#12 - "Dominon Day"

The fiery giant Brimstone towered over Spectrum. Their heated battled had led the colorful mutant to being caught in a small hidden chamber. Brimstone, flaming furiously, blocked the exit. A huge chunk of the ceiling was grasped in his hands.

"Prepare to get fried to a crisp!" Brimstone readied his makeshift missile and flung it forward!

"Sorry, being barbecued was not on my 'to do' list today!" Spectrum saw an opening and he took it. At his present eighteen feet in height, Brimstone had unwittingly created an exit. Spectrum accelerated forward and flew between the giant's legs. A second later, the area he had just vacated exploded with fire and debris.

Enraged, Brimstone turned. Spectrum noted that while the fiery villain drew mass into himself to grow, it did so at the cost of slowing his reflexes. Spectrum was waiting for Brimstone and generated a burst of intense light directly into his eyes!

"That was a lousy trick!" Brimstone attempted to bring his flaming hands over his face for protection, but reacted far too slowly. His large size made him rather awkward and hence much, much slower than the nimble hero.

Spectrum continued to circle the edges of the room. He had the advantage and pressed the issue. "If you think that was lousy, then you're going to like the next one even less!"

Flying in once more, Spectrum generated a powerful blast of light and caught Brimstone in the chest. The giant was thrown back into the wall, hard. Seemingly, in slow motion, Brimstone slid down the wall, crashing to the floor, a huge cloud of dust rising about him.

"As the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Down, but not out, Brimstone unleashed beams of fire randomly. Still blinded, he didn’t stand much chance to connect with the swift Spectrum. The more fire Brimstone discharged, the smaller he shrunk in size. In moments, he was down to nine feet in height.

"Where are you, punk!?! Fight like a man!"

"Right here, flame-brain." Spectrum continued his ranged assault. Another blast of light connected and Brimstone was on the ropes. "Time to put this fire out!"

One more blast and the issue was over. Brimstone was out cold, and back to normal size. Surprisingly, he still was smoldering even while unconscious.

Tired, Spectrum took a sitting position against the wall. "Man, I need to get in better shape," he thought to himself panting heavily.

Eyeing his still ablaze but vanquished foe, Spectrum said out loud, "No wonder you're so ornery... Can't have much of a social life being a walking charcoal pit."

"Now what do I do?", Spectrum thought to himself. Recalling the trap door he spotted earlier, Jim rose to his feet and approached the small concealed side room. Shoving the smoldering debris off to one side, Spectrum unburied the trap door he noticed earlier.

Cautiously, the hero lifted the door, half expecting an ambush. But instead all he saw was a ladder leading further down into the earth. The hole descended about twenty feet and seemed to enter into a larger area.

Looking back at the fallen Brimstone, Spectrum noted that, "Laughing boy should be snoozing for a while yet. Think I'll see what's down the rabbit hole..."

Spectrum slowly climbed down the ladder and found himself in a small room with a single metallic door for an exit. "Hmm, maybe the Prof's base is down here. But didn't he mention something about being back in Canada to flame-brain? Like I should take the word of a loony about anything."

Jim leaned up to the steel door and tried to listen for noise on the other side. Hearing nothing, he cautiously opened the door. "I probably should have waited for the police to arrive," Jim thought to himself. "But, why wait? Besides there might be more of those robots around as well."

The door opened with some effort. Behind it was a corridor with a multitude of solid wooden doors. "Nothing like having a lot of choices..."

Not hearing anything outside the low hum of machinery, Spectrum considered his next action. "Oh well, I'll use a tried and true method. Eanie, meanie..."

Spectrum opened a door at random and immediately regretted it. Seated inside the room playing cards was the man in the white and red costume he spotted the day before on the thruway and a stranger! Now that he could see the man at rest, Spectrum noted that Lightspeed wore a full white body suit with red boots, gloves, and mask. A yellow and red comet swooped in from his right shoulder and ended over his heart.

The other man had to be the Yukon Jack, Spectrum guessed. It was the other name listed on the printout that he and Detective Rodgers had discovered earlier in the day. Yukon Jack was a hearty looking man with dark brown hair and a full beard. He wore no mask. The Canadian villain was dressed in a midnight blue bodysuit with golden boots, gloves, and trunks. A golden 'Y' and 'J' were superimposed on his chest.

"Hey!," Yukon Jack shouted. "How'd you get in here?"

"Sorry, wrong room!" Jim hastily tried to shut the door, but Yukon Jack's arm stretched forward, grabbed the door, and held it open. "Neat trick you got there, Mr. Rubber-Band Man."

"I'll take care of this annoyance!" Lightspeed shot forward at incredible speed. Jim was able to keep track of his progress, but that did him little good as the speedster rammed into him, sending both scattering into the hallway.

"You made a mistake coming here, Spectrum," Yukon Jack said as he reached the doorway. The elastic villain shot the upper half of his body forward and wrapped around the hero several times, tightly restraining Spectrum's arms to his body.

"Don't be so grabby!" Spectrum concentrated and tried to unleash his big light burst, but nothing happened. "I hate it when that happens!"

Lightspeed rushed past once more and produced a blinding light before the struggling Spectrum's face. It had little effect on the colorful mutant.

"Gee, guys, I appreciate the attention and all, but I'd really rather see your boss."

"And so you shall, interloper!" Spectrum and the two criminals turned to see that Professor Malevolence, in his battle armor, was now in the corridor. Behind him was another man in a dark blue-gray bodysuit with black trim, and a golden mask and cape. "You were a fool to attempt to follow me!"

"Yeah, can't argue that point, Prof. Four on one is not very good odds. Nice duds you got there. At least you look like an honest to goodness criminal, instead of some nutty B-movie mad scientist," Spectrum said flippantly

Professor Malevolence advanced down the corridor and faced the wrapped up Spectrum. "My battlesuit will prove to be your downfall, Spectrum. You cannot hope to stop my master plan to take over all of Canada!"

"Don't count your territories before they're hatched!" Spectrum had used the brief break to regain his waning strength. The battle with Brimstone had drained him even more then he had realized. Concentrating, Jim was able to summon a full body burst this time. The rubbery Yukon Jack went flying every which way around the corridor. Spectrum was free!

A powerful blast from Professor Malevolence's armor brought the hero down before he moved more than two steps. "Don't be so sure of that!" Malevolence advanced, kicking Spectrum on the side to make sure he was out. "So much for the hero. Now nothing can stand in my way!"

Looking around, Professor Malevolence could see that Yukon Jack was unconscious as well. His body was still fully stretched all along the corridor. Addressing Lightspeed, the Professor ordered, "Pick Spectrum up and follow me. Then go retrieve that fool Brimstone. Nothing is going to interfere with my plans! Today shall be Dominion Day for our homeland!"

Inertia advanced. "What are you going to do with them?"

"Teach them the folly of interfering with my plans!," the Professor stated as he walked off.

Five minutes later, the villains had gathered in the Professor's robot assembly lab. "Now you and your superior will see how effectively I handle things," Malevolence loudly boasted to Inertia. "With all of my robots completed, and the security of this base already compromised, I have no further use of this equipment."

Malevolence gestured towards his assembly line. Spectrum was laid on the conveyor belt, his hands and feet tied with rope. Brimstone was close by, secured with chains. "All I need to do is activate the assembly line and no more interference for our would-be hero and my inept former employee!"

With a flourish, Professor Malevolence activated the assembly process and switched it to high speed. The two unconscious men were sent down the line with a sudden jerk. Ahead of them were many workstations where the raw robot parts would be added and welded in place. The automated workstations' tools began to move, while the welders flamed to life.

"All in all a painful death!" Professor Malevolence let out a maniacal laughter. Gesturing to Inertia, he added, "Come, my friend. Let us watch the dawning of a New Age! We're mere minutes away from the launching of my robotic assassins!"

With a smile, Inertia responded, "After you Professor." Once Malevolence was through the door, Inertia looked back with great concern. These American's may well be the key to salvaging this situation and still making it look like he had nothing to do with Malevolence's downfall. With a subtle gesture, Inertia made use of his telekinesis. The assembly line shifted into slow gear...

Inertia followed Professor Malevolence to his command center. The countdown was on the main display. Malevolence gestured towards the screen. "The time is almost here, my friend! In another ten minutes, my army of robot assassins will be launched. Then, a new and glorious age will begin!"

Time passed slowly as Inertia watched. He had no intention of letting Malevolence launch his robotic army. Hopefully, either Spectrum or Brimstone would escape before being mauled by the production line's automated workers and throw a monkey wrench into the mad professor's plans.

The countdown went below the three-minute mark when suddenly all the lights went out. The emergency batteries kicked in a moment later. The computer had shut down, and in turn stopped the countdown to the launch.

"No, no, no...," Professor Malevolent mumbled. "This can't be happening! No, not again!" The would-be master criminal ran from the room and back towards the Assembly Lab.

Inertia started to follow, but then stopped. He turned and concentrated on the main computer. The power flow to it had been stopped, but more permanent measures were required. He concentrated and caused the system to pull itself apart. Malevolence Robotic Assassins would never be launched now.

"There, that is that," he said to himself quite pleased. "Your plans are now thoroughly ruined. Not all politicians are bad. In fact Destiny has allies among them. Simply murdering them all won't solve any problems, and certainly won't lead to Professor Malevolence becoming Prime Minister!"

A bright light brought Spectrum out of his darkness. He opened his eyes, partially at first, but then wide eyed at what he saw. Hovering over his head was a robotic welding arm! Jim screamed reflexively and raised his force field. The welding arc struck his force field and was dispersed along its outline.

Next a powerful burst of light came from his body. It exploded into the machinery, destroying it, and blasted the ropes away at the same time. Somewhat dazed, Spectrum regarded his surroundings. "Holy cow! I'm alive and in one piece!"

Jim was shaken by this close call and took a few moments to recover. He found himself in some sort of laboratory, along with Brimstone. Regaining his composure, he added, "Of course, you realize, this means war!"

Spectrum got to his feet and checked out his surroundings in more detail. "Obviously, the Prof tried to re-assemble me and Brimy. What a nice guy. All in all, I managed to survive my own stupidity."

Elsewhere, Brimstone began to stir. His flames strengthened and he began to draw nearby matter into himself. First went the chains that bound him, then the assembly line and machinery in the vicinity.

"Hmm, perhaps I can use flame-face as a helper here...," Spectrum thought to himself as he faded from sight. "Better to have him fry the Prof and his goons than me again!"

With a roar, Brimstone got to his feet! "Somebody's gonna pay big time for this!!" The enraged villain looked around for someone, anyone, to pound on. Not finding a target for his anger, he grabbed equipment and began adding it to his mass, causing him to and shot up in size. The flaming villain then began to send blasts of fire everywhere. Machinery went up in spectacular explosions, control panels were melted into slag.

"Wow!", Spectrum thought to himself hovering invisibly overhead. "What a hot head!"

The lights in the room dimmed and then went out all together. Emergency lights kicked into operation and provided a dim reddish illumination.

A moment later, the lab door shot open and Professor Malevolence entered. "NOOO!", he screamed. "You American fool! You've ruined everything!" Malevolence fired off a blast from his battle armor, but all it did was annoy Brimstone.

"YOU!", the giant screamed. "I'm gonna fry your ass! No one double crosses Brimstone!" Fire erupted around the armored villain, driving him to one knee. To his credit, the mad Professor continued to fight back.

"My cue to depart," Spectrum thought to himself. "Let the two boneheads fight it out and then deal with whomever is left standing."

Still invisible, Spectrum flew out the door and into the hallway. He spotted Lightspeed and Yukon Jack almost immediately. Jim silently flew over the duo and then landed on the ground beyond them. Turning visible once more, Spectrum shouted, "Hi guys!"

The two villains stopped and looked back as Spectrum had anticipated. The moment they did, Jim created a blinding flash before them.

"My eyes!", Lightspeed screamed. "You've blinded me!"

"Relax, chuckles, it'll wear off eventually. Just like this will!" Spectrum fired away on Lightspeed, easily the fastest of the two villains. Lightspeed tried to flee after the first blast connected with him. Still blinded, he ran down the corridor and smack into the far wall. "Gee, you're not to bright." Two more blasts put the villain down for good.

Yukon Jack was another story. While Spectrum was preoccupied with Lightspeed, the elastic criminal had made his way down the other side of the hall. Yukon had made it to the far door when it suddenly opened. Inertia was standing there. Unexpectedly and without hesitation, he tagged Yukon Jack with an Inertia blast. The elastic villain shot down the corridor like a rubber band that had been stretched and released. A second hit took him out.

Spectrum flew in and regarded the unknown man. "I saw you with Malevolence and yet you took out Yuke. Why?"

"It was in my best interest to do so, Spectrum. In this particular instance, I am not your enemy. Malevolence is a madman and I have no desire to take part in the bloodbath he is proposing. Not all politicians are our enemy."

Spectrum regarded the costumed man for a moment. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"There is no need for you to understand. Suffice it to say, you may have saved a great many lives. That should be explanation enough."

Inertia passed Spectrum and headed towards the base's exit. Jim wasn't sure just what to do with the man. He had no clue who he was or why he was even here.

Before Spectrum could decide one way or the other, Professor Malevolence exploded into the hallway, fire all around him. No doubt curtesy of Brimstone.

"Well, well, if it's isn't the great Professor Malevolence," Spectrum taunted. "How nice of you to join the party." Malevolence looked in bad shape. His spiffy red armor had many black singe marks on it.

Brimstone leaped out of the doorway to the Assembly Lab and landed on top of the Professor, still screaming threats and insults. The criminals wrestled and Malevolence managed to free himself. Placing his legs on Brimstone's chest, he hurtled the flaming fiend down the hallway.

"You'll all pay dearly for this!" The Professor was screaming out loud, but at no one in particular. "I shall avenge myself!"

Malevolence then activated the wrist blasters in his armor and struck the ceiling over Brimstone. Chunks of the ceiling immediately came loose. Foolishly, Brimstone tried to stand and at his current height he rammed his head right into the ceiling triggering a cave in!

By the time the dust settled, Malevolence was long gone. Spectrum made his way through the partial collapsed hallway. He had been far enough away to be spared any serious damage. Brimstone wasn't as lucky. He was completely buried by debris. Parts of Yukon Jack's stretched out body could be seen here and there.

Wearily, Spectrum made his way back to the surface. Halfway there, he encountered Detective Rodgers, several other Seattle police officers, and PRIMUS agents.

"Looks like the cavalry is finally here."

"What's going on?", Detective Rodgers asked. "We were delayed by the PRIMUS forces. The Mayor contacted them last night once we knew supers were involved in this."

"Good, then maybe they won't get away this time," Spectrum said sarcastically. "Anyway, you've got Brimstone, Lightspeed, and Yukon Jack further ahead. Along with Professor Malevolence's base. His plans have been permanently ruined."

"What of Malevolence himself?"

"If you guys didn't see him, then he got away. As for me, I'm beat."

"Thanks for everything, Spectrum." Detective Rodgers shook the heroes' hand and then continued on towards the hidden base.

"It's been a barrel of laughs, detective. Seeya around." Spectrum wearily headed back to his sister's house.

"Well, well, if it isn't the new hero in town." Stephanie regarded her brother as he entered her flat. "Glad you could find the time to visit."

"Uhm, sorry I'm late, sis," Jim offered sheepishly. "You could say that I kind of got sidetracked."

"I know. I saw it all on the news." She gave him a hug, happy that Jim had returned in one piece. "You're a big hit. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. All in all, it felt pretty good too. Now I know what it feels like to be a movie star." Seeing that Steph was concerned, Jim decided to not alarm her with the full details of what transpired. No sense in causing her to worry needlessly.

Stephanie released her brother and added, "Anyway, you better get cleaned up. We've got dinner reservations for seven."

"Yeah, I could really use a shower. Now I know what it feels like to be a fireman."

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday were incident free. Jim and Steph spent much time talking and getting reacquainted. There were so many things to cover and so little time. Nostalgia and reminiscing were the rule.

Overall Jim was feeling very good about this trip. He almost didn't want to leave. But there was a woman he loved and a father that he needed to reconcile with back in Los Angeles. Jim had to return.

Sunday was almost a perfect day. That was until they were watching the evening news that reported a most sobering story. The Avengers Mansion in New York City had exploded under mysterious circumstances. Sargon and the Black Tiger were being reported dead. Hunter was seriously injured and Captain Valor was missing. (Editor's Note: See Avengers #0 for details.)

The next morning, Stephanie and Jim were at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. His return flight was departing in a few moments.

"I have some vacation time coming up in a few months," Stephanie remarked. "I'll come down and visit for a week then."

"Sounds good. I'll be looking forward to it."

Brother and sister hugged and said their good-byes. "Watch out for yourself," Steph said as Jim was departing. With the death of several Avengers, experienced and seasoned heroes, she was worried by Jim.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Unfortunately, Jim wasn't as confident as he sounded.

The return trip was much more relaxing than the flight up to Seattle. Jim felt as if a part of him had been restored. Things weren't as fuzzy as they had been before. He even finished his current short story, Caves of the Unknown, during the flight.

Whitney was waiting for him after disembarking at LAX. They waved to each other and rapidly closed the distance between them.

"Miss me, pretty lady?" Jim drew Whitney into his arms and they kissed.

"My weekend was dull without you around, James." Whitney maneuvered her arm around Jim and the couple moved towards the luggage pick up area.

"So, you have a nice visit with Stephanie?"

"All in all, I enjoyed myself. Like I told you on the phone, parts of my memory started to come back. I'm beginning to remember."

"That's great, James. Did you get any insight into what happened to you while you were missing?"

"Unfortunately, no." Jim separated from Whitney and gathered up his few bags. Once all the luggage was together, they made their way out to Whitney's waiting car. "I mostly remember things about my childhood and my family."

The couple continued to chat until they reached the car. The luggage was stored and the vehicle roared off into the heavy Los Angeles traffic.

"I heard that some interesting things happened in Seattle while you were there," Whitney commented off-handedly.

"Yeah, I heard about that," Jim replied. He still wasn't ready to open up about Spectrum to her. At least not yet. "Some pretty wild stuff from the sound of it. Although, nothing like what happened in New York."

"That's true. It's hard to imagine someone being able to take out that many Avengers in one stroke. Kind of scary, if you ask me." After a long pause, Whitney added, "Anything you want to tell me?"

Jim gulped, his mind racing on just what to say. "Uhm, did you have a good weekend?" That didn't seem to be the response Whitney was fishing for and she was visibly annoyed. However, she didn't pursue the topic, much to Jim's relief.

The next few weeks passed quickly. The death of several Avengers had a profound influence on Jim. That coupled with Whitney's growing suspicions kept Spectrum out of sight. Other than a few flights to shake the cobwebs out of his head, or trying to get over a writing block.

Jim's private life was going great. After two weeks, he churned out ten short stories. The first couple he submitted to various fantasy publications. The others he decided to hold back on. He had yet to receive any replies on his first story, but that wasn't a surprise. He figured at least a few more weeks of waiting remained. Writing his first novel became the next priority and significant pre-work was accomplished.

Bryan, Jim's younger brother, was away on Spring Break. That reunion would have to wait a while longer. Jim left his number at his younger sibling's fraternity house. Jordan was more troublesome. The elder Sculley still refused to be social to his son.

The situation with Whitney went smoothly most of the time. New cases kept her working most of the day, leaving Jim alone in the apartment to work. The nights they spent together, often going out to dinner.

Finally, things came to a head one afternoon. Whitney stormed into the apartment, looking very annoyed.

"James, I have been more than patient, but this is beginning to wear thin."

"What do you mean, Whitney?" Jim suspected what she was getting at, but didn't want to encourage her in case he was wrong.

"You know what I mean! When were you going to tell me about Spectrum?"