Back to GatefoldIssue #9 by Tobias Christopher
|
"Resignation"
"In the words of Mother Theresa: No fucking way!" Franklin said as he looked at Valeria. "You are not coming along!"
"Do you even know where the others are?" Valeria asked him.
"Well... no," Juston said as he looked at Franklin.
"I can find them," Valeria said. "In exchange for letting me join your little club."
"A: It's not a club, it's a superhero team. B: We can find Andy and Kittania on our own, and C: You will NEVER join this team," Franklin said. "Juston, we can find them, right?"
"Well... no," Juston said. "Do you have any idea how big New York is? We don't have the resources yet to even begin to track down supervillains. I mean, given enough time I could build something, but even then I'd need the money for some special parts."
"Yeah, they could be hiding anywhere," Adam added. "Franklin, we need all the help we can get."
"Josh, back me up on this," Franklin said to his new friend.
"You want my opinion?" Josh asked meekly. "I... I guess we should-"
"Found them," Valeria said after a few minutes typing on her laptop. "I'll tell you where your friends are if you agree to me joining."
"Why do you even want to join the New Warriors anyway?" Franklin asked.
"Mom and Dad want me to spend more time out of my room, at least if I'm hanging around with you losers, I'll have someone around to be intellectually superior to," Valeria told him.
"Did she just insult us?" Juston asked Adam.
"Fine, just... tell us where Andy and Kittania are," Franklin sighed in defeat.
# # # # # # # # # #
Meanwhile, up in Reed Richard's lab, H.E.R.B.I.E. was upgrading his systems as his robot body slept. As his robotic body lay dormant, his yellow eyes briefly flashed green as the faint sound of Dr. Doom's laughter was heard.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Your idiot friend Andy's powers are tied to the universe itself," Valeria told them as the group walked down the street. "That means he gives off a very unique energy signature that can be traced, no matter how well hidden he is."
"So, then where is he?" Franklin asked as the group stopped in front of an old abandoned shopping center that stood several stories high. "This is no time to hit the mall, Valeria."
"This isn't a mall, you tard," Valeria said. "This is where your friends are."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Josh asked as he started unbuttoning his shirt as Franklin stopped him.
"Keep your shirt on, buddy," Franklin told him. "I mean that in...every way possible."
"What's wrong?" Juston asked.
"We're about to face a guy named the Trapster," Franklin reminded them. "What if the place is, I don't know, filled with traps?"
"Can it be that you actually have a functioning brain cell?" Valeria snickered as Franklin shot her a look.
"We can't just go charging in through the front door, they might be expecting that," Franklin told them. "We should split up, go through different ways and meet up in the middle. Then we'll go from there. Josh, you and Juston go in through the roof entrance. Adam, you go around back and find a way in. Valeria and I are going through the front."
"Didn't you just say that's dangerous?" Valeria asked.
"Between my actual powers and your brain power, we should be able to figure out whatever they've got in store for us," Franklin told her. "Now let's go rescue our friends."
Josh tossed off his shirt and spread his wings, flying toward the roof as Juston followed in his Sentinel armor, while Adam ran around to the back. Franklin just looked at Valeria and sighed.
"Okay, you can go home now, I'll take it from here," Franklin told her. "These are my teammates, and I'll bring them home."
Valeria just stood there, then started laughing. "Oh, please, you couldn't even take care of that baby turtle mom and dad got for you. Remember how it mutated and learned martial arts before running away into the sewers?"
"I was five, give me a break," Franklin told her as they approached the door. "You know, you don't always have to be so mean to me. We're supposed to be brother and sister."
"I have never been mean to you," Valeria told him. "You're just overly sensitive and cry about every little thing. Try growing up, Franklin."
The two got the door opened and walked in, looking around.
"Maybe they weren't expecting us," Franklin said as a trap door opened, dropping them both down a chute.
# # # # # # # # # #
Icarus and Sentinel landed on the roof as Josh's wings folded around his shoulders.
"You know, you could have brought a shirt with you," Sentinel told him as he started opening the door.
"Why? I might need my wings in a fight," Icarus said. "Plus it's hard getting a shirt on around them when I don't have them strapped down."
"Let's just get in there and find the others," Sentinel said as he walked in, just as he heard the Jester's giggling. "They know we're here. Get ready for a fight."
The Jester cartwheeled up to them, standing only a few feet away as pulled out a burlap sack and dumped several jacks onto the floor.
"What's that supposed to, scare us?" Sentinel asked as the magnetic jacks suddently hurled themselves upward, latching on Sentinel's armor. Jester just waved goodbye as an EMP short circuited the armor. "Josh, I can't move!"
"I'll get you out!" Icarus shouted as the Jester pulled out a large sledgehammer and whacked Icarus backward, knocking him out.
"Two more down," Jester giggled.
# # # # # # # # # #
Machine Teen came through the back entrance and slowly made his way in.
"Doesn't look like anyone's here," the hero said to himself as he heard a humming. He looked up at a large magnet that quickly sucked him up, trapping him on it.
"Welcome to the party, kid," Trapster said.
# # # # # # # # # #
Icarus and Sentinel were brought to the holding area where Alpha and Kittania were being held. Jester pulled out a needle and injected Alpha with more tranquilizer.
"How much of that stuff are you giving him?" Sentinel asked as he tried to move his armor. "You'll kill him!"
"Relax, I'm just giving him enough to keep him under until we have all your friends here," Jester told him. "Then we'll execute you all and become the city's biggest villains. We'll have the respect of every major criminal in town."
"As well as every major hero coming down on you!" Sentinel promised him.
"You just let us worry about that," Jester smirked as he pinched Sentinel's cheek after raising the mask on his helmet, while Trapster carted Machine Teen in, having deactivated him while trapped on the magnet. He dumped the lifeless body next to Alpha and the unconscious Icarus, who was chained up.
"We just need the Fantastic Four brats and we'll have them all," Jester said. "They're in the dungeon, we just have to restrain them."
"They're powerless kids, shouldn't be too hard," Trapster told him.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Don't be scared," Franklin said as he looked at Valeria while he concentrated on the door. "I'll get us out of here."
"I'm not scared, I'm bored," Valeria told him. "You're taking too long. Just use your weird powers to turn the door to jelly or something."
"It doesn't work that way," Franklin told her. "I haven't had access to my powers since I was like, five years old. They've been dormant way too long, so now the only way I can really access them for the moment is if I get really angry or emotional."
Valeria walked over, pulling her fist back to hit Franklin, before stopping, pulling her hand back and kicked Franklin in the groin as hard as she could. Franklin doubled over in pain as the door turned into thin glass, which Valeria easily shattered. "You can get up now, the door's open."
# # # # # # # # # #
The Trapster and the Jester headed down to the basement, holding ropes, chains and burlap sacks as they got ready to capture the Richards children. They turned the corner and saw Valeria standing there, with Franklin struggling to walk behind her.
"Alright, little girl, just stand right there, and we'll just toss this sack over you," Jester told her. Valeria just tilted her head and pulled out a small Nerf gun. "What are you going to do with that, hit me with a foam bullet?"
Valeria squeezed the trigger as the Jester flew through the concrete wall behind him.
"What the hell kind of bullet is that?" Trapster asked.
"Oh, no bullets, it's just super compressed air," Valeria told him as the Trapster pulled out a glue gun and quickly fired at her. Franklin pushed her out of the way, getting pinned to the wall.
"Run!" Franklin shouted.
"That's right, little girl, run away," Trapster told her. "It's your only chance."
"You leave her alone!" Franklin shouted as he struggled.
"Oh, relax, like I'm going to let this guy-" Valeria said the Trapster punched her, knocking her out.
"You hit my sister," Franklin said in a whisper before getting angrier. "YOU HIT MY SISTER!"
The glue holding him to the wall melted away as Franklin got an angered look on his face while he looked at the Trapster. "Try hitting me, you son of a bitch!"
The Trapster tried moving toward him, but a strong wind started blowing, keeping him back. "What are you doing? Where's that wind coming from?"
The wind got stronger as the Trapster flew back against the wall, while Franklin walked toward him, getting angrier as he got closer.
"Franklin?" Valeria asked as he started coming around. The wind stopped as Franklin ran over to her to help his sister up.
"Are you okay?" Franklin asked.
"My face hurts," she said as Franklin looked back toward the wall. The Trapster was gone, leaving the Jester unconscious in the concrete wall ahead of them.
# # # # # # # # # #
The Trapster was running away, coming up with a new plan. "They haven't trapped me yet. I can still finish off the others and-"
As the Trapster turned the corner, he tripped and fell to the floor. He looked up as he saw Juston standing there in his Spider-Man boxers, holding the arm of his Sentinel costume after he'd just spent the last half hour wriggling out of it. He swung the metal arm, knocking the Trapster out.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Can you fix him?" Franklin asked Juston as he worked on reactivating Machine Teen after The Trapster and Jester had been taken into police custody.
"Yeah, but it'll probably take a few hours," Juston told him. "I'll need some things from my armor once I get it going again to download some upgrades into Adam, so this kind of thing doesn't happen again."
"Are you okay, Andy?" Kittania asked as she saw Alpha sitting against the wall. He seemed scared and agitated. "Are the drugs wearing off?"
"It's not the drugs, it's the dreams," Andy whispered. "I think it's where my powers come from. Someone's trying to tell me something."
"This place isn't bad," Juston said as he closed the plate on Adam's chest for the time being. "I wonder how those two losers could afford it?"
"They couldn't," Valeria said as she typed into her portable laptop. "This place has been vacant for a long time. The last recession shut this place down and no one wants to invest in a large place like this."
"So this place is available as a headquarters is what you're saying," Franklin said as he looked around. "Too bad we couldn't afford it."
"YOU can't afford it," Valeria said. "Me, however? I just put it in a bid for it. Place will be mine in about twenty minutes."
"What? How? Why?" was all Franklin could get out.
"I play the stock market, managed to save up some money for college. And a house in the Bahamas. And a luxury sports car, and a few other small little things," Valeria told him. "And this place can be the New Warrior's headquarters... if you make me the leader."
"What? No way," Franklin laughed. "Guys, tell her that she can't-"
"Well, she did buy us a fancy new place to hang our hats," Juston said. "I mean, this place is way better than the junkyard, and it's a lot easier to build a security grid to keep people out."
"And with some proper training, she could be a skilled fighter," Kittania said. "It would be nice to see a woman lead."
"Plus I don't want to get on her bad side or she'll make us go naked in public, like she did with you," Andy added.
"And I have enough money to foot the team's bills until you guys inevitably break up in about two years," Valeria said as she looked at them. "That's four against one, big brother."
"Josh?" Franklin asked as he looked over at the other newest member.
"I gotta side with Franklin," Josh told them. "I mean, this is his team, he started it, right?"
"Four to two, and Adam can't vote yet, but I don't think it matters," Valeria said. "Looks like I'm the new leader. Maybe now Mom and Dad will get off my back about- Franklin, where are you going?"
"I quit!" Franklin said angrily as he headed toward the door. "Enjoy getting yourselves killed!"
Valeria just looked at the rest of the team. "Who wants to get a celebratory pizza?"
NEXT: Did Franklin really walk out on his team? And who's going to go with him?
"Do you even know where the others are?" Valeria asked him.
"Well... no," Juston said as he looked at Franklin.
"I can find them," Valeria said. "In exchange for letting me join your little club."
"A: It's not a club, it's a superhero team. B: We can find Andy and Kittania on our own, and C: You will NEVER join this team," Franklin said. "Juston, we can find them, right?"
"Well... no," Juston said. "Do you have any idea how big New York is? We don't have the resources yet to even begin to track down supervillains. I mean, given enough time I could build something, but even then I'd need the money for some special parts."
"Yeah, they could be hiding anywhere," Adam added. "Franklin, we need all the help we can get."
"Josh, back me up on this," Franklin said to his new friend.
"You want my opinion?" Josh asked meekly. "I... I guess we should-"
"Found them," Valeria said after a few minutes typing on her laptop. "I'll tell you where your friends are if you agree to me joining."
"Why do you even want to join the New Warriors anyway?" Franklin asked.
"Mom and Dad want me to spend more time out of my room, at least if I'm hanging around with you losers, I'll have someone around to be intellectually superior to," Valeria told him.
"Did she just insult us?" Juston asked Adam.
"Fine, just... tell us where Andy and Kittania are," Franklin sighed in defeat.
# # # # # # # # # #
Meanwhile, up in Reed Richard's lab, H.E.R.B.I.E. was upgrading his systems as his robot body slept. As his robotic body lay dormant, his yellow eyes briefly flashed green as the faint sound of Dr. Doom's laughter was heard.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Your idiot friend Andy's powers are tied to the universe itself," Valeria told them as the group walked down the street. "That means he gives off a very unique energy signature that can be traced, no matter how well hidden he is."
"So, then where is he?" Franklin asked as the group stopped in front of an old abandoned shopping center that stood several stories high. "This is no time to hit the mall, Valeria."
"This isn't a mall, you tard," Valeria said. "This is where your friends are."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Josh asked as he started unbuttoning his shirt as Franklin stopped him.
"Keep your shirt on, buddy," Franklin told him. "I mean that in...every way possible."
"What's wrong?" Juston asked.
"We're about to face a guy named the Trapster," Franklin reminded them. "What if the place is, I don't know, filled with traps?"
"Can it be that you actually have a functioning brain cell?" Valeria snickered as Franklin shot her a look.
"We can't just go charging in through the front door, they might be expecting that," Franklin told them. "We should split up, go through different ways and meet up in the middle. Then we'll go from there. Josh, you and Juston go in through the roof entrance. Adam, you go around back and find a way in. Valeria and I are going through the front."
"Didn't you just say that's dangerous?" Valeria asked.
"Between my actual powers and your brain power, we should be able to figure out whatever they've got in store for us," Franklin told her. "Now let's go rescue our friends."
Josh tossed off his shirt and spread his wings, flying toward the roof as Juston followed in his Sentinel armor, while Adam ran around to the back. Franklin just looked at Valeria and sighed.
"Okay, you can go home now, I'll take it from here," Franklin told her. "These are my teammates, and I'll bring them home."
Valeria just stood there, then started laughing. "Oh, please, you couldn't even take care of that baby turtle mom and dad got for you. Remember how it mutated and learned martial arts before running away into the sewers?"
"I was five, give me a break," Franklin told her as they approached the door. "You know, you don't always have to be so mean to me. We're supposed to be brother and sister."
"I have never been mean to you," Valeria told him. "You're just overly sensitive and cry about every little thing. Try growing up, Franklin."
The two got the door opened and walked in, looking around.
"Maybe they weren't expecting us," Franklin said as a trap door opened, dropping them both down a chute.
# # # # # # # # # #
Icarus and Sentinel landed on the roof as Josh's wings folded around his shoulders.
"You know, you could have brought a shirt with you," Sentinel told him as he started opening the door.
"Why? I might need my wings in a fight," Icarus said. "Plus it's hard getting a shirt on around them when I don't have them strapped down."
"Let's just get in there and find the others," Sentinel said as he walked in, just as he heard the Jester's giggling. "They know we're here. Get ready for a fight."
The Jester cartwheeled up to them, standing only a few feet away as pulled out a burlap sack and dumped several jacks onto the floor.
"What's that supposed to, scare us?" Sentinel asked as the magnetic jacks suddently hurled themselves upward, latching on Sentinel's armor. Jester just waved goodbye as an EMP short circuited the armor. "Josh, I can't move!"
"I'll get you out!" Icarus shouted as the Jester pulled out a large sledgehammer and whacked Icarus backward, knocking him out.
"Two more down," Jester giggled.
# # # # # # # # # #
Machine Teen came through the back entrance and slowly made his way in.
"Doesn't look like anyone's here," the hero said to himself as he heard a humming. He looked up at a large magnet that quickly sucked him up, trapping him on it.
"Welcome to the party, kid," Trapster said.
# # # # # # # # # #
Icarus and Sentinel were brought to the holding area where Alpha and Kittania were being held. Jester pulled out a needle and injected Alpha with more tranquilizer.
"How much of that stuff are you giving him?" Sentinel asked as he tried to move his armor. "You'll kill him!"
"Relax, I'm just giving him enough to keep him under until we have all your friends here," Jester told him. "Then we'll execute you all and become the city's biggest villains. We'll have the respect of every major criminal in town."
"As well as every major hero coming down on you!" Sentinel promised him.
"You just let us worry about that," Jester smirked as he pinched Sentinel's cheek after raising the mask on his helmet, while Trapster carted Machine Teen in, having deactivated him while trapped on the magnet. He dumped the lifeless body next to Alpha and the unconscious Icarus, who was chained up.
"We just need the Fantastic Four brats and we'll have them all," Jester said. "They're in the dungeon, we just have to restrain them."
"They're powerless kids, shouldn't be too hard," Trapster told him.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Don't be scared," Franklin said as he looked at Valeria while he concentrated on the door. "I'll get us out of here."
"I'm not scared, I'm bored," Valeria told him. "You're taking too long. Just use your weird powers to turn the door to jelly or something."
"It doesn't work that way," Franklin told her. "I haven't had access to my powers since I was like, five years old. They've been dormant way too long, so now the only way I can really access them for the moment is if I get really angry or emotional."
Valeria walked over, pulling her fist back to hit Franklin, before stopping, pulling her hand back and kicked Franklin in the groin as hard as she could. Franklin doubled over in pain as the door turned into thin glass, which Valeria easily shattered. "You can get up now, the door's open."
# # # # # # # # # #
The Trapster and the Jester headed down to the basement, holding ropes, chains and burlap sacks as they got ready to capture the Richards children. They turned the corner and saw Valeria standing there, with Franklin struggling to walk behind her.
"Alright, little girl, just stand right there, and we'll just toss this sack over you," Jester told her. Valeria just tilted her head and pulled out a small Nerf gun. "What are you going to do with that, hit me with a foam bullet?"
Valeria squeezed the trigger as the Jester flew through the concrete wall behind him.
"What the hell kind of bullet is that?" Trapster asked.
"Oh, no bullets, it's just super compressed air," Valeria told him as the Trapster pulled out a glue gun and quickly fired at her. Franklin pushed her out of the way, getting pinned to the wall.
"Run!" Franklin shouted.
"That's right, little girl, run away," Trapster told her. "It's your only chance."
"You leave her alone!" Franklin shouted as he struggled.
"Oh, relax, like I'm going to let this guy-" Valeria said the Trapster punched her, knocking her out.
"You hit my sister," Franklin said in a whisper before getting angrier. "YOU HIT MY SISTER!"
The glue holding him to the wall melted away as Franklin got an angered look on his face while he looked at the Trapster. "Try hitting me, you son of a bitch!"
The Trapster tried moving toward him, but a strong wind started blowing, keeping him back. "What are you doing? Where's that wind coming from?"
The wind got stronger as the Trapster flew back against the wall, while Franklin walked toward him, getting angrier as he got closer.
"Franklin?" Valeria asked as he started coming around. The wind stopped as Franklin ran over to her to help his sister up.
"Are you okay?" Franklin asked.
"My face hurts," she said as Franklin looked back toward the wall. The Trapster was gone, leaving the Jester unconscious in the concrete wall ahead of them.
# # # # # # # # # #
The Trapster was running away, coming up with a new plan. "They haven't trapped me yet. I can still finish off the others and-"
As the Trapster turned the corner, he tripped and fell to the floor. He looked up as he saw Juston standing there in his Spider-Man boxers, holding the arm of his Sentinel costume after he'd just spent the last half hour wriggling out of it. He swung the metal arm, knocking the Trapster out.
# # # # # # # # # #
"Can you fix him?" Franklin asked Juston as he worked on reactivating Machine Teen after The Trapster and Jester had been taken into police custody.
"Yeah, but it'll probably take a few hours," Juston told him. "I'll need some things from my armor once I get it going again to download some upgrades into Adam, so this kind of thing doesn't happen again."
"Are you okay, Andy?" Kittania asked as she saw Alpha sitting against the wall. He seemed scared and agitated. "Are the drugs wearing off?"
"It's not the drugs, it's the dreams," Andy whispered. "I think it's where my powers come from. Someone's trying to tell me something."
"This place isn't bad," Juston said as he closed the plate on Adam's chest for the time being. "I wonder how those two losers could afford it?"
"They couldn't," Valeria said as she typed into her portable laptop. "This place has been vacant for a long time. The last recession shut this place down and no one wants to invest in a large place like this."
"So this place is available as a headquarters is what you're saying," Franklin said as he looked around. "Too bad we couldn't afford it."
"YOU can't afford it," Valeria said. "Me, however? I just put it in a bid for it. Place will be mine in about twenty minutes."
"What? How? Why?" was all Franklin could get out.
"I play the stock market, managed to save up some money for college. And a house in the Bahamas. And a luxury sports car, and a few other small little things," Valeria told him. "And this place can be the New Warrior's headquarters... if you make me the leader."
"What? No way," Franklin laughed. "Guys, tell her that she can't-"
"Well, she did buy us a fancy new place to hang our hats," Juston said. "I mean, this place is way better than the junkyard, and it's a lot easier to build a security grid to keep people out."
"And with some proper training, she could be a skilled fighter," Kittania said. "It would be nice to see a woman lead."
"Plus I don't want to get on her bad side or she'll make us go naked in public, like she did with you," Andy added.
"And I have enough money to foot the team's bills until you guys inevitably break up in about two years," Valeria said as she looked at them. "That's four against one, big brother."
"Josh?" Franklin asked as he looked over at the other newest member.
"I gotta side with Franklin," Josh told them. "I mean, this is his team, he started it, right?"
"Four to two, and Adam can't vote yet, but I don't think it matters," Valeria said. "Looks like I'm the new leader. Maybe now Mom and Dad will get off my back about- Franklin, where are you going?"
"I quit!" Franklin said angrily as he headed toward the door. "Enjoy getting yourselves killed!"
Valeria just looked at the rest of the team. "Who wants to get a celebratory pizza?"
NEXT: Did Franklin really walk out on his team? And who's going to go with him?