CAPEKILLERS

[Erik]

[Tim Veselka]

Since Capekillers isn't a Marvel proper title I'd thought I'd give everyone a small sneak peek at what to expect . . . .

Joystick opened the door to the next wing of the facility and found it lit as bright as the noon day sun. She quickly ducked for a recess where the bathrooms were located near the door. She glanced around the corner and saw two guards with energy rifles standing next to the very door she sought. Also present were two janitors, one cleaning office windows and the other mopping the floor.

Joystick had to take care of them all as quickly as possible so that the alarm couldn’t be raised. She noticed the pattern of the guards’ glances to each side; they left her very little room for surprise. She ducked back out of view and extended two red energy batons from her gauntlets. She breathed in deeply and let out a long slow breath, trying to calm her rate of respiration.

Turning suddenly out into the hallway she slammed her energy batons together. A bright concussive beam blast forth from in between her batons and slammed into one of the guards, sending him colliding roughly with the door he was guarding. Damn, she had meant to take both the guards out with one shot.

The other guard aimed his energy rifle and fired, seemingly unsurprised by her attack. She deflected the shot with one of her batons. The beam deflected directly into one of the two janitors who had frozen in fear. The janitor spun and fell to the floor, his chest smoking. Joystick smiled.

Rethinking his tactics the guard dropped his energy rifle and reached for a regular pistol strapped to his waist. Joystick’s smile dropped, she couldn’t deflect bullets. She hurled one baton with all of her might. The guard lifted his pistol and began to take aim just as the baton collided with his hand, breaking his wrist with an audible snap. The gun went clattering across the freshly mopped floor.

The guard cried out in pain, but he was well trained and reached for yet another weapon at his side. Joystick sprinted forward, her body had long been modified for super speed, and she sprinted the distance between them in less than a second. A taser was in the man’s hand just as she reached him.

The guard lunged toward her, but she dodged him easily. With a quick strike and a loud crack she broke his remaining good wrist using her remaining baton. Before the guard had any time to react to the pain she clubbed him soundly across the side of his head. He crumpled to floor, blood oozing from his skull.

“Don’t make me do it!” a panicked voice came from behind Joystick. She turned to find the remaining janitor, a woman, pointing the guard’s dropped gun at her chest. If she took a shot at such a close range it could do some major damage, despite Joystick’s enhanced physique. She softened her stance, slightly.

“Look,” Joystick tried to sound as reasonable and patient as she could. “I don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to try to kill me. If you drop the gun and leave I’ll forget you ever pointed that thing at me.”

“What guarantee do I have of that?” the woman’s hands were shaking as she held the pistol.

“None,” Joystick smiled a large toothy grin. “But if it helps ease your fears I think you’re kinda cute.”

[scottenkainen]

Good to have you finally over here at MA, Tim. Same question I posed to Mitch on Starjammers -- are these identical to the Marvel Lab issues or have you made any changes/additions to them?

~Scott C.

[Tim Veselka]

These are actually different, same basic idea and the same basic cast, but a different (hopefully improved) story. I am hoping to focus more on the characters in this version. How about your '70's material, the same as ML or new?

[scottenkainen]

I'll definitely give Capekillers a new read, then! As for Amazing...Inhumans and Amazing...Black Widow, they are about 99% the same, with minor corrections. All the new material is in 1970s FF and 1970s X-Men (at least until Black Widow #9).

[bryancrd09]

Nice banner, and it looks to have a good cast

[Tim Veselka]

Here is a little preview of Capekillers #4

Let me know what you think!

Inside stood a ragtag collection of minor supervillains that made Joystick cringe, she couldn’t believe she was thought of being in the same class as them. Spider Woman, a madwoman with all the powers of all the Spider Women, at least she had some power to back her up. One look into her crazy eyes told Joystick that she shouldn’t turn her back on Spider Woman for a second.

Blue Streak, some kind of lame skating mercenary was staring at Joystick as she let her other baton fade. She had nothing to fear from these clowns; Griffin, a man as dumb as the animals that he was seemingly related to, was a bigger freak than the X-Men. Last was Porcupine, she didn’t know who wore the armor now, and frankly she didn’t care though the last Porcupine had quite a reputation.

“Glad to see you could make it, Joystick,” the man that had met her in the restaurant stood before her, though now he sported a ragged red cloak that blew in a non-existent wind.

“What kind of circus do you have going on here?” Joystick asked, sneering at the newest Porcupine.

The Griffin roared and turned toward her, extending his massive claws. “I wouldn’t talk bad about your comrades in arms, Joystick. They might not be there when you need them in battle.” The cloaked man chastised her.

“I don’t need any of them.”

“You make not think much of us, but I could kill you in seconds, little girl,” Spider Woman hissed one of her hands glowing with crackling red energy.

“Love to see you try,” Joystick let both of her batons rematerialize in her hands.

“Ladies, as much as the boys and I might like a good cat fight we are here to discuss business.”

“Tell us what you want, Hood,” Spider Woman returned her attention back on the man in the red cloak.

“Hood?” Joystick smirked.

“That is what I go by,” her contact told her.

“I’m not working with crazy people like her,” Joystick jabbed a finger at Spider Woman who smirked at her.

“Not even for ten million dollars apiece?”

“What? What exactly are we getting hired to do?”

The Hood smirked at her. “If I tell you we can’t let you leave without joining us.”

Joystick laughed looking at them all. “I’d love to see you stop me. But go ahead and tell me, I’ll decide then.”

The Hood looked at the other members of his gang, they in turn nodded at him, though Spider Woman shook her head in disagreement.

“We are going to raid a Shield base.”

Joystick laughed. “I’m in.”