4vA]^#PG#IN-7#ST-7#SP-7#DR-7#EP-7#FS-1
Post by Uatu the Watcher on Jun 10, 2008 19:54:38 GMT -5
[Jenkins, Paul (w), Steve Lieber (a), and June Chung (c)] “The Accused Part One.” Civil War: Front Line, #1, (Aug.-Dec. 2006), Marvel Publishing: [3-4]
Adapted By: The Punisher
In the heart of wilds of Stockton in upstate New York, a small commotion made its way past the stiff and brittle branches of trees in the surrounding woods. Out far away from any city lights or modern civilization, two rays of flashlights jittered about in the dark—shaking with every footstep made. “What in God’s name is wrong with you Albie…” A voice called out from above the racket of snapping twigs underfoot. Behind the first figure, a state trooper followed huffing his way though the outdoors, appearing more tired than he was out of shape; griping to the civilian in front of him. “Slow down!”
Blue denim overalls and a yellow trucker’s hat were the main identifying features of the local farmer’s attire while he raced ahead the officer with a flashlight in hand. “I’m tellin’ you, Pete… It was right about here. Came through the air like a damn missile or somethin’--it was only about fifteen or twenty feet over the farmhouse, by the sound of it.” Albie called back to the patrolman, Pete, as he kept racing forward through the dark. “I ain’t never heard nothin’ like it!”
“Albie, you’re always hearing something out here. I swear…” The trooper paused as he caught his breath witch he lost somewhere between the trek through the words and the inaudible shouting. “Hehh… If this is another one of your alien spaceship encounters, I’m gonna take you back to the station, sober or clean!” Pete’s eyes took two glances to realize the sudden halt in Albie’s pursuit. The farmer stood in place, his eyes locked on a dreadful and disturbing sight that was still unknown to Pete. The small illumination the flashlight provided revealed the sudden pale features of Albie’s face save for the dark whiskers of his beard. With the flashlight pointed at the tree line behind Pete, the trooper turned around as his reaction became synonymous with Albie’s own. “What on Earth--?”
Above their heads, a burning hole remained where the tops of several healthy trees should have been. The fire was still fresh on their crisp edges as it burned a perfect half circle—the diameter as long as three full grown men.
Albie twisted over and scanned the area for more awkward sightings. “I told you I heard somethin’--”
Pete reached across his shoulder and engaged the hand radio that was pinned to his shirt. “Dispatch… This is ten-adam-charlie: I’m gonna need backup and medical teams to the north wheat field up by Albie Johnson’s farm. We got a possible aircraft down over here. I am proceeding to investigate. Over.” Already on the move, Pete caught Albie proceeding onward in the distance, making his way toward a soft orange glow in the distance that seemed to flicker in the subtle night wind. “Now you just wait back here, Albie. If this is anything, I don’t want you getting yourself hurt.”
“Are you nuts?” Albie stopped short with disapproval and disappointment. “I ain’t lettin’ you discover ‘em by yourself! This is my land!”
“It’s not aliens, you idiot.” The trooper continued to advance ahead while unholstering his sidearm. Before they knew it, the two realized they were following a clear path that had been dragged clean across the open wheat field before him. Tall blades of grass had been burnt away down to the ground while others were trampled flat to the earth. It was a direct path to whatever had crashed out in the middle of nowhere.
Albie reluctantly followed cautiously despite Pete’s warnings. “Oh, yeah? You think a light plane could do this much damage?”
“Maybe.”
“So what’s with the gun?”
“It’s just for safety--”
“Hey! You see that?” Albie stopped dead in his tracks while keeping his flashlight steady on the clearing before him. The path in the ground came to an abrupt end. Small patches of fire danced atop the grass of the crash zone, encircling the radius of what had landed before them. In the center of clearing, laying smoldering still in plain view, was no plane crash, or meteor, or alien ship—but a man. A teenager. Sprawled out on his back in blue and orange tight-fitting spandex, the adolescent seemed as quiet as a corpse. Smoke streamed up from his body as small golden orbs seemed to float and waft about in the air like bubbles. Both Albie and Pete were silent and clueless to exactly what they were looking at. It was at that time, the two began to notice a rumbling humming sound. Too strong to be an engine yet it seemed to emit from the boy’s body.
“What is that thing? What is it?” Albie shouted with his mouth ajar in a shocked yet fearful stupor. “An’ what the heck is that noise?”
The eerie humming continued to increase—as if it was building up. “I don’t know!” Pete replied. “Keep your voice down!”
Suddenly, from the bloodied lips of the seemingly deceased boy in front of them, a small hint of life broke through to the surface. “…Mnhm…”
“Aw, jeez… That’s one of them New Warriors!” Albie screamed in anger as Pete holstered his pistol and began to approach the wounded superhero. “Whatsisname… Speedball!” Albie watched as Pete carefully kneeled down and extended his hand towards the injured individual; the unknown humming continued to grow louder. “Is he okay? Do you know CPR?”
“Of course I know CPR, Dingbat! I’m a police officer!”
“Wait… Petey, wait! Lookit that!” The two seemed to recoil in shock at the newfound evidence before them. “Lord, Pete… He ain’t even touchin’ the ground!”
As Speedball lay unconscious, his body levitated from the earth, just barely skimming the dirt as the kinetic energy orbs about him fluttered scarcely and drastically less frequent with each passing moment. But before the two could investigate any further, the sound of the unknown humming had grown increasingly loud; and violent.
Without warning, the flashlights within both their hands instantly shattered. Their plastic frames exploded into a hundred smaller pieces as the humming grew so loud, Albie could barely hear Pete gasp and comment. “What the--?” And as if the subtle humming beforehand had been a final warning, a high pitched whining scream seemed to pierce their ears. A maddening sound that caused both Albie and Pete to grasp their ears and scream in pain. They yelled and cried at the mercy of the noise but received none—as the surroundings around the three spontaneously combusted in a ball of fire.
The blast washed over the two in a quick wave, incinerating the two straight to the bone as Speedball was knocked backwards unharmed a few meters away; crashing into the ground and floating no more. All that was left were two smoldering skeletons and one seemingly deceased superhero.
Adapted By: The Punisher
In the heart of wilds of Stockton in upstate New York, a small commotion made its way past the stiff and brittle branches of trees in the surrounding woods. Out far away from any city lights or modern civilization, two rays of flashlights jittered about in the dark—shaking with every footstep made. “What in God’s name is wrong with you Albie…” A voice called out from above the racket of snapping twigs underfoot. Behind the first figure, a state trooper followed huffing his way though the outdoors, appearing more tired than he was out of shape; griping to the civilian in front of him. “Slow down!”
Blue denim overalls and a yellow trucker’s hat were the main identifying features of the local farmer’s attire while he raced ahead the officer with a flashlight in hand. “I’m tellin’ you, Pete… It was right about here. Came through the air like a damn missile or somethin’--it was only about fifteen or twenty feet over the farmhouse, by the sound of it.” Albie called back to the patrolman, Pete, as he kept racing forward through the dark. “I ain’t never heard nothin’ like it!”
“Albie, you’re always hearing something out here. I swear…” The trooper paused as he caught his breath witch he lost somewhere between the trek through the words and the inaudible shouting. “Hehh… If this is another one of your alien spaceship encounters, I’m gonna take you back to the station, sober or clean!” Pete’s eyes took two glances to realize the sudden halt in Albie’s pursuit. The farmer stood in place, his eyes locked on a dreadful and disturbing sight that was still unknown to Pete. The small illumination the flashlight provided revealed the sudden pale features of Albie’s face save for the dark whiskers of his beard. With the flashlight pointed at the tree line behind Pete, the trooper turned around as his reaction became synonymous with Albie’s own. “What on Earth--?”
Above their heads, a burning hole remained where the tops of several healthy trees should have been. The fire was still fresh on their crisp edges as it burned a perfect half circle—the diameter as long as three full grown men.
Albie twisted over and scanned the area for more awkward sightings. “I told you I heard somethin’--”
Pete reached across his shoulder and engaged the hand radio that was pinned to his shirt. “Dispatch… This is ten-adam-charlie: I’m gonna need backup and medical teams to the north wheat field up by Albie Johnson’s farm. We got a possible aircraft down over here. I am proceeding to investigate. Over.” Already on the move, Pete caught Albie proceeding onward in the distance, making his way toward a soft orange glow in the distance that seemed to flicker in the subtle night wind. “Now you just wait back here, Albie. If this is anything, I don’t want you getting yourself hurt.”
“Are you nuts?” Albie stopped short with disapproval and disappointment. “I ain’t lettin’ you discover ‘em by yourself! This is my land!”
“It’s not aliens, you idiot.” The trooper continued to advance ahead while unholstering his sidearm. Before they knew it, the two realized they were following a clear path that had been dragged clean across the open wheat field before him. Tall blades of grass had been burnt away down to the ground while others were trampled flat to the earth. It was a direct path to whatever had crashed out in the middle of nowhere.
Albie reluctantly followed cautiously despite Pete’s warnings. “Oh, yeah? You think a light plane could do this much damage?”
“Maybe.”
“So what’s with the gun?”
“It’s just for safety--”
“Hey! You see that?” Albie stopped dead in his tracks while keeping his flashlight steady on the clearing before him. The path in the ground came to an abrupt end. Small patches of fire danced atop the grass of the crash zone, encircling the radius of what had landed before them. In the center of clearing, laying smoldering still in plain view, was no plane crash, or meteor, or alien ship—but a man. A teenager. Sprawled out on his back in blue and orange tight-fitting spandex, the adolescent seemed as quiet as a corpse. Smoke streamed up from his body as small golden orbs seemed to float and waft about in the air like bubbles. Both Albie and Pete were silent and clueless to exactly what they were looking at. It was at that time, the two began to notice a rumbling humming sound. Too strong to be an engine yet it seemed to emit from the boy’s body.
“What is that thing? What is it?” Albie shouted with his mouth ajar in a shocked yet fearful stupor. “An’ what the heck is that noise?”
The eerie humming continued to increase—as if it was building up. “I don’t know!” Pete replied. “Keep your voice down!”
Suddenly, from the bloodied lips of the seemingly deceased boy in front of them, a small hint of life broke through to the surface. “…Mnhm…”
“Aw, jeez… That’s one of them New Warriors!” Albie screamed in anger as Pete holstered his pistol and began to approach the wounded superhero. “Whatsisname… Speedball!” Albie watched as Pete carefully kneeled down and extended his hand towards the injured individual; the unknown humming continued to grow louder. “Is he okay? Do you know CPR?”
“Of course I know CPR, Dingbat! I’m a police officer!”
“Wait… Petey, wait! Lookit that!” The two seemed to recoil in shock at the newfound evidence before them. “Lord, Pete… He ain’t even touchin’ the ground!”
As Speedball lay unconscious, his body levitated from the earth, just barely skimming the dirt as the kinetic energy orbs about him fluttered scarcely and drastically less frequent with each passing moment. But before the two could investigate any further, the sound of the unknown humming had grown increasingly loud; and violent.
Without warning, the flashlights within both their hands instantly shattered. Their plastic frames exploded into a hundred smaller pieces as the humming grew so loud, Albie could barely hear Pete gasp and comment. “What the--?” And as if the subtle humming beforehand had been a final warning, a high pitched whining scream seemed to pierce their ears. A maddening sound that caused both Albie and Pete to grasp their ears and scream in pain. They yelled and cried at the mercy of the noise but received none—as the surroundings around the three spontaneously combusted in a ball of fire.
The blast washed over the two in a quick wave, incinerating the two straight to the bone as Speedball was knocked backwards unharmed a few meters away; crashing into the ground and floating no more. All that was left were two smoldering skeletons and one seemingly deceased superhero.