Post by Stephen Crosby on May 4, 2006 20:15:44 GMT -5
“Flee, pitiful humans! Cower before the might of Blastaar, the Living Bomburst!”
Bolts of power ripped up the pavement in the streets of San Diego. Cars were flipped end-over-end by Blastarr’s inhuman strength. As ruler of a mighty empire in the Negative Zone, Blastaar’s power was absolute. On Earth, in San Diego, four young heroes on a rooftop were prepared to challenge him.
“Oh no, it’s the Living Bomburst,” gasped one of the heroes sarcastically. A silver and white bodysuit covered everything but the top of his head, while a blue jacket with golden discs on the sleeves. served to further protect him from the elements. The colors of his bodysuit were arranged to form a stylized ‘R’, appropriate for a man who called himself Ricochet. “I swear, some of these villains use the corniest language.”
“Along with that language, his rampage shall end here!” declared the strongest of the heroes, clad entirely in gold and silver armor with a massive red cape at his shoulders. Prodigy leapt from the rooftop, seeming almost to fly. “Slingers away.”
Behind his mask, Ricochet rolled his eyes. “Okay, not just the villains.”
Still on the rooftop with Ricochet were the final two heroes of their quartet. Dusk was easily identified by her costume, an entirely black bodysuit that concealed her feminine features. The features identifying Hornet were many and included rapidly humming wings on the back of his armor, antennae on the sides of his helmet, and the giant yellow hornet painted on the front of his armor’s chestplate.
Together, three-fourths of the reassembled Slingers leapt off the rooftop to follow Prodigy’s lead.
A gold fist slammed into Blastaar’s face. Unfazed, the Living Bomburst sent Prodigy hurtling with a devastating backhand. Electric stinger blasts from Hornet peppered Blastaar, preventing him from advancing on and potentially tearing Prodigy limb from limb. Unafraid by what had just happened to his teammate, Ricochet landed directly in front of Blastaar.
“Wow, up close you’re even uglier.”
“Rraarhh!” Bursts of other-dimensional energy erupted from Blastaar’s hands. Ricochet avoided these by back-flipping over an impossible distance. As he flipped, Ricochet tossed a pair of golden discs. Their impact actually drove Blastaar back a step.
One of Blastaar’s energy bursts went straight towards Prodigy. At the last second, Dusk grabbed her teammate and they both disappeared only to reappear several feet away. Faster than the eye could follow, Hornet circled around Blastaar’s head, still firing away with his electric stingers.
“I think all we’re doing is making him mad,” Ricochet commented to Prodigy. “Dusk, doesn’t your suit have some kind of a connection go the Negative Zone? Maybe it’s got something that can mess with this chia pet.”
“Absolutely not,” objected Prodigy. “We can’t put Cassie’s life at risk on a hunch. She’s already died once.”
“But it’s my life to risk,” argued Dusk. The female Slinger rushed forward, straight at Blastaar. “My powers helped save us from Mephisto. If they can make a difference here, I have to try!”
A stray burst impacted on a building as Hornet flew past, and the debris sent him spiraling out of control. Blastaar was taking aim at the helpless flyer when Dusk jumped onto his back. Darkness enveloped the two of them.
“No!” Prodigy rushed forward, prepared to enter the darkness. Ricochet stopped him, however, took Prodigy by the arms and held him back.
“A bulletproof suit isn’t any protection against a bruiser like that,” Ricochet exclaimed as he struggled to hold onto his larger teammate. “There isn’t anything we can do but trust in what Dusk is doing.”
Angry and desperate, Prodigy tossed Ricochet aside. “Don’t go spouting orders like you’re the leader. The only leader around here is me!” He turned around to rush again at the darkness when Hornet slammed into his mid-section a high velocity. Prodigy was thrown off his feet and bounced down the street.
Hornet landed near where Ricochet was. The humming from his wings lessened considerably as they slowed down. “That should keep him away for another minute,” he remarked to Ricochet. “You have any ideas for after that?”
Imaginary dust was wiped from Ricochet’s jacket as he tried to stand gracefully to his feet. A slight wobble made this a failed attempt. “I could say I nailed his mom. Pummeling me to death would take at least another five minutes. Beyond that…” Ricochet shrugged. “If Dusk isn’t done with whatever she’s doing by then, maybe somebody should walk into that darkness and get beaten to a pulp by THE LIVING BOMBURST!”
Hornet smirked in spite of himself. “You really like that name don’t you?”
“Thinking of using it for my LiveJournal. That or ‘Home of the World’s Biggest Spider-Man Wannabe’. Which do you think?”
“Yeah, I’d go with the former.” Hornet pointed towards the field of darkness. It was beginning to dissipate. “It looks like Dusk did her thing.”
Much as Ricochet would have liked to ask Hornet what he meant by ‘former,’ Ricochet leaped forward towards the fading darkness, prepared to fight on if Blastaar appeared. Sure, Ricochet knew he didn’t have a chance against THE LIVING BOMBURST! But just thinking that name lifted his spirits.
However, the darkness did not fade entirely. A humanoid shape that was Dusk remained, shaky but still on her feet. Of Blastaar there was no sign. It did turn out that Ricochet had something to do though, as he took a collapsed Dusk into his arms.
“Hey,” Ricochet said as he looked into the expressionless black mask. “You did it girl. High-five?”
“Uh, you’d have to let go of me first.” Dusk stepped out of Ricochet’s grasp and took several steps on her own feet. Hornet was walking towards them, while Prodigy was stalking angrily at them.
“Do that again and I’ll cripple your other arm,” he snarled at Hornet. Dusk approached Prodigy cautiously. “That was a stupid thing to do,” he told her.
Ricochet stepped forward, confrontational and yet light-hearted. “Hey man, lay off, okay. She saved the day.”
“No I didn’t,” Dusk said, talking to everybody. “We did, as a team.” Her smile was tentative, and the hand she raised was shaking. “The Slingers, back together again. Group high-five?”
Bolts of power ripped up the pavement in the streets of San Diego. Cars were flipped end-over-end by Blastarr’s inhuman strength. As ruler of a mighty empire in the Negative Zone, Blastaar’s power was absolute. On Earth, in San Diego, four young heroes on a rooftop were prepared to challenge him.
“Oh no, it’s the Living Bomburst,” gasped one of the heroes sarcastically. A silver and white bodysuit covered everything but the top of his head, while a blue jacket with golden discs on the sleeves. served to further protect him from the elements. The colors of his bodysuit were arranged to form a stylized ‘R’, appropriate for a man who called himself Ricochet. “I swear, some of these villains use the corniest language.”
“Along with that language, his rampage shall end here!” declared the strongest of the heroes, clad entirely in gold and silver armor with a massive red cape at his shoulders. Prodigy leapt from the rooftop, seeming almost to fly. “Slingers away.”
Behind his mask, Ricochet rolled his eyes. “Okay, not just the villains.”
Still on the rooftop with Ricochet were the final two heroes of their quartet. Dusk was easily identified by her costume, an entirely black bodysuit that concealed her feminine features. The features identifying Hornet were many and included rapidly humming wings on the back of his armor, antennae on the sides of his helmet, and the giant yellow hornet painted on the front of his armor’s chestplate.
Together, three-fourths of the reassembled Slingers leapt off the rooftop to follow Prodigy’s lead.
A gold fist slammed into Blastaar’s face. Unfazed, the Living Bomburst sent Prodigy hurtling with a devastating backhand. Electric stinger blasts from Hornet peppered Blastaar, preventing him from advancing on and potentially tearing Prodigy limb from limb. Unafraid by what had just happened to his teammate, Ricochet landed directly in front of Blastaar.
“Wow, up close you’re even uglier.”
“Rraarhh!” Bursts of other-dimensional energy erupted from Blastaar’s hands. Ricochet avoided these by back-flipping over an impossible distance. As he flipped, Ricochet tossed a pair of golden discs. Their impact actually drove Blastaar back a step.
One of Blastaar’s energy bursts went straight towards Prodigy. At the last second, Dusk grabbed her teammate and they both disappeared only to reappear several feet away. Faster than the eye could follow, Hornet circled around Blastaar’s head, still firing away with his electric stingers.
“I think all we’re doing is making him mad,” Ricochet commented to Prodigy. “Dusk, doesn’t your suit have some kind of a connection go the Negative Zone? Maybe it’s got something that can mess with this chia pet.”
“Absolutely not,” objected Prodigy. “We can’t put Cassie’s life at risk on a hunch. She’s already died once.”
“But it’s my life to risk,” argued Dusk. The female Slinger rushed forward, straight at Blastaar. “My powers helped save us from Mephisto. If they can make a difference here, I have to try!”
A stray burst impacted on a building as Hornet flew past, and the debris sent him spiraling out of control. Blastaar was taking aim at the helpless flyer when Dusk jumped onto his back. Darkness enveloped the two of them.
“No!” Prodigy rushed forward, prepared to enter the darkness. Ricochet stopped him, however, took Prodigy by the arms and held him back.
“A bulletproof suit isn’t any protection against a bruiser like that,” Ricochet exclaimed as he struggled to hold onto his larger teammate. “There isn’t anything we can do but trust in what Dusk is doing.”
Angry and desperate, Prodigy tossed Ricochet aside. “Don’t go spouting orders like you’re the leader. The only leader around here is me!” He turned around to rush again at the darkness when Hornet slammed into his mid-section a high velocity. Prodigy was thrown off his feet and bounced down the street.
Hornet landed near where Ricochet was. The humming from his wings lessened considerably as they slowed down. “That should keep him away for another minute,” he remarked to Ricochet. “You have any ideas for after that?”
Imaginary dust was wiped from Ricochet’s jacket as he tried to stand gracefully to his feet. A slight wobble made this a failed attempt. “I could say I nailed his mom. Pummeling me to death would take at least another five minutes. Beyond that…” Ricochet shrugged. “If Dusk isn’t done with whatever she’s doing by then, maybe somebody should walk into that darkness and get beaten to a pulp by THE LIVING BOMBURST!”
Hornet smirked in spite of himself. “You really like that name don’t you?”
“Thinking of using it for my LiveJournal. That or ‘Home of the World’s Biggest Spider-Man Wannabe’. Which do you think?”
“Yeah, I’d go with the former.” Hornet pointed towards the field of darkness. It was beginning to dissipate. “It looks like Dusk did her thing.”
Much as Ricochet would have liked to ask Hornet what he meant by ‘former,’ Ricochet leaped forward towards the fading darkness, prepared to fight on if Blastaar appeared. Sure, Ricochet knew he didn’t have a chance against THE LIVING BOMBURST! But just thinking that name lifted his spirits.
However, the darkness did not fade entirely. A humanoid shape that was Dusk remained, shaky but still on her feet. Of Blastaar there was no sign. It did turn out that Ricochet had something to do though, as he took a collapsed Dusk into his arms.
“Hey,” Ricochet said as he looked into the expressionless black mask. “You did it girl. High-five?”
“Uh, you’d have to let go of me first.” Dusk stepped out of Ricochet’s grasp and took several steps on her own feet. Hornet was walking towards them, while Prodigy was stalking angrily at them.
“Do that again and I’ll cripple your other arm,” he snarled at Hornet. Dusk approached Prodigy cautiously. “That was a stupid thing to do,” he told her.
Ricochet stepped forward, confrontational and yet light-hearted. “Hey man, lay off, okay. She saved the day.”
“No I didn’t,” Dusk said, talking to everybody. “We did, as a team.” Her smile was tentative, and the hand she raised was shaking. “The Slingers, back together again. Group high-five?”