Quivering Quasars!
Disclaimer: "What're sprites from Marble Madness doing here?!" - The Angry Video Game Nerd
Chapter 10: The End, At Last!
Project: Pegasus
"Wesley's dead..." Wendell mumbled to himself as he saw the bands. "Now what do we do?" He then heard Dr. Vaughn yell out.
"Son!"
"Dad?" Wendell turned his head and saw Dr. Vaughn hiding safely. "Dad!" He ran to him. "Dad, the hell are you doing here? I thought you were taken to safety!"
"Wendell, I saw what happened to Wesley! Those bands are dangerous!"
"We know, Dad!"
"Wendell, you have to make sure that AIM doesn't get them more than ever!" Dr. Vaughn explained. "If AIM gets them, and figures out how to stop the power overload that killed Wesley..."
"Wait, Dad, how do you know it was a power overload?"
"The way he was glowing." Dr. Vaughn explained. "I should've seen it."
"Dad, he chose to risk his life." Wendell sighed. "He knew it was coming. He gave his life to cripple AIM's ship."
"Wendell, don't let his sacrifice be in vain." Dr. Vaughn pleaded. "You have to keep those bands out of AIM's hands!"
"I know, Dad." Wendell nodded. "They're the priority." He looked at the bands. "Wish me luck."
"...Be careful, son." Wendell noted something in his father's eyes, a glint that made Wendell smile a bit.
Aww, he does care. "Don't worry, Dad. I'm a trained SHIELD agent." He ran towards the bands, dodging enemy fire and blasts of acid spit. He shot a quick look at the three-way melee going on between the Misfits/GI Joe, AIM, and the monster. "Let that battle distract them enough..." He reached out for the bands, when...
"Gotcha!" One of the AIM men grabbed the bands.
"No!"
"Alright!" He grinned. "Now we can get out of here and leave those GI Jerks to deal with the-!"
"Give me those bands, punk!" Wendell snapped, lashing out with his palm, attempting to do a strike with it. However, he missed.
"Nice try, Blondie!" The AIM man laughed, pointing his gun at Wendell. "But we gotta get going-!"
Blam!
Wendell shot the gun, making the AIM man drop it. The SHIELD Agent then dropkicked the AIM man, and finally ripped off the man's yellow mask and downed him with one punch.
"You are not getting those bands." Wendell scowled, picking them up. He noticed a pile of ashes near where the bands originally fell. "Will..." Those ashes must be all that's left of him. He shook his head sadly. Poor Will. He was a good man. Wendell gripped the bands tighter. I won't let your sacrifice be in vain, buddy. We'll stop this mess and save the Project. He raced back to his father, holding the bands.
"Good boy, Wendell." Dr. Vaughn smiled in approval.
"Dad, the plan to stop the creature. With Will dead..." Wendell then noticed the creature's hand, still trying to crawl towards the wildly-moving around creature. The agent looked at the bands. Dr. Vaughn's eyes widened as he realized what his son was planning.
"Wendell, no!" Dr. Vaughn shook his head. "We'll find another way to get that creature! We've already lost Wesley, I don't want to lose you!"
"Dad, I'm sorry." Wendell sighed. "Wesley had to sacrifice his life thanks to AIM! We can still do the plan!"
"No, Wendell." Dr. Vaughn took the bands. "We have to find another way. One man already died because of these things. I'm not willing to stand by and let another person kill themselves, especially if that man is my son."
"Dad, I'm aware of what'll happen." Wendell explained. "I saw what happened with Will. But if it saves us all from that creature and AIM, it'll be worth it."
"...what about your mother and sister?" Dr. Vaughn reminded. "What will I tell them? That you killed yourself to save the Project? You mother already blames this place for our divorce, she never understood my passion for my work."
"She understood it, Dad." Wendell frowned. "She just didn't get why you placed it over us."
"Is this really the time?" Dr. Vaughn realized.
"...yeah, you got a point, Dad." Wendell nodded. "But still, we need those bands to stop those creature."
"Not necessarily." Dr. Vaughn shook his head. "I've been doing some thinking. And I think I may have come up with another way to stop the creature. You see, all we have to do is-!"
"Got you!" The AIM man that Wendell had knocked out earlier pointed his gun at the two Vaughns.
"Dad! Watch out!"
Blam!
Wendell managed to push down his dad, but the elder scientist did not escape completely unscathed.
"Agh!" Dr. Vaughn yelped as the bullet hit him right in the shoulder, making him drop the bands.
"DAD!" Wendell's eyes widened in horror. He then felt a wind zip by. "What the?"
"Didn't see me comin', did ya pal?" Pietro grinned as he zipped up to the AIM man, and using his great speed, he was able to strip the man of his uniform and weapons, and knock him senseless. "And that's why the great Quicksilver will always be the greatest!"
"Hey Silverhead, my dad's been shot!" Wendell snapped.
"I'm on it!" The speedster remarked, zipping over. He looked at the wound. "Aw, geez..." Pietro winced. "I wish Dragonfly was here..." But then again, considering how exactly she provides her healing silk, maybe that might freak this guy out a bit much. "Hang on!" He pulled a small box from his belt. "Med kit!"
"Do you know how to use it?" Dr. Vaughn winced.
"Don't worry! Joes taught first aid!" Pietro answered. He quickly worked to clean out the wound and bandage it. Meanwhile, Wendell had picked up the bands. "It should do until you can get it to a proper medic." He put the box away.
"Thanks, kid." Dr. Vaughn nodded in approval. "My shoulder is feeling a little better already."
"I'm glad Dad will be alright." Wendell smiled. "Now I have a creature to stop." Dr. Vaughn's eyes widened.
"No..." He mumbled. Wendell was wearing the bands. The young agent took off into the air. "Wendell!"
"Hoo boy..." Pietro turned on his Joe-Com. "You guys! Vaughn's got the bands!"
"Which Vaughn?" Cover Girl asked.
"The son!" Pietro answered. "He got the bands on! I don't know what exactly he's going to do!"
"He's probably going to try and get this monster to the geothermal plant!" Cover Girl realized.
"I think he's crazy." Pietro shook his head. "We all saw what happened to that Wesley guy."
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it." Cover Girl answered. "Just keep AIM off him."
"We always get the easy jobs." Pietro grumbled good-naturedly with a smile on his face. He looked over at the sound of fighting and saw two more AIM men go down. Xi made himself visible.
"I do not know, Pietro." The Cobra-created mutant shrugged. "Those assault droids AIM have have made this battle quite challenging."
Well, no going back now... Wendell thought as he commanded the bands to make a construct of a box around the hand. With the hand secure in the box, he waved. "Hey, Mecha-Xenomorph!"
"RRRRRRRR..." The creature growled at Wendell. He held the construct up.
"Got your hand!" He taunted. "You want it! Come and get it!" The young SHIELD agent flew off towards the geothermal plant. The creature roared in rage and raced off after Wendell.
"Dammit!" The lead AIM man grumbled. "Get after him! We need to get those bands!"
"I don't think so, landlubber!" Shipwreck laughed, pointing his gun at the man. "You're going to have to go through us, first." Lila and Lance noticed Wendell fly off, the creature chasing after him.
"Godspeed, you magnificent bastard." Lance gave Wendell a jaunty yet respectful salute.
"Good luck, mate." Lila added.
Meanwhile, Wendell Vaughn flew through the halls of Project Pegasus, towing the construct of the box containing the metal monster's hand inside it. The young agent heard hissing from within the box.
"Great." Wendell muttered. "The damn thing's skin just had to be covered in acid. And said acid had to be able to eat the constructs these bands make. I'd berry hurry and get to the plant." He then sighed and poured more willpower into the bands, making him go faster. As he did so, he noticed the gems on the bands glow slightly. Yup, I just signed my death warrant. However, Wendell's train of thought was interrupted.
"RAAAARGH!" The creature roared as it raced after Wendell. It swiped its one remaining hand at the SHIELD agent.
"Yeow!" Wendell yelped as he dodged the swipe. "Wow!" Another swipe dodged. "Yipe!" A third. "Oh, thank God!" He flew into the chamber the plant was in.
"RAARGH!" Wendell turned and saw the creature was right on top of him.
"Back off, bozo!" Wendell snapped, clocking the creature in the jaw with an uppercut from a fist construct. Creating another construct of a wrench, he used it to twist open the door. The door opened with a metallic whine, and Wendell could see the red hot magma in the pit. Wow. He was briefly mesmerized by the beauty of the glowing molten rock. I've only ever seen magma on TV. Never thought I'd ever see it so close like this. It is remarkably pretty... He turned his head to the hand. Oh, right. He tossed the hand in the pit. Smoke rose from the hand, and a hissing noise could be heard as the magma heated and melted the hand down. Well, at least I know this'll destroy the hand...Now to get the rest of the creature in there...
"RAAAAAAARGH!" The creature roared as it leapt at Wendell.
"Ah, geez!" Wendell yelped. Thinking quickly, he created constructs that latched themselves around the creature's arms and legs, restraining it. "You're overdue for your nice hot bath, pal!" He flew up, and thrust the creature into the magma. "Gotcha!"
"RRRRAAAAARGH!" The creature roared, reaching up for Wendell.
"AGH!" The agent screamed as the creature pulled him into the magma. Remembering the creature's acid and the hot magma, Wendell poured his willpower into maintaining his protective aura. "Get off me! Get off!" Getting hot in this magma...this is NOT how I wanted to see it!
"RAAAARGH! GWAR!" The creature screamed, a hissing notice erupted as the magma burned and incinerated it.
"Didn't know you liked that band, pal!" Wendell found time to mock. Keep up the field, Wendell! He mentally chided himself. This field must be the only thing keeping you from getting fried here!
"GRRRRRAAAGH!"
"I don't know how long I can stay down here..." Wendell mumbled to himself. His eyes widened when he saw the gems on the bands glowing brightly. "Not much longer by the way these gems are glowing! I have to finish this now!" He expanded the field, knocking the creature off him. "So long, pal! Can't play any more!"
"RRRRRAAAAAAA..." The creature roared its last as the magma consumed it. Wendell watched as he flew back up out of the magma pit.
"Good riddance." He grumbled. He manged to fly out of the pit and close it back up. He took a breath in relief. "It's over. It's over at last." He looked down at himself. Starting to glow like Wesley... He took another breath. I just hope I can say goodbye before I go... He flew out of the chamber. Meanwhile, the GI Joe team and the Misfits manged to take care of the AIM intruders and destroy their Assault Droids.
"Well, that's these punks taken care of." Alpine chuckled as he flex-cuffed and tied up an AIM man.
"Ohhhh...my head..." Dr. Zane moaned, holding his head as he staggered in. His eyes widened as he quickly looked around. "Ohhhh, crap." Pyro happened to notice him.
"Hey!" He grinned widely. "Pinocchio!"
"Oh crap, I'm busted!" Zane mumbled.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Pyro grinned, running up to him. A panicked Zane raced off, only to notice Pietro zipping in front, leaning nonchalantly against the wall with crossed arms.
"Oopsie." The speedster grinned, holding his leg out. Zane tripped over the leg and fell onto the ground, causing his AIM communicator to fall out of his pocket.
"Oof!" He then felt Xi and Shipwreck pick him up.
"Hey, look at this." Pietro snickered as he picked up the communicator. "Looks like standard AIM. Pyro's new buddy was a mole."
"No he's not, he's a person." Pyro blinked.
"Not that kind of mole, you bonfire-brained bonehead." Pietro groaned.
"Well, looks like you were yapping to the beekeepers, huh?" Shipwreck growled at Zane. "A good man died during this whole mess."
"Hey hey hey!" Zane yelped. "It wasn't supposed to happen! Nobody was supposed to die! I was just supposed to grab the bands and take them to AIM!"
"Tell us why you decided to play mole." Xi growled. "And I warn you, we can snap your neck in a heartbeat."
"Money!" Zane yelped. "They offered me money! And they'd also give me an all-expenses paid vacation! That's all! The monster wrecked everything! That was not ours, I swear!"
"I can believe that." Pietro nodded.
"You can?" Pyro blinked.
"It's the truth! I swear!" Zane wailed. "It was nothing personal! It was just the money and vacation!"
"I don't believe this!" Dr. Vaughn growled as he marched up to Zane. "You rat traitor! I may have just lost my son because of you!"
"Hey, Doc! It was not supposed to happen! I swear!" Zane yelped.
"Pal, I suggest you shut up and cooperate with us." Shipwreck growled. "Or else..." An evil smirk formed on his face. "We'll leave you alone with Pyro for a while." Zane looked at the Australian pyrokinetic with a wide-eyes expression of shock and horror.
"Hi, Pinocchio!" Pyro waved with a big grin on his face. "I can't wait to show you my collection of ponies!"
"I'll do anything you want! Anything! I'll tell you what you want, show you what you want, hell, I'll wash your tanks with a toothbrush! Just for the love of God, please don't leave me alone with him, I'm begging you!" Zane wailed, tears streaming down his face.
"Good boy." Xi nodded as he and Shipwreck dragged Zane away.
"Quit squirming! I'm SEAL-trained, and I'll snap your neck in a heartbeat!" Shipwreck was heard threatening.
"You guys are being a bit rough!" Zane yelped.
"Make sure he gets locked up real good!" Dr. Vaughn yelled.
"Dad!"
"Son!" Dr. Vaughn turned around and saw Wendell float to the ground. "You-you're glowing!"
"Yeah...I am, Dad." Wendell sighed, noticing the crowd of Joes and Misfits and returning SHIELD agents with Blue Shield and the scientists. "Everyone stay back. I...I can feel the energy building up inside of me. This is what killed Wesley."
"Wendell, we can help you-!"
"I'm sorry, Dad. There's nothing I can do to stop it." Wendell sighed. "I gotta go up and detonate away from here, where I won't hurt anyone."
"I understand, son." Dr. Vaughn nodded. "I...I love you, son. And I am very proud of you."
"I love you, Dad." The two men hugged. "Thanks. Tell mom and Gayle that..."
"I will. They'll be proud." Dr. Vaughn nodded. Wendell smiled.
"Thanks for everything, Dad." Wendell flew off. Dr. Vaughn watched, his eyes tearing up. Dr. Reznek put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.
"Heh, the jerk has a heart." Pietro chuckled lightly. "Who'd have thunk it?"
"He should talk to Shipwreck." Lance noted. Wendell Vaughn felt the energy build up in his body as he raced higher and higher in the sky.
This should be high enough. Wendell thought as he came to a stop and started hovering. It'll be a spectacular explosion. Kind of like a firework. He smiled slightly. I had a good life. Not much I can do about this thing. Best to just go with the flow...Best to just not fight this thing and ride it like a waves...Huh? He felt the energy buildup dissipate and his glow weaken. "Did...did I just figure out how to control these things?" He looked at the gems on the bands. They were glowing, but the glow was much more gentle. "Holy..." He flew back down to Earth.
"Holy-" Cover Girl's jaw dropped.
"How come he's not exploding?" A confused Pyro scratched his head.
"Must've figured out how to control the bands." Lila deduced.
"Glad he's going to be alright." Alpine smiled.
"Wendell!" Dr. Vaughn ran up to his son. "How?"
"Stay back, dad!" Wendell commanded. "Look, I think I may have figured it out. When I was about to go up, I thought that I would go quick, so I decided to relax and just let everything go. And the energy buildup stopped. Wesley was using his willpower to drive the bands. He was trying to mentally dominate the bands, and they reacted. You have to relax and go with the flow."
"That is incredible!" Dr. Vaughn remarked in amazement, taking Wendell's arm and looking at the bands. "We have to run some tests on this! We have to study this further."
"Dad, I'm not one of your science projects." Wendell frowned.
"He's got a point, Doctor." Lance piped up.
"We have to make sure this doesn't end up killing you, Wendell." Dr. Vaughn explained. "If you did manage to get control of the energies in these bands, they should still be monitored. We can't take any chances with these things."
"He's got a point." Lila concurred. "Those things fried Wesley."
"I have an idea for how those bands can be monitored." Blue Shield suggested.
"How?" Alpine blinked.
"Well, those bands were really helpful against that creature." Blue Shield remembered. "And as that whole mess shows, I could use some extra superpowered help guarding this place. Maybe he can work as my assistant."
"I get powers, and I still have to work security." Wendell rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"That's a good idea." Dr. Vaughn nodded. "It'll give you something to do, and I'll be able to keep an eye on the bands' effects on you."
"Dad..."
"Son...this isn't because of my love of science. You're my son, and I want to be sure you're going to be alright." Dr. Vaughn smiled slightly. "Besides, your mother would kill me if I let those bands fry you."
"Yeah, you got a point there, Dad." Wendell chuckled. "She would."
"You guys don't mind if we take Zane, do you?" Agent Gail Runciter asked Shipwreck. "Project: Pegasus is a part of SHIELD after all. The mole is our problem, we'll take care of him."
"Sure!" The sailor chuckled, handing the terrified scientist over to her.
"Please God, yes!" Zane wailed. "Just don't let that crazy Australian near me!"
"Just let us know where you're locking him up." Shipwreck chuckled. "Pyro likes him. We want to have him be able to visit."
"I want to show him my ponies!" Pyro grinned.
"Please don't tell them! Please!" Zane begged Agent Runciter.
"Don't worry, Dr. Zane." Agent Runciter chuckled as she and a couple other SHIELD agents cuffed him and led him away. "If you're good, we may let you make a supervised visit to the Pit so you can hang out with your new little friend."
"You people are crazy!" Zane groaned. "Isn't there something in the Geneva Convention against torture?!"
"Still can't believe Dr. Zane was a mole, though." Dr. Reznek shook her head. "What a shame. He was quite nice."
"Yup." Alpine nodded. "It's always the ones you least expect."
"So what about it, kid?" Blue Shield smiled at Wendell.
"Alright, I guess so."
"If you have superpowers, you'll need a codename." Xi suggested. "Why not Marvel Boy?"
"I'm not really a boy anymore..." Wendell frowned.
"Naw, I say he gets something more badass." Lance grinned. "How about The Crusher?"
"The Crusher?" Dr. Vaughn blinked.
"That one sounds stupid." Wendell chuckled.
"Maybe Star-Slammer?" Pietro suggested. "Got a nice ring to it."
"I don't know. That one doesn't seem very me."
"What about...Quasar?" Lila suggested.
"Quasar?" Wendell blinked.
"Yeah." The British girl nodded. "A quasar is a source of electromagnetic energy, and since you put out energy constructs..."
"Quasar, huh?" Wendell smiled. "I like it."
"You are not serious." Dr. Vaughn groaned. "My son is not a superhero!"
"Hey he fought a monster, he's a superhero." Pietro explained.
"A codename would be helpful for security reasons." Blue Shield agreed with a smile.
"I like Quasar, anyway." Wendell smiled at the bands. Wendell, you just jumped into a whole new world...
Well, well, well! Looks like a new hero has emerged in the Misfitverse! What insanity will happen next? What further adventures will Quasar have? What will happen to the Misfits next? Who knows! Find out soon! Thanks for reading!