_ The Academy of Super-Heroes Universe Presents: _ ( ) CONCLAVE OF SUPER-VILLAINS ( ) =-+-= copyright 1998 by Tony Pi (wildfire@lsh.org) =-+-= I #2 - 'Seven To A Conclave' I --------------------------------------------------------------------- [The cover shows seven objects on a table with a black tablecloth embroidered with a golden ankh symbol. The objects are: a trident; a wooden maze game; a sheet of paper with a drop of blood, a minus sign followed by the letter D, a plus sign and a drawing of a bus; an extinguished candle; a thermometer showing a high temperature; a piece of sandpaper; a trophy of a stag's head. Blood drenches all the items. The title reads: DEADLY SEVEN!] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 14h00, December 26, 2023: MONTREAL, NORTH AMERICAN COMBINE Far below the aerial headquarters, a jet landed on the runway of Dorval Airport. What it did not count on was that the entire airport had become a deadly trap: the terminal was stretched like an elastic and released, causing the wing of the airplane to be sheared off by the walls of the terminal. The terminal snapped back to its original location, leaving the plane crippled. Four figures, three males and one female, watched the scene below play out from the bridge of the airship. From a spherical screen framed by a golden ankh, the image of a shadowy figure watched them gathered around the round viewing glass set into the floor of the bridge. One of them, a young Asian male, laughed in glee. "Did you see that? He made the whole terminal MOVE! Wild!" The monstrous one among them, the giant man-stag with powerful wings, took a step back from the hole in the floor and looked instead at the ankh screen. "Hmph. When's Rebus going to be back?" "Patience, Peryton," replied the figure on the ankh screen, its voice distorted by electronics. "Rebus and Burnout are already in place. The plan to capture Scry and the Eye of Horus will take place as planned." Derek Radner snorted. With a casual touch on the arm of his floating command chair, he swiveled the seat around to glance at the screen. "Burnout? That's like naming yourself Suicide." The Ankh ignored him and continued the briefing. "Peryton and Conflicto." The Chinese teen stood to attention. "You two will bring Telamon to our little conclave." "Telamon?" said Derek in a louder voice. "That name's going to strike fear in the hearts and vocabularies of the masses. Why not go with a name with much darker connotations that doesn't require a dictionary? I can come up with better names in my sleep!" Conflicto giggled. "And Triton's the best you came up with?" "What about Conflicto?" retorted Derek. "Only a kid would come up with such a stupid villain name." The kid could be sixteen years old at most, thought Derek. What was he doing in a cutthroat environment like this? "Hey, I happen to like names that end in O. It's campy, it rolls off the tongue, and it's definitely retro rogue vogue." "Rogue vogue?" asked Derek. "It's all the rage these days," said the dark-skinned beauty among them. Derek thought there was a sultry quality to her voice, despite her British accent. The only thing unattractive about her was the cigarette in her hand. Conflicto nodded. "Music, clothing, and pop culture patterning themselves after the villain culture of the nineties, before the gods snuffed the masses. Where have you been hiding, under a rock?" "Try prison," answered Derek. "Cut the conversation," said Ankh. "Triton and Dryspell, you will remain and defend the airship. You have your missions. Execute." "'Dryspell' makes me sound sexually frustrated," said the woman, pouting. "With your looks, heaven forbid that should be true. What's your real name?" asked Conflicto with a naughty grin. "Angeline Croft. Got a better codename for me, Triton? One that befits a weathermonger?" "Call me Derek. A name, you say." Derek took barely a second's pause before answering. "I'd have to say 'Sultry', angel." "Doesn't sultry mean hot and humid? I don't like the humidity. I like it hot and dry." She took a match out and ignited it to light her cigarette. "Trust me, hot stuff. No other name describes you better," replied Derek. "I second Trite's nomination! All in favour?" said Conflicto. "Don't call me Trite!" said Derek angrily. Angeline laughed. "Sultry will do just fine, I guess." "Names are irrelevant. Execute the plan. NOW." Ankh's screen shut itself off. "Somebody's a little upset," muttered Conflicto. "Let's go, Peryton." Peryton grunted and followed him to the airlock. In the airport terminal, Jessa Dumont oriented herself. One minute she was on the plane with Marx and 'Jelly', the next she was here, with an unconscious man beside her. She recognized him from the file Marx showed her on the jet. "Yvan Viau, I presume," she said to the man, though it was clear he could not hear her. It was strange: the whole terminal was deserted. There was a gun on the floor, and she picked that up, just in case. She switched to her aura sight, and was surprised from what she saw. Jessa found Yvan's aura brighter than she expected for a terrorist. She was surprised to find more than a shred of good in the man, and a whole mess of potential. "What do I do with you now that I've got you?" She glanced at the remnants of the plane on the runway. Emergency personnel were already there. "I guess we wait for the others." "Hang tight," said Peryton. Conflicto did not complain. Just to be certain, he increased the friction coefficient on his body, so that it would be harder for him to slip out of Peryton's arms. They leapt from the airship, gliding down towards the air terminal. "Wicked!" said Conflicto as he felt the uprush of air. "Wow! Trite's invisibility gizmo works! I can't see the ship, can you? Hey, you've got your eyes closed!" "I *hate* heights. Just point me in the right direction and tell me when we get there," said Peryton. "Wild! I *love* skydiving! Faster! Faster!" said Conflicto. He played with the air resistance around them, making Peryton's flight a lot more perilous. "How close are we to the ground?" asked Peryton. "You know, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have wings and not look at the ground rushing up to meet us," observed Conflicto. "How close?" "C'mon! Take a look. It won't kill you." "HOW CLOSE, PIZZA BOY?" "My name's NOT Pizza Boy." "DEPENDS ON WHAT HEIGHT I DROP YOU FROM." "Oh! In that case, about twenty feet over the terminal roof. Swerve to the left! No, your OTHER left! WATCH OUT FOR THE GLAS---" "SPIT!" cursed Ridley. "I didn't he could do *that*. Where's my gun?" She had lost her gun in the terminal, and somehow she ended up in the airplane. She quickly assessed the situation. It was a richly decorated cabin, and two men were sprawled on the ground. One was Italian, the other an old man. Near where the wing was sheared off, flames began to dance. "Sirs? Are you okay? I'm agent Jo Ridley, Department of Super-Human Activities. Get off before the flames reach the fuel!" The Italian man stood up and dusted himself off. He helped the older man up. "Where's Jessa?" asked the older man. "Argh. I think I broke my right arm, Lorenzo." "Let's get you off this plane and to the hospital," said Lorenzo Archangeli. "Thank you, Agent Ridley. I better check on the pilot and co-pilot. Could you assist him?" "No, you go," said Ridley. "Your friend needs medical attention. I'll rescue the pilots. Don't go near the air terminal, though. There is a dangerous terrorist there." "This is man's work. I'll go." said Archangeli. Ridley shot him an evil glance but grit her teeth. "Sir, leave the work to a professional." "Find Jessa," said Devlin Marx. "Protect her." Agent Ridley helped them activate the slide, and sent the two down to the ambulance. At the door, she looked up into the sky. She could see only clear sky. "Spit, May, where are the reinforcements?" The flames were spreading, so Ridley pulled herself away from the door. On her way to the front of the plane, she caught a glimpse of a crossbow with a curious insignia: one of those Egyptian-looking eyes. She grabbed it. It was loaded with one quarrel. "Just in case...." Ridley resumed her scramble for the cockpit. Jessa jumped as Peryton and Conflicto crashed through a skylight of the air terminal. Almost immediately, she saw how dark their auras were. Their dangerous nature oozed from their psyches. "Damn." She had to get out of there, and take Viau with her. "Wake up! I need you conscious!" There was no response. Jessa looked again at the two intruders, and shuddered when she saw the man-stag's face, and the angry soul behind it. He was a merciless killer. She had no choice but to use her secret ace now, before those two caught them both. She touched Yvan Viau's forehead, and sent a fraction of her mind into him. The psychic landscape was cold and desolate: five statues of saints in a pentacle. She shouted as loud as she could from the center, hoping to arouse Yvan. ++Wake up! I need your help, Yvan Viau!++ Yvan's eyes flashed open. --Qui? Who...what's happening? What are you doing in my head?-- ++Sorry. I'd normally ask your permission before entering your mind, but we've got nasty company and you've got the only aura I can trust. Call me Jessa.++ --You're Scry.-- ++I suppose that describes what I do. You've got to get us out of here, mage. Those two down there? I don't think they're flight attendants. Know them?++ --No. And I thought I was supposed to take YOU hostage. I'm too weak to stand, much less move.-- ++Then we've got a problem. I can only drag you so far!++ --Give me a moment to gather my thoughts. Ow! That was a bad backlash. I'm not too used to the use of magic, yet.-- ++Then I'll have to drag you while I wait.++ Jessa began to drag Yvan down the hall, looking for a place to hide. Conflicto caught a glimpse of the woman dragging the man down the hallway. "Hey you! Stop! We want to talk to you!" He then recognized her. "What's SHE doing here? She's supposed to be on the plane!" He reached out with his power, intent on stopping them. He felt the floor beneath them with his extrasensory touch: too smooth. Conflicto increased the friction on the floor, making it virtually impossible to drag someone along. Jessa tried, though, and nearly ripped the seat out of Yvan's pants. "What a drag!" Conflicto laughed. Yvan tried to shake the confusion from his mind, and tried his magic. He wanted the section of the floor beneath him to move himself and the woman, and the marble responded to his command. It became a raft on a sea of stone, carrying them down the corridor. ++Nice save. Can we leave, fast?++ asked Jessa. --I can't think straight enough, yet. But I think I can use my confusion to our advantage.-- Yvan silently commanded their 'steed' to head for the men's washroom. "Damnation!" Peryton spread his wings and gave chase. "Let's bodysurf!" Conflicto slid himself down the corridor haphazardly, instinctively varying the friction of the floor to achieve the effect he wanted. Yvan concentrated as best as he could before he and Jessa pushed open the men's washroom door. Once inside, Jessa gasped. ++Whoa. No wonder guys never line up.++ --A maze is the best I can do for now in this state of mind. I need to collect my thoughts and energy. Tabernac, I'm hungry!-- ++The mindlink's draining you. You need to eat to maintain this kind of link,++ thought Jessa. They raced down the twisting corridors of the washroom and found a random stall to hide in. Conflicto and Peryton burst through the washroom door. The twisting corridors were filled with urinals, mirrors and stalls. "Whoa! Mothball city!" exclaimed Conflicto. He activated a communication link and spoke into a microphone on his collar. "Can you hear me up there, guys? He's turned the whole bathroom into a friggin' maze the size of Kansas. The Army could relieve themselves here and leave room for the Navy. And bad news...Dumont's with him." Triton snapped his fingers. "That's it! Ditch the clunky Telamon handle and call him Labyrinth - that's Labyrinthe in French." "How erudite of you," snickered Conflicto. "How trite. But a name change won't help me none." "Where did you get your words, kid, out of a crackerjack box? Hang on, I'll patch you through to the boss." Triton hit a red button on his chair, activating the Ankh viewscreen and explained the situation. Sultry whispered, "I'll show you my erudite if you show me yours." She took a long drag on her cigarette. Triton coughed. "Don't tempt me." He turned back to Ankh. "So...any suggestions?" Ankh replied through the comlink, "It's time I had another chat with Yvan. Collect them both, but neither is to be harmed. Understand? You have little time before he's back to full strength and able to transport both of them away." Conflicto sighed. "Not even a bump on the head? You deprive us of life's little pleasures. But your message is loud and clear, man. Over'n'out." Peryton's voice echoed through the labyrinthine toilets. "Viau! You have no choice but to join us!" He began bashing down stall walls with his fists. "Come out, Labyrinthe and Scry! Or we'll we forced to flush you out!" Conflicto joined in, trying to keep a straight face. ++What do Moose and Beaver want with you?++ asked Jessa through the mindlink as they both stayed as quiet as possible, huddling on top of a toilet so that they wouldn't be given away by their feet. --My sister's been kidnapped by the Ankh Killer. They may work for him. You know them?-- ++Conflicto's from San Francisco; I fingered him two years ago on my first assignment. His Magene manifested, giving him power to control friction. I thought we'd neutralized him. He's in for the thrill, and doesn't care who gets in his way. I don't know Antler Boy, but his aura says he's got a mean temper. Don't provoke him.++ --Just stay quiet and we may live through this.-- "So...how did you end up in prison?" asked Sultry. Derek grit his teeth. He hated this question; it made him look incompetent. Still, he answered her. "Ever heard of the Academy? I used to be a student there, at least until they caught me moonlighting as a villain. I had a great con going, calling myself Triton. Now there's a name worthy of evil. They couldn't catch me, the idiots, even though I left them clues left and right. That is, until THEM." "Who are THEM?" Sultry blew a smoke ring. Derek pulled out a folder with pictures in them and tossed them to Sultry. "Kleinvogel, Teller, Drake and Tracey. They're now members of STRAFE. Someone beat me to Popper, hard luck. They didn't fall for a red herring I planted, and I landed in prison. Prison gave me time to cook up gadgets and escape plans. And time to contemplate revenge upon those four." Sultry nodded. "Revenge is a beautiful thing. How are you going about it?" Derek laughed. "Rebus and I have already set our plan into motion. STRAFE will taste my terrible wrath, see me for the genius I am, tremble at the..." A sensor alarm went off. Sultry glanced out the window. "Hate to interrupt, mate, but company's coming." "I see them. Three DSHA helijets. They shouldn't be able to detect us; my cloaking device is infallible." "No, let's play. They're mine." A sinister look formed on Sultry's face. "Let's see how well they burn." Derek nodded. "Leave one for me. We'll make our grand entrance. I'm disengaging the cloak." "Biggest catch of the year," said Agent May to the others in the helijet. "If we don't blow it." Agent May loved to fly. He could feel the helijet respond to his slightest touch. Ridley had called them in, claiming that the Viau twins were finally going to be caught. That should teach the Quebecois not to mess with the North American Combine, he thought. Finally time for a promotion, he figured. He was startled by the sudden appearance of a huge, sleek black zeppelin over the airport. A symbol of a golden ankh adorned its side. "Ho-lee! Where did that come from?!" The winds were picking up. "What have you gotten yourself into *this* time, Ridley?" he muttered. "WHATEVER THAT IS, BLOW IT OUT OF THE SKY!" "Sir! There's too much turbulence! You're too close!" shouted the pilot of the other helijet through the radio. "Stay clear!" shouted May. Indeed, the winds were dangerously strong. "I'm losing control! Mayday! Mayd---" Agent May's last thoughts, right before his helijet collided with the other, was how mad his wife was going to be that he wouldn't be getting that promotion. "See how pretty they burn!" said Sultry, her eyes aglow. "You're warped, Sultry, warped! But I like it!" said Triton. "Watch me." He called up the weapons array, and targeted the last helijet. He pressed the firing button, sending a trident of energy out from the airship directly into the propellers of the helijet. The last helijet plummeted to the ground. "NOOOOOOOO!" shouted Ridley as she watched the two helijets collide, and the third plummet and crash in a ball of flame. The pilot and co-pilot, who were both alive, also gasped in horror. "MAY!" Her partner was dead. Someone would pay. Jessa and Yvan tried not to make any sounds, even though Peryton's smashing was creating bursts of echoing noise. ++You look drained. We need to get you some food.++ --Food court's on an upper level. I could eat un cheval! If I could make a little portal in the ceiling, we might escape through that.-- Yvan began to concentrate as hard as he could. Then his black-cel phone rang. The ringing echoed through the washroom maze. ++Expecting a call?++ thought Jessa sarcastically. --Just the hired help,-- replied Yvan. --I should have left it on vibrate. Ready to go?-- Peryton shouted into the noisy chaos. "I hear you! Surrender peacefully and no one will get hurt!" ++More than ever.++ --Hang on!-- Yvan reached over to the lever and flushed the toilet they were on. A hatch appeared in the ceiling over them, and the water, instead of draining into the pipes below, exploded upwards like a geyser, sending both of them through the hatch. The hatch disappeared as soon as they passed through. In the ambulance, Devlin Marx caught a glimpse of a young girl, much too young to be a paramedic, though she was dressed that way. Archangeli had left in with the paramedics, who were setting his arm. He closed his eyes, then realized his mistake as a needle was stuck into his good arm. He opened his eyes and tried to struggle, but his arm was held down tight. He saw the person injecting the drug, and gasped. "No! You! It can't be you!" Then Devlin Marx's vision blurred, and he passed out, the man's laughter ringing in his ears. Yvan answered the call as he began stuffing his face with bagels. "I've got what you've want, you've got what I want. Let's negotiate." Jessa found some cloths to wipe themselves dry. The electronically masked voice replied, "Unacceptable. Scry is irrelevant to us. You will work for the Golden Ankh. Surrender to your teammates." "I know a bluff when I hear one. You need Scry. She knows too much. When you want to negotiate, we'll talk." "I believe you will want to negotiate." The electronic voice was replaced by that of Claudette, his twin sister. "Yvan!" shouted Claudette. "Don't listen to them. Nothing they do can hurt m---AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" "Claudette!" The scream tortured Yvan. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER, YOU BASTARD!" The electronic voice returned. "Mr. Strings has many plans for your sister, and I might be able to dissuade him from the tortures. Will you cooperate?" "You promise not to hurt her?" Silence. "Give me ten minutes to think about it." "You have five." Peryton stood outside the washroom, waiting impatiently. His fur was wet, and he hated that. At least the water rolled off his feathers. "Conflicto! Get out here!" "I'll be out in two shakes! Hold your horses!" shouted Conflicto from inside. Peryton growled and waited. "You stopped to use the urinal?" he asked, as soon as Conflicto came out. "When you gotta, you gotta." Conflicto looked around, ready to resume the chase. "Where did they go?" "Did you wash your hands?" asked Peryton. "No." "Go back and wash your hands." "And if I don't, Pery?" "You won't have hands to wash." "I'm going to wash my hands." Conflicto headed back inside the washroom. Peryton growled and waited. "It didn't go well, did it?" asked Jessa. "I heard the scream." "Hand me those fries. If I fill this hunger I think I can manage a teleportation spell. Once I have the energy, I'm sending you to a hideaway. You're my only bargaining chip," said Yvan with his mouth full. "Aren't you coming with me?" "I need to know why they took my sister. How far can your mindlink be maintained?" "I don't know. I think the food requirement's proportional to the distance. As long as you eat plenty, the link should stay up." She handed him some apple turnovers. He ate as fast as he could without choking. "Can your abilities be used through the mindlink? It would be a great help in my investigations if you can." She passed Yvan a large rootbeer. "Yes. I'll help you if you help me. They want my boss too, and I've got hospital bills to pay for a sister who needs me." Ridley had tears in her eyes as she shoved the pilots in front of her, wanting to forget the image of the flaming debris on the airstrip. She was too upset to react to the sound of a gun firing two bullets, one into each pilot. They collapsed, revealing a young girl dressed in a paramedic's uniform but holding a gun. Ridley reacted with anger. "YOU! YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE!" She fired the crossbow bolt at the girl's heart. The bolt passed harmlessly through. The girl walked up to her, and Ridley tried to fight her, but her fists only punched the air. "They knew too much, Agent Ridley. I'm Burnout," said the girl, who was perhaps fifteen or sixteen. "Say goodnight." Burnout brought the pistol up and knocked Ridley out. She then extracted several bombs from her paramedic's kit and set to work. "I've never eaten so much at one sitting. Okay, I think I've gotten enough strength back. Ready?" said Yvan. Jessa nodded. ++Take care of yourself, Yvan. Remember, eat to keep up our mindlink!++ --I will, Jessa. A la prochaine!-- Yvan amassed his power and began his teleportation spell. "YOU JEOPARDIZE OUR SAFETY," shouted a new person at the entrance to the food court. The short man wore a black mask with a golden addition sign and a minus sign over where the eyes would be. Peryton and Conflicto were at his side. "THIS ENDS NOW!" Yvan felt his amassed power starting to slip, and forced the teleportation spell to fire off before he lost total control. Jessa vanished in a silver glimmer just before his powers waned to nothing. He could not detect Jessa in his mind either, and the hunger was starting to build again. "You...you're an Anchor," accused Yvan. The man had taken his magic away. "And you are to join us," answered the man. "Call me Rebus." "She's escaped, though," complained Peryton. "And you will never find her," said Yvan. The mindlink must have been suppressed by the Anchor. Yvan hoped to hell that the link was still there, no matter how weak it was. He rejected the option of running. Without his powers, there was no way he could beat all three. If he played along, he might be able to figure out where they were holding his sister. It made surrender more acceptable in his mind. Rebus laughed. "We may not have to." Back aboard the airship, seven people now gathered on the bridge, watching the jet below. Burnout pressed a remote detonator, and the remains of the plane exploded on the runway. Sultry laughed and hugged Burnout. "Spectacular fireworks!" Burnout managed a thin smile, though it was clear she did not want to. Conflicto poured champagne for everyone. Yvan and Burnout stood around the buffet table, quietly eating. Yvan sat down in a chair and glanced around carefully, trying to figure out how the ship ran. It appeared that Triton was in control of the airship for now. Captivity, he mused, would be short-lived. He would neutralize Rebus and get out, once he found out where Claudette was. Rebus, the only one wearing a mask, addressed the Ankh image. "Rebus reporting in. Scry escaped, but the Eye of Horus has been captured. Telamon..." "LABYRINTHE," stressed Triton. "Labyrinthe has surrendered. The jet and the pilots were exterminated. We have a bonus as well. Agent Ridley of the DSHA." "Excellent," said Ankh. "Mr. Strings shall be pleased. Finally, the Conclave of Super-Villains convenes! The United World will be ours!" Triton crushed the four photos of the STRAFE agents in his hand. "And REVENGE shall be MINE." --------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITED WORLD'S MOST WANTED TRITON Derek Radner Gadgeteer & Energy Generation CONFLICTO Eugene Kwan Friction Control & Extrasensory Touch LABYRINTHE Yvan Viau Untrained Mage of Spatial Distortions SULTRY Angeline Croft Weather Control & Temperature Tolerance PERYTON Viktor Von Wright Strength, Endurance, Speed & Flight BURNOUT identity unknown Intangibility & Regeneration REBUS identity unknown Anchor & Advanced Physical Training --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: The Conclave of Super-Villains begin their reign of terror! ---------------------------------------------------------------------