Revenge: Act 3: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble - part 1
by BlueBard

Previously...

Just as Minuteman, Mentor, Bullet, and El Diablo burst out of the Freedom Fortress, a swarm of pasty-skinned humanoids emerged from several large black sedans and advanced upon the fearless foursome. The ranks of the humanoids parted as a massive figure pushed his way to the forefront. "Me an' da boys are here to crash yer little party, Gents!" crowed Pinstripe. "Permanently!"

"Oh, yeah?" Diablo retorted. "Guess what? You got here just in time for the fireworks!" Diablo cut loose with a hot jet of fire right at the crime lord. The heroes were amazed as a nimbus of energy surrounded Pinstripe and absorbed the blast harmlessly.

Pinstripe laughed. "I come prepared for you, wiseguy. A little gift from my partner ta keep you jerks from blastin' me with energy. Now Pinstripe is invincible!"

Pinstripe lifted his tommy gun and sprayed a lethal burst of energy bullets at the four heroes. A bright aura of power enveloped Minuteman, shielding the other three heroes behind him and deflecting the bullets back into the humanoid horde. A couple of them were riddled with energy and collapsed to the ground, oily smoke rising from their bodies.

"These humanoids are artificial constructs!" Mentor declared. "We may release our full fury upon these evil creations without fear!"

"Just what I wanted to hear!" El Diablo grinned savagely. "It's Diablo Time!" He pointed at one of the black sedans and yelled, "Burn it up!"

The car exploded in a massive fireball, scattering a large number of the androids. Bullet leaped forward and released a great whirlwind toward Pinstripe, who was charging into the fray. The mighty twister lifted the startled Pinstripe high into the air and flung him into an alley across the street.

"That'll take care of that purple perp for a little bit!" Bullet chuckled. "Didn't figure that forcefield o' his could handle a whirlwind!"

A savage battle began to rage as the heroes sprang into action against the android army. Minuteman and Bullet teamed up to knock back the press of humanoids and keep them at bay while Mentor and El Diablo blasted away their numbers with great effect. Cars exploded. Androids flew left and right with smoking holes in their bodies. Some clambered to their feet and renewed their assault while others lay motionlessly.

Pinstripe staggered out of the alley. He was covered in grime and rotting garbage from the dumpster he'd fallen into. A homicidal rage washed over his face, turning it a deep violet color. "RRAARRGG!" he bellowed as he charged across the street, his gun blazing furiously. "Nobody makes a fool outta Pinstripe!" Pinstripe's furious, unthinking assault ripped through the ranks of androids between him and the objects of his rage.

"Looks like you're making a fool of yourself, Pinstripe!" Minuteman taunted. "You're destroying your own inhuman army!"

"No problem, Flagface!" Pinstripe growled. "With Techmaster's gizmo, I don't need any help! Hit me, and I get stronger! Blast me, and the gizmo protects me! I can take on the whole Freedom Force myself!" Pinstripe cut loose with another hail of energy from his gun, injuring all of the heroes but Bullet, who evaded them with his incredible speed. Minuteman's protective aura sprang up again to deflect the rest of the bullets away.

Bullet leapt forward to strike at the gangster, but turned aside at the last split-second as Mentor shouted a telepathic "No!" Mentor reminded him, "You must not hit him physically! His powers will simply absorb your punches and fuel his assault!"

"How'm ah supposed to fight somebody ah can't hit?" Bullet replied in frustration.

"Let us concentrate our energies upon him and attempt to overwhelm his defenses!"

At his telepathic direction, Mentor and El Diablo leapt out from behind Minuteman's energy shield and focused a barrage of seething power at the villain. At the same time, Bullet raced behind Pinstripe, built up a massive charge of static electricity, and released a white-hot spark into him. Pinstripe's own energy shield glowed furiously in response.

"No good, Losers! The energy belt I got from Techmaster can take whatever you throw at it! Let's see if youse can do the same!" Pinstripe concentrated his fire at Minuteman, relentlessly pouring bullets into the protective shield. Suddenly the shield failed, and the star-spangled hero was injured as he dove to the ground to avoid the swarm of bullets.

Pinstripe stopped shooting abruptly as a whirling flash of silver encircled him. "Stand still an' lemme pound ya, Speedy!" The blurry silver figure stopped and stood still a few yards away. "What was dat about? You didn't even lay a finger on me, Stupid!"

"Well, you're the crook, you should know," drawled Bullet. "Ah've tried my hand at bein' a pickpocket for the very first time." Bullet held up a gleaming metallic belt. "How'd ah do?"

Pinstripe stared in disbelief, his jaw dropped. As he recovered and lifted his gun to shoot at the silver speedster, Pinstripe was blind-sided with a blazing jet of fire and a scintillating ray of light. Then, another flash of silver and a brilliant arc of electricity. Overwhelmed, the crime boss slumped to the ground, his suit smoking from the massive energy discharges. "Youse guys... don't... fight... fair," he groaned, and then passed out.

AlcheMiss, tightly bound to her metallic slab, watched the display screen over Techmaster's head with satisfaction. "Looks like you're short one partner, Mistah Techmaster," she observed.

Techmaster glanced at her with a look of irritation. "Correction, AlcheMiss: Pawn, not Partner. As you just witnessed, Pinstripe is an idiot and therefore expendable. I anticipated that Pinstripe would fail, although I'd hoped to do quite a lot more damage to Freedom Force in the process. There are only so many things I can accomplish with the primitive materials available to me."

"No matter," he grinned arrogantly. "I took the precaution of installing a memory-blocking device in the energy belt I gave Pinstripe, so that he will be unable to remember the location of this hideout. Mentor can waste his time trying to brainscan him, while I execute the next phase of the plan."

DejaVu piped up from his own restraining table. "Plan, plan, plan! That's all you talk about! Freedom Force will get you yet, you misbegotten lout!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Techmaster snapped viciously. "You should be thanking me for executing vengeance upon your enemies instead of cheering them on, you idiot!"

"Should DejaVu be thanking you? I think not, you arrogant sot! They didn't tie me with a gag to silence my poetry! They didn't stoop to drain me dry or use my clones for free! You're the one who heaps offense upon my weary head! I shall not cheer you on. In fact... I wish you dead!"

"Such a shame you two have irreconcilable differences," mocked AlcheMiss. "You two make such a lovely couple; an egomaniac and a raving madman!"

Techmaster sneered. "Time permitting, I shall treat both of you to a very long session with the agonizer before I dissect you alive piece by piece to see how your powers work. At the moment, you're each more useful to me healthy and alive." Techmaster motioned toward one of his minions. "Start the duplication process."

As before, the Simulatron leeched DejaVu's strange energies away from him. AlcheMiss thought she saw a hazy figure hovering over the machine just before its energies washed over her, invading her mind and body. Her exact double emerged from the swirling cloud of energy that filled the cylindrical chamber across from her.

"E equals M times C that is squared," commented DejaVu. "AlcheMiss should be doubly scared. One times two equals another you! Hope Freedom Force is well prepared!"

Techmaster ignored the babbling villain and approached his latest duplicate. "Clone, your mission will be to lure Minuteman into a trap and dispose of him. With that patriotic do-gooder out of the way, Freedom Force will be thoroughly demoralized!"

The duplicate AlcheMiss stepped out of the duplication chamber. Techmaster appeared oblivious, but the real AlcheMiss noticed a too-wide smirk on her double's face. She was about to mention it, but decided to keep it to herself and hope Techmaster wouldn't figure out something wasn't quite... right.

"Techmaster, you got yourself the right girl!" declared the double. "The AlcheMiss nevah saw a man she couldn't snare. Ah think I'll give it a whirl. Freedom Force, you best beware!" The double sauntered out of the room with a slightly exaggerated version of AlcheMiss' own walk.

DejaVu opened his mouth as if to say something. AlcheMiss violently shook her head at him while Techmaster's back was turned, and mentally crossed her fingers that the demented supervillain would not choose to betray her. DejaVu's mouth contorted into a silent "O" and thankfully said nothing. Who would've thought it, she thought to herself, For once DejaVu kept his big mouth shut!

Techmaster stepped up to a large viewscreen and pressed a few buttons. "Techmaster to Lord Dominion... Come in, Lord Dominion." AlcheMiss stared in shock as the alien dictator's sneering face filled the display.

"Ah, Techmaster!" Dominion rumbled. "How is the plan progressing?"

"Lord Dominion, the woman has been captured and duplicated. The duplicate is now on her way to destroy Minuteman. I anticipate complete success."

"Excellent! With the human witch out of the way, no one will be able to stop my forces from teleporting in through the dimensional portals. Once Mentor's pet hero has been cut off, he will rue his plan to rebel against me! Soon my vengeance will be complete, and then I will destroy humanity before his very eyes! So will all the worlds learn to tremble before Lord Dominion! I will signal the attack to begin in one earth hour. Carry on, Techmaster." The image faded.

"You traitor!" cried AlcheMiss. "You sold us out to the Dominion!"

Techmaster chuckled. "Correction, AlcheMiss! The only way I could betray humankind is if I were a human!"

Techmaster pressed a button on his belt, and his face seemed to melt away to reveal a grayish alien face! "I am a loyal subject of the Dominion. A simple image inducer allowed me to move amongst you undetected while I brought my master's plan to fruition. Months of painstaking preparation have brought me to this day; the day that Freedom Force falls before Lord Dominion!"

Techmaster motioned toward several of his minions. "Androids, take these two and place them in the power-nullification cells next to the boy. I will deal with them later. Now, it is time to relax and savor our impending victory!"

As the androids drug away the struggling humans, Techmaster slipped into a comfortable chair. "Servants, bring me wine. I think that I shall say a toast." Soon a glass goblet filled with amber wine was placed in his hand. Techmaster raised his glass. "A toast! To the death of Minuteman!"

AlcheMiss and DejaVu were dragged down a set of creaky wooden stairs to the basement of the old warehouse. AlcheMiss was thrown into a cage with smooth white walls and DejaVu was cast into the one right next to her. A shimmering forcefield sprang up in the door of each cell.

AlcheMiss gestured to throw a mystic bolt at her mindless captors, but nothing happened. The androids returned up the stairs wordlessly. "Ah'm tempted to say somethin' unladylike!" She stamped her boot on the floor in frustration.

"Sorry AlcheMiss; it won't work. These weird cages prevent us from using our powers."

AlcheMiss saw Liberty Lad in the cell across from her. "Nicky! Pumpkin, are you alright?"

"Nothing permanently damaged except my pride," he replied ruefully. "Those guys really suckered me in, and now they've got you because of me."

"Ah had a bad moment when your double literally dissolved into nothin' before mah eyes. Ah'm glad you're alright, Nicky!"

"What's going on out there?" Liberty Lad asked, hungry for details. AlcheMiss quickly filled him in.

"So Techmaster's an alien!" Nick exclaimed. "We gotta stop him!"

DejaVu was sitting dejectedly in his own cell. "Stop him, stop him you will not. Here we sit and here we'll rot."

"Who asked you?" Nick retorted.

"Shush!" AlcheMiss hushed them both. "Someone's comin'... or some thing!"

A shimmering, transparent, and faintly luminous figure descended down the stairs without making any noise upon the rickety wooden steps.

DejaVu's eyes widened. "T-there's a thing on a spooky vector! Here comes d-down a ghostly spectre!"

The figure stopped in front of the cells and seemed to thicken slightly into a recognizable visage.

"Good golly, it's a ghost!" Nick exclaimed. "It's the ghost of Microwave!"

To Be Continued...