November 23, 1953 The monster that ate Sheboygan!

It was terrible! An entire town in Michigan, totally destroyed, burned to the ground and then... eaten? The entire population, missing and presumed dead, some of them burned to death and then torn apart by massively powerful jaws. And no witnesses. What could have happened?

There had been a terrible storm on Lake Michigan that night, forcing everyone into shelter. Early the next morning, a post office carrier was taking the day's mail to the Sheboygan office, and all he found was a steaming, smoking ruin.

Once he had conquered his panic and convinced others that something terrible really had happened, investigators were called in. And when they didn't produce immediate results, even more investigators. Closer examination showed that the bite marks found on many of the burned and damaged structures, trees, vehicles and people were sharp- edged, as if made by a massive beak, rather than ragged as if made by teeth. The monster, whatever it had been, was a sloppy eater - as it had chewed, many chunks and pieces had fallen from its mouth. More than one member of the many rescue teams became violently ill when they discovered this kind of remains.

Eventually, after several days of investigation, a sort of coherent story emerged. Some very large animal, perhaps a giant crocodile, alligator, or something like a Kimoto Dragon, had crawled from Lake Michigan, set the town on fire, and then followed behind the flames as they died out, smashing anything that remained and making a grotesque meal out of whatever was left. Footprints the size of swimming pools, with claws 6 feet long. The belly of the beast apparently rode about 30 feet above ground, because anything tall that had escaped the fire had been smashed at that height. A tail had dragged through the debris behind the beast.

Herpetologists pointed out a couple of flaws in the crocodilian theory. The beak must have resembled the beak of a parrot, short, triangular, with sharp edges rather than teeth. No known crocodilian had a beak like that. And the tail, it wasn't broad enough, and didn't seem long enough to resemble any known crocodilian. Most of the other investigators pointed out that no known crocodilian was well over 120 feet in length and apparently breathed fire, either. Both sides kept arguing, long after normal people started worrying about when it might come back and how they could protect themselves.

A few conspiracy theorists wondered if there might be any link between the Monster That Ate Sheboygan and the UFO scare over northeastern Michigan that same night, but there was really no way to investigate. Maybe when the monster was captured or killed, more would be found out.

And of course it would be captured or killed. Everyone was certain of that. Why, almost anyone or anything might be able to commit an atrocity one time, with the advantage of surprise, but after that, the Squadron of Justice would be alerted and would certainly prevent the terrible events from recurring! It was just around then that people started to panic, as they finally realized that the Squadron of Justice seemed to have vanished forever.

Suddenly everyone was afraid to venture out on Lake Michigan, or any of the other Great Lakes, for that matter. The Coast Guard pulled a half dozen destroyers out of the Navy mothball fleet, and started working frantically to put them back into commission. All of the old stories, rumors, legends and myths about lake monsters, especially the ones that were reputed to rise up out of the Great Lakes and swallow Lake steamers whole during storms, made a comeback. The Navy announced that it was sending some submarines into the Great Lakes, and there were a hundred desertions from the ranks of the submariners within a couple of days.

Almost all shipping on the Great Lakes came to a halt. Middle America was shocked to realize how much their lives depended on things shipped via the Great Lakes, as prices immediately started to rise on almost everything. A few foolish or very brave crews on tramp steamers made their fortunes, accepting urgent shipments that no one else dared to transport. Railroads and trucking companies enjoyed tremendous growth, as did shipping on the Mississippi and its tributaries - after all the experts assured everyone that the fire breathing, beaked crocodilian was too big to survive in the Mississippi.

By mid-December, the advancing economic hardship in the Midwest, combined with the Korean War and the trauma caused by the sudden disappearance of the Squadron of Justice, looked as if it might drive the United States into an economic crisis even worse that the Great Depression.

***********************

Todd had problems of his own. Two of his best friends (Bulletman and Bulletgirl) had just vanished and it was time for finals at UC. His heart wasn't really into studying. He wished Tomas was still going to school here, because Tomas always found some way to cheer him up and get him going! But Tomas had finished his dual undergraduate degrees during summer school; his enhanced memory helping him learn 3 or 4 times as fast as an unenhanced student.

Tomas had temporarily tabled his desire to build atomic reactors, and he was now working as a trainee at a private detective agency in Chicago. The friends still saw each other several times a week, but Todd missed his best friend. Lately it had been harder than ever to get hold of Tomas, as he was spending most of his free time on some hush-hush project.

When Todd saw the news story about Sheboygan, it made him feel even worse. Why, only a few months ago, Bulletman and Bulletgirl had taken a vacation in Michigan, and they had spent several days in Sheboygan. If only the had been there yesterday; maybe they could have stopped the disaster. If only, if only...

Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to study any more tonight, Todd left the dorm. He drove south to Calumet, where Tomas had a small house near the beach. He brought along the course material he was having problems with; perhaps he could get Tomas to talk over the concepts with him. Sometimes Tomas was able to make things much clearer than any instructor Todd had ever seen.

The roads in Tomas's neighborhood were almost always closed during the winter, as they usually had several inches of ice covering them, as spray blew off of the Lake. People parked in a sheltered lot and then walked to their houses. The beach itself was covered with a scattering of tremendously large rocks - detritus picked up by the glaciers during the last ice age and dropped here when the Ice Age and the glaciers retreated northward.

Todd walked along the beach, weaving between the rocks. As he approached the house, he heard an unusual noise. Not that the sound of waves on the beach was unusual here, but the noise level quickly grew and within seconds, Todd thought that the surf noise was louder than standing right next to a locomotive! He turned to look at the Lake and he was stunned to see a 15 foot wall of water rushing towards him! A tsunami on Lake Michigan?! Totally unheard of, and yet that wave was real! He had to warn everyone so he started yelling at the top of his lungs. By this time, the wave was so close, the roar was too loud for him to holler over. He was doomed to be swept away unless he could find something sturdy to hold on to!

He saw a couple of rocks that seemed to offer him the best hope of survival and ran to them. A very large boulder, larger than Tomas's house, in fact, would prevent this wave from crashing down on top of him. And close by there was another rock that looked kind of like the stump of a tree. He hoped this rock was just the extension of a much larger boulder buried beneath the sand!

With a roar louder than anything he had ever heard before, the wave crested against his sheltering rock. As Todd had counted on, it was tall enough that the wave washed around it rather than over top. This wasn't as big a win as Todd had hoped, though. Ice cold water battered at him from both sides, and it would be over his head in instants! He barely had time to take a deep breath, and then he lunged for his `stump`, and quickly wrapped both his arms and legs around it. Apparently it was attached to something much bigger, as Todd wasn't washed away.

He could feel the water pressure build as the highest point of the wave passed over him, and then lessen. The force of the wave had bashed him against his anchor, which had forced out about half the air he was trying to hold, and his lungs were starting to burn. He also realized that he was starting to lose feeling in his limbs due to the cold. If this wave didn't recede soon, he was a goner!

But that would cut the story short, wouldn't it? In less than another minute, the water level was low enough that Todd could breath again! In another few seconds, he was able to release his grip. He quickly looked lakeward to see if he was going to have to live through another battering like that, but the water was almost calm now.

He figured that Tomas's house must have been demolished, but he was wrong. Most of the nearby houses were virtually unaffected! People around here were used to 15 foot waves, although they usually only occurred during violent storms. The houses were all cunningly arranged so that any giant wave would have to batter its way past at least 2 of the giant rocks on the beach before they reached any of the houses, and the houses were all built on stilts that kept them a good 5 feet off the beach. About a quarter mile away, he could see that some buildings had collapsed. He decided to see if Tomas was OK, and then see if he could offer assistance to anyone.

He ran up to the front door of the house (it faced away from the beach!) and pounded on it. Tomas answered the door, and he was in the process of putting on some kind of red and blue costume! Seeing Todd, he pulled them into the living room, and then threw him a bundle of red and yellow cloth.

"Quick! There are people who need our help! Put this on!" As he said this, Tomas pulled on a mask.

"What is it, anyway?" Todd started shaking out the bundle.

"It's your Red Rocket costume. C'mon, hurry!"

"Tomas, you know I don't want to be a super hero! I'll just go along and help as plain old Todd Drake."

"Todd, we are going to have to fly to rescue some of these folks! You can give the costume back later, but don't argue with me right now!"

Todd saw the wisdom of this, and he acquiesced. It would be helpful to be able to fly if they had to rescue someone from the icy waters of the lake. Much of the costume looked at least vaguely familiar, and he started pulling it on. But, something was missing!

"Uh, Tomas, I hate to be negative, but I need the gravity helmet to fly..."

"I've made improvements. The circuits are now part of your utility belt. But you control it the same way. Except for some additions I've made, you control it exactly the same as you did the gravity helmet."

When he was finished putting on the costume, Ted was left holding a red visor. "Uh, Tomas, what's this?"

"Don't worry about it now, it's one of these extras I told you about. You can do without it for now. Hook it through the utility belt and let's go!"

Todd did that, and then leaped into the air. Tomas was right, he did control this suit exactly as he had controlled the gravity helmet. He was unsurprised to see Tomas floating next to him. "I'm heading that way" Todd pointed to the nearest collapsed building.

"OK, I'll check the water and then come to help you." He flew back into his house and emerged a few seconds later, carrying a young lady. "I'll introduce you later!" He the flew into the nearby boathouse. You know the type, boats are drawn up a ramp into the interior of the boathouse, and then lifted onto racks.

"Aki, stand back! I'm going to put your boat into the water!" He put her down, ran to a wooden runabout, and, barely straining, picked it up off the rack and put it into the water. He and Aki quickly gathered as many lifejackets as they could find, and Tomas grabbed two coils of rope. As Aki climbed into the boat, Tomas tied one of the ropes to the bow of the boat and started towing it out onto the lake. By the time Aki had the motor running, they were about a hundred feet offshore. Todd threw his end of the line to Aki, and she tied it onto a life preserver ring.

Tomas flew northwest along the coastline for about a half mile. Nobody lived near the lake that far north, and it was several miles before the shore started being populated again. He then dropped one end of the line into the lake and tied the other around his waist. He started to slowly fly back towards Aki and her boat. Each time he would spot someone in the water, he would drag the rope so that the new person could grab hold, and then he flew onward. By the time he reached Aki and the motorboat, there were 7 people holding onto his lifeline. Aki had moved the boat southeast, and she had picked up another 4. Tomas helped them all into the boat. On the south side of the little settlement, it was about 15 miles to the next beachside settlement, so Aki headed the boat back to the boathouse. Tomas flew to where Todd was trying to extricate people from the wreckage of a collapsed house. Todd was having problems trying to move the larger pieces of debris - the Red Rocket suit had power and to spare, but Todd had to wrap his arms around things before he could life them, and some of them were too heavy for his arms and hands. Tomas changed that!

Working quickly but carefully, the two costumed heroes cleared enough debris to rescue everyone they could, and then they moved on to the next collapsed house, and then the next. In an hour they were done - there was nobody left to rescue nearby. They flew back to Tomas's house and found that Aki had set up a soup kitchen, and was serving bowls of hot soup to anyone who needed something, rescued and rescuers alike. By now, the fire department had arrived, and they were tending to the wounded. For the moment, their job was done.

Todd turned to Tomas. "Nice costume! What do you call yourself?"

Tomas struck a bodybuilder's pose, flexing both arms. "Red Rocket, meet Tom Atomic!"

Chapter 02

"Aki told people I went inland for dinner with a friend so nobody will wonder why I'm not around for the rescue. She put our civilian clothes in a grip right inside the side door. Let's go protect our secret identities..."

"Tomas, you don't seem to understand. I don't want to protect a secret identity. I don't even want to have a secret identity. I want to live a nice normal life."

Tomas looked like he didn't believe a word of it. "Well, then, help me protect mine, OK?"

He opened the door, picked up the grip, and the two flew away, directly inland. In the general confusion, most people didn't notice their departure. A couple of miles inland, they curved back around towards the Lake, and soon ended up at the parking lot. Todd was relieved to see that the cars in the lot had not been damaged by the rogue wave. Tomas scouted around a bit, and when he saw that there was no one else around, they landed.

Before Todd could start changing his clothes, Tomas spoke up again. "Hey, let me show you some of the neat additions I've made to that suit! You'll love them!"

Todd was getting a little annoyed at having to repeat himself. "Tomas, I don't care how neat they are. I'm not interested in the hero biz any more, and I don't really care to see them!"

Tomas's voice was wistful, almost pleading... "C'mon, Todd, I need to show off to someone. Humor me, will you?"

Todd sighed. Anything for his best friend... "Golly Gee Whiz, Tomas! Can you pretty please show me all the neat gadgets you built into this keen hero suit?" He put artificial enthusiasm into his voice, and Tomas smiled.

"Thanks, buddy. Well, as you already know, you have the same flight capabilities you had as Bulletboy, or in your first Red Rocket costume. I've kept the radio from your gravity helmet, and extended the magnetic field to protect your whole body, not just your head. I've also kept the helmet radio."

"The first big difference is the visor. You still have it, I hope?" Todd pulled the visor from his belt. Tomas took it from him. "Here, let me put it on for you." He slid the earpieces into matching receptacles in the pods over each ear, and Todd heard them lock into place with a click.

"Not only does the visor protect your eyes when you fly at high speeds, it can be adjusted to work like a telescope or a microscope, and it also lets you see by infrared or ultraviolet light."

This caught Todd's interest. The only thing he had disliked about flying was the wind blowing in his eyes . And the scientist in him was curious. "How did you make it do all those things? It sounds like magic."

"I have Bulletman to thank. He's never used it for anything more than flying, but his gravity regulator is amazing! With the right adjustments, I can use it to create gravity lenses that work like a telescope or a microscope, and I can also use gravity control to red-shift ultra-violet, or blue-shift infrared, into the visible spectrum. My goggles work the same way."

"Wow, I just gotta try this out. How do I make the visor work?" Todd once again leapt into the air. Tomas flew next to him.

"Just like the gravity helmet. You think about what you want, and the visor adjusts. Here, look at the lighthouse, and concentrate on making it look larger." The Calumet lighthouse was about a half mile up the shore. Todd looked at it, and concentrated, and suddenly it appeared to zoom towards him.

"That's great! Better than any binoculars I've ever used!" Todd slowly spun around, testing the telescopic power of the visor. He was facing northeast over the lake, trying to spot a boat or a buoy or anything he could zoom in on. "Uh oh, Tomas! Take a look out there! I think I know what caused that giant wave!"

Tomas turned and looked, and caused his goggles to zoom in as well. Even at maximum magnification, they couldn't see much detail yet, but there was something big out there, and it was moving towards Chicago.

"I don't know what it is, but it must be as big as the Roman Coliseum!" Tomas spoke tensely.

"I wonder if it might be related to that thing in Sheboygan? It looks like you picked the wrong day to give up being a super-hero, buddy! C'mon!" and he rocketed towards the mysterious object. He didn't have to turn his head to know that Red Rocket was following him - he hadn't mentioned it yet, but his goggles and Todd's visor also had built-in radar...

Within seconds, Red Rocket and Tom Atomic were flashing over the lake, moving faster than Todd had ever flown before. He had to admit, it was exhilarating! As they approached the swimming monster, they were able to make out more details. Todd recognized it first.

"My God, Tomas, it's an alligator snapping turtle! A snapping turtle bigger than a football stadium!" Todd was awestruck, and perhaps a little fearful. "What can we possibly do to stop it? We're no bigger than dragonflies compared to that thing."

Tom Atomic wasn't worried. He didn't yet know what they would do, but he knew they would do something heroic. That's what heroes do, right? "There's some more surprises in these costumes than I've told you about yet, Red Rocket! Why don't you call the Coast Guard and warn them, and maybe they can find some help for us. I'm going to take a closer look."

"Tomas, be careful!" Todd wasn't thrilled about being a super hero, but he had learned from one of the best, and he knew the value of caution. "It knows we`re here, and the scientists think it can... " the warning was a second too late "breath fire!"

The turtle's mouth opened and it belched flame, a long oily stream of flame that smelled terrible. Tomas was unable to avoid the great gout, so instead he increased his speed and dove through it. He felt a blast of almost unbearable heat, but he was through it and into the freezing water so fast, he didn't have time to get burned. The shock of hitting the water at such high speed almost knocked him out - only his super strength allowed him to maintain consciousness. The shock of the ice cold water against his exposed skin also helped him stay conscious, and he silently gave thanks that the costumes were insulated over most of the body.

Tomas had never before tried to `fly' underwater, and he was very disoriented. He needed to stop and orient himself. He certainly didn't want to accidentally `fly' deeper into the lake, but right now, he wasn't sure quite which way was up! And it was pretty darn dark down here, too.

He switched to infravision, and at least he could see his own body now! He cautiously exhaled, just a little, and saw which way the bubbles moved. Lucky he had remembered that trick, because he was currently aimed downwards just a bit! He reoriented so he was facing upwards and applied power.

Suddenly it got even darker, and he realized he was under the monster! He twisted sideways and applied even more power, and now he was zooming along like a torpedo! The shape of the darkness changed, and a current of water pushed him on his way, and he realized that he had just barely escaped being eaten! The giant beak snapping shut produced a surge of water that helped him move even faster.

He once again angled upwards, and finally burst out of the water like a missile, flashing instantly high into the air. In fact, he realized that he was out of control, and once again, he wasted precious seconds in regaining control and re-orienting himself. He was already so high in the air that the turtle looked small! Quickly, he turned downwards and streaked to help his partner.

Todd had managed to avoid the blast of oily flame. The stink suggested to him that the turtle burned natural methane. Not that it really mattered. He saw Tomas dive into the water, and the turtle dive after him. Seconds later Tomas burst out of the water, and was out of sight almost instantly. Todd hoped he was OK, but he had his own problems to deal with.

As the monster dove, it created another huge wave. There was nothing Todd could do to stop that wave, so he continued his efforts to contact the Coast Guard and warn them. It would probably take 20 minutes to a half an hour before it struck shore, so maybe they could be better prepared than they had been for the first wave. Just as Todd finished his emergency broadcast, the monster broke the surface again, and that touched off another gigantic wave.

Todd gave the Coast Guard the news about the second wave, then asked if they could broadcast an emergency signal on the Squadron of Justice wavelength. He knew the SoJ was missing, but maybe some of the heroes who had not gone missing might hear the emergency signal and respond. He and Tomas - no, he and Tom Atomic! - could use all the help they could get! He finally stopped thinking of himself as Todd, and he was now truly the Red Rocket!

The monster, apparently satisfied that it had driven off its miniature tormenters, once again began swimming placidly towards shore. Todd thought furiously, but the only plan he could come up with was to irritate it, and see if he could get it to follow him, away from Chicago. If it came after him, he wasn't sure what he would do, but letting it land in Chicago was an even worse plan!

Red Rocket reviewed everything he knew about snapping turtles, which, he realized, wasn't very much. A snapper had a tremendous beak and powerful jaw muscles, and couldn't actually draw its head into the shells. And it had BIG sharp claws. But they were slow, and not very smart, and he was sure they didn't breathe fire! He should be cautious, and not assume anything about this monster, just because it looked like a snapper!

"Well, the back is too well protected to attack" he mused. "How about the top of the head?" He approached the turtle from behind, and positioned himself above the head, and then he drove himself downwards as hard as he could. He landed feet first on the middle of the turtle's massive head. He almost broke bones in his legs, and as far as he could see, he had done no damage. The turtle seemed to be annoyed at the dragonfly that had landed on it, and it ponderously shook its head, but Red Rocket was easily able fly away, unharmed.

"Well, darn that Tom Atomic anyway. He's the one with the super-strength." For the first time, Red Rocket realized that he really didn't have any weapons. As Bulletboy, he had sometimes smashed into crooks helmet-first, but he had really never needed any weapons against human foes. Heck, even a sledgehammer would be better than nothing!

Red Rocket flew to the side of the monster's head, and quickly kicked it in the eye. It didn't like that! The head swung towards Red Rocket like a wrecking ball, faster than he thought it could move. He quickly lifted skywards, and was buffeted by strong gusts of wind as the head swept past him. He noticed that some kind of transparent inner eyelid had just closed, protecting the monster's eyes from another kick. Todd was pretty much stymied. He decided it was time for Secret Plan # 4.

Darting back and forth in front of the turtle's head, praying that he could continue to avoid the fire breath, and hoping that the turtle would turn and follow him. It was dangerous, because not only could the monster flick its head more quickly than Red Rocket expected, he also had to dodge sudden gouts of flame, and he had to keep from being bitten. Once again, the monster seemed to decide that Red Rocket's antics posed no threat to it, and it ignored him and continued swimming towards Chicago.

Red Rocket landed on the shell of the turtle, and used his radio to call Tom Atomic. He needed some help, and he needed it now.

Chapter 03

"Red Rocket calling Tom Atomic! Red Rocket calling Tom Atomic! Tom Atomic, come in please!" Red Rocket cranked up the magnification on his visor-vision, and scanned the sky. There! Just breaking through the clouds, he saw Tom Atomic flashing downwards to join him. At the same time, the Coast Guard was calling him back.

"Coast Guard calling Red Rocket. This is Lieutenant Commander Smith, commanding officer of the Chicago base. We don't have any heavily armed vessels in the area, but we will be sending several patrol boats armed with machine guns. They should be arriving in the area in about 12 minutes; please make yourselves visible to them so they don't shoot you!"

"The Air Force has scrambled the nearest bomber squadron, and they will be there in about 45 minutes. They request that you remain in the area to provide observational assistance. Mayor Kennelly has ordered the evacuation of Chicago and Governor Stratton has declared martial law! The Army is moving artillery to the Lake Michigan shoreline and they will be coordinating their fire with the Air Force."

"Via radar, we estimate that the beast will reach shore in about an hour. With any luck, the Air Force will stop it at least a mile off shore."

"This sounds like a big job, son, but I saw you in action in some newsreels years ago" Red Rocket had been forced to identify himself as the former Bulletboy in order to get the Coast Guard to pay attention to his story. "You worked with the best - make them proud of you!"

Red Rocket didn't bother to point out that Bulletman and Bulletgirl had vanished. The pep talk was as much for the sailors on the Coast Guard patrol boats who were listening in as it was for him.

"No response on the Squadron of Justice wavelength yet, but we'll keep sending. Good luck, and remember, help is on the way!"

"Thanks, Commander! We're going to attempt to drive the monster away from Chicago; we will keep you appraised of our results. Please ask your patrol boats to fire some flares when they reach the area, and we will make sure to stay away from their bullets. Red Rocket, out!"

Tom Atomic landed lightly next to him. Both heroes were ready to fly at a second's notice, in case this monster decided to submerge. Tom Atomic was impatient.

"C'mon, Rocket. Let's just take care of this thing ourselves!" He was ready to launch himself skywards again, but Red Rocket grabbed his arm.

"Just how do you expect to do that? I know you're way stronger than I am, but what good will that be? Look how big this thing is!"

"Have you tried your flamethrower yet?" Tom Atomic asked.

"Flamethrower? There's a flamethrower in this suit? Geez, what would'a happened if I'd managed to turn it on by accident, back during our rescue? I can't believe you didn't tell me about it before!" Red Rocket was more than a little bit worried. Tomas's recent behavior struck him as being reckless, which wasn't like him at all!

"Don't be silly, buddy! It's impossible. You have to arm it first, and you can't do that accidentally." He pointed to one of the boxes attached to Red Rocket's utility belt, above his left hip. "You need to open the sliding cover on this box, and then press the button inside to arm it. There is a circuit in the pointing finger of your right gauntlet, and the only way to arm the flamethrower is by bring that circuit into contact with another circuit that is part of the button. And if you don't use it within 3 minutes of arming it, it automatically goes back into safety mode."

Well, that sounded safe enough But Red Rocket needed more information. "So what does it burn?"

"Hydrogen, drawn from water vapor in the air!" Tom Atomic was proud of this invention. Todd, however, was a chemist, and he immediately spotted a discrepancy. But, before he could speak, Tom Atomic continued. "Push the button, then point your right arm, make a fist and concentrate. The flame comes out of that little nozzle on the back of your gauntlet."

Red Rocket did these things as Tom Atomic was explaining them. Suddenly, a gout of flame exploded from the back of his wrist, and Red Rocket could feel the heat, even through his insulated costume! "Holy spit! That's amazing!" he exclaimed. He stopped concentrating, and the flame died away. He turned to Tom Atomic and asked the same question he had been about to ask before, and this time he didn't let Atomic change the subject.

"Mr. Atomic, sir, you do understand that I'm a chemist, right?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice, but Tom Atomic didn't seem to notice, he just nodded. "Well, that's no hydrogen flame! A hydrogen flame is practically invisible, and not nearly that hot. What else aren't you telling me?"

Tom Atomic seemed reluctant to continue, but Red Rocket was insistent. "Well, it really does burn hydrogen! You see, your command to the suit starts an automatic process. A small stream of hydrogen flows into a mixing chamber on the back of your wrist. Then I use incredibly dense magnetic fields to slam the atoms together, and some of them join to become helium. The energy released is enough to turn the rest of the hydrogen into plasma, rather than just plain flame."

"Holy Spit!!!" Todd ripped off the gauntlet and threw it as far as he could. "Are you telling my there was just a GD fusion reaction taking place on my wrist? What are you, bleepin' crazy?!?!"

Chapter 04

"Hey!" Tom Atomic yelled. He flashed away and caught the gauntlet before it could splash into the lake, and then he was back next to Todd. Todd had forgotten just how fast the anti-crime drug made people! Atomic was still talking "I put a lot of work into that!"

Todd thought about backing away but he realized he couldn't get far enough away on the turtle's shell to matter if there was a problem. He suddenly had a thought, and if it hadn't been December and him miles from shore, he would have ripped his costume off as well!

"OK, `Tom Atomic'! I've just about had it with surprises from you for one day. You want us to play hero and save Chicago from this monster? Fine. But you listen to me while we do it, or I'll leave you and `SuperTurtle' here to the Air Force and Army!"

"Hey, what's the matter with you? I've got the training for this, and I can do just fine without you telling me what to do. I am a Marine alum, you know!"

"And Marines are trained to fight human enemies, aren't they? I've been trained to be a super-hero, by some of the best in the business. Better hurry up and decide - the Coast Guard boats are almost here, and they're going to start shooting as soon as they arrive! I'd just as soon not have them shooting at us!"

Tom Atomic thought fast. He didn't like it, but he thought he would humor Todd this one time. "Marines know how to take orders, boss! But this conversation ain't over - when we're finished here, I'm gonna kick your butt `till you cry uncle!"

They had never actually fought for real. Todd thought that Tomas had been a better boxer while he might have been a better martial artist, back before he got his super powers. But Todd still knew some tricks Tomas had never seen, tricks he had been taught by Minute Man, and he thought he stood a fair chance in a fight with Tomas. He hoped he would never have to fight with his best friend. But he wasn't going to put up with dangerous crap from Tom Atomic, either.

"OK, Tom Atomic, give me back my gauntlet. And tell me EVERYTHING else I need to know about this suit!" Todd decided that Atomic was probably telling the truth about how safe the plasma thrower was. And, if something went wrong, he would never know it!

"The short story is this: the visor also has built in radar; the ear pieces hold a radio and some sophisticated ambient sound amplifiers. If you go underwater, the costume has a waterproof mask that slides over your mouth and nose and draws oxygen from the water. There are some gadgets and other stuff in most of the utility belt pouches. That thing on the back of your left hand that looks like brass knuckles? Very powerful light source, aim it and concentrate. You can make it emit ultraviolet, infrared, or visible light. Just point and concentrate! And it should work pretty well as brass knuckles, too." He thought for a moment.

"Oh, yeah, the material of the costume is waterproof and it will stop small arms fire. And keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. And Aki designed the costume, while I designed the gadgets. That's all there is!"

Todd started to reply, but Atomic quickly added: "And, of course, all the capabilities you already know about.."

"You had better by accurate, Tom Atomic! My life may depend on it. Now, what does your suit do?

"My goggles work just like your visor. My suit works just like your Bullet Helmet used to - lets me fly, and generates a magnetic field that bounces bullets, only around my whole body, just like your RR costume. Helmet radio. Same material as yours, same designer. No other weapons or gadgets."

"You built all these new toys into my costume, and you didn't install any into your own? Darned if I believe that!" Tom Atomic looked hurt that his best friend might mistrust him.

"Well, since you don't have my natural super powers, I did your suit first. And I don't want my suit to do exactly the same things yours does, so I'm still figuring out my `toys`."

Todd - nope, he was now Red Rocket once again! - had been thinking. "Just how much control do I have over the fusion process? Does it have to happen inside the mixing chamber? Could I cut way back on the hydrogen flow?"

"Some, I'm not sure, and of course" Atomic responded. "What do you want to do?"

"If I could make the fusion `hot spot' occur about a foot from my hand, and direct only a very little hydrogen into the `hot spot', and then I was to bring the `hot spot' into contact with something, what would happen?"

"My Lord, and you're calling ME crazy?!?! Essentially, anything within about a half inch of the fusion point would just vaporize! You'd have a disintegration beam!"

Red Rocket shook his head. "You have been taking reckless risks, and putting others at risk without giving them a choice. I'm trying to figure out how to stop this monster and save lives. I doubt I'll be able to stop it with the flamethrower alone - all it would have to do would be to dive underwater. You and I together may not even be able to stop it. If you tell me I have a disintegrator, as a last ditch effort, I can kill it by drilling a hole into its brain, before it can submerge."

Tom Atomic had been examining schematics in his head. "It's not designed to work that way, but pretty much everything in that suit is under your mental control. I doubt if you could manifest the `hot spot' further away than a foot, but anything up to a foot ought to be possible. The best thing to do would be to try it, without any hydrogen. I can use the magnetic controls in my own suit as sensors to verify if you really are creating the hot spot where you want it to be."

Red Rocket nodded. "OK, let's test it really fast. We have to stop those Coast Guard patrol boats from shooting!" He armed the flamethrower, and then concentrated as he had before, but this time he concentrated on not having any flame.

Tom Atomic had both hands held out in front of him, and he slowly moved them back and forth. "The hot spot is activated in the mixing changer. Now see if you can get it to move..."

Red Rocket visualized the hot spot, the intersection of some very powerful magnetic fields, in the mixing chamber on the back of his gauntlet. He then visualized the fields extending further, so they came together in front of his hand rather than above it. Tom Atomic shook his head. Red Rocket concentrated harder - he tried to extend his consciousness into that spot, and then move slowly away.

"It's moving!" Atomic shouted excitedly. He pointed with both hands, so that Red Rocket had a visual indication of where the hot spot was, and slowly, the spot he was pointing at moved away from Rocket's gauntlet. About 9 inches away, it stopped.

"I can't push it any further. I guess that will have to be far enough!" Red Rocket grunted. "Stand back!" He then thought about a very very small flame, and a bright flash appeared at the hot spot. He concentrated on a candle flame, and the hot spot then glowed continually.

"I'm going to have to add some kind of visual feedback if you are going to use this on a regular basis" Atomic commented. Rocket moved his arm to bring the glowing hot spot into contact with the turtle's shell. When it touched, a small patch of shell vaporized. Rocket wasn't quite ready to kill the monster just yet. He quickly and easily carved an X several inches deep into the shell.

"Looks like it works OK. So we can probably kill it if we have to. Now let's stop the Coast Guard boats."

Atomic was confused. "Why stop them? We'll probably have to kill it anyway, so why not let them help us?"

Rocket was exasperated. "For some reason, you've stopped thinking. What's this thing going to do the second a bullet hits it? Probably shoot fire, and that will destroy any patrol boat it hits. Even if it doesn't flame on, it can dive underwater where they can't reach it. What would happen if it came up under one of those boats? Or came up next to one and then chomped on it?"

Atomic was puzzled. "Oh, yeah! Why didn't I think of that?" The fact that he hadn't worried him, and he started to think about the things Red Rocket had said about his judgment. Then he realized that now was not a good time. He would follow Rocket's lead for now, and worry about his judgment later.

Rocket was back in the air, headed towards shore. He could see the Coast Guard boats with his visor-vision. He radioed to them. "Red Rocket to the Coast Guard, come in. I recommend your boats not attack this monster, but just escort it for now. We've seen it in action. You bullets probably won't hurt it, and it is easily capable of destroying the boats. We will attempt to draw its attention away from Chicago. If we can get it to follow us, your boats can be spotters for the Army artillery."

"Commander Smith here. Received and understood, Red Rocket. All boats surround the monster and then stand off a half mile. No shots are to be fired, repeat, no shots are to be fired unless I command. Smith out!"

Chapter 05

"Let's see if we can get its attention" Rocket suggested. "Maybe we can get it pissed off and it will chase us?" He flew off ahead of the beast, turned around, and blasted it with the plasma thrower. The monster let out a scary roar, louder than the loudest thunder Todd had ever heard, and returned fire for fire. The plasma was hotter, but the methane flame from the beast was much larger and it sure smelled terrible! Red Rocket's insulated suit protected him somewhat, but he was just about to move out of range when the turtle dived. Within seconds it was out of sight.

Both heroes were amazed that something that big could disappear so completely, even underwater! Seconds later, the radio blared!

"This is Captain Casey from the Coast Guard patrol boat 'Inland Sea'. Our sonar operator reports that the monster dove to around 100 fathoms" 600 feet, the heroes calculated quickly "and now it is rising at very high speed! All hands rig for heavy water! 3..2..1..now!"

Amazingly, this monster, as big as a football stadium, launched itself entirely out of the water, and with an even louder roar, it was flying!

"It shouldn't be able to fly, it's too large!" Tom Atomic thought to himself.

"Tom, it's chasing me, go help the Coast Guard!" Rocket radioed, as he quickly flew away towards the north and east, drawing the monster away from Chicago and towards the middle of the lake. He was faster and more maneuverable, and every time it seemed as if the monster was about to give up the chase, he would turn and blast it again.

Meanwhile, the immense upwelling of water had produced another gigantic ripple wave. All of the Coast Guard boats had managed to shift directions and were bow first into the wave, ands most of them rode it out safely. But two were too close together and the wave smashed them into each other. One boat was going down quickly; the other was so damaged it wouldn't stay afloat much longer. Rescue efforts were already underway for those sailors from the sinking boat, and the sailors on the other boat were in the process of orderly abandoning ship - to an astonished Tom Atomic, it looked as if a routine drill was in process!

He couldn't tell if everyone had gotten off of the sinking boat, so he dove into the water and flashed underneath it, let the wreckage settle on to his shoulders, and then he began to rise again. He was glad he'd taken the time to put the automatic underwater breathing mask into his costume as well as Red Rocket's!

He lifted the wreckage until it was barely out of the water, and then slowly, gently moved until he was near an undamaged boat. A couple of brave sailors clambered aboard and quickly searched as much of the boat as they could reach. They found one man in an internal compartment who had been trapped when something had fallen on him. He was coughing up water, but it looked like he would live. They quickly carried him out of the wreckage. A head count of those still in the water, those already rescued, and the one man from the wreckage accounted for the entire crew.

Tom Atomic needed weapons to fight the monster turtle. He dove deeper under the wreckage, and as it started to sink again, he smashed his way into the engine compartment from below. He was hoping he could rip the engine free from the mounts that supported it, and he could use it as a missile or a hammer. However, although his gravity regulator and his shoulders were easily strong enough to carry the engine, his hands were not strong enough to break the steel motor mounts. He didn't really want to carry the whole darned boat around for a long time,

Just before the wrecked boat went under for a final time, Tom Atomic managed to break off the radio mast, leaving him with a hollow steel spear, 15 feet long. Not much, but it was all he was going to get here. He dropped onto one of the undamaged boats. "You guys don't have anything explosive, do you?" The boat's commander signaled below, and within a few minutes, an ensign came up on deck with 5 hand grenades attached to an ammo belt. "Best we can do, son. We've got no reason to carry depth charges; but these sometimes work as a substitute."

Atomic took the belt and strapped it on. "Thanks, Cap'n. I suggest you guys head back to base; when that monster falls back into the lake again there's gonna be a wave bigger than any we've seen so far!" And then he was away. The `flying football stadium' showed up clearly on his radar.

Red Rocket had been flying a zigzag path, staying ahead of the monster and staying away from its breath. After a few minutes, the monster seemed to lose interest, and it started to wheel around and head back towards Chicago. It also seemed to tire, and it landed, not too gently, in the water. Red Rocket blasted the water in front of it, and it turned to steam. He kept blasting until there was a big fog bank, totally surrounding the giant turtle, but it kept moving straight towards Chicago. How could it possibly know which way to go?

Rocket remembered something he had read once, the theory that many animals could sense the magnetic field of the Earth, and used that magnetic sense to navigate. Well, nothing else was working... He flew closer to the head of the beast, and then started fiddling with the magnetic controller. He increased the field strength. He modulated the field. He flipped the polarity.

The monster slowed, then stopped, and the head started to swing around. Red Rocket moved to stay out of range, and once again, the monster's head swung around. Rocket stopped, and the monster started swimming again. Not towards Rocket, but off on a tangent. Then it reached a certain distance away, and started to swing around again. Rocket figured it out! He moved slowly in the direction he wanted the monster to go, and it swam along parallel to his flight path.

Tom Atomic flashed out of the fog and popped up next to Red Rocket. "The Coast Guard boys are all OK. And they gave me these" he showed off the grenades "although it looks like you aren't going to need them. Looks like you've got yourself a new pet!"

Chapter 06

"So what do we do now?" Atomic asked. "I don't understand why we don't just kill it. After all, it wiped out that whole town! And just think what it might have done to Chicago."

"I know, I know!" Rocket replied. "If it causes any danger to people, we will, but I feel very uncertain about just killing it, `in cold blood' as it were. But we can't lead it around the lake forever. So what do we do with it?"

"Maybe we can put it one on ice." Red Rocket snorted at that. "Don't laugh - what about a giant Peltier heat pump?" A Peltier heat pump moves heat from Point A to Point B (or, looking at it the other way, it moves cold from Point B to Point A) using no apparatus but electrical current and two dissimilar conductors.

"I can fly to shore and find us some cables. We should be able to figure out some way to use the magnetic controllers in our suits to generate electrical current. If we're careful, Terry Turtle there will never know what's going on until he starts to ice up!"

"It sounds like a plan. Get moving, and I'll keep old Terry here heading north."

Tom Atomic was barely out of sight when he was yelling into the radio. "Oh my Lord! Rocket, we are in deep spit - there's two of them, and Terry's the friendly one!"

Before he had gone more than a mile, Tom Atomic came out of a fog bank upon a horrible scene. At first he had thought it was an island, but there shouldn't be any islands out here. As he got closer, he realized it was another monster. Floating on its back! And there was something on its chest. Atomic finally realized that it was the smashed ruins of a large cabin cruiser.

The damned monster was eating the contents of the cabin cruiser like an otter would eat a clam. Atomic wanted to be sick, but his combat training had taught him that if he lived through a battle, there would be time to be sick later, and that the time for avenging was now!

He pulled two grenades from his belt, arming them both, and then dove on the floating monster. He made out more details the closer he got, and he realized that he really was too late for a rescue. But just in time to attack! From about 200 feet overhead, he dropped both grenades on the monster's stomach. They bounced once and then exploded.

Atomic couldn't really tell how badly the monster was hurt. Before the smoke from the explosion had cleared, the beat rolled over so its stomach was down, raised its head from the water and let out a tremendous screech! If the wheels on God's subway train squealed, the noise would surely sound very like this monster's battle cry.

Atomic was surprised to see that it wasn't actually a turtle. The head and tail were very turtle-like, but there was no shell, and its back was densely covered with a forest of giant spines, each as tall as Tom Atomic.

At this exact instant, Red Rocket and Tom Atomic received a broadcast from the Coast Guard. But neither was able to hear it over the tremendous roar that Terry the Turtle made when he was flying.

Atomic turned his head towards the source of the roar, and his enhanced vision allowed him to discern Terry flashing in his direction. Even his enhanced reflexes wouldn't have saved him if Terry had not had a different target! But Terry Turtle stooped on the other monster, blasting fire!

The other monster opened his mouth and also blasted forth a gout of flame. The two flames met and cancelled each other out. Tom Atomic decided he would be better off further away. He also realized that Red Rocket was yelling at him via the radio, warning him that Terry was approaching. "I'm OK, Red. But it looks like these two don't like each other! They are ignoring me and fighting each other!"

Red Rocket reached the scene and joined Tom Atomic, and together they watched this incredible clash of giants.

Red Rocket decided that they ought to name the new beast, to make it easier for them to identify the monsters to each other (and to make it easier for their biographer to write about!) "The new one's name is Balor!" He had just finished reading Lord of the Rings for the 5th time...

Terry was just pulling out of his dive, and suddenly, a half dozen quills leapt from Balor's back like missiles! They smashed into Terry's underside and stuck, but didn't seem to do any major damage. As the beasts warily drew apart again, Tom Atomic noticed blood in the water near Balor's stomach. The grenades had hurt him, after all!

"What should we do now?" Red Rocket wondered aloud. "Maybe it's time to call the Air Force in?"

"I think it's still unsafe. As long as Terry can fly, the bombers would be in danger, and we don't know yet if Balor can fly, too." Rocket was glad to realize that his friend was back to normal.

Suddenly, Terry dove from the sky and disappeared under the water. Balor let out another God-sized squeal and also dove beneath the waves. For a few seconds it was almost peaceful. Suddenly a tremendous bubble burst through the surface, broke and unleashed a cloud of steam. One or both of the monsters had apparently tried to use his flame breath underwater.

A few seconds later, Balor broke the surface again, his gigantic beak closed on Terry's neck, just above the shell. He was dragging Terry, and the turtle did not seem to be resisting. The tough skin on Terry's neck was resisting, but Balor was shaking his head like a shark and Terry's skin was starting to tear.

Both heroes had fought with Terry, but somewhere along they way they had developed a proprietary interest in him Additionally, Tom Atomic had earlier seen Balor finish his horrible meal. Seeing the new monster about to kill 'their' monster spurred them both into action.

Red Rocket blasted the back of Balor's head with his plasma thrower, and Tom Atomic dropped another grenade in the middle of his back. When the flame struck, Balor released Terry and turned to blast back at Red Rocket with his own flaming breath, and then the grenade exploded. The explosion set off some reflex, and many quills from the skin near the explosion were launched

Tom Atomic's superhuman reflexes allowed him to dodge the few quills that flew in his direction, but Red Rocket wasn't so lucky. He was still blasting his plasma flame at Balor, and he was barely able to sweep the flame around and over the quill that was heading towards him, and the front half of the missile was vaporized. The remaining piece was not aerodynamic and it started tumbling, so Rocket took an incredible blow from the side of the quill, rather than the point. That, and the super-tough material of his costume saved his life - at least temporarily. Still, it was as if he had been hit in the chest/stomach by a baseball bat swung by Duke Snyder. He heard ribs crack, and his breath was knocked out of him, and then he fell into darkness (and the lake) as his consciousness fled.

Atomic had no time to spare to rescue his partner. Although there was now a shallow crater on Balor's back, it did not seem to affect him, and boy was he angry! Fortunately for Atomic, this monster didn't seem to be able to fly, but he still had his hands full!

No matter where he flew, Balor's head seemed to be tracking him like radar, and every time he slowed down for an instant, a single quill would be launched at him. It seemed as if Balor was learning from observation, because about the fifth or sixth time he dodged a single quill, he dodged right into the flight path of a second one. Still, his reflexes were adequate. Not only was he able to dodge, but he quickly flew after the missile, and when he caught up to it, he wrapped both arms around it and slowed it down.

He had only 2 hand grenades left. Somewhere along the way, his original spear, the radio mast broken from the wrecked Coast Guard patrol boat, had vanished into the lake. But this spine might be an adequate replacement lance. Wonder how Balor was going to like some of his own medicine?

Balor was swimming towards the floating body of Red Rocket, but somehow Terry was in his way. Terry's movements seemed slow and uncertain, but he interfered with Balor just enough to enable Tom Atomic to return to the attack!

Atomic swooped in front of the monster, flying at high speed towards its head. Balor raised his head, and again breathed flame! Atomic had been expecting this, so he did something unexpected, and dove below the flames and into the lake. He drove his gravity controller to the limit and was able to maintain his speed and even go a little faster while underwater, and he managed to burst from the water an instant later near Balor's head.

He was still accelerating when he rammed the spine into the joint between the monster's neck and his shoulders. He was momentarily gratified when the quill pierced the tough skin and he was able to drive at least 4 feet of his weapon into the monster's neck. His grip on the quill had slowed him down somewhat, but he still slammed into Balor's neck at very high velocity. He had known this would happen; he had gambled that his costume and his enhanced strength would protect him. And that what he suspected about Balor's quills was true.

In the instant before he smashed into the monster, Tom Atomic had an ironic thought. Would Red Rocket have thought that this attack was 'too reckless'?

Chapter 07

Tom Atomic slammed into the side of the monster called `Balor' at high speed, and the impact was as bad as he had feared. The impact knocked him unconscious and he fell into the lake. The breathing gear slid into place, protecting him from drowning. Tomas had deliberately designed the costumes to have a slight negative buoyancy, with the feet being heavier than the head, so he slipped under the water in an upright position.

The spine driven into his shoulder seemed to bother Balor, and he turned his head in that direction. His range of motion was limited, and he could not actually see the wound, as Tom Atomic had planned. But he did see Atomic floating in the water, and decided he could use another snack. He was turning slowly, his mouth open, when a weak blast of oily fire hit him from the other side. He turned back towards Terry the Turtle, an opponent he had clearly dismissed.

Red Rocket had recovered consciousness to find himself lying on Terry's shell. The turtle must have dived beneath the waters and surfaced right under Rocket. What an incredible stroke of luck! He saw Terry belch a small gout of flame at Balor, and Balor turned around and roared, and then moved in to finish his weakened, slow moving rival.

Red Rocket immediately blasted straight up into the sky at the top speed he could manage. Balor approached Terry, ignoring his feeble flames and his uncoordinated attempts to bite and slash. Red Rocket was sure that within a few minutes, Terry would be dead, and there would only be one monster left to deal with. Strangely, he realized he couldn't let that happen!

He did a barrel roll, face and stomach to the sky and back to the water, and when he rolled out of it, he was behind Balor. A tiny fraction of his mind took pleasure in the graceful maneuver - he absolutely loved to fly! He then dove on the beast, planning to land on its unprotected neck. But even his plans sometimes had to be adjusted on the fly (as it were!). Balor once again grabbed Terry by the throat and started shaking his head like a shark, trying to rip open his rival's throat and once and for all prove his supremacy as King of Monsters!

Red Rocket could not land on that shaking head and neck. So he did something more dangerous - he flew as close to the back of Balor's head as possible, ignited his disintegrator, and swept his arm in a circle, cutting out a cone-shaped section of Balor's incredibly tough hide. Of course, this enraged Balor, who turned towards Red Rocket. As soon as he could see Red Rocket, he breathed flame at him and also launched a barrage of quill-missiles.

Just as Terry had been discombobulated, Balor also seemed to be slowing and showing uncertainty in his actions. Rocket dropped into the lake and both missiles and fire missed him. He then launched himself out of the water, and blasted the hole in Balor's neck with the full force of his plasma thrower. Balor died abruptly as his brain was instantly crisped. His body thrashed in reaction for about half a minute, and then all movement stopped.

Red Rocket's immediate reaction was to frantically search for Tom Atomic. He dropped his visor vision into the infrared, but other than Balor's body, he saw no hot spots. "Wait! Where is the other one?" With Terry Turtle missing, Rocket's search for his partner became even more urgent! He had to find him before the monster did!

He was about to plunge into the lake when suddenly Terry's head rose slowly from the water. Tom Atomic's body was draped over Terry's head. Red Rocket couldn't attack the monster without putting his friend in danger. But even in the heat of battle, he couldn't help wondering about the incredible coincidences of Terry accidentally surfacing beneath him and then Tom Atomic.

He remembered how Terry had blocked Balor from plucking him from the water, and how he had attacked Balor just in time to save Tom Atomic from becoming a snack. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence after all?

It looked as if the point would be moot. There was blood leaking from the wound in Terry's neck, and Red Rocket couldn't think of any way to stop it. It looked like Terry the super Turtle was going to bleed to death... Suddenly he recalled Atomic's plan to encase the monster in ice. It could still work, if they could put things together in time. He swooped down, picked up Tom Atomic, and headed towards Michigan at top speed. Along the way, he was able to awaken Tom Atomic.

"Man, do I have a headache! Did it work?" were Atomic's first words.

"I don't know what your plan was, but Balor is dead right now, and Terry saved our lives several times. We're on our way to get those cables we talked about before - we're going to freeze him and save his life in return!"

Tom Atomic had had his own suspicions about Terry, as well as about Balor's quills. He had seen the turtle seemingly accidentally save Rocket's life. He was willing to go along with the plan.

It took them some time to find power plant, where they borrowed as much cable as they could carry. Actually, Tom Atomic did most of the carrying. By the time they returned to the ocean, the water around Terry Turtle was red with his blood, and he barely had the strength to keep his head out of the water.

Rocket used his plasma thrower to join copper cable to steel cable, and then join the other end of the steel cable to yet more copper wire. The draped the cable over Terry so one connection was near the wound, while the other was several hundred feet away in the water.

The two `programmed' their magnetic controllers to produce high intensity oscillating magnetic fields. A changing magnetic field induces a current in a conductor (the cable). This current flowed through the 2 different kinds of cables, and one junction (the one near the wound) got very cold, while the other one, a ways away in the cold lake water, got so hot that the lake boiled nearby

Within a few minutes, the cooling affect of the heat pump had created ice on and around Terry's neck. The bleeding had stopped. Terry was now very weak, and had closed his eyes, apparently ready to die. Within a few more minutes, the heroes had encased his head in ice. They hoped this might cause Terry to hibernate rather than killing him!

In a half hour, ice had been created around the perimeter of the monster's body. He would float until the ice melted. They had no way of knowing if he was still alive. It would take several hours to complete the job. The heroes decided to take a break, and they landed on Terry's shell.

"Well" said Tom Atomic. "He might still be alive, but when we get him cocooned into an iceberg, what are we going to do with him?"

"I believe I can help with that!" announced a voice they had never heard before, and a third costumed man landed on the broad shell of the turtle.

"Who the heck are you? " Rocket demanded. "I thought I knew the costumes of everyone capable of flying, but I've never seen you before!"

"Why, I'm Master Man! And, from the radio broadcasts I heard on my way here, you guys are Red Rocket and Tom Atomic! You guys did a great job here!"

He paused, looked around, and looked back at the other two. "I'd say I'm sorry I was late, but it looks like you guys didn't need my help anyway. See, I live on top of Mt. Everest, and it took me a while to get here, even at top speed. Looks like all that's left is cleanup!"

"Master Man, huh? Sorry, never heard of you!" This from Tom Atomic. He had some suspicions about Master Man, and he was a little surly. "Fancy name. What can you do?"

"Pretty much anything Captain Marvel could do. I was created to be his backup, and while he was here on Earth, there wasn't all that much for me to do. But now that he's gone, it's my job to be Earth's protector. I was beginning to think I was alone on the job. Nice to meet you guys!"

Tom Atomic's suspicions were correct - if this guy had the same powers as Captain Marvel, Tom Atomic wasn't the strongest hero in the world, and he never had been. Oh, well, thinking about that had only caused him problems anyway!

"So, MM, how do you propose we `clean up' this monster we're standing on? We've gone to great lengths to try and keep him alive, and we wouldn't want to waste all our efforts. But I can't think of anyplace where he might be safe." Red Rocket was still concerned about Terry Turtle.

Tom Atomic had a great idea! "Say, suppose there was some way we could get him to the North Pole? He'd stay in hibernation until we could figure out what to do with him?"

"No sooner said than done!" Master Man said. "I'll drop him off and then come back for the corpse of the other one. See you later, guys!" He dove in the water, and seconds later, Terry Turtle flew again, supported by the massive shoulders of Master Man.

The two younger heroes looked at each other, and Tom Atomic shook his head. "Wow, I guess he can do the things Captain Marvel can do! Amazing! Say, I'm pretty worn out, and I still have a tremendous headache. What say we head back to my place for that dinner we were talking about before?"

"Well, I don't feel like cooking, and I'm not eating anything you put together! Maybe there's some leftovers, or I can fly into town and get Chinese take out?" Red Rocket was already on his way.

The End... (for now)