Revenge: Act 1: Mob Mentality - part 1
by BlueBard

Unnoticed, an armored truck pulls into an alley right off of Patriot City's main business district. The driver of the truck, his features hidden in the shadows of the voluminous robes he wears, climbs out of the cab and glances around. Satisfied there is no one to observe, he moves deeper into the alley. He hears the sounds of the cars and people on the busy street, and chuckles to himself in a harsh guttural voice.

"So innocently they go about their lives," He mutters to himself. "So dull and boring their existence. THAT will soon change," he chuckles again. "And in the process we will begin the downfall of Freedom Force." He listens to the noises coming from the street again. "I believe it is time to liven things up!" From his robe, he produces a small device and points it at the abandoned truck. The mysterious figure listens a bit longer, and hears angry shouts from the direction of the street. He grins wickedly as he hears glass breaking and the metallic crunch of cars crashing.

"Ah, it seems the experiment is working as anticipated! It pleases me to initiate this first part of my plan in person. Now to observe from a more strategic location!" The figure produces another device from his robes, presses a button, and disappears in a shimmer of light.

When you're the fastest guy on the planet, sitting still is like having an itch and not being able to move your arms. Dwight, dressed in his silvery Bullet costume, was trying to sit patiently at the massive console in front of him. His bullet-shaped helmet sat in the seat next to him. Part of the team was off on a mission, and Bullet had drawn monitor duty today at the Freedom Fortress.

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"Eh, hombre! You're gonna wear a hole through the top of the console if you keep tappin' your finger like that!" smiled Ricardo in his El Diablo getup.

Dwight looked down at the instrument panel and frowned. "Y'know... Ah think ah durn near did! Ol' Mentor would skin me alive fer sure! I love bein' able to zip around an' all, but sometimes I forget I ain't exactly a normal fella anymore."

"I know what you mean, amigo. But I wouldn't trade it for my old life for anything! The ladies, they sure go for my new duds, eh?" smiled El Diablo.

Bullet grinned. "Ah know one that don't seem too impressed by ‘em," he teased. "Ah saw Alche-Miss freeze ya with a look yesterday that made Ol' Nuclear Winter look right toasty!"

El Diablo blushed under his mask. "Ah, I was just tryin' to be friendly. She treats me like some dumb kid out of the barrio!" Then he grinned. "I guess I am, sort of. I dropped out and she's gettin' an education, so she thinks El Diablo is not so smart, si?"

"So why do ya keep on hangin' around her like a lonesome puppy?"

"Well, amigo," he began. "It's just that there aren't too many ladies comfortable around a human bonfire like me and there aren't too many available senioritas on the team. Sea Urchin's just a little girl, and Blackbird is too much serious. Law is a big black hombre half the time, for goodness's sake! Besides, Alche-Miss es muy hermosa, don't you think?" El Diablo stopped and looked at Bullet. "Uh, you don't have the hots for her, do you?"

Before Bullet could answer, the massive screen on the wall lit up and a shrill alarm sounded from the instrument panel.

"Ay caramba!" exclaimed El Diablo. "What's cookin'?"

Bullet glanced at the readouts on the tactical display of the city. "The boys in blue are reportin' a massive riot downtown, and the Fortress' sensors are pickin' up some kinda energy wave. Hot dog! We got us some action today!" Bullet pressed the intercom button to Mentor's lab. "Hey Mentor! There's somethin' funny goin' on downtown. Me an' Diablo here are gonna go take a look."

From the intercom came Mentor's voice. "Yes, Bullet. I have accessed the alarm from my panel in the lab. The energy wave appears to be attuned to human brainwaves. I suspect some form of psychic disturbance is at work. Proceed with caution. I will monitor the situation from here, in case more assistance is needed."

"I copy," Bullet replied. He jammed his helmet on his head. "Race ya to the scene, Hot Stuff!"

Before El Diablo could say a word, Bullet was gone. El Diablo ran as fast as he could out the front entrance of the Fortress, then blasted into the sky on a column of fire. "Hey, Speedy! Save some bad guy for me!"

As Bullet raced through the streets, he felt Mentor's telepathic broadcast. "Team, I am continuing to analyze the energy wave and have determined that the psychic field is expanding rapidly. At the current rate, it will engulf the entire city in an hour. You must find the source of the energy wave and stop it as quickly as possible."

"Ah'm comin' up on it now." Bullet spotted the fracas ahead. A police officer was firing his gun all around, while the ordinary civilians were diving for cover. Anyone who wasn't under cover was punching, kicking, biting, or gouging somebody else. Fortunately, no one was getting hit by the wildly aimed service revolver. Without pausing, Bullet whizzed up to the policeman and grabbed the gun out of his hands. "What do ya think you're doin', officer?" he exclaimed.

Bullet was shocked to see the rage in the policeman's face. "These people are resisting arrest, mister!" he screamed. "And now you're interfering with a police officer performing his lawful duty! The penalty is death!" The policeman opened his coat and pulled out another handgun, pointing it in Bullet's face.

Bullet was surprised. He hadn't considered that the officer might have a backup gun. The blast of the gun as it was fired point-blank was deafening.

The policeman blinked in confusion. "Where'd you go?" He felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around. He caught a flash of silver as his body was lifted up by what felt like a jackhammer, then flew backward and slammed into the pavement.

Bullet stood over the unconscious police officer. "Here ah am. Sorry to do that to an officer of the law, but serves ya right for almost bustin' my eardrums with that gunshot." Bullet looked up to see a mass of enraged faces glaring at him. "Uh, oh."

"Kill him!" somebody screamed. The mob charged at Bullet from every direction, shoving each other to be the first to hit him.

"This just ain't my day." Before the mob could reach him, Bullet spun his body like a top at unearthly speed and created a blast of wind that knocked the crowd away from him. "What am ah supposed to do with all of ya? I don't want to have to hurt ya!"

Mentor's telepathic voice spoke in Bullet's head. "The energy wave is intensifying. You must hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah. Hurryin' is what Bullet does best! Wish you were here to handle this bunch, though. Say, ah got me an idea!" With blurring speed, he ran in loops around each of the enraged citizens, buffeting them with the resulting winds. "Y'all ever got so dizzy you felt like passin' out? Ah got in a tailspin once while ah was flyin'. Felt like ridin' a tornado. Almost passed out and went splat.

"Anyhow, did'ja know that your inner ear helps you stay balanced and keeps you from gettin' dizzy? But if your brain gets all confused about which way is which, ya lose your balance and can't even stand up. If y'all get dizzy enough, you'll black out. Ah guess if ah spin y'all up a bit, ah won't need to land a single punch." Bullet stopped. All around people were laying on the ground and moaning. "Looks like ah guessed right!"

El Diablo blazed overhead. "Hah! Now I'm gonna beat you to the bad guy, Speedy!" Jets of flame roared as the fiery latino streaked off through the air.

"Doggone it! Just ain't fair. Ah would've got there first, an that's half the fun!" Bullet raced down the street again toward the center of the commotion. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his head and stopped. He felt a surge of irritation toward everything, and nothing in particular. "What's goin' on?"

"Bullet, I have lost telepathic contact with El Diablo," came the voice of Mentor. Bullet's irritation focused on Mentor, but he ignored it for the moment. "I am sensing a low level of hostility from you. Are you in danger of succumbing to the psychic field?"

"Naw, ah feel just dandy," Bullet replied sarcastically. "Ain't nothin' ah can't handle, ah reckon. Ah'm a little worried about Diablo, though."

"Interesting. I believe that the energy wave is causing intense and irrational bursts of anger and rage. However, it is attuned to normal human thought frequencies. Your Energy-X enhanced brain operates at a much higher frequency than normal, and seems to be providing you with a high resistance to the psychic field. Likewise, I should be relatively immune to the effect as my non-human brain also operates on a different thought frequency..." Mentor paused.

"I am warning all other Freedom Force team members to stay clear of the area. The prospect of a dozen Energy-X enhanced humans rampaging through the city is most alarming."

"I'll say! Best get Microwave to come help us out," Bullet said. "He ain't even human!"

"Excellent idea! I will contact him at once! We will secure the Fortress and join you as soon as we can."

Bullet sped off again toward the heart of the city. From up ahead, around the corner, came the sound of a terrible explosion! As Bullet rounded the corner, he stopped cold. "Oh, no!"

El Diablo was hovering over the street on a blazing jet of flame. As Bullet watched, the hot-headed hero launched an inferno blast at a parked car. A massive fireball engulfed the car and lifted it into the air before it crashed down in a burning hulk of steel. People screamed and ran in every direction to escape El Diablo's fiery wrath. "Burn it up!" Diablo snarled.

"Diablo! No!" yelled Bullet.

El Diablo's head jerked around and he fixed a glare of hatred on his startled teammate. "You! You come to steal my thunder, I bet! Wanna impress all the ladies, don't you Speedy? Well, El Diablo is not gonna take it anymore!" A ball of fire appeared in Diablo's hand. "Fried Bullet, comin' up!"

"Oh, man... this is just not my day," Bullet muttered.

To Be Continued...