Post by HoM on May 5, 2009 17:54:10 GMT -5
Over seventy percent of the world is covered in water. This is a scientific fact, known to billions across the planet. As the world above is full of thriving societies, so is the world below; this too is a well known fact. Atlantis, as the underwater kingdom is called, once came into conflict with the United States government-- though this was due to the manipulations of the alien being known as Starro. Those who doubted its existence before were taught the error of their ways then.
So below the ocean, men, women and children live. They thrive. Why then, in the deepest recesses of the sea, was there no sound? No movement but for the fish? Why was the ocean state of Poseidonis empty? Where was everybody?
“This has gone on for long enough,” whispered one man, hidden by the shadows of the spires that made up the once glorious city. He was tired, his golden shirt and green trousers shredded by something, someone, unimaginably sharp. His flesh, immune to almost all damage when underwater, was torn, and his face was etched with determination. He held onto his trident tightly, and then emerged from the shadows and held up his arms. Arthur Curry, Orin the Second, Aquaman, monarch of Atlantis, screamed in sheer defiance: “Come then! Face me!”
The door swung open, the rain pouring outside. Thunder and lightning cracked and thrashed in the sky, but as soon as the door was closed the sound faded, leaving only the sound of conversation echoing through the halls. Sebastian Faust was late-- but not too late-- and as he pulled off his black trench coat and hung it by the fire inside the front chamber, he knew that he was just in time for the happenings inside the study, up the stairs and down the hall.
In the close-knit magician community, they called it the ‘House of Mystery’. It was a way-house like no other, situated on top of a scab of congealed magic. Those that held quarters there felt safe during this time of crisis and those that wished to act had now gathered in the library. The library was once the study of the man that had called this place his home for nearly sixty years, Richard Occult, but he no longer resided there. Instead, the establishment had a new host, the former’s companion, Rose Psychic, and it was her that had organized the meeting with the man on the inside track, the Phantom Stranger. Sebastian entered the library, and was met a dozen pairs of eyes from men, women and seeming children from across the world. They were the premier magicians in the world, and they had to talk.
“Sebastian. I can sense the world changing beneath my feet. I’ve walked across the Earth long enough to know when something shifts under my soles,” said the Phantom Stranger. Sebastian Faust settled next to Zatanna, who looked up and smiled at him as he did so.
Baron Winters was visible in a picture frame, a direct link to his study in Wintersgate Mansion. He sucked slowly on his pipe, and looked up at all the magicians gathered inside the House of Mystery. “We all feel it. The simplest incantations drain us as much as the most complicated, I’ve had to cancel the enchantments I had on the domestic golems because it made me sweat just having them around.”
“The ley-lines that some of our peers draw power from have bled out across the world. They’ve cracked and fractured. We’ve heard of elementals being driven insane by the sudden death of Gaia, the spirit of the Earth,” said Zatanna Zatara, her father Giovanni standing behind her, his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “It’s all connected. Even those of us that don’t draw from the ley-lines, the weight of the world is suddenly fully on our shoulders, stifling our powers.”
“Mnemonic incantation, blood magic, necromancy, maybe it’s all drawn from the same source,” said Kid Eternity as he paced the floor, his hands moving animatedly as he spoke, “and I guess it has something to do with the world we live in. Now, I’m not saying that’s the be-all-and-end-all, because I’m sure peoples have got magic across the known universe. I bet they had magic on Krypton, but I bet it’s all intrinsically tied to the world we call home. Remove something from any equation and it goes to pot, doesn’t it?”
“Eternity makes a valid point. If those that walk the worlds of magic are to ever function at their peaks again, the situation has to be rectified. We need to band together,” said the Phantom Stranger, “pool our energies, our efforts. Gaia was chained to a human body and sacrificed, and that has allowed something to pass through the under veil of the world. The membrane of our lives is being pulled thin, and things will soon be able to pass through the holes.”
“And that means nothing good,” finished Sebastian. “It is time to stand up and fight then, isn’t it? The ‘good’ fight we always hear so much about.”
“Isn’t it always?” sighed Zatanna. “But what of you, Stranger? You ‘walk the worlds of magic’ but your origins…”
“Are best left to me and my own,” replied the Stranger with a smile as he tipped his hat forward. “Just know that there is unrest spreading in places you will one day reside, and that even in places you hopefully never journey, the fear grows.”
Zatanna nodded. “Comforting.”
The city warped before Aquaman’s eyes. Something peeled itself off the buildings, the towers. It was a creature beyond imagination, its gelatinous flesh formed together, shifting from transparent to opaque within seconds. A billion eyes, orange and staring, blinked, and looked down upon the King of the Oceans. From beyond the void it had come, pulled itself through a scar in reality as the world cracked and cried in mourning for the passing of Gaia. Aquaman pointed his trident at the thing, this mass of flesh, and grit his teeth. There was no exchange of words now. The thing had no mouth, no way of communication that Arthur could discern. It had come, days ago, and their artillery had no effect upon it. Their magicians could do nothing. So the Atlanteans did what their ancestors had done thousands of years before them, they had run, evacuated the city and journeyed below the ocean floor, to the secret city beneath the world even they knew. They were safe now, from whatever this thing was, but Aquaman had stayed behind, and had been battling it for days without rest. He took his sustenance from the water-- it repaired the damage to his flesh, it knitted him back together, but the toll was being taken upon him… he roared once more, the trident jutting into the water above him. With a mighty thrust of his legs, he shot up, and the battle continued…
“The… power… inside… him…” Swamp Thing grew larger and larger, and the three members of the Justice League below could only watch in dismay, Green Lantern projecting a barrier between the behemoth and the Justice League. “Is… mine…”
Wonder Woman put her hand to her head. <This isn’t Alec Holland. The Challengers of the Unknown have had dealings with that man, and he was never like this. He’s been corrupted-- and I think we all know by what.>
“You... do not… understand...”
Green Lantern nodded. <Right, so how do we stop him?>
“Nor... comprehend…”
<He is a plant elemental, so apply the basic principles to him. Take away what he needs,> mused the Martian Manhunter.
“The darkness... that is... coming…!”
"Will you shut up?! Jeez!" A massive emerald hand appeared before Swamp Thing's face, and then slapped the elemental across what could be considered his mouth. <Sorry about that. Rude. The sun. Greatness. Pitchforks and fire just went straight out the window then,> shrugged the emerald gladiator.
<Fire,> shuddered J’onn, <may not be a good idea.>
<Hal, protect yourself, we need to seal Holland up, separate him from his power source. Can your ring remove stored solar energy and converts it to, let’s say, Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’?> asked Wonder Woman, as she looped her lasso back to the latch on her hip.
A puzzled look came over Hal for a second, then his oh too cocky grin returned. “I'll see what I can do.”
His ring shot out a wide emerald beam that engulfed the massive plant elemental, who was still adjusting to the change in his stature. A sheen of green light wrapped itself over the creature’s body, until it was completely sealed up, separated from the ground below and invisible through the opaque jade construct. A quiet sound was barely audible from the shape, but it got louder and louder, and Hal continued to grin as Ride of the Valkyries blared out across the city.
“You’re a show off,” shot the Flash, as he blurred into view. <Superman is alright, STAR Labs are taking care of him.>
<Good work,> Wonder Woman looked to Green Lantern as the emerald bubble grew smaller and smaller. <J’onn, can you get a read?>
<Attempting access. His mind is constructed differently to a regular human’s…> J’onn reeled back suddenly as he screamed, clutching his head. “He is infected by whatever is coming! The darkness is inside him because Gaia’s death is linked to the coming of this beast! The walls of reality are paper thin, and the avatars of darkness are bleeding through!”
Barry Allen grabbed J’onn as he collapsed in a heap, and then looked to Diana, who nodded vigorously. The Martian Manhunter was suffering from seizures, his green body wracked with pain. “STAR Labs! Quickly!”
The Wizard placed a hand over Isis’ eyes, and shut his own. “Yes, my champions. I can feel it. Isis’ spiritual connection to the Earth has been corrupted by the death of Mother Gaia. She will die soon--”
“No she will not!” said Black Adam with a start, before quietly concluding, “...She won’t die. It won’t happen.”
“No. I won’t allow it,” replied the Wizard, as strands of white energy weaved over Isis, knitting together across her body, “I can keep her safe here, on the Rock of Eternity, whilst you face the thing that rises up to claim us all. But to do so, I will have to share all my energies with Isis, just to keep her alive, just to keep her heart pure and untainted by the decay of the world…” he breathed in deeply, as much as a ghost can, as the white light suddenly vanished as it seeped into Isis’ body. “… I cannot help you, my Champions,” he whispered as he began to fade, “my voice… is…” and then he fell silent, barely visible but there, Isis floating silently beside his stone throne.
“Then it is up to us,” said Captain Marvel, “we’ll head back to Fawcett City, talk to Ibis and the others, figure out a strategy to face the Black Sun. We’ll save your beloved, Adam.”
“Or die trying.”
Idiot, idiot, idiot, Wonder Woman watched as the STAR Labs technicians worked on J’onn J’onzz, his Martian physiology barely holding together. The entirety of the Justice League at her disposal, and yet she chose four of dozens, and the Swamp Thing’s power…
“Don’t blame yourself,” Barry Allen placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. “I know you are. We’ve run together too long for me to not know when you’re blaming yourself.”
“I don’t know why I did it, Barry,” she confided, as she lent her head atop his shoulder. His hand moved to her furthest arm, and held her tight. “I don’t know why I didn’t bring the entire Justice League down on Holland.”
“Because the future proves that is a bad idea.” Barry smiled, and he felt Diana relax for a moment. “This whole situation we’re in, second guessing our guts and relying on the recorded history of a dead time line, it’s insane, isn’t it? But think of it like this: Diana, you chose the greatest superhero in the entire universe, a Martian with the ability to delve into your head and defeat you before you throw a punch, a man who can make something come true just by thinking about it hard enough, and me, a guy who can run faster than someone can think. And you, the greatest strategist in the world, the greatest warrior. One of the few people I trust with my life in this world.” He squeezed her that much tighter. “Don’t blame yourself. We stopped him, didn’t we? Superman is recovering fine, the doctors say J’onn is pulling himself back together, and you don’t need me to tell you that we did our best. In this dead future Hal went with an army. And he failed. In the future, without you, we were weakened, taken down, and left open for the… Black Sun. Whenever that decides to turn up. But right now, we still have a Justice League. Superman is still alive. We’re still alive.”
“You’re a very wise man, Barry,” replied Diana, “Your wife is a very lucky woman.”
“Nah, I’m the lucky one, she puts up with me running off at every other minute of the day, doesn’t she? And after.... after what happened with our daughter....I love her, Diana. I truly do.” Barry sighed, and now it was Diana who embraced him.
“Barry, Diana…” The duo turned to see Superman walking toward them, thinner than usual, his skin pale, but awake, and aware.
“Kal, are you sure you should be up?”
“I’m fine, Diana. Need to recharge. Get in the air.” His breath was short, his eyes pale.
“Come, I’ll help you,” Diana took Clark’s arm under her shoulder and vanished in a blur that only Barry, his senses slowed to a crawl, could follow. They headed outside and up, high into the sky, in full view of the sun. Wonder Woman could feel the energy being pulled into Superman. The way he seemed to fill out, colour returned to his flesh, his eyes billowing with their usual blue tint. “You feel better?”
“Much,” said Superman, as he began to fully fly under his own steam. “I didn’t think my approach with Holland through. I want to apologize-- I jeopardized the team, and--”
Diana shook her head and then looked down to STAR Labs, below. “Let’s go see J’onn.”
“The world is going to end.” This was a statement of fact. Zauriel didn’t have time to mollycoddle Jason Todd, currently his saviour, currently staring at him, dagger in hand, balancing it on his finger as the angel spoke. “This is a fact. The upper echelons of Heaven have given up. They were going to reconfigure Creation. And in my hand I hold those blueprints. Those designs for a new Earth. If we’re lucky, they won’t lock down reality and hunt me down. If we’re unlucky, I won’t even finish this sentence.”
“… well, you just did,” said Todd. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”
“No. It’s really not,” said Zauriel, as he replaced his armour. His body ached from his fall from Heaven, but he dismissed the pain and kept talking. “It means that they’ve locked themselves out of the world. They’ve given up. It means we have to save reality by ourselves, before they layer another one on top of it.”
“I don’t know about this whole idea. Angels. Heaven. I was held captive for years. Tortured every day. Killed numerous times. And I was brought back. And you know what? There was no light at the end of that tunnel. Every time I was dragged back to life by that bastard the Wrath, there was nothing. No comfort in the fact that next time the darkness claimed me that I would be free from it all. But you, with your wings and your schematics for the world and all this bull£$%^… your eyes. I believe you. I hate that, but I believe you.”
Zauriel looked at his hand for a moment. Tattooed across his skin was the thin blue outline of something he didn’t truly understand. The world-that-should/could-be. He then looked at Jason Todd, clad in black leather and the red of the bat etched across his chest. “I know who is doing this. And I know how close he is to rising. Before Creation there was a Before Place. And this is where beings beyond imagination existed. And there was a battle fought for countless eons, until one power one, and the other was trapped. Trapped beneath reality. But there are certain locks being broken. The spirit of the world herself was strapped down in mortal flesh and sacrificed. The inside of the Earth is empty. And that void is where this being festers. He has a name known only to himself. And he’s coming. We need to rally your heroes. Stop the world from falling. Because from beneath the first reality to this one, the Black Sun is coming. And the being inside will claw its way out, and then consume every world in its path.”
“The world is going to end,” repeated Jason Todd, as he sheathed his knife. “But Hell, I might as well die trying to save it. We need help. So let’s go find it. How are your wings?”
Zauriel flexed his wingspan, and white feathers filled the room. They work.”
“Let’s fly.”
Opal City was quiet. Its heroes were elsewhere, but the criminal element did not know this. They did not know that Starman’s cosmic rod would not shine as bright as a beacon when they committed a felony, and they did not know that Elongated Man could not smell a mystery forming from five miles away. So Opal City was quiet. Apart from down in Oldtown, where one man emerged from the darkness, and continued an investigation that took him from one side of the country to another.
This is the place, knew Dick Grayson, as he sat perched across from a larger building, himself residing on an Art-Deco masterpiece. This is the place I need to be.
“D, come in,” buzzed the voice in his ear. “Do you read, sir?”
“Yeah, A, I’m at the Centre.” Alfred Pennyworth, faithful retainer of the Wayne family, was sat in the Cave, sipping tea and monitoring news channels. “Nothing suspicious yet. I’m tempted to get inside, have a real look around.”
“Well, I know that I cannot stop you sir, but please be aware that breaking the law in Opal City is just like breaking the law in Gotham. It’s breaking the law.”
“Oh, really?” replied Dick sarcastically, a low chuckle leaving his lips as he finished speaking, “I wasn’t aware.”
“Ah, yes, well I know how well you’ve been taught to ignore the laws of man, I felt like I had to say my piece before you do something you might regret.”
“Noted, A,” Batman took the grapnel from his belt and aimed it across the ravine between the two buildings, and soared across, until he landed atop his target, and rolled to a stop. “I’ll be careful.” His hands traced across the edges of an air vent, and he took a small aerosol can from his utility belt. “Thank you, Ted Kord.” He sprayed the seam where the vent met the edges of the metal, and watched as it dissolved. With one effort, the vent lid came free, and he placed it on the roof next to him. “Radio silence.” When he was ready, he climbed down, down, into the building below…
The building was dark. Batman activated his heat seeking lenses, sensitive enough to pierce walls, and could see no human presence on the floor. Deactivating them, he made his way forward. There were no security cameras, his suit would inform him if there were (again, Dick had to remember to thank Ted Kord).
Batman continued his exploration. Superman had briefed him on this organisation. Virtually untouchable by the authorities due to the influence they exerted across the board, yet with ties to other groups more familiar to Dick than others. They were taking in villains. And they were doing things to them that made them more deadly and more powerful than ever before. They also happened to be going a tad more crazy, thought Dick. But I’ve fought crazy. And I beat it within an inch of wetting itself… “…When needs must.” He entered an elevator shaft and lowered himself down a level, after his investigation bore no fruit on the top floors. Remembering the schematics, he stuck to the shadows. Infra-red goggles revealed there to be one heat signature. He turned up the amplifiers on his ambient microphones, and heard the voice of the man on the floor…
“… it is done. I did it. For you. Now, what do I get? After I’ve done all this… spent so much… received so little… no! no. No, I know. Sorry, sir, master. Master. But I’ve faced so much… and you promised me… I killed them for you.”
Enough. Dick sprinted through the darkened corridors. “A, alert emergency services, we might have a problem.”
“…Of course, D. Are you alright?”
“Radio silence.” Dick leapt through the air, the door giving way on impact, and rolled to a stop in the centre of the building. Bodies were sprawled across the ground, and one man stood in the centre, naked, a knife in his hand. Dick recognised the man immediately. Gareth Shandling, figure head of The Circle, and the man that Clark Kent took to task on television only a few days before. He had denied that there was anything remotely wrong with his organisation, but the sight of the man, hip deep in human bodily fluids seemed to shout hypocrisy to Dick at that moment. “Put the weapon down.”
“…the Dark Knight. We’ve heard of you, you’re in the book. The great big black book of our Lord-who-is-coming.” The man laughed, and pointed the blade at Batman. “Or maybe it’s the other you. The second dark shape. No matter. He speaks through me, Batman, he speaks through me and hhhhhhk[/b],” Shandling clutched his chest, and Batman took a step forward. As he approached the man lurched up, blackness oozing from his eyes and mouth. “I’m coming now. So close. They were my harbingers. The ones who signalled my return with their faith. Trapped… for so long… unable to see, to speak, to know… but I’m close now. And I see into your souls and I know you are ready for me.” He took a step forward, rickety and uncontrolled, and Batman took one back, analysing the situation. He didn’t know what he was facing, and he didn’t want to touch it in case of… infection.
“Who are you.” Not a question, a demand.
“Across… the void… of time… I come…” The man laughed, and the ground shook. “ And every…” He moved forward. “Step… I take… closer to you…” His hand seemed to move faster than Dick could follow. He continued to keep his distance. “…means my children come closer… too…”
“Your children? I don’t know who the hell you are, but if you take one more step forward, I will put you down.” Dick would try. It wasn’t a threat, because this is what he would have to do. Three batarangs between his fingers, ready to be thrown. In his left hand, another three resided, and he knew where he would aim. The dagger. Then for his knees. Just like Bruce would.
The man gargled black blood, spitting as he spoke. His smile twisted into something more sinister. Dick could swear the skin was tearing at the points of the grin. Inhuman. “Poor. Orphan. Boy.”
The batarangs flew, the sound of muscle, flesh and bone being impacted. He knew he’d thrown them too hard, but this thing… whatever it was… it was big. And things were coming together.
“Couldn’t save. Your family. And can’t save… the Light.” Even with the batarangs in his body the man lurched forward, his grip still tight around the knife even though Dick’s own weapon had gone through his palm completely. Black blood spluttered out the wound.
“Who are you?!” The man moved too fast to follow. If it weren’t for the one hand around his throat, Dick wouldn’t have noticed the knife driven through his shoulder. When he did see the wound, he didn’t scream. “nnf.” He pushed his palm against the man’s face, his gloves now slick with the black ichor. He went for a nerve jab, but felt like he was punching a wall. “Who am I talking to?!”
“A prisoner.” The man grinned, and then pushed harder on the blade. Dick grunted again. “Soon released. Because you. Are. All. Weak.”
“…Not all of us.” Dick grinned, and then said one word. “Superman.”
The wall exploded, and the Man of Steel floated inside, his eyes blazing. Wonder Woman was behind him, anger in her eyes. Superman spoke first: “His heart isn’t beating.”
“His choking hand is working though,” grunted Dick.
“No electric signals moving about his body. He’s dead.” Superman’s eyes sparked, and suddenly Dick was on the ground, a dismembered arm still attached to his throat. He pulled it off, and looked up to see his attacker turning to the two Leaguers, his bloodied stump cauterised by heat vision. “… the living dead. I hate zombies.”
The man spoke slowly, the tone of his voice unnerving for the trinity of heroes gathered. “Superman. I see the light inside you. You will fall.”
“It’s him, the cause of all this,” whispered Diana, “let me put the lasso around him, we’ll find out the truth--”
“I will see you all so soon. With my own eyes. Gaia was the first. Humanity is the next.” The man collapsed, before the others could act. An empty corpse.
“What did I just stumble on to?” Batman looked around. Members of the Circle were dead, their life force seemingly torn from them, no visible wounds on their bodies. “Superman, can you scan the bodies? We’re looking for toxins, anything that could cause a massacre like this.”
“Nothing… Batman,” replied Superman. “I’m sorry I took so long, I’m still recharging. You need a doctor, your shoulder--”
“I’ll be fine,” said Dick, his hand already going to work on the wound. He sprayed another aerosol into the wound, a white liquid pooling and hardening around it. “A can handle it.”
“A enjoys bringing his sewing kit into the cave,” buzzed a voice inside Dick’s ear.
“Anyway, it’ll keep. The emergency services are on their way, can you handle this?” Dick pressed a button on his cape, and the Bat-wing hissed outside the shattered wall.
“Sure, Batman,” said Superman, before watching the young hero leap into the darkness outside, and inside the jet, and vanishing in a silent gust of wind.
“It’s all connected,” whispered Wonder Woman, “don’t you see? And it’s all coming to a head.”
“And we’ll stop it. It’s what we do. Come on, let’s go meet the authorities downstairs, tell them what we know. This insanity gets madder and madder every hour.”
Aquaman had battled monsters before. In fact, he was quite good at it. He was the king of the seas, and he wouldn’t be bested by something as ugly as this. He believed somewhere, in the Atlantis Chronicles, there was a law decreeing such a thing. The creature rose up once more, becoming solid and visible to the eye, and began to swarm toward him, a million eyes all staring, teeth forming from the black mass of it’s body.
Then it began to speak. A thousand voices. A million eyes… and it began to speak.
“A thousand deaths. A million deaths. All inflicted upon you. My master comes. Reigning in darkness, from below the corona of the burning black sun. So close now, can almost taste it. You die. Again and again. Forever.”
“You first.”
King Orin brought up his trident, killer of monsters, and unleashed all his rage in a scream, driving the weapon down onto the beast--
There was a moment of silence, the creature wracked with convulsions and attempting to dislodge the weapon, but Aquaman refused to release his grip. He drove the trident deeper and deeper, and energy began to crackle out of it. Where the golden metal touched the beast, flesh began to go grey. Eyes faded from orange to cataract white, and Orin didn’t let go. He didn’t ask for the creature to yield. He didn’t have a witty retort. The being exhaled life, and then Aquaman withdrew his royal weapon, and watched as the creature shrivelled to half its size. “It’s done.”
He looked around the city he called home. Deserted. His people safe below the ocean floor. He would send word with his friends below the sea, the dolphins nodded in recognition, and headed for the passages. The squid, just out of sight, would help them with the doorway to the below-place. But he had other things to concentrate on. He headed for the throne room in the palace. To the secret doorway behind his throne. Down into the chamber beneath the city. To where the transport booth resided. He stepped through, and materialised a hundred miles away, and as he walked onto the beach, and up the sandy bank toward Hob’s Bay and the Hall of Justice. <This is Aquaman. Online.>
King Solovar was thinking, as he had a tendency to when his home, nicknamed ‘Gorilla City’ by the outsider and friend-of-his-tribe Barry Allen, was threatened by great catastrophe. Gorilla City, he thought with a smile, was a strange name to be gifted. He did not believe that any city outside of the Great Jungle was called ‘Human City’, but as he saw no harm in it, he allowed The Flash to refer to it as such. Besides, the true name of Gorilla City was unpronounceable by anyone but the Gorillas, so again, why bother?
“King Solovar!” an aide said, drawing the King’s attention, “a stranger from the outside wishes to have an audience with you!”
Solovar lurched out of his throne, eyes blazing with an intensity befitting an ape of his position. “A stranger? How did a stranger discover our kingdom?”
“I am very observant, that is how, your majesty.” A grand golden gorilla entered the royal chamber, taller than any of the other apes around him, a fierce intelligence apparent by his tone and stature. He bowed his head, and as he spoke in the secret language of the animal kingdom, Solovar began to realise who this ape was. “I apologize for my intrusion, and I apologize for my direct manner, I just had a question to ask of you.”
“You are the golden gorilla, legendary even in my father’s fathers rule.” Solovar bowed as he rose up off his throne. “A gorilla with the mind of another. I can sense it inside you, my friend. The foreign mind of man.”
“My name is Bill McGuire. I have lived in these jungles as both man and gorilla for… decades now. I hope… that is not a problem.”
“I have heard stories from outside my kingdom. You send poachers back home with horror stories of the mysterious, ghostly golden gorilla. They dare not venture into this region now without fear of what you might do.” Solovar grinned, barring his canines. “I cannot say I do not approve. You have entered my kingdom with word from the outside?”
“The forest weeps for the loss of its mother, King Solovar. I hear it whenever I exchange places with the mind in his body. I hear the mourning song for Mother Jungle.”
“We have all heard it, it… pains me… sometimes…” replied Solovar. “But what can we do, friend? What can any gorilla do in the face of the passing of an abstract concept beyond even our advanced understanding?”
“Fight,” replied Congo Bill, smiling. “Fight until we fall. Would you stand with me, King Solovar, in the face of some unknown opponent? Would you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me as brothers?”
“Willingly!” roared Solovar, as the halls of his palace echoed out with the shared sentiment of all the apes under his rule.
Zauriel carried Jason Todd on his back, uncomfortable for the angel, but not stifling his ability to fly. That was the important thing. Todd was silent, because he knew what was coming next. They landed in front of the building, and Todd looked around. “Where are all the Dress-Ups?”
“Inside. I can sense her.” Zauriel didn’t realise what he was saying, but he could somehow feel Wonder Woman behind these walls. “Countless others. They have banded together in lieu of this growing crisis.”
“How do we get inside?”
“You ask nicely,” said Superman as he landed in front of them. Jason Todd instinctively thought to run, turned around, but nearly fell over as Green Lantern placed an emerald stop sign in his way. “Interesting costume. I’m sure Batman has some questions for you.”
Jason snorted in derision. “Oh, please, Dick knows what I’m doing. And he lets me do it. We have an agreement.”
Superman was taken aback by that statement. “… Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Superman, there are more pressing matters!”
“Oh, crap, I have a pressing matter--” Jason pointed up into the sky. “Why are there two Suns? And why is one black?”
Superman’s eyes opened wide. “No…”
Zauriel gripped his sword tightly, and it sparked up, ready for battle. “We’re too late. The Black Sun has risen!”
So below the ocean, men, women and children live. They thrive. Why then, in the deepest recesses of the sea, was there no sound? No movement but for the fish? Why was the ocean state of Poseidonis empty? Where was everybody?
“This has gone on for long enough,” whispered one man, hidden by the shadows of the spires that made up the once glorious city. He was tired, his golden shirt and green trousers shredded by something, someone, unimaginably sharp. His flesh, immune to almost all damage when underwater, was torn, and his face was etched with determination. He held onto his trident tightly, and then emerged from the shadows and held up his arms. Arthur Curry, Orin the Second, Aquaman, monarch of Atlantis, screamed in sheer defiance: “Come then! Face me!”
* * *
The door swung open, the rain pouring outside. Thunder and lightning cracked and thrashed in the sky, but as soon as the door was closed the sound faded, leaving only the sound of conversation echoing through the halls. Sebastian Faust was late-- but not too late-- and as he pulled off his black trench coat and hung it by the fire inside the front chamber, he knew that he was just in time for the happenings inside the study, up the stairs and down the hall.
In the close-knit magician community, they called it the ‘House of Mystery’. It was a way-house like no other, situated on top of a scab of congealed magic. Those that held quarters there felt safe during this time of crisis and those that wished to act had now gathered in the library. The library was once the study of the man that had called this place his home for nearly sixty years, Richard Occult, but he no longer resided there. Instead, the establishment had a new host, the former’s companion, Rose Psychic, and it was her that had organized the meeting with the man on the inside track, the Phantom Stranger. Sebastian entered the library, and was met a dozen pairs of eyes from men, women and seeming children from across the world. They were the premier magicians in the world, and they had to talk.
“Sebastian. I can sense the world changing beneath my feet. I’ve walked across the Earth long enough to know when something shifts under my soles,” said the Phantom Stranger. Sebastian Faust settled next to Zatanna, who looked up and smiled at him as he did so.
Baron Winters was visible in a picture frame, a direct link to his study in Wintersgate Mansion. He sucked slowly on his pipe, and looked up at all the magicians gathered inside the House of Mystery. “We all feel it. The simplest incantations drain us as much as the most complicated, I’ve had to cancel the enchantments I had on the domestic golems because it made me sweat just having them around.”
“The ley-lines that some of our peers draw power from have bled out across the world. They’ve cracked and fractured. We’ve heard of elementals being driven insane by the sudden death of Gaia, the spirit of the Earth,” said Zatanna Zatara, her father Giovanni standing behind her, his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “It’s all connected. Even those of us that don’t draw from the ley-lines, the weight of the world is suddenly fully on our shoulders, stifling our powers.”
“Mnemonic incantation, blood magic, necromancy, maybe it’s all drawn from the same source,” said Kid Eternity as he paced the floor, his hands moving animatedly as he spoke, “and I guess it has something to do with the world we live in. Now, I’m not saying that’s the be-all-and-end-all, because I’m sure peoples have got magic across the known universe. I bet they had magic on Krypton, but I bet it’s all intrinsically tied to the world we call home. Remove something from any equation and it goes to pot, doesn’t it?”
“Eternity makes a valid point. If those that walk the worlds of magic are to ever function at their peaks again, the situation has to be rectified. We need to band together,” said the Phantom Stranger, “pool our energies, our efforts. Gaia was chained to a human body and sacrificed, and that has allowed something to pass through the under veil of the world. The membrane of our lives is being pulled thin, and things will soon be able to pass through the holes.”
“And that means nothing good,” finished Sebastian. “It is time to stand up and fight then, isn’t it? The ‘good’ fight we always hear so much about.”
“Isn’t it always?” sighed Zatanna. “But what of you, Stranger? You ‘walk the worlds of magic’ but your origins…”
“Are best left to me and my own,” replied the Stranger with a smile as he tipped his hat forward. “Just know that there is unrest spreading in places you will one day reside, and that even in places you hopefully never journey, the fear grows.”
Zatanna nodded. “Comforting.”
* * *
The city warped before Aquaman’s eyes. Something peeled itself off the buildings, the towers. It was a creature beyond imagination, its gelatinous flesh formed together, shifting from transparent to opaque within seconds. A billion eyes, orange and staring, blinked, and looked down upon the King of the Oceans. From beyond the void it had come, pulled itself through a scar in reality as the world cracked and cried in mourning for the passing of Gaia. Aquaman pointed his trident at the thing, this mass of flesh, and grit his teeth. There was no exchange of words now. The thing had no mouth, no way of communication that Arthur could discern. It had come, days ago, and their artillery had no effect upon it. Their magicians could do nothing. So the Atlanteans did what their ancestors had done thousands of years before them, they had run, evacuated the city and journeyed below the ocean floor, to the secret city beneath the world even they knew. They were safe now, from whatever this thing was, but Aquaman had stayed behind, and had been battling it for days without rest. He took his sustenance from the water-- it repaired the damage to his flesh, it knitted him back together, but the toll was being taken upon him… he roared once more, the trident jutting into the water above him. With a mighty thrust of his legs, he shot up, and the battle continued…
* * *
“The… power… inside… him…” Swamp Thing grew larger and larger, and the three members of the Justice League below could only watch in dismay, Green Lantern projecting a barrier between the behemoth and the Justice League. “Is… mine…”
Wonder Woman put her hand to her head. <This isn’t Alec Holland. The Challengers of the Unknown have had dealings with that man, and he was never like this. He’s been corrupted-- and I think we all know by what.>
“You... do not… understand...”
Green Lantern nodded. <Right, so how do we stop him?>
“Nor... comprehend…”
<He is a plant elemental, so apply the basic principles to him. Take away what he needs,> mused the Martian Manhunter.
“The darkness... that is... coming…!”
"Will you shut up?! Jeez!" A massive emerald hand appeared before Swamp Thing's face, and then slapped the elemental across what could be considered his mouth. <Sorry about that. Rude. The sun. Greatness. Pitchforks and fire just went straight out the window then,> shrugged the emerald gladiator.
<Fire,> shuddered J’onn, <may not be a good idea.>
<Hal, protect yourself, we need to seal Holland up, separate him from his power source. Can your ring remove stored solar energy and converts it to, let’s say, Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’?> asked Wonder Woman, as she looped her lasso back to the latch on her hip.
A puzzled look came over Hal for a second, then his oh too cocky grin returned. “I'll see what I can do.”
His ring shot out a wide emerald beam that engulfed the massive plant elemental, who was still adjusting to the change in his stature. A sheen of green light wrapped itself over the creature’s body, until it was completely sealed up, separated from the ground below and invisible through the opaque jade construct. A quiet sound was barely audible from the shape, but it got louder and louder, and Hal continued to grin as Ride of the Valkyries blared out across the city.
“You’re a show off,” shot the Flash, as he blurred into view. <Superman is alright, STAR Labs are taking care of him.>
<Good work,> Wonder Woman looked to Green Lantern as the emerald bubble grew smaller and smaller. <J’onn, can you get a read?>
<Attempting access. His mind is constructed differently to a regular human’s…> J’onn reeled back suddenly as he screamed, clutching his head. “He is infected by whatever is coming! The darkness is inside him because Gaia’s death is linked to the coming of this beast! The walls of reality are paper thin, and the avatars of darkness are bleeding through!”
Barry Allen grabbed J’onn as he collapsed in a heap, and then looked to Diana, who nodded vigorously. The Martian Manhunter was suffering from seizures, his green body wracked with pain. “STAR Labs! Quickly!”
The DC2 Proudly Presents:
… Hybrid children watch the sea, pray for Father, roaming free…
… Hybrid children watch the sea, pray for Father, roaming free…
The Wizard placed a hand over Isis’ eyes, and shut his own. “Yes, my champions. I can feel it. Isis’ spiritual connection to the Earth has been corrupted by the death of Mother Gaia. She will die soon--”
“No she will not!” said Black Adam with a start, before quietly concluding, “...She won’t die. It won’t happen.”
“No. I won’t allow it,” replied the Wizard, as strands of white energy weaved over Isis, knitting together across her body, “I can keep her safe here, on the Rock of Eternity, whilst you face the thing that rises up to claim us all. But to do so, I will have to share all my energies with Isis, just to keep her alive, just to keep her heart pure and untainted by the decay of the world…” he breathed in deeply, as much as a ghost can, as the white light suddenly vanished as it seeped into Isis’ body. “… I cannot help you, my Champions,” he whispered as he began to fade, “my voice… is…” and then he fell silent, barely visible but there, Isis floating silently beside his stone throne.
“Then it is up to us,” said Captain Marvel, “we’ll head back to Fawcett City, talk to Ibis and the others, figure out a strategy to face the Black Sun. We’ll save your beloved, Adam.”
“Or die trying.”
* * *
Idiot, idiot, idiot, Wonder Woman watched as the STAR Labs technicians worked on J’onn J’onzz, his Martian physiology barely holding together. The entirety of the Justice League at her disposal, and yet she chose four of dozens, and the Swamp Thing’s power…
“Don’t blame yourself,” Barry Allen placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. “I know you are. We’ve run together too long for me to not know when you’re blaming yourself.”
“I don’t know why I did it, Barry,” she confided, as she lent her head atop his shoulder. His hand moved to her furthest arm, and held her tight. “I don’t know why I didn’t bring the entire Justice League down on Holland.”
“Because the future proves that is a bad idea.” Barry smiled, and he felt Diana relax for a moment. “This whole situation we’re in, second guessing our guts and relying on the recorded history of a dead time line, it’s insane, isn’t it? But think of it like this: Diana, you chose the greatest superhero in the entire universe, a Martian with the ability to delve into your head and defeat you before you throw a punch, a man who can make something come true just by thinking about it hard enough, and me, a guy who can run faster than someone can think. And you, the greatest strategist in the world, the greatest warrior. One of the few people I trust with my life in this world.” He squeezed her that much tighter. “Don’t blame yourself. We stopped him, didn’t we? Superman is recovering fine, the doctors say J’onn is pulling himself back together, and you don’t need me to tell you that we did our best. In this dead future Hal went with an army. And he failed. In the future, without you, we were weakened, taken down, and left open for the… Black Sun. Whenever that decides to turn up. But right now, we still have a Justice League. Superman is still alive. We’re still alive.”
“You’re a very wise man, Barry,” replied Diana, “Your wife is a very lucky woman.”
“Nah, I’m the lucky one, she puts up with me running off at every other minute of the day, doesn’t she? And after.... after what happened with our daughter....I love her, Diana. I truly do.” Barry sighed, and now it was Diana who embraced him.
“Barry, Diana…” The duo turned to see Superman walking toward them, thinner than usual, his skin pale, but awake, and aware.
“Kal, are you sure you should be up?”
“I’m fine, Diana. Need to recharge. Get in the air.” His breath was short, his eyes pale.
“Come, I’ll help you,” Diana took Clark’s arm under her shoulder and vanished in a blur that only Barry, his senses slowed to a crawl, could follow. They headed outside and up, high into the sky, in full view of the sun. Wonder Woman could feel the energy being pulled into Superman. The way he seemed to fill out, colour returned to his flesh, his eyes billowing with their usual blue tint. “You feel better?”
“Much,” said Superman, as he began to fully fly under his own steam. “I didn’t think my approach with Holland through. I want to apologize-- I jeopardized the team, and--”
Diana shook her head and then looked down to STAR Labs, below. “Let’s go see J’onn.”
* * *
“The world is going to end.” This was a statement of fact. Zauriel didn’t have time to mollycoddle Jason Todd, currently his saviour, currently staring at him, dagger in hand, balancing it on his finger as the angel spoke. “This is a fact. The upper echelons of Heaven have given up. They were going to reconfigure Creation. And in my hand I hold those blueprints. Those designs for a new Earth. If we’re lucky, they won’t lock down reality and hunt me down. If we’re unlucky, I won’t even finish this sentence.”
“… well, you just did,” said Todd. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”
“No. It’s really not,” said Zauriel, as he replaced his armour. His body ached from his fall from Heaven, but he dismissed the pain and kept talking. “It means that they’ve locked themselves out of the world. They’ve given up. It means we have to save reality by ourselves, before they layer another one on top of it.”
“I don’t know about this whole idea. Angels. Heaven. I was held captive for years. Tortured every day. Killed numerous times. And I was brought back. And you know what? There was no light at the end of that tunnel. Every time I was dragged back to life by that bastard the Wrath, there was nothing. No comfort in the fact that next time the darkness claimed me that I would be free from it all. But you, with your wings and your schematics for the world and all this bull£$%^… your eyes. I believe you. I hate that, but I believe you.”
Zauriel looked at his hand for a moment. Tattooed across his skin was the thin blue outline of something he didn’t truly understand. The world-that-should/could-be. He then looked at Jason Todd, clad in black leather and the red of the bat etched across his chest. “I know who is doing this. And I know how close he is to rising. Before Creation there was a Before Place. And this is where beings beyond imagination existed. And there was a battle fought for countless eons, until one power one, and the other was trapped. Trapped beneath reality. But there are certain locks being broken. The spirit of the world herself was strapped down in mortal flesh and sacrificed. The inside of the Earth is empty. And that void is where this being festers. He has a name known only to himself. And he’s coming. We need to rally your heroes. Stop the world from falling. Because from beneath the first reality to this one, the Black Sun is coming. And the being inside will claw its way out, and then consume every world in its path.”
“The world is going to end,” repeated Jason Todd, as he sheathed his knife. “But Hell, I might as well die trying to save it. We need help. So let’s go find it. How are your wings?”
Zauriel flexed his wingspan, and white feathers filled the room. They work.”
“Let’s fly.”
* * *
Opal City was quiet. Its heroes were elsewhere, but the criminal element did not know this. They did not know that Starman’s cosmic rod would not shine as bright as a beacon when they committed a felony, and they did not know that Elongated Man could not smell a mystery forming from five miles away. So Opal City was quiet. Apart from down in Oldtown, where one man emerged from the darkness, and continued an investigation that took him from one side of the country to another.
This is the place, knew Dick Grayson, as he sat perched across from a larger building, himself residing on an Art-Deco masterpiece. This is the place I need to be.
“D, come in,” buzzed the voice in his ear. “Do you read, sir?”
“Yeah, A, I’m at the Centre.” Alfred Pennyworth, faithful retainer of the Wayne family, was sat in the Cave, sipping tea and monitoring news channels. “Nothing suspicious yet. I’m tempted to get inside, have a real look around.”
“Well, I know that I cannot stop you sir, but please be aware that breaking the law in Opal City is just like breaking the law in Gotham. It’s breaking the law.”
“Oh, really?” replied Dick sarcastically, a low chuckle leaving his lips as he finished speaking, “I wasn’t aware.”
“Ah, yes, well I know how well you’ve been taught to ignore the laws of man, I felt like I had to say my piece before you do something you might regret.”
“Noted, A,” Batman took the grapnel from his belt and aimed it across the ravine between the two buildings, and soared across, until he landed atop his target, and rolled to a stop. “I’ll be careful.” His hands traced across the edges of an air vent, and he took a small aerosol can from his utility belt. “Thank you, Ted Kord.” He sprayed the seam where the vent met the edges of the metal, and watched as it dissolved. With one effort, the vent lid came free, and he placed it on the roof next to him. “Radio silence.” When he was ready, he climbed down, down, into the building below…
The building was dark. Batman activated his heat seeking lenses, sensitive enough to pierce walls, and could see no human presence on the floor. Deactivating them, he made his way forward. There were no security cameras, his suit would inform him if there were (again, Dick had to remember to thank Ted Kord).
Batman continued his exploration. Superman had briefed him on this organisation. Virtually untouchable by the authorities due to the influence they exerted across the board, yet with ties to other groups more familiar to Dick than others. They were taking in villains. And they were doing things to them that made them more deadly and more powerful than ever before. They also happened to be going a tad more crazy, thought Dick. But I’ve fought crazy. And I beat it within an inch of wetting itself… “…When needs must.” He entered an elevator shaft and lowered himself down a level, after his investigation bore no fruit on the top floors. Remembering the schematics, he stuck to the shadows. Infra-red goggles revealed there to be one heat signature. He turned up the amplifiers on his ambient microphones, and heard the voice of the man on the floor…
“… it is done. I did it. For you. Now, what do I get? After I’ve done all this… spent so much… received so little… no! no. No, I know. Sorry, sir, master. Master. But I’ve faced so much… and you promised me… I killed them for you.”
Enough. Dick sprinted through the darkened corridors. “A, alert emergency services, we might have a problem.”
“…Of course, D. Are you alright?”
“Radio silence.” Dick leapt through the air, the door giving way on impact, and rolled to a stop in the centre of the building. Bodies were sprawled across the ground, and one man stood in the centre, naked, a knife in his hand. Dick recognised the man immediately. Gareth Shandling, figure head of The Circle, and the man that Clark Kent took to task on television only a few days before. He had denied that there was anything remotely wrong with his organisation, but the sight of the man, hip deep in human bodily fluids seemed to shout hypocrisy to Dick at that moment. “Put the weapon down.”
“…the Dark Knight. We’ve heard of you, you’re in the book. The great big black book of our Lord-who-is-coming.” The man laughed, and pointed the blade at Batman. “Or maybe it’s the other you. The second dark shape. No matter. He speaks through me, Batman, he speaks through me and hhhhhhk[/b],” Shandling clutched his chest, and Batman took a step forward. As he approached the man lurched up, blackness oozing from his eyes and mouth. “I’m coming now. So close. They were my harbingers. The ones who signalled my return with their faith. Trapped… for so long… unable to see, to speak, to know… but I’m close now. And I see into your souls and I know you are ready for me.” He took a step forward, rickety and uncontrolled, and Batman took one back, analysing the situation. He didn’t know what he was facing, and he didn’t want to touch it in case of… infection.
“Who are you.” Not a question, a demand.
“Across… the void… of time… I come…” The man laughed, and the ground shook. “ And every…” He moved forward. “Step… I take… closer to you…” His hand seemed to move faster than Dick could follow. He continued to keep his distance. “…means my children come closer… too…”
“Your children? I don’t know who the hell you are, but if you take one more step forward, I will put you down.” Dick would try. It wasn’t a threat, because this is what he would have to do. Three batarangs between his fingers, ready to be thrown. In his left hand, another three resided, and he knew where he would aim. The dagger. Then for his knees. Just like Bruce would.
The man gargled black blood, spitting as he spoke. His smile twisted into something more sinister. Dick could swear the skin was tearing at the points of the grin. Inhuman. “Poor. Orphan. Boy.”
The batarangs flew, the sound of muscle, flesh and bone being impacted. He knew he’d thrown them too hard, but this thing… whatever it was… it was big. And things were coming together.
“Couldn’t save. Your family. And can’t save… the Light.” Even with the batarangs in his body the man lurched forward, his grip still tight around the knife even though Dick’s own weapon had gone through his palm completely. Black blood spluttered out the wound.
“Who are you?!” The man moved too fast to follow. If it weren’t for the one hand around his throat, Dick wouldn’t have noticed the knife driven through his shoulder. When he did see the wound, he didn’t scream. “nnf.” He pushed his palm against the man’s face, his gloves now slick with the black ichor. He went for a nerve jab, but felt like he was punching a wall. “Who am I talking to?!”
“A prisoner.” The man grinned, and then pushed harder on the blade. Dick grunted again. “Soon released. Because you. Are. All. Weak.”
“…Not all of us.” Dick grinned, and then said one word. “Superman.”
The wall exploded, and the Man of Steel floated inside, his eyes blazing. Wonder Woman was behind him, anger in her eyes. Superman spoke first: “His heart isn’t beating.”
“His choking hand is working though,” grunted Dick.
“No electric signals moving about his body. He’s dead.” Superman’s eyes sparked, and suddenly Dick was on the ground, a dismembered arm still attached to his throat. He pulled it off, and looked up to see his attacker turning to the two Leaguers, his bloodied stump cauterised by heat vision. “… the living dead. I hate zombies.”
The man spoke slowly, the tone of his voice unnerving for the trinity of heroes gathered. “Superman. I see the light inside you. You will fall.”
“It’s him, the cause of all this,” whispered Diana, “let me put the lasso around him, we’ll find out the truth--”
“I will see you all so soon. With my own eyes. Gaia was the first. Humanity is the next.” The man collapsed, before the others could act. An empty corpse.
“What did I just stumble on to?” Batman looked around. Members of the Circle were dead, their life force seemingly torn from them, no visible wounds on their bodies. “Superman, can you scan the bodies? We’re looking for toxins, anything that could cause a massacre like this.”
“Nothing… Batman,” replied Superman. “I’m sorry I took so long, I’m still recharging. You need a doctor, your shoulder--”
“I’ll be fine,” said Dick, his hand already going to work on the wound. He sprayed another aerosol into the wound, a white liquid pooling and hardening around it. “A can handle it.”
“A enjoys bringing his sewing kit into the cave,” buzzed a voice inside Dick’s ear.
“Anyway, it’ll keep. The emergency services are on their way, can you handle this?” Dick pressed a button on his cape, and the Bat-wing hissed outside the shattered wall.
“Sure, Batman,” said Superman, before watching the young hero leap into the darkness outside, and inside the jet, and vanishing in a silent gust of wind.
“It’s all connected,” whispered Wonder Woman, “don’t you see? And it’s all coming to a head.”
“And we’ll stop it. It’s what we do. Come on, let’s go meet the authorities downstairs, tell them what we know. This insanity gets madder and madder every hour.”
* * *
Aquaman had battled monsters before. In fact, he was quite good at it. He was the king of the seas, and he wouldn’t be bested by something as ugly as this. He believed somewhere, in the Atlantis Chronicles, there was a law decreeing such a thing. The creature rose up once more, becoming solid and visible to the eye, and began to swarm toward him, a million eyes all staring, teeth forming from the black mass of it’s body.
Then it began to speak. A thousand voices. A million eyes… and it began to speak.
“A thousand deaths. A million deaths. All inflicted upon you. My master comes. Reigning in darkness, from below the corona of the burning black sun. So close now, can almost taste it. You die. Again and again. Forever.”
“You first.”
King Orin brought up his trident, killer of monsters, and unleashed all his rage in a scream, driving the weapon down onto the beast--
There was a moment of silence, the creature wracked with convulsions and attempting to dislodge the weapon, but Aquaman refused to release his grip. He drove the trident deeper and deeper, and energy began to crackle out of it. Where the golden metal touched the beast, flesh began to go grey. Eyes faded from orange to cataract white, and Orin didn’t let go. He didn’t ask for the creature to yield. He didn’t have a witty retort. The being exhaled life, and then Aquaman withdrew his royal weapon, and watched as the creature shrivelled to half its size. “It’s done.”
He looked around the city he called home. Deserted. His people safe below the ocean floor. He would send word with his friends below the sea, the dolphins nodded in recognition, and headed for the passages. The squid, just out of sight, would help them with the doorway to the below-place. But he had other things to concentrate on. He headed for the throne room in the palace. To the secret doorway behind his throne. Down into the chamber beneath the city. To where the transport booth resided. He stepped through, and materialised a hundred miles away, and as he walked onto the beach, and up the sandy bank toward Hob’s Bay and the Hall of Justice. <This is Aquaman. Online.>
* * *
King Solovar was thinking, as he had a tendency to when his home, nicknamed ‘Gorilla City’ by the outsider and friend-of-his-tribe Barry Allen, was threatened by great catastrophe. Gorilla City, he thought with a smile, was a strange name to be gifted. He did not believe that any city outside of the Great Jungle was called ‘Human City’, but as he saw no harm in it, he allowed The Flash to refer to it as such. Besides, the true name of Gorilla City was unpronounceable by anyone but the Gorillas, so again, why bother?
“King Solovar!” an aide said, drawing the King’s attention, “a stranger from the outside wishes to have an audience with you!”
Solovar lurched out of his throne, eyes blazing with an intensity befitting an ape of his position. “A stranger? How did a stranger discover our kingdom?”
“I am very observant, that is how, your majesty.” A grand golden gorilla entered the royal chamber, taller than any of the other apes around him, a fierce intelligence apparent by his tone and stature. He bowed his head, and as he spoke in the secret language of the animal kingdom, Solovar began to realise who this ape was. “I apologize for my intrusion, and I apologize for my direct manner, I just had a question to ask of you.”
“You are the golden gorilla, legendary even in my father’s fathers rule.” Solovar bowed as he rose up off his throne. “A gorilla with the mind of another. I can sense it inside you, my friend. The foreign mind of man.”
“My name is Bill McGuire. I have lived in these jungles as both man and gorilla for… decades now. I hope… that is not a problem.”
“I have heard stories from outside my kingdom. You send poachers back home with horror stories of the mysterious, ghostly golden gorilla. They dare not venture into this region now without fear of what you might do.” Solovar grinned, barring his canines. “I cannot say I do not approve. You have entered my kingdom with word from the outside?”
“The forest weeps for the loss of its mother, King Solovar. I hear it whenever I exchange places with the mind in his body. I hear the mourning song for Mother Jungle.”
“We have all heard it, it… pains me… sometimes…” replied Solovar. “But what can we do, friend? What can any gorilla do in the face of the passing of an abstract concept beyond even our advanced understanding?”
“Fight,” replied Congo Bill, smiling. “Fight until we fall. Would you stand with me, King Solovar, in the face of some unknown opponent? Would you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me as brothers?”
“Willingly!” roared Solovar, as the halls of his palace echoed out with the shared sentiment of all the apes under his rule.
* * *
Zauriel carried Jason Todd on his back, uncomfortable for the angel, but not stifling his ability to fly. That was the important thing. Todd was silent, because he knew what was coming next. They landed in front of the building, and Todd looked around. “Where are all the Dress-Ups?”
“Inside. I can sense her.” Zauriel didn’t realise what he was saying, but he could somehow feel Wonder Woman behind these walls. “Countless others. They have banded together in lieu of this growing crisis.”
“How do we get inside?”
“You ask nicely,” said Superman as he landed in front of them. Jason Todd instinctively thought to run, turned around, but nearly fell over as Green Lantern placed an emerald stop sign in his way. “Interesting costume. I’m sure Batman has some questions for you.”
Jason snorted in derision. “Oh, please, Dick knows what I’m doing. And he lets me do it. We have an agreement.”
Superman was taken aback by that statement. “… Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Superman, there are more pressing matters!”
“Oh, crap, I have a pressing matter--” Jason pointed up into the sky. “Why are there two Suns? And why is one black?”
Superman’s eyes opened wide. “No…”
Zauriel gripped his sword tightly, and it sparked up, ready for battle. “We’re too late. The Black Sun has risen!”