Revenge: Act 1: Mob Mentality - part 2
by BlueBard

Previously...

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.

Bullet watched in horror as the ball of fire leaped from Diablo's hands toward him. He instantly recognized it as one of Diablo's hellfire blasts. He knew that if that thing detonated on him, he'd most likely be fried to a crisp.

One of the benefits of being the fastest man on the planet is that everything else seems like slow motion. It gave him a little bit of time to think before he needed to take action. Bullet thought it through one piece at a time as he watched the fiery ball floating toward him.

Item One: Bullet could easily outrun the main blast, but that wouldn't help the innocent bystanders if they got hit by a secondary explosion.

Item Two: Diablo had just launched an inferno blast a minute ago. That took a lot of energy.

Item Three: Diablo's powers tended to run out of juice pretty quickly, especially when he was flying like he was at the moment.

Item Four: He wouldn't need to worry about Diablo following up on the attack right away, since he'd need a few minutes to recharge.

Item Five: Diablo was nearly invulnerable to fire, but he wasn't completely immune to the effects of his own powers.

Uh, oh... Incoming! thought Bullet. He whirled into action, spinning in place as rapidly as he could. He was going to try a little variation on the same trick he used to deflect bullets, but it was going to require every bit of speed and accuracy he could muster. As fast as he was spinning, a powerful whirlwind was forming around him. A little to the right, he thought to himself. Bullet caught the hellfire bolt on the left edge of the vortex, which sucked it in. Easy does it now! The idea was to catch the hellfire in his vortex and sling it around him without letting it make contact. OK, now let's put a little bit of English on it! Bullet spun just a bit faster for an infinitesimal slice of a second, then stopped completely. The hellfire bolt sailed back in the direction from which it came- right at El Diablo!

"Here comes the pitch!" Bullet sang out with glee. He felt a bit guilty at the satisfaction he got from watching the dawning comprehension and surprise on his hotheaded friend's face.

BOOM! The fiery burst didn't even singe Diablo, but the force of the blast knocked him back through the air to land rather ungracefully on a rooftop. Bullet watched as the secondary bursts arced away from the main detonation. He quickly figured out that two of the flaming balls would hit the street away from any onlookers, but the third was headed right for an elderly lady cowering behind a phone booth!

Zoom! Bullet scooped up the old woman and carried her safely out of harm's way while the phone booth exploded in flames and shards of glass.

He gently deposited the lady on her feet as she sobbed out her thanks for saving her. "Just doin' my duty, Ma'am. Ah'm rackin' up good deeds faster'n a whole troop of Boy Scouts today." He glanced up at the rooftop where El Diablo fell. "Now I'd best go check on Hotshot an make sure he won't cause no more trouble!"

Bullet raced up a nearby fire escape to the roof. Diablo was just getting to his feet in a daze. "Yer lookin' a mite wobbly there, Amigo! Ready to call it a day?"

"Just... give me a minute," Diablo huffed. "Wha' happened?"

"You went all loco on me, Amigo! Just about fried me and a bunch of other people, too. Sorry about givin' ya a dose of your own medicine, compadre."

"I felt so angry... I wanted to burn up... everything in sight! I still feel... mad... but I don't... know why. Want... to get you back... for blasting me. That would not... be right. You're my compadre... my Amigo!"

"It's that doggone energy field muckin' with people's heads. Mentor says my brain don't work like a normal person's so I'm able to resist it."

"Always knew... your brain... wasn't normal," Diablo grinned weakly.

"Funny. Ol' Mentor says Freedom Force needs to get clear of the city so they don't get caught in this energy field and start bustin' stuff up. Go on and fly on outta here, Diablo. Mentor an Microwave should be able to handle this one."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Ah reckon somebody around here needs to work on crowd control." Both heroes turned toward the sound of distant gunfire. "Yep! They're callin' ol' Bullet's name!"

Meanwhile, Mentor and Microwave were airborne over the city in the Freedom Flyer. Mentor turned to Microwave, who was piloting the airship. "Microwave, I have re-established contact with El Diablo. He has regained control of his emotions and is headed out of the city. We will no longer need to intercept him."

"affirmative," replied the robot. "changing vector now. destination: origin point of energy wave." Within moments, the Freedom Flyer was over the business district in the heart of the city. A teeming mass of humanity fought in the street below. "targeted landing zone: occupied by humans. scanning for new landing zone." Microwave paused as the Flyer's sensors swept the area. "optimal landing zone: rooftop opposite the source of the energy wave. this structure's construction will support the mass of this aircraft. advise unit: mentor: employ levitation ability to descend to street level. this unit will teleport."

The Freedom Flyer touched down on the roof of a bank. The alien and his robotic companion quickly disembarked and stood at the edge of the roof to survey the situation.

"By the rings of Rexxor!" Mentor exclaimed. "The humans in this area are destroying everything in sight! It is only a matter of time before someone is killed!"

"analysis: projecting extreme difficulty approaching energy source unmolested by human combatants. high probability of injury to humans if this unit is forced to defend itself."

"Agreed. We must not harm any of the citizens below. Their rage is artificially induced and they are not responsible for their actions. I will attempt to neutralize the threat."

Mentor concentrated on one of the enraged men below. "Open your mind to me. Be at peace." Mentor felt the rage wash away out of the man's mind, only to build again as he relaxed his mental control. The man took a swing at another man next to him. Mentor shook his head. "I cannot restore sanity to anyone as long as the psychic disturbance persists."

Mentor sighed. "Very well. I shall try a different approach." He floated down to the street. Immediately, several of the nearest men turned on him. Mentor released a powerful burst of mental energy, and the men stopped in their tracks. The angry glares faded away to blank stares, and they began to wander aimlessly. Mentor walked right through the midst of them into the next knot of rioters, and released another psychic wave. "I am dampening the humans' neural impulses. They will be incapable of hostility for a short time. It may buy us sufficient time to deal with the source of the problem."

"affirmative. self engaging teleportation sequence." A shimmering column of light enveloped the robot as it transformed itself into a matrix of energy. Another shimmer of light appeared next to Mentor as Microwave reintegrated itself. "scanning... nexus of energy wave located in alleyway ahead." The two moved quickly toward the alley. Mentor paused once to scramble the rioters' thoughts again.

"hold position. self detects forcefield barrier preventing access to alleyway. scanning." Microwave paused as it scanned the forcefield. "forcefield matrix is being projected from a vehicle parked within the alley. vehicle identified as armored truck. probable source of energy wave: one-hundred percent."

"Let us see if we can penetrate the forcefield. I estimate that the psychic disturbance will blanket the entire city in less than half an hour."

"reconfiguring emitters for maximum output."

Microwave lashed out at the forcefield with a full-force blast of microwave energy. Mentor fired a beam of pure electrons at the forcefield as well.

"self detecting no measurable disruption of the field matrix."

Mentor shook his head. "Then we have failed. Unless we can bypass the forcefield and destroy the energy wave device, who knows how far the psychic disturbance will spread? Perhaps it will blanket the entire globe, and you and I will be the only two rational beings left? We must find a way!"

"standby. this unit running simulations of all possible actions." Mentor could hear a hum coming from the robot as it brought all of its' processing power to bear on a solution. "additional processing needed: uplinking to freedom fortress main computer banks and laboratory. processing. processing. analysis: forcefield configuration similar to matrix encountered in battle with alien entities designated: the dominion."

"Of course!" Mentor exclaimed. "Only the Dominion would have the technological resources and ruthlessness to conceive of such a device! But how is it that they have not been detected by my scanners? Any Dominion fleet or dimensional warp would have been detected immediately!" Mentor frowned. "Nevertheless, if this is Dominion technology, it is clear that the forcefield is meant to prevent me from gaining access to the device. We will use my own knowledge of Dominion technology to defeat them!

"Microwave, allow me to access your internal flux array, quickly!" A panel covering the robot's chest cavity slid away to reveal the complex circuitry within. Mentor removed a small tool from his belt and made careful adjustments to the robot's frequency emitters. "There! I have attenuated your energy signature to be compatible with that of the forcefield. You should now be able to teleport yourself inside the radius of the field."

"engaging teleportation sequence." Within seconds, the robot rematerialized inside the field, next to the truck.

"Beware! There may be another defense mechanism!"

"self will proceed with caution," replied Microwave. The robot reached out toward the door of the truck. ZAP! A surge of electricity arced out of the truck and blew Microwave back against the wall of the forcefield. It slumped to the ground in a heap.

"Microwave!" exclaimed Mentor. "Are you still operational?"

"o-o-o-overload. sys-sys-system failure im-im-iminent. att-att-att-attempting bypass-pass of dam-aged cir-cuit-try." The robot twitched once and was still.

Mentor's shoulders sagged. "The earth is doomed. I have no way to penetrate the forcefield in time. The Dominion has prevailed and all my efforts to help the earthlings have been in vain."

Suddenly, Microwave sat up!

"Microwave!" shouted Mentor.

"this-this unit funct-tion-al within tolerances. e-fi-ciency: ap-ap-aproximately forty percent-cent. elec-trical discharge-charge overloaded pri-primary power grid. grid. sec-on-dary power grid. grid. functional with-in tolerances. pri-primary pro-pro-processor offline. all emit-ters off-line."

"Can you disable the energy wave?"

"affirm-affirmative. adjust-ing main power bus and rout-ing through flux. flux array. array. this un-it will create re-re-regen-er-ative feed-back loop. loop. to over-load. en-er-gy wave. wave."

"That will burn out your systems!"

"affirm-ative. one hundred per-per-cent prob-prob-ability self. will not. survive-vive. this cont-i-nuity must survive. human-i-ty. must. sur-vive. freefreefreedom force must. engage. hostile. entities."

Microwave staggered to its feet and lurched toward the truck. It slapped its outstretched hands against the panel of the truck, as brilliant arcs of electricity danced across its surface. Smoke arose from the robot's hands as it shrieked with electronic squeals and its body jerked spasmodically.

Mentor dove for cover as the truck exploded in a flash of light. He felt the psychic disturbance cut off instantly, as all around him people fell to the ground in shock. Mentor stood erect and peered into the alley. He saw the twisted, smoldering wreck of the truck among the rubble, but no sign of Microwave. In a rare outpouring of emotion, the alien dropped to his knees, stunned by the loss of one he considered to be a comrade. Could it be? Is he really gone?

Mentor slowly rose to his feet and projected a telepathic message. "Freedom Force. The immediate threat to Earth has been neutralized, but Microwave has apparently been vaporized in the act of doing so. Please assemble at the Freedom Fortress. We must prepare for another attack by the Dominion."

To Be Continued...