DVANDOM _____ ______ _____ _______ THE CENTURY PACT PART 4 of 12 [ ]__ [ ] [] [ ]__)) [ ] ` [ ]__ #76 - "Corruption Empowers" [ ] [ ] [] [ ] \\ [ ] [ ] copyright 1997 Dave Van Domelen [_] [_]__[] [_] \\ [_]___/ [_]____ -------]==+ <*> +==[------- [cover shows a Dvandom Force belt buckle on the ground. The upper left corner is shining and bright, but the lower right corner has corroded almost to dust, with progressively more darkness from one end to the other.] The repaired and modified Slipstream, recently renamed the D-Star, cruised at several thousand feet over Net.braska, heading west by northwest. It flew at speeds so great that only the advanced composites of the skin kept it from burning up...icing was NOT a problem for this craft. Inside, however, the mood was somewhat colder. "The hard fact is this...the only person we know for sure to have won a victory against Acton Lord in straight personal combat has been the Ultimate Ninja," Squidman said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "Every other time we or the LNH as a whole has fought Acton Lord, it's either been indirect or under unusual circumstances that prevented him from using the Corruption Force." "Like when he fought Sig.Lad in the Pocket Bureaucracy," Sidewinder noted [Constellation #16 - Ed]. "He deliberately nullified his own powers and tried to beat Sig.Lad with a suit of mecha armor. The next time we fought, he was really only a catalyst, bringing in the MACE forces [Constellation #22-24 - Ed again]." "And, indirectly, me," Kat added. "Right," Squidman nodded. "The next time was even more indirect, although Acton Lord was able to exercise his powers across dimensional boundaries...if that had been a straight fight, we would have been toast. [Dvandom Force #42 - Ed, making up for lost time] After that, he seemed to disappear from the face of the Earth. This new Acton Lord has already mastered his powers well enough to do all the standard tricks the old one used...flight, force fields, energy blasts...as well as corrupting device-based powers." "That, or the skill comes with the powers, and this new Acton Lord is still just a puppet for the cosmic force inside him," Lynk suggested. "You may have something there," Macroman said. "The old Acton Lord came out of a thousand years or so of insanity in a timeloop, yet did pretty well in his first few outings, according to the LNH archives." "Wasn't that a retcon, though?" Kid Pocky asked. "I read somewhere that originally Acton Lord was created from whole cloth by the Dvandom Dial, and only got the insanity-timeloop origin after Cry.Sig [Bellerophon Gambit, among other older sources - Ed]." Squidman cocked his head to one side as if considering something, then shrugged. "Us older characters can have some pretty convoluted pasts. But when trying to figure out tactics, it's usually best to use the most recent version of the story. There's always the chance there's going to be an 'un-retcon' in which one or more layers of previous retcon are revealed to be lies...." "The Northstar Syndrome," Macroman interrupted. "...yes. But the best bet is to figure the most recent version is still holding true," Squidman finished. "And the most recent version would suggest that perhaps the previous Acton Lord wasn't as good a host as this new one is for the Corruption Force. It's the best explanation I can think of for why Charlie Risk, a previously-normal action hero, would suddenly have mastery of his powers that the original Acton Lord took months to develop." "Well, it *has* been months since we last saw Acton Lord," Kat pointed out. "He could have been biding his time." Squidman pointed to the Net.News Network feed on one of the screens in the cockpit. It showed the new Acton Lord building himself a gigantic throne atop the tallest building in Onyx City. "Maybe. But does this look like someone who would bide his time?" -------]==+ <*> +==[------- "I may not currently look like someone used to biding his time, Darkheart, but trust me...I am. Impatience has ruined many of my competitors, and now that I have this new lease on life I do not intend to rush into any other decisions which may ruin my plans. One of my worst mistakes was to rush into an alliance with your master, DeFacto," [Dvandom Fore #52 - Ed] Coppermane hissed through his steel and ceramic lips. "Yes, yes, I know that. I also know that if we hadn't interfered, you would probably now be free and undergoing repairs of your own...we simply took an opportunity, just as you took an opportunity to attack Dvandom Force [in Dvandom Force #74 - Ed]. You don't need to decide right away, but I'm afraid you must decide before we let you leave, since if you say no we'll simply abandon this base before you can return to exact any revenge you think you may be due for the trouble we put you through when you were merely human." Darkheart feigned a sorrowful expression. "But...you still ARE merely human, aren't you? Under all those metal bits beats a human heart, connected to those fiberoptic nerves is a human brain. A heart that can fail, a brain which is limited in its reaction time by chemical processes, both of which may eventually succumb to all-too-human frailties like heart disease or Alzheimer's." "Enough with the softsoap, future boy," Coppermane snarled, his voice sounding more hollow than he'd intended. "Besides, didn't you already tell me that you can't reliably turn organics into techno-organics like yourself without blowing their minds?" He jerked his thumb in the general direction of the lab where the experimental rabbits were kept. "When my ticker goes, I'll get it replaced. When my brain goes...well, immortality's a sucker's bet anyway." "Ah, but you wouldn't be immortal...just better suited to the ravages of time. We can't leave the nanotechnology inside a subject without causing brain damage, true. But the nanos can rebuild your body, in theory give a normal person vast superhuman powers. That's why I initially thought Mr. Risk had been given a premature treatment...the powers he first manifested were within the theoretical expectations. Albeit just barely." "But it wasn't you, was it?" "No. As non-natives to this world, we've noticed a number of things that people born here take for granted or even miss entirely. Among them is the tendency for any normal person who is too long in the spotlight to get an 'origin,' and gain some sort of powers. It's not inevitable, but it's like playing poker...if you stay in the game long enough, you'll get that royal flush. Of course, you might also cash in your chips...'supporting characters' have a tendency to die in order to fill some dramatic role for the heroes. Risk just hit the flush before being flushed." Darkheart called up a schematic on a nearby computer screen. "In your case, we feel that it would work best to leave the nanos living in the parts of you which are already mechanical. You wouldn't have shapeshifting powers like I do or like Kopikat does...." "Did. She wouldn't have shot me with pistols if she were still a robot. Somehow she got turned human permanently," Coppermane interjected. "She did? Intriguing...this makes things even better. But, as I was saying, you won't have shapeshifting powers, but the nanos will rebuild your organic parts to be healthier, they'll craft faster interfaces between your brain and body, and they'll repair any damage you take fairly quickly. Since they are only taking a limited role in altering your organic parts, we estimate only a five percent chance of unexpected outcomes." "Which is a nice way of saying I have a one in twenty chance of croaking." "Not...exactly. Death is only a .3 percent chance. But the other 4.7 percent isn't exactly filled with pleasant alternatives." Coppermane paused to think. He didn't seriously think he'd get out of here alive if he said no, regardless of all the pretty arguments Darkheart had presented. And if he did survive the process, and if these people really didn't plan on placing control devices or failsafes in him, then he could come out of this smelling like roses. Heck, right now he couldn't really smell the roses, the alterations could help with some of his deadened senses. So, almost certain death versus possible death or slavery. Pretty easy choice, really. And if things worked out, he could get his revenge later. "Okay, I'm in," Coppermane said. -------]==+ <*> +==[------- "We're almost there," Squidman said, although everyone on board knew it. Well, everyone but the VAXX, who was busy watching Fli.net.stones on one of the monitors. "We'll go in with two waves. The first wave will be those of us who are harder to corrupt or don't have powers in the first place. I'm obviously going in the first wave, so will Kat, since he may not know your powers are external now...which should give you one good shot before he fries your new powersuit," Kat nodded as she checked the power supply in her suit's yoke, then Squidman continued, "and VAXX because, as I understand it, his power is already theoretically infinite, right Lynk?" "Yes. He's omniscient in this reality, which ties up most of his brain coping. I doubt Acton Lord could do much more to him, unless he focuses on secondary powers like his musculature." "Why not me?" Kid Pocky asked. "I considered it, Al. But your powers are mystical in nature, and I really don't want to see the results of them being amped up and running wild if I don't have to, right? Besides, you haven't faced Acton Lord before, and the VAXX is enough rookie blood for the first wave." Kid Pocky frowned but didn't dispute the point. "Sidewinder...I know you still have nightmares about what Corruption Force did to your powers, but if you could lead off and try to divert Acton Lord while the first wave gets into place...?" Squidman asked. Sidewinder paused for a moment, then said, "I'll go. Heck, blasting into battle first and then getting swatted aside is my whole schtick, right?" "Okay," Squidman nodded. "Macroman, you and Lynk both have powers that could be dangerous to all of us if they were corrupted. I want you two and Kid Pocky to take the D-Star and get the hell (TM) out of the area after dropping off the first wave. Do not engage Acton Lord until and unless the rest of us fail, got it?" "Engage him? Heck, he's not even my type," Lynk smirked. "Of course," Squidman smiled under his mask. "Kat, you and I will try to take Acton Lord by surprise while we let VAXX make a frontal attack. I'm hoping his innate skill won't be enough to let him fend off more than one serious threat at a time. VAXX?" "Fli.net.stones, meet the...huh?" "Oh, THIS'LL work..." Kat muttered. -------]==+ <*> +==[------- It was almost showtime. Sidewinder nervously checked and rechecked the systems on his Crosspost armor. He'd been the only one to keep his GIF-tech suit and regularly use it after the final battle with DeFacto. Squidman had preferred to work on his car, while Doug didn't really need a supersuit. But when you came right down to it, Sidewinder had a strictly minor league power on his own. He could make one really effective opening gambit, then he always seemed to end up on the sidelines. Of course, there had been a time when it was both better and worse at the same time. The power enhancement Acton Lord has subjected him to allowed him to "sideline" into other realities, jumping through dimensions like Browsing Boy channelsurfed. He'd seen things on those trips which he'd never told anyone, for fear they'd think he was insane. Sometimes, late at night, when sleep wouldn't come, he wondered if those things had indeed driven him insane, and no one would tell him. But the suit was better. With it, he could fly, bullets bounced off his chest, and he could lift a small car over his head without even touching his inborn power, a power which frightened him more than a little at times. And even his own power was tamed by the suit, made into something he could point and shoot, pulling people out of the story at will and at his choice. It was time. "Armor of Crosspost, LOG IN!" he shouted. The voice command was no longer necessary, but he liked using it. It made the suit seem less like a piece of technology and more like a thing of magic. An unknown in the good way, unlike his power. There was a hum of modem noise as the harness he wore manifested GIF-based armor around his limbs, swirling like fire before turning more solid than steel. He could feel the armor moving his limbs at his mental command, like he was driving his own body from the outside. The side hatch of the D-Star opened and he flew out, towards the green-tinted spire in the middle of the dark city. Within a heartbeat he was close enough to see the man atop the spire, the new Acton Lord, pretender to the throne of reality. Or at least this city. "Surrender, Acton Lord!" he shouted, readying his weapon systems. "What, to you? I know that face, you're Sidewinder, one of the original members of the new LNH! I hold a special hate for your generation, little hero...you helped drive honest men and women from the spotlight with your freakish powers!" Green lightnings crackled around Risk's fists as his eyes flared with anger. "WEB OF DIVERSION!" Sidewinder shouted, firing out a streamer of monofilament wires that turned aside as they reached the bubble of corrupted gravity Acton Lord erected around himself. But the defense did no good, since the wires only needed to be around the target, not touching it. And with a SHIFT that still sent a shudder up Sidewinder's spine every time he felt it, they left the storyline. Acton Lord paused, puzzled. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, if anything. "I wouldn't try corrupting my powers if I were you, Acton Lord Junior," Sidewinder warned. "We're outside the storystream now, neither of us can affect anything else around us. If you were to corrupt me, we'd both feel the effects...you might never come back to the plot." "So, I can't affect anything *else*, eh? Obviously, I can affect you, or you wouldn't be warning me not to corrupt your powers. Fine, let's try the more direct approach!" A blazing green bolt of power lanced out from Acton Lord's clasped fists as he broke down nuclear bonds and corrupted natural law. The blast struck Sidewinder square in the chest, and he felt the armor's systems short out against his flesh, a searing pain that nearly made him black out, and did make him release his power's hold on the two of them. As he tried to keep from falling too quickly to the street 60 stories below, Sidewinder hoped he'd bought his friends enough time to get in position.... -------]==+ <*> +==[------- Coppermane once again lay on the support structure which had hours before quickly and efficiently repaired his broken body. He hadn't really known what to expect...a part of his mind had envisioned a bucket of silvery goop being poured into his mouth through a funnel, a rather odd piece of imagery. Of course, while that might be the way this would be portrayed on some piece of badly-written Saturday morning fare like the stuff one of his subsidiary front companies used to make, it wasn't how Darkheart and Steelwind operated. As it turned out, they had prepared very carefully for the event of him agreeing to their terms, which only reinforced Coppermane's certainty that he wouldn't have survived an answer of "no." His chest armor was quickly detached and lifted away, and an empty space which hadn't been there that morning was filled with a small golden component that plugged in snugly and was then secured with spot-welds. He could feel his body awareness stretching out to encompass this new component, the eerie feeling he'd gotten used to during the long months of growing accustomed to his metal shell. Already, he could tell it was still dormant, but that when active it would be plugged directly into his diagnostic functions and biological support systems. Then it started. It was like a gentle warmth at first, spreading out from his chest to all parts of his body. Not unlike the first warm flush of a shot of whiskey back when he was human. Despite what Darkheart may have said, Coppermane no longer considered himself human...Cornelius Van Runt died in that accident. It was the only way to cope with all the changes in his body, to force himself to believe he wasn't human anymore. Because, really, he wasn't. The warmth intensified, especially in the areas near his heart and head. From a gentle glow it rapidly ramped up to a raging inferno, and he fought the instinct to scream. It felt like he was being reforged from inside, and in a way, he was. Then, for a horrible moment, he lost all sensation. It wasn't just blackness, it was silence, deadness, a total lack of input. He panicked. It had taken him months to get used to the partial sensory deprivation of his new body, and now he had no senses at all. The rational part of his brain told him that this was just the nanomachines taking the brain/body interface offline to redesign and enhance it, but the primitive part of him which still feared the dark and the loneliness wasn't in the mood to listen. It all came back in a rush. All the sounds and colors and feelings and SMELLS and TASTES and things he couldn't even *categorize* yet. Sonar and radar, which had been like heads-up diplays in his vision before, were now truly integrated senses. His vision extended in directions he couldn't quite grasp yet, and he could pick between tasting the air around him or actually analyzing it for the minutest concentrations. After the moment of nothing, this rush of everything almost shocked him into unconsciousness, but somehow he held on. When he'd been put in this shell for the first time, it had saved him from death. But now he was really alive again. He was ALIVE. -------]==+ <*> +==[------- They were alive, but that was more luck than intent. It had been a total disaster. Acton Lord had adapted to the situation far faster than they had anticipated, and when he came out of Sidewinder's entanglement he had brushed aside Kat, Squidman and the VAXX almost absently, like one would brush aside a curtain to look out a window. Macroman and Lynk hadn't fared much better. Lynk had managed to find one of Acton Lord's nightmares and bring it out of her dream realm, and for a moment it seemed like they would bring Acton Lord down. But he recovered and sent Macroman into an uncontrolled run at top speed...every few seconds you could hear the sonic boom as Doug tried to get back to the battlefield but overshot again. And Lynk? Swallowed by one of her own nightmares, she'd fought free but only barely, and she lay unconscious at Acton Lord's feet. That left only Kid Pocky, who watched the action through the D-Star's monitors from over the horizon. He'd run out of options. He'd hoped this new Acton Lord was untested enough to be defeated by the others, but obviously the Corruption Force had chosen a good vessel...Risk was used to making do with only normal human abilities and strengths in fighting foes who ranged from normal punks to alien invaders. Given tremendous power, he did even better. Kid Pocky would have to defeat Risk on his own. He held an ace card even his friends didn't know about...one he hoped they would NEVER know about, but one which might be the only chance he had against Risk. Setting the D-Star on autopilot, he programmed it to fly past the spire at high speed, let him off, and leave the area. If he didn't signal it in five minutes, it would head for Net.ropolis to help the LNH get as many heroes as possible to the city. He dropped lightly to the rooftop below Risk's throne, a sugary baton ready in his hand and his wrist launchers whirring up to speed. "This is your last chance to give up, Risk." "I'm not Charlie Risk, the Human Decoy, anymore, boy. I'm Acton Lord. And what makes you think your candy stick can beat me when the entire rest of your team couldn't? Run while you can, go back to hiding like you were during the REAL battle," Risk sneered, moving to stand over Kat's unconscious form. He kicked her. "Pathetic. You people were hardly more of a threat than this city's ludicrous defender, Barman." Kid Pocky fought down his rage and resisted the urge to rush to Kat's side to protect her from this arrogant...pompous.... He stopped himself. He'd never really considered the original Acton Lord to be such a strutting peacock, but was this really how the Corruption Force acted through its chosen host? "Step. Away. From her," he finally said, anger seething behind every word, behind every pause. "Or what? You'll give me a cavity?" Risk sneered, kicking Kat again, moving her closer to the ledge. "Something like that," Kid Pocky whispered, firing a stream of hypervelocity Pocky at Risk. Risk looked quite surprised when the sticks didn't veer aside in flight, and even more surprised when they exploded against his chest, throwing him back to the low ledge on the other side of the roof. "H-how?" Risk stammered, fear starting to show in his eyes for the first time. "The mysteries of Pocky are beyond your feeble understanding," Kid Pocky replied coldly. "Fine...then let your power be beyond your control!" Risk spat back, lifting himself up on one elbow and gesturing towards Kid Pocky. Nothing happened. Risk tried again, concentrating on the wrist launchers, hoping at least to reduce his foe's offensive punch. Still nothing. "You pathetic pretender," Kid Pocky sneered. "You may have the power, but you don't have a tenth of the understanding that the true Acton Lord had. There are some who the Corruption Force can never affect, and I am one of them." The fear in Risk's eyes turned to sheer terror as he suddenly realized the truth. "You-you're..." he started. "The man who will kill you if you ever tell another soul what you know," Kid Pocky replied before driving his Pocky stave into the side of Risk's head, knocking him unconscious. Kid Pocky slumped against the throne, a sick feeling gripping his gut as the adrenalin rush faded. Then he staggered over to Kat and gently picked up her battered form before signaling the D-Star to swing back around. -------]==+ <*> +==[------- "How is the prisoner?" Dr. Melville asked one of the technicians. "Dampers are working like Kid Kirby said they would, keeping the abstract principle empowering Acton Lord from operating. Barring plot device, this should keep him harmless for some time," the technician replied, gesturing towards the plexsteel window through which Charlie Risk could be seen huddled in one corner. "Yes, yes, but I meant how *is* he? Mentally. I'm in charge of his evaluation to see if he's fit to stand trial," Dr. Melville pointed to the word "Psychiatrist" on his ID badge. "Oh, right, sorry. Here, I'll turn up the volume, you can hear for yourself. But if you ask me, he won't be fit for anything for a long time...some guys just can't handle the power they possess." The speaker was turned up, and Risk could be heard muttering to himself, "Mustn't tell...mustn't tell...mustn't tell...." "Turn it off," Dr. Melville said. "And sometimes they can't handle the power that possesses them," he noted. ============================================================================ Next Issue: The Century Pact kicks into second gear as the first Centurions are created! Kid Pocky has some explaining to do! And I promise that no squirrels will take over this title! ============================================================================ Author's Notes: When I first created the Slipstream craft, it was an homage to the main part of the Star Saber character in Transformers: Victory. But at the time I didn't know the name of that component, so I ended up taking Jameel's suggestion and called it the Slipstream. Now I know the thing was called the V-Star, so I'm renaming the homage as the D-Star. Simple as that. The "Northstar Syndrome" refers to the fact that in the Marvel comic Alpha Flight, the characters Northstar and Aurora were originally mutants, then retconned into being half-elven, then retconned into being mutants again. Come to think of it, Alpha Flight had more than its fair share of yes/no/yes retcon chains. Oh, and if you have any guesses about Kid Pocky's secret, keep them to yourself. I will neither confirm nor deny. }-> You'll find out before this arc is over, unless I decide to do something even more infuriating.