Post by cross on Apr 8, 2015 9:40:30 GMT -5
Ultimate Ambush Bug
Vacancy Part 1
A small plane flew over a village during the middle of the night. The side door on the plane opened up with Thomas hanging onto a safety bar and Jade hanging onto the sliding door. Oliver looked back from the pilots seat to see the look on Thomas' face. "THIS IS IT THOMAS! FIND THE FIGHTING RING AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND ASHRAM FROM THERE! GOOD LUCK!"
Thomas looked at Jade with disbelief. "I DONT HAVE A PARACHUETE!"
Jade walked to the front of the plane and looked around the cockpit for a brief moment before coming back to Thomas. "NOPE! WE DIDNT BRING ONE! GOOD LUCK!" She reared back and booted Thomas in the small of the back sending him straight out of the low flying plane. She smiled as he disappeared into the foliage of the jungle and slid the door shut.
Thomas with his eyes as wide as they could open slammed into the small branches of the tree tops and collided with a thick netting of leaves before finally falling to the jungle floor.
THUD!
"Oh my god. I made it!" Thomas felt his body over checking for injuries, and breathing heavily. "I don't have any injuries. That's a first."
***
"God hates America, and those calamities in 2006 are none other than the wrath of God, smiting Meta America. That wasn't any accident. That wasn't any coincidence. There's only America to blame for those tragedies. How many do you suppose of those people were metas? There were two thousand seven hundred and six people killed, counting all those people in those massive sky scrapers, it's very likely that every last single one of them was a meta or a meta enabler, and that the minute they died, they split hell wide open, and the way to analyze the situation is that the Lord God Almighty, pursuant to His threatening's and warnings, killed them, looked them in the face, laughed and mocked at each one of them as He cast each one of them into Hell! Thank God for the Brainiac Invasion. Thank God that, nine years ago, the wrath of God was poured out upon this evil nation. America, land of the meta damned. We thank thee, Lord God Almighty, for answering the prayers of those that are under the altar." The older man swiped his hand through his long beard and looked into the camera while he shut his book. "Amen."
Irwin hit his remote changing the channel and feeling a little sick to his stomach. "Damn. I think we have a winner here folks." He got up from his comfy leather chair and walked downstairs to his basement. He called this room his 'Headquarters' but it was just a computer in a laundry room of a suburban Hub City home. He sat down in a computer chair and began his work. After a few minutes of breaking through security measures he had successfully hacked into the server of the Hub City National Bank.
"Okay Mr. Hersch. Time for you to donate a generous amount of money to the Metropolis Recover and Rebuild charity and as a bonus act of kindness, you will also be donating to the Catman cleaning up the Hub fund." Irwin typed away on his keyboard transferring money into his secure account and into the charity account.
CLICK!
He clicked the mouse extra hard for good measure. The digital bitch slap he had just delivered to Reverend David Hersch felt good for so many reasons. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Cayce.
"What's up?" He answered uncannily fast.
"Hey I just got us another lump of rent money. Go make a withdrawal and take Kitrina school shopping." Irwin smiled feeling good about giving their ragtag family some much earned financial gain.
"Thanks man. I don't know if she is excited for school all that much though." Irwin leaned back in his chair.
"She'll get there. This is her first 'normal' life experience. She just needs time to soak it all in. Hey by the way, you heard anything from Thomas?" Irwin could hear Cayce clanking something around in the background. He was probably working in the shop.
"Nothing yet. He's hasn't been gone all that long yet. I'll start worrying here in a few months if we hear nothing from him." Irwin got up out of his chair and stretched.
"Okay man. I'll swing by later. Bye." Irwin hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. He turned and walked to the back corner of his basement. He looked over his creation and smoothed it out while it hung from a nail in the wall.
"I think now is a good time for a test drive." He pulled the outfit off of it's hanger.
BAMF!
***
Thomas walked through the dense forest. He could see the bright lights through the tree's directly in front of him. He stopped and looked at the site and tilted his head in confusion. "What in the hell is this?"
In front of him stood a large gathering of native people watching a fight take place in a fenced off area. They were watching an organized street fight. Thomas sat down on the edge of the forest and watched the battle. On one side of the caged ring was a small fighter, bleeding from an unseen wound on his head. On the other side of the ring was a huge monster of a man with his fists covered in what Thomas figured was the small fighters own blood. Everyone watching the fight were chanting something. Jade had mentioned that the locals and people at Ashram would speak in Portuguese.
"O HOMEM BESTA!"
"O HOMEM BESTA!"
"O HOMEM BESTA!"
"O HOMEM BESTA!"
"O HOMEM BESTA!"
The end looked close for the small fighter. He ran to meet his large opponent in the middle of the ring. The fighter slammed his punches into the giant's torso but it didn't seem to effect the man.
WHRAM!
The giant's punch connected with his neck on the left side. The small fighter dropped like a ragdoll and didn't move again. The crowd exploded with cheers as their obvious favorite had won the fight. He placed his large dominant foot on his newest victims chest and waved on anyone and everyone around. "Quem vai cair para o homem besta?"
His voice boomed into the trees and through the small village. Thomas got to his feet as he watched no one stepping into the ring. "I hope you're right about this Jade. Otherwise I am making a horrible mistake."
Thomas shoved his way through the crowd. He made it to the fenced wall and started to climb it. "Hey there big guy! I got next!" As soon as Thomas' feet had hit the ground the giant charged. Thomas dodged the attack and steeped out of the hammering punch. He swiped behind his attacker and loosened his stance up and began to bounce around on the balls of his feet. His parodying of Bruce Lee would be lost on the crowd but he chuckled to himself at the reference. Thomas waved him on for another attack. The attack sure enough came. The giant man charged again but Thomas was ready tis time.
THUNK!
Thomas had delivered the hardest kick he could muster, straight into the giant's testicles. He fell over letting out only small whimpers like a dog that had been punished. Thomas raised both his arms in victory and bounced around this time like a boxer that had delivered a crushing knockout. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU! NOW WHO CAN TELL ME HOW TO GET TO ASHRAM?"
The crowd went dead silent at the mention of the place. Thomas looked around confused once more. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to meet the person. In front of him stood a cloaked figure. "O som é comido por ratos do silêncio snake."
Thomas shook his head. He now knew that whoever was under that hood was female. Her voice was soothingly quiet. "I don't speak Portuguese. I'm sorry."
The cloaked figure quickly jammed two fingers into Thomas' neck, dropping him to the ground. He looked up trying and failing to fight off the coming blackout. She knelt down next to him as he fell out of consciousness. "You're too loud."
***
BAMF!
Every time Ambush Bug would teleport the sound could be heard echoing through the Hub streets. No one knew what the sound was. Every time they looked up into the sky there was nothing. He reappeared and grabbed onto a flagpole hanging out from a skyscraper. The people inside the building took notice quick. The local news outlets were getting flooded with calls. Sightings of a green clad man teleporting all over the cities skyline was the biggest news since the Icicle fiasco. Catman was nowhere to be seen since the battle and the people of Hub City were excited to see another Cape on the streets.
BAMF!
BAMF!
Suddenly Ambush Bug wasn't on the flagpole anymore. He was miles across town standing on a roofs ledge looking down at the almost barren Hub City Police station. Ambush Bug pulled out a voice recorder. "Entry one. Test one of the new Ambush Bug suit. Since installing the new solar pads into the power grid of the teleporting device and placing them on the suit, I can now teleport many more miles further than previously able. It should be noted that I am in direct sunlight currently. I will go for a test run later tonight to see how long of a charge the pads can hold until a battery source is needed." He shut his recorder off and placed it back into his small carry bag.
SCREEEEEECH!
The noise shook Irwin out of his state of deep thought. A city bus slid around the street corner and flew recklessly into oncoming traffic. Irwin set his bag down on the roof and jumped.
BAMF!
The bus swerved to miss the oncoming cars trying desperately to get back into its own lane of traffic.
BAMF!
THUMP!
Several passengers looked up upon hearing the noise of something on the roof of the bus. "I need you to stand back." Ambush Bug held his head over the side of the roof looking in through a window.
BAMF!
BAMF!
The passengers backed away amazed. He stood right in the middle of the speeding vehicle. "Help me out here. What happened?"
The driver struggled to control the steering wheel. "The gas pedal is stuck down to the floor and the brakes aren't working. We cant stop this thing." The driver ran his hand through his beard and looked back at Irwin. "Any ideas?"
Ambush Bug moved through the people to the drivers seat. "Let me take a look sir." The driver got up from his seat and slowly let go of the wheel. Irwin took his place and took control of the bus. He slowly pushed down on the brake and the bus began to slow itself. He pumped the gas pedal and it seemed to be working fine. He pulled over and stopped the bus safely.
"I didn't see any problems sir. I just hit the brakes and they seemed to work fine. Is everyone at least okay?" As Ambush Bug turned around as a large syringe jammed into his neck. His legs immediately gave out and he fell to the floor. He tried to move but couldn't.
"That there is a large dose of horse tranquilizer you meta fuck. Seems you have a few weaknesses." The driver smiled as Ambush Bug watched in horror.
***
Thomas awoke in an unfamiliar bed. It was much harder than his normal bed and felt like it was made out of solid wood and a blanket. He looked around only to see a few small candles for light and the cloaked women in the corner sitting on an old wooden chair. Her shadowed face seemed to be looking in his direction. Thomas sat up in the bed. "Where am I and who in the hell are you?"
"Shhh. I'm not done." The cloaked woman slowly stood up and pulled her hood back revealing her pale face. She had to be of Asian decent but Thomas wasn't sure of where precisely. She had some form of decorative armor chest piece on but He couldn't tell what the symbols meant.
"What were you not done with?" Thomas leaned over the side of the firm bedding and placed both of his feet on the cool rock slabs of flooring.
"I was centering my mind and body into one place." Thomas crooked his eyebrow. "Meditating."
"Oh! Ok, I get it now." Thomas nodded to show his understanding. He lifted himself off of the bedding. The woman turned and opened the door revealing two masked guards in the outside hall.
"Pretty intense security for some guy you put down with two fingers isn't it?" Thomas followed the woman as she made her way down the candle lit hall.
"Anyone who has knowledge of the Ashram must be watched by the highest ranked Guardians. The secret of the Ashram's existence is known by few around the world. How did you know of it?" Thomas felt like asking for the woman's cloak for warmth. Only having pants on wasn't doing the trick.
"I need training and I was informed of this place through a woman named Jade." The woman stopped dead in her tracks and spun in place looking dead into Thomas' eyes.
"You speak of the Cheshire Cat?" She stood frozen like ice awaiting an answer.
"Yeah, she goes by the 'Cheshire' codename." Thomas finally stepped back a few feet giving himself some space. "What's your name?"
The woman resumed walking through the hallway leading Thomas. "My name in Ashram is 'Gentle Mamba'. To the outside world I am known as Onyx Adams."
"Nice to meet you Gentle Mamba. My name is Thomas Blake. I don't have an Ashram name yet." Thomas hurried along to keep up with Gentle Mamba's pace.
"If you are to be welcomed into the Ashram then Sensei will give you your name." She stopped in front of a large wooden door. "If."
She swung the giant door open revealing a huge chamber filled with natural light from windows leading to the outside world. It was daytime. Thomas was shocked seeing as how the hallway and his room had no natural windows or light.
Gentle Mamba walked to the end of the large chamber room and kneeled in front of a huge throne. Sitting in the throne was a old bald man with a long white beard. Obviously this man was Asian as well but again Thomas wasn't sure from where. She bowed after kneeling. "Sensei. Este homem aprendeu do Ashram de um conhecido como Cheshire Cat. Ele está aqui para treinar e aprender os caminhos do Ashram. Seu nome é Thomas Blake. EU 'suave Mamba' aprovar sua viagem aqui e seus motivos. Qual é o seu veredicto?"
The only words that Thomas could make out were his name, Mamba, and Sensei. He decided right then and there that he would learn Portuguese while staying here. The old man rose from the throne. Gentle Mamba stayed bowing as he moved past her elegantly. He almost floated across the stone flooring as he approached Thomas. The 'Sensei' took a deep breath and looked Thomas over. "Você postura é patético. O cheiro de um desperdício furo. Tenho certeza que no entanto, você tem seu foi por pura sorte. Você olhar como um grande porco. ESTÚPIDOS?"
The Sensei awaited an answer. Thomas could only do one thing. He nodded. Nodding had to be universal he thought. Sensei laughed at Thomas' answer. After looking around his person he reached up and placed his wrinkled, leather like hand on Thomas' face. "Pelo menos você é um honesto estúpido o homem. Sim, eu posso sentir um grande potencial em você. Você é como o barro úmido no meio das montanhas. Cinza e inutilizável, mas mantendo a capacidade para formar algo grandioso."
The hand poked and prodded Thomas' face and smoothed out his skin. Without warning and faster than he could see, Sensei struck Thomas square in the heart with an open palm strike. Thomas hunched over with the man's hand still on his face. "Falar de mim grandes espíritos. Que irão guiar o homem através do Ashram? Qual será o seu objetivo aqui?."
Thomas tried to breathe but no air would enter his lungs. Sensei held Thomas up from collapsing. He ever so slightly reached out again and touched Thomas' chest. "A essência de um gato protege você. Você será conhecido como Stray Cat. O seu papel no Ashram será Hunter." The Sensei finally let go of Thomas letting him try to stand on his own.
Thomas' knee's shook but he held. "So 'Stray Cat' is my Ashram name?"
Gentle Mamba rose and turned to face Thomas. "You are Stray Cat. You will be a Hunter here in Ashram."
***
SLAP!
Irwin felt the sting from the attack in his left cheek. He opened his eyes to see the driver of the bus in front of him and two younger men at his side.
"Where am I?" Irwin glanced around.
THOKK!
THOKK!
One of the younger men stepped forward with a right hook straight into Irwin's face and a follow up upper cut right into his chin. It was then that he realized that his arms were outstretched and chained to the walls on each side of him. He could feel the blood running from his mouth. As he spit the blood to the ground he noticed that he was in his boxers and not his Ambush Bug suit.
The older man placed his hand on the young mans shoulder. He stepped back into formation and the older man stepped forward. "My name is David Hersch. You have probably seen my work in and around Hub City informing the people of the filth known as 'Metas'."
Irwin crooked his eyebrow up and looked at Hersch. "I can tell that you are confused by that stupid look all you Metas give me when I tell them about myself. I know that you have the ability to teleport." Irwin's eyes widened. "There it is." Hersch smiled showing off his yellow stained teeth from far too much coffee consumption. "I knew it was you who fought against that ice meta a while back. Now you get this suit and parade around my city showing off to the people. You metas are all the same."
"I'm not a meta. I built the suit and it gives me my power." Hersch shakes his head.
"I wasn't born yesterday. I know when your kind lies." He stepped back and nodded to the two young men. One stepped forward and smiled.
"REPENT YOUR SINS YOU FILTHY SLIGHT AGAINST THE ONE TRUE GOD!" Irwin took a deep breath as the young man jammed the end of a cattle prod into his stomach.
"AAAAEEAAAAAHHHHHH!"
***
The van pulled up in front of the church. "Sir, no one has triggered an alarm yet." A female clad in black informed.
"There too busy with him. Move in now I'm right behind you two." The driver shut off the engine and readied himself mentally. The back doors of the van swung open. The female and the driver moved fast getting to the front entrance of the church.
BABOOM!
The front doors of the church exploded open kicking dust and debris into the air. The two masked people entered spotting Irwin chained to the walls. David Hersch pulled the white hot rod from Irwin's torso leaving a horrible looking burn. "WHO IN THE FUCK ARE YOU?"
He didn't have time to blink before the two had dropped his young muscle. Hersch dropped the rod and raised his hands in surrender. "I give up! Arrest me but don't you dare think I'm not suing your asses off for assault!"
The floor creaked under the immense weight of the man that almost blocked out the sun coming in from the doorway. "My name is Josiah Power. I don't give a rat's ass what you think you are going to do because we were never here."
Hersch flew back from Josiah Power's foot booting him in his chest. He slammed into the giant cross hanging on the wall and fell to the floor with a thud. "Mr. Irwin Schwab, we are here to get you to safety."
Irwin slowly lifted his head from his chest, showing his glazed over eyes. Josiah Power approached him and ripped the chains from the walls freeing him.
"What is this?" Irwin dropped to his knees. The black clad soldiers helped him up and carried him outside to freedom.
"We represent a group who, like you, are trying to protect the world. We don't want you to change anything about your method of protecting Hub city. What you, William Cayce, and Thomas Blake are doing is valuable to us." Irwin glances up at Power handing him his Ambush Bug suit. "The only thing we are asking of you is that instead of handing over Meta Human threats to the local law enforcement, you give us a call and we will take care of them."
"Why not let the cops handle them?" Irwin asked.
"They aren't equipped to handle threats like that yet. We have technology that is better suited for Meta Human abilities." Irwin slowly got to his feet and took the suit from Power.
"Who are you people?" The two masked soldiers got into the van and fired up the engine waiting for Josiah to finish.
"You can just call us A.R.G.U.S." Josiah reached out his hand offering a handshake of good faith with Irwin. He accepted the offer.
***
Irwin could hear the T.V. blaring from downstairs in the garage as he entered. He made his way up from the garage to see Kitrina and William staring at the T.V. unblinking.
"We are going to go live to the press conference called today by Hub City Mayor Armand Krol." The news report switched to the Mayor standing in front of City Hall.
"I am pleased to announce that as of today it has been approved that Hub City will be constructing the state of the art Van Kull Maximum Security Prison. Construction will be complete by years end. My staff is extremely pleased to make this announcement after the recent loss of over half of the HCPD. We are showing everyone that we will not take these types of threats lightly. Van Kull will be a beacon of justice to the criminals of Hub City. My second announcement for today is still in development but I am making it now. I am forming the Vigilante Apprehension Task Force. The V.A.T.F. will be working with the HCPD but will be a separate entity from them entirely and will answer to the Mayor. I have discussed the matter with Police Chief Kristen Kramer and we both agree that the Vigilante known as Catman and other sorts of costumed vigilantes will not be tolerated in Hub City any longer. We are taking back this city!"
Irwin, William, and Kitrina traded glances. All of varying degrees of worry.