Best Laid Plans

Ryan inhaled and leaned back in his chair, “So let’s see, when the aliens attacked, I learned that Rex Robinson, my own mentor and father figure was the cause of it, revealing himself to be a deeply troubled man, far more neurotic than anyone realized. Additionally, in order to stop said alien invasion, I agreed to offer him up to them. While that was happening, the Upstarts, a squad of teenage heroes and TV personalities were killed by an alien assassin with one exception and this was all despite my best efforts to keep them safe. It was bad enough that this team was set up by my former manager which caused all sorts of nasty memories to rear their ugly heads but I absolutely failed as a protector,” he took another drag from his vape, “I’m sorry, I’m sure I was rambling. What was your question again?”

Dr. Ansari gave him a concerned look, “How are you these days, Ryan?”

“Just ducky. Yourself?,” he smiled and took another drag.

“Everything you’re feeling is warranted. I can imagine how much of a trying time it must be for you.”

“Sean Pierce made a statement to the public to explain what went down. He was quite honest, really. He was upfront about Rex’s involvement in the Invasion of 1981 and how I helped end things alongside the Cavalier and others. As is typical for the human species, there was instant controversy and a divide as to whether or not what we did was necessary. I haven’t always been a popular figure but my approval rating has taken a hit for sure.”

“Do you think what you did was necessary?”

“I mean, the U’ntari had a reason to be pissed. They could have gone about it in a completely different manner but they were entitled. Meanwhile, our agreement stopped further bloodshed. It was not ideal but it was logical.”

“Are you still angry at Rex Robinson?”

“Sure… Why shouldn’t I be?,” he took another drag.

“You have every right. Obviously, Rex was a mentor, like you said. I remember you once saying that you model yourself after him. How has that affected you?”

“No idea. I haven’t given it much thought really,” he took another drag, “Did I mention I’m putting a team together?”

“No, you didn’t mention it, I don’t think.”

“Yeah, it’s sort of a modern-day Allied Front thing.”

“Allied Front. That was Rex’s old team, wasn’t it?”

A look of realization crossed Ryan’s face, “Yeeeeaaaah,” he took another drag, “Okay, here it is. Rex fought crime, I fought crime, he started his own business making patents and commissions, I did the same thing. Now I’m flying around on his old spaceship and I’m putting a team together that may even include the modern day Cavalier just as Rex once had a team with the Golden Age version. So I guess I’m cribbing from him a bit more than I thought and… Godammit, I know I have issues but Rex always seemed put together. Turns out he had some extreme, idealistic feelings and when the world didn’t live up to it, he had a break but refused to get any sort of help or work on himself,” he took another drag, “If a guy like Rex can screw up so badly, what chance do I have? I’m just a fanboy with a failed marriage.”

“Do you feel hopeless?”

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, “I feel like history will inevitably repeat itself.”

Later, Ryan stepped out of the office building and met up with Labrat who wore a t-shirt that read I’M WITH GENIUS. “I’m glad Dr Ansari’s building didn’t get destroyed,” Labrat said happily while taking note of the massive amount of destruction done to the surrounding city blocks, “There’s a lot that needs to be fixed in New York.” “A full scale alien war is not something that one can bounce back from easily, Labrat,” Ryan began punching a holographic keypad that hovered over his watch, “Let’s go home.” All of Ryan’s vehicles were destroyed during the Resurgence and while rebuilding them was simple, he opted to use other means of transportation. The ship known as Hyperion’s Light hovered overhead, its outer disc rotating slightly as it sent its Tractor Beam to the sidewalk below. Ryan had been given clearance to the ship years ago and with Rex Robinson in the hands of the U’ntari, it wasn’t as though the original owner would be needing it. With the current controversy, using Rex’s ship in the middle of New York was likely not a good PR move, but he also knew most people made up their minds about him already. The luminous beam raised him and Labrat into the air while a few bystanders gawked, then it swiftly glided from the area.

Once onboard, Ryan and Labrat made their way to the bridge. “Set a course for home,” Ryan said to the robotic crew as he moved past them to sit in the captain’s seat and repeated the word “Home” as clearly as possible. He had to reprogram the robots to understand the word “home” as meaning “Ryan Bennings’ residence” as opposed to Rex’s lab in the Catskills. Ryan was in the process of configuring the ship to his specifications as he previously only had co-admin clearance. Because he had not yet rebooted the ship, there were certain programs and functions that were holdovers from Rex’s time as its captain. For instance, if one of Rex’s old enemies were identified in close proximity to Hyperion’s Light, there was a certain alarm that would go off. Said alarm sounded shortly after Ryan and Labrat sat down on the bridge.

A holographic screen floated in the air, depicting an image taken from a police helicopter; the camera captured a man in a blue and gold costume on top of the Empire State Building. His gold cape flapped in the wind, as did his long grey hair and beard. Beside this image was an older photo of a younger man in the same gold and blue costume but clean shaven with long, brown hair. The caption read: ZENITH, THE SUPERIOR MAN.

Ryan squinted at the caption, “Zenith the … holy hand grenade! I thought that guy was dead!”

“Is he a zombie?,” Labrat poked his nose at the screen.

“No… Well, maybe,” Ryan considered the thought for a moment and continued, “Zenith was an old enemy of Rex’s. He was obsessed with proving he was the smartest man on Earth and had a special hate-on for him. He probably didn’t like me too much either but we never went mano y mano since he disappeared about 20 years ago.”

“What is he doing now?”

“He is on the roof of the Empire State Building, trying to attach some kind of device to the tower,” Ryan sighed, “Might as well go see what he wants.”

A moment later, Hyperion’s Light flew to the Empire State Building and once there, they saw a red glow crackling along the metal spire. The old man below raised his fists in defiance, “I knew you were here somewhere, you old bastard! I detected your ship!”

A hatch opened and Ryan hovered down using a jetpack to meet Zenith who appeared confused. “Who the hell are you?,” he asked.

“You’ve been away for a while so you may not recognize me,” Ryan cane in for a soft landing, “But I’m Ryan Bennings.”

“The Brain Boy?”

Ryan frowned, “Just FYI, and I’ll be using an older reference as I don’t know if you’ve been up to date after all these years in terms of pop culture, but calling me that name is the equivalent of telling Joe Pesci to get his shine box.”

He snickered, “A spoiled, former child-celebrity who, last I saw, was living a life of debauchery and wasting his talents.”

“You’ll be happy to learn that the debauchery has been replaced by self-loathing and being the guilty party in toxic relationships.”

“Walk away,” Zenith pointed to the ship hovering nearby, “I want him.”

“Rex? I’m afraid he’s not here anymore. You have noticed that half the city has been reduced to rubble, haven’t you?”

Zenith looked out across the New York skyline at the destruction left in the wake of the Resurgence, “I understand the future I woke up to: a world where men who thought themselves righteous failed. Maybe they’ll realize that I was right all al-”

“Nope, sorry,” Ryan shook his head, “I mean, you’re kinda right about the righteous men failing part but most people who know you still think you’re full of shit and this wasn’t the result of societal collapse or anything. The aliens came back, that’s all. Long story short… Rex Robinson is no longer on this planet and he won’t be coming back.”

“I don’t believe you!,” Zenith shouted, his gray beard flowing in the wind, “I put myself in a comatose state for decades with computer implants feeding me centuries of knowledge. I shut down nearly all brain functions just to store every skill, every battle technique and every avenue of scientific study to counter anything Rex could come up with and finally prove that I was superior! I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing,” he turned to Hyperion’s Light, “But he better come out now or I kill millions.”

“As batshit as you are, you are smart enough to know Rex would’ve come out by now,” Ryan explained, “What’s that glowing thing anyway? A bomb?”

“Do you think this is a game?”

“I wish it were.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you what it is,” Zenith pointed to the device attached to the tower, “It will release massive photon beams in every direction from this point. You understand if I don’t see Rex Robinson on this roof within the next fifteen minutes, I will activate this and turn New York into ash? If you think the city looks horrifying now…”

“Okay!,” Ryan raised his hands in a panic, “He sent me out here to trick you into leaving but I can see there’s no reasoning with you. Can I- Can I just go get him?”

“Be prompt!”

Rex’s robot crew was still piloting the ship and occasionally performing maintenance tasks but there was one set of robots in storage. These were the robot duplicates Rex had of himself to distract enemies such as when he defeated the Nirvana Man or when he took down a group of U’ntari Silencers. Ryan hated seeing them for obvious reasons but this situation gave them purpose.

Less than 15 minutes later, the Tractor Beam touched down and Rex Robinson stood across from Zenith on the roof with his signature hands-on-hips stance. “I’m not sure what rock you crawled out from, Zenith,” the duplicate began, “But you’ll regret showing your face again.”

Zenith smiled arrogantly, “Before we begin, I suppose I should turn this off,” he pressed a button on his gauntlet and the glowing device powered down, “It was mostly to lure you out in the open. I have no need to kill anyone but you.”

“I’m here now so cut the chit-chat and let’s see if all that planning paid off.”

“Not to worry, I’m sure you’ll persevere,” his smirk grew wider, “You’ve always been so strong and brave… But let’s see how brave you are when you lose your strength,” a dart gun slid down from his gauntlet and a moment later, a single projectile shot through the air. The dart would have pierced Rex’s flesh and removed his superhuman strength using a concoction Zenith had prepared years earlier — as opposed to bouncing off a metal surface which was the end result.

“Dammit!,” Zenith raised a fist and his metal gauntlet began to light up, “I should’ve known.” The energy blast from his gauntlet blew a hole in the robot’s chest but unbeknownst to him, Ryan had loaded it with an explosive; when it went off, the shockwave spread across the rooftop and sent Zenith into the side of the tower. With Zenith now unconscious, Ryan hovered down on his jet pack once more, “Like I said, Rex would have come in person if there was a chance you might do something crazy,” he clarified, “Now that I’ve said aloud, maybe it means I’m just that much more reckless.”

Hours later, men wearing mech suits arrived on the scene to take Zenith to the Icebox, the super villain prison located in the Himalayan Mountains. “So this guy was going after Rex?,” one of the Icebox guards said as they loaded Zenith into a hovercraft, “I guess he woulda handled the situation himself… if he were still around,” Ryan detected the resentment in the man’s voice but said nothing. If anything, he felt it was ironic that Rex Robinson was commissioned by the UN to build the Icebox prison and equip the guards with mech suits considering that, if the U’ntari didn’t take him, he would have likely ended up there.

Later that day, Ryan made his way to Rex Robinson’s old lab in the Catskills. The U’ntari super soldier known as Shujai had recently been exonerated by a UN tribunal under the provision that he be monitored. Ryan agreed to look after him in hopes he might join his team and let him stay at the Catskills as it had living quarters and was secluded.

“The UN made sure there wasn’t anything here that could be a potential weapon,” Ryan explained as he led him through the facility, “I’m surprised they let you have kitchen knives.”

“Thank you,” Shujai answered, “Although I hope you know that I am still unsure if I will join your team.”

“Either way, enjoy your new home. I hope it’s okay that you’re living in Rex’s old pad. I know your people had a very… different view of the guy than people on Earth.”

“Considering the alternative is a prison cell, I will accept these quarters,” he looked at Ryan with sincerity, “And what does it matter who the previous owner was? This is yours now and not his. You will make of it what you will.”

Next: The Mine Shaft