his status as a high school dropout.  Maybe he was just frustrated like everyone was.  Maybe he just needed a good fight to get all that frustration out.

“Maybe I just might,” he said to himself in reference Ana’s statement.

“Remember that our purpose here is fact-finding,” reminded Composite as the Warriors teleported in.  “We need to learn what we can and then get out as soon as possible.  If we’re lucky then no one will even know we were here.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” said Finesse as she saw a door leading into the hallway there were in open up and Helix’s thugs come into the hall.  “They’re not going to let us.”

“Great, these guys again,” said Neon as Fagin and the others fanned out and readied themselves for battle.  “Guess that means that there’s a connection between BioSynth and Genetech.”

“Then we’re going to find out what it is,” declared Composite.  “If that means we have to go through these losers again then that’s fine with me.”

Next Issue: Helix finally reveals the secrets plaguing the Warriors while Wipeout and Detective Allen try to expose the corruption inside the Hope Springs Police Department.