The Protectors

"Shape of Things To Come" by Martin Maenza

Colorful figures clashed with monstrous, orc-like creatures. Using super-strength, various energy blasts and even magic spells, they repelled the hordes that marched upon the portal leading to the Earth.

Then, with a whooshing sound, a blue blur rocketed past them all and towards a dark haired figure hovering above the battle. With a leap, the blur was in the air and facing the foe. Over and over, red gloved fists smashed into the wicked man and overpowered him. Zandorok fell to the ground, to the utter dismay of his troops.

The seven other heroes smiled and cheered.

"Way to go, Ricochet!"

"You're the man!"

"He's the best!"

"He's so dreamy."

"Ricochet! Ricochet! Ricochet!"

A smile crossed the brown haired youth's face.

"Tommy," another voice called. "Tommy!"

The teenager's brown eyes fluttered open suddenly, the dream ¹ of his deep sleep sharply shattered by the sound of his mother's voice just outside his bedroom door. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the red digits on his clock. The numbers shifted and read 8:30.

Oh man, he thought to himself, I totally forgot to set my alarm.

"Young man!" Martha Johnson called again from the other side of the brown wooden door. "Are you up?"

Tommy sat up in his bed and blinked. Yup, same old room with the faded window curtains and pictures of swimsuit models covering the slight cracks in the paint on the walls. "Yeah, Mom," he called back. "I'm up."

"We leave for church in forty minutes," she said from out in hallway as she worked to clasp her faux pearl necklace in place. "You better hurry up and get ready."

"Yes, ma'am," the young man replied. He pulled himself out of bed, wrapped his tattered terry clothe blue bathrobe around his shoulders and started for the bedroom door. It opened with a slight creak, which was accompanied by a similar sound from the floor as he crossed the hall and went into the bathroom.

Pulling the catch up for the drain, he started to fill the sink with warm water, all the while still trying to wake up. For someone with super-speed, Tommy Johnson still managed to have a hard time waking up. It didn't help that he had just spent the night before battling off an invasion horde along side other young heroes and had barely gotten a few hours of precious sleep. Oh well, he thought absently. If Pastor Dave is talking about the church finances again during his sermon, I can catch a few more zees.

He splashed water on his face and then looked up in the mirror. As he wiped the water away, he saw the stern look of Ned Johnson behind him. The sound of the running water must have masked the arrival of his father who was dressed in his Sunday suit. "Morning, Dad," the youth said.

"Don't 'morning' me, young man!" Ned said firmly. "I know its summer and all, but that doesn't give you license to stay out all night!"

Ouch, Tommy thought to himself. "Sorry, Dad," he apologized. "I was out playing AD&D with the guys and lost track of time. They called while you guys were out playing bridge next door last night; they really needed one more person. I probably should have left you a note or something."

"Yeah, you should have!" Ned said. "Your mother and I were surprised to find you not home when we got back, and she had a hard time falling asleep. She kept up listening for you, which kept me up. I don't know when we both were able to fall asleep."

"Sorry, Dad."

"What time did you get home anyway?" his father inquired. "It had to be after three."

Tommy knew not to get caught up further in his lie. "Yeah, something like that. I'm really really sorry, Dad. I'll try not to let it happen again."

"It better not!" Ned said firmly. "And just so you can think about what you did, you'll be cleaning the garage after we get back from church this afternoon."

"Yes, sir," Tommy said with a frown.

Seeing that he had gotten his paternal message across, Ned turned and left the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him.

Tommy Johnson let out a sigh. Cleaning the garage, oh joy. And in order to keep his dual-identity a secret, he would have to do the task without the benefits of super-speed.

Such was the life of a teen hero keeping his other life secret from his family.

***

The Monday morning editions of New York City's newspapers all carried a headline of particular interest to another member of our cast. In large type, the headlines proclaimed a boisterous challenge from the costumed criminal called the Geometric Man to one of the city's famed heroines: Hydro Girl.

Sitting behind her desk at the boutique known as Lifestyles Unlimited, a red haired Rita Mason sipped her coffee as she read aloud the text of the article. "...has been challenged to a battle atop the World Trade Center at noon today..."

The front door to the shop opened as a black haired young woman entered. Rita looked up from the paper to see the arrival of her long time friend and colleague Andrea Donalson.

"Rita, have you seen the morning papers?" Andrea asked. She had one folded up in her left hand, and she offered it to her friend

"Just going over it right now," the red haired woman replied, shaking slightly the pages of her own paper.

Andrea closed the door behind her. She knew that, since the shop was not yet open for customers, she could speak freely. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Sounds like I have lunch plans with a lunatic," Rita said with a half smile.

"You want some back up?" Andrea asked.

"Thanks for the offer," Rita replied, "but I think I can handle this guy. From what I recall, he's strictly a B-leaguer at best."

"We've all faced our fair share of those," Andrea said as she gently stroked the cat-head amulet that hung from the necklace about her neck. "Sometimes they can surprise you though. I could close the shop for a bit and hang out in the shadows as Cat-Lady if need be."

Rita smiled. "Good old, Andrea," she said. "Still looking out for me, just like the old days back in college."

"Hey," the brunette replied, "as I recall, you tended to have a knack for getting into trouble back then."

"True," Rita admitted, "but I also found my way out of it just as easy."

Besides, Rita thought to herself, if anyone was going to play cavalry for me there is a certain blonde haired male hero I'd rather have do it. I just the situation won't come to that. Besides, I really have no way of knowing how to get a hold of Larynx any way. She realized that was something she needed to rectify.

***

Across town, musician Scott Ballard was having similar thoughts as he read the morning paper. "Well, now," he said as he read the selfsame article. "I've been trying to find some excuse to cross paths with this woman for months now. And thanks to Mystifier's little gathering over the weekend, we've had our formal introductions."

He put down the paper and pondered.

"So, if Larynx just happens to show up to give Hydro Girl a little bit of a cheering section, that really wouldn't be so out of line now, would it?"

He smiled to himself as he finished his coffee.

Glancing out the window at the blue sky, he concluded that today would be a perfect day for a flight through Manhattan.

***

The morning hours passed and the sun moved to its highest daily position. High noon had arrived in more ways than one.

Per their promise, New York's finest cordoned off the World Trade Center. But the police barricades only attracted more and more onlookers, all hoping to get a good look at a local hero in action. The people, both locals and tourists alike, began to cheer as a red haired woman dressed in purple and red slid past them overhead on a thin bridge of ice of her own creation.

Hydro Girl used her powers to alter the moisture in the air to provide her with transportation up to the top of one of the towers. All the while, her mind was focused on her upcoming task. This is no different than any other situation, she told herself. The fact that he called me out publicly just goes to show how desperate he probably is. And desperate people often make mistakes.

Still, that idea nagged her. Why was he so desperate to challenge her publicly?

Hydro Girl reached the rooftop and glanced around. The place was vacant.

She glanced across the way at the other twin tower. Perhaps he meant that tower?

Suddenly, a glowing rectangle of energy shimmered across the way on the rooftop on which she stood. It grew brighter and larger until it was the size of a normal door.

And then, a man in a dark blue costume with red boots and gloves stepped out of it. On his chest was a white triangle facing downward with a red circle in the center. His head was covered by a blue cowled mask.

Once he was completely through the doorway, it dispersed behind him.

Hydro Girl stood with her gloved hands on her hips. "The Geometric Man, I presume," she said in a rather unimpressed manner.

The villain gave a slight polite bow in a mocking way. "Yes, my dear," he grinned. "As much as I hate to have to hurt a woman, I am forced in a position to fight you. But, I promise that I will make your demise as painless as possible."

Hydro Girl frowned at his condescending approach. "Know what I think, G-man?" she said as she held one hand behind her back for a second and then thrust it forward. "I think you're all wet!"

A burst of water shot from her hand and nailed the villain right in the face. It wasn't powerful enough to knock him off balance but enough to enrage him.

Geometric Man shook his head, the excess water flinging to the side. He spit away the water from his mouth and frowned. "Fine! If that's the way we're going to play," he said as he reached into one of the small pouches off of his belt, "let's play!"

From his hand he flung a number of razor sharp triangles. "These poisoned tipped beauties will be your demise," he sneered.

The red haired heroine leapt from the place she stood, seconds before the projectiles hit the ground where she stood. She tumbled in the air to the ground, rolled across the roof and sprang to her feet. "You can't hurt me if your toys don't hit me," Hydro Girl remarked all the while.

"I hadn't counted on you moving so fast," Geometric Man admitted, "but no matter. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

"We'll see about that!" Hydro Girl replied. With a blast from her hand, she caused the moisture in the air about the villain's feet to solidify into a block of solid ice. "Looks to me like you'll be stuck for awhile."

"Better get your eyes checked, missy!" Geometric Man countered as he reached into his pouch and pulled forth a pair of tiny spheres. Dropping them onto the ice, they activated on contact and began to turn red hot. In a moment, they released the stored up heat, turning the icy bonds into steam. "I can counter just about anything you can throw at me."

He is resourceful, Hydro Girl thought.

"Now, let's see how you do with these babies," the villain continued. This time he tossed thin rectangular items towards the heroine. The first one hit the roof, exploding on contact.

Hydro Girl stepped back, surprised by the loud popping sound. "Noise makers?"

"Oh, they have more than just some sound, sweetie!" Geometric Man said as he threw more towards her. "If any of these hit you, you'll see how much of a punch they pack!" He laughed as she kept backing away, moving closer to the roof's edge. Right exactly where he wanted her!

Hydro Girl kept firing water bursts at the projectiles, attempting to keep them at a distance before they exploded. "How many more tricks does this guy have in that bag of his?" she wondered aloud.

As she stepped back on what she thought was square of concrete on the roof, suddenly there was a burst of energy all about her. "What?"

The villain let out a victory cheer. "Silly, Hydro Girl," he said, "you walked right into the trap I set for you!"

In front of her, to each side, behind her, below her feet and above her head materialized the walls of a solid, translucent booth. Stupid, she criticized herself silently. Hydro Girl pounded her fists against the wall in front of her; the blow resonated with a dull thud.

The villain sauntered up to the prison and stroked his gloved hand across the front of it. "My, but don't you look pretty under glass," he mocked, "like a china doll all ready for display."

"You won't hold me!" Hydro Girl said. "My powers will..."

"Will do nothing!" Geometric Man cut her off. "The materials of this prison are specially designed to deal with you. They'll let oxygen in for you to breath, barely, but you won't be able to summon any moisture from the air. It took me a day of tinkering to insure that you won't be able to generate any further water based attacks."

Hydro Girl didn't take his word for it. She tried anyway but quickly concluded he was telling the truth. Great, she thought! Now what am I going to do?

"Don't you worry, sweetie," Geometric Man said at her obvious frustration. "It will be all over for you soon enough!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, turkey!" a booming voice shouted.

Both the villain and the captive heroine turned to see a blonde haired male in an orange and green costume rocketing towards the rooftop. "Larynx!" Hydro Girl exclaimed.

The masked green hero smiled as he landed next to the transparent cage. "Happy to see me, doll?" he asked.

"How could I not?" Hydro Girl replied.

"Well let's see what I can do about getting you free," Larynx said.

"I think not!" Geometric Man said as he reached into his pouch for more to attack with. "I wasn't expecting two heroes, but if I kill you both then my admittance to the Octagon is guaranteed!"

"The who?" Hydro Girl asked.

"Back off, creep!" Larynx said. He modulated his throat and fired a sonic burst in the villain's direction.

"Aaaaaah!" Geometric Man cried out, his hands dropping some of his throwing triangles as he put both hands to his ears. The sound was enough to send chills up and down his spine.

Satisfied that he detained their foe long enough, Larynx turned his attention to the cube. He tapped it once. "Hmmm," he said, "I think I have just the thing. You might want to cover your ears, my lady. This could get a bit loud."

Hydro Girl nodded with a smile and did what he asked. She backed away also to the far side of the small chamber.

Larynx concentrated and started to hum. The sound got louder as he worked to find just the right frequency. Then, when he felt he had it, he opened his mouth and let forth the high pitched wail.

Like an opera singer hitting the crescendo of their performance, his sonic note caused a strain in the transparent chamber's structure. Then, with a loud crash, it shattered apart. It collapsed to the ground, and Hydro Girl dropped to her knees.

Larynx saw her fall and stopped his note. "Hydro Girl!" He rushed over to her, broken container shards crunching beneath his green boots. "Are you okay?"

Her ears still ringing, Hydro Girl saw him approach, looked up and smiled. He offered his green gloved hand to help her up; she took it willingly.

"When you serenade a girl, you really serenade her," she said jokingly.

"Well, what can I say?" Larynx smiled.

"I hate to fight and run," Geometric Man called back as he ran across the roof, all the while working the controls on his belt. "But I am certain the Octagon will be lenient with me since I had to contend with not one but two of you."

"Stop him!" Hydro Girl exclaimed.

"He isn't going anywhere," Larynx replied, "unless he can fly."

Geometric Man laughed as a line of energy shimmered in the air before him. Grabbing into his satchel one last time, he pulled out an item. "Looks like your little rescuer is in the dark," the villain said. "So, this'll make him feel right at home." He hurled a small block toward the pair.

"Weak throw!" Larynx started to say as it fell between them.

When the block hit the roof, it exploded with a cloud of darkness.

"Uh oh," Larynx muttered.

"Quick!" Hydro Girl shouted, moving through it. "We have to stop him!"

"Okay," Larynx said, following her lead.

"We'll meet again, kids!" Geometric Man called from somewhere beyond their vision.

When the two heroes emerged on the other side, they saw the last remaining portion of the villain's leg pull into the rectangular doorway. Then, it closed behind him.

"Gone!" Hydro Girl frowned.

Larynx rubbed his head. "Man, he's more slippery than I figured."

Hydro Girl stood pondering for a second. "He mentioned something called 'the Octagon'. What do you think that is?"

"No clue," Larynx said. "Maybe we can take some time together and mull it over." He put his arm about her shoulders. "Your place or mine?"

With her right hand, she removed his arm. "Not so fast, Romeo. Work before play, okay?"

"Fair enough," the young man said with a smile, though he wasn't expecting the rebuffing. "What did you have in mind?"

"I figure if two heads are good, eight would be better," she said. "Maybe we should see if Mystifier can send a mystical call out to the rest of the crew we worked with over the weekend. Perhaps together we can figure this one out."

"Sounds good to me," Larynx said. He bent over and scooped the young woman up in his arms.

"Hey!" Hydro Girl said.

"If we're heading back to the Village, I'm flying you first class, my lady," Larynx replied. He noticed Hydro Girl smile; he smiled too and then lifted them both into the air with a melodic sound that accompanied his flight.

***

The Geometric Man meanwhile materialized at his destination, the location of the hidden lair of the criminal organization that went by the name of the Octagon. "Hello?" he called out as he moved toward a light circular area. "Anyone here?"

"Of course, fool!" a voice said from the shadows. "We've been monitoring your progress. And it appears you have failed!"

"I was planning to take out Hydro Girl," the shape-wielding villain explained. "But that super-songster showed up and spoiled my plans."

"Yup, that sounds like failure to me," another one of the hidden villains stated.

"Maybe so," said another, "maybe not. He did survive a battle with formidable heroes and escaped. That has to count for something."

This brought about some debate back and forth between those hidden. The Geometric Man stood silently as they discussed his actions.

Finally, a deep voiced woman broke the discussion. "Enough! He does show potential."

"So, I'm in?" Geometric Man asked.

"For now," the lead voice said.

"So, I guess this is the point when I get to see who I'm actually working with?"

The lead figure nodded to another. The second raised her hands, and the darkness about them seemed to slip away.

The Geometric Man adjusted his eyes to the change and saw seven costumed figures sitting around him. He turned to where the lead voice had come from and saw a large, muscular woman with blonde hair dressed in a yellow and brown costume. "I know you! You're Madame Mammoth, the former roller derby queen turned super-criminal."

"Very good," Mammoth replied. "And then you probably know some of the others here as well."

Geometric Man looked about and ticked off those he knew. Pointing to a slender woman with long blonde hair and a yellow and black costume, "that's the Golden Greek who has gone toe-to-toe with the Justice Gang a few times." He then noticed a man in blue with an interesting helmet. "And you're Timewarp, the arch-rival of the Justice Gang's own Time Lord."

The pair said nothing but recognized the man's acknowledgment of their actions.

"Very good," Mammoth said again. "Allow me to continue then." She gestured to a dark haired male in a red and orange costume. "The one with the crown is Prince Pyro." The man merely flicked his fingers, letting small flames dance from one digit to the other.

Mammoth continued. "Across from him, the dark haired woman in the blue dress, is the Shadow Dancer. Next to her is the Mimic, who can duplicate fighting maneuvers just by observing them." She then turned to a white haired male with blue skin and a long flowing purple cape. "And our resident physician of sorts is Doctor Delirium."

"So, I make the eighth side of your little shapely organization," Geometric Man chuckled. "I like that."

"Keep your wit to yourself, or you just mind find yourself losing all of your wits!" Delirium threatened.

Geometric Man glanced around and realized that the others all had a serious look to their faces. It was at that moment that he concluded that this group played for keeps. I hope I'm not in a little over my head, he thought to himself.

(to be continued)

¹ A slightly altered view of the events of last issue's tale "Standoff Against Zandorok".