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Chapter 26 – Freedom Squad Nanowrimo
Posted by Harry Heckel
Chapter 26
“How could you?” shouted Cori’s dad. “You let all those people in the mall die.”
Cori looked around. She was at home in Australia, a place that she hadn’t lived for years, but she was Rigel and in costume. “No, Dad, this isn’t you. I’m in my own mind being attacked.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. A black-gloved fist slammed into her jaw. She fell to the ground with the taste of blood in her mouth.
The Ace of Spades stood over her.
“You think I’m afraid of a fistfight?” she asked him.
“No,” he said, drawing a pistol from his belt, “but you’ll be traumatized by this.” He pointed the gun at her father and fired three times.
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Posted in Freedom Squad, HeroNet Files, NaNoWriMo
Tags: Defiance, Freedom Squad, Harry Heckel, Ion, Megalopolis, Nanowrimo Novel, Nightstar, Rigel, Rockslide, Superhero novel, Superhero team, Superheroes
Part 9 – Nanowrimo Freedom Squad
Posted by Harry Heckel
Chapter 9
When Rigel arrived at Freedom Squad Headquarters, she quickly checked the Monitor Room. Starlight stood in the middle of the chamber, his featureless white facemask reflecting the colors of the different screens.
“Starlight?”
“Greetings, Rigel,” he said without turning toward her. “I have something that I would like to say to you.”
“Yes?”
Starlight made a strange noise. It took Rigel a second, but it seemed that he was imitating someone clearing there throat. “Rigel, with all due respect for the noble efforts of yourself and the rest of Freedom Squad in protecting the good citizens of Megalopolis, I believe that the vile stench of evil has arisen in this fair city and I wish to assist in refreshing it with the clean scent of justice.”
“What?” she asked.
“I’m sorry,” said Starlight. “I probably need to watch more television. The Protector has led me to believe that other television programs would help me assimilate Terran culture. Perhaps I should try another set of colloquialisms. Captain, despite my alien outlook and lack of emotions, I feel that it is only logical that I assist in the retrieval of super-villains from the planet.”
“Are you asking to join Freedom Squad, Starlight?”
“Affirmative, Captain.”
Cori bit the inside of her cheek to avoid laughing. Starlight’s alieness somehow seemed much less threatening when he was trying to sound like a cartoon hero or a starship science officer. He had been the only one standing in the park after the fight, and the mayor had told her to augment the team.
“Starlight, welcome to the team.”
“Thank you, Cori,” he said flatly. “Live long and…” Starlight paused as he attempted to position his fingers.
“You are welcome, Starlight. Is Protector in the medlab?”
Starlight lowered his hand. “Yes, he is being treated along with Rockslide and Snowfall.”
She thanked Starlight and headed down to the medlab. She wished that she knew what to do. She wasn’t sure where Defiance could be. The team could go out on patrol, but she wondered if a team of villains would just attack Freedom Squad Headquarters.
“Nightstar,” she thought, “I’m back at the base. Any ideas on how to find Defiance?”
“Hi Cori,” he thought back. Nightstar had a natural affinity for telepathic communication even though he couldn’t initiate it. “I do have an idea.”
“Great! What is it?” she thought back with a touch of excitement. Nightstar did have the most experience of anyone on the team, she reminded herself.
“Orion, your father, was known as the greatest tracker of villains that ever lived. I’d have you reach out telepathically until you found him.”
Cori felt deflated. “Nightstar,” she thought, “I’m not as good as Dad. He had years of experience.”
“So,” thought Nightstar, “Hmmm… Death Queen would need bodies… oh, sorry, studying some crime files while I’m thinking with you. Anyway, you need to get years of experience yourself. It can’t hurt to try while we are waiting for something to happen.”
“You are right. Okay, I’ll try, but first, I’m checking on Alex, Rockslide, JR and Snowfall,” she thought.
“Who’s JR?” he asked.
“Ion. JR is his real name, remember?” she replied.
“Oh. I like Ion better.”
Cori shook her head as she ended her conversation with Nightstar as she walked into the medlab. Dr. Jake Lord, a middle-aged former superhero once known as Dr. Hurricane, was monitoring a console next to a clear tube filled with red liquid. Alex floated inside.
Although she knew about the healing tubes, it still surprised Cori to see one of her team members suspended inside one. Ion was sitting on a metal table, shirtless, with white medical tape wrapped around his torso. He was watching Alex’s tube, but also kept checking another one which was filled with stones. Cori realized it was Rockslide.
Ion looked over at Rigel, “Hey, Cori, isn’t this alien tech cool? Apparently Starlight’s predecessor gave it to us before he went loopy and got recalled. It’s like a bacta tank.”
“Yes, JR, it is.” She tried not to sound worried, but she didn’t like this. They didn’t fully understand how the healing tubes caused cellular regeneration. “How are they doing, Dr. Lord?”
“They should be fine, but I’m ending Protector’s session,” he pressed a button and the red liquid drained out of the tube. Cori could see that Alex was held in a harness and had a breathing mask over his nose and mouth. “Starlight said that he was concerned that a normal human might not be able to endure the process.”
“Why?” asked Cori.
“He couldn’t explain, but he told me that he would watch some medical shows on television to help him with the language. He kept quoting or paraphrasing DeForest Kelley while we were talking. It was amusing.”
Ion hopped off the examination table. “I’m going to have so much fun with him. Can you imagine him going up to a villain and saying ‘Make my day?’?”
“No, I can’t,” said Cori, trying not to even smile at the thought, “And we need to make sure that he doesn’t do that.”
“Okay,” said Ion sulkily.
“How are you doing?” she asked Ion.
“I’m fine. Doc Ex-Hurricane thinks I should find some time to rest. He says the ribs are bruised, but otherwise, I’m okay. I’m staying on duty.”
Cori smiled. “Thanks.”
“I’m staying on duty too,” gasped Protector as Dr. Lord helped him out of the tube.
“I don’t think so,” said Cori, walking over to him. “I saw you after that fight. You took on Defiance, and you have no powers, remember?” Her voice softened. Alex needed to be okay.
“But I’m the Protector,” he coughed.
Dr. Lord stood between Rigel and Alex. He guided Alex over to one of the examination tables. “I’m the team doctor, and I will decide who is cleared for duty and who isn’t. Ion is fine. Rockslide is fine as far as I can tell. Furthermore, he can stay in that regenerative fluid longer than a human.”
“Am I cleared? I need to help stop Defiance. The last Protector did,” said Alex.
Cori folded her arms across her chest and waited. Alex had been the first person that she had met when she had joined Freedom Squad. She guiltily remembered thinking that since he had no powers that he’d be a liability. Of course, that wasn’t exactly true, even if he believed it.”
Dr. Lord pressed a stethoscope against Alex’s chest and made him take several breaths. Cori watched Dr. Lord shine a light in Alex’s eyes. The pupils dilated.
“He’s not cleared. I want him to wait a few days.”
“I feel okay, Doc,” said Alex.
“His medical readings look fine,” offered Cori, who immediately regretted speaking up.
“He looks fine, but he’s only fine because of this technology which Starlight told me was risky for normal humans. I want to reassess him after a few days, Rigel. Protector, that means no crime fighting and light workouts only.”
“Alex, you should listen to the doc. I saw how you looked at the end of that battle. Those zombies the cops shot looked healthier. Please,” said Ion.
Alex shrugged. “I’ll obey doctor’s orders,” he said reluctantly.
“Good,” said Dr. Lord, “Now I only have one patient to worry about. You two can go.” Ion and Protector got up and left. Dr. Lord turned to face Cori.
“Me?” she asked, pointing at herself.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Rockslide. I want you to telepathically check on him to make sure that these readings showing me that he’s getting better are telling me the truth. Quite honestly, there was nothing in my anatomy class to prepare me for him, and I didn’t take geology.”
“Oh.”
Cori concentrated. She could feel Rockslide’s thoughts. He seemed quite happy. “Are you doing well in there?”
“Oh, yeah. This is wonderful!” he thought.
Cori chuckled. “He’s fine, Dr. Lord.”
“Good. I’m going to let him out. Oh, and Rigel?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Call me Jake. I was a big fan of your dad in my hero days. That and Daniel Hunter always spoke highly of you.”
For the briefest of instants, Cori wondered if Dr. Lord could be the Ace of Spades. In the next instant, she decided that she was getting way too paranoid for her own good. And in the instant that followed, she had an idea.
“Sure, um, Jake, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Rigel, you are the team leader of Freedom Squad. I’m the team doctor. You can ask me anything you want.”
“Did you know Defiance?”
“Sorry. I knew of him, but I never met him. Why?”
“Just hoping that I can learn more about him, possibly telepathically locate him.”
The healing tube containing Rockslide swung open, and the hulking member of Freedom Squad reassembled himself. He took a few steps and looked around the medlab. “Better,” he rumbled.
“Wonderful,” said Rigel. “Well, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m going to be concentrating on finding Defiance.”
Posted in Freedom Squad, HeroNet Files, NaNoWriMo
Tags: Defiance, Freedom Squad, Harry Heckel, HeroNet, HeroNet Files, Ion, Nanowrimo, Nanowrimo Novel, Protector, Rigel, Rockslide, superhero, Superhero Nanowrimo
Day 2 Nanowrimo – Freedom Squad
Posted by Harry Heckel
Here’s my effort to get to the second day goal and stay on track. Everything’s a bit raw. I had an idea as well to write up a Freedom Squad Roll Call to insert at the beginning of the novel to help my reader keep track of things. I’m going to keep writing through the day, but I hope everyone’s doing well with the writing.
One thing that I like to tell myself is that Nanowrimo is won not on the days when I’m inspired and the words flow easily, but on the tough days when I only get 100 words done. So, if you are participating, remember that no matter who stuck you may feel at the moment, every little bit does help.
Good luck to all!
Chapter 2
“Am I allowed to curse if I’m a member of Freedom Squad?” said Ion as he stared out of the cockpit of the Freedom Flyer into a scene of carnage.
Smoke poured from the super-powered wing of the jail and several massive walls had collapsed into a mountain of rubble. The scene resembled a bomb explosion.
“Ion, land us safely,” said Rigel. “We do what we can to contain the super-villains, but our first priority is saving lives. If any of you have to make a choice between a villain and a life, you save a life. Am I understood?”
“No worries,” answered Nightstar, who didn’t sound like he was trying to mock her. “But I see an old friend.”
A woman ran out of the rubble, her body gleaming as if it were made of gold, which of course, in her case, it was.
“That’s Golden Glory,” said Protector.
“Meet me on the ground,” said Nightstar, who whirled his blade and vanished.
“Wait!” shouted Rigel. “Nightstar!”
“He can’t hear you but you could mentally…” Ion stopped talking as he glanced over at Rigel. She didn’t appear to be in the mood to take advice. “I’m landing the Freedom Flyer.”
Meanwhile, Golden Glory, the former model and now maiden of metal, could see nothing ahead of her but freedom. She ran as fast as she could, wishing that she had superspeed to go with her near-invulnerability and super strength.
A crack of red and yellow appeared in the air in front of her. “Oh no…” she said. “Not him.”
Nightstar stood in front of her. “Remember me? I think the last time we saw each other you were helping Promethea and/or Dr. Inferno torture me. But, I’m the forgiving sort, so if you’d like to surrender now, I’ll make sure that you find a nice new cell where they serve three meals a day.”
“I have super-strength. Bullets bounce off of me. What are you going to do with your laser sword?”
Nightstar thrust his sword into her chest. She gasped and collapsed to her knees, eyes wide.
“It’s actually a psychic blade,” he explained, “it doesn’t do any physical harm. It does short-circuit minds fairly well. Basically, you go to…”
Golden Glory fell face first on the ground, unconscious.
“… sleep,” Nightstar finished.
“Look, a hero,” came a shout.
A bald man floated in the air toward Nightstar. An enormous lumbering, slavering semi-human creature built like an overzealous mess of claymation followed him.
“Okay,” said Nightstar, “I recognize Monstrosity there from the crime files, and you, based on your costume, must be… hmm, oh yes, the guy I’m putting back in prison next.”
“Fool!” sneered the floating man, “I am Super-Ego, the Master of the Mind!”
An invisible force clamped Nightstar’s arms to his sides, and he couldn’t expand his ribcage to breathe. His psychic blade flickered and vanished as pain disrupted his concentration. He wondered why he had been so stupid to rush off by himself like a rookie. It wasn’t like he needed to impress anyone.
“Rawrr!” snarled Monstrosity as he charged at Nightstar.
Nightstar closed his eyes behind his mirrorshades. This was going to hurt.
“Rawrupp??” shouted Monstrosity.
Nightstar opened his eyes in time to see the large humanoid flying through the air to smash into Super-Ego. Both men crashed to earth, but Monstrosity flew upward into the air again, hovering above Super-Ego before the super-villain discarded the creature with a gesture.
“He may be Nightstar, but he’s a member of Freedom Squad,” said Rigel.
She landed between Nightstar and Super-Ego, her cape billowing behind her as the stars on her blue costume nearly seemed to glow. The invisible force that had pinned Nightstar’s arms was gone.
“I am Super-Ego, Master of the Mind. You have made a terrible mistake,” he said to Rigel, “Freedom Squad? I’ve never heard of you. Out of my way, little girl, and I will let you live.”
Rigel and Super-Ego had locked gazes, and though Nightstar couldn’t see anything, he knew that a war was raging between the two. He took a breath. He wasn’t going to let Rigel lose that war. He re-ignited his psychic blade.
Monstrosity stood with a roar, but Rockslide was now rumbling toward the creature. Stone clashed with flesh as the two powerhouses rained blow after blow upon each other. The ground trembled.
A charge filled the air. A bolt of lightning struck Super-Ego then crossed with an arc to Monstrosity. The self-proclaimed Master of the Mind collapsed. Monstrosity roared louder as Rockslide continued to pound him.
“Well,” Ion said, running up to Nightstar, “Batting .500 isn’t bad, right?”
Rockslide and Monstrosity traded yet more seismic blows. Nightstar thought he felt another set of tremors that couldn’t be explained by either Rockslide or Monstrosity.
Mental commands echoed from Rigel. “Nightstar, Ion, there are people trapped under those walls. I’m going to help them. Nightstar, help Rockslide. Ion, Protector needs you through the broken wall to our left. I’ll join as soon as I can.”
With that, Rigel flew into the air, carried aloft by her own telekinesis. She landed near a huge wall, reached out with her right hand and slowly the mass of concrete, reinforced with titanium steel and who knew what else, rose into the air.
“Okay, maybe I am trying to impress someone,” muttered Nightstar.
“What was that?” asked Ion.
“Nothing,” said Nightstar, “Go help Protector.”
“Right.”
Ion raced off. He was certainly fast, but he didn’t have the speed to compete with a real speedster like Sprynt of the super-powered mercenary organization Wildside. He was started to get worried. There were a lot of villains imprisoned here. He paused as he entered the corridor through the very thick, but very shattered wall and pulled out his communicator, activating its cell phone feature. He vaguely wondered what was powerful enough to shatter a wall that thick.
“Is this Wildside, Inc.? How much do you charge to stop for a full scale super-prison break?” Ion asked.
“I’m sorry, sir, who are you with?” came a voice on the other line.
“Don’t try and stop me, hero,” shouted a woman.
Ion hung up the communicator. It had seemed like a decent idea to hire help, and a speedster like Sprynt might have made it here in time to assist. Of course, the woman who had shouted at him probably had ruined her chance to escape. He could hear a loud clanging sound coming from the opposite end of the corridor.
“Who are you?” Ion asked. “I’m Ion of Freedom Squad, by the way. I’m probably the most powerful superhero that you’ve never heard of and I can move at lightspeed.”
The woman had a guard trapped in a headlock and based on the way the man’s eyes were rolled back in his head and the white foam at his mouth, Ion guessed that she had some type of toxic touch. Still, her eyes widened. “You move at lightspeed?” she said with more than a hint of fear.
She looked at her hostage, and Ion could see her weighing her options of reacting faster than someone who could move at lightspeed. He decided to blast her in the legs. She stiffened and fell as if she had been hit with a super-powered taser. Which made sense to Ion, as he kinda was a super-powered taser.
“Oh, by the way, just for fact-checking purposes, I can’t really move at lightspeed, but my electrical bolts do,” Ion said to the unconscious villainess. She looked like she was okay, unconscious, but okay. Ion decided that he wasn’t going to chance touching her.
Ion checked on the guard. “Can you speak?”
“Unh,” moaned the man.
Ion checked the guard’s belt and retrieved a set of neutralizer cuffs. He quickly and carefully clamped them on the woman. Another guard, a short middle-aged black woman, ran up. “I’ll help him. You’ve got to get down there.” She pointed in the direction of the clanging.
“What’s going on?” Ion asked.
“It’s Uberdude, the eco-terrorist surfer. He’s mentally unstable from the chemicals that gave him his superpowers. He’s the third strongest prisoner in the facility, and he’s loose. Even the heavy energy beams can’t stop him.”
“So, where’s Protector?”
“That’s who’s stopping him.”
“Protector?” asked Ion.
“Did you get concussed? Yes, Protector, and I bet he’s going to need your help,” she said.
Ion stood and activated his communicator. “This is Ion, I may need some reinforcements in a minute. Protector’s taking on some guy called Uberdude. Just wanted everyone to know.”
Outside, Nightstar’s psychic blade had given Rockslide the upper hand on Monstrosity, and the enormous mutant lay barely moving on the ground. In the meantime, both heroes had encountered more than their fair share of potential escapees. Without their costumes, Nightstar had no idea who he was fighting, but the shock of the psychic blade wasn’t going to kill anyone, so he gave all of them an equal opportunity to be struck down.
Rigel heard Ion’s message, and for the moment, she thought she had rescued everyone trapped in the rubble. Several guards rushed past her. Based on the number of flashing red and blue lights and police now on the scene, it seemed the authorities were establishing control.
“Rigel,” came a woman’s voice over her communicator. “This is Agent Stacy King of Homeland Security’s Ultra Division. Where do you need reinforcements?”
Rigel answered. “I’m not sure. It’s a bit chaotic. Something about a lot of super-villains escaping. My team is doing everything we can, but I’d say any reinforcements would be appreciated.”
Cori looked over and saw Rockslide backing almost a dozen prisoners up against one of the prison’s still standing walls. For his part, Nightstar was engaging three prisoners, one of whom was wreathed in glowing green lights. The glowing green prisoner threw a globe of energy at Nightstar, but he blocked it with his psychic blade, discharging it with a popping noise. Unfortunately, one of the other prisoners performed an impressive flying kick at him from the opposite side, knocking Nightstar to the ground. The third prisoner decided to make a run for it.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Rigel under her breath. She was tired, having used most of her energy to lift walls and battle with Super-Ego, but she wasn’t about to have her team go down. She fired a mental bolt at the martial artist, sending him to sleep almost as quickly as Nightstar’s blade would have. She then gestured and telekinetically grabbed the green globe guy, lifting him up into the air before dropping him. She gave him a slight mid-fall adjustment to make sure he wouldn’t break his neck. The escaping prisoner ran into a group of police, stopped and raised his hands.
Nightstar started getting to his feet. She projected her thoughts, “Nightstar, how are you?”
He thought back, “I’ll be fine once my eyes decide they want to work again.”
She started running toward the section where Protector and Ion were. “I’m going to help the others.”
It didn’t take long to reach them. Rigel saw Ion standing behind Protector while a unshaven man with shoulder-length blond locks wearily punched Protector’s shield. Ion fired an electrical bolt.
“Dude,” said the unshaven man, “your shock treatment can’t hurt me. I told you. I’m Uberdude. But will you guys please drop the shield. I won’t even hit you any. I just want to get out and be free. You know, I was trying to save the grass and the trees and get rid of microplastic in the oceans. The world would, like, be so much better without factories and stuff.”
“Don’t drop the shield,” said Ion to Protector. “My electrical blasts are barely tickling this guy.”
“Don’t worry,” said Protector, “I wasn’t going to.” He then spoke to Uberdude, “Sir, I’m going to ask you to surrender again.”
Uberdude bent over to take a few breaths. He seemed to have exhausted himself beating on Protector’s shield. “Like, can we have a time-out here?” Uberdude asked, “I need a moment.”
Rigel concentrated and released a telepathic blast. Uberdude staggered and then fell over.
“What happened?” said Ion.
Rigel walked up behind them, trying to keep from shaking. She barely had anything left. “His mind wasn’t as strong as his body.”
Ion shrugged. “Well, when you say it like that, it seems pretty obvious.”
Posted in Freedom Squad, HeroNet Files, NaNoWriMo, Writing
Tags: Freedom Squad, Ion, Megalopolis, nanowrimo 2013 novel, nanowrimo daily post author, Nightstar, Protector, Rigel, Rockslide, Superhero fiction, superhero fight scene, Superhero Nanowrimo, Superhero team, Superhero text, Supervillain prison break