The Invincibles (Book 1): The Invincibles

by Lee, Tristan

  “You’ve got me. I knew. Now what?”

  “Why? We lost three good people because you let the Aotiuer alpha infiltrate us. Four if you count Anna. So why did you let him do it?”

  “In essence, I wanted insurance,” Sandor says with a shrug. “You were alive during the S.C.A. You know how bad it got. The world has not seen a genuine superhero group since the Olympians and we all know how that went. I figured that increasing the chance that you all die was better than increasing the chance that you come back and start another war.”

  “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, of course I do. We’re a volcano that you had to make sure is dormant.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Invictus. I trust that you won’t be telling your teammates about this, correct?”

  “I won’t tell them. But if I ever even think that you are deliberately withholding life-altering information from us, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  “Good night, doctor.”

  “Do you understand?”

  Sandor nods and leaves Dr. Invictus to his work. The Mechanical Man recognizes some names, the names of superheroes he has met in the past or heard of, so he sets those into a different pile and starts the tedious task of reading the files of some seven hundred other people.

  New Recruits

  January 26th

  Dr. Invictus enters the elevator of Invincibles Tower with Belle, Chris, and Lester in tow. They head down from the penthouse to the hundredth floor, where the new recruits for the Invincibles are waiting. They are in their uniforms, which covers Lester’s impervium prosthetic arm; it works just like a normal arm and Lester can fight with it just as well as his regular arm, but with the added bonus of being virtually indestructible and super strong. A slight modification has been made to Dr. Invictus as well; instead of the old, blank faceplate, Dr. Invictus’ face now has the Invincibles’ logo stamped on it.

  “How’re the rookies?” Belle asks as the elevator begins to descend.

  “Pretty kickass,” Dr. Invictus says. “I’ve seen them in action; they’re quite good.”

  “So are you going to tell us who these guys are or what?” Chris asks.

  “I’ll surprise you,” Dr. Invictus says.

  “They aren’t going to betray us, are they?” Lester asks. “This impervium arm is nice, but I’d still like to keep my other one.”

  “Sandor checked them out beforehand,” Dr. Invictus assures them. “And you might know them, so don’t sweat it too much.”

  “And when is there going to be another world-ending event?” Belle jokes. “I haven’t even seen the new Eagle yet.”

  “Today is Wednesday, so I guess by next Tuesday,” Chris says. “I mean, I like the peace and quiet and stuff but I’m getting bored and I’ve never tried hitting anyone with my trident yet.”

  “Patience, Christopher,” Dr. Invictus says as the elevator comes to a halt and they begin to walk down the long hall.

  “Think she noticed?” Chris whispers to Lester.

  “Do I think who noticed what?” he whispers back.

  “Do you think Belle noticed my new helmet?”

  “You got a new helmet? I didn’t notice. It’s identical to the old one.”

  “Actually, there’s a crown on it, see?”

  He indicates the band wrapped around the helmet, which indeed looks like a crown. Not a fancy one, just a ring of metal with triangular tips facing upwards on all four cardinal directions. Inscribed on the crown are Xorian runes, the names of all the past kings.

  “I still don’t see the difference,” Lester whispers skeptically.

  “But do you think she noticed?”

  “You two have been married for five years. Get it? You’re already married to her. You don’t need to keep trying to impress her.”

  “One of the keys to a good marriage is to never stop trying to impress each other. But did she notice?”

  “You can’t see it behind the goggles, but I’m rolling my eyes.”

  The Invincibles reach the room Sandor instructed them to go to. They open the door, revealing a waiting room-like area with two couches and several comfortable-looking armchairs. The two occupants of the room, a man and a woman in street clothes, stand when the Invincibles enter. The woman is tall, almost only a few inches shorter than the man is. She has short red hair that goes down to a little bit below her ears and looks like a runner; all wiry muscle and bone. Her handsome face is devoid of any expression, but a grin flickers on her face for just a moment. The man is of average height, about five-ten, and built like a boxer; muscled, but not bulging with it. His brown hair is messy and when he sees the Invincibles a smile forms on his boyish face.

  “Invincibles, may I introduce Linda Atwell and Scott Wilson,” Sandor says as he enters the room.

  There is a great deal of hand-shaking before all of them take a seat on the couches so the Invincibles can interview their new teammates.

  “What can you do?” Lester asks Scott.

  “Enhanced agility and strength, intangibility, and structure manipulation due to merging with the ghost of a member of an ancient order of warrior priests,” Scott says. “That’s only when I ghost-on, though.”

  “Please demonstrate,” Sandor says.

  Scott stands up and grins; a grey, web-like material begins to cover him until he is wrapped in it from head-to-toe, forming a sort of suit. A mask forms from the suit as well, the grey material covering the top three-quarters of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed. In order for him to see, large, teardrop-shaped eyespots form; these are the only features on the mask.

  “Check this out,” he says. He holds his hands out flat, as if he were to karate-chop something. Instead, his hands morph into eighteen-inch blades.

  “And your intangibility?” Dr. Invictus asks.

  Scott nods and his body, although still visible, becomes translucent. He strides over to the door and walks straight through it without having to open the door. The ghost walks back into the room before becoming solid again and letting the grey ectoplasm fade away.

  “Pretty cool, right?” he asks.

  “I think he’s cool,” Chris says.

  “Ms. Atwell, would I be correct in guessing that you are not a natural-born superhuman?” Dr. Invictus asks.

  “Yeah,” she says with a thick Irish accent.

  “But you do have a special talent.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is it your conversational skills?” Scott asks sarcastically.

  “No.”

  “Would you please show us your talent, then?” Sandor asks.

  “Yeah,” Linda says. She fishes a coin out of her pocket and flips it into the air. Without even looking, she whips out a pistol and shoots the coin out of the air, puncturing it directly in the center of Abraham Lincoln’s head.

  “That’s not all,” she warns. A purple ball forms in her empty hand, which she throws at the wall. Instead of blowing a hole in the wall, it makes the entire room go black for about thirty seconds before clearing up again.

  “I don’t know what the scientific words are for that, but I can blind people like that. Affects maybe a ten-foot radius of me.”

  “Cool beans,” Belle says.

  “Thank you. I like your hair,” Linda says. “You’re pretty cute. You in a relationship?”

  “Thank you. And I’m married to him,” Belle says, pointing to Chris and showing Linda her ring.

  “That was a pretty slick trick,” Scott says. “You free for dinner tonight?”

  “Not tonight,” Linda says. “Or any other night. I don’t like boys.”

  “Not yet, you don’t.”

  “I’m glad you’re getting to know each other,” Sandor interrupts. “However, there is a small matter that I need to discuss with you.”

  “What’s up, boss?” Belle asks.

  “Tiny bit of a situation. When the Aotiuer fleet when down, some of the debris reached Earth. Most of it burned up in the atmo
sphere, so we weren’t really that worried. A few things did make it to Earth though, and two items in particular; Kaiju’s belt and the hard drive of one of the Aotiuer capital ships. I can’t tell you where Kaiju’s belt is, other that it is in a safe place, but I can tell you where the hard drive is.”

  “Let me guess; it’s somewhere really dangerous in the hands of people who don’t like us very much, and of course, there’s a small army or two guarding it,” Lester says dryly.

  “Unfortunately, Mr. Hancock, you are correct,” Sandor says. “The hard drive is currently being held in a Kronos research base in Siberia. It’s surprisingly close to Soloksev, actually.”

  “How do they get their hands on everything we want?” Belle asks.

  “They have a lot more money than we do. Plus, they’re supervillains. This should have been a relatively simple operation, but there is a small complication,” Sandor says.

  “I’ve been on the team for like, two minutes, but I know that that sounds really bad,” Scott says.

  “In addition to the usual Kronos security forces, the Rykov twins have been sighted guarding the base. It’s likely that they’ve anticipated us trying to retrieve it and are bolstering their ability to keep it from us.”

  “When do we leave?” Chris asks.

  “In ninety minutes. I suggest that you get your gear packed, Invincibles,” Sandor says as he leaves.

  “So there’s not like an orientation or anything?” Scott asks. “Any brochures or forms for us to fill out? Is there a tour?”

  “No, there isn’t. This isn’t some civilian job. You’re an Invincible now, and this is your trial by fire,” Lester says.

  “That’s kind of intense,” Scott says. “It was just a question.”

  “Suit up, Invincibles,” Dr. Invictus says. “We meet on the landing pad in fifteen minutes.”

  “But the boss just said that we don’t leave for ninety,” Linda points out.

  “Yes, but I’ve never actually flown an XC1000 before and I might need a while to get a hang of it,” Dr. Invictus says. “Dismissed.”

  The Invincibles meet exactly fifteen minutes later, taking in the sight of the XC1000 Eagle. It is a little bit larger than the Falcon was and much sleeker looking, in addition to a slew of additional weapons and both a boosted propulsion system, and an upgraded shield generator.

  “New helmet?” Belle asks her husband.

  “Yeah, I found it in our room when we got home after wrecking the Aotiuer,” Chris explains. “You noticed?”

  “Yeah, I think you look really handsome in it,” she says. “The crown adds a nice touch.”

  “Thank you,” he says. The King of Xor looks at Lester with a very smug smile on his face.

  “I don’t think I can physically roll my eyes any farther into my head,” Lester says.

  “I thought I might pimp the shields and improve the armor in case you decide to crash this one,” Sandor says, joining them. “And these are for you.”

  He hands each of them an earpiece, “I figured you’d need to communicate with each other, and after Frank’s . . . passing, these were the next best thing.”

  Dr. Invictus inspects his before plugging it in to one of his receptors, “Rudimentary. But they’ll get the job done.”

  Sandor claps Scott and Linda on their backs, “Well, good luck, Invincibles. Try not to blow up the hard drive and don’t die.”

  “Does he always give such great speeches?” Linda asks dryly as they strap themselves into their seats.

  “No, he’s especially inspirational today,” Chris says. “There must be some kind of giant monster or experimental weapon that he didn’t warn us about. Probably because he wants it.”

  “Not enough time to worry about that now,” Dr. Invictus says as he and Lester prep the Eagle for launch. “It’s going to be a pretty long flight and there’s only one bathroom on this thing, so I suggest that you don’t try to ingest too many fluids.”

  “We got a catchphrase we can say before missions or something?” Scott asks. “I feel like that will really add to the team element.”

  “Of course we do,” Chris says with a grin.

  “Never mind, I can roll my eyes back farther,” Lester says.

  “No, let him do it,” Dr. Invictus says. “I’m growing rather fond of it.”

  “Invincibles,” the King of Xor says, “invincibalize.”

  Epilogue

  Irrelevant

  A smashed and rather beaten up hull of a destroyed aircraft floats through the blue and black void. It is not the first ship to become trapped here, and it certainly will not be the last, but this one catches the attention of the gargantuan battleship, the Hydra. The Hydra is three times the size of an Aotiuer capital ship and has been prowling the bleak corners of the universe for millenniums searching for something like this. The ship looks something like a gigantic, metal squid, with twelve tentacles reaching out from the front of the Hydra, searching for prey to pull into its maw. The ship easily pulls the relatively tiny wreck into its hangar bay, where its captain is waiting.

  Attended to by his four, hideous, terrifying hounds, a being in black armor and a crown with a skull instead of a head surveys the wreck. The designation “XC900” is visible on the side of the destroyed ship. After waiting for a while, the being holds out his hand and deconstructs the entire ship with his mind. Left in its midst is Peter Gary Willis.

  “This sure doesn’t look like my crackhouse,” the fastest man in the galaxy says.

  “You’re in my realm now,” the being says.

  “You don’t look very nice,” he says uncertainly.

  “I’m not,” the being says in his hoarse voice.

  “Am I going to get a name or something? You didn’t even take me to dinner; this feels a lot more like rape than a date.”

  “I have infinite names for the infinite dimensions.”

  “So can I call you Bob or something?”

  “In your plane of reality, I am called Stormlord.”

  “I think I’ll stick with Bob.”

  Stormlord cocks his head in curiosity, “Most cower in fear before me. You do not. Why? Why don’t you fear me?”

  Peter shrugs, “I’m an Invincible. My boys back on Earth is coming for me, and when they do, you’re going to get your ass kicked.”

  “Do you really believe that? You think that they’re going to come and save you?”

  “Bitch, please; they’re probably on their way right now.”

  Stormlord lets out a harsh, grating laugh, “They think you are dead, Peter. No one is coming to rescue you.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “I know everything about you. I have known you from the moment you were born and I know how you will die. I know you better than you know yourself.”

  “Do I die at the ripe age of ninety-eight with a bank account that looks like a phone number?”

  “I’m not going to tell you. But you will die in pain.”

  “That’s my kink.”

  “You’re infuriating.”

  “And you need a less clichéd outfit. But I don’t judge you.”

  Stormlord’s hounds sniff at Peter, growling occasionally. Peter scoffs at them.

  “Your dogs are really ugly. There’s this guy I know in Beijing, he makes the absolute best fried rice ever. You know what the main ingredient, other than rice, is? Dog. And when my buddies and I are done whipping you and your pooches, I’m going to get myself some fried rice.”

  “Your bravado will have no meaning. Once I begin to break you, you will not know how to laugh anymore.”

  “Cute. I know your supervillain-y thought process. So are you going to start torturing me already or what?” Peter asks. “I’ve got places to be, ugly.”

  “When I’m through with you, you will wish all I did was torture you,” Stormlord promises. “There is torture of the body, which you will feel plenty of. But there is the more potent torture of the mind; after I finish working on your mind,
then you will wish that you could feel the embrace of death.”

  “Blah, blah, blah.”

  “You dare mock me?”

  “Blah, blah, blah.”

  “You will regret this.”

  “Talk to the helmet, hot stuff.”

  “I will kill you and everyone you care about.”

  “Like, ninety-nine percent of all the people I know are superheroes, so good luck.”

  “All this time you’ve fought your enemy, but you’ve failed to ask the most fundamental question of all, Peter Willis.”

  Now it’s Peter’s turn to cock his head in curiosity, “What question?”

  “You have known that the Aotiuer are mercenaries. You have known that they were hired to destroy your people. But you never asked who hired them.”

  “Oh, let me guess. Bob, was it you?”

  “Yes, it was me. Everything from the moment the oldest of you was born was the result of my actions. Why do you think Belle and Christopher met? Why was Miranda Boyd gunned down? What was Dr. Pryce doing out at that hour? Do you think it was a coincidence that you were sold the contaminated drugs? I needed all of you to come together. And now, after eons of planning, it is all falling into place.”

  “If I ask what your evil plan is, would you tell me?”

  “No, not yet. When you are on the brink of death, when I have taken everything that can be taken from you and crush it in my fist, then, and only then, will I tell you. And at that moment you will realize how futile your resistance has been.”

  Peter blows a raspberry at Stormlord and holds it.

  “Silence!”

  “Make me.”

  “I know tortures that will break you in every way and if you do not stop that infernal noise, I will visit all of them upon you.”

  “Do your worst, Bob.”

  “If you insist.”

  The ancient evil holds out his hand again and Peter Gary Willis begins to scream.

  To be continued in: The Invincibles – Forgotten Angel

  Acknowledgements

  At the beginning of my freshman year in high school, I had an idea; what if all the things I wished would happen in books/movies/TV existed in some way, preferably in the form of readable media? Well, a couple years and more than a couple of drafts later, here we are, with the Invincibles. There’s no way in hell I could have made it here alone, though, so I’d like to take this time to thank my awesome mom, my older sister/artistic director, Chloe Lee, all of my ever-supportive friends, and Microsoft Word 2013; without you guys, none of this would have been possible. And a special thanks to you, the reader, for going on this journey with me