#18 - "The Good, The Bad, and The Alien"

"I suppose that you guys won't just give up quietly?", Spectrum suggested.

In response to his query, the numerous men in the loading dock reached for their weapons. Laser fire filled the area as the VIPER Agents shot wildly at the two heroes.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Spectrum muttered rhetorically. Several laser beams struck the hero, knocking him back against the loading dock's wall. The blasts stung a bit, but didn't do any serious damage thanks to his force field. Looking to his right, he could see that Morning Star had sustained several hits as well.

"Blast away!", she announced defiantly. "Your lasers only make me stronger! You'll never get away with your mad scheme!"

It was true. Spectrum could see a purplish glow begin to emit from the heroine's entire body. "And here I thought I was the only colorful person around here..."

Unexpectedly, something struck the heroine in the side knocking her off her feet. The projectile bounced off of Morning Star and landed close to Spectrum. It looked like a brick.

"Good!", a deep voice bellowed out. "The Brick likes a challenge!"

Turning, the heroes saw a new combatant enter the scene. Brick towered over everyone, standing nearly 8' tall. His entire body seemed to be composed of brown and orange bricks. The Brick wore only black wrestling tights for clothing.

"Sheesh! It's a walking patio!", Spectrum muttered. Then his eyes locked in on the giant's head. There was a spot in his forehead where a brick was missing. Spectrum glanced at the missing brick, and then at the brick laying close by on the floor, then back at the large villain. "Man, that is really sick!"

Brick advanced on the prone Morning Star. "Brick will crush you all!" Reaching down, the Brick grasped the startled heroine by the neck and began to squeeze. Morning Star's face started to change colors as the villain continued to apply pressure. Her hands grasped Brick's as she struggled to break the villain's hold.

Thankfull, the laser fire had subsided, as the VIPER Agents didn't wish to hit their ally. Using the break to his advantage, Spectrum flew in and tagged Brick with his orange energy blast. Portions of Brick were blasted away and scattered about the area. This made Spectrum pause, as the villain didn't seem to be bothered by parts of himself being removed. Of course he had thrown part of his head at Morning Star, so why should it be of great concern?

The sound of screeching tires made Spectrum spin. The loading of the truck had been completed during the short melee. About half of the VIPER Agents were on board as the truck drove off.

"What the heck do I do now?", Spectrum wondered out loud. He certainly couldn't just abandon Morning Star to the 'tender mercies' of Brick. Neither could he let the truck get away. If what they had learned was true, millions could die!

The hesitation had cost Spectrum as he was struck by yet another laser blast. The force sent the colorful mutant past Brick, but again did him little harm.

"What is it with you people? Don't you get it that lasers don't hurt me?! What's it gonna--" Spectrum's tirade stopped short when he saw just who had fired upon him. His mouth hung open, but no words came out.

The heroes had learned about alien involvement from the VIPER Operative George Lambard back out at the airstrip. The informant had described the alien in great detail-- but even those words had left Spectrum unprepared for the sight that greeted him!

The alien was only about 3' tall in height, and nearly that wide. It had four arms, two of which held some sort of gun. No doubt the source of Spectrum's latest assault. Large circular nostrils were smack dab in the middle of the creatures' forehead. Two large eyes, very much like a fish, rested on either side of the alien's face. A strange opening with many tiny hanging pieces of flesh separated the eyes.

"You are one ugly little spud!", Spectrum remarked in amazement.

Lights flashed on a device on the creature's portly chest. "And you are food for my pet," a bizarre high-pitched voice called out from the device.

Out of nowhere, another Bertlahr leaped at the hero. Spectrum noticed the advancing creature at the last moment, but it did him little good. "Oh sh--!!" The beast opened its great maw and swallowed the hero whole!

Morning Star barely noticed this event as she continued to struggle against the Brick's powerful hold. Black spots were beginning to play before her eyes, her lungs crying out for air. Back in some part of her mind, the heroine wondered just how she had ended up in this mess...

It all seemed so simple enough in the beginning. It always does. PRIMUS Agent Thomas Dowd had asked Morning Star to investigate a lead that a VIPER Informant had passed on to him. Dowd was busy with another case at the moment and Morning Star was only too happy to help out her old friend.

That led to the heroine staking out the H.A.R.T. Warehouses looking for something amiss. One of the warehouses was located far outside LA. She scouted the area for a few days. When she returned the third night, the building had been completely demolished!

Another warehouse was located in an off the beaten path industrial park and also looked ripe for criminal activity. The next few days passed without incident as the heroine kept watch. Finally on Friday night she decided to take a look around once the workers had left for the day.

Unexpectedly, someone else had the same idea too. As Morning Star looked for a way in, Spectrum flew overhead. He was new to the LA hero scene and Morning Star wasn't sure what to make of him. She had always kept herself up to date with the people in the superpowered scene. The only Spectrum she had been aware of was one that had been a short-term member of Terror, Inc. last year.

Unsure if this was indeed the same Spectrum, far afield from his normal South American locale, or just a new hero using the same name, Morning Star played the situation cautiously. At first she refused his offer for help, but he was insistent and claimed that he could be useful. Morning Star finally gave in, figuring that it would be better to keep him in sight than to have a loose cannon muck up her investigation.

Morning Star was pleasantly surprised that Spectrum not only pulled his own weight, but his unique vision was able to point out several traps that the heroine would have otherwise missed. She had to secretly admit that she found those eyes very attractive. They were the brightest blue she had ever seen.

The H.A.R.T. Warehouse turned out to be a front for an advance VIPER weapons distribution program. Unfortunately, someone had activated a self-destruct mechanism and destroyed the warehouse, with the heroes only narrowly escaping the devastation.

However, a clue led the pair to a hidden airstrip far outside the city. No doubt a shipping and receiving point. More VIPER operatives were found. That's when things got really strange. A being calling himself Black Scout showed up with a strange alien cat-like creature he called a Bertlahr.

The duo triumphed once more, but fuel tanks for the airfield were ruptured during the chaotic struggle and the hanger quickly went up in flames. Risking her life, Morning Star braved the fire and located more vital clues. More information was learned when George Lambard arrived. The VIPER Operative tried to flee but was easily stopped by Spectrum. George spilled his guts without much coaxing.

While waiting for the authorities to arrive, Morning Star took the time to clean herself up and don a spare costume, her previous having been singed in the fire. Once the villains were in custody, the duo were taking off down the thruway once more. This time Morning Star pushed her Porsche to its full potential, much to the chagrin of her associate.

Spectrum, of course, had no way of knowing that Morning Star raced cars in her leisure time. Going two hundred miles per hour was nothing new to her! In short order, the pair reached their next destination: the White Hart Tavern.

Morning Star cruised nonchalantly past the objective. Only a few cars remained in the parking lot. It was now past 2 AM and the last patrons were heading out. The tavern, a homey little wooden building with lots of windows, was located in a newly developed plaza, which was mostly still under construction. A large mural of a white stag painted on the side of the building faced the road.

"How do you want to handle this?", Spectrum asked Morning Star.

"I'll go in, you follow invisibly. That's one handy power you have there."

That seemed to please her companion. Of course, he already had told her that he found Morning Star to be gorgeous. Clearly some sort of attraction was there and that made it easy for Morning Star to keep the rookie in line. Spectrum certainly didn't act like a villain, and he had made several rookie mistakes during this adventure. But he seemed to be a good man and could be counted on in a fight. She trusted him to watch her back.

The heroine walked into the Tavern and all hell broke loose. The bartender drew a weapon and opened fire. Several other agents rushed from the kitchen to help. But they were only normal people, albeit highly trained ones, and had little chance against Morning Star and Spectrum.

The interrogation took some time. Morning Star really wished she had asked Spin to come along with her. Detective work was more her area of expertise than 'Star's.

But the duo did get results in the end. A secret button opened up a portion of the wall revealing a set of stairs leading down. At the bottom of the stairs was the secret lab where the advanced weaponry was being made. But that was not all. It turned out that VIPER had something bigger in mind. Much bigger.

A clue from the airstrip had told the heroes that something big was on for Dallas the next day and that you should stay at least 70 miles away. The first room in the lab was a testing and assembly area. Ordinary scientists were hard at work putting the weapons together. They were easily overpowered.

The scientists revealed just what that big event was. The alien who was building these weapons had built a Gravimetric Bomb that was going to be used on Dallas unless that city paid VIPER 20 billion dollars!

"The device creates a gravity well for a few seconds," one of the scientists explained. "Everything within seventy miles of ground zero will be drawn to that point and compacted to the size of a volleyball."

"Ohmigod!" Spectrum shouted. "Are you telling me that you're going to open up something like a black hole in Dallas?"

Morning Star didn't quite get what Spectrum was so upset over.

"Don't you see, 'Star? When they detonate this thing, everything within seventy miles of Dallas is going to be gone. Poof! As if it never existed! Sucked into oblivion as if a giant Hoover came out of the sky!"

Horror filled the heroine's face. "We've got to stop them!"

A schedule in the lab indicated that a Gravimetric Bomb was being loaded for shipment even as they spoke!

The heroes rushed to the loading area; Morning Star knocking the door off its hinges. Before the pair was the loading dock. A large crate was carefully being loaded onto a truck, nearly a dozen armed VIPER operatives keeping watch.

"I suppose that you guys won't just give up quietly?", Spectrum suggested.

Morning Star reached deep down inside and summoned her internal energy. It manifested itself as a brightly glowing purple nimbus around her fist. With all her might, Morning Star slammed that fist into Brick's jaw!

The punch separated Morning Star from the VIPER villain. She fell to her knees and let her lungs fill deeply. "Ah, Fresh air..."

The Brick had been sent staggering backwards, crashing hard to the ground. The villain scrambled to his feet with a speed that belied his immense bulk.

"Spectrum!", Morning Star shouted as she advanced on the Bertlahr. "I've got to get him out of there!"

However, the Brick had other ideas. "Don't you ignore me, girl!" The villain connected with a powerful punch and the heroine was sent rocketing across the loading dock. The force of the blow sent Morning Star through the far wall and into the room beyond. She skipped across the sponge-like floor of this room and came to stop in a small pool of disgusting smelling brackish water.

"What-- What is this place? And what's that horrible smell!?"

The room reminded Morning Star of a greenhouse more than anything. It was extremely hot and humid with strange vegetation growing wildly. It was like some unearthly swamp.

"The stench is the least of your worries!" The Brick enlarged the hole made by Morning Star's passage and strode into the strange chamber.

Morning Star stood up in preparation for renewing the conflict. "You're really beginning to get on my nerves..."

Interlude:

Back out in the loading dock, the alien lovingly petted the Bertlahr. "Yes, that's a good pet," the alien emitted out of its translating device. "You like human flesh, do you not?"

The remaining VIPER agents quietly vacated the loading dock. Between the fight involving Morning Star and Brick and the weird alien and his 'pet', they wanted nothing to do with the situation!

The alien suddenly noticed a new arrival. Someone that was not there a moment ago. He couldn't understand where this stranger had come from. "Stay back, human!" The alien fired his gun once more, but the beam was deflected back at the shooter! "NO!" The blast sent the spud-like alien backwards hard. It crashed against the wall and slid to the floor.

"That takes care of the kKiervahl," a female voice coming from a device on the stranger's wrist reported. "He'll be recalled momentarily. His mission a failure, the kKiervahl won't try something like this again."

"And here I thought the Tyrixx were ugly," the stranger remarked while gazing at the fallen alien. "So, what about his pet?"

"You've got about ten seconds before something extremely gory happens to the Bertlahr. I suggest you move."

"I get the point, Jaime."

"Now," 'Jaime' called out, "go straight and take the door to your left." The stranger moved forward as directed and entered the weapon-testing laboratory. "You'll find the second part of our objective in here..."

End of Interlude:

In the mostly deserted loading dock, the Bertlahr unexpectedly convulsed in pain. A moment later, much of the creature's left side exploded out in a display of blinding light. Bertlahr innards showered the immediate area.

Wearily, Spectrum pulled himself from the Bertlahr carcass. "What a unique odor I've discovered..." The heroes costume was covered in what passed for blood in the strange creature.

Looking about, he saw the loading dock was now empty. The strange spud-like alien was unconscious, slumped against a far wall. As Spectrum watched, a strange mist-like energy began to form about the creature. Slowly its features disappeared into the fog. Soon all that was left was the mist that dispersed on the soft breeze. "Talk about weird...", Spectrum mumbled.

"This entire adventure has been bizarre. I'm glad to see you're okay, but you look terrible." Turning Spectrum saw Morning Star emerge from the hole in the wall, a comatose Brick was dragged behind her. She was covered in mud and smelled of stagnant water.

"You should talk. Being in the gizzard of an alien cat has never been high on my list of things to do. Now I know what it feels like to be a hairball!", Spectrum countered. His force field had been strong enough to keep the creature's digestive system from doing any serious harm. "I have truly been where no man has gone before and believe me, I'm never going back."

"That's understandable. Where did the alien go?"

"He did some kind of fade out," Spectrum reported. "But we've got bigger fish to fry. The truck with the bomb is gone!"

"Fly after it," Morning Star immediately ordered. "I'll follow in the Porsche. We've got to stop that truck at all costs!"

"I'm on it!" Spectrum took to the air and accelerated out of the loading dock. A small ramp led up to a hidden exit in the construction site across from the White Hart Tavern. The darkness proved no hindrance to Spectrum and he quickly spotted the truck speeding down the thruway.

Morning Star was able to locate the speeding box truck thanks to her partner. She saw a bright flash of light in the sky every half of a minute or so, which led her directly to the fleeing vehicle. Spectrum was able to keep pace easily and signaled occasionally to her. The pair sped down the LA freeway in hot pursuit, Morning Star in her car and Spectrum flying overhead.

"Okay, now what do we do?", Morning Star asked herself rhetorically. The options for stopping the truck were limited at best. They couldn't cause the truck to crash for fear that the bomb would detonate. They couldn't just blast the driver for the very same reason. No, one of them would have to get on the truck and stop it, or else wait for it to run out of gas somewhere in the California desert.

Morning Star considered a way to get from her speeding vehicle to the truck, but couldn't imagine any way that seemed feasible. She looked down at the speedometer. It read 105 mph. She considered the tiny piece of scrap her little Porsche would be even if she did manage to somehow jump to the truck. "That's not a reasonable option," she said finally.

Up above, Spectrum was faced with the same conundrum. He flew along considering his options, when he noticed the white Porsche of Morning Star suddenly accelerate past the fast moving truck. It sped off and disappeared from view. "What's she trying to do now?", Spectrum wondered. Behind him, he heard the expected blare of police sirens closing in on the hurtling vehicle. "Oh great, if they try to do something radical, we're all goners!"

Spectrum flew down along the right side of the truck. The passenger window opened and a blast of reddish plasma fired out of the truck. It missed the hero, but connected with a tree along side the road. It suddenly burst into flame with a dazzling pyrotechnic display!

Looking back over his shoulder, Spectrum saw the tree continue to blaze. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have told them to stop using the lasers," he quipped to himself.

Dodging another blast of plasma, the hero moved in on the truck and fired a blast of orange energy at the gunman. It slammed into the side of the truck and the vehicle swerved wildly to stay on the road. It slammed a small car as it passed, sending the little vehicle spinning off the roadway.

"Oops! That could've been bad." Spectrum gained a little altitude and carefully fired again. This time, he connected with the gunner. He saw the man slump forward against the dash.

"Well, that's one down. I still have no idea how to take out the driver," Spectrum pondered. Spectrum fired another blast into the open window which took out another passenger crouched behind the driver. "I hope 'Star has something wonderful in mind," he said hopefully.

After following above for about another half mile, Spectrum could see his partner's Porsche. It was pulled off the side of the road. As they closed in, he could see Morning Star standing in the middle of the freeway. The truck hurtled toward the unmoving heroine.

"Oh man!", Spectrum said. "What's she thinking?!" Unable to do anything about the situation Spectrum watched vainly as the truck continued straight for the immobile woman. Then, impact!

As they passed over the spot, Spectrum looked back. He hoped that he wouldn't see her mangled body still lying in the road. He even slowed up some to check. To his incredible relief there was no sign of the collision.

Speeding back up again, he passed over the truck. Now it was beginning to emit a whitish smoke from the engine compartment. Miraculously, he saw Morning Star latched onto the front grill of the speeding box truck. She clutched a tenuous grip on the smashed front end.

"What a woman!" Spectrum continued to watch as they hurtled through the night. Then he heard gunfire ring out. "Those idiots are going to ruin everything!" Spectrum looked back to see four police cruisers gaining on the escaping vehicle. "I hope I don't regret this."

Breaking off slightly from the chase, he swept in front of the police cars and emitted a bright flash in the face of the drivers. One by one, the police cars swerved off the road and skidded to an abrupt stop. Satisfied that they would be no further problem, he quickly caught up with the truck once again.

By now, the smoke coming from the truck's wounded engine was quite thick. The vehicle was slowing now and weaving wildly as the driver struggled vainly to see the road through all the smoke.

As the colorful mutant hero reached the truck, it rolled to a stop in the middle of the freeway. Cars sped by all around, narrowly missing the truck, now sitting almost sideways across two lanes.

The driver opened the window and began to fire at the hero as he arrived. The reddish plasma ripped through the night sky, illuminating the night sky with an unearthly light. "You'll never stop us hero! We have too much firepower!"

Just then, the roof of the cab and front windshield were suddenly and violently ripped from the rest of the truck. The driver covered his face as a shower of glass erupted around him. When he opened his eyes once more, he saw a very angry looking Morning Star standing on his hood. He had thought that she had been ground up under the truck's tires when he ran her over.

She tossed the roof aside like a child tossing aside a small toy. The man quickly and wisely dropped the weapon and thrust his hands into the air. "I surrender!"

"Considering what I've been through tonight," Morning Star replied, "that's a wise choice."

Spectrum landed next to the truck to keep guard on the VIPER Operatives. "Looks like we did it, 'Star! Without this Gravimetric bomb of theirs, they won't be blackmailing Dallas anytime soon."

Inexplicably, the driver began to laugh. An irritated Morning Star approached him. "And what do you think is so funny, friend?"

"Oh, sure, I'll tell you," the driver sneered. "There's nothing you can do about it anyway. This bomb was being shipped to Las Vegas. We shipped the Dallas bomb days ago!"

Approximately one hour later, dozens of law enforcement agents have arrived on the scene. The California Highway Patrol was busy re-routing traffic around the stopped truck. PRIMUS had long since taken the VIPER Agents into custody. All that remained was the heavily damaged vehicle and its disturbing and dangerous cargo.

Hornet of the Guardians had arrived on the scene as well. Morning Star figured that she would need his scientific skills and called him during the chase on her cell phone. The hero was busy poking around the strange Gravimetric Bomb. "This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this! The technology involved here is light years beyond anything I've ever seen!"

"You can play with it later, Hornet," Morning Star chastised. "We need answers to help out the Superior Seven." Once Hornet arrived, Morning Star used communication equipment in the Guardians Jet to contact the Superior Seven, the superhero team based in Dallas. Spectrum remained in the background, content to stay out of the way.

"Sorry about that, 'Star. You know how curious I can get at times."

"Which is why I keep bringing you back to the problem at hand." On the other end of the line, Morning Star was in contact with Captain Lightning, the leader of the Superior Seven. "Cap wants to know if there is anything about the device they can use to locate the bomb in Dallas?"

"Tell him I had the same idea," Hornet reported. He moved something that resembled a Gieger counter over and around the large device. Seemingly completing his examination, the Hornet sat the device down and approached Morning Star. She handed him the microphone. "Captain Lightning? Yes, I have examined the bomb. If you look for radiation at the following frequency, I'm sure you'll be able to locate the device in question..."

While the Hornet conversed with Captain Lightning, Morning Star approached Spectrum. "That's about all we can do on this end. It's up to the Superior Seven now."

"Looks that way", Spectrum agreed. "All we can do now is wait."

"These kind of things can take hours. We might as well call it an night while there's still a little bit of it left."

"Yeah, I'm bushed and in desperate need of a bath," Spectrum observed. The pungent odor of the Bertlahr was still present. "Seeya."

"In spite of my initial misgivings," Morning Star stated in a sincere tone, "you certainly pulled your weight in this particular adventure."

"Thanks, 'Star." Spectrum turned and flew off into the night. "I think..."

Jim spent the next afternoon watching the World News Network channel awaiting word on the Dallas situation. So far no information had been conclusive. "Come on, find the darned thing already!"

Finally, in the early evening, an update came on again. The scene shifted to a live press conference in Ft. Worth. "Well, at least Dallas is still there."

The screen focused in on the Superior Seven with Captain Lightning at the microphone covered podium. The Captain wore his standard blue costume with yellow lightning bolt accents and white trim. "I am pleased to report," Lightning began, "that the threat to our fair metropolis has been averted. VIPER's scheme to blackmail twenty billion dollars has been thwarted." A cheer rose up from those on the scene causing Captain Lightning to pause.

"Hooray for the good guys," Jim commented. "We really pulled it off."

"But the Superior Seven did not accomplish this great feat on their own. Thanks to information provided to us by Morning Star, Spectrum, and the Hornet in Los Angeles, this vile plan was defeated!"

Jim clicked the remote, shutting the TV off. "And all's well that ends well. VIPER tried to get a fist full of Dallas, and came up grasping straws..."