[Note: This was something I was writing for the Usenet Newsgroup rec.arts.comics.creative. It's pretty light, and each section is short as I was having trouble keeping things moving at the time. Written in 1997.]

[Cover: A man with a blazing blue blade in one hand, and eyes to match, reaches out of the foreground. He is reaching up, according to the perspective, and trying to grab the edge of an airduct. His expression is set and exhasperated. There are what appear to be flashes of gunfire in the background.]

At one o'clock p.m. Banner was going over applications. He enjoyed this a little more than he should have really, but it felt good that most of the applicants were people he had worked for at one point or another. It meant he was still respected in the field, something that he needed to be reminded of occassionally with this cushy desk job.

There was a beep at his computer, and he opened a window showing that two of his couriers had reached their checkpoints safely. With two clicks of his mouse he granted their requests to leave for home, jobs complete; both had been simple hand-deliveries of legal documents. He turned back to the paperwork, smiling without realizing it, and raised an eyebrow as his stomach growled.

"Alright, one more file and then lunch," he promised himself, flipping the next in the stack open. His eyes scanned for the usual details, but blinked when they noted that most of the feilds were blank. Grumbling a little, annoyed, he looked to the name of the applicant.

His heart skipped, and all thoughts of food went from his mind.

"Tyra McKenney?" he whispered, anger and amazement apparent in his expression as he slammed a hand down on his intercom, "Linda, I have an application here from one Tyra McKenny...contact her and tell her I want to see her as soon as possible." The secretary responded affirmatively and he began to read through the file again.

The last time he'd seen that name, three of his best friends had died at the whim of a heartless bitch.

Totally unaware of his employer's concerns, jay 'Blue' Danning was in a dark, cold airduct. He was tired as all hell and his slow-breathing excersize was about to drive him crazy all by itself. Jay was seriously considering doing something drastic.

It had been given to him as a simple run before a short break. He'd be in France, see Paris, and drop off the plans for a new car to a free-lance engineer. He quietly cursed the pencil-pusher that had marked this delivery as "moderately safe." Yeah, he hadn't been in any danger when his contact shot at him, or when his rental car had exploded, and certainly not when he'd been attacked by some freaks in malitia get-up.

He did not want to fill the damn paper-work on the bodies in the lobby, self-defense or no. The emergency beacon light flashed steadily and he fought the urge to shift. Suddenly there was a soft rustle above him and he spun noisely, prepared to strike.

"Hey, chill bro," came the familiar voice, causing him to let out a slow sigh of relief, "What's down?"

The man attached non-chalantly to the verticle shaft above Jay gave a small smirk, long brown hair dangling over his face. He was held in place by, apparently hands and feet alone, despite the slick surface.

"Oh, hey Creep," Jay chuckled, releived that backup had finally arrived, as his knife faded from an electric blue to the more natural metallic silver.

"I told you about that shit," Alex said, smiling and contorting so that he once more faced upward in the narrow shaft, "It's CreepER, and you owe me for pulling your ass out of here when you could have just blasted your way."

"Yeah," whispered Jay as he put away the knife and began to follow after carefully, "But that wouldn't be fair...or safe."

Alex had the good sense to chuckle and not laugh out loud.

"So," said Alex, speeding down the small road and trying to remember which side he was supposed to be on, "You drive out to tiny french airport, making the mistake of mixing work and vacation, hand over your delivery, and the guy shoots at you?"

"Yes," said the man in the passenger seat as he tried to relax, the sun coming down through the open-topped jeep.

"Why?"

"Because we were lied to," Jay replied slowly, an annoyed tone creeping into his voice, "They weren't specs for a new roadsterm they were designs for a new hand-gun."

"You checked?" Alex made a swift turn and skidded to the left; he was learning how to drive like a local.

"Only after the assholes tred to kill me," he paused and they continued in unison, "Company policy. Yeah, so anyway that's what I dropped at that box back there. Sent them to our Pentagon contact and told him who to make the check payable to."

"Nice, but do you think our people -or the G's- will find these guys? I mean they fooled our researchers pretty well," Alex asked, looking away from the road for a minute.

Jay just laid out an ID and credit card on the console without looking up.

"Amatuers. Maybe next time he won't bring his wallet to work when he goes undercover...no wait I killed that guy."

Jay frowned, trying to remember, and Alex just laughed.

"Man, I'm glad I don't piss you off often," he chuckled, driving towards the hotel rooms they were to use as a check-point.

FLAGG, Inc. [Issue #2]: "Well Recieved"

[Cover: The background is a desert plane, flat and empty except for the shredded remains of a corporate jet which has smoke roiling from various points on it's surface. In the foreground is a young and obviously injured brunette woman, face barely upturned, hands clawing at the dirt. Her eyes search up for the source of a human-shaped shadow that falls over most of her.]

Tyra McKenney smile had a predatory glint, her long straight red hair falling over both shoulders a marked contrast to the stark white of her pants-suit. Daniel banner stared harshly at her from across the desk, looking like he did twenty years ago only with more gray around the edges. In that dark suit he looked like he should have been running besides the President's limo.

Banner was getting fumed just looking at her, but tried to keep his cool.

He was failing.

"Tyra, you have balls of steel for coming in here asking anything of me after what you did," He said, "We tried to save your ass and you sold us out."

She just smiled, "Mr. Banner, it is so like you, bringing up trivial games of so very long ago." He took a breath, trying to calm himself, and she winked. He was being goaded, played with, and he refused to let that continue. Straightening his tie, Banner sat back down at his desk and picked up her application file.

"Ok McKenney, so is this why you came here? To see how much you could mock me before I did something rash? Because I certainly don't see much of substance in this application, and I don't have time to waste yelling at you."

The woman blinked in what might have been mild surprise, perhaps even a touch of respect as she raised an eyebrow, and grew more serious quickly.

"Alright Daniel, fair is fair. My employers, who will remain nameless, thought it best to be vague in the application; who knows who might have read that file?" she leaned up to pull something from her bag, handing it acorss before leaning back once more, "You'll be more than compensated."

He grunted a little cynically at that, but then nodded approvingly at the proposed fee.

"This 'Project Heart of Gold'," he said finally, looking up, "I'll need to know what it is I'm shipping, at least in a general sense."

She grinned, softly, apparently pleased that he was considering the project.

"It's an A5C power source."

Daniel nodded, dropped the folder on the desk and leaned slowly back in his chair.

"I'll need another million, considering the risk to my courier and facilities."

"Done."

"Alex," Jay said simply. Alex Scott waited for more to follow, but there wasn't any more.

"Yo, what is it Jay?" he asked, tired of this hotel room. Yes it was three rooms, but they'd been here for a day already...He looked over his shoulder, away from the bad french cartoons, and saw Jay searching for something.

"Can't find a damned spoon," Jay muttered, "Anyway...umm, oh yeah; got any assignments lined up after this? I was supposed to deliver some computer design this afternoon." he let out a small cry of triumph when he discovered a bag of plastic sporks, moving back to his cereal bowl.

"Nice. Sad that there's enough industrial espionage these days that they have to pay us the big bucks for simple hand-offs," Alex said, chuckling, "But nope, no more deliveries for me. Taking a two week break."

"Two weeks?!" Jay responded, looking up from his breakfast, "I had 48 hours and I've spent most of that trying to save my butt and laying low here!"

Alex turned and laughed, "Hey, I haven't taken a vacation in over a year. Tas and I were going to go to England, visit her folks, so we've been saving up."

He got up and turned off the cartoons, smirking, "Besides, you know janet hasn't taken a break in two years, even with what happened on her last run?"

"Yeah," Jay nodded, a bit more serious, "That woman does need a break. Hope she's taking it easy on this one."

She dragged the pilot yet another yard from the plane, gasping something that sounded like "One foot at a time." It'd been all that was running through her head the past five minutes, non-stop. Both of her legs felt broken, she couldn't stand at least, and her head hurt like hell. The pilot had been breathing when she started but who knew at this point...

It seemed like it had been hours.

Something inside of her suddenly began to panic. her breath started to some in gasps and thoughts flew unbidden into her mind: something coming, tracking the plane, run. Run!

She closed her eyes, fighting for control of herself, and started moving along the ground again. there was an urgency she couldn't quite understand, but that was possibly because her thinking was getting cloudy.

Suddenyl she blinked; there was something new. It took a moment to process the two black loafers on the sand before her.

"Hello there. Did you honestly think I couldn't track my little prize through the air?" the voice was cultured, the figure well dressed, but she couldn't see the face, "You've come just where we wanted you."

The last thing she saw was a flash of light from odd-shaped eyes...

FLAGG, Inc. [Issue #3]: "Into the Pit" part One

[Cover: A shadowed man stands in a busy lab, Janet strapped and unconscious to a table before him. He wears a dark suit, and while his facial features are hidden, a single hand hovers above the body before him. The hand is large and the back of it is covered in a dark black fur.]

The room was enormous, the largest in this facility, and the table janet lay on was at the seeming center of the storm. Men in lab coats hurried back and forth across the wide area, various machines and computers scattered on tables and desks drawing their attention. A man in a dark suit stood over her inert body, energy crackling between his hand and her form. She still wore the torn clothing they had found her in.

"Are you sure our subject is here? The mode of transportation you propose seems extremely risky for both parties," a young-looking scientist asked, looking up from a display.

"Indeed," came the reply, an obvious british accent cutting the word slightly, "And yet desperate times call for desperate measures. Yes, our little friend has hidden himself away in this unsuspecting little host. It'll almost be a shame that the game will have to end when I dig him out."

The crackling light slowly faded and he turned to the scientist.

"When can she be brought back around? She needs to be awake before we can proceed."

"Well," the man said nervously, knowing that the doctors had gone for a break and trying to make his best guess from the readings before him, "I'd say that the effects of your abilities on her system have worn off by now, but because of the damage from the crash it may take an hour or two."

"Very well, let me know when she's awake," he said, turning and walking out.

"Will do 'Major Monkey'," the tech grumbled. A few people laughed and an older scientist, looking up from his computer smirked.

"Hey, at least he doesn't throw feces like his parents did," he chuckled, "God that guy gives me the creeps."

"This won't be easy," Daniel Banner said quietly, "Those materials are so experimental as to be almost hazardous. I can't beleive someone's sinking money into a fully-geared A5C power source."

Tyra smirked.

"It's been twenty-five years since the first Class 1 humans began to pop up, Daniel, and eighteen since energy rift that caused their existence was pinpointed. The human race is already years behind in cultivating this type of technology," she shook her head, "No, the time is just right for this sort of thing. My employers want this prototype shipped to their European center, and soon. I recommended your company as the type of thrid-party expertise that could get it done."

"I'll try not to disapoint," he replied, obviously ill at ease with her assumed familiarity, "But you'll have to give me a few days to set this up."

"Done. Call me here," she handed over a white card with a single number printed in the middle, "When you are ready. Don't take too long."

She smiled again, stood, and left. Banner immediately reached for the intercom.

"Linda, get me anything you can on Ms. Tyra McKenney and the 'Heart of Gold' project. In fact, get me a listing on companies with an A5C research facility."

"Done sir. Oh, and sir? Agent Janet 'Skean' has yet to check in."

He sighed, "Keep me updated. Her package was extremely confidentail, and I can't afford to lose a courrier like that either."

"Yes sir."

FLAGG, Inc. [Issue #4]: "Into the Pit" part Two

[Cover: The striking figure of a man half-covered in shadow. His suit is black and immaculate, but what really draws the light and is the main focus of the image is the face. A sloping brow, rounded jaw, and cupped lips all give the impression of a less-hairy version of a simian or degenerated cromagdon man. The eyes, however, contain small sparks and stare accusingly at the reader.]

Janet awoke slowly to the smell of power. It wasn't something most people could sense as easily as she, but it was there. Not ready to reveal that she was awake, she attempted to stay still and listen. There was a steady bustling of movement and people speaking just at the edge of her hearing, but her thinking was still a bit blurred. She was aware, however, that she was strapped to a table, and she tried carefully to test the bonds with a press of her power.

Nothing happened.

"That would be the dampening field my little worker-ants have created to keep your rather fromidable abilities in check," a voice spoke from somewhere in front of her. Obviously caught, she opened her eyes and unintentionally gasped at the sight of the man before her. The man laughed, as if used to this reaction, and shook his head.

"I have that affect on all the ladies, I assure you," he said, watching her intently.

"Then you don't mind my surprise Mr.--..."

"Sims. Andrew Sims. A little pun on part of my creators," his eyes sparked a bit more, "As soon as I outranked them, they paid for it."

"Well Mr. Sims, it does look like I won't be getting paid for this delivery, eh?" she watched him back with a very similar manner, curious as to what exactly her position entailed.

"Don't fret Ms. Seyton, you won't be harmed more than need be; you don't know enough to be a threat, and all we want is the 'package' you carry." His tone was assuring. Janet did not feel like being assured.

"I do so regret to inform you that the package was destroyed in that crash you caused," she replied, tacking on some extra venom; he merely smiled.

"The box was empty, Ms. Seyton, or at least by the time we brought you down...no, the real treasure has made it's home in you. A little pet of mine that somehow thought he could escape, and one I'd like to get back."

Janet thought about this a moment, and shook her head.

"Whatever...get me a fucking aspirin will you? At least let me be able to think straight before you go saying odd bits like that."

He laughed again.

"Mr. Banner, Sir?"

"Yes?"

"We've found something...er...nothing. What I mean is we found what appears to be the only peice of desert not bouncing anything," the voice was of the Search&Rescue team leader, "It's a black hole to everything but infared and radar."

"Very good. How many Class One's do you have with you?"

"Uh...none Sir now that they've all been changed to courier or free-lance status."

"Damn."

Jay knew what it was before he picked it up, and he informed a Alex shortly thereafter that he and Tas had a rescue to pull.

Alex, in the meantime, was stuck with a relatively cushy delivery in Italy the next day. Some rich guy was getting a summons served on his sorry ass.

FLAGG, Inc. [Issue #5]: "Into the Pit" part Three

The wind was blowing harsh sand into everyone's eyes, which was why most were wearing goggles, but the worst was getting it into your mouth. The only two that didn't seem to be really bothered were those at the center of the gathering.

About five Jeeps and some dozen Search&Rescue personel were waiting nearbye, gathered close.

"How goes the 'good work' Red?" Jay asked Tas, speaking loudly near her ear in order to be heard.

"Shhhhh!" she said back, "You're breaking my concentration. The ground here is pretty unstable and the energy traces are pretty hard to-..." She broke off, staring into space a moment, wind whipping her hair about her face and encrusting it with sand, "About three hundred yards to the right."

Jay nodded, smirked, and pulled out a collapsable metal rod as Tas stood up and began to wave people back from the area she'd pointed out. Jay walked casually over to a spot picked at random within that area and shoved the end of the pole into the sand.

It began to crackle blue. The blue glare coming off of the pole brightened even more as the seconds ticked by, and then a small dome of blue energy began to expand away from Jay as he concentrated. The sand flying through the air seemed to dissapate against it's curving walls and suddenly-

"Sir!" came a sharp bark of the man in fatigues as he burst into the lab, "Mr. Sims, there's alot of activity on the surface! Whole sections of cover are seemingly dissapearing!"

"Damn," came the calm reply as Sims looked up from the table Janet was squirming on in apparent pain. As his concetration shifted from her to the soldier, the bright light coming from his hands dimmed and something seemed to slip from her out of the corner of his eye.

"No!" he screamed, diving for the ephemeral 'cloud' that moved through the air like a startled octopus towards the communications bank. Sims slammed his hands down on the counter as he reached the controls, in time only to see the flashing words 'Transfer Complete.' Taking a deep breath, he ignored the shouting grunt and copied the log file onto a disk before turning to the panicked scientist who all looked to him expectantly.

"Ah yes," he smiled, looking from one to the next, "I regret to inform you-" there was the sound of a large explosion and the place shook "-that you are all fired. Good luck in the modern job market and all that."

There was a collective gasp...and in a flash of light he was gone, leaving only an after-image of a rather spiteful smile for more than one of the scientists present.

Janet "Skean" Seyton awoke as she was being carried out of the bunker and into the light, Jay and Tas flanking her stretcher. She blinked at the bright sun and moaned.

"Damn that hurts," she groaned, trying to shift.

"What does?" Tas asked, patting her hand as they moved towards one of the Jeeps, a police hellicopter approaching in the distance.

"Everything," she said with a small smile.

"Heh," Jay replied, helping heft the stretcher across the back seat, "And you haven't even started your debriefing yet. I usually don't get that feeling till the second hour."

Janet tried to laugh, but Tas assured her it wasn't worth it and gave Jay a quick thwap as they drove off.

FLAGG, Inc. [Issue #6]: "One for the Road" pt One

[Cover: A sporty car comes down a hilly dirt road in the middle of a country-side in the background. In the foreground there is a tree on one side of the road, occupied by a man in fatigues with a rifle. On the other side of the road is a large bush with a mand hiding as he prepares a rocket launcher.]

Alex drummed on the steering wheel and whistled the latest radio buzz, smiling at the sunny day and the nice little car he was able to get for this assignment.

"Ok, as far as working overtime goes, this ain't bad," he said to himself in a light tone, "Italian countryside and a summons to deliver. Too bad the guy I'm serving won't be having such a great day."

Chuckling to himself, he shook his head and pushed the italian newspaper to the floor of the car; trying to translate more than a line or two of italian at a time always gave him a headache. Instead he glanced at the picture of the rich guy he was giving the summons to and then the rear-view mirror.

What he saw there caused him to raise an eyebrow; the Isuzu truck he'd supposedly lost in the city. It had trailed him for a few blocks and then gotten shaken in a tunnel.

"Well isn't that sweet?" he laughed over the music, pushing the pedal down another few inches, "I've got a fan..."

"Sir!" saluted the young man in hand-me-down fatigues. He blinked at the brightness of the Texas sun, but managed to spot his superior officer. He approached the man, calling out again as he got closer. This time the larger man turned and acknowledged the soldier; he nodded for the boy to go on.

"One of the two agents our men tangled with in Europe has been spotted and is being tailed at this moment," he replied energetically, trying to hide his excitement.

"Ah-hu...those damn government bastards are going to pay, each of them, and we're going to get those plans back," the larger man growled, "Have our boys follow this agent, grab him, and have him sent back here ASAP. I'll be sending Alan to supervise..."

"But Dad!" the boy blurted, immediately regretting it but finding he couldn't stop, "You said I could take care of the next step in this mission!"

He saw his father's lip curl at the whine in his voice and flinched unintentionally.

"I..." the word was drawn out, as he shook his head and let out a slow breath; he'd tried to control his temper recently but his red face showed his anger, "...Don't think you are ready, soldier. You're still too young to be taken seriously in a dangerous situation, either by the enemy or the soldier we expect to follow us. Now get along..."

The boy saluted and turned to scuttle off.

"Oh and soldier?" the boy paused as the old man's voice grew hard, "Don't ever call me...that while on duty again."

Young Ted Black just nodded and hurried off, shivering in the heat of the day.

Banner sat behind his desk, watching Tas leave with the information packet on her latest assignment and worrying like a father.

He'd be putting her in the hands of some he knew he didn't trust, for the sake of a project he didn't care for, that would be used to ends he couldn't fathom.

And all for an obscene amount of cash.

She insisted she could do it, though, and trusted his team. His judgement.

He shook his head and hit the intercom.

"Linda, have someone..."

"Already on it sir," the secretary cut in, her tone a practiced perky and underlined with a vocal rolling of the eyes. He smirked and sat back, feeling a little better.