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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:13:37 GMT
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:19:15 GMT
Master of the Glow PrologueSee 100,000 years ago: The End of the Galactic Patrol
In the mid-1920s, somewhere near the star Capella, about 25 light years from Earth, the sensitive receiving instrumentation of Iredok’s probe noted the first faint modulated radio signals created by humans. Analyzers began running, and noted the increasing complexity of the signals coming from Earth. When the first TV transmissions were received, the computers made a decision, and started moving slowly toward Earth. Although World War II was noted, it was also noted that the civilization of the Allies which won the war more closely resembled the computer’s model of civilization than that of the Axis. The final decision was made, and the probe made planetfall in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The automated search for the next recipient of the Globe and Glove was begun. It took several years and a LOT of likely choices were overlooked or discarded.We will never know exactly what parameters led to the selection of James Chisholm. But we can definitely follow his story into the future!SettingThe Appalachian Trail, somewhere in South Carolina: 1987Power Beyond ImaginationEventually, the probe lifted from the Pacific and floated east, slipping through United States airspace, undetected by civilian or military radar, then grounded again in the Appalachian Mountains. A glowing white thread grew from probe and began to stretch and writhe. The thread was a pale, off-white color, much as the color one might see if a white pearl were brightly illuminated from the inside. The stretching thread soon formed into a giant hand, which flew away.
Moments later, it returned, carrying a black human male clothed in hiking gear and wearing a backpack. The AI in Iredok’s Glove projected words into the hiker’s mind.
“James Chisholm! The power of the Glow has selected you! When you wear this Glove, you will command mighty powers! If you can will it, the power of the Glow can make it happen. The Glow has searched your mind and shows that you will always use this power wisely and for the purposes of good!”
Days later, when Jim would think back on this instant, these words would seem corny, almost like something out of a comic-book. But the AI had been quiescent for 100,000 years - the wonder is that it was still able to communicate coherently!
Before Jim could even react, a white Glove flew from the probe and slipped onto his hand. Jim was immediately covered in a skintight black and gray bodysuit. He was stunned and amazed at all of this. He wished that he knew that was going on, and suddenly the AI dumped data into his mind. Now he was even more stunned as he suddenly saw the entire history of the Galactic Patrol in what seemed like no more than a second! He couldn't stand the intensity of the information pummeling his mind and instinctively cried out: “Stop!” and he learned his first lesson about wearing the Glove -'To think is to act!“ as a burst of white energy flared from the Glove on his hand and vaporized the probe.
The pounding of information into his mind stopped, but terabytes had already poured in. Initially he was so dazed by the brilliant explosion of memories in his mind that he could hardly think, but after some time, his mind seemed to come to some acceptance of these new memories, and he found that with intense concentration, he could sift through thems and sort of make sense of some of them. Maybe…
Wanting to understand what had happened to him, Jim took a long time to examine Iredok Jur Diah’s story. Iredok had been a member of the long-vanished Galactic Patrol, or had he? Jim was confused; this Iredok Jur Diah had been a member of the Patrol, but also had, in the end, destroyed the Patrol. But these memories were ancient - were they even real? Something had happened to him; these new memories had come from somewhere! He tentatively decided to treat them as real - and then, he decided to for the time, at least, concentrate on his new powers.
Teasing from his new memories the theory of how the Glove and Globe worked, Jim found that the wearer of a charged Glove could fly, create and shape force-fields for offense and defense, and use the Glow to read minds and automatically translate between the language of the wearer and anyone of any species that he might be talking to. The Glove and Globe were created with technology sufficiently advanced that its manifestations appeared to be magical, but there was actually nothing magical about them.
Included with the theory was a warning that it took some time for a new Glove-wearer and the non-sentient artificial intelligence in the Glove to adapt to each other, and that unfortunate commands given the Glove during the learning period could be dangerous. Iredok had trained long and hard with the Glove before he was actually able to use it safely. Jim, on the other hand, had little choice — he was already wearing the powerful artifact, so until he removed it, he had to guard his every thought.
Jim was an architect, sculptor, and artist, as well as an accomplished athlete. As he paged through his new memories of the history of the Galactic Patrol and the Glow, Jim started to realize that he had just been handed a very powerful weapon. Although he had just started mourning the loss of the valiant Glactic Patrol, and the noble Iredok Jur Diah, a man he had never known, Jim began to get very excited about his own possibilities. The Glove and Globe could exceed even his wildest imaginations.
Realizing that the best way for him to learn to control the power of the Glove was through cautious experimentation, Jim Chisholm began to make use of his new power. Jim felt that perhaps Dr. Lambda might be his best role model, and rather than using the power directly, he would shape it into familiar forms to accomplish his goals. This would give him important, immediate visual feedback regarding the tasks he was trying to accomplish. His artistic nature would give him the imagination he needed to create useful energy constructs, his sculptor’s touch would allow him to readily create and shape these constructs, and his architect’s discipline would help him make sure he considered all of the details of whatever he wanted to do.
Next: To Think is to Act |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:26:14 GMT
Master of the Glow To Think is to Act‘It’s ironic!’ he thought. ‘Who would have guessed that my profession and my avocations would help make me so suitable to control my new power?’ Jim would remember that thought ironically in only a short time. ‘My first task will be to build a suitable monument for Iredok Jur Diah, the hero of the Galactic Patrol, who kept the power of the Glow from the Order of Odium!’ He thought cautiously for a few seconds, but he hadn’t yet learned to guard his thoughts.
‘I’ll begin by scooping out a shallow cave in the mountainside, just above where the probe landed, and then I will use the stone from the excavation to build a vault shaped like a Grecian temple.’
When wearing the Glove, to think was to act. Instantly, a giant, glowing white ice cream scoop formed in the air and began to gouge the mountainside. Unfortunately for Jim, he couldn’t yet control his new power. The scoop was much too powerful, and as it tore a huge chunk out of the mountainside, the entire mountain started to collapse. Jim grabbed the Globe. ‘I need to get out of here, fast!’ he thought, almost in panic. When wearing the Glove, to think is to act. Suddenly, Jim was flying through the air at an incredible speed. He was moving so fast, he started to burn from wind friction. He could be dead in only seconds. 'NO! Stop!'
At that thought, Jim slammed to an immediate stop, and he started falling toward the ground. When he looked down, he realized that he was already at least a mile in the air. The Glove was getting him into worse and worse trouble each time he tried to use it!
At least he had a few seconds to act. A part of his mind started calculating just how long it would be before he hit ('s equals one half a t squared, so t equals square root of two s over a where a equals…')
He had trouble believing just how idiotic it would be to spend the last seconds of his life uselessly calculating some meaningless number. While the idiotic part of his mind started reciting calculations by rote, he shook his head and tried to focus his attention on saving himself.
‘I need a parachute!’ A glowing white parachute suddenly formed above him. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to construct the harness, and he continued to fall. ‘$#!*! I have to think fast, or I’ll never get a chance to use this neat new toy!’
Jim couldn’t remember all the details of a parachute harness, so he tried something else. “A hot air balloon, with a gondola hanging underneath it, and me in the gondola!” Jim crashed to the floor of the gondola, dropping the Globe. Looking around, he noticed that the balloon wasn’t falling; at least he was safe for a few minutes.
“Better think the next move out very carefully, Jim! Ironic, isn’t it, how smug you were only seconds ago!”
Jim then noticed that he was very cold and getting colder, and that the balloon had started to fall. It was nothing dangerous yet, but he really did have a deadline.
Thinking very cautiously, Jim attempted to form a small construct that looked like a hand, which would respond to his thoughts. A hand, the size of a newborn baby’s hand, formed in the air. Jim concentrated carefully on enlarging the hand, causing it to grow slowly. Within seconds, it reached the size of his own hand, and he commanded it to stop growing. It did. He then created another, exactly the same size as the original. The hands then very gently lifted the Globe.
Very cautiously, Jim commanded his Glove to stop his fall while still retaining the hold on the Globe. Once again it worked. He stopped falling and was now hovering in the air. Jim quickly realized that, within seconds, he would become entangled in the ropes holding the gondola as the balloon continued to fall, so he very carefully banished the balloon, while maintaining the hover and continuing to hold the Globe. Finally, Jim had the Glove move him, very slowly, down and back toward the now buried probe. He continued to get colder, but the air around him was starting to warm up. Rather than disturb the concentration that was maintaining his other energy constructs, he decided to put up with the cold until he landed.
At his carefully controlled flying speed, it took him about twenty minutes to return to the probe site. He was especially careful to land softly. The probe was entirely buried under the rockslide he had caused earlier. Jim couldn’t believe how lucky he had been so far, and he decided not to take any more chances with his new, barely controlled power. He would leave the probe buried, and return to recover it later, after he’d had the chance for a lot more practice! He quickly removed the Glove and stowed it in his backpack, along with the Globe. He wouldn't put the Glove back on until he'd had a lot more time to think this over!
Finally, Jim walked back to the hiking trail he had been following when his life had so abruptly changed, and he made his way back to his car. No more super-powers for him until he was more completely trained.
Next: Learning to Think Wisely |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:29:13 GMT
Master of the Glow Learning to Think WiselyThe next day, Jim Chisholm flew via commercial jet to New York City and made his way to the public headquarters building of the Alliance of Mystery Heroes. He was let into the waiting room, and eventually, a black man in a US Army uniform came out to see him.
“Good day, sir!” said the officer. “My name is Captain Reed. I’m the official Civilian Liaison for the Alliance of Mystery Heroes. Who are you, and what can the AMH do for you?”
“My name is James Chisholm. I wonder if I might speak with Dr. Lambda? He’s not expecting me, but I think he’ll be interested in what I have to say.”
“Your name sounds familiar,” growled Reed. “I can’t quite place you, however.”
“I was on the U.S. Men’s Volleyball team in the ’84 Olympics. We took the gold!” replied Jim proudly.
“I knew it!” said Reed. “I almost made the Olympic boxing team as the heavyweight in 1976 myself. I’ll put in a call to Dr. Lambda that you’re here, though he’s not in New York right now. You know, it’s a nice change to have a visitor who isn’t a mystery villain!”
A few minutes later, Jim was telling Dr. Lambda the entire story via videophone. “So you see,” he finished, “I really need some help figuring out how control the power of the Glow!”
“You’ve come to the right place,” responded Dr. Lambda. “I’ll fly up this evening and we can get started tomorrow.
Next: Graduation
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:30:44 GMT
Master of the Glow GraduationA few days later, Dr. Lambda summarized what they had discovered during their training. “The Glove and Globe are not dissimilar in power and usage to my Stellar Scepter, although the AI in the Glove is much more advanced than any current Eorth-based technology. You have definitely improved your control over your power — you and the computer in the Glove have seemingly adapted to each other. You have figured out how to think about things without ordering the Glove to act, and the Glove has learned how to distinguish your commands from your normal thinking processes. You need more practice, but you’re not in danger due to random thoughts any longer.”
“Thanks, Ned!” said Jim. The two men had quickly realized the futility of trying to keep their identities secret from someone whose power let him read minds. “I hope that, someday, I can be a hero of the same stature as the Dr. Lambda!”
“Say, Jim, if you wanna be a mystery hero, you’ll need to know how to handle your fists!” Of course, this came from Reed, who had already trained several other young mystery heroes. Reed was very surprised at Jim’s answer.
“Thanks, Jeff, but I don’t believe in fighting unless I have no other choices. I understand that force will be required to resolve some situations, but I have always been able to avoid fisticuffs so far in my life. You know, I have a black belt in Aikido, which is, among other things, a non-aggressive method of self-defense.”
“I think you’re making a big mistake, Jim! Mystery villains don’t understand nothin’ but violence!”
“I don’t disagree, Captain. I guarantee I’m not helpless in a situation that requires violence. Since we’re still in training, let me show you. Why don’t you attack me as if you were a violent criminal?”
Jeff Reed’s eyes lit up. There was nothing he liked more than a good fight. He immediately swung a roundhouse right hand at Jim’s jaw, planning to make this lesson quick. But Jim swayed slightly to the side, and Reed completely missed. Jim reached his hand behind Reed’s elbow and pushed in the direction of the blow, and the captain stumbled off-balance past the rookie mystery man. Jim tripped him as he went by, and as soon as Reed hit the ground, Jim used energy constructs of the Glove to tie him up.
“Aw, #^@%! I hate it when that happens!” yelled Reed. “Get this crud off of me!”
“I trust I’ve proved my point?” Jim asked quietly.
“You might be sorry, someday, if you’re in a tight spot without the power of your Glove!” Captain Reed wasn’t really mad, but he knew he wasn’t wrong, either.
“I’m aware of the possibility, Jeff, and I will take precautions. But I have to live my life according to my own beliefs.”
Next: Vicious Attack |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:31:42 GMT
Master of the Glow Vicious AttackJim Chisholm had a costume, and he had a power. But he hadn’t thought of an appropriate heroic name yet. While he didn’t let this wreck his day, his thoughts did wander from work occasionally. ‘How about Power Glove? No, that just sounds stupid! Who would name himself after his weapon, anyway? Well, there was that 50s mystery villain Cosmic Ring - but he hasn’t been seen in over 30 years! What about Super Jim? No, again — that’s already taken by that basketball player for the Newark Nets. Some volleyball term would be kind of neat. Six-Pack? Pancake? C’mon, Jim, be serious!’
Luckily for Jim, he was self-employed as the work-from-home president, chief architect, and only employee of his own architecture firm in central California; he probably would have fired any employee who paid so little attention to his job. ‘I never liked made up names based on phony military ranks like Captain Cosmic or a phoney profession like Doctor Disaster… Who would have thought that the hardest part about becoming a mystery hero would be picking a name?’ Within seconds, Jim would remember that thought ruefully.
Without warning, the walls of Jim’s house collapsed as two giant glowing hands slammed into opposite walls. One hand was green, while the other was red. Jim could see little else, and suddenly the roof was collapsing on him as well.
Jim’s reflexes, while not superhuman, had been honed from years of playing world-class volleyball, and more recently from a week of training with various members of the Alliance of Mystery Heroes. And he had been daydreaming about using his new power, so his reaction was about as fast as it is possible for a normal human. He took some slight damage from flying debris, but before he received any major injuries, he was able to form a force-shield around his body. Luckily, Dr. Lambda had drilled him particularly hard on this one.
As he watched his home being demolished, Jim grew very angry very quickly. The energy constructs that were destroying his home looked a lot like the work of Balefire and Kool Red, two energy using mystery villains he’d learned about during his Alliance of Mystery Hero training. ‘This had better not be a damn practical joke or more training!’ Jim had built the house himself, and some of the contents were irreplaceable, like his Olympic medal and some of his trophies — not to mention all of his business records. Suddenly, his anger burst out of him, and the remains of the house literally exploded as Jim flew straight up through the falling debris, rocketing into the sky as if propelled by the force of the titanic explosion.
Jim wasn’t surprised to recognize the two mystery villains attacking him - Balefire, a lean, brown-haired white man, dressed in green and black, with a white symbol on his chest that sort of looked like an green candle flame, and Kool Red, a tall, thin, brown faced man wearing glowing red goggles, dressed in what looked like a black and red jester’s outfit. The man in green was wielding a glowing green band wrapped around his left hand that Jim knew directed his power, while Kool Red’s power came from his visor. As far as he knew, they had never worked together before, and while he quickly deduced that the Globe and Glove must be the reason they were attacking, he had no idea how they could possibly know he had recently obtained these powerful tools.
Jim was glad he lived well out in the country, where no neighbors could be harmed by this violence. Before his foes could react again, Jim grabbed each of them in giant, glowing white fists, and dragged both of them at high speed into space, where their battle would harm no one.
Each of his foes was totally wrapped in one of Jim’s energy constructs. Jim wasn’t squeezing them hard enough to injure, but he damn well didn’t plan to let them go. He seemed to have got the drop on both of them, but did he have the power to hold them?
It seemed not. Each mystery villain exerted his will, put up a glowing force-bubble around himself, and then willed that bubble to grow. Jim concentrated harder and harder as he felt his grips weakening. He might have been able to hold one enemy securely, but the combined will and power of both other men were too much for him. Almost simultaneously, both glowing white hands burst into shreds, and his enemies were free.
Jim wasn’t all that worried just because he was facing two foes. As a master of Aikido, he knew how to handle two opponents at once, using his advantage of coordination to overcome their advantage in power. Unless the two had trained together until they were instinctively familiar with each other’s combat actions, when one acted, there would always be at least a small delay before the other reacted. What Jim was unsure about was if he could make use of this advantage when his opponents each had energy control powers similar to his own.
Kool Red quickly formed a gigantic red hammer and swung it toward Jim’s head. At the same time, Balefire formed a heavy machine gun and shot a string of green bullets toward Jim. These independent actions quickly told Jim that his opponents were not trained to fight as a team. Jim decided to make use of Red’s own power, and allowed the hammer blow to strike his force-shield, driving him earthward again. Jim saw that he was now over the Atlantic Ocean, and he used his power to accelerate his dive. Just before he splashed down into the ocean, he saw both opponents diving after him.
As soon as he hit the water, Jim used his power to make himself invisible. He then moved slowly away from his splashdown point, remaining underwater. Neither opponent seemed interested in entering the water himself, although Jim could see energy constructs that looked like sonar, giant nets, and even a giant green shark searching for him. Having temporarily evaded his foes, Jim realized that he needed to know more about them.
Next: Research Respite |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:32:41 GMT
Master of the Glow Research RespiteDuring his training with the AMH, Jim had ordered his Glove AI to download a lot of information from the AMH computers. Included in this information were files on many mystery villains. Jim started his Glove’s artificial intelligence on a background search to see what it could find about these two.
Apparently, the AMH data was well-organized. Almost instantly, Jim was informed Balefire had initially been affiliated with a mystery villain team called ‘Horde of Horror’ that had been thought vanquished in the early 60s, and the red costumed man, Kool Red, claimed to be a mutineer from an alien space navy. Both had energy weapons that were at reputed to be similar in power to the Glove. The power sources, weaknesses and limits of these weapons were unknown, though it was theorized that Balefire’s band absorbed energy released by the death of living things near him, and Kool Red’s visor might absorb and store cosmic rays.
‘Well, they don’t know what my weaknesses are, either!’ Jim thought. ‘I hope they don’t find out before I do! This is going to be tough enough as it is, with two against one. I need to keep them off-guard and continually do the unexpected.’
As Jim reviewed the AMH files on Balefire and Kool Red, he came up with a bunch of questions. Three questions, each more mysterious than the other. ‘How did these two learn about me? Why are they working together? And why are they attacking me?’
‘Balefire seems to be nothing more than a super-powered thug who uses his power band to terrorize innocents, mostly non-powered people. He was always the least effective member of the Horder of Horror, and was never interested in real teamwork, and never will be. All he is interested in is instant gratification, and he has always used his power band to satisfy his desires.’
‘Kool Red claims to have been a mutineer, abandoned on Earth as punishment. There is no way these two would ever work together willingly, and in fact, when they are fighting together, these two will be less dangerous than either one alone.’
‘On the other hand, Kool Red’s years of experience against military opponents makes him by far the more dangerous opponent. I’ll concentrate on him first.’
‘But why attack me? I’ve never used my new power in public. As far as I know, the only other people that know about me are the AMH. But they MUST be after the Globe and Glove. Ordinary Jim Chisholm sure doesn’t have any super-powered enemies!’
Jim realized that he wouldn’t have much more time to think about these mysteries. He’d have to worry about it after the fight was over, because his attention was going to be needed to subdue Balefire and Kool Red. Since they hadn’t found him yet below the water, he decided that a little advance planning and preparation might help him out in that area, too.
He gave his Glove a couple of commands and smiled grimly. From what he knew of his opponents, he was confident that he would be able to defeat them, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few surprises in place. The energy constructs he had just created were as nearly undetectable as it was possible to make them, and he planned to provide some major distractions of his own very shortly.
Next: A Rough Partnership |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:33:28 GMT
Master of the Glow A Rough PartnershipAnyone near enough to Balefire and Kool Red to hear them talking would have been amazed that they had not started attacking each other instead of Jim.
“That was a smooth move, ex-lax! Slamming him with that hammer sure helped him get away!” sneered Balefire. “Are you sure you’re not on his side?”
“You intellectual cretin!” shouted Kool Red. “If you had cooperated as I suggested, I would have crushed him on an anvil created by your power band. Instead, you feebly attacked with some kind of primitive projectile weapon? Where are your brains — in your hand?”
Both men added in their thoughts, ‘If I didn’t need your help to crush Chisholm, I would crush you! And when we are done, I will crush you and take your weapon. Adding your power to mine will make me invincible!’ Neither man wondered why he was so sure he needed the other. Both usually operated alone. Further, neither man wondered why they had to destroy Jim Chisholm. These were just things they knew and would never question.
“Your mother was a Martian!” shouted Balefire, who wasn’t very good at exchanging insults with opponents. Very few of his opponents had lived long enough to insult him more than once. Why exchange insults with someone when it was so much easier to kill him? Those few beings he couldn’t easily kill, Balefire didn’t dare insult, or they might kill him.
During this exchange of insults, both men had been using their energy constructs to probe the ocean below. Balefire had created a giant green shark that circled the area, searching for Chisholm. He had also created a reverse-periscope that extended from his eye down into the water. So far he’d had no results. Kool Red had created a giant red energy net deep below the surface and ordered his visor to pull it up, trapping everything inside its radius. When the net didn’t contain Chisholm, he dissolved it, and tons of sea life fell back into the ocean.
“If you would stop your stupid yipping and let me concentrate, I might be able to find our target!” whined Kool Red. He created what looked like a sonar screen, and shortly afterward released a pleased shout. “There he is! My radar/sonar device has found him. Intellect will triumph, again and again.”
“Intellect this!” Balefire yelled, quickly flying off to attack Jim Chisholm.
Next: Battle in the Sky |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:34:35 GMT
Master of the Glow Battle in the SkyFlying off at top speed, Balefire spotted Jim’s body floating on the ocean. He shot a big missile with a very powerful warhead toward Jim. Kool Red shouted a warning to Balefire that it might be a trap, and in fact, just before the missile hit, Jim created a large, U-shaped pipe that turned the missile around and aimed it back at Balefire. Jim used his power to speed it up, and it flew back toward Balefire about twice as fast as he launched it. Balefire was just barely able to create a shield; the missile hit the shield, detonated with what seemed to be a small nuclear explosion, and Balefire was thrown wildly through the air, vanishing over the horizon.
‘I’m better off without that bungling incompetent!’ thought Kool Red as he streaked to the attack. Almost before Jim could think, he was being attacked by a monstrously large flying dragon, which was breathing glowing red fire. Just in time, Jim put up a shield. The dragon closed in and started attacking Jim with its front claws as well as the fire. Jim quickly retreated, and as he did, he formed a waterspout. The waterspout poured water into the dragon’s mouth, quenching the fire, and the whirling winds battered at Kool Red.
While Kool Red was momentarily disoriented, Jim quickly froze the dragon into an enormous block of ice. Kool Red wasted a few seconds trying to burst the dragon out of the ice, but quickly gave it up as a waste of time and power. Instead, he created a cloud of thousands of softball-sized red spheres that seemed to be attracted to Jim’s body. As they streamed toward him, the first one to hit his shield exploded violently. Jim quickly surrounded himself with a thick layer of self-renewing ablative material that vaporized when each of the red spheres exploded. Instantly, Jim was surrounded by thousands of explosions that didn’t hurt him, but did distract his concentration. Still, he wasn’t trying to do anything subtle.
Jim created a gigantic floating magnifying glass that focused the sun’s rays from several square miles directly on Kool Red. In turn, Kool Red quickly created a floating mirror above his head, and the burning ray was reflected into space. This heat ray gave Kool Red an inspiration, and he created an energy duplicate of the most potent energy weapon he had ever seen while in the alien space navy - a blaster so big it took two hands just to hold it, and with a barrel the size of a keg of beer.
An energy blast poured out of the oversized barrel. Jim reacted instantly, creating a ten-foot-by-ten-foot square flat shield. When the beam hit the shield, it was spattered every which way, creating a flaming red wall between Jim and Kool Red. Almost immediately, the edges of the shield broke away, and Jim quickly re-formed it as a six-foot-diameter half-sphere, so the energy beam struck the shield and then streamed around it.
Even with the smaller, denser shield, Jim was being battered backward through the air. He was clearly starting to look worried, until his face twisted in added concentration, and his backward motion stopped, and he started creeping forward. Kool Red sneered at this and directed a little more visor energy into the blaster, and once again, Jim was battered backward. Cracks started to appear in his shield, and he started to look desperate.
Jim drew himself together for one final effort. The cracks in the shield healed, and once again Jim began to move forward against the force of Kool Red’s energy beam. Kool Red didn’t have much additional energy to add to the beam, but he noticed that as he got closer, Jim was slowing down again, and once again the shield started to crack.
Deciding to gamble, Kool Red dropped his own shield and put every erg of energy he had left into one final blast. Jim’s shield was instantly shattered, and his body was completely vaporized.
Next: Relaxing in Front of the TV Set |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:35:41 GMT
Master of the Glow Relaxing in Front of the TV SetEarlier, when the missile had exploded against Balefire’s shield, it appeared to both Jim Chisholm and Kool Red that Balefire’s shield was destroyed and that his body was flung, helpless, over the horizon. However, the green mystery villain wasn’t in anywhere near the trouble that Jim and Kool Red had thought.
‘That red creepo thinks he’s so damn smart, but I got him fooled! Years ago, I commanded my power band so that none of my own energy constructs could ever hurt me! Wonder if creepo has ever thought of a precaution like that?’
As he flew over the horizon, Balefire used his power to stop his flight. He created a floating easy chair and a big-screen TV, a bowl of popcorn, extra butter, a bottle of tequila, and a shot glass. “Let’s just see how mister smart-guy Kool Red does without my help!” Balefire settled into the easy chair, and the TV showed him a close-up of the aerial battle between Kool Red and Jim Chisholm. “When the fight is over, I’ll just bump off whichever one wins, collect Kool Red’s visor and Chisholm’s Glove, and use them myself. Betcha I’ll be able to take Major Power easy, with all that power! And after that, that witch Vanquish is mine!” Balefire was having a good old time, watching a heavyweight fight and gloating about the future.
As Balefire watched, after a lot of back and forth, it finally appeared that Kool Red was winning. But Chisholm had given him a real beating, and Balefire was sure he would be able to best Kool Red easily. Suddenly, he became aware that he was panting, and he ached all over, while his vision was blurring. “What the hell is going on?”
Unfortunately for Jim, Balefire was quite familiar with using his power band to improve the comfort of his body. There was nothing better than a little energy healing for even the worst hangover, so why suffer with bruises and sprains from beating up on people when just wishing on the band made them go away instantly? Heck, his power even helped his sexual performance. Balefire quickly demanded of his band, “What’s wrong with me?”
The band flashed briefly, and the answer came into Balefire’s mind. “The oxygen content in your blood is very low, and the carbon dioxide content is very high. You will probably pass out due to asphyxiation in the next five minutes.”
“Well, damn it, fix me, and then find out why it happened!” Immediately, Balefire felt better as the band raised the oxygen content of his blood and removed the excess carbon dioxide. A green glow outlined an invisible mask over the bottom half of Balefire’s face. “What the hell is that?” The villain directed the question to his band, and then the command, “Whatever it is, get rid of it!” The mask vanished.
The band’s answer appeared in Balefire’s mind. “‘That’ was an energy construct, invisible and almost intangible, which altered the air you were breathing. It didn’t totally cut off your oxygen, but cut it down to about half as much as you are used to. And it increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air you breathed. It was cleverly constructed in the hope that you would not notice it until it was too late. The energy used in this construct is the same as the energy Jim Chisholm is controlling.”
‘It’s great having a magic band,’ Balefire thought with smug satisfaction. Suddenly, he was struck with a horrible thought — if Chisholm had done this to him, might he have done the same thing to Kool Red?
Balefire immediately rocketed through the air toward the battlefield, using his band to project his voice ahead of him. “Kool Red! Use your visor to check your body for invisible energy constructs! Get away from Chisholm immediately — leave him to me and make sure you haven’t been booby-trapped!”
He rocketed into the fight zone seconds after his message. He was confronted by Jim Chisholm, who had trapped the now-unconscious Kool Red in a glowing white spherical prison.
“Too bad, but you’re a little bit late, Balefire!” said Jim Chisholm as the mystery villain came into view. “Kool Red never did figure out that I put a barrier around his visor that prevented it from absorbing cosmic ray energy. I got him so angry, he used up all the energy in his visor, and without his visor power, he wasn’t much. Come to think of it, he wasn’t much even when he was fully powered. I hope you are tougher than he was; I haven’t had much of a workout today!”
What Jim didn’t say was how surprised he had been to catch Kool Red with such an elementary trap. When Kool Red’s destruction beam had flared from Jim’s shield, and Kool Red’s vision had been momentarily blocked, Jim had used his power to make himself invisible again, then created an illusionary Jim Chisholm behind the failing shield. Kool Red had wasted his power blasting at the illusion, and when his visor had run out of power, it had been trivial to capture him. It was hard to believe that the legendary Kool Red, who had at one time been a decorated space navy veteran, had fallen for the invisibility gimmick even once, but he had fallen for it twice at the hands of a newcomer. It didn’t make much logical sense, and indeed Jim sensed more to the mystery. He reminded his subconscious to keep working on the problem as he prepared to take out Balefire.
Next: Green and White - Fight, Fight, Fight |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:36:48 GMT
Master of the Glow Green and White - Fight, Fight, Fight“Good thing for me my band don’t work the same way the creep’s visor did! You’ve go no chance of me running out of power before I cream you!” Balefire began his attack.
Balefire, never having been known for subtlety, immediately created two giant fists and started hammering away at Jim. In turn, Jim created two arms of his own and used them to block or deflect Balefire’s blows. No matter how hard he tried, the villain couldn’t lay a mystical green hand on Jim. He was starting to sweat, and it was obvious that Jim was hardly making any effort at all.
Suddenly, the green hands transformed into a glowing sphere around twenty feet across, with Jim in the center. Balefire increased the thickness of the sphere to several inches, then started to contract it. Inside the sphere, Jim created what looked like a child’s jack, but each leg was five feet long, and instead of being blunt and round, each leg was shaped like a giant sword blade. The green sphere contracted until it reached the tips of the swords, and then, as it became smaller, the swords began to cut into the skin of the sphere. A little smaller, and the swords ripped through the sphere. Jim then constructed two hands that reached into one of the tears and completely ripped apart the sphere.
Balefire was becoming angry and frustrated now. He created a ring of giant floating cannons on the ocean surface, and they started blasting away at Jim. He calmly redirecting the shells so that each shell missed him, and instead hit another one of the cannons. Balefire, perhaps taking a cue from one of Kool Red’s earlier attacks, changed all of the cannons into laser blasters. Jim simply surrounded himself with a mirrored shield with a complex shape, and each laser beam was reflected off the mirrors back into the blaster that fired it.
At this point, Balefire’s fury overcame him. Rather than do battle from a distance, he was going to beat the crap out of Chisholm with his own hands. He should have known better after watching Kool Red battle Chisholm — Kool Red was afraid to get his hands dirty, and that was why he had lost. Even before he gained his magic band, Balefire had been a dirty fighter, and nobody he’d picked a fight with had beaten him.
Balefire surrounded himself with a suit of glowing green armor, with spikes on all the joints, so that he looked a lot like a green Oakland Raiders fan. He then flew directly at Jim Chisholm, who probably wasn’t prepared for a direct attack. Balefire bashed him in the head, sending him tumbling backward through the air, head over heels. Jim had never fought a real aerial hand-to-hand battle before, and he hoped to move the battle to a more familiar venue. He instantly created a floating boxing ring and landed in the middle of it. Balefire landed next to him and started swinging.
Jim surrounded himself with a thin shield. He was more interested in mobility than the protection armor could provide, but he did want to protect himself against the spikes on Balefire’s armor. Balefire swung a roundhouse right toward Jim’s head. Jim swept his arm up, helped Balefire’s punch miss his head, and tripped the villain as he stumbled by. “Did you learn to fight from Captain Reed?” he asked with a grin.
While Balefire was down, Jim stomped on his green helmet, using his power to increase the force of the blow. The villain staggered to his feet and lunged at Jim, attempting to wrap his arms around him. Jim swayed to one side, and Balefire fell past him. As he passed, Jim drove the back of his elbow into the middle of the villain’s back, again using his power to increase the force of the blow. Balefire was driven to the floor, and his head bounced. “That’s gotta hurt!” Jim said with a grin. “Good thing you have that armor on!”
Balefire was starting to get a little groggy now, but he wasn’t finished yet. Staggering to his feet, he charged Jim with his head down like a bull, using his band to increase his speed. Just before the charging villain reached him, Jim grabbed Balefire’s shoulders, sat down, and kicked his foe in the stomach with both legs. Balefire collapsed around his stomach, and then was thrown high into the air. The villain was about to land in the water, but instead Jim created a pile of glowing white pseudo-rocks under the falling Balefire.
The villain landed flat on his stomach, and again his head struck the rocks underneath him. Even with the protection of his helmet and armor, this was just too much, and he passed out. His armor faded away a moment later. Jim encased him in a new spherical cell, gathered up the similar cell containing Kool Red, and flew off.
Next: Epilogue: The AMH Lends a Hand |
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Post by Admin on Nov 21, 2020 15:37:41 GMT
Master of the Glow Epilogue: The AMH Lends a Hand‘AMH Headquarters is the only place I know of where these guys will be safe.’ As he flew off, Jim radioed ahead, while hoping that one of the AMH heroes more known for investigation might be able to learn more about these mystery villains.
When he arrived at the AMH Headquarters, Jim was greeted by Raptor, who took custody of the villains. Raptor promised to investigate, and that he would make sure Jim was informed of whatever he found out. “Since Balefire hasn’t been seen since the mid-1960s, I’m betting that’s not really him,” Raptor opined. “And Kool Red is supposed to be in Maryland Federal Prison. My guess is that they are both impostors. But I’ll find out and let you know.”
A few minutes chat with Captain Reed, and Jim was granted a short interview with Dr. Aeon. He knew she had incredible mystical powers, and he had a favor to ask.
“Doctor Aeon, is there anything you can do about my house?” asked Jim. “Those two completely trashed it. There was a lot of stuff in the house that I’ll never be able to replace. And I’m not sure my insurance covers damage by mystery villains!”
“Indeed, Jim, I do think I can help,” replied Doctor Aeon. She thought for a few seconds, then cast a spell, Jim blinked, and the two of them were standing in the ruins of his house. “A spell of contagion, coupled with a spell of attraction, and all of the shattered pieces should draw together nicely.” Aeon cast first one spell, then the other, and Jim watched in amazement as his house reassembled itself perfectly. It looked like a video of the destruction run backwards. “This is, in fact, a primary example of the purpose of the my magic — bringing order from chaos!”
“Doctor, I can’t thank you enough. I don’t know how I can ever pay you back.”
“I don’t expect you to, young Chisholm. Instead, ‘pay it forward’ — help others, and they will help others in their turn, and I will be paid back with interest.” With that, Aeon gestured again, and they were back at AMH Headquarters.
Jim hung out with Reed for a few hours, even though they both seemed a little embarrassed in each other’s company. “Hey, Cap, want to see my first mystery hero battle? I’m interested in your opinion of my techniques.” He used his power to create a big screen TV, and he and the Captain watched the battle.
“Pretty cute line, that one about me training Balefire!” Jeff Reed laughed. “Even I’ve gotta admit that the mook’s move looked a lot like mine, the first and only time I took a swing at you! Similar results, too! But I thought Aikido was supposed to be non-violent?”
“Sorry, Jeff. My masters have taught me that Aikido is largely a defensive art, but there are some times when force is needed to combat force. If you study the action again, you will see that I never initiated any of the violent exchanges between myself and my opponents.”
Reed thought that was funny. “What about stomping on that guy’s head? And what about that pile of rocks you created after you threw him inta the air? Looked like you initiated violence both times. What would your masters say about that?”
“I am shamed to admit that, while my masters have told me that I have achieved an impressive level of mastery over the physical skills, they find me somewhat… deficient in my appreciation of the philosophy of Aikido. They despair that I will never master the finer points of the philosophy.” Jim said this in a very crestfallen voice. Reed was sure he caught a sly twinkle in Jim’s eye. “Other than my philosophical shortcomings, what did you think of the fight?”
“I think,” said Reed carefully, “that you thoroughly trashed those two jerks and made it look easy! Remind me not to tangle with you again! Say, what would you think of giving me a few lessons?”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather learn from someone with a more advanced mastery of the philosophy of Aikido?”
“Kid, after years of bustin’ heads, ain’t much gonna change my philosophy — hit the other guy harder, faster, and more often than he hits you! But maybe if I could pick up some of them moves of yours, I could maybe make the other guys miss me a little bit more often. The way I see it is, this old Cap ain’t too old to pick up a few new tricks!”
With a grin, they shook hands and headed off into the gym.
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