I laughed and told her.
“Crawl up your ass? I guess that proves you’re Cal Stringel!”
I didn’t know why she thought that and wasn’t certain I wanted to, but opened the rear doors and let her go through to the base.
Five minutes into introductions, karma paid Wendy back, and her high tech safety vest inflated. It was on some kind of timer that’d been tripped by her being out of communication with the Gulf Coasters for too long. It was like my lost dream of putting Hermes in a giant plastic ball had finally come true! The amount of profanity Wendy began to hurl made me wonder if she didn’t possess some super speed as well.
Needless to say, everyone, except Wendy, got a good laugh out of that.
• • •
“Bobby wanted to play piñata, but I had to remind him that there was a pregnant and highly irritated woman inside,” I add.
“Yeah,” Wendy says. “It was great. Given how my involvement in this team started, it was a bad omen. First thing jackass here did was hit me up for a loan to buy all the things for his railgun.”
“Oh, you love us, and you know it,” I say.
“I like Andy and Larry,” she replies. “I tolerate Bobby, and I’m stuck with you.”
I laugh at her while I crawl up inside of Megasuit, retrieve Andy’s head, and transfer him back onto the Type A frame so he can finish removing the contaminated material and I could reassume control of Mega. Settling into the control chair, I bring up the datastream and assess the situation.
“We’re ten minutes out,” I announce. “Any sign of activity at the estate?”
“The satellite we had borrowed passed out of range sixteen minutes ago. The next one we can use will not be available until seven minutes after we have arrived.”
“All right, team,” Wendy says. “Cal, flip the portal around. I’ll go now. Larry, can you be ready in five?”
“I’m good.”
“Game faces, people. Let’s cut the stupid shit and pretend we know what we’re doing. Cal’s knowledge of the defenses is a few years old, so expect that they have been upgraded.”
Reversing the shard, I roll the suit over so Wendy has a downward exit vector. “You’re clear, bosslady.”
She slides out the suit’s exit and immediately the wind speed increases and wraps around her slim figure, turning her into a tiny blue and silver dart soaring next to my armor.
At the five-minute mark, Larry goes through. We try to minimize his flight time where possible. It’s easier than listening to him complain or vomit.
The incredibly powerful telekinetic slingshots himself out, spins and latches onto the back of my suit like an electromagnet and he literally holds on for dear life.
Minutes later, we descend on the estate. A dozen Type B robots roll out the welcome wagon, spitting plasma energy at us. A sudden squall sends them careening away with their gyroscopes straining to correct their course. Stacy and I fire our weapons while Larry’s energy form crushes two underfoot, and fields a third like a grounder to second. The robot crumples in his hand like an overripe tomato.
His tactic seems wasteful to a salvager like me, but it’s hard to argue with the results.
The fight was over before it had even started.
Heading to the front door, I ask. “Do you think we should knock?”
“Just kick the fucking door in!” Wendy shouts.
“As you wish,” I answer and comply. Over the private channel, I ask Stacy, “You picking up any emotions?”
“No,” she answers. “I think your man, West, is gone.”
“They could have added an escape tunnel,” I say and turn to Andy. “Hey Andy, is the satellite in position yet?”
“Not yet.”
“When it gets into position, start checking the surrounding area to see if you can find West.”
Standing in the foyer a sculpture, really a cosmetically enhanced Type A, waits for us.
In a poorly rendered mechanical voice, the robot says, “The Overlord will greet you in the conference room. This way please.”
“Trap?” Larry asks aloud.
“I would be disappointed if it was not,” I say, using my Andy voice and trying not to use any contractions. The earlier encounter with the West Coasters could come back to haunt our lie, but there’s nothing I can do about that. “I will go in alone with full shields. Even if he has a self-destruct, it will not get through. I will transmit our conversation.”
“Be careful what you say to him.” Wendy warns.
The question is whether his truth detection powers had a range limit.
The others remain outside while I march down the hallway to the conference room. A hologram of the Overlord floats just above the center of the long table. Jerimiah Orlin is in his early fifties with a full head of black hair and a goatee that gives off that whole Ming the Merciless vibe. He radiates contempt for everyone.
There was a time when that would have intimidated me. The last time I’d seen him was during the whole HORDES nonsense. Since then, I’d saved the world twice, and drunk from the cup of badassedness. Now, his act just keeps me on my guard.
“I see only one of you decided to accept my kind offer,” he begins.
“I figured that I was the one you wished to speak with, Jerimiah. Given your obsession with being the one to terminate Lazarus Patterson’s existence. I suspect I will be having a similar conversation with Elaine in the near future.”
“Such an interesting group you’ve surrounded yourself with little, Andydroid.”
“I see news travels fast.” Impressive, but it makes the lie easier.
“There are so many people out there with talents similar to mine. I specialize in helping these people realize their gift. A person who can hear conversations from miles away can be just as much of an asset as someone who can shoot fire from their hands. I learned your secrets and it was child’s play to deduce your destination. Paul left well before you arrived, if you were looking for him. But now, what to do with you? You are the Tin Man, robot. You now have a heart, such that Stringel could be said to possess one. Perhaps it would be better to say you now have self-interest and it becomes something I can use against you.”
“Starting a vendetta with me will only decrease your life expectancy, Overlord. My allies possess the kind of power you can only covet. You couldn’t keep up with Patterson. What makes you believe you can succeed where he failed?”
Damn! Used a contraction!
“Ah, yes,” he continues, unfazed by my threat. “Your team of merry adventurers. Perhaps I should be worried Tin Man, but then again, Wendy could be a stand in for Dorothy, so young and eager to prove herself. Goading her is no herculean task as Mr. Mather proved. And Mr. Hitt makes a suitable Cowardly Lion. He certainly looks impressive, destroying non-living opponents, but can you trust him against a living foe. I can promise you that he will be tested. You even completed the metaphor by bringing your own token Scarecrow—Aphrodite has been trying to prove she has a brain since she first was given her powers. The world remains sadly unconvinced.”
“You mention Mather, but should be mindful of his fate. In your analogy, that makes you either the Wicked Witch or the Wizard. One dies and the other is proven a harmless fraud. Your best option is to walk away from this and find the darkest hole to hide in, but we both know that will not happen. Enjoy each sunrise because it may be the last one, so bring forth your flying monkeys and see how they fail.”
Does that make Bobby Toto?
“Brave talk, you almost sounded human there for a second. The late Stringel didn’t appear to care much for his parents, perhaps you will care about their fate more, or even the venerable Doctor Albright. Do not believe for a second that you don’t have a weakness that can be exploited, Tin Man. Many battles are won before the forces take the field.”
“Going after any of those would guarantee you would not survive our encounter.”
He laughs. “The world blames me for the premature release of my bioengineered inse
cts. In their eyes, I am guilty of genocide on the levels that make the likes of Pol Pot and Hitler look like rank amateurs. I know I will never go to prison. There is either death or the number of people I must destroy on my path to domination. Shall we see if I am up to the challenge?”
“I will have them put that speech on your tombstone.”
“How considerate,” the Overlord says, spreading his transparent hands wide. “Since you’ve squandered your first move, it is black’s turn now. Pawn to Queen four.”
The house is engulfed in a fierce, upward blast of plasma energy as the self-destruct mechanism activates. Megasuit’s shields take it, and I ride the wave while trying to figure out his stupid chess metaphor.
Working the jetpack and stabilizers, I get the suit under control and see that it knocked the shields down to eighty-five percent—more powerful than expected, but still lame! Unfortunately, I know this is just the beginning... the best he could come up with at a moment’s notice. He’s already planning the next encounter.
Two can play at that game!
“Is the suit okay, Cal?” Stacy asks over our private channel, as her suit races up next to me. “How about you?”
“Yeah, we’re both good.”
“I’m going to personally kick his ass for that Scarecrow comment!”
Laughing, we rejoin the others while continuing our private conversation, “You’ll get your chance. If it helps, I know you have a brain. Want to know why?”
“Let’s hear it,” the Olympian replies.
“Simple, you’re with me.”
“Some would argue differently,” she says with a chuckle of her own.
“Before it gets crazy, I want to tell you something Stacy,” I say, marshalling more courage than I needed to walk in and speak with the Overlord. I would be face to face with her much sooner.
“What’s that?” she asks, with just a hint of quaver in her voice.
“It’s easy for me to say I am in love with you, and I am, but you have heard that from virtually every guy you’ve ever given the time of day to, and I’m willing to bet a few women along the way. I want you to know beyond that, I respect you and I trust you.”
She’s quiet for a good five seconds and it is cause for a little concern. “Sorry, you caught me speechless for a moment. I’ve said those words before to men I didn’t feel half as much of what I feel for you, Cal. I love you, too.”
“The Overlord and others are going to try and stop our happily ever after.”
I can almost hear the smile on her face. “Let them try!”
If I had empathy to spare, I’d feel sorry for our enemies.
But, I’m Cal Stringel, the original D-List Supervillain, so don’t expect any pity or quarter from me. My origin is common knowledge. My confessions are a matter of public record. My secrets are shared with those I trust. Now, it’s time for me to rise to the challenges ahead. Get in my way and you’ll end up as roadkill on the yellow brick road. Consider yourself warned.
• • •
Cal Stringel and the New Renegades will return in Rise of a D-List Supervillain.
• • •
About the Author
Jim Bernheimer is the author of several novels and the publisher and editor of three anthologies. He lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with his wife and two daughters while writing whatever four out of the five voices in his head agree on. Visit his website at www.jimbernheimer.com
Other Books by the Author
Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume I
Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume II
Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume III
Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman
Dead Eye 2: The Skinwalker Conspiracies
Spirals of Destiny Book One: Rider
Spirals of Destiny Book Two: Sorceress
Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery
Origins of a D-List Supervillain
and
Confessions of a D-List Supervillain
The best is yet to come!
Secrets of a D-List Supervillain Page 24
