Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2014 10:25:20 GMT -5
#3 - Lady in Red
Written by comixmaster
I am perfection.
I am the ultimate human.
I started as nothing. I was just a man under another man’s thumb. But no longer. I have perfected the super-soldier serum, and I will create an army of super-soldiers to do my bidding. I will destroy those who have wronged me. The first three members of my army—and those most important members at that—are Betty Ross, daughter of General Thaddeus Ross, my brother, Philip, and the Russian, Emil Blonsky. Blonsky was my first subject, and he turned out well. He obtained the size and strength—and the hideousness—of the Hulk, but yet, he didn’t lose himself to madness. My second subject was Philip. He turned out much better than Blonsky. How, you might ask? He retained his “human” factor. He didn’t come out as hideous as Blonsky at all. But there were still some…imperfections.
Then I found Miss Ross. I used the super-soldier serum to resurrect, and she emerged wonderfully. Immediately after the results, I used the serum on myself. My brain quadrupled in size. I could see everything. I gained psychic powers. I gave myself the name Leader.
However, Betty was still not perfect. She wasn’t faithful to me or my cause. I took care of that problem easily. I used my powers to take control of her mind. It was a reminder to Philip and Blonsky of what would happen if they would ever cross me. They have not disobeyed me since.
I may be perfect, but my three cohorts are not. I am still searching for a valid candidate to be my fourth subject. The serum is perfect, but in order for it to work, the one receiving it must be perfect, too. And this perfect candidate…
…must be imperfect in every way. I believe I have found that candidate.
His name is Abdul al-Rhaman. He was a sickly young man from Iran. Blonsky found him when I sent him out to look for potential candidates. Abdul is perfect—he’s weak, he’s frail, and most importantly…he hates America.
“(Hello, Abdul,)” said the Leader in Persian.
“I can speak English,” the young man croaked.
“Ah. All right, then. I assume you know why you’re here?”
“Yes,” said Abdul. “Can…Can we get right to the procedure, please? I…I really—”
“No need to explain,” said the Leader. “I understand completely. Philip will help you to the table.”
Philip—who had given himself the name Madman—picked Abdul up with his arms and carried him over to the operating table while the Leader picked up a small tube filled with a blue liquid with his mind and pulled it toward him. A long, thin needle stuck out the tube. The Leader levitated to the table and rubbed an alcohol swab on Abdul’s forearm.
“This will hurt only for a moment, Abdul,” said the Leader.
“Afterwards, you’re going to feel great,” added Madman.
Abdul was sweating profusely. He looked scared to death. “Will…Will this work?” he asked weakly.
“Most definitely,” said the Leader. “The serum is perfect. All we need is a perfect recipient. You are that perfect recipient, Abdul.” The Leader telepathically undid Abdul’s shirt and took it off. He was appalled by Abdul’s body. It was literally skin and bones. Madman looked like he was going to throw up. The Leader thought he was going to, too.
“I…I know it looks bad…” said Abdul. “Just…Just please, keep going…”
Part of me believes that this man will die without the serum. Without further delay, I inject the super-soldier serum into Abdul’s body. Nothing happens at first, but that’s to be expected. Philip and I stand back, waiting. Suddenly, Abdul’s body begins to shake. Violently. I watch in demented glee as he begins to scream. Yes! Yes! Muscles immediately start forming in his skinny body. His wrists outgrow the cuffs and easily unhinge them from the table. He falls to the floor as the serum does what it’s supposed to. His body grows nearly twice in height. Soon his screaming halts, and the transformation is done. Yes…Yes! He is slightly shorter than Philip, but he towers over me. He looks exactly as I hoped. He looks like the Iranian version of Captain America.
“(How do you feel, Abdul?)” the Leader asked in Persian.
“(I feel…amazing,)” Abdul said.
Meanwhile…
“Where the hell are we?” asked Ghost Rider.
“The Iranian desert,” said General Ross.
Ross & Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Deadpool stood in the middle of nowhere. The sky was cloudless, and the sun beat down on all four of them.
“Can you tell us why we’re her again?” asked Deadpool. “I wasn’t listening the first time.”
“’Cause you were too busy listening to that bull$#!% music,” said Punisher.
“Justin Timberlake does not make bull$#!% music,” Deadpool said sternly.
Punisher smirked. “Does too,” he said.
Deadpool was silent for a moment, then swiftly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Punisher. “If you ever insult J.T. again, I will blow your %^©#ing face off!”
“Wilson!” Ross barked. “Put the damn gun away and I’ll tell you.”
Deadpool grumbled as he did what the General said.
“Good. Now, we’re here because the Leader has a base here.”
“But he’s got bases everywhere,” Ghost Rider said. “So we’re just gonna sniff all of ’em out till we find him?”
The General took a deep breath and shook his head at Ghost Rider’s comment. “No, Blaze. The Leader is here. After we apprehend him—”
“You mean if we apprehend him,” Punisher interjected.
The General sighed again. “Whatever. If we apprehend him and get Betty back, then we’ll destroy all his bases, Blaze.”
“Well. The plane coulda dropped us off closer to the base,” Ghost Rider scoffed.
“Ugh, I hate this!” Deadpool whined. “I wanna go home…”
“If you want to quit right here and now,” said Ross, “then go right ahead. But know that you’ll be going home without your fame and fortune.”
The General could tell Deadpool was scowling at him. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll stay.”
A pleased smile came over the General’s face. “Good. That goes for all of you as well. You’re free to quite whenever, but you’ll be abandoning the reason you joined this team. Is that clear?”
“Clear as mud,” said Ghost Rider.
“When do I get to shoot someone?” asked Punisher.
“Castle, I promise you, you’ll get to shoot the Leader right in between the eyes. In time, though. In time. Let’s start walking, gentlemen. Think of this as a bonding exercise.”
“I’d rather just walk without any talking,” said Punisher.
“Why?” asked Deadpool.
“So that I don’t care…if any of you die.”
“Oh,” Deadpool said as the quadrio began walking. “Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine! It’s just rainbows and unicorns coming out your mouth, Castle. Rainbows and unicorns.”
“Ain’t no one on this team is perfect, all right, Wilson?” said Ghost Rider. “We all got our own problems.”
“Not me! Tee-hee! I don’t have any—what are those things called? Morals? Yeah. I don’t have any morals, so I’m free to do whatever the %^©# I want.”
“That may be true,” said Ross, “if it wasn’t for the fact that the U.S. government has you by the balls.”
“Let me tell you something, General. When I get my fame and my fortune, I’m quitting this team and leaving you losers behind.”
Ross didn’t say anything. He didn’t have anything to say. He just kept walking, along with the rest of the group.
“It’s not like this team needs you,” said Punisher. “You can go and %^©# yourself for all I care. And let me tell you something. The moment you quit this team, I’m gonna shoot you in the head.”
“Enough, you two!” Ghost Rider snapped.
“Yeah? Well…Guess what, Frankie?” Deadpool taunted. “I have a healing factor, so I’ll just shake it off and shoot you in the head for insulting Justin Timberlake!”
Punisher and Deadpool stopped walking and got in each other’s faces. “You disgust me,” Punisher growled.
“You’re not the first one to say that to me,” Deadpool growled back.
“You’re just a piece of trash. You’re the first thing I think of when I think about how despicable a mutant can be.”
“Stop it, Frank!” Ghost Rider shouted.
Deadpool’s fist clenched in anger. “I…am not…a mutant,” he snarled. “You think I asked for my powers? Huh? You think I asked to be completely insane? Guess what, Castle! I didn’t! I had to do it. I was dying of terminal cancer, &!©#head. I wanted to live. I had to save myself. Not my mom. Not my dad. Me. I didn’t want to be torn apart and get back put together, screaming for my dad to come back and save me! Hee hee…I’ve been through tough $#!% too, Castle. So let’s get to the base so we can kill this son of a bitch and get paid.”
Deadpool stormed off, while Ross, Ghost Rider, and Punisher just stood there, completely taken aback.
The General cleared his throat and addressed the two. “Let’s keep going,” he said quietly.
Abomination ran up to the Leader, clearly panicked. “Master,” he huffed. “There is…We have a problem.”
“What?” barked the Leader.
“It’s Ross. But he has three others with him.”
“What? Who?!”
“I..I don’t know, moy khozyain.”
“Useless piece of—where are they?”
“The…The front of the lab.”
“Holy $#!%!” the Leader screamed. He flew to the control room as fast as he could. He turned on the security camera for the front door on and saw General Ross, along with a man in a biker outfit & a flaming skull for a head, a man in a black outfit, and a man in a ridiculous red & black outfit.
“Hello, Mr. Stern,” said the General. “I would like you to meet my three new friends.
“We’re not friends, General,” Punisher muttered.
“I’d like you to meet my three new accomplices, then,” the General corrected himself. “One of these accomplices has a rocket launcher.”
“That’s me!” Deadpool squealed. He had a rocket launcher hanging over his shoulder.
“Where’d you get that thing?” asked Ghost Rider.
“Dunno. Pulled it out of my butt, I guess.”
“Prepare for battle, gentleman,” said Ross. “Fire at will, Wilson.”
“With pleasure,” said the mercenary. He aimed the gun right at the locked door. The Leader watched in horror as the Thunderbolts prepared to break in.
“Blonsky!” he shouted. “Get Philip, Ross, and Abdul! We have company!”
A gleeful smirk formed under Deadpool’s mask as he fired the gun. The force of the rocket launcher comically sent him reeling backwards. “Oof!” he yelped. The rocket collided with the door, causing an immense explosion. Ross, Ghost Rider, and Punisher watched in awe as the wall almost literally tore from the lab.
“You been stealin’ Frank’s tricks, Wade,” Ghost Rider quipped as he watched the inferno.
Deadpool kicked the rocket launcher off of himself and sat up. “I’m the real O.G., Blaze,” he quipped back.
“ALL RIGHT, TEAM!” the General roared. “LET’S MAKE AMERICA PROUD!”
“Chaaarge!” Deadpool screamed as he, Ghost Rider, and Punisher ran into the wrecked entryway.
“Blaze, you take Abomination,” ordered Punisher. “Wilson, you take Madman. I’ll take the red Hulk girl.”
“I’ll go after the Leader,” said Ross. As Ghost Rider and Deadpool ran off, he stopped and grabbed Punisher by the shoulder. “Now listen to me, Castle. Don’t you dare kill her. We need her back alive, you hear me?”
“…Understood,” he muttered as he took off after his comrades.
The trio came to a halt when they met Leader’s cronies—Madman, Abomination, and Red She-Hulk. Deadpool gave Red She-Hulk a longing, puppy-eyed look. “She’s beautiful…” he said dreamily.
“You’re kiddin’, right?” said Ghost Rider.
“Nope.”
Madman, Abomination, and Red She-Hulk let out hoarse yells of rage and charged at the Thunderbolts.
“Keep to the plan!” Punisher shouted as he shot Red She-Hulk in the leg. She screamed in pain and gave Punisher a death glare with her piercing yellow eyes.
Deadpool gripped his two katanas and did a ninja pose in front of Madman. “Kon’nickiwa,” he said.
Madman slammed his fists against the ground. “I’m going to squash you like an insect!” he roared.
Ghost Rider whirled his chain around like a lasso as he stood face-to-face with Abomination. “Boy. ’N’ I thought I was ugly. You like a carcass that’s been rottin’ since coming outta your mama.”
Abomination scowled. “I could do without the degrading remarks, comrade.”
“Then let’s shut both our traps ’n’ get this over with. Hell’s been callin’ ya, Blonsky.”
“Has it now?” Abomination swung a mighty fist at Ghost Rider, but the Spirit of Vengeance backed out of the way.
“Shouldn’ta done that, pardner. Now…burn!” He swung his chain forward, making it wrap around Abomination’s neck. The monster yelled in panic as he tried to pull Ghost Rider off. Nothing worked. With a demonic scream, a stream of hellfire erupted from Ghost Rider’s head and rushed into Abomination, cloaking him in its flames. Abomination yelled in agony as the fire scorched his flesh…and his soul.
Ross might have been old, but he had the physique of a healthy twenty-five-year-old. He sprinted after the Leader, he was flying away as fast as he could, but not fast enough to get away from the furious General.
“Get back here, Sterns, you son of a bitch!” Ross yelled.
“Abdul, help!” cried the Leader. “Protect me!”
Suddenly, Abdul jumped in the middle of the General’s path, letting the Leader escape. He was wearing black unitard, with some colors of red and green on the sides. He wielded a red double-beam sword. “Leader has given me everything,” he said. “I will not let you take it away.”
Meanwhile, Madman kept swinging his fists at Deadpool, who expertly dodged them like a seasoned ninja.
“Stand still!” Madman roared.
Maybe you should listen to him, Deadpool. You could take it!
“Hell no!” said Deadpool. “I know what I’m doing!”
“Who are you talking to?” demanded Madman.
He thinks you’re crazy, Deadpool. He thinks you’re insane…
“What? C’mon, he’s the one who’s insane.”
Nuh-uh. He thinks you are, and you are insane, Deadpool.
“Of course I am! It’s where I get my wit!”
“Who are you talking to?! Tell me, you sociopath!”
He’s callin’ you names now, Deadpool.
“Oh my god! Shut up! Both of you!” Deadpool pulled out his gun and shot Madman in the head…
…then shot himself in the head.
“Dammit, Wilson!” Punisher yelled as he and Ghost Rider fought off Red She-Hulk.
“He’ll be fine, Frank,” Ghost Rider said, watching Deadpool fall to the ground from the corner of his eye. “His healin’ factor will take care of it.”
Red She-Hulk roared like a tiger as she flung herself at the duo. Ghost Rider swung his chain around her shoulders and kept her in place.
“Betty’s brainwashin’ ain’t gonna wear off if the Leader’s still alive,” said Ghost Rider.
“Then what the hell is holding up the General?” Punisher yelled as he fired a few rounds into Red She-Hulk’s thigh. The bullets just bounced off her skin and ricocheted into the floor. She leaped into the air, then came plummeting down, attempting to body slam him. Ghost Rider was lifted from the air and collided with the ceiling, making him lose the chain’s grip around her neck. Punisher rolled out of the way. Red She-Hulk punched a deep hole into the floor as a result of missing.
Ross made a huge mistake when he recruited me. I don’t have any damn superpowers.