Perez Park, Paragon City
"Portals to other dimensions, advanced flying machines, holograms... and yet we still can't get a microwave that doesn't burn popcorn," sighed Busterman Zero as he removed the expanded paper package from the device he'd used to cook it. The red and white popcorn package had blackened near the top and smoke eminated from the microwave. Busterman sighed again when he opened the package to find several kernels as black as charcoal.
After throwing the burnt popcorn into the garbage Zero entered his makeshift living room, which was just a carpeted area connected to his small kitchen that offered only one coffee-stained lounger and a couch which the hero had bought back in the 70s. On the wall above the couch were several mementos from his past adventures: Council rifles, Circle of Thorns artifacts, Nemesis technology, even a couple of Carnival of Shadows masks. The hero plopped down on the couch and glanced along the wall, once again remembering the past.
* * *
London, England, 1943
"How are you adapting, Captain Blake?"
"It's unbelieveable, doctor. Not only can I emit these energy pulses, I can run for over a day without getting tired and any injury I suffer is healed completely in minutes!"
"Yes, your entire nervous system is now emitting greater amounts of chemical energy which have also accelerated your bodily functions. The energy can be focused into parts of your body, which is how those energy blasts of yours are possible."
"Amazing. But, uh, tell me doctor, what happened to my hair?"
"An unfortunate side-effect from the virus, I'm sorry to say. Still, perhaps people will find you more distinguished."
"I suppose there's nothing I can do about it. Are the others able to do what I can do? If so we may yet be the commandos you want us to be."
"Unfortunately the virus hasn't performed as well as we'd hoped."
"What? What do you mean?"
"The original variant of it, the one you were exposed to, has killed every other test subject. That particular virus is now being destroyed to avoid exposure to anyone else."
"So I was the lucky one?"
"Yes, I'm afraid you were lied to when you were called Patient Zero. You were one of twenty men, and as of the project's first anniversary you're the only one to survive and adapt as we'd expected."
"So what you're saying is my brigade now consists of one man, me?"
"Not quite. We were able to modify the virus in many ways for further tests made more recently and several more survived. As a result these variants will be added to your brigade. Their powers are similar yet different to your own."
"In what way?"
"While you yourself can harness your energy in concentrated raw energy, they cannot. One can create flames, another water, yet another wind. There are a total of twenty-six of you."
"Well then, when can I meet my men?"
"Tomorrow. We need you ready to fight the Storm Korps as soon as possible."
* * *
Zero's cell phone vibrated on his belt, shaking away his memories. "Hello?" the hero said into the phone after he brought it to the side of his head.
"Hi Alex, it's Justin," announced a voice on the other end. "We've checked the information five times and Vandal is definitely meeting with someone from Arachnos tomorrow, but we haven't been able to decode the message entirely to find out who he's meeting with."
"So we have the Council and Arachnos meeting with at least two major players involved," noted Zero. "How do you want to handle it?"
"The Freedom Phalanx will be watching the Rogue Isles while you, the Vindicators and some Longbow agents cover the meeting itself," explained Manticore. "We'll keep things small with several more heroes and agents on call in case we need them. No one's supposed to move until you or Ms. Liberty gives the signal."
"Works for me," decided Zero. "Watch your rear, Justin. I'll drop by HQ later to go over the plan one more time." With that Busterman hung up the phone and tossed it onto the lounger.
Years ago Busterman Zero had been granted reserve status with the Freedom Phalanx which was certainly helpful, allowing him to be on a first-name basis with several of Paragon City's finest. The fact that he was also one of Paragon's oldest living heroes, having been born in 1912, had also gained him some respect. In spite of it all however he wasn't nearly as notorious as the Phalanx, Midnight Squad or even the Vanguard, the Buster Brigade having mostly fought an underground war against those who still followed the Axis way of life years after the war had ended along with several Communist villains such as People's Hammer. Still, nothing could of prepared Zero for the Rikti.
* * *
Perez Park, Paragon City, 2002[/b]
"What's your status, Electro?"
"I'm okay, but Aero's dead, Alex! Cryo and Geo are gone too! They wiped the floor with us!"
"I know Nigel, but we have to move on. The Freedom Phalanx, Dawn Patrol, Midnight Squad and Regulators were all hit as well. The invaders figure out where we hide out and apparently felt we needed a lesson in pain..."
"They certainly made their point. Hydro's back there with a sword in his chest..."
"Dammit all! What about you, Pyro? Are you okay?"
"Nothing serious Captain. How's your eye?"
"I can't see a damn thing out of it."
"Acursed freaks... why the hell did they attack us anyways?"
"I don't know Franklin, but right now we just need to stop them. Solomon said an eye for an eye, and right now I have a lot of Rikti who need to learn that lesson."
Faultline (formerly Overbrook), Paragon City
History claimed that Overbrook was destroyed by the villain known as Faultline who set off earthquake devices that leveled the area. In spite of this several dozen people, mostly the more experienced heroes of Paragon City, know that Faultline was a hero who's powers lost control due to the meddling of a villain who attempted to rewrite the past. Busterman Zero learned this from Jim Temblor, Faultline's son who is a member of the Vanguard Shield unit, as was Zero before his resignation.
Sitting behind a collection of empty barrels Busterman felt his rear getting sore. He, along with Ms. Liberty, Mynx, Swan and Valkyrie, all members of the Vindicators, were sitting in an abandoned construction site in lower Faultline, waiting for the Council and Arachnos to show up. A full unit of Longbow Guardians was on stand-by further back, plus Wyvern was supposedly monitoring events from a listening device Swan had set up earlier. Infernal, Luminary, Malaise and Aurora Borealis were busy helping the Freedom Phalanx in their continuing battle against Nemesis thus Busterman Zero was left hoping all the allies he'd gathered would be enough.
"I hope Vandal and his goon squad show up soon, my tail's getting sore," muttered Mynx. She and Zero were the only ones not actively scanning the area, merely sitting in their hiding spot while Ms. Liberty scanned the area with binoculars and the other two merely looked around using their eyes.
"I shame none of us have telescopic vision," joked Swan, getting a mild chuckle from the others. Night would be coming soon and many of the heroes present were a bit tired, thus conversation had worn thin.
Without anything to do Zero reached into his pocket and pulled out the old Paragon City collector's coin he'd received years ago which depicted Atlas Park on one site and a star on the other. Zero casually rolled the coin between his knuckles and once again started thinking back to his past.
* * *
Vanguard Headquarters, Paragon City, 2002
"Busterman Zero, reporting for duty, Commander Statesman."
"Drop the Commander stuff Zero."
"Sorry States, but the whole military touch to all this awakened my old habits, you know?"
"Yes, I'm having flashbacks to my past experiences as well. Now then, I was told you were originally going to be with Omega Team. What's changed?"
"I was the only one of the Buster Brigade chosen for it. Pyro and Electro are with you, and I'm not going to leave them behind. I can't afford to let another one of my friends down."
"Noble sentiment. I heard your eye got damaged because you took a hit meant for Electro..."
"The strike would of split him in half. My face got in the way. Preferably it always will if it comes down between life and death for the men who have trusted me for decades."
"Alright, I'll make sure you three are kept in the same group. This won't be easy though, Zero, we're only the diversion. The rest is up to Hero 1 and his team."
"Hero 1's the only person I know of who could probably take your place as the world's most powerful hero, States. I know he'll succeed."
* * *
"I've got Zenith mechs!" announced Ms. Liberty, waking Zero from his daydream.
"Vandal shouldn't be far behind then," pointed out Swan, looking over to where Ms. Liberty was focused. Down at the beach below them were sixteen Zenith Mech Men along with four Hoverbots, a small but deadly force of Council technology at its finest. Zenith Warcrys weren't far behind, and then finally Vandal himself appeared, the hulking figure in an armored shell of sophisticated technology.
"Right on time, I see Arachnos," announced Valkyrie, spotting a black object surfacing from the water. The familiar red crest of Arachnos was scralled on the side of the submarine and a moment later several Wolf Spiders and Mu Strikers emerged from within.
"So many Mystics... Scirocco?" asked Swan, seeing the Arachnos units head for the sandy shore.
"Speak of the devil," muttered Zero, spotting the villain almost immediately after Swan mentioned him. "I don't like this. Longbow doesn't usually come down here but they still have a presense. I would of figured there to be more minions."
"Now's not the time to get greedy," warned Ms. Liberty as she watched Scirocco fly towards the meeting point. "Vandals robots are a pain and Scirocco's Mu powers are arguably worse."
"We can take them," Mynx assured her leader, branishing her claws and almost shaking in anticipation. Zero couldn't blame the heroine as they'd both been sitting for a couple of hours due to the ambiguity of the supposed meeting time.
"Hang on, look over to the left again," insisted Valkyrie, suddenly noticing something. Everyone looked but Zero couldn't see what she was indicating.
"What?" asked Zero, curious.
"There's someone cloaked over there," realized Swan, glancing at a spot Zero and the others thought was empty. "I can't make him out, but he's definitely male. He doesn't look familiar either. He's shrouded in darkness..."
"A vampyri, or maybe a Galaxy Band soldier," decided Zero as he pocketed his coin. "Vandal may be looking to double-cross Lord Recluse. I wouldn't put it past him."
"Whatever, lets just go pound them!" snarled Mynx, looking far too eager to attack. "Lets go on three! One, two..."
"Three!" shouted a female voice from behind the heroes as an icy blue energy blast was fired from behind, striking Mynx as she stood ready to pounce. In an instant ice formed around Mynx's feline body, fixing her in place and freezing her solid. Zero and Ms. Liberty spun around and immediately fired off their own ranged attacks, a solid power blast and a magical lightning bolt striking Ice Mistral, Scirocco's pupil, and sending her flying into an exposed support beam.
"Guys, I think this is a trap!" warned Swan as Mu lightning suddenly lanced around the heroes. Zero silently cursed Bob the Adjutant and vowed to go drop him off a ledge if he made it out of the current mess.
Chiron Medical Center, Atlas Park, Paragon City, 2003
"Mister Quail, I'm going to test your memory: do you remember your name?"
"Yes doctor, my long-term memory's fine. My name's Franklin Quail, also known as Busterman Pyro. I don't know your name because you didn't introduce yourself, but I do know that guy's Alex Blake, also known as Busterman Zero, leader of the Buster Brigade and bloody hero."
"Good to see your brain's still working, Frank."
"Thanks Al. Unfortunately I don't know what happened after I got shot. What happened? Since I'm in a hospital I imagine we won?"
"We sure did Frank, but it was ugly. One thousand heroes in Alpha team, maybe two hundred survived. Only eight of the main commanders made it out."
"Nigel?"
"I'm sorry Frank, they got him. He was shot in chest and then used the last of his power to blow up a full batallion."
"So that just leaves you and me... I guess the Buster Brigade is done."
"I'm afraid so. Doctor Reed here has something else she needs to tell you."
"Mister Quail, the blast from the Rikti weapon put you in a coma for several months. Your legs have also been paralyzed and your unique ability can't seem to repair the damage by itself, just like Mister Blake's eye."
"What?! Oh god!"
"I'm so sorry Franklin.."
* * *
"Alex, get up!" shouted Ms. Liberty as she dealt a powerful kick to the foolish Wolf Spider that had dared to challenge her. Busterman Zero was on the ground with lightning burns on his back, his vision hazy. At least three Mu Adepts had hit him at roughly the same time, resulting in a blast powerful enough to knock him senseless for a few moments.
Ice Mistral was fast asleep, a psychic attack from Swan putting her down, but not before the villain had managed to freeze Valkyrie as well as Mynx. The two other Vindicators were now holding off Scirocco's ambush troops while Zero attempted to stand once again.
"I've send a call to the Longbow agents, they'll be here shortly!" announced Ms. Liberty as one of her lightning bolts struck down another Mu Adept. Since Statesman's granddaughter was managing to hold her own Busterman rushed over to help Swan, delivering a powerful two-fisted blow to a Wolf Spider Huntsman, knocking the high-ranking soldier down and out of the fight.
"Incoming mech men!" exclaimed Swan, seeing a new threat approaching. Vandal's robots and Scirocco's troops were on full attack but the two villains themselves were hanging back. There was no word on the person who was supposedly present but cloaked. A Mk I Warcry aimed its arm cannon at the still-frozen Valkyrie but Zero managed to outshoot it, his own energy blast blasting off the robot's arm, another decapitating it and rendering it compeletely useless. The heroes were managing but were still stuck on the defensive, unable to even consider attacking with two of their own completely exposed and helpless.
As a Longbow Chaser appeared above the construction site Zero felt a rush of hope which was immediately lost when an unseen force suddenly dealt a powerful blow to his chest, sending Busterman flying into the barrels he'd been hiding behind earlier. "What in blazes..." gasped Zero, feeling as if his very soul had been attacked.
"Surprise, old man!" laughed a new voice as an oddly-familiar man came into view before the heroes. The man was about Zero's height and wore similar clothing, though his pants and gloves were brown, his jacket looked like one that would belong to a sports team and he wore black and red wrapped sunglasses instead of goggles. The man was also somewhat pale and had shaggy hair that barely reached his shoulders. An old image from the works of H.P. Lovecraft was stitched onto the left lapel of the man's jacket and a pair of scars ran down his left eye. The man could easily by Busterman Zero's evil twin.
"Who the heck are you, some twisted fan?!" shouted Zero as he stood and immediately unleashed an explosive energy blast, sending the new arrival and two Wolf Spiders to the ground. The new arrival, however, managed to quickly stand, flipping up to his feet like he'd never fallen in the first place.
"I'm your opposite, Zero, your darkness," declared the villain with a sneer. "I am Busterman Shadow!" As Shadow revealed his identity he raised his hands and fired a concentrated pulse of negative energy straight at his namesake, causing him to stumble and stagger in pain.
"You're delusional!" roared Busterman Zero, his feet lifting off the ground as he flew, fists leading, straight into Shadow, sending them both into the sandy mound outside the construction site. While this was going on Longbow agents entered the fray, helping take down the Wolf Spiders, Mu Adepts and Mech Men as well as attempting to thaw the two frozen heroines. Ms. Liberty and Swan, free from battling the small fry, set out to attack Vandal and Scirocco.
"Ever heard of the Eye of the Abyss?" asked Shadow as Zero held the villain down, both covered in sand. "The Council used it to create me, a clone of both you and Nosferatu! I am the new Busterman, and I'm going to destroy you!" As Shadow finished speaking he managed to swing a free fist into Zero's jaw, knocking the hero off of him and allowing him to stand.
"Sorry, but a real Busterman isn't one of Requiem's pawns," stated Zero as he stood and fired and energy blast which Shadow jumped to avoid, the blast instead heating portions of the sand to the point of creating crude glass.
"Oh, I'm no servant of the Council," laughed Shadow, his hands glowing with black negative energy. "The Center doesn't trust me. This meeting was meant for me to go and join Arachnos, but I have no interest in Recluse. Once I've killed you I'll kill him and become the new ruler of the Rogue Isles!"
"I suppose that does make you my clone, sort of," conceeded Zero as he ducked one of Shadow's own attacks, the orb of negative energy making a large splash as it hit the water behind Zero. "All the same, as your tissue donor, it's my duty to make sure you never threaten the people of this world!" Changing tactics, Zero pulled a tranquilizer dart from his belt pouch and attempted to hit Shadow with it but missed, the dart hitting the ground harmlessly as the hero and villain continued to circle one another.
"Too obvious, old man!" taunted Shadow as he suddenly vanished from sight, leaving Zero without a way to track him. As if that weren't bad enough Vandal and Scirocco had the Vindicators pinned and several of the Longbow agents had been forced to use their emergency teleporters. Zero needed to end the fight fast if he was going to be of any help to the others, but Shadow wasn't making it easy.
"Alright, lets see if you can follow the leader!" shouted Zero, suddenly lifting off the ground and flying straight into the midst of the Vindicators and the other villains. Valkeryie was clashing swords with Scirocco while Swan was pinned under Vandal's boot, apparently stunned or even unconcious and Ms. Liberty was paralyzed by an EM Pulse Scirocco had emitted earlier. Mynx meanwhile was battling the remaining Zenith Mechs but was in no real danger. Both villains seemed to ignore Zero as he landed between them and stood idle, as if ignoring everything around him.
"He..lp..." gasped Ms. Liberty, barely able to talk due to the effects of the pulse. Zero merely grinned and closed his eyes.
"What a buffoon," rasped Vandal from within his armor, pointing his cannon directly at Zero's head.
"Boom," whispered Zero as his sudden build-up of energy was released, causing a massive energy surge all around him, his well-aimed self-explosion managing to avoid damage to his allies thanks to his own will. Immediately Vandal and Scirocco were plucked from the ground and flew several dozen feet away, both in sudden and serious pain from Zero's Nova attack. Two more Mech men were destroyed in the blast as well. The other result was Shadow being exposed and seriously hurt as well, the villain appearing in plain view in the water near the submarine while floating on his back, his clothes burnt. For his own part Busterman Zero couldn't stand, dropping to one knee as he gasped for air, unsure if he could even throw a punch now.
Vandal, his gun smoldering, attempted to stand but was quickly knocked down by a recovered Ms. Liberty with a powerful lightning bolt, Longbow agents quickly moving to secure him. Scirocco was approached by Valkyrie but seemed to vanish into the sand, almost like he'd become a part of it. Mynx, finished with the last of the villains' minions, helped Swan to her feet.
"Nice one, could of been ugly otherwise," commented Ms. Liberty as she walked over and offered Zero a hand. Still breathing heavily Zero shakily took the offer and managed to get to his feet.
"Been a while since I've done that," breathed the hero, just glad he'd managed to prevent the battle from being lost.
"Scirocco's gone, but at least we have Vandal and that clone guy," observed Mynx, glancing over to where Shadow had landed. "Huh?!" At the exclamation everyone turned to see that Shadow had vanished again, no longer floating in the water.
"Uh oh, head's up everyone!" shouted Swan as the heroes braced themselves for a coming attack. Zero and the Vindicators were instead treated to the Arachnos submarine suddenly submerging and no attack came.
"He must be on that sub," realized valkyrie, saying what everyone was thinking.
* * *
Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Italy
Piazza Maggiore was one of Bologna's central squares thus outdoor cafes were common and quite crowded. It was sunny day and birds were circling the beautiful Italian sky as Busterman Zero sat at a table while nursing a cup of coffee. The hero was dressed in civilian clothing, wearing only a white dress shirt with the wrists and neck open and a pair of navy slacks. Sitting across the small round table from him was another man who possessed light brown hair that almost looked blond and who was wearing a simple orange T-shirt and brown cargo pants.
"So there's been no word on this Shadow guy?" asked Zero's friend as he took a sip of his own coffee.
"None, I guess failing to kill me has derailed his plans," replied Zero, wiping his lip with a napkin and flashing a passing woman a smile. "He did steal an Arachnos submarine though, so I'm betting he isn't exactly in Lord Recluse's good books. Without any allies he'll probably just turn into another Rogue Isles bottom-feeder, but I'd still prefer it if he were in jail or something."
"He was created partially using your own flesh," pointed out the other man, sratching his goatee. "Ever figured out how they could of done that?"
"Crey has cloning technology so maybe the Council does too, or they stole it from the Countess," suggested Zero. "Getting my DNA wouldn't be that hard either what with how often we fought them over the years, both before and after Requiem and his boys were crushed by The Center."
"For the last few years it's just been the two of us, and now we are three," observed the bearded man, taking a bite of a biscuit. "Unfortunately our new brother is on the wrong side. That's one hell of a bad legacy."
"He's more like my son than brother, Frank," pointed out Zero, a bit distressed from having thought about the situation too much.
"So why are you wasting your time coming here to visit me when you could be back in Paragon City hunting him down?" asked the man formerly known as Busterman Pyro, tapping the side of his electic wheelchair.
"You know that there's only two really good intelligence agencies out there, and I'm not a part of either one," replied Zero, somewhat defensive. "Besides, like you said you're my brother, even if we aren't related by blood. Flying here isn't that expensive either..."
"You're leaving something out," noted Franklin, knowing his former Captain all too well.
"Alright, you caught me," confessed Zero, pulling out a cigar. "The Vanguard have confirmed there's Rikti activity around here and since The Dark Watcher knew I'd be coming here he asked me to reactivate my membership with them and check it out. I'm meeting up with a few local heroes at the suspected enclave in an hour."
"The Council, Arachnos, the Rikti and now Busterman Shadow," whisted Franklin, shaking his head. "You're taking on a lot of responisbility Al. How the heck do you think you'll pull it off?"
"Easy, I'm Busterman Zero of the Buster Brigade," replied Alex Blake with a cocky grin. "That's always been enough, and hopefully it always will be..."
* * *
End of Part 1 "Enter The Shadow"
Next... Busterman Zero and Busterman Shadow return in Coming of The Plague!
[u]Part 2: Coming of the Plague[u]
Shadow's Anchor, Cap Au Diable, Rogue Isles
The bar formerly known as Stan's Anchor was under new management, Busterman Shadow having murdered the previous owner and quickly established his supremacy over the angered bar patrons. Now a pair of ninjas who followed the lead of the bar's head bouncer Onijin, one of the many Shadow had been forced to stop in order to take over the seedy establishment.
Up on the bar's second floor Shadow had set up a large confrence table where he and a representative from the Circle of Thorns now sat. The Thorns member was Oracle Dalthanis, a man that Shadow had personally called for. The Thorns mage was dressed in dark flowing green robes and a tall hat. Thorn guardians watched the doors along with more of Onijin's ninjas.
"Yes, I see the Eye where your heart should be," obsered Dalthanis as he sat across from Shadow. "You are a being of magic more than science. Only with a relic such as the Eye of the Abyss can one such as yourself come to be."
"Well, not everyone's as good at cloning as Crey is," pointed out Shadow, flashing his guest a grin. "Ah, I see the other guest has arrived." Walking past the guards posted was a man who's skin appeared to be that of solid gold and two men flanking him, both wearing yellow and blue uniforms with large jetpacks on their backs. "Welcome, King Midas, please sit down, your men as well."
"This had better be good, Shadow, I normally don't waste my time with worms like you," threatened King Midas, taking a seat on Shadow's right with his men on either side of him. "You said you had a unique proposition that I wouldn't be able to resist. I'm here, so tell me in detail: what is it?"
"With pleasure," laughed Shadow, leaning back in his chair. "It was a couple of months ago that I encountered the Vindicators while the Council was trying to get rid of me. During that battle I realized that the best way to defeat Paragon City's heroes, or any superpowered enemy for that matter, is to specifically immobilize them, not just hurt them more than they can hurt you."
"Yes, this is true," agreed Dalthanis, nodding. "I insist that all my mages learn spells to do this."
"Right, putting someone to sleep is a lot easier than just beating them into the ground," commented King Midas, nodding. "Where are you going with this?"
"I recently left the Fallen Legion, a group I'd joined to help me survive here in the Rogue Isles until I could understand how it works. When I left them I stole an old spell which I believe may have unlocked the one secret men have tried for centuries to achieve."
"And just what is that and what does it have to do with me?" demanded King Midas, growing impatient.
"Alchemy, my dear King," replied Shadow with a grin, pulling out a leathery page from his jacket and holding it up. "This spell can turn anything, and I do mean anything, into solid gold, even the air itself."
"You're lying," growled King Midas, his eyes narrowing.
"He is not, I have already inspected the spell," revealed Dalthanis. "The only problem remains that the spell is long and complicated. To turn one object the size of a cup to gold requires several seconds to accomplish."
"But we've kept studying and found a variation," continued Shadow, now looking squarely at King Midas. "The spell allows you to create a Philosopher's Stone, one that still affects anything unlike what the legends say. If we could combine the stone with one of your sophisticated weapons, we could create the ultimate weapon, one that could rid us of any enemies we encounter and make us rich at the same time."
"What is it up plan to do if such a weapon is made?" asked King Midas, now very intrigued.
"Through this alliance which we will forge here and now we will ensure that we all achieve our goals. Dalthanis wants to please Baron Zoria and become an elite member of the Circle of Thorns. I want to turn Paragon City into a literal gold mine I know you're itching to take out Dr. Aeon. By combining science and sorcery we can achieve all our dreams and make the world fear us."
"I already agreed to help him, we only need you," Dalthanis told King Midas as he tapped his fingers on the table. "What say you?"
"I think we can come to an arrangement..." chuckled the Gold Brickers' leader, finally smiling.
"Then lets get this started, because soon not even Statesman or Lord Recluse will be able to stop us!" laughed Busterman Shadow, standing with his fist raised. Dalthanis and King Midas quickly did the same, touching their knuckles together to symbolize the beginning of their new partnership.
* * *
Tiki Lounge, Pocket D
"Hey there, can I buy you a drink?" Busterman Zero asked an attractive woman in a green dress who was sitting next to him at the bar.
"Dream on loser, why don't you just wear a 'Sexy Grandpa' T-shirt?" was the woman's reply, a very cold one at that as she stood up. "Oh, and I don't date heroes," added the woman as she walked away.
The bartender, a Spirit Mask who had been a part of the organization known as the Banished Pantheon, floated over to Zero. "Need a refill there, champ?"
"You know it Bruce," sighed Busterman, getting his glass refilled with cranberry juice. "Sometimes I wish the villains were more open about being just that, but then they wouldn't be villains, would they?"
"I try not to think about it," replied Bruce the bartender, somehow wiping the table with a cloth in spite of not having any visible hands. "You considered dying your hair or something? Might give you more luck. Heck, aside from the hair you don't look much older than thirty."
"Why live a lie, all it'll get me is a frown from the almighty Statesman, if we ever talked that is," muttered Busterman Zero, considering actually putting something alcoholic in his next drink.
"Hey big guy!" exclaimed a voice from beside Zero, causing him to turn and see Luminary, a member of the Vindicators and Positron's prized android creation. The golden machine sat down next to the older hero with a grin on her face. "How's the club life treating the great Busterman Zero tonight?" asked Luminary.
"Yeah, I'm great, that's why no one knows who the heck I am," mumbled Zero, taking a drink. "These I'm one of maybe one hundred heroes and villains in North America who was alive during at least one World War but when you share a city with people like the Statesman, Sister Psyche and Numina you just sort of get ignored. The average person just thinks I'm some creepy old guy who should smack his gums until he's senile."
"Okay, did Pity Parade come by and zap you with one of his depression beams?" replied Luminary, a bit surprised at how much of a downer the hero was being. "Ms. Liberty hasn't forgotten that you helped bring in Vandal and Ice Mistral that one time, and that's just one of the more recent big accomplishments. You stopped a Council plot that would of created a Nictus army, you prevented the Terra Volta reactor from being destroyed, heck just last week you worked with Synapse to take down the Clockwork King!"
"Oh come on, over half the heroes in Paragon have fought Council plots or beaten up the Clockwork King!" retorted Zero before blowing out a sigh. "Still, I didn't get into this business for fame. It just gets to me, you know?"
"Yeah, I'm sure Statesman has the opposite problem that you do," laughed Luminary. "The grass always looks greener, don't forget that."
"Yeah, I guess if I was really sick of it I'd of turned in my goggles after I stopped being the army's secret weapon," admitted Zero, finishing his juice. "Well, I'm going to go meet with a couple of people upstairs. Take care Luminary."
"You too big guy!" called Positron's creation as Busterman stood and walked off, a handsome younger man in expensive clothes quickly rushing to take Zero's seat.
A few minutes later Busterman Zero was sitting on a couch in the regular club section of Pocket D up on the second floor overlooking the dance area. Seated next to him on another couch was Doc Quantum, a scientific genius turned hero with similar abilities to Zero's, along with Arc Flash, a magical electrical-based heroine, and Contemptress, a female villain who's powers Zero was not familiar with but he assumed they had to do with mental manipulation. "I don't get how you guys can stand following the law," muttered the villain, causing the others to shake their heads.
"Lets avoid this discussion for now, huh?" suggested Doc Quantum, showing his wisdom. "Have you heard about Flambeaux? Someone attacked the Atlas Park bank the other day, she responded and now she's missing!"
"Who cares about her?" snapped Contemptress. "When that bank job happened someone also broke Icecap out of jail but he hasn't been heard from since! Even some of the Arbiters are concerned, and they usually don't care about anything!"
"I can't imagine why," muttered Zero under his breath. Just then he felt his phone vibrate and answered it as Doc Quantum and Contemptress continued to squabble, Arc Flash wisely staying out of it.
"Al, have you been checking the news lately?" asked Franklin over the phone line.
"You'll have to be more specific Frank, there's always stuff in the news," replied Zero, plugging his other ear with his finger as Contemptress raised her voice.
"A villain and a hero when missing in Paragon City just yesterday," explained Franklin, who was thousands of miles away from the city he spoke of, still living in Bologna. "I just spoke with my contact in the Longbow pipeline, and it turns out the Freedom Corps are trying to keep something a secret. They aren't the only two that went missing. Snow Maiden, remember her? She and some Longbow tried to stop someone from streading a virus in King's Row and now they're all 'missing.'"
"I heard the emphasis, Frank, what's the deal?" asked Zero, curious as to why his supposedly retired friend cared about anything in Paragon anymore.
"They know exactly where they all are, and the truth is ugly," warned the man formerly known as Busterman Pyro. "Someone's cracked the biggest scientific and magical mystery since pyrokinesis, Al. Snow Maiden, Flambeaux, Icecap and those Longbow agents? They were all found turned into pure gold. 100% gold, 24 karat. I'm talking alchemy here."
Part 2 has been retconned, ignore the above post
[u]Part 2: Coming of the Plague[u]
Tiki Lounge, Pocket D
"Hey there, can I buy you a drink?" Busterman Zero asked an attractive woman in a green dress who was sitting next to him at the bar.
"Dream on loser, why don't you just wear a 'Sexy Grandpa' T-shirt?" was the woman's reply, a very cold one at that as she stood up. "Oh, and I don't date heroes," added the woman as she walked away.
The bartender, a Spirit Mask who had been a part of the organization known as the Banished Pantheon, floated over to Zero. "Need a refill there, champ?"
"You know it Bruce," sighed Busterman, getting his glass refilled with cranberry juice. "Sometimes I wish the villains were more open about being just that, but then they wouldn't be villains, would they?"
"I try not to think about it," replied Bruce the bartender, somehow wiping the table with a cloth in spite of not having any visible hands. "You considered dying your hair or something? Might give you more luck. Heck, aside from the hair you don't look much older than thirty."
"Why live a lie, all it'll get me is a frown from the almighty Statesman, if we ever talked that is," muttered Busterman Zero, considering actually putting something alcoholic in his next drink.
"Hey big guy!" exclaimed a voice from beside Zero, causing him to turn and see Luminary, a member of the Vindicators and Positron's prized android creation. The golden machine sat down next to the older hero with a grin on her face. "How's the club life treating the great Busterman Zero tonight?" asked Luminary.
"Yeah, I'm great, that's why no one knows who the heck I am," mumbled Zero, taking a drink. "These I'm one of maybe one hundred heroes and villains in North America who was alive during at least one World War but when you share a city with people like the Statesman, Sister Psyche and Numina you just sort of get ignored. The average person just thinks I'm some creepy old guy who should smack his gums until he's senile."
"Okay, did Pity Parade come by and zap you with one of his depression beams?" replied Luminary, a bit surprised at how much of a downer the hero was being. "Ms. Liberty hasn't forgotten that you helped bring in Vandal and Ice Mistral that one time, and that's just one of the more recent big accomplishments. You stopped a Council plot that would of created a Nictus army, you prevented the Terra Volta reactor from being destroyed, heck just last week you worked with Synapse to take down the Clockwork King!"
"Oh come on, over half the heroes in Paragon have fought Council plots or beaten up the Clockwork King!" retorted Zero before blowing out a sigh. "Still, I didn't get into this business for fame. It just gets to me, you know?"
"Yeah, I'm sure Statesman has the opposite problem that you do," laughed Luminary. "The grass always looks greener, don't forget that."
"Yeah, I guess if I was really sick of it I'd of turned in my goggles after I stopped being the army's secret weapon," admitted Zero, finishing his juice. "Well, I'm going to go meet with a couple of people upstairs. Take care Luminary."
"You too big guy!" called Positron's creation as Busterman stood and walked off, a handsome younger man in expensive clothes quickly rushing to take Zero's seat.
Bustered exited the Tiki lounge, intending to go up to DJ Zero's Arena and see if a fight would take his mind off things, but his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. "Hello?" answered the hero, glad that DJ Zero had made sure cell phones could get reception in the dimension.
"Busterman, this is Cacophony," came a voice on the other end. Cacophony and Zero had worked together in the past, helping defeat villain mayhem raids in various parts of Paragon City.
"What's up, Caco?" replied Zero, hearing what sounded like weapons fire in the background. "You in trouble or something? I hear fighting."
"The action's nothing we can't handle, but, ah, we found something here in Founder's Falls you might want to look at," explained Cacophony though the connection. "Blast Furnace and I got tangled up in a fight with the Paragon Protectors and well, you know what? Just come see for yourself."
"No problem, I was getting bored anyways," shrugged Zero, hanging up his phone. Now on a mission, Zero quickly hurried for the exit.
Founder's Falls, Paragon City
The battle Cacophony had mentioned in passing had been far more serious than Busterman Zero had expected. Parts of a bridge going over the canals had been destroyed by Cacophony's sonic attacks in addition to several spine darts, claw marks, energy blast scorches and flame marks, the last of the collection coming form Cacophony's partner at the time, the fire manipulator Blast Furnace. Several Paragon Protectors were down as were a few Crey Industries agents. Apparently Zero hadn't been the only one Cacophony had alerted as Infernal and Numina were both present as well. The four heroes were gathered around one particular Paragon Protector who lay on his back in the middle of the bidge, all four looking at him intently.
"What's going on?" asked Zero, walking up to the others. No one said a thing for when Zero got a look at the Protector's face he saw what was the matter. The Protector had lost his mask in the fight, his face now exposed for all to see. The Paragon Protector, ignoring the charred residue left over from one of Blast Furnace's attacks, bore a face that looked almost exactly like Zero's own, though there was no facial scar and the hair wasn't as white as snow.
"It's just as we feared," realized Numina,looking over at Zero. "Crey's Revenant Project must of gotten ahold of DNA at some point to create these energy-based Protectors we sometimes see. That's how these ones have their abilities."
"Okay, this is too much," growled Zero, grabbing the unconscious Paragon Protector by the collar and lifting him up. "That witch has gotten away with a lot over the years, but this takes the cake. She and I are going to have words whether she likes it or not."
"Busterman, that could have serious legal ramifications!" warned Cacophony. "They have more lawyers than entire countries! We're heroes! You can't break the law!"
"Yeah, well you can't just steal the blood of a government weapon either, the Depart of Defence doesn't like military secrets being leaked," grinned Zero as the Paragon Protector groaned and stirred. In reaction Zero's fist glowed brightly and smashed across the Protector's cheek, knocking the clone unconscious once again.
Crey Industries Biological Research Center No. 3, Founder's Falls
Busterman Zero arrived at the doors of the Crey building, there greated by a large collection of Riot Guards and Mob Specialists, Crey's lower-level enforcers who were all bearing pistols and submachine guns. Behind the small fry were three Crey Eliminators, armored soldiers carrying heavy chain guns. A suited public relations agent stood in front of the small army of Crey security, his arms behind his back, a commlink on his left ear. "You are not expected, Busterman Zero," declared the agent. "I have orders to escort you off Crey's private land or face the consequences for tresspassing."
"Really, you think a few toys can convince me to back off?" laughed Zero, eyeing the rent-a-cops that made up the majority of the agent's support. "Besides, I'm here to see if the Countess is here so I can tell her she's going to be facing federal prosecution."
"Prosecution?" asked the agent, adding a small chuckle. "You really think that'll do any good?"
"No, that's why I'm here to respond to a violation of my human rights," shrugged Zero, his eyes suddenly coming alive with energy.
"Fire, fire, fire!" shouted the agent in a panic as the several men who were with him raised their weapons, but it was too late. Bullets were vaporized as Busterman unleashed a torrent of energy, destroying several weapons and burning a few of the closer guards, knocking them down. Zero followed up the wave with a compressed concussion blast, a ball of energy striking the public relations agent and promptly exploding, sending the remaining guards flying in all directions. Two remaining Crey Eliminators, both without weapons, rushed in to punch Busterman, their heavy gloves capable of doing serious damage to the average human skull. Zero however was ready for the attack, energizing his hands and delivering a right hook to the first one, sending him into the wall of the building. The second Eliminator was dropped a moment later like a popped balloon thanks to a bonecrushing two-fisted blow from Busterman Zero.
"Welcome to America," laughed Zero as he walked towards the doors of the building, passing through them without one of his many foes stirring.
The main lobby of the building was cleared of civilians, even the receptionist's desk empty. Instead a dozen Crey agents, a mix of their Vigilant agents who specialized in energy-style hand-to-hand, just like Zero, and Infiltrators, female martial arts experts that were just as deadly as the Vigilants. Behind them all stood a large, very muscular man in a black suit and sunglasses who branished a Crey Cryo Rifle. "Do you dare fight me, nevermind rest of the company?" barked the rifleman, Countess Crey's personal bodyguard Hopkins.
"Out of my way, beefcake, I need to have a chat with your boss," shouted Zero, firing an energy blast at the closest agent without hesitation. The Vigilant went down and the rest of the hero's opposition opened fire with their own weapons, eleven automatic pistols and a rifle capable of freezing whatever it hit. The bullets did nothing, Zero's supercharged metabolism and healing factor making it look like the bullets hadn't hit him at all, but the cryo round lanced Zero's right shoulder, temporarily disabling the hero's arm.
"I love it when they pick the hard way," taunted Hopkins as a pair of Infiltrators rushed the injured Busterman only to be swatted away by a pulse of energy.
"Yeah, same here," grunted Zero, attempting to move his right arm but finding the low temperatures making it impossible. In spite of only being able to use his left hand Zero managed to punch out two Vigilants, blast several more agents and take down the last Infiltrator with a tranquilizer dart from his belt. "Your little friends are down, why don't we wrestle a little, tough guy?" shouted Zero, shakily raising his left arm to fire at Hopkins.
"You aren't even worth it," replied the bodyguard, firing his rifle again. The round missed Busterman Zero's face by less than a millimeter, coming close enough to freeze the hairs on his cheek.
"What about me then?" asked a new voice as a blur of blue and red suddenly zipped past Zero and snatched away Hopkins's rifle, leaving it fried via electricity on the floor. As Hopkins stood there stunned Zero fired a power blast from his left hand which sent the massive man spinning to the ground, his shoulder badly burnt.
"What brings the mighty Synapse here?" asked Zero, groaningly slightly as his right arm became moveable once again. The legendary Freedom Phalanx member stood before the injured hero with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.
"Sorry to disappoint, but it isn't you," explained Synapse. "An Arachnos submarine was discovered in the area about five minutes ago and the Phalanx scrambled to deal with it. Statesman's over at the sub while Numina picked up some kind of magical trail leading in here. I ran ahead to check it out." A moment later the front door of the building opened again and in walked Numina, another Phalanx member.
"Busterman, why are you here?" asked the heroine as her hands glowed, seemingly scanning the area.
"I just found out some of the infamous Paragon Protectors were probably cloned from my DNA, and since the Busterman Virus was banned by international law after the war I've decided that I should act as a political representative and, uh, inform the Countess about her error."
"I've got something," announced Numina just then, her hands glowing brighter. "The magical trail continues, it goes into this building's basement. I think its some sort of after-image from a cloaking spell I'm detecting..."
"Ten to one there's a cloning facility downstairs," realized Synapse. "Looks like we may be able to help one-another out, huh Alex?"
"Sounds good, Synapse, lead the way, slowly," grinned Zero, glad to have some help from the Freedom Phalanx. Hopkins groaned just then but a mental attack by Numina quickly put the bodyguard out for the count.
Getting to the basement of the facility was easy with Synapse scouting the way, but the alarms that had been set off, presumably by Zero, were causing the employees to file around in disorder, forcing Zero to just fly over the ground. Downstairs it went from an office setting to a technological laboratory filled almost entirely with metal, offering no soothing comforts located above. Instead of Crey guards however there were Arachnos soldiers, namely several Bane Spiders, all of whom instantly fired upon the elevators when they opened.
"How'd they get here?!" shouted Zero as he and the other heroes quickly dispatched their enemies using a collection of wide attacks to hit them all at once.
"The cloaked one could of broken in and penetrated the defenses down here to let them in," suggested Numina as the trio quickly hurried down the hallway. There they found the guards, including several Crey minions in tank suits, but all of them were down, unconscious or worse.
"Damn, whoever did this is something else," noted Synapse, seeing no injuries caused by the Bane Spiders' maces.
"Magic, all of it," determined Numina, noting the lack of visible damage to any of the fallen Crey employees. "They were attacked through the soul."
"Ghost Widow?" suggested Synapse, suddenly worried.
"No, someone even worse," realized Busterman Zero, finding one fallen scientist with a mark burned into his chest. "It's Busterman Shadow." There on the man's chest was the Lovecraftian symbol Shadow had taken for his own, burned onto his flesh by the evil clone's dark powers. Just then the sound of arachnos channel gun fire was heard from down the corridor, causing the three to quickly stand and rush in the direction it came from.
Inside a large room filled with human-sized capsules that contained gel were several Arachnos soldiers, all of them Bane Spiders except for one Crab Spider who wasn't wearing a helmet, showing off blue and brown hair that was hanging freely. Several more Crey employees dotted the floor, most of them smoking from channel blasts, one scientist definitely dead as he'd been shot by the Crab Spider's Longfang. In one of the sixteen capsules floated Countess Crey herself, the vile woman clad in nothing but a hospital robe, her body floating almost lifelessly with an oxygen mask connected to her face, a wire running from her arm to the top of the capsule to track her heart. In the capsule to her left floated a second woman, one none of the three heroes were familiar with who was wearing a purple jumpsuit with no sleeves. Standing before the two capsules was Busterman Shadow, now wearing a black stealth suit with red shoulderpads and a tactical bandolier and belt wrapped around him, all white. The villain wasn't wearing sunglasses thus when he turned to look at the new arrivals they would seeboth his scarred-closed eye and his open one which glowed black like his very soul.
"Judgemaster, please dispose of those annoyances, I wish to complete this ritual in peace," ordered Shadow, turning his head back to the capsule.
"Of course master Imperion," replied the Crab Spider, his claws snapping up and immediately firing a pair of frag grenades at Synapse, Numina and Busterman Zero. The trio scattered as the explosives detonated and immediately started fighting back, the battle joined by the Bane Spiders and their mace beams. One Bane Spider rushed Zero, knocking the hero to the ground and attempting to fire a mace blast at point blank range. Zero struggled and, following a powerful headbutt, pryed the weapon away from the Arachnos soldier, then clubbing him aside with it before throwing it at another.
"You are Busterman Zero, Synapse and Numina, three of Paragon's greatest champions," declared the Crab Spider, licking his lips. "I am Azrael Wrath, Judgemaster of the Plague, remember this well!" After these words Wrath activated his Suppression Mode, firing several beams at his opponents. Busterman took one straight to the chest and hit the ground hard while Synapse took one to the calf while Numina had to fly to avoid being hit. Synapse, in spite of the newfound pain in his ankle, zipped around behind Wrath and delivered an electrical blast to his signature backpack, disabling it and shocking Wrath into unconciousness, causing him to fall forward like a falling statue, hitting the ground hard.
"You're too late, fool," declared Shadow, blasting Synapse with a powerful burst of negative energy, sending him flying into an empty capsule and spilling its contents onto the floor as well as the broken glass. "Now, awaken my child! Awaken... Busterwoman Zero!"
"What?" groaned Zero as he tried to sit up while Numina was being fended off by two remaining Bane Spiders. The capsule containing the unknown woman was drained of goo and opened, revealing a white-haired woman who's physique looked remarkably similar to that of Countess Crey, who still floated in the second capsule.
"Meet the cloned daughter of the Countess and yourself, my dear Mister Blake," announced Shadow as the woman's eyes opened, glowint with a faint blue energy. "I combined her DNA with that of your own and added my own special touch. Busterwoman will be the shining matriarch of The Plague!"
"Like hell," gasped Zero, raising his hands to form an energy blast.
"Ah ah ah, we don't fight today," countered Shadow, wagging his finger at Zero. "You're still useful to me alive as it turns out, so murdering you isn't my number one priority right now. For now, you can rest."
Busterwoman turned her glowing gaze to meet that of Zero as well as Numina and Synapse who'd managed to gather around him, all three eager to fight. "Sleep," rasped the newborn clone, and immediately all three slumped over, doing exactly as Busterwoman ordered.
Freedom Phalanx Headquarters, Paragon City
The large round table, complete with a holographic display unit, typically sat eight as per the eight chief members of the Freedom Phalanx: Statesman, Positron, Synapse, Sister Psyche, Manticore, Numina, Citadel and the Back Alley Brawler. Brawler wasn't around as much as he'd been in the past so his seat was frequently taken by Ms. Liberty. On this particular day Citadel was off working with an assembled task force to combat a threat posed by the Council thus Busterman Zero was free to take the android's chair.
"Now that we're all assembled, lets start," declared Statesman, nodding at Positron. The scientist turned superhero activated the holo-display, calling up a news broadcast from the Rogue Isles. A blond reporter in a purple blazer appeared on the screen with the image of Eldritch, the symbol Busterman Shadow was using as his own, in the top-right in Arachnos Red.
"This is Amanda Vines, reporting to you from WSPDR News," announced the reporter. "Today the big news sweeping the Rogue Isles is that a new group of villains calling themselves The Plague have emerged and openly challenged Lord Recluse as well as Arachnos as a whole. They are led by the one called Busterman Shadow and their forces are primarily made up of Arachnos defectors from the Bane Spider division as well as various mercenaries. A raid on a Sky Raiders compound as well as a strike at the Ziggurat Prison in Paragon City in the United States and even the theft of an Arachnos submarine have all been blamed on this new organization. We have been unable to determine the group's motives as of yet, but this reporter can assure you it isn't something we can look forward to."
The image of Eldritch vanished, replaced with a headshot of Busterman Shadow without his sunglasses. "Dr. Aeon, calling in from his home in Aeon City, assured us that Arachnos considers The Plague to be a very real threat as Arachnos does not accept defection. The are reports that the faction even raided a Crey Industries facility in Paragon City just yesterday, making off with technology capable of-" Vines suddenly paused, her eyes going wide before she slumped forward. The familiar sounds of Arachnos mace weapons were heard in the background for a moment before the transmission went to static.
"So there's in-fighting with Arachnos now?" asked Ms. Liberty. "Isn't this good for us? Either way Recluse will end up hurt."
"Unfortunately that view is a bit too optimistic," sighed Positron, shaking his head. "In reality The Plague, clearly the smaller faction at this point, could look for a place to form a staging ground against Lord Recluse, and what better place than Paragon City where villains continue to strike in spite of our presence?"
"Yeah, this means both the Isles and the City will be going through a lot of turmoil in the weeks to come," agreed Manticore.
"It's bad enough Countess Crey is trying to sue us for letting Shadow get away," sniffed Synapse.
"Well then, lets do something about it," declared Busterman Zero, standing. "I want to form a special task force to take down The Plague before they cause any more damage."
"Are you sure, Alex?" asked Statesman, looking Busterman squarely in the eyes. "Shadow is in essense your son, your legacy. Are you prepared to bring him to justice while still following the code that all heroes must adhere to?"
"Absolutely," was Zero's immediate reply. "Just give me support and you can consider Shadow and his little Plague organization finished."
End of Part 2 "The Coming of The Plague"
Next... Busterman Zero and Busterman Shadow meet once again in The Darkest Wish
[u]Part 3: The Darkest Wish[u]
The Plague Headquarters, Port Oakes, Rogue Isles
If there was one thing Busterman Shadow had trouble deciding upon, it was his clothes. For years, ever since his creation, he'd worn a blue jacket over a black tank top with dark red pants, red sunglasses and black motorcycle boots. Today however he'd replaced the black shirt with a blue one and the blue jacket with a black leather trenchcoat, one that carried the crest of Eldritch on the left lapel as per his request. The black flowing coat might of been a bit cliché but it suited Shadow just fine as it really made him feel like the Imperion of The Plague.
Located underwater, The Plague headquarters had already been equipped with a full set of teleporters as well as a medical bay, computer network and science lab. Unfortunately the defenses were behind schedule thus until then Shadow had ordered the majority of the lower level members of the organization to remain at the base. Fortunately a bar and lounge had been installed to keep the troops happy. Shadow was now looking out the porthole at the fish swimming by when his two lieutenants, Judgemaster Azrael Wrath and 2nd Imperion Busterwoman Zero approached him. Azrael had abandoned his Arachnos armor for the most part, instead wearing cold Impervium armor similar to that of the Vanguard. Busterwoman meanwhile was wearing a sleeveless purple jumpsuit with several holes cut around the joints to allow for freedom of movement. "Lord Imperion, I have news," announced Wrath.
"Well then, why don't you tell me what it is?" asked Shadow, twirling an old badge he'd received in his hand, one he'd gotten for reaching Threat Level 50.
"The Sky Raiders we recently hired managed to acquire an important artifact for us," revealed Busterwoman before Azrael could speak.
"An artifact?" asked Shadow, turning to face his aides.
"Well actually," corrected Wrath, "It's more like a device... a key one at that."
* * *
Portal Corperation, Peregrine Island, Paragon City
"Upsilon Delta 4-17, Tina?" asked Busterman Zero, running a hand through his hair. "That one's new to me. What's so special about it?"
"Something very nasty," explained Tina Macintyre, a blond scientist wearing glasses and one of Busterman's many contacts, who was holing a clipboard with the name of the dimension written on it. "We've recently learned that someone in the Rogue Isles managed to open a portal to it, and that's a very bad thing. The dimension was last visited in 2000, at which time it was more or less the exact same world as our own save a few minor details such as their Statesman having a beard. If someone wanted reinforcements, it would be the perfect dimension to get them from."
"So you want me to check it out?" asked Zero with a raised eyebrow, glancing around the area to see several more heroes gathered to explore dimensions, including veteran hero Castle. "Alone?"
"Actually, we did call in a couple of teammates for you," indicated Tina, pointing behind Busterman. The hero turned to see a man of average height in a camuflage green stealthsuit wearing advanced goggles and carrying a gun with a bandolier full of ammunition around his chest. Next to the man was a somewhat tall blond woman, easily six feet, in a short-sleeved V-neck shirt and pants combination that was yellow and orange with a flame design including matching heeled boots. "Those are Captain Ravager and Lady Sunstorm. We don't want to send too many people in case you draw attention."
"Joy, a commando and a hothead," muttered Zero under his breath, flashing Tina a phony smile and walking over to his new allies.
"G'day skipper, you ready for a little portal jump?" asked Captain Ravager, sounding unusual as he possessed a slight Texan accent but had just spoken as if he were trying to be Australian.
"Sure, why not?" shrugged Zero, unsure what else to say.
"Well then, mister war veteran, lead the way," suggested Lady Sunstorm, offering Zero a relaxing smile. The trio proceeded to enter the Portal Corp facility and take the elevator to the correct floor.
"So what's your story?" Zero asked Captain Ravager, who'd pulled out a cigar.
"No story bud, I just felt like being a hero was a better use of my skills than serving in Delta Force," replied the armed hero, lighting up his cigar. "Got myself a nice assault rifle here that has at least a dozen different modes of fire as well as enough gadgets to make Q Branch jealous."
"There's no smoking in here," snapped Lady Sunstorm, wagging her finger at Captain Ravager's cigar, causing it to go out. "As for me, I was exposed to toxic waste while working with victims of a nuclear accident in South Korea and thanks to a miracle treatment and solar power I can now manipulate fire to a certain degree."
"That seems... odd," offered Zero, not sure what to make of the woman's origin.
"Yeah, the science didn't make any sense to me either at the time," chuckled Lady Sunstorm as the elevator stopped and the three heroes exited. Down the hall sat the massive circular device which had opened a gateway to another dimension, one where something unknown was waiting for them. Energy crackled and the room almost seemed to shake as two technicians stood well away from the massive device.
"Last chance to duck out," warned Zero, but the other two heroes merely shrugged and headed towards the portal. "Yeah, that's what I was hoping," laughed Zero as he flew to catch up, the three heroes practically speeding through the portal, thinking they were ready for anything.
Atlas Park, Pargon City, Upsilon Delta 4-17
"Kill them!" ordered an unknown voice immediately as the glowing haze of the portal faded from around Zero and his two teammates. Atlas Park was a mess: The statue itself was smoldering, the globe completely destroyed at Atlas's face charred black. City hall was in ruins and several skeletons littered the area as well as holes from explosions and heavy weapons' fire. Three dozen black-armored men, all wearing a familiar Eldritch symbol on their chests, aimed Arachnos maces at the new arrivals.
"Scatter!" warned Zero as energy beams lanced around them. Each hero was hit at least once but Lady Sunstorm quickly managed to draw attention to her and was now absorbing blasts with a flaming aura that surrounded her while fighting back with a sword made of pure flame. Captain Ravager's body armor had absorbed the blast that hit him and he was now firing his assault rifle while on full automatic, dropping several of the armored attackers. Zero, able to regenerate from his injuries, fired a few quick explosive blasts and soon the soldiers were all down though the heroes were left breathing heavily.
"Were they expecting us?" asked Captain Ravager, rubbing his chest where the beam had hit him.
"Must of been, but look around," gasped Lady Sunstorm, kneeling as she tried to recover her energy. Looking up Zero could see that the skies themselves were black, blacker than any night should ever allow, and that several skyscrappers were destroyed or at least damaged from scars of war. Looking back down a few familiar bodies were seen laying near the feet of the Atlas statue.
"Oh no..." breathed Zero, running over to the statue. At its base lay Sister Psyche, her body pale and sickly-looking, her eyes open and lifeless. Not far away was a pile of circuitry and part of an android head which Zero knew had belonged to Citadel. Finally there was a broken bow not far from Psyche and at the bottom of the steps, next to the plaque about Atlas, lay what was left of Manticore.
"This is insane!" shouted Lady Sunstorm, astonished to see three familiar heroes dead in a war-torn Atlas Park.
"No, this is the work of Busterman Shadow!" cursed Zero, slamming his fist into the ground. "Those soldiers, they wore his crest even though they fought like Arachnos troops! He must of taken over Arachnos in this dimension somehow and has managed to invade Paragon City!"
"Who dares speak the forbidden word?!" snarled a new voice, causing the heroes to turn and see more failar faces. Shrouded in a black robe Busterman still recognized Ice Mistral, her teal hair spilling out from the hood. Next to her, also dressed in a black robe was Mynx, her ears sticking out from the hood of her own clothing, her claws bared. Finally a Korean man in a flowing brown coat armed with a Katana that crackled with electricity stood with the other two, being the one who'd spoken. "You shall be taken for judgment!" shouted the swordsman, whom Zero mentally recalled had been called Spark Blade in his own dimension. "Feral, Freeze, attack!"
The alternates quickly launched their attacks, Feral flying into Captain Ravager before he could raise his gun and Lady Sunstorm barely being able to cancel out an ice blast from Freeze. The Spark Blade alternate meanwhile charged Zero who in retaliation powered up his fists and threw a punch. Spark Blade sidestepped the attack and elbowed Zero hard in the face only to receive a blow to the chest in relatiation, one which sent him flying backwards a few feet though he managed to land well. "You dare to challenge the will of Judge Storm and his disciples?!" roared the alternate Spark Blade, his name revealed. "Feral, Freeze, capture those two, but this one we shall kill!"
Captain Ravager, trapped under Feral's superior strength, struggled to grab a knife from his belt but was headbutted three times before he could reach it, the blows knocking him out. Lady Sunstorm seemed like she was going to win the battle of ice and flame until Freeze let out a blast of cold air which pinned Sunstorm to the ground which in turn led to Freeze doing what her name suggested, trapping Lady Sunstorm. Judge Storm drew a pistol, an old-style one that resembled a wheelgun, and fired, a blast of lightning causing Zero to collapse and convulse. "This is what you get, rebel scum," declared the Judge as he walked forward with his katana raised, ready to execute the trapped Busterman Zero.
Silent but deadly, a long-range energy blast flew in from above and struck Judge Storm square in the chest, dropping him to the ground with smoke eminating from his fresh wound, a sickening thud heard as he hit the cement. Flying down from above was another person in black armor, soon joined by six others, all of them with the Buster Brigade crest on their breastplates. The armor appeared to be that of Nemesis origin, being steam technology complete with massive gloves and boots. Each being wore a helmet with a breather, green face shield and ordinate peak, a gold-colored V shape one at that. THe apparent leader wore a flowing red cape with white stars running down the sides and was pointing his fists at the two remaining villains. "Surrender or die," came a scrambled voice from the leader, sounding a bit like Darth Vader.
Feral and Freeze, each having secured one of Busterman's teammates, instead immediately touched their shoulder and vanished in a flash of golden light, taking their captives with them. Zero, having been laying on the ground while witnessing the events, finally managed to stand and was looking over at Storm. The alternate Spark Blade's eyes were open, unfocused, and drying tears were on his cheeks. It was obvious that the man who was considered a hero back in Zero's dimension was dead.
"You'd better come with us," insisted the caped leader of the new arrivals, walking over to Zero. "Give him a dampener." Another armored flyer casually walked up to Zero and handed him what resembled a medal which bore the crest of the Freedom Phalanx. Zero gladly took the medal and put it around his neck. Without another word the seven lifted off the ground and flew towards the disabled war walls, specifically the northern one, leaving Zero to follow.
Resistance Base (formerly Croatoa University), Croatoa, Paragon City
After flying over a severely devastated Paragon City Zero and his escorts arrived at what one of the entrance guards called the resistance base. The guards were both wearing heavy armor similar to the seven but far less bulky. Zero thought it looked like the old Vanguard uniforms but with modified helmets. Inside Zero was shown to the old gymasium where several beds had been set up and another man walked up to greet them all. The man was large, muscular and seemingly a patriot, though not one of the United States. His cape and mask, the latter covering his eyes but not his mouth, were designed after the United Kingdom's Union Jack. A golden sword rested at his side, securely sheathed. Years ago in his one dimension the man had supposedly given his life during the Rikti War to close the enemy portal for good.
"Hero 1, you're alive?!" burst out Busterman Zero almost immediately, feeling the urge to run over and slap the famous hero on the back.
"You must be one of the travellers then, if you're unfamiliar with me," observed Hero 1 before turning to look at the leader of the armored seven. "Commander, you can remove your helmet. If he's come here we might as well tell him everything."
"If you say so, sir," sighed the caped figure, reaching up and removing his helmet. The other six didn't hesitate and did the same. From under the helmet came a face Busterman Zero knew only too well, as aside from the lack of a facial scar it was his own.
"You're me?!" exclaimed Busterman Zero, looking from his counterpart to the others. Sure enough the other six were his former teammates: Busterman Pyro, Busterman Cryo, Busterman Hydro, Busterman Geo, Busterman Aero and Busterman Electro were all revealed, all of them possessing the familiar snow white hair and youthful appearances, their hair all slicked back in crew cuts.
"Judging by your reaction I'd say things turned out differently in you reality," noted the alternate Busterman, holding his helmet at his right side. "Come and sit, we'll explain our world to you."
"Yeah, sit, that's a good idea," muttered Zero in total disbelief, walking over to a simple military cot and sitting down as Hero 1 and the alternate Buster Brigade gathered around him.
"Just so there's no confusion, these men are known as the Omega Team, their leader being called Busterman Prime," explained Hero 1. "Back in 2001 our world became a very dark place. Scirocco was murdered by a villain who was a clone of Prime, Busterman Shadow. Scirocco's genie Serafina was captured and made to bend to Shadow's will. Under his command she helped him find the Well of the Furies. Shadow drank from the well, giving him the same abilities as that of Statesman. Practically overnight the Rogue Isles were taken over by Shadow, now calling himself Imperion, and the isles became officially named the Chaos Isles. After stopping an invasion by beings we call the Rikti in 2002 almost single-handedly Imperion launched a campaign to take over the world. His biggest victory came in 2005 when he killed the President of the United States, declaring himself Emperor of the Americas as Nemesis had tried to do in the past. Now only a few locations left on our Earth exist outside of his control, including our base here."
"That's... that's worse than any nightmare I could ever dream up," muttered Zero, completely taken aback by the events that had occured in the Earth he was now visiting. He'd nickname it Chaos Earth, he decided, and would mention that to Tina if he ever saw her again. "What's the current situation?" Zero asked next.
"Currently maybe one hundred heroes are left, all of them here," answered Busterman Prime. "Many of them are too weak to stand up to the Shadow Legion, Imperion's armored soldiers that you encountered earlier, nevermind a Zero Trooper."
"Zero trooper?" asked Busterman, confused.
"Imperion managed to also use Serafina to recreate the Busterman virus, which he gives to select members of his legion," replied Prime, shaking his head in disgust. "Maybe 10% survive the transformation, but those that do have powers that are significant fraction of my own. Just today a large force of them managed to kill Sister Psyche and Manticore, as you saw, as well as Citadel Mark III."
"Great, what else has he got on his side," groaned Zero, not sure how much more he could take.
"He's enslaved many Kheldians, having formed a small army of Nictus which blacken the sky for him," said Hero 1. "Currently Imperion and his four servants, his Inner Circle, function from the Ziggurat in old Brickstown, now called the Nexus of Chaos. His Inner Circle consists of Death Widow, Black Requiem, Scirroco and Leviathan, four of the most powerful beings on Earth, maybe in the entire universe. In addition there are twelve Judges and their own pawns as well as the Shadow Legion, Zero Troopers and Nictus."
"Eleven judges now," piped up Pyro, the others laughing at that, all but Zero.
"Which big heroes are left besides you guys?" asked Busterman Zero, glancing around the room but not seeing anyone else he recognized.
"There is Dark Watcher, first of all," listed Prime, recalling the names from memory. "Serpent Drummer and Lady Grey are still around as well, though Drummer's mind suffered a serious attack recently as he lost his psychic dampener, like the one we gave you. Positron and Synapse are busy building us more Luminary units and will no doubt be making a new Citadel later as well. Ms. Liberty is leading what's left of Longbow along with Major Tasker and Swan. Back Alley Brawler is our combat instructor. A disabled Nemesis makes us our armor, the villain having been reformed by us in the wake of Imperion's rise to power. Another would-be villain, Countess Crey, helps us develop our advanced weaponry. The rest are mostly rookies. Anyone I haven't named is probably dead or one of Imperion's pawns like Mynx and Infernal."
"Don't forget about me!" called a female voice as the speaker flew into the room. A woman with green hair of varying shades floated into the room wearing a sleeveless black top and dark green pants, a sad smile on her face. "Numina and I have become one since her body was destroyed by Scirocco, but I still go by War Witch," explained the heroine, landing in front of Busterman Zero.
"Okay then, I think I'm up to speed," decided Zero with a nod. "Wait, I have two questions: how did they know I was coming, and what about Statesman and Lord Recluse?"
No one said anything for a moment, Prime and Hero 1 looking at each other in surprise. "Oh, I guess they forgot to mention them," said War Witch with a sigh. "A few days ago another Busterman Shadow appeared through a portal and Imperion captured him. With the alternate's help Imperion now knows how portal technology works and could detect the portal formation long before you arrived, plus Death Widow can keep a mental tracking of anyone who isn't wearing a dampener outside of our base. As for Statesman and Recluse..."
"Imperion broke Recluse's neck and vaporized his body," announced Hero 1. "Statesman... Statesman was enslaved by Serafina on Imperion's orders. He then became one with the Eye of the Leviathan, becoming the being itself, a Coralax with the power of Zeus. Serafina is the only thing that secures Imperion's control over Leviathan, but its enough."
"Enough about that, we need to talk serious business," interrupted Prime, stamping his foot. "If Imperion succeeds in opening a portal to your world, he'll invade, and I doubt anyone there will be powerful enough to stop him. If we're to save both our worlds we must strike the Nexus of Chaos and slay Imperion."
Nexus of Chaos, Former Paragon City, Chaos Earth
The would-be army that Hero 1 and the remaining heroes had assembled was very rag-tag to look at. The first group, codenamed Alpha Team, consisted of roughly sixty heroes and heroines were lined up with another fifty Luminary androids and about two hundred Longbow who were wearing Impervium armor instead of their standard uniforms. The second group, Omega Team, was composed of Hero 1, Positron, Busterman Prime, Synapse, Citadel Mk IV, Swan and Busterman Zero. The Buster Brigade minus their leader was a part of Alpha Team on Prime's insistence in spite of their loyalties to him. Hero 1 had only wanted five heroes for the strike but with Busterman Zero's arrival it had been decided Swan would help him rescue his teammates and get back through the portal before it was destroyed.
Imperion's defenses were seemingly low, with perhaps three hundred Shadow Legionnaires visible around his compound and maybe six Zero Troopers. Judge Pain, Malaise's alternate, was standing on top of the Ziggurat with two cloaked followers. Inside there was supposedly no combatants but Imperion and his Inner Circle. Alpha Team would attack the front gate, drawing out the defenders while Omega would sneak in underground and take Imperion by surprise. The plan was set, all that was left was to give the order.
"Buster Brigade, bring back victory!" Prime shouted to his men, reminding Zero of when he'd used to shout that during World War II. The Buster Brigade prepared to attack, but suddenly Ms. Liberty appeared at Prime's side, having leapt up from her post.
"Alex, you be careful," whispered the heroine to Prime, and much to Zero's surprise the two shared a brief kiss before she hurried back to the front of the Longbow unit.
"I take it you aren't engaged in your world?" Swan whispered to Zero.
"She's way too young for me, plus Statesman would tear me a new one," replied Zero, still a bit shocked. It was then that Hero 1 drew Excalibur, the legendary sword glowing brighter than any light in the city below them.
"Heroes, today we end this and bring justice to our world!" shouted the great hero, getting a wild response. Immediately the Luminary division, as while they were Positron's precious creations they were more disposable than anyone else, launched their attack run on the Ziggurat, energy blasts lighting up the eternal twilight that Imperion had created. The hero unit charged next, Back Alley Brawler and the Buster Brigade at the front of the pack. Finally Ms. Liberty and Longbow moved forward. The northern section of the Nexus of Chaos was plunged into disarray as a bloody battle erupted. Hero 1 didn't wait, he immediately began leading Omega Team towards the sewer entrance. Busterman Zero watched casually as he attempted to follow Swan, witnessing several Legionnaires and Longbow fall as well as several Luminaries be destroyed. The climatic finish came with Back Alley Brawler pounding Judge Pain into the ground while Feral badly wounded Ms. Liberty only to be brought down by Countess Crey. People were dying, Zero saw, including familiar faces, making him all the more eager to leave Chaos Earth.
Navigating the sewers proved simple and soon Omega Team was inside the Ziggurat, just as Hero 1 had hoped. Unfortunately they were not alone, as Judge Steel, Valkyrie's alternate, and Judge Blaze, Infernal's alternate, were both waiting for them. "You've been expected!" declared Steel as she clashed blades with Hero 1 while Blaze's own fire powers kept the others back. Synapse managed to create a whirlwind with his speed to dissipate the flames, leaving Positron free to blast Blaze at full strength, knocking him down but not nearly enough to kill him. Swan and Zero tried to sneak away but Ravenstorm's alternate, identified as Void, engaged the pair while Prime tried to help Hero 1. A powerful kick stunned Zero but Swan's psychic attacks quickly proved too much for Void's own defenses, taking him down before Zero had even fully recovered from the kick. Hero 1, for his part, finally managed to break Steel's sword but spared her life, instead knocking her out with a powerful punch to the sternum. Citadel IV meanwhile had been busy disposing of a Legionnaire patrol.
"Liberty, what's your status?" asked Prime through his communicator, suddenly worried about his fiancée.
"It was a trap!" screamed the heroine as the sounds of a massacre were heard in the background. "At least two dozen Zero Troopers were waiting for us along with a couple more of the judges! Crey's been killed and Brawler's in bad shape!"
"I'm coming to assist!" declared Prime, starting to turn around.
"No, stay with Hero 1, complete your mission!" snapped Ms. Liberty as she could be heard delivering a powerful blow to someone wearing armor, most likely a Legionnaire. "If Imperion falls, nothing else will matter! Go, hurry!" The transmission ended, leaving Prime with a lump in his throat.
"Come on, Imperion can't be far!" shouted Synapse, taking off at high speed, the rest of the team quickly following.
Imperion's interior defenses appeared to peak at the ambush, not even another patrol being encountered as Omega Team rushed towards the villain's throne room. Soon enough the group, arguably the world's last hope, arrived in the former control room which had been converted to accomodate a large chair with four smaller ones surrounding it. Eldritch-emblazened tapestries decorated the room's walls and many of the old consoles appeared to be disabled. The ceiling had at some point been replaced with a see-through material, allowing Imperion and his court to look up and observe the battle taking place above them. High above various heroes were still battling the Zero Troopers, the charred skeleton of one unfortunate good guy clattering against the roof above.
The Inner Circle was everything Busterman Zero had feared. Black Requiem was, unsurprisingly, Requiem himself in the Black Scorpion armor, the powerful suit no doubt now powered by the facist's own Nictus powers. Scirocco looked more or less the same but his hair and face were different as instead of the man Zero had battled before he was Azrael Wrath, thus explaining how Shadow was able to control Serafina in the first place. Another non-surprise was Death Widow who was merely Busterwoman Zero wearing Ghost Widow's costume and with a similar hairstyle but still very much alive. Finally there was Leviathan who's physique resembled Captain Mako's but he wore a white suit with a black eye design in the center and his build was a lot more muscular, a telling sign that he had once been Statesman. Imperion wore black armor with golden gauntlets that had spines portruding from the sides and a furry cape that had obviously been taken from Lord Recluse, as had the mask he wore. Still beneath it all Zero recognized Shadow in spite of how different he now was. He held in his right hand a goblet carved from a skull, one which Zero assumed had belonged to the late former leader of Arachnos while an Impervium katana rested in his left. "About time you showed up, my dear Zero," laughed Imperion, taking a sip from his cup. "Have you come to surrender yourselves to my divine power?"
"You really need to work on that sense of humor, Shadow," snapped Prime, pounding his fists together as they glowed bright with energy. "I'm going to rip that pitiful head of yours clean off your body and crush it beneath my feet!"
"I think not," was Imperion's cool reply. "Make it so." Immediately the four members of the Inner Circle stood but Omega Team was ready, the main five attackers rushing out to meet their foes. Hero 1 charged Leviathan, hoping to help Statesman with Excalibur's magic, while Positron attempted to match Black Requiem's firepower with his own. Synapse whose Scirocco for the same reason that Positron had chosen his opponent, and Citadel went with Death Widow due to his immunity to psychic attacks, the main source of her power. With everyone distracted Prime quickly flew forward and delivered a flying hammer punch straight to Imeprion's face, shattering the mask and causing him to fall from his chair. The epic battle had begun.
"Now, while they're distracted, lets find the prisoners!" whispered Swan, dragging Zero away. He wanted to stay and help his alternate but knew it wasn't his mission. As Imperion broke his sword on Prime's armor and Positron blew off Requiem's tail weapon Swan and Zero flew out of the room, going down a different cooridor to where Lady Sunstorm and Captain Ravager were supposedly being held as well as where Imperion had set up his own portal.
"I can't believe in your world Imperion doesn't exist," commented Swan as she flew with Zero. "What happened when the Rikti invaded? Were they beaten back as easily as we managed to do so?"
"Actually, they're the reason I have this scar and was so surprised to see Hero 1," was Zero's terse reply. "The Buster Brigade was wiped out too except for me and Pyro, Pyro ending up handicapped. Still, a lot of other heroes didn't turn evil in our world, so its hard to say if we're worse off, especially since the President wasn't assassinated."
"I couldn't imagine a world diff-" began Swan, suddenly cut off as an unexpected energy blast flew out from down the hall and struck her full-force, causing her to crash into the ground without so much of a scream. In shock Zero stopped and saw a Zero Trooper up ahead, the black-clad super soldier training his fist on him now. Thinking fast Zero concentrated his own energy to allow for a greater reach with his own blasts and returned fire with a blast that was fired immediately as opposed to charged sniper blast, blasting the Trooper's helmet clean off and no doubt blinding him. With the Trooper down Zero moved to check on Swan but could already tell the blast had killed her instantly, thus the reason she hadn't made a sound.
"Damn you, Imperion!" screamed Zero, now severely enraged after witnessing the death of one of his friends, even if it was just an alternate. More energy blasts suddenly came from where the one Zero Trooper had been, the downed villain now joined by two more of his kind. Furious, Busterman charged the Troopers head-on, plowing into them and punching them senseless, ripping their armor to shreds and breaking several of their bones. Zero only stopped short of killing one of the Troopers when he reminded himself he was a hero, not a soldier, and heroes don't kill out of revenge, no matter how strong the desire was. Offering a silent farewell to Chaos Earth's Swan, Zero continued his trek down the hallways.
"Buster, there you are!" exclaimed Lady Sunstorm from the cell she was locked in when she saw her ally appear. It was a smaller section of the prison with only a dozen cells on the floor and only four of them were visibly occupied. Sunstorm and Captain Ravager occupied two of them while the third contained a sickly-looking Aurora Borealis who did little more than smile at the new arrival. In the last cell, much to Zero's surprise, was Busterman Shadow, the one he knew, who looked like he'd been severely beaten, his tank top torn and his clothes caked with dirt and mud. At the back of the room was a circular device, a familiar one to Zero as it was a Chaos Earth replica of a dimensional portal, completely unguarded.
"Ah, and once again dear old dad has come to save the day," rasped the villain from his own cell. "Come to finish what my double started?"
"No," sighed Zero, unable to believe what he was about to say. "I'm here to take you, all of you who don't belong here, home, and make sure the portal on this side is never used again."
"What do you mean it isn't working?" asked Lady Sunstorm as she stood in front of the portal device, keeping his distance from Busterman Shadow while Captain Ravager and Busterman Zero attempted to get the device functioning.
"The distributor matrix was removed," revealed Zero as examined the machine's console. "Without it we can still open the portal but where it will lead us will be entirely random. Heck, without we could end up being vaporized in a trans-dimensional explosion, which is why the safety protocols prevented us from starting it in the first place."
"Distributor matrix?" asked Busterman Shadow, shaking his head. "That's a nice load of techno-babble. So can we replace it, or...?"
"Yeah, but unfortunately the closest one I know of is back in the room where all those extremely powerful meta-beings are fighting for control of this Earth," replied Captain Ravager as he stood up from being undernearth the console. "Ideally to make an energy cannon you need one, and I'm willing to bet the Black Scorpion armor has at least one inside of it."
"Alright, I'll run and get it, you two stay here and watch him," ordered Zero, speaking of Shadow. "Don't pull anything funny Shadow, unless your want all your ambition to end right here."
"Wouldn't dream of it, dad," mocked Shadow in reply with a phoney grin. Shaking his head Zero quickly left the room, flying as fast as he could. He paused briefly to pick up Swan's body, something he'd been too furious to do earlier, and gently moved her so she lay on her back in a much more peaceful position.
"I promise not to let this happen again," Zero whispered, his teeth clenched as he touched the fallen heroine's cheek briefly before hurrying to complete his task.
The fight between Omega Team and Imperion was at an impass. Death Widow had fallen first, her favorite attacks useless against Citadel while his own attacks had nearly killed her. Apparently at some point however someone had used a sonic cannon on Citadel and fried his internal circuits, resulting in him being rendered inactive as well. Scirocco and Synapse were deadlocked, the Mu lightning and Synapse's own electric blasts cancelling each other out. Black Requiem appeared to be defeated, his armor mostly destroyed and his realy body was seriously beaten up. Positron hadn't gotten away entirely without injury, his left shoulder plates torn off with traces of Nictus energy burns while his visor was cracked as were his gauntlets. The pair were also deadlocked with their energy attacks. Hero 1 and Leviathan were exchanging powerful blows while Busterman Prime was doing the same with Imperion, both looking haggard though Imperion had no visible wounds while Prime's exposed face showed signs of blood.
"This ends now, old friend!" shouted Hero 1 as in a surprising move he knocked Leviathan down with a headbutt, leaving the villain stunned long enough for the hero to raise his sword and plunge it straight into the eye symbol on his chest, unleashing a torrent of magical energy as Leviathan cried out in pain. The room was suddenly bathed in light, blinding everyone. When the lights faded Leviathan was no longer a Coralax but a human man with a sword in his chest, his eyes closed and a smile on his face, a large black orb laying next to him cracked in half. Distracted by Leviathan's shocking demise Scirocco was blindsided by Synapse and shocked unconcious by a full-power blast. The light had also weakened Requiem's Nictus powers, allowing Positron's next blast to plow the villain through the wall, his fate unknown. Only Imperion wasn't fazed, kicking Prime into the ground and causing more of his armor to break off, leaving the hero with little besides his gauntlets and boots, a blue jumpsuit revealed underneath which was soaked with sweat and stained with blood.
"Well played, Hero 1, but unfortunately your friends aren't doing so well," laughed Imperion, pointing skywards. Looking up Zero and Chaos Earth's Omega Team witnessed Back Alley Brawler fall into the see-through ceiling, having survived the initial blast from a Zero Trooper but the side-effect being a fatal heart attack. The room was almost choked now with the fallen from both sides, some unknowns, some familiar faces like Doc Quantum, Ascendant and Freeze and others were reduced to so little it was impossible to identify them. The sight made all the heroes sick.
"I think you're looking at the wrong battle, Imperion!" shouted a familiar voice, and everyone turned to see Ms. Liberty standing at the other end of the room with the Buster Brigade. "Lets take him down!" Immediately all six members of Busterman Prime's own Buster Brigade lifted off, flying at Imperion with their powers activated. Water, ice, wind, lightning, fire and even a hurled piece of stone slab all flew at the evil Emperor of the Americas, but as each one impacted Zero could see they had no effect.
"Stand down, you can't beat him!" screamed Prime, but it was too late. Laughing a maniacal laugh Imperion flew straight into the fray, striking down Busterman Pyro with a flurry of punches which smashed his chestplate and shattered his ribs, brutally killing him. Prime howled in rage and charged at the villain, joined by his other allies as well. The room was being torn asunder by the fierce fighting as Zero finally managed to grab the tail blaster from Black Requiem's armor, which had been shot off earlier, and hurried out of the room, not wanting to be caught in the struggle while silently mourning the loss of Chaos Earth's Busterman Pyro.
"Lets get out of here already!" screamed Lady Sunstorm when Zero finally returned. Working quickly Zero and Captain Ravager installed the part taken from the tail blaster and managed to open the portal.
"Sunstorm, you go first," ordered Zero, the heroine quickly obeying. "Ravager, plant a bomb to destroy the portal once we're through. Shadow... nuts." While Zero and Ravager had been working Shadow had vanished, apparently cloaked. It was possible Shadow had already snuck through or would try to do so once Zero was through. Either way Portal Corperation constantly had dozens of heroes nearby so if Shadow wanted to fight on the other side he was going to be in trouble. Deciding he just wanted to go home and leave Chaos Earth for good Zero ran through the portal, Captain Ravager close behind.
* * *
Peregrine Island, Former Paragon City, Our Earth
It had been two hours since Busterman Zero and his teammates, Captain Ravager and Lady Sunstorm, had returned from Upsilon Delta 4-17, now nicknamed Chaos Earth. Shadow was missing so Zero hoped he'd just decided to cut his losses and return to the Rogue Isles or, better yet, he'd ended up trapped in the other dimension. Zero was now sitting at a computer terminal in a cubicle section of the Portal Corperation's office, filling out a report on his adventure. As he finished listing all the known heroes and villains who were deceased in Chaos Earth Tina came up to him. "We've got a trans-dimensional transmission in my office, and I think its for you," the scientist told the hero with a smile. Glad to take a break from the paperwork, Zero rose and followed Tina to her office.
On a large wall-mounted monitor was the smiling face of Chaos Earth's Hero 1, part of his mask torn revealing some dark hair but apart from that he appeared fine. "Greetings to you, Busterman Zero, I see you've managed to return safely and destroy the late Imperion's portal," said the hero from another dimension.
"You won?!" exclaimed Zero with genuine enthousiasm.
"By the skin of our teeth," sighed Hero 1, appearing somewhat sad. "Only one Busterman, Busterman Aero, is left. The other five who'd been with Alpha Team were killed by Imperion himself, their own powers just no match for his. Positron's own abilities have run rampant and now he must wear his armor at all times to avoid causing a potential nuclear detonation. Busterman Prime... he killed Imperion. Synapse had to fall back to help Positron when his armor was damaged while Ms. Liberty tended to Aero thus Prime and I tackled Imperion alone. I was about to strike him down when he invoked Serafina, attempting to make me vanish or some such thing. I used Excalibur to counter her magic, but while it was happening Imperion tried to stike me down. Prime grabbed Imperion and flew him into the sky, unleashing all his power in one final detonation. Imperion fell back down and was no more, the limit of his powers reached. We haven't found Prime, but all evidence suggests his body was destroyed when he unleashed his energy."
"Give Ms. Liberty my condolences, and well done," breathed Zero, his stomach churning and his heart feeling heavy. So many lives in Chaos Earth had been destroyed because of Busterman Shadow. Zero made a silent vow to stop his own Shadow before it happened on his Earth. "Oh, by the way, we'd nicknamed your world Chaos Earth, but that doesn't fit anymore does it?" added Zero, offering a small smile.
"Yes, I think I have a better one," agreed Hero 1. "How about... Earth Prime?"
* * *
End of Part 3 "The Darkest Wish"
Next... Busterman Zero battles death itself in Blood Brothers
[u]Part 4: Blood Brothers[u]
Chiron Medical Center, Atlas Park, Paragon City
"Alex... you look terrible," observed Manticore as he stood at the foot of a regulation hospital bed, looking down at the beaten mess that was Busterman Zero. The hero lay in bed with bandages covering several burns across his body, including one along his right cheek. A heart monitor and an IV tube had both been connected and his right leg had been elevated at the ankle. With second-degree burns, a broken ankle, cracked ribs and severe blood loss from an arm wound. Busterman's healing factor had been taxed to its limit, barely able to stop the pain, thus why painkillers were being pumped into his body.
"Yeah, well, I'm sure you looked worse when Protean got you," shot back Zero with a weak grin.
"He did kill me, don't forget," the senior Freedom Phalanx member reminded the reservist. "Statesman contacted me so I came over with a few Longbow agents who are posted outside right now."
"That was nice of him," coughed Busterman Zero, his eye twitching slightly. "If I didn't know better I'd say he liked me."
"Hey, he's the Statesman, he isn't known for being forgiving to other heroes," pointed out Manticore. "So why don't you tell me what happened? No one's really told us that yet."
Busterman Zero blew out a sigh before saying anything. "It all started on Striga Isle," he finally began after waiting twenty seconds.
* * *
Striga Isle, 1 day ago
"Arakhn?" Busterman Zero asked the Peacebringer Moonfire as he stood at the edge of the island's major forest. With him were three other heroes Moonfire had also contacted: Ravenstorm, a local veteran hero who was quite a bit of a loner and a martial arts master; Rosethorn, a heroine with spine powers she'd gotten from the Devouring Earth; and Cacophony, a mutant heroine with sonic powers that Busterman himself had helped her use for good instead of destruction.
"Yes, we've confirmed that she's contacted the Plague about getting the help to infect members of the population with the Nictus she has her hands on," explained the Kheldian hostess. "In the past she's tried to do this by herself with the help of the Council's Galaxy division, but now for some reason she's contacted the Plague."
"Probably wants to offer Busterman Shadow a chance to get his hands on some Nictus or Quantum Array guns," suggested Rosethorn.
"Both are likely, but in either case members of The Plague are bringing kidnapped victims from the Rogue Isles here, and they'll be meeting shortly," continued Moonfire. "I've contacted Shadowstar and the rest of the Peacebringer army but they could take a while to arrive. I'm asking you four to strike before the Plague's ship arrives."
"If all goes well we'll take care of both problems," Busterman Zero assured Moonfire. "Anyone mind if I take the lead on this?" The other heroes shook their heads. "Alright then, lets head for the base!" With a quick nod Zero took off, offering Cacophony a lift since she could not fly. Ravenstorm quickly followed carried Rosethorn.
A few minutes later the heroes touched down on the Northeast side of Striga Isle. It was dark out so it was the ideal time for Arakhn to be out, she and her Nictus thriving off of darkness. A lone radar tower sat on a cliff overlooking a Council submarine bunker with a large security detail including several mechs. The heroes were cloaked by Ravenstorm's dark powers thus were in no danger of being detected, at least not right away. Immediately they saw the lights from a ship coming in the distance and down by the submarine gate stood Arakhn herself with a band of Galaxy soldiers. The four heroes quickly fanned out, Cacophony going with Ravenstorm while Rosethorn stuck with Busterman. Ravenstorm and Cacophony would strike the Zenith Mechs on the southern side of the submarine gate while Busterman and Rosethorn would charge Arakhn, Zero confident he could hold off the Council commander as he'd done so in the past. As the boat came into view in the distance Zero knew it was time to strike and signalled the attack.
"Were are betrayed!" screamed Arakhn, unleashing a gravimetric attack that left Busterman Zero unable to move his feet but still able to fire several energy blasts while Rosethorn unleashed a hail of spines, Arakhn's guards dropping as if the ground beneath them had suddenly vanished. Meanwhile on the other side Ravenstorm's martial arts prowess was hardly even needed, Cacophony's powerful sonic blasts tearing Vandal's prized machines into scrap. It seemed so far that the team Moonfire had assembled was doing exceptionally well.
"Strike them!" Arakhn suddenly ordered, and suddenly several lesser Nictus appeared, apparently from a shadow cyst that had been hidden nearby. Rosethorn quickly engaged the new threats along with Cacophony and Ravenstorm, who'd leapt over to help, but Zero quickly found himself occupied with the enemy leader who unleashed several dark energy attacks in his direction. In spite of his inherent resistance of energy-based attacks Zero became seriously burned, one blast even scorching his cheek. Another blast took him full in the chest and easily cracked his ribs. Nearby Ravenstorm was also stunned by one of Arakhn's attacks and ended up falling in the water, doomed to drown if Zero didn't distract the villain. In desperation Zero fought through his pain and, using his favorite bone-crunching two-handed strike, struck Arakhn across the face, stunning her long enough for a sonic attack from Cacophony to put her to sleep.
"Destroy the cyst!" shouted Zero as he fell to one knee while blasting a nearby Nictus. Rosethorn attempted to obey but was instead tossed aside, Ravenstorm having to go help her so she wouldn't be overwhelmed. Realizing the Nictus were winning and that The Plague ship would arrive soon Zero made a last, desperate strike. Flying at his maximum speed Zero dealt a powerful kick to the Shadow Cyst, breaking his ankle in the process, which caused it to explode, dissipating all the Nictus. The explosion did also cause nearby rocks to shatter, one particular fragment slashing open Zero's arm as he lay on the ground barely conscious.
"Busterman, the ship's turning away!" cried Rosethorn in victory. "Busterman...?"
* * *
"They rushed me here as fast as they could," finished Busterman Zero, his lips dry from the story. "Ravenstorm can really book it when he wants to."
"Ah, Manticore, nice to see you looking healthy," commented doctor Laurence Mansfield as he entered Busterman's room. "Unfortunate I can't say the same for you, Mister Blake.
"Yeah doc, but getting your but rear end kicked by the Council doesn't make you look like the spiting image of health," laughed Busterman, his chest hurting as a result.
"What's his prognosis?" asked Manticore, seeing the concern on the doctor's face.
"Bad, I'm afraid," confessed Doctor Mansfield. "Mister Blake's regular injuries should be healing by his own abilities but they aren't. Something during that last battle caused his abilities to weaken, resulting in his broken bones not repairing themselves like they should be. What little we understand about Kheldians leads me to believe that when you struck the, uh, Shadow Cyst, you srambled your energy reserves in your blood."
"What's that mean exactly?" asked Busterman, not liking where the conversation was going.
"Unless you receive a blood transfusion from someone with your own uniqe traits, you could remain crippled, maybe even die," revealed Mansfield, causing both heroes in the room to swallow hard.
Oil Tanker Talaho, Pacific Ocean, 1971
Blood stained the bridge of the oil tanker as Busterman Zero and his opponent, Comrade Sickle, breathed heavily, both injured from the fighting that had just occured. Sickle, a Soviet supersoldier, had been equipped with a suit of armor known as the Sickle Armor which, while a bit more boxy, resembled the steam-powered armor Nemesis was famous for. The armor was powered by solar energy and heat, the lining between the suit's shell incredibly warm. As a result of the suit's powers Sickle was not only seemingly invunerable due to an apparent energy field surrounding himself but he was also able to age very slowly, resulting in the Russian that should be 49 appearing only 34 outside of his armor. Sickle's main offensive capabilities were experimental monomolecular claws of Talsorian origin, something the UN hadn't yet sanctioned. Busterman Zero was now intimately familiar with the claws, one having nearly cut him in half while the other had seriously wounded his knee.
The Talaho had been charged with transporting special fuel reserves from a Pacific refinery back to the United States, something that for no clear reason Comrade Sickle and his partner, the People's Hammer, had decided to stop. Busterman suspected the Soviet duo was hoping to make the ship explode, causing untold environmental damage and make US oil companies look negligent. Either way Zero and Buster Brigade weren't going to stand for it. The crew of the tanker had been rounded up already by People's Hammer but the rest of the Brigade was hunting her down. Left alone with Sickle Zero had tried the direct approach but was quickly reminded that his energy attacks were not sufficient to truly stop the metal hulk that was the Comrade.
"I guess you don't want to surrender then?" laughed Zero, trying to hide his pain as his knee injury healed.
"You are trying to stall, da?" asked Comrade Sickle, raising his claws. "That will not save you. My love is destroying your comrades, just as I shall destroy you. You will threaten my country's dreams no longer!" The crimson-armored soldier charged, his plain helmet, which was devoid of sophisticated headgear and merely a well-molded faceguard, hid his passion for bloodshed, but Busterman knew Sickle had to be stopped before he caused more death. A year ago Sickle had murdered three of South America's heroes, including the heroine Aztec Amazon, whom Busterman Cryo had had a relationship with. Channeling forth his rage and hatred for Comrade Sickle, Zero found his energy levels soaring and suddenly a pure blast of raw power was fired from his body, detonating the ship's bridge in a large explosion which stopped the ship dead, left adrift now in the churning ocean.
As the smoke cleared Zero lay on his back, breathing heavily as he found himself barely able to twitch. The entire top floor of the Talaho's command section had been destroyed and Zero was now laying at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the part that was no longer there. Next to him was a familiar gauntlet, one that had clearly belonged to Sickle, blood staining the part that was supposed to be attached to the body. It was clear that the villain would not be joining anyone else for the rest of his life.
"Vilen?!" screamed a metallic-sounding female voice and Zero saw People's Hammer approaching. The Hammer armor was much more modern than the Sickle armor had been, boasting a full helmet with a radio transmitter and eye shield as well as futuristic-looking red plating with a few wires showing underneath. As per what the name suggested the Hammer armor included a large warhammer as well as longivity protocols, an electricity-based defensive aura and a built-in electroshock weapon. People's Hammer looked mad, and Zero had a pretty good guess as to why.
"Back off, hammer head!" shouted Busterman Pyro as he arrived on the scene, a ball of fire striking the Russian villainess in the helmet. Pyro was dressed like he belonged on a motorcycle, wearing a biker-style leather jacket with matching pants, a white T-shirt on his chest carrying the symbol of the Buster Brigade. Unlike nearly every other Busterman Pyro's hair hadn't turned white thus instead he had light brown hair compared to Zero's. Pyro launched a series of flame attacks on Hammer but she didn't seem phased, merely turning and raising her weapon.
"This is for my husband!" screamed Hammer, attempting to bring her weapon down on a shocked Pyro. Zero, against all odds, managed to pick himself off of the ground and fly straight into Hammer, pushing her aside, her hammer destroying the wall instead. A surge of electricity tossed Zero off of the downed communist, who rose once more.
"Lady, you're in a war, even if they call it cold, and soldiers die sometimes," gasped Zero, managing to stand. "Now, there's seven of us and only one of you now. DO you really want to keep fighting?" Sure enough the other five Buster Brigade members had appeared, fresh from freeing the ship's crew.
"I will see you in hell for this!" cursed People's Hammer as she smashed through the wall she'd damaged a moment ago, tumbling into the water below where she'd survive thanks to the impressive features of her suit.
"We'll do lunch!" called Zero as he watched his enemy escape, not feeling up to going after her. Comrade Sickle was dead, he didn't see the need to take a retreating villain's life.
* * *
"Alex, wake up," came a soft voice, causing Busterman Zero to flutter his eyes open. Much to his surprise Busterman Pyro now sat in front of him in his wheelchair, Swan and Manticore flanking him.
"Hey Frank, what are you doing here?" asked Zero, still groggy from the drugs he'd been given.
"What do you think, Al?" replied Busterman Pyro with a scoff, shaking his head. "I'm here to give you my blood so you won't end up like me."
"What?" muttered Zero, rubbing his eyes. "I thought I needed the blood from someone with my own powers."
"I may not of been given the original Busterman virus strain, but the doctors suspect my blood should still suffice for your needs," Franklin informed his former superior. "I'm going to save your life, Al, like you did for me so many times before..."
"What a heartwarming moment," laughed Zero, coughing slightly. "Thanks Frank, I guess its my turn to owe you now."
"No, I still owe you a lot more," Pyro assured Zero as Manticore and Swan helped the former hero out of his wheelchair and onto the empty bed next to Zero's.
"We've got a situation!" shouted Ms. Liberty, suddenly appearing in the room. The heroine looked genuinely worried, something Zero could never recall seeing before in all the years he'd known the girl. "Word got out that Zero's injured and some of his old enemies are coming to make sure he doesn't recover!"
"Don't worry, the police drones can handle them," Swan assured her leader.
"That would be true if it wasn't the Council!" exclaimed Ms. Liberty. "Nemesis soldiers were spotted too! they've made an alliance just to get rid of you, Alex!"
"What a time to feel loved," groaned Zero, suddenly wishing Arakhn had killed him.
Atlas Park, Paragon City
Ideally strikes on Atlas Park were impossible, basically due to the existance of the security drones employed by the Paragon Police Department. While an Arachnos submarine might be able to drop a few villains near a bank without fear of being zapped by a drone's stun/teleportion beam, pretty much neutralizing any threat. Medical centers and other major locations like City Hall and the Cosignment Houses were equipped with them, thus in the case of a Rikti attack it was best to hide in one of those locations.
Unfortunately the Council were known for finding ways to disable security drones, as they had done this very day. As a hastily assembled band of heroes led by Manticore and Ms. Liberty stood outside the medical center the flashing police drones suddenly fizzled and fell to the ground, a tell-tale sign of Council jamming technology. Soon afterwards the ground cracked open, courtesy of Nemesis drilling machines, and out came a large force of Council soldiers, flanked by Nemesis's automaton creations. At the front of the group stood a Fake Nemesis, its staff held aloft.
"Today Paragon City shall burn!" declared the false evil mastermind. "All shall know that even Atlas Park, supposedly the safest place in this city, is vunerable! We will destroy the medical center and everyone who gets in our way!"
"I thought you said they were after Busterman," Manticore asked Ms. Liberty as he readied his bow.
"I thought it might make him feel better after getting beat up," replied the heroine. Manticore merely shook his head.
"You do realize that this place is known as the city of heroes, right?" called Manticore, pointing behind the arrived forces. While only forty heroes were assembled around the medical center, another three dozen were already coming in by flight alone, and everyone figured that within another five minutes hundreds would be present. The Nemesis/Council coaliiton force was large, but not unbeatable.
"That had not escaped our master's plans," was the Fake Nemesis's terse reply before one hero fired a powerful missile which crippled the machine.
"You know, he's right," realized Manticore as he began engaging the attacking force, Swan, Ms. Liberty and several other heroes at his side. "This is too stupid to be a plan Nemesis came up with. What's going on?"
* * *
Inside the hospital most of its doctors, nurses, orderlies and patients collapsed from the sound of one of the Council's best soldier's voices. Maestro, once known as Vincenzo Alferi, had used his sonic power to lull any potential annoyances to sleep as he and his elite team of Council Galaxy Archons and Nemesis Army Captains entered the medical center from the basement. The heroes defending the hospital were concerned about exterior threats, not knowing one had already struck from the inside using another Nemesis tunnelling machine. "Don't hesitate to strike down anyone who impedes us," Maestro reminded his men as they quickly went to work planting the special bombs they'd been given. The devices would trigger a massive explosion of pure energy, rather than traditional ones that were more flame than anything else, which would make it look like someone had unleashed a massive energy wave from inside the medical center. With Busterman Zero being a patient, the Nemesis and Council masterminds behind the strike were certain the hero would be blamed for the incident. The incidents with Sunburst in Siren's Call and Faultline in Overbrook were still fresh on people's minds.
"Hold it right there, Council scum," came a surprise voice, causing Maestro to instinctively turn and let loose a powerful howl, his sonic voice tearing through an assembled group of heroes. When Busterman Zero had first learned of the Plague he'd requested permission to assemble a special group dedicated to its eradication. It hadn't taken Zero long to learn that Teckron Flax, an acquaintance of his, was building up his supergroup known as the Protector's Knights, so named after one of Paragon City's many nicknames. Zero had joined the organization and was quickly given the rank of High King, a rank shared only with Teckron Flax. Flax, upon hearing of Zero's hospital situation, had arrived with a small group of members from the Knights to help make sure his friend would be safe from any unknown threats. Flax's foresight was well-used, it seemed.
"This is unfortunate," sighed Maestro as the Protector's Knights, led by the winged black-clad Teckron Flax, engaged the Council/Nemesis elite forces. Teckron's mighty fists smashed several of the Captains to the ground but unfortunately most of his allies were lower-level heroes, ones who weren't at the point where they could tackle some of the present opponents by themselves. The tide was against them.
As the hospital shook from the fighting the battle outside was going well for the assembled heroes, the distraction forces quickly falling before a pure onslaught. The sounds of fighting from inside the hospital were detected by one heroine with superhearing. "They've gotten inside somehow!" warned the heroine, but it was too late as another drilling machine appeared between the heroes and the medical center, several Warhulks and Zenith mechs piling out.
Back inside the medical center the Protector's Knights had done well, almost all of Maestro's entourage defeated, but the villain himself had downed all but Teckron Flax, who was clutching his ears as he attempted to see straight. "This shall be your final song, it seems," declared Maestro as he warmed up his vocal chords for his next sonic attack.
Then from the doorway flew burning ash, striking Maestro full in the face and leaving him to clutch at it in pain. The charring ash was followed by a massive burst of energy which smashed the villain into the wall, then causing him to collapse. From out of the doorway emerged Busterman Zero, clad only in a hospital gown, his skin alive with flames which didn't burn his clothing, a grin on his face. "Nice try Maestro, but you can't expect this old dog to let you put him down without a fight!" shouted the hero, raising his right fist and moments later launching a compressed sniper blast, slamming Maestro into the same wall once again. "I'm back, and I'm better than ever," declared Busterman Zero, raising his fist and squeezing it tightly. Maestro tried to stand, but this time it was Teckron Flax who delivered the blow, sending the villain through the wall and into the surprised ranks of the heroes outside.
"I take it these new gifts of yours are courtesy of Pyro?" asked Teckron as he looked at his friend.
"Yeah, that brother of mine really came through," admitted Zero as he watched over one hundred heroes swarm Maestro, not giving the villain a chance at all. "When a hero falls, a dozen more are there to watch his back. I love this town."
* * *
End of Part 4 "Blood Brothers"
Next... Busterman Zero and Busterman Shadow clash across time itself in the final part:Shadow's End
[u]Part 5: Shadow's End[u]
Ouroboros
Little more than a floating island, Ouroboros was none the less almost a paradise, featuring several trees with a reflection pond in the middle as well as the citadel itself which was home to the Menders. Months ago the Menders had contacted the people of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, warning them that there was a coming storm in the future that they had come to correct. For many heroes and villains it was their first exposure to time travel but no one had dared to attack it, fearing the power of those that defended it.
The fear was apparently gone.
The beautiful Ouroboros courtyard was devastated by energy blast scorchmarks, bullet casings and general signs of destruction. No one had been killed, fortunately, but many were badly injured to the point where they'd need days of recovery before they could be of any help. To this end a special force of heroes and villains had arrived to help repair the damage and try to determine what had occured. Flower Knight, a Korean-American heroine who spent a lot of time at Ouroboros, was busy speaking to several of the heroes and villains.
"What a mess," sighed Busterman Zero as he exited the portal, his friend and fellow leader of the Protector's Knights Teckron Flax at his side. "I didn't think it was possible. Don't they have some kind of barrier here or something that denies agressive acts?"
"If that's true I guess it was beaten somehow," observed Teckron before hurrying over to speak with a pair of heroes he knew. Busterman sighed again but enjoyed the gentle breeze passing through. Wanting something a little more heroic for a costume, Busterman Zero had hung up his blue jacket and black muscle shirt for a sleeveless black trenchcoat and a blue muscle shirt with the old Buster Brigade logo on it, again in red. It wasn't much of a change but the trenchcoat made it look somewhat like he was wearing a cape, and wearing something that flapped in the wind, as long as it wasn't skin, always made someone look more like a hero.
"Oh, hey, Thrusterman!" exclaimed Flower Knight as she walked away from the latest group who'd approached her.
"It's Busterman, Knight," replied Zero, chuckling to himself as he moved to greet her.
"Sorry, but its been a long time since we helped take care out the Outbreak thing, you know?" Flower Knight reminded Busterman. "Anyhow, I'll give you the same briefing I gave the others: we don't know who specifically did this, we just know at least four of them used Arachnos weapons and that their target appeared to be an Apsect of the Pillar." Zero's mouth went dry at the news. The Pillar of Ice and Flame was a massive crystal inside the Ouroboros Citadel that allowed for easy time travel, and Aspects of the Pillar allowed one to tap into the Pillar's power. Whoever had stolen the Aspect wanted to travel through time outside the watchful eye of Ouroboros or even the Midnight Squad, whom Zero recalled also had a Pillar.
"Hey Zero, we found something interesting!" shouted Teckron Flax, running up to his friend and handing him a slip of paper. "In fact, it was addressed to you." Taking the paper, Zero examined it, not that there was much to look at. It merely had the hero's name and then had a picture of Eldritch, a symbol Zero was fairly familiar with.
"It was the Plague," declared Busterman Zero, crushing the scrap in his hands. "Scramble the Knights, Teckron, I think Busterman Shadow just realized a way to travel through time."
Protector's Knights Headquarters, Paragon City, Rhode Island
Hidden in a dondescript warehouse the city didn't care about, the Protector's Knights had built an impressive base with teleporters which could connect them to almost any region of the city as well as medical services and a large amount of storage for personal affects. Zero himself didn't leave much there aside from random junk he'd salvaged from the various criminals he'd busted, still keeping most of his stuff in his loft in Perez Park. Now Zero was mixing himself a drink at the bar while Teckron Flax worked hard on the group's supercomputer, trying to track any temporal distortions The Plague might of made.
"Why can't we use the Freedom Phalanx computer for this?" asked Teckron.
"Please, do you know how many reserve members they actually have?" asked Zero as he mixed lemonade and iced tea together to make an Arnold Palmer. "Last I checked only the big eight and the Vindicators could use it. I'd ask the Midnight Squad but they're too busy watching the Rikti and Cimerora while the Vanguard are working on the Rikti alone. With the Menders down for now its up to us and our lowly understanding of time travel to figure out what the heck the Plague are up to."
"Funny, because while you've been ranting I got a few hits," replied Teckron, indicating the screen. A pointlessly three-dimensional graph of the timeline was on the screen with several dates highlighted. "It goes as far back as... the Cimerora inssurection," observed Zero as he looked at the graph. "That should scramble the Midnight Squad. Hmm... another hit in 1937, this time here in this very city. No clue what that means. 1943... oh no."
"What is it?" asked Teckron Flax, not understanding the significance of the date.
"Teckron, that's the middle of World War II," Zero reminded his collegue. "Time travel and that war don't mix, ever! You ever read comics or watch a sci-fi TV show? World War II was one of the darkest times in all of our history, because back then was the first real change from science fiction to reality. Think about it. Right afterwards Nemesis attacked Washington with an atom-ray and nerve gas, things we didn't think were possible until then. Going back to that time means Shadow could have access to several wonderful pieces of technology that modern man hasn't been able to improve much upon. Heck, that was when I was... oh no..."
"That's twice you've said it, what now?" asked Teckron, now somewhat annoyed.
"That's also the only point in history when one could find an original copy of the Busterman Virus," revealed Busterman Zero. "After creating the Buster Brigade it was sealed up and eventually destroyed in 1946 after the United Nations banned its use. He wants to create Zero Troopers."
International Waters, 10 Miles South-West of Paragon City
The Plague had gone underground some time ago, making it hard for Busterman Zero or anyone else to track them. Fortunately an hour after Zero believed he had figured out Busterman Shadow's grand scheme a broadcast was made over radio and video, interrupting all running programs and even enabling supposedly powered off electronic listening devices. Shadow, dressed in his flowing black trenchcoat, sneered towards the camera as his face was broadcast on all televisions in both the Rogue Isles and Paragon City.
"Attention all who would stand in my way," began Shadow, his body seeming to glow with dark energy. "I am Busterman Shadow, leader of the Plague. We have rejected out citizenship rights from the Rogue Isles and are formally declaring war on them as well as the United States. Our ship, Typhon Island, is currently approaching Paragon City. If you're eager to meet your deaths earlier rather than later I encourage you all to come out and face us, as it'll make things far less complicated and troublesome for all of us. Those that cannot fight us, I suggest you submit or face execution. Know that on this day the old world shall crumble!"
Shortly after the broadcast a massive moving object was detected treading water between the Rogue Isles and Rhode Island, the object quickly identified as a massive artificial island. No one knew how Shadow had gotten such a massive creation built in secret, but Zero and several other heroes guessed it was hidden underwater until recently.
Now Busterman Zero stood at the bow of the Freedom Corps Paragon-Class battleship M1. Onboard with him were several members of the Protector's Knights, Celtik Warrior and Teckron Flax by his side. Teckron's mechanical wings remained tight against his back as he stood with his arms crossed, watching the horizon. Celtik, who was merely an ordinary hero with amazing stamina and endurance, was examining his swords, his kilt barely moving in the breeze. Next to the M1 was another ship under the command of Statesman himself, the Phalanxer. The size of Typhon Island had caused a massive panic in Paragon City, resulting in over one hundred heroes gathering for the mission, the most Zero had seen in one place since the Rikti War. The Freedom Corps, Hero Corps, Midnight Squad, and the Freedom Phalanx were all involved as were the Knights.
After what seemed like ages an unnatural fog appeared off of the bow and moments later it parted, revealing Busterman Shadow's prized chariot. Typhon Island looked like a natural island, being covered in sand, dirt, grass and palm trees, but in the center was a large black-metal citadel that resembled some of the Arachnos towers on the Rogue Isles. Several bunkers dotted the peremiter, all of them boasting turrets. "This is insane," gasped Celtik, seeing the artificial island approaching. "How the hell did he pull this off?!"
"I don't know, but I'm willing to bet it has something to do with time travel," sighed Busterman Zero while Teckron Flax performed a scan of the nearby area.
"We've got trouble, Alex," Teckron told Zero, seeing the results of his scan on his wrist device. "There's at least four hundred people on that island, and several of them are giving off metahuman signatures. This isn't going to be easy."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," breathed Zero, cracking his knuckles. "I haven't had a good war in years. Signal the Phalanxer, we're making the first strike."
Celtik ran off and quickly had Flambeaux, a heroine with flame-based powers, shoot a fireball into the sky, indicating the M1 would strike first. At the sign of the fireball the Longbow crew members readied the ship's guns and had them fire upon the moving island's bunkers, the heavy shells of the dual artillery guns, one of the more benefitial Crey creations, destroying the false environment and disabling several of its built-in defenses. It was then that several forms were seen running onto the beaches. Using a pair of binoculars Zero scanned the shoreline and was able to make out several Circle of Thorns mages, Spectral Daemons, Mek Men, Steel Valkyries, Cimeroran warriors, Shivans and Arachnos soldiers, all of them wearing the familiar Eldritch crest, the mark of The Plague.
"Just as we feared, he's recruited from the past, and it looks like the future as well," noted Zero, grinding his teeth slightly. "Lets take the fight to them!" Zero's body was suddenly enveloped in flames as he lifted off from the deck of the ship and flew forwards, several flying heroes immediately taking off after him. The amassed force that The Plague had gathered quickly scattered as an intense melee broke out, Zero personally taking on a pair of Bane Spiders, using one's mace to smash the other's helmet and knock him out.
"You're late!" called a voice, a bolt of familiar Mu Lightning suddenly catching Zero off-guard and sending him backwards, some of his strength leaving him. The blast had come from a crimson-armored woman who strode out from the shade of the burning palm trees while hefting a large hammer, the old Soviet Union crest in the center of her old-style armor.
"People's Hammer?!" gasped Zero, noting the familiar Mu markings on his old enemy's gauntlets which meant she'd apparently at some point joined Scirocco's ranks.
"I'm Stalin's Hammer now, you murderer!" snarled Zero's old enemy, charging forward with her hammer raised abover her head. "I'll make you pay for killing my husband!"
With a heavy hammer, no doubt made out of titanium, impervium or some other heavy and highly durable metal, heading towards his head, Zero immediately flew out of its reach on reflex. "You've been busy working with the Mu I see!" laughed Zero, his arial acrobatics also helping him avoid another red lightning blast. "What, did their fashion sense appeal to you?"
"I joined with them so I would be strong enough to crush you!" screamed Stalin's Hammer, activating armor's jump-thrusters and managing to kick Zero's leg, the hero moving too fast for a direct blow.
"Excuse me," came the voice of a new arrival, namely Teckron Flax, quickly delivering an armor-cracking haymaker to the surprised crimson communist. "Head for the compound already, I can handle this piece of ancient trash!"
"When I get back we're going to talk about respecting things from before your time!" snapped Zero, not appreciating the age remark even if it wasn't directed at him. All the same the hero took his friend's advice and flew off, avoiding getting drawn into the massive ground battle between The Plague's rag-tag warriors and the band of heroes that had been assembled. Up in the skies it was apparent however that Shadow had done more for recruitment than just time-travel, a large group of Sky Raiders, who were being led by the famed Captain Castillo, were headed towards the landing ships.
"Great, I was hopeing for some good news," sighed Zero as he spotted another new threat as he flew, namely several Arachnos submarines surfacing and their contents, several dozen villains, piling out. At first Busterman suspected the new arrivals were reinforcements for the Plague but the villains then, much to Zero's surprise, started engaging the defending force. Even a few familiar Arachnos leaders such as Arbiter Sands, Night Widow Nocturne, Barracuda and Captain Mako.
"I never thought I'd see the day," laughed Zero, watching the fight as he flew. As Zero neared the upper level of the citadel several turrets fired swam missiles in his direction, quickly forcing him to dive and arrive at the tower's main gate where Judgemaster Azrael Wrath awaited him, his claws twitching as if in total anticipation.
"Today I'll pay you back for humiliating me!" declared the villain, immediately warping in an Omega Bomb, the object coming down right between the two of them.
"Well, shoot!" cursed Busterman Zero, raising his flame armor and quickly flying backwards. The resulting explosion tore a massive hole in the citadel's gate, the nearby trees being vapourized and the already black metal walls seeming to brighten thanks to the gray dust. "Okay, I gotta know, how did you build this thing?!" shouted Zero as he ducked a channel blast followed by a Longfang burst.
"We didn't build it, some nanomachines our Imperion captured from the future did overnight," explained Azrael, taunting his enemy as he fired a venom grenade. "They ran out of power afterwards, but didn't they do wonders? And they can do it again if we just use our pillar to go back to the future!"
"Obviously you've never seen the movie," grunted Zero as he tried to fire back while recalling the classic film trilogy. The firefight was proving ineffective, however, neither shooter able to hit the other. Fortunately another player then entered the battle.
"For Paragon!" cried Celtik Warrior, his swords flashing as he charged Azrael from his blind spot, one of his blades lancing a crucial control circuit and causing the power level of the crab backpack to drop considerably. Azrael retaliated with a powerful slice from one claw but already Celtik was moving and the two were locked in a duel.
"Take him down!" cheered Zero as he took the opportunity to fly past, free to enter the citadel with its only outside guard occupied.
It took several minutes for Busterman Zero to find the elevator that could take him to the top floor, during which time he battled several of Shadow's guards. Many were merely Arachnos Soldiers with submachine guns, none of them having enough skill to outshoot Busterman's energy pulses. A team of Blood Widows tried their hand but their darts also failed to penetrate Zero's flaming aura, their claw weapons shattering in the face of his energy-powered fists. It was a mixture of them being too weak to fight him and him just being too good for them to handle. Finally after searing off one soldier's helmet Zero reached the elevator, but yet another foe blocked his way. "Not so fast, grandfather," warned Busterwoman Zero, the powerful psychic using her mental powers to quickly make Zero drop to his knees.
"Do me a favor and never call me that again," grunted Zero, trying to stand. "It's bad enough Statesman has Ms. Liberty and Dominatrix to worry about, why force me to suffer with the concept of having an evil blood relative?"
"Your sarcasm won't help you stall for time, you realize," laughed Busterwoman as she walked closer to the helpess Zero. "No one is coming to save you as they did with the other two you encountered. All your precious heroes are occupied fighting our soldiers or under my will. Your own mind is somewhat... elusive, but I can still leave you helpless. Now all I have to do is break your neck."
"You really need to broaden your mind, bad joke intended!" shouted a voice, much to Busterwoman's surprise. A large yellow orb, a concentrated Neutrino Bolt, flew into Busterwoman, knocking her off her feet and immediately allowing Zero to stand. The new arrival wore a green ancient Chinese overcoat with yellow lining, wore black shoulderpads that cleamed with spikes and had a fish-hook shaped tattoo on his face, his hair spiked and blond. Below his waist was white baggy pants tucked into dark blue boots with matching gloves.
"Do you people just follow me around or something?" asked Zero, not believing how much support he'd gotten in a row.
"No is not the time, Busterman," snapped the new arrival, scowling at Zero. "I am Zalerech, and I will deal with this worm while your punish the traitor to Arachnos!"
"Ah right, that's why you guys are here," laughed Zero. Busterwoman had been so focused on the heroes she hadn't noticed the arrival of Recluse's submarines. Zero quickly dove into the elevator while the villainess stood.
"You will fear me," declared Busterwoman, her voice possessing a sinister echo to it.
"No, it is you that will be petrified of me!" declared Zalerech, saying a quick chant and unleashing his dark magic, his gaze instantly causing his foe to freeze in place as if she'd been turned to stone.
Riding the elevator straight to the top, Zero got an eerie chill when he stepped off. The room consisted of a large viewing screen which showed the battle outside, one that the heroes and villains were winning, Statesman just having flown through a Sky Skiff. Standing in front of the viewer was Busterman Shadow himself, clad only in a pair of reddish-brown slacks and black boots, his chest shirtless and his sunglasses removed, revealing the nasty mirrored scar on the left side of his face, holding his eye shut. "What do you think, remind of someplace?" asked Shadow, grinning a sinister grin as Zero casually took off his blue jacket, casting it aside and then doing the same with his goggles.
"You sick freak, you're trying to recreate Chaos Earth right here!" shouted Busterman Zero, noticing the parallels. "What, were you planning to crush us here and then release the virus in Paragon or something after we were beaten? Forget it, Shadow, I'm going to stop you right here, right now!"
"Ah, I wouldn't do that," wagged Shadow's finger as Zero raised his hands, ready to turn his clone into ash. "You're only partially correct. The virus is already in Paragon City, planted by my dear daughter. The Rogue Isles as well. If I die the transmitter in my body shuts down and without the signal the bombs will be triggered. Of course, they're rigged to go off in another five minutes anyway, including the ones on this island I might add, so killing me will just bring about the new age of mankind a few minutes earlier."
"You sick son of a-!" roared Zero, firing a blast that punched a hole in the viewscreen, disabling it and leaving a large hole leading to the outside in the room. "Transmitter or not, I'm going to stop you!" Zero's fists glowed brightly while Shadow's blackened, the pair running towards each other and locking fists, their battle having begun.
Echoes as loud as thunder traveled through the hallways of Shadow's citadel as Busterman Zero and Busterman Shadow engaged in a brutal melee, each landing as many strikes as they took. A full minute later the two had finally broken apart, the room covered with miniature craters. Shadow's face was bloodied and his ribs were cracked but Zero had a broken nose and had just relocated his right shoulder. Both men were capable of minor regeneration thus their injuries would recover within minutes, but that was time Zero didn't have. He needed to find a way to recover the transmitter from within Shadow's body in the next few minutes and shut down the bombs or else a good portion of the population would die and those that didn't would experience the joys of World War II viral engineering. It was not a good situation to say the least.
"You can't kill me, you can't stop me," taunted Shadow, grinning ear to ear as the cut on his lip cauterized itself. "You're just a weak little hero that no one remembers, no one cares about. Your pitiful Protector's Knights don't need you, no one in the world does. I, however, will live on even if I die here, remembered as the man who brought the world to its knees! I am your legacy!"
"Like hell you are!" roared Zero, his feet lifting off the ground and the sheer power of his will propelling him into his clone at speeds that rivaled the speed of sound, or Mach 1. The metal and concrete wall was no match for the sheer momentum Zero and the stunned Shadow had created, the pair flying out into the battle that was raging on, The Plague now clearly at a disadvantage thanks to the reinforcements from the Rogue Isles. Continuing to fly as fast as he could Zero slammed Shadow into the ground next to the artificial island's small lake, a batch of Hydra the Plague had somehow tamed being roused. A team of heroes was present when the Hydra creatures began to move however and quickly engaged them, leaving Zero free to fight Shadow alone once again.
"Congradulations, you've broken my back," coughed Shadow, unable to feel his legs as Zero stood over him, the hero breathing extremely hard with both of his arms fractured. Both combatants had been seriously hurt by the near sonic cannonball run they'd just experienced.
"A pity it wasn't your neck," grunted Zero, his eyes suddenly glowing with energy. Once again flames erupted from all over his skin, creating a firey suit of armor for the hero as black ash swirled in his hands.
"You fool, you only have a minute left, and incinerating me will change nothing," mocked Shadow, perspiring in spite of his tough talk. The villain, for perhaps the first time in his short existance, seemed to be afraid.
"Actually Shadow, its game over," grinned Zero, nodding over at a familiar sight. Floating above the war-torn artifical island was Sister Psyche who was touching her temples as Statesman and a few other iconic heroes swirled around her. "See, while Busterwoman might not of been able to attack my mind that easily, I have no problem with a fellow hero reading my thoughts," explained Zero, jumping down into the crater that Shadow lay in. "Positron was able to find the signal your transmitter is making and duplicate it, thus even when the time limit is up the bombs will still think they aren't supposed to detonate, giving us plenty of time to find them. You lose, Shadow." Zero raised his flaming hands, a ball of raw inferno appearing between them.
"Blasted psychics, they really do make the playing field uneven," muttered Shadow, realizing the true gravity of his situation. "I came into this expecting to die but remain a legend, forever ruining the name Busterman and living on as one of the world's greatest villains. You've taken that from me, and now you're going to take my life. Once a soldier, always a soldier, huh Zero? You claim to be a hero, but this is war, and now you're going to show me the ultimate price for that." Shadow casually raised his right thumb and drew an invisible line across his neck. "Go on, dad. Do it."
"Yes, I was a soldier," admitted Zero as the fireball in his hands faded away, as did the flames around his body. "But I am a hero, and this isn't war, this is justice." With a quick movement Zero recovered a pair of tranquilizer darts from his belt and threw them into his sworn enemy's chest, causing him to lose conscious thought. "Youre under arrest."
* * *
Atlas Park, Paragon City, Rhode Island
2 days later
Sitting on top of the Atlas monument, Busterman Zero, Teckron Flax and Celtik Warrior all surveyed the city they'd come to love and protect. Down below Ms. Liberty was giving flesh young heroes some tips while Sunstorm organized the Peacebringer army to help fight the Nictus threat. Dozens of heroes were gathered below, some searching for teams to help with their missions while others were hoping to join a super group. It was just another day in Atlas Park.
"Shadow's escaped already?" asked Celtik, having been summoned to the place by Zero and Teckron. "This is nuts. First the Freedom Phalanx and the Freedom Corps get all the credit for sinking Typhon Island, now Arachnos has busted him out of the Zig?!"
"Recluse seems to think he's a 'chosen one' or something, or so claimed the Longbow who overheard some key conversations," explained Teckron Flax, rubbing his head. The heroes were clearly upset over having such a dangerous villain escape.
"Relax, that means he stuck in the Rogue Islands again, which in turn means we'll probably see him the Pocket D or Bloody Bay sometime soon," Zero reminded his friends, surprisingly calm about the situation. "Speaking of Pocket D, they are still throwing that party for everyone who helped sink the Plague's flagship, or flag island, whatever you want to call it."
"I didn't think you were keen on rewards for good deeds," noted Celtik.
"Yeah, well, Shadow did teach me something," admitted Zero, somewhat embarassed to have a villain show him how to improve himself. "Like it or not, if he kills me people will fear the name Busterman and I can't let that happen. I need to take a more active role, not just for me, but for everyone who ever fought alongside the Buster Brigade and show the world that old heroes will never give up the fight. That and, well, I am a bit tired of going home to an empty apartment..."
"Should of guessed there was another motive besides generic nobility," laughed Celtik. "Well, I don't have a watch on, any idea what time it is? The party's tonight, after all, and we should probably visit Serge before we go."
"Heroes don't wear watches around here, remember?" Teckron reminded his fellow Knight. "It makes the citizens feel important when we run up to them and ask them the time."
"Well, I don't think we'll have a lot of free time for fashion changes anyhow," noted Zero, looking up in the sky as it turned dark, the Atlas Park war walls suddenly shutting down. It was then that a dark ship with green lights on it suddenly appeared out of nowhere, glowing orbs falling from underneath.
"I love this town!" exclaimed Teckron, his mechanical wings beginning to flap. "Alright Knights, lets show the Rikti who's planet this is!"
The End?
Steel Canyon, Paragon City, Rhode Island
"There is no second best, the Council is the pinnacle of excellence!" shouted an armored man, the type of man someone would call a soldier, as he stood on top of his box, shaking his fist at the local pedestrians that avoided him and the two other men that were at his side. It was only mid-morning and already the Council was in full recruitment mode, attempting to convince any disheartened citizens
that dared to walk by that their life would be better if they joined the facist organization.
"Slow day, huh Bob?" muttered one of the soapboxing man's cohorts, a new member to the Nebula branch of the Council. He was just a Gunner while the other soldier was an Elite Marksman.
"You're to refer to me as sir, got that?!" snapped Bob the Nebula Adjutant, pausing from his recruiting duties.
"How about I just refer to all three of you as trash?" asked another voice, surprising the three Council soldiers. They were standing in front of a ledge overlooking a lower portion of Steel Canyon thus a voice coming from behind them made little sense. Turning around Bob and his two cohorts saw that the speaker was floating a foot away from the ledge.
"Seriously, you want to recruit University students?" sighed the newcomer, sratching his head. The man was dressed primarily in mismatched military fatigues, his pants green with a standard belt holding them up while his jacket was navy blue. His boots were black and the type a biker would wear, not a soldier, just as was with his fingerless gloves. Under his jacket was a black muscle shirt with a red logo on it which resembled a bird with its wing spread but in a uniform shape, looking more like the type of chrest seen on a medal than an animal. A pair of brown goggles rested on the flyers forehead in front of short white hair. His right eye was almost completely white, indicating blindness, and a straight scar ran down it.
"A hero, get him!" shouted Bob, his men bringing their guns to bear while he frantically grabbed for his submachine gun. Before Bob had even managed to turn off the safety to his weapon the sound of an energy pulse was heard followed by the clatter of Council armor hitting pavement. As Bob raised his gun a glowing fist swung down and broke his weapon in two, the front half bouncing off of the sidewalk and off the ledge.
"It's funny, I can't even begin to describe how much of a bad idea it was for you to try and attack me just now," laughed the flyer, now less than an inch away from Bob. The hero's right hand wrapped around the Nebular Adjutant's neck and lifted him off the ground, then turning around so the soldier was dangling over the ledge. "Your armor will make sure you survive the fall, but survival and feeling no pain are two very different things," the hero told Bob with a grin. "You've got five seconds to tell me something juicy about your organization or I might get a hand cramp and have to let go."
"Ahhh, okay okay!" screamed Bob, now in fear of his life. "Yesterday on Stiga I overheard a Colonel talking about a meeting that was supposed to be happening in Faultline!"
"You've got me hooked, but can you reel me in?" asked the hero, raising an eyebrow at Bob's confession. "What kind of meeting? And who's meeting who?"
"I don't know, I only overheard it!" shouted Bob, sweat dripping out from his helmet and onto the hero's hand.
"Careful, the line's about to snap."
"Ahhh!" cried out Bob as his feet began running in mid-air as if it would help return him to ledge he desperately wanted to stand on again. "Okay, okay! I heard a rumor that Vandal was going to be there along with some new guy the Colonel had never heard of before! That's all I know, I swear!"
"Congratulations, you've caught yourself a winner," laughed the hero with a grin, spinning around and throwing Bob to the pavement behind him, greatly reducing the potential falling distance. It was then that a pair of Longbow Guardians arrived, both looking at the three disabled Council Nebula soldiers with a hint of awe.
"Boy, you're a tough one," whistled one of the Guardians as he moved to ready Bob for transport to the Ziggurat prison in Brickstown. "Who are you anyways?"
"You can't just read his ID badge?" asked the second Guardian, a slightly thinner man than his counterpart. The Guardian activated the Hero Identifier on his wrist, a popular tool among both Heroes and those that worked with them as
it allowed them to perform a rapid scan and instantly call up a Hero's profile based only on sight. "Busterman Zero... woah! His security level is 50! No wonder he took them down so easily!"
"A level 50 in Steel Canyon?" asked the first Guardian, equally surprised. "What are you doing here, slumming?"
"Just book them boys, I have to go talk to someone," replied Busterman Zero, shrugging off the question. Zero then took to the skies, flying up and away before the Guardians could say anything else.
Half a mile away Zero sat on the rooftop of one of Steel Canyon's many apartment towers and pulled out his cell phone, dialing a familiar number.
"This is Swan," came the voice on the other end of Zero's phonecall.
"Hey Lena, it's Alex," announced Busterman Zero over the phone as he looked over over Steel Canyon from the rooftop. "I need a favor. I know Manticore's busy with some Nemesis plot that has to do with the weather so I need you to contact Wyvern and get them to look into something for me."
"Sure, that shouldn't be a problem," replied Swan, miles away in Brickstown. "What is it this time? Council again, or have you got something more unusual, like proof that it was Nemesis who invented the cheese grater?"
"Sorry, just Council," laughed Zero as he casually scratched his nose. "A guy in Steel told me Vandal was supposedly having a meeting in Faultline. I figure if its true and we can nab him we'll all be better off."
"That does sound juicy, I'll call them right away," declared Swan. "Keep your phone on, I'll be getting back to you immediately if you've struck gold."
"If all my metaphorical gold were real maybe I wouldn't just own a loft in Perez," sighed Zero. "Talk to you later Lena, hopefully about some good news."
"Take care Alex, really," offered Swan as the connection was severed, Zero hanging up first. Already he was shaking with anticipation at the chance to fight Vandal. he and the Council had a long history which dated back decades...
* * *
London, England, 1942
"Why haven't I been shot?"
"You ask this like its a bad thing?"
"Not bad, Major, just weird."
"Well Corporal Alexander Blake, you haven't been shot because you're still useful. You were convicted by a military court for shooting a fellow soldier during the Dieppe disaster-"
"That wasn't me for god's sake! An Axis sniper did it!"
"-But you still can be useful to the war effort. The Storm Korps are causing a great deal of damage to the Allies and we need a solution. The First Hero Brigade and Dawn Patrol aren't good enough, as we have no way of replenishing their numbers. Fortunately we've created a new commando unit which we'd like you to take command of, a unit who's men are replaceable while still super-powered in nature."
"And why exactly will I be placed with this unit? Outside of the war I'm just a carpenter. I can't withstand bullets or shoot lightning from my eyes."
"Not yet."
"What?"
"Our scientists have recently perfected a virus which can bestow ordinary people with superhuman abilities, ones that rival those of the Storm Korps. We call it the Busterman Virus and we want you, Corporal Blake, to be Patient Zero."
"If I refuse?"
"Instead of being shot by a firing squad I shoot you myself right now."
"I guess either way I'm doomed. Alright, I'll do it, as if I had a real choice..."
"Then henceforth you will operate under the name Busterman Zero, Captain of the Buster Brigade. Congratulations soldier, you've become useful again."
"If the virus doesn't kill me first..."
* * *
"Alex, Alex are you there?" asked Swan through the phone link.
"Yeah, sorry, I thought I saw Elvis," lied Zero, not wanting to admit that he was merely thinking back to the past.
"I've seen him too, he hunts Clockwork in King's Row," was Swan's surprisingly serious response. "The tip checked out, Alex. Vandal's going to be in Faultline tonight, but that's not the best part."
"What is?" asked Zero, feeling his energy levels rising.
"He's going to be meeting with Arachnos, and Wyvern is certain one of Lord Recluse's inner circle will be there."