Ethan’s scream alerted those upstairs and an appropriate response came swiftly, as Mike sprinted down the stairs, coming face to face with the would-be killers, their features covered in the red hazamat hoods. The one armed with a cleaver tilted its head slightly as the second suit shoved Ethan’s severed hand into its fold, the brief removal of the visor revealing nothing save empty space.
“Okay this is interesting?” Mike stated as the suits looked past him to where Sarah was standing on the stair.
“Not going to happen.” He snarled as he drew his pistol and fired three shots at the cleaver wielding suit, the bullets ripping through it. Withstanding the onslaught, the suits jerked, as if they were marionettes and sprung towards the door, with strides that were too long for normal humans.
“Go we’ll stabilize him.” Sarah called as she and Jimmy the Nose left the stairwell and clustered around Ethan’s fallen body. Nodding Mike barrelled out through the open door and saw the two suits wading towards a third, its hand round a long skewer that dripped blood. Someone else had been targeted at the same time as Ethan, Mike bitterly thought as a car barrelled towards the suits, horn blaring. Flattening themselves, the cloth assailants slipped underneath unscathed but dropped their weapons.
That was something Mike could take advantage of as he closed the gap and flicked a stun stick out of his sleeve, the first blow striking the suit with the cleaver, its body convulsing as electricity ran up and down it. Collapsing the suit crumpled, no longer inhabited or animated by whatever was behind its murderous spree. The other two suits decided to take this time to spring into action, with the one containing the severed hand swinging at Mike, while the other flattened, slithering in an almost snakelike motion, no longer even trying to pretend to be human.
Stunned by the blow, Mike wobbled slightly as the suit kicked the cleaver up to its hand and swung it at the Enforcer’s head. Staggering back just in time, Mike saw the suit over balance with the momentum of its attack and kicked the cleaver away, before jabbing the stun stick into the suits mask, a faint outline of a human shape inside briefly appearing, before it fell to the floor.
Looking around, Mike couldn’t see the third suit, whatever it was. It had escaped, taking advantage of the defeat of its teammates to deliver its grim trophy to wherever its lair was.
“Okay this is interesting?” Mike stated as the suits looked past him to where Sarah was standing on the stair.
“Not going to happen.” He snarled as he drew his pistol and fired three shots at the cleaver wielding suit, the bullets ripping through it. Withstanding the onslaught, the suits jerked, as if they were marionettes and sprung towards the door, with strides that were too long for normal humans.
“Go we’ll stabilize him.” Sarah called as she and Jimmy the Nose left the stairwell and clustered around Ethan’s fallen body. Nodding Mike barrelled out through the open door and saw the two suits wading towards a third, its hand round a long skewer that dripped blood. Someone else had been targeted at the same time as Ethan, Mike bitterly thought as a car barrelled towards the suits, horn blaring. Flattening themselves, the cloth assailants slipped underneath unscathed but dropped their weapons.
That was something Mike could take advantage of as he closed the gap and flicked a stun stick out of his sleeve, the first blow striking the suit with the cleaver, its body convulsing as electricity ran up and down it. Collapsing the suit crumpled, no longer inhabited or animated by whatever was behind its murderous spree. The other two suits decided to take this time to spring into action, with the one containing the severed hand swinging at Mike, while the other flattened, slithering in an almost snakelike motion, no longer even trying to pretend to be human.
Stunned by the blow, Mike wobbled slightly as the suit kicked the cleaver up to its hand and swung it at the Enforcer’s head. Staggering back just in time, Mike saw the suit over balance with the momentum of its attack and kicked the cleaver away, before jabbing the stun stick into the suits mask, a faint outline of a human shape inside briefly appearing, before it fell to the floor.
Looking around, Mike couldn’t see the third suit, whatever it was. It had escaped, taking advantage of the defeat of its teammates to deliver its grim trophy to wherever its lair was.
Issue #8
(June 2020) Written By John Cheese The Enforcer
Zombie Master
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THE GIFT OF MAGIC: PART TWOThe Keller place was a grand townhouse in the heart of Mystic, its façade decorated with ivy and honeysuckle, the last producing a sweet aroma that snaked through the windows and into the lounge where Mike and Sarah had been sitting.
“You had them, and you let them get away?!” Kern Keller bellowed, the vein on his forehead popping. “Let is a strong word, we took down two of them.” Mike replied as he saw Lana Keller tip her head slightly. “We had a brief look at these suits before the cops arrived, it seems like they were normal hazmat suits with no computerised components that would allow them to be piloted remotely. As such we can confirm that they were propelled by…” “No, No, NO!” Kern snapped. “This was not magic; this was shoddy detective work from you! Find these people and deal with them, do you understand!” “We understand that Erin wasn’t the only victim prior to the attack on Ethan.” Sarah replied in a tone that hid her annoyance well. “You also failed to mention your son, we met him at the crime scene.” “Jacob has nothing to do with this!” Kern snapped. “On the contrary, “Mike stated as he shot a look at Lana, the prophetess looking back at him with worried eyes, “he is a character witness, if Erin had been behaving strangely or mentioned something in passing to him, then we would have missed it,” “They are correct Kern. We should have mentioned the others at least.” Lana stated as she put a calming hand on her sons’ shoulder. “Now I must ask you Mr Nero, Miss Hannigan, what is this creature, do you have any ideas.” “We think its a Geistrbesetzer, a spirit that inhabits effigies and animates them. “They aren’t usually murderous, more curious than anything.” Sarah replied. “I see.” Lana replied suspiciously as Kern shrugged his shoulders. “Get rid of it!” Kern ordered as everyone got to their feet, shook hands and parted ways. Heading down the stairs and out the front door Mike looked at Sarah and shook his head. “I know, but they need something more than ‘possessing spirit’ right? And who knows maybe it is a Geistrbesetzer.” Sarah stated with a shifty smile as the pair of them climbed into the Toyota. “Sure, it doesn’t exist, but sure.” Mike replied as he turned the key in the engine, the end of a news report coming in over the airwaves. “And our headline remains the death of Charlie O’Toole to the killer dubbed as ‘the Harvester’. Mr O’Toole is the third person to be slain by ‘the Harvester’ and the fifth to be targeted by this killer.” The announcer stated as Mike drove down the road towards the harbour. “So, what do we do now?” Sarah asked as she brought out the betting slip that Charlie had handed them. “With Charlie dead, we can’t read this anymore.” “Then maybe we can find some other lead.” Mike stated. “Those suits came from somewhere.” Sarah nursed the bottle of Jack Daniels as Mike brought a stack of book down to the booth at Mystic’s ‘Bar with No Name’. As dive bars go, this one was okay, and had very little in the way of super-villain clients, instead seeming to cater more for white collar criminals and the occasional mob boss washing up the coast from New York. “Any luck?” Mike asked as a waitress dressed in a somehow even sluttier version of Ruby Tuesday’s costume strutted past, placing a glass of white wine on the table. “Maybe, at first I thought this was a spirit or maybe a golem, some agent for the power responsible for masterminding these organ thefts, but then I remembered reading something in an old French manuscript, L’ Armure de la Sorciere. It detailed the exploits of the Empty Knight, a contemporary of Jeanne de Arc, the Maid of Orleans.” Sarah explained as she slipped a small tattered manuscript, its cover depicting a woman burning in a pyre and Christian symbology above the head of the condemned. “Madeline de Batroc was a young seamstress who fell in love with the ward of a local baron. During the Hundred Years War, the boy and his master went off to war with the English invaders. Desperate to keep her love safe, Madeline followed, knowing he was not handy in a fight, and that his master, while kind, was also reckless.” “I think I remember this tale; didn’t she steal some armour from a dead French knight and use witchcraft to turn it into a guardian or something?” Mike asked as he took a sip from his glass of wine. “My Uncle mentioned it when we were hired to kill a gangster in Leon calling himself ‘Le Terrasque’.” “Close, Madeline made a pact with an angel to prove her love for her lost squire. The angel gifted Madeline the power to imbue a suit of armour with her essence and fight to protect the Baron and his ward.” Sarah stated as she flicked the book open to a page which depicted Madeline’s ghost like form entering the armour, “As the Empty Knight she was invulnerable to all but a weapon imbued with evil, and while both the French and English had several in their employ, most notably Jeanne de Arc’s cursed blade the Fleur de Mal, it was off the battle that Madeline suffered. Every time she used her power, strange occurrences would happen around her. Eventually the Great Inquisitor, an evil man pact-sworn to a dark ancient power was called, and he blamed Madeline for these events.” “I suspect the rest is covered by image on the cover?” Mike asked, already knowing that he was right in his assumption. “I mean effigy possession is a rare magical gift, but it is a recognised one. Its still doesn’t explain why this person or persons would be targeting those with magical gifts themselves?” “Is organ trade off the table completely?” Sarah asked as spotted Jimmy the Nose standing by the door, watching them from a booth across the way, before covertly pointing him out to Mike. “I don’t know Jimmy, is it?” Mike asked loudly, not even bothering to turn around. Sighing loudly Jimmy waddled over and slumped down next to him. “You were listening?” “I was, no point lying about that, no point lying about what I am either, you’d work it out.” Jimmy sighed as his body collapsed into smoke, revealing a pudgy tapir like creature riding a small cloud, a simple gold chain with a Taoist pendent around his neck. “I’m a Baku and I don’t mean either of you any harm.” “A dream yokai?” Sarah asked confused, she’d read about the spirits of course, but knew that they rarely left Japan, and even more rarely survived outside of their native homeland. “Yeah, Baku are benevolent dream-eaters, once I figured out I wondered what tied you to the attacks, and then I realised there wasn’t anything, but maybe you’d sucked up a dream of one who did have a connection.” Mike stated as he gestured for the waitress to come back to take Jimmy’s order. After a long silence, and a long sip of Saki, Jimmy reclined back and puffed out a wisp of purple smoke. “I found their fingerprints so to speak.” Jimmy stated. “Erin Keller wasn’t the first, that would be my old friend the Guru. Back in WWII, the yokai marched after the Imperial Japanese Army, sowing mischief among the enemy, as was our writ with the Emperor. It was in Nepal where I met the Guru, an ancient man even then who had dedicated his life to the powers of preservation. He could keep a dead animal in perfect condition for a decade using his powers. Many of my brothers detested him since it made mockery of sleep, and eventually I revealed myself and even later became friends.” Jimmy took a deep breath inhaling the purple smoke, before taking another sip of Saki. “We came to Mystic shortly after, and he was so impressed with the welcome he got, he released his energy into the town, making those born here more likely to develop powers.” “Thus, explaining the over saturation of magical gifts in this town.” Mike added. “Yes, his body was removed from its tomb months ago, an investigation was set up, but no evidence was found. Infuriated I reached out to touch my friend’s fallen body with my own powers hoping to find anything. I was surprised to find a mind, one warped by their own self-worth, inhabiting my master’s corpse. It mocked me, called itself the Dreamer and that no dream eater would touch it. Every victim has his brainwaves on them, but its faint, almost like its putting on the stolen parts like a costume or pulling their strings like they were marionettes.” “Just like the Empty Knight, but evil.” Sarah stated as Jimmy finished his sake and blew another stream of purple smoke out. “The record states that, when Madeline was inhabiting the armour she was unable to move or react to those around her. It’s how she was taken by the High Inquisitor; she was locked in combat with the English forces at the time.” “So, this Dreamer could literally be dreaming or at least asleep.” Mike stated as he took a sip from his white wine, just as a crash sounded from outside and a skip came sailing through the window, crushing a portly -man in a suit. Staggering through the broken window was a body that seemed to be made of thrown away parts, squeezed into a leotard with a lightning bolt on it. While the body was overwhelmingly male, the head appeared to be female, her eyes glazed as if she was unable to see what was unfurling in front of her. “Ma’am if you want a seat, you should queue over…” A waitress dressed in a skimpy Polaris costume began to say, only for the mash-up of body parts to reach out and grab her face, its hand glowing red as the waitress convulsed and dropped to the floor. “Was that?” Mike spat. “Yes, it was.” Jimmy replied. “YOU ARE ALL SCUM!” The ‘mash-up’ boomed in a voice that shook the room, the bar’s occupants reaching for concealed weapons or cheque books, whatever they thought would buy them a little more time. “FILTH THAT NEEDS TO BE WASHED AWAY!” Seconds later bullets opened fire, tearing holes through the intruder’s chest, massive holes punching through the skin and flesh, only for them to be sealed moments later. “Okay touch of death and healing factor, what else was taken?” Mike asked as he reloaded his pistols, while Sarah grabbed a serving tray dropped by one of the waitresses. Throwing it from just within ‘Mash-Up’s’ blind spot, she watched as the creature, without even turning punched the tray out of thin air. “Clairvoyance.” Jimmy stated as he counted on his fingers, “Paige was an Empath and Bryn had the ‘Gift of the Gab’,” He stated as he tried to remember all the victims and their powers, “there were two assaults before Erin Keller’s though, I can’t remember who they were or if they had any magical gifts.” “Think harder!” Mike stated as Mash-Up ploughed through a set of tables, back handing a white-collar criminal who was hastily writing out a cheque, before bringing its glowing fist down towards the Enforcer, the villain rolling away just in time. “Guns don’t seem to work.” “Ah it was Jenifer Herzinger, she had the ‘Sinews of Solomon’ endless energy, she claimed someone had cut part of her foot off while sleeping.” Jimmy announced as Sarah stabbed a butter knife into Mash-Up’s back, her attack causing the body to swing round, the centrifugal force sending her skidding across a table and onto the floor. “FOUL CREATURE, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO DIE!” Mash-Up boomed as it reached down and grabbed Jimmy by the neck, his little feet kicking as the Baku looked into the thing’s stolen eyes. “Yes,” Jimmy stated sadly as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling purple smoke directly into Mash-Ups face. “I’m sorry old friend.” He added as he slapped the amalgamation of stolen body parts, the slap causing the creature to scream in multiple voices. “The souls are still connected, if you can waken one, you may just stop this.” He coughed as his body imploded in on itself with a violet light. Shaking itself Mash-Up began to march once again, this time towards where Sarah was crouching behind an upturned table. “No, you don’t!” Mike yelled as he opened fire with his pistols, a staccato burst ripping through the shambling corpse’s head and shoulders, chunks of brain flying everywhere, even as said grey-matter was regenerated. “SHE WILL BE THE FINAL PIECE OF MY MASTERPIECE!” Mash-Up boomed as it grabbed a table and threw it at Mike, the projectile knocking him off his feet. “THIS COMISSION WILL BE PERFECT, MUST BE PERFECT!” It added as Sarah picked up a chair and ran towards her attacker, only for her ram to be shattered by a violent punch and grabbed by the arms, her feet flailing against her captor’s chest. “NOW TELL ME WHERE IS YOUR POWER?!” It asked as Mike holstered his weapon and drew a tonfa from his belt, the wood crackling with lightning. “Let me show you. Paige Hanover, I command you awaken!” Sarah yelled. “There is nothing to awaken, Hanover is dead, they all should be dead. I’m using their powers to make a difference, being the superheroes they should have been rather than the loser’s content with normal lives that they were.” A voice, different from Mash-Up’s booming tones and oddly familiar stated. “I said awaken!” Sarah continued. “No, that one, she used her powers as a street therapist! She was wasting them. Just like the bodyguard using his touch of death used to bring bodies out of burning buildings with no smoke inhalation damage. What a waste!” The voice spat as Mike lashed out with his tonfa only to be kicked away. “I am using them better!” “I SAID AWAKEN!” Sarah ordered, her words causing Mash-Up’s body to tremble, and multiple screams to emerge from the abomination’s mouth. “Paige Hanover just beat you ‘Dreamer’, her powers allowed all the other spiritual factuals to awaken and together they can throw you out!” She hissed, as Mash-Up’s body began to convulse, boils of rotting flesh and ectoplasm bubbling to the surface until, with a hiss the body burst. “Okay that was gross.” Mike stated as he looked around, the establishment now completely vacated of staff and patrons. “It’s to bad Jimmy had to die.” Sarah sighed as a blue fog emerged, coalescing into Charlie O’Toole’s head, the spectral body floating above them. “Uhm is that…” “I don’t have much time, we perused the Dreamer back to his body, it lies at Cobalt Comics.” Charlie stated as the head dropped towards the floor. “He can be stopped now.” “We’re sorry about being unable to save you.” Sarah lamented as Mike slipped the tonfa back onto his belt. “We were distracted when we tried to read your message.” “That message is not for now; it contains a secret not yet ready to tell.” Charlie replied as he reached the floor and looked up at them. “Thank you both for freeing us, and take care, the road I’ve foreseen you taking is long and difficult, but salvation is at the end.” The spirit added as it streaked off through the roof towards its eternal reward. “The brother.” Sarah stated coldly, as she got to her feet. “If we don’t go now, he’ll bolt!” “Then let’s make sure the Dreamer has a nightmare.” Mike hissed as he slipped a new clip into his weapon. “One they’ll be begging to wake up from.” |