Flamebird Special
“The Coming Darkness”
Bette Kane, Flamebird, ran alongside Gar Logan into the rundown tenement. "Are we sure they're in here?" she asked. "Yeah," Gar replied. "They've got the kid upstairs." "Any idea who they are?" Gar shook his head. "No idea. Just some kooks trying to get publicity." Bette and Gar knelt down on opposite sides of a stairwell. Gar checked his watch. "Almost time. Eagle and Bumblebee should be making their move right about now." As if in response, suddenly gunfire erupted from upstairs and running was heard. "Here they come," Gar said softly. "This is it!" Bette nodded once. "Right," she said. A second later, two thugs came running down the stairs. Bette and Gar jumped out in front of them, weapons at the ready. "Hold it!" she yelled. One of the thugs fired and Bette screamed before she fell to the ground, blood flowing from her head. "Bette!" Gar yelled. He changed into an enraged ape and quickly beat the two thugs into unconsciousness. He then returned to human form and gently cradled Bette in his arms. "We got them," Eagle said as he and Bumblebee came down the stairs. "The kid's fine." They both stopped as they saw Gar and Bette. "Call an ambulance!" Gar ordered as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Get help for her!" Jason hurried down the stairs and pulled off his helmet before pulling a piece of bandage out of his belt and pressing it to the wound on her forehead. Bumblebee activated the radio in her helmet and alerted the EMTs. "Help's on the way," Karen said as she knelt next to her teammates. "She'll be fine." Bette's eyes never even fluttered. She never even heard Karen's words of encouragement. After an eternity, Bette's eyes suddenly fluttered open. She moaned slightly and a nurse appeared at the door, her eyes wide open. She ran out screaming for a doctor. Jason Parker, older but still recognizable, walked in. "Lie back," he said. "You've been away for a while, Bette. It's good to see you." Bette reached out and grabbed his hand. "What happened?" "You got shot. The bullet didn't kill you, but you've been in a coma for quite a while." "Coma?" Bette thought a second. "Can I have something to drink?" "Sure," Jason replied. The nurse reappeared a moment later with a small cup of water she passed to Bette. "Jason? Why is your hand so cold?" Bette asked as she peeked over the side of the bed. Her eyes went wide as she realized that his entire right arm was made of metal. Jason sadly closed his eyes. "There's a lot you need to catch up on. Go ahead and get dressed, and she'll bring you down to the meeting room." Jason slowly walked out of the room as the nurse presented Bette with a modest robe. Bette walked into a conference room and saw Jason standing there talking to someone with green skin. "Gar?" she asked. "Bette..." Gar said softly as he stood and turned around. Bette gasped as she saw his face. Pain and stress had etched their lines into his face. His hair was long and roughly tied back. "Gar, what happened?" she asked as he helped her to a chair. Gar closed his eyes. "It's a long story. Not too long after you were shot, the DEO decided to change their policy regarding metahumans." He opened his eyes and looked directly at Bette. "With President Luthor's blessing, they decided to change their focus from control to elimination." "Elimination? How?" "First they nuked the JLA watchtower." "Did anyone survive?" Bette asked, astonished. "Green Lantern might have. If he did, he took off into space. They laced the warheads with kryptonite to be sure they took care of Superman." "What happened next?" Gar took a deep breath. "Full-out extermination. They nuked Themyscira. Then they blew up Blackgate, the Slab, Belle Reve, Arkham..." Gar took a deep breath. "Then they started hunting heroes down one by one. They got me and found a molecular serum to stop me from being able to change shapes. They injected me and I've been trapped like this ever since." "That's what happened to me," Jason said. "When I was captured, the DEO troops weren't too kind when they cut me out of my armor. They took one of my arms with it. And I was lucky compared to Risk." "What happened to Cody?" Gar closed his eyes. "Risk killed a DEO officer when they tried to take him. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The only problem was that they couldn't kill him! They tried everything they could and nothing worked. Finally they just threw him into a nuclear reactor and stationed guards outside. I've heard that they can still hear him pounding on the walls sometimes..." "God," Bette breathed. "Isn't there anybody left?" "A few," Gar said. "We've gathered here in the old JLA bunker in Detroit. Looks like we're the JLA now." He glanced at a clock with a broken face. "Jason, go ahead and call in the others. We've got a mission." Bette stared at the table as the others filed and in and took their seats. "Let me make the introductions," Gar said. "This is Bette Kane, Flamebird. She's come out of her coma just in time to help us on our big mission. Bette, let me introduce you to the Justice League." Beside her was a man in Batman-like armor. "This is the new Batman. After his mentor died on the moon, Robin designed this armor to fight in his place." Batman nodded once. Next was a pink, glowing man. "T-bolt. When JJ Thunder was captured by the DEO, the Thunderbolt fused with him just before the DEO killed him." T-Bolt smiled and waved. Jason sat next to the T-Bolt. "I believe that you've already met our Doc." Next to him were Mal and Karen. "Mal's become our weaponer. And Karen..." Karen scooted back and came up to Bette. She was in a wheelchair. She reached out and hugged Bette. "The DEO shot Karen and shattered her spine," Gar explained. "That didn't stop me, though," Karen said. "After the old one went quiet, I became the new Oracle." "What happened to him? Oracle?" Batman sat with his arms crossed. "Oracle was caught up in the `cleansing' of Gotham. There were only a couple of thousand who weren't." A young woman in the Bumblebee armor was next. "This is Mal and Karen's daughter Tami. She's keeping the family tradition alive." Tami nodded. Next was a man dressed all in black, with a red-haired woman beside him. "Finally, we've got the Shade and his wife Hope. They barely made it out of the Opal cleansing." Shade smiled at Bette. "Good day, madam. They may have destroyed my beloved Opal, but all they have done is to arouse my wrath." Hope only nodded, but couldn't quite smile. Next to them was a blond-haired woman. Gar took a deep breath before introducing her. "This is Courtney. She used to be the Star Spangled Kid." "No last name?" Bette asked. "Logan. She's my wife." "Oh." Bette sat back, stunned. "All right," Gar said, standing at the head of the table, "let's review our plans for the coming raid. Shade, how quickly can your team get in and out of that armory?" "Quickly enough that they will only feel the breeze from our departure," Shade replied. "Good," Gar said. "How's the underground coming in the Gotham ghetto?" Batman nodded once. "James Gordon escaped the cleansing. He's doing wonders in getting a viable underground going there. He's even branching out cells to the Opal ruins and he has some spies in Metropolis itself." "Metropolis?" Bumblebee asked. "That's incredible." Gar smiled. "And what about the special project?" Karen looked up. "Mal and I are getting closer. It's just a matter of locking down the proper frequency." "Good." Gar looked around. "I don't want to keep any of you here any longer than I have to. Dismissed." The League filed out, leaving Gar and Bette alone as Courtney gave Gar a peck on the cheek and left. "Okay," Bette said. "Where are the others? Where's Tara? And Leonid? Surely the DEO couldn't have neutralized everybody!" "Tara's dead. Leonid went back to Russia and we haven't heard anything since. That's all I know." "What is this great special project of yours?" Bette asked. "The DEO moved their organizational headquarters to the old Argus. That's the reactor they dumped Cody in. We've managed to secure one of the old transporters and Karen and Mal have been working on it for months now. As soon as we get the proper frequency, we'll be able to head up there and stop them." "Couldn't the Shade get you up there?" Bette asked. "I thought he could teleport." "He can. Only problem is that the DEO have some sort of dampeners up there. His powers can't penetrate them." "Great. So you're fighting a ground war." "Didn't say it was easy," Gar said as he turned to study a map on the wall. "Why don't you go get settled? We can get you working with a team later." Sensing his dismissal, Bette walked out. As Bette walked down a corridor, she saw Batman duck into a room. She walked down and stood in the doorway as he pulled his cape off. "Hi, Kid," Bette said. "Flamebird. What can I do for you?" he asked as he hung the cape up. "You forgot what I said to you on that rooftop. You let the darkness get you." Batman whirled toward her. "I let it? You little idiot! It grabbed me! Just like everybody else! God switched that light off and I'm lucky I survived at all! Batman didn't! Oracle didn't! Nightwing didn't! None of them did! Why was I the only one?" Batman took a deep breath. "Get out." Bette drew back as he slammed the door in her face. Flamebird closed her eyes and slowly walked down the corridor. Bette walked into the monitor room and saw Mal and Karen sitting there, working on the main computer. "Hey, Bette," Mal said. "How are you doing?" Bette plopped down beside him. "How should I be? I wake up in this nightmare... It just feels like yesterday that Gar and I were fighting to save that kid!" "It's been a rough few years," Mal said. "Things just got worse after Luthor seized governmental control and shut down Congress. He's just a dictator now. The worst thing about it is that he's a dictator with super-powered warriors." "What do you mean?" Bette asked. "He outfitted his usual troops with Jason's armor and copies of Ted Knight's cosmic rod. He's even got some metahumans leading attack squads." "Like who?" "One of them calls himself Ultraman. We're not quite sure of who he is. I think one of them is an old Teen Titan by the name of Omni. They've all changed their names so it's hard to keep up with who's who." Bette frowned. "Maybe I should go back to sleep." "Don't worry. I guarantee it's a lot worse than you think it is." "You're so reassuring." Bette leaned over and studied the displays. "Can I make a suggestion?" she asked. When Karen nodded, Bette snapped a couple of switches. Karen's jaw hit the floor as every light on the console turned green. "Get Gar in here!" she yelled. "She's got it! We've got the frequency!" Mal was frantically double-checking settings. "We've got one hundred percent correlation! I'm gone!" Mal ran out. "How did you get that?" Karen asked. "I just remembered the settings from the last time we headed up to the satellite." Gar came running in and stopped short when he saw the screens. "Is that saying what I think it is?" he asked. Karen nodded. "Complete correlation." "Get the others back here now. We're going up and put our beloved Mr. Bones out of business." "Right." Karen's finger stabbed the button that set off the League's signal devices. "Bette, come with me. We're heading to the armory and getting you suited up. Karen, have the others assemble in the meeting room. We've got an important briefing coming up." Bette followed Gar out. Aboard the Swift Justice (formerly the USS Argus), Director Bones reclined in his opulent office. An assistant stood nervously before him. "And what of the Carson City efforts?" he asked. The assistant flipped quickly through a clipboard. "We captured approximately 10 cell members. Names and information are on your terminal. None of them survived interrogation." "Anyone we know?" Bones asked as he took another drag off his cigar. "One. An Anthony Drake tried to make a break for it. After he assaulted a guard, he was dispatched immediately." Bones thought a moment. "Drake. Didn't he used to be a Green Lantern?" "Yes, sir. Until his hand with the ring was amputated and launched into the sun." Bones's invisible lips stretched back in a predatory smile. "Oh, yes. I recall Mr. Luthor was quite pleased with that." The assistant stood there and tried not to fidget. "Dismissed." The assistant walked out of the office as quickly as decorum would allow. Bones leaned back in his chair and slowly exhaled smoke from his Cuban cigar. In the Detroit bunker, Gar Logan faced the assembled Justice League. "This is it," he said. "We either break them or we die trying. You've got your instructions. Now let's do it." Silently, the team assembled on the transporter pads and shimmered into nothingness. At the main computer, Mal squeezed Karen's hand as they watched the team disappear. "Sir!" Bones opened his eyes as he heard the summons. He pressed a button on his telephone. "Yes?" he asked. "We are detecting unauthorized transporter activity! Someone is transporting aboard!" Bones scowled. "Do we know where they're coming from?" "Yes, sir!" "Excellent! Standard retaliation at the launch site. Sound the alarm and arm all guards." "Yes, sir." Bones leaned back again as the alarm began sounding. Karen looked up as Mal continued pacing. "How long do you think this'll take?" he asked. "No idea," she replied. "But-" She stopped as a light on the console began flashing. She quickly consulted the readout. "What's wrong?" Mal asked as he leaned over her shoulder. "The DEO tracked us. I'm reading five missiles inbound." Karen looked up at Mal. "That's more than enough to turn half of this city into part of Lake Michigan." Mal thought a moment. "Can we get out?" Karen shook her head as tears began to fill her eyes. Mal gently scooped his wife up and walked with her into a small arboretum. They sat on a bench. "I love you, baby," Mal whispered. "I love you, too," she said. They embraced and kissed as the missiles hit. Aboard the satellite, Gar scowled as a burst of static came over his communicator bead. "Oracle?" he whispered. "Oracle?" Finally he pulled the bead out and looked at it before replacing it. "What happened?" Bette asked. Like Gar, Hope Jason, and Courtney, she was packing a large laser rifle and wearing body armor. "Oracle's gone." Gar's face could have been etched in stone. "They must have tracked the transport." "That means that they know we're here," Courtney said. "We split up. Shade, Hope, Bumblebee and I will head toward objective A. You, T-bolt, Bette, Jason and Batman can move toward the power core. If we can shut this place down, we win." "Agreed," Gar said. "Let's move!" The team scattered. Bones looked up as the assistant reentered his office. "Yes?" he asked. "We have identified the intruders," he said. "The resistance fighters calling themselves the `Justice League’. We believe that there are less than ten of them aboard." "Still, that may be a problem." Bones took a deep pull from his cigar and slowly exhaled the smoke. "Alert all troops. I'll handle one of them personally." "Yes, sir." The assistant ran out of the office. Bones's lips stretched back into a smile as he walked out of the office and entered a maintenance corridor. Gar led his team into a lower level of the satellite. He looked around the dimly lit expanse. "Stay sharp," he said. He glanced over as T-Bolt flickered. "What's wrong?" he asked. "He's here!" With those words, T-Bolt shot off, leaving behind a streak of pink light. "Damn," Batman whispered. "He's going to give us away!" Gar frowned. "We'd better get out of here." "Actually, I'd prefer it if you stayed!" The lights came on, illuminating a man in a military uniform with a flowing golden cape surrounded by troops holding cosmic rods. Omni. "It's a trap!" Batman yelled as he charged Omni, hands outstretched for his throat. At a smirk, a trooper raised her rod and fired. Batman's head dissolved in a sickening red mist and his body fell to the ground. "MOVE!" Gar yelled as he started firing at the troops. The three of them took cover behind some machinery and opened fire on the enemy troops. Omni stood back as his troops swarmed forward... T-Bolt streaked into a room filled with glass canisters. He finally stopped before one filled with fluid. Inside it was the naked body of a young man, whose eyes were still open wide with terror. The rough edges of his chest made during the vivisection still swished open and closed. T-Bolt laid his hand against the glass and a tear escaped his eye. "JJ," he whispered. He screamed as a skeletal hand slapped onto his shoulder. "Hello, Thunderbolt," Bones said. "It looks like you fell right into my trap. This room is equipped with special dispensers to eradicate any static electricity. Since you merged with your last host, it seems that you are now susceptible to my...special touch." T-Bolt let out one last scream and vanished. Bones simply smiled and walked out. The door to the computer control room exploded inward. Laser blasts slammed into the technicians left standing before Courtney led her team into the room. "Let's do it!" she yelled. "Crash their systems!" Hope slid a disk into the system and quickly entered some commands. "Virus uploaded!" she reported. "System's melting down now!" Bumblebee smiled. "Looks like it'll make a fine doorstop for somebody." She turned and took a step out the door. A laser blast slammed into her chest and she fell to the ground. "Tami!" Courtney yelled as she began firing down the corridor. Another blast tore into Hope. "Hope!" Shade cried as he caught his wife. A wave of his hand sent shadow demons down the corridor. He ignored the responding screams as he held her. "My darling, there is only one thing I can do." He glanced up and confirmed that the screens were down. "Forgive me." With Hope in his arms, he opened a portal to blackness and jumped inside. Courtney knelt beside Bumblebee, whose costume was covered in blood. Blood oozed from the corners of her mouth. "Tami?" she asked. Bumblebee smiled as she raised her arm. She held it shaking at the observation window. "Better... Better get out of here," she said. "These bad boys are about to learn..." she coughed and bright red blood spattered on the floor. "Just what happens when you mess with the JLA." Courtney squeezed her friend's shoulder and ran back into the room. She opened a maintenance hatch and crawled inside. She closed her eyes as she heard the locking bolts snap into place. Bumblebee smiled as she heard the bolts. "So long, suckers," she said as she fired her new promethium darts from her wrist launcher. They ripped through the observation window like butter. Bumblebee and the DEO troops were thrown into oblivion as that sector of the satellite explosively decompressed. Gar and his remaining troops took advantage of the situation as the satellite shuddered violently. The DEO troops continued to fall. Unfortunately, the enemy blasts continued to tear into the console. Finally Omni called a halt and strode forward, where he ripped the console apart. He threw Jason and Bette aside, but he got a feral smile on his face when he saw Gar. He grabbed Gar by the collar and lifted him up close. "A new meta," he said. "New powers." Omni closed his eyes and concentrated. A glow started to appear around him. He leaned close to Gar. "I love this part," he whispered into Gar's ear. "So long, old timer." The glow spread and enveloped Gar... ...where it went crazy! The light sparked and flew back into Omni, who careened across the room and fell to the ground, gibbering and drooling. "Looks like you forgot that this old timer doesn't have any powers anymore, you leech," Gar said. Across the room, a maintenance hatch popped open and Courtney climbed out. "Looks like you made a mess, hon," she observed. She stopped as she saw Omni. "This is for what you did to Cassie!" she yelled as she kicked him in the ribs. Omni didn't even seem to notice as a snap was heard. "So," Courtney said. "All that's left is -" She flew through the air as the ground beneath her exploded and Ultraman levitated up. "So!" he mocked. "All that's left is for you to die!" He fired his heat vision, strafing toward Gar and Courtney. "Good Lord," Bette said. "Jason, don't you recognize him? That's Superboy!" Ultraman smirked coldly as his head snapped toward Bette. "That's a name I haven't heard for a while. After I kill you, I'm sure I won't hear it again!" With a roar, he launched himself toward Bette. Jason jumped in front of him and his prosthetic hand clamped tightly onto Ultraman's throat. Ultraman's face grew panicked as his tongue began to protrude from his mouth. "Go ahead and try," Jason said coldly. "It's all one piece so your TK won't be able to affect it. This is my thanks for what you did to my arm. Beauty part is, you can even knock me out and it won't stop." Fading, Ultraman began flailing his arms around. He slammed into Jason's head, which caved in with a sickening crunch. Bette hurried to Gar and Courtney as Jason and Ultraman fell to the floor, both dead. "How is she?" Bette asked. Gar snapped a small stick beneath her nose and Courtney awoke with a start. "What is that stuff?" she asked. "Smelling salts." "What's in it? Smells like crap." "I don't know." Gar dropped the stick and helped Courtney to her feet. "We're all that's left." "We've got to take out that reactor," Courtney said. Gar nodded and the three walked down the corridor, leaving the twitching Omni behind. The three walked into the reactor room and saw Bones standing in the middle of the room, calmly smoking his cigar. His tie wasn't even crooked. "Well, well, well," he observed. "It looks like you three are the only ones left. Still, you've done considerable damage to my satellite. You even made me shut down my main reactor here. Please, lower your weapons. They won't work in here with these energy dampeners active." Courtney pulled the trigger on her rifle, which only responded with a slight click. Bones calmly pulled his glove off. "So," he said, extending his skeletal hand, "who's first?" Bones's head whipped around as the side of the reactor exploded. A horribly mutated thing that had once been Cody Driscoll emerged and let out a wordless scream. Gar pulled Courtney and Bette back. "Don't get too close! He's radioactive!" Bones slapped his hand onto a bare patch of Cody's skin and Cody weakened. Gar's eyes widened as he saw the blackening of Bones's skin as well. Bones saw what was happening and screamed. His cries mixed with Cody's as a black portal appeared and the Shade stepped out. "Well, now," Shade observed, "aren't you in a pickle? I believe I can help." Shade's voice suddenly turned cold and harsh. "Enjoy the light, Bones. You'll never see it again." Bones got out a quick cry as blackness engulfed he and Cody, now melted together. "How's Hope?" Courtney asked. "Adjusting," Shade replied. "The only way to save her was to give her powers, and immortality, like mine." Bones's assistant scrambled around the backup control room. First the side of the satellite had blown out, now the reactor was destroyed! Add to that the facts that the satellite was preparing to reenter the atmosphere, and the Director was nowhere to be found. The assistant thought quickly and slapped his hand down on the control to activate the evacuation alarm. His final duty completed, Terry Berg, former publicist for the Teen Titans, sprinted for his own escape pod and safety. The four remaining heroes looked up as the alarm started sounding. "So that's it," Gar said. "We won." "Now what?" Bette asked. "Now you must come with me." The four turned to see a man standing before them in a suit and cape with a hat hiding his eyes. The Phantom Stranger. "Bette Kane, this is not your destiny. Take my hand and you will be returned to your own time." "But they need me here!" Bette yelled. "I can't just leave them!" "Bette." Gar's voice was quiet and calm. "If I could, I'd go back. I can't. This is my world. Go live your life. Maybe you can help prevent this." Bette's eyes were filling with tears. "But I can't go! You need me!" "I need you back then. Bette, you can do more good back there than now." Bette lowered her head. "All right," she whispered. Gar stepped forward and embraced Bette. "Don't worry about me," he said. "Don't worry about any of us here. You know we've always got a plan. Go back and live your life." Gar gently lifted Bette's chin and looked her in the eyes. "Bette," he whispered before he passionately kissed her. "I love you. I've always loved all of you guys. Go to them." Weeping, Bette walked forward and took the Phantom Stranger's hand. They vanished. Gar looked over at Courtney. "Court," he said. Courtney grabbed him and pulled him close. "Gar, please tell me you were telling the truth about the way out." Gar stroked his wife's hair. "I wasn't. It looks like we're going to die here." Shade cleared his throat. "Actually, I have a proposal." The other two turned to him. "Years ago I discovered a small planet I've been colonizing for quite some time. Hope, her brothers and their wives are there. I've actually managed to spirit quite a few people away from the cleansings. We can go there, unless you prefer burning up on reentry." Courtney and Gar clasped hands as they walked up to Shade. "Let's go," Gar said. Smiling, the Shade waved his hand and they were swallowed by blackness. Bette Kane, Flamebird, ran alongside Gar Logan into the rundown tenement. "Are we sure they're in here?" she asked. "Yeah," Gar replied. "They've got the kid upstairs." "Any idea who they are?" Gar shook his head. "No idea. Just some kooks trying to get publicity." Bette and Gar knelt down on opposite sides of a stairwell. Gar checked his watch. "Almost time. Eagle and Bumblebee should be making their move right about now." As if in response, suddenly gunfire erupted from upstairs and running was heard. "Here they come," Gar said softly. "This is it!" Bette nodded once. "Right," she said. A second later, two thugs came running down the stairs. Gar jumped out in front of them, ready for anything. "Hold it!" he yelled. One of the thugs fired and Bette screamed as she knocked Gar to the ground. The bullet embedded itself into a rotting doorframe behind her. Bette threw her disc that knocked both kidnappers cold. She quickly tied them up with her line and looked down at Gar. "You okay?" he asked. "You're shaking." Bette's fingers flew to her lips, remembering the last kiss she'd gotten from the other Gar. The Gar who'd seen everything he cared about destroyed. Every bit of light in his world had been put out. She looked down at this Gar with his short hair and unlined face that stood in a bright light. "I'm fine," she said with a smile as Golden Eagle and Bumblebee came down the stairs with the unharmed child. The End... Previous Issue | Next Issue |
