Episode XXIX

Marcia Silverberg was once again in her own dorm at the college. After a few days of close observation, her doctor decided to allow her to return home. Glad to be back, she had immediately splayed out on her bed. As she lay there, thinking about the events of the past several days, her mind drifted to the conversation she had had with Professor Pettigrew in the hospital a few days ago. She had been unconscious the first time he came to visit her, but he came back a few days later when she was coherant. At first she had been shocked to find out that he had somehow acquired superpowers, and used this to gain a firm hand on the night life of Mammoth City. She was rather pleased though, when she found out his plans for the city. She chuckled as she remembered the name the professor had given himself. Darth Onion.

“You’re calling yourself WHAT?!” She said incredulously, fighting to keep a smirk from creeping onto her lips. She knew that laughing at him might cause her condition to become more serious than a few burns- she knew what he was capable of.

“Darth Onion. It’s the name I gave myself a few evenings ago. It seems to fit, don’t you think?” He asked in a mocking voice, seeing her eyes filling up with tears. She sniffed.

“Stop that! You can turn that thing on and off, can’t you?” She scowled at him.

“I’ve never tried to; it always works so well in my favor.” He walked around the bed and sat down in a chair. “Marcia, I received an email from you while you were still at the resort. Did you find out anything more?”

“I did, sir. That night a team of scientists came and captured the creature, taking him to a local lab in Daze Springs. DS Labs, I believe it’s called.” The professor quickly took out a notebook and paper and jotted down the information. Marcia continued, “That woman who ran the resort told me that the only way she was able to get rid of it when it attacked her was with a PH solution.”

“A PH solution, eh?” The Professor mused aloud. He looked up from his pad and handed Marcia a Kleenex. “I need you to do something else for me, as soon as you are well.”

“What?” She snapped at him, the affects of her last mission fresh in her mind- and on her skin. He smiled disarmingly as she scowled at him.

“I just want to you to befriend a student of mine, Dennis Brown.”

“Why?”

“I have a special interest in him. He may be useful to us, but I need someone to monitor him closely to ensure that he does nothing to interfere with my plans. I trust no one for this job but you.” He smiled again and stuck the notepad in his pocket and stood up. “I hope you recover swiftly, Marcia.” He headed for the door.

“I’ll take the job.” Marcia said quickly. The professor turned around and smiled.

“Good. I hope you have swift success with the young man. You’re becoming a very competent right-hand assistant. Perhaps you should think of a name for yourself, if you are going to continue in this endeavor with me.” With that, he turned around and walked out.

Marcia smiled to herself as she thought of the fun she would have deceiving Dennis Brown. She had never liked him; always thought he was just a weak goody-goody. His girlfriend Carry was, too. They were just like Todd. Most of all she hated Carry. She had seen the other young woman around, and noticed how happy she was. She hated her for what she had.

She sat up and decided to take a walk to try and find Mr. Brown. She quickly assessed herself in the mirror and decided to put her hair up. She wanted to look her nicest for her “Mission”. This time she had her own plans to work on, as well as Dr. Pettigrew’s. She smiled as she admired the finishing touches she had made to her tresses.

“Let’s just see how long it takes before I crumple little Carry’s world, starting with her boyfriend.”

Episode XXVIII

"Rise and shine," the nurse called out cheerfully.

"If this is a hospital, why aren't I allowed to sleep?" Dennis mumbled. He'd been kept for two days so he could rest and recover, but he found it rather hard when he was awakened several times each night so the nurses could check up on him.

"Don't worry so much," his grandpa called from the bed next to him. "We're both supposed to be sprung today."

The nurse's eyes twinkled. "You both make the place sound like a prison. I thought we treated our patients better then that."

"Well, maybe a little," Dennis conceded.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." The nurse went over to a tray by the door. "Now here's your morning ration of gruel. I'll be back to check on you one more time before you are freed." She left the room to hearty laughter.

*******

A few hours later, Dennis and his grandpa were both released from the hospital. Dennis went with his family to his grandparents' for a few hours and then returned to his dorm room. He found his girlfriend Carry waiting outside his dorm room. Even though she'd been to see him both days, it felt like they hadn’t seen each other in days. They just held each other for a few minutes, then went inside.

"Is your roommate around?" Carry asked as she sat down on Dennis' bed.

"No. He's got lab tonight. Won't be back until late."

"Good. Cause I want to know what happened to you. I could tell there was something you wanted to tell me in the hospital."

Dennis filled her in on his encounter with the gang and their leader. "I think he recognized me. And something about him seemed familiar. I just can't place my finger on it."

"Seriously, he decided to call himself Darth Onion?" Carry laughed. "You have got to be kidding me."

Dennis smiled. "It did seem pretty funny. But if you'd seen the way he shot lightening out of his hands, you wouldn't feel the same way."

Carry sobered. "I know we both want to fight the crime in this town. And you seem to have developed a gift for it. But I think you're getting in over your head here. We need to fall back. Regroup."

"That's just what they want me to do. So that is exactly what we can't do. We've just got to plan better. It sure would be a help if I could figure out who 'Darth Onion' is."

Just then, the phone rang, and Dennis picked it up. "Hello?"

"Dennis? This is Dr. Pettigrew. I heard you have been in the hospital. Everything ok?"

"Just some bruises. I'm healing ok. Be back to work tomorrow."

"Glad to hear it. I hate to make demands, but I've fallen behind. Lots of tests to grade and whatnot. You understand. And, Dennis? Could you stay a little later tomorrow? There's some stuff going on I want to talk to you about. Maybe you can help me with a project I want to start working on."

"Sure thing. See you at the regular time." And Dennis hung up.

******

Dr. Pettigrew hung up the...finished the call and smiled to himself. Dennis was so anxious to do good that he had gotten himself captured and beaten up. This story about being found paralyzed on the ground seemed strange. He'd have to pursue it and what it might mean. Meanwhile, Dennis' enthusiasm was just what he was looking for. If he played his cards just right, he could use Dennis to achieve his ends and the young student would never be the wiser.

Episode XXVII

“Why didn’t I question them?” Marla berated herself as she drove. “I don’t know anything about this Lord Acidity, I don’t know why he wants me and,” she abruptly slammed on the brakes. “And I don’t know where I am. Now Marla, how were you expecting to get home? Did you hope that a GPS mapping device would just appear on the dashboard. Stupid, stupid.” As she chided herself Marla quickly decided that she had to turn around and go back to the cabin. Before moving into a three-point turn she swiftly opened the glove box and checked under her seat, but as she had suspected there were no maps to be found—and anyway, she had no idea what road she was on, or if it would even appear on a printed map.

Angry at herself and the men that had kidnapped her Marla sent the van speeding back towards the cabin, its wheels kicking up gravel from the backcountry road. In only a few moments she was pulling up in front of the cabin and pulling the keys out of the ignition. With grim determination she jumped out of the van and only remembered not to slam its door at the very last minute, catching the door and still managing to slightly damage the handle. Though she quickly put this damage behind her she caused much more as she scuffed her feet across the grass, kicking large furrows in the vegetation.

Marla was in a truly foul mood by the time she kicked down the cabin door, after having demolished two stumps in the yard, two of the porch steps, and one of the handrails. The front room was empty and the newly minted heroine stared around dumbstruck until she remembered that there was another room on the back of the cabin, the bedroom where she had been sequestered. Of course, she reasoned, the coward must be hiding back there, trembling in fear. Anticipating catching the cowering man in the closet Marla confidently strode into her former prison turning towards the closet when she heard a noise to the side and barely raised her arm in time to block the blow of a hardened piece of pipe that been set on a collision course with her head.

Though she had been miraculously been gifted with super strength Marla was definitely not invulnerable. Her arm was moving up as the bar came down and so she was able to stop its progress and deflect it away, however it still hurt! She stifled a curse and fell down on one knee while cradling her arm; she knew it would be have a large bruise in the morning. Of course a moment later she realized the bruise was the least of her concerns and she shot her uninjured arm out to grab the henchman’s collar. With ease she pulled him upwards and shoved him against the wall, causing a large dent to form in the rough outline of his torso and head. Marla yelled at the man, demanding that he tell her what the “acid monster” wanted with her. When the man annoyingly responded only with “Lord Acidity will deal with you,” she lost her cool again and threw him across the room hard enough to break through the wall into the cabin’s second bedroom.

The broken-fingered man slid across the floor into the opposite wall where he tried to sit up. Before he could lever himself upwards Marla had reached him and she again picked him up and slammed him into the wall, this time right next to a window overlooking the lake. With a fierce growl she ordered him to answer her question, but again he refused, though not quite as defiantly as before. Frustrated she slammed her left fist forward into the wall, but accidentally struck the window and knocked it completely out of its frame. The hotel owner was so surprised by this that she stood in shocked silence looking out over the lake. After a moment she looked for the other henchman, wondering if he would be more cooperative. However, when she finally spotted him he was on the far side of the lake, apparently being pulled to shore by another man. She wondered if it was a lifeguard, but she figured that it didn’t matter—the other man would probably attack him and try to return to “Lord Acidity.”

Marla turned her attention back to the man pinned against the wall and was about to punch him when all that she had done finally sunk in. With a shock she fully came to her senses and took in the destruction she had caused. She remembered doing everything, of course, but she didn’t know why. Normally she never got this mad, and especially not mad enough to want to kill someone as dead as she had wished this henchman was. Deciding that she wouldn’t get any information out of the man Marla decided to render him unconscious but wasn’t sure exactly how. Finally, thinking that it was worth a try she attempted a Vulcan Nerve Pinch, but she quickly realized she had no Vulcan blood as her powerful fingers slipped and broke his collarbone. This pain was more acute than any she had intentionally delivered and it finally broke through the man’s defenses.

“Lord Acidity wants to silence you. You caused his capture!” The man groaned and then added in an begrudging aside, “of course that was what led to me being able to serve him you were useful.”

“Continue,” Marla ordered, though she was more subdued than when she had thrown the man against the wall. Even if she was feeling calmer she recognized that it was only his pain that kept him talking and that she needed to keep him pinned against the wall to maximize the pain and therefore she did not let him move.

“You also have something that belongs to him; you have stolen from Lord Acidity.”

“What?” the hotel manager interjected. “I am no thief, though you’re one to talk! You stole me away from my hotel.”

“My lord left items in your trust; yet you have kept them even after he appeared to you.”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. The only stuff I have that isn’t mine is unclaimed property from guests—and I know your Lord Acidity hasn’t stayed at my hotel, I’m sure that I would remember him.”

“You are mistaken, you have stolen from him!”

“Talk about a one track mind,” Marla muttered, then remembering the other reason she had returned she returned to questioning.

“Where are we?”

“Westwood Lake.”

“Of course!” Marla was disgusted with herself. She had never been to Westwood Lake, but she realized now that it was the only lake of this size anywhere near Daze Springs. She tried to question the man for several more minutes, but she couldn’t think of anything particularly relevant and the man’s pain was obviously growing worse.

Finally she dropped the henchman to the floor and used a strip of curtain to bind his hands together. Another strip served to fasten his ankles and a third to bind his four limbs together. She was fairly confident that he would never be able to loosen the knots that held her primitive hog-tying attempt together; she didn’t even think she with her enhanced strength could separate the knots after she’d tightened them. One of the man’s extremely foul socks had served as an effective gag, though Marla had been loathe to touch it. Not for the first time Marla wondered if single men ever bothered to wash their clothing or if they just wore it until it rotted off and they had to replace it.

Relieved to be leaving the cabin behind Marla looked out of the empty window frame onto the lake. She could barely see the lifeguard on the far shore, and disturbingly she could clearly see a patrol car next to him. The last thing she needed was to be found in this cabin. Who would believe her story that she had just woken up with greatly increased strength. Furthermore she would have to contact the FBI in so that they could explain her records, and she didn’t want the sheriff’s department finding out that she was in the Witness Protection Program. She didn’t really want to relocate, especially not now when she wouldn’t be able to obtain a good price for her hotel. And she desperately wanted to find out what Acidity really wanted. She knew the story from the henchman couldn’t be true—the monster hadn’t ever come near the actual hotel building, he couldn’t have anything of his inside.