Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:06:30 GMT
Forgotten Heroes
By libbylawrence
The Guardian uncovers a dark secret within the DNA Project.
1
Jim Harper walked calmly down a long hallway and routinely glanced left and right as he went on his rounds. He noticed every detail as he moved briskly along the huge complex in the secret government DNA Project. He was able to notice so much so swiftly because he was in fact a trained detective with years of experience although he didn’t look much older than he had many years ago.
He nodded to various white coated scientists or green uniformed security guards as he moved along and he smiled occasionally or exchanged a friendly word. He was a caring man and he had never lost his compassion for others or his desire to protect and serve those in need.
“I suppose this is not all that different from the way I used to walk my beat when I was a rookie cop in Suicide Slum! Of course, checking store fronts to see if any would be robbers had broken in was a bit different from watching out for incidents involving super powered genetic creations!” he thought with a smile.
He remembered how things had started for him so long ago. As an orphan he had more or less made his way as best he could on the mean streets of Suicide Slum with help from his best buddy Leo. That meant he had occasionally helped himself to fruit from old man Simon’s store or scrambled to run errands for a few coins from the old men who lounged in front of Kirby’s Barber Shop. It had been a wild life in those noisy, bustling city streets with their broken down tenements and colorful characters. He had learned to fight on those same streets and he had suffered more than one close call in the narrow alleyways and rusty fire escapes that comprised his boyhood playground.
“I just might have ended up working for Boss Moxey or one of his rivals if not for Nat Milligan! May he rest in peace!” he thought.
Nat Milligan! The name brought back one particularly vivid memory for Harper. He stopped in his tracks and the gleaming metal of the DNA Project faded into the clotheslines and oily store fronts of his childhood.
He remembered how fast his heart had been racing as he and Leo jumped over the debris of the Leiber Pawn Shop and dashed in front of cars to try to avoid the thugs who ruled those streets.
“Are they after us?” he had gasped as Leo had reached back to haul him bodily over a rickety old fence.
“Nah! Those mugs won’t touch us now that we’re so many blocks away from their Yancy Street clubhouse!”
At that moment a big man in a worn cap had loomed up over them and Leo had dived to the right while Jim had moved left.
As Leo vanished from view, Jim yelped and struggled as the stranger held him firmly by one arm.
“Let me go!” he had yelled as the man had looked down at him from behind the battered face of a pugilist.
“Tough guy, aren’t you? The way you run and jump, I’d say you got the makings of a regular superstar!”
replied the big man.
“My name is Nat Milligan. I’m a trainer. I’ve worked with some pretty good boxers but I bet I could make you as good as any of them. I can get you some grub and a place to sleep too! Don’t worry. You can trust me. I’m pals with Father O’Hara from the corner church. Would a face like mine lie?”
In the present the adult Jim smiled and lowered his gaze as he remembered how Nat Milligan had been as good as his word. He had become a father figure to young Jim and had done a lot more than train him to become a champion track star and swimmer. Milligan had instilled real values in Harper and had shaped him into the man he eventually became!
He also owed Leo a debt of thanks. One night after working out with Nat, Jim had returned to the old neighborhood in search of his childhood buddy. He had not seen Leo since the day Nat found him.
He took a crazy chance and stood outside old man Kelly’s bar and called out for Leo.
“Are you nutso? Keep it down, Jimbo! I’m a wanted man!” cried a slightly shift looking man in a faded cheap suit.
He beckoned Jim into an alley and the two stared at one another for a moment.
Leo had grown into a rather oily looking man with sallow skin and a defeated demeanor. Gone was the spirited boy who had led Jim from one scrap to another!
“You look good, Jim! You’re some kind of Tarzan what with them muscles!” said Leo.
Jim said, “I’m glad to see you, Leo. I’ve thought of you often!”
Leo said, “I looked around for you too but after that mug put the snatch on you, I figured you were a dead cert. for reform school!”
Jim said, “In a way I was! Nat’s a good man. He really cares about helping kids in need!”
Leo said, “I still live by the old code. You gotta help yerself in this rotten world!”
As a siren screamed through the Suicide Slum streets, Leo stiffened and glanced right and left.
“Listen, I can’t be seen. The cops want me. It’s all a mix up!” he said.
Jim nodded and said, “Come with me. Nat might be able to help you straighten things out!”
Leo laughed and then shook his head. He didn’t trust anyone. That much was clear.
After a few final words the two friends had parted and Jim had remained behind in the alley glazing thoughtfully around the old neighborhood.
As loud shots rang out, he raced after Leo and emerged from the alley to see a car speeding away and Leo’s prone body on the dirty pavement.
He bent over his friend and clasped his hand only to see that he was dead!
Leo’s death at the hands of one of the gangs that still roamed all over Suicide Slum had motivated Jim Harper to reject a career in athletics for a vocation as police man! Nat Milligan had understood although Jim had never forgotten the disappointment etched on his mentor’s face. Nat had always dreamed of seeing Harper become a famous Olympian!
As a rookie cop Jim had been assigned the same old streets of his childhood as his first beat. He had relished the chance to do for others what Nat had done for him. He wanted nothing more than to make a difference in the lives of some of the street kids on his beat.
It had taken a beating at the hands of some disgruntled punks to lead Jim to embark on the life of a costumed hero. He had stumbled battered and bloody to the door of the Jackson Costume Shop and had used a pass key to enter the darkened store.
Tossing down a few crumbled bills he had replaced his torn and bloody uniform with a blue costume and matching gold boots and gloves.
As he adjusted a blue cowl that covered his upper face, he winced with pain.
“I better add this for some protection!” he thought as he slipped a gold helmet over the mask and remembered how one of the punks had brandished a baseball bat.
He glanced up at the light of a streetlight gleamed on the highly polished surface of a golden shield!
“Looks a bit like a giant badge!” he thought as he picked up the oddly durable yet perfectly balanced shield.
He had tracked down the gang and defeated them easily. That adventure had been the birth of his career as the mystery man known as the Guardian!
He frowned as an alarm sounded throughout the DNA Project and he saw several workers scrambling frantically away from the west wing.
He grabbed the arm of a freckled faced security guard. (Many of the guards were clones produced from cell samples taken from his old friend Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen!
“What’s wrong, Number 3?” he asked.
“Jeepers! There’s trouble down the hall! I think we’re under attack!” gasped the guard.
The Guardian raced forward and easily outdistanced the others. He was still as superb a physical specimen as one could find!
He made his way to the scene of the disturbance and his eyes widened as he saw the invaders in question!
Seven Amazonian women were rampaging through the complex! All of them stood well over six feet tall and they were identically clad in white one piece leotards that left their legs and arms bare. Long shaggy black hair hung down and partially obscured each face but as he drew closer he recognized the features each invader shared! While each clone had been mutated in some manner into a hulking powerhouse of pure rage, he could still recognize the otherwise lovely features of Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane!
“Laniacs?” he thought as he mentally grasped for some term for the monsters!
2
The Guardian raised his golden shield as the nearest Laniac charged at him with a guttural growl emanating from her contorted lips.
“Lois Lane was a staffer at the Planet when the DNA Project acquired cell samples from several of their employees thanks to the twisted schemes of a being posing as Morgan Edge at that time! Clearly, someone has altered Miss Lane’s clones into these berserk beasts!” he thought.
She slammed her fist into the shield as if it was a target which in fact it was intended to be!
The Guardian nodded with satisfaction as the modified shield absorbed the super human impact!
“The old beauty still holds up well thanks to the improvements the boys made to it!” he thought.
He jumped up as the monstrous woman swung one long leg in his path. He dodged her clumsy attack and casually flipped her over his shoulder in an expert martial arts move. He was as skillful a fighter as any more famous crimebuster and in spite of the passage of time since he first became the Guardian, he had lost none of his timing.
As the giant woman crashed to the ground, the Guardian connected with a precise jab to a pressure point and left her stunned.
He whirled to see a second Laniac rip a console off the wall and raise it over her head as wires sparked and coiled around her.
A boyish looking man crouched in her path. He was nearly immobile from surprise.
“Get down, Gabby!” he cried as he leaped through the air and knocked the middle aged teacher to safety seconds before the monster slammed the broken machinery down where he had been standing.
As he flashed a quick smile of reassurance to Gabby, he said, “Stay down, son! These poor creatures are nearly as powerful as Angry Charlie himself!”
He knocked the mutated Lois Lane clone off her feet and subdued her only to find himself suddenly surrounded by the remaining five clones!
He glanced around and assured himself that no one else- especially none of his boys- were in peril.
“Good! I’ve drawn them after me. That will give the rest of the staff time to evacuate!” he thought.
He grunted as the women began to pummel him. He dodged and blocked and fought back with a remarkable degree of skill but he was only one man even if that man had been called a one man army in the past!
“Figures I get a new after shave and all the mutated killer babes still go for the man with the shiny gold hat!” cried a wild newcomer as a man in red and gold bounced into the middle of the attackers and then altered his form from spherical to inhumanly thin and wide! As a human barrier he wrapped himself around several of the Laniacs and gave Guardian breathing room!
“Plastic Man!” cried the Guardian as he recognized the Pliable Paladin!
“In the fantastically flexible flesh, if you’ll excuse the expression!” quipped the hero!
As Plastic Man contained and or temporarily blinded the savage Lois Lane clones, the Guardian caught a glimpse of a security guard aiming a stylized gun at the nearest Laniac.
“Stop!” he bellowed as he dived forward and executed a perfect series of acrobatic flips before landing in front of the mutated clone and saving her by deflecting the energy- blast with his shield!
“I don’t want lethal force used! These women can’t help themselves!” he shouted.
Plastic Man was being squeezed into a thin rope by one of the giant Laniacs but he merely elongated himself and snaked around until he had managed to bind them together!
As other security guards closed in, the Lois Lane clones were subdued and secured for examination.
“They just teleported in but we’ve failed to trace the origin of the beam that brought them inside!”
explained a young guard.
“No one was seriously hurt thanks to you Guardian!” said a brown haired handsome man in a white coat.
“Good. We won’t need your medical services then, Tommy!” said the Guardian to the physician.
Plastic Man walked over as the guards carefully transported the Laniacs to a secure room.
“Nice to meet you, Cap… I mean Guardian! I was thinking I might run into you. I’ve been here for a couple of days now. Your lab jockeys have been checking me out. I’ve been having a flare up of an old problem caused years ago by a creep named ….get this…the Molder! I lose control of my powers at times!” he said as his eyes bulged freakishly out of his head.
The Guardian shook hands with the Stretchable Sleuth and said, “Thanks for coming to my aid. I didn’t want to harm those women needlessly. If they came from a source I suspect then they were more or less built to be berserkers!”
As Gabby the teacher and Tommy the doctor were joined by three other men, the Guardian’s eyes narrowed in concern. He knew these men well. He had raised four of them and had befriended the fifth as an adult. They were all talented in their respective fields and they had all brought those talents to the service of the government’s DNA Project years ago.
Gabby pushed a stray lock of black hair away from his large bright eyes and said, “Guardian, those poor women looked like Lois Lane! She was Superman’s girlfriend! Did you ever read her book? She can really write! Oh, and she’s on TV sometimes too!”
A tall rather gaunt man with thick glasses said, “Gabby, Ms. Lane Prime’s various occupational achievements are irrelevant giving the unfortunate development that occurred to her cell samples!”
Big Words, a gifted scientist, looked as concerned as the others but he was used to habitually expressing himself in his own rather cryptic manner.
“ Youse still sound like you swallowed a dictionary or somethin’!” cried a stocky man with brown hair and wildly gesticulating arms!
“Easy, Scrapper! Practice those social worker skills of yours and try to accept our buddy’s manner of speech!” said a slightly younger black man who worked with Big Words in the lab.
“Okay, Flip but I can’t see how he can waste time with those ten dollar words when we’ve all been played for suckers!” cried Scrapper.
The Guardian frowned as he led the men aside and said, “What’s going on? I get the feeling you fellas, know a bit more about the Laniacs as I called them than I want to know!”
Tommy said, “Let me clarify things. I suspect the altered Lois Lanes came from tampered with cell samples taken from the batch originally supplied by Edge all those years ago. I know you probably figured that too. What has alarmed us all is their invasion served another purpose beyond creating chaos!”
The Guardian said, “They were a distraction! Boys, tell me exactly what happened!”
Flip said, “The Laniacs occupied everyone while some other residents here were abducted or at least disappeared!”
The Guardian said, “Residents? I can always tell when you guys are reluctant to tell me something. “
Gabby said, “Honest, Guardian, we didn’t know they were doing it! We’re all pretty upset too!”
Tommy added, “Apparently some of the other scientists here have been working secretly with a group of very young subjects. The five of us knew nothing about it.”
Big Words added, “It is truly unethical! The DNA Project has become little better than our infamous old adversaries at the so colorfully dubbed Evil Factory! The special project was being conducted here without our knowledge!”
Tommy said, “Some of our colleagues were testing a group of five year olds who possess remarkable mental abilities. These subjects had been sequestered in a seldom used part of the complex. Their doctor confessed it all to us after he discovered they had vanished during the Laniac attack!”
The Guardian gasped, “Great Guns! Are you saying this project was experimenting on small children?”
Gabby said, “Yes! Those kids were the target of the invaders. While everyone was occupied with those Lois Lane monsters, they were abducted!”
Plastic Man had dangled an elongated ear nearby and as he retracted it sheepishly he said, “I couldn’t help overhearing. Just who are these poor kids?”
Scrapper said, “The Brain Children! That’s what they were called when they fought the Metal Men a couple years ago! They were all practically infants back then!”
The Guardian said, “I’ll find them! I won’t let anyone exploit helpless children! I’ll rescue them and I’ll have something to say to the cold hearted eggheads who dared use babies as lab rats too!”
3
Tommy shook his head as he rapidly read through data on a computer screen.
“Radiation mutated the unborn children of several unfortunate women to the extent that the mothers died shortly after their infants were born. The babies possessed abnormally advanced intelligence as well as various telekinetic abilities. The children fell into the custody of a scientist named Dr. Norman Technowski. This Dr. Techno or Strangeglove as he later called himself tried to use the babies as living weapons until Dr. Will Magnus and his robotic Metal Men liberated the kids who had become known as the Brain Children. The military eventually placed them here for observation and they remained as a classified part of this project until today when they disappeared during the Laniac attack!”
Plastic Man shook his head in disgust. Ashe craned his neck and read the data over Tommy’s shoulder.
“I want to help you find these poor children. I don’t want to see kids suffer! I know what it is like to written off as a freak!” he had said in an oddly sincere and serious tone.
Scrapper said, “It makes me want to punch somebody in the nose! I mean, using small children as lab animals makes me sick!”
Plastic Man said, “You’ve all treated me like aces! I’m as fit as the proverbial plastic fiddle thanks to your lab boys but it rubs me the wrong way to think of human life being treated as something to play around with in a callous way. Clones and mutants are people too!”
The Guardian said, “I’m aware of that. I’m a clone myself although that fact is not something I use to classify myself. I consider myself to be just a man who wants to help other people!”
Plastic Man’s rubbery jaw dropped to his chest as he listened to Guardian’s story.
For a moment, the Guardian silently recalled the circumstances that had led him to his own strange involvement with the DNA Project. As Jim Harper he had asked a judge to appoint him the legal guardian of a group of four orphans who became known as the Newsboy Legion. While the kids were initially suspicious of him, he eventually won them over and protected them as both Harper and the masked Guardian. When he was promoted to the rank of detective, Jim retired his heroic identity and watched “his boys” mature into successful professional men. When an aging Harper was shot by a criminal, Big Words, the scientifically gifted ex-Newsboy persuaded his friends to take living cell samples from the dying man and use them to create a clone! The genetic copy was slightly faster and stronger than the original had been; however, in other ways he was identical to the original right down to sharing a set of memories.
“The original Guardian died. I was born from his living cell samples. I don’t see myself that way. I’m the Guardian and for all intents and purposes that’s good enough for me. I’ve never been a scientist or a philosopher,” he said.
He smiled as he recalled how his original Newsboys had all married and had sons of their own. They had been joined at the DNA Project by their close ally Walter Johnson and his son Flip. Those boys were now scattered across the country at various colleges.
A gaunt humanoid with pale gray skin and a slightly protruding cranium cleared his throat and hesitantly approached the group.
“Guardian, please forgive this intrusion but earlier today my own mental powers detected psychic distress within a closed section of our complex. I was able to determine that the several beings with remarkable mental powers were there and were in distress! I have never sensed them before today. I assume it was the sudden level of emotional trauma that enabled me to do so!” he said.
Big Words said, “We must ascertain the current location of our quarry posthaste!”
The gray being was known as Dubbilex the DNAlien. He was as kind and gentle as he was brilliant.
He was another creation of the DNA Project and the Guardian looked upon him as a good friend.
He said, “I can tell you that the children apparently left him with a destination in mind! They were headed for the curious environment known as the Habitat!”
Big Words said, “No security footage depicted their departure! Gabby checked that while we were talking. The children apparently left of their own volition!”
Dubbilex shook his head. “I fear they were compelled to do so. Only manipulation would account for the level of distress I detected!”
The Guardian said, “I’ll find them! You boys stay here and try to find out how the Lois Lane clones were mutated and unleashed on the Project!”
Plastic Man bounced after the agile man in blue and gold and yelled, “I want to help! I was serious about that!”
Later, as the two heroes raced down a rural road on two stylized motorcycles, the Guardian thought about his own feelings.
“ I know my boys as I call them were innocent but I can’t work for a place where children are exploited even in the name of science! When this is over, I may make some drastic changes in my life!” he thought.
Plastic Man admired the Guardian’s compassionate demeanor. He was a man who had suffered some hard knocks in his own childhood and he was more than familiar with the means streets of an urban slum.
“I turned rotten because I didn’t have a guy like the Guardian in my life. I didn’t know he was a clone but the men he raised told me about what a hero he was to them and what he did for them when they were growing up! If yours truly, Eel O’Brian, had had a guy like that to talk sense into him, he might not have become a thief! Of course, had I not been shot during the robbery at that weird chemical plant, I would never have gained my powers or become a honest citizen and employee of the G.B. I.!” he thought.
He frowned as the road took them into a strange forest that loomed abruptly into view and ended in what appeared to be a massive and ornate city made entirely out of giant trees!
“What in the name of Paul Bunyan is this place?” he asked.
The Guardian said, “The city was built by an advanced group known as the Hairies before they abandoned it for a nomadic lifestyle in a mobile lab. You could call them a cross between hippies and super scientists! This remarkable structure was their original home after they left the DNA Project. The last known occupants were less friendly but not really evil!”
He gestured to where a thunderous roar echoed through the tree city as a group of bikers on colorful and futuristic motorcycles raced into view and blocked entrance into the Habitat!
The leader was a big muscular man with a shaggy mane of thick dark hair and a scraggly beard. He wore dark glasses and wore a fur vest over torn jeans and dirty boots. He wore studded metal bracelets on each wrist. Behind him closely followed a gaunt man in a large droopy hat who almost hid behind an enormous mustache! Other bikers were slightly to the rear of the eccentric duo.
“Turn around, brother! This scene ain’t got room for cats like you!” said the big man.
The Guardian said, “Yango? Don’t you remember me? I visited here before with Jimmy Olsen! You’ve made him your leader. I’m his friend. I’m looking for some lost kids!”
Yango said, “Olsen sold out, man! Olsen took a powder and never returned! We don’t dig him no more. As for you, you the Man! You worse than the Man! You the super Man! Tell him, Flek!”
The man with the large mustache said, “He’s trying to tell you that you aren’t welcome here. You give off all kind of bad vibes!”
Plastic Man twisted each hand into large peace signs and he said, “I feel where you’re coming from, dude! Still, we are looking for some righteous little guys who need help!”
Yango stepped closer to the Guardian and said, “I said you ain’t welcome here!”
He drew a strange gun and started to fire at the Guardian but before he could attack, the fleet hero had dived forward and knocked the weapon out of the bigger man’s grasp.
With two swift but expert moves, the Guardian had subdued the biker and pinned him to the ground.
As Flek started forward, Plastic Man elongated one arm and snared him in a makeshift lasso!
“We’re looking for some frightened kids. There’s nothing wrong with peace, love, and understanding but we won’t be chased off by Woodstock refugees!” he said.
“Perhaps, you will merely die at the hands of the Servitors!”
The mechanical voice came from beyond the bikers who scattered as several inhuman metal beings charged out of the woods and attacked the heroes!
Even as the duo responded with their usual skill, Plastic Man frowned as he recognized the robotic Servitors apparent leader.
“Holy Scrap Metal, Batman! That’s Robotman! He was one of the good guys back when we last met!”
4
As the robotic Servitors closed in on the heroes, Plastic Man continued to try to reach the Robotman he once knew as that former hero urged his followers onward and looked at the duo with his glowing red eyes.
“Robotman! I’d heard that he’d been restored to human! That’s it! This is some cheap carbon copy not the real deal!” said Plastic Man.
“I am the same metal freak you met years ago! For what it is worth, none of this is my idea and that sure includes living inside this tin can again!” said the inhuman voice that issued from the once famous
metallic features.
Guardian dodged a robot and swung his golden shield down until it wedged within the knee joint of the nearest attacker!
He held firmly to the shield and stepped aside as the robot’s lower leg abruptly broke apart!
“Attack their joints!” he yelled to Plastic Man as the red and gold clad hero covered a robot with his suddenly sail-like torso!
Plas said, “Robby, have a heart! We can help you! If you’re being forced into this, let us know!”
Robotman said, “There’s no need for a charade! The kids you’re looking for are captives along with some other victims! I’m only serving their captor because he’s threatened to harm them if I don’t obey him!”
Guardian twisted aside as a robot lunged for him. He rolled agilely across its slightly inclined back and used his shield to knock it off balance!
Plastic Man abruptly released his own foe and launched it into the other robot as his body shaped itself into a huge slingshot!
The Guardian said, “Robotman, you and I never met but if you are a victim as you claim to be, you’ll help us! We can rescue all the captives if we unite!”
Robotman hesitated and then shook his head as his arms extended on coils and he gripped each man.
The Guardian fought valiantly but he could not break free before he blacked out. Plastic Man strained to escape as well but no matter how he contorted his body, he could not slip out of the metallic being’s powerful hold.
“Take us to your leader!” he said ruefully as Robotman and the remaining intact Servitor carried the fallen Guardian into the strange forest city.
While Robotman’s face never registered any expression nor did his voice contain the changing tones of emotional upset, his human brain raced with a multitude of thoughts. He recalled how he had ended up a prisoner in the Habitat!
Years before as wealthy scientist Dr. Robert Crane he and his co-worker Dr. Chuck Grayson had developed a prototype for a fully functional robotic man; however, their plans had been altered on one rainy Halloween night when a group of cheap thugs had stormed Crane’s Long Island estate and shot him when he failed to produce the valuable scientific materials they assumed the rich scientist had in his home. After they fled into the night, Dr. Grayson had managed to transfer his friend’s brain into the robotic shell. The operation saved his life but it also cost him his humanity. Crane assumed the name Paul Dennis and as Robotman he fought crime for a time. He even interacted with others on a semi-normal level thanks to the synthetic mask and gloves that enabled him to mimic a human appearance.
He had created a robotic dog as a companion and he had helped Plastic Man and other young heroes when mysterious circumstances led them to meet for a case that would lead some of them to eventually form the Justice League. Robotman had even regained his humanity when the ever loyal Chuck Grayson had died and bequeathed his cryogenically preserved body to Crane! That blissful time ended all too soon when the home he shared with his wife was rudely invaded by the Servitors! The robots had killed Mrs. Crane and forced the now human Bob to accompany them to the Habitat where he had been ordered to improve their design for their mysterious creator.
“I tried to destroy them but my best efforts were thwarted when my captor casually shot me and ordered his robots to transfer my brain from the Grayson body to my old robotic form! I passed out as his orders rang in my ears and I awakened to find myself once more a human brain trapped in a freakish metal body!” he thought.
Robotman had hurled himself at the Servitors only to be stopped not by superior force but by the revelation that there were other helpless captives within the Habitat and his obedience was required to ensure their continued safety!
Now, he made his way into the compound and waited as Guardian recovered and Plastic Man managed to help his friend to his feet.
“I’m sorry. He’s a mad man. He thought my science could improve his Servitors or even restore his body! I had to help him. He has a lot of captives!” said Robotman.
The Guardian said, “Okay. So, just who are you? Come out of the shadows and face us!”
A weirdly tall man in a 19th century style military uniform lurched forward in a metal exo-skeleton that both supported his oversized form and seemed to contain it! He was badly burned and scars covered his face. An artificial voice modulator covered his damaged throat. One hand was metallic and the other was twisted.
“I am Victor Volcanum! Over a century ago I gained immortality through the consumption of certain rare volcanic energies. Sadly, while I still possess immortality I do not claim to be invulnerable. Thus, when my plan for world domination was thwarted by Superman and Jimmy Olsen I met with pain, disfigurement, and agonies of the mind that even my precious immortality could not assuage! Only the idea of gaining revenge on them has enabled me to survive this long after their brutal attack on me!””
The Guardian said, “You’re not the first mad man I’ve met who tried to blame the world for his own reckless actions. I’d say you reaped what you sowed!”
Robotman added, “He had some fancy air craft. Superman brought it down before he could use it to attack a city of helpless innocents!”
Volcanum continued, “I survived the crash of my air ship and used my resources to salvage as much of my humanity as possible. I also learned all I could about Olsen and Superman. My research led me to the ruins of the so-called Evil Factory in Scotland. There I acquired samples of the Lois Lane DNA that nefarious group had acquired years before. I mutated those beings and I plotted my recovery and my eventual revenge,” he said.
“Olsen’s well-travelled path through life led me here and I have been collecting living weapons with which to kill him and Superman! Your missing Brain Children are among my newest recruits!” he concluded.
Plastic Man said, “You think a bunch of super powered children can stop Superman? You must be crazy!”
Victor said, “Perhaps, but what better weapon to use against the compassionate Superman than children he would rather not harm? Superman will die before raising his hand to any of my young charges! If he does harm one by accident, he will never forgive himself! Either way, I triumph at long last!”
Plastic Man thought, “He may just be right after all and I’m not too sure the three of us can do a thing about it!”
5
Victor Volcanum lurched to one side as the supportive exo-skeleton that
contained his damaged body enabled him to move in an awkward manner.
"You don't need to worry about my plans for Superman since none of you have
the slightest chance of stopping them. My young ally Janice Weir will
prevent that from happening. Her remarkable power
of persuasion was all it took to convince the Brain Children to follow my
Servitors out of the DNA Project."
He gestured to where a teen girl with long black hair stood casually in
front of a row of small children who sat together and watched and listened
closely to everything around them!
The Guardian nodded slowly as he realized the large eyed kids had to be the
mutants known as the Brain Children. As for Janice Weir she seemed an all
too willing ally to the madman.
"Are you kids okay? Don't be frightened! We're here to help you!" said the
Guardian.
Volcanum exchanged a knowing nod with Janice Weir.
"Janice is the daughter of the super villain known as the Puppetmaster. What
he required technology to achieve, comes naturally to her. She has all my
other little guests under her mental control!" he said.
A blond boy smiled broadly as he exchanged grins with the other Brain
Children.
"Incorrect. Our superior minds are immune to her puerile powers. We merely
accompanied your robotic lackey out of boredom. We wanted to see exactly
what awaited us beyond the walls of the DNA Project!".
Janice Weir frowned as she turned her gaze upon the Brain Children.
They giggled and nudged one another as her powers failed to dominate them.
Plastic Man turned to Robotman and said, "They are free. Help us take him
down! He can't harm them!"
Robotman hesitated and then found himself floating in the air.
A little girl said, "Telekinesis! Elementary but visually stimulating. We
can shield the other captives too if you gentlemen wish to secure our would
be captor!"
Robotman's red eyes seemed to glow brighter as the child lowered him to the
ground and he dived directly at Volcanum!
Guardian charged forward and slammed his shield into the nearest servitor as
Plastic Man bounced off a wall and bowled Janice Weir to the ground.
"Sorry, honey but I can't let you work your mojo on my ever malleable
mind!".
Robotman's metallic voice contained no emotion but his words were powerful.
"I may look like a monster but you are the inhuman freak! You murdered the
only woman I ever loved merely to gain some data for your toy army! You
sick, soulless monster!".
He pounded on the oversized Volcanum until a surge of yellow energy sent him
tumbling across the room.
Volcanum said, "My force field deflected you in time.. but its use drained
much of my exo energy. If my dear Compulsion can't control those brats then
I will merely kill them all!"
"No child dies on my watch!" shouted the Guardian as he vaulted over a
robotic Servitor and closed in on Volcanum.
Suddenly a hulking female figure charged into the room and began to smash
the robots as it made her way toward their master.
"A Laniac! It must be the one I would not allow that guard to harm! She
followed us here!" mused the Guardian as the mutated Lois Lane clone tore
into their common foes!
Volcanum gasped as he saw his minions fall before the heroes. He hesitated
just long enough to lose everything!
A roar like a mighty wave of thunder shook the entire Habitat as a gigantic
vehicle crashed into the area! It was far larger than any conventional
craft. It barely resembled the missile carrier it had once been before
countless modifications had been made to its structure! Now it had a massive
horned figurehead with a gaping mouth that revealed an engine that belched
smoke.
As the modified vehicle approached, every Sevitor collapsed and Victor
Volcanum himself stiffened before he fell backward in his protective
exo-skeleton.
The Guardian nodded in approval as he noticed the now calmer Lois Lane clone
approaching the Brain Children with a peaceful look on her face.
"They soothed her in some way! These children are truly gifted!" he thought.
Robotman said, "My sensors registered a massive power surge that shut down
all those Servitors and sent Volcanum into a coma. It was oddly selective in
terms of effect. It didn't harm me!"
"That was because we didn't wish for it to do so. Everything aboard the
Mountain of Judgment is built to work perfectly as we creators intended!"
said a long haired blond man in a Nehru jacket as he stepped out of the
massive vehicle.
"Jude! You and the other Hairies arrived just in time! Your super science
was just what we needed to defeat Victor Volcanum! I see the Mountain of
Judgment is as impressive as ever!" said the Guardian as he shook hands with
the genius.
Jude smiled and said, "Some of our technology is able to detect psychic
broadcasts and the kids summoned us by their powerful mental emissions!"
Robotman said, "I'm sorry I was reluctant to help before. I was overcome by
grief, anger, shock and concern for the other young captives!"
Plastic Man extended one enlarged hand and said, "Don't worry. We're fine.
I'm just sorry about your wife!"
A number of colorfully dressed men and women emerged from within the
Mountain of Judgment. They began to talk to the captive children as they
freed and examined them from a row of cells within Habitat.
"All of these young people possess super human powers. Volcanum located and
captured them. He used Compulsion as he called Janice Weird to enslave them.
He wanted to form them into living weapons to use against Superman!"
explained Robotman as he saw the boys and girls rush out.
Jude said, "Maxwell, Rocky, Pam, Mustard, and all the other Hairies would
welcome these young people aboard the Mountain, our mobile lab and home. We
would gladly teach them how to use their powers if they so wished it!"
The Brain Children approached as a group and said, "We do not wish to return
to the DNA Project. We are orphans but we consider ourselves to be a family
by nature of our common powers. We would join the Hairies if they would have
us and learn and live according to our own wishes!"
The Guardian said, "I think that would be great! I promise you the DNA
Project won't exert any claim on you again!"
Plastic Man said, "What about the others? The kids with parents or families
will want to return home of course, but it seems a shame so many kids with
the potential to use their powers for good don't have a benign teacher or
someone to look out for them!"
The Guardian said, "In other words these super human kids need a guardian. I
think you've hit upon a good idea. Robotman, would you be interested in
helping me? I'd like to establish some kind of school for these kids where
we could teach them about right and wrong and help them use their gifts for
the betterment of mankind."
Robotman said, "I would like to have some purpose for what's left of my
life! Maybe, my scientific skills could be of use!"
Plastic Man said, "I'm obligated to my agency but I'd be glad to help when
needed. I'm good at lending a hand you might say!"
As Jude bent over Volcanum he shook his head sadly.
"He represents everything we left behind us. He wanted to use his own genius
to acquire power for minds that hate. Until the world wises up to the path
of peace and love, his kind will keep turning up!"
Later, back at the DNA Project, the Guardian exited an office to face his
grown boys.
"I've resigned. I've also filed a report that will very likely close this
place down. It may have been designed for noble purposes but it has fallen
victim to selfish schemes from everyone from the Evil factory to the clone
Adam to Volcanum and the scientists who kept the Brain Children as
experiments.
I could use you fellows at the school I want to open. How about it?"
Gabby said, "Count us in, Guardian! Our boys could help out too when they
get breaks from their colleges. "
Big Words said, "Your motives are as admirable as ever but what about the
pecuniary necessities of such a venture?"
The Guardian said, "I know a couple of teachers with experience as super
heroes. They were called TNT and Dan the Dyna-mite. Dan is a wealthy young
man and I think he and his mentor would be interested in teaching at such a
school and possibly funding it as well! I also know a man named Jupiter who
might also assist with funding as well."
Tommy said, "The Hairies took custody of all the other sentient beings
within the facility like the Laniacs and Angry Charlie!"
The Guardian said, "Good. They embody humane virtues and will treat the poor
mutated beings with compassion. While Compulsion will have to answer for her
part in helping Volcanum enslave the rest, there are other gifted kids like
Billy Anders, Mickey Norris, and the ReCombatants who would love to attend a
school for super humans. Many of them may join us at the school I hope to
open!"
He walked slowly out of the compound as the ex- Newsboys followed.
It was time for a new beginning for all of them.