|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:45:09 GMT -5
“It’s simple,” nodded King Faraday, Director of the DEO, as he sat in front of the business man’s desk with his legs crossed and a grim smile on his face, “we want your team to take down the biggest threat this country has ever seen... the Justice League.”
Oberon sat in a massive brown leather chair that was not his own, but was in fact Josiah Powers', thinking. Despite the fact that he understood every word the man across the desk said, he was still utterly confused, “Excuse me?”
“We want Powers, Inc.” stated Faraday shortly, growing frustrated as the man across from him still wore on his small plump face a look of vexation.
Oberon tapped his pen on a pad of paper he had in his hand. “See, I thought you said that.”
Faraday nodded, “I'm glad you're hearing is in tip-top shape. So, what do you say?”
Oberon tossed the writing accouterments on the desk and wipped away the layer of sweat that had amassed on his forehead. Nodding assuredly, he pressed a button on his intercom. “Mizz Blackenstonemenshipsterheiser? Please show Director Faraday the way out.”
“Pardon?” buzzed the reply from outside the office.
He slammed down once more on the button for his intercom, "The way out! Please show him the way out!" He settled down, looking at Faraday in embarrassment, "She's new h-"
"Doesn't he know the way out? It's the same door he came in!"
Oberon didn't bother with the intercom this time, and just span the chair he was sitting in around and shouted straight at the wall that his secretary was behind. "THAT MEANS I WANT TO LOOK IMPRESSIVE WHILE KICKING HIM OUT OF MY OFFICE! JEEZ!"
“Is this your answer? You’re showing me the door?” Faraday picked up his briefcase. “I expected better of you, little man.”
"Yeah well you're the only one." Oberon smiled and adjusted the large Windsor knot at the base of his neck. “That was me telling you I’ll get back to you.”
“Make up your mind fast." Faraday said as he rose to his feet and towered over the man across from him who was still sitting in the large chair, "Remember this, if you’re not with the team.” Faraday smiled as he peered into the Oberon's beady eyes, “You’re against it.”
“Wait,” replied Oberon, putting his hand up to halt the government agent leaving his office. He walked over to Faraday, and looking up at him over him from his natural worm's eye view, “never threaten me, Faraday. You may have the government on your side? All your bureaucrats and suits? But me? Me and my team? We have the American people on ours. And who do you think has more power?”
“That can change, Oberon. Look at the Justice League...” quipped Faraday, before Oberon’s brand new elderly assistant, Mrs Blackenstonemenshipsterheiser, opened the door and lead him out.
Oberon closed the door to his office and grit his teeth together sweating nervously more now then ever. “Holy moley...”
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:45:50 GMT -5
 Powers, IncIssue Eight: "Don't Worry About the Government"A Justice League Vs America Tie-In! Written by House Of Mystery, Chris Paugh and Ramon Villalobos Cover by that guy Edited by that other guy |
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:46:20 GMT -5
Primary Writer's Note: This issue of Powers, Inc. ties into the Justice League Versus America event, however, due to the primary writer's laughably limited involvement in the aforementioned event… I’m not quite sure WHERE it fits… but I assure you it does…
Why must you try to deny in your head what you know in your heart to be true?
Editors Note: I am so. So. Sorry.
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:47:35 GMT -5
“… Those dirty terrorists, the ‘Justice’ League.. More like Injustice League if you ask this unbiased journalist. And after the break, could the plastic wrap used to package sliced cheese be killing you and unraveling the very fabric of American society leading to the very decline of Western civilization, as we know it? Find out when we come back.”
“My sources say… Probably not.” Ted Kord, also known to at least three-sevenths of the world as the masked crime fighter Blue Beetle, said turning off the T.V. while rolling his eyes.
“The whole thing is just stupid,” Booster replied with a smirk walking into the room.
“Yeah, how can cheese-“
“Not that man, the Justice League thing. We should go out there and just give the Justice League the whoopin’ of their lives… Mmm, especially that Wonder Woman, I could sure give her a good whoopin’ if you know what I mean Teddy boy.” Booster said taking a bite of his enormous tuna fish and jelly sandwich.
“Of all the weird concepts you bring back from your time period…” Ted replied without looking up from the dissected golden robot lying on his desk, “the tuna fish and jelly on wheat bread is easily the one I find most repulsive.”
“You’re just mad I didn’t make you one.” He said with his mouth full of salty canned fish and processed strawberry.
“Nope, my not having one of those revolting sandwiches to shove down my throat is very far down on my list of irritabilities...”
”Yeah right, whatever helps you sleep at night.” He said taking another bite and accidentally spilling some of the contents of his sandwich on his gold and blue super powered suit. Pausing for a moment to run through the list of options in his head, Booster quickly flicked it off his chest and onto Ted Kord’s workbench. “Sometimes I don’t get your guys’ primitive customs, like this tuna, it’s awful. Why did they even go through the trouble of making it dolphin safe? Don’t you guys know someday they are gonna make an attempt at revolt and take back land that once belonged to them?”
”That’s not natural history you moron, that was an episode of the Simposons.”
“What about Luthor trying to block out the sun… that happened right?
”Oh yeah, that happened but I think it was different technology, not a giant shield, more like some weird sun virus eater thing… I’m not really sure, but yeah he probably tried… That Lex Luthor can be a zany cat sometimes.”
Booster took another full bite of his overstuffed sandwich. “Hey, aren’t you done programming Skeets yet? You’ve had him practically forever. I had to watch the last like seven reruns of Who’s the Boss all by myself without him to explain the jokes to me.”
“Yeah well, these things take time, Booster. It’s not like I just press control, alt, delete and bam! He’s fixed. This is extremely delicate work.”
Booster looked at the various gadgets strewn across Beetle’s counter space and lifted up one in particular. “What is this?”
”It’s a pencil sharpener.”
“What’s it do?”
“Cures AIDS, I think.”
“Awesome.” He said examining it closer .
“You know Booster, I’m beginning to have reservations about doing this little errand for you.”
“Aw, come on Ted, don’t be that guy! You already said you were gonna do it, don’t just go back on your word now for no apparent reason!” He said throwing the pencil sharpener to the floor shattering it instantly to emphasize his objection to Beetles objection. “Oops, I broke your tricorder thingie…”
“I’m not that guy! Well… at least I think I’m not…” He pondered stroking his chin and squinting his eyes lost in thought, “Not even sure what that guy is exactly…”
“Alright then we are agreed, get back to work.”
“No, we aren’t agreed! You never even heard my point!” Beetle said taking another object of his work bench and throwing it down to emphasize his objection to booster’s objection to his objection. “You know, when I tinker with his memory, everynow and then he’ll start saying things, dates, facts, numbers… just because you can so carelessly throw caution to the wind with all this time travel stuff doesn’t mean I don’t have my own misgivings about it!”
“Jeez, SOMEBODY needs to get some…”
“Booster, this thing, it’ll start randomly spewing out information, for all I know something I hear I shouldn’t know… what if it says how I die, huh? What if it says ‘March, 23 2010: Ted Kord dies of heart failure?’ I have a condition you know! Man shouldn’t know how his own life ends, it devalues life and probably breaks some kind of time travel laws that you and I are both unaware of... We could fade away like Michael J. Fox in that one movie!”
“Heart cancer? Psh, quit being childish, you don’t have a condition. Sides, seeing is how you don’t even have super cool powers like me, you’ll probably get shot in the head by some third rate super villain or something.”
”NOT FUNNY!”
“Gentlemen.” A deep voice says as Steel enters the room behind them.
Blue Beetle lifted his head from the work in front of him for the first time since he turned off the T.V. and removed his goggles from his head, “Oh hey Hank, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“Yeah Hank, come for an oil change or something?” Booster asked with a cackle and a bite of his dissolving sandwich.
“I do not require that form of maintenance, Booster. The spe-“
“I think he was kidding Hank, what’s up?”
“There have been talks of us joining the government in their battle with the Justice League. Despite my association with said group, I feel my affiliation naturally lies with my country first and those particular individuals second in the same way my father fought bravely in the Golden Age of Superheroes… I came in curiousity of what your stances were in regards to the controversial subject.”
”You're in to fight Hanky?” Booster said throwing his sandwich to the floor and adjusting his wristband, “Lessdoit!”
“I’m not sure about this guys.” Beetle said standing from his chair now to look his teammates face to face. “It’s just, you know, even if we could match powers with them… The last thing we should do is go charging in head first to a fight we know nothing about.”
”ARE YOU NUTS TED?!” Booster shouted turning to his friend, “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE DO!” And with that Booster exited the room followed by Steel who shrugged his shoulders in a robotic unnatural fashion leaving Ted alone with his thoughts and a workbench full of robot parts.
“Well this sucks.”
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:49:00 GMT -5
Harry Jordan, formerly the high flying hero known as Airwave, dragged a mop across the floors of Powers Towers. It was kind of funny to him that even when he worked in the same building as Airwave he was the one who generally cleaned up the place, he and Steel shared many an afternoon trying to wipe up the messes made by Booster Gold and eventually Blue Beetle. Every now and then there’d be some soot from a dazzling entrance that Mister Miracle would like to make when he entered the room when one of the team was alone.
A loud blasting cackle followed by a blinding light and a cloud of thick black smoke appeared before him. There, as the smoke settled, stood a figure draped in a long green collared cape and masked in a red and gold hood.
“Hey Mr. Brown.” Harry said without so much as a faked surprise glance at the elusive Mister Miracle’s flashy entrance.
“Harold, would you mind if I take a moment to converse with you in private?”
Harry looked around seeing no one in sight… “Aren’t we ‘in private’, Mr. Brown?”
”Please Harold, call me Thaddeus or Thad, like the rest of our colorful comrades, Mr. Brown seems so… bland. Besides, Mr Brown was my uncle’s name.”
“If it’s all the same Mr. B-”
“Thaddeus.”
“If its all the same Thaddeus, I’d rather not be treated like the rest of the team. I’m just a janitor here, that’s what I do. I’ve given up that other life.”
“Hmm… well your custodial skills are to be commended, nary a speck of dirt in the whole building… save the residual bit of dust here of course from my uncharacteristically lacklustre ingression… but alas the afternoon grows young and I grow old and I am not nearly the same caliber illusionist I once was.”
“Yeah umm… thanks,” Harry said wiping some sweat off his forehead before dumping his mop into his bucket of soapy water, “Was there something else, Thad? I’m kinda busy.”
“Yes, there is indeed something else of importance I want to bring to your attention.”
“That being?”
“I’ve noticed a change in your demeanor since my return Harold, you aren’t the same man I once knew.”
“You picked up on that, huh?” Harry replied with a smirk.
“Oh absolutely Harold,” The quirky illusionist said growing wide eyes. “Before you were brash, you were severely optimistic, who had an extraordinary amount of chutzpah.”
“Chutzpah, huh?”
”Yes Harold, a remarkable amount of chutzpah. I feel it was that youthful exuberance that set you apart from your contemporaries.”
“Well I’m not sure if you noticed Thaddeus, but my contemporaries aren’t exactly the same ones they used to be.”
”And why is that?”
“Well because before they used to be people that dressed up in bright costumes and fought evildoers and now my contemporaries… well we fight dust bunnies and spills.” Harry said dumping his mop into the bucket of soapy water at his side, “speaking of which…”
“Harold… and if you could fly?”
”What do you mean Mr. Brown?”
”Do you suppose your demeanor would change if you could take to the sky in a blur of green once more?”
Harry paused for a second. “I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“You know Harold, the reason Houdini was able to break out of his restraints so effortlessly was because they are designed to keep things on the outside from getting in. Such is not the nature of humans, its so much easier for outside forces to penetrate us… physically… emotionally… It’s not so easy for us to let the things inside of us come out. Perhaps it would do you some good to try and break out of your own mental restraints that no doubt have similar design flaws as- ”
“I’m sorry, with all due respect Mr. Brown, I have absolutely no clue what on earth you are talking about.”
“It’s quite understandable young Harold,” Mister Miracle spoke softly, “Very few do.” With that he lifted his cape to his face and vanished.
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:52:02 GMT -5
Prysm raced into the sky seeing her team mate high above the streets of San Francisco pummeling little bug eyed men straddling dragon flies into oblivion.
“Blast you Power Girl!!!” One screamed as he flew off his over-sized winged insect and teleported himself before splattering to earth miles below.
More of the tiny thieves from outer space swarmed around her blasting their deadly electri-death-rays at her at blinding rates. The rays bounce off her without making her so much as flinch before her eyes glow red and she burns the wings off some more dragonflies putting the raiders out of commission.
Prysm finally reached her teammate and floated from a distance watching in amazement as she saw the buxomly, blond women single-handedly taking on a legion of miniature criminals without breaking a sweat. Power Girl, finally growing frustrated with the little men finally puffed her lungs and unleashed one gust of super breath causing a whirlwind that caught the majority of the little nuisances in a dizzying swirl of justice.
Their high-pitched voices cursed her in unison as they had done before and finally they disappeared leaving Power Girl alone in the sky with a moment of solace. “Thrill thieves,” She said to her teammate watching behind her, “Gotta love them, right Audrey?”
“Oh, umm, I’m sorry Power Girl, I’ll jus-“ She finally spoke nervously
”It’s okay, if feels good to let that out by myself every now and then. Did you want something?”
”What were those things?”
”Dragonfly raiders from… well I didn’t catch what planet they were from, but I have a sneaking suspicion they were androids, generally when fighting leagues of miniature thieves from outer space they don’t all scream the same exact words before teleporting away… they mix it up… for variety.”
Prysm laughed nervously and looked away from Karen as she scratched the back of her head.
“Was there something else Prsym?” Power Girl asked, scanning the city below her.
“Well, it’s just… If I needed to know how to keep my hair looking nice and soft, I’d go to Looker, if I needed help with homework I’d go to Ted, but this is important and I wanted someone’s opinion who… you know…”
“Oh… the ‘crisis’?” Power Girl asked quietly now, in a different more sombre tone then she was usually accustomed to speaking in.
“Yeah, right, that.”
“It’s hard with this stuff sometimes, Audrey. You and I, given what we do, people are going to expect us to have an opinion, they are going to expect us to be adamantly opposed or adamantly with them but its never that simple, it’s never so black and white. Aside from what they tell us on TV, I have no idea what’s going on.”
”Well what they show on TV… it looks pretty bad.”
“Yeah, sure, but there are probably no two people that I look up to more then Superman and Wonder Woman. I may not know the rest of the League, but Superman and Wonder Woman, they are heroes, and nothing is going to change my opinion of that. Not some dim witted news reporter, not anything.”
“So what should we do?”
”Well that I’m not going to tell you, Prysm. I know where I stand but that’s just me. From the moment I woke up from my coma, those heroes are all I could have faith in. Not just the people, not Superman or Wonder Woman or Batman, but also the idea that they fight for something. If they didn’t have faith in humanity, what is the point of them putting on those masks and capes and armor and doing what they do?” Power Girl finished scanning and looked at her teammate for the first time since she arrived on the scene and put her hand on her shoulder.
“Audrey, these are the decisions we make that are going to define us to the world. Some of us may side with the government for whatever reasons they may, but that’s not me.” She spoke now in a different more assertive tone that she was more known for within her team while making a fist, “I side with heroes.”
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:52:46 GMT -5
They sat in the dark room, the entire team, gathered together for the first time in what felt like years. They had passed each other in the halls of Powers Towers, they had shared the occasional team meeting, but this… The television provided the only light in the room. Prysm glistened, reflecting the light from the screen with her own crystalline body. Blue Beetle looked whistfully over the room to Looker, who in turn stared intently at the TV, trying her best to avoid her ex-beau’s gaze.
Mister Miracle broke the silence as he entered the room at last. “It is done.”
Oberon wiped sweat from his damp brow with the back of his sleeve, and shook his head nervously, “oh we are going to rue this day.”
“Ha!” laughed Booster, “If I had a ‘rue’ for every time someone said that…”
“You’d own half an apartment in Paris. Shut up.” Snapped Beetle.
Power Girl looked to her friends. “What do we do now?”
“Isn’t it simple?” started Steel, as he fiddled with the fin of his costume atop his head. He motioned to the television, and then continued. “We wait. We watch. And when the time is right…”
“We fight.” Finished Booster.
“Hoo-Ra.” Nodded Beetle.
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:53:34 GMT -5
“How did it go sir?”
“As well as can be expected,” replied Faraday, as he looked at the reflection of his driver. “As well as can be expected.” He closed his eyes and sighed. This was all becoming quite a strain on him. He rubbed his temple, and opened his eyes.
Mr Miracle smiled.
He was quite a sight in his costume, and the Director of the DEO didn’t see the funny side of it. Faraday pulled his weapon and fired, but Miracle wasn’t there when he pulled the trigger. He looked around, his weapon still raised. The driver had pulled over hard, and rushed out of the vehicle, ready to help Faraday to safety. The doors clicked shut. He couldn’t get in.
“Sir!”
Faraday was alone in the vehicle. He was sure of it. He was acutely aware of his surroundings. He was alone.
“I regret to inform you that Powers, Inc. are going to have to respectfully decline your offer.”
He span around, and aimed his weapon straight at the centre of Mr Miracle’s head. “What are you doing?”
“Informing you of our position in this war. Don’t shoot the messenger.” He winked.
“You’re Brown, aren’t you. The escape artist.”
“Am I that obvious?” bowed Miracle, pulling his cape in front of his face and back down again. “Is it the mask? The garish costume? The pure bravado and gravitas I exude?”
Faraday lowered his weapon. “Have you spoken to your team about--”
“No NEED!” grinned Thaddeus Brown, "The collective members of Powers, Inc are not a band of sell outs. We can't be bought"
"You guys are bought all the time!"
"Amendment: We can't be bought... by the likes of you."
“You’ve made a big mistake, Brown.”
Thaddeus smiled and snapped his fingers, smoke filling the small compartment. As he vanished, and the doors unlocked, allowing the chauffeur back inside, his voice could be heard. “It wouldn’t be the first time, my fair King.”
|
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 9:54:39 GMT -5
Epilogue “Intriguing, apprarently, cheese wrappers could be effecting me more then I had once taken into account when purchasing individually wrapped dairy products… I must make note of this startling development for future reference.” Oberan hissed to himself hunched over his bed, writing sloppily on a legal pad. “Hey, Obie.” A velvety deep voice calls to him from above comparable to Orson Wells or the guy who played Debo in Friday. ”What do you want Marshall?” Marshall had been in the joint on account of some insider trading he did during the dot com burst of the nineties. Some BIG illegal trading. In this white collar facility Marshall was pretty close to the top of the food chain. “YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT, MEAT!” His booming voice roared down to his cell mate. “Marshall, I’m in the middle of something!” “I want your cocktail… FRUIT!” Marshall said in his deep “But I need this fruit cocktail for my daily-“ ”SHUT UP MEAT!” “Can’t this wait Marshall? Rachel Ray is about to-“ ”I SAID SHUT IT, MEAT!” “B-“ ”NOW MEAT!” Marshall said hopping off his top bunk and staring Derek Oberan, former President of Powers Industries, right into his two beady eyes. Marshall cut an impressive 4 and a half feet figure. He was pale and had scarlet red hair peeking out of his ever receding hairline. He pulled a small pen out from his hip where he had his orange jump suit tied up to reveal his burly chest arorned with assorted gang related tattoos. “Y-y-y-yes Marshall…” He said turning around and kneeling down over his bunk. Marshall smiled still shaking in anger and pushed his glasses up his nose again as they began to slide down. “HURRY UP, MEAT! NOW!” He was getting anxious and Oberan was being slow about it. Nervously, Oberan turned back around handing the man before him a small plastic cup of Dole fruit cocktail. “Here you go Marshall…” ”This BETTER have peaches in it, Meat. I love me some peaches…” “It’s not opene-“ “Did I say you can talk meat!?” he roared in his velvety baritone voice, “Commence watching Rachael Ray…. I love her…” Oberan nodded sheepishly turning back on his small television. In the land of pigs, the butcher is king. And this butcher loved his peaches. Oberan had given up daily essential vitamins and someone had to pay… He would have his revenge for this atrocity… but who? Who put him here? Oh that’s right, of course, how could he not see it before when it was right in front of his face the same way Rachael Ray was… Who was responsible? Who ELSE?! Powers, Inc.! AND HE WOULD HAVE HIS REVENGE! |
|
|
|
Post by brigante133 on Jul 18, 2007 10:15:12 GMT -5
Next month in Issue #9 "The Lady Don't Mind" don't miss the "EXCITING" next installment of Powers, Inc. wherein Power Girl finds herself helplessly in both love and the the vile clutches of the Tyros the Conqueror! [/b]
If not something very similar to that effect.
|
|
|
|
Post by mockingbird on Aug 9, 2011 14:59:41 GMT -5
To let us know what you think of this issue, please visit the letters page here!
|
|
