Captain America 2099UG
The Legacy Saga
Chapter Two
Issue 002
Written by Jason C. Smith
Edited by Hugo Ferreira
The streets were empty outside in the city of Washington, D.C., and for good reason. The city was in chaos after the destruction of the White House and Doom's administration. The news lines were littered with tales of renegade anarchists taking advantage of the disorder plaguing the streets of America's capital. And the most famous of the groups was a mutant strike force, which the media had labeled "The Raiders."
A group of five were scattered around outside of the Lincoln Memorial, scouting the grounds for any sign of opposition. Their leader, known only like Austin, was wearing a long trench coat which wrapped around him in the night wind. His eyes scanned the horizon as the Raiders prepared to make the headlines, once again. Finally, Austin grinned and leaped up the steps, bouncing in each step, and swinging his arms, like a happy child. When he reached the top he looked up into the eyes of the statue and let out a little laugh. Then, he turned and whistled, signaling the rest of the Raiders.
A silent figure watched the group as he shifted his weight to ensure a secure branch. He moved without making a sound, as his amazing agility aided him in making it to the next tree, still without alerting the prey of his whereabouts. He was about to strike, but he only sat and waited. As he sat and watched, it didn't take long for others to appear. Yes, he had done his research. Captain America didn't just protect the citizens of D.C., he stalked their enemies.
As the others began to join their companions, Captain America maneuvered himself into a position where he could better begin his strike. As a tiny robust mutant walked underneath the tree that sheltered America, the patriot reached down, and grasped the mutant by the back of his coat, and jerked him up into the tree. Before his prey could scream out a warning, America launched a devastating blow straight into his nose, breaking it, and rendering him unconscious. Captain America felt nothing but disgust, as he leaned the mutant over a branch.
With that, he leaped down onto the lawn and rolled behind some shrubbery. As he stopped, he quickly got to his feet and ran into the shadows. One down, and six left, he thought to himself. Austin watched over his men as they hooked up a rather odd-looking device at the foot of the statue. He looked over at one of his men, named Givens, and motioned for him to come over in his direction. His colleague complied.
"So, how long is this going to take, Giv?"
He scratched his head, and looked over toward the "two" men working on the explosive device and whispered, "Hey, Square, how much longer?"
"Oh, not too much longer. It wouldn't be so much if you didn't have to make a shocking show out of it," replied one of the duplicates.
"A show? How complicated is this thing, Giv," asked Austin wryly.
"Uh, complicated? Well, not really."
"What does it do," Austin inquired.
"Well, when the nanite enzymes begin to digest the explosive product, released by the minuscule bacteria, as a result of the sunlight they've been storing in their photosynthetic membranes, then it begins to..."
"Stop. Giv, please spare me the details. What is the end result, what is it that I'm looking forward to?"
"Oh! Well, basically the bomb explodes, destroying this monument, and then we can move on to our next target. But..."
"Good," Austin cut in. Then, he looked at the childish grin on Givens's face and said, "But -- what?"
"The really neat thing is that when the bomb explodes, it's designed to scatter red, white, and blue ribbons."
Square looked up and smirked, "Is that why this thing is taking so long to set up?"
"Well, yeah. I suppose."
"Giv, you're a maniac," laughed Austin.
"Thanks."
"So, where are Tubs and the rest?"
Giv looked out over the lawn and replied, "Well, I assume that they're out scouting around, making sure that we're not disturbed. Pulse and Venus are out at their checkpoints also. Can't have any poor citizens making a pilgrimage out here while we're out working now can we?"
"Yeah, like there's even a chance of that happening."
"Well, you said that you wanted to play it safe. So that's what we're doing."
"Well, where is Venus stationed?"
"I think just to the left, over there in the shadows."
Yes, their companion, the super-strong mutant known as Venus, was standing outside the
Eastern Wall. She stood still, watching over the grounds. She didn't even hear Captain America sneak up behind her. He was going to have to work fast, for he knew of her incredible strength. He wasn't paid to fail.
He began to run, gaining speed to add to his attack. Finally, he leaped from the ground and raised his shield high over his head. As he began to descend upon her, he brought it down hard upon her head. As the shield crashed down upon her head, causing her to fall forward, America swept her legs out from under her. Then, he followed up by unleashing a hard kick to her ribs. His adamantium laced bones made each blow even more powerful. Finally, he leaned down and held the razor-sharp tip of his shield to her throat. She was breathing hard, and she only moved enough to look into his eyes.
She may be strong, but she's not invulnerable, he thought. Finally, he said aloud, "You move or make a sound and I cut your throat. Got that? Now, I can play fair. Or we can play by my rules. Which is it?"
"Okay," she whispered.
"Now, answer me a question. Where is the one known as Pulse? I've counted you all, even the one who can make a double of himself. I almost counted him twice, but the movements were too similar, as the same person. So that only makes six, where's the other one? Everyone else is accounted for."
"Who are you? You're from DOME, aren't you? I bet you're one that killed Callister. Aren't you?"
"Look, I don't think that it's in your best interest to demand answers from me. Now, I asked you a question."
Venus just looked at him with a cold stare.
"Alright. I don't even know why I tried to bring you muties in, so it's time to play by my rules," Captain America said as he began to press the point of the shield into her flesh.
As he did so, he quickly rolled to the side, moving out of the way from an attack from behind. Yes, he had known by the look in her face that the one known as Pulse had been right behind him. He hadn't had time to remove Venus from the equation. Oh well, it was just a whole new set of variables, he thought to himself as he made it to his feet and ran into the shadows.
"Who was that," asked Venus.
"I don't know. But we had better stop him. I sensed that Tubs is out of commission. Apparently, this clown took him out first. Come on, let's get him."
Venus and Pulse made their way into the shadows, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the dark shadows. Captain America swept between the two of them lurking behind them. How was he going to take out two of the team's toughest members? He wasn't sure, but he would be okay, as long as they didn't warn the others. He ran over to the wall and quickly climbed it. He then swung his shield onto his back and began to crawl down the top of the wall toward Pulse. Finally, he was over the top of him, and his opponent was unaware of it.
Venus continued to walk around trying to find the Captain. Finally, she whispered, calling out to her companion. "Pulse, where are you? I think, he escaped."
But she heard nothing in the form of a reply. She looked around in an attempt to find her missing companion. But she couldn't see him. She kept trying to find him, to make out his form from the shadows. But she couldn't see a thing. She couldn't see America choking her companion. He was on the wall, using a vine wrapped around Pulse's throat, cutting off all the oxygen to his brain. Finally, after Pulse's face turned an unusual shade of red, his legs stopped kicking, and his arms feel down to his side. Venus only heard a thump before she ran over to finally find her missing companion, unconscious on the Memorial lawn. She looked around, and couldn't find anything in sight, especially their foe.
Austin and Givens stood at the top of the stairs, looking over the city of D.C. They were
discussing which national site to "visit" next. Finally, Square and his double both stood and as he walked back toward his companions, his other self merged with him.
"Finished."
"Good. How long should it take, Giv?"
"Oh, it'll happen tomorrow before they open the gates. That's the beauty of it, the people waiting in line will be plastered by the streamers," he laughed.
They all began to chuckle when loud wheezing caused them all to stop and focus on the form of Tubs making his way up the stairs. He finally made it to the top, when he collapsed. Austin leaned down to check up on his friend. His nose was splattered across his face, and he was bleeding. His eye was also swollen shut.
"We're caught," Square said.
"Who did this to you," asked Austin.
"I... don't... *cough*... don't... know."
"How many," asked Givens. "How many were there?"
"One."
"Shock. Just one? Come on guys, this guy isn't stopping us. Square, help Tubs. It's almost
dawn, we need to get out of here. Giv, you and I need to find Venus and Pulse. Come on."
With that, Square split in two, and his double walked over to get Tubs's feet, as Square picked him up by his arms. The two doubles carefully carried Tubs down the steps as Austin and Givens made their way over to the Eastern Wall to round up Venus and Pulse. When they got there, they found Venus kneeling over her fallen companion. He was beginning to come around. As the group helped him up, Captain America made his way up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and kneeled down to study the bomb.
Venus was carrying Pulse when she saw the form of the Captain over the bomb. She motioned toward him, and the Squares stopped in their tracks, and Austin and Givens looked over their shoulders as well.
Austin turned toward Givens and asked, "Is there any way that he can sabotage our plan?"
"I don't see any way that he can disable the bomb, but he could move it to another location. He doesn't have much time, but he could get it away from the Memorial."
"Is there any way that you can speed things up? Make it detonate now?"
"Oh. You mean make it blow in his face? Uh, probably. Pulse, care to do the honors?"
Pulse looked up and closed his eyes. As he concentrated he sent an electric shock to the bomb, arming it. The electronic fuse had been lite, and the Captain had no time to do anything to stop it. The Raiders turned and began to make their way to the gates. America looked at the bomb and saw all the lights come to life. He barely managed to run, scoop up his shield, and leap over the steps, crashing down hard on the concrete ground.
He continued to roll as he landed, not able to breathe. The flame had been directly behind him, knocking him out further away from the destruction. He got up on his hands and knees and looked over to where the Lincoln Memorial used to be. He dropped his head and sighed. Then he noticed the streamers dropping around him. He looked at the paper ribbons of red, white, and blue, and groaned. Finally, the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the six figures of the Raiders leaving the Memorial grounds through the rain of red, white, and blue.
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Hours Later, Somewhere In Washington, D.C.
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Venus sat in front of Tubs, taking care of his wounds. He was seated upon an old crate, as were the others. Austin sat at a table, with Givens, as they placed a dark black "X" on a map where the Lincoln Memorial was located. The Squares were sparring over in a dusty corner,
and Pulse was lying down on a mat, resting from his encounter with Captain America.
"Who was that guy," asked Pulse.
"I don't know," replied Tubs. "I've never seen him before in my life."
"I think, that he's from DOME. We know that they're connected with Callister's vicious murder, and after watching him in action, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the hired hand that they sent," added Venus.
"Well, I don't think that we'll have to worry about him again," chuckled Givens.
"Yeah, but now we have a bigger problem. If he was from DOME, then they're going to be crawling all over us, trying to get revenge for us killing their guy. You know that they invest a lot into their programs, and they're not about to let us get away with just offing him."
"Then, what should we have done? Austin, you're the one that told us to do it."
"Hey, Tubs, I didn't say that I disagree with my decision, I'm just saying that we're going to have to be more careful. They'll be sending more agents. You can count on it."
A lone shadow passed over the group from the skylight. Captain America sat perched above with the faded map in his hands. He knew that this would come in handy. He had hoped to take out at least three of them, and then catch the others here, in their base of operations. But instead, he still had the six, seven if Square's powers came into effect, and he wasn't really sure how he was going to take them all. He needed an introduction. After all, fighting was fifty percent showmanship he told himself. He folded the map and stuck it in one of the compartments in his glove. Then he looked over the roof and saw an old billboard. A plan began to form in his mind, and as he made his way over to the old sign he whispered under his breath, "God, I hate mutants."
The Raiders were beginning to settle down, and discuss their next course of action. Venus had left Tubs to stand above Austin and look over the plans that he and Givens had cooked up. Venus looked up when she heard a screech of metal. She looked over at Tubs, who only shrugged his shoulders.
"What is tha--"
Pulse never even got the chance to ask his question, as the old billboard crashed through the skylight, taking out some of the roofs with it. Tubs and Venus both threw up their arms to shield themselves from the sprinkling glass. Pulse leaped up as the billboard crashed into the ground. Givens and Austin jumped to their feet.
Tubs walked over to the bottom of the new ramp leading out onto the roof. He turned back to the group while motioning toward the wreckage and said, "What the shock is this?"
As he turned his back, Captain America slid down the slope on top of his shield. As he approached the bottom at breakneck speed, he leaped off and plowed into Tubs, knocking him to his feet. He quickly grabbed the large man by the nose, his broken nose, and made him stand. He wrapped his strong arm around Tubs' neck, and said, "No one move. If I see so much as a simple attempt to scratch, I will break this man's neck."
Givens began to step forward when Tubs cried out, "DON'T! HE'LL DO IT!!! I'm not kidding, Giv. He will do it. Please."
Captain America smiled and said, "Trust him. And me. I will do it, do not doubt me."
Austin shook his head and asked, "Who the shock are you?"
"Captain America."
"You're shocking crazy. That son of a glitch was kicked out of office weeks ago. Besides, you don't even look like em'," said Pulse.
"That's because I'm not him. That was an imposter. I own the legacy, and it is my birthright. Now, line-up. Shocking mutants think that you know everything. Trying to take over D.C. Well, I'm not about to let that happen. I can't stand for it, the uniform can't stand for it."
"Shocking mutants?' Jesus, they'll give anyone super-powers nowadays! You aren't into this to save anyone, you have an agenda. No wonder DOME likes you. You think alike," said Austin.
"What are you talking about? No one gave me anything."
"If you really are Captain America, then you wouldn't be working with the likes of DOME, and you wouldn't have killed Callister like that. The original Captain America wouldn't do that. And he wasn't a mutant hater, either. You're a disgrace," spat Austin.
"Oh. And you're much better by destroying public property? Our heritage? That's noble of you. Some freedom fighters."
"Hey. We fight the government that taught that it's okay to kill its own citizens. We're fighting the government that sanctioned the destruction of millions of mutant lives. A government that you help. You say that you weren't given your powers, well, my friend, I hate to break it to you, but you're a mutant too. And what has the government taught you? To kill your own. Is that the type of establishment that your dear hero, Captain America, would have fought for," asked Austin.
"I am NOT a mutant. And don't you ever confuse me with such genetic waste, although, I'm sure it's not your fault. You can't help yourself. Now, get in line. I came here with a job to do, and I intend to do it! Hey, Givens, you're the genius who's been designing all those neat terrorist devices. I think you can go after Tubs here."
With that Tubs took the opportunity to use his abilities of inertia to "throw" himself away from Captain America. America cursed beneath his breath as he ran at Givens. He would not fail. The others barely had time to figure out what was happening as Venus made her way over to Tubs to see if he was okay. Givens turned and ran. America followed.
The others were chasing America and Givens, but they couldn't even begin to catch America, and America was gaining on Givens's lead. Finally, Givens ran into a room and tried to close the old steel door behind him. But just as he did so, America rammed into the door, knocking him backward, and throwing the door open. He quickly turned and closed it, as it automatically locked. He looked around and grinned. They were in an old meat locker. He moved over toward Givens who got to his feet.
This was what he should have done at the Memorial Site, he thought. Instead of trying to disable a few of them, and stopping the bomb, he should have just killed them. Termination would have made his current condition a whole lot easier. He looked at Givens. He was nothing to worry about. Being a mutant didn't always mean that you had some bizarre power. Givens didn't have any super-abilities, but his mutant gene made him very good with mechanics. Not as good as his hero, Billy the Kid, but good nonetheless.
"Please, leave me alone," cried Givens.
"Yeah. I could do that. But that's not my job."
With that, Captain America leaped at Givens, knocking him back into the wall hard. He picked him up and threw him into another wall. As he staggered to his feet, America swept his legs out from under him and stomped him. Then, he kicked him, knocking the wind out of him. Givens was still moving, which made America very mad. He began beating him with his fists. His adamantium fists were leaving deep bruises with every punch.
Outside the door, Austin waited as Venus tried to remove the old door. It was hard, for the hinges were rusted, and she couldn't get a grip. Pulse stood there also using his electronic powers to gauge Givens's brain pattern. Finally, he looked down and put his arm on
Venus's arm.
"He's dead," he whispered.
Tears began to build up in her eyes as she began to throw her fists into the cold steel. Austin gritted his teeth and ordered the Raiders to tear the door off of its very hinges if they had to. In a fit of rage, which Austin used his abilities to amplify, Venus ripped the door from its hinges and threw it aside. Inside they saw America, who was still beating Givens's warm body. They all rushed inside, and America looked up. He wasn't worried. If he kept calm, then Austin's powers would be ineffective, and Tubs was already hurt badly, as was Pulse. That just left Square and Venus to worry about. As he turned he saw Tubs using his abilities over inertia and force to catapult himself toward him at a deadly speed. America waited calmly, and just as he approached, ready to strike him, America grabbed Givens's body, and swung it like a bat, knocking Tubs into a wall hard. He hit the wall with a sick thud and fell to the floor. America ran and leaped into the air, landing on his back and driving both of his feet into the small of Tubs' back, severing his spine. He turned and thought, two down.
As he did, he saw Austin, who was channeling all of his own anger into Venus, making her more powerful with her rage. She ran at America, and struck him, knocking him into a wall. He quickly got to his feet and dodged another blow. He was quick enough to see Square run at him and split in two. Great, he thought, now it's three against one.
As the Squares attempted to surround the Captain, he moved, letting one Square strike the other. Then, he delivered a hard kick to the midsection of the other. This caused him to fall to the floor. He may be powerful when he's one, but he's normal when he's "squared", thought America. He stopped moving and let the other one grab him from behind. He just waited for Venus to try and hit him while he was "immobilized." When she threw her punch, America moved, and let her strike the other Square, therefore removing him from the fight.
Venus' shock stopped her for a moment, which also caused Austin to pause. He had been channeling anger into her directly and the link was severed, allowing America enough time to run past the both of them. As he did so, he leaped up and ripped a hook from the low ceiling. He continued to run toward a bewildered Pulse. He couldn't believe that two of his teammates were dead and that he was watching one man take apart his entire group. He turned just in time to see America strike him with the hook as hard as he could. The blow knocked him down, and Captain America ran out of the room. As he ran by, he scooped up his shield and ran up the billboard ramp. Outside he quickly leaped down the emergency stairway, to his motorcycle. It didn't take him long to make it to DOME headquarters, to retire for the night.
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In The Suburbs Of Washington, D.C.
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Nicholas Page opened the door to his house. He had left his gear at headquarters, but he needed to get back home. He had something to take care of or someone rather. It still bothered him that he could only take down two of the Raiders, but he had the time. He wasn't expected to do it in a day, although he knew that he should have been able to. Something else was also bothering him. It was the fact that they had called him a mutant. Deep down he knew that there was something to it. They might not have been right, but there was something to it. He felt it deep down. He closed the door behind him, as he switched on the NewsNet. Yes, the Raiders had made the "headlines" again, but no one knew of his victory. He was startled by a young voice which said, "Hello, Daddy. Did you have a nice night at work?"
Nicholas looked down at his daughter. "Yes. It was okay, honey. Have you been fed?"
With that his holoagent, a gentle old lady named April, appeared and answered him. It said,
"Good morning, Nick. Your breakfast and bed are ready. Maria has been fed, and she is ready to go to school, aren't you, Maria?"
"Yes. Daddy, today we are going to finger paint!"
"That's fantastic, honey. You be good, and listen to April, okay? And I'll see you today when you get home from school, Pumpkin," he said with a smile.
He kneeled down and gave his daughter a hug, as he thought of the other young children, and their parents, out there. Yes, he was making a difference, and soon the Raiders wouldn't be bothering the citizens of D.C. anymore.
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