Inside, Dr. Johanessen struggled against her bonds and shouted vainly for help as much as her endurance allowed. The rising sense of panic and despair was made all the more acute by the absence of her daughter. Her abductor, a former colleague who had been transformed into the super-powered menace Plasm, had made veiled statements about what kind of "punishments" he was subjecting Tracy to.
Johanessen slumped as the latest exertions failed to yield any progress. Whatever modicum of restraint or even sanity Dr. Roston had possessed had clearly faded into madness years ago. Whether it was a direct -physiological result of the transformation or simply a psychological result of Roston's natural ego run rampant because of the resulting power was of little interest to her at the moment, but the question did burn in the back of her mind. The reason was it was quite likely that she would be finding out personally which one it was.
That was assuming she even survived the attempt, which was highly unlikely. Even in a world where superpowers dominated the landscape, the statistical truth was that most people exposed to large amounts of radiation, mutagenic chemical compounds or other forms of drastic stimuli ended up dying in agony. Bad enough that she would be soon facing her maker; the thought of Tracy going through it was more than she could bear.
"Trying to escape again, my dear?" a leering voice came out of the darkness. "Now that wouldn't be very considerate, considering all the trouble I'm going through stealing all this hard-to-find equipment."
"Why are you doing this?" Johanessen gasped.
"Think of it as a need for symmetry," Roston said, as he emerged from the shadows holding several electronic components. "Years ago, you abandoned your post in an experiment that would have brought me the fame and fortune that was rightfully mine. It's time we came full circle. Tonight, we settle all debts."
******
Paul Kippler lay in the hospital bed with several broke ribs and two broken legs where a pillar had shattered them from the knees down. The doctors told him it was a miracle that he still had them. His CO, James to his friends and Mr. Fortune to everyone else, paced the room."So you got a good look as he went past? He still had something in his hand?" Fortune asked Kippler again.
"James, it was person shaped and from the surveillance, my bet it that he took Dr. Johanessen," Kippler said, groaning a little.
A nurse stepped into the room the other bed held another of the Prometheus Security men. "Mr. Fortune, I have been asked by the doctors to remind you that these men need to rest. I will give you five more minutes and then you need to go. I already threw out the detectives earlier when they were bothering Mr. Marcus." She turned and left quietly from the room.
Fortune stared at the nurse through the glass in the door. The hospital floor was housing all the injured and as far as he could tell it was all being paid for by corporate.
"James, I saw Thomson take a blast from that bastard meta, just before he flew out. I still have nightmares - whatever Plasm used melted the flesh right off his bones. There was nothing I could do." Kippler broke into quiet tears.
Fortune stood transfixed reliving the last few seconds of the fight. When Plasm had dropped one of the two bundles, he had reacted on instinct and fired a high explosive round at one of the pillars. It had fallen between Plasm and the bundle he had dropped. In hindsight, it was that same pillar that had given him a breathing pocket when the roof came down.
"I'll be back later Paul, get some rest." he said leaving the room.
The nurse stood outside. "Go home Mr. Fortune or I will have to call security."
Fortune walked down the hall. He felt cold inside like a part of him had died. Many of his men were either injured or dead. It was always like this it seemed. Every time a meta caused damage others got hurt, but he somehow was never touched, not even a scratch.
Fortune looked in on Tracy Johanessen. She was still hooked up to breathing tubes. The doctors had told him that it was possible that she had some brain damage. The roof that had come down had literally crushed her, if it hadn't been for whatever material she had been encased in she would have been another statistic, and not a survivor.
Fortune drove home, back to the Prometheus building where the cleanup was well underway. He went through several security checks and arrived on his small apartment on the sixteenth floor. He poured himself a full glass of imported Scotch and drank it down. He took the bottle with him into the shower and turned on the water and sat under the cold water until he passed out.
******
The next morning Fortune sat in one of the conference rooms across town, several men and a few women sat at the table."OK people, I want this Plasm," Fortune said with a raspy voice.
One of the women, a Veronica Hazen, spoke up. "James, no offense, but you look like death warmed over. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"
Fortune cleared his throat. "Maybe you missed the news, but that goddamned meta killed my men, your friends. We have the ability to track him, to find him and to take him out. We've been looking for a scenario to show the Pentagon brass just what we can do, and it lands right in our laps."
"James..." one of the few suits in the room spoke up.
"Screw the cost Chris!" Fortune said to the stunned room. "Corporate will make ten times what we spend if it can get those contracts, and we'll get them if we have something to prove the technology works. Now this is what I want: Skylance data from the past week, retinal-guided weaponry systems, monofilament armor systems, and any other weapons in R&D we have that can kill or capture this Plasm. Whatever authorization we need to get these, get it."
******
Mindshadow pouted with annoyance as the giant screens within her base replayed every detail of the break-in from the previous afternoon. The people who had been hurt and killed were merely pawns, but they were her pawns and useful ones at that. Plasm would pay most dearly for interfering with her plans. Turning her attention back to the screens and the information beaming into her mind, Athena relayed all the data gathered from the attack. In addition to the visual displays, a sophisticated set of sensors gathered all the relevant information on Plasm, including his powers, potential threat, and biometrics information."Anything else we know about him?" she telepathically asked Athena.
"Plasm's known method of operation is to attack power facilities to fuel is powers. He is known to possess the ability to disguise himself, in addition to his energy powers. His methodology indicates a scientific background in nuclear physics. He was last seen fighting Sidewinder at the Powerdyne building in Queens, New York and was driven away by Paragon."
Mindshadow watched as additional displays pulled up historical footage from past incidents involving Plasm's assaults. Plasm's physical powers were quite formidable but it was clear from his ranting and ravings that his mental state was questionable at best. Easily dealt with once she found him, she told herself.
First, she had to deal with the damage to Prometheus. She mentally reached out to the Prometheus personnel halfway around the world. "Seal off the damaged floors. Then issue a press statement that the damage wasn't as bad as it appeared." Her powers could easily fix the damage, but the attack had been too public for her to do so without attracting more attention than she wanted. Her association to Prometheus was still not widely known and she needed to keep it that way for the time being. Once Olympus was fully functional, she would be able to fix the damage instantly with her telekinesis and mentally command the public to forget the incident.
Next, she ordered Athena to begin satellite scans along the Northeast United States for radiation. Someone with Plasm's level of power couldn't stay shielded forever. Once he showed himself, she would be there to deal with him decisively.
******
Fortune stood over Ethan Davers looking at a computer screen as Davers opened several files. While the files downloaded, Davers watched several other screens. An expert at satellite surveillance systems, Davers had recently accepted a position here after leaving his job at the NRO for better pay. Surprisingly, none of his former bosses had uttered a single peep, despite his violation of non-competitive agreements or his Top Secret clearance, but instead meekly accepted his change in career."OK we have the data, now what did you want?" he asked.
"I want to thermal images of New York City as of three days ago, and note any anomalies."
"That'll take hours, even if we use the company mainframe."
"What about the super clusters on the twentieth floor?"
"I don't have clearance for those."
"I've got the clearance. The board's given me authorization to get whatever's necessary."
Davers stepped aside as Fortune entered his security password. Fortune had never needed to access the company's highest-level computer systems, but as a senior security administrator, he had the authorization. Once the system logged in, Fortune relinquished the terminal to Davers, who opened up the appropriate application and loaded the satellite data. Neither man knew the details, but both knew that Prometheus had some kind of top-secret supercomputers, which could do image analysis better than any other system on Earth.
"Got it," Davers said and pulled up the collated results. "According to the sats, there was a large energy flare for about a minute and a half right on the residential tower on the day and time of the attack. The same power signature was seen here, here and here during the course of the last two days."
Fortune looked at the designated locations: two separate high-energy physics laboratories, a nuclear power plant, and a warehouse by the ports across the river. "Any media reports match up with the corresponding times and locations?"
Davers pulled up a separate window and entered a set of parameters. The application blinked, then returned links to several news media stories, along with information acquired from other sources. "According to sources, there were robberies at the two laboratories. No witnesses or video, but evidence suggests metahuman involvement." The news video showed pictures of melted and deformed security barriers, which made both men look with fascination.
"That sure looks like our boy," Fortune muttered. "Any idea what was stolen?"
Davers tapped a set of keys. For a moment, it seemed unusual that the Prometheus system would be able to penetrate the police records so easily, but the feelings were quickly and mysteriously erased. "Power regulators, control panels, and some particle accelerator equipment. I'm not a physicist, but sounds like someone's setting up a particle physics lab."
"What about the nuclear power plant?"
"No incident recorded at the power plant. I guess if there had been, it would have been all over the news."
Fortune rubbed his chin. "So maybe something hidden. Plasm can go through walls and knows his way around a nuclear power plant. A covert tap of the utilities? He stole all that equipment; he'd need a way to power it without attracting attention. And what about the warehouse?"
"Last owned by Powerdyne. Hasn't been reported used in years. Sound like a base to you?"
"Sure as hell does. Good work."
"So what happens now? We call the cops?"
Fortune shook his head slowly as a scowl crossed his face. "No. I'll take care of things myself."
******
"It's not tested, James," Dr. Greg Hawthorn implored."We've run half-a-dozen live-fire tests in the Mojave Desert already," Fortune protested.
"None of those tests actually went up against a metahuman before. You're putting your life in jeopardy."
Fortune stopped walking as both men looked through a viewing port. They were in a large fabrication warehouse in upstate New York. Purchased recently to handle manufacturing needs that were too big to do downtown, the plant had previously been used to make large appliances. Now equipped with more unconventional tools, the plant was producing far more advanced products.
"We're not going to get real metahumans to just stand up and get shot Doc. This could be the best opportunity to test the CBA we get."
"But the risks are..."
"...are acceptable under the circumstances," Fortune interrupted. "When Plasm torched our building in broad daylight, he gave us full legal cover for this Op. If Plasm's killed, no one will pursue any compensatory damages."
"But if Plasm kills the operator, they'll be hell to pay. Not to mention probably kill Dr. Johanessen anyway."
"Yeah..." Fortune muttered. That was the one sticking point to this operation and the only thing that really concerned him. His own life, he was willing to risk; it was a much tougher choice when it involved someone else's life. "But Plasm isn't likely to show Dr. Johanessen any mercy either. And it's a cinch we can't call the cops against someone as powerful as he is."
"Even so, this armor isn't necessarily going to make the difference either," Hawthorn warned as the ten-foot tall suit was lowered via a massive winch onto the factory floor. "We don't have everything debugged yet."
"What do you have working?"
Hawthorne pulled up a list from a wireless flat-panel display. "The basic battle armor's frame is pretty much ready. The hydraulics will give the wearer an effective strength of twenty men, but sacrifices some basic agility. The armor's protective systems work, but there's no guarantee they'll hold out against someone like Plasm."
"What's protecting the armor?" Fortune asked as he looked over the suit's exterior. "Looks like some kind of metal mesh."
"Basically yes. It's titanium alloy nanotech-weave. Also, once the system's powered, the magnetic force field holds the mesh rigid to protect against impact and distribute shock."
"How about weapons?"
"The basic unit has a 20mm gattling cannon firing specially modified APDS rounds built into the right forearm. The rest of the weaponry is modular. The system was designed to be able to customize the offensive systems, depending on what threat it was facing."
Fortune read through the list: particle cannons, rocket launchers, sonic cannon, energy lance, and several other systems. All were linked to work with the suit's basic sensor and targeting systems. In addition, the suit was equipped with a video system to record missions for playback. Fortune smiled with some satisfaction. Overall, it was some impressive work, he thought. If he had a whole squad, properly equipped and trained, he'd be able to put Plasm down like the dog he was. Going solo though was going to be rough.
"How about mobility?"
"It's got boot jets, but the guidance is a bitch. If the gyro guidance fails, I wouldn't use those except for short hops. It's a fly-by-wire setup, but because of the humanoid shape, it's not aerodynamically stable. If you try to fly without the computer-assisted control surfaces, you'll crash and burn."
"I understand."
"Then are you sure you won't reconsider?"
Fortune shook his head and lit a cigarette. Perhaps his last, he thought. "What the hell...at least Prometheus' got a dandy life insurance policy."
"The policy doesn't cover suicide, James," Hawthorn deadpanned.
"Can't call it suicide if it's in the line of duty, Doc."
******
Mindshadow hovered three miles over the city skyline and looked down. The chilled wind blew through her hair, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she gestured and a floating holographic display appeared and started to glow beneath her feet. The display shifted and scaled, synchronizing itself to the real city skyline below them both. Blips and dots appeared as Mindshadow drifted over the display."There have been radiation spikes at several locations throughout the greater New York Area. According to news reports and time-dating the recent activity, the only loci without any corroborating appearance or purpose is the warehouse at the south side of New York, across the harbor."
"Then he must be at this warehouse," Mindshadow concluded. She concentrated as her mind sifted through the stray thoughts of hundreds of minds, discarding the chaff of normal people. "Yes, there he is."
"Before you go, there's a small matter that you should know about. There have been several unusual requisitions in Prometheus. It appears that the security personnel are taking action to pursue and apprehend Plasm by themselves."
"Really," Mindshadow replied coldly. She didn't care at all for the idea of her pawns taking initiative. Such precedent always led inevitably to rebellion. Still, she learned many times in her game of conquest to try to avoid taking hasty action. "What did they take with them? Do they stand a chance?"
Athena ran through the list gathered from the secret and omnipresent taps into the data systems throughout Prometheus. It included a prototype for a mobile armor suit and a number of self-guided weaponry. Of course it was nothing compared to the armor Mindshadow wore, which combined the best Prometheus had with Autocrat's and Tween's technologies. "Unlikely. Based on projects, the weaponry is sufficient to damage Plasm, but Plasm's ability to phase will make targeting difficult and the armor will not protect the wearer from the radiation long enough to win by attrition."
"Hm...but what if he had help," Mindshadow smiled as an interesting idea crossed her mind. She had originally planned to wipe Plasm out with a wave of her hand. But perhaps she could make use of this foolish security guard's overzealous sense of duty. Plasm would suffer an appropriate humiliation and Prometheus would stand to benefit from the rigged battle. As long as she played her cards right.
******
Roston smiled with satisfaction as he made the final connection to the equipment. A flip of the switch confirmed that his secret tap of the nuclear power plant in Upstate New York had still gone unnoticed. Of course, they would discover the power drain eventually and shut the connection down. But by then, his work here would be done.Around the rebuilt lab, cameras all came to life as Roston detailed his findings in his own words, including a segue about how radioactivity could interact and fuse with humanity. Behind him, Johanessen recoiled as the equipment came to life and the examination table moved under an ominous looking generator.
"Dr. Roston, I'm begging you, don't do this," Johanessen beseeched as she sat tied to an examination table.
"And why not?" Roston bellowed. "You, by simple inaction, did the same to me six years ago. But instead of death, Fortune smiled that day! Instead of the constant need to toil for inferiors, I know have the means to accomplish all my goals by my own hands! And now, soon, you will be tested as well! To see whether you are worthy or not to continue by my side!"
"You're mad!" Johanessen screamed as the equipment around the room came to life and a low hum started as the particle accelerators powered up.
Roston clenched his fist as the rest of his body began to transform from human to crackling purple energy. "You won't be saying that once you see the power that you will wield! That is, if you prove worthy!"
******
Fortune pulled the flatbed truck over next to the closed gate and looked inside with a pair of night-vision binoculars. They were next to one of many abandoned warehouses near the city harbor. This one had been owned by Powerdyne many years ago, but was shut down when the economy went flat a few years ago. He frowned as he scanned the area. No movement, and the windows were dark. Could he have made a mistake?Wait! He looked again at what he thought was a flash. Yup, he thought, the windows had been painted black. But something was going on inside; bright enough to peek out between the panes of glass. This was the place.
He got out of the truck and pulled the tarp off his cargo. In addition to the combat armor, he had brought several weapon modules, along with a cargo box that fitted on the armor's back. He wasn't sure what would work effectively against Plasm, so he brought as many options as he could.
Climbing inside, then sealing himself in, he flipped a series of switches and waited as the armor came to full power. Inside his helmet, a heads-up display scrolled up a status report:
-----System Status-----
----Flight System Online 104%
----Weapons Offline
---20mm Cannon 2800 rounds
---Particle Cannon Offline
---Energy Lance Offline
---SAM Rockets Ready
--Battery Two 12
--Battery Two 12
"Energy signature confirmed," the computer intoned. Inside the heads-up display, the normal visual display was overlaid with several glowing shapes. The most prominent one was a man-shaped figure that moved around the warehouse. A much weaker signature could be seen sitting in the middle of the room. That made sense, he thought. Plasm's radioactive body would give off a much stronger reading than the heat of a normal human body would. There were also scattered rectangular readings around the warehouse, which were probably the equipment Plasm stole.
Fortune took a moment to think about it. If he just blasted his way in there, Johanessen would likely be killed instantly. If Plasm were faced with a serious threat, he'd certainly use Johanessen as a human shield. Somehow, he had to draw him out in such a way that Plasm wouldn't resort to dragging Johanessen into it.
******
"Who?" Plasm looked up as the sounds of sirens interrupted his final preparations. He looked through the warehouse walls with his spectroscopic vision and saw flashing red lights accompanying the sirens. "Fools..." he muttered. Somehow the authorities must have discovered his power tap after all. But unfortunately for them, their cleverness apparently didn't extend to knowing when to leave superior beings alone.Johanessen also looked up with a hint of hope in her face. Was it possible that her ordeal was coming to an end?
"Don't bother to get your hopes up," Plasm snarled as he powered up. "Soon, those fools out there will be reduced to ashes as they deserve!"
******
He fell for it, Fortune thought as he watched Plasm flying out of the warehouse with some degree of malicious satisfaction. With the battle now out of the warehouse, Johanessen should be safe enough. He would just have to finish it up and pull her out of there before any automated equipment activated. It was time to get this show on the road. "Computer, activate Master Arm," Fortune said into the helmet's microphone."Weapon systems now online," the computer intoned.
******
The still of the night was shatter as the glowing figure of Plasm lanced through the night and energy bolts lashed out, exploding the flashing red lights and sirens that sat around the docks. "You will all die worms!" he screamed as the first set of police lights exploded in front of the large crane. The cars exploded with a satisfying burst of flames and for a moment Plasm savored the vision of seeing the puny ants screaming and writhing within their burning coffins. Then he looked at the cars now illuminated by the burning flames and noticed they didn't have any police markings. He scowled with frustration and looked around. Where were the insignificant mortals? He was looking forward to having them shoot at him and seeing the look of fear as their puny weapons bounced off his powerful defenses."Show yourselves!" he bellowed and blasted another car with a flashing red light atop its hood. Although the car exploded well enough, still no running gnats to punish. He grew frustrated and lashed out again. As the third unmarked car exploded without any sign of people, Plasm paused for a moment and looked around. What was going on here?
Now! Fortune thought as he aimed his weapon at Plasm's exposed backside. Inside his helmet, the HUD confirmed his status.
Weapon Select: Microwave Cannon
Weapon Status: Armed
Weapon Guidance: Locked
"Burn!" Fortune shouted as he fired the cannon mounted on top of his right arm.
"Argh...!" Plasm screamed as highly coherent and amplified microwave energy penetrated his force field, delivering their massive energy payload inside the target's body. Against a normal person, the energy was sufficient to boil away every drop of liquid in a human body. Plasm doubled over, but managed to alter the phase-shift of his body to a counter-radioactive state. "You... will pay for that!" he cried and fired a massive bolt of energy at the armored opponent.
Shit! Fortune thought as he lurched out of the way of the energy beam and took aim again. Luckily for him, Plasm's shot had gone wild. Inside his armor, the HUD sensors tracked Plasm as he took to the air and circled around his opponent. Almost by itself, the armor's servos swung his primary weapon arm around and locked onto the designated target. Fortune fired again as Plasm managed to deflect the brunt of the attack with a force field.
"Your puny mortal weapons won't avail you a second time!" he thundered and fired a powerful blast of radiation.
"Argh...!" The hit was only a glancing blow, but it was painful enough. The HUD display started blinking yellow on the affected systems as a self-repair system fired off. Self-repair was limited though; he couldn't keep taking blasts like that. Time to switch tactics.
"Computer, rotate weapons!"
"Rotating weapon selection," the computer confirmed.
Weapon Select: Sonic Cannon - Hypersonic setting
Weapon Status: Armed
Weapon Guidance: Locked
"You're tough, you bastard! But let's see if you can take this!" Fortune threatened as he fired. Plasm clutched his ears painfully as glass from six blocks away exploded from the hypersonic attack.
"You...will be destroyed...!" Plasm gasped as he writhed in pain. The hypersonic shriek was like a dagger through his head. If he didn't stop it soon, he would actually lose to this puny mortal, something unthinkable in his mind. He flew into the harbor and splashed into the murky water.
Dammit, he was going to make it hard, wasn't he? "Computer, rotate weapons! Track the target!"
"Rotating weapon selection," the computer confirmed. "Target tracking locked."
Weapon Select: 50mm Cannon
Weapon Status: Armed
Weapon Guidance: Locked
Fortune flinched with pain as the heavy gun ripped off a burst of fire, sending hot shells into the water.
Underneath the surface, Plasm used his molecular powers to shape a protective cocoon around him to protect him from the sonic attack. He barely managed to fly back up into the air before several rounds slugged him in the chest. Although his force field protected him, the impact still hurt. Enough of this! he snarled to himself took aim with a massive bolt of energy. "Die!"
Fortune gritted his teeth as the onboard computer gave continuous warnings about incoming attack and kicked off his boot jets. Plasm's bolt streaked past him, destroying the pier and sending it into the harbor. He took aim and tried to fire again, but the recoil began to kick him off-course. "Shit!" as he struggled to regain flight altitude as the computer guidance blared warnings. He landed on the warehouse dock with a grunt. So much for matching Plasm up in the air, he thought. Have to try and get him down on the ground.
Plasm snarled as he watched his armored opponent running into the shadows, denying him a clear shot. He fumed; how dare that mortal worm have the pertinacity of surviving this long! And why couldn't he seem to finish him off? Could that armor actually have more capability than appearances let on? No; he immediately shook off his doubts. It was mere luck that he hadn't been able to get a clear shot yet. And luck couldn't last forever.
******
Mindshadow watched invisibly as the battle raged between the two combatants in accordance to her subtle gestures. What neither one knew was that they were both performing like puppets to her will as she manipulated their decisions, perceptions and actions. Poor Plasm, she thought and smiled, so frustrating, isn't it? Although the combat armor Fortune wore did a respectable job; under ordinary circumstances, Plasm's raw power alone would have won the fight within minutes. But by manipulating his perceptions ever so slightly, blasts that would have hit the armored figure squared instead missed or only grazed the armor. In addition, subliminal hypnotic suggestions made Plasm's force field only a fraction of its normal self along with dismissing any thought about retreating. As the fight wore on and both combatants began to show fatigue and injury, her powers grew stronger as she slowly siphoned their wills away for additional mental energies. Once they were both on their knees, she would finish this fight, and she would be the sole winner.******
One good thing about his opponent, Fortune thought, was that it wasn't that hard to spot him at night. Lit up like a purple Christmas tree, he could hardly miss him. In his hand was a long heavy stick; a Stun Baton for close-quarters battle. Unlike most, this one was charged with enough high voltage to fry a building.Plasm flew between the warehouse buildings, searching for his opponent. Why hadn't he simply used his Plasma Vision to find his hiding foe and blasted him from afar, he wondered, but dismissed the thought. It would be more satisfying to do it close and personal. As he turned the corner however, he suddenly felt a sharp pain impact painfully against his ribs, followed immediately by a powerful electric shock.
"Argh...!" He spun around and saw his foe stepped out of hiding wielding a long retractable baton. "You ant!" he raged and blasted the stick into molten metal.
Fortune shook the now-useless weapon out of his hand and aimed the 20mm cannon and held it as the HUD confirmed a lock on his target. Lucky he didn't blast me instead of the stick. Have to keep up the pressure. He would have preferred to use the 50mm cannon for a better chance at the kill, but it damn near broke his arm last time. Your recoil suppression isn't worth a damn, Greg, he thought.
Plasm grunted painfully as the shells bounced off his force field. How could that puny little gun be affecting me! he snarled to himself. He must have been more tired than he thought; this little mortal was like some damned cockroach and just refused to die! Though he loathed to give his opponent the respect, he had to get back to his experiment and took back to the air.
Fortune swore with concern, then rising fear as he watched Plasm arc back towards the warehouse. He was actually pretty impressed with the armor and his own performance up to this point, but it was clear that Plasm was going to be a sore loser. He would have to take a chance on the boot jets. Steadying himself as much as possible, he took flight after Plasm.
"Hey, over here! This puny ant's talking to you!" Fortune blasted out from the armor's speakers. He managed to steer the armor towards his glowing foe as they both flew over the warehouse.
"Pitiful worm! Learn now what it means to defy the might of Plasm!" Plasm slowed to a hover and powered up, lighting up the night sky like an exploding firework display. He then blasted a double-barreled shot at his approaching armored opponent.
"Shit!" Fortune voiced as he barely managed to dodge the incoming bolt. Luckily Plasm telegraphed the attack to blatantly; he almost knew the blast was coming before he dodged it. But his relief was short-lived as he heard an explosion below him. Before he could turn around, he felt the shock wave slam against his armor, pushing him up and damaging his systems. His skin tingled as radiation warnings inside the helmet began to chirp. His last conscious thought was a deep sense of despair that he had let Johanessen down.
******
Well darn, Mindshadow thought; it seemed that even she wasn't immune to unintended consequences. She hadn't anticipated Plasm's setup being so volatile. The explosion seemed to ripple across the docks in a strange way, with the actual physical damage being almost minimal, but exceedingly intense on light and radiation. In her mind, she could no longer sense Dr. Johanessen; probably killed instantly. A pity, she thought dismissively, but hardly all that important. Her research could be replicated by her other slaves easily enough. Of greater concern was the Combat Armor, which suffered considerable damage due to the explosion. Fortune was apparently alive, but in considerable pain. Plasm was weak, but closing in on what he thought was his hard-fought victory, not knowing that his will was already completely drained away. Unlike physical strength and stamina, most people were never even aware of what their own minds felt like. Poor fool, she smiled, he would soon find out the hard way.******
Shit, that hurt, Fortune scowled to himself as he fell back to the ground with a hard thud. In the corner of his eye, the HUD's proximity warning light kept pestering him about Plasm as he got closer, along with several other lights blinking to denote system failures. Get up! he told himself. If you don't stop him, then everyone else in the company would have died in vain! But the hydraulic servos refused to budge, and without their assistance, the armor's dead weight was like trying to move with chains wrapped around his limbs.Plasm grunted with satisfaction as he recovered from the explosion. He was in a lot of pain and he clutched his sides as blood coming out of his mouth vaporized off his energy field, filling the air with the smell of burning flesh. The armored fool had cost him far more trouble and injury than he had anticipated. But now it was all over. He pointed his arm at the prone armored for as energy coalesced to his hand. "You...have dared...to defy a God! Now...you will beg for forgiveness before I finish you!"
"G...go to hell...you sick bastard...!" Fortune muttered painfully.
"You dare...!"
"Stop."
Abruptly, both combatants froze, then dropped to their knees as Mindshadow appeared above them. She looked down on them both with belittlement then glanced casually down the block. An instant later, police siren turned on as several squad cars began to converge on the warehouse. She turned to Fortune and gestured. "Your foe has apparently vanished. You will remember nothing about seeing me."
Inside the armor, Fortune passed out mercifully as emergency personnel arrived at the scene. As they worked on retrieving Fortune and the armor, Mindshadow willed them all not to notice or remember her or Plasm. This victory was hers and hers alone. She then looked down at the prone glowing figure and gestured slightly again. Roston gasped as the purple energies around his body extinguished, leaving him in his human form.
"Im...possible..." Roston gasped weakly.
"Try trivial," Mindshadow willed contemptuously as she drove her boot heel into his face. "Your powers, your will, your very act of breathing," as she casually closed her fist, causing Roston to gasp desperately and helplessly, "are now totally and completely under my control," as she slowly opened her hand again, causing Roston to cough as his breathing resumed.
"It...can't end like this..." Roston whispered as he felt his mind began to go blank.
"Yes it can, because I command it," Mindshadow ordained as she slowly waved her hand over Roston's paralyzed form. "Little fool...you have no idea who you were messing with. Now you will pay for your interference."
******
Dr. Winters looked around with barely concealed awe as his guide took him through Prometheus' main facilities. He had read about this new conglomerate in the latest Scientific America magazine, but even that article's title, "No Limits", didn't do justice to what he saw here. One of the world's most foremost experts in transuranic elements, he had been brought here after working as the lead researcher for the government's Los Alamos Nuclear research group. He had gotten a sudden compulsion to look for opportunities in this rapidly growing company a few weeks ago and surprisingly, his government managers didn't offer any resistance, despite his accolades and credentials. Even his family fell right in line, all eagerly expressing their desire to move to New York City."...looking at a state-of-the-art particle accelerator used here for localized experiments," Dr. Lamar Burton explained as Winters looked on through shielded glass. "Of course, for large-scale experiments, we have a full accelerator facility in Nevada. I'm not a particle physicist," he admitted sheepishly, "but they tell me that facility's bigger than ten football fields in area."
"Yes," Winters said absently, "you need the distance to accelerate particles to maximum speed."
"Well, I'm sure you know best, Doctor. Would you like to meet some of our personnel?"
"Certainly."
Burton led Winters out of the lab and into the adjacent office facilities. Several members stood up and shook hands, all expressing their satisfaction and enthusiasm for working at a company that understood that science needed funds to prosper.
"...sure that you won't have any regrets," one scientist said. He smiled with a slightly vacant expression that seemed to indicate that he had a lot on his mind. "You'll find that as long as we're producing results, we get anything we need here. No more having to dicker around with the bean-counters or lawyers whining about ethics."
"Well, you make it sound like a dream come true," Winters said. Inwardly, he knew his mind was made up. He'd be a fool to turn this offer down. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
The man smiled vacantly and nodded. "Roston. Dr. Mitchell Roston."
******
Mindshadow watched the scientists chatter with satisfaction. No one could see her as she used her hypno-invisibility along with her battle armor's stealth abilities to ensure anonymity. She had remained in the city to ensure that Roston's mental reshaping was secure and was fully satisfied at her own handiwork. Of course, from time to time, she would mentally command Plasm to fly again to serve her designs. To ensure complete obedience, she placed mental commands that would prevent Roston from using or even remembering Plasm's abilities. As far as Roston was concerned, he was a simple scientist. His life had come full circle; back to where he started.As she phased through the building and flew over the city, Mindshadow reviewed the battle in her mind. Thanks to her manipulation, the combat armor had come through with flying colors and already there had been renewed interest in the Pentagon and other defense contractors. Of course, each battle armor had a hidden set of instructions that would allow her to mentally override their functionality, as she wished. It would hardly be wise to allow such technology among the masses without control measures.
The warehouse explosion was something she hadn't expected and it was a pity to lose Dr. Johanessen, but it wasn't a great loss. The sensors in her own battle suit had recorded the explosion and flagged it as something unusual to be examined later. The only thing she knew for now was that she had lost mental contact with Fortune for a split-second as the plasma enveloped him and that the reaction had only stopped once Plasm's equipment burned out. More importantly, Fortune's battle armor had recorded a curious temporal inconsistency where the data stream that showed hours of garbled data during the split-second he was gone. An unintended consequence of Plasm's tinkering with fundamental forces perhaps. Something to consider for the future.
******
James Fortune awoke in a hospital bed covered in bandages. Several IV's were feeding drugs and fluids in his arms. A nurse entered and seeing that he was awake, headed back out. A doctor with the nurse in tow entered a few minutes later. In the mean time James was attempting to get up."Mr. Fortune, please don't try and get up. Your legs were broken in several places, and you have some severe burns. We have you on morphine for the pain," the doctor said talking to Fortune.
"Did I get him? I can't seem to remember what happened after the explosion," he said with a somewhat glazed expression.
"You will have to talk with the detectives about that," the doctor said.
"And Dr. Johanessen?" Fortune asked with some trepidation.
"She's fine. Aside from the bump on the head, she should wake up shortly, Now you need to get some rest," the doctor said dimming the lights and leaving the room. He didn't want Fortune to know that they had recovered Dr. Johanessen's body several hours ago from the rubble.
******
Dr. Johanessen awoke to the faint sound of a voice. She sat up and noticed the white glow first. She listened more and the voice grew louder."Cause of death appears to be some kind of molecular integration of dense matter fused with the deceased's body. Since the deceased's body is almost completely fused with the metal, cause of death would most likely be shock and trauma." There was a click as the doctor put down the small tape recorder. "Hi Steve, I am just about finished here, did you have any questions?"
Another man's voice, a deep and more-gruff sounding one could be heard. "So you think Plasm did this?"
"Most definitely. I have seen several of Plasm's other victims, but none of them was fused like this. It's almost as if..." The doctor shook his head. "No that's silly."
"As if what? Off the record," the gruff man asked.
"As if the equipment had fallen on her or was dropped on her," the doctor replied.
Dr. Johanessen tried to tell them that she was alive but before she could form the words the voices faded out again. She had a sensation of falling before she passed out again.
Later that evening the doctor came back into the morgue, the body of Dr. Johanessen was missing, as much as a body that had been fused inside apiece of electronic machinery could go missing. The large piece of equipment still rested on the examination table where it had been place earlier that afternoon.
"Oh great now what happened to her," he muttered to no one in particular.
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