by Kristogar Velo, I'm Not Mister Mxypltk and T5
The train sped along, and for the first time in what felt like months, what was left of the media-dubbed Hero Revolution got to relax. Marv Velo had asked Sonja Ljzavet to maintain controls of the train with him in the front, while the rest entered another car to sit down. All were cooling off from a high adrenaline rush.
"...was naked the last time I got on one of these antiques..."
"...just luck, pure luck..."
"...I know..."
"...was talking like Mushmouth..."
"...I know..."
"...introduce me to all your friends sometime..."
"You know, this feels pretty cool," Mick Harrison said. "This feels like a ghost train, sorta."
"How can a train be a ghost?" Naecken asked, then continued without an answer. "What happened to those people back there was not right. The thing that was with them was not right, either. We should not have left."
A heavy silence fell over the would-be adventurers. Lance Lorenzo was the first one to break the tense silence. "We had to leave, Naecken. They couldn't be saved. They were eating each other, for chrissakes... that wasn't living, and there was no reason for us to die for--"
"What the hell are we doing?" Danny Hearn blurted out. "This whole thing... I don't know, it feels as if we're a bunch of fucking amateurs -- sorry about the language -- but all we're doing is going from place to place, getting our asses handed to us and... well, does anybody even remember what we're doing anymore?" Another silence fell after Danny finished stating what needed to be stated.
"Eurostar will know," Naecken said. "That's why we need to find him."
"Could somebody please tell me who Eurostar is and why he's so important?" Sam Dawson asked.
"He was the main man around here, basically," Mick explained, "the one who knew what to do, and we would help him do it. He died when Malvan-X was destroyed."
"How long ago was that?" Tobias Christopher asked. "Am I the only one who's lost complete sense of time? Shit, when did we last see daylight?"
"In the desert," Pete Glover chipped in. "Those worms and da mist."
"Are things always this hectic with you people?" Shirley Francis asked Mick.
"I was just wondering that myself," Sam added, overhearing her.
"God, I hope not," Mick said. The team chuckled wearily. It was the first lighthearted moment that they had shared in who-knows-how-long. At this point, any little joke would get a laugh.
The train creaked and groaned as it slowed down to a halt. Velo and Sonja stepped back into the passenger car where the rest of the team sat. "We're at another station. We might be able to figure out what to do from here," he informed them.
The door opened. In front of them stood an impressive battalion. A Mastiff of War and a robot worm were there but appeared to be in a resting position. Hundreds of guns were pointed at the group. Twenty-six other agents, each unarmed but looking like living weapons themselves, were scattered about. In the middle of all of this stood a tall, bearded, bald man, dressed entirely in black and with a brass hook where his right hand should have been.
"Are you planning to resist?" said Colonel Nemo, surrounded by his assorted army to the group of shocked freaks.
"Uh..." Mick said, looking at his friends, "...yes?" He watched as the dazzled look on their faces was replaced with a deadly serious ready-for-rumble look. "Yes!" Mick said more confidently as everyone took fighting positions, and then he turned to Shirley. "You stay over there, li'l lady!"
"I won't argue with that," she answered, getting back into the train.
"All right," Nemo said, sighing. He turned his back to the team and started walking, then said with a tired voice, "Attack."
The robots seemed to wake up all at once. All the guns clicked at the same second. Without wasting any time, the group jumped at the army.
"M'xy," whispered Mick, and a small explosion covered his eyes with light.
Sam seemed nervous at first, but the confidence of the rest of the group soon spread to him, and the fear was replaced with the excitement and adrenalin rush everyone else was feeling.
All kinds of robots reacted immediately to the movement and jumped to meet the team in the air.
All Shirley could hear from the safety the train gave her was a gigantic clash when robots and freaks collided. "Oh my God," she said, covering her mouth, unable to close her eyes or look away. "Mick..."
The next thing she saw was a rain of metallic pieces and dust. When the view cleared, she could see the group standing truimphant in the middle of a mountain of destroyed killing machines.
The soldiers were as amazed as Shirley was to see this. For a minute, all they could do was scratch their heads, waiting for Nemo's orders.
"How the hell did we do that?" Sam asked Lance, who stood next to him, without moving from the heroic position the group displayed.
"Don't ask me," Lance said, without looking at him. "I just made everything except my knuckles intangible, closed my eyes, and started punching around."
"So that was you!" Sonja said. "Try to watch who and where you are punching, or next time I swear I'll kick your intangible ar--"
"YOU LEAVE US NO CHOICE!" Nemo yelled from afar, interrupting Sonja, "BUT TO EXECUTE YOU THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!"
"Whadda he means 'ol' fashioned' way?" Pete asked.
His question was answered when all the soldiers made their guns click once again and prepared to shoot the heroes to death at Nemo's order.
"F--"
"NEMO, WAIT!" Marv Velo yelled. "We'll come along peacefully!"
The others, Sonja and Tobias in particular, couldn't believe what Velo had said.
"Say that again?" Nemo requested.
"We're tired, beaten up, and we don't want any more bloodshed. We're willing to compromise."
"Compromise?" Nemo chortled. "Velo, explain to me why I should negotiate a deal with those on death row."
"Dude, you know Captain Hook?" Lance whispered to him, but Velo ignored him.
"Because," Velo replied, smiling, "we could still do more damage to you than you could to us. You saw what we just did. You can't afford to lose much more."
Nemo hesitated. Moments that felt like hours passed by while he contemplated. "You agree to come along? As prisoners?"
Velo nodded. He could see the rest of the group seething at him, so he quietly whispered, "This battle will not end today. We'll get them next time." They did not appear to calm down, but at least there was no incident.
Nemo's soldiers were just as incredulous. He mumbled to them from one side of his mouth, "Remember D'goon's orders." They seemed to understand what he meant by this.
The soldiers, very slowly and cautiously, surrounded the metahumans, all guns ready. A few soldiers checked out the old train.
Two things happened at this point. First, one of the soldiers led Shirley out by her hair. Recognizing that she did not have any powers, he apparently had been planning to take a few liberties with her. Second, two soldiers found Li'l Jo and, unable to corral the cat, were aiming their guns.
To the first action, M'xy immediately raised his hand. Velo's eyes widened as he saw the look in M'xy's face, and Velo reached out and grabbed M'xy's hand, feeling the fingers of Mick Harrison's body crunch. With his other hand, Velo fired a laser shot to the soldier who was roughing up Shirley, shocking him into unconsciousness, which was a better fate than what M'xy had in store.
To the second action, the reaction happened in the blink of an eye. Tobias grabbed the guns of the two soldiers and knocked them into unconsciousness as well. Everyone on both sides once again went into fighting positions.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Nemo screamed desperately. Amazingly, no shots were fired.
On the other side, Velo stepped out in front of his team, in between them and Nemo's forces, to prevent them from letting this get out of hand.
There was a stalemate and a tense silence. M'xy repaired his hand.
"Nemo," Velo yelled, "if your men get fresh with us again, with any of us--" He gestured toward Shirley and Li'l Jo. "--all bets are off. You understand me?"
"Damn straight," Tobias muttered, feeling that Velo had redeemed his earlier action of surrender.
"Understood," Nemo responded. Soldiers once again surrounded the group as they were finally led out of the caves.
As they walked away, Danny said to Pete, "You know, what we just did, destroying those robots...?"
"Yeah?"
"That felt great." The others silently nodded their agreement.
As the team sat on the hard wooden benches in a troop truck that took them away, Naecken was contemplating the last hour's events and emotions.
Why had they agreed to follow these soldiers? They could easily have beaten them with their powers. And why had he felt a connection to that white underground monster? Maybe he had seen it before.
Then there was that strange tugging feeling inside his very core soul. A tug to the south. Something or someone wanted him to go there.
He looked at his friends and decided to play along with whatever they had in mind. Whatever it was that was calling him was getting closer. So he relaxed and searched the faces of his comrades for a sign of anything that may indicate a signal for him to break them free.