Boy, was I glad I dodged that green laser; it would've done damage. "Watch how I use your two new superhero friends - to do my bidding!" the people said together with the voice of their master. Again, somethin' sorta fluffy was brushin' against my back. It was a lil' surprise waitin' for me. I turned around to see a kid wearin' glasses…& his violin stick thingamajig. The soft part of the stick tickled. Andrew. The kid who helped the FF whack some Skrulls some weeks back! Not him too. I just stood there as he kept hittin' me with the stick, until (finally) it snapped.
"You're running out of time, Fantastic Fools. My reign already looms over you," muttered Puppet Master.
Best I could do to fend Andy off was to push him aside. He was part of the nastier bunch of mind-controlled citizens who kept comin' toward us. So I bent a couple of metal bars I tore off those trucks. I wrapped 'em around Andy to keep him stuck to a street lamp. Ha ha, I'd free him later.
More wildcat kung fu was comin' my way. "It's clobberin' time!" I yelled before blockin' Dr. O's scratch attack. "Don't worry, Dr. O. This won't hurt…much," I had to warn him. As fast as I could I flipped him upside down. That slowed him for the moment. But his tail did that cool unfolding thing & whacked me in the face. Ouchie.
Suzy was havin' her own problems with Blue Blaze. She was deliverin' dangerous punches that might melt Suzy's suit. Good thing Suzy's shields were most likely meltproof! When Suzy found the right time she flew up while still shielding herself. The New Yorkers never stopped the fruit throwing.
"There's too many of them! Johnny, try to get above them," Suzy said. Flame Brain was stuck somewhere in the crowd & I couldn't spot him. Not till he got his turn to put up a fight with Blue Blaze. I gotta admit, he was gettin' good. They were spinnin' round, punchin' & kickin' at super speed. Johnny had a plus point – if things got heavy he'd be makin' an escape by flyin' away. "Whoa, whoa, hey! Zed, it's me! Take it easy on me – I'm just a student, remember?!" he blabbered to her. Obviously, Blue Blaze didn't wanna comply.
Matchstick gave up & wanted to hover but a fireman sprayed him before he got high enough. Suzy got him right on time on her platform, as she could always do. Always takin' care of her little bro.
"Hey, uh…Suzy? If you don't mind…I've had about enough of garbage today!" I barked. I was about to be the filling of a truck sandwich. Quickly enough, Suzy lifted both trucks & I hopped on her flyin' platform. Next stop: the Baxter Building.
"H.E.R.B.I.E…are you there?" asked Suzy.
"HI, SUSAN!" the stupid computer said.
Suzy shushed him before tellin' him, "H.E.R.B.I.E., I need you to activate the building's defensive grid."
"I don't think that will be necessary, Susan. Dr. Richards said there's nothing to worry about! & look! Alicia's dad is our best friend now!" screeched H.E.R.B.I.E.
Our elevator reached the lab, with a surprise in store for us. 'Licia's madman of a dad was there; Stretch was under his power. I began the fight with my official tagline, "Oh, it's definitely clobberin' time."
"Puppet, stop them!" shouted Puppet Master. Honestly to say, what made my best friend dangerous weren't just his brains. If he got seriously evil, he'd wrap around enemies till they couldn't breathe. Now that's what was happenin' to us. In one moment, Stretch's eyes were a freaky dark colour. He had us three being squeezed, like those snakes called pythons could do.
Our villain was very chatty, "This will be amusing. I can take control of any one of you at any time. I can make you fight each other until I get bored. & I can't imagine that would ever get boring."
Suzy stretched out her hand to use her powers on the mind-controllin' nutcase, but Reed's grip was too tight.
"Uh, uh, uh, we will have none of that now," laughed 'Licia's dad while waving a finger. Were we doomed or were we doomed?! Now I was beginnin' to worry.
Suzy choked, "Reed!…Oh, boy. This…is really really bad."
Puppet Master continued, "Now you're beginning to understand. Who to take over next? I think I'll start with the monster."
Oh man, I had heard that loud 'n clear. Anytime now, I'd lose touch with myself. That didn't happen, though. "My nose itches. Was that supposed to do something?!" I said out loud. Yeah, instead of feeling like an automatic machine, my nose was itching. Outta all things that could possibly happen…
"What?" Puppet Master growled.
"Knock that off!" I yelled. The itch got worse.
"You two, then!" he changed his mind, lookin' at Matchstick & Suzy now.
Matchstick squeaked, "Hey! That's just plain evil, man! You can't just go & make a guy's nose itch!"
They were itchin', too? This was funny. Puppet Master was losin' patience, "Make it work! Make it work on them! Do it, puppet! Destroy them!"
Everybody was waitin' to see what Stretch would do next. His eyes were lookin' everywhere: at me, at 'Licia's dad…He caught the bad guy off guard suddenly when he said, "Never." Then his eyes lost their unusual dark colour.
"No one's will is that strong!" screamed our villain. I was dyin' to shut him up & trudged toward him. The guy tried to run but I cornered him. "No!!!" he screeched. I grabbed his shoulders & lifted him. "Why? Why didn't it work on them? My plan was perfect!" he complained.
Stretch went scientific, "It didn't work, Phillip, because the machine amplifies cosmic powers, ours as well as yours. The two effectively cancelled each other out, leaving only a minor side effect." Way to go, Stretch. Not that we could get half of what he said, but he saved the day.
"Nice work & all, Reed, but nose itching? Why?! I think I'd rather be controlled," said Flame Brain.
I looked Phillip in the eye & said, "I think we're going to need a better prison for you this time."
Later the cops took him away to the one 'n only Vault, while we made sure the streets were normal again. We met up with Dr. O & Blue Blaze & they apologized. "It's no big deal. You didn't do anyone any harm," Stretch told 'em nicely.
There were some lovey dovey moments. I noticed Suzy was clingin' on to Stretch pretty tight. She told our two friends about Reed being controlled & all that. About her relationship with Stretch, she kept quite quiet about it. Stretch talked about it even less in public. Still, it was sweet watchin' them both. It did look like they liked each other lots. After all, they'd been together through thick & thin for years.
& as for Flame Brain & Blue Blaze, they loved pokin' jokes at one another now. I could hear Blue Blaze tell him,
"I can't believe you survived the Blue Dragon." She almost laughed.
"Hey, hey, never underestimate the Torch's skills!" snapped Flame Brain.
"Newsflash: where did all those skills come from again?"
Boy, was she smart. I was jealous because she could clobber him even with little words. Matchstick was complainin', "Fine, 'sensei'. I get your point."
I felt some urge to suddenly visit 'Licia. But first I went back to the lamppost where I tied Andrew & freed him. Poor guy was confused. "Who BROKE MY BOW??" he asked. His stick dangled in the air. "You were under supervillain control, buddy. You used it to try whackin' me," I laughed.
I heard him sigh; he was havin' the blues. Finally I decided to say, "C'mon, we err…can go grab a new one. & I'll pay for it." Yup, it felt fair to do that for him. It was a beauty to do good to someone, not to mention lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Hero business taught me that. If the music store wasn't closed for the night, we still had time.
"You will?" Andy asked me.
"Sure, sure. Trust me, it ain't gonna hurt my pocket," I smiled.