Chapter One: Once an Avenger
By C.M. King
“Oh yeah! This is what it’s all about…,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he walks down the busy Manhattan sidewalk in all his purple-clad glory. Passersby stare, gossip to each other, and point excitedly at the famous Avenger. His smile grows with each passing pair of curious eyes on him. “…the adulation of the public, the roar of the crowd. It makes facin’ badies like Ultron worth all the pain. I’m glad I gave into the impulse to go strutting in the old uniform today.” The Avenger feels at home here among his admirers on this warm afternoon. More at home than he would behind the walls of Avengers Mansion itself.
However, as he passes a small side-street, Hawkeye’s peace turns out to be short lived. From an old warehouse a block away, Clint sees a clearly distressed woman charge out its front door and tumble down to the pavement in front. She sees the hero and screams out, “Help! Please, oh God. Help me!” Hawkeye turns in her direction as the woman staggers back to her feet. But before the hero can do more than take a couple steps toward her, a white-gloved hand reaches out of the open warehouse door and grabs the woman violently. In one blurring motion, the sinister hand yanks the female back through the door …then slams it shut. His sprint across the alley takes Hawkeye only seconds, and is not slowed at all by the stringing of the shock arrow he accomplishes at the same time. “All right, hero. It’s time to earn your fame,” thinks the bowman to himself as he sports a darkly determined face. Hawkeye crashes through a side window of the warehouse thinking, “Whoever’s causing this trouble didn’t count on the world’s greatest archer getting involved. Still, I gotta be prepared for anything.”
The Avenger lands crouched, arrow drawn, and ready for action. However, what he sees baffles him. Four figures stand around him arms folded, smiling at the adventurer. One of them has white gloves, a mustache, goatee, and an unfamiliar costume. Two other costumed (and just as unfamiliar) men stand near the first man. One wears a red costume while the other sports a bizarre looking armored outfit. Moreover, on the other side of the white-gloved villain stands the woman he rushed in to rescue. She seems far from a victim now as she beams at Clint with a malicious grin. “Whoa! Looks like ole’ Hawk’s been snookered,” thinks the archer as he gulps.
“Good evening, Hawkeye. We’ve been waiting for you. I’m afraid you will find any signal devices quite useless in here. You see, you are very much at the complete mercy of Othello D’Vem and his Malevolence Union.” Upon finishing his statement, the mustached villain gestures to his two costumed companions. “However, only two from my organization are required to deal with this Avenger.” Othello takes the woman by the arm courtingly, and the two walk away arm-in-arm from the stunned archer. “Come my dear, we are through here. Our colleagues will bring our purple-garbed prize to us after he has been subdued.” The couple begins to glow briefly … and then both disappear magically. “We shall await your arrival, Avenger.”
Hawkeye holds his head in disbelief at first, and then once more tenses his bow. “Runnin’ out on me, eh? Not only do I fall into a trap, but I get insulted to boot. I guess I’ll just take my frustration out on you guys then.” He turns back determinedly to the two villains.
The armored foe flies up into the air with the help of two small, round metal disks underneath each of his feet. “Not so fast, hero. I think it’s time I introduced myself.” In response, Hawkeye fires two arrows in the flying man’s direction. “Your name’s Mud to me, flyboy! I want to talk to Mr. Mustache again. And if I have to go through you to get to him, fine by me!”
Hawkeye’s flying foe waves his hands a little and three round, flat metal shields form in front of him from pieces of his own armor. The two fired shafts explode harmlessly against the floating shields. “Not so fast, Jabronie! … My name’s Thulkon,” cackles the villain. “I have these telekinetic powers. Thing is, they only work on this metal called mentallium. Fortunately, it’s the same stuff my armor is made out of.” As if in response to Thulkon’s words, the metal shields start to dissolve and transform. “I can do more than just make it fly around too.” The shields slowly become four long objects. “I can make it take any shape I choose.” Before Hawkeye’s startled eyes, the metal has transformed into four, long, floating daggers. “Like so!” With a wave of his hand, the daggers speed toward the startled archer.
“Oh mama!,” is all Hawk has time to blurt out before he is forced to dive behind a bunch of crates for safety. Thinking he is safe for at least a minute, Hawkeye wipes some sweat away from his brow. However, he is shocked back to reality when he witnesses the blades turn in midair and start to follow him again. “Holleee! These bozos are for real!,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he deftly sidesteps the daggers while reaching into his quiver for another arrow. “If I want to remain the idol of millions, I need to get off the defensive…” Clint fires the shaft in Thulkon’s direction. “…And take some initiative!”
The smoke arrow explodes yards in front of the villain rendering him blind to anything around him. Yet, before Thulkon can plan his next move, a second arrow (this one a thick metal one) comes flying in through the smoke cloud and cracks him across the head. The low thud tells Hawkeye that his opponent has fallen to the floor. “Nothing like a good ‘crowbar’ arrow to do your dirty work. Now where is Thulkie’s sidekick?” As if in response to Clint’s question, a man flying at an amazingly high speed flies through the smoke cloud causing it to disperse. “Whoa! Speak of the Devil.”
“Thulkon may be an overconfident jerk, Hawkeye; but Red Wind isn’t half the pushover that fool was. Get ready for a beating!” The boisterous villain leaves a red trail in the air behind him as he flies. In one blurring motion, Hawkeye strings and fires a flash arrow at his approaching foe; temporarily blinding him. “What say we skip it and get right to the good-guy victory?,” taunts the archer back. With his next move, the Avenger turns and fires a blast arrow at the warehouse wall; blowing a hole in it. “I’m a lot less confident about this than I sound. This whole set-up favors the ambushers. A strategic retreat could even the odds back up.” Hawkeye turns again and fires an electro-shock arrow at the flying Red Wind. “But I’m not leaving until I give Reddy his goodnight kiss.”
Much to the archer’s dismay, Red Wind shows off his power by changing his flight direction then circling around after the arrow. “You’re an idiot to think you can beat my speed with these annoyances!” Astonishingly, Red Wind catches the arrow in midair. “I can match the swiftness of anything you can throw at me…” The arrow is flung back at the awed archer. “…And use it against you! …Speed kills, my friend.”
“Son of a Crud! What has America’s idol gotten himself into now?,” thinks Hawkeye to himself as he ducks the exploding arrow. Realizing that his foe way outclasses him in terms of power, the archer seeks the advantage of the high ground by climbing to the top of a stack of crates. Meanwhile, Red Wind brags on his strength by mowing down as many boxes as he can while he flies. “Haha … run all you wish to fool! There is no escape from someone this powerful!” Red Wind then turns his sights back to the hero, looking to mow him down as well. “I got you in my crosshairs. You’re gonna be the first hero killed by a human bullet!” Hawkeye waits until Red Wind is close enough… then … he tosses a concussion arrow in the villains direction from behind his back with his right hand.
“Awww, can it will ya?,” spouts the archer defiantly. “I may not be as powerful as you. But you don’t get to be an Avenger as long as I have without some smarts.” The look of abject horror on Red Wind’s face as he is unable to halt his progress, is contrasted sharply with Hawk’s mischievous grin as he hops down off the crate to safety as the arrow explodes with the desired effect.
“I better call the Avengers and let them know someone’s gunning for them,” thinks Hawkeye as he observes Red Wind’s unconscious form. “Wait, where did Thulkie go?,” thinks Hawk a second too late as three metal balls slam into him from behind. He slumps to the floor where blackness finally overtakes him.
NEXT: Remember the Man Who Destroyed the Avengers???
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Cris writes a poem
I am the Rain
And sometimes I fall
Upon your troubled head
Another annoyance to an already
Sufferable day
And I am sorry,
Not like the other times
When I am a welcome release
And you can soak in the pleasure
Of my rippling touch
And spend a moment watering
A day's dreams.
I come in many forms
And leave many different effects
And you can be sure of seeing me again.
And anytime you need to be reminded
Think on me
And I'll fall from your eye
And carress your cheek.
-Cristian K.
And sometimes I fall
Upon your troubled head
Another annoyance to an already
Sufferable day
And I am sorry,
Not like the other times
When I am a welcome release
And you can soak in the pleasure
Of my rippling touch
And spend a moment watering
A day's dreams.
I come in many forms
And leave many different effects
And you can be sure of seeing me again.
And anytime you need to be reminded
Think on me
And I'll fall from your eye
And carress your cheek.
-Cristian K.
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1 : Rendezvous With Destiny
By C. M. King
Everything was packed and ready to go for the dream weekend in New York City. Months of carefully thought-out planning looked to be working itself to perfection. Before me the airport terminal seemed to be a welcoming through a gateway to a brief escape that would be much better than the life I was currently living. With this thought, I even managed a relaxed smile for the first time in a long time.
After I walked through airport security I would be safe. I could just sit back there and wait for Erica at the boarding gate. If he came with her, he wouldn’t be able to go past the security check-point without a ticket. That might possibly be the only good thing to come from 9-11. Upon first sight of her I should be able to tell if everything had gone right – the code had been all arranged. She would be wearing her Pink Panther t-shirt if everything was cool. If there was trouble, or he was around the airport; she’d be wearing Batman. That meant ‘Do Not Approach!’
I didn’t see her anywhere near the ticket counter. I figured I must have beaten her there. Nothing left for me to do except to print up my E-Ticket from the terminal machine, clear security, and wait for the most romantic and definitely the most erotic weekend of my thirty-two, year-old life.
Everything was going so perfectly. And then the shit completely hit the fan. Christ! How could I have been so stupid!? I knew I had been a total idiot the second I put my ID into the E-Ticket machine. There it was on the screen. My name popped up on it in huge letters….and so did hers—right next to mine. Damn! If her husband insisted on driving her to the airport (and I thought he might) we would be completely screwed. All that careful planning ….ruined by one bonehead mistake. It seemed unfair. But nothing about having an affair is ever easy.
We had put both of our tickets on my credit card so that her husband couldn’t find anything on her card statement (he was nice enough to search through them). We ended up getting the tickets together on my card to avoid any hassles. However, since we did order them together…they appeared as a ticket for a party of two. It read…”Tickets 1 and 2 of 2…Donald Bennet and Erica Vlakis”, right in front of my face on the screen. Cursing to myself, I printed mine up. But getting hers was gonna be a problem.
Shit! Now I had to think fast. I’d have to risk a call to her cell phone, but not from mine. The terminal pay phone was much better. I dialed her number and found her cell phone had been turned off. Would’ve been a smart move of hers if things were going well, but they weren’t. A new plan had to be thought up.
I decided to wait in the lobby inconspicuously and try to wave her off to a corner where I could slip her a note of the danger before she could check in. Not the best plan in the world, but I was desperate.
Too Late! I noticed both of them the second I took a seat on a cushioned chair in the waiting area with my notepad. She saw me too. The look of terror on her face as she spotted me almost matched my own. He looked right at me too, but I didn’t believe he recognized who I was. From the way he had her dragging around in his grip, I figured he was probably too busy grilling her about who she might meet in New York to notice. Good thing for me. I had the feeling that Mr. Nosey would insist on driving her to the airport. I guess that’s something else I can add to the list of reasons I dislike him.
But even fear couldn’t hide her beauty. Erica was a statuesque 5’ 7”, with olive skin (from her half-greek,half-german heritage), soft brown eyes, and an ass that had a perfect plumpness to it inside her jeans. She was ten years my senior…but she sure as Hell didn’t look it. One look from her was all I needed to know how bad the situation was. What bothered me the most about seeing her walk in, however, was that she was wearing Pink Panther; and this occasion certainly didn’t call for that grinning over-sized, pussy cat. You got your signals crossed up, baby!
The two stood in line to punch up her E-Ticket and invite a certain disaster. All I could do now was sit and wait helplessly while the whole thing fell apart. I moved nearer the line they were standing in and turned my back to them while I pretended to rummage through my carry-on bag for something. Peter had seen me once, briefly, in a careless moment. But I guess I didn’t leave too much of an impression. Thank goodness for small favors. From where I was, I could just barely make out what they were saying. In quite angry tones I heard him say, “who’s the other seat assignment for? You’re not getting on this plane until I find out!”
“Peter, calm down, you’re embarrassing me.”
“I don’t care. All I want to know is why there were two seat numbers printed on your flight itinerary?”
“I-I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with my seat on the return flight.”
“Oh my God! I’m not stupid you know. Someone is going with you, aren’t they?”
“Of course not, do you see me with anyone?”, Erica countered bravely. Then added..”and you’ve searched through my bag about three times now. What makes you think there’s anything to find if you didn’t see anything the first time?”
Only one passenger separated those two from the head of the E-Ticket machine. And he was just finishing removing his newly printed boarding pass from the computer’s jaws. Only seconds remained before my name would stand revealed. I gritted my teeth. That’s when merciful fate stepped in.
Fueled by impatience, her husband turned away from the now unoccupied ticket machine and toward a helpless airline employee. “I demand to know who has the seat next to her, “ bellowed Peter at the stunned man.
“I-I’m afraid I don’t know, sir. That’s not information we can give out.” Before the angry husband could insist upon his point, Erica made her play. She mustered up her courage and shouted, “That’s it, Peter! I can’t take anymore of your embarrassment. I’m getting out of here. You’ve ruined my trip, I hope you’re happy!”
She stormed off and away from the ticket machine, him trailing after her in a rage. Good Girl! They both left the terminal after that. I decided to retire to the boarding gate where I knew it was safe. I thanked God for our good fortune in not being discovered and prayed that he would be willing to grant me one more miracle.
Forty minutes went by while I waited, and still she didn’t show. Only ten minutes left till the flight departed. I couldn’t afford to sit and wait anymore. I made my way back into the terminal. I saw no sign of her there, but I saw her husband sitting against the far wall to the ticket counter all alone. I gulped hard and collected my wits. No way the trip was gonna happen now. Peter may have found out everything and was waiting to confront me. But I still needed to get my baggage off the plane or lose a good deal of my belongings. I held my nerves together and approached the baggage check-in desk to get my suitcase unloaded from the plane in full view of Peter. The attendant was expectedly not too happy to have to remove a bag from a flight only a few minutes before it was scheduled to take off. Ten minutes later I had my suitcase in my hand and was left with the prospect of having to leave the terminal by walking right in front of her husband. To my great shock he just let me pass by unmolested. Maybe he still didn’t know who I was, but that didn’t explain what he was doing alone in the terminal.
I drove straight home still in a stunned silence by what had transpired. Not only had my big weekend been shot down in flames, but the odds were that our entire affair was ruined as well. Her phone was still off, and I could only imagine what she was going through right now. It may take him awhile but eventually his interrogation would wear her down and he would find out everything. A beautiful relationship that was starting to reach incredible heights might now be reduced to the scrap pile. I needed gin, and I needed a lot of it.
I poured myself a double of Beefeaters the second I walked in the door to my apartment. I was only able to take one pull at my drink before a knock at the door interrupted me. I got ready for anything…maybe Peter had followed me home. I flung open the door expectantly. It was Erica, and she looked pathetic.
By C. M. King
Everything was packed and ready to go for the dream weekend in New York City. Months of carefully thought-out planning looked to be working itself to perfection. Before me the airport terminal seemed to be a welcoming through a gateway to a brief escape that would be much better than the life I was currently living. With this thought, I even managed a relaxed smile for the first time in a long time.
After I walked through airport security I would be safe. I could just sit back there and wait for Erica at the boarding gate. If he came with her, he wouldn’t be able to go past the security check-point without a ticket. That might possibly be the only good thing to come from 9-11. Upon first sight of her I should be able to tell if everything had gone right – the code had been all arranged. She would be wearing her Pink Panther t-shirt if everything was cool. If there was trouble, or he was around the airport; she’d be wearing Batman. That meant ‘Do Not Approach!’
I didn’t see her anywhere near the ticket counter. I figured I must have beaten her there. Nothing left for me to do except to print up my E-Ticket from the terminal machine, clear security, and wait for the most romantic and definitely the most erotic weekend of my thirty-two, year-old life.
Everything was going so perfectly. And then the shit completely hit the fan. Christ! How could I have been so stupid!? I knew I had been a total idiot the second I put my ID into the E-Ticket machine. There it was on the screen. My name popped up on it in huge letters….and so did hers—right next to mine. Damn! If her husband insisted on driving her to the airport (and I thought he might) we would be completely screwed. All that careful planning ….ruined by one bonehead mistake. It seemed unfair. But nothing about having an affair is ever easy.
We had put both of our tickets on my credit card so that her husband couldn’t find anything on her card statement (he was nice enough to search through them). We ended up getting the tickets together on my card to avoid any hassles. However, since we did order them together…they appeared as a ticket for a party of two. It read…”Tickets 1 and 2 of 2…Donald Bennet and Erica Vlakis”, right in front of my face on the screen. Cursing to myself, I printed mine up. But getting hers was gonna be a problem.
Shit! Now I had to think fast. I’d have to risk a call to her cell phone, but not from mine. The terminal pay phone was much better. I dialed her number and found her cell phone had been turned off. Would’ve been a smart move of hers if things were going well, but they weren’t. A new plan had to be thought up.
I decided to wait in the lobby inconspicuously and try to wave her off to a corner where I could slip her a note of the danger before she could check in. Not the best plan in the world, but I was desperate.
Too Late! I noticed both of them the second I took a seat on a cushioned chair in the waiting area with my notepad. She saw me too. The look of terror on her face as she spotted me almost matched my own. He looked right at me too, but I didn’t believe he recognized who I was. From the way he had her dragging around in his grip, I figured he was probably too busy grilling her about who she might meet in New York to notice. Good thing for me. I had the feeling that Mr. Nosey would insist on driving her to the airport. I guess that’s something else I can add to the list of reasons I dislike him.
But even fear couldn’t hide her beauty. Erica was a statuesque 5’ 7”, with olive skin (from her half-greek,half-german heritage), soft brown eyes, and an ass that had a perfect plumpness to it inside her jeans. She was ten years my senior…but she sure as Hell didn’t look it. One look from her was all I needed to know how bad the situation was. What bothered me the most about seeing her walk in, however, was that she was wearing Pink Panther; and this occasion certainly didn’t call for that grinning over-sized, pussy cat. You got your signals crossed up, baby!
The two stood in line to punch up her E-Ticket and invite a certain disaster. All I could do now was sit and wait helplessly while the whole thing fell apart. I moved nearer the line they were standing in and turned my back to them while I pretended to rummage through my carry-on bag for something. Peter had seen me once, briefly, in a careless moment. But I guess I didn’t leave too much of an impression. Thank goodness for small favors. From where I was, I could just barely make out what they were saying. In quite angry tones I heard him say, “who’s the other seat assignment for? You’re not getting on this plane until I find out!”
“Peter, calm down, you’re embarrassing me.”
“I don’t care. All I want to know is why there were two seat numbers printed on your flight itinerary?”
“I-I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with my seat on the return flight.”
“Oh my God! I’m not stupid you know. Someone is going with you, aren’t they?”
“Of course not, do you see me with anyone?”, Erica countered bravely. Then added..”and you’ve searched through my bag about three times now. What makes you think there’s anything to find if you didn’t see anything the first time?”
Only one passenger separated those two from the head of the E-Ticket machine. And he was just finishing removing his newly printed boarding pass from the computer’s jaws. Only seconds remained before my name would stand revealed. I gritted my teeth. That’s when merciful fate stepped in.
Fueled by impatience, her husband turned away from the now unoccupied ticket machine and toward a helpless airline employee. “I demand to know who has the seat next to her, “ bellowed Peter at the stunned man.
“I-I’m afraid I don’t know, sir. That’s not information we can give out.” Before the angry husband could insist upon his point, Erica made her play. She mustered up her courage and shouted, “That’s it, Peter! I can’t take anymore of your embarrassment. I’m getting out of here. You’ve ruined my trip, I hope you’re happy!”
She stormed off and away from the ticket machine, him trailing after her in a rage. Good Girl! They both left the terminal after that. I decided to retire to the boarding gate where I knew it was safe. I thanked God for our good fortune in not being discovered and prayed that he would be willing to grant me one more miracle.
Forty minutes went by while I waited, and still she didn’t show. Only ten minutes left till the flight departed. I couldn’t afford to sit and wait anymore. I made my way back into the terminal. I saw no sign of her there, but I saw her husband sitting against the far wall to the ticket counter all alone. I gulped hard and collected my wits. No way the trip was gonna happen now. Peter may have found out everything and was waiting to confront me. But I still needed to get my baggage off the plane or lose a good deal of my belongings. I held my nerves together and approached the baggage check-in desk to get my suitcase unloaded from the plane in full view of Peter. The attendant was expectedly not too happy to have to remove a bag from a flight only a few minutes before it was scheduled to take off. Ten minutes later I had my suitcase in my hand and was left with the prospect of having to leave the terminal by walking right in front of her husband. To my great shock he just let me pass by unmolested. Maybe he still didn’t know who I was, but that didn’t explain what he was doing alone in the terminal.
I drove straight home still in a stunned silence by what had transpired. Not only had my big weekend been shot down in flames, but the odds were that our entire affair was ruined as well. Her phone was still off, and I could only imagine what she was going through right now. It may take him awhile but eventually his interrogation would wear her down and he would find out everything. A beautiful relationship that was starting to reach incredible heights might now be reduced to the scrap pile. I needed gin, and I needed a lot of it.
I poured myself a double of Beefeaters the second I walked in the door to my apartment. I was only able to take one pull at my drink before a knock at the door interrupted me. I got ready for anything…maybe Peter had followed me home. I flung open the door expectantly. It was Erica, and she looked pathetic.
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