Power Check - Captain Knievel

[Dr Archeville]

Date: (To be determined)

Legend stood on the platform of the derelict oil rig known to certain people as the Arena. The mysterious curator of the one place where the villains of Freedom City could mingle with their peers without fear of intrusions by the do-gooders of the city. Today, he was waiting for one such villain to arrive.

Legend had sent out the message to the Captain after learning of his near-capture by the hands of Arrowhawk, Dark Star and Dr. Archeville, and his alliance with Malice. The man had shown himself to be a very interesting character to the city, and Legend wanted to see just how much power and skill the man truly had, and how much was just bluster. And perhaps, in being tested, Captain Knievel could learn of new ways to cause havoc within the city limits.

Of course, he would have to first appear at the Arena before Legend could do anything. Legend looked off to the distant shoreline and waited for the Captain to appear.

[quotemyname]

After a few moments, a spek appeared on the horizon. Coming further into view it turned out to be a large white yacht. *HONK*

Standing at the bow of the boat with one foot up on the railing and his perfectly sculpted arms crossed was none other than Captain Knievel.

"Damnit Johansen! I said 12 knots! I want to be there ten minutes ago! Can't you make my yacht..." *HONKHONK* "...go any faster?"

[quotemyname]

Finally arriving at the pier after what felt like eons to The Captain, he leaped from the yacht as it pulled into the mooring. Landing squarely on the pier with three points he stood to his full height as the boat began to tie off. A retinue of girls began to pour off of the boat.

"Now now, girls," he held out a hand behind him "I hired you to look good, not to actually do anything. You stay on the yacht." *HONKHONK*

Captain Knievel strolled up to where Legend was standing, his rippling muscles and his brand spanking new Adrenaline Cannon shone brightly in the afternoon sun.

"Heard you wanted to see me. Captain Knievel." He declared his name with an outstretched hand.

[Dr Archeville]

When Knievel first catches sight of the man on the abandoned oil rig known as The Arena, he at first thought it was Malice. It was an armored figure, and the silhouette of the armor matched that of Malice exactly. From a distance, the colors appeared the same, too.

Up close, Knievel noted several differences. First, while the structure of the armor matched that of Malice -- all the plating and piping and whatnot was exactly as Knievel remembered it -- the coloration was more than a bit off. Rather than red, white and blue, it was black, red and gold, though the stars and stripes motif remained (black helmet with red faceplate, chestplate was black with a red star, gauntlets and boots were black, and the arms, torso and legs had red and gold bands/stripes). Tracing over the entire suit were a maze of fine lines and circles, glowing a faint light blue, very similar to the 'circuitry' covering the Gravimetric Belt worn by Dr. Archeville.

Then he spoke, in Malice's voice, but with the accent and verbal tics of Doktor Archeville. "I did indeed call you, Captain Rog- er, Captain Knievel. I haff noticed your... extreme activities in de city of Freedom, und de chaos it causes, und de opposition you face as a result of dis."

"You may call me Legend, und I am the, shall ve say, majordomo of dis Arena. I did not set it up, but I do look after it, und its guests."

Legend gestures to the side, away from the main entrance that most of the villains use when visiting the Arena, to a lone door. "I believe I can help you realize your true untapped potential, to test you in vays even you haff not imagined. Dis vill not be easy, of course -- it takes hot fires to forge strong steel, und as much can be learned from failure as from success."

"Of course, you could refuse -- I offer you this aid, I do not force it. Naturally, a refusal vould mean you vill most likely never know just how far you truly can go, und sooner or later you vill be captured, either by some costumed do-gooder or by time itself. Neither vould be a fitting end to de great Captain Knievel, vould dey?"

Two scenes suddenly played out in Knievel's mind. One was of Knievel beaten and captured, stripped of everything he had, and thrown into solitary confinement, away from anyone, his only contact with the outside world being the robot drone that brought him his food twice a day. The second was of a painfully decrepit Taylor Rogers, barely able to move from his bed, his body ravaged by the extreme toll which had been put on it.

"So... are you game?"

[quotemyname]

I have seen that armor before. And I have heard that accent before. I IMMEDIATELY suspect.

Captain Knievel's eyes narrowed.

"Legend...You seem to know a lot about me. If that were truly the case, you would know that I never back down from a fight."

Captain Knievel turned toward the door and began walking, but he kept Legend within his peripherals.

Malice knows me at least that well. That rules him out. This just feels wierd, but I will have to play along for now.

Captain Knievel reached out towards the door...

[Dr Archeville]

"Yes, but I do need you to say so. Formalities und all dat."

Legend walked to the side door, still talking as he walked, his voice never fading nor increasing in volume. "Behind dis door, you vill find a corridor. Mitin de corridor are doors, doors dat lead to various small rooms vhere your skills vill be tested. For dis visit, you may enter five such doors vhere you vill be assigned a task. Each task vill be a test of your abilities. Sometimes, dey vill test your strengths, vhile other times, they vill test your veaknesses. Regardless of vhich door you enter, I'm sure you vill learn someding new about yourself."

When Knievel opened the door, a long corridor opened before him, with alternating doors on each side. The doors were unmarked and seemed identical; only the present door stood out from the rest. "Once you haff completed a room's task, you vill be allowed to return to the corridor. There, you vill find refreshments waiting for you. Once you are ready, you can enter another door und begin de next task. Vonce you have entered five rooms, you vill be finished und unable to enter another on dis trip."

Legend turned to Knievel once again. "Velcome to mein neighborhood, Mister Rogers."

[quotemyname]

Captain Knievel did a double take. This guy REALLY had done his homework. As far as he knew, no one else knew who he really was. A quick look around told him that no one else had been within an earshot, thankfully.

"Keep that last part a little more hush hush, will ya, chief?"

Captain Knievel walked in and shut the door behind him. He looked to the very first plain door on his right.

"Might as well start at the beginning." He opened the door...

[Dr Archeville]

The room Knievel entered appeared empty.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Legend's MalArchevillice voice rang out in the room. "Your task is simple, Mist- Knievel. You pride yourself on your force of personality as vell as your force of arms. But mere strength is far too easy a ding to test. So, ve shall see vhat sort of man you are, und vhat sort of men vould follow you. Svay dem mit you vords und displays, if you can."

A lighted path appeared in the middle of the room, and two young men appeared on it, walking and talking about nothing in particular.

[quotemyname]

Captain Knievel decided not to waste any time. He wanted to find out if there really was more to this test than there seemed.

"Hey you two, I've got a bone to pick with you!" Captain Knievel growled at the pair to get their attention. After he got their attention, he was unsure of what to do next...

[quotemyname]

... And he proceeded to flounder repeatedly without saying much of anything. He just looked at the two men, and they just seemed to look at him back...

After attempting to stare the two men down for quite sometime, Captain Knievel realized it wasn't working. "Well, crap. Guess I didn't pass this one, huh?" He said, staring at nothing in particular above his head. "What happens now?"

[quotemyname]

After there was no response, Captain Knievel decided he would try again.

"Now see here you two. You best stop staring before I mess you up!" Captain Knievel growled once more.

It didn't work. They just kept staring at him. Now he was getting unnerved. This was creepy. Captain Knievel began to get unnerved. But he decided to try one last growl! ... Which also failed utterly. Captain Knievel began to sweat.

[quotemyname]

Captain Knievel quickly notice that there was only one thing left for him to try. He quickly rushed the pair of men, attempting to fake them out. Captain Knievel nearly tripped over himself while trying to stop short of the two men as the did not recoil from his fake out at all.

WHAT THE HELL! THAT USUALLY WORKS! he screamed in his head.

[Dr Archeville]

As Knievel screamed, the pair disappeared, and the lighted path they were on faded. Half a moment later -- just long enough for Knievel to register that he was in total, utter darkness -- the door opened, the light streaming in offering some relief.

Back outside the chamber, Knievel found a chair and a table covered with refreshments, just as Legend said there would be. The food and refreshments were everything that the man found enjoyable to refresh himself. In addition, the chair was just the right size to let the him either recline or sit up straight as he desired. All in all, it was just what he needed to regain his strength.

After grabbing a few drinks, scarfing a few donuts, and wondering just what he'd gotten himself into, he approached another door, which opened with a rusty creeeaaak. As he entered, Legend's odd voice rang out.

"Dere are dose who say dat de dings you haff done are shocking. Und dere are dose who say dat de dings ve do to others are vhat ve fear vill happen to us. Your gear, hastily constructed as it vas, is not a vell-shielded as it could be, und as a result you are more susceptible to electrical assaults. Here, you shall test your resolve in de face of such assaults, und see how vell you fare."

[quotemyname]

No sooner did the voice stop speaking than panels opened up in the floor of the seemingly endless white expanse. A split second later, turrets began to spring from the floor. The first turret fired what looked like bullets, but Captain Knievel could hear them crackling in the air. He knew he had to get out of the way of the spray and fast. Managing to dodge most of the bullets, the rest safely ricocheted off of his armor.

"The hell is this? Some kind of whacked out firing range?"

A second turret sprung up on the other side of the first. However this one shot two cables which attached themselves to his back. Knievel managed to resist the current of electricity flowing through the cables and he tore them away.

"This is nuts!"

A third turret sprung up from a different direction. This one fired a net with electrical currents running through it. The Captain managed to dodge out of the way, but he never saw the fourth turret...

It fired three contacts onto his head. After they connected, they began to assault his brain with electrical signals. But he managed to hold them off long enough to tear the contacts away from his skin.

"Seriously.... What the hell?!"

Silence crossed the white expanse...

[quotemyname]

The silence did not last long, however. As soon as the turrets had disappeared beneath the ground, four more panels opened up. Four shapes wearing powered suits of armor popped out and began flying around. The first one charged Knievel. Electricity crackled around the suit's fist as it socked Captain Knievel across the face. The suit then dipped back below the ground through another hatch.

"Oh I see how this works now...WHO'S NEXT?!" Yelled Captain Knievel, still standing after taking the hit.

The second suit flew up to him and tackled him. Once on the ground and in a bear hug, the entire power suit of his opponent lit up with electricity. It shocked Knievel to his core, yet he managed to deal with the pain. After a second, the Powersuit flew off and ducked below the ground as well.

"You sandbaggin' sonova...!" Captain Knievel yelled after the powersuit. But he was distracted and didn't see what came at him next.

The third Power Suit launched four electric bands that wrapped around Knievel's arms and legs. He didn't have time to dodge out of the way and the began to deliver a series of electric shocks to his system as well as tie him up.

"Yeaaahhhhh!" The Captain let out a yelp of pain. Before he could do anything else, the third suit had left and the fourth flew up to him.

Placing its hands on its head, a panel opened up and Knievel could see an electronic sort of brain. Seconds later, his own brain was assaulted again with electric waves designed to melt his consciousness. Captain Knievel would have none of it though. He resisted the pulsating electro waves with the greatest of ease.

"HA! You can't control me! Get lost you pile of junk!" Captain shouted at the power suit. To his surprise it worked! The power suit as well disappeared below the floor. The metal bands retracted and he was able to stand up.

"Wierd. Why did that work on him, but not the two guys in the other room? Heh. Guess I got my touch back." Captain Knievel said, dusting himself off in the silence of the room. Sometimes he just liked to listen to himself talk...

Shortly, four more panels opened up in the floor, and Captain Knievel instinctively dropped into a fighting stance. "Oh boy, what now?"

[quotemyname]

Four men popped out. Captain Knievel recognized all of them. One was Malice, one was Dr. Archeville, one was Arrowhawk, and one was...himself?

"What the...?" Captain Knievel barely had time to react. His own clone charged him. A shocking punch found its way into his gut. But it did not even wind him. "HA! YEA! You got nothin! NOTHIN!" But he could not taunt his ineffectual clone for very long. It dissipated before his eyes into thin air.

"...Freaky..." Captain Knievel said, barely managing to shrug before..."Ahhh!" ... He was charged by Dr. Archeville on his crazy flying belt contraption. A strange screwdriver device held in his hand launched a needle-like object into Knievel's left arm. After a short electric shock, his entire left arm went limp. "Crap! ...The hell, Doc? Thought you were supposed to be a doctor! They fix people not hurt them, you kn....DAMNIT!" The figure of Dr. Archeville that he had been talking to had disappeared after a smile and a flourishing flip of his screwdriver and Captain Knievel was left talking to the air.

Expressionless as always, All the compartments on Malice's armor opened up. "Oh....Oh god..." Captain Knievel turned tail and began to run from what he knew was coming. What must have been a thousand tiny stinger missiles flew from the compartments of the armor. Every last one of them crackled with an electric charge. Captain Knievel dodged and weaved and managed to dance between all of the tiny electric explosions that threatened to fry him. Rolling to one side he got up on one knee and turned to gloat at his friend, "Ha... You still can't..." But he was gone.

"Phew... Well at least that's over..." *PLINK* A small dart stuck to the back of his armor. But it didn't hurt. "#%&@!!! If forgot about Ar.......YEAAAaaaaaHHEHHA!!!" The dart that was sticking to his back had released an electric shock that fried his brain.

Captain Knievel never saw the figure of Arrowhawk disappear. But after a few seconds he was able to think again, and he stood up to face whatever was next, all the while grumbling a few choice swears under his breath, along with the word, "Fletch" thrown in every once in a while.

[quotemyname]

After everything had gone white again, a single panel opened up. A small yellow ...thing popped out and stood on the ground in front of Knievel.

"EHEHehehehehehhahhahhaHAHAHAHA" It cackled.

"Seriously? Seriously?! SERIOUSLY???!" Captain Knievel had no time to object to the ridiculousness of this challenge, however. The small ball of what he guessed to be electricity charged him. It slammed straight into his chest. Hard. It discharged a momentous amount of electricity as it connected.

"OOF!" Captain Knievel went flying backwards, and hit the ground hard. Reeling in pain he didn't even have time to get up.

The tiny ball of electricity was on him faster than you can say "electrical current". It landed on his chest and simply began to run a ton of high voltage through his body. Captain Knievel's muscles were spasmming so hard that he could not even scream. The tiny ball of electricity halted the assault just long enough to hop onto Captain Knievel's head and deliver a series of shocks to his brain. He couldn't resist the pain. He was fighting unconsciousness at this point. As soon as he was about to black out the electricity ball stopped shocking him again.

"Ha! HAhahaha! EHAAHAHHAHAH! It cackled again. Captain Knievel found the laugh to be incredibly unnerving, especially in his semi-conscious state.

The little ball of electricity jumped up high into the sky. Then came screaming down towards Captain Knievel's nearly limp form. He managed to tuck and roll out of the way of what turned out to be a surprisingly small yet powerful electrical explosion. He emerged unscathed from the last explosion, though he could feel the hair on his head standing up straighter than it normally did.

"Oh dear god..." Captain Knievel panted. His muscles and his skin were singed and smoking and he was tired. And ominous creak sounded and he groaned, "What nowwww!?" But when he looked up he could see that it was just the door out...

[quotemyname]

Captain Knievel half crawled half scrambled towards the doorway, eager to be out of this hellish testing room.

Once in the hallway, the door slammed behind him and he was GLAD!

A table stood in the hallway. It was set like a swanky dining restaurant, and on the plate sat a steaming steak. It was the biggest steak he had ever seen. He slumped into the chair and just watched it for a second. His mouth was watering and he couldn't take it any longer. He dug into the steak.

It was cooked medium rare, just the way he liked it. It tasted like the most exquisite steak he had ever had.

"You know what would go really nice with this?" He said with his mouth half full,

*POP* An expensive bottle of wine and a glass appeared on the table.

"Oh yea...That's what I like." Captain Knievel drank and ate and soon he was full. He relaxed for a few more minutes just to make sure he was tip-top, and lock stock once more. Then he continued on to the next door.

[Dr Archeville]

The third door opened, as the first two had, to a seemingly empty room, dark save for a few odd lights here and there. As the door closed, Legend's voice rang out.

"You have weathered some rather extreme pains, Captain. Now it is time for you to return the favor. Good hunting."

From the far side of the room, Knievel could hear movement....

[quotemyname]

As soon as the voice faded away, A dense jungle materialized out of nowhere.

"Whats WITH this place?!" Captain Knievel yelled, surprised.

The sounds of movement became louder. It soon became apparent to Captain Knievel that he was surrounded by something. Something was prowling through the bushes and it was after him. "Good hunting, Right." He said quietly, tensing up.

Suddenly a large Velociraptor burst out of the bushes and charged him. It made a bite at his neck, but captain Knievel was ready for it. He threw an uppercut and connected directly with the underside of the creature's jaw. The blow sent the creature reeling and knocked its attack askew...

"Yea, I don't think so!"

[quotemyname]

Not missing a beat, a second Velociraptor burst out of the bushes on the other side of him. This one charged forward as well. This time The Captain spun in a tight circle and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to the side of the creature's head.

"Take that, Scaly!" Captain Knievel remarked. But he was not in the clear just yet...

[quotemyname]

A third Velociraptor leaped out of the bushes at his backside. Captain Knievel managed to catch a glimpse of the creature in his peripherals just in time. He simply raised a fist behind his head, and the Velociraptor ran headlong into it, causing it to miss with it's intended strike.

"Yaeeahhhh! Take that sucka!" But Captain Knievel didn't have time to gloat, he had other things to worry about...

[quotemyname]

A fourth Velociraptor leaped out of the bushes on the other side of Captain Knievel, but this time he was prepared for such an assault. As the raptor sailed through the air, The Captain leaped up to meet him. He delivered a flying, spinning back kick to the creature's chest just as it began to extend it's legs for another vicious assault with those claws.

The kick disrupted the creature's flight path and it hit the ground hard with a "WHUMP". Captain Knievel however managed to stick a perfect three point landing projecting a cloud of dust at his feet as he did so.

Soon after both the dinosaurs and the jungle began to fade away. "And I am still here, creepy voice guy."

Another door opened up in the middle of the white nothingness, and Captain Knievel stepped through to the other side and into the hallway beyond. He was shocked by what he saw...

"What? Tacos? YES! I love tacos! And blue Mountain Dew?! This is the best birthday ever!" Captain Knievel dug into the well deserved meal.

[Dr Archeville]

Knievel eventually went to a fourth door, and found a room very much like the third.

"You haff shown some impressive -- if straightforvard -- skill in bare-fisted melee combat, but let us see how vell you do mit your new und improved 'Adrenaline Cannon'. Und, do try to show some creativity -- you vould not vant to bore de audience, vould you?"

From the far side of the room, Knievel could hear movement....

[quotemyname]

"Audience? What the hell are you...?"

*BOINK*

"Well that's ... odd ..." Captain Knievel's mouth hung open as he stared at two of what appeared to be roller coaster cars filled with people with smiling faces.

Another strange booming voice rang out of no where. And it was nothing similar to the other strange voice he had been hearing.

"Welcome to the Captain Knievel Show!"

"Okay... This is just... Creepy..."

*Shoomp* *Clank* Another robot appeared, hopping out of a hole in the ground.

"Right. Back to work!" Captain Knievel lassoed the thing around the neck with his laser whip. With a flick of his wrist, he brought it into the air, and crashing down into the ground on the other side of him. It began to short circuit. "One down..."

The crowd began to cheer. Somewhere a buzzer went off, and a large "10" and the word "POINTS" appeared floating In midair above his head.

"Do I really need to say it again...?"