The Reservists

“Put him down!”

Ralph Dibny, dressed in the white and purple costume of the Elongated Man, wiggled an extended index finger at the man in purple armour who held the seemingly lifeless and battered body of the Ray several feet in the air.

“What are you going to do with that?” the assailant roared. “Pick my nose?”

In an instant, he reached out and grabbed the rubber finger, before yanking it and its owner fiercely towards him. As their faces met inches apart, Ralph Dibny breathed in and caught a festering scent. “You need some breath mints, I think.” Ralph laughed.

The enemy growled and smashed his forehead into the Elongated Man’s face; sending his head soaring backwards, stretching his neck to a seemingly impossible length, into the group of heroes who stood several meters away.

“You want the Ray?” the villain roared “Here … unngh … have him!”

He heaved and hurled the limp body of the Ray towards Zatanna. Instinctively, she raised her hands, either to shield herself or cast a spell, but before she could act, Power Girl intercepted the human missile, absorbing as much of the impact as possible and not cause him any more damage.

As she regained her balance, Power Girl quickly scanned and noted the Ray’s vital signs.

“Karen?” Firestorm called out.

“He’s in bad shape,” Power Girl replied. “He’s alive, but his injuries are many and there’s internal bleeding. I can get him to a hospital in…”

“No,” Firestorm shouted. “I have a feeling our mystery villain of the week here is going to be a handful, and I think we’ll need your strength. Zatanna, can you get him there?”

“Yes,” Zatanna replied “but I…”

“Good. Then get him to a hospital fast, and stay with him!”

“O…okay” Zatanna stuttered, hardly able to comprehend that Firestorm was giving orders. Something seemed different about him, she thought, but she hadn’t worked with him -or even seen him - for many months so perhaps in that time he had gained a certain maturity. Still, she couldn’t help wondering that there was something else.

“Come on you idiots!” the villain roared. “Are you just going to stand around all day exchanging recipes or are you up for a fight?”

“Right, you sonofa…” Black Lightning roared angrily. Electricity coursed throughout his body, and danced on the surface; sparks flying out of his ears, eyes and mouth. He had been building up his energy since the Ray called on the old Justice League signal device, and he was ready and raring to use it.

As the air crackled around him, Zatanna raised her arms high into the air; spreading her fingers as wide as she could, feeling the magics flowing into her from the ground and the air in the vicinity. At her feet, the still form of the Ray lay silently.

“Ria esir dnuora su*,” she began, incanting a spell “Ekat eht yaR dna I ot eht ycnegreme moor.”

Dust spun up from the ground and grew thicker and darker as it enveloped both of them; growing and spreading until it had formed a perfect sphere of concrete.

Black Lightning could hold in the energy no longer, and as he arched his back his eyes and mouth snapped open to allow the living lightning, which had been growing inside him to burst forth. Electricity arced out from his fingertips and joined that from his eyes and mouth at precisely the point at which they smashed into the villain’s chest. Through his burning corneas he could make out his enemy reeling from the force of the attack.

“You’re doing it, Lightning!” Jade shouted excitedly “He’s stumbling backwards.”

The armoured villain was slowly losing ground as Black Lightning’s beams forcing him back, inch by inch across the construction yard. But for all the ferocity of the attack, and the power that Black Lightning was pouring into him, still he stood.

“My…my God!” Black Lightning roared in pain “The p...pai…pain. I…I can’t stop! He’s draining the power out of me. I…it feels as though he’s draining my life away!”

Firestorm readied himself to attack, but something made him wait. He didn’t know what it was – perhaps intuition he thought, no too cheesy – but whatever it was the feeling he had was that an attack at this moment wasn’t the thing to do. He hated hesitating, especially as Black Lightning was in such obvious pain.

“I’m going to finish this!” Power Girl bellowed, and with that she flew over towards the purple clad foe, her right fist curled and ready to strike.

“Karen! No!” Firestorm cried, his hand stretched out as if to stop her, but it was too late.

Power Girl’s fist smashed into the villain’s face. The resultant force caused windows in buildings around the construction site to implode instantly. She screamed, as electricity arced through her body, while Black Lightning howled in pain as the force of her blow travelled up energy stream and smashed into his already tiring body. Both heroes were instantly knocked hundreds of meters backwards.

“Black Lightning! Power Girl!” Jade flew to where their bodies lay still and silent.

“Fools!”

Firestorm spun around in the air to face their foe, who had begun to laugh heartily.

“Lets see you laugh off me turning your armour into a titanium sleeping bag!”

Firestorm concentrated, and energy bolts flew from his hands, hitting the villain simultaneously on the chest and legs. In an instant, the same bolt flew back hitting Firestorm in the stomach, the force causing him to double over in pain. He felt his chest, arms and legs tightening, and he straightened up, just as his entire costume transformed into a large metal cocoon, which wrapped around his torso and enveloped his arms and legs, holding them tight. He dropped like a stone, smashing into the ground, creating a second crater beside the one that the Ray’s forced decent had created earlier.

“My armour is organic,” the villain laughed. “Of alien origin, but organic all the same. Your molecular restructuring powers are useless against me, but since your own costume is inorganic, I could use your great restraint idea on you. Very effective, don’t you think?”

Firestorm tried to move his body and limbs, but couldn’t. He managed to twist his head to the side.

“You used my powers against me?” he asked “Who are you?”

“I would have thought that was obvious,” came the grinning response.

Firestorm thought for a second, but that was as long as it took. It was so obvious, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognised his old foe.

“The Parasite!” Firestorm cried out.

“The very same,” the Parasite said.

“Karen?” Jade whispered as she noticed Power Girl stirring.

Power Girl shook her head to clear it, and breathed in deeply.

“The Parasite?” she growled, as she lifted her head to look at the newly revealed foe. “Let me at him”.

“Try your damnedest, Power Girl!” the Parasite roared, beckoning to her. “I’ve already absorbed the powers of The Ray, Black Lightning, Firestorm – why even your own special talents are imprinted into my cellular matrix. You wouldn’t stand a chance, but by all means feel free to try.”

At the local hospital, skilled surgeons battled to save the Ray’s life after he and Zatanna had appeared from thin air in the waiting room. Luckily the waiting room hadn’t had many elderly patients at the time, or the doctors might have had their hands full with multiple heart attacks at the abruptness of their arrival.

Occasionally, a doctor or nurse would storm out of the operating theatre to look at more x-rays; get extra blood for transfusion or ask for help from other colleagues, but none had any more for information for Zatanna. Either that or they purposely were ignoring her.

As she sat in the corner silently observing the comings and goings, hoping for some positive news on her fallen ally, she knew she was feeling paranoid. If they had any information for her, they would tell her. They were professionals, after all and they would do their best for him. Still, she couldn’t help feeling a little anxious at being in the hospital – after all, didn’t all the medical profession frown on magic; didn’t they all strive to try and disprove the very forces which were her very life essence? She wanted so much to trust doctors, but there was always some part of her which was wary, as if at any moment they would turn and try to squeeze the life from her just to prove that science – and not magic – held the universe together.

Zatanna had thought about using her mystical powers to heal the Ray, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. She had long since vowed never to use her magics to interfere with the complex workings of the human body ever since the accident that took one lover’s life several years ago.

She sat motionless, hoping her colleagues were being more effective against the evil who had done this to the Ray.

The huge green gun which Jade had constructed with her power ring fired pulses of emerald energy at the Parasite, but he had already stretched his torso so thin that it was impossible to hit him. He countered with a force bolt – one of the Ray’s assaults – which shot from his left hand which caught Power Girl full on the chest, sending her reeling; while his right hand, stretched across to a diameter of thirty feet or so, swept up to knock Jade’s gun from her control. He followed up by spraying out a net of electrical energy that covered both women, sending hundreds of volts coursing through them.

“Dear God, Parasite!”, Firestorm roared, still struggling to release himself from the titanium cocoon that used to be his costume, “Stop! You’re killing them!”

“Such pleas are wasted on me,” the Parasite growled. “You would do better to save them to beg for your own pathetic life.”

With that, powerful heat vision leapt from his eyes and buried into Firestorm’s immobile body. Firestorm screamed.

Elongated Man finally came to, shaking his head from side to side. An encrusted rivulet of blood ran down from his bruised and broken nose, while two black eyes had already formed.

“I guess the GQ shoot is out for the time being,” he muttered, feeling the bumps and contours of his swollen face.

He turned around to get his bearings and was shocked to see the battleground before him.

The Parasite had his elongated left arm wrapped tightly around Jade’s mouth, stopping her from breathing, and stopping her from concentrating enough to create a ring construct, as she twitched and struggled high in the air. His right hand was strangling the encased figure of Firestorm, swinging him violently in a high arc. His left foot was pushing Power Girl’s face into the ground with incredible force; twisting from side to side for dramatic effect.

“What are we up against?” Elongated Man whispered to himself.

“It is the creature known as the Parasite.”

Elongated Man’s head spin around, while the rest of his body stayed absolutely still, facing the decidedly one-sided battle across the construction site.

The man dressed entirely in black – replete with black cloak and trilby – stood motionless before him, his eyes hidden in a thick shadow under the brim of his hat.

“The Phantom Stranger?” Elongated Man mumbled.

“Be careful, Ralph Dibny” the Phantom Stranger said softly, his voice a quiet monotone. “This Parasite has a suit of alien armour which amplifies his powers and allows him to use more than one absorbed force at a time. Earlier tonight, the pre-absorbed powers of an unsuspecting White Martian were used to gain the upper hand with the Ray; telepathy, super strength, flight – all used in equally deadly measures to defeat Raymond Terrill. Even now, he is already using the combined powers of yourself and your team to defeat them.”

“My team?” Elongated Man whispered, still managing a high-pitched tone “Stranger, this ain’t no team. We used to be part of the Justice League, but that was many, many years ago. Occasionally we’re called on to make up the numbers when the big guns can’t quite handle it, or if they need a diversion, but pretty much we’re all loners. It was an accident that brought us here tonight – the Ray called using an old Justice League signal device and the six of us responded. Hell, I don’t think any of us have worked as part of a regular unit for years.”

“Accidents, Ralph Dibny,” the Phantom Stranger began as his form became opaque, and he slowly started to vanish into the ether, “have a way of changing people forever. Remember that.”

“What do you mean?” Elongated Man asked, but the Phantom Stranger was gone.

He turned his head back to the battle and sighed. He had to make a move, but with the most powerful in big trouble he really couldn’t see any way he could affect things. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Black Lightning quietly creeping around the Parasite, picking his moment to strike.

He closed his mouth and slapped a hand over his nose. Breathing out, his head swelled up to four times its’ size, stretching his face and smoothing out the bumps and bruises inflicted by the Parasite. He then removed his hand and wrenched open his mouth, gasping as his head slipped back to normal size; the injuries now gone.

“A team, huh?” Elongated Man whispered, “Well, lets see if I can distract the purple prince and give my ‘team-mate’ an opening.”

The chief surgeon burst through the doors of the operating theatre and headed straight for Zatanna. Seeing this, she nervously leapt to her feet.

“Any news, Doctor?” she asked, before she could stop herself. Her hands were shaking and she felt so cold at that moment, scared that the news might be bad.

“He’s stabilising,” the Doctor replied, slipping his mask down off his mouth and down to his neck. Sweat dribbled down his forehead, showing the by-products of the efforts he had been through. “His injuries were massive, but you got him here in time. Sorry to be so clichéd, but he’s not out of the woods yet. Still, we’re optimistic.”

“Thank the stars,” Zatanna sighed with relief, a smile breaking out on her face for the first time in what felt like so long.

“There is nothing more you can do for him now, so if you have other things to attend to, feel free to go,” the doctor said “We’ll let you know when and if the situation here changes.”

“Thank you Doctor …?”

“Mearns,” the Doctor replied “Alec Mearns.”

“Thank you, Doctor Mearns,” Zatanna said, raising her hands high in the air. In her minds’ eyes, she fixed on an image of the man who had placed the Ray so close to peril, and tried to work on how best to launch an attack to stop him from hurting anyone again.

Elongated Man’s attack had bought Black Lightning enough time to get behind the Parasite and let loose with all the electrical energy he could muster. The air exploded in a display of blue, green and white sparks as wave after wave of energy poured forth and ripped through the twisting and writhing body of the Parasite.

“Yes!” Firestorm roared as he finally managed to concentrate enough and restore his costume to normality "We’ve got him on the run!”

With that he focused his restructuring powers on a large area of concrete at the Parasite’s feet, instantly turning it into a pool of water. The electrical charge danced down the Parasite’s contorting body, hit the water and then travelled back up, ensuring that there was no let up in the attack.

“Let’s not get cocky people,” Elongated Man shouted, as he tried to rouse Jade back to consciousness.

“This chump … is … going down!” Black Lightning bellowed. But he could feel his power waning. The first attack had sucked a lot of energy from him, and he hadn’t been fully recovered when he unleashed it once more. Almost all of his energy was dispelled into the Parasite and still his foe was standing. He didn’t know how long he could keep this up, but he wasn’t about to say anything to any of the others in case the Parasite heard and doubled his resolve. All he could do was keep going for as long as he could and hope that either the Parasite fell or one of the others came up with some way to win out.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Power Girl screamed as she awoke and shot into the air. Anger filled her completely and she wanted revenge.

She took a moment to compose herself, floating a few feet away from the Parasite’s pain wracked body, realising that an unprepared attack had lead to her defeat earlier on. Concentrated she decided against using brute strength and instead focused two thin beams of heat vision which shot from her eyes and buried themselves into the Parasite’s forehead. He roared in pain, and Power Girl grinned.

Seconds later, Zatanna appeared just a few feet to the Parasite’s left.

“Zatanna!” Elongated Man shouted, “Stay back. We almost have him!”

“Ungh!” Black Lightning finally could no longer keep up the onslaught and he slumped to his knees “Can’t go….”

At that precise moment, the Parasite let our a deafening roar and a huge ball of white light leapt from his body, spreading out to engulf all of the heroes, who stood and floated unable to move. A sound like a sonic boom ripped through the night and when the dust settled the Parasite stood alone; the six heroes lying spread out amidst the rubble.

The Parasite moved slowly forward, before stumbling to his knees. He felt drained; it had taken all his energy to launch his counter attack after holding out for so long against Black Lightning and Power Girl. Taking a deep breath he composed himself and pulled himself up until he could stand once more. Slowly and cautiously he shuffled over to where Zatanna lay unconscious. Reaching down with one hand he grabbed the collar of her costume and dragged her to his side. He began to breath more rapidly as he felt her energies flow up his arm, across to his heart and spreading out through his veins and arteries until his entire body felt refreshed and alive again.

Jade, -being the furthest away when he attacked, and being partially shielded by Elongated Man – was the first to regain consciousness. Four beams of green light flew from her ring and touched the four remaining heroes - all save Zatanna – and attempted to revive them.

“This … was good … sport,” the Parasite hissed “Now, however, it is time to end the game once and for all. The introduction of our magical friend here has made me change my plans slightly.”

With that he raised his free hand high into the air.

“Stim fo emit trap*,” he shouted “Nepo a latrop dna wolla em ot og ot yam htneetxis, neetenin ytneves owt! Noitanitsed, eht ecitsuj eugael etilletas!”

A flash of lightning tore through the night sky, and ripped into the ground at the Parasite’s feet. Beams of multicoloured light flew up from the resultant hole, engulfing both him and Zatanna.

“We… have to… stop them,” Elongated Man stuttered, trying to get to his feet.

But it was too late. The beams began to rapidly fade from the ground up, removing the Parasite and Zatanna as they went.

Just as the light was almost gone, Black Lightning leapt from a crouching position, his muscles screaming in pain vanished into the light.

“Lightning!” Jade cried.

And then there was silence.

Elongated Man turned to Jade as Firestorm and Power Girl came to.

“I think we have some big problems” he sighed.

To Be Continued...

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