Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 23:26:28 GMT -5
Titans East Chapter 30 – “Turnabout is Fair Play!”
Written by: Green Lantern
Co-conspirator: Power Guy
Editor: Marcus Mebes
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Space: Near the Planet Jupiter
Approaching Iapetus, a satellite of Saturn, Green Lantern ordered his power ring, “Ring, scan for current or recent presence of Sultana.”
“Negative,” reported the ring.
“How many moons does this planet have, anyway?” asked Strato Hawk.
”GL, this is the fifteenth moon we have checked. Maybe its about time that we consider the possibility that this mission is just a wild goose chase,” suggested Power Guy ardently.
“Officer Bennett just had his information wrong. He said Saturn and he said Io. But Io is a moon of Jupiter. I’m so STUPID! Why didn’t I figure that out right away? I could have asked!" fretted Green Lantern.
“Is it more prudent to visit every satellite of both Saturn and Jupiter or to return home and investigate further from there?” asked Strato Hawk.
“If we don’t check it out it could result in Sultana attacking the earth!” retorted a stressed Green Lantern. “Besides, why would we return ALL the way back to Earth, just to investigate something HERE, in space?!” He was getting agitated, and it was apparent to the others.
“I appreciate your commitment to guarding our world, GL,” said Power Guy confidently, “but there is every possibility that this is wild goose chase to get us to occupy us while whoever is attacking the Titans continues their plans. “Besides, how can we be sure that it’s the moon we are misinformed about? We could very well be looking in the wrong space sector!”
Green Lantern stopped abruptly, turned around, and floated closer to his two companions. “If…and I do mean IF, this is just some ruse to get us out of the way…who would know about Sultana? When she attacked us–”
“Attacked who?” interrupted Strato Hawk.
“Di Di, and I…” started the emerald gladiator.
“You…sure seem to mention her a lot, GL,” observed Power Guy.
“Well, we grew up together. We were child hood–”
“…sweethearts?” prompted Power Guy, with a twinkle in his eye.
“…no, just friends…” Green Lantern blushed and began flying at super speed toward the earth.
Quickly catching up, Strato Hawk asked, “What is it, GL?”
“Just earlier today I was telling Sargona that my worst fear would be to meet up with Sultana again,” he explained nervously.
“Wait!” exclaimed Power Guy. “What if Celsius’ and Sportsmaster’s invisible attackers were listening in?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“GL, this is important: Was there anything else?” asked Power Guy intensely
“She told me her greatest fear is that something would happen to her father,” said Green Lantern through his gritted teeth.
“Pick up the pace!” shouted Strato Hawk.
As Green Lantern led the trio of heroes through a space-warp, Power Guy thought he would try to lighten the situation a little to relieve some stress.
“So, GL…” began Power Guy.
“Yeah?”
“All these beautiful stars and constellations out here in space. Wouldn’t it be kind of nice if we could have brought a couple of the girls out here with us?” asked Power Guy.
Both Green Lantern and Strato Hawk looked strangely at their supposedly “no-nonsense” teammate.
Against his better judgment, Green Lantern decided to play along, “Who did you have in mind?”
“Okay, I’ll tell if YOU tell,” teased Power Guy as Strato Hawk rolled his eyes in indignation.
“Deal!” answered Green Lantern. “You first.”
“Huntress,” said Power Guy quickly, “but before you tell yours, let me guess: Sargona… and SONIC BOOM!!!”
Green Lantern scowled.
“Well, honestly, Dan, most guys can’t even get a date and here you’ve got TWO!!!” said Power Guy with a playful grin.
“We’re entering the earth’s atmosphere,” stated Strato Hawk matter-of-factly. “Can you ladies get back to the mission?”
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Outside of the Hall of Justice
“I suppose you’re wondering why I called you out here, mate.” said Celsius to the newest member of the Titans of Justice. “I wanted to apologize about what happened with the Huntress–”
“Oh, no need to apologize!” interrupted the Sportsmaster.
“Let me finish…I also wanted to ask you about your behavior back in there,” continued the leader of the Titans of Justice. “I was under the impression that you were looking to be mentored, so I invited you to join the team. But you made it sound like you joined in order to meet the Huntress? What’s going on here, mate?”
“Oh, I was just flirting with her, fella,” answered the other nonchalantly.
“You asked about her several times before she arrived,” argued Celsius.
“Guess I can’t fool you!” said the Sportsmaster as he replicated himself several times before Celsius’ very eyes.
“You set me up?” Celsius in horrified realization, “You attacked me and then pretended to help me, just so you could get on the team?” Celsius shot a heat blast towards his foe.
“Like I said, can’t get nuthin’ past you,” said a dozen Sportsmasters as they vanished from sight.
Celsius’ eyes widened with mounting horror as his heat powers detected nearly two dozen invisible men. Thinking quickly, Celsius began shooting ice blasts at his multiple foes. However, his successful shots proved futile as two new Sportsmasters appeared whenever Celsius hit one of them. “Why did you attack Junjie Quick?” asked the hero.
“Couldn’t afford the risk of a speedster catching me before I got to the Huntress!” came the answer seemingly from nowhere.
“…and Nightvision?” asked Celsius as a heat blast eliminated two of his foes.
“I had to get rid of the competition. How could the Huntress notice me with that jerk is always hanging around her?” said the invisible attacker who was starting to get frustrated with the difficult task of killing Celsius.
“Just how many replicates can you make of yourself?” demanded an angry Celsius as he shot ten blasts of ice, one from each finger.
“FIFTY-TWO!” answered a visible Sportsmaster as he hit Celsius on the back of the head. Hearing the front door begin to open, the visible Sportsmaster dropped to the ground and feigned unconsciousness. Exiting the Hall of Justice the Huntress immediately noted the breathing pattern of both her “teammates.”
“Huntress to Nucleus and Black Vulcan,” she spoke into her communicator. “Celsius is down and needs immediate attention.” Secretly turning off her signal device she continued, “The Sportsmaster is also down, but I will care for him personally. I never had a chance to apologize…or tell him how touched I am that he would want to be my partner. If only I had a second chance… If anything happens to him…”
“Huntress? What happened?” asked the Sportsmaster opening his eyes slowly and feigning grogginess.
“You and Celsius were attacked. Can you sit up?” asked the Huntress.
“Yeah… yes, I’m feeling much better now.” With very little concentration he recalled all of his duplicates. Every part of the Sportsmaster wanted to be as close as possible to the Huntress.
“I know of a safe place that the two of us can go, but we have a mission to complete first,” said the heroine.
The Sportsmaster’s eyes widened and his heart palpitated. “Does the Huntress really want to be alone with me?” he thought to himself. “What is the mission?” asked the Sportsmaster in a heroic voice.
“We have to find Palomé. I think he may have also been attacked. I need someone really intelligent to help me think of where he may be,” she replied as she stroked the Sportsmaster’s shoulder.
“Wait here!” said the Sportsmaster as he leaped to his feet. “Palomé said something to me earlier about meditating… I’ll be right back!” he said in excitement. He brushed past Black Vulcan and Nucleus, knocking them both to the ground as he entered the building.
“What’s goin’ on?” asked Black Vulcan as the two heroes approached the Huntress.
“Black Vulcan, get Celsius to the hospital and be on standby. Palomé will be ready for pickup in a few minutes, Nucleus. Disappear. Don’t come back for Palomé until the Sportsmaster and I are gone. There will be time for questions later… Trust me.”
Black Vulcan was quickly gone with her unconscious teammate. Just as Nucleus shrank out of sight, the Sportsmaster rushed out of the front door of the Hall of Justice. “I found him!” he shouted.
“Two minutes. Impressive timing!” said the Huntress.
“uhmmm…I used my…um…super-tracking powers…He was stuffed in Sonic Boom’s closet,” proclaimed the Sportsmaster. “I moved him to the sofa in the lounge…You don’t suppose that… Sonic Boom’s behind all of this, do you?”
“Hmmmm…” began the Huntress. “It’s a good thing you joined the Titans of Justice, or we may never have solved this case. Tell you what: let’s go to my secret lair and we can discuss strategy there.”
The Sportsmaster nodded his head quickly as she Huntress mounted her bat-cycle. “Can I back-ride with you?” he asked hopefully.
“Not on the first date,” came her curt reply. She winked alluringly and watched with curiosity as he took out a collapsible surfboard. Stepping on it carefully it began hovering. He had no problem air-surfing alongside the Huntress’s bike. The Sportsmaster felt truly fulfilled in this new “heroic” partnership with the Huntress.
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New York City: The Home of Sargon the Sorcerer, Jr.
Sargon relaxed in his favorite recliner by the fireplace. He folded his newspaper and thought about what a wonderful life he had. Following in the footsteps of his father, the first Sargon the Sorcerer, had been a challenging but rewarding experience. Now he was enjoying an early retirement with the woman of his dreams. He loved doing the weekly magic shows at the New York Theatre of Illusions…the fans and their amazement at his various “illusions”…the applause… Sargon was living a wonderful dream, and a painting of the best part of all hung above the mantle: his beloved daughter, Sargona. He was so proud of her. If only his father could have lived long enough to see his granddaughter grow up and follow in the family trade. Sargon knew in his heart that Sargona would easily surpass the legend of both her father and grandfather, and it made him very proud.
Sargon’s reminiscing was interrupted as the front door suddenly burst open.
“Daddy! You’re all right!” exclaimed Sargona as she rushed to her father and embraced him as though she had thought she’d never see him again. Her tears quickly drenched the collar of her father’s robe. “Why didn’t you answer when I called???”
“My phone never rang. What’s this all about, baby doll?” asked her father in both confusion and loving concern.
“He said… I got a call… and he said he was going to kill you if I didn’t…” the young lady was unable to finish her thoughts for sobbing.
“A threat on my life? Who called you?” asked her father as he pushed her far enough away so that he could see her face.
“It was an anonymous call, sir,” said a handsome blond young man from the doorway. “Hello, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Scott and this is Venus.” He motioned to his female companion. “We are Sargonna’s teammates with the Titans of Justice. I should probably tell you that I noticed that the phone-line to your house appears to have been cut.”
“Please come in!” said the second-generation Sargon to his visitors. “Baby Doll,” he whispered to his daughter, “is this the young man you told me about? Green Lantern?”
“Oh, no, Daddy,” said Sargona as she sniffled and tried to regain composure. “This is Wonder Man.”
“So, this isn’t the one you went out with?” confirmed Sargon.
“Well, no, actually we have been out, but…” began Sargonna.
“Just how many men are you seeing?” asked her father in concern.
Before she could answer, three more colorfully-clad heroes arrived at the door. Sargon was momentarily concerned that perhaps fate had somehow answered his question by sending these three men to his door.
“Sargona! We were set up!” shouted Green Lantern in excitement.
“Our mission in outer-space was a wild goose chase!” continued Power Guy.
“You’ll have to excuse my companions, sir,” said Wonder Man. “This is Power Guy… and Strato Hawk… and Green Lantern.”
“So, you are the young man that my daughter has been telling me so much about,” said Sargon as he sized up Green Lantern.
“I have been looking forward to meeting you, sir,” replied the young man, with a lump in his throat.
“What’s this about being ‘set up’ on an outer space mission?” asked Sargon suspiciously.
“Earlier today when Sargona and I were at this restaurant in India–” began Green Lantern quickly.
“India!?!” asked Sargon in displeasure.
“..uhm..yes, Sir,” he answered timidly. “Anyway, I told Sargona that my worst fear would be for my arch-enemy Sultana to come back….”
“You’re arch-nemesis is a woman?” asked Sargon. “You are as bad as my father with the Blue Lama.”
After an uncomfortable pause Green Lantern continued. “…and then later we got this emergency alert that Sultana was back and demanded that I meet her in space, or else…”
“…and then after you left, I got a call saying that if I didn’t come right away they were going to kill you, Daddy,” explained Sargona.
“We circled above your home for awhile in my Invisible Jet to ascertain the situation before we came in,” added Wonder Man.
“That was good thinking, Mr. Wonderful!” said Sargon. “You wouldn’t want to excite terrorists unnecessarily."
Several of the Titans restrained themselves from laughing at Sargon’s comment. “So, let me get this straight, young man,” continued Sargon as he approached Green Lantern. “On your first date with my daughter you offer her your ring, lose her ruby, and later, get one of your teammates killed…”
“Sir, it wasn’t quite that way…” interjected Power Guy.
“…and then on your second date you publicly exchange worst fears, endangering not only both mine and my daughter’s lives, but also the lives of your entire team!” accused Sargon.
Green Lantern did not know how to answer. His head began throbbing and he was blushing hotly. He wanted to take some more Tylenol, but was afraid that Sargon would think he was a pill-popping addict.
“Excuse me sir, I know that you have concerns but right now we need our entire team to work on this case. Someone is attacking ALL of the members of the Titans of Justice,” informed Strato Hawk authoritatively. “We suspect that these false missions were a ruse to get us out of the way in order for the attacker to accomplish his ultimate goal.”
“But we would be more than happy to come back and discuss this in full, once the mission is completed, sir,” added Wonder Man.
“All right then, perhaps it is best that you all get on your way,” relented the elder quietly.
“Daddy,” whispered Sargona. “This really wasn’t Green Lantern’s fault.”
Sargon looked his daughter straight in the eye as all of his guests exited his home. “Sargona, I DID NOT raise you to be courted by several men at the same time. You have to choose ONE, and one ONLY!”
“But, Daddy, I’m not…” began Sargona.
“I INSIST!” demanded her father. “…and not that you asked, but I like the respectful one better: Mr. Wonderful.”
Sargona nodded and embraced her father tightly before joining her teammates.
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An Isolated Building, two blocks from the Hall of Justice
“This is it!” said the Huntress.
“It must be about five stories high. How did you find this place?” asked the Sportsmaster.
“I bought it. We’ll be safe here. Once I lock it, no one can get in or out,” explained the Huntress.
“Really?” said the Sportsmaster as he rushed toward the door. The prospect of being locked alone in a building with the Huntress excited him.
“Surprise,” said the Huntress as she opened the door.
The Sportsmaster was speechless. The whole place was decorated with balloons, unique looking streamers, decorative tables, modern chrome lamps, and assorted chrome decorative poles.
“What’s with the balloons?” inquired the Sportsmaster.
“Oh, those are all for you! I wanted to make sure you knew this occasion was special.” She closed the door behind them with a loud click. “We’re locked in now. No one is getting in or out.”
“So, what now? Strategy on how we take down Sonic Boom?” asked the Sportsmaster as he collapsed his air-surfboard and returned it to its resting place on his back.
“Sonic Boom’s not the bad guy, ‘Sportsmaster’.” Explained the Huntress as she loaded her cross-bow. “The bad guy is a stalker who has killed at least two innocent people, and attempted to kill two more. He’s injured a lot of people I care about, and he single-handedly took out several members of the Titans of Justice.” Placing the special earplugs in her ears that all of the Titans wore when around a certain teammate of theirs, she edged closer to her prey and continued. “Earlier he visited me. He got away, but not before I shot him with one of my special yellow ‘perfume darts.’ Makes you smell of my dear-old-dad’s favorite cologne for 72 hours. I recognized it today…
…on you. Don’t worry, these red darts are a different kind. They will only knock you out for a while. You’ll wake up safe in a new cell, Chris! Or should I call you the Nightstalker?”
Disappearing from view the Sportsmaster answered, “You can’t hit what you can’t see. There are 52 of me and only one of you. Why don’t you put down the crossbow and just relax? We can start over again. Do you like Italian?”
“I have some more surprises for you, Chris. We’re not alone. You are seriously outnumbered. SONIC BOOM, NOW!”
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Sonic Boom from a hidden location.
All 52 versions of the Nightstalker fell to the ground covering their ears. The balloons dispersed throughout the room burst splattering a special paint everywhere and revealing the location of all 52 of the Huntress’ prey. She activated her special lenses and began shooting with both her crossbow and her wrist launcher. She used the various articles of furniture in the building as her own personal gymnasium. Tables became springboards. Lamp stands became bars that she used to vault in the air. The Huntress knocked out several of her antagonists at a time with her aerial assaults.
Then the Hunter made his presence known.
“G’day, mate! I believe you remember me? You tried to kill me twice!” Traveling speedily throughout the room by using the enforced streamers as vines, the Hunter kicked and jabbed and pounced on several of his prey.
A dozen Sportsmasters made the foolish mistake of trying to escape upstairs.
KRAK! THUD! KICK! SMASH! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! THUD!
All twelve fell to the merciless martial arts of Sonic Boom. “Huntress! These guys disappear when they come in contact with one another!”
The Hunter effortlessly picked up an unconscious Sportsmaster and began touching others with him. After only a few minutes there was only one Sportsmaster left. “I’m not going down!” he stated belligerently as he mounted his air surf-board and zoomed full-speed through the wall to the outdoors.
“Got it!” yelled Sonic Boom. Using her sonic cry to break out of the top floor she skillfully somersaulted six stories through the sky, and kicked the remaining Sportsmaster into unconsciousness. She jumped off the air-surfboard before it crashed into a nearby telephone post. “Eat your heart out, Robert!” said the beauty as she dusted off her hands.
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Four Minutes Later
Black Vulcan was pleased with herself that she had beaten out Nucleus and all of the others when the Titans of Justice signal had instructed them where to meet the Huntress. She had long felt her value under-appreciated by the rest of the team, mostly because of Sargona’s “Thunderdog” comments. Then the Huntress just shooed her away thinking that Black Vulcan wasn’t good enough to help and would only get in the way. But this was the last straw. Black Vulcan’s blood boiled as she watched the Huntress congratulate Sonic Boom on a job well done. Hadn’t that little blonde wimp quit the Titans East to go be a cheer-leader somewhere?
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Thirty Seconds Later
Hardcore Power Lad was fed up. Whoever the jerk was who attacked him in his own garage and stole his new super-speed turbo surfboard was going to pay dearly. His remote tracer showed that he was nearing its location. He could hardly wait to pummel the stinking thief! Descending to a large oak tree he saw several members of the Titans East. “What’s taking them so long to invite me to join their team?” he thought as he noted a man dressed in a baseball uniform stirring on the ground. Then he saw it. His beautiful super-speed turbo surfboard: WRECKED!
“Who the (censored by the Hall of Justice Fan-fiction Code Authority) destroyed my new super-speed turbo surfboard!?!” screamed the angry young man.
The Huntress, The Hunter, and Sonic Boom all looked at Hardcore Power Lad in surprise. Only Black Vulcan noticed that the Sportsmaster had come back to his senses.
“He’s awake!” she shouted as the Sportsmaster ripped his mask off and grinned at Hardcore Power Lad.
“That surfboard of yours helped me put several Titans in intensive care!” he gloated.
”You scrawny little slimeball! Not only do you totally wreck my old man’s freakin’ super-speed turbo surfboard, but you use it to attack good people! You’re a rotten menace!”
“Who’s his dad?” asked Sonic Boom.
“Captain Mystery,” answered the Huntress
“Captain Mystery? Who’s that?” asked the Hunter as he prepared to stop Hardcore Power Lad’s impending attack on the Sportsmaster.
“He was the kid who used to follow my dad and Superman around back during the “Super Friends era,” explained Huntress as she thought, “Do all crime fighters get stalked?”
Hardcore Power Lad flew straight for the thief who used his surfboard for evil. Thinking quickly, Hardcore Power Lad used his father’s new force-field device to keep Power Guy’s team from preventing him from maiming the villain. But both Black Vulcan and the Hunter made it inside the force-field in time.
“The Nightstalker should answer for his crimes, but I can’t allow this wild man to just murder him!” thought the Hunter as he leaped on Hardcore Power Lad’s back.
Seizing her opportunity to show the others that she had “what it takes and more,” Black Vulcan directed a major lightning blast at Power Lad.
[glow=yellow,2,300]BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!!!!! [/glow]
The force-field was gone. The smoke soon cleared, revealing Black Vulcan standing over the unconscious forms of Hardcore Power Lad and the Sportsmaster.
“What happened to the Hunter!?!” exclaimed the Huntress.
“He’s gone! The Hunter is GONE!” exclaimed Sonic Boom. “You disintegrated him!”
Black Vulcan’s lower jaw quivered and her whole body began to shake. “What have I done?” she thought in horror.
To be concluded…
Written by: Green Lantern
Co-conspirator: Power Guy
Editor: Marcus Mebes
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Space: Near the Planet Jupiter
Approaching Iapetus, a satellite of Saturn, Green Lantern ordered his power ring, “Ring, scan for current or recent presence of Sultana.”
“Negative,” reported the ring.
“How many moons does this planet have, anyway?” asked Strato Hawk.
”GL, this is the fifteenth moon we have checked. Maybe its about time that we consider the possibility that this mission is just a wild goose chase,” suggested Power Guy ardently.
“Officer Bennett just had his information wrong. He said Saturn and he said Io. But Io is a moon of Jupiter. I’m so STUPID! Why didn’t I figure that out right away? I could have asked!" fretted Green Lantern.
“Is it more prudent to visit every satellite of both Saturn and Jupiter or to return home and investigate further from there?” asked Strato Hawk.
“If we don’t check it out it could result in Sultana attacking the earth!” retorted a stressed Green Lantern. “Besides, why would we return ALL the way back to Earth, just to investigate something HERE, in space?!” He was getting agitated, and it was apparent to the others.
“I appreciate your commitment to guarding our world, GL,” said Power Guy confidently, “but there is every possibility that this is wild goose chase to get us to occupy us while whoever is attacking the Titans continues their plans. “Besides, how can we be sure that it’s the moon we are misinformed about? We could very well be looking in the wrong space sector!”
Green Lantern stopped abruptly, turned around, and floated closer to his two companions. “If…and I do mean IF, this is just some ruse to get us out of the way…who would know about Sultana? When she attacked us–”
“Attacked who?” interrupted Strato Hawk.
“Di Di, and I…” started the emerald gladiator.
“You…sure seem to mention her a lot, GL,” observed Power Guy.
“Well, we grew up together. We were child hood–”
“…sweethearts?” prompted Power Guy, with a twinkle in his eye.
“…no, just friends…” Green Lantern blushed and began flying at super speed toward the earth.
Quickly catching up, Strato Hawk asked, “What is it, GL?”
“Just earlier today I was telling Sargona that my worst fear would be to meet up with Sultana again,” he explained nervously.
“Wait!” exclaimed Power Guy. “What if Celsius’ and Sportsmaster’s invisible attackers were listening in?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“GL, this is important: Was there anything else?” asked Power Guy intensely
“She told me her greatest fear is that something would happen to her father,” said Green Lantern through his gritted teeth.
“Pick up the pace!” shouted Strato Hawk.
As Green Lantern led the trio of heroes through a space-warp, Power Guy thought he would try to lighten the situation a little to relieve some stress.
“So, GL…” began Power Guy.
“Yeah?”
“All these beautiful stars and constellations out here in space. Wouldn’t it be kind of nice if we could have brought a couple of the girls out here with us?” asked Power Guy.
Both Green Lantern and Strato Hawk looked strangely at their supposedly “no-nonsense” teammate.
Against his better judgment, Green Lantern decided to play along, “Who did you have in mind?”
“Okay, I’ll tell if YOU tell,” teased Power Guy as Strato Hawk rolled his eyes in indignation.
“Deal!” answered Green Lantern. “You first.”
“Huntress,” said Power Guy quickly, “but before you tell yours, let me guess: Sargona… and SONIC BOOM!!!”
Green Lantern scowled.
“Well, honestly, Dan, most guys can’t even get a date and here you’ve got TWO!!!” said Power Guy with a playful grin.
“We’re entering the earth’s atmosphere,” stated Strato Hawk matter-of-factly. “Can you ladies get back to the mission?”
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Outside of the Hall of Justice
“I suppose you’re wondering why I called you out here, mate.” said Celsius to the newest member of the Titans of Justice. “I wanted to apologize about what happened with the Huntress–”
“Oh, no need to apologize!” interrupted the Sportsmaster.
“Let me finish…I also wanted to ask you about your behavior back in there,” continued the leader of the Titans of Justice. “I was under the impression that you were looking to be mentored, so I invited you to join the team. But you made it sound like you joined in order to meet the Huntress? What’s going on here, mate?”
“Oh, I was just flirting with her, fella,” answered the other nonchalantly.
“You asked about her several times before she arrived,” argued Celsius.
“Guess I can’t fool you!” said the Sportsmaster as he replicated himself several times before Celsius’ very eyes.
“You set me up?” Celsius in horrified realization, “You attacked me and then pretended to help me, just so you could get on the team?” Celsius shot a heat blast towards his foe.
“Like I said, can’t get nuthin’ past you,” said a dozen Sportsmasters as they vanished from sight.
Celsius’ eyes widened with mounting horror as his heat powers detected nearly two dozen invisible men. Thinking quickly, Celsius began shooting ice blasts at his multiple foes. However, his successful shots proved futile as two new Sportsmasters appeared whenever Celsius hit one of them. “Why did you attack Junjie Quick?” asked the hero.
“Couldn’t afford the risk of a speedster catching me before I got to the Huntress!” came the answer seemingly from nowhere.
“…and Nightvision?” asked Celsius as a heat blast eliminated two of his foes.
“I had to get rid of the competition. How could the Huntress notice me with that jerk is always hanging around her?” said the invisible attacker who was starting to get frustrated with the difficult task of killing Celsius.
“Just how many replicates can you make of yourself?” demanded an angry Celsius as he shot ten blasts of ice, one from each finger.
“FIFTY-TWO!” answered a visible Sportsmaster as he hit Celsius on the back of the head. Hearing the front door begin to open, the visible Sportsmaster dropped to the ground and feigned unconsciousness. Exiting the Hall of Justice the Huntress immediately noted the breathing pattern of both her “teammates.”
“Huntress to Nucleus and Black Vulcan,” she spoke into her communicator. “Celsius is down and needs immediate attention.” Secretly turning off her signal device she continued, “The Sportsmaster is also down, but I will care for him personally. I never had a chance to apologize…or tell him how touched I am that he would want to be my partner. If only I had a second chance… If anything happens to him…”
“Huntress? What happened?” asked the Sportsmaster opening his eyes slowly and feigning grogginess.
“You and Celsius were attacked. Can you sit up?” asked the Huntress.
“Yeah… yes, I’m feeling much better now.” With very little concentration he recalled all of his duplicates. Every part of the Sportsmaster wanted to be as close as possible to the Huntress.
“I know of a safe place that the two of us can go, but we have a mission to complete first,” said the heroine.
The Sportsmaster’s eyes widened and his heart palpitated. “Does the Huntress really want to be alone with me?” he thought to himself. “What is the mission?” asked the Sportsmaster in a heroic voice.
“We have to find Palomé. I think he may have also been attacked. I need someone really intelligent to help me think of where he may be,” she replied as she stroked the Sportsmaster’s shoulder.
“Wait here!” said the Sportsmaster as he leaped to his feet. “Palomé said something to me earlier about meditating… I’ll be right back!” he said in excitement. He brushed past Black Vulcan and Nucleus, knocking them both to the ground as he entered the building.
“What’s goin’ on?” asked Black Vulcan as the two heroes approached the Huntress.
“Black Vulcan, get Celsius to the hospital and be on standby. Palomé will be ready for pickup in a few minutes, Nucleus. Disappear. Don’t come back for Palomé until the Sportsmaster and I are gone. There will be time for questions later… Trust me.”
Black Vulcan was quickly gone with her unconscious teammate. Just as Nucleus shrank out of sight, the Sportsmaster rushed out of the front door of the Hall of Justice. “I found him!” he shouted.
“Two minutes. Impressive timing!” said the Huntress.
“uhmmm…I used my…um…super-tracking powers…He was stuffed in Sonic Boom’s closet,” proclaimed the Sportsmaster. “I moved him to the sofa in the lounge…You don’t suppose that… Sonic Boom’s behind all of this, do you?”
“Hmmmm…” began the Huntress. “It’s a good thing you joined the Titans of Justice, or we may never have solved this case. Tell you what: let’s go to my secret lair and we can discuss strategy there.”
The Sportsmaster nodded his head quickly as she Huntress mounted her bat-cycle. “Can I back-ride with you?” he asked hopefully.
“Not on the first date,” came her curt reply. She winked alluringly and watched with curiosity as he took out a collapsible surfboard. Stepping on it carefully it began hovering. He had no problem air-surfing alongside the Huntress’s bike. The Sportsmaster felt truly fulfilled in this new “heroic” partnership with the Huntress.
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New York City: The Home of Sargon the Sorcerer, Jr.
Sargon relaxed in his favorite recliner by the fireplace. He folded his newspaper and thought about what a wonderful life he had. Following in the footsteps of his father, the first Sargon the Sorcerer, had been a challenging but rewarding experience. Now he was enjoying an early retirement with the woman of his dreams. He loved doing the weekly magic shows at the New York Theatre of Illusions…the fans and their amazement at his various “illusions”…the applause… Sargon was living a wonderful dream, and a painting of the best part of all hung above the mantle: his beloved daughter, Sargona. He was so proud of her. If only his father could have lived long enough to see his granddaughter grow up and follow in the family trade. Sargon knew in his heart that Sargona would easily surpass the legend of both her father and grandfather, and it made him very proud.
Sargon’s reminiscing was interrupted as the front door suddenly burst open.
“Daddy! You’re all right!” exclaimed Sargona as she rushed to her father and embraced him as though she had thought she’d never see him again. Her tears quickly drenched the collar of her father’s robe. “Why didn’t you answer when I called???”
“My phone never rang. What’s this all about, baby doll?” asked her father in both confusion and loving concern.
“He said… I got a call… and he said he was going to kill you if I didn’t…” the young lady was unable to finish her thoughts for sobbing.
“A threat on my life? Who called you?” asked her father as he pushed her far enough away so that he could see her face.
“It was an anonymous call, sir,” said a handsome blond young man from the doorway. “Hello, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Scott and this is Venus.” He motioned to his female companion. “We are Sargonna’s teammates with the Titans of Justice. I should probably tell you that I noticed that the phone-line to your house appears to have been cut.”
“Please come in!” said the second-generation Sargon to his visitors. “Baby Doll,” he whispered to his daughter, “is this the young man you told me about? Green Lantern?”
“Oh, no, Daddy,” said Sargona as she sniffled and tried to regain composure. “This is Wonder Man.”
“So, this isn’t the one you went out with?” confirmed Sargon.
“Well, no, actually we have been out, but…” began Sargonna.
“Just how many men are you seeing?” asked her father in concern.
Before she could answer, three more colorfully-clad heroes arrived at the door. Sargon was momentarily concerned that perhaps fate had somehow answered his question by sending these three men to his door.
“Sargona! We were set up!” shouted Green Lantern in excitement.
“Our mission in outer-space was a wild goose chase!” continued Power Guy.
“You’ll have to excuse my companions, sir,” said Wonder Man. “This is Power Guy… and Strato Hawk… and Green Lantern.”
“So, you are the young man that my daughter has been telling me so much about,” said Sargon as he sized up Green Lantern.
“I have been looking forward to meeting you, sir,” replied the young man, with a lump in his throat.
“What’s this about being ‘set up’ on an outer space mission?” asked Sargon suspiciously.
“Earlier today when Sargona and I were at this restaurant in India–” began Green Lantern quickly.
“India!?!” asked Sargon in displeasure.
“..uhm..yes, Sir,” he answered timidly. “Anyway, I told Sargona that my worst fear would be for my arch-enemy Sultana to come back….”
“You’re arch-nemesis is a woman?” asked Sargon. “You are as bad as my father with the Blue Lama.”
After an uncomfortable pause Green Lantern continued. “…and then later we got this emergency alert that Sultana was back and demanded that I meet her in space, or else…”
“…and then after you left, I got a call saying that if I didn’t come right away they were going to kill you, Daddy,” explained Sargona.
“We circled above your home for awhile in my Invisible Jet to ascertain the situation before we came in,” added Wonder Man.
“That was good thinking, Mr. Wonderful!” said Sargon. “You wouldn’t want to excite terrorists unnecessarily."
Several of the Titans restrained themselves from laughing at Sargon’s comment. “So, let me get this straight, young man,” continued Sargon as he approached Green Lantern. “On your first date with my daughter you offer her your ring, lose her ruby, and later, get one of your teammates killed…”
“Sir, it wasn’t quite that way…” interjected Power Guy.
“…and then on your second date you publicly exchange worst fears, endangering not only both mine and my daughter’s lives, but also the lives of your entire team!” accused Sargon.
Green Lantern did not know how to answer. His head began throbbing and he was blushing hotly. He wanted to take some more Tylenol, but was afraid that Sargon would think he was a pill-popping addict.
“Excuse me sir, I know that you have concerns but right now we need our entire team to work on this case. Someone is attacking ALL of the members of the Titans of Justice,” informed Strato Hawk authoritatively. “We suspect that these false missions were a ruse to get us out of the way in order for the attacker to accomplish his ultimate goal.”
“But we would be more than happy to come back and discuss this in full, once the mission is completed, sir,” added Wonder Man.
“All right then, perhaps it is best that you all get on your way,” relented the elder quietly.
“Daddy,” whispered Sargona. “This really wasn’t Green Lantern’s fault.”
Sargon looked his daughter straight in the eye as all of his guests exited his home. “Sargona, I DID NOT raise you to be courted by several men at the same time. You have to choose ONE, and one ONLY!”
“But, Daddy, I’m not…” began Sargona.
“I INSIST!” demanded her father. “…and not that you asked, but I like the respectful one better: Mr. Wonderful.”
Sargona nodded and embraced her father tightly before joining her teammates.
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An Isolated Building, two blocks from the Hall of Justice
“This is it!” said the Huntress.
“It must be about five stories high. How did you find this place?” asked the Sportsmaster.
“I bought it. We’ll be safe here. Once I lock it, no one can get in or out,” explained the Huntress.
“Really?” said the Sportsmaster as he rushed toward the door. The prospect of being locked alone in a building with the Huntress excited him.
“Surprise,” said the Huntress as she opened the door.
The Sportsmaster was speechless. The whole place was decorated with balloons, unique looking streamers, decorative tables, modern chrome lamps, and assorted chrome decorative poles.
“What’s with the balloons?” inquired the Sportsmaster.
“Oh, those are all for you! I wanted to make sure you knew this occasion was special.” She closed the door behind them with a loud click. “We’re locked in now. No one is getting in or out.”
“So, what now? Strategy on how we take down Sonic Boom?” asked the Sportsmaster as he collapsed his air-surfboard and returned it to its resting place on his back.
“Sonic Boom’s not the bad guy, ‘Sportsmaster’.” Explained the Huntress as she loaded her cross-bow. “The bad guy is a stalker who has killed at least two innocent people, and attempted to kill two more. He’s injured a lot of people I care about, and he single-handedly took out several members of the Titans of Justice.” Placing the special earplugs in her ears that all of the Titans wore when around a certain teammate of theirs, she edged closer to her prey and continued. “Earlier he visited me. He got away, but not before I shot him with one of my special yellow ‘perfume darts.’ Makes you smell of my dear-old-dad’s favorite cologne for 72 hours. I recognized it today…
…on you. Don’t worry, these red darts are a different kind. They will only knock you out for a while. You’ll wake up safe in a new cell, Chris! Or should I call you the Nightstalker?”
Disappearing from view the Sportsmaster answered, “You can’t hit what you can’t see. There are 52 of me and only one of you. Why don’t you put down the crossbow and just relax? We can start over again. Do you like Italian?”
“I have some more surprises for you, Chris. We’re not alone. You are seriously outnumbered. SONIC BOOM, NOW!”
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Sonic Boom from a hidden location.
All 52 versions of the Nightstalker fell to the ground covering their ears. The balloons dispersed throughout the room burst splattering a special paint everywhere and revealing the location of all 52 of the Huntress’ prey. She activated her special lenses and began shooting with both her crossbow and her wrist launcher. She used the various articles of furniture in the building as her own personal gymnasium. Tables became springboards. Lamp stands became bars that she used to vault in the air. The Huntress knocked out several of her antagonists at a time with her aerial assaults.
Then the Hunter made his presence known.
“G’day, mate! I believe you remember me? You tried to kill me twice!” Traveling speedily throughout the room by using the enforced streamers as vines, the Hunter kicked and jabbed and pounced on several of his prey.
A dozen Sportsmasters made the foolish mistake of trying to escape upstairs.
KRAK! THUD! KICK! SMASH! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! THUD!
All twelve fell to the merciless martial arts of Sonic Boom. “Huntress! These guys disappear when they come in contact with one another!”
The Hunter effortlessly picked up an unconscious Sportsmaster and began touching others with him. After only a few minutes there was only one Sportsmaster left. “I’m not going down!” he stated belligerently as he mounted his air surf-board and zoomed full-speed through the wall to the outdoors.
“Got it!” yelled Sonic Boom. Using her sonic cry to break out of the top floor she skillfully somersaulted six stories through the sky, and kicked the remaining Sportsmaster into unconsciousness. She jumped off the air-surfboard before it crashed into a nearby telephone post. “Eat your heart out, Robert!” said the beauty as she dusted off her hands.
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Four Minutes Later
Black Vulcan was pleased with herself that she had beaten out Nucleus and all of the others when the Titans of Justice signal had instructed them where to meet the Huntress. She had long felt her value under-appreciated by the rest of the team, mostly because of Sargona’s “Thunderdog” comments. Then the Huntress just shooed her away thinking that Black Vulcan wasn’t good enough to help and would only get in the way. But this was the last straw. Black Vulcan’s blood boiled as she watched the Huntress congratulate Sonic Boom on a job well done. Hadn’t that little blonde wimp quit the Titans East to go be a cheer-leader somewhere?
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Thirty Seconds Later
Hardcore Power Lad was fed up. Whoever the jerk was who attacked him in his own garage and stole his new super-speed turbo surfboard was going to pay dearly. His remote tracer showed that he was nearing its location. He could hardly wait to pummel the stinking thief! Descending to a large oak tree he saw several members of the Titans East. “What’s taking them so long to invite me to join their team?” he thought as he noted a man dressed in a baseball uniform stirring on the ground. Then he saw it. His beautiful super-speed turbo surfboard: WRECKED!
“Who the (censored by the Hall of Justice Fan-fiction Code Authority) destroyed my new super-speed turbo surfboard!?!” screamed the angry young man.
The Huntress, The Hunter, and Sonic Boom all looked at Hardcore Power Lad in surprise. Only Black Vulcan noticed that the Sportsmaster had come back to his senses.
“He’s awake!” she shouted as the Sportsmaster ripped his mask off and grinned at Hardcore Power Lad.
“That surfboard of yours helped me put several Titans in intensive care!” he gloated.
”You scrawny little slimeball! Not only do you totally wreck my old man’s freakin’ super-speed turbo surfboard, but you use it to attack good people! You’re a rotten menace!”
“Who’s his dad?” asked Sonic Boom.
“Captain Mystery,” answered the Huntress
“Captain Mystery? Who’s that?” asked the Hunter as he prepared to stop Hardcore Power Lad’s impending attack on the Sportsmaster.
“He was the kid who used to follow my dad and Superman around back during the “Super Friends era,” explained Huntress as she thought, “Do all crime fighters get stalked?”
Hardcore Power Lad flew straight for the thief who used his surfboard for evil. Thinking quickly, Hardcore Power Lad used his father’s new force-field device to keep Power Guy’s team from preventing him from maiming the villain. But both Black Vulcan and the Hunter made it inside the force-field in time.
“The Nightstalker should answer for his crimes, but I can’t allow this wild man to just murder him!” thought the Hunter as he leaped on Hardcore Power Lad’s back.
Seizing her opportunity to show the others that she had “what it takes and more,” Black Vulcan directed a major lightning blast at Power Lad.
[glow=yellow,2,300]BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!!!!! [/glow]
The force-field was gone. The smoke soon cleared, revealing Black Vulcan standing over the unconscious forms of Hardcore Power Lad and the Sportsmaster.
“What happened to the Hunter!?!” exclaimed the Huntress.
“He’s gone! The Hunter is GONE!” exclaimed Sonic Boom. “You disintegrated him!”
Black Vulcan’s lower jaw quivered and her whole body began to shake. “What have I done?” she thought in horror.
To be concluded…