"Allies" Part Five
The Nevada Desert Superman and Idol flew at each other, their fists clenched and their arms flexed and ready to strike. As their fists made contact the noise echoed for miles. Bot's onboard computer systems had been trying to analyze Green Lantern's ring ever since they had caught sight of the JLA. Unfortunately, as sophisticated as they were they still could not detect where its power source was or indeed any flaws or weaknesses. However, from what Bot knew of Green Lantern's history, the ring was controlled by the will power of the wearer. Knowing that quickly gave him a backup plan that he was ready to deploy. The giant green shield construct that Green Lantern had created with his ring blocked Bot's attacks easily, as they had been doing for well over ten minutes. Lantern had wondered what Bot was trying to prove by throwing missiles and energy rays at him randomly. Surely he couldn't think he could get through his defenses that way? Still, the barrage was keeping him from being able to form any sort of attack, but he knew that if he bided his time he would get an opportunity to strike. Some flickering caught his eye and he looked up over the shield. Bot was throwing some sort of pyrotechnic show, even as his onslaught against Green Lantern's shield continued. Lantern wasn't sure what was that was about, but he decided the best thing would be to try and watch what may develop from it at the same time as he kept Bot's other attacks at bay. Batman threw a barrage of batarangs at Patriot. Patriot's reflexes enabled him to swiftly bring up his shield, causing the batarangs to deflect harmlessly away from him. Batman leapt into the air, his cape spread out allowing him to glide for a moment. Patriot lowered his shield, but saw no Batman in front of him. He looked down and saw the dark shadow move across him, and then looked up just as the Batman dropped down on top of him. He raised his shield, but Batman kicked out his foot, clipping it underneath and pushing it and Patriot backwards. Patriot kicked out with his legs, pushing him off the ground. He leapt into a backward somersault, stretching out fully and using his palms to spring up and away from the ground once more. The Batman landed on the ground just as Patriot finished his maneuver and ended in a crouched position facing him. "Nice moves," Batman breathed. Patriot did not respond verbally. Instead he leapt backwards, kicking dirt which was on one foot and a rock which was on the other. Batman moved to the left and shielded himself from the rock with his cape. However, as the dirt was thrown out at a different angle, his cape wasn't in the right place to protect him and it flew over the eyelets of his mask. Temporarily blinded, Batman whirled away just as Patriot leapt out to strike. What Patriot didn't see was the smoke bomb that Batman had hurriedly pulled from his utility belt and tossed onto the ground. The smoke shot out high into the air and rained down around the surrounding area, just as Patriot dived into the middle of it. The Flash and Quickening stood with their arms folded silently sizing each other up looking for potential weaknesses. "Look, what are we going to do now?" Flash asked. "Fight," Quickening replied. "I see," Flash said. "And what will that entail, hmmm? Do we have a race; first one there wins? Or do we run side by side throwing high speed punches at each other until one falls?" "We fight!" Quickening said, a little more forcefully. "Don't you get it?" Flash asked, unfolding his arms and holding them out as if trying to make a point. "It’s stupid. We're both extremely fast and our battle could go on for days with both standing." "So?" "So, it’s really dumb," Flash replied. "Why don't we wait and see how this all pans out and then get down to it when everyone else is done." Quickening's face began to redden with anger. He unfolded his arms and clenched his fists "Do not make a fool of me," he growled. "Wouldn't dream of it," Flash retorted. "You're doing a pretty good job of it yourself though." At that, Quickening screamed out and rush at the Flash, his arms stretched out as far as they could go in front of him to make contact as quickly as possible. Flash leapt backwards and began to run as quickly as he could. He kept Quickening at arms length, but his pursuer wasn't ever far away from him. Torrent's fist snaked out towards Aquaman's jaw, his entire weight thrown behind the punch. Aquaman's knees bent as he arched his back, dipping him at the last moment. Torrent's fist flew a few inches over Aquaman's face and the momentum carried him around. Aquaman shifted his weight to his left-hand side and swung away from Torrent's lunge. Torrent spun around but tried to right himself before Aquaman could find his feet, but he was too late. Aquaman threw himself at Torrent and his metal hand smashed into his foe's jaw. Torrent reeled backwards under the onslaught, but Aquaman didn't give up. He followed through with his other fist, striking out across his torso to catch Torrent on the right hand side of his face, before quickly finishing by bringing his knee up and hitting Torrent full the face. Aquaman landed headfirst in the dirt, and immediately went into a roll. Powerful muscles in his legs pushed him up to stand and as he spun around, Torrent's right fist smashed into his face. "King of the Seas," Torrent taunted as he kicked Aquaman in the stomach. "Do not make me laugh! You are more like the court jester." He leaned forward to stamp on Aquaman's head, but instead his foot met Aquaman's right hand. Aquaman grabbed his foot and pushed up, catching Torrent off balance. Torrent's arms flailed out to the side as he lost his balance and fell backwards. "Right!" Aquaman shouted as he leapt to his feet. "This is nonsense, fighting in the desert. The heat is rising at an alarming rate and is sapping us." "I am fine," Torrent said, as he pulled himself to his feet. "Liar!" Aquaman shouted. "You are as fatigued as I am!" "No," Torrent said, but he was indeed having some trouble breathing. "You are just stalling the inevitable. I will win this day and…" "And nothing!" Aquaman bellowed. "Even if you did win, one of my colleagues would pick you off easily. Superman or the Martian Manhunter would burn you to a crisp in an instant." "I will not fall!" Torrent roared. "All I am saying is let us take this to somewhere where we both can be at full strength!" Aquaman shouted. "Don't be a fool, man. I will win this battle, but I would rather vanquish you when you are healthy, not barely alive!" Torrent's eyes narrowed. He was in pain, and the sun was having an effect on him, but he couldn't help thinking that his foe was up to something. Still, he could best him in combat any day, so he could easily agree to what the bearded one proposed. Aquaman too knew that Torrent would gain the upper hand at some point, but he wasn't about to give up. A change of venue would certainly help them both, but it was his intention not to leave Torrent with the upper hand. "Where do you suggest, sea king?" Torrent said, making sure the last two words were accompanied by a laugh. "Why, Vegas, of course," Aquaman replied with a smirk. Wonder Woman flew into the air, her hands clasped together as Astonish swooped down on her. She hit him hard in the stomach and he doubled up in pain. The momentum carried them both upwards, and Astonish spun around in the air until Wonder Woman was above him. As she readied herself to deliver a follow up blow, two five-inch beams of pure energy flew out from Astonish's hands and smashed into her face. Wonder Woman reeled backwards with the force, straining to hold in the cry of pain welling up inside of her. Her flesh was burning, as if she had been hit with some sort of acid. This was not acid, however, of that she was certain. Blinded, she felt Astonish's left fist smash into the side of her face. Her head jerked to the side, and she lashed out with her right hand, luckily catching him on the chin. He moaned, and fell backwards, or at least that was how she perceived it. Right now however, she had no idea which way was up or down. All she knew was that she was still in the air and she had to do something quickly to get the upper hand against an enemy who she couldn't see. She felt the sole of Astonish's foot hit her stomach and she bent double, grabbing hold of his leg with one hand and punching upwards with the other. It met with his groin and the roar of pain that escaped from his lips cut through the early morning sky and made some of the male fighters pause for a second. "Come here, you!" Behemoth roared, as he tried to grab hold of Plastic Man once more. "Not likely," Plastic Man shouted back, as he twisted his body away from Behemoth's grasp. "This is boring!" Behemoth bellowed, before stepping back and watching as Plastic Man ran. He felt that this was strange. These were supposed to be the best of the best, or at least that's what they said they were. But instead they were cowards, running away from a fight rather than standing and dealing with it head on. He had expected more from them, even the clown he had been matched up with. At least with Plastic Man he would have been able to have fun as well as beat him to a pulp, or so he had thought. For the last ten minutes all his quarry had done was try to avoid him, all the while clutching some sort of statue for dear life. "Pah! Behemoth doesn't like this game!" he roared and with that he lifted his right leg as high as he could, and smashed it down onto the ground. The shockwave shot across the ground, cutting into the earth and causing a mini earthquake. The split widened and snaked along following Plastic Man as he ran. Within seconds it was on him and he felt the vibrations too late. Looking down he saw the ground open and he realized he was running on air. As he plummeted down into the hole, his arms instinctively flew up and he released the artifact, which shot high into the air. Plastic Man watched it disappear above him as he dropped further down, and he screamed. "What the hell is that?" Bug shouted, as she looked up at the green streak that was shooting out of the sky towards them. "Ah," Mammoth said with a grin. "That'll be my playmate." The Martian Manhunter flew straight into Mammoth's stomach, his fists locked together to deliver as much force as possible. Mammoth doubled up in pain, the wind being pushed violently out of him. The force of J'onn's attack pushed him back several meters, until he hit the ground hard. He didn't stop there, though. The momentum of the blow pushed him back even further when he was on the ground, his body dragging dirt and sand behind it and leaving a shallow crater as he went. "So," Bug said indignantly, her hands on her hips. "Everyone gets a partner except me." "I wouldn't say that," a voice said from far off. Bug turned to see who it was, but all she could see were the members of both teams battling as they had been for the last few minutes. Then, out of the corner of her eye she saw something small move. She turned her head slightly to get a better look but could see nothing. "Behind you." She spun around just in time to see a gloved fist hit her full in the face. The force threw her back, and as she toppled her tiny wings stopped flapping. "Ha," the Atom said, as he hovered in the air. "Usually I never hit a lady, but I'll make an exception with you." Bug shot down towards the ground at great speed. She clenched her fists and shook her head violently, clearing her head and regaining her focus. With her right fist she smashed down on the buckle of her belt which caused a chain reaction, kick starting her exoskeleton which had temporarily frozen. She smiled as the familiar hum of the machinery filled her ears, and a split second later her wings began to beat once more. "Up!" she shouted and raised her head. Her body arced back and her flight trajectory followed, causing her to pull out of the dive and head back up towards the Atom who still hovered where he had punched her. "Good," he said with a grin. "Coming back for more." "Buster," Bug shouted, "I'd hide if I were you." "Ooh, I'm scared," he replied, waving his arms and legs around in mock panic. "You know what?" Bug asked, as she shot twin bolts of electricity from her wristbands. "You really need to grow up." The electricity hit the Atom full on and his body jerked and twitched. Bug turned a dial on her right arm and the electricity intensified, ripping through the Atom. "Not so cocky now, huh?" Bug asked, as she closed in on the tiny titan. At that moment, Atom's jetpack gave out and he fell to the ground, and out of the way of Bug's attack. She looked down after him. His body still twitched on occasion, and while she wanted nothing more than to follow him and finish him off, it did not seem like a good idea to her after all. Superman and Idol were pretty evenly matched. They traded blows that would have been extremely damaging to others, but which seemed to matter little to each other. On occasion, one would catch the other unawares with a thunderous strike that propelled them a short distance away, but that was rare. The noise on the other hand was deafening and could be heard many miles away. "This is futile!" Superman shouted. "We don't need to fight!" "Fight we must!" Idol roared. "Thou art our enemies and the enemies of man! We will fight and thou wilt lose!" Superman had done his best to scan Idol's molecular structure, trying to find some sort of weakness, but something was preventing him from doing so. He had a horrible feeling that there was something not quite human about his foe and his scans or lack thereof, seemed to confirm it. "Thou art strong, Superman!" Idol continued "But canst thou match the power of a God?" With that he reached to behind his cape and pulled out a golden mace, encrusted with jewels. He lifted it high in the air, and closed his eyes before letting out a booming roar. Superman covered his ears, as the sound ripped through his brain, sending shivers of pain throughout his entire being. Idol took the opportunity and threw the mace at Superman. It hit him square in the chest, and was quickly followed by an arc of lightning which cut through the previously cloudless morning sky and struck him full on. Superman cried out in pain and fell backwards, as the mace flew up and returned to Idol's hand. Flash and Quickening kept running around with Flash keeping himself just out of Quickening's reach. This was getting boring for Wally, especially as he was running backwards, but he really didn't want to fight. He knew that somehow the Redressers were being manipulated, and so he didn't want to hurt them, but he also knew that nothing would stop them from trying to kill him or any other members of the JLA. When they reached China he decided that enough was enough and he stopped. Quickening shot past him and looked back to see where he was. As he began to slow down he turned back to see the wall racing towards him. Although he had not slowed down enough to stop, he had slowed down enough not to be able to vibrate through the wall. The Flash grimaced as Quickening made contact with the wall. Wonder Woman knew now that some sort of Anti-Matter ray had caused the pain. Although she hadn't had time to study the tapes Batman had made of the S.T.A.R. labs tests, the Martian Manhunter had downloaded a summary into each of the JLA members' minds. Somehow Astonish was made up of Anti-Matter, held in place by some sort of impenetrable suit. It was easy to then assume that he was able to project some of this energy, and the proof had been burning at her face a few moments before. Although her vision was returning, it was very blurred. Her only chance was to rely on her other senses, and to try and make her plan work fast. She closed her eyes, blocking out the falseness of her vision and instead listened. She heard Astonish fly in from the right, and as he neared her, her skin became warmer. She grabbed her lasso and threw it out to the side. From the indignant grunt and the pull of her lasso she knew that it her throw had been true. She grabbed the lasso with both hands and pulled it with all her might. When she felt that Astonish was close enough she lashed out with both hands and caught him on the jaw. Astonish was propelled back with the force, but he didn't get far. When the lasso had reached full length he stopped and was pulled back in for another attack., this time meeting Wonder Woman's foot. Plastic Man crawled out of the hole. It had been a long way, several hundred meters, and he was exhausted. As he gasped for air, Behemoth's massive left hand grasped his head and pulled him up. "Gotcha!" Behemoth growled, as he squeezed tightly, trying to crush Plastic Man's skull. Plastic Man clawed at Behemoth's hand and kicked out with his feet, but he could do nothing to knock him off balance. "And I have your trinket too," Behemoth continued. He held up the artifact in his other hand and Plastic Man froze. "You, my friend," Plastic Man began, as his body twisted and contorted. "Had better put me and that thing down or you'll get an ass kicking you would not believe." Behemoth laughed as he began to squeeze harder. His laughter stopped when he realized that instead of Plastic Man he had in his hand a huge red, yellow, and black pillow. He looked bemused and wondered why his foe thought that this was a threat to him. When Plastic Man lunged forward, smothering Behemoth's face with his body, Behemoth knew. Green Lantern didn't realize that the pyrotechnic show Bot had been trying to distract him with was affecting him until it was too late. The onset of a mild epileptic fit came swiftly and he could do nothing about it. Wave after wave of muscle spasms washed over his body, which jerked and twitched. Lantern screamed out into dawn air, before his body finally hit the ground below. He blacked out immediately. Bot hovered in the air, grinning. He was satisfied with victory, but something was stopping him from celebrating. Something niggled at the back of his mind, annoyingly preventing him from delivering the killer blow. Bug landed a few inches away from the Atom's unconscious form. It was hard for her to believe that this was the famous Ray Palmer, a scientist whose works she had studied for a long time. A man that both she and her husband, the Redressers' Mammoth, had looked up to and tried to emulate for most of their professional lives. Here he was, a man in a boy's body, wrapped in the costume of one of the JLA. And she had defeated him. Now she had to kill him, and although the thought abhorred her, the JLA were mankind's enemies and had to be stopped. She readied herself, feeling the massive electrical surge being generated by her exoskeleton. At least it would be quick and painless, she thought. Bug screamed as the electrical feedback shot through her body. Something was wrong with the exoskeleton, and instead of killing the Atom it was ripping through her. She managed to reach down to her belt and cut the power, before the charge killed her. As she fell to the ground, she noticed that the Atom was sitting up on his elbows. "Amazing what you can do with a coat hanger these days," he said quietly. The Martian Manhunter flew away from Mammoth's right hand as it came down to grab him. As he did so, he did not see his left fist come up from below him. The force of the punch sent him flying backwards at least half a mile. He landed on his back and smashed the back of his head on a rock. He heard his skull crack, but that wasn't going to get in his way. As he got his bearings, and rubbed the back of his head, Superman called through telepathic link. J’onn! Yes, Superman? Are you all right? I have been better. Same here, old friend. Where is Molan? He is just a few miles away. I left him in a sheltered alcove as soon as I detected the battle here. And he won't get into any trouble? I am sure that he will, but he is the least of our worries at this moment. From what I see we are battling on too many fronts at the moment. This is an inconvenience and we are not faring well. We have to get Molan out of Oracle's body and fast. Indeed, Superman, but I cannot see any end to this battle. Well, then, we'll have to make one. J’onn looked up and saw Mammoth racing towards him, each step causing a mini earthquake. I have to go now, Superman. Mammoth awaits. Las Vegas Marty and Sheila Hannigan had never visited Las Vegas before. They hadn't really been to many places since they were married forty years ago. A combination of children and Marty's bad knee had put and end to any traveling. Now that they were both retired and their children were doing very well for themselves on Wall Street, they were finally able to take that trip they had always planned on. It coincided with their ruby wedding anniversary, and the children had clubbed together to give them an all-inclusive trip to the West Coast. During their five-day trip to Last Vegas they stayed at the Luxor, spending their days by the pool or at the outlets or checking out the pawnshops for some good buys, but at night; at night they lived. They danced, they drank, they ate, they caught Tony Bennett's show for two nights running and they rekindled the romance that had always been put on hold by the other things in their lives. Today, they visited the Bellagio as they had done several times. The fountain and water displays were their favorites and special memories that they would savor forever. They sat at the water's edge and Marty leaned forward. Sheila closed her eyes, and puckered her lips. He followed suit, and as their lips were about to meet Aquaman and Torrent smashed right into the center of the fountain. Huge waves of water shot across the pool towards the edges, and in seconds both Marty and Sheila were soaked. "Right, Speedo boy!" Aquaman shouted, as he felt the water replenish his strength. "Lets finish this!" Torrent roared and leapt over towards Aquaman, who side-stepped at the last possible moment, causing Torrent to fly over and into the pool, smashing his head on one of the fountain nozzles. Torrent howled in pain and spun around, clutching his left eye. "Blinded?" Aquaman asked as he ran through the water towards Torrent. Torrent kicked out, but only being able to see through one eye his depth perception was gone, and he kicked at nothing. Aquaman hit him with a left jab and a right cross, knocking out two teeth. He followed up with a left uppercut and a right cross and then stood back. Torrent's body slipped limply into the water. "There," Aquaman said. "Job done." The Nevada Desert These people aren't going down, Batman thought over the JLA's telepathic link. Tell me about it, Superman said as he dodged another of Idol's attacks. But why are they doing this? Wonder Woman asked, bringing her knee up to smash into Astonish's jaw. Possession? They're certainly not acting themselves, J’onn replied. They're attacking us for no reason, Superman said. Either they're possessed or insane. Plastic Man is down! Wonder Woman shouted as she saw Behemoth toss the limp, stringy body of Plastic Man onto the ground. We need to gain the upper hand and quickly. As Patriot lunged at Batman, the Dark Knight leapt in the air, pushing down with his right hand on Patriot's back and using it to lever himself far away from his attacker. As he did so he looked through the battle and flying fists before him. It was then that he noticed Sleight standing on her own, staring out at everyone. He tapped the side of his head and his hood lenses magnified, zooming in on her as he landed on his feet. Immediately he noticed that she wasn't really looking at anything, but just staring into space. Then he noticed the sweat pouring down from her forehead and knew he had the answer. Everyone, he shouted through the telepathic link. Before he could finish, Patriot smashed in behind him with all his might, sending him flying forwards and onto the ground. "Batman!" J’onn shouted out, as he saw the Dark Knight collapse to the ground. "J’onn, no!" Superman shouted. But it was too late. Mammoth's hands arced around from behind him and caught J’onn in between them as they slapped shut. The sound of bones breaking was sickening, and Superman shuddered. A few seconds later, Mammoth opened his hands and the limp body of the Martian Manhunter fell to the ground. The Flash arrived just in time to see this, dropping Quickening's body to the ground before rushing over to where his colleague had fallen. "You would do well to pay attention to your own foe!" Idol roared as he flew up towards Superman, his mace poised and ready to strike. "Enough!" Superman bellowed, blowing out a blast of cold, completely covered Idol's mace and right hand. Idol flinched at the cold and began to concentrate, but before he could break free Superman followed up with a blast of heat vision which hit the ice and smashed it, the mace and most of Idol's hand to smithereens. Idol screamed in agony, as he clenched what remained of his right hand to his chest. "Sorry," Superman said, as he began to reign blow after blow down on Idol's head at super speed. "I hate having to do this, but you have to be stopped." After a few seconds under the constant onslaught, Idol blacked out and fell to the ground. The White House President Luthor sat looking through some papers he was due to sign. On occasion he found himself breaking concentration and thinking with glee about the massacre which was going on in the Nevada desert. He chuckled to himself for a few seconds and then turned back to the work in hand. At that moment, the doors of the bookcase across the room flew open. He looked up, startled and then looked quickly around the room. "I have to get that lock fixed," he mused before turning back to the papers. The next moment, he heard a thud and looked up. Nothing seemed out of place and no one was there. He thought of someone being invisible for a moment and then laughed, knowing that the metahuman dampeners would have put a stop to that. As he continued to laugh, one of the books flew from the bookshelf and landed a few feet closer to his desk than another book that lay there. "What the hell?" he whispered. The Nevada Desert "Yes!" Sleight screamed. Quickening pulled himself up off the ground and ran to his newly found sister's side. Before he could reach her, he hit something large, thick and very very invisible. The force of the impact threw him back several feet, and he landed hard. He quickly recovered, shaking his head from side to side violently and then refocused on Sleight. The ground around her feet was moving, dancing around her ankles. Then it slowly began to move upwards, sliding along her shins and around behind her calves. The Flash dashed to where Quickening sat and grabbed him by the collar of his costume, his fist ready to strike. He quickly realized that Quickening was not interested in the fight any more, and he followed his gaze over to where Sleight stood. Flash's mouth dropped open as he watched the ground wrap itself around Sleight, holding her in what looked like a cocoon. Quickening simply stared at Sleight's face as her eyes were filled with tears and he knew what she was about to do. He wanted to act, to stop her for that was not what Patriot had intended for them, and it certainly was not an ideal that either of them wanted to subscribe to. But he knew she had to do it, and abhorrent as it was, he would too if it meant justice was done. The ground completely covered Sleight, as a single tear rolled down Quickening's cheek. "Good bye, my love," he said. "My sister." At that he leapt to his feet, turned, and began throwing high-speed punches at the Flash. To Be Continued... Previous Issue | Next Issue |
