Rosie O'Grady's: Church Street Station

Posted on Mon Apr 11th, 2022 @ 9:09pm by Watch Leader Frederick Hollywood

Mission: HYDRA: Another Head Rises
Location: Orlando Florida
Timeline: Present

At Rosie O’Grady’s in Orlando Florida, Lorde received a warning. He knew that meant at any second the girl of steel would touch down and most likely in a way that would make a scene. He decided to take a chance that his current captor wouldn’t kill him for trying to save him. He leapt using his Zanjin Eye and pushed Marshall Buckman back down behind the front seat of his car.

The two men heard a loud boom followed by a woosh. As they looked over the seats of Buckman's trashed car they could see Byte Mi holding up the front of the tank with one arm.

“Are you okay Sir?” She smiled at the two men in the car with one hand on her hip striking a super pose for what was left of the crowd.

In her silver and gold costume she always looked very glamorous to Lorde. One day he would have to ask her how she changed in mid-flight like that. Much less how she did her make up on the move. “Oh we are fine. I was wondering if you could send our new friend here into orbit. Preferably not above Florida or even the United States for that matter.”

Mi giggled like a school girl for a moment. A bit embarrassed as it wasn’t in character for her. “Yes Sir!”

Before she could take the tank off the ground the general’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “I am not to be trifled with young lady and you are a wanted criminal as well.” The outside of the tank crackled with electricity that knocked the super girl back.

“Ouch!” Byte Mi cried out. “That really hurt!” She hadn’t felt something quite that painful in a while. In fact it made her wonder if that trick had been built into this tank just for people like her. Instinctively she grabbed her hand that had been holding up the tank. Unlike the other members of The Watch she couldn’t just be regrown in a test tube.

Another shot boomed from the cannon being held by Buckman. This time making a sizable dent in the front of the super tank and again sending it backwards. “You have no right to attack people on United States Soil. If you continue I will use lethal force!”

Lorde really wanted to know just how powerful this old man's hand gun could get. He hoped to get the chance to ask that later. If he didn’t act someone could be killed and it would look bad if someone under his watch was killed. Besides he really liked Buckman, and would likely go on a rampage if this do-gooder hurt Mi badly. He stood up and pointed at the big black tank. “So you have come here to kill me, General? If you don’t leave now, when I am done with you I will yank your dead body through the barrel of that tank.”

Mi could see the happy expression on Lorde’s face fade and there was nothing, just a strange blank look forming. Once he had told her that it was an early version of his martial training and not to worry. Thing was every time she had seen that look on his face someone got killed or worse. So being between him and the tank made her worry.

The Brigadier began to weigh his options. He had hoped to catch Lorde alone. Now not only had one of his teammates shown up, he was being protected by a fellow hero. The tank had functioned quite well and the general could see no reason to risk it much further in a battle he was likely to lose.

Lorde would wait no longer for the Brigadier’s decision. He decided to give him some extra incentive. “Well in case you have any doubts left in your mind let me give you a preview of what awaits you and your kind.” The madman raised his hand with two fingers pointed up.

Suddenly red eyes peered at the massive battle tank from almost every shadow along the street. Something about them made almost everyone who could see them feel cold. They began to whisper in low tones.

Frederick smiled in an off putting way. “Time is running out Sir. If you don’t leave now, you will become one of the undead.” Although immune to the fear of the wraiths he did have in the back of his mind that likely many of these people where murder victims. He remembered a long time ago when this spell had gone terribly wrong for him and his friends. Getting out of hand like a zombie apocalypse.

Without saying goodbye The Brigadier began to drive away quickly. He had not been apprised that Lorde had this sort of ability. As he could see through the specters he could only guess that they might be able to walk through the tank to reach him. He quickly made it to top speed as he left the area. Next time he wouldn’t come alone.

Buckman looked at Frederick wondering if those monsters were coming for him next. “Are those things real Mister Hollywood?”

Frederick stroked his chin as he answered the lawman. “Oh I assure you. Those echoes of past lives are real. For a limited time anyway.” Then he snapped his fingers and the creatures of shadow and death disappeared. He took a deep breath. For a moment he had thought about letting that general just head for the hills and deal with him at another time, but there were rules. Rules he had kept for longer than the marshal had been alive. He spoke into his wrist. “Code Alpha Omega Raven Seven Three...Eliminate targets with as little collateral damage as possible.”

A deep dark artificial sounding voice answered Lorde. “Yes Sir! Heading to the target location.”

Buckman’s eyes opened wide. “Did you...”

Frederick looked at him and quickly answered, “Shaka Zulu’s rule.”

Before Buckman could inquire further the dark voice spoke again. “Target eliminated returning to base.”

“Good job Valkyrie One!” Frederick turned off the channel. “Look Buckman, I assure you that man was no more a General in the Army than I am just a sales rep for Sato Industries.” Then the madman shrugged. “So do you want a lift to my office or should we wait for a taxi or something?”

------

When Frederick Hollywood had mentioned the Blonde flying them back to Middletown Buckman was a bit apprehensive. Now looking down at Florida from this height he was glad he had agreed. He also thought to himself how many guys his age could claim to have spent time next to a lady like this. When they landed on the balcony outside of Lorde's office they could see almost the whole town.

“So Buckman you are a mutant?” Frederick was genuinely curious. He hadn’t checked his detector just yet.

“Well young man you don’t think all the mutants in this world are teenagers in spandex do you?” The old man grinned slightly.

Frederick tried not to laugh at that. He had no doubt there were others like Buckman out there. “So ready for that video evidence?” The doors opened to his penthouse office. He walked over to his desk and fired up the computer and the big monitor on the wall. “So as you can see here I am with Mary and Oscar. We are walking out of the premier. Here we are getting into my Delta 88. Now if you watch for just a few moments longer you will see a flash and my car disappear leaving two flaming trails behind it.” Then Lorde changed the video to inside the main garage of the Watch Tower. “So here is us returning from our trip.”

Buckman’s eyebrow raised. He wondered if those flame trails were an effect based on a popular movie. He pointed at the time stamp on the second video. “That doesn’t match the year.”

“No, the premier was two years ago as you know, but if you look at Oscar and Mary, neither of them have aged. I can have them brought in for you to question if you want.” In cases like this Frederick always tried to be as genuine as possible.

“Are you really asking me if I want to question a kitten as a witness?” The old man couldn’t help but wonder how that would go or how he would put it into the report.

“A mutant currently trapped in human form, yes. Mary currently acts as his interpreter. She can hear the minds of those that try to communicate with her.” The time traveler hoped he was doing a good job laying this out for Buckman.

Buckman shook his head. “There is still one problem. I mean if you can time travel what would stop you from just going back and killing those people.”

Lorde took a deep breath. “Well I have so far been following what laws of time travel I know about. One of which talks about not interfering with one's own timeline. So I mostly try to avoid times and places I have already been. I am not saying it is impossible but it would be quite risky as it could create a paradox or worse yet a closed loop.”

Buckman stopped and wrote that part down. Luckily for Frederick he had watched quite a bit of sci fi and had heard about that concept. He needed to have it verified to be certain. Also he wanted to check if any of the victims had injuries that might be telling. “As it sits right now I see no reason to detain you for this. I can’t speak for other law enforcement officers in the future.”

“I will also do what I can to see who killed those people. Just because I didn’t do it, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t a target in some way. I will forward whatever I turn up to you.” Then with a big grin Frederick made the man an offer. “Ya know if you ever retire we would always welcome someone like you here.”