Crucible: Some Things Don't Wash Away

Antares stood in the shower letting the cold water wash away the soot and grime from the destroyed Strucker house.  He was physically and mentally spent.  Up until this mission the Roughnecks had always come out on top.  Now they had lost so much.  They had lost an ally and friend in Moon Knight, they had lost Mary Jane who was just an innocent bystander, they had lost the little blond Russian girl, and now another innocent named Wanda.  He didn’t know how, but Antares silently vowed that those who were responsible would pay for this.

Shutting off the water and grabbing a towel, Antares walked into the adjoining bedroom.  He had originally thought that Marc Spector was just a rich guy playing superhero, but that had changed.  Spector had helped the team when they needed it most and he had paid for it with his life.  Even now in death he still supported the Roughnecks through his estate.  Flopping onto the bed he tried to force the negative emotions out of his mind.  He needed to figure this out because they were getting their asses handed to them at every turn!

They had come up against two primary adversaries.  The hot psychopath with the swords and the hot blue shape-changing sniper.  Hotness aside, these bitches had to pay, but who were they, or more importantly who did they work for?  Somehow the one with the swords knew him, or at least knew about him.  There must be some sort of connection, but what?  And why is she hunting these young girls?  Fenris seemed to think there was a connection between the girls, that they are somehow “magical.”

Sitting up on the edge of his bed Antares just realized another problem.  “Shit, who’s gonna tell Mary Jane’s family and her dorky boyfriend.”

Just then there was a knock on the door followed by Fenris’ voice, “come on bud, it’s show time.  I think we’ve got something.”



“About damn time!” thought Antares as he grabbed his jeans and t-shirt and headed out to see what his friends had found.



(published July 11, 2014)