Photon and Spark – Special #1 – Origins of a Team

Max Jackson didn’t much like bullies. Bullies made things complicated. Bullies that were harassing him and Terry made things doubly complicated. It wasn’t as if the pair didn’t have enough problems. It wasn’t as if they weren’t both already trying to deal with high school, parents, life, and concealing superpowers. That last part was the worst. Especially right now, with Daniel Tompkins grinning at him like the cat who’d got the cream. At least Terry wasn’t here, so there wasn’t that risk. Terry had a hard enough time masking his preternatural speed when he was on the track, hiding it in a fight would be almost impossible. 

“Well, Jackson?”

He could hear the laughter in Daniel’s voice and Max clenched his fists, wanting so badly to just activate his powers and make it obvious who exactly Daniel was messing with. Then he heard another voice, a new voice.

“Hey, Tompkins, why don’t you go bother someone who actually bothered you?”

Max looked up in time to see a girl walking towards them, and not just any girl. That was Jessica Morrow. That was Crusader’s daughter. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring at Daniel Tompkins in a way that said she was going to take no nonsense from him. He glared back for a moment and then stormed off with one last passing shot.

“Guess you have to get saved by a girl, Jackson.”

Max sighed and stood.

“Thanks for bailing me out, Morrow.”

Jessica returned his smile and held her hand out to him.

“No problem. And it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Max raised an eyebrow at that and Jessica leaned in to whisper for his ears only.

“I’ve got access to Sanctum records, Jackal. And I’ve wanted to meet you and your partner for a while.”

Jackal and Turbo #1 : A New Kind of Justice

Turbo zipped through the back streets, laughing as the wind rushed past him. He was a blur of color to the people on the streets, but a shadow high above on the rooftops tracked his position. Jackal always knew where his partner was, always kept one eye on him to make sure he was alright. After all, they’d been together a lot longer than they’d been doing this hero thing, long before they’d made the change from friends to boyfriends. Jackal adjusted his jet black armor and lowered the visor of his helm. It was the best way to hide the glow from his eyes as the night grew darker. It was almost time to call their patrol for the evening. There were other heroes out there who stalked the night more effectively than a pair of inner-city teens who had to go to high school in the morning. And anyway, they had a nice stay-at-home date planned for tonight. Jackal began making his way down one of the fire escapes, pulling a phone out of his pocket.

“Hey, babe, ready to bounce?”

Turbo touched a button on the headset he wore under his light helmet and grinned when he heard Jackal’s voice.

“Ready. Just need a minute to get back to base. Meet you there?”

He was already turning, changing course with ease. Honestly, he’d probably be there before Jackal had a chance to respond. That was the upside to his powers. There were downsides of course. Heightened metabolism was a bitch and a half for a teenage boy. When you already want to eat everything in sight and then you need to eat even more everything? Yeah, it gets hard to explain and harder to manage.

“Yeah, sure. Mind if I borrow your jacket for the walk home?”

Turbo laughed, skidding to a halt in front of the abandoned warehouse they used as a homebase.

“Do I want my super hot boyfriend wearing my letterman? Does the moon orbit the Earth?”

Jackal was laughing as he came walking up a few minutes later. Turbo, now in his normal jeans and a t-shirt and known as Terry Walker, was leaning against the wall inside waiting for him. Jackal changed quickly, stowing his armor back in his duffle bag to take home and turned. With a grin, Max Jackson pulled Terry’s letterman jacket on and reached for Terry’s hand.

“Let’s go, babe. I’m so ready for movie night.”

---

They were on the train home when they heard the crash outside and exchanged a look. There was someone hovering over the tracks ahead of them. Terry sighed and unzipped his backpack.

“Looks like we’re going to have to postpone movies, handsome.”

Max looked out the window and nodded, reaching for his duffle bag.

“Yeah, this looks like the real deal. Give me a second to suit up and I’ll be right behind you.”

Sanctum Annual #5 – The Fall of Crusader

“Hey Photon, catch!”

Crusader grinned brightly behind the faceplate of her helmet and chucked the mugger upwards with all her considerable strength. Photon grabbed the petty criminal around the waist and laughed.

“Got ‘im, hun. I’ll go drop this one off at the precinct. Meet you in a flash.”

Crusader rolled her eyes as her husband and crime-fighting partner raced off across the sky in a blur of light. Then she glanced at the time in her HUD. It was almost time to go get Jessica from school and go through a few rounds of training. Spark was almost ready to take to the streets as a new hero and Crusader wanted to be absolutely sure her daughter would be ready. This life could be tough, as the many scars crisscrossing her body could attest. Well, either way, she had some time to finish their patrol and check in with the Sanctum.

---

Patrol done, Crusader dropped her armor off at the Sanctum and had a quick chat with Maria at the desk.

“Yeah, it was a quiet enough day. Photon should be in soon. I’m headed out.”

“See you tomorrow!”

Then she was Angelica Morrow once more and headed off to go pick up her daughter, Jessica, from school. Her subcompact was in the employee lot for the Sanctum, where her papers said she worked in a medical capacity. Which was, of course, technically true. She just also happened to be a hero. Pulling out of the lot, she waved farewell to the young man in the security booth. He waved her through with a smile.

“Have a nice evening, Doctor Morrow.”

---

She was a block away from the school headed through a four-way intersection. Her hands were both on the wheel, her phone away. That didn’t do a thing to stop the truck that came careening through the intersection and slammed into her car, knocking it into a telephone pole.

---

They had to say it on the news. Even though she had died out of uniform, even though it was Malcolm Morrow and his daughter, Jessica, who stood at the funeral. They had to say that Doctor Angelica Morrow was Crusader. They had to say what this had truly been. Because the city had lost one of its heroes that day and they deserved to know. She deserved to be remembered. And if anyone noticed that Malcolm and Jessica disappeared just before Photon and Spark arrived to pay their respects, well, no one said a word.

Photon and Spark – Issue #2

Spark didn’t like bleeding. It wasn’t something she had a lot of practice in, after all. So having a trickle of blood coming from her nose after a punch left her more than just a touch cross. Jackal growled low in his throat and launched himself off a building at Photon, aiming to grab him. Photon moved out of the way but Turbo was there with a blinding series of punches. It did nothing. They could barely land a hit on him. He was the greatest superhero the world had ever known, a paragon of good and right and justice. How were a group of teenagers supposed to beat him? Spark wiped the blood off her face and threw a shield around Turbo before her dad could do anything to hurt her friend.

“Dad!” She hovered in the air, cape flapping behind her in the breeze. “Is this what Mom would want?”

Photon rounded on Spark, abandoning his pursuit of the smaller speedster.

“She wouldn’t want you fighting me, pumpkin. You know that as well as I do.”

“Would she want you doing this?”

She gestured around at the city. The three teens had been trying to contain the damage, keep the civilians clear of Photon’s rage. It had only worked so well. A fire was ripping through the city now, started by one of Photon’s attacks, and there was nothing Spark could do about it. The time it would take to fight the fire was time taken away from stopping her father from causing more of the same in the pursuit of his mad goals.

“I get it, Dad. I really do. I miss Mom. I miss her like crazy. But you can’t just…what? Kill people until you get killed or get her back? That’s not how it works.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done, what I have to do. But I will get your mother back home with us, Jessica. Even if I have to go through you to do it.”

Spark froze in midair. He’d used her real name. In costume. Her real name out where anyone could hear it. And who wouldn’t be watching the throwdown of the century? Photon and Spark, everyone knew they were father and daughter, and here they were brawling at high noon over the city. Then a fist connected with her chest and Spark flew backwards, slamming into a building. She smashed through the window, glass spraying everywhere. And this time, she didn’t get up. In all her years of combat training, in all her experience with villains and heroes alike, nothing had ever hit her like that. Laying there, Spark was pretty sure that she had broken something. What, she didn’t know. She’d never broken any bones before. The sensation was wholly new and she didn’t like it one bit. Then a new thought slammed into her mind fully formed. What Photon had said. She couldn’t think of him as Dad right now. Not until this was over. But he’d said something. What he’d done. He’d made a deal with someone, that had to be it. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Spark tried to focus on the list of names. Who could have the power to raise the dead? Or at least be powerful enough to convince Photon that they could. Then one name rose to the surface. The sorcerer who called himself Faust. Slowly, Jessica called Spark got to her feet and winced, one hand holding her side where the pain was focused. She would have to find Faust. And hope Photon didn’t kill her friends while she searched. As she flew out and zipped off, she coughed and stared in horror at the blood on her hand. It looked like she would have to worry about a few more things than that. Like not dying before she stopped Photon.

Photon and Spark – Issue #1

Spark hovered over the city, uncertainty showing behind her mask. This was one of those turning points where you have to make a decision. Are you the hero or are you the villain? When the chips are down and your father is holding out his hand to you saying he has the power, with you at his side, to fix everything. He can bring your mother back, he can put the city to rights. Photon’s cape fluttered in the breeze and Spark took a deep breath. He could probably do it too. She knew his powers inside and out, they were the same as hers after all. For a long moment, Spark looked at her hands.

“Dad…”

“Just think about it, Princess. We could have your mom back. We could have everything back.”

His hand was still outstretched, hoping she would take it. She could see it in his eyes behind his crimson mask. Then she flew back a bit.

“You hurt people, Dad. Innocent people. You told me heroes never do things like that.”

Photon’s hand dropped to his side and he sighed.

“Spark, how can you call them innocent? They took your mother.”

Electricity flared around Spark for a moment.

“They didn’t, Dad. It was an accident. A stupid accident. And you’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

Photon raised his hand again, flying towards her. But Spark pulled back again.

“Are you turning on me?”

“What?” Spark’s voice cracked on the single word, confusion evident on her face. “Dad, you’re… you’re not acting like you.”

“I don’t want to fight you, Spark.”

There was lightning whipping around Photon now and light building up around both of his hands.

“Fight? What?” Spark threw a translucent shield up just in time as Photon swung his electrically charged fist at her. “Dad! What are you doing?”

He bounced off her shield, spinning for a moment in the air before he righted himself.

“The right thing.”

He growled the words before throwing himself at her again. Spark dropped out of the air as quickly as she could, positioning her shield over her head. She couldn’t take Photon in a straight fight. He outweighed her, outclassed her in experience. But she had one advantage he didn’t have. She was fast and she had friends he didn’t know about. And today, he was going to learn what she had really been doing on Saturday nights when she said she was out partying. Spark spiraled in the air, using it to control her speed as she dove between buildings at breakneck speed. She had to make it to the south side. She had to find…. There!

Slamming into the ground, Spark barely caught herself to prevent a crater and ran.

“Jackal! Turbo! I need backup and I need it now!”

The two young heroes exchanged a look and then looked at Spark.

“What’s up?”

She looked into the sky nervously.

“My dad. He’s…gone rogue. I can’t get ahold of anyone at the Sanctum. I tried that earlier. It’s just us.”

Jackal’s eyebrows shot up, his glowing red eyes wide.

“Well, shit, Spark. We gotta fight Photon?”

Turbo shoved Jackal teasingly.

“Yeah, hot stuff, and we gotta win. You ready?”

Jackal took a breath and adjusted his armor before stopping to check Turbo’s equipment. Turbo was a speedster, sleek and muscular in his lightly armored spandex. When he was certain that everything was settled right, Jackal leaned in to kiss Turbo gently.

“Don’t let him hit you, Turbo, or you’re gonna be a skidmark.”

“Yeah, I know. Duck, dodge, weave, right?”

The three teens exchanged a shaky smile and looked up into the sky as a shadow fell over them. Photon was here.

Desolation

The world was dead. It was silent and cold and empty. A tomb emblazoned with light blocked only by crumbling stones that cast stark shadows upon the landscape. That was how it was when the explorers found it. 3 sets of tracks led from their vessel with surety and experience in their gait. They had seen hundreds of worlds, faced innumerable dangers, but they had been able to surmount it all. This though, this was something else. This was raw desolation and a world with nothing. There were signs that there had been more, once, but now there was nothing. They hadn’t seen a single drop of water or spot of color beyond brown, gray, and rust. Sometimes, they came across a stone that was a bit too square and perhaps worked by the hand of someone or something, or a stretch of worn ground that might have once housed a river, or even an expanse ground littered with white salt that spoke volumes of an ancient sea. There were only memories, impressions, signs that there had once been more. But there was nothing to tell how the tale began or ended, or even how it was woven in the middle. The explorers made a mark on their long. Resources Negligible, Unable to Support Colonization. They left their footprints in the dirt, adding an epilogue none would read to the forgotten tale of a dead world.

Eyes in the Night

The valley was over the next rise. That was what she kept telling herself. All she had to do was keep her family moving for a few more miles and they would be somewhere where they could stop for the night. It would never be somewhere they could stay forever, the past had seen to that. There were no such places left in the world. Not with the seeking eyes.
The children were slowing down. They always slowed down when the sky began to darken, when it was the most dangerous to stop. She picked up the youngest child and held her close as they moved into the trees. Cover was good. Cover made them harder to spot from above.
They had been promised water and food, and the promises held true for once. A river stretched out across the bottom of the valley and fruit hung from the trees. The children ran forward now, eager to taste the sweet fruit. She looked to her exhausted mate and he smiled wanly. They would have to make a shelter as quickly as they could. Stone was the best, but wood would work if it had to.
“No fires. Remember the rules.”
She said it from habit. Even the youngest knew the rules of the night by now. Never venture out of cover. Never stand on a height. No fire, no light of any kind. The older children gathered as much fruit as they could and dragged it to the shelter. They would feast in the dark but they would do it together in safety.
As the night wore on, she stayed awake. Not that she wasn’t tired, she simply couldn’t sleep. What if it hadn’t been enough? What if something had betrayed their presence? Then, like every other night that she could remember, she heard the humming overhead as the seeking eyes passed them by. Only then was she sure they were safe. Only then could she sleep.

Our Secret

The cabinet meeting room was utterly silent as the members all stared at their President. He leaned back in the chair comfortably, looking for all the world like a man asleep. Other than one rather large detail: his face was open in the middle a very small furry creature sat at a set of controls. It looked out at the room with wide, surprised eyes and a hand hovering near a button it very much hadn’t meant to push. Then the laughter began. The Vice President was doubled over the table laughing so hard that it sounded like hissing. He raised his head at last and reached to remove the device that disguised his nature. For a moment, his skin flickered and then he revealed the pearly scales below. Double-lidded eyes blinking slowly, he looked around the room.
“Alright, tell the truth. Is anyone here human?”
One by one, disguises were removed until not a single human remained in the room. Skins lay discarded over chairs and devices sat powered off on tables. The furry creature commonly known as the President was the first to speak, looking at his three-foot tall, gray Secretary of the Interior.
“Roswell?”
The gray alien groaned expressively.
“That was us. Our craft malfunctioned when exposed to the atmosphere of this planet. It took years to figure out why.”
The reptilian Vice President looked down the table at the seven-foot tall, hairy, ape-like Secretary of Defense.
“Bigfoot is a hoax, huh?” he asked in an accusatory tone.
The Secretary of Defense puffed out his fur, appearing to double in size.
“We consider that term to be quite insulting.”
“Alright, here’s the big one.” crackled a creature made of pure energy who served as Secretary of the Treasury. “Kennedy?”
Head down, the Vice President slowly raised one scaly, clawed hand.
“That’s our bad. The humans did really get to the moon though.”
For a moment, there was quiet, then the Secretary of State tilted their head to the side, bat-like ears quivering.
“What now?
It was the exceptionally tall, blonde Secretary of Education that spoke, her metallic armor rustling oddly as she stood. Her eyes were an ethereal glowing blue as she surveyed her fellow cabinet members.
“We carry on. None of our missions are compromised, I trust, and the All-Father would be most vexed if I returned home now. This will simply be our little secret.”
There was a chorus of agreement before another gray alien, the Secretary of Energy, spoke up.
“What about the Attorney General? He’s not here.”
The creature riding in the head of the President scoffed.
“Him? He’s human.”
The Vice President smiled though.
“Don’t worry, though, we’re scheduled to replace him with a clone later today.”

Siege

That was the problem with living out in the hills. When something happened, there wasn’t anyone near enough to help. So when the sky lit up like the Fourth of July in the middle of September, the Mayweather family did the only thing they could do: they prepared. Pa had a shotgun he kept in his closet for days like this and he sat on the porch with it across his lap, waiting to see what might happen. Jimmy sat perched in his window with his 12-gauge leveled on the drive up to the house. Sue Ellen had her little compound hunting bow in her hands as she watched the back yard. Mama only kept an eye to the sky, but she did holster on Pa’s pistol when she went to take down the laundry.
The lights stopped around dusk and they heard something rustling in the bushes at the tree line. Pa watched it and Jimmy took aim. It was a furry little creature about 3 feet tall and darkly purple. It walked towards the house with hands upraised and no expression any of them could read. Jimmy’s hands were shaking and the old dog that usually slept at Pa’s feet let out a howl. A crack echoed through the farm as Jimmy pulled the trigger. The creature flipped in the air, landing on its back. Then it stood again and continued to walk forward. More of them began to appear out of the bushes, each walking like that with their hands up. The Mayweathers hunkered down, pulling the windows and doors closed and hoped the creatures would soon be gone. The creatures leaned against the glass and screens, staring in with their wide yellow eyes and their little hands still in the air. They didn’t make a sound and didn’t move an inch, just stayed there like that for hours. Finally, as the first fingers of dawn appeared on the horizon, they turned and walked away back into the brush.

Trade

He couldn’t have been more than nineteen and yet he was the one sitting behind the desk in the big office at the end of the hall. Opposite him cowered a much older man, hands trembling with nervousness. They both stood there in silence for a moment, while the young man looked over the latest trade deal his man had negotiated for him. Then he took another drag on the cigarette in his hand before snuffing it out on the papers in front of him. The much older man opposite him grabbed for the papers, frantically trying to blow out the small embers where it had nearly caught fire.
“I thought I made myself clear before. I have no interest in the currency of this backwater planet. The deal is to be negotiated for resource rights and nothing else.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll-I’ll fix it right away.”
The young man nodded curtly closed his eyes, considering his next move. With the resource rights of the entire planet in his hands, he could do what his father had failed to do on Homeworld, he would keep them all safe. He could protect this place, this world. He heard the door slam and checked the news holo. Ah yes, the protests had picked up once more. That didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He didn’t expect them to understand what he was doing for them. Not until long after he was gone, anyway.