The Rise of Supremus - Chapter One

James Watt stood in the nursery at the Anglo-Force mansion, looking over the side of the cot at his young baby son Peter. Watt’s thoughts were on his impending wedding, now only a few weeks away, and on his much his life had changed recently. He then heard footsteps behind him, and behind him stood the second in command of Anglo-Force, Arthur Pendragon, this time minus his sword Excalibur.
    “The meeting’s about to start Jim.” he said. “Prime Minister Smith is getting a bit tetchy.”
    “I’ll be along in a minute.” said Watt.
    Watt leaned over the side of the cot and placed a small kiss on Peter’s forehead.
    “Am I doing the right thing?” asked Watt. “I’ve got a young son, and I’ll soon be married. Is this life I now live the right one? Should I be putting my neck on the line every day so I can support my family?”
    Pendragon walked over to Watt and placed his hand on his shoulder.
    “You shouldn’t be thinking like this.” he said. “It’s probably just nerves. You’ve got a big day coming up.”
    Watt turned to face Pendragon.
    “You’re probably right. Come on, let’s get this review out of the way.”
    “I hope it goes better than the last review meeting.” said Pendragon. “Mind you, we had Chameleon in charge back then!”

    Dentonville Prison was as busy as ever. Since it began operating it had become the home of many super-powered criminals, and now plans were afoot to build a second installation, similar to Dentonville, in the north of England.
    The prison warden, Pierce Corkindale, was making an inspection of the facility. He first had a tour of the ‘normal’ cells, which house the likes of Dr. Theophilus, Celsius, Woodwose, and the Monstron Colonel Chaney, a member of the Wolfen race. He then entered the maximums security wing. This wing currently had only one occupant. It was this occupant that took up most of the prison’s power because of the huge stasis field that was needed to contain him, and even though Corkindale had been into this wing many times the sight of the prisoner still shocked him.
    “There he is sir.” said the security chief. “Supremus! Still a huge bugger, and still bloody ugly!”
    “Yes, thank you chief.” said Corkindale. “I don’t think there’s any need for your comments.”
    Corkindale walked over to the main control panel. He looked at the readings and made a quick note of them. He then walked over to the edge of the stasis field and looked at Supremus. The sight of the massive mutate sent a chill down his spine. As he looked at Supremus’ face the huge eye suddenly opened and then closed again two seconds later.
    “Chief!” he called. “Did you see that? Supremus was awake!”
    The security chief walked over to the control panel. He looked at the readings.
    “That’s impossible sir.” said the chief. “The readings here show that Supremus’ condition has not changed since the stasis field was established.”
    “But I could have sworn his eye opened there.”
    Corkindale looked closely again at Supremus.
    “There’s no movement now.”
    He walked over to the security chief.
    “Keep an eye on the readings. The instant they change call me.”
    Corkindale left the cell, and the security chief watched as he walked down the corridor. No one noticed a slight smile appearing on the face of Supremus.

    The meeting began to break up at the Anglo-Force mansion. For the first time in a long while Anglo-Force had passed their quarterly review with flying colours. Prime Minister Smith stood on the steps of the mansion with Watt, and they watched as the various photographers and journalists gathered.
    “May I just say.” Smith started. “That I am more than pleased with the progress Anglo-Force have made under Captain Watt’s leadership, and I hope that their relationship with the government will continue to be a happy and fruitful one.”
    Smith extended his hand, and Watt grasped it. Like every good politician Smith knew where there was a good photo opportunity. Smith then made his way towards his car. As Watt watched him leave the Home Secretary Simon Kennedy approached Watt. He stood beside him as Smith got into his car.
    “I’m glad things are starting to go well for the team.” said Kennedy. “By the way, thanks for the invitation. Guess I’ll have to get fitted for my suit.”
    Watt turned to face Kennedy.
    “Any sign of Magus yet?” asked Kennedy.
    “None.” said Watt. “All I know is that he returned to the Time of Legends for some meeting with the rest of the Istari.”
    Watt looked around and saw that the photographers were starting to leave.
    “Can I have a word with you in private?” asked Watt.
    “Sure.” said Kennedy.
    They walked into the study. Watt poured Kennedy a glass of brandy, and then a glass for himself. He gave the glass to Kennedy and then sat down in the armchair.
    “I wanted to talk to you about these sightings.” said Watt. “The ones of that bloke in south London.”
    “There are many people in south London Jim.” said Kennedy.
    “I would have thought that someone with your power would have heard the rumours.” said Watt. “Of a man swinging along the rooftops wearing a black and white costume with the letter ‘X’ on his chest and mask.”
    “It may be nothing.” said Kennedy. “I date say that there’s probably someone running around in a red and black costume and calling himself the Captain.”
    “That may be, but I don’t think those guys are stopping massive jewel robberies and bank jobs.”
    “Are you saying that you’re worried about this?”
    “It might be nothing to worry about. There’s a lot of super-heroes around who aren’t affiliated with any team or organisation. I’m just worried that this bloke may be some bumbling amateur who could do serious injury to himself.”
    “Didn’t we all start out as novices Jim?”