The Beast Inside, Issue #004

Issue #004 – – – – – controlled by Frank Devocht – – – – – Credits 13

Nelson tried his best not to be impressed.  He knew Wild Thing was watching him to see his reaction and he was determined not to react precisely because of that, but he knew his guard was slipping.  “Not bad,” He admitted, grudgingly.  The pair stood in Wild Thing’s headquarters.  He knew that licensed superheroes got a lot of cash from the state in order to do exactly as they were told, no more no less.  When the state said: “Jump” they asked: “When, where, how high and into what?”  But he had no idea they were funded this well.

“Come on over,” Wild Thing said, leading him to a raised platform in the center of the warehouse, upon which were loaded bank upon bank of computer equipment.  Nelson sat in one of the huge bucket control chairs and felt it adjust itself mechanically to his size, weight and shape.  It felt like angels had made a chair just for him and had it shipped from Heaven especially.  “Chairs aren’t up to much though,” He lied.
“Yeah, right,” Wild Thing grinned knowingly, “You’ve never been so comfortable!”
Nelson grunted, ignoring the control panels and the flashing lights, the personal amusement arcade, the espresso coffee bar, the ranks of trophies and mementos in glass cabinets (including, for no obvious reason, a giant penny) and all the other paraphernalia that made this the archetype against which all other superhero bases must be judged.  “Let’s keep the chit-chat to a minimum,” He said.  “Do you have some sort of ability to process tech?”
“Sure,” Wild Thing pointed at a glass case from which dozens of wires sprung.  “That’s a Detection Identification Unit.  What do you want to scan?”
“The business card,” he said.  When Wild Thing looked puzzled he clarified: “The one Death, Esquire gave you.”

Placing the card into the machine, Wild Thing pressed a green button on the top.  He made no attempt to adjust any of the settings.  “It’s okay,” He explained when he saw Nelson’s raised eyebrow: “The other dials and buttons are for show.  For when I have girls back here?  The only one which actually does anything is the green one.”
“How does it work?” Beast Nelson asked.
“No idea,” Wild Thing laughed.  “I failed science in school.  As far as I’m concerned it’s a thingumy that tells you what other thingumies do.”
After a few minutes a readout printed from a slot in the DIUs base.  Wild Thing looked surprised.  “Hey!”  He said.  “It’s a tracker.”
“Well of course its a tracker,” Nelson sighed, exasperated.  “How did you think Death, Esquire was finding you in order to send minions after you?  Magic?”
The look on Wild Thing’s face made it clear that this was precisely what he had thought.  “Look,” He argued, seeing Nelson’s scathing expression: “Magic happens.  You know that.  Don’t you remember when the Witch King destroyed half of the city back in 2005?  That plague of giant frogs didn’t come out of a test tube, you know.”
“Yes,” Nelson agreed, “There are weird things out there.  But they aren’t common.  You should first presume a logical answer.  Only when you’ve ruled those out do you look to the strange and otherworldly for explanations.”
Wild Thing shrugged: “Okay big brain.  You sure don’t sound like any bouncer I ever met.”

“If this character is tracking you,” Nelson said, “Then this card is sending out signals to him, either radio frequency or GPS or something similar.  We should be able to turn the tables here.  Take the fight right back to the grim reaper wannabe.”
“Uh, right,” Wild Thing didn’t look keen.  “The Straw Man gave us a tough fight and he was just a servant of the boss.  Are you sure this is the best plan?”
“No.  But I can’t see how else we’re going to stop him wanting to kill you.  I’m not suggesting we go without any intel. though.  Are there any other heroes who might want to help us, or maybe might know a bit about how to fight this guy?”
“Other heroes?” Wild Thing laughed.  “We aren’t a social club, you know.  We aren’t all friends.  You’re the first team-up I’ve ever had.   The government doesn’t encourage us to hang around together and groups and teams are expressly forbidden.”
“Of course they are,” Nelson pointed out.  “That would make you a threat, instead of just a novelty.”

“Okay then,” Nelson said.  “If that’s not going to work we need to set a trap.  He’s tracking the card.  So we put the card somewhere and we set up a few surprises for when his minions come calling.  I think, if we can bring a couple of them down, he’ll get annoyed enough to come in person.  Then we finish this in the proper way.”
“What’s the proper way?” Wild Thing asked.
“We beat the living crap out of the bad guys, drag them to the cops and get them locked away.  And anything that isn’t alive in the first place?  We just smash that until it isn’t going to get up again at all.”
“Ah,” Wild Thing grinned.  “Now you sound like a bouncer.”