In the slums of the backwards city of Gunville, I lay handcuffed with hands tied around the backseat of a chair. Earlier, I had taken the liberty to get help from the Panther to chemically bond my mask to my face so that my secret identity would not be revealed.
"Talk, you faceless numbskull!" The interrogator roared, slapping me across my faceless face. Adrian Lopez sat, with hands upon her cold, dark, relentless eyes, with black, shining hair ruffled about in an untidy manner, and pistol holster upon the belt. Another figure, darker in complexion, named Alex Bafoe, said, "He ain't talking, Adrian. What should we do?"
"Take his mask off..." Adrian said. "Maybe we can get leads if we know who he is." Alex shook his head. "Already tried that, seems that it's stuck."
Adrian threw her metal pistol at my already beaten self. "We know those handprints on the spear aren't yours. And you don't look like the type to use a spear. Now tell me... who in blazes stabbed Officer Penny!" she growled. I sat silently, breathing large breaths. "We know about you and your Union's evil ways," Adrian said. "Our good friend, Warhead, who's now back in service with the U.S. Air Force, has told us everything. You guys are building some sort of device that could annihalate an entire country in one blow."
"I wouldn't go that far..." I said in a low, heavy voice. But the angry interrogator whipped my face with the pistol again. "Don't you dare talk when not spoken to."
"Now I'm alright with super-powered freaks on my side, but those guys that you're protecting... I hate em. One of them struck my sister cold. She was killed by what's her face... the Wasp, and one of her deadly insects. I can't wait to get her in the chair..." she said.
"Alright Bafoe, get the water ready..." Adrian ordered. But Bafoe was reluctant. "But boss, don't you think... don't you think that he's had enough? He must've got dozens of cuts and bruises behind that mask alone!"
"Do it, Bafoe! Or you're next!" She angrily shouted. Bafoe consented, and unleashed my arms from the chair, and dragged me to what looked to be a wooden tub of water.
The New Justice Union#8 - The Dark Arts of Interrogation
"Tell us all you know..." Though I was quite knowledgeable after file-snooping in the headquarters database, I would not relent any classified information. "Drown him..." Adrian ordered.
Bafoe shoved my face into the ice cold water, that stung through my mask, with the salt contained within seeping into my wounds and causing massive pain throughout my nerves.
They repeated to dump me in the water, and hold me there for fifteen seconds, and each time out I would gasp for breath, and brace myself for sharp, stinging pains that scratched against my already-thriving face wounds. My eyes were struck with biting pain as well, as salt began to seep into them.
After I bellowed in pain, letting out all air from my lungs, and breathing back in, Bafoe could no longer stand it. "I... I can't do this anymore boss, this isn't for me..."
Bafoe, left the room in a run, and Adrian took over, repeatedly trying to get an answer from me.
Meanwhile, back at the concluding conference, the mayor decided to end the commotion with an announcement. "Let it be known... that the Justice Union refuses to tear down their warring arms, and insists that the reason behind this is to protect us from incredulous spacebots... this meeting is adjourned!" And with that, people filed out the doors in droves, following the unpopularized heroes.
"Eaglet Girl, is it true that you are responsible for all this mayhem? The turning of the good into the bad?" One reporter provokingly inquired. Eaglet Girl, with blood boiling, snarled at the agent, to which he backed down.
But out of the corner of a street, in his wealthy limousine came out Rex Buffor, an old rival of Ultraman. He slowly walked to the three heroes and stopped before them. "I trust everything went well... Miss Patriotess," he sarcastically boasted, in his low voice.
"Unfortunately, no," she said aggressively. "And I'm sure you were watching it with a sniveling smirk on your television in your fancy limo," she confronted.
"Now don't be so judgmental," he warned. "People will start to think things... of you Justice Unioners..." he said, almost disgustingly. "But in all due respect, I wish your group the best of luck..."
"Of course you do, Buffor," Patriotess replied in her own sarcastic tone. "Now if you'll excuse us..." she answered. And the three of them returned to the headquarters in their own private plane.
Back in the Justice Union main computer room, Goldman had just finished receiving a call.
He spoke to Archer and the Hummingbird. "You two, there's been a distress signal from the 15th Precinct of Gunville. It's about the Face... it seems there's a little police brutality going on. I want you to go down there."
"And what?" Archer asked. "And break him out..." Goldman replied. "Well, that won't be a problem. I'd been wondering when I'd get to jump into action..." he replied. The hero and heroine then rushed to the teleportation pods, to break free the Face from the bonds of torture.
And as they left, the leader, strength, and influence of the Justice Union flew into the room, in his traditional yellow, red, and blue attire. "Ultraman, you're back," Goldman greeted. Ultraman smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am. Just finished recruiting former USA Operatives Touch and Go. Also known as Jim German and Matt German, twins."
"A two-for-one special I see," Goldman replied. "You could say that," Ultraman agreed. "What's been going on around here?" The Union Leader inquired.
Goldman shook his head. "Pretty bad stuff. Our name has pretty much been sullied since the beginning of the conference, and to make matters worse, our new recruit, the Face, has been called in for questioning for police injury."
"I can explain that..." Hunteress shyly said, entering the room. The two veteran heroes looked behind them. "What?" Ultraman asked.
Though Goldman knew this time would come, and just had wondered when. "Why don't you explain it to the leader... I've got some work to do," he beckoned to Hunteress. "So you knew all along, didn't you?" She replied in question. "Figures..."
So they went out into the main hall, and Hunteress began her truthful story. After some time, she finished. "So I guess I'll need to turn myself in..." she said, nervously speaking in front of the founding member. Ultraman sighed. "That would be the best thing to do right now."
"But since you did defy Goldman's orders for the third and final time, I regret to have to inform you that your membership here is no longer required," he said. Hunteress lowered her head in silent shame, knowing that her chances to find Bangora were much more slim.
"But..." Ultraman continued. "I will escort you down to the precinct so that you will be able to make adequate reparations for your troubles. And maybe save you from any long-term imprisonment."
Hunteress smiled, and they left the headquarters.
Back at the precinct, I sat in an electrode-capacitance chair, feeling the full extent of electrical charges that flowed through my nervous system. I cried out in agonizing pain as Adrian turned the knob of the catastrophic generator to release the powerful energy.
"Why won't you TALK!?" She yelled, periodically sending charges down my spine, causing erratic convulsions. Then, my voice began to speak on its own. "There it is!" Adrian twistedly cried joyously. "School cafeteria meat contains enzymes that alter your brain into thinking you like it..." I spilled. "No!" Adrian cried angrily.
Just then, a large blast of sonic waves crashed through the wall of the precinct, which made Adrian fall to the ground in shock. As the dust settled, and all became calm once again, she could see two figures: one standing upon a fallen mass of foundation, and another with arms spread before her who had heralded the blast. It was Archer and Hummingbird coming to my rescue.
"You crazy fiend!" Kevin cried, retrieving bow in hand. "Hummingbird, get the Face out of that contraption, and I'll handle this idiot..." he said.
Kevin rushed to the fallen interrogator who had somehow disappeared in the dust. Cautiously, Kevin crept closer, with bow in hand until the dust cleared. But he found himself face to face with a pistol pointed out at him. "Stop! You can't release him... he's been convicted with charges..." Adrian warned.
"Well you're maniacal... we're taking him back!" Archer said. Hummingbird had released me from my trap, but hesitated when she saw the gun. "Don't move him! We all know that I can pull this trigger faster than bowboy here can shoot a bow!" she yelled.
"Why do people continue to call me stupid names?" Archer wondered in frustration. Still, he would not back down. I was on the ground, weakened and beaten, while Hummingbird stood above watching in fright.
Thinking quickly, she outstretched her hand, and vibrated her arms unknowingly to the eye at super-sonic levels, and let a small wave blast into the armed fist of Adrian. The pistol dropped, and now Archer had the upper hand. "Now see who's backing down..." Archer said.
He let the arrow fly, revealing a net that encompassed the fiend to the ground. "Alright, let's get out of here..." Archer ordered. He then proceeded to rise me upon his back like a fallen comrade, and we all fled through the crack of the prison.
Archer, picked up the remote telecommunicator from his pocket and began to contact Goldman. "Alright, get us out of here, Goldman..." but instantly, the communicator was blasted to pieces from an angle that was meant to come from the air.
The blast had come from the atomic Warhead, who was hovering above. "Sorry, youngins. I hereby state that the Face cannot be removed from this facility, by the United States Air Force. He still needs questioning."
"Warhead, why are you doing this?! You're Justice Union!" Kevin cried. Warhead narrowed his eyes in solemness. "Not anymore. Didn't you hear? I've been reassigned to the Air Force... now please, put the criminal down."
"Not before a fight I'm not!" Archer yelled. Warhead folded his arms. "Come on now, you know you're not powerful enough to defeat me..." he gloated.
Archer set me upon the ground, and reached for his bow, and raised it toward our impedement. "I won't go down without a well-earned fight." He scoffed, letting an arrow fly. But Warhead easily halted its flight with a blast of yellow rays that burned it to the ground on the spot.
"Now come now, that's too easy..." he said. However, he spoke too soon, as a sonic blast had knocked him to the side, reeling in shock. He rubbed his head and looked down to the ground. "You, huh? Well, I have ways of frying little birds like you." His arms began to glow with yellow. "Now, I won't use any lethal doses of my energy blasts on you, it'll be low, but powerful enough to get you to cooperate. Nothing to harm ya, except with the power."
And he charged his arms ready to make a searing blast upon the startled Hummingbird. |
