Back to GatefoldIssue #16 by Tobias Christopher
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Vincent Von Doom, the alternate universe son of Dr. Doom, has concocted a plan to impress his father by conquering New York! Infecting the Fantastic Four's loyal robot, H.E.R.B.I.E., Vincent has turned the robot to the dark side before infecting Machine Teen and Sentinel! Valeria, Kitannia, and Alpha are now the only ones left to stand against the younger Doom's plans for domination!
"Viral"
"Nothingness sucks," Adam Aaronson, the Machine Teen, said as his silicon soul floated through a made of pure nothing, having had his physical body hijacked by a virus created by Vincent Von Doom. "If anyone's out there, I'd really like some help!"
Adam heard nothing as he searched for any way out of the darkness, hoping his friends were alright.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Alpha, you can take them down, can't you?" Kitannia asked.
"Probably, but I don't want to hurt them!" Alpha replied after having gotten into his costume. "Adam and Juston are our friends, they might not know what they're doing!"
"He's right," Valeria said. "But maybe we can shut them down with an EMP, it worked before."
"But to do that, we'd have to get into our headquarters, which is, you know, not there anymore," Alpha reminded her.
"If we can get past H.E.R.B.I.E., I might be able to whip something up at the Baxter Building," Valeria told them.
Another stray laser blast struck them as Kitannia pulled out her broadsword. "You two go, I'll distract them."
"Remember--"
"No harm will come to them, I promise," Kitannia said. "Just hurry, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them at bay!"
Alpha scooped Valeria up into his arms and flew toward the Baxter Building.
# # # # # # # # # #
Latveria
"My nanites are working better than I ever dreamed!" Vincent said as he sat back in his chair "And with two heroes and that robot under my command, I can start the next phase of my plan."
Vincent stood up and looked at Sam Guthrie, who was breathing heavily in the glass prison that was forcing him to expel his kinetic energy every few minutes.
"Oh, poor baby, the constant electric shocks don't feel too good, do they?" Vincent laughed. "Don't worry, I'd say in another six hours, you'll be dead and my generator will be fully charged. And if you're not, I'll have no further use for you and I'll kill you myself."
As Vincent headed back to his control panel, a portal opened as his sister Sophie stepped out, followed by several Doombots.
"Welcome home, sibling," Vincent smirked. "You're just in time to watch me conquer New York."
"After the humiliation Franklin put me through, I just want a nice bubble bath and a nice long sleep," Sophie said bitterly.
"Patience, sister, Franklin won't go unpunished for this," Vincent said. "Once I have New York and all of its heroes in my grip, I'll deliver Franklin to you personally. I'll even gift wrap him for you."
"There's one more thing I want, if you can manage to not mess this up," Sophie said. "I want the wings of that heathen Icarus ripped right off of his back. Then I'll hang them in my chamber as a trophy."
"My, my, aren't we vindictive?" Vincent asked. "But I think I can arrange for that. But first, New York."
# # # # # # # # # #
Alpha and Valeria arrived at the Baxter Building, finding it undergoing the same transformation that their own headquarters had undergone twenty minutes earlier.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Alpha said. "What the hell is going on with everyone?"
"Get me to a computer and I might be able to find out," Valeria told him. "If it's not already too late."
# # # # # # # # # #
Kitannia was using her broadsword to deflect the blasts that both Machine Teen and Sentinel were firing at her, all while trying to figure out a way to stop them without hurting her friends.
"I don't know what's come over the two of you, but you need to fight it!" Kitannia shouted as Sentinel flew right towards her. The princess used the butt of her sword to strike him, sending Sentinel flying back into a wall, just as Machine Teen grabbed her from behind and began squeezing.
# # # # # # # # # #
"The computer at the library's the only one available," Alpha said as the two rushed into the building. "I wonder what people did here before the internet?"
"You and I are going to have a long talk about that after we save the city," Valeria told him as she sat down at the computer and started typing. "I'm going to try to hack into the Baxter Building's security systems. Maybe I can figure out what's going on with H.E.R.B.I.E. and fix it."
"Maybe he opened one of those e-mails that has a virus," Alpha suggested. "Like from one of the Nigerian princes, who still owes me money."
Valeria just rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm in. I just hope that the library's servers are strong enough to keep from--"
H.E.R.B.I.E.'s robotic face appeared on every computer screen around them, frowning at the two.
"Naughty, naughty," Vincent laughed. "Shouldn't you be playing with dolls at your age?"
"That voice," Valeria said. "It sounds familiar."
The wall burst open as Machine Teen and Sentinel flew in, tossing Kitannia's unconscious body to the floor. Before Alpha could reach her, Machine Teen grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. Valeria picked up a chair to hit him over the head, but Sentinel grabbed her from behind.
"Kill all of them," Vincent ordered as a yelping sound was heard. "I don't need these three. Oh, and thanks for the puppy, fools."
"Mike?" Alpha asked angrily. "The bastard has my baby!? No one steals my baby!"
With all of his strength, Alpha broke free of Machine Teen's grip and tossed him over his shoulder, putting him right through the wall.
"Where is he? Where is he keeping my puppy!" Alpha shouted as Sentinel dropped Valeria and charged toward him. Alpha simply clotheslined him, sending the armored head flying off, which landed in a trash can. "Oops."
"You weren't supposed to kill him!" Valeria shouted as she punched him int he shoulder.
"Well, maybe if we put his head on ice, they can like, reattach it or something," Alpha suggested.
"Heads don't work like that, you idiot!" Valeria told him.
As the two argued, the armor walked over to the trash can and picked the empty armored helmet up, putting it back on its head.
"Well, maybe they can use superglue or something, I don't know how heads work!" Alpha shouted.
"Obviously!" Valeria said as she looked around. "Where's the body?"
Sentinel grabbed both of them by the neck and tossed them all the way across the library.
"You know, I don't think Juston's in there," Alpha said as he landed upside down in the trash can as Sentinel aimed its laser gauntlets at them.
"Good to know," Kittania said as she sliced off Sentinel's head with her broadsword before cutting the rest of the armor into pieces. "Are you two alright?"
"I'll be better once we fix this mess," Valeria told her as she stood up. "We still need to deal with Adam."
"And rescue my puppy!" Alpha shouted at the sky.
"I hate to say it, but I really do wish Franklin was here," Valeria said with a sigh. "We could use his help right about now."
"Well, unless you have a way to get in contact with him, I don't think he's going to be of much use to us," Kittania told them. "For now, it's just the three of us."
"And we have no weapons, no headquarters, no other friends to turn to, and I'm hungry," Alpha said. "I don't think this situation can get much worse."
# # # # # # # # # #
Josh was kneeling down by a river, washing his face and staring down into the water. He didn't know how long he'd been stuck on the wilderness planet, but it was long enough to where his hair was starting to grow longer.
"You know, I've been thinking," Franklin said as he sat on the beach, looking at the portal gun. "This place really isn't such a bad place to live. And since it's just us, I can focus on using my powers better. I think I'm getting the hang of them, although I'm still getting nose bleeds if I do something too major."
"We have food, we have shelter, and we have clothes on our backs," Joshua said. "Well, your back at least, but yeah, I guess it is better here," Josh said as he stood up.
"I don't want to go back to Earth," the two said in unison.
"You really mean that?" Franklin asked.
"This place is great, so why not?" Josh replied as Franklin looked down at the portal gun.
"Okay," Franklin said as he tossed the portal gun as far as he could into the water, watching it sink. "Welcome home, Josh."
TO BE CONTINUED...
"Viral"
"Nothingness sucks," Adam Aaronson, the Machine Teen, said as his silicon soul floated through a made of pure nothing, having had his physical body hijacked by a virus created by Vincent Von Doom. "If anyone's out there, I'd really like some help!"
Adam heard nothing as he searched for any way out of the darkness, hoping his friends were alright.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Alpha, you can take them down, can't you?" Kitannia asked.
"Probably, but I don't want to hurt them!" Alpha replied after having gotten into his costume. "Adam and Juston are our friends, they might not know what they're doing!"
"He's right," Valeria said. "But maybe we can shut them down with an EMP, it worked before."
"But to do that, we'd have to get into our headquarters, which is, you know, not there anymore," Alpha reminded her.
"If we can get past H.E.R.B.I.E., I might be able to whip something up at the Baxter Building," Valeria told them.
Another stray laser blast struck them as Kitannia pulled out her broadsword. "You two go, I'll distract them."
"Remember--"
"No harm will come to them, I promise," Kitannia said. "Just hurry, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them at bay!"
Alpha scooped Valeria up into his arms and flew toward the Baxter Building.
# # # # # # # # # #
Latveria
"My nanites are working better than I ever dreamed!" Vincent said as he sat back in his chair "And with two heroes and that robot under my command, I can start the next phase of my plan."
Vincent stood up and looked at Sam Guthrie, who was breathing heavily in the glass prison that was forcing him to expel his kinetic energy every few minutes.
"Oh, poor baby, the constant electric shocks don't feel too good, do they?" Vincent laughed. "Don't worry, I'd say in another six hours, you'll be dead and my generator will be fully charged. And if you're not, I'll have no further use for you and I'll kill you myself."
As Vincent headed back to his control panel, a portal opened as his sister Sophie stepped out, followed by several Doombots.
"Welcome home, sibling," Vincent smirked. "You're just in time to watch me conquer New York."
"After the humiliation Franklin put me through, I just want a nice bubble bath and a nice long sleep," Sophie said bitterly.
"Patience, sister, Franklin won't go unpunished for this," Vincent said. "Once I have New York and all of its heroes in my grip, I'll deliver Franklin to you personally. I'll even gift wrap him for you."
"There's one more thing I want, if you can manage to not mess this up," Sophie said. "I want the wings of that heathen Icarus ripped right off of his back. Then I'll hang them in my chamber as a trophy."
"My, my, aren't we vindictive?" Vincent asked. "But I think I can arrange for that. But first, New York."
# # # # # # # # # #
Alpha and Valeria arrived at the Baxter Building, finding it undergoing the same transformation that their own headquarters had undergone twenty minutes earlier.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Alpha said. "What the hell is going on with everyone?"
"Get me to a computer and I might be able to find out," Valeria told him. "If it's not already too late."
# # # # # # # # # #
Kitannia was using her broadsword to deflect the blasts that both Machine Teen and Sentinel were firing at her, all while trying to figure out a way to stop them without hurting her friends.
"I don't know what's come over the two of you, but you need to fight it!" Kitannia shouted as Sentinel flew right towards her. The princess used the butt of her sword to strike him, sending Sentinel flying back into a wall, just as Machine Teen grabbed her from behind and began squeezing.
# # # # # # # # # #
"The computer at the library's the only one available," Alpha said as the two rushed into the building. "I wonder what people did here before the internet?"
"You and I are going to have a long talk about that after we save the city," Valeria told him as she sat down at the computer and started typing. "I'm going to try to hack into the Baxter Building's security systems. Maybe I can figure out what's going on with H.E.R.B.I.E. and fix it."
"Maybe he opened one of those e-mails that has a virus," Alpha suggested. "Like from one of the Nigerian princes, who still owes me money."
Valeria just rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm in. I just hope that the library's servers are strong enough to keep from--"
H.E.R.B.I.E.'s robotic face appeared on every computer screen around them, frowning at the two.
"Naughty, naughty," Vincent laughed. "Shouldn't you be playing with dolls at your age?"
"That voice," Valeria said. "It sounds familiar."
The wall burst open as Machine Teen and Sentinel flew in, tossing Kitannia's unconscious body to the floor. Before Alpha could reach her, Machine Teen grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. Valeria picked up a chair to hit him over the head, but Sentinel grabbed her from behind.
"Kill all of them," Vincent ordered as a yelping sound was heard. "I don't need these three. Oh, and thanks for the puppy, fools."
"Mike?" Alpha asked angrily. "The bastard has my baby!? No one steals my baby!"
With all of his strength, Alpha broke free of Machine Teen's grip and tossed him over his shoulder, putting him right through the wall.
"Where is he? Where is he keeping my puppy!" Alpha shouted as Sentinel dropped Valeria and charged toward him. Alpha simply clotheslined him, sending the armored head flying off, which landed in a trash can. "Oops."
"You weren't supposed to kill him!" Valeria shouted as she punched him int he shoulder.
"Well, maybe if we put his head on ice, they can like, reattach it or something," Alpha suggested.
"Heads don't work like that, you idiot!" Valeria told him.
As the two argued, the armor walked over to the trash can and picked the empty armored helmet up, putting it back on its head.
"Well, maybe they can use superglue or something, I don't know how heads work!" Alpha shouted.
"Obviously!" Valeria said as she looked around. "Where's the body?"
Sentinel grabbed both of them by the neck and tossed them all the way across the library.
"You know, I don't think Juston's in there," Alpha said as he landed upside down in the trash can as Sentinel aimed its laser gauntlets at them.
"Good to know," Kittania said as she sliced off Sentinel's head with her broadsword before cutting the rest of the armor into pieces. "Are you two alright?"
"I'll be better once we fix this mess," Valeria told her as she stood up. "We still need to deal with Adam."
"And rescue my puppy!" Alpha shouted at the sky.
"I hate to say it, but I really do wish Franklin was here," Valeria said with a sigh. "We could use his help right about now."
"Well, unless you have a way to get in contact with him, I don't think he's going to be of much use to us," Kittania told them. "For now, it's just the three of us."
"And we have no weapons, no headquarters, no other friends to turn to, and I'm hungry," Alpha said. "I don't think this situation can get much worse."
# # # # # # # # # #
Josh was kneeling down by a river, washing his face and staring down into the water. He didn't know how long he'd been stuck on the wilderness planet, but it was long enough to where his hair was starting to grow longer.
"You know, I've been thinking," Franklin said as he sat on the beach, looking at the portal gun. "This place really isn't such a bad place to live. And since it's just us, I can focus on using my powers better. I think I'm getting the hang of them, although I'm still getting nose bleeds if I do something too major."
"We have food, we have shelter, and we have clothes on our backs," Joshua said. "Well, your back at least, but yeah, I guess it is better here," Josh said as he stood up.
"I don't want to go back to Earth," the two said in unison.
"You really mean that?" Franklin asked.
"This place is great, so why not?" Josh replied as Franklin looked down at the portal gun.
"Okay," Franklin said as he tossed the portal gun as far as he could into the water, watching it sink. "Welcome home, Josh."
TO BE CONTINUED...