Woman of Yesterday

[muppetwriter]

A "MARVELOUS Mini" tale from the point-of-view of the oldest Thomas cousin, Katerina Thomas.

Note: The story takes place after the events of "Hulk-O-Vision".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part One​

My name is…or was Katerina “Kat” Thomas. I use the word “was” strongly because I’m not even certain if I am who I am anymore. My whole life, ever since I was born forty-eight years ago, has been for the sole purpose of serving my country…as an agent of the organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. You could say that I’m a hero, but in order to be one, you have to be credited as one by the public. And that has yet to have happened in my life. No one, with the exception of only a few members of my loving family and S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, know that I exist.

It’s a wonder if anybody even knows I’m alive right now. I’ve quit the S.H.I.E.L.D. business for just about four years now. My last mission was served around March of 2004, with my cousin Terah (who was 31 at the time) and the “newbie” (as some of us playfully called him), Scooter Grosse. I remember it vividly, as if it were yesterday…

March 31st, 2004​

Scooter had just gotten out of the recovery room at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base located near New York City, with an approval by one of our doctors. Terah and I accompanied him as he was sent back to San Francisco, where he was not very long ago, being the victim of a horrible mutation as a result of an untested experiment done by Dr. Bruce Banner. Luckily for Banner, the little fella had no hard feelings on the incident. He was a good sport—that Scooter Grosse; never letting anything get him down or frustrated in any way.

The reason that the three of years were going back to San Francisco was to handle an investigation over the demolished areas caused by Banner (as “The Hulk”) and Scooter (as the unnatural beast that he turned into). However, I knew the real reason why we were there. I knew, because I had a talk with General Nick Fury and Tony Stark, prior to our departure.

Both men shared some valuable information with me, regarding their offer to Scooter to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. They told me how Stark revealed to the kid that his father was still alive, which was a surprise myself, considering the fact that I was near Vietnam (the area in which he was killed in action), while on a mission at the age of 16. Scooter’s father was a special figure in my life, because I had the fortunate opportunity of working with him on several assignments.

I was told by Fury that—as my last assignment before retiring from S.H.I.E.L.D.—I should show Scooter the reality of being an agent, while investigating in San Fran. And while I was doing this, I was never to disclose to him the truth about his father. On asking the question of what were I to do if the little fella asked, I was to tell him “Tony Stark is his father.”

If there was anyone who knew that was a ridiculous cover-up, it was me. Because how in the h*ll could a human being and a Muppet conceive a Muppet child. I mean, come on!

But, being the good little Girl Scout that I’d always been, I promised Fury and Stark that I would oblige to their command, even though it was dumber than Satan. And as I had first greeted Scooter at the recovery room, I didn’t hesitate to at least tell him that I was the cousin of one of his good friends, Sean Thomas. It was the one fact that Fury couldn’t let me keep secret in a million years—and if he had tried to, he would’ve found his “goods” in a jar.

So there I was, en route to San Francisco in a jet, with Scooter and my other partner in crime, Terah. I didn’t feel nervous, and I didn’t feel afraid. They had always taught us never to be while on duty, and I had succeeded in not letting it affect me whatsoever. But just because I’d let go of fear and anxiety, that didn’t mean I lost my heart. I’m not a robot, as some citizens would call us. I still felt for the ones that I protected, possibly because I thought of their families, something I would never get to see as often as I should.

But if there was anyone who represented the true nature of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was Terah. So many years of war and violence had come into that girl; she had completely lost her sense of reasoning, as well as her spirit. The only thing that was on her mind twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week was what her service to the United States government. She tried to draft herself into the War of Iraq so many times that the military could barely believe her spirit. The only reason she was never accepted was due to her duties as a S.H.I.E.L.D. representative.

She couldn’t sit still for one moment, without having to do something peculiar. During the plane ride to San Francisco, she kept taking apart and putting together her Sig Pro 2340 for no reason whatsoever (other than to make herself look good in front of the newbie).

“You’re really good with that.” Scooter told her.

“Ya have to be, if you’re gonna hang with the big dogs.” Terah remarked.

I rolled my eyes over her comment, because she sounded like she had been with S.H.I.E.L.D. longer than I had. She was good, but not that good. To change the subject of Terah’s piece, I asked Scooter, “So I hear you’ve got a little lady in your life.”

At first he seemed surprised that I knew about her, but then he realized the type of people who he was dealing with and smiled. “Uh…yeah. Her name is Sara Vines. We met not too long ago over…”

“Muppet Central.” Terah uttered, much to Scooter’s surprise.

“Um, yeah. And we met in person…”

“On February 14th, 2000…Valentine’s Day.”

“Um…correct. And I’m planning to propose to her around…”

“May 22nd, 2005.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. She kept interrupting him so much that it was becoming highly annoying. “You know, the point to a real conversation is to let the person you’re talking to actually complete his sentence before you open your mouth.” I told her.

“It’s okay, Agent Thomas.” Scooter said. “I should know better than to underestimate the incredible knowledge that you people have.” I smile over his polite comment, while Terah’s face remained inert. “You have to be keeping at least billions of records on so many people.”

“67.2 billion to be exact.” Terah said, and I swear to God she sounded like a d**n robot as she said it.

“Some of us try not to peek into so many, because we respect the privacy of some individuals.” I added, glaring towards Terah as I did, knowing that she had been poking around those records more than any other personnel at S.H.I.E.L.D. had. “We only look through them whenever it pertains to an important mission.”

“Like the one we’re on now?” Scooter asked, and I nodded in reply. “So who’s files did you have to look through to prepare for this mission?”

Terah then immediately snapped, “That’s classified information!” The gruff tone in her voice nearly scared the life out of the little guy, and it even gave me quite a shiver, too.

“Hey, hey, easy.” I told her. “It’s no big deal. Besides, if he’s going to learn how to be an agent, then we at least have to share our secrets with him, don’t we?” She glared at him and then at me for a long time, before going back to fiddling with her gun. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Scooter and calmly said, “It’s really funny you should ask, Scoot. Because the reason we’re going to San Francisco is your adventure there not very long ago.”

He gave me that surprise look again as he uttered, “Wow! I…I had an idea that might’ve been the reason, but I didn’t want to admit it, because…well…” He then sadly looked down, reminding himself of the horror that he experienced that week it happened.

Poor little fella…I knew that he needed cheering up, because Terah sure as h*ll wasn’t going to play Mother Teresa at that moment.

“Hey, it’s alright. None of that was your fault.” I told him. “You were under the influence of gamma radiation from some freaky technology designed by that madman, Bruce Banner.”

Scooter looked up at me and remarked, “It wasn’t his fault either. We were both victims of some crazy gamma rays. Only his was more accidental than mine.”

“So you’re saying what Banner had done to you was on purpose?” Terah asked him, and I had no idea why she would, since it made absolutely no sense at all.

“NO! I mean, yes! I mean…I don’t know!” Scooter exclaimed.

“Well, you’ve gotta know,” Terah stated. “Because you were the one that it had happened to.”

“Alright! That’s enough!” I snapped at her, before she could mess his mind up anymore than it already was at that moment. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you for the rest of the ride, do you understand?” She gawked at me for quite a while, before getting up from her seat and heading towards the back of the plane. We watch her leave in a huff, looking like a spoiled little child.

“Is she okay?” Scooter inquired.

I shook my head as I answered him, “That’s what I keep asking myself, every time she goes nuts on me.”

“She acts just as tough as Fury does.”

“Well, that’s because Fury taught her almost everything that I hadn’t given myself the opportunity of doing so. You see, when Terah first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I was given the responsibility of becoming her teacher, showing her all the ropes like I’ve been doing with you.”

“And let me guess…your relationship became something like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader?”

I smiled over the fitting allusion he gave. “Exactly. She was so spoiled from all the strength and power that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been giving her that she’s totally forgotten what it means to be human.”

Scooter looked back towards the rear of the plane, where Terah had gone directly into the bathroom for lord knows what. “Fury told me that she’s one of the best agents that you’ve got onboard.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. She’s a great fighter. It’s just that I wonder sometimes if she’s really grown up since she first started.”

“When did she first join the organization?”

I was quiet for a moment before giving an answer in a low voice. “The day she was born.” I looked down, not having to see the bewildered look that had to have appeared on Scooter’s face after I told him. “She never had a life outside the organization. Everything she learned…everything she has been through…all that she has been brought to believe has come from S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s been her father, mother, aunt, uncle, godfather, godmother, and whatever else from the moment she came into this world.”

“Whoa,” was all that Scooter said in remark to that revelation.

“Yep. So now you see why it always seems like she’s got someone’s foot up her butt, because she has been for thirty-one years now.”

“How do you know all this?” I was just about to answer until he held a hand up in protest. “Never mind. Dumb question.”

I chuckled at his comment, shaking my head negatively. “One thing I’ve learned in my years of being an agent, Scoot, is that there are no dumb questions.”

He smiled back at me, while I just confidently grinned at him. It was quiet in there for a while, until we heard the pilot speak over the intercom. “Attention, passengers. We will be arriving at our destination in twenty minutes. I am putting up the ‘Fasten Seatbelt’ sign at this moment. Please return to your seats, as we conclude our flight.”

“Sounds like the typical pre-landing message on a typical commercial airline.” Scooter joked, and we both laughed, knowing that it was true.

We laughed until Terah stepped back in, after visiting the bathroom. Her sudden presence in the room just completely killed the atmosphere, and the pleasant moment that Scooter and I had just seemed like it got sucked right out of there. She no longer fiddled with her gun, but just fastened her seatbelt as the pilot ordered and stared off into space.

I fastened my own seatbelt after hers and then Scooter did as well. But we didn’t bother staring off into space like she was. We both looked out the window towards the San Francisco skyline, which was glimmering under the bright light of the sun. It was the city where I was born…where practically half of my family was born. Los Angeles and Anaheim had got nothing on that piece of work we referred to as San Fran.

And it was where our mission began.

TO BE CONTINUED....​

 

[The Count]

Good start... Need more... Post please!

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

Aww...Scooter <3 mentioned Sara.

AWWWWWWWW!
<3 Go Sara...

Sorry, my fave part of the whole thing.

 

[muppetwriter]

This next part features two MySpace friends who I've only recently added to the "MARVELOUS" roster, J.G. (who will be a member here on Muppet Central pretty soon) and Ivy.

Part Two​

Fury told us that while we were in San Francisco, our cousin and S.H.I.E.L.D. tech inventor, Angelle Thomas, would assist us. She had a device that would detect the bits of gamma radiation surrounding the area, which we had to take records on in order for the biology department to come in and quarantine it all, only until the gamma rays were wiped clear to make the area safe.

After landing at the private airport for S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, we were given a 2002 Ford Mustang GT to drive throughout the city. Of course, I was the one driving it, considering one of my partners could barely reach the pedals and don’t get me started on the other. We headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge, which was where the KMUP station in San Francisco was located near. It was the sight of where the transformations between Scooter and Banner started and led into a battle that ended near the Denays restaurant a few blocks away.

As we were heading towards the section of the city, I gazed into my rearview mirror to see Scooter in the backseat, with his head down and looking very depressed. I wondered if this assignment would be too much for the little fella to handle, reminding him of the worst week of his life. I wanted to ask him at that moment if he would want to go back to the airport and return to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, but I also wanted to give a shot. The biggest reality of being an agent was exposing oneself to a past nightmare of his or her own.

Still, I made sure he was all right during the journey by asking him, “You okay back there, Scoot?”

He looked up at me and smiled while saying, “Yeah. I’m fine. Just…I was just thinking about how my friends are gonna get by without the old station.”

“Don’t worry. I heard that they’re gonna build a new one in Manhattan.” I told him. “It’s a better location in my opinion. I’ve always loved New York City. Despite all of its cons, it’s had plenty of pros, such as the wonderful city skyline, the great sightseeing spots, and…”

“We’re here!” Terah suddenly interjected, and she was unfortunately right…we had arrived at the devastated spot where the fierce battle between two transformed beings had taken place earlier this month.

Standing in the midst of all the rubble, crushed vehicles, and potholes enormous enough to be considered as craters was Angelle, who was using her detector to pick up signs of gamma radiation. Her machine resembled a highly advanced Geiger counter (advanced only by someone as inventive and brilliant as Angelle). It made heavy beeping noises as she positioned it over certain areas, presumably because of the surrounding levels of gamma radiation.

While she was doing her detection, she was wearing a gas mask that protected her system from the infectious radiation. She looked all alone in the middle of that devastation, almost as if she were the last woman on Earth. The truth was that S.H.I.E.L.D. had already shut off most of the area from the citizens of San Francisco to avoid an outbreak. Instead of the typical police tape to block them from the spot, S.H.I.E.L.D. set up hard plastic bubbles over spaces with large quantities of radiation, such as the one Angelle was in.

Soon after our arrival, we approached the bubble and were about to enter through its automatic sliding door, until Angelle turned to us and motioned to a certain spot outside it. We turn our heads to what exactly it was that she had been pointing to and spotted a duffel bag, which she must’ve brought along with her. I walked up to the bag and zipped it open, revealing the gas masks inside for us to wear.

I handed each one to Scooter and Terah, and as they put them on, I placed my own over my face. The inside of the mask didn’t quite smell so pleasant (smelled like it had already been used), but it kept us safe from radiation as we walked inside the bubble. Despite how much of it covered our faces, we were still able to understand each other as we talked.

“Glad you got here on time.” Angelle said. “I was starting to wonder how long it would take for you two to get your butts here.”

“Cut the chitchat, freak, and tell us what’s going on here.” Terah said, not hesitating to expose her dire attitude towards Angelle. The way she called her “freak” (because of the unnatural genetic disorder within her family, in which certain members were not born to the same race their parents, siblings, or cousins were) was hurtful enough to bring Angelle to tears. But the way she was keeping her attention on her work while Terah had insulted her showed me that she had been learning to ignore it all.

Turning her attention away from her Geiger counter and to us, she revealed her information. “The amounts of radiation here are tremendous. It could take S.H.I.E.L.D. more than a few months to clear it all from these spots. But I’m thinking with the right equipment, I could limit their time of cleaning up.”

“You can invent something that can prevent a buttload of work?” I asked.

She nodded in reply to my question, just before she looked towards Scooter. “Is this the new guy I’ve been hearing about?”

“Yeah, this is Scooter. Scooter, this is our cousin, Angelle.” I said, and the gofer and the inventor both shook hands after being properly introduced.

But leave it to Terah to ruin the happy moment. “He’s the one responsible for all of this.”

“Terah! Will you shut the h*ll up?” I snapped, and she shot me a heavy glare after I said that.

“I…I’m really sorry for causing you all so much trouble.” Scooter told Angelle. “I was aware at the time of what was happening…all of the horrible destruction I had caused. Believe me, I wish I could’ve stopped myself, but I just couldn’t.”

I couldn’t tell past that gas mask of hers, but I knew for a fact that Angelle was smiling at the little fella. It had to be obvious that she was from the way she said, “It’s okay, Scoot. To be honest, I’m kinda glad that this all happened.”

“You are?” Scooter said with surprise.

“Sure.” Angelle remarked. “Gave me something better to do than sit on my butt all day.” Both her and Scooter laughed, and so did I. Terah, being the robot that she was, just rolled her eyes and folded her arms with exasperation. I really wished that girl could learn to lighten up once in a while and not take everything so freakin’ seriously.

But our laughter was soon the least thing on her mind, as soon as she spotted something outside the plastic bubble that made her immediately step out to confront it. I looked past the transparent wall of the bubble to see two figures standing outside: one was a 35-year-old African American woman with a police badge (who I’d instantly recognized) and the other was a 25-year-old man of Hispanic descent with a press badge. As soon as Angelle, Scooter, and I noticed them, we stepped outside ourselves, removing our gas masks and joined up with Terah and the two visitors.

“What the h*ll are you doing here, Ivy?” Terah asked the African American woman, who was none other than our cousin, Ivy Thomas, who was a detective for the San Francisco police department.

Ivy was a unique young woman with a body that was as hard as mine and eyes that were just as golden as Fort Knox. Next to our cousin Sean, she was the one Thomas family member to be born with the African gene. She was just as dark as he was and possibly the only one that even resembled him.

Sticking her hands calmly into the pockets of her tight blue jeans, she told Terah, “We just happened to have been in the neighborhood and thought we’d drop by to see what was up.”

“This area contains high levels of radiation.” Terah said sternly. “If you are exposed, it could do something to those special genes of yours that you might just not like.”

With a smile, Ivy replied, “I’ll just take my changes. Something weird went down here a while back, and I intend on getting to the bottom of it, before you and your governmental buddies mess up things.”

“The only ones who’d be messing things up are you and your friend here.” Terah said, before directing her attention to Ivy’s companion, the Latino press agent. “Who’re you?”

The youth with the black Kangol hat, black Aviator sunshades, white t-shirt with a black-colored version of Spider-Man’s symbol, a pair of urban camo cargos, and a pair of black boots extended his hand out to Terah. He seemed just as hardcore as she was as he addressed her. “Name’s J.G., investigative reporter for The San Francisco Sun.”

Terah did not bother shaking his hand, but J.G. kept it there long enough in case she changed her mind. He was an obviously persistent young man, if not the strangest. “The last reporter who asked me to shake his hand got it broken in several different places. Would you like the same thing to happen to you?”

“I’ve been through worst.” J.G. said, sounding just as stern as Terah normally did. This kid seemed like her male counterpart, just from the way he appeared in front of us.

After a while, Terah stuck her own hand out and shook his with a very firm grip. J.G.’s face cringed a little under the intense grip of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He did seem to have one flaw out of his hardcore exterior. Both of these people were more human than they tried to make themselves seem less to be.

“Pleasure meeting you…civilian.” Terah coldly said, after letting go of J.G.’s hand.

As soon as the awkward exchange was through, I said to Ivy, “Look, I know you two are just doing your jobs, but you’ve really got to bounce on out of here.”

“You guys have got gas masks, Katerina.” Ivy told me. “I’m certain that you have plenty to go around.”

“Maybe for one of you, but not both of you.” Angelle contradicted.

J.G. and Ivy exchanged looks, both seeming to have a silent debate on who would be going inside the bubbles first. Just as the two seemed to have come to an agreement, Ivy turned in our direction and was about to say something, until…

BOOM!

One of the bubbles across from the one we were standing near had exploded into a volley of flames, unleashing all of the radiation contained within it. Soon after the explosion, I turned to Scooter and commanded him to return to the Mustang for safe cover. He did just as I had said, not long before handing me his gas mask back. I tossed it to Ivy, while Angelle got one for J.G. to wear.

“Where the %*@ did that come from?” Ivy shouted.

We looked all around to see who or what caused the explosion, and our eyes went to one direction: the edge of the KMUP station’s rooftop. It was where a small but dark figure had been glaring down at us with fiery, bloodshot eyes and flaming hands that only slightly charred parts of its clothes, from its long, gray, and raggedy trenchcoat to its black shirt and dark gray pants.

Due to the fogged up lenses that came from within my gas mask, I was unable to recognize the dark figure. But if it was who I believed it was, then every single person around me (myself included) was in deep trouble.

“Who the h*ll is that?” I heard Ivy ask from beneath her gas mask.

Before anyone could give out a guess, Terah aimed her Sig Pro right at the figure and began unleashing a volley of bullets that were each accompanied by a loud boom. As soon as the bullets were near the figure, it raised its hand up at them and used some sort of mutant power to turn them all to ash.

It was then that I recognized this dark figure on the rooftop of the KMUP station. My deep and rapid breathing drowned out any noises that came from outside my gas mask. All I could hear at that moment was myself uttering the name of the assailant, “Boom…Fraggle?”

TO BE CONTINUED...​

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

I have some nitpicks in characterization here and there...
But this was a GREAT chapter.

Made me smile (don't ask).

 

[ReneeLouvier]

OMG. Boom Fraggle! And *squee* Scooter mentioned me! Yay! I wonder if I'll get a part in the story or something...I still can't wait for more story anyways!

 

[JG4]

Go Sean! Nice story man, can't wait for part three

 

[muppetwriter]

Part Three​

“Who’s Boom Fraggle?” I heard Ivy ask me from close nearby, as my gaze was still focused on the figure standing on the rooftop of the former San Francisco KMUP station. “Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”

“You and your friend just get back in your car and get the h*ll out of here!” I told her. “This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. matter, which means no civilians allowed!”

She didn’t have to remove her gas mask to show me how ticked off she was by my statement. “Now that’s bull, Kat! I’m the police! And my butt is just as much in this as yours is.”

“For once in your life, listen to me, Ivy!” I said with a gruffer tone in my voice. “This is something that you do not want to be a part of! Trust me!”

It didn’t take much to convince her to get out of dodge, as soon as another fireball came hurling right towards us. This one connected with the bubble that we were just inside of, exploring right near us, and sending us flying back nine feet across the air. Ivy and J.G. got to their feet and headed away from the ensuing danger. As soon as they were out of sight, I grabbed Terah and Angelle and brought them over to the nearest and safest hiding place I could find.

We hid inside of a place located next door to the station called “Mr. Callahan’s Diner Place,” which (much like all of the other buildings on the block) was unoccupied. While we were standing inside the empty diner, Boom was still making attempts to kill us, hurling fireballs at the entrance and causing the windows to shatter on impact. The whole building shook as the Fraggle even made attempts to destroy the building itself.

My mind was racing like heck, trying to figure out a way of stopping Boom before he eventually brought the whole place down on us. Not to mention that we also needed to get to Scooter, before Boom made him his alternative target. And Terah was not helping much in the situation, as she angrily said to me, “You’re going to start explaining what in God’s name we’re dealing with here, Kat! What the h*ll is this thing?”

“You wanna get on my nerves after we’ve eluded the fiery Fraggle?” I had sarcastically remarked, before turning to Angelle and asking, “Do you have that special gun that I requested to be made?”

I noticed through the eyes of her mask that was scared, not just because of the sudden danger but also of what she was forced to reveal to me. “I have it made, but it’s in the duffel bag outside.” The one thing they have always told me during training was to maintain composure under the heat of battle. But I was just a hair away from losing it, after Angelle told me that.

“So what now?” Terah asked, with great sarcasm in her voice. “We just stand here and wait to have asbestos in our ears?”

“I do have something that’ll buy us time to get to the bag.” Angelle said, just as she reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a tiny, metallic ball. “This is a special flash grenade that I created. It can only be activated under intense heat.”

Taking the tiny ball out of her hands, I gazed upon with a smile and said, “How deliciously ironic.”

“What’s the plan?” Terah straightforwardly inquired.

“Try not to get our butts burned, while covering Angelle’s.” I said, while walking towards what was left of the diner entrance. “Feel free to go trigger happy all you want out there, Terah.”

I could not hear what Terah told me just as I had busted out through the entrance, but it definitely had the F-word and “you” in it. I’d silently instructed for Terah and Angelle to hold back inside the diner by holding a hand up in their direction, while I waited for the perfect opportunity to attack Boom. He was still hurling fireballs all around me, destroying many things that had already been ravaged from the previous rampage.

The moment that I had been waiting for came, when Boom slowed down long enough to lock on to my position. His eyes fiery, bloodshot eyes glared right at me, while his reddish-orange fists started swinging through the air. Flames circled all around him, illuminating certain areas of his small but deadly figure. For a moment, I saw his face. It looked much like the face of any regular Fraggle; only it was more sadistic and less soothing. His hairs on his head and tail, the same color of his flames, matched his skin tone.

If Satan had a true identity, it would be Boom Fraggle.

After a short moment, Boom finally unleashed his death-blowing fireball at me. Just as it was a couple of feet from him, I tossed the grenade in the air, directly at the fireball. Immediately, I turned my head and shielded my eyes with my arm, while an intensely bright flash filled the atmosphere. The next thing I hear is Boom letting out an inhuman howl, his eyes inevitably affected by the flash that the grenade had given off. As soon as it had vanished, I turned back inside the diner and gestured for Angelle and Terah to run out of there.

While Angelle ran to the duffel bag that still rested unscathed on the sidewalk, Terah opened fire on Boom, who had reeled back on the rooftop and began hurling fireballs blindly through the air. Not a single shot hit the Fraggle, as he had moved out of Terah’s sight while she fired.

Meanwhile, Angelle made it to the bag and reached inside to get the weapon she’d made for me. It took her quite some time, due to the large quantities of equipment that she had inside, but she was able to find it just in time for Boom to regain his sight.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU D**N SILLY CREATURES!” We heard a heavy, ominous voice bellow out from the rooftop. It was like Darth Vader, only not so mechanical.

After hearing Boom’s threat, I focus back on Angelle with a hopeful look on my face. She turned directly to me with a grin, while tossing a glittery, silver-coated Glock pistol my way. It wasn’t like any that you would find at your local gun store. This was one made especially for a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

I couldn’t have caught the gun at a perfect time, as Boom had returned near the ledge of the rooftop, right where I could see him. Aiming my gun right at him, I fired a bullet that was just the same color as the gun. Just like Boom’s fireballs, it came fast and hard enough to confuse him. Even if he tried to burn it into ash like the other bullets, the plating was heavily hardened to keep anything from tearing it apart, making them the deadliest ones ever made.

The bullet that I fired struck the ledge on which Boom had been standing. His eyes widened with shock as he felt the whole thing begin to freeze over. Hard stone transformed into hard ice in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, Boom got out of dodge before the ice could’ve encased his feet and contained him. He jumped from the rooftop of the KMUP station to the one of the diner as fast as he could. One rooftop after another, he jumped his way to a swift escape.

Meanwhile, the ice that had encased the ledge was started to spread over the entire, unstable construct of the building. Because of the intense weight of the ice, the building started to crumble along with the ice and collapse in a huge, shiny pile of rubble. Angelle’s new weapon was powerful…too powerful…but just enough powerful to stop Boom.

“Come on!” I told the girls. “We have to track him down, before he escapes!”

I was about to head over to the car, where Scooter had been patiently waiting for us, until I felt a strong grip over my right shoulder that held me back. Turning around, I realized it was Terah, who had removed her mask to reveal a furious look on her face. “I’m not going anywhere, until you tell me what this is all about and what we’re dealing with.”

“I don’t have time to explain.” I told her.

“Well, you’re gonna have to make time, woman!” She exclaimed, while aiming her gun right at me.

She was seriously overreacting, and I didn’t appreciate it one bit. I glared right at her, with my own gun gripped tensely in my hand. The affect my bullets had on a human being were—needless to say—too graphic to give in detail. My only description to the power they contained that they were intense enough to tear through human flesh like paper.

If it were not for Angelle’s interference, we would surely have had some bloodshed at that point in time. “Ladies! Ladies! Come on! We’re on the same side here!” she exclaimed. “Let’s just go find this thing and stop it, before it does anymore damage to the city.”

It seemed like we weren’t listening to a word she was saying, because our focus had only been on each other. But her words came clear to Terah and myself, as we both shielded our weapons. The last thing Terah said to me before we headed back to the car was: “You can’t hide this from me forever. I’ll find out eventually. And until I do, I’m watching your butt.”

I reacted with a grin and said, “Pray that it won’t be the last thing you’d ever see.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

I had asked Angelle to set her Geiger counter to detect the radiation that Boom’s body was giving off rather than the gamma radiation we had been detecting at the city block. The readings that we had received from the device took us outside the radius of the closed section of the city and into the more civilized areas. As I drove through the busy streets, I tried my best not to look up towards the rooftop and focus on the road at the same time. The last thing we would want to do was cause an accident in the middle of a pursuit.

“Maybe it would’ve been a great idea to include Ivy into this.” I freely admitted. “That way we would’ve had a police siren to clear the roads, long enough for us to get to Boom a lot faster.”

And just as soon after as I said that, we hear a police dispatch through the two-way radio built inside the Mustang. The voice sounded really nervous and panicky, as it had given out the information through tons of static. “Officer down! Officer…Subject is…it’s killin’ us off like ants! Burning…turning us into…somebody get us backup quick! This thing…ash! It’s burning us into…ARGH!”

The dispatch sent a chill down my spine. It was exactly why I had never wanted the police or any other officials outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. to get involved in this. But they had unfortunately gotten themselves involved and were unable to get out of the situation.

“I bet it was Ivy who tipped them in.” Terah assumed. “We should seriously consider executing her once this thing blows over.”

“WHAT?” I remarked with disbelief.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” Angelle said, and Terah gave her a look that confirmed the fact that she wasn’t. “My god! How the h*ll do you sleep at night?”

Suddenly the Geiger counter began beeping rapidly and heavily, signaling that our main target was close nearby. Scooter, who had been keeping an eye on it with Angelle in the backseat, told me that I should turn a right at that moment to lead us directly into Boom’s location. However, there was no place on the street to turn right into other than a nearby alleyway.

“Are you sure?” I asked him.

“Positive.” Scooter said. “It’s exactly what the meter’s telling me.”

For a moment, I looked up towards the rooftops to see if Boom could’ve possibly been there. He might’ve stopped jumping and decided on making a final stand on top of a building with the San Francisco police. If that was the case, we needed to get to him before anyone else got killed.

So I had done as Scooter told me and made a right into the alleyway. As soon as we drove in, I stopped the car a few feet away from a shadowed section of the alley. The Geiger counter was beeping more than ever, almost to the point where it was hard to distinguish any pauses between beeps. Something strong was in that alley, and it was right in front of us.

“I’m turning on the headlights.” I said.

Just as I had done so, the shadowed section was illuminated, and (just as I had figured) something was there. But it was not Boom. It was another Fraggle…one whose story had impressed me after reading it several times in the S.H.I.E.L.D. records.

Her name…Goldie Fraggle…and, apparently, she had recently been with Boom Fraggle.

TO BE CONTINUED...​

 

[The Count]

There's so much here I don't know where to start. Just know you're doing a great job and we eagerly await some more.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

I've noticed how much the word butt fills the story.
****!
xP Sorry. Sorry.

Yay attack of the fraggles! XD

BOOM! POST, POST, POST!