Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:00:19 GMT
Global Guardians: The Eternal Mystery
An Underworld Unleashed crossover
1
Brasilia, Brazil
Beatriz Da Costa stood up and slowly pushed her chair away from her desk. She nodded in satisfaction as she glanced down at the orderly surface of her large desk. She was happy to be back in her old position as C.E.O. of the Brazilian branch of Wayne Enterprises where she was well-respected as one of the most capable young businesswomen of her generation.
She adjusted the collar of her designer suit and smiled as she gazed out the large office window to glimpse the brilliant reflecting pool in front of the Itamaraut Palace. She enjoyed being in the heart of the city where landmarks like the Palace were within view of the business and embassy districts.
“It has been a long and busy day but as the old saying goes, a sleeping fox catches no meat! I am glad to be back home. I feel like myself again for the first time in far too long!” she thought.
She turned away from the view and smiled winningly at her reflection in the small mirror that rested on one of her shelves.
She was a beautiful woman with luxurious black hair and dark eyes. For a moment she looked into the mirror as if she expected to see someone else entirely.
“I am acting like a little girl but then again after that strange adventure last week I have some reason to question what I see in such mirrors!”
She referred to the fact that in her costumed role as the Brazilian heroine Green Fury, she had experienced a dangerous and life –altering mystical adventure upon first returning to the home she had been away from during her time as a member of the Conglomerate!
*See upcoming story- Green Fury-Mirror Mirror!
Beatriz frowned as the image in the mirror actually did change until it depicted a weird but familiar visage! A regal if oddly somber visage gazed back at her. The black man’s eyes were intelligent and weary and he carried himself like the king he truly was. He was known to Beatrix from past adventures as the mysterious ancient monarch of the lost African kingdom of Kor who now called himself Dr. Mist!
“There is a dangerous menace at large in the world once more. Sinister forces are at play and threaten all we hold dear. I appear before you to ask for your help. You are needed to gather other champions and to embark upon a quest to locate and protect certain sources of magical power lest they fall into the clutches of those who would cast this world into darkness merely to empower themselves!” he said in a stentorian tone of voice.
“Of course, I will help you! I returned here in part to protect my countrymen!” she said.
She pressed one hand to her head as the image faded and more specific images raced across her mind.
“Espiritu Pampa! I sense he wants me to journey to the legendary Sacred Valley itself!” she whispered.
This type of magical communication was a common tactic of the magician’s. Dr. Mist was powerful but he was burdened with certain personal concerns about the possibility that use of his magic powers would inevitably lead to abuse of said abilities. Thus, he merely made use of a vast global network of agents who obeyed his orders when and if he made them known via methods like telepathy or magical visions.
Mystical encounters were not new to the young executive. Years before Beatriz had been granted magical powers that enabled her to transform her appearance and generate mystical fire that burned hot or cold depending upon her mental command. She gained these powers from a wise Shaman who encouraged her to use them for the good of all mankind. She adopted the costume role of the emerald haired Green Fury and had used the gifts to fight crime in her native Brazil. Upon the Shaman’s death, she had again vowed to honor the Shaman’s wishes once more by becoming the heroine he imagined she could become!
She concentrated and her designer suit and heels became a green and gold costume as her black hair and eyes became equally green. She opened the window and generated a fiery plasma that lifted her skyward and carried her over the city.
Her eyes flashed as she made a casual use of her “dazzle” power to conceal herself from any possible onlookers below.
“Creating the illusion that I am not here will secure my identity. I do not wish to allow others except allies like Dr. Mist to know my secret identity.”
She had only regained her original illusion casting power during the “Mirror” adventure and she was pleased to have the additional ability at her disposal. She was also a capable fighter since Batman himself had given her lessons in self-defense.
As she made her way across the sky she spotted a gleaming sky craft of advanced design.
“We certainly had nothing so grand when I was in the Conglomerate!” she thought.
An electronically distorted voice echoed from the ship!
“Green Fury! You are a welcome sight! Please join us! We are crusaders on a common quest!”
She flew side the strange ship as a side panel slide open.
Once inside she recognized several of the colorful costumed figures who resided within.
A tall man in a scaly costume and hood of orange and blue smiled at her and gestured for her to come closer.
“Green Fury, it has been too long! I suppose our last meeting was during the curious case of the reanimated Aztecs!” he said.
“Bushmaster! You are correct! I assume Dr. Mist summoned you all as well!” she said slowly as she listened to the scientific genius from Venezuela.
Bushmaster (Bernal Rojas) was a wealthy man who balanced the demands of his business career with a passion for social justice and a love of reptiles. He had used his scientific acumen to create the cybernetic suit that allowed him to mimic any number of reptilian attributes while dressed as the heroic champion of the beleaguered and corrupt streets of Venezuela.
Before he could speak, haughty beauty in a brief gold and purple costume interrupted and said, “You do not need another ally. You have been blessed with the Princess of the Golden Sun herself! I, Princess Tlaca, will enable you to defeat the threat Dr. Mist mentioned. Surely, those of you here at hand will merely be required to witness and worship my divine beauty!” she said.
A suave figure in a green and gold costume with a flared bolero jacket and a bandana that covered the upper half of his face bowed low and reached for her hand.
“Your beauty truly surpasses its own legend! I am charmed to have a senorita of such accomplishments to adorn my mission! I am Argentina’s humble defender the Gaucho!”
Green Fury frowned as she said, “You are not the Gaucho. At least, you certainly aren’t the one I call my friend! He trained me in various combat tactics so I know him well!”
He shrugged and frowned expressively as he said, “I fear our mutual ally the original Gaucho was not able to undertake this quest but while I am not his equal and in truth have much to do to wash away my past failings, I have his blessing and I would be honored to have your esteem!”
The new Gaucho frowned as he realized once again that filling in for a legendary national hero would not be easy. He also carried a deep regret for past actions which his suave and flamboyant mannerism could not fully conceal. He had once been a master assassin for the criminal organization known as the Cartel; however, a swift defeat at the hands of the original Wonder Woman had left him in prison with plenty of time to ponder the error of his ways. He had been given a new direction when the original Gaucho visited him in his cell and began what would prove to be a rewarding friendship.
“You have used my name in a way that brings shame to me. While in our native Argentina, the name Gaucho is associated with heroism and sacrifice, you have made it the name of a murderer outside our home. I want to know what drives a man of your obvious abilities to waste such skill as a common butcher!”
With those heartfelt words the original Gaucho had initiated what would turn out to be a genuine friendship between the two men and under his guidance, the hero would help the killer walk a path of reformation!
Bushmaster said, “Fury, this Gaucho is new to me as well but he has begun well as our old friend’s successor. The papers have been full of his exploits. As for Princess Tlaca, she is the proud heir to the ancient glory of the Aztec culture. Her powers are remarkable …as is her ego!” he added in a whispered tone of voice.
Princess Tlaca pouted silently as Green Fury said, “Who is flying the plane?”
The electronic voice that had first welcomed her aboard echoed again from the front of the strange craft as Green Fury noticed a wall panel slide to one side to reveal a man in green and red armor.
“I am Iman. I do my best to protect Mexico. This craft is my design and I am honored to carry heroes and heroines like you to the Sacred Valley of ancient Vilcabamba!”
Iman (Dr. Diego Irigoyen) was world famous as one of the greatest scientific prodigies of his generation. He was a brilliant scientist and the second astronaut from come from Mexico. His amazing armored costume was merely one of his weapons against the kind of senseless crime that had cost the young man his own mother after a kidnapper had murdered her.
He said, “We all received the same magical message although I am not sure what secrets still remain in the so-called Lost City of the Incas! After all, Dr. Deyermenjian and his Explorer’s Club allies have documented the findings quite thoroughly.”
Princess Tlaca looked up sullenly and said, “My people have long enjoyed seclusion from the taint of the modern world as your kind would describe it! If we may still benefit from such isolation, who is to say that other presumed lost cultures may not do the exact same?”
Bushmaster said, “The Princess comes from a city deep in the jungles that has been lost to time in some ways in that it still cherishes many customs associated with the ancient Aztecs!”
Iman said, “We are now directly above the ruins of what may well have once been Vilcabamba the final known refuge of the Incas! Although time and the necessary excavation process conducted by men like Dr. Deyermenjian have altered it, I would say it still retains its original construction to a remarkable degree!”
The Gaucho said, “You are correct! In fact, it is apparently transforming before our eyes! It’s as if we were travelling back through time itself to the era when the Incas thrived!”
As they landed near the ruins, the dust of history seemed to wash away and where faded ruins rested moments before now emerged a large city with temples, water ways, bridges, and raised terraces!
Green Fury gasped as she emerged from the plane.
“Magic is certainly at work here!” she said.
Iman said, “While the rational, thinking man I pride myself on being would disagree, I have seen too many supernatural occurrences to argue!”
Princess Tlaca smiled. She actually liked these heroes and she enjoyed receiving adulation from the common people. She had once been branded a criminal because of her harsh insistence on restoration of the ancient ways but time served with a government sponsored Task Force had altered her views. She was still arrogant and quick tempered but she was becoming more of a heroine than she had ever been in the past.
“Iman, you will gain true awareness if you will merely strive to see with eyes of faith!” she said.
Bushmaster said, “I agree but what we are all seeing is not magic nor is it an effect from time travel! My enhanced senses allow me to see through what is nothing more than a powerful illusion!”
He gasped as a bolt of blazing energy struck him from what appeared to be empty space.
Iman mentally adjusted his own sensors and scowled as he detected the heat signatures of five invisible figures!
“We are not alone and as he said, this city is still one of ruins not of magical restoration! Someone seeks to trick us with an illusion that the old city stands anew!”
As Bushmaster regained his footing, he thought, “Thank goodness, my costume’s exo-skeleton allows me to resist electricity!”
Iman said, “Computer, identify our assailants- facial recognition and Interpol records access!”
He nodded slowly as the five villains suddenly appeared as their concealment vanished,
“They know we are here. Drop your illusion!” said a sultry Indian woman in a brief white and gold costume and a horned turban.
The surroundings suddenly returned to normal as ancient ruins and a narrow pool replaced the illusion of a grand kingdom!
The interior of Iman’s armored helmet displayed the following data stream: “Jinx, Mammoth, Shimmer… known as Fearsome Five! Additional figures known as Deuce and Charger.”
“They are the Fearsome Five. Some of them fought the Titans!” he announced.
Jinx smiled cruelly as she said, “And now we shall kill you!”
2
Jinx was an Indian mystic who could control various elemental forces. She had grown in both confidence and power under the tutelage of a criminal known as the Crimelord. He had been badly injured during a clash with the Brotherhood of Evil and since that time she had apparently assumed the leadership of the Fearsome Five through sheer force of will!
She gestured and the ground shattered in front of the heroes. Gaucho plunged into the gaping pit but he swiftly activated some hidden control in his costume and a metallic steed flew out of Iman’s ship and swooped down in time to halt his fall. He swung into a saddle on the flying craft and smiled coldly as he flew upward toward his enemies. The jet craft was crafted to resemble a fierce stallion and the motif matched the man’s combination of modern technology mixed with the ways of the horsemen of the Argentine pampas!
He used one hand to withdraw a small device that expanded into what appeared to be a traditional bolo. He swung it around expertly and released it so that it sailed toward Jinx!
She sneered contemptuously as the cords wrapped around her slender hips and then cried out in pain as the cords crackled with a sudden painful burst of electrical current!
She swayed backward and with a steely resolve she ripped the cords apart with bolts of blazing eldritch energy!
“Carumba! She is a woman after my own heart in more ways than one!” thought The Gaucho.
Meanwhile, Princess Tlaca had charged through the air toward the villains only to stop by the sinister Shimmer who posed defiantly with both hands on her hips. The redheaded villainess possessed the mutant ability to temporarily transmute matter.
She laughed harshly and gestured at the Princess of the Golden Sun in a dismissive manner that infuriated the other woman.
The air in front of the Princes changed into a metallic barrier but she merely smashed through it and slapped Shimmer across the face and in doing so knocked her several feet away.
“You are not a true alchemist. You know nothing of true power!” declared Princess Tlaca as she stopped and posed herself as if for the benefit of unseen worshippers.
The hulking brute known as Mammoth saw his sister’s plight and charged toward Princess Tlaca. He bellowed, “No one can do that to my sister! No one can hurt Selinda!”
Princess Tlaca laughed and met his charge with a leap of her own. She flew him skyward and dropped him casually into the pit Jinx had created.
“Mindless peon!” she said with a snort of disgust.
Green Fury had stopped to make certain Bushmaster was unharmed and then she turned to confront a weird looking woman who was wrapped from head to toe in a voluminous robe and hood. The woman’s face was partially covered but her eyes gleamed with malice and…power!
Green Fury circled her warily. She said, “We do not need to fight. Surrender and we will try to understand what you are trying to accomplish here!”
The other woman (Deuce) replied in a harsh guttural voice in a language Green Fury could not recognize although her meaning was all too clear thanks to the automatic translation effect Dr. Mist had generated around his allies. He had employed such a trick in the past and it worked wonderfully well in enabling heroes from different countries to understand one another.
“You cannot sway me with soft words. I do not trust you or your kind. All I want from you is your death!” she hissed.
Her eyes flashed and Green Fury gasped for a moment and then fought back with her own dazzle bursts.
The two women fought a silent duel as they locked gazes and neither spoke or moved for several minutes.
Finally, Green Fury’s blazing emerald eyes seemed to flash brighter and Deuce blinked and then faltered before the Brazilian heroine’s greater power.
“You are the one who cast the illusions before that concealed you and made us see the lost city as if it was newly restored! I guess my own illusory power cancelled out your own!” she said.
She spun around and connected with a kick that caught Deuce by surprise and left her stunned at Green Fury’s feet.
Bushmaster had spread his arms and activated a feature of his bio-suit that enabled him to glide through the air and across the pit! He could easily mimic the flight ability of some reptiles.
He closed in on the purple and blue clad Charger and said, “You were lucky the first time you shot me. You won’t be that fortunate again!”
As energy crackled around Charger’s body in a fiery nimbus, Bushmaster activated another feature of his amazing costume and seemed to vanish from view.
“I don’t need to see you to burn you alive! I will roast you! I will flay your skin from the bone!” said Charger.
Bushmaster suddenly dropped his chameleon camouflage and released a thin cable that snaked around the boasting man. He then whipped it back to release him and send him rolling into a nearby pool of water.
When the electrically charged villain struck the water there was a final burst of electrical energy then he groaned in pain.
The Bushmaster calmly fired a small projectile from a small pistol.
The darts struck Charger and the powerful venom caused him pass out.
Bushmaster casually dusted off his costume and said, “Why can’t people be more like snakes? All some people do is talk, talk, talk!””
The Gaucho had displayed amazing agility as his steed carried him back and forth between Jinx’s blazing magical bolts.
He tossed back his head and laughed loudly as he drew close enough to snare her with his lariat.
Before she could cast a spell, he lifted her off the ground and in doing so deprived her of her power. She was helpless when she was not in direct contact with the earth that empowered her!
She struggled in his grasp but he merely pulled her on to his lap and kissed her roughly before tying her up with a few swift twists of his rope.
“That was truly pleasurable!” he cried as he drummed an impromptu beat on her helpless witch’s backside!
Iman had not rushed into the fight. He always preferred to study his environment like the scientist he was.
Thus, as Mammoth finally managed to climb out of the pit, Iman was able to fly down on his boot jets and catch him in a tight grip.
They struggled for a moment and Iman started to lose his hold on the frantic villain.
He allowed the redheaded brute to pound away on his armor for a few moments and then he connected with a punch of his own that floored the surprised Mammoth.
“Fascinating! My armor’s database information did not indicate that he was capable of that level of strength! Either my data is outdated or something or someone has boosted his power levels!” said Iman.
Green Fury and the others joined Iman around the fallen villains.
“Well done! We worked well together!” said Bushmaster.
Green Fury nodded as she gazed around the ruins of the ancient city.
“What brought them here though? What was their goal? Dr. Mist merely said there was an ancient evil astir and his image of this city led us her!” she said.
Iman said, “Perhaps he exaggerated. These five are wanted felons. My armor identified the final duo as Deuce and Charger. They may be new to the team but they do have records of sorts. They battled a Middle Eastern hero known as Sinbad before joining this team!”
Bushmaster said, “This city was said to the final stronghold of the Incan Empire. Legends s many amazing secrets were known to that proud culture. Certainly, we have fought ancient evils before and such a force may be buried here in these ruins!”
Princess Tlaca said, “My people knew much that your world would consider forgotten lore. I agree with you. Something magical may be within those ruins that no scientist or explorer of the modern world can conceive of fully!”
Iman said, “I will secure them all with taser nets while we search the vicinity.”
They searched the ruins carefully but found nothing. However, when they returned to where the Fearsome Five remained bound, they realized that Charger seemed oddly transformed.
“He’s smaller. In fact, I’d say he’s younger than before!” said Bushmaster.
Green Fury said, “You pulled him into that small stream during the fight but I no longer see it!”
Bushmaster nodded and said, “You‘re right! It is as if the waters vanished! I don’t even see a shallow spot.”
The Gaucho said, “Waters of youth! I think the stream was magical and somehow the waters made him younger!”
Iman said, “There was a legend that this sacred valley contained what some would call the Fountain of Youth! That must have been what they were after!”
Green Fury said, “Those waters were never discovered by the scholars who documented these ruins so completely in 1981 and they are gone now as well. It is as if the magical waters phase in and out of this plane of reality at some unknown cue!”
The Gaucho said, “We have beaten our foes. Surely, if the waters are no longer here then we did what Dr. Mist wished for us to do. We appeared here in time to stop them from making use of them at the moment they materialized once more for ever so brief a time!”
Green Fury nodded slowly. “After we take the Fearsome Five to prison, I want to check back in with Dr. Mist. He’s not the kind of man to leave anything unfinished!”
As they prepared to transport the beaten villains to prison, a cold wind swept across the ruins and Green Fury frowned as if she heard some faint sound of a cruel laughter from some unseen source!
Elsewhere, a sinister figure smiled coldly as a misshapen old man looked up in a puzzled manner.
“I know your magic forced the pool to enter this dimension for the first time in centuries. I know that you sent those villains to get the waters but why are you so pleased? Did those pawns not fail you?” he asked in a quivering voice.
The regal woman said, “They were meant to occupy Dr. Mist’s champions and give him the impression that I merely sought the waters of rejuvenation. I never truly wanted the waters since their magical factors would have not helped me. I developed a tolerance to that form of magic long ago. Do not fear, I will get what I truly seek! Of course, my own magic in locating these items will alert Dr. Mist and thus, I will again confound his pawns with pointless battles with my own evil knights!”
“You see, I always win in the end!” she said with a cold and mocking laugh.
3
Okinawa, Japan
The teen Japanese heroine called Gosurori (Amaya Ito) had never been to the Okinawa Prefecture; however, as she and her fellow Japanese champions fell under attack by a group of deadly costumed criminals, she wondered if she’d ever get a chance to leave the area again!
Amaya wore heavy mascara and a black wig with neatly trimmed bangs that covered her own shorter hair. She was dressed in a black dress with a bodice decorated with elaborate braiding. A long sleeved open short jacket of matching fabric accented the dress with its short bubble skirt that stopped around two inches above her knees. She wore black high heeled boots to complete the ensemble that was already becoming famous now that she was known to be the sidekick of the Ace Archer- one of Japan's greatest heroes.
Shashu or The Ace Archer (Lt. Takeo Hiroshi) was a beloved hero and his handsome profile and colorful green and red costume adorned countless Manga posters! He had been Amaya’s late grandfather’s pupil and now he was training the Jissen Women’s University fashion and design student in the Kyudo or archery skills that had made him so celebrated a hero. Of course Amaya’s beloved Ojiisan had already turned the girl into a skilled archer long before she met her hero!
Now the duo moved as one as they rolled acrobatically aside from several projectiles of burning energy that rained down upon the spot where they had been standing. They drew their long bows and effortlessly released specific trick arrows from their quivers.
The arrows struck two of the sizzling projectiles and deflected them before their concussive energy blasts could do any harm.
Their attacker was an athletic figure in a golden costume with padding and a protective helmet. He was known as Fastball and his villainous allies were collectively known as the Cadre!
Gosurori didn’t know who they were but she and Ace Archer responded to the sudden attack in the streets of Okinawa with remarkable poise and speed!
“He relies on throwing those explosive projectiles that resemble baseball!” said Ace Archer as he studied the silent villain.
Fastball said, “Yeah! I forgot you Japanese love American baseball! It will be a real honor for you to die at my hands!”
A gleaming golden woman flew upward and said, “Your ignorance in stereotyping an entire culture based on the preferences of a few is only surpassed by the crudity of your demeanor!” said Hikari (Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi). In her civilian role of Dr. Hoshi, Hikari was one of the most brilliant scientific minds on the planet and while she was widely regarded with respect for her role as Director of the Tsukuba Science Institute, she was still a woman who acknowledged that she had a bit of an anger problem!
“I almost said I do not suffer fools lightly! My light based powers not to mention my earlier use of the name Dr. Light while in America would make that expression humorous to Sora and I have no patience with the girl’s giggles at this time!” she thought.
She concentrated and her glowing body flared even brighter as she drove back the assembled Cadre and gained her allies time to react.
Sora the Sky Girl (Yuki Tonabi) was a pretty young woman with super human strength and the ability to fly. Her look consisted of bright blue hair, a pleated blue mini skirt and matching top and high heeled boots. Her short cape completed the look which had become famous in Manga circles due to the fact that the heroine’s costumed identity had become a popular star of a Manga series created by talented artist Jiro Hoshi. Jiro was the ex-husband of Hikari and in her normal role as a childcare agent or babysitter for the Miyake Educational Group. Yuki worked for the estranged couple and took care of their young children Yasu and Imako. She was a sweet girl with a bubbly personality. Hikari liked her but they were polar opposites. In some ways, Hikari envied the young girl’s nearly oblivious ease in social situations.
“For one who only acquired super powers due to a careless magical wish, she has acquitted herself well in the last few months!” she thought as she noticed Sora swooping down to catch a huge section of pier that a massive brute in black and shiny metal had hurled at them.
Hikari’s mind flashed back to the start of this wild adventure. She had received a mental projection from the mysterious Dr. Mist. He had shown her this specific street in Okinawa and had urged her to assemble her allies and rush to prevent an ancient evil from acquiring some mystical source of power! She had summoned several of Japan’s other costumed champions.
They had arrived only to be set upon by a group of villains before they could discover exactly what made this location so significant.
While Sora was slightly below her and in front of the others, Hikari swiftly noted the locations and condition of her other friends.
Arashi-,a woman in a red helmet that covered her entire head and concealed her features behind one way glass, was a blur as she reclined on her remarkable sky sled and fired laser bursts at the villains. As a fellow scientist, Hikari respected her for her inventive genius and was a bit appalled by the daredevil’s reckless style of combat!
Arashi (Rei Ohashi) wore a costume that resembled skin tight black leather but in fact it possessed the durability of metallic armor. It was merely one of the young woman’s inventions that allowed her to successfully defeat menaces with much greater physical power than her slender frame possessed.
As Arashi piloted her sky sled through the air, she dodged a weird woman whose orange skin, feathered hair, voluminous wings and razor sharp talons made her seem more avian than human!
Arashi maintained her customary cool but she marveled at how fast her attacker could fly!
“She may be able to match my sled when it comes to sheer speed. I better take her down now since I can’t outfly her!” she mused.
A girlish voiced echoed in Arashi’s helmet as her robotic creation Plastic Cinderella identified the villains via access to her own database.
“These criminals are known as the Cadre. Current members include Shrike, Fastball, Nightfall, Shatterfist, Crowbar, Jolt, and Blockhouse.”
Plastic Cinderella resembled a beautiful blonde Japanese woman in a flowing pink ball gown. She spoke and acted in a very Kawaii or girlish manner; however, the android was in fact an incredible creation that combined super human strength and durability with database access and offensive weaponry. Arashi had designed the android but her fanciful appearance and fantasy princess demeanor came from Arashi’s eccentric father’s input. The aging toymaker had turned his daughter’s mechanic woman into a figure out of Anime!
She frowned as Nightfall approached her. Nightfall was a beautiful woman with long black hair, dark goggles, and a purple and black costume with a fishnet pattern on the legs and arms.
As the woman drew closer a cloud of inky darkness enveloped the blonde android.
“I’m putting out your lights Princess! Its midnight and the ball is over!” said the mocking American villainess.
Plastic Cinderella merely adjusted her artificial vision and calmly caught the startled Nightfall by the wrist.
“I am sorry but I see you perfectly well…and I like your fishnets!” she said with a smile.
Nightfall cursed but she could not break free of the smiling woman’s grip.
“I can do a lot more than blind people. I can sap all kinetic energy!” she said.
Plastic Cinderella frowned for a moment and then said, “I do not need to move. I shall stay right here…as will you!”
Nightfall struggled but she was held tight and rendering Plastic Cinderella immobile did nothing to change that!
Arashi flipped off her sky sled and casually landed with both boots on Nightfall’s head.
“It appears as if gravity works just find in your vicinity!” she said.
When Nightfall passed out from the impact, her kinetic energy absorbing aura faded. Plastic Cinderella smiled broadly at Arashi and said, “Allow me to render you similar service!”
She gestured to where the avian Shrike was diving down at them and emitting a sheer shriek that struck them as if it was a solid blow!
Arashi struggled to adjust her helmet’s sensors but she was helpless against the sudden assault that robbed her of the ability to concentrate!
Plastic Cinderella waited for a moment and then at precisely the right instant, she jumped up and caught a surprised Shrike by the ankle. She generated an electronic pulse that stunned the flying fiend and brought her crashing to the ground.
“I do hope shutting off my auditory components did not muss my hair!” thought Plastic Cinderella as she helped Arashi to her feet.
Meanwhile, the hulking Blockhouse had charged at Sora only to grunt in consternation as she dodged him and connected with a series of blows all her own! Blockhouse was a big man with a rather dumb expression and gleaming metallic cyborg enhancements that gave him super strength.
He stared in dismay as the much smaller girl knocked him across the pier.
“How can that little girl hurt me? I don’t get it!” he muttered.
Hkari sent a beam of solid light into the pier and nodded in approval as the brute fell through into the waters below.
“Sora, incapacitate him. Do not hold back. He is more than strong enough to withstand your strength levels!” she said in a crisp tone of voice. Sora shrugged and dived into the waters after the big man.
Hikari was abruptly challenged by the woman called Jolt. Jolt wore a skimpy costume with metallic finish. She was a cyborg like her partner Blockhouse and she carried an energy whip!
“What are you some kind of nudist?” she said as she lashed out at the golden glowing Hikari.
Hikari merely allowed the crackling weapon to pass harmlessly through her light hologram while she materialized slightly to the left and blasted Jolt with a burst of concussive light!
Jolt gasped and tried to strike back but she was no match for the other woman’s sheer power!
As Sora emerged from the water with a prone Blockhouse, the other battles drew to a close.
Ace Archer and Gosurori had done far more than deflect Fastball’s explosive projectiles, they had pinned him to the ground with a well-placed salvo of trick arrows and they had followed that up by smothering most of his body with energy absorbing foam.
“He may not be able to generate those energy spheres without moving his hands but we will err on the side of extreme caution!” explained Ace Archer.
Meanwhile, the final two members of the team of heroes had confronted the black former gang leader known as Crowbar as he raised his namesake weapon and spun it around with ease.
“I can break anything with this baby! Don’t matter to me if you think you’re Batman!” he said.
He spoke to the silent black-clad cowled hero called Kimouri or the Bat Samurai who calmly moved forward while his red and green clad sidekick Tengu agilely dodged the spinning weapon while laughing madly.
Crowbar lashed out at the boy only to find his thrust blocked by Kimouri’s gleaming sword which seemed to appear out of thin air.
“No Kung Fu Theater reject can match my crowbar!” he yelled as he shoved himself at the Bat Samurai only to be effortlessly disarmed and then stunned by a precisely blow to his throat.
“I guess he should go back to the Village People!” quipped Tengu.
His mentor nodded in recognition but said nothing.
Hikari and the others brought the fallen Cadre members together and bound them.
“One of them is missing!” she said.
Meanwhile, Gosurori had spotted a final figure darting through the shadows toward a small book shop.
She raced toward the store after the red clad, masked martial artist called Shatterfist!
“He held back from the fight but I sure don’t think he’s a coward! He must be looking for what we were sent here to guard!” she said.
She entered the old shop and saw Shatterfist standing over a stunned clerk.
“Leave him alone!” she yelled as she drew her long bow and fired at the Korean killer.
Shatterfist spun around and destroyed the arrow with the one sweep of his hand.
“My energy aura can do more than melt your arrow! I will rip your very heart out!” he declared.
Gosurori jumped over the counter and rolled across the floor. She rose up and kicked out at the villain but he was too fast for the girl.
He caught her leg and suspended her upside down in one grasp while his other first began to glow with a red light.
Gosurori felt some impulse pass over her body and she abruptly grabbed a book off a shelf and struck him with it.
He cried out in pain and staggered backward as he dropped her.
“That tome is magical. It is what I came here to locate!” he hissed.
Gosurori held the book to her chest and tried to think of a plan.
“Get out or I will ignite it!” she vowed as he held up an arrow from her quiver.
She was bluffing of course but she had no other idea and she knew she could not hold off the killer for long.
She glanced at the writing on the ancient tome. “Sun Simiao? Wasn’t he the so-called King of Medicine? What is this? Is it some kind of self help guide?”
At that moment, Ace Archer appeared and punched Shatterfist in the face. Before he could strike back, the Archer rammed an arrow into his face. A vapor engulfed his face and the killer collapsed at the green and red clad hero’s feet.
“Are you hurt? I saw the end of the fight. That book seemed to harm him but not you!” he said.
As the other heroes rushed inside the shop and Sora helped the stricken clerk to his feet, Plastic Cinderella said, “The book is known as the Danjing Yaojue. It appears to be a guide to creating something known as the Elixir of Life! That Elixir was described in many Chinese legends as a source of eternal life!”
Bat Samurai said, “The Chinese wizard Xu Fu disappeared while searching for it on behalf of Qin Shi Huong. It is said he merely came to Japan and stayed here. Much later, Sun Simiao, a noted scholar and physician was rumored to have inscribed the formula Xu Fu found in a book or wood block “book.”
Ace Archer said, “And this may be that fabled book! It repelled Shatterfist because of his debased nature! If someone of sinister purposes seeks to use the book he or she will require great power indeed!”
Gosurori frowned as she opened the book.
“It is empty! The pages are blank!” she said.
Plastic Cinderella said, “Perhaps, it is not the missing words or some formula within the pages that gave eternal life. I suggest the book itself merely magically prolongs good health. After all, it seems to have been here many years untouched by all!”
The clerk said, “It is true. My great grandfather opened this store and it has been our family business. Many books like that one have been here for generations!”
Hikari said, “Okinawa is said to be a Blue Zone. A Blue Zone is an area in which many natives seem to enjoy long life or great vitality. Perhaps, this remarkable book or some magic bound within it has given the locals such longevity! ”
Tengu smiled broadly. “I hope Shatterfist benefits from his brief contact with the book. After all, he will have many years in prison ahead of him and he might as well be fit enough to enjoy them!”
Hikari frowned.
“I hope we have protected what Dr. Mist wished us to safeguard. Some of you should remain here in case others seek the book. I will consult with him and return!”
The golden woman flew off at the speed of light as her allies waited and an unseen enemy laughed in delight and thought, “They are so very somber. Of course, they may sense how little they will have to laugh about when they realize that my purpose goes far beyond obtaining such physical objects of power!”
4
Vaslinko, Greece
The Olympian (Aristedes Demetrios) was a beloved national hero to the people of Greece. His reputation was sterling and his numerous adventures were made possible by the fact that in his true identity he was the wealthy heir of a shipping magnate. Aristedes did not need to work and he used the freedom this gave him to spend most of his time in the costumed role of super hero! He knew that his family was said to be of direct descent from the mythological hero Jason (Iason) and he enjoyed the idea that while most people would dismiss the story of Jason as pure myth, Aristedes knew it to be based on truth! In fact, the brawny man wore a cloak and cowl made from a golden ram and it was due to this famous Golden Fleece that he was able to draw upon the remarkable array of super human abilities possessed by the ancient heroes known as the Argonauts. He was a very strong man without the magical fleece since he had excelled as a wrestler during his college days. However, it was not his strength- be it mortal or immortal- that he needed this day as he and his companions searched a small village North West of Corinth.
“Dr. Mist’s vision led us here and I know a thing or two about visions since more than one of the ancient Argonauts had prophetic abilities! Vaslinko was once called Sicyon and as such it was home to a shrine to the goddess Hebe. She was the goddess of Eternal Youth and served as …!” he began.
“Olympian, we know the story. You told us all this on the way here. I fear some of the Argonauts who imparted their powers to the fleece you wear were overly fond of hearing themselves talk!” said a slender woman with black hair. She moved with the easy grace of an athlete and she wore a brief costume of red and gold. She also wore several bands across her back and chest in which various weapons were contained.
“Sophia Constantinas! I offer you my apologies! I do enjoy talking about the source of my power. I am more than a little in awe of the brave men and women whose deeds inspired such myths!” he replied.
Sophia smiled and said, “I am also sorry. I have a bad temper. Even the Amazons, who kindly took me in and trained me after Wonder Woman helped me break free from the life I led as a terrorist in service to Nikos Aegeus, could not teach me to keep my temper! Remember, I would prefer to be called Nike while in costume.”
A tall handsome man with long light brown hair stepped forward and smiled graciously.
“My mother Queen Hippolyta speaks with pride when she talks about your time with her. Don’t be so hard on yourself! You’ve come a long way!” he said.
The Champion (Hippolytus) was a good natured man. He had led a strange life apart from the outside world in a mystical timeless glade known as Arcadia. He had been trained in every form of combat by a centaur called Chiron and it was only after leaving that eternal dimension that he had learned his true heritage. He was the son of the legendary hero Herakles or Hercules and the beautiful Warrior Queen of the Amazons Hippolyta. Magical manipulation on the part of the goddess Hera had made all involved forget about his existence and the circumstances that led up to his conception had been distorted as well. Since the repentant goddess revealed to truth and restored the memories her magic had altered or removed, the young man had become a favorite to his mother and he enjoyed the privilege of being the only male allowed on Paradise Island. He had become friends with his sisters Nubia, Diana, and Donna and he was happy to spend much of his time as a hero to the people of Greece under the well-meaning guidance of the Olympian.
An exotic woman with long golden hair and brilliant golden skin hovered above them. She was alien whose material form housed the spirit of an Amazon. As such she was part warrior and part observer of a strange new world whose ways were foreign to her. She wore a white dress and boots and her huge steed was in fact a gigantic owl made of an alien substance that mimicked life but was in fact artificial in nature. She called herself Minerva and she depended upon her fellow heroes to help her make sense of this planet.
Minerva looked over at the last two members of the modern Argonauts. The Silver Swan was a stunningly beautiful blonde woman in a gleaming feathered costume of white. She had majestic wings and she carried herself through the skies with all the awe-inspiring dignity one would expect from the descendent of Helen of Troy or Helen of Sparta herself! She had once been (Helena Alexandros) an unattractive ballerina with a hatred of the men who rejected her and refused to see her talent because she was ugly. After several encounters with Wonder Woman, time with a government agency designed to help criminals reform, and a magical rebirth at the hands of the goddess Aphrodite herself, she was at peace.
The final heroine also flew through the sky. Harpi ( Angelika Bal) was a grieving widow who both mourned for her late husband archaeologist Adonis Ball and suffered physical and emotional trauma because of the manner in which her body had been transformed by a troubled genius. She wore a purple costume and she gazed at the world through sorrowful eyes. Her delicate hands ended with sharp talons which could slice though metal.
Silver Swam smiled winningly at Harpi and said, “We will find this mystical power source. Do not fear, my friend. Are we not blessed by the Olympians themselves?”
Harpi shook her head and pushed her long black hair away from her face.
“You and the others have been blessed. I fear I have been cursed!” she said softly.
Minerva said, “My eyes can detect energy sources outside the normal range of vision possessed by Earthlings but I see nothing!”
Olympian said, “By drawing upon the super vision of the legendary Lynceus, do detect an item buried below the village. Allow me to excavate it with a judicious use of super strength!”
Champion said, “I will help as well! Just lead the way I don’t have your super vision!”
They reached a specific spot and started to lift enormous mounds of soil with some hastily formed metal scoops they had made through use of super strength manipulation of some metallic fencing.
“We’ll repair the damage afterward!” said Hippolytus.
They uncovered a strangely durable urn and nodded in approval. The item was clearly ancient and its nearly unmarred surface indicated some kind of magical shielding.
Silver Swan said, “It is lovely! That kind of craftsmanship is a lost art!”
“I like to think murder is an art form as well. We will try to perfect our skills in the area when we kill you all!” said a mocking woman clad entirely in a black leotard. Her skin was deathly pale and her black hair was swept back from her rather sharp features.
“Nox! She’s a member of the New Olympians! Remember, they tried to take over the Olympic games a while back?” said Nike.
Nike had made a study of the records of the Greek underworld and she had contacts from her days as a militant Greek nationalist. She was well-aware of any super human Greeks in the criminal underworld!
Nox was swiftly joined by the other members of her team as the odd looking villains charged toward the heroes.
Hippolytus smiled readily. He loved the thrill of adventure. He also loved the wonders of the modern world. He had enjoyed discovering so many different aspects of the world beyond Arcadia that were startlingly new to him from slang to clothing styles to forms of entertainment!
He was confronted by a giant of a man in a brown costume and a skull cap that covered his large head but left his rather stupid facial features uncovered.
“Anateus will crush you, little man!” bellowed the bulky thug.
He grabbed for Hippolytus who nimbly dodged him and connected with an uppercut that had no effect on the brute.
Antaeus laughed a harsh grating laugh and cried out, “Little flea! You have no power to harm me!”
Hippolytus avoided the slower man’s attempt to punch him and he caught his arm and twisted tit back in an expert wrestling move that brought the clumsy villain to his knees… for a few seconds!
Antaeus broke free and shoved Hippolytus aside.
“Is this your best effort?” he grunted.
Hippolytus shrugged and said, “Let’s both hope not!”
Nearby, Nike faced a lithe woman with waist-length brown hair who wore a green and white jumpsuit and brandished a bow!
“I see you too are well-armed but you will need all those weapons and more against Diana the Huntress!” she said as she aimed an arrow at Nike.
Nike smiled and fired her own arrow which deftly shattered the one released by the Huntress!
The Huntress smiled wickedly and said, “You intrigue me!”
Nike hurled a dagger at the other woman and knocked the bow out of her hand. Before she could retrieve it, Nike dived on top of her and they began to struggle furiously.
Above them, Minerva guided her owl downward to engage a scaly dragon-like creature who rose upward on green wings and snarled at her through a mouth of jagged fangs!
She said, “If this beast is native to this world then I have much more to learn about this place!”
The “owl craft” raked at the dragon with its talons and an astonishing thing occurred at the moment the alien craft closed with it, the dragon suddenly replicated and a second head appeared out of its neck and nearly clamped its jaws on the smaller owl craft!
Minerva lurched forward and slipped precariously off her craft. She struggled to swing herself back into position as the dragon emitted a cloud of noxious smoke that enveloped the golden woman!
Harpi had gasped as an inky cloud of pure darkness swept over her and threatened to crush her as the black vapor solidified into a physical peril!
“I can’t see! This must be what poor Adonis suffered!” she thought as she recalled her late husband’s damaged vision!
She fell to her knees and then curled up into a fetal position as the memories and her own grief overwhelmed her!
Silver Swan swooped down toward her stricken friend but she was intercepted by a yellow skinned man in a purple costume.
His pale yellow skin began to ignite as a fiery nimbus surrounded his body.
“I am Vulcanus and you will roast like any captured bird!” he boasted.
The Swan sang her sonic song and the force waves knocked Vulcanus across the open field.
She smiled prettily and said, “I do not have any intention of become any one’s dinner or trophy!”
She danced nimbly aside like the ballerina she had been and avoided Vulcanus as he dived toward her.
She kicked him into the face with one high heeled boot and drew back as the flames covering his body grew stronger with his anger!
“If my costume…what little there is of it… was not magically shielded that kick might have cost me my foot!” she thought.
The Olympian had placed the urn safely to one side as his own opponent drew closer.
“I don’t wish to harm you. Why not surrender now and save us both much discomfort?” he asked as a slender almost delicate looking woman with long blonde hair and greenish hued skin. She swayed slightly as she walked and she smiled as her wide eyes caught the hero’s gaze.
A strange sensation passed over him as he felt more than heard a magical song that the woman sang as she approached him and casually ran one hand along his bare arm.
“A siren! You’re a siren like those who threatened Odysseus himself! No man can resist your cursed musical allure!” he gasped as the world began to grow blurry around him and he felt his will to resist begin to crumble!
“Too late to shield my ears! Got to try something radical!” he thought.
Seconds later a transformed Olympian stood up and faced the Siren. The very macho hero was now a captivating woman!
“She” slapped the Siren to the ground and then resumed her normal masculine form!
He said, “I have never used the power Argonaut Caeneus possessed to switch genders! I can’t say I ever want to do so again! I feel a bit abashed by the whole thing! But it accomplished what I wanted since only men are powerless before the Siren’s song!”
Nearby, the Silver Swan decided to try a new tactic. She mocked Vulcanus and then dodged his angry charge.
His flaming body crashed into the now multi-headed dragon and as the monster caught flame, Minerva generated a blast of energy that sliced through its long throats and left it stunned at her feet. The fallen monster collapsed on Vulcanus and left the now cool villain trapped beneath its massive weight.
Silver Swan said, “It is a hydra. It regenerates or perhaps I should say it replicates a new head with every physical blow it receives. Only fire can stop the process of multiplication. I think the creature will regenerate one head when it revives! I would hate to see even such a monster become extinct. After all it has ties to the ancient myths as do many of us here this day!”
Minerva said, “I had no idea what it was or how to best it. I have much to learn about planet Earth!”
An explosion shook the ground as the cloud of blackness literally evaporated and Nox fell into a faint as Harpi regained her footing and caught her breath.
“I didn’t mean to generate such a potent energy blast but that terrible woman was hurting me!” she cried.
The Silver Swan embraced her and whispered, “You are safe now. You have done well! She will recover!”
Hippolytus had deduced the secret of the man mountain known as Antaeus as well!
He ducked beneath the clumsy man and lifted him off the ground in a wrestling hold that gradually put the struggling villain to sleep!
“As long as he had any contact with the ground, he could not be beaten! My father dealt with one very much like him according to his legend!” he said.
Nike approached them dragging a stunned Huntress by her long hair.
“She fought well but she was nothing the training the Amazons gave me could not handle!” she explained.
The Olympian said, “Well done, indeed! Now, we shall safeguard the Urn of Hebe and I think I will pay a visit to Dr. Mist. He may have more for us to do!”
Nike smiled as he flew off.
“I think he also wanted to leave before any of us could comment about his embracing his feminine side during the battle!”
The heroes laughed good naturedly as the Olympian scowled and thought, “For once I could do without the power of enhanced hearing!”
5
Aksum, Ethiopia
Batwing (David Zavimbe) soared through the skies over Aksum, Ethiopia until he reached an impressive obelisk that loomed majestically over the city.
“We must make an odd sight. I am here wearing the high tech costume my benefactors and I created while above me stands a monument that dates back over 1,000 years!” he thought.
“It is sad that this once proud land now suffers until the harsh rule of the military faction known as the Derg! I have seen so much corruption in my homeland of Zaire even amongst my fellow police officers. I am encouraged only because I feel as if I can make a difference along with the other new heroes who have joined me on this quest!” he thought.
He wore a blue-gray armored costume with artificial glider wings. The blue emblem of the bat on his chest represented his alliance with Batman who was one of his mentors.
“Dr. Mist sent us a vision of this particular obelisk although there are well over 100 of them across the area. I can not imagine what power source he insists exists within such an ancient structure. Science is much more my area of expertise. I shall leave magic to others like Bloodwynd!” he thought.
Bloodwynd was a tall black man in a white costume and mask. A brilliant ruby glistened on his chest. He wore a red and white cape that seemed to swell or increase it volume at times. There was much about the conjure man that defied logic. His very appearance seemed to shimmer and distort in the blazing sunlight from moment to moment.
“What we seek is within that obelisk. You are correct in thinking I am more of a master of such ancient forces! I shall in turn leave science to you and our ally Thunder Fall!” said Bloodwynd in his bizarre emotionless voice.
The experienced hero Impala ( Mbulaze a Zulu of South Africa) raced along with the easy grace of his namesake. He was pleased that Africa now had some additional champions. After all, for years he and men like the heroic Congo Bill and the late Bwana Beast had carried the burden alone.
“I am glad that Congo Bill decided to use his vast wealth to finance the creation of the Kingdom. He loves Africa with all his heart although he was born elsewhere. I wish the demands of his business empire and his desire to help his poor ward Janu recover from his injuries, did not preclude his joining us!” mused the super swift champion.
The angry woman called Granite scowled as she looked up and said, “Could you give a woman a lift? I don’t have wings you know! Surely, the master of the soil can lift one whose very skin is composed of solid rock!” Granite (Maiba Mayo of Zimbabwe) was so much like her super powered name in terms of her demeanor. She was hard, cold, angry and prone to violence. She wore no costume while in her solid rock form nor did she need one since her rocky skin made her immune to heat or cold.
Earth Strike shook his head but whether the movement was of amusement or frustration remained to be seen. Dede Yeboah was a farmer and a lover of the land. The fact that he could control the ground itself as demonstrated by the manner in which he rode effortlessly through the air on a chuck of rock whose motion was controlled by his will power was entirely appropriate. He wore a blue and black costume with a cowl and as he crouched on the rocky platform he glanced back at a beautiful woman in a brief costume who flew via her own power. A fiery plasma covered Dawnfire’s body as the Somali fashion designer concentrated and allowed the updraft to lift her higher.
Dawnfire (Ayanna Barre) seemed to only have eyes for the erudite teacher Thunder Fall who crackled with electrical energy and used it to levitate in her wake. Thunder Fall ( Eric Bello) was deadly serious. He was also extremely reticent. Perhaps, he merely concealed some insecurity beneath a cold demeanor but Batwing had only known the other members of the Kingdom for a short while. Of course, all of them except for the mysterious Bloodwynd and the older Impala owed their lives to him since he had saved them all a while back and in doing so impressed Batman and the team’s financial backer Congo Bill.
Bloodwynd said, “There is strong magic within that structure. It almost threatens to overwhelm me.”
Dawnfire said, “Violets? I smell violets!”
Thunder Fall said, “The writings of Herodotus mentioned that a violet oil that granted eternal youth was once found here. Is that what we seek?”
A roar seemed to shake the very ground as nine weird figures emerged from within the obelisk and dropped to the ground with feline grace.
They were covered in tawny fur and several had voluminous manes. They moved with the natural agility of born predators because they apparently were more animal than human!
“Lion men? Are they more ani-men?” thought Batwing as he saw the humanoid lions and he recalled the case that led to his assumption of a heroic identity in the first place!
“Batman and Congo Bill and I dealt with mutated ani-men when we first met. Have those creatures somehow evolved and returned to threaten us?”
Bloodwynd said, “They are not mutated humans like the ani-men. They are rather a species of mutated lions with the intelligence of humans.”
“We are the Power Pride of Numa City and you are not what you seem to be either! I sense your kind and ours share a common origin!” said a snarling lion-man.
He gestured and Bloodwind’s body began to alter until the somber man in red and white stood revealed as a gorilla in a cloak with a ruby amulet.
“That thing turned Bloodwynd into an ape!” gasped Dawnfire.
The altered Bloodwynd scowled and said, “No. He merely forced me to drop an illusion of humanity. This is in truth my real form!”
He gestured and the red ruby he wore flashed for a moment. Arcane energies swelled outward to smash into the mocking lion man. He struggled but fell still after a few moments of conflict.
“Man or gorilla, Bloodwynd is one scary guy!” thought Dawnfire.
She swooped down and hurled a barrage of fire balls at the lion men but her heat was blocked as one of them generated a wall of solid ice!
She crashed into the wall and groaned as it collapsed on her lithe form.
When the lion man drew closer, she erupted out of the frozen shell and ignited him!
He screamed in pain and then collapsed as she reabsorbed the heat.
“There! No lasting damage! You are lucky that I am a lady and not a brutal savage! My ability to draw in heat will leave you without any true burns!” she said as she posed like the fashion model she had once been!
Thunder Fall was exchanging bolts of power with one of the lion men. As the white and black costumed teacher generated lightning blasts, the lion man released his own bolts of power!
“My bio- energy is strong! You can not hope to beat me!” growled the lion.
Thunder Fall began to feel the heat from the weird energy. He thought, “Bio blasts? Is that fool using his own life force as a weapon? Surely, he does appear smaller than he did when first he emerged from the tower!”
He concentrated and allowed his own nimbus of electrical power to diminish slightly.
“I may be risking my own life but I think I have discovered his weakness!” he thought.
The lion man closed in on the hero and indeed began to glow ever brighter as he anticipated victory.
“I will melt you!” he bellowed.
Suddenly, Thunder Fall withdrew all his energy into his own body and punched the much smaller beast in the face!
The lion man collapsed and Thunder Fall sighed with relief.
“I assumed the creation of something called bio energy would weaken the user. Luckily, I tricked him into expending much of his own vitality so by internalizing my own energies I was able to have a physical impact upon him!” he thought.
Meanwhile, Batwing had managed to dodge two of the lion men and as he passed by he fired two projectiles from his gauntlets.
The lions cried out as his tasers stunned them both.
“I assumed even those creatures would have vulnerable nervous systems!” he said softly.
Impala had raced around two others and his speed enabled him to draw the oxygen away from their space until they passed out.
“I owe the Flash a debt for teaching me that stunt!” he said.
Granite was smashing two others with a savagery that matched the fury of any wild animal.
She ignored the raking claws and merely beat them until they were bloodied and stunned.
“Come on! I can face you all! I do not care if you are lion men, ape men, or snake men! I will make you pay!” she shrieked.
Dawnfire hurried closer to the enraged woman and urged her to calm down. Clearly, beneath her rocky skin, Granite hid some deep emotional wounds.
Earth Strike was fighting against a lion man who could change his size. He was now a giant and the smaller hero merely stood his ground and concentrated. The earth erupted beneath the titanic lion man and as he fell, Earth Strike assailed him with an avalanche of dirt and rock!
Bloodwynd had resumed his humanoid illusion and he cradled a small vial of purple liquid.
“This oil does grant eternal youth. We have preserved it. I have been exposed as well. I come from a place called Gorilla City. My people were normal gorillas until exposure to energies from space evolved us. The same kind of exposure occurred to mutate these lion men. They must have their own secret city on the continent. I was banished from my home because I studied mystical arts. I felt I might be accepted among your kind and do some good with my magic if you all thought of me as a human. “
Batwing said, “Your true nature is not important. You are one of us. You are our friend! That is enough!”
The others nodded in agreement.
Bloodwynd smiled slightly and he said, “I thank you. I will prove worthy of this kindness. You honor me.”
Batwing said, “Perhaps, we should take that vial of oil to Dr. Mist. He may know how best to secure it or why those creatures sought it.”
Thunder Fall said, “And we need to secure the lion men as well. They may be merely the first wave of an army of such beasts should their hidden sanctuary be dedicated to warfare!”
6
Kollam, India
Two pretty girls raced through the noisy and crowded streets of Kollam, India as merchants, fishermen, and startled tourists rushed to get out of their way!
Maya (Chandi Gupta) was fifteen years old. She glanced around with a frightened expression on her lovely face as she ran for her life! She thought of her parents back in Northern India and she wished that she could see them again. This trip to the so-called “Prince of the Aegean Sea” had not turned out well at all!
“I defeated the Raksha Raj and people cheered for me. The television people even interrupted coverage of the cricket match to interview me! I didn’t think I would become a target after gaining such happy fame!” she thought.
Maya wore a colorful outfit consisting of an orange halter top with purple straps that opened into a flared design across her shoulders, a brief purple skirt over matching shorts and high heeled orange boots. A golden tiara rested in her thick black hair which was decorated with golden ribbons. Heavy golden earrings completed her ensemble.
She was a mutant although her power to generate hot or cold energy bolts via a bow made of the same bio-energy only developed within the last few months. Her parents had been concerned and had feared that the strange abilities marked her as one who was unclean. When the confused girl used her powers to save her community from a super villain, she became the toast of the area! She was just starting to enjoy her celebrity status when a strange vision from a mystic named Dr. Mist had compelled her to take a train from home to the community of Kollam in search of a fountain described in the ancient writings of Sir. John Mandeville!
She stumbled but her companion caught her and swept up skyward!
“Kiran! Stop! What are you doing?” she gasped as the girl in gleaming gold flew upward away from their costumed pursuers!
“Call me Solstice when I am in costume! I wish to preserve my secret identity. The glowing aura of my light form will keep my features concealed but I don’t wish my real name to be overheard and we know one of them is a master of sound itself!” said the older girl.
Solstice (Kiran Singh) was sixteen years old. As the daughter of husband and wife archaeologists, she had traveled the world and spoke several languages. She had accepted her own mutant power of light generation with confidence and joy. She was as sunny in disposition as her gleaming form suggested!
She wore a golden shirt trimmed with decorative beading that left her stomach bare. Her golden pants stopped just below her knees and she wore matching slippers. A shawl of nearly transparent gauze wrapped across her upper body and swept out with each arm like a small cape.
“Don’t worry. I can fly although we didn’t get a chance to talk about it before those creeps attacked us!” she said.
“Why do you think they are chasing us? Are they also after the waters of youth our visions showed hidden near Mt. Polombe?” asked Maya as she concentrated and drew back one hand through empty air. As she moved her arm, energy flared up in the shape of her bow and she fired two energy bolt arrows down at the three costumed men who were chasing them!
The icy arrows struck the first man. He was bent almost to the ground and his gold and black costume was emblazoned with the word gandha. He staggered from the impact of the freezing shafts and almost collapsed.
“He is like some hound! Surely, our flight will stop him from smelling our scent!” cried Maya.
Solstice said, “We have beaten two of them! Do not give up!”
She recalled how their flight had started near a quiet valley at the base of Mt. Polombe! The two girls had met while each was searching for the fountain Dr. Mist’s vision had implanted in their minds. A brief discussion had led them to bond almost immediately since both of them felt isolated from other teens because of their powers and their roles as super heroines! Their pleasure in forming such a fast friendship was broken when five costumed men charged at them.
All five of them wore protective helmets and insulated jumpsuits. The first man was Gandha the Tracker. He led the others and seemed to sniff at the air as if he was a hound!
The next man wore pink and black and his suit had the word Drsti on the front. He raised his arms and his body elongated weirdly as he became darker and darker until he resembled a living shadow!
“I will teach these children to fear the dark!” he said with a harsh laugh.
The shadow man swelled up and loomed above the girls like a wave of inky blackness! He started to envelope them when Solstice tossed back her long straight hair and began to glow brightly.
“I carry my own light with me! The only thing scary about you is your breath!” she joked.
Maya stepped back as the lithe girl gleamed with a golden radiance that caused the darkness to recede and the villains to not only resume human form but to curl up in a ball at her feet!
Solstice smiled winningly as she said, “See? He is nothing to fear!”
She yelped as a high pitched wail filled the area and the third man approached. He wore blue and black and his name appeared to be Dhvani!
“What a disrespectful brat! My sound waves will shatter her ear drums!” he cried.
Solstice did cry out in pain as she clutched her ears. Maya darted forward and fired an arrow of pure energy that struck the cocky criminal and ignited his padded suit.
He cursed and stopped his barrage of sound long enough to smother the fires. By that time, Maya had connected with a second bolt that stunned him.
The remaining duo, along with the Tracker, raced forward.
“Svada, take the Golden One! I will handle the archer!” said the man in red and black. His suit had the word Cnuna on its front.
Svada, shook his head. He wore black and green but unlike the others he was bigger than any normal man. He was easily eight feet tall. He said, “No! You may have the bright light. I want to feed on the Archer!”
Maya shivered and stepped back. “Keep away!” she shouted as the giant charged at her and his jaws seemed to unhinge and open impossibly wide!
She turned and ran as Solstice followed!
Now, in the present the two girls landed in an alley and Solstice shrugged her shoulders.
“I am sorry. I had stop. My flying power doesn’t boost my strength. I couldn’t carry you any further!” she said.
Maya whispered, “That awful man wanted to feed on me! I think he literally means to eat me!”
Solstice held her close and they waited in silence.
Suddenly, the Tracker Gandha appeared and Solstice raised both hands with her palms outward.
She struck him directly in the face with a burst of solid light! He flipped backward and did not rise again!
The shadow Drsti stepped off the opposite wall and reached for them only to be confronted by Dhvani!
“Stop! Become human! I must explain something to you!” he said as he stepped between the cornered girls and his partner.
Drsti shrank down to normal and resumed his human form. “What is it, Taj?”
Dhvani smiled and then spun around to deliver a stunning kick that knocked the shocked Drsti cold!
As Maya and Solstice watched in disbelief, Dhvani shuddered and his appearance shifted until “he” became an alluring woman dressed in a black leotard with a blue patterned sash draped across her chest and her hips over a skimpy blue skirt. She was very pretty and had long white hair. Gleaming silver bracelets decorated her wrists and ankles.
“I am Aruna. Do not be frightened. I disabled the real Dhvani before following his friends to this alley. Hurry, we must go before the others arrive!” she said in a silky tone of voice.
“I have heard of you. You are said to be one of the Dalit or Untouchables! Stay back!” said Maya.
Solstice frowned as she said, “Are you crazy? She saved our lives! She is a true heroine!
Maya lowered her gaze and said, “I am sorry! You are right. I don’t know what I was thinking!”
“Now, we can double back and get the waters we were sent to secure!” Solstice said.
Before she could turn, the massive form of Svada loomed over her and slapped her across the face. Her light dimmed and she rolled across the pavement.
“Solstice!” cried Maya as she brute grabbed her and pulled her closer. She could not generate the energy bow with her hands held together so tightly.
“I do think I will enjoy you little one!” said Svada as he opened his mouth and began to pull the girl toward it.
Aruna lashed out at him with her martial arts expertise but he was simply too big to be stopped!
“Choke on this, you monster!” cried a newcomer as two women ran forward and one seemed to transform into a purple feminine shaped energy being that flew directly down Svada’s gaping mouth!
He bellowed in pain as the energy being passed through him and left him writhing in pain on the ground.
The energy being flew back toward an Indian woman in a red and black mini dress and heels.
She landed and transformed into a shapely blonde in a green jumpsuit. As she swept her long blonde hair away from her face, the girls could see her skin was completely covered in bandages.
“I am Negative Woman. This is Celsius!” said the blonde.
As Maya helped Solstice up, Aruna stepped back into the shadows and seemed to disappeared.
Celsius gestured to where a prone Cnuna lay beyond the alley.
“He has a destructive touch but he could not match my powers. Are you children unhurt?” she asked.
The girls nodded as they both realized Aruna had left them to resume her own solitary and mysterious life.
Maya said, “Who are you? I mean you saved us but are you also here on Dr. Mist’s quest?”
Celsius said, “I have never heard of a Dr. Mist. We came here expressly to find you. I was able to locate you with a device designed to track my own bi-energy signature. You see, I read about you and I realized we have much in common. Maya, you and I share the same powers although you manifest yours via the bow and arrow construct and I do not! I think we may have other things in common!”
Negative Woman said, “We will help you with this quest if you explain more about and then we will have the talk Celsius wished to have.”
Solstice smiled encouragingly and Maya nodded. Maya glanced back sadly at where Aruna had last been seen.
“I was a jerk. I was so wrong. I just reacted out of the same blind fear and panic that many people felt when they learned I was a mutant. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am that I snapped at her because of her Dalit status!” she thought.
Nearby, Aruna had assumed the shape of an old woman and she watched the women depart after the police arrived to secure the criminals.
“I could not tell them that in my role as a special effects creator and stuntperson, I learned that five of my colleagues planned to use their own technology for criminal pursuits. I followed them to where they attacked the girls!” she thought as she disappeared into the crowded streets.
7
In a subterranean cavern a weird woman in golden armor and a facemask of matching metal walked imperiously through the darkening tunnels as a wizened old man hurried to follow in her wake.
“Queen Morgaine! I do not like this place! It is too far from the surface! Please, take us away from here!” he whined.
The tall woman whirled about and struck him with her metal gauntlet as she stopped and loomed over him.
“You worm! I do not care what you want! You are fortunate that I allow you to live as my slave considering your past failures! I merely require a witness to my ascension or I would burn your flesh from your very bones for my own amusement!” she shouted.
As the old man cowered at her feet, the evil witch continued her diatribe.
“I used my magic to locate legendary sources of eternal youth or vitality around the world. I knew doing so would alert Dr. Mist to my actions. I occupied his pawns with dire knights of my choosing. All the while, I never really sought the physical waters or relics in and of themselves since I long ago developed a tolerance to such magicks! By locating them on the material planes, I also was able to find their locations on the higher or magical or astral plane. In doing so, I determined they together form a map to their own source! All of the items that prolong youth gained their original power from one source of primal magic. The source lies before us in these stygian tunnels!” she said.
She walked onward as the battered old man hurried to regain his footing and follow his dread mistress.
She tossed back her head and laughed in a shrill manner as they came to a blindingly bright sphere that gleamed with all the colors of a rainbow. Energy of various hues cascaded over and through the transparent sphere as they approached.
“This is it! The Place of Life! Above us are ruins of a lost city but here is what I have sought for eons! With this magic I will remain youth and beautiful forever!” she whispered.
“Stop! Do not touch that sacred energy!” said a tall black man in a green and red costume. His sad but steely gaze was illuminated by the magical energies of the sphere and he moved with all the regal nobility of a monarch.
“Dr. Mist! I can not believe my eyes! You are legendary for your restraint. You never act personally. You rely on Paladins like my hatred brother Arthur Pendragon!” hissed Moragine.
Dr. Mist said, “I had no choice. My allies stopped your pawns but I knew only I could safely face you. Only I could do what must be done to stop your evil plan!”
Morgaine Le Fey said, “You realize that all one must do to gain the power I seek is to immerse one’s self within yon magical sphere? You also know exactly what prevents you from coming any closer to me!”
Dr. Mist nodded and said, “No mortal knows the price of such power more than I do!”
She posed dramatically and laughed cruelly.
“You see, he knows that while touching the sphere will give me eternal youth, it would have a much more damaging effect on one who has already bathed in its glow. A second exposure to the Place of Life would rob him of most of his power not to mention his legendary immortality!” she sneered.
Dr. Mist shook his head sadly and stepped directly into the sphere before the evil queen could react!
She was so consumed with a lust for power that she could never imagine anyone would willingly sacrifice so much!
She shrieked as the Place of Life seemed to surge with magical energy before fading away completely.
Dr. Mist shuddered as he emerged from the dimming light. The sphere was gone. Its magics had been utterly depleted.
Morgaine Le Fey cursed and raced forward. She kicked out at the hero as he struggled to shake off the Place of Life’s terrible magic.
“I will kill you! You have foolish tossed away your immortality! You have thrown away your legendary power! Well, enjoy your newfound mortality as I slay you!” she shouted.
She gestured and black energy burst from her hands and struck Dr. Mist. He shuddered and fell backward. He hit the dirt and remained still.
He was not used to pain! He had forgotten what physical pain felt like! Even as he groaned softly he almost relished the sensation!
“You remain proud as a king! I admit you will die well for a former immortal!” she cackled as she stood over the stricken hero.
“Stop! You will not harm him again!”
The words came from a man clad in black and blue. A hat shadowed his facial features and a dark cloak shrouded his dark suit.
“The Phantom Stranger! Of course, the loss of the Place of Life would summon one such as you!” said Morgaine.
Her wizened slave said, “Mistress! Flee! None may safely duel with one as righteous as he!”
The Phantom Stranger stepped protectively in front of Dr. Mist as voiced echoed from above.
“Other heroes have arrived. They sought Dr. Mist and find his home above to be empty, their own powers led some here!” said the Phantom Stranger.
Morgaine hesitated and then cursed once more.
“You win this day! In my current state I have no more energy left to face you and the mortal Peers above! “
She vanished in fire along with the frightened slave.
As the Phantom Stranger helped Dr. Mist up, he said, “You sacrificed your immortality to stop her. You faced and overcame your fears. Those fears marked you as human. Defeating them shows you to be worthy of the name hero!”
“As for Morgaine, we will find her and stop her mad plans!” he added casually.
Dr. Mist smiled slowly. Perhaps for the first time in eons he felt a bit of happiness.
“So I will now age and eventually die. I have retained some power though. It may mean it is time for me to change my tactics. I think I will leave this sorrowful place and forge a new path. I will work more directly with the good men and women who together guard the globe! They certainly have served me well!” he said.
The two men walked out of the shadows and into the bright African sunlight above where they would have much to discuss with the newly arrived Global Guardians. It was the end of an era but the start of what promised to be a bright new day!
The End
An Underworld Unleashed crossover
1
Brasilia, Brazil
Beatriz Da Costa stood up and slowly pushed her chair away from her desk. She nodded in satisfaction as she glanced down at the orderly surface of her large desk. She was happy to be back in her old position as C.E.O. of the Brazilian branch of Wayne Enterprises where she was well-respected as one of the most capable young businesswomen of her generation.
She adjusted the collar of her designer suit and smiled as she gazed out the large office window to glimpse the brilliant reflecting pool in front of the Itamaraut Palace. She enjoyed being in the heart of the city where landmarks like the Palace were within view of the business and embassy districts.
“It has been a long and busy day but as the old saying goes, a sleeping fox catches no meat! I am glad to be back home. I feel like myself again for the first time in far too long!” she thought.
She turned away from the view and smiled winningly at her reflection in the small mirror that rested on one of her shelves.
She was a beautiful woman with luxurious black hair and dark eyes. For a moment she looked into the mirror as if she expected to see someone else entirely.
“I am acting like a little girl but then again after that strange adventure last week I have some reason to question what I see in such mirrors!”
She referred to the fact that in her costumed role as the Brazilian heroine Green Fury, she had experienced a dangerous and life –altering mystical adventure upon first returning to the home she had been away from during her time as a member of the Conglomerate!
*See upcoming story- Green Fury-Mirror Mirror!
Beatriz frowned as the image in the mirror actually did change until it depicted a weird but familiar visage! A regal if oddly somber visage gazed back at her. The black man’s eyes were intelligent and weary and he carried himself like the king he truly was. He was known to Beatrix from past adventures as the mysterious ancient monarch of the lost African kingdom of Kor who now called himself Dr. Mist!
“There is a dangerous menace at large in the world once more. Sinister forces are at play and threaten all we hold dear. I appear before you to ask for your help. You are needed to gather other champions and to embark upon a quest to locate and protect certain sources of magical power lest they fall into the clutches of those who would cast this world into darkness merely to empower themselves!” he said in a stentorian tone of voice.
“Of course, I will help you! I returned here in part to protect my countrymen!” she said.
She pressed one hand to her head as the image faded and more specific images raced across her mind.
“Espiritu Pampa! I sense he wants me to journey to the legendary Sacred Valley itself!” she whispered.
This type of magical communication was a common tactic of the magician’s. Dr. Mist was powerful but he was burdened with certain personal concerns about the possibility that use of his magic powers would inevitably lead to abuse of said abilities. Thus, he merely made use of a vast global network of agents who obeyed his orders when and if he made them known via methods like telepathy or magical visions.
Mystical encounters were not new to the young executive. Years before Beatriz had been granted magical powers that enabled her to transform her appearance and generate mystical fire that burned hot or cold depending upon her mental command. She gained these powers from a wise Shaman who encouraged her to use them for the good of all mankind. She adopted the costume role of the emerald haired Green Fury and had used the gifts to fight crime in her native Brazil. Upon the Shaman’s death, she had again vowed to honor the Shaman’s wishes once more by becoming the heroine he imagined she could become!
She concentrated and her designer suit and heels became a green and gold costume as her black hair and eyes became equally green. She opened the window and generated a fiery plasma that lifted her skyward and carried her over the city.
Her eyes flashed as she made a casual use of her “dazzle” power to conceal herself from any possible onlookers below.
“Creating the illusion that I am not here will secure my identity. I do not wish to allow others except allies like Dr. Mist to know my secret identity.”
She had only regained her original illusion casting power during the “Mirror” adventure and she was pleased to have the additional ability at her disposal. She was also a capable fighter since Batman himself had given her lessons in self-defense.
As she made her way across the sky she spotted a gleaming sky craft of advanced design.
“We certainly had nothing so grand when I was in the Conglomerate!” she thought.
An electronically distorted voice echoed from the ship!
“Green Fury! You are a welcome sight! Please join us! We are crusaders on a common quest!”
She flew side the strange ship as a side panel slide open.
Once inside she recognized several of the colorful costumed figures who resided within.
A tall man in a scaly costume and hood of orange and blue smiled at her and gestured for her to come closer.
“Green Fury, it has been too long! I suppose our last meeting was during the curious case of the reanimated Aztecs!” he said.
“Bushmaster! You are correct! I assume Dr. Mist summoned you all as well!” she said slowly as she listened to the scientific genius from Venezuela.
Bushmaster (Bernal Rojas) was a wealthy man who balanced the demands of his business career with a passion for social justice and a love of reptiles. He had used his scientific acumen to create the cybernetic suit that allowed him to mimic any number of reptilian attributes while dressed as the heroic champion of the beleaguered and corrupt streets of Venezuela.
Before he could speak, haughty beauty in a brief gold and purple costume interrupted and said, “You do not need another ally. You have been blessed with the Princess of the Golden Sun herself! I, Princess Tlaca, will enable you to defeat the threat Dr. Mist mentioned. Surely, those of you here at hand will merely be required to witness and worship my divine beauty!” she said.
A suave figure in a green and gold costume with a flared bolero jacket and a bandana that covered the upper half of his face bowed low and reached for her hand.
“Your beauty truly surpasses its own legend! I am charmed to have a senorita of such accomplishments to adorn my mission! I am Argentina’s humble defender the Gaucho!”
Green Fury frowned as she said, “You are not the Gaucho. At least, you certainly aren’t the one I call my friend! He trained me in various combat tactics so I know him well!”
He shrugged and frowned expressively as he said, “I fear our mutual ally the original Gaucho was not able to undertake this quest but while I am not his equal and in truth have much to do to wash away my past failings, I have his blessing and I would be honored to have your esteem!”
The new Gaucho frowned as he realized once again that filling in for a legendary national hero would not be easy. He also carried a deep regret for past actions which his suave and flamboyant mannerism could not fully conceal. He had once been a master assassin for the criminal organization known as the Cartel; however, a swift defeat at the hands of the original Wonder Woman had left him in prison with plenty of time to ponder the error of his ways. He had been given a new direction when the original Gaucho visited him in his cell and began what would prove to be a rewarding friendship.
“You have used my name in a way that brings shame to me. While in our native Argentina, the name Gaucho is associated with heroism and sacrifice, you have made it the name of a murderer outside our home. I want to know what drives a man of your obvious abilities to waste such skill as a common butcher!”
With those heartfelt words the original Gaucho had initiated what would turn out to be a genuine friendship between the two men and under his guidance, the hero would help the killer walk a path of reformation!
Bushmaster said, “Fury, this Gaucho is new to me as well but he has begun well as our old friend’s successor. The papers have been full of his exploits. As for Princess Tlaca, she is the proud heir to the ancient glory of the Aztec culture. Her powers are remarkable …as is her ego!” he added in a whispered tone of voice.
Princess Tlaca pouted silently as Green Fury said, “Who is flying the plane?”
The electronic voice that had first welcomed her aboard echoed again from the front of the strange craft as Green Fury noticed a wall panel slide to one side to reveal a man in green and red armor.
“I am Iman. I do my best to protect Mexico. This craft is my design and I am honored to carry heroes and heroines like you to the Sacred Valley of ancient Vilcabamba!”
Iman (Dr. Diego Irigoyen) was world famous as one of the greatest scientific prodigies of his generation. He was a brilliant scientist and the second astronaut from come from Mexico. His amazing armored costume was merely one of his weapons against the kind of senseless crime that had cost the young man his own mother after a kidnapper had murdered her.
He said, “We all received the same magical message although I am not sure what secrets still remain in the so-called Lost City of the Incas! After all, Dr. Deyermenjian and his Explorer’s Club allies have documented the findings quite thoroughly.”
Princess Tlaca looked up sullenly and said, “My people have long enjoyed seclusion from the taint of the modern world as your kind would describe it! If we may still benefit from such isolation, who is to say that other presumed lost cultures may not do the exact same?”
Bushmaster said, “The Princess comes from a city deep in the jungles that has been lost to time in some ways in that it still cherishes many customs associated with the ancient Aztecs!”
Iman said, “We are now directly above the ruins of what may well have once been Vilcabamba the final known refuge of the Incas! Although time and the necessary excavation process conducted by men like Dr. Deyermenjian have altered it, I would say it still retains its original construction to a remarkable degree!”
The Gaucho said, “You are correct! In fact, it is apparently transforming before our eyes! It’s as if we were travelling back through time itself to the era when the Incas thrived!”
As they landed near the ruins, the dust of history seemed to wash away and where faded ruins rested moments before now emerged a large city with temples, water ways, bridges, and raised terraces!
Green Fury gasped as she emerged from the plane.
“Magic is certainly at work here!” she said.
Iman said, “While the rational, thinking man I pride myself on being would disagree, I have seen too many supernatural occurrences to argue!”
Princess Tlaca smiled. She actually liked these heroes and she enjoyed receiving adulation from the common people. She had once been branded a criminal because of her harsh insistence on restoration of the ancient ways but time served with a government sponsored Task Force had altered her views. She was still arrogant and quick tempered but she was becoming more of a heroine than she had ever been in the past.
“Iman, you will gain true awareness if you will merely strive to see with eyes of faith!” she said.
Bushmaster said, “I agree but what we are all seeing is not magic nor is it an effect from time travel! My enhanced senses allow me to see through what is nothing more than a powerful illusion!”
He gasped as a bolt of blazing energy struck him from what appeared to be empty space.
Iman mentally adjusted his own sensors and scowled as he detected the heat signatures of five invisible figures!
“We are not alone and as he said, this city is still one of ruins not of magical restoration! Someone seeks to trick us with an illusion that the old city stands anew!”
As Bushmaster regained his footing, he thought, “Thank goodness, my costume’s exo-skeleton allows me to resist electricity!”
Iman said, “Computer, identify our assailants- facial recognition and Interpol records access!”
He nodded slowly as the five villains suddenly appeared as their concealment vanished,
“They know we are here. Drop your illusion!” said a sultry Indian woman in a brief white and gold costume and a horned turban.
The surroundings suddenly returned to normal as ancient ruins and a narrow pool replaced the illusion of a grand kingdom!
The interior of Iman’s armored helmet displayed the following data stream: “Jinx, Mammoth, Shimmer… known as Fearsome Five! Additional figures known as Deuce and Charger.”
“They are the Fearsome Five. Some of them fought the Titans!” he announced.
Jinx smiled cruelly as she said, “And now we shall kill you!”
2
Jinx was an Indian mystic who could control various elemental forces. She had grown in both confidence and power under the tutelage of a criminal known as the Crimelord. He had been badly injured during a clash with the Brotherhood of Evil and since that time she had apparently assumed the leadership of the Fearsome Five through sheer force of will!
She gestured and the ground shattered in front of the heroes. Gaucho plunged into the gaping pit but he swiftly activated some hidden control in his costume and a metallic steed flew out of Iman’s ship and swooped down in time to halt his fall. He swung into a saddle on the flying craft and smiled coldly as he flew upward toward his enemies. The jet craft was crafted to resemble a fierce stallion and the motif matched the man’s combination of modern technology mixed with the ways of the horsemen of the Argentine pampas!
He used one hand to withdraw a small device that expanded into what appeared to be a traditional bolo. He swung it around expertly and released it so that it sailed toward Jinx!
She sneered contemptuously as the cords wrapped around her slender hips and then cried out in pain as the cords crackled with a sudden painful burst of electrical current!
She swayed backward and with a steely resolve she ripped the cords apart with bolts of blazing eldritch energy!
“Carumba! She is a woman after my own heart in more ways than one!” thought The Gaucho.
Meanwhile, Princess Tlaca had charged through the air toward the villains only to stop by the sinister Shimmer who posed defiantly with both hands on her hips. The redheaded villainess possessed the mutant ability to temporarily transmute matter.
She laughed harshly and gestured at the Princess of the Golden Sun in a dismissive manner that infuriated the other woman.
The air in front of the Princes changed into a metallic barrier but she merely smashed through it and slapped Shimmer across the face and in doing so knocked her several feet away.
“You are not a true alchemist. You know nothing of true power!” declared Princess Tlaca as she stopped and posed herself as if for the benefit of unseen worshippers.
The hulking brute known as Mammoth saw his sister’s plight and charged toward Princess Tlaca. He bellowed, “No one can do that to my sister! No one can hurt Selinda!”
Princess Tlaca laughed and met his charge with a leap of her own. She flew him skyward and dropped him casually into the pit Jinx had created.
“Mindless peon!” she said with a snort of disgust.
Green Fury had stopped to make certain Bushmaster was unharmed and then she turned to confront a weird looking woman who was wrapped from head to toe in a voluminous robe and hood. The woman’s face was partially covered but her eyes gleamed with malice and…power!
Green Fury circled her warily. She said, “We do not need to fight. Surrender and we will try to understand what you are trying to accomplish here!”
The other woman (Deuce) replied in a harsh guttural voice in a language Green Fury could not recognize although her meaning was all too clear thanks to the automatic translation effect Dr. Mist had generated around his allies. He had employed such a trick in the past and it worked wonderfully well in enabling heroes from different countries to understand one another.
“You cannot sway me with soft words. I do not trust you or your kind. All I want from you is your death!” she hissed.
Her eyes flashed and Green Fury gasped for a moment and then fought back with her own dazzle bursts.
The two women fought a silent duel as they locked gazes and neither spoke or moved for several minutes.
Finally, Green Fury’s blazing emerald eyes seemed to flash brighter and Deuce blinked and then faltered before the Brazilian heroine’s greater power.
“You are the one who cast the illusions before that concealed you and made us see the lost city as if it was newly restored! I guess my own illusory power cancelled out your own!” she said.
She spun around and connected with a kick that caught Deuce by surprise and left her stunned at Green Fury’s feet.
Bushmaster had spread his arms and activated a feature of his bio-suit that enabled him to glide through the air and across the pit! He could easily mimic the flight ability of some reptiles.
He closed in on the purple and blue clad Charger and said, “You were lucky the first time you shot me. You won’t be that fortunate again!”
As energy crackled around Charger’s body in a fiery nimbus, Bushmaster activated another feature of his amazing costume and seemed to vanish from view.
“I don’t need to see you to burn you alive! I will roast you! I will flay your skin from the bone!” said Charger.
Bushmaster suddenly dropped his chameleon camouflage and released a thin cable that snaked around the boasting man. He then whipped it back to release him and send him rolling into a nearby pool of water.
When the electrically charged villain struck the water there was a final burst of electrical energy then he groaned in pain.
The Bushmaster calmly fired a small projectile from a small pistol.
The darts struck Charger and the powerful venom caused him pass out.
Bushmaster casually dusted off his costume and said, “Why can’t people be more like snakes? All some people do is talk, talk, talk!””
The Gaucho had displayed amazing agility as his steed carried him back and forth between Jinx’s blazing magical bolts.
He tossed back his head and laughed loudly as he drew close enough to snare her with his lariat.
Before she could cast a spell, he lifted her off the ground and in doing so deprived her of her power. She was helpless when she was not in direct contact with the earth that empowered her!
She struggled in his grasp but he merely pulled her on to his lap and kissed her roughly before tying her up with a few swift twists of his rope.
“That was truly pleasurable!” he cried as he drummed an impromptu beat on her helpless witch’s backside!
Iman had not rushed into the fight. He always preferred to study his environment like the scientist he was.
Thus, as Mammoth finally managed to climb out of the pit, Iman was able to fly down on his boot jets and catch him in a tight grip.
They struggled for a moment and Iman started to lose his hold on the frantic villain.
He allowed the redheaded brute to pound away on his armor for a few moments and then he connected with a punch of his own that floored the surprised Mammoth.
“Fascinating! My armor’s database information did not indicate that he was capable of that level of strength! Either my data is outdated or something or someone has boosted his power levels!” said Iman.
Green Fury and the others joined Iman around the fallen villains.
“Well done! We worked well together!” said Bushmaster.
Green Fury nodded as she gazed around the ruins of the ancient city.
“What brought them here though? What was their goal? Dr. Mist merely said there was an ancient evil astir and his image of this city led us her!” she said.
Iman said, “Perhaps he exaggerated. These five are wanted felons. My armor identified the final duo as Deuce and Charger. They may be new to the team but they do have records of sorts. They battled a Middle Eastern hero known as Sinbad before joining this team!”
Bushmaster said, “This city was said to the final stronghold of the Incan Empire. Legends s many amazing secrets were known to that proud culture. Certainly, we have fought ancient evils before and such a force may be buried here in these ruins!”
Princess Tlaca said, “My people knew much that your world would consider forgotten lore. I agree with you. Something magical may be within those ruins that no scientist or explorer of the modern world can conceive of fully!”
Iman said, “I will secure them all with taser nets while we search the vicinity.”
They searched the ruins carefully but found nothing. However, when they returned to where the Fearsome Five remained bound, they realized that Charger seemed oddly transformed.
“He’s smaller. In fact, I’d say he’s younger than before!” said Bushmaster.
Green Fury said, “You pulled him into that small stream during the fight but I no longer see it!”
Bushmaster nodded and said, “You‘re right! It is as if the waters vanished! I don’t even see a shallow spot.”
The Gaucho said, “Waters of youth! I think the stream was magical and somehow the waters made him younger!”
Iman said, “There was a legend that this sacred valley contained what some would call the Fountain of Youth! That must have been what they were after!”
Green Fury said, “Those waters were never discovered by the scholars who documented these ruins so completely in 1981 and they are gone now as well. It is as if the magical waters phase in and out of this plane of reality at some unknown cue!”
The Gaucho said, “We have beaten our foes. Surely, if the waters are no longer here then we did what Dr. Mist wished for us to do. We appeared here in time to stop them from making use of them at the moment they materialized once more for ever so brief a time!”
Green Fury nodded slowly. “After we take the Fearsome Five to prison, I want to check back in with Dr. Mist. He’s not the kind of man to leave anything unfinished!”
As they prepared to transport the beaten villains to prison, a cold wind swept across the ruins and Green Fury frowned as if she heard some faint sound of a cruel laughter from some unseen source!
Elsewhere, a sinister figure smiled coldly as a misshapen old man looked up in a puzzled manner.
“I know your magic forced the pool to enter this dimension for the first time in centuries. I know that you sent those villains to get the waters but why are you so pleased? Did those pawns not fail you?” he asked in a quivering voice.
The regal woman said, “They were meant to occupy Dr. Mist’s champions and give him the impression that I merely sought the waters of rejuvenation. I never truly wanted the waters since their magical factors would have not helped me. I developed a tolerance to that form of magic long ago. Do not fear, I will get what I truly seek! Of course, my own magic in locating these items will alert Dr. Mist and thus, I will again confound his pawns with pointless battles with my own evil knights!”
“You see, I always win in the end!” she said with a cold and mocking laugh.
3
Okinawa, Japan
The teen Japanese heroine called Gosurori (Amaya Ito) had never been to the Okinawa Prefecture; however, as she and her fellow Japanese champions fell under attack by a group of deadly costumed criminals, she wondered if she’d ever get a chance to leave the area again!
Amaya wore heavy mascara and a black wig with neatly trimmed bangs that covered her own shorter hair. She was dressed in a black dress with a bodice decorated with elaborate braiding. A long sleeved open short jacket of matching fabric accented the dress with its short bubble skirt that stopped around two inches above her knees. She wore black high heeled boots to complete the ensemble that was already becoming famous now that she was known to be the sidekick of the Ace Archer- one of Japan's greatest heroes.
Shashu or The Ace Archer (Lt. Takeo Hiroshi) was a beloved hero and his handsome profile and colorful green and red costume adorned countless Manga posters! He had been Amaya’s late grandfather’s pupil and now he was training the Jissen Women’s University fashion and design student in the Kyudo or archery skills that had made him so celebrated a hero. Of course Amaya’s beloved Ojiisan had already turned the girl into a skilled archer long before she met her hero!
Now the duo moved as one as they rolled acrobatically aside from several projectiles of burning energy that rained down upon the spot where they had been standing. They drew their long bows and effortlessly released specific trick arrows from their quivers.
The arrows struck two of the sizzling projectiles and deflected them before their concussive energy blasts could do any harm.
Their attacker was an athletic figure in a golden costume with padding and a protective helmet. He was known as Fastball and his villainous allies were collectively known as the Cadre!
Gosurori didn’t know who they were but she and Ace Archer responded to the sudden attack in the streets of Okinawa with remarkable poise and speed!
“He relies on throwing those explosive projectiles that resemble baseball!” said Ace Archer as he studied the silent villain.
Fastball said, “Yeah! I forgot you Japanese love American baseball! It will be a real honor for you to die at my hands!”
A gleaming golden woman flew upward and said, “Your ignorance in stereotyping an entire culture based on the preferences of a few is only surpassed by the crudity of your demeanor!” said Hikari (Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi). In her civilian role of Dr. Hoshi, Hikari was one of the most brilliant scientific minds on the planet and while she was widely regarded with respect for her role as Director of the Tsukuba Science Institute, she was still a woman who acknowledged that she had a bit of an anger problem!
“I almost said I do not suffer fools lightly! My light based powers not to mention my earlier use of the name Dr. Light while in America would make that expression humorous to Sora and I have no patience with the girl’s giggles at this time!” she thought.
She concentrated and her glowing body flared even brighter as she drove back the assembled Cadre and gained her allies time to react.
Sora the Sky Girl (Yuki Tonabi) was a pretty young woman with super human strength and the ability to fly. Her look consisted of bright blue hair, a pleated blue mini skirt and matching top and high heeled boots. Her short cape completed the look which had become famous in Manga circles due to the fact that the heroine’s costumed identity had become a popular star of a Manga series created by talented artist Jiro Hoshi. Jiro was the ex-husband of Hikari and in her normal role as a childcare agent or babysitter for the Miyake Educational Group. Yuki worked for the estranged couple and took care of their young children Yasu and Imako. She was a sweet girl with a bubbly personality. Hikari liked her but they were polar opposites. In some ways, Hikari envied the young girl’s nearly oblivious ease in social situations.
“For one who only acquired super powers due to a careless magical wish, she has acquitted herself well in the last few months!” she thought as she noticed Sora swooping down to catch a huge section of pier that a massive brute in black and shiny metal had hurled at them.
Hikari’s mind flashed back to the start of this wild adventure. She had received a mental projection from the mysterious Dr. Mist. He had shown her this specific street in Okinawa and had urged her to assemble her allies and rush to prevent an ancient evil from acquiring some mystical source of power! She had summoned several of Japan’s other costumed champions.
They had arrived only to be set upon by a group of villains before they could discover exactly what made this location so significant.
While Sora was slightly below her and in front of the others, Hikari swiftly noted the locations and condition of her other friends.
Arashi-,a woman in a red helmet that covered her entire head and concealed her features behind one way glass, was a blur as she reclined on her remarkable sky sled and fired laser bursts at the villains. As a fellow scientist, Hikari respected her for her inventive genius and was a bit appalled by the daredevil’s reckless style of combat!
Arashi (Rei Ohashi) wore a costume that resembled skin tight black leather but in fact it possessed the durability of metallic armor. It was merely one of the young woman’s inventions that allowed her to successfully defeat menaces with much greater physical power than her slender frame possessed.
As Arashi piloted her sky sled through the air, she dodged a weird woman whose orange skin, feathered hair, voluminous wings and razor sharp talons made her seem more avian than human!
Arashi maintained her customary cool but she marveled at how fast her attacker could fly!
“She may be able to match my sled when it comes to sheer speed. I better take her down now since I can’t outfly her!” she mused.
A girlish voiced echoed in Arashi’s helmet as her robotic creation Plastic Cinderella identified the villains via access to her own database.
“These criminals are known as the Cadre. Current members include Shrike, Fastball, Nightfall, Shatterfist, Crowbar, Jolt, and Blockhouse.”
Plastic Cinderella resembled a beautiful blonde Japanese woman in a flowing pink ball gown. She spoke and acted in a very Kawaii or girlish manner; however, the android was in fact an incredible creation that combined super human strength and durability with database access and offensive weaponry. Arashi had designed the android but her fanciful appearance and fantasy princess demeanor came from Arashi’s eccentric father’s input. The aging toymaker had turned his daughter’s mechanic woman into a figure out of Anime!
She frowned as Nightfall approached her. Nightfall was a beautiful woman with long black hair, dark goggles, and a purple and black costume with a fishnet pattern on the legs and arms.
As the woman drew closer a cloud of inky darkness enveloped the blonde android.
“I’m putting out your lights Princess! Its midnight and the ball is over!” said the mocking American villainess.
Plastic Cinderella merely adjusted her artificial vision and calmly caught the startled Nightfall by the wrist.
“I am sorry but I see you perfectly well…and I like your fishnets!” she said with a smile.
Nightfall cursed but she could not break free of the smiling woman’s grip.
“I can do a lot more than blind people. I can sap all kinetic energy!” she said.
Plastic Cinderella frowned for a moment and then said, “I do not need to move. I shall stay right here…as will you!”
Nightfall struggled but she was held tight and rendering Plastic Cinderella immobile did nothing to change that!
Arashi flipped off her sky sled and casually landed with both boots on Nightfall’s head.
“It appears as if gravity works just find in your vicinity!” she said.
When Nightfall passed out from the impact, her kinetic energy absorbing aura faded. Plastic Cinderella smiled broadly at Arashi and said, “Allow me to render you similar service!”
She gestured to where the avian Shrike was diving down at them and emitting a sheer shriek that struck them as if it was a solid blow!
Arashi struggled to adjust her helmet’s sensors but she was helpless against the sudden assault that robbed her of the ability to concentrate!
Plastic Cinderella waited for a moment and then at precisely the right instant, she jumped up and caught a surprised Shrike by the ankle. She generated an electronic pulse that stunned the flying fiend and brought her crashing to the ground.
“I do hope shutting off my auditory components did not muss my hair!” thought Plastic Cinderella as she helped Arashi to her feet.
Meanwhile, the hulking Blockhouse had charged at Sora only to grunt in consternation as she dodged him and connected with a series of blows all her own! Blockhouse was a big man with a rather dumb expression and gleaming metallic cyborg enhancements that gave him super strength.
He stared in dismay as the much smaller girl knocked him across the pier.
“How can that little girl hurt me? I don’t get it!” he muttered.
Hkari sent a beam of solid light into the pier and nodded in approval as the brute fell through into the waters below.
“Sora, incapacitate him. Do not hold back. He is more than strong enough to withstand your strength levels!” she said in a crisp tone of voice. Sora shrugged and dived into the waters after the big man.
Hikari was abruptly challenged by the woman called Jolt. Jolt wore a skimpy costume with metallic finish. She was a cyborg like her partner Blockhouse and she carried an energy whip!
“What are you some kind of nudist?” she said as she lashed out at the golden glowing Hikari.
Hikari merely allowed the crackling weapon to pass harmlessly through her light hologram while she materialized slightly to the left and blasted Jolt with a burst of concussive light!
Jolt gasped and tried to strike back but she was no match for the other woman’s sheer power!
As Sora emerged from the water with a prone Blockhouse, the other battles drew to a close.
Ace Archer and Gosurori had done far more than deflect Fastball’s explosive projectiles, they had pinned him to the ground with a well-placed salvo of trick arrows and they had followed that up by smothering most of his body with energy absorbing foam.
“He may not be able to generate those energy spheres without moving his hands but we will err on the side of extreme caution!” explained Ace Archer.
Meanwhile, the final two members of the team of heroes had confronted the black former gang leader known as Crowbar as he raised his namesake weapon and spun it around with ease.
“I can break anything with this baby! Don’t matter to me if you think you’re Batman!” he said.
He spoke to the silent black-clad cowled hero called Kimouri or the Bat Samurai who calmly moved forward while his red and green clad sidekick Tengu agilely dodged the spinning weapon while laughing madly.
Crowbar lashed out at the boy only to find his thrust blocked by Kimouri’s gleaming sword which seemed to appear out of thin air.
“No Kung Fu Theater reject can match my crowbar!” he yelled as he shoved himself at the Bat Samurai only to be effortlessly disarmed and then stunned by a precisely blow to his throat.
“I guess he should go back to the Village People!” quipped Tengu.
His mentor nodded in recognition but said nothing.
Hikari and the others brought the fallen Cadre members together and bound them.
“One of them is missing!” she said.
Meanwhile, Gosurori had spotted a final figure darting through the shadows toward a small book shop.
She raced toward the store after the red clad, masked martial artist called Shatterfist!
“He held back from the fight but I sure don’t think he’s a coward! He must be looking for what we were sent here to guard!” she said.
She entered the old shop and saw Shatterfist standing over a stunned clerk.
“Leave him alone!” she yelled as she drew her long bow and fired at the Korean killer.
Shatterfist spun around and destroyed the arrow with the one sweep of his hand.
“My energy aura can do more than melt your arrow! I will rip your very heart out!” he declared.
Gosurori jumped over the counter and rolled across the floor. She rose up and kicked out at the villain but he was too fast for the girl.
He caught her leg and suspended her upside down in one grasp while his other first began to glow with a red light.
Gosurori felt some impulse pass over her body and she abruptly grabbed a book off a shelf and struck him with it.
He cried out in pain and staggered backward as he dropped her.
“That tome is magical. It is what I came here to locate!” he hissed.
Gosurori held the book to her chest and tried to think of a plan.
“Get out or I will ignite it!” she vowed as he held up an arrow from her quiver.
She was bluffing of course but she had no other idea and she knew she could not hold off the killer for long.
She glanced at the writing on the ancient tome. “Sun Simiao? Wasn’t he the so-called King of Medicine? What is this? Is it some kind of self help guide?”
At that moment, Ace Archer appeared and punched Shatterfist in the face. Before he could strike back, the Archer rammed an arrow into his face. A vapor engulfed his face and the killer collapsed at the green and red clad hero’s feet.
“Are you hurt? I saw the end of the fight. That book seemed to harm him but not you!” he said.
As the other heroes rushed inside the shop and Sora helped the stricken clerk to his feet, Plastic Cinderella said, “The book is known as the Danjing Yaojue. It appears to be a guide to creating something known as the Elixir of Life! That Elixir was described in many Chinese legends as a source of eternal life!”
Bat Samurai said, “The Chinese wizard Xu Fu disappeared while searching for it on behalf of Qin Shi Huong. It is said he merely came to Japan and stayed here. Much later, Sun Simiao, a noted scholar and physician was rumored to have inscribed the formula Xu Fu found in a book or wood block “book.”
Ace Archer said, “And this may be that fabled book! It repelled Shatterfist because of his debased nature! If someone of sinister purposes seeks to use the book he or she will require great power indeed!”
Gosurori frowned as she opened the book.
“It is empty! The pages are blank!” she said.
Plastic Cinderella said, “Perhaps, it is not the missing words or some formula within the pages that gave eternal life. I suggest the book itself merely magically prolongs good health. After all, it seems to have been here many years untouched by all!”
The clerk said, “It is true. My great grandfather opened this store and it has been our family business. Many books like that one have been here for generations!”
Hikari said, “Okinawa is said to be a Blue Zone. A Blue Zone is an area in which many natives seem to enjoy long life or great vitality. Perhaps, this remarkable book or some magic bound within it has given the locals such longevity! ”
Tengu smiled broadly. “I hope Shatterfist benefits from his brief contact with the book. After all, he will have many years in prison ahead of him and he might as well be fit enough to enjoy them!”
Hikari frowned.
“I hope we have protected what Dr. Mist wished us to safeguard. Some of you should remain here in case others seek the book. I will consult with him and return!”
The golden woman flew off at the speed of light as her allies waited and an unseen enemy laughed in delight and thought, “They are so very somber. Of course, they may sense how little they will have to laugh about when they realize that my purpose goes far beyond obtaining such physical objects of power!”
4
Vaslinko, Greece
The Olympian (Aristedes Demetrios) was a beloved national hero to the people of Greece. His reputation was sterling and his numerous adventures were made possible by the fact that in his true identity he was the wealthy heir of a shipping magnate. Aristedes did not need to work and he used the freedom this gave him to spend most of his time in the costumed role of super hero! He knew that his family was said to be of direct descent from the mythological hero Jason (Iason) and he enjoyed the idea that while most people would dismiss the story of Jason as pure myth, Aristedes knew it to be based on truth! In fact, the brawny man wore a cloak and cowl made from a golden ram and it was due to this famous Golden Fleece that he was able to draw upon the remarkable array of super human abilities possessed by the ancient heroes known as the Argonauts. He was a very strong man without the magical fleece since he had excelled as a wrestler during his college days. However, it was not his strength- be it mortal or immortal- that he needed this day as he and his companions searched a small village North West of Corinth.
“Dr. Mist’s vision led us here and I know a thing or two about visions since more than one of the ancient Argonauts had prophetic abilities! Vaslinko was once called Sicyon and as such it was home to a shrine to the goddess Hebe. She was the goddess of Eternal Youth and served as …!” he began.
“Olympian, we know the story. You told us all this on the way here. I fear some of the Argonauts who imparted their powers to the fleece you wear were overly fond of hearing themselves talk!” said a slender woman with black hair. She moved with the easy grace of an athlete and she wore a brief costume of red and gold. She also wore several bands across her back and chest in which various weapons were contained.
“Sophia Constantinas! I offer you my apologies! I do enjoy talking about the source of my power. I am more than a little in awe of the brave men and women whose deeds inspired such myths!” he replied.
Sophia smiled and said, “I am also sorry. I have a bad temper. Even the Amazons, who kindly took me in and trained me after Wonder Woman helped me break free from the life I led as a terrorist in service to Nikos Aegeus, could not teach me to keep my temper! Remember, I would prefer to be called Nike while in costume.”
A tall handsome man with long light brown hair stepped forward and smiled graciously.
“My mother Queen Hippolyta speaks with pride when she talks about your time with her. Don’t be so hard on yourself! You’ve come a long way!” he said.
The Champion (Hippolytus) was a good natured man. He had led a strange life apart from the outside world in a mystical timeless glade known as Arcadia. He had been trained in every form of combat by a centaur called Chiron and it was only after leaving that eternal dimension that he had learned his true heritage. He was the son of the legendary hero Herakles or Hercules and the beautiful Warrior Queen of the Amazons Hippolyta. Magical manipulation on the part of the goddess Hera had made all involved forget about his existence and the circumstances that led up to his conception had been distorted as well. Since the repentant goddess revealed to truth and restored the memories her magic had altered or removed, the young man had become a favorite to his mother and he enjoyed the privilege of being the only male allowed on Paradise Island. He had become friends with his sisters Nubia, Diana, and Donna and he was happy to spend much of his time as a hero to the people of Greece under the well-meaning guidance of the Olympian.
An exotic woman with long golden hair and brilliant golden skin hovered above them. She was alien whose material form housed the spirit of an Amazon. As such she was part warrior and part observer of a strange new world whose ways were foreign to her. She wore a white dress and boots and her huge steed was in fact a gigantic owl made of an alien substance that mimicked life but was in fact artificial in nature. She called herself Minerva and she depended upon her fellow heroes to help her make sense of this planet.
Minerva looked over at the last two members of the modern Argonauts. The Silver Swan was a stunningly beautiful blonde woman in a gleaming feathered costume of white. She had majestic wings and she carried herself through the skies with all the awe-inspiring dignity one would expect from the descendent of Helen of Troy or Helen of Sparta herself! She had once been (Helena Alexandros) an unattractive ballerina with a hatred of the men who rejected her and refused to see her talent because she was ugly. After several encounters with Wonder Woman, time with a government agency designed to help criminals reform, and a magical rebirth at the hands of the goddess Aphrodite herself, she was at peace.
The final heroine also flew through the sky. Harpi ( Angelika Bal) was a grieving widow who both mourned for her late husband archaeologist Adonis Ball and suffered physical and emotional trauma because of the manner in which her body had been transformed by a troubled genius. She wore a purple costume and she gazed at the world through sorrowful eyes. Her delicate hands ended with sharp talons which could slice though metal.
Silver Swam smiled winningly at Harpi and said, “We will find this mystical power source. Do not fear, my friend. Are we not blessed by the Olympians themselves?”
Harpi shook her head and pushed her long black hair away from her face.
“You and the others have been blessed. I fear I have been cursed!” she said softly.
Minerva said, “My eyes can detect energy sources outside the normal range of vision possessed by Earthlings but I see nothing!”
Olympian said, “By drawing upon the super vision of the legendary Lynceus, do detect an item buried below the village. Allow me to excavate it with a judicious use of super strength!”
Champion said, “I will help as well! Just lead the way I don’t have your super vision!”
They reached a specific spot and started to lift enormous mounds of soil with some hastily formed metal scoops they had made through use of super strength manipulation of some metallic fencing.
“We’ll repair the damage afterward!” said Hippolytus.
They uncovered a strangely durable urn and nodded in approval. The item was clearly ancient and its nearly unmarred surface indicated some kind of magical shielding.
Silver Swan said, “It is lovely! That kind of craftsmanship is a lost art!”
“I like to think murder is an art form as well. We will try to perfect our skills in the area when we kill you all!” said a mocking woman clad entirely in a black leotard. Her skin was deathly pale and her black hair was swept back from her rather sharp features.
“Nox! She’s a member of the New Olympians! Remember, they tried to take over the Olympic games a while back?” said Nike.
Nike had made a study of the records of the Greek underworld and she had contacts from her days as a militant Greek nationalist. She was well-aware of any super human Greeks in the criminal underworld!
Nox was swiftly joined by the other members of her team as the odd looking villains charged toward the heroes.
Hippolytus smiled readily. He loved the thrill of adventure. He also loved the wonders of the modern world. He had enjoyed discovering so many different aspects of the world beyond Arcadia that were startlingly new to him from slang to clothing styles to forms of entertainment!
He was confronted by a giant of a man in a brown costume and a skull cap that covered his large head but left his rather stupid facial features uncovered.
“Anateus will crush you, little man!” bellowed the bulky thug.
He grabbed for Hippolytus who nimbly dodged him and connected with an uppercut that had no effect on the brute.
Antaeus laughed a harsh grating laugh and cried out, “Little flea! You have no power to harm me!”
Hippolytus avoided the slower man’s attempt to punch him and he caught his arm and twisted tit back in an expert wrestling move that brought the clumsy villain to his knees… for a few seconds!
Antaeus broke free and shoved Hippolytus aside.
“Is this your best effort?” he grunted.
Hippolytus shrugged and said, “Let’s both hope not!”
Nearby, Nike faced a lithe woman with waist-length brown hair who wore a green and white jumpsuit and brandished a bow!
“I see you too are well-armed but you will need all those weapons and more against Diana the Huntress!” she said as she aimed an arrow at Nike.
Nike smiled and fired her own arrow which deftly shattered the one released by the Huntress!
The Huntress smiled wickedly and said, “You intrigue me!”
Nike hurled a dagger at the other woman and knocked the bow out of her hand. Before she could retrieve it, Nike dived on top of her and they began to struggle furiously.
Above them, Minerva guided her owl downward to engage a scaly dragon-like creature who rose upward on green wings and snarled at her through a mouth of jagged fangs!
She said, “If this beast is native to this world then I have much more to learn about this place!”
The “owl craft” raked at the dragon with its talons and an astonishing thing occurred at the moment the alien craft closed with it, the dragon suddenly replicated and a second head appeared out of its neck and nearly clamped its jaws on the smaller owl craft!
Minerva lurched forward and slipped precariously off her craft. She struggled to swing herself back into position as the dragon emitted a cloud of noxious smoke that enveloped the golden woman!
Harpi had gasped as an inky cloud of pure darkness swept over her and threatened to crush her as the black vapor solidified into a physical peril!
“I can’t see! This must be what poor Adonis suffered!” she thought as she recalled her late husband’s damaged vision!
She fell to her knees and then curled up into a fetal position as the memories and her own grief overwhelmed her!
Silver Swan swooped down toward her stricken friend but she was intercepted by a yellow skinned man in a purple costume.
His pale yellow skin began to ignite as a fiery nimbus surrounded his body.
“I am Vulcanus and you will roast like any captured bird!” he boasted.
The Swan sang her sonic song and the force waves knocked Vulcanus across the open field.
She smiled prettily and said, “I do not have any intention of become any one’s dinner or trophy!”
She danced nimbly aside like the ballerina she had been and avoided Vulcanus as he dived toward her.
She kicked him into the face with one high heeled boot and drew back as the flames covering his body grew stronger with his anger!
“If my costume…what little there is of it… was not magically shielded that kick might have cost me my foot!” she thought.
The Olympian had placed the urn safely to one side as his own opponent drew closer.
“I don’t wish to harm you. Why not surrender now and save us both much discomfort?” he asked as a slender almost delicate looking woman with long blonde hair and greenish hued skin. She swayed slightly as she walked and she smiled as her wide eyes caught the hero’s gaze.
A strange sensation passed over him as he felt more than heard a magical song that the woman sang as she approached him and casually ran one hand along his bare arm.
“A siren! You’re a siren like those who threatened Odysseus himself! No man can resist your cursed musical allure!” he gasped as the world began to grow blurry around him and he felt his will to resist begin to crumble!
“Too late to shield my ears! Got to try something radical!” he thought.
Seconds later a transformed Olympian stood up and faced the Siren. The very macho hero was now a captivating woman!
“She” slapped the Siren to the ground and then resumed her normal masculine form!
He said, “I have never used the power Argonaut Caeneus possessed to switch genders! I can’t say I ever want to do so again! I feel a bit abashed by the whole thing! But it accomplished what I wanted since only men are powerless before the Siren’s song!”
Nearby, the Silver Swan decided to try a new tactic. She mocked Vulcanus and then dodged his angry charge.
His flaming body crashed into the now multi-headed dragon and as the monster caught flame, Minerva generated a blast of energy that sliced through its long throats and left it stunned at her feet. The fallen monster collapsed on Vulcanus and left the now cool villain trapped beneath its massive weight.
Silver Swan said, “It is a hydra. It regenerates or perhaps I should say it replicates a new head with every physical blow it receives. Only fire can stop the process of multiplication. I think the creature will regenerate one head when it revives! I would hate to see even such a monster become extinct. After all it has ties to the ancient myths as do many of us here this day!”
Minerva said, “I had no idea what it was or how to best it. I have much to learn about planet Earth!”
An explosion shook the ground as the cloud of blackness literally evaporated and Nox fell into a faint as Harpi regained her footing and caught her breath.
“I didn’t mean to generate such a potent energy blast but that terrible woman was hurting me!” she cried.
The Silver Swan embraced her and whispered, “You are safe now. You have done well! She will recover!”
Hippolytus had deduced the secret of the man mountain known as Antaeus as well!
He ducked beneath the clumsy man and lifted him off the ground in a wrestling hold that gradually put the struggling villain to sleep!
“As long as he had any contact with the ground, he could not be beaten! My father dealt with one very much like him according to his legend!” he said.
Nike approached them dragging a stunned Huntress by her long hair.
“She fought well but she was nothing the training the Amazons gave me could not handle!” she explained.
The Olympian said, “Well done, indeed! Now, we shall safeguard the Urn of Hebe and I think I will pay a visit to Dr. Mist. He may have more for us to do!”
Nike smiled as he flew off.
“I think he also wanted to leave before any of us could comment about his embracing his feminine side during the battle!”
The heroes laughed good naturedly as the Olympian scowled and thought, “For once I could do without the power of enhanced hearing!”
5
Aksum, Ethiopia
Batwing (David Zavimbe) soared through the skies over Aksum, Ethiopia until he reached an impressive obelisk that loomed majestically over the city.
“We must make an odd sight. I am here wearing the high tech costume my benefactors and I created while above me stands a monument that dates back over 1,000 years!” he thought.
“It is sad that this once proud land now suffers until the harsh rule of the military faction known as the Derg! I have seen so much corruption in my homeland of Zaire even amongst my fellow police officers. I am encouraged only because I feel as if I can make a difference along with the other new heroes who have joined me on this quest!” he thought.
He wore a blue-gray armored costume with artificial glider wings. The blue emblem of the bat on his chest represented his alliance with Batman who was one of his mentors.
“Dr. Mist sent us a vision of this particular obelisk although there are well over 100 of them across the area. I can not imagine what power source he insists exists within such an ancient structure. Science is much more my area of expertise. I shall leave magic to others like Bloodwynd!” he thought.
Bloodwynd was a tall black man in a white costume and mask. A brilliant ruby glistened on his chest. He wore a red and white cape that seemed to swell or increase it volume at times. There was much about the conjure man that defied logic. His very appearance seemed to shimmer and distort in the blazing sunlight from moment to moment.
“What we seek is within that obelisk. You are correct in thinking I am more of a master of such ancient forces! I shall in turn leave science to you and our ally Thunder Fall!” said Bloodwynd in his bizarre emotionless voice.
The experienced hero Impala ( Mbulaze a Zulu of South Africa) raced along with the easy grace of his namesake. He was pleased that Africa now had some additional champions. After all, for years he and men like the heroic Congo Bill and the late Bwana Beast had carried the burden alone.
“I am glad that Congo Bill decided to use his vast wealth to finance the creation of the Kingdom. He loves Africa with all his heart although he was born elsewhere. I wish the demands of his business empire and his desire to help his poor ward Janu recover from his injuries, did not preclude his joining us!” mused the super swift champion.
The angry woman called Granite scowled as she looked up and said, “Could you give a woman a lift? I don’t have wings you know! Surely, the master of the soil can lift one whose very skin is composed of solid rock!” Granite (Maiba Mayo of Zimbabwe) was so much like her super powered name in terms of her demeanor. She was hard, cold, angry and prone to violence. She wore no costume while in her solid rock form nor did she need one since her rocky skin made her immune to heat or cold.
Earth Strike shook his head but whether the movement was of amusement or frustration remained to be seen. Dede Yeboah was a farmer and a lover of the land. The fact that he could control the ground itself as demonstrated by the manner in which he rode effortlessly through the air on a chuck of rock whose motion was controlled by his will power was entirely appropriate. He wore a blue and black costume with a cowl and as he crouched on the rocky platform he glanced back at a beautiful woman in a brief costume who flew via her own power. A fiery plasma covered Dawnfire’s body as the Somali fashion designer concentrated and allowed the updraft to lift her higher.
Dawnfire (Ayanna Barre) seemed to only have eyes for the erudite teacher Thunder Fall who crackled with electrical energy and used it to levitate in her wake. Thunder Fall ( Eric Bello) was deadly serious. He was also extremely reticent. Perhaps, he merely concealed some insecurity beneath a cold demeanor but Batwing had only known the other members of the Kingdom for a short while. Of course, all of them except for the mysterious Bloodwynd and the older Impala owed their lives to him since he had saved them all a while back and in doing so impressed Batman and the team’s financial backer Congo Bill.
Bloodwynd said, “There is strong magic within that structure. It almost threatens to overwhelm me.”
Dawnfire said, “Violets? I smell violets!”
Thunder Fall said, “The writings of Herodotus mentioned that a violet oil that granted eternal youth was once found here. Is that what we seek?”
A roar seemed to shake the very ground as nine weird figures emerged from within the obelisk and dropped to the ground with feline grace.
They were covered in tawny fur and several had voluminous manes. They moved with the natural agility of born predators because they apparently were more animal than human!
“Lion men? Are they more ani-men?” thought Batwing as he saw the humanoid lions and he recalled the case that led to his assumption of a heroic identity in the first place!
“Batman and Congo Bill and I dealt with mutated ani-men when we first met. Have those creatures somehow evolved and returned to threaten us?”
Bloodwynd said, “They are not mutated humans like the ani-men. They are rather a species of mutated lions with the intelligence of humans.”
“We are the Power Pride of Numa City and you are not what you seem to be either! I sense your kind and ours share a common origin!” said a snarling lion-man.
He gestured and Bloodwind’s body began to alter until the somber man in red and white stood revealed as a gorilla in a cloak with a ruby amulet.
“That thing turned Bloodwynd into an ape!” gasped Dawnfire.
The altered Bloodwynd scowled and said, “No. He merely forced me to drop an illusion of humanity. This is in truth my real form!”
He gestured and the red ruby he wore flashed for a moment. Arcane energies swelled outward to smash into the mocking lion man. He struggled but fell still after a few moments of conflict.
“Man or gorilla, Bloodwynd is one scary guy!” thought Dawnfire.
She swooped down and hurled a barrage of fire balls at the lion men but her heat was blocked as one of them generated a wall of solid ice!
She crashed into the wall and groaned as it collapsed on her lithe form.
When the lion man drew closer, she erupted out of the frozen shell and ignited him!
He screamed in pain and then collapsed as she reabsorbed the heat.
“There! No lasting damage! You are lucky that I am a lady and not a brutal savage! My ability to draw in heat will leave you without any true burns!” she said as she posed like the fashion model she had once been!
Thunder Fall was exchanging bolts of power with one of the lion men. As the white and black costumed teacher generated lightning blasts, the lion man released his own bolts of power!
“My bio- energy is strong! You can not hope to beat me!” growled the lion.
Thunder Fall began to feel the heat from the weird energy. He thought, “Bio blasts? Is that fool using his own life force as a weapon? Surely, he does appear smaller than he did when first he emerged from the tower!”
He concentrated and allowed his own nimbus of electrical power to diminish slightly.
“I may be risking my own life but I think I have discovered his weakness!” he thought.
The lion man closed in on the hero and indeed began to glow ever brighter as he anticipated victory.
“I will melt you!” he bellowed.
Suddenly, Thunder Fall withdrew all his energy into his own body and punched the much smaller beast in the face!
The lion man collapsed and Thunder Fall sighed with relief.
“I assumed the creation of something called bio energy would weaken the user. Luckily, I tricked him into expending much of his own vitality so by internalizing my own energies I was able to have a physical impact upon him!” he thought.
Meanwhile, Batwing had managed to dodge two of the lion men and as he passed by he fired two projectiles from his gauntlets.
The lions cried out as his tasers stunned them both.
“I assumed even those creatures would have vulnerable nervous systems!” he said softly.
Impala had raced around two others and his speed enabled him to draw the oxygen away from their space until they passed out.
“I owe the Flash a debt for teaching me that stunt!” he said.
Granite was smashing two others with a savagery that matched the fury of any wild animal.
She ignored the raking claws and merely beat them until they were bloodied and stunned.
“Come on! I can face you all! I do not care if you are lion men, ape men, or snake men! I will make you pay!” she shrieked.
Dawnfire hurried closer to the enraged woman and urged her to calm down. Clearly, beneath her rocky skin, Granite hid some deep emotional wounds.
Earth Strike was fighting against a lion man who could change his size. He was now a giant and the smaller hero merely stood his ground and concentrated. The earth erupted beneath the titanic lion man and as he fell, Earth Strike assailed him with an avalanche of dirt and rock!
Bloodwynd had resumed his humanoid illusion and he cradled a small vial of purple liquid.
“This oil does grant eternal youth. We have preserved it. I have been exposed as well. I come from a place called Gorilla City. My people were normal gorillas until exposure to energies from space evolved us. The same kind of exposure occurred to mutate these lion men. They must have their own secret city on the continent. I was banished from my home because I studied mystical arts. I felt I might be accepted among your kind and do some good with my magic if you all thought of me as a human. “
Batwing said, “Your true nature is not important. You are one of us. You are our friend! That is enough!”
The others nodded in agreement.
Bloodwynd smiled slightly and he said, “I thank you. I will prove worthy of this kindness. You honor me.”
Batwing said, “Perhaps, we should take that vial of oil to Dr. Mist. He may know how best to secure it or why those creatures sought it.”
Thunder Fall said, “And we need to secure the lion men as well. They may be merely the first wave of an army of such beasts should their hidden sanctuary be dedicated to warfare!”
6
Kollam, India
Two pretty girls raced through the noisy and crowded streets of Kollam, India as merchants, fishermen, and startled tourists rushed to get out of their way!
Maya (Chandi Gupta) was fifteen years old. She glanced around with a frightened expression on her lovely face as she ran for her life! She thought of her parents back in Northern India and she wished that she could see them again. This trip to the so-called “Prince of the Aegean Sea” had not turned out well at all!
“I defeated the Raksha Raj and people cheered for me. The television people even interrupted coverage of the cricket match to interview me! I didn’t think I would become a target after gaining such happy fame!” she thought.
Maya wore a colorful outfit consisting of an orange halter top with purple straps that opened into a flared design across her shoulders, a brief purple skirt over matching shorts and high heeled orange boots. A golden tiara rested in her thick black hair which was decorated with golden ribbons. Heavy golden earrings completed her ensemble.
She was a mutant although her power to generate hot or cold energy bolts via a bow made of the same bio-energy only developed within the last few months. Her parents had been concerned and had feared that the strange abilities marked her as one who was unclean. When the confused girl used her powers to save her community from a super villain, she became the toast of the area! She was just starting to enjoy her celebrity status when a strange vision from a mystic named Dr. Mist had compelled her to take a train from home to the community of Kollam in search of a fountain described in the ancient writings of Sir. John Mandeville!
She stumbled but her companion caught her and swept up skyward!
“Kiran! Stop! What are you doing?” she gasped as the girl in gleaming gold flew upward away from their costumed pursuers!
“Call me Solstice when I am in costume! I wish to preserve my secret identity. The glowing aura of my light form will keep my features concealed but I don’t wish my real name to be overheard and we know one of them is a master of sound itself!” said the older girl.
Solstice (Kiran Singh) was sixteen years old. As the daughter of husband and wife archaeologists, she had traveled the world and spoke several languages. She had accepted her own mutant power of light generation with confidence and joy. She was as sunny in disposition as her gleaming form suggested!
She wore a golden shirt trimmed with decorative beading that left her stomach bare. Her golden pants stopped just below her knees and she wore matching slippers. A shawl of nearly transparent gauze wrapped across her upper body and swept out with each arm like a small cape.
“Don’t worry. I can fly although we didn’t get a chance to talk about it before those creeps attacked us!” she said.
“Why do you think they are chasing us? Are they also after the waters of youth our visions showed hidden near Mt. Polombe?” asked Maya as she concentrated and drew back one hand through empty air. As she moved her arm, energy flared up in the shape of her bow and she fired two energy bolt arrows down at the three costumed men who were chasing them!
The icy arrows struck the first man. He was bent almost to the ground and his gold and black costume was emblazoned with the word gandha. He staggered from the impact of the freezing shafts and almost collapsed.
“He is like some hound! Surely, our flight will stop him from smelling our scent!” cried Maya.
Solstice said, “We have beaten two of them! Do not give up!”
She recalled how their flight had started near a quiet valley at the base of Mt. Polombe! The two girls had met while each was searching for the fountain Dr. Mist’s vision had implanted in their minds. A brief discussion had led them to bond almost immediately since both of them felt isolated from other teens because of their powers and their roles as super heroines! Their pleasure in forming such a fast friendship was broken when five costumed men charged at them.
All five of them wore protective helmets and insulated jumpsuits. The first man was Gandha the Tracker. He led the others and seemed to sniff at the air as if he was a hound!
The next man wore pink and black and his suit had the word Drsti on the front. He raised his arms and his body elongated weirdly as he became darker and darker until he resembled a living shadow!
“I will teach these children to fear the dark!” he said with a harsh laugh.
The shadow man swelled up and loomed above the girls like a wave of inky blackness! He started to envelope them when Solstice tossed back her long straight hair and began to glow brightly.
“I carry my own light with me! The only thing scary about you is your breath!” she joked.
Maya stepped back as the lithe girl gleamed with a golden radiance that caused the darkness to recede and the villains to not only resume human form but to curl up in a ball at her feet!
Solstice smiled winningly as she said, “See? He is nothing to fear!”
She yelped as a high pitched wail filled the area and the third man approached. He wore blue and black and his name appeared to be Dhvani!
“What a disrespectful brat! My sound waves will shatter her ear drums!” he cried.
Solstice did cry out in pain as she clutched her ears. Maya darted forward and fired an arrow of pure energy that struck the cocky criminal and ignited his padded suit.
He cursed and stopped his barrage of sound long enough to smother the fires. By that time, Maya had connected with a second bolt that stunned him.
The remaining duo, along with the Tracker, raced forward.
“Svada, take the Golden One! I will handle the archer!” said the man in red and black. His suit had the word Cnuna on its front.
Svada, shook his head. He wore black and green but unlike the others he was bigger than any normal man. He was easily eight feet tall. He said, “No! You may have the bright light. I want to feed on the Archer!”
Maya shivered and stepped back. “Keep away!” she shouted as the giant charged at her and his jaws seemed to unhinge and open impossibly wide!
She turned and ran as Solstice followed!
Now, in the present the two girls landed in an alley and Solstice shrugged her shoulders.
“I am sorry. I had stop. My flying power doesn’t boost my strength. I couldn’t carry you any further!” she said.
Maya whispered, “That awful man wanted to feed on me! I think he literally means to eat me!”
Solstice held her close and they waited in silence.
Suddenly, the Tracker Gandha appeared and Solstice raised both hands with her palms outward.
She struck him directly in the face with a burst of solid light! He flipped backward and did not rise again!
The shadow Drsti stepped off the opposite wall and reached for them only to be confronted by Dhvani!
“Stop! Become human! I must explain something to you!” he said as he stepped between the cornered girls and his partner.
Drsti shrank down to normal and resumed his human form. “What is it, Taj?”
Dhvani smiled and then spun around to deliver a stunning kick that knocked the shocked Drsti cold!
As Maya and Solstice watched in disbelief, Dhvani shuddered and his appearance shifted until “he” became an alluring woman dressed in a black leotard with a blue patterned sash draped across her chest and her hips over a skimpy blue skirt. She was very pretty and had long white hair. Gleaming silver bracelets decorated her wrists and ankles.
“I am Aruna. Do not be frightened. I disabled the real Dhvani before following his friends to this alley. Hurry, we must go before the others arrive!” she said in a silky tone of voice.
“I have heard of you. You are said to be one of the Dalit or Untouchables! Stay back!” said Maya.
Solstice frowned as she said, “Are you crazy? She saved our lives! She is a true heroine!
Maya lowered her gaze and said, “I am sorry! You are right. I don’t know what I was thinking!”
“Now, we can double back and get the waters we were sent to secure!” Solstice said.
Before she could turn, the massive form of Svada loomed over her and slapped her across the face. Her light dimmed and she rolled across the pavement.
“Solstice!” cried Maya as she brute grabbed her and pulled her closer. She could not generate the energy bow with her hands held together so tightly.
“I do think I will enjoy you little one!” said Svada as he opened his mouth and began to pull the girl toward it.
Aruna lashed out at him with her martial arts expertise but he was simply too big to be stopped!
“Choke on this, you monster!” cried a newcomer as two women ran forward and one seemed to transform into a purple feminine shaped energy being that flew directly down Svada’s gaping mouth!
He bellowed in pain as the energy being passed through him and left him writhing in pain on the ground.
The energy being flew back toward an Indian woman in a red and black mini dress and heels.
She landed and transformed into a shapely blonde in a green jumpsuit. As she swept her long blonde hair away from her face, the girls could see her skin was completely covered in bandages.
“I am Negative Woman. This is Celsius!” said the blonde.
As Maya helped Solstice up, Aruna stepped back into the shadows and seemed to disappeared.
Celsius gestured to where a prone Cnuna lay beyond the alley.
“He has a destructive touch but he could not match my powers. Are you children unhurt?” she asked.
The girls nodded as they both realized Aruna had left them to resume her own solitary and mysterious life.
Maya said, “Who are you? I mean you saved us but are you also here on Dr. Mist’s quest?”
Celsius said, “I have never heard of a Dr. Mist. We came here expressly to find you. I was able to locate you with a device designed to track my own bi-energy signature. You see, I read about you and I realized we have much in common. Maya, you and I share the same powers although you manifest yours via the bow and arrow construct and I do not! I think we may have other things in common!”
Negative Woman said, “We will help you with this quest if you explain more about and then we will have the talk Celsius wished to have.”
Solstice smiled encouragingly and Maya nodded. Maya glanced back sadly at where Aruna had last been seen.
“I was a jerk. I was so wrong. I just reacted out of the same blind fear and panic that many people felt when they learned I was a mutant. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am that I snapped at her because of her Dalit status!” she thought.
Nearby, Aruna had assumed the shape of an old woman and she watched the women depart after the police arrived to secure the criminals.
“I could not tell them that in my role as a special effects creator and stuntperson, I learned that five of my colleagues planned to use their own technology for criminal pursuits. I followed them to where they attacked the girls!” she thought as she disappeared into the crowded streets.
7
In a subterranean cavern a weird woman in golden armor and a facemask of matching metal walked imperiously through the darkening tunnels as a wizened old man hurried to follow in her wake.
“Queen Morgaine! I do not like this place! It is too far from the surface! Please, take us away from here!” he whined.
The tall woman whirled about and struck him with her metal gauntlet as she stopped and loomed over him.
“You worm! I do not care what you want! You are fortunate that I allow you to live as my slave considering your past failures! I merely require a witness to my ascension or I would burn your flesh from your very bones for my own amusement!” she shouted.
As the old man cowered at her feet, the evil witch continued her diatribe.
“I used my magic to locate legendary sources of eternal youth or vitality around the world. I knew doing so would alert Dr. Mist to my actions. I occupied his pawns with dire knights of my choosing. All the while, I never really sought the physical waters or relics in and of themselves since I long ago developed a tolerance to such magicks! By locating them on the material planes, I also was able to find their locations on the higher or magical or astral plane. In doing so, I determined they together form a map to their own source! All of the items that prolong youth gained their original power from one source of primal magic. The source lies before us in these stygian tunnels!” she said.
She walked onward as the battered old man hurried to regain his footing and follow his dread mistress.
She tossed back her head and laughed in a shrill manner as they came to a blindingly bright sphere that gleamed with all the colors of a rainbow. Energy of various hues cascaded over and through the transparent sphere as they approached.
“This is it! The Place of Life! Above us are ruins of a lost city but here is what I have sought for eons! With this magic I will remain youth and beautiful forever!” she whispered.
“Stop! Do not touch that sacred energy!” said a tall black man in a green and red costume. His sad but steely gaze was illuminated by the magical energies of the sphere and he moved with all the regal nobility of a monarch.
“Dr. Mist! I can not believe my eyes! You are legendary for your restraint. You never act personally. You rely on Paladins like my hatred brother Arthur Pendragon!” hissed Moragine.
Dr. Mist said, “I had no choice. My allies stopped your pawns but I knew only I could safely face you. Only I could do what must be done to stop your evil plan!”
Morgaine Le Fey said, “You realize that all one must do to gain the power I seek is to immerse one’s self within yon magical sphere? You also know exactly what prevents you from coming any closer to me!”
Dr. Mist nodded and said, “No mortal knows the price of such power more than I do!”
She posed dramatically and laughed cruelly.
“You see, he knows that while touching the sphere will give me eternal youth, it would have a much more damaging effect on one who has already bathed in its glow. A second exposure to the Place of Life would rob him of most of his power not to mention his legendary immortality!” she sneered.
Dr. Mist shook his head sadly and stepped directly into the sphere before the evil queen could react!
She was so consumed with a lust for power that she could never imagine anyone would willingly sacrifice so much!
She shrieked as the Place of Life seemed to surge with magical energy before fading away completely.
Dr. Mist shuddered as he emerged from the dimming light. The sphere was gone. Its magics had been utterly depleted.
Morgaine Le Fey cursed and raced forward. She kicked out at the hero as he struggled to shake off the Place of Life’s terrible magic.
“I will kill you! You have foolish tossed away your immortality! You have thrown away your legendary power! Well, enjoy your newfound mortality as I slay you!” she shouted.
She gestured and black energy burst from her hands and struck Dr. Mist. He shuddered and fell backward. He hit the dirt and remained still.
He was not used to pain! He had forgotten what physical pain felt like! Even as he groaned softly he almost relished the sensation!
“You remain proud as a king! I admit you will die well for a former immortal!” she cackled as she stood over the stricken hero.
“Stop! You will not harm him again!”
The words came from a man clad in black and blue. A hat shadowed his facial features and a dark cloak shrouded his dark suit.
“The Phantom Stranger! Of course, the loss of the Place of Life would summon one such as you!” said Morgaine.
Her wizened slave said, “Mistress! Flee! None may safely duel with one as righteous as he!”
The Phantom Stranger stepped protectively in front of Dr. Mist as voiced echoed from above.
“Other heroes have arrived. They sought Dr. Mist and find his home above to be empty, their own powers led some here!” said the Phantom Stranger.
Morgaine hesitated and then cursed once more.
“You win this day! In my current state I have no more energy left to face you and the mortal Peers above! “
She vanished in fire along with the frightened slave.
As the Phantom Stranger helped Dr. Mist up, he said, “You sacrificed your immortality to stop her. You faced and overcame your fears. Those fears marked you as human. Defeating them shows you to be worthy of the name hero!”
“As for Morgaine, we will find her and stop her mad plans!” he added casually.
Dr. Mist smiled slowly. Perhaps for the first time in eons he felt a bit of happiness.
“So I will now age and eventually die. I have retained some power though. It may mean it is time for me to change my tactics. I think I will leave this sorrowful place and forge a new path. I will work more directly with the good men and women who together guard the globe! They certainly have served me well!” he said.
The two men walked out of the shadows and into the bright African sunlight above where they would have much to discuss with the newly arrived Global Guardians. It was the end of an era but the start of what promised to be a bright new day!
The End