|
ANNUAL #1
MAY 10 |
 |
"Around the World with the JLI"
Booster Gold was sulking behind the monitor board. Yet again he’d gotten corralled by Oberon. He turned as Power Girl peeked into the room. “Booster, I’m teleporting over to Paris with Barda and Scott,” she said. “We’re going to do some shopping while Scott looks around for some sites for his tour this summer.”
“Fine,” Booster said.
Karen stepped forward and whispered in his ear. “And if you try to rewire any of our signal devices to work as spycams again, you’ll need your proctologist to get that signaller back for you.” Booster gulped as a smirking Karen Starr walked out of the room.
“Everything okay?” Scott asked as Karen entered the teleporter room.
“Fine,” she said. The three of them entered the teleporter tubes and flashed into nothingness.
A continent away, Guy Gardner and Tora Olafsfotter were flying through the skies of Europe in a giant green convertible. “I can’t believe it’s been a year,” she said.
“I know,” Guy said. “And it’s been a great one.”
Tora looked over at him. “You never gave up on me, did you? You and Bea weren’t willing to let me go.”
Guy reached over and pulled Tora closer while keeping one hand on the wheel. “Never,” he said. Tora smiled.
Another teleporter tube buzzed into life and J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, exited. As his cape moved, sensors detected his movements. First they identified that he was not an intruder and silenced the alarm system before the lights came on. He looked around the room and smiled. He was alone in the cavern which was still known as the Justice League of America’s Secret Sanctuary.
He walked to the meeting room, set a shopping bag on the meeting table and sat down. He leaned back in his old chair with a widening smile. Whenever he needed to get away from the insanity of the JLI, this was his private refuge. They’d never found him yet and, since he’d left his signal device in the embassy, he believed that the streak would continue.
He switched on the monitor screen and quickly used a control from the table to access his Netflix account. He’d be spending the next few hours watching My Favorite Martian.
Ted Kord walked into the monitor room. “Oberon caught you again, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Booster moped at the console. “I don’t remember Batman ever having to sit here for monitor duty.”
Ted was preparing a retort when he heard a woman running down the hall. Ted and Booster turned to see Catherine Cobert, the JLI’s UN liaison, rushing into the room.
“We’ve got a situation at the Japanese embassy,” she said. “Who else is here?”
“Nobody,” Ted said with a shrug.
“What about Max?” Catherine asked.
“He’s off on vacation after those Injustice League idiots grabbed him last week,” Booster added.
“What about Skeets?” Catherine asked.
“We’re here!” Booster and Ted said with smiles.
As Catherine stammered to try and stop them, Booster put his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Catherine. We can handle this. Can you just stay here and watch the board until Oberon gets in? Thanks!”
“NO!” Catherine finally got out as the teleporter tubes hummed yet again. “Not you two!”
Beatriz Da Costa looked up as the green car grew larger in the sky. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Finally the car touched down. She smiled and walked over as the car disappeared.
“Welcome to Mount Everest,” she said. “I was wondering if I was going to have to set something on fire to stay warm.”
“You knew we’d be here,” Ice said as she embraced her friend. “You know we wouldn’t miss today.”
“I’d hope not,” Fire said. “It’d be a shame if you missed your birthday.”
Halfway around the world, Catherine Cobert’s worst fears were being realized as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold materialized in the Japanese embassy of the JLI. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in Japan,” Booster said. “You want to grab some sushi after we deal with Cath’s little emergency?”
“Sure,” Beetle said. He looked around. “Everything looks normal and I don’t hear any alarms going off. Probably just some school kids wanting autographs or something.”
The doors opened and Cyndy Kurahara came in, looking flustered. “Thank heaven someone over at the New York embassy was paying attention!” she said. “Mr. Akatsu has been calling for hours!”
Beetle shot a glance at Booster. “Calling for hours?”
Booster shrugged. “I don’t know what all the buttons on the board do! He could have left a message if it was important!”
“This from the man who was born in the future,” Beetle said.
Booster shrugged. “Could you work an old cash register?”
“Yes,” Beetle replied.
“How about an abacus?” Booster asked.
“Come with me,” Cyndy said as she grabbed both heroes by the arm and dragged them toward the door. “Mr. Akatsu will explain everything to you. You can make these people happy and get them out of here!”
“See?” Booster asked with a smile. “Happy schoolkids.”
Beetle wasn’t too sure as they were led to Akatsu’s office.
Karen Starr smiled as she looked over a new dress. She heard a snort beside her and turned to look. “Having any luck?” she asked.
Barda Free was not smiling. “It’s like everything here was made for midgets,” she griped. “There’s nothing here that will fit me.”
Karen examined her dress again and mentally measured the chest of it before slipping it back onto the rack. “Yeah, they do seem to like smaller sizes here,” she said nonchalantly.
She turned to Barda. “There’s only one thing to do then,” she said.
“Let’s find a coffee shop,” Barda agreed.
Iyada Akatsu was close to panic when Cyndy Kurahara led Beetle and Booster into his office. “Here they are, sir,” she said.
“Finally!” Akatsu said. He came around his desk and shook Booster and Beetle’s hands. “You have no idea how much trouble these people are being!” He smiled. “When are the others arriving?”
“What do you mean, others?” Booster asked. “I’m sure we can handle it.” He started toward the door. “They’re out here, right?”
Booster pushed the door open with a grin. “No pushing!” he said. When he didn’t hear the expected teenage girls squealing, he opened his eyes to see five people in odd superhero costumes standing before him. “Who are you?” he asked.
It was as if they shifted to slow motion. Booster could almost believe that small rocks were beginning to float as the five people called their names.
“Most Excellent Superbat!”
“Big Atomic Lantern Boy!”
“Shy Crazy Lolita Canary!”
“Shiny Happy Aquazon!”
“Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash!”
“And together we are…” The five struck a pose worthy of any Japanese anime series. “The Super Young Team!”
“And we are here to become the Japanese representatives of the Justice League International,” Superbat said. “Now where is a real hero to welcome us to the team?”
Tora Olafsdotter shivered as she looked at the cave. Inside she knew lay the Overmaster’s ship.
“It was exactly one year ago we came and got you out of here,” Bea said. Now that Guy had used his ring to whip up a green parka for her, she was much more comfortable.
“I remember,” she said. “He had abducted me before that and replaced me with a clone that had much stronger powers than I ever did.” Her eyes filled with tears. “When you opened that canister, I had no idea that I’d spent years in there instead of just minutes.”
“Something in you did,” Guy said. “Somehow you’d contacted me through my ring. I grabbed Bea and we got up here to get you out.”
Tora stared another moment before turning her back on the cave in a decisive manner. “I lost years in there and I’m not going to lose one more minute,” she said firmly. Tora then smiled. “Who’s up for cake?”
With a smile Guy whipped up another car and the three heroes were soon airborne, leaving only their footprints in the snow.
Things weren’t going as well in Japan. The Super Young Team was talking among themselves in Japanese while Blue Beetle sat with his head bowed. “What’s going on?” Booster asked. “Don’t they want my autograph?”
“Hardly,” Beetle said. “I learned Japanese when I was running Kord Industries. I know exactly what they’re saying.”
“Aren’t they talking about how great I am?” Booster asked.
“Not exactly,” Beetle said. “Right now they’re calling us…”
“Idiots!” Aquazon shouted. “We try to join the Justice League and they send these idiots here to meet us! You said we’d get to meet Batman!”
“I wanted to meet Green Arrow,” Canary moped.
“You want me to go find him?” Lantern Boy asked. “It won’t be any bother at all.”
“If I can interrupt,” Beetle said as he stood. His flawless pronunciation gave the others pause. “Why do you think you’re ready to join the JLI?”
Superbat smiled. “Because we are Japan’s greatest heroes,” he replied.
“Moving away from the point that Dr. Light or Rising Sun might disagree,” Beetle continued, “you’ve still got some weaknesses in your team structure. For starters, while you were naming yourselves and striking that pose, you’ve got the villain free to do anything he wants. If I’d had a pistol, I could have taken out half your team in that time.”
“I told you we were taking too long!” Flash griped.
“And what else did you notice?” Superbat asked after shushing Flash.
“You can’t argue in the heat of battle,” Beetle said. “It’s good that you have opinions, but you can’t discuss whose is right when you’re fighting.”
“And it doesn’t look good!” Booster chimed in. Beetle shot him a curious look. Booster smiled and held up his hand. “Legion flight ring. I forgot it’s got a built-in translator.”
Beetle glared at him a moment and turned back to the Super Young Team. “I might just have a solution that’ll help all of us, though.” He smiled and then began to outline his plan.
“So tell me what happened.” Catherine Cobert was already waiting as Beetle and Booster materialized back in New York. “How much are the repairs to the embassy going to put us over budget?”
“Not a penny,” Booster said. He draped an arm around Beetle’s shoulder, which Beetle promptly shoved off. “My buddy here took care of everything.”
Catherine’s face showed she didn’t know whether to believe that or not.
Beetle started walking down the hall with Catherine. “It was simple. I told them I’d talk to Max about putting them in the League as probationary members. They’ve got a good range of powers, but they’re so inexperienced they’d probably kill themselves trying to save a cat from a tree.
“The probation idea is that we get in touch with people like Dr. Light to help train them. Then, when they’re ready, we can bring them on as full-fledged Leaguers.”
Catherine was smiling. “And without any fuss at all. Excellent idea, Beetle; get with Max when he gets back. If he signs off on it, you’ve already got my approval.”
Beetle turned to Booster. “Wasn’t that easy?”
Before Booster could reply, he looked behind Beetle. Oberon stood there fuming, his face was beet-red and he practically had smoke coming out of his ears.
“I’d love to talk, but I’ve got to get back to monitor duty,” Booster said as he slipped out into another room. He’d decided on two things. First, he’d go to the monitors, but he’d go a way that he wouldn’t encounter Oberon.
And second, he’d keep a force field over the door for the rest of the day. Just in case.
Max Lord smiled. He was on the beach in Cancun with a woman on each arm. “Aren’t you worried about being away?” one of them asked. “What if something happens?”
Max’s smile grew wider as he placed a cigar between his teeth. “It’s all covered. I’m not worried in the least. After all, they’re the Justice League.” Max placed his arms over the women’s shoulders and led them toward the hot tub.
Max hoped he sounded sincere as they entered the hot tub. He had another moment’s worry about how many voice messages Oberon had left on the cell phone he’d ‘forgotten’ to bring with him and then allowed himself to relax. Life was good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The End...
Next Issue: Who likes precious gemstones better? Fire or Punch and Jewelee?
Previous Issue | Next Issue