Justice League Legends #2

[Glippernip]

Legends of the Justice League of America #2:

LEGENDS

Written by Joel A. Sawyer



It was like many old jokes that you here, except in real life it is rarely funny. You see, once I realized I was a monster, some kind of rubber freak, I didn’t really handle it very well. So I turned to one thing I never imagined. I committed suicide. That’s the funny part. It didn’t work.

Patrick ‘Eel’ O’Brien is standing on a bridge looking down a long distance to the water below. He sighs deeply, not hearing the soft approaching footsteps.

“You are looking a little depressed there, chum,” an amiable voice said, sounding kind of like Barney Rubble or Gilligan, “So what is your problem? Is it really worth jumping?”

Patrick looks up to see a rather short chubby guy with a balding head and wearing a mismatched suit with a green jacket standing nearby. Based on the lines on his face, ‘Eel’ could tell this guy had a lot of stress in his life too.

“You know, I think it is,” O’Brien replies flippantly, “but it doesn’t matter. I’ve tried to kill myself six times already. I threw myself off a building, under a train, and off this bridge. I stuck my finger into a light socket. Almost beginning to feel like it’s a challenge to find something that will do the job.”

“If you say so, Mister, though it’s a little hard to believe.”

“So is this,” Patrick states as he stretches his arms out over the edge of the bridge about thirty feet. O’Brien then seems to melt into a puddle of goo on the ground, then he seemed to ‘collect himself up’ and become a round ball. It wasn’t perfectly round, but still very effective. The chubby man just looked on as Patrick regained his normal shape, even stretching back into his clothes before standing fully.

“That was pretty gross,” the chubby man said, “Either you have a really interesting gift there, or I need to go back to the loony bin. And I kinda hope that’s the case. I haven’t really done well since they let me out. What’s your name?”

“Pat. Yours?”

“Now please don’t laugh. My name is Woozy Winks.”

[Glippernip]

New York

The city is a war zone, though the fighting ended a short time ago. Police, fire, and emergency crews are fighting their own battles throughout the greater New York area. They haven’t come across Christopher Cross yet.

Calling himself Kriss Kross he had acted in a totally certifiable fashion, so a big green goon in a red cape knocked him off the STAR Labs building and ended his rampage. Kross awakened some time later in a great deal of pain laying in a dirty alley. Through his pain he noticed that the rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing. Kross could feel the energy around him but couldn’t access it yet. Then again, his limbs didn’t seem to want to work yet either. Even as he pondered what he could do now, he heard a strange snuffling sound followed by a gruff voice.

“Tell Lord Darkseid I’ve found the energy channeler,” the para-demon grumbled.

[Glippernip]

Still New York, DEO HQ

“What’s going on, Chloe?” the voice came through an encrypted channel. Simply put, with the events unfolding even as they spoke, the DEO was on full alert. Manhattan itself had been hit and there were too many new metas running, jumping, and flying around all over the place for anyone’s comfort. Chloe Sullivan ran her hand through her already mussed hair.

“We’re still receiving reports from all over, Roy. The main thrust has been Metropolis, New York, and Fawcett, but there have been sightings in Central City, Coast City, and even Gateway.”

“Where do you want me?” Agent Roy Harper asks over the line. No jokes, no side comments, no teasing. This was too big for that.

“Stay right where you are,” she commanded, “I can’t believe the Washington D.C. isn’t at least a possible target, and by the time you fly somewhere else it will probably be over. If anything happens, you are my point man in D.C.”

“Heh! Point man. I get it,” he chuckled through the phone.

She sighed. “Just don’t get killed out there, Harper,” Chloe finished before disconnecting.

[Glippernip]

Coast City:

Ted Kord sat in his office in the Coast City branch of Kord industries working hard to figure out what the device he had found was. Actually, found was a bit of a misnomer. A platoon of strange, muscular, green and yellow humanoid creatures flying on mechanical wings had caused an uproar as they flew throughout the city. They fanned out to find something, and then after a report that ‘the Lantern’ was off planet, the creatures began to leave. Ted had heard of the attacks on other American cities, so he decided to take some action.

That was when the Blue Beetle isolated one of these creatures and knocked it out. With it came the marvelous wings they had used as well as a small cube that pulsed with energy.

Now Ted had been working on this cube for a while and knew the thing was a computer of some kind, but nothing like he had ever seen before. And at Kord Industries, he had seen a lot. Ted needed help. And he had some idea where he might find some.

[Glippernip]

Somewhere above the American Midwest:

With their particularly acute senses they noticed each other from a long way off. As the brightly glowing green object zoomed down through the clouds toward the Earth two airborne red streaks deviated from their trajectory to intercept. As fast as they could fly they met in a very few moments, particularly when the green streak turned to join the others. As they met, the individuals regarded each other impassively for a moment.

“You should be very careful,” Captain Marvel finally offered, “With what is going on right now, if I hadn’t heard of Green Lantern before, I might have attacked you. My name is Captain Marvel and this is Mary Marvel. I’m surprised to see you flying from such a high altitude”

Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Earth, smiled and extended his hand. “I’ve heard of you as well, Captain. My abilities allow me to escape Earth’s atmosphere and fly in space. I’m just returning. What is happening on Earth?”

The Captain shook the offered hand while thinking, Holy Moley! He can fly in space! But the young boy inside quickly quelled the thought and acted as befitting the hero he wanted to be. “There has been an invasion of strange beings on Earth, and they have targeted super-powered heroes almost exclusively so far. I’m on my way to Metropolis to confront Superman.”

“Confront?"

“Yes,” Marvel said grimly, “There are reports that he assisted the attack on Metropolis.”

“I’ve heard a lot about this Superman,” Lantern said, deep in thought, “It is hard to believe it was possibly all a deception.”

“I agree, but there are also reports that he almost killed The Flash during a race between the two.” Marvel could barely contain his anger.

GL looked up sharply at the muscular hero. “I’ll still reserve my judgement, but if Superman did that to Flash, then he does have a lot to answer for! I’ll come with you. Either way, he is at the center of this now.”

Together, the trio continued their flight

[Glippernip]

Metropolis:

There were six of them now, including some of Earth’s most powerful beings. The Flash, the Fastest Man Alive according to the press. Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. Booster Gold, hero from the future though only a few knew this. Mr. Miracle, with a bond of blood with the invaders. Jonn Jon’zz, Martian who recently escaped a terrible dungeon with Miracle’s help, and Superman the Man of Steel. Even as they greeted each other, a couple reporters on hand for this historic meeting snapped photos that would literally make their careers.

“I agree that we need to talk,” Superman told them, “but not on the street. Let’s relocate to a more secure place.” With Superman in the lead, they moved to the roof of one of Metropolis’ tallest buildings and chose a spot out of helicopter sight.

“My name is Jonn Jon’zz. I am the last living Martian. For some time I have been a prisoner on a dark desolate place called Apokolips at the mercy of a being called Darkseid. Darkseid has become obsessed with something he calls The Anti-Life Equation. He captured me in the false belief that I could provide him with the answer he seeks, and believes I still may be a key.”

“What does that have to do with Earth,” The Flash said, unsure if he should even believe this green-skinned powerhouse.

“Because he thinks great physical power and ability with no known source is evidence of the Equation. He wants several individuals on Earth, the most important being your Superman. He thinks that Superman’s power is proof of The Equation.”

Superman listened with a serious expression. “Is this equation real?”

“I do not know,” Jon’zz answered, “but Darkseid believes it is, and he is willing to do anything, sacrifice anyone, to gain it.”

“So what do we do now,” Firestorm asked, feeling just a little bit out of his comfort zone in all of this.

“We confront this Darkseid and convince him that Earth is too strong a target,” Superman stated. From the side, Booster Gold choked and coughed.

“Sorry,” he said apologetically, “Dry throat.”

[Glippernip]

Gotham:

I am a bug, he thought confidently to himself as he scaled the building. It was getting dark so the chance of being detected was small. Blue Beetle hated to do this to a police station, but he really didn’t want to explain all of this to the cops. He reached the roof, looked around to make sure no one had spotted him, then activated his electronic screening which would cloak him from any camera’s on the roof. He was sure there would be some. He approached the object of his mission and quickly figured out how to turn it on. Impressively, it only took five minutes for him to respond.

The Blue Beetle didn’t really hear anything, but he felt the presence.

“It’s not a toy,” The Batman told him.

Beetle turned off the signal and faced the Dark Knight noticing the brightly colored teenaged boy standing next to him.

“Good, because I’m not playing. Didn’t know you came in assorted colors and sizes,” Beetle quipped. He could see Batman’s eyes narrow.

“What do you want, Beetle?”

Beetle reached into the little carrier and produced the little box he had acquired, showing it to the Bat. “You know who I am, so you should realize how I am with electronics. I’m sure you’ve heard of the attacks today.” Batman nodded, and Beetle continued, “I took down one of the green flying monkeys of Oz today and found this. I’m pretty up on Earth technology, and this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I need help, and I know you have resources I do not.”

“Looks like a Rubik’s Cube,” Robin quipped.

“I see you are the one that got the sense of humor,” Beetle added, and Robin grinned.

Batman meanwhile inspected the device. “Do you know what it does?”

“Not really, but I think its an advanced computer. When I hooked it up to some analytical equipment, this thing accessed my systems instead of the other way around. I know it processes information. And the way the invaders all leave at the same time without any speaking, I’d bet this coordinate’s their movements.”

After a long, juicy pause, Batman told the Beetle, “Come with me.”

[Glippernip]

Washington D.C.

The first Boom echoed above the city at just about 7:27pm, almost the same time that Blue Beetle and Batman examined their device within the confines of The Batcave. This first sound was followed by a few more, then a few more…than a LOT more. And each one preceded a Parademon flying over Washington airspace. This was followed by Boom Tube attacks at ever military air base within 300 miles, with just a few Parademons detonating a huge EM pulse that effectively grounded the US Air Force on the East Coast. The Parademons over the air fields then disappeared while the army flying over Washington began their attack.

Roy Harper was shaking his head even as he began to don his protective battlesuit, which would probably be mostly ineffective. I should be able to take out a few dozen of them before my ammo gives out, he thought to himself.

[Glippernip]

The Batcave:

It was something that they didn’t expect at all. Nothing in their collective experience prepared them for it. Robin had retreated, having no real input on the examination, but Batman and Blue Beetle poured over the strange device. Though their personalities didn’t mesh and Batman didn’t respond to any of Beetle’s jokes, the duo fell automatically into scientist mode. They worked for a good thirty minutes until Beetle’s next joke about Hellraiser and alternate dimensions.

“Too bad this thing couldn’t just tell us where its from,” Beetle finished.

Ping!

BOOOOM!

For just a moment, Batman thought the Batcave had exploded as a fetid, sulphurous breeze assailed his nostrils. He and Beetle both looked around and realized that they were no longer in the Batcave. In fact, they weren’t sure they were even on Earth.

In several spots in the near distance, smoke billowed up from huge pits dug into the ground. Structures of alien appearance stood to their left, similar to a town or outpost. They could see no grass, no trees, the sky was reddish colored and the ground was stony and covered with ash. They were seen almost immediately by guards of the same type as the majority of the invaders on Earth. These creature took to the air, and in moments at least two dozen swarmed toward their location.

“We are in so much trouble,” Beetle said, taking out his pistol.

Batman calmly picked up the cube. “Can you take us to the Batcave?”

No response.

“Take us to the Batcave,” Batman ordered vehemently.

ping?

"The Batcave. Where we were before."

Ping!

BOOOOM!

And they were back, just like that.

And there was a message coming in. Without a pause, Batman pressed a button. “I have a guest,” he said quickly, “What’s up?”

“You have a caller, Sir,” the voice of Alfred came across the communicator, “A Miss Zatanna is on the phone. She says that she needs to speak to Batman right away.”

And she called Bruce Wayne? “This just keeps getting better,” Batman said out loud.

[Glippernip]

Washington D.C.

And Roy released his last arrow. He had been correct. Each of his missiles had knocked one of these strange creatures out of the sky, but there were so many. The guardians of Washington, both police and military, had come out to defend the nation’s Capitol, but the strong airborne opponents carried energy weapons that far surpassed the M-16’s the humans carried. It was not a fair fight. Even as several of the creatures swooped down on him, he clenched his fists and readied himself. If he was to die here, he would make it better than anything Hollywood could do.

He was stunned when a figure suddenly intercepted the creatures and knocked them to the ground. The being moved almost faster than he could follow, ripping the mechanical wings off the creatures and knocking them unconscious. Several more invaders moved to attack, this time firing their firearms…but the newcomer actually deflected the bolts away from the intended victims. He looked at the woman in front of him, easily the sexiest female he had ever seen. Strong sleek legs, a taught butt, long black hair that was wavy but not really curly. “You’ve done well today,” she said while half-turning toward him, “but let me take over. I’m a little bit more equipped to handle this.”

In profile, she looked like an angel.

“Who are you,” Roy Harper asked his protector.

“I call myself Wonder Woman,” she said, and only then did he notice the Stars and Striped Red White and Blue motif of her outfit that hugged her curves way too much. Wonder Woman launched herself into the air after the attackers.

Roy watched her fight for several minutes amazed at what he was seeing. She used bracelets on her wrists to deflect the creature’s attacks and she could fly to meet them in mid-air. She was fast, too, far faster than any of them or anyone else on the battlefield today. Every time she came close to an attacking monster, it would fall from the sky. Problem is, as fast and strong as she obviously was, there were hundreds of these creatures.

Then Roy noticed something very strange in the behavior of the attackers. They flew around and fired their weapons but…they seemed to have no direction. They weren’t attacking the Capitol Building or the White House. He took a moment to use his cellular phone and found that there were no attacks on the Pentagon or other critical targets. In fact, the creatures were randomly attacking but not doing much damage at all.

He asked himself silently, What is going on?

[Glippernip]

And it all happened so quickly from there. Wonder Woman worked hard to defend the Capitol, but while the creatures could not really harm her, there were too many for her to effectively fight. But help was coming. Cameras on top of the Washington DC CNN building first caught sight of them. They flew straight into the city and toward the main part of the invasion force. The cameras zoomed in to give America a great view of the heroes flying into Washington D.C. Superman in the nation’s colors, Firestorm blazing like a comet with a tale of flame, Jonn Jon’zz, an unknown but impressive with his physique and color, Mr. Miracle with his multi-colored suit, and Booster Gold with his ever-present Skeets following close behind. Though the cameras couldn’t see him, The Flash zoomed along the ground.

But as they moved in, loud BOOMS began to sound across the city again as Parademons fled the scene without even challenging the new defenders. Even those on the ground and unconscious were pulled through Boom Tubes by their Mother Boxes. In a very short amount of time, the battle was over. The new heroes flew slowly to where Wonder Woman had landed near Roy Harper.

And yet more arrived right on their tale. In fact, the timing of the arrivals seemed almost too perfect. Before Superman and his companions could land, another trio of heroes appeared. They looked up as Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Green Lantern arrived.

Superman smiled. “I’m glad to see you, Capt…”

Captain Marvel, his face set and glowering, cut The Man of Steel off. “We know, Superman. For your crimes against humanity and for siding with invaders, I ask that you give yourself up now.”

They all glanced at each other uncomfortably, even Green Lantern, who had just met the Captain.

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I think you’ve been misinformed,” Superman stated, “I’ve been…”

“LIES!” Captain Marvel shouted and he unloaded, smashing his fist into Superman’s face and sending the Kryptonian flying backwards across the city.

And a short distance away, as his sister Amazing Grace concentrated her powers of mental domination, The Glorious Godfrey began to laugh.

[Glippernip]

And it just gets funnier. Somehow, with this rotund man’s assistance, I had gone from a suicidal depressant without the actual ability to commit suicide to a developing super-hero. And yesterday I was a criminal. Go fig.

“Well, what do you think?” Eels O’Brien asked his new friend Woozy, “Call me Plastic Man!”

“Or maybe just Plas,” Woozy Winks replied, “That’s some pretty strange get up.”

Plastic Man wore what looked like a red swimsuit with goggles over his face. He grinned widely. This whole thing sounded like it could be fun. Turning lemons into Coca-Cola or something like that.

Without sound, a third man stood there in the room with Woozy and ‘Plas’. Woozy, fully used to such things although they usually weren’t real, didn’t react. O’Brien’s jaw actually, physically dropped and hit the floor only to bounce back up into its normal position.

“I am a stranger to you,” the foreboding man dressed in navy blue suit and a hat that obscured his face, “but I expected your coming. We must talk of your destiny.”

TO BE CONTINUED…