The Adventures of Duper Man - Page 2
© John McManamy
"Ah, Duper Man, I was expecting you," said Attila Friendly in his radio sound booth, not showing the faintest sign of fear. "You could have used the door, you know."
"Spare me the niceties," Duper Man cut in.
Attila Friendly's sausage-link pinky shot up in the air. "But you are my guest," he reminded the Man of Tungsten. "Allow me to show you around." He gestured toward a strange machine in the control room. "My little secret," he confided in Duper Man. "When people hear my voice, they completely lose the will to resist. They think the way I want them to think, do what I want them to do."
So THAT'S how he does it, Duper Man thought, literally speechless.
The scourge of the airwaves allowed himself a beneficent smile. "Oh, come now, Duper Man," he chided, "even you must have known that no one in their right minds would fall for my kind of crap."
He handed Duper Man a campaign button. "Attila for President," it read.
"That's right," the scourge of the airwaves grinned. "Today the radio waves, tomorrow the world."
There was only one person who possessed the evil genius to pull off such a master crime, the superhero thought.
"You guessed it," said Attila Friendly, reading his mind. Casually, he toyed with a button on his suit coat. Almost instantly, Attila Friendly fell to the floor like a deflated doll, and in his place stood Lox Lather, arch-criminal.
"So we meet again," said Duper Man, trying to maintain his cool.
"The pleasure is mine," rejoined Lox Lather in a chirpy voice.
"You're forgetting one thing," Duper Man reminded him. "I've got my strength back. You and your evil plans are history."
"No, YOU'RE forgetting one thing," Lox Lather shot back. "I now know your weakness."
As if on cue, from out of the wall appeared what looked like a giant ray gun from those 1950s science fiction comic books. Instantly, Duper Man felt the energy drain out of him, along with the will to go on.
"My serotonin-depletion machine," the arch-criminal explained. "Say hello to the mother of all depressions."
Duper Man felt himself sinking to the floor. "And say goodbye to the Man of Straw," was the last thing he heard.
To be continued ...
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