By Science Betrayed - part 5
by Phishhed

When the Bullet awoke, he was in pain. There was blood on his face where his nose had smashed into Microwave and his armor was pitted and scarred from acidic corrosion. He looked around and found that he was in better shape than his team-mates who were all still unconscious.

Bullet groaned as he got up and began to gather his fallen friends. One by one he placed them in the Freedom Flyer until only Microwave remained. When he approached the android he noticed for the first time the dark shadowy figure standing nearby.

"Wh-Who, What are you?" asked the Bullet shakily. He earnestly hoped that this was not a new foe. The ominous figure moved into the light of a nearby lamp-post and Bullet gasped. It wasn't merely black, it absorbed the light around it making it impossible to focus on.

"I am the VOID" replied the shadow in a strange muffled voice, as if it absorbed the sound of that as well. "I would have helped you with your friends, but..." The Void walked closer to the light and it dimmed as he approached, finally flickering out when he was two or three feet away.

Bullet thought a moment and said "No, I reckon that little talent wouldn't be too helpful right now." Bullet bent to pick up his broken metal friend. "No offense friend but I gotta get my friends here some help." he said as he placed Microwave in the back of the air-car.

The Void moved up beside the flyer, Bullet felt cold as he approached. It seemed that the Void sucked the heat out of the very air. "Please, I need to speak with Freedom Force, I need help, I need to know what I have become!" Bullet thought quickly, the stranger seemed sincere. "Hop on in friend, once I get my buddies here fixed up we can talk."

The dark head swung side to side. "I'm afraid your vehicle would not operate with me inside, tell me where you go and I will meet you there." "Even better " thought Bullet. He gave directions to the Freedom Fortress to the stranger and quickly sped away.

After leaving the scene of the battle, Flashback roamed the skies for hours. He couldn't rest, couldn't sit still for a moment. He was charged with energy he could not get rid of. A pale purple glow surrounded him, brightening by the hour.

Dawn found him wandering through a small forest miles from the city. The purple glow was shining even in the daylight. Bright sparks and arcs of power spat out into the trees. The screams of small animals could be heard as they were hit, birds fell out of the sky as Flashback passed beneath them.

The trees, which had been friendly and talkative just minutes before, were now silent and menacing. Flashback was mentally exhausted and wanted a quiet place to be alone with his madness. He headed home.

Early Morning at the Freedom Fortress:

When the Ant returned from his trip to the country, he was shocked by the condition of his friends. "What happened to you guys?!" he said when he walked into the conference room.

Liberty Lad and Minute Man both looked as if they had gone ten rounds with Cascius Clay. Bullet was polishing his chrome with manic speed and Alchemiss was nursing a swollen jaw as she sipped her morning tea. Alchemiss told the Insect Avenger of the events of the previous night.

As Alchemiss finished her story Minute Man spoke. "An old friend in the Dept. of Defense gave me a copy of a file found at the lab that was wrecked yesterday. It seems that rogue elements of the government were attempting to create super soldiers using Energy X and a psychoactive drug called LSD3."

"What!? Let me see that." cried Ant. After speed reading through the file Ant whistled. "Whoo, that is insane. LSD causes the neurons in the brain to fire off at random. Seven or eight micrograms of it will induce a hallucinatory state for up to twenty-four hours. According to this file, several ounces of the drug were infused with Energy X."

Minute Man broke in "And if this Dr. Wilson were exposed to that much of the drug?"

"Every neuron in his brain would be constantly active." said Mentor from the doorway.

Mentor walked to the table and sat down. "This man is incredibly dangerous. When I tried to probe his mind last night, I discovered many things. His power is immense and; I believe, growing."

"Growing, how?" asked Bullet.

"The drug." interrupted the Ant. "His brain is acting like a generator and revved up as it is, it is only a matter of time before it blows.

"What I want to know is why the devil we couldn't hurt him last night." said Alchemiss.

"That I can explain as well." said Mentor. "I saw in his mind the terrible events that caused him to become what he is. He was not part of that evil experiment, he tried to stop it. After his exposure to the chemical there was an accident and he believes he killed his beloved. His mind could not encompass the grief of what he believed himself to have done and in his madness he decided that it was not real. Nothing is real to him now."

"I still don't understand, just how does this make him invulnerable.?" said Alchemiss impatiently.

"He does not believe you can hurt him because you are not real; so you cannot"

"But that's impossible!" said Minute Man.

"Such is the power of Energy X" replied Mentor.

In the silence that followed this pronouncement a loud knocking was heard at the front door. Everyone looked at the monitor that showed the entrance to the fortress, the image was filled with static. "That is most strange." murmured Mentor to himself.

"I'll get it." said El Diablo sleepily.He had just walked into the room, his injuries apparently healed. Mentor's eyes lost focus as he used his powers to 'see' their visitor. "Diablo, no!" he called.

The hot blooded hero opened the door to see a pitch black shadow before him. Startled, Diablo let loose a jet of flame. Fwoosh! Flame splashed over the figure and disappeared.

"That was refreshing," said the shadow "but tell me; do you always answer the door this way?"

"Dios mio! I must be still asleep"

Bullet suddenly appeared at Diablo's side "Hold on there buddy, I know this guy, sort of. Come on in, uh Void."

"Thank you" said the stranger.

The trio proceeded down the hall to the conference room. Minute Man stood as they entered and introduced himself.

"Jeepers" whispered Liberty Lad too loudly. The Void was six feet tall and blacker than midnight. The room seemed darker now that he was in it.

Actually the room was darker. The lights had dimmed and all the monitors shut down as he walked in the room. "Forgive me if I don't shake hands, you would not find it a pleasant experience."

Minute Man took his hand back and sat down once again. Bullet had told the others of his encounter the night before, but still, it was an unsettling sight. This Void was an ink black hole shaped like a man.

"How can we help you friend?" asked Minute Man. He was worried about the current situation with this Flashback character, but things seemed quiet for the moment.

"I believe we may be able to help each other, at least I hope so." said the Void. "I saw some of what happened last night and I think you'll agree that I may be of aid once you know what I can do."

"The story of how I came to be what I am is too long to go into now, so I will simply tell you why I call myself the Void," he continued. "I am the Void because I hunger incessantly for energy. No amount that I have absorbed is enough to sustain me for long. Heat, light, electricity, I absorb and consume it all. As you can see, I do not reflect light at all."

Mentor saw it immediately. "If you could get near to our new foe, it is possible you could absorb enough of his power to make him vulnerable."

"Better than that, if I can touch him, I may be able to render him unconscious. Sadly, it has happened before." said the Void.

"But how are we supposed to get him to where that flyin' looney tune is?" asked Alchemiss. "If tall dark and uh, dark, here has to walk everywhere he'll never catch him."

Ant spoke up. "We could try treating some cloth with an insulating formula I've been working on. We've got plenty of red, white and blue laying around." Minute Man and Liberty Lad glanced at each other. The Ant motioned the Void towards the door. "Hmm, maybe a little yellow instead of white..."

As the Void left the room, all the monitors began to function again, the light came back to full. Mentor immediately began to scan for traces of Energy X.

It was only about an hour later that the two heroes returned. "That was mighty fast if I do say so myself," said the Bullet.

"With spandex, one size fits all," quipped the Ant "I just sewed some leftover pieces together, nothing fancy."

"So I see," said Alchemiss from the desk in the corner. She was studying for an exam in her French class. The Void was now covered in red and blue, with a wide yellow stripe running down the chest and back. Only his face remained uncovered. It was the proverbial black hole.

"My formula works" said the Ant. "He should be able to ride in the flyer now."

"That is a very good thing my insectoid friend," said Mentor suddenly "For I have just detected a massive source of Energy X flying into the city. Our foe returns."

Freedom force ran to the hangar. ManOwar and El Diablo; who had apparently healed over-night, took off as soon as the doors were open enough to let them through. The rest of the team piled into the flyer and followed.

Mentor had turned the car towards the park when Liberty Lad spoke up. "Where's he headed Mentor?"

"I am unsure, his path is erratic but tends to lead in a particular direction. I calculate that we should be able to intercept him near the park."

Merry, who was known as the Sea Urchin to the world, jerked in her seat as she heard this. "The park? Oh, no! Today is the Circus Parade!"

All of the rest of the humans in the flying car jumped at that. "Step on it Spaceman!" said Minute Man.

"What do you wish me to step on? said the alien.

"He means go really, REALLY fast." broke in Liberty Lad.

Flashback was hopelessly lost. He flew zig-zags across the city but could not recognize a single landmark. The buildings in the city kept changing. One minute a tower would appear to be made of rock, the next it would go crawling into a corner to hide. Radio and TV antennae reached out to grab him with steely claws. His imagination was running amok. He decided to see if he could recognize anything from ground level.

Flashback was arcing down to the ground when suddenly the giant face of a policeman stick its tongue out at him from a billboard. He was so surprised by this that he flew smack into a water tank on the roof of a nearby building.

Flashback shot a beam of acid at the face then turned to walk away and stepped right off the building. He smashed into the pavement, rolled over and looked up at a demon from the pits of hell itself.

A giant gray beast with tree sized legs was about to stomp on him. It had huge bat wings and a long tentacle growing out the front. Flashback threw up his arms in a panic and a bright orange beam of energy shot out and struck the beast. It leapt into the air.

The Fourteenth Annual Mason Brothers Circus Parade was winding it's way through the streets of Patriot City. The day was beautiful and cloudless, the streets were lined with crowds of spectators laughing as they watched the antics of the clowns and acrobats passing by. The elephants; half way down the parade route, had just passed the reviewing stand when the madness started.

The elephant handler had no idea what to make of the rag-doll figure that landed in the street before him. He had no time to react either. There was a flash of orange and Jumbo trumpeted in fear. He reared.

Flashback jumped up so fast he flew backward into a streetlight. He looked up and saw that its fanged mouth was bending down to devour him. Flashback fired an acid bolt and ran into the street.

He didn't get five feet before he slammed into a rampaging bear. The beast was still wearing its clown hat as it began to rip into him. Flashback struck out with a blue sphere in his fist and every living thing within thirty feet felt it.

Jumbo had learned to ignore all the noise and commotion from the parade, but the purple glowy thing under his feet was a bit much. He paused in mid step; confused. Suddenly, Jumbo was terrified of every thing.

The giant male elephant reared up bellowing in fear, the pannier on his back swayed a bit then fell off. The trapeze artists inside were spilled onto the sidewalk. Screams erupted in the crowds. Circus workers ran to calm the panicking pachyderm but it was no use, Jumbo was in a frenzy.

The panic spread like wildfire through the line of animals and performers on the street. The dancing bear dropped to all fours and charged the crowd. A man dressed in many colors ran in front of it and the bear attacked.

Suddenly there was a wave of liquid light. People froze, or ran screaming in terror. Some attacked each other in a rage. The costumed man began to babble and run about throwing bolts of energy and acid into the crowd. A policeman was trying to direct the crowd away from the mayhem. He was blowing his whistle madly and waving the mob to safety. Flashback was reeling drunkenly in the street and bumped into the officer. A bolt of pure purple spat out from the aura surrounding Flashback and the officer slumped to the ground.

El Diablo and ManOwar floated helplessly above the scene. Thousands of people were running madly in the streets below; a pair of elephants were stomping a car into the ground while a pair of monkeys watched, chattering in rage at everything around them.

The Freedom Flyer had no place to land when it arrived. Mentor lowered the car into a hover above a relatively clear spot. Freedom force began dropping from the car to the ground. Minute Man took charge immediately.

"Mentor, Alchemiss get started calming these animals! Bullet, Microwave clear out the civilians." Minute Man sprinted towards an escaped lion that was stalking a woman in the street.

El Diablo flew low over the crowd. The wagons holding the big cat cages had overturned and the felines were running loose. He headed in their direction while ManOwar went after the horses and ponies. ManOwar zoomed above the horse that seemed to be the leader of the little herd. First, he immobilized the leader, then he called upon the water. Water mains burst all around and the spray formed a wall around the animals. Leaderless, the beasts milled confusedly about their little watery barn. El Diablo used all the control he could muster to fire small flames in front of the big cats. The great felines spat and snarled but stopped advancing. He bobbed and weaved in the air trying to keep the animals attention on himself until help could arrive.

Liberty Lad ran amongst the crowd of beasts tossing stun grenades left and right. Only his energy X enhanced agility saved him from harm. He was glad he had told Merry to stay in the car, this place was way to dangerous for her.

The Void walked carefully through the riot. He avoided the people but sought out the most violent animals and touched them. As soon as he made contact the animals froze in place and slowly collapsed to the ground. He moved on searching for Flashback.

The costumed crazy in question was in a frenzy. After knocking out the bear he looked for a way to escape the hordes of creatures that surrounded him. Everywhere there were screaming monsters. He moved in one direction only to be faced with a two headed dog with foaming jaws, he fired acid at it and turned away.

Not really knowing what to do he began to throw the blue spheres at the monsters, hoping to scare them. If one came too close he blasted it with acid or the orange ray he called a "bad trip".

The sun overhead had turned to violet, the buildings around him swayed and bulged, stretching and spiraling into that unnatural sun. The sound and fury overwhelmed his senses. Unable to bear it anymore, Flashback stopped and began to scream.

Minute Man quickly dispatched the lion and helped the petrified civilian to a doorway. He kicked in the door and shoved the woman inside the returned to the fray. Mentor had suppressed the minds of the elephants and Alchemiss was tracking down the primates. Minute Man ran to aid a child who had fallen.

" Merry! Get down here and try to help these children. We'll bring them to you at the toy store on the corner, try and calm them down."

"The Urchin is on the job!" she replied.

Bullet had spent those few minutes removing people from the danger zone. Zipping through the crowd like a tornado, he grabbed the women and children and brought them to a store front out of the way. Microwave teleported up and down the street helping the helpless.

Mentor had succeeded in stopping all the animals near him and surveyed the scene. He reached out with his mind to locate the foe and reeled from the power he felt.

The Void finally saw his quarry. The madman had come to a stop and was screaming at the sky. The shadow faced hero ran forward. When he reached Flashback he reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders. There was a blast of power through his hands that sent him flying.

Flashback could feel the power rising, electric worms crawling inside his head. His bones were twisting and curling, striving to escape the confinement of his body. Just as the power hit its peak he felt a huge concussion that knocked him to his knees.

The blast seemed to have cleared his head a little. He began to wonder where he was, what was happening to him, the chaos still roared in his eyes and ears and he was lost.

Another shock blasted through his body, weakening him, he felt exhausted. Images, memories of the last two days began to race through his brain. One image in particular locked itself behind his eyes. A metal cylinder in the air, an explosion, red hair. As memory returned so did grief. Flashback leaned back on his knees, hands to his head and roared to the heavens. There came another shock and blessed darkness descended upon him.

The Void landed on top of a car. He lay stunned for a moment then dragged himself up again. He ran back to Flashback and was knocked away again. Groaning in pain, the night-faced man rushed in a third time and grabbed the kneeling man about the chest and held on hard.

Mentor alone of Freedom Force knew what had happened. The three explosions had sent people flying into the air and the heroes immediately went to help the wounded. Mentor walked over to the two figures on the ground.

Flashback lay on his side, head clutched in his hands. The Void had his arms locked around flashback, his legs were sprawled behind him, and they both skipped and skittered across the pavement like water on a hot griddle. Even as Mentor watched, the glow surrounding the two men began to fade. He raced to the air-car and checked his instruments. The Void was indeed absorbing the energy from the unfortunate scientist.

Emergency services had help on the scene in minutes. Animal control tranquilized the few remaining animals and ambulances arrived to transport the wounded. Freedom Force soon turned to the problem of the two men on the ground. Mentor decided that the best way to separate the men was to have Bullet hit them at speed, knocking them apart.

Freedom Force gathered the men and brought them to the flyer, they then returned to the Fortress. Ant remained behind to explain to the authorities what had happened.

At the Fortress, the Void regained consciousness quickly. He no longer felt empty inside, he had no Hunger. His void was filled. Flashback remained unconscious.

The Void learned that his change was non-reversible, and came to terms with it. Now that the gnawing need for energy had subsided, he decided he needed a purpose in life and Freedom Force fit the bill perfectly. He stayed to make sure that Flashback would not awaken until the drug had worn off and it was safe. He wondered if these Heroes would accept a new member.

Inside the mind of Flashback there was no peace, however. Floating in the darkness was a little boy; curled into a ball and weeping.

To be continued...