A bare light bulb hangs over a dingy table in Washington DC. 5 men sit at this table, all brought together by a common purpose, a singular drive.
"Gentlemen, you all know why we're here", says a voice from the darkness. As he leans forward Baxter, the Growing Man's face is bathed in the yellow light. "How do we kill Superman?"
Ultimate Central Annual #1
REVOLUTIONS
Ultimate Quicksilver: Okay, Baxter's lost it. Of course what can you expect, the guy hasn't won a hand for weeks.
Baxter: Hey, screw you man. I'm just learning all your tells.
Shihad: Sure you are Bax, I'm winning by sheer luck.
That and the Squirrels that are peeking through the windows.
Baxter: Says the man who was hanging out in the cabin from Evil Dead for how long? We're lucky you can still talk to us Squirrel Boy.
Baxter tosses down his cards in disgust.
Baxter: I'm getting a beer. Anyone want one?"
Aeroth: GIVE THE MALTED BARLEY AND HOPS TO ME! FEED MY POWER! FEED IT!
Baxter: Shut you damned dragon up Stangefate! I don't know why we keep the damn thing around, all it does is eat and scream obscenities.
Quicksilver: Well we keep you around, don't we?
Baxter: Ha ha. Crap. We're out of beer. Quicksilver, lil' help?
Quicksilver: Can't someone else go on a beer run for once?
The entire group stares at Ultimate Quicksilver, their flat expressions telling him everything.
Quicksilver: Yeah, yeah… just wait, I'm going to leave something on the top shelf…. in a blast furnace…. Surrounded by giant dragon/squirrels, so you'll all have to do something for me!
Goodwill: Just go would you. I've had about enough of everyone's moaning.
Aeroth: FLEE! FLEE THE POWER OF MY MIGHTY EXCRETIONS!
Quicksilver bolts from the room, not wanting to be around when the rest of the group finds out what that one meant
Strangefate: More from our fearless leader. How's the plans for domination coming Goodwill. Figured out a way for us to storm the White House and not get dropped on the front lawn yet?
Goodwill: Yes. Yes I have.
Strangefate: ...Oh. Well, what is it?
Goodwill: We need more people for it to work. I'm putting you on that Strangefate. You're the only one o us who can give people powers.
Stangefate: I can't give people powers, all I can really do there is bring out a power that was going to manifest anyway. People that had already been exposed to the Ucs information.
Aeroth: FEEL MY POWER! SLAYER OF GIANTS! BLAAAAUUUURRRGHHHH!
Baxter: Oh Jesus, get it away from me
Baxter swats at Aeroth, trying to get the dragons tiny rear end away from him
Baxter: God is that rotten…
Goodwill: You mean Aeroth was always going to be like that?
Strangefate: … Maybe not exactly, but something near. Anyway, don't you think most of the people who'd have gained powers have shown themselves by now? I mean we were all pretty quick about coming out and going on display. The last one to pop up was JTG, and he was as much Nurachi's fault as he was changed by Ultimate E.
Goodwill: That's why you're all going to go find people that were at the site but didn't mutate on their own. I want you to find Ourchair and Compound, change them, and bring them back here.
Shihad: I don't think that'll be a very good idea boss.
Goodwill glares at Shihad.
Goodwill: Shihad, why would you say that?
Shihad: Well, I mean haven't you watched the news lately?
Goodwill: Pretend I haven't.
Shihad: Well, I mean the Philippines have been taken over by a new dictator, call's himself Moving Colors. Its been all over the papers, even been on Dateline.
Goodwill: That doesn't change anything. Strangefate, I want you, Baxter, and Quicksilver to -
Quicksilver zips in: What boss? Hey, all I could get was Milwaukee's best. That okay?
Goodwill: Wha? Damn it! I want the three of you to go the Philippines, find Compound and Ourchair, power them up, and get all five of your asses back here so we can get to some real work. NOW GO! Come on Aeroth, we have planning to do.
The purple menace follows behind as Goodwill leaves the room, going down into the basement of their less than well furnished shack.
Baxter: Wasn't Aeroth supposed to be your sidekick or something Strangefate? I mean you turned him into that, and he helped you out for a long time.
Strangefate: Yeah. Lets get going guys. I can fly there, Quicksilver, you can run. Bax, how are you getting to The Phillipines?
Baxter: What? You can't just magic me there?
Strangefate: No. I can't just "Magic you there". There are limits to what I can do, and transporting 60 foot tall drunks to the other side of the planet are outside of them.
Baxter: Crap. Well Quicksilver, better get moving. We've got get going.
Quicksilver: …. How am I supposed to carry you?
Baxter: I dunno…. I think I saw a wheelbarrow out back. I could sit in that and you could push it.
Quicksilver: I want to join The Avatars.
Baxter goes through the house, grabbing a few cans of beer and comes back around the side, pushing the wheelbarrow. Quicksilver stands beside it, then sighs. A moment later they're off, flying across country to get enough speed to maintain movement across the ocean. Dr. Stangefate follows behind, the preparing a net spell to find the hopeful new additions to The Cabinet.
Baxter: Well, we're here.
Quicksilver: Oh god… oh god…
Baxter: Quit being a wuss. Not my fault I threw up, you could have been a little more gentle in the trip.
Quicksilver: Oh god… Oh god…
Strangefate: I'm getting two different readings from my spells. Compound is to the north, Ourchair is to the south. We could split up, or we could do one at a time.
Baxter: Let's just do Ourchair first. I'm sure he'd be all over being a superhero, then we can worry about Compound.
Dr. Strangefate leads the team south, eventualy coming upon a prison.
Baxter: Tell me that's just in the way.
Stangefate: Nope, he's in a sublevel.
Dr. Strangefate turns into his solid steel form.
Strangefate: It looks like we're going to have to get our hands dirty.
Baxter: No sleep spell?
Strangefate: No sleep spell.
Baxter: Well then. I guess you should burst through a wall and get all of their attentions. It's just a prison, so they probably don't have any ordnance high enough to penetrate your hide. Quicksilver here can zip in and disarm them as we move, I'll take out any stragglers. No sense in leaving people behind, that just bites you in the *** later.
Dr. Strangefate and Quicksilver just stare at Baxter, both with looks of disbelief on their faces.
Baxter: What? You thought I was here incase we got into a drinking contest with The E-Men? Lets move people, time to go to work.
The Cabinet starts in, bullets ricocheting off of Dr. Strangefate's steely hide as Ultimate Quicksilver dashes in, disarming the guards on the overlooks first, then moving in and taking care of the guards trying to old the main gate. Baxter follows behind them, expanded to over 50 feet tall and crushing what's left of the resistance. Within minutes the prison was theirs.
Baxter: Well that was easy.
Quicksilver: Yeah, it kinda was. Why are we waiting on whatever Goodwill's working on? We could take the white house now!
Strangefate: … Yes. Yes we could. We're already here though, lets get Ourchair.
After checking in the prison files the trio quickly found Ourchair's cell, in the lowest sub-level of the Prison. Making their way down they noticed conditions decrease, perfectly kept wals of steel and concrete giving way to roughly worked stone, as if the foundation of the building had been carved into the accommodate the prisoner. Finaly, they came to a wooden door, held in place by a large stone arm. This was no problem for Baxter to move away after a slight height manipulation. Inside there was a single man sitting in the corner. Small and dirty, Ourchair looked up at the team.
Ourchair: He… Help me.
Strangefate: That's what we're here to do. Now come!
Dr. Strangefate begins his chant, drawing on the mystical energies hidden within the stone walls, creating a large pink orb before him
Strangefate: Now gain your powers! Become what you are supposed to be!
The orb lets loose, hitting Ourchair in the chest and expanding, covering his body in a pinkish glow that illuminates the room. After a moment it subsides, leaving Ourchair standing before them.
Ourchair: … Was that supposed to do something?
Quicksilver: I don't understand. Wasn't that supposed to give him his powers?
Strangefate: Yeah. It worked before. Sort of.
Ourchair: I've already gotten my powers. How do you think Compound took over the country!
Baxter: Really? What'dya do?
Ourchair: I am Ourchair! Master of Magnetism!
Baxter: You're a magneto rip-off? What'd Compound do, want to pay homage to the Xorn introduction and hid you away here?
Ourchair: No, he just found some rocks with really low mineral content. I'm not terribly good at fine control yet.
Strangefate: Ah. Well, what powers did Compound get?
Ourchair: None that I know of. He and I had a late night and decided we should take over the country, next thing you know I'm throwing the military's guns into the ocean when they tried to stop us. Compound decided that he should rule, with me out among the people, keeping them honest. He must have drugged me though, because a week later I woke up here. Did you guys come to rescue me?
Baxter: Uh… Sure. Come on lil' guy, you're coming back to the states with us.
Ourchair: But what about Compound. I can't let him get away with this!
As Ourchair shouts tiny bits of metal begin to move in the room, fly tabs lift up, buttons pull away from shirts, and one filling becomes very painful.
Quicksilver grabs his jaw: Okay, okay, calm down man. We'll help you get Compound. Where is he?
Ourchair: In his newly established "Presidential Mansion" probably. He was bragging about it before he got rid of me.
Strangefate: He's to the north. I'll carry Ourchair, Baxter, you and Quicksilver still have the wheelbarrow outside right?
Baxter: Yep!
Quicksilver: Oh god…
The newly formed quartet makes its way out of the prison sublevels, stopping only at the uppermost level.
Ourchair: I want to leave something for them to remember me by…
Baxter: Not a whole lot of "them" left man.
Ourchair ignores this comment and begins to concentrate. Soon the sounds to tearing metal tear through the air.
Ourchair: There. I just set everyone here free. Lets see what kind of resistance Compound can put up when he's dealing with a wholesale prison break in the south.
The Quartet then being to move north, Quicksilver doing his best to slow to the speed of Dr. Strangefate. They soon reach the Presidential Retreat of Compound.
Baxter: Looks like security is at a minimum. Compound had to know that you'd come here after escaping. Why did he send everyone out?
Strangefate: Truth be told, we didn't leave a lot of people behind that'd talk…
Baxter grins evilly: Good point. Who's up for knocking on the front door?
The front door of the retreat was a beautiful, handcrafted piece of sturdy oak, with gilded panel inlays and a delightful knocker hung below the peephole. I say was because 20 seconds ago Dr. Strangefate, in his solid steel form tore through it, hurled by an enlarged Baxter. With an entry to the building made Quicksilver darted in, searching the premises and returning with a small, very scared looking Asian man in a luchadore mask.
Ourchair: Thought you got rid of me, didn't you? Well now it's your time to go away!
Baxter: Wait. Hey, Strangefate. Why don't you try and power him up?
Strangefate: Why that's a great idea Baxter.
Dr. Strangefate does as he did before, drawing energies from the area around him into a tight ball, then forcing it onto Compound, bathing him in a this time dark red light. After it surrounds him his body twists and breaks, small, segmented legs sprouting from his sides. His hands meld together, forming giant claws, and his entire body shrinks down, with deep red spines growing off of his back. As the light recedes Compound is shown mutated into a small, spiney crab, wich Baxter picks up.
Baxter: I think I'll call him Pokey.
Strangefate: Lets get going team. We've got some work to do back in America.
The team returns stateside a little less comfortably than the original trip, but with far less bodily fluids escaping. Once shown to his room in the shack Ourchair quickly fell asleep. Baxter passed out soon after, but that was more thanks to the case of beer than to months of imprisonment.
Goodwill: You brought me a crab.
Quicksilver: It might do more. Aeroth can talk.
Strangefate: And we brought you someone with control over magnetism.
Goodwill: And a crab.
Strangefate: Yes. And a crab.
Shihad yells in from the other room: Guys. You might want to come check this out.
Goodwill, Quicksilver and Dr. Strangefate go into the other room where the 11 o'clock news is on.
Reporter: Today the dictator known only as Moving Colors was deposed from his rule in the Philippines
Goodwill: ...what did you do?
Quicksilver: We-
Goodwill: WHAT DID YOU DO!
Strangefate: We made a difference there! It's more than we've done sitting here, playing cards and drinking beer!
Reporter: All evidence leads the authorities to believe that meta-human activity can be attributed to the overthrow. One citizen even managed to catch amateur video footage of a giant man apparently hurling a smaller man through a doorway.
Goodwill: They got Baxter on film you idiots! How big a calling card do you want to leave! Now Everyone is going to be on our asses!
Goodwill storms off to his basement, Aeroth moving to follow
Strangefate: Aeroth, wait! Its me, Dr. Strangefate. I'm your friend.
Aeroth: M… Friend?
Goodwill: Aeroth, come!
Aeroth immediately turns and follows, leaving Dr. Strangefate to seethe in his anger.
Strangefate: Things are going to change around here… Soon…
