“Fearsome Five!”
Shimmer scowled. “Is this it, Baran?” she asked. Her older brother, Mammoth, nodded. “Yes, Selinda,” he said. “This is where we are supposed to come.” He looked around the empty room. ”Heya, guys!” a short man called as he flew over toward them. “You get the invite, too?” ”Gizmo?” Shimmer asked. “I heard you were dead.” ”I heard the same about you. How’d you come back?” Shimmer smiled. “Baran made a wish.” ”Yes,” Mammoth said. “A man called Neron gave me back my sister.” “What about you?” Shimmer asked. Gizmo just shrugged. “Hey, I’ve got more lives than a cat. Ain’t nobody can put me down.” He looked around. The room was empty except for them. “So what’s going on?” “We do not know,” Shimmer replied. “Apparently we received the same summons you did.” A glowing ball floated into the room and exploded. “Greetings!” their host called. “I am Dr. Light!” “Fool,” Shimmer said as she stepped forward. “You’re not him.” ”Well, I was his lab assistant, and I did steal this costume,” Richard backpedaled. “You want me to crush him?” Mammoth asked, taking an intimidating step forward. “Hey, come on!” Gizmo said. “Kinda reminds me of the old days, only without that jerk Psimon hanging around.” He turned to face Light. “`Sides, we can always blast him later. So what’ve you got in mind?” Light shrugged. “Nothing special. I thought I’d get the Fearsome Five back together for some robberies.” ”I don’t mind some extra spending money,” Shimmer said as she used her powers to create a chair from thin air. She sat. “But unless you’ve learned a different way of counting than the one I’m familiar with, there are only four of us.” “She makes five.” Light gestured and a beautiful Indian woman walked into the room. ”Jinx,” Gizmo said, smiling. “I don’t know how you pulled that one off, but I’m definitely in. Been a while since I’ve tried anything. Might be fun.” “Baran and I shall assist as well,” Shimmer said. “As Gizmo said, things have been slow lately.” ”Excellent,” Dr. Light said. “Now, let’s adjourn to the meeting room to decide what to do first.” Across town, Dagon was sitting at a computer terminal. He frowned. He was trying to concentrate, but Jason Parker, the Golden Eagle, wouldn’t shut up. “So how long had you been following us?” Jason asked. Dagon took a deep, silent breath. “Ever since I talked with Arsenal.*” (*It happened in Arsenal #7 – db) Dagon continued. “I knew that he was going to be talking to Gar at the wedding, so I wanted to see how you all operated. It’s been a while since I was on a team.” “Which team were you on?” Jason asked. “I’d done a lot of reading about superheroes after I found out about my brother, and I’d never heard of you before.” Dagon smiled slightly, exposing his fangs. “It’s complicated,” he said as he stood. “If you’ll excuse me…” He walked out of the room, leaving Jason staring after him. Bette Kane sat down, stunned. In her hand was a letter on official stationery. She reread it again in disbelief. “What do I do with this?” she asked nobody. She glanced over and saw a picture of the team she’d clipped from the newspaper and framed after they’d reformed. She smiled as she remembered that day - they’d just defeated the Weather Wizard. Her gaze wandered to her calendar with the dates of the wedding and rehearsals circled. Bette made up her mind. She sat down at her computer and began working on a reply. “Are you sure?” Leonid Kovar asked. “Yes,” Sonya Romanov replied. “I have received confirmation. They are on their way.” “Bozhe moi,” Leonid said as he wiped his brow. “How long?” ”My sources cannot say,” Sonya replied. “I will let you know as soon as I receive further information.” ”Understood. I will alert the team as soon as we learn more.” Leonid hung up the phone and began pacing nervously. “So, have you decided when you’re going to tell them?” Mal asked. Karen nodded. “Yes. I’m sure that Bette’s going to be taking over after the wedding, so I’ll tell them then.” ”Good,” Mal said. “If you’re sure.” ”You know,” Karen said, “I almost think you don’t want me to do this.” Mal shrugged with an innocent look on his face. “I never said that. I just want you to be sure.” He ducked just as a pillow from the couch flew past his head. Donald Williams calmly walked into his bank. After being present for attacks by the Weather Wizard and Fearsome Five*, he’d been in therapy ever since. (TW #1 and #3, respectively – db) “It’s all right,” he murmured to himself. “Everything’s fine. Everything’s normal.” Then the front doors of the bank exploded and sent Donald Williams right back into therapy. “Now isn’t this nice?” Dr. Light asked as the Fearsome Five walked into the bank, past a man curled up on the floor in the fetal position. “Not bad,” Gizmo said as he raised a device that looked like a silver pen. He clicked down on the top of it and the security cameras in the bank shorted out. “Not bad at all.” ”Yes,” Shimmer said as Mammoth bent to ripping the vault’s door off its hinges. “It is a relaxing change.” Mammoth finally tore the door free and threw it to the side. “Now let’s get the money and we’ll be gone,” Dr. Light said. As the Five started toward the vault, they heard a loud noise from outside. “What was that?” Shimmer asked. “Hang on. I’ll take a look.” Gizmo flew up to a window. “Eek!” He flew back down. “Doc, there’s a plane in the street with a big T on the tail!” ”Titans,” Mammoth said, smiling as he cracked his knuckles. “Let them come.” “Thanks for the invite!” Vibe yelled as the Titans poured through the front doors. “Take them!” Dr. Light yelled as he started gathering up moneybags. “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Gizmo said as he pulled a metallic drumstick out of his backpack. “This won’t take long.” He clicked a switch and the stick began firing. “Knock it off, Mikron,” Bumblebee said as she fired her stingers at him. As Gizmo reached for another weapon, the stingers struck. Gizmo’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground. Shimmer waved her hand and Bumblebee’s wings turned into smoke. Bumblebee fell and landed on a desk. “Die, Titan,” Shimmer snarled. She gasped as Flamebird’s throwing disk slammed into the back of her head. “Not today,” Flamebird said as the disk returned to her hand. “You hurt Selinda!” Mammoth snarled as he started toward Flamebird. “Uh oh,” Flamebird said. “A little help here, guys? The big guy’s getting mad…” ”No worries,” Red Star said as he stepped between Flamebird and Mammoth. “I have him.” “You have nothing, little gnat,” Mammoth said. “I have all I need,” Red Star replied. And then the battle began. Jason Parker was sweating. Why does that beeper always have to go off during class? he wondered. Looking down, he forced himself to return his attention to his terminology exam. Changeling, Terra, and Vibe surrounded Dr. Light. “Give it up,” Changeling said. “Never,” Light said with a grin. “Handle this, my dear.” Jinx stepped forward and raised her hands. The floor vanished beneath Terra and she fell through to the basement. Green flames enveloped Changeling, who launched himself into flight as a bat. A force blast sent Vibe flying across the room. “Great,” Vibe said as Changeling became a gorilla and caught him. “So what now?” ”Easy,” Changeling said with a smile. “She’s powerless when she’s off the floor.” Jinx let out a shriek as a pale arm encircled her middle and lifted her into flight. Dagon stared into her eyes until they closed. “Neutralized,” he reported. “That brings us back to you,” Changeling said as he returned to human form and approached Light. “Not quite,” Light said. “Mammoth, help me!” A deafening crash was his reply. He looked over to discover that Red Star had hit Mammoth with the vault door. The giant Mammoth now lay unconscious on the bank’s floor. “Okay,” Light said. “Guess there’s only one thing to do. RUN AWAY!” Light took off toward the door and was stopped by a golden gauntlet. ”Sorry I’m late,” Golden Eagle said as he deposited the unconscious Light inside. “I had a killer exam I had to finish.” ”No problem,” Changeling said. “Looks like you were right on time to me.” “Excuse me,” Dagon said. The team looked up to where he still hovered. “Have you people got any plans for this girl or do I have to just fly around with her from now on?” Next Issue: Lock the doors and hide the children! It’s Tara’s bachelorette party in Girls’ Night Out II! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
