Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2014 21:45:59 GMT -5
#4 - Red and Green
Written by comixmaster
Betty stormed down the crowded hall. Her father followed closeby.
“Betty! Wait!” he was saying.
Betty stopped in her tracks and whirled around, facing the General. “Nothing you say will change anything, Dad,” she said scornfully.
“Betty, you have to understand—”
“I don’t have to understand anything. I love him. I’m not a little girl anymore; I’m nearly thirty years old.”
The General put his hands on her shoulders. He looked off to the distance as he pondered what to say. “Betty…I…I just don’t want to lose you, all right? Ever since your mom passed away—”
“This is about you, isn’t it? Dammit, Dad, it’s always about you! I’ve told you over and over to go out and meet someone, but do you listen?”
“Betty, I—”
“No! You don’t! Stop clinging to the past. Mom’s not coming back. I accepted that a long time ago. Bruce knows what it’s like to lose people, too. Both his mom and dad are gone. He’s a great guy, Dad.”
The General was nodding his head and sobbing quietly. “Yes. Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, Betty. I know that I cling to the past. I know I won’t let go. But that’s because I can’t. I can’t…”
They both embraced one another.
Present Day.
Abdul spun around one foot while kicking the General with the other. Ross fell down with a thud. Blood was oozing from his nose and messing up his prided mustache. Pain coursed throughout his body. Something didn’t feel right in his ribs, and his shoulder felt out of place. But he could still fight. He had to. He had to get to the Leader…
Abdul pointed his double-beam sword at Ross. “This is for killing my family,” he whispered as a tear dripped from his eye.
“What—?” The General had no time to say anything else as the super-soldier serum-powered Iranian thrust his beam sword at his head.
He rolled out of the way just in time. Abdul swung his sword in a sweeping motion, but the General agilely rolled clear of its path. He quickly stood up and drove his foot into Abdul’s knee. Then he delivered a punch to Abdul’s forehead. A quick pain shot through his fist. The punch didn’t even do anything! Ross recoiled backwards, clenching his hand with the other.Abdul straightened up and smirked.
“You are formidable, old man, but I’m afraid we’re done here.”
“Do not…call me old,” Ross snarled.
He lunged at Abdul with all he had…which wasn’t enough. Abdul shoved him and delivered a swift kick to his gut, knocking him down. The General did not give up, however. He got up and charged at Abdul, yelling like a war hound. Abdul swung his beam sword at Ross like a baseball bat, but the General ducked and tackled Abdul, bringing him to the ground. He straddled him, keeping him on the floor, and threw punch after punch to Abdul’s face. The Iranian took each hit like a soldier. Ross wound up for a big finish, but left himself open. Abdul took the chance and thrust his fist upward, hitting Ross in the chin and knocking him off.
“I will take no pleasure in taking your life,” Abdul stated, “but this is something I must do. I will make it quick and painless.”
“I’m not finished yet,” Ross uttered. “The only ones who are gonna die today…are you and your friends.”
Meanwhile…
Deadpool lay sprawled out on the floor. He had just regained consciousness.
“Mommy…? Is that you…?” he murmured. “N…no! No! I don’t wanna go to school! Agh! No! You can’t make me! I don’t need education! I wanna be stupid! W-wha? Huh? …Oh my—who even says that? Why would you say that to your own son?! N-no, not the whip! Please, stop! I…I’ll go to school! Ah! Ow! Owee ow ow! This is not right, Mom! This is frowned upon in society! …Who cares if it’s what I deserve? What…what are you doing? Oh, no…No, no, no! Not the machine gun! Ahhhhhh!”
Deadpool’s eyes shot open. He sat up and looked around. “oh, hey. I’m back at the Leader’s base. Wait a second…” he began to feel around his head. Something seemed off. “Why does it feel like a have a big…hole in my head?”
“Because there is a hole in your head, idiot!” came Punisher’s voice.
“Now get over here ’n’ help us!” said Ghost Rider.
“Uh…Oh, yeah! Pffft! Just hang on, guys.” Deadpool grabbed his katanas then joined the duo. “So. What’d I miss?”
A burly fist socked the mercenary right in the gut. He flew into the ceiling so fast that it looked like a red blur. He screamed for his life as he climbed closer and closer to the sky. Soon his ascent began to slow, and the next thing he knew he was descending back to the base. He created another hole in the ceiling as he plummeted to the floor.
“Ughhh…My hurl-up-my-breakfast-sense is tingling…” he mustered.
The trio stared at the brainwashed monster before them—the red she-Hulk.
“Wh…what are we gonna do?” Deadpool asked. “She’s almost as unkillable as me!”
“Whatever we do, we needta do it fast,” said Ghost Rider, “before Madman and Abomination wake up.”
“We can’t do anything,” said Punisher. “The Leader’s got her under his control. We need to find him.”
“The General’s doin’ that right now!” Ghost Rider stated as he dodged a haymaker from Red She-Hulk.
“Obviously something’s gotten in his way,” Punisher said as he fired a barrage of bullets into her face.
“Now it’s my turn to speak!” Deadpool shouted. “Uhhhmmm…Ooh! Ooh! Why don’t you go find the Leader yourself, Castle?”
“You two will be able to hold up here?”
“Damn right,” Ghost Rider said as he lassoed his chain around her ankles, yanking her to the ground.
“Fine. I’ll go.”
Deadpool suddenly gasped once Punisher was gone. “Wait…Did he just show…concern?”
Punisher ran down a random hallway. There was no use thinking about where the Leader might be—he just had to find him. He had taken off in the direction Ross went.
The former Marine starting hearing yelling a ways away. He loaded his shotgun and walked slowly. He didn’t make a sound as he moved further and further into the hallway. He could barely see; the only thing that lit of the hallway was an occasional blue light on the ceiling. The yelling was become more clear. It was the General…but also someone else. Was it the Leader?
The hallway went right, and so did Punisher. He turned and found Ross fighting a young man wearing uniform colored in black, red, and green. The General was putting up a good fight. His entire face was covered in blood, and blood and gotten on his camo uniform. The man he was fighting wielded a red double-beam sword. Most likely another one of the Leader’s goons, Punisher thought. He raised his gun and took aim, waiting for the perfect moment to fire.
The young man, Abdul, spun and jumped into the air. He stuck his foot out. His heel collided with the General’s cheek, knocking him out.
“Finally!” Abdul said. “Your end is now, General.” He raised his beam sword and prepared to shove it through the General’s body.
That gave Punisher the perfect opportunity. He pulled the trigger and shot Abdul in his side. The Iranian let out a yell of pain. Blood immediately began to drench the side are of his uniform. It was only a flesh wound, however, as the bullet didn’t go very deep thanks to Abdul’s rock-hard muscles.
Punisher strode over to the young man. “Sleep tight, bitch,” he growled as he swung the butt of his shotgun at Abdul’s face like a golf club.
Abdul’s head snapped backward. He fell to the ground like a falling tree. Punisher went over to Ross and nudged him with his foot. The General groaned loud enough for only an ant to hear. Punisher grunted as he left both Ross and Abdul laying there. His shotgun was slung over his shoulder. Neither Ghost Rider nor Deadpool crossed his mind as he made his way down the hallway.
Eventually he came to a gigantic room—if it could even be called a room—that contained all sorts of things a mad scientist would love: wacky machinery, columns of tubes filled with red liquid, and—
“Welcome to human perfection, Punisher.”
--the mad scientist himself. Leader levitated in front of Punisher with a wide smile on his face. As he gently landed, he opened his arms wide, as if to say, “Come get me, mother%^©#er.”
“This was where my army began,” he said. “It is here that will be the foundation to my empire.”
Punisher began loading his shotgun. “I don’t think so, dip$#!%.”
“Oh, going to stop me, are you? I took Betty’s mind and turned her into my puppet. I will do the exact same to you.”
A smirk the size of a bug came on Punisher’s face. “Hrmph.”
“Are those your finals words before your brain is nothing but mush? So be it.” The Leader pressed two finger against the temple of his head and closed his eyes. He began to scowl as he concentrated.
“Am I supposed to be feeling something?” Punisher asked. It sounded more like a statement than a question.
The Leader concentrated harder. “Ergh…Now, Punisher, allow yourself to be filled with utter, absolute rage!”
Punisher just stood there.
“I don’t understand…Why isn’t this working?!”
“Because,” said Punisher, “I’m already filled with ‘utter, absolute rage.’”
“Wh-what?!”
Punisher pointed his shotgun at the Leader and said, “Goodbye, Sterns.” He pulled the trigger.
“Nooo—!” Bits and pieces of the Leader’s brain flew everywhere as the bullet jammed itself into his oversized head.
The bullet shell snapped out of Punisher’s gun as he stood over the Leader’s dead body.
“Rrraaaaaaarrrgghhh!” Red She-Hulk screeched as Deadpool shoved one of his katanas in her back.
“Now, now, don’t you worry,” he said. “I’m quite experienced in acupuncture, so I know what I’m doing, girlie.”
She reached behind herself and grabbed Deadpool, like he was just a doll. With one hand gripping his torso and the other around his legs, she began pulling.
“H-hey now! You’re...about to…pull me…apar—”
Shlorp! With a mighty roar, Red She-Hulk ripped him and half, splattering blood everywhere. She threw both halves of the mefc to the other side of the room.
“Ahhhmygod!” Deadpool screamed. “This %^©#ing hurts! Mother%^©#er! It burns! It burns! Jesus Mother%^©#ing Christ! Ow ow ow ow owowow owee owwwww! ©@©# sucker, this hurts!”
Ghost Rider spoke up. “Stop your cussin’ ’n’—”
“Piiiisss!”
Ghost twirled his chain as he faced Red She-Hulk.
We can’t win…We can’t win…I can’t win…This was pointless all from the start. Ross was an idiot for bringin’ us here…
Red She-Hulk pulled the katana out of her back and shoved it into the floor. She raised both of her fists high in the air, ready to briung them down on Ghost Rider.
Can’t believe this is how I’m gonna die…Heh. Ain’ty leaving much behind anyway. Besides, these punks don’t give a damn about me, even if I give a $#!% about them.
Suddenly, Red She-Hulk began to wobble. Her eyelids began heavy, and her heavy, deliberate breathing was becoming relaxed and natural. She took a step backward, then fell to the floor, unconscious. Already she began reverting to her human, non-powered form. Ghost Rider dropped his chain and let out a hefty, breathy sigh.
“Thank God…” he muttered.
Deadpool ran to Betty and knelt beside her. “Wow. She’s a lot less hot when isn’t red and ragey.”
“Heh,” chuckled Ghost Rider. “Heh heh heh…We did it. We actually did—”
Punisher came burstingout of the hall. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
“Why?” asked Ghost Rider. “Where’s Ross?”
“And what’s that shiny thing in your hand?” asked Deadpool.
Punisher looked at the glowing, purple-colored orb in his hand. It was so bright, it canceled out all other light in the room. “I don’t know…” said Punisher. “It was in the Leader’s lab…It looked important, so…I took it. Look. We need to get out of here. This base is gonna be underground in a sec.”
“Frank,” Ghost Rider growled. “What did you do? Where’s Ross?”
“I don’t know where Ross is, and I don’t care. I planted a bomb in the Leader’s lab. It’s gonna blow soon.”
A faint booming sound reverberated around the room.
“Let’s get going,” said Punisher.
“I second that!” Deadpool said as he and Punisher ran for the exit.
“Wait!” said Ghost Rider. “We can’t just leave Ross here!”
“Why the hell not?” Deadpool asked as he exited the base.
Ghost Rider clenched his fists and shouted, “Grrraaaaahhh!” He ran into the hallway looking for the General. The base was already beginning to crumble. A slab fell from the ceiling in his path, but he hurdled over it like a track star. The ground was shaking as well. His flames flowed behind him as he ran. He turned left and found two puddles of blood. A hole tore from the ceiling and landed on the puddles, splattering blood on Ghost Rider’s jacket.
“Blaze…” said a weak voice.
Ghost Rider whirled around and saw Ross standing there, leaning against the wall. He was bleeding to death.
“Blaze…” he said again.
“C’mon, let’s get you outta here,” Ghost Rider said, extending his hand toward the General.
“Wait!” shouted Ross. “Don’t touch me! You’ll burn me alive!”
“These flames only burn the wicked,” said Ghost Rider.
“Exactly.”
“I ain’t gonna burn you, jackass. Just take my hand.”
The General closed his eyes. His hand began its path slowly, barely leaving his hip.
“Aw, hell, this gonna take forever,” Ghost Rider said as a hole formed right at his feet. He wrapped an arm around the General and guided him out the hallway.
“Why…did you come and…save me?” Ross asked as they reached the entrance.
“A ‘thank you’ woulda been nice,” said Ghost Rider.
Thoooooom! The base crumbled into a cloud of dust behind them. Punisher and Deadpool were there watching the spectacle. Betty’s unconscious body lay on the ground beside them.
“Huh,” said Punisher. “You actually went and got him.”
“No thanks to you,” said Ghost Rider. “You just left him there like a sacka rotten potatas.”
“What?!” came the General’s hoarse, anger-ridden voice. He shoved Ghost Rider off of him. “You just left me in there? To die? Why?”
Punisher didn’t say anything.
Deadpool, however, did. “Because you’re a major &!©# and we don’t like you.”
A low rumble escaped the General’s throat. “Castle, what the hell is that thing in your hand?”
“Some orb from the Leader’s lab.” Punisher held up the glowing, purple orb.
“What’s this thing for, anyway?” Deadpool asked as he snatched it from Punisher’s hand. He began shaking it. “O Magic 8 ball, show me the answer…”
There was a flash of purple light, and Deadpool was gone. Ross, Ghost Rider, and Punisher looked around, yet Deadpool was nowhere to be seen. Then, there was another flash of purple light in the sky, and Deadpool reappeared.
“Not agaaaiiin!” he yelled as he plummeted to the ground.
“It must be some sort of teleportation device,” said Ross.
“Awesome!” Deadpool said as he pulled his head out of the ground. “A teleporter has always been part of the classic Deadpool shtick!”
Suddenly, the General clenched his side and grumbled in pain. “Plane should be here…in…a few minutes…”
“Thank God,” said Deadpool. “I can’t wait to get outta this dump.”
Elsewhere…
The Leader woke up with a start. He looked around to try to see where he was. It looked like he was…nowhere. The was all black, except where a bright spotlight shone on him from high above.
“Samuel Sterns,” said a sinister voice. “You have failed.”
“M-Master…? Is that you?”
“Who else would it be, you idiot?!”
“I…I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”
“Oh, shut up,” the voice snarled. “You failed to bring down the Thunderbolts…specifically Ghost Rider.”
“I’m sorry, master! I…I can try again, if you permit me—”
“Silence!” the voice boomed. “You and your minions failed. Not only that, but they retrieved the girl that I resurrected for you.”
The spotlight started getting smaller. The Leader could feel the area begin to tighten around him. “Please, master! I can try again! I can kill them all! Please…Please bring me back to life! I don’t want to die! Bring us back!”
“Your minions are still alive,” the voice said. “And no, I will not bring you back to life. You will rot in hell…with me. Why was it that your minions failed, hmmm? Was it perhaps…a lack of leadership?”
The spotlight was gone. The darkness immediately began to swallow him. “No!” he screamed. “No! Nooooooooooo!”
The Next Day…
Brooklyn Roasting Company Coffee Shop.
“Oh my god, so you, like, go around the world and kill people?” asked a girl.
“That’s right!” said Deadpool. He took out his two pistols. “I kill ’em all with these babies. I call this one Bonnie, and this one Clyde.”
“Wooooow,” said another girl.
“That is, like…so amazing,” said another.
“Can I…touch your guns?” asked another girl.
“Are you talking about my arms or Bonnie and Clyde?” asked Deadpool, sending the girls into a frenzy of laughter.
Suddenly, the whole shop became quiet. Deadpool turned and saw a man standing in the doorway. He wore a black suit and tie, and his hair was gelled back. It was…
“Justin Timberlake!” Deadpool squealed.
“Wassup, DP?” Justin said as he went over to the merc. “Listen, man, I gotta ask you somethin’.”
“A-a-anything!” said Deadpool.
With a flourish, the singer got down on one knee and took Deadpool’s hand.
“Oh my goid…”
“Deadpool,” Justin said, “will you marry me?”
“Uh, sir?” said a voice.
Deadpool whirled around. It was an employee. “What do you want? I’m being proposed to by JT here!”
“Sir,” the employee. “You’re beginning to scare people. You’ve been talking to yourself for the past half-hour.”
Deadpool looked around. The girls were gone. Justin was gone. It was like nothing had happened.
“I know you’re part of the Thunderbolts,” said the employee, “but can you please put your guns away?”
“Um…Uh, yeah. Sure,” Deadpool said calmly.
I really am insane…
Thunderbolts HQ.
The world was hazy around Betty. All she knew was that she was on a bed. She could tell she was wearing civilian clothes. Only God knew how long she’d been in that stupid black outfit the Leader had put her in. For the past few months, she had felt like was watching a movie. Now…she was back in control. She wanted to move her hand. So she did. She wanted to wiggle her toes. So she did.
She was free.
The world was now clear to Betty. She was in a room surrounded in red-painted walls. Countless medals lined each wall, and countless more trophies rested on each shelf of the room. This room could only belong to one person…
“Dad,” Betty breathed.
“Yes?” said a gruff voice that made her jump.
She didn’t realize her dad was sitting at her side. “Where…Where am I?” she asked.
“Home, Betty,” he replied. “You’re back in Manhattan.”
“Is…Is…The Leader…”
“Dead,” said the General. “He’s probably burning in hell as we spe—”
Betty interrupted him and gave him a hug. “Thank you…” she said. “Thank you…”
The General began to cry as he embraced her back. His daughter was back.
His daughter was back…
Bruce Banner sat alone in a bar, steadfastly staring at the TV perched right above him. He took a swig of his beer. He nearly choked it up as he saw the headline on the news program he was watching: “Hulk Targeted by T-Bolts”.
“Hey,” he said to the bartender. “Turn that up.”
The bartender did what he said and increased the volume.
“With the recent bringing down of the criminal known as ‘the Leader,’” said the news anchor, “the super hero group the Thunderbolts have announced that their next target is the individual known only as the Hulk. Eight months ago the Hulk brutally murdered one hundred six people. The death toll of Hulk’s many attacks afterward have grown immensely since that event.”
Bruce couldn’t bring himself to watch any longer. However, the anchor’s annoying voice continued to pervade him.
“The Hulk remains the world’s top criminals. Many questions have been raised on whether he is even human. And, frankly—I’m speaking freely here—what kind of human would murder nearly a thousand people?”
Bruce left his beer where it sat as he stormed out the door. Once outside, the sunlight hit him like a punch in the face. He could feel it—the rage…He had to control it! Breathe, he told himself. Breathe…Breathe…Breathe…
He fell to the cement and let out a roar of anger. He was losing…He could feel himself giving in.
He didn’t want to kill all those people. He didn’t even kill them! The Hulk did!
People were keeping their distance from him. They were afraid…And they should’ve been. He was a monster. With all resistance gone, he let himself scream.
“Thunderbolts come get Hulk! Hulk rip Thunderbolts apart!”
Hulk raised both his fist in the air and slammed them into the street. Cars all around him launched into the air. People screamed and ran for their lives. It was a natural response. They were afraid. But Hulk couldn’t see that. To him, there was nothing “natural” about them. They were just puny ants. And they were to be treated as such.
So Hulk went around, crushing innocent people under his fists. His green skin was becoming red with blood. He killed them all in every way imaginable. He even ate someone.
“Hiya, gorgeous,” said a voice.
Hulk looked and saw a man in a red and black uniform, with a matching red and black mask.
“Name’s Deadpool,” said the man. “Everyone calls me Deadpool, but you can call me Deadpool.”
“Arrrgh! Hulk squah pool of death!”
“So much for being friendly,” said Deadpool as he took out his katanas.