"Do we have to do this?"

 

 

Nora Rike turned to her husband and gave him the same patent smile she had been using for the past two weeks, "Do I have to go over this again?"

 

Wallace, a man in his early thirties, was of mixed ethnicity. Although he was predominantly Anglo-Saxon, at least a quarter of his ethnicity was Asian, which was most evident in his facial features. His hair was also unique - it was completely white, which might have led some to assume he was an albino. However, the piercing ice-blue color of his eyes suggested otherwise. As his wife spoke to him, he nodded in agreement. He was looking rather dejected as he fidgeted with his ascot, undoing and redoing it for the umpteenth time, "It couldn't hurt," He muttered.

 

Nora, a woman in her late thirties of Germanic descent, had a stern appearance. She was taller than her husband with broad shoulders and muscular arms. She was dressed in a plain gray business suit that lacked any distinctive features, as she preferred to blend in rather than draw attention to herself. This was a deliberate choice on her part. Placing her hands on her husband's shoulders, she tried to meet his gaze, while he tried to stare at the floor between them.

 

"We have put off bringing her in for a check-up for as long as possible. Now we have no choice. If we don't take her, child protective services WILL pay us a visit and start investigating, and we don't want them snooping about." Nora explained as she squeezed her husband's shoulders. "Luckily, I found a doctor who has taken bribes from some of my friends in the past. We pay him a visit, hand him the money, he writes whatever we want on the documents, and we go home. Simple as that." She spoke to her husband in as reassuring a tone as she could muster.

 

Wallace looked up and spoke with a whine, "What sort of friends?"

 

Nora gently held her husband's face in her hands and gave his cheek a reassuring pat. "Just friends, nothing more. Don't worry about it." she said anticipating his concerns. Wallace began to speak, but she interrupted him, "Remember when you told me the truth about where you came from?" He nodded and bit his lower lip, "It means nothing to me. So no matter what, I'll keep you and our daughter safe, whatever it takes." She lowered her body to look up at him directly in the eyes as he tried to avert his gaze. "Do you trust me?" she asked, her voice full of concern and care.

 

Wallace's worries seemed to melt away, "More than anything."

 

Nora let go and stepped back, "Then just trust me. Everything will be okay." She reached out to ruffle his hair, but was interrupted by a child's voice.

 

"Everything okay? We're still going, right?"

 

Nora was taken aback by her daughter's sudden arrival, but she quickly regained her composure by extending her arms wide and exclaiming, "There's my little bolt of greased lightning!" However, her daughter rolled her eyes and ignored her mother's attempt at affection, instead crossing her arms and partially turning away from her.

 

Wallace cleared his throat, "She asked us to stop treating her like a child, remember?"

 

Nora sighed and rolled her eyes in a similar fashion to her daughter, "Okay, Ava. No more silly nicknames."

 

Ava turned back to her parents with a smirk, but it quickly faded as she asked, "They're going to be able to tell me why I'm so short, right?" She walked up to her parents with a pensive expression, indicating that this was a sensitive topic for her.

 

Her parents looked at each other. Wallace turned to his daughter, "Maybe. We keep telling you, you are just a late bloomer. Some children are just like that."

 

Ava seemed unhappy with that answer, "I was looking up on the internet-"

 

Nora cleared her throat and replied, "We can talk about this later. Right now, we need to hurry to the clinic before it closes." Her tone was firm, indicating that she was not open to further discussion. With that, the three of them left their home to get in a rather worn-out mini-van.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And drove off to meet their destiny.

 

 

---

 

"Twenty thirteen sucks."

 

 

 

It was late afternoon as Jack stood on the rooftop of an abandoned three-story office building and peered across the street at the clinic that was the center of everything. Most of the buildings on the street appeared to be boarded up like the one he stood on. The entire area was an economic disaster area. The clinic itself was a nondescript, two-story building, set back behind a rather large, and mostly empty parking lot.

 

Lord Od yanked Jack away from the edge, "Get back! You don't want to trigger the piggies."

 

Grease sighed and shook her head, "I grew up around here. The Albany area took a long time to recover. This particular location was bought out by the US government and turned into a free clinic for people under the poverty line."

 

Lord Od muttered under his breath, "At least that's the official story."

 

Quaalude was hiding behind an air conditioner unit, "Let me guess, secret government sponsored experiments or some such jazz?"

 

Lord Od's expression turned sorrowful as he nodded slowly. "Yes, they were conducting experiments on the children in this area. Someone in a position of power had finally discovered the long-term side effects of Invitrogrow, and this site was tasked with finding a way to quietly reverse the worst of the effects. Apparently, WASP wanted to have its cake and eat it too."

 

Grease narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me?"

 

Lord Od turned to Grease, "Why do you think the Honey Badgers are preparing to attack the building? They found out the site was holding terabytes of data that conclusively prove Invitrogrow is fundamentally flawed." He shook his head gravely, "Unfortunately, the side effects don't manifest until the second or third generation. Initially, the benefits far outweighed the costs, but over time-"

 

Conscious interrupted, "I'm sure this is fascinating, but that truck you said to watch out for is coming."

 

A large yellow We-Haul truck caught everyone's attention as it turned onto the street and made its way down. Given the lack of traffic, it stood out like a sore thumb. The truck then pulled into the parking lot of the clinic, allowing it ample space to park. It proceeded to the back of the building, where it began to turn around so it could back up to the loading and unloading area.

 

Lord Od frowned, "Strange. I could have sworn the alarms went off as soon as we pulled into the parking lot."

 

Grease was about to comment, when she saw a familiar looking beat-up mini-van pull around the corner of the building they were hiding on, "Oh shit. That's my mom's van."

 

Jack nodded, "Welp, Looks like it's time to charge up, then." As he snapped his fingers, his hands started to glow. He touched Conscious and Quaalude on their backs and transferred the red aura to their belts and gadgets. "This will make any fight you have a breeze," He assured them with an air of confidence bordering on the arrogant.

 

A moment later, every alarm at the clinic went off.

 

Lord Od cursed, "BLAST!" He glared at Jack, "Ask before you do anything!" He stood up to look across the street, "This doesn't make any sense!" He pointed at the front of the clinic, "She's supposed to appear right there!"

 

A very feminine and almost musical voice drifted over from behind everyone, "Now why would I appear over there..."

 

As everyone turned around, they saw several figures appearing while surrounded by swirls of golden energy. In the center was a woman dressed in a scanty yellow outfit made of gossamer thin silk scarfs and a bikini that barely covered anything. She seemed to have a thing for the color of gold. She had a golden crown, matching bands on her arms and legs, and a crudely carved chunk of amber imbedded in a choker around her neck. Her attire was more befitting of a beach party than a battle.

 

 

 

The Lady of Fear smiled as she and her allies materialized on the far end of the roof.

 

 

 

 

 

"When what I want to eat is right here?"

 

 

----

 

 

The first thing Jack noticed was the drug-filled dart that Conscious fired into his leg. Whatever was in there, Jack immediately felt its potency. He surmised it was some sort of fortification-type alchemical brew, judging by the fact he wasn't dead. The reason why he thought he should be dead was that the second thing Jack noticed was a supercharged fifty caliber bullet hitting him square in the face, causing him to fly backward twenty feet and crash onto the street below.

 

To say he was a little out of it would be like saying a trailer park gets a little ruffled when it's hit by category five tornado.

 

~Jack! Snap Out Of It!~

 

All Hell broke loose.

 

A group of five women emerged from the back of the We-Haul, dressed up like members of Seal Team Six, followed by a figure so fast it was barely discernible as little more than an indistinct, yet vaguely humanoid blur. Meanwhile, four hidden doors in a nearby building swung open and eight SePUs emerged. They appearing less advanced than what Jack had seen in the future. However, they were still, at the end of the day, towering eight feet tall killer robots, regardless of how crude they appeared. From the rooftop Jack had just vacated, chaos reigned as a hectic battle broke out. He looked around to see pandemonium unfolding all around him.

 

For example, that minivan from before was trying to get out of the area. It was being driven by a rather panicked driver that was careening out of the parking lot on a direct collision course for Jack.

 

Jack flung his arms up in a panic as the vehicle sped towards him. At the last second, the driver caught sight of Jack and swerved violently, narrowly avoiding a collision. The sudden maneuver sent the van into a spin, as a gunshot echoed from the rooftop above. A tire on the van exploded, causing the already out-of-control vehicle to flip and skid across the road, eventually grinding to a halt in the middle of the street.

 

Half the SePUs lit up the We-Haul with automatic weapons fire.

 

The other four SePUs lit up the rooftop with missiles.

 

"Oh we are in WAY over our heads here!" Jack exclaimed, scrambling to his feet before diving for cover behind a nearby mailbox. The sudden motion caused a bout of vertigo to set in, making the world spin and sway around him. Despite the overwhelming urge to run, Jack wasn't certain if he could even manage to flee in his disoriented state, what with the world tilting and gyrating around him.

 

~Jack! Don't bail on me! Please! Kid Grease is over in that car! We got to save her!~

 

With a dazed expression, Jack surveyed his surroundings as an unimaginable amount of firepower erupted around him. Beams of energy whizzed past him. Suddenly, three of the SePUs were enveloped in a cloud of black goop. Two automated turrets atop the clinic sprang to life, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the Honey Badger's assault team. One member went down, while the others quickly took cover to avoid the onslaught.

 

A moment later, Lord Od came out of nowhere, sprinting in tight circles around one of the SePUs and dismantling it in seconds. While he did that, he threw chunks of robot at the turrets in a steady stream of high velocity metal. In a heartbeat, both turrets were scrap.

 

It was then that Jack realized that it wasn't Lord Od after all - it was the Caffiend, though a vastly different version of him. Dressed in a sleek, light grey bodysuit, complete with a utility belt and a domino mask, this Caffiend lacked his usual walking cane and signature facial hair. Nevertheless, Jack could see the unmistakable resemblance to the man who had turned his life upside down.

 

Jack guessed this one was about ten years younger.

 

Jack was indeed thinking of bailing, "This ain't worth ten-" He muttered to himself, but he abruptly froze in mid-sentence. From his spot on the ground behind the mailbox, he could see into the upside down minivan. Peering inside, he spotted a young girl with striking blue hair screaming in terror as she attempted to revive her unconscious mother. A mother who was trapped beneath a crushed steering wheel. Suddenly, amidst the chaos and commotion, everything seemed to grind to a halt, as if time itself had slowed down. Jack took a moment to wipe his nose with the back of his hand, only to realize that his hand was now smeared with blood. Way more blood than he was comfortable with seeing.

 

He had made a promise to Marie that he would only use the contents of a certain pocket if there were no other options left. Trembling with a mixture of fear and desperation, Jack reached into said pocket and pulled out an injectir. He popped the cap off with his thumb as he held it tightly in his fist. He pumped every last bit of energy he had into the injector, amplifying the drug within to the point it was glowing like a red-hot super-nova. He paused with it hovering over his thigh. He took a deep breath and pushed all his anxiety aside.

 

 

He replaced it with rage.

 

 

"Fuck it."

 

 

~Jack! Wait a minute! I know I said don't bail, but-"

 

 

Jack drove the syringe deep into his leg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack pulled the injector out and looked at it, puzzled.

 

He shook the injector then threw it far to the side out of frustration. It skidded to a halt next to the minivan. Jack sneered as he lamented his situation, "That asshole Marie! She fuckin' lied to me! I bet she gave me saline or some such shit thinking-"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that was when the Two-X kicked in.