Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 24, 2017 17:10:03 GMT
SOJ: The Midnight Protocols
by lawrenceliberty
A Captain Midnight contingency plan comes in handy when he falls victim to an old foe’s schemes!
Prologue
A ruggedly handsome man with piercingly intelligent eyes glanced upward at the illuminated display screen within a special elevator as the conveyance descended from the arid Nevada sands near Mt. Carson to a remarkable compound below the surface.
As the doors opened he casually made a mental note of a means to improve the elevator’s speed and stability. Such instantaneous calculations were a routine part of Colonel Albright’s life and always had been. As one of the most brilliant men of the twentieth century the former aviator/inventor was accustomed to visualizing technological innovations in his head and then making them a reality within his spacious underground lab. The lab was only a section albeit a large one of a remarkable complex that rested beneath the desert. He had created the “Subcity” after World War II when it looked as though atomic dangers might make t necessary for mankind to retreat into such bunkers for the very survival of the race. He had used it once to shield some ranchers from a mad genius known as Dr. Pyrrho but the complex had remained unused ever since except by Albright and his personal aides. He smiled ruefully as he thought of some of the brave men and women who had loyally served his cause over the past decades. Sadly, most had either died or retired to a less dangerous lifestyle but that didn’t mean he didn’t cherish their memories and recall them with affection and gratitude.
Now, as he moved deeper within the lab an observer might have been hard pressed to tell that this graceful, powerfully built man who fairly radiated vitality and intellectual vigor was around seventy years old. He still possessed a thick head of silvery white hair and he had an impressive physique even for a much younger man. This was entirely fitting since Albright had also lived a double life as Captain Midnight a costumed champion who had risked his life in countless battles against the Axis forces, costumed criminals, and alien invaders!
However, even the former Captain Midnight could make a mistake or be overwhelmed by superior odds or a surprise attack and so it was as Albright bent over a computer, he was abruptly knocked out by a burly figure who seemed to emerge from within the solid walls of the hidden compound like a ghost from myth or folklore.
The wraithlike intruder became increasingly solid after a moment’s concentration.
Then he bent down to carry the fallen genius out of the silent base.
Hours later a device built into one wall of the hidden Subcity emitted a distress signal. Albright had arranged for his security system to require the regular entry of a special code known only to him. While the code could be entered remotely it had to be entered or the security system would follow what its creator called the Midnight Protocols. Midnight had fallen but his brilliant mind had already prepared for exactly such an eventuality.
1
Zoro, Man of Mystery, was a suave, good humored adventurer who apparently possessed super skills for any imaginable task or pursuit he set his hand to; however, the hero was capable of being deceived when he trusted the person who lied to him. It might be more accurate to say that he merely respected those who were close to him and gave them the benefit of the doubt when their actions or words raised some doubt in his supremely trained deductive mind. In any event, he nodded and listened intently when his personal pilot and close friend Prissy “Wardbird” Sharp explained that she needed some time away for a few routine personal matters.
He smiled charmingly and said, “Well, I shall miss you but you certainly deserve some time for yourself! After all, we had no more returned from the Lost Isle of Doom when the curious incident of the Chronal Man occupied our attention! I will simply have to do my best without your superb flying skills!”
Prissy, a petite blonde with big blue eyes and a deceptively demure demeanor, smiled back and said, “You know that you can fly a plane as well as I can! I mean, what can’t you do? You are a master of everything!”
Zoro laughed and said, “We’ll merely agree to disagree. Should you need my help with anything, you only need to call!”
Prissy said, “Thank you! You are a true friend!”
The young woman departed from the hero’s penthouse quickly and pulled her leather jacket over the white sweater and skirt she had been wearing. She stopped smiling and her features assumed a worried expression.
“Something has happened to Captain Midnight. I can hardly believe it. He was always so capable… like my other mentors Spy Smasher and my grandfather. I know the secret signal that activated in my wrist communicator means he needs help but what danger could be great enough to pose a threat to him?” she thought.
She was incredibly capable herself. She had an inventive mind and impressive combat skills along with superb piloting abilities. Her late father had been a war hero as had her grandfather the original Ace Aviator known as Warbird. She had learned from the old veteran during their years together when he had raised her after her father’s sudden death. She had also benefited from personal training given to her by his friends Spy Smasher and Captain Midnight. Now, although, she used her grandfather’s heroic name of Warbird in her own role as an adventurer, she knew that she owed all she was and all she could do to all three legendary heroes. If Midnight needed her, she would die before failing him! She didn’t wish to involve Zoro although she knew he would have been glad to help her if she had asked. This was personal or perhaps she could say family business and she would handle it herself. After all, Midnight himself had planned for this kind of crisis years before and Prissy knew exactly what he would have wanted her to do.
She entered her own apartment a short distance across the city and she swiftly changed clothes. She would not wear the specially treated but rather mundane outfits she normally wore during her duties. This case called for a costume she had been saving for a special need.
She now wore a white and pink helmet with a modified lens beneath its avian stylized shape. She also wore a short pink dress with long white gloves and matching high heeled boots. A short cape that resembled Midnight’s own para-glider cape completed the look along with a belt that contained numerous special weapons. Like all of her clothing, the costume had been treated to resist temperature extremes and weapons fire!
“It’s time for Warbird to truly take flight!” she declared.
2
Tokyo, Japan
Young Japanese music fans were devoted to J Pop as the current style of music made popular by so-called “new music” acts like Purinsesu Purinsesu or Johnny and the Associates was known; however, the polite clapping and occasional mild squeal of delight that indicated audience approval would have seemed tame to Western musicians.
Kaori Aikawa smiled as she concluded the last song of her sold out show. It was still thrilling to be playing the famous arena called the Budokan and while she loved her loyal and talented support band, she knew that she had achieved the feat and won numerous Japanese Music Awards as a solo artist. She grinned playfully as she saw a numerous signs being held in the air by the eager but calm fans.
“Sugar Starshine!” was the nom du music she had coined for her now beloved alter ego.
The exclamation point was an added touch that made her stand out even from oddities like the all girl group Puri Puri or the roller-skating boy band the Associates. She laughed and rushed offstage as her long blonde hair swung from side to side. The heavy wig was a pain to wear but it was part of her image as was the puffy, flirty overly girlish white bubble dress she wore or the heavy white make-up that covered her face above her glowing pink lips.
She closed the door of her dressing room and sighed with pleasure. It was always difficult to relax after the adrenaline rush of a live gig. As she pushed off the long blonde wig to reveal her black hair with its “pixie cut”, she rubbed some of the white powder off her slightly round and youthful face. Sugar Starshine! was her alter ego in so many ways. In her real role of Kaori, no one recognized her. This was all part of her mystique. The label didn’t want fans to know the ordinary girl behind the glam J Pop Princess image. Now, Kaori frowned as she looked down at a locket that she always wore in both guises.
“Midnight! This is the danger signal. I may have shows scheduled for the weekend but they will have to be postponed. Nothing is more important that helping my second father!”
As her words and her concerned expression indicated, Sugar Starshine! was another pupil who had been trained by the heroic Captain Midnight. No one knew the beloved musician was really capable of far more than writing songs, singing, or dancing. The star performer possessed combat skills befitting someone whose father had been one of Captain Midnight’s Secret Squadron during the fifties!
She hesitated for a moment. She was unknown outside of the Far East. Perhaps, while on a dangerous mission like this one promised to be, her safest choice was to remain in some form of the Sugar Starshine role. She slipped the blonde wig with its special adhesive texture and applied the white powder on her face and replaced the fluffy dress with a solid black costume made of a special fabric that her mentor had designed years before. She nodded in approval and raced out a side door and appropriated a motorcycle that a fan had parked nearby. She would return it if possible but if Captain Midnight was in jeopardy all other concerns were immaterial.
As she drove through the crowded streets she began to formulate a plan.
“Captain Midnight trained me and several others who were related in one way or another to his various Squadron members. I know some of them may have also been told about the signal and its meaning. I never really thought anything would happen to him but he has always been a step ahead of any danger!” she mused.
A stylized plane soared overhead and Sugar Starshine! smiled in recognition!
“Warbird! I should have known his star pupil would get the summons!” she thought.
She waved as she guided the cycle away from the congested city streets toward a narrow but largely empty avenue that led toward the site of what would be a construction project.
She stopped the motorcycle and jumped off as an odd beam was projected from the advanced craft. The null-grav field lifted her upward and she greeted Prissy Sharp inside the plane.
“I am happy to see you again although I sure hope Captain Midnight is unharmed!” she said in a rather breathless rush of words!
She slid into a chair next to the blonde pilot who smiled briefly and said, “I feel the same way. Thank you for the CD you sent me. Don’t worry though. You know nothing can stop our mentor for long!”
Sugar said, “That is what I keep telling myself. Don’t worry. We’ll be in Subcity soon enough!”
3
The final person to receive the alert was a beautiful blonde reporter named Lena Witherspoon.
She had also been trained by Captain Midnight; however, she had been active as a costumed heroine in her native Great Britain for several years before Albright’s abduction. As Supernova she had become a popular heroine who was respected by Scotland Yard and idolized by many ordinary citizens.
She hurried downstairs to the basement of the outwardly ramshackle house that served as her home and her base of operations. The old white house was worn and its exterior betrayed nothing that would lead any observer to suspect that within its interior it housed a sophisticated computer and a lab full of exotic devices. As Supernova, Lena wore a bright orange and yellow leotard with a short orange cape and high heeled boots. She didn’t need a mask since one of the functions of her special equipment left her features obscured by a perpetual glow.
She adjusted a dial on a device she wore over one wrist and a field of yellow energy surrounded her for a moment. She stepped directly into the growing sphere of light and emerged outside Midnight’s desert base.
“I can’t use that teleportation feature very often because it drains my receptor cells but to find Captain Midnight, I’ll gladly lose a bit of power!” she said to herself.
She knew all about Subcity since she and the other women had each trained there at different times. She rushed down to the main complex after using her wrist beam to activate the special elevator.
Supernova frowned as she entered the main lab and spotted two other costumed women.
“Supernova! It is an honor to meet you. I didn’t know you were also one of the Secret Squadron until Sugar Starshine! and I accessed the files on Captain Midnight’s computer!”
said a pretty blonde in a pink and white costume.
Sugar Starshine! added, “All of us were trained by the Captain. Apparently, he didn’t think we all needed to know about one another!”
Supernova frowned for a moment and then smiled broadly.
“Jim had his ways. I trust his judgment! If you were his pupils then you are welcome allies!” she said.
Warbird said, “And the fact that you just used a beam from that device on your wrist to determine if we were telling the truth or not, just happened to boost your own confidence in our claims! Oh, yes, I could see it with my own visor lens and its function was simple to deduce! By the way, I am Warbird and this is Sugar Starshine!,”
Sugar Starshine! said, “The important thing is to find Jim! There are traces of some kind of vapor in the environment here. It was not a knockout gas but something else.”
Warbird said, “He fought more than one alien invader. I would not be surprised if his attackers came from outer space!”
Supernova said, “Can you trace this substance or merely detect its remains?”
Sugar Starshine! interrupted the two women and added, “We don’t need to trace it. We can just use the implant Jim put in his arm. He implanted a tracking device back when he trained me. I knew I could activate it with his computer!”
She smiled winningly and gestured to where she had rapidly adjusted the controls on a console.
“Santa Palos? Jim is being held in Santa Palos!” said Supernova as she looked at the monitor.
Warbird said, “He certain had a lot of enemies who served the Nazi cause. I think we may have hit upon the answer. That little South American nation became a hiding place for a lot of Nazi agents after the war. Shall we work together? We could be his new Secret Squadron. Perhaps, that was always his intention!”
The other two agreed readily and they hurried to Warbird’s plane after making a few additional plans.
All of them respected and loved the heroic Midnight. He had been a father figure to each of them. Now, they were determined to pay him back by freeing him from the peril he was facing.
Meanwhile, a dark haired young man made his way across the campus of Columbia University with an ease that belied the fact that he relied upon a crutch. Freddy Freeman was handsome and well-liked. He was smart and he was capable. No one who knew him would ever see him as defined by his disability. He was just not the type of person who allowed himself to display grief or anger over his damaged leg. If he felt remorse, it was more for the loss of his beloved grandfather than it was for his physical injury.
He had lost use of his leg after being attacked by a super human killed called Captain Nazi. The brute had callously murdered Freddy’s grandfather and swatted the boy into the sea with no regard for his life or the kindness he had attempted to show the bigger man when he had appeared in the waters near their small boat.
Freddy had been saved by Captain Marvel and in fact he had been granted the same powers the World’s Mightiest Mortal possessed. He could access them by shouting his hero’s name. Magical lightning would then transform the crippled youth into the dynamic Captain Marvel Jr..
The magical transformation was always obscured so observers could not tell exactly what had occurred. Jr. had become part of the Marvel Family and along with Cap. and Mary Marvel, he had become a true heroic defender of the virtues embodied by their mutual benefactor an ancient wizard named Shazam. The trio had been among the victims preserved in suspended animation from 1953 to 1973 due to an attack by an evil genius called Dr. Sivana. Now, in e present day Freddy was a college student and he operated a newsstand as well. He was content and had accepted being something of a contemporary Rip Van Winkle with his usual good nature. As the wizard Shazam had once told Captain Marvel’s alter ego Billy Batson, they and many of their heroic allies had been preserved and safeguarded in all of their vitality so they might be available to face a cosmic Crisis. Sivana had not meant his actions to do more than eliminate his enemies but in truth he had accidentally preserved them for the future.
Now the dark haired young man smiled as if to shake away his somber thoughts. He was too capable and selfless to ever truly allow himself to wallow in self-pity. He would have been a hero even had he not been granted his own amazing powers.
He ducked behind a campus dorm and spoke his own magical name of power!
“Captain Marvel!” As magical lightning flashed, he was transformed into the heroic blue and gold clad form of Captain Marvel Jr.!
He flew rapidly toward one office building where he met a striking woman in a brief white dress and brown high heeled boots. She had a beautiful face and long brown hair adorned by a tiara. An amulet rested on her chest and bracelets gleamed on each wrist.
Isis was one his colleagues in the super group known as the Squadron of Justice. She was also secretly the university professor called Andrea Thomas. She knew Freddy in both of his roles.
Jr. smiled at the heroine and said, “I was glad when you called me. I needed a break from research papers!”
She smiled back and said, “I understand. It is your personal history with a certain super criminal that led me to summon you!”
He nodded as his pleasant features briefly became grim in demeanor.
“I take Captain Nazi very seriously. I appreciate your involving me in this situation!” he said.
Isis said, “As I told you before, one of my former students Jenny Dolan disappeared while on vacation. The girl’s grandfather James Dolan is convinced her disappearance has something to do with your old enemy. He said his own sources spotted Captain Nazi in the same place Jenny Dolan vanished. She had mentioned to him that she had stumbled on to Neo-Nazi presence in Santo Palos in Latin America!”
Captain Marvel Jr.’s frown deepened.
“I read Dolan’s book as part of a journalism class I took last semester. He is a legend. He worked with the F.B. I. and as both a reporter and a detective during his long career. If his sources say something, I’d wager they are right on the money!” he replied.
Isis nodded and said, “Both Dolans are reliable and capable. I knew you would want to join me since Nazi may be involved!”
The two flew off and wasted no additional time in conversation!
4
Meanwhile, Captain Midnight found himself locked in a cell within a large complex located below the Santa Palos Presidential Palace. He calmly deactivated the door’s security system and strolled out to emerge from a narrow hallway into a spacious lab. He noticed the flag of Santa Palos amidst a row of Swastikas!
“Welcome, Captain Midnight. It has been a long time has it not?” asked a beautiful woman who lounged seductively on a divan as black uniformed guards stood around her sultry form and held advanced laser rifles.
“Fury Shark? I see time has not diminished your beauty nor has it dulled your wits. You knew I would easily escape from that cell!” he said as he stared at the woman who had been his deadliest foe’s beloved and brilliant daughter.
She laughed the same silvery laugh he remembered so well from over forty years old. How had she escaped aging? Suspended animation? Magic? Time Travel? His keen mind ticked off the possibilities even as he scanned his environment and planned his next move.
“Your father would be proud. You’ve put together a nice little place here- decorated like something out of his worst fantasies! You always were Daddy’s Little Girl!” he said as he glanced at the paramilitary uniformed troops and weird devices that lined the room.
Fury Shark smiled as she dropped one leg off the side of the divan and smoothed down her revealing black gown.
“It is in memory of the brilliant Ivan Shark that I have brought you here on this particular day. You see this would have been his 100th birthday. It is most fitting that his oldest foe dies during our commemoration of all he stood for during his lifetime before you killed him!”
Captain Midnight shook his head. “Your father died while he was trying to kill me. He fell to his death. It was his own fault. Strange how sentimental you Nazi fanatics can be! Will there be cake?”
She stood up and her high heels clattered as she marched down the steps from the high divan.
“We shall not quibble over the details. I mean to honor his memory on a far grander scale than merely by witnessing your demise. I intend to unleash his figurative heirs upon this modern world. I want you to witness to rise of the New Men!”
She gestured toward a row of costumed figures that emerged from the shadows and glared menacingly at the hero.
“You’ll find the New Men superior to your customary foes. Aryan science and my own additions have made them unbeatable!” she said with an almost girlish laugh.
She tossed back her long platinum blonde hair and smiled coldly.
“Do not worry though. You shall not die yet. I have plans for you!”
Captain Midnight smiled grimly.
“Genetic manipulation could explain how a woman in her sixties could look like a pin-up girl!” he mused. He calculated his odds. He could do this. He could take down the whole base but he also knew help was on the way and he was smart enough to bide his time.
5
Meanwhile, the new Secret Squadron of Warbird, Supernova, and Sugar Starshine! had reached Santa Palos as well. Warbird’s plane was perhaps the fastest craft in existence. It certainly rivaled Spy Smasher’s own unique subplane.
Warbird said, “Can you imagine Neo-Nazi agents preaching the same kind of hatred that threatened the world decades ago? I can only assume Midnight is their captive and they are operating with the sanction of the country’s president. I detect the implant in Jim’s arm. He is below the palace itself!”
Supernova added, “So are a large number of machines that are using vast amounts of energy. My sensors detected that much too!”
Sugar Starshine! said, “I may be wrong but I’m still hung up on that trace of vapor we detected back in subcity. I was doing some scans on the sample I took in the mini-lab on the plane. It registers as alien in origin! Saturnian to be precise. Jim fought a bunch of creeps from Saturn on several occasions!”
Warbird nodded as she expertly guided the plane down to a clearing outside the city.
“Xog was the name of their leader. He and his fellow Saturnians could change into a strange nearly intangible vapor!” she said.
“Aliens and the Axis? This sounds like something from the pulps!” added Supernova.
As the women emerged from the plane, a squad of uniformed troops rushed forward to confront them. The men were natives of the Latin American nation as their accents made all too clear but they wore uniforms that were reminiscent of the old evil of the German S.S.!
Warbird reached down to her hip and withdrew a sphere shaped object from a pouch. She lifted it up and as it slowly expanded upon contact with air she whirled it around and released it into the path of the first attackers!
The bolo-like projectile expanded until it connected with and tripped the first three men. As they fell, their followers slowed down and Warbird deftly connected with a gas pellet that dropped them as well.
Sugar Starshine! flipped forward in an impressible display of acrobatics and landed in the middle of the next group. She spun around and delivered a series of kicks and punches that stunned her foes as well. She was remarkably fast on her feet.
Supernova calmly walked forward with her uniquely English poise and raised one arm almost languidly. She smiled slightly as her wrist device projected a beam of concussive force that brought down more of the soldiers.
She fluffed her blonde curls and said, “This lot didn’t have much to offer as far as combat skills were concerned!”
Warbird scowled as her helmet sensors detected more figures approaching through the foliage around them.
“You’re in luck then because the next wave of attackers has arrived!”
She spread her glider-wings and soared toward them only to barely avoid a strange attack as the soldiers altered their bodies and expanded into gaseous figures that threatened to enclose her flying form.
She twisted and spun until she had dodged them and then she managed to scatter them temporarily with an explosive pellet tossed expertly into their midst.
“They’re just like the Saturnians! They can turn into vapor!” she shouted.
As one of the soldiers charged at Supernova she grunted in surprise as he connected with staggering force.
“They are super strong too or at least enhanced!” cried the British blonde as she fell beneath several of the leering troops.
Sugar Starshine! frowned and dived to her new friend’s aid. “If they have Saturnian powers then what is to say they could not equally have benefitted from the abilities of some of Captain Midnight’s other alien foes?”
She glanced over at Warbird who caught her eye and seemed to slip suddenly before her foes
The three women resumed their fight but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the surprising strength of their seemingly human but super powered foes.
Within the palace itself, Captain Midnight frowned as he recognized some bizarre figures encased in narrow fluid-filled tubes.
“Plutonians and Saturnians! You’ve been using some of my old alien foes as genetic source material to enhance your own New Men. That’s why my attacker in the lab was able to bypass security. He began intangible to pass through the walls and then applied super strength when he struck me!” he said.
Fury Shark smiled wickedly and said, “Indeed! I have surpassed my grandfather himself by creating humans with all the powers of extraterrestrial invaders and you are the man responsible since I learned of them by studying your old cases and interrogating one of your old friends!”
She gestured as two guards shoved a gaunt looking scarecrow of a man forward.
“Ichy! Great Scott! She took you too!” said Captain Midnight as he gazed sorrowfully upon the worn face of his old friend Ichy “Sgt. Twilight” Mudd.
“Cap! I didn’t talk! They tried to make me but I would not break!” he cried.
Fury said, “He speaks the truth but it was easy to draw the data from his simple mind with a little technological help!”
Captain Midnight frowned as he lost his former confidence. He was angry now and his foes would learn just what that could mean!
6
Captain Midnight reached out and placed one hand on his old friend’s shoulder.
“It is okay, Ichy. You know that you and I are fine like always!” he said.
Ichy grinned slightly and stood a bit straighter as the two soldiers prepared to lead him back to some cell.
Fury Shark laughed and said, “Such touching American loyalty to one’s comrades! I shall reunite you in death very soon!”
Captain Midnight said, “I’m tired of your games! I’ve seen your new men and they look like nothing more than tired Nazi clichés made more threatening by genetic manipulation using cellular samples from alien foes I already defeated decades ago!”
Fury scowled and placed both hands on her hip.
“Really? Where is your legendary intellectual curiosity? I admit that you’ve already deduced the power source for my new men but as you Americans liked to say…. you ain’t seen nothing yet!” she purred.
Captain Midnight frowned as he saw Warbird, Sugar Starshine!, and Supernova being led in by more of the troops.
“We have newcomers. They posed little threat to us!” said a sneering soldier.
Fury said, “Your protégées came for you as I knew they would. Oh, yes, I detected your tracking implant when I first inspected you while you were stunned. I wanted them to come. What better revenge than to kill your loved ones as you let my father die years before!”
At that moment the three women broke free from their captors and Warbird said, “Merely playing helpless so we could be brought to you!”
She elbowed a soldier in the face and flipped him over her shoulder before he could react.
Sugar Starshine! laughed and then released a small sphere that emitted a shrill sound like a amplified siren that drove some of the troops backward as they realized that even as vapors they could still hear and feel the pain caused from the weapon!
“I normally sound much better!” quipped the Japanese girl.
Captain Midnight moved forward and dropped Ichy’s guards to the ground with two deftly applied judo chops and then turned to see Supernova as she flew upward and aimed her wrist device over the lab.
Ice formed on the machines and the sheer weight of the frozen sheath brought many of the devices crashing to the ground in a shower of sparks!
“So, all your Nazi dreams end like this!” declared Captain Midnight.
Fury shrieked, “No! You have not felt the power of my elite guards!”
At that moment four costumed beings surrounded the platinum blonde beauty.
All of them were natives of Santa Palos but they were altered from normal humans in one way or another.
The biggest man wore a bright red cape and a black costume with yellow trunks. A lightning bolt was emblazoned on his broad chest. His fists crackled with energy.
“I am El Capitan Rayo or Captain Lightning!” he said as a cruel smile spread across his face.
He tossed a broken lab table across the room with one hand and closed in on the heroes.
His closest ally was a monster who shambled forward leaving a noxious trail of some unknown matter in his wake. He carried a horrible odor with him as his body seemed to be made of some decaying sludge!
“Jack Fetid is eager to get his hands on your pretty allies!” said Fury.
The next villain was a woman with a pretty face but an odd metallic skull cap and metal armor that left only sections of her hips and shoulders bare.
“Cybernetica will easily disarm you. All technology is mine to control!” she said in an emotionless voice that sounded like the preprogramed speech of some machine.
The final villain looked like a human-feline hybrid. She was covered with a tawny fur and moved with the grace of a predatory panther.
“Tigre allows her lethal claws to speak for her!” said Fury.
Warbird rolled forward and sprang up to kick Tigre in the face as she twisted to avoid the catwoman’s raking claws.
“Your pretty bird will be a natural snack for my cat!” said Fury.
Tigre snarled and pounced on Warbird who fell but managed to ram her helmet into the other woman’s face. The pink and white clad beauty slid out from under the feline foe and brought both legs around in a side kick that jarred her before she could regain her balance.
Warbird dodged Tigre and slapped a small square pad on her neck. The growling Tigre gasped and then collapsed at Warbird’s feet.
“Knockout patch puts the kitty out!” announced a smiling Warbird.
Supernova frowned as her wrist device dimmed and she fell hard.
“My equipment doesn’t work!” she thought as the metal being called Cybernetica reached out for her and began to choke her as she lifted the struggling British blonde into the air with one cold hand.
Supernova kicked furiously then smashed her wrist weapon into the mocking metal woman’s face.
Sparks burst into the air and Supernova dropped to freedom.
“That was all I could do but now I’m weaponless!” she thought as she circled the bigger woman warily.
“You were a beauty pageant winner in college. You are still vain about your looks!” said Cybernetica as she moved forward haltingly.
“I have accessed you data! I know all!” she said as she began a self-repair process.
As Jack Fetid lurched toward Sugar Starshine! she took another pellet out of her hip pouch and shoved her arm into his chest.
She frowned as her arm emerged covered with a green slime!
“Yuck!” she whispered.
Jack laughed as the misshapen maw that served as his mouth opened wider and he expanded his oozing form to loom above the petite girl in the blonde wig and white powdered make-up!
“No way am I going to allow him to give me a makeover! What would my fans think!” she mused.
She smiled winningly and danced backward as she mentally counted.
Jack Fetid was about to grab her when his body began to tremble and the explosive device she had placed inside him detonated and sent his green slime in every direction.
“I hope he can grow back or something! I didn’t want to kill him but I also assumed he was some kind of artificial being and not a living guy!” she thought as she wiped slime off her costume.
Captain Midnight himself was wrestling with Captain Ray but he was losing the fight since the younger man was stronger than he was.
“You are nearly as powerful as a Marvel!” he said as he was slammed to the ground.
“I’d debate that!” cried a newcomer as Captain Marvel Jr. flew into the chamber!
“It was easy to find your base. All it took was tracking the smell you Nazi creeps give off! declared Jr. as he slammed into the ground and send a dozen troops reeling in his wake.
He pulled Ray off of Captain Midnight and punched him across the room! Ray slammed into a row of computers and as they shattered, Cybernetica stiffened and remained inert.
“She’s offline!” sighed Supernova with obvious relief.
Ray grunted in pain and closed in on the boy in blue.
“You don’t realize my true power! I feed off your magical lightning!” he said as he gripped Jr. around the hips and lifted him upward.
Ray grew brighter as he drained magical energy from the hero’s body.
“I feel weaker! Is this clown capable of sucking the magical power out of me? Could he turn me back to Freddy?” thought Captain Marvel Junior.
He broke free from the bigger man’s hold and kicked him but the kick carried little power.
Captain Ray tossed back his head and bellowed with pleasure.
“I am invincible!” he said.
Captain Midnight timed his actions carefully and then darted forward. He said to Junior, “Say the name!”
Jr. hesitated and then smiled as the wisdom he tapped into from his own magical mentor helped him see the answer.
“Captain Marvel!” he cried.
The magical lighting struck him and returned him to his alter ego of Freddy Freeman!
At that second the magical energy drained by Captain Ray also left his body.
He once again only possessed his original power level and not the additional might he had absorbed from CMJ!
Midnight fired a small gun that he had slipped out of his own costume.
Ray screamed and fell to the ground.
Fury gasped and said, “How could you stop him when a Marvel could not?”
Midnight smiled and said, “Let’s just say your new man gained the same old weaknesses as the beings you used to create him!”
He thought, “I figured he gained might from forms of energy like lighting so he apparently was created with genetic material from my old Plutonian foe Jagga! Jagga also grew stronger when he came in contact with electricity for example. However Ray and the other new men are Plutonian/Saturinian hybrids and also have the Saturnian weakness to my stabilizer gun!”
Warbird had caught on to the tactic as well and had climbed above the scene of battle to aim her own stabilizer gun!
The new men fell one by one as their unstable bodily structures stiffened and left them stunned as the blonde markswoman shot each one!
Ichy grinned with pleasure!
“You got them! I knew you would!” he said.
Freddy had swiftly changed by to his CMJ form and began to help contain the soldiers.
At that moment Isis emerged from below and led around two dozen men and woman into the room.
“By using my magic to take me directly to Jenny Dolan I was able to help Jr. locate this base and free the prisoners. Jenny, the real palace guards, Presidente Garcia, and several others who had fallen victim to the Fury Shark regime!” she said.
Captain Marvel Jr. scowled as he saw the last prisoner emerge from below. He was a tall burly man in green with a blond crewcut.
“Captain Nazi!” cried Junior as he flew toward his old foe.
Isis raised one hand and stopped him with one imperious glance.
“Wait! In this case, he was as much victim as villain! Fury captured him and used him as a source for her genetic experiments! He was locked below and he is at least temporarily powerless!” she said.
“That witch claimed I represented the failures of the HItlerian regime! She used me like a lab animal!” he shouted.
Jr. said, “It couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy! “
He wrapped a shard of metal around the Aryan’s wrists and said, “I’ll feel better if he’s tied up!”
As the heroes helped the prisoners get to safety and rounded up the remaining troops, Captain Midnight followed Fury through the base until he found her near a hangar with a waiting vehicle of some advanced design.
“Running away? I recognized the true leader of Santa Palos back in the cells. Presidente Garcia used to be the hero of this peaceful nation- the Red Gaucho back in the forties and fifties. He’ll have a lot to say about what you’ve done to his people!” he shouted.
Fury cursed and said, “You are so smug and yet how little you know!”
Captain Midnight said, “I know you are not really Fury Shark! You posed as her but you slipped and called Ivan Shark your grandfather at one point. You’re Fury’s daughter, What happened to the real Fury? Did she die?”
An elderly woman looked out from within the hover craft. She shrank back out of sight. She was the real Fury and she did not want her old foe to see how she had aged.
“Don’t play games with that man, Ivanka! He is too dangerous!” she whispered.
Ivanka Fury, such was the younger woman’s real name, raced into the craft and it lifted off as Captain Midnight jumped forward and used his para-glider cape to sail toward the vehicle.
Ivanka cursed and said, “He is closing in on us! Grandmother, you know I must survive! You know I carry the future within me!”
Fury Shark looked at her grandchild and saw the same beauty she had used to dominate men when she was a young woman. She also saw the same ruthlessness her late father had possessed.
“I know what must be done!” said the old woman.
She opened the craft’s side door and jumped out.
Captain Midnight frowned as he spotted the falling woman.
“No regard for life …even her own!” he mused as he struggled to catch her.
He succeeded and brought her to safety as the base below began to self-destruct at some remote signal from Ivanka Shark’s rapidly fleeing craft.
As Captain Marvel Jr. and Isis shielded both friend and foe alike from the rubble, Midnight led the old woman forward into the bright light of day.
“Fury, you’ve passed nothing but your father’s madness on to that girl!” he said,
Fury looked at him with a gaze that brought back all too many old memories.
“She has my brains, my beauty… and something much more significant!” she said with a cruel smile.
As Fury Shark, Captain Ray, and the other Neo Nazis were led off into custody by the real military authorities of the small nation, Captain Marvel Jr. faced his old foe.
“You thought you’d run this little pocket kingdom but she made a monkey out of you! I guess your search for power did you in once again!” he said.
Captain Nazi scowled and then he looked directly at his most hated foe and said, “On the contrary. I came here to find something more precious than power. I came here to find my family!”
Captain Marvel Jr. remained silent. He was uncertain what to make of this claim but he knew he would learn more in the future.
Meanwhile, Captain Midnight smiled at Warbird, Sugar Starshine! and Supernova.
“Thank you, ladies! You proved yourselves once more. I owe you all!” he said.
Warbird glanced at the others and said, “We’d do anything for you!
Sugar Starshine! and Supernova readily agreed.
Ichy grinned and said, “Cap. They got the makings of a new Secret Squadron!”
He nodded and said, “I agree!”
His legacy was secure and he felt happy about it even as it pondered what Ivanka Shark’s next move might be.
Far away aboard the craft, Ivanka Shark gently placed one hand on her body and said, “Grandmother’s sacrifice will be worthwhile. She knows I took more than data from Captain Midnight while he was stunned. I took much more! In time I shall give birth to his child! This child shall embody all that two great bloodlines carry. My child shall be greater than the Shark or Albright lines. He shall rule the world!” she vowed.
The End
by lawrenceliberty
A Captain Midnight contingency plan comes in handy when he falls victim to an old foe’s schemes!
Prologue
A ruggedly handsome man with piercingly intelligent eyes glanced upward at the illuminated display screen within a special elevator as the conveyance descended from the arid Nevada sands near Mt. Carson to a remarkable compound below the surface.
As the doors opened he casually made a mental note of a means to improve the elevator’s speed and stability. Such instantaneous calculations were a routine part of Colonel Albright’s life and always had been. As one of the most brilliant men of the twentieth century the former aviator/inventor was accustomed to visualizing technological innovations in his head and then making them a reality within his spacious underground lab. The lab was only a section albeit a large one of a remarkable complex that rested beneath the desert. He had created the “Subcity” after World War II when it looked as though atomic dangers might make t necessary for mankind to retreat into such bunkers for the very survival of the race. He had used it once to shield some ranchers from a mad genius known as Dr. Pyrrho but the complex had remained unused ever since except by Albright and his personal aides. He smiled ruefully as he thought of some of the brave men and women who had loyally served his cause over the past decades. Sadly, most had either died or retired to a less dangerous lifestyle but that didn’t mean he didn’t cherish their memories and recall them with affection and gratitude.
Now, as he moved deeper within the lab an observer might have been hard pressed to tell that this graceful, powerfully built man who fairly radiated vitality and intellectual vigor was around seventy years old. He still possessed a thick head of silvery white hair and he had an impressive physique even for a much younger man. This was entirely fitting since Albright had also lived a double life as Captain Midnight a costumed champion who had risked his life in countless battles against the Axis forces, costumed criminals, and alien invaders!
However, even the former Captain Midnight could make a mistake or be overwhelmed by superior odds or a surprise attack and so it was as Albright bent over a computer, he was abruptly knocked out by a burly figure who seemed to emerge from within the solid walls of the hidden compound like a ghost from myth or folklore.
The wraithlike intruder became increasingly solid after a moment’s concentration.
Then he bent down to carry the fallen genius out of the silent base.
Hours later a device built into one wall of the hidden Subcity emitted a distress signal. Albright had arranged for his security system to require the regular entry of a special code known only to him. While the code could be entered remotely it had to be entered or the security system would follow what its creator called the Midnight Protocols. Midnight had fallen but his brilliant mind had already prepared for exactly such an eventuality.
1
Zoro, Man of Mystery, was a suave, good humored adventurer who apparently possessed super skills for any imaginable task or pursuit he set his hand to; however, the hero was capable of being deceived when he trusted the person who lied to him. It might be more accurate to say that he merely respected those who were close to him and gave them the benefit of the doubt when their actions or words raised some doubt in his supremely trained deductive mind. In any event, he nodded and listened intently when his personal pilot and close friend Prissy “Wardbird” Sharp explained that she needed some time away for a few routine personal matters.
He smiled charmingly and said, “Well, I shall miss you but you certainly deserve some time for yourself! After all, we had no more returned from the Lost Isle of Doom when the curious incident of the Chronal Man occupied our attention! I will simply have to do my best without your superb flying skills!”
Prissy, a petite blonde with big blue eyes and a deceptively demure demeanor, smiled back and said, “You know that you can fly a plane as well as I can! I mean, what can’t you do? You are a master of everything!”
Zoro laughed and said, “We’ll merely agree to disagree. Should you need my help with anything, you only need to call!”
Prissy said, “Thank you! You are a true friend!”
The young woman departed from the hero’s penthouse quickly and pulled her leather jacket over the white sweater and skirt she had been wearing. She stopped smiling and her features assumed a worried expression.
“Something has happened to Captain Midnight. I can hardly believe it. He was always so capable… like my other mentors Spy Smasher and my grandfather. I know the secret signal that activated in my wrist communicator means he needs help but what danger could be great enough to pose a threat to him?” she thought.
She was incredibly capable herself. She had an inventive mind and impressive combat skills along with superb piloting abilities. Her late father had been a war hero as had her grandfather the original Ace Aviator known as Warbird. She had learned from the old veteran during their years together when he had raised her after her father’s sudden death. She had also benefited from personal training given to her by his friends Spy Smasher and Captain Midnight. Now, although, she used her grandfather’s heroic name of Warbird in her own role as an adventurer, she knew that she owed all she was and all she could do to all three legendary heroes. If Midnight needed her, she would die before failing him! She didn’t wish to involve Zoro although she knew he would have been glad to help her if she had asked. This was personal or perhaps she could say family business and she would handle it herself. After all, Midnight himself had planned for this kind of crisis years before and Prissy knew exactly what he would have wanted her to do.
She entered her own apartment a short distance across the city and she swiftly changed clothes. She would not wear the specially treated but rather mundane outfits she normally wore during her duties. This case called for a costume she had been saving for a special need.
She now wore a white and pink helmet with a modified lens beneath its avian stylized shape. She also wore a short pink dress with long white gloves and matching high heeled boots. A short cape that resembled Midnight’s own para-glider cape completed the look along with a belt that contained numerous special weapons. Like all of her clothing, the costume had been treated to resist temperature extremes and weapons fire!
“It’s time for Warbird to truly take flight!” she declared.
2
Tokyo, Japan
Young Japanese music fans were devoted to J Pop as the current style of music made popular by so-called “new music” acts like Purinsesu Purinsesu or Johnny and the Associates was known; however, the polite clapping and occasional mild squeal of delight that indicated audience approval would have seemed tame to Western musicians.
Kaori Aikawa smiled as she concluded the last song of her sold out show. It was still thrilling to be playing the famous arena called the Budokan and while she loved her loyal and talented support band, she knew that she had achieved the feat and won numerous Japanese Music Awards as a solo artist. She grinned playfully as she saw a numerous signs being held in the air by the eager but calm fans.
“Sugar Starshine!” was the nom du music she had coined for her now beloved alter ego.
The exclamation point was an added touch that made her stand out even from oddities like the all girl group Puri Puri or the roller-skating boy band the Associates. She laughed and rushed offstage as her long blonde hair swung from side to side. The heavy wig was a pain to wear but it was part of her image as was the puffy, flirty overly girlish white bubble dress she wore or the heavy white make-up that covered her face above her glowing pink lips.
She closed the door of her dressing room and sighed with pleasure. It was always difficult to relax after the adrenaline rush of a live gig. As she pushed off the long blonde wig to reveal her black hair with its “pixie cut”, she rubbed some of the white powder off her slightly round and youthful face. Sugar Starshine! was her alter ego in so many ways. In her real role of Kaori, no one recognized her. This was all part of her mystique. The label didn’t want fans to know the ordinary girl behind the glam J Pop Princess image. Now, Kaori frowned as she looked down at a locket that she always wore in both guises.
“Midnight! This is the danger signal. I may have shows scheduled for the weekend but they will have to be postponed. Nothing is more important that helping my second father!”
As her words and her concerned expression indicated, Sugar Starshine! was another pupil who had been trained by the heroic Captain Midnight. No one knew the beloved musician was really capable of far more than writing songs, singing, or dancing. The star performer possessed combat skills befitting someone whose father had been one of Captain Midnight’s Secret Squadron during the fifties!
She hesitated for a moment. She was unknown outside of the Far East. Perhaps, while on a dangerous mission like this one promised to be, her safest choice was to remain in some form of the Sugar Starshine role. She slipped the blonde wig with its special adhesive texture and applied the white powder on her face and replaced the fluffy dress with a solid black costume made of a special fabric that her mentor had designed years before. She nodded in approval and raced out a side door and appropriated a motorcycle that a fan had parked nearby. She would return it if possible but if Captain Midnight was in jeopardy all other concerns were immaterial.
As she drove through the crowded streets she began to formulate a plan.
“Captain Midnight trained me and several others who were related in one way or another to his various Squadron members. I know some of them may have also been told about the signal and its meaning. I never really thought anything would happen to him but he has always been a step ahead of any danger!” she mused.
A stylized plane soared overhead and Sugar Starshine! smiled in recognition!
“Warbird! I should have known his star pupil would get the summons!” she thought.
She waved as she guided the cycle away from the congested city streets toward a narrow but largely empty avenue that led toward the site of what would be a construction project.
She stopped the motorcycle and jumped off as an odd beam was projected from the advanced craft. The null-grav field lifted her upward and she greeted Prissy Sharp inside the plane.
“I am happy to see you again although I sure hope Captain Midnight is unharmed!” she said in a rather breathless rush of words!
She slid into a chair next to the blonde pilot who smiled briefly and said, “I feel the same way. Thank you for the CD you sent me. Don’t worry though. You know nothing can stop our mentor for long!”
Sugar said, “That is what I keep telling myself. Don’t worry. We’ll be in Subcity soon enough!”
3
The final person to receive the alert was a beautiful blonde reporter named Lena Witherspoon.
She had also been trained by Captain Midnight; however, she had been active as a costumed heroine in her native Great Britain for several years before Albright’s abduction. As Supernova she had become a popular heroine who was respected by Scotland Yard and idolized by many ordinary citizens.
She hurried downstairs to the basement of the outwardly ramshackle house that served as her home and her base of operations. The old white house was worn and its exterior betrayed nothing that would lead any observer to suspect that within its interior it housed a sophisticated computer and a lab full of exotic devices. As Supernova, Lena wore a bright orange and yellow leotard with a short orange cape and high heeled boots. She didn’t need a mask since one of the functions of her special equipment left her features obscured by a perpetual glow.
She adjusted a dial on a device she wore over one wrist and a field of yellow energy surrounded her for a moment. She stepped directly into the growing sphere of light and emerged outside Midnight’s desert base.
“I can’t use that teleportation feature very often because it drains my receptor cells but to find Captain Midnight, I’ll gladly lose a bit of power!” she said to herself.
She knew all about Subcity since she and the other women had each trained there at different times. She rushed down to the main complex after using her wrist beam to activate the special elevator.
Supernova frowned as she entered the main lab and spotted two other costumed women.
“Supernova! It is an honor to meet you. I didn’t know you were also one of the Secret Squadron until Sugar Starshine! and I accessed the files on Captain Midnight’s computer!”
said a pretty blonde in a pink and white costume.
Sugar Starshine! added, “All of us were trained by the Captain. Apparently, he didn’t think we all needed to know about one another!”
Supernova frowned for a moment and then smiled broadly.
“Jim had his ways. I trust his judgment! If you were his pupils then you are welcome allies!” she said.
Warbird said, “And the fact that you just used a beam from that device on your wrist to determine if we were telling the truth or not, just happened to boost your own confidence in our claims! Oh, yes, I could see it with my own visor lens and its function was simple to deduce! By the way, I am Warbird and this is Sugar Starshine!,”
Sugar Starshine! said, “The important thing is to find Jim! There are traces of some kind of vapor in the environment here. It was not a knockout gas but something else.”
Warbird said, “He fought more than one alien invader. I would not be surprised if his attackers came from outer space!”
Supernova said, “Can you trace this substance or merely detect its remains?”
Sugar Starshine! interrupted the two women and added, “We don’t need to trace it. We can just use the implant Jim put in his arm. He implanted a tracking device back when he trained me. I knew I could activate it with his computer!”
She smiled winningly and gestured to where she had rapidly adjusted the controls on a console.
“Santa Palos? Jim is being held in Santa Palos!” said Supernova as she looked at the monitor.
Warbird said, “He certain had a lot of enemies who served the Nazi cause. I think we may have hit upon the answer. That little South American nation became a hiding place for a lot of Nazi agents after the war. Shall we work together? We could be his new Secret Squadron. Perhaps, that was always his intention!”
The other two agreed readily and they hurried to Warbird’s plane after making a few additional plans.
All of them respected and loved the heroic Midnight. He had been a father figure to each of them. Now, they were determined to pay him back by freeing him from the peril he was facing.
Meanwhile, a dark haired young man made his way across the campus of Columbia University with an ease that belied the fact that he relied upon a crutch. Freddy Freeman was handsome and well-liked. He was smart and he was capable. No one who knew him would ever see him as defined by his disability. He was just not the type of person who allowed himself to display grief or anger over his damaged leg. If he felt remorse, it was more for the loss of his beloved grandfather than it was for his physical injury.
He had lost use of his leg after being attacked by a super human killed called Captain Nazi. The brute had callously murdered Freddy’s grandfather and swatted the boy into the sea with no regard for his life or the kindness he had attempted to show the bigger man when he had appeared in the waters near their small boat.
Freddy had been saved by Captain Marvel and in fact he had been granted the same powers the World’s Mightiest Mortal possessed. He could access them by shouting his hero’s name. Magical lightning would then transform the crippled youth into the dynamic Captain Marvel Jr..
The magical transformation was always obscured so observers could not tell exactly what had occurred. Jr. had become part of the Marvel Family and along with Cap. and Mary Marvel, he had become a true heroic defender of the virtues embodied by their mutual benefactor an ancient wizard named Shazam. The trio had been among the victims preserved in suspended animation from 1953 to 1973 due to an attack by an evil genius called Dr. Sivana. Now, in e present day Freddy was a college student and he operated a newsstand as well. He was content and had accepted being something of a contemporary Rip Van Winkle with his usual good nature. As the wizard Shazam had once told Captain Marvel’s alter ego Billy Batson, they and many of their heroic allies had been preserved and safeguarded in all of their vitality so they might be available to face a cosmic Crisis. Sivana had not meant his actions to do more than eliminate his enemies but in truth he had accidentally preserved them for the future.
Now the dark haired young man smiled as if to shake away his somber thoughts. He was too capable and selfless to ever truly allow himself to wallow in self-pity. He would have been a hero even had he not been granted his own amazing powers.
He ducked behind a campus dorm and spoke his own magical name of power!
“Captain Marvel!” As magical lightning flashed, he was transformed into the heroic blue and gold clad form of Captain Marvel Jr.!
He flew rapidly toward one office building where he met a striking woman in a brief white dress and brown high heeled boots. She had a beautiful face and long brown hair adorned by a tiara. An amulet rested on her chest and bracelets gleamed on each wrist.
Isis was one his colleagues in the super group known as the Squadron of Justice. She was also secretly the university professor called Andrea Thomas. She knew Freddy in both of his roles.
Jr. smiled at the heroine and said, “I was glad when you called me. I needed a break from research papers!”
She smiled back and said, “I understand. It is your personal history with a certain super criminal that led me to summon you!”
He nodded as his pleasant features briefly became grim in demeanor.
“I take Captain Nazi very seriously. I appreciate your involving me in this situation!” he said.
Isis said, “As I told you before, one of my former students Jenny Dolan disappeared while on vacation. The girl’s grandfather James Dolan is convinced her disappearance has something to do with your old enemy. He said his own sources spotted Captain Nazi in the same place Jenny Dolan vanished. She had mentioned to him that she had stumbled on to Neo-Nazi presence in Santo Palos in Latin America!”
Captain Marvel Jr.’s frown deepened.
“I read Dolan’s book as part of a journalism class I took last semester. He is a legend. He worked with the F.B. I. and as both a reporter and a detective during his long career. If his sources say something, I’d wager they are right on the money!” he replied.
Isis nodded and said, “Both Dolans are reliable and capable. I knew you would want to join me since Nazi may be involved!”
The two flew off and wasted no additional time in conversation!
4
Meanwhile, Captain Midnight found himself locked in a cell within a large complex located below the Santa Palos Presidential Palace. He calmly deactivated the door’s security system and strolled out to emerge from a narrow hallway into a spacious lab. He noticed the flag of Santa Palos amidst a row of Swastikas!
“Welcome, Captain Midnight. It has been a long time has it not?” asked a beautiful woman who lounged seductively on a divan as black uniformed guards stood around her sultry form and held advanced laser rifles.
“Fury Shark? I see time has not diminished your beauty nor has it dulled your wits. You knew I would easily escape from that cell!” he said as he stared at the woman who had been his deadliest foe’s beloved and brilliant daughter.
She laughed the same silvery laugh he remembered so well from over forty years old. How had she escaped aging? Suspended animation? Magic? Time Travel? His keen mind ticked off the possibilities even as he scanned his environment and planned his next move.
“Your father would be proud. You’ve put together a nice little place here- decorated like something out of his worst fantasies! You always were Daddy’s Little Girl!” he said as he glanced at the paramilitary uniformed troops and weird devices that lined the room.
Fury Shark smiled as she dropped one leg off the side of the divan and smoothed down her revealing black gown.
“It is in memory of the brilliant Ivan Shark that I have brought you here on this particular day. You see this would have been his 100th birthday. It is most fitting that his oldest foe dies during our commemoration of all he stood for during his lifetime before you killed him!”
Captain Midnight shook his head. “Your father died while he was trying to kill me. He fell to his death. It was his own fault. Strange how sentimental you Nazi fanatics can be! Will there be cake?”
She stood up and her high heels clattered as she marched down the steps from the high divan.
“We shall not quibble over the details. I mean to honor his memory on a far grander scale than merely by witnessing your demise. I intend to unleash his figurative heirs upon this modern world. I want you to witness to rise of the New Men!”
She gestured toward a row of costumed figures that emerged from the shadows and glared menacingly at the hero.
“You’ll find the New Men superior to your customary foes. Aryan science and my own additions have made them unbeatable!” she said with an almost girlish laugh.
She tossed back her long platinum blonde hair and smiled coldly.
“Do not worry though. You shall not die yet. I have plans for you!”
Captain Midnight smiled grimly.
“Genetic manipulation could explain how a woman in her sixties could look like a pin-up girl!” he mused. He calculated his odds. He could do this. He could take down the whole base but he also knew help was on the way and he was smart enough to bide his time.
5
Meanwhile, the new Secret Squadron of Warbird, Supernova, and Sugar Starshine! had reached Santa Palos as well. Warbird’s plane was perhaps the fastest craft in existence. It certainly rivaled Spy Smasher’s own unique subplane.
Warbird said, “Can you imagine Neo-Nazi agents preaching the same kind of hatred that threatened the world decades ago? I can only assume Midnight is their captive and they are operating with the sanction of the country’s president. I detect the implant in Jim’s arm. He is below the palace itself!”
Supernova added, “So are a large number of machines that are using vast amounts of energy. My sensors detected that much too!”
Sugar Starshine! said, “I may be wrong but I’m still hung up on that trace of vapor we detected back in subcity. I was doing some scans on the sample I took in the mini-lab on the plane. It registers as alien in origin! Saturnian to be precise. Jim fought a bunch of creeps from Saturn on several occasions!”
Warbird nodded as she expertly guided the plane down to a clearing outside the city.
“Xog was the name of their leader. He and his fellow Saturnians could change into a strange nearly intangible vapor!” she said.
“Aliens and the Axis? This sounds like something from the pulps!” added Supernova.
As the women emerged from the plane, a squad of uniformed troops rushed forward to confront them. The men were natives of the Latin American nation as their accents made all too clear but they wore uniforms that were reminiscent of the old evil of the German S.S.!
Warbird reached down to her hip and withdrew a sphere shaped object from a pouch. She lifted it up and as it slowly expanded upon contact with air she whirled it around and released it into the path of the first attackers!
The bolo-like projectile expanded until it connected with and tripped the first three men. As they fell, their followers slowed down and Warbird deftly connected with a gas pellet that dropped them as well.
Sugar Starshine! flipped forward in an impressible display of acrobatics and landed in the middle of the next group. She spun around and delivered a series of kicks and punches that stunned her foes as well. She was remarkably fast on her feet.
Supernova calmly walked forward with her uniquely English poise and raised one arm almost languidly. She smiled slightly as her wrist device projected a beam of concussive force that brought down more of the soldiers.
She fluffed her blonde curls and said, “This lot didn’t have much to offer as far as combat skills were concerned!”
Warbird scowled as her helmet sensors detected more figures approaching through the foliage around them.
“You’re in luck then because the next wave of attackers has arrived!”
She spread her glider-wings and soared toward them only to barely avoid a strange attack as the soldiers altered their bodies and expanded into gaseous figures that threatened to enclose her flying form.
She twisted and spun until she had dodged them and then she managed to scatter them temporarily with an explosive pellet tossed expertly into their midst.
“They’re just like the Saturnians! They can turn into vapor!” she shouted.
As one of the soldiers charged at Supernova she grunted in surprise as he connected with staggering force.
“They are super strong too or at least enhanced!” cried the British blonde as she fell beneath several of the leering troops.
Sugar Starshine! frowned and dived to her new friend’s aid. “If they have Saturnian powers then what is to say they could not equally have benefitted from the abilities of some of Captain Midnight’s other alien foes?”
She glanced over at Warbird who caught her eye and seemed to slip suddenly before her foes
The three women resumed their fight but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the surprising strength of their seemingly human but super powered foes.
Within the palace itself, Captain Midnight frowned as he recognized some bizarre figures encased in narrow fluid-filled tubes.
“Plutonians and Saturnians! You’ve been using some of my old alien foes as genetic source material to enhance your own New Men. That’s why my attacker in the lab was able to bypass security. He began intangible to pass through the walls and then applied super strength when he struck me!” he said.
Fury Shark smiled wickedly and said, “Indeed! I have surpassed my grandfather himself by creating humans with all the powers of extraterrestrial invaders and you are the man responsible since I learned of them by studying your old cases and interrogating one of your old friends!”
She gestured as two guards shoved a gaunt looking scarecrow of a man forward.
“Ichy! Great Scott! She took you too!” said Captain Midnight as he gazed sorrowfully upon the worn face of his old friend Ichy “Sgt. Twilight” Mudd.
“Cap! I didn’t talk! They tried to make me but I would not break!” he cried.
Fury said, “He speaks the truth but it was easy to draw the data from his simple mind with a little technological help!”
Captain Midnight frowned as he lost his former confidence. He was angry now and his foes would learn just what that could mean!
6
Captain Midnight reached out and placed one hand on his old friend’s shoulder.
“It is okay, Ichy. You know that you and I are fine like always!” he said.
Ichy grinned slightly and stood a bit straighter as the two soldiers prepared to lead him back to some cell.
Fury Shark laughed and said, “Such touching American loyalty to one’s comrades! I shall reunite you in death very soon!”
Captain Midnight said, “I’m tired of your games! I’ve seen your new men and they look like nothing more than tired Nazi clichés made more threatening by genetic manipulation using cellular samples from alien foes I already defeated decades ago!”
Fury scowled and placed both hands on her hip.
“Really? Where is your legendary intellectual curiosity? I admit that you’ve already deduced the power source for my new men but as you Americans liked to say…. you ain’t seen nothing yet!” she purred.
Captain Midnight frowned as he saw Warbird, Sugar Starshine!, and Supernova being led in by more of the troops.
“We have newcomers. They posed little threat to us!” said a sneering soldier.
Fury said, “Your protégées came for you as I knew they would. Oh, yes, I detected your tracking implant when I first inspected you while you were stunned. I wanted them to come. What better revenge than to kill your loved ones as you let my father die years before!”
At that moment the three women broke free from their captors and Warbird said, “Merely playing helpless so we could be brought to you!”
She elbowed a soldier in the face and flipped him over her shoulder before he could react.
Sugar Starshine! laughed and then released a small sphere that emitted a shrill sound like a amplified siren that drove some of the troops backward as they realized that even as vapors they could still hear and feel the pain caused from the weapon!
“I normally sound much better!” quipped the Japanese girl.
Captain Midnight moved forward and dropped Ichy’s guards to the ground with two deftly applied judo chops and then turned to see Supernova as she flew upward and aimed her wrist device over the lab.
Ice formed on the machines and the sheer weight of the frozen sheath brought many of the devices crashing to the ground in a shower of sparks!
“So, all your Nazi dreams end like this!” declared Captain Midnight.
Fury shrieked, “No! You have not felt the power of my elite guards!”
At that moment four costumed beings surrounded the platinum blonde beauty.
All of them were natives of Santa Palos but they were altered from normal humans in one way or another.
The biggest man wore a bright red cape and a black costume with yellow trunks. A lightning bolt was emblazoned on his broad chest. His fists crackled with energy.
“I am El Capitan Rayo or Captain Lightning!” he said as a cruel smile spread across his face.
He tossed a broken lab table across the room with one hand and closed in on the heroes.
His closest ally was a monster who shambled forward leaving a noxious trail of some unknown matter in his wake. He carried a horrible odor with him as his body seemed to be made of some decaying sludge!
“Jack Fetid is eager to get his hands on your pretty allies!” said Fury.
The next villain was a woman with a pretty face but an odd metallic skull cap and metal armor that left only sections of her hips and shoulders bare.
“Cybernetica will easily disarm you. All technology is mine to control!” she said in an emotionless voice that sounded like the preprogramed speech of some machine.
The final villain looked like a human-feline hybrid. She was covered with a tawny fur and moved with the grace of a predatory panther.
“Tigre allows her lethal claws to speak for her!” said Fury.
Warbird rolled forward and sprang up to kick Tigre in the face as she twisted to avoid the catwoman’s raking claws.
“Your pretty bird will be a natural snack for my cat!” said Fury.
Tigre snarled and pounced on Warbird who fell but managed to ram her helmet into the other woman’s face. The pink and white clad beauty slid out from under the feline foe and brought both legs around in a side kick that jarred her before she could regain her balance.
Warbird dodged Tigre and slapped a small square pad on her neck. The growling Tigre gasped and then collapsed at Warbird’s feet.
“Knockout patch puts the kitty out!” announced a smiling Warbird.
Supernova frowned as her wrist device dimmed and she fell hard.
“My equipment doesn’t work!” she thought as the metal being called Cybernetica reached out for her and began to choke her as she lifted the struggling British blonde into the air with one cold hand.
Supernova kicked furiously then smashed her wrist weapon into the mocking metal woman’s face.
Sparks burst into the air and Supernova dropped to freedom.
“That was all I could do but now I’m weaponless!” she thought as she circled the bigger woman warily.
“You were a beauty pageant winner in college. You are still vain about your looks!” said Cybernetica as she moved forward haltingly.
“I have accessed you data! I know all!” she said as she began a self-repair process.
As Jack Fetid lurched toward Sugar Starshine! she took another pellet out of her hip pouch and shoved her arm into his chest.
She frowned as her arm emerged covered with a green slime!
“Yuck!” she whispered.
Jack laughed as the misshapen maw that served as his mouth opened wider and he expanded his oozing form to loom above the petite girl in the blonde wig and white powdered make-up!
“No way am I going to allow him to give me a makeover! What would my fans think!” she mused.
She smiled winningly and danced backward as she mentally counted.
Jack Fetid was about to grab her when his body began to tremble and the explosive device she had placed inside him detonated and sent his green slime in every direction.
“I hope he can grow back or something! I didn’t want to kill him but I also assumed he was some kind of artificial being and not a living guy!” she thought as she wiped slime off her costume.
Captain Midnight himself was wrestling with Captain Ray but he was losing the fight since the younger man was stronger than he was.
“You are nearly as powerful as a Marvel!” he said as he was slammed to the ground.
“I’d debate that!” cried a newcomer as Captain Marvel Jr. flew into the chamber!
“It was easy to find your base. All it took was tracking the smell you Nazi creeps give off! declared Jr. as he slammed into the ground and send a dozen troops reeling in his wake.
He pulled Ray off of Captain Midnight and punched him across the room! Ray slammed into a row of computers and as they shattered, Cybernetica stiffened and remained inert.
“She’s offline!” sighed Supernova with obvious relief.
Ray grunted in pain and closed in on the boy in blue.
“You don’t realize my true power! I feed off your magical lightning!” he said as he gripped Jr. around the hips and lifted him upward.
Ray grew brighter as he drained magical energy from the hero’s body.
“I feel weaker! Is this clown capable of sucking the magical power out of me? Could he turn me back to Freddy?” thought Captain Marvel Junior.
He broke free from the bigger man’s hold and kicked him but the kick carried little power.
Captain Ray tossed back his head and bellowed with pleasure.
“I am invincible!” he said.
Captain Midnight timed his actions carefully and then darted forward. He said to Junior, “Say the name!”
Jr. hesitated and then smiled as the wisdom he tapped into from his own magical mentor helped him see the answer.
“Captain Marvel!” he cried.
The magical lighting struck him and returned him to his alter ego of Freddy Freeman!
At that second the magical energy drained by Captain Ray also left his body.
He once again only possessed his original power level and not the additional might he had absorbed from CMJ!
Midnight fired a small gun that he had slipped out of his own costume.
Ray screamed and fell to the ground.
Fury gasped and said, “How could you stop him when a Marvel could not?”
Midnight smiled and said, “Let’s just say your new man gained the same old weaknesses as the beings you used to create him!”
He thought, “I figured he gained might from forms of energy like lighting so he apparently was created with genetic material from my old Plutonian foe Jagga! Jagga also grew stronger when he came in contact with electricity for example. However Ray and the other new men are Plutonian/Saturinian hybrids and also have the Saturnian weakness to my stabilizer gun!”
Warbird had caught on to the tactic as well and had climbed above the scene of battle to aim her own stabilizer gun!
The new men fell one by one as their unstable bodily structures stiffened and left them stunned as the blonde markswoman shot each one!
Ichy grinned with pleasure!
“You got them! I knew you would!” he said.
Freddy had swiftly changed by to his CMJ form and began to help contain the soldiers.
At that moment Isis emerged from below and led around two dozen men and woman into the room.
“By using my magic to take me directly to Jenny Dolan I was able to help Jr. locate this base and free the prisoners. Jenny, the real palace guards, Presidente Garcia, and several others who had fallen victim to the Fury Shark regime!” she said.
Captain Marvel Jr. scowled as he saw the last prisoner emerge from below. He was a tall burly man in green with a blond crewcut.
“Captain Nazi!” cried Junior as he flew toward his old foe.
Isis raised one hand and stopped him with one imperious glance.
“Wait! In this case, he was as much victim as villain! Fury captured him and used him as a source for her genetic experiments! He was locked below and he is at least temporarily powerless!” she said.
“That witch claimed I represented the failures of the HItlerian regime! She used me like a lab animal!” he shouted.
Jr. said, “It couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy! “
He wrapped a shard of metal around the Aryan’s wrists and said, “I’ll feel better if he’s tied up!”
As the heroes helped the prisoners get to safety and rounded up the remaining troops, Captain Midnight followed Fury through the base until he found her near a hangar with a waiting vehicle of some advanced design.
“Running away? I recognized the true leader of Santa Palos back in the cells. Presidente Garcia used to be the hero of this peaceful nation- the Red Gaucho back in the forties and fifties. He’ll have a lot to say about what you’ve done to his people!” he shouted.
Fury cursed and said, “You are so smug and yet how little you know!”
Captain Midnight said, “I know you are not really Fury Shark! You posed as her but you slipped and called Ivan Shark your grandfather at one point. You’re Fury’s daughter, What happened to the real Fury? Did she die?”
An elderly woman looked out from within the hover craft. She shrank back out of sight. She was the real Fury and she did not want her old foe to see how she had aged.
“Don’t play games with that man, Ivanka! He is too dangerous!” she whispered.
Ivanka Fury, such was the younger woman’s real name, raced into the craft and it lifted off as Captain Midnight jumped forward and used his para-glider cape to sail toward the vehicle.
Ivanka cursed and said, “He is closing in on us! Grandmother, you know I must survive! You know I carry the future within me!”
Fury Shark looked at her grandchild and saw the same beauty she had used to dominate men when she was a young woman. She also saw the same ruthlessness her late father had possessed.
“I know what must be done!” said the old woman.
She opened the craft’s side door and jumped out.
Captain Midnight frowned as he spotted the falling woman.
“No regard for life …even her own!” he mused as he struggled to catch her.
He succeeded and brought her to safety as the base below began to self-destruct at some remote signal from Ivanka Shark’s rapidly fleeing craft.
As Captain Marvel Jr. and Isis shielded both friend and foe alike from the rubble, Midnight led the old woman forward into the bright light of day.
“Fury, you’ve passed nothing but your father’s madness on to that girl!” he said,
Fury looked at him with a gaze that brought back all too many old memories.
“She has my brains, my beauty… and something much more significant!” she said with a cruel smile.
As Fury Shark, Captain Ray, and the other Neo Nazis were led off into custody by the real military authorities of the small nation, Captain Marvel Jr. faced his old foe.
“You thought you’d run this little pocket kingdom but she made a monkey out of you! I guess your search for power did you in once again!” he said.
Captain Nazi scowled and then he looked directly at his most hated foe and said, “On the contrary. I came here to find something more precious than power. I came here to find my family!”
Captain Marvel Jr. remained silent. He was uncertain what to make of this claim but he knew he would learn more in the future.
Meanwhile, Captain Midnight smiled at Warbird, Sugar Starshine! and Supernova.
“Thank you, ladies! You proved yourselves once more. I owe you all!” he said.
Warbird glanced at the others and said, “We’d do anything for you!
Sugar Starshine! and Supernova readily agreed.
Ichy grinned and said, “Cap. They got the makings of a new Secret Squadron!”
He nodded and said, “I agree!”
His legacy was secure and he felt happy about it even as it pondered what Ivanka Shark’s next move might be.
Far away aboard the craft, Ivanka Shark gently placed one hand on her body and said, “Grandmother’s sacrifice will be worthwhile. She knows I took more than data from Captain Midnight while he was stunned. I took much more! In time I shall give birth to his child! This child shall embody all that two great bloodlines carry. My child shall be greater than the Shark or Albright lines. He shall rule the world!” she vowed.
The End