Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2015 3:33:44 GMT -5
Titans of Justice Unlimited Chapter 75 - “After-burn Part 2”
Written & Edited By: Power Guy
Downtown Metropolis…
“Supergirl, what are you doing here?” Starman asked in shock.
“Saving your sorry @$$!” snapped the modern-age girl of steel as she shook Zy-kree back and forth.
“Get that Red Kryptonite away from me…” pleaded Zy-Kree as blood gushed from his nose.
“Ha! Sure, you get beat by a girl and you try to cover it up by trying to say that there’s Kryptonite in the area,” scoffed Supergirl. “You really are a loser, aren’t you?”
“No, it’s true!” insisted Zy-Kree. “My powers are gone. You’re wearing Feminist’s Kryptonite!” he said, struggling to lift his arm and pointing to Supergirl’s chest.
“Whatever…..” growled Supergirl, as she cocked back her arm, ready to punch Zy-Kree again when Wonder Warrior grabbed her wrist.
“That’s enough, Jenna!” directed the son of Donna and Kyle Rayner. “He’s clearly beaten now let him go and hand over your necklace!”
“You want Zy-Kree so bad?” asked Supergirl, “Fine! TAKE HIM!” she yelled, throwing Zy-Kree at Wonder Warrior and then taking to the sky.
Wonder Warrior’s speed allowed him to catch Zy-Kree without any injuries to either of them.
“You’ve got to stop her. The longer she has that Kryptonite, the more out of control she’ll become,” explained Zy-Kree.
“We will!” confirmed Nightvision as he made his way towards the group. He looked upward and noticed that Starman was already flying after his old flame. Nightvision shot his Bat-grapple at Supergirl, snagging her legs and momentarily startling her.
As Starman caught up to her, he tried reasoning with the daughter of Clark and Lois Kent, “Jenna, please stop. That Kryptonite is obviously messing with your head.”
As Supergirl used her heat-vision to destroy the cable around her legs, she spat, “This isn’t Kryptonite, Scott. It’s a ruby-necklace that some fan sent me. If it was Red Kryptonite, it would have affected me long before now. In fact, I feel better…….stronger than EVER!”
“But Zy-Kree said…”
“He’s lying. He’s a criminal Why do you think he was put in the Phantom Zone in the first place,” reminded the new-age girl of steel.
“They why has he lost his powers?” countered Scott Stone. “He’s stopped fighting us. Why else would he do that?”
“Good work stalling her, Starman. We’ll take her from here,” Wonder Warrior said as he, Kid Comet, and the Queen Bee joined in the fray.
“No-one’s taking me anywhere, Chris,” decreed Supergirl, eyes glowing red. “Back off while you still can.”
“Jenna - please…” Starman said, advancing towards Supergirl until the Arachnid arrived, holding him back firmly.
“Dude, let the others handle this. You’re way too emotionally involved,” pointed out the bug-themed hero.
“Let me go. I’m in control,” insisted Starman as he struggled to loosen himself from the Arachnid’s grip to no avail.
As the Spider-Star team were busy arguing, Supergirl had begun to attack Wonder Warrior and the others. She was shooting blasts of her heat-vision at the Themyscrian prince which he was blocking with his Lansinar bracelets. Kid Comet had hoped to end this squabble without further harm to anyone and used one of his mental attacks on the girl of steel. Instantly, Supergirl began to feel her head pound and knew what the futuristic telepath was up to. Using her super-breath, she blew him into Queen Bee who was floating in the air behind him. The two heroes banged heads together, temporarily rendering Kid Comet’s mental abilities useless. She then used her super-speed and grabbed Kid Comet and used him as a human-bat and smashed him into Wonder Warrior’ sending them both crashing into the ground.
“We’re getting nowhere fast….” grumbled Nightvision as his mind began racing through possible ways of stopping the blonde-haired Kryptonian.
Supergirl began to feel a bit empowered after defeating three of her former teammates so quickly, “Now hopefully that will teach you losers to stay out of my way. See you around,” she said sarcastically as she prepared to depart until suddenly she found herself surrounded by Nucleus’ gigantic right fist.
“Not so fast Jenna,” advised the world’s smartest scientist. “You’re not well. You need to let us help you.”
“Let me go Jason or you’ll be sorry!”
Thinking quickly, Nucleus wrapped his left fist around his right one, hoping to keep his hold on Supergirl. “Not a chance. We’re taking you back to the Hall.”
“Who are you kidding?” Supergirl spat as she burned both of Nucleus’ hands with her heat vision, thus releasing her from his grasp.
Meanwhile, Powerstorm was several yards away wondering what to do, He then contacted his dad telepathically hoping to get some advice. “Dad, what did you do when Superman got out of hand when you were both in the JLA?”
“The one thing you can’t do, son,” answered Ronnie Raymond. “I made a bunch of Kryptonite but who knows if that would even stop her with the possibility of that being Red Kryptonite around her neck. Just make sure you stay back so it doesn’t affect you if that’s the real deal. I do have an idea though…”
Down on the ground, the Elongated Lad was throwing all sorts of debris at Supergirl, hoping to keep her occupied until the others thought of something. “Jenna! Knock this craziness off! When we were on Earth 1, you never acted all loony like this!”
“Throw one more thing at me Rick and I swear I’ll tie you in so many knots that you’ll never get loose!” threatened Supergirl, teeth gritted. All of a sudden, Supergirl felt an immense pain in her ears. The Flash had set off a series of sonic-booms around her, knowing full well that Supergirl’s extraordinary hearing would suffer more than anyone else’s from her attack. “Arrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh!!!” Supergirl cried out. “That’s it Willma, I’m sending you back to Bedrock!!!” she said, flying towards the Flash.
“Looks like I really ticked her off,” Wilma West thought to herself. She decided to take Supergirl on and began racing towards her hoping to build up enough momentum to stun the modern-age girl of steel, however, before the two opponents could meet, Supergirl found herself encased in a block of solid titanium from the shoulders down, courtesy of Powerstorm.
Nightvision swung over on a Bat-rope and landed in front of the daughter of Superman, wearing a gas-mask. He quickly pulled a capsule from his utility-belt which emitted sleep-gas, finally neutralizing Supergirl.
“They’ve got her!” noticed Wonder Warrior as he, Kid Comet, and Queen Bee regained their senses as they made their way over towards Supergirl. “Now to get that Kryptonite off of her neck!” Wonder Warrior said as he reached for the glowing gem until suddenly it was covered by a green lead box.
“Don’t sweat it Christope. I’ve got it under control,” advised Green Lantern as he, Power Guy, Wonder Man, and Argos arrived on the scene.
“GL! When did you get back?” asked Wonder Warrior looking upward as he four comrades descended to the ground.
“About ten minutes ago,” answered Power Guy. “The Wonder Twins had been monitoring your fights with Zy-Kree and Supergirl and filled us in. I grabbed my Phantom Zone Projector from the Hall’s amory and we headed right over.”
“Zy-Kree doesn’t look like much of a threat,” observed Wonder Man.
“He claims that Supergirl is wearing something called Feminists’ Kryptonite,” explained Starman(who had finally been released by the Arachnid). “He said it took away his powers. Supergirl said he was lying.”
“No, I think he’s telling the truth with the condition he‘s in,” revealed Power Guy. “Feminists’ Kryptonite works adversely on male Kryptonians but augments the abilities of female Kryptonians. It also makes them moody, irrational, and headstrong.”
“That’s exactly how Jenna’s been acting since she got that necklace, Power Guy!” exclaimed Starman. “This explains everything!”
“Everything except who sent her the necklace,” pointed out Nightvision. “Nucleus, let’s get Green Lantern’s box back to the Hall where you and I can safely examine that rock.”
“Good idea,” agreed the size-changing Titan. “We’ll run a d.n.a. test on that rock and figure out who sent it to her in no time.”
“Allow me to provide the transportation,” Green Lantern said, forming a platform with his ring for all of the non-flyers to board.
“First things first GL,” reminded Power Guy as he aimed the Phantom Zone projector at Zy-Kree, “Back you go Zy-Kree before your powers return!”
“NOOOO!!!! I’m not fit to go back there!” screamed Zy-Kree as he began to dematerialize. “I’ll get you for this Power Guy! I SWEAR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!”
As the Titans headed back to the Hall, Wonder Warrior sighed with relief and thought to himself, “That could have gotten really ugly. At least Jenna will be ok now.”
***
Opal City…
The new, female Shade stood atop Opal City’s tallest building. In her right hand, she held a seemingly defeated Stellar by his throat over the side of the building. “Look at all of those people down there!” she grinned ear to ear. “To think you’ll be nothing but a splat in a few seconds. Do you wonder if anyone will even recognize you after you hit the ground?”
“Rachel…..d..d…don’t do this,” pleaded Stellar. Though the two were constantly at odds since Rachel Swift became the new Shade, Stellar still cared deeply for his former girlfriend. “This isn’t you…” He had hoped to at least stall Rachel until he figured out how to get loose from her grasp without hurting her so he could get his Cosmic Converter Belt which had been thrown several feet away by his former flame. He kept hoping maybe Sherry would wake up and distract Rachel or something but she was still lying motionless at the Shade’s feet from being struck down earlier.
“This isn’t me???” repeated the Shade. “Ha! I’ve never felt better in my life. I feel so free! So unihibited! So……….DANGEROUS!!!”
“Now say your goodbyes to your blond haired tramp here but don’t worry, she’ll be joining you soon enough!” the Shade cackled insanely.
Suddeny, Rachel Swift was punched in the side of her face which caused her to release Stellar who began to plummet downward.
As the star-spangled teen, descended to what he thought would be his doom, a warp-hole opened up beneath him, transporting him back up to the roof safely. As he exited the warp-hole, he was relieved to see “Phantom Lady! You’re alive!”
“Yes, no thanks to your ex-girlfriend here,” Sandra Knight said, breaking the now unconscious Shade’s Nightstick over her knee. “When the Shade threw me over the roof, I opened up a warp-hole for myself much like I did for you and have been hiding under the protection of my black-light field ever since. I kept hoping you’d find a way to free yourself so I could attack her without worrying about you but the opportunity never presented itself so I was forced to act and come up with plan B.”
While the two heroes were conversing, Sherry Girl of Two Thousand Gimmicks was coming to, “Oh….my aching head…”
“Sherry, are you alright?” asked a concerned Stellar as he put his Cosmic Converter Belt back around his waist.
“Did anyone get the licence plate of that truck,” the daughter of Brainwave Jr. mumbled while rubbing her forehead.
“Thanks for saving us P.L.!” smiled Stellar. “By the way, what’s with the new costume?”
“For years, I used my costume….or lack there of to distract criminals but after the whole mess with Dr. Light, I just don’t think it’s appropriate for me to dress that way any more,” answered the former member of the Freedom Fighters.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” agreed the son of Billy Batson. “Well, I’m going to try and get Rachel here some help. Sherry, are you able to tag along in case she gets out of line again?”
“You bet, dream-boat!” answered Sherry, enthusiastically. She clicked a button on her belt and a mini jet-pack popped out of the back of her jacket.
“Ok, P.L., we’ll be seeing you. Thanks again for the assist!” Stellar said as he picked up the Shade and he and Sherry took to the air.
Phantom Lady stood still for a few minutes, watching Stellar and Sherry until they were out of view. “Well, I guess I’d better get going….” she said opening up another warp-hole to transport her home until she was interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.
“Not so fast, honey.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Phantom Lady noticed, “Blackbird! You’re a long way from Gotham City….and how long have you been watching me?”
“Long enough to know that you still fight as well as you did during World War II but then again, with your revised history since the recent Crisis, that shouldn’t surprise anyone,” commented the former love interest of Nightvision. “Do the Titans know that since the Crisis, your timeline was changed so that you never aged since World War II thanks to a side-effect of your Black-light Ray and that for a while you wore make-up and a grey wig to fool your family and friends into thinking you were aging right alongside them? Surely a seemingly immortal such as yourself feels a bit out of place with all of the young punks in the Titans of Justice. You must be feeling like a total Outsider since the Crisis….”
“I’m not joining your group, Blackbird,” declined Phantom Lady. “I fit in just fine with the Titans even if most of them are mental younger than I am. Plus I’m the only family my nephew Scott has left on Earth.”
“He’s a big boy now. He can take care of himself,” Blackbird said, hoping to get Phantom Lady to see things her way. “We sure could use someone with your stealth abilities on my team.”
“Forget it! I’m not interested in getting involved in your lovers’ quarrel with Nightvision,” snapped Phantom Lady, a bit annoyed. “Cross me off the list!” she said, disappearing into her warp-hole.
“Dammit! She would have been perfect,” Blackbird commented, biting her lip. “Hmm….maybe Blackout would be interested?”
***
The Hall of Justice…
“Well it looks like the older Titans have both Zy-Kree and Supergirl under control and are heading back to the Hall,” observed Zan.
“Good thing Power Guy and the others showed up when they did,” added Jayna. “Let’s see what else is going on in the rest of the world,” she said, switching channels on the Trouble Alert. After flipping through several channels that had nothing interesting to offer, she finally stopped when she saw a familiar face, “Hey - that’s Lady Light in that news cast and she‘s wearing a new costume!” She promptly turned up the volume a bit so that she and her brother could hear what was going on:
“This is Cindy Chung, reporting living for NBC News. Asians all over the continent are celebrating the resurfacing of the continent’s premier hero Lady Light but get your White-out out as today mark’s a new day for the member of the Titans of Justice. After a battle earlier today with Dr. Polaris, she announced she has changed her name to Illumina due to the recent ordeal with Dr. Light. Another part of her moving forward is the new costume she’s sporting. While still sexy and stunning, she conveys a more conservative look most likely due to the tragedy she witnessed thanks to the now deceased Doctor Light. Again, this is Cindy Chung reporting live!”
“Wow! She looks great and I love her new name!” said Jayna as the news cast ended.”
“Yeah but who would have ever thought that goofy, old Dr. Light would affect so many heroes after his death? Between Sonic Boom and Dark Arrow quitting, Trickshot in a mental ward, and some of the female Titans altering their costumes, things are certainly different.”
“Yeah, totally,” agreed Jayna. “What I wouldn’t give for us to be called on to rescue a lost boy from a bear in a cave…”
***
The headquarters of the Justice Society Unlimited, Earth 2...
Sonic Boom and the Huntress had just journeyed here from New Earth. The modern-age Birds of Prey was making their way down the hall to the main meeting room.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked the Huntress.
“Positive. I need a fresh start,” answered Sonic Boom, sternly. “Even if it means ignoring you the entire time I’m here.”
“You do realize that Hawk Warrior is an active member of both the Titans and the Society?” questioned the daughter of the Dark Knight.
“The difference is, he voted innocent,” spat the blonde bombshell. “So rather than rejoin the Titans and have to ignore twenty-some people, I’m going to rejoin the Society and all I have to do is ignore YOU!”
Before an argument could erupt between the two ladies, the elder Dick Grayson came around the corner wearing his Robin costume and greeted them, “Helena! Di Di! What a surprise!”
“Hi Dick…” the two women replied in unison, a bit nonchalantly.
The older Robin knew what had happed with Sonic Boom and Dr. Light on New Earth and could tell that she and the Huntress were still not seeing eye to eye since then. “It’s good to see you both but I have to say that I’m surprised to see you here Di Di. Are you just stopping by to say hello?”
“No, I’m here to ask for my spot back on the team,” revealed the third Black Canary.
“Really? That’s great! We’d love to have you back, especially the Emerald Archer….,” Robin teased with a smirk.
“Ugh………I was hoping he had quit and went into retirement by now,” frowned Sonic Boom.
The Huntress remained quiet while Robin and Sonic Boom conversed. She still felt horribly guilty over having to vote against Sonic Boom but she was glad to see seemingly former best-friend in good spirits again. She knew that Sonic Boom and Robin had gotten along quite well while they were both on Earth 2 and she was hoping maybe this would be a fresh start for Sonic Boom and perhaps she could get past the ordeal with Dr. Light.”
“Let’s all head to the meeting room,” motioned Robin. “The others are in there swearing in our new members.”
“New members?” asked Sonic Boom as she and the Huntress followed along.
A few seconds later, the trio of heroes entered the room. The Huntress and Sonic Boom were greeted with many smiles and hellos from close friends. Lightspeed and the Jade Sentinel were thrilled once they heard of Sonic Boom’s decision to rejoin the team.
“Di Di, it will be great to have you back,” commented Lightspeed. “The Justice Society seems broken without a Black Canary in its’ ranks.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” added Hawk Warrior. “Di Di’s courage and commitment to heroics is a shining example to other heroes.” he said confirming he believed she did the right thing when she ended Dr. Light’s pitiful existence.
“This is great news,” the Jade Sentinel said putting his arm around Sonic Boom’s shoulder. “Three new members in one day is definitely something to brag about. Di Di, let me introduce you to the other two he said bringing her up to another blonde haired woman wearing a red and gold seemingly-Wonder Woman inspired costume. I believe you’ve met Wonder Woman’s near-immortal daughter Fury before but just in case you haven’t…”
Fury stood up to greet her newest teammate, “Welcome back to the team, Di Di. Hector has told me about your valiance and tenacity. The women from my mother’s island would honor you with a medal if you were to visit them one day after your recent defense against womanhood.”
The Jade Sentinel then led Sonic Boom on to a man dressed in a trench coat, fedora, and a gas-mask, “This is Wesley Dodds’ grandson. He calls himself Dreamsweeper.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dreamsweeper’s muffled voice came through his gas-mask as he stood up and shook Sonic Boom’s hand.
“I love the fedora. It always added so much to your grandfather’s costume,” recalled Sonic Boom.
“Thanks, I hope to put it to good use,” advised Dreamsweeper as he took off his gas mask to clean its’ lenses.
“Uh oh, guys! We’ve got trouble!” called out Lightspeed.
“What’s going on, Jason?” the Huntress asked curiously.
“It’s Solomon Grundy again,” answered the fastest man alive. “He’s trampling through Washington D.C.!”
“The Sixty Minute Soldier and I will take care of him,” advised Dr. Fate as he floated in the air and created a magic portal to transport he and his teammate.
“Are you sure the whole team shouldn’t go?” suggested the Jade Sentinel.
“Nonsense,” countered Dr. Fate. “This boy’s grandfather and I took down Grundy by ourselves years ago. There’s no reason lightning can’t strike twice.”
“I’ll send that pasty-faced zombie right to the bottom of the nearest swamp,” declared the Sixty Minute Soldier as he punched his own fist.”
“We’ll call if we need assistance,” Dr Fate said as he and the Sixty Minute Soldier dashed through his portal.
“Well, if Fate and the Soldier are gonna take care of Grundy, how about I take care of you, beautiful?” the Emerald Archer said as he put his arm around Sonic Boom. “I hear you need a place to stay. There’s plenty of room in the Arrow Cave…”
Sonic Boom was incredible annoyed by the Emerald Archer’s latest play for her. She simply glared at him out of the corner of her eye and then without saying anything, kneed him in the groin. She then shook her head and walked across the room.
The slightly hunched over gasped for a few seconds and then said, “Uhh…I think I’ll be going now.”
“Looks like you’re gonna need someone to drive you home, partner,” pointed out the Vigilante. “Come on,” he said putting his left arm under the archer’s, helping to support him as he walked.
“Sorry about the Archer, Sonic Boom,” Liberty Belle said, disappointed in her comrade. “He’s always a bit on the aggressive side but I’ve never seen him this bad before.”
“I probably acted a bit rash but I’m really in no mood for some creep trying to get me into bed right now,” Sonic Boom said as she took a deep breath trying to relax.
“Well, he was right about one thing,” Robin said, surprising Sonic Boom.
“Oh, and what’s that?” she asked, her voice becoming a bit elevated.
“You do need a place to stay if you’re going to be here on Earth 2 for a while,” replied the former Boy Wonder. “The Huntress and I are staying in Wayne Manor and I’m sure we have an extra room or two available for you if you’d like.”
“I…I don’t know…” paused Sonic Boom. While she was eager to jump on the offer to stay in such a luxurious home, she wasn’t sure she could handle living under the same roof as the Huntress at the present moment.
“Give it some thought Di Di. We’d love to have you,” affirmed Helena Wayne. “You can even have one of the rooms in the opposite wing as mi….”
Suddenly, a strange gas filled the room. Everyone in the room began cough and choking as the sinister vapor filled the room. Lightspeed tried to act, hoping to form a mini-tornado to disperse the gas but it was too fast acting. Within mere seconds, he and the rest of his teammates collapsed to the ground, completely unconcious.
A few minutes later, a woman followed by several men stormed into the room, wearing gas masks.
“I’ll bet you thought this place was impenetrable?” teased the woman talking to her sleeping victims. “It would have been for just about anyone except for a descendent of one of your former members. Yes, I finally stumbled upon my grandfather’s told notes. The secret security codes for this place were just waiting for me to use them at just the right time. For now you all sleep but tomorrow, the games begin!” shouted Roulette as she took off her gas mask and raised it into the air.
TO BE CONTINUED
Written & Edited By: Power Guy
Downtown Metropolis…
“Supergirl, what are you doing here?” Starman asked in shock.
“Saving your sorry @$$!” snapped the modern-age girl of steel as she shook Zy-kree back and forth.
“Get that Red Kryptonite away from me…” pleaded Zy-Kree as blood gushed from his nose.
“Ha! Sure, you get beat by a girl and you try to cover it up by trying to say that there’s Kryptonite in the area,” scoffed Supergirl. “You really are a loser, aren’t you?”
“No, it’s true!” insisted Zy-Kree. “My powers are gone. You’re wearing Feminist’s Kryptonite!” he said, struggling to lift his arm and pointing to Supergirl’s chest.
“Whatever…..” growled Supergirl, as she cocked back her arm, ready to punch Zy-Kree again when Wonder Warrior grabbed her wrist.
“That’s enough, Jenna!” directed the son of Donna and Kyle Rayner. “He’s clearly beaten now let him go and hand over your necklace!”
“You want Zy-Kree so bad?” asked Supergirl, “Fine! TAKE HIM!” she yelled, throwing Zy-Kree at Wonder Warrior and then taking to the sky.
Wonder Warrior’s speed allowed him to catch Zy-Kree without any injuries to either of them.
“You’ve got to stop her. The longer she has that Kryptonite, the more out of control she’ll become,” explained Zy-Kree.
“We will!” confirmed Nightvision as he made his way towards the group. He looked upward and noticed that Starman was already flying after his old flame. Nightvision shot his Bat-grapple at Supergirl, snagging her legs and momentarily startling her.
As Starman caught up to her, he tried reasoning with the daughter of Clark and Lois Kent, “Jenna, please stop. That Kryptonite is obviously messing with your head.”
As Supergirl used her heat-vision to destroy the cable around her legs, she spat, “This isn’t Kryptonite, Scott. It’s a ruby-necklace that some fan sent me. If it was Red Kryptonite, it would have affected me long before now. In fact, I feel better…….stronger than EVER!”
“But Zy-Kree said…”
“He’s lying. He’s a criminal Why do you think he was put in the Phantom Zone in the first place,” reminded the new-age girl of steel.
“They why has he lost his powers?” countered Scott Stone. “He’s stopped fighting us. Why else would he do that?”
“Good work stalling her, Starman. We’ll take her from here,” Wonder Warrior said as he, Kid Comet, and the Queen Bee joined in the fray.
“No-one’s taking me anywhere, Chris,” decreed Supergirl, eyes glowing red. “Back off while you still can.”
“Jenna - please…” Starman said, advancing towards Supergirl until the Arachnid arrived, holding him back firmly.
“Dude, let the others handle this. You’re way too emotionally involved,” pointed out the bug-themed hero.
“Let me go. I’m in control,” insisted Starman as he struggled to loosen himself from the Arachnid’s grip to no avail.
As the Spider-Star team were busy arguing, Supergirl had begun to attack Wonder Warrior and the others. She was shooting blasts of her heat-vision at the Themyscrian prince which he was blocking with his Lansinar bracelets. Kid Comet had hoped to end this squabble without further harm to anyone and used one of his mental attacks on the girl of steel. Instantly, Supergirl began to feel her head pound and knew what the futuristic telepath was up to. Using her super-breath, she blew him into Queen Bee who was floating in the air behind him. The two heroes banged heads together, temporarily rendering Kid Comet’s mental abilities useless. She then used her super-speed and grabbed Kid Comet and used him as a human-bat and smashed him into Wonder Warrior’ sending them both crashing into the ground.
“We’re getting nowhere fast….” grumbled Nightvision as his mind began racing through possible ways of stopping the blonde-haired Kryptonian.
Supergirl began to feel a bit empowered after defeating three of her former teammates so quickly, “Now hopefully that will teach you losers to stay out of my way. See you around,” she said sarcastically as she prepared to depart until suddenly she found herself surrounded by Nucleus’ gigantic right fist.
“Not so fast Jenna,” advised the world’s smartest scientist. “You’re not well. You need to let us help you.”
“Let me go Jason or you’ll be sorry!”
Thinking quickly, Nucleus wrapped his left fist around his right one, hoping to keep his hold on Supergirl. “Not a chance. We’re taking you back to the Hall.”
“Who are you kidding?” Supergirl spat as she burned both of Nucleus’ hands with her heat vision, thus releasing her from his grasp.
Meanwhile, Powerstorm was several yards away wondering what to do, He then contacted his dad telepathically hoping to get some advice. “Dad, what did you do when Superman got out of hand when you were both in the JLA?”
“The one thing you can’t do, son,” answered Ronnie Raymond. “I made a bunch of Kryptonite but who knows if that would even stop her with the possibility of that being Red Kryptonite around her neck. Just make sure you stay back so it doesn’t affect you if that’s the real deal. I do have an idea though…”
Down on the ground, the Elongated Lad was throwing all sorts of debris at Supergirl, hoping to keep her occupied until the others thought of something. “Jenna! Knock this craziness off! When we were on Earth 1, you never acted all loony like this!”
“Throw one more thing at me Rick and I swear I’ll tie you in so many knots that you’ll never get loose!” threatened Supergirl, teeth gritted. All of a sudden, Supergirl felt an immense pain in her ears. The Flash had set off a series of sonic-booms around her, knowing full well that Supergirl’s extraordinary hearing would suffer more than anyone else’s from her attack. “Arrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh!!!” Supergirl cried out. “That’s it Willma, I’m sending you back to Bedrock!!!” she said, flying towards the Flash.
“Looks like I really ticked her off,” Wilma West thought to herself. She decided to take Supergirl on and began racing towards her hoping to build up enough momentum to stun the modern-age girl of steel, however, before the two opponents could meet, Supergirl found herself encased in a block of solid titanium from the shoulders down, courtesy of Powerstorm.
Nightvision swung over on a Bat-rope and landed in front of the daughter of Superman, wearing a gas-mask. He quickly pulled a capsule from his utility-belt which emitted sleep-gas, finally neutralizing Supergirl.
“They’ve got her!” noticed Wonder Warrior as he, Kid Comet, and Queen Bee regained their senses as they made their way over towards Supergirl. “Now to get that Kryptonite off of her neck!” Wonder Warrior said as he reached for the glowing gem until suddenly it was covered by a green lead box.
“Don’t sweat it Christope. I’ve got it under control,” advised Green Lantern as he, Power Guy, Wonder Man, and Argos arrived on the scene.
“GL! When did you get back?” asked Wonder Warrior looking upward as he four comrades descended to the ground.
“About ten minutes ago,” answered Power Guy. “The Wonder Twins had been monitoring your fights with Zy-Kree and Supergirl and filled us in. I grabbed my Phantom Zone Projector from the Hall’s amory and we headed right over.”
“Zy-Kree doesn’t look like much of a threat,” observed Wonder Man.
“He claims that Supergirl is wearing something called Feminists’ Kryptonite,” explained Starman(who had finally been released by the Arachnid). “He said it took away his powers. Supergirl said he was lying.”
“No, I think he’s telling the truth with the condition he‘s in,” revealed Power Guy. “Feminists’ Kryptonite works adversely on male Kryptonians but augments the abilities of female Kryptonians. It also makes them moody, irrational, and headstrong.”
“That’s exactly how Jenna’s been acting since she got that necklace, Power Guy!” exclaimed Starman. “This explains everything!”
“Everything except who sent her the necklace,” pointed out Nightvision. “Nucleus, let’s get Green Lantern’s box back to the Hall where you and I can safely examine that rock.”
“Good idea,” agreed the size-changing Titan. “We’ll run a d.n.a. test on that rock and figure out who sent it to her in no time.”
“Allow me to provide the transportation,” Green Lantern said, forming a platform with his ring for all of the non-flyers to board.
“First things first GL,” reminded Power Guy as he aimed the Phantom Zone projector at Zy-Kree, “Back you go Zy-Kree before your powers return!”
“NOOOO!!!! I’m not fit to go back there!” screamed Zy-Kree as he began to dematerialize. “I’ll get you for this Power Guy! I SWEAR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!”
As the Titans headed back to the Hall, Wonder Warrior sighed with relief and thought to himself, “That could have gotten really ugly. At least Jenna will be ok now.”
***
Opal City…
The new, female Shade stood atop Opal City’s tallest building. In her right hand, she held a seemingly defeated Stellar by his throat over the side of the building. “Look at all of those people down there!” she grinned ear to ear. “To think you’ll be nothing but a splat in a few seconds. Do you wonder if anyone will even recognize you after you hit the ground?”
“Rachel…..d..d…don’t do this,” pleaded Stellar. Though the two were constantly at odds since Rachel Swift became the new Shade, Stellar still cared deeply for his former girlfriend. “This isn’t you…” He had hoped to at least stall Rachel until he figured out how to get loose from her grasp without hurting her so he could get his Cosmic Converter Belt which had been thrown several feet away by his former flame. He kept hoping maybe Sherry would wake up and distract Rachel or something but she was still lying motionless at the Shade’s feet from being struck down earlier.
“This isn’t me???” repeated the Shade. “Ha! I’ve never felt better in my life. I feel so free! So unihibited! So……….DANGEROUS!!!”
“Now say your goodbyes to your blond haired tramp here but don’t worry, she’ll be joining you soon enough!” the Shade cackled insanely.
Suddeny, Rachel Swift was punched in the side of her face which caused her to release Stellar who began to plummet downward.
As the star-spangled teen, descended to what he thought would be his doom, a warp-hole opened up beneath him, transporting him back up to the roof safely. As he exited the warp-hole, he was relieved to see “Phantom Lady! You’re alive!”
“Yes, no thanks to your ex-girlfriend here,” Sandra Knight said, breaking the now unconscious Shade’s Nightstick over her knee. “When the Shade threw me over the roof, I opened up a warp-hole for myself much like I did for you and have been hiding under the protection of my black-light field ever since. I kept hoping you’d find a way to free yourself so I could attack her without worrying about you but the opportunity never presented itself so I was forced to act and come up with plan B.”
While the two heroes were conversing, Sherry Girl of Two Thousand Gimmicks was coming to, “Oh….my aching head…”
“Sherry, are you alright?” asked a concerned Stellar as he put his Cosmic Converter Belt back around his waist.
“Did anyone get the licence plate of that truck,” the daughter of Brainwave Jr. mumbled while rubbing her forehead.
“Thanks for saving us P.L.!” smiled Stellar. “By the way, what’s with the new costume?”
“For years, I used my costume….or lack there of to distract criminals but after the whole mess with Dr. Light, I just don’t think it’s appropriate for me to dress that way any more,” answered the former member of the Freedom Fighters.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” agreed the son of Billy Batson. “Well, I’m going to try and get Rachel here some help. Sherry, are you able to tag along in case she gets out of line again?”
“You bet, dream-boat!” answered Sherry, enthusiastically. She clicked a button on her belt and a mini jet-pack popped out of the back of her jacket.
“Ok, P.L., we’ll be seeing you. Thanks again for the assist!” Stellar said as he picked up the Shade and he and Sherry took to the air.
Phantom Lady stood still for a few minutes, watching Stellar and Sherry until they were out of view. “Well, I guess I’d better get going….” she said opening up another warp-hole to transport her home until she was interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.
“Not so fast, honey.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Phantom Lady noticed, “Blackbird! You’re a long way from Gotham City….and how long have you been watching me?”
“Long enough to know that you still fight as well as you did during World War II but then again, with your revised history since the recent Crisis, that shouldn’t surprise anyone,” commented the former love interest of Nightvision. “Do the Titans know that since the Crisis, your timeline was changed so that you never aged since World War II thanks to a side-effect of your Black-light Ray and that for a while you wore make-up and a grey wig to fool your family and friends into thinking you were aging right alongside them? Surely a seemingly immortal such as yourself feels a bit out of place with all of the young punks in the Titans of Justice. You must be feeling like a total Outsider since the Crisis….”
“I’m not joining your group, Blackbird,” declined Phantom Lady. “I fit in just fine with the Titans even if most of them are mental younger than I am. Plus I’m the only family my nephew Scott has left on Earth.”
“He’s a big boy now. He can take care of himself,” Blackbird said, hoping to get Phantom Lady to see things her way. “We sure could use someone with your stealth abilities on my team.”
“Forget it! I’m not interested in getting involved in your lovers’ quarrel with Nightvision,” snapped Phantom Lady, a bit annoyed. “Cross me off the list!” she said, disappearing into her warp-hole.
“Dammit! She would have been perfect,” Blackbird commented, biting her lip. “Hmm….maybe Blackout would be interested?”
***
The Hall of Justice…
“Well it looks like the older Titans have both Zy-Kree and Supergirl under control and are heading back to the Hall,” observed Zan.
“Good thing Power Guy and the others showed up when they did,” added Jayna. “Let’s see what else is going on in the rest of the world,” she said, switching channels on the Trouble Alert. After flipping through several channels that had nothing interesting to offer, she finally stopped when she saw a familiar face, “Hey - that’s Lady Light in that news cast and she‘s wearing a new costume!” She promptly turned up the volume a bit so that she and her brother could hear what was going on:
“This is Cindy Chung, reporting living for NBC News. Asians all over the continent are celebrating the resurfacing of the continent’s premier hero Lady Light but get your White-out out as today mark’s a new day for the member of the Titans of Justice. After a battle earlier today with Dr. Polaris, she announced she has changed her name to Illumina due to the recent ordeal with Dr. Light. Another part of her moving forward is the new costume she’s sporting. While still sexy and stunning, she conveys a more conservative look most likely due to the tragedy she witnessed thanks to the now deceased Doctor Light. Again, this is Cindy Chung reporting live!”
“Wow! She looks great and I love her new name!” said Jayna as the news cast ended.”
“Yeah but who would have ever thought that goofy, old Dr. Light would affect so many heroes after his death? Between Sonic Boom and Dark Arrow quitting, Trickshot in a mental ward, and some of the female Titans altering their costumes, things are certainly different.”
“Yeah, totally,” agreed Jayna. “What I wouldn’t give for us to be called on to rescue a lost boy from a bear in a cave…”
***
The headquarters of the Justice Society Unlimited, Earth 2...
Sonic Boom and the Huntress had just journeyed here from New Earth. The modern-age Birds of Prey was making their way down the hall to the main meeting room.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked the Huntress.
“Positive. I need a fresh start,” answered Sonic Boom, sternly. “Even if it means ignoring you the entire time I’m here.”
“You do realize that Hawk Warrior is an active member of both the Titans and the Society?” questioned the daughter of the Dark Knight.
“The difference is, he voted innocent,” spat the blonde bombshell. “So rather than rejoin the Titans and have to ignore twenty-some people, I’m going to rejoin the Society and all I have to do is ignore YOU!”
Before an argument could erupt between the two ladies, the elder Dick Grayson came around the corner wearing his Robin costume and greeted them, “Helena! Di Di! What a surprise!”
“Hi Dick…” the two women replied in unison, a bit nonchalantly.
The older Robin knew what had happed with Sonic Boom and Dr. Light on New Earth and could tell that she and the Huntress were still not seeing eye to eye since then. “It’s good to see you both but I have to say that I’m surprised to see you here Di Di. Are you just stopping by to say hello?”
“No, I’m here to ask for my spot back on the team,” revealed the third Black Canary.
“Really? That’s great! We’d love to have you back, especially the Emerald Archer….,” Robin teased with a smirk.
“Ugh………I was hoping he had quit and went into retirement by now,” frowned Sonic Boom.
The Huntress remained quiet while Robin and Sonic Boom conversed. She still felt horribly guilty over having to vote against Sonic Boom but she was glad to see seemingly former best-friend in good spirits again. She knew that Sonic Boom and Robin had gotten along quite well while they were both on Earth 2 and she was hoping maybe this would be a fresh start for Sonic Boom and perhaps she could get past the ordeal with Dr. Light.”
“Let’s all head to the meeting room,” motioned Robin. “The others are in there swearing in our new members.”
“New members?” asked Sonic Boom as she and the Huntress followed along.
A few seconds later, the trio of heroes entered the room. The Huntress and Sonic Boom were greeted with many smiles and hellos from close friends. Lightspeed and the Jade Sentinel were thrilled once they heard of Sonic Boom’s decision to rejoin the team.
“Di Di, it will be great to have you back,” commented Lightspeed. “The Justice Society seems broken without a Black Canary in its’ ranks.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” added Hawk Warrior. “Di Di’s courage and commitment to heroics is a shining example to other heroes.” he said confirming he believed she did the right thing when she ended Dr. Light’s pitiful existence.
“This is great news,” the Jade Sentinel said putting his arm around Sonic Boom’s shoulder. “Three new members in one day is definitely something to brag about. Di Di, let me introduce you to the other two he said bringing her up to another blonde haired woman wearing a red and gold seemingly-Wonder Woman inspired costume. I believe you’ve met Wonder Woman’s near-immortal daughter Fury before but just in case you haven’t…”
Fury stood up to greet her newest teammate, “Welcome back to the team, Di Di. Hector has told me about your valiance and tenacity. The women from my mother’s island would honor you with a medal if you were to visit them one day after your recent defense against womanhood.”
The Jade Sentinel then led Sonic Boom on to a man dressed in a trench coat, fedora, and a gas-mask, “This is Wesley Dodds’ grandson. He calls himself Dreamsweeper.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dreamsweeper’s muffled voice came through his gas-mask as he stood up and shook Sonic Boom’s hand.
“I love the fedora. It always added so much to your grandfather’s costume,” recalled Sonic Boom.
“Thanks, I hope to put it to good use,” advised Dreamsweeper as he took off his gas mask to clean its’ lenses.
“Uh oh, guys! We’ve got trouble!” called out Lightspeed.
“What’s going on, Jason?” the Huntress asked curiously.
“It’s Solomon Grundy again,” answered the fastest man alive. “He’s trampling through Washington D.C.!”
“The Sixty Minute Soldier and I will take care of him,” advised Dr. Fate as he floated in the air and created a magic portal to transport he and his teammate.
“Are you sure the whole team shouldn’t go?” suggested the Jade Sentinel.
“Nonsense,” countered Dr. Fate. “This boy’s grandfather and I took down Grundy by ourselves years ago. There’s no reason lightning can’t strike twice.”
“I’ll send that pasty-faced zombie right to the bottom of the nearest swamp,” declared the Sixty Minute Soldier as he punched his own fist.”
“We’ll call if we need assistance,” Dr Fate said as he and the Sixty Minute Soldier dashed through his portal.
“Well, if Fate and the Soldier are gonna take care of Grundy, how about I take care of you, beautiful?” the Emerald Archer said as he put his arm around Sonic Boom. “I hear you need a place to stay. There’s plenty of room in the Arrow Cave…”
Sonic Boom was incredible annoyed by the Emerald Archer’s latest play for her. She simply glared at him out of the corner of her eye and then without saying anything, kneed him in the groin. She then shook her head and walked across the room.
The slightly hunched over gasped for a few seconds and then said, “Uhh…I think I’ll be going now.”
“Looks like you’re gonna need someone to drive you home, partner,” pointed out the Vigilante. “Come on,” he said putting his left arm under the archer’s, helping to support him as he walked.
“Sorry about the Archer, Sonic Boom,” Liberty Belle said, disappointed in her comrade. “He’s always a bit on the aggressive side but I’ve never seen him this bad before.”
“I probably acted a bit rash but I’m really in no mood for some creep trying to get me into bed right now,” Sonic Boom said as she took a deep breath trying to relax.
“Well, he was right about one thing,” Robin said, surprising Sonic Boom.
“Oh, and what’s that?” she asked, her voice becoming a bit elevated.
“You do need a place to stay if you’re going to be here on Earth 2 for a while,” replied the former Boy Wonder. “The Huntress and I are staying in Wayne Manor and I’m sure we have an extra room or two available for you if you’d like.”
“I…I don’t know…” paused Sonic Boom. While she was eager to jump on the offer to stay in such a luxurious home, she wasn’t sure she could handle living under the same roof as the Huntress at the present moment.
“Give it some thought Di Di. We’d love to have you,” affirmed Helena Wayne. “You can even have one of the rooms in the opposite wing as mi….”
Suddenly, a strange gas filled the room. Everyone in the room began cough and choking as the sinister vapor filled the room. Lightspeed tried to act, hoping to form a mini-tornado to disperse the gas but it was too fast acting. Within mere seconds, he and the rest of his teammates collapsed to the ground, completely unconcious.
A few minutes later, a woman followed by several men stormed into the room, wearing gas masks.
“I’ll bet you thought this place was impenetrable?” teased the woman talking to her sleeping victims. “It would have been for just about anyone except for a descendent of one of your former members. Yes, I finally stumbled upon my grandfather’s told notes. The secret security codes for this place were just waiting for me to use them at just the right time. For now you all sleep but tomorrow, the games begin!” shouted Roulette as she took off her gas mask and raised it into the air.
TO BE CONTINUED