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The Face#12 - Dr. Face and Mr. Doppleganger
“Are we all set for the clone?” A man dressed in a black suit asked of the assistant.
“Yes, all we need is a test subject. And this time, we cannot make any mistake. You remember what happened last time,” the assistant replied.
“Yes… our unfortunate first subject, Stephen Litnewski. He was destined to be my prodigy. Unfortunately, he did not obey our commands. Instead, he vowed revenge for the way he turned out… that blasted Green Phoenix character…”
“What we will need this time, is a clone that will succumb to our wills, one who is absolutely positive of where his allegiance stands.”
“Indeed. But next, we must find the perfect test subject. He must not be just another regular bloat, but one who excels in certain aspects. And, it is imperative that he is not one that possesses his own unique skills and abilities, for we shall mold what we want from the DNA that we will obtain. Now, let us strike back at the Green Phoenix, and use one of his friends as a test subject.”
The lab assistant began to search through a classified database with extensive information on the lives and backgrounds of numerous amounts of people.
A list of people appeared on the screen:
Match 1: Shawn Wultern
Match 2: Rosalie Kraft
Match 3: Yeng Lan Weller
Match 4: Jimmy Olstein
Information: These four matches, along with the Green Phoenix, constitute the Fanciful Five, a recently formed, renowned group of heroes and heroines who are uniquely known for their superpowers and absence of secret identities. They have battled a number of foes, and saved their city a number of times over the course of many months…
Superpowers:
Shawn Wultern/Elastiguy: Medication that allows the skin to stretch to great lengths
Rosalie Kraft/Rosepetal: Possesses the power of earth, and plant life
Yeng Lan Weller/Firegirl: Has the ability of extensive flame powers
Jimmy Olstein/The Infallible Jimmy: Has a number of various gadgets, gears, and machines to combat foes
Fanciful Five Trivia: Jimmy Olstein was not an initial member of the team, and was later inducted after helping the Fanciful Four thwart the nefarious Dr. Boom. Upon joining the team, Jimmy tried to maintain a secret identity by disguising himself with a black bandana mask that covered his eyes as the Infallible Gizmo. However, a witness spotted him and recognized him instantly, even with the covering over his eyes, and he has since been known as the Infallible Jimmy.
“Ah… none of these can work, they all have superpowers,” the black-suited man replied.
“Ah, but what about the one called Jimmy Olstein?” The assistant inquired.
“No, if we go after a member of their own team, they’ll surely be hunting for us. We must find someone that is not closely connected with them at all times…”
The lab assistant continued to search the database.
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“Well, what about this fellow, over here? A Journalist known at some times as… The Face.”
The black-suited man took a closer look at the screen before him.
“Interesting. No superpowers, extensively trained in the martial arts… an ideal subject. Mr. Perkins, schedule plans to arrive at Sullyville City… at oh-eight-hundred hours tomorrow morning.”
The scheming had begun.
[The next day… ]
I didn’t know what all the ruckus was about. Samantha Winkle had called just a few minutes ago explaining that, “You’re needed.”
I zipped away in my gray formalwear and trudged the steps of what seemed to be an under-siege news facility. Upon opening the door I found before my eyes a havoc of great proportions, as people were clamoring about screaming at the onslaught of an orange-skinned, amphibian-like female who threw about cabinets, computer monitors, and even people about the room with her deadly, rage-filled limbs and tail. She seemed to be echoing her fury through her angry tone.
“It isn’t enough that I’ve turned into this hideous creature, but you insolents want to tell the whole world about it! Well, let’s see you tell people about me after I destroy everything you have!”
I ran over to Tim, who was sitting by a plant in the corner.
“Tim, what’s going on?!” I asked him, as the Face.
“It’s the crazy maniac! She’s maniacal! She blames us for something we didn’t do! Or at least… I didn’t do it! Why does she have to punish me?!”
It was no use. He was hysterical. I decided to look for Samantha. But soon, she found me first.
“Face! You’ve got to help… this place is in trouble if we don’t find a way to get rid of that maniac!”
A cabinet was hurled my way.
“Who is she?” I wondered.
“I don’t know, she calls herself the Salamander… But I’ve heard of her. She’s got the wrong news press! We didn’t write a thing about her!”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I answered, and approached the fully-stressed, amphibious woman.
I wasn’t much on introductions, so I tapped the miss on the shoulder. The idea seemed to be plausible at first, until I was greeted with a fully-fledged whack of a muscle-bound tail to the chest. I landed a few feet away from where I began.
“No one can stop me!” The Salamander cried.
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I stood from my fallen state.
“Now, you see, you’ve got it all wrong,” I said. “Of course someone can stop you. If not me, someone else will, you don’t know how many willing people there are out there. Not only that, but you’ve got the wrong news press.”
“I’ll take no such lie, you fool!” She waved her tail around my neck, constricting it in a choking fashion. She just doesn’t learn does she.
I began to speak, with small breaths, for my lungs were not adequately being filled with the rich oxygen that my blood needed to survive.
“Well, I know a little something about amphibians, and if I know salamanders, I know that they have moist skin, which limits them to humid habitats such as forests and swamps.”
“I have all the moisture I need to ruin this establishment!” Salamander cried.
“And another thing, who talks like that?” I said, whipping out my trusted cellular phone with the famous taser built into it. Carefully pressing the ‘Send’ button, I sent a burst of electrical heat into the Salamander’s moist skin to make quick work of the evaporating, collected, moisture within. A trail of smoke billowed from her red-haired head.
“I didn’t know Salamanders had hair,” I said, as she groaned in agony at the escaping water. And she finally collapsed.
“Call the cops,” I said. “Tell ‘em you’ve got a little present for them,” I told Samantha.
“Sure thing,” she said.
“And another thing… Cover for me.” And I exited the building.
I sat in my apartment that night still in costume, pondering past events, and how I had turned into a wanted criminal overnight. In addition, I still had to find the whereabouts of my “good friend,” Punchinello, who started this mess in the first place. Hopefully, saving the Daily Times would give me neutral status once again. But I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
While tapping a pencil on top of my computer desk, I soon heard a different tapping… a rapping if you will, at my chamber door. Wondering who it could be, I left the desk to answer the door.
It was not the delivery man.
A bright light flashed before my eyes, and before I knew it I was on the ground, fully unconscious and in a world of dreams. I wouldn’t wake up, I found out, until many days later.
“Are the devices ready?” One man said, as I lay half-awake on some sort of hard-surfaced table. I wasn’t fully conscious. I must have been sedated, and I was unclear of what was happening.
“Cloning procedures will soon be activated…”
More lights flickered, and the lights in my own head went out once again.
Later, I had awoken to find myself in the very place that I last remembered… in the rolling chair of my computer desk. I looked around, still feeling groggy, though not knowing why. Then I remembered the events that had passed in my dream-like state. Was it a dream? I was not sure. So I headed off to work, knowing that I was late again.
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I wasn’t greeted with the usual, “Late again, Delman!” by the Chief. Peculiarly, this time he had asked, “Where have you been all this time!? You‘re this close to being fired!”
I knew not what was going on, until I saw Tim avidly typing away furiously on his computer.
“Hey Tim, what’s going on around here?” I asked him.
“Oh, hey Benny. I’m just furiously writing this article about the Fa… WHAT?!” He cried, as his eyes widened at the sight of me, as if he had seen a vicious, monstrous evil-doer.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“YOU! YOU! You think you can come in here and prance around like nothing’s happened?! You criminal! You villain! I oughtta call the Vengeance Squad to take care of you!”
“What are you talking about?!” I asked, trying to make sense of things.
“Haven’t you been reading the articles? It turns out things WERE true about you! You no-good, thieving, conniving, two-timing dropout!”
“Eh?” I wondered.
He shoved a computer monitor to my face. It was the Daily Times front page, showing some type of monstrous creature dressed in my costume, terrorizing a local jewelry store.
“So you have finally succumbed to the dark side! What was it that made you do it? Zandross’ power potion, or some sort of other evil, empowering force!?”
“No! That’s not me in that picture… You know I wouldn’t succumb to the evils of the dark side!”
I looked at the date on today’s paper. It wasn’t what I had thought the date to be.
“Is today January 13th?”
“Yeah, why? Planning to commit crimes of humanity again are you!? Well I won’t let you do it!”
“No! Hold on Tim, when did these attacks first start?”
“What, you want to remember your first day of turning evil? Well, if you forgot, it was four days ago, you traitor!”
“Tim, quit with that! Now, all I remember was falling asleep in my chair last night. But it couldn’t have been last night, because I remember that day was January 9th, and that can’t be right. But I remember dreaming… there was a bright flash, and then nothing. And then I was half awake… and I was in some sort of lab…”
“That must be it! You were captured, and experimented on! You’ve become the new Mr. Hyde! You’re a monster I tell you! A Monster! AAAAHH! A rage-filled monster is among us, run for your lives everybody!” Tim began to get hysterical once again, running about in circles around the room.
“Tim, calm down! I’m no monster!” I said.
But what if he was right? What if I had been experimented on, and I truly have become a danger to society, like the fate of my aging friend, Scrooge Potluck? (The Face: Myths and Legends - The Werewolf)
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Just then, another familiar face came from the distance. It was Samantha Winkle, who gasped at the sight of me.
“Hey, wait!” I cried.
“Get back! Someone call the police!” She yelled.
Tim stood up and skulked over to Samantha.
“It’s no use… He’s the victim of innocence… forced to live the life of a monstrous creature for as long as he lives… force to journalize by day, and terrorize by night! A cruel fate which has been handed down upon him with anger and reciprocity!”
“No… no, it’s not a cruel fate handed down upon me with anger and… and… reciprocity?”
“Is this true?” Samantha asked. “Have you really become… an uncontrollable fiend?”
“No, of course not! I mean… I don’t know, I can’t remember everything straight off the bat…”
But soon, the answer to the question was revealed. A nameless co-worker ran over to us once again and began speaking of horrible news. “The Face! It’s the Face! He’s struck again! Mary has it live on television right now!”
I was bewildered at the words, and so were my fellow co-workers. We rushed into the room to see what was going on.
There I was… or my monstrous counterpart, terrorizing local traffic. It looked to be me, but more monstrous, muscular, and strangely enough, he had an extra set of arms… but the same traditional faceless countenance and attire, which was partially ripped and tattered.
“How… how are you doing that?” Tim asked me.
“Don’t you get it yet? That’s not me!” I said to him in a low tone.
“You better check that out…” Samantha cautioned.
“I probably should…” I agreed. And I went to retrieve my alter ego’s assistance.
Next: The Doppelganger Strikes!
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