Risk of the Dusk
Chapter 5: Go!
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Ray & Vav or any of the characters involved
Jeremy was led to a lab table by Hilda, while Vav, Treyco, and Sauce waited nearby.
"I'll run some tests to determine if this 'super alter-ego' of yours is legit or not. We'll see if it's all the real deal or just in your head," Hilda explained as she reached up and grabbed a large magnifying lens suspended on a mechanical arm.
"Is it going to hurt?" Jeremy asked.
"No… well, maybe. How receptive to pain are you?" She asked as she clicked on a light.
"Uh… what does that even mean? I feel pain… does that count?"
"Then you should feel this," she said as she prodded his arm.
"Well, yeah, but that wasn't painful…" Jeremy trailed off as he heard something.
"Go."
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his irises changed from their normal brown color to orange and purple.
"Hap pappa pap!"
"What the?" Hilda asked as she stood up from behind her equipment.
"It's Rimmy Tim!" Vav shouted as Rimmy Tim started to thrash on the bench.
Hilda reached down and pushed a button on the bottom of the table. Mechanical arms emerged and wrapped themselves around Rimmy Tim, holding him in place.
"Will that work?" Treyco asked.
As if in response, the arms cracked, sparks flying from their now exposed circuitry.
"I'll take that as a 'not for long'," Sauce answered.
"You need to get back Hilda. Boy, with me!" Vav shouted as he rushed toward the table.
Rimmy Tim continued to struggle, growling, and shouting as his strength seemed to continue growing.
Meanwhile, outside
The Mad King stood beside the ice cream cart, waiting for some kind of sign that something was happening.
"Did it work?" he asked aloud, "is this dumb thing even working?" he asked looking at the remote in his hand.
"Mad King, what's your status?" The Cloak asked.
The Mad King sighed as he lifted the radio to his mouth.
"It seems the limits of your device have been found. Nothing is- "
He was cut off as an explosion erupted from the upper stories of Monarch Labs.
"What was that?" The Cloak asked, hearing it come through his radio.
"I stand corrected," The Mad King answered, his eyes fixed up above.
Rimmy Tim emerged from the newly formed hole in the wall, slamming into the brick building above The Mad King.
"It seems your method worked better than expected!" He shouted into the radio.
"What's going on?"
"Rimmy is truly going on quite the rampage, if I didn't know any better I'd say you don't even have control over him," The Mad King chuckled.
"That's because I don't."
The Mad King's eyes widened in realization. He looked up at Rimmy Tim who leaped from the structure back towards Monarch Labs, crashing through into a lower floor.
"What do you mean you don't have control? I thought you said this device allowed you to control him?"
"No, I said it allows me to control when he takes over. Jeremy does not have any of Rimmy Tim's abilities, so I needed to learn of a way to draw him out, so I could use him."
"And you thought to only mention this now?" The Mad King asked as he started to run away from the scene.
"I assumed you knew what I meant, how was I supposed to know you'd misconstrue what I said?"
He scoffed before lowering the radio and turning the corner.
Back in Monarch Labs
Rimmy Tim crashed through onto the lower floor, the cloud of dust and debris causing the employees to run toward the opposite end of the floor.
Rimmy Tim's gaze swept across the room like he was looking for something. He did not notice Vav, Treyco, and the Sauce as they appeared from the elevator.
"Alright Rimmy Tim, that's enough destruction for one day!" Treyco shouted at him.
He spun around, eyeing up the three heroes.
"I don't like the way he's looking at us," Sauce said.
With a roar, Rimmy Tim charged toward them. Vav held up his hands and Rimmy slowed to a crawl.
"Alright, you two, same plan as before," Vav instructed.
They nodded before leaping into action. Treyco disappeared, rushing towards some of the desks, while Sauce sprayed the ground in front of where Rimmy Tim would be charging. Once their preparations were complete, Vav stepped aside and lowered his hands.
Rimmy Tim resumed his rush, but immediately hit the slick sauce-covered floor, sliding toward the wall. However, this time he was ready. He crouched down, digging his fingers into the floor, stopping his slide dead in its tracks. He looked up at Vav and Sauce.
"That didn't work!" Sauce shouted as he began charging toward them again.
"Get down!" Treyco shouted as he appeared, carrying an office chair.
The two ducked, as the chair came flying through the air, smashing into Rimmy Tim. The blow sent him rolling through the sauce before he came up on all fours again, growling.
"It's almost like he's some kind of animal!" Sauce shouted as he saw Rimmy Tim recover.
"An… animal. That's it!" Vav shouted.
He put his fingers to his lips and whistled, the shrill note piercing through the streets.
In the forest on the outskirts of the city, a bush rustled.
Vav lowered his hand, "Alright you two, time to play defense. Help is on the way," Vav told them.
"What are you talking about?" Treyco asked.
Vav did not get a chance to respond as Rimmy Tim charged at them again, swiping his hands like claws, the trio leaped back to avoid his attack as he slammed into a desk.
The Sauce held his hands out and began to spray the ground around Rimmy Tim, trying to cut him off.
Vav held up his hands and emitted more slow-mo beams to hold him in place while Sauce laid his trap.
Rimmy Tim had started to turn towards Vav but was slowed down as the beams hit him.
"Treyco, get something to bind him!" Vav shouted.
"On it!"
Treyco took off, running past Rimmy Tim, not realizing he was speeding back up. As Treyco moved past him, Rimmy Tim suddenly broke free of the slow-mo effect, punching Treyco in the chest and sending him flying out of the hole in the wall.
"Treyco!" Vav shouted, aiming his hands at the young hero.
It was too late; he was already falling past the floor as the beams shot out of the wall.
"Noooooo!" Sauce shouted as he watched his friend go sailing out of the building.
Rimmy Tim did not give them a chance to recover as he lunged for Sauce. But then he suddenly stopped, he turned and looked behind him toward the hole. A figure was emerging from the floor below, carrying an unconscious Treyco by the collar of his shirt.
"Mogar!" Vav shouted as the warrior raised his head.
"The wild guy?" Sauce asked.
Rimmy Tim began to grunt and shouted before charging toward Mogar. In response, he dropped Treyco and drew his sword, catching Rimmy Tim's charge with the blade. The two struggled against one another, Mogar holding back Rimmy Tim's bites and clawing swipes with his sword.
"Vav… what is this?" he asked, grunting with the strain of holding Rimmy Tim back.
"That's Rimmy Tim, he's another super person, we found him earlier today. Don't hurt him!"
Mogar grunted as he swiped his sword upward, but Rimmy Tim leaped back to dodge it.
"Easier said than done."
The trio regrouped to face down Rimmy Tim as he landed on a desk, lowering into a crouch with his hands in front of his feet.
"ORF, now!" Hilda shouted.
ORF's arms suddenly emerged from the ceiling and wrapped themselves around Rimmy Tim. A wave of electricity arced through ORF and shocked Rimmy Tim into unconsciousness.
As the super slumped down, ORF dropped him gently on the floor.
"Thanks for that Hilda," Vav said as he saw her descend with ORF's assistance.
"Sure, sure. But that was nuts! He was just some guy a few minutes ago and then he busts through my wall!"
Vav nodded as he approached Rimmy Tim.
"Do you have some way to hold him?" Mogar asked as he sheathed his sword.
"I think I have something. Sauce, c'mere."
Sauce approached and Hilda handed him a pair of black gloves.
"Part of my new experiments for you and Treyco. Try spraying your sauce through these," she said.
He put the gloves on and aimed at Rimmy Tim before firing. The sauce was no longer its normal yellow color, but instead a thick, slimy black.
The substance sprayed over Rimmy Tim and then quickly hardened.
"What is this?" Sauce asked, looking at his hands.
"It's essentially industrial strength glue. Based on how strong he was before, I'd say this should hold him for now," Hilda said as she patted the hardened cocoon around Rimmy Tim.
"That is one problem solved, but what about that one?" Mogar asked, pointing out of the hole in the wall.
"What?" Vav asked as he approached the hole. His eyes widened as he saw a massive tower slowly rising over the city's horizon.
"What the?" Sauce asked as he, Hilda, and Mogar approached.
"Yarr! Citizens of Achievement City! It has come to our attention that ye be relyin' too heavily on the good deeds of your heroes. We be here to show ye the error of yer ways!" The Corpirate's voice echoed over the city.
"Not him again," Hilda said as she held the bridge of her nose.
"That's right! For too long you've let these 'heroes' like The Dusk Boys run amok in our fair city, causing trouble and breaking shit!" The Cloak's voice echoed out now.
"Who's that?" Vav asked.
"Oh, that's uh… He sounds so familiar. I think Treyco and I used to play pranks on him?"
"What kind of pranks?" Vav asked, his voice nervous.
"Now! For our crowning moment! I reveal to you, The Achievement Hunter!" The Cloak's voice echoed over the city as the tower began to light up.
"With The Achievement Hunter in place, any acts of super 'heroism' will be instantly reported to me, and my esteemed associates. From there, our automated system of drones will stop the perpetrators in their tracks! Those damn Dusk Boys will never shatter a window in my precious house again!"
He began to laugh maniacally before the Corpirate took over again, "And that landlubber Vav will be facin' the same fate. So this is to you Vav, stand down, or ye'll be walkin' the plank!"
He then joined in with The Cloak, the two laughing evilly as The Achievement Hunter lit up.
"Well we have to stop him, we can't let him condemn heroic acts like they were pranks of vandalism," Vav said as he looked up at the massive structure.
"Sure, but how are you going to get up there?" Hilda asked.
Vav grinned at her, "I need to make a call to an old friend… a house call."
Hilda raised an eyebrow in confusion before she realized who he meant.
"Oh, shit…"