The Invincibles (29 page)

“
He would, but that doesn’t mean for certain this was his doing. He doesn’t have anyone working for him that has a power-set that’d allow them to do what you’re describing., and this doesn’t sound like his style either.”

“
You’re probably right about that. Whoever or whatever this is, it’s happening all over the world. It’s not just sabotage. Odd things are taking place and no one knows why. It’s hard for me to describe. Scan the news yourself. That’ll be easier and faster for you.”

Hyperman nodded and took a moment to reach out across the world with his hyper-senses and listen in on every single news broadcast. He also scanned the data moving through modem lines, cable wires, airwaves, sound waves, phone networks, and computer systems everywhere on Earth. His hyper-vision ranged wide and far, reading auras, magnetic fields, and energy, all of which had stories to tell. It only took him a short breath of time to process all the information.

Guns and bombs had gone missing from law enforcement agencies with spotty records, terrorist groups, militias, and mentally unstable private citizens. Money vanished from big companies’ coffers and charities saw their bank accounts explode. People struggling to make ends meet woke up to find gadget phones and computers on the pillow next to them and their kitchens stocked with food.

Similar things continued to happen all over the world, and it was making people nervous. They didn’t know where the help was coming from or if they had actually needed it. Some were insulted by the implication that they had needed help or that their lives were being interfered with. They staged protests and held community meetings. Wild theories raged across the Internet. People asked too many questions of elected officials and law enforcement and made too many scenes doing so. It had led to some violence and rioting. Many people had overreacted, thinking that having their guns or money taken was the government or super-heroes trying to steal away their Second Amendment rights or subjugate the world. Others argued over whether this was an act of God or a superhero and then fought over which God or superhero it was.

Hyperman knew all this had to be the Whorl’s doing. In fact, to him, it seemed obvious. Nobody else possessed the speed to be able to do so much so quickly. It looked like he’d gone on another odyssey of performing good deeds as they’d done before, but this one was spanning wider and going on for longer. It had to stop. Hyperman needed to find the Whorl and talk to him. While he agreed with the Whorl’s actions, he was making things too tense in the world for Hyperman’s plans to work, and he needed the Diatomite-x the Whorl had stolen. Besides, all the things the Whorl wanted to help with now wouldn’t exist in the new world to come. It’d be here soon enough, so the Whorl was only wasting his time.

Hyperman blinked and Mors nervously scratched his ear. Less than a second had passed since one of them had spoken.

“
Don’t worry,” Hyperman said. “I know who did this. I’ll fix it.”

He sped off in a blur.

***

Hyperman hung above the clouds, vibrating all of his molecules at a super-speed that made it impossible for any satellite camera or imaging system to detect him. His eyes trailed all across the globe, trying to pinpoint the Whorl as he streaked through the oceans from country to country, kicking up dirt, dust, and water. He appeared to be almost literally everywhere at once, moving so fast that Hyperman even had trouble focusing on him for more than a nanosecond.

With the velocities the Whorl was hitting, Hyperman doubted even he could chase him down. No, he’d have to let the Whorl see him and then come to him. He needed somewhere nice, private, and isolated. Siberia would be perfect. He bolted down from the sky at an undetectable speed.

The craggy, frozen tundra below stretched on for a vast distance without a living soul anywhere around. Lumpy, stiff mountains filled up the distance. Permafrost sheeted the hard, packed ground, though a few hairy plants and shrubs still poked up. Harsh, skin-splitting (for other people) winds shrieked across the terrain.

Hyperman landed and waited, now vibrating his molecules so only the Whorl could see him at the speeds he traveled. Within milliseconds, the Whorl appeared. He stayed in motion, blitzing back and forth all around Hyperman, leaving hazy afterimages of himself as he zoomed here, there, and everywhere across the world and back every other nanosecond. Despite this, his voice remained clear and coherent.

“
Cal!” he said. “You’re back! We’re all looking for you!”

“
Everyone’s always looking for me,” Hyperman replied.

“
I know about El Dorado, Cal. I overheard Paul Wrath talking about it. I can’t condone it, but I understand why you did it.”

“
Do you?”

“
Sure, I do. You think I never wanted to tear apart Black Rainbow or any of the crazy psychos we fight? Imagine what I’d like to do to Phoenix Bright! I broke his spell, but I haven’t stopped running since. I wouldn’t let myself even if I could. I failed those people, Cal, the ones Phoenix Bright took. I wasn’t fast enough to save them, so Phoenix Bright turned them into sacrifices and almost ended the world. I have to make it up to them and everyone else.”

“
You’re scaring people, Don.”

“
This coming from the man who lobotomized El Dorado?”

“
Don, there’s a better and smarter way to go about making the world a better place. I’ve finally figured it out! I want you to be a part of it, but I need you to leave MorsWorld alone. I know you’re behind the sabotage. It has to stop.”

“
Wait! What about MorsWorld?”

“
I need the Diatomite-x back.”

“
Diatomite-x? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hyperman scanned him. According to his superhuman heart rate, pulse, and electric yellow-red aura, the Whorl was telling the truth.

“
Cal,” the Whorl said, “why are you of all people asking anyone to lay off on MorsWorld? Why are you looking for their Diatomite-x?”

“
Alexander and I have come to an arrangement,” Hyperman replied. “We’re going to create a better world together.”

The Whorl blasted into full view in front of Hyperman, still smoking and crackling with unearthly bluish-purple lightning. Static shock flickered and flamed off of him, starting small fires on the tundra around them, though they had no effect on Hyperman.

“
You’re working with Mors?” the Whorl asked.

“
He’s the most brilliant man alive,” Hyperman coolly said. “He possesses invaluable resources that can do a lot of good. He just needs the right guidance.”

“
He’s been trying to kill you and me and all our friends for years! He made half the maniacs and monsters we go up against! How can you possibly trust him?”

“
I’m his god.”

The Whorl’s mouth dropped open.

“
Yes,” Hyperman replied. “He worships me. Everything he ever did was his holy duty, or so he thought. Mutagen, El Dorado, Pollux, and all his monsters—they went wrong because I didn’t have a hand in their creations, but I’m taking over now. If you add all Mors’s research and brilliance to my powers, then you have all you need to finally and truly save the world from itself. We’re going to give everyone super-powers, Don! It will be heaven on Earth for everyone!

Utter disbelief gripped the Whorl’s face. “Can you hear yourself?” he asked. “First El Dorado, Cal, and now this? What’s happening to you? This is insane! You can’t give everyone super-powers! The attempt alone would probably kill everybody! The Invincibles and all our friends and allies got their powers by accident! Accident! You can’t replicate that! People have tried! It never ends well! Besides, you can’t trust everyone with super-powers! The power goes to too many people’s heads!”

“
We can show them the right way, Don,” Hyperman said. “We can teach them, and we can handle those who don’t want to learn. Everyone will get a chance, but if they waste it, then they have no one to blame but themselves for how we deal with them.”

“
You’re sounding like Mors and Phoenix Bright and every other maniac we’ve ever had to stop!” the Whorl shouted. “You suddenly know the best way to create paradise and are talking about punishing anyone who doesn’t go along with what you want? What am I supposed to think? What’s anyone supposed to think? Cal, you’re too powerful to not scare people when you talk like this. You’re crossing lines that you shouldn’t even inch near, and now you want to go even further!”

“
Who drew what lines?” Hyperman said. “I’m just doing everything I can to save people, the same as I always have!”

The Whorl bowed his head and sighed.

“
No, Cal,” he said and exploded into action.

Billions and trillions of punches rocketed into Hyperman almost all at once. The Whorl even whipped all around the world and back, adding a great deal more velocity, mass, and impact to every blow. The punches all added up and then one more colossal haymaker knocked Hyperman back and off balance. It was actually frustrating for him. The Whorl moved too fast for him to grab, hit back, or somehow retaliate. Hyperman couldn’t even focus his eye-beams on him.

Finally, Hyperman spat out a breath that blew the Whorl flying back over a mountain range. Hyperman darted over, caught him in mid-air, and slammed him down onto the tundra, creating a wide crater. He proceeded to hammer down on the Whorl with punches. Instinctively, the Whorl reacted, whirling his hands up and around, parrying and blocking every punch.

After much effort, Hyperman managed to grab and hold him down by the shoulders. His eyes boiled with swirling, apocalyptic-blue flames, and he turned his head to flash-burn the Whorl’s legs off. His bloody stumps caught fire. Shock spasmed throughout his body. His mouth howled senselessly open. Tears batted down his pain-clenched, pale-blue face.

Wincing and wishing he didn’t have to listen to his friend’s pain, Hyperman cauterized the Whorl’s stumps with eye-beams and swooped him up to fly off.

***

At a crisp, blazing hyper-speed, Hyperman commandeered a MorsWorld lab in Romulus. It sat deep underground below the MorsWorld European Headquarters, which operated out of a chalky-white, round stone tower that was centuries old. He whisked all the scientists, doctors, engineers, and security guards up into the cafeteria above where they found tables full of roasted chicken, vegetables, and wine. Meanwhile, down below, Hyperman strapped the Whorl down to a table and pumped him full of anesthesia and long-lasting painkillers.

With the Whorl drugged up and barely conscious, Hyperman blitzed through the lab, finding all the various super-power suppressor drugs MorsWorld had been working on. He proceeded to shoot the Whorl up with them and then bombard him with the necessary chemical and radiation blasts to complete such a procedure. When finished, Hyperman left the Whorl bound and locked down in a secure chamber.

Heavy bolted locks, impenetrable walls, and force fields closed the Whorl in. If the security system detected any unauthorized motion, it’d fire lasers and trigger explosives quick enough to even catch the Whorl with his amputated stumps. Also, every hour, the system would reach a mechanical arm down into the room and inject whatever drugs were needed into the Whorl to keep him out and powerless.

Hyperman hated having to confine him like this. However, he deemed it a far better solution than killing one of his oldest and closest friends. Once he’d transformed the world, he’d bring the Whorl back up into the light to see what Hyperman had done, and he’d understand then. He’d forgive Hyperman, and together, they’d find a way to regrow his legs. Hyperman promised himself they would.

At the nearest computer, Hyperman called Mors on a video-chat feed and explained the situation to him. He asked him to move this lab’s research to another location and isolate this building in order to keep the Whorl under lock and key.

“
We pretty much have to do that now anyway,” Mors said and sighed. “At least the Whorl’s out of the way though. Were you able to find out what he did with the Diatomite-x?”

“
He didn’t take it,” Hyperman replied. “I’ll find out who did, but we should synthesize more anyway.”

“
That can be awfully dangerous. The Diatomite-x synthesis never worked out exactly how we wanted. That’s how we ended up creating Mutagen and El Dorado and not another you.”

“
I’ll take a look at it and find a way to make it work. I just have one more thing to do first.”