Postby bigsmile21 » Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:54 pm
Final Chapter
Chapter 10: A Professor, No More
The hallway was littered with unconscious bodies, a mix of lackeys and former-heroes. Bob had been working hard. After spending an hour cradled on the floor in fear and shock, the professor was finally making his way towards another part of his underground base. He had been locked out of the control room by either the AI or some unknown hacker. He was betting on the latter. The AI was smart, but the events leading up to now (the hidden footage, the abducted henchmen) had some outside motive. That motive, he guessed, was to undermine his control of the base before his final round-up of the world's heroes. Was this a power-play by another villain? A government intelligence unit? He had no clue. He only knew that somewhere in this base was a very powerful individual with a grudge against him, as well as an uncooperative AI system.
Coughing on the ground was a lackey, struggling to get up. His uniform was mostly burned, and his hair smelled like it was still burning. The lackey saw the professor. He tried even harder to get up, but was too weak. “Boss...That superpowered freak...He really did a number on us,” the lackey said.
The professor walked closer. He thought about kneeling down and helping the lackey, but from the sight of his burns it would be better if the lackey stayed down and rested. At least until this entire incident could be cleaned up. The lackey spoke again, “We tried the best we could to stop him. But nothing worked. Stun guns wouldn't phase him. We tried getting a pair of powercuffs on him, but he wouldn't hold still. And all of these prisoners just made him stronger and more unpredictable.” Blast. There didn't seem to be a limit to Bob's new powers. He could easily drain this entire base of all the prisoners' superpowers. “We did find out one thing, Boss. That monster can only use one power at a time. He nearly roasted me to the bone, but had to switch to superspeed to avoid an attack.” The lackey passed out.
Only one power at a time? The professor could use this to his advantage. With the right gear and environment, he could devise a way to get a pair of powercuffs onto Bob. His mind raced with options and variables. He could only assume that Bob would have every single superpower when he encountered him. Heatvision. Density-shifting. Sound blasts. Electricity. Wait... sound blasts and electricty... The professor thought of Boy Thunder, Prisoner 1. There was nothing he could do for the boy, only hope that Bob did not hold a personal grudge against the boy. And without safe access to the computers, the professor could not use any prisoners as bodyguards or weapons against Bob, if even as a distraction. But with the prisoners treating Bob as a threat, that meant the AI was treating Bob as a threat, which meant that the unknown hacker was occupied with Bob. What they likely wanted was a superhero farm, with prisoners neatly collected and brainwashed for whatever use they wanted. If Bob has his way, he would be the one with superpowers by the end of the day. And there was no way anyone could brainwash Bob, not now.
But would powercuffs even work on Bob now? With so many genetic anomalies, the powrecuffs may just short out. There was no time to tinker with making a stronger power-suppressor. That possibility would just have to chill in the back of his mind. Chill... Wait. Did the professor just think about the word 'chill'? He had been spending too much time on the internet. Regardless, the professor had a plan: to use the cryo-isolation pods to freeze Bob, at least until he had a way to suppress all of Bob's tremendous power. And then another thought: what if Bob could read his mind? Double blast. This plan wouldn't work if Bob could see the trap coming. There were too many prisoners in this base to ingore the possibility that Bob could extract psychic powers. And from the amount of knocked out and drained heroes tossed about the corridors, that possibility was growing into a reality. The professor would just have to add that risk into his calculations. He then made his way to the cryo-isolation area.
Bob was getting tired. Despite all of these new powers, he was running out of stamina. When nearly all of the world's heroes are against you at every turn of the corridors, there is no time to stop and catch your breath. Still, he was clearing the prison cells at a good pace. Levitation. Shape-shifting. Seismic control. The possibilities were endless. Yet every minute he spent gathering powers was another lost finding the professor. And Bob could only use one power at a time. He nearly ate a mouthful of energy beam when he realized he could not use fire to roast a lackey and use magnetism to lift the floor to block the beam. He had to speed away to catch even a five second breather. But there was no going back. The more ground he covered, the better his chances were of finding the professor.
Bob tried to recall what powers he had drained. But with so many powers drained in such little time, and with the consistent barrage of superpowered prisoners, he couldn't actively remember what all powers he had brewing inside of him. It was mostly instinctual now. If he felt like using heat vision and there wasn't a tug in his stomach to say he had that power, his mind would shift to the next-closest power.
He turned the corner and prepared for the next fight. That AI or the professor was moving these former-heroes like puppets to attack him, but each wave was getting more efficient at winding him. However, with each wave he was getting more powers. This time, there were no prisoners around the corner. No cells, either. He had reached the end of the compound, at least for this wing. Bob would have to head back and search another section of the base, tearing the whole thing apart until he found the professor. He wanted to make the professor suffer, to inflict every superpower Bob had gained onto the him. After that, Bob was not sure. He had drained almost all of the heroes, so he was probably strong enough to take over the world without using them as hostages, and without having to capture any remaining heroes above ground. Who would dare challenge him once they saw what he could do? Which city would he destroy to display his new powers? But there was one question Bob wanted the professor to answer. And he would get the answer one way or another.
Enough time had passed that the professor had set up nearly everything for his trap for Bob. He had managed to release the flash-frozen henchmen, the ones the AI had tricked into getting into the cryo-pods. They were still too weak from the stasis, but he didn't need them to fight. Honestly, he just needed human shields for when Bob found them. Each one did have a stun gun and powercuffs in case they managed to get close enough to Bob. And the professor was sure that none of them were wearing their AI masks; they looked almost like real people now. Maybe with enough of them, they could swarm him and make this plan go a lot smoother. Just then, there was a loud noise in the hallway on the other side of the doors. The henchmen jumped, and the professor gave out a few orders of encouragement. Everyone then saw the doors being bent and ripped apart by Bob.
The hallway behind him was on fire, which had triggered the sprinkler system. Perfect. As if on cue, the henchmen charged at Bob. Some were flung aside, others were turned into butterflies. One henchman did manage to jab Bob with a stun gun, which seemed to register with Bob for a moment. But then Bob extended his hand and released a giant spark of lightning, followed by a deafening amount of thunder. So Boy Thunder was one of the heroes Bob managed to drain... That henchman fell to his knees after being hit with such awesome power. The professor worked frantically at the main control desk for the cryo-pods, looking up every few seconds to survey the events taking place. He exposed a few freezing tubes and reconfigured wires here and there. Bob must not have seen the professor, because Bob was now apparently toying with the henchmen, juggling a few of them in the air. He turned some into stone, he made others think they were covered in spiders.
It wasn't until one of the henchmen cried out to the professor for help, reaching for him and pleading as Bob contorted his body into an odd yoga position, that Bob finally noticed the professor. That idiot of a henchman! In the blink of an eye, Bob teleported right in front of the professor. The remaining four henchmen looked around. When they saw how close Bob was to the professor, they started running towards the both of them.
“Stop!” the professor barked at them, “Let me talk with him first.”
Bob didn't take his eyes off of the professor. “You. I've finally caught you.”
“Now, Bob. We can talk this through. I'm not the real enemy. Right now there is someone else who wants to take over this compound, to take over you, and I'm the only one who can help you.”
“You have helped me enough. Don't bother lying about some other bad guy. You're the only monster I see.” Bob raised his hands, and the professor felt himself being psychically lifted by the throat by Bob's new power.
The henchmen rushed at Bob, only to be lifted by Bob's sheer will.
“Just one question before I end this,” Bob said, “what is my name?”
The professor was confused at first. But after seeing how sincere Bob was now, he could tell that Bob was not trying to get the professor to admit his defeat. Bob honestly did not know what his real name was. All of that brainwashing had some lasting effect after all. The professor began laughing aloud.
“All of that power, and you don't have a clue what your name is?! You know you're name isn't really 'Bob', but that's the only name you can recall.” Bob tightened his psychic grip, but the professor continued. “Your name is Bob, because I say it is.”
The professor revealed a remote device he held in his right hand, and pushed the big red button. The exposed freezing tubes let out huge bursts of liquid and gaseous freezing materials. The wet floor, thanks to the sprinkler system, froze in an instant. Bob froze from his feet to his face faster than he could blink. With Bob frozen, his psychic grip weakened and the professor and the remaining henchmen plopped down onto the slippery floor. The exposed freezing tubes had done their job and were out of materials. Before any of the henchmen could celebrate, Bob's frozen statue began heating up from the inside. The professor ordered that Bob be placed into the nearest cryo-pod. The hencmen quickly lifted up Bob and gently place him in a pod. Back at the control panel, Professor Calamity flipped a switch to seal Bob's cryo-pod, activating the continuous freezing process that would keep him subdued, at least until the professor could either extract those powers or determine a different use for Bob.
With Bob taken care of, the professor gave a sigh of relief. The remaining henchman looked around the room at their fallen companions. Some of them would heal, while others could not be saved, not without extracting Bob's powers and reversing the effects he had placed on them. The rest of the compound was a complete wreck. There were unconscious and injured prisoners and lackeys all over. The plan to take over the world in the next few days was not going to happen. The professor expected the compound to be stormed at any point by whomever was manipulating the AI. Now that Bob was under control, what did they hope to achieve with the remnants of this place? But all was quiet. The professor made his way to the main control room. The doors unlocked as he approached. Inside, he could see the AI typing words across the large monitor. The henchmen stumbled into the room. On the screen, the AI stated that it had released control of the cryo-pod controls in order to work with the professor to detain Bob. Now that the prisoners had released from their cells, and Bob put on ice, the AI would initiate a protocol to emit sleeping gas throughout the base. Once all prisoners were confirmed as asleep, the remaining four henchmen would re-confine all prisoners to their designated cells. Something wasn't right. Couldn't the AI just command all the prisoners to return to their cells once they regained consciousness? A panel opened up in the back of the room, and in it were five AI masks. The AI said that the masks would filter out any of the sleeping gas, so the henchmen could get right to work.
The professor tried to ask who was behind the AI glitches. The AI ignored him. It typed that the sleeping gas was already being dispersed, and that everyone had one minute to put on their mask. The henchman began walking towards their new masks, but the professor warned them that they could easily be brainwashed back into the cryo-pods. The AI typed (lied) that any anomalies from before had been purged, and that anyone without a mask on would be considered a prisoner. Everyone could feel the dizzying effects of the sleeping gas. Despite the professor's warnings (and possibly due to some long-term brainwashing), the henchmen put on their masks. The professor refused. He would never wear one of those things.
He watched with dreary eyes as the AI typed again that anyone without a mask would be considered a prisoner. He blacked out. As he regained consciousness, he noticed that he could not see anything. In horror, he realized that he was wearing a mask. The screen in front of his eyes lit up, and a hypnotic barrage ensued. His hands were cuffed in front of him, and he could only guess that he was in a prisoner's cell. He tried resisting, tried fighting his predicament. But the mask would only let him accept one reality. He would never find out who was behind the AI hack, thought the world above would blame him for the abduction and eradication of nearly all superheroes. Whether another supervillain or a government had taken control of the facility, this new prisoner would never find out. His thoughts were consistently scattered. For all he knew, Bob had been fully brainwashed and unleashed upon the world until it bowed before whoever was controlling him. Or all of the prisoner had had their powers returned, only to be turned into weapons or tools of enjoyment for supervillains. Or maybe the remaining surface heroes had freed everyone and set the world right, only to have judged Professor Calamity too great a threat to be allowed to rot and plot in normal prison. This was the professor's, well, the prisoner's new world.