The Slugman

Andrew Cook

``What you've got here isn't exactly legal, now is it?'' asked a saccharine sweet voice from the shadows. The large man was startled and dropped the briefcase spilling little bags of white powder over the roof. The drug Wiz, named after the magical powers it bestowed on it's user, was highly addictive and regular use led to rapid and irreversible wasting away of the nervous system. Despite the horrible effects of the drug, it was used by the criminal classes as an invisible and potent weapon, someone using Wiz could stun or even kill with a single touch.

A sharp intake of breath was, for a few seconds, the only reply to the voice. ``Who are you?'' one of the criminals called into the gloom. A figure slowly walked into the dim light created by the sole oil lamp on the roof of the building. His shoes were leather, an expensive luxury, and well polished. His long brown overcoat swayed silently with each slow, casual step the figure took. The coat was unbuttoned and it's pockets contained the figure's hands. The trousers underneath were practical but well made and expensive looking as was the man's black shirt. He had a handsome, clean-shaven face though something in it's benign, smiling expression suggested there was a streak ruthlessness in his character. His hair was dark although the dim light made it impossible to distinguish the exact colour.

``Liege,'' said the man as he removed a hand from his pocket to reveal a badge, ``Know Liege. I.D.P.''

``A dipsh-'' the henchman's voice trailed off as the Liege's expression changed to a frown.

``Uh, uh,'' stammered the man who had dropped the briefcase. ``We haven't done anything wrong,'' the man looked down at the little packets of Wiz, ``Not as regards you anyway.'' The Identity Police were known to leave criminals that didn't fall within their jurisdiction alone. They might not ignore them but legally they didn't have the power to make arrests for crimes that weren't linked to their particular subject area. They were expected to inform the proper authorities however.

The Identity Policeman faced four men each one bigger and more muscular than him. The biggest one was the one who had opened the case and he was shadowed by two a similarly built men with dull expression. The other three, who the cop assumed were the buyers, were smaller but had sharp attentive expressions and mannerisms that suggested martial arts training. He looked all six over with disdain, ``Ten percent of the sale price and I might just forget that I ever saw this,'' he partly extended a hand and made a stirring motion with his finger, ``little meeting.''

The big man tried to hide his fear but couldn't bring himself to haggle over the price. Once the buyer had handed over part of the money the cop disappeared back into the shadows and made his way back down into the depths of the building.

The men waited nervously to be sure the cop had gone. The buyer was the first to break the awkward silence, ``The agreed price,'' he put the bag of money next to the briefcase. ``Minus ten percent,'' he grinned mirthlessly.

The large man reached into the briefcase and pulled out a handful of packets before turning it towards the buyer, ``The merchandise, minus ten percent.'' The two men behind the buyer loomed suddenly moving forward to stand on either side of their employer. The large man smiled and dropped half the packets he had removed back into the briefcase, ``Five percent.''

The smaller man frowned, he looked briefly at the briefcase before deciding it was a reasonable compromise. As he was about to speak another deeper more sinister sounding voice spoke from the shadows, ``Sorry boys. Game's over. I'm confiscating your pocket money.'' The figure that stepped out of the dark was a terrifying sight, dressed in a dark shade of moss green from his well fitting boots to his cape and cowl. The green cape fell to his past ankles and underneath he wore, dull brown hardened leather armour with the symbol of the slug in green on the chest. His arms were covered in a tight fitting dark green material from his shoulders to his hardened leather gauntlets. There was a cage of metal around the gauntlets supporting a pipe that ran along the inside of his forearm ending with what looked like a flame thrower nozzle at his wrist The mask covered the top half of his face entirely and had small telescopes built into it over each eye. The only parts of his body that could be seen were his mouth and chin and the tips of his index fingers, where the gauntlets had been cut open. Beneath the mask the little of his strong face that could be seen held a grim, determined expression. Somehow the wobbly green antennae on top of his head only heightened his fearsome appearance.

``The Slugman!'' breathed one of the henchmen in awe.

``Don't just stand there!'' shouted the large man, ``Get 'im!'' Grabbing the bag of money, he stumbled away fumbling with the fastenings on the bag so the money wouldn't spill out. The buyer followed suit grabbing the briefcase and running after. The larger two henchmen attacked first charging the caped crime fighter together. Slugman stood his ground, and darted forward at the last minute striking outwards either side of him felling the two giants. One of the buyer's henchmen leapt into the air aiming a flying kick at Slugman's head, he twisted just away from it and as the foot whistled past his face he grabbed it and pushed it upwards causing the attacker to land hard on his head. The final man had taken advantage of the commotion to draw his sword and now whirled it in front of him in a series of movements too quick for the eye to follow. Slugman lashed out, the sword clanging off his metal gauntlet, and drove his fist into the henchman's face.

Even as the man collapsed Slugman steadied his arm and fired a stream of mucus out of his gauntlet nozzle at the two fleeing men. They went down arms flailing as the slippery slime hit their legs and coated the ground just in front of them. Slugman let the slime flow ease off so that it formed a trail from the two floundering men to his feet.

Kneeling down he touched the slime with a bare finger tip, it solidified turning into a clear strong rubbery glue that pinned the two fleeing men to ground. The force that caused this strange reaction in Slugman's slime trail was the same one produced by the Wiz that the large man had been selling. Slugman had spent a lot of time refining the drug and eliminating most of it's addictive and harmful properties. The effect from Slugman's version of the drug was not much use as a weapon in it's own right but when combined with the distilled slug mucus it gave him a very powerful tool.

Slugman sprayed the four groaning henchmen liberally with the slime, being careful not to get any on their mouths. Removing his finger from the trail of slime that held the two criminals he lengthened the slime trail so that it joined the pool of mucus surrounding their lackeys. Slugman took an activator from his belt and tossed it into the slime, the portable power source turning the mucus instantly solid.

He walked over to where the two criminals were lying pinned to the roof by the mucus, he sprayed a little more on them and over the drug and the money. ``It may be profitable for you to peddle that stuff but a lot of innocent people suffer because of that drug,'' Slugman looked at the two criminals struggling feebly against their imprisonment. ``Stick around,'' he smiled grimly, ``The police will be here at any moment,'' with that he disappeared into the shadows.

Jumping off the side of the building Slugman fired a jet of mucus at the roof, as soon as it hit he solidified it forming a thick rubbery rope. He swung down to where he had left the Slugmobile safely out of sight parked vertically on the side of the concrete building. Once inside he switched off the active mucus brakes allowing the car to slide down the side of the building at a terrifying speed. Switching on the brakes before he reached the bottom the car slowed. He raised the front set of wheels ninety degrees to the rest of the car and the car came to rest with the front wheels resting on the ground. Slugman let the brakes off and the car slid down the wall like a series of marbles in a bent glass tube until it was horizontal.

Spotting the Slugmobile moving out of the alley the I.D.P. cop shifted his steam powered car into gear and gave chase. The necessity for the wall climbing car to be lightweight meant that some power had to be sacrificed and it was now loosing out to the bigger but faster steam car. Slugman had incorporated a small, experimental rocket engine into the design of the Slugmobile to make up for it's lack of conventional power but the roads were too winding in this part of town for him to be able to use it safely. The Slugmobile's active mucus tyres, however, gave it almost impossibly good road handling and it was only this that was keeping the Slugman out of the hands of the I.D.P.

Rounding a corner Slugman finally saw what he needed ahead, a reasonably long stretch of straight road. Slugman flicked a switch to disconnect the power generator from the wheels and activated the climbing system. The nozzles that sprayed the wheels with mucus to enable it to climb walls started spurting slime but with the power system deactivated the effect was like that of an oil slick on the road. Slugman fought for control as the Slugmobile slipped and slid all over the road bouncing off buildings on either side. The steam car made up some ground but soon it was in the same situation, the slime from the Slugmobile having coated the road. Keeping one hand on the wheel Slugman slid the canopy of the Slugmobile forward and open and tossed an activator out over the back of the car. ``The trail ends here pal.'' Slugman said to himself as he quickly flicked on the rocket engine and deactivated the wall climbing mechanism. The sudden acceleration pushed Slugman back into his seat, slid the canopy back into place and caused the activator to roll off the back of the car and into the trail of slime. As well as trapping the steam car as Slugman intended the rear wheels of the Slugmoblie were also caught in the solidifying slime. The Slugmobile bucked as it's rocket engine tore it free leaving the I.D.P. vehicle floundering in the rubbery mucus.

The Slugman turned the car and headed out of the city towards the secret entrance to the Slugcave.

Andrew Cook

	The Slugman Andrew Cook
	The Slugman Andrew Cook ``What you've got here isn't exactly legal, now is it?'' asked a saccharine sweet voice from the shadows. The large man was startled and dropped the briefcase spilling little bags of white powder over the roof. The drug Wiz, named after the magical powers it bestowed on it's user, was highly addictive and regular use led to rapid and irreversible wasting away of the nervous system. Despite the horrible effects of the drug, it was used by the criminal classes as an invisible and potent weapon, someone using Wiz could stun or even kill with a single touch. A sharp intake of breath was, for a few seconds, the only reply to the voice. ``Who are you?'' one of the criminals called into the gloom. A figure slowly walked into the dim light created by the sole oil lamp on the roof of the building. His shoes were leather, an expensive luxury, and well polished. His long brown overcoat swayed silently with each slow, casual step the figure took. The coat was unbuttoned and it's pockets contained the figure's hands. The trousers underneath were practical but well made and expensive looking as was the man's black shirt. He had a handsome, clean-shaven face though something in it's benign, smiling expression suggested there was a streak ruthlessness in his character. His hair was dark although the dim light made it impossible to distinguish the exact colour. ``Liege,'' said the man as he removed a hand from his pocket to reveal a badge, ``Know Liege. I.D.P.'' ``A dipsh-'' the henchman's voice trailed off as the Liege's expression changed to a frown. ``Uh, uh,'' stammered the man who had dropped the briefcase. ``We haven't done anything wrong,'' the man looked down at the little packets of Wiz, ``Not as regards you anyway.'' The Identity Police were known to leave criminals that didn't fall within their jurisdiction alone. They might not ignore them but legally they didn't have the power to make arrests for crimes that weren't linked to their particular subject area. They were expected to inform the proper authorities however. The Identity Policeman faced four men each one bigger and more muscular than him. The biggest one was the one who had opened the case and he was shadowed by two a similarly built men with dull expression. The other three, who the cop assumed were the buyers, were smaller but had sharp attentive expressions and mannerisms that suggested martial arts training. He looked all six over with disdain, ``Ten percent of the sale price and I might just forget that I ever saw this,'' he partly extended a hand and made a stirring motion with his finger, ``little meeting.'' The big man tried to hide his fear but couldn't bring himself to haggle over the price. Once the buyer had handed over part of the money the cop disappeared back into the shadows and made his way back down into the depths of the building. The men waited nervously to be sure the cop had gone. The buyer was the first to break the awkward silence, ``The agreed price,'' he put the bag of money next to the briefcase. ``Minus ten percent,'' he grinned mirthlessly. The large man reached into the briefcase and pulled out a handful of packets before turning it towards the buyer, ``The merchandise, minus ten percent.'' The two men behind the buyer loomed suddenly moving forward to stand on either side of their employer. The large man smiled and dropped half the packets he had removed back into the briefcase, ``Five percent.'' The smaller man frowned, he looked briefly at the briefcase before deciding it was a reasonable compromise. As he was about to speak another deeper more sinister sounding voice spoke from the shadows, ``Sorry boys. Game's over. I'm confiscating your pocket money.'' The figure that stepped out of the dark was a terrifying sight, dressed in a dark shade of moss green from his well fitting boots to his cape and cowl. The green cape fell to his past ankles and underneath he wore, dull brown hardened leather armour with the symbol of the slug in green on the chest. His arms were covered in a tight fitting dark green material from his shoulders to his hardened leather gauntlets. There was a cage of metal around the gauntlets supporting a pipe that ran along the inside of his forearm ending with what looked like a flame thrower nozzle at his wrist The mask covered the top half of his face entirely and had small telescopes built into it over each eye. The only parts of his body that could be seen were his mouth and chin and the tips of his index fingers, where the gauntlets had been cut open. Beneath the mask the little of his strong face that could be seen held a grim, determined expression. Somehow the wobbly green antennae on top of his head only heightened his fearsome appearance. ``The Slugman!'' breathed one of the henchmen in awe. ``Don't just stand there!'' shouted the large man, ``Get 'im!'' Grabbing the bag of money, he stumbled away fumbling with the fastenings on the bag so the money wouldn't spill out. The buyer followed suit grabbing the briefcase and running after. The larger two henchmen attacked first charging the caped crime fighter together. Slugman stood his ground, and darted forward at the last minute striking outwards either side of him felling the two giants. One of the buyer's henchmen leapt into the air aiming a flying kick at Slugman's head, he twisted just away from it and as the foot whistled past his face he grabbed it and pushed it upwards causing the attacker to land hard on his head. The final man had taken advantage of the commotion to draw his sword and now whirled it in front of him in a series of movements too quick for the eye to follow. Slugman lashed out, the sword clanging off his metal gauntlet, and drove his fist into the henchman's face. Even as the man collapsed Slugman steadied his arm and fired a stream of mucus out of his gauntlet nozzle at the two fleeing men. They went down arms flailing as the slippery slime hit their legs and coated the ground just in front of them. Slugman let the slime flow ease off so that it formed a trail from the two floundering men to his feet. Kneeling down he touched the slime with a bare finger tip, it solidified turning into a clear strong rubbery glue that pinned the two fleeing men to ground. The force that caused this strange reaction in Slugman's slime trail was the same one produced by the Wiz that the large man had been selling. Slugman had spent a lot of time refining the drug and eliminating most of it's addictive and harmful properties. The effect from Slugman's version of the drug was not much use as a weapon in it's own right but when combined with the distilled slug mucus it gave him a very powerful tool. Slugman sprayed the four groaning henchmen liberally with the slime, being careful not to get any on their mouths. Removing his finger from the trail of slime that held the two criminals he lengthened the slime trail so that it joined the pool of mucus surrounding their lackeys. Slugman took an activator from his belt and tossed it into the slime, the portable power source turning the mucus instantly solid. He walked over to where the two criminals were lying pinned to the roof by the mucus, he sprayed a little more on them and over the drug and the money. ``It may be profitable for you to peddle that stuff but a lot of innocent people suffer because of that drug,'' Slugman looked at the two criminals struggling feebly against their imprisonment. ``Stick around,'' he smiled grimly, ``The police will be here at any moment,'' with that he disappeared into the shadows. Jumping off the side of the building Slugman fired a jet of mucus at the roof, as soon as it hit he solidified it forming a thick rubbery rope. He swung down to where he had left the Slugmobile safely out of sight parked vertically on the side of the concrete building. Once inside he switched off the active mucus brakes allowing the car to slide down the side of the building at a terrifying speed. Switching on the brakes before he reached the bottom the car slowed. He raised the front set of wheels ninety degrees to the rest of the car and the car came to rest with the front wheels resting on the ground. Slugman let the brakes off and the car slid down the wall like a series of marbles in a bent glass tube until it was horizontal. Spotting the Slugmobile moving out of the alley the I.D.P. cop shifted his steam powered car into gear and gave chase. The necessity for the wall climbing car to be lightweight meant that some power had to be sacrificed and it was now loosing out to the bigger but faster steam car. Slugman had incorporated a small, experimental rocket engine into the design of the Slugmobile to make up for it's lack of conventional power but the roads were too winding in this part of town for him to be able to use it safely. The Slugmobile's active mucus tyres, however, gave it almost impossibly good road handling and it was only this that was keeping the Slugman out of the hands of the I.D.P. Rounding a corner Slugman finally saw what he needed ahead, a reasonably long stretch of straight road. Slugman flicked a switch to disconnect the power generator from the wheels and activated the climbing system. The nozzles that sprayed the wheels with mucus to enable it to climb walls started spurting slime but with the power system deactivated the effect was like that of an oil slick on the road. Slugman fought for control as the Slugmobile slipped and slid all over the road bouncing off buildings on either side. The steam car made up some ground but soon it was in the same situation, the slime from the Slugmobile having coated the road. Keeping one hand on the wheel Slugman slid the canopy of the Slugmobile forward and open and tossed an activator out over the back of the car. ``The trail ends here pal.'' Slugman said to himself as he quickly flicked on the rocket engine and deactivated the wall climbing mechanism. The sudden acceleration pushed Slugman back into his seat, slid the canopy back into place and caused the activator to roll off the back of the car and into the trail of slime. As well as trapping the steam car as Slugman intended the rear wheels of the Slugmoblie were also caught in the solidifying slime. The Slugmobile bucked as it's rocket engine tore it free leaving the I.D.P. vehicle floundering in the rubbery mucus. The Slugman turned the car and headed out of the city towards the secret entrance to the Slugcave. Andrew Cook