ZEUS
Infidel!

Panel 2
HARDCASE has leaped into the air and is going to land on ZEUS and deliver an overhand smack down with his fist.

HARDCASE
Infidel? That’s a big fancy word for you.

Panel 3
ZEUS lightning teleports behind HARDCASE as HARDCASE lands and smacks the ground where ZEUS was.

HARDCASE
Did you buy one of those word a day calendars? Start a degree online?

Panel 4
Close on ZEUS as brings his hands together, fingers pointing at the back of HARDCASE’s head. Massive energy build up around his arms and hands.

ZEUS
I will not be mocked by a mortal scum like you!

Panel 2
Zig zag of lightning bolts ends with ZEUS standing on the edge of the crater, unharmed.

ZEUS
I admit that was impressive. Useless, but impressive.

Panel 3
HARDCASE has stood up, dirt and costume falling off of him. He’s brushing himself off, trying too looking dignified when he’s a wreck.

HARDCASE
Useless but impressive is the story of my life.

Panel 4
Hardcase cracks his knuckles.

Hardcase
But at least I impress women. You have to settle for little girls.

HARDCASE
Finally. Showtime.

Panel 2
ZEUS plows into the ground as lightning bolt that hits HARDCASE in a devastating explosion. We can barely see HARDCASE is braced, arms bent over his head protecting them.

(sfx)
Ska-Boom

Panel 3
ZEUS is standing in the center of a giant crater. Steam hisses out of the ground. HARDCASE is pounded into the dirt, we don’t see his face. What we see of him in the dirt is singed clothes. ZEUS is wearing his uniform, and looks unharmed and bored.

ZEUS
I enjoyed that. Next?

(News scrawl)
Breaking story. Magnetized Fingerprints implicate Zeus. Too attractive

BILL
I just don’t know what’s going on anymore. Who can we trust? Who’s got their eye on the people that supposedly protect us? I do. That’s who. The fourth estate is your guardian against deviancy in all its forms, and I am its custodian. look, I know you trust me folks, but even I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the technobable coming in over the wire. That was until we received a request from the Defense Force itself asking us to not report these allegations. That told me all I need to know folks. Nobody from that liberal administration will ever get to tell me to shut up.

Panel 1
Defence Force conference room. No one is there but ZEUS in costume and COLONEL NIVEN. NIVEN is pointing a TV remote at the video screens behind him. One of them is staticy. One of them shows BILL SAVAGE. Other news shows and reporters are blathering away on other screens.

NIVEN
Damnit. I don’t know how to work this thing! But this mess is on every channel. The media’s reporting whatever somebody else in the media just said, but as near as we can tell the whole thing is a crock of S**t cooked up by a hacker.

ZEUS
Do we know where?

NIGHT
(over radio)
Package shipped. How’s the real gift coming?

SCIMAGE
Last one is in place. The turbine generators should mask the signal, as the distributed load should be subtle until we throw the switch, but no guarantees.

Night
(over radio)
Stick to codes. We could be monitored.

SCIMAGE
In Nebraska? Unlikely.

Panel 2
CINAED is in costume, shaking the shoulders of SHOKKU. They are inside the dark base of one of the wind turbine pylons.

CINAED
You ready for this?

Shokku
Hell no. At my best, I couldn’t take Zeus at his worst.

CINAED
We’ll get him to his worst. The rest is all you girl. Remember who he’s killed, and kick his A**. For all of us.

Panel 3
HARDCASE is shouting at the sky. Still standing in the field.

HARDCASE
NERDS! Back to how we bring the smack down! He’ll come after us first. We have no defense. We need the plan now.

Panel 2
HARDCASE is standing in a field, alone. Surrounded by wind turbines in a wind farm. He’s in his Defense Force uniform.

CAPTION
36 hours later

HARDCASE
Seriously? How is this a plan? This is not funny!

Panel 3
Inside the power facility for the wind farm. Use any electrical plant for reference. On one video screen is panel 2 in small. CONTROL is ignoring HARDCASE and looking at a personal computer with lots of code streaming across it. His fingers fly across the keyboard. NIGHT is standing over him in costume, hand on his shoulder.

CONTROL
Falsified news is going out on the AP now. The signal is set to traceback to Ray’s cellphone. But even if everything in that report was true, I’m still going to jail for doing this.

NIGHT
Next time you go into hiding then, don’t rent videos from a service I own.

CONTROL
What don’t you own? And backdoors in my account? Not cool.

NIGHT
Not my fault you don’t read the license agreement.

HARDCASE
You didn’t bring that plane down. You didn’t kill those people Shokkusan. He did. We don’t have proof, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.

Panel 2
NIGHT is cracking his knuckles.

NIGHT
That’s the real problem. We have to prove his guilt first. But he’s left no evidence at any of the crime scenes.

Panel 3
SHOKKU is hugging herself, leaning against a window, away from HARDCASE. HARDCASE is talking.

HARDCASE
How did Zappo do that? No DNA? No marks on the plane? That porn he dumped in SciMage’s room was all VHS tapes, not DVDs. Why didn’t they get erased?

Panel 4
Large: SCIMAGE and NIGHT have the same idea. They are facing each either shouting out solutions.

SCIMAGE
A magnetic fingerprint. Just like natural lightning.

NIGHT
The more power he used, the more it would show.

SCIMAGE
It would show up on the magnetic tapes, definitely.

NIGHT
We could check the metal or electronics in Chloe’s room. And I know damn well it will show on the bulkhead of the wrecked plane.

CAPTION
Mexico. Family home of Nerone Aguilar

Panel 2
Beautiful dining room. Tons of huge windows. Monstrous in size. SCIMAGE has his back to us, looking out a window. He’s in a loose shirt and pants, dressy but casual. He has his arm around SHOKKU, very paternal. HARDCASE is in jeans and t-shirt, leaning back in a chair, feet on the expensive table. NIGHT is drawing on whiteboard on an easel brought into the room.

NIGHT
Zeus can take out any of us in seconds, except for Hardcase. Even Ray won’t last long against him if Zeus stops holding back.

HARDCASE
I could take him out myself, if the freak stayed solid.

Panel 3
Looking in on the dining room through the window SCIMAGE is looking out. SCIMAGE looks troubled, SHOKKU haunted.

SCIMAGE
Conversely, If we could isolate his plasma form, I could ensnare him within a magnetic klein bottle.

Panel 4
Close on NIGHT. NIGHT has his hands flat on the table leaning in as he speaks.

NIGHT
Then we use Ray to force him to turn plasma when we want him too.

Panel 5
SCIMAGE has turned around. SHOKKU is pushing away from him.

CINAED
(Voiceover)
Keep your enemies close huh? Screw that.

Panel 2
CINAED is in a dark alley in New York. Neon and lights in the distance, spilling into the alley. She’s got her back to the wall, panicked, out of breath from running. Bag slung over her shoulder. She’s wearing a track suit with a hood. She wears designer everything so it should still be stylish.

CINAED
(Voiceover)
Where the hell do I go? I don’t do safe houses or stealth.

Panel 3
Small: Her phone chirps and makes her jump.

Panel 4
Close up: She answers it terrified.

CINAED
(voiceover)
Fatal rookie mistake. Phones have GPS. I didn’t think to pitch it.

CINAED
(to phone)
Can I help you?

Panel 5
CONTROL is sitting in his car talking to his smartphone. CONTROL has a new car, any model of hybrid is fine. He looks nervous and embarrassed. This is the toughest phone call of his life.

CONTROL
(From Phone)
Cinaed? It’s Steven, I mean Control, or I was Control, I’m not now since I got fired, but that’s why I called, my jobs not a conflict of interest anymore, so I was thinking…

Panel 6
CINAED has sunk her forehead onto the palm of one hand while the other holds her phone.

CINAED
You’re asking me out.

CINAED
(voiceover)
You stupid puppy.

(SFX)
BWOM

Panel 2
HARDCASE is pulling himself out of the rubble with a smile. We can see white cotton stuffed in his ears. The sound waves are striking all around.

HARDCASE
Whadda y’know? They pulled it off.

Panel 3
HARDCASE punches ZEUS in the face, ZEUS is too ill from the sound waves to fight back.

HARDCASE
Listen prick. This is just the warm up. When I come for you, you ain’t never getting up again.

HARDCASE
(voiceover)
I wanted to pound his bones into jelly. Tactical retreats. I f****ing hate them.

Panel 4
SCIMAGE, NIGHT are running past vomiting guards in a stair well. NIGHT is carrying SHOKKU.

HARDCASE
(voiceover)
There’s no guarantee this sonic trick was going to work Zeus, or as well as it did on me, or how long it would work. We needed to run. We also needed the diaper stain alive.

Panel 5
A cloaked Night Flyer has landed in the prison yard, much larger than the single seat version from issue 3, has a ladder lowered and SCIMAGE is helping SHOKKU inside as HARDCASE is running up. Sonic onslaught continues.