Roll Call
The Mighty Atom! The Enigmatic Doctor Fate! Flash, the Fastest Man Alive! Green Lantern, Beacon of Justice! The Winged Warrior, Hawkman! The Sixty-Minute Cyclone, Hourman! Sandman, Master of Dreams! Jovial Johnny Thunder and his Magnificent Thunderbolt! And the Amazing Amazon, Wonder Woman!
The vile Wotan has struck first blood in his latest scheme, crippling Johnny Thunder and his astounding genie while at the same time summoning up a great force of chaos! Such is the danger in his still-hidden plan that it has brought arch-enemies Wonder Woman and Baroness Von Gunther together to stop him, but it so far has not been enough! And so now, while Wotan's monster rampages, the call for action has gone out for the only force able to counter the mad magician! That force called...
The Justice Society of America!
"Axis Power! Part 2"[/center]
The green-skinned man swathed in scarlet laughed, a deep hearty laugh as he swept the air with his arm; icy shards of air hurtled from his limb, to tear into Johnny Thunder and crash against Wonder Woman's shield. “I thank you for your speedy arrival, Queen of the Amazons,” Wotan said to Wonder Woman with a mocking smile. “The next portion of my plan couldn't move forward without you.”
“I've heard of you, sorcerer!” Hippolyta declared as she closed with Wotan. “A demon wizard with a name stolen from a worthy god of olden times! How many ways can you blaspheme?” She swung her sword down on him, but he pivoted and erected a fiery red shield at the last moment.
“That's what you've heard, have you? Fascinating,” Wotan said as he floated up off the ground, the shield cracking under her assault but giving him the chance to safely retreat. “I know of you as well, Hippolyta. I know of why you and your Amazons sit in their exile on the so-called “Paradise Island”, and I know intimately.” He chuckled at her as he lashed back with jagged bolts of black energy.
Wonder Woman blocked the attack but staggered under the force. As the two dueled, Johnny dragged himself over to the fallen baroness, Paula Von Gunther. “Hey there, come on. Wake up! I heard you talking about counterspells, so that's gotta mean you know how to stop this guy. C'mon!” He held her head in his lap and gently tapped at her cheeks. “Say you, Thunderbolt! Got enough juice to wake her up?”
“Master John, I do, but we can't get distracted, there's still the giant snake!” Thunderbolt replied as he felt compelled to swoop down to the unconscious German rather than try to delay the thirteen hundred foot beast.
“Hmph! She appears to have a talisman protecting her from my magic. Diminished as I am--”Johnny Thunder heard nothing else from his genie as the snake tore through the space between him and Von Gunther, through where Thunderbolt stood, and swallowed the magical entity up whole. The slithering mass of stone and earth crashed into Johnny's side. The young hero rolled over a couple of times and then lay still on the grass.
“You call me demon and false god, but in truth, Queen Hippolyta, I am neither, and more than both!” Wotan laughed at his foe. “I have lived many lives in succession, played many parts, but my time with your 'sisters' was some of my most enjoyable!” He dropped back to the ground, but now as a womanly figure, curvaceous and tanned, still every bit as slender, as he jabbed his arms out toward the Amazon.
Wonder Woman was momentarily distracted by the appearance of an Amazon long believed a victim of one of the mythical beasts of Paradise Island. The ground tore up at Wotan's command, and pummeled Hippolyta, hurtling her high into the air to crash back down on broken jagged rock. She felt her the back of her hair grabbed and she rolled over in response, to bash at the impertinent grip with her shield, but the air felt nothing.
“I'll take that now, thank you,” Wotan said as he floated toward her. As he did, his features melted back into the sickly-green male that had begun the battle. “I fibbed a little, please forgive me, my queen.” he chuckled as the air he commanded tore the shield from her arm and held it high above him. “I didn't need you. Just this.”
“Well, I don't need that to stop you,” the Amazon snarled, mouth bloodied, body aching. “Just this.” She thrust her sword up into his abdomen, the gods-forged blade sliding completely through him.
“No. No, my queen, you need much more than that to defeat Wotan,” the magician said in a sympathetic voice as his hands gripped the blade that impaled him. The slender fingers wrapped around the metal, green blood dripping down the groove at its center, and then arcane lightning flowed down into the body of Wonder Woman. Her scream signaled the end of the battle, and he watched with a satisfied smile.
Appleton, New JerseyHourman landed with a heavy thud on the roof of Bannermain Chemical Co.'s main building. He panted as he crouched in place, paying no heed to the spiderweb of cracks around his feet where he landed. His eyes darted around in the darkness, unable to stay on any one object for more than scant seconds, and his smile was so broad, it hurt his cheeks.
“Yes!” Hourman stood up and pumped a fist high into the air. His blood was racing through his body, heart pumping hard as he headed for the roof door. “Amazing, unbelievable, man!” He practically bounced down the stairs in his rush to his office. “What a buzz!” He entered the small room and closed the door behind him, tugged at his cloak and chucked it into a corner. He leaned heavily on his desk and took several gulps of air. He grabbed several tissues to wipe his forehead as he continued to grin, shaking his hair out, then plopped himself down on his chair.
“Okay, get control of yourself, old man,” Rex Tyler chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, shook his head again and stretched his arms out wide. “Good night out there, but it's time to get focused again. That little romp was just to get the creative juices flowing.” He sat back upright, grabbed for papers and a pen in a vain attempt to get over the rush still making his body shake. His brown eyes then fell on a slip of paper. “That Wendy, always taking care of me,” Rex chuckled as he looked at the message.
Rex-
Stopped by the office. You were out, but I tidied your papers up for you. Your files are alphabetical again. Try to keep them that one more than two days? There was a message for you. Someone named Jay wanting a peer review as quickly as you can arrange it. I'll see you soon
Wendy XO
Rex grinned and touched his fingertips to her name, then glanced at the phone.
Jay? Has to be Flash! They need Hourman! Rex whooped out loud as he plucked up the phone to make the confirmation, his fingers already tapping at his belt buckle to retrieve another pill.
Gotham City“That was Rex, he's on his way,” Jay Garrick announced as he returned to the large conference room. “He sounded out of breath, hope he's okay.”
Alan Scott looked up from the other side of the table, bent over it and scanning the large papers strewn over the heavy oaken surface. “I do too. I'm not quite sure what's wrong, but my green flame's been ringing in my head like an angry doorbell. The sooner we get the team together to look into it, the better. Any luck with the others?”
The fastest man alive casually strolled around the table to start looking over the blueprints with his friend as he answered. “Just messages everywhere. Just drives home how badly we need to get this project to work.”
“A private radio communications system, something that can tie each of us to headquarters here, through some small portable device,” Green Lantern mused as he nodded and penciled in some adjustments to one area. “I have to admit, the idea's a good one. I think this set-up will work too, but it's going to take a lot of work. Especially the second part, a wireless receiver smaller than a walkie-talkie.”
“You are here already,” Doctor Fate announced as he suddenly appeared from thin air, floating in the air in a corner of the room, crystal blue eyes staring out from behind the golden helmet.
You are aware of the threat then?”Green Lantern glanced up at the new arrival, and shook his head. “Only that there is one. We're trying to collect the team. Hourman's on his way. I know something is going on, and it's probably magical, but what it is, that we're clueless on. I take it you can fill us in?”
Doctor Fate settled down between the two heroes and waved his hand over the blueprints. The inks and pencil marks rearranged themselves before the eyes of the heroes, manipulated by the wizard's magic.
“This is an old foe of mine, and indeed, from the time of my mentor Nabu. His name is Wotan, and he's a cunning and vicious wizard with command of sorcery equaling my own.” The page formed into the image of the villain, and then he shrunk to a small crosshairs focused over a location in Ohio.
“He is currently here, and in the midst of some form of elaborate ritual. For what purpose is obfuscated from me.”“That's got to be irritating you,” Flash mused as he stroked his temple, tilting his cap back on his head.
“You
are going to restore the blueprints, right? I put a lot of work into them,” Green Lantern added as he stared at Fate.
The ice blue eyes glared at Alan Scott, blazing furiously.
“There is great evil at work, and you are not the only one inconvenienced by this dread foe. Pardon my using the most immediate means to provide you the insights that I can ahead of time!”“Hey, it's okay. Sorry about that, I was just poking a little fun,” Green Lantern answered as he took a step back and put his hands up. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing,” Doctor Fate said brusquely as he waved his hand and canceled the magic, reverting the blueprint to normal. Through the constant whisper of spells, Kent Nelson's mind rolled back to earlier in the night.
The arrival with Inza Kramer to meet her parents. Demons, immortal sorcerers, lords of chaos from realms beyond, and Kent found himself tugging nervously on his suit coat as the couple pulled into the driveway. As he darted around the car to hold the door open for the lovely red-head who laid claim to his heart.
As she stepped out of the car, she caught that look in his eyes, the color draining as his attention was pulled away. “I'll explain to them that you've come down with a stomach flu,” she told him as she laid a hand on his cheek.
“Inza?” Kent asked as the color filled back in his irises as he turned his look back on her round, smooth face.
“I know that reaction. Something's happened. Go. Quick, before Ma and Dad see you and think you're just ducking them.” She leaned up and kissed him softly. “And come back safe, hear me?”
Kent hugged her tight and then stepped back, the regalia of Doctor Fate shimmering into view before he took off into the cold night. “This waiting is intolerable.”“Tell me about it, buddy,” Flash said with a clap of his hand on the wizard's shoulder. “Story of my life.”
“Well, wait no more, Doctor,” Wesley Dodd announced as he marched into the conference room, his trench coat already wrapped over his tuxedo, gas mask in his hand, with Hawkman swooping in behind him.
“How was the symphony?” Green Lantern asked. “Sure they're not going to miss the JSA presence in the bond sale afterward?”
“We left the ladies there to cover for us,” Hawkman curtly answered as he touched down near the other three heroes. “I'm sure Hawkgirl will fill in nicely.”
“Dian and Miss Sanders together in the big city late into the night,” Wesley mused as he settled down into a chair opposite his team-mates. “Can't help but wonder what mischief they can get into?”
“Doesn't matter right now,” Hawkman snapped. “Fill us in, and let's make plans while we wait for the other three.”
Peebles, Ohio“I must say, I wonder what is delaying your allies?” Wotan asked as Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder and Paula Von Gunther hung in mid-air, suspended and bound by coruscating silver energy. “Still and all, I might as well proceed with the next phase while I wait.”
He pivoted from his prisoners and took hold of the silver, reflective shield of Wonder Woman. He started to chant words now, and ran his fingers along the edge of the object, sparks shooting out from various points along the path. Johnny recognized the words as belonging to various tribes of American Indians, though he couldn't translate.
“Johnny, what happened to your Thunderbolt?” Wonder Woman asked as she strained against the mystical bonds holding them all in place.
“That snake thing ate him,” Johnny answered as he stared at Wotan's spell-weaving. “Honest, I've no clue what's happened to him. I'm pretty sure he's alive, I can't reach him. And I haven't got a clue what he's up to now!”
“He is finishing what he started. Animating the Serpent Mound was just the start,” Baroness Von Gunther explained. “And I suspect now that I was used for this purpose!” She spat in the sorcerer's direction, but he paid her no heed at the time. “The Cauldron is believed to hold a symbol for the Horned Serpent. As well as a woman warrior. I should have seen it before.”
“Why? So you could have betrayed me on purpose, rather than by accident?” Hippolyta taunted her foe.
“I would never have allied with this beast! Do not impugn my honor, Queen, or so help me, when we are free-”
“Hate to interrupt the catfight ladies, but can we actually
get free first?” Johnny blinked several times, the attack from earlier had left him with several vicious cuts that made him dizzy now.
“Do not escape now, John,” Wotan called out without turning to face the three. “You want to watch this.” He laughed as the magic of the cauldron was reflected and amplified by the shield and the animate mound of serpent grew more larger, more real, terrible horns curling out from either side of its head, no longer a yard in diameter, but instead increasing to much thicker and more dangerous. “Uktena, welcome! Unleash your storms, ravage this uncaring world! Bring your chaos, my boy!” Wotan roared as the monstrous serpent screeched out and moved from the area, tearing across the landscape as the green-skinned sorcerer turned to his three enemies. “With Uktena comes the storms, and with the storms, I can bring the Thunderbird and his children to ravage this world.” His eyes gleamed wicked and excited. “Chaos unleashed.”
“Yeah? Well, my buddies will put a stop to you! You won't be top dog for long, you'll see!” Johnny shouted back angrily.
“Ever the foolish pup, Johnny Thunder,” Wotan replied with a soft chuckle. “My plan is still in motion. Capturing command of Chaos is merely the first half. The second half of my plan...is apparently running late, but that just lets me finish freeing Thunderbird and his children. Then...oh then...” He held his hands up and clenched his fingers in an exaggerated gesture, the energy bonds crackling and squeezing his prisoners painfully. “Then I want your 'buddies' to arrive.”
Gotham City“Sorry to be running late, folks,” Atom said as he raced into the headquarters. “I've been hearing some weird things over the radio. Then, out of a clear blue sky, there's all this thunder and lightning. What's going on?”
“Something magic,” Hourman said with a smirk as he waved to the might mite.
“Ah. Should have guessed,” Atom said with a grin under his blue mask.
“Yes, something magical, and nothing to take lightly,” Doctor Fate said in a cold manner as he looked at Hawkman.
“The enemy has sent his foot soldiers into play. I daresay it is past time we do the same.”“Agreed. The heavy hitters will go after Wotan in Ohio,” Hawkman replied as he pointed toward Doctor Fate, Flash and Green Lantern. “The rest of us will head up north and deal with the monsters.”
“Deal with the monsters? What monsters?” Atom asked incredulously.
“See? If you'd been on time, you'd know all about it. Don't worry, short-stuff, I'll fill you in on the way up,” Hourman said with a slap to Atom's shoulders that made the smaller man stumble.
“Watch it with the short comments, 'Tick Tock', and for that fact, careful with the backslaps. Not all of us have the strength of ten men,” Atom grumbled as he rubbed his shoulder.
“I think I've got it cranked up to twenty now,” Hourman man beamed.
“I think that's enough of that,” Sandman interrupted.
“We're wasting time.”“Yes, sir,” Atom replied with a mock salute as the team headed out of the base and to their separate assignments. Atom tilted his head toward Hourman and added a whispered, “Mr. Fuddy-duddy.” Hourman chuckled.
“Good luck to you all,” Doctor Fate said as he wove his spells to encircle the two groups. The Flash was already gone, having left before the others realized it. The golden magic cascaded from Doctor Fate's fingers and formed to distinct spheres of magic, surrounded by ancient Egyptian symbols of the crook, flail and falcon's head. With a sudden lurch, one sphere hurtled Green Lantern and Doctor Fate to the Midwest, while the other hurtled Hawkman, Hourman, Atom and Sandman to their aircraft outside of the city.
Peebles, Ohio“Excuse me, ladies, Johnny, need a hand?” Flash asked as he streaked onto the scene. He gave a polite tip of his helmet to the women. “And you, sir, have got to be Wotan. Not such a pleasure to meet you,” he added as he leaped away from the blast of energy the villain hurled at him.
“I am, and it is no great pleasure of mine either, speedster,” Wotan said as he wove the magic to make the ground lurch under Flash's feet.
The speedster was too quick though, able to use his momentum and incredible reactions to bounce across the broken earth and torn up rock. “Going to need some help with this one, I think. While I wait for the others, let's see about getting the troops up and moving.” He tore off directly at the three prisoners, gathering up all of his momentum. He didn't quite understand all about his powers yet, but he couldn't help but notice the way the world turned to lightning around him when he went all out with his speed. He also couldn't help but notice, in the fraction of a second it took him to process the scene, that the energy caging the three figures looked a lot like that lightning, only colored different. “Let's see what happens if I put some velocity into this,” he muttered as he tore through the mystic bonds.
“Fool! Freeing them will not save you!” Wotan cursed as he tried to bring a hurricane down on Flash.
The fastest man alive felt the bonds tug at him, try to slow him, but they tore like paper against his personal whirlwind, pulled along in his wake.
It was then that the golden globe appeared on the battlefield, and the Flash's reinforcements arrived.
“It would seem your time has run out, villain,” Wonder Woman growled as she, Von Gunther and Johnny dropped to the ground. She landed on her feet and sprung toward him instantly, while Von Gunther crouched and took seconds to recover. Johnny just crashed and lay there moaning.
“Away with you, Queen,” Wotan said as he swept his hand to his side, the hurricane pulling away from Flash and battering Wonder Woman hard.
Von Gunther felt outclassed. Doctor Fate was much more powerful a sorcerer, and her own occult knowledge was no longer needed. She was not a warrior, and she was an enemy trapped in enemy territory. She knew that she had to leave now, if she was to escape back to her homeland. She could, the battle would be fierce and leave her unnoticed. But she heard the groan of pain and turned to Johnny. She tried to leave the battlefield. It was sensible, logical, pragmatic...necessary to her freedom. But he'd sacrificed his health and his genie to try and save her.
“Verdammen sie es aller zur Hölle!” she cursed and took the unconscious Johnny Thunder by the shoulders, dragged him to someplace safe and began to treat his wounds as she watched the struggle.
“It is about time you have arrived, Doctor Fate!” Wotan called as he lifted up into the air to meet his old enemy, bringing to the fore all of his magical prowess into a brilliant red sphere of protection. “I am on a schedule, and you have delayed me long enough!”
“That was our fault, let me make it up to you!” Green Lantern said to him with a laugh as green flame lanced out and formed a flickering vice, clutching the sphere tightly, cracking it under a sudden and potent attack.
“We are well matched when it is just the two of us,” Doctor Fate said as he erected ankh-laden shields of his own and watched his team-mate weaken his foe's defenses.
“You can't hope to stand against me and my allies. Surrender, make this easy on yourself!”“You don't understand, tool of Nabu,” Wotan countered as he reached up to break a small amulet he wore. “You are a prime component of the plan, allies or no, because with you, I gain control of reality, and your allies become irrelevant!”
The ground rattled with the sound of thunder, and the sky split in a blast of radiant lightning; disgorging from the tear came the Thunderbird, who roared over the battlefield, directly over Doctor Fate. The bellowing crash rattled the wizard to his very bones, and Kent Nelson felt nauseous as the Thunderbird focused its power on him. Worse, Kent found himself deaf. The Helmet spoke those hundreds of spells, but Kent couldn't hear them.
“As for you, Green Lantern, you are needed too, so don't feel left out,” Wotan said as he let the sphere crumble into pieces. The vice crashed into him and caused him great pain, but Wotan focused on the area. With a mighty heave of his arms and a command to the Earth itself, the trees launched from the ground and tore into Alan Scott.
Thunderbird arced around and soared back to Doctor Fate, talons plucking the wizard from the air and into torn soil where Uktena had been summoned. The Gundestrup Cauldron, enhanced by Aegis, wrapped powerful magical chains around Doctor Fate. Wotan held his hand toward the hero, the Amulet of Anubis tearing from his chest and flinging to Wotan's hand.
Flash and Wonder Woman recovered as the airborne battle erupted, unsure of how to continue. When Fate was bound to the ground, Flash moved to him instantly, but not in time to stop the amulet. “Fate! Fate, are you okay? What's happening?” Flash cried out to his fallen companion over the roar of energies and storms. Wonder Woman had raced to where Alan Scott had fallen, her powerful arms and back put to work pulling the trees from him.
“He's claiming control of Order too!” Paula Von Gunther declared as the group watched Wotan start to grow in size, laughing louder than the cries of his Thunderbird. Von Gunther, mystically aware, could feel the world lurch under their feet on a level above normal mundane senses. “He's tilting the axis of the world to his whims! He's using them to rewrite the balance of the world!”
TO BE CONTINUED!
