"I will ask you once more... who sent you to fight us?!" Goldman roared at the captive prisoner. Matterman would not surrender. "You can try and torture us all you want...but we won't say anything. Nothing at all..."
Goldman trudged out of the room of the detainment center in unfulfillment. "Not talking?" Psychocess asked. Goldman shook his chronium-helmeted head. "No, they won't say a thing... And for some reason they expect torture from us...which is not the Union way..."
Psychocess stared into the room full of detainees. "Maybe I can probe their minds...get an answer from them," Pyschocess offered. Goldman looked back into the downcast room. "I didn't want it to come to this, but go ahead," he agreed. He then pushed a button to activate the opening of the door. Pyschocess entered quietly.
Goldman returned to the main computer lab and began scanning profiles of various superheroes in the database. It seemed that the rest of the founding members of the Union had all gone to recruit as many members as possible.
All except for one, who sat depressed on a small seat in the rec room up on the second floor of the station. "This really bites..." The Blurr said, in his traditional green outfit, playing 'Knock Your Block Off Robots', with yet another hero. "Everyone's out there doing their thing, saving the world... and I'm stuck here in the headquarters, wasting my youth away. I should be out there!" Johnny ranted. The other hero agreed, and looked up. "You think you got it bad? I signed up three months ago... after I gained my powers. I still haven't even been assigned anything of the likes of toilet duty! I could be working in my old studio makin' movies... Ever since my partner left and disappeared, it just hasn't been the same. So I bought some of my own superpowers with some of the money I made with the movies," Elastiguy explained.
The Blurr sighed, looking at his gloved fingernail. "Well, you still have your powers to develop. Me, I was one of the originals! They cast me aside like a raggedy-andy doll in a grandmother's yard sale..."
Blurr sighed in hopelessness. "They say I'm a little too immature... do I seem immature to you?" But before Shawn could answer, his robot's head had popped up due to a perilous blow from the opposing side. Johnny celebrated with glee. "Hah! I knocked your block off!"
Goldman paced back and forth before the clear-windowed room of the detainees, until Psychocess had returned. "What's the verdict?" Goldman wondered. Psychocess had a solemn look about her face, which was not all too often. "I'm not sure...it seems that their employer goes by the name of Dennis Longley. But... their memories... they almost seem... artificial." Psychocess turned her head to view them once again, and turned back. "But one thing's for sure, they were programmed to think that we were the bad guys."
"Dennis Longley? I've never heard of him. Maybe I'll check him out on the database later..." But immediately after, the distress alarm blared through the air and alerted the heroes.
After viewing the cause, Goldman rushed to the rec room. "Blurr," he beckoned. The two busy heroes turned their heads in attentiveness, and Blurr's eyes widened. "A job? For me? Yes!" He cried, leaping out of his chair.
"I'm not sure the cause, it wasn't specified, but I'm sending you down there to check it out, Blurr," Goldman explained. The Blurr did not care what the cause, for he leapt to his feet, and speedily zipped to the holo-transmitter and was transmitted in a blink of an eye.
New Justice Union#5: That's Kid Stuff
He arrived at a small suburban area near the city, where lush green grass surrounded him as well as the sound of busily buzzing lawn-mowers and the aroma of grilled cheeseburgers and hotdogs that were broiled to perfection.
The Blurr scratched his head in confusion, and tapped into his com-link. "Uh Goldman," he said. "I think you dropped me off at the wrong place," he thought, gazing upon the peaceful leisurely outdoor activities of typical suburban household owners.
"No, those were the coordinates," Goldman corrected. Johnny's eyes turned into worry, as he viewed the non-problematic area, for he would not see any action. But just then, his hopes ran alive once more as he heard an young girl screaming as if in painful agony.
"Nevermind, Goldy, I hear the problem now! I'm off!" The Blurr was then at the scene of the trouble in a matter of milliseconds.
But before his eyes was a young girl, with tears beneath her eyes, sobbing with the resonance of a foghorn. The Blurr covered his ears to try and block out the boisterous bawl.
"What's wrong little girl?" He said aloud, almost as if he were speaking to a deaf person. The little girl calmed down, and pointed up to a tree. In a lowly, innocent, small voice she began to speak, while taking small, quick breaths while she talked. "M...my kitty cat...it's up on the tree... mean mommie and daddy put him up there. And now he won't come down..."
The Blurr stooped down on one knee and caressed the little girl's red pigtails. "Aww, don't worry lil' sweetheart. I'll get your kitty for you." He stood back up again. 'Boy, I wish Goldman would've told me I would be stuck babysitting..."
He then proceeded to easily run up the tree in blazing motion and return the orange cat to its little owner. "Here ya go sweetie..." He said, patting her on the head.
"Thank you Mr. Fast Guy," the little girl thanked. "My name's Liga... what's yours?" She asked in her innocent tone, with large eyes.
'Liga?' The Blurr thought. 'What were your parents thinking, kid?' But he replied, "Liga, what a pretty name. My name's the Blurr," he gently told her. Little Liga smiled and spoke once again. "Mr. Blurr...can I ask you a favor?"
The Blurr nodded, and shrugged his shoulders. "Anything." He answered. "Could you teach mommie and daddy a lesson?" She asked him.
The Blurr's face began to emit question. He patted her on the head again and smiled. "Naw, come on. Why would you want me to do that?" He asked her.
She began to speak again, this time in a slightly more lower tone. "Because mommie...and daddy....SHOULD DIE!!" She scowled lowering her voice into that of seething aggravation.
The Blurr's eys widened and his hands pulled back from the little child. "Whoa, whoa now. Let's not get out of hand little Liga."
"Why won't you beat them!? Why?! Why won't you do what I tell you too!?"
Soon, the Blurr knew that this was no ordinary cat rescue like the ones on television. "Hold on, why don't I just go in and talk to your mom and dad, see what the problem is, and try and work things out?" Ge asked.
But he didn't wait for an answer, and zoomed straight inside the house, where he found a husband and wife frantically shivering behind a couch. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on here?" The Blurr asked. The sweating couple held each other for dear life and anxiously spoke. "Are...are you the Justice Union?" the Father asked. Blurr nodded his head. "Were you the one who made the call?"
The couple nodded. "She's crazy I tell you...mad! She can blow you up just by thinking about it! That's what happened to Max...the dog, the goldfish, and the car!"
"Max...?" Blurr wondered. The couple nodded once again, as if they were programmed to do that same action. "Her older brother..."
Blurr's eyes flinched at the thought. "So I guess these are no ordinary temper tantrums..."
"Maybe I should call more of the Union Members to take care of this... someone who can't explode... unlike myself." He turned to leave, but the Father grabbed his arm. "No...you can't leave... Not anymore. She's watching your every move now..." he warned, and pointed behind him.
And sure enough, the Blurr turned back, and saw the red-haired little girl, with red eyes, staring at what was happening. "Get them! Now's your chance, Mr. Blurr! Do it, or you're my emeny too!" She bellowed angrily, aggressively.
The Blurr stretched his collar in nervousness, and gulped. He whispered to the couple, "Psst, listen. You stay here, until it's safe. Sneak out the back while I divert her attention away from you. Then flee for your lives." The Blurr turned to leave, but not before accessing a thought in his mind. 'Shee, I shoulda let Elastiguy take this one...'
The Blurr came back out the front door, warily, cautiously and looked at the little girl. "Did you do it? Did you go ka-powie?! Did they go bye-bye?!" She asked excitedly, in maniacal manner. The Blurr didn't answer, and knelt down in front of her, making sure to act passively and speak in gentle tones. "Now I think there's a better way to resolve this, Liga..." he said.
The little girl's eyes burned red with anger, and the Blurr began to back off at the sight. "YOU...DIDN'T DO IT?! You are my emeny now too, Mr. Blurr! We coulda been fwends! But no, you chooseded to stick with mommie and daddy!"
The pupils in her eyes grew bright red now, and the Blurr knew to hightail it out of here, once she blinked, the Blurr zipped a far distance away from her, avoiding a prolific blast that could have cause the Blurr to meet an untimely doom.
"This is no joke..." he said to himself. The little girl began to search around for the speedy lad. "Where are you Mr. Blurr?! All I wanna do is play wif yas!" She ran around in circles, laughing maniacally at the thought of explosions.
But then her ears perked as she heard a ruffling of leaves behind her. She then spotted her tremoring parents behind a shrub in front of the house. Her eyebrows lowered in fury, while the Blurr hid behind a tree from afar.
He witnessed Liga creeping closer to her helpless parents. "No..." he said. "She wouldn't dare harm her parents..."
Though he could not see it, Liga's eyes began turning red once again, and the couple in the shrubs panicked at the sight, screaming wildly as the child made ready a deathbed. "HER EYES! HER EYES!" The wife screamed.
"Nooo!" Blurr cried, zipping to the scene, and pushing the parents out of the way. But in doing so, he was caught by the bombastic blast, and he was thrown to the side, suffering large wounds and ripped outfit.
He lay upon the ground in deep pain, and felt blood rushing from his back. He groaned in agony as he covered his wound with his hand. But nothing would prepare him for the worse things to come.
As the couple began to run away, the child stood, silently on the grass, holding her orange cat. And with reddened eyes she blasted once again, this time striking her parents down, never to come back up.
Blurr held out his hand in regret. "No..." He gasped. But a peculiar sight melded into his eyes. The lethal little child began cry once more, as if she had lost someone she loved.
She bawled in sadness once again, and turned around to see the ailing Blurr again. Her tears suddenly ceased, and eyebrows lowered in fury yet another time. "YOU! YOU KILLED MOMMIE AND DADDY! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" She screamed...
Johnny's eyes widened in fright like never before, and he struggled to get back to his feet, and flee the blasts that the girl created. Explosion after explosion erupted into thin air, as the Blurr timed each blast to escape from by the twinkling in Liga's eyes.
"Alright little girl, I've tried playing nice, but it's time for you to go down!" He cried, and as he dodged the blast, he quickly maneuvered himself toward the little girl, until at last he was able to grab her before she blasted anymore.
"Get off of me you evil man!" She cried, wailing and kicking and screaming for the whole neighborhood to hear. "You wouldn't blow yourself up would you?" he challenged her. But the answer was unanticpated, as Liga rose up to the challenge, and her eyes lit up and sent a small blast upon the Blurr's face. "Agh!" He roared in pain as the dust cleared, and he threw Liga down to clutch the pain.
Liga began to cry once again, this time grabbing the attention of fellow neighbors. "Waaaah! Waaah! This mean man threw me down! He's trying to hurt me!" She lied. Smearing some blood off of his face, the Blurr fought back. "No, she's lying! Don't trust her!"
This in turn, made him look even worse. As many of the neighbors came round to yell obscenities at the hero. "Get back to where you came from, freak!" "Leave the girl alone!" "Somebody call the cops and get that man arrested!" Were among the phrases from the crowd.
And as the Blurr tried to recuperate, a band of suburban men, with rakes, shovels, and other tools of the like tried their hand at swiping the misunderstood hero. He tried to stand guard, but couldn't, and there was no way for him to escape from the crowd except to fight back. And fight back he did, as he sent them all flying backward with his exceptional velocity.
But they came back to crush him again, determined to save the child. But the little girl, wouldn't let them. "Don't hurt him!" she cried, exploding into the crowd and causing a man to fall. The crowd looked wide-eyed at the little girl in fright, and fled at the sight.
The Blurr was astonished as well. "What's wrong with you, little girl!?" he asked himself. And her eyes turned red again to prepare a blast for the Blurr. Quickly he outpaced each of the blasts, wondering how long the array would last. "Argh, I'm gonna need a recharge soon..." he said.
As many moments passed, the Blurr began to wear down... as the blasts became increasing in speed, and the girl's tantrum ran higher. "You're a bad man! You fought those townspeople!"
Finally the Blurr was running down too much, and the blasts became ever closer and more rapid in succession. Soon Blurr relented, and finally coming to a halt, and figuring this to be the end.
But as the explosions increased in velocity in number, just as soon did they halt, as the Blurr held his hands to his fists above his face.
He peered over to the maniacal girl, who had somehow collapsed onto the ground. He zoomed to her, and noticed that she still breathed shallowly. She was only asleep. He knelt down beside her, and lowered his eyebrows. "Kids like you shouldn't be running around on the streets..." he said, lifting his fist in the air, and beginning to vibrate it to high velocity, as his whole arm began to tremor in such a fastidious motion.
But he stopped, as he witnessed the young girl silently sleeping peacefully, with thumb in mouth, almost as if she had been that serene, innocent young girl he had first met. He let down his hand and collapsed beside her, activating his com-link.
He and the young girl Liga, were transported back to the station hall.
Eaglet Girl arrived on the scene with Stargirl, to see what was the matter. They saw the Blurr, breathing heavily, a bleeding face and back, with a small child slumbering soundly.
"What happened?!" Eaglet Girl wondered in perplexity. The Blurr continued to gasp for breath, to refill the oxygen he was losing through escaping blood. "Long story... a small temper tantrum if you will. Nothing that I couldn't handle."
Psychocess quickly teleported to the scene, grabbed Johnny's head, and absorbed information from his mind. Her face flinched with eyes closed as she read it for a few seconds, then released. "This child's a danger to society, we must provide a telepathic barrier to prevent her from harming anyone," she decided, and rushed the child away.
"Stargirl, get him to the infirmary," Eaglet Girl said. Stargirl nodded and carried out the orders.
After a day of care in the emergency room of the headquarters, Eaglet Girl returned to see Johnny once more. "How are you doing?" She wondered, taking a seat. "A little laceration here and there, but otherwise I'm doing fine," he replied. Eaglet Girl smiled. "You took quite a nasty mission there. Even though we thought it was minor. You really proved yourself out there," she said. Johnny gave a thumbs up at the remark. A knock came at the door, and Eaglet Girl turned her head. "Oh, by the way," she continued. "You have a visitor."
She let the door open and in came Shawn Wultern, aka Elastiguy, with a little gift under his arm. He sat beside Blurr's bed, and said, "Care for a little gave of Knock Your Block Off Robots? I'll let you win this time, judging by your condition,"
"Judging by how I can't move my limbs, I'd think it'd be pretty hard to beat you now...even though you always had the shoddy performance in the first place," Johnny said. Elastiguy laughed. "Whenever you're ready, man, as always. In the rec room."
"Eh, I'm done with kid stuff for the time being. I've had enough of 'em as it is," he said. "So does this mean your done with all that immaturity stuff?" Elastiguy asked. Blurr shook his bandaged head. "Nah, that's exactly what I'm going for... Remind me never to have a kid," he said. "Why not?" Elastiguy asked. "Easy," Blurr replied. "It could blow up in my face...literally." |
