"You want this one? Are you sure?" asked the first man. He was dressed in Army dress uniform with a mess of medals on his chest and an oak leaf on either side of his collar and on either shoulder.
"Yes," the man in the store bought, off-the-rack, black suit with black tie said, "This is the one. Crucible, right?"
The military man sighed. They were standing in front of a large metal door. "Let me go get a telepath."
"What do you need a telepath for?"
The military man turned and stared at the suited man for a moment before answering. "This is the Crucible. A telepath is one of the only sure ways of stopping him."
The suited man rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Why not just slap a genoshan style power negation collar on him? It's easier to take away his laser eyes and make him as vulnerable as a normal human."
The military man shook his head. "I thought you field agents did better research than that. Negation collars only work on supers who've had their X-gene activated, either by mutation or accident."
"And from your tone I take it the Crucible is neither?" the suited man was growing impatient. "What is he then?"
"It was all in his Vault file," the military man said, "No one knows and he ain't talking, but the negation collars do not work on him. We found that out in his first escape."
"How many escape attempts were there?"
"Just two," the military man answered, "since then we put him in a Tungsten cell. His lasers can't generate enough heat to punch through tungsten."
There was a flash of light and the pad lock on the outside of the Tungsten door clattered to the ground. They both looked up to see the latch smoldering as the door swung open. Out walked a sleight but fit man, standing at about 5' 7" and wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.
"That isn't entirely true," the man in orange said. Both the military man and the agent drew their pistols and trained them on the man in the orange jumpsuit. He ignored the pistols and turned to face the man in the cheap suit. "So, what is it you want me for?"
Klaxons started going off and the radio on the military man's hip started blaring, directing responders to the Crucible's door.
The agent made his weapon safe and holstered it. "You could have done that at anytime?"
The crucible shrugged. "Maybe. Lunch was three bean and cabbage soup with chili. My room doesn't have great airflow. Motivation."
"Get back in your cell!" the military man ordered.
"Or what? You'll make your bullets bounce off me?" the Crucible asked. He faced the Agent again. "You want something from me?"
"Why don't we go somewhere more private so we can talk?" the agent asked.
"No," the military man said, "This is an escape attempt. The Crucible is no longer eligible for your program."
"Escape? Ok. Let's start by killing the idiot threatening me with a gun." The Crucible's eyes began to glow.
The military man turned and ran, screaming, "Help! Help!"
The Crucible gave a single bark of laughter.
The Agent sighed. He put his hand on the Crucible's shoulder. "That was unnecessary. Please come with me."
------------------
Later, in a break room, the Agent and the Crucible were sitting at a table sipping Dr. Pepper out of the can.
The Crucible finished a swig and held the can up to look at it. He turned and gave the Agent a meaningful glare. "This would be better if it were a Bud light."
"Like I told you, they don't have any alcohol on site at this prison." The Agent looked down at his folder. "So, what is your nation of origin?"
"The US."
"We don't have any record of your existance before the Crucible came on the scene. You have no fingerprints on file and had no identification on you when you were captured." The Agent was reading from his file. "Do you have any proof you are a US citizen?"
The Crucible shrugged. "Nothing I'd like to share."
The Agent sighed. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
"You can call me Kyle," the Crucible said.
The agent glared at him. "That's not your name, is it?"
"Nope."
"You're not being very helpful," The agent said.
The Crucible shrugged. "I guess I'm not. So tell me what this mission is."
"You know I can send you back to your cell and get someone else."
"Of course you can," said the Crucible, "But you won't. There are some supers out there who can rival my destructive capabilities, and there's a few who are invulnerable, but I'm the only criminal who is both. Well, the only one you can sit down and talk to without being killed. For some reason you need that."
"That's an astute obserevation." The Agent was hedging.
"If I had to make a guess, I'd guess you need something desstroyed, badly, and you want me to do it because short of having to fight the Juggernaut, I'm pretty much a guarantee for getting the job done."
The Agent closed his file. "Have you ever heard of the nation of Qasan?"
"No."
"It's a small middle east nation that produces just enough oil to be a part of OPEC, but isn't particularly noteworthy otherwise." The Agent pushed a different file over to the Crucible. "Qasan has bartered, bought and stolen information from Genosha and the Brand corporation and have created a facility to study the genome and be able to tailor make supers."
"Ah. And you want me to blow it up?"
"After you and the rest of the team steal their technology. Our intelligence indicates Qasan has made incredible strides in this field. We want that information."
"And what do I get in return?" the Crucible asked.
"For this mission? Three months off your sentence."
"That's it?"
"You aren't the first super we've offered these sorts of deals to Kyle. There will be other missions. Play your cards right and you'll be out of prison before the end of the year."
The Crucible shrugged and took a long sip of Dr. Pepper. "So let me get this straight, I do something no one else in the world can do and I get three months off my time?"
The Agent's eyes narrowed. "Yes."
The Crucible knocked back the rest of the soda. He crushed the can into a little ball and tossed it in the trash. "Well it beats sitting around. Where to next?"
"I will transfer you to a secure facility where you will meet the rest of the team. There you will be briefed and from there you start your mission."
--------------------------
'Kyle' took a deep breath. One of the most dangerous men on the planet who can rain down death from his eyes had butterflies in his stomach moments before meeting the new crew he'd be running with. Kyle let out the breath and opened the door, not sure what to expect.
"Yes," the man in the store bought, off-the-rack, black suit with black tie said, "This is the one. Crucible, right?"
The military man sighed. They were standing in front of a large metal door. "Let me go get a telepath."
"What do you need a telepath for?"
The military man turned and stared at the suited man for a moment before answering. "This is the Crucible. A telepath is one of the only sure ways of stopping him."
The suited man rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Why not just slap a genoshan style power negation collar on him? It's easier to take away his laser eyes and make him as vulnerable as a normal human."
The military man shook his head. "I thought you field agents did better research than that. Negation collars only work on supers who've had their X-gene activated, either by mutation or accident."
"And from your tone I take it the Crucible is neither?" the suited man was growing impatient. "What is he then?"
"It was all in his Vault file," the military man said, "No one knows and he ain't talking, but the negation collars do not work on him. We found that out in his first escape."
"How many escape attempts were there?"
"Just two," the military man answered, "since then we put him in a Tungsten cell. His lasers can't generate enough heat to punch through tungsten."
There was a flash of light and the pad lock on the outside of the Tungsten door clattered to the ground. They both looked up to see the latch smoldering as the door swung open. Out walked a sleight but fit man, standing at about 5' 7" and wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.
"That isn't entirely true," the man in orange said. Both the military man and the agent drew their pistols and trained them on the man in the orange jumpsuit. He ignored the pistols and turned to face the man in the cheap suit. "So, what is it you want me for?"
Klaxons started going off and the radio on the military man's hip started blaring, directing responders to the Crucible's door.
The agent made his weapon safe and holstered it. "You could have done that at anytime?"
The crucible shrugged. "Maybe. Lunch was three bean and cabbage soup with chili. My room doesn't have great airflow. Motivation."
"Get back in your cell!" the military man ordered.
"Or what? You'll make your bullets bounce off me?" the Crucible asked. He faced the Agent again. "You want something from me?"
"Why don't we go somewhere more private so we can talk?" the agent asked.
"No," the military man said, "This is an escape attempt. The Crucible is no longer eligible for your program."
"Escape? Ok. Let's start by killing the idiot threatening me with a gun." The Crucible's eyes began to glow.
The military man turned and ran, screaming, "Help! Help!"
The Crucible gave a single bark of laughter.
The Agent sighed. He put his hand on the Crucible's shoulder. "That was unnecessary. Please come with me."
------------------
Later, in a break room, the Agent and the Crucible were sitting at a table sipping Dr. Pepper out of the can.
The Crucible finished a swig and held the can up to look at it. He turned and gave the Agent a meaningful glare. "This would be better if it were a Bud light."
"Like I told you, they don't have any alcohol on site at this prison." The Agent looked down at his folder. "So, what is your nation of origin?"
"The US."
"We don't have any record of your existance before the Crucible came on the scene. You have no fingerprints on file and had no identification on you when you were captured." The Agent was reading from his file. "Do you have any proof you are a US citizen?"
The Crucible shrugged. "Nothing I'd like to share."
The Agent sighed. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
"You can call me Kyle," the Crucible said.
The agent glared at him. "That's not your name, is it?"
"Nope."
"You're not being very helpful," The agent said.
The Crucible shrugged. "I guess I'm not. So tell me what this mission is."
"You know I can send you back to your cell and get someone else."
"Of course you can," said the Crucible, "But you won't. There are some supers out there who can rival my destructive capabilities, and there's a few who are invulnerable, but I'm the only criminal who is both. Well, the only one you can sit down and talk to without being killed. For some reason you need that."
"That's an astute obserevation." The Agent was hedging.
"If I had to make a guess, I'd guess you need something desstroyed, badly, and you want me to do it because short of having to fight the Juggernaut, I'm pretty much a guarantee for getting the job done."
The Agent closed his file. "Have you ever heard of the nation of Qasan?"
"No."
"It's a small middle east nation that produces just enough oil to be a part of OPEC, but isn't particularly noteworthy otherwise." The Agent pushed a different file over to the Crucible. "Qasan has bartered, bought and stolen information from Genosha and the Brand corporation and have created a facility to study the genome and be able to tailor make supers."
"Ah. And you want me to blow it up?"
"After you and the rest of the team steal their technology. Our intelligence indicates Qasan has made incredible strides in this field. We want that information."
"And what do I get in return?" the Crucible asked.
"For this mission? Three months off your sentence."
"That's it?"
"You aren't the first super we've offered these sorts of deals to Kyle. There will be other missions. Play your cards right and you'll be out of prison before the end of the year."
The Crucible shrugged and took a long sip of Dr. Pepper. "So let me get this straight, I do something no one else in the world can do and I get three months off my time?"
The Agent's eyes narrowed. "Yes."
The Crucible knocked back the rest of the soda. He crushed the can into a little ball and tossed it in the trash. "Well it beats sitting around. Where to next?"
"I will transfer you to a secure facility where you will meet the rest of the team. There you will be briefed and from there you start your mission."
--------------------------
'Kyle' took a deep breath. One of the most dangerous men on the planet who can rain down death from his eyes had butterflies in his stomach moments before meeting the new crew he'd be running with. Kyle let out the breath and opened the door, not sure what to expect.
