#29 - "First Steps"

Jim Sculley peered into his mostly empty refrigerator and sighed. "Pretty lean pickings," he mused as he vainly searched for something to eat. There were a few bottles of Pepsi and very little else. He grabbed one of the beverage bottles to help start off his day.

The freezer at least held four waffles. They would have to do in a pinch. Topped with butter and grape jelly they would serve as a makeshift breakfast. Besides, they would also involve the least amount of work.

"I definitely have to do some grocery shopping," Jim noted while waiting for his waffles in the toaster to pop. "Looks like Mother Hubbard's cupboard in here."

It was Sunday afternoon at the Sculley residence. It had been almost seven AM by the time Spectrum returned home from the invasion of the VIPER's Nest. He showered and unwound by reading the paper before crashing. Jim had just gotten up a little while ago.

It had been a roller coaster ride of a night filled with emotional highs and lows. VIPER had been dealt a considerable blow, but the Nest Leader had escaped, destroying the Serpentine Crystal in the process. However, they had captured all the VIPER staff villains and numerous agents in the process.

More importantly, Spectrum had finally managed to convince Icicle that she had been on the wrong side all along. Jim was pleasantly surprised that Morning Star backed him up all the way. Small wonder 'Star was such a popular heroine. She was kind and compassionate in addition to being gorgeous.

Jim consciously tried to drop that line of thought. Sure he was attracted to Morning Star. What red blooded American male wouldn't be? But Morning Star was much like any other male fantasy. Usually far beyond one's reach.

Still, since both were members of X-Factor, Spectrum had gotten to know Morning Star the person as opposed to Morning Star the heroine. He liked and respected her as a person. Morning Star's own words had more or less stated the same in regards to her feelings about Jim. Maybe there was some sort of subconscious attraction between the two forming?

"Maybe I should take a cold shower or stop letting my imagination run away with me," Jim laughed to himself as he wolfed down his waffles.

Besides, Jim was already in a serious relationship with Whitney Parks. The lovely private investigator had been out of town for several days now, running background checks for Henderson Electronics. The electronics giant was opening up a West Coast headquarters and Whitney was checking out prospective high-level employees.

Jim's relationship with Whitney had also been quite the roller coaster ride. They dated while both were in college, but Whitney took the relationship far more seriously than Jim ever did. Eventually, they just went their separate ways before Jim disappeared.

When Jim did return he showed up on Whitney's doorstep. In his amnesic state, Whitney couldn't help but take pity on her old boyfriend. They both eventually found their old feelings coming back. There was a difference this time however as Jim was equally as serious about their relationship as Whitney was.

Or so she thought. Since college, Whitney had become a private investigator. It didn't take long for her to deduce that Jim and Spectrum were one and the same. Whitney subtly tried to let Jim be aware that she knew his secret. It seemed like a better idea to let him tell her instead of having Whitney tell Jim.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. Jim sidestepped the issue, angering Whitney in the process. They had an argument and then broke up. Jim still refused to come out and say that he was Spectrum. This left Whitney very hurt and confused and feeling like he didn't trust her.

All of this was going in accordance to the desires of Hexmaster. It was he who had kidnapped Jim and forcibly mutated him into Spectrum. It was also Hexmaster who had installed a series of post hypnotic suggestions inside Jim, forcing him to behave in a very specific manner. This procedure Hexmaster also carried out with his siblings, Bryan and Stephanie.

But fortunately, Hexmaster's plan for Jim and his brother and sister to kill their father failed. Hexmaster was forced to do his own dirty work in the end. Thanks to Nightingale, the Sculley siblings were soon freed of Hexmaster's mental conditioning.

Bryan Sculley had gained superpowers and took to calling himself Impact. He was forced to quit football, as he no longer could pass the superhuman screening tests anymore. What once had appeared to be a very promising career was suddenly short-circuited. Blizzard was now giving Bryan the opportunity to do some work for Heroes for Hire. Maybe that would help Bryan get back on his feet now that he was out of college.

Stephanie Sculley was another story. The powers she exhibited during the Hexmaster affair had seemingly deserted her. Or, more likely, she wasn't quite aware on how to access her abilities. Unlike Bryan's obvious physical talents, Steph's were more mental in nature.

Still, Stephanie seemed quite content not to have superpowers. She had made a nice life for herself up north in Seattle. She was off to a promising career as a lawyer. To her, having superpowers would be nothing but a detriment. Maybe her powers had only been temporary, as she had hoped. Jim couldn't be sure for now.

Once Jim's strange behavior could be rationally explained he and Whitney made up. The relationship was even stronger this time as he fully and happily shared everything with Whitney. So strong were his feelings that Jim was considering taking the next logical step of asking Whitney to marry him.

"But not just yet," Jim told himself. He wanted to have his writing career to be a bit further along. Marriage was a big step and one that he wanted to be fully prepared for. After all the evil and hateful things Hexmaster had done to Jim and his family, reuniting him with Whitney was the only thing he was thankful for.

Upon the death of his father, Jim had inherited the family home. Whitney's apartment was nice, but small in terms of raising a family. She had only a two-bedroom apartment while there were three in the house. Two bedrooms now, since Jim had converted one into his office/writing room.

Jim wanted to be a bit more successful in his writing career before he popped the question. Before his kidnapping he had started to try his hand as a published author. Sword and sorcery fantasies had always appealed to him, so he had created his own world as a stage to tell his stories.

He had written dozens of short stories by now. Several had already been published with more awaiting publication. The next logical step was a novel. Thus Jim had begun writing 'The Sea of Dread', a grand adventure where several of his short story characters teamed up on an epic quest. The book had been finished a couple of weeks ago.

Stephanie and Whitney had already read the book and offered their opinions. Jim was currently in the very tedious editing process. Unfortunately, business as Spectrum kept pulling him away from his work. First it was the situation with the Crimson Claw, then Hexmaster and finally the raid on the VIPER's Nest. It was always something. Thus far he had only edited the first six chapters.

"Wow. Me thinking of having a family," Jim suddenly realized. After marriage, having children was the next logical step. Jim never had any great love for children. Truth be told, they tended to annoy him. Perhaps that's why he and his younger brother Bryan never really connected. Bryan was really just a big kid at heart.

Of course, should Jim and Whitney have children there would be a major difference. They would be his children, not someone else's. Suddenly the idea of having a little boy or girl underfoot didn't seem so bad.

The only downside was his mutant abilities. Could they be passed on to his children? Or would they receive just the potential to mutate like he had inherited from his father? The mental image of children flying around the house did concern Jim.

"Maybe Bryn could help out with that," Jim rationalized as he cleaned up after his makeshift breakfast. Bryn was the mother of his X-Factor teammate Sabre and something of an authority on superhuman medicine. She had accepted the role of Jim's personal physician after the death of his father. Given his newfound abilities as Spectrum, Bryn seemed the ideal choice. Maybe she could run some tests or something to determine just what his and Whitney's offspring would be like.

Regardless, children were a long way off. Both had made conscious efforts to engage in safe sex to avoid the unexpected. Offspring would come only after he and Whitney were married.

But before that step, Jim felt the need to get his novel published first. He was now at the stage where he felt confident enough to shop his book around. Several chapters were now finished. All that remained to do was get a literary agent to sell his book to a publisher.

Before his disappearance, Jim had done research and put out feelers in getting an agent. The most promising of those he contacted was one Rachel Moret. Ms. Moret had been part of a larger agency, but decided to recently branch out on her own. She had the reputation of being willing to work with those trying to break into the writing business and being able to weed out good writers from bad. Jim decided to call her up tomorrow to arrange an appointment.

Refreshing his glass of pop and grabbing a bag of chips, Jim made his way to his office. He'd put in a couple of hours on his book before going to visit Icicle this afternoon. There were still fifteen chapters that needed to be edited.

Entering his office, Jim booted up his computer. While waiting, he loaded some of his favorite CD's into the player. He always could write and concentrate better with music playing in the background. Just another of his idiosyncrasies.

At least the house was quiet once again now that Bryan was gone. Mercifully his younger brother's stay had been a short one. Now out of college, Bryan had nowhere to go, so he decided to live with his older brother. Jim wasn't thrilled with this arrangement, but could not turn his brother away.

The sports news media caught wind of where Bryan was staying and were eager to get the story on why a promising potential first round draft pick in the NFL quits school for no apparent reason. News trucks and vans were suddenly parked out front of the Sculley house waiting to get a story. It seriously complicated Jim's life as Spectrum.

The solution to that problem came when Blizzard allowed Bryan move in at the Heroes for Hire offices. Shockwave had relocated to a new apartment after getting her job out at LawTech, so Bryan could easily move in. Jim came up with a diversion to safely get his brother out of the house without being spotted by the press. Thankfully, the media had afterwards slowly drifted away restoring the relative quiet to the neighborhood.

The sole exception was one 'Scoop' Conners. He was the ace sports reporter for the Times. Jim was familiar with him in passing, from his own days as a reporter. Conners was tenacious when it came to tracking down a story. Getting him off Bryan's back was going take some serious work.

But at the moment, that was not Jim's problem. He had his own work he needed to do. Finally he could get back to his book without interruptions. Jim loaded the novel into his word processor and started to read. The phone started ringing a moment later.

"As if on cue," Jim muttered as he picked up the receiver. "Sculley residence."

"Pleasant afternoon, James," spoke a silky smooth voice.

"Whitney!" Jim perked up noticeably and sat straighter in his chair. "Great to hear from you. Are you back in town? When can I see you?"

"Sounds like you missed me."

"Terribly."

"Me too. Unfortunately, I'm still in San Diego," Whitney explained. "Things are taking a bit longer than I expected. I won't be home until later this evening."

"Not a problem. We can get together later."

"As much as I would like to, circumstances force me to decline. I have reports to get ready for Monday morning meetings. They may run into the early afternoon. But then after that, I should be free the rest of the day."

"Hey, not a problem," Jim answered, although he was disappointed about not seeing Whitney right away. "You've got a career to think about. Tell you what: stop off at my place once you're finished with your meetings tomorrow. We can make plans for the rest of the day then."

"Sounds good to me. How have you been?"

"Therein lies a story," Jim chuckled. From there he told Whitney about the raid on VIPER's Nest and how he was now co-guardian of Icicle. Whitney was considerably taken back.

"I don't wish to question your judgment or motives, James, but is this a wise thing to do? Have you fully considered the implications of your actions? You're taking quite a risk."

"No, I guess I haven't," Jim admitted after a pause. "All I know is that it was the right thing to do."

"For your sake and my own, I hope she's worthy of your trust and faith. The last thing I need is you going to prison."

"That's definitely not on my list of things to do."

"I should certainly hope not. I sincerely hope that things do turn out for the best. Unfortunately, I should get back to work. I still have a long day ahead of me."

"I understand, Whitney. Take care, have a safe trip, and I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. I love you."

"I love you too, James," Whitney responded happily. "Until tomorrow."

"Bye."

Reluctantly, Jim replaced the phone. It was good to talk to Whitney and seeing her tomorrow would be even better. Unfortunately, it would seem like an eternity until they were together again. Still, the delay would give Jim a chance to come up with some special way to celebrate Whitney's return. Something to show how special she was to him and how much he cared for her. Suddenly, an inspiration hit Jim and he grinned widely.

"Now that would surprise her!" Immensely pleased with himself, Jim started to make a list of the things he would need to make the night all the more special.

Jennifer Lynn Brockington laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Jennifer was lounging in just an oversized T-shirt and comfortable shorts. Her Icicle costume had been stored away in the closet. Since she was now on probation, she wasn't going to need it much. Her probation required Icicle to accompany X-Factor on team missions, a form of community service. But at this point she was not permitted to go out on patrols. That kind of freedom would only be earned by good behavior in the months to come.

But mostly, Jennifer was bored. Mind numbingly bored. Time was passing by so slowly. Outside her small quarters she could hear the sound of people at work. PRIMUS had been striping the Nest ever since last night. Jennifer was content to hide in her room while they worked.

There were plenty of diversions for Jennifer in her quarters, but she just couldn't seem to get interested in any of them. She never really formed any serious friendships among the forces of VIPER. Icicle kept to herself, and only socialized with her employers as needed. She felt even more uncomfortable with all these PRIMUS operatives running around. The old familiar impulses of running from the authorities were hard to overcome.

All of her painting supplies were in her room, including an easel. Her finished works lined the walls. Her sketchbook was filled with other scenes just waiting for her to bring to life on canvas. But on this day, not even her painting could hold Jennifer's attention.

There was a small TV and a collection of movies that she could watch. She even had a video game system to pass the time away. None of them were appealing to Jennifer at the moment.

Icicle had very little sleep last night. She was too excited at first to relax. But once that excitement had worn off, her familiar self-doubts had started talking to her. Could she actually pull this off? Jennifer would be the first to admit that she was scared to death of what laid ahead of her.

Her impulse was to run away. After all, that's all she had been doing since the day she told her father about her mutant ability to create ice. It would be so easy to just pick up and leave again. So very easy.

But no. Not this time, she promised herself. This time she had others counting on her and she wouldn't let them down no matter what the cost.

Spectrum had been the closest thing Icicle had to a friend. Most others just wanted Icicle for her powers and what she could do for them. But not Jim. He had never done that to her. In fact, she probably owed him her life. While she was panicking when trying to escape from the GENOCIDE base, Spectrum was cool, even flippant about the situation.

While it was easy to let her own self down, like she had so many times in the past, Jennifer couldn't bear to let Spectrum down. He had shown a faith in Icicle the strength of which even surprised her. Jennifer would do her utmost to make sure that his faith or Morning Star's was not misplaced.

Jennifer's reflections were interrupted, as there was a knocking on her door. She sat up in surprise. "Um, who is it?"

"Candy gram," claimed a deep male voice.

"Candy gram?", Jennifer repeated in total confusion. "What? Who's there?"

"Land Shark."

"Jim? Um, is that you, Spectrum?" Rising from her bed, Jennifer went to answer the door. Opening the portal, she discovered Spectrum standing there with two pizza boxes.

"Pizza delivery man," Spectrum plainly answered.

"Spectrum!" Happily, Jennifer gave the colorful mutant a big hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Nice to see you too, Jen. I was a bit hungry, so I stopped and picked up a couple of pizzas on the way. I figured that you might want something to eat."

"I really hadn't give food much thought. But, sure pizza sounds great!"

"You should have seen me trying to get this past security," Spectrum joked. "Guess they thought I was trying to smuggle a file in." Jim stepped into Jennifer's small quarters and looked for a place to set the pizza boxes down. The room was roughly 12' square and held a bed, couch, desk, and Jennifer's painting accessories. Jim checked out Jennifer's paintings as well.

Jennifer chuckled at the joke. It felt so good to laugh after the way the day had been going. Suddenly, all her self-doubts had vanished once Spectrum had arrived. Her spirits rose once more. "Why don't we go to some place a bit more comfortable?"

"Lead on, kiddo. You know this place better than I do."

Jennifer led Spectrum back out into the corridor. It was a short walk from her quarters to the end of the hallway. There, a set of steps climbed upwards, connecting all three levels of the former VIPER's Nest.

Reaching the top of the stairs, the pair emerged into a large lounge. Directly off the lounge was the base commissary. The large chamber was filled with nearly two dozen plastic tables, each with four chairs. There was a large serving counter in the back wall. The base kitchen could be seen through the opening. The area was currently empty.

"Pick one," Jennifer said gesturing to the many tables. "I'll grab some napkins. You want anything to drink?"

"Pepsi works for me."

Spectrum made his way across the large room and selected a table near the kitchen door. He critically eyed the furniture as he set his burdens down. "I guess most of VIPER's budget went to guns and bombs and not furniture?"

Jennifer swept out of the kitchen doors, glass of pop in one hand, a glass of iced tea in the other. She giggled once more at his comments. "No, they were not very big on creature comforts. My guess is that the mattress' around here were motel hand me downs."

With no one around, Spectrum willed away his full-face mask. "Kind of hard to eat pizza with that in the way." He opened the first box and heartily dug in. "Messy too."

Jennifer helped herself and took a big bite. She didn't realize just how hungry she was until she smelled the aroma of the food. "Say, this is good!"

"Papa Luigi has never let me down yet. I just about lived at his pizzeria when I was in college. I'm surprised he didn't charge me room and board."

"I used to dream of going to college," Jennifer lamented after a long pause. "I was going to get my degree in art and then conquer the world. In the artistic sense, of course."

"Of course."

"Funny how things just didn't turn out as planned. I never even finished high school. College seems like a dream now more than anything. Becoming Icicle just ruined everything."

"Trust me, Jen, you don't have the market cornered on things not turning out as you would have liked. I wasn't born as Spectrum. That just sort of happened recently. Becoming Spectrum changed my life forever. I still can't be sure if it was for the best or not. But I do know that this was the hand dealt to each of us. So why not try and make the most of it?"

"Pizza and philosophy," Jennifer laughed. "What an odd combination."

"Just what I consider to be a fact of life. There are things that I can't control or do anything about. So I don't worry about them and just do the best I can with what I can control. But I do know that if you want something bad enough you can make it happen. If you want to be a professional artist, then by all means finish up high school and go to college. From what I've seen of your paintings, you do have artistic talent."

"You really think so?"

"I may not know much about art, but I know what I like. Have you ever drawn people, not just landscapes?"

"Occasionally," Jennifer answered between bites of her pizza. "I don't think I'm particularly good at drawing faces yet. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just a wild notion I had." Seeing Jennifer's confused look, Jim elaborated further. "I'm trying to make it as a writer. I've had some short stories published. I'm just getting ready to shop my first novel around. I was thinking that maybe accompanying artwork would be nice as well."

Jennifer considered for a moment. "I suppose I could try. I do seem to have a great deal of time on my hands at the moment and it's the least I can do for you. What kind of stories do you write?"

"Fantasy. You know, sword and sorcery stuff."

"Oh, I see."

"Not your favorite genre?", Spectrum asked.

"Actually, I never was much of a reader. Bring me some of your stories and I'll see if inspiration hits me."

"Deal."

Jim and Jennifer ate and chatted for the next fifteen minutes. The first pizza was easily dispatched, but the second one had been barely touched. A light rapping attracted their attention.

"Is this a private party or can anyone just walk in?" Standing in the entryway at the far end of the commissary was Morning Star.

"'Star!", Spectrum called out. "Come on in. The more, the merrier. Like some pizza?"

"Hi," Icicle waved.

Morning Star crossed the short distance between the doorway and the table where Icicle and Spectrum were. "I thought something smelled good in here. How is everyone doing?"

"Alright," Icicle stated.

"Better, after getting some sleep," Spectrum added.

"No argument there." Morning Star slipped off her long gloves before sampling the pizza. "Papa Luigi's, isn't it?"

"You know your pizza," Spectrum observed. "Actually, I'm glad that you showed up just now. Jen was going to give me the ten-cent tour of the place. At least find out what we're going to be inheriting."

"Good idea. At least we'll have more information to share with the team tomorrow afternoon."

"Exactly."

After finishing the pizza, Icicle led Morning Star and Spectrum on a tour of their new base. As they walked along, Morning Star pulled out paint samples for comparison. Just about anything would be better than VIPER Green.

"The top floor was primarily the agents living area. There are several troop barracks and weapon storage areas. There's also the largest of the lounges, the commissary, kitchen, and food storage areas."

"There's quite a bit of stuff here," Spectrum noted as he explored the walk in refrigerator and pantry. "Things I could use too."

"They did have to feed all those agents," Morning Star said. "This is to be expected."

On the floor below, Icicle continued her tour. "I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this level. I have heard that there is a library and classrooms here. Plus a full-sized gym, locker rooms, and a target practice range. Each floor has its own lounge, but the largest is on the upper level."

"A gym would be handy to have." Spectrum eyed the large, two-story chamber in admiration. Those inside the gym could be seen through windows on the upper level. "I used to shoot hoops a little bit when I was in high school."

"This may not be so bad after all," Morning Star added. "It's a nice area to hone our teamwork. Exercising is always more fun with someone rather than alone. They even have male and female locker rooms."

After finishing up with the middle level of X-Factor's new base, the trio took the stairs down to the lowest level. This floor was the most familiar to Spectrum and Morning Star, as this was where they had been during the raid. The dominant feature was the large command center in the middle of the level. This was also the area PRIMUS was heavily de-constructing.

"There are a few other areas of interest outside of the command center. Along the north wall were the private quarters for the higher ups. To the east was the infirmary and cellblock. There are also meeting rooms, another armory, and a computer shop."

"All the comforts of home," Spectrum said with a laugh as the tour winded down.

"Is there anything you're going to need?" Morning Star's query was directed towards Icicle.

"From the looks of it, just about anything you'd need is already here."

Morning Star turned to face Spectrum. "There are other things that women need besides food and drink."

"Oh," Spectrum responded. "Oh!" he quickly added in understanding. At least 'Star could see to that area of Jennifer's needs. Jim never did feel all that comfortable in purchasing cosmetics and other female necessities.

Upon reflection, Jim considered it to be a very good day. The situation with Icicle was proceeding smoothly. Of course, the rest of X-Factor had yet to be informed about Icicle or their new base. That was going to come tomorrow afternoon when team gathered at the offices of Heroes for Hire. Hopefully all of this wouldn't generate too much friction among the other members.

Morning Star departed about an hour after the end of the tour. She and Spinnerette had made arrangements to investigate the return of the Thugmaster's Elite to Los Angeles. Hopefully she would have something to report at tomorrow's meeting. (Editor's Note: See X-Factor #17 for more details.)

Spectrum stayed for a couple of more hours before he too called it a night. He and Icicle talked more about her artistic endeavors and played a few video games. Jim lost badly every time. It was night by the time Spectrum headed home. Jennifer's lack of sleeping was catching up to her, so Jim let her rest.

Jim himself had no trouble in staying awake. After all, it was almost the middle of the afternoon by the time he had gotten up. He had plenty of cleaning to do with Whitney coming over tomorrow night. And so Jim went to work, scrubbing the house from top to bottom. He wanted everything to sparkle for Whitney.

The good china was pulled out, cleaned, and set aside for tomorrow's use. A new tablecloth was also pulled out along with his mother's elegant candleholders. Fresh flowers that Jim would pick up tomorrow would be the final touch. The house looked perfect.

That task complete, Jim made a list of groceries that he was going to need. The list was quite expansive, as Jim had been ignored restocking supplies. A bag of popcorn sometimes served as dinner. Glancing at the clock, Jim was surprised to note that it was nearly three AM.

"Geez, I've been up half the night and I'm still not really tired." Jim considered what to do next. He didn't feel tired, so sleep was not a priority. He could work on his book some more, but didn't quite feel in the mood. "Might as well avoid the crowds and get some shopping done."

Jim changed into his Spectrum costume and invisibly slipped out of his house. He casually flew along, not being in any great hurry. It felt great to be out in the night and the fresh air. The night was clear and the sky was filled with stars.

As he flew along, Spectrum noticed an ATM machine down below. "Better grab some cash," he reasoned to himself. Changing course, Spectrum decelerated and located a good spot to land where no one was around. Upon touching down, Jim willed away his Spectrum costume and casually walked up to the ATM.

While his transaction was finishing up, Jim heard the squeal of tires behind him. A car door opened and then slammed shut behind him. Jim grabbed his cash, receipt, and debit card, placing all three in his wallet. Turning around, Jim started to walk away.

To Jim's immense surprise a costumed woman was standing before him! She wore what amounted to little more than a black bathing suit with silver trim. He immediately recognized her as Titania, one of the Thugmaster's Elite!

"Outta the way, loser!" Titania growled and violently threw Jim aside with her superhuman strength. Jim hit the ground and rolled to a stop twenty feet away. "I've got a withdrawal to make!"

Still a bit surprised by the sudden turn of events, Jim sat up and watched as Titania took hold of the ATM machine and ripped it out of the wall with ease! The villainess carried the ATM toward her waiting vehicle, a large pick up truck.

"Here's another for our collection," Titania laughed to her partner.

Standing in the back of the pick up, several other ATM's laying around him in the bed, was a man in a white costume with yellow boots & gloves. Purple diamond patterns outlined in yellow haphazardly covered his costume. The man was also known to Spectrum as Chaos, yet another of the Elite.

"This is turning into quite a haul!" As he spoke, Chaos shrunk to half his normal height.

"We're definitely going to make the grade at this right rate," Titania agreed as she slipped behind the wheel once more. "Now this is my idea of shopping!"

Tires peeling, the truck raced off into the night once more leaving Jim behind. "Of course you realize that this means war," he mumbled as he ran to an out of the way spot. "Nobody steals from my bank!" Once safely out of sight, Jim transformed into Spectrum once more. He rose into the night sky and proceeded to give chase.