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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:04:49 GMT
Continued from Justice League of America: The Legion of DoomChapter 1: Unholy Trinityby Doc Quantum Neron sat on a throne of skulls, looking bored. Oh, he'd been busy that week with his minor manipulations, and he'd goaded a few mortals into abandoning lives of virtue for paltry gains, then made them feel so guilty about it that they found themselves too ashamed to dig their way out of the pits they were in. It was a game he'd played for centuries, but it had become more of a chore as of late. That was why, in recent years, he had begun new games with these brightly costumed mortals known as super-heroes and super-villains. The villains were easy enough prey; not much of a challenge, really, since they almost all wanted the same things -- money and power. Now the so-called heroes, on the other hand, posed a real challenge. He'd even had some minor successes recently with a few fringe characters, such as Jim Rook, the Nightmaster. (*) [(*) Editor's note: See Showcase: Whatever Happened to Nightmaster?]Another of his successes in recent years was a young man named Ryan Chase, the former Human Cannonball. Chase was one of the more obscure super-heroes to make the scene, operating out of Metropolis, but he'd never been successful in achieving his goal to be famous until he met Neron. The ancient being had met the fame-seeking man while under one of his human guises, and as businessman Nathan Nero had convinced him to sign away his soul in exchange for fame and fortune. Ryan Chase had laughed, thinking Neron was merely using a clever turn of phrase, and he agreed. After all, what did he have to lose? Shortly thereafter, Ryan Chase won a deal for a television show called Hero For Hire, starring himself as the super-hero known as Cannonball. Under the oversight of his producer, Stephanie Edge, he became an overnight sensation. (*) He had several adventures in Metropolis, occasionally teaming up with Superman and other heroes -- who then appeared as "guest stars" on his TV show in recreated scenes using actors -- and he was wildly popular with kids. Cannonball dolls were in every family's home from Metropolis to Coast City, and he raked in a fortune from merchandising rights. Things couldn't have been better for Cannonball. [(*) Editor's note: See Secret Origins: Cannonball: Hero for Hire.]And then Neron paid him another visit, just as he'd promised he would. Ryan Chase still thought Nathan Nero was just joking when he told him he'd come to collect his payment for all of Cannonball's success. After all, who'd ever heard of a man actually selling his soul? Such things were old wives' tales. But Neron had not been kidding, and Chase soon began to realize that. He broke down and began to sob as the truth hit him, but he managed to quickly pull himself together. He was a hero, damn it, and he wouldn't grovel to anyone. With a shaking voice, he asked Neron how much time he had, and Neron told him payment was due immediately. Cannonball thought about it for a few moments, then decided to take a chance. "Is there any way I can go out as a hero?" he had asked. Neron had smiled, amused by the question. "It's an unusual request, but... I'll allow it." "Thank you," Chase had said. One day later, while filming what would ultimately become the most-watched episode of Hero For Hire ever, Cannonball fought Superman's evil counterpart from another dimension -- Ultraman of Earth-Three's Crime Syndicate -- and was crushed, receiving wounds that would put him in a coma. In doing so he had managed to keep the evil Kryptonian from killing anyone in Metropolis before he and the others vanished. (*) Although Ryan Chase had been expected to fully recover from his wounds, he instead died quite suddenly in the wee hours of the morning. The autopsy would later reveal that he had gotten an unrelated infection during his brief hospital stay, and had gone into septic shock. None of the doctors were able to save his life. [(*) Editor's note: See Crime Syndicate of America: Nightmare.]That had only been a few days ago, and Neron had been sated by the absorption of the man's soul, not to mention the delicious sorrow that he had tasted during his funeral, particularly from a weeping Lois Lane. Despite his fame-seeking, Ryan Chase had possessed a noble soul -- and it had been a sweet delicacy for Neron when he consumed him. His other plans, however, had not been going as well. The Justice League was still alive, after all. It was time to pay a visit to his unholy trinity. *** It was now the eve of June 26th, the anniversary of his parents' deaths, and the Wrath was deeply unhappy. Over the past few days, the self-appointed leader of the Legion of Doom had been plotting and planning, just as Neron had wanted him to. But while he had given everyone the impression that he had a master plan at work to destroy the Justice League, the truth was that he had merely been stalling for time. He had a brilliant mind, one that had served him well as a professional assassin for many years, but that mind had been consumed by single-minded hatred and thoughts of revenge upon the man who had killed his parents as a young cop: James W. Gordon, now the police commissioner of Gotham City. The Wrath, whose true name had long ago been blotted out from all documented records, cared not a whit whether the Legion of Doom succeeded in killing the Justice League or not. All the Wrath cared about was avenging his parents by killing Gordon, and avenging his own life by killing the Batman. Everything else was secondary in his mind. Neron hadn't, however, given him a choice in the matter when he'd brought him back to life. Yes, he could kill the Batman as long as that death was part and parcel with the deaths of the rest of the JLA. But he was forbidden from pursuing Gordon's life until after the Legion had succeeded in achieving its sole purpose for existence. But it was nearly the anniversary. It was most fitting that Gordon should meet his maker on this of all days, just as he had planned when he'd first become the Wrath. How could he possibly pass up such an opportunity, now that another June 26th was arriving? Still, although Neron had convinced him at the time that he could wait another year, this year was the thirtieth anniversary of his parents' murder at the hands of Gordon. Now would be the most fitting time of all to finally complete his vendetta. The Wrath could not wait another year. Gordon needed to die now. That was why he had hidden himself on that Gotham City rooftop overlooking Gotham City Police Headquarters after sending his Legionnaires out on their kidnapping missions. He knew it wasn't a smart move -- the Batman would be expecting him to target Gordon on this day, of all days -- but the Wrath couldn't risk losing his chance a second time. "Aaargh!" he cried out as a sudden pain blasted through his skull like an arc of electricity, punctuated by the sound of the city clock tower ringing in the midnight hour. With trembling hands, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a black candle, then quickly lit it. He vanished immediately. Not far away, the Batman lowered his binoculars. "Bingo," he said to the woman next to him. "You were right," said Zatanna. "He did show up." "And now we've got him -- we've got them all," replied Batman triumphantly. "Let's join the others at the Sanctuary." *** Super-Menace was the last to arrive at Neron's unholy sanctum, the Wrath and the Dark Commander having arrived moments earlier. It had taken a bit more prodding for Super-Menace to be pulled back from his mission in Metropolis. "Why have you interrupted me?" he demanded. "I was about to kill Superman!" "Silence, Clyde Derek," said Neron dismissively. " Never call me by that name!" shouted the raging Super-Menace. "I will not be known by the name those -- those humans gave me!" "I said silence." At that moment, Super-Menace found his mouth sealed tightly shut. He tried to fly forward, but he found himself unable to move. After struggling for a few moments, the menace of steel began to relax. "Clyde, you were so much more interesting before you developed into this raging man-child you are now," Neron said, stepping forward to slowly circle Super-Menace as he inspected him. "Didn't Wolf and Bonnie Derek raise their son to be better than that? You are not the Anti-Superman that I had so desired. I know you possess all the intelligence and skills of your foe, but your ever-present anger thwarts every action you attempt. You are indeed a formidable tool of destruction, but that is not all you are. You are capable of so much more, if you can only keep a cool head about you at all times, just as your opponent does." Neron stopped and stared into Super-Menace's eyes. "And you will be more. Do you understand?" Super-Menace glowered for a few more moments, then slowly lowered his eyes and nodded his head. "That's good. That's good..." He nodded, and all restraints were released from Super-Menace, who slumped his shoulders as if all anger had also been released at that moment. He stepped back and nodded, somewhat contritely. Neron walked toward the Dark Commander, whose looks were identical as that of Princess Diana, the original Wonder Woman, except that there were no traces of love to be found there. "And you -- Aresia," said Neron. "My dear Aresia. When I found you, you had lost your own father, the god of war. He was everything to you, but after the shameful way you died, he turned his back on you. That was when I stepped in and became a second father to you." The Dark Commander merely nodded. "But you've disappointed me as well," sighed Neron. "Perhaps my Legion of Doom is a bit of a boy's club, but since when has that ever stopped you from being the leader you were born to be? Instead, you are merely one of the group... one of the riffraff." The Dark Commander kept a steely gaze on Neron, who stared her down. "You're one of my unholy trinity!" he shouted loudly. "You and the other two -- your brothers, if you will -- are second to no one! Why have you allowed others such as the Marshal and even Savitar and the Blue Bowman to start usurping your place as a leader? Should I consider you a mere woman unable to handle this responsibility?" "No," said the Dark Commander. "What was that? Did I hear a mouse squeak? Is Mouse Man hiding in your clothes somewhere, perhaps?" " No!" shouted the Dark Commander with the cry of a true warrior. "Then step up," said Neron, "or I will promote someone else to take your place in my unholy trinity, and I will send your soul back, and you will never have the warrior's death that your heart craves." The Dark Commander nodded and stepped back in a battle-ready stance. Neron smiled and stepped toward the Wrath. "And you. I know your true name as well, William Mallory." The Wrath visibly stiffened as his name was spoken aloud for the first time in decades. "Oh, don't worry -- this conversation is between you and I alone. Your fellows only hear what I choose for them to hear. You still retain your secret, William, and that of your young Elliot Caldwell. Is he grateful that he survived his training, William? Is he even aware that he was the last of five orphans you kidnapped and put through your particular training regimen -- the only one that lived through it?" "Rage is a good soldier," replied the Wrath. "That he may be, but the past few years of easy living at boarding schools during your absence have also made him weak," responded Neron. "But I'm sure you have plans to update his training as soon as possible. Only, I wonder if he's aware of the tortures he'll endure during his own private boot camp?" He laughed at the image. "But I'm getting away from the reason I brought you here," said Neron, his tone darkening. "A week ago I assembled my Legion of Doom with grand plans to destroy the Justice League. But as I've checked in on you, all I've seen is setback after setback, delay after delay. Why is the Justice League still among the living?" "We have a plan, but--" "Oh, I'm becoming aware of your plan, William," said Neron. "I know why you were on a rooftop in Gotham City watching Gordon instead of taking the lives of your enemies. Need I remind you of our agreement?" "No," said the Wrath. "I remember." "Then delay no further," said Neron. "Whatever plans you had in mind are off the table. You will summon the sorceress at once and go through with my plan -- showdown." The Wrath restrained himself from making an angry retort, then said, "Pardon me for saying so, sir, but this plan won't work. We need preparation time. I may be a professional, but our team is still just a bunch of rookies -- present company excepted, of course. We can't just head into a battle with an experienced team like the Justice League without doing the necessary legwork first." Neron raised one arm and said merely one word to silence him. "Showdown." A moment later, the unholy trinity was gone. "He's right, you know," said a voice in the shadows. "Your plan will fail." Neron grinned as he turned to face his visitor. "Ah, I was wondering when you would show your face, Stranger. But you never do show your face, do you? That hat of yours always manages to shadow your eyes, no matter what light you're in, be it damnation's hellfire or the soft glow of Heaven." The Phantom Stranger stepped forward, his dark cloak just above the ground. "Many have tried and failed to destroy the Justice League. Do you merely wish to add your name to the list of those whose plans they have thwarted, Neron?" Neron sat back down on his throne of skulls. "You bore me, Stranger. Many a time have I invited you over for a little chat, but do you ever arrive when I call? No. You only show up to nag at me like a frumpy housewife." "I come when I am needed," said the Stranger. "And I came to offer you a warning. Turn away from your destructive plans now. You cannot harm the JLA." "Oh, I don't care," said Neron. "If I'd wanted to kill the Justice League, I'd have done so long ago." "You may boast all you like, Neron, but I know the truth," said the Phantom Stranger. "You are powerless against truly good men and women. Your only power lies in temptation, and you are utterly impotent against those who cannot be tempted." As the Stranger began to walk back into the shadows, he added, "You will never possess the soul of a Justice Leaguer, no matter what you do." "And a good day to you, too, sir!" said Neron flippantly, but the Stranger was already gone. Neron sat on his throne of skulls for a long time after that, glowering into the darkness around him. And not even the sound of a thousand souls in torment could break his foul mood.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:19:49 GMT
Chapter 2: Born Without Fear
by Doc Quantum
The lost Justice Leaguers and their companions began to settle in to life in post-nuclear Denver, Colorado. But the Rangers and the locals they protected were tight-lipped about how they'd managed to survive for so long without outside aid. It took a few weeks for the lost Leaguers to earn their trust, but finally the Rangers began to open up to their new friends.
"Twasn't easy to survive a nuclear war," said John Jones, the U.S. marshal who led the Rangers. "But I'd be remiss in not giving credit where credit's due. Like you fine gentlemen and ladies, we had visitors here not long after the bomb fell. We were dying left and right from radiation poisoning, just droppin' like flies. We wouldn't have been able to survive another year without help.
"And then... they came, flyin' down from the skies above in spacecraft shaped like eggs," continued Jones. "There were three of them ships, each with one passenger. They arrived like celestial beings, and truth to tell, we didn't know what to make of 'em. There wasn't much left to take, after the scavengers had been through with us, but we were proud, and we kept our guns trained on 'em in case they made any false moves. When the eggs opened, we were shocked, to say the least, when the visitors inside 'em looked just like we did!
"One of 'em was an older man with white hair. Another was a young man with brown hair. And the third was nothin' but a child with bright red hair. All three of 'em wore red jumpsuits with silver gloves and boots, and a silver triangle emblazoned on the chest. Funny thing was, the two older gents completely deferred to the kid in everything. It was topsy-turvy, the way they dealt with each other. It was almost as if the kid was the oldest, and the old man was the youngest, like they aged in reverse or something. We didn't question it much, though; just noted it was odd.
"The young man stepped forward and greeted us with strange words, then began to speak English. He told us that they'd seen what we'd done to our planet, and they wanted to help, if we would let them. We had nothin' to lose at that point, so we decided to trust 'em. They provided us with medicines to counteract radiation, they cleansed the soil and showed us how to do so ourselves, and they made it so Denver was protected for good against radiation from outside. All they asked in exchange was to make our city a haven for good people, but to protect it from bad ones. We've done just that for the past twenty-five years."
"Very strange," said Red Tornado, listening. "Tell me, do you know what these extraterrestrials called themselves?"
"Orkans."
Everyone turned to see who had spoken. It was Danny Fonzarelli, who nodded coolly and added, "Eyyy... just trust me. I know."
"You're right about that," said Jones. "I don't suppose Denver's the only place they stopped to help, since you've heard of 'em, too. We were mighty grateful for their help all those years ago, but we've never seen 'em since. Because of their example, we've never turned away visitors to our fair city, as long as they come in peace. We've found that most people respect our rules enough to behave peaceably enough for our likin'.
"But that brings me to somethin' else," added Jones. "About twenty years back or so, a few years after we'd seen the Orkans for the last time, a shooting star rocketed in the skies overhead, heading west. But it wasn't like no other shootin' star we'd ever seen. For one thing, it didn't travel in a straight line. It kept zig-zaggin', like it was correctin' its course as it entered our atmosphere. It looked like it was headed straight for California, but at the last second it darted back towards us. Landed up in them mountains. Near as we can tell, it got buried deep into Sugarloaf Mountain. Over the years we sent a few expeditions to find it, but we never could. We were thinkin' that you fine folks might be able ta help us out."
"What are you hoping to find?" asked Vixen. "Surely any inhabitant of a ship that crash-landed twenty years ago has got to be dead or long gone by now."
"Well, we have a feelin' that whatever it was is still there," said Jones with a knowing look. "Call me crazy, but I've always thought it was a friend of the Orkans lookin' for a friendly port in a storm. Just had an unlucky break and crashed in the wrong spot, is all. Even if there's just wreckage, there might be something we can salvage to keep us going."
"We'd be happy to check it out for you, Marshal," said Steel. He looked at the others. "Won't we, guys?"
"Might as well," said Tabitha Stephens. "Try as I might, I still can't muster up enough magic to escape this world. We could be here a while."
"I think this is a case for the Justice League," said Firestorm. "Could be dangerous out there. Besides, we'll need you to look after the kids while we're gone. Dinah and Arthur tend to be a bit tough for ordinary babysitters to deal with."
"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill," said Tabitha glumly. "Well, bring me back a souvenir, won't you?"
"I'm going with you," said Danny Fonzarelli, stepping forward.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Fonzie," said Steel. "As Firestorm said, it's dangerous out there."
"Eyyy, Danger's my middle name," answered Fonzarelli. "And I won't take no for an answer."
Soon, six figures set off for Sugarloaf Mountain in the nearby range of the Rocky Mountains. Red Tornado flew under his own generated winds, while Firestorm flew alongside him, pulling with him a gigantic inflatable ship full of helium containing a solid plastic deck upon which stood Vixen, Steel, Nightmaster, and Danny Fonzarelli.
It felt good for the Justice Leaguers in particular to be outside the city for a while and on a mission. For too long they'd been on a quest to find home, but now they had a chance to help the people here who'd provided them with shelter and had offered them such gracious hospitality. If this fallen spacecraft contained anything useful, it might go a long way to helping to rebuild this world.
"Well, there it is," said Firestorm, pointing down to a low-lying mountain covered with sparse trees; it was barely a foothill compared with the taller snow-capped mountains in the distance. "Sugarloaf. But I don't see any signs of a crashed spacecraft. Do any of you?"
"The marshal said it was somewhere on the south-facing side of the mountain," offered Vixen. "He gave me the coordinates, if you want to settle us down a bit closer."
The inflatable flying craft gently rested down near the base of the mountain, and the six figures walked toward the indicated area.
"This is the place," said Vixen, checking a map in her hands. She looked up; there was nothing around to indicate any downed craft.
"Should we try looking underground?" suggested Firestorm. "I could turn some of this soil into air so we could get a look below, or maybe Reddy could blast through it with a high-powered tornado, while Steel digs in with those robotic muscles of his."
"I have a better idea," said Vixen with a smile, fondling the fox-head totem she wore around her neck. "As you all know, my Tantu Totem hasn't been working well since we arrived on this world. But ever since we approached this mountain, I've been feeling old sensations again. I think I have my powers back."
"That's great, Mari!" said Nightmaster. "But what are you planning to do?"
"I'd rather not have to explain it in detail, but if you insist..." began Vixen. "Basically, my totem works by putting me into direct contact with Earth's morphogenetic field. This allows me to draw upon the abilities of any animal and mimic them, which you all know about. But what you may not realize is that my contact with the morphogenetic field also allows me to sense all creatures around me, including the ones underground, from worms to single-celled organisms." She closed her eyes and began to walk.
"And if I concentrate, I can picture in perfect three dimensions where these creatures are -- and where they are not," continued Vixen, walking slowly in one direction, then another, as if homing in on a signal. "Living creatures are everywhere, so using this point of view to see where they are not allows me to view the shapes of things they are surrounding, such as rocks and boulders. And, boys, right below me is something very solid in the shape of something that cannot be a mere rock or boulder. I think I've found our spaceship. Firestorm and Reddy, if you will?"
"Right-o!" said Firestorm eagerly, stepping forward.
As Red Tornado blew away the organic topsoil, Firestorm began to slowly carve out the inorganic mineral layers below, under Vixen's direction, until he reached the place where the craft was located. Then Steel jumped into the large hole and began to excavate the craft further, removing the rocks atop it with his cybernetic arms at breakneck speed. Soon, the top of a downed spacecraft could be seen by all. With a bit more work by Red Tornado and Firestorm, the ship was exposed enough for all of them to walk up to it without fear of being buried by a sudden landslide.
"Amazing," said Nightmaster.
"Whoa," said Fonzarelli. "Can we open it up? And don't tell me it's dangerous -- I ain't exactly scared of a little danger, as you might've guessed."
"We get it," said Steel, a little impatiently. "You're a fearless man. But you're also just a man. Let us do our job, and we'll let you do yours. All right?"
Danny Fonzarelli merely stood there in his leather jacket and gave a nod with his head. His fearlessness, inherited from his father Arthur, had served him well as a secret agent. But it rankled his pride to have to wait for someone else to make the first move, especially some guy dressed in a silly costume.
Steel moved toward the craft and searched for signs of structural damage. Surprisingly enough for a spaceship that had buried itself in a mountain, the ship was largely undamaged. But there were a few spots that had obviously been weakened by the crash. These Steel pressed against and tried to widen in order to pull it open. He looked back for a moment to see that Fonzarelli had moved close to him, in order to get the first look inside the craft. It was a difficult task, given that the ship had been built to withstand the rigors of space, but with a great deal of effort, Steel managed to use his great strength to pull the ship open.
When he did so, he and his fellow Justice Leaguers from Earth-One had the shock of their lives.
Within the craft was the mummified corpse of a bald humanoid alien with reddish skin the color of fuschia. If that were not strange enough, the alien was wearing a very familiar-looking uniform colored green, black, and white, with a green symbol on its chest. In one white-gloved hand it wore an emerald ring, while in the other it held an emerald lantern.
But before the lost Leaguers could even mutter anything, both the ring and the lantern lit up, glowing bright green. Danny Fonzarelli moved forward as if compelled by something inside him. Within another moment, Fonzarelli's clothing suddenly changed.
Whereas before he'd been wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a leather jacket, and sunglasses, he now found himself in a tight-fitting uniform exactly like that the alien corpse was wearing. And the ring had settled on his finger, while the lantern was in his other hand.
Instead of looking the least bit shocked by this occurrence, Danny Fonzarelli glanced at his skintight clothing, frowned, and shook his head, as if having a conversation in his mind with an unseen intelligence communicating to him telepathically and telling him what was possible. In a moment, the tight uniform had been replaced by a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a dark green and black leather jacket emblazoned with the same symbol the alien wore on its uniform. A moment later, an emerald-green motorcycle appeared next to the now-grinning Fonzarelli, and he hopped on and revved the engines.
As Danny Fonzarelli -- this world's most fearless man -- came to grips with also becoming this world's first Green Lantern, all he could say was, "Ayyy-yyy..."
The others were too surprised by this turn of events to say much more, but as the Justice Leaguers looked at each other, they gave each other looks of hope. The power of a Green Lantern -- even a raw, untested one -- might just prove to be enough to let them finally make their way back home.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:20:37 GMT
Chapter 3: Vanishing Act
by Doc Quantum
In Egypt, the super-speedster known as Savitar was stalking his prey. The Hawkman was nearby -- he could feel it. But despite using his speed to search through the entire country, he could not locate the man in question. He had begun to wonder if the hero was really in Egypt, after all.
And then he saw the Hawkman. He was in flight, of course, and thus beyond Savitar's reach. But the super-speedster with delusions of godhood saw this as a minor challenge. As soon as the hero landed, Savitar would be on him. He smiled as he thought about what an advantage his great speed gave him over a man who merely had mechanical wings and possessed a gravity-defying metal.
Perhaps he would keep the metal for himself. After all, did a god not belong in the sky? With the power of flight added to his speed, would he not have domain over the entire world?
But as the hours began to drag by, the Hawkman did not land. He seemed to be hovering in place, as if waiting for something or someone. As a speedster, Savitar had the ability to alter his senses to make time slow down to a crawl; right now, he wished he had the exact opposite ability, if only to stave off his current boredom. This was no assignment for a god, he had decided. In fact, why was he following the orders of mere mortals, even if they were chosen by Neron himself?
Before another rebellious thought passed through his mind, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. In the skies above, Hawkman suddenly flew off toward the west.
***
On a rooftop at Ivy Town University, Dwarfstar was strongly resisting the urge to kill. It would be so easy; all he had to do was to shrink himself down to the molecular level as he entered a body, then expand to full size, causing the body to burst from within. As the ridiculous joke of a villain called Mouse Man, he had remained for years at the size of a mouse. But with the power to alter his size at will, he was thinking of all sorts of things he could do now. And killing was one of them.
But the ones he wanted to kill most was not his chosen opponent in the Justice League, the Atom, nor the rest of that team of heroes. The ones he wanted to kill so desperately right now, at this very moment, were his fellow teammates in the Legion of Doom -- the Falcon and Lady Falcon -- who were pressing themselves up against each other and making out so voraciously that Dwarfstar wondered how the fillings in their teeth weren't already dislodged.
"For the last time--" yelled Dwarfstar in a deep voice so unlike the high-pitched squeal he'd had as Mouse Man "--will you two please just get a room?!"
The couple in question gave him no reaction to his comment, and Dwarfstar sighed. He really needed to kill someone. He'd never killed anyone before, but ever since he became Dwarfstar, the desire to kill had been building in him. He kind of liked that feeling after being so powerless at a small size for so many hopeless, long years. It would make him feel powerful for once. Yes, he would kill, and he would have to do so soon.
Maybe he could kill this Ray Palmer that they were searching for. Sure, they were just supposed to kidnap the original Atom, but the eventual plan was to off the JLA, anyway, so what harm could it do? He knew that if he didn't kill someone, and very soon, he'd have to kill the Falcon and his lady-friend -- just burst through their stomachs like that scene in Alien. Yes, that would be fitting for a couple of bird-brains.
But before Dwarfstar could make a move -- any move -- he and the Falcons vanished.
***
Similar scenes played out elsewhere around the world.
On the outskirts of Atlantis, the transformed Dagon -- who had now truly become one of the fearsome Deep Ones, emissaries of fabled R'lyeh -- vanished as he approached the city of Poseidonis on a mission only he of all the Legion could accomplish.
In Manhattan, in the Broadway theater district, a power-ring-disguised Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame sought out two members of the Justice League who were attending a musical, awaiting for the appointed time to strike. But that time never came, as he also vanished.
In Metropolis, the Marshal was keeping tabs on a reporter named Lois Lane across from the Daily Planet building as he waited impatiently for Super-Menace to return. His waiting abruptly ended when he disappeared.
In Star City, the Blue Bowman sat uneasily next to Mockingbird -- the former Magpie -- who had thus far resisted all his advances. She was a lot cuter now that she'd given up her punk hairstyle for something a bit more feminine, but she hadn't warmed up to him at all. And as he began wondering if Green Arrow had ever had this much trouble getting Black Canary, he and Mockingbird suddenly vanished.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Kasta the Thrill-Killer was still tracking his enemy's power signature and licking his lips in anticipation of absorbing all that delicious energy from his enemy's corpse. But before he could zero in on the Payton home, Kasta disappeared.
And in a Toledo, Ohio, hotel room, Malleable Man sat in bed watching White Heat on TV. It was an old James Cagney flick, one that Skizzle Shanks had never missed watching when he had the opportunity; kidnapping Ralph and Sue Dibny could damn well wait. But just as Cagney was about to shout his famous line, "Made it, Ma -- top of the world," the green-clad Malleable Man was no more.
Behind all these disappearances was a certain sorceress named Allura, who was glad to finally take some action against the Justice League and specifically her own enemy, Zatanna. Their brief encounter shortly before had not been satisfying enough; instead of trapping Zatanna this time, Allura would be sure that Zatanna would join her father Zatara in the afterworld. Her death would be delicious.
***
It was a little-known fact that the Justice League of America had operated out of two different headquarters on Earth in its early days before finally relocating its operations to the JLA Satellite. The original headquarters, called the Secret Sanctuary, had been a fortress located in the tallest mountain in a far inland area and had been difficult to reach by ordinary means. (*) It was located, coincidentally enough, on the Earth-One counterpart of the same tall mountain peak that served as the Earth-Two Superman's mountain headquarters, the Secret Citadel. As such, it was a fitting home for the modern-day legends of the Justice League in its early days.
[(*) Editor's note: See "Riddle of the Runaway Room," Justice League of America #31 (November, 1964).]
But the fact that it was difficult to access proved to be a barrier for a few of its members. Aquaman had to rely on transport from one of the other Justice Leaguers or otherwise swim inland before hiking up the mountain to access the Secret Sanctuary, which was risky given that he needed exposure to water once every hour. And when Lucas "Snapper" Carr began attending regular meetings as the team mascot, the distance from his home in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, proved difficult, even with the aid of a gift from the JLA: an anti-gravity propulsion device that made his old jalopy into a flying car. (*)
[(*) Editor's note: See "Journey into the Micro-World," Justice League of America #18 (March, 1963).]
After a few short years, the team took advantage of their first battle with the Key to relocate its Secret Sanctuary to someplace a bit more accessible for Aquaman and Snapper Carr in particular. The Key had used psycho-chemicals to control the members of the JLA, even going so far as to make Green Lantern destroy the Secret Sanctuary, causing the ceiling to melt, the council room to burn, and the floors to explode. But he also made Green Lantern unconsciously restore and conceal the fortress after a delay of one hour, so that the Key could use it as his own headquarters to take over the world with his psycho-chemicals. (*) The team defeated the Key, of course, but also realized through this case how easily the Secret Sanctuary could be moved, and they determined to find a more accessible site for their headquarters.
[(*) Editor's note: See "The Key-Master of the World," Justice League of America #41 (December, 1965).]
The Justice League found a hill in Rhode Island close to Happy Harbor and relocated everything in the original Secret Sanctuary to this new location. (*) Aquaman could easily reach the second Secret Sanctuary through an underground waterway leading to the ocean, while Snapper could make it to meetings even more easily by car. Unfortunately, the relocation also made the headquarters more accessible to the team's enemies, and when Snapper was finally manipulated into betraying the team to a disguised Joker a couple of years later, the JLA abandoned its second headquarters as well. (*)
[(*) Editor's note: See "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be," Justice League of America #240 (July, 1985) and "Snapper Carr, Super-Traitor," Justice League of America #77 (December, 1969).]
But the continued existence of the original Secret Sanctuary located in the Appalachians was still very much a secret, except to a very few. That was why the Justice League of America now gathered there, despite it being barren of any of the equipment, trophies, or creature comforts they'd enjoyed there originally. If the Legion of Doom had been able to crack through the JLA Satellite's security system, they'd surely be able to do the same to the Rhode Island Secret Sanctuary, leaving only the original abandoned headquarters as a viable third option. Hopefully this one still remained a secret to the Legion of Doom.
After several of the Justice Leaguers had met their counterparts in the Legion of Doom, and the disguised Lord Malvolio had openly boasted about Neron's creation of the team, Batman had quickly formulated a plan. He'd had his suspicions about whether the Green Lantern who had visited them was really their Green Lantern, so he'd kept it a secret from him. If he'd been wrong, he would have apologized to him later for keeping him out of the loop. But it turned out that he'd been right, and this Green Lantern was an impostor.
Batman's plan included making the Legion of Doom think that their guard was down, and this took the form of several Justice Leaguers going their separate ways on personal business, much to the chagrin of the Flash, who hadn't been informed of the plan. Hawkman traveled to Egypt, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman supposedly went to a Broadway show, and Starman went home to Arizona to check on his family. But each of these Justice Leaguers went out prepared to act as bait to lure the Legionnaires of Doom to them. Even former member Ray Palmer had been clandestinely warned ahead of time that he might be targeted. But although the anticipated attack never came, a few of the Legion of Doom members on the trail of JLAers were spotted disappearing in much the same way that Batman and Zatanna had earlier observed the Wrath disappear using a black candle, though in these cases no candles were used.
Now Batman was convinced that the Legion of Doom was preparing for an all-out attack on the team. And although the JLA knew that they were being manipulated into fighting the Legion of Doom, they'd have no other choice if innocent lives were involved. But that didn't mean they wouldn't come prepared. Batman always thought five steps ahead of everyone else, or at least he let the others think so, and he had made his preparations for the upcoming battles. All that was left was to wait for the Legion to strike.
***
The Legion of Doom was assembled in its satellite headquarters, the former base of the Injustice Gang, which they'd appropriated for their own purposes earlier that week. There was a buzz of excitement in the air. Finally, the assembled villains would be able to accomplish the task that Neron had given them. But there seemed to be just as much excitement about getting this over and done with so they could move on with their new lives as there was about killing the Justice League itself. After all, except for the unholy trinity and a few others such as the Marshal and Allura, most of the Legionnaires had no personal quarrels with the Leaguers. But killing the JLA was part of their contract with Neron, and it had to be done if they were to be freed.
Gone was the snappy banter that had earlier gone on between the Legionnaires of Doom. They'd had enough of toying with the JLA. Now it was time to get down to business.
Allura, the elemental sorceress, stood away from the others in deep concentration. She could sense that the lost Justice Leaguers were again attempting to return to the universe of Earth-One with that wayward sorceress they had picked up along the way. But Allura now took the time to strengthen the barriers so that she wouldn't be distracted during the upcoming battle. The lost Leaguers would only be allowed to return to meet their fate once the rest of the Justice League was disposed of. With any luck, that post-nuclear world they were on would be inhospitable enough to weaken them drastically before then.
Earlier, when the Legion of Doom had first assembled after Neron's initial gathering, the Wrath had quickly taken up leadership of the team, since he alone of Neron's unholy trinity even wanted to lead. Super-Menace had no interest in leading others, and the Dark Commander -- otherwise a very capable leader herself -- was still too disheartened by her break with the war god Mars to do much more than mope around. Now, though, Neron had commanded the other two to assist the Wrath. Together, the unholy trinity would act as generals in the war against the Justice League.
According to Neron's showdown plan, the Legion of Doom was to be divided into three teams, each led by one of the unholy trinity. The three generals were free to choose their teams' battlefields and strategies.
The Wrath would lead a team with Blue Bowman, Mockingbird, Malleable Man, and Dwarfstar. This team would face the Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, the Elongated Man, and the Atom. Since it was still June 26th, the anniversary of his parents' deaths, the Wrath wanted to get this over as swiftly as possible so he would finally have a free hand to act against James W. Gordon, or he'd have to wait another year for the time to be right. That's why he planned to strike in Gotham City itself; if he could wrap this up before midnight, he could achieve his lifelong plan for vengeance this very night.
Super-Menace would lead a team that included the Falcon and Lady Falcon, Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame, and Kasta the Thrill-Killer. They would face Superman, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Starman. This team would have an advantage against their counterparts in the JLA, since Green Lantern was already trapped in the pocket dimension within the power ring; Malvolio would have time to dispose of him later on, or perhaps bring him back to die with the other JLAers. Super-Menace was annoyed at having to watch over four others instead of leaving him clear to fight Superman one-on-one, but he planned to find a way to do so nonetheless, even if it meant leaving them to fend for themselves until he was done.
The Dark Commander would lead a team comprising herself, the Marshal, Allura, Dagon, and Savitar, and they would face Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Aquaman, and the Flash. She had several choices before her about where to lead her team before she finally settled on a site. Given Dagon's powers to manipulate water and the Marshal's weakness to open flames, Dark Commander chose an island not far from Atlantis to strike. She had her concerns, however, about the mental instability of Dagon, Savitar, and Allura, and she wasn't sure how much she could trust the Marshal, whom she was sure hated to have to take orders from a woman. It would prove challenging to keep this team under her control.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:22:08 GMT
Chapter 4: Battlefield Metropolisby Starsky Hutch 76 and Doc Quantum Clark Kent found himself in a rare situation. Aunt Gerta was teaching a senior fitness class at the rec center, and Kristin Wells had taken Jasma to a Daisy Scout meeting. This meant that, for once, he had the house to himself. It would be a couple of hours before he went on his usual patrol, so he could get in some valuable writing time on the new idea he had for a novel. He sat down to his typewriter and placed a stack of paper beside it in preparation. As soon as he brought his hands up to the keys, however, he heard a voice in his ear at a frequency audible only to him. "Superman," the darkly familiar voice said, "if you are hearing this -- and I'm sure you are -- then you are to follow these instructions to the letter. We have your friends, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. If you want to see them alive again, then you will meet us atop the Daily Planet building. You will bring the following Justice League members with you: Hawkman, Hawkwoman, and Starman. No more. No less. These instructions will be followed exactly, because -- know this -- my hands are on their necks, even as I speak."A cold chill ran down his spine. He hadn't expected Super-Menace to stay trapped forever, but he had hoped he had seen the last of him for at least a little while. But his enemy was back and wanted a rematch, and Superman's friends were caught in the crossfire. *** Super-Menace had been disappointed to learn that Lois Lane was no longer Superman's woman. It didn't decrease her value as a hostage, though. Despite the change in their relationship, he knew the Kryptonian would still fight until the bitter end to free her. Still, the fact that they were no longer a couple perplexed him. As a duplicate of the Man of Steel, he found himself as captivated by her as Superman once was. If not for this mission, he might be pursuing her for himself rather than threatening her. How could Superman have let such a woman escape him? "They're approaching," Lord Malvolio said, peering through a pair of power-ring-generated binoculars. "Good," Super-Menace said, releasing his hold of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. "You can take over babysitting the hostages. You already defeated your foe, and your bargain is complete. Now it's my turn." Lois and Jimmy rubbed their sore necks, glad to be released. Their relief was short-lived, as Malvolio generated two enormous green clamps to go around their mid-sections, pinning their arms to their sides. Superman landed on the roof before the assembled villains. Behind him landed Starman, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman. "OK, you've got us," Superman said. "Now you can let them go." "Not so fast," Super-Menace said, stepping forward. "Last time you managed to turn the tables on me and led me into a trap. That's not going to happen this time." Super-Menace lifted up a lead box. "For the purposes of this encounter, you'll be wearing this." He lifted the lid of the box, and inside was a chain. From the end of that chain hung a large, glowing piece of kryptonite. "If you think I'm letting you slip that around my neck, you're even crazier than I gave you credit for," Superman said, gesturing to the contents of the lead box. " Am I?" Super-Menace said. He gave a gesture, and Malvolio tightened his grip on Lois and Jimmy, making them groan. Superman moved to try to intercept, but Super-Menace swatted him backward. "Try that again, and I'll have him crush them. I'm as fast as you. I'll always be able to block you." A grim look came over Superman's features. He realized Super-Menace had him at a stalemate. "All right, Super-Menace. We'll play it your way... for now." Superman leaned his head down, and Super-Menace pulled the chain from its box and slipped it over his neck. A groan escaped Superman as he felt himself being weakened by the green kryptonite rock at the end of the chain. A look of sick horror suddenly came over Super-Menace's face as well. A slight green pallor to match Superman's came into his skin, and his legs gave out, forcing him to his knees. He threw his hands out to catch himself, and he skinned them against the cement. Even more shocking than the loss of his invulnerability was the blood that showed up on his palms. He was no longer an energy being. He was flesh and blood, and that made him just as vulnerable to the kryptonite as Superman. His stomach gave a lurch, and he doubled over. The other heroes took the opportunity created by the other villains' shock to launch their offensive. Starman fired an energy bolt against the emerald bonds generated by Lord Malvolio's ring that were holding Lois and Jimmy. Hawkwoman and Hawkman launched themselves against Falcon and Lady Falcon. Kasta the Thrill-Killer trained his own energy-siphoning abilities against Starman. Feeling the tug against his energies, Starman allowed himself to become a conduit for the siphon and trained it against the emerald energies of the clamp generated by Lord Malvolio's ring. The clamps began to dissolve, and Malvolio gave a cry of alarm as the energy of his ring continued to be drawn into Starman. "Shut it off! Shut it off, you fool!" he cursed at Kasta. "I... cannot," Kasta said in dismay. "I seem unable to stop myself!" Suddenly, a tiny image of Green Lantern appeared before Lord Malvolio's ring. It grew larger and larger, as if coming from a great distance, until it was full-sized. The full-sized Hal Jordan then turned, socking a stunned Lord Malvolio across the jaw. "You should have known better than to trap me in my own power ring," said Green Lantern, placing said ring upon his own finger once more. Although he had been physically transformed into Lord Malvolio's duplicate after his defeat, Jordan had resumed his own shape once Malvolio shed his disguise. From that point on, Green Lantern had waited and prepared for an opportunity like this to escape from his own ring. Starman grabbed Kasta's arm and then flipped him over his shoulder. Kasta gasped as the air was knocked from his lungs. Once free, Jimmy Olsen quickly moved to Superman's side and slipped the chain off of Superman's neck and back into the lead box. Unfortunately, Superman wasn't the only one freed from its effects. Super-Menace was as well. The savage doppelgänger gave a menacing growl and slammed into Superman, sending them both flying off the side of the building toward the ground below. The two of them crashed through the surface of the pavement of the road into the sewer tunnels that lay underneath. Bystanders found themselves struggling to keep their footing as the ground shook with the force of the combat of the two titans. *** Hawkman dodged as the Falcon fired again and again with his laser-blaster. Try as he might, he could not get a bead on Hawkman. The Thanagarian was more adept with winged flight and continued to zigzag, deftly avoiding his blasts. The Falcon gave a startled cry as a booted foot suddenly kicked the gun out of his hand. He gave another cry of rage as he noticed Hawkwoman's approach for the first time. "Leave my man alone!" Lady Falcon screeched, slamming into Hawkwoman. The two women tussled in midair, their fight causing them to plummet. Hawkman turned, realizing his wife was in trouble. He quickly started to fly toward them. Falcon moved to intercept, pulling a steel baton from the latch on his belt. Falcon swung his baton, glancing it across one wing and striking Hawkman in the shoulder. "Aarrgh!" Hawkman cried out. He swung his mace around at the Falcon, who met it with his baton. Shayera Hol realized that if she didn't disentangle herself from this madwoman, they would both plunge to their deaths. Leveraging herself with Lady Falcon's arms, she swung both knees up into her midsection, causing her to double over and let go. Hawkwoman started to fly away from Lady Falcon when she looked over and saw that she was continuing to plummet. Giving an exasperated cry, Shayera flew back toward the villainess, catching her by the arm lest she fall to her death. Lady Falcon swung her hand around and fired several talon-like projectiles toward Hawkwoman, narrowly missing her head. Hawkwoman gave an angry growl and grabbed both wrists. "I don't think so!" With a quick yank, she tugged both the gauntlets from the madwoman's hands. "You bitch!" Lady Falcon screeched, grabbing a handful of Shayera's red hair. "You freaking psycho!" Hawkwoman shouted, delivering a right cross. Lady Falcon slumped in her arms, and Hawkwoman lowered them both to a nearby rooftop. *** Kasta the Thrill-Killer rose to his feet angrily, his hands crackling with the green energy he had absorbed from the now-unconscious Lord Malvolio through Starman. "You dare?" He threw up his arms and began siphoning energy from both Green Lantern and Starman. Starman grimaced as he felt the energy being pulled from him. Some instinct told him not to fight it. "Such... a feast..." Cracks began to appear in Kasta's skin. Light began to glow from those cracks. "...It's so much... So much..." Light suddenly poured forth from his eyes and mouth. " It's so much! ... So much! ... Too much!" Kasta the Thrill-Killer suddenly exploded in a blinding burst of light. Green Lantern used what remaining power he had to throw up a shield to protect himself, Starman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. When the light cleared, Kasta was gone -- this time for good -- and smoke rose from the spot where he had once stood. *** Hawkman and Falcon continued to trade blows back and forth with their mace and baton, connecting with a loud metallic clang each time they hit. The Falcon managed to connect close enough to Hawkman's fingers that he was forced to drop his mace. The winged hero suddenly found himself having to dodge as the Falcon swung wildly. The Falcon gave another wild swing, and Hawkman dodged, catching his arm. He spun around and sent the Falcon soaring out of control. The brown-clad bird-man crashed through a nearby billboard. Hawkman soared after him, passing through the hole in the billboard. Still disoriented, the Falcon didn't see Hawkman's fist coming, or the punch that followed it. Falcon swung weakly and was rewarded with a gut punch for his efforts, followed by a punch that left him seeing first stars and then blackness. As Hawkman caught the unconscious Falcon, he spotted his wife waving to him from a nearby rooftop, so he began to fly in her direction with his foe. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that she had managed to finish off her opponent first. *** The ground continued to shake as Superman and Super-Menace battled in the sewer tunnels beneath the streets of Metropolis. The air was filled with booming and crashing sounds from below. With an extra loud boom, Superman suddenly came crashing up through the pavement and hurtling into the air. He caught himself in midair, shaking off the blow. He then flew back through the hole he'd created, and the crashing and booming resumed. Super-Menace's head and left arm suddenly broke the surface of the pavement. The sullen, haggard expression he wore, his five o'clock shadow, and the darker hue of his uniform were the only things that clued onlookers to the fact that he was not Superman. His eyes grew wide as he was pulled back underground. The booming and crashing resumed. The booming and crashing stopped suddenly, and the crowd on the street grew quiet and apprehensive. A manhole flew open, and a figure began to climb out. A feeling of dread passed through the crowd as they saw it was Super-Menace. Then a gasp passed through the crowd as his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head, and he slumped forward, landing flat on his face. Another figure began to climb out of the manhole, and a cheer rose up from the crowd. Superman rose to his feet, sporting a black eye and a busted lip, and waved to the crowd to let them know everything was all right. He grabbed Super-Menace by the back of the collar and flew to the top of the Daily Planet Building. Hawkman and Hawkwoman had rejoined the group with the unconscious Falcon and Lady Falcon in tow. "Glad to see you took him down on your own," Hawkman quipped. "He is not one I would have wanted to jump in on." "No, he's not," Superman said. "I think I had more fun fighting Mongul." (*) [(*) Editor's note: See DC Universe: Invasion, Book 3: The Return.]"You... you're missing a tooth!" Jimmy Olsen stammered. Superman felt the empty spot where his upper left lateral incisor had been with his tongue. "So I am. Luckily, there are dentists on Rokyn who can grow it back." "Quite a group," Starman said, looking over their fallen foes. "But this isn't all of them," Hawkman said gravely. "No, it's not," Superman said, equally grim. "It's only a third. And if this group singled us out, what are our teammates facing right now?" *** Five members of the Legion of Doom were passing over the Atlantic Ocean in a plane piloted by the Dark Commander. The plane itself was invisible, thanks to a spell cast by Allura, the elemental sorceress. Unknown to the others, as the plane passed over a certain point in the mid-Atlantic, it kept on going east. It was an hour before anyone noticed that they weren't heading for their declared destination. "Why are we not heading for Atlantis?" demanded Dagon, whose inhuman looks had been granted to him by Neron. "Because heading there will not get us what we want," replied the Dark Commander, simply. "Then where are we going?" asked the Marshal, who had been unusually quiet ever since this woman had been appointed the general of their little sub-team instead of him. The simple fact was that he believed their group would fail in its mission to destroy one-third of the Justice League. He would simply sit back and watch the Dark Commander's failure unfold, and then Neron and the others would see who should have been placed in charge. "We are going to visit a long-hidden land," said the Dark Commander. "That is the only place that will draw our hated foes and their allies swiftly to us." Inwardly, she added, And perhaps a swift victory in that place will allow me to return to the war god's dark embrace.Savitar and Allura, who were less personally invested in the location of their battlefield, simply looked at each other and shrugged.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:23:37 GMT
Chapter 5: Clash at the River Thermodonby Libbylawrence Wonder Woman's expression was grim as she piloted her robot plane toward the Black Sea on the north coast of Turkey. As a trained warrior, the Amazon's mind was naturally on the battle that awaited her. However, to her dismay, her thoughts occasionally wandered back to the stories she had heard from her mother, Queen Hippolyta, about the significance of this rugged land. "Athena help me discipline my thoughts!" she whispered as she shook her head and looked down at the Terme River as it snaked along below the steep foothills that loomed above it. Next to Nubia sat her lover and husband, J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. The cerebral alien smiled as his gaze met her own. He understood her so well that they didn't need words. Their love had been celebrated in the Martian ceremony of unity earlier that month, and the couple shared a deep rapport that went beyond their roles as heroes or teammates. (*) [(*) Editor's note: See The Brave and the Bold: Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter: The Queen of Mars.]"This land means a great deal to the Amazon nation, doesn't it?" he asked. "Seeing it anew must make you feel as I do when I gaze upon Mars. While Vonn, or Mars II, was a sanctuary of sorts to us after the destruction caused by Commander Blanx and the Blue Flame, it never truly held the sentimental bond that our original home possessed. Perhaps, thanks to the restoration T'omm brought about with his new powers, we may all return to Mars someday!" Nubia nodded, and she replied, "Long ago, when my mother and her sisters decided to devote themselves to the teachings of Athena and Aphrodite, they rejected the god Mars and left this region in search of what would eventually become Paradise Island. It is an ominous but fitting site for a battle against one who prides herself on being a daughter of dread Mars himself!" "The Dark Commander is more than just a routine super-criminal," J'onn recalled, as his wife had told him of their first meeting earlier. "She was fashioned by Mars himself to be a twisted reflection of Diana herself. I know beneath her silver helmet she conceals features that naturally give you pause. Remember, she is not your sister, nor is she your equal!" "She is indeed a mirror to what I once was before Diana freed me from the thrall in which Mars held me," said Nubia. "I suppose she embodies more than one painful memory for me." "We may be able to save her," said J'onn. "We may turn her from the path of hate." "You always look for the good in everyone," said Nubia. "For all of your detective prowess, you still cling to the optimism of your happy childhood and your loving family. That is one of the things I love about you." From the back of the plane, the Flash, a young man in a red and gold costume, smiled. "You newlyweds are giving me an inferiority complex," said Wally West. "Frances and I never say that kind of thing to one another!" Aquaman was sitting next to the Flash, and he smiled slightly as he thought of his own wife Mera and their daughter Nautica. Wally's just kidding them, but I have to admit their bond makes me miss my own family. Mera and I have lost so much time together due to one crisis or another over the years. I don't want to miss a moment with her or lose precious time seeing Nautica grow up... not after the way we lost poor Arthur Junior.The champion of Atlantis thought about the way he and Mera had lost their first child years ago, due to the murderous actions of one of his old foes. (*) May my friends never know that kind of pain, he prayed silently. [(*) Editor's note: See "Dark Destiny, Deadly Dreams," Adventure Comics #452 (July-August, 1977).]Aloud, Aquaman said, "This mental radio summons you received from the Dark Commander said that, unless you brought us here, innocent people would die! Did you gain any more information from that brief mental contact?" Nubia shook her head. "Aquaman, the contact was powerful, as if her thoughts had been enhanced by another strong mind. I told J'onn earlier that I had the impression it was a Martian mind, but that could be my own imagination. Now that I am the ruler of a group of Martians, I constantly think of them as my people." A pretty woman with black hair and a brief costume said, "If this summons means we will be encountering our own players on the other side, as Ellery Queen put it, we should be prepared for at least one Martian, plus this Savitar, Allura, and some counterpart of your own, Arthur!" Aquaman nodded. Zatanna was right. Even though he had encountered undersea defenders from realms like lost Lemuria, he knew exactly who best fit the description of his opposite number. Orm, or Ocean Master as he prefers to be called, may be my half-brother, but he also sees himself as a man who needs to defeat or kill me in order to avenge what he sees as our father's preference for me, he mused. It would strike me as some kind of Greek tragedy if I didn't feel so many conflicted emotions about him. I told him when we last fought that I was no longer going to hold back because of our connection, but can I really reject my own brother? I just don't think so.As Nubia landed her plane on a clearing below a rocky bank, Aquaman rejected the idea as he realized, It can't be Orm. Our friends have recently had run-ins with similar opponents, but not with their arch-enemies. After all, Batman mentioned something about the Wrath, not the Joker, and the Flash would more likely be paired with someone from his Rogues Gallery, not this newcomer Savitar. I can't imagine Orm following someone else's lead, either.As the heroes emerged from the plane, the Flash started to offer to scout the area at super-speed, not that he expected to see anything, since magic or some other force had shielded their foes from aerial view already. But before he could speak, he gasped as one side of the steep slope to their right seemed to erupt into the air and hovered over them like some giant fist of stone before hurtling downward. The avalanche would have been a terrible spectacle, but it would also have been viewed through his heightened perceptions as a slow-motion display under normal conditions. It's moving at super-speed! he thought as the rubble cascaded down at them. Suddenly, Nubia's invisible plane rocketed forward to shield them from the rubble and to deflect most of it before being buried beneath the remnant. By that time, the heroes had moved to safety. It was not that remarkable, since three of them possessed super-speed, and Aquaman and Zatanna were easily swept in their wake before harm could be done. "Thank Hera I was able to mentally command the plane before we were buried!" said Nubia. "Your mind is quick, woman, but your unnatural toys won't save you from us!" declared Savitar as he stood above them on the slope. "Lending speed to the avalanche was a cute trick! You'll have to brag about it to the other inmates when I put you behind bars!" said the Flash as he raced straight up the slope to challenge the imposing figure. Savitar laughed harshly, but without malice. He truly did see this battle as merely a necessary evil that stood between him and greater power. "My Martian senses don't reveal any captives," said J'onn. "If they do have hostages, they are well-concealed." At that moment, several other colorful figures appeared as a magic spell faded away. Zatanna shivered as she saw Allura. The lovely blonde still looked every inch like the angelic being who had helped reunite her with her lost father in the magical land of Kharma so long ago. Of course, the fact that the evil elemental was wearing the benign woman's very body made this fact logical, if no less unsettling. Allura laughed with the same silvery tone she had possessed when she was her good self. "This region of your mortal domain sings to my very essence! There is ancient power here! Had I realized this land had such savory elements, I would have long ago claimed it as my own!" She raised one dainty hand and closed her fingers into a fist. As she did so, the ground erupted around Zatanna and crushed her in a powerful embrace. She is toying with me! She knows this part of Turkey was close to my poor mother's home! she thought. "Well, she may be an elemental, but she won't spoil the purity of the Homo Magi's ancestral land!" she vowed. " Htrae esaeler em!" she cried in her peculiar backwards diction. (*) [(*) Editor's note: Read what Zatanna says backwards, and you'll understand her spell.]As the rocky fist began to crumble, Zatanna felt to her knees and whispered another spell, even as she reached into her jacket pocket. This may provide us with perfect ace up my sleeve, so to speak, she thought. The air shimmered around her, and the battle raged on. The Flash was using his hand to slice the ground in front of him and send the soil sailing toward Savitar. He'll dodge the dirt, but this may buy us some time, he thought. Nubia had already charged forward to face the Dark Commander as the armored woman met her with drawn sword. "This madness must end! You have to see Mars for the heartless fiend he truly is! There is little of nobility about his butchering ways!" she said, expertly blocking a thrust. The Dark Commander brought her weapon down with silent fury and forced her foe back a few steps. There was no denying this warrior woman was deadly. Meanwhile, Aquaman almost smiled with relief as he recognized the weird purple form of an obscure old foe. "Dagon!" he cried. "I thought you had fled with your tail between your legs back to Xebel long ago!" The inhuman Dagon roared with anger as he charged at the blond hero. "You mock me with your smugness! I know nothing of this Xebel! I have only known hatred, rejection, and isolation! I grew up scorned by others and feared by my mother, who never understood me. For all of my youth, I only knew a sense of longing for something ancient and evil... something that taunted me with a whisper of possibilities my mortal parent could only fear!" Aquaman dodged the bigger man and realized that Dagon was larger than he had been when last they had fought. His voice also sounded different. The costume had always distorted his speech, but this was something strange. He grabbed Dagon and wrestled him down, only to grit his teeth as his arm was sliced by the razor-sharp spines and ridges that studded Dagon's own body. Suddenly, Aquaman realized that, while the man he had easily bested in the past might have possessed one human parent and one parent from the other-dimensional realm of Xebel, he was something far more inhuman now. "That's no costume! You've turned into a monster!" he said as he shifted positions to avoid the spines that had lacerated his arm. "I have always been a monster by your pale, human standards of creation!" cried Dagon. "Now I am Dagon in name and in essence!" Aquaman was still stronger than Dagon, and he managed to contain him in spite of his new powers. He was also far more experienced as a fighter, but he was slammed to the ground as a tiny tendril of solidified water snaked its way around his body and suddenly yanked him down. Mera never had that kind of precise control of her own solid water powers! he realized. As the solid strand of water wrapped around his throat and tightened into a deadly hold, Aquaman appreciated the irony. I'm going to choke to death because of water! he thought. Nearby, Nubia ducked under the Dark Commander's sword and flipped backward out of her reach. The Commander was not trying to avoid her blows; she was completely focused on attacking. Nubia caught the Commander's sword and flipped it out of her hand. Ignoring her own cuts, she smashed the other woman in the face before sweeping her legs out from under her with a spinning kick. Wonder Woman brought both heels down on the Dark Commander's arm and bent down to entangle her in a wrestling hold. "Surrender. There is no need for us to fight!" she said. The Dark Commander rammed her helmet into Nubia's chin and flipped her over her shoulder as the battle resumed. The Martian Manhunter had been tackled by the larger Martian warlord called the Marshal, and as they fought, the purple-armored killer said, "You and I were destined for such a day as this! My father saw you as the embodiment of all he held dear. He treated you like a son, and yet how pathetic you are in comparison to the perfect Martian! I was genetically altered to become a super-soldier and to lead our people to greatness! You were never more than a skulking scientist!" J'onn J'onzz shifted his weight and brought his foe crashing to the ground. "You were engineered as a soldier, but I trained as a scientist. I think the way of the mind is superior!" Flying upward, the Martian Manhunter scanned the battle scene with both his eyes and his mental might. He noted every detail before dropping down to engage the Marshal again. Nearby, Zatanna cried out in pain as Allura encased her in solid ice. As she fought to breathe, the JLA's enchantress managed to reverse the spell. " Eci sdrahs eb delleper drawot Arulla!" she said in her backwards diction. Allura yelled in frustration as she was struck by her own icy weapons. She rubbed a bleeding leg, then gestured at her foe and spoke a rhyming spell. A magical wind struck Zatanna like a hammer, and she fell hard to the ground. The Flash spun around like a human whirlwind as Savitar generated his own counterclockwise wind. They matched each other perfectly, and both men crashed to the ground. Aquaman managed to break free of Dagon's hold by focusing his own telepathic might on the monster. He could not control his mind, but he could startle him long enough to break his control of the solid-water noose. He punched Dagon again and again, and moved back to face him. "I can help you go to Xebel, and perhaps help you learn if that land is your place of origin!" Dagon lowered his head and allowed a blinding hatred consume him. He would not listen to his foe's offers of peace. J'onn J'onzz was intelligent. He was also a detective and a leader. He had long ago trained his mind to notice details, and he was concerned about those around him. These compassionate and intellectual traits enabled him to do something that was totally alien to the Marshal, who only saw others as pawns or victims. J'onn was able to make use of his surroundings and deduce logical patterns of behavior. Thus, having kept in mental touch with his allies, he knew Zatanna had faced attacks of earth, ice, and wind. As the Marshal loomed over him, he phased into intangibility and allowed him to pass through his body directly into the path of Allura's next attack, which happened to be a flaming one. The Marshal groaned as magical flames engulfed him, and Zatanna rolled to safety. The hulking Martian crashed directly into the petite Allura, and she fell beneath his burning body. As the Marshal passed out from the flames, J'onn helped Zatanna to her feet while using his breath to smother the nearest flames with sand from a safe distance. "I assumed the elemental would try fire, having used ice, wind, and earth as weapons," the Martian Manhunter explained. Zatanna smiled in approval. Allura was momentarily breathless from the impact, and her hands could not gesture with the alien pinning her to the ground. "Sand and fire merge as glassy tomb!" Zatanna chanted. Allura and the stunned Marshal were instantly encased in a crystal tomb. "Payback for what she did to my father!" said Zatanna. Nearby, the Dark Commander realized that she was helpless in Wonder Woman's latest hold. "Give up!" demanded Nubia as she held the Commander in a choke hold. The angry woman concentrated, and her own plane surged skyward toward the east. "She plans to crash the plane into the nearest occupied community!" cried J'onn. "I can sense her thoughts all too easily!" The Martian Manhunter flew upward, but the plane's fiery jet trail drove him back. Nubia knew her own plane was trapped beneath the rubble from the initial attack. She had one option. Using her own mind, she fought to overpower the mental commands of the Dark Commander. The two women stopped their physical struggle and became still as their minds waged an unseen war. Resisting her foe, Wonder Woman valiantly struggled to take control of the plane. Drawing on Amazon training and her own indomitable willpower, she slowly managed to divert the speeding plane into the river. She sank down to the ground as the Dark Commander's still form lay across her knees. The other woman was silent, and Nubia detected no thoughts. "She's in a coma!" gasped Wonder Woman as she realized the angry villainess had preferred to lose all rather than yield. The Flash had recovered from the matching whirlwind impact before his less-experienced enemy. He caught his breath and stood above the other speedster. The heroes had all won, as Aquaman also stood over the fallen Dagon. "His mind was so full of hate that he couldn't withstand a telepathic attack." Dagon shuddered, and then his eyes grew wider. "I will die before I lose to you!" The Terme or Thermodon River rushed upward and formed a tidal wave that loomed incredibly high above the heroes. Dagon was lifting the whole river with one terrible gesture of malice and self-loathing. Aquaman realized that knocking Dagon cold would still leave them at the mercy of the tidal wave. Nubia reached for her lasso, even as the Flash and J'onn J'onzz prepared to do their best to drive the wave backward. Zatanna was slightly more confident, as the spell she had whispered earlier took its time-delayed effect now. My ace in the hole had better work now! she thought. I'm too spent to stop that wave! " Won!" she cried in her backwards diction. As the mystical energy she had summoned earlier interacted with the camera she had carried in her jacket, an amazing thing occurred. John Zatara, whose essence had once been trapped in the mirror by Allura, had been mystically transferred into the camera when she'd used it in the other dimension, and whispered a spell before smashing his reflection. Now she freed her father's spirit, and as the golden age hero stood before them, dynamic and restored to life, he smiled and shouted a spell in his own backwards diction. " Evaw nruter ot revir!" The waters obeyed his command, for he had decades of experience, and in some way, being partially preserved in the mystical glass had revitalized him. Zatanna rushed into her father's arms as her friends secured the villains. They had won a victory, but the ultimate battle still loomed ahead.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:24:39 GMT
Chapter 6: Panic in Gotham City
by Doc Quantum
On Sunday, June 26, 1988, at 8:59 P.M., an explosion blew out one wall of the maximum-security wing at Arkham Asylum, injuring several inmates and staff alike and freeing some of the worst of Gotham City's insane criminals, such as Killer Croc, the Mad Hatter, and many others. Fortunately, the guards working that night acted swiftly to keep the rest of the inmates from escaping. Two-Face, to name one of the most dangerous inmates, would remain behind bars in a padded room this day.
At 9:11 P.M., a large number of police officers began converging on the area to contain the possible threat. This was not the first time such a mass prison break had happened; in October, 1985, Ra's al Ghul engineered such a prison break at both Arkham Asylum and the nearby state prison. (*) Thus another contingent of officers and bomb specialists were called in to secure the prison.
[(*) Editor's note: See "Resurrection Night," Batman #400 (October, 1986).]
At 9:25 P.M., a small force of Gotham City vigilantes informally known as the Gotham Knights arrived at Arkham Asylum and began assisting the police to recapture the villains, especially the most powerful of them. Filling in for Batman were Ragman, Man-Bat, Fear Factor, and Prototype, the only members of the loosely knit team known as the Gotham Knights who were able to respond quickly enough to the threat.
At 9:43 P.M., on the top floor of Police Headquarters, Gotham City Police Commissioner James W. Gordon had just placed down the receiver of his phone when he was startled by a dark figure appearing in his office.
"Jim."
"Oh! It's you, Batman," said Gordon, shifting uncomfortably in his suit. He was sweating. "I'll never get used to your entrances." Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes; the commissioner looked very, very tired. It had been a tough year for himself and his family. And now, with this latest mass prison break, he was taking flack from the both mayor and the City Council while trying to coordinate a massive police operation. He knew playing politics came with the job of police commissioner, but he was a cop at heart, and he wanted to be there on the ground right now. "I'll let Sergeant Hainer know he can turn off the signal now."
The figure in a dark blue cape and cowl stepped forward, revealing the famous emblem of a stylized bat in a yellow oval on his chest. "There's no time, Jim," said the Batman. "I've come to warn you. The situation at Arkham is just a distraction. A very dangerous criminal and his associates are coming to abduct you. I've got to get you to a safe place as soon as possible."
"What are you talking about?" said Gordon. "Is this Ra's al Ghul's work again? I remember 'Resurrection Night' as well as anyone."
"It's not al Ghul this time," replied the Batman. "It's the Wrath."
Gordon looked at his old friend with astonishment. "You've got to be joking. The Wrath is dead. I saw his body in the morgue myself."
"It's a long story, Jim, but there's no time to explain right now," said the Batman, pulling Gordon up out of his seat. "Please, Jim. Come with me before it's too late. A few Justice Leaguers are waiting for us on the roof."
"I've got a mass prison break on my hands right now, and you're telling me I have to be placed in protective custody?!" said Gordon. "You're kidding me, right?"
"The Wrath is serious about killing you, Jim!" said Batman. "He failed five years ago, but he's determined to take your life tonight!"
"All right, all right," grumbled Gordon. "I'll trust your judgment as usual. But if this turns out to be nothing, you can explain to the mayor why his police commissioner was 'playing hooky' during a police emergency!"
The Batman grinned. "Oh, I'm sure he'd like a visit from me."
The Dark Knight ushered Gordon through the hallways of the top floor of Police Headquarters. The place was mostly empty on this floor, except for a few high-ranking officers coordinating the police efforts from their offices. Within moments, they were on the rooftop, where the Bat-Signal was still blazing.
"You can turn that off now, Sergeant," said Gordon.
"All right, Commissioner," said Sergeant Harvey Hainer, the elderly police officer who had manned the Bat-Signal for the past decade.
As soon as the Bat-Signal was down, Gordon spotted other figures in the shadows move toward him. "The Justice League!" he said, looking at the colorful figures. "Unless I miss my guess, it's Green Arrow and Black Canary, Elongated Man, and the Atom. Good to see you all again. Sorry it's under such circumstances."
Green Arrow nodded, and the Batman said, "No time to chat, Jim. We've got to get moving."
At that moment, the Batplane appeared, hovering over the building using VTOL gear. Batman pulled Gordon toward it, and a ladder dropped down.
"The JLA will keep an eye on Police Headquarters to watch out for the Wrath while we get you secured," said Batman as he helped Gordon onto the ladder, following closely behind himself.
"'We'?" asked Gordon as he reached the top of the ladder and entered the cockpit, which was just large enough for two.
"Robin and I, of course," replied the Batman as he ushered Gordon into the waiting Batplane, which was hovering almost silently over the building.
"Oh... I see," said Gordon. He turned and looked straight into Batman's eyes quizzically.
The Batman stared back grimly. Finally, a slight grin broke out on his face, before he caught himself. "Make yourself comfortable, Jim. We've got a ride ahead of us."
"Very well," said Gordon, adding inwardly, If that's how you want to play it.
***
Minutes later, the Batman brought Jim Gordon into an abandoned building elsewhere in Gotham City. "You'll be safe here while we go meet our foes," said Batman as he ushered him down a long hallway. "Robin will keep you safe."
"'Robin,' huh?" said Gordon sarcastically. "The same Robin who died two months ago?" (*)
[(*) Editor's note: See Batman: Meanwhile, Back in Gotham City.]
The Batman stopped and looked at Gordon, then smiled slightly. "Ah. I see. A rare misstep, there." He continued walking, pulling Gordon a bit more forcefully toward a room with a steel-reinforced door. He pushed open the door and brought Gordon in, then closed it.
Gordon looked around. It was a large room with a slight echo in it, and very dark, with only one shaded light bulb hanging from the ceiling to give it light. The building had evidently been an old hospital, judging by the surroundings. He was led to a chair and made to forcefully sit down. "The kid gloves are off, huh?"
"Oh, they're most definitely still on," said the Wrath, no longer using a disguised voice to pose as his arch-enemy. "You'd be dead right now if they weren't."
Gordon heard a growl. "What was that?"
"Don't worry about him," said the Wrath, stepping into the shadows in another corner of the room. "He's just here to give backup to the kid. He won't touch you unless you try anything. He's very protective of his masters."
The smaller figure of a teenage boy began walking toward Gordon, his features becoming more discernible in the light. At first this indeed appeared to be Robin the Boy Wonder himself, but Gordon quickly realized that this was someone else entirely. This teenaged boy was wearing a domino mask with a purple tunic, black trunks, a cape, and boots. At his side was an angry-looking dog.
"Hiya, Commish," said the teenager.
"Gordon, meet Rage," said the Wrath, now clad in his familiar blood red and dark purple outfit. "I'll let you two get acquainted. But I'll be back before midnight. Count on it." At that, he left the room.
Gordon turned back to the boy. "Rage, huh? I supposed you're the Robin to his Batman."
"He wanted to call me Scorn," said Rage with a laugh. "But that just sounded gay, like something a dweeb would think of. I like Rage, though."
"And the dog?" asked Gordon.
"That's Spike," said the boy, "Spike... the Hell-Hound."
As if on cue, the angry German shepherd pulled forward slightly on his leash, snarling viciously and forcing Rage to pull him back. Curiously, the dog was wearing a dark red cowl over his head that was attached to his spiked, blood-red collar -- obviously a corrupted version of the Bat-Hound who had last been seen many years ago now.
"Heel, boy!" said Rage, and the dog did so, but he still looked ready to pounce. "Say hello to the nice man, Spike!"
Spike the Hell-Hound's only response was to bark and growl, ready to tear Commissioner Gordon into pieces the moment the word was given.
Commissioner James W. Gordon sat tied up in his chair, sitting still for several minutes before he finally spoke. "Do you have any parents, son?"
The teenage partner of the Wrath turned and looked at Gordon with disdain. "I'm not supposed to talk with you."
Gordon nodded. "Well, that does make sense. If I was in your position, I'd want to keep from getting too close to the prisoner that my boss was planning to kill, too. But I'm curious. What made you become the Wrath's sidekick?"
"I'm not his 'sidekick,'" said Rage. "I'm his partner."
"Oh, of course, of course. So you helped plan my abduction, I suppose."
"Yeah," Rage said uncertainly. "Well, no, not really. But I was the one who thought about the damn dog!"
"And a fine dog he is, too," said Gordon. Spike the Hell-Hound growled a bit more loudly at him until Gordon averted his eyes. "But it makes me wonder how a strong, smart boy like you could end up with someone like the Wrath."
"Because I was the strongest one," replied Rage. "I was the only one who survived. I--" Suddenly, the boy stopped speaking. Holding his hand up to his ear, he appeared to be listening to a voice. "What? No, I was just -- OK, OK, already! Sheesh!"
"Who was that?" said Gordon.
"No one," said Rage. "Wanna watch some TV?"
"Not particularly," said Gordon. "I'd prefer it if we could continue our conversation."
"Oh, I think you're gonna wanna watch this," said Rage, grinning. He pulled out a remote control and turned on the wall-mounted television set above them.
Gordon could hear a news report before the picture on the old TV set faded into view. When it did, he was astonished by the news report. A headline running along the bottom of the screen read: Justice League Gone Rogue? There were a few blurry shots from a helicopter, but Gordon clearly recognized the rooftop of Police Headquarters, where a handful of the same Justice Leaguers he'd seen earlier now appeared to have hijacked the Gotham City Police Department.
"--and the question on everybody's lips, 'Where's Batman?' appears to have been answered," continued the reporter. "As we can see, the Batplane is arriving now, but... oh, wait. That's not... Ladies and gentlemen, the man you can see on the screen before you is clearly not Batman. He's wearing a Batman-inspired costume, but he does not appear to be Batman himself. And he seems to be joining the rogue Justice Leaguers. Wait, what's that? We have reports stating that the man in the dark red and purple costume is a figure known as the Wrath, who first appeared five years ago and was believed to be dead."
"Turn it off," said Gordon.
Rage laughed and clicked the TV set off. "Seen enough, huh?"
"Ridiculous," said Gordon. "I'm not sure what your boss is planning with that absurd publicity stunt, but no way is anyone going to believe that that's the Justice League."
Rage shrugged. "Doesn't matter if they do or not, old man. It's a public challenge, is all. The JLAers that were impersonated will come running, and if they don't, I'll put a bullet in your head."
"You're going to put a bullet in my head, son?" said Gordon incredulously. "Oh, please," he chuckled. "You mean to say that the Wrath has left it all up to a boy to take his revenge on me? Are you sure that gun on your holster even has any bullets?"
"Of course it has bullets!" said Rage. "And I'll prove it, too. I--" The boy listened to the headset a bit more and said, "All right, all right! I'm just gonna prove my point! Just--"
"Who is that talking to you, son?" asked Gordon. "Is that your keeper?"
Rage pulled the headset off long enough to reach for his gun and cock it back. "Naw. You know how Batman has you? Well, that's our Gordon." At that, he shot into the TV set.
But although the gun resounded with a loud bang, nothing happened to the set. "Aw, man! Blanks!"
***
Elsewhere, an older man with a slight French accent shouted into the radio, trying to get Rage's attention. The former mercenary had been disabled for a few years now, but he wasn't about to allow his own protégé's plans go awry on account of said protégé's boy sidekick, who couldn't keep his mouth shut or follow direct orders.
Ducard had found the young William Mallory after his parents were killed by James W. Gordon thirty years ago. At that time Henri Ducard had been in his prime. He was working in security as a private detective while taking out occasional hit contracts with the underworld. He wasn't sure what had made him adopt the boy as he had; perhaps he saw something of himself in him. He was well-connected in the underworld, and he introduced the boy to the right people to get the kind of training he would need to become a top-notch assassin.
And after Ducard had lost the use of his leg after hiring himself out as a mercenary, the boy who was like a son to him became very useful, indeed. Eventually, Mallory even surpassed his teacher, making more as a hit man than Ducard ever had. But Mallory was more ambitious than Ducard had ever been, and he wanted more than to merely get rich. He wanted power. And eventually, he wanted to have the same gravitas in the underworld as the Wrath that the Batman had as a crime-fighter. It took time, and a lot of resources, but Mallory succeeded in his efforts with Ducard's help.
After the Wrath was killed, though, Ducard was left with a criminal empire to maintain. He'd never wanted to be in charge, but he did the job ably for the last four years, thanks to the mostly self-sufficient ways that Mallory had set up that empire. He even ensured that the Wrath's young sidekick, Elliot Caldwell, was taken care of. He knew that the Wrath had planned for Rage to eventually carry on his mission once he was ready, though Ducard didn't see the same potential in Caldwell as the young Mallory had. Ducard was convinced Caldwell would end up throwing away all he and Mallory had worked all these years for.
Ducard continued to faithfully maintain and even slightly expand the Wrath's underworld empire in the five years since his death. He had never really been sure why until days ago, when the Wrath had come back from the dead. That was fine; Henri Ducard's own mercenary days were long behind him, and he wanted nothing more than to administrate the Wrath's criminal empire and leave the decisions to his protégé. And as soon as the Wrath's mission for Neron was over, and Gordon was dead and gone, Ducard hoped to convince Mallory to delegate his work and give up this whole Wrath business altogether. It would only get him killed again.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:25:29 GMT
Chapter 7: The Anniversary
by Doc Quantum
By the time the real Justice Leaguers arrived, the Legionnaires of Doom had already removed their disguises and had changed back into their ordinary outfits, at the Wrath's command. He wanted to make sure that the world knew that the real JLA were the ones who would meet their demise on this evening.
The Batman swooped in and attempted to strike the Wrath down, but his criminal counterpart ducked out of the way just as ably. In a moment, the two were in a fierce battle of martial arts.
Green Arrow and Black Canary attacked right away, the emerald archer firing trick arrow after trick arrow at the Blue Bowman, who returned fire with his own trick arrows. And as Black Canary used her canary-cry against Mockingbird, she was hardly surprised to find that the former Magpie had her own form of a canary-cry, her little gift from Neron.
The Elongated Man bounced into the Malleable Man, and the two elastic men got into a fight that left them almost bouncing off the rooftops. Nearby, the Atom met his opponent Dwarfstar, and the battle between the tiny titans was almost impossible to follow, since they switched sizes so rapidly in attempts to outmaneuver the other.
***
In the safe house, James W. Gordon remained tied to the chair, watching Rage rage over the fact that he hadn't been trusted with real bullets. "What the #^@%, man? What the #^@%?" the teenager repeated, shouting into the headset as he paced back and forth. "How the hell am I supposed to kill Gordon without any bullets?" he yelled, waving his arms in the air and letting go of the leash.
At that moment, Spike the Hell-Hound took his chance, lunging toward Gordon and knocking him and the chair over in his attack.
"Holy $#!^!" said Rage as he realized what was happening.
But he wasn't sure just what happened next, as a red-sleeved fist flew up from Gordon's coat and struck the Hell-Hound, followed by another fist with equal power, leaving the dog yelping from pain. It didn't make any sense; Gordon was securely tied to that chair, and besides, he was an old man.
Rage was almost too stunned to react when bare legs connected to feet that had no toes also sprouted out from Gordon's coat and sprung him back up, then raced for the door. One of the red-sleeved hands that had struck the dog now reached for the door handle and flung it open. And Gordon, still bound by his arms and legs to the chair, found himself running down the corridor with a second pair of legs.
"Get after him!" shouted Ducard through the headset.
Rage shook his head and bolted into action, running after the fleeing chair and Gordon atop it. He whistled to Spike the Hell-Hound and yelled, "Sic 'em, boy!"
Police Commissioner James W. Gordon was on the ride of his life; he just hoped that his life wouldn't end this evening.
"Don't worry, Commish," said his protector. "We'll have you out of here and safe and sound in no time, thanks to the NBI!"
Gordon tried to answer, but he was having a bumpy ride. It was hard to talk without biting his tongue, since he was still tied securely to a chair, while a pair of stretched-out legs were running beneath, carrying him out of the lion's den. The commissioner could hear the sound of a barking, growling, snarling dog almost nipping him at his heels, but thankfully that sound was getting farther and farther away as his red-clad savior swiftly ran toward the building's exit. But he knew he wasn't safe yet; the Wrath's answer to Robin, a misguided kid called Rage, was still after him, as was the Wrath's own Gordon figure, whoever that was.
But the pair of legs beneath him belonged to someone who was quite formidable himself, a super-hero whose glory days were in the 1960s and who had retired and come out of retirement more times than any other hero Gordon could think of.
Plastic Man wasn't very active these days, but he always answered a call from the Batman.
***
Elsewhere in Gotham City, a battle was brewing between five members of the Justice League of America and five members of the Legion of Doom. That battle was being captured on a live television news feed for the world to see, even though it had spread out from the top of Gotham City Police Headquarters to nearby rooftops.
Ralph Dibny was having the fight of his life. It had been a long time since he'd squared off with a foe that had the same powers as he did, and more besides. The last time he had fought Malleable Man, Skizzle Shanks had only temporarily gained the ability to stretch his body, much like Elongated Man himself. But now Malleable Man was using his abilities in ways that Ralph had only known Plastic Man to do before, and, like Plastic Man, he was able to turn his body into any shape he wished, not merely stretch himself. Despite his inexperience, Malleable Man's new permanent abilities had not only helped him keep up with the much more experienced Elongated Man in a fight, but had helped turn this fight into a real battle.
"Why don'tcha just give up now, Dibny?" said Skizzle as he made a giant mallet out of his left fist and slammed it down on the edge of the roof where the Elongated Man had just been, then thrust forward his right arm in the shape of a sword toward him. "I don't got nothin' personal 'gainst ya, an' believe it or not, I don't even got nothin' personal 'gainst my old crony, 'Eel' O'Brian. But I'm aimin' ta become the best second-story man in the biz, and ta do that, me and da boys've gotta kill you an' yer gang! So make it easy on yerself and lay down, will ya?"
After Malleable Man changed into the shape of a wrecking ball, the Elongated Man dodged the latest attack and laughed. "Where did you learn to talk like that?" said Ralph. "A James Cagney film festival? Or is Bugs Bunny more your speed?" He was hoping to tire out his foe and find a way to take him out quickly, but Skizzle Shanks showed no signs of slowing down, and he wasn't sure what he could even do that would knock him out.
"Don't say nuddin' bad about Cagney, you mook!" yelled Skizzle. "Cagney taught me how ta be a man!" Running forward, he tripped over the Elongated Man's stretched-out foot and fell over the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, Malleable Man simply turned himself into a rubber ball and bounced off the roof of a car, crushing it, and onto a lower rooftop. The battle of these stretchable foes would continue over the rooftops of Gotham City.
***
Not all the battles were so prominent and visible as that between Elongated Man and Malleable Man. The fight between the Atom and Dwarfstar, for example, was too difficult for any normal cameras to capture. The reason was that both hero and villain shared the same abilities to shrink to an infinitesimally small size, then return to normal size, at will.
Dwarfstar rarely ever had occasion to use his real name. For most of his adult life, he had been permanently stuck at the general size of a mouse, giving him the name of Mouse Man. And he had been called Mouse Man for years by everyone except his closest family members. Now that he had control over his size once more, he was happy to give up that name and call himself Dwarfstar. Both of those names were better, in his opinion, than the one he had been born with: Sylbert Rundine.
Sylbert had grown up a lonely kid who had been bullied while growing up. His teachers at school had bullied him. His parents had bullied him. Even his overbearing big sister had bullied him. And Sylbert had simply taken it all in stride, instead retreating into a fantasy world of his own making. He became obsessed with a certain cartoon character who was known the world over as a walking, talking mouse, identifying with this cartoon rodent as he watched cartoons and read comics detailing his many adventures. Eventually, he began dressing up year-round in his Halloween costumes, which were always mouse-themed. If he had been born a few years later, perhaps he would have met up with other like-minded people and joined the furry movement. Alas for Sylbert, he was born too soon, and instead he became a D-list super-criminal called Mouse Man.
This diminutive criminal, who had been stuck at the same mouse-sized height for years, had only ever battled one foe consistently in his brief tenure. Mouse Man could be forgiven for his obsession with the original Wonder Woman, that most beautiful of classic super-heroines. It had been that obsession that had made him choose a life of super-villainy; after all, he reasoned, if he wasn't able to make her notice him as an ordinary man, then she would have to notice him as a super-criminal. Never once did Sylbert consider that he could have used his size to become a super-hero like Doll Man instead, and he failed miserably in his half-hearted efforts to woo the amazing Amazon. Many uneventful years of jail and parole followed, with Mouse Man attempting to live as normal a life as possible for a permanently six-inch-tall man, even if that life was completely at the mercy of his older sister, who still bullied little Sylbert.
Then the apparent death of Wonder Woman during the Crisis on Infinite Earths sent Mouse Man on a whirlwind of depression for nearly three years, until Neron stepped into the picture and offered him a chance to restart his life, to alter his size at will, and to be respected by his peers as the man who killed the Atom.
Now, Dwarfstar wasn't sure what he wanted to do after killing the Atom, but he was sure he wanted to get even with all the women who had rejected him over the years. All that resentment he'd held back for so many years now seemed to be oozing out of him, and all he could think about now was the many ways of killing all of his imagined enemies.
Strangely enough, Dwarfstar was about the only member of the Legion of Doom who had more experience using his powers than his opposite number in the Justice League. But this obsession with all his life's resentments was giving him a disadvantage in the fight with the new Atom, Adam Cray.
After a long, drawn-out game of playing cat and mouse, the Atom finally connected with Dwarfstar's jaw and knocked him down. And before Dwarfstar was able to get back up again, the Atom had floored his foe with a roundhouse kick.
***
On the rooftop of Gotham City Police Headquarters, Black Canary and Mockingbird had given up trying to use their canary-cries against each other long ago, since all they'd done was cancel each other out while proving to be an unwelcome distraction for their own allies. So they'd abandoned their super-powers and were now fighting in hand-to-hand combat.
The former Magpie, Margaret Pye, had never been physically intimidating before. Unlike Dinah Lance, she had never spent her youth in training and had not studied martial arts. But Neron had not forsaken her, for he had provided her with learned knowledge as part of the gift he had given her. She now had all the fighting skills she would need to carry on a fight with someone of equal stature. Unfortunately for Mockingbird, Black Canary's experience and athleticism gave her a strong edge, and Mockingbird was just barely holding her own against her foe.
The blue-and-green-clad archers had already moved their fight to another rooftop after Green Arrow chased the Blue Bowman via an arrow-line. But they were still close enough to see the two battles on the GCPD rooftop.
Thus the Blue Bowman had noticed that Mockingbird was getting tired, like an out-of-shape boxer just trying to survive in the ring, and from his perspective she looked like she was about to drop at any moment. So, breaking away from his own hand-to-hand fight with Green Arrow for a moment, he quickly shot a blunt arrow at Black Canary. But Green Arrow, seeing what his foe was up to, shot an arrow of his own a split-second later to deflect the first arrow. Unfortunately, that one still whizzed by Black Canary's head, causing her to lose her concentration for a moment, which was just long enough for Mockingbird to get in a punch of her own.
Mockingbird glanced over at the Blue Bowman, who nodded his head and winked at her, and she briefly smiled back before resuming her fight with Black Canary.
Now maybe the Wrath will put an end to all those jokes about my sexual orientation, thought Herb Vraney, the Blue Bowman.
A moment later, a green-gloved fist knocked him out, cold. "Nobody attacks my woman and gets away with it, pal!" said a furious Green Arrow.
***
None of these battles really mattered compared with the one that was occurring right next to the Bat-Signal on the roof of Police Headquarters. The Batman and the Wrath had been trading blows for several minutes now, but they were so evenly matched in fighting skills that either of them could win this battle. The same could not be said about their chosen teams.
"Your Legion of Doom is poorly matched against us, Wrath," taunted Batman. "You're rank amateurs, all of you, compared with the Justice League."
The Wrath remained silent, focused solely on trying to break through the Batman's defenses.
"But you don't care about that, do you?" said Batman. "All you care about is killing Gordon. That's all you've ever cared about. Well, guess what? You're going to fail at that, too."
If the Wrath flinched at this, however slightly, it was too imperceptible for anyone but Batman to notice.
"Did you really think I'd leave Gordon without protection while you're on the loose?" said Batman as they continued their fight. "You brought in your ringer, so I brought in a ringer of my own. I don't think that kid and his vicious dog will be much of a threat to him. By now, Gordon's already across town and completely out of your hands."
The Wrath did noticeably flinch this time. He was beginning to have his doubts. "You lie," he said finally.
"No need to lie, when truth serves me well enough," replied Batman. "If you doubt me, check for yourself."
As if by silent mutual agreement, the two foes stopped fighting, but remained in battle-stances. The Wrath activated his earpiece and said, "Report. You have Gordon?"
The Wrath's face darkened as he heard the news. "Well, find him!" he said under his breath but urgently, before ending the connection.
The Batman and the Wrath resumed fighting.
"Bad news, Wrath?" taunted Batman. "Let me guess: A certain Plastic Man stole your prize right out from under the kid's nose while you were wasting your time out here trying to fight me?"
The Wrath's eyes glowered, as if he was trying to burn a hole through Batman's face.
"What are you going to do now, Wrath?" said Batman. "If you don't get to Gordon before midnight, you can't kill him on the thirtieth anniversary. Then you'll have to wait a whole year before you can start again. Thirty-first anniversary doesn't quite have the same ring to it, though, does it?"
The Wrath sneered, then said, "You think I'm one of your psychopathic arch-enemies, don't you? One of those themed criminals you fight who have psychological compulsions to leave riddles about their crimes for you to solve, or who commit only hat-related crimes!"
"Yes," said the Batman. "That's exactly what you are."
"I'll teach you to underestimate me," said the Wrath, and he broke off the fight, then ran over the edge of the rooftop and leaped over it. The scene was strikingly similar to the way that the Wrath had died five years earlier, when he had fallen off a roof to his death. But the Wrath had no intention of dying this day; he needed to break away from this futile battle in order to attain his true goal and kill Gordon once and for all.
"Arrow!" shouted Batman, even as he threw a batarang after his fleeing enemy.
Reacting immediately, Green Arrow shot a net-arrow from the nearby rooftop, and as the batarang whipped around the Wrath's feet, the net-arrow enclosed the villain in a net. As Batman pulled on the batarang line and reeled in the bound Wrath, Green Arrow kept his arrow-line taut, thus keeping the net bound around the Wrath.
As Batman secured his foe and held him down on the rooftop, he said, "You'd rather end your life than miss a chance at vengeance? Or was that another attempt to get to Gordon before it's too late?" Before the Wrath could react in any way, Batman struck him a hard blow that knocked him out. "You're right, Wrath. I did underestimate you. But I also pity you."
Nearby, Black Canary was tying up her own unconscious foe, Mockingbird, and the Elongated Man had managed to tie up the now-woozy Malleable Man into a big, tangled green knot. Green Arrow had already secured the Blue Bowman, just as the Atom had secured the now-full-sized Dwarfstar.
Batman activated his radio. "Is Gordon safe?" he asked.
"You betcha!" replied Plastic Man. "In fact, the Commish got what he wanted -- I dropped him off at Arkham Asylum after getting away from the kid and that dog. He's overseeing the containment and repair efforts there. Luckily, the few loonies who managed to escape were relatively harmless, and they've already been recaptured. It was a good night all around, Bats!"
"Thank you, O'Brian," replied Batman. "You might be pleased to hear that Dibny has recaptured your old friend, Skizzle Shanks. Batman out."
After checking in with the other two JLA teams, the Batman was satisfied by the answers he received from them.
It was now 12:03 A.M. on June 27, 1988, the entire Legion of Doom had been defeated, and James W. Gordon was still alive. As far as Batman was concerned, this June 26th had been a good day, and it had been a decent way to mark the occasion of his parents' deaths. But the work was not yet over. A final battle had yet to be won.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:27:43 GMT
Chapter 8: The Outworldersby Doc Quantum In the Denver, Colorado, of an alternate timeline in which a nuclear war had devastated America thirty-five years earlier, a group of unusual figures walked the streets of the city. Passersby tipped their hats and nodded to the strangely garbed men and women who had been helping to protect their fair city from raids from outlander mutants. Their names were strange -- Red Tornado, Firestorm, Vixen, Steel, Nightmaster, and Tabitha, along with the children, Arthur Junior and Dinah Laurel, affectionately nicknamed Splash and Tweety -- and together they were known by the residents as the Outworlders. But the greatest of this ragtag team of heroes was the Ringslinger. The Ringslinger possessed a seemingly magic green ring of incredible power that had done wonders for the city since it had chosen Danny Fonzarelli as one who was worthy and utterly without fear. Under the tutelage of Red Tornado, the Ringslinger had become very effective in the use of his power ring in mere days, securing the city's walls against unwanted intruders and even repairing and improving the city's failing power and water treatment plants. And even though the other Outworlders had done amazing feats of their own, all credit typically went to the Ringslinger, the city's chosen hero. But the Outworlders had let it be known that their time as the protectors of Denver would come to an end as soon as they discovered a way to return home. It was that subject that had brought the nine Outworlders together one night a few weeks after the discovery of the ship containing the dead Green Lantern and the power ring. As usual, the Justice League members had found themselves waiting in a 1950s-style diner for Fonzarelli, whose services were in constant demand. Finally, he arrived. "Ayyy..." Danny Fonzarelli said as he walked through the door of the diner, grinning at them as he caused his green-tinted sunglasses to disappear from his face. Tabitha Stephens walked in next to him; they had been spending a lot of time together, not only so that the power ring could boost her innate mystical abilities, but for more personal reasons. "Glad you could make it," Professor Martin Stein said drolly. He and Ronald Raymond now spent most of their time here in their civilian identities, since there was no need for them to be Firestorm the nuclear man all the time. "No problem, Prof," said the Ringslinger, plopping down along with Tabitha on a green love seat that popped into existence with a snap of his fingers. "Fonzie, we've come a long way in finding the way back home," said Jim Rook, the Nightmaster. "But we've got to keep on trying. Eventually, we should be able to crack through the mystical barrier that witch put up to stop us -- er, no offense, Tabitha." "None taken," said the young blonde witch, twinkling her nose slightly. "I know how important it is for you guys to get back home," began Fonzarelli in a serious tone. "Trust me, I do. But these people need us far more than I've ever been needed in all my years in the service, and I think most of you could say the same. So how long are we going to waste time trying to break through, instead of admitting that this is our home, now and forevermore?" There were loud groans and protests from the Justice League members, until Red Tornado spoke up. "We stand a higher statistical chance of returning home only if we persist in our efforts." "Yeah," said Hank Heywood III, alias Steel. "Besides, Fonzie, since when are you a quitter?" "Ayyy..." Fonzarelli said with a tone of warning. "Sorry, but that's what it feels like to me," said Steel. "I trust our friends in the JLA. Eventually, they'll figure out what Allura is doing and put a stop to her. You can count on it. And just maybe those barriers will be weakened at the same time." The Ringslider stared at Hank for a few moments before he threw up his hands in concession and said, "All right, kid, you convinced me. Let's get this show on the road. Tabitha?" The young witch began a ceremony that had become familiar to all of them ever since Fonzarelli was chosen to be the Ringslinger, this world's Green Lantern. Beside her, the Ringslinger brought his power ring up and began concentrating his willpower to assist her efforts. Jim Rook and the Justice Leaguers likewise began concentrating in an effort to help the process along, though none of them knew if it had any effect. "I want everyone to concentrate on home... each of you, use all your willpower to concentrate on going home..." At first, it seemed that their efforts would have the same effect as they always did, coming up against a mystical wall that had stopped them more effectively than any physical one could. But circumstances had now changed, and Allura the elemental had been defeated and knocked unconscious back on Earth-One, unable to reinforce any barriers between dimensions. This time, they managed to open a portal that would bring them back home, once they said their goodbyes to John Jones and the good people of Denver. But as the room erupted in shouts of joy and celebration, in another realm entirely a grim figure was watching their efforts and making plans of his own. These Justice Leaguers and their allies would not be allowed to help out their fellow heroes in the final confrontation. Neron would make sure of that. *** At the Justice League of America's original Secret Sanctuary, which was located in the tallest peak in a mountain range, the reunited JLA met once more to discuss their next step. The Legion of Doom had been defeated, and its still-unconscious members had all been imprisoned at Mount Olympus Correctional Facility until other arrangements could be made. But the mysterious figure named Neron, who had formed the Legion for his own purposes, still needed to be dealt with. While Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, and Zatanna were conferring in the meeting room, three old friends were chatting to one side. "Welcome back, Hal." Ralph Dibny, the world-famous Elongated Man, slapped Green Lantern on the back as he greeted his old friend. "When that evil twin of yours revealed himself to be an impostor, I thought we might never see the real you again. I should've known you can't keep a good man down." "Thanks, Ralph," said Hal Jordan, the original Green Lantern of Earth. "I'm just glad I don't have to go through life looking like Alan Scott on steroids. Carol would never forgive me if I showed up at the wedding like that." He chuckled ruefully. "Seriously, though, Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame put up a strong fight when we first fought. Given his age, he's probably got a lot more experience with the power ring than I do. Not even the Guardians of the Universe had been able to strip him of his ring -- only contain him in a starless void for the last hundred and fifty years. But since he was never a member of the Green Lantern Corps, he lacks the same training and discipline that most Corps members receive." "Not to mention the fact that he's completely insane," added Wally West, alias the Flash. "Like my foe, Savitar, he thinks of himself as a god." "True, Wally, but in Malvolio's case, the people of his sector actually did worship him as a god," continued Green Lantern. "After his sneak attack rendered me powerless against him, Malvolio took the time to tell me a bit about his history." "Funny... he did the same when he was posing as you," said Ralph. "He told us all about Neron's plot, and his creation of the Legion of Doom. As far as I can tell, everything he said -- apart from pretending to be you, I mean -- was basically true. I wonder why he had no compunctions about telling us the truth." "Malvolio is the most arrogant, self-righteous foe I've ever encountered," said Green Lantern. "Despite his setbacks, he's utterly confident in everything he does. When he told me about himself, I think he was just gloating to a fallen foe who no longer held a threat to him." "What did he say?" asked Wally. "Even though we had our hands full with Despero at the time, I remember hearing afterward about this Lord Malvolio being part of the alien invasion force back in early '86. (*) I always wondered where he got that power ring of his." [(*) Editor's note: See Justice League of America: Pyre and Captain Comet's Rehab Squad: Strange Visitors.]"So did I," said Hal. "It was as much a mystery to me as how G'nort got his power ring, which is why, after we stopped the Legion of Doom in Metropolis, I paid a quick visit to the Guardians of the Universe to consult the Book of Oa in order to corroborate Malvolio's story, as well as learn further details. Malvolio is the son of Yalan Gur, a renowned member of the Green Lantern Corps assigned to space sector 1634 a few hundred years ago. For some reason, Yalan Gur -- described as a dragon-like humanoid with scaly red skin who was tall, very broad, and muscular -- visited Earth in the seventeenth century where he eventually encountered an English noblewoman, one Lady Hawke, and got her pregnant with his child. It was a minor scandal at the time, since Lady Hawke was married to Lord Hawke at the time, and his rivals at court claimed that his wife had consorted with the Devil. And given Yalan Gur's reptilian appearance and red skin, Lady Hawke probably thought she was cheating on her husband with a demon, too. Malvolio was born in 1612, and Lady Hawke died giving birth to him. "Although he looked more human than alien, Malvolio was much larger than a normal baby, and Lord Hawke knew that the child was not his own. So he called the child a bastard and sent him off to live with former servants of his, while Lord Hawke himself fled to Sardonia on the European mainland a couple of years later; Malvolio claimed that Lord Hawke was too terrified of the 'demon child' to remain any longer in England. (*) The bastard son of Lady Hawke and Yalan Gur was named Malvolio after the character in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by the servants who took him in, but they never gave him more than the most basic necessities to keep him alive. Malvolio remained in England, hated by all around him, until the age of ten, by which time he had become a complete psychopath, without any empathy or compassion for others." [(*) Editor's note: A direct descendant of Lord Hawke appears in "The Man Who Hunted Superboy," Adventure Comics #303 (December, 1962).]"He told you that?" asked Ralph. "Well, he gave me those basic details," said Hal. "I added the part about him being a psychopath, but he most assuredly is one. He grew to fit his name, too, if you've ever seen Twelfth Night. Anyway, eventually Yalan Gur returned to Earth to find the woman he'd had a dalliance with, only to learn that she was dead, having given birth to his child. After a search, he found Malvolio and introduced himself as his father. Given the choice between staying on Earth and being viewed as a spawn of the Devil, or going with his father and possibly being sentenced to live in Hell itself, Malvolio leaped at the chance to flee the world that hated him so. "For the next two hundred years or so, Malvolio lived on his father's home world, Selsia V, in sector 1634," continued Hal. "As a Green Lantern from a long-lived race, Yalan Gur was worshiped by several worlds in his sector. Though he never claimed to be a god, he also never discouraged this line of thinking, since it helped him keep order in the sector. Even on his home world, this Green Lantern was held with reverence, and he lived in a palatial temple with hundreds of priests acting as servants. That was where Malvolio grew up, and where his egomania was encouraged. He grew to think of himself as a demigod like Hercules and Perseus from the books he'd read on Earth. Just as they had been born to mortal women who'd been impregnated by the god Zeus, Malvolio had been born to an Earth woman by an alien worshiped as a god. It didn't help matters that, by human standards, Malvolio was very long-lived, just like demigods usually were in storybooks. "Sometime around the early 1800s, Malvolio began to accompany Yalan Gur on Green Lantern missions from time to time, and he began to see a different side of his father. Instead of commanding worship from those whose planets were under his protection, Yalan Gur often instead acted as if he were their servant, performing lowly duties that should have been beneath that of a god, as well as placing his own life at risk to save the lives of mere mortals. As Malvolio put it, his eyes were opened, and he finally realized that his father was unworthy of godhood. He had spied weakness in his father, and he couldn't let it go. If his father was unworthy of being a god, then where did that leave him? In his twisted mind, there was only one solution. He had to kill his father and seize the power for himself. "But there was one problem: the Guardians of the Universe, not his father, were the true owners of the power ring and the power battery, and they would surely retrieve them upon the death of a member of the Green Lantern Corps. This much Malvolio knew from what his father had revealed to him. So he needed outside help to fully seize control of both his father's sector and his power ring. Yalan Gur had an extensive library with books from all across the galaxy and the universe, and with that library Malvolio discovered an ancient tome that described a vast, million-year-long war across the entire universe some three-and-a-half-billion years ago. By the time the book was written, the Million-Year War had become merely a series of legends mostly forgotten by the sentient races around the universe, but one historian several millennia later had collected these disparate legends of the battles between those who championed science and technology, and those who championed magic and sorcery. "The figures in the war were described only in broad strokes, and distorted in myths with various names, but Malvolio recognized the little blue men commanding powerful green energy as the same individuals who commanded the Green Lantern Corps. Until fairly recently, the Guardians of the Universe were very secretive about their actions, and few members of the Green Lantern Corps had ever met them, let alone visited Oa. Yalan Gur was one of the few before the last couple of decades to meet the Guardians face to face. If Malvolio was going to keep the Guardians from taking away his birthright, as he saw it -- the power ring and battery -- then he would need the help of a being that was equally powerful. In that ancient history tome he found exactly what he needed when he read the legends of the Starheart, also known as the Green Flame of Life."
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:28:45 GMT
Chapter 9: The Green Flame
by Doc Quantum
"Wasn't the Starheart the source of Alan Scott's power?" asked the Flash. "Barry told me about that once, when we were talking about the Earth-Two Green Lantern and the Justice Society."
"Yes, Wally," said Hal Jordan. "And it might begin to explain the superficial similarities between Malvolio and Alan Scott; I'll get to that in a moment. By the early 1800s, Malvolio had read everything he could on the ancient war between science and sorcery, and he had theorized that the Starheart still existed in the present, even after three billion years. And he was right about that. Yes, the Starheart had preserved a small part of itself that eventually made its way to Earth-Two, but the original remained in our universe.
"Though its location had long been hidden, Malvolio figured out where it was. The Empire of Tears had been the last of the forces of magic to fall against the Guardians at the end of the Million-Year War, and the tomb-world of Ysmault had been the site of the last battle between science and magic. It was after that last battle that the Guardians took all the final vestiges of sorcerous energy free-floating in the universe and bound them all together into the shape of an orb, which they hid in the heart of a star. Hence, it was known as the Starheart. Malvolio theorized that, if he could locate Ysmault, he could then deduce where the Starheart was and seize its power.
"It took close to twenty years and several exploratory voyages before Malvolio finally found the planet that had once been Ysmault, former throne-world of the Empire of Tears, located in space sector 666. The planet had been quarantined since the Million-Year War, and travel there was forbidden by the Guardians, but Malvolio was a very determined man, and he managed to get there without being detected. Upon that world Malvolio spoke with a being called Qull of the Five Inversions, and he did not tell me the full details of the conversation. But one of the things he learned from Qull was the location of the Starheart and how to communicate with it. Much time had passed since the Starheart had gained sentience, and it, too, had a limited lifespan. So when Malvolio traveled to that distant star described in legend, he discovered that it had long ago collapsed and was now a neutron star. Was there any trace of the Starheart left, or did it only exist on Earth-Two in the form of a fallen green meteor in China, eventually to be made into a train lantern that Alan Scott would discover in the twentieth century?
"Malvolio found the Starheart, but it was now weak and nearly dead. Most of its magical energies had long ago dispersed back out into the universe, so that magic once more existed alongside science, though it would never hold dominant power in our universe again. The Starheart, a ball of supernatural energy that could think for itself, had grown maddened after so many centuries of being alone with itself. Malvolio found it difficult to find any rational thought in the energy being. But he pressed on and, armed with the information he'd gained from Qull of the Five Inversions, he managed to convince the Starheart to help him. In exchange for giving him the power to subdue the power ring and battery for his own purposes, Malvolio would become the champion of the Starheart, the sole emissary of the Green Flame. But to do so he had to enter the neutron star itself and bathe in the Green Flame of Life, all while wearing the power ring.
"After a couple of decades of traveling, Malvolio returned to Selsia V and was reunited with his father at the temple, where Yalan Gur was being attended to by his priests. His father, overjoyed to see his long-absent son, held a feast for him in his honor, and Malvolio accepted. They drank much wine that night and bonded as father and son once more, but for Malvolio it was all an act. When the time came for his father to recharge his power ring, he was already stinking drunk and unable to walk. So Malvolio offered to do it for him, and indeed he did. But immediately afterward, he stabbed his father to death with a sword. Without the ring, Yalan Gur was defenseless as the ancient, sharp-toothed sword, forged from the hell-fires of Ysmault, slid through the Green Lantern's scaly red skin and pierced his heart, again and again. Malvolio told me he laughed as he slew his father, and all I can think is that something made his mind finally snap during his visit to Ysmault. Something that Qull of the Five Inversions had said to him finally drove him over the edge.
"In any event, Malvolio fled with his father's body and the power ring and battery before dawn and traveled to the neutron star to visit the Starheart once more. Throwing his father's body to be consumed by the heat of the star, Malvolio donned the power ring and followed. Instead of being consumed himself, the Starheart protected him. The power ring, like all Green Lantern power rings, was connected to the Central Power Battery on Oa. But the Green Flame of Life took over the power ring, overriding its programming, and remade it in its image. For all intents and purposes, it is just like any other power ring, but while it draws its power from the Central Power Battery, the Starheart protects it from being taken over by the Guardians. And so, as Malvolio bathed in the Starheart at the center of a neutron star, he dubbed himself Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame.
"When he returned to Selsia V, Lord Malvolio expected to be praised as a god and worshiped in the temple as his father had been, but something had happened in his absence. His father's death had indeed been noted by the Guardians, and they'd already appointed a successor for space sector 1634. The new Green Lantern was not native to Selsia V, but he was from one of the colony worlds that the Selsians had conquered in centuries past, and he had served Yalan Gur as his chief priest for many years. Having given up his true name upon donning his priestly robes, he called himself only Priest.
"The Guardians of the Universe had commanded Priest to retrieve Yalan Gur's power ring and battery, but Malvolio had already taken them over with the help of the Starheart, and he wasn't about to allow a mere priest to stop his rise to godhood. Malvolio and Priest fought for weeks, and the worlds in that sector took the brunt of their battles. Finally, the Guardians told Priest that he must kill Malvolio and seize the corrupted power ring and battery. But Priest was hesitant to go that far; after all, he had helped raise Malvolio in the temple on Selsia V, since Yalan Gur was absent much of the time. The boy was like a son to him. The Guardians explained that Malvolio had opened up a doorway into the dark past of ignorance and superstition that had been shut tight for billions of years. For the sake of the universe, the emissary of the Green Flame had to be put down, just as the Empire of Tears had had to be destroyed billions of years earlier. And the Guardians gave him the added power to do so, temporarily stripping his power ring of its weakness against the color yellow.
"Priest agreed, but inwardly he refused to kill Malvolio, not only for Yalan Gur's sake, but for his own. Returning to Selsia V, he resumed his battle with Malvolio, while pleading with him to surrender his power ring. Malvolio refused, and Priest finally defeated him by using the yellow impurity against him. But no one could strip Malvolio of his power ring any longer, and Priest realized he had only two options left to him. He could slay Malvolio just as the Guardians wanted him to do, or he could find a way to imprison him somewhere that he wouldn't be able to break out of with his power ring or anything else. He opted for the latter, and imprisoned Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame in a starless void in sector 1634, erecting barriers that effectively made it his prison. But it was no mere prison cell; Priest had ensured that it was a vast area in which Malvolio could live out his days, with one-way communications from the outside universe, and endless entertainments to keep him occupied. It was, in fact, like a much larger version of the palatial temple where Malvolio had been raised -- this was mercy on Priest's part, and even Malvolio himself recognized that when he told me.
"Of course, when the Guardians learned that they had been defied, they forced Priest to give up his own power ring and give it to someone more worthy," said Hal. "That much I learned from the Book of Oa, though I didn't know anything about the circumstances at the time; it was ancient history, as far as I was concerned, so I didn't think it was relevant enough to look into beyond the surface details. As for Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame, he languished in his starless prison for over a hundred and fifty years, trying to find a way out and plotting his revenge against the Guardians."
"Interesting," said Ralph Dibny. "So he spent all that time imprisoned before Neron finally broke him out?"
"Yep," said Green Lantern. "That happened around the time of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Neron made him a deal and let him escape that starless void while the Guardians of the Universe were preoccupied with the Crisis. Shortly thereafter, Lord Malvolio met Kasta the Thrill-Killer, and they joined the alien armada that invaded Earth back in January of '86."
"He must've been happy to help invade Earth, since he hated it so much," said the Flash.
"Yes and no, Wally," said Green Lantern. "He did hate the Earth for all the pain he'd endured as a 'demon-child,' but he also remembered the rolling green hills and forests he'd played in as a boy, and thought of it with fondness. He hoped to make England, his birthplace, his own private island and colony of Selsia V, once he'd taken over his father's home world as well."
"One thing I still don't understand," said Ralph, "is why he looks so much like Alan Scott. I know they're both connected to the Starheart in one way or another, but that still doesn't explain it for me."
"Ah, that's something I asked him about as well," said Hal. "Malvolio told me that, while he was unable to break out of his prison or communicate with the outside world, he still had a connection to the Starheart. It was through this connection that he was able to trace the Starheart fragment that had ended up on Earth-Two, and he managed to make a mystical connection to the Green Flame of Life there. He claims -- and I have no reason not to believe him -- that he was responsible for the Earth-Two Starheart being discovered in the first place by the famous explorers Pat Ryan, George Webster Confucius, and Terry Lee in the mid-1930s. He was what nudged them in the right direction to find the ancient lamp that a lamp maker named Chang had fashioned from the flaming green meteor a thousand years earlier. Having brought it back to America, the explorers lost it, but Malvolio claims that was his doing as well.
"The old Chinese lamp was left in a trashcan next to Arkham Asylum in Gotham City, and another nudge from Malvolio brought it into the hands of a mentally unhinged old man named Billings, who was a patient at Arkham. Malvolio was able to remotely influence the crazed man into reshaping the Chinese lamp into the more familiar shape of a train lantern, the only object on Earth that most closely resembles a Green Lantern power battery.
"A few years passed before the green-colored train lantern ended up on the same train that engineer Alan Scott was traveling on in the spring of 1940. When that train was destroyed by a bomb planted by a crooked business rival, Malvolio made sure that the first thing Alan grabbed within reach was the green lantern, for the Green Flame of Life had seen in Alan Scott some of the same qualities that had made Malvolio such an excellent emissary of the original Starheart. And Malvolio had influenced the Starheart to command Alan Scott to fashion a ring of power from it, which he would recharge every twenty-four hours."
"That sounds just like your ring!" said Wally West.
"It does," said Green Lantern. "Alan Scott's power ring operated so much like a Green Lantern Corps power ring that it always struck me how strangely alike our powers were, despite having vastly different origins. Now I know that the Earth-Two Green Lantern's origin was influenced by Lord Malvolio for his own purposes."
"And what was the reason behind all this?" asked Ralph. "Why would he create a hero in another universe?"
"I asked Malvolio that question, too," said Hal. "And he told me something very interesting. Through his connection with the Earth-Two Starheart, Malvolio had been able to view Earth-Two, and he discovered that, just as on our Earth, Earth-Two had its own Lord and Lady Hawke in the seventeenth century. So, with the vast quantities of time at his disposal, he discovered that Lady Hawke was born to the Scott family, and one of the descendants of that family was Alan Scott, who somewhat resembled a younger Malvolio before his hair turned gray, not only physically but also in strength of will and lack of fear. Malvolio knew that this Alan Scott would have been worthy to become a true Green Lantern in our universe, so he engineered things to make him as close to a Green Lantern as possible in the Earth-Two universe, albeit one who was wearing a costume that was based more on Malvolio's outfit than on the Green Lantern Corps uniform."
"But... why?" repeated Ralph.
"I can only assume that he thought of Alan as his only real counterpart in the Earth-Two universe, since there was no 'Malvolio' born on that world," replied Hal. "He must've planned on manipulating him somehow through his connection with the Starheart. But he was wrong. The moment that Alan Scott became Green Lantern, Lord Malvolio lost his connection to the Earth-Two Starheart, and despite spending the next forty years trying to reestablish that connection, he experienced nothing but failure. It's possible that the Earth-Two Starheart had, in the thousands of years since it had broken off from the Starheart of our universe, become too independent. Or perhaps the ancient Starheart of our universe had become too old and decrepit to keep the connection to its other self. It could also be because Alan's willpower was just too strong to be influenced any further by outside forces. Malvolio sure didn't know. In any case, one of Lord Malvolio's goals was already reached -- his own freedom -- so he probably sought to cause the death of the Guardians of the Universe next. He wasn't quite as forthcoming about his ultimate plans."
"Well, I hope he doesn't mind waiting," said the Flash, "because there's no way we're letting him or any of the others go free."
"Agreed," said Green Lantern. "But Malvolio's power does present me with a problem. He can't be imprisoned by conventional means. My only option is to contact Priest, the ex-Green Lantern of space sector 1634, and get his help in imprisoning Malvolio in that starless void once again."
"You don't think the Guardians will ask you to kill Malvolio, do you?" asked Ralph.
"They can always ask," replied Green Lantern grimly. "But heroes don't kill. Period."
"You're a good man, Hal," said Ralph, patting him on the back.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:33:43 GMT
Chapter 10: Emancipation
by Doc Quantum
Late that night in the meeting room of the Secret Sanctuary, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Zatanna were still discussing their options. Since nearly the entire team had been gathered, they decided to elect a small group of members to plan the upcoming battle as swiftly as possible rather than get bogged down by a larger group's discussion.
"What exactly do you propose to do, Batman?" asked Wonder Woman. "Just knock on the doors of Hell itself and demand to have a word with Neron?"
"If that's what it takes, Nubia, then yes," replied Batman. "We've been targeted by a powerful foe, and we have no reason to think he'll stop until we make him stop. And this is our best bet." Batman held up a long black candle in his left hand; he had seized it from the Wrath's unconscious body when he'd captured him. Several more black candles were on the table before them, likewise seized from the other Doom Legionnaires.
"Batman, as I told you before, we don't have any idea what that will do," replied Superman. "We could be walking into an ambush."
"We should always prepare ourselves to walk into an ambush," countered Batman. "And we do have an idea of what it will do -- we just don't know for certain that it will work. Zatanna and I watched the Wrath as he lit one up, and then vanished. As far as I could see, it was simple teleportation, powered by magic instead of technology. I'm willing to take the risk that it will work for us just as well."
"I'm not," replied Superman hotly. "Batman -- Bruce -- you're asking us to go into a situation where the most powerful of us will be at a disadvantage. You know magic has always been a weakness of mine."
"That's why we have Zatanna on our side, Clark," said Batman, glaring at his old friend for making the faux pas of using his real name while in costume. It was a longstanding rule of the JLA to use only their code names in costume, even while in their headquarters, in case hostile ears were listening. At the very least, it was unprofessional. "Not to mention our ace in the hole."
"Don't forget that my father will also be helping us from the mortal realm," replied Zatanna. Ever since her return from the battle at the River Thermodon, she'd been wearing a smile. Her father, Zatara the Magician, had miraculously returned from the dead just as three of the Legion of Doom members had earlier. Despite the others' reservations about the seeming resurrection and whether this was truly John Zatara in the flesh, Zatanna had nothing but enthusiasm. She knew with utter certainty that this was her father; he had sworn to always return to her, and he had kept his word. Sometimes miracles did happen.
"I know you must be overjoyed to have your father back, Zee," said Superman. "I'm still in utter shock that my own parents are alive and well on Rokyn. But I've got to ask you -- after everything that's happened, do you think you're up to the task?"
"Without question," said Zatanna, still smiling.
"Well, that's all I needed to hear," said Hawkwoman. "Let's go have a word with Neron."
Superman sighed audibly. It was clear that he was going to be outvoted if it came to that. "Then let's go round up the troops."
A few minutes later, the Justice League of America had assembled in the Secret Sanctuary's meeting room, a large bowl of flame before them in the center of the table. All of them knew what they had to do, and they took it very seriously. With resignation and a slight feeling of dread, the Justice Leaguers each grabbed a black candle and prepared to light them with the flame at the stroke of midnight.
As the flame lit up the wick of each candle, the Justice Leaguer holding that candle vanished, one by one, until there was no one else left in the room.
A moment later, the sound of hellish laughter echoed faintly throughout the original headquarters of the JLA.
***
Lady Falcon was screaming with rage in her cell at Mount Olympus Correctional Facility, commonly known as Superman's Island. Since her capture, she had been restrained by conventional means until she was finally placed in an ordinary cell. Unlike some of her teammates, she didn't need to be kept unconscious or subdued by special means. She also had no criminal record prior to her role in assisting the kidnapping of two Metropolis citizens and was, in her true identity of Cherilyn Stark, known to be an upstanding citizen herself.
But she was no longer Cherilyn Stark, was she? That identity had been stripped from her, leaving nothing behind but the gaudily costumed Lady Falcon. But who was Lady Falcon? Was she merely the paramour of an overblown D-list super-villain called the Falcon? Had she been created merely to be the plaything for Benton Beakman?
She couldn't believe what she had done with him -- what he had made her do. Even worse, she had done it willingly at the time. And when her Cherilyn Stark persona had been split off from her new villainous Lady Falcon persona, she had actually felt happy that she no longer had to feel deep disgust at pleasuring that lecherous man. She even thought she might love him.
The realization had finally struck her once she had been incarcerated and kept away from him for a few hours. She had been brainwashed, not only to be Lady Falcon, but to willingly submit to his every whim. She had been raped, not only physically, but mentally as well.
And if she ever got out of here again, the first thing she would do was kill the Falcon. All she needed was an ally.
She began to calm down and even smiled as an idea came to her. Well, if Lady Falcon was going to permanently emancipate herself from the Falcon, then who better to help her than a certain Lord Malvolio? She'd caught him staring at her more than once, after all. He may have been a madman with delusions of godhood, but at least he had never been a loser like Benton Beakman.
***
Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame had been imprisoned before, so this was nothing new, even if it did involve being kept in a yellow-painted room filled with yellow narcotic vapor. He was a patient man; this would all be over soon, and he would be on his way. So there was no sense in letting his captors know that he had been playing possum ever since Hal Jordan had struck him down during the battle in Metropolis. It suited his purposes to let his foes think him this weak. But he had a certain mastery of the power ring that few true Green Lanterns had ever obtained, and one of those was complete control over his bodily functions. He could believably simulate unconsciousness and even death for hours, even days, and he could create powerful illusions.
One such illusion was that his power ring had been removed from his hand. And indeed, a ring that was a lifelike replica had been removed for safekeeping by his captors. But his true power ring could not be removed without a surgical procedure. If he could do the same with his power battery, all the better, but that was not yet possible. Still, he let his captors believe that his power had run out in the last few hours since his capture. That might have been true had his power ring, stolen from his father, not been transformed in the Green Flame of the Starheart, so that there was no artificial time limit imposed on it. Instead, his ring retained its power until it was expended through use, like any battery.
Malvolio smiled. Lady Falcon was calling his name from elsewhere in the facility. This was an unexpected turn of events, but one that was not unwelcome. As Cherilyn Stark, she was a fine specimen of a human woman with good breeding, and something about the name Lady Falcon struck a chord with him. She reminded him of his mother, he decided; though he'd never met her, he knew she had been a remarkable woman herself. She would have had to have been one to willingly consort with a reptilian being she had thought was an actual demon, all in order to spite her hated husband, Lord Hawke. And here was Lady Falcon seeking his help to do much the same to her own lover.
He had no interest in dismantling the Legion of Doom, since an organization like this did have its advantages, but he couldn't think of anyone who would protest if he helped Lady Falcon kill the Falcon. Perhaps getting rid of a redundant member would even be welcomed.
Slowly, imperceptibly, he scratched one fingernail made as hard as diamond into the yellow paint beneath his prone form. He'd been at this for a while, but he finally broke through the thick layer of paint. He had to forgive his captors for the shoddy workmanship of his prison; after all, they thought him unconscious and without a power ring, and it had been a rush job.
Between the molecules of dried yellow paint, green plasma flowed. Under Lord Malvolio's control, it traveled through the walls and the floors, keeping free of any sensors, until it reached the wall adjoining two other temporary cells. Malvolio chuckled inwardly, laughing at the reasoning behind placing those two in adjoining cells. Of course, until a few moments from now they would have no idea that there was any real danger in letting two falcons share the same cage.
***
Lady Falcon blinked in surprise. A tiny green flame flickered briefly on the floor next to one wall of her cell, before disappearing. Was this a message? What could this mean? She didn't dare hope to think that her call for help had been answered this soon.
A moment later, there was a click, and the wall slid completely away, opening into another cell. Before her eyes was the sad, huddled-over figure of a winged man who brought out strong, conflicting emotions in her. She had been created to love him, but she had always been her own woman before that moment. She had been made to have those feelings for him, but even as she had felt them, she had also felt disgusted with herself. She had not only been raped, she had been forced to love her rapist as well. She had never been one of those sad, pathetic women on talk shows who put up with abusive relationships. She had never been a doormat. There was no way she could go back to being a slave.
"What are you waiting for?" she whispered to herself. "Do it."
Lady Falcon moved forward, stepping into the adjoining cell. An alarm sounded in the distance; she would have to move quickly if this was going to work.
She walked up to the man whose lust had prompted him to make a deal with the Devil to have her.
Benton Beakman turned his head, finally noticing that there was someone else in the cell with him, as if he hadn't heard the click and whir of the wall moving. This was the worst time in the world to have a buildup of wax in his ears. Lady Falcon almost felt sorry for him as he looked up at her with adoring eyes and opened his mouth to speak -- almost.
She put one finger to her lips and shushed him before he could speak. As far as she knew, it could have been the mere sound of his voice that transformed her thoughts and made her will subject to his control; it certainly wasn't his appearance or anything else. And from the doe-eyed looks he was giving her now, he didn't seem to realize exactly how he was able to control her, either. Neron had never told him.
Lady Falcon smiled lovingly at the Falcon as she reached her arms around him from behind for an embrace.
Benton Beakman began to silently weep. These were tears of joy, she realized after a moment of shock; the repulsive man thought that she was truly in love with him, that they were having a real moment together after being unduly separated. He really was a pathetic man in the end. How could Neron have thought him worthy to be a founding member of his Legion of Doom?
Lady Falcon began hugging him a bit tighter, then moved her arms slowly up to his neck. She had only seconds now; the guards would be here soon, if they weren't already trying to break their way in. Hopefully her secret ally had taken care of that problem as well.
Benton Beakman's eyes widened as he realized he couldn't breathe. He opened his mouth to tell her she was hugging him too hard, but before he could say a word, he began to choke as she suddenly pulled back against his throat, forcing him backward, the back of his head pressed against her. He thrashed his legs and beat his wings as he tried but failed to release her death-grip around his neck.
It didn't make sense. She loved him now. She had told him so every day since Neron had presented her as his gift. How could she do this to him? He had let her into every area of his life, and this was how she repaid him? Benton Beakman felt nothing but confusion and betrayal as the edges of his vision began to go black. Finally, after several long moments of replaying the events that led up to this in his mind, he passed out.
Lady Falcon kept her death-grip around Benton Beakman's neck for much longer than necessary to ensure that she'd done her job. It wasn't until the guards burst in and forcefully pried her away from Benton Beakman's dead body that she realized she'd been weeping as she committed her first murder -- with tears of joy. It had been so much easier than she'd expected it would be; Neron had done his job well when he had made her a villain.
"Now you have a reason," she blurted out as the male and female guards pressed her to the ground and placed her hands in cuff-links.
"What was that? What'd she say?" one of the younger guards said.
Lady Falcon took a deep breath as soon as she was lifted up, and she replied smugly, "Now you have a reason to lock me up at Superman's Island. I just murdered someone before your eyes. You should be happy. I did you a favor. Easiest trial in history."
And as the guards took her away in handcuffs to a more secure cell, Lady Falcon felt no remorse, no regret -- nothing but satisfaction in a job well done. She chuckled to herself as she realized that, for the first time, she had just proven herself worthy of membership in the Legion of Doom.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:35:09 GMT
Chapter 11: Temptationsby Doc Quantum Superman found himself floating in midair, surrounded on all sides by complete darkness. Was this Neron's realm? None of the Justice Leaguers really had any idea what to expect when they had each lit those black candles to transport themselves into the underworld. But he merely found himself in a black, silent void not unlike the empty dimension that had existed between parallel universes when travel between them was still possible. Reaching out with his super-senses, Superman attempted to look for something, anything, in this dark void. But a scan with his telescopic vision and super-hearing revealed nothing. There wasn't even any light to see his own skin, which would also be invisible to him if not for his super-vision. Deciding that a change of location was in order, Superman flew off at super-speed in one direction at random. But although he flew at near-light-speed for several minutes, he couldn't tell if he was making any progress at all. Without anything else around, there was nothing to judge his relative speed. It was as if he hadn't moved at all. Just as he was about to try something else, a voice interrupted him. "Well, well, well... we meet again, Superman." The voice was immediately familiar. Superman had met this man before, when he had given him an offer to restore his parents Jor-El and Lara to full health. Superman had accepted the offer, but the blond man who called himself Neron had rejected it, explaining that a noble sacrifice would invalidate the entire contract. (*) [(*) Editor's note: See Superman: The Unkindest Cut, Chapter 6: A Noble Sacrifice.]"Show yourself, Neron!" shouted Superman. A moment later Neron obliged, and he was indeed the same blond figure he'd met on the distant planet Bodace, throne-world of the Scrubb Empire in another galaxy. Only now Neron was wearing a regal-looking green and white outfit more befitting his role as a villain supreme. "You made your first mistake when you thought you could target the Justice League and get away with it," said Superman, rushing forward to grab the villain. However, despite using his super-speed, he was never able to get any closer to Neron. "Tut-tut, Kryptonian," said the devilish figure who was known in Kryptonian myth as Shadu. "You don't think I would let you get me that easily, do you? Anyway, I hoped we could take care of a little business first." "You caught me in a moment of weakness, Neron," said Superman. "But my parents were saved without your help. I don't want to hear anything else from you." "Don't reject my offer so quickly, Superman. After all, you still haven't heard what I can do for you. For, you see, I know your heart's greatest wish, and I can grant it to you." "No, you can't," said Superman firmly. "You really can't." "Kal?" Superman's voice caught in his throat as he turned around at the soft female voice. There before him, lit with the same unearthly light that Neron had used to reveal himself, was his cousin Kara Zor-El, alias Supergirl. But she had been dead for nearly three years, having sacrificed her life to save him from the Anti-Monitor. (*) [(*) Editor's note: See "Beyond the Silent Night," Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (October, 1985).]"Kara?!" cried Superman. "How is this possible? Is this real, or -- or just another of your tricks, Neron?" "Oh, she is real," said Neron. "She is most assuredly real. Go on, Superman. Go to her." Superman tentatively moved forward. This time, he was able to reach his goal. Holding out his hand, he watched as Supergirl placed her hand in his and began to weep at seeing her cousin again. "Kara! It's really you!" Superman shouted, pulling Supergirl into an embrace. "I can't believe this! I thought I would never see you again!" "What a touching reunion," said Neron. "But I'm afraid it must be brief." At the snap of his finger, Kara's solid body quickly faded into nothingness before she could say another word. " Nooo-ooo-ooo!" cried Superman. "I had so much to tell you! You have a daughter, Kara-- a daughter named Jasma!" But the only answer Superman received was complete silence. "Bring her back!" demanded Superman. "Bring back my cousin immediately." "I would be only too happy to do so, Superman," said Neron with a grin. "You already know I have the power to bring people back from the dead. You've already met your old foe Super-Menace, after all, and the Batman must have assured you that the man he fought was really the Wrath come back from the dead. Reuniting you with the ghost of Supergirl is one thing -- to bring her back into the realm of the living is another. Don't worry -- I can give you what you wish, Superman. But only for a price. You wouldn't want little Jasma to go through life without ever knowing her mother, would you?" *** The man known as Super-Menace languished in his holding cell at the maximum-security, floating prison known as Superman's Island. His hands and feet had been bound to the ground using a chain made of Supermanium itself, the hardest substance known to exist. But that was just a precaution, because he wouldn't have been able to escape, anyway. The green kryptonite radiation made sure of that. There was just enough of it to keep him weakened without killing him through radiation poisoning. It was ironic. Super-Menace had wanted to be a real, flesh and blood man, rather than a mere energy-duplicate of Superman, but his wish had come true at the worst time possible. He had thought himself to have none of Superman's weaknesses, so when he had used kryptonite against the Man of Steel, the Menace of Steel was startled to find that the same weapon worked equally well against him. Clyde Derek was done. Neron could go back to Hell, as far as he was concerned. All this business about being part of his Unholy Trinity was nothing but a pack of lies. And the Legion of Doom had been an utter joke. If he ever got out of this prison again, all he wanted to do was be alone. Super-Menace closed his eyes and tried to rest, but he found it difficult. He'd been feeling so lethargic after his initial exposure to kryptonite, but now he found himself brimming with energy. And that was very strange. Opening his eyes, he looked over to see that the tiny kryptonite fragment was still glowing green a few feet from him. It should have been keeping him weak as it had been for several hours previously. But now he felt his strength coming back to him. Had Neron changed the composition of his body yet again? But no matter what he did, Clyde couldn't change his body back into energy once more. He was flesh and blood, for good or ill. But had he been given an immunity to kryptonite? As he began to slowly pull against his bonds, he heard a voice whisper in his ear. "Don't move, Super-Menace. Don't even reply to my voice. Just nod your head to show me that you can hear what I'm saying."Clyde nodded his head slightly as he recognized the voice of Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame. "I've removed the kryptonite and replaced it with a power ring-created simulation. To the sensors, it emits the same amount of radiation as green kryptonite, but the radiation wavelength has been changed to that of the blue spectrum, which I understand is harmful only to Bizarro-Supermen."Clyde nodded once more. "Neron has abandoned us, Super-Menace," continued Lord Malvolio's voice. "It's evident now that he never really intended for us to be an equal match for the Justice League. I don't know what his true purpose is, and at this point I don't really care. But I think the surviving members of the Legion of Doom need to remain together, at least until I've managed to get us out of here. I have a plan, but it requires everyone to break free at the same time."*** Batman found himself in a dimly lit cave not unlike the one beneath Wayne Manor that he had transformed into his own Bat-Cave many years earlier. Looking around, he could see none of the other Justice Leaguers. He could only see shadows on the cave wall that were evidently coming from a light source far above. He recognized the scene immediately from classic philosophy. " Plato's cave, Neron?" said Batman. "Is this allusion to junior-grade philosophy supposed to impress me?" "I was hoping you'd catch on quickly, Batman," said Neron, stepping out of the shadows to make himself known. "I'm so glad we could finally meet face to face." Batman moved quickly, but the explosive batarang he'd hurled at Neron was stopped in midair by a mere hand gesture. "I just came here to talk, Batman," replied Neron. "There's no need to be rude." "What do you want with us? Your Legion of Doom was never meant to be a serious threat to the Justice League, was it? So tell me, Neron, what was your true goal all along?" "I'm a businessman," said Neron. "You should be able to appreciate that, Bruce. Ah, but I don't mean to offend. I know how annoying you find it when personal names are used while in costume. I am merely here to offer you your heart's desire. You fought the Wrath in close hand-to-hand combat, so you already know that I've brought a dead man back to life. What I did for him, I can do for someone that you've lost." "If you're about to offer me the lives of my parents in exchange for my soul, you can forget it. I came to peace with their deaths long ago. They are my inspiration for continuing my work." "Far be it from me to do anything to discourage you from continuing your work as the Batman," replied Neron smugly. "Believe me, I'm a fan. But I wasn't referring to the esteemed Dr. and Mrs. Wayne. No, I was talking about Kathy." Neron began walking down steps that appeared along the cave wall. "Kathy Kane -- such a shame how she died. Killed by a brainwashed hero, and for what? It was a senseless killing in the end. She was one of the great loves of your life, was she not? Bruce Wayne and Kathy Kane certainly made a mark on the social scene all those years ago, but not nearly as much as Batman and Batwoman. Why, I'd venture to say that, if it hadn't been for the fact that you'd already taken on a youthful partner, the team of Batman and Batwoman would have certainly been a sight to see. But Dick always was a jealous boy wonder, wasn't he?" "I don't make deals with the devil," replied Batman. "Don't be so hasty, Batman," said Neron. "I'm in the process of making similar offers to your fellow Justice Leaguers, and they've each proven to be much more open-minded than you. Just think about it for a moment. Think about how that young woman, still in her prime, was stolen from us before she was able to really affect a return to crime-fighting, not to mention the fact that she's never been able to have a family of her own. I would have thought you'd like for Kathy to finally have that happy ending she deserves. And all I ask in return is--" "My soul?" "Nothing so trite. Only a favor." *** The Wrath wasn't surprised when he was contacted by one of the Legionnaires of Doom from within his cell. But he hadn't been able to decide whether it was the Marshal or Lord Malvolio who would be the first to initiate a prison break. The Martian had disappointed him in the end. He was pleased, however, to find that the wielder of the Green Flame had stepped up his game. "Kasta and the Falcon are dead," Lord Malvolio replied to the Wrath's unspoken question. "Neron has betrayed us. Lady Falcon should have been completely loyal to Beakman, but Neron was deceptive in his dealings with him, as he was with us all. Only time will tell what other hidden clauses there are in our contracts with him. In any event, the Legion of Doom must work together to escape this place before it's too late to do so. The rest of the team are kept in cells throughout the prison. But they didn't have enough time to customize each cell for us. If we're going to break out, we'll have to do it soon."The Wrath nodded his assent, and Lord Malvolio began to explain his plans in greater detail, even as he concentrated on freeing and contacting the other members of the Legion of Doom imprisoned at Superman's Island. *** "The world only sees you as a second-rate Wonder Woman, does it not?" Nubia refused to answer. Her usual tactics of attacking first and asking questions later had been completely ineffective against an apparition. She knew that Neron was trying to goad her into anger, and he was succeeding. "It's such a shame, too. After all, you and Diana were twins, formed from two different shades of clay. So why did Diana become the greatest heroine the world has ever known, while you, her equal in every way, remain in her shadow?" Nubia wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out without lashing out at her enemy once more, even though she knew that would be playing right into his hands. If only J'onn had been there; he would know how to keep her calm and help her collect her thoughts. "What if I told you, beautiful Nubia, that you could be greater than Diana ever was?" Despite herself, Nubia couldn't help but to listen as Neron made his offer. *** The Dark Commander had failed once more. She had fought a good fight given what little she had to work with, but the odds were stacked against her. Neron had offered her a chance to live so that one day she could die in battle, but she had never really considered what she would do from now until then, beyond getting revenge on her foe. And now Lord Malvolio was communicating with her and telling her of a plan to break out of prison. But she could hear the disdain in his voice as he spoke to her. Like many men, he held women in little regard, and she could tell that he had contacted her only as a courtesy. She didn't care; the god Mars had been much the same way with her, especially at first, and that had only helped harden her against such men. The Dark Commander knew she could only rely on herself if she was to be free once more.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jun 12, 2017 5:36:18 GMT
Chapter 12: Rude Homecomingby Doc Quantum The lost Justice Leaguers and their allies, who had been known as the Outworlders in a world devastated by nuclear war thirty-five years ago, found themselves in a new place. The young hero called Steel, wearing a patriotically inspired red, white, and blue costume, slowly sat up and rubbed his head as he looked around. Seeing Vixen, he sighed with some measure of relief. "Whew! What happened?" he muttered. "Did it work? Are we finally home?" Vixen, wearing a tan costume that looked like animal skin, slowly opened her eyes as she came to. "Hank? Where are we?" "Don't know," said Steel, alias Hank Heywood III. "The last thing I remember is jumping through that vortex that Tabitha and Fonzie made." Standing up, Steel helped Vixen to her feet, and the two looked around. They were in a rocky landscape in the midst of a heavy fog that enveloped everything around them, making it impossible to see farther than a few feet in each direction. "Wherever we are, it sure smells nice," said Vixen, sniffing the air. "Not at all like the post-nuclear world we just came from. I can sense wildlife all around us. I think we might just have made it home." "Let's hope you're right, and we're not the only ones who did," said Steel cautiously. "C'mon, let's go find the others." Walking a few feet over what seemed to be a huge boulder, they realized that they were nearing the edge of a cliff, so they continued along the edge as they looked for their friends. Soon, they came across the prone form of Professor Martin Stein, who was unconscious and shivering from the cold close to the edge of the cliff. "Professor!" said Vixen, kneeling down and shaking him. "Professor Stein, are you all right?" The middle-aged scientist shifted slightly as he opened his eyes and frowned. Picking the glasses off of his nose, he put one finger through the frames. "Huh. My lenses must've fallen out. I'll have to get Ronnie to replace them." "I'm glad you're OK, Professor," said Steel. "Where is Ronnie, anyway?" "I... don't know," replied Stein. "All I recall is falling through that vortex and landing here." He looked around and, seeing the edge of the cliff nearby, began to look worried. "You don't suppose Ronnie--?" "Oh, no..." Vixen muttered as she completed the thought. "I'm sure he's fine, Professor," Steel insisted. "We haven't come all this way just to end up falling off a cliff." Vixen was already at the edge, looking down. The mist was beginning to clear just enough for her to see that there was some kind of ledge farther down. "Ronnie!" she cried as she saw a dark figure lying on the ledge. "Ronnie, is that you?" As if in answer to her question, a nimbus of energy surrounded the figure, as well as Martin Stein next to her. A moment later, the red-and-yellow-costumed, flame-haired figure of Firestorm the nuclear man was hovering before her. "I really could've done without that fall," said the young hero, rubbing the back of his neck. "My shoulders are killing me. Say, where's Reddy and the 'Cyclone Kids'?" "We haven't found them yet," said Steel. "I hope little Artie and Laurel made it out OK." "We're still looking for Jim, Fonzie, and Tabitha, too," said Vixen, referring to Jim Rook the Nightmaster, Danny Fonzarelli the Ringslinger, and the good witch Tabitha Stephens. As if in answer to Firestorm's question, a gust of wind began to form, turning into a gale-force wind that started sweeping the mists away from them. "Reddy?" said Firestorm, squinting to look at the figure in the distance who seemed to be directing the winds. *** Jim Rook awoke atop a tall castle, completely alone under the starry night sky. Below, a range of impossibly tall-peaked mountains spread out as far as the eye could see. And then he saw something that made him realize exactly where he was. A moonship soared through the starry sky, looking like the silhouette of an old sailing ship as it passed in front of the huge moon above, its light propelling it forward and keeping it aloft. Jim laughed to himself. He was back, and he felt younger than he had in years. This unreal land suddenly felt more real to him than his entire existence on Earth ever had been. He was finally home. Had his old life as a rock 'n' roller back on Earth all been a dream? It certainly seemed that only this place was real, this darkling land of myth and dream called Myrra. Gone was his guilt, his deal with the devil, and his betrayal of his friends. Gone, too, were those friends, and he wondered if he would ever see them again. He hoped they were all right. Jim Rook was gone as well, he realized, and he was not displeased by the thought. As he stood at the edge of the castle-top in his night blue bodysuit, his red cape billowing in the wind, the Sword of Night at his side, he knew that, now and forevermore, he was the Nightmaster. And, at least for him, a new quest was just beginning. *** Danny Fonzarelli held Tabitha Stephens' hand as they flew over the devastated landscape of the post-nuclear world that they had made their home, the Ringslinger's power ring glowing in his other hand as he willed them aloft. The Justice Leaguers who had become their friends over the last several weeks had now been gone for three days. All of the Outworlders had jumped through the vortex at the same time, but for some reason, passage had been denied to Tabitha and the Ringslinger. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?" asked Tabitha as they passed over the Rocky Mountains toward the vast irradiated plains before them. "I have a feeling they're gonna be OK without us," replied the Ringslinger with a wink. Tabitha smiled and looked away, grasping his hand a bit more tightly as they passed over what had once been Oklahoma City. The two kept on flying over the land once called America, spotting isolated communities containing small pockets of survivors. Among them were bands of mutants who had long ago lost their humanity, preying on others to survive. But there were also others who had begun rebuilding their lives and their communities. They finally ended up in New York City, landing on the Statue of Liberty's torch. Before them was the ruins of what had once been the greatest city in the world. Even here, where the bombs had destroyed so much, people had begun to rebuild. "This world needs us, Tabitha," Danny said suddenly. She looked at the man she had grown to love and said with a nod of her head, "I was just thinking the same thing." Reaching inside his leather jacket, the Ringslinger pulled out a small flower and placed it in Tabitha's hair. "Where in the world did you find that?" she asked. "I flew out to Milwaukee last night, to see my father's old neighborhood -- or this world's version of it, anyway," replied Danny Fonzarelli. "Over where the old Cunningham place would've been, there was an empty field surrounded by ruins. These little flowers were blooming all over the place. They reminded me of you." "Hope," Tabitha said. "They remind me of hope." "So you won't miss it?" asked Danny. "You won't miss our old world? Your mom and dad?" "Sure I will," she said. "But I have a feeling making a trip back home won't be such a problem now, not with that ring of yours, and that other witch out of the way. Besides, my life there wasn't all that special. Here, I'm not just Tabitha Stephens, twenty-something production assistant at The Paul Thurston Show -- which was on the verge of cancellation, anyway -- but one of the Outworlders. People look to us for hope, and we can offer them a real chance to rebuild this world. Denver, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York -- all these places are isolated from each other now, having been cut off for years, never knowing that there are others just like them wanting to survive. We could bring the people of America back together, give this land a real fighting chance." "Miss Stephens, I like the way you think," said the Ringslinger, reaching out his hand. Tabitha took it, and the two flew westward toward the setting sun. *** The Red Tornado flew toward his fellow Justice Leaguers determinedly. "Reddy! Man, am I ever glad to see you!" said Firestorm. "For a second I thought you might be someone else entirely!" "Have you seen the children?" asked Red Tornado as his winds blew away the last vestiges of fog, concern in his android voice. "No! We thought they were with you!" cried Steel. "Then I am sorry to report that they are lost," said Red Tornado. "Since I awoke, I have searched a radius of ten miles from where we landed out of the vortex, and I have not been able to find any traces of Arthur Curry Junior or Dinah Laurel Lance." "Oh, no," said Vixen. "Let us not fear the worst," continued Red Tornado. "Jim Rook, Daniel Fonzarelli, and Tabitha Stephens are likewise missing, and I have reason to believe that they reached different destinations than we, since that vortex was meant to bring each of us home. Perhaps Arthur Junior has returned to Atlantis, and Dinah Laurel is merely back on Earth-Two." "Well, where the heck are we, anyway?" said Firestorm. "Don't you recognize the landscape?" said Steel. "This isn't a natural formation." "What do you mean, Hank?" asked Vixen. "He means that you are standing atop Mount Rushmore," replied Red Tornado. "We are indeed finally home." But the question about the lost children would continue to haunt the lost Leaguers until they could find conclusive proof of their whereabouts. *** "I love children. I always have. So innocent, so honest in their intentions. And so easily corruptible. 'Give me a child of seven, and I will give you the man,' they say. But of course, by the time they've become men and women, they're so entrenched in their ways, aren't they? So difficult to tempt." Neron stood over a bed where two small children slept, a blond boy around five years of age, and a dark-haired girl about six years old. Placing one hand each on their heads, he continued speaking aloud. "Still, when it comes to one's own flesh and blood, will not even the most valiant heroes perform the vilest acts imaginable in order to save... their children?" Continued in JLA/Legion of Doom: Doomsday
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