The Phalanx Covenant: The Return of Hotshot
by Ben Church bchurch@su.edu
I only own Hotshot and Necromancer.
#2
Vincente peeked out the door, checking to see if anyone was
around. He didn't go out much anymore, not since his mutant power had
manifested. It wasn't so much the power that bothered people, as it
was the fact that he now had purple skin.
Though the purple skin went along great with his whole body tatoo,
it had quickly alienated the gang he'd hung out with at school. Since
then he'd, as his parents said, "cleaned up his act". He'd removed his
ear, eyebrow and nose rings, and had taken a new interest in his family
history. He'd learned recently that he was descended from Virgil Earp,
the brother of Wyatt.
Since the manifestation of his power two years ago, he'd been
careful to limit his contact with a cruel and prejudiced outside world.
But right now, he had to get the mail.
He was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans which covered much of his
skin, but even the baseball cap he wore left too much of it exposed to
prying eyes. He walked cautiously down to the mail-box, ready to bolt
back to the house at the first sign of trouble. Fortunately the sun
was beginning to set, so his mutation would be less obvious. He'd
finally reached the mail-box when he heard the voice of one of his old
cronies behind him.
"Hello Mutie."
"Oh no." Vincente thought. Then, he grinned mischievously. He
could use his power to escape quite easily, but he had a much better
idea.
Victor Price, escaped Genoshan Mutate number 666, age 17, stood on
a hill overlooking the cemetery. His face was made up to resemble that
of a skull and he wore a black hooded cloak with sleeves that were
almost to big. His eyes scanned the graves. There were many people
buried here, and each had a story to tell. He was listening to a
particularly interesting one when he heard a voice call out;
"Yo Nec'! A little help here!"
Victor smiled. Vincente. It seemed he had gotten himself into a
little bit of trouble. Probably stuck going over the fence. But when
he looked in the direction of the voice, he saw that his friend was
being pursued by one of the local gangs.
"But why didn't he just use his power to get away?" Victor
thought. Then, his smile widened. "Ah, I see. This should be very
amusing." *None of you mind do you?* He received a chorus of no's and
several snickers. *Thank you.*
Joe and his friends had the Mutie cornered. "No where to run now
Mutie!"
"You seem to have forgotten my name." Vincente said.
"Muties don't have names. At least not real ones. Your name
ain't Vincente anymore. And until you come up with another one, you're
Mutie."
"All right then call me Elemental."
"Say that's a good one. Now then Elemental," Joe said, and
flicked open a switch-blade. "Let's play."
"Let's not." Vincente became mist and dissipated leaving his
clothes in a heap on the ground.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Joe shouted indignantly.
"You are treading on sacred ground mortals!" an eerie voice called
from atop one of the crypts. There, stood a caped figure whose face
was hidden by a hood.
"Who the hell are you?" Joe demanded.
The figure removed the hood, revealing a skull underneath. Joe
gasped and stumbled back. He would have run but something had grabbed
his ankle. Joe looked down and saw a skeletal hand protruding from the
ground, gripping his ankle.
"You have disturbed the rest of the dead, and now you must join
them! So says the Necromancer!"
Joe let out a strangled scream as all around him, he heard groans
coming from beneath the ground, and sounds of coffin lids being beaten
from the inside. He wrenched his ankle from the grasp of the hand
holding him prisoner, and ran form the cemetery with the rest of his
gang close behind.
As soon as the gang was gone, the groans stopped and the cemetery
was peaceful. *Thanks guys.* Victor laughed. *Oh, man sorry about
your coffin lid.* he apologized to the owner of the hand.
*No problem kid. To tell you the truth I've always wanted to do
that. Thank's for the opportunity.*
*You're welcome.*
"Woah." Hotshot said behind them. "Those guys'll never sleep
again."
Victor and Vincente, who had retrieved his clothes whirled around
at the sound of the unexpected voice.
"Woah, woah. Chill." Hotshot reassured them. "I'm one of the
good guys. I'm a Mutant, like you two."
"What are you doing here?" Victor asked.
"Are you here to recruit us for some sort of Superhero team?"
Vincente asked.
"Uh, no. Actually I'm here to warn you of an impending attack
by..." Hotshot broke off, and his eyes widened.
"By who?" Victor asked patiently. He'd once known another mutate
who stuttered, so he was used to people pausing in the middle of their
sentences.
"Well, by that." Hotshot pointed behind them. The Phalanx had
arrived.
"DESIGNATES: DAVIDSON, WILLIAM A.; PRICE, VICTOR B.; MORRISON,
VINCENTE C. SURRENDER."
"I'll handle this." Victor said. "Or rather, my friends will."
Hotshot was suddenly treated to a chilling sight. In the space of
half a minute, the cemetery had come alive with the bodies of the dead,
rising from their graves to attack the Phalanx.
"WARNING! CANNOT ASSIMILATE DECEASED MATTER!" The dead bodies
converged upon the Phalanx and began to tear it apart. Several of the
bodies were dismembered and thrown across the cemetery, but there were
too many. "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! EVEN IF I AM DESTROYED THERE WILL
BE- ERROR, LINK TO MATRIX SEVERED. MISSION: ASSIMILATE EARTH, FAILED."
Soon the Phalanx had been torn apart and the dead had returned to
their resting places.
"I'm gonna have nightmare's tonight." Hotshot murmured, gazing
upon the ground littered with pieces of the Phalanx.
"I assume that takes care of the threat you came to warn us
about?" Victor said.
"Uh yeah. I guess I'll go now."
"Hey it was nice meeting you." Victor said.
"Yeah man." Vincente agreed.
"Hey same, you too." Hotshot handed Victor a piece of paper. "If
either of you ever need help, here's where you can reach me."
"Thanks."
"No sweat. Well, see ya." With that, Hotshot left.
"Well that was certainly weird." Vincente said. "Anyway, I've
gotta be getting home."
"See ya man." Victor said, also turning towards home. "Don't
forget," Vincente called after him. "Vampire the Masquerade on
Saturday!"
"Wouldn't miss it!" Vincente replied from the gate.
Vincente had just reached his house when a frightening voice
greeted him.
"Greetings snack."
Vincente suddenly felt powerful hands grip his arms, and what felt
like teeth biting trough to the bone. He tried to scream, but could
not. It was as if he were being taken over.
"Allow me to introduce myself." the voice said. "My name is
Emplate. Your new master."
Hotshot stood in the garage of the X-Mansion, next to the
motorcycle Wolverine had gotten him for his birthday, shortly before
his death. "It's still hard to believe that I was actually, physically
dead." he thought. The X-Men still had not returned, which made what
he was about to do, much easier. He had gone to his room, and packed
his clothes, guitar and photographs onto the cycle.
"I know I should contact Jubilee." he thought. "But how do I
explain to her how I could ever forget about her? How can I explain
how I came back from the dead? I just need time." he told himself.
"And when I am ready to come back to her, it can't be by note or by
phone. It'll be face to face. That way, she can either blast me, or
kiss me."
Will got on his motorcycle, tuned the radio to a rock station, and
rode away.
Next:
The Hotshot Limited Series!
Will's old friends from Burlington High
are disappearing! And Will intends to find out why!