Crusaders #11 - "The Hatchling"
The scene is outside the M.E.T.E. building. The Crusaders are planning their course of action after an encounter with an alien creature.
Imperial - "Look, perhaps I did overreact. I for one don't like bein' a ping-pong ball for some refuge from 20,000 leagues under the sea! But lets face some facts boys and girls. This thing might be a baby, but you guys are actin' like it's made of glass. In case you weren't payin' attention, that thing took on the entire team and trashed half of it! We hit it with enough force to level a skyscraper and didn't even stun the thing! Seeing what it withstood, we might not be powerful enough stop it. So, unless any of you have a better idea..."
Officer Terry - "Yes, I have an idea on containing this thing until we can get someone who knows what this is."
Terry turns and slowly starts to walk off. She searches for the creature.
Lord Liberty - "I am sorry, Firestar. I cannot locate Lightwarp anywhere. I do however sense the creature. It is nearby."
At that moment, a figure in silverish armor glides in and lands before the team.
Golden Lion - "We need more information."
"I believe that I may be of assistance in that capacity. I am Orrad."
Firestar - "I've heard of him. He's connected to M.E.T.E. in someway."
Orrad - "That is correct, young lady. I am one of the founders. I see that you've encountered our escaped patient."
Golden Lion - "Than you can tell us what we're dealing with?"
Plasma Paladin - "And how to contain the thing."
Orrad - "I know of its background, but I'm not sure how it can be stopped. It was found by a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park, in a clearing marked by a 30' diameter charred circle of earth. Its form was that of a brownish blob of pulsating skin like material with no visible external appendages or sensory apparatus. It was then brought to us. The blob like thing responded to X-Rays and ultrasound scans by thrashing around in what the technicians could only guess was pain. Quick experimentation revealed that the thing responded well to a nearly pure oxygen environment, so it was placed in an environmental tank. For the last two weeks we have been monitoring it. The blobs only action had been an occasionally ripple every four hours. EEG's and telepathic probe have proved fruitless. Apparently, it was an egg and tonight it hatched."
Lord Liberty - "Inquiry friends. Officer Terry said that it was hungry. And yet it batted away everyone except you Golden Lion. It is logical to assume therefore that to this creature you represent food."
Firestar - "Not necessarily, Liberty. If you recall, the only people that it batted away were the people who had already attacked it. It was acting in self-defense."
R.A.L.F. - "Lightwarp-did-not-attack-creature."
Imperial - "Warp was tryin' to steal its dinner, Ralph."
Orrad - "At any rate, we must locate the creature and stop it."
Lord Liberty - "The creature is nearing the limits of my sensors. We must proceed quickly."
Officer Terry - "Then lets get going. I might have a way to calm it down."
Tracking the creature soon leads the team into nearby Central Park. Along the way you find the trail of the creature is easy to follow.
Shortly you find the creature. It is in a lightly wooded area, gnawing on what appeared to have been a canine of some type. Other bones are nearby. Some can be identified as human.
Imperial - "Nice kid."
Officer Terry - "Stay back all of you. I'm going to try to calm it down."
Terry steps forward from the others. She reaches out with her mind, sending feelings of security and friendship. In turn, she receives feelings of ravenous hunger. Hunger so strong that the creature savagely lashes out! A tentacle whips out and encircles Terry. Its bonelike underside rips into her flesh.
Imperial - "Cripes! So much for that idea."
R.A.L.F. - "Do-not-hurt-the-child."
Imperial flies to Terry's side. He blasts the tentacle and it releases the officer. It is quickly determined that the officer is not seriously hurt, but rather dazed. The creature bolts away once more.
Firestar - "I'll keep an eye on it!"
Firestar becomes airborne, following the creature from a distance. From this vantage point what she sees terrifies her. The creature is moving directly towards an ice-covered pond. Several dozen ice skaters are currently using the pond....
SUBJ: GOLDEN LION FROM: N4SIR 04/22/89 S#: 490155
"That thing has got to be heading towards the zoo. But we have to be sure. One of you needs to scout for it as soon as you find it let us know. Then a small group of us will attempt to get in front of it a begin digging a tiger trap the rest will Use energy blasts to herd it towards the trap. Orrad you need to get some sort of x-ray device to close the trap once we get the creature inside. Hopefully that will contain it until we can figure out how to move it or communicate with it."
GL starts to move towards the Zoo in a run most will find it amazing a man his size can move as fast as he can.
SUBJ: R.A.L.F. (R) FROM: Xiphias 04/23/89 S#: 843348
This-creature-Is-very-Dangerous-it-Must-be-Stopped-it-Has-killed-Innocent-people-which-Negates-its-Immature-defense. He then runs after the creature and tries to grab it by a tentacle. If he succeeds he will take it for a long spin. If the proves inconclusive he will use his RKA being careful not to hit the ice with his heat beam.
SUBJ: Plasma paladin (R) FROM: Nainitsuj 04/23/89 S#: 403333
"Look guys, use your brains! If it's hungry, lets feed it. I'll hold it off with plasma while one of you go and get a meat truck or something!"
SUBJ: Lord Liberty FROM: REM9 04/23/89 S#: 393946
"Your plan is a logical one Golden Lion. Perhaps I can be of assistance in the need of an X-ray device. One of my sensors is X-ray vision. With Firestar's help maybe I can alter it to temporarily draw on more power from my systems. If the rest of you were to dig a pit big enough, and I to cover it in X-ray's maybe we can contain it. I suggest that someone get in front of that creature and herd it back towards us. Firestar your assistance is requested."
SUBJ: Firestar
"I can already see the creature, Golden Lion. It is heading directly for a lake full of ice skaters!"
I'll fly forward and warn the skaters of the danger that they are in. The idea about the pit sounds like a good one, guys, but we may not have the time. Why don't we get the skaters to safety, lure it onto the ice and melt the ice? I wonder how this thing will respond to cold water? Perhaps the water will slow it down long enough to prepare the other trap.
SUBJ: Imperial
"As much as I hate to admit it, Plasma puss is right. This thing is hungry, so let's feed the sucker!" I'll take to the air and look for something to feed this thing. A hot dog cart, a meat wagon or somethin'. Once this thing has had a good meal in it, Officer Terry can then calm the thing down.
SUBJ: Terry.. FROM: Miss Terry 04/26/89 S#: 113996
Terry remains seated on the ground and trys to tend to her wounds. Leaning forward she thinks how stupid that move was. (Mind blast it.)
Crusaders # 12 - "The Hatchling: Part Two"
Night in Central Park. An escaped alien from the M.E.T.E. labs is on the loose and very hungry. The Crusaders have pursued the creature to this location.
Golden Lion - "I've got an idea, but we've got to get in front of the creature."
Lion breaks out into a sprint. Lord Liberty follows.
Lord Liberty - "Orrad said that X-Rays harmed the creature. One of my sensors is X-Ray vision. With Firestar's assistance, I can alter it to emit X-Rays. Firestar, your assistance is requested."
However, the flame-wielding heroine is to far away too hear Lord Liberty's request. Firestar flies over the packed pond. She uses her flames to illuminate the sky, causing all of the ice skaters to notice her.
Firestar - "You are all in great danger here! Evacuate the vicinity immediately!"
She points to the alien that is rapidly bearing down on the pond. Screams of panic come from the crowd as they start to flee.
Meanwhile, R.A.L.F. rushes towards the creature.
R.A.L.F. - "This-creature-is-very- dangerous. It-has-killed-innocents- which-negates-its-immature-defense."
Plasma Paladin - "Look guys, use your brains! If it's hungry, let's feed it. I'll hold it off while one of you go get a meat truck or something!"
Imperial - "Your right, guy! I'll find some grub for the sucker!"
Imperial soars out of sight in search of food.
In the background, Officer Terry rests on the ground. Orrad approaches her.
Orrad - "That was a very brave thing you tried to do. Are you seriously injured?"
Terry - "I'll be alright."
Terry tends to her various wounds and they miraculously heal at her touch.
Orrad - "You are no ordinary law enforcement officer."
She stands and brushes the snow off of her.
Terry - "No. I need to use a different approach this time."
Followed by Orrad, Terry sprints after the alien.
Plasma Paladin - "Yo, slimey!"
Plasma energy flares forth from the man. The alien is blasted on to the ice-covered pond.
Plasma Paladin - "You want a good meal? Try me out for size. Come on! I'm waiting for you!"
The alien slides to a stop on the ice. With its tentacles spread out in every direction, it looks like some kind of giant spider.
Firestar glides in from the opposite direction and flames erupt around the creature. The ice melts around it and it's octipodial head falls into the water. Its tentacles keep it from sinking to far.
At the moment, R.A.L.F. appears on the scene. The robot grabs one of the flaying tentacles and lifts the creature into the air.
Firestar - "Ralf, no!"
But R.A.L.F. pays no attention. He spins the creature around over his head. Quite an unusual sight considering its wingspan!
Several of its tentacles manage to latch on to nearby trees and the spinning is stopped. Now based, it is a simple matter for the creature to hurtle R.A.L.F. across the landscape. He crashes close to Lord Liberty and Golden Lion. Firestar lands close by.
Lord Liberty - "Are you injured, RALF entity?"
R.A.L.F. - "Systems-are-functional. Must-stop-creature." R.A.L.F. moves back towards the creature.
Firestar - "He certainly has a one track mind. You were saying something about my help, Lord Liberty?"
On the other side of the pond, Plasma Paladin continues his assault. Another bolt of plasma burns the creature.
Officer Terry and Orrad appear from another side. Terry's mind lashes out at the creature hitting it like a hammer. Orrad's wrist blasters also connect with the creature.
R.A.L.F. runs in from the backside. His heat beams strikes the creature down. It goes sprawling thought the lightly wooded forest, tentacles flying in every which way. It lies unmoving.
Orrad - "I don't believe it! We've downed it."
Terry - "But at what cost?"
Everyone cautiously approaches the creature. Terry uses her senses to examine the creature.
Terry - "It's just unconscious. But it will recover soon."
At that moment, Lord Liberty, Golden Lion and Firestar arrive on the scene.
Lord Liberty - "I may be of assistance in that capacity, Officer Terry."
The jury-rigged x-ray device comes on guarantying the creature will remain comatose. A few minutes later, imperial returns carrying a 'Mr. Beef' truck.
Imperial - "Here's the beef!"
Firestar - "That was terrible."
Under direction from Orrad, the meat is placed around the sleeping creature. Once in place, the X-Ray projector is turned off.
Orrad - "Let us back away from the creature everyone."
The creature slowly awakens. Seeing the food about it, its tentacles lash out and draw it in. It feeds in a frenzy for several minutes. Finally it is full. It gathers it tentacles about itself and settles down to digest.
Terry - "It worked. It's calmed down. Amazing, it's actually fairly peaceable and quite intelligent. It was just starved beyond the capacity of rational thought."
Orrad - "You've done well this night. This alien should trouble us no more."
Just then, the driver of the Mr. Beef truck comes running up.
Man - "What do you think you're doing you maniac!?! Who's gonna pay for this?"
Firestar - "Ha!"
Orrad - "I shall deal with your bill, sir."
Imperial - "That's one problem down. But, what do we do now? My man, Lightwarp is missin'. What's gonna happen to the Crusaders now?"
Spectrum's Comments: And that takes care of the Hatchling. What did happen to Lightburst?
SUBJ: Firestar
"That's a good question, Imperial. Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer. I think our best bet is to go back to where Lightwarp disappeared and search the area again. We were in a hurry the first time with the alien still on the loose and all. But if Lightwarp is truly missing, then I'm not sure what we should do."
SUBJ: Lord Liberty FROM: REM9 05/05/89 S#: 431502
"Your analysis of the situation seems correct Firestar. We should return to the sight of the disappearance and look around for any sign of Lightwarp. But first would you be so kind as to repair my vision. It would be unacceptable to accidentally use my vision on someone who is unable to withstand them."
SUBJ: GOLDEN LION FROM: N4SIR 05/06/89 S#: 789158
"Alright show me where to start looking."
SUBJ: Miss Terry FROM: Miss Terry 05/07/89 S#: 512748
Terry turns to Orrad and asks him, "What is to become to this thing? And What will keep this thing from doing this again?"
Taking walkie talkie, She informs dispatch that creature from METE has been subdued by this group called Crusaders and reports that one of the Crusaders is missing.
SUBJ: Plasma Paladin (R) FROM: Nainitsuj 05/07/89 S#: 849254
"So your leader is missing. Do any of you have any idea of who would wish to abduct him? Or did his armor malfunction. We probably should spread out and look for him, if we can get some means of keeping in touch. Miss Terry, can you procure more walkie-talkies?"
SUBJ: R.A.L.F. FROM: Xiphias 05/07/89 S#: 800645
"I-will-Help-you-Search-for-Our-leader. How-can-I-help?"
SUBJ: Orrad
"Fear not, Officer. This alien will be well treated. There is a telepath on the M.E.T.E. staff. We shall attempt to establish a rapport with the creature and learn from it. We shall also keep it well fed!"
Spectrum's Comments: The team does seem very directionless and leaderless at this point. But it seemed to me that the team should have a PC as the team leader, not an NPC. Unfortunately, there wasn't all that much too pick from.
Crusaders #13 - "Searching' High and Low"
After assuring Officer Terry that the alien creature will not menace the city further, Orrad departs with the Alien.
Orrad - "You have my, and my organization's, gratitude. If ever M.E.T.E. can be of service, do not hesitate to call."
Officer Terry calls dispatch, informing the police department on what has occurred with the alien. There are enough walkie-talkies back at the sight of the first encounter for everyone to have one.
Firestar quickly rewires Lord Liberty's vision. It will no longer project x-rays.
The scene back at the sight where Lightwarp disappeared is one of total chaos. Police and reports are everywhere. The press swarms over the heroes and an impromptu press conference is held.
For the next hour, the press interviews the entire team. They ask such questions as who each of you are. What kind of powers do you have? Have you seen Elvis lately? Etc.
Finally, you're able to get down to the business at hand.
Plasma Paladin - "Do any of you have any idea who would wish to abduct him? Or did his armor malfunction?"
Lord Liberty - "I knew of no malfunction in Lightwarp's armor."
Imperial - "As for enemies, the original Crusaders had a bunch of 'em. Dr. Destroyer, the Zodiac, Terror, INC, Iron Maiden... Just about any big villain you could think of."
R.A.L.F. - "How-can-I-help?"
Firestar - "The logical thing to do is re-construct what happened. One of the creature's tentacles knocked him over that building over there. Let's see if we can find where he crashed."
Firestar takes to the air. Imperial follows as they fly over the building. R.A.L.F. and Lord Liberty circle around one way, while Golden Lion and Plasma Paladin take the other.
On the other side of the building, you find something. There is an area in the concrete where it appears Lightwarp crashed.
Lord Liberty - "According to my sensors, this is the spot Lightwarp landed."
Golden Lion - "Yeah, but what happened then?"
Imperial - "He could have been knocked out?"
Firestar - "Perhaps he was carried off? Maybe he's at the hospital?"
Officer Terry walks up.
Terry - "Afraid not. I've been talking to everyone here. No one has seen your leader."
Plasma Paladin - "Someone did. But who?"
Imperial - "Perhaps the babe back at the Crusaders Mansion can help?"
Lord Liberty - "Felicity?"
Imperial - "That's the one."
And so, back at the Crusaders Mansion, Felicity Daniels listens to what has happened. (For you latecomers, Felicity runs the Mansion for the Crusaders.)
Felicity - "This is most disturbing news. However, Lightwarp was prepared for such a contingency."
Felicity leads you to the communications room in the mansion.
Felicity - "There is a special tracker built into Lightwarp's armor. We should be able to determine where he is now."
She operates the equipment, but it is receiving no signal from Lightwarp's armor.
Sometime later in the meeting room...
Felicity - "It looks like you're going to be without a leader for a while. As you know I run the mansion and can operate all the equipment within. You are all now members of the Crusaders, so what happens to the team is now up to you."
Terry and Plasma Paladin are offered to join the group if they wish.
Felicity - "The Crusaders usually designate one hero to act as the team leader. You can either carry on this tradition or have no leader. It's up to you. What are you going to do?"
Regardless of what happens in the meeting, over a week passes by without event. Each member is summoned to the Crusaders Mansion, if you're not already there. Arriving in the meeting area, you are mildly shocked to find Lightwarp there!
Lightwarp - "About time you all got here! Take a seat and I'll begin the briefing. We have an important mission ahead of us, Crusaders!"
You all stand stunned in the doorway. Lord Liberty speaks in a quiet voice.
Lord Liberty - "According to my sensors, that is not the real Lightwarp!"
Spectrum's Comments: I honestly have no idea who this false Lightwarp is at the moment. Perhaps future posts will reveal that little secret. Regardless he does want to team to take out a credible menace, perhaps helping himself in the process. This also sets up a crossover with Equinox in the next issue.
SUBJ: Firestar
Firestar is very nervous at first. This is her first experience with the press.
"Hi. I-ah... am Firestar. My powers come from the sun itself. That's about all I have to say."
At the meeting I vote to not elect a leader. We're all relatively new heroes.
We've done fine so far.
At Lord Liberty's statement, I'll ask him to re-scan Lightwarp. At any rate I'll play along with this imposter, if he truly is an imposter, and try to find out what his game is.
SUBJ: Imperial
Imperial grabs a handful of the mikes that are pushed into his face. "Alright, dudes, lets rap. I'm only gonna run this down once, so get it straight! I'm Imperial, a great new hero for this fair metropolis. We here are the New Crusaders. Led by my main man, Lightwarp, we've been dukin' it out with the heavy weights. I'm not talking about the geodesics, boys. I'm talking about mean dudes like Mechanon and the Ultimates. So all you wimpy villains out there watch out! The New Crusaders will kick your tail!"
This group definitely needs a leader. The battle against the alien octopus bears this out. If we had acted as a team instead of everyone watchin' out for himself we would have taken the thing out much faster. As for the leader, I'll vote for me.
At LL's announcement, my first thought is to slag the sucker who dares to impersonate Lightwarp. But, if the rest of you hang back, I'll bid my time.
SUBJ: GOLDEN LION FROM: N4SIR 05/13/89 S#: 500309
1) As far as the press after giving them my name it is a constant "no Comment"
2) I to vote for a leader but not Imperial.
3) "Are you sure this isn't Lightwarp? Is it a man or machine or hologram?
"You do not seem to be the LIGHTWARP we were supporting. Are you sure you feel all right?"
Spectrum's Comments: Aw! Nobody loves Imperial...
SUBJ: Lord Liberty FROM: REM9 05/14/89 S#: 430182
As the press ask there questions, Lord Liberty is more than willing to answer them. "My name is Lord Liberty. My power comes from a small nuclear generator located in my right side. Please describe this Elvis and I will help look for him."
On the question of leader, Lord Liberty feels that there must be a leader to coordinate things. Since all the great leaders like, Columbo, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, ect. have all been police officers, Lord Liberty votes for Officer Terry for leader.
"But Firestar Lightwarp is not here. How can I scan him when I don't know where he is?"
If a leader has been elected, Lord Liberty will wait for any orders before acting. If no leader was elected, Lord Liberty will walk up to the imposter and say, "Although the resemblance is close, you are not Lightwarp. I have noticed such likenesses in various individuals all of whom where called family members. Are you related to Lightwarp somehow?"
SUBJ: Miss Terry FROM: Miss Terry 05/17/89 S#: 514114
"Although I'm honored by the invitation, I'm not a super hero like ya'll are so I must decline the invitation. Thank you all!"
Terry hands everyone her card, "If you ever need anything what so ever, please call."
Terry then leaves, heading for her office where paperwork abounds.