Viral Vengeance

Disclaimer: "YES!" - Marv Albert

Chapter 21: Something Wicked This Way Comes

The SHIELD Helicarrier

Nick Fury sat in his office on the SHIELD Helicarrier, looking over the file he had. The file contained the results of the tests he obtained from the lab boys.

It can't be...it just...can't be... Fury read it several times, but the test results said something he didn't want to hear. He demanded that the lab boys run the tests again, but they had. Ten times, and the results were the same. But he had something else on his mind at this time. He put the tests down and looked at another file that was on his desk. He opened it up and read it. Hmmm...a satellite crash... He narrowed his good eye, and pressed a button on the intercom on his desk. "Sally, call Freedom Force. I want the teams gathered up at their HQs...and get me a bottle of Scotch. A big bottle."

Ace Starr's apartment, shortly before Fury's call

"No no no no no no NO! AAAAAGH!" A frustrated John Proudstar screamed at the television. "You idiot! You're supposed to go the other way! The other way! AAGH!" Eileen leaned over on the couch.

"Wow. John certainly is passionate about football, huh?" The blonde mutant whispered to Fred. The large mutant nodded.

"Yep. He sure is." Freddy nodded. "I just hope to God he doesn't start throwing stuff at the TV."

"Why?" Eileen wondered.

"Well, like me, John has super strength. He's got a mean throw." Fred explained. "Last time he threw pretzels at a TV, he wrecked it."

"My goodness." Eileen blinked.

"Yeah, the other guys were pissed." Fred chuckled. "They booted Thunderbird out of the headquarters until they got a new TV."

"Thunderbird, NO!" Ace snapped as they saw John about to throw an empty pizza box at the television. The other guys jumped on him and tried to hold him down.

"John, put the box down! Put it down!" Rictor ordered.

"Come on, Thunderbird!" Bobby warned. "Remember last time?"

"If I ever see that stupid halfback again, I will kill him!" John yelled.

"Fred, give us a hand!" Terrell exclaimed. "We can't hold him down forever!"

"Alright, fellas." Fred chuckled as he got up and helped restrain the furious Apache. Elieen smiled as she watched the guys go at it.

Wow. Look at them. The blonde woman smiled. They're like a family. They're all like brothers, yet they're all so different. I guess I can see why Freddy likes being with these guys.

"Fred, get him out of the room and calm him down before he breaks my TV!" Ace told the large Texan.

"Okay, no problem." Fred nodded as he ushered Thunderbird away. "Come on, John. Let's get you some air."

"I hate that guy. I really do." John groaned.

"Yes, I know. You hate him..." Fred reassured.

"What was that about?" Eileen wondered.

"John's always been a bit of a hothead." Bobby sighed. "That's just the way he is. He and Thunderbolt have their moments."

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean, jabroni?" Kyle frowned at the cryokinetic.

"You know what I mean, Blunderbolt." Bobby teased with a grin.

"Don't call me Blunderbolt, jabroni!" Kyle warned.

"Blunderbolt?" Eileen giggled, earning a glare from Kyle.

"Whenever Kyle does something dumb, we call him Blunderbolt. It's a joke on his codename." Terrell chuckled.

"I really don't like it, jabroni." Kyle grumbled, crossing his arms indignantly.

"Sorry." Eileen apologized. "I didn't mean anything."

"You know, Eileen...I can't help but wonder." Bobby frowned. "I heard that you've been working with Wildstar and Blob. What's up?"

"Well..." Eileen sighed. "My dad owns Harsaw Electronics. Lately, there's been a bunch of thefts."

"Industrial espionage, perhaps." Terrell suggested, eating some chips. Eileen shook her head.

"No, no plans for anything were taken. Just components." Eileen explained.

"What kind of components?" Kyle blinked.

"Mostly like circuit boards, transistors, that kind of thing." Ace explained.

"Basically, simple stuff that is found in any electronic gadget. At least, that's what Eileen tells me." Fred answered, looking at the blonde. She nodded in confirmation.

"It's weird." She shook her head. "Whoever is behind the thefts is stealing components that are cheap, easily-made, and can be purchased anywhere."

"Maybe somebody isn't willing to shell out the money to fix their calculator." Kyle quipped.

"It doesn't make any sense." Eileen sighed. "I mean, if you wanted to steal electronic components, why didn't they go after any of the projects we're currently working on?"

"Maybe the thefts are a diversion." Bobby thought out loud. A ringing was heard.

"I got it." Ace opened his cell phone. "N'yello? Hulk's Deli. You order, we smash. How may I help you?" The feral's eyes widened. "Oh, man...alright." He closed his cell phone.

"What is it?" Rictor wondered.

"It's Fury. He wants us at HQ." Ace nodded. "I'd better call Shan."

"What's she up to, anyway?" Fred blinked.

"I think she accompanied her galpal to an audition." Ace remembered.

"Yeah, Beth always wanted to be an actress." Terrell chuckled.

An office in LA

Shan Manh, the Vietnamese mutant known as Karma, stood with her back to a wall. The young woman was dressed in a black sweater and blue jeans. She glanced at her watch, and looked at the door she was standing next to.

"Man, how long does an audition take?" Shan blinked. "It's for a soap commercial, not the remake of Gone with the Wind." The door opened, revealing another young woman with long dark blonde, almost brown hair with platinum blonde highlights, dressed in a red plaid miniskirt and a green t-shirt with white cowboy boots walked through. The Vietnamese woman smiled. "How'd it go, Beth?"

"I think it went well, Shan." The blonde girl, Beth, grinned. Beth Williams was a waitress, and an old friend of Shan's teammate, Terrell Mason/Velocity. After being introduced to Shan by her mutant friend, the two hit it off and started dating. "In fact..." She quickly looked around and then whispered to the mind-controller. "I think I'm a lock for the part." Shan's eyes widened.

"You think you'll get it?" Shan blinked.

"Oh yeah." Beth nodded. "I saw the ad guys's faces. They liked me the best."

"That's great!" A laughing Shan grabbed a squealing Beth in a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, me too." Beth grinned. She heard a cell phone ring. "What was that?"

"Mine." Shan pulled out her cell phone and opened it up. "Hello? Okay...alright, I'll be there." She put her cell phone back.

"Who was it, babe?" Beth wondered.

"You-know-who." Shan answered. "I gotta go. I'm needed."

"Oh, okay." Beth nodded. "You still on for tonight?"

"Hopefully so." Shan grinned. "Take care, Beth." She gave the blonde a kiss on the cheek and then left.

Freedom Force HQ

The team were gathered around the living room of Freedom Force's HQ.

"You must be Eileen Harsaw." Shan smiled, shaking Eileen's hand. "I'm Shan Coy. I lead this team."

"Nice to meet you." Eileen grinned.

"Yeah, I heard Ace and Fred were investigating your case." Shan nodded. "How's it going?"

"Well, we haven't found any useful leads yet." Eileen sighed. "Nobody knows anything. And Ace claimed that he got attacked by a robot."

"A robot?" Shan frowned, scratching her chin. "Hmmm..."

"Fury's on!" Ace announced. The group gathered around the television.

"Eileen, you had better leave the room." Freddy told the blonde EM-manipulator. "This is important Freedom Force stuff, you know."

"Oh, okay." Eileen nodded. "I'll be in the kitchen." She left the room. Fury's face appeared on the television screen.

"Hello, Freedom Force."

"Hi, Dr. Nick!" The heroes greeted in unison with big grins. Fury groaned.

"I really wish you guys would stop that." Fury sighed.

"You always set it up." Rictor joked. The WWII Veteran blinked.

"Good to have you back, Rictor."

"Hey, I wanted to come say hi." The Mexican mutant grinned. A door closing was heard, and Gina Tolensky, the plant-manipulator codenamed Botanica, walked in.

"You're late, Botanica." Fury frowned.

"Sorry, Fury." Gina apologized. "I had a meeting with my publisher." She looked at Bobby. "How's Jamie doing?"

"Not good." Bobby sighed. "He's become very withdrawn." Gina sighed with regret.

"You mean that jabroni hasn't blown his own head off yet? Feh." Kyle groused. "The jabroni should do the world a favor and jump off a bridge or something. Not like anyone would miss that deadbeat." Bobby and Gina both smacked Kyle upside the head. "Hey! What'd I do?!"

"Are you finished?" Fury grumbled. The Freedom Force members nodded. "I need you guys to investigate something in the California desert. One of our satellites got shot down." The screen changed to a graphic of a map of California. The graphic showed a blinking red dot in the middle of the desert. "It crashed somewhere in this area. We haven't been able to track it any further. I need Freedom Force to find out what happened to it."

"Wait..." Bobby blinked. "Why is this our problem? Shouldn't this be NASA's problem?"

"We have reason to believe that the satellite was deliberately shot down." Fury explained. "It's last transmissions detected an...odd reading in the desert."

"Extraterrestrial?" Shan wondered.

"...Unsure." Fury frowned. "Although the satellite did detect traces of Technarcy before it was shot down." Fred looked visibly shaken.

"Technarc...I never thought I'd have to hear from those guys again..." Fred grumbled.

"I thought you weren't angry at Warlock anymore." Ace blinked.

"I've forgiven Warlock, but that doesn't mean I like the rest of 'em." The large Texan grunted.

"I don't blame you." Bobby agreed. "Magus and the rest of the Technarcs are pure malice."

"Does this mean that the Technarcs are trying to come for Earth again?" Sunfire wondered.

"They weren't exactly invading last time." Bobby remembered. "Last time, Magus was coming for Warlock." Unknown to Freedom Force, Eileen was listening in. She couldn't help herself. The blonde's curiosity overpowered her.

"Wait..." Rusty blinked. "What is the Technarcy?"

"Long story." Fred grunted shortly.

"If it is Magus looking for a rematch..." Shan frowned. "We'd better get our butts to the desert. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this." Ace and Fred looked at each other. They had a funny feeling that their little mystery had a connection to this incident. "Let's get ourselves mobilized. Sunfire, Rictor...you guys want to join us?"

"Sure thing, Karma!" Rictor grinned.

"I would be honored to rejoin my old teammates." Sunfire nodded. "I have concentrated more on helping my sister defend Japan, but it would be nice to fight alongside Freedom Force again."

"How is Leyu by the way?" Gina grinned. "I haven't heard from her in a while."

Next: The Return Freedom Force goes to the desert, where they find some surprise backup, and yet another shocker!