Thrusts of Justice (Chooseomatic Books) Read online

  “Face justice, evildoer,” you say a bit too enthusiastically as your opponent falls to the floor. That was awesome! A quick, anonymous phone call alerts the local police that you’ve gift-wrapped their errant bank robber. You briefly consider pocketing a small stack of unmarked bills on your way out, but that is not how you roll.

  Now what? Helping the helpless, obviously, but where to begin? New York City is where the real action is, and you’ve just proven that you can throw down with the heavy hitters. Or perhaps you should start off slow, and just be the sworn protector of Cleveland until you have time to get the hang of this hero gig.

  ▶ If Cleveland just got its first superhero, click here for page 168.

  ▶ Screw Cleveland. If you think you’re ready for the big time, click here for page 70.

  50

  “I don’t actually know where Thorpe is,” you say. You start pecking at your wrist screen, hoping to dig up some info on his possible whereabouts. “Crexidyne headquarters, maybe?”

  “Yeah, okay. Can we do this in the morning, though? I gotta get back to friggin’ bed.”

  You spend the night in the surprisingly comfortable cockpit of your jet. You had hoped to get an early start, but Magnifica insists that she needs to build up energy if she’s going to go busting heads, and brunch isn’t served until 10:30. When she’s finally ready to leave, it’s almost noon. And although you had intended to fly back to New York yourself, your companion has other ideas.

  “By the time you get there in this bucket of bolts, you’ll have missed the asskicking.” Before you can protest, Magnifica grabs you by the waist and launches into the sky. The trip to New York takes only moments, but the less said about it, the better. Suffice it to say that it’s utterly terrifying. You had planned to use fear and intimidation to scare Thorpe into revealing his diabolical plot, Nightwatchman-style, but that’s pretty much shot to hell when you’re crouched on his office floor trying not to wet yourself.

  Magnifica, in the meantime, gets down to brass tacks. “We’re here for answers,” she says. You notice that she’s left her walker back in Florida. “Wait a minute — who the hell are you?”

  A small man with beady eyes and a tablet computer sits at a desk in the center of the room. “Carlo Moretti, operations manager for Crexidyne Megacorp,” he says. “You must be Maggie McClain, a.k.a. Magnifica. And, uh… guest.” You peel yourself off the floor and try to look a little more intimidating.

  Magnifica is clearly disappointed. “Reggie lets you use the big office, huh? That ain’t like him.”

  “Mr. Thorpe rarely finds it necessary to visit headquarters these days. I’m in charge here.”

  “Oh yeah?” She strides over to him and lifts him off the floor by his neck. “You kill any superheroes lately? I can hear your little weasel heart beating, so I’ll know if you lie to me.” Moretti just makes a gurgling noise, so she loosens her grip. “What was that?”

  “I said you’re trespassing on private property, and you need to leave before I have you thrown out.”

  Magnifica grins. “Send for your goons. I skipped aquatic therapy this morning, anyway. I could use the exercise.”

  “You’ve broken into my office and threatened my life.” He has difficulty getting the words out with her hand still around his throat, but you have to give him credit for not really flinching. “If I so much as say the word, you’ll have the Justice Squadron to deal with.”

  “Even better,” Maggie says. Still, there’s something in Moretti’s tone that you don’t like. And he certainly doesn’t seem to be responding to intimidation. Perhaps it’s time to retreat and gather information by other methods. Or should you call his bluff? If he does summon the Squadron, you imagine they’d be very interested to hear what you’ve learned about Brain Stem’s murder.

  ▶ If you tell Magnifica to back down, click here for page 266.

  ▶ If you let Magnifica do her thing and see where this leads, click here for page 160.

  52

  “I’ll give you the suit,” you say, “but answer me one question first.”

  Moretti snorts. “If you really intended to give it up, it would have already severed its connection to you. Remember, I did warn you about this.”

  He pushes the button.

  On impulse, you shoot straight up like an arrow, smashing through 60 floors of office building and rocketing into the stratosphere. If he really does have a death laser poised to take out your friends, you’re guessing it’ll be the hottest thing in the sky, and you command the suit to hurtle toward its energy signature at top speed. Your little ruse may have failed miserably, but if there’s still any way to save your friends, you’re going to find it.

  Your guess is right on the money, and it takes a mere five seconds to reach the satellite. Unfortunately, it takes the weapon just under six seconds to fire. You smash into the laser canon at full speed just as it does, causing the device to explode in a flash of bright orange light that incinerates you into fine mist right along with it. You sacrificed your own life to do it, but at least Nancy and that spooky, silent Nightwatch person are safe.

  Whatever Thorpe and Moretti are planning, it’s up to them to stop them now.

  THE END

  53

  The following few seconds are a whirlwind of pain, until it’s all mercifully ended by a crack on the jaw that switches you off like a light. Fortunately, your opponent is something of an expert on how much damage the human body can withstand, and he’s not actually trying to kill you. In fact, he only chased you in the first place because you ran (safety rules for encountering supervillains are largely identical to safety rules for encountering pit bulls). The pounding he administers is calculated to put you out of commission for one to two business days. Sure enough, you regain consciousness the following morning, still on that rooftop. You’re in rough shape, though: your body is a mass of bruises and abrasions, you’ve clearly broken several ribs, and that thing sticking out of your left leg might be a bone.

  You make your slow, agonizing descent down the stairs to the building’s lobby, where you find several people huddled around a television set. A group of villains has launched a full-scale attack on Washington, D.C.! This sounds like a job for…

  Someone else, surely. You could barely hobble down five flights of stairs, and at this point you’re starting to wonder if you even have superpowers at all. There are plenty of actual heroes who can handle this, and whatever the villains are up to, it isn’t going to be the end of the world, right?

  ▶ If you rush to Washington to thwart their nefarious plot as fast as your broken, twisted body can manage, click here for page 212.

  ▶ If you rush to check yourself into a hospital, like a sane person, click here for page 89.

  54

  Bank robbery is one thing, but you’re no murderer. Not yet, anyway. It is your first day of villainy, so you decide to take things slow. You withdraw the purple gunk from Magnifico’s innards. He flashes you a look of abject terror, then turns and launches into the air through the front door, coughing and sputtering as he goes. You just defeated your first superhero! Also, you discover a small leather pouch stuck to your various effluvia — you must have somehow managed to pull it off his belt while you were utterly humiliating him. Inside it you find a glass orb a bit larger than a golf ball, containing a tiny, wriggling worm suspended in blue mist. A piece of masking tape has been stuck to it with two letters written in black Sharpie: OX.

  The bank has long since cleared of patrons and employees. “Hey Ox, come look at this,” you say. “I found a freaky little worm with your name on it.”

  “What?” He’s already in the vaults, stuffing stacks of cash into a duffel bag. “Later, okay? Seriously, we gotta get out of here.”

  “We just took down Magnifico,” you say with a chuckle. “Are you really sweating a few of Cleveland’s finest showing up?”

  “Not them,” he says. “The freakin’ Justice Squadron. We just pissed one of ’em off goo
d, and you can bet your ass the rest are about to come down like the wrath of god.”

  “But he tried to kill me,” you say. “I let him live!”

  “Yeah. If you’d offed him, we would have had time to get outta here, at least. I’m not saying I would have done it, but it sure woulda made things easier.” Apparently the reward for compassion in the supervillain game is a swift kick in the teeth. You help your partner with his cash grabbing and leave the bank in a hurry.

  As you make haste for the Ox’s van, he starts to lighten up a bit. “You know, you’re going to need a cool supervillain name,” he says. “Something gross, like your powers. How about the Furious Phlegm? Ooh, I know: Gunkmaster.”

  Before you have the chance to tell him you will never, under any circumstances, answer to the name Gunkmaster, you glance up at the skyline and spot three members of the Justice Squadron approaching: Gravity Bomb, Coldfront, Skyhawk and Cosmic Guardian.

  Your heart sinks. Gravity Bomb alone would be a tough opponent — her complete control over gravitational forces means you’re unlikely to get close enough to try your goop-in-the-lungs trick. Coldfront is the Squadron’s newest member, and it actually created a bit of an international incident when they recruited him, since he was more or less Canada’s only respectable hero. He has weather powers, and does this tornado twist thing with his body that will make it tough to even lay a hand on him.

  Skyhawk isn’t terribly formidable, but the fourth one is the biggest surprise. Not only has the Cosmic Guardian been missing from the team’s roster since the 1990s, but this is definitely not the one you saw meteor-busting earlier today. For starters, although it’s covered in the distinctive Guardian armor, it’s shaped less like a human being and more like a giant eyeball with tentacles.

  “We’re hosed,” Ox says, raising both hands above his head with a sigh.

  ▶ He’s probably right. If you surrender, click here for page 104.

  ▶ No way, you can take ’em! If you put up a fight, click here for page 138.

  56

  “You know who’s a bunch of jerks?” Ocean Boy says, slurring his words almost beyond comprehension. Several hours into the first jug, you’ve never seen two human beings put away so much liquor. Seriously, the younger partner may look like a fish, but they can both drink like one.

  “News… paper… editors?” you mumble. Truthfully, you’ve done your level best to keep up with them.

  “Orca whales,” he continues. “I try my… you know, I try my hardest to be a good protector for all the ocean creatures—”

  “You do,” Chuck interrupts. “You’re a great protector.”

  “But orca whales don’t give a damn,” he says, becoming more animated. “You know I can talk to them, right? And they like it. They eat the littlest little baby seals, and they like it.”

  “We need to teach those orca whales a lesson,” Chuck sputters, stumbling to his feet.

  You’re overwhelmed by their compassion. “You guys,” you say. “You guys are heroes. Me, I find a space suit that has super cosmic powers, and I think that makes me a hero. But your regular bodies are the super powers. I admire you so much.”

  “I admire YOU,” Ocean Boy says, closing his eyes and gesticulating wildly. “You don’t think I wish I had a suit like you do? I could be a superhero on land if I had a suit like you do.” He pauses, considering it. “You should totally lend me your suit.”

  “Obie! You don’t ask another super person to lend you their super suit. It’s not right. It’s a very intimate… thing.” Chuck has now made it to the water’s edge, but stops and turns to you, almost losing his balance in the effort. “And you know better than anyone that it’s not powers that make a superhero a man. It’s what you do with them. Now come on, both of you, and let’s go beat up some orca whales.”

  You’re not sure what to do, because they both make excellent points. You realize now that Ocean Boy is probably the finest hero of his generation, and letting him try out the Guardian armor only seems fair. But also, what the other one said. You’re pretty sure the suit itself is trying to communicate something to you, but you’re way too drunk to come anywhere close to understanding what it might be.

  ▶ If you let Ocean Boy borrow the armor, click here for page 15.

  ▶ If you unite with your superhero brethren against the villainous orca threat, click here for page 250.

  58

  You’re going to need more than friendly reassurances from some skinny guy in a bad suit before you start taking orders from the government. Assuming he even works for the government — you notice that the helicopter is all black with no identifying marks. “Um, why don’t you just give me your contact info, and I’ll call you a little bit later?” you say.

  Moretti hands you a business card, but he doesn’t look pleased. Its sole feature is a phone number, which you don’t find reassuring. “Look, we really need to get started right away,” he says. “Our top priority is—”

  “Right, the Ox! I’m all over it!” You launch into the air, quickly leaving man and helicopter behind. The more you ponder it, the less sure you are about Agent Moretti. You also realize that you’re clutching his business card in your gauntleted hand. Hmm — does your armor have pockets? For now, you press the card up against your helmet’s visor and try to memorize the number. Should this really be that difficult?

  Before you can check to see if your suit’s AI has some kind of built-in Rolodex, you spot something approaching on the horizon. If that’s a plane, you’d better get out of its flight path. You take a hard right, only to spot another shape coming from that direction — fast. Could Moretti have sent goons after you? Does Moretti have goons? Pouring on the speed, you alter course and shoot straight up toward the stratosphere.

  Whereupon you almost collide with a third bogey, tracking you from above. It veers out of your way and paces you, allowing a better look. The thing is shaped like a giant eyeball with tentacles, and you realize that its coloring and markings match your suit. A second figure draws up, and although this one is shaped like an enormous insect, it’s also wearing cybernetic armor similar to your own. It’s the Cosmic Guard!

  You ease back on the throttle and within moments you’re surrounded by Guardians of all shapes and sizes. Your inner geek is about to pee itself. You wanted superheroes? Here’s a whole freaking army of superheroes. And not just that, but alien superheroes. Bona fide sentient life from elsewhere in the galaxy! You’re overcome with pride at being given the chance to join their ranks. You’re not sure if there’s some sort of universal space greeting, so you just sort of hold up one hand and wave. As one, the Cosmic Guardians each stretch a single appendage toward you.

  And open fire.

  The energy blasts hit you from all angles, shorting out the visual display on your visor. Everything goes black, and a burning smell fills your nostrils. The 1950s announcer guy starts gibbering in your brain again, but now he sounds more than a little panicked. And he’s still making very little sense, but you can pick out the phrases “evasive maneuvers” and “flee.” Surely this is all some kind of mistake!

  ▶ If you try to communicate with the Cosmic Guard and convince them to hold their fire, click here for page 211.

  ▶ If you get the hell out of there as quickly as possible, click here for page 166.

  60

  You decide to ease into things and meet with the supervillains. It’s an eight-hour drive to New York, so along the way you attempt to explore your theoretical powers. You definitely feel stronger, faster, and more agile, but not to any degree that you’d really consider “super.” You start to worry that you might be one of those martial arts heroes who hone their skills to perfection and battle injustice with their bare hands. Which, honestly, seems like a lot of work.

  Ox is concentrating on your new supervillain code name. “You need something that inspires fear,” he insists. “Animal names work pretty good. The Orangutan? Oh, I know! The Soft-Shell Crab! Because you’re sof
t on the inside, but super tough.”

  You stare at him blankly. “This is what inspires fear, to you?”

  “Dude, those things creep me the hell out. Ooh, how about King Crab? That’s a TOTAL supervillain name.”

  After hours of unsuccessfully combing the animal kingdom for a suitable moniker, you arrive in the city and find the villains gathered in the basement of a YWCA under the guise of an AA meeting. A rail-thin older gentleman with an honest-to-god monocle is talking as you sit down.

  “That damn Nightwatchman is the worst,” he seethes. “You see those glowing eyes in the shadows and you know you’re about to get your ass kicked. Plus, you have to bring an oxygen mask to every freakin’ crime or he just gets you with the gas.”

  “Tell me about it,” Ox says, settling in. “Last time I fought him I had to hold my breath for like 45 minutes.” The room goes silent. “What? It’s one of my superpowers. You know who I really hate, though?”

  The entire group moans.

  “Megawatt,” he continues. “He thinks he’s so cool because he can fly in space. I bet I could fly in space. I told you I could hold my breath for a really long time, right?”

  This may not be a planning session as much as it is a supervillain support group. Before it’s your turn to share, though, you hear a scream from the stairwell and turn to see a group of armored figures burst into the room. Their outfits resemble that of the Cosmic Guardian who stopped that meteor back in Cleveland, but most of them are clearly not human. One is vaguely insect-like, and another is shaped like a giant slug. The Guardian always claimed to be part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force. Could that be where he’s been for the past 15 years? Fetching reinforcements?