Yet Another Night of the Living Dead
Disclaimer: "Shut up and eat your sandwich!" - Frylock, Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Chapter 11: Come Together, Part 4!
Redstone City Hall
The Southside Misfits' tour bus pulled up into a parking space in a lot in front of the City Hall building. Raven then emerged from the vehicle, shotgun in hand, and bandolier of ammo crossing her chest.
"Now, where are the kids?" The Native American woman mumbled to herself. She noticed Vicki and Jason ride up to her in their bikes.
"Sorry we're late!" Jason waved.
"Naw, you kids are just in time." Raven reassured with a small smile. "You two alright?"
"We're just fine." Vicki reassured. "We had some fun with the Deadites at the mall."
"Unfortunately, we had to steal a couple of bikes to escape them." Jason sighed, pointing at the bicycles.
"I'm sure the storeowner will understand in this case." Raven shrugged. "If he's still alive."
"Please don't talk like that." Vicki shuddered. "If I can get the Necronomicon, I can undo this."
"Rather convenient, if you ask me." Raven wrinkled her nose.
"Magic can be crazy like that." Vicki sighed.
"TIME TO FIRE IT UP WHA!" Lisa stumbled out of the bus, covered in bubble wrap. Raven sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Fyre, do I even want to know?"
"I made armor!" Lisa smiled proudly. "Those stupid Deadites are terrified of bubble wrap. If I'm covered in it, they won't hurt me!"
"Somehow, I don't think the Deadites will be running in terror at the sight of that." Vicki whispered to Jason. "If anything, they'll die laughing."
"That might be a big help, hun." Jason whispered back, making Vicki giggle.
"Lisa, you might want to take that bubble wrap off." Raven ordered. "I don't think it'll help you out here."
"Yeah, okay." Lisa then tried to hop back into the bus. Jason sighed.
"Hang on, Lisa. I got your back." Jason walked over to help Lisa back into the bus.
"Or at least figure out how to wrap your legs separately." Vicki joked. "So you won't have to hop everywhere." The group heard sirens screaming. They turned their heads and saw a police car drive up to them, the sirens shutting off.
"What in the-?" Raven blinked in confusion. Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Garrett emerged from the front, Mike, Eric, and Johnny B. emerging from the back.
"Hey, fellas." Vicki waved. Garrett marched up to Raven.
"I take it you're these freaks' master?"
"They're my charges, yes." Raven glared. "I take it they were not much trouble?"
"No." Garrett answered. "Just thinking they were better then everyone, that's all. Typical freak egomaniacs. You know what that's like. I'm sure you have a tough time keeping them in line."
"This guy seems pleasant." Vicki scowled, crossing her arms and scowling at the deputy.
"They're good kids." Raven smirked. "I never noticed them having some 'freak ego' issues myself. But then again, my kids aren't bigoted asshats."
"As you can see, Raven..." Johnny B. smiled, adjusting his sunglasses. "Deputy Garrett here has been nothing but pleasant to us during our journey here."
"Ma'am." Sheriff Taylor smiled, holding his hand out to her. "I'm Ray Taylor, the sheriff here."
"Sheriff." Raven nodded, shaking his hand.
"I take it you know something about this...situation?"
"You bet." Raven sighed. "We've encountered this before."
"I take it it was in the city." Taylor realized. "Heard about some kind of zombie attack on the news in Chicago some time back. Or Deadites, they're called."
"Yup." Raven nodded. "These things have a source."
"Yeah, that Alhazred fellow."
"Him and his book, the Necronomicon." Raven explained as Lisa, free of her bubble wrap, hopped out of the bus.
"Hey, Raven!" The redhead waved. "Did you talk to Hawky?" Sheriff Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"Hawky?"
"Yeah, she means my commanding officer, General Hawk." Raven explained. Her Joe-Com beeped. "Huh?" She looked at the watch communicator. "Hawk..." She activated it. "Talk to me."
"Hello, Raven." Hawk answered. "You asked me to find some information on how the Necronomicon vanished?"
"Excuse me." Raven walked over behind the bus. "Yeah, I did."
"Well, I did take the book to the Jugglers." Hawk explained. "There was another general with me. I think his name was Pollock. Yeah, Gregory Pollock. He was Army."
"I see."
"I suggested to the Jugglers that the book be destroyed, or at least hand it over to Doctor Strange for him to deal with."
"I take it they said no?" Raven guessed. Hawk shook his head.
"Surprisingly, they agreed." Hawk explained. "However, Pollock suggested we try and use the Necronomicon as a potential weapon in the War on Terror."
"Please tell me the Jugglers weren't dumb enough to agree with him." Raven sighed.
"Thankfully, no." Hawk smiled in relief. "The Jugglers stated that history has shown the book is too dangerous and uncontrollable. They had me take it to a vault they had so they could hang on to it until they could contact Doctor Strange to take care of it."
"I take it this Pollack guy was unhappy with the Jugglers' judgment." Raven surmised.
"Yup. He called us crazy for letting a potential weapon go to waste." Hawk explained. "But the Jugglers stood firm."
"That's good." Raven nodded. "Seems to me that Pollock guy may not have given up on his dream of using the Necronomicon to fight terrorists."
"I would not be surprised. Pollock was very keen on the idea." Hawk shrugged. "And he can be a resourceful man if he needs to be."
"You have a picture of him?" Raven asked.
"Yes." Hawk said. "Here he is." An image of the general appeared on the screen of Raven's Joe-Com. The Native American woman studied the image. Pollock was a gray-haired man with stern, craggy facial features. As near as Raven could tell, he was mostly likely in his forties, maybe early fifties.
"Seems like a man who has seen some stuff."
"Indeed." Hawk nodded. Meanwhile, the two law enforcement officers were talking to the Southside Misfits.
"So...you kids are kind of like a gang?" Sheriff Taylor asked. Jason walked out of the bus, Lisa right behind him.
"Of course they'd be." Deputy Garrett grumbled.
"Actually, we're more like Local Superheroes." Jason explained. "We help keep Chicago safe from supervillains."
"Mutants actually caring about others. That's a laugh." Deputy Garrett snorted mockingly.
"It's not that strange." Jason smirked. "You know that girl in San Francisco, Barracuda? She's a mutant herself."
"Not surprising." Garrett muttered. "That place is full of freaks and weirdoes and God knows what else."
"You don't like things that are different from you very much, do you Deputy?" Vicki remarked.
"I don't like freaks thinking they can do whatever they want." The deputy sneered. "I don't like punks like you thinking that just because you have powers, you can make the rules or that you are better than everybody else."
"Garrett, I strongly suggest you clam it." Taylor warned. "These kids might be the only ones that can stop this mess."
"If you want, Sheriff, I can help fix that mouth of his." Eric offered, cracking his knuckles while smirking at Garrett.
"Take it easy, Eric." Mike put a calming hand on his large friend's shoulder. "No need to put more fright into Deputy Dawg here."
"Indeed." Johnny B. pulled a cloth out of his coat and cleaned his sunglasses. "Deputy Garrett here is letting his fear speak for him."
"I ain't afraid of you freaks!" Garrett snapped.
"I do understand your fears, sir." Johnny B. nodded. "You say that we are arrogant, that we act like gods because we have this power. But what you do not realize is that sometimes...we fear what our power will make us."
"Really?"
"Yes." Johnny B. nodded. "Do you know how much voltage it takes to kill a man? I do. And I can generate that amount of voltage with little effort. And it does frighten me."
"I highly doubt that." Garrett frowned.
"Oh, it does." Johnny B. continued. "You are of the assumption that when it comes to mutants, the first question we ask ourselves is, 'how can we destroy everything around us today'? In my own personal experience, I must admit, I was frightened by the strange bursts of electricity my body was putting out. However, my parents are scientists, and as such, they were able to reassure me that what was happening was not horrible and I was not some kind of freak. This for me is normal, and I am quite happy. I also understand and appreciate how lucky I was, as not many mutants like myself have such a support system."
"You said it yourself, boy." Garrett smirked. "You could easily kill a man with that lightning you spit out. It must be hard to resist the urge to fry everyone you see."
"Hardly." Johnny B smirked. "I'm not Dexter Morgan. I don't have some 'Dark Passenger' forcing me to fill its metaphorical belly with the blood of humans."
"Johnny's read the books." Mike explained.
"They're better than the show." The genius shrugged. "Although I will admit, I did enjoy Erik King's take on James Doakes. Shame he was killed off."
"Yeah, he was hilarious." Eric chuckled.
"I don't believe this." Garrett blinked. "They're talking about a TV show like normal people."
"What's so strange about it?" Vicki smiled at the deputy. "Mutants enjoy TV, too."
"Isn't that show a little...mature for you?" Taylor frowned at the kids.
"Raven thinks she has Showtime blocked." Johnny B. explained. "But we managed to crack it."
"And we don't have the heart to tell her how we did it." Mike chuckled. He heard a whirring noise. The tracker turned his head and saw a blue Vespa roll up. "What the-?" The rider pulled off his helmet, revealing blue spiky hair
"You guys the Southside Misfits?" Hack asked.
"What's it to you, punk?" Eric scowled.
"Uh, you know a Jenni? Blonde hair, red star on her face, hot body?"
"Wonder what took her so long..." Johnny B. thought out loud in confusion. He heard another scooter ride up, an orange one. It belonged to Flak.
"Hey!" The orange-Mohawked punk waved. "This them?"
"Yup!" Jenni let go of Hack's waist and got off. "Thanks!" She looked at the gathered group. "You two better stick with us."
"Well, well, well." Sheriff Taylor smirked at Flak and Hack. "You two."
"Friends of Johnny Law over here?" Jenni smiled at the two punks.
"...kind of..." Hack mumbled nervously. Deputy Garrett sighed and pinched his nose at the sight of Jenni.
"Great. Another one." He muttered in frustration. "Who the hell keeps breeding them?"
"Our parents." Mike chuckled, watching Garrett pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"You did walk into that one, pal." Taylor laughed.
"Just...just...just stop." Garrett groaned.
"What's going on? Who is this guy?" Jenni blinked, jerking her thumb at Garrett.
"Meet Deputy Garrett, Jen." Mike introduced with a bow and flourish. "He's kind of nervous of our kind."
"I am not scared of you freaks!" Garrett snapped angrily as Raven re-emerged from the back of the bus. Lisa blinked as she approached the deputy.
"Do you like horses?" The redhaired Asian girl blinked cutely at the deputy.
"Okay, I admit it." Garrett yelped. "This one freaks me out. But the rest of you freaks, nope. I am not scared of nay of the rest of you."
"It is kind of funny to see the deputy like this." Hack snickered.
"Yeah!" Flak added with a laugh. "Garrett is normally so high-and-mighty. It's neat to see him actually nervous about something."
"I'll throw you two punks into jail!" The deputy roared.
"We nearly got eaten by a zombie-!" Flak roared back.
"Deadite." Jenni corrected.
"Thank you, Deadite back in the station!" The punk continued his tirade. "And where the hell were you, Mr. Protect and Serve?"
"Maybe I oughta serve you a beating, you little-!"
"ENOUGH!" Both Flak and Garrett turned around and saw Raven march up to them. "I would like to remind you all that we are in a crisis situation." She glared at Flak. "I take it you are smart enough to understand that?"
"Yes. Yes, ma'am." Flak nodded his head quickly.
"And you." A glare at Garrett. "Just because you have your badge, it don't make you better than everyone else. You clearly got insecurities out the wazoo, so you use your little badge in an attempt to make yourself feel special." Raven poked at the deputy's chest repeatedly.
"I ain't afraid of you or or freaks, lady!" Garrett snapped.
"But you will be terrified by me!" The group looked up and saw Abdul Alhazred floating on a platform of energy, General Pollock standing beside him.
"Alhazred!" Raven gasped.
"And he's got the book!" Vicki noticed the Necronomicon in Alhazred's hands.
"I do believe that it is Halloween, right General?" Alhazred smiled.
"Indeed." Pollock nodded.
"And according to you, it is tradition to frighten people at this time of year." Alhazred opened his book, an evil grin forming on his face. "So let the scares begin!"
Well, well, well! Looks like we're hitting the final battle! What insanity will happen next? Can our heroes with their new allies stop Alhazred from unleashing havoc? Will Deputy Garrett get over his fears? Will I stop asking stupid questions? Find out in the next chapter!
