Chapter 7
by Ordinaryguy2
HOLDING AREA
BELLE REVE PENITENTIARY, LOUISIANA
Count Werner Zytle, better known to the world as Count Vertigo, swiped a card through the card reader and entered the seven-digit key code while making sure those behind him could not see.
"What the hell is this bloody place?" came yet another complaint from the annoying Australian he'd been lumped with. "And how is it that you have the code to get in there? I've been in this stupid gig far longer than you, mate, and I've never even been in this section of this hell hole."
Count Vertigo despised his uncouth teammate. Ever mission they go out on in the Suicide Squad, Vertigo wishes that it was George Harkness, a.k.a. Captain 'Bloody' Boomerang, that struck out. Ironically, Werner Zytle himself was often suicidal, but even so, a dead Boomerang would be preferable than his own demise.
"Clearly I know more of Belle Reve because Waller trusts me more than she does you," he responded with an aristocratic sniff of disdain. "There is also another reason that you were never brought to this section."
The doors swung open revealing three guards with automatic weapons aimed at them.
There was a shouted command from someone at the far end of the large wing to which the guards stood down and let Count Vertigo, Captain Boomerang, and bringing up the rear, Phobia of the Brotherhood of Evil.
"Okay," Captain Boomerang spoke, clearly annoyed. "I'll bite. Why do you know this place?"
"This is where Waller brings potential inductees to be tested before deciding if she can use them."
"Never brought me through here," groused Harkness.
"That's because all of the prisoners housed in here are super-powered." Werner explained. "Waller takes them out of general population and brings them here so she can test to see what they are truly capable. Also to make sure she can control them."
"Is this what you had planned for my teammates and I?" spoke Phobia for the first time since being separated from the other members of the Brotherhood of Evil.
Werner Zytle shrugged. "I have no idea what Amanda Waller's plans were regarding the Brotherhood of Evil. We were just sent to apprehend you. In fact, I have no idea who they are even currently holding inside here. I just know of this place as this is where I first met Waller when being inducted into Task Force X."
George 'Digger' Harkness snorted. "Just call it the Suicide Squad. Everyone else does."
"Damn it, Werner!" groused a bearded, brown-haired man with a good start on a pot-belly. "I don't like the idea of releasing all these walking disasters waiting to happen!"
"Who's the dingo in a suit?" snarked Harkness.
Werner looked back at Harkness with annoyance. "This is John Economos; he's the warden of Belle Reve."
Disgust was immediate upon Digger's face. "The Wall's fall guy for when one of our missions hits the fan in a big way." Then chuckled. "Think I can ask him about changing the menu?"
Count Vertigo gave Captain Boomerang no comment, nor did Phobia, as they instead continued walking into the large room.
On either side, and directly in front of them were a total of twelve cells, all of which had bars and glass shielding.
John looked up from a handful of files that he'd been reading once they neared him. "Werner, I'm glad Amanda sent you. But this has so many ways of going bad."
Werner couldn't disagree with the man. "Waller wouldn't be trying it if she thought it wasn't necessary."
Economos' attention was now behind the count. "Why the hell are they here?"
Count Vertigo looked over his shoulder at Captain Boomerang and Phobia. "Waller doesn't want anyone to be traveling alone while vampires are attacking the place. Boomerang is more or less vetted at this point; as for my distantly related cousin, Angela Hawkins, or as you know her – Phobia; she bears an explosive collar to enforce her compliance."
Harkness snickered to himself as he mumbled something about aristocratic inbreeders.
Economos ignored the Australian, and turned his attention back to those locked in their cells. "Now as I was telling you all, these things do not want to make nice with you. They are literally coming for your blood. And I can't let them turn you into more vampires. The explosive nano-bombs in your bodies are active. Fail to comply with my request, and there won't be enough of you to recognize. So think on that while we get ready to release you."
"So who's in this lot," Boomerang inquired.
Economos gave an annoyed glare at Digger, but he had been about to inform Werner of that information, so he began with the explanations.
"You would probably recognize Dufus P. Ratchet, who you and the Flash's Rogues turned into the powerhouse called Big Sir." A towering, bulky, bald man stood looking out of his cell while picking his nose.
That brought a cackle from Harkness. "I see him now. Yeah, a real pea-brain me and the Rogues drug up from a mental hospital. We were able to outfit 'im in some powerful gear we got from a bloke calling himself the Monitor. Big Sir did give the Flash a run for his money though. Too bad he failed."
Economos shook his head and moved on. "Next we have Jonathan Drew. He literally calls himself Codename: Assassin. He took part in an Extrasensory Perception studies where an accident somehow allowed him to develop the powers of telepathy and telekinesis. Unfortunately, this, compiled with the murder of his sister, made him mentally unstable. He became a vigilante who hunted down murderers and other perceived threats to society." The muscular man with dark hair glared out of his cell with murderous intent.
"Great, another bloody psychopath," groused Digger. "Just what the team needs."
"Here we have Jeremy Tell, a.k.a. Double Down," introduced Economos. "As you can probably tell from his alias, he's a gambler and con man. From what has been told to us, once when Tell lost a card game, he attacked and killed his opponent. Problem was, the man had been in possession of a cursed deck of cards which cleaved to Tell's body, burning away much of his skin. As you can see, the cards themselves now make up the top layer of his skin. Now that he's bonded to them, Tell can use the cards to fly about and cut things to ribbons."
"Well," commented Harkness. "Nobody's gonna say he ain't playing with a full deck, eh, right?" He laughed at his own joke, while the rest ignored him.
"Next is Chato Santana." A strong man of Hispanic descent with several tattoos looked up briefly at hearing his name. "According to our sources, he encountered a comatose man named Lazarus Lane at a hospital. Lane transferred some of his powers of a minor wrath of vengeance. El Diablo, as Santana was calling himself, used his powers to create fire to get revenge on some gang members. Later he learned that there was an innocent woman and child who had died in the blaze. Evidently the guilt got to him, and he turned himself in. He's been sentenced to death row, but Waller has other plans for him."
"The anguish of guilt can be bitter," Phobia declared. "And rare in such a man as this."
Economos shifted uneasily. "Yes, this next candidate has no such qualms about killing." He pointed to another stocky man. "Lester Buchinsky, better known as the Electrocutioner, though he is not the first to use that name or costume. Originally he targeted criminals, but later became a mercenary and took to crime himself. Unlike his predecessor, Buchinsky didn't limit himself by having his machinery in his costume. Somehow, he got part of his electro-generating machinery into his body, though his costume allows him to throw bolts of electricity, but without it he has to touch someone to kill them."
Digger smirked. "A hands-on type a guy, eh? I prefer distance weapons meself. Awk! What the bloomin' hell is that?"
Inside the large cell that almost seemed empty, was a diminutive man about five inches tall who was openly leering at Phobia.
Economos chuckled. "That's just Mouse Man. We've never been able to determine his real name. Though it's been determined that his sized was changed by some kind of chemical. It's said that he has some control over mice and other vermin as well."
Harkness shook the shiver out of his spine, kicking himself for having jumped. "What the bloomin' hell in a guy like that supposed to do? Have we become a Mickey Mouse operation? We'd be a laughing stock to have this guy on the team."
Werner sniffed. "The squad has survived having you on the team. I think the reputation of the Suicide Squad would be just fine. Mouse Man has faced Wonder Woman on several occasions, and I believe fought Batman at least once."
"Bah, practically everyone in a costume has faces Bats at least once," objected Captain Boomerang. "I just don't get why a bloke would shrink himself down to such a small size."
"He gets to enjoy things in greater amounts," Phobia said as she slowly walked up to the glass wall that was keeping Mouse Man in his cell.
"You know it, baby," the tiny man said in a lecherous voice.
Phobia wasn't impressed. "He has a thing for dominating women, and is focused on Wonder Woman as he sees her as the ultimate woman."
"You're not so bad yourself, toots," grinned the tiny man.
"He also suffers from a fear of rejection, and so makes himself unattainable."
"Say what now? Hey, you don't know what you are talking about, bitch! I am very attainable!"
"I didn't say I found you unattainable." She gave him a wink, and walked away. Mouse Man stared after her in wonder, trying to understand what just happened.
"Anyhoo," Economos began, as he tried to ignore what he had just heard. "Next we have Duncan Pramble. He'd been a research assistant to an archaeologist when they discover an ancient elixir called 'Liquid Light'. Nearby hieroglyphics told that whoever partook of the elixir would be granted extra lives, and with each life, a new power. Naturally Pramble stole it, drank it, and began calling himself Multi-Man. This put him against the Challengers of the Unknown, and the rest is history."
At first glance the man, Duncan Pramble seemed like an ordinary bald man with a thin mustache, except for the fact that Pramble's bald head had an enlarged cranium and his ears were slightly enlarged as well as pointed at the tips.
"Basically, if Multi-Man dies, he is nearly instantly resurrected and has a new super power that seems to be selected at random. Whatever else that elixir did to him, it also made him a scientific genius. Of course, there was a down side. The deaths have taken a toll on him, giving him severe emotional distress and depression."
"What is his power currently?"
"He's able to elongate his limbs. He can't bend them like Plastic Man or the Elongated Man, but they can extend at least fifteen feet."
"Why not just keep killing him until he comes up with a decent super power," Captain Boomerang blurted out.
Economos just shook his head. "The Human Rights activists would be all over us even if they didn't know we exist. Trust me, Waller considered the option."
Phobia stared into the cell at the depressed man, before turning away in disgust.
"And here we have our newest addition: Stalnoivolk. The records I have say that Stalin wanted a super-being to fight for him during WWII. Stalnoivolk, or the 'Steel Wolf', was the result. He's super-strong and can literally leap over buildings, and pretty much invulnerable on the outside. He disappeared from our radar for several decades, but he came back to face Firestorm. He's also had a run-in with the Suicide Squad in Cuba."
"Strewth! I heard about that!" Captain Boomerang edged back from the towering Russian on the other side of the glass. "Rick Flag was the only one to come back from that mission!"
Economos decided to move on to the next cell. "Here we have a historical figure that we only know about from legends." A large Native American sat on a bunk in his cell, one hand out trying to grab something that wasn't there. "He's hundreds of years old even though he only looks like he might be thirty. He's Iroquois, and seems to have received powers from a radioactive meteorite fragment. He's super-strong, super-fast, invulnerable and can fly."
"What is he doing?" Count Vertigo asked as he watched the Iroquois' curious actions.
John shook his head sadly. "We believe it is Alzheimer's, or something like it. Basically, most of his memories have deteriorated, leaving him confused and disoriented."
"A bloke that powerful, and a mental basket case to boot?" Harkness shook his head. "What the hell is Waller thinking?"
"Can it, Harkness," Economos snapped. "This is where Waller evaluates potential Task Force X inductees. Most are never accepted. Some she even helps, like those with medical issues. Don't think you understand Waller. There is more to the woman than meets the eye."
"He speaks the truth." With his head held high, Count Vertigo turned to them. "I, myself, suffer from manic depression. Through Waller's contacts, I have managed to get it mostly under control."
"What methods are used?" Phobia asked, curious about this distant relative. Though her powers let her manipulate the fears of others, she, too, was prone to manic states, an unfortunate family trait.
"You two can discuss it later," proclaimed John. "This next guy used to be a marine." He indicated the black man that was heavily covered in tattoos. "His name is Mark Richards. He went missing when his helicopter exploded; he was presumed dead. Several years later, he shows up in Gotham City, as a hit man with a trick: his tattoos come alive and do his bidding. He's been recorded as saying that the tattoos came from the sins of the people he killed. He believed that by taking the sins onto himself, he was redeeming the souls of those he'd killed. How it all works? We have no clue. It's metaphysics or magic or religion mumbo-jumbo or just plain nuts. What matters is his tattoos come alive and do his bidding."
"Does he have any dancing naked birds?" Digger asked. "'cause that kind of magic I can get in to."
"Stop talking, you lecherous pig," instructed Phobia. "Or I will deliver such fear upon you that you will most likely never be sane again."
Harkness already had one of his trademark boomerangs in hand. "Try it, you aristocratic goth bike, and I'll take your head clean off!"
Seeing that Werner was amused and not going to step in, John Economos shouted. "Hey, you two idiots! Do you remember the vampires invading the prison on some mission to suck out all of our blood so that we become vampires and are put into their army in their plan to take over the world? Well, you are going to need each other whether you like it or not, so get over yourselves! We have work to do!"
Digger snorted in annoyance, but he did harness his weapon. Phobia just rolled her eyes and turned back to the caged prisoners.
Grumbling to himself, and shooting an annoyed glance at Count Vertigo, Economos returned to the folders in his hand.
"Cliff Carmichael: an intellectual bully with self-esteem issues. His conscience caused him to have a mental breakdown after he had accidently caused his cousin to become paralyzed. He went into an institution where some scientists decided to experiment of him by interfacing the deceased Thinker's 'Thinking Cap' directly into Cliff's brain. The Thinking Cap gave Cliff the ability to mind control others as well as some telekinesis and interaction with computers. He used his new meta-abilities to escape and has been making a name for himself as the second Thinker."
From his cell, Cliff Carmichael had a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. They past him by instead of acknowledging him, which pissed him off some.
"Here is our last potential inductee candidate."
"Why are you calling them potential inductees?" blurted out Harkness. "If we are taking 'em with us, that means they are in the Squad."
John cleared his throat and gave Harkness a glare. "As I was saying, this is Theresa Zimmer. She used to be a member of the Church of Blood. They experimented on her to give her distorted illusion casting powers, and somehow ended up distorting her face and mind as well."
The black haired, white female's face was twisted in a manner that made her resemble the love child of Salvador Dali. Her left eye was an inch higher than it was supposed to be as well as tilted at a 45-degree angle. Her nose was turned at a 45-degree angle in the other direction. Her mouth was two inched to the left of where it was supposed to be as well as tilted up toward her ear.
"There's not enough alcohol in the world to make her pretty," mumbled a surprised Captain Boomerang. "I've seen birds come out of a flamin' helicopter crash that looked ten times better than her."
"Boomerang, shut up," snapped Phobia.
"Why I don't just quit this job, I'll never know," growled Economos.
"Because you have to come up with the alimony for your ex-wives," said an amused Count Vertigo.
John chuckled at that. "Too true. Kids are almost as expensive, but I don't begrudge them the money."
"You begrudge your ex-wives?" asked Phobia.
"Nah, mostly myself. As much as I want to be married, my work dedication is a direct conflict of interest to my family."
"Then stop getting married."
"But I want to be married. It gives my life meaning to have someone in my life to share it with."
"Then get another job," she simply stated, annoyed.
"No one else will pay me near to what I make here. And I have alimony and child support to provide."
John waved to one of the guards, and the doors to the cells opened releasing the prisoners.
The prisoners were cautious as they ambled out, except for Super-Chief who just sat where he was, trying to work on something that no one else can see.
"Before you even think about it, your powers are still turned off, including magical ones such as Double Down has. And if you do try to fight your way out of here, you should all remember that you have nano-bombs implanted in several places in your body. Stalnoivolk thought Waller was bluffing about the nano-bombs, but she had been prepared for him believing that she was bluffing, and had made sure she had a spare nano-bomb placed in a non-lethal place. Stalnoivolk, hold out your hand."
The towering old man glowered, but raised his left hand to show that one of his fingers had been blown off.
Digger pulled at his scarf as he swallowed. "That's a new one on the Wall."
"So," began the Electrocutioner, "we're supposed to go out into the prison and fight vampires?"
"Not quite." Count Vertigo stepped into the air so that he was two feet above the ground. "The Bronze Tiger said that there is a large tunnel that somehow connect the black domes. The tunnel should lead to Blackgate Penitentiary and then to Arkham. I was given orders to take this group and go down the tunnels to see what we can learn. Perhaps stop this advancing vampiric army at it's source."
"Bloody hell!" "*%&$" "This is messed up!" "But aren't vampires really scary?" "Can't you just launch a missile or something down the tunnel?" "That's suicide!" "!"
"Silence!" John pulled out his gun. "I already told you I'm not allowed to let any of you to stay and become vampires. You either go on this mission or I put a hole in your head. I'm not big on killing people. I admit that freely. But I sure as hell don't want to see the vampire version of you lot. So what's it going to be?"
"What about him?" Mouse Man pointed to the cell where Super-Chief sat oblivious to what they were talking about.
John cursed. "Looks like he'll be getting a bullet."
"Perhaps that won't be necessary." Cliff Carmichael walked over to the door of Super-Chief's cell. "Once you let me use my thinking cap again, I may be able to control him."
John nodded, secretly relieved not to have to shoot anyone. He'd only shot two people before, and that had been when some gang members had broken into his house. One had been twenty-three with a list of felonies. The kid who had died had been sixteen, and was on probation for statutory rape, assault & battery of an elderly woman, grand theft auto, and a bunch of stupid teenager stuff. John had felt the guilt of it for a week, and had not been able to go back to work until receiving some counseling sessions with a next door neighbor who was a pastor.
"Have you even tried to control someone with Alzheimer's before?"
Cliff was about to make a snappy comeback, but paused. "No," he admitted. "There may be some difficulty with his brain is deteriorating. I may have to make some new response connections in his brain. If that is even possible." He scratching at the wispy beard growth he had. "I'd like to try it. It would be an interesting challenge. Plus, he's got some serious potential if what you said about him is accurate."
There was a scuffle at the entryway of the holding area.
"The bloody guards didn't close the door!" Captain Boomerang threw one of his razor sharp weapons into the air so that the arc would take it to the fight the guards at the entrance were having.
Several vampires were pushing their way inside. One vampire, held a ventriloquist dummy in one hand, and a Thompson submachine gun in the other. The tommy gun thundered into the room as it not only shot Boomerang's Boomerang out of the air, but also nicked El Diablo in the arm and took out one of the guards. Everyone else ducked for cover.
Once the sounds of bullets ceased, more of the vampires started to come inside.
"Well, well, well. Looks like we hit the jackpot for potential fledglings." Tobias Whale was a large man of considerable bulk, and much of that bulk tended to be pure muscle. He was a black albino who rose his way up in the rackets in the Metropolis of The 100 crime organization. He specialized in drug dealing, but was diversified into many levels of crime. When he was being pushed out of Metropolis by Intergang, Whale moved to Gotham to try his luck there.
Coiling at Whale's feet was the serpentine assassin/crook, Copperhead. "They look ssso tasssty."
"My sentiments egg-zactly," chortled the self-proclaimed 'world's smartest criminal'. Edgar Heed, otherwise known as Egghead, bore a shaved head that made him look somewhat like an egg. And the very fact that he based all his crimes with an egg-motif was the reason he'd been incarcerated at Arkham Asylum.
"Can't we just kill them?" said the man wearing a vulture headpiece. "Or is it your plan to talk them to death?"
"Savor the moment, Vulture." The badly dressed Condiment King stood there looking oddly confident. In his back was two tanks, while his utility belt consisted of various condiments that connected by tubes to his large condiment gun with four nozzles. "The fear of the anticipated horror that awaits them adds zest to their blood."
"That's called adrenalin, you moron," growled Captain Calamity. "And I think that they are more than ready now."
John Economos had not been idle as he took refuge in Big Sir's cell. Using his remote device, he punched in code after code until finally he got to what he was looking for. "There! Everyone, your powers are activated again! Now get rid of those vampires!"
Copperhead slithered into the room with surprising speed.
Mark Richards, the Tattooed Man, stepped forward. "Got this." One of his tattoos from his left leg pulled away from him and grew in size to form a six-foot long mongoose. Almost instantly, the magical mongoose and the vampire Copperhead were locked in a deadly battle.
Pushing past Tobias Whale, Otis Flannigan – known to others as the Ratcatcher – hurried in. "My little ones will soften them up so we can feast!" With a wave of his hand, hundreds of rats scurried into the room, toward the prisoners and guards.
"I've got the vermin!" Double Down's cards slashed through the air, slicing rats in half.
"You need help." El Diablo stretched out his hands and sent out flames to engulf the oncoming horde of rodents.
"Watch my cards, you pyromaniac!" Double Down pushed his magical flying cards off to the left leaving El Diablo to take the right.
Mouse Man stood on a nearby chair. "I'll see if I can take control of the rats from that guy. Holding his hands to his head he began to shout 'Sqee' over and over again.
Stalnoivolk hurried forward, ignoring the rats in his attempt to take out some of his aggression on the vampires.
"Not so fast, bland villain! You now face the Condiment King!"
Stalnoivolk glared down at the skinny man in the ridiculous costume. "This is joke?"
"I'm going to spice you up!" He raised his weapon and fired even as he dodged Stalnoivolk's grasping hands. "Try some of my super-hot sauce in your eyes and see how you like it!"
Stalnoivolk, who had been invulnerable for most of his life, was reduced to falling on the floor as he tried to wipe his eye's clear while kicking and lashing blindly. On sheer luck, the Steel Wolf had managed to get a kick in that caught the dancing Condiment King in the chest, sending him flying into the wall, where he collapsed with ketchup pouring out over him.
The Thinker had been trying his luck at controlling Super-Chief. "Damn it! I need more time!" He tried to use his mind control on the vampires but was surprised to find them immune to his abilities. Glancing around, he spotted John Economos trying to talk Big Sir into going out to take on the vampires. The Thinker had no problem in taking over the mind of someone who only had the intellect of a young child.
With the Thinker at the helm, Big Sir surged out of the cell and charged out into the growing battle. Dufus P. Ratchet had been a large, muscular man before the Rogues had him outfitted in high-tech armor. Ratchet had been augmented some so that he had super-strength, though his armor made him even stronger.
The first fledgling vampire to rush the human tank was smashed to the floor as if he were a gnat. Two others leapt at him, and the Thinker-controlled Big Sir shook them around like rag dolls. As Cliff was reveling in his use of Big Sir's body, he was caught off guard when Tobias Whale tackled him, nearly crashing into Phobia who was trying to use her powers to induce fear in the vampires bringing up images that were as hard for her as it was for her victims.
"Someone is tapping into my abilities!" Phobia tried to determine who could be messing with her powers when she felt the source of her drain.
Captain Calamity, sometimes known as Mr. ESPer, gave her a vampiric grin from on the other side of the fight between Big Sir and Tobias Whale. "My device lets me absorb mental powers. Yours is more difficult, but I will have it for my own." He adjusted his device. "In fact, yours isn't the only power I can take."
Aiming the device at Big Sir, he began adjusting dials to find the right frequency.
"Damn it!" growled the Thinker. "They have someone with mental powers of some kind. I'm trying to block him but it's like he's trying to feed off my brain."
Without the Thinker controlling him, Big Sir was just starting to realize that he was somehow fighting hand to hand with a vampire. To say that he was freaking out was putting it mildly. He began hitting, kicking and screaming like a child. The albino vampire was quick to take advantage of that situation.
John Economis took aim with his gun, and fired it twice, hitting Captain Calamity twice in the head. While the shots were not deadly to the vampire, they were painful and could hinder them.
Count Vertigo, having taken to the air, pulled out a long blade that he kept on hand and dove at the distracted Captain Calamity stabbing him the neck and through his spinal column. With a savage twist of the blade, Captain Calamity turned to dust.
Twister was working her illusion powers on Egghead. Egghead was unfortunately proving to overcome most of what she could do.
"Come now, my dear." Egghead grinned with his vampire face on and licked his jagged teeth. "It will be so much better if you simply submit. The rewards for doing so are egg-cellent, while the punishment…, well, let's just say you wouldn't like that as much."
"Never!" growled Twister. "I've already had Brother Blood mess with my head! I won't let anyone else!"
Egghead was overcome with a sudden case of vertigo and fell to the ground. Before he could right himself, Count Vertigo landed on top of him and plunged his knife straight down into Egghead's throat.
Before Count Vertigo could deliver the death blow, Egghead managed to get his foot between them, and kicked the European royal away.
Twister, however was not to be denied. She grappled with the vampire, one hand on the knife, trying to do as much damage as she could.
Egghead was far stronger than her. He forced her away and pulled the knife from out of his throat. "You bitch!" he rasped. "I'm going to-"
Before he could complete his threat, a large hand grabbed his head from behind. Though he was for the most part blind, Stalnoivolk could still hear and was able to grab ahold of the bald vampire. The Russian lifted the egg-themed villain into the air, then slammed his head onto the floor, cracking his head open like an egg. A second later, Egghead was vampire ash.
At the guards' desk, the Electrocutioner had been charging up his internal cybernetic battery from an outlet. It was slow going, but if he was going to be of any use, he needed to be charged up. A vampire leapt at him, and he was able to shock him. Using a wooden pencil, he jammed it through the Blackgate inmate's heart. The vampire turned to dust. "Well, at least I know that the stake through the heart trick works." He continued to recharge even as he readied himself for the next vampire attacker.
Jonathan Drew, the vigilante/assassin who called himself Codename: Assassin, had gained a gun from a fallen guard. He used the weapon to fire away at will at the vampires trying to still get inside the holding area. His telekinesis powers pushed away any vampires that tried to attack him. The problem came when he needed to reload his weapon. The body he'd retrieved the gun from did not have an extra clip. After using an office chair to beat in the head of another vampire, he bent down to check the body of another guard when he was suddenly riddled with bullets.
"Gotcha, you gastard!"
Drew looked up to see the meek looking Arnold Wesker; in one arm he held the mobster motif dummy called Scarface and in his other hand he held a smoking tommy gun.
"You are my gitch now," he heard the ventriloquist dummy say. "Your throat is mine! Your glood is mine. And from here until eternity you will serve in my gang!"
As Arnold stepped toward him, his face began to morph into a face of horror.
"I may be dying," gasped Drew. "But you will die before me."
Reaching out with his telekinetic abilities, Drew wrenched off one of Scarface's arms, and raised it up into the air above the Ventriloquist.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Scarface, as the dummy and ventriloquist stared up at the floating arm.
The wooden arm then plunged down into Arnold Wesker's chest, piercing his heart, and he turned to dust. Drew was able to grin just before dying.
"Retreat!" called out Tobias Whaler, his mouth red from the blood of Big Sir.
Copperhead separated from his mongoose opponent and fled, just barely ducking a boomerang that came in from the side. The mongoose took out his frustrations on another vampire that was nowhere near as swift as the snake villain; that being Ratcatcher.
"Yes!" shouted Mouse Man jumping up and down on his chair. "I have achieved dominance over the horde!" He looked over the rats remaining in the room. El Diablo was still flashing fire into screaming rodents and Double Down still had his playing cards dealing death. "Hey, you're killing my horde! Stop it! They are mine now! I control them!" He leapt onto the guards' desk area and threw a tape dispenser at El Diablo's head.
El Diablo's flames died down and glared at the diminutive villain. Double Down ceased his rodent carnage to watch Diablo and Mouse Man.
"I said stop killing my horde! They are my horde now! Mine!"
The tattooed man towered over the tiny man. But Mouse Man didn't care about the difference between them in height or the fact that the big man could control fire. Mouse Man stuck out his chin and dared the bigger man to do anything.
"You can control the rats?"
"I can now!" he insisted.
Chato Santana did not like rats. There had been too many in his childhood. But he could see how they could be used as a weapon if they could be controlled. "Then keep them from being underfoot and we won't have a problem."
Mouse Man leapt down and began to check over his remaining horde. He killed those that were grievously wounded or burned, and patched those that had minor injuries."
Double Down chuckled. "So Mickey gets his own club now, does he?"
El Diablo pointed down to a dead guard that the rats had managed to overwhelm. "If they can do something like that, then yes I want him and his horde on our side."
Double Down stared down at the guard who was almost skinless. "I can't even tell which guard that was."
"You and I will guard the door so that we will not be attacked again."
Jeremy Tell was about to protest when he remembered that the fire that the Hispanic man had used had actually singed his playing cards. Something that had never happened before. He'd had a card get shot before. And it would heal after two days next to his skin. But fire had never affected it before. He was sure that his cards were fire proof. And yet El Diablo's fire had singed them. It made him wonder just what kind of fire did this El Diablo use and where did it come from.
The Thinker stood over Big Sir's body. The battle between the Big Sir/Thinker and Tobias Whale had been exhilarating. Cliff had been sure that his higher intellect and mental speed would give him a considerable advantage over the albino mobster. But Cliff had never been much of a fighter himself, so even though his higher brain functions let him know several fighting styles, he had no practical experience. And then there was the fact that Tobias Whale fought dirty. And had faster than normal reflex since he was a vampire.
With a heavy sigh, Cliff turned away from his dead fighter and made his way over to Super-Chief's cell to get himself acquainted with his next fighter. Cliff was sure he'd be able to do better the next time.
Twister had given Stalnoivolk some wet napkins to wipe his eyes with. The Russian thanked her, stopping only when he noticed the unconscious figure of Condiment King being guarded by Phobia.
He stormed determinedly over to the comical vampire villain ready to dismember him for the pain he'd managed to put him through.
"You may torture him," Phobia stated.
"I will kill him!" growled the Russian.
She looked up at him, not using her powers of fear at all. "And then his pain will be no more, and we will have learned nothing from all this." She kept eye contact. "He must know something; and at this point we need to learn everything."
He glared through his watery red eyes. "Torture then?"
She nodded. "We don't have long so you will have to be quick to get both the answers we need as well as your revenge."
He wiped his eyes again. It was rare when a woman showed no fear around him. But this was not the time to dwell on such things. He grabbed one the ridiculous villain's legs and dragged him into one of the cells, where he could have more privacy.
Phobia went to the control panel for the cells and closed the door while engaging the soundproofing
Taking one of the canisters that fueled the Condiment King's strange gun, Stalnoivolk broke it open with his brute strength. Then, he held his unconscious prisoner's eye lid open and poured the spicy hot sauce directly into the vampire's eye.
As the vampire woke up screaming, Stalnoivolk began to break the vampire's limbs to take away his abilities to fight back or get away.
Count Vertigo and the Tattooed Man stood over Multi-Man, watching as he slowly bled out. Multi-Man's limbs were extended at various lengths, slowly growing and shortening. His lower left leg was four inches long while the upper part of his left leg was extended almost eight feet long. The rest of his limbs were similarly different.
"I'd say from the amount of dust around him, that he at least killed the vampire that got him." The Tattooed Man glanced around uneasily.
"The clown with the vulture mask on." Captain Boomerang sauntered over as he inspected one of his retrieved gimmicked boomerangs. "Jeez, left him in a bit of a mess, didn't he?"
"We'll have to leave him behind," Werner said.
"Why?" Digger bit into an apple that he'd found over by the control panel for all the cells.
"He's dying!" snapped the Tattooed Man.
Digger took another bite of his apple. "He's taking his bloody time doing it to." With a flick of his wrist, he sent his boomerang directly into Multi-Man's heart, killing him.
"What the hell?" Richards took a swing at Digger, but the Australian ducked. He still wasn't fast enough for Zytle. Harkness found himself flat on his back with the world seemingly spinning fast around him.
"Werner!" John Economos pushed himself forward. "Stand down!"
"He just killed a man in cold blood!" bellowed Richards. "I don't care if you do call this the group the Suicide Squad! Teammates don't do things like that to other teammates!"
"Harkness just helped Pramble recover faster," Economos said even louder.
"Recover faster my left foot!" Richards snapped. "He's dead!"
"Looks recovered to me," snarked Digger who was starting to sit up.
Count Vertigo pointed down where Multi-Man was. "Richards, just look."
Duncan Pramble, the Multi-Man, was sitting up, looking completely unharmed. "I hate dying in such a messy manner," he grumbled, his hands shaking from the trauma.
"So what kinda super thing can you do?" Digger asked, smirking as he pat himself on the back. He looked at the Tattooed Man. "That's what he does, you know, in case you weren't listening to Johnboy earlier. Dies and comes back with a different power, he does."
As if in answer to his question, giant butterfly wings unfolded from Pramble's back. "Um, I guess I fly?"
Digger grumbled to himself, then threw another of his boomerangs that hit Pramble smack between the eyes, killing him instantly.
The Tattooed Man struck Captain Boomerang to the side of the head, then pounced on the Aussie, and began to pummel him mercilessly
"Damnit," grumbled John. "Werner, would you mind stopping them? We need them both as fit as they can be."
With a nod, Count Vertigo gave both the Tattooed Man and Captain Boomerang a sudden bout of severe vertigo. Both men began floundering on the floor, and in the case of Digger, vomiting.
Duncan Pramble sat up again, looking very annoyed. He'd never been resurrected so soon after having just come back from being killed. He hadn't even been sure it was possible. Seeing Captain Boomerang on the floor, Multi-Man started to tell him off only for there to be a sonic explosion that shook everything in front of him, especially Captain Boomerang.
"B-b-bloody h-hell, what was that?" Digger pulled at his ears which were hurting from the ringing, and puke still marking the sides of his mouth.
John was also trying to clear the ringing out of his ears. "Damn! Pramble must have some kind of sonic voice - sort of like Black Canary."
Multi-Man looked at them in surprise, and then started to say something without thinking. Another explosion of sound struck Economos, sending him backwards over the guards' desk.
Werner's cybernetic implant that allowed him hear were able to protect him from the over loud tone, though he had to put up with the sonic waves that seemed to batter away at him. "Pramble! Try to whisper!"
Pramble was looking around in surprise at the state of the room, but wasn't sure how much of the damage he had caused in comparison to what the vampires had done. "Is this better?" His voice reverberated like the bell of a large cathedral, but it was more than bearable.
John scrambled up onto his feet with his glasses lopsided on his face. "Crap, I may have broken a rib. Or at least cracked one."
Mouse Man could be heard shouting 'Sqee!' once more as he quickly rounded up his started horde of rats before they scattered yet again. It was a nice distraction for the others to watch as they picked themselves off the floor.
"Mouse Man," called out Werner. "Take your pack of rats into the hall and see if you can determine which way the vampires ran off to, or if they are trying to ambush us."
The miniature villain paused to glower at Multi-Man, then turned and marched his unusual army into the hall as he passed a vigilant Double Down and El Diablo.
"How'd you take out your vamp?" asked the Tattooed Man.
Multi-Man stretched, checking to see how his current body worked. "I didn't. At least not really." His voice had an echo like brass sound to it. "I was trying to keep that guy in the Vulture mask off of me."
"I think he actually called himself the Vulture," John stated from where he leaned against a desk, and gingerly felt at his ribs. "Just cracked," he mumbled to himself with a wince of pain.
Captain Boomerang picked up his weapons from the floor. "He's just one of those mask guys with no special weapons or powers to trademark who he is, right? I hate those bums."
Multi-Man just nodded. "Vulture. Probably that's what he called himself." He walked over to water cooler to get a cup of water, stepping clear of the Electrocutioner who was still recharging himself. "My limbs could extend and shrink at will. It kept the Vulture at bay at first, but he made it threw my defenses and bit me. The next thing I know, he starts to scream and explodes into dust."
"Liquid Light," chucked Boomerang.
"What was that, Harkness?" asked Count Vertigo. He'd retrieved another gun on the floor as well as extra bullets that he found on a dead guard. After loading the weapon, and engaging the safety, he tucked it in with his belt.
Captain Boomerang grinned at having noticed the answer before the rest of them. "Your boy John here said it earlier. Pointy ears here guzzled down a potion or whatever called 'Liquid Light'. That very stuff is what keeps bringing him back to life." He smirked. "Don't you get it? Vampires are dead creatures, and whatever it was that big head drank is the very opposite. Plus, light is supposed to kill vampires."
"You might be onto something," John said. "I'll see if I can have some people look at the samples of blood we have from Pramble."
Multi-Man stared at him "You have samples of my blood?"
"We have samples of everyone's blood, including me and everyone that works here," stated Economos. "There's people with lots of weird powers here. We need a baseline to check things with. Also, sometimes someone with power transfer them to someone else. That would probably show up in a blood screen test."
Werner shook his head. "More like someone wants to see if they can manufacture powers through DNA studies."
John shook his head. "I don't know anything about that. It wouldn't be my department. Hell, I'm usually not involved in anything related to Task Force X."
"Suicide Squad," Harkness corrected.
John frowned, but turned to a locked panel in the wall. "This is something I do know about." After punching in a code on a keypad and then allowing a retinal scan, the panel unlocked and slid open, allowing a shelving unit on wheels to roll out. "Inside these bins are your costumes and weapons."
"Uniforms, mate. Not costumes," Harkness once again corrected him.
"Regardless of whatever term is appropriate, Waller kept them ready in case any of the prisoners in the holding area had to be sent immediately on a mission. And as far as I am concerned, this counts."
Unplugging himself from the electrical outlet, Lester Buchinsky walked to a plastic bin that had his name on it. He opened it immediately. "Yes! Now I can fire bolt of electricity instead of having to risk physical contact!"
Multi-Man pulled out his blue and red uniform, which consisted of a sleeveless blue shirt with a high extended red collar, blue shorts, and red gloves and boots.
"You know," began Harkness, "there is this guy that me and the Rogues go to for our costumes back in Central City. He's pretty good, and you could use a better look."
"What's wrong with my look," rumbled Multi-Man.
"Pretty much everything," muttered the Electrocutioner.
Pramble held his arms out as he looked at his uniform. "I suppose it could stand to be updated."
"Yeah, but not today," snapped John. "We need to hurry. We don't know went those vampires will be back with reinforcements."
Pramble walked away from the group to something he hadn't noticed before. "They killed Ratchet?" He looked down at the corpse of Big Sir that had been brutally savaged.
"You knew him?" Count Vertigo stood next to him.
"Yeah, a few of us decided that the whole villain thing wasn't working for us so we tried to be heroes for a while. But we weren't taken seriously." He sighed.
Werner Zytle shook his head. "Just so you know, before we leave we will have to behead him."
Pramble stared at him, unable to speak.
"We can't let him or anyone else that has been bitten come back as a vampire."
He was surprised at the tears. "You're right, I know that. But it still feels wrong."
Count Vertigo nodded. "That what we do in the Suicide Squad; we do wrong to try make things right."
"That's messed up."
Werner nodded. "Yes it is."
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AuThOr'S NoTeS
I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. True, I wish it had been made into a TV series so there would be many more hours of it to so, but that is just me.
This chapter was longer than I expected. Hopefully no one thought I ran on too much.
In case no one has guessed, I am trying to bring up many of the various characters that have been included in the Suicide Squad in the comics. So far that includes Big Sir, Bolt, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Cheetah, Coldsnap, Copperhead, Count Vertigo, Deadshot, Double Down, El Diablo, Electrocutioner II, Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, Heatstroke, Icicle II, Jewelee, Killer Frost, Knockout, Manhunter IV, Multi-Man, Nightshade, Peacemaker, Penguin, Plasmus, Plastique, Stalnoivolk, Tattooed Man II, Thinker II & Vixen.
GLOSSARY
Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane – A prison in Gotham City where many of Batman's enemies are imprisoned for treatment.
Belle Reve – A prison in Louisiana specially designed to incarcerate metahumans which also services as the headquarters of the Suicide Squad.
Big Sir / Ratchett, Dufus P. – Ratchett ws born a malformed brain gland that caused him to grow to incredible proportions but left him mentally handicapped. He was later abducted from his Central City Breedmore Mental Hospital home by a group of supervillains, the Rogue's Gallery, who equipped him with a high-tech suit of armor created by the Monitor. This suit was heavily armored, could fly, and included a powerful energy mace.
Brotherhood of Evil – A team of supervillains, who work to defeat both the Doom Patrol (especially The Chief) and the Teen Titans. At first it was believed their goal to be world domination, but it's true purpose was to destroy The Chief. Members include The Brain, Monsieur Mallah, Plasmus, Hougan, Phobia and Warp.
Captain Boomerang / Harkness, George 'Digger' – Growing up in Australia, Harkness discovered he had an incredible talent when it came to boomerangs. Later, he began making trick boomerangs to help him break the law and to fight the Flash.
Captain Calamity / Mr. ESPer – An early foe of the Batman, he used an ultrasonic projector machine to put 'telepathic' suggestions in people to manipulate them. Later he faced the Teen Titans with a device that could tap into psychic powers of some people.
Codename: Assassin – Jonathan Drew participated in Extrasensory perception studies. Due to an inexplicable accident, Jonathan developed powers of telepathy and telekinesis which he later used to punish the murderers of his sister.
Condiment King / Mayo, Mitchell – Mayo was a comedian that had been brainwashed by the Joker to become a supervillain using condiments for weapons.
Copperhead – His origins were unknown, the master contortionist and escape artist used a snake motif to commit crimes. Copperhead was one of the villains who made a deal with the demon Neron to gain the powers of a true copperhead snake.
Count Vertigo / Zytle, Count Werner – The child of the deposed rulers of the country of Vlatava. He is one of Green Arrow's arch nemeses. He uses a device implanted in his head to disorient his foes, and can fly. He also suffers from a bi-polar disorder.
Double Down / Tell, Jeremy – Jeremy Tell is a con artist and compulsive gambler. After losing all his money in a game, he murders the gambler who walked away from the table with the most money. A cursed deck of cards owned by the man he murdered attacks him and bonds to his skin. He finds that he can mentally detach and direct the cards for various effects. Taking the name Double Down, he joins Keystone City's supervillain community.
Economos, John – The warden of Belle Reve, the prison that doubles as the secret headquarters of the Suicide Squad.
Egghead / Heed, Edgar – Heed believes himself to be 'the world's smartest criminal' using eggs as his motif and many egg puns. He was so ridiculous that he was quick went to Arkham.
El Diablo / Santana, Chato – While being treated at a hospital, Chato Santana encountered a comatose man named Lazarus Lane, who transferred some of his powers to Santanna. Santanna used his new powers over fire to burn down a building for revenge against some gang members. When he later learned that the fire had also killed an innocent woman and a child, he turned himself in.
Electrocutioner II / Buchinsky, Lester – Initially working in the cause of justice just like the first Electrocutioner, Lester Buchinsky became a criminal and mercenary. Overly reliant on his ability to generate electricity, the Electrocutioner has faced (and been defeated by) Batman, Robin, and Nightwing. The Electrocutioner's costume possesses circuitry that allows him to either stun or kill his victims at will with a bolt of electricity. A touch from one of his hands delivers a severe shock, but when both his hands touch a victim the circuit is completed and the victim dies.
Flag, Rick – an elite soldier working for Task Force X, and the leader of the Suicide Squad. Beginning his career as a fighter pilot, he started going on suicide missions after a tragedy wiped out his entire unit. Flag would later go to work under Amanda Waller, leading missions in the field. After disagreeing with Waller, Flag went on an unsanctioned suicide mission to take out the metahuman terrorist group known as Jihad by detonating an old Nazi prototype nuclear weapon in their stronghold while he was still inside.
Mouse Man – His history is unknown, except that he was somehow shrunken by chemicals. He wears a furry mouse costume and commits crimes with rodents that he is able to control by repeatedly shouting the world "SQEE!" He also has a superiority complex, especially in regards to females.
Multi-Man / Pramble, Duncan – He was a research assistant to an archaeologistm Dr. Ferris, who he accompanied Dr. Ferris as well as the Challengers of the Unknown on an expedition to an island. Within the ruins of the island, Pramble discovered an ancient elixir known as "Liquid Light." According to nearby hieroglyphs, consumption of this elixir granted the imbiber additional lives. With each new life, the partaker would also receive a new power. Pramble greedily drank the chemical fluid and, as promised, gained extraordinary new powers. He decided to use his new powers to become a criminal and turned his attention towards defeating the Challengers.
Phobia / Hawkins, Angela– Angela Hawkins was born into British aristocracy. She has the psychic ability to detect other people's fears and project them with great intensity.
Ratcatcher / Flannigan, Otis – He had an uncanny ability to train rodents which he used to commit crimes.
Stalnoivolk – Looking for a super-being to counter the Nazis during WWII, Stalin created Stalnoivolk, the 'Steel Wolf', a soldier of immense power. Stalnoivolk has super-strength and invulnerability. After the war he became a political puppet of the USSR's military, taking place in various political and ethnic purgings. He was always meant to represent the indomitable spirit of the Russian people. When Russia changed leaders, he was shelved for several decades. Later in the late 1980's, Stalnoivolk was reactivated.
Suicide Squad / Task Force X – A team of super-villains running missions for the government in exchange for reduced prison sentences.
Super-Chief / Flying Stag – An Iroquois warrior who gained powers hundreds of years ago from a radioactive meteorite fragment. His powers included super strength. super speed and flying.
Tattooed Man II / Richards, Mark – When serving with the U.S. Marines, Mark Richards went missing when his helicopter exploded, and he was presumed dead for several years. He then appeared in Gotham City, operating as a hit man with the aid of seemingly living tattoos. He claimed that these tattoos were formed from the sins of people he had killed, placed on his skin through a process called sin-grafting, learned in Modora. He believed that by taking the sins on himself, he was redeeming the souls of those he had slain. All of his victims had tattoos representing their sins.
Thinker II / Carmichael, Cliff – He's an arrogant, intellectual bully and prankster who went to high school with Ronnie Raymond (part of the Firestorm persona). He was wracked with guilt after accidentally paralyzing his cousin and had to be put in a mental institution. Some scientists at the institution had gained access to the 'thinking cap' of the deceased villain known as the Thinker. After puttering around with the device that could increase a person's mental abilities, the scientists began interfacing the technology directly into Carmichael's brain. He became a cyberpunk maniac who could read minds and control other people. He could also mentally control computers which put him in conflict with Oracle.
Twister / Zimmer, Theresa – After becoming a convert to Brother Blood's Church of Blood, Zimmer was experimented on and was given illusion casting powers that also distorted her face and mind.
Ventriloquist / Wesker, Arnold – Wesker has a dissociative identity disorder that allows him to commit ruthless crimes while maintaining a quiet and meek personality. He was only able to do this by channeling his violent side through his ventriloquist dunny Scarface, who was dressed as a 1930's gangster. Despite years of practice, he is still unable to pronounce the letter "B" while throwing his voice, instead replacing it with "G" while fighting Gatman.
Vulture / Lydecker, Armand – Lydecker is part of the team of thieves known as The Terrible Trio and wore the mask of a vulture. Originally The Terrible Trio were famous inventors in Gotham City, boring rich men seeking thrills and challenges so they became a criminal band, imposing challenges to the dynamic duo. They wear business suits and masks of animals, they created their technology devices according their respective animal themes. Vulture specializes on aircraft designs.
Waller, Amanda 'The Wall' – She's a hardline top-ranking U.S. Government agent involved in clandestine operations. Despite her non-threatening physical appearance, she is almost universally feared as one of the most ruthless women in espionage and politics. She created and runs the Suicide Squad, and has had a hand in the development of several other government organized groups.
Whale, Tobias – A large, burly, albino black man, Whale ran his criminal organization on the streets of Metropolis, with his main proponent being Black Lightning. Later, he was forced to relocate to Gotham City.
