Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 4:09:45 GMT -5
The Titans of Justice Chapter 2: Doom’s Day Déjà vu Part 2
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
Multiple miniature projectiles embedded in a man’s back will knock him out for quite some time, and that was the case with Strato Hawk. Eventually regaining consciousness, the avian hero realized that it was his Nth metal armor that had kept him alive. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs that cluttered his thoughts, he hoped his call to Nightvision had been effective. “He’s my only hope of getting out of here alive,” he muttered under his breath.
As if in answer to his resumption of consciousness, Strato Hawk was greeted by the oppressive entrance of Black Manta and Solomon Grundy. They walked up to Strato Hawk’s cell while he struggled to his feet to meet them.
“Well Hawk-boy, you’re awake again I see,” Black Manta growled in a chilling tone. “Lucky for you, we’re going to let you out.” He placed a restraining hand in front of his lumbering companion, preventing the near-mindless creature from staggering forward onto the protective shield on Strato Hawk’s cell.
Glaring at his captors, Strato Hawk folded his arms across his chest. “I know better than think this won’t come with a price Manta,” he retorted, rubbing his sore arms.
“You’re right,” Manta replied. “You’ll be back here shortly.” Snickering evilly, the villain mimicked his stance, folding his own arms across his chest. “All we need for you to do,” he drawled slowly, “is to turn on the Hall of Justice computer system. Then we’ll bring you back to your cell to suffer in peace.”
“Even if I did know how to turn on the computer system, there’s no way I’d do anything for you!” He threw himself at them, but the cell’s shield held him back. As he fell, the pain in his back stabbed at his already weakened nerves and he passed out.
“Weak simpleton,” growled Black Manta in disgust. Beneath his mask, he sneered at the prone form lying before them.
“Hmm… bird-man take another nap,” drawled Grundy in his slurred Southern accent. “Grundy shake him. He wake up!” Once again he started to lumber forward, and once again Manta’s hand shot out to hold him back. The larger man glared angrily at Black Manta, but he stopped his progress.
“You’ll aggravate his injuries,” hissed Manta. Grundy only stared at him with a confused and angry grimace on his face. “Idiot! Shake him and you’ll kill him!” Still, Grundy’s pasty face registered no recognition. The large oaf had no problem killing their captor, and was beginning to grow impatient with Black Manta. “He’s no good to us dead!” explained Manta, finally making his point. “d**n that fool! He’s lost too much blood to stay conscious for very long. Brainiac will have to keep trying to hot-wire the computers.” He sighed in disgust, and led Grundy away from the cell.
“Grundy not understand,” mumbled the larger man in his gravelly voice. “Grundy wanted to shake bird-man.” He followed along, darting a glance at Strato Hawk as he lay on the cell floor. “Hungry,” he uttered. “Grundy like sucking brains out of crawfish!”
• • •
During the short time Strato Hawk was assaulted and interrogated by the Legion of Doom, a very different event was taking place high above the streets of Gotham City. Atop the Gotham Police headquarters, several people converged in the shadows, wondering why they were so urgently summoned.
Junjie Quick is the first to arrive. He was followed shortly afterwards by Power Guy. Soon several other heroes arrived on the scene. Jemstone joined Quick and Guy, and the group soon included Dark Arrow and Green Lantern, who arrived together in a glowing green sphere created by Lantern’s ring. Wonder Man’s invisible jet brought him to the meeting, along with the mysterious sorceress Sargona, Celsius, and Icemanling.
“Where’s Nightvision?” demanded Wonder Man, peering about.
“I haven’t seen him,” answered Power Guy. “All he said was to meet him here in 30 minutes and then he hung up. That was half an hour ago, and now he’s late. I don’t have time to stand around,” he concluded, joining Wonder Man in scanning the area.
“Keep your cape on!” Nightvision’s whispered admonition startled several of them as he emerged from the shadows. “I had to drop Alter Ego off at Arkham.” He brushed his hands off. “I was delayed.”
“Clayface’s son?” questioned Dark Arrow.
Nightvison nodded. After a slight pause, he addressed the entourage. “I suppose you’re all wondering why I summoned you here.” He was met with nods of agreement and questioning glances. “I know most of us don’t know each other very well… but we’re going to need to work together. We’ve got a… a situation on our hands.” When he saw that he had their rapt attention, Nightvision elaborated. “A few hours ago, I got a call from Hawkman’s protégé Strato Hawk. He was at the Hall of Justice… Claimed that the Legion of Doom had broken in. He was about to say more, but his phone went dead. We need to get into the Hall of Justice, rescue Strato Hawk, and take down the Legion. Shouldn’t be too hard. Most of them are pushing senior-citizenship.”
“Wait a minute” interrupted Power Guy. “Power Girl told me that Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, and Brainiac were locked in the Phantom Zone. How could they have gotten out?” He shook his head in disagreement. “It’s not the Legion of Doom. You probably misunderstood.”
“Sinestro is trapped in the mother power-battery on Oa,” added Green Lantern.
“I don’t know the details. I’m only reporting what was communicated to me. Regardless of who he is facing, the Hall still contains quite a bit of weapons and information that should never fall into their evil clutches.” Nightvision placed his hands on his hips, awaiting their assent to join him.
“If the Legion is in the Hall Justice,” began Junjie Quick, “then why bring us to Gotham City?” Not that it mattered, since Quick could easily be anywhere within seconds, but the situation was not all that clear to him or the others.
Nightvision pressed a button on a small hand-held remote. “On top of this very building is a working JLA teleporter. We can use to get into the Hall. Look behind you.” The others turned away from Nightvision and saw the streamlined structure. “I’ve disabled the invisibility field,” he explained. He advanced upon it and entered it, beckoning the others to join him.
“Looks like you’ve made up our minds for us,” muttered Dark Arrow as he watched some of the others blindly follow Nightvision into the device. “Just like that, huh? We’re all going to drop what we were doing and go on this wild goose-chase?”
“Either you’re in or you’re not,” spoke Nightvision calmly. He made way for Jemstone, who stood close to him. The teleporter was beginning to resemble a crowded elevator. “Time to make a choice, Arrow,” he said. “We’re heroes. We need to walk the walk; not just talk the talk.”
“Are you sure you know how to work this thing?” demanded Icemanling as he nervously stepped inside and pressed himself close against the others. “How do I know my molecules won’t end up on Pluto?”
“Take my word for it,” Nightvision assured him. “I’ve used these things several times. I used one just last week to get to China,” said Nightvision. He winked at Jemstone. “I’m still in one piece. Every part of me.” Jemstone smiled nervously and averted her eyes.
“Fine,” uttered Dark Arrow, joining the crowd tightly jammed inside the teleporter. “Let’s do this thing. Hi Jemmy,” he murmured, his face pressed close to hers.
Utilizing the same hand-held remote, Nightvision powered up the telelporter. None of them aside from Nightvision had experienced this mode of travel before, so none were prepared for the subsequent events. The lights flared up, the tube started to hum and vibrate… then shut down without warning.
A computerized voice came from the speaker-system inside the tube, startling them all. “Access denied! Access denied!”
“Son of a—” spluttered Nightvision angrily. He pushed the others out of the teleporter, rudely shoving them out of his way. “The Legion must have deactivated… or damaged the teleporter at the Hall of Justice.” He stared at a small screen on the remote device as he jammed a sequence of buttons. “They probably did that… just to… keep the Justice League out.” He glared angrily at the remote, aware of the angrily looks he was getting from the others.
Icemanling stretched backward and rolled his eyes. “We’re wasting our tiiiiiime,” he spoke in a sing-song voice.
Ignoring him, Nightvision spoke. “Okay, here’s plan B. Jemstone— with your ability to turn yourself into light, you should be able to get past the Hall’s force-field; correct?”
“I believe so,” she demurred, rubbing her chin.
“All right. Once you get inside the building, we’ll need you to disable that force-field. The rest of us can take Wonder Man’s jet and head towards Metropolis. We’ll need to stop in Detroit and pick up one more person. We’ll meet outside the Hall and wait for the force-field to drop.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “We’re counting on you, Jemstone.”
“This guy’s got b_lls,” commented Dark Arrow to Green Lantern in a whisper. “You think he’s got any leadership issues, or is he just on a power trip?”
Jemstone, aware of her assignment, rose to take flight. As the other heroes were boarding The Invisible Jet, Power Guy stopped her. “Do us a favor,” he suggested, realizing the potential threat that might await them at the Hall of Justice, “once you’re inside the Hall… find Brainiac. The robot. Destroy Brainiac so we have one less psychopath to worry about.”
“Umm… okay,” assented Jemstone with a bit of uncertainty. She turned as she flew off. “I’ll see you there!” She melted into light and headed towards the Hall of Justice.
Within minutes Jemstone had arrived on the grounds of the Hall of Justice. “Here goes nothing!” she said as she merged her energy with the force-field. She emitted a pulse that shot through the Hall’s electrical-system and shorted out the force-field. The only indication of her action was a faint crackle and a few sparks. Carefully resuming her physical form, Jemstone crouched behind a copse of bushes and waited for the others to join her.
Several minutes later, Nightvision and company arrived just outside the Hall of Justice. Silently they all poured out of the invisible jet, joining their compatriot behind the shielding flora.
“Fast ride, amigo!” commented Vibe II. He patted Wonder Man on the back. “Thanks for picking me up, man.”
“No problem,” whispered the jet pilot absently, scanning what he could see of the Hall of Justice. “I love seeing people’s faces the first time they ride in my jet!”
Nightvision lowered the binoculars he was peering through. “The force-field’s already down,” he noticed, nodding appreciatively at Jemstone. “We’ll go through the back.” He led the way, the others following closely behind.
The young heroes stealthily headed around the building and found their way to the back entrance, slipping inside unnoticed.
Already inside the building, Jemstone rendered herself nearly transparent by refracting the light from her body. She started searching through the building to find Brainiac; recalling Power Guy’s admonition to her. “Do us a favor… Destroy Brainiac.” Traversing the building was no effort for her, and in no time at all she located her target in the Hall’s control-room.
“The Hall of Justice’s computer system will soon be mine,” droned Brainiac in his monotonous voice. His fingers moved at lightning speed across the computer keyboard as his eyes scanned the monitor. “I am nearly finished.”
“Hurry up Mr. Know-it-all. I’d like to get back to the past. I have a Hawk to fry!” Toyman’s wheedling voice was nasally and high pitched. The smaller villain skulked behind Brainiac as he worked, watching his every move. “C’mon man. You’re Brainiac. You should’ve had this done hours ago. What’s wrong? Getting slow in your old age?”
“Be silent, imbecile,” droned Brainiac. “I must concentrate.” He did not allow Toyman’s antics to distract him, nor would he admit that the Hall’s computer system firewalls were more of a challenge than he had considered.
Jemstone realized it was now or never. Shooting out into the open, she materialized and faced the two villains at the computer terminal. “Time to decommission you, you walking PDA!” she cried as she hurled a huge blast of energy towards Brainiac. Her fingers crackled as the light energy surged forth.
In a fluid movement, Brainiac nonchalantly grabbled Toyman and used the startled villain as a shield.
The searing light energy collided with Toyman’s chest, enveloping him in the burning beam. “Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!” he screamed as his body was scorched and immolated. He erupted into flame as Brainiac dropped him, and turned to ash as his lifeless body crumbled to the floor.
Her action was not without witnesses. Mere seconds later, Nightvsion and the others burst into the room, drawn by the loud crackling of energy and Toyman’s screams.
“Jemstone!” cried Celsius incredulously. “What have you done?”
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
Multiple miniature projectiles embedded in a man’s back will knock him out for quite some time, and that was the case with Strato Hawk. Eventually regaining consciousness, the avian hero realized that it was his Nth metal armor that had kept him alive. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs that cluttered his thoughts, he hoped his call to Nightvision had been effective. “He’s my only hope of getting out of here alive,” he muttered under his breath.
As if in answer to his resumption of consciousness, Strato Hawk was greeted by the oppressive entrance of Black Manta and Solomon Grundy. They walked up to Strato Hawk’s cell while he struggled to his feet to meet them.
“Well Hawk-boy, you’re awake again I see,” Black Manta growled in a chilling tone. “Lucky for you, we’re going to let you out.” He placed a restraining hand in front of his lumbering companion, preventing the near-mindless creature from staggering forward onto the protective shield on Strato Hawk’s cell.
Glaring at his captors, Strato Hawk folded his arms across his chest. “I know better than think this won’t come with a price Manta,” he retorted, rubbing his sore arms.
“You’re right,” Manta replied. “You’ll be back here shortly.” Snickering evilly, the villain mimicked his stance, folding his own arms across his chest. “All we need for you to do,” he drawled slowly, “is to turn on the Hall of Justice computer system. Then we’ll bring you back to your cell to suffer in peace.”
“Even if I did know how to turn on the computer system, there’s no way I’d do anything for you!” He threw himself at them, but the cell’s shield held him back. As he fell, the pain in his back stabbed at his already weakened nerves and he passed out.
“Weak simpleton,” growled Black Manta in disgust. Beneath his mask, he sneered at the prone form lying before them.
“Hmm… bird-man take another nap,” drawled Grundy in his slurred Southern accent. “Grundy shake him. He wake up!” Once again he started to lumber forward, and once again Manta’s hand shot out to hold him back. The larger man glared angrily at Black Manta, but he stopped his progress.
“You’ll aggravate his injuries,” hissed Manta. Grundy only stared at him with a confused and angry grimace on his face. “Idiot! Shake him and you’ll kill him!” Still, Grundy’s pasty face registered no recognition. The large oaf had no problem killing their captor, and was beginning to grow impatient with Black Manta. “He’s no good to us dead!” explained Manta, finally making his point. “d**n that fool! He’s lost too much blood to stay conscious for very long. Brainiac will have to keep trying to hot-wire the computers.” He sighed in disgust, and led Grundy away from the cell.
“Grundy not understand,” mumbled the larger man in his gravelly voice. “Grundy wanted to shake bird-man.” He followed along, darting a glance at Strato Hawk as he lay on the cell floor. “Hungry,” he uttered. “Grundy like sucking brains out of crawfish!”
• • •
During the short time Strato Hawk was assaulted and interrogated by the Legion of Doom, a very different event was taking place high above the streets of Gotham City. Atop the Gotham Police headquarters, several people converged in the shadows, wondering why they were so urgently summoned.
Junjie Quick is the first to arrive. He was followed shortly afterwards by Power Guy. Soon several other heroes arrived on the scene. Jemstone joined Quick and Guy, and the group soon included Dark Arrow and Green Lantern, who arrived together in a glowing green sphere created by Lantern’s ring. Wonder Man’s invisible jet brought him to the meeting, along with the mysterious sorceress Sargona, Celsius, and Icemanling.
“Where’s Nightvision?” demanded Wonder Man, peering about.
“I haven’t seen him,” answered Power Guy. “All he said was to meet him here in 30 minutes and then he hung up. That was half an hour ago, and now he’s late. I don’t have time to stand around,” he concluded, joining Wonder Man in scanning the area.
“Keep your cape on!” Nightvision’s whispered admonition startled several of them as he emerged from the shadows. “I had to drop Alter Ego off at Arkham.” He brushed his hands off. “I was delayed.”
“Clayface’s son?” questioned Dark Arrow.
Nightvison nodded. After a slight pause, he addressed the entourage. “I suppose you’re all wondering why I summoned you here.” He was met with nods of agreement and questioning glances. “I know most of us don’t know each other very well… but we’re going to need to work together. We’ve got a… a situation on our hands.” When he saw that he had their rapt attention, Nightvision elaborated. “A few hours ago, I got a call from Hawkman’s protégé Strato Hawk. He was at the Hall of Justice… Claimed that the Legion of Doom had broken in. He was about to say more, but his phone went dead. We need to get into the Hall of Justice, rescue Strato Hawk, and take down the Legion. Shouldn’t be too hard. Most of them are pushing senior-citizenship.”
“Wait a minute” interrupted Power Guy. “Power Girl told me that Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, and Brainiac were locked in the Phantom Zone. How could they have gotten out?” He shook his head in disagreement. “It’s not the Legion of Doom. You probably misunderstood.”
“Sinestro is trapped in the mother power-battery on Oa,” added Green Lantern.
“I don’t know the details. I’m only reporting what was communicated to me. Regardless of who he is facing, the Hall still contains quite a bit of weapons and information that should never fall into their evil clutches.” Nightvision placed his hands on his hips, awaiting their assent to join him.
“If the Legion is in the Hall Justice,” began Junjie Quick, “then why bring us to Gotham City?” Not that it mattered, since Quick could easily be anywhere within seconds, but the situation was not all that clear to him or the others.
Nightvision pressed a button on a small hand-held remote. “On top of this very building is a working JLA teleporter. We can use to get into the Hall. Look behind you.” The others turned away from Nightvision and saw the streamlined structure. “I’ve disabled the invisibility field,” he explained. He advanced upon it and entered it, beckoning the others to join him.
“Looks like you’ve made up our minds for us,” muttered Dark Arrow as he watched some of the others blindly follow Nightvision into the device. “Just like that, huh? We’re all going to drop what we were doing and go on this wild goose-chase?”
“Either you’re in or you’re not,” spoke Nightvision calmly. He made way for Jemstone, who stood close to him. The teleporter was beginning to resemble a crowded elevator. “Time to make a choice, Arrow,” he said. “We’re heroes. We need to walk the walk; not just talk the talk.”
“Are you sure you know how to work this thing?” demanded Icemanling as he nervously stepped inside and pressed himself close against the others. “How do I know my molecules won’t end up on Pluto?”
“Take my word for it,” Nightvision assured him. “I’ve used these things several times. I used one just last week to get to China,” said Nightvision. He winked at Jemstone. “I’m still in one piece. Every part of me.” Jemstone smiled nervously and averted her eyes.
“Fine,” uttered Dark Arrow, joining the crowd tightly jammed inside the teleporter. “Let’s do this thing. Hi Jemmy,” he murmured, his face pressed close to hers.
Utilizing the same hand-held remote, Nightvision powered up the telelporter. None of them aside from Nightvision had experienced this mode of travel before, so none were prepared for the subsequent events. The lights flared up, the tube started to hum and vibrate… then shut down without warning.
A computerized voice came from the speaker-system inside the tube, startling them all. “Access denied! Access denied!”
“Son of a—” spluttered Nightvision angrily. He pushed the others out of the teleporter, rudely shoving them out of his way. “The Legion must have deactivated… or damaged the teleporter at the Hall of Justice.” He stared at a small screen on the remote device as he jammed a sequence of buttons. “They probably did that… just to… keep the Justice League out.” He glared angrily at the remote, aware of the angrily looks he was getting from the others.
Icemanling stretched backward and rolled his eyes. “We’re wasting our tiiiiiime,” he spoke in a sing-song voice.
Ignoring him, Nightvision spoke. “Okay, here’s plan B. Jemstone— with your ability to turn yourself into light, you should be able to get past the Hall’s force-field; correct?”
“I believe so,” she demurred, rubbing her chin.
“All right. Once you get inside the building, we’ll need you to disable that force-field. The rest of us can take Wonder Man’s jet and head towards Metropolis. We’ll need to stop in Detroit and pick up one more person. We’ll meet outside the Hall and wait for the force-field to drop.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “We’re counting on you, Jemstone.”
“This guy’s got b_lls,” commented Dark Arrow to Green Lantern in a whisper. “You think he’s got any leadership issues, or is he just on a power trip?”
Jemstone, aware of her assignment, rose to take flight. As the other heroes were boarding The Invisible Jet, Power Guy stopped her. “Do us a favor,” he suggested, realizing the potential threat that might await them at the Hall of Justice, “once you’re inside the Hall… find Brainiac. The robot. Destroy Brainiac so we have one less psychopath to worry about.”
“Umm… okay,” assented Jemstone with a bit of uncertainty. She turned as she flew off. “I’ll see you there!” She melted into light and headed towards the Hall of Justice.
Within minutes Jemstone had arrived on the grounds of the Hall of Justice. “Here goes nothing!” she said as she merged her energy with the force-field. She emitted a pulse that shot through the Hall’s electrical-system and shorted out the force-field. The only indication of her action was a faint crackle and a few sparks. Carefully resuming her physical form, Jemstone crouched behind a copse of bushes and waited for the others to join her.
Several minutes later, Nightvision and company arrived just outside the Hall of Justice. Silently they all poured out of the invisible jet, joining their compatriot behind the shielding flora.
“Fast ride, amigo!” commented Vibe II. He patted Wonder Man on the back. “Thanks for picking me up, man.”
“No problem,” whispered the jet pilot absently, scanning what he could see of the Hall of Justice. “I love seeing people’s faces the first time they ride in my jet!”
Nightvision lowered the binoculars he was peering through. “The force-field’s already down,” he noticed, nodding appreciatively at Jemstone. “We’ll go through the back.” He led the way, the others following closely behind.
The young heroes stealthily headed around the building and found their way to the back entrance, slipping inside unnoticed.
Already inside the building, Jemstone rendered herself nearly transparent by refracting the light from her body. She started searching through the building to find Brainiac; recalling Power Guy’s admonition to her. “Do us a favor… Destroy Brainiac.” Traversing the building was no effort for her, and in no time at all she located her target in the Hall’s control-room.
“The Hall of Justice’s computer system will soon be mine,” droned Brainiac in his monotonous voice. His fingers moved at lightning speed across the computer keyboard as his eyes scanned the monitor. “I am nearly finished.”
“Hurry up Mr. Know-it-all. I’d like to get back to the past. I have a Hawk to fry!” Toyman’s wheedling voice was nasally and high pitched. The smaller villain skulked behind Brainiac as he worked, watching his every move. “C’mon man. You’re Brainiac. You should’ve had this done hours ago. What’s wrong? Getting slow in your old age?”
“Be silent, imbecile,” droned Brainiac. “I must concentrate.” He did not allow Toyman’s antics to distract him, nor would he admit that the Hall’s computer system firewalls were more of a challenge than he had considered.
Jemstone realized it was now or never. Shooting out into the open, she materialized and faced the two villains at the computer terminal. “Time to decommission you, you walking PDA!” she cried as she hurled a huge blast of energy towards Brainiac. Her fingers crackled as the light energy surged forth.
In a fluid movement, Brainiac nonchalantly grabbled Toyman and used the startled villain as a shield.
The searing light energy collided with Toyman’s chest, enveloping him in the burning beam. “Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!” he screamed as his body was scorched and immolated. He erupted into flame as Brainiac dropped him, and turned to ash as his lifeless body crumbled to the floor.
Her action was not without witnesses. Mere seconds later, Nightvsion and the others burst into the room, drawn by the loud crackling of energy and Toyman’s screams.
“Jemstone!” cried Celsius incredulously. “What have you done?”