Omega Force No More (part 1)

[part 1 of a series featuring fictional superheroes losing their powers--expect twinkification and role reverasal in the future!]

In the desert wasteland, hundreds of miles outside Destro City’s limits, lay a sun-scorched metallic hatch surrounded by mounted gun turrets pointing skyward. Only the whistling of the wind could be heard (if there were even anyone around to hear it)--until a static humming grew in intensity, just as a bright light appeared over the horizon, rocketing toward the hatch at high speeds.

In reality it was NAPALM, the young atomic-powered member of the superhero team “Omega Force”, his body surrounded by an aura of broiling flame. Napalm slowed his approach as he neared the hatch, seemingly defying physics by hovering in mid-air, his body perpendicular to the ground. “Guys,” the 22-year old hero spoke into his wrist-communicator. “I don’t see anyone else out here. I think we made it too late.”

Moments later, Napalm was joined by a young winged man with shimmering golden-skin–ICARUS, the legendary immortal superhero (and ally to Napalm). His wings flitted as he hovered above the hatch, unsheathing his glowing bow as he aimed three arrows of pure energy at the seemingly-abandoned metallic construct.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Icarus boomed in a godlike voice that made the sand ripple. “Did we not just receive a mayday request from Aquatico and Skyscraper?”

Napalm flew in an arc around the hatch, surveying the landscape. “Doesn’t appear to be anyone for miles. And the hatch looks abandoned… Oh, wait…” He tapped his wrist communicator and leaned in to listen. “Icarus, the Gadgeteer says he’s taken care of the issue at the hatch and we have to report back to headquarters. Something doesn’t add up here…”

The two heroes’ confused discussion was interrupted by a loud whistling from above, like the sound of a bomb dropping. “Perhaps tell our oversized companion to slow his descent?” Icarus boomed.

Napalm tapped the communicator. “Yo, Hyperman… slow it down! There’s no immediate threat here! You’re coming in too–”

Had either of the heroes been on the ground when the titanic form of the gigantic HYPERMAN struck the ground, the shockwave would have sent them flying. (As it was, the turrets were blown to pieces, the hatch splitting in half.) A seven-foot tall muscular man crouched in the center of the crater he’d just caused. He rose to his full height, flexed his enormous arms and stomped forward, his silver-colored spandex suit shimmering as his long ebony hair swished back and forth with each step.

Hyperman grabbed the remains of the shattered hatch with one hand and tossed it aside. “Two options, boys,” he said, peering into the dark hole beneath. “Either one of you goes in to scout around, or I go in and pulverize anything that moves.” He pounded a giant fist into his other palm, running his tongue along his teeth.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Napalm said, flying between the 1000 pound hero and the mysterious hole. “We just got word from the Gadgeteer that the mayday was already taken care of. Hyperman, this wasn’t our assignment. Maybe we should just head back to headquarters and–”

“Why have we heard from the Gadgeteer and not Aquatico or Skyscraper?” Icarus said, crossing his lean muscular arms. “Something has been amiss with that technology-obsessed machinist lately…”

“Icarus is right,” Hyperman said, bouncing his enormous pecs. “Gadgeteer’s been… off… lately…”

Napalm looked at his two companions, then sighed and landed on the arid sandy ground. His crackling flame dissipated as he shook his head. “Guys, I know what you’re saying… I mean, he assured us the off-world mission he sent us on was of ‘world-ending importance’ and when we get up there, it’s just a few malfunctioning robots in space!”

“And as soon as we return from the aetherial void,” Icarus said with a sneer, “we find a mysterious mayday request from our teammates.”

“And a hatch that gives me a bad feeling,” Hyperman said. He stomped the ground, making the earth shake. “I see we go in and destroy everything. If it’s nothing, then we destroyed nothing. If it’s something…”

Suddenly a metallic humanoid burst from the gaping hole, hovering on flaming jet propulsion in the air above them. It wasn’t the Gadgeteer himself, but it was one of his constructs. “Boys, I believe I told you to return to headquarters,” the robot said. Its armored shoulders opened up revealing small missile launchers. One aimed at Napalm, the other at Icarus.

“We were… just going there…” Napalm began, but Hyperman clapped his hands together. The resulting wave of force smashed into the robot, sending it flying, but it released its missiles.

“Forgive me for not being intimidated,” Icarus said, drawing his bow, but Hyperman leapt into the air, spreading the muscular expanse of his back wide as a shield. The missiles struck him, exploding harmlessly. His silver suit was tattered, revealing rippling hard-as-steel muscles underneath, but the enormous man was unphased.

“I could have dealt with that myself,” Icarus reminded his large friend.

“Yeah, me too, honestly,” Napalm said, bursting aflame as he once again took flight.

“Why bother? Felt like a couple mosquito bites to me,” Hyperman said, stomping over to the smashed robot.

“We could have done this easily,” buzzed the defective machine from a damaged speaker, “but you’ve forced my hand. Trust me, boys, this isn’t how I wanted to do this.”

The three heroes braced themselves for a battle, but for moments they heard only silence–until the smell of ozone filled the air, and dark portals formed around them, swallowing them up. “The hell–Vortex? Is Vortex teleporting us?”

It happened in seconds–instantly, the portals snapped shut, and the desert was uninhabited once again.

* * *

Milton Granger III, the man known to the public as the GADGETEER, adjusted his goggles as he surveyed the three heroes standing, frozen in place, in a containment area in the Omega Force headquarters. Rather than his usual carapace of techno-gear, he now wore just a three-piece suit. At his side was the muscular blue-skinned man known as the TITAN, who grinned with fanged teeth as he stopped in front of Hyperman, who was locked in stasis just like his teammates, a furious look on his face.

Also flanking Milton was a man whose skin glowed with purple light, surrounded by a dark aura that seemed to contain a starry expanse of space within it–known to the public as VORTEX.

“Keep them frozen,” the Gadgeteer said as he produced a hypo-gun and jabbed it into Napalm’s neck. He pulled the trigger and the iridescent blue liquid in the gun’s chamber emptied.

“How you gonna give Hyperman his shot?” Titan growled, licking his sharp incisors as he leered at the enormous hero, who towered over Titan by a foot.

“Can’t penetrate his skin,” the Gadgeteer said, “so he gets his serum in aerosolyzed form.” He reached into Hyperman’s mouth, squeezing the spray down the large brute’s throat.

“And finally, the winged man,” he said as he delivered Icarus’ serum at the base of his wings. “That should do it.”

“Should I release them from time stasis?” Vortex asked, his voice an otherworldly echo.

“One moment,” the Gadgeteer said. He stepped back, urging Titan and Vortex to join him. Titan was standing next to Hyperman, leaning into the big man’s armpit.

“Henh. Time-frozen people don’t stink. I guess time has to pass to give off an odor,” Titan said as he backed away.

“Remember, there’s a force field,” the Gadgeteer said, clicking a remote in his hand, “but if they get past it, we don’t want any casualties here. Let ME do the talking. Vortex? Unfreeze them.”

The violet-hued man waved his arms and suddenly Hyperman, Icarus and Napalm sprang to life. They looked around, shocked, as their eyes (still used to the desert sun) adjusted to the darkness.

“You’re back at headquarters, boys,” the Gadgeteer said. “And we have a lot to discuss.”

“What the… you guys… ambushed us?” Napalm said as he stumbled in place, putting a hand on Hyperman’s massive lats to steady himself.

“Your robot took aim at us,” Icarus said. He reached for his bow, but as he aimed it, no energy bolts appeared.

“It was a cheap construct meant solely to occupy you all while Vortex transported you here,” the Gadgeteer said. “And I get why you’re all angry. I was going to have a team meeting about this, but things changed and I had to make some rapid moves.”

Hyperman clenched his fists. “Since when… are you… the fucking LEADER of the team?” Hyperman said, swinging a fist. A web of green energy appeared, stopping the blow in mid-air.

“EASY, big man,” the Gadgeteer said. “We’re all friends here. Let me just cut to the chase, because we do NOT want violence. We’re on home turf! This is where most of us live! Use your brain, not your muscles. You attack out of confusion, you’re going to feel REALLY stupid later on.”

“I think the big oaf pretty much ALWAYS feels stupid,” Titan said, winking at Hyperman, who swung at the indigo muscleman. Once again, a force field stopped him.

“ENOUGH!” the Gadgeteer said. “I’ll cut to the chase, friends. We’re officially disbanded Omega Force.”

All the heroes were silent for a moment, until Hyperman finally spoke up: “You wanna quit? See you later bud. You can even keep your fancy little mansion. I’ve been doing this hero gig for years. I don’t need your permission, or your little logo on my belt.” To illustrate his point, he tore the OMEGA symbol from his costume’s belt, hurling it at the forcefield. It ricocheted a dozen times, illustrating that the three were truly penned in, before it was pulverized.

“Wait… WHY would we disband the Omega Force?” Napalm asked, stepping between Hyperman and the others. “We just beat Formidigon, stopped the invasion of the Tradiuses, not to mention about a hundred other minor threats…”

“How many civilian casualties were incurred in all that fighting?” the Gadgeteer asked. “How much property damage? I figured we’d have people coming for us at some point, but my lawyers can’t save us from this. The government wants us stopped.”

“So who will defend humanity from the constant threats that seem to plague this misbegotten realm?” Icarus asked.

“I’ve designed a team of synthetic peacekeepers, programmed with our ability sets, to keep up the work that we’ve done when needed. They’ll be regulated, and the government will have a kill-switch on all of them.”

“I’ll smash all your little robo-clones,” Hyperman said, “and I’ll shove the pieces down your throat. And then I’ll get back to doing what I’ve always done…”

“In a week or so, you won’t be able to!” Titan growled, clapping his big hands together.

“When I’m done talking, I’ll punch right through this forcefield–you know I can do it–and we’ll see if that little strength power of yours keeps your head attached to your body,” Hyperman threatened. The two powerful heroes clashed, kept apart by the forcefield.

“Hold up,” Napalm interrupted. “What do you mean? What happens in a week?”

The Gadgeteer took a deep breath. He spoke into one of his cufflinks. “Gerald? Come on down. I think it’s time these guys see what we’ve been working on.”

“‘Gerald’? The Shapemaster?” Hyperman said. “He’s been missing for weeks!”

“He’s been in my lab for weeks,” the Gadgeteer said. “VOLUNTARILY, of course.” An automatic door slid aside and a short, heavyset man in a sweatsuit waddled down the stairs.

“Who’s that?” Napalm asked as the shlubby bearded fellow approached.

“Gentlemen, meet Gerald–in his natural form,” the Gadgeteer said.

“Hi guys,” the portly man said, adjusting his glasses. “This is… what I look like when I’m not ‘shifting…”

“I neutralized his powers,” the Gadgeteer said. “It was the ONLY way. The government wanted you all killed–and those of you who can’t be killed, shot into space. There’s no prison that could hold you and they weren’t going to mess around. This is the only way I could think of to keep you all alive.”

Flames suddenly burst from Napalms body as he leapt into the air. “For fuck’s sake, you’re not neutralizing our powers! You can’t do that!” He twitched as the flames above his arms suddenly extinguished. He snapped his fingers multiple times, groaning, until the flames came back.

“I already did,” the Gadgeteer said. “I used the Shapemaster’s genetic code as the basis for the serum. It’s converting each of you from your unique forms into a baseline human. And those of you non-genetic gifts, like Skyscraper’s gauntlets and Icarus’ bow, well… I’ve shut those down as well. And I’ll be confiscating them.”

“Vortex,” Hyperman said, gritting his teeth. “You froze us in time when you transported us. And you let him fucking neuter us, didn’t you, you traiter?”

“Vortex will be taking his serum as well, now that you’ve all been neutralized,” the Gadgeteer said.

Hyperman attacked the forcefield in a rage. The half-ton man exploded in fury, his gigantic muscles bulging and flexing as he threw all of his incredible strength as the barrier. Sure enough, it burst open with an ear-splitting screech, and he stepped forward, grabbing the Gadgeteer in his huge hands.

“Do I look fucking ‘neutralized’ to you?” Hyperman gritted.

Titan leapt up, swinging quickly, his arms tripling with mass just before his enlarged fists connected. Distracted, Hyperman dropped the Gadgeteer, trading blows with Titan that caused shockwaves to rip through the air.

“BOTH of you!” the Gadgeteer shouted as he threw up his arms. “Realize this, if you cause any destruction, you WILL be caught and contained–and held responsible. And maybe today you still have powers, but you won’t, very soon.” He glanced over at Napalm, who held a pulsing fireball in his hand, ready to hurl it at Hyperman’s opponent.

“Henh, plus,” Titan said as the two behemoths' bodies flexed and struggled, “you’ve got a top-limit to your strength. My power lets me get as strong as I need. Only a matter of time before I’m big and strong enough to twist your head off, Hypes,” he said.

“Hyperman, stop!” Napalm called. His flames fizzled out as he settled on the ground. “If what he says is true… I won’t have you going to jail, or worse… I need you, friend, to get through this.”

Hyperman struggled for a moment before finally tossing Titan to the floor. After somersaulting against the wall, the beefed-up man cackled with laughter. “How much you wanna bet,” Titan said, on his feet again, “that Hyperman gave up because his serum’s already making him a pussywhipped little bitch?”

The 7-foot tall hero let loose with a flurry of blows that knocked Titan unconscious, before finally piledriving him into the floor with such force that it left a dent in the metallic floor.

“Fine, I surrender,” Hyperman said, “and you can charge me whatever THAT costs. It was worth it.”