The Crusaders -Volume 1

Chapter 2

Oregon…

That night, the Crusaders found themselves at the mansion of Prometheus Innovations' CEO, Simon Christos, who was holding a party. The team's high public profile and lack of any present assignments made them the best choice for Christos to bring in as security, a precaution he needed to take for what he intended to present his guests with. The mansion was massive and immaculate, the walls all shining white as the huge golden chandelier hung in the main room above the red carpet, where the rich and well-dressed conversed and drank complimentary champagne around the expensive paintings and classy furniture. Starbolt and Mind Master stood among the people on the ground, while Red Cross and Nocturne patrolled the balcony beyond the massive glass window overlooking the enormous backyard, and Techsmith and Gunk stood watch on the roof above the front door. The four inside had donned formal wear in an effort to blend in, all in identical suits and wearing sunglasses to protect their identities. Techsmith was in her specialised Battlesuit, a power armour made of a shiny darkish-silver XO-10 metal that, despite its thickness required for the internal wiring, was mostly form-fitting, save for bulk on the back that held her jetpack and the greater amount of plating around the forearms and shoulders that concealed her built-in primary weapons. Thin blue highlights ran sparsely across the suit, showing the flow of energy from the armour's power source throughout all its systems. The helmet held in her long red hair, and its visor was a thick V-shape that concealed her face in blue light. With little else to do except subconsciously keep her suit running, Techsmith took up her favourite pastime with Gunk: talking.

"Hey, Gunk?" She began. "Thanks for helping out back there. Y'know, in the kitchen. Things were pretty heated. Dunno what I would've done if you hadn't…y'know."

"I simply dislike fighting." Gunk replied calmly. "From what I understand, you humans all have relatively short lifespans. I find it trivial to spend what little time you have with one another arguing."

"Thomas is actually a vampire and is therefore pretty much immortal, but I hear you. I guess some people handle conflict and all that better than others. I mean, did you see Andrew? He didn't try and pull any Jedi mind tricks to make him agree or anything. He just…took it. Wish I could do that. Not the mind trick, just take it. Actually, both would be pretty helpful to me, just in general…you mind if ask you something?"

"I suppose not." Gunk seemed unfazed by her rapid-fire speech

"If you're some big pacifist, why are you involved with a group of people who resolve 99% of their dilemmas through violence? Seems a little counterproductive. "

"For what Andrew talked about earlier, I suppose. The six of us are all so much unlike one another in so many ways. Moreover, I wasn't even meant to exist. There are so many questions about me that no one has the answers to…such as my own lifespan. Maybe I'll live forever, or maybe one day my cells will return to a state of inanimate life. Therefore, I find it prudent to take in as much knowledge and as many experiences as possible. Given the vastly different lives you've all led apart from each other, as well as the situations superhero teams have been historically prone to getting involved in, I think placing myself in your company will satisfy the accomplishment of that goal." Another pause went by. "Also, I wanted some friends. It's lonely living in UMG confines and destroying tanks all day." Techsmith smiled, refreshed by the childlike innocence of her comrade after the day's more complex debates.

"You're a truly fascinating specimen, Gunk."

"So I'm told."

Back in the mansion, Starbolt sipped his iced water as Mind Master adjusted his sunglasses, while guests communed about them.

"Hey Andrew, can you telekinetically grind this ice for me?" Starbolt asked out of the blue. Mind Master sighed with amusement as he heard his partner's psychic ticks.

"No Kon, I can't make your drink into snow-cone with my mind." He replied.

"Guess the Yong Zhan isn't all it's cracked up to be." He downed what was left in the glass. "I know we shouldn't drink when we're supposed to be providing security, but…I'm tempted."

"Still thinking about what Thomas said?"

"You needed to be psychic to figure that out?"

"Don't let him bring you down. He's a jerk, but his heart is in the right place."

"Yeah, it's in prime staking position."

"We all take things differently. Our opinions are shaped by our experiences. He's had 350 years worth of those. He sees things completely differently to either of us."

"Maybe that isn't so true."

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't mad at him for talking crap about any of my idols or calling me ignorant. I think I was mad because…he was right." Andrew tilted his head in surprise.

"Gotta admit, I didn't expect that."

"I agreed to lead this team to help people who aren't as powerful as myself the way Citizen Justice did: stopping the people who abuse their own power because they can. I can't hope to do that without anybody to lead us against. And he's even more right about how we were just thrown together. Even if we do come across some villainous plan, who's to say I can even pull us together to stop it? Honestly, we'd be better off if HE was leading us." Andrew smiled and shook his bowing head. "What?"

"Just thinking of how satisfying it'll be when all this works out. And it will. For every good person like you, there's four bad...something my father taught me. When one of them rears their ugly head, you'll be the one to show them the inside of a Maximus cell. And as for pulling us all together to fight the good fight, take comfort in knowing that, even if no one else is, I'm on your side." Mind Master's generous words brought a smile out of Starbolt.

"Thanks, buddy."

Out on the balcony, the atmosphere was not quite as warm between Nocturne and Red Cross. As Nocturne sipped his champagne - immune to its effects - Red Cross stared out at the field beyond the railing. Mind Master's words about the goodness of Nocturne's heart were put to the test as he tried to make conversation.

"Nice mansion." He attempted, to no response from Red Cross. "Pretty boring. I get it. Guarding some rich guy's new invention isn't exactly as stimulating as punching out solid-light entities in the training room. At least we're out of that bloody penthouse. Christ, that sounded like Andrew." His efforts were in vain, it seemed, but unbeknownst to him, Red Cross was actually focusing on building up sufficient nerve to respond to his words. "So I…"

"You're a dick." Red Cross finally said before turning and stiffly walking inside, leaving Nocturne alone.

"…wanted to apologise." He finished to himself. He tossed his champagne over the balcony's railing before following her inside to watch her back.

The tinging of a metal fork to a glass of champagne broke through the conversations on the ground floor, an effort by Christos, standing on the room's overseeing walkway above his guests, to draw the attention of the partygoers. The indoor Crusaders looked up to watch as well.

"Excuse me, everyone." He began, anxious to get down to business. "Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for coming out here to celebrate with me. Prometheus Innovations has worked long and hard for this, and it's a real pleasure to host you all. I founded Prometheus Innovations to help people and to make the world a better place. This, ladies and gentlemen, may stand to be the company's greatest achievement yet. I present to you, Apollo!" A holographic screen projected onto the wall behind him, displaying videos and images of Prometheus Innovations scientists working in a dark metal laboratory on six blue bars that glowed with a constant pulse of energy, contained within a metallic cylinder. The sudden spectacular display brought a shared gasp from the people below, save Andrew and Thomas, who respectively couldn't see it and didn't particularly care. "Our company's off-world researchers have been working with our team here on Earth, to find a way to fuse the technological and scientific capabilities of two worlds. The goal: produce an unlimited source of clean energy with which to continue the effort to make every world in the UMG as tightly-knit and universally-accessible as they can be. On the list of breakthroughs in that endeavour to further unite the known universe, many acknowledge the perfection of universal living conditions across the six UMG planets, and the advancement of interstellar travel to enable casual space exploration and interplanetary visitation, as being among the greatest triumphs humans and aliens have accomplished together. We believe the invention of the Apollo energy source will earn a place beside those achievements. But only by joining forces here, and bringing all our individual brands of influence and resources together, can we use this great power to help-"

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. The holo-screen shut down. Starbolt felt as though there was energy being sucked from him, the glass in his hand starting to slip from his fingers as a result. Mind Master could sense something strange, forming in the centre of the room the more his roommate winced. It was a mind. Dim and slowly-forming, but present. In the time it took him to realise what was happening, the various power outlets throughout the room began to project bolts of electricity to the spot in the floor's centre Mind Master detected the presence at, which caused the frightened crowd to disperse and flee in different directions. As the four Crusaders in the room watched in shocked astonishment, the electric bolts converged and slowly formed a ball of light, that quickly expanded and burst like a great bubble. In the wake of the flash stood a towering beast that the Crusaders could barely make out through the lingering light in their eyes. With electricity-conducting towers emerging from its back, black legs that looked robotic in design, gigantic black metal hands, huge rippling muscles and a Frankenstein-like pattern of skin grotesquely stitched together to form its upper body, it stood in place, slack-shouldered and lowly growling. Its head turned as it scanned the room. Its black eyes assessed the four Crusaders, but it in no way regarded them further. However, upon looking at Christos, it was suddenly filled with violent vigour. After flexing its arms and twisting its face with fury, it let out a deep, bloodcurdling scream, aimed straight at the petrified CEO.