by Todd Fleming
Prologue
It was the middle of the night as the full moon hung low in the sky shining down on the chaos below. Sirens wailed endlessly, shattering the normal quiet of the night. The fortified building in the middle of the island screamed with activity as search lights moved constantly, looking for any sign of life. Harris Maximum Security Prison had a reputation of being escape proof. The world’s most powerful criminals and supervillains were placed here when they were convicted of committing crimes.
A silver shimmering appeared just outside the prison gate, slowly resolving into the shapes of five costumed men. Known to the world as The Hammer, these heroes knew how to get the job done. Tornado blinked a few times as his blue eyes adjusted to their new surroundings. With a grin, he looked at his fellow heroes before he turned his eyes back to the chaos in the prison.
The young hero had never been this close to the prison before. He knew about its reputation and little else. Cybercat had given them a brief of the situation before they teleported here, but like any other brief, Tornado paid little attention. He wanted to get into the action and boring details didn’t matter to him. His pulse raced with excitement as he was poised to spring into action. This could be his chance to prove to the rest of the team that he should be a full member of The Hammer.
As the youngest member of the superhero team, Tornado was only a sophomore in college and still technically a probationary member. For six months, he fought alongside the greatest heroes in the world and loved every single minute of it. No criminal or villain stood a chance against the mighty thrust of The Hammer. It was a life that many dreamed of having, but if anyone deserved to live the hero life, it was him.
Titan, the leader of The Hammer, stepped forward. Tornado could not help but to be in awe of the hulking hero. Standing over seven feet tall and built of pure muscle, Titan was the strongest of the team. If there was anyone to aspire to be like, it was this mammoth of a hero. “You all know the plan,” His deep bass voice rumbled. “Let’s move out!”
Tornado nodded with the rest of The Hammer and they all fanned out in different directions. With a gust of wind, the young hero sped through the prison yard carrying a small device. Tornado was named for his ability to run at supersonic speeds. As he ran, the hero left behind a gust of wind that slammed against the walls of the prison.
Stopping briefly to look at the map of the prison on his wrist communicator, Tornado turned left and entered the prison. Inside seemed like pure chaos as prisoners screamed like howling savages destroying anything they could get their hands on. The hero stood in shock for a few seconds before he sprang into action. He zipped through the room so quickly that in mere seconds, the prisoners all lay on the floor knocked out by his blows. Grinning and flashing his dimples, the young hero flexed as if there were reporters and photographers in the room. Let’s see if Titan can top this, he thought excitedly as he went through the hallway towards his next destination.
Within seconds, he made it to the dead center of the prison. He carefully placed the small device that he was carrying on the floor and pressed a small green button. Tornado stepped back in awe as a silvery plasma jumped out of the device and started to grow. The plasma expanded until it was larger than the room and shimmered through the walls.
Whirling around, Tornado jumped back as a dozen prisoners broke into the room. They could not get to the device, he thought violently as he leaped into action. In a yellow and green blur, the hero zipped to the nearest prisoner. The raging criminal was twice the size as the speeding hero, but size didn’t really matter with his speed. He easily dodged the prisoner’s huge fist and in a flash of second, Tornado pummeled the criminal’s rock hard abdominals with a few dozen punches.
The young hero didn’t even wait for the first prisoner to fall before he moved on to the next criminal. Keeping an eye on the device, he created a whirlwind of air and directed it towards the remaining rampaging prisoners. The criminals all slammed against the wall as Tornado ran back and forth throwing punches to pacify them. He might not have any enhanced strength, but even the weakest blow was effective as his speed allowed him to throw hundreds of punches in mere seconds.
Tornado stopped and grinned as the prisoners all crumpled to the ground. Raising his arms in victory, the young hero bowed before an imaginary audience and gloated. He was the man! He thought triumphantly. Tornado brushed a strand of blond hair from his eyes as he went back to the device. The green button had turned red and that meant that the shield was up.
He had gotten the device from The Hammer’s ace in the hole. Cybercat had no powers like the rest of the team, but he was a genius of the highest order. The intellectual genius not only directed the team from The Hammer’s headquarters, but he invented many devices like the shield device that Tornado just activated. If it worked correctly, and Cybercat’s inventions always did, the prison would be covered in a shield designed to prevent the prisoners from escaping.
Tornado stretched and looked around hoping that there would be more prisoners to beat up. His green short sleeve tunic showed every line and muscle of his torso, a body that many would die to have. In the center of his chest, a yellow tornado rested in the valley between his muscled pecs. Around his waist was a crescent shaped belt and his yellow tights showed his muscular legs that ended with his green calf high boots. The combination of his looks and fantastic body made people either envy him or want him in bed. The young hero knew that he was better than all of them combined. Soon he would be a full member of The Hammer and the world will be forced to acknowledge his greatness.
Sighing softly, the young hero realized that there was nothing else to fight. He lifted his hand and activated the communicator around his gloved wrist. “The shield is up, Titan,” He reported. “What do you want me to do now?”
Titan’s deep voice came through the communicator almost immediately. “Great job, Tornado!” Congratulating him like he was a child who just finished his homework. The young hero rolled his eyes in annoyance. When would they stop treating him like a child. “Make a full circuit of outside the prison. The guards are looking for escapees, and you could find anyone hiding within seconds.”
Tornado sighed and shook his head as he turned off his communicator. Titan never let him fight in the thick of the battle. He was always given these petty tasks. How was he supposed to prove himself if he is never given a chance? He took off leaving a gust of wind in his wake. Hopefully there would be some action outside, he thought hopefully as he raced around the outside of the prison.
Rapture sat in her chair making sure that she could keep an eye on the others in the room with her. The quiet in the room seemed to make everyone a little nervous. Around her were fellow villains, all who have been imprisoned until earlier that night. Every villain had some sort of powers, some extremely powerful while others were pathetic. Other than prison, the supervillains never were in the same room together.
Rapture had magical powers at her command and considered herself one of the most powerful of the villains. She was ready for anything and she was sure the rest of the villains were ready to attack as well.
The room she was in was bare of decorations besides the chairs that they sat on. A single light hung from the center of the room that cast stark shadows, making the occupants all the more menacing. Trying to keep her nervousness from showing, Rapture showed all signs of ease. All of them had a common enemy but pride and contempt for each other blocked any type of cooperation.
Rapture still could not believe how they all managed to break out of Harris. Someone opened all the cells and the other prisoners just started going berserk. As powerful as she was in magic, she didn’t have half the strength required to cause the entire prison to be enraged. She was getting ready to make her escape when she was teleport
ed to this strange windowless room. The other villains appeared here at the same time and she was ready for the fight of her life.
A hologram had appeared in the middle of the room and commanded them to sit until their savior addressed them. She was ready to tell the hologram off when Blockade beat her to the punch. Powerful enough to give Titan a run for his money, Rapture fell silent to see what would happen. The hologram flung out its hand and Blockade screamed in pain. It repeated its instruction and everyone found a seat and waited.
It seemed like an eternity until a screen appeared on one of the walls of the room. It lit up and a man in shadows appeared on the screen. “Welcome to our little meeting everyone.” The voice sounded oddly robotic but the man in shadows was clearly human. “I am called The Collector and I am the one who set you free tonight. Up until now each one of you have pitted yourself against the heroes of The Hammer and have failed. This ends now. I have a plan to take out the heroes once and for all. All of you will play a part in their downfall. Follow my instructions and your reward will be great. Defy or betray me and I will have you killed.”
Blockade jumped to his feet. Rapture smirked at the hulking villain. He was trying to save face from his earlier humiliation. “I don’t follow orders! If you want people to follow your tune, count me out!”
The Collector raised his hand and a beam of light blasted Blockade in the chest. The villain fell to the ground and went still.
Rapture paled as she used her magic to check for a pulse. With one hit one of the strongest villains was instantly killed. The rest of the villains looked around nervously and kept their mouths shut.
“Anyone else want to go their own way?” The Collector said softly.
There was not a single soul in the room who uttered a voice. Rapture knew that she didn’t have a choice but to play along. She would watch carefully and wait for The Collector to show his weakness and that was when she would strike. If playing along meant the end of The Hammer, then it would be worth dancing to this madman’s tune.
“On your way out, you will be given a set of instructions. I expect you all to follow these instructions to the letter as I will be watching. Failure is not an option and punishment will swiftly follow. Success will give you power beyond your wildest dreams.” The screen went blank and a door opened on the far side of the room.
Rapture and the rest of the villains made their way to the door carefully avoiding the corpse of Blockade. The villainess was shaken to her very core. Who had the power not only to kill Blockade but to make them all cooperate?
Chapter One
Toby walked down into the quad feeling great. He was everything that the guys wished they were and the girls wished they dated. Confidence was an aura that cloaked him, not that he need it, his looks and charm were more than enough to get him through life. He brushed a stray blond hair from his eyes as he swaggered to his next class.
He had no idea why he was still in school. He could get a job as a model anywhere. Toby lost count of the agents who tried to represent him. Unfortunately going to school was a term in his contract with the Hammer. As if he wasn’t blessed enough with a kick ass body, fantastic looks, and charm that would turn any head, Toby also possessed super powers. His ability to run at supersonic speeds earned the attention from the most powerful heroes in the world. Technically he was still in training to become a full member of the superhero team, but it was a matter of time before he would impress his elders enough and be done with his training. Between school and his heroic deeds, he really did not have much time for a social life, but Toby wasn’t like other guys. He always had enough time for the ladies and the college parties.
As he walked into the building where his next class was at, he bumped into the president of the Alpha Omega fraternity. Toby sneered and used his powers to grab the nerd by his throat and slam him against the locker. Alpha Omega was the nerdiest fraternity in the entire school. He had noticed Henry staring at him several times and it annoyed the hell out of him. And to top it all off, the scrawny little twerp had even tried making a pass at him at a bar last year!
“Listen, fag!” He growled loud enough for the students nearby to hear. “Touch me again and I will beat the shit out of you.” He lifted the skinny boy up easily and threw him across the hall before he swaggered off towards his next class.
He was tired of faggots always staring and fantasizing about sleeping with him. Part of him couldn’t blame them for being attracted to him as he was the hunkiest guy on campus, but he was no fag! His dick was reserved for the ladies and that’s the way its going to be. Toby hopped the other fags would finally get the point and leave him alone.
Toby walked into the classroom and took his seat in the back of the room. He wished he could have slept in this morning and he would have if his contract did not have his GPA involved. Toby thought it was lame that the Hammer would insist on his education. Education was for losers who had no other options. He should be a hero full time living the life and fucking all the babes.
While he waited for the Professor to arrive, Toby tried to ignore the girls and some of the guys staring at him. It was nothing new for him and he was able to ignore it for the most part. These girls were not up to his standards. He only slept with the most beautiful girls in school and they were few and far between.
His eyes caught a young woman walking into the classroom. Toby sat straight up in his chair as his jaw dropped. This had to be the most beautiful woman he ever laid his eyes on. Her long slightly curly red hair fell down her back and framed a face that Jessica Rabbit would have been envious of. His eyes went from her face down to her tits which were barely covered by her t-shirt. Toby licked his lips as he started at the cleavage with open desire. She had an hourglass figure complete with the finest ass, he had ever seen. Who was this girl? He thought to himself. Surely he would have noticed a girl like this before.
Toby flashed his most irresistible smile and tried to get her attention. She definitely met all his standards! He could feel his cock start to harden in his designer jeans as he fantasized all the things he would do to her.
Unfortunately for him, she decided to sit in the front of the class. Before she sat down, she met his eyes with hers and gave a small smile. That sent Toby’s senses reeling. She did notice him and by the looks of it she liked what she saw. He winked back flashing a dimpled smile. She could not resist the incredible face and body of the mighty Tornado!
Toby had a hard time concentrating on class as he stared at the back of the head of the new girl. It was rare for him to find a girl that not only matched his looks but by the looks of it his body as well. He imagined getting her alone and getting her into bed with him. It has been three days since he had sex and his balls needed to be emptied. Usually he would pick a girl from his rotation, but the prospect of a new gorgeous girl being added to his roster made his day become even more fantastic. In the realm of mating, he was a proud hunter and this new girl had now become his prey.
After the professor dismissed the class and Toby packed up his books, he kept his eye out for that flame red hair among the crowd pouring out of the lecture hall. He noticed a glint of red off to his right and followed the wave of students in that direction. He doubted that she would be able to notice him in the shuffle, but he wanted to get an idea of where she frequented so he could ask her out later.
After only a few minutes of following at a discrete distance, he noticed that she ducked into one of the nearby residence halls. Smiling that he now knew where to find his quarry later that evening, he continued on his way to his next class.
Rapture sat in her dorm room waiting to hear from the Collector. Part of her instructions was to infiltrate that university disguised as a student. She wrinkled her nose at the drab surroundings of the room. Hopefully she would not have to be here long. She can accomplish her mission and be back in her own hideout.
The bracelet on her wrist began to vibrate and she touched the button hidden on the side. This had been a gift fr
om the Collector to communicate with her. Rapture suspected that it was not only used for communication but to keep track of her. She was still shaken up over Blockade’s death to try and resist the Collector’s dominance over her. She would play this game until there was either an opening for fight or flight.
A hologram appeared above the bracelet and the shadowy form of the Collector was inside it. “Give me a status report!” Her new boss said crisply.
“I’ve infiltrated the university and have already made contact with the Tornado. From the looks he was giving me during the class and the way he followed me home like a puppy dog, I would say that he is hooked. It won’t be long before he approaches me and I will be ready to initiate the next part of the plan.”
“Good,” The Collector said with his robotic voice. “Contact me immediately when you have him in your hands. Collector out!”
The hologram dissipated but it was hardly noticed by Rapture. This plan to capture Tornado was brilliant, and it galled her that she never thought of it herself. Using her magic, she transformed herself into the disguise as she thought about every part of the plan. The must be an opening to take advantage of the situation, and when she finds it not only will the Collector learn not to try to leash her, but the Hammer will finally be destroyed. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was ready to capture the heart of a young hero. Tornado won’t know what hit him.
