“No reason at all, I was just curious. Bye, Voice.”
Voice sighed.
“Teenagers.”
Jenny and Rex met on the outskirts of Newtopia where green lands ended and radioactive wastelands began. Jenny was dressed as Lady Smash, complete with her mask, and carried a sledge hammer while Rex was wearing silver. Rex looked as relaxed as ever, but Jenny was blushing a little as she landed beside him.
“Hey Rex ,” Jenny said with a shy smile.
“Lady Smash… I guess you got off the moon okay, then.”
“Yeah. That was pretty fun,” Jenny said.
Both she and Rex smiled; only a certain type of person enjoyed taking the risk of messing with superheroes, and both Jenny and Rex were of that type.
“I’ve got something even better lined up for us tonight,” Rex said.
He handed Jenny a photo of a transdimensional power fluctuator. It was about the size of a soccer ball but generated enough power for a small city. There were only seven in the whole world, and Rex needed one.
“Pretty. What’s it for?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t know, but Duke Terror wants me to steal it for him,” Rex said.
He was only partly lying, and Jenny wouldn’t have cared even if she had known the full truth.
“Cool… so what’s the plan?”
Ten minutes later they were on a hill overlooking a blocky concrete building that Rex said was a power plant. The plant was heavily guarded by robotic sentries and a pair of flying superheroes that circled it every few minutes. Rex and Jenny ran down the hill and crouched behind a cooling tower as the superheroes flew closer. One superhero was made out of fire, and the other was formed from stone. They flew slowly overhead, bored and unobservant. Rex glared at them as they passed.
“I reckon you could take them,” he whispered.
“Take on a superhero?” whispered Jenny uncertainly.
“Yeah, why not?” asked Rex.
Jenny hesitated. She was only playing the part of a villainess, after all, and attacking a superhero seemed like a step too far. She tried to think like an evildoer.
“Because… we don’t want them to know we are here yet?” she suggested.
“Yeah, I suppose you are right. Still, maybe we can tackle them on the way out. It could be fun.”
“Fun?” Jenny asked in surprise.
“It’s always fun taking superheroes on. Most of them suffer from terrible delusions of grandeur and think they are some kind of benevolent gods or something. Proving they are not is almost… almost a public service, really. And excellent entertainment for those who can get away with it.”
“Are they really that bad?” Jenny asked, thinking about the superheroes she had met at the Newtopian training program.
“Well, the ones that work for Newtopia are mostly okay, but a lot of others are truly terrible. When I was younger I travelled a lot with my uncle, and everywhere we went we saw superheroes lording it over normal people and taking what they didn’t deserve.”
“But don’t they keep world peace or something?”
“Those guys? Nah,” said Rex dismissively. “Having superpowers doesn’t make someone a hero, and it certainly doesn’t make them competent peacekeepers. The majority of them can’t even change a lightbulb, never solve a complex diplomatic problem. I could tell you about thousands of places where superheroes have done far more damage than they have ever prevented!”
Jenny was taken aback by Rex’s words. She had never met someone who had spoken so poorly of superheroes before, but perhaps most people were too scared to be so honest.
“Um… at least people like Master SCREAM were trying to stop them,” Jenny said.
“Yeah… being him was great.”
“What?”
“I mean being on his team. Being on his team was great,” said Rex.
Normally Rex was a fluent liar and an accomplished actor, but being around Jenny was making him forget his role a little. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
“Master SCREAM had style,” said Jenny, who was a little nervous.
The superhero sentries flew past again and Rex checked his stopwatch. He muttered a quick calculation and nodded.
“Yeah. He thought that superheroes are equally as dangerous as supervillains.”
“But what can we do about it?” Jenny asked.
“Take their powers, I guess. Maybe give them to someone more deserving,” said Rex.
“I…don’t know. Would that be fair?” asked Jenny.
“Is it fair that some people are simply born with superpowers and others aren’t? The world isn’t fair. I’ve met smart, hardworking people who are forced to be servants because they don’t have powers, and idiots who rule simply because they can fly. That doesn’t seem right to me, and I’d love to level the playing field a little.”
Rex fell silent – he didn’t often tell people what he really thought, but he felt comfortable with Jenny. She was a little taken aback by what he said, particularly considering her own powers.
“I guess I never really thought about it like that. You are a serious guy, Rex.”
“Too serious?” asked Rex with sudden concern.
“Maybe a little.”
They watched as the sentries flew overhead again.
“Well, then it could be it’s time for a little fun!” said Rex.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: ROMANCE, SUPERVILLAIN–STYLE
I have a two-step plan to success and happiness. Step one is knowing what you want, step two is going out and taking it. Simple.
–Rex Rogue’s guide for aspiring supervillains, unpublished.
Rex grabbed Jenny’s hand, and pulled her towards the research facility. Rex opened a door with a lock pick and they slipped inside unnoticed. The door led into a long, dark tunnel made of dull metal. Pipes and wires ran overhead, and a light flickered somewhere down the corridor.
“This place looks a little like RoboRodent’s lair, except dirtier,” Jenny said.
“Whose lair?” asked Rex, who was staring at a building map on the wall.
“I said… I mean, never mind. Here, let me get that for you.”
She ripped the map off the wall with ease and handed it to Rex.
“Cool! Okay, next left and keep going!”
Rex led Jenny down stairs and along corridors seemingly at random, turning this way and that way until she felt quite lost. They passed under security cameras and hid from patrols of armed guards, racing through the building in silence. At last Rex led them down a final flight of stairs to a long corridor and a red door covered in huge warning labels of all types. Jenny checked the corridors, but they were alone. The red door was locked.
“Now… let’s see if we can’t get this open,” said Rex and he leant over the terminal.
“I could just rip it open… but that might be a bit loud. Did you have a better idea?” said Jenny.
“Super strength must be great to have! But my uncle once taught me a trick that might be a little quieter. Let’s see now…”
Rex tapped a few times on the computer keyboard, and the red door opened.
“Did you hack the system?” asked Jenny.
“Nah… I just used the password I bought from one of the security guard.”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about doing it that way.”
“Yeah, I’m a people person,” explained Rex.
They walked through the red door and closed it quietly behind them. The room they had entered was large and empty except for a huge metal column covered in thick power lines and glowing lights. It looked more like a work of art than a piece of engineering, and they both stopped to admire it.
“That is quite beautiful,” said Rex.
“It sure is! I’m going to take a photo!”
Rex pulled an electric screwdriver out of his bag and started undoing the panels surrounding the column.
“We better work fast, they might catch us at any moment!” he said with an excited smile.
“You enjoy this, don’t you?” Jenny asked.
“I do! I’ve loved the adrenaline rush that comes from being a villain ever since my uncle took me on my first break in! There is nothing I enjoy more than taking on the superheroes and exposing them for the dolts most of them are… and I can tell you enjoy it, too, Lady Smash.”
Jenny smiled. She was enjoying herself, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of the crime or the date. Rex pulled the top of a computer off and started sorting through the cables to figure out which one to cut.”
“Easy… now, was it red, blue, or green? Or black? I don’t want this thing to explode on us…”
Jenny’s phone rang. Rex was half–buried in cables and computers, and he didn’t even notice the noise. Jenny tried to ignore the phone, but it didn’t stop ringing so eventually she had to answer it.
“Yes?” she said in a whisper.
“What are you doing, Jennifer Doom? We have your position in a very secure location that you should not be anywhere near, and we are deeply concerned,” said Voice.
“I’m infiltrating Duke Terror’s recruitment drive, just like you told me to. Remember how you said you needed more information?”
“That is absolutely not… wait, you thought you would do this out of your own patriotic ideals and for free?” said Voice, sounding extremely skeptical .
“Yes! Now I have to go. I’ll tell you about it later, okay? My date is waiting!”
“Date?”
“What? Your signal is breaking up, Voice, I can’t hear what you are – shshsh gggreee ffrssshhh too much interference here sshssheee okay goodbye now.”
Jenny hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket.
“Almost there,” said Rex, who hadn’t noticed her taking the call.
“Can I help?” asked Jenny.
“Of course! Please pull this cable as hard as you can.”
Jenny grabbed the cable Rex handed to her and pulled it so hard that it came out of the wall in a shower of tiles and metal springs. The room dimmed noticeably as the cable snapped.
“Wow! You really are the muscle! Okay, now the room is on emergency power so we should be able to do… this!”
Rex pulled a red handle on the metal column and the last few pieces of protective armor slid away to reveal the fluctuator which floated in the middle of a bright blue force field filled with fire. Rex tapped the force field with a long screwdriver and smiled when the metal tool melted instantly.
“Excellent! At least someone has been thinking about security. This makes things a bit more challenging! Now… I have a couple of special gloves we can try, but I’m not sure what will work. It might be safest to pull it out with a crowbar, but the one I have would melt too soon…” Rex turned his back on the fire and searched through his toolkit.
Jenny touched the force field and didn’t feel anything. She shrugged, reached into the plasma and grabbed the orb with one hand, pulling it out without any difficulty.
“Got it!” she said triumphantly.
She threw it casually to Rex who fumbled it and then grabbed it tightly with both hands. He gulped and looked extremely worried for a second before his normal calm poker face returned.
“Uh… Lady Smash? If I had dropped that it would have killed us both and left a molten crater a mile wide. We might need to be just a teensy bit more careful with it,” he said, placing it in a metal carry case.
“Oh, sorry!” said Jenny, more embarrassed than scared.
“Not to worry, I should have said something before. That was impressive work you just did. Now, shall we get out of here?”
They walked out of the room and down a long corridor. They were almost at the exit when Rex stopped and leaned against a security panel set into the wall.
“That was fun,” he said, but he sounded a little disappointed.
“Yeah… it was fun,” Jenny replied, but she also felt like something was missing.
“And quiet, too. They didn’t even know we were here,” said Rex.
“Lousy security,” agreed Jenny.
She looked at the security panel; it had a big red handle that seemed awfully tempting. Rex smiled at her and winked.
“Maybe we should give them a chance?” Rex said, and pulled the lever.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: ESCAPE!
Never panic. Remember: you are clever, so act accordingly.
–Rex Rogue’s guide for aspiring supervillains, unpublished.
Jenny pulled the handle and alarms started ringing throughout the building. They could hear angry shouting and the bang–bang–bang of heavy boots running along the corridors.
“Did I mention that the guards are heavily armed and will shoot on sight?” Rex whispered softly in Jenny’s ear.
“No! They sound very dangerous!” she said with delight.
“Yeah! We better get out of here!”
Their escape was a game of hide–and–seek with the guards as they raced along the corridors. The guards were rushing around in increasing desperation, and had called a squad of superhero reinforcements to help with the search. One flew right past Rex and Jenny as they hid in a broom cupboard.
“Ha! What a dolt,” Jenny said, opening the cupboard and walking out.
She let the brooms and buckets behind her fall over, spilling water and soap everywhere. Jenny didn’t care – she was pretending to be a villain, after all.
“Yeah. My people are a whole lot more thorough when they conduct searches for thieves!” Rex said absentmindedly.
But Jenny wasn’t listening to Rex, because a new superhero in a black cloak had stopped at the other end of the corridor and was staring at them. It was the Grim Shadow, a superhero notorious for her detective skills martial arts abilities.
Rex hadn’t noticed yet, but just realized what he had said aloud
“Rex,” Jenny whispered, tugging on his shirt.
“The people I will get, I mean. When I have my own base, of course. I don’t have one yet, because I’m just a simple villain… wait, what are you pointing at?”
His bumbling lie was completely out of character, but Jenny didn’t even hear him.
“REX ! RUN!”
Jenny grabbed Rex and took off down the corridor with the superhero right behind them. Jenny was fast, but the Grim Shadow was gaining on her as they flew down corridors and up staircases. Jenny reached the roof and slammed a heavy metal door behind her. They only had a second before the Grim Shadow found them, but Jenny didn’t feel confident about flying off the high roof.
“Put me down for a second!” Rex said, and she dropped him gently.
Rex searched through the pockets in his jacket until he found a small box containing a block of red cheese. He opened the box and turned to the door.
“The Grim Shadow hates red goat cheese,” he said with a smile.
“What? Seriously? This isn’t the time for jokes, Rex !”
The door burst open and the Grim Shadow dashed at them before Jenny could react, but Rex just held out the cheese as if it were a shield. The Grim Shadow saw the cheese at the last minute and stopped her charge suddenly, retreating back to the doorway.
She hissed in frustration but didn’t push forward. The Grim Shadow was one of the smarter heroes, and she was not inclined to fight battles she knew she could not win. Rex smiled and took a step towards her, forcing her back.
“Duke Terror told me about your weakness, Shadow. He spoke most highly of you, saying you had the potential to be a great villain one day… but not if you try anything stupid, so keep your hands where I can see them.”
“Tell your master that I will find him and bring him to justice,” the Grim Shadow said angrily.
“I will. He likes a good joke. You can tell your hero friends that
Duke Terror was the greatest of Master SCREAM’s apprentices and is far more powerful than any foe you have ever faced! The seas shall boil and the mountains will crumble as he passes! Tremble, mortal, for the dark master rises!”
Rex’s voice boomed loudly as he delivered the threats, and even the Grim Shadow looked scared.
“Now, I think it’s best if you leave by the door and we leave by the roof, don’t you?” Rex said in his normal voice.
Grim Shadow took a step forward; Rex held the cheese like he was about to throw it, so she retreated. Rex locked the door behind her and left half the cheese to block it off. Rex attached a thin rope to the roof and he and Jenny slid down to the ground and ran back to the Rex’s plane.
“Is that true about Duke Terror? And why did you tell the Grim Shadow so much about him?” Jenny asked nervously.
“Nah, was just supervillain advertising. All that Armageddon stuff is just fluff to scare the superheroes… Duke Terror actually quite likes the oceans and mountains exactly as they are, but supervillains have their reputations to think about, you know?” said Rex.
“Um… I guess. So he doesn’t want to take over the world?”
“I don’t know… a little, maybe. He couldn’t do much worse than the people already running it, that’s for sure.”
Mad Robbo was leaning against the jet, cleaning his fingernails with an enormous knife.
“This jet belongs to Duke Terror,” Mad Robbo said, throwing the knife in the air and catching it.
“Hello Robbo,” said Rex. “I’m on a mission from Duke Terror.”
“Prove it. I’ve never seen your mug around his base,” said Robbo.
That was true.
“Yeah, we met once. Duke Terror lent me this jet,” said Rex, trying his luck.
“Nah, I’ve never seen your mug before. And whatcha got there, boy?”
“A transdimensional power fluctuator. Duke Terror asked me to get it for him,” said Rex.
“Did he now? But why would he rely on a skinny nothing like you when he has Mad Robbo to do his work for him? Seems like a dangerous little toy for you to be carryin’, I think. Hand it over.”
Rex Rogue And The League Of Teenage Supervillains Page 10