Validus
!SOUND EFFECTS! "THOUGHTS"
Chapter Twelve
"Rick! Rick! Speak to me!" Supergirl said as she tried to rouse the former emerald gladiator.
"It's all pointless! His power and life belong to me! Now I'll... Wait! What's happening to my Ultimate Machine? It's vanishing!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Don't laugh at me!"
Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Who's laughing? Who dares laugh at me?"
"That would be me." Everyone turned to see a handsome young man with wavy blond hair and striking blue eyes, standing at six feet two inches tall with a good muscular physique, wearing a green jumpsuit which was a little tight on him at the moment.
"Who are you?"
"Have you forgotten me already, old friend? It's me, the Gremlin."
"Gremlin? What have you done?"
"You miscalculated, Leader. Validus' defenses against your power drain were still effective enough to keep you from permanently draining his power from him, but despite all that, it was still possible to drain some of his power like say his emerald skin. I decided not to be as greedy as you and settle for using the little amount of power the Ultimate Machine could drain from Rick Jones and use it to cure my condition."
"There was no need for you to steal from me and incur my wrath. I would have helped cure you the way I promised long ago."
"You had no intention of curing me! We both know that! You've been stringing me along with that promise for years now. Well, I decided enough was enough. By taking the initiative and creating the means to transfer the small amount of Rick Jones' power it was possible to drain, I was able to transfer the power into myself thus giving me the appearance you see me have now, I've finally gotten my cure along with an even stronger intellect than I had before. I'm certain you would have wasted the small amount of power you could have gotten from him."
"Wrong, fool! I would have made myself more powerful and eventually conquered the world. Once I had established myself I would have found some time to cure you of your condition, but now you've made me your enemy! Is there anything else you want to tell me before I kill you, or are you in a hurry to die the same way your father did?"
"There is more. You've always overrated your own intelligence, Leader. And since I've turned the leftover remnant of the Ultimate Machine into raw power and transferred it into myself while draining a little bit of power from Rick Jones which he will in all probability recover, I am now not only cured but I have surpassed even you, Leader!"
"No! That is impossible! You couldn't have gotten that much power."
"I didn't need that much power to be smarter than you, Sterns. Nor did I need much of the Ultimate Machine's power to be cured and altered into the handsome yet more powerful specimen of manhood that I am now."
"You still killed Rick!" Supergirl exclaimed, glaring at the newly made man.
"Weren't you listening, silly girl? Sterns' machine wasn't powerful enough to either permanently drain or kill him. The only permanent change is his appearance. He'll simply have to endure life without his green skin. I personally think the color green is overrated. So what if he's no longer green? He's still bigger and stronger than most people, so quit your crying. Anyway, he looks a whole lot better without being a jolly green giant. But I digress. It's now time for me to depart. I bid you adieu."
"Not so fast, you traitor!" !ZAP! Before a burst of light and heat that seemed to come out of the eyes of the holographic image of the Leader's face could hit him, the former Gremlin had teleported himself away, vanishing into thin air.
"He's gone! This is your fault, Jones! This is not the end. This is not the beginning of the end. This is just the beginning. If you think what I've done to you was so bad, wait until I get my revenge on you!" With that, the giant-sized hologram of the Leader's head which had been looking down on them disappeared!
"Whew! I'll be all right. I just got to get up and..."
"Rick! I thought you were dead! I couldn't hear a heartbeat or pulse even with my super hearing. Are you really OK?"
"I'm all right." Then Rick Jones turned towards his reflection in a large silver truck nearby. "Gasp! What happened to my skin?"
"You got drained by the Gremlin, so he could fix his condition, but I'm glad you're all right."
"I feel a little different like there's something missing. But I guess I'm all right. Does the change in my appearance bother you, Kara? I remember how you had a thing for the green-skinned Brainiac Five once," Rick Jones explained.
"No, not at all. You still have dark green hair. But the fact that you have a normal skin color makes you look half naked only wearing a cape, wrist bracelets and pants, even if I'm enjoying the view," Supergirl said with a smile.
"You do look rather tasty, Rick," Squirrel Girl said with her bucked teeth out, admiring the now fair skinned superhero. "Without all that green skin you really look like a gorgeous version of Conan the Barbarian. Your sexy body is to die for! I really envy Kara."
"Can't you two women calm yourselves down?" Moondragon said with a look of judgmental arrogance.
"You're practically drooling all over yourself, looking at him too, Moondragon," Squirrel girl said with an accusatory glare.
"That's not true!"
"It is true."
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"There's no need to argue, girls. Besides, I'm wearing more clothes than the Thing or Sub-Mariner so what's the problem?"
"Anyway!" Hawkeye interjected. "The current problem is that we need to get all these super villains into lockup. Once that's been done, I want to put you through some more training in order to see if your power levels are the same as before, Rick."
"All right."
XXX
"Huff! This doesn't feel any heavier than it did before, Hawkeye," Rick said, hoisting up the heavy barbell which was a simulation that was larger than a medium sized car while he was in the Avengers' training room as Hawkeye looked on. "But I still feel as if something is missing."
"Well, the readings aren't any different. I guess all you lost was your green skin. Come to think of it, that may be for the best."
"Why is that?"
"People won't associate you with the Hulk so much."
"I kind of liked my green skin color," Rick replied.
"Well, I suggest you get over it. But I'm surprised you're still wearing that tacky uniform."
"Yeah, that's right. I like this uniform."
"Well, you're still practically naked from the waist up, looking like a professional wrestler of some kind," Hawkeye replied. "Are you trying to give other guys an inferiority complex?"
"No."
"Come to think of it, the physique you have now would put most bodybuilders to shame," Hawkeye said matter-of-factually. "Only the Hulk has bigger muscles than you, and you don't look ugly from the neck up."
"I'm not trying to show off, but there's only so much my uniform can cover."
"Why not get another one, or does your uniform have to match the color of your hair?"
"Actually it does. What I'm wearing adapts to my powers and defenses. Other clothes would simply get in the way," the tall and powerful superhero explained.
"You need to change your uniform somehow," Hawkeye replied.
"All right. Let me see if I can..."
After a moment of concentration, a large V-shaped tunic appeared on Rick's torse matching the rest of his outfit.
"Is that better?" Rick asked.
"A V-shaped tunic?"
"Yeah, the V stands for Validus," Rick stated.
"It looks rather strange, but it will have to do. Well, since there's nothing else going on you can have the rest of the day off so you can spend it with your girlfriend," Hawkeye said.
"Thanks, Hawkeye." Then Rick noticed Hawkeye still regarding him. "What is it?"
"You're really into that Supergirl chick, aren't you?"
"Yes. Why do you ask? Do you like her too?"
"No. But I think Quasar does. I think it would be better if you weren't too affectionate with each other when he's around. Having to see the girl of his dreams make eyes at you is hard enough for him as it is."
"All right, Bullseye It won't be easy to control myself around him but I'll take one for the team," Supergirl answered, walking into the training room.
"That's Hawkeye! Did you hear all that? I practically whispered it."
"I have super hearing, or didn't you know that?"
"No, I didn't. I guess I should read the file on you a little more closely. Maybe you guys should go out on the town and see the sights."
"That's a great idea!"
"All right. We can do that," Rick commented.
"We can go shopping for new clothes, Rick," Kara answered.
"New clothes?"
"Yes. After I'm finished with you, you'll look great, Rick. We both need to buy some regular clothes. I can't always go dressed like this either," Supergirl explained, regarding her superhero attire.
"I don't know, Kara. You look pretty good dressed as you are," Rick said with a smile. "Have you changed your uniform?"
"Yes, that's right. Thanks for noticing."
"It looks nice," Rick complimented, regarding the new sky blue skirt and S insignia topped tube top that left her moderately muscular tummy and belly button bare with her cape and boots still being red.
"Oh, thanks, Rick. Flattery will get you everywhere! Come here, you."
"This is what I was talking about. You two need to cool it with the all the lovey-dovey stuff unless you're alone or something like that."
"All right, Hawkeye. We'll behave. Let's go, Rick. It's time for us to take care of some unfinished business," the girl of steel said with a smile and a wink as she dragged her lover away by the arm. In a few moments, Quasar walked into the training room along with Squirrel Girl.
"I hope those two won't be too loud when they make out."
"Let's not talk about that, Squirrel Girl," Hawkeye admonished.
"Why can't we talk about it? Rick is just as hot without the green skin as he was with it. In fact, he's even better looking! I would just love to put my hands on his chest and feel him up. Just thinking about his gorgeous body makes my teeth chatter. If Kara is anything like me she'll be rubbing against his hot and well-muscled body for hours."
"That's enough, Doreen. There's no need for you to..."
"I just can't stop thinking about those muscular arms and shoulders. And that chest is to die for. I want me some of that!" the fuzzy chick exclaimed, staring off into space, her buck teeth jutting out as she frothed at the mouth.
"I can't stand it anymore!" Quasar exclaimed as he ran out of the room.
"Oops. Sorry. I guess I got carried away."
"Didn't you hear what I was saying just now, Doreen?"
"No. I don't have super hearing like Supergirl. What did you say?"
"I told Rick and Kara not to be too affectionate around Wendell because I suspected that he had a crush on Supergirl ever since he was a teenager or younger," Hawkeye answered.
"That makes sense. But what does that have to do with me?"
"You going on about what Rick and Kara were going to do with each other didn't help matters much, Doreen."
"Ooh! That's what you meant. Why would Wendell fall in love with someone who didn't exist when he was a teenager?"
"It's hard to explain, but sometimes teenage boys fall in love with fantasy girls. And the problem now is that the fantasy girl happens to be real," Hawkeye explained.
"Yes. Men sometimes have no problem falling in love with a picture. It's not as uncommon as you think, little girl," Moondragon said in reply as she walked into the room with the Human Torch following her.
"That's Squirrel Girl!"
"It's a real pity that Wendell fell in love with someone like Supergirl when we don't even know a whole lot about her," the bald woman said as if she hadn't heard the fuzzy chick.
"It looks like you've sunk your hooks into some hot stuff yourself, Moondragon. Hmmm?" Doreen countered, giving a knowing, sly look to the slightly blushing Human Torch.
"No. Why is your mind always on such things?"
"I don't think about things like this all the time, but when enough hunky guys traipse around without hardly any clothes on, these things occur to me," the fuzzy chick answered.
"Anyway," Moondragon said, ignoring the girl. "I came here to tell you that I was leaving. Events are happening on Titan that require my immediate attention. I have no idea how long these matters will take, so I need to take my leave."
Hawkeye turned towards the mentalist respectfully. "All right, Heather. I'd like to say it's been great having you." "But I'd be lying if I did."
Then the bald mentalist got a little closer to Hawkeye, giving him a hard glare. "I heard that." With that, the noblewoman did an about-face in an arrogant manner.
!VROOM! "That's my transportation. It's time for me to go. When these problems are solved, I'll be back."
"She's something else," the android said as he admired the departing Titan wistfully.
"You don't want to go there, John. Trust me."
XXX
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I thought I'd let everybody know that I've rewritten this yet again. Thank you for all of your support. Be here next chapter when Supergirl and Validus go shopping. Now I'd like to thank the people who gave me reviews for the last chapter.
Radio Driver, Redzorin, AshK.
