Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2015 3:08:05 GMT -5
Titans of Justice Unlimited #45: "MORE than a Dream..."
Written by: Green Lantern
Editor: Power Guy
Deep Waters off the Coast of New Venice, Florida
BOOM!
Hawkgirl’s flapped her wings with all her might as she swam upward towards the surface.
“I can’t believe Argos actually “boom-tubed” me into the ocean,” thought the lovely alien as she tried to avoid panicking. “He’s no killer. Something is wrong here.”
As the water clogged her feathers and seeped inside her mask the Thanagarian warrior realized that these might be the last moments of her life. She noticed an approaching shark, closed her eyes, and whispered a prayer. Then she felt a warm presence and felt herself being lifted powerfully into the air. “I must be dead already,” she thought as she gasped for a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and realized who her ‘delivering angel’ was.
“Whirlpool?” she asked in disbelief. Then she noticed the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
“I’ve lost everything…everything,” said the Atlantean prince somberly. “I can’t keep us aloft for long. Can you fly us to safety?”
[glow=orange,2,300]Skree! Skree![/glow] Energy blasts from alien attackers barely missed the two Titans.
“Oh, no!” shouted Shayera. “They have found me!” The lady of the air and the man of the sea dove down and entered the shark infested waters again.
“Hawkgirl, I have lost my control of the sea creatures,” said Arin as he noticed how lovely his teammates eyes were, “Those sharks will surely eat us alive!”
The Thanagarian crusher winged herself and her companion back to the surface, but the two heroes gasped when they saw the clothed skeletal figure awaiting them.
“Greetings, my dearly hated foes. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Destiny. I believe your parents used to fight my father on a somewhat regular basis. We are all going to play a game. As you have probably already figured out, this is only a dream. The rules are simple: Whichever one of you awakens first will survive. The other will be stuck in this nightmare forev…”
Whirlpool and Hawgirl looked at one another in confusion as their attacker faded away.
Metropolis: The Hall of Justice
BAMMMM!!!!!!!!!!
“Enjoying torturing our friends with your nightmares?” asked Lady Light angrily as Dr. Destiny’s body smashed into the wall.
“Rhinocerous!” shouted Totem as she charged the cloaked villain.
BOOM!!!!
Dr. Destiny looked up in a horrified daze at the entire Justice League of America.
“Finish him, Totem,” instructed Jemstone as she concentrated on maintaining her illusion of the JLA.
“Electric eel,” said the top model as she walked intently toward Dr. Destiny. “I guess it’s a good thing I was late to the party, huh?”
[glow=red,2,300]BZZZZZT![/glow]
“Okay, he’s out,” said Lady Light. “Now what?”
“We wake them up,” said Jemstone as she gently shook the shoulders of Wonder Man. “Get up, love,” she whispered soflty. “Scott! Wake up!”
“Please don’t leave me, Jerrica,” begged the supermodel in his sleep, “Please come back to me.”
Looking up to her two companions Jerrica Benton said, “I can’t wake him up.”
“Wake up, Stellar,” shouted the Japanese heroine as she shook the young hero.
“The Rangers are all gone…they’re dead,” muttered Stellar in his sleep.
“So are Starman and Powerstorm,” added Air Wave mournfully, also in his sleep.
“This is hard core,” said Totem in surprise. “Some of these guys seem to be trapped in the same dream.”
“I got the emergency alert,” said Green Lantern as flew inside the Hall of Justice meeting room. “What’s going on?”
“Dr. Destiny attacked the Super Friends,” answered Jemstone. “He has them in some kind of dream-like state.”
“We can’t wake them up,” added Totem.
“…and it appears that some of them, at least, are trapped in the same nightmare,” said Lady Light grimly.
“I wish there were some way we could read Dr. Destiny’s mind and find out how to free them,” said Jemstone.
“Kid Comet could do that!” exclaimed Totem in hope.
“Good idea, Totem,” said the green guardian as depressed the signal device in his Hall of Justice communicator. “Kid Comet, this is Green Lantern at the Hall of Justice. Please come in.”
“Hey mate! A little busy right now…” answered the telepathic hero from the future.
“How soon could you get here?” asked Green Lantern.
“Not for quite sometime. Sorry,” answered Kid Comet.
“Are you in need of assistance, Dave?” asked the bald hero.
“Negative. Lieutenant Atom and I can handle the Kobra cult. There are only five of them, Daniel,” answered the Welsh hero.
Green Lantern lowered his communication device and was deep in thought when Jemstone asked, “Daniel, doesn’t your ring have the ability to read minds. I seem to remember that you scanned someone’s mind around the time of the Titans’ first mission.”
“…but…but…Jerrica…I promised never to do that again…I felt so dirty and guilty after doing that,” choked the young pastor, “…and my year of probation with the Guardians isn’t over yet. I don’t think the Guardians are going to smile on my using the ring to read minds…”
“Green Lantern, need I remind you that lives are at stake?” chided Lady Light.
Daniel Jordan nodded, took a deep breath, and mentally commanded his ring to extract the appropriate information from the mind of Dr. Destiny. The villain screamed in excruciating pain as his body went into convulsions.
“This is worse than I thought!” said the emerald gladiator. “Those whose dreams intersect are in great danger. Only the one who wakes up first will survive! We have to wake up all of the ones whose dreams haven’t intersected immediately.”
“Who would that be?” asked Jerrica.
“Velocity, Wonder Man, White Wraith, Power Lad, and the Arachnid,” answered Green Lantern as his form began taking on a transparent green appearance.
“How do we do that?” asked Totem.
“I am going to have to join them in their dreams and guide them out,” said Green Lantern. “Jerrica, see if you can’t use your holographic powers to enter Wonder Man’s nightmare. If possible, tell him to wake up. Make sure you come out at the exact instant he wakes up or you will be lost.”
“Check!” answered Jemstone.
“Totem, Lady Light, keep a sharp eye on Dr. Destiny,” ordered Daniel Jordan as he entered into the consciousness of the White Wraith.
A Televised Execution Room
Brendon Jackson closed his eyes and prayed as the hooded men in black secured the White Wraith’s arms to the electrocution chair.
“How did it come to this?” he thought as wires were double checked.
“Testing!” said one of the men as a soft current ran through Brendon’s body.
“Wraith,” whispered a familiar voice, “open your eyes. This is just a bad dream.”
The spectral hero looked up to see the smiling face of his Titans of Justice teammate. “Lantern! Thank you for coming…I am so humiliated.”
“Listen to me, Brandon,” said Daniel Jordan kindly, “None of this is real. Dr. Destiny attacked you and has you trapped in this nightmare. All you have to do is wake up. Are you with me?”
Hope filled the White Wraith’s eyes as he nodded affirmatively.
“Okay then, we have to leave this dream at the exact same milli-second,” instructed Green Lantern, “One…two…three!”
The White Wraith stood up quickly from his position on the Hall of Justice meeting floor. He scanned the room to find Totem and Lady Light keeping watch over an unconscious Dr. Destiny, Jemstone cradling Wonder Man, and several of the Super Friends in an eerie state of sleep. Then he noticed his good friend helplessly lying on the floor.
“Whirlpool!” he shouted.
“Listen to me, Wraith,” warned Green Lantern. “We are going to help all of our friends, but some of them are in a more serious condition than others. I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to go into Power Lad’s dream and convince him to wake up.”
“But--“ protested the White Wraith.
“I promise that we will save Whirlpool, Brendon,” said the emerald gladiator. “Please just trust me and help Power Lad as quickly as you can.”
Milan
Scott Trevor sobbed as he threw a hand mirror with all of his might at the wall. He looked up in surprise when he heard no crash. “Jerrica? You came back?”
“I would never leave you, my love,” said Jemstone with the mirror in her hand. “This is only a dream. Dr. Destiny has trapped you,” she said sympathetically as she gazed upon her boyfriend’s gruesomely scarred face.
“None of this is real?” asked Wonder Man as he sat up in hope.
“Your scars are not real, but this is,” she said as she kneeled down and tenderly kissed the man of her dreams.
The son of Queen Diana of the Amazons woke up in the arms of the only girl he had ever met that was more beautiful than his mother. He kissed his pink haired lady and then felt his face. “No scars…” he whispered.
“…and I am right here with you,” added Jemstone, “and I always will be…”
Metropolis: The Home of Sidney Wannamaker
Power Lad’s skin turned pale as he sobbed over the corpse of his father. He knew neither what to do or think. “This is my fault,” he said. “It’s all my fault.”
Then a whitish glow filled his father’s room and the form of the White Wraith appeared with his arms extended in an intimidating fashion.
“Ali,” called the Wraith.
The protégé of Power Guy looked up and asked somberly, “Have you come to take my father away, Wraith, or to judge me for my sins?
…DON’T YOU THINK I’VE SUFFERED ENOUGH!?!” he shouted in anger.
“Ali, its time to awaken. This is only a dream. Your father is still alive,” said the spirit as his eyes crackled with a green energy.
Power Lad awakened at the Hall of Justice with a deep concern that his nightmare might very well have been more than a dream.
BAM!!! POWWW!!!!!! Lady Light and Totem both realed from the massive blows that Dr. Destiny gave them. Wonder Man and Jemstone prepared to attack the villain when, to their surprise, another duo attacked the intruder.
“HHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” growled Hawkgirl as her mace smashed the skull of Dr. Destiny.
“Did you think we were too stupid to figure out that if we woke up at the same time we would both escape your nightmare?” shouted Whirlpool bitterly as he leaped toward the water cooler in the Hall of Justice meeting room. Depressing the “cold” button, the aquatic hero shot an icy stream of water towards the skinless villain’s neck. With only the slightest concentration on Arin’s part, the water formed and ice sheath around Dr. Destiny’s neck.
“One move and I’ll command the ice to turn into a dagger, Destiny,” threatened Whirlpool.
White Wraith swallowed hard and controlled himself so as to not betray his joy at seeing Whirlpool safe. “Nice to have you back,” he said emotionlessly.
The South China Sea
Velocity’s heart pounded as he ran for his very life. The Cult of the Kobra had decapitated both Junjie Quick and the Flash and they had been chasing him for several minutes. His heart was unable to keep up with his rate of speed and pounded with every step. He thought that if he reached the surface of the water he could escape the land based villains, but then the Kobra operatives sprouted wings and began flying at super-speed.
Then Velocity saw the image of “the Black Flash,” whose appearance marks the imminent death of all speedsters. The hero’s left arm throbbed in pain as he noted that his winged Kobra attacker’s now each had six fangs.
“This must be the end,” thought the young speedster bravely as a greenish glow appeared before him.
“Velocity, its okay. Everything is going to be alright,” said Daniel Jordan.
“Green Lantern!” the blue clad speedster exclaimed.
“This is just a nightmare,” said the stately, bald hero. “You understand, buddy? This isn’t real.”
“Lantern, my chest…I think I'm gonna die,” said Velocity.
“You will be alright,” said Daniel Jordan. “You just need to wake up. I am going to count to three and then I want you to wake up, okay?”
Velocity nodded his head in agreement and on the count of three both heroes woke up. The first thing he noticed was Jemstone helping Totem up from the floor. Then he heard the sounds of battle in the room.
BANG!!! Hawkgirl hit the ceiling and plummeted downward. Whirlpool did a summersault and caught her before she hit the floor.
Then Air Wave speedily flew towards Dr. Destiny, grabbed him by the cape and threw the villain across the room. “Surprised to see us, creep?”
[glow=yellow,2,300]ZZZZAP!!!! [/glow]Stellar’s perfect aim hit the villain mid-air. “That’s for the nightmare, jerk! By the way, it took us fifteen seconds to figure out how to get out of your death-trap.”
Velocity prepared to join the attack, but then his chest began throbbing with pain. Then he noticed that Nightvision, Power Guy, Starman, and Black Vulcan arrived, so he decided to just rest and let the others handle the situation.
“Scott,” shouted Green Lantern in joyful surprise, “Did you bring your power ring?”
“Yes,” answered Starman as his garb morphed into his Green Lantern uniform.. “What do you need me to do?”
San Francisco Hospital
Aaron kept his eyes wide open as Black Adam’s mammoth sized hands clenched his throat tightly.
“Say your prayers, relic,” advised the monarch of Khandaq.
Then a green glow emanated throughout the room. The Arachnid watched in silent hope as the bodies of Phantom Lady, Isis, Firebrand, and Black Orchid turned a pale greenish color and disintegrated. Then a blast of pure green energy blew a hole through the massive chest of Black Adam.
“Hhhhk! Ukkk!” said the now aged Arachnid from his hospital bed.
“It’s time to wake up, Kid,” said Green Lantern Scott Stone. This is all just a horrible nightmare. There are a couple of Chai Latte’s waiting for us at Starbuck’s dude. You ready to wake up?”
The Arachnid blinked his eyes in approval.
“On the count of three then,” said Starman, “One…two…”
The Hall of Justice
“I’m ready for that Chai Lat –“ began the Arachnid.
“Where’s Kai-Ro?” asked Green Lantern Daniel Jordan to the newly awakened Bullet Boy.
“I…I don’t know,” answered the newest member of the Super Friends.
“I thought I went to save the Arachnid so you could save Bullet Boy and Kai-Ro,” said Starman.
“Bullet Boy woke up before GL had a chance to try,” said Jemstone sadly.
“What is all of this about?” asked Jared.
“We have to find Kai-Ro!” said Daniel Jordan in a panicked state.
“The Hall of Justice monitors show one someone sitting by a shrub outside the building,” offered Black Vulcan.
Green Lantern, Nightvision, Starman, and Power Guy raced out the building to find their blue-skinned friend sobbing on the ground.
“Kai-Ro,” asked the emerald crusader, “What’s wrong?”
“Its just…its just that…” began the Venutian visitor, “I just had the most wonderful dream of my life…and it wasn’t real.”
Brendon Grayson, Scott Stone, Ky-El, and Daniel Jordan all looked at one another in astonishment at the blue-skinned man’s explanation.
“Hey, what’s going on down there?” asked Wonder Warrior as he descended. “Is Wonder Girl alright?”
“Wonder Girl?” asked Nightvision.
Daniel Jordan’s countenance turned white. “I haven’t seen her. I didn’t even see her when I read Dr. Destiny’s mind,” he said as the five heroes returned inside.
“Has anyone here seen Wonder Girl?” asked Power Guy in an authoritative voice.
“Even in your dreams?” added Green Lantern.
“I do not sense her presence, ”reported the White Wraith.
“Not to make matters worse, but has anyone seen the Huntress or Sonic Boom?” asked Wonder Man.
“Di Di was here?” asked Green Lantern with mounting horror.
“HA! HA! HA! HA! Haahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” laughed Dr. Destiny in a chilling fashion.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Kid Comet as he and Lieutenant Atom arrived.
“Can you read that wretch’s mind and find out what happened to Sonic Boom, the Huntress and Wonder Girl?” asked Daniel Jordan.
Kid Comet concentrated ever so slightly for but a few moments and replied, “Dr. Destiny does not know of their whereabouts. He only has ideas.”
The attention of every hero in the room turned toward Dr. Destiny.
“I believe my experiment has been a great success!” proclaimed the villain. “When I found out about this first official meeting of the Super Friends I knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to test my theory that I can now make a person’s worst nightmare into a living reality. It didn’t work on all of you, but some of your nightmare’s have come true.”
“Is that why my chest is pounding so hard?” thought Velocity.
“DAD!” thought Power Lad.
Stellar scanned the assembly in horror to find that neither Nucleus nor any of the Rangers were present.
A feeling of insecurity overcame Hawkgirl as she wondered if any of the others had found out her secret.
The Arachnid checked his hands in relief to find that he was still young.
“I have to get back to Atlantis!” thought Whirlpool.
“There is only one way that your three belated teammates could have completely disappeared,” said Dr. Destiny in victory.
“Tell us now or die,” said Black Vulcan as energy crackled from her fingertips.
“If they all had the same nightmare, that very nightmare could have engulfed them and taken them to the very place they were dreaming,” answered the skeletal villain.
“Where would that be?” asked Lieutenant Atom.
“What are their worst fears?” asked Lady Light.
“Well, I can tell you for certain that Princess Donna’s worst fear is to meet Wonder Woman,” answered Wonder Warrior.
“The Huntress’s worst fear would be to lose her parents,” said Nightvision in deep thought. “Her life would be over. It would be as if she didn’t even exist.”
“Di Di’s would be similar to that,” said Daniel Jordan, “...to lose her family.”
“Great. Now we just have to find out what those three nightmares have in common,” said Totem pessimistically.
“I know where all three of those scenarios happened,” said Power Guy. “They are in the Universe of Evil.”
“HA! HA! HA! HA! Haahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” laughed Dr. Destiny.
TO BE CONCLUDED..
Written by: Green Lantern
Editor: Power Guy
Deep Waters off the Coast of New Venice, Florida
BOOM!
Hawkgirl’s flapped her wings with all her might as she swam upward towards the surface.
“I can’t believe Argos actually “boom-tubed” me into the ocean,” thought the lovely alien as she tried to avoid panicking. “He’s no killer. Something is wrong here.”
As the water clogged her feathers and seeped inside her mask the Thanagarian warrior realized that these might be the last moments of her life. She noticed an approaching shark, closed her eyes, and whispered a prayer. Then she felt a warm presence and felt herself being lifted powerfully into the air. “I must be dead already,” she thought as she gasped for a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and realized who her ‘delivering angel’ was.
“Whirlpool?” she asked in disbelief. Then she noticed the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
“I’ve lost everything…everything,” said the Atlantean prince somberly. “I can’t keep us aloft for long. Can you fly us to safety?”
[glow=orange,2,300]Skree! Skree![/glow] Energy blasts from alien attackers barely missed the two Titans.
“Oh, no!” shouted Shayera. “They have found me!” The lady of the air and the man of the sea dove down and entered the shark infested waters again.
“Hawkgirl, I have lost my control of the sea creatures,” said Arin as he noticed how lovely his teammates eyes were, “Those sharks will surely eat us alive!”
The Thanagarian crusher winged herself and her companion back to the surface, but the two heroes gasped when they saw the clothed skeletal figure awaiting them.
“Greetings, my dearly hated foes. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Destiny. I believe your parents used to fight my father on a somewhat regular basis. We are all going to play a game. As you have probably already figured out, this is only a dream. The rules are simple: Whichever one of you awakens first will survive. The other will be stuck in this nightmare forev…”
Whirlpool and Hawgirl looked at one another in confusion as their attacker faded away.
Metropolis: The Hall of Justice
BAMMMM!!!!!!!!!!
“Enjoying torturing our friends with your nightmares?” asked Lady Light angrily as Dr. Destiny’s body smashed into the wall.
“Rhinocerous!” shouted Totem as she charged the cloaked villain.
BOOM!!!!
Dr. Destiny looked up in a horrified daze at the entire Justice League of America.
“Finish him, Totem,” instructed Jemstone as she concentrated on maintaining her illusion of the JLA.
“Electric eel,” said the top model as she walked intently toward Dr. Destiny. “I guess it’s a good thing I was late to the party, huh?”
[glow=red,2,300]BZZZZZT![/glow]
“Okay, he’s out,” said Lady Light. “Now what?”
“We wake them up,” said Jemstone as she gently shook the shoulders of Wonder Man. “Get up, love,” she whispered soflty. “Scott! Wake up!”
“Please don’t leave me, Jerrica,” begged the supermodel in his sleep, “Please come back to me.”
Looking up to her two companions Jerrica Benton said, “I can’t wake him up.”
“Wake up, Stellar,” shouted the Japanese heroine as she shook the young hero.
“The Rangers are all gone…they’re dead,” muttered Stellar in his sleep.
“So are Starman and Powerstorm,” added Air Wave mournfully, also in his sleep.
“This is hard core,” said Totem in surprise. “Some of these guys seem to be trapped in the same dream.”
“I got the emergency alert,” said Green Lantern as flew inside the Hall of Justice meeting room. “What’s going on?”
“Dr. Destiny attacked the Super Friends,” answered Jemstone. “He has them in some kind of dream-like state.”
“We can’t wake them up,” added Totem.
“…and it appears that some of them, at least, are trapped in the same nightmare,” said Lady Light grimly.
“I wish there were some way we could read Dr. Destiny’s mind and find out how to free them,” said Jemstone.
“Kid Comet could do that!” exclaimed Totem in hope.
“Good idea, Totem,” said the green guardian as depressed the signal device in his Hall of Justice communicator. “Kid Comet, this is Green Lantern at the Hall of Justice. Please come in.”
“Hey mate! A little busy right now…” answered the telepathic hero from the future.
“How soon could you get here?” asked Green Lantern.
“Not for quite sometime. Sorry,” answered Kid Comet.
“Are you in need of assistance, Dave?” asked the bald hero.
“Negative. Lieutenant Atom and I can handle the Kobra cult. There are only five of them, Daniel,” answered the Welsh hero.
Green Lantern lowered his communication device and was deep in thought when Jemstone asked, “Daniel, doesn’t your ring have the ability to read minds. I seem to remember that you scanned someone’s mind around the time of the Titans’ first mission.”
“…but…but…Jerrica…I promised never to do that again…I felt so dirty and guilty after doing that,” choked the young pastor, “…and my year of probation with the Guardians isn’t over yet. I don’t think the Guardians are going to smile on my using the ring to read minds…”
“Green Lantern, need I remind you that lives are at stake?” chided Lady Light.
Daniel Jordan nodded, took a deep breath, and mentally commanded his ring to extract the appropriate information from the mind of Dr. Destiny. The villain screamed in excruciating pain as his body went into convulsions.
“This is worse than I thought!” said the emerald gladiator. “Those whose dreams intersect are in great danger. Only the one who wakes up first will survive! We have to wake up all of the ones whose dreams haven’t intersected immediately.”
“Who would that be?” asked Jerrica.
“Velocity, Wonder Man, White Wraith, Power Lad, and the Arachnid,” answered Green Lantern as his form began taking on a transparent green appearance.
“How do we do that?” asked Totem.
“I am going to have to join them in their dreams and guide them out,” said Green Lantern. “Jerrica, see if you can’t use your holographic powers to enter Wonder Man’s nightmare. If possible, tell him to wake up. Make sure you come out at the exact instant he wakes up or you will be lost.”
“Check!” answered Jemstone.
“Totem, Lady Light, keep a sharp eye on Dr. Destiny,” ordered Daniel Jordan as he entered into the consciousness of the White Wraith.
A Televised Execution Room
Brendon Jackson closed his eyes and prayed as the hooded men in black secured the White Wraith’s arms to the electrocution chair.
“How did it come to this?” he thought as wires were double checked.
“Testing!” said one of the men as a soft current ran through Brendon’s body.
“Wraith,” whispered a familiar voice, “open your eyes. This is just a bad dream.”
The spectral hero looked up to see the smiling face of his Titans of Justice teammate. “Lantern! Thank you for coming…I am so humiliated.”
“Listen to me, Brandon,” said Daniel Jordan kindly, “None of this is real. Dr. Destiny attacked you and has you trapped in this nightmare. All you have to do is wake up. Are you with me?”
Hope filled the White Wraith’s eyes as he nodded affirmatively.
“Okay then, we have to leave this dream at the exact same milli-second,” instructed Green Lantern, “One…two…three!”
The White Wraith stood up quickly from his position on the Hall of Justice meeting floor. He scanned the room to find Totem and Lady Light keeping watch over an unconscious Dr. Destiny, Jemstone cradling Wonder Man, and several of the Super Friends in an eerie state of sleep. Then he noticed his good friend helplessly lying on the floor.
“Whirlpool!” he shouted.
“Listen to me, Wraith,” warned Green Lantern. “We are going to help all of our friends, but some of them are in a more serious condition than others. I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to go into Power Lad’s dream and convince him to wake up.”
“But--“ protested the White Wraith.
“I promise that we will save Whirlpool, Brendon,” said the emerald gladiator. “Please just trust me and help Power Lad as quickly as you can.”
Milan
Scott Trevor sobbed as he threw a hand mirror with all of his might at the wall. He looked up in surprise when he heard no crash. “Jerrica? You came back?”
“I would never leave you, my love,” said Jemstone with the mirror in her hand. “This is only a dream. Dr. Destiny has trapped you,” she said sympathetically as she gazed upon her boyfriend’s gruesomely scarred face.
“None of this is real?” asked Wonder Man as he sat up in hope.
“Your scars are not real, but this is,” she said as she kneeled down and tenderly kissed the man of her dreams.
The son of Queen Diana of the Amazons woke up in the arms of the only girl he had ever met that was more beautiful than his mother. He kissed his pink haired lady and then felt his face. “No scars…” he whispered.
“…and I am right here with you,” added Jemstone, “and I always will be…”
Metropolis: The Home of Sidney Wannamaker
Power Lad’s skin turned pale as he sobbed over the corpse of his father. He knew neither what to do or think. “This is my fault,” he said. “It’s all my fault.”
Then a whitish glow filled his father’s room and the form of the White Wraith appeared with his arms extended in an intimidating fashion.
“Ali,” called the Wraith.
The protégé of Power Guy looked up and asked somberly, “Have you come to take my father away, Wraith, or to judge me for my sins?
…DON’T YOU THINK I’VE SUFFERED ENOUGH!?!” he shouted in anger.
“Ali, its time to awaken. This is only a dream. Your father is still alive,” said the spirit as his eyes crackled with a green energy.
Power Lad awakened at the Hall of Justice with a deep concern that his nightmare might very well have been more than a dream.
BAM!!! POWWW!!!!!! Lady Light and Totem both realed from the massive blows that Dr. Destiny gave them. Wonder Man and Jemstone prepared to attack the villain when, to their surprise, another duo attacked the intruder.
“HHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” growled Hawkgirl as her mace smashed the skull of Dr. Destiny.
“Did you think we were too stupid to figure out that if we woke up at the same time we would both escape your nightmare?” shouted Whirlpool bitterly as he leaped toward the water cooler in the Hall of Justice meeting room. Depressing the “cold” button, the aquatic hero shot an icy stream of water towards the skinless villain’s neck. With only the slightest concentration on Arin’s part, the water formed and ice sheath around Dr. Destiny’s neck.
“One move and I’ll command the ice to turn into a dagger, Destiny,” threatened Whirlpool.
White Wraith swallowed hard and controlled himself so as to not betray his joy at seeing Whirlpool safe. “Nice to have you back,” he said emotionlessly.
The South China Sea
Velocity’s heart pounded as he ran for his very life. The Cult of the Kobra had decapitated both Junjie Quick and the Flash and they had been chasing him for several minutes. His heart was unable to keep up with his rate of speed and pounded with every step. He thought that if he reached the surface of the water he could escape the land based villains, but then the Kobra operatives sprouted wings and began flying at super-speed.
Then Velocity saw the image of “the Black Flash,” whose appearance marks the imminent death of all speedsters. The hero’s left arm throbbed in pain as he noted that his winged Kobra attacker’s now each had six fangs.
“This must be the end,” thought the young speedster bravely as a greenish glow appeared before him.
“Velocity, its okay. Everything is going to be alright,” said Daniel Jordan.
“Green Lantern!” the blue clad speedster exclaimed.
“This is just a nightmare,” said the stately, bald hero. “You understand, buddy? This isn’t real.”
“Lantern, my chest…I think I'm gonna die,” said Velocity.
“You will be alright,” said Daniel Jordan. “You just need to wake up. I am going to count to three and then I want you to wake up, okay?”
Velocity nodded his head in agreement and on the count of three both heroes woke up. The first thing he noticed was Jemstone helping Totem up from the floor. Then he heard the sounds of battle in the room.
BANG!!! Hawkgirl hit the ceiling and plummeted downward. Whirlpool did a summersault and caught her before she hit the floor.
Then Air Wave speedily flew towards Dr. Destiny, grabbed him by the cape and threw the villain across the room. “Surprised to see us, creep?”
[glow=yellow,2,300]ZZZZAP!!!! [/glow]Stellar’s perfect aim hit the villain mid-air. “That’s for the nightmare, jerk! By the way, it took us fifteen seconds to figure out how to get out of your death-trap.”
Velocity prepared to join the attack, but then his chest began throbbing with pain. Then he noticed that Nightvision, Power Guy, Starman, and Black Vulcan arrived, so he decided to just rest and let the others handle the situation.
“Scott,” shouted Green Lantern in joyful surprise, “Did you bring your power ring?”
“Yes,” answered Starman as his garb morphed into his Green Lantern uniform.. “What do you need me to do?”
San Francisco Hospital
Aaron kept his eyes wide open as Black Adam’s mammoth sized hands clenched his throat tightly.
“Say your prayers, relic,” advised the monarch of Khandaq.
Then a green glow emanated throughout the room. The Arachnid watched in silent hope as the bodies of Phantom Lady, Isis, Firebrand, and Black Orchid turned a pale greenish color and disintegrated. Then a blast of pure green energy blew a hole through the massive chest of Black Adam.
“Hhhhk! Ukkk!” said the now aged Arachnid from his hospital bed.
“It’s time to wake up, Kid,” said Green Lantern Scott Stone. This is all just a horrible nightmare. There are a couple of Chai Latte’s waiting for us at Starbuck’s dude. You ready to wake up?”
The Arachnid blinked his eyes in approval.
“On the count of three then,” said Starman, “One…two…”
The Hall of Justice
“I’m ready for that Chai Lat –“ began the Arachnid.
“Where’s Kai-Ro?” asked Green Lantern Daniel Jordan to the newly awakened Bullet Boy.
“I…I don’t know,” answered the newest member of the Super Friends.
“I thought I went to save the Arachnid so you could save Bullet Boy and Kai-Ro,” said Starman.
“Bullet Boy woke up before GL had a chance to try,” said Jemstone sadly.
“What is all of this about?” asked Jared.
“We have to find Kai-Ro!” said Daniel Jordan in a panicked state.
“The Hall of Justice monitors show one someone sitting by a shrub outside the building,” offered Black Vulcan.
Green Lantern, Nightvision, Starman, and Power Guy raced out the building to find their blue-skinned friend sobbing on the ground.
“Kai-Ro,” asked the emerald crusader, “What’s wrong?”
“Its just…its just that…” began the Venutian visitor, “I just had the most wonderful dream of my life…and it wasn’t real.”
Brendon Grayson, Scott Stone, Ky-El, and Daniel Jordan all looked at one another in astonishment at the blue-skinned man’s explanation.
“Hey, what’s going on down there?” asked Wonder Warrior as he descended. “Is Wonder Girl alright?”
“Wonder Girl?” asked Nightvision.
Daniel Jordan’s countenance turned white. “I haven’t seen her. I didn’t even see her when I read Dr. Destiny’s mind,” he said as the five heroes returned inside.
“Has anyone here seen Wonder Girl?” asked Power Guy in an authoritative voice.
“Even in your dreams?” added Green Lantern.
“I do not sense her presence, ”reported the White Wraith.
“Not to make matters worse, but has anyone seen the Huntress or Sonic Boom?” asked Wonder Man.
“Di Di was here?” asked Green Lantern with mounting horror.
“HA! HA! HA! HA! Haahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” laughed Dr. Destiny in a chilling fashion.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Kid Comet as he and Lieutenant Atom arrived.
“Can you read that wretch’s mind and find out what happened to Sonic Boom, the Huntress and Wonder Girl?” asked Daniel Jordan.
Kid Comet concentrated ever so slightly for but a few moments and replied, “Dr. Destiny does not know of their whereabouts. He only has ideas.”
The attention of every hero in the room turned toward Dr. Destiny.
“I believe my experiment has been a great success!” proclaimed the villain. “When I found out about this first official meeting of the Super Friends I knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to test my theory that I can now make a person’s worst nightmare into a living reality. It didn’t work on all of you, but some of your nightmare’s have come true.”
“Is that why my chest is pounding so hard?” thought Velocity.
“DAD!” thought Power Lad.
Stellar scanned the assembly in horror to find that neither Nucleus nor any of the Rangers were present.
A feeling of insecurity overcame Hawkgirl as she wondered if any of the others had found out her secret.
The Arachnid checked his hands in relief to find that he was still young.
“I have to get back to Atlantis!” thought Whirlpool.
“There is only one way that your three belated teammates could have completely disappeared,” said Dr. Destiny in victory.
“Tell us now or die,” said Black Vulcan as energy crackled from her fingertips.
“If they all had the same nightmare, that very nightmare could have engulfed them and taken them to the very place they were dreaming,” answered the skeletal villain.
“Where would that be?” asked Lieutenant Atom.
“What are their worst fears?” asked Lady Light.
“Well, I can tell you for certain that Princess Donna’s worst fear is to meet Wonder Woman,” answered Wonder Warrior.
“The Huntress’s worst fear would be to lose her parents,” said Nightvision in deep thought. “Her life would be over. It would be as if she didn’t even exist.”
“Di Di’s would be similar to that,” said Daniel Jordan, “...to lose her family.”
“Great. Now we just have to find out what those three nightmares have in common,” said Totem pessimistically.
“I know where all three of those scenarios happened,” said Power Guy. “They are in the Universe of Evil.”
“HA! HA! HA! HA! Haahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” laughed Dr. Destiny.
TO BE CONCLUDED..