The MBL members are all in their Thunder City base, sitting around their oval table, discussing the departure of the Bucket and Agent F7. They decide they want a recruiting drive, to have more members.
Suddenly, a group of three men emerges from the doorway of their meeting room, all clad in business suits.
"Great, more villains," Nightwatch says under his breath.
"Correct!" says the leader of this group. "We thought we should inform you that we are going to destroy the MBL. We have the highest technology weapons and an army of soldiers. You should probably know that, as of this moment, a squad of soldiers are attacking Royal City. Goodbye."
The group fades. They were only holograms.
A check of the monitors confirms the attack. The MBL views a scene in Royal City, Australia, where a group of men in high-tech battle suits are attacking the city.
"Oh, shit!" says Rhyme Guardian.
"Who the hell are these freaky guys?
They have suits that let them fly!"
As the MBL jumps wearily to their feet, having faced life and death, and then life again in just under a week (they would soon need a good rest), Rhyme Guardian turns to face the silent stranger in the corner of the room.
"Plenty of room in the teleporter, Pro. I mean, I know we've asked before, but your name would look good on the membership list. How 'bout it? You in?" Rhyme Guardian offered his hand in hopes of a confirmation from this stranger, a being no one truly knew, yet who had lent his assistance many times.
The tenth Prometheus stared for a moment at the outreached palm, a look of wistfulness passing quickly over his features, which just as quickly fades, replaced with the solemn, almost sad gaze of ambivalence.
"Thank you... but, no. The path I walk is full of twists and turns, and though it crosses our fates at times, I must continue on the journey that is mine to make, alone."
Rhyme Guardian lowered his hand with a reassuring smile. "I understand. You are always welcome. You know that, right?"
The stranger pulled his thick waist coat close to him, like a man preparing to enter the cold of a winter night. "Fear not, Rhyme Guardian. You and the MBL face many trials ahead of you, but none that you cannot brave with this ensemble." Prometheus passes his hand toward the collective team waiting for their leader at the teleporter. "And, when you are truly in need... I will come."
Prometheus turns and walks toward the far wall of the meeting room. As he passes across the room, his gaze meets that of Gooz.
"Hey, Pro!" Gooz yells at the retreating stranger, who stops in his tracks, his purple-hued pupils staring. "I just... well, I just wanted to say... um... thanks and all, for bringing me back, man. You know... that's TWO I owe you now," Gooz stammers, finding the irony in thanking the same being who brought him back to life, and who had nearly killed him at one time during his dark days.
Prometheus looks him straight in the eyes, and then his facial expression twists, to Gooz's and everyone else's amazement, into what can only be called a smile.
"It is, as it should be," is the stranger's only response. With that, he turns, his body folding into two dimensions, at first, then continues to fold in upon itself until he simply isn't there any more.
Gooz just shakes his head. "Doesn't he ever just use doors or anything?"
"Hey, don't knock it!" says the Caped Cadet. "I would LOVE to be able to fold myself into a pocket dimension. Talk about blowing a blind date off. 'What? You don't like carrots? Hold on a sec while I step into this other dimension!'" mimicked the Cadet, as everyone bursts into laughter.
"I think it's time to go to work, boys!" Rhyme Guardian proclaims, and, with that, the MBL steps into the teleporter, off to face yet another danger.
Smoke clears, and the MBL is teleported to Royal City. They see the horror of buildings crumbling, people being killed, and mass destruction by men in high-tech battle suits.
Rhyme Guardian: "Remember, everyone, use teamwork like we practised. Gooz, Caped Cadet, and Disco Stave -- you guys save the people while Beer-Drinking Lad, Nightwatch, Grow Worm, Smasher and I take out the 'suits'."
And the battle rages on.
The MBL Headquarters medical laboratory:
In this room are two members of the MBL who are still too hurt to fight. One is Lone Survivor, and the other is Renegade. Lone Survivor got his left hand cut off by Viper during a fight, and Renegade got the crap beat out of him while fighting the Dark MBL.
Renegade: "We should be out there helping the MBL fight the villains, not stuck in here like children!"
Lone Survivor: "Cool down. If you go into the fight now, you could get even more hurt, or you could cause others to get hurt! We will be back in action soon."
Renegade: "Yeah... whatever you say."
In his mind, Lone Survivor still does not trust the MBL. After seeing his family beaten and killed by Lord Rhymer, he knows not what to think. He saw Lord Rhymer die, but did he really die? And with this whole hypertime stuff, does that mean that there could be more Lord Rhymers?
Renegade: "Are you okay, man?"
Lone Survivor: "Yeah, I just need to figure some things out."
Lone Survivor walks out of the room, needing to be alone to think of what will come. He has a flashback from his world of Lord Rhymer... before he was Lord Rhymer. He was a hero but turned on his friends and into the dark side, leading a team of villains that destroyed his world. If it happened there, couldn't it happen here? Lone Survivor loads his gun and knows not what to do next. Only time can tell.
In Royal City, Australia, as the MBL battle, they notice another hologram of the men in suits from before nearby. In business suits, they look like men who head corporations, men who have the wealth and technology to make their plans possible, but who hire goons to do the tough work for them.
A voice rings out from the general direction of the hologram.
"League... we are the TriVext Group, the heads of three different corporations who have decided to take over the world through political and economic means, not just flinging some energy blasts around and hoping people bow to you like SOME villains do. But we need to have our army for the physical side of things. Knowing that the League could stop us, we need to have you out of the way as soon as possible. Good day!"
While listening, Rhyme Guardian is distracted and drops his force field. This allows the suited guys to get a few blasts in with their weapons and even the playing field. Rhyme Guardian is out. The field was down long enough for these guys to take an advantage.
Meanwhile, in the MBL headquarters, Lone Survivor replaces his gun and starts walking down the hall. He takes in all the sights of his new surroundings. Even though this headquarters is retro-eighties, he is still glad to have a place to stay.
As he strolls through the trophy room, his mind wanders back to his home. He swears he can still smell the ash. His world was as beautiful and joyful as this one until the day that the MBL was turned to the dark side. It all changed in one day. How difficult would it be for that to happen here?
If it should ever happen here, he must be prepared to handle it. He looks down and examines the transdimensional device that brought him here. He opens a small hatch and examines the power source, a small piece of hyperium. It would be child's play to rewire the device to explode, destroying every MBL that ever existed.
As he is distracted, he walks into a display podium, knocking it over.
"Ahhh, damn." He reaches down and fishes a strange metal disk out of the shards of shattered glass. He turns it over but still has no idea what it is. He checks the podium and finds a plaque that reads: "Doctor Mocha's energy amplifier."
He places the disk on the stub of his arm, flips the switch, and suddenly a hand of pure shadow appears. With a little concentration, he turns it into a blade, a claw, a clown face, and whatever he might need.
Truly happy for the first time in a very long time, he heads back to check on Renegade.
One of the huge suits powers up and fires at Rhyme Guardian while his shields are down. The blast hits Rhyme Guardian right in the left arm, sending him into the floor. Rhyme Guardian uses the rhyme force to make the tech suit blow up, then tries to heal himself, but his powers are not working right.
Rhyme Guardian: "What the...?"
As he finishes what he was saying, Gooz pushes him out of the way of another blast. "Watch your head, man! This is, like, a war zone!"
The two go back into battle, blasting the suits. The suits have already taken out most of downtown Royal City, and the MBL is stopping them from doing even more damage, but there are too many suits. The MBL members think that they have the suits finished, when what appears to be thousands fly overhead, covering the sky with a black metallic look.
At the TriVext Group's secret location, there are three men talking at a table. Their faces are covered in shadow.
The first says, "We have the MBL right where we want them. Soon, they shall only be a memory."
The second says, "Have you located their headquarters yet?"
The first says, "Yeah, and I sent the warning messages."
The second says, "Very good. Now buy the land. If we can't beat the MBL, we will at least own them." He smiles with an evil look in his face and stands into the light to show that he is famous billionaire Stephen Magnus.
One by one, the suits are getting knocked out of the air. The heroes regroup and attack with full power all at once. The smoke clears, and the heroes have won.
"Good work, guys. Now let's help the remaining people in danger," says Rhyme Guardian.
"Yeah... It looks like another job well done by the MBL," says Smasher.
Gooz takes a deep breath. "Yeah... it's great to be back."
"Disco Stave, don't forget to take one of the remains of the high-tech suits for the trophy room," says Nightwatch.
"Yeah, sure," says Disco Stave.
"Ummm... a-anyone... want... a... b-beer... burp... huh?" stutters Beer-Drinking Lad.
"No... but I'll take a V-8," says the Caped Cadet.
MBL Headquarters:
Lone Survivor is walking out of the trophy room and into the meeting room, when he hears the teleporters start up. Now in front of him stand three men in suits. The one known as Stephen Magnus steps up toward Lone Survivor.
"We now own you, and there is nothing you can do about it!" says Magnus.
"What?" says Lone Survivor.
Sun Labs, Thunder City:
In a room without shadows, imprisoned in an energy cell plated with ten-inch thick unbreakable glass sits Viper. He waits for a chance to escape. He now, more then ever, wants revenge. As he waits, he gains power. It will only be a short amount of time until he has enough power to escape... and kill.
The MBL -- Rhyme Guardian, Gooz, Smasher, Beer-Drinking Lad, Disco Stave, Grow Worm, Nightwatch, Albino Chameleon, Caped Cadet, Renagade -- return home to discover that they can't get in, even via teleporters. Some sort of shielding has been placed around it.
They hear a scream from inside. It is Lone Survivor. Rhyme Guardian blasts the shield at full force, but to no avail. He is still recovering from the blast he got during the battle. They all try to get through. It seems unbreakable.
"How on earth will we get inside?
The building has an unbreakable hide."
Inside the headquarters, Lone Survivor finds himself in a harsh white light. His entire body feels as if it is being torn apart. When the light fades, he collapses to the floor.
A man in a business suit stands before him. "Hurts, doesn't it?" the man begins to laugh a deep, vicious laugh.
"Who... are you?" Lone Survivor asks.
The man slaps him across the face, then straightens up to respond. "I go to all this trouble to find just the disguise, and you don't even know who it is."
He touches a button on his belt, and his features change to reveal a gray-haired man with a nasty scar over his right eye.
"I am Gerald Forrest. I am the man who is going to kill the MBL. You see, I have been watching from the beginning and have been waiting for the right time to strike. Once the MBL moved to Limbo, it was a simple matter to bribe the right officials into declaring the team's old base a national monument. A few well-placed photographs later, I was allowed to purchase this site from the American government. Now I intend to... Wait, wait one minute. Of course, you are trying to use that old trick on me, aren't you? Pretending to be near death so I will explain my plan to you."
Forrest kicks Lone Survivor in the jaw, knocking him backward. "Now look what you did. My shoes are all bloody."
As Forrest is distracted, Lone Survivor raises his right hand and tries to conjure a blade, but to no avail.
"HA HA HA HA! You still don't get it, do you? I have stripped you of the only thing that makes you a threat, and soon I shall do the same to the rest of the MBL." He turns and says, "Take him away now, please. I believe the brig is one floor down from here. Lock him away, will you?"
Lone Survivor is too weak to struggle out of the guard's grasp. As he is taken past the infirmary, he realizes that Renegade is still somewhere in the base.
Outside, the MBL members are firing everything they have at the shield, but it still stands.
Nightwatch looks up to see a few dozen of the flying suits swarm right through the shield.
As they turn to attack the MBL, Nightwatch runs over to Disco Stave, who has been dragging along a suit for the trophy room.
Nightwatch: "Disco Stave, I need to borrow this. Tell Rhyme Guardian to hold the MBL here as long as he can. I will have this shield down in no time."
Nightwatch takes the suit from Disco Stave and flies through the shield, to the amazement of the others.
Rhyme Guardian figures out what he's trying to do and keeps at the shield so the TriVext guys won't get suspicious.
A few minutes later, the shield is down. They attack, only to find themselves faced with dozens of suits even more powerful than the last. If they get through this, they may be able to win.
Meanwhile, Renegade is inside. He is scared out of his wits (who wouldn't be?), but he knows this is a test of his MBL worthiness. If he saves the day, he will earn the respect of his peers. He heads toward the brig to free Lone Survivor.
Renegade creeps down the hallways in the direction of the brig. He hears noises up ahead coming right in his direction. Renegade slips into a shadowed alcove and waits as two figures approach.
Forrest and Magnus walk down the hall, oblivious that an injured MBL member is fearfully watching their passage.
"The pest Nightwatch passed through the field as expected," chuckles Forrest.
"Simplicity to foresee their every move with our otherdimensional ally's assistance," adds Magnus.
"Yes, that General Tarroc is quite helpful. We know the MBL's every move before they do."
Upon hearing this, Renegade realizes that it is only a matter of time before this General Tarroc contacts his comrades with the information of his hideout. As the two villains pass, he slips out of the alcove and quickly proceeds to the MBL trophy room. Upon entering, he is stunned to see a new trophy case with a battle suit inside. Upon closer inspection, Renegade realizes that his teammate Nightwatch is trapped inside the battle suit in a comatose state.
"Those monsters know our every move," he tells himself. "That is why it is imperative that I find the one trophy that will allow me to operate undetected."
Renegade approaches a titanium case with a palm pad on it. He presses his hand against the pad.
"PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
"MBL member designate Renegade, code GX7."
"MEMBER RENEGADE -- CODE ACCEPTED."
With that, the computer lock deactivates, and a foot-thick titanium door swings open, revealing...
"The cloak of unreality! Amazing! Even after hearing the Caped Cadet describe the cloak, the description doesn't do it justice."
The six-foot-long cloak hovers before Renegade in its case. The surface of the cloak shimmers and swirls with a rainbow of colors much like the appearance of dish soap in a shallow container of water. Renegade grabs the cloak and quickly dons it. Immediately, a wave of vertigo tears through his body, and then nothingness fills his sense of being. He proceeds to leave the trophy room, passing the trophy case containing Nightwatch.
"I'll be back for you later, pal. I promise."
Renegade proceeds down hallways, occasionally passing battle androids that register no sign of his existence. He finally reaches the MBL control station and scans the boards for any hint of a way to sabotage villainous plans and the force field before it can be re-erected, flash-frying his teammates when they decide to pass through the field's threshhold. He spies the communication badge locator screen and sees that only he and two other members are currently in the complex. They must be Nightwatch and Lone Survivor. He continues to scan the control boards for something that might help. Suddenly, his eyes alight on a panel with a toggle switch and palm pad.
"EMP transmitter?" he wonders. "EMP? Hey... electromagnetic pulse! What the hell, let's give it a try."
After removing the cloak, Renegade places his palm on the pad.
"PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
"MBL member designate Renegade, code GX7."
"MEMBER RENEGADE -- CODE ACCEPTED."
He flicks the switch, and a deafening thump reverberates through the entire complex. The cloak shimmers at his feet. In the hallway outside the control station, he hears a loud crash as multiple battle-armor-clad soldiers slam to the ground, trapping their operators inside. Renegade re-dons the cloak and makes his way to the outside of the complex. Along the way, he discovers that all passageways are inoperable, but the cloak allows him to pass through them as though he didn't exist. All throughout the complex he witnesses chaos. He catches a quick glimpse of Forrest and Magnus at the opposite end of a long passageway cursing and throwing out useless orders to helpless lackeys and battle androids. Renegade makes his way along the passages and remembers he must get to the brig and secure Lone Survivor's safety.
After retrieving Lone Survivor, Renegade backtracks to the trophy room to free Nightwatch from the now-useless battle armor. The cloak increases in mass to cover the three heroes as Renegade transports his two friends to safety. Once he reaches the outside, he sheds the cloak, surprising the rest of the MBL.
"HEY!" yells Gooz. "It's Renegade, and he got out somehow with Lone Survivor and Nightwatch!" The heroes gather around their injured friends and move them away from the complex to safety. They then prepare to find a way back into the building, when it suddenly explodes in huge balls of searing fire, heat, and smoke. The heroes are thrown back from the concussion as the MBL complex disappears from existence.
"MY GOD!" yells Disco Stave. "They must really not have wanted us to have our headquarters back!"
Some time has passed since the MBL's headquarters was blown up. Rhyme Guardian, Gooz, Smasher, Beer-Drinking Lad, Disco Stave, Grow Worm, Nightwatch, Albino Chameleon, Caped Cadet, and Renagade are now regrouping in the old headquarters of the Seven Senses. This building had been shut down for some time, but the computer systems are still active.
"Ahhhhhhhhh... it's great to be home!" says Caped Cadet.
"Yeah... I know what you mean," says Gooz.
"Wow, I thought they had knocked this down. It looks just the same as it did the day that the Senses disbanded," Albino Chameleon says.
"Okay, guys, we have to get down to business. What do we know about TriVext?" asks Rhyme Guardian.
"That they just outsmarted us," says Disco Stave.
"Well, they cut us off from our resources, weapons, and our home," Grow Worm says.
"Hmmm... I wonder if i still have that stash of V8?" ponders Caped Cadet.
"If you want, I can try and use the computer systems and locate information on General Forrest and Magnus," says Gooz.
"Yeah... we could use all the info that we can get!" says Rhyme Guardian.
TriVext Group headquarters:
"Part one of our plan has worked!" says General Gerald Forrest.
"Yes, and now we start the next part of our plan! The new Infamous Bedlam Gang!" says Magnus.
Sun Labs:
In an energy cage sits the man known as Viper, still waiting for a chance to escape.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Viper turns and sees the man known as Cisco Steve.
"I am getting a lot of money to break you out of here. Feed, then follow me." Cisco Steve throws one of the bodies of the guards at Viper. Viper drains the man fully of his life-force until the man turns to dust.
"I'M READY... NOW WHERE THE HELL ARE WE GOING?" says Viper.
"We are going to destroy the MBL!" Cisco Steve answers.
Later, Viper enters the TriVext Group building.
"SO... YOU WANT MY HELP?" Viper asks.
"Yes. We need you to get one of the key members of the new 'gang'," says General Forrest.
"He is known as the Hypertime Entity, and right now he is stuck in a prison called Hell, thanks to Gooz, Caped Cadet, and Albino. I know that with your shadow powers that you can enter Hell and retrieve him. You ready?" says Stephen Magnus.
"NOW... WHY WOULD I RISK MYSELF LIKE THAT? WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?" asks Viper.
"Revenge," answers General Forrest.
It has been two hours since most MBL members stopped the search for TriVext and went to sleep. Now it is one o'clock a.m. Gooz walks down to the kitchen for a late-night snack. He takes out a glass and pours milk into it. He turns to put the carton away and knocks the glass off the table. The glass stops in mid-air.
"What the...? Oh, hello, Pro X. How is it going?" says Gooz.
"Good. I am here for a reason," says Prometheus X.
A cloud of white covers both of them.
"Okay, where are we?" asks Gooz.
"We are in a moment without time, a place without existence," says Prometheus X.
"Yeah, now that's just what I was thinking. So... what brings us here?" asks Gooz.
"I am here to warn you. I have felt a great disturbance in the universe. A powerful foe has brought together many others also filled with hate. I am warning you because a great battle lies ahead... and I am unsure of the outcome," says Prometheus X.
"You unsure? I would have never guessed. Who is bringing together villains? What are they going to do?" asks Gooz.
"The answers are all unclear now. I shall be back in some time with more answers, but for now... beware. Until our next encounter, goodbye."
There is a flash of white, and Gooz is back in the kitchen, alone.
"I hate when he does that! Thanks for the info, Pro X... and goodbye," says Gooz.
Rhyme Guardian sits before the computer equipment in the Seven Senses Headquarters while the other members are asleep. He feels uneasy. Gooz told him what he heard from Prometheus X about gathering villains, and he doesn't like it.
He notices something strange. Even though the computers can access several cameras throughout the city, and he is paying particular attention to the old headquarters' camera, he doesn't notice anything.
What is strange is, the camera seems to be on a loop. He checks it closely.
The same bird flies past every two minutes. It is on a loop. He frantically tries to get past any reprogramming measures the IBG (Infamous Bedlam Gang) might have put into place.
Suddenly, he breaks through, and there are Gerald Forrest, Stephen Magnus, the Hypertime Entity, Viper, General Tarroc, and Cisco Steve trying to dig something up from the wreckage.
But Rhyme Guardian was sure they didn't miss anything. If any weapon or trophy survived, the MBL would have retrieved it, unless the IBG did something like bury a weapon in case they had to blow the place up.
Rhyme Guardian sounds the alarm.
"What on earth are they trying to dig?
They're searching everywhere, like the trophy room and the brig."
Suddenly, he finds himself and the rest of the MBL somewhere else, somewhere they don't recognize. Standing before them is Gerald Forrest, the Hypertime Entity, Glass-Eye, Warlord, Cisco Steve, Deathwatch, General Tarroc, and Viper.
"This must be that gathering Pro X warned us about," Gooz says.
"Yeah," Rhyme Guardian replies. "But who brought them together?"
Gerald Forrest walks to the front. "MBL, welcome. You're probably wondering what happened. Well, we used the Hypertime Entity's powers to bring you through to a deserted timeline in hypertime. We're going to leave you here to die, as there is no food and no way out. We couldn't attack you directly, as there is the chance you could have defeated us. Good day," he says, and the IBG disappears.
Rhyme Guardian starts to wonder. They wouldn't need that much manpower if that's all they were planning, and why would someone gather them all just for this? They must be worried about facing us, so there must be a way out.
Lone Survivor slowly opens his eyes and examines his surroundings. He is in a sparsely equipped infirmary. It appears to have been unused for quite a long time.
Great -- another infirmary, Lone Survivor thinks.
Slowly the memories come back to him. This was Gooz's and Caped Cadet's old headquarters as the Seven Samurais, or some such thing.
His whole body aches as he stands up. He slowly strolls down the eerily silent hall to the meeting room. He enters the meeting room.
"Hey! Where is everybody."
He looks around, then strolls over to the computer. "Computer, where is everybody?" There is no response. "Oh, yeah," he says, typing in his question.
NO MEMBERS OF THE MBL ARE PRESENT WITHIN THE COMPOUND.
"Okay..." He types again.
ONLY ONE LIFEFORM DETECTED WITHIN COMPOUND.
"Oh, come on! What is going on?" he looks around the empty room again. There does not appear to be any signs of struggle.
"Just great. I lost my hand, my powers, and had my entire body nearly ripped apart on the molecular level. And now everyone leaves me here alone. Well, that's just fine."
He does the only thing he can think of -- he heads back to bed.
As he approaches the bed, he passes a small metal cart that holds his gun and belt. He has a familiar sensation. He can feel the chunk of hyperium pulsating. Maybe his powers are returning. After quite a bit of effort, he manages to regenerate his shadow hand.
"Finally, something good has happened to me. I had better get some sleep while I can. You never can tell when these places are going to be blown off the face of the earth."
He quickly falls back to sleep.
To be continued