The Uncanny Kid Razor
Disclaimer: "Now, darn it! I'm not Kenny!" – Leopold "Butters" Stotch, South Park
Chapter 51: Psycho Circus, Part 1
Detroit, Michigan
Cody Wilson, the young mutant hero called the Renegade, sat on a tall building, looking at the skyline of his beloved Detroit. He smiled at the sky, as it turned multiple colors with the sun setting. The Detroit sunsets were always extremely colorful and beautiful. Of course, it was helped by the fact that there was a lot of pollution in the Detroit air, thanks it its many automotive plants.
"Ahh, Detroit Rock City…" Renegade smiled happily to himself. "My hometown. Sure, it may not be perfect, but to me, it's the most awesome place on Earth. It's got everything: action, adventure, excitement, hot women, hot cars, and steel." He crossed his arms. "So they call me a Kid Razor ripoff. I'd like to see Kid Razor benchpress a couple tons." Renegade flexed his arm. "The Renegade would love to see Kid Razor create stuff from the Power of Rock." He held out his hand and conjured up a staff from the Power of Rock. "Heh." Renegade smirked. "The Renegade rules, heh heh." His superhumanly-sharp sight picked up something. The Detroit City Rocker formed a smirk on his face. "Let's rock 'n' roll." He leapt off the building and flew off in a flash of rainbow light. "YEEEEEEEE-HAH! I FEEL HAPPIER THAN A KENTUCKY BLONDE ON A PONY!" A faint feminine enraged scream was heard from the direction of New York. "Heh."
The Burton household, Cincinnati, Ohio
"Hmmm hm hmm hm hmm hmm…" A pretty woman, who looked to be in her early-forties, with long brown hair smiled as she worked in the kitchen, frying up some bacon. Her name was Delilah Burton, a woman who worked as a secretary for Stark Industries' subsidiary in Cincinnati. She was the mother of Spencer Allen Burton, the teenage super-fast sonic beam-packing armored superhero called Sonic Blue. She was proud of her son, but at the same time, she worried about him. She knew the kind of risks Spencer took every day he put on that armor. She was devastated when Captain America and Kid Razor came to her door and told her that Spencer had died thanks to Selene. It also hurt her when he was resurrected, and the experiences shattered her only child, traumatizing him so badly that he gave up the armor. However, that was all in the past. Spencer recovered a long time ago, and things had changed. She had taken in the young hero Eugene Patilio, the Frog-Man, whom Spencer was taking under his wing and helping induct into the hero biz. The young man was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a blue Yankees t-shirt.
"Mm, mm! Something sure smells good, Ms. Burton." A voice complimented. Delilah turned and saw the curly-haired redheaded Eugene.
"Thank you, Eugene." Delilah complimented.
"Just call me Gene, Ms. Burton." Eugene chuckled. "I'm not a fan of my name. As a kid, I got teased for it. So, when I moved to Cincinnati, I decided to start just going by Gene."
"Just like that guy from Kiss." Delilah chuckled. She then blinked at the shocked Gene. "What? Kiss was around when I was a kid." She smiled. "I had a little crush on Ace Frehley."
"I thought Paul Stanley was the one chicks dug." Gene scratched his head.
"In general." Delilah smiled. "But I liked Ace." She heard the noise of a person coming down the stairs.
"Hey mom." Spencer greeted. He was dressed in a pair of blue shorts and a white Spaulding t-shirt. "What's cooking?"
"Just making some bacon and eggs." Delilah smiled.
"Alright!" Spencer grinned. "I love bacon and eggs!" Spencer and Gene immediately walked into the dining room and took seats at the table. "You're off today, right Mom?"
"Oh, yes." Delilah smiled as she served breakfast. "Mr. Stark is such a wonderful man. Letting me have weekends off and such."
"Yeah, he's cool." Spencer nodded thankfully. "Mr. Stark was nice enough to let me use his technology to modify my armor, and he's notoriously protective of it."
"Oh yeah, I heard about that rampage a while back." Gene remembered. (1)
"Mm-hmm." Spencer nodded. "In fact, Mr. Stark and I modeled my armor after one of Stark's designs." (2)
"You know, boys, I was thinking…" Delilah interjected. "I heard that there was a circus in town today. I was thinking that maybe we should go down and see the show, considering none of us have nothing to do today. You used to love circuses as a boy, Spencer."
"Why not, Mom?" Spencer nodded. "Gene and I were just planning to do some patrolling today."
"Yeah, but the bad guys have been rather quiet lately." Eugene countered.
"Mr. Fahrenheit had broken out yesterday." Spencer remembered. Mr. Fahrenheit, real name Jack "Fireball" Pierce, was a hot-tempered pyrotechnician who took up a life of crime after he found out the main female star of the movie he was working on, whom he was in love with, was dating the director. In a rage, he tried to roast her with a flamethrower. Sonic Blue, who was invited to help out on the set in his civilian identity, had managed to save her life. "Maybe we should keep an eye out for him. I know him, Gene."
"Ah, what could that goofball do?" Eugene shrugged.
"But why would he break out?" Delilah blinked. "That Mr. Fahrenheit guy's got issues with women, right?"
"Oh yeah." Spencer nodded. "Can't stand 'em."
"Speaking of women, Spencer…" Delilah remembered. "When are you finally going to start dating that nice girl you like?"
"Mommm…" Spencer shrunk in his seat, blushing.
"Which one?" Eugene quipped.
"Oh, stop it, Gene." Spencer groaned. He then looked at Delilah. "Well, when's the circus?"
A warehouse in Cincinnati
"Ah…" Jack Pierce smirked as he opened the warehouse up. It was a secret warehouse that was used by Spencer's rogues to store their equipment and costumes when they weren't impounded by the cops. Even though the regular foes of Sonic Blue didn't always get along (and they all hated Redfoot and wanted pieces of him), they used the same warehouse. "My stuff should be here." The muscular black-mulleted man, dressed in a gray prison uniform, raced in. A few minutes later, he walked out in a red costume with an orange chestplate, gloves, and boots with a yellow flame motif. His cowl had built in black goggles and a yellow gas mask, which was currently pulled down, causing the cowl to show his nose, chin, and mouth. It was connected to an oxygen/fuel tank by black hoses. The large silver tank also had silver hoses that were mounted to his forearms. "Now…to get me some cash…" He scratched his head. "Where the hell am I going to get me some cash…"
Elsewhere in Cincinnati
"Wow." Delilah smiled as she looked up at the colorful tent of the Big Top. "I haven't been to a circus in such a long time."
"Ms. Burton…can I admit something to you?" Eugene raised his hand. Delilah nodded. "Well…I hate clowns."
"Are you afraid of clowns?" Spencer wondered.
"I used to be, as a kid." Eugene nodded. "Nowadays…they don't really scare me anymore. They just more along the lines of tick me off. Every time I see a clown…for some reason, I just want to punch him. Is that weird?"
"I think so." Spencer chuckled. "When I see clowns, I think of Kid Razor. It's an obvious relation." Delilah and Eugene laughed.
"I guess what would explain it." Eugene chuckled. A few minutes later, the three had purchased their snacks and taken seats in the stands. "This is gonna be great!"
"Tiboldt…" Spencer scratched his chin.
"Something wrong, Spencer?" Delilah looked at her son. Spencer looked up.
"Uhm, nothing." Spencer shrugged it off. I heard that this circus was called the Tiboldt Family Circus. Now, I knew I had heard that name before…but from where?
"Mmm…" Eugene licked his lips happily. "Good cotton candy."
"Yup." Spencer nodded in agreement as he started to chow down on his own cotton candy. "I used to love this stuff as a kid."
"You so loved the circus as a kid." Delilah smiled. "I hope we get to see clowns. I always loved the clowns."
"Clowns freak me out, remember?" Eugene reminded.
"I wonder what the circus will do for their feature attraction." Spencer wondered out loud. "Maybe they'll do an animal act."
"Or something with fire-eaters." Eugene shrugged. "I loved the fire-eaters as a kid. I always wondered how they managed to pull that off."
"A guy in school tried it once." Spencer remembered. "Nearly roasted his lips off."
"Eww…" Eugene winced. "That's something, and New Yorkers like me have seen plenty."
"Considering that a lot of superheroes are operating in New York, it is likely you would have." Delilah nodded. The lights started to dim, and a drumroll came over the tent's PA. Delilah brightened in delight. "Oh! The show is starting!" She then looked at Spencer and Eugene. "Don't eat your snacks too quickly, boys. You'll hurt your stomachs."
Next: Psycho Circus, Part 2 Our heroes deal with some problems as they have to deal with both Mr. Fahrenheit and the Circus of Crime!
(1) - Tony Stark/Iron Man went on a rampage after heroes and villains who used his technology in the classic storyline "Armor Wars" from the 1980s Iron Man comics.
(2) – Spencer's Sonic Blue armor is inspired by Iron Man's Silver Centurion armor from the 1980s comics, with some slight modifications, and the red is replaced with blue.
