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Message
re: Bard's Poor Attempt at a Combined Marvel/DC Universe (an ongoing project)
Posted on 11/6/20 at 4:36 pm to Bard
Posted on 11/6/20 at 4:36 pm to Bard
"She's a moron," explained Kitty between bites of pizza.
After bouncing around from house to house to mansion over and over the trio finally had decided on watching movies the old fashioned way: at a theater. As an addendum they also decided it needed a good pizza place nearby where they could discuss the movie over some slices.
Dick had picked a theater in the East Village and while the two boys liked it and it was beautiful inside, it was still in Manhattan and there were no good pizza places nearby. It had been a strong contender, especially after Peter's pick.
Peter had picked the AMC in Forest Hills since it would be easier for both he and Kitty (although he lived across the Hudson from Manhattan, he never seemed to have a problem getting to Queens). Peter's theater had a pizza place right next to it but it was small and the theater was on the always-busy Queen's Boulevard.
Kitty's pick had turned out to be the best. She had found a small theater near her home in Kew Gardens. Peter had fallen in love with the pizza place nearby and Dick was grateful for both places being near the LIRR. Not only that but there was a tiny park by the train stop with tables and benches where they could enjoy their pizza and talk.
"She has this GREAT guy but she falls for Peeta just because they are pushed together," she took a drink from her cup then continued, "not buying it."
Dick snickered as he pointed at her with his pizza slice, "you just think Liam Hemsworth is hot."
"Well yeah...I mean.. no," Kitty stammered. Dick was good at reading her. She enjoyed having a friend who knew her so well but it was also frustrating when he saw through her argument to her true motives.
"I bet Dani is hot," Peter chimed in. "I'm pretty sure I would return an 'I love you' to her if we were in some mountain cabin in a bizarre, apocalyptic world." He closed his eyes as he at from his slice, savoring the taste.
Kitty grinned at him. "Peter, we've been over this. 'Dani's House of Pizza' isn't named after a woman named Dani and she's certainly not a 'bikini model'. It's the family name of the owners," she explained. Again.
Peter raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, "I choose to believe" was all he said before taking another savoring bite.
The two boys were both more of the quiet type until you got to know them but where Dick was quiet because he was observing, Peter was quiet just because he felt socially awkward. It was ridiculous, of course, because once you got to know him and his goofy humor, you couldn't help but like him. A lot. Especially if your name was Kitty Pryde.
She had thought about the funny triangle they created. They truly enjoyed each other's company and their group dynamic but she knew Dick harbored feelings for her and she knew she harbored feelings for Peter but Peter harbored feelings for the schools social queen, Mary Jane Watson. Kitty mused that if Mary Jane ever joined their group she would probably end up having feelings for Dick. Ladies and gentlemen, the world's first love square.
"That's a little low for a jet, isn't it," Dick asked pointing up through the barren tree limbs. A light, almost like a comet seemed to be coming toward them from the general area of JFK airport but it was descending toward them, the airport was four or five miles away.
As it quickly grew closer, Kitty started feeling nervous. "Could that be a comet?"
Peter swallowed then looked up directly at the oncoming light. "Guys, we should leave. Now!" By the time Peter finished his sentence the jet turned comet had come close enough for them to see it was some sort of large man-shaped object.
"Quick! Under the overpass!" Instead of charging up the steps and back to street level Dick leaped over the fence between the benches and the railway area and began running for the cover of the overpass.
Kitty looked back to Peter who was still looking at object coming toward them. It had slowed its speed but it was still definitely making a beeline for their area. He looked at her then shooed her on as she was between he and the fence. "Go! I'm right behind you," he urged.
She vaulted over the fence, slid down the side of the embankment then followed Dick under the cover of the concrete and steel roadway above.
Dick looked back, "where's Peter!?!"
Kitty's heart dropped as she realized he wasn't right there with her. "He was right behind me!"
Dick moved around her to go back for him when dirt, soot and trash began flying up from the ground at the train station. A giant wind was pushing down on the ground from outside their shelter. The area directly outside the overpass got brighter even as the whooshing sound of jet engines got louder.
Finally the source of all this sound and fury came into view, two gigantic, robotic legs colored purple and magenta landed outside the overpass. The giant robot knelt down on one knee and peered under the overpass at Dick and Kitty, a light emitted from the eye holes of its eerie version of a human face.
"SCANNING."
"Dick! What's it doing?!"
Dick grimaced, "I don't know but get behind me" as he reached into his pocket for something.
"SCANNING."
Dick turned to look at her, his face as calm and serious as that of a soldier facing certain death. "Kitty, when I make my move, you turn and run the other way. Get out of the overpass and HIDE somewhere!"
"MUTATION DETECTION CONFIRMED. MUTATION CATEGORY: UNKNOWN."
"Dick, no! That thing's not Flash or one of his goons. Come with me! We can find a place to hide together!"
"ASSESSMENT: HUMAN MALE: HOSTILE. THREAT LEVEL:
IRRELEVANT.
ASSESSMENT: MUTANT FEMALE: PRIMARY TARGET. APPREHEND."
Dick turned to face the monstrous machine as it began reaching a large, metal hand toward them. "Irrelevant, my arse! Kitty on my mark! Three... two..."
"Hey Pervo-bot!" A red and blue blur slammed into the right side of the robot's head, knocking it off-balance. "Keep those metal paws to yourself, buddy!"
The robot turned its head to follow what had just hit it.
"HOSTILE RESISTANCE ENCOUNTERED. SCANNING."
Dick charged forward, pulling something from his pocket.
"HOSTILE DESIGNATE: SPIDERMAN. THREAT LEVEL: LOW.
ASSESSMENT: DISABLE HOSTILE INTEFERENCE BEFORE ENGAGING PRIMARY TARGET.
The robot began to right itself and stand as Dick continued his rush toward it. Once he got within a few feet he hurled two marble-sized spheres at the robot's chest. When they impacted they shattered. Whatever had been contained within them caused the robot to freeze momentarily.
"ELECTRICAL ANOMOLAY DETECTED. MOBILITY ISSUE. FORMULATING COUNTERMEASURE. TEN SECONDS UNTIL COUNTERMEASURE SUCCESS."
Spiderman landed across the track area from the train platform and the giant robot. "SPIDER-STRENGTH-WEB-ENGAGE" he shouted as he shot large strands of webs at the massive construct then pulled down and toward him with all of his might.
The robot had been slightly off-balance when Dick's spheres had immobilized it. Spiderman's leverage and strength pulled it over and into the railway's electrified third rail. The robot ceased to move or make any noise whatsoever.
Dick took a few steps forward, somewhere he had found a metal rod and now held it at the ready. Behind him, Kitty was slowly making her way forward.
Spiderman shot a web up to the side of a nearby building, "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my patent-pending remedy for Grabby-Handy giant robots! Satisfaction is guaranteed, your mileage may vary, guarantee not actually valid in Yonkers be-"
"because, well, it's Yonkers" Dick finished.
Kitty stopped and stared, "you gotta be shitting me."
Without another word a very uncharacteristically quiet Spiderman disappeared up into the night.
After bouncing around from house to house to mansion over and over the trio finally had decided on watching movies the old fashioned way: at a theater. As an addendum they also decided it needed a good pizza place nearby where they could discuss the movie over some slices.
Dick had picked a theater in the East Village and while the two boys liked it and it was beautiful inside, it was still in Manhattan and there were no good pizza places nearby. It had been a strong contender, especially after Peter's pick.
Peter had picked the AMC in Forest Hills since it would be easier for both he and Kitty (although he lived across the Hudson from Manhattan, he never seemed to have a problem getting to Queens). Peter's theater had a pizza place right next to it but it was small and the theater was on the always-busy Queen's Boulevard.
Kitty's pick had turned out to be the best. She had found a small theater near her home in Kew Gardens. Peter had fallen in love with the pizza place nearby and Dick was grateful for both places being near the LIRR. Not only that but there was a tiny park by the train stop with tables and benches where they could enjoy their pizza and talk.
"She has this GREAT guy but she falls for Peeta just because they are pushed together," she took a drink from her cup then continued, "not buying it."
Dick snickered as he pointed at her with his pizza slice, "you just think Liam Hemsworth is hot."
"Well yeah...I mean.. no," Kitty stammered. Dick was good at reading her. She enjoyed having a friend who knew her so well but it was also frustrating when he saw through her argument to her true motives.
"I bet Dani is hot," Peter chimed in. "I'm pretty sure I would return an 'I love you' to her if we were in some mountain cabin in a bizarre, apocalyptic world." He closed his eyes as he at from his slice, savoring the taste.
Kitty grinned at him. "Peter, we've been over this. 'Dani's House of Pizza' isn't named after a woman named Dani and she's certainly not a 'bikini model'. It's the family name of the owners," she explained. Again.
Peter raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, "I choose to believe" was all he said before taking another savoring bite.
The two boys were both more of the quiet type until you got to know them but where Dick was quiet because he was observing, Peter was quiet just because he felt socially awkward. It was ridiculous, of course, because once you got to know him and his goofy humor, you couldn't help but like him. A lot. Especially if your name was Kitty Pryde.
She had thought about the funny triangle they created. They truly enjoyed each other's company and their group dynamic but she knew Dick harbored feelings for her and she knew she harbored feelings for Peter but Peter harbored feelings for the schools social queen, Mary Jane Watson. Kitty mused that if Mary Jane ever joined their group she would probably end up having feelings for Dick. Ladies and gentlemen, the world's first love square.
"That's a little low for a jet, isn't it," Dick asked pointing up through the barren tree limbs. A light, almost like a comet seemed to be coming toward them from the general area of JFK airport but it was descending toward them, the airport was four or five miles away.
As it quickly grew closer, Kitty started feeling nervous. "Could that be a comet?"
Peter swallowed then looked up directly at the oncoming light. "Guys, we should leave. Now!" By the time Peter finished his sentence the jet turned comet had come close enough for them to see it was some sort of large man-shaped object.
"Quick! Under the overpass!" Instead of charging up the steps and back to street level Dick leaped over the fence between the benches and the railway area and began running for the cover of the overpass.
Kitty looked back to Peter who was still looking at object coming toward them. It had slowed its speed but it was still definitely making a beeline for their area. He looked at her then shooed her on as she was between he and the fence. "Go! I'm right behind you," he urged.
She vaulted over the fence, slid down the side of the embankment then followed Dick under the cover of the concrete and steel roadway above.
Dick looked back, "where's Peter!?!"
Kitty's heart dropped as she realized he wasn't right there with her. "He was right behind me!"
Dick moved around her to go back for him when dirt, soot and trash began flying up from the ground at the train station. A giant wind was pushing down on the ground from outside their shelter. The area directly outside the overpass got brighter even as the whooshing sound of jet engines got louder.
Finally the source of all this sound and fury came into view, two gigantic, robotic legs colored purple and magenta landed outside the overpass. The giant robot knelt down on one knee and peered under the overpass at Dick and Kitty, a light emitted from the eye holes of its eerie version of a human face.
"SCANNING."
"Dick! What's it doing?!"
Dick grimaced, "I don't know but get behind me" as he reached into his pocket for something.
"SCANNING."
Dick turned to look at her, his face as calm and serious as that of a soldier facing certain death. "Kitty, when I make my move, you turn and run the other way. Get out of the overpass and HIDE somewhere!"
"MUTATION DETECTION CONFIRMED. MUTATION CATEGORY: UNKNOWN."
"Dick, no! That thing's not Flash or one of his goons. Come with me! We can find a place to hide together!"
"ASSESSMENT: HUMAN MALE: HOSTILE. THREAT LEVEL:
IRRELEVANT.
ASSESSMENT: MUTANT FEMALE: PRIMARY TARGET. APPREHEND."
Dick turned to face the monstrous machine as it began reaching a large, metal hand toward them. "Irrelevant, my arse! Kitty on my mark! Three... two..."
"Hey Pervo-bot!" A red and blue blur slammed into the right side of the robot's head, knocking it off-balance. "Keep those metal paws to yourself, buddy!"
The robot turned its head to follow what had just hit it.
"HOSTILE RESISTANCE ENCOUNTERED. SCANNING."
Dick charged forward, pulling something from his pocket.
"HOSTILE DESIGNATE: SPIDERMAN. THREAT LEVEL: LOW.
ASSESSMENT: DISABLE HOSTILE INTEFERENCE BEFORE ENGAGING PRIMARY TARGET.
The robot began to right itself and stand as Dick continued his rush toward it. Once he got within a few feet he hurled two marble-sized spheres at the robot's chest. When they impacted they shattered. Whatever had been contained within them caused the robot to freeze momentarily.
"ELECTRICAL ANOMOLAY DETECTED. MOBILITY ISSUE. FORMULATING COUNTERMEASURE. TEN SECONDS UNTIL COUNTERMEASURE SUCCESS."
Spiderman landed across the track area from the train platform and the giant robot. "SPIDER-STRENGTH-WEB-ENGAGE" he shouted as he shot large strands of webs at the massive construct then pulled down and toward him with all of his might.
The robot had been slightly off-balance when Dick's spheres had immobilized it. Spiderman's leverage and strength pulled it over and into the railway's electrified third rail. The robot ceased to move or make any noise whatsoever.
Dick took a few steps forward, somewhere he had found a metal rod and now held it at the ready. Behind him, Kitty was slowly making her way forward.
Spiderman shot a web up to the side of a nearby building, "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my patent-pending remedy for Grabby-Handy giant robots! Satisfaction is guaranteed, your mileage may vary, guarantee not actually valid in Yonkers be-"
"because, well, it's Yonkers" Dick finished.
Kitty stopped and stared, "you gotta be shitting me."
Without another word a very uncharacteristically quiet Spiderman disappeared up into the night.
This post was edited on 11/7/20 at 2:00 pm
1
Posted on 11/6/20 at 9:28 pm to Bard
Dick stared into the direction Spiderman, Peter Parker, had silently swung off to. "All this time..." he had to admit he was impressed. Even after getting to know Peter he hadn't guessed he was Spiderman.
Bruce was never going to let him forget this.
Behind him, Kitty Pryde cleared her throat. "I think Peter isn't the only person whose been hiding something."
Dick turned to face her, "You're right. How long have you known you were a mutant and did you ever plan on telling us?"
Kitty hadn't expected the tables to be turned on her so quickly. She knew she had some ability to move through objects but it had only started at the beginning of the summer and manifested only a handful of times. At least manifested when she wanted it to.
In the distance police sirens began to sound. Dick grabbed her hand to lead her down the tracks, she let him. "We need to get clear of here."
They followed the tracks away from the battle site for a what they guessed was about two blocks then climbed a fence to come out of an alley a short distance away. No police cars rushed along the side street they had taken, they were safe.
By some unspoken agreement they made their way to her home, both holding their silence for fear of exposing their secret to the other. As Kitty began to walk up the steps to her home Dick tried to break the ice.
"Kitty, I..."
She stopped but didn't look back at him. "Not right now, Dick. It's a bit too much for me, y'know?"
"Yeah." A pause. "Goodnight, Kitty."
"Good night, Dick."
Peter stayed on the roof across the street for four hours after Dick had left and Kitty had gone inside. The robot had targeted her, he wanted to make sure she was safe. He also wasn't quite ready to go home yet, his mind was still reeling from his mistake.
How could he have been so stupid? Did this put Aunt May in danger? What about Dick? He thought he could trust him but...? Dick certainly didn't need the money he could get for selling him out but what if he accidentally let it slip? Maybe he should have tried to deny it then "accidentally" ran into them on the street?
Too many questions. What's done is done. He would just have to trust them, he didn't think he could pull off a lie that good forever. Unless he just avoided them...
He shot a web out, snagged a light pole, pulled himself toward it then over it to land on a passing bus. It was time to call it a night. Aunt May went to bed early these days and slept pretty deeply so she wouldn't know what time he made it in.
Peter was physically and mentally worn out when he crawled into the house through his bedroom window. His spider-sense tingled every so slightly as it did on other nights he came in and Aunt May was making a late-night trip to the bathroom. He took off his mask and threw it on his desk as he turned on his bedside lamp.
A smooth bass voice spoke softly from the darkness near his bedroom door, "Hello, Peter."
Peter was so scared he unintentionally did a flip that left him clinging upside down to the wall over his bed, facing the darkened far corner of his bedroom. That darkness unfolded into the fear of criminals across the city: Batman.
Peter's heartbeat began to race. He had accidentally gave his closest friends just enough information to clue them into his secret of being Spiderman and now Batman was here, in his bedroom, and had him dead to rights. "My aunt lives here, she's old and frail. Whatever you want from me, she doesn't need to be any part of it." Peter was tense. This was Batman but he was determined to be ready to do whatever was needed to protect Aunt May.
"You've got us all wrong, Peter."
"Us? What, do you have a mouse in your pocket or something? Is Flash stopping by, perhaps?"
Batman took a step forward, slightly into the light. Behind him a piece of the darkness moved around to his side and it too came to the light.
It was Batman's sidekick, Robin. Of course that would be the "us".
Robin reached up and removed his mask. "Hey, Pete."
Peter nearly lost his grip on the wall. "Dick? Really!?!" He finally released his hold on the wall to flip through the narrow space to land before his two unexpected visitors.
"But then..." he looked to Batman as he, THE freaking BATMAN, removed his mask as well. "Bruce?"
That smooth, deep voice again, somehow the same as Batman's but somehow at the same time not. "I have a proposition for you, Peter."
Bruce was never going to let him forget this.
Behind him, Kitty Pryde cleared her throat. "I think Peter isn't the only person whose been hiding something."
Dick turned to face her, "You're right. How long have you known you were a mutant and did you ever plan on telling us?"
Kitty hadn't expected the tables to be turned on her so quickly. She knew she had some ability to move through objects but it had only started at the beginning of the summer and manifested only a handful of times. At least manifested when she wanted it to.
In the distance police sirens began to sound. Dick grabbed her hand to lead her down the tracks, she let him. "We need to get clear of here."
They followed the tracks away from the battle site for a what they guessed was about two blocks then climbed a fence to come out of an alley a short distance away. No police cars rushed along the side street they had taken, they were safe.
By some unspoken agreement they made their way to her home, both holding their silence for fear of exposing their secret to the other. As Kitty began to walk up the steps to her home Dick tried to break the ice.
"Kitty, I..."
She stopped but didn't look back at him. "Not right now, Dick. It's a bit too much for me, y'know?"
"Yeah." A pause. "Goodnight, Kitty."
"Good night, Dick."
Peter stayed on the roof across the street for four hours after Dick had left and Kitty had gone inside. The robot had targeted her, he wanted to make sure she was safe. He also wasn't quite ready to go home yet, his mind was still reeling from his mistake.
How could he have been so stupid? Did this put Aunt May in danger? What about Dick? He thought he could trust him but...? Dick certainly didn't need the money he could get for selling him out but what if he accidentally let it slip? Maybe he should have tried to deny it then "accidentally" ran into them on the street?
Too many questions. What's done is done. He would just have to trust them, he didn't think he could pull off a lie that good forever. Unless he just avoided them...
He shot a web out, snagged a light pole, pulled himself toward it then over it to land on a passing bus. It was time to call it a night. Aunt May went to bed early these days and slept pretty deeply so she wouldn't know what time he made it in.
Peter was physically and mentally worn out when he crawled into the house through his bedroom window. His spider-sense tingled every so slightly as it did on other nights he came in and Aunt May was making a late-night trip to the bathroom. He took off his mask and threw it on his desk as he turned on his bedside lamp.
A smooth bass voice spoke softly from the darkness near his bedroom door, "Hello, Peter."
Peter was so scared he unintentionally did a flip that left him clinging upside down to the wall over his bed, facing the darkened far corner of his bedroom. That darkness unfolded into the fear of criminals across the city: Batman.
Peter's heartbeat began to race. He had accidentally gave his closest friends just enough information to clue them into his secret of being Spiderman and now Batman was here, in his bedroom, and had him dead to rights. "My aunt lives here, she's old and frail. Whatever you want from me, she doesn't need to be any part of it." Peter was tense. This was Batman but he was determined to be ready to do whatever was needed to protect Aunt May.
"You've got us all wrong, Peter."
"Us? What, do you have a mouse in your pocket or something? Is Flash stopping by, perhaps?"
Batman took a step forward, slightly into the light. Behind him a piece of the darkness moved around to his side and it too came to the light.
It was Batman's sidekick, Robin. Of course that would be the "us".
Robin reached up and removed his mask. "Hey, Pete."
Peter nearly lost his grip on the wall. "Dick? Really!?!" He finally released his hold on the wall to flip through the narrow space to land before his two unexpected visitors.
"But then..." he looked to Batman as he, THE freaking BATMAN, removed his mask as well. "Bruce?"
That smooth, deep voice again, somehow the same as Batman's but somehow at the same time not. "I have a proposition for you, Peter."
Posted on 12/1/20 at 12:39 pm to Bard
Posted on 3/17/22 at 12:30 pm to Green Chili Tiger
I've written one story I want to go back over and tweak a little before posting and I have another (a much bigger story) that's almost done but I'll still want to go back over at least once more before posting.
Just making sure this thread doesn't get archived and disappear due to my slack-assedness.
Just making sure this thread doesn't get archived and disappear due to my slack-assedness.
Posted on 3/17/22 at 5:09 pm to Bard
Posted on 3/19/22 at 2:01 pm to Green Chili Tiger
The Savage Life:
It was done. His breath was labored, his muscles tight, blood dripped from the rock in his hand but it was done. It wasn’t something he had wanted to do, he wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t sad either, he realized. It was just… necessary.
Vandal Ang had always had a shrewd mind. After all it was he who had come up with the idea of setting up rocks to better herd elk through so they could pick one off far easier. Due to this and other clever hunting techniques he had created the Blood Tribe was quickly growing. Soon it may even rival the Elk or Bear tribes, if they survived.
When the giants came from the sky and began rounding up the other tribes, Vandal understood why his tribe fled. He even agreed with it. They were less than gnats against such power. When he realized they weren’t being pursued though he argued that they should turn back to observe what these monstrous creatures were doing. Who knows what they could learn?
He had a curiosity about him none other in his tribe shared. He considered them weak for that, but he tolerated it being a member of this tribe was all he had ever known. He needed them to survive. That is… until the giants came. When his people didn’t just disdain his curiosity but feared it; that angered him.
They referred to those beings as “gods” but he refused to join his voice to their chorus. “If they are gods then let them strike me down right now for my blasphemy,” he argued. Everyone shied away from such a bold proclamation but he was never struck down. The farther they fled, the more Vandal was certain he was right. A month later, as they witnessed the giant beings passing overhead before ascending into the skies again, he realized he had missed the chance to learn some unknown knowledge.
Another month passed as they drifted back into their routine of following the migration of the elk herds. Vandal could not forget the giant, magnificent creatures he had seen. Yes, they had been terrifying but their knowledge, their abilities, their very skins made of some strange sort of stone with carvings in it and patterns of light throughout… to Vandal it was all an indication that he could be so much more than he had been! By now the topic had grown so tiresome to the rest of the tribe no one else wished to discuss it with him, much less support him.
The world was too wild and untamed for someone to make it alone, without a tribe. Vandal knew this. He needed the tribe in order to learn more, to become more. If the leader of their tribe –the Elder- would not listen, he reasoned he would just have to make himself the leader.
So that’s what he did.
With his killing of their leader, the tribe would have no choice but to follow him now. He rose from the body below him. The fight had been short and brutal, even… savage. He had challenged the old leader, the elder had scoffed. Nothing like that had been done before. What were they? Bear Tribe? Everyone laughed until Vandal hit him with his rock. Everyone stopped laughing, stopped moving. Vandal had knocked him out with the first hit but he knew that wouldn’t be enough. The old elder would be a rallying point for any wanting to remain ignorant and fearful and Vandal could not have that so he bludgeoned the man’s head until he no longer breathed nor even moved.
It did not matter that he had been their leader for as long as Vandal could remember. It did not matter he had been the one to teach Vandal the basics of hunting. It did not matter he may have been Vandal’s father. What mattered was he was in Vandal’s way.
Vandal beat the old man’s head in with a nearby rock until the skull caved in. He then took a bone knife from one of those watching and proceeded to cut the former Elder’s head from its body. He held the gruesome trophy high as he turned toward them.
As Vandal faced the tribe, he saw on their faces that he had them. They may be fierce warriors against elk, bear or even other tribes, but internal strife was something so foreign to them it froze them into impotence. As he contemplated sending them back to the lands where the metal giants had been a fiery rock flashed overhead, crashing over a distant hill. Even with the hill blocking the view the light and sound from the impact where tremendous!
Without a word Vandal Ang set off toward the impact site.
It was done. His breath was labored, his muscles tight, blood dripped from the rock in his hand but it was done. It wasn’t something he had wanted to do, he wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t sad either, he realized. It was just… necessary.
Vandal Ang had always had a shrewd mind. After all it was he who had come up with the idea of setting up rocks to better herd elk through so they could pick one off far easier. Due to this and other clever hunting techniques he had created the Blood Tribe was quickly growing. Soon it may even rival the Elk or Bear tribes, if they survived.
When the giants came from the sky and began rounding up the other tribes, Vandal understood why his tribe fled. He even agreed with it. They were less than gnats against such power. When he realized they weren’t being pursued though he argued that they should turn back to observe what these monstrous creatures were doing. Who knows what they could learn?
He had a curiosity about him none other in his tribe shared. He considered them weak for that, but he tolerated it being a member of this tribe was all he had ever known. He needed them to survive. That is… until the giants came. When his people didn’t just disdain his curiosity but feared it; that angered him.
They referred to those beings as “gods” but he refused to join his voice to their chorus. “If they are gods then let them strike me down right now for my blasphemy,” he argued. Everyone shied away from such a bold proclamation but he was never struck down. The farther they fled, the more Vandal was certain he was right. A month later, as they witnessed the giant beings passing overhead before ascending into the skies again, he realized he had missed the chance to learn some unknown knowledge.
Another month passed as they drifted back into their routine of following the migration of the elk herds. Vandal could not forget the giant, magnificent creatures he had seen. Yes, they had been terrifying but their knowledge, their abilities, their very skins made of some strange sort of stone with carvings in it and patterns of light throughout… to Vandal it was all an indication that he could be so much more than he had been! By now the topic had grown so tiresome to the rest of the tribe no one else wished to discuss it with him, much less support him.
The world was too wild and untamed for someone to make it alone, without a tribe. Vandal knew this. He needed the tribe in order to learn more, to become more. If the leader of their tribe –the Elder- would not listen, he reasoned he would just have to make himself the leader.
So that’s what he did.
With his killing of their leader, the tribe would have no choice but to follow him now. He rose from the body below him. The fight had been short and brutal, even… savage. He had challenged the old leader, the elder had scoffed. Nothing like that had been done before. What were they? Bear Tribe? Everyone laughed until Vandal hit him with his rock. Everyone stopped laughing, stopped moving. Vandal had knocked him out with the first hit but he knew that wouldn’t be enough. The old elder would be a rallying point for any wanting to remain ignorant and fearful and Vandal could not have that so he bludgeoned the man’s head until he no longer breathed nor even moved.
It did not matter that he had been their leader for as long as Vandal could remember. It did not matter he had been the one to teach Vandal the basics of hunting. It did not matter he may have been Vandal’s father. What mattered was he was in Vandal’s way.
Vandal beat the old man’s head in with a nearby rock until the skull caved in. He then took a bone knife from one of those watching and proceeded to cut the former Elder’s head from its body. He held the gruesome trophy high as he turned toward them.
As Vandal faced the tribe, he saw on their faces that he had them. They may be fierce warriors against elk, bear or even other tribes, but internal strife was something so foreign to them it froze them into impotence. As he contemplated sending them back to the lands where the metal giants had been a fiery rock flashed overhead, crashing over a distant hill. Even with the hill blocking the view the light and sound from the impact where tremendous!
Without a word Vandal Ang set off toward the impact site.
This post was edited on 3/20/22 at 1:48 pm
Posted on 3/20/22 at 1:46 pm to Bard
It had taken three days to get to the site. Vandal could have made it in two but in a rare moment of sympathy he had decided to wait on his tribe once he realized they had decided to pack up and follow him.
Of course they had. He was their leader now.
He boldly descended alone into the crater carrying nothing but his spear. He had not asked any of the tribe to accompany him nor had any volunteered. Apparently there were limits to how far they would follow him without his prodding.
The bottom of the crater was warm and the ground crunched under his hide-wrapped feet as if he were walking on the withered bones of many small birds. At the center of the crater was an object seemingly constructed of the same strange rock as the giant beings and on it were the same strange patterns of lights and carvings, the heat in the crater seemed to be coming from the rock but had begun to cool rapidly. He approached to within striking distance of the rock then studied it momentarily then paced a slow circle around it so as to see as much of it as possible.
At the end of his tenth circuit he stopped and stared intently at it for a time. He watched and as he felt the heat further diminish, he approached. Some of the lights within the strange rock pulsed, some did not. He used his spear to touch the places which did not pulse. Nothing happened.
He touched his spear to one of the brightly pulsing areas, it singed the bone spear tip slightly. He stabbed the same spot and the light seemed to jump from the rock, through his spear and into him! From above he could hear gasps and shouts of alarm. A yellowish mist then flowed from the rock and filled the bottom of the crater, Vandal attempted to flee but it was too late. He escaped the crater but he had taken in many deep breaths full of the sickly sweet mist. By the time he made it to the rim and looked back, the yellowish substance in the air was already dissipating.
His tribe called to him from slightly higher up the crater, his curiosity called from below. He thought about waiting but then realized he had not only suffered no ill effects from the mist but that he felt healthy yet even more contemplative than normal. His curiosity called to him again, again it won.
He went back into the crater to study the rock again. It had revealed one secret already, what more did it have to tell? He could feel something coming from the rock, almost like fire but it didn’t burn. He just needed more time.
That night he fell asleep while studying the rock in the moonlight, just within arm’s reach of it. As he slept it had reached out to him in his dreams somehow, teaching him basic understandings of ground and water and sky.
By the next night he had coaxed his people to toss some meat and pouches of water down to him. As he slept that night he learned about the sky above the sky and that the giants, these Celestials who had come in their Host, were ancient and powerful beings… but beings nonetheless. As far above him and his tribe as he was above a common worm. Two nights later he reached a point where he no longer needed to be asleep in order to learn from his new mentor.
Days later the people of the Tribe of the Elk came to him, begging him to leave. He bade them leave him some sustenance then leave him be. He was annoyed at their prattling disturbing him from his important work and disgusted by their fear of the unknown. Many days later he realized he had barely been eating the meat they had brought. A cycle of the moon later he assumed they left because he didn’t couldn’t the last time they had come down to bother him.
Over the proceeding cycles he learned many things while the object poked and prodded him. He understood this was a tradeoff for the knowledge, a trade he gladly agreed to. He learned that these Celestials were gardeners of a sort. They planted life on planets then checked on their progress as well as the progress of life on planets they had not sown, like this one. He learned of how they left alone those of whose growth they approved and how they experimented with those they were unsure of and how they… handled… those whose continued growth they saw as a danger to the greater universe.
He learned of the existence of other powerful races, races like the Oans and the Watchers, he learned of other celestial beings like Ego and Galactus. He learned of beings of even greater power, beings like The Living Tribunal and The Specter and he saw all their places within the grand cosmic hierarchy.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally crawled out of the depression in the ground. So great were the changes the meteor and mist had made in him that he was not bothered by the cold around him, obvious from the ice and snow now covering the land. The changing of the seasons indicated he hadn’t eaten nor drank in at least many of the moon’s cycles. The food had rotted but nothing had come to eat it. The waterskins had slowly leaked until empty. He realized, in a distracted way, he had needed none of it.
He looked back at the rock… no, the object had taught him a new word to describe its shell: metal. He looked back to the metal object, what he knew now as a tool used by these Celestials to analyze and perform basic experiments on primitive life forms they encountered. It had taught him everything it could or, he suspected, would. It was a machine, he understood now and it had limits. It had reached those limits with him. It had no more to teach him; it was no longer of any use to him so he left it. It had taught him that its experiments on him had somehow made him immortal so perhaps he would return to it some day in the future, once he had learned enough to possibly unlock more secrets. For now though, he left the tool where it lay to find his own way in what he now realized was how he preferred to be: alone.
Of course they had. He was their leader now.
He boldly descended alone into the crater carrying nothing but his spear. He had not asked any of the tribe to accompany him nor had any volunteered. Apparently there were limits to how far they would follow him without his prodding.
The bottom of the crater was warm and the ground crunched under his hide-wrapped feet as if he were walking on the withered bones of many small birds. At the center of the crater was an object seemingly constructed of the same strange rock as the giant beings and on it were the same strange patterns of lights and carvings, the heat in the crater seemed to be coming from the rock but had begun to cool rapidly. He approached to within striking distance of the rock then studied it momentarily then paced a slow circle around it so as to see as much of it as possible.
At the end of his tenth circuit he stopped and stared intently at it for a time. He watched and as he felt the heat further diminish, he approached. Some of the lights within the strange rock pulsed, some did not. He used his spear to touch the places which did not pulse. Nothing happened.
He touched his spear to one of the brightly pulsing areas, it singed the bone spear tip slightly. He stabbed the same spot and the light seemed to jump from the rock, through his spear and into him! From above he could hear gasps and shouts of alarm. A yellowish mist then flowed from the rock and filled the bottom of the crater, Vandal attempted to flee but it was too late. He escaped the crater but he had taken in many deep breaths full of the sickly sweet mist. By the time he made it to the rim and looked back, the yellowish substance in the air was already dissipating.
His tribe called to him from slightly higher up the crater, his curiosity called from below. He thought about waiting but then realized he had not only suffered no ill effects from the mist but that he felt healthy yet even more contemplative than normal. His curiosity called to him again, again it won.
He went back into the crater to study the rock again. It had revealed one secret already, what more did it have to tell? He could feel something coming from the rock, almost like fire but it didn’t burn. He just needed more time.
That night he fell asleep while studying the rock in the moonlight, just within arm’s reach of it. As he slept it had reached out to him in his dreams somehow, teaching him basic understandings of ground and water and sky.
By the next night he had coaxed his people to toss some meat and pouches of water down to him. As he slept that night he learned about the sky above the sky and that the giants, these Celestials who had come in their Host, were ancient and powerful beings… but beings nonetheless. As far above him and his tribe as he was above a common worm. Two nights later he reached a point where he no longer needed to be asleep in order to learn from his new mentor.
Days later the people of the Tribe of the Elk came to him, begging him to leave. He bade them leave him some sustenance then leave him be. He was annoyed at their prattling disturbing him from his important work and disgusted by their fear of the unknown. Many days later he realized he had barely been eating the meat they had brought. A cycle of the moon later he assumed they left because he didn’t couldn’t the last time they had come down to bother him.
Over the proceeding cycles he learned many things while the object poked and prodded him. He understood this was a tradeoff for the knowledge, a trade he gladly agreed to. He learned that these Celestials were gardeners of a sort. They planted life on planets then checked on their progress as well as the progress of life on planets they had not sown, like this one. He learned of how they left alone those of whose growth they approved and how they experimented with those they were unsure of and how they… handled… those whose continued growth they saw as a danger to the greater universe.
He learned of the existence of other powerful races, races like the Oans and the Watchers, he learned of other celestial beings like Ego and Galactus. He learned of beings of even greater power, beings like The Living Tribunal and The Specter and he saw all their places within the grand cosmic hierarchy.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally crawled out of the depression in the ground. So great were the changes the meteor and mist had made in him that he was not bothered by the cold around him, obvious from the ice and snow now covering the land. The changing of the seasons indicated he hadn’t eaten nor drank in at least many of the moon’s cycles. The food had rotted but nothing had come to eat it. The waterskins had slowly leaked until empty. He realized, in a distracted way, he had needed none of it.
He looked back at the rock… no, the object had taught him a new word to describe its shell: metal. He looked back to the metal object, what he knew now as a tool used by these Celestials to analyze and perform basic experiments on primitive life forms they encountered. It had taught him everything it could or, he suspected, would. It was a machine, he understood now and it had limits. It had reached those limits with him. It had no more to teach him; it was no longer of any use to him so he left it. It had taught him that its experiments on him had somehow made him immortal so perhaps he would return to it some day in the future, once he had learned enough to possibly unlock more secrets. For now though, he left the tool where it lay to find his own way in what he now realized was how he preferred to be: alone.
Posted on 3/20/22 at 1:56 pm to Bard
The two men sat in matching, high-backed chairs. The chairs were positioned halfway between facing the crackling fire in the fireplace and facing one another. The two men, one with a glass of wine and the other without, had turned slightly so that they faced one another more directly as they conversed. “My dear Herr Savage, whatever do you mean?” The man seated across from him was speaking English to him. Savage knew the Nazi leader across from him did this only with those he considered not intelligent enough to understand the German language. In his first few millennia of life Vandal Savage would have killed him for such an insult, today he merely swirled the beverage in his glass while hesitating in his response. He wistfully remembered how simple things were back then and wondered if he shouldn’t re-introduce such a lethal philosophy to this “more civilized” world. Or at least to this stiff, posturing peacock of a man. This man who wore a mask to hide the evidence of his own gross incompetence, incompetence fueled by the envy of an adversary Vandal knew Johan was too short-sighted to ever beat. No, he decided to himself, not today.
“I mean, Herr Skull, ” he allowed himself to expose a small smirk as he noticed the slight stiffening reaction from Johan Schmidt, “that if your Furher and the Japanese Emperor are so foolish as to attack both America and Russia while still battling England, then I recognize this as a doomed endeavor and I will be a part of it no longer. In his idiocy, your leader and his lackeys have not only awakened these nascent world political powers but you’ve invoked the wrath of their empowered populations as well without having enough of your own with which to defend against them. ”
Johan Schmidt, referred to secretly by only his most trusted men as the codename “Red Skull,” was the head of Hitler’s mystical, xenological and biological research group: Hydra. Vandal also knew Johan was amassing his own powerbase for when Hitler won the war. Or, if he didn’t. He understood Schmidt was uncommonly canny but he also understood that the man’s ego undermined his potential.
Any surprise at the mention of Johan’s Hydra codename was quickly smothered and replaced by a palpable, quiet tenseness from the man. “You mean. ‘Our.’ Fuhrer.” Schmidt stated this with a tone of icy danger to his clipped words while he stared death at Vandal.
Savage put Schmidt’s threat to the side to needle the man more. Schmidt wasn’t angry enough for his purposes… yet. He focused again on the wine still gently swirling in his glass then spoke, as if speaking to the wine glass instead of the man across from him.
“You think you can beat them. You think yourself smarter and more resourceful than their superpowered champions. You aren’t.”
Schmidt’s fist tightened, Savage knew he was making the man crack. It was always more fun with the egotistical ones, their brash bravado and dependence on the fear-based respect derived from their position as an authority figure made them expect others to always be intimidated by them. When they encountered someone like Vandal, someone they believed should cower before them but didn’t, their ego demanded that their sense of entitlement to the other person’s awe and respect be filled. It made them reckless.
“You underestimate the Furher at your peril, Herr Savage. We have ubermensch of our own.”
“Yes, I know of your ‘Ultimate Project’ and its sub-project: Doom. I know of the beast you’ve plundered from the Antarctic and I know of your attempts at making a weapon of it. I also know that Nefaria brought him back under control only because the beast was still slow and disoriented from his long sleep. I also know Nefaria has been using the strange energies from the beast’s containment power source to conduct his own… experiments. It’s all too little and it’s all far too late.”
Vandal Savage stilled his wineglass as he looked up from it and returned the hard gaze of the Red Skull with one of his own. Now was time for his exit from this drama. He was done with the Germans, they had failed him twice and now it was time to start over elsewhere. For Vandal, that meant making sure his bridges were burnt for a time. Completely.
To Vandal Savage, this was the perfect job for an errand boy. It was, of course, the reason he “invited” Schmidt in the first place. Vandal Savage was using this “Red Skull” as a pawn, his ability to be so blinded by his own ego that he would never realize he was being used as a puppet made the manipulation all the more satisfying for Vandal.
“No, I mean what I said. Take your childish outrage over my disdain of your syphilitic, manchild of a Furher and do what you will. I am done with this war because it’s already over, you are just too blinded by loyalty and lust for personal power to see it.” After a brief moment’s silent staring between the two men Vandal added, “you may leave now,” then turned away to stare into the fire as he began to drink his wine.
“Indeed,” the Skull hissed through gritted teeth, barely holding his indignant rage in check. He stood, took a few steps toward the door but then stopped and looked back at Savage. “By the time I am done, none will remember your name! NONE!” Without another word, he left the room. Vandal sighed in mild disappointment, he had really liked this old manor home. His disappointment deepened as the Skull’s half-dozen armed men came into the room and opened fire on him. He had been expecting more.
They died shortly before the Skull’s mortars began raining down.
“I mean, Herr Skull, ” he allowed himself to expose a small smirk as he noticed the slight stiffening reaction from Johan Schmidt, “that if your Furher and the Japanese Emperor are so foolish as to attack both America and Russia while still battling England, then I recognize this as a doomed endeavor and I will be a part of it no longer. In his idiocy, your leader and his lackeys have not only awakened these nascent world political powers but you’ve invoked the wrath of their empowered populations as well without having enough of your own with which to defend against them. ”
Johan Schmidt, referred to secretly by only his most trusted men as the codename “Red Skull,” was the head of Hitler’s mystical, xenological and biological research group: Hydra. Vandal also knew Johan was amassing his own powerbase for when Hitler won the war. Or, if he didn’t. He understood Schmidt was uncommonly canny but he also understood that the man’s ego undermined his potential.
Any surprise at the mention of Johan’s Hydra codename was quickly smothered and replaced by a palpable, quiet tenseness from the man. “You mean. ‘Our.’ Fuhrer.” Schmidt stated this with a tone of icy danger to his clipped words while he stared death at Vandal.
Savage put Schmidt’s threat to the side to needle the man more. Schmidt wasn’t angry enough for his purposes… yet. He focused again on the wine still gently swirling in his glass then spoke, as if speaking to the wine glass instead of the man across from him.
“You think you can beat them. You think yourself smarter and more resourceful than their superpowered champions. You aren’t.”
Schmidt’s fist tightened, Savage knew he was making the man crack. It was always more fun with the egotistical ones, their brash bravado and dependence on the fear-based respect derived from their position as an authority figure made them expect others to always be intimidated by them. When they encountered someone like Vandal, someone they believed should cower before them but didn’t, their ego demanded that their sense of entitlement to the other person’s awe and respect be filled. It made them reckless.
“You underestimate the Furher at your peril, Herr Savage. We have ubermensch of our own.”
“Yes, I know of your ‘Ultimate Project’ and its sub-project: Doom. I know of the beast you’ve plundered from the Antarctic and I know of your attempts at making a weapon of it. I also know that Nefaria brought him back under control only because the beast was still slow and disoriented from his long sleep. I also know Nefaria has been using the strange energies from the beast’s containment power source to conduct his own… experiments. It’s all too little and it’s all far too late.”
Vandal Savage stilled his wineglass as he looked up from it and returned the hard gaze of the Red Skull with one of his own. Now was time for his exit from this drama. He was done with the Germans, they had failed him twice and now it was time to start over elsewhere. For Vandal, that meant making sure his bridges were burnt for a time. Completely.
To Vandal Savage, this was the perfect job for an errand boy. It was, of course, the reason he “invited” Schmidt in the first place. Vandal Savage was using this “Red Skull” as a pawn, his ability to be so blinded by his own ego that he would never realize he was being used as a puppet made the manipulation all the more satisfying for Vandal.
“No, I mean what I said. Take your childish outrage over my disdain of your syphilitic, manchild of a Furher and do what you will. I am done with this war because it’s already over, you are just too blinded by loyalty and lust for personal power to see it.” After a brief moment’s silent staring between the two men Vandal added, “you may leave now,” then turned away to stare into the fire as he began to drink his wine.
“Indeed,” the Skull hissed through gritted teeth, barely holding his indignant rage in check. He stood, took a few steps toward the door but then stopped and looked back at Savage. “By the time I am done, none will remember your name! NONE!” Without another word, he left the room. Vandal sighed in mild disappointment, he had really liked this old manor home. His disappointment deepened as the Skull’s half-dozen armed men came into the room and opened fire on him. He had been expecting more.
They died shortly before the Skull’s mortars began raining down.
Posted on 3/21/22 at 1:16 pm to Bard
I'm enjoying these! Thanks for sharing!
Posted on 3/21/22 at 1:41 pm to Bard
Absolutely love the tie of Vandal Savage with the Eternals.
Perfect symmetry.
Perfect symmetry.
Posted on 3/25/22 at 1:40 pm to Green Chili Tiger
The next story is a big one. I'm just now entering the final act and I'm 16 pages in (with another page of just notes).
Posted on 3/30/22 at 12:50 pm to Bard
quote:
I'm just now entering the final act and I'm 16 pages in (with another page of just notes).
Posted on 4/24/22 at 9:25 pm to Green Chili Tiger
To All Good Things
“Clarrrrrrk?” Clark had finished bailing the hay early and was taking a rare moment to lay back on a couple of the bales and enjoy the warmth of the sun before Ma called him in for lunch. “Lunch is almost ready, come in and wash up.”
He smiled. Even though his rest was interrupted, he loved these trips to the farm. The simplicity of the work and being around his family and friends helped center him and clear his head.
Here there were no wars. Here he didn’t have to worry about the choices of whom he saved and whom he didn’t. Here he didn’t have to worry about how to defeat giant robots nor stopping meteors, There were no sabotaged train tracks he had to repair before a train was derailed by them, no bank robberies, no murders, no terrible villains bent on world domination. This place was a quiet, peaceful haven. Here, he didn’t have to worry, here he could just be himself. Here didn’t have to be a “superhero,” here he could just be…
“Superman?” The name jolted him awake.
He had been pushing himself the last few weeks, helping the front line move into Germany. After the last couple of weeks of brutal and intense fighting, he’d had his fill of death. Since then he had been trying to defeat Axis forces without killing them. He wasn’t always successful and the deeper they went into German territory the more the effort to hold back seemed to tax him. No matter how tired he had been before, he had never just passed out from exhaustion like this. It took him a moment to recognize who was speaking to him.
“…okay? You don’t have to fight this war alone, soldier.” A man clad in a familiar red, white and blue painted chainmail top was leaning over him, offering his hand.
“Thanks, Cap. I was just… resting my eyes.” He took the hand up proffered by Captain Steve Rogers, the man the US government had dubbed “Captain America”. “I heard about the fight your crew had in France. Some sort of dragon or something?”
Cap snorted disappointedly as Clark stretched the weariness from his muscles. “I wish it had been that easy.” He looked around to make sure the two were alone before lowering his voice then continuing. “Have you ever heard of a group called ‘Hydra’?”
“I’ve heard the name in passing. They’re something like Hilter’s occult research group or something, right?”
“They used to be, but over the last two years they’ve expanded their scope and intel indicates they’ve done so by finding some way to create super-powered beings. Clark, they’re on their way to creating a super army.”
Any exhaustion Clark still had was pushed aside. Steve Rogers had his full attention now.
“The group we fought were part of Hydra. It was made up of a guy calling himself “Master Man”, an Atlantean named ‘Attuma’ and a guy I think may have been an actual vampire. They all had powers.”
“An Atlantean? I saw Arthur months ago, I thought he and Namor had their people sitting this out?”
“Apparently this one wasn’t. Namor didn’t want to talk much about him. I got the feeling there was history there. Regardless, somehow he had been given powers as well, he was almost as strong as Namor, that Master Man guy was nearly as strong as Diana.”
“What about the vampire?”
Steve stared at Clark for a moment. “Not all of us can not kill and still survive this war, Clark. It was him or me. After what happened to Jim…”
Clark looked away first, his gaze aimed out over the German countryside. He understood. It had been years since anything had even come close to hurting him. As long as he didn’t wear himself out, he had the luxury of not having to take the life of every enemy he faced. He considered those without powers who still fought to be far braver than himself. But there was something Steve had said… “The Torch?”
Steve’s jaw clenched a little. Now it was his turn to look out over the landscape. The two heroes stood there for a moment, framed against the backdrop of a land already ravaged by war yet with more war soon to come.
“Yeah, he… didn’t make it. That maniac Master Man… he tore Jim in half, Clark. In half! And then the bastard laughed when he saw Jim was an android instead of human. He laughed like it was the greatest joke in the world.”
“Steve, I hadn’t heard. I’m sorry. If I had known I would have done ev-”
“Don’t. It’s not your fault. Even you can’t be everywhere at once. Between Namor, Diana, Will and myself, we stopped them. Namor had knocked out the Atlantean, then he, Diana and Will went after Master Man.”
Clark knew the answer but had to ask anyway. “Dead?”
Steve glanced back toward Clark briefly, looking for a possible challenge. Finding none he continued, “yes.”
Clark nodded. “Jim was a good man.”
“The best.”
The silence stretched between them. Clark thought to change the subject to something other than death.
“Speaking of your better half, is she here too?”
Steve slowly began to shake off the sorrow of loss, he even managed a smile. A small one. He and Diana had met before the United States had entered the war, back when his spy mission had caused his plane to crash just off the hidden island of the Amazons. From that moment on the two had been inseparable, the press had dubbed them “the Star-Spangled Couple” even before they had married. Their exploits against Per Degaton, the Injustice Society, Warrior Woman and others were legendary. “She should be along soon. She stopped where the troops are stationed, about a mile back. The guys might give me a pat on the back or a salute, but with her? They want autographs and pictures.”
“And Namor? Amazing Man?”
“Will is here, he tends to stick next to Diana when we’re among the troops. She watches his back. He may be a hero fighting the same evil as the troops, but sometimes there are guys who forget that. Having a woman like Diana among them tends to make them overlook Will’s race. Namor took the traitor back to Atlantis.”
Clark turned to Steve, his face somber and serious. “Steve, I have to know… during that fight… how many ‘Imperious Rex’es?”
Steve couldn’t contain his smirk. “Three that I know of”. Their chuckling was cut short by another voice.
“I heard four,” said Will Everett, the Amazing Man, as he and Wonder Woman approached.
“I was thinking six,” added Diana, “but after a while they can seem to blur together.”
They spent the next few minutes chatting before Clark thought to ask the most important question: “What brings you all here?”
Will spoke up first, “You're spending too much time fighting out in the field. Going so hard all the time makes it tough for news to catch up with you. General Eisenhower sent word out for us and the JSA to make our ways here to rendezvous with you. This is going to be the point of the spear as we drive toward Berlin while Arthur and his team continue out in the Pacific.”
As Clark thought on the upcoming fights, he felt his lethargy growing. He pushed it aside as he pointed behind the group to a familiar red and blue blur in the distance moving toward them at a rapid pace. From the small rise they were on they had a good view of the surrounding countryside. “Looks like the Flash is almost here.” As the rest of the group turned, Superman tilted his head in curiosity. “Did any of you hear about Jay getting a new helmet with lead in it?” A few seconds later, “I don’t think that’s J…”
-WHAM!-
A human-sized object clad in black and white slammed into Superman from the back, driving him into a nearby hillside. Within a second of that impact the speeding figure they had been watching arrived and zipped through their group, recapturing their attention for just a second before everything around the remaining trio of Invaders went black.
“Clarrrrrrk?” Clark had finished bailing the hay early and was taking a rare moment to lay back on a couple of the bales and enjoy the warmth of the sun before Ma called him in for lunch. “Lunch is almost ready, come in and wash up.”
He smiled. Even though his rest was interrupted, he loved these trips to the farm. The simplicity of the work and being around his family and friends helped center him and clear his head.
Here there were no wars. Here he didn’t have to worry about the choices of whom he saved and whom he didn’t. Here he didn’t have to worry about how to defeat giant robots nor stopping meteors, There were no sabotaged train tracks he had to repair before a train was derailed by them, no bank robberies, no murders, no terrible villains bent on world domination. This place was a quiet, peaceful haven. Here, he didn’t have to worry, here he could just be himself. Here didn’t have to be a “superhero,” here he could just be…
“Superman?” The name jolted him awake.
He had been pushing himself the last few weeks, helping the front line move into Germany. After the last couple of weeks of brutal and intense fighting, he’d had his fill of death. Since then he had been trying to defeat Axis forces without killing them. He wasn’t always successful and the deeper they went into German territory the more the effort to hold back seemed to tax him. No matter how tired he had been before, he had never just passed out from exhaustion like this. It took him a moment to recognize who was speaking to him.
“…okay? You don’t have to fight this war alone, soldier.” A man clad in a familiar red, white and blue painted chainmail top was leaning over him, offering his hand.
“Thanks, Cap. I was just… resting my eyes.” He took the hand up proffered by Captain Steve Rogers, the man the US government had dubbed “Captain America”. “I heard about the fight your crew had in France. Some sort of dragon or something?”
Cap snorted disappointedly as Clark stretched the weariness from his muscles. “I wish it had been that easy.” He looked around to make sure the two were alone before lowering his voice then continuing. “Have you ever heard of a group called ‘Hydra’?”
“I’ve heard the name in passing. They’re something like Hilter’s occult research group or something, right?”
“They used to be, but over the last two years they’ve expanded their scope and intel indicates they’ve done so by finding some way to create super-powered beings. Clark, they’re on their way to creating a super army.”
Any exhaustion Clark still had was pushed aside. Steve Rogers had his full attention now.
“The group we fought were part of Hydra. It was made up of a guy calling himself “Master Man”, an Atlantean named ‘Attuma’ and a guy I think may have been an actual vampire. They all had powers.”
“An Atlantean? I saw Arthur months ago, I thought he and Namor had their people sitting this out?”
“Apparently this one wasn’t. Namor didn’t want to talk much about him. I got the feeling there was history there. Regardless, somehow he had been given powers as well, he was almost as strong as Namor, that Master Man guy was nearly as strong as Diana.”
“What about the vampire?”
Steve stared at Clark for a moment. “Not all of us can not kill and still survive this war, Clark. It was him or me. After what happened to Jim…”
Clark looked away first, his gaze aimed out over the German countryside. He understood. It had been years since anything had even come close to hurting him. As long as he didn’t wear himself out, he had the luxury of not having to take the life of every enemy he faced. He considered those without powers who still fought to be far braver than himself. But there was something Steve had said… “The Torch?”
Steve’s jaw clenched a little. Now it was his turn to look out over the landscape. The two heroes stood there for a moment, framed against the backdrop of a land already ravaged by war yet with more war soon to come.
“Yeah, he… didn’t make it. That maniac Master Man… he tore Jim in half, Clark. In half! And then the bastard laughed when he saw Jim was an android instead of human. He laughed like it was the greatest joke in the world.”
“Steve, I hadn’t heard. I’m sorry. If I had known I would have done ev-”
“Don’t. It’s not your fault. Even you can’t be everywhere at once. Between Namor, Diana, Will and myself, we stopped them. Namor had knocked out the Atlantean, then he, Diana and Will went after Master Man.”
Clark knew the answer but had to ask anyway. “Dead?”
Steve glanced back toward Clark briefly, looking for a possible challenge. Finding none he continued, “yes.”
Clark nodded. “Jim was a good man.”
“The best.”
The silence stretched between them. Clark thought to change the subject to something other than death.
“Speaking of your better half, is she here too?”
Steve slowly began to shake off the sorrow of loss, he even managed a smile. A small one. He and Diana had met before the United States had entered the war, back when his spy mission had caused his plane to crash just off the hidden island of the Amazons. From that moment on the two had been inseparable, the press had dubbed them “the Star-Spangled Couple” even before they had married. Their exploits against Per Degaton, the Injustice Society, Warrior Woman and others were legendary. “She should be along soon. She stopped where the troops are stationed, about a mile back. The guys might give me a pat on the back or a salute, but with her? They want autographs and pictures.”
“And Namor? Amazing Man?”
“Will is here, he tends to stick next to Diana when we’re among the troops. She watches his back. He may be a hero fighting the same evil as the troops, but sometimes there are guys who forget that. Having a woman like Diana among them tends to make them overlook Will’s race. Namor took the traitor back to Atlantis.”
Clark turned to Steve, his face somber and serious. “Steve, I have to know… during that fight… how many ‘Imperious Rex’es?”
Steve couldn’t contain his smirk. “Three that I know of”. Their chuckling was cut short by another voice.
“I heard four,” said Will Everett, the Amazing Man, as he and Wonder Woman approached.
“I was thinking six,” added Diana, “but after a while they can seem to blur together.”
They spent the next few minutes chatting before Clark thought to ask the most important question: “What brings you all here?”
Will spoke up first, “You're spending too much time fighting out in the field. Going so hard all the time makes it tough for news to catch up with you. General Eisenhower sent word out for us and the JSA to make our ways here to rendezvous with you. This is going to be the point of the spear as we drive toward Berlin while Arthur and his team continue out in the Pacific.”
As Clark thought on the upcoming fights, he felt his lethargy growing. He pushed it aside as he pointed behind the group to a familiar red and blue blur in the distance moving toward them at a rapid pace. From the small rise they were on they had a good view of the surrounding countryside. “Looks like the Flash is almost here.” As the rest of the group turned, Superman tilted his head in curiosity. “Did any of you hear about Jay getting a new helmet with lead in it?” A few seconds later, “I don’t think that’s J…”
-WHAM!-
A human-sized object clad in black and white slammed into Superman from the back, driving him into a nearby hillside. Within a second of that impact the speeding figure they had been watching arrived and zipped through their group, recapturing their attention for just a second before everything around the remaining trio of Invaders went black.
This post was edited on 4/24/22 at 9:29 pm
Posted on 4/24/22 at 9:35 pm to Bard
Captain America fell into his natural role, leading his team. “Wonder Woman, up high! Amazing Man, go wide!”
Captain America rolled out of what appeared to be a cloud of total darkness surrounding the spot where they had just been standing. Wonder Woman had made it above the ebon fog, he assumed Amazing Man had armored up and was on the opposite side from him.
A figure dressed similarly to Jay Garrick, but definitely not Jay Garrick, stood a few dozen yards away. He held Diana’s magic lasso. He ignored Steve as he called up to Diana, “Hey, little girl. Want your jump rope back? Give us a kiss and we’ll see if it’s enough for Speed Demon to give up his new prize.” He then looked at Steve with a leer, “Don’t worry though, if the kiss isn’t that good I can think of other things you can do it to earn this back.”
Before Steve could react, Diana was already in motion. From the snarl on her face, she was furious.
Diana was fast, but she her speed was nothing compared to Speed Demon’s. Steve began to move, hoping they could somehow corral him or cause him to lose track of one of them so the other could surprise… and then Steve’s world went black again.
He blocked and rolled again but this time he didn’t make it out of the darkness. He feinted left then leapt and rolled right. He was still in the black fog. He could hear Speed Demon taunting Diana so that meant there was another player in this deadly game. He stopped moving and took a defensive position, he slowed his breathing and concentrated on listening to his nearby surroundings.
The rustle of a shirt to his left! He dodged right but still got clipped on his shoulder.
It was a weak shot. From a fist. This guy wasn’t an experienced fighter but he had at least enough ability to either keep the cloud clinging to Cap’s head or he could see in his own darkness. Cap needed this darkness gone and in order to do that, he had to know where the man creating the darkness was. “Got a name there, Jerry?”
“My given name ist not important, Herr Kapitan.”
Cap zeroed in on the voice but he did not orient on him. He guessed his opponent was probably five, maybe seven feet away and just off to his left at an angle of roughly 32 degrees.
His opponent continued, “but you may call me ze name Count Nefaria hast given to me: ‘Blackout.’” His voice sounded strained.
Cap shuffled back a step and widened the angle on Blackout slightly. “Everything okay? You sound like you’re ready to give up, soldier.” His opponent was inexperienced and struggling with something.
“Give up? Hah!” He was definitely straining. Maybe it was his powers? “I’m going to be known throughout ze world as ze man who killed Captain America!” With that, Blackout made his move.
The taunting wasn’t far off the mark. Bendix Leichschlager had never been one for vigorous physical pursuits and his newfound powers were just as mentally and physically demanding as being a soldier. It was far easier to let the power out into a general area, but confining it to a small space and making it stick there was taxing. It made no sense to the German scientist, but it was something to test at some other time. Captain America’s extra turn away from him made Bendix think his opponent believed he was farther to the right than he actually was. The extra step back meant it would take at least two steps for him to reach Captain America and earn his place in history!
Blackout took two steps and put his weight into a strong right hook aimed directly at Captain America’s jaw. He was sure it was going to be a mighty blow for him, his career with Hydra, his position in the Third Reich and worthy of praise from Hitler himself. He breathed out with the effort. The second before it would make contact, Cap’s shield came up and intercepted the punch.
The darkness around Steve’s head dissipated just after the sound of knuckles breaking reached his ears. His opponent, this “Blackout”, was dressed all in black except for a bizarre lightning-bolt costume piece across his face. All of that was processed and filed away as Cap’s left hand hit Blackout squarely in the middle of his lightning bolt. He fell to the ground, dazed and clutching his broken hand.
“S-s-s-skull… p-portal me… out of here!”
Cap rolled him onto his back and punch him again, this time knocking him out.
Captain America rolled out of what appeared to be a cloud of total darkness surrounding the spot where they had just been standing. Wonder Woman had made it above the ebon fog, he assumed Amazing Man had armored up and was on the opposite side from him.
A figure dressed similarly to Jay Garrick, but definitely not Jay Garrick, stood a few dozen yards away. He held Diana’s magic lasso. He ignored Steve as he called up to Diana, “Hey, little girl. Want your jump rope back? Give us a kiss and we’ll see if it’s enough for Speed Demon to give up his new prize.” He then looked at Steve with a leer, “Don’t worry though, if the kiss isn’t that good I can think of other things you can do it to earn this back.”
Before Steve could react, Diana was already in motion. From the snarl on her face, she was furious.
Diana was fast, but she her speed was nothing compared to Speed Demon’s. Steve began to move, hoping they could somehow corral him or cause him to lose track of one of them so the other could surprise… and then Steve’s world went black again.
He blocked and rolled again but this time he didn’t make it out of the darkness. He feinted left then leapt and rolled right. He was still in the black fog. He could hear Speed Demon taunting Diana so that meant there was another player in this deadly game. He stopped moving and took a defensive position, he slowed his breathing and concentrated on listening to his nearby surroundings.
The rustle of a shirt to his left! He dodged right but still got clipped on his shoulder.
It was a weak shot. From a fist. This guy wasn’t an experienced fighter but he had at least enough ability to either keep the cloud clinging to Cap’s head or he could see in his own darkness. Cap needed this darkness gone and in order to do that, he had to know where the man creating the darkness was. “Got a name there, Jerry?”
“My given name ist not important, Herr Kapitan.”
Cap zeroed in on the voice but he did not orient on him. He guessed his opponent was probably five, maybe seven feet away and just off to his left at an angle of roughly 32 degrees.
His opponent continued, “but you may call me ze name Count Nefaria hast given to me: ‘Blackout.’” His voice sounded strained.
Cap shuffled back a step and widened the angle on Blackout slightly. “Everything okay? You sound like you’re ready to give up, soldier.” His opponent was inexperienced and struggling with something.
“Give up? Hah!” He was definitely straining. Maybe it was his powers? “I’m going to be known throughout ze world as ze man who killed Captain America!” With that, Blackout made his move.
The taunting wasn’t far off the mark. Bendix Leichschlager had never been one for vigorous physical pursuits and his newfound powers were just as mentally and physically demanding as being a soldier. It was far easier to let the power out into a general area, but confining it to a small space and making it stick there was taxing. It made no sense to the German scientist, but it was something to test at some other time. Captain America’s extra turn away from him made Bendix think his opponent believed he was farther to the right than he actually was. The extra step back meant it would take at least two steps for him to reach Captain America and earn his place in history!
Blackout took two steps and put his weight into a strong right hook aimed directly at Captain America’s jaw. He was sure it was going to be a mighty blow for him, his career with Hydra, his position in the Third Reich and worthy of praise from Hitler himself. He breathed out with the effort. The second before it would make contact, Cap’s shield came up and intercepted the punch.
The darkness around Steve’s head dissipated just after the sound of knuckles breaking reached his ears. His opponent, this “Blackout”, was dressed all in black except for a bizarre lightning-bolt costume piece across his face. All of that was processed and filed away as Cap’s left hand hit Blackout squarely in the middle of his lightning bolt. He fell to the ground, dazed and clutching his broken hand.
“S-s-s-skull… p-portal me… out of here!”
Cap rolled him onto his back and punch him again, this time knocking him out.
Posted on 4/24/22 at 9:44 pm to Bard
The moment Diana saw the glowing rope in the stranger’s hands, she knew it was her lasso. Between the distraction with Superman and the sudden darkness, this man had sped in and stolen her lasso.
The man taunted her. “Hey, little girl. Want your jump rope back? Give us a kiss and we’ll see if it’s enough for Speed Demon to give up his new prize.” He then looked over to Steve with a leer, “Don’t worry though, if the kiss isn’t that good I can think of other things you can do it to earn this back.”
The insinuation infuriated her! She flew at him as hard and fast as she could. Her hands were almost on his scrawny neck and then… he wasn’t there.
“Miss me? Awww! Don’t worry, sweetness. Once we handle your aggression issues it won’t be so hard.”
She turned, he had somehow run from her grasp at the last second and was now ten feet behind her.
“Well, that’s a lie, it will always be… hard. For you.”
She lunged again and again he was gone the instant before she had him!
“Don’t worry, doll, I’m not this fast in everything I do.”
Again he was behind her, this time standing so close she could feel his breath on her ear. She rammed her right elbow back but it hit only air. Now he was over to her left.
“Yeah, I’m going to make sure I take my time with you.”
She swung and missed again. GODS! She was frustrated with not being able to catch him but his constant innuendo was infuriating! She had been involved in this war in Man’s world long enough to know the impact of a man forcing himself on a woman. Being so much stronger than men, it had been difficult for her to imagine being so overpowered, so impotent against the power of another. Now she had at least the beginnings of a reference point as each attempt to capture him proved futile.
-Whap!-
He… hit her? In the back of the head?
“I guess you should know, sweetness, I like it rough.”
She turned again, and again he was behind her and again hit her in the back of the head.
He’s playing with me! He knows he’s too fast for me to catch him and it’s making me angry. Steve has always warned me against letting my temper get the best of me. An idea began to take form...
His punches came faster and from more angles. She tried reacting to them but she was getting slower and slower. His punches didn’t hurt, even dozens landing a second but it was disorienting. Her reactions got even slower.
Jim Sanders, Speed Demon, reveled in his speed. His movements, his thoughts, his reactions were all far superior to that of this prancing harlot. He had grown up in New Jersey and left there for Germany after the bill for his specific style of debauchery during “the roaring twenties” came due. Every bit of news he had heard of the exploits of this so-called “Star-Spangled Couple” during the war made accepting the power from Nefaria’s experiments that much sweeter. After defeating her he would go on to defeat her Jew-loving husband then present both of them to his Fuhrer to do with as he wished. But first he would have this woman, to prove even she must fall before the unstoppable destiny of the Third Reich!
Diana was on her knees now. Her movements even slower, sluggish. Speed Demon still ran back and forth around her, punching her, but he no longer retreated. He didn’t have to, the fight seemed to be leaving her. He had even wrapped some of the lasso around his fist, just to punch her with her own property.
He stopped in front of her, bent at the waist to make sure she heard him. “When this is over, I’m going to taste your ‘wonders,’… woman.”
She lunged with her full strength and speed, exposing that she had been faking her weakened condition. She reached out with her hands going to either side of him. He moved predictably and easily avoided her grasp, but she wasn’t trying to grab him, her true target was the trailing end of her lasso. The same lasso wound securely around Speed Demon's right hand. The lasso whose loose end was now in the iron grip of her left hand. The lasso she yanked. Hard.
The strength of her pull against his speed snapped his wrist and wrenched his shoulder out of its socket, it also brought his neck directly in line to the waiting grasp Wonder Woman’s free right hand. He healed incredibly fast, he could feel the excruciating pain of the bones in his wrist beginning to regenerate and his body pushing the first of the old fragments out through his skin but it was useless. She had him.
He used his free, uninjured hand to attempt to gouge her eyes, to rain down dozens, hundreds, of blows per second but then she punched him and that was the last thing he knew.
Diana picked up the limp form of the unconscious Speed Demon then made her way back to where she, Will, Steve and Clark were first ambushed.
The man taunted her. “Hey, little girl. Want your jump rope back? Give us a kiss and we’ll see if it’s enough for Speed Demon to give up his new prize.” He then looked over to Steve with a leer, “Don’t worry though, if the kiss isn’t that good I can think of other things you can do it to earn this back.”
The insinuation infuriated her! She flew at him as hard and fast as she could. Her hands were almost on his scrawny neck and then… he wasn’t there.
“Miss me? Awww! Don’t worry, sweetness. Once we handle your aggression issues it won’t be so hard.”
She turned, he had somehow run from her grasp at the last second and was now ten feet behind her.
“Well, that’s a lie, it will always be… hard. For you.”
She lunged again and again he was gone the instant before she had him!
“Don’t worry, doll, I’m not this fast in everything I do.”
Again he was behind her, this time standing so close she could feel his breath on her ear. She rammed her right elbow back but it hit only air. Now he was over to her left.
“Yeah, I’m going to make sure I take my time with you.”
She swung and missed again. GODS! She was frustrated with not being able to catch him but his constant innuendo was infuriating! She had been involved in this war in Man’s world long enough to know the impact of a man forcing himself on a woman. Being so much stronger than men, it had been difficult for her to imagine being so overpowered, so impotent against the power of another. Now she had at least the beginnings of a reference point as each attempt to capture him proved futile.
-Whap!-
He… hit her? In the back of the head?
“I guess you should know, sweetness, I like it rough.”
She turned again, and again he was behind her and again hit her in the back of the head.
He’s playing with me! He knows he’s too fast for me to catch him and it’s making me angry. Steve has always warned me against letting my temper get the best of me. An idea began to take form...
His punches came faster and from more angles. She tried reacting to them but she was getting slower and slower. His punches didn’t hurt, even dozens landing a second but it was disorienting. Her reactions got even slower.
Jim Sanders, Speed Demon, reveled in his speed. His movements, his thoughts, his reactions were all far superior to that of this prancing harlot. He had grown up in New Jersey and left there for Germany after the bill for his specific style of debauchery during “the roaring twenties” came due. Every bit of news he had heard of the exploits of this so-called “Star-Spangled Couple” during the war made accepting the power from Nefaria’s experiments that much sweeter. After defeating her he would go on to defeat her Jew-loving husband then present both of them to his Fuhrer to do with as he wished. But first he would have this woman, to prove even she must fall before the unstoppable destiny of the Third Reich!
Diana was on her knees now. Her movements even slower, sluggish. Speed Demon still ran back and forth around her, punching her, but he no longer retreated. He didn’t have to, the fight seemed to be leaving her. He had even wrapped some of the lasso around his fist, just to punch her with her own property.
He stopped in front of her, bent at the waist to make sure she heard him. “When this is over, I’m going to taste your ‘wonders,’… woman.”
She lunged with her full strength and speed, exposing that she had been faking her weakened condition. She reached out with her hands going to either side of him. He moved predictably and easily avoided her grasp, but she wasn’t trying to grab him, her true target was the trailing end of her lasso. The same lasso wound securely around Speed Demon's right hand. The lasso whose loose end was now in the iron grip of her left hand. The lasso she yanked. Hard.
The strength of her pull against his speed snapped his wrist and wrenched his shoulder out of its socket, it also brought his neck directly in line to the waiting grasp Wonder Woman’s free right hand. He healed incredibly fast, he could feel the excruciating pain of the bones in his wrist beginning to regenerate and his body pushing the first of the old fragments out through his skin but it was useless. She had him.
He used his free, uninjured hand to attempt to gouge her eyes, to rain down dozens, hundreds, of blows per second but then she punched him and that was the last thing he knew.
Diana picked up the limp form of the unconscious Speed Demon then made her way back to where she, Will, Steve and Clark were first ambushed.
Posted on 4/25/22 at 9:19 pm to Bard
After finishing off Blackout, Steve noticed Will lying on the ground. He ran to him to see a large bruise on the side of his face. Speed Demon had apparently taken good advantage of their distraction at the beginning of the fight to not only steal Diana’s lasso but to knock Will out.
As knelt over the form of the now-stirring Will Everett, he heard a familiar voice.
“Well done, Herr Kapitan.” It was Johann Shmidt, the Red Skull, stepping out of a glowing circle of light. He held a similarly glowing cube in one hand and a spear in the other.
From back and to the left, he heard Diana, “SKULL! Here’s your lackey back!” From the corner of his vision, Steve was just able to see Speed Demon’s limp form flying at the Skull.
Schmidt spared a lackluster glance at Wonder Woman and the body she had thrown at him. “Ahhh, Wunderfrau. You should be more careful with your playthings.” Just before Speed Demon’s form hit him, the Skull opened up another portal in front of him, Speed Demon’s body flying into it… and then out of a similar portal opened just in front of Wonder Woman.
Captain America would have normally already been charging across the clearing at his nemesis, but he realized leaving Amazing Man in his state could invite deadly retribution with the Skull’s newfound “portal cube”. Instead, he set himself defensively between the groggy Will Everett and the Red Skull.
Humor danced in Schmidt’s eyes. “Such ego, Kapitan, thinking I am here for you.”
Diana hadn’t been prepared for Speed Demon’s body to suddenly slam into her so she was momentarily too disoriented to realize another portal opened behind her. Steve tried to warn her.
“DIANA!”
Before her name had finished leaving his lips a monstrous brute with grey skin and dressed in torn rags had fallen from the most recent portal. Already caught between trying to shift her focus from the unexpected return flight of the body of Speed Demon back toward the Skull, the monster’s attack caught her completely by surprise. He landed a devastating blow to the back of her head, then screamed rage at her falling form as they both fell to the ground.
“GRUNDY CRUSH!”
She had no chance to recover from his initial attack so she had no defense for the brutal power of his continued assault. As the blows rained down, the Skull tapped the spear to his forehead in a mock salute as he offered a simple “auf wiedersehen” before he and his portal disappeared.
Steve had heard of Solomon Grundy and his battles against the JSA, but their stories of him didn’t do him any justice. Will was still groggy and unfocused but Diana was having trouble. With the Skull gone though, he decided Will was in far less danger than was Diana. Steve sprinted across the clearing for all he was worth, this beast was brutalizing the love of his life. He had to get there and do… something!
Grundy was an undead machine of unending violence and anger. He could be knocked out but never killed. At least not permanently. He was incredibly strong and resilient but he was slow and stupid. Steve decided that would have to be enough.
Grundy was blindly pounding Diana’s back and head hard enough to begin driving her into the ground. She didn’t even move yet he kept clubbing her ruthlessly and relentlessly over and over with his gigantic fists. Steve could feel the impacts through the ground and even through the air as he got closer.
He slid over his wife’s prone form, shield braced above his head. No matter how strong this monster was, Steve believed his shield was stronger. He was right. Grundy mindlessly pounded the shield a few more times but that was enough for Steve to get his timing down before Grundy decided to change tactics. On instinct he dove forward into a roll through Grundy’s legs, narrowly avoiding Grundy’s gargantuan hands attempting to grab him.
He jabbed the edge of his shield with all his strength into the back of Grundy’s leading knee. As Grundy had most of his weight still on that leg, the effect was more than Steve thought he had a right to expect, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Grundy only stumbled instead of going down.
Steve danced back as Grundy turned. He had to move him away from Diana’s form. She wasn’t moving… Steve tried to push through his concern for her but it distracted him just long enough for Grundy to change tactics. A blow to the shield Captain America was expecting never came, instead Grundy grabbed the shield and attempted to lift Steve up by it. Steve had let go and began to fall to the ground but Grundy used his other hand to catch Steve by the arm while still in mid-air. Steve sought to use what leverage he had to kick Grundy in the eyes but before he could, Grundy crushed Steve’s humerus at the same time he dropped Captain America’s shield. The pain was so quick and brutal he barely realized what came next.
“IMPERIUS REX!”
Namor had arrived.
As knelt over the form of the now-stirring Will Everett, he heard a familiar voice.
“Well done, Herr Kapitan.” It was Johann Shmidt, the Red Skull, stepping out of a glowing circle of light. He held a similarly glowing cube in one hand and a spear in the other.
From back and to the left, he heard Diana, “SKULL! Here’s your lackey back!” From the corner of his vision, Steve was just able to see Speed Demon’s limp form flying at the Skull.
Schmidt spared a lackluster glance at Wonder Woman and the body she had thrown at him. “Ahhh, Wunderfrau. You should be more careful with your playthings.” Just before Speed Demon’s form hit him, the Skull opened up another portal in front of him, Speed Demon’s body flying into it… and then out of a similar portal opened just in front of Wonder Woman.
Captain America would have normally already been charging across the clearing at his nemesis, but he realized leaving Amazing Man in his state could invite deadly retribution with the Skull’s newfound “portal cube”. Instead, he set himself defensively between the groggy Will Everett and the Red Skull.
Humor danced in Schmidt’s eyes. “Such ego, Kapitan, thinking I am here for you.”
Diana hadn’t been prepared for Speed Demon’s body to suddenly slam into her so she was momentarily too disoriented to realize another portal opened behind her. Steve tried to warn her.
“DIANA!”
Before her name had finished leaving his lips a monstrous brute with grey skin and dressed in torn rags had fallen from the most recent portal. Already caught between trying to shift her focus from the unexpected return flight of the body of Speed Demon back toward the Skull, the monster’s attack caught her completely by surprise. He landed a devastating blow to the back of her head, then screamed rage at her falling form as they both fell to the ground.
“GRUNDY CRUSH!”
She had no chance to recover from his initial attack so she had no defense for the brutal power of his continued assault. As the blows rained down, the Skull tapped the spear to his forehead in a mock salute as he offered a simple “auf wiedersehen” before he and his portal disappeared.
Steve had heard of Solomon Grundy and his battles against the JSA, but their stories of him didn’t do him any justice. Will was still groggy and unfocused but Diana was having trouble. With the Skull gone though, he decided Will was in far less danger than was Diana. Steve sprinted across the clearing for all he was worth, this beast was brutalizing the love of his life. He had to get there and do… something!
Grundy was an undead machine of unending violence and anger. He could be knocked out but never killed. At least not permanently. He was incredibly strong and resilient but he was slow and stupid. Steve decided that would have to be enough.
Grundy was blindly pounding Diana’s back and head hard enough to begin driving her into the ground. She didn’t even move yet he kept clubbing her ruthlessly and relentlessly over and over with his gigantic fists. Steve could feel the impacts through the ground and even through the air as he got closer.
He slid over his wife’s prone form, shield braced above his head. No matter how strong this monster was, Steve believed his shield was stronger. He was right. Grundy mindlessly pounded the shield a few more times but that was enough for Steve to get his timing down before Grundy decided to change tactics. On instinct he dove forward into a roll through Grundy’s legs, narrowly avoiding Grundy’s gargantuan hands attempting to grab him.
He jabbed the edge of his shield with all his strength into the back of Grundy’s leading knee. As Grundy had most of his weight still on that leg, the effect was more than Steve thought he had a right to expect, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Grundy only stumbled instead of going down.
Steve danced back as Grundy turned. He had to move him away from Diana’s form. She wasn’t moving… Steve tried to push through his concern for her but it distracted him just long enough for Grundy to change tactics. A blow to the shield Captain America was expecting never came, instead Grundy grabbed the shield and attempted to lift Steve up by it. Steve had let go and began to fall to the ground but Grundy used his other hand to catch Steve by the arm while still in mid-air. Steve sought to use what leverage he had to kick Grundy in the eyes but before he could, Grundy crushed Steve’s humerus at the same time he dropped Captain America’s shield. The pain was so quick and brutal he barely realized what came next.
“IMPERIUS REX!”
Namor had arrived.
Posted on 4/26/22 at 9:52 pm to Bard
It took Clark only a moment to adjust to the attack, but by that time his opponent had already carried him miles away and into a hillside. Whoever he was, he was strong and Clark was still feeling tired from his prior efforts. Still, he had been in enough battles for the shock of the surprise attack to fade fast. As they exploded out of the other side of the hill he took advantage of his opponent’s loose grip and shot straight upwards. He was surprised to see his opponent’s reaction time not in synch with their speed. Instead of shooting upward into the same direction as Clark just moments later, he continued on for hundreds of yards before he stopped. Clark watched him, this man clad in white and black, his red cape with yellow interior lining flaring out before him as its momentum played out.
Clark watched as his opponent searched the sky then found Clark floating in the air above and well behind him, then smirked. With his superior hearing Clark heard the man mumble under his breath, “Intelligenti, Superuomo, but you are no match for Count Luchino Nefaria,” the Italian accent was strong. Nefaria’s quick smirk may as well have been a telegram for Clark that his opponent was about to charge.
Clark was still tired but his adrenaline had begun kicking in, helping gain some of the needed clarity for battle. With that clarity came a theory and that theory needed to be tested.
He waited until Nefaria was just feet away then used his incredible speed to dodge to the side. Nefaria shot past him like a speeding car, but like one on ice he seemed to skid as he tried to stop. It didn’t take him quite as long as when Clark changed direction just moments ago but it was enough to confirm Clark’s suspicion: Nefaria was new to his powers.
After an awkward mid-air slowing, stop, then pivot, Nefaria flew back toward Clark. This time, Clark noticed, Nefaria’s speed was much reduced. This Nefaria appeared to be a quick learner. When they were within arm’s reach, Nefaria lunged. Clark countered by using his greater mobility and experience to once again move himself to the side just enough to stay on the outside of Nefaria’s attempted grapple. Clark had a wide-open shot and Nefaria’s jaw so he took it.
The punch spun Nefaria around but if it did any other damage to him, Clark couldn’t tell. His opponent smirked again as he re-oriented on Superman once again. This time when he spoke, he made sure Superman could hear him.
“Ahhh, Superuomo. I had heard so much about your… strength. It’s disappointing that it turns out to be a myth”. He charged back at Clark again, this time in a floating version of a boxer’s stance. He took a few swings at Clark; left, right, left, right. Clark sensed Nefaria wasn’t much of a boxer either so when he had the timing down of the man’s simple, repeating 1-2 combinations, he struck with a powerful roundhouse that hit only air.
Count Luchino Nefaria had realized his flight limitations and lulled Superman into thinking those same limitations extended to fighting. Superman’s counter was obvious and once he committed to it, Nefaria ducked it then came back with his own devastating uppercut.
Clark was falling. He had never been hit that hard in his life! He recovered his wits just before hitting the ground, changing his direction to skim the surface of the landscape while he looked back for Nefaria.
Nefaria had attempted to follow him down but once again his inexperience with compensating for flight momentum had hampered him. When Clark changed direction, Nefaria continued forward and plowed deeply into the earth. After finally coming to a stop twenty feet down, Nefaria was able to stop himself and change course. He shot out of the hole he had made only to find Superman had been waiting for him.
Clark watched as his opponent searched the sky then found Clark floating in the air above and well behind him, then smirked. With his superior hearing Clark heard the man mumble under his breath, “Intelligenti, Superuomo, but you are no match for Count Luchino Nefaria,” the Italian accent was strong. Nefaria’s quick smirk may as well have been a telegram for Clark that his opponent was about to charge.
Clark was still tired but his adrenaline had begun kicking in, helping gain some of the needed clarity for battle. With that clarity came a theory and that theory needed to be tested.
He waited until Nefaria was just feet away then used his incredible speed to dodge to the side. Nefaria shot past him like a speeding car, but like one on ice he seemed to skid as he tried to stop. It didn’t take him quite as long as when Clark changed direction just moments ago but it was enough to confirm Clark’s suspicion: Nefaria was new to his powers.
After an awkward mid-air slowing, stop, then pivot, Nefaria flew back toward Clark. This time, Clark noticed, Nefaria’s speed was much reduced. This Nefaria appeared to be a quick learner. When they were within arm’s reach, Nefaria lunged. Clark countered by using his greater mobility and experience to once again move himself to the side just enough to stay on the outside of Nefaria’s attempted grapple. Clark had a wide-open shot and Nefaria’s jaw so he took it.
The punch spun Nefaria around but if it did any other damage to him, Clark couldn’t tell. His opponent smirked again as he re-oriented on Superman once again. This time when he spoke, he made sure Superman could hear him.
“Ahhh, Superuomo. I had heard so much about your… strength. It’s disappointing that it turns out to be a myth”. He charged back at Clark again, this time in a floating version of a boxer’s stance. He took a few swings at Clark; left, right, left, right. Clark sensed Nefaria wasn’t much of a boxer either so when he had the timing down of the man’s simple, repeating 1-2 combinations, he struck with a powerful roundhouse that hit only air.
Count Luchino Nefaria had realized his flight limitations and lulled Superman into thinking those same limitations extended to fighting. Superman’s counter was obvious and once he committed to it, Nefaria ducked it then came back with his own devastating uppercut.
Clark was falling. He had never been hit that hard in his life! He recovered his wits just before hitting the ground, changing his direction to skim the surface of the landscape while he looked back for Nefaria.
Nefaria had attempted to follow him down but once again his inexperience with compensating for flight momentum had hampered him. When Clark changed direction, Nefaria continued forward and plowed deeply into the earth. After finally coming to a stop twenty feet down, Nefaria was able to stop himself and change course. He shot out of the hole he had made only to find Superman had been waiting for him.
Posted on 4/26/22 at 9:57 pm to Bard
Steve and Diana had discussed Namor on numerous occasions. They knew his expressed reason for being involved in the Invaders, that such a wide-ranging war endangered even Atlantis, was just a cover. Namor had always had feelings for Diana, ever since they had met as children. He had been impressed with her strength, courage and combat prowess every bit as much as he was with her incredible beauty. He knew she didn’t think of him in that manner, but he didn’t care. His love and sense of honor drove him to participate in this war just so he could be by her side, just in case she ever needed his protection. They knew he respected Steve and saw their marriage was bittersweet for him.
For someone like Namor to see their unrequited love being savagely beaten, unconscious, possibly dead… it was too much.
Namor had seen Diana’s prone, unmoving form as he had neared. He saw Steve’s valiant stand against this grey behemoth and had even heard the crunch of Steve’s bone from the incredible pressure of the giant’s grip. He had already been flying at top speed, the sights and sound of the battlefield drove his rage into a region he had never before experienced. He came in at the grey monstrosity from above, using all of his speed and strength to land as strong and solid a punch as he had ever delivered in his life.
“IMPERIOUS REX!” He shouted his battle-cry at the top of his lungs as his punch connected. The punch connected with such impact that it sent a slight tremor through the ground.
The beast dropped Steve as it stumbled back, then went down on one knee and one hand. It began to shake its head in an attempt to clear it, but the savage Namor would have none of that. He half-leaped, half-flew at the monster as he punched him again.
The massive creature had recovered enough to respond by using its supporting hand to hurl a mound of dirt and grass at Namor’s face. Namor often counted on his vast strength and durability to carry him through a fight, often taking hits that a more finessed fighter would avoid. The hurled detritus caught him unawares and left him open to a savage follow-up.
The two sparred, giving and taking brutal and punishing hits with neither gaining an edge over the other. They were too evenly matched.
Steve had managed to move away from the devastating battle of juggernauts to find Will Everett had not only regained consciousness but had absorbed the properties of a steel rod he carried in his armband. When Will used his powers, they had a healing effect on him and Steve could see the realization of what was happening and the determination to end it dawning on Will’s face. Before Will could take two steps toward the fight to assist Namor, Steve held up the hand of his uninjured arm to stop him.
Will looked from the fight to his leader, his Captain. He would have ignored anyone else other than Steve or Diana.
“I don’t think steel is going to help this time, solider,” Steve said with a grimace as he once again gingerly held his mangled arm. “It’s time for the bracer.”
“Are you sure, Cap?”
“I don’t think we have a choice.”
Will nodded.
Uru was an otherworldly metal of the gods. It was already far stronger than steel but it had the extra advantage of more easily absorbing enchantments. Diana’s bracers were forged and enchanted by gods, only Steve’s shield surpassed them.
Amazing Man’s powers gave him the strength and durability of whatever material he touched. He usually chose something like steel, iron or even granite for battle. At one point they decided to try testing his ability on Diana’s magic-enhanced Uru bracers. Not only did Wonder Woman’s bracers make him far stronger than he had ever been before but they had the unexpected effect of making Will Everett over-stimulated. His mind had raced to the point where it made concentration on a single task difficult, meanwhile his body almost shook with energy.
Growing up, Will had known someone in his neighborhood who often used too much cocaine and he likened his experience with Diana’s bracers to that. He had seen what became of that man and worried that, even though he hated the feeling, repeated use of his powers to mimic the properties of Diana’s bracers could have some sort of similar negative impact. Together the group had theorized that absorbing the properties of Cap’s shield might well kill him. For Steve to suggest this tactic meant things were bad. Very bad.
Will had raced around where Namor and Grundy battled to find Diana’s still form. With a deep breath and a silent prayer Will absorbed the properties of her bracers. The effect was immediate and it was everything he had remembered. His thoughts moved so fast, jumping from topic to topic, it made him slightly confused as to what to do next. The energy in his body felt like he was wrestling with a lightning bolt.
“Amazing Man!” Steve’s voice cut through the confusion enough to allow him to focus Captain America. He was pointing at… his thoughts began to spin again. “Help Namor!”
Yes! That was it! Namor was fighting… there! He must help Namor!
He leaped at the combat area, catching Grundy with a surprise hit to the side of his head. Grundy reeled. The energy coursing through Will’s body wouldn’t let him hold back, every movement or punch was at full strength.
Grundy began to turn toward him but then Namor hit him again. And again. And again. There was no strategy to Namor’s blows, he was deep within his rage. Grundy had no choice but to turn back to him.
Once Grundy turned away, Will went low and used all of his strength and leverage to punch Grundy’s knee. His punch blew completely through the joint, causing Grundy to begin to fall backwards. This ws where the countless hours of sparring with Captain America kicked in. By instinct Will quickly shifted so that he caught Grundy from behind then maneuvered him into a half-nelson. Had he not been amped up on the properties of Wonder Woman’s bracers, there would have been no way he could have done so much damage to Grundy, much less now holding him prone.
Even with only one leg working correctly, Grundy was able to stand back up. Will’s greatly enhanced strength kept Grundy’s arms immobile, meaning Namor had a clear shot. Namor being Namor, he made the most of it by landing incredible blow after incredible blow until, finally, the grey monster fell limp.
As Will let go of Grundy’s unmoving body, he also let go of the powers of Wonder Woman’s bracers. He fell to the ground, drained, out of breath and more than a little nauseous. He didn’t want to ever do that again.
Namor, on the other hand, wasn’t finished. The fire of his rage was not yet quenched and he stepped over the behemoth’s mass to continue releasing his anger.
Cap shouted, “Namor! Diana needs you!”
It had the desired effect. Hearing that Diana needed help was all that was needed for Namor’s blood to cool enough to quiet the fury roaring through him.
Namor looked up to see Steve, sitting with Diana’s head in his lap, stroking her hair with his good hand and tears beginning to run down his face. The only human he considered an equal was begging him to help the woman he secretly loved. “Please. Namor. She needs Themyscira. You’re the only one here who can take her.”
He flew to her in a flash and then, oh so gently, took her still form in his arms. He nodded to Steve, then was off to the south as fast as he could fly.
For someone like Namor to see their unrequited love being savagely beaten, unconscious, possibly dead… it was too much.
Namor had seen Diana’s prone, unmoving form as he had neared. He saw Steve’s valiant stand against this grey behemoth and had even heard the crunch of Steve’s bone from the incredible pressure of the giant’s grip. He had already been flying at top speed, the sights and sound of the battlefield drove his rage into a region he had never before experienced. He came in at the grey monstrosity from above, using all of his speed and strength to land as strong and solid a punch as he had ever delivered in his life.
“IMPERIOUS REX!” He shouted his battle-cry at the top of his lungs as his punch connected. The punch connected with such impact that it sent a slight tremor through the ground.
The beast dropped Steve as it stumbled back, then went down on one knee and one hand. It began to shake its head in an attempt to clear it, but the savage Namor would have none of that. He half-leaped, half-flew at the monster as he punched him again.
The massive creature had recovered enough to respond by using its supporting hand to hurl a mound of dirt and grass at Namor’s face. Namor often counted on his vast strength and durability to carry him through a fight, often taking hits that a more finessed fighter would avoid. The hurled detritus caught him unawares and left him open to a savage follow-up.
The two sparred, giving and taking brutal and punishing hits with neither gaining an edge over the other. They were too evenly matched.
Steve had managed to move away from the devastating battle of juggernauts to find Will Everett had not only regained consciousness but had absorbed the properties of a steel rod he carried in his armband. When Will used his powers, they had a healing effect on him and Steve could see the realization of what was happening and the determination to end it dawning on Will’s face. Before Will could take two steps toward the fight to assist Namor, Steve held up the hand of his uninjured arm to stop him.
Will looked from the fight to his leader, his Captain. He would have ignored anyone else other than Steve or Diana.
“I don’t think steel is going to help this time, solider,” Steve said with a grimace as he once again gingerly held his mangled arm. “It’s time for the bracer.”
“Are you sure, Cap?”
“I don’t think we have a choice.”
Will nodded.
Uru was an otherworldly metal of the gods. It was already far stronger than steel but it had the extra advantage of more easily absorbing enchantments. Diana’s bracers were forged and enchanted by gods, only Steve’s shield surpassed them.
Amazing Man’s powers gave him the strength and durability of whatever material he touched. He usually chose something like steel, iron or even granite for battle. At one point they decided to try testing his ability on Diana’s magic-enhanced Uru bracers. Not only did Wonder Woman’s bracers make him far stronger than he had ever been before but they had the unexpected effect of making Will Everett over-stimulated. His mind had raced to the point where it made concentration on a single task difficult, meanwhile his body almost shook with energy.
Growing up, Will had known someone in his neighborhood who often used too much cocaine and he likened his experience with Diana’s bracers to that. He had seen what became of that man and worried that, even though he hated the feeling, repeated use of his powers to mimic the properties of Diana’s bracers could have some sort of similar negative impact. Together the group had theorized that absorbing the properties of Cap’s shield might well kill him. For Steve to suggest this tactic meant things were bad. Very bad.
Will had raced around where Namor and Grundy battled to find Diana’s still form. With a deep breath and a silent prayer Will absorbed the properties of her bracers. The effect was immediate and it was everything he had remembered. His thoughts moved so fast, jumping from topic to topic, it made him slightly confused as to what to do next. The energy in his body felt like he was wrestling with a lightning bolt.
“Amazing Man!” Steve’s voice cut through the confusion enough to allow him to focus Captain America. He was pointing at… his thoughts began to spin again. “Help Namor!”
Yes! That was it! Namor was fighting… there! He must help Namor!
He leaped at the combat area, catching Grundy with a surprise hit to the side of his head. Grundy reeled. The energy coursing through Will’s body wouldn’t let him hold back, every movement or punch was at full strength.
Grundy began to turn toward him but then Namor hit him again. And again. And again. There was no strategy to Namor’s blows, he was deep within his rage. Grundy had no choice but to turn back to him.
Once Grundy turned away, Will went low and used all of his strength and leverage to punch Grundy’s knee. His punch blew completely through the joint, causing Grundy to begin to fall backwards. This ws where the countless hours of sparring with Captain America kicked in. By instinct Will quickly shifted so that he caught Grundy from behind then maneuvered him into a half-nelson. Had he not been amped up on the properties of Wonder Woman’s bracers, there would have been no way he could have done so much damage to Grundy, much less now holding him prone.
Even with only one leg working correctly, Grundy was able to stand back up. Will’s greatly enhanced strength kept Grundy’s arms immobile, meaning Namor had a clear shot. Namor being Namor, he made the most of it by landing incredible blow after incredible blow until, finally, the grey monster fell limp.
As Will let go of Grundy’s unmoving body, he also let go of the powers of Wonder Woman’s bracers. He fell to the ground, drained, out of breath and more than a little nauseous. He didn’t want to ever do that again.
Namor, on the other hand, wasn’t finished. The fire of his rage was not yet quenched and he stepped over the behemoth’s mass to continue releasing his anger.
Cap shouted, “Namor! Diana needs you!”
It had the desired effect. Hearing that Diana needed help was all that was needed for Namor’s blood to cool enough to quiet the fury roaring through him.
Namor looked up to see Steve, sitting with Diana’s head in his lap, stroking her hair with his good hand and tears beginning to run down his face. The only human he considered an equal was begging him to help the woman he secretly loved. “Please. Namor. She needs Themyscira. You’re the only one here who can take her.”
He flew to her in a flash and then, oh so gently, took her still form in his arms. He nodded to Steve, then was off to the south as fast as he could fly.
Posted on 4/27/22 at 7:02 am to Bard
Now it was Clark’s turn.
As Nefaria flew out of the hole he had made in the ground, Clark slammed into him from behind with the speed and power of an out of control locomotive, within seconds he had carried them both above the treeline and miles away before aiming them at the ground. Due to his inexperience, Nefaria had trouble trying to use his own flight powers as leverage to change directions or even turn himself around. Clark, holding Nefaria by the back of his head with one hand and the center of Nefaria’s back with the other, drove his opponent face first into the ground. Hard. Dust and debris flew up from their impact, leaving a shallow but wide crater.
Clark began pounding on Nefaria, driving his head deeper into the ground. Nefaria was far tougher and stronger than any other opponent Clark had yet faced. Another wave of tired weakness hit him again, this one allowed Nefaria to throw Clark off of him by shoving himself away from the ground while also using his flight to bolster his movement.
Both the ebb in energy and the move caught Clark off-guard enough that he went flying backwards through a stand of trees to land in the clearing where the fight had begun with Nefaria’s sneak attack. He had just enough time to register Amazing Man and Captain America looking like they were holding one another up before Nefaria was on him again. Clark’s strength was flagging while Nefaria seemed to have the relentless energy of an enraged bulldog.
Luchino Nefaria felt the power thrill through him, it was the single most invigorating thing he had ever encountered. Here he was taking on the Superman of America, and he was winning! His glee fed his his punches, like a child plucking wings from an insect; each one encouraging him to continue doing more.
A thick shield of green light suddenly appeared between he and his prey. “Batter up!”
He looked up just in time to see the mace before it smashed into his face. Luchino was knocked off the prone form of Superman by the power behind that blow. It had hurt a bit more than Superman’s punches, but it still wasn’t enough to more than momentarily disorient him. He hurtled backwards into a second powerful blow, this hurting even more and sending him into the sky.
“Home run,” Shayera Hall called back to her husband as her Nth Metal mace slammed into the back of the head of Superman’s black-and-white-clad assailant.
Superman! If she’d had more time to think on what sort of power it took to do that to Clark, she would have shivered. She had a fight to focus on and this opponent looked to require every bit of focus she and Carter could muster.
Nearby, she heard Jay Garrick call up from the ground, “Lantern! Snag that pop fly!” A moment later a large baseball bat emblazoned with the words “To: Hitler”, all made of green light, appeared and slammed into the flying figure. The impact was so strong that it redirected the man’s momentum directly into the ground, creating a small crater where he hit.
As the rest of the Justice Society went toward the impact site, Jay Garrick called out again, “Fate, Atom, with me. We have wounded.”
As Dr. Fate touched down, the diminutive Ray Palmer –the Atom –leapt from his shoulder, engaging his ability to return to his normal size before he too touched the ground. “Atom, check on Amazing Man. Fate, see what you can do for Superman, I’ll see to Cap.”
Jay helped Steve make his way to where Dr. Fate was working to heal Clark.
“Steve, what happened? Where’s the rest of your team?”
Steve kept looking forward. “They were waiting for us. The Skull has some new power, he a glowing cube that can open doorways in the air. He was carrying a spear too, but I didn’t see it doing anything. They separated us like we were amateurs.” He stopped at this point and looked at Jay, sadness mixing with pain, “they took out Diana, Jay.”
“Took her out? What do you mean? How is that even possible?”
“A big part of the Skull’s strategy was to surprise us, keep us off-balance. They had a speedster dressed like you, a guy with some sort of black-cloud powers, the black-and-white powerhouse your team is fighting, and Grundy.”
Jay looked around, finally spying the unmoving gray mass across the clearing. “That’s... Grundy?”
Steve didn’t look back, he started moving towards Clark again. There was a cold distance in his voice, “Yes. For all the good I did. Namor took him out then took her to Themyscira.”
Jay had no response. They all knew the horrors of war but he thought Superman and Wonder Woman would be the two of them most likely to survive.
“Go to your team, Jay. They’re going to need you.”
As Nefaria flew out of the hole he had made in the ground, Clark slammed into him from behind with the speed and power of an out of control locomotive, within seconds he had carried them both above the treeline and miles away before aiming them at the ground. Due to his inexperience, Nefaria had trouble trying to use his own flight powers as leverage to change directions or even turn himself around. Clark, holding Nefaria by the back of his head with one hand and the center of Nefaria’s back with the other, drove his opponent face first into the ground. Hard. Dust and debris flew up from their impact, leaving a shallow but wide crater.
Clark began pounding on Nefaria, driving his head deeper into the ground. Nefaria was far tougher and stronger than any other opponent Clark had yet faced. Another wave of tired weakness hit him again, this one allowed Nefaria to throw Clark off of him by shoving himself away from the ground while also using his flight to bolster his movement.
Both the ebb in energy and the move caught Clark off-guard enough that he went flying backwards through a stand of trees to land in the clearing where the fight had begun with Nefaria’s sneak attack. He had just enough time to register Amazing Man and Captain America looking like they were holding one another up before Nefaria was on him again. Clark’s strength was flagging while Nefaria seemed to have the relentless energy of an enraged bulldog.
Luchino Nefaria felt the power thrill through him, it was the single most invigorating thing he had ever encountered. Here he was taking on the Superman of America, and he was winning! His glee fed his his punches, like a child plucking wings from an insect; each one encouraging him to continue doing more.
A thick shield of green light suddenly appeared between he and his prey. “Batter up!”
He looked up just in time to see the mace before it smashed into his face. Luchino was knocked off the prone form of Superman by the power behind that blow. It had hurt a bit more than Superman’s punches, but it still wasn’t enough to more than momentarily disorient him. He hurtled backwards into a second powerful blow, this hurting even more and sending him into the sky.
“Home run,” Shayera Hall called back to her husband as her Nth Metal mace slammed into the back of the head of Superman’s black-and-white-clad assailant.
Superman! If she’d had more time to think on what sort of power it took to do that to Clark, she would have shivered. She had a fight to focus on and this opponent looked to require every bit of focus she and Carter could muster.
Nearby, she heard Jay Garrick call up from the ground, “Lantern! Snag that pop fly!” A moment later a large baseball bat emblazoned with the words “To: Hitler”, all made of green light, appeared and slammed into the flying figure. The impact was so strong that it redirected the man’s momentum directly into the ground, creating a small crater where he hit.
As the rest of the Justice Society went toward the impact site, Jay Garrick called out again, “Fate, Atom, with me. We have wounded.”
As Dr. Fate touched down, the diminutive Ray Palmer –the Atom –leapt from his shoulder, engaging his ability to return to his normal size before he too touched the ground. “Atom, check on Amazing Man. Fate, see what you can do for Superman, I’ll see to Cap.”
Jay helped Steve make his way to where Dr. Fate was working to heal Clark.
“Steve, what happened? Where’s the rest of your team?”
Steve kept looking forward. “They were waiting for us. The Skull has some new power, he a glowing cube that can open doorways in the air. He was carrying a spear too, but I didn’t see it doing anything. They separated us like we were amateurs.” He stopped at this point and looked at Jay, sadness mixing with pain, “they took out Diana, Jay.”
“Took her out? What do you mean? How is that even possible?”
“A big part of the Skull’s strategy was to surprise us, keep us off-balance. They had a speedster dressed like you, a guy with some sort of black-cloud powers, the black-and-white powerhouse your team is fighting, and Grundy.”
Jay looked around, finally spying the unmoving gray mass across the clearing. “That’s... Grundy?”
Steve didn’t look back, he started moving towards Clark again. There was a cold distance in his voice, “Yes. For all the good I did. Namor took him out then took her to Themyscira.”
Jay had no response. They all knew the horrors of war but he thought Superman and Wonder Woman would be the two of them most likely to survive.
“Go to your team, Jay. They’re going to need you.”
Posted on 4/27/22 at 9:58 pm to Bard
Clark wasn’t sure what Dr. Fate’s magic was doing, but he was feeling better. Much better. In fact, he hadn’t felt this good ever since making it back from the Pacific, right after the Normandy invasion.
Fate’s eerie voice, tiny and echoing from within his helmet yet somehow full at the same time, “I sense the presence of other magic, the lethargy you’ve felt has been due to your subconscious fighting off its attempts to control your mind. While my power has healed some of your wounds, temporarily blocking this other magic has allowed the fullness of your powers to return and do the majority of the work in reinvigorating you.”
“Someone’s using magic to gain control of me? Believe it or not, that may be good news. I was beginning to think my powers were starting to fade.”
Dr. Fate turned to the approaching Captain America as he continued. “You’re not too far from the truth, Superman. There’s strong magic at play here but unlike any I’ve encountered before.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“I’m not just a mage, I’m one of the Lords of Order. We stand opposed to the machinations of the Lords of Chaos to turn this reality into a hellish landscape they could control”. Fate began tending to Cap’s arm.
Clark narrowed his eyes as he looked at Dr. Fate, “In order to take the control for yourselves.” He let the statement and its implied warning hang in the air.
Without turning from his work on Captain America’s badly mangled arm, “No. We recognize that too much order is a chaos unto itself. Instead, we work with mages from many realms to maintain the balance between Order and Chaos. Between us, in each universe, there is a Sorcerer Supreme who maintains the balance.
In this reality there had been a Council of Wizards who advised the Sorcerer Supreme. They were all immortal, or nearly so. Their wisdom was great but they still eventually fell to betrayal. There is only one member of the Council left and he has exiled himself for his part in their downfall. The other is the Sorcerer Supreme.”
“Who is this Sorcerer Supreme? Why isn’t he here helping?”
“Yao is very old and nearing the end of his incredible longevity. He spends most of his time training adepts in the hopes of finding one worthy to be his replacement.”
“So no chance of an extra pair of magic hands helping end this war?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“You mentioned being able to block the magic slowing me down, how long can you do that?”
“Not long, I’m afraid. This power is an echo of a greater magic, but even then this remnant is far beyond my ability to stop it. Being that it’s primarily Order magic, it’s sympathetic to my own and thus I can delay its effects on you for a while. Without my refreshing the countering magic, however, you would begin to tire again within the hour.”
Clark nodded his understanding. “I guess I’d better make this quick then.”
Before the last word had reached Fate’s ears, Superman was already speeding back to the fight.
Fate’s eerie voice, tiny and echoing from within his helmet yet somehow full at the same time, “I sense the presence of other magic, the lethargy you’ve felt has been due to your subconscious fighting off its attempts to control your mind. While my power has healed some of your wounds, temporarily blocking this other magic has allowed the fullness of your powers to return and do the majority of the work in reinvigorating you.”
“Someone’s using magic to gain control of me? Believe it or not, that may be good news. I was beginning to think my powers were starting to fade.”
Dr. Fate turned to the approaching Captain America as he continued. “You’re not too far from the truth, Superman. There’s strong magic at play here but unlike any I’ve encountered before.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“I’m not just a mage, I’m one of the Lords of Order. We stand opposed to the machinations of the Lords of Chaos to turn this reality into a hellish landscape they could control”. Fate began tending to Cap’s arm.
Clark narrowed his eyes as he looked at Dr. Fate, “In order to take the control for yourselves.” He let the statement and its implied warning hang in the air.
Without turning from his work on Captain America’s badly mangled arm, “No. We recognize that too much order is a chaos unto itself. Instead, we work with mages from many realms to maintain the balance between Order and Chaos. Between us, in each universe, there is a Sorcerer Supreme who maintains the balance.
In this reality there had been a Council of Wizards who advised the Sorcerer Supreme. They were all immortal, or nearly so. Their wisdom was great but they still eventually fell to betrayal. There is only one member of the Council left and he has exiled himself for his part in their downfall. The other is the Sorcerer Supreme.”
“Who is this Sorcerer Supreme? Why isn’t he here helping?”
“Yao is very old and nearing the end of his incredible longevity. He spends most of his time training adepts in the hopes of finding one worthy to be his replacement.”
“So no chance of an extra pair of magic hands helping end this war?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“You mentioned being able to block the magic slowing me down, how long can you do that?”
“Not long, I’m afraid. This power is an echo of a greater magic, but even then this remnant is far beyond my ability to stop it. Being that it’s primarily Order magic, it’s sympathetic to my own and thus I can delay its effects on you for a while. Without my refreshing the countering magic, however, you would begin to tire again within the hour.”
Clark nodded his understanding. “I guess I’d better make this quick then.”
Before the last word had reached Fate’s ears, Superman was already speeding back to the fight.
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