In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night
by Gary D. Snyder
Part 13:
Hovering outside the demolished façade of the shop Jimmy wished he felt as confident as he sounded. When he first formulated this plan it had seemed the best course of action, but now, waiting for Professor Calamitous to respond, a hundred doubts gnawed at his mind. If the evil genius suspected for even a second who he really was and used his electrical demolition weapon, it would be all over. As long as Calamitous was convinced that he was confronting Dyno Lad and relied only his enhanced physical abilities Jimmy had a fighting chance. Even so, Jimmy had not had much time to prepare his own offensive and defensive systems and there was no guarantee that his equipment would be a match for the professor's.
An annoyingly familiar (or was it familiarly annoying?) voice interrupted his thoughts. "Well, well," it said. "If it isn't the superhero. I had hoped to run into you before I took my leave. In fact, I took special pains to dress…umm…umm…"
"'Like a dork'?" suggested Jimmy. In the grainy television view that Jimmy had seen Calamitous had looked vaguely menacing, but up close in the glow of the streetlights now coming on he merely looked ridiculous. To Jimmy it looked as though the little man had strapped on something that looked like a cross between a vacuum cleaner and an octopus.
"Laugh all you want," Calamitous sneered. "But my cyber-augmentation suit is more than a match for your superhuman abilities. No longer will the world mock and deride Professor Calamitous. Now there is only – the Amazing Cyber-Man!"
Jimmy gave Calamitous a scornful look. "Oh, yes. Mocking and deriding the Amazing Cyber-Man is going to be so much more fulfilling."
Calamitous growled. "All right, so the name needs work. Once I've turned Retroville into rubble I can come up with something better."
"You don't fool me, Calamitous. Everyone knows that you never finished anything in your life and you aren't starting now. I'll bet that you didn't even invent that suit or that electronic gun you're wearing."
"Well, true enough," the professor admitted. "Actually my daughter got them for me for a Father's Day present. Picked it up at a military research base, I believe. The electro-regeneration gun was quite a surprise. It produces regenerative feedback in any electrical system causing the system to overload and destroy itself. I was actually quite pleased. Usually her taste in presents is…well, not tacky, exactly, but…"
"Enough talk, Calamitous!"
"That's Cyber-Man. I remember your name, so the least you can do is remember mine."
Jimmy shook his head in disgust. "Whatever. Surrender or face the consequences!"
"What?" Calamitous looked shocked. "Consequences? Oh, my goodness. When you put it that way I'm absolutely ashamed of myself." His face brightened as he stepped forward. "I'll tell you what. Let's start off again on the right foot. Instead of fighting, how about playing a nice game?"
Jimmy was momentarily put off by the suggestion. "Game?" he said suspiciously, trying to figure out the catch.
"Yes. How about…" Calamitous suddenly seized a car near the curb and hurled it at Jimmy. "Dodge!" Caught unaware by the surprise maneuver Jimmy was driven backwards into the building across the street, where he was buried by the crumpled vehicle.
"It's about time," commented Sheen, back at the Candy Bar. "I was beginning to think that nothing was going to happen."
"Oh my mistake," said Professor Calamitous as Jimmy slowly crawled from beneath the wreckage. "That one was a Ford." He hefted a pickup truck and threw it with all his might just as Jimmy got free of the car, again burying Jimmy. "That was a Dodge."
The servos in Jimmy's harness beneath the Dyno Lad costume whined in protest as Jimmy shoved the truck off him. There was no question that Calamitous' suit was more powerful. Even through his force field he had felt the impact of both attacks more than he had thought he would, and Calamitous had not seemed to strain when hefting the truck that had pushed Jimmy's suit to its limits. Given enough time Jimmy could have devised something equally effective, but there was no chance now for that. If the battle continued much longer they would have to scrape Dyno Lad off the sidewalk with a spatula.
"Not getting tired yet, are you?" Calamitous taunted. "The party's just starting."
"In that case," Jimmy muttered, ramping the power of his hover shoes to maximum, "let's have some punch!" Almost faster than the eye could follow he rocketed across the street at Calamitous, slamming into him like a scarlet missile and driving him back through the brick facing of an office building. In front of television sets all through the Retroville area viewers gave impromptu cheers and calls of encouragement. Their elation was short-lived, however, when a crimson streak exploded back out through the wall. It struck a streetlight, bending the pole in half, and fell limply to the ground as Calamitous emerged from the new opening in the wall, flexing an arm.
"Maybe I don't really understand this," said Carl hesitantly, "but isn't Dyno Lad supposed to be winning?"
"Maybe Professor Calamitous is too much for him this time," Libby suggested.
"Bite your tongue!" snapped Cindy, not taking her eyes from the screen. Even so she looked worried, and was biting her lower lip. "He'll find a way…somehow."
At the scene of the battle Jimmy wasn't so sure of that. He was now convinced that physically he was outmatched and that he wouldn't be able to beat the professor with brute force. If he was going to win it would have to be with his brain. But how? As he staggered back to his feet he looked up and down the street, desperately searching for inspiration. There were the usual offices, a café, a bookstore, a gym, a clothing store, a bank, a –
Wait a minute. That was it! It could work. It had to work. At this point, he didn't really have any choice. Straightening up, he limped towards Professor Calamitous, his fists clenched. "All right, Cyber-Man, or whatever you want to call yourself," he said. "You want a piece of me? Okay, give me your best shot!" He positioned himself carefully, placing himself in a direct line between Calamitous and his intended destination.
"Oh, no," the professor replied in politely mocking tones. "Women and children first. I insist." He stuck his chin out, confident of his superiority. "Indulge yourself."
"Don't mind if I do," Jimmy answered civilly and swung with all the power he cold muster from his failing systems. It was a good blow, and the force of it caused Calamitous to stagger back a step or two before he could regain his balance.
"Not bad," he admitted. "Pity it wasn't good enough. My turn now." With little wind-up he slammed his fist into Jimmy, so fast that Jimmy couldn't have avoided the punch even if he had wanted to. He flew backwards like he had been shot from a cannon, crashing through the glass door of the gym and smashing into one of the many mirrors that lined the walls of the exercise area. Only his force field saved him from the serious cuts and bruises he would have undoubtedly sustained otherwise. He got back to his feet just as Professor Calamitous followed him in.
"Not down…yet…" was all Jimmy could manage.
"No. But the night is still young," his enemy replied. As Jimmy struggled to stay erect the professor grabbed a weight machine and swung it down on top of Jimmy, knocking the boy down and pinning him beneath it. Jimmy struggled to push it off him, but his position didn't give him enough leverage to break free of it quickly. After a few seconds of struggling he slumped back, exhausted. Calamitous considered his helpless captive and strolled almost casually to a rack of free weights.
"Don't go away…yet…" panted Jimmy. "I still…have a lot…of fight…left…" With a great effort one of his hands crawled slowly towards the waistband of the Dyno Lad costume. It was now or never.
Calamitous hefted the heaviest of the barbells like a baseball bat. "Not for long, I should think. It's been almost enjoyable. A pity that Neutron wasn't here. I should like to have finished him off as well, but I expect that he'll turn up eventually. He just can't seem to stop himself when people are in trouble. That's what ultimately makes him just another loser."
"No," Jimmy grimaced. His fingers touched the small object he had placed in the inner pouch of the costume's waistband. "That's what makes people…heroes…"
"Whatever," the professor answered, sounding bored. "But no sense putting this off any longer. Time to crush you like a…umm…umm…"
"Eggshell?" Jimmy said, playing for time. He almost had it loose.
"Mmm…smaller."
"Grape?" He only needed another second or two.
"Living," Calamitous prompted.
"Bug?" Quietly Jimmy pressed the button of the device.
"Yes! Exactly! Bug!" Professor Calamitous lifted the barbell above his head, preparing to bring it down with terribly finality on Jimmy's head, heedless of a shape that shimmered into existence behind him. "Do you have any last words?"
"No," Jimmy replied, almost calmly. "But he might have."
Calamitous blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Professor Calamitous," a familiar and scornful voice said behind him. "Don't you ever get tired of being beaten?"
Forgetting Dyno Lad for the moment Calamitous turned to stare at Jimmy, wearing a sneer and a harness somewhat similar to that worn by Calamitous. "Neutron," the professor spat.
"You might as well surrender," Jimmy said. "Anything your suit can do mine can do better, and you know it."
"Not everything," snarled Calamitous.
"It's time to put up or shut up," the figure before Calamitous challenged.
"Gladly!" As quick as a cat the professor brought his right arm up, firing a beam of energy at the boy before him. The boy seemed to ripple as the beam passed through him, struck a mirror on the wall behind him, and rebounded back to envelope the professor. The results were immediate and fascinating. The professor's equipment began to spark and smoke as the professor jerked helplessly about as though he were a puppet on a maniac's strings. This went on for several seconds before the last of Calamitous' electronic circuits overloaded and died, leaving the professor, blackened, smoldering, and swaying gently. "Oh, monkey muffins," was all he could manage before he slipped to his knees and then toppled forward onto his face on the padded floor, unconscious.
It was over.
With a sigh Jimmy shut off the holocorder, causing the 3-dimensional image of himself, still challenging Calamitous, to dissolve into nothingness. No longer distracted by his enemy's menacing presence Jimmy painfully maneuvered himself into a position where the waning power of his augmentation suit could move the weight machine off him. After resting for a few seconds he gripped the would-be Cyber-Man by the collar and began dragging him towards the shattered remains of the door.
"It has been some minutes since Dyno Lad and Professor Calamitous entered the gymnasium," the newswoman was saying on the television. "When they entered Dyno Lad seemed to be getting the worst of it, but…"
"Getting the worst of it?" questioned Sheen. "I'd say he was getting his bootie kicked."
"Shut up," Cindy growled.
"Ditto that," agreed Libby.
"Wait a minute…there seems to be some activity now…" The reporter paused as she peered at the faint images on her own monitor. "It's too far away to see very clearly…but it looks like…yes…Danny, can you get a clearer picture?" The image sharpened and enlarged slightly, showing the a large-headed figure dragging a second limp form from the smashed building. "Yes it is…ladies and gentlemen, the battle is over. Dyno Lad has once again saved the day!" As the camera showed the Retroville police moving in and Dyno Lad flying off into the night sky she continued, rather needlessly, "Thank you, Dyno Lad, whoever you are."
"You can say that again," put in Cindy.
"Word that," agreed Libby.
"You know it, girlfriend," added Carl.
"And how," concluded Sheen. "Now, who's up for the Ultra Lord show?"
End of Part 13.