The Six Shot (Comic Book Universe Trial)

[Izulde]

For gameplay, please see SirFozzie's Trying out the demo to Comic Book Universe. This will be a narrative dynasty[/i]

He was clean-shaven today, with a fresh haircut. Hopefully that'd make him more receptive. Like the moon phases, Hank Witherbloom tended to get progressively surlier as his beard grew out before he got a haircut and shave again.

The crisp late October air had a snap and bite to it as I ventured out of the building and went to the designated smoking area. Hank never took meetings with underlings in his office. Only his bosses, and only because he had to. "Fresh air is best for meetings," he always said.

Fresh air that was polluted by the Lucky Strike Red he was smoking as I approached him. Shit. I hate it when I have to talk to him when he's smoking. I don't want cancer because of his grouchy ass. Oh well. Has to be done.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?" The afternoon sunlight makes the grey in his buzz-cut hair gleam as Hank turns to face me.

"I wanted to talk to you about the first issue?"

A plume of smoke issued out the other side of his mouth, away from me thankfully. He gestured for me to continue.

"Okay, so the writers have come up with our first issue. Shrinkfit is plotting something. The heroes have to use their wits to figure out where he's hiding. In focus group testing, we determined that Dupin, Midnight FoxandVerti-Ghost would be the best team to use."

A narrowed eye glowers at me. "What was that last name?"

...Crap. "Verti-Ghost," I sighed.

"No."

"But sir-"

"Fuck your focus group. Verti-Ghost is trash and the writer who came up with him should be fired. There's a reason he's obscure and the fanbase hates him."

I wanted to tell him our group's findings revealed the importance of elevating minor characters to make them more popular. But I knew it would only make him madder. Instead, I waited until he ground out his cigarette in the tall ashtray pock-marked with grey and white from frequent use.

"What team do you want then, sir?"

"Dupin and Midnight Fox are fine. Swap out that waste of space with The Flashing Blade."

"...I'll let the team know."

Hank nodded and dismissed me with a hand wave. Typical - he often only accepted one of my initial recommendations, and sometimes none at all. "Damn your data," he'd say as often as, "Fuck your focus groups." ...Alliterative asshole.

***

Geoff Jefferson lived in a crumbling late Victorian that really was more space than he and his cat needed. But he loved the house - it was one of the few in his price range - especially after years living in a crime-infested apartment complex. That he'd lost his job four months ago meant little to him - burnout he hadn't even realized had been so severe, it was a long time healing.

Part of that healing process was reading comic books, and the first issue of the new Grey Dog Six Shot was out.

He'd walked to the comic book store situated in the downtown near where he lived the moment it was open to buy the issue, and now, with a bag of tortilla chips and bowl of salsa, he sat down in his thrift-store purchased plush chair to begin reading.

Dupin, who was in charge of the investigation to track down ShrinkFit, suggested the team split up and pursue different leads. "We'll cover more ground that way."

What followed was The Flashing Blade constantly searching in all the wrong places and talking to the wrong people. Such an irritating character, Geoff thought. Totally miscast in this issue. Although some people would find the jokes funny, Geoff didn't.

Dupin methodically and carefully worked through every tip, every bit of advice. No one tried to fool him or lead him astray - not when his tough, smart reputation preceded him.

Midnight Fox, being a teenager, sometimes went astray. But just when it looked like all hope was lost for the team ever finding the giant psychiatrist, she charmed a mid-level goon into giving up the exact location of Narco's right-hand man... and his diabolical plan.

"Shrinkfit and his goons are going to try to mind control Sienna Scarlet into a bad guy!" shouted the bubbly teen as she burst into the squad room.

"...Guess we'll have to go arrest him," replied Dupin. "Did you find out where they're holding her captive?"

"Yeah! That old warehouse on 7th Street"

"I know the place. Mob-owned. They usually store their smuggled drugs there. But we've never been able to get a warrant to search and seize the place there."

"If it's fighting, I'm definitely a cut above the rest for that job," quipped The Flashing Blade.

Please no, thought Geoff. Stop trying to promote this Zorro knockoff. Such a bad hero so far this issue. He nearly handed the team the L.

More chips were needed, and then he'd keep reading.

[Izulde]

For the second segment of the issue, the writers wanted to use The Flashing Blade, Wilde, Cain the Shorn, City Sweeper, Rachel Noir, and Risktaker. I was the one who actually took issue with that (no pun intended).

When you have a pugilist's wet dream of Shrinkfit and the Bull Brothers mixed in with the likewise resistant Iron Raptor and the damned obnoxious Ito the Ninja, you're telegraphing to the readers you're forcing a Sienna Scarlet turn. All the suspense and tension is gone out of it.

"No, no it's heroic! See, the reader knows that's a bad team and when they win, it'll be surmounting the odds."

I stared Barry down. I don't know how he got hired - he's always the dumbest person in any room he's in. Then I remember. Hank. "My nephew is worthless, but it'll make my sister happy." Yeah. I'm not Hank, so I don't have a cool cutting remark for nepotism.

"So what do you want us to do instead?" Thankfully Sal was the lead writer and a voice of reason.

"Hmm. Keep City Sweeper, Risktaker, and The Flashing Blade. Insert Cyco, Dark Justice, Midnight Fox, and Delphi. Bigger team and more attack avenues to make it more interesting."

"All right," said Sal. "We'll get on it."

***

Chips refilled, Geoff returned to reading in his chair. Only to groan when he saw The Flashing Blade as part of the team sent to deal with Shrinkfit. But at least Dupin also sent Midnight Fox. She was quickly becoming one of Geoff's favorite characters already in this first issue.

As the team left the police station and made their way to 7th Street, they were suddenly impeded by a huge crowd who was there for the Number Streets Fall Festival. But luck was also on the heroes' side - Shrinkfit and his goons were planning on using the crowd to ambush them, but Delphi's prescience allowed the heroes to spot the villains first.

Shockwave attacks by Dark Justice, Midnight Fox, Cyco, and Risktaker all failed, while Shrinkfit and the Bull Brothers quickly knocked out Cyco with hard-charging attacks. Tauran injured himself when Cyco managed to dodge the younger brother's stampede, which provided a potential opening for the heroes.

"Pull yourselves together!" shouted City Sweeper, raising the team's resolve so that each of them could attack.

Seeing the blood, The Flashing Blade darted forward, flourishing his enchanted blade to strike Tauran. The strike hit home, spurting more blood from the younger minotaur. About damn time he did something useful, thought Geoff.

From his perch on the rooftop, City Sweeper coolly pulled out his rifle and, spotting him from the shadows, Dark Justice readied her own gun. The duo fired at the Bull Brothers, Iron Raptor, and Shrinkfit - a furious hail of bullets that spread across two pages and was one of the coolest things Geoff had seen. Minatoro and Iron Raptor dodged, Shrinkfit was slightly glazed, and Tauran continued to bleed.

Dark Justice followed up with an energy attack on Tauran, but though reeling, he managed to dodge.

From the depths of the crowd, Delphi sent out a psychic attack at everyone but the hovering Iron Raptor. Seeing everyone stunned and reeling, Tauran officially down for the count, Geoff reflected that the heroes should have had her go first - it would have left everyone vulnerable and the battle would have been over quickly. Tactical error on their part.

Midnight Fox and Risktaker saw an opportunity to catch Shrinkfit between them in a flurry of marital arts strikes and both of them hit.

Then Iron Raptor swept down on City Sweeper. Sweeper ducked the first time but Raptor flew down, plucked him off the roof, and hurled him onto the ground. Shrinkfit broke free of the Fox/Taker trap and teamed with Minatoro to put a savage beatdown on Sweeper that put the team leader in danger of dropping.

Sweeper grimly stood up and promptly hurled a pulled grenade in their faces: "Eat shrapnel!" Unfortunately, it quite literally blew up in his face and knocked him out.

Geoff laughed and laughed and laughed. Okay, this issue was getting a lot better.

Delphi stunned Minatoro and Midnight Fox took advantage by hitting him. The enemies then all converged on Dark Justice, but she expertly avoided all of them, as it was too dark to find her in the shadows.

Minataro was next to fall, taken out by Dark Justice's savage counterattack.

"Stop that seer!" shouted Shrinkfit. Iron Raptor heard and dragged Delphi bodily and bloodily out into the open. Only the seer's awareness saved her from Ito's shuriken and kept her still barely standing after being pummeled by Shrinkfit.

More continued to fall, as Iron Raptor took out Delphi and Shrinkfit finally dropped after dodging Dark Justice and The Flashing Blade, leaving Midnight Fox to again be the hero. Still, Iron Raptor and Ito remained.

Iron Raptor continued to wreak havoc, this time using his aerial advantage to put a hurting on Dark Justice, and toxic pellets thrown by Ito later, the most resistant hero on the team was in danger of falling.

But then Midnight Fox, the lone hero who dodged the poison, scored another victory, martial striking Ito into submission.

Only Iron Raptor was left. And though he put a serious bruising on Risktaker, even he couldn't win in a 3 vs 1 battle, and Midnight Fox once again delivered the finishing blow.

What a great fight, Geoff thought. His girl Midnight Fox kicking all kinds of ass, and a balla villain in Iron Raptor. He was going to have to look up figurines.

His phone chimed with a text message notification.

"Yo, bro, did you see that grenade shit? Hilarious! I was rolling!"

Geoff smiled. Trent was one of his favorite people to chat comics with.

"That's the part where the issue turned for me."

And so they fell into conversation about the first issue of the arc.

[Izulde]

Today was a good day. Our next issue involves quasi-medieval characters and we were all in universal agreement as to the team. Sal did raise the possibility of including our fae representative given the popularity of fae romance novels these days, but we quickly dismissed that. Hank doesn't care about the medieval stories: "Fodder for the nerd's nerds who are into D&D, Renn Faires, and all that silly stuff".

Even better, Sarah is making my favorite - lasagna - for our supper. As I watch her ash blonde hair as she bustles about the kitchen, I'm still amazed that she said yes to marrying me. Brilliant accountant - not that we need it with the salary I bring home as VP of marketing - and just a kind person.

Of course, there have been - no, I don't want to think about that. Don't want to spoil the nice day. I'll just sip my gin and tonic and think happy thoughts...

***

Geoff was a little disappointed to see the next issue had Arthur and Merlin. He didn't like it when they used real people in comics. It ruined the immersion for him. Still, he was a big enough fan that he read everything the publisher put out. Besides, someone else would be thrilled.

"Yes! Arthur, Merlin, and that hottie Silver Seer!"

Geoff laughed as Trent did the Carleton and rushed up to the cash register with issue in hand. For Trent, he could put up with it.

Orange chicken and rice for Geoff, burger and fries for Trent later, they were at the mall food court a few miles southwest of downtown, both silently reading the issue.

Three of the great heroes of The Round Table sat discussing the state of Albion, when Merlin suddenly growled.

"My powers have been blocked!"

Silver Seer grimaced and touched her head, "The pain..."

"Mordred has thrown a magical challenge before us," Arthur gravely intoned.

"We'll see through that child's play," boasted Merlin, "No matter his lack of chivalry"

Silver Seer gazed off into the distance, fighting the throbbing in her temples, "...He says that if we can best him in this game of magic, he'll tell us where he is"

And so the contest of arcane wills commenced. Mordred proved a formidable foe - constantly neutralizing Merlin's magic and successfully telepathically attacking Silver Seer, but the young woman in turn repeatedly attacked the descendent of dark sorcery, lowering his defenses enough to allow Arthur and Merlin to prevail in the end.

"Mordred's a dick. I hate that guy"

"You're just mad he went after bae so hard," teased Geoff.

"Yeah, yeah... speaking of bae, check out seven o'clock."

Geoff turned to look, "I don't see-", before his peripheral vision informed him Trent stole some of his orange chicken.

"Dude, all you had to do was ask!"

They fell to squabbling.

***

...Of course, when I say the day was good, I don't mean to say that it was perfect. A huge, epic brawl was planned for the majority of the issue. Mordred, Abominable Showman, Princess Corral, Grand Knight Assay, Medusa, Vexxer Daemonchild, and Aikiko... lots of bodies on the baddies.

What the writers came up with: Arthur, Granite Man, White Rose, UnstoppaBull, Kid Canada, Sgt Steel, Dragon of the Valleys, Irish Tiger, The Flashing Blade, and Kid Albion.

Arthur was an automatic include, but as for the rest of the team...

"We have a small roster to work with," Sal warned me. "You're going to have to include some of these people regardless."

"Fine."

I reviewed the possible heroes the writers submitted. Arthur, Granite Man, White Rose, UnstoppaBull, Dragon of the Valleys, Irish Tiger - all those were members of The Round Table and good enough characters to include. Kid Albion was part of The Round Table, too, but he'd tested poorly even back in the '90s when the writers back then tried to connect with xiennials. Now? With Gen Z? He'd get laughed off the page.

"You don't have any Scottish representation, but you've got British, Welsh, and Irish? Include Scots Guard and Scottish Heather to get Scotland in, too. They make sense with Granite Man anyway."

"Yeah... we overlooked that one. Our bad," Sal grinned sheepishly.

"...As for the rest... yeah, keep Kid Canada and The Flashing Blade, I suppose. Putting in the swordsman will make Hank happy."

So in reality, what I'd done is just have them switch Sgt Steel and Kid Albion for the Scottish duo. Not a major change, but it was really a lackluster roster we had for our medieval lineup.

So it goes.

***

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not HIM again!"

"Haha that's what you get for smacking me, Geoff. More of The Flashing Blade!"

Geoff grumbled.

"Honestly dude, he's so annoying. Such an idiot and he's not even that good a fighter! Why is he even in this fight?"

"Um did you read the part where he said, 'Mordred is a threat to the world, Arthur. I, representing America, answer the call!'?"

Geoff fumed silently, hoping there would never be a movie of The Flashing Blade. Knowing Trent, he'd call in the favor chip he'd been holding the last few years, since he let Geoff copy his German homework, just to make him go see it as a troll.

"Let's just keep reading," he finally said.

"Sounds good"

Aided by Merlin's magic, Arthur sent the call to all corners of Albion: "The time is now for us to capture Michael Mordred and end his dark menace." From the highlands came Scots Guard and Scottish Heather. From Wales came Dragon of the Valleys. Irish Tiger arrived from Eire ere long, and White Rose too, came south, journeying with UnstoppaBull. Granite Man was already at Camelot.

The group was assembled, when suddenly Kid Canada flew in. "Heard you hosers might need a hand," he grinned, while the dashing Flashing Blade dashed in to add, "Indeed."

Wise they were to assemble such a vast and mighty horde, for Mordred the Malovent massed an equally formidable army to stave off Albion's greatest heroes and helpers.

But despite their precautions, they were ambushed as soon as they crossed into Diddly Squat, Morded having drawn upon the local leylines to be forewarned of The Round Table's coming.

And with Mordred's forces were two Knight of the Vulcan shock troopers, having been summoned by Grand Knight Assay as soon as the heroes were spotted. Also arriving for the evildoers was Mister Bibbins after receiving an urgent message from The Abominable Showman.

"Hehehehehe... sorry I'm late, guys!"

"You're just in time," grinned the Showman at the ghouish clown.

An energy blast from Assay staggered Granite Man and Arthur commanded an all-out assault: "We need to stop those Vulcan Knights from overwhelming us!"

Sadly, all attacks failed. Worse yet, the combined inspiring efforts of The Abominable Showman, Grand Knight Assay, and Vexxing Daemonchild allowed the entire enemy army to counterattack at once. Quickly knocked out were Scots Guard and White Rose, and Granite Man and Arthur were left tottering on the brink.

Disaster continued, as Granite Man slipped while trying to punch the Showman, knocking himself out on a rock.

Nor did the rest of the battle fare well for our heroes. Mordred's Magical Energy Bolts time and time again shredded Albion's valiant defenders. The last to fall was The Flashing Blade.

Only Merlin's teleportation magic managed to rescue the heroes from death.

The last two panels of the issue showed Kid Canada waking up in the hospital, vowing to "Get that rabid beaver Mordred", followed by Abominable Showman smiling at Medusa, "Pretty girl like you and I should be friends."

Medusa smirked, snakes snapping, "Yes... I think we should. You inspired us all today."

"Wow... wow."

"Yeah..." said Geoff. "They really had no chance with all those leaders on Mordred's side, and with Mordred having those amazing magical bolts.." Forget Iron Raptor, these guys were the real cool bad guys.

"And like, did Irish Tiger die?"

Trent peered at the profusion of blood on Irish Tiger.

"...Maybe? He looks pretty close to it."

They sat in silence with that, before Trent suddenly grinned.

"Look on the bright side - you probably won't see The Flashing Blade for a while!"

[Izulde]

We skipped a week for the third issue, watching as Tree of Woe declined in popularity. For the next week, the writers wanted a mismatched team against Vexxer Daemonchild, but I insisted on Big Chill and Miss Atomic after the writers required Raging Fire as the primary protagonist. The Nuclear Family was fair game for inclusion by Hank's standards since they weren't The Wonderfuls.

***

"Princess Corral got jailed after the fight The Round Table lost. Merlin's magic sucked her back in along with the rest of the heroes so they didn't die. She's in the Camelot dungeon now."

"Who cares?"

Trent laughed at Geoff's shrug.

"Yeah I figured you wouldn't care - you don't even like The Round Table because Midnight Fox isn't in it."

"Yeah, yeah. It kinda sucked they didn't have something for us to read last week."

"All good, though. They got a new one this week, and Vexxer Daemonchild is on the cover. Talking about how he's fresh off beating The Round Table."

Geoff had seen the bragging quote on the cover and wondered what the purple-horned villain was up to now. He found out when he read the issue after a supper of TV dinner chicken nuggets and fries nuked in the microwave.

The Nuclear Family easily outsmarted Vexxer Daemonchild, who was feeling cocky after his defeat of The Round Table, and got him to admit where Xtinction was located. But before Raging Fire, Miss Atomic, and Backlash - who'd joined the duo to give them a physically tough fighter - could track down their foe, they were suddenly stopped by Crippling Fear, Hisshi, and Major Graves at The Rigged Table, Boomtown's dive bar.

"Heard you're hunting for Xtinction," Major Graves sneered. "We can't allow that."

In response, Raging Fire let loose a searing ring of fire that burned Graves and Fear, sending them screaming and reeling. Backlash sent out a wave of energy that completed the knockout of the downed duo.

Left alone, Hisshi attacked Backlash with her katana and bloodied him, but was counterpunched in return and dazed by Miss Atomic's followup energized punch.

But the plucky assassin wasn't finished yet. Another member of her clan appeared and the nameless minion's throwing stars stunned each of the three heroes, Raging Fire in particular feeling the hurt.

That bleeding made Raging Fire miss, but Miss Atomic relied on good old physical punching to knock out Hisshi. The nameless ninja fled, taking his master and Graves with him, leaving Chilling Fear to be arrested on assault charges.

"So cool!" Miss Atomic grinned.

While the group was recovering, the Agents of CATS showed up.

"Heard you could use a hand to take down Xtinction," said Agent Fortuna, the group leader.

"That we could," smiled Raging Fire.

And so the three agents teamed up with Raging Fire, Miss Atomic, and Backlash, the six heroes returning to The Rigged Table after they heard Xtinction was hanging out there.

The villains got the drop on the heroes, Xtinction joined by Anathema, Colonel Deft, High Velocity, and Le Rapide. Though they managed to wound Backlash considerably, Xtinction found himself quickly taken out of commission, as Agent Fortuna hit him with bad luck, and Miss Atomic and Raging Fire combined to finish him off.

Miss Atomic was in trouble when the remaining opponents ganged up on her, but on the return, the heroes greatly weakened Anathema and Colonel Dent, which appeared to firmly turn the tide of the battle in their favor - especially thanks to Agent Fortuna's leadership and ability to curse their opponents.

The team roared with anger when High Velocity slammed into Miss Atomic and knocked her unconscious. "You'll pay for that, you asshole!" screamed Raging Fire.

But first, there were Anathema and Colonel Deft to take care of, which Raging Fire and Agent Spark quickly respectively did.

Backlash fell, but Agent Fortuna turned her curses to High Velocity, and the tag team attack of fellow Agents Torrent and Spark were enough to knock the speedster out, leaving the Canadian villain Le Rapide as the last remaining.

Although it took a considerable amount of time, Raging Fire finally took down the speedy Le Rapide.

After the fight was finally over, Colonel Deft was jailed and Xtinction was committed to a maximum security mental health facility. Everyone else escaped.

"Great three-parter," Geoff said out loud to himself. "Man, Agent Fortuna is so awesome! She's like, the best leader ever!"

[Izulde]

We were flooded with angry emails from fans. "Why'd you feature Vexxer Daemonchild when he was just in one part??!!!" "Ranged attacks shouldn't work in The Rigged Table according to the CBU Players Handbook. Why did they?" "Too many people went to jail this issue!" And so on.

When I went to the writers, Sal said, "We've already figured this out. Check this: So Grand Knight Assay, Medusa, and Vexxer Daemonchild are still working together, right? They've heard about how the Agents of CATS took down Colonel Deft and Xtinction, so they recruit QuadBod to go after them. Gold Star joins because he's angry about his mom, Princess Corral, getting sent to jail, and wants revenge on every superhero he can find."

"Sounds good. So obviously we'll have Agents Fortuna, Torrent, and Spark join. What else were you thinking?"

"Well, since The Nuclear Family has already been working with CATS, Mister Meltdown steps in and Big Chill joins him. It'll be another Nuclear Family/CATS teamup, and it'll be a banger, considering Arthur and company lost to a lot of these guys a few issues ago."

"Let's do it."

***

"Holy crap, dude! The Nuclear Family and CATS against Grand Knight Assay, Vexxer Daemonchild, and Medusa! That's gonna be a great fight that's gonna tip the balance of the universe!"

Geoff couldn't help but smile at Trent's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, and it'll combine the two universes we like."

The boys went to the basement in Trent's parents' house, cracking open Mountain Dews. Geoff took his usual chair and Trent sprawled out on the couch as they started reading the newest issue silently.

The Nuclear Family and Agents of CATS were at Capsey Manor discussing their next move when they were suddenly attacked. Grand Knight Assay brought two Vulcan Shock Troopers with him but the heroes found cover and avoided injury.

The Big Chill blasted ice at Grand Knight Assay, QuadBod, and Vexxer Daemonchild, stunning and injuring all of them with perfectly timed hurls.

Medusa wasn't going to let that fly and snake-bit Big Chill. A rifle blast from a Shock Trooper later, and he was out of the fight. Things were looking grim for the heroes when Mister Meltdown punched Assay hard and Agent Spark's Inferno Blast took the leader of the Knights of Vulcan down, also sending Vexxer into a panic state.

"Damn you CATS!" roared Vexxer, as the Shock Troopers fled the field, dragging the unconscious Assay with them.

Medusa's attempt to Snake Bite Agent Torrent failed thanks to a rushing Wall of Water, but then Gold Star struck from the air with an explosion of energy that perfectly hit Agent Torrent to knock her out and wound Mister Meltdown. It wasn't enough to prevent Mister Meltdown from knocking out Vexxer, however.

Things were once again looking grim for the heroes, but Agent Spark gave them a faint flame of hope when her fire blasts hit QuadBod and Gold Star. Still, Mister Meltdown's efforts to heal himself failed, still putting things in a precarious position.

A precarious position that became nearly untenable as a flawless flurry of punches by QuadBod followed by another energy bomb by Gold Star knocked out Spark and put Fortuna and Meltdown on the verge of collapse.

A collapse that came when Medusa snake-bit Meltdown. Fortuna fought bravely in a 3-on-1 and nearly knocked out QuadBod, but finally a final Snake Bite by Medusa secured the victory for the enemy.

"Let's leave them here," Medusa suggested. "The toxin might kill them and we need to get Vexxer out of here."

"Yes, and I need medical assistance," muttered QuadBod.

Gold Star wanted to argue, but he was outvoted.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, looks like it. The rest of it is ads," Geoff said. "Was a hell of a fight Fortuna put up though."

"Yeah... it was crazy though. I totally thought the CATS were gonna win."

"Me too."

The friends went to get snacks and play Comic Book Melee, chatting about their classes as they fought. Geoff took Midnight Fox as he usually did, while Trent used Gold Star.

As usual, Trent won nearly every time.

[Izulde]

"Down to their last hope. Just eight heroes remained in Boomtown following the defeat of The Nuclear Family and CATS. There was an opening, a weakness that evil could exploit...



"Soon, this town will be mine. Very soon."

Cackles came from C.R.A.W.L., Callous, Snow Giant, and Flying Buttress at Madame Sin's announcement. The Masked Cavalier said nothing, as he was busy peering at the Shark Tank and trying to figure out how it worked.

Meanwhile, in the Nuclear Zone, the final eight were gathered and discussing which one of them would drop out of the outcoming battle for Boomtown.

"It should be me, I guess," said Glitterbug. "I can lead the resistance from social media if... you know..."

Silence fell over the others, save for Bee Girl's droning hum. It was broken by Darvin the Monster Hunter's grunt. Morphin' Orphan and Cyco remained silent.

"Yes," said Master Phoenix, the leader of what remained. "Stay behind, Glitterbug. We need you as our last fail-safe."

"We'll win!" declared the Patriot Missile, while Pathway rolled her eyes. "Glitterbug's not the only one who knows social media, dude."

"You wish to withdraw?"

Pathway sighed.

"Duh, no, Master Phoenix. I'm just say-"

"Let us go then."

The teen glowered as the old man interrupted her, but followed as the group rushed to catch Madame Sin and her cabal unawares.

They did, but failed to take advantage.

Darvin the Monster Hunter was stunned early in the battle, and it looked like a tidal loss upcoming for the heroes, but then Bee Girl and Cyco sent out swarms of bees and energy respectively, resulting in all three ninjas accompanying Madame Sin and Flying Buttress being beaten. Snow Giant fell to the Patriot Missile's punch soon after.

Madame Sin became stunned and was nearly defeated, but just barely managed to dodge Darvin the Monster Hunter's vampiric attack. Also stunned were C.R.A.W.L. and the Shark Tank.

Darvin the Monster Hunter went down, but then so did Madame Sin after the Patriot Missile's aggressive move to literally punch her lights out. The Shark Tank was likewise disabled and looked to be so damaged as to be out of commission for some time.

Pathway calmly channeled her teen anger into providing intelligence for more attack avenues for the heroes, and moving her teammates out of dangerous positions. She also psionically shocked C.R.A.W.L. and put him on the verge of defeat.

The Masked Cavalier surprisingly downed Cyco, removing the defenders' most powerful threat, but time was not on the invaders' side. C.R.A.W.L. fell to a Morphin' Orphan blast and only luck saved Callous from Pathway's psionic shot that would have eliminated him.

It didn't matter. Patriot Missile continued to launch himself at Callous and the Masked Cavalier until they fell unconscious, Pathway's teleportation abilities keeping the heroes safe from further injury.

They'd done it... against all odds, the heroes saved Boomtown from falling into the clutches of Madame Sin.

"Thank you, Pathway. We owe this victory to you and Patriot Missile," Master Phoenix said solemnly.

Pathway only smiled, then looked irritated as The Patriot Missile laughed, "Told you we'd win!"

In the aftermath, Flying Buttress was committed to an insane asylum, while Snow Giant joined the ranks of jailed villains.

A post-issue series of panels revealed the robotic protector Mainframe was once again active.

***

"Best issue yet," Geoff told the air. "I thought sure Madame Sin was gonna take over Boomtown."

The next day at lunch, Trent agreed.

"Yoooo duuuude, Pathway got it going on! Patriot Missile wouldn't have done jack if she kept pulling him back!"

"Do you have a new bae?"

"Well..." grinned Trent, "You know me and those blonde girls."

"Like Lisa, the chick that works at Electronics Warehouse?"

"You know it!"

"You're both nerds," interjected Ira, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Um, you're sitting with us dude. That makes you a nerd, too!"

Trent and Ira fell into bickering and bantering while Geoff looked out at the cool autumn landscape outside the cafeteria windows of Central Community College. The academic standards weren't exactly high. It was the kind of place where you only went if you didn't have the grades to get into a university, wanted to save money by getting your gen eds out of the way before transferring, or were one of those people who wanted to change to a vocational field later in life.

The three of them had gone to the same high school together, and though they were college freshmen now, Geoff still felt in a lot of ways like he was still in high school. He'd left home right away to get away from Dad's drinking. Mom split years ago, and Geoff hadn't spoken to her much since then. A card and call on his birthday. That was about it.

"Hey, Earth to Geoff. Earth to Geoff."

"What? Sorry, Trent."

"It's cool. Hey, Ira left to go to the library. Wanna walk around before Algebra?"

"Sure."

[Izulde]

So, that ends the six-episode trial run. Now to decide whether to pick it up and continue this, pick it up and start new, or wait and see if a Black Friday sale hits