|
"Red Prism"
|
||||||||||
| June 20: It’s the first day of vacation and as soon as the day starts I ride my bike across town. It takes me almost 15 minutes to ride to the Comic Shoppe. I park my bike. But before I can enter the store, my whole environment changes to a grave yard. In front of me stands my brother, Hector, carrying a shovel. “Hey, that’s Hector,” I say, frantically rushing over. “And he’s desecrating that grave.” “Who?” Hector asks, as he stops doing what I know is against the law. “Hector, I thought that you went straight and what do you want with that grave?” I question him. “You’re wrong, bub. I want the power to be Red Prism.” For even thinking of that, I clobber him. He doesn’t even seem dazed. I punch him in the face and he finally topples over. “You can’t be Red Prism. Only Dr. Jack Jordan can decide and he’s at the institute.” “The power will be mine and nothing you do will stop me from getting it.” Hector, eventually, gets in a few punches but my mistake is tripping him. He gets ahold of his shovel and starts swinging. “If you want the power so bad, Hector, you’ll have to get through me.” “Fine by me, wimp. Gimme the power!!” June 21: Our fight leads into sunrise on the next day. It seems that Hector gets stronger and I get weaker. “Hey, what’s that light doing here?” I ask, as I am momentarily distracted by the light. “Aw right, it’s Dr. Jordan.” “I have come to tell you that the power belongs to—Hector Juarez.” “Like I said, aw right!!” Hector exclaims in joy and triumph. Dr. Jack Jordan looks at both of us. “I have searched the universe to find someone who can be the next one to wield the Red Prism power. Touch my hand and we shall be off.” “No, Hector, don’t. Let me be the chosen one, master.” I nearly scream those words. Dr. Jordan frowns at me, in disappointment. “You are no longer worthy, Travis Juarez. Your brother, Hector, is. Farewell.” In a flash of light, they are gone. End of Journal. Weeks later… In the Clinic for Psychiatric Care, Dr. Jack Jordan welcomes one of his patients and students into his office. The man is a very tired and worn Travis Juarez. He sits down in a chair while Jordan is behind his desk’s swivel chair. “How are you feeling today, Travis?’ Dr. Jordan asks with genuine concern in his voice and manner. Travis doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by his question, though Jack knows that something is on his mind. Jack knows what this is. “Fine, sir. How am I doing in muh learning, doc?” “You are progressing perfectly, Travis. Is something wrong?” “Yes. I was wondering why you gave the Red Prism power to Hector. You know that he is a convicted felon, don’t you?” Travis pauses as he feels a sudden gust of wind. “Uh, doc, isn’t it a bit breezy in here?” But before Dr. Jordan can utter a single word, a huge gust of wind sweeps the psychiatrist off his feet. Travis Juarez is the only one left within the office. “Doc, Dr. Jordan, Where are you? What happened?” Travis storms out of the office and takes a taxi to the headquarters of the National Security Council. Finally, he tells his tale in front of the many paranormals. “You’re saying that you think that your brother Hector kidnapped Dr. Jordan?” Captain Manhattan directs the questions at the startled and frightened teenager. Travis nods his head in agreement. ‘Yup. Will you please help me find him? He’s very special to me. He helps me learn. I always go to his Clinic for Psychiatric Care.” “Of course, we’ll help you, Travis,” Captain Manhattan reiterates what is probably on the minds of all the paranormals present. “And I think I know where he took him.” Simultaneously, one mile from NSC HQ, Hector Juarez ties up Dr. Jordan. Meanwhile, in another section of New York City, Randy O’Brien lets his other world energies engulf him and he changes into Antibody. “A few minutes ago, I saw Hector Juarez kidnap Dr. Jordan. His studies interest me a lot. But enough of his work. I must find out where he is,” Antibody contemplates, as he flies over the city to his destination. Having the utmost determination, Antibody combs the city for Jordan’s whereabouts. Hector gloats over his victory. “You’ll never get away with this, Hector,” Dr. Jordan proclaims, as he tries to reason with his captor. “The NSC will stop you.” “The NSC? The NSC?? They don’t even know I’ve captured you.” Hector seems confidant of his plan of revenge. “You’re wrong on that account, Hector,” Spitfire says, as the whole NSC team stands triumphant in the little shack. “The NSC!! How??” Hector is stunned. “Come quietly, Hector, or we’ll be forced to kill you,” Captain Manhattan says. “I’m a paranormal! You won’t know what hit ya.” Hector uses the Red Prism power coursing within his body to bend sunlight into the electromagnetic spectrum, knocking the NSC team and Travis unconscious. While elsewhere within the shack, Dr. Jordan hears the battle outside. “The NSC! They’ve found me! Hey, guys, I’m inside the shack!!” But before anyone can hear Dr. Jordan’s call for help, Antibody joins the fray. Try as he might, he cannot ensnare Hector with his tiny antibodies. “I may not be able to catch you, Hector, but I know someone who can, Blur.” Captain Manhattan hurls his invisible force fields but it isn’t the force field alone that strikes Hector. Blur—Jeff Walters—is riding it using his power to add a little acceleration, stopping Hector in his tracks. A bolt of psionic force explodes Hector’s outer clothing, therefore seriously injuring the paranormal. Spitfire telephones the hospital and an ambulance takes Hector to the Newhope Memorial Hospital. Having the enemy defeated, Antibody and Blur take their leave. Later at the Clinic for Psychiatric Care, Dr. Jack Jordan continues his talk with Travis. ‘Travis, you don’t have to tell me. I already know that it was you who shot that bolt of force at Hector. You see, I have a power, too. I can project bolts of kinetic force. With our powers, we can easily overcome the National Security Council.” Some more weeks have passed since the last attack by Hector Juarez. Judge Justice assembles the entire NSC team to decide what to do next. “I have just gotten a report from Newhope Memorial Hospital and Dr. Brendall has told me that Hector has been released into the Clinic for Psychiatric Care with Dr. Jack Jordan and his brother Travis Juarez. But they have warned us that Hector’s temper could be volatile. We should be on our guard.” Gene Proudhawk hears a rumbling and looks at its source, the ceiling. “Hey, guys, I hate to interrupt this meeting but we’ve got huge trouble from above.” The ceiling erupts and Michael Proudhawk comes in from the opening, attired in his Psi-hawk persona. He enters through the damaged ceiling and soars overheard the NSC team. “I have heard that you have fought Hector Juarez recently. I need you to tell me what paranormality he posseses, so that I may recruit to the side of Derek Shiningstar.” “If you want trouble, brother,” harshly says Gene, “then you must fight someone equal in strength. Let’s see how good you are against Kathy Ling’s telekinetic powers.” His eyes glow and powerful TK blasts are released but Michael, using his wings as a shield, reflects the blasts, sending them back at the NSC team, stunning them all. “No! I’ll make you pay fer that, psi-bum.” With that, Gene bombards Michael and the two paranormals are hurled to another section of the meeting hall. Judge Justice opens his eyes, his mind reeling from the
attack, and sees Gene and Michael Proudhawk tussling with one another.
At the huge gap in the ceiling, he views Dr. Jack Jordan and Travis and
Hector Juarez standing. “We want Psi-hawk, whichever one he is now. Y’see, he’s a very powerful paranormal and he could be useful to our cause. He needs help and I think that my Clinic could be the path to cure him,” Dr. Jordan exclaims, confidently. “No way, freaks. If you want Michael that bad you’ll have to fight us for him. Got it?” Justice’s hands charge up with energy, one part sword, the other part shields. “Ok, Jordan, take yer best shot but I have to warn you that I’ve been trained by the best.” “I’m no ‘pantywaist’, either, Justice!” Dr. Jordan releases his red prism power but Justice avoids it with ease. Jordan then releases his prism blasts on the team’s computers and the explosion only stuns Jordan. Justice reaches for the fire extinguisher and sprays it on Jordan. Dousing the flames that covers him, Justice carries Jordan away. At the end of the day, the battle rages on and Michael Proudhawk escapes into the safety stronghold of Derek Shiningstar. He has failed in his mission to capture the Prism Family. Jordan’s and Juarez’s rings are more powerful than Proudhawk’s psi-powers. Judge Justice approaches a conscious Dr. Jordan. “One minute you are asking us for help in capturing hector, then the three of you are attacking us along with Psi-hawk. So, what’s the deal, guys?” Gene Proudhawk touched his temples. “It’s simple, Justice. He was pushed by Michael, as were we all. How do you think we were easily defeated?” “My brain is all cloudy and fuzzy,” Jordan said, rubbing his head. “I can’t seem to remember the last couple of hours.” “In that case,” Justice replied, “the NSC would like to keep an eye on you three. In the rare chance that Michael uses his psi-powers on you again. We could use some more operatives to deal with the terrorists and paranormals in the world. The Clinic that you work for is owned by the same parent company that the former Clinic for Paranormal Research operated from. We are planning to reopen that Clinic and the runaway home Sanctuary. We could use your help as a director, Dr. Jordan. And Travis and Hector could be its first applicants. Anyway, we need some base of operations for our many paranormals.” “That’s all fine and dandy, Justice,” Captain Manhattan remarked, “but can we trust this Hector guy? I mean, he tried to kill us several times.” Justice smirked. “We’re going to have to, that is after you train the three of them so that they could get used to their powers.” “Trust is something that is earned, not learned.”    |
