by MlLash
As they walked, his thoughts couldn't help but turn to the collection of papers and pictures Queenie had given him. Dead. Every last one of them, dead. Not even the most inconsequental, short-term member of the LMBE had been spared. For God's SAKE, Belle had been GUTTED like a freaking FISH. And Platform King...well, Acid Lad was glad Boy 54 hadn't lived to find out how HE had died...Sure, most of them weren't very GOOD heroes...or even good PEOPLE (Peace-Taker came to mind) but ALL of them had deserved better that THAT...
Their limited powers were unable to save them from whatever evil was stalking them. Then Acid Lad thought of his OWN eroding powers...and Roller Queen, who boasted only paranormal balance abilities...
"We should try to contact the JSMB."
Acid Lad was grateful for the distraction from his morbid thoughts and replied, "None of them have seen action in 20 years. Hell, most of 'em just up and vanished."
"You were there from day one of the LMBE, Acid...I know you had to have met them...what were they like, anyway?"
Acid Lad turned thoughful for a moment. Several members of the JSMB HAD attended the press announcement of the formation of The LMB Experience. They had donned cape and cowl that final time. "They were PRIVATE. They all wore masks, something WE refused to do...they were HEROES, something we TRIED to do...aaah, forget it, Queenie. It's been 10 years since I met some of them...lotta water under the bridge since then."
The 2 continued the search in silence for a while, until Acid Lad spotted a familiar figure of a man walking towards them...a man he had never planned on seeing again...
"Dr. Butz?!?"
Dr. Butz did not look surprised. "Ah, Lad, such a fine night for a stroll!"
"In THIS part of town???"
"Yes, well...I HAVE studies self-defense techniques...I am unafraid." He looked at his watch. Acid Lad noticed his knuckles were scraped up. "Gosh, I simply MUST be moving on...good to see you, Lad. And you, Miss...?"
"Queenie."
"Yes...nice to meet you. I'll...see you around." Without another word Dr. Butz continued walking.
When he was out of earshot, Roller Queen asked "Who was that hunk?"
"Please...he's old enough to be your...uncle. Anyway, he is...WAS, rather...my psychiatrist."
"WHAT?" She stared at him in disbelief.
"My shrink. I had to talk to SOMEBODY when things started falling apart. YOU sure weren't around...neither was anone else."
"You just surprised me that's all...anyway, he WAS a hunk."
They continued walking in silence a bit further.
"You know what I don't get?"
"What?" replied Acid Lad.
"All those deaths...some were OBVIOUS murders...I mean, how else would you explain Belle or the King?...why didn't we ever hear about this? NO ONE came to us? I know the focus was always on the ACTIVE LMB...and the deaths were scattered through the years..."
"You answered your own question, Queenie...hell, we had good people quit to ESCAPE the fine-tooth comb and just disappear. They all wanted to. And it's not like any of us that stayed bothered to keep in touch with them....right?"
"You got me there."
"None of us REALLY cared about each other...." He let his depressing, chastising sentence go unfinished as his thoughts turned to Sundown. Had he cared for her? How could he say he had when he let things go like they did? She admitted being a junkie as her dying words...was she, too, somehow involved in this decimation of the LMBE?
His thoughts were shattered by Roller Queen screaming...
Acid Lad finally managed to calm Roller Queen down, but the truth of that matter was, HE wanted to scream...and scream...and never stop.
Rhinestone's face was an unrecognizeable mass of blood and bruises. He had been beaten unmercifully before...and maybe even after...he died. As a final indignity, thieves had apparently made off with his Stetson and his boots.
With Queenie still crying, Acid Lad said, "Queenie, we've...we've got to notify the police..." She shook her head yes, agreeing.
"If I hadn't talked down to him...he might have LISTENED to me...Acid, this is MY fault...."
Acid pulled her close and said, "He was still mad at you...at ME. At the world..." He trailed off, thinking his attempts at comfort both futile and ridiculous.
"Acid...we're ALL that's left. We're NEXT..."
He bent his head down a bit to look her directly in her ice blue eyes.
"That may be true, Queenie...but we AIN'T going down easy..."
Hours later, Acid Lad found himself at Roller Queen's highrise apartment.
"Roller Derby must be paying pretty well, Queenie."
"Oh...I get by okay..." She had stopped crying a while ago and now seemed to be heavy with the onset of acceptance.
"You know, I admire your detective work."
"Yeah...the library sure didn't know what to think of ME..."
Uncomfortable silence for a moment, finally broken by her yelling, "WHO is DOING this to us??? Acid, I checked...ALL of our major busts are still in prison or dead. Even the ones in the archives, from BEFORE I joined. Who ELSE would WANT to do this to us?"
"Could be a psycho with an imaginary grudge, Queenie..." and Acid Lad's thoughts drifted to Dr. Butz and his knuckles and his being so close to the scene of Rhinestone's demise...Dr. Butz, whom Acid Lad had spent hours talking to about The LMBE...telling things he probably shouldn't have...
"Will you be okay here for a while? I need to go check on something..."
"Are you f#cking sh#tting me? You're NOT leaving ME here alone..."
"Actually...I'm glad your coming. Tell me, do you have any drugs here?"
"Huh?"
"DRUGS. Anything...anything at all...I have a feeling I'm going to need them..."
"Uuuh...you always were pretty straight even when I KNEW you were tripping, Acid...but I DON'T think now is the best time to be..."
He cut her off with "TRUST me, Queenie. C'mon now, I need something STRONG..."
Acid Lad and Roller Queen made haste to Dr. Butz' office. Acid Lad had explained his unnerving suspicions en route.
The door to the building was locked, but Acid Lad would NOT be denied entry. He braced himself to smash into the door, but stopped when Roller Queen giggled.
"Step aside, skinny-ass. I think this situation requires MY tender touch..." Roller Queen proceeded to pick the lock with a lockpick pulled from her equipment bag. The door popped open. "Abandon all hope..."
"Not me, Queenie. C'mon..."
They entered the building and proceeded to Butz' office through the darkened hallways.
Once inside, Acid Lad began rummaging through file cabinets, unsure of WHAT exactly he was looking for......but he knew it when he found it.
It all started falling into place when he examined the old photographs....
"Tell me this isn't REAL...!"
Acid Lad continued to thumb through the cabinet that had captured his attention.
"What isn't real? What is it?"
Acid Lad, enthralled, ignored Roller Queen's query. "Awwww, MAN...!"
"Acid? WHAT?!?!"
"This...this is...a bad scene, man..."
"Acid Lad, I swear to God, I'm going to kick you in the head in about 5 seconds if you don't tell me WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT!!!"
"Yes, Lad..." Both Acid Lad and Roller Queen yelped in fright and whirled around to see Dr. Butz in the entryway. "...DO share the information you have learned. Please do."
"YOU...you...I never knew...never knew in a million years..."
"Never knew WHAT, Lad? Well, I never knew alleged 'HEROES' went about breaking and entering. Quite illegal."
"You..." Acid Lad was trembling as much in fright as he was in astonishment. "You...COULDN'T have..."
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!" Roller Queen screamed.
Dr. Butz ignored her, focusing solely on Acid Lad with a contemptous smirk. "You are quite right, Lad...I couldn't have---ALONE. But you see, I had assistance."
Roller Queen, having had more than enough, grunted in fury and skated toward Dr. Butz, ready to bowl him over. Without taking his eyes off of Acid Lad, Dr. Butz swung his fist back-hand style into Queenie. The force of his blow combined with her own acceleration knocked her across the room into his floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Wood and hardbacks flew everywhere, and she hit the ground and did not stir.
"Queenie...!"
"Aaaaah....THIS is how I knew it would be...through the years I didn't know exactly HOW it would come to pass...only that it WOULD come to pass. Everything happens for a REASON, right, Lad? And there was a REASON why you walked through my door all those weeks ago! Sweet, sweet symmetry...!"
Tears welled up in Acid Lad's eyes. Not quite tears of fear as much as tears of despair. "WHY??!?! You were...you were a HERO!!!"
"Aaah, Lad...many would say that I STILL AM."
Dr. Butz advanced on Acid Lad, his fists clenched so tightly his scraped knuckled were snow white...
Acid Lad had no choice but to use his powers against Butz. He hurled images of what Butz had once been full-force into his mind. Butz, enraged, slapped Acid Lad across the face. "YOU PIECE OF TRASH! I THOUGHT YOU HAD GIVEN THESE POWERS UP! YOU DARE USE THEM AGAINST ME?!?"
Butz kicked Acid Lad in the stomach. "YOU UNSPEAKABKLE FILTH! I LIVED THOSE MOMENTS! NO DRUG-SPAWNED IMAGE YOU COULD EVER PRODUCE CAN RECAPTURE THEM!"
Acid Lad, clutching his stomach, looked Butz square in the eye and laughed. Butz, regaining control of himself, asked in a familiar soothing tone, "What is amusing you so, Lad? I certainly wouldn't be laughing if I were in your position."
Acid Lad laughed again and replied, "I was just wondering what in the HELL Scrapper Man must have done to you all through the years to f#ck you UP so much....SLUGGER."
Butz frowned and said "Pray I don't do the same to YOU, Lad...BEFORE I kill you, that is..."
"Seriously, Slugger...he beat you, didn't he? Bet he raped you, too..."
"Do NOT play the part of caring psychoanalyst with ME, Lad...that's MY job. Suffice it to say that I endured EVERY degredation that can be inflicted...EVERY humiliation, both mental and physical...I was EIGHT YEARS OLD when I became Scrapper Man's ward and junior partner...eight..."
"Damn..."
"Damn, indeed, Lad...and then the FINAL humiliation...after all that I had endured...all that I had given to him...given up FOR him...I was passed over when the LMB Experience was formed. PASSED OVER FOR THE LIKES OF YOU AND YOUR DISGUSTING ILK..."
>>>>BASH!<<<<<
Slugger, the former Boy Battler, was knocked forward and to the floor by the force of Roller Queen's body-smash. "F#cking whiney-ass crybaby. No WONDER you were passed over..."
Acid Lad, sill crouching by the open file cabinet, breathed a sigh of relief. "Queenie...you kick @ss, baby..."
Slugger, sprawled and breathing heavily, lifted his head and craned his neck to look at Roller Queen. "Score a point for you, my dear...but I think it's time you BOTH met my ally...
"...ERIC! Make your presence known to these hoodlums in heroes clothing!"
The....THING that entered the office was only slightly recognizeable as something that had ONCE been three-quarters human. Roller Queen shrieked in disgust and fear as Acid Lad continued staring in total disbelief.
"May I introduce you to Eric Conners, children...you may remember his 40's & 50's adventures as Squirrely, the Boy Rodent."
The beast snarled in rage at the mention of the name. "CALM yourself, Eric, my friend...these ragamuffins figured me out and DESERVE an explanation before you rip the flesh from their bones."
Slugger/Butz was pleased by the fear in the eyes of his captive audience. He took the opportunity to delve further into past events...
"The life I led was NOTHING like the life ERIC led, Lad. No matter WHAT else he may have done, Scrapper Man DID care for me in his twisted way. I never wanted for any material thing. Eric on the other hand, found himself chained in a rancid basement following the breakup of the JSMB. My ONLY same-age associate had apparently begun to mutate even FURTHER during the late 50's...to the point that The Flying Squirrell simply shut him away."
The creature that had once been The Boy Rodent again snarled in outrage.
"ERIC...!" Butz again turned to Acid & Queenie. "I took great pains to...LIBERATE him from the Flying Squirrell. And then HE made sure I was freed from Scrapper Man...at long last."
"Meaning you KILLED them, right, freak?"
Butz punched Roller Queen so hard, she fell to the ground unconscious. Acid Lad rose, ready to strike but stopped short when the rat-creature named Eric let out a fierce screech.
"Be happy, Lad...she won't feel the horrors to come. YOU, on the other hand...." he let slip an evil smile. "It was SO EASY to track down the former LMBE through the years. Simpletons...every last ONE of them. Some I disposed of, some Eric did...but ALL were joint endeavors...I kept wondering HOW I would go about tackling the active team...and..." he started chuckling which quickly turned into a demented laughter, "...and then you came...WALTZING into my office...telling me ALL I needed to know...Ha ha HA...!" the insane laughter continued.
Acid Lad would have prayed for a miracle, but he thought Angels would fear to set foot admidst such utter and complete insanity.....
"Eric, my friend...dispose of the annoying harlot that dared to assault me. I want Acid Lad to see everything. He only witnessed the AFTERMATH of my dealings with Sundown, Boy 54 and Rhinestone Cowboy..."
So...he DID have a hand in Sundown's death! And Acid Lad had TOLD him where she lived, where she hung out...!
The rat thing lumbered toward where Roller Queen lay...and shrieked as if in panic. It's tail thrashed about, knocking over furniture. "ERIC! CALM YOURSELF, ERIC! Dispose of the..." Butz fell to the floor, wincing from the pain of Acid Lad's elbow smashed into the back of his head.
"Your f#cking rat buddy is being haunted by visions of Flying Squirrell right now, Butz..." Acid kicked Butz in the face. "...he AIN'T gonna be helping you!" another kick, in Butz' side.
For Acid Lad, the entire world dissolved into 2 things: pound Butz ceaselessly...keep Squirrelly occupied...pound Butz ceaslessly...keep Squirrelly occupied...pound...pound...pound...
And the red rage that consumed Acid Lad gave way to black nothingness....
Sunlight was breaking through the window when Acid Lad awoke with a start, the ice cold water thrown by Roller Queen stinging his face.
"Queenie...what...?"
"It's over, Acid...they're dead. You saved us BOTH."
Acid Lad wiped water from his face with his sleeve and took a look around him. He remembered the nonstop bashing and stomping he had administered to Butz. That explained the condition of his body, but WHAT had torn the former Boy Rodent to shreds?
"Can't believe I slept through it all, Acid...but Butz hits HARD!" she rubbed her face, swollen on both sides. "Damn!"
"Butz...yeah, I INTENDED to...but, the rat..."
"What about it? Man, you are SUCH a hero. The LMBE...you've avenged them ALL!" She hugged Acid Lad.
"Uh...yeah...listen, Queenie...we've got to bail. Butz' employees will get here soon and we DON'T wanna be here when they do..."
"Back to my place then, Acid...I sure don't wanna set foot back in YOUR roach motel!"
As the 2 staggered out of the office building and into the dawn, Acid Lad spared a look back. WHAT exactly had happened after he blacked out? Would he ever know? Why didn't he feel at ease with the resolution? And most importantly...Was his bus ticket to Tennessee still valid???
****15 Hours Later*********
The club was packed tonight, as if they ALL had felt his return. They gave their desire freely, each and every one ready to do whatever was required to keep him happy, to win his favor, to bask in his glow...little did they know he owed his continued existence to their collective vague rememberances of him. He owed them so much and intended to do ANYTHING they desired of him tonight.
Dying was certainly NOT something he ever wanted to experience again, that was for sure.
He almost hadn't found Acid and Queenie in time following his return to the living. Fortunately, Queenie had never taken her LMBE Signal off her skates.
But he HAD found them, and recognized the one who had killed him instantly. He had to control Acid Lad...had to put him to sleep...because he caught empathic flashes from Acid of just WHAT these 2 were responsible for...and he would NOT be denied his vengeance...for himself OR for the Platform King. Or for ANY of them!
Boy 54 gestured into the throng, allowing the first 5 men and women to approach him.
It was going to be a LONG night...and he was quite ready to drink in all of its delights.....
THE END!