E.G.G Episode 44: Scramble

AND THERE CAME A DAY, A DARK DAY. A DAY WHERE THE LIVES OF THREE FRIENDS WERE SINGLEHANDEDLY DESTROYED. BUT THAT DAY HASN’T HAPPENED YET. NOW, HISTORY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN, AND E.G.G WILL WAKE TO SEE A BRAND NEW DAY.

E.G.G decided to take a break with a day at the beach. But it was only fun in the sun until the Sandman showed up. In an epic battle, Lightstream met James "for the first time" while rescuing him, Josh saved his new flame, a girl known only as Maya, Agent Rice and Squirrel Girl tackled their first official mission, and Acacia invented the Sandblaster, taking Sandman down and saving everyone on the beach!

Click here to read E.G.G Episode 43: Sandblasted

Click here for Episode 43 Q&A

-Scramble-

“Hurry up Julian!” Eileen exclaimed. Julian laughed.

“Alright, I’m comin’.” He said. Eileen grabbed his arm and began pulling him.

“We’re gonna miss him!” She said.

“We ain’t gonna miss him Eileen.” Julian replied. The two walked up to a building labeled ‘S.H.I.E.L.D Outpost’. Josh was standing outside, pacing nervously.

“Josh!” Eileen exclaimed, rushing up and hugging him.

“It’s about time you guys got here!” Josh said. “I was getting nervous!”

“You know we got you bro.” Julian replied. Josh smiled and put his arms around both of them.

“Boy, I’m glad to have friends like you!” He said.

“We’re gonna miss you Josh.” Eileen said.

“Hey, don’t worry, I get holidays. We can see other then.” He looked around. “Where’s Tanner?”

“He, uh, he got locked up last night.” Julian answered.

“Again?” Josh asked. “Man, are you gonna post bail?”

“If I can get the scratch, sure.”

“Let’s not worry about Tanner right now.” Eileen said. “This is your moment Josh. You’re an official S.H.I.E.L.D agent!”

“Yeah!” He took a deep a breath. “Today is the beginning of the rest of my life!” He turned to the door. “Oh man, I’m shaking all over. I’m actually kind of scared.” Eileen hugged him.

“It’s okay. I believe in you.” Eileen said. “I know you can do it.”

“Yeah bro, be chill.” Julian said, patting his shoulder. “You know we got your back.”

Julian opened his eyes. He sat up in his bed and looked to his left to see a Doombot standing there.

“Pedro, today’s the day.” He said.

“The day for what master?” The Doombot Julian had for some reason named Pedro replied.

“The day I get my life back.” He replied. Julian got up and opened his closet. He pulled out a green jumpsuit, along with metal black armor, complete with a chest piece, legs, boots, and a helmet that looked like a hazmat mask. He pulled out two gauntlets, and flipped a switch on both of them, powering them up. He put them on, then put his mask on. The eyes began to glow red and an HUD popped up.

“Noise filters on.” Julian ordered. His mask adjusted to block out high pitched sounds. “Gauntlet control, 100 hertz frequency.” He said. His gauntlets soon began to vibrate. “Pedro, come here.” The Doombot obeyed.

“Yes master.” He replied. Julian grabbed Pedro’s head with both hands and the gauntlets released a sonic sound wave with a frequency of 100 hertz. Pedro began to shake violently, then sparks blew out of his head and it exploded. The Doombot fell to the ground, steaming. Julian smiled under his mask.

“Doom has all the best toys.” He said. “Speaking of which…” Julian took off gloves and helmet. He grabbed the jumpsuit and the rest of his armor. “It’s time I paid the doctor a visit.”

Eileen was sleeping in her bed at her house when her cell phone rang. She groggily sat up and looked at the clock, which read 3:07 am. She reached for her phone and looked to see it was Josh. She flipped it open.

“Hello?” She groaned.

“Eileen…” Josh sobbed. Eileen sat up.

“Josh? What’s wrong, are you okay?”

“No!” Josh cried through tears. “I’m not okay! I hate it! I hate S.H.I.E.L.D!”

“Josh, what happened?”

“Everything! It’s so hard! The drill instructors are mean and yell at me all the time! The exams are impossible to pass, no matter how hard I study! Combat training hurts, very badly! The food is garbage! I have no friends! I only have 3 minutes to shower, and I keep dropping the soap! I can’t take it anymore! I can’t do anything right! It’s too much, too much!” Josh began to sob uncontrollably.

“Josh, you poor thing…” Eileen said.

“I miss you and Julian, heck, I even miss Tanner! I can’t keep this up. I want to come home!”

“Josh, you can’t quit…”

“There’s nothing here for me Eileen!”

“This is your dream!”

“Not anymore!” Josh continued to cry. “I just want to come home…”

“Okay, okay. Listen to me, you don’t move okay? I’ll fix it.”

“How?”

“I will, just trust me.”

“But…”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes…”

“Okay then. It’ll all be fine. I promise.” Eileen hung up. She threw on some jeans and rushed out of her house, into her car. She drove down to an apartment complex, walked up a few flights of stairs, and banged on a door. Julian answered, very tired.

“Who the-” He looked down at Eileen. “Eileen?” He looked back at the clock. “Do you know what freaking time it is?”

“It’s Josh.” She said, pushing into his apartment. “He needs us.”

“Josh is at S.H.I.E.L.D, he don’t need us.” Julian groaned, falling onto his couch.

“He just called me, he was in a tizzy. Crying, saying he was gonna quit…”

“Well if he can’t handle it, maybe it’s not for him.”

“Come on Julian! You know as well as I do that this is his dream! You’re the one that said we had his back. Did you mean that?” Julian sighed.

“Okay, fine. But how exactly do you think we’re gonna help?” Eileen smiled.

“We’re gonna join S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Julian walked into Dr. Doom’s throne room, fully decked out in his armor. Doom looked down at him.

“Woodfin?” He asked. “What is the meaning of your intrusion?”

“I’m sick of fillin’ your orders Doom.” Julian boldly stated. “And I know you ain’t gonna let me walk out that door. So I’m gonna take you down, then I’m gonna go live my life. The way I want. Without you.”

“You dare!” Doom shouted, standing up. “You dare to defy Doom? To whom you have sworn your allegiance!”

“I ain’t scared of you Doom.” He powered up his sonic gauntlets. “Now, you gonna back off, or do I gotta sit you down?” Doom clenched his fists, which began to gather two red energy blasts.

“I have so little respect for those who do not know their place!” Doom fired both blasts. Julian tumbled out of the way and shot out a sonic blast. The piercing noise shattered windows and scrambled the circuits of all machinery in the room. But Dr. Doom was not affected, and began to walk towards Julian.

“Aw shell.” Julian said. “Frequency, 200 hertz!” The sound increased. The chandeliers on the ceiling shattered. Doom continued to advance.

“You must by now realize that your resistance is futile.” Doom growled, reaching out for him. Julian frantically backed up.

“10,000 hertz!” He shouted. A sonic wave burst from the gauntlets and they both short circuited, blowing Julian back and out of the closest window. “NNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!” He shouted as he fell. Doom, who had only slid back a few inches, stood up and walked over to the window. He looked down to see the raging sea, and no sign of Julian.

“As is the fate of all who challenge Doom.” Doom said, as he made his way back to his throne.

Julian, Eileen, and dozens of other people sat in a waiting room. The S.H.I.E.L.D logo was plastered on the back wall, and the room was too quiet for anyone to be comfortable.

“How much longer we gotta wait here?” Julian whispered to Eileen.

“I’m sure they’ll be out soon.” Eileen replied. Julian sighed.

“You said that an hour ago.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s a difficult task.”

“They just gotta check right or wrong on the answers, it ain’t that hard.”

“Listen, just be patient, any minute now…” Suddenly two S.H.I.E.L.D agents emerged from the back room. “Ah! You see? Am I not always right?” Julian laughed.

“Yeah, sure, okay.” Everyone in the room stood up. One of the agents approached the front of the room.

“Alright,” He called. “Hernandez, Wilco, Freidman, Jacskon, Stalone, and Wuthrich. With me. The rest of you, maybe next year.” The room was filled with a mixture of excited cheers and disappointed sighs. Eileen looked at Julian.

“There has to be a mistake,” She said. “You said you aced it.”

“I thought I did…” Julian said. Eileen shook her head.

“This isn’t right, we studied together, we were ready for this.” Eileen walked up to the agent. “Excuse me, is there a Woodfin on that list?”

“No, the names I called are the only ones.” He replied. Eileen looked back at Julian. He smiled.

“Hey, it’s no big deal.” He said. “Go on, Josh only needs one of us.”

“But… There has to be a way you can get in… maybe a retake…” Julian put his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m good.” He said. “Go. Josh needs you.” Eileen wiped a tear away.

“But you’ll be all alone…” She said.

“I got Powell.” Julian replied. Eileen laughed.

“Are you sure Julian? Last chance, I’ll stay behind.”

“Hey, visit once a month and I’m cool.” He replied. “Besides, Josh needs you more than I do.”

Julian woke up on a boat. He looked to see his gear lying next to him. A fisherman walked into the room.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked. “Pulled you outta the water.”

“Yeah, I’m chill.” Julian said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You one a them super heroes?” Julian raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, super hero. Where’s this thing headed?”

“Down to Mississippi.” The fisherman replied.

“Mississippi…” He repeated. He reached into his armor and pulled out a small device. “Dr. Doom Database, activate.” He said, as the screen lit up. “Locate E.G.G base of operations.” The machine beeped and began its search. Seconds later, it beeped again, with a result. Julian smiled.

“You okay with headin’ down south?” The fisherman asked.

“Actually,” Julian said. “Is there any way you can drop by New York?”

Josh and Eileen were walking down the streets of Chandler, Arizona eating ice cream.

“I’m just saying, S.H.I.E.L.D needs a better place to keep their experimental government gadgets.” Josh said. “What if some nut jobs like, I don’t know, HYDRA bust in and steal everything?”

“That’s not gonna happen Josh.” Eileen replied, licking her ice cream.

“You never know,” Josh said. Suddenly the wall to a nearby bank blew out and four armed men rushed out with ski masks and money bags.

“Trouble, let’s go!” Eileen said, tossing her ice cream.

“But Eileen!” Josh complained.

“Josh! As agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, it’s our responsibility to…”

“Okay, okay!” Josh submitted, throwing his ice cream down. “First vacation in five years.” He grumbled to himself. They rushed over to the scene of the crime. The group split into pairs of two.

“I’ve got these guys.” Eileen said, breaking off.

“Then looks like these two are stuck with me!” Josh rushed one of them from behind and slammed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious. He took out a Taser and blasted the other guy. He electrocuted and fell to the ground. Eileen slid forward and tripped one, then pinned him down.

“In the name of the Strategic Hazard Intervention…” She started as Josh rushed past her.

“Quit giving him the riot act, the other one’s getting away!” He called. Eileen sighed.

“Fine.” She said. She punched the guy out cold and joined Josh in pursuit. Josh took multiple shots with his Taser, but the guy dodged each blast.

“Squirrely little son of a gun…” Josh said.

“Buddy move!” Eileen called out. She jumped into the air and Josh caught her, spun her around, and hurled her at the fourth assailant. She tackled him to the ground. He rolled around and began to struggle.

“Hold still!” Eileen grunted, struggling with him. She grabbed at his face but he pushed her off. She looked to see she was holding the ski mask. Josh rushed up next to her, and they both froze in surprise as the man stood up.

“Julian?” Josh asked, as thunder clapped and rain began to fall.

“Surprise.” Julian said. Eileen shook her head.

“No, no, no, this can’t be!” She said. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Well what’d you expect, huh?” Julian replied, preparing to make a break for it. “You two make it to big shot S.H.I.E.L.D agents, this is all that’s left for me.”

“That’s not true.” Josh objected, strategically covering Julian’s escape. “It’s not too late to run the straight and narrow, get a nine to five…”

“Ha, yeah, right.” Julian said. “You try convincing any employer to hire a black kid with a record.”

“Record?” Eileen asked. “Julian, how long have you been doing this?”

“Started out as a quick gig with Tanner.” He said. “Soon, it was a way of life. A way to survive.”

“That’s crazy talk Julian!” Josh said.

“I ain’t got no other choice!” He shouted.

“There’s always a choice.” Eileen said. “You’re making one right now. Please, come with us quietly, and I will personally ensure you get a speedy trial…”

“Uh-uh, no way!” Julian said, taking out a gun.

“Julian!” Eileen gasped. Josh immediately stepped in front of her.

“Put the gun down Woodfin!” He shouted.

“I ain’t goin back to the joint.” Julian said, his hands shaking.

“Put. It. Down.”

“You ain’t takin’ me back in!”

“Last chance Julian! Lay down your gun or I will take you down!”

“I ain’t goin back!” Julian opened fire. Eileen screamed and ducked as Josh rushed forward and punched Julian. Julian fell backwards and Josh immediately grabbed the hand he was holding the gun in. The two struggled, back and forth.

“Surrender now Julian!” Josh yelled.

“You think ‘cause you’re a S.H.I.E.L.D agent you’re better than me?” Julian shouted back, pushing against Josh. “I was always better than you!”

“You’re the one aiming the gun!”

“Both of you stop!” Eileen shouted.

“Let me go!” Julian shouted, punching Josh in the gut several times. Josh gritted his teeth and rushed both of them into a wall.

“Stop it! Stop it right now!” Eileen cried. Julian banged Josh’s head against the wall, and Josh punched Julian across the face. “I said stop!” Eileen screamed, as she pushed Julian away from Josh. And suddenly, the gun went off. Josh and Julian both looked at Eileen, who had let out a spine chilling scream.

“Oh man…” Julian said.

“Eileen?” Josh asked. She lifted her hand off of her hip to see blood. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell unconscious. “EILEEN!” Josh screamed.

“I didn’t… this was never supposed to…” Julian couldn’t find the words. “I didn’t want this…”

“Aaaaahhhhhh!” Josh screamed. Julian looked up as Josh punched him, and knocked him out cold.

Josh was in the Inner Shell, monitoring E.G.G’s daily activity.

“Um, sir.” An agent called.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Josh asked.

“We’re getting some seismic activity in lower Manhattan, is that normal?” Josh squinted suspiciously.

“No, not at all, Manhattan’s not known for earthquakes.”

“It’s pretty small.”

“But still worth investigating. Blanco, Wuthrich!” He called.

“Yeah?” Acacia answered.

“What’s up?” Eileen replied.

“Suit up, there’s some stuff goin on and I don’t like it.”

“Ooh, can I get James?” Eileen asked.

“No! You can’t get James!” Josh replied. Eileen frowned. “Now let’s go, I wanna be back before lunch time.”

Two S.H.I.E.L.D agents escorted Julian into an interrogation room, where Josh and Eileen sat waiting. They sat him in the chair.

“We’re good.” Eileen said. They nodded and left. She smiled. “How are you Julian?”

“I’m chill.” He replied. “How’s the hole in your hip?” Josh angrily stood up, but Eileen grabbed his arm.

“I’m healing.” She said. “Thank you for asking. The trial’s looking good, I think the jury’s on your side.”

“Due solely to the fact that Eileen’s not pressing charges.” Josh growled. “For reasons I still don’t understand.”

“I don’t need your pity.” He said. “Five years, you call once, write twice. Party down at S.H.I.E.L.D, didn’t once stop to think about me then, so why start now?”

“That was a mistake on our part.” Eileen said. “But we’re here to help. In fact, I was talking to the judge, and he said we might be able to have you out as soon as tomorrow!”

“Goody.” Julian said sarcastically. Josh stood up.

“I’m done with him.” He said, storming out of the room. Eileen sighed.

“Julian, you’re setting up a wall. Let us in.” She put her hand on top of his. “Let me in.” Julian pulled away.

“Whatever you do got no effect on me rainbow eyes.” He said. Eileen sighed.

“Okay.” She said. She motioned to the door and the two agents came in and took him back to his cell.

Josh, Eileen, and Acacia all three entered an empty warehouse.

“Oh man, I hate empty warehouses!” Acacia said. “They give me the creeps!”

“Your boyfriend gives me the creeps.” Josh retorted. Acacia rolled her eyes.

“Keep it up, one day Harry’s gonna nail you!”

“Tch, yeah, I’d like to see that…”

“Shh,” Eileen said. She pointed to the corner of the room. “Something’s over there.” Suddenly Julian walked out, fully armored up and ready to fight.

“Who the shell are you?” Josh asked. He didn’t say anything. He just stood. “Strong silent type huh? Okay then, take him!” Acacia took out a Repulsor Blaster, Eileen her Widow Stings, and Josh a Thwip Blaster. Julian held up his hands and emitted a sonic wave.

“Ah!” All three of them screamed as their weapons short circuited and blew in their hands.

“He scrambled our tech!” Josh exclaimed. Julian looked down.

“Scramble…” He said to himself, his mask disguising his voice.

“Aw great, you gave him a super villain name!” Acacia said. “You need to stop doing that.”

“It’s not my fault, it’s a natural gift!” Josh defended.

“Focus guys!” Eileen said, shooting lighting at him. He tumbled out of the way and shot an ear splitting sonic blast at her head. “Agh!” Eileen screamed, falling to the ground.

“Eileen!” Josh shouted. “Are you okay?” She looked up and saw him shouting, but couldn’t hear a word he was saying.

“I can’t hear you!” She yelled, holding her ears, which were ringing like an alarm.

“Okay, this guy is serious.” Josh said to Acacia. “Watch yourself.”

“Right.” She replied. Scramble began to launch repeated blasts, Josh and Acacia rushed to avoid them. Acacia turned invisible. “Find me now…” She said to herself. Scramble suddenly released a large but silent sonic blast that blew out around the room. He targeted the sound displacement under his mask and shot at Acacia. It hit her and she screamed, falling to the ground and turning visible again.

“Okay, I don’t care who you are, this ends now!” Josh shouted. He rushed forward and punched Scramble. Scramble fell backwards and Josh immediately grabbed his gauntlets. The two struggled, back and forth.

“Surrender now!” Josh yelled.

“No.” Scramble growled, pushing against Josh. He punched Josh in the gut several times. Josh gritted his teeth and rushed both of them into a wall. Scramble banged Josh’s head against the wall, and Josh punched him across the face.

“Aragh!” Scramble growled, grabbing both sides of Josh’s head. Josh grabbed his arms and began to pull, but Scramble unleashed his sonic burst.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Josh screamed, falling to his knees. Scramble stepped up to him.

“One more at close range should do the job.” He said, raising his hand. “Goodbye, old friend.” Suddenly Scramble was shot from across the room. James jumped down and continued to fire at him with his futuristic blaster. Scramble shot at James, but his helmet blocked out the noise automatically. Scramble growled.

“Another time.” He jumped out of the window and was gone. James took off his helmet and ran to help Eileen.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m starting to hear again, so that’s good.” She said. She smiled. “I’m glad I brought you along.” He nodded.

“Come on, let’s help the others.”

Julian sat in his cell in the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. Suddenly there was an explosion. He sat up and looked as a group of Doombots rushed, gunning down the agents and opening the cells. A Doombot approached Julian and opened his cell.

“Do you wish to have your freedom?” It asked. Julian stood up.

“Yeah.” He said.

“Then you must swear your allegiance to Lord Doom.” He looked around. Prisoners were leaving with Doombots. S.H.I.E.L.D agents were fighting and failing. He remembered Eileen. ‘The trial’s looking good’ he remembered her say. ‘We might be able to have you out as soon as tomorrow’ he remembered her say.

“What is your answer.” The Doombot demanded. Julian looked at him. Then he took a deep breath.

“Yeah,” He said. “I swear.”

Alright, make sure you tune in next week Thursday, August 20, and catch the Q&A for this episode! Then come back the next day, August 21, for E.G.G Episode 45: Masters of Doom! E.G.G is about to face their greatest foes yet!