B-Team: The Cryonic Odyssey - Part 2

Expedition

With their trip into the multiverse underway, the B-team, accompanied by Cryogen and Cryonic have to contend with the oppressive regime of Schurk International as they attempt to follow the mysterious "Jumper" between worlds.

The enigmatic Agent Uranium stands in a crater of her own creation as the dust settles, her slick, dark uniform already marred by the impact and flying concrete as she begins to blast at the team with beams of highly radioactive energy, a far departure from the powerset of her main universe counterpart. The B-team quickly focus their attention at the walking nuclear reactor, with Cryogen imploring the team to hold her off while she prepares something from the container that she's brought with her.   Kurthol and Mercy move in, keeping her occupied while the others make varied attacks against her from a distance, though they quickly realise her blows pack a remarkable punch and, when Rue attempts to throw the armoured vehicle from before at her, she's able to not only catch it, but throw it back at them. Thinking fast, Harmony creates a lead box and encases her within it, keeping her contained for a moment, but she's soon able to burst free with explosive results.   It seems that the team is fairly well-matched, trading powerful blows with the agent until Cryogen is able to throw down a device that causes Agent Uranium to stop in her tracks. She explains that what she'd made is called a Time Crash Grenade, and allows her to temporarily stop time in a small area. It's not a permanent solution, and she only has enough tachyon energy in her container for a handful of time manipulating devices, but is helpful in a pinch.   The team quickly decides what to do next. Dragging the frozen form of Agent Uranium into an alleyway, Harmony swaps clothes with her while Cryogen returns the Schurk transport to working order and the team prepare to infiltrate the facility. As the only person who they know has an equivalent within Schurk International, Harmony elects to drive, with Kurthol riding shotgun.   They quickly make their way over to the Schurk International headquarters and are stopped at a security checkpoint. An oddly inquisitive guard questions why Agent Uranium would be driving a transport, but Harmony is able to convince him that she'd simply injured herself and elected not to fly back. After her ID is checked, he waves them in and they finally get a good look at the compound.   As opposed to the Century HQ in their reality, the Schurk International HQ was just one large building split into two parts; the administrative section, rising about six stories up, and the prison, with a larger ground area but only three floors. Looking for an access point, the team notice a service entrance at the back of the prison, the main entrance in the center of the building, or an open window some way up on the administrative wing.   As the team is deliberating their next move, they notice another armoured vehicle pulling up to the entrance of the building, with the agents inside carrying the battered and broken form of Yvonne, an old friend of Pagan. She’s quite upset to see her in such a state but is quickly reminded of the team’s motto during this trip of “not our circus, not our monkeys,” and, while seemingly callous, she’s reminded that they have more important things to be worried about.   The two agents in charge of the transport step out in the customised uniforms that have become synonymous with the superpowered agents of Schurk International. One, wearing her jacket open and a pair of fingerless gloves, takes off her helmet, revealing herself to be none other than Rachel Stephens, as she saunters into the main reception area and addresses the woman behind the desk.   “Alright, Kelly,” she says, pulling a hip-flask from her belt as she nods to her subordinates, “We’ve got another one for drop off. Female. Magic-user. A bit of a handful.”   “Ah, Agents,” Kelly says, looking up from her computer terminal, “Wonderful. I’ll give the boys in lockup a heads-up.”   “Thanks, Kelly.” Rachel replies as she takes a swig from a hip flask and turns to her partner, offering him a swig, “Do you need to get back?   The other agent removes his helmet, the rugged features of Frank DeTroy becoming immediately noticeable as he takes the proffered drink and begins to speak, “Yeah. Think I’ve gotta report back as soon as possible.”   “Alright, I’ll deal with this one,” She nods to their subordinate agents to head towards the holding area to the left, “But you owe me one.”   “How many does that make?”   “Wish I’d kept count,” Rachel remarks as she takes a final drink and prepares to depart, “Tell them I said hi. C’mon boys, we’re outta here.”   The two agents head in opposite directions, with Rachel making her way into the prison, while Frank enters the administrative section. Seeing this, the team quickly decide that walking through the front door, even with Harmony disguised, is more trouble than it's worth. With that in mind, they turn their attention to the open window, sneaking up below it and giving Rue a moment to peer through the walls and see what might be waiting within.   Much to their surprise, what they find what appears to be a child’s bedroom complete with toys, cupboards and a race car bed, upon which lies the slumbering form of a young boy with oddly familiar features. Seeing no better way to gain access to the building, and with Cryonic telling them that the exit point is on the top floor, the team decide to risk sneaking through the bedroom, sending a portal ring up through the open window and allowing them to step inside.   Peering through the walls once again, Rue sees that the area is made up like a living space, and a woman seems to be getting ready for bed in one of the adjoining rooms. Between that and the resemblance of the boy in the bed, they’re able to piece together what’s been going on. The child is the child of Warp and a woman by the name of Mina, who was once his handler while he was working for Schurk Industries. It would appear that in this world, the pair stayed together and eventually had a child, in accordance with the sinister plans of the company.   Electing not to disturb either mother or child, the team equip Mercy with one of the portal rings and he sneaks out of the home, finding himself in a sterile hallway with the usual fluorescent lighting of these types of places. He activates the portal ring and allows the others to come through, the team quickly making their way towards the elevator before Agent Iron returns.   Moments later the doors slide open, revealing the face of Kelly Dawson, clad in the Schurk International admin uniform complete with sidearm and a little more self-confidence than the team was used to. She greets Harmony as Agent Uranium and welcomes them back to base, remarking that she hadn’t seen the famous agent entering the building. Harmony brushes it off, saying she simply flew in via the roof and Kelly seems satisfied by the answer, continuing the conversation by asking if she would be joining Kelly for another round of bowling this week. Harmony tells her that she won’t be joining this time, and Kelly sighs, telling them that they’d been ordered to keep an eye out for Hubert Anders AKA The Crowd disguised as anyone else. She pulls her gun on the heroes, explaining that Agent Uranium never came bowling with her.   A tense stand-off takes place in the elevator as Kelly activates her alarm, with the heroes trying to explain to her that they’re not the Crowd, but also don’t mean her any harm. It all becomes moot however, when the doors to the top floor open up and the team is confronted by a contingent of Schurk International guards, equipped with automatic weaponry and shields, taking defensive positions down a short corridor before them.   They got absolutely annihilated.   The chaos that ensues as the two Croygens, four superheroes and a dwarf unleash their might upon the unprepared guards cannot be understated, and soon enough it attracts the attention of the man inside the Director’s office. The doors fly open and Director Charles Dunn, or as the team knows him, Charlie the Freelance Henchman, steps through crying out for peace and ordering them to stand down.   Not wanting to waste time with an impending nuclear detonation looming over them, Mercy takes it upon himself to deal with Charles the same way they’ve done so with Charlie previously. Namely, with a sharp blow to the head. Much to his surprise however, Charles is able to catch his fist, and combat breaks out, with him busting out powers he never had in the main continuity. At first, as he takes on the amorphous shape of Blue, the team think he may be secretly Alec Upton, but they soon realise that the only person who they know who could combine powers like he was doing was Max Paige.   Eventually the team is able to subdue Max and the Cryogens get to work, taking the appropriate readings before setting up the next portal. The team begins to funnel through to the next universe until it’s just Rue and Cryonic, when a wall crashes open and through it emerges the enraged form of Agent Uranium. Cryonic kicks Rue through the portal, prepared to face down the agent alone, and the portal closes behind them, leaving her fate a mystery.   The team find themselves back in a relatively familiar version of Bathala City, though it seems less so as none other than Brainiac shows up, claiming that she’d killed the vampire Bloodfell some time ago. Not wanting to seem inept at her job, the psychic wasted no time in popping Mercy’s head, killing him instantly. The rest of the team try to talk her down, with Harmony even allowing her to read her thoughts, but she seems unconvinced until another portal opens beside them and Cryonic stumbles through, seemingly no worse for wear.   Cryonic tells Brainiac to stand down, telling her that the team is under her protection, and Cryogen uses the last of her prepared temporal tech to rewind Mercy’s execution, leaving the team with yet more questions to answer. Cryonic quickly explains that this universe is her own, where she first discovered signs of the Jumper’s activities, and that she was hoping that with the data they’d managed to collect, she might be able to lure it back there for a confrontation, hopefully allowing them to put an end to its destruction.   The team make their way back to the Vigilant tower, dubbed the Valiant tower in this universe, and are perturbed to see a poster of this world’s premier superhero team, consisting of Cryogen, Brainiac, The Machinist, Suplex (though Rue notes that it’s clearly Evelyn masquerading as the hero), and most concerningly of all, The Half-Bone Lord.   The team is quickly reminded to remain on-mission as they finally make their way into the tower and up to the lab, several members noting the presence of a shrine dedicated to Blaze, having seemingly been killed in this reality not long previously. Cryonic begins to make the necessary preparations and the lab’s main portal springs to life. She orders the team to stand back, claiming that they still don’t know what kind of entity they’ll be facing, as she enters the final command on the keyboard. Standing in front of the portal, Cryonic takes one look back at the team, a tearful expression on her face as she apologizes before stepping through the portal.   Before the heroes know what’s happening, the portal fizzles out and the room is bathed in an eery red glow as the laboratory’s security alarm sounds, revealing the trap that Cryonic had set for them. Finally, with security forces descending upon them at a rapid pace, the team find themselves stranded in another universe with no way back and little chance of escape.   To be continued...