by Tony
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Cast Of Characters:
Goliath
Martin Noble - a mutant with the ability to increase his size to 25 feet tall.
Icicle
Jack Frost - normal man granted powers through a lab accident. Has the ability to project extreme blasts of ice and snow from his hands
The Black Cat
Hal Keller - a normal man. Extremely agile and strong
The Golden Falcon
Greg Jordan - a mutant with the ability to fly made possible by large wings on his back.
Stinger
Alex Noble - a mutant and younger brother of Martin a.k.a. Goliath. He has the ability to shrink to the size of a bee and can project a sting from his body while in his shrunken form. He also sprouts small insect-like wings while small.
The Scarlet Samurai
Toshiro Kufumi· - normal man with excellent martial arts skills.
Part 1 :
The Earth had survived another day of good verses evil and our favorite heroes returned home from a long battle against Cobra and the Serpent Men. They were all tired and since this was only the 5th time they'd actually fought as a group, they were pretty proud of their record. 5-0 was pretty good for a new team and they were overjoyed that they'd won yet again. Martin Noble (a.k.a. Goliath) was the leader of the team and he was glad that the team had performed well. He'd felt a little strange since the battle, but chalked it up to fatigue and let it go. All he really wanted was a shower and some sleep. He was sure he'd feel better then.
Greg Jordan (a.k.a. The Golden Falcoln) was his closest friend and someone that Martin secretly had a crush on. Greg was cute and very fit. The wings on his back made him look like an angel and Martin had wanted Greg for as long as he could remember. They'd met when they were kids and by the time puberty had set in (and their powers began to show) they'd already become very close. They founded the team together and were the best of friends. Greg had never made his sexual preference known, but Martin was pretty sure Greg wasn't gay.
The other members of the team were relatively new, but had merged well with the group. Toshiro had been their first recruit. An expert at the martial arts, he quickly became an asset to the team. Hal Keller and Jack Frost joined later. Hal was a gymnast but refused to go to the Olympics after it was revealed that he was gay and the committee raised a big stink about it. Martin took him in and the rest of the team made him feel welcome. Jack was injured in a cryogenics lab and gained his powers by accident. He loves the action his membership on the team provides and he's married to a wonderful woman named Claire. Cute but straight ... oh well! His younger brother Alex (a.k.a. Stinger) was desperate to prove himself as a valuable member to the team and had actually been pretty good in the fight. He was the last member to join. His powers manifested at puberty as well. And, by the time he was fully trained, the team had pretty much been formed. Together, THE CHALLENGERS were a great team and a group to be taken seriously.
Part 2:
Martin showered and was getting ready to take a nap. He'd felt odd since they'd all returned and even a bit weak. Had the battle against the Serpent Men taken that much out of him? Had the weird spray that Cobra hit him with have some kind of poison in it? What was going on? Suddenly he was overtaken by the urge to hurt someone ... even kill if he had to.
He grew to his full 25 feet and stormed into the gym where Hal, Toshiro and Alex were working out together. He grabbed Alex and threw him as far and as hard as he could. Alex shrunk to bee-size and flew out of harms way with no problem. He quickly placed his huge foot down on Toshiro's back, pinning him to the floor. He wanted to stomp him until he was dead. What had come over him? He couldn't help himself. Toshiro was strong but couldn't move under the weight of Martin's gigantic foot. Hal tried grabbing Martin's leg--to force him off of Toshiro, but he couldn't budge him. Alex buzzed up behind Martin and stung him on the arm. At Martin's full height, he barely felt the jolt. He swatted Alex aside and Alex fluttered to the floor.
Martin took his foot off of Toshiro and kicked Hal away. He strode over to where Alex lay in two giant steps. He had intended to crush the life from his own brother but a blast of ice struck him in the back. He turned and saw Jack and Greg. They had come rushing in after hearing the commotion and were prepared to take their leader down. Jack had hit him with a load of ice, but as big as Martin was, it had stung pretty badly but that was about all. Martin turned to face his team mates and was ready to kill them all.
Part 3:
Toshiro helped Alex up. They joined Jack and Greg and they all stood together facing their leader and friend. Martin sneered at them with a crazed look in his eyes. They all attacked in unison. Greg and Alex took to the air and Jack, Toshiro and Hal rushed him from the ground. Martin's knee struck Jack in the face and Jack went down hard. Martin then reached down and grabbed Hal. He was about to squeeze the life from him when his fingers were pulled apart. Greg had flown up under Martin's arm and pried his fingers loose. Hal slipped from Martin's grasp to the floor.
Toshiro stooped to see if Hal was okay and to pull him out of harm's way. Alex stung Martin repeatedly on the neck and face. The rapid stings brought some pain to Martin's face this time. Martin clapped his hands together over Alex's bee-sized body and Alex fell to the floor again. Martin stomped down heavily on Jack's back. He stepped on him as he crossed the floor and kicked Toshiro away from Hal. He stepped on Hal too as he made his way to Toshiro.
"I'll stomp all of ya! I'll kill you all!" Martin yelled.
He stepped on Jack again as he headed for the Weapons room. He was just about to trample Alex when Greg swooped down and hit Martin hard on the back of the head and he stumbled. He fell to one knee and was about to rise again when Greg hit him once more, very hard this time. He stumbled slightly and finally fell. Greg quickly checked on Jack who was slowly getting up. He had some busted ribs but would be okay. Toshiro quickly jumped on Martin's back. He held Martin's massive arms behind him as he stood on Martin's back trying his best to keep the giant man down.
Greg quickly grabbed Martin's legs and tried to hold them together. Hal got up slowly but was okay. He also jumped up onto Martin's back to help hold down the shear mountain of man by shear weight alone. Alex grew back to normal size and ran over to the fallen body of his brother. He also stood on Martin's back to help keep him down. Martin was finally pinned and could do nothing. He struggled but the team held him down securely. Martin slowly lost consciousness and passed out.
Part 4:
While Martin was out cold, the team secured him with chains so that he couldn't move. They took a sample of his blood to the lab for testing and left him tied up. Once he awakened, he had no recollection of what had happened. The gas that Cobra had used on him earlier was indeed the culprit. It was a mixture of brain-control drugs and a powerful hallucinogen that made him want to kill his friends and team mates. After he was released from his restraints and the toxin was completely gone from his system, he addressed the team.
"I feel like I should resign from the team. Not only did I break Jack's ribs and bruise and bloody just about every one of you--including my best friend and my own brother, but also I could've easily killed all of you. I think I'm too dangerous to remain with the team so I'll be leaving effective immediately." Martin said with a heavy heart.
"It wasn't your fault Martin," Greg spoke up. "Besides, we all voted and we all came up with the same answer. You should stay. You're our leader and a damn good one. You could no more control yourself than any of us could. The team got up to shake his hand and leave. Only Greg stayed behind.
"We all talked about something else too, and I feel like I need to talk to you about it." Greg whispered. "Don't you find it odd that you attacked everyone except me? I mean, you attacked Alex even. Isn't that strange to you?" Greg asked.
"Maybe I just couldn't catch you or you were just to quick to get away? I don't really remember. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing, Greg."
"I think on a sub-conscience level, you didn't want to hurt me. I think even though the toxin made you want to kill everyone, it still let you maintain a little control over your deepest emotions and some of your more primal thoughts. I also think that you're in love with me, and your heart wouldn't let you try to hurt me.
"That's crazy Greg!" Martin snapped. "I mean, to say that I love you, that's just-"
"It's true and you know it." Greg broke in, "And you know what? I love you too. I have for years. I was afraid to tell you, because I just knew you weren't gay and I was afraid of what you'd think of me. I was afraid that if I said something, I might ruin the friendship we've had for so long. We talked about all of this as a group while you were waking up. They're all fine with it. Even Jack and Alex." Greg smiled.
Martin just looked at him. He must be dreaming? Could this be happening?
"We've been granted a leave of absence ... and not because you nearly destroyed the team. Rather because we've got a lot to talk about and a lot of soul searching to do with each other. People in love need some time off together, don't you think?"
"I'm speechless. I don't know what to say? I mean, I can't believe you never told me any of this. You never told me either. So we're even." Greg said. "What a pair huh?" Martin quipped.
"Yeah, I can fly to the top of a mountain and you can practically lift one ... and we were afraid to tell each other how we really felt."
"Yep, it's kind of funny and kinda sad too. I love you though."
"Me too." They walked hand in hand out off the meeting room.
"Say Martin," Greg chuckled, "I've sorta got a foot fetish and even though we were all pretty much fighting for our lives in there, the whole scene was still pretty hot. You stepping on people right and left and trying to kill all of us ... I almost hoped you would catch me. I can't think of a better way to go than being crushed by those giant feet of yours."
"You like those huh?"
"Oh yeah. How big are they when you're at full height anyway?" Greg snickered.
"About 40 inches long or so? I'm not sure. That big enough for you?"
"My God, the fun we're gonna have! Your feet are so hot." Martin smirked.
"Yeah, but you know my feet aren't the only thing that grows along with the rest of me."
Greg just looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, don't worry I know!"
Greg smiled lovingly at Martin and said, "Just try not to impale me on that thing, you hear!"
They laughed and kissed one another passionately. It seems our heroes were definitely made for each other.
