Smiling, Ax states, “Things were looking up as we had a new buddy as strong as True Blue and JK. We soon found ourselves recruiting another experiment when we were attacked by a large figure that looked very familiar. As we tracked it down, we came to a hive and realized what we were following. It was one of the aliens from long ago, and we were in its base, now surrounded by a whole family of these things. Oh, and I’m not talking a simple den either. It was like a complex laboratory down there.”
Roxy waves her hands dramatically to set the stage for the big battle. “There we were, in this big underground lab, surrounded by our old nemeses, the aliens, with a wave of sleeping experiments. Turns out they had given up on the cyborg thing in favor of these things. Aliens began waking up first, which started fighting. We non-supers made due with what we could grab. Our two new critter friends were a slight relief, but the enemy numbers were just too great. That’s when one of the aliens woke up ALL the experiments, as well as push some button to send a massive wave of odd clouds out at great speed. It seemed to even shoot through the walls, and though I didn’t know it at the time, this action was sending the effects of the device across the globe. It was the final step in the aliens’ creative process that solidified the biological makeup of their monsters, turning these things into full-blown humanoid beings with superpowers.”
“It was quite creepy to watch, really,” adds Axer. “The twins were screaming the whole time. And when it was over, not a single critter remained. There were only…the Ultimen. That’s what these humans came to be called, the Ultimen. Of course, we had been calling the first one that we met To, like your big Toe. Yup, To was the bomb. Totally was a fan of To. To the Ultiman was his name.”
The kids roll their eyes. They get the point.
“The mystery was solved,” says Roxy. “The age-old search for the Ultimate Being had culminated with the creation of these men and women that now stood ready to wipe us from the planet.” She pauses and points emphatically, “That is when she acted. Lucy Onris held up her hands, smiled a tortured, contorted smile and said, ‘You have betrayed us, my masters. Now your own creations shall rule the works of your hands.’ We then learned about Lucy’s unfortunate fate. She had died long ago and was converted into a cyborg and now was the last of her kind. In an instant, she turned the Ultimen against the aliens and slaughtered every single one of them with ease.”
Cici adds, “And our records have not shown the presence of that alien tribe since the attack by the Ultimen. We firmly believe that was the end of that threat.”
Nodding, Roxy says, “So now, with the parents gone, you might say the Ultimen were being led by what could be considered their big sister, Cyborg Lucy. However, this was not so cut and dry as there was division among the new life forms, resulting in yet another big clash, just like the previous two attempts at making such an army. The long and short of it is that we were able to stop Lucy, let her rest in peace and introduce this new nation of people to the world that they needed to quickly befriend before their nefarious origins and crazy power were seen as a hazard to mankind. It took time, but eventually the Ultimen were able to blend in with society to ease the worries of conflict. Now, I know this sounds like other times in the past. However, since the Ultimen were new lifeforms rather than just humans, they tended to stick to themselves as far as relationships go, as you can imagine. This resulted in the creation of the Ultimen nation.”
Wow, Duplica is surprised at how brief this lesson was. “For an adventure with hundreds of Ultimen, you’d expect to have this story last a bit longer. Oh well.”
Cici asks, “Are there any questions from my adorable, super-smart classmates?”
The teens are quiet, but only because they are doing well to think of decent questions. The female teachers all have a giggly expression as they look at each other, impressed with the diligence of their companions. Kammy, as usual, is the first to raise her hand.
“Roxy, are you named after a System Guard, by chance?”
Inner Man Theatre 