League of Super Heroes: Rise of the Villain (Book #1) (2 page)

Mike laughed, almost
choking on his tea. He could tell Justice wasn’t going to give up
so he gave in, knowing full well he could crush his friend if he
wanted. Now that he was on board, he wanted to know more but he
knew this was not the place to discuss such top secret things. They
jumped into Mike’s car and sped off towards the lair, somewhere
neither of them had been for years.

The lair was exactly
as Justice had remembered. The chipped white paint and broken glass
gave the sprawling house an eerie look. That was the whole point;
the league had built their lair beneath this house to keep people
from going inside. Everything about the property screamed “RUN!”
from the broken down station wagon on the front lawn, to the
boarded up doors. Justice knew that there were traps set in place
to keep away the few brave and curious teens, so he stopped the
car. Mike jumped out and ran across the lawn, jumping expertly over
the trip wire placed just before the porch steps.

Once inside, the
darkness swallowed both the heroes. The floorboards were stiff and
creaked with each step; the air was damp and smelt of rotting wood.
Mike felt his way along the water stained walls, feeling for the
seam of the hidden door. He stopped suddenly and jumped back,
startled. “Aren’t you gonna buy me dinner first cowboy!” a voice
called out from the darkness.

Vince laughed,
showing himself to the heroes. He was dressed up in his old
costume, the sleek black suit looking dapper as always. “Sorry
boys, didn’t mean to scare you. Everyone is waiting downstairs,
let’s go join them!” He opened the door and motioned for them to go
first. Mike and Justice exchanged a look, heading down the spiral
stairs towards the light.

The room opened up
before their eyes, the modern furnishings and clean bright walls
were welcoming to the men. Even more welcoming, the people sprawled
across the furniture and their exhausted faces. Justice knew he had
no time to waste, so he got right to business, telling the league
of his plan to break Explosion Man out of prison.

Every super hero knew
the tragic tale of Lex; he was a hot tempered guy who lost it on
the wrong man. Lex had always been the roughest of the group, his
anger was his power and boy was he powerful. If provoked, he could
quite literally become a human bomb causing a massive explosion.
His powers had come in handy more than a few times, creating
doorways in steel walls and getting them out of tricky situations.
When he had ended up in jail, Justice had sworn to help get him out
but was never able to get the team on board. Years had passed and
it was about time they freed their wrongly imprisoned friend once
and for all.

CHAPTER SIX

The prison walls were
tall, each wall monitored by a guard tower equipped with all sorts
of fire power. The heroes knew it was an impossible task, the
thought of which made their skin tingle with anticipation. Most of
them hadn’t felt this way in a long time; they had a purpose to
fulfill and a mission to accomplish. There was no room for error,
the slightest wrong move could trigger the alarm and send all of
them to an early grave. In hushed tones Justice addressed the
group, going over the plan of action one last time before they
separated. The idea was to use their powers and the element of
surprise to get in. He scanned the group, each of their faces
covered in their token mask. It felt good to be a hero again, but
his task wasn’t up yet.

Healing Man went
first, he was the bait. It was his job to distract the guards while
Ghost girl and Invisible man slipped inside unnoticed. Having a
ghost on your side was always helpful, as there was not a wall out
there she couldn’t walk right through. Once inside, Invisible man
was to steal the keys to Lexs’ cell and break him out while the
others kept their eyes open for trouble.

Justice watched as
his friends disappeared, wishing he could do more to help but
knowing stealth was their best bet. His eyes followed the movements
of the guards from his hiding spot bellow, the glint of their shiny
guns catching on the search light. He knew that ten feet from him
lay Muscle man ready to attack if anything went wrong.
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!” an ear piercing scream came from inside the
walls of the prison, Justice looked up quickly trying not to make
any sudden movements so as to alert the guards of his position. His
eyes stopped on a human leg sticking out of the prison wall, as
though stuck in the cement. Justice jumped up realizing that it was
Ghost girl and something must have gone terribly wrong. He touched
her leg and called out to reassure her.

All around them
alarms began going off and lights scanned the ground searching for
the culprit. Justice was panicking, forgetting the first rule of
the Super Hero Hand Book. He knew that this was all his fault, he
had formed the plan and brought them all here. If anything happened
to his friends, their blood would be on his hands.

Muscle man sprang
into action, slamming his body into the cement wall indenting a
large crack. The muffled voice of Ghost girl cried out in pain with
every hit. Seconds later the cement shattered and out fell the cut
up body of their friend, she was barely awake when she uttered,
“It’s a trap.” The words burned their way into J’s mind as he
stared into Gennys’ eyes, unable to look away. He called out for
Healing man and took off towards the wall of the prison. Whoever
was responsible for this was going to pay, with their life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The walls of the
prison crumbled to the ground, the guard towers falling like autumn
leaves. Justice man shielded his face from the blast, knowing that
Vince had accomplished what they had set out to do. Explosion man
ran towards J, his prison uniform was torn and tattered from the
blast, but the smile on his face was anything but broken. “J! I
knew you would come for me buddy. Listen, something’s going down in
there. Are you ready to kick some evil ass?”

Justice slapped hands
with his friend and got right to it. Guards and prisoners alike
were going crazy in the yard; apparently Vince had let everyone
out. The heroes fought hard, each punch and kick held every ounce
of strength they could muster. The battle raged on for hours, sweat
soaked faces meeting the fists of Justice. Muscle man had begun to
toss people high in the air and kick them as far as he could, like
wriggling soccer balls. As if called, the entire league of heroes
had arrived, but things were looking dire.

Even with all this
help, the heroes were outnumbered by the enemy. This was the worst
possible scenario, as each of the prisoners hated them more than
the last. Most of these people had been put away by one of the
heroes, they weren’t about to give up the opportunity for revenge.
The yard was piling up with bodies, villain and hero alike. Justice
man was infuriated, he still couldn’t figure out who was behind all
of this. His sharp eyes scanned the crowd looking for a sign, the
sound of breaking bones filled his ears and echoed through the
yard.

Muscle man grabbed
Justice, shaking his friend out of his hazy state. “Justice, I just
saw him! I know who is behind all of this and you and I are the
only ones who can stop him.” His
friends’
eyes were completely blank as if he hadn’t heard a single word. “J
SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU’RE A LEAGUE HERO, START ACTING LIKE ONE!”

Justice knew exactly
who he was talking about, the man who’d trained both of them to be
super heroes all those years ago, the man who had been like a
father to the orphaned J before he had disappeared. Justice had
always assumed he had gone away on assignment and died, but Muscle
man was sure that he had gone to the dark side. “How can you be so
sure Mike?” He asked his friend, hoping that he was wrong.

“
Lex told me J, he knows everything and he’s been waiting for
this day a long time. They kept him in a water chamber all these
years to keep him from exploding his way out to tell us. He’s back,
he’s blood thirsty, and he’s caught us all off guard. That’s not a
good mix J.”

Justice knew his
friend was right, things were not looking good for the league of
heroes and now he knew why. The man that had trained and mentored
most of them, was the same man now trying to kill them. He knew
their moves better than they did; he knew where they were going to
strike before they did. He was inside each and every one of their
heads, and he had passed this information down to a group of
villains. He had caught the league off guard, he had made his move
when they were weak and dismantled. This was not a man to be
trifled with, this was a man to fear, the most famous and powerful
super hero of them all.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Around the heroes,
bodies fell, their spirits falling with each thud. A thick smoke
filled the air, the heat of the fire warming the yard. The heroes
stood side by side, united in both victory or defeat. The gang of
villains surrounded them, forming a circle around the few brave
fighters left, their batter faces leering at them. Justice stared
right back, refusing to give them the satisfaction of being afraid.
“HEROES, UNITED WE STAND. HOLD YOUR HEADS HIGH AND FEAR NOT THESE
EVIL DOERS!” his voice filled the yard, letting the villains know
how he felt. They laughed at him, heads rearing back in pleasure.
In the distance Justice could hear a faint clap begin, but he
couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

“
Ah
Justice my boy, you always were my bravest protégé. Don’t you all
find it a little sad; you used to be so mighty. Now you’re nothing
but a bunch of pathetic little rodents, my men will squash you.
See, this is why I left, weakness makes me angry. In my day heroes
were the strongest and bravest people in the world, now any sad
excuse for a human can become a hero. That’s why I’ve decided to
wipe the slate clean, get rid of all you pesky things and make room
for real power.”

His voice was exactly
as Justice remembered, smooth and velvety like he had just
swallowed a cup of honey moments before. J held his head high,
preparing himself to face the man who had made him into who he was
today, and turned around. To his surprise, the man had changed so
much in appearance that Justice barely recognized him. Gone was his
thick black hair and well groomed beard, the man that stood before
him had short dirty blonde hair, and a clean shaven face. A
familiar clean shaven face, one that Justice had seen nearly every
day for the past few years. “Mayor Masterson?” Justice was
confused, this was not who he had been expecting.

“
Ah
yes, that’s what you all call me now isn’t it. All part of the
MASTER plan my boy!” He laughed and turned to address the entire
yard. “You see, I knew defeating you would be easy if I went about
it the right way. So I changed my appearance, disguised myself as a
blue blood politician with a firm hand. I cleaned up the streets,
storing all my men in this prison and simply waited for you. It
took some time for you to get here didn’t it Justice, how could you
leave your friend in here to rot so long?” Justice glanced over at
Lex who was looking at the ground; a frown covered his masculine
face.

“
I
seem to have struck a chord have I? Justice, Lex here is thinking
about what I’ve just said. See he’s wondering the same thing…I can
hear the disappointment in that hot head of his. In fact I can hear
what you’re all thinking. Let’s see, you think I’m crazy and that
Justice will defeat me. NOT LIKELY! At least not without that idiot
leader of yours…Freeze. Isn’t that right Justice, you are worthless
without him here.” The air was thick with tension, the heroes
afraid that this was it, the villains excited for what was to come.
The man spoke once more, his voice light and bubbly as if he were
enjoying himself. “Don’t worry young heroes; he is just as afraid
as all of you!”

CHAPTER NINE

Justice Man stood
tall, he was terrified that this was the end of super heroes and it
was all his fault. He needed to let his mind go blank, he couldn’t
have the villain inside his head hearing his every thought. He
tried to remember everything his mentor had ever told him, trying
to find a weakness trapped inside all of that power. Mastermind,
now hidden in disguise as mayor Materson, had always been the
strongest hero around, not only could he read minds but he could
manipulate your thoughts as well. He was in complete control at all
times, something he had tried to teach all of his
students-including Justice. This was going to take some serious
luck to get out of, as of right now they were surrounded with no
hope for escape. He couldn’t let the villains win, he couldn’t let
them loose onto the streets, they would no doubt shed innocent
blood and wreck havoc.

Mastermind appeared
to be contacting his villains, their eyes completely glued to him;
Justice knew this was his only chance to catch him off guard. He
looked at Muscle man, pointing at Lex and motioning for him to
throw. Lex caught on first, jumping into Mikes arms and curling
into a ball. Mike pulled his arm back and prepared to toss his
explosive friend toward Mastermind and his band of minions, but
before he even got the chance to let go the Mastermind was already
in control. Mike dropped Lex and gripped his head, his eyes rolling
as he grunted in pain. He was on his knees now, everyone around him
backed away afraid to touch him. All eyes were on Mike as he
writhed in pain, the villains were guaranteed a win now, the heroes
had just lost their most valuable player.

The battle had been
long and bloody; the heroes were exhausted and knew that without
Muscle man they were a group of goners. Masterminds new gang sensed
the defeat, dancing around and chanting as Mike lost consciousness.
Justice felt a wave of relief knowing that his friend was out of
pain, even if he was dead. He knew that whatever Mastermind had
planned was a fate far worse than death. His eyes scanned the
villains, looking for a familiar face, a trace of hope. But nothing
appeared, he was sure that this was going to be the end of the
heroes and there was not a damn thing he could do to stop it. All
he could do was go down hard, fighting for justice till the bitter
end.