Post by dans on Mar 24, 2024 1:18:16 GMT
| Prior Appearances of Black Zero: The Golden Age Origin of Black Zero Read all the chapters in the introduction to 'The Greatest American Movie' Chapter 1: Blue Fire in: Out of Circulation Chapter 2: Black Zero in: Submarine Sabotage Chapter 3: Lady Fairplay in: Mississippi Mayhem Chapter 4: Mirror Girl in: Kidnapped Chapter 5: Dr. Diamond in: War Zone Fort Rosecrans Chapter 6: Fearless Flint in: Intrigue in Washington Chapter 7: Willow Wisp in: Cold Justice Chapter 8: Master Mystic in: The End of the Beginning (Read me last!) |
Vinny's Pawn Shop
The day had been uneventful for Vincent "Skinny Vinny", owner of Vinny's Pawn Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was a fence and money launderer for the local criminal mob, the Red Gang. But he was unusually nervous as he waited for his next customer. Today's transaction should be straightforward - a simple trade of goods for cash like all his other deals. But anything involving Black Zero, Portsmouth's resident superhero, always made Vinny uneasy.
A well dressed man walked in, wearing a suit and white gloves. He appeared to be just another customer, albeit one who was both wealthy and haughty, until he used the passphrase that Vinnie's boss, Ronnie 'Red Bull' Bulham, had instructed him to listen for: "I would like to purchase a pair of reading spectacles."
Vinnie obliged and handed over the special pair of glasses Bull had told him to sell to this particular customer. The members of the Red Gang used similar glasses that allowed them to see through Black Zero's impenetrable darkness weapon. Somehow this man had convinced Red Bull to sell him a pair. "That'll be a buck."
The customer reached into his jacket for his wallet, but instead of a wallet, he pulled a silenced pistol and instantly fired three shots at Vinny. A gaping hole opened in his chest as he fell back against the counter, blood spilling out onto the floor.
"Fool!" the killer sneered as he holstered the gun. "The Sicherheitsdienst always takes what we want; we never pay." Chuckling to himself, he surveyed the now empty shop before turning his attention to Vinny's lifeless body. "Just like I will take Black Zero's life if he dares to interfere with my plans to sink that new destroyer at the shipyard tomorrow."
Without a second thought for Vinny, the killer calmly locked the door and disappeared into the bustling city streets, leaving behind a trail of blood and betrayal. But Vinny was not quite dead... yet. He struggled to stay conscious and with his last ounce of strength, managed to knock the earpiece from the hook of his phone, and struggling to get close enough to the microphone, gasped to Gertie, the operator: "Get Sergeant Burke on the line... warn him about sabotage at the Navy Yard launch tomorrow." Vinny's eyes closed and he succumbed to his injuries, knocking the phone over as he slid off the counter to the floor.
Black Zero Gets Involved
Bruce King, also known as the superhero Black Zero, and Gloria Glamour, a Hollywood star who was constantly linked to Black Zero in the tabloids, were seated in Bruce's private electronics lab discussing potential upgrades for the Black Zero Transmitter - the source of Bruce's powers. Suddenly, the phone rang and Sergeant Burke from the Portsmouth Police Department was on the line with disturbing news.
"Vinny the pawn shop guy's been murdered!" Burke reported. "Shot in cold blood, and the killer just walked away. No clues who did it. But poor Vinny managed to tell Gertie to tell Black Zero to watch out for sabotage tomorrow at the shipyard!"
"Who's Vinny?" Bruce wanted to know.
"Skinny Vinny, he's one of the Red Gang... or at least he was," Burke noted sadly. "He's been one of my best stoolies for years... Try to get a message to Black Zero and have him meet me at Vinny's Pawn Shop," Burke requested confidently, knowing that Bruce would find a way to pass along the information. Despite their agreement to keep Bruce's identity as Black Zero secret, both men knew the truth. Burke's boss, Commissioner Jasperson, despised Black Zero and believed him to be a criminal, which was why they kept their relationship secret.
After he hung up, Bruce repeated the story to Gloria, then added, "For security, the Shipyard never make a public announcement, but they are launching a new submarine tomorrow." Black Zero was on very good terms with the Navy Captain Ronald Brown, Commander of Naval Intelligence at the shipyard, as he had prevented an earlier sabotage attempt. "I wasn't planning on attending - but looks like I'll need to change my plans!"
At Vinny's Pawn Shop, Burke gave Black Zero all the details - which weren't many. The killer had used a silencer, worn gloves so he wouldn't leave prints, and locked the door behind himself without leaving any evidence behind. It reminded Burke of another unsolved brutal murder - that of three spies whom Black Zero had left tied up outside of the police station during his first public appearance as a superhero. Feeling guilty about that incident, Black Zero changed the subject and asked when Vinny had been killed and if anything was stolen from his shop.
"The phone call was about 90 minutes ago, and we don't know if anything was stolen. The display counter was open - Vinny only unlocked it when he was showing stuff to customers - but if he took anything, they killer was careful not to make a mess. Unless something new breaks, we're probably never going to identify the killer." He stopped and crossed himself. "I went to school with Skinny, you know, known him forever... and I'm probably never going to find his killer," he wound down sadly.
"Well, if he tries anything at the shipyard tomorrow, I'll be ready!" Black Zero promised.
Incident at the Shipyard
Black Zero watched from a small security boat patrolling the harbor around the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as the latest Balao class submarine, the Lionfish, slowly rolled down the tracks and into the Piscataqua River. The ship was a perfect target for sabotage, with its upgraded engines, faster and with greater range than all prior Balao class subs, and armed with torpedoes with a new, more powerful explosive. Just as the ceremony to commemorate the launch of the unique submarine began, chaos erupted.
A missile suddenly flashed across the river, likely fired from Four Tree Island. It exploded upon impact against the hull of the Lionfish, causing minor damage to its heavy armor. But just as quickly as the shooter could reload and fire again, Black Zero sprang into action, using his Black Zero Transmitter to freeze the second rocket in midair. He quickly zoomed towards the island and on the beach he spotted a man in a dark costume similar to his own, getting ready to launch a third round. The cold ray from the Transmitter caused the missile to explode in the barrel of the bazooka, knocking the shooter violently to the ground. Zero instantly speared him with the cold ray, but though the ground around was instantly covered with ice, the villain was unaffected.
As the villain scrambled to his feet, Zero adjusted the Black Zero Transmitter to instantly produce his signature 'pillar of darkness', a circular zone of darkness that extended from the ground to at least the edge of the atmosphere, enveloping both combatants. However, he wasn't really surprised when the villain appeared to be able to see in the darkness as well as Black Zero could - after all, he had murdered a member of the Red Gang, and they were all equipped with special 'see in the Black Zero darkness' glasses. However, Zero was stunned when the bad guy fired a brilliant lightning bolt of electricity from a strange looking pistol! A bolt that crashed into Black Zero's chest, jolting him with a potent shock even through his insulated costume. The current overloaded the electronics in the Black Zero Transmitter; it shut off, and Bruce crashed down into the river!
"That must be one of Subducto's lightning projectors!" he thought with dismay. "Gotta hit the reset and then switch to the new setting!" One of the new settings Gloria had assisted him in adding to the Transmitter yesterday blocked the beams from the lightning projectors, but he couldn't fly in that mode; he was in the process of building a new transmitter that would separate those powers... he'd have to make do! Then he changed his mind and rocketed out of the water at full flying power, switched from flying to blocking electricity, and blasted the villain with another new power - a beam of powerful light as intense as any Civil Defense searchlight! "The exact opposite of the blackout ray!" he thought exultantly as he leaped on his now blinded foe and knocked him senseless.
It wasn't long before Captain Brown and a squad from Naval Intelligence arrived to take control of the prisoner. "This is for you," Brown handed him an envelope. "Arrived by a special courier this morning direct from DC. It's addressed to you - from President Roosevelt himself!"
Next Appearance of Black Zero
The Greatest American Movie