-2- VILLAINS
Six metal poles rose out from the rubble and ash in which they were crudely imbedded. Rising out of the tips of these thick bars were small wires, a single wire on each of the six rods. Wrapped around these wires were pieces of cloth, attached in such a way that they resembled flags. Occasional gusts of cold wind hit these little cloths and briefly sent them flapping in the air before they slumped back down against the flimsy wire to which they clung. When these cloths were sent flying, they revealed the patterns that they all had in common.
Drawn with what looked like a black chalky powder were scribbles of the famous "H" symbol that represented the Hero Factory, the organization responsible for maintaining law and order across the known universe. Right of this "H" symbol on each of the cloths were seven smaller letters in lower case form; "opeless."
Six figures were bound to each pole. On each pole was one member of the Hero team Alpha 1. Their backs stood against the poles as their limbs were wrapped around the rods and locked behind them with the so-called "Hero Cuffs."
The veterans Duncan Bulk and Jimi Stringer hung suspended above the rubble ground along with the two rookies Natalie Breez and Mark Surge. Rookie William Furno hung next to them, and next to him hung team leader Preston Stormer.
The six Heroes hung from these poles on top of a large hill overlooking much of the wasteland around. But they were positioned on the poles by those who hung them there to be facing the monument of all the ruins below. All six Heroes were forced to behold in the great distance the gargantuan remnants of the Assembly Tower, the Hero Factory's headquarters. The Tower was destroyed, and only titanic ruins of the once mighty building stood in its place. It was by far the largest piece of debris in all of the ruins below.
Stormer felt sudden sensations of brittle, cold air against his armor, and he took this as a sign that his Quaza core had not died out. His head drooped down as far as his neck would allow. He hung from the right-most pole out of the other six. Stormer then tried to look to his left to see if his other five comrades were still alive. All of their eyes were shut, a sign that they were either exhausted due to the near-depletion of their Quaza, or that they were dead. Stormer then realized how difficult it was to hold his head up, and he knew this meant his own Quaza was dangerously low. Furno was the Hero hanging to Stormer's immediate left, and Stormer decided to call out to him in the hope that he was alive.
"Furno," Stormer began in a voice less than a whisper. The simple task of speaking had become frighteningly difficult for Stormer, as he had to take breaths after speaking. He waited for a moment to muster more physical strength to speak more audibly.
"Furno."
Stormer saw Furno's eyes slowly open, the lights of his eyes beginning to flicker on. Stormer was relieved.
"Furno, can you hear me?" Stormer asked as loudly as he could manage. Furno's head hung for a few moments before he responded to Stormer by turning his head slowly to meet the Alpha 1 leader's gaze.
"Yes, Alpha leader," Furno replied dutifully.
"You're alive," Stormer said with as much enthusiasm as he could put in his voice.
"Soldiering on, Alpha leader," Furno gasped for air as Stormer did earlier when he spoke.
"Not sure how much good that will do you now, kid," Stormer said, his gaze drifting off to look at the distant ruins of the Assembly Tower.
Several pairs of feet could be heard climbing up the hill the six Heroes were hanging from their poles on. The footsteps were coming from behind the Heroes, and when Stormer tried to turn his head to look behind him he found he lacked the physical strength to do it.
The footsteps grew louder, until eventually the footsteps manifested themselves into six figures, each much larger than the six Heroes in size. These figures walked around the poles from behind and then turned to face the Heroes, grim smiles upon the various facial shapes they all possessed.
Stormer and Furno, alive and awake to see these six beings knew them immediately. Stormer's eyes panned across all six of the figures, recognizing each; XPlode, Meltdown, Corroder, Vapor, Thunder, and the massive Rotor.
"Did they die, yet?" came a slimy voice from the sizzling mouth of Corroder.
"Not these two," replied the scraping sound of XPlode's voice. Wisps of fire were occasionally flying off of the many needlelike spikes on his shoulders. He tightened his grip on the spiked club he was wielding and began walking towards Bulk's hanging body.
"I think this one might be hanging on to some life," XPlode said, studying Bulk and seeing a faint glow coming from his Hero Core.
"How many do you think died?" asked Meltdown with a smile and sadistic enthusiasm, his claw-hands opening and closing wildly in excitement. XPlode then examined each Hero Core of the six Heroes. Stringer's Core had completely faded. XPlode smiled a wide, fang-bearing smile before bursting into laughter.
"Look at this!" he shouted. "Legendary Hero Jimi Stringer is dead! I was expecting one of the rookies to die first!" After XPlode declared this, the other Villains around him took a few paces forward to look at the Hero Core of Stringer, totally dark.
"Hey, those other two rookies are alive too," said Thunder, extending his large claw to Breez and Surge. XPlode then walked up to the two rookies, their Hero Cores barely glowing. He leaned in to Surge's face, saw the rookie slowly fade into awareness. Surge's youthful, high voice moaned in exhaustion, and XPlode then snarled at him through his metal teeth. He lifted his club back a bit, preparing to strike.
"Real tough you Heroes are without your Quaza!" XPlode yelled, bringing the weapon straight into Surge's lower torso. Surge's eye-lights suddenly flashed brightly at the moment XPlode's club impacted his chest. His eyes faded soon after, and a small gasp escaped him. XPlode turned to Breez, who had heard the red Villain's yelling at Surge and had woken up. XPlode then raised his free hand while lowering the one carrying his club. He lifted his free hand and gently cupped Breez's cheek, lifting her face to look directly at him.
"Hello, cutie," XPlode said with a taunting softness. Breez looked at him with eyes that struggled to maintain light. XPlode gave Breez a warm smile before his face mangled into a severe frown. He then rapidly pulled his hand away from Breez, balled it into a fist, and then sent the fist into her face. A loud clang was produced as XPlode's fist slammed into Breez's facial armor. Her head drooped down as low as her failing neck would allow. XPlode had expected Breez to make some sound of pain, but then he noticed at that very moment her Hero Core had gone dark.
"Oops," XPlode said apathetically, causing snickers behind him from the other Villains. XPlode turned to face Furno and Stormer, the final two Heroes of Alpha 1. He was about to say something when a voice from behind the poles interrupted him.
"Do not touch those two," a deep, synthesizer-enhanced voice commanded. When the voice spoke, every Villain standing in front of the Heroes formed expressions of fear on their faces. Following this, the Villains then looked behind the poles at a dark behemoth climbing up the hill to where they were standing. As the shadowy being moved closer to the group, the air all around them began getting colder. Some of the Villains began experiencing slight headaches and vision distortion. After their vision readjusted and the headaches subsided, they saw the giant figure move around the poles to join the group.
He was completely black in color with the exception of sets of blue spikes that extended off his shoulders and his cloudy red eyes. He stood at roughly the height of Rotor but with a build far wider than that of the orange Villain. Two pincer-like tusks extended off from his skull, one from either side. Most prominent of all the features of this being was the tool he was holding in his wide clawed hands. This being carried an elaborate staff, and floating just above its tip was a large orb of energy. The orb swayed between blue and black colorings, and the interior of the mysterious orb could not be seen due to the thick black fog that was inside. The orb was flanked on both sides by two blades attached to the main staff, as if these blades were keeping the orb of energy suspended and connected to the staff.
"Von Nebula!" came a loud salute from Rotor, who snapped his feet into a straight at-attention position.
"Von…" Stormer began, recognizing the first part of the black being's name. The shadowy head of the being called "Von Nebula" slowly turned to face Stormer. The design of Von Nebula's face was such that no facial expression could be seen on it.
When he faced Stormer, Von Nebula stood at a higher elevation, even with Stormer hanging on the pole. Stormer strained his body strength to raise his head to meet Von Nebula. He looked into the red eyes of Von Nebula, studied the contours of his face and the tusks that were extending off of the sides of his skull. A low and faint hum could be heard emanating from Von Nebula's body, and Stormer felt as though this black being was in possession of unimaginable power.
"Preston Stormer," Von Nebula began in a voice that contained no detectible malice.
"Who are you?" Stormer asked in a whisper, though he had a terrible theory as to who Von Nebula was. He began shaking his head in disbelief.
"You can't be…"
"Come, Stormer," Von Nebula began.
"Von Ness…" Stormer said the words as if they were forcefully dug out of his throat.
"Von Ness no longer exists. I am Von Nebula." Von Nebula replied.
"When did you become this?" Stormer asked. There was a pause in the exchange between the two.
Von Nebula did not immediately respond to Stormer's question. Instead, he lifted his strange staff off of the ground, and moved the bluish-black energy orb suspended above the staff towards Stormer's face. As Stormer saw Von Nebula moving the staff closer and closer, he began to feel nauseous. His vision began bending and blurring as the orb was moved directly in front of his face. Stormer could hear a low and deep hum coming from the orb. What little accurate vision remained of Stormer allowed him to look as deeply as he could at what the orb was made of. Pitch darkness was buried beneath the streaks of blue color that surrounded the orb, and it felt as though something else was buried even further beneath the shadows of the orb. He tried to look inside, but was met only with intense pain in his head. For the briefest instant, Stormer thought he heard two voices conversing with one another within the orb.
As Stormer's perception of the world began to twist and distort, as his vision threatened to leave him entirely, Von Nebula quickly yanked the staff back. He set the staff back on the ground. Stormer's senses returned to him, his vision clearing and his pain and nausea leaving him. Stormer began shaking his head, positively unable to process what he had just experienced. Von Nebula looked at him for a few moments before responding.
"This is no walking stick, Stormer," Von Nebula said, this time in a more dire tone. "And I am no simple 'Villain,' as you Heroes would brand me."
"You didn't answer my question," Stormer repeated defiantly. "Where did you get these powers?"
"You do not need to know that, Stormer." Von Nebula. "You will die ignorant of these things."
"So, you will kill us," Stormer said angrily, looking directly at Von Nebula.
"You did not think I was planning to let you all go, did you?" Von Nebula asked. "Why would I have my men hang you from poles if I was only going to release you later?"
"An excellent question, fiend," Stormer said accusingly. "Why would you go to such trouble if you were going to kill us in the end?" Von Nebula swung his body out from Stormer's gaze, revealing to the Hero the distant ruins of the Hero Factory Assembly Tower, the only remotely recognizable part of the barren landscape below. As he stood on the side of Stormer's line of sight, Von Nebula extended an open palm toward the ruins below.
"Behold the toppled monolith, Hero," Von Nebula said, this time with anger accenting his voice. "You hang here to examine your utter defeat, bound by the cuffs you once chained your resistors in. This is your failure."
"That was where you were born, Von Ness. That was your home!" Stormer reminded him, purposefully referring to Von Nebula by his Hero name.
"The Hero Factory was only my birthplace, Stormer," Von Nebula said. "It was never my home."
"And so, you became a Villain," Stormer sneered. Von Nebula burst into heavy laughter.
"Villain?" he said, laughing again. "Everything was black and white with you Heroes, wasn't it? You're either a Hero, or a Villain. You're either with Hero Factory, or against it." Stormer's expression turned into one of alarm.
"If the Hero Factory's tyranny over our universe still persisted to this day," Von Nebula continued. "Then, yes, I would be a 'Villain,' but only because the Hero Factory did not have a useful name for 'reformer.'"
"Is that how you see yourself, Von Ness?" Stormer asked angrily. "Some kind of revolutionary?"
"I'm not sure a Hero like you could quite comprehend what I have become," Von Nebula replied, his two tusks slightly moving as he spoke.
"Let's just kill them already!" XPlode shouted, breathing through his teeth. "I already finished that brat, Breez."
"Patience, XPlode," Von Nebula replied. "Would it not be more meaningful to demoralize the remaining Heroes yet further before we butcher them?" A reply came from a newcomer to the conversation.
"You may kill us, but justice will always prevail," came the whispering voice of William Furno. Von Nebula stood for a moment, staring at Furno.
"So, Stormer," Von Nebula continued. "What of this little rookie? Does he have anything of value to voice before I end him? Something other than the regurgitation Akiyama Makuro's fanciful slogans and Hero Factory propaganda?"
"What will you gain by killing him, Von Ness? What will you gain by killing any of us?" Stormer asked, pleadingly.
"Nothing of material value, Stormer," Von Nebula answered. "But the murdering of each member of Alpha 1 is something every one of us gathered before you have fantasized about." Von Nebula then gestured to the rest of his crew of Villains, said, "We do intend to savor it."
"But, why?" Stormer persisted, his voice showing signs that he had finally succumbed to desperation. Von Nebula walked up to Stormer, and drew his face a breath away from Stormer's.
"Why?" Von Nebula chuckled for a moment, continued, "Why not?'" Von Nebula then backed away from Stormer and swung his ebony skull to Corroder, who snapped to attention at the sight of this.
"Alright, coat them," Von Nebula ordered. Corroder smiled and his eyes began burning red light.
"C-coat?" Furno squeaked, his voice failing.
"Thunder," Von Nebula then said, turning to the most brutish of his minions. "Turn Stormer's pole to face his team. Make sure he has clear sight of them." Thunder nodded began walking his imposing form over to Stormer on his pole.
"What are you doing?" Stormer asked Von Nebula in a demanding tone. Von Nebula only turned his head to the white Hero. Stormer saw Thunder walk behind him. He saw Thunder's massive hands wrap around the area of the pole below where his feet dangled. The powerful Villain then pulled Stormer's pole out of the dirt and walked him to a position that made him face his entire team on their poles. Thunder then swung the pole down and dug it deep into the ground. The leader of Alpha 1 now hung facing the team of Heroes which he once oversaw.
Corroder lifted his front shield-claws off of the ground. The bestial Villain stood himself up on his two hind legs then situated his claws into firing position. They were aimed at the leftmost Hero in the line of poles, the dead Jimi Stringer.
"Von Ness," Stormer said. "What are you going to do?"
"Watch," Von Nebula replied immediately. "You've no choice but to watch." Von Nebula turned his head to Corroder, standing at the ready, said with calmness, "Fire."
Four streams of thick green slime burst from both of Corroder's shield-claws. The claws catapulted the arches of acid onto the nonfunctional body of Stringer. The instant the acid contacted his body an unnerving sizzling noise began sounding off, multiplying rapidly as more and more acid covered Stringer's armor. Stormer looked at the skull of his former comrade. The acid that had hit Stringer's skull began melting his face, mangling it as one half of his facial armor sunk down and off of his skull. Smoke rose from the areas where the acid was eating away at Stringer's body. A clump of deformed metal fell off of the black-armored Hero's torso, and the "H" shaped Hero Core design now looked something closer to an "S" as the acid caused the symbol to ooze down his body. Eventually, the acid reached the Hero Cuffs that bound Stringer to the pole. With them cut, his body collapsed from the pole and tumbled to the ground. One Cuff remained, tied to Stringer's left leg. Now his body dangled from that lower Cuff with the majority of his now heavily deformed body lying on the coarse ground. Stormer was temporarily speechless, but eventually found the strength to muster his response to what he just saw.
"What is the purpose of this?" Stormer managed through his closed jaw.
"Closure," Von Nebula replied softly.
Corroder strafed over to Duncan Bulk, who hung unconscious but alive from his pole. The green armored Villain aimed his claws at Bulk and fired. The moment the acid hit Bulk, weak moans began escaping his mouth. Blasts of sparks flew off of Bulk's melting skull as the acid of Corroder began eating away at vital mechanisms within the Hero's head. The sizzling sound heard earlier continued on Bulk, layering itself more and more as the acid slid down Bulk's body. Stormer watched with terror, particularly focusing on the Hero Core of his old comrade. There was a point in the torture when the Hero Core died out. By then, Bulk's body was as mutilated as Stringer's. What remained of Bulk fell to the ground, just like Stringer's body did. Stormer shut his eyes for what was to come.
Corroder then moved to face Surge. He lifted his claws, and repeated the process onto Surge. Stormer refused to look any further. He only heard the burning acid on Surge's armor and brief cries of pain from the blue armored rookie. Stormer heard a thud on the ground, knowing Surge's body had fallen off of its pole as well.
"Closing your eyes will not hide anything," Von Nebula told Stormer.
"I will not grant you the satisfaction that you want," Stormer whispered. "I will not watch my team die."
"I know you will watch Furno," Von Nebula replied. Stormer's eyes immediately opened, as if Von Nebula willed them to. Furno saw Corroder position himself to fire at the rookie. Stormer turned his head to Furno, and Furno did the same to Stormer.
"I'm sorry, Alpha Leader," Furno apologized.
"For what?" Stormer asked, utterly perplexed.
"For failing," came the deep voice of Von Nebula, finishing Furno's words.
Corroder's acid hit Furno. As Furno was almost fully awake, and had more Quaza in his core than the previous Heroes, Furno had the capacity to scream as his body burned away. He did.
"Furno!" Stormer called out. The red armored Hero writhed on his pole, his face bending as the acid remolded its design. His skull suddenly cocked to the left before completely falling off. Furno's Hero Core then went dark, and the acid streamed down to his hips. The acid hit the joints of Furno's legs and arms, but missed the Hero Cuffs to which they were attached. As a result, Furno's main body crumbled and fell off of the pole and onto the ground next to his skull. Dangling from the pole were his limbs, still bound by Hero Cuffs.
"Furno..." Stormer whispered to himself in sorrow, feeling great pain at the sight of the rookie who may have one day become his protégé being murdered in such a hideous manner. He looked to Von Nebula and glared at him.
"Such unnecessary malice!" Stormer shouted at the extent his Quaza levels would permit.
"Indeed," Von Nebula agreed. Corroder moved to face Stormer, but Von Nebula put his free hand on the Villain's shoulder, the size of the hand utterly dwarfing Corroder's shoulder.
"Not him," Von Nebula ordered in a soft voice. "I will deal with Stormer."
Von Nebula then began moving his wide body towards Stormer, and the white Hero began feeling a cold aura surrounding him. The low hum coming from both Von Nebula's body and his staff, and the mild warping of his vision all followed Von Nebula entering Stormer's immediate vicinity. The Alpha 1 leader formed an expression of total contempt for Von Nebula before speaking.
"I need to know, Von Ness," Stormer said. "Why did you leave me during the New Stellac Mission?" Stormer's mentioning of one of Hero Factory's most infamous missions caused Von Nebula's head to drop down a bit. Both he and Stormer began running through their minds the series of events surrounding that historic mission, the mission where the Hero Von Ness abandoned his team and disappeared.
"Von Ness, answer me," Stormer commanded.
"You are in no position to give orders, Stormer," Von Nebula said, almost on the brink of laughter. "Besides, you'd never understand."
"Try me," Stormer pressed. "If you're going to kill me here, at least have the decency to give me an answer."
"Here's this, Hero," Von Nebula began. "I left you behind not because I wanted to betray you. I simply left because I saw an opportunity to escape the life Hero Factory had predetermined for me."
"Tell me, where did you get that?" Stormer asked, glancing over to Von Nebula's staff.
"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?" Von Nebula taunted. He then turned to face XPlode, who perked up at the sight of his gaze.
"Come, XPlode," Von Nebula said, invitingly. XPlode's gruesome teeth were exposed in an iron smile, realizing that now he would receive the chance to kill the most legendary Hero the Hero Factory had ever produced. His fantasies were ended when Von Nebula placed two of his large fingers on one of XPlode's shoulder spines. With great ease, Von Nebula plucked the spine from XPlode's shoulder plate, causing a brief but sharp pain in XPlode where the spine had been removed.
"What was that for?" XPlode yelled at Von Nebula. Von Nebula slowly turned his face to meet XPlode's, and immediately the red-armored Villain felt his leader's eerie powers bending his vision. XPlode then looked away. He briefly flexed his arm, and a new spike in place of the one Von Nebula pulled out grew back out of his shoulder.
Von Nebula held the red spine like a needle between his index finger and thumb. He moved himself closer to Stormer. The blue eye-lights of Stormer began to enlarge at the sight of the gruesome object. But before total terror took over his face, the Alpha 1 leader looked back at Von Nebula and snarled at him, a final display of some strength before his doom.
"Worse than Hero Factory," Von Nebula began. "Was you, Stormer. You were no friend to me. The Hero Factory told me who I was going to be for the rest of my life. But you Stormer, you enforced that upon me. You were the final obstacle I had to overcome before I freed myself. I temporarily escaped your hold when I left you at New Stellac. But today, I will finish the job and release myself from the bondage you kept me in."
Von Nebula then raised the spike he held in his hand, and pointed it at Stormer's face. Stormer's expression of anger blinked rapidly to the same fearful expression he had earlier. In a split second, Von Nebula moved the spike from in front of Stormer's face straight into his left eye in a powerful thrust. The white Hero felt his entire skull swell up in pain as the fiery needle burned through the mechanisms that powered his eye. Von Nebula began driving the needle into Stormer's skull as far as he could, twisting the red needle to the point that bits of the insides of Stormer's skull began crumbling out from his eye socket. Stormer wailed in agony, writhing in his bound position on the pole. The most sinister of smiles overcame the faces of the other Villains surrounding Von Nebula as they watched one of their greatest enemies helplessly die before them.
"Stop!" Stormer pleaded. "Please, no more!"
"Beg, Preston Stormer!" Von Nebula ordered, and many of the other Villains imagined that were his skull capable of it, Von Nebula too would have been smiling as he said those words.
Von Nebula suddenly removed the spike from Stormer's left eye, sparks flying out of his eye socket and small pieces of machinery from within Stormer's skull dropping out. The Villains behind Von Nebula all began laughing at Stormer, watching an expression of total defeat and humiliation wash over the areas of his face that still functioned.
Stormer attempted to speak.
"Von Ness-"
"Nebula!" Von Nebula corrected in a bellowing roar, taking the spike and smashing it through Stormer's right eye. Stormer burst out again in screaming as Von Nebula repeated the process of digging the spike into his skull and turning it slowly. As he did this, Stormer's screaming became distorted, his voice-producing hardware beginning to malfunction. Stormer's voice turned into static, then long and single tone hums. Within minutes of this, Stormer's Hero Core faded completely, and a small and unexpected explosion blasted out of his Core's protective plating.
Von Nebula almost removed XPlode's spike from Stormer's skull, but decided instead to leave it in where it was lodged. Von Nebula then backed away from Stormer's hanging corpse, and set his free hand on his hip as if proud of his work.
"Thanks for your help," Von Nebula said to XPlode, referencing the spike he pulled from his shoulder. Von Nebula positioned himself to face all of his henchmen. He raised his hands in the air, lifting his staff victoriously.
"How was that for revenge?" Von Nebula yelled triumphantly. All six of his Villain comrades began cheering excitedly in approval, jumping and raising their fists and weapons in the air. As they did this, Von Nebula walked past them to the very edge of the hill they stood on. He now stood overlooking the wasteland below, the remnants of the thousands of buildings he and his crew had razed to the ground. When the Villains saw Von Nebula looking out at the landscape below, they silenced themselves and turned to do the same.
"Look long and hard, my associates," Von Nebula said to them, staring out at the ruins of Makuhero City. The Villains behind Von Nebula walked up beside him, examining in detail the fallen Assembly Tower.
"A better universe for all is within grasp," Von Nebula continued, gloating over the visible proof of his triumph over Hero Factory. "I give you our empire."