Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Finow

At about 7 the next morning a call came in from the local authorities on a monster killing down at the theater. Sousa, Carter, Thompson, and I went to check it out.

"You're the SSR folks?" a detective asked as we arrived.

"What the hell happened here, detective?" Sousa asked.

"Hell if I know I got 47 dead, heads bashed in, eyes gouged out. Not a single survivor," the detective explained.

"Good lord," Sousa breathed.

"It's like some kind of monster got in," the detective said, "Never seen anything like it."

I moved over to one of the bodies. Pulling back the sheet I saw exactly what had happened. It was gruesome. All of this looked familiar though, I've seen this all before.

"Kennedy?" Peggy questioned. I looked over to her and realized that I had been lost in thought. Sousa had left with the detective and Peggy and Thompson were watching me with strange looks on their faces.

"No monster killed these people," I told them, "They killed each other. Like in Finow."

"What does Finow have to do with anything?" Thompson asked as we walked down to the theater where Sousa was.

I nodded, "Everything, Agent Thompson."

As we walked in we found Sousa doubled over, coughing.

"Sousa!" Thompson called walking down to him, "Sousa! Hey. Hey. What happened?" The minute Thompson put a hand on Sousa's shoulder Sousa turned and started attacking him. Peggy and I ran down to help get him off. Souse turned on Peggy and hit her causing her to fall back.

"Get him off!" Thompson exclaimed. I dropped my shield and tackled Sousa. He started fighting me, but unfortunately for him I was stronger. I was able to get him in a head lock and choke him out. I let him go as soon as he passed out. We got some guys to grab him and we went back to the SSR. Once back at the SSR I dropped my shield by Peggy's desk then sat in her chair. I kicked my feet up on the desk and watched Thompson talk to the scientists. He walked over to me.

"So?" I questioned.

He sighed, "Best the scientists can figure, it's a chemical that induces psychosis upon exposure, which I can personally attest to after Sousa tried to bite my nose off."

I snorted then nodded behind him, "Yeah, he's a total killer."

Thompson turned to smirk at Sousa, "Hey killer." Sousa only rolled his eyes.

"I'm surprised Howard would consent to manufacturing something like that," Peggy commented.

"The amount that got me was tiny," Sousa said.

"How much of this stuff does Ivchenko have?" I inquired.

"The lab counted 10 canisters," Thompson replied.

I sighed, "Meaning Ivchenko has enough to send half the city into a homicidal rage."

"But why?" Peggy asked, "Why go through all that trouble?"

"Cause he's a Russian jerk with a chip on his shoulder," Thompson said, "Why else?"

"No," Peggy stated, "it's got to be something more than that. Ivchenko has a plan."

I nodded, "He brought you into Russia. He tricked you into bringing him into this country. There's something specific that he is targeting. We just have to find out what it is."

"The target is me," Howard said walking into room.

Every single agent pulled a gun on him, "Hey! Get your hands up!" I chuckled as Mr. Jarvis threw his hands in the air.