~Inferno
Stronghold, Mirror Dimension~
"Commander
Vile! My glass needs polishing!"
Vile, the
head scientist of the Inferno Corps, jumps at the sound of the booming voice
that echoes around the room. "A-at once, my Lord!" he stammers,
grabbing a cloth from his workbench and running over to the source of the
command.
This
happens to be large glass tank lodged into the wall of the room, surrounded by
various pressure dials, switches and other strange gizmos. In this tank,
floating in a bubbling mixture of chemicals and preservatives, is a brain. And
not just any brain - this is the brain of someone who had decided that dying
was an optional extra in the great restaurant of life. Someone who had
something weighing so heavily on ther minds that they stuck their middle finger
up at Grandfather Death for the sake of getting it over and done with.
In short,
this was a man with a huge personal grudge.
"To
think," snarls the voice of Jonah, "that those mutant freaks from the
King of Beast could have reduced me to this! To defy my claim to
their squalid dimension was bad enough, but to destroy my mortal body
and render me helpless like this is a crime beyond all reckoning! I
cannot move or feel or see, and it is all because of those hapless lowlifes!"
"They
made a mistake in crossing you," encourages Vile as he runs the cloth over
the glass of the tank. "And they shall all suffer because of it. Your
fellow Arbiters were foolish to imprison you here - now you have access to
every sample of alien tech that ever landed here!"
"Indeed!"
The laugh that rolls from the wall-mounted speakers is of the patented,
sinister type. "And my latest plan will ensure that I will take my revenge
against those misfits and conquer their dimension in one swift stroke!
Tonight, the King of Beasts falls!"
The evil
laughter that echoes round Castle Vergil goes on for many minutes.
-----
~The King
of Beasts Speakeasy, Zoofights City, Our World~
"It
wass my turn to take out the garbage lasst week, russtbucket!"
"No,
it was mine, chopper-face!"
Gezora
the Squid, bartender of the King of Beasts, sighs in irritation as it polishes
a glass. These frankly stupid arguments had been going on for at least two
weeks now, and the fact that it had been the same two people every
single time only made it even more annoying. This latest quarrel - the third
one today so far - was the last straw as far as the mollusc was concerned.
Setting its task aside for the moment, it swings around to face the
perpetrators, its many stomachs sloshing with the motion.
"Gezora
will politely ask you two," it grumbles, "to shut up. The next time
Gezora asks, it will eat you both."
The
guilty parties, a squat green robot in scuba gear and a tall reptillian
humanoid, shoot angry glares at Gezora. Neither one had been particularly
cheerful that morning, and the squid's interruption of their spat has done
nothing to improve their moods.
"Don't
look at me, Gez!" retorts the short robot. "It's not my fault
Pech has to act all high-and-mighty when it's his turn to do the chores!"
"And it iss not my
fault, Oceanuss," hisses Pech, red eyes learing down upon the robot,
"if you are a lazy pile of sscrap who sshirkss hiss dutiess!"
"You
want to say that to my fist, reptile breath?!" Oceanus raises one
iron-plated fist in a threat.
"Gezora
cannot believe what it is hearing!" The giant squid throws up both
tentacles in exasperation, beak clacking audibly. "Gezora thought you two
were supposed to be part of a secret superhero team! Instead, Gezora finds you
squabbling like children!"
"Gezora's
right, you guys!"
Pech and
Oceanus turn towards the source of the voice - the arcade. Leaning against the
door frame, a slice of pizza in one hand, is the angelic warrior Pit. The angel
has not been in the bar as long as the other two patrons, but he is smart
enough to realize that there is a problem between the two, and one that needs
to be sorted. Robot and Space Marine glare at the young boy as he takes another
bite from his meal.
"You
can't keep fighting like this," continues Pit through a mouthful of cheesy
goodness. "If you want to do your bit as part of the Beast Heroes, you're
going to have to learn to work together. And besides, I already took the trash
out, so this argument was basically pointless."
"Eassy
for you to ssay, Featherss," retorts Pech with an ugly laugh. "I
would rather fall on my own gladiuss than desspoil my honour working with thiss
malformed lump of circuitry!"
"For
booting up cold, Pech!" Oceanus thumps a table with a steel fist, leaving
a sizeable dent in the woodwork. "You're not in the Void anymore! All this
'honour' crap doesn't fly when people work in a team! You, of all people, show
know this - you commanded a legion back then!"
Pech
rounds on Oceanus with a furious hiss, but never gets to say anything before
the gang are deafened by loud, blaring alarms. The room flashes with red as
warning lights flicker on and off, and sudden panic flares through the
expressions of everyone present. These alarms can mean only one thing.
"ALERT!
ALERT!" blares the voice of Sentinel, the King of Beast's
hyper-intelligent computer system. "DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED!"
Almost in
an instant, doors fly open as other patrons rush into the bar, alerted to the
trouble by Sentinel's disturbing report. Jonesy, wife of esteemed billionaire
Erebus Svilzerian, dashes in from the ladies' bathroom, still carrying her
makeup kit in one hand. Widow Maker, proffessional giant mantis and part-time
bounty hunter, buzzes in through the front doors in anticipation of adventures.
And last but not least, the ghostly warrior Jumpropeman shirked his usual
method of teleporting through walls to fly through the open doorway to the back
room, where lots of silly technological gadgets are kept.
"What's
going on?!" hollers Jonesy, hurridley wiping blusher from her face so
no-one would ask what she had been up to.
"Sentinel's
detected a dimensional rift from the Mirror Dimension," shouts Jumpropeman
over the blaring alarms. "Overlord Jonah's up to no good again!"
"Lower
the Viewscreen!" bellows Pech.
Immediately,
Sentinel turns off the alarms, leaving a ringing sensation in the ears of all
present as they adjust to the silence. At the same time, a panel in the roof
swings down to reveal a massive, flat screen, which Sentinel powers on with a
flash of light. A satellite map of the city, taken from images intercepted by
the computer’s systems, appears on the screen, and close examination reveals
red dots surrounding one particular area of the map.
“He’s
sent in his troops to raid the Major’s Mausoleum!” Widow Maker cries, antennae
twitching in disbelief as she scans the images. “There’s a wealth of alien
technology in that place – dimensional discombobulators, X-Enzyme missiles,
Murducken Kitchen Brutalizers and who knows what else!”
“Imagine,”
snarls Pech, clenching one gloved fist in rage. “An entire army’s worth of
weaponry in the hands of that evangelical madman. The city would be brought to
its knees in seconds!”
“Then you
have no time to waste!” Gezora swings it’s bulk to face the bargoers. “Gezora
commands that you morsels must get to the Mausoleum and stop them before they
get anything valuable! Gezora will run out of customers if they succeed!”
Jonesy is
the first to leap into action, dashing over to the counter and pulling out a
hidden drawer from within the woodwork. Inside this compartment are five
strange devices that resemble the stylized heads of animals – a lion, a shark,
a snake, a mantis and a falcon. These are the Beast Changers, powerful gizmos
designed by the otherworldly mechanic Celestia for use in circumstances such as
these. In a rush, the blonde-haired heroine has thrown a Changer to each of her
four other companions, each one catching them and strapping them to their wrists.
“Move
out, team!” barks Jonesy as she puts on her own Beast Changer. “We’ve got
drones to demolish!”
“And
hopefully,” adds Oceanus as he joins the team in dashing out of the bar, “I’ll
get to punch that smug jarhead Jonah in the face!”
“That
honour belongss to me, trasshcan!”
The two
continue to argue as they leave, their shouting voices growing faint as they
head down the street. With a heavy sigh, Pit finishes his pizza and heads over
to the counter, leaning over to whisper in whatever Gezora has for an ear.
“Think
they’ll ever settle their differences?” he enquires.
“Gezora
says either they work together,” rumbles the giant mollusc, “or they argue and
die. Gezora doesn’t care which right now.”
And with
that, the squid shuffles over to the other end of the counter, serving drinks
to the shadowy patrons who don’t converse with our heroes. Pit stares after the
retreating bulk, then shrugs and hops over to the Viewscreen, which unfolds a
keyboard and other cool switches as he approaches. From here, Pit begins to
monitor the progress of the gang, represented on the map as green dots moving
quickly down the lane.
One
person hasn’t offered to move. Sitting in his corner, Jaxx Tantra stares at the
doorway the five have left by, taking a swig of cheap whisky.
“Fucking
idiots,” he mutters.
-----
It isn’t
long before the four have reached the centre of Zoofights City, where the
Major’s Mausoleum is. This crumbling monument to the military hippo has been
here for as long as anyone can remember, stoic and unchanging as the rest of
the city grew and flourished around it. Inside are relics of Zoofights past and
gone, and some that may have happened in some freaky alternate timeline but we
can’t be sure. But the point is, every single thing on display has the capacity
to reduce civilization to rubble and caveman tribes, or at least take someone’s
face off in some horrible way.
Which is
exactly why the blank, faceless androids are looting it! By the time the five
have arrived, the general public have fled, leaving the automatons to do as
they please with the building. As they diligently smash windows and pile their
ill-gotten gains outside the main entrance, each one glints in the sunlight,
the mark of a two-headed eagle clutching a sword and scabbard visible on their
chests! This mark is one that the five are extremely familiar with, and one
that at least two of the assembled would sooner forget!
“Watchers,”
growls Jonesy, clenching her fists. “This is Jonah’s work. alright.”
“But what
could that pickled freak possibly want with the things in the Mausoleum?”
wonders Jumpropeman as he observes the mechanical minions at work.
“Who
cares?” Widow Maker is practically dancing on the spot, her claws swinging this
way and that. “We’ve got a job to do, gang!”
“Let’s do
this, team!” hollers Jonesy.
Then, in
a move that would have surprised anyone present, the five calls out the battle
cry:
“BEAST HEROES, TRANSFORM!”
And in
complete sync, they take up identical stances and grip a key-like protrusion on
their respective Beast Changers. Each one then twists their respective Changer
Keys, activating just one of the many systems installed within their devices!
The Beast Changers glow with eye-hurting, multi-coloured light, which swiftly envelopes
their wielders as the five undergo a startling transformation!
Their
optics shorted by the light, the Watchers are unable to pinpoint its source,
and therefore can do nothing to prevent it. By the time it dissipates and their
sensors recover, the fabricated foot soldiers find themselves staring at their
inevitable undoing! Where once stood five, completely unrelated weirdoes, there
now stands the greatest team of heroes Zoofights City has ever known, each
dressed their respective colour of spandex outfit and matching helmet! Jonesy
is dressed in fiery red; Widow Maker is clad in pink, Jumpropeman in yellow,
Pech in a rather obvious green, and Oceanus a watery blue!
As one,
the five pose heroically and give out the old battle cry that strikes fear into
the processors of their foes:
“BEAST HEROES! ASSEMBLE!”
And the
battle begins as the five Beast Heroes charge at the Watchers!
Jonesy,
the Red Lion Hero, heads straight for the leading Watcher, marked out by a
golden faceplate that distinguishes it from its companions. The mechanical mook
sees her approaching, and quickly lashes out with a powerful punch, trying to
intercept the incoming heroine! But it is all for naught – ducking under the
blow, Jonesy responds with a vicious uppercut to the robotic chin that crumples
the metal and damages the vital circuits within! The Watcher staggers back
before collapsing to the ground, sparks shooting from the top of its head!
Jumpropeman,
the Yellow Falcon Hero, quickly finds himself surrounded by a group of
Watchers. With speed that no living man could accomplish, the ghost whips out
his trusty Jump Rope weapon, spinning in a circle like a top and demolishing
the majority of his attackers in one go! But two of them still remain, and with
a whirr of gears they make a spirited leap in an attempt to bring the noble
spirit down! In their haste, they forget who they are dealing with –
Jumpropeman vanishes in an instant, and the two Watchers crash into one
another, collapsing in a tangle heap of broken metal!
Pech, the
Green Snake Hero, and Oceanus, the Blue Shark Hero, are still in competition
even as they wade into the melee! The Space Marine strikes out with his trusty
gladius, decapitating many Watchers at once, while the robot makes do with his
powerful fists, knocking down many more of the die-cast devils as they try in
vain to defend themselves! This eventually comes to a head as, at the same time,
they both despatch the same unit at the same time, and the unfortunate robot
collapses with a crushed head and a hole in his chest! The two heroes round on
each other, glaring.
“That one
was mine, Scale Belly!” hollers Oceanus.
“Your
assisstance wass unrequired, Junkyard!” hisses Pech. But neither can continue
the argument before more Watchers surround them, and the two rivals have to
defend themselves from the surprisingly powerful blows!
Widow
Maker, the Pink Mantis Hero, knows she is too frail to attempt a direct
assault. Instead, she activates her stealth cloak, sneaking up on another group
of Watchers trying to move a heavy canister of BMA’s down the stairs. The
synthetic soldiers don’t even register the approaching mantis until it is too
late – in one swift motion, the heroic bug lashes out with her razor-sharp
claws, slicing through metal and wiring like hot butter! The broken robots
collapse in a shower of sparks, and Widow Maker quickly grabs the canister and
shoves it back into the building, ensuring it hasn’t been damaged by her own
attack.
In a few
moments, each and every last one of the Watchers has been destroyed. The five
Beast Heroes assemble in a circle, keeping their guard up in case more of the
mechanical minions arrive on the scene. But a loud CRACK sound allays their fears as the remains of their foes vanish
in a flash of orange light – the ruined Watchers have been teleported away, and
a retreat like that means no more are forthcoming. As the team relaxes for the
moment, Jonesy reaches to the side of her helmet and presses a button, opening
a comlink back to the bar.
“We got
‘em, Pit,” she reports. “All the stuff is safe and those Watchers were reduced
to scrap!”
“Good
work!” cries Pit from his position at the Viewscreen. “Now, get that stuff back
in the mausoleum and-”
The com
feed is cut in a burst of static that makes Jonesy wince. It was rare for any
of the Beast Heroes to suddenly lose contact with the home base, so for the
coms to suddenly lose connection like that is worrying. But most worryingly of
all, an entirely different voice crackles in – one that rumbles like a bolder
rolling down a hill with evil on its mind!
“I’ve
been waiting for you, Beast Heroes!” sneers the voice of Overlord Jonah. “Now,
prepare to face your doom!”
The Beast
Heroes look up just in time to see a dark portal rip open, right above the
Major’s Mausoleum…
(You won't believe how many Power Rangers and Super Sentai themes I had to listen to in order to get in the right mindset for this thing. Now, if you excuse me, I have to drink cider until I become insane enough to write Part 2.)
