THIRTY-FOUR

Green gas pored out of the ceiling. Invulnergirl put her hands in front of her mouth and nose, hoping to stop herself from breathing it in. Her body might be indestructible, but she figured inhaling gas might be harmful. From the balcony she could see the Athlete cover his mouth as well.

Her eyes were starting to sting. She couldn’t hold her breath for too much longer either. Her head felt it was about to burst. She just had to take one quick breath. That turned out to be enough for the gas to find its way inside of her. Her vision started to blur, her body seemed to become incredibly heavy as her knees started to buckle. Then everything went black.

She opened her eyes, awakened by a posh, English sounding voice. “Wakey, wakey…”

At first her vision was still a bit blurry but after a minute or so her vision became sharper. She tried to move, but couldn’t. Her arms and legs were bound by something. There was a man standing in front of her. He was wearing a long, black leather jacket. He was wearing a belt with pouches around his waist as well as a bandoleer with pouches. His hair was reddish, as was his goatee. He was wearing sunglasses, but one of the glasses looked more like a camera lens. Around his arm was some kind of huge bracelet that seemed to be made of all kinds of cybertech. Behind him were a lot of shelves and display cases filled with strange devices, weapons, bottles and vials.

“Hello, dear. And who might you be? Let me introduce myself first. I’m The Hoarder,” the man said.

Invulnergirl groaned. Her head hurt and her throat ached. “Invulnergirl.”

“Haha! Great name! Well, that gas took care of you quick enough. You went out faster than your buddy over there.”

Invulnergirl followed the Hoarder’s gaze, noticing The Athlete was next to her. He was tied down on a metal stretcher of some sort. He was conscious as well.

“I’m the world’s most accomplished athlete. My lung capacity beats that of most people,” the Athlete said. “Good to see you’re among the living, Invulnergirl.”

“Same here,” she said. They might have been captured, at least they were still both alive. That gave them a chance.

“You had some guts to just waltz in my headquarters like you did,” the Hoarder said. “What prompted such a blitzkrieg approach?”

“I heard you have some of Johnny Bubblegum’s special bubblegum. We need it,” the Athlete said.

The Hoarder produced a small piece of wrapped gum from one of his pouches. “You mean this?”

The Athlete struggled against the leather bindings that kept him strapped to the stretcher.

The Hoarder unwrapped the gum and put it in his mouth. He started to chew. “So this should give me superstrength and superspeed just like it does for Johnny, right? Let’s try that out then. Brace yourself, lady!”

A flurry of punches at superspeed rained on Invulnergirl’s face. Fists moved so fast, they were just a blur. The Hoarder must have punched her a thousand times before he stopped. She didn’t have a scratch on her.

The Hoarder blew on his knuckles. “Ha! Amazing. You are invulnerable!”

“Told you!”

The Hoarder cracked his knuckles as he slowly, menacingly walked over to the Athlete. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t, though.”

Invulnergirl wrestled against the leather straps around her wrists and legs with all her strength. “Leave him alone, you bastard!”

The Hoarder just laughed.