The air was cool and smooth on this day in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. The trees bobbed back and forth, and the wind howled. The calm of the outside was only reflected inside one of the many office buildings in this nice little town. The building in particular housed the Kickers, Inc.
In the main lobby, the receptionist, Miss Elizabeth Hartford, did some heavy paper work. Her bosses, though, were in the rec room, relaxing. None of the other workers had arrived yet, she expected them in the next ten minutes, or so.
Her head rose up suddenly from her work, when she felt a very unusual chill about the room. She didn't see a window open, like she expects, but instead, a man-- a visitor-- who needed her services.
"Hello. Kickers," her cheery voice sounded. "How can I help you?"
"Well," his rusque voice said. "I need the Kickers' help. I have found a paranormal amongst us."
"I'm sorry, sir, but for the moment the services of the Kickers are closed. If you would like to make an appointment or come back later, they will be more than happy to aid you in your hour of need."
"Shove that up your butt, mama!!"
Snow and ice lanced out of the stranger's hand, and covered the receptionist's body from her toes to her shoulders, leaving everything from her neck up free.
She was frozen solid, and she didn't like it one bit.
"What the hell's goin' on here?!"
"Why, can't you see, I'm attacking you. And soon, very soon, the Kickers' lives will be in our hands!"
Suicide Smythe walked through the halls, thinking of his wonderful date with Samantha last night. They went out to Alfredo's Bistro and came home to watch a very old movie on the boobtube.
He heard an odd sound coming from the lobby. Thought and reaction as one, he raced to the origin of the sound and slammed open the door to the lobby, with all of his strength.
"What the--?!?" He could not believe his eyes when he saw Liz trapped in a block of ice. Anger flowed within him.
"Don't come any closer, boy!" the stranger’s voice commanded.
"Oh, yeah, who's going to make me?"
"Boss, take him!!"
From out of the shadows came a barrage of bullets that Suicide didn’t have time to avoid. His two shoulders and knees exploded with blood. He slumped to the floor, totally paralyzed.
The man from the shadows revealed himself, his grotesque, stone-like face making Suicide cringe with all the more terror.
"
Time to die, Mr. Smythe!"
A shot was fired and consciousness slowly started to ebb from the mortal shell of Suicide Smythe.
In the Rec Room, Darlene ‘Doll’ Magniconte and Dasher Corbin watch a very educational television program, National Geographic.
Dasher duplicated her sentiments on the program. He continued to watch it, but stopped suddenly, when he heard some very odd sounds coming from the hallway. He bolted up, curious, and was attacked by an unseen force. This particular "force" was actually a living, breathing human paranormal being, possessing super human strength and endurance.
"Who the--?!?"
"Name's Mammoth," the man growls. "Guess why?"
Darlene's face froze, almost stationary like, observing this Mammoth beating the livin' crap out of Dasher. She could not move or speak or think, just watch.
Viciously, the fight continued, Dasher's natural strength useless against his foe. And then with the speed of a jungle cat, Mammoth broke Mr. Corbin's arm.
"Now, it's yer turn, sweet'eart!"
"You... you ... you... hurt him."
"Yup! Wanna make sumtin' of it?"
Thinking it will make one bit of difference, Darlene leapt at her friend's killer. Grunting, he simply gestured and she went flying. Her limp body crashed through the window.
All in a day's work, he thought and walked off.
Manhattan, the Big Apple. The door of this old apartment rang and Randy O’Brien, part owner of it, answered the summons.
"Yeah, whatta ya want?!"
"Um, er," the man seemingly replied. "Y'see, I'm an encyclopedia salesman and I'll like to sell you a years subscription of the Encyclopedia Brittanica."
"Not interested."
"But you haven't heard my price range offer yet."
"I could care less."
"But..."
"But this, buster!"
The door slammed in the salesman's face, his samples all over the place.
Today, Randy O’Brien was in a terribly mad mood. He marched to his quarters, passing Dave Landers and Stephanie Harrington on the way who did not know what to do or say. Dave decided that since he was Randy's best friend that he should talk to him. Charly would be a better choice but she was downstairs "studying".
"Randy, it's obvious that you are mad at something. Maybe it would help if you talk about it."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Y'see, what I've been so mad about lately is these antibody powers that I've been granted. I hate it. I can't ever again have a normal relationship with a girl."
"Believe me I understand. I know what's it's like to be trapped in your own body. I mean, how do you think it felt when I turned into a strongman and started to get the hots for Stephie. It was pure torture for the both of us."
"But for me, I can’t ever have a normal relationship with a girl again."
"I'm sorry, Randy."
"Me, too. I just wish that someway I could be rid of this power without killing myself."
Dave led Randy out of his room and joined Stephie, who hearing the whole conversation, comforted him further.
Then, the telephone rang and Stephie said that she'll get it, leaving the two friends together.
"Hello," she spoke into the receiver.
On the other end of the line there was a little static and a bit of jumbled words and thoughts. "hellohihow'reyoudoin'i'mfinei'minsomuchtroublei'minsomuchtr oublei'msoscaredhelpmepleaseohgodhelpme!"
"Please, calm down, I can't hear a word you're saying."
"Stephie? It's me, Darlene Magniconte of the Kickers. Y'see, these cold-blooded killers invaded our headquarters and injured Suicide and Dasher. Brick's in Dallas, Texas on some personal business, he said. I escaped with my dear life and you're the first people I thought of calling. Please, we need your help, all paranormal kind is in jeopardy."
"Sure, we'll help. Where are you?"
"Forest Hills."
"We'll be there in fifteen minutes."
She hung the phone up and faced her friends, a wide smile spread across her gorgeous face. "Guys, you wouldn't believe the news I've got for you."
"Deal with the receptionist, so she won't be able to talk when our company arrives!"
"Sure, boss."
Gesturing, the aforementioned stranger let loose a bolt of pure ice that covered Elizabeth's mouth. It was sealed shut. She wouldn’t be able to speak for hours now.
"Now, boss, what's this company you mentioned?"
"Icer, you're totally stupid. Mrs. Magniconte escaped and she, most probably, called for other paranorms for help. But, you should know better then anyone, that the Power Elite's main mission in life, that's us, is to kill all Paranorms who get in our way of our ultimate goal, which is to take control of the criminal empire of Manhattan. We must be ready for their, obvious, ambush-- their surprise attack."
"Oh, yeah."
"Now, get ready. I'll alert the others."
A half hour passes and in the lobby of the Kickers' headquarters, Icer searched through the files on the members of the Kickers themselves. He was very pleased.
"So, it says here," he whispered to himself. "That Jack Magniconte, the creator of this bunch, is in Chicago on business."
He paused when he heard oncoming footsteps and twirled around.
His head bumped into someone's upper chest. He then looked up and was scared stiff. "Who are you?" the man said.
"I'm Icer and I've..."
"Yes, injured two of the Kickers. That displeases me."
"And you are--?!"
"I won't tell you my real name but I've become fond, of late, of the pseudonymn, Mastodon!"
A single punch and Icer went flying. He smashed through a wall and crashed into the rec room where the rest of the team was. By the time, he recovered, Mastodon was right behind him. The team's eyes seemed to pop out of their heads. They didn't expect the 'company' this soon.
Icer slowly got up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "They're here!!!"
"Well, let's see how strong this big ape is, pals!" Magnum, the boss, sent a monstrous barrage of bullets at Dave. Blood sprayed on his stomach and with the savage speed of a cheetah, Dave fell. He gripped his wound, cringing in mortal pain.
"Don't worry, boss, I'll finish the job!" The slick, beautiful woman approached Dave, her hands crackling with electrical energy.
The door to the Rec Room slammed open and Glitter, Antibody and Friction joined the battle. Friction, eager to fight (God knows why), kicked another female member of the team in the mouth. First blood was drawn for her side.
"Look", the woman choked. "There are more of 'em!"
A memory sparked in Charly's psyche. "You?!? I... know you!" She pauses. "You worked for the Clinic, when we were on the run."
"Yup. I used to be called Inertia. But, now-a-days, I'm called Slider. Here's a sample of why!"
She waved and the villain made Charly buck back, as if she was thrown from a horse.
"Get away from my David!" Stephanie Harrington struck Electrique, her natural parability of harnessing energy, protecting her from her foe's electricity emission.
Concentrating to her utmost, Electrique bombarded Stephie with a savage bolt of electrical power that staggered even her immense healing capabilities.
David, on the other hand, started to regain consciousness only forced to watch the woman he most cared for in the world being struck down by a totally evil murderer.
While this was occurring, Randy was having an equally hard time dealing with his opponent, Icer. He tried to surround him with a block of ice but something inhibited his power. He tried again and again but still, no go.
"Having some trouble," Randy declared. "That's too bad."
Antibody slugged Icer and wiped his hands when his foe was asleep. He was, also, baffled by what seemed to negate Iceberg's power. Oh, well, he was glad by it and didn’t care now.
Then, a figure pounced on Randy's back. The man was only clothed in normal attire, a jacket and jeans.
"Hi, there," said the man. "Name's DNA. That's cause I steal yer very own lifeforce. Cute, huh?"
Still clinging to the man, DNA forced them through a window.
Glitter could not take any more of this concentrated punishment.
Dave finally got up and tapped Electrique on her shoulder.
"Eh? Wha?"
"Eat my knuckles, witch!"
A single pulse-pounding blow and she crashed through the top floor window of the Kickers' office building.
"Oh, David," Stephanie said, weepingly. "I don't know how much more of that I could take."
At the other side of the room, Magnum tried to awaken Icer. After long minutes, he indeed awoke.
"Magnum, what is it?"
"It's time to leave. I want you to take care of the girl. I'll gather the others and meet me at our rendezvous point. Got it?"
"Yes", he smiled, staring at Charly. "Of course. Anything you say."
When Magnum has left the room, telling Inertia similar sentiments, Icer lifted up the television that was near Charly and tore a single piece of shrapnel from it.
"Hmm. This shall do the trick."
Icer covered the whole piece with ice and aimed it at Charly, just as she started to regain consciousness.
Darlene Magniconte walked through the hallway. She opened the door to the lady's room and saw the receptionist, tied in ropes, on the floor.
"Liz, what the ?!?"
"They did it, Darl," she struggled. "They thought I was useless and pitiful enough to kill so they tied me up and left me here."
"Don't worry, I'll have you out in a second."
Even though Darlene was not a true paranormal, she still had exceptional strength for a woman her age. When she grabbed the ropes her hands start to chafe and burn. She ignored the pain and broke all of the ropes on her legs and hands in half.
Then, a looming shadow appeared to cover Darlene. Liz was the first to notice.
"Darlene, look out!"
"What?!"
As she turned around, she saw a colossal figure. His name was Mammoth and he was probably the strongest man on earth. But then, he did the unexpected. He bent Darlene down, in a dip, and kissed her on the lips.
"I've always wanted to do that. Have a great life, Darl!"
They were both stunned.
"Uh, Darl!"
"Yes?"
"I think we should vamoose quick. I've a nasty feeling that something terrible gonna happen soon."
Darlene nodded and followed her outside, to join the others.
Randy broke away from DNA, using his little Antibodies to annoy the villain. There would be another time for this gang of villains to attack the DP7. But Randy saw that Icer was holding an ice spear and aiming it at Charly. He sent one of his antibodies to warn her of the danger.
Charly turned around, saw the danger, and increased the friction beneath his feet, causing him to fall flat on his face.
Icer, seeing that he was about to be attacked by the heroes, dropped the spear and ran where the rest of his posse was.
“Randy, you saved my life,” Charly said and embraced him. ”You do care.”
“I do care about you, Charly. I hope we can make amends.”
