Someone in the South Bay with the geocaching name Scourge is removing some of those pesky lame micros that never should have been approved in the first place. His (or her) log entry is always only the mystic message “pum-SPAK!” Having been put on the right research path by fellow cacher Equinox who swears no knowledge of the identity of the real-life Scourge, I did a little homework on the details of the Marvel comic origin of villain-killer Scourge.
Scourge was an organization of super-villain killers (posing as a single person) who embarked on a killing spree in 1986 Marvel comics, cumulating in a massacre in a bar. Scourge typically wore a disguise, targeted a super-villain, and shot them to death with a sawed-off shotgun containing explosive ammo — with only the sounds “pum” (the shot fired) followed by “SPAK!” (the lethal explosion of the bullet).
A new Scourge has surfaced in some comics, with the added slogan “Justice is served!” The Scourge organization was originally founded by a major 1940s Marvel hero, The Angel, who retired after a bystander was killed by a criminal he was battling. Consumed by rage and guilt, the aged Angel later used his personal fortune to found and fund the Scourge of the Underworld organization, which is dedicated to the assassination of so-called super-criminals.
Scourge’s victims include Enforcer, Miracle Man, Hate-Monger III, Megatak, Melter, Titania, Basilisk, Hammer and Anvil, Fly, Death Adder, Blue Streak, Cheetah, Commander Kraken, Cyclone, Firebrand, Grappler, Hellrazor, Hijacker, Jaguar, Letha, Mirage, Rapier, Ringer, Shellshock, Vamp, Wraith, and even several Scourge agents. What a list!
Whoever chose Scourge as the alter-ego character with which to assassinate criminally micro-sized geocaches did so brilliantly. I wish I’d thought of it. Justice is served!
Author’s Note
Removal of approved geocaches by anyone other than the owner or an agent of the owner is just not nice, and I do not promote, condone, or support any such activities — and I am also in no way responsible for said activities.
Without intending to expose my own nether regions, our area could do with a good scourging. There are WAY too many boring micros being dropped just about anywhere in opposition to the spirit of and in violation of the rules of the game.