By Science Betrayed - part 3
by Phishhed

If Hell is a real place, it is probably a lot like the world as Patrick Wilson now saw it. Rage, grief and horror were fighting a pitched battle for possession of his soul and he didn't much care at the moment which would win.

Rage filled him and caused him to rain acidic clouds on imaginary foes. Foes that were one moment giant frogs from hell and soldiers the next. Slack jawed scarecrows slobbered and drooled all the while chanting "Kill the Commies!" Grief shredded his sanity as he saw over and over again the explosion of his beloved's car. Horror gibbered in the shadows of his mind as the world warped and fluxed about him. The sun had set on Patriot city and no one would sleep easy this night.

The Police arrived at the scene just outside the university campus within five minutes. Ambulances and fire trucks were hard on their heels. A mindless Professor Wanzor was being loaded into the ambulance when Minute Man showed up.

"What happened here officer?" asked the masked hero.

"Well, we're finding that out now, Minute Man. There was an explosion, obviously, but we've also got three victims with acid burns and one who appears catatonic," said the detective. "Witnesses report two women were in the car but there's no sign of them."

"Minute Man; my sensors are confirming a large release of Energy X at your location. I am tracking three emanations moving away at high speeds." The telepathic voice of Mentor was strong and unnerving, as usual. "The strongest emanation is flying approximately two thousand feet above the Harbor. ManOWar is investigating."

"What about the other two?" thought Minute Man back to base.

"They have apparently landed on the roof of a large dwelling complex on Franklin Ave near the library. I cannot track them further for they have ceased using their powers."

"It sounds like the Wilshire place apartments." thought Minute Man. "If I move quickly, I may be able to locate them with the scanners in the Patriot car."

"Officer, I must go. Please send a copy of your report to the Freedom Fortress." he said to the police detective. "Good day citizen." He walked back to the red, white and blue aircar parked a few feet away.

Minute Man paused in the door a moment as his keen hearing picked up a babbled description from a rattled bystander.".....and then she just climbed out of the car all covered in fire. She ran over to the store and helped some ....thing.. out of the rubble. Then her fire went out and she was naked!"

The super patriotic hero couldn't help but smile a little as he thought to himself, "It's a good thing our young Diablo isn't here, or we could have REAL trouble"

Patrick was floating in the darkness of the young night. The spectacular beauty of the just finished sunset was lost on him. He was weeping silently to himself, having lost his voice from screaming. The belching smokestacks of the factories played counterpoint to the wrecked docks on the waterfront. Bug like things crawled amid the half repaired wharves.

"I'm flying over hell, and I deserve to be here" he thought.

ManOWar approached cautiously, stopping about thirty feet away from the distraught young man.

"Laddie, are ye all right?"

There was no response.

He tried again and again but the poor lad was lost in another world. He closed the distance between them and was reaching out when the man opened his strange black eyes and went mad.

Patrick had closed his eyes to the bizarre world around him, unable to deal with all the strange sensations bombarding him. He had the uncanny feeling that the bones in his skull were rearranging themselves It was too much. Suddenly he realized that a strangely familiar voice was speaking to him, and had been for some time.

"James Bond?" he thought, surprised, and opened his eyes.

A one-eyed, scaly skinned blue monster was reaching to tear out his throat! Patrick lashed out with all his might and struck the blue demon in the jaw. It flew back and down a few yards then stopped and shook its hideous head. Patrick didn't wait for it to recover but attacked again. Raining blows and curses, he drove the devil down to the surface of the harbor and then thrust out a hand and sprayed the green cloud over it. It bellowed in pain and fell to the water where it slowly sank from sight.

Patrick flew away into the darkness.

When ManOwar came to, Sea Urchin was hauling him up onto a nearby wharf. "Ach, what happened lass?"

"I don't know," said the Urchin "I was helping some merchant marines get their anchor untangled when I heard you hit the water. By the time I got there all I could see was some guy flying off toward the park."

"Well, tis a good thing I kinna drown eh lass?" ManOwar laughed, flinching as his burnt skin brushed against the girl holding him. "It's too bad El Diablo is still recovering from that little dust up with our pirate friend. I have a bad feeling we'll have need of him tonight."

Patrick flew to the park, thinking a little bit of quiet would be good about now. He felt tired after killing that demon. As he neared the park he saw bright lights and heard music and laughter everywhere. He had forgotten that the circus was in town.

He landed lightly in the grass behind a red and white tent. As he strolled into the fairgrounds, he became entranced by the glaring colors and chaotic sounds surrounding him. The people around him were acting very strangely. Some would suddenly stop in their tracks and stare into space, frozen. Others burst into laughter or ran screaming in fear.

Patrick, dazed, wandered into the parking lot. There some young people in brightly colored clothes were playing drums and singing wildly. A VW microbus was parked nearby, shirts and pants made with strange swirling patterns were hung about it, apparently for sale.

"Wow, man! I must be having a flashback, That guys got no eyes!"

Patrick turned to see a long haired young man staring at him. The pretty young thing next to him giggled and said, "No, he's just had too much Kool-aid.

"Kool-aid?" asked Patrick.

Long hair replied, "ELECTRIC Kool-aid and from the way you look man, you didn't just pass the acid test, you Wrote It!"

Patrick liked these people, they weren't trying to kill him or turning into frogs or anything. He laughed at the thought and turned to the dyed cloth ."How much will this buy?" he asked pulling out his money, his entire paycheck was there. Ready for a big dinner out with ...with...

He felt a great pain at this thought; his mind recoiled from it. He couldn't think about....that.

A slender hand touched his arm. The pretty young girl was handing him a pile of cloth. "Man that'll buy everything we have." She smiled, the bells braided into her hair jingling lightly.

Patrick gave her the money, all the while staring at the garland of flowers writhing and twining in her braids. Feeling mischievous he looked into her eyes and said "Would you like to join me?" He held out his free hand and showed her the blue crystal ball in his palm. The girl frowned a bit, not understanding. "Welcome to my world " he whispered and crushed the sphere in his fist.

There was a huge splash of blue liquid. Patrick was already too far gone to be affected but the young people around him were not. Some simply froze in place, others began giggling and laughing. One unfortunate soul began to scream. "Bugs! Bugs! Ahhhhhhhh!" He ran screaming into the midway.

The young girl dropped the money to the ground and ran chasing a piece of paper drifting in the breeze. "Look, dancing butterflies!" She called back to her friends. Patrick floated away, giggling to himself.

It took only a few minutes to return home. Patrick stripped off his bloody clothes and ;grabbing the brightly hued material, began to sew. It would look sloppy but he liked the bright colors, especially the rainbow swirl he had chosen for the mask.

"Hehehe, Pretty..."

Minute Man had tracked down the Energy X emissions to an apartment on the third floor. He was about to knock on the door when Mentor spoke in his mind again.

"Minute Man, ManOwar has been injured. I am sending the Patriot car on auto-pilot to retrieve him and Urchin from the waterfront. The Energy X emissions were apparently coming from a young man in a white lab coat. Possibly a scientist reported missing from the University The sensors tracked him as far as Ben Franklin Park." said Mentor.

"Great Scott! Now both of our fliers are down. We could have trouble catching this villain without them." Minute Man thought.

A new mental voice entered the silent conversation. "ManOwar here," as if he needed any identification other than his accent. "I'm not so sure the lad's a villain. Dangerous, aye and strong to boot, but I took him by surprise. He was cursing me for a demon when he attacked."

"Villain or no, he is dangerous" said Mentor. "I am receiving reports of panic at the Park, the police radio states that mass hallucinations have broken out."

Minute Man thought quickly. "Get every able bodied member of the team over to the park. I'll meet you there as soon as I check out the two I tracked down here."

Minute Man raised his hand to knock on the door before him. He heard familiar FWOOSH! sound just like El Diablo firing up, but louder. Then he heard a crashing sound and a muffled curse. Minute Man began pounding on the door.

A woman's voice: "Ow!"

Minute Man Broke down the door and burst into the apartment. A woman with strangely reflective skin stood sucking a thumb and staring at him. There was a flare of light and an angry voice outside the window said "Come on!" and the woman by the broken window jumped out and flew into the night sky.

Minute Man ran to the window and saw a trail of flame shooting off to the north. He heaved a heavy sigh. After replacing the fractured door in its frame he leaped out the window himself. The familiar cry on his lips: "For Freedom!"

He sped towards the park.