Previously on Blessed Inversion SWAT…
Biohazard’s gang takes their war to RajTEK’s doorstep. Led by Forecast; Tox, Ace, and Pulse attack the company in broad daylight. To their surprise, RajTEK was far from defenseless. Thanks to the efforts of Doctor Khonshu, Barry, Carol, and a surprise intervention from the new hero Black Ice they apprehend the attackers. But the man who controls the Inhibitor Mentalist also was working Biohazard and frees them shortly after. Their attack was a failure but they still have SWAT-Spider captured…
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Steven Kessler/SWAT-Spider |
Biohazard -Kingpin. Pissed off |
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Gabriel Kessler |
Hornet -Gangster. Lowest on the totem pole |
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Doctor Khonshu/Kreon Galanis |
It hasn’t even been an hour since Biohazard ordered his cronies to attack RajTEK and he’s already back. He tries to taunt me but I’m too tired to care or even react. Not that I’d give him the pleasure.
“Can you hear it now SWAT? The screams of your co-workers as Ace melts them alive? Or maybe Tox makes them choke on their own blood. Or maybe they just get lucky and Pulse takes em out with a single shot to the head. So many ways to die and you’ll have to live knowing they’re all on you.” he tries to goad me. But he doesn’t know RajTEK as well as I do. Most of them aren’t anywhere close to being fighters. But there’s a reason I’m partnered with Dr. K. He stops his taunts when his phone rings. “You’re probably thinking I just sent a few of my men to take down a whole building that hires Inversions on the regular. Well, let’s just say I had a little chat with the Rebellion and Stars of Doom and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.” he grins before his phone rings. “Looks like they’re done ahead of schedule.” he picks up his phone. “What’s the good news?” he asks before his cheeky grin fades. “What? Where the hell were they?! What do you mean they never showed up?! Who the fuck is Black Ice?…He said he’d make me river dance into oncoming traffic?”* Biohazard was at his limit and crushes his cell phone. I want to taunt him so badly but I’m in too much pain to even attempt it. “I bet you think this is funny?” he says before punching me in the face. Really glad I still have my helmet protecting me right now. “First you fuck up my business!” he says punching me again… “Then you waste my time!” And again… “Now you cost me another phone!” And again… “You got them ready for us didn’t you?!” And again… “Shouldn’t have trusted them to do such a simple job. Shouldn’t have asked those preppy brats or those hood rats to do something I could do myself!” And again…Guardian Aranea keeps my jaw from dislocating. But with my face starting to swell I can barely see out of my real eyes. “But no I was being generous. I thought, why not use just what would be needed? Why go all out and send Haze and Sunspot too? And now that son of a bitch Pheromaster is getting on my case.” he finishes punching me another time for good measure. It’s hard to focus but I endure. I made it through two days of this. I can keep it up five minutes longer. “Can you believe it? Me! The GODDAMN KINGPIN taking orders from someone named Pheromaster. The hell type of name even is that? What type of punk puts master in their own name?” he exhales as I go limp. I don’t have the energy to keep myself upright. If I fake passing out then maybe I won’t have to hear him bitch more. If I get out of this I need to remember to look up this Pheromaster character.
*Check out Blessed Inversion SWAT Chapter 5 and Blessed Inversion Golden Age Chapter 4 for more details!
“W-what should we do boss?” Hornet asked meekly. The kid had to have still been in high school. Probably his first real time out and wasn’t prepared to see his boss pummeling me.
“I’m going to get Haze and find some way to salvage this. You stay here. If ANYONE comes in that isn’t me or Haze, kill them.”
“What about the others?” Hornet seemed concerned about his fellow criminals.
“I don’t give a fuck!” he shouts. His body starts to glow and I begin to feel sick as hell. I can see Hornet begin to feel the same way as he almost passes out. “Just do your god damn job.” his body returns to normal before he leaves us. It isn’t long after when I pass out again.
Meanwhile, Gabriel arrives at RajTEK. The police blocked off the entrance so none of the onlookers could interfere. EMTs were on the scene making sure nobody was suffering from any of Tox’s lingering poison. The Coroners began moving the deceased after getting the go ahead. It was better safe than sorry if they could contaminate others just by being there. His anxiety peaked at the sight of it all.
“The areas off limits.” a Police Officer tells Gabriel so he’d turn back.
“But my dad works here.” he responds.
“What’s his name?”
“Steven Kessler.”
“Wait here.” the Police Officer leaves to confirm what Gabriel said. After a few minutes, she returns. “Okay, just don’t mess around near the people working.”
“I won’t.” he replies before running in. He’d visit every so often to see Steven so he knew a good amount of the staff. Unfortunately with the battle that took place much of the staff had already left for the day for their own protection. That is everyone except for Raja who remained to deal with the authorities. “Raja!” Gabe calls out to get his attention.
“Gabe? What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for my dad. Have you seen him?”
“Well…” Raja tries to think of what to tell Gabe. Part of him wants to tell the truth that Steven was missing. But could he really tell him that to his face? “I’m sorry Gabe but I haven’t. Everything was so hectic I’m not sure where he was during the whole attack.” he half lies.
“Oh…okay…”
“If I see him you’ll be the first to know.”
“Thanks…” Disheartened, Gabriel returns home alone once more. In the past, he was fine with it but this time it wasn’t by choice. The first day he went missing he figured they just didn’t run into each other. It wasn’t totally insane with their differing schedules. But two days in a row and with no phone call? When he reaches their apartment he checks the voice messages but there’s nothing. “I should call the police…But if I do that and mom finds out I won’t ever be able to see him again.” he thinks to himself. He knew the right thing was to get their help but the fear of losing Steven made him hesitate. “Maybe the news has something.” he hopes as he turns on the television and changes the channel.
The major news stations were all covering what happened at RajTEK but only one caught Gabriel’s eyes. NYIS News was known for covering Inversion affairs, especially those living locally in New York. Like the other news outlets they covered the same RajTEK story but they brought up a detail the others dismissed as rumor or omitted entirely. That during the incident there was a costumed Inversion named Black Ice who appeared and helped end the attack.* They suspected he was the same unnamed Inversion seen commonly helping the Silver Plains Fire Department.
“Awesome! A real superhero!” he says excitedly. Inspired by what he heard and saw. “If he can just put on a costume and do good why can’t I? I’ll find and save dad myself.” Gabriel puts his hood on his head, covers his eyes with his goggles, and races out of the apartment building at the speed of sound. He had wanted to keep the fact he was an Inversion a secret from Steven until he had a full grasp of what he could and couldn’t do. But keeping his secret safe wasn’t as important as finding him.
With his super speed, it was obscenely easy for him to travel through Silver Plains. The main issue was slowing down to check every single person he passed on the street. That, and locked doors. From the upper end to the lower end he scoured every spot he could think of before heading to Gold Plains. For a moment he stops and stares at the gated communities. The pristine mansions and perfect lawns. The gaudy paint jobs and lavish cars visible at every turn. He wasn’t raised to be a jealous type. But he couldn’t help but compare his small apartment that probably was only as large as one of their many spare rooms. Focusing back on the job at hand, Gabriel races in search of his father.
Elsewhere, Doctor Khonshu takes to his own attempt at saving his captured teammate. Using the Khonshu Drives, he soars to Bronze Plains. For all his genius he’d often forget little things or consider them irrelevant. The added stress of the attack on RajTEK* didn’t help either.
“Now where the devil are you Steve.” he thinks to himself looking at his right forearm. He was so concerned with tracking the Khonshu Band while it was active he totally overlooked a simple solution. With all the genius he gloated about he should’ve realized he was smart enough to modify his Khonshu Drive to track the energy signature it gave off. After all, only the Bands and Drive gave off the same type of energy so it’d be easy to find. It was faint with the Khonshu Band being deactivated but he now knew where he was. “Don’t mind me just passing through.” he says to the civilians he flies by. “The signals close.” Doctor Khonshu thinks glancing down at the map displayed on the Khonshu Drive. He looks up and finds himself landing in front of an abandoned Acel-Corp warehouse. They must’ve left it unused after they moved on to bigger and better things. “If I were Steve what would I do…Bitch to me, receive a glorious idea on what to do, get inside, and deal with everything in a stealthy fashion.” he muses to himself. After a minute he decides on what to do. Using the Khonshu Drive he tears the doors off the hinges in seconds and thrown aside. He wasn’t like Steve. He wasn’t subtle and he had no time to waste on analyzing the situation. A fact that drew Gabriel’s attention as he arrives to race through Bronze Plains.
“Kreon?” Gabriel calls out from behind him.
He could see through his flimsy disguise but decided to entertain Gabriel. “And you are?” Doctor Khonshu asks.
“Um…” Gabriel tries to come up with a name on the fly. He acted before his thoughts finished and didn’t realize he might’ve given a clue to who he really was. “Jetstream.”
“Oh good, another superhero. But I guess you’re just a Mini Hero. Sidekick? Whatever, I don’t have time to play.” he dismisses Jetstream and floats inside the warehouse.
“Hey! Wait up! What are you here for?” Jetstream asks.
“If you must know my friend has been taken hostage and I’m fairly certain he’s here…” he says before continuing under his breath. “Or at the very least his arm is…”
“Maybe I should just search the building. I’ll be in and out before you-“
“No, as showy as my entrance was it would’ve alerted anyone inside that we’re here. If they’re good enough to capture him then that means we’re in for quite the fight.” Pointing his right hand at a door he clinches his fist which crushes it and pulls his arm back to fling the door haphazardly aside once more. He wouldn’t admit it but he was quite concerned and angry at the whole ordeal. When he sees the badly injured and unconscious SWAT-Spider chained to the support beam with only Hornet guarding him he starts to see red. “Don’t look Jetstream.” he orders him so he doesn’t see his father in such an injured and indecent state.
“S-stay back or I’ll kill him!” Hornet tries to sound intimidating poorly. The stingers growing from the top of his forearms and being held at SWAT-Spiders neck, on the other hand, were.
“Who may I ask are you?” Doctor Khonshu asks calmly.
“I’m-“
“Don’t care.” with a simple flick of his right index finger, Hornet is sent flying through the roof and crashing into the floor three levels up. With the only captor being taken care of, he floats over to SWAT-Spider, crushes his chains, and puts his long lab coat on him. “You are far too much trouble sometimes.” Doctor Khonshu begins to shoulder him using the Khonshu Drive to help in the process. He was a scientist, not an athlete after all.
“Is he okay?”
“He will be when I get him some help.”
“That’s good.” Jetstream smiles to hide his worry.
“Now why were you here Jetstream?”
“Well…I was looking for someone important to me too. But hey, I have super speed so it shouldn’t be too hard to find him right? Sorry I didn’t help that much but if you need me I’ll be around.” he says before racing off as suddenly as he came. His search through Bronze Plains proved as fruitless as his searches earlier. His mind and thoughts raced too fast for him to focus properly and it was exhausting him. Maybe he wasn’t in the city anymore. New York was a big state so maybe he should expand his search. Returning home he throws his goggles aside frustrated at his failures. Trying to figure out what he should be doing. He stops when he realizes there’s a message left on his answering machine.
“Hey Gabe, it’s Raja. Sorry about not being able to help earlier but I have good news. We found Steve! He’s been admitted to Saint Taliesin’s Hospital on Verdant Drive by a good Samaritan. You should go check on him when you get the chance. I’m already on my way there with Dr. K and hopefully, we see you there.” the message plays.
Not even a second after the message ends, Gabriel is already checking into Saint Taliesin’s to visit his dad. It was the first time he’d ever seen him hospitalized. Even if he had a rough day at work it at never something this bad. Complaining about soreness, bruises, or oversleeping maybe. But never this…For now, Gabriel would just sit by his side so the first thing he sees when he wakes up was his face. After today, Gabriel was determined to protect him and his family using his powers. Wholly unaware just who his own father was or the possible threats it brought.
Next Issue
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