The Parasite Touch
It was moments like this that made Captain Richard Moody feel good to be alive. His the ship, the Coast Guard cutter U.S.S. Walker, was moving along at steady clip though Gowanus Bay, off the coast of Brooklyn, New York. Moody watched as the sun sank down into the sea, a slight smile on his face. There's nothing more beautiful than a sunset over the ocean, he thought.
"Sir?" came a voice, drawing Moody away from his musings.
Captain Moody turned to see Lieutenant Wayne Bradshaw standing smartly at attention behind him. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
"We've just received new orders from Fort Jay, sir. It seems that a freighter has come to a dead stop about a half mile from the southern most tip of Manhattan. There's been no radio contact with the ship for over two hours and Harbor Control is asking us to investigate."
"Why us?" demanded Moody. "This sort of thing generally falls under jurisdiction of the Harbor Patrol."
"Harbor Patrol is unavailable, sir," reported Bradshaw. "It seems some drunk in a powerboat clipped the Staten Island Ferry. Injuries appear to be minor, but the ferry is taking on water. It's taking all of Harbor Patrol's resources to evacuate the passengers and keep the ship afloat long enough for repairs."
"Leave it to some idiot with to much horsepower and not enough brains to ruin a perfectly good sunset," muttered Moody. "All right, Lieutenant, have the helmsman set course for this freighter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Captain Moody, Bradshaw at his side, watched as the from the command deck as the large black hull of their target drew closer to the Walker.
"Exactly what did Harbor Patrol tell us about this ship, Bradshaw? I want to know what I'm dealing with before we get to close to that ship," said Moody.
"It's listed as the Iola, sir," informed Bradshaw. "Panamanian registry, it left Le Havre, France two weeks ago with a cargo of clothing, electronics, cars and other standard items. It's captain is one, Philippe Banglater, ex-French Navy, nineteen years experience working freighters, no criminal record."
"Was there anything unsual unusual in Banglater's last contact with Harbor Control?"
"The controller he talked to said Banglater sounded a bit nervous, but other than that everything seemed fine."
"Velluci, what's your status?" Moody called to his communications officer.
"We've been trying to make contact, sir, but so far there has been no response," reported Velluci.
"Helmsman, bring us alongside the Iola," ordered Moody.
"Care to speculate on what's going on, sir?" asked Bradshaw.
"I'm guessing that Captain Banglater and his crew are long gone, Lieutenant," answered the Captain. "I'd say they were smuggling something, had mechanical trouble they couldn't fix, and decided to get the hell out of Dodge before the law showed. Five will get you ten that when we get on that boat it'll be crammed to the gills with drugs or illegal Chinese immigrants."
"Aye, sir," said Bradshaw.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was dark as the Walker pulled alongside the Iola. Moody and Bradshaw stood along the ship's rail, studying the Iola for some clue as to what lay aboard.
"We'll give them one last chance before we send over a boarding party," said Moody as he raised a megaphone to his lips. "Attention! Attention! To anyone aboard the Iola. This is Captain Richard Moody of the United States Coast Guard. Please respond. Are you in need of assistance?"
Moody repeated his call once more in English and then twice in French but with no results. "Bradshaw, get the boarding party together. I want to know--"
"Captain! Captain!" shouted someone. Moody and Bradshaw looked to see another Lieutenant, a pair of nightvision binoculars in one hand, pointing at the ship.
"What is it, Pendzinski?" demanded Moody as he and Bradshaw marched up to the crewman.
"I think I see someone aboard, sir," reported Pendzinski as she handed Moody the binoculars. "Over there by those crates. They don't seem to be moving, sir."
Moody took the binoculars and began to scan the area Pendzinski had pointed to. Within moments he spotted what was clearly the upper torso of a man lying on the deck, partially blocked by a stack of crates.
"Bradshaw, scramble a medical team and get your boarding party over there ASAFP!" ordered Captain Moody. "It looks like we may have casualties."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ten minutes later the radio on the command deck crackled to life. "Bradshaw to Walker. Come in, Walker."
"This is the Walker. We read you load and clear," Velluci replied.
"Is…is the captain there?" Bradshaw asked.
"I'm here," said Moody. "Report, Lieutenant."
"Captain…things here are…my god…I…I think you just have to see this for yourself, sir," stammered Bradshaw.
"Dammit, Bradshaw, this isn't the time for games!" shouted Moody. "Just tell us what the hell is going on over there!"
"Please, sir…just come and…see for yourself," implored Bradshaw. "You…just have to see this for yourself."
For a moment Captain Moody considered ordering Bradshaw to tell him what was going on. No, whatever is over there has Bradshaw so spooked he can barely put a sentence together, he thought. If it's that bad I'd better see what's going on in person.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the three years Wayne Bradshaw had served under Captain Moody rarely had Moody seen fear in the Lieutenant's eye. What Moody saw in Bradshaw's eyes now he could only describe as barely contained terror.
"All right, Lieutenant, I'm here," growled the Captain as he clambered over the Iola's rail and onto the deck.. "Now will you tell me what the hell is so bad that it has some of the Coast Guard's finest messing themselves?"
"Follow me, sir," replied Bradshaw in a deadpan voice.
Unhappily, Moody did so. Whatever this is had been be good, the Captain thought. If not, I'll have Bradshaw scrubbing latrines for the rest of his career.
Bradshaw stopped outside the wheelhouse and turned Moody. "I must warn you, sir. What's inside…well, it's the most horrible thing I've ever seen."
"Cut the melodrama, Bradshaw," snapped the Captain as he shoved past the Lieutenant. "Now what in the name of—Jesus, Mary and Joseph!"
Inside the command deck lay the bodies for five men. Their skin, a sickly gray color, was stretched tightly over their emaciated bodies. The men's eyes, all wide open, had sunk back into their skulls. But most horrific of all was the fact that each man's mouth hung open in a silent, terrified scream.
"Sweet God, what happened here?" gasped Captain Moody, his face ashen.
"We don't know, sir," answered Bradshaw. "But according to the identification we found on the bodies the one in the center is Captain Banglater."
"Harbor Control said this man was alive and talking less than two hours ago," recalled Moody. "Now he looks like a mummy. What in the name of all that's holy could do this to a group of men in less than two hours?"
"If you'll pardon me for saying so, sir, I don't think anything holy was involved in this," commented Bradshaw, taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow..
"Amen to that," concurred the Captain. "What of the rest of the crew?"
"My men haven't finished searching the ship yet, but so far they've found seventeen bodies, including the man you saw on the deck, in the same condition as these poor bastards," reported the Lieutenant. "I don't place much hope in finding survivors, sir. "
Captain Moody merely nodded.
"There's something else you should also see, sir," said Bradshaw.
Silently, the Captain followed Bradshaw out of the command deck. As they headed for the stern Moody noticed that every crewman he passed had the same pale color that he knew suffused his own face. More than a few were busy losing their dinners over the side. Under the circumstances Moody didn't blame them a bit.
At the stern Bradshaw stopped and pointed to a section of railing. "We found this just before you came aboard, sir."
Moody bent down to examine the rail. Two sections or the rail, separated by a gap of a foot and a half, had been crushed. "My, god," whispered the Captain. "The patter of damage…it looks like handprints."
"So something crawled out of the sea and onto the ship?"
"I don't think so," assessed Moody as he looked over the side of the ship. "It's a good fourty feet from the sea to the rail and I don't see any similar damage on the hull. I'd say that this was done as…whatever it was made its escape. For all we know it could have swam to shore and be in the city by now."
"Orders, sir?" asked Bradshaw.
"Lieutenant, call the D.E.O., call S.H.I.E.L.D.. Hell, call Scully and Mulder," ordered Moody. "Just get someone used to dealing with weird crap out here now.
"After that, go to the desk in my cabin. In the upper left-hand drawer you'll find a Bible and a bottle of Southern Comfort. Bring them here. I have the feeling I'm going to be needing a lot of both tonight."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The light of a full moon shown down on Manhattan's Crown Heights neighborhood. But, as is typical for New York, even in a calm residential area, someone was up to no good.
A group of three tough-looking young men made their way though a grimy alley.
"You got the stuff, Skip?" asked the first as he ran a hand over his shaved head.
"Yeah, Owen, I got the stuff," replied Skip, a redhead with a scraggly goatee. "What do think I've been carrying around in this bag? My mom's laundry?"
"Will you keep it down?" hissed the final member of the gang, a lanky man with orange-dyed hair. "Now let's do this and get out of here."
"Okay, okay, Keith," muttered Skip as he removed several empty glass bottles, some rags, and a small can of gasoline from his bag.
In a few minutes the gang had a small arsenal of Molatov cocktails ready. "Aim for the windows," ordered Keith as he lit the fuse on the first firebomb. "I want this place to be ashes by sunrise." Owen and Skip silently nodded. "One the count of three. One…Two…Three!!"
The Molatovs sailed though the air toward the building the thugs had targeted. Just as they were about to impact the firebombs were surrounded by three spheres of green energy. The bombs exploded within the spheres and fizzled almost instantly.
The would-be arsonists whirled around to see a figure in a black costume with green and white highlights, a mask, and a slight green aura surrounding his body floating in the air behind them. "Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to play with firebombs?" asked the figure.
"It's Green Lantern!" gasped Skip.
"Run!" shouted Keith.
As the three thugs dashed for the mouth of the ally Green Lantern went to work. Energy flowed from his ring to form a life-size Smoky the Bear right in front of Skip. The redhead only managed a "What the?!" before Smoky cracked him upside the head with his shovel, sending Skip to the ground in a heap.
"He got Skip!" screamed Owen as he and Keith dashed down the street.
"Forget Skip!" shouted Keith. "Worry about us!"
Another stream of green energy flowed in front of the punks. This time it morphed into a cartoon Dalmatian dog dressed in fireman's gear. In its paws the dog held a large firehose connected to a green firehydrant. With a grin the dog turned on the hose, sending a powerful column of emerald water toward the feeling thugs. Keith managed to dodge, but Owen was hit full force and fell flailing to the sidewalk.
Keith looked back to see Green Lantern, a wide smile on his face as he flew, closing in him. Three more energy forms flowed from the hero's ring. If he's been better versed in superhero history, Keith would have recognized the first two as Fire and Firestorm, former members of the Justice League. The third took the form of John Wayne riding atop a powerful horse, a lariat twirling in his hands.
As Keith ran he tried several times to make a break for an ally. But every time he did Fire or Firestorm would block his path, herding him back to the street. After a few blocks the stress of running and fear began to catch up with Keith. I gotta keep going! One more strike and I'm in the joint tell I'm gray in the head! he thought.
No sooner had those words gone though Keith's mind then the lariat fell over his shoulders. With one good tug John Wayne brought Keith to the ground.
"Yeehaw! Ride 'em, cowboy!" cheered Green Lantern as he landed nearby.
Keith looked up to see Owen and Skip, carried by Smoky and the Dalmatian, dropped beside him. An instant the dog, bear, and Fire and Firestorm, who had been hovering overhead, vanished. John Wayne dismounted his horse and tried up the other two men. Then, with a small grin and a tip of his hat, the Duke and his horse also vanished.
"Since you're the only one still concious conscious, you want to tell me what you think you were doing?" asked GL as he marched up to the bound men.
"Get bent!" spat Keith.
It was then that GL got his first good look at the thugs and the T-shirts with a stylized FoH that they all wore. "The Friends of Humanity? Why are a bunch of anti-mutant hoods like you trying to burn down a synagogue?"
"You want to know why, spandex boy?" growled Keith. "Fine, I'll tell ya. The rabbi of that place has been going around the city telling anyone who'll listen that we should play nice with all the mutie freaks out there. The guy's a damn traitor to humanity! Went the big gene wars start him, and ever mutie lover like him, are going to be the first against the wall! We're gonna show those monsters who this planet really belongs to! We're gonna--"
"Put a cork in it, you cheap Red Panzer wannabe," muttered GL. An instant later Keith found himself gagged. "Okay, now to find some cops. I wonder if there's a donut shop around here…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A short subway ride away in Manhattan's Tribeca district it was a typical Friday night in New York. People in trendy clothes ate at trendy restarants restaurants and made trendy conversation. But those unconcerned with such things enjoyed themselves by having a drink in their favorite bar, chatting on the street or seeing a movie.
A tall woman with a flamboyant skunk-streak running though her auburn hair exited the theater, a glimmer of amusement on her face. Well, that movie wasn't as bad as everyone said, she thought. Although Kitty may have a point about that Jar Jar Binks being 'more annoying than Deadpool.'
The X-Man known as Rogue let her feet carry where they may and focused on enjoying the somewhat muggy Manhattan summer night. A night to mahself is just what Ah needed, she mused.
The headline displayed in a newsstand caught her eye as she passed. She walked closer to get a better look. "Superman Halts Anti-Mutant Riot!" read the current issue of the Daily Planet.
"Hey, sister. In case you ain't noticed, this ain't a library," growled the rather surly looking vendor.
"I love New Yorkers. Such hospitable folk," muttered Rogue as she dug some change out of her pocket. If the vendor heard her he gave no sign.
Still mildly annoyed, Rogue focused on her paper as she resumed walking.
Superman Halts Anti-Mutant Riot
By Lois Lane and Clark Kent
Staff Reporters
Photos by James Olson
Metropolis- The fires of hate erupted in Metropolis this afternoon. A rally held by the hate group the Friends of Humanity in Centennial Park turned violent when, according to eyewitness accounts, several FoH members turned on a group of mutant-rights activists protesting the group.
"We where there to show people that we don't want the FoH's message here in Metropolis," said activist Victor Wong. "We wanted to show that Metropolis is a city where the kind of person you are matters more than your DNA. We don't want the Friends of Humanity's brand of intolerance here in Superman's town."
"We could sure use some more people like that down here in the Big Apple," sighed Rogue. She then turned her eyes back to the paper.
"We did nothing to provoke the FoH members," continued Wong. "We were carrying on peacefully when a bunch of guys dressed like bikers came over and started shouting obscenities at us. They called us 'mutie-lovers' and bunch of other things I'd rather not repeat. After a few minutes someone started throwing rocks and bottles at us. The next thing I know fists are flying, people are screaming, crying and running around. Then some guy pulled a knife and came right at me! If Superman hadn't shown up I might be dead right now."
According to Metropolis Special Crimes Unit reports the riot was less than five minutes old when Superman intervened. Using his amazing speed, the Man of Steel separated and disarmed the rioters in less than thirty seconds. It was then that the S.C.U moved in arresting seventeen people, all members of the Friends of Humanity, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assault. Twenty-nine people were taken to area hospitals for treatment of injuries sustained during the riot. Hospital spokesmen have said that most of the injuries are minor and the majority of people admitted have already been treated and released.
Superman had this to say in an exclusive interview with the Planet's own Clark Kent: "In my adventures I've traveled across time and space, visited other universes, talked with gods and beheld more marvels than most people could see in a thousand lifetimes. Despite all that I have yet to see anything more wondrous than humanity. Each nation, each culture, each person is a treasure to be appreciated.
"We cannot let the specter of bigotry drive us apart. History has shown that when that happens hatred, oppression, violence and death are inevitable. When people come together they begin to see that we're more alike than different. It's during these times that humanity makes it's greatest strides."
"From your lips to God's ear, sugah" murmured Rogue as she tucked the paper under her arm.
"It's ironic," mused the young mutant. "Superman's an alien but he's still the world's greatest and most loved hero. Meanwhile, plenty of us who were born on this planet get branded as monsters just for being alive."
Rogue stopped in her tracks and mentally kicked herself. "Listen to me. Taking mah anger out on Superman just 'cause he's different than me. The Professor taught me better than that."
Rogue turned to look at herself in the glass of a nearby shop. The look of sadness on her face was deep and unmistakable. "The Professor. He just hasn't been the same since Onslaught. After we rescued him from Alcatraz we were all hoping that things could go back to normal. Or at least what passes for normal with the X-Men.
"But Magneto sure put an end to that idea right quick. Joseph's death and Magneto taking over Genosha and only made things worse. Now the Professor's moody, cynical, withdrawn, and bites our heads off on a whim. His attitude is starting to tear the team to pieces."
At that Rogue gave a small, mirthless chuckle. "In all the years Ah've been an X-Man Ah've seen plenty of people try to destroy us. The Sentinels, Sinister, the Brood, the Hellfire Club, Apocalypse, Magneto, Bastion and so many others. Ah can't can even remember anymore how many people have tried to get rid of us but failed. Now it looks like the man the brought us all together may be the one who rips us apart. As Jubilee would say, 'way ironic.'"
Rogue tore herself from her thoughts and looked up at the clear night sky. It's a shame Ah can't see the stars, she thought. Still, no point in depressing mahself like this. Ah came here to get away from things at the mansion and just have a nice quite evening all to myself. Rogue gave another small laugh as she resumed walking. "Right. When was the last time an X-Man was able to have a quite anything on the streets of New York? Oh well, there's a first time for everything…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leo Ulmer relished the feeling of the liquid fire as it went down his throat. With a satisfied sigh he removed the bottle from his lips and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his grimy overcoat. From the garbage-infested alley in which he sat Leo have an excellent view of the World Trade Center.
"A full bottle, a good view and a warm night. What more could a guy want?" asked Leo of a rat who happened to be skittering by. If he had any opinion on the matter, the rat choose to keep it to himself.
As Leo looked at the Twin Towers his mind drifted back to ten years ago (or was it twelve? Maybe fifteen.) when he'd worked in a skyscraper. He remembered the expensive suits he wore, the important phone calls he made everyday, the wheeling and dealing and all the meetings with other important people in expensive suits.
He then began to recall how it had all fallen apart so quickly. A string of heavy losses at the track, large men with Brooklyn accents and pinkie rings making subtle and no-so-subtle threats, the long nights in his den with only a bottle of brandy and the radio for company, the day Claire told him she was leaving and taking the kids to her sister's house in Maryland and the first night he'd slept in Grand Central Station.
Leo took a long swig from his bottle to try and burn those memories from his mind. As he finished he heard a scarping sound from the dark of the alley. "Who's there?!" sputtered Leo.
It was then that a pair of pupil-less white eyes materialized in the dark. Leo suddenly recalled a story he'd heard from some guy he met at a trashcan fire about a rabid dog in the area. Of course, that same guy had also claimed to have invented exploding zucchini and that the entire population of Star City had been replaced by Skrulls.
Leo stood, pulled a rusted length of metal from his coat and advanced toward the eyes. "Hey, Fido, you want a piece of me?!! Come get some!" he slurred.
"Don't mind if I do," answered a gravely voice. Before he could fully register this, a large powerful hand wrapped itself around Leo's throat and hauled him into the dark. Leo's bottle fell to the ground and shattered. If he hadn't been so busy experiencing his last few seconds of life Leo Ulmer would have been pissed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nestled in the heart of Greenwich Village, only a few minutes walk from Washington Square Park, lies the campus of Empire State University. Acclaimed as one of the best colleges on the East Coast, ESU often plays host to some of the finest minds in America. Be it bright young students or brilliant learned professors, ESU is a haven for them all.
While it's standing in the halls of academia is well know, ESU does have one other distinction which is always played down it the school's brochures. Over the last few years many superhero battles, a strangely high number of them involving Spider-Man, have been fought on the campus grounds. Tonight ESU played host to yet another of New York's superheroes, but not one of the wall-crawling variety.
"Thor Battles Metallo!" read Green Lantern as he looked at the headline of the Daily Bugle.
The young hero sighed and looked away from his paper. From his position on the roof of ESU's main science building GL had a fine view of most of the campus. "What I wouldn't give be back in college," he mused. "Art classes by day, partying with the lovely Alexander DeWitt by night."
The thought of his old girlfriend Alex sent a pang of sadness though the hero. It seemed so long ago that he had just been a struggling freelance artist named Kyle Rayner. Then fate dropped the last power ring of the Green Lantern Corps into his lap and changed his life forever.
Sadly, that same fate led a madman named Major Force to hunt down Green Lantern and murder Alex. Major Force ended up meeting final justice at the hands of someone else, but Kyle still felt ashamed that he hadn't been there to save his girlfriend.
Trying to push the painful memories aside, Kyle let his mind drift over some of the events in his life since he became Green Lantern. The move from his native Los Angeles to New York City, joining the Titans and later the Justice League, his battle with Parallax, meeting other former Green Lantern's like Alan Scott, John Stewart and Guy Gardner, his relationships with Donna Troy and Jade, traveling to both the 30th and 853rd centuries and his mixed success at rebuilding the Green Lantern Corps.
"Never a dull moment for us heroes," muttered GL as he turned his attention back to his paper. "Let's see…story by Ben Urich, photos by Peter Parker…Ah, here we go… supervillain know as Metallo attempted to loot the diamond district today…frequent opponent of Superman…the Avenger known as Thor intervened…causing widespread property damage during the battle…Metallo defeated…awaiting transfer to the Slab…Thor called a 'true hero' by the mayor."
GL made a rude noise. "I've fought guys just as tough as Metallo and when was the last time the mayor called me a hero? Jeez, after you've saved the world a few dozen times you'd think they'd give me the key to the city. Or at least a fruit basket."
Still mildly annoyed, GL began to flip though the paper. "Maybe the comics will put me in a better mood," he thought. "I wonder what Ziggy is up to." As Kyle looked for the right page he suddenly touched something sticky.
"Oh gross!" snapped GL as he tried to wipe the substance onto the leg of his costume. "God, I hope this is just jelly from someone's doughnut! I gotta think of a way to carry some money in this outfit. Stealing abandoned papers from bus benches is no way for a superhero to get his news."
With his hand finally clean, GL heaved a sigh and then took to the sky.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Rogue walked she became aware that her path was taking her north toward Greenwich Village. "A few hours in the Village sounds like a good way to top off the night. Ah wonder if Ah can find that coffee shop Scott, Hank, Bobby, Warren and Jean used to hang out at."
The young mutant's ponderings were interrupted by the sound of sirens ahead. "Never a dull moment in this city," sighed Rogue as she quickened her pace. The X-Man rounded a corner and stopped short at what she saw. All along the street storefronts had been smashed, cars wrecked and the pavement torn up. Laying in the center of the destruction were various pieces of what Rogue guessed was once a half dozen giant robots.
The police were on the scene and had already put up barricades to keep the onlookers back. Rogue melted into the crowd and managed to work her way to the front.
"Blue Blazes!" muttered the dark-haired young man next to her. "A bunch of robots go crazy in the middle of the city and I miss out on it. Just my rotten luck!"
Damn adrenaline junkies, though Rogue. "Any idea what happened here?"
The young man turned and look of surprise crossed his face as he got a look at the dark-haired mutant. "You!" he gasped.
Uh-oh! Rogue said to herself. Did this man know who she was? The X-Men were considered outlaws by most people. If she'd been recognized things could get very ugly very fast.
Thinking quickly Rogue decided to try and talk her way out this mess. "Do Ah know you, sugah? I think I'd remember a handsome fella like yourself."
That old Southern charm worked well. The young man flushed and ran a hand nervously though his hair. "Uh, sorry. You look like someone I sorta know."
"Ah get that a lot," smiled Rogue. "So what happened here?"
"I heard a couple of the cops talking," began the young man. "Seems these robots showed up out of nowhere and started smashing things up. Nobody seems to know what they were after. Anyway, a couple of those Justice Society guys showed up and—Whoa! There they are!"
Rouge turned to where the man was pointing and saw five costumed people talking to a policeman. One was an older man with blonde hair, green pants, a red shirt with matching boots and a purple cape and mask. Beside him stood a woman in a orange and yellow outfit who also wore a hawk-like mask and had a pair of wings on her back.
Ah bet Warren would love to talk to her, mused the X-Man.
Another of the group wore red boots, blue pants, a red shirt with a lightingbolt on the chest and a strange silver hat with what seemed to be wings on the side. Behind him, chewing on a piece of gum, was a teenage girl with blonde hair who sported a star-covered red, white and blue outfit.
"Ah wonder if she's been getting fashion advice from Captain America," chuckled Rouge.
Lastly there was an athletic looking blonde woman in a black and blue outfit. After a second Rogue recognized her as the Black Canary, a founding member of the Justice League of America.
"So those folks are the Justice Society—the world's first superteam," said Rogue. "Ah hadn't heard they'd reformed. Still, with all the crazy things than happen around here Ah guess the city could use another superteam. "
"Yeah, those JSA guys are pretty cool," nodded the young man as he stared at the heroes. "But I say that the New Warriors could have handled this to."
"So who started the robot rampage and what did they want?"
"You got me. But I think I heard one of the cops mention the Mad Thinker. By the way, I didn't catch your name. I'm Richard Rider and--"
Much to Rich's surprise, Rogue was gone. "Great, now I'll never find out if that was really Rogue," he muttered. "Oh well, maybe I'll just head to the Crashpad, order a pizza and spend the rest of the night playing Quake with Robbie." With a sigh and a last glance at the JSA, Rich trudged off into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The emaciated body of Theo Phelps fell to the ground. Just minutes before Theo had been a engineering major at Columbia University and part-time waiter at Marco's Pizza. Unfortunately for him, Theo had the bad luck to be emptying some trash into the dumpster behind Marco's just as something large, inhuman and hungry had come along. Theo's last thoughts were of his mother. Not that it made a difference to anyone.
"Mmm…tasty," grinned Theo's killer as he creeped down the ally. The thing stopped for a moment as he glimpsed himself in a puddle. White pupil-less eyes, rippling muscles, course purple skin and a mouth full of sharp pointy teeth wavered in the water.
[Not even a face a mother could love,] said the other voice in the creature's head.
"Shut up, Doc Freeman! Who needs looks when you got power? And once I'm back to full strength I'm heading back to Metropolis to show Superman why people call me the Parasite!"
[Yes, Rudy, I'm sure you'll show Superman just like did all those other times you fought him. The same way you showed Superboy when you went after him. And the same way you showed Supergirl right before she defeated us back in Paris.]
"Cripes, I wish I'd never accidentally absorbed you into my head."
[I'm less than thrilled myself, Rudy. But we all have to live with the curves life tosses at us.]
"Whatever, Doc," muttered the Parasite. "But now that I'm back in the good ol' U.S. of A it's pigout time!"
[Not a good idea. New York is the superhero capital of the world. I think it would be wise if we keep a low profile.]
"I've been keeping a low profile since I broke out of that French prison! I'm tired of hiding like some rat."
[That low profile is what has keep you free this long. Do you think that if you'd gone around draining everything that moved we would have made it to the coast and stowed away on that ship?]
"God, I hate ships," grumbled the Parasite. "Two weeks at sea and only thirty two guys to snack on. A man could starve like that."
[I'm amazed you had the restraint to leave the captain alive until after he'd cleared us with the authorities.]
"You remember the way he sweatted as he was talking to those Harbor Control guys?" asked the Parasite, a leer spreading across his face. "I could see in his eyes that the frog was praying I wouldn't drain him. But the captain always goes down with the ship. That's the rule."
[Yes, but I image the mess you left on the Iola has been found by now. It won't be long before someone puts two and two together and the D.E.O. comes after us again.]
"Man I'd love to have seen the looks on the faces of the jokers who were the first on that tub. I left 'em something straight out of the X-Files."
[You watch to much TV, Rudy.]
"No such thing as to much TV, Doc," snapped the Parasite. "You know, I betcha the late movie is just now coming on. Tonight's creature feature 'The Parasite That Ate Manhattan!'"
To be continued…