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Silent Jury
Issue #6
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter 10
Enemy From the Past
Hours after the big battle, the whole team is finally awake and out of uniform.
Robert and the girls are all soaking in a hot tub. Their bodies ache from head
to toe and the warm water with some mineral salts is helping them. While none of
them suffered any broken bones or lacerations, they are all bruised. They are
all in their bathing suits and relaxing in the tub. Robert looks over at the
girls and says "We really need more practice." Vanessa chimes in "What we need
is some major firepower." Connie smiles and says "Good thing we found Daniel or
we would all be dead now." They all nod in agreement. He really was a godsend.
Robert then added "We could have really used The One back there." Connie looks
down and says "If not for him, we would never have been in that predicament."
Vanessa reaches over and gives Connie a hug "Don't blame yourself. Justin's
money has a way of corrupting even the best people." Connie smiles as she feels
a little better. But deep down, she still feels responsible for his actions. She
did hand pick him as her body guard. How could she have been so wrong about him?
His credentials were impeccable. He served as a trusted bodyguard for years. How
long has he been crooked and how much information does he have? She hopes that
her father has taken steps to insure he does not use information to destroy her
father's businesses.
While they are soaking in the hot tub, Gadget, Charlie and Daniel are talking.
"Who was that crazed guy that blew up the building?" Daniel asks. "I do not know
alot about him but from what I heard, his villain name is Psyclone and he is a
psychic, a very powerful psychic as you have seen." Daniel nods in agreement as
he then asks "He kept yelling out something about leaving his legos alone. What
are legos?" Gadget laughs as he answers "Legos are a toy building blocks for
kids. If what I heard is correct, when he gained the psychic powers, they
destroyed his mind and now he has all the power in the world but the mind of a
little boy. They must use legos as a way to calm him and also to get him to
attack." Charlie adds "All the power in world is right. He leveled an entire
building with just a thought." Gadget answers "The attack you saw is what I
heard was called the Psyclone. It is a psychic attack that hits with the power
of a cyclone. It is where he gets his name from." Charlie then adds "But you
were able to survive it. No one has ever lived through an attack like that
before." Daniel smiles and says "Yeah, but I doubt I could survive two of them."
They all agree to that.
Back at Justin Rage's main building, he is consulting with the Deacon. "Did they
find any bodies in the rubble?" he asks the Deacon. "Sir, there were no bodies
there, except for our men who were all killed." Justin stands up and slams his
fist on the desk "Psyclone goes in and destroys the entire building and yet we
cannot find any bodies? Are you telling me they survived that?" Deacon backs up
a step and says "It is possible the bodies will show up yet. They may have been
thrown into the lake or landed somewhere else." Justin then leans over the desk
and says "Maybe that mystery man saved them. Get me the satellite recording
now!" Deacon begins to walk out of the room as he says "I will get it right now
sir."
An hour later, Deacon walks in with the tape and says "You may want to sit down
while viewing this." Justin gives him a dirty look and takes the tape from his
hands. Deacon quickly exits the room as Justin turns and inserts the tape into
his television. Outside the room, Deacon is walking away as he hears Justin
screaming obscenities at the top of his voice. It would be best if Deacon was
not in the building for the next few hours. Things could get real ugly.
Later that evening, after Justin Rage has calmed down, he is in session with the
Deacon and other of his top advisors. "Gentlemen, we have a major dilemma on our
hands." he says as he stands up. The group is all sitting. To the right of
Justin is his research team. The head doctors and scientists are seated here.
They have piles of papers with charts and diagrams. On the left side sits the
muscle. These are the men that run his many different operations. From drugs to
protection to illegal weapons, these are the men who supply the money for
Justin's empire to flourish. At the end of the table, opposite of Justin is
Deacon, his trusted right hand man. As he looks around the room, he continues
"If it wasn't enough to have to battle the Fury, we now have a greater foe. The
newly formed Silent Jury added a member who possesses great magical abilities."
The men all look at him with shock, except for the Deacon who already knows
this. "Watch this footage and see how he was able to withstand Psyclone's
onslaught." As he shows the footage, they all stare in disbelief. It is well
documented how powerful Psyclone is and how no one has ever survived his
devastating psyclone attack. But this mystery man not only survived it, but also
was able to save the rest of the team and then teleport them to safety. "I need
to know who this man is and how we can stop him." he says as he pounds his fist
on the table. "I want information about every magician in the area, from
amateurs doing parlor tricks to illusionists who make buses disappear." They all
nod in agreement. He then continues "I want reports of anyone in the past who
had any magical powers or pretended to have magical powers, living or dead."
Once again, they all nod in agreement. He then takes both fists and slams them
on the table and yells "And I want you looking NOW!" With that, they all get up
and run off. They know that Justin Rage rewards his employees handsomely when
they succeed and punishes them cruelly when they fail.
Back at the headquarters, Robert and the girls are talking with Daniel as they
are walking down some stairs. "Thanks again for saving our lives." Robert says
for the umpteen time. Daniel smiles and says "You are most welcome, but enough
with the thanks." As they move down the stone stairs, they come to the familiar
cavern where they first found Daniel. Robert then asks "So you remember anything
about this place before you were frozen?" Daniel looks around as if he is trying
to remember anything. Then he walks off and heads towards a part of the room
that is dark. As he comes up to wall, he starts feeling around if for some kind
of lever or button. "I saw Dr. Warlock go into a room over here, but I never
knew where it led." The others soon join him in the search for something to
trigger the wall and make it open. After a few minutes of looking, Vanessa steps
back and says "Maybe it was a word that triggered it. You know like Open Sesame
or Abracadabra." Connie and Robert stopped looking as well. Daniel then stood up
and thought for a few seconds. "I do remember them saying something when they
were over there. Something about Satan, whoever he is." Connie then answers
"Satan is a name for the devil, the master of evil." Daniel thought for a second
and said "We told of the fallen one where I came from. He fell from the heavens
and fell to our planet to cause trouble." Connie smiled and said "Yes, that is
similar to Satan. He was an angel who lived with God until he turned on God and
was thrown out of Heaven and created Hell." Daniel looked at them a bit puzzled
"Does this Satan really exist?" Robert decides to answer that one "No one has
ever been able to prove if he does or doesn't exist." Daniel then adds "Well,
the fallen one does exist. I had to battle him more than once." Vanessa then
says "Well, lets try to get this door open. Let's see, Satan Rules. I love
Satan. Open Satan." They all start yelling out Satan phrases in hope of getting
the door to open. Robert yells out "I Give My Soul to Satan" and the door starts
to rise. They all look at him and he says "We really need to find a way to
change that password." As they walk into the room, they are all stunned. They
have found the sacrificial room for the cult. Inside is a large stone altar that
has dried blood on it. There are cells all around the room that all look locked.
In the far corner, there are numerous large metal cabinets with large locks on
them. There is also a row of hooded outfits that look similar to a monk's robes
only with a red devil on the back. The robes are all black, except for the evil
looking devil with big red horns. Next to the robes is a rack full of weapons.
They all look like instruments of torture, including whips, knives and other
items. In the middle of the room is a large well. It is a large hole and it has
a stone wall going around it, giving it the appearance of a well. They all walk
over and look into it. No one can see the bottom and all they see is pitch
black. "Don't want to fall down there." Vanessa says as she steps away. Connie
then runs over to the cells and looks inside. She screams after looking into one
and steps back and covers her face. The rest of the group heads over and looks
into the cell. There is a skeleton laying there in chains. As they move from
cell to cell, they see the same thing. Each one had a skeleton and all the
skeletons seem to be wearing only the most basic of clothing. The outfits appear
to be made of a burlap sack and not very comfortable. "This must be where they
kept the people they were going to sacrifice to Satan." Robert says in an
uncomfortable voice.
After the shock of the dead bodies wears off, they move to the large metal
cabinets. While they are covered with dust and the locks look rusty, they still
are strong and keep the doors locked. They try pulling on the doors a few times
but with no luck. These giant rusty locks are doing the job they were created to
do and doing it quite well. Daniel then urges them back and waves his hand at
the locks and says some unknown words and a rush of ice spurts from his fingers.
He covers all three locks with the ice and then motions for them to stay back.
While they are all standing there, he goes over and picks up a hammer off the
rack full of torture devices. He walks over to each lock and hits it hard with
the hammer. Each lock smashes into pieces. One by one they fall apart under the
combination of the deep freeze spell and the power of the hammer. Once he is
done smashing the locks, they open the doors and find something they never
expected. Where they feared they would find more bodies or decayed body parts is
instead a collection of weapons, armor, capes and other super hero accessories.
They go from cabinet to cabinet and find each one is full of different costumes.
From long flowing capes to various masks to ray guns and swords, they have found
a treasure trove of super hero or super villain accessories. This prompts them
all to go running upstairs to get Gadget and Charlie and show them what they
found.
Justin Rage is pacing in his office, waiting for someone from his team to bring
him any word of this mysterious magician who just showed up and save the Silent
Jury. He finally had them beat when this stranger showed up and not only beat
his men, but survived a direct assault from Psyclone. Whoever this man was, he
was very powerful. But he had to have a weakness, everyone does and if Justin
Rage could find out who he is, he could find a way to exploit that weakness. As
he paces, Deacon stops in with a troubled look on his face. "Give me some good
news, Deacon, I am not in any mood for more bad news." Justin says with a scowl
on his face. Deacon goes into a submissive pose with his head and gaze diverted
downward and reluctantly says "We checked every available source and came up
with nothing. Whoever this person is, they either just arrived or has been in
hiding for the last few decades." Justin growls with this news and begins to
speak in a very slow and very menacing voice "If we cannot figure out who he is,
maybe we can figure out how to defeat him." Deacon steps back and says "We are
working on that, but we do not know the full extent of his powers of their
source, so it is too premature to create a strategy to defeat him." Justin then
walks from around his desk and gets next to Deacon. With his face only inches
from Deacon's he says "Did you ever hear the saying, fight fire with fire? Well,
find the best wizards or magicians out there and get them to join us, by any
means necessary." Deacon shows fear as he swallows hard. He knows it is best to
not show fear, but he also knows that his time is running out and this is no
time for bravery. Self preservation is the only course right now and he has to
think of a way to appease the boss. He slowly answers "We are in communication
with some satanic groups right now." Justin moves a bit closer. He wants Deacon
to feel his breath on his face. "Then get going and don't fail me again." he
says as he stares so hard that Deacon has to blink. Once he blinks, he keeps his
eyes closed and turns and leaves the room. When Justin stares you down, the only
thing to do is let him win the stare down and get out of the room ASAP.
As Gadget and Charlie come down to look at the treasure trove of costumes and
accessories they found, they are just as amazed as the kids. They look through
each one carefully as memories from the past come back. Gadget holds up a
costume with fake fur along the collar and spikes "The Man-Beast, I remember
him. That was one tough customer." Charlie holds up a long flowing dress that
looks to be made of spun gold "Remember how every man wanted the Golden Swan,
even if she was a villain." They both smile as they look at that costume.
Vanessa breaks up their trip down memory lane "You knew these people?" Gadget
smiles and says "They were old foes of ours." Charlie then picks up another
costume that looks like a karate outfit but with gold trim and a very unique
looking belt that looks more like something Batman would wear as opposed to a
martial artist. "The Kung Fu Criminal, possibly one of the dumbest names ever."
They both break out laughing and even the kids start to laugh as well. The name
is very stupid and the costume almost looks like lounging pajamas for a disco
dancer than a super villain costume. Robert then asks "Why do you think all
these costumes are here?" Gadget stops to think for a few seconds but before he
can respond, Charlie fields the question "Since some of these villains were
still going after we shut down this cult, my guess is they created and sold the
costumes and weapons to the villains." Gadget then adds "Was probably a way to
pay for all this technology." They all agree with that assessment.
As Justin Rage is looking at the tape again, one of his minions walks into the
room. The man looks sleazy with a black trench coat, long greasy hair and a long
mustache. Mr. Rage, may I speak with you? Justin turns around in his chair and
looks right at the man. He has his normal steely glare as he says "This better
be important." The man gulps and nervously answers "I th-th-think I know how
t-t-to defeat t-t-t-the wizard." Justin hates scared men. He views it as a sign
of weakness and tries to exploit it. He stands up and reaches under the desk to
find the button that signals his guards. "You have thirty seconds to explain
yourself." he says as he puts his finger on the button. "I know a man who says
he knows who the wizard is." he says in a rushed voice. Justin Rage walks over
to him and gets within a few feet of him "SO where is he?" The man turns and
yells. A meek little man with thick glasses walks into the room. "Good day Mr.
Rage" he says as he holds his hat to his chest. It is almost like he is using it
as a shield. "So you know who the wizard is?" Justin says in an angry voice. He
then follows with a raised voice" Well, who is he?" The man takes a step
backwards and raises his hat a few inches. It is at throat level now. In the
background, Deacon is looking in. He hoped that his lead was telling the truth
about this guy and it was not just some hoax. The man then answers "He is a
wizard from another dimension. He was brought here by Doctor Warlock." Justin
Rage looks puzzled. He has does not remember anyone named Doctor Warlock. He
signals for Deacon to come in. As Deacon comes near him, he says "Find out who
Doctor Warlock is and give me any information you can find." Deacon nods and
quickly leaves the room. Justin Rage then looks back at the man and says "Where
is Doctor Warlock now?" The man lifts the hat up higher, almost as if he is
trying to hide behind it. He looks out from behind his Hat and says "He is in
another dimension." Justin Rage now believes the guy is a nutcase and is ready
to throw him out. But he decides to ask more questions in hope that the guy is
not completely insane. "How did he get to that dimension?" he asks in a cynical
voice. The man pulls out a picture and hands it to Justin. It shows a machine
and the man standing next to it. "This machine can open the door between
dimensions." he says. Justin expects the next answer to be about the machine
being lost or broken "Where is the machine now?" The man smiles and says "I have
it in my basement." Justin is surprised by the answer and wonders how the man
will answer his next question "Does it still work?" The man smiles and lowers
his hat "Yes, I can make it work." Justin then moves closer to the man and asks
"Can you use it to bring Doctor Warlock back here?" The man smiles and says "I
can try, if he is still alive." He knew there would be a catch. But he figures
it is a chance so he asks "What do you mean still alive?" The man gets nervous
again and pulls his hat back in front of him "He went to the other dimension
over twenty years ago." Justin then picks up the phone and calls Deacon "Come in
here immediately." Within minutes, Deacon appears in the room, with a worried
look on his face. "You wanted to see me?" he asks with great hesitation. Justin
walks over and looks him right in the face "Get some men and escort this man
back to his house and pick up this machine and bring both of them back here." He
then puts the picture into Deacon's hand. The two of them then quickly leave the
room.
Back at the mountain fortress, Gadget is busy working with Charlie. They are
examining and analyzing all the weapons and other items they found. They have a
stack of weapons that used to belong to the villains of the past and now are
trying to figure out how they worked and if they can incorporate them into their
armor design. Gadget is checking out a pair of gauntlets that have fake icicles
hanging from them. "I think these belonged to the Frost Master." Charlie takes a
look at them and says "I always thought his name sounded like a refrigerator
brand name." They both laugh at the joke. Gadget then says "Silly name aside, we
may be able to incorporate some of this technology into the armor." Charlie
looks at him and says "What are you thinking?" Gadget is looking at the
mechanism and says "While this is over 20 years old, the technology is beyond
anything I have ever seen. There is a cooling mechanism in this gauntlet that
can not only freeze water instantly, but it is self sustaining." Charlie takes a
look at the gauntlet that Gadget has partially taken apart "What do you mean
self sustaining?" Gadget points to a small machine inside it and says "This part
does all the work, but I do not see any source of power. It must have some
unique battery or energy source that allows it to keep working without needing
outside power." As Charlie takes a closer look he says "Is such a thing
possible?" Gadget works at opening it up and he says "We have proof right in
front of us, so I guess it is. But it does not make any sense scientifically."
Charlie then asks "But maybe it has a battery that will run out." Gadget then
aims the gauntlet, which is hooked to a water tank that is strapped to his back,
at a far wall and shoots it. A stream of ice flies out and covers the far wall.
But instead of stopping, he keeps shooting and shooting. After five minutes,
there is a very large wall of ice that has grown. He finally stops it and turns
to Charlie and says "Even our armor cannot shoot the lasers for five straight
minutes." Charlie does look amazed and says "It would completely sap all the
energy of the armor." Gadget nods and adds "But this can keep going as long as
there is water. The power it would take to be able to freeze and shoot water
like that, has to be tremendous. And to be able to do it for such an extended
period of time is nothing short of amazing." Charlie touches the box that houses
the power and says "And it does not feel hot or cold. It is like it was not used
at all." Gadget puts the item down and says "We have to find out who created
this and how." They both nod in agreement.
In an abandoned building, Justin Rage, Deacon, the man who created the machine
that can open between dimensions and a handful of Rage's guards are standing
around a strange looking machine. The machine is about five feet tall and has a
long cylinder on the front that resembles a ray gun. There are different lights
around it. It sits on a rotating platform that appears to house the battery that
charges it. There is a chair right behind the gun. The man gets into the chair
and then starts turning a dial that moves the chair upwards. The man who goes by
Mr. Smith says to Justin "I can open the dimension and even use a locater to try
and find Doctor Warlock, but I cannot guarantee he will come or that he is even
alive." Justin nods in agreement and says "You explained yourself a hundred
times. Can we please proceed? My patience wears thin." Two of the guards move a
large mirror into the room and place it into a stand that holds it in place. Mr.
Smith then moves the device and points it at the mirror. He begins to push some
buttons and lights start turning on all over the device. A whirring noise comes
out and the lights are now pulsating. Mr. Smith
steadily moves the device until it is pointed at the center of the mirror. He
closes his eyes and makes a sign of the cross. He then pushes a button and a
beam of light shoots from the tip of the gun and hits the mirror. Instead of the
light reflecting off the mirror, it is being absorbed into the mirror. As more
and more light enters the mirror, an image appears in the mirror. It is an image
of man in a long black robe. He has a head of wild white hair and a long beard
and mustache. His eyes are red and he looks evil. He is sitting at a table
reading what looks like an ancient tome. All of a sudden, he turns and looks
right at the mirror. "Someone is viewing me." he says with an annoyed voice. He
then stands up and looks right at the group. He lifts his hands and chants some
words that sound like gibberish. He then moves his hands like he is tracing a
window and then steps back and looks in. "What do you want?" he yells out.
Everyone takes a step back, including Justin Rage. "Speak up or I will vanquish
all of you." he says as he raises his hands again. The man in the chair speaks
"Master, it is me your loyal servant. I was forced to show you to these men."
All of sudden a glimmer appears in his eye and a small smile comes over his face
"Smith, is that you?" Mr. Smith perks up and sits up straight "Yes, its me. I
has been so long, I feared you were dead." Doctor Warlock breaks out in laughter
as he says "Dead? You so underestimate me." He then lets him hands down and asks
"So who wants to gaze upon the great wizard, Doctor Warlock?" Justin Rage steps
forward and says "I come to ask your aid. We have a common enemy and I need your
assistance to defeat them." A puzzled look comes over Doctor Warlock's face
"What enemies can I have on your worthless planet?" Justin knows he needs to
figure out a way to get him to come. He cannot think of anything other than the
truth, so he decides to go with that, but he will embellish it a bit. "The
Silent Jury is back and they have a wizard with them that says he is greater
than even you." Doctor Warlock breaks out laughing "Greater than me? Who is this
insolent pup?" Justin motions for one of his guards to bring him a blown up
picture. He holds it up and says "Here is a picture of him." While the picture
is not perfect, Doctor Warlock can plainly see it is Damien. "I know that face.
I brought that good for nothing wizard to your world, but I could not make him
do my bidding." Justin looks at him and says "And now he boasts how he can best
any wizard, even you." Doctor Warlock looks at him and says "I
will come and destroy this fool, but I am not coming alone." Justin looks
at him and says "That is fine, just help us defeat this man." With that,
Mr. Smith hits a few more buttons and the light on the ray changes. It
also grows in power as it continues to shoot into the mirror. More and
more power is pulsating through the ray as the mirror begins to shake. The
mirror begins to glow hot as smoke rises from it. Then the mirror explodes
and glass flies all over the room. Everyone covers their faces to prevent
the shattered glass from cutting their faces. The mirror's frame falls to
the ground and a stream of smoke pours out of the frame. As the men look
on, they see two human figures coming up from the mirror and walking out of the
smoke. As the smokes slowly clears, there stands Doctor Warlock and a
large shadowy figure behind him. The man behind him is about seven feet
tall, has a very large set of wings that look like a bat's wings. He has
two small horns on his head. He is dark red in color and looks much like
the demons from the paintings and horror movies. Doctor Warlock then yells
out "I have returned to Earth and I have come to conquer it!"
Silent Jury © 2006 Tom Zjaba
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