Hi, I’m Matti Mali aka HedonisticActor and I continue Old Shames in text form and chronicle the unfinished part of my old superhero comic series Energycore of Power. In the three previous issues we got the new main character as the former governor of Massachusetts Harvey “Lucky Guy†Stromberg became the team’s leader after his little brother Stanley aka Stormkiller got depowered by aliens. Lucky Guy also did the impossible and managed to neutralize their long time foe Ripper. However Pirate had to leave due to having an affair with the new villain and the current governor of Massachusetts Mutant Queen who has sent her subordinates in Psion to put her plan to give everyone superpowers in motion. So let’s see how well that succeeds in the three last issues meant to be released in 2006.
Issue #26
The issue starts in a Kaldrean spaceship where Mutant Queen’s lackeys Vladimir Lenkonevsk and Luigi Mariotti have managed to smuggle themselves in. Not only that but by holding the alien president at gun point they manage to kidnap Kaffre Arnoff, a criminal who had been living on Earth as Igor Jetsjovsk, and leave by using an escape pod. You see, Mutant Queen’s right hand woman Pistol Gal had witnessed how two aliens removed majority of Stormkiller’s powers and stored the energy inside them. After hearing about this Mutant Queen conducted a plan to kidnap them and release Stormkiller’s energy to the public. By some miracle her four enforcers managed to go on two spaceships without anyone noticing.
Mutant Queen’s plan isn’t fully successful though as capturing the Denerian Dreg Zeffres, formerly known as car manufacturer Hiriko Hundoke, ends in spectacular failure. Sure her lackeys Jon Derdov and Boris Boskoveski managed to capture him as easily as the other team but then they run into the infamous terrorist Osama bin Laden aka Electryfield. Indeed, World Order Coalition saw the whole depowering Stormkiller through a crystal ball and not only one of the most wanted criminals in the world managed to get into a space ship without anyone noticing but he also managed to smuggle in a laptop. He uses that to summon an army of magically enhanced, computer generated Lord of the Rings-orcs armed with swords and axes who attack the gangsters and slash Boris Boskoveski to death thus earning him the title of the most ludicrous way to die during Energycore of Power. By some miracle Jon manages to escape but Dreg Zeffres is taken by bin Laden.
Osama and his associate Wormtounge - who happens to be actor Brad Dourif who thinks he’s the character he played on Lord of the Rings movies – need red lightning to create more lackeys and they have kidnapped actor Hugo Weaving for that purpose. Their intention is turn him into Agent Smith, the character he played in the first Matrix movie but something goes wrong and he turns into the version of Agent Smith he played in its two sequels. Now he has the power to turn everyone into copies of himself which he demonstrates by assimilating Wormtounge. There are countless of actors who have played less world threatening psychopaths, why Hugo Weaving? Oh right, so we could get a two-parter where Agent Smith assimilates the majority of Los Angeles and demands the city to be made his own personal state or he’ll assimilate the rest of the world.
Pretty much every super human team get involved in this conflict. Energycore of Power gets an emergency call from Los Angeles Hero Department, Super Duo of Asia get permission to hunt down Osama bin Laden, Worthy And Stupendous Persons want to catch bin Laden in order to boost their popularity and Psion wants to get Dreg Zeffres back. I’m not sure about Protectors of Humankind’s involvement but it probably wouldn’t have been much. Before leaving to L.A. though Mutant Queen tries to use Kaffre Arnoff to drain the comatose Ripper but Witch manages to prevent this.
Issue #27
Not much to say about this one, it mainly centers on super humans trying to beat the crap out of Agent Smiths. The other important side plot is when Osama bin Laden confronts the four super humans who have the biggest grudge on him: Gravity Girl, Prayer, Ninjawoman and Warmachine aka George W. Bush. It’s though through the hands ofthe President Bush the most wanted terrorist in the world meets his end as he’s shot three times by him thus making him die five years earlier than in real life. Gravity Girl and Ninjawoman are aggravated that Bush took their revenge away from them.
The problem of Agent Smiths is solved by Mutant Queen who uses the two aliens to ambush him and drain his powers which causes all of the assimilated Los Angeles populous return to normal including Wormtounge whose powers are now drained so he’s back being Brad Dourif. World Order Coalition has now ceased to exsist but unfortunately Mutant Queen has now both aliens so she can finally put the final phase of her plan on motion in the last issue of 2006.
Issue #28
Before the events Mutant Queen has made a public announcement that she wants to make a speech in front of Boston’s city hall that – as you correctly guessed – is going to be where the climatic battle against Psion is going to take place. There she would force the aliens at gun point, both hidden in wooden boxes, to channel their stored energy to her which she would channel to the crowd. For the long-planned and intended webcomic reboot I’ve figured out a simpler way for her to try to achieve her goals. She doesn’t manage to do that because Energycore of Power has realized something fishy is going on and arrives with some FBI-agents including our favorite jerk Chris Maple.
The battle between the heroes and Psionists ensue and with the first big confrontation is with a Psion member Vladimir “Cheerer†Putin and an Energycore member Shaman who doesn’t like his ways of dealing with Slavic minorities. Putin tries to use his “making opponents underestimate his fighting skills†power and attack but Shaman has prepared a deadly hex that kills the President of Russia when he touches him. That just happened and you can bet there’s going to be consequences for that. Kind of. Meanwhile Chris Maple shoots Luigi Mariotti to death and just like I spoiled in the video reviews Vladimir Lenkonevsk returns the favor. Both Lenkonevsk and Jon Derdov manage to escape and are not seen for the rest of the series.
Mutant Queen gets wounded and she realizes that the battle is not going well for her team so she retreats inside the city hall. There she intends to use a Denerian escape pod so she, Pirate and Pistol Gal could leave Earth. Stormkiller has however followed them and he and Pirate duke it out. Against anyone’s expectations Pirate manages to use his organic steel hook hand to slash Stormkiller’s stomach open causing him serious internal damage. After some last words Stanley Stromberg, the first team leader of Energycore of Power and the former main character of the series, dies. Pirate is shocked about this as I imagine you to be as well and escapes with the two ladies. I guess this twist was unexpected and Stormkiller has been in the series since its very start so that may have some effect to the readers but at this point he’d probably have little to no redeeming qualities so the majority of the audience would’ve been most likely relieved.
The issue ends to Stormkiller’s funeral that is a true mass media event. Even Chemist visits to show his respects and has a short conversation with Lucky Guy about joining forces to make a better world which he refuses. Honoring his little brother doesn’t end there as Lucky Guy has a statue of him put in the middle of Boston.
Next time we finish the entire series with its five last issues. Be prepared for more mind blowing events with two power hungry super human teams trying to conquer planets, a new deadly opponent and the final battle in the front of White House. Also some children are born.
Comments from Previous Manic Expression Site
T-kun Unusual Wordsmith III: Really liking this, well thought out story this has. Nice work.
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