Back to GatefoldIssue #8 by Tobias Christopher
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For years, the New Warriors have tackling threats that the Avengers and other big league heroes don't have the time or patience to deal with. And so it goes with the current team, dealing with the things that other heroes like Spider-Man or Iron Man are too busy for...
"Triumph of the Trapster!"
"What do you mean he isn't there?" Josh Guthrie asked as he talked on the pay phone, having finally gotten in contact with the Xavier Institute for Gifted Mutants. "I'm Sam Guthrie's little brother. Cannonball? Well, when will he be back? The Mojoverse? Does it have an area code or phone number I can reach him at? Hello?"
Josh hung up the phone and leaned his head against the wall. Now he had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. He looked picked up his guitar and his suitcase and looked across the street at a cafe, needing a coffee right now.
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"Did these dorks say they're after the New Warriors?" Andy asked.
"We can't fight them, we're in our civilian clothes," Adam added. "We need to get into costume."
"Uh, won't they recognize me and the humanoid cat girl?" Franklin asked.
"Relax, I have a plan," Andy said as he shoved Franklin's head down as the Trapster and Jester walked by. Kittania quickly held up a menu to cover her face. As they passed by the table, Jester saw Franklin's head squirming in Andy's lap.
"Jesus, kid, this is a public place," Jester said as he walked on. "Have some decency."
As soon as the two villains walked past them, Andy let go as Franklin gasped for air.
"What the *#(@?!" Franklin shouted.
"Hey, at least my fly was up, that rarely happens when I rush to get dressed quick in the morning," Andy told him.
"Maybe we should get into costume and follow them," Adam suggested. "I'm wearing mine under my clothes."
"I have my costume in my backpack," Andy said.
"My armor is under my clothes," Kittania added as everyone looked at Franklin.
"The Baxter Building is like five blocks away!" Franklin said. "I can't fight them looking like George Michael!"
"Well, luckily the junkyard is only a few streets over, I need to get something I'm been working on," Juston said as he stood up. "I'll catch up as soon as I can."
"I am not going into a fight like this," Franklin said as everyone stood up. "This is me, staying put."
"Okay, but there's a roach crawling up your arm," Juston told him.
"Gah!" Franklin shouted as he shook it off and jumped out of the booth. Andy, Adam and Kitannia ducked into the restrooms as Juston headed out the backdoor. Just as the Trapster and Jester were about to leave, Alpha, Machine Teen and Kittania burst out of the bathrooms.
"Next time, I'm finding a phone booth to change in," Alpha said. "That place was disgusting!"
"It's them!" Trapster said as he saw the heroes.
"Suck in the guts, guys, we're the New Warriors," Franklin told Alpha and Machine Teen. Josh walked into the cafe just as the two sides were about to collide, walking right in between them.
"Excuse me, guys, I just want a coffee," Josh said as he headed toward the counter. "What is this, a performance art kind of thing?"
"We're having an epic battle between the forces of good and evil," Machine Teen told him. "A battle which this place will probably be torn asunder by!"
The manager behind the counter started to raise his hand to object to that as Josh just looked between the two groups.
"Can I join in?"
"Got any powers?" Franklin asked.
"Oh, for God's sake," Jester said, getting impatient.
"Yeah, I actually do," Josh said as he started unbuttoning his shirt.
"Your special power better not be nudity based," Franklin said as Josh stopped halfway down his shirt.
"Uh, actually there might not be enough room in here," Josh said. "Can we take this outside?"
"I'd actually prefer that," the manager told them. "There's an empty lot next door, go kill each other there. The survivors are welcome to come back for happy hour."
"Fine," Franklin said.
"Fine," Jester said back.
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The Baxter Building
"This is unacceptable!" Valeria said angrily as H.E.R.B.I.E. watched her. "Why should I suffer?"
"Valeria, this isn't a punishment, your parents just think that you'd be better off spending time outside," the robot told her. "Get some fresh air like Franklin."
"Do you really want me to be like the brother who believes there's a clown under his bed that's going to eat him?" Valeria asked.
"Well, in Franklin's defense, we did leave the doors unlocked on that one trip to the Negative Zone. A drifter was bound to come stumbling in sooner or later, he just happened to find the bottom of Franklin's bed comfortable," H.E.R.B.I.E. reminded her. "A little time outside of your room might do you some good."
"But the eggs are about to hatch," Valeria told him.
"Aw, you're hatching chickens?" H.E.R.B.I.E. asked.
"Yes... chickens," Valeria said as she shifted her eyes.
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Franklin and his group headed to the parking lot next door, waiting for the Trapster and Jester to arrive.
"Alright, so what's your big superpower?" Franklin asked Josh.
"Well," Josh said as he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.
"Let me guess, you have a third nipple that can shoot lasers!" Alpha said excitedly.
"You will not be happy until that happens, will you?" Machine Teen asked as Alpha shook his head. They watched a pair of large red wings extended out from behind Josh's back. "Whoah. So, what do they call you, Hawkboy?"
"Icarus," Josh told them as his wings folded down around his shoulders like a cape. "And I can hold my own in a fight."
"Well, we're about to put that to the test," Kittania told him as she pointed to the Jester and Trapster, who were calmly walking up.
"Oh, sorry, we decided to have a quick lunch," Jester told them. "Can't go into battle on an empty stomach. Now, prepare to die!"
Jester tossed several smoke bombs at the ground as the Trapster pulled out his glue gun and started firing it into the smoke. Icarus spread his wings and started blowing the smoke away as Alpha pushed his friends out of the way, as Franklin held out his hand and focused as he saw the glue coming.
"Come on, Franklin," the young man said as the glue turned into confetti. "Hey, I did it!"
"Alright, kid, let's see what you got?" Jester cackled as he looked at Alpha, who was paralyzed in fear. "What's the matter, kid, scared?"
"No," Alpha barely squeaked out as Kittania tapped Jester his shoulder and punched him when he turned.
"Nice kitty," Jester said he pulled out a steel weighted yoyo and flung it at her. She fucked to the side as the yoyo hit a brick wall, creating a dent. "Here, kitty, kitty."
"This clown isn't playing very fair," Kittania said as she picked up a steel pipe.
"Oh, you want to play with steel, do you?" Jester asked with a smirk.
"Machine Teen, you okay?" Franklin asked from not too far away.
"He got my foot," Machine Teen said as he struggled to pull away. "I can't break free!"
"Hang tight, buddy, I'll get you out," Franklin told him as Icarus flew toward the Trapster, dodging the glue blasts. One of the blasts hit his wing and he hit the ground and the Trapster stood over him, smirking.
"You think that's my only trick?" Icarus asked as he opened his mouth and sang, hitting a high-pitched note. Trapster dropped his gun and covered his ears as Icarus uppercut him onto his back.
Meanwhile, the Jester had pulled out two steel cables and started twirling them around, making a high-pitched noise. Everyone in the lot started covering their ears in pain. "Now, Pete!"
The Trapster grabbed his gun and started shooting everyone down with glue. The Jester started laughing before he realized. "Wait a minute, we parked two blocks away. We can't carry all of them."
That's when they noticed someone flying towards the lot not too far away. "Is that Iron Man?" Trapster asked. "Dammit, we'll just take two of them for right now and get the rest of them later!"
Jester pulled out his trick bag and tossed several popcorn pellet smoke bombs to the ground, covering the parking lot in a thick blanket of smoke. Seconds later, a figure dressed in purple and red armor landed, trying to clear the smoke.
"Guys? Are you here?" Juston asked from under the helmet. "Did I miss the fight?"
"Did you miss the fight?" Franklin asked angrily. "Did you miss the fight?"
"That's kind of what I asked," Juston asked.
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After the smoke cleared, Juston got the others out of the glue traps that were holding them.
"This stuff's going to be stuck in my feathers for weeks," Icarus said.
"Is everyone alright?" Machine Teen asked as he finally freed his foot from the blue.
"No, we're missing Alpha and Kittania," Franklin said as he looked around. "Those bastards took them while we were down."
"Then we're going to get them back," Juston promised. "No one takes our friends and gets away with it."
"Yeah, but there's a problem," Franklin told the group. "They're going to be expecting us now, and we're two team members down. They're going to have the advantage. We're going to need help."
"Hey, Juston, nice armor, kind of looks like-" Machine Teen notice.
"It's all I could salvage from the Sentinel," Juston said as he took off his helmet. "That's my code name, by the way. You can call me Sentinel."
"Come on, we need to get back to the Baxter Building," Franklin told them. "We'll need H.E.R.B.I.E.'s help, and maybe my family."
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"Is the boy sedated?" Trapster asked once they returned to their hideout. "According to the news reports, he's the powerful player they have."
"We'll have to sedate him every few hours just to be sure," Jester told him. "The cat girl is strong, but not strong enough to break steel chains. How do we deal with the others when they come?"
"That's why we have our new hideout," Trapster said as he grinned evilly. "The New Warriors will come in, but they won't come out."
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Kittania struggled with the chains that had her tied to a chair as she looked over at Alpha. "Andy! Andy, you have to wake up!"
Alpha was moaning in his sleep, having a nightmare.
"Andy, please, you're our only hope," Kittania told him. "They're going to kill our friends if we don't get out of here!"
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Franklin, Juston, Adam, and Josh returned to the Baxter Building, where Valeria was working on giving the toaster sentience.
"Where are mom and dad?" Franklin asked. "And Uncle Ben and Johnny?"
"Latveria," Valeria told him. "Doom's in one of his moods. Where's your cat friend?"
"She got captured along with Andy," Franklin said. "I'm going to change and, by the way, we're going to talk about what you did to me this morning."
"You messed with Bumblebee first," Valeria told him.
"You two can argue later, our friends are in trouble," Adam said. "Franklin, get changed, we'll find H.E.R.B.I.E."
"H.E.R.B.I.E.'s in hibernation mode while he upgrades his systems," Valeria told them. "He won't be back online for twelve hours."
"Great," Juston said as he fell back onto the couch. "No Fantastic Four, no H.E.R.B.I.E., and our most powerful player has been benched. Now what do we do?"
"I'll help you guys," Valeria sighed. "I'm supposed to go outside for fresh anyway, so I'll join your little playgroup."
Adam and Juston just started laughing at that thought, just as Franklin walked out of his bedroom while zipping up his costume and holding his boots in his hand.
"What's so funny?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Josh hung up the phone and leaned his head against the wall. Now he had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. He looked picked up his guitar and his suitcase and looked across the street at a cafe, needing a coffee right now.
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"Did these dorks say they're after the New Warriors?" Andy asked.
"We can't fight them, we're in our civilian clothes," Adam added. "We need to get into costume."
"Uh, won't they recognize me and the humanoid cat girl?" Franklin asked.
"Relax, I have a plan," Andy said as he shoved Franklin's head down as the Trapster and Jester walked by. Kittania quickly held up a menu to cover her face. As they passed by the table, Jester saw Franklin's head squirming in Andy's lap.
"Jesus, kid, this is a public place," Jester said as he walked on. "Have some decency."
As soon as the two villains walked past them, Andy let go as Franklin gasped for air.
"What the *#(@?!" Franklin shouted.
"Hey, at least my fly was up, that rarely happens when I rush to get dressed quick in the morning," Andy told him.
"Maybe we should get into costume and follow them," Adam suggested. "I'm wearing mine under my clothes."
"I have my costume in my backpack," Andy said.
"My armor is under my clothes," Kittania added as everyone looked at Franklin.
"The Baxter Building is like five blocks away!" Franklin said. "I can't fight them looking like George Michael!"
"Well, luckily the junkyard is only a few streets over, I need to get something I'm been working on," Juston said as he stood up. "I'll catch up as soon as I can."
"I am not going into a fight like this," Franklin said as everyone stood up. "This is me, staying put."
"Okay, but there's a roach crawling up your arm," Juston told him.
"Gah!" Franklin shouted as he shook it off and jumped out of the booth. Andy, Adam and Kitannia ducked into the restrooms as Juston headed out the backdoor. Just as the Trapster and Jester were about to leave, Alpha, Machine Teen and Kittania burst out of the bathrooms.
"Next time, I'm finding a phone booth to change in," Alpha said. "That place was disgusting!"
"It's them!" Trapster said as he saw the heroes.
"Suck in the guts, guys, we're the New Warriors," Franklin told Alpha and Machine Teen. Josh walked into the cafe just as the two sides were about to collide, walking right in between them.
"Excuse me, guys, I just want a coffee," Josh said as he headed toward the counter. "What is this, a performance art kind of thing?"
"We're having an epic battle between the forces of good and evil," Machine Teen told him. "A battle which this place will probably be torn asunder by!"
The manager behind the counter started to raise his hand to object to that as Josh just looked between the two groups.
"Can I join in?"
"Got any powers?" Franklin asked.
"Oh, for God's sake," Jester said, getting impatient.
"Yeah, I actually do," Josh said as he started unbuttoning his shirt.
"Your special power better not be nudity based," Franklin said as Josh stopped halfway down his shirt.
"Uh, actually there might not be enough room in here," Josh said. "Can we take this outside?"
"I'd actually prefer that," the manager told them. "There's an empty lot next door, go kill each other there. The survivors are welcome to come back for happy hour."
"Fine," Franklin said.
"Fine," Jester said back.
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The Baxter Building
"This is unacceptable!" Valeria said angrily as H.E.R.B.I.E. watched her. "Why should I suffer?"
"Valeria, this isn't a punishment, your parents just think that you'd be better off spending time outside," the robot told her. "Get some fresh air like Franklin."
"Do you really want me to be like the brother who believes there's a clown under his bed that's going to eat him?" Valeria asked.
"Well, in Franklin's defense, we did leave the doors unlocked on that one trip to the Negative Zone. A drifter was bound to come stumbling in sooner or later, he just happened to find the bottom of Franklin's bed comfortable," H.E.R.B.I.E. reminded her. "A little time outside of your room might do you some good."
"But the eggs are about to hatch," Valeria told him.
"Aw, you're hatching chickens?" H.E.R.B.I.E. asked.
"Yes... chickens," Valeria said as she shifted her eyes.
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Franklin and his group headed to the parking lot next door, waiting for the Trapster and Jester to arrive.
"Alright, so what's your big superpower?" Franklin asked Josh.
"Well," Josh said as he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off.
"Let me guess, you have a third nipple that can shoot lasers!" Alpha said excitedly.
"You will not be happy until that happens, will you?" Machine Teen asked as Alpha shook his head. They watched a pair of large red wings extended out from behind Josh's back. "Whoah. So, what do they call you, Hawkboy?"
"Icarus," Josh told them as his wings folded down around his shoulders like a cape. "And I can hold my own in a fight."
"Well, we're about to put that to the test," Kittania told him as she pointed to the Jester and Trapster, who were calmly walking up.
"Oh, sorry, we decided to have a quick lunch," Jester told them. "Can't go into battle on an empty stomach. Now, prepare to die!"
Jester tossed several smoke bombs at the ground as the Trapster pulled out his glue gun and started firing it into the smoke. Icarus spread his wings and started blowing the smoke away as Alpha pushed his friends out of the way, as Franklin held out his hand and focused as he saw the glue coming.
"Come on, Franklin," the young man said as the glue turned into confetti. "Hey, I did it!"
"Alright, kid, let's see what you got?" Jester cackled as he looked at Alpha, who was paralyzed in fear. "What's the matter, kid, scared?"
"No," Alpha barely squeaked out as Kittania tapped Jester his shoulder and punched him when he turned.
"Nice kitty," Jester said he pulled out a steel weighted yoyo and flung it at her. She fucked to the side as the yoyo hit a brick wall, creating a dent. "Here, kitty, kitty."
"This clown isn't playing very fair," Kittania said as she picked up a steel pipe.
"Oh, you want to play with steel, do you?" Jester asked with a smirk.
"Machine Teen, you okay?" Franklin asked from not too far away.
"He got my foot," Machine Teen said as he struggled to pull away. "I can't break free!"
"Hang tight, buddy, I'll get you out," Franklin told him as Icarus flew toward the Trapster, dodging the glue blasts. One of the blasts hit his wing and he hit the ground and the Trapster stood over him, smirking.
"You think that's my only trick?" Icarus asked as he opened his mouth and sang, hitting a high-pitched note. Trapster dropped his gun and covered his ears as Icarus uppercut him onto his back.
Meanwhile, the Jester had pulled out two steel cables and started twirling them around, making a high-pitched noise. Everyone in the lot started covering their ears in pain. "Now, Pete!"
The Trapster grabbed his gun and started shooting everyone down with glue. The Jester started laughing before he realized. "Wait a minute, we parked two blocks away. We can't carry all of them."
That's when they noticed someone flying towards the lot not too far away. "Is that Iron Man?" Trapster asked. "Dammit, we'll just take two of them for right now and get the rest of them later!"
Jester pulled out his trick bag and tossed several popcorn pellet smoke bombs to the ground, covering the parking lot in a thick blanket of smoke. Seconds later, a figure dressed in purple and red armor landed, trying to clear the smoke.
"Guys? Are you here?" Juston asked from under the helmet. "Did I miss the fight?"
"Did you miss the fight?" Franklin asked angrily. "Did you miss the fight?"
"That's kind of what I asked," Juston asked.
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After the smoke cleared, Juston got the others out of the glue traps that were holding them.
"This stuff's going to be stuck in my feathers for weeks," Icarus said.
"Is everyone alright?" Machine Teen asked as he finally freed his foot from the blue.
"No, we're missing Alpha and Kittania," Franklin said as he looked around. "Those bastards took them while we were down."
"Then we're going to get them back," Juston promised. "No one takes our friends and gets away with it."
"Yeah, but there's a problem," Franklin told the group. "They're going to be expecting us now, and we're two team members down. They're going to have the advantage. We're going to need help."
"Hey, Juston, nice armor, kind of looks like-" Machine Teen notice.
"It's all I could salvage from the Sentinel," Juston said as he took off his helmet. "That's my code name, by the way. You can call me Sentinel."
"Come on, we need to get back to the Baxter Building," Franklin told them. "We'll need H.E.R.B.I.E.'s help, and maybe my family."
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"Is the boy sedated?" Trapster asked once they returned to their hideout. "According to the news reports, he's the powerful player they have."
"We'll have to sedate him every few hours just to be sure," Jester told him. "The cat girl is strong, but not strong enough to break steel chains. How do we deal with the others when they come?"
"That's why we have our new hideout," Trapster said as he grinned evilly. "The New Warriors will come in, but they won't come out."
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Kittania struggled with the chains that had her tied to a chair as she looked over at Alpha. "Andy! Andy, you have to wake up!"
Alpha was moaning in his sleep, having a nightmare.
"Andy, please, you're our only hope," Kittania told him. "They're going to kill our friends if we don't get out of here!"
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Franklin, Juston, Adam, and Josh returned to the Baxter Building, where Valeria was working on giving the toaster sentience.
"Where are mom and dad?" Franklin asked. "And Uncle Ben and Johnny?"
"Latveria," Valeria told him. "Doom's in one of his moods. Where's your cat friend?"
"She got captured along with Andy," Franklin said. "I'm going to change and, by the way, we're going to talk about what you did to me this morning."
"You messed with Bumblebee first," Valeria told him.
"You two can argue later, our friends are in trouble," Adam said. "Franklin, get changed, we'll find H.E.R.B.I.E."
"H.E.R.B.I.E.'s in hibernation mode while he upgrades his systems," Valeria told them. "He won't be back online for twelve hours."
"Great," Juston said as he fell back onto the couch. "No Fantastic Four, no H.E.R.B.I.E., and our most powerful player has been benched. Now what do we do?"
"I'll help you guys," Valeria sighed. "I'm supposed to go outside for fresh anyway, so I'll join your little playgroup."
Adam and Juston just started laughing at that thought, just as Franklin walked out of his bedroom while zipping up his costume and holding his boots in his hand.
"What's so funny?"
TO BE CONTINUED...