Mack Daddy

Omega Prime, Ty and Exceed...

Drops of water condensed and quietly rolled down the sides of the beer mug in Omega Prime’s clawed hands. For this, he was thankful. The stereo had been off for about an hour now, and the only noise in the crib was a chorus of snores from the assembled heroes. Although Curse never really partook in team get-togethers, everyone else was present and accounted for. Lifting up the glass, his eyes accidentally made contact with a ray of morning sunshine and he winced. He turned around in his chair, facing away from the window, and took a gulp. Setting the glass mug carefully down on the table, he stood up on shaky legs and stumbled towards the bathroom.

On the way, he stepped over a slumbering Exceed on the floor. The CDC team leader

had been crashing at the TARDIS hangout for about three days now. Annoying as he

was in the war, he was a blast to party with.

“Shee, eye tuld yoo sew…” Omega managed to slur the masterfully worded retort out

before a sudden urge to worship the porcelain goddess overtook him and he rushed into the bathroom. Exceed had foolishly made a few bets. Firstly, he thought he could out-drink Omega. That simply didn’t happen. Even Lobo fell to Omega’s heroic ability to handle his liquor.

Secondly, he bet that Omega would have a splitting headache in the morning and had

promised to play some Metallica really loud to wake him up with the sun. Not only had

Exceed himself not been able to get up, but Omega craftily won the bet. He stayed up drinking all night. No hangovers here! Well, not yet anyway…

Coming back out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he went to the kitchen sink and splashed some water on his face in the sink. The T.A.R.D.I.S. base was as close to a college bachelor pad as you could get and the cleanliness of the ‘heroes’ that called it home was nothing to admire. Omega opened the cabinet, looking for a clean glass. If there ever was a clean glass in it, it was long gone. Looking on the counter, he found one that was “semi-clean” and rinsed it off before gulping down a cupful of water.

“You gonna finish that?” Omega turned to see Ty holding his mug of beer. Ty had

already drank most of what was left. “No, go ahead.” Ty was already drinking down

the rest before Omega could finish the short sentence. Upon completing the mug, which by this time was directly over his head as he attempted to extract the last few drops of golden inebriation from it, he simply fell backwards and hit the floor with a *thud*.

Omega winced. Ouch. Looking around, he found a pizza box half eaten from the night

before and began to scarf a piece. He started towards his bedroom when he heard a

piercing noise. Completely forgetting that he had a slice of pizza in his hand, he slapped both hands over his ears, only realizing afterwards that pizza makes a great sound dampener.

The noise occurred again. Through the haze, he could vaguely see the phone lighting up. Looking around, he noticed that nobody else was moving. Apparently they were all too busy to answer it. He stumbled over and pushed the button…

“Wassup my clowns!” The voice was that of Kzaz.

“Everyone’s still out. This is Omega. What’s up?”

“Well, wake someone up. I have a two man job and you’re just the super to make it

happen!”

Oh joy, Omega thought. He sat there for a few minutes more, listening to the instructions over the phone. He was still sitting there a few minutes after the call thinking about it when he realized that he really didn’t want to do this mission alone. On the other hand, he had no desire to wake up everyone in the room. His team wasn’t known for their pre-coffee mornings.

He stood up and stretched, covering his eyes as they once again came in contact with a ray of sunlight. Picking his keys out of the mess on the kitchen counter, he reached down and grabbed Ty by the ankle. Reaching over, he grabbed Exceed by his right arm.

With Ty and Exceed still snoring, Omega pulled them towards the door. “Thank you for

volunteering cupcakes…”

Exceed didn’t wake up until he was in the car. Omega was kind enough to turn on the

radio for him. Metallica.

7-11 wasn’t known for its gourmet coffee, but Omega wasn’t after a great cup of coffee anyway. If he couldn’t sober up his mates, he’d make sure they were at least wired drunks instead of sleeping ones.

It was about eight o’clock in the morning and all three of them sat in the old, beat up Ford that served as the team conveyance of choice when they were trying to stay hidden from view. A late eighties model, it was blockish in shape and its gray paint was showing signs of age. Several Bondo spots on the body reflected the less than stellar history it had apparently lived through. At any rate, the interior was kept up well enough and the air conditioning worked, something for which all three of them were thankful.

As they all sipped coffee, they watched the storefront in front of them carefully and quietly. It was a Sunday morning and the street was silent. The normal morning bustle was conspicuously absent. Most honest folk were at Church right now or having quality time with the families. After Ty had nearly finished his coffee, he leaned forward from the back seat and nudged Omega in the shoulder. He whispered in a hoarse voice, “what are we looking for again?”

Omega turned and looked at him. Ty’s eyes were bloodshot. “You’ll see.”

At that moment, Exceed leaned forward in his seat, “this wouldn’t be it, would it?”

Omega simply nodded. Before them, a one car garage next to a small Meat Market began opening up. The red, steel door slowly rolled upwards, exposing a small, black coup on the inside. When it had opened all the way, the headlights on the small car sprang to life and it pulled out into the street. Exceed recognized the driver instantly, “Power Player…” The garage door began closing behind it.

As it rolled down the street, Omega fired up the old 8-cylindar engine. The three took off after it, keeping a respectable distance. Ty sat in the back seat perplexed. “Yo… this may be the beer talking, but what are we following this guy for anyways?”

Exceed responded without looking back. “Power Player is the leader of the Army of Darkness, one of the Society of Butchers’ teams. He’s nobody to be trifled with.” Turning towards Omega, he had a concerned look on his face. “I think it’s about time you told us why we’re here.”

Omega smiled. “Our good friend up ahead is up to his old tricks again. We’re just here to have some fun… maybe even at his expense! Honestly, Kzaz wasn’t very clear with me.” Exceed and Ty stared at Omega with dumbfounded expressions. “OK. Maybe I wasn’t very clear headed. At any rate, I know we need to follow him and stop something or other from reaching someone or other… Stop looking at me!”

Exceed and Ty were still confused, but seemed happy that the morning wouldn’t be a

waste. They leaned back and kept sipping coffee.

Twenty minutes later, Omega pulled the truck over into a parking lot. Off in the distance the three could see that Power Player had stopped at a nightclub and was going inside. “So this is it.” Omega was rather intrigued at this point and the other two followed him as he made a wide circle around the building on foot. There wasn’t anything else around it, sitting on a few acres by itself, and a good amount of shrubbery effectively hid them from view. It was probably for the best anyway. Exceed was having a hard time walking in a straight line anyway.

Rounding the building, Omega silently lifted the other two over the privacy fence and they settled down behind a broken down car in the back. Some twenty meters away they could see three women loading crates into an unassuming ice cream truck. Power Player stood on the dock overlooking the operation. As they watched, one of the ladies wearing a skin-tight red and white bodysuit dropped a crate. It opened on the dock and the three could clearly see the contents. It was full of space age plasma cannons!

Omega Prime merely nodded his head. The other two finally understood what was up. They didn’t know where those weapons were headed, and really didn’t care all that much. The three quickly darted around the corner of the building. Omega went straight up towards the roof while the other two snuck around the side of the dock, ducking low to avoid being seen.

As they got closer, they could hear the women chattering back and forth as they worked. Power Player seemed to have gone back inside and was nowhere to be seen.

“Did you see that goon the SOB brass hired to guard the dock? Man, what a build!”

“Tora, you have one sick mind. He has four arms.” The second lady seemed less than

delighted.

“I know, but he also had two…” at that point she stopped as the third lady dropped another box. “Annie, you are as clumsy as it gets today!” Ty stopped in his tracks,  crouching below the dock nearly 10 feet from the truck. Exceed was about 10 feet behind him and three rather large plasma rifles fell to the ground in front of him. The dock overhang the parking lot by a scant few feet, allowing him to remain hidden as he approached the truck.

“Sorry.” The lady in the red and white body suit was again picking up weaponry. Below, Ty watched as a slender arm reached down from the dock. Long brunette hair followed it and he could make out a shapely chin as the young lady stretched to reach the weapons she had dropped. He froze.

She grabbed one weapon and pulled it up. Reaching down again, she snagged a second. The third, however, was out of her reach. Pulling up, Ty watched as two shapely legs extended downwards as she hopped onto the concrete and bent over to grab the final weapon. As she did, she kicked up a fair amount of dust. Unable to help himself, Ty let out a muffled sneeze, putting his hand over his mouth just in time.

The young lady, without turning, simply said “bless you” and turned to get back on the dock. She froze and looked down, making eye contact with Ty. He managed an “oh crap” just before she turned the plasma gun on him.

Exceed, seeing all of this unfold, allowed his veteran instincts to take over. He burst from his cover under the overhanging dock and vaulted up into the sunshine above. Within seconds, rays of dark energy were blasting out of his outstretched palms at the two other ladies on the dock. One, a red headed beauty wearing a dark suit simply crossed her arms in front of her and deflected the blasts. Exceed knew this one. Everwinter was a tough customer. The other one he did not know and was caught unawares and took it in the chest. Exceed landed on the dock, now filled with a dark smoke from his surprise assault.

When the smoke cleared, Tora Khan reached up and dusted herself off. “You’re going to pay the cleaning bill bud.” With that, she charged him, the whole dock shaking with each step. Both ladies were on Exceed within seconds, working in well timed unison. Both connected with roundhouse punches, one to the head and the other to the gut, knocking him onto his back. “Or I may just take it out of your hide… Everwinter, what do you think?”

“Definitely!” Magical energies swirled around her arms and extended them to deliver a wave of energy that could melt steel to slag. Had Exceed not rolled off the dock at the last second, he would have been BBQ. Landing on the dirt, he looked to where Ty and the first young lady were. They were nowhere to be seen. The other two stood on the dock over him. The stronger of the two, Tora Khan, jumped down and straddled his chest, pinning his arms to his side. Damn, she was strong! This might have been enjoyable in another situation, but as it was he was beginning to be concerned for his life. 

The second female followed and prepped her attack once more. “Let’s see you avoid

this!”

Exceed struggled, but realized he was a little trapped. He concentrated and closed his eyes. If he focused hard, he could absorb some of the attack. It would help. He then heard a loud crashing noise and the pressure on his chest released. He opened his eyes to see Omega Prime standing over him. The two young vixens were lying on the ground at his side, out cold.

“Need help with the ladies often?” Omega’s eyes were full of mirth. He looked

around, “Where’s Ty?”

“Not sure, but we’d better…” Exceed was cut off. A voice from the other end of the

dock interjected.

“You’d better what?” Power Player had returned to the dock, hearing the commotion. In a surprise attack, he shot a wall of force at Omega Prime, knocking him backwards across the yard and into the derelict car. Exceed jumped to action, onto the dock, and grappled with the SOB leader. The two slammed into the brick wall of the building, cracking the mortar.

Omega Prime was dazed and it was a few minutes before he had his senses about him. Worse yet, the sun was in his eyes again. He didn’t like that. He staggered to his feet really regretting the vast quantity of beer he had consumed the night before as he could start to feel a really nasty hangover coming on. Shaking his head, he could barely hear a thing over the ringing in his ears. Power Player sure did pack a whollop.

He extended his wings and jumped in the air, gliding back onto the dock. On the other side, he could see a hole in the brick wall, apparently the direction Exceed and Power Player had gone in the fight. He hadn’t gotten to it when a hand grabbed the wall from the other side. Exceed pulled himself out into the sunlight.

“Well,” he said through clenched teeth, “you’re too slow bud.” Omega looked behind him to see Power Player lying still on the other side of a dance floor.

“They apparently finished filling the truck as we got here.” Exceed wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth and tossed Omega a key. “I don’t see any more

crates inside.

“I’ll pull the truck around…” Omega started to turn when Exceed held up his hand. Something bright and shiny was hanging from a finger.

“Power Player was kind enough to make this available to me… although probably not of his own free will. I think he wants us to take the shipment!” Exceed and Omega shared a chuckle. Exceed tossed the keys.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Omega was already heading towards the truck when he heard a noise coming from the cab. The door was already open.

Walking up to the side cautiously, he was surprised to find Ty sitting in the driver’s seat. Astounding Annie, the young lady from earlier, was comfortably draped across his lap, giggling away. Neither seemed to be paying attention to much except each other.

“TY!” Omega was genuinely surprised. He tried to raise his voice, but his head was starting to split and he just couldn’t do it. Before his opinion of the situation gave way to ‘massively impressed’, he managed to pull Annie off Ty’s lap and unceremoniously planting her rump on the pavement below. Pushing Ty to the passenger seat, he climbed in the cab. “You do realize that we were in a fight back there, right?” He tried to be cross with the junior member, but he was having a hard time repressing an amused smile himself.

“Can I help it if my superpower makes me the Mack Daddy Supreme? Aside from that, I effectively took her out of the fight… you should be thankful.” Ty just gave Omega a s**t-eating grin and whipped out his cell phone. “Don’t forget, you dragged me out here, quite literally.” Omega could only shake grin and shift the truck into gear as Ty punched in a new phone number.

While Exceed opened the gate to the yard, Omega led the truck out into the street. The sun hit him in the eyes through the dirty windshield and he lifted a wing to shade himself. In frustration, he slapped his giant hand down on the dashboard. A massive hangover was hitting him now.

The radio crackled once and came to life. “This is KHARD, the SHC HEAVY METAL STATION, playing a full Sunday of Ride the Lightning!” The announcer was loud. The Metallica blasting over the service truck’s radio a second later was worse. Try as he might, the radio was stuck. The truck ambled down the street blaring music and Omega just rubbed his temples. This was gonna be a long trip home.

As they left the yard, and barely heard over the screeching of the radio, Astounding Annie hollering after the truck, “Don’t forget to call, Ty!”

Exceed, comfortably riding in the pickup behind them, laughed most of the way home…