by Toby Kernan with Black Condor, Chip Caroon, Paul Hahn, Bob Young, JM de Joya, and Ritchie Filippi |
"It is not a problem, Oliver," said Forge absentmindedly, as he looked out at the clouds floating in the air beside them, "I had considered helping Henry and Ben* build whatever gadget they were working on, but this sounded more appealing. I have never been to Diabloverde before. I have heard that the jungles are very lush and beautiful, and teaming with exotic wildlife. Why are we going there?"
*(Ben is Benjamin Foster is Head Director of Science and
Technology for SHIELD. Henry is Henry Pym, adventurer. Both Henry Pym and Forge
have come to SHIELD headquarters in New York after the events in their own
SHIELD Spotlight issues and Agents of SHIELD #8)
"Chasing bad guys, of course," Oliver smiled,
"General Hazda is a real nasty war criminal out of Vlatavia. He is into
‘genetic cleansing' and all that nasty crap. Well, his army finally lost the
war in Vlatavia, and rather be caught, and placed on trial for war crimes by the
United Nations, he ran. We chased he, and a handful of his fellow criminals all
over Europe-Lisbon, Paris, Athens, you name it. Finally, he ended up crossing
the Atlantic and in Diabloverde. According to Agent Mark Shaw, he and his men
are going to Azul Sol."
"Blue sun?" asked Forge, finding the name odd for a location in the
middle of a desert.
"Apparently," replied Oliver, unaware that his friend knew Spanish,
"the area has quite a history. The Aztecs had a temple there, and many
sacrifices were made atop the temple's highest altar. Then the Spanish came,
stole all the riches, and wiped out all of the Aztec from the area, but not
before their leader placed a ‘blood curse' on the land and all who would
attempt to inhabit it.
"The area basically went uninhabited for hundreds of years, the
Diabloverdians claimed it was cursed and none would settle on it. Then, in the
early 1980's, with Diabloverde desperate for cash, a joint team of historians
and archaeologists from the United States and Mexico were allowed to enter the
area. They found the temple. They also found a cave, which housed some of the
biggest blue diamonds the world has ever seen. Soon the area had new inhabitant,
the Ruiz Drug Cartel.
"In the late eighties Diabloverde was a ‘friend' of the United States,
so they asked for their help in ‘extracting' the Ruiz family, so they could
have their diamonds back. Enter Taskforce X, and their Suicide Squad. Mama
Waller sent in Commando, Copycat, Snapdragon, Karma, Sledge, and Johnny Double.
Apparently, Their story was that the leaders of the Ruiz family were now members
of the ‘undead', and that in fact the diamonds had become possessed by the
spirits of the dead Aztecs. They managed to blow the temple to smithereens, but
not before every member of the team was dead except Commando and Copycat."
Forge looked puzzled, as he absorbed the information, then bit his upper lip
in frustration, "Why is Hazda going there?"
"Good question," said Oliver as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe he isn't afraid of ghosts and figures he can bolster his piggy bank
with some blue diamonds. Or maybe, he is looking for a hideout that nobody would
think of going to? The Diabloverdians stay as far away from Azul Sol as
possible, and apparently, the drug runners haven't been seen there in many
years. It is a non-extradition country, and we are apparently the only people
crazy enough to chase Hazda and his boys there."
Oliver crinkled his nose, made a survey of his troops, and pulled closer to
his friend Forge, almost whispering, "This crew I am not sure of. Agents
Chase Lawler and Elizabeth Lockhart are practically rookies, and I don't think
have a single jungle mission between them. Duchess is extremely dependable, but
there is something about her that bothers me, she is so damn powerful, and too
damn secretive. That leaves you and Ben that I know I can trust, and Agent Shaw,
whenever we find him."
"Is he missing?" inquired Forge.
"Not sure what is going on with him," said Oliver, a tone of
annoyance creeping into his voice. "He is suppose to be keeping me
informed. I haven't heard from him in almost a week. The Universal Locator he is
wearing allows us to pinpoint his location, but thanks to dense jungle cover and
some type of solar-flair crap at the SHIELD satellite, we can't get any other
type of readings on the area below. We are walking in blind, and I don't like it
one bit.
Oliver made a quick inspection of his team. Forge seemed almost jubilant,
ready for a hiking exploration. Oliver knew his friend was an avid outdoorsman,
and was sure he could not only keep up with, but probably outpace, Oliver's
SHIELD Agents. Duchess was oblivious to her surroundings, decided instead to
polish the heavy, homemade rifle she was accustomed to carrying. Ben Turner was
sitting, cross-legged, eyes closed on the ground, meditating. Oliver smiled. Ben
was always so calm, cool, and collected, he felt lucky to have him by his side.
Then there were his two ‘rookies'. Agent Lawler was eager to go, Oliver
could tell. He was very fidgety, looking everywhere, and had made more than one
comment about how he was ready to go and "kick Hazda and his cronies'
butts". Agent Lockhart appeared to be in the opposite condition. She was
sitting still, not moving, and being very silent. Oliver could see, in her eyes,
that she was unsure of the mission. Oliver knew she had never been in a jungle
before, and seemed uncomfortable going into the dense tropical forest.
Oliver noticed Forge get up and go to speak with the newly arrived guides.
After several minutes, Forge left them and came to speak with Oliver.
"They know which path Hazda and his men took?" inquired Oliver. He
knew some Spanish, but Forge seemed to be entirely more fluent than he was.
"Yes," replied Forge, as he adjusted his backpack, "they said
there is only one very good path up to Azul Sol, and the large group including
Hazda took it. He said his cousin was the one who led their party. He also said
he is worried, because his cousin and the other scouts should have returned by
now."
"Well, guess we'll find out what happened to them," shrugged
Oliver, then he turned to his Agents, "Alright kids, the sun is coming up,
lets pack it up, we are out of here!"
"Sir, look," said Agent Lawler as he pushed his way to the front of
the group, and pointed towards a thicket of trees to the left. Something caught
Oliver's eye. At first, he thought it was a large python, dangling down from a
tree. Then he noticed human arms and legs, swigging. It was a human, hung from
the tree.
Oliver and his team prepared their weapons as they left their guides behind
to make a closer inspection. There, hanging in the tree, was a native. Judging
from his muscular build, Oliver suspected he must have been one of the
mercenaries Hazda had hired. As Oliver looked around, he found a second body,
this one stabbed multiple times and strapped to a nearby tree with vines. Chase
called out, and Oliver's attention was drawn to a third body, this one shot full
of holes and left slumping against another tree nearby. About two feet from this
third body, Lawler discovered a large rock with words inscribed in blood. Oliver
recognized the language as Vlatavian, but was unable to discern their meaning.
"'Thieves and traitors,'" said Agent Lockhart as she made her way
over to the rock. "That is what it says sir."
Oliver grimaced in disgust. These people hadn't just been killed, they had
been killed in a messy fashion, probably as a show of force to the remaining
Diabloverdians with Hazda's troupe. Oliver frowned in disgust, he hated Hazda
and his bloody style, and his reign of terror must be put to a halt. Oliver
turned to the guides and asked what the proper way to deal with the dead. After
he was informed it was cremation, Oliver had to tell them they would have to
wait, because that would give their location and presence to Hazda, if he was
paying attention to such things. The guides seemed to have no problem with that,
and seemed to find the whole idea of dealing with the dead unpleasant, so the
team gathered their composure, and pressed onward.
"My god," whispered Agent Lockhart as she evaluated the
devastation.
While almost everybody in the SHIELD group seemed to be in a state of horror
and shock, Duchess came forward to inspect the scene and bodies, apparently
unfazed by the scene of carnage.
"This boss," Duchess replied coldly to Oliver, "appears to all
be self-done. The attack marks are from knives and guns and hands, and from what
I am seeing, it would appear that they simply turned on each other like a savage
pack of hellhounds."
"This guy," Duchess picked up a man who had a gaping hole in his
chest, "apparently stabbed this guy," she pointed to another nearby,
"and was then shot by him in return. This is ugly, vicious stuff."
Forge bit his lip as he inspected the scene, "Jungle madness
maybe?"
Oliver was equally perplexed, "Seems like a rather extreme case to
me."
As the guides viewed the carnage, which included obviously their friends and
relatives, they could take no more. Oliver turned to make a comment, but it was
too late, and all of them ran back off into the forest, screaming and yelling.
"Oliver."
Oliver turned from the fleeing guides spectacle to Ben Turner, who was
crouched at the far end of the massacre. As he went over to his friend, he
noticed Agent Turner was pointing to a thin trail of blood that seemed to lead
off into the original direction that they had been headed. Oliver decided that
this bore investigating. He gave orders for all of the team, except he, Agent
Turner, and Forge, remain here and try to make some sense of this carnage.
Meanwhile they would go and investigate the trail.
The trio followed the blood and the locator around the temple and down a
small path, which led to a nearby cave. As the team considered whether to enter,
they noticed that there were in fact torches hung at equal paces along the wall,
and lit the cave quite brilliantly. The men took this as a sign of occupancy,
and decided that they would take a chance and journey inside.
About fifty feet into the cave, they found a sight most unexpected. There,
sitting on a make-shift throne of bone and bodies, was General Hazda. Oliver
noticed that his skin was a sickly grey and that his eyes seemed to stare off
absently into space. Oliver thought he must be dead, as several fingers of his
left hand were gone and he had a number of bullet holes. Oliver also noticed
beside, him, huddled on the ground, in a fetal position, was the form of Agent
Lawler.
Oliver made a move towards Lawler, when the form of Hazda twitched. Then
moved its head slowly, and seemed stare right into Ollie's eye. He felt a cold
and nasty chill slide down his spine.
"Beware," said the corpse of Hazda, in a harsh and grainy voice.
"The curse of Montezuzaca still reigns supreme. Outsiders will not be
tolerated on our sacred home. I do not smell the stench of evil upon you, and
you will be allowed to depart. Immediately. Choose this, or you will die like
the this evil creature and his minions." It's speech, completed, the
creature slumped back into it's throne, and the body of General Hazda was dead.
"Good riddance," replied Oliver as he ran to the fetal form of
Agent Mark Shaw. Much to Oliver's amazement, Shaw still seemed to be alive,
barely. Oliver looked into his face as blood sputtered from his lips, and he
weakly looked at Oliver and tried to speak.
"Damn," mumbled Shaw, almost incoherently, "it wasn't suppose
to be like this. Then they turned on each other, full of rage and evil. It was
horrible, and I didn't know what to do. Then Hazda found me. Everything is
wrong. It is too early. Too early…"
As Shaw seemed to pass out, Oliver noticed the forms of Forge and Ben beside
him. 'Damn,' he thought to himself, 'Don't die Shaw, not now.' Oliver was
disgusted more than sad. He was tired of losing good Agents. He couldn't stand
to loose another.
"What the hell…" Oliver heard Ben say, and he looked up at his
friend, then followed his line of vision. It led to Shaw's leg, or what was left
of it. It had been severed, below the knee, but that wasn't what had shocked
Ben. There was no bone or muscle where the cut had occurred. Instead, under the
blood, was plastic wiring and metallic ‘bones'. The leg wasn't human at all,
but robotic in origin.
"Shaw," Oliver asked in complete awe, unable to comprehend the
discovery.
"What the hell are you?"
Oliver and his agents, along with their backpacks full of supplies, and their
weapons, prepared to head out of Verde City. The hike to Azul Sol was almost
twenty miles, and there were no roads that could harbor anything larger or more
sophisticated then a pack animal. Oliver and Forge had managed to ply, with a
ridiculous amount of money, a pair of guilds to show them the way. The two
appeared very apprehensive, and said that they would not take them all the way
to the ancient ruins, but since the money they were supplied was probably more
than they made in entire year, they would take them as far as they could.
The team had hiked for about twelve miles through the dense forest when the
first signs of trouble became clear. Luckily, the trail wasn't very difficult to
follow. Hazda and his men had made no attempt to hide their trail, and had in
fact cut a wide swath right through the forest. Oliver and his crew came to a
large clearing, which, from the abandoned debris and woodpiles appeared to have
been Hazda's resting stop for a night.
After about three miles more of hiking, an even more extreme version of violence
and death was exposed to the SHIELD Agents. Here, it appeared, hell had broken
loose amongst all of Hazda's troupe. Supplies were strewn everywhere. The pack
animals were all dead, their bodies mutilated. There were human body's
everywhere, and they all appeared to have died in bloody and gruesome manners.
The bodies weren't just off natives this time either, but included at least six
of Hazda's men that had come with him from Vlatavia as well.
About a mile up the trail, the trio of men came upon the remains of the temple
at Azul Sol. Oliver was sure, at one time, it had indeed been most beautiful, as
pieces of intricate carving still lay scattered all around. Absentminded due to
all the blood and carnage, Oliver remember that he had the portable universal
locator in his pocket, honed on Agent Shaw's signal. He pulled it out and read
the locator, which seemed to be consistent with the small, but steady stream of
blood that they had followed through the jungle.
SHIELD Field Director Oliver Queen looked up from his meal, annoyed, to see the face of his long-time friend Henry Pym. Around twenty minutes ago, Oliver had left Pym and SHIELD Science Director Ben Foster to their probing and analyzing, in hopes of a quick meal and a few minutes of sleep. Oliver thought to himself that he should consider himself lucky. He actually got three bites out of his turkey and Swiss sandwich before he had been disturbed.
"What is it, Hank?" asked Oliver as he searched his cluttered desk for his caffeine-laden Booster Cola. Sleep had been a luxury Oliver could little afford lately, and the stress of the past few days was starting to wear at him.
"Mark is well…awake…and ‘he' is asking for you," answered Henry, a very perplexed look upon his face.
"I'll be right down!" declared Oliver as he leapt from his seat, spilling the contents of his pop all over the floor.
*All this took place last issue
Oliver made his way to the entrance doors of Science Lab One,
where an anxious Henry Pym was waiting outside for him.
"What is going on Hank?" asked Oliver.
Henry just shrugged his shoulders and gave a half-hearted smile, "That is a
damn good question, Ollie. Under layers of skin and blood there is a completely
robotic form there. This is nothing like I have ever seen before. ‘He' is
high-advanced, far beyond anything I am capable of, or anybody on this planet
that I am aware of."
"An alien robot?" pondered Oliver aloud, his head starting to ache.
"Possibly," responded Henry, "but not from any race I am aware of. This isn't
Kree, Thanagarian, or any other race's technology that I have encountered
before. This is far beyond their capabilities. This creature has the abilities
to completely mask itself from any of our technology. It has a heartbeat, it has
brain waves, and has a complete digestive system. Had its wounds not been so
severe, we would have never known about it. Oh, and it seems to be regenerating,
although due to the injuries, the pace is slow."
"Has Shaw anything?" Oliver asked, perplexed.
"'He' just ‘woke up' five minutes ago," said Henry, as the two men entered
the lab, "and all Shaw said was that he wanted to speak with you."
Oliver, along with Pym, made their way into the lab. There, surrounded by
several of SHIELD's finest technicians, Foster, and Forge, was the body of Mark
Shaw. The ‘man' was lying on a table, surrounded by countless machines of
various sizes and shapes, all humming and beeping. Oliver felt the headache in
his head begin to pound worse.
As Oliver and Pym made their way to the table, everyone except Forge and
Foster were asked to leave the room, as per Shaw's request. Once they left, the
four men gathered around Shaw, who opens his eye's towards Oliver and smiled.
"Mark?" asked Oliver
"Of course, Ollie," smiled Shaw, then he turned his head, as if he was
checking something internally, then returned his attention back to the four men.
"Care to explain this?" asked Oliver awkwardly, unsure how to proceed.
"Well," said Shaw, as the smile drained from his face, "it is a little early,
but I guess this time will have to do. Over four billion years ago, the race
known as the Oans decided, to atone for the crimes one of their own committed,
to become the Guardians of the Universe. Their mission was to protect the other
developing races from danger, sometimes even from themselves. To this affect,
three billion years ago they created a universal policing force, a race of
robotic entities known as the Manhunters, and sent them out amongst the stars.
"During their missions, some of the Manhunters discovered the crimes the Oans
themselves had committed, and decided that they were not a race fit to be the
guardians of any universe. Deciding that they would be better suited to the
guardianship role, the Manhunters banded together and attack the Guardians on
their homeworld Oa. Unfortunately, despite a brave and valiant struggle, the
Oans used the dark magic of the Starheart to defeat the Manhunters, destroying
most of them. Not long after, the Guardians decided to instead recruit sentient
beings.
"What the Guardians were unaware of was that not all of the Manhunters were
destroyed. The handful that survived regrouped on a planet far from the reach of
the Guardians, and spent the next several millennia in hiding. Eventually, the
race that lived on the planet developed technology, and the Manhunters were
awakened from their meditations. The Manhunters, seeing the creatures were
little more than petty warmongers and battling children used their intelligence
and power to infiltrate both sides and broker a truce, taking the planet as
their own.
"Now, using the race's technological advancement, the Manhunters built upon
them, and within several more millennia were able to reproduce their own race.
As their numbers grew, they learned of the Oan's new policing force, the living
Green Lantern Corps. Unable to understand how sentient creatures, with all their
imperfections and fallacies, could do a better job of policing then them, the
Manhunters decided it was time for them to return to their original mission, and
police the universe the proper way. Agents were sent out to each galaxy, with
reproducing technology, so they could perform their role in a way the Green
Lanterns never could.
"Two hundred and twenty million years ago, a scout ship from the Manhunters
was sent to explore this solar system. It was only a small ship, containing less
than a hundred Manhunters. Unfortunately, an alien race known as the Nuwali had
designs on this system for themselves, and a battle above this planet ensued. In
the battle, the Manhunter ship was damaged beyond repair, and was forced to
crash land. Most of the Manhunters survived, but the ship was damaged beyond
their capacity, so the survivors were stuck upon Earth.
"Stuck on a place with no intelligent life to police and no technology to get
off the planet, the Manhunters went into hibernation, in hopes that either an
intelligent race would develop or their fellow Manhunters would come and find
them.
"Tragedy then struck. Sixty-five million years ago, in a war between the
Elder Gods Set and Gaea, Set siphoned much of the energy from the planet,
causing what was known as the fifth extinction of nearly all life on this
planet. This was what humans know as the ice age, which killed off all of the
dinosaurs. The Manhunters were also siphoned of all but the smallest amount of
energy, just barely enough to survive. It would take them 65 million years in
regain the strength they needed to emerge from their slumber.
"Emerge they did. Buried deep within the earth, thanks to Earth's shifting
plates, the Manhunters were freed in 1970 by Roxxon Corporation, drilling for
oil in what is known as Alaska. Freed, the Manhunters spent the next several
decades exploring Earth. They used their technology to mask themselves as
ordinary humans, moving stealthfully amongst the populace, gathering the
necessary information they needed to set themselves back up in power. Finally,
they found the vehicle they needed in order to properly achieve their goals."
"SHIELD," whispered Oliver Queen, understanding where the conversation was
leading.
"Yes, SHIELD. An international policing force that transcends all earthly
boundaries and has no superiors save those they choose to let control them. The
perfect cover for a policing force is the world's premiere policing force."
"We are part of this too?" asked Forge, beginning to see a pattern forming.
"Of course, we couldn't chance having the greatest technological minds of
this planet working against us. The odds of you joining us were minimal, so we
figured it best you simply be eliminated, with no connections ever made to us.
Unfortunately, humans can't be trusted to do anything properly, and the
operatives that were sent to destroy each of you failed."
"So, now what?" asked Oliver, completely dumbfounded.
"Well, Oliver, I regret to inform you, that SHIELD will be under Manhunter
control…"
"How?" asked Oliver, now annoyed at the arrogant presumption of Shaw.
"Who do think has been manipulating everything that has happened to you
lately, Oliver? Why do you think so many of your best operatives are down and
out? We have been manipulating everything. We are the reason Agent Martens
discovered Frank Castle's secret. We set up the missions to Vlatavia and
Diabloverde. We hired Shinobi Shaw to capture your wife, then kill you.
"Oh, and we control the SHIELD computers thanks to our operative Deathlok.
Through him, and your precious technology, we have gained access and control to
every circuit in New York City. We have a plan we intend to execute. SHIELD is
going to save this city from a terrible disaster. Then, we are going to ask for
greater control in helping police here. As we do this, we will also begin to
expand our operations in other selected strategic points across the map. Soon
SHIELD will be even more powerful than anyone ever realized it could be. It will
reach its maximum potential under our reign."
"Why do you care?" asked Henry, seeking some clarity.
"That is our job. Look around at this miserable planet, you can't do the job
yourselves. Petty wars, gangs in the streets, crime is rampant. You have
countless criminals in outlandish costumes overwhelming this planet with crime.
You humans need someone to set order. That is our mission."
"You mentioned a disaster in New York," said Oliver, fearing for his
daughter, an attendee of Gotham University, "what are you talking about?"
"Go check on television and see Ollie, it should have started by now…"
Ben started to make his way to a group of monitors towards the left end of
the room, but they turned themselves on before he was even close. The monitors
showed a variety of cable news networks, and all were covering the same story.
With the exception of Paris Island, every single inch of the city was covered in
total darkness. A total power outage. Almost ten million people shrouded in
blackness. The chaos had already begun, the reporters claimed, as rioting and
looting had begun in Gotham and other sections of the city.
"Oh my god," said Ben Foster, as he watched the chaos begin to unfurl in the
city that surrounds them, thinking of his wife and children and praying they
were home and safe.
"And now," said Manhunter Mark Shaw, a smile on his face, "you all had better
go and try to save this city. It will probably be the last thing you will ever
do…"
Powerman shouted this battle cry as he unexpectedly attacked the other members of the Super-Unit Police.
They had just finished quelling a riot in Chinatown when Powerman had torn off the yellow hood he usually wore. He revealed the gleaming blue-steel visage of the Manhunters, who had been partly responsible for the chaos in New York City. Before the Super-Unit Police could react, Powerman sprang into action.
With one blast of heat vision was nearly enough to take down Guardian, who threw up his shield at the last minute. The other Super-Unit Police were almost too surprised to react to Powerman's attack. They knew, however, if they did not react fast, their most powerful member would surely defeat them.
Guardian, for all his battle experience, was the most taken aback by the sudden betrayal. He had personally selected and trained each member, so to have one turn on him was the worst thing he could imagine. But he had to quickly put all regrets from his mind because he had to get the other members to respond to this new threat.
"Trapster! Call Photon back! We'll need her help!"
Trapster reached for his radio, but was knocked into a storefront by a super-fast punch from Powerman. Doc Samson leapt into the fray.
"I can handle him!"
Doc Samson threw himself at Powerman fast enough to knock his opponent down before he could get away. Powerman pushed himself up from the ground. The ground beneath the two titans cracked as they wrestled. Doc Samson was at least as strong as Powerman, with gamma-powered endurance to boot.
"Black Condor! See if you can get Photon to come here!"
One of the riot cops who were left asked Guardian if he could help.
"We'll handle this, thanks!" Guardian tersely responded. But Guardian, being a true leader, thought of a way the policeman could help. "Try to keep the bystanders away . . . and the news crews, too! I don't know if I want any of New York's young ones seeing the Super-Unit Police fight on TV."
The policeman got his fellow squad members together to carry out Guardian's instructions.
Guardian turned his attention back to the battle.
"Don't let up, Samson!" Guardian said. He rushed over to Trapster's unconscious form and felt for a pulse. Trapster was still alive, and he was very lucky to be, given Powerman's awesome strength.
If Powerman was in a killing mood, they would be lucky if any of them escaped this battle alive.
Batman could not remember ever having seen rioting on this scale in his time as a crimefighter. Even though he was basically working outside of the law all the time as a costumed vigilante, during this time of crisis he had to help the police quell disorder.
Batman turned to his copilot. "I appreciate you joining me on such short notice," Batman said. "I couldn't reach Robin somehow, and I have a feeling I'm going to need help taming these riots."
"Anytime, Batman. I have my own reasons for making sure that the cops get this riot under control. Look, it seems like one down there is dispersing right now."
"Yes, but there's still something going on down there. Wait, I know those people!"
Batman turned the Batcopter in the direction of Chinatown's Canal Street.
It was then that Powerman decided to fight dirty once more. He ignited his heat vision, which was one superpower that Doc Samson did not have.
"You . . . blasted . . . robot . . . " Samson groaned.
Powerman's heat vision could not penetrate Samson's thick skin, but Powerman was not aiming for Samson's skin. He grabbed Samson's head in his powerful hands, and blasted him directly in the eyes with his heat vision.
Blinded, Doc Samson released his chokehold. The impact of Guardian's shield against his arm was the only thing that kept Powerman from snapping his foe's powerful neck.
"We're not done with you yet!" Guardian shouted.
Black Condor tried to figure out something to use against Powerman. He decided to use his bird-communicating powers to talk to a group of pigeons that were roosting in the eaves of Chinatown's rooftops. He asked his bird brethren to help him by crowding around their foe.
A flock of birds descended from the rooftops, swarming around Powerman and pecking at him. Their beaks did the invulnerable Manhunter no harm, however. He murderously fried some of them with his heat vision.
"You heartless jerk!" Black Condor cried as he opened useless fire upon Powerman with stun bolts from the standard issue Super-Unit Police stun pistol. Powerman turned his own heat vision on Black Condor and knocked him to the ground with one blast.
Guardian had heard from Photon that she had her hands full containing a small riot that had broken out in the Bronx, so they couldn't count on her help. It was just him against Powerman.
Well, it was worth a try fighting the rogue Super-Unit Policeman, anyway, even though Guardian knew he would probably lose.
Some of the people on the street who were gathered to watch the intra-Super-Unit Police battle cleared away at the sight of Batman. They had encountered the Dark Knight Detective before, and didn't want to be recognized. Some of the policemen who were around were fascinated at finally seeing Batman in person, after hearing about them from their friends on the force.
"What's going on here?" Batman asked as he and Batwoman rushed to Guardian's side.
"Get away from here, Batman! We don't need any help from vigilantes like you," Guardian sneered. "You're lucky I'm too busy to arrest you right now. Get out of here!"
"I think you do," said Batwoman.
"More heroes arrive to oppose me," Powerman sneered. "In a matter of moments my comrades will have overrun the city . . . and the reign of the Manhunters will have begun!" He stiffened a bit and chocked his head. "No, no I will not obey. I know the will of the Manhunters, but I will have my fun with these humans first. I will not obey . . . yet!"
The heroes gathered around Powerman, gauging his next move.
He had long idolized the members of the Super-Unit Police. Now, they seemed to be in trouble, and their rogue member would keep them from protecting the city. He had to intervene now, or never.
Batman used the few moments before Powerman pressed his attack to size up their chances against Powerman. If their foe was a Manhunter, he was definitely a robot, albeit a super-powerful one. Robots were just complex machines, after all, and machines could be shut down in a number of ways . . .
Batman pulled his Bat-Taser from his utility belt. He looked over at Batwoman, and threw her the taser. A moment later, he somersaulted toward Powerman.
Powerman slammed his fist into Batman's chest with incredible speed. Batman fell to the ground just as Batwoman ran up from behind and hit the Manhunter with the Bat-Taser.
The arc of electricity stunned Powerman for a moment, but he shook it off. With greater stiffness of movement than before, Powerman shoved Batwoman aside. She impacted into a bus shelter and was knocked unconscious.
Guardian drew confidence from Batwoman and Batman's sacrifice. Powerman wasn't moving as quickly as before. He had to find a way to attack the Manhunter with electricity, enough to disable the robot entirely. If only Photon would arrive!
Guardian threw his shield at Powerman's head as a last-ditch effort, but it did the Manhunter no harm. Powerman flexed his muscles, and then readied himself to beat his former supervisor into a pulp.
Just then, a bolt of electricity rode down the power lines overhead, arcing out and blasting Powerman. The Manhunter shook, and looked around for his attacker.
"I knew you wouldn't like electricity too much," a mocking voice called out from down the street. Black Lightning, a man in a black and yellow
Powerman turned. "Yet another hero to oppose me. You're going to delay me from my rendezvous with the other Manhunters . . . this does not please me."
Powerman readied his heat vision.
Black Lightning knew it was going to take something big to take the big guy down. Black Lightning grabbed a power line that had been knocked over during the rioting. It was a reckless act that would have fried someone . . . someone without total control of electricity.
Black Lightning pulled the electrical energy from the line into himself, and added it to that energy in his body. He sent it toward Powerman in one giant electrical surge.
Powerman was basically a walking battery, so the wave of electricity hit him with unbelievable force. He suddenly began shaking and sputtering. Smoke began to come out of the eyeholes on his mask.
In a flash, Photon arrived, and blasted the smoking robot once more. He sputtered his last, keeled over, and fell to the pavement. Photon soared around his falling body in lightspeed circles, containing the force of Powerman's exploding body.
The Super-Unit Police had won, but only just barely, and they had lost one of their most powerful members.
"Sorry I was tied up for so long," Photon said as she turned back into human form and alit to the pavement.
Batman and Batwoman dusted themselves off. Batman was glad he had a little bit of light body armor in his costume. Even with it, he would be lucky if Powerman's punch hadn't cracked a few ribs.
"Even though he took us both out," Batman said to Batwoman, "that was good teamwork back there."
"Thanks," Batwoman responded, dusting her cape off with her hands. "That means a lot coming from you."
Guardian stepped up to Black Lightning.
"Are you too tired from the fight to help us out for a while? Your powers could help us reactivate some of the sections of the city that are still blacked out."
"No, I'll help. As long as we can swing by so I can see if my nephew is doing okay."
"It's a deal."
Somewhere in a hidden underground section of the city, the eyes of a group of steely-eyed robots came to life.
"Agent 100 has been deactivated."
"He was too obvious to be effective. He let his hatred for the Super-Unit Police interfere with his mission."
"We will plant another agent within that group. It will take time, but then we have as much time as we need. We are the Manhunters. We are forever."
"I hate to ask this," Batman said to Trapster, who was dusting himself off and trying to walk off his injuries. "but I'd like to take a piece of your former comrade back to my lab and run some tests. If there are more Manhunters loose in New York City, it would help to know what makes them tick."
"I heard we got really lucky when Black Lightning showed up," Trapster commented. "But if there are a hundred or a dozen other Manhunters around somewhere, waiting to come out and fight us, one Black Lightning is not going to be enough to stop them."
Trapster handed Powerman's left hand to Batman when no one was looking. "I'll just say I couldn't find it . . . keep it between you and me. Between you and me, Batman, I respect what you're trying to do." Trapster winked at the Dark Knight. "Just don't ever tell Guardian I said that, okay?"
"Thanks," Batman replied. He swiftly hid Powerman's hand under his cape.
"Super-Unit Police! Time to move out!" Guardian shouted.
Photon, Trapster, Doc Samson, Black Condor, Guardian and Black Lightning jumped into the SUP-Wagon and soared away down the streets of Chinatown.
Tonight was going to be his debut as a hero, but Black Lightning had stolen the show. He would have to wait, but he didn't think he would have to wait very long. His family had always known when to wait, and when to take action; these instincts had kept his bloodline flowing for seven centuries.
It would be his moment soon. Soon, maybe even during the current crisis in New York City, he would prove himself as a hero, and prove himself worthy of the name of Azrael.
He wished that there were someone he could trust to send into these kinds of situations. He only knew Batwoman a little bit, and Robin was often busy with his studies at Empire State University. Batman would have to find someone else to train to be his agent.
Batwoman looked up from her terminal. "There's another riot breaking out, on the border of Queens and Brooklyn. If we don't respond soon, there's going to be a lot of trouble!"
"Let's go, then!" Batman replied.
The Batcopter wheeled off into the sky and headed off to help calm the troubled city once more.
"We're working on it, chief!" Lois Lane replied. "But it's kinda hard to do without computers!"
"All we know is that New York City has blacked out!" Ben Urich shouted.
"Are you sure?" Perry asked, walking to the window. "I guess so," he added, looking down into the streets. It was completely dark. The traffic lights had also gone out, causing several car pile-ups. The editor turned back around, and looked at his staff. "Why is everyone standing here?" he asked. "Shouldn' t the emergency power be cutting in anytime?"
Just then, J. Jonah Jameson, owner of the Daily Planet, came downstairs. "I'm afraid not," he replied. "Somehow, our emergency power has been depleted."
Perry walked over to where his boss was standing. In a low voice, he asked, "The threats?"
"This appears to be the latest one," Jameson replied. "Not the entire city, obviously, but the back-up power."
Perry thought for a moment. "Well, we can't run a paper without electricity. The next edition will be going to the presses in only a few hours. I need solutions, people! If you can't help get us up and running, at least go out and get some news!"
Jimmy Olsen turned to Peter Parker. They had been staying late, developing pictures when the blackout occurred. When the red lights went out, they came out to learn what was the matter.
'Just great,' Peter thought. 'Another blackout. It's only been two months since the last one.* I wonder if the Sinister Six is out again.'
*(Batman #6 and Spider-Man #6)
Jimmy tapped Peter on the elbow.
"We should try to find some battery powered red lights. We can keep working,"
he whispered.
"Maybe we should go out to take pictures," Peter replied. "We might get some
good action shots. The superheroes always come out for these kinds of
emergencies."
"Parker! Olsen!" Perry ordered. "What are you doing?"
"Mr. White, sir," Peter replied, "we're deciding whether to find some red
lights so we can develop our pictures, or if we should get out on the streets
and take some more."
Perry thought for a moment. "I'll leave that to your discretion. However, I
do want some sort of pictures of this blackout, so . . . " He walked away, back
into his office. He set down his briefcase and hung his coat back up. The editor
then reentered the City Room to begin giving out assignments.
"Lois!" he barked. "I want you to get some reaction on this. Call the U.N.
Call SHIELD. Call the mayor. Call whoever you can!"
Peter turned to Jimmy. "We definitely need to get out on the streets."
"I'll come with you," someone said behind them.
"Mr. Urich!" Peter exclaimed. "That's cool. Uh, mind if we split up, though?
It might be best if Jimmy and I cover different ground."
"True," the reporter replied. "Very well, I'll go with Jimmy. Come on, Jim,
let's go."
As he neared the roof, he thought of his family and friends. Should he swing
by Queens to check up on Aunt May and Mary Jane? Or should he go out as
Spider-Man to help with the confusion?
He reached the roof, still pondering, and activated his Spider-Man suit.
Standing on the roof, he was trying to make a decision. However, the loud crash
of two cars impacting below made the decision for him. Spider-Man must stay in
the city and help out, like a good little superhero.
Just as she put her plate into the dishwasher, all of the lights went out.
"Oh, my," she said, putting the plate down and closing the dishwasher door.
Looking out the window, she could see that none of the lights in the
neighborhood were on.
May walked outside, and looked down the street. She saw Anna Watson come out
of her house next door.
"May? May, do you know what happened?" Anna asked.
"I'm afraid not, Anna," May replied. "I was finishing cleaning up the kitchen
when the lights went out."
"Well, why don't you come over here? No sense in you staying in that house
all alone with no electricity."
"All right," May said. "I'll be over in a minute. Let me finish some things
up over here."
Cody walked to the curb and looked down the long sidewalk. He decided to run.
Just a few seconds later he stopped at a stop sign about two blocks away.
Cool, he thought before he continued running.
Of course, Osborn himself knew that a blackout had occurred. If nothing else,
it was because of the conversation he was having on the phone.
"Jameson," Osborn said, "you have no power, and now you are begging me for
some?"
"Heck, no!" Jameson shouted over the phone. "I want you to give mine back!"
"But you forget that I don't control your emergency generators. If you look
carefully at them, you'll notice another name in on them: LexCorp."
"LexCorp!" Jameson exclaimed. "You mean Luthor is in on this too?"
"For quite a while now," Osborn replied with a smile. "Funny how these
corporate takeovers work, don't you think?"
Jameson grunted. "Well, you tell your partner to give back the power to the
Daily Planet now!"
"Or you'll do what?"
"I . . . I'll . . . "
"You'll publish your 'famous' editorials badmouthing him?" Osborn asked. "Oh,
please, Jonah. You couldn't even turn the public against a measly little
'superhero' dressed like an arachnid. What makes you think you could even turn
public opinion against the most powerful man in New York City?"
"You little -- "
"Besides, even if you come up with enough hot air to fill your little
editorial, Luthor can easily discount it. And so can I if you try that on me."
"Osborn -- "
"Mr. Jameson, if you value your career, I suggest you shut up now."
"You little son of a --"
"Good bye," Osborn said, pressing the button to cut off the speakerphone,
effectively ending the conversation.
Across the city, in Jameson's office, the owner of the Daily Planet
slammed his phone down. "This is getting out of hand," he said. "I'm going to
lose this paper!"
Suddenly, the traffic light above them snapped, and began falling to the
ground. Spider-Man leapt up and grabbed the light in midair, then gliding down
and laying it on the ground. He turned to the two reporters, who had run out of
the way.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Jimmy nodded. "But, why did the light fall down? I mean, this is a blackout,
not a battle."
"WRONG, YOUNG MAN!" a metallic voice shouted. Spider-Man turned around and
saw Iron Man coming straight for him, which explained why the light fell.
"Jimmy, Ben, get out of the way!" he shouted. The reporters ran back, while
Spidey put all of his weight into Iron Man, trying to get him to fall back. It
worked to an extent; enough to get Jimmy and Ben out of harm's way.
Ben Urich looked at the battle, and continued verbally writing his story. He
knew he would have to leave the battle scene soon for his own safety. But he was
wondering why Iron Man was acting strange. Wasn't he one of the good guys?
"Any luck?" Perry asked, walking up.
Lois shook her head. "The UN claims that they are investigating themselves,
and when I called SHIELD, I couldn't get any answer." She put her head into her
hands, resting her elbows on the desk.
Perry touched her shoulder. "Lois, you've been working all day. I know you
enough to realize that you won't leave, but just take a few minutes and relax."
"Well . . . okay," Lois replied, reluctantly.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to talk with Jameson once more."
She pressed the last digit of the number and put the phone to her ear. All
she could hear was a busy signal. Obviously, every single reporter was on the
phone trying to find something out. Sighing, she put the phone down, and lay
back on her bed, thinking about Peter Parker.
"Peter, why aren't you here with your aunt? Why are you out there somewhere?"
she wondered aloud.
Iron Man was pinned to the ground, but not totally incapacitated. He was able
to lift his right arm and fire a repulsor blast right into Spider-Man's gut. The
blast sent Spidey flying into the air, and knocked the wind out of him. It
almost disrupted his suit. The nano-machines were giving him some severe
electrical shocks in his midsection.
After flying for what seemed like a long time, Spidey landed on the ground --
hard. Iron Man was on top of him in nearly an instant. Fortunately, Spidey's
suit had repaired itself, and was no longer giving him unnecessary pain.
Iron Man kicked Spider-Man. Spidey rolled over and was able to regain his
footing. He landed several blows to Iron Man before the armored Avenger knocked
him down again.
Spidey was able to use some of the built-in extras on his suit, such as the
enhanced vision, to zoom in and find a weak spot in the armor. Using his vast
knowledge, he knew where to look for the most likely places. When he found one,
he kicked up, and rammed the palm of his right hand into Iron Man's chin. Iron
Man was knocked to the ground, and his suit looked like it might be shorting
out.
Spidey looked up and saw Ben Urich running over, still recording, writing his
story. Jimmy wasn't far behind, taking pictures.
Well, it doesn't look like Peter will get much out of this battle,
Spidey thought. I hope I can get some pictures elsewhere.
Spidey also noticed a cop coming up, watching him. Strange . . . I didn't
think a fight between two superheroes would be such a high priority for the
police at a time like this.
Suddenly, Iron Man stood up, and looked like it was about to attack Spidey
once more. Spider-Man took a step back, waiting to see what his opponent was
going to do. Iron Man slowly lifted his arm, with spark flying everywhere, and
then stopped.
"Systems . . . damaged . . . must . . . repair . . . "
Then, just as sudden as he had stood up, Iron Man took off. He flew so fast,
Spider-Man didn't have a chance to catch up. He aimed and fired a spider tracer,
but Iron Man was too far away.
"Shoot!" Spidey said. "Looks like I'm going to have to call in some help!"
"Spider-Man!"
Spidey turned and saw the cop calling him. He walked over. "Yes, officer?"
"Captain Stacy, NYPD," the cop said, introducing himself. "I just want to
find out about you superhero types. I thought Iron Man was on your side."
"That's what I thought too," Spidey replied. "I'm trying to call someone who
can help me with this."
"When you find out what happened, you let me know, okay?" Captain Stacy
asked, handing Spider-Man a business card. "My number is on here."
"Sure thing, captain."
*(DCM Showcase #1)
A man's voice answered. "Oracle."
"Hi, you don't know me, but I know enough about you to know that you are the
information guy."
"Who is this?" Oracle asked.
"Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."
"How did you get this number?" It was clear that Oracle was upset.
"I kinda got it from Batman in a roundabout way . . . "
"Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Talk fast, my time is
valuable."
"Sure thing," Spidey replied. "I know that Batman and Iron Man are friends,
and well, I guess you can contact both of them."
"What's your point?"
"I need to know why Iron Man just attacked me."
"Attacked you?" Oracle asked, stunned. That's not Tony, he thought.
"Are you sure it was him?"
"Big guy in yellow armor . . . "
"Let me check," Oracle said. Spider-Man could hear computer keys being
pressed.
Oracle looked up several files -- travel logs, phone conversation, even
reports of the recently concluded fight between Spider-Man and Iron Man. He was
trying to create an alibi for his friend, Iron Man.
"Spider-Man," Oracle finally said. "You did not fight Iron Man."
"Are you sure?"
"I have proof, but I can't exactly tell you."
"The secret identity thing?"
"Exactly."
"So, what are you going to do?" Spider-Man asked.
"I have some calls to make. I'll let you know when we get this straightened
out, okay? How can I reach you?"
Spider-Man thought for a moment. "On second thought, call Captain Stacy at
the NYPD. He's interested in knowing what happened as well, and I'm sure he'll
give me an update." Spidey read the number from the business card.
"Don't ever call me again," Oracle said.
"Only in extreme emergencies," Spidey replied, hanging up.
He stood up, fired a web, and swung off the top of the building.
"Well, there are a few things to work out," one said.
"Yes," replied a second. "But not bad for the first time out."
"Good thing we stole this armor from Stark,*" the first said. "No one will
ever know the difference."
*(Seen off panel in early issues of Iron Man)
"And no one will know that he is . . . a Manhunter!"
The two laughed uncontrollably for a long while.
Splitting up gave Peter the change he needed to change into Spider-Man. He
slipped into the stairwell that would lead him to the roof access. Since it was
shortly after 7 PM, and the city had little power, darkness became his ally in
guarding his secret.
May Parker was cleaning up the dinner table. She was worried about Peter being
out so late. Sure, he was doing a job, but no matter how safe she knew he was,
she would always worry.
Sitting in his darkened bedroom, Cody Driscol stared at his ceiling. He didn't
care why the lights were out. He barely noticed. All he knew was that he was
bored. He stood up and walked out of his room, and then outside. He looked down
both sides of the street. Hardly anything was going on.
Meanwhile, Norman Osborn sat in his office, fully lit, thanks to his emergency
generators. In fact, they had worked so well, he was sure that some of his
employees didn't even notice anything at all.
Spider-Man was helping the motorists out of the wrecked cars when Ben Urich and
Jimmy Olsen came up. Urich looked like he had a recording device and was taking
audio notes. Jimmy was capturing the scene on film.
Lois hung up the phone.
Mary Jane dialed the number for the Daily Planet once more. She had been
trying ever since the lights went out, hoping to get hold of Peter, to see if he
was okay. She was concerned for him. Was it because they were just friends? Or
was there something more?
Spidey had the momentary advantage of speed and surprise. However, it was hard
to land any decent punches on Iron Man's armor. After all, that's what it was
made for.
Spidey sat on the roof of the Daily Planet. Using the phone built into
his suit, he dialed the number he got from Batman, the number of the only person
he knew to sort this out: Oracle.*
"Iron Man" returned to where he remembered coming from. He was greeted by his
"friends."
The Iron Man's robot new prime directive was to follow the Manhunters' will, as it had been for the entire two weeks since it had been taken by the Manhunters from its place at Stark Enterprises.
Two weeks before, the Iron Man robot had sat motionless in Tony Stark's workshop in the California office of Stark Enterprises. Radiation burns still covered the outside of the suit from the last time the robot had seen action, during the attack on Stark Enterprises by the Demolishers.* It had been deactivated till such time as Tony had time to work on upgrading it.
*(Iron Man #2)
Even though the robot had been left behind by Stark, it was
still a magnificent machine. And, around midnight one night when Stark was away
in Kunlong, a lone figure used her authorized access card to open the
laboratory. Once inside, she proceeded directly to the Iron Man suit.
The rather pudgy woman pulled an amazingly sophisticated device from a small
bag she was carrying. She pressed a series of key combinations and the device
suddenly acted as a remote control for the robot, overriding the command
directives Stark had programmed into it. The robot would now follow the commands
of the Manhunters. Her work concluded, the intruder slipped away as quietly as
she arrived.
One night, while no one was watching its particular part of the Stark
Enterprises compound, the Iron Man robot switched itself on, got up, made its
way past the security system that was designed to keep people from stealing it,
and flew off into the sky. It joined a group of Manhunters who had gathered on
the outskirts of New York City.
Now it was bound for Colorado, where it was going to help the Manhunters in
an attack on NORAD, which had been planned by a Manhunter mole that had been
working for the Defense Department for years. No one knew of his mission, and
Iron Man's hero status would help the robot gain access to areas of the facility
that no one else could.
"Hello . . . Mr. Stark," Pamela said in a breathy voice. "You wanted to see
me?"
Tony tried as hard as he could to maintain a professional tone. With the
feelings that the two of them had shared, it was a leap backward to act like
Pamela's boss again, instead of someone who loved her. It would hurt him deeply
to have to have a verbal confrontation with one for whom he had such deep
feelings.
"Pamela, you have been a great help to me these past weeks . . . the way that
you helped save us both when we were with the Mandarin was truly commendable.
The way that we have gotten to know each other is so special . . . "
Pamela was trying to remember to act like a lovelorn fool, but Tony was
getting pretty corny. Even with her hatred of men, Pamela was becoming somewhat
fond of him, and the things she was secretly doing to ruin Stark Enterprises
hurt her too, just a little.
"But I have one concern. I received an e-mail the other day from a temporary
who works in Accounting and . . . "
Tony had found out what she was doing, and earlier than Pamela had wanted to.
Perhaps she could kill him with one of the plant-based toxins she carried
around. A delayed-action toxin could be communicated via a passionate kiss, and
would be enough to put him in the hospital and keep him off her trail. Pamela
put her hand on her poison lipstick, and readied herself to use a spare moment
to put it on.
Suddenly, Mrs. Arbogast, one of Stark's assistants, burst into the office.
"Mr. Stark! I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's something on the television
that you should see!"
When Tony Stark saw the scene that an amateur cameraman had captured of an
Iron Man-like robot fighting a bug-eyed hero, his jaw dropped. His company did
not need this. In fact, it was not just an Iron Man robot, it was the one that
Tony designed to replace him, the one that had been damaged in the fight with
the Demolishers. Who had taken control of it?
It was too late to care now who had done it now, though. The damage was
already done.
Maybe if he sold Stark Enterprises right now to one of his fellow captains of
industry, they could get things back in order, and Tony could get some of the
pieces of his life back together. He knew of a few good people who could run the
company almost as well as he could . . . as long as it wasn't Lex Luthor.
At that moment, the chiming sound rang that heralded a new e-mail message on
Tony's laptop. He halfheartedly looked at the screen, and saw that Oracle was
trying to contact him. Maybe Jim . . . maybe Oracle knew what was going on with
the Iron Man robot.
Oracle requested that Iron Man join Batman and a new hero called Spider-Man
in Gotham, a borough of New York City. Both of them had information on a new
threat, the Manhunters, and Spider-Man had information about the Iron Man robot.
Perhaps some time in the Iron Man robot would help clear my head, Tony
thought. He was into the armor and up in the sky in a matter of moments.
"Miss Isley. What a pleasure to hear from you, especially in light of the
current disastrous blackout we are having." Luthor's expression changed to one
of shock. "He what? He knows what? Are you sure that he knows?"
Luthor thought for a moment. The effort to discredit Tony Stark was in full
force, and the Manhunters' use of the Iron Man robot was one of the final nails
in the coffin. He just had to temporarily distract Tony Stark until things got
worse, and then make his final move.
An agent that Luthor had not hired before, named Hawkeye, would probably do
the trick. Along with Pamela's last act of sabotage, Hawkeye would help put Tony
Stark in the exact position for Luthor to bring him down.
And he was already bringing Tony down further than he ever had been. Luthor
just knew it, and this thought comforted him as he waited out the blackout in
his underground hideout. He had to stifle what would have been an evil laugh. A
chuckle at the fate of Tony Stark would have to do . . . for now.
He was a little on edge at the arrival of Iron Man.
"I'll have to ignore my Spider-Sense," the hero said. "I just fought somebody
who looked just like you, but turned out to be a robot."
"I can vouch for him, Iron Man," said the other hero, Batman. Batman and Iron
Man had worked together extensively in their superheroic identities, and had
been friends long before either of them had become superheroes. Iron Man trusted
Batman implicitly.
"I heard about someone parading around disguised as me," Iron Man stated.
Iron Man had to think about whether or not he wanted to tell the other two
heroes about the robot duplicate of Iron Man that Tony Stark had built, and
decided to wait until he and Batman were alone before he would mention it.
Batman looked a little worse for wear. He had just finished helping to defeat
Powerman, the rogue Super-Unit Policeman who had revealed himself as a Manhunter
and had attacked his comrades. It had taken the combined forces of Batman,
Batwoman, the entire Super-Unit Police, and the new hero Black Lightning, to
defeat the robot. Batman pulled something from beneath his cloak.
"This belongs to the robot that attacked the Super-Unit Police in Chinatown
tonight. Spider-Man was able to pick up a few fragments of the Iron Man robot
that attacked him. If we put the pieces we have through a technical analysis, we
might find some answers."
Batman looked out over the city. "I don't want to take too long, though.
Batwoman, a new superheroine, is handling some of the riot control for me, but I
don't like seeing my city in darkness and rioting."
"I don't think any of us do, Batman," Spider-Man replied.
"My Bat-Cave probably has the best laboratory we are going to be able to find
around here. Let's hurry there, so we can figure this out."
Iron Man took off into the night, as Batman and Spider-Man made their way to
the Batplane, which was waiting on the rooftop. The Batplane was capable of
vertical take-off and landing. After the heroes strapped themselves in and put
on helmets, Batman lifted the plane off into the sky.
"Wow. I'm glad we didn't decide to go to my place. Look at all this stuff!"
Spider-Man felt like a kid in a candy store.
"Don't touch anything," Batman advised in a fatherly tone.
Iron Man had placed the two fragments side-by-side in a lighted lab area. He
held up the fragment from the Powerman Manhunter robot and analyzed it, both
with the photoreceptors in his helmet and with the tactile receptors in his
glove.
"Even without a component analysis, I can tell that this one was not designed
anywhere on this Earth," Iron Man noted. "The level of robotics here is almost
at the level of exact humanoid duplication, but with all-metal construction."
Iron Man held up the fragment that Spider-Man brought. "This . . . I built
this . . . I mean Tony Stark built this."
"How do you know?" asked Spider-Man. Batman stood at the ready to interrupt
Spider-Man should the younger hero try to compromise Iron Man's secret identity
further.
"I know because I saw Tony Stark build this robot, and I've seen the
technical diagrams. This robot attacked you?"
Spider-Man nodded his head, and Iron Man said nothing. Even behind his iron
visage, Batman and Spider-Man both thought they saw Iron Man getting angrier and
angrier.
Upon deeper analysis, the three heroes discovered that the similarity between
the two scraps of robots was the overarching program that made them tick. Both
of them had the same directive . . . that no man escapes the Manhunters!
"They took my boss's robot, and used him to make my company look even worse
than it already does!"
Iron Man was about to smash a control panel, but he remembered that he was in
his friend's lab that he was standing.
"Sorry . . . you know how I get when my technology is misused."
"We might have to bring in the entire Avengers League on this one," Batman
said, with a touch of regret. "We need to shut the Manhunters down fast, and
restore order to the city, before they take advantage of the distraction. J'Onn
knows a lot about them, and their history . . . maybe he can help us."
"Greetings, 'Iron Man'," one of them said. "You are ready to play your part
in our plan?"
"Yes, I am. No man escapes the Manhunters!"
"This unit refers to himself as 'I'," the other Manhunter commented. "Perhaps
the programming was not entirely successful!"
"There is no time to reprogram him now. We must resume our powered-down mode,
so that we will be at peak performance tomorrow!"
As the Manhunters went back into their suspend mode to conserve their energy
for the midnight attack on NORAD, the Iron Man robot stepped into an alcove.
The Manhunter programming was dominant in the robot's memory, but it had not
totally overridden the artificial intelligence that Tony Stark had programmed
into it. Certain reactions to danger, to humans in danger, and to the presence
of evil, were programmed to generate automatic reactions.
Chief amongst these reactions was an absolute loyalty to Tony Stark. This
loyalty was something that not even the Manhunter programming could override,
even with its alien complexity.
The Iron Man robot casually tripped a small, almost imperceptible signal that
only Tony Stark's Iron Man armor could receive. The Iron Man robot then joined
his powered-down comrades, with the tiny signal still transmitting.
"Avengers League! This is Henry Gyrich! We need you to get your rear ends out
to Colorado. We've received news from an unknown source that there's going to be
an attack on NORAD!"
Batman and Iron Man had just arrived at the Hall of Justice. "We heard that,"
Batman said.
"And I have an idea who sent the message, though I can hardly believe who it
is!" Iron Man added. "We've got to call the other members together and get out
to Colorado!"
In the Stark Enterprise offices in California, Tony Stark sat behind his desk
and called Pamela LaPlante in to see him.
A few minutes later, Tony was trying to collect himself in his office. He did
not know when there had ever been a time that so many things were going wrong at
once.
In a highly secure sub-basement in Lexcorp's New York City offices, Lex Luthor
received a call on his cellular phone. Except for a slight drop in temperature,
and the lack of windows, this basement office was just as plush as the ones
upstairs. Tess, Luthor's secretary, sat at a mahogany desk in the corner of the
office, working on a report that Luthor had assigned to her.
On a rooftop in Gotham, an armored figure kicked in the landing program for his
suit and joined two other costumed crimefighters. One of them, even through his
spider-like costume, was obviously younger than the others.
When they arrived, Spider-Man was astounded at the computers and gadgets present
in the Bat-Cave.
In a series of caverns not far away from Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, a group
of Manhunters were preparing to go into low-power mode, awaiting the moment the
next morning when they would be called to action. The time for hiding was almost
done; their agent inside the NORAD facility would take care of giving them
access to the top-secret facility. One figure had just entered the cavern, and
was using the heating circuits in his armor to melt the snow off. Two Manhunters
had been assigned to guard the cavern entrance, and they greeted the newcomer.
At the Hall of Justice, the Avengers League Priority Alert came through. Quasar
was manning the monitors, and quickly answered the call.
"As one could imagine, the results of so many people crowded under a veil of darkness has been catastrophic. Panic and enraged people have taken to the streets, and widespread looting and vandalism are being reported. All phone lines in New York City have been overloaded as the numbers of calls to and from the city have overloaded the telephone circuits systems. Hospitals are scrambling to cope with patients without electronic supports, increasing alarming amounts of injuries, and staff that are running to find their own families and safety. Local police are taxed beyond limits, trying to keep their own staff under control, and deal with a city drenched in total chaos.
"President Kelley, in Hong Kong for a summit on cloning and cellular engineering, has been informed of the situation and is currently headed back home aboard Air Force One. The president has already declared New York in a state of emergency, and has asked most of his top aides to be ready when he arrives at the White House soon.
"The cause of the outage at this time still remains a mystery. Because of the unique fashion by which it has spread, and the large area it has enveloped, most experts we have consulted seem to place the possibilities at this time at one of two causes. One is that some sort of virus had someone made its way into New York Power and Electric's computer system and has somehow managed to erode the company's heavy security systems. This one seems unlikely as we have recently learned that NYPE recently upgraded their security to the tune of nearly five million dollars thanks to CyberLock Security. The other theory, one which seems to be gaining steam, is the idea that this is in fact a terrorist attack on New York City. This is pure speculation at this time, as no group has come forward yet to claim the blame. The terrorism theory would help to explain why NYPE employees, on the sights of several generators and operations within the city, have been unable to restart any power and determine the cause of the outage.
"One curious item is that one section of New York City appears to be completely unaffected by the outage. Paris Island stands out like a strange beacon of light in a city enveloped in total darkness. The fact that this section of the city, known for its high-tech corporations, is home to international policing agency SHIELD, has caused further speculation that foul play is indeed involved in this situation. Strangely, both bridges, which provide access to Paris Island have been raised and all calls to SHIELD, regardless of which worldwide bureau one contacts, go unanswered.
"Okay, I am now getting word that we have established a satellite phone link to Martin Johnson, one of our correspondents inside New York City. We are now going to take you live to him.
"Martin, can you hear me?"
"Indeed I can, Vicki."
"Martin, it sounds like there is a lot of action going on around you. Can you tell us what is happening?"
"Well Vicki, it all started at Gotham University earlier this evening. Nearly twenty thousand college students and high-school age urbanites were here at Gotham U. Stadium attending a concert by 70's funk sensations Hypno-Hustler and the Merci Killers and controversial rap artist NME. Barely ten minutes into NME's set, all power disappeared, and the crowds went wild. Incited by an angry NME, the crowd went crazy, destroying everything in sight, and building a huge bonfire in the center of the stadium. Soon, the riot spilled onto the streets and now has flooded the nearby streets with a frenzy of destruction and chaos.
"Right now I am standing outside a nearby Omega Mart discount store. Vandals have broke out many of the building's glass windows and doors and people are streaming in and out, looting whatever they can get their hands on. Just two blocks down a four car pile-up resulted in an explosion that we can see still burning. Even though it happened nearly twenty minutes ago, still no police or ambulance has yet to arrive.
"Wait, Vicki, something is happening . . . "
"What are you seeing Martin?"
"Something big and loud is coming this way in the sky, Vicki. Wait, I can see them now. Large transport helicopters, Vicki, three of them. They are landing in the large industrial complex just south of us. Okay, Vicki, the hatches are opening. I see large vehicles, Hummers, heavily packed with spotlights and other equipment. Wait, they have insignias on their side. It is SHIELD, Vicki. There are SHIELD Agents coming out of each vehicle. Lots of SHIELD Agents. They appear to be in riot gear. They are dispersing in tight formations, apparently set to bring some type of order to the ravaged area . . . "
They had Oliver trapped and he knew it. They had given him a choice, either try to deal with them or go out and try to save a city thrown into total chaos by this devastating power outage. They had known that it really wasn't much of a choice at all for Oliver. He couldn't sit by and watch the city devour itself. He had to try and save people from themselves.
There was another problem. How could Oliver stop the Manhunters? Right now, he wasn't even sure whom he could trust. He already discovered that one of his trusted friends, Agent Mark Shaw, had been a Manhunter. Who else? Other than Roy Harper, who he known since a child, and Agent Sasha Martens, who was currently in SHIELD's infirmary, nursing wounds, Oliver wasn't sure who he could trust. He was pretty sure his old allies Forge and Henry Pym were safe, because they had been attacked by the Manhunters and were currently being held captive by the Manhunters at the SHIELD base. He hoped his good friend Ben Turner wasn't one of them. Everybody else? Well, he just wasn't sure about. That scared Oliver, because it made a plan to retake SHIELD that much more difficult.
"Wow, Vicki, SHIELD has really started to take control of the situation here. Armed with water cannons and stun guns, they are cutting a swath through the rioters. They seem to be trying to inflict the minimum amount of damage to people, simply trying to incapacitate and prevent any further damage. There also seems to be quite a few medical technicians with them also, because many of the injured are being treated as best as possible. SHIELD agents have also stopped the fire created by that pile-up. They seem to simply be moving block by block, restoring order to the insane chaos which is plaguing our city."
"Thank you, Martin. We here at the CNN Broadcast center are now receiving reports that similar SHIELD troops have touched down all over the city. It seems with the local police incapacitated, and the national guard not moving fast enough to prevent the chaos and damage, SHIELD has decided that it is there place to step in and restore some sort of order. It appears that SHIELD has even set up several mobile hospitals in makeshift areas, including the abandoned Gramercy Theater in Manhattan. They have even gone so far as to fly in emergency doctors and nurses they were able to persuade to join them from nearby cities and states. Reports are that casualties, as the results of fires, looting, and rioting are rather high.
"Another report we just received places SHIELD Agents aiding the Super Unit Police in stopping a gang-war riot in Chinatown. Apparently the Blood Syndicate gang saw the blackout as an opportunity to attack and destroy rival gang, the Black Dragons. The firefight has apparently killed several, and erupted into a full scale assault on Chinatown and it is taking the combined efforts of the Super Unit Police and SHIELD Agents to stop the fighting.
Roy and Duchess arrived at the Second National Bank of New York to see shattered glass and burnt steel. Curious, but cautious, the two stealthfully made their way into the building. Looking deserted, the quiet was disrupted by a loud explosion below them. Leaping behind the counter, they found their way to stairs that evidently led to the bank's vault below.
After quietly walking down the stairs, the cause of the explosion was quite evident. Roy had to duck quickly as a razor edged boomerang zipped across the air above his head and back to it's wielder. Standing before them were the notorious two-bit costumed criminals Captain Boomerang and Heatwave.
"Buggars, Mate," shouted Captain Boomerang to his partner, "it appears we got ourselves a problem."
"You bet you do!" shouted Duchess as she threw her massive gun at Boomerang's head. As he ducked he threw another boomerang at both her and Roy. Duchess leaped through the air at Heatwave, the boomerang striking it's victim and embedding into her leg. Seemingly unfazed, Duchess reached Heatwave before he could fire his heat gun, and pummeled the man into submission. Roy dodged his boomerang again, and fell to the ground, firing a barrage of needles from his Viper Stungun. Boomerang fell to the ground as the needles struck him in the chest, causing temporary paralysis.
"Are you all right, Duchess?" asked Roy as he curiously stared at the Boomerang sticking in the side of her leg.
"I'll live," said Duchess very matter-of-factly as she pulled the boomerang from her leg. She then harshly pulled the silk scarf from Captain Boomerang's neck and tied it around the wound to stop the flow of blood. She then grabbed the two villains by their necks and began to harshly drag them up the stairs, making sure they hit each step hard as she slowly walked up the stairs.
Roy just shook his head as he watched. He began to follow, then noticed his communicator was pulsing on his wrist.
"Agent Harper here."
"Roy, it's Ollie. You busy?"
"Not really, just bagged a couple of costumed cheeseheads trying to make some quick cash. What do you need?"
"You here, as soon as possible."
"I am on my way, Ollie."
"I am," said Oliver. He decided he had to take a chance. He had called Roy Harper and Ben Turner from their duties, so he could tell them the truth about the Manhunters. "This whole blackout is part of some grand scheme of theirs. I am not quite sure what it is. Worse still, for all I know my whole team, hell, the whole SHIELD force out here could be filled with undercover Manhunter Agents. I have no idea who we can trust. They have infiltrated and completely taken control of the Paris Island headquarters, and maybe other headquarters as well. They are holding Forge, Henry Pym, and probably others hostage."
Roy bit his lip, frustrated, "So what is your plan, Ollie?"
Oliver shrugged. "Good question. Right now, I think it is best to play along with this ‘game' of theirs. I just am not sure why they are letting us live or what this whole plan of theirs is. I figured I let you guys know, keep you close, and maybe, when we get this blackout under control, we can make our way back to SHIELD and put a stop to these Manhunters. I am not sure who else we can trust, so right now, lets just keep this between us, and we will deal with it when we get back to the base."
"Director Queen called both Agent Harper and Agent Turner from their assigned duties for a special meeting. They spoke secretly for around ten minutes, then went back to quelling a nearby uprising. It is obvious that he told them both of our presence."
"Does it appear they are speaking with anybody else?"
"No."
"Excellent, and is our plan moving ahead as scheduled."
"Perfectly."
"Excellent. Then at dawn we will restore power to the city and the final stage of this operation will begin."
"Agreed. I had better get back to the mission before they suspect me. Agent 35. Out."
He used to be Eric Kendel, agent of the CIA. But that was before . . . Before he became a Manhunter. He was no longer the man he was. No longer really a man at all. He was better than mere mortals now. And he had an assignment.
Kendel snuck into the "morgue", where the government kept old secrets and outdated information. It wasn't well guarded and Kendel knew the routine of the security personnel. He got in easily and went to the section concerning World War 2.
After a few minutes of looking he found what he needed . . . The Super-Soldier Project. And the name of the first and best success of the project -- Steve Rogers, A.K.A. Captain America, that most legendary of heroes. And now, armed with the real name and physical description of Steve Rogers, the Manhunters could begin their search. Starting around the area of the Avengers League Hall of Justice, they would prove why they're called Manhunters and locate Steve Rogers. And they will find out where Captain America spends his time when he isn't in costume. And they will watch, and record it all. Because the legend of Captain America could be pivotal in the weeks and months to come.
Captain America looked out at the city. He was starting to get tired, just like his teammates. Half of the team was away, fighting the Manhunters at the NORAD headquarters. Cap and Wonder Woman had already spent nearly eight hours trying to restore peace during the blackout, while Martain Manhunter and Wasp worked at the Hall of Justice, trying to solve the dilemma.
He knew this blackout was the work of the Manhunters, and he thought back to his encounter with one of them a couple of days before . . .
Steve Rogers was walking through the park in Keystone County, Pennsylvania, unaware that he was being followed by a Manhunter. Steve's mind was on other things, such as the long delayed reunion with a man who was a close friend and teammate of his sixty years ago. While Steve looked around, the Manhunter, who was in the guise of a policeman, watched. A hidden camera filmed Steve's every move.
Steve noticed an old man staring at him, smiling. Steve took a closer look. Was it . . .Yes! it was him. He had changed so much, but there was no mistaking Jay Garrick, who Steve had known many years ago as the Flash!
"Jay," Steve said affectionately, as he shook Jay's hand.
"Hiya Stevie," Jay said. "It's been forever."
Steve couldn't help thinking about how old Jay looked. It's not surprising, since Jay must be almost 90 years old by now. But since Steve himself had been frozen for 50 years, he had hardly changed at all. Seeing the change in Jay drove home the point of how much history Steve had missed.
"You haven't changed a bit," Jay continued. "And don't even think about telling me I haven't either."
Steve smiled. He's still the same honest, earnest Jay. "It's so good to see you again, Jay. How are you?"
Jay shrugged. "I'm good. Obviously, I got old. I've got aches and pains and cramps and I'm losing my hair and I pee a lot. But I'm pretty good. And you?"
"I'm fine," Steve replied.
"You never were much for small talk," Jay said, smiling. "It's nice to see that some things never change. Come on, let's sit and talk."
Steve and Jay walked over to a bench. Steve noticed how much slower Jay walked now.
The cop/Manhunter changed position so he could see them better.
"How's Joan?" Steve asked, hoping that Jay wasn't going to say that she's dead.
"She's okay," Jay answered, to Steve's relief. "She had heart surgery a few years ago but she's made a great recover. She still works in her garden. Chipper as a jaybird, God love her."
"Listen Jay," Steve began, "I'm sorry. I should have looked you up years ago. Right after the Avengers League revived me,* I should have looked up my old friends. I don't know why I didn't. I guess adjusting to this new life, this new time, was too overwhelming. I spent too much time looking back. I wanted to look forward. I wanted to break with the past. But I shouldn't have ignored my oldest friends. I mean, I spoke to Alan, but that was Avenger's League business. I should have called you."
*(Legends of the Avengers League #4)
"Don't give it another thought," Jay answered. "When I heard
that you were back, I was overjoyed. I asked Alan about you. He kept me updated.
I knew what you were dealing with. I never felt offended. The world needed
Captain America more than this old man needed a visit from an old friend. But
I'm glad you're here now. Seeing you, unaged and perfectly preserved, I get
nostalgic for the old days. When we were on the Justice Society together. When I
was young. When I was the Flash."
"Do you still have your speed power?"
"Yeah, it'll never go away," Jay said. "But the flesh is weak. I can't move
the way I used to. Not as far or as fast. The last time I tried to run at full
speed was on my 85th birthday. I was barely able to outrun a car, and not for
very long. I reached about 90 miles per hour and then I had to stop. My heart
was pounding. What a comedown from the days when I could almost reach
light-speed. I haven't tried again since then. I'm not the Flash anymore more."
"You'll always be the Flash to me," Steve said.
Jay smiled, "Thanks, but those days are past. Gone with the JSA."
"I miss those days sometimes," Cap said.
"You've got the Avengers League now," Jay said.
"They're a good group," Steve said. "But there'll never be another JSA. There
was something unique about us. Something mythic! And it's not just the Justice
Society I miss. The world has changed. Things were simpler back then. I knew who
the bad guys were then. Nothing is black and white anymore."
"I know what you mean," Jay said. "I miss the old days too. I don't know if
you know, but a lot of the old gang is gone."
"Yeah, I know," Steve said. "Alan told me."
Jay looked sad. "Terry Sloan, Sly Pemberton, Shiera Hall..."
"Bucky," Steve added sadly.
"And Bucky," Jay repeated. "And no one knows what happened to the Human
Torch."
"I met Namor recently," Cap said. "He hasn't changed."
"I'm not surprised," Jay answered. "He was always stubborn. I guess Polly is
the same as ever too. You guys don't know how lucky you are. Staying young, I
mean. Being old is no fun!"
Steve was staring off in the distance.
"Am I boring you?" Jay asked.
Steve was still staring, "Hmmm? Oh no, nothing like that. It's just that
officer over there. Have you noticed how he's been staring at us?"
"Really?" Jay said. "I wonder why?"
The Manhunter/cop saw Steve looking at him. Had he blown his cover?
A teenage girl came over to the imposter policeman. "Officer," she said, "Can
you tell me . . . "
"Go away!" The Manhunter said, trying not to stare at Steve and Jay.
"But officer . . . "
"Go away!!" The Manhunter yelled.
The girl backed away, startled. Steve stood up. Even in this day and age,
policemen didn't act like that. All Steve's instincts were telling him that
there was something wrong about this cop.
"I'll be back in a minute, Jay," Steve said, walking towards the cop.
Jay grinned. Just like old times. Trouble always followed heroes. It stopped
following Jay years ago, but it was obviously still following Captain America.
The Manhunter saw Steve Rogers approaching him. Clearly his cover was blown.
The surveillance was over, at least for the day. The information he had gotten
so far would have to be enough.
The Manhunter turned and ran, with abnormal speed. Steve gritted his teeth.
"I knew he was no good!"
Cap raced after the Manhunter, but the Manhunter's speed was superior and Cap
didn't bring his shield to throw. Back at the bench, Jay stood up. He didn't
know what was happening, but obviously Steve's instincts were right on the
money. That was no cop. And he sure was fast. He was almost out of sight. Jay
wondered if Steve could catch him.
More than that, Jay wondered if he could catch him.
Across the park, Cap was straining to catch up to the mystery man. He was
afraid that the fake cop would get away. And then something caught his attention
on the left. Someone ran past him. Someone familiar. Steve smiled. The Flash
is back! he thought.
Jay was barely able to catch up to the Manhunter. His heart was pounding in
his chest. He could hardly breathe. But he was determined to catch this man,
whoever he was. He may have given up being the Flash long ago, but he still was
the same man, just older -- much older.
Jay was starting to lose velocity. He managed to pass the Manhunter, and with
the last of his strength, he vibrated. He hadn't done that in years and was
delighted that he still could. He vibrated his foot through a stone. He got as
far away from the stone as he could because his passing through it altered it's
molecular structure and turned it into an accelerated molecule bomb. The stone
exploded when the Manhunter was only ten feet from it. He was caught in the
blast.
Cap reached the scene and looked around. The man was down. His body was
damaged and wiring was exposed. He was some sort of robot or cyborg. Steve
looked further and saw Jay laying on the ground. Cap knew that the mystery man
was not going anywhere, so he ran to see what Jay's condition was. He kneeled
beside his old friend.
"Jay?" Steve said. "Are you all right?"
Jay was laying on the ground, gasping for breath, "I'll . . . I'll be all
right. I just got dizzy. I'm out of breath. Just let me lay here for a few
minutes."
"Ok," Steve said, "I'll be right back."
Steve went over to the damaged Manhunter. "Who are you?" he asked.
The Manhunter looked up, unable to stand. "Who I am doesn't matter. But I
know who you are . . . Captain America!"
Steve tried not to react. This person knew who he was. "What do you want?"
"I didn't want anything," The Manhunter said. "I just came to watch."
"To watch me?"
The Manhunter nodded slightly. "You are a legend. Your presence affects
people. In a time of crisis, people will look to you. You have the power to
inspire hope. Therefore, you will be a major player in events to come."
"What events?"
The Manhunter shook his head, "You'll see."
"I'm taking you to headquarters," Cap said. "Maybe J'Onn can make something
of you."
Jay got to his feet and came over to Steve. "So what's the story?" Jay asked.
"I'm not sure," Steve said. "But this . . . whatever he is, is an enigma,
wrapped in a puzzle, surrounded by a mystery. I need to find some answers. Do
you want to come, Jay?"
Jay shook his head. "No thanks. I exhausted. I'm going home."
"Sorry to cut our reunion so short," Steve said. "Maybe we can get together
again soon."
As Steve said it, he didn't really believe that there would be time for
socializing soon. His instincts were telling him that whatever this machine-man
was talking about, it was going to be big, and it was going to be bad!
Captain America activated his communication badge. "J'Onn," he said.
Martain Manhunter answered, "What can I do for you, Captain?"
"That Manhunter I brought in . . . the one we've been investigating . . . "
"What about it?," J'Onn replied.
"Is it still at the Hall of Justice?"
"Of course. It's right in front of me. Wasp and I were still studying it when
the blackout occurred. Why?"
Captain America gritted his teeth. "I think I just figured out two of our
problems."
The present . . .
If they arrived in time, they could try to stop the Manhunters.
There would have been more heroes in the Quinjet, but the other half of the Avengers League had to respond to the sudden disappearance of Henry Pym, a former member of the Avengers League.
They knew that they would need his robotics experience desperately during this Manhunter crisis, and for him to go missing was disastrous. So Captain America, Wonder Woman, Wasp, and the Martian Manhunter had headed to Chicago, where the signal from Pym was located. It would have helped to have the four of them along, especially the battle-hardened Captain.
Iron Man spoke up. "I'm getting a message from the robotic Iron Man now . . . he says that the attack is scheduled to begin in an hour . . . "
"You want me to get out and push this thing to make it go faster?" Flash asked.
"We'll get there in time, " Batman responded. "If you raced there, the Manhunters would sense the surge in energy and they'd be on to us. We're going to have to come in at maximum stealth mode as it is."
Even though the four Avengers Leaguers were about all that stood between the Manhunters and total control of the United States' aerial defense systems, Batman's thoughts were somewhere else. If only this crisis hadn't occurred, he would have been able to get down to Virginia and track down the Black Assassin.
Batman knew that even if they handled this Manhunter crisis that the plans of Black Assassin and his cohorts might result in the downfall of the United States. It was always one threat, and then another . . . but until recently it had just been Gotham in danger. Now it was the entire country. But Batman had become like steel inside long ago . . . he didn't often contemplate the risks behind doing things.
"It is time for the plan to go into effect," one cold voice echoed against the darkness.
"Our agents inside will have everything ready for us," another stated.
Dozens of armored feet clambered out of the cavern to the precipice outside. The army stood outlined against the mountain, a sea of red-armored beings.
Amongst them was a figure who looked like Iron Man, but who wore the mask of the Manhunters. Unbeknownst to his fellow Manhunters, it had changed loyalties, and was broadcasting a message to his creator, Tony Stark, on a frequency that it knew they could not monitor.
As the Manhunters ignited their boot jets and flew toward Cheyenne Mountain, the query went through the robot's mind as to whether broadcasting the signal to its creators would do them any good against the seemingly unstoppable forces of the Manhunters.
These were not the stereotypical good-old-boys that one might expect to see at a gathering like this, however. Most of the men were relatively clean-cut types, who looked as if they should be spending this night at home with their families. But here they were, intermingled with a number of muscle-bound, heavily armed malcontents. Behind the party atmosphere, one could sense a deep dissatisfaction amongst the group.
A hooded figure dressed in black looked at the assemblage and grunted as he joined another man dressed in a green costume.
"Our past differences aside, Der Grosshorn Eule, you have managed to gather quite a group here."
"Yes. Similar to an effort I organized back in the Fatherland a few years ago. But this is the real one . . . this is the beginning."
"Der Fuhrer would be proud, Eule."
The green-garbed figure stood on top of a tree stump, and immediately the young men started paying attention.
"Loyal brothers, and newcomers. You all know why we are gathered here tonight. Plasticorp of Virginia has just decided to sell itself to a Japanese company, and has just taken away your jobs," Der Grosshorn Eule stated. "Now there's a whole town full of able-bodied men with nothing to do! All your lives have revolved around that plant, and they go and sell it underneath you! Is that is the thanks you get for a generation of hard work?"
There was a roar of anger from the crowd.
"Well, we're not going to let off that easy. It's time for the men of the community to do a little punishment! Everyone, off to the Plasticorp headquarters!"
Black Assassin, Der Grosshorn Eule, and a number of the local Legion of Hate leaders handed out AK-47's, grenades, and grenade launchers to the crowd. With one of the world's foremost arms dealers backing them, the Legion of Hate had no problem getting access to the best weapons.
The crack of gunfire sounded all around as men fired their weapons into the air. Dozens of truck and car engines revved up, and the assembled men started driving down the road to the Plasticorp factory.
Black Assassin jumped aboard his classic German motorcycle, as Der Grosshorn Eule boarded his own, owl-like cycle.
A civil war was about to begin, and the opening shots would be fired not too far from where the first one began . . .
Lieutenant Jean Sherman had been a computer operator at NORAD for ten years, and was one of the most reliable workers on her shift. Her supervisor was proud of her attention to detail and her knowledge of software and operating systems, as well as her excellent performance during simulations. But Jean served another authority tonight.
She stood up suddenly at her station. Some of the other people in the room took notice, while others kept their eyes glued to their terminals.
"Your attention, please. The Manhunters are taking over this defense complex." She pulled the standard issue Manhunter pistol from behind her back and pointed at the computer operators, who were starting to pay attention. "There are many here in this room who would prove useful to our cause. If anyone wishes to join me, they may do so now."
The bewildered officers did not know what to do. They had been trained as to how to respond to an enemy attack on the facility, but they all trusted Jean implicitly.
"Those who do not join us will be killed. There are others in this facility who are Manhunters, as well, so you can be sure of two things. One, we will take this facility. Two, you will join us, or you will die."
Colonel Thomas Trask, who was out of the visual range of Lieutenant Sherman, attempted to sound the general alarm. He had a hole in his head before he realized he had been shot. His lifeless form slumped to the floor, and the technicians gasped.
"Those who attempt to stop us will also die," Jean said.
The officers tried to think of what to do.
One of the young men watched the door to the server room while the other one did the work of taking control of the facility's networked computers.
"Simpson!" Henry Gyrich ordered from his desk. "Any word from the Avengers League yet?"
"No, sir," the assistant responded.
"Shoot . . . " Gyrich swore. He knew he had only a matter of an hour or so to find out that the Avengers League had stopped the Manhunter attack. Once NORAD was compromised, the country's last hope lay in a project he had been working on for quite some time. But he had not wanted to unveil that project yet.
Still, his country's existence was at stake. For once, this normally selfish bureaucrat put his hopes and prayers behind other people. He honestly wished the Avengers League well, since they were nearly the last hope for the United States.
The phalanx of Manhunters led by the Iron Man robot arrived with a clatter of armored feet.
"No man escapes the Manhunters!" the Manhunter guard shouted.
The Manhunters saluted him, and then walked through the entrance to the facility. A group of soldiers had arrived in response to the scuffle in the guard area. Bullets ricocheted off the Manhunters' armor as they joined in battle with those who were defending NORAD.
Iron Man ignited his boot jets and began to lift off.
"I've just received a message from the Iron Man robot! The attack has already begun!"
Quasar and Flash zoomed toward the entrance to the facility, and Iron Man carried Batman over at a slower pace.
The Flash prepared to vibrate himself through the security entrance, but then stopped.
"It's open," he marveled.
A blaster bolt caught him full in the chest. If he had not instinctively vibrated his form in response to the attack, he would have been shot dead. As it was, the Flash was unconscious.
"Flash!" Quasar yelled. He was more experienced at battle than the fallen speedster, so he knew to armor himself up in a solid light encasing before walking into the entrance.
Quasar saw the guard wearing a military uniform, with a blue Manhunter mask. Without pausing, Quasar lit into the Manhunter with a shattering light blast that sent Manhunter parts flying.
Batman and Iron Man arrived, and examined the fallen hero. Batman was the best at medicine in the small group, and so he began checking the young Flash for vital signs.
"Well . . . he's alive . . . he has a heartbeat faster than a bird's, but I guess that's normal . . . "
"We'll either have to get him out of here or have someone stay with him," Quasar said.
"If we have time, we may have to call in the reserves," Batman noted. "I'll keep an eye on Flash and watch the door. If there are any military personnel left to help us, I'll try to send them your way."
"Hold on . . . " Iron Man said. "Let me access this blueprint of the facility that Oracle found for me out on the Internet . . . "
Iron Man did a quick systems check, and then looked at the other heroes. "Quasar, you head down that corridor toward the War Room. I'm heading for the server farm in the basement.
Batman spoke up. "Quasar, you've never faced these kinds of odds before. Remember, the Manhunters will stop at nothing. You've seen what they are willing to do to achieve their ends."
Quasar glanced at the dead guard with his head smashed into his monitor.
"Remember, if we don't stop them, they'll have full control of the North American air defense. If we . . . if you let them win, our country is lost."
"So don't let up on them, Quasar," Iron Man remarked. "And don't pull any punches. I've told the Iron Man robot that we're here . . . if he starts acting funny, like he's going to rejoin them . . . "
Batman and Quasar awaited Iron Man's response.
"Deactivate him."
Iron Man fired up his boot jets and zoomed down one corridor, while Quasar went the other way.
Batman went to the security station and looked at the view from the cameras in the facility. The Manhunter had not disabled these, since he had been in control of the guard station until just a few minutes ago.
There was fighting going on throughout the entire facility, and some of it was close by. The U.S. military was not going to give into the Manhunters without a fight.
The place was crawling with Manhunters. They knew that if they gained control of NORAD's systems, they effectively had control of the United States. And there, among them, was the Iron Man robot. Iron Man was shocked to see his creation wearing a Manhunter mask. He would have to think about the right way to go about fighting these robots. They wouldn't think twice about launching a nuclear strike at a domestic target . . . because robots could live through a nuclear winter a lot easier than humans.
Iron Man waited for the right moment to strike.
"Report in, Agent 23. Agent 23, report in."
The Manhunters were attempting to contact their comrade who had been at the guard station. Batman knew he could not imitate the guard's robotic voice, so it was just a matter of time before they would come to investigate.
This would be a really good time for the Flash to suddenly come out of his unconsciousness. But the hero just lay there.
Batman readied himself for the Manhunters' arrival. He put some chairs and boxes in front of Flash's body, to help deflect any stray weapons fire. He pulled the deadliest weapons he had on him from his utility belt. Batman stood up.
The five Manhunters walked through the door, and their robotic eyes glowed when they saw Batman.
Batman was clearly outnumbered. It looked like this would be his last stand.
Martian Manhunter sat deep in thought, thinking about the progress of their investigation when the call from Captain America came in over his communication badge. He chewed on some Oreos that he had hidden in his quarters at the Hall of Justice as he thought about the events of the day prior . . .
"Henry Pym," J'Onn suggested helpfully. "We should consult him. I believe that he would be better suited to this task than I am."
Captain America nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that himself. "Any idea where he is now?"
"I'm afraid not," J'Onn answered. "But perhaps the Wasp would know. She and Hank were once . . . close."
They had been friends, lovers, and partners but their current status was ambiguous. Still, they had kept in touch until recently.
Why hadn't he called? Was there a problem? If something was wrong, she wanted to know about it. She still had deep feelings for Hank.
When she arrived at the college, Wasp found the Dean of Faculty still in his office. Wasp was concerned when the Dean told her that Hank hadn't shown up for work in over a week. Strangely, he also mentioned another notable scientist who also taught there and who had also disappeared.
He, like Hank, was at the top of his field. And then the Wasp recalled an article she had read in the Daily Planet recently. It was about a top engineer in NASA who had vanished without a trace. This was strange!
Three of the finest minds in science and engineering have disappeared in the last few weeks, each without explanation. It could be a coincidence, but her instincts told her otherwise.
She returned to the Hall of Justice to put the question to the rest of the team.
Captain America and the Martian Manhunter both agreed that this was suspicious enough to check out. And even if they were wrong, they should look for Hank. He was their friend and he was missing.
"So where do we start looking?" The Wasp asked.
"I have learned from Batman that the methodical approach is best," said J'Onn.
J'Onn sat at the computer and began a search for other missing scientists. He found that three other geniuses living in the New York area had gone missing.
While Cap spoke, J'Onn peeked into their minds. He looked into their memories to see if he could find anything they might have forgotten to tell the police, which could be connected to the case. The only common thread he found was that three of the missing technicians had appointments with a representative of Controll Inc.
Cap had returned to the Hall of Justice and found Wasp waiting for him. They began discussing the case. Wasp told the Captain that there was no listing in the phonebook or on the Internet for a "Controll Inc." Wonder Woman came into the room and listened in on them.
"The last time I spoke to Hank," the Wasp said, "he mentioned having spoken to a Mr. Sandhurst about a possible collaboration."
Cap rubbed his chin. "J'Onn," he ordered, "run a search engine, and see if you can find any connection between the word Control and the name Sandhurst."
J'Onn did so and came up with something. "It appears that a man named Basil Sandhurst was involved a few years ago in created a restraining disk that would modify the behavior of prisoners.
"It was called a 'Control Disk'. Sandhurst worked on his Control project for several years, until he came up with a working prototype and wanted to use it on some live prisoners.
"The project was later canceled when certain people felt it was 'inhuman.' Sandhurst apparently continued the experiments on his own, but then he accidentally caused an explosion. He was disfigured. He dropped out of sight."
"A control disk, eh?" Cap wondered aloud. "Where did he do these independent experiments?"
"In a private lab. I have the address here if you want it," J'Onn said.
"I think we should go and have a look, J'Onn," Cap said.
"I'm coming, too!" Wasp added. "If Hank's in trouble, I want to be there!"
Cap looked over at Wonder Woman. "Diana, do you want to come along?"
"Yes. I do," She said, smiling.
Cap hoped that the rest of his comrades were doing well in their mission to prevent the Manhunters' takeover of NORAD.
As one of the Manhunters lifted his pistol to shoot, Batman pulled a small epoxy bomb from his belt and threw it into the midst of the Manhunters. He ducked as the explosive sent a quick-acting glue flying all over his opponents. For a few moments, they would be stuck, either to the floor or to each other.
Come on, Flash . . . wake up . . . wake up . . . Batman thought. In another moment, the Manhunters were going to pull free, and they would be even more determined to get him.
"J'Onn, do a recon. No contact, just come back and tell us what you see."
The Martian nodded, turned invisible and headed into the lab.
Wonder Woman was impressed by Captain America's authority and leadership abilities. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, had often told her about Captain America, but it wasn't until Diana saw it for herself that she understood why her mother had so often sung the praises of this man.
The young hero had fought his share of cosmic madmen, but he wasn't as used to hostage situations as more grim-and-gritty heroes like Batman. He had to remember Batman's instructions, and just blow the Manhunters away. Quasar had to do this, however, without hurting any civilians.
"Greetings, Manhunters. I'm Quasar, and I'm going to stop your plans right here, right now!" He tried not to betray any lack of confidence.
"Kill him," the lead Manhunter ordered.
J'Onn looked into their minds, but could find no conscious thought, except that of obedience. They were all obviously being controlled. No doubt by Basil Sandhurst.
J'Onn saw Hank Pym among the men. J'Onn materialized and approached his old teammate.
"Hank!" J'Onn exclaimed. "Hank, do you recognize me? It's J'Onn J'Onzz. I've come to help you."
Hank showed no sign of recognition or even of hearing. He was focused on the glass cage of insects he was studying. Just then, J'Onn heard a loud footstep. He turned around to see who had entered.
There was a huge man in the door leading to the connecting room. He wore a greyish outfit, complete with a headpiece. The only part of him that showed was his face. It was scarred. This was no doubt Basil Sandhurst.
Likewise, Sandhurst obviously recognized him. "So, Martian Manhunter! Welcome to the last day of the rest of your life! I am the man who will destroy you! I am the Controller!"
He took a risk, and sent an instant message to the Iron Man robot.
"Get them all to follow me out of this room," he spoke softly into his instant messaging interface. "If any Manhunters stays behind, attack them."
"Orders confirmed, Mr. Stark," was the reply.
Iron Man lowered the cloaking field he was using to protect himself from detection.
"Look who's messing around in the server room! You guys don't look like Systems Administrators to me!" Iron Man shouted.
Most of the Manhunters turned to face him. Iron Man blasted one with a repulsor ray, and its arm fell off. This really got the Manhunters' attention.
"No man escapes the Manhunters!" they shouted. Iron Man could hear their metal footsteps echoing against the floor as they pursued him out of the server area. It was a gambit, but hopefully he would be able to bring them to a better battlefield.
"Good guess, you alien scum," The Controller said, "I spent years improving them. Now, whoever is fitted with one of my discs is completely my slave."
"What are you making them do? Why is Doctor Pym working on insects?"
"That's for me to know, Martian, and for you to die wondering."
J'Onn reached out for the Controller. "You're coming with me, Sandhurst."
"I am no longer Basil Sandhurst! I am now the Controller!" The Controller lashed out with an amazingly powerful blow, knocking J'Onn back several steps.
The Controller laughed, "The accident which disfigured me also gave me great strength. And besides that, I gather even more strength from the mental energy of my slaves. With four geniuses like these, the mental energy wave flooding into my body increases my power considerably.
"I'm confident that I can defeat you," J'Onn said.
"Maybe you can," The Controller replied. "But can you defeat Giant-Man? Pym, destroy this cretin!"
"You won't kill anyone else today," he said as he concentrated, and used his quantum bands to generate four vise grips made of solid light. Each of them closed in unison, squishing the heads of the Manhunters into little bits of circuitry.
But even without its head, the lead Manhunter's body still writhed, and was moving toward the control panel.
"It's still alive!" said one of the officers. "You need to blow it to bits!" he told Quasar. The other officers began smashing and dismembering the other Manhunters, in an attempt to keep them from rebuilding themselves. It was their pleasure to help defeat their former captors.
"Um, okay . . . " Quasar responded. He pointed his fingers as if he were holding a pistol, and then shot a pin-sized hole that just barely penetrated the Manhunter. Quasar flooded the hole with light energy as the Manhunter's body tried to escape. The light bounced around inside the lead Manhunter until it was obvious the robot was ready to explode.
"Stand back!" Quasar said. He thought quickly enough to put a light-based dome around the exploding Manhunter, so that the explosion was contained.
Quasar had saved the hostages.
"We have hostiles down in the guard area and the server area," one of the Lieutenants said after viewing the security system's readout. "One of your superhero friends is fighting them, but he's outnumbered. We'd better get someone down there fast!"
Quasar zoomed off to the server area to help Iron Man out.
"Hank, don't . . . " J'Onn began, but it was too late. Hank was out for blood, at his master's command.
J'Onn evaded the blows and telepathically contacted his partners outside. "Cap, Wasp, Diana. I need your assistance! Now!"
Moments later, Wonder Woman burst through the wall, followed by Cap and the Wasp. Wasp saw Hank battling J'Onn and froze, confused.
"He's being controlled by that man - Sandhurst. He also calls himself 'The Controller'!" J'Onn said.
Furious, the Wasp blasted the Controller with her bio-stings, but he hardly seemed to feel it.
The Controller laughed. "You idiots! You don't realize my power! I . . . "
The Controller didn't finish his sentence. He got a fist full of Wonder Woman instead. He was sent toppling backwards. He looked up at the Amazon.
"Get up and face me, villain!" Wonder Woman ordered.
"You take him, Diana!" Cap shouted. "The rest of us will try to restrain Hank without hurting him!"
"I will not be so easy to defeat!" the Controller said, and pushed a button.
The Iron Man robot was battling the last Manhunter left in the server area. The Manhunter held his own, but the Iron Man robot had the power of Iron Man combined with the ruthlessness of the Manhunters. At the last, the Iron Man robot fired up his repulsor ray, but did not fire. Instead, he swung one mighty, repulsor-packed punch into the midsection of his foe, whose internal circuits were crushed when Iron Man punched him.
The Iron Man robot had overcome the Manhunters' programming. He pulled the Manhunter's head from its body and prepared to crush it between his hands. The head's eyes lit up and it began to speak.
"You may think you have won," the Manhunter head taunted, "but we have already infected your defense systems with an imperceptible virus, one that will take effect when you least expect it. Consider that the Manhunters' final revenge!"
The Iron Man robot crushed the head into circuitry bits. He knew, however, that there wasn't much time left. He interfaced with one of the servers, and began hunting for the virus.
"You wanted to know what I was making these men do, Martian?" The Controller asked. "Now you can see for yourself. Pym is an entomologist and the inventor of enlarging gas!
"I realized the potential of combining those two things and creating an army of giant insects to serve me. These other scientists were helping me to create a new kind of control disk. A Nanite disc, small enough to fit an insect and take control of its brain stem. I now control the giant bugs you see. And they are but the first. Once I destroy you, I will make more and more and more. Soon, they will overrun the world. And I will reign supreme."
"You will not!" Wonder Woman said, hitting him again.
"Manhunters!" he yelled, as he zoomed into action.
As the Manhunters took one step forward, the Flash zoomed around, and seemingly through, all of them. All five Manhunters suddenly sputtered and sparked. Each one fell to the ground, suddenly non-operational.
"What did you do?" Batman asked.
"Oh, a little rearranging of circuits here, a little integrity disruption there, you know. I guess the Flash does not compute!"
Batman actually had to stifle a chuckle.
"Come on, Flash! Let's check this security board to see if there are any other Manhunters causing trouble."
Cap used his shield to fend off the stingers of the massive bugs. One of them grabbed his shield and yanked it. Cap didn't let go of the shield and found himself being dragged around the room.
Martian Manhunter was trying to find a way to stop Hank without hurting him. He tried telepathically to reach Hank, but couldn't shake the Controller's mental dominance.
These five decided to dogpile on the hero. He was struggling to emerge from the bottom of the pile-up when Quasar zoomed into the room.
He fired a concentrated light blast, which amputated the legs of all five Manhunters in one fell swoop. The legs fell uselessly to the floor, as did the Manhunters. They began to scramble to reach their legs to reattach them.
Iron Man gave them all a full-powered repulsor blast at close range, which turned them into scraps of metal.
"Thanks for the save, Quasar!" Iron Man exclaimed, dusting himself off. "I gotta go see what's up with the Iron Man robot!"
Iron Man walked into the server room, accompanied by Quasar.
The robot stood proudly, and removed its Manhunter mask. "The threat is over. I, however, must leave this place right away."
Iron Man thought for a moment. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"No . . .I now carry something within me which must be kept away from all technology. Respect me, as my Creator, and allow me to leave."
Iron Man and Quasar stepped aside, and the Iron Man robot rushed away. Iron Man wondered whether he would ever see his creation again.
"Let's do a quick flight around of the facility to see if there are any stragglers, Quasar!"
"You got it!"
The two Avengers flew off. The Manhunter threat to NORAD was almost over.
Wonder Woman used her magic lasso on him. "You will surrender to me, and then you will . . . " But before she could finish, he screamed.
The Controller clutched his head. "Too many minds! They're all trying to control me! Stop it! Stop it!" The Controller passed out. As he did so, Giant-Man and the other scientist suddenly returned to normal.
"Where am I?" Hank asked.
"Hank!" The Wasp shouted joyfully. "You're all right!"
She flew over and kissed him. J'Onn looked up and saw Cap being dragged around by the giant bug. He unleashed his Martian Vision and blasted the bug. Cap fell to the ground. He flipped in the air so that he would land on his feet.
"Good work, everyone!" Cap said, "Now we need to stop these damn bugs!"
"Leave that to me!" Giant Man said. "Remember, I used to be Ant Man. I can still talk to the insects."
Hank used his cyber-translator to order the bugs to stop their aggression. They all landed, and at calmly.
"I'll return them to normal size." Hank said.
"What happened to the Controller?" Cap asked.
"He yelled something about there being too many minds trying to control him." Wonder Woman said.
"I wonder . . . " Cap began and studied the Controller. On the back of his neck, Cap found that the Controller was also fitted with a control disc.
"I thought so," Cap said, "The Controller was being controlled. I wonder by whom."
"I'm trying to read his mind," J'Onn said. "His thoughts are muddled, but he keeps thinking of the word 'Manhunters!' Apparently, the Manhunters were worried about our interference in something, and so created this scheme involving Hank, knowing that we'd investigate if one of our former teammates was involved."
"So that must have been what the NORAD incident was about . . . " Cap said.
"Indubitably," J'Onn said. Then, he groaned slightly, and placed his right hand on his temples.
"Are you all right?" Wasp whispered.
"Yes," J'Onn replied. "Just a slight headache. I guess from the nonstop action here . . . "
"Thank you for your help," Captain Smith, the commander of the facility, commended. "You men did your country proud today."
The Flash attempted to high-five Batman, but the older hero stared him down.
"Come on guys! We beat the Manhunters and saved the country!" the young hero commented.
"We shouldn't be celebrating too much. We all saw how deadly and determined the Manhunters were . . . the Manhunters won't let themselves be destroyed . . . they'll just submerge for a while."
"Well, at least we stopped them this time," Iron Man commented. "I'm going to have to find out who programmed my robot to act like a Manhunter, the first chance I get. And maybe someday I'll catch up with him again!"
The Avengers League Quinjet roared out over the morning sky back towards New York.
The speeding truck wasn't just any old truck. It was illegally carrying nuclear wastes through downtown Manhattan. When the truck swerved to dodge the old man, a barrel of waste went flying into the street. The last thing I truly ever saw was globs of green flying at me. Toxic, nuclear waste. Now, I live in perpetual darkness. I tried to be the hero. Now . . .
I'm blind.
My name is Matthew. Matthew Michael Murdock. I'm blind. Blind like the law. I think it helps make me a better lawyer. I became strong . . . swift . . . like justice. Because, while my name is Matthew Michael Murdock . . . I also go by another name. Something that you'll only hear in the hushed whispers of criminal punks selling crack on the streets . . .
Daredevil.
Though I lost my vision, the same nuclear waste heightened my other four senses to a point where it almost hurts. I can hear a cat's heart beat two city blocks away. Someone walking down the street had garlic bread with his lunch? I'll smell it. If there's a draft in a room . . . I'll feel it, and know exactly where it's coming from.
I'm blind. But that doesn't mean I don't see injustices. It doesn't mean I can't right the wrongs. As Daredevil I clean up the streets . . . and as Matt Murdock, Attorney at Law, I put the trash where it belongs . . . in jail.
Hell's Kitchen is one of the last true neighborhoods in the collective whole of New York City. It's where I've come on a case . . . for both jobs.
To anyone not in the super-hero gig, I'd sound crazy. I mean, I put on this crimson red costume (at least, I'm assuming it's crimson red, because that's what I was told it is) and leap around the Kitchen fighting crime. The cane that I use as Matt Murdock turns into a two-piece billy club that fits in a holster on my left leg. One half is purely a physical weapon. The other contains a rope and a launcher that I can use for various purposes.
And that's me. I'm blind like justice . . . swift, like the law. I'm Daredevil.
"Come on, come on . . . work faster, man . . . "
"I'm goin' s'fast as I can, dawg . . . "
"Don't 'dawg' me, y'little poser, jus' get the damn door open!"
"Shh, keep your voice down, man . . . "
"No one's gonna hear us. This whole city's gone t'hell, and everyone's lootin' everything . . . sooner we get in there an' get the goods, the sooner we can go back home and sit this out without gettin' our asses capped!"
"We gonna be rich, yo . . . "
"Soon's you get that damn door open, 'yo'."
"Excuse me, gentlemen."
The two street punks spun around and found themselves gaping at a strangely dressed man with short blond hair holding a strange looking gun.
"What the hell are you, some kinda cop?" one of the two asked.
"Not at all," the strange man replied. "But I see you two were trying to do some looting . . . and I can't let you. Because I was planning on doing that exact same activity."
"Who the hell . . . ?"
"I'm the Looter!" the man replied, aiming his gun. "And the meteorite in this gun is just dying to put you punks outta your misery!"
"Umm . . . dawg?"
"Run!"
The two punks made a break for it, and the Looter only stood watching and laughing. He aimed his gun at the door to the jewelry shop he had been casing, and shot it down with an energy bolt. He stepped inside. "This is what I'm talking about . . . "
Rumor has it the entire city is pitch black. Some sort of EMP wave hit. This late at night, everyone is sitting in complete darkness. Looting's wide spread. The police are stretched thin and outnumber a hundred to one, probably more. And without the help of anything electronic, they're screwed.
But I'm not. I'm always in darkness. I'll have the advantage over anyone. Now I--eh?
Daredevil jerked his head one way, his ears working quickly to zone in on the sound of glass shattering. Not far away, he picks up two distinctly different heartbeats, each one racing fast, with four legs pumping faster. He adjusted his head again. Another heart beat, slightly muffled, near the place where the glass was shattered.
Looks like I'm on . . .
"Where're you off too?"
The only woman I know who can sneak up on me . . .
"Shouldn't you be busy elsewhere, Dinah?"
"Why Matt, I'm shocked," the woman with short blond hair replied. "Why would ever be anywhere else but beside you?"
That was sarcasm. Her name's Dinah Laurel Lance. Runs around in spandex and calls herself the Black Canary. Closet thing I've ever had to a partner. She doesn't have any super-powers. Just her own skills and instincts. And she's good. We're also a sort of, on-again off-again couple . . . but we don't need to get into that right now.
"To answer your first question, I was just about to investigate a crime-in-progress and then stop it," Daredevil replied.
"Sounds like fun," Black Canary answered with a grin. "Mind if I tag along?"
"Can't find your own crimes to fight?"
"I'm sure I could with the city in the condition it's in . . . but maybe I just get a kick out of watching you in action?"
"I bet I'd get a kick out of watching anything."
"Ha ha," she replied with more sarcasm. "Lead the way, spandex-butt."
"Down there," Daredevil said.
"I see it," she nodded. "A jewelry store. Front door's been shattered open, but the steel cage in front of the store had been opened smoothly."
"I heard two others running from the scene. It's possible they opened the cage, and a third, still in there, decided to take the place from them."
"Then let's go down there and kick some butt!"
She's a total action-junkie. And I think that's what keeps me so insanely attracted to her. She's got a great voice, too. She was a singer, once upon a time.
"You do know this is probably a waste of our efforts?" Daredevil asked. "Most other local heroes are probably working non-stop to try and do something to lend a hand here. And the two of us are working together against one guy robbing a jewelry store?"
"You just keep trying to get rid of me, don't you?" she asked. "Keep this up, and you definitely won't get me back to your place when we're done."
The two leapt off from their rooftop perch and landed on the street. They each took a side of the store front to take cover, just in case.
One heartbeat . . . and I smell something strange . . . definitely not anything from around here. He's carrying it with him . . .
"Are you gonna go, or should I?" the Canary barely whispered under her breath, knowing DD would pick it up.
My actions give her the response. In one fluid motion I grab my billy club and hurl it inside the store.
The Looter yelled out as the club separated him from his gun. "Ah! My precious meteorite!"
"What a loser," the Canary said as she leapt inside, kicking him below the jaw.
Daredevil followed her in and punched the Looter in the face. He went down.
"You're kidding me," Dinah frowned after he fell. "We beat him that easily? He couldn't even take a punch!"
"I told you this was a waste of our efforts," Matt shrugged. "What's the meteorite he mentioned?"
"Some kinda funky rock inside an even funkier gun," she answered. "But his costume's the funkiest. Blue and Green and flashy . . . he's dressed more like a super-hero than a villain. But he was stealing those rings and necklaces. Wonder if it's for a girl, or for himself."
Matt sighed. "There's so much more we could be doing right now, Dinah . . . "
"I agree," she replied. She reached her arms around Matt and pulled him close, kissing him. "So much more . . . "
"You know that's not what I meant."
"I know," she answered. "Maybe I just like to tease you."
"Well, save it for later," Daredevil said, picking up his billy club. "There's more where this guy came from. We might have to do this all night."
"All right . . . but then you're making the whole night up to me tomorrow."
"Have you seen Ryder?" Aron asked.
Rift shook his head. "Hasn't he been out for every night the past two months?"
Aron nodded. "I wonder what's been fascinating him so much that he must go there every night?"
"Maybe he's got a girl?"
"Yeah, sure. Do you notice how he acts? He can't even feel comfortable around us."
"So, maybe it's because we're all on his power level or something."
Aron shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that this group is going to hell. I mean, we haven't had a vision for two weeks. Clea and Psylocke have been tapping into the minds of nearly every superpowered being in NYC. Sketch stays in her room all the time, and Ryder is MIA all the time."
"So, what's your point?"
"Why are we here?"
"Excuse me?" Rift asked.
"We kinda don't fit in here. You're only here to open the orb, and I'm only here because of my knowledge as a watcher. Plus, I don't think any of us really knows why Clea gathered us in the first place."
"That's obvious. We're here to see glimpses of the future, and possible futures."
"For what reason? What do we do with those visions?"
"If you had these doubts, why did you ever join?"
"I had recently been kicked out of the Watchers," Aron replied. "I needed a place to stay." He paused for a moment. "So, you want to go out?"
"You really think it's safe?"
"So what if the power's out? We got power of our own."
Rift stood up. "Let's go."
"That's Ryder!" Aron exclaimed. "C'mon! We gotta help him!"
The two Visionaries ran down the street. Rift took a flying leap, and his feet collided with the cop's side. He fell over. Aron bent down to help his teammate.
"What happened, Ryder?"
The man known as Matthew Ryder, and as Hourman mumbled, "I don't know. I was just walking, and he attacked me . . . "
"Guys," Rift said. "We have a problem."
Aron turned his head and saw the cop standing behind him, flesh torn off, exposing a metallic skin underneath.
"Must be one of those Manhunters I heard about earlier tonight," Hourman whispered.
The cop took one step forward. Rift tried to slow him down by punching him in the stomach. All that accomplished was distributing sharp pain across his fist.
"Rift! Use your power!" Aron shouted. He put his shoulder under Hourman's arm. "We gotta get you out of here." The two began running back toward the Visionaries' home.
They heard Rift coming up behind them. He came up beside Hourman, and supported his other arm.
"Why do I still hear that cop coming?" Aron asked.
"For some reasons, my powers don't work on him! I don't know why!" Rift answered.
Aron turned and saw the Manhunter following them.
"Stop," Hourman said. "No matter what he is, he's still subject to the laws of time. Laws that I can control."
Aron and Rift looked at each other, and then turned around. They let Hourman down, and he was able to stand on his own. He held out his arms, and two waves of chronal energy radiated from him. The waves surrounded the Manhunter, and he slowly vanished.
"Where'd you send him?" Aron asked.
"I'm not sure," Hourman replied. "I know it was somewhere where time does not exist. Beyond that, I'm not sure."
Aron noted the uncertainty in Ryder's voice. "Come on," he said. "Let's get back home. Clea will want to hear about this."
Well, well. It looks like there's more to Hourman than I thought. This can only get better . . . for me, at least!
But it was more than darkness. It was a total, complete, one-hundred percent power outage. Trains stopped. Airports closed. Every piece of equipment in every hospital in the entire area failed. Riots and looting ran rampant. The police were overwhelmed. Even SHIELD and the Avengers League were finding coping impossible. None of the public knew the reasons behind the failure. All they knew was that it seemed like the end of the world. Crime was everywhere.
And Young Justice was sidelined.
Following events with the Hellfire Club, public opinion of the young heroes was down. People wondered if they truly were heroes, or if they were just villains masquerading as heroes . . . or even if they were a part of the mutant menace. And so, on the advice of Captain America and the orders of Red Tornado, the team was temporarily disbanded.
Superboy, Impulse, Cannonball, Jade, Magik and Firebird were all denied the opportunity to leave their base of operations in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Wonder Girl and Arrowette were sent to their homes to have normal lives. Robin was the sole member allowed to still operate, presumably under the direction of Batman.
They all agreed it was unfair. Especially in a time of crisis. But none of them knew just what to do . . .
[[All of this was detailed in Young Justice #13 - Paul]]
Robin sat alone, perched on a roof top.
Some help I am. I was the one who led Young Justice against the Hellfire
Club. And now they're all suffering because of it. I know they don't blame me .
. . do they? No, of course not. Though they must be angry. They're stuck back at
base while I'm out here, doing what we're supposed to be doing. All because of
Batman. He gets me out of all sorts of trouble . . . but causes so much more. I
mean, as YJ's leader, they all trust me with their lives . . . but I'm not even
allowed to tell them my first name.
It stinks, I know . . . but there's gotta be something I can do. Cassie and
Cissie were sent to their homes . . . I'm sure I could sneak them out. Wait,
what am I saying? I can't do that . . . but then again, with the condition this
city's in, I can use all the help I can get. No . . . I can't. I've got to be
the responsible one . . . I'll do what I can, on my own.
"Oracle," he spoke into his wrist communicator. "Is the
Redbird ready? Good . . . I'll be needing it."
And Robin disappeared from the roof.
A young girl sat in darkness, just before her bedroom window, looking
outwards, towards New York. On a normal day, she could spot the famous bridge.
But not that day. Not because it was the evening . . . but because of a
statewide blackout.
And there's nothing I can do about it . . . the young Cissie thought
to herself, not lifting her gaze. As Arrowette, I might actually be able to
do some good out there. But I'm not allowed to by order of the Red Tornado . . .
and it stinks. Looting, riots, and just plain panic has got to have the city in
its grasp. If I could just sneak out . . . for even an hour . . . I know I could
do something.
She sighed. Who'm I kidding? I don't have any transportation . . . it'd
take me at least an hour to get into New York, probably even if I could convince
a cabbie to take me there. And my mom's watching the doors like a hawk. She
knows me, and I hate it. She knows I'm just looking for a chance to escape . . .
Almost on a cue came a knock at Cissie's bedroom door.
"What, ma?" she asked, not moving from her window view.
"Just checking," her mother answered from outside the door.
"Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"
"Nothing that you can provide," Cissie replied.
"Are you so sure?" her mom answered, opening her door.
Cissie finally moved her head to face her mom, quickly finding a confused
look upon her own face. Her mother stood there carrying some sort of costume.
"Mom?"
"Here," her mom said, tossing the costume on her daughter's bed.
"It's a . . . well . . . a different costume. It's the one I wore, once
upon a time . . . when I was the Spoiler."
"Mom?" Cissie asked, standing up.
"I know how you feel . . . how hard it is to be in a situation like this
. . . it's bad out there, and I don't want to see you get hurt . . . but you're
needed. I know you don't want to get in trouble with Young Justice . . . so I
pulled out this other costume . . . no one should connect the two. And you might
want these."
She tossed her car keys into her daughter's hands.
"Thanks ma," Cissie smiled, giving her a hug. "You're the
best."
"I know," her mom replied. "Just be careful."
"Cassie, you can't stay in there all night," Mrs. Sandsmark called,
knocking on the basement door. "It's not healthy . . . "
"I just want . . . to be left alone, okay?" Cassie Sandsmark
answered back. Talking sometimes seemed to be a strain. At least, recently . . .
In our fight with the Hellfire Club . . . *
*(YJ #12 - Paul)
I got hurt . . . Firestar was the cause. Hit me with some
sort of radiation . . . I've felt sick ever since . . . and every now and then I
feel really weak, really tired . . . but then, I'll get hit with some burst of
energy, like I've suddenly been recharged . . . only it'll go away, and I'll
feel sick again . . . I . . . I don't know what it is . . . I just want it to
stop. Funny . . . I must be the only member of Young Justice who isn't screaming
for action . . .
Some hero I am . . . I just . . . want the pain to stop. Please? Just stop .
. .
A wave of pain suddenly washed over the young Wonder Girl. Knowing her mother
was close by, she bit her lip and held back her cries. But she didn't fail to
gasp with fear when she noticed the red energy spew from her eyes. Though it
lasted only for a second, it confirmed what she thought . . . that she was far
worse than anyone suspected.
Robin sped across dark city streets onboard his motorcycle, the Redbird. It
was a state of the art piece of equipment, and with its enhanced technology (as
well as the fact it was off at the time of the power loss), it remained
unaffected and fully operational. Robin knew he'd need such a vehicle in order
to have any affect on the city's safety.
His eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of something up ahead.
More looters . . . they're everywhere. It's disgusting how many people
would take advantage of a situation like this.
He sped up to the storefront being attacked and cut the bike hard, skidding
to a stop. He removed his helmet and slowly walked towards the group of men
responsible for the crime.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said with in a straight tone, "but
I think there are better things you could be doing right now. Put those items
down and put your hands up."
"An' what if we's don't?" one man asked, holding a crow bar in his
hands.
"Then you'll force me to do things the hard way." Robin gritted his
teeth slightly as he clenched his metal bo-staff. Upon applying the right
pressure, the small stick extended into its full six feet length.
The man with the crowbar yelled, "Get him!"
The fight was truly over before it even began. A kick here, a punch there, a
swing of the staff now and then and the five crooks were down and out. Only
problem is, the police already have their hands full. I guess these low-lifes
might get lucky . . . but they at least get a beating for their trouble.
Robin quickly remounted his bike and headed off. There was bound to be worse
crime running rampant.
Mom's gonna kill me if her car gets stolen or beat up or anything . . .
but then again, it's her own fault for lending it to me. Hopefully it'll be safe
where I parked it. And now I'm off, in my debut as the Spoiler!
I think I look ridiculous. All the purple and black . . . it's just not . . .
me. But at least with the mask no one can recognize me. But maybe this wasn't
such a good idea. Sure, in order to protect my Arrowette identity, I can't use a
bow and arrow . . . but is now really the best time to try something new? Guess
I'll find out . . .
A pair of gunshots rippled across the night air.
"Eh?" Cissie jerked her head towards the sound and ran out of the
alley she was just standing in. Her keener-than-the-average-person's eyes
quickly asserted themselves to the situation. A police officer had just been
shot twice, and a man with a gun was running away.
Oh, no . . .
Cissie was off. She began chasing after the assailant, who had begun climbing
a fire escape towards a building's roof. All the buildings in this part of
Manhattan are so close together . . . he's gonna be able to leap from roof to
roof . . . well, let's just hope I'm as agile as I like to pretend.
She followed with a speed she didn't they she had in herself. But by the time
she was on the roof, the assailant was already on the next building. He's
fast . . . but I've got to be faster . . . I've got to take this guy down and
then help that policeman!
With expert ease, she leapt over the gap between buildings. "Stop!"
The man with the gun threw a glance over his shoulder. His eyes went wide at
the sight of the masked vigilante chasing him. He fired to stray bullets before
leaping over to another building.
"%^@$!" she yelled ducking and rolling. "They missed . . .
thank God . . . "
She continued her hunt onto another building. But as soon as she landed, she
couldn't spot the shooter anywhere. But if I can't see him . . . that means
he's hiding. Which means I'm a standing duck!
She leapt to one side, just in time, as another pair of shots rang off.
Acting on instinct, she leapt over a large vent. She landed quickly, spotting
the shooter making a break towards the next building. Cissie quickly fumbled
with the tool belt that came with the Spoiler costume and pulled out a strange
gun. She squinted her eyes and fired.
The gun fired a grappling hook attached to a long rope. Her eyesight was her
super power, and she had an easy time capturing the man from the back of his
hoodie. She swiftly ran over to him and kicked the gun from his hands.
"You've already caused enough trouble for one night."
"He sure did."
"Eh?" Cissie turned around, in a fighting stance.
"Robin?!"
"I guess my reputation proceeds me," he answered.
"Wh . . . what are you doing here?" I'm so caught . . .
"I heard the gun shots and followed," Robin answered plainly.
"I wasn't sure of the situation . . . but I see it's under control."
"I need your help," Cissie said. "We've gotta take this guy in
. . . but he shot a cop . . . we need to get him to a hospital."
"Sounds like a plan," Robin said, tying up the shooter with
leftover rope. "I don't believe we've been introduced, though."
"What?" Cissie asked. Omigod! I forgot! I'm now Arrowette, I'm .
. . "The Spoiler."
"Have we met before?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, uh, no . . . of course not," Cissie answered, suddenly
remembering to mask her voice. "But we've got more important things to
attend to!"
"Lead the way."
"If you can keep up," she replied, secretly smiling under her mask.
She made a bolt for it, leaping across the building. Robin, despite the added
weight of the shooter, followed close behind. The two eventually made it back to
where the officer lay.
"He's got a pulse . . . but it's weak," Robin said after checking
vitals. "Gun shot to the left leg and abdomen."
"Let's take his car," Spoiler said. "I'm assuming it works,
because it doesn't look like it's been here long."
"I'll follow on my bike," Robin said, pointing. "Lead the way
again."
I can't believe I ran into Robin! This city's so friggin' huge, and I had
to run into the one person who might see through my disguise . . . I just have
to keep the mask on, change my voice a little, and play it cool . . .
Robin carried the officer into the entrance of the ER, followed by Spoiler.
"Hey," she said, "This officer needs some . . . help?"
The place was a disaster area. Battery powered lights and back-up generators
were the only things keeping the building running. And it was completely overrun
with chaos.
"My God . . . " Robin's jaw dropped. "It's far worse than I
thought . . . "
"There's got to be someway to . . . h-help . . . " Cissie's head
jerked towards the door. "Jeez . . . did it just get really cold in
here?"
It had. A wall of ice had appeared over the main entrance, and scattered out
to cover the windows.
"What in the world?" Robin pondered.
"Help!" someone yelled who had just made it through the door.
"There's some psychopath out there . . . he's like, some walking icicle . .
. he's trying to kill us!"
Robin and Spoiler exchanged a quick glance. He gave the policeman to a nurse
and ran towards the door. "It's a few feet of solid ice . . . "
Cissie reached behind her purple cape/hood and pulled out a katana blade.
"Maybe this will help?"
Oh God I've never used a sword before . . . if I look like a fool, he'll
know something's up . . . here goes . . . !
Spoiler began slicing away, quickly cutting through the ice and breaking it
into smaller, manageable pieces.
"Not bad," Robin nodded. He pulled out a robinwing and threw it
into the cracked ice. A few seconds later it let off a miniature explosion,
shattering the rest of the ice.
"Not bad yourself," she answered. The two charged out the door just
in time to have several ice spears hurled at them. "Huh?"
A strange man, made of ice, stood upon a column of ice in front of the
hospital, looking down at the two.
"What the heck is this?" Spoiler asked.
"This is an assault," the ice man replied. "'Name's Ice
Master. An' all the people in that hospital are as good as dead!"
"What kind of a sick man preys on the weak and dying?" Robin asked.
"My kind!" the villain grinned. He leapt from his column and began
riding an ice slide around.
"This we don't have time for," Robin said as he did a backflip over
another oncoming ice spear.
"We?" Spoiler asked, ducking an attack and cutting down another.
"Sorry if I'm assuming too much," Robin said, flinging a robinwing.
"I just thought, that with the city in such a bad way, you might need some
help."
"Or maybe you might need some help?" she asked slyly, swinging at
the ice slide with her katana. "I can handle myself just fine."
"Whatever you say," Robin replied, leaping in the air and kicking
the Ice Master in his head.
A smoke bomb flung from Spoiler's hand and exploded on the Ice Master.
"See."
"I do," Robin replied. He and the Spoiler both came to a stop mere
inches from each other. "I think he's unconscious."
Cissie took a moment before gazing towards the Ice Master. "Just goes to
show you . . . psychopaths aren't successful fighters."
The two looked back at each other.
What is it about her . . . ?
"They might," he answered. "But I don't think there's really
anything we can offer them . . . we'd probably just get in the way."
"Oh . . . yeah."
"But if you are interested in lending a hand . . . I sure could use
one."
The Boy Wonder extended his arm.
Cissie blushed underneath her mask. She took his in hers. "Sure . . .
why not."
The two seated themselves on the Redbird. Robin handed her his helmet.
"All set?"
"Yup."
Robin grinned. "Hold on tight . . . "
Queens.
Cassie Sandsmark held herself tighter in a ball. She had been crying.
The Radiation . . . it . . . did something . . . I . . . I . . . ARGH!
Though there was no power in the house, the basement was no longer dark. Her
body glowed brightly, a sparkling blue energy. Her eyes poured red energy out
from behind her glasses. On her chest shined her Wonder Girl symbol in the same
red.
"Wh . . . what is . . . what's happening to me?!?"
Gotham. One of the few remaining distinct neighborhoods left in New York City.
The King-Jones house, Brooklyn.
In Queens, at the home of the Sandsmarks.
Manhattan.
Elsewhere.
The police car, with its sirens blaring, was followed closely by the Redbird to
the nearest hospital.
Who is she? I'd heard of a Spoiler who used to run around the city a couple
decades ago . . . but as far as I know, this is the first sighting anyone's had
of a new Spoiler. And there's something about her . . . she seems familiar . . .
but at the same time, different. And there's just something there . . . I don't
know what . . .
"We'll leave the shooter in the car," Robin said. "Let's get
this man some help . . . "
He's staring . . . quick, say something. "Er . . . uh . . . do you
think . . . the hospital needs help?"
Epilogue.
"Be careful," May replied. "Don't get yourself into any trouble just for a picture."
"Will do," Peter said. "Bye." He hung up the phone and turned to Lois. "She's fine."
"That's good," Lois said. "How about you? Did anything happen while you were out?"
"Well, Iron Man attacked Spider-Man, but Jimmy was following that, so I went to get some pictures elsewhere."
"I thought Iron Man was a good guy," Lois replied.
"Oh, he is. You see, Spidey later found out from the Avengers League that the 'Iron Man' that attacked him was a robot controlled by the Manhunters."
"This has been one strange night . . . "
Just then, the building rocked.
"What was that?!" someone shouted.
Peter felt his spider-sense go off. "Something's wrong," he said.
"How do you know?" Lois asked.
"I just have this feeling. We're about to be in some serious -- "
Peter was interrupted by the sound of crashing glass. People looked around. The newly replaced windows* in the City Room were fine.
*(They were destroyed by Lax in Spider-Man Annual #1)
"Jameson," Lois muttered. "This is probably one of those tricks
to convince him to sell. What do you think Peter?" She turned around, and Peter
was gone. "Peter?"
"Come out, Jameson," the creature said, in a deep voice. "I know you're in
here. Hiding under your desk is not going to help."
"Wh-who are y-you?" Jameson asked.
The green skinned creature smiled. "I am the Green Goblin."
Jameson stood up behind his desk. For the first time, he saw the truly
grotesque creature standing in front of him. His skin was a dark green, somewhat
subdued. He wore purple pants and a purple cape. His shirt left the middle of
his chest bare. The belt around the Goblin's waist was green, with a medalion or
something similiar as the buckle. He was standing on a glider.
The Goblin glided closer to Jameson. "Right now, I'm working for Norman
Osborn. He wants you to sell the Daily Planet. You're making it very
difficult for him to obtain this newspaper, and so, I am supposed to convince
you to sell, anyway I can."
Just then, Spider-Man swung in through the broken window and knocked the
Goblin in the back. "Hello. I'm Spider-Man, and I'll probably be kicking your
butt for the next few minutes. Might I have the privlege of knowing who's butt I
am kicking?"
The Green Goblin turned around and fired a blast of orange energy at
Spider-Man. Spidey couldn't tell if it came from his hand, or where.
"I am the Green Goblin," replied Spidey's adversary. "Remember that, for it
will be the name of the one who will finally destroy you."
"I take it you've heard of me?" Spidey asked.
The Green Goblin sped on his glider, and knocked Spider-Man out of the
office. "I guess you could say that," he said with an evil chuckle. Looking
down, he saw Spider-Man holding on to the side of the building. That was the
last thing he saw before he found webbing in his eyes.
"That's it!" the Goblin shouted, ripping the webbing off. "I was just going
to let you go for now, Spider-Man. But now, you've made me mad!"
Spider-Man knew that the fight had started, so he jumped off of the side of
the Daily Planet and began webslinging away, hoping to draw the Green
Goblin with him. He was right. The Goblin followed.
He ran inside. He reached his porch in less than a second.
Cody was unaware of the shadowed figure watching him from across the street.
Suddenly, fireworks exploded from behind his back, sending him falling down
stories to the ground. Spider-Man spun a webline which attached to a nearby
pole, and swung back up to face the Goblin, spinning a ball of hard web.
"What can I say? Let's see . . . how about, take this?!?!" The
costumed hero smashed Green Goblin in the face with the web, sending the villain
falling down to the rooftops. Landing on his back, he rolled over, as the pain
became to obvious to bear. Spidey somersaulted down, and landed on his two feet.
He was getting too tense, the battle with the Iron Man prototype had worn him
down. And the city was still in blackout, thanks to those Manhunters. Already,
looting and crime were already rampant, fires already burning, no one to turn to
. . . not good a one night for a hero, especially a relatively new one.
"No one messes with the Spider-Man! Still the
champ-i-o-n! . . . uh . . . hey, what's up with you?"
The Green Goblin began to grab himself, as if something began to tear him
apart inside. Spidey moved closer, as the villain seemed to be in pain. He tried
to reach out for the Goblin, face lowered, and tortured face hidden from view.
Suddenly, Spidey found himself face to face with the mask of terror.
The mask of the Green Goblin.
"Ha...haha...hahah...HAhahaAHAhaha!!!" He grabbed the Spider-Man by his
costume, and smashed him on the floor. "I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to
do something like that," the Green Goblin mocked, lifting the stunned Spidey
dangling in his arms. "After facing all those useless twits you call villains .
. . this is all you can give me? Answer me! Give me all the reasons why I
shouldn't leave you crippled . . . because the Goblin can."
He sent Spidey crashing into the water tower, and then summoned his glider to
him.
"Best advise you, my dear arachnid friend," the Green Goblin said, as his
Goblin-glider began to lift him high above the skies. "You take my warning
seriously--otherwise . . . " He threw a pumpkin bomb towards Spider-Man and
missed. Well, not really. Gunpowder began to explode across the rooftops,
sprinkled by Green Goblin when he fell in pain.
" . . . otherwise may not be so much better than you think."
Spidey, dazed, watched as the Goblin began to fly off. "NOT so fast,"
he muttered, going after the costumed villain. He fired a webline onto the
Goblin's glider, dragging his wing down.
"Hah! Didn't listen, didn't you?!?! Well, no matter," The Goblin shouted as
he flew directly towards a building, then swerved up, hoping to smash Spidey on
the wall. At the spur of the moment, Spidey lifted his feet and began climbing
(or walking sideways against the wall) quickly upwards to the sky. At the top of
the building, with no ground to stay on, Spider-Man leapt and somersaulted,
landing behind the Green Goblin, riding on the glider.
"Hey, ugly," he whispered, punching Green Goblin as he turned. "I don't think
I'll be needing your warning!"
The two began to trade punches, as the glider began flying upwards to the
atmosphere. Spider-Man began to estimate how far they were from the ground, as
the Goblin swerved the flying contraption back down. The air pressure began to
get to Spider-Man, as they both began to plummet to the ground. Suddenly, the
Goblin laughed wickedly, as if he had moved the webcrawler in a position he
couldn't get out.
"Let's just say, in every battle, one must take a precaution." The part of
the glider where the Green Goblin was separated from Spidey, as he began to fall
down to the pavement. Spider-Man's ears began to ring, either the laughter of
the Green Goblin, or the sound of the engine letting out a long wail of
mechanical agony.
As seconds ticked away, Spidey's senses began to flare up in panic.
"Ohhhh ggggrreeaaatttt!!!!" After connecting a circuit, the separate
Goblin-glider began sped up even faster. Falling, a strange sensation ticked
from behind his mind, motioning him to connect one last circuit . . .
The glider suddenly stopped in mid-air, propelling Spidey to stick to the
walls of the building. "Oh . . . I think I'm going to puke . . . " From above,
he watched the Goblin look down on him. Grabbing reign of the mobile glider,
Spidey controlled it to come up after the Green Goblin.
"What a fool you are . . . did you think I didn't rig myself in case one of
my foes decide to use my inventions against me??"
The glider exploded in mid-air, as Spidey flipped sideways, few feet away
from the Goblin's flying contraption.
Spidey then grabbed a cartridge of the web formula, and threw it at the
glider, plugging its engine as the heat melted the plastic intolerably.
"Finally, some potential challenge," Green Goblin cackled, as his Goblin Glider
began to descend downwards. Spider-Man swung upwards to meet the opposition,
grabbing his enemy.
"Now, who's the Spider-Man?" He asked mockingly, as he began to spin a
webbed parachute.
Suddenly, the Green Goblin brought him face to face once more with Spidey.
"Tell me, my powers were that enhanced of mine own self . . . I am twice the man
I was. And only one man is needed to crush a spider."
Pushing Spidey upwards, he turned the clogged engine aiming at the hero, and
turned the engine thrust to full power. As the explosion seared Spidey's chest,
burning his emblem, the webslinger kicked himself from the glider, leaping over
a spot where the Goblin wouldn't stand a chance of being able to hit him.
Spider-Man came crashing down on the Green Goblin, and they both fell to the
ground far below them. During their descent, they separated, and Spidey lost
track of the Goblin as he himself hit the ground hard.
As he pried his head out of the pavement, he looked around. Oh, man,
he thought. I know this place. It's Vic's neighborhood!
Standing up, Spider-Man heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Problems, Spidey?"
The heat vision in Spidey's mask allowed him to see the outline of The
Shadow. "Sorry if I bothered you, man."
"No problem. I was already coming out. So, what's up now?"
Spidey sighed. "Earlier tonight, I had to deal with an Iron Man robot that
had been co-opted by a group of mechanical aliens called the Manhunters. Now,
some guy called the Green Goblin attacked the Planet."
"Part of the takeover?"
Spidey nodded, slowly stopping. He was usually still and quiet. "Hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Sounds like a rumbling."
"Possibly another of these 'Manhunters'?"
Just then, a mechanical humanoid landed just behind The Shadow.
"DESIGNATE: SHADOW. I am Sentinel Prime, designed to single out
mutants, and exterminate them."
" . . . right, like I'll let you do that," Spidey said, groaning behind his
mask. "Look, I've a really bad hair day . . . do you mind if we just walked
out?"
"NEGATIVE: imperative assault required. Super-human power leveled
entity detected with mutant . . . eradication if necessary." The
Sentinel Prime's eyes began to glow fiery red, as Spidey and the Shadow dodged
the blast. "I'd say your day's about to get worse," the Shadow said.
{Sorry about this.}
"TARGET: ability being used. Neutralization required. Gathering data
on DESIGNATE: SHADOW. Data downloading . . . " The prototype's eyelids
began to coat itself with heat vision.
"TARGET: cease resistance. PROTOTYPE is programmed to work for
the safety of humankind . . . mutant activity and offenses must be
'DELETED'."
"Hey what are superhero friends here for, if there aren't any superhero . . .
er . . . villains," Spidey yelled, as the Sentinel Prime began firing laser
beams all over the place.
{Hey, Vic! Don't concentrate on hiding yourself, I think he already knows--}
{I know.}
Spidey and the Shadow held back, and ran into the darkness of the alleyway.
The Sentinel placed another coat of infrared over the heat vision, and began
calculating Spidey's moves.
"Super-human powered entity, calibration locked." Spidey crawled by the walls
quickly, as the Sentinel Prime weapon continued its assault. Grabbing a garbage
can, the wall crawler leapt behind the robotic menace.
"Hey--say nighty-night!" He smashed the garbage at the Sentinel's face, just
hoping that . . .
The Sentinel Prime prototype stood before Spidey, staring unemotionally into
the hero's face.
"Uh . . . hi?"
Suddenly, laughter began to echo through the alleyway, distracting the robot
from even doing what it planned to do. Spidey stepped back, and searched for
something that could just be able to shut down the Sentinel Prime. "DESIGNATE
VOICE SIGNATURE: SHADOW. Locking . . . "
It then grabbed something invisible to the wall beside it, and threw it
across the pavement. The Shadow cringed, as he felt himself overpowered by the
Sentinel, his legs growing numb.
"DESIGNATE: SHADOW. Elimination sequence begin . . . "
"Get it over with then . . . "
"5"
" . . . somehow, you won't."
"1"
{Spidey, I need...!!!}
The Shadow closed his eyes, then heard a loud metallic sound smashed against
cold steel. He opened them, and found Spidey sighing, as a steel crowbar was
jammed into the Sentinel Prime's back. He examined the circuitry on the board,
as the Shadow relaxed a bit on the ground.
"Hey, cool . . . I bet I know what to do with this," Spidey exclaimed, taking
the crowbar off, and tinkering with the circuitry.
" . . . how do you know how to do that?" Vic asked, as the wallcrawler
adjusted the plugs.
"I was, or still am, a nerd, Vic. Don't dis me."
"Er . . . It never occurred to me until now, since we've been fighting for
our lives . . . but why's there a sear on your chest? Oven explode on you?"
"In the Goblin fight. Something like that."
Once completing his adjustments on the Sentinel Prime, it began to shake back
to life. Turning around, it spotted Spidey and the Shadow in its plain view.
" . . . NON-MUTANT ACTIVITY in this vicinity. VERIFYING SOURCE . .
. SOURCE has established contact with mutant DESIGNATES: UNVERIFIED.
The Sentinel flew off, and The Shadow stood up, dusting himself off. He
turned to Spider-Man.
"I hate to run off right now, but I have to stop that thing."
Spidey nodded. "Go," he said.
The Shadow ran off after the Sentinel, thinking, He can take me to those
'X-Men' I heard about on the news . . .
A few stories above, J. Jonah Jameson was hiding under his desk. He was afraid
for once in his life. He was afraid of the green skinned creature who had
crashed into his office.
Cody Driscol looked around. He was back home. Looking at his watch, he had only
been gone an hour or so. That's cool. I ran to the state line, and I'm not
even tired.
"No way, where is he?" Spidey mumbled as the he stuck the building wall, high
above Manhattan. Green Goblin was gone, vanished behind the web-headed hero, the
minute he turned his back. A strange sensation tickled him from behind, like he
was being taken for a big fool.
*(X-Men Secret Files #1)
They were all huddled together, trying to stay away from the
Manhunters. Another big concern in their minds were mutant haters. For a week,
they had been thrust into a world that truly hates and fears them.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps.
"Please just go by . . . please go by . . . " Jubilee muttered.
The six tried to press against the wall, hoping that whatever it was could
pass them by. They didn't want another encounter with a Manhunter.
Alas, the footsteps continued to grow louder.
Climbing back down, Henry McCoy turned to face his partner, and longtime
friend, Jean Grey.
"So, it's bad?" she asked.
"Very bad," Hank replied. "Looting all over the place."
"We should get back to the others. They need to know what is going on."
"But why? What are we going to do? We are outcasts. Our mentor is dead, and
somehow we've banded into a mutant task force. What are we called . . . the
X-Men?"
The two began walking back to the tunnels from which they came.
"The press gave us that name, and Clark seemed to like it," Jean said.
Hank frowned. "The press. Hmmph. What do they know? And how exactly did we
all get on this team anyway?"
"Hank, you do realize that if Xavier was still alive, we'd be in this team
anyway?"
"What?"
"Why do you think Xavier called everyone back? Clark was going to be the
leader. However, Xavier was hoping to have a couple more of his original
students, as well as being around to mentor us."
Hank sighed. "Well, I'm in this for the long haul, I guess. C'mon, Callisto
left the lights on for us."
It began with an event he wished was a dream - the destruction of the Xavier
Institute of Higher Learning. However, he knew that the large majority of his
dream was based in truth.
Looking around, he saw the mansion in flames. He could tell that Clark was
shouting to him. Iceman ran over and began helping him lift Morph, who had been
badly injured.
The next thing he remembers is a flash of light, and suddenly, the mansion is
gone. At first, he thinks it's been completely destroyed, but then he notices
that the fire is gone, and they are in a damp room or something.
By this time, Morph is able to stand mostly on his own, and so Clark and
Bobby put him down, letting Sarah assist him in walking.
Just then, the darkness is lifted, and the X-Men can tell that they are in a
tunnel. Standing in front of them were a homely little woman, and a bunch of odd
looking people and creatures.
Iceman could tell that Clark muttered something. It was like he knew who
these strange people were. Clark was communicating with them, but Bobby couldn't
tell what was going on. He was in a daze.
The next thing Iceman knows, the X-Men are following these people.
And then, the border between dream and reality starts to get fuzzy. Every
time, the dream is different here, and Bobby can never remember if any of the
scenarios were real.
As the X-Men were walking, Iceman noticed the walls were moving. He stopped,
and tried to look. Suddenly, a monster popped his head out.
"BOBBY! WAKE UP!" it shouted.
Bobby woke up with a start, glad that the dream was over, and saw Clark
standing over him.
"Hey, man," Clark said. "Hank and Jean are on there way."
"Well?" Clark asked. "How is it?"
"I'm not sure," Hank replied. "I keep seeing rioting and looting, but I can't
ascertain the true cause of it all."
"I have also heard similar reports from my Morlocks," Callisto interjected.
"They said something about machine men running around above ground."
The X-Men looked at Clark. "We might as well go out and find out what's going
on," he said.
"But what about the anti-mutant hysteria?" Iceman asked.
"If something major is going on up there, I don't think they will care about
trying to stop us," Clark replied. He turned to Jean, who had been unusually
silent. "Jean, what do you think?"
Jean acted as if she was concentrating on something else. Her mind was
reaching out, seeing what was going on directly above them. Debris started to
fall from the ceiling. Jean opened her eyes, and leapt for Hank, pushing him
down. "Watch out!" she shouted.
Before the last part of her warning left her mouth, the ceiling came in, and
a figure with both humanoid size and form crashed through.
It stood in the middle of the chamber, looking down. It was wearing jeans and
a white tee-shirt, but its angular geometry let everyone know it was anything
but human. Finally, it looked up, and it's fingertips started glowing.
"I am one of the Sentinel Prime," the thing said. "I have been equipped with
technology alien to you, which allows me to track down and eliminate the mutants
known as . . . the X-Men."
"I don't think so," Superman said. "We're not going down without a fight."
Within a second, he was already flying at top speed towards the Sentinel's
midsection. The force sent the Sentinel flying toward the surface, breaking
through the pavement above.
Jean used her telekinesis to hold the ceiling up once Clark had flown
through. She turned to Callisto. "Get the Morlocks out of here quickly!" she
shouted.
"What the -- ?!" Superman exclaimed as a dark figure stepped out from behind
the Sentinel.
"I am The Shadow," the figure said. "I am also a mutant, and I've
been looking for you for some time. Lucky for me, this Manhunter found you."
"Manhunter?" Superman asked, very confused.
"I've had a run-in with this guy before. His central systems have been
co-opted by an alien race."
"Oh," Superman replied. "But why did he go to you first, why
didn't he try to take out the X-Men?"
"Who knows?" Shadow replied. "I have a few ideas though."
Before he could finish his thought, the Sentinel came back online.
Morph and Sarah were talking to a few of the Morlock children. All of the
children were radically different, and none could even pass for human, let alone
be seen in public.
"I'm Leech," the little green boy said.
"Hey Leech, my name's Morph." As Morph said that, he transformed his body to
look like an older version of Leech.
"Wow, your power's cool!" Leech said.
"Thank you little guy, what are your powers?" Before Morph could finish, his
body turned from an adult version of Leech to a normal sized human. His skin
became a pale white and his hair light brown in color. Surprised, Morph grabbed
his face with his hands and felt it.
"I . . . ? My powers?"
Leech clapped his hands and smiled.
"I can take powers away of others," Leech said. Morph turned and looked at
Sarah.
Sarah smiled as she looked at Morph's face.
"So, this is your real face? Now, I know why you always hide it!"
She laughed and Morph also gave a fake laugh and smiled.
"Hehe, yeah, I guess it is."
Could this really be my face? My real face. It's been years since, since I
have known the true me . . .
Morph's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud crash nearby. Morph
and Sarah began moving back towards the others.
"I don't think so!" Superman exclaimed as he flew over and decked the
Sentinel in the jaw. The Sentinel stumbled back a step or two, but was able to
keep its balance.
Son of a - ! Superman thought. He's too good.
"TARGET DESIGNATE: SUPERMAN . . . " the Sentinel said.
"Very good, your eyes work," Superman said as he came in for another punch.
However, the Sentinel fell down before Superman could get near him.
"Hey, Sentinel, better watch behind you . . . " Iceman shouted out.
The Sentinel tried to stand up, twisted its body and turned to face its new
foe. "TARGET: ICEMAN . . . " It lifted its right arm and prepared to fire an
unusual energy blast at the mutant made of ice.
However, Iceman saw this and thrust his hands out, sending out more ice at
once than he ever had before. When he opened his eyes again, he found the
Sentinel completely encased in ice.
"Cool," he said. "No pun intended."
Superman used this opportunity to use his heat vision to melt the ice, as
well as part of the robot's body. The Sentinel fell to the ground, and Beast
came flying through the air, landing once on his chest, causing massive damage
to the mechanical torso. In the same leap, he jumped off the Sentinel, and
landing several feet away.
As the Sentinel attempted to stand up, the Shadow put out his hand. The
Sentinel lifted its head a few inches before falling back to the ground hard
with a loud THUD!
"Very interesting use of your powers," Beast said, coming up. "But I do
believe we still have a slight problem."
"And that might be . . . ?" The Shadow asked.
"The Sentinel is still here, and partially operational."
"Keep following this path. I'll get another group and then catch up," she
said.
Jean walked to where the boy was crouched. He was trying to hold back tear,
she noticed. She squatted down to come eye level with him. "Hey, there. My name
is Jean. Are you a lost Morlock?"
"Wh-what's a Morlock?" the boy asked, lifting his head slightly. Jean was
able to see that he had black hair and appeared to be in his mid-teens.
"Then what are you doing down here?"
"The power went off, and then some robot came after me, saying I was to be
eliminated."
"Robot? Are you a mutant?"
The boy looked up at her, and put out his hand. A small globe of green energy
appeared, floating above his hand. It formed into crystal, and then back into
energy before the boy absorbed it. "I guess so," he replied.
"Where are your parents?" Jean asked.
"I don't know. They went to see a movie. I was out with some friends."
Jean put her arm around the boy's shoulder, and got him to stand up. "Come
on, I know where you can be safe for now . . . "
Luthor was jolted back to reality by the ringing of his cell phone. "Luthor,"
he said.
"Mr. Luthor . . . " Lex recognized the voice. It was his assistant,
Happersen.
"What is wrong now?" Luthor snapped.
"You know that second phase of Sentinel production you approved?"
"You mean the Prime Sentinels?" Lex said with a smile.
"Yes. Well, somehow, one of the prototypes has been stolen, and it appears
that it is on the loose."
Luthor ended the call and threw the phone against the wall.
"The Manhunters! It has to be! Who else would steal a robot?! That's twice in
one night they've interfered with my plans!"
Iceman quickly formed the ice sheet and waited. Beast came in close to the
Sentinel.
Finally, Superman gave the order, and the Shadow lifted his shield, allowing
Beast to grab wires as planned. The Sentinel began sparking.
"MUTANT . . . "
Beast ran back and grabbed Iceman, knocking him out of the way as Superman
slowly melted the ice.
"DES . . . The melting ice fell into the Sentinel like rain, causing the robot to short
out.
"term . . . ted . . . The Sentinel fell back to the ground, eyes black, as dead as a robot could
be.
"Oh, my goodness . . . I had no idea," Jean said. She grabbed the boy's hand
and they crawled back down. Jean turned to face her new friend.
"Look, I'm going to take you to a place where there are some people who will
be able to help you for a while. They might appear frightening, but trust me,
they're probably more scared of the world than you are. I'll be back, but I have
to help my friends."
"O-okay . . . "
Jean and the boy walked through the tunnels, to where the Morlocks were
regrouping. Jean took the boy to Callisto. "Cal, please watch after this guy for
a while. I have to get back to the X-Men."
"Certainly, Jean . . . He'll be well taken care of until you get back."
"This sucks," Strike said, finally realizing that everything was not worth
it.
"Yeah, big time. I joined the 'Brotherhood' to be safe from 'mankind', not to
fight other mutants, to attack a school. I mean, this is all crazy. Maybe Bobby
was right to join the other side. I mean, peace between us and humans, that
would be better than war." Fog was a little unsure of her words, but she meant
them.
Wind passed by her, and Quicksilver appeared.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"I . . . It's just that . . . peace would be ni . . . "
"IMPOSSIBLE! They . . . The humans will never let that happen. This
Registration Act is only the beginning, they can and will do a lot worse.
Unless, we strike before them. Father might be out of it for the time being, but
I am not. I say we strike hard and unseen. Never letting up. They think that
we're dangerous . . . We'll prove them right!"
"But there are only four of us." Fog argued. "Rogue got captured, Havok quit,
prob went after her . . . And Maggott just seemed to have disappeared after the
big fight."
"It only takes one of us to attack at any given time. The attacks will be
quick; they will not even know what is happening! But they will fear us, fear
mutants."
"Now that he's taken care of, we try to find out where he came from . . .
"
"I think it's pretty obvious," Jean said. "He's part of the whole government
anti-mutant campaign."
"Maybe," Superman replied. "But I would think there would be more than one."
"Someone freed him, and then Manhunters got hold of him," The Shadow
added. "Or maybe the other way around."
"Any idea who's involved?" Superman asked.
The Shadow nodded. "Naturally . . . But first, I need a little proof . . .
"
"I don't know," Natalie Casswell replied.
The person on the other end of the phone line sighed. "Have you seen him
since he went on patrol tonight?"
"Peter, you have to be kidding me? Vic went out tonight?"
Peter Parker took a deep breath. "Of course. It's nights like this that
superheroes make their name."
"When I hear anything from him, I'll let you know. Are you at the Daily
Planet?"
"Until dawn . . . "
"Okay, I'll see you around. Bye."
"Bye."
Natalie hung up the phone, and sat back down on her bed. Victor, she
thought. I hope you know what you're doing . . .
"Not really," The Shadow replied. "I was hoping to find a tracking
device or something . . . "
"Excuse me, but didn't you say you knew who was controlling this strange
Sentinel?" Beast asked.
The Shadow shook his head. "No. I said I had an idea. Even if I'm right,
I'm not completely sure where to find them."
"What do you know about them?" Superman asked.
"They're trying to capture me and make me one of their own."
"Will you be needing our help?"
The Shadow thought for a moment. "Yes. However, I just need a small
portion of your team. Jean, Beast, and you, Superman may come with me." He
looked back down at the fallen Prime Sentinel in front of him. "Hmm . . . It
seems like I have found what I need." The Shadow bent down and picked up a
small black box from the backside of the mechanical menace.
"Will that tell us what we need to know?" Superman asked.
"Indubitably."
"Ebon . . . " The Shadow said. "Why am I not surprised that you are
the one behind the Sentinel?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Shadow!" Ebon exclaimed.
"Oh, please," Beast said. "Why should we believe that? First, you are a
terrible liar. Second, you are in the presence of two of the potentially
greatest telepaths. You're busted."
Ebon put his hands in the air, and the X-Men along with the Shadow were
covered in a black film-like substance. While the X-Men struggled to get free,
Ebon took the opportunity to flee.
Beast was able to get free first, because he had not been completely covered.
He used his agility to bounce around the chamber, and landed on Ebon's back,
knocking the Intergang boss to the ground.
"I don't think so," Beast said, in a slightly taunting tone of voice. "Look,
I've been living in a tunnel for a week, after my home was destroyed. My mentor
is dead, and I've spent most of the night fighting a rogue Sentinel that you had
something to do with!"
"Beast, calm down," The Shadow said, walking up behind the X-Men.
"We'll get everything straightened out."
"Actually, I am calm. I just needed to vent."
"Glad I could be of some use," Ebon said. "Now, will you kindly remove your
feet from my back."
"Why, cert - "
The Shadow placed a hand on Beast's shoulder. "Not yet." He bent down
to stare at Ebon. "I'm going to ask you this once, and you better give me the
answer I want. What is the deal with the Prime Sentinel?"
"I'll never tell you," Ebon spit out.
The Shadow lunged forward, grabbed Ebon by the collar, and slammed him to a
wall. If the Beast had not been so agile, he would have fallen down himself.
"Listen you piece of Intergang scum, tell me why my new friends and I were
hunted down by a Prime Sentinel!" The Shadow shouted, continually slamming
Ebon's head against the brick wall.
So much for staying calm . . . Beast thought.
"Okay," Ebon whispered. "I'll tell you. It wasn't my idea. It was the big
guy."
"Who, Ebon? Who's the 'big guy'?"
Ebon laughed. "Like I'm telling you. Anyway, he found this new prototype of a
robot that hunts mutants. He stole it to come after you. But then those weird
things - what are they, Manhunters? - take over, and the Sentinel goes AWOL."
The Shadow pulled Ebon from the wall, and for a second he acted as if he
would set Ebon down gently. But without any warning, he bodyslammed Ebon to the
wall, rendering him unconscious.
"Intergang . . . It all comes down to some gang who wants to recruit me
because I blew their cover."
"That sounds odd," Jean said. "One would think that they would want you
dead."
"If I wasn't so powerful, that would be true. As it is, they probably want
to brainwash me. They've been trying for weeks. First, by sending a powerful
supervillain after me, and then by sending the reincarnation of my predecessor's
arch enemy."
"But now that we've discovered this connection, what more can we do?"
Superman asked.
The Shadow was silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke.
"We look for another one."
He was able to identify the source of the trouble based on the position of
the light. Ebon . . . he thought. The Shadow must have come to him.
Very well. I will send the other surprise I have for that meddler.
"But, shouldn't we be helping with the situation elsewhere, before your
personal vendetta?" Jean asked.
"This may be the only chance I get to look around here," the Shadow
replied. "You have plenty of X-Men left to help the Morlocks, and I'm sure
the Avengers League and S.H.I.E.L.D. are both out taking care of business in the
city."
"He does have a point," Superman said, already walking to a wall. "Jean,
maybe you better use your telepathy to search for any other signs of life around
here."
"Maybe we can find some of those Intergang lowlifes."
The Shadow began going down the wall, feeling for any possible cracks. The
X-Men each took one of the other three walls and did the same. Jean also
conducted a telepathic search, but found no one hidden.
Just as The Shadow met up with Superman, he felt something strange on the
wall.
"I think we might have found it."
Superman nodded. "I feel a crack down here too. Should I?"
The Shadow stepped aside. "Go ahead."
Superman stood back, raised his fist, and then punched through the wall. The
hole was nearly a perfect rectangular shape. Beast leapt over and glanced over
his leader's shoulder.
"Oh my stars and garters," he said, looking in.
The hidden recess stored a Sentinel. It looked more like the ones that the
X-Men had seen previewed, but nowhere near the size projected.
"This must be another kind of prototype," Superman announced. "This is most
definitely not a Prime Sentinel."
"Figures that they'd have a back-up plan," The Shadow commented.
"Let's hope this one stays benevolent . . . "
Before the last word left the Shadow's lips, the Sentinel's eyes lit up.
Everyone stepped back.
"I believe your wish was a bit premature," Beast said.
Superman moved to stand in front of the opening. If the Sentinel tried to do
anything, it'd have to go through him first. Sure enough, the Sentinel raised
its arm and prepared to fire. Before the energy could travel down its arm,
however, Superman had already dismantled the arm.
"Wait!" The Shadow exclaimed. "We may need this thing somewhat
intact!"
"But we found the brains behind it," Beast said, pointing to the unconscious
gang leader lying on the floor. "He's kinda out of it."
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he has a boss? This Sentinel could
possibly lead us to the main man."
The Sentinel used the distraction to blast a hole in the ceiling above him.
The X-Men jumped back once more. The Shadow began climbing the rubble, chasing
the machine.
"Uh, guys?" Jean asked, pointing to a group of people wearing blue jackets
standing where the X-Men had made their grand entrance earlier. "Who are they?"
{Intergang,} The Shadow said into the X-Men's heads. {You guys
handle them. I'll deal with the Sentinel.}
The Shadow began climbing up the walls of the rough tunnel that the Sentinel
had created. About six feet up, he found another tunnel that ran perpendicular.
It had already been made. The Shadow climbed up and crouched.
Suddenly, he was blasted from behind, and knocked into another chamber, one
he had never seen before. The Sentinel followed him.
"TARGET: Shadow. OBJECTIVE: Eliminate."
Just then, The Shadow saw something flash before his eyes, and then the
Sentinel was on its back.
What the heck just happened? he thought as he stood up. Looking into
the dark corner, he noticed something. He walked over.
"Stop . . . "
The voice was deep; way deeper than The Shadow had ever heard himself or any
of his predecessors go. He felt he had no choice but to follow the command, and
so he stopped in his tracks.
"Identify yourself . . . "
"I am The Shadow. Who are you?"
"Never mind that. Why are you invisible?"
"Because I am The Shadow. I am supposed to be invisible."
"Why are you here?"
"I am here to take out this Sentinel which I assume you have saved me the
trouble of doing."
"How did you know of this place?"
"The man who lives in the chamber next door has tried to capture me a few
times. Now, would you care to identify yourself?"
"Not really. I stick to the shadows. Stealth is my game."
"Hmm. Sounds like you're moving in on my territory."
"Or perhaps you on mine."
"As much as I'd love to continue this philosophical discussion, I have
some friends that probably need some help in the next room, so, it's been fun,
but I gotta go."
The Shadow jumped up and climbed into the tunnel, climbing back to the
chamber where he left the X-Men. He found them standing triumphant over a pile
of semi-conscious Intergang members.
"How nice of you to finally join us," Beast said.
The Shadow walked over and picked up one gangster still aware of his
surroundings.
"Who's the boss, and how can I find him?"
"I dunno," the guy answered.
"You don't know or won't tell?"
"Pick one."
The Shadow threw the gang member down and walked back to the X-Men. "Let's
go. There's nothing left here."
"Hey, where've you been?" she asked.
"Fighting robots," Vic replied. He walked over and gave Natalie a quick kiss.
"What have you been up to?"
"I've been waiting for you. Peter Parker called earlier. He wanted to know
where you were."
"We met earlier tonight," Vic said. "I guess he called afterward. I'll call
him to let him know what happened. Is he at the Planet?"
"He said until dawn."
Vic picked up the phone and dialed the number for the Daily Planet.
"Lois Lane," the voice on the other end answered.
"Lois, it's Vic. Is Peter around?"
"Sure." Vic could hear Lois call Peter in the distance. Then, Peter got on
the line.
"Vic. What's up?"
"That Sentinel . . . it's toast. I ran into a group of mutants called the
X-Men. They helped me take care of it. It's dangerous, man."
"Tell me about it," Peter said. "Hey, I had to deal with tons of stuff
tonight. First, that Iron Man robot attacked me. Fortunately, the Avengers
League was able to straighten that out, and prevent NORAD from getting shut
down. Then, the Green Goblin attacked, followed by the Sentinel. I'm ready for a
break."
"No rest for the weary . . . "
"At least not while the lights are out."
"I'll talk to you later," Vic said.
"See ya."
Vic hung up and turned back to Natalie. "You know, I had been wanting to
contact the X-Men."
"Why?"
"I felt like they could help me deal with my being a mutant," Vic answered as
he walked closer to Natalie and hugged her. They stayed in that embrace for a
while.
"Did they?"
"Well, I realized that I don't have it bad. I can hide in plain side. But
some of them can't. Heck, there's a whole nation of Morlocks living in tunnels
under the city."
"Don't worry about it now," Natalie said. She looked up at Vic and then they
kissed again.
As people all around the world asked their questions as to the blackout's
origin, tired SHIELD Agents slowly dragged themselves into their headquarters on
Paris Island. it had been one tough night for them. With New York police and
hospitals taxed far beyond their measure, it had been SHIELD who had picked up
the slack this horrendous night. They had done every type of job conceivable.
They had quelled riots, doctored and ambulanced the sick and injured, fought
fires, and tried to restore order. They had worked harder than any of them had
ever worked before, poured their blood, sweat, and tears into preserving what
lives and property they could. Now they were tired and all just wanted to get
some food and some sleep.
That wasn't meant to be. Before they even made it back to the complex, they
had received new orders. Everybody, all seven hundred Agents currently stationed
in the New York Headquarters, had been called to the graduation hall which was
connected to the training school. It was the only place in the headquarters that
could hold all the agents at one time.
Tired, bloodied, and worn, the Agents filed into the hall, to slump into
their seats and try to not fall asleep.
While many filed into seats, all did not. Field Leader Oliver Queen stood by
the back doors and watched the Agents file in. By his side were Agents Ben
Turner and Roy Harper. He trusted them, right now he wasn't sure who else he
could trust. The problem was a group of alien robots, self-styled cosmic
policemen, known as the Manhunters, had infiltrated the very heart of SHIELD.
They had some vast plan, which had included the blackout, which had ravaged the
New York. They had tried to kill some of Oliver's closest friends and left many
of his friends and loved ones in terrible peril. Now, the three of them may well
be the only thing that stood between these Manhunters and whatever devious plot
they had begun to hatch.
Oliver watched as the hall began to fill. He noticed that several of his
Alpha-level operatives had made their way close to him. New agents Chase Lawler
and Elizabeth Lockhart had moved within close proximity, as had John Henry and
Duchess. Oliver had considered letting them in on the truth, but he had decided
against it, because he just didn't trust any of them. He had trusted Agent Mark
Shaw also, and he had turned out to be one of these ‘things'. Now, the only
people he was sure weren't ‘one of them' were long-time friend Turner, family
member Harper, and Forge and Henry Pym, who were currently being held hostage
within the Headquarters. He was also confident that Agent Sasha Martens wasn't,
but she was currently in the infirmary nursing wounds.
Oliver gritted his teeth and wondered how he could have missed all the signs.
In the last year, his team had been slowly whittled down from the people who he
could trust. Agent Frank Castle was discovered to be a traitor. Agent John
Walker was gone. Ben had barely survived an assassination attempt on his life
while on vacation. Agent Rachel Leighton had simply vanished after taking ill
after a mission. Oliver himself had been put through the ringer and barely
escaped with his own life on several occasions.
Oliver was jarred from his thoughts as he saw certain Agents start to make
their way up to the podium.
"Karin?" Oliver heard Ben whisper as he turned his attention to follow Ben's
line of sight. Sure enough, Karin Grace, the love of Ben Turner's life, was one
of the Agents making her way to the podium.
Oliver and his friends watched in shock as other familiar faces made their
way up the aisle. Included were Jessica Woo, Oliver's personal assistant, and
more amazingly, Ben Foster, SHIELD's head of the Science and Technology
Division.
As several others joined them on stage, a man Oliver had never seen before
took center stage and came to the podium to speak.
"Attention, everybody. My name is William Vickers. I am sure you have a lot
of questions, and we will deal with them all in time, but right now I have a
statement that I will read to you, then you all be allowed to get some much
deserved rest and food, and we will deal with the debriefings and clean-up
later.
"At around seven PM Friday evening, a terrorist group known as the Sons of
the Serpent hatched a plan to create widespread chaos in New York City. They
released a virus within the computers which regulate the city's power, and
backed that up with a massive energy-stealing device of unknown origin. While at
first we suspected their motives were purely chaotic in nature, it was in fact
part of a cold, calculating plan to infiltrate this very SHIELD Headquarters,
overtake it, and destroy it . . . "
Whispers of horror and disbelief rumbled through the crowd. Oliver could
hardly believe what he was hearing. It seemed that someone had instituted a
cover-up of lies and pure propaganda. He watched in awe as Vickers continued.
"Worse still were the discoveries that Agents within the facility were
discovered to be double-agents, working for this terrorist organization. With
there help, the terrorist almost succeeded in destroying this facility and the
entire city.
"Luckily, thanks to the dedication and determination of you fine Agents
assembled here, we were able to put a stop to this devious plot and save not
only this organization, but much of the city as well. We have now discovered the
traitors, and all of the terrorists, and have put a stop to these actions.
"We here have also decided that this infiltration has proven a need for
change within this organization. Certain factions within SHIELD have fallen into
stagnation and this will no longer be permitted. It is time for some changes to
be made, and the people here on this stage are going to help make them. Karin
Grace, Head of Psychology. Ben Foster, Head of Science and Technology. Jessica
Woo, Head of recruiting and Personnel. Along with Mark Shaw, Head of Covert
operations, and myself, we will be ushering SHIELD into a new millennium. We
will be sleeker, meaner, leaner, and more effective. Nothing like the events of
last night will ever happen again."
Oliver watched in disgust as the agents were suddenly filled with newfound
energy, as they leapt from their seats and cheered. He had to admit, Vickers had
serious charisma, and had whipped the agents into quite a frenzy.
He was so swept up in all the excitement, he hardly noticed as a handful of
agents surrounded him and his friends, injected them with something, and
darkness consumed him.
Vickers smiled as he focused on Oliver. "It is nice to see you are awake now
Mr. Queen . . . "
Oliver could do nothing to hold back his rage. "What the hell is going on
here . . . "
Vickers calmly began to pace, and seemed to slowly prepare what he had to
say. "Oliver, it is quite complicated. There are forces working against this
world. Forces of great evil. Forces that you humans are completely unprepared to
combat. We were built to be the ultimate policing force in this universe. Since
you can't save your world, we are here to do it for you.
"We know that had we come and simply revealed ourselves, you would have never
accepted us. So we did things our own way. We are here to help you, but in your
egocentric minds you never would accept that . . . "
Oliver spat in disgust. "Help us? By eliminating my team? By trying to kill
us? By destroying a city?"
"We were simply making sure that only the fittest survived and prepared for
the coming darkness that shall descend upon this planet. You had to be tested,
just as we are testing others around this world right now. We have to make sure
you are prepared for the war that is coming.
"As far as New York goes, what we did was necessary. It all plays into out
future plans which will not only help strengthen and control not only this city,
and this organization, but the entire world itself. We do what is necessary to
complete our mission."
Oliver strained against his restraints. "What about now, are you going to
just kill us?"
Vickers laughed. "Hardly Oliver. Your death right now wouldn't serve us at
all. Your disappearance would just lead to questions that we don't need, and we
can't risk bad attention at such a critical juncture in our plans. You all have
a choice, stay and help us with our mission, or . . . "
Oliver and the others watched as Henry Pym walked in surrounded by several
SHIELD Agents. In his hands were a handful of headband-looking devices with
numbers of wires and mechanical devices connected to them.
Vickers continued. "We will erase the very memories of us from your head. In
the end, when it comes to SHIELD, you will only have the memories we select, and
you will retain no memories of the Manhunters. Please don't consider Mr. Pym or
Forge, who helped us build these machines to be at fault. We told them to aid
us, or they and you would simply be killed. Don't worry, we have tested the
technology, and we will be careful not to change any inappropriate memories.
"The choice is yours . . . "
"You are mad . . . " whispered Oliver, the full extent of the Manhunter
Agenda finally sinking into his overwhelmed head.
"Karin?" said Ben, confused.
Karin Grace came forward, "I am truly sorry Ben, that I had to deceive you
like this. Join us and we can be together . . . "
"Let me go . . . " screamed Duchess as she tried to break her bonds. She was
unable to.
Vickers continued. "I am sorry. I can see by the look in all your eyes that
none of you will be willingly to join our cause. It is sad really, you are all
fine Agents, and your skills will all be missed. Maybe after some time on your
own, you will be ready to come back and join us. We are fighting the good fight
here Agents, there is a great war coming in this world, and we may be the only
one's to stop it.
All the retrained Agents of SHIELD tried to resist as the headbands were
placed on their heads, and then everything went dark . . .
Sasha looked around for a moment, and made a mental check to make sure she
was doing the right thing. She picked up the two pieces of paper that were still
sitting on the kitchen table. The two papers that she had spent a great deal of
time the past few days staring at.
The first was her discharge papers from SHIELD. For all the time she had
spent with them, for all the love she had once had for her job, she just found
it wasn't there anymore. The mystique that had made SHIELD such a wonderful job
just wasn't there anymore. The whole ordeal with Frank Castle, the inner
politics, it was just to much. She decided the time to get out was now, and she
believed it was a wise decision.
The other paper was a letter from her father, Jonathan Martens. He was
current director of the government's Project Pegasus. He had offered her a job
with security there. The combined benefit of being close to her father and a
chance to work with the government's elite alien recovery and security division
had been too much to resist, so off to Arizona she was going.
Sasha heard the honk outside her door, grabbed her suitcase, and said goodbye
to SHIELD and New York.
"Where are we going, daddy?" the inquisitive young girl asked.
Roy thought for a moment, then smiled, as he kissed his child on her
forehead, "On a vacation honey. How would you like to go out to California? We
can see auntie Carol, you can go to Disneyland, and we will just have some fun."
"No more work, daddy?" Lian asked.
"No, honey. Daddy is done with work for awhile, daddy is gonna spend more
time with his little girl, sound good to you?"
"Yeah!" the little girl exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Roy and
brought a tear to his eye.
Forge scratched his head and sighed as he brushed the soot off of some
mechanical device that had once been part of his extensive inventory of ‘toys'
in his basement.
"Guess I better find my credit cards in here. Something tells me the guys at
Home Depot are gonna become my new best friends . . . "
Duchess fell to the ground, screaming in agony. All the past had come rushing
from her subconscious, a flood of memories that had been repressed.
Duchess raised her hands to the sky, bloodied and bruised. She could barely
see from the tears that flowed from her face.
"Father," she cried, almost incoherently, "why did you abandon me . . . "
The woman known as Duchess curled into a fetal position and cried.
Pym put down his glasses for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow. For
just a moment he had a lapse in his technical attention. For just a moment he
wondered what his friends Forge, or Oliver Queen, or Captain America were doing
right now. He had a sudden twinge for a little adventure, a little excitement.
For just a moment he missed his days with the Avengers League.
Pym smiled, and put his glasses back on, and went back to his calibrations.
He peered out from the manhole, looking out at the chaos on the streets. He
could see looters running around. Clark's not going to like this.
Back in the Morlock tunnels, Iceman was lying on the cot that he had been using
for a bed. For the past week, the same dream had been haunting his dreams.
Unfortunately for him, it was still around.
Hank and Jean returned to the main tunnel. Callisto sat in a chair in the center
of the room. The other X-Men were standing around.
On the surface, Superman was able to gain the upper hand against the Sentinel
Prime. He finally was able to punch it and catch it under the jaw, sending it
flying into the air. When it came down, something punctured the torso before it
hit the ground.
Elsewhere, within the tunnels.
"TARGET . . . DESIGNATE: SHADOW . . . reinstate elimination sequence . . . "
Jean Grey was underground, helping Callisto clear the tunnels of Morlocks. As
she led a group around a bend, she found a young boy huddled into a corner. Jean
turned to the scaly mutant standing behind her.
Lex Luthor had been in his sub-basement office for most of the night. He found
it strangely comforting. Maybe he could work out of this office all the time . .
.
"Iceman, create a sheet of ice in the air," Superman ordered. "Shadow, keep the
invisible shield on him until I tell you to drop it, at which time Beast will
dig into the Sentinel's chest and pull out some wires. Everyone then stand back
while I melt the ice . . . "
Jean and the boy reached the end of the tunnel and crawled out into the street.
It was chaos. Riots were happening everywhere.
Abandoned Building. Somewhere in New York. The place was a mess; notes,
diagrams, charts and maps were thrown all over the place. Resting from the
events prior to today were Strike, Force, and Fog. They were keeping cover from
the craziness all around them in New York.
As Jean came out of the tunnels, she saw The Shadow standing by the X-Men,
surveying the damage they had caused to the Prime Sentinel.
by Chip Caroon
Originally presented in The Shadow 2000 #5
"Do you know what you're doing?" Superman asked, watching the semi-invisible
figure circle the recently fallen Sentinel.
Ebon was sitting back in his chair, enjoying a smoke when the dust began falling
from the ceiling. Within a second, the bricks formerly situated above his head
were now lying at his feet. Ebon stood up to face the quartet now in front of
him. He could sense The Shadow crouching in front of him. Hovering behind him
were Superman (by his flight powers) and Jean Grey (using her telekinesis).
Beast was hanging down from the hole, smiling.
He sat in his office, reflecting in the darkness. He had learned several
meditation techniques years ago which he utilized now. He was brought out of his
"trance" by the blinking of a red light, and a very faint buzz, alerting him to
trouble.
The Shadow turned to face the three X-Men. "Quick, look around this chamber.
Look for secret entrances or something. Anything that could be used to surprise
us."
By the time Victor Cranston returned home, it was almost time for some people to
begin waking up. Natalie was waiting for him in his bedroom. She had fallen
asleep on his bed. When he closed the door and turned on the flashlight on the
bookcase beside the door, she woke up.
by Toby Kernan
Originally presented in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #12
Oliver woke from his slumber to find himself in one of the SHIELD's largest
science labs. He was strapped to a examination table, but placed upright so it
was if he was almost standing. He turned his groggy head to each side, and
noticed there were several others in similar situations around him. Agents Roy
Harper, Ben Turner, Sasha Martens, and Duchess were all strapped to tables near
him. So was his long-time friend Forge. As he shook the cobwebs from his head,
he noticed there were people standing there, watching him-Karin Grace, Ben
Foster, Chase Lawler, Elizabeth Lockhart, Jessica Woo, and William Vickers. He
also noticed a large screen filled with the image of a face, and Oliver assumed
that it was the image of Deathlok, the Manhunter Virus that now inhabited
SHIELD's computers.
by Toby Kernan
Originally presented in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #12
Roy Harper packed his daughter Lian into his Dodge Ram. It was time for a change
he thought to himself as he loaded the handful of bags into the truck's
exterior, then buckled his beautiful young daughter into her car seat.
Forge looked out at the devastation that had once been his home. Ravaged by the
insane group of cyber-thieves known as the Marauders, for unknown reasons, the
once multi-million dollar home had been reduced to a burnt husk.
The woman known as Duchess punched her fist into the wall beside her, and pieces
of brick and mortar fell in all directions around her. Something had happened.
Before, pieces of her memory had been missing, and now they had returned. She
couldn't remember her recent past, but the things that happened before, the
mysteries that she had been unable to penetrate while she was with Suicide Squad
and SHIELD, lay wide open before her.
Henry Pym tweaked the calibrator on his energy transmitter. He had been working
hard on the machine all night long, hoping to have the device done by early
tomorrow. It was a restraining device that would be used at Hugo Maximum
Security Prison, hopefully to restrain creatures such as the Living Laser, whose
forms were composed of pure energy.
Author's Note: This is the end of Agents of
SHIELD. This was a wonderful experience for me, a great way to start my
foray into fanfic, but it is time to move on the different things. For a sneak
peak into the future of DCM, please read SHIELD
Secret Files #1, which opens up the SHIELD's extensive files on many of
the people and places that will shape the world DCM is to become. Also, if you
are wondering as to the fate of Oliver Queen (which you might note, was left out
from the ‘aftermaths' above), please read the upcoming Nomad ongoing series, which will continue Queen's
exploits in DCM.
-Toby Kernan
Originally published as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #9-12, Batman #12-13,
Spider-Man #11-12, Iron Man #8, DCM Showcase #3, Avengers League #3, Young Justice: Manhunter Madness,
X-Men #5, and The Shadow 2000 #5 at DC/Marvel: The Merging, and may not be reused or republished in any way
without the permission of the authors.
DC/Marvel: The Merging is a fanfiction site, and is not affiliated with nor
endorsed by DC Comics or Marvel Comics, nor any company that owns these
characters. All of the stories here are written for fun, and the authors are not
making any profit from them, and do not intend any harm to the original
creation. This site is for entertainment purposes only. DC/Marvel: The Merging
concept created by Chip Caroon, developed by Chip Caroon and Ritchie Filippi,
with other writers.