#11 - "Malice and Brimstone"

Spectrum took a step back and put his hands up. "Hey! Wait a minute! I'm not a vacuum cleaner salesman, or anything like that." Spectrum was lending a hand to the Seattle Police Department by apprehending Professor Malevolence, who had attempted to assassinate a Canadian Government Official.

The man known as Professor Malevolence wasn't in the mood to discuss the matter however. "You will not stop my plans, hero! I don't know how you found me or how you managed to defeat my robots on the thruway, but it will do you no good!"

The two robots shuffled forward, their mechanical limbs stretching towards the colorful mutant. The claws at the end of their limbs rapidly opening and closing in a threatening manner.

"Hands off the merchandise!" Spectrum fired off a blast of light at the robot on the left. The effect was much as before: it didn't faze the automation. "This is not good..."

Spectrum raised his force field in the nick of time. Both robots tried to latch on to him, however he managed to avoid their clutches. But for how long?

"My normal blast isn't cutting it," Spectrum thought to himself. "Got to see if I can make it stronger..." Gritting his teeth, Jim concentrated on making his light blast more powerful. "Good thing I have a mask on-- otherwise I'd look constipated!"

Spectrum fired another blast of light, but this one was different from the first. It was darker in color than the first, almost orange. The effect on the robot was immediate. Sparks flew out of the robot's head creating a miniature light show. The automation staggered back and then fell over!

"Not bad." Spectrum looked admiringly at his hand and nodded in pleasure.

A second energy blast summoned much easier, but just as powerful as the first takes out the second robot.

"Awww! He fall down and go boom!" Turning to the gun totting Professor, Spectrum added, "I think you need to go back to your erector set and build yourself some tougher toys, Prof."

Professor Malevolence fired his weapon without hesitation. The bullets harmless bounced off Spectrum's force field, but the attack still startled him for a moment.

Regaining his composure, Spectrum added, "Make it easy on yourself, Prof, and just surrender."

"I am not yet beaten, hero!" Incredibly, the Professor threw his gun at Spectrum and retreated in one motion.

"Oh, like that is going to do anything!" The attempted startled the hero more than anything. The gun sailed harmlessly past and bounced off the far wall.

Turning back to his foe, Spectrum projected a blast of soft yellow light and settled the issue. The Professor crumbled to the floor unconscious. "And that, as they say, is that."

With the Professor and his toys dealt with, Spectrum took a moment to see what lay beyond the concealed door. Spectrum entered into what looked like a mad scientist's lab from a old B movie. Robot parts were scattered everywhere. A computer terminal was spotted on a severely cluttered desk

"Well, well... Let's see what the Prof has here..."

Printed on the screen was 'Construction Plans: Mark I Robots'.

"Hmm... Must be the plans to his little tinker toys. Wonder what else he's got stored in here..."

Jim experimentally taps a few keys and the terminal starts to beep. A flashing message is scrolled across the screen: 'Insufficient data. Enter sister system'. Tapping more keys does nothing to change the screen.

"So much for that. A computer jock I'm not..." Noticing a disk in the floppy drive, Spectrum ejects it and holds it up. "Still, the boys in blue may be able to make something out of this..."

By this time, the police had reached the basement and had taken Professor Malevolence into custody. Detective Rodgers entered the hidden lab. "Spectrum! There you are. We came in when we heard gunfire."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about you guys waiting outside."

"What happened down here?", the detective asked.

Spectrum proceeded to relay what had occurred and concluded by handing the disk over to the detective. "Perhaps you can find something interesting on this disk."

Detective Rodgers accepted the disk and examined it. "Maybe. Thanks for all you've done, Spectrum."

"Glad to be of service. If I'm not needed, then I'm gonna take off."

"We'll take it from here. Have a good one."

The next morning, Jim was sitting at the kitchen table where he and Stephanie ate breakfast. The two chatted while listening to the radio.

"More juice?," Stephanie offered.

"Thanks." Jim held his glass out as his sister filled it again. Setting it down, he took a bite of toast.

"Looks like you made the headlines. Who would have believed it? My brother on the front page-- and as the feature of the story and not the reporter."

Jim had been reading the local newspaper. The headline read, 'Hero Thwarts Assassins'. The lead story re-capped the events out on the thruway. A second story covered Spectrum's visit to City Hall. "At least they got a nice picture of me. I'll have to save this for my scrapbook."

"There's nothing about your capture of Professor Malevolence? That seems odd. You'd think that would be big news."

"It's not that surprising," Jim explained. "It happened too late to make the morning edition. It should be in this afternoon."

Stephanie took another bite of her breakfast. She was beginning to like the idea of a hero in the family. It made her feel proud. Of course, she couldn't share this with anyone else, but that didn't diminish the feeling she felt. "Anything in particular you want to do today, Jim? I've got a couple of hours of paperwork to do, but I'm free for most of the day."

"I'm not sure. There's so much to catch up on that I don't know where to begin. Tell you what--" Jim stopped in mid-sentence as an announcement on the radio grabbed his attention.

"This just in," the radio announcer stated. "The mastermind from yesterday's attempted assassination of Canadian Official Jean-Paul Jordane has escaped from city jail! Eyewitness reports indicated that the escapee was assisted by a 'fiery giant' who melted through the walls of Charles Smythe's cell. We'll have more on this story as it develops."

Jim let out a sigh. "This Professor is starting to become annoying. Looks like I have some things to attend to this morning myself. That'll give you a chance to do what you have to do and then we can get today later on. Sound good?"

Stephanie wasn't sure what to make of this new development. She had thought that the situation her brother had fallen into was over with. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll stop down by the prison and see what's going on. If this guy has super-powered muscle on his side, then the police are going to need super-powered help. I'll keep in touch."

"Just watch out for yourself, big brother. I don't want to lose you again."

"Naw, don't worry. I'm the proverbial bad penny. I just keep coming back."

Detective Carlton Rodgers paced the length of the prison cell. As usual, he was dressed in a crumpled trench coat with matching fedora.

"Come on, Dorcell, don't give me that line! You were sharing a cell with Charles Smythe when the escape took place. You had to witness the whole thing. Who were they? Where did they go?"

Tim Dorcell gave the detective a hard stare. He was a small time robber who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nervously he swept his greasy black hair with his hand.

"Look, man, I ain't talkin! I like life, even if I am in the joint right now."

Enraged, Detective Rodgers grabbed the felon by the shirt and shoved him hard up against the wall. "I know Smythe must have told you his plans. He couldn't keep quiet for two minutes, let alone all night. That's not his style. So called criminal-masterminds just love to impress others with their brilliant plans and schemes." Dorcell continued to be tight-lipped over what had gone on last night.

The police detective decided to try a different tactic. He let loose of Dorcell and backed off a few steps. "What if I could arrange it for you to be transferred to a higher security cell?"

"You could do that?"

Rodgers smiled. Finally he was getting somewhere. Nonchalantly he added, "You tell me what he said, and I'll take care of it. Besides, if I nail this creep, he won't be able to get you, now will he? How's Malevolence even going to know that you told me? I'm certainly not going to tell him."

"Alright, alright! That loony toon professor kept babbling about some kind of plan to free Canada or something from the buffoons running it. He said he planned to take control of Canada himself. This guy was a real nut bar. Oh yeah, he kept on mumbling something about getting to his secret base and putting something called Operation: Dominion Day into effect."

"Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice to the blackmailer."

Both Dorcell and Rodgers spun towards the unexpected voice. Standing outside of the cell was Spectrum.

"I heard about what happened and thought you'd need a hand," Spectrum explained.

Detective Rodgers nodded, exited the cell, and shook Spectrum's hand. "It couldn't hurt, Spectrum. Glad to have you back on the case. First robots and now fiery giants. This Professor Malevolence has some dangerous things in his arsenal.

"What's our next move?"

"We go back to school," Detective Rodgers stated.

Interlude:

The man known as Inertia strolled into the Professor's hidden base. He wasn't particularly happy about the arrangement, but tried not to show it. After learning of the Professor's capture the night before, Inertia figured that his job was done. He was all ready to pack his bags when the phone call came. The call told him that Malevolence had escaped and was ready to continue his plan.

"Ah, there you are, my friend!" The Professor gave Inertia a glance and then returned to his task. A red suit of armor was resting on a workbench.

"Professor." Inertia circled the table and examined the armor. It was on the bulky side with at least a dozen spikes protruding from key locations. "How did you manage to escape the American authorities?'

"I foresaw the possibility, however slim, of my capture and prepared for that contingency. I hired a mercenary, Brimstone by name, to break me out. Just another of my brilliant master strokes."

"I see-- and what became of this mercenary?"

"Oh, he was the typical foolish American," the Professor explained. "I promised him a great deal of cash, and paid him but a little. By the time he realizes my deception, it will be far too late." Malevolence finished his work and stood up with a flourish. "There! My battle armor is complete! Backed by this and my Dominion Deviants, nothing will stop my plan!"

"And just what is your plan, Professor? You've been making many promises, but have yet to deliver anything tangible. Borealis is not interested in promises, he wants results."

"Follow me, young man, and you'll see the fruits of my genius!" The Professor led Inertia out of the lab and into a huge workshop. "Behold!"

Automatic machinery was in operation. A make shift assembly line was churning out more of the Professor's flying robots!

"All the elements of my master plan are coming together," Malevolent dramatically stated. "The assembly line is up and running, churning out more and more of my Vengeance Series Attack Robots. In a matter of hours, my army of assassins will be ready! In one swift stroke, a bold new era for Canada will begin! There will be one robot for each high level government Official in British Columbia. With the old oppressive government out of the way, it would be child's play for me to step into power. Clearly, I am the most qualified to lead the province! Once I have proved my genius, the other provinces will fall in order! In a year, perhaps two, I, Professor Malevolence, shall be Prime Minister!"

A horrible feeling gripped Inertia's stomach. Borealis had no idea how insane the Professor was. Surely he would never approve of such radical methods. Inertia pondered what course of action, if any, to take.

End of Interlude:

Less than an hour later, Spectrum and Detective Rodgers were walking across the lawn of Seattle Pacific University. The pair was accompanied by the administrative head, Dean Anthony Davids.

"We're all shocked by these turn of events," the Dean explained. "Professor Smythe was certainly eccentric, but we had no idea he was a criminal! He arrived from Vancouver about a year ago with impressive credentials. We had no idea he was so deranged."

The group reached the science building and made their way to Professor Smythe's lab and office.

"Has anyone been inside the laboratory?"

"No, detective. In fact, I don't recall very many people ever being inside, staff or students. Charles claimed that he needed tight security, stating that delicate instruments in his lab could be easily damaged by those not fully aware of the intricacies of his field."

"Sounds like a snow-job to me," Spectrum added.

Dean Davids pulls out a ring of keys as the trio reached the entrance to Smythe's lab. Davids locates the proper key, but is surprised to discover that it does not open the lock.

"Hhmmf, this key doesn't seem to fit this lock. Charles must have changed it without my consent. I don't think we have the key to open this door."

Detective Rodgers motioned to Spectrum. "Think you can get it open?"

"Stand back."

After making sure that his companions are out of harm's way, Spectrum produced a blast of orange light that blasts the lock open.

"Piece of cake," Spectrum replied. Cautiously, he pushed the door open. At first glance, the lab resembled the smaller one in the basement of Professor Smythe's residence. That is until a laser turret hidden on the ceiling started to open fire!

"Yeow!! Stay back!" The weapon caught Spectrum in the chest, but fortunately it bounced nearly harmlessly off his force field. His control of light saved him from any serious harm. Spectrum returned fire, blowing the weapon to pieces. "Scratch one laser gun!"

Cautiously, Spectrum scanned the lab looking for any more threats. Nothing really leaped out at him, but it was hard to tell as this lab was at least as messy as the other one. "The coast appears to be clear."

"Good heavens!" Dean Davids was visibly shaken from the surprise attack. "We could have been killed!" The man produced a handkerchief and wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead.

"Stay here, Dean Davids," Detective Rodgers said as he passed the official. Gun drawn, the police detective cautiously followed Spectrum into the lab. Homing in on the only noise in the lab, the duo approached an active computer. Lines of data scrolled past the screen at a furious pace. A flashing message at the top of the screen read: 'Automatic Data Erase Activated'.

"Damn!" Detective Rodgers reached the keyboard after several bounds. He started pushing keys, but nothing stopped the purge in progress. Turning to Spectrum he added, "You know how to work one of this damn things?"

Jim just gave the officer a helpless shrug. In desperation, Detective Rodgers hit the 'Print Screen' key. The system's printer came to life and ran off a small print out. The computer then became silent and the message, 'purge complete', was displayed on the monitor.

"Get anything interesting?", Spectrum asked. Detective Rodgers scanned the printout before handing it to the hero. Spectrum took a quick look at the page.

	"Project: Dominion Day attaining Stage 2." 

	"Dominion Deviants operational" 

	"Operatives include: "Lightspeed" 
			     "Yukon Jack" 
				   
	"Vengeance Series completed" 

	"Team A employment terminated."

"What do you make of this?", Spectrum asked Detective Rodgers. "I don't recognize the names on this list. Although, I think I saw Lightspeed out on the thruway. I'm guessing, but whoever he was, he was pretty fast."

"They're all Canadian villains, Spectrum. Looks like Malevolence has a small group working for him."

"Lovely. It's just a matter of trying to find them before they strike next."

As if on cue, Detective Rodgers received a call on his cellular phone. "Rodgers, here." After a pause, the officer added, "Understood. We're in progress."

"What was that all about?"

"Our friend the 'fire giant' was just spotted near the docks. Our men are en route, but this is more up your alley than ours."

Spectrum nodded in agreement. "Just point me in the right direction, and I'll be on my way."

Following Detective Rodgers directions, Spectrum arrived on the scene some five minutes later. A thin column of smoke rose over the docks. "No doubt leading me to this 'flaming giant'," Spectrum thought to himself as he passed overhead. A trial of fire left by the giant was child's play to follow.

The path lead into a deserted warehouse and down a flight of stairs. "Looks like someone made their own entrance..." The stairs had been hidden by planks and metal plates, but these had been burned through. The wood was still burning; the metal glowed a soft red.

A dark tunnel lead away from the docks at the bottom of the stairs. After a moment, Spectrum's eyes adjusted to the darkness. Taking flight once more, Spectrum rocketed down the tunnel. "This has got to be the handy work of the mysterious fire giant," Spectrum silently reasoned. "But why is he down here? Is this somehow connected to Malevolence?"

Soaring around a corner, Spectrum came to a steel door that had been ripped off its hinges. Parts of the door had been melted away.

Beyond the opening was a room that looked like it had been bombed. Five sparking robots, similar to the ones Spectrum battled on the thruway, lie in puddles of slag. A computer terminal and just about every piece of equipment in the room had been severely melted.

"Whoever this fire guy is, he's certainly very strong and very destructive."

Harsh words attracted Spectrum's attention, drawing him to a partially open doorway in the far wall. As he approached, Spectrum could make out the loud conversation.

"You double-crossed me, Malevolence! No one does that to Brimstone!"

"What do I care, American? Now that I'm safely back in my beloved Canada, there is nothing you can do!"

"I'll hunt you down like the dog you are!"

Looking into the next room, Spectrum makes out a flaming man-sized form arguing with a man wearing red armor on a large viewing screen. A large letter 'M' is stylized around the faceplate. The face was that of Professor Malevolence!

Malevolence ignored the fiery villain as he noted Spectrum standing in the far doorway. "I doubt that, you flaming fool! In fact you won't be bothering me again at all!"

Sensing what the armored villain was up to, Brimstone spun and spotted Spectrum. "You!"

"Hi," Spectrum said with a wave. "I was just passing by and wondered if you'd be interested in buying some cookies. We're trying to raise money for us heroes..."

"You're that Spectrum jerk!"

"Gee, Brimy, are you just naturally rude or did you have to work at it?"

Brimstone let out a yell and unleashed a blast of fire. Spectrum's force field bore the brunt of the attack, but the heat was nearly overwhelming. The force of the attack sent Spectrum back into the previous room.

"You asked for it, bozo!" Getting back to his feet, Spectrum fired a blast of orange light at Brimstone. Surprisingly, the fiery villain ducked and the attack. It connected with the large view screen, blasting it into thousands of pieces.

"I'm gonna enjoy knocking you silly." Brimstone retaliated with a blaze of fire from his fingertips. Spectrum took to the air and flew over the blast.

"What's you're beef with me? I don't like Malevolence either!"

"He stiffed me," the fiery villain exclaimed. "Nobody does that to Brimstone! As fer you, I just happen ta be in a nasty mood and am gonna trash you, just 'cause I feel like it!"

Bursts of fire dogged Spectrum around the room, blowing holes in walls and melting equipment as they missed the quick hero. "You'll forgive me if I don't stand still for this!"

Diving at Brimstone, Spectrum tagged the villain in the face with his Dazzle Blast. "Say sleaze, bozo!"

Brimstone waved his arms wildly about, as if drunk. "I'll get you for that!"

Fire surged out from Brimstone's body, rapidly filling the small room. The intense heat forced Spectrum from the air. In spite of his force field, the fire overwhelmed him. Jim blacked out for a few seconds.

"Man, now I know what burnt toast feels like!" Struggling to his feet, Spectrum saw that Brimstone was shaking off the effects of the Dazzle Blast.

His sight returning, Brimstone shouted, "Now the kid gloves come off!"

Brimstone grabbed the remains of the furnishings in this once plush office and clutching them to himself absorbed them into his flaming form. As he did this, he increased in size. In seconds, Brimstone has doubled in height, burning even more as he grew. Finally, the fiery villain reached a full eighteen feet tall!

"Oh my...," Spectrum managed to utter as he tried to get over the shock of Brimstone's rapid growth.

With a maniacal laugh, Brimstone tried to smash Spectrum with his huge, fiery fist. The colorful mutant dove backwards, just avoiding the attack, and crashed through one of the many holes Brimstone had made earlier. To his surprise, Spectrum found himself in a small room with a large metallic trap door on the floor.

"You can't hide forever, little man!"

The flaming giant reached up and ripped part of the ceiling down. Brimstone glared at Spectrum and he prepared to throw his giant missile.

Spectrum's face went slack as he saw what was coming. He had nowhere to go in the small, formerly concealed room. "Why do I have this feeling that this is going to hurt?"