E.G.G Q&A: Episode 58

This Q&A Session contains full spoilers for E.G.G Episode 58: Heroes for Hire! If you have not read it, please click here to do so now!

Eileen decides that E.G.G needs to focus more on developing weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. You know, their job. So she hires Luke Cage and Iron Fist to handle all of the dirty work they don't have time for. The Heroes for Hire are more than game to help out, but when the dirty work consists of unclogging Helicarrier reactors and delivering a child, they get kind of sick of it. What's even worse is that Eileen didn't have the cash to pay them, escalating the situation to a more violent one. Luckily, the combined life insurance of both of Celeste's parents came in for the save.

James walked out of a room in E.G.G base, closed and locked the door behind him, then proceeded to walk away, whistling.

“What you doin’ Collins?” Someone suddenly said.

“Gyah!” James shouted, spinning around to see Josh leaning against the wall with his arms folded. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“What are you making in there?” Josh asked, approaching him.

“It’s none of your business.” James replied.

“Listen, I don’t appreciate you running secret science projects in my E.G.G Base behind my…”

“I’m sorry, whose E.G.G Base?” James asked. Josh paused, growled under his breath, and began to storm off when he ran into Eileen.

“Oh, Josh, James, there you guys are!” She exclaimed. “I need both of you.”

* * *

Fury warned Josh in the end of 57 that James was building something, and Josh is trying to figure out what it is. What is James up to? Well, take comfort in knowing that you'll find out sooner rather than later.

“But I’m done making excuses. As the new director, my job is to make sure that the rest of you do your jobs. So, I’ve come up with a contingency plan to deal with these distractions while we make cool toys.”

“And that would be…” Josh said. Eileen led them into the Inner Shell.

“These guys.” She said, pointing to a tall, muscular African American man in a yellow shirt, and another man in a green suit with yellow gloves, boots, belt, a mask that came halfway down his face, and a dragon on his chest.

“Luke Cage.” The first man said.

“Iron Fist.” Said the second one, bowing. “Namaste.”

“No way!” Josh said. “The Heroes for Hire! Dude, alright!” He said, holding his hand up to Luke Cage. Cage raised his eyebrows. “What? A brother can’t get a high five?”

“Anyways,” Eileen said. “Like you said, they’re heroes for hire. So, I’ve hired them to take care of all of our problems while we work.”

“Um, yeah, that’s nice.” James said. “But Scramble or Gravity Master shows up, what exactly are they gonna do?”

“Are you kidding me!” Josh shouted. “This is freaking Power Man!”

“Don’t call me that.” Cage said. “Ever.”

“But…”

“Ever.”

“Right, okay, well, he used to be Power Man, back when he wore a tiara.”

“It was a headband!” Cage shouted.

“Whatever. He has super strength and unbreakable skin! Making him invulnerable to anything! And this guy…” He walked over to Iron Fist. “Iron Fist! You… still go by Iron Fist, right?”

“Yes.” Iron Fist confirmed.

“Good. Anyways, he studied the ancient art of Kung Fu monk style in the lost city of K’un-Lun!”

“It’s not so much lost as it is hidden…” Iron Fist corrected.

“Whatever. Either way, he beat a freaking dragon and gained the power of the iron fist, letting him channel his chi energy into his fists to pack double the punch!”

“It’s more like ten times the punch.”

“Again, whatever. These guys are awesome superheroes!”

“Yet neither of them are Avengers.” Acacia said, entering the room.

“Excuse me?” Cage asked.

“I said…” Acacia approached Luke Cage and noticed how much taller, and how much more ripped he was than her. “Nothing, I said nothing.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Well, we’re happy to help any way we can Director Wuthrich.” Iron Fist said.

* * *

I can't express the joy I had in writing an E.G.G episode that features the Heroes for Hire! Luke Cage and Iron Fist are the ultimate buddy super team in the Marvel Universe, and I was exhilarated to bring them into E.G.G. This is actually one of my favorite episodes. It's also not traditional in the sense that it's more from their point of view than the usual E.G.G gang. The story follows Luke Cage and Iron Fist as they take on all of E.G.G's ridiculous tasks. I thought that was a pretty fun way to use them. Hire two superheroes and have them do a series of useless tasks. That's the glory of E.G.G!

“For goodness sake, just pay the man Eileen.” Acacia said. “We can handle the 0-8-4 on our own.”

“Fine,” Eileen said. “Where’s the E.G.G checkbook?”

“Oh, we don’t have those anymore.” Josh said.

“What?” Eileen asked.

“Yeah, I should have given you all of the financial records… due to frivolous spending, that had nothing whatsoever to do with me, Fury stopped giving us money. He only gives us supplies.”

“So… we’re broke?”

“Yeah, we’re broke.”

“Oh no…” Cage said. “Oh no, you ain’t broke. But yo face is about get broke in a minute if you don’t front some cash!”

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Eileen said, taking out her personal checkbook. “How much is it?”

“The total bill comes to $6,255 and 76 cents.” Iron Fist said. Eileen closed her checkbook.

“Um… yeah… maybe we can set up a payment plan?” She asked with a little giggle. Cage’s eye twitched.

“Uh-uh, I done had enough of ya’ll.” He said.

“Iron Fist, can you calm your friend down?” Josh asked, as Cage started moving towards them.

“Sorry to say.” Iron Fist said, as his fists lit up yellow. “But I’m with Luke on this one.”

“We are soooooo screwed.” Acacia said.

“Come here!” Cage yelled, as they all scattered. Josh ran into a conference room and closed the door. Cage began to bang against it, denting it each time.

“You can’t kill us! You’re a hero!” Josh shouted, hiding under the table.

“I ain’t gonna kill you,” Cage shouted. “I’m just gonna bust yo head!”

* * *

Yeah, Luke Cage always wants to bust heads, and he says Sweet Christmas. I included all of the Hero for Hire tropes in this one. But one thing I thought would be great is to put them in an action scene after all of the useless stuff... against E.G.G. Of course they weren't going to kill them, but like Luke said, but some heads! I thought it'd be hilarious going "oh, sorry, we can't pay you" even after everything they'd done! And they're professional, but they don't take no flack!

Make sure you tune in tomorrow, December 4, to read part one of the 2-part E.G.G Season 3 Finale: Hands of the Mandarin! Leave all your questions so I can answer them in the Q&A next Thursday, December 10! Lesson number one... Heroes. There is no such thing.

Hands of the Mandarin: The E.G.G Season 3 Finale. Part 1 of 2: All seems to be going well for E.G.G, with major threats like the Inner Circle and A.I.M dealt with, they can finally relax. But the Mandarin has other plans. It all has lead to this. Josh was warned, he didn't listen. Now, he will pay. Elsewhere, Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099, draws nearer to his goal of changing the future. That is, if James will let him. Catch all the action tomorrow, December 4, in E.G.G Episode 59: Hand of the Mandarin Part 1- Heroes Fall!