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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:20:54 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:20:54 GMT -5
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:24:11 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:24:11 GMT -5
Secret Society of Super Villains Issue 1: "Day of the Dark Lord, Chapter Four: More Trials, More Tribulations." Written by David Peattie Cover by Ramon Villalobos Edited by David Charlton
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:28:56 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:28:56 GMT -5
Another day elapsed, and once more, a Secret Society shuttlecraft sped along through the sky towards a destination far removed from the team's San Francisco headquarters. On board the craft were Manhunter and Star Sapphire, with Manhunter piloting.
The ship was winging its way across the Atlantic ocean, en route to a place few people had ever seen, save for its inhabitants: the hidden Greek island of Themyscira, home to the equally hidden race of female warriors called Amazons.
As the ship neared the island, the weather turned from pleasant and mild to downright nasty. The clouds mutated from puffy and white to nearly black, and the craft was pelted by torrents of rain and rocked by fierce winds. Lightning and thunder roared outside as the ship bucked up and down like a wild bronco.
Though she normally wasn't afraid of anything, Star Sapphire began to blanch a bit as the ship lurched around.
"Sacre bleu, Manhunter," she said with a trace of fear, "nevair have I seen such a storm as this! Perhaps we should land somewhere and wait it out, non?"
At first, it seemed as if Manhunter intended to ignore her to concentrate on keeping the craft aloft. Finally, he replied, "It will pass soon enough."
No sooner had he said this, than the storm seemed to hear him and confirm his words by stopping. The darkened sky turned its dazzling blue again, and the storm clouds parted to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful island below, sitting like a jewel in the glistening sea.
The island was clearly inhabited, for its surface was dotted with buildings. And yet it had the look of something out of the distant past, for each of those buildings was made of pure white marble and designed in the classic Greek style. Doric columns kept each structure's roof from collapsing, and all the doorways and rooftops were decorated with fine sculpture and bas-reliefs.
As they came in for a landing, the two villains were able to see the citizens of the island going about their business, and they, too, looked as if they had stepped out of ancient history. Every one of them was dressed in togas and sandals. But that wasn't the most impressive thing about them.
The more noteworthy fact was that they were all women; not a single male could be found anywhere. Even more striking, all of the women were classically beautiful…so alluring, that a man with a romantic soul could fall in love a hundred times over with each one of them. A more crass man, with nothing but sex on his mind, would think at first that he'd found the island of his deepest fantasies. But that kind of man would soon find himself unwelcome here…and so, for that matter, would the more romantic ones. For these women were the legendary Amazons, and they got along quite nicely without men in their lives of any stripe.
Many centuries ago, sometime around 1200 BC, the goddesses of the Greek pantheon took a look at the world of Man and found that they didn't like what they saw. They saw that the current pinnacle of civilization, the Greek islands, was a heavily male-dominated society, and that women were often treated not just with disrespect, but with loathing and contempt…as if they were no better than slaves or pack animals. To combat this, the Greek goddesses decided to create a new race of women, called the Amazons. The Amazons would be strong enough to not only stand their ground against the men, but to overpower them; and their presence would serve to show the human women that they did not have to tolerate male brutality. But it would not be the job of the Amazons to rule in place of men; no, their task was to show that a better way was for men and women to live as equals…each contributing to society what he or she could…and to live in peace and love, according to the ideals of the Greek gods themselves.
To create the Amazons, the goddesses went to the Cavern of Souls…a dark, subterranean channel that held the restless, mournful souls of women who had died from violence, before their natural time. The goddesses created new bodies for these women's souls, out of mud and clay…and when the souls took possession of these new bodies, they were magically transformed into flesh and blood. One of their number was a tall, proud, dark-haired beauty named Hippolyta, and she was chosen to receive the wisdom of Athena and to serve as the Amazons' queen.
For a time, the Amazons fulfilled their mission admirably, and gradually, Greek society began to change as the women found their own strength and demanded the rights they'd been denied before. But the still-brutish men resented this, and prayed to Zeus for help. Though Zeus had promised his wife Athena that he would not interfere with the Amazons, another god…Ares, the god of war…had made no such promise, and he agreed to help the men. He sent Hercules, the demi-god who was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, to lead an army against the Amazons. On the field of battle, the Amazons won.
Hercules next decided to try trickery, and met with Hippolyta, apologizing to her and offering her friendship. Unable to deny her own sexual attraction to Hercules, Hippolyta took his words at face value and let her guard down…and this was her undoing. When his chance came, Hercules overpowered Hippolyta and took her prisoner, and without her leadership, the other Amazons were soon captives as well.
During their first night as prisoners, Hippolyta prayed to Aphrodite as she never had before. She swore never to be so foolish as to trust a man again, and finally, her pleas were answered. Aphrodite appeared to her and agreed to free the Amazons…but there would be a price to pay. From then on, all Amazons would have to wear bracelets like the ones Hercules and his army had chained to their wrists, as a reminder of the folly of trusting men too much. Furthermore, Aphrodite and the other goddesses had decided that the time was not yet right for mankind to truly heed the messages of peace and love that the Amazons brought, and so the Amazons were ordered to seek out a new island home for themselves, where they would live and prepare themselves for the day when humanity was ready for their message at last.
Once they were freed, the Amazons took Hercules and his army apart. Hercules returned to Olympus to face the wrath of Zeus for his actions, and the relieved but still chastened Amazons set out in search of their new home. When they found it, they named it Themyscira, after the city on the Greek Islands that had been their home before. Over the ensuing centuries, Hippolyta and the Amazons had built a thriving hidden civilization for themselves…studying the arts and sciences, continuing their worship of the Greek pantheon, and keeping up their training as warriors. And although they had little to no contact with the outside world, they did keep abreast of how the world was progressing...socially and technologically. One innovation that they adopted was the use of firearms, though not as a part of the Amazonian arsenal; rather, they trained with guns, inventing a new game called Bullets and Bracelets wherein an Amazon would use her bracelets to block gunfire.
Only twice during the 20th century had Amazons made contact with the "world of man": during World War II, when Queen Hippolyta traveled back in time to help the Allies against the Axis powers, and again more recently, when Hippolyta's daughter Diana came to Man's World as the heroic Wonder Woman.
All these things, Manhunter reviewed in his mind as he circled the Amazon island and looked for a good place to land.
"Merde," Star Sapphire breathed, "what is this place, Manhuntair?"
"The island of Themyscira, Camille," Manhunter replied. "Home of the Amazons, where Wonder Woman hails from."
"Sapristi!," his pink-costumed companion exclaimed. "What are we doing here?"
"Our job," Manhunter intoned solemnly, "is to get as big a sample as we can of the unique metal the Amazons use to make their bracelets. If it can stand up to machine-gun fire…as Wonder Woman has proven…then our benefactor wants it, so he can study it and duplicate it."
"Ah," Sapphire said, as she began to understand. "So we steal it from them. And now you look for an isolated spot to land on, so that we may sneak in and out, oui?"
"No," the cloned assassin replied. "The Amazons have sophisticated technology at their command, for all the classic beauty of their architecture. They doubtless know our ship is here by now. What you need to do is to slip out invisibly…your star sapphire gem can help you do that…and scout around to find what we need, while I land the ship."
"Are you mad, mon ami?", she asked incredulously. "Those Amazons are nearly as powairful as Superman! They would tear you apart!"
"You're probably right," Manhunter smirked, "if I had any intention of engaging them. I just want to stall and distract them while you find out where the metal ore is kept. Then you can fight them off while I get the goods."
"I am not sure I like this arrangement, Manhuntair," Sapphire remarked. "But I can see the logic in it, so I will not argue."
So saying, the pink-clad woman sent a mental command to the alien gem in her tiara, and in a glow of shimmering purple energy, vanished from view. She then commanded the star sapphire to make her body immaterial as well, and flew through the shuttlecraft's wall to begin her reconnaissance.
After giving her a few moments to get clear, Manhunter made one more pass over the island and then made his final approach to the spot on the north beach where he'd chosen to land. As he did so, he saw the island's grim-faced inhabitants pointing upwards at him and moving, in an ever-increasing mass, towards his north shore destination.
That pleased him. True, he wasn't looking forward to having to fight these beautiful but deadly women warriors off, but the fact that they were all congregating on him meant that they had not detected Star Sapphire's presence. She should, therefore, have no real trouble in achieving her portion of this phase of his plan.
Now, if only he could pull off his role.
Because the island of Themyscira was not all that large to begin with, it didn't take Star Sapphire very long, after leaving the shuttlecraft, to locate the area where the ore to make the Amazonian bracelets was kept. Ore mines and metal-working forges are seldom hard to spot, in any society…and the Amazon civilization was no exception.
"Tres bien," she thought as she flew in closer. "here is just what I need!"
But even as she prepared to land, a discreet distance from the mine, her brow furrowed with a sudden, unpleasant thought.
"My erstwhile partner said to get as much as we can," she mused. "An ore car full ought to be more than enough. But how to get that much back to the plane? I could do it with my Sapphire…but how can I, when our plan was to let Manhunter retrieve the ore as I fight off the Amazons?"
She pondered this a few moments more, then came up with an idea. "I have it! I shall render unconscious the Amazons here at the mine and move the cart myself to a point near the plane. Then I'll hold off the other warriors while Manhunter takes the cart inside!"
Satisfied with her plan, she added, "I do hope the poor dear doesn't work up too much of a sweat! As they say, a woman's work is never done…!"
Stepping behind some nearby bushes, she made herself visible again, then commanded her star sapphire to change her costume into an Amazonian toga and sandals. Then she watched as a muscular blonde Amazon named Mala left the mining camp and made her way over towards the bushes, water canteen in hand, apparently taking a break. As Mala sat down on a nearby rock, the disguised Star Sapphire made her move.
Exiting from the bushes, she tried her best to sound like a native. "Hola, sister!," she sang out, forcing her French accent down for all she was worth. "The queen sent me to relieve you…you're wanted at the palace!"
Mala had been raising the canteen to her lips to drink, but paused now and looked the new arrival over. "Really?", she said skeptically. "What for? To help the soldiers greet whoever's in that skycraft that's been buzzing the island for ten minutes?"
"Oui…uh, uh, yes," Sapphire hastily agreed. "They need all the help they can get!"
"That's interesting," Mala retorted. "Seeing as how we got a messenger from the Queen not more than five minutes ago, telling us not to worry and that the phalanx has things well in hand."
"Oh," Sapphire replied, her mind racing. "Uh…"
"So," Mala continued, "it seems someone is rather confused. And I think it must be you, especially given that you wear no bracelets in defiance of Aphrodite's law…and the fact that I've never even seen you before."
"Ah..well…ah," Sapphire stammered.
"You see, outworlder," Mala gritted as she stood up and set down her canteen, "one of the benefits of a closed society like ours is that everyone knows everyone else. So a newcomer is easy to spot. And it's not hard to guess what you're after, either."
With that, Mala began to advance towards Sapphire, menacingly.
"Make it easy on yourself, sister," Mala suggested. "Surrender yourself, and be taken to the Queen in one piece. Or don't, and we'll make it pieces, instead."
"Non, petite," Sapphire said, dropping all pretense and allowing her costume to reappear. "As long as the game is up, I shall arrange my own audience with her majesty."
So saying, Sapphire launched herself skyward again, narrowly evading Mala's lunging grasp. The blonde Amazon landed a few feet away on her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs with a noticeable "whoosh." Sapphire herself returned to Earth just a few feet away from the spot; she had not flown very far or very high, not wanting to bring attention to herself yet if she could avoid it.
"I do not wish to hurt you, cheri," Sapphire said. "You and your people remind me of the Zamarons that have made me their queen…and out of respect for our similar cultures, I would much rathair do this without undue violence. But I must have that ore, and be assured, I will get it…even if it must be ovair your dead body!"
Sapphire's taunts made Mala's blood boil. As a proud Amazon, she longed to get her hands on the pink-garbed stranger and shove the thief's words down her throat. But Amazons have never been all brawn; there are brains there, too, and Mala knew that by herself, she might not succeed in stopping this outlander. So she did the wisest thing she could think of to do: she called for reinforcements.
"HEE-YAAA, SISTERS!", Mala shrieked. "A traitor from Patriarch's World comes to steal from us!"
As Mala's cry echoed off the nearby hills, the mine emptied of Amazons, all of whom came running to answer their tribemate's call.
"Oh, this is just magnifique," Sapphire muttered.
As the Amazons converged on her, Sapphire considered her options.
"Well," she thought, "there's nothing for it now but to fight. I just hope I can subdue this crowd without alerting the rest of the island."
Turning back to Mala, Sapphire sent another command to the gem in her headband. A beam of purple energy shot out, enveloping Mala and encasing her in a violet globe…a sphere that not even her Amazonian strength could break. Then, turning to face the rest of the approaching Amazons, Star Sapphire propelled the "ball" and its captive into them, bowling them over for a perfect "strike."
The force of the impact stunned the assembled Amazons momentarily, leaving them littering the ground in a dazed state. Sapphire knew that she didn't dare give them time to recover their wits.
Centering her tiara with both hands, she sent yet another mental command through it, and once more, beams of mauve energy lanced forth. These beams struck the heads of the scattered Amazons, penetrating to their brains and accessing the sleep centers. As one, they all fell unconscious and slumped to the ground. They would remain that way for several hours, then awaken, little the worse for wear.
"Bien," Sapphire told herself. "Now, if no one else objects, I shall get what I came for!"
Flying low over the encampment, Sapphire located a cart full of ore, and surrounded it with energy from her namesake gem. Resuming her state of invisibility…and extending it to the ore cart…she flew it and herself back towards the north shore where she'd seen Manhunter bring the skycraft down.
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:32:08 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:32:08 GMT -5
As this had been going on, Manhunter had landed the craft and stepped forth from it, to be met by the first wave of armor-clad Amazonian soldiers even as he set foot on the beach.
"A MAN!," they all cried at once. This was followed by shouts of "Subdue him! Take him to the Queen!"
"Looks like my arrival is quite the event," Manhunter thought. "If it weren't for the spears and maces, I'd feel like a rock star!"
Jokes aside, Manhunter knew he was in deadly peril. Like Star Sapphire, he had no desire to kill or even injure any of the Amazons. But they clearly didn't have any qualms about how badly they hurt him.
"Sorry, ladies," the clone said jovially. "But I wouldn't know how to act around royalty!"
Ignoring the jest, the two lead Amazon warriors charged towards him. As yet, none of them seemed inclined to use their weapons against him; that was a good sign, that they were counting on their admittedly superior strength and larger numbers to carry the day. They would soon learn that Manhunter was not to be underestimated.
As the two lunging Amazons neared him, Manhunter, who still had the skycraft behind him, pressed his hands against it and then used it to launch himself into a back-flip. This landed him on the shuttlecraft's roof, and caused the two warriors to sail right into the hull of the craft, momentarily stunning them both. The impact caused the ship to rock violently, but Manhunter kept his footing long enough to leap off and over his two assailants onto the beach.
Scarcely had his feet touched the sand, than another attack came from his left: an Amazon named Alecta, who swung at him with the blunt end of her spear.
"You're fast, my friend," she said as he dodged her blow. "But believe me: you don't want to make this personal!"
"Trust me, ma'am," he replied earnestly. "It's not!"
As he said this, he grabbed at the spear and used it in conjunction with a jiu-jitsu move, swinging Alecta…who of course, stubbornly refused to let go her own grip on the spear…around him several times, before flinging her into two of her comrades in a "crack-the-whip" move.
Hearing motion behind him, he instantly realized that his first two playmates were about to try tackling him again. Pausing only slightly, he picked his time and then, when it was too late for them to stop, jumped straight upward, once more letting them catch only air. And, as they passed underneath him, he took advantage of the moment to grab a spear from one of them, putting him on somewhat more even terms.
"Okay," he said, twirling the spear around himself with both hands, "who wants the next dance?"
No one spoke or moved for a few beats. The Amazons, though they'd lost none of their bravery or confidence of victory, had nonetheless gained considerably more respect for their intended quarry.
Manhunter, for his part, knew he couldn't let his guard down for a second. If he dared let even one of these immortal powerhouses get their hands on him, he and his mission were finished. And there was too much riding on his mission's success for failure to be an option.
Just then, from some distance away, everyone heard a woman shout, "HEE-YAA!" and some other words, which were not as clearly audible. The Amazons facing Manhunter paused, looking back that way with concern. Manhunter realized that the cry had probably been an Amazon at the mines, having discovered Star Sapphire and calling
for help against her. "Now I've really got to bring their attention back to me," he thought. "I can't afford to have any of them going after Sapphire just yet!"
"Au revoir, mam'selles!", Manhunter cried, as he leapt over the Amazons' heads and started running along the beach, towards a set of stone steps that would take him up the hill and towards the Themysciran city itself.
"He's headed for the city!", cried an Amazon named Caterena. "Surround him! Stop him!"
The Amazons, more used to running along the sand than Manhunter was, quickly encircled him again, and rushed forward to attack. This was just what the clone wanted.
Whirling his stolen spear around him with a speed that impressed even the Amazons, Manhunter managed to block every attack, to parry every thrust, and to keep the female furies from coming close enough to him to land even a single blow. But the effort was not without cost; after only a few moments, he was drenched with sweat…and he could feel himself tiring. He sent a fervent prayer to every god he could think of, asking that his own female cohort show up to spell him from this fight soon.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but which was only two minutes, Manhunter saw a blast of purple energy from above him scatter the Amazons like ripples in a lake that's had a rock thrown into it. As Manhunter paused to catch his breath, Star Sapphire landed gently next to him.
Mentally thanking all the deities who'd had a hand in her swift arrival, Manhunter smirked at his partner. "About time," was all he said.
"I took the scenic route," she smiled sweetly. "A cart full of the ore is just behind the shrubs ovair there." She pointed to some foliage, off to the right and several yards ahead.
"Good," Manhunter replied. "Now, you distract them while I get the ore aboardship."
"That was the plan, non?", she responded.
As Sapphire turned to the already-recovering Amazons, Manhunter darted for the bushes and the ore cart hidden among them.
"It seems to me," Sapphire remarked, "that I have done this before."
Another command to her Zamaronian gem, and two gigantic hands made of purple energy came forth. These hands scooped the astonished Amazons together and held them tightly in a glowing, violet grip.
Having done this, Star Sapphire intended to levitate the hapless Amazons back over the city and drop them there. She knew that they were sturdy enough that the fall wouldn't unduly hurt them, but it would take them some time to recover and make their way back to the beach. By then, she hoped that she and Manhunter would have the ore loaded and be back on their way to San Francisco.
Before she could act on her plans, though, her concentration was broken when a mace cracked her skull from behind, knocking her unconscious. Without her telepathic command controlling its energy, the star sapphire gem in her tiara stopped transmitting the giant purple hands, which vanished as though they'd never existed at all. The Amazons who'd been caught in their clutches breathed sighs of relief, and turned to face the woman who'd thrown the mace. As one, they all sank to bended knee before her.
They did this because the mace had been launched by the Amazon's ruler, Queen Hippolyta herself. Imperiously, she marched towards Star Sapphire's crumpled form and stopped just inches short of it. Looking at her fallen foe contemptuously, she issued a command to her subjects.
"Bind her," the Queen intoned. "Remove her tiara, as it seems to be the source of her power. Then take her to my throne room. When she awakes, perhaps she will tell us the meaning of all of this."
As this battle had been going on, Manhunter had made his way to the hidden ore cart and had begun wheeling it across the beach towards the shuttlecraft. The Amazons, their sole attention fixated on Star Sapphire, had not noticed this and had apparently forgotten all about him…allowing Manhunter to almost make it to the craft before Sapphire fell to the thrown mace. As he watched her fall, Manhunter's heart fell with her. Their mission had clearly failed; now, they would not only not get the ore, but the only way they would leave the island at all would be in the custody of Earth's heroes. The Queen would naturally call her daughter, Wonder Woman, to retrieve the outworlders, and from there it would be into police custody. And the Secret Society, if it continued at all, would do so without him.
Manhunter gritted his teeth. He could not allow that. Innocent lives without number were at stake, and their salvation depended on him remaining the leader of the Secret Society, for at least a while longer. He steeled himself to do whatever it took to make sure he remained free to continue in that role.
Before he could do anything else, though, the Queen looked his way and called out to him. "You may as well surrender yourself as well, whoever you are," she told him. "Your cause is clearly lost, and we would avoid bloodshed if we can."
Even as Hippolyta said these words, the other Amazons began to slowly but surely surround him again. He walked away from the ore cart and the skycraft, and strode purposefully across the sand to where the Queen stood.
As he came nearer to her, Manhunter saw the Queen's brow furrow; then, her eyes went wide with surprise.
"Manhunter?", she asked in shock. "Paul Kirk…is that you?"
Now, it was Manhunter's turn to be surprised. His briefings on the original Paul Kirk's life had not mentioned that he had met the queen of the Amazons. With an effort of will, though, he kept the surprise from being displayed on his face, even as he realized that Kirk and Hippolyta must have met as members of the wartime All Star Squadron.
"Hello, your highness," he said instead. "It's been a long time."
Now that he had confirmed his identity to her, the Queen's face lost its shocked expression…replacing it instead with a look of grim determination.
"Do not presume overmuch on our past alliances, Manhunter," she said, with a hard edge to her voice. "My fellow Amazons will withhold another attack until you explain your actions today," and at this, Hippolyta gestured at the other warriors, who obediently (but grudgingly) lowered their weapons; "but be warned: it had best be a good one."
Manhunter nodded in agreement. He'd already figured that part out for himself; now it was time to come up with a plausible story without tipping his hand too much. He finally decided that the best approach was to tell as much of the truth as he dared, and hope that her prior friendship with the true Paul Kirk would carry him over the gaps.
"You may remember," he began, "that I've done a lot of work for the federal government…"
"I suspected as much," Hippolyta replied, "but until now, you never confirmed it."
"Because I was under orders not to," the clone quickly ad-libbed. "I wouldn't be confirming it now, except I don’t have any choice."
When he saw that she wasn't inclined to argue that point, he went on. "My partner and I," and here he indicated the unconscious Star Sapphire, "are on a top-secret mission. We were sent to retrieve some samples of the special metallic ore your people use to make your bullet-proof bracelets. I'm not at liberty to divulge why the ore is needed, but I can promise you that the need is dire…if our mission fails, it is very possible that the entire
planet could be in peril. I can also promise that I'll personally return the ore once the danger has passed."
There were a few awkward moments, then, as Hippolyta weighed Manhunter's words and her past relationship with him in the Squadron against his actions that day.
"You're asking a lot," she said at last, "and giving back precious little. I want to trust you, but…"
"Please, your majesty," Manhunter said, allowing some hurt and desperation into his voice. "If you recall anything about me, you'll know I don't ask for anything lightly."
Another few tense moments. Finally, she said, "Go, then. Take the ore, and your friend here. Alectra, Bactra…assist him in loading everything onto his skycraft."
Exchanging looks that clearly said they didn't think it was Hippolyta's brightest decision of all time, the two Amazons named grumpily moved to assist Manhunter. Bactra hoisted Star Sapphire onto her shoulder, then all three began to move back along the beach to the Secret Society shuttlecraft.
"Thank you, Hippolyta," Manhunter said as he turned to leave. "I won't forget this."
"Your efforts, Paul Kirk, would be better spent in making sure I don't have cause to regret my decision," she said icily. "If I do, may the gods have mercy on you when we meet again!"
Manhunter acknowledged her threat with a nod, then joined the Amazons who were already loading the ore and the just-regaining-consciousness Star Sapphire onto the plane. After making sure that his comrade and the ore were securely tucked inside, the clone thanked the two scowling warriors and settled into the pilot's seat. After making sure that the Amazons had gotten clear, he started the craft's engines and took off, setting a course back to San Francisco.
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:35:23 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:35:23 GMT -5
Later that evening, Manhunter gathered the team together again at the Sinister Citadel. He told them of the success of the test mission he and Star Sapphire had undertaken, and then told the final two members of the team…Sinestro and Capt. Boomerang…that it was finally their turn.
Once again, night was followed by day, and by mid-afternoon, another Secret Society skycraft was on its way to New York City. In the pilot's seat was Capt. Boomerang, who was guardedly cheerful; maintaining a surly silence in the passenger seat was Sinestro.
The more Sinestro thought about it, the more he resented the situation he found himself in. He had thought that coming to Earth, and joining this Secret Society, would give him an opportunity to join forces with beings that were the cream of the evil crop, villains that he felt were of his same station. Yet only a select few of the group's members came within a fraction of matching his power level…and even those few were hardly his peers in cunning and wickedness.
Worse yet, he had to submit to a test of his abilities, as if he were some novice who needed to prove himself. The very idea insulted him. And to be partnered with someone like this infernal Australian blowhard, Capt. Boomerang! Did Manhunter think he was going to judge Sinestro's performance by lumping it in with this moronic sideshow performer's? The whole thing made him fume.
Indeed, Sinestro couldn't even have the satisfaction of getting to New York under his own power, to make the mission conclude that much faster. Manhunter had insisted that they take the shuttlecraft, for fear that Sinestro might need his full power ring charge. What nonsense. As if they could possibly come up against anything that powerful on such a job.
The villainous duo's mission was to kidnap noted physicist Albert Higgins, who had made a name for himself earlier through bizarre circumstances. Higgins had been working on a machine that could transmute one element into another, much the same as ancient alchemists had tried to do. One night, the machine had overloaded and spilled its energies onto his lab assistant, John Dolan…giving Dolan the power to change his body into any of the known elements. The greedy Dolan had then gone on a criminal rampage as the Elemental Man, only to be finally stopped by Batman and Robin.
Manhunter had not explained why the Secret Society's mysterious benefactor wanted Higgins kidnapped. That was hardly surprising; Manhunter had really not explained what the point of any of the test missions so far had been. All Sinestro or any of the others knew was that they had been asked to steal certain items, and, except for the Grodd-Copperhead team, they had successfully done so. But not knowing what these items were for, or what Higgins had to do with them, was just one more thing about the Secret Society that Sinestro found maddening. He had halfway made up his mind that if a solid payoff to their efforts didn't make itself apparent soon, he was leaving the team and going back to his other, solo pursuits.
The briefing given the pair by Manhunter had also included the information that Dr. Higgins was attending a symposium on recent breakthroughs in physics, being held in downtown Manhattan. The idea was for Sinestro and Boomerang to take the scientist prisoner during the conference, preferably without drawing any attention to themselves. As a result, the shuttlecraft was once more flying in cloaked mode.
It didn't take long for the villains to find the downtown convention center, an impressive, glittering fifteen-story building on the west side of the island. Named after noted U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits, the convention center occupied a solid block of West 34th Street, sandwiched between 11th and 12th Avenues. It was considered to be one of the jewels of the newly-renovated Times Square. Boomerang selected a spot on the building's roof that looked likely to hold their craft without much trouble, and landed there.
The villains had been provided a photograph of Higgins by Manhunter before leaving, and as they exited their vehicle, Sinestro used his power ring to scan in their quarry's image, and then to search the building and the surrounding area for him. They finally located him at a restaurant nearby called Uncle Nick's Ouzaria, specializing in Greek cuisine.
Sinestro employed his power ring to disguise himself and Boomerang. In Boomerang's case, all that was really necessary was to substitute the Australian's garish costume for civilian attire. For himself, Sinestro resumed the Puerto Rican businessman identity he had used upon arriving in San Francisco a few days before. The two then made their way down to the street (Sinestro teleporting them with his power ring) and headed for the restaurant.
"Hope the food's good in there, mate," Boomerang said jovially. "Haven't had Greek in ages."
"We're not here for lunch, Harkness," Sinestro muttered, referring to Boomerang by his true last name. "We have a job to do, and the quicker it's done, the better I'll like it!"
"Conchy, aren't we?", Boomerang grinned in response. Sinestro had no idea what the man had said, but it sounded insulting; not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of his partner, however, Sinestro settled for just glaring at him.
"No worries, mate," Boomerang continued. "I'll behave meself. For your sake, of course."
Inside the restaurant, now only a block away from where Sinestro and Boomerang were walking, Dr. Higgins was enjoying a bowl of soup with his lunch companion, Prof. Martin Stein.
Stein, a nuclear physicist by trade, had just received the go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Committee to begin building a nuclear power plant for the New York area. He was fervently hoping that the already-irked environmentalist groups wouldn't cause any delays in its construction. He wasn't sure that his career could take much more pounding than it'd had already.
Several years ago, Stein had been accused of improper conduct towards one of his female students during a teaching engagement…a young lady named Crystal Frost. A brilliant student, she had apparently become romantically fixated on Stein, and when he didn't respond to her advances, she accused him of having come on to her, offering her a better grade in exchange for sexual favors. Ultimately, the charges had proven false, and Ms. Frost had taken her academic pursuits elsewhere. She later sent a letter to Stein apologizing to him, and for the most part he'd forgiven her; however, the scandal had caused the university to "suggest" that he pursue another line of work, and that had led to his designing and building nuclear power facilities. Not as satisfying as teaching, perhaps, but useful work.
As Sinestro and Boomerang entered the establishment, they noticed Higgins was not alone, a fact that brought them up short. Their instructions had been to be as discreet as possible; clearly, Higgins's companion would need to be taken out of the way before they could make off with Higgins himself. A command to Sinestro's power ring did the job: a thin, pale yellow beam made its way to Prof. Stein's colon, causing him to swiftly excuse himself to the men's room.
"Strewth!", Boomerang said under his breath. "The way that bloke's movin', his chunder must be comin' up!"
"Another Australian colloquialism, no doubt," Sinestro told himself. Bad enough he had to be saddled with this Down Under dullard; couldn't he at least speak proper English?
At any rate, with Stein now out of the way, the two villains quickly but quietly made their way to Higgins's table. Sinestro then made suave introductions.
"Dr. Higgins?", he began. "I am Prof. Senes Tiro, from the University of San Juan, in Puerto Rico. This is my colleague, Dr. George Harkness, of the Australian Energy Commission in Brisbane. We've heard of your recent work, and would like to discuss it with you…may we join you?"
Higgins gave his consent, and the disguised villains took chairs at the table. A waiter came by and took orders for the house red wine for them both.
The plan, improvised while walking to the restaurant, was to convince Higgins that the two of them had made an important new discovery, which they wished to get Higgins's opinion about. They would then walk him outside on the pretense of heading back to their hotel room, and once they were out of public view, they would whisk him back to the shuttlecraft and return to California.
As the three conversed with their intended prey, though, they were all suddenly taken aback when the restaurant grew dark. Turning to face the entrance, they saw that the glass window had become almost jet black…and then, before their astonished eyes, it sloshed down out of its moorings and spread like a flood over the restaurant floor.
"Why," Dr. Higgins cried out, as the ebony liquid splashed around everyone's feet, amid screams of fright from assorted female patrons. "The window…it's turned into ink! But what could cause such a thing?"
The question got an answer seconds later, as, through the gap where the window had been, strode a man in a pale green costume that included a cowl, in a darker shade of green. Over his eyes, he wore a thick set of bizarre looking goggles, which he seemed to be constantly adjusting with his right hand.
"All right," the man cried out as the diners looked on in shock. "No one try anything stupid, and no one gets hurt! I've come for Dr. Albert Higgins…and what the Atomic Man wants, he always gets!"
The intruder calling himself the Atomic Man surveyed the puzzled (but still scared) faces of everyone in the room, and smiled sardonically. He could tell that no one in his now-captive audience had heard of him…a fact that, while it was mildly insulting, might work in his favor.
The Atomic Man had started out as a physicist in his own right, named Dr. Paul Strobe. Like Higgins, he had been fascinated with the historical accounts of alchemists struggling to change one element into another…but unlike Higgins, Strobe had felt that the key to such transformations lay within the subconscious power of the mind, rather than through machinery. Through months of experimenting on himself, he had managed to unlock a portion of the human mind that most people are as yet unable to access…and this breakthrough, coupled with a set of unique lenses in the goggles he now wore, enabled him to change one substance into another by simply looking at it and concentrating. He had then embarked on a life of crime, staging a series of dazzling robberies until finally being apprehended by Batman and Robin, just as Dolan the Elemental Man was taken down only a few months later.
Following this crime wave, Strobe had spent several years up the river, with no access to his special goggles. But through long hours of intense meditation, he had finally been able to affect his changes without the goggles, and escaped by transforming the bars of his cell into water. He had found, though, that the process gave him fierce headaches, and so, until he found a way to conquer that limitation, he continued to use his goggles.
Sinestro, for his part, knew none of this, any more than did any of the other patrons of the restaurant. But while he acknowledged that the glass-to-ink phenomenon was an impressive stunt for an Earthman, he wasn't about to be intimidated so easily. Still wearing his disguise, he stood up and confronted Strobe.
"I don't know who you are, sir," the camouflaged Korugarian said archly, "but you're not taking Dr. Higgins anywhere unless you go through my comrade and I first!" He indicated Boomerang with a nod of his head. Boomerang stared at Sinestro as if he'd grown antlers.
The Atomic Man didn't miss a beat. "Okay, my florid friend," he said resignedly. "Your funeral."
As he said this, his right hand darted towards his goggles and made another adjustment A pale green beam emerged from his eyes, took on a reddish tinge as it filtered its way through the goggles, and enveloped the light fixture over the table where Sinestro, Dr. Higgins and Boomerang had been sitting. In scant seconds, the transformative beam did its work, and the light fixture changed from brass to concrete. In that form, it was now too heavy for the thin tube affixing it to the ceiling to keep holding it; the tube snapped and the fixture came hurtling down towards the heads of Dr. Higgins' two defenders.
Moving swiftly, Sinestro threw himself, Higgins and Boomerang backwards. The cement block which had previously been a lamp crashed into the table, collapsing and splintering it into wooden shards.
"Good onya, mate," Boomerang told his partner. "He's mad as a cut snake, now!"
"Harkness," Sinestro hissed as he warily got to his feet, "if you can't contribute anything more than criticism, kindly shut up!"
"Bickering?", Strobe commented as he watched the pair stand up. "That won't do at all! Maybe I should turn you lovebirds into statues, and put you in my garden. That is, if I had one!"
And turning word into deed, he directed his gaze right at Sinestro, and the transformation beam began to cross the room towards the renegade Green Lantern. The alarmed Sinestro blocked it with a hastily created power ring shield, drawing more gasps from the assembled onlookers…including Dr. Higgins.
Strobe was so stunned that he dropped his concentration, cutting off the transmutation-beam. As he saw it stop, Sinestro warily dropped his shield and shot a glance at his partner.
"The time for pretense is clearly past," he asserted. As he said this, he commanded his power ring to stop wasting energy on the disguises that had kept his identity, and that of his Australian partner, concealed. "It's time to show this atomic upstart that he's dealing with…Sinestro!"
"Sinestro?", Atomic Man echoed. "I've heard of you! You're one of Green Lantern's enemies! And you," he went on, looking at Sinestro's comrade, "you're Capt. Boomerang! The Flash's nemesis! But what are you both doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious, you cretin?", Sinestro sneered. "We've come for Dr. Higgins, the same as you have…but unlike you, we will succeed in securing our quarry!"
With that, Sinestro commanded his power ring to create a series of clamps, which pinned Atomic Man's wrists to the nearest wall. Another beam snatched away the green-clad felon's special goggles.
"Ace!", Boomerang cried as he watched this take place. "He won't be tryin' his presto-change-o stuff now!" Then, to the Atomic Man: "You came a gutser when you started a blue with us, squire!"
"You're awfully quick to take credit for something you had no part in, Boomerang," Sinestro scowled. "And don't think I won't be telling Manhunter all about…"
That was as far as the Korugarian got. As he and Boomerang had been bantering, Strobe had been focusing his concentration, and directing his eye-beams at the power ring on Sinestro's hand. He had intended to change it into cheap glass, but the ring, made from materials found only in the anti-matter dimension of Qward, was resisting. It did start to smoke and smolder on Sinestro's finger, though, and this caused him to cry out in pain.
Unfortunately, it also caused him to lose his own concentration, and as the Korugarian yowled from his scalded finger, the clamps vanished like magic and the Atomic Man was once again free.
The beam carrying Strobe's goggles had also disappeared when Sinestro yelped with pain, and the eyewear had fallen to the restaurant floor, bouncing off the carpet and underneath one of the now-empty tables. As soon as Strobe was free from the clamps that had held him to the wall, he lunged for the goggles…only to just barely miss them, as they were whisked out of his reach. By a boomerang.
As the Atomic Man and the other folks in the eatery looked on in astonishment, the boomerang swept underneath the goggles, which then seemed to adhere to the toy. Then, without the slightest faltering, the boomerang reversed direction and flew unerringly back to the hand of its thrower…which, of course, had been Capt. Boomerang.
"I'll give yez the drum, dropkick," Harkness said breezily. "If you think you're duxing us, you've got kangaroos loose in the top paddock!" Then, indicating the boomerang in his hand, he continued, "My patented magneto-rang. A larrikin's best mate."
"NOW he comes to life," Sinestro steamed, "just in time to show me up!"
"I guess you weren't watching what almost happened to your friend, Ozzie," the Atomic Man gritted. "I don't have to have my specs to make a change…they just make it a bit easier!"
Once again, Strobe focused his vision, this time on the hand in which Harkness was holding the goggles and the boomerang. At first, the Rogue from Down Under was puzzled by the man's intense stare; then, as he felt a tightening and a tingle in his gloved hand, he threw both magneto-rang and goggles to the floor and twisted himself out of the eye-beam's path.
"Holy Dooley!", Boomerang cried. "You drongo date! That could've been me hand!"
As the flustered Boomerang recovered from his shock, Strobe lunged again towards his goggles, and this time he retrieved them. Sinestro, for his part, had not reacted, as he'd still been nursing his hurt hand.
With his goggles back on, the Atomic Man felt much more in charge of the situation.
"That's better," he said with obvious relief. "You know, I've had a change of heart. I don't think I'll turn you two into statues, after all."
Once more, his hand adjusted the goggles and their lens arrangement. "I've heard it said that the human body is 98 % water…what say we finish the job?"
With that, he turned his gaze back to Boomerang, who reflexively threw his arms up in front of his face, as if that would help.
"Now, now, mate," the Australian rogue said. "give a bloke a fair go, won't you?"
"I've had all I can stand of this," Sinestro decided. While the Atomic Man's attention was directed at Boomerang, the Korugarian renegade commanded his power ring to create a boxing glove, which he aimed squarely at Strobe's head. It struck, and knocked him out cold.
"Come along, Harkness," Sinestro sighed, "and bring Dr. Higgins with you, if it's not too much trouble."
Once more visibly relieved by his partner's save, Boomerang grinned devilishly and made to grab their intended quarry. "No dramas, mate!", he replied.
Just then, the air was rent with strident sirens. New York's finest had finally arrived at the scene.
"Oh, that's grouse, that is," Boomerang spat. "Come on, cobber, we'd best bail out!"
"That," Sinestro thought, "is the brightest thing he's said since we've met!"
Nodding to his partner, Sinestro indicated that they should also hurry up and secure their intended captive before heading out on their way. But Dr. Higgins wasn't about to allow that.
As Boomerang reached for him, Higgins twisted out of the way and scrambled for better cover, squawking like a stuck goose all the while. Boomerang tried to follow, but had to pick his way over and around the fallen tables and other debris in the restaurant, which was looking more and more as if a cyclone had hit it. His caution slowed him down just enough for Higgins to make it to the other side of the eatery, near the doors to the men's room, before the Australian caught up to him.
"Right, then, squire," Harkness grinned. "We gave it a rum go, but no more coming the raw prawn, right? You're nicked…and that's fair dinkum!"
He was about to grab Higgins by the shirt and haul the scientist to his feet, when suddenly the men's room door swung open forcefully, smacking Boomerang right in the face and knocking him to the floor. As he fell, Martin Stein emerged from the behind the door, muttering apologies but not quite clear on what had happened.
Momentarily dazed by the blow, Harkness lay there in a heap and muttered, "Oi…who opened their lunch?"
While this was going on, Sinestro was using his power ring to block the police from coming in and shielding himself, Higgins and Boomerang from the gunfire the peace officers were throwing. Since he was on the other side of the restaurant from where Higgins and Harkness were stumbling around like two-thirds of the Three Stooges, this meant that Sinestro's shield had to encompass most of the establishment's dining area. And while this would normally not be a problem for the renegade Green Lantern, this had been such a trying day for him that he was starting to show signs of strain. Recognizing this, he turned from his task to urge his Down Under comrade to hurry.
Seeing the condition his partner was now in, Sinestro rubbed his eyes wearily. Were he any less of a man, he might almost break down in tears. This mission had been a disaster from the start, and there still was no end in sight.
The Korugarian spared the time for a brief command to his power ring, which took a glass of water from a nearby table. It then splashed the contents into Boomerang's face, jolting the Australian back to reality. In a way, Sinestro was almost displeased at that; had the water not successfully brought Harkness around, Sinestro was fully prepared to just grab Higgins and leave without his erstwhile partner. Still, he told himself, Manhunter would probably be displeased with him for such an action.
Instead, as Boomerang came to his senses, Sinestro settled for just telling him to hurry up so that they could leave. Stein, for his part, had finally figured out that a riot was apparently in progress and had retreated into a somewhat neutral corner with the rest of the bystanders and gawkers.
"Roight, then," Harkness said as he shook his head again to clear it. "come on, seppo, off your date. You don't want me spittin' the dummy with you!"
As he once more reached for the man's shirt to haul him up to his feet, Boomerang was once more in for a surprise. The formerly mild-mannered Higgins turned into a wildcat, flailing his arms, scratching at the Australian's face, kicking and generally doing everything he could not to be taken hostage.
"Strewth!", Boomerang squawked. "now this whacker drongo wants a blue!"
Harkness backed away from the still-flailing Higgins long enough to withdraw an ordinary boomerang from a pocket in his costume. Then, as he saw an opening, he lunged forward and cracked the elderly scientist on the head with it. This rendered Higgins unconscious and unable to offer any further resistance. Harkness then reached under the old man's limp body, shouldered it, and gave Sinestro the high sign that he was ready to depart.
Still maintaining the shield as he crossed the room, Sinestro spat, "It's about time. You whacker drongo!"
Boomerang almost fell down again in hysterics. "Have a gander at him, now! He keeps a few blue heelers out and he thinks he's the gun at something!"
As the two villains retreated to the rear of the restaurant, intending to exit via the kitchen and then make their way back to their ship, Sinestro cautiously retracted the shield a bit more and a bit more, until they had finally entered the kitchen itself. His intention was to then erect a smaller bulletproof shield around himself, Boomerang and their captive, but he never got the chance. Higgins awoke then, and began struggling again as well.
"Oh, bloody hell!", Boomerang bawled as the old man stuck a finger into his eye. This caused Harkness such agony that he staggered, giving Higgins a chance to wriggle free.
Before Sinestro could react, or Boomerang could recover, the elderly physicist darted from the kitchen into the waiting arms of the police.
"BLAST!", Sinestro barked. "Now look what you've done! He got away!"
"Yeah?", Boomerang gritted as he rubbed his eye and made sure it wasn't badly damaged. "I don't bloody see you stopping him!"
Sinestro might have argued the point more, but sounds from outside the kitchen indicated that the police were closing in. And although the Korugarian had no fear of them, he did worry that the uproar they'd caused might yet bring super-heroes into the fray. That was a complication he didn't need at this stage.
"Come on, then, useless," Sinestro sighed. "We may as well head back to the ship and go back to California!"
Using his power ring, he teleported himself and Boomerang back to the ship.
As they faded away from the kitchen, he added, "And don't think I'm not telling Manhunter whose fault this fiasco was…"
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:38:25 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:38:25 GMT -5
The following day, the pair had returned to the Sinister Citadel in San Francisco, and Sinestro made good on his promise, laying virtually the entire blame for their failed mission at Boomerang's feet. Boomerang had tried to protest, but his outbursts were apparently falling on deaf ears.
When Sinestro finished his report, Manhunter said simply, "I agree that fleeing the restaurant was the smart thing to do under the circumstances. However, you could have stayed in New York long enough to make a second try."
This brought Sinestro up short. He hadn't thought of that, but his pride wouldn't allow him to let Manhunter think he'd scored a valid point. He blustered a bit about how security around Higgins would surely have increased, but everyone in the room noticed how half-hearted it sounded and how embarrassed Sinestro seemed.
Off in a corner, Mirror Master conversed with his longtime friend Capt. Cold.
"Hey, Len," the reflecting rogue began, addressing the frosty felon by his true first name, "all that stuff we had to heist during our test missions…waddaya think it was for, anyway?"
Capt. Cold gave his friend a withering look. "You mean you haven't figured it out on your own?", he sneered.
This earned him a disapproving scowl right back, as the flustered Sam Scudder shot back, "Humor me. 'Sides, for all you know, maybe I got a good guess already and just want to confirm it."
Smirking, Leonard Snart pushed his snow-goggles up from the bridge of his nose before replying. "It's obviously for a bomb of some kind. The plutonium that Grodd and Copperhead were to get…the radium that you and the Wizard retrieved…and that weird isotope that Shadow-Thief and I recovered are the explosive parts. That Amazon metal brought back by Manhunter and Star Sapphire was for the casing. And that scientist that Boomerang and Sinestro were supposed to fetch was the guy who was gonna put the bomb together."
Mirror Master nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinkin', too. So you figure Manhunter's gonna have some of us go after some other Einstein next?"
"Hardly," Manhunter chimed in, startling the two longtime Flash-foes, who had thought they weren't speaking loudly enough for him or anyone else to overhear. "Since we have neither the scientist nor one of the prime ingredients, our benefactor has elected to put the bomb plans on hold for a better time." As he said this, Manhunter cast a sideways glance at Grodd, Sinestro and Capt. Boomerang, all of whom shifted uneasily and avoided his gaze.
"Good," Manhunter thought. "Let them think those test missions had a bomb as the intended final result. The more in the dark they are about what was really at stake, the better I'll like it…for now."
Manhunter knew what the real reasons were for the specific test missions he and his comrades went on. The only target that had really mattered to the team's organizer, Darkseid, was Dr. Higgins…who, according to the ruler of Apokolips, held within his brain a portion of the dreaded Anti-Life Equation that Darkseid coveted above all else. And why not? Once he had the Anti-Life Equation in his grasp, all else in existence would automatically be at Darkseid's mercy.
Which was a pretty chilling thought, since Darkseid had no mercy.
As for the other test missions, they had been red herrings, deliberately intended to divert the Secret Society members from wondering too heavily what the team's founder wanted with Dr. Higgins. Only Manhunter had been entrusted with the truth…so far as he knew, anyway. It was an error in judgment that would cost Darkseid dearly, as soon as Manhunter was able to finalize his own plans for the Secret Society. But for now, he kept his own counsel.
Just then, Carstairs, the Sinister Citadel's butler, approached Manhunter.
"Master Kirk, sir?", the liveried servant began. "Mr. Salinger has arrived, sir."
"Excellent, Carstairs," Manhunter replied. "Please show him in."
Bowing in acquiescence, Carstairs left the meeting room and returned a few moments later, ushering in a man in a costume that was striking, even for this assemblage.
The outfit consisted of pale white spandex, covering his body from the neck on down; the spandex was decorated at his wrists and biceps with gauntlets of red, embossed with the same symbols one finds in a deck of playing cards: hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds, all in jet black. At the arm/shoulder joints, yellow bands were placed for additional effect. A gigantic black spade, upside down, adorned his chest; the costume's trunks and boots were of the same red hue as the wrist and bicep gauntlets, and a leg holster of similar scarlet hue was affixed to his right leg with a yellow leather strap. A hat of red and gold, similar to the type of prince's crown worn at royal court, perched upon his head; and his face was painted in white make-up that matched his costume. In fact, even his hair and mustache had been tinted the same shade of white.
His real name was Jack Salinger, but it was not the name by which he was best known.
In his youth, Salinger had been one of four juvenile delinquents who ran with a fifth teen monster named Amos Fortune…whom they had nicknamed "Pudge" because of his weight. But despite appearances, Fortune's fellow gang members had a healthy respect for "Pudge" and his inventive mind; he led them on carefully planned crime sprees, and his methods for escaping, if followed precisely, never failed.
In later years, they had gone their separate ways, and Fortune had gone on to a bigger career in crime after having mastered the esoteric science of luck. In his own right, he had become one of the Justice League's earliest and most formidable enemies, though his schemes had always met with defeat at their hands.
Finally deciding that strength lay in numbers, Fortune had re-assembled his teen cohorts and recreated them in the image of playing cards as the Royal Flush Gang, arming them with specially designed weapons based on playing card-lore. The RFG had clashed with the Justice League on two occasions with Fortune in command, both times ending in abject failure; a later crime spree had been spoiled by the Joker, ironically enough.
After that third debacle, the Royal Flush Gang had disbanded, telling their childhood friend that he had lost his edge and could no longer be relied upon as a leader. Since that time, Fortune had returned to his own solo pursuits; Michael Burley, the Ten, had been on the fence about what to do, while the RFG's King and Queen had both chosen to serve their sentences and retire from criminal activity. Only the Jack…Salinger…had been determined to continue his career as a costumed criminal. If there couldn't be a Royal Flush Gang anymore, Salinger decided, then he'd be a one-man playing card crime wave. He thus adopted a new costume…and now called himself Hi-Jack. After having had some success in the American midwest in this guise, he had been surprised and delighted to hear that he had been invited into the Secret Society, even though he'd never heard of it before now; it was a sign that he was considered to be "big time."
As a result, he could probably be forgiven a bit of cockiness as he strode into the room, taking in its occupants and silently becoming more and more impressed by the caliber of criminal talent he saw. He had arrived, all right.
Standing and shaking Salinger's hand, Manhunter then turned to the others. "May I introduce our newest member, Hi-Jack," he began. "He'll be taking Copperhead's place as we move into the next phase of our operations."
"Just a moment, Manhunter," the Wizard interrupted. "Doesn't he have to prove himself, as we all did?"
Manhunter was momentarily caught off guard. He hadn't expected that question; but the Wizard had a valid point. Having insisted that all of them complete a test mission, he could not very well let Hi-Jack off the hook.
Thinking quickly, he replied, "You're quite right, Wizard. Rules are rules. Everyone else had to complete a test mission…and Hi-Jack will be no exception."
Hi-Jack had been frowning throughout this exchange. Heavyweights like Grodd and Sinestro had to prove themselves? Maybe he'd bitten off more than he could chew.
"You'll be partnered with Grodd," Manhunter continued, "since he and Copperhead failed their mission. And your test mission will be…" and here he paused ever so slightly, "…to rob a large San Francisco bank in broad daylight, and get away with as much as you can."
Hi-Jack brightened at this news. A bank job didn't sound so tough, especially if he was going to have Grodd for a partner. Grodd, for his part, looked disgusted, but said nothing.
"I'll let you two work out when you want to leave," Manhunter finished. "I'm sure Hi-Jack will want to get settled in a bit, first. So, if there's no further business until then, we are adjourned."
No one had any other business, and so the villains left the room and went their separate ways for now. After they had all left, the butler Carstairs returned to the room; slinking over to a hidden compartment in the bookshelves, he extracted a telephone and dialed a number hastily into it.
"Sir?", he said quietly, as a voice on the other end picked up. "Carstairs. I thought you should be aware, sir, that Master Kirk has recruited a new member to the team…one that most assuredly was not upon your list of approved candidates."
A slight pause, then, as Carstairs listened to the party he'd called. "Yes, sir," he went on, "a fellow by the name of Hi-Jack. Formerly of the Royal Flush Gang." Another pause. "Do I believe he intends to betray our lord Darkseid? At this stage, I couldn't possibly say, sir. But his decision to recruit from outside the ranks would appear to point in that direction."
Another, somewhat longer pause. "Yes, sir," Carstairs agreed at last. "I quite understand. Master Kirk shall be disciplined by your representative, and we shall be gaining a new field leader shortly thereafter. I shall certainly do my part to prepare for this, sir."
With that, Carstairs hung up the phone and replaced it, leaving not a trace that it was there or that he had been in the room at all. Then he left and resumed his role as the team's "faithful" butler.
After he had gone, an inky dark form detached itself from the shadows in the room, revealing itself to be Carl Sands, the Shadow-Thief. At Manhunter's earlier suggestion, he had remained behind for the express purpose of determining whether or not butler Carstairs could be trusted. It appeared now that he could not. But that didn't bother the Shadow-Thief nearly as much as the gist of the conversation did.
"Darkseid?", Sands asked himself in alarm. "Seems to me I heard that name from a former cellmate of mine that worked for Inter-Gang…and what I heard from him was enough to scare off Dracula! If that's who we're working for, I'm not sure I want to be involved…and if Manhunter is looking to get us in dutch with this Darkseid, then I'm definitely not hanging around!"
Having made that decision, the Shadow-Thief surreptitiously left the Sinister Citadel and headed for the airport. Two hours later, he was on a plane headed back to his more familiar stomping grounds of Midway City.
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Issue 4
Dec 27, 2005 21:41:30 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Dec 27, 2005 21:41:30 GMT -5
To be continued!
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