Captain Triumph
The Return of Captain Triumph
by Libbylawrence
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 1
A tall, handsome blond man easily loaded suitcases full of clothing unto the Welfare Relief Program tables while an appreciative woman thanked him for his generous donations and admired his Herculean body.
“Oh, Mr. Gallant! It is so kind of you to give us these fine clothes. Some of our clients will be thrilled with them,” she gushed. She noticed the old fashion styles and said, “Were they the belongings of a deceased grandfather or uncle?”
He smiled a broad, boyish grin. “The old owner is dead. Let’s leave it at that!” He then walked out, whistling a cheerful tune as the workers watched him with open admiration.
“What a hunk!” cooed one.
“Yeah! But did you notice how often he checked his own reflection in the mirror? Like he was afraid he had a hair out of place or something! Vain men irk me!” said another.
“Nonsense! He would not have given those fine almost new clothes to us if he wasn’t a caring person,” replied the first woman.
Lance Gallant felt good that he had been able to give the entire wardrobe of clothing that would fit any chubby old man or youngster who liked to dress like an old man. He knew that the clothes had not, in truth, belonged to a relative but to himself!
Sometime before he had been an old, balding, chubby man in a nursing home with little energy or spirit. Then the rejuvenated Liberty Belle had found him and recruited him for a mission especially suited to his unique powers. He had found a new interest in life and had made many changes in his life since then.
He had long possessed the power to merge with the ghost of his long dead brother Michael and become more than human. As Captain Triumph he had used the powers to fight crime and the Axis. True, he had rarely mixed with the other mystery-men except for a case or two and he had retired in 1949, but he had been a powerful mystery-man who could trade blows with the best of them!
“We need to find new digs too! The old clothes are gone and the new Lance Gallant is ready for a second chance on life!” he said, apparently to himself.
He had aged normally and had never married. The nursing home became a necessity when his body began to wear out from age and use as all elderly people’s did! However, when Belle had arrived looking like a girl in her twenties, he had heard a wake up call to his true potential.
Lance Gallant was an old and sick man, but by merely rubbing his almost forgotten birthmark on his wrist, he transformed once more into the image of his dead twin brother! Mike had died as a strong, handsome young man and now by merging once more, the elderly, fat Lance became young and strong again! He realized after the case with Belle that he could just stay that way forever. His Captain Triumph look could be the way he looked from now on! Thus he had given away his old man clothes and left the nursing home.
He was going to truly live this time! Both as Lance and as the almost forgotten hero called Captain Triumph! First he assured Michael, with whom he was in constant communication that he would get a new place to live, then make a name for himself! He would help people and fight crime and just maybe… be happy for the first time in years!
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 2
Will Everett stood up from the computer and smiled. He had truly worked wonders in turning the old All-Star Squadron files into a computerized program that automatically scanned and tracked any reports of the names of the legendary and obscure mystery-men and women of the past! This would help Liberty Belle immensely with her idea of an All-Star Squadron reunion. He also relished learning more about the forgotten heroes who, like his own grandfather Amazing Man, had made the world better by their valor in the years since the 1930′s!
Will had super powers of his own. Proximity with anyone gave him their physical skills. An intimate contact like a kiss gave him their memories when he willed the contact to do so. He vowed never to do so again after a desperate kiss with Wonder Woman had given him not only the Amazon’s powers but also made him all too aware of her memories and secrets. The connection faded naturally in time, but not the memories as he had discovered.
He now knew more about Wonder Woman than almost anyone. He felt guilty about the intruding act, though at the time it had saved all their lives.
Still, he could make amends later. She did not even know he had done more than temporarily gain her powers. He smiled as he read a report that said the former heroine Queen Arrow was now back and active again!
Queen Arrow! Never even heard of her before! he thought.
As Paragon he hoped to make a name for himself too, and maybe in time join the JSA!
But before that event could ever occur, if at all, he would find himself in a fight for his very life against some old foes of the very heroes he admired so much!
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 3
Lance Gallant found action far more quickly than he had expected. He had just signed the papers for an apartment in New York when sirens alerted him to a crime in progress. He hurried into a bright red shirt and white pants and flew off toward the action. His heart raced and he said, “This is it, Mike! The first big solo case of Captain Triumph — phase two!” He paused, listening for a moment. “Yes, I am nervous but I can’t wait to help people again after years of selfishness,” he replied to the voice in his head.
He soon spotted a costumed thug racing out of the neighborhood bank. Hmmm! Red and green costume! Bells! It’s the Jester, but I thought he was a good guy! Must be an heir gone bad! he mused.
He was right, to a point. It was the step-son of the late Chuck Lane. He did wear his dad’s old suit as a type of twisted tribute, but his nom due crime was Punch since his devoted bride Deena Lomis, daughter of the Prankster, was known as Jewely!
She danced out of the bank and blew kisses toward the cops. Each kiss sent bubbles with narcotic powder floating toward them! She used her father’s gizmos well. He was a proud parent as he sat in jail and later read about Deena’s antics.
“Stop! The circus is over!” announced Captain Triumph.
Jewely giggled in a girlish way. She looked about twenty-two years old, although in truth she was at least forty five, or should have been!
“Nice costume! Did you get it at K-Mart?” she said as she rolled through the air with acrobatic skill and dropped a box. Triumph connected with Punch and sent him backward for several feet. The box exploded upward as a giant and razor sharp Jack in the Box! Triumph gasped and grabbed the deadly coils before they could connect with the hawking crowds.
“Get back, folks! This toy is lethal!” he ordered. He twisted the metal into a ball and rolled it into Jewely’s capering feet before she could react.
She fell flat and hit her head on the pavement. She lay still and Punch cursed Triumph.
“You creep! If you hurt her, I kill you even if you do have a punch like Superman!” he roared.
Captain Triumph allowed him to go to his wife and turned them in to the police.
“She’ll be fine. Don’t worry about her. Something about her makes me think she’s got real super resistance to injury. Like a healing factor,” announced a handsome black man who approached Captain Triumph.
“That would explain how she and her hubby are young years after their folks gave birth to them! The officers filled me in on their backgrounds. Punch’s dad was a cop and hero called Jester. But I see you knew that already. Your name?” smiled Captain Triumph.
“I’m Will Everett. You may be interested in having lunch with me. I am fascinated by the Golden Age of Heroes and would value your story. My grandfather was Amazing Man,” he said.
“My brother knows him. He is proud of you,” said Captain Triumph as they walked off.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 4
Dr. Charles McNider was in no mood for work. The injuries to Amanda, the tests for the Pratts, all helped him keep his cool, but he wanted action as Dr. Mid-Nite. He wanted to track down the lowlifes who hurt his new stepdaughter. He found only worries to occupy his mind. Myra sat by Amanda’s bedside and whispered words of comfort to the battered little blonde.
“Honey, it’s OK. You’re going to be fine. Trust your mother, the nurse!” she said.
Dr. Mid-Nite had an idea. He hoped Amanda’s star sapphire could heal her rapidly. That idea was something he clung to desperately. He would have her try that when she grew stronger.
He looked up as a tall man approached him. He carried flowers. He was Rex Tyler.
“I came as soon as I heard. How is she, pal?” asked Hourman.
“She is in bad shape, but doctor or not, I will make her attacker come to know worse pain!”
vowed a grim Dr. Mid-Nite.
Rex put his arm around his close friend. “I’ll help you. You know that. Just tell what I can do!”
“You can explain this! I was on my way to talk to you when I got the news about Mandy!” said Mid-Nite as he tossed down a wrinkled paper.
Hourman frowned. “Murders by super human killers, enhanced adrenal reactions. Altered blood chemistries in killers suspected.”
“Charles, these lab notes of yours sound like some new thugs are loose. What does that have to do with me? You know the writing is in Wesley’s scrawl! You have something to say to me? Surely, you don’t think…” he began.
“No, we know you too well to suspect you. Forgive my manner. It’s Mandy’s accident that has me so angry. What we do suspect is this: someone is using Miraclo to empower these new thugs!” said Dr. Mid-Nite.
“Impossible! I made sure it would not work on anyone else. I don’t even make the stuff now that I draw upon residual effects from years of use. It must be a compound close to it in nature. I can think of one such creation: the Z solution!” said Hourman.
“Wes thought so, too. That’s what he wanted to check up on while I found you. With Amanda hurt, I can’t leave. Could you help him while I stay with Myra?” said Mid-Nite.
“Trust me. Wes and I will get to the bottom of these murderers who misuse science. I know how that type of crime upsets you — medical breakthroughs used for evil to harm and not to help mankind!” said a determined Hourman.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 5
Paragon had arrived the Punch and Jewely robbery too late to help, but he had watched Captain Triumph in action and he was impressed. The student of the Golden Age of Heroes could not resist introducing himself to the World War II hero. Thus, he had done so and the two men shared a lunch together in which they talked of glory days from forty years before.
“I never mixed much with the other mystery-men except for a couple of cases. Maybe it was because I never went in for a fancy costume like some. I just did my job as best I could. I admit that part of my loner state was due to the fact that I was never really alone. Michael was and is always here too! We didn’t need other people’s help. That was wrong. I want to be an active member of the super hero community. That is what they are called now days right?” said Lance Gallant.
William Everett nodded. This man was interesting. He was as strong as Wonder Woman, could fly, could turn invisible, and through some mystic tie to his ghostly brother could perceive and affect the supernatural. He was a natural for any heroic team!
Will said, “That’s the name for them and for you! Listen, I have an idea. There is a new team forming in Star City. Queen Arrow is the name of the lady with the dream for a new Law’s Legionnaires team. What if you joined her group? They could use your muscle and experience.”
Lance grinned. “Sounds great! What of you? Are you not interested?”
Will shook his head. “Nope! I want to be in the JSA! That’s my dream.”
A scream echoed through the room and a waitress raced back from the glass window. “A monster!” she screamed.
Captain Triumph jumped for the window followed by Paragon, who merely dropped his long coat to reveal his costume. He moved with the same speed or slightly more that Gallant had since their proximity had empowered his cells.
A rat the size of a Buick raced down the street shoving cars aside as it went!
“Great guns!” cried Captain Triumph.
He flew toward the creature and drew back his fists. He pounded at the beast as its teeth snapped near him. “Sorry, Jerry, but my invulnerable body is too tough for your Kong-sized dentures!” he quipped.
He struck the creature repeatedly until it lay still. Paragon watched again without being needed. His keen memory and near photographic recall of JSA cases from reading Belle’s files and his own research in the field instantly connected the creature to an early case of the Sandman’s!
“Listen, Triumph, I know where that thing may have originated, and it sure isn’t Disneyland! Ever heard of Dr. Faversham? In the year 1940 he created such oversized monsters as part of a plot that Sandman foiled. This has his M.O. all over it,” he announced.
“We agree! How can we find him? Any leads?” asked Captain Triumph.
“Well, I do have an idea,” smiled Paragon.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 6
The Sandman had been tipped off about the grisly murders that had plagued the city over the last few days. He knew the M.O. well. Corpses found nearly ripped apart on the same night separated by a distance great enough that a gang had to be involved. Nothing to connect the victims and super human strength and agility evident from the handiwork. He had suspected an adrenal enhancing drug like Miraclo had been used by the killers; however, he knew his close buddy Rex Tyler, the inventor of the wonder drug, no longer even made the addictive stuff. He also recalled the fact that the chemist had vowed that the drug would not work for anyone else or at least no one without a body chemistry remarkably close to his own.
He had given the notes on the crimes to the JSA’s major medical expert Dr. Mid-Nite and had set off to track down the “Miraclo Murderer” as he was calling the madman. He knew one other formula that granted the drinker super powers and speed and body control: the Z solution used by a maniac who tormented Dr. Fate back in the 1940′s. His name was Mr. Who, and though he was dead, he had a son. Rick Nelson had called himself Z-Man back in the 1950′s when he was a member of Team Justice. He sought to make up for his dad’s evil ways, but he too had retired by the time the JSA returned to duty.
Sandman now prepared to speak to Rick about the possible use of the Z-Solution.
He was in full costume, for he expected trouble. His instincts honed by decades of experience told him to be ready for peril. He was always ready for adventure. The need to cure poor transformed Sandy and his own health troubles had sidelined him with two exceptions for years after 1947. He had packed away the purple and gold costme that reminded him so of the boy and had worked with Lee Travis all too briefly as well as with Rex Tyler, Jay Garrick, Sargon, and others to seek a cure. When that had failed he finally to return to active duty with the JSA and his old green suit. He had never looked back since then. With Sandy finally cured too, he had celebrated a return to the career he had begun almost forty years before.
That was in turn years ago and now he tensed up as he knocked on the Nelson door. He was led inside by a young man whose appearance startled even his experienced eyes.
“I’m Ronald Nelson. You knew my late father Rick,” said the young man He was stocky and somewhat fat beneath the green suit and bushy beard. He looked exactly like his late grandfather, the evil Mr. Who!
“Yes! I never heard of Rick’s passing. I’m so sorry,” he said.
He glanced around the halls that led to labs on two sides. He reached for his gun out of some instinct or need for the security it brought him.
The man spoke in the gutteral tones of his German grandfather, too. “Yes! But be comforted as I that he died for science!”
Sandman spotted a newcomer. An old man with a white spiked beard and mad eyes. “Faversham!” he shouted as he recognized an old foe. He grabbed the gun only to fall forward as a blow to the head blackened his world.
“Yes, father died for science. I killed him for the formula in his veins!” laughed the new Mr. Who.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 7
Hourman drove through the city with incredible speed until he reached the apartment of the Nelson family. It was a penthouse, and it seemed ominous as rain began to fall and night closed in. He frowned to himself.
I think Wes went here too to check on the Nelson family. He knew that the Z-solution could give a person powers somewhat like mine in terms of strength and speed. Rick was a hero as Z-Man. He did atone for old Who’s actions. I hate to think the worst, but I’ve experienced what a drug can do to the body and attitude of the user. Could the Z-solution have driven the poor man mad? I’m going to trust my gut on this one and act first then ask questions! mused the Man of the Hour!
He turned from the front of the building and rubbed his hourglass. The Miraclo power surged through him system anew, and he leapt upward from one terrace to another until he crawled over the rail of the Nelson penthouse.
He saw darkened glass doors and heard the hum of lab equipment. “Not a good sign. Rick was never a scientist!”
He was grabbed from behind and struggled against super strong arms. “Not going to get away that easily!” said a deep voice behind him.
He elbowed his captor in the ribs three times and broke free to face Captain Triumph!
“Hourman! I didn’t recognize you in the dark! Are you after Faversham too? Paragon tracked the old man from his prison release to here!” explained the blond hero.
Hourman said, “Look! I am on a case. I could use your power too. You are Captain Triumph aren’t you? After forty years a guy forgets.”
Paragon swooped down from the roof. “Hourman! Great to see you. We suspect trouble inside! Giant monsters all from the labs of Faversham, a nut from your early days.”
Hourman did not get to answer, for the rush of mighty wings brought down a black bat the size of the typical private plane.
It shrieked deafeningly and clawed at Hourman, who gasped and punched it with all his power!
It rolled back and Paragon dropped on its back. He gripped its neck with his hands and power now slightly beyond that of Triumph! He struggled to retain his hold on the weird creature before snapping its neck backward in a final move.
It dropped to the roof and did not move.
“I hate to kill anything, but from my notes I know nothing Faversham-mutated lived for long afterward anyway!” he said to Captain Triumph as he flew closer.
The glass doors swung open to reveal a figure from the past: Mr. Who born again in his evil splendor!
“You fiend! What have you done to Sandman!” cried Hourman as he shoved into the mad Ron Nelson.
“Hourman! You fought Grandpa once! I”ll enjoy ripping out your heart!” said Mr. Who.
Sandman hung from the beams within! His arms were chained above his head.
Dr. Faversham approached him with a needle and a gleeful look on his old face. “This is for forty years behind bars!” he cackled.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Part 8
Captain Triumph charged forward and slapped the scientist to the floor. “You won’t harm anyone while I live to fight!” he vowed.
Mr. Who suddenly displayed a new facet of his own power! The Z-solution did grant strength, agility, and invulnerability like Miraclo, but it also enabled the user to alter his body in various ways. The first Mr. Who had used it for growth. Z-Man had added shrinking. The new Mr. Who seemed eager to show off his own use of the wonder drug.
He shot up to giant size and tried to crush Hourman. “I killed them all for parts for Faversham’s lab experiments. It was fun and educational. I could kill in far locations due to my giant sized travel ability!” He laughed.
Hourman realized that explained away the notion that a team of killers was loose! “Why? You had no reason to get these spare parts as you call them!” cried Hourman as he grappled with the hulking man.
“Ah! But I did!” groaned Faversham as he rose from the floor and siught his needle again.
Sandman suddenly stopped playing stunned and kicked the needle out of Faversham’s hands. He twisted at that second and the needle plunged into his own veins! He screamed in exultation and transformed into a densely-skinned monster of a man.
“Now I have the power to avenge myself upon you!” he crowed even as the light of intellect faded from his dull eyes.
He turned toward Sandman even as Paragon rolled forward from an invisible position. He had picked up this power from Captain Triumph! He shoved the monster that had been Faversham into the wall and ripped Sandman down. “Help Hourman!” he said.
Sandman nodded and fired his wirepoon! It was meant to hit the wall behind the struggling figures; however, the sudden growth of Mr. Who caused it to implant itself in his back.
He roared with pain as Sandman reeled back on the weapon and Hourman slugged the villain with both fists.
Triumph took his chance and crashed into Mr. Who as well. He knocked him flat even as the wirepoon drew free.
“I never meant to damage him like that!” said Sandman.
“You didn’t! He heals! Part of the Z-solution’s magic!” said the wise Paragon.
Faversham had fallen too after Paragon had used Triumph’s strength to drop him cold.
“Tragic waste of life. Young Ron inherited his grandfather’s madness and it cost poor Rick his life. He extracted the solution from his own father’s veins, and with the help of Faversham, he embarked on that murder spree to gain more parts and victims for their mad science!” said Sandman.
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN TRIUMPH: Epilogue
Captain Triumph was pleased that his first new case had brought him into contact with two legendary mystery-men and a newcomer as well. He also hoped this Queen Arrow would accept him on her new team!
Sandman and Hourman returned to the hospital to comfort their friend Charles McNider in his grief and to assure him that the “Miraclo murders” had been solved. Plus, they hoped to talk to Al Pratt who had news of his own, according to the vague hints dropped by McNider.
Paragon returned to his files and was happy that he had met another legend from the nearly forgotten past. He hoped he would one day be one of them!
Elsewhere, a German-accented voice registered disapproval.
“Bah! The Z-solution and the genetic monsters have been lost to us thanks to the cursed JSA! After forty years, they return again to haunt me! I had hopes that we could use the creations for an army of our own!”said a masked man.
“But Armageddon, we have time on our side, yes? Plus, they little know that we have returned and that will prove their undoing!” laughed a man in a metal mask.
A second metal masked figure nodded and smoked via a long cigarette holder. Two others sat in shadows and listened to the talk of their leaders.
This union would prove most dangerous for the JSA and the entire All-Star Squadron!
