#39: Abandonment

Editor’s Note: This story takes place before the events in New Outsiders Special #1. 

”Seven Hells.”

“Close enough. We only found out about them after we took down the Kobra Ark in Antarctica. Seven more—hopefully final-- Kobra labs that need decommissioning. I offered the Justice League’s assistance to the Global Peace Agency, we’re going to be going in with science teams to make sure there aren't any nasty surprises left over from Jeffrey Burr’s reign as Kobra. And then hopefully we can close his chapter on this book.”

“Seven labs for seven Leaguers. How comforting our villains think in such static ways,” said Wonder Woman.

“I don’t have a clue what we’d do if there were more than seven,” said The Flash. Green Lantern laughed at the comment, and shook his head disparagingly. “But hey, I could run through all seven if you like, get it over and done with in the blink of an eye, save us the trouble?”

“We take this slow and steady,” said Batman. “We don’t know what kind of traps Jeffrey Burr left.”

“Yeah, you might trip over something,” said Green Lantern.

Hawkman said nothing. He stewed in his seat as his fingers played over the mace that he had rested in front of him.

"Katar, are you all right?" said the Martian Manhunter.

The others continued to banter, while Superman made observations regarding what they already knew about Kobra.

"I'm fine," said Hawkman. "The threat that Kobra poses should be done yet after every threat we face concerning them, there's another horror waiting to be resolved."

"Soon enough, this shall all be over," said the Martian Manhunter. "And then it shall be business as usual for the Justice League."

"We can but hope," said Aquaman. The King of the Seven Seas had leaned back in his chair and settled his intense gaze on the Thanagarian Hawk Knight and the Manhunter from Mars. "Our duty is to the people of this world, both above sea and below, and I cannot help but feel that there are threats more worthy of our attention than the Kobra cult we are currently mopping up after."

"I'm just appreciating the fact that it's not cosmic horror after cosmic horror," said Green Lantern. He knocked twice on the meeting table.

The Flash smiled. "Yeah, Arthur. Don't jinx it."



“What madness is this?” said Hawkman.

The Justice League transporters had delivered him to a sunny, suburban street. The sky was clear, not a cloud to be seen, and a pleasant breeze filled him with memories of home. This was not the place he had expected to arrive when Superman had described the horrors that had been performed in the Kobra labs. Experiments. Torture.

“Ah, Mr Hawkman! Over here!” A large, red bearded man approached Hawkman. The white lab coat he wore flapped behind him as he picked up speed, overtly attempting to not keep the winged gladiator waiting. “I’m Professor Devan Lloyd! I’m the GPA* Science Advisor!”



“Where are we?” said Hawkman.

“Those Kobra sonsofguns were devious, I tell you that,” said Devan. “We’re in the quaint little town of Blue Burton. Population of three hundred and twenty nine, though the sheriff tells me that Sherri Stanford is due any day now.” The scientist laughed. “This ain’t Metropolis, I’ll tell you that.”

Hawkman looked around. “And there’s a Kobra lab here?”

“That’s right, chief,” said Devan. “Those Kobra creeps hid it right under the town. They did the obvious thing elsewhere, sure, heavily populated areas, the middle of nowhere, but this is something else entirely.” He shrugged to make his point: “Why would anyone look here, you know?”

“Why indeed,” said Hawkman.

Devan stroked his beard, and motioned over to a white tent that had been erected in the middle of the street. “Well, we’re about to crack open the manhole cover and start our descent.

“Manhole cover?”

“Yup, the recon team found an entrance to the lab via the town’s sewer system.”

“Of course it would be underground,” said Hawkman.

Katar raised his hand and pressed a hidden button on his wrist that caused the wings he wore to fold together and rest against his back.

“What do we know?”

“Next to nothing,” said Devan. “But that’s why we’re here.”

As the two men approached the tent Katar noticed that a few of the town’s residents had come out to see what was going on in their little homestead. When their eyes met Hawkman’s, they smiled and waved, and the Thanagarian awkwardly waved back, though his mace was gripped between palm and thumb. Probably not the image the Justice League wanted to project.

Devan entered the tent first. “So, Mr Hawkman, This is my team.”

“It’s just Hawkman,” said Katar.

“Ah, right,” said Devan.

The two women talking to each other inside the tent had stopped mid-conversation when they saw Hawkman standing in the entrance. The brunette released a low, impressed whistle that caused the red-head next to her to nudge her hard in the ribs.

The two women shared a look and then smiled mischievously.

“Now, now, ladies. Hawkman, let me introduce you to the best and brightest the GPA have to offer. On my left, we have Gloria Patterson,” the brunette nodded in acknowledgement, “and next to her is Laura O’Neil.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Laura.

“Just the four of us?” said Hawkman.

“The lab is deserted,” said Gloria. “No heat signatures, no movement, no nothing. The generators down there are deactivated. It’s dead in the ground. We’re just seeing what we can pick from the bones. I work obscure sciences,” she extended her hand to Hawkman, “you’re our muscle?”

“Accurate enough,” said Hawkman. He glanced at Laura. “And your role?”

“Intelligence gathering,” said Laura.

“Well then, shall we?” said Devan.

The manhole was already open so Hawkman went first. He landed with a splash and muck covered his black boots. He shook his head and got his bearings. There were lights attached to the grimy walls, leading the way down the tunnel in neon.

Hawkman led the group in silence, until they arrived at the entry point to the lab. The sewer wall had been cracked open and debris littered the immediate area. Behind the broken chunks of concrete was a metallic door, already opened.

“Where’s the recon team?” asked Hawkman.

“Uh, they’re scoping out the town,” said Laura. “When they heard you were coming, they didn’t see the point in coming back down here.”

“Work shy,” said Gloria. “But now we’ve got you, who else do we need?”

Hawkman lifted his boot up and scowled inwardly. “Aquaman?”

Devan stepped past Katar and opened the door, and the rest of them entered quickly enough.

They were in a long corridor, dimly lit by the light coming from the torch Devan had turned on. Gloria and Laura both activated their own.

“No power, no lights.” Devan rummaged through the bag he had carried with him, and passed Hawkman a torch.

Hawkman raised his mace and it crackled with blue, illuminating energy. “I’m fine.”

Laura awkwardly held the lamp under her arm while she pulled up data on her tablet computer. “According to the schematics we gathered from the Kobra Ark, the main chamber is through here.”

Laura went to take the first step down the corridor but Hawkman put an arm in front of her. “Deactivated or not, this is hostile territory.” He looked back at her and smiled. “Tell me where to go. I’ll lead the way.”

Laura nodded, and pointed down the corridor. “To the end, and then right.”

Hawkman trudged forward, followed quickly by the three scientists. He arrived at a door that had been blasted open, the scorch marks clear on the hinges.

“Your recon team don’t have a knack for finesse,” said Hawkman.

The four of them entered the main chamber, and as they did so a heavy groan echoed out above their heads. It sounded like metal being warped by heat and shrinking down, like a pebble being dropped into a lake from a mile up. Like nothing that should be making a sound at this moment in time.

Hawkman’s eyes darted up to the ceiling immediately, his helm pulsing his vision through different spectrums in an attempt to locate the source of the sound. No heat signatures. No movement. No additional sound.

Gloria had darted the torch light upwards in an attempt to answer her own question, but had come up short. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” said Hawkman.

“These hidden laboratories have a habit of making people jump,” said Devan. “It was probably nothing.”

“Thinking that will get you all killed,” said Hawkman.

“Speak for yourself, I think it was monsters,” said Gloria. “And if I’m disappointed or wrong, then hey, we’re alive. If I’m right? Well. What should we do, Hawkman?”

Hawkman gripped his mace. There was no cowardice in being pragmatic. “Let’s head back to the entrance and get our bearings. I’m not risking anything down here. We know how Kobra operates. We know we should never not tread carefully.”

The four of them back-tracked to where the entrance should have been, but were confused when, instead of a shattered wall and an open door, they were met by more corridors.

Hawkman looked at Laura. She laughed quietly to herself, swiping madly through the schematics in an attempt to get her bearings. The laughter was a defense mechanism. It echoed through the halls until Gloria put her hand on Laura’s shoulder, and then the echo was all that was left of the sound.

“Did we take a wrong turn?” said Devan. “I mean…”

“Impossible. Forward and left to get to where we started, it could not be any simpler,” said Hawkman. “Ms O’Neil, what just happened?”

“The door should be there,” said Laura. “To get to the main lab was forward then right, to get back, forward then left. It’s two directions, two turns, it should be that easy!”

“Calm yourself,” said Hawkman. He put his finger to his ear and concentrated. {Manhunter, I have a problem at Site Seven.}

There came no response via the psychic link.

Katar shook his head, and activated his helm radio. “Hawkman to Justice League. I need assistance at Site Seven. Do you read? Over.”

There came no response via the radio link.

“Our radios are down too,” said Devan. He motioned down at the hip-mounted communicator on him. He pressed the ‘send’ button but there was no tell-tale static. Just silence.

“What’s going on?” said Gloria.

“I don’t know yet,” said Hawkman. “I’m not a fan of wandering deeper into any labyrinth, but let’s retrace our steps back to the central chamber, and see if we can figure this out from there.”

Katar tapped his mace against the wall and nodded in agreement with himself. He took a smaller blade from his side and carved an X at their location, followed by a 1. Every five steps they took back toward the lab, he carved another number into the wall panelling.
Forward then right, and then the four of them arrived back at the main chamber. Scorch marks and all.

By the time they made it back, Katar had carved 25 Xs into the lab.

“So, we’re back. How odd,” said Devan. “Some kind of dimensional distortion? Sending us every way but the exit?”

Hawkman looked around the central chamber and began to evaluate their situation. There was the entrance they had come through and four others on the far side of the room, two to the right and two to the left. Above their heads were exposed pipes and beyond that, a curved ceiling, maybe thirty feet up. They were deep underground. The four additional doors were sealed. No blast marks. No one had gone any deeper.

“The recon team must have made it this far and got back above ground,” said Hawkman. “That sound we heard before--”

“--A generator activating?” said Gloria. “If what Professor Lloyd is saying is true, then a dimensional distortion must have been activated, and that needs power. We can do a hell of a lot nowadays with science, but these things still need to be generated.”

“We find the generator, we find the way out,” said Laura. “Sound about right?”

“But why did it only activate now?” said Hawkman.

“Does it matter? It activated. We deal with it,” said Devan.

“Unanswered questions are the worst kind of questions,” said Hawkman.

”Katar…”

“Quiet,” Katar put his fist up and the three scientists fell silent. “Did you hear that?”

“You’re going to hate me for saying this, but hear what?”

Katar re-evaluated his position. Four doors. Four unanswered questions. What lies beyond?

“I heard a voice,” said Hawkman.

“Oh, wonderful, our designated Justice Leaguer for the duration is now hearing things,” said Devan.

Hawkman levelled his mace at the elder scientist. “Not things, thing: singular. A voice.”

“We didn’t hear anything,” said Laura. She looked to Gloria for approval. A nod was returned. ‘Yes’

Hawkman walked over the right-hand wall, where a bank of computers was stood.

“Ms O’Neil, you’re our intelligence operative, can you get these working?”

“I don’t know, I, ah, this is my first field mission, I normally just,” Laura trailed off. “I’ll try.”

“She’ll rock it,” said Gloria.

Katar approached the door closest to the computers. He slid his blade in-between the seam of the two doors and pried it open. Even with the generators somehow operational, the automated doors were still out. Once he jimmied enough leverage out, he moved his hands between the two doors, strained, and pushed them open.

“What are you thinking?” said Devan.

“The foolish thing would be to leave this central chamber. To split up. That much is obvious,” said Katar.

“So what are you doing?”

“Contemplating doing something foolish,” said Katar.

Laura looked up from the computer console. “You won’t believe this,” she said.

“What have you found?” said Gloria.

“The ‘on’ switch,” said Laura. She pointed at the clearly marked ‘on’ switch. “Do I have permission to--?”

“Press it,” said Devan. “The sooner we figure out the ‘why’ we can shut down the ‘how’ and get the hell out of here.”

Laura tentatively pushed down on the button and the computer pinged on.

The screen was black, apart from a single, green dot.

The word <Hello?> appeared at the bottom of the screen. <Who is that?>

“Oh God, Skynet,” said Gloria. She was half-joking. “Tell them I hated the third movie.”

“Glory. What do I put?” said Laura.

Hawkman looked down the corridor from the shelter of the door he had just opened. He could see something on the far wall. He pressed a button on the side of his helm and his lenses flicked into different wavelengths. Nothing in night vision. Nothing in enhanced playback. But in heat sensitive, he saw a blur.

Body heat? Blanket fire?

How was that possible?

Laura began typing. <My name is Laura. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?>

“So polite,” said Gloria. “Hey,” she looked around the room. “Where’s Devan?”

“What?” Hawkman pulled his attention from the pitch black corridor.

Gloria was right. Devan was nowhere to be seen.

“I turned my back for ten seconds,” said Katar. “Did you not?”

“Uh, guys,” said Laura. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

She pointed at the screen.

<Laura, what are you doing? Why can’t I see you?>

“Oh, God,” said Gloria. “You don’t think?”

Katar began typing. <This is Hawkman. Devan, is that you?>

The three of them stood in silence for a moment.

<Why can’t I see you?>

“No shitting way,” said Gloria. “No way.”

Hawkman grimaced. <What can you see?>

<It’s dark. Why can’t I hear you? Where am I?>

There was a loud hissing sound and Hawkman lurched backwards. Dozens of snakes of all shapes and sizes had emerged from the door Katar had opened, their mouths wide and their fangs barred.

“No,” said Laura. “Snakes? I can’t, I can’t.”

Hawkman pressed his hand against his back and a small, cylindrical device popped out from a secret compartment in his armour. It was as thick as a roll of quarters, and not much longer. He flicked the tube open and it extended out a foot or so, and he positioned himself between the scientists and the snakes.

“Cover your eyes,” said Hawkman.

At the push of a small button, blue fire shot out from the end of the tube, immolating the serpents before they got near enough to do damage. Gloria hooted at the action, but Laura had backed away toward the door, unable to watch the horror show unfolding before them.

The only hissing left in the room was the sound of flesh on fire. After Hawkman was satisfied that the threat was done, he released the pressure on the button and the fire went away.

“Hell yeah,” said Gloria.

“Cold blooded,” said Hawkman.

“You talking about yourself?” said Gloria.

“Talking aloud,” said Hawkman. “Laura, are you all right?”

Laura clung to the side of the doorway that had once led to the exit, but that no longer held that promise. “Scared of snakes, sorry, just a bit scared.”

“It’s okay,” said Hawkman. “Let’s figure out what’s going on with Devan and let’s figure our way out.”

“Uh,” said Gloria. “Speak of the Devil.”

The words <I can feel something moving> appeared on the monitor screen.

<Devan, what happened? Where did you go?> typed Hawkman.

<The world went dark. Oh! Something just bit me.>

“You don’t think?” said Gloria.

<Oh, God.>

Hawkman’s eyes darted toward the door that the snakes had emerged from. He weighed his options.

“I have to find him,” said Katar. “Laura, you need to keep him talking, all right?”

“Where do you start though? Where can you go?” said Laura.

“Stay together. Stay here,” said Hawkman. He placed the cylinder that spat fire into Gloria’s hand. “The black end is where the balefire is propelled from. Press the white button to trigger the mechanism.”

“You can’t go,” said Laura. “What if the distortion hits again? You’ll never find you way back.”

“I have faith,” said Hawkman. “Don’t leave this room. The distortions seem to lead us back here, so I’ll find you again. Trust me.”

Laura bit her lip. “What if you don’t come back?”

“I’m Justice League,” said Hawkman. “I don’t lie.”

“Let the man do his job,” said Gloria. She gripped the weapon tightly. It promised safety. “He looks like the kinda guy who keeps his promises.”

“Thank you--”

Gloria interrupted. “So when we’re all done here, we’ll hit a bar, the four of us, we’ll get wasted, and see where the night takes us, okay? That’s a promise too, okay?”

Hawkman nodded sharply, no more words needed, then headed down into the pitch black corridor that the serpents had rolled out from. Night vision tinged the world green. He moved slowly and carved more Xs into the walls as he went.

After he finished carving the thirtieth X Katar turned a corner and a hooded man was stood waiting for him.

“Katar…”

Lord Naga, the terrorist who appeared to spearhead the malevolent Kobra organisation in the wake of Jason Burr’s release from captivity and attempts to turn it toward good, stood perfectly still. His mask, as ever, covered the entirety of his face. Snake eye lenses covered his eyes. Two slits where his nose would be. And where his mouth was supposed to be, was a mocking, unmoving smile.

“Seven Hells,” said Hawkman. He threw himself straight forward, mace raised, and swung hard.

In a crackle of energy and excitement, the mace connected with nothing at all, and Hawkman nearly toppled to the floor in his overzealous exertion.

Lord Naga wasn’t there.

An illusion?

“Hawkman, is everything all right?” Gloria’s voice echoed down the corridor. They must have heard the commotion. At least the distortions hadn’t struck yet. At least he was still close by.

“I’m fine,” said Hawkman.

Katar pawed cautiously at the walls. If it was an illusion, was it holographic in nature? Some kind of energy construct? He could find nothing that suggested the former, and his helm detected no residual energy traces.

Unable to find evidence of any malevolent technology, he pressed on.

“Katar, no.”

As Katar turned the corner he arched his neck back and thought he saw himself standing there with a boy at his side. Before he could halt his movement he felt the air sucked out of his lungs.

There was the sound again, like a great drum being pounded far away, and Hawkman had to steady himself against the wall. What was that?

Hawkman looked at his hand and-- against his warrior will-- gasped.

He slowly removed his hand from the X that it had been covering and saw the number next to it:

356.

How was that possible?

”Kobra…”

“Stop your incessant whispering and show yourself,” said Hawkman. He allowed his wings to unfurl magnificently and gripped his mace. He wanted action. He wanted an endgame.
When no answer came, he sheathed his wings once more.

Katar took a step backwards, and felt no ill effects. He doubled back but did not see his curious doppelgänger and the child. He headed toward the main chamber and found only numbers that he couldn’t have carved into the walls, not yet, anyway.

But the cuts were from his blade. He wouldn’t forget the signature of his own weapons.

Were the distortions temporal as well as physical?

The main chamber was not where he had left it.

Instead, a new room had appeared, full of long, opaque tubes. The computer beside the tubes was active, though he could see no one there who had been using it. A side effect of the generator turning on?

Katar entered cautiously. The room smelt sterile, medically clean. The tubes were quiet, but in Katar’s experience, that didn’t mean that whatever they contained were harmless.

Hawkman holstered his mace to his side and began to pick through the open files on the computer monitor. Someone had been browsing through the medical files. If they were of interest to whoever was here prior to Katar, either before the Global Peace Agency shut down Kobra or even while Hawkman himself had been roaming the halls, they were of interest to him.

Katar read about experiments conducted by the Kobra organisation. Human experiments. Vivisection. Torture. Meta-gene therapy. Test subjects taken from the dregs of society. Inhumane, inhuman, monstrous acts.

“Come on,” said Hawkman. He was searching for a hint of what was inside the tubes.

An icon on the desktop caught his eyes. ‘Adam’. Katar understood the implication, and double clicked on the icon.

”Katar… can… hear… you…”

The large tube behind him, seven foot tall and change, began to rumble.

Katar pulled his mace up and readied himself.

To be in the sky, with the sun on his skin and the clouds kissing his wings. To be above ground. What a wish…

The tube hissed open and green smoke rolled outwards toward Hawkman’s feet. With one strong, abrupt flap of his golden wings, the smoke retreated, and Katar looked up at the contents of the tube.

A small boy fell out onto the cold metal floor.

Hawkman felt his edge blunt immediately as he rushed to the boy’s side. The boy looked up lazily and then pure fear struck his features. He began to scream and within seconds it was apparent Katar was not the cause.

Katar spun around in time to block a forearm blow from a large, serpentine creature that had emerged from one of the other tubes. If it had ever been human, its skin had been replaced with scales. Hawkman felt his knees buckle but he did not fall. He didn’t cede victory to monsters. Especially when a child was present.

The creature roared, and threw down another forearm, but Katar was prepared this time. He swung his mace in the thing’s armpit, dislocating the limb abruptly. It didn’t stop the creature, who still hurled itself at him with all its might, even as the limb bounced pathetically against Katar’s wings.

Hawkman grinned. The boy looked up at Katar, and the lenses that covered Hawkman’s eyes clicked down, and the Thanagarian allowed himself a wink: Trust me.

Hawkman collected the boy in one arm and shot up from the ground, swinging his mace against the creature’s jaw. There was a loud crack as the thing’s jaw broke and fell to the floor pathetically.

Hawkman hovered for a moment, making sure he had his bearings. Five tubes. Two open, one containing the boy, the other containing that scaly monster. The other tubes began to rumble.

“There are more,” said the boy. He was scared, but was trying not to show it. “Three. Oh, no, no.”

Katar wished he had kept the balefire projector with him. Instead, he took three incendiary grenades from his belt and headed for the door. “Close your eyes,” he said.

Katar flicked a switch on the grenades and chucked them down toward the base of the tubes. Then he shot down the corridor, his wings allowing him to move incredibly fast. The boy held fast to Hawkman’s chest, his eyes screwed shut.

The explosion sent fire billowing through the corridors, and Hawkman felt the heat on his heels. He picked up the pace, the twisting layout of the complex ensuring he couldn’t go as fast as he preferred.

The microphone in his helm began to pick something up. He could hear people talking, but the fire at his feet was preventing him on focusing. He pushed forward, the voices becoming clearer.

“You won’t believe this.”

“What have you found?”

“The ‘on’ switch. Do I have permission to--?”

“Press it. The sooner we figure out the ‘why’ we can shut down the ‘how’ and get the hell out of here.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Oh God, Skynet. Tell them I hated the third movie.”

Hawkman shot past a familiar corridor and caught a glimpse of himself looking back. He couldn’t stop. The fire would catch up any second. The flames seemed almost sentient, refusing ot stop their infernal chase.

So it was time displacement.

“Seven Hells,” said Hawkman.

The flames died down and Hawkman looked back at the charred corridors.

“Can I look now?” said the child.

“Yes,” said Hawkman.

The boy opened his eyes tentatively and looked up at the Thanagarian. “You’re Hawkman.”

“I am. What’s your name, child?”

“Luke. Are you here to rescue me?”

Hawkman removed his helmet and smiled. The action reminded him of better times than this. “I am.”

“The bad men did bad things. My mom and dad, they, they didn’t last long,” said Luke. Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.

Hawkman felt something tighten in his chest. “The bad men? Do you know who they were?”

“The snake men,” said Luke. “They poked me with needles. Made me hurt.”

“They won’t hurt you anymore,” said Hawkman. “Not while I’m here.” He wiped the tears from Luke’s face. “We’re going to get out of here. And I’m going to hurt the people that hurt you. How does that sound?”

“Can you bring my parents back?”

The thing in Hawkman’s chest clasped so tight he thought his heart was going to explode. “I’m afraid I can’t, Luke. But we can make sure no one hurts like they did, ever again. That I promise you.”

Luke looked down at the floor. “My mom and dad said we’d be okay. They promised too.”

”Creatures… scientific… monstrosities… Kobra… rising…”

Hawkman ignored the voice and put his hand out to Luke. “Come with me, Luke. Let’s get out of here.”

The two of them headed back down the corridor. Hawkman’s lenses automatically reasserted themselves when they spotted a familiar shape with its back to them.

Katar saw Hawkman ahead of them. He was about to turn a corner and be displaced.

“Katar, no,” said Katar, but even as Hawkman looked back at them he had already turned a corner.

Katar and Luke rushed forward, but there was only charred corridor. No past version of Hawkman.

“This place makes my head hurt,” said Luke.

“You and me both,” said Hawkman.

Luke wiped his nose. Katar saw blood smudge against the boy’s thumb. “It really hurts.”

Hawkman was about to reach down when Luke’s outline blurred and black globules of light permeated his silhouette.

“Hawkman? What’s--”

Luke’s expression went blank, his features went blank, and then the light expanded outward abruptly, sending Hawkman hurtling back against the metal wall.

The explosion was massive, Katar felt his armour buckle and his wings bend, but he was protected to an extent. The blast shield for his face descended, but his flesh stung with pain.

Katar’s biggest concern was the boy. He tried to fight back against the colossal force of the blast but was pinned to the wall. He screamed to himself, unable to break free from the grasp of the explosion, when it suddenly died out and he fell to his knees.

Hawkman looked up as Luke’s outline faded back into existence.

“Hey, hey, it’s him,” said Gloria.

She turned the corner and was shocked by the sight before her.

Hawkman was down, looking exactly how he felt. Battered. Bruised. Half-on-fire.

The boy was perfectly intact. Pale. A bloody nose. But alive.

“Whoa, holy shit.”

“Language,” said Hawkman. “Is the boy all right?”

“Hey kid,” said Gloria. She crouched down in front of him. “Are you okay?”

“My head hurts,” said Luke. “Who are you?”

“Me? I’m Gloria. What’s your name, handsome?”

“Luke,” said the boy. “Are you a friend of Hawkman?”

“I hope so,” said Gloria.

“Are they okay?” Laura stumbled around the corner and bumped into Gloria. “Oh, wow, okay.”

Hawkman pulled himself up. “How did you find us?”

“The main chamber is through here,” said Laura. She pointed back at the open door behind her. “We heard something weird and thought we should check it out.”

“How long have I been gone?”

“A few minutes, why?”

“Felt like longer,” said Hawkman. “Let’s get back to the main chamber.”

Laura led Luke back to the main chamber, while Gloria helped Hawkman forward. “You look like you’ve been through hell. I take it a few minutes for us hasn’t been a few minutes for you?”

“Longer, yes,” said Hawkman. “Devan? Did you hear from Devan?”

“No,” said Gloria. She looked morose. “After you left, the transmission cut out. Whatever it was with him, I think, well, I think it got him.”

“And no other snake attacks?”

“None,” said Gloria.

They reached the main chamber. The scorch marks on the ground were still there from when Hawkman had unleashed the balefire on the serpents. At least some things remained the same.

Laura closed down the computer window and looked back at Luke. “How do you feel, kiddo?”

“Head hurts,” said Luke.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” said Laura. She took a syringe from her satchel and tapped it tentatively. “This should help calm you down, how does that sound?”

Luke looked legitimately scared of the needle in Laura’s hand.

“What were you looking at on the computer?” said Hawkman.

“Just searching through some files, why?” said Gloria.

Something itched in Hawkman’s head. “Laura, please put that syringe down.”

“I just want to make the kid feel better,” said Laura.

“Don’t like needles,” said Luke.

“It’s good medicine,” said Laura. She was smiling broadly. “I’m a friend of Hawkman’s, you trust me, right?”

“Laura, please,” said Hawkman. “IT’s been a long day already. Let’s not argue.”

A bead of sweat dribbled down Laura’s temple. “It’s good medicine. It won’t hurt.”

“Why are you nervous?” said Katar.

“Christ,” said Gloria.

Hawkman turned as she aimed the balefire at him. He spun back around as his wings flexed around him, but the blue fire bit hard and he had to stop himself from crying out.

“He asks a lot of questions for a jock lunk head.”

“I could have talked him down,” said Laura.

“‘Good medicine’, do you listen to yourself?”

Laura grabbed Luke by the arm and grimaced. “I don’t like working with kids.”

“I don’t like needles,” said Luke. His silhouette throbbed once more as the tears rolled down his cheeks. Black bubbles of otherworldly energy lifted up from his skin.

“Do it, do it,” said Gloria, as she kept the fire on Katar.

Laura spat loudly at Gloria. “I’m trying--”

Luke exploded outwards, sending Laura careening into the wall. Her neck broke on impact. Gloria screamed as she was thrown backwards by the force, and Hawkman gripped the ground, his armour becoming melted slag. He pushed a button on his gauntlet and the mechanisms beneath his armour began to wind and unlock. He counted back from ten in his head, until the force of the explosion died out and he finally put final pressure on the trigger, sending his ravaged armour skittering to the floor.

Katar stood and surveyed the scene. Laura was crumpled awkwardly forward against the wall, her neck bent in an angle that should never be experienced by the human body. He turned to look at Gloria, who was twitching uncontrollably, her skin a scorched ruin, the balefire stick shaking in her hand.

“Ha haa haa hawkmannn,” said Gloria.

Katar had his Nth metal mace in hand, the one armament still intact after the onslaught he’d experienced.

“Sttillll onnnn foorrrr thaaaaaa daaaate?” She pointed the balefire stick at Hawkman and her head twitched to the side. A crooked smile formed on scorched lips.

Katar held up his mace, and pressed a button on the base.

“No.”

The balefire stick exploded violently, engulfing Gloria in cerulean flames. She screamed silently, her body rejecting what little humanity she had left in her.

Before Luke realised where he was or what was going on, Katar had him, and turned him away from the sight that Gloria had become.

“What’s going on?”

“Just a minute,” said Katar. Every part of his being hurt. He needed to figure out what was going on. What was happening. The boy was dangerous, that much was obvious.

“Katar… can you… hear… me…”

After Gloria finally went out, Katar stood and ran his hands through his hair.

“You keep going blurry, do you know that?” said Katar.

“It’s when my head really hurts,” said Luke. “Everything gets hot.”

“If you start feeling that way again, you let me know, all right?”

Katar placed his mace on the side next to the computer and turned the screen back on.

The page Laura had been on was an extension of the one Katar had seen earlier.

Project: Adam Bomb

As Katar read his stomach dropped. “Oh, no.”

“What’s wrong?” said Luke.

Meta-gene experiments on the subject resulted in a build of extra-dimensional energy within the subject’s metabolism, culminating in uncontrollable explosions that grow exponentially with every incident. Once the process has started, process will continue until maximum destruction of immediate area

“Here’s what’s happening, Katar,” said Lord Naga. The masked villain was stood behind Luke, hands behind his back, back arched forward as he walked. The man appeared like a caricature. He looked at Hawkman and smiled. “Do you mind if I call you Katar?”

Hawkman roared as he flung the mace at Naga. The man hit the ground hard, the mace crackling with energy as he struggled to stand.

“I do mind, you sonofabitch,” said Katar. “What have you done here?”

“Wonders,” said Naga. He coughed awkwardly. There was a weird reverb on the cough, somewhat out of sync with his words. “I have created wonders that the world will see and be in awe of. Like little Luke here, the boy with the explosive disposition. Do you want to know what’s going to happen next?”

“I kill you,” said Hawkman. He grabbed Naga by the mask and wrenched his hand forward, revealing a familiar face beneath it.

Devan Lloyd coughed again. Blood dribbled from his mouth. “No God but God.”

The mask continued to talk, separate from Lloyd. “On entering the underground lab, a forcefield was erected around Blue Burton, blocking out all means of communication. It also means that any explosion will reverberate beneath the spherical construct, destroying every living thing in its path.”

“Faith to Kali Yuga,” said Lloyd. “Kobra will devour the Justice League and then the world.”

“Shut up.”

Hawkman kicked Devan hard in the ribs. The blow sent him flying across the room. He curled up in a ball away from the Thanagarian Hawk Knight, blood flowing from his mouth.

“Speaking of explosions, how is Luke doing? Have the nose bleeds got any worse?”

Katar looked down at Luke, who was cupping his nose to stop the blood from pouring.

“That means he’s about to reach critical mass, Katar. That means he’s about to reach full potency.”

“You devil. Stop this.”

The ceiling above their heads shook and debris began to fall. Hawkman dropped the mask and grabbed Luke. He dove for the cover provided by the computer console, but saw Lloyd crushed under a falling girder.

“What’s happening?” said Luke.

“It’ll be okay,” said Katar. He was unsure. Without the protection of his armour he was exposed. Without his wings he was grounded. The world was shaking and he had no way of escaping. He had to protect the boy. He had to protect him, no matter what.

The shaking stopped and Katar looked out from their shelter. They were above ground now. Whatever dimensional displacement they were experiencing had taken them up to the street. There were no walls, just the metal floor, the computer, and then the street, the houses.

Above their heads, on the other side of the force field Green Lantern was working away, trying to get through the impenetrable barrier. Katar could see Superman and Wonder Woman pounding away, but he couldn’t hear the impact, even as the field shimmered with each blow.

The Martian Manhunter had his hands pressed against the surface. {Katar… can you…}

Their eyes met. It had been J’onn’s voice he could hear down below. Distorted. Muffled. But the Martian had pushed through, unable to enter the area itself. Now, with their proximity, he could hear the Martian’s voice, his accent.

“My head hurts again,” said Luke.

Katar eye’s darted around. The citizens of the town had wandered out of their homes to see what all the commotion was about. Men. Women. Children. The Justice League were fighting against the barrier, trying their best to get in before the worst happened. But he was alone. He was the only one here.

And Luke was a bomb.

“Close your eyes,” said Katar.

{Katar… Hawkman… don’t…}

“It really hurts,” said Luke.

“I know, I know, I’ll fix it, don’t worry,” said Katar.

He placed his hands on top of Luke’s head as his silhouette began to blur.

{Katar. Katar, you don’t, no--

Luke fell to the floor, dead.

Katar looked at his hands in disgust and then the forcefield dropped, allowing the Justice League to enter the small town of Blue Burton.

“No God but God,” said Lord Naga’s mask. “Faith in Kali Yuga.”

Green Lantern surrounded it in an emerald construct, ready to investigate it further, but it immolated before the sphere could be sealed.

“You killed him,” said Superman. “You killed the boy.”

“Green Lantern, privacy,” said Wonder Woman.

John Stewart surrounded Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Superman and Wonder Woman in a construct.

“Katar, what happened down there?” said Wonder Woman.

“Seven hells,” said Katar. He was quiet. He looked at his hands. They were shaking.

“The boy--” said Superman.

“He was going to explode. I saw the damage first hand. He would have killed everyone,” said Katar. “I don’t.” He paused. “I did what had to be done.”

“There’s always another way,” said Superman. He reached out to place a hand on Hawkman’s shoulder, but the Thanagarian flinched away. “Katar.”

“Sometimes there isn’t another way,” said Hawkman. “Sometimes the only option is the one I took. And you, the look on your face? You would have found another way, is that what you believe?”

“I’m not saying that,” said Superman. “I’m not--”

“There was no other way,” said Katar. “None. A boy is dead and three hundred and twenty nine men, women and children live. Sherri Stanford’s child gets to live.”

Wonder Woman nodded slowly. “Katar, you have to understand--”

“You too?” said Hawkman. “Always another way. Always an alternative. I can’t, I can’t be here.”

“I can take you back to Laputa, we can get you checked out,” said Green Lantern.

“And be judged? To be looked at with, with such disgust?” said Hawkman. “There is no room for child killers in the Justice League. For murderers. No. You’re so much better than that.”

“You’re in shock, Katar,” said Green Lantern. “I’ve seen it before, we can talk it through, don’t you worry.”

“Don’t you patronise me,” said Hawkman. “I did what had to be done and if you can’t see that, then we’re done here. I quit.” He swallowed hard. “Effectively immediately. I resign from the Justice League.”

“Katar, you don’t realise what you’re saying, please, let’s just--” Wonder Woman was interrupted by Hawkman holding up his hand.

“I’m sorry.”

In his other hand, Katar gripped his mace tightly. He pressed a button on the hilt and began to fade away. Personal teleport.

The St Roch apartment he landed in was a familiar place.

Katar Hol stood for a moment before his body began to spasm. The Thanagarian fell to his knees, gripped his hair tightly and sobbed as Kendra Saunders, aka Hawkgirl, current Bird of Prey, tentatively poked her head out the kitchen of her apartment, gripping a butcher’s knife.

“Katar, is that--? Katar?”

She rushed to his side and pulled him close.

“Katar, what happened? Katar?”

When no response was forthcoming from him, she sat with him in silence, while the Hawk Knight wept.

Kobra had won.