ISSUE #2 (April 2018)
Written by Travis Hiltz Featuring: The Freedom Fighters
|
"CRISIS ON EARTH-X2"Like a vast string of pearls there are an infinite number of earths across the multi-verse.
One such world was referred to as ‘Earth X’. On it, the Nazis triumphed during World War II and ruled over that Earth for two decades, until the combined might of the Justice League, the Justice Society, and Earth X’s own super hero team, the Freedom Fighters joined together to overthrow the Eternal Reich and brought liberty to that world. Once peace was established, the Freedom Fighters then journeyed to the Earth designated ‘Earth One’. But, in the infinite expanse of the multiversity, there were other Earth X’s, on some the Freedom Fighters were defeated, on others they paid a high price for victory and one where they stayed when the Nazis fell to rebuild and protect the fragile, newly won freedom… 1972 New York was a quiet city. What was once a capital of the German dictatorship of America had been liberated and slowly rebuilt and repopulated. A great many buildings were empty or under construction. Traffic was light and while there were many pedestrians, there wasn’t much in the way of crowds or gatherings. They had been severely disapproved of under the old regime and people were slow to get back into the habit. But a sudden thunderclap and a flare, in the shape of a pair of ‘F’ s shooting across the sky soon drew a crowd. Curiosity mixed with anxiety as the populace glanced upwards. At a skyscraper, a figure drew away from the open window and the device that resembled a miniature mortar that rested on the windowsill had unleashed the signal. “Nothing to do but wait,” A voice said. Several blocks away, a group of women were enjoying luncheon. “How long will you be in town, Sandra?” A fashionable blonde asked the woman sitting next to her. “Hard to say,” Her brunette companion shrugged. “I’m here with the economic conference… “What are those strange images in the sky…?” A third woman suddenly exclaimed. “Looks like two Fs…I wonder what that’s all about…?” “Excuse me, would you,” The brunette said, leaving the table. She made her way to the street. She looked around anxiously at the gathering crowds. “Never get a cab at this rate,” She muttered, slipping out of her heels and jogging down the sidewalk. Coming to an office building, her forehead wrinkled slightly in concentration and instead of moving around it, she merely phased through the brick wall. Shoes in hand, the mysterious brunette made her way through the building, running through any wall and the occasional person that blocked her path, like some kind of stylish ghost. A block away… The lot had been cleared; it was now just bare dirt and a few construction markers, bookended by a pair dilapidated, three story buildings. A bench had been set up in the center of the lot, on which an unusual figure sat. He was bulky, wearing an over-sized trench coat and a hat, perched on his bullet –shaped head. A nondescript van was parked in front of the lot. Two men in plain suits sat watching the big figure in the overcoat. “How long do we have to sit here?” The passenger grumbled. “Give it a rest,” The driver replied irritably. “The guy gets out in the fresh air for like five minutes a month, have a heart.” “Yeah, well, maybe you want to spend your day babysitting an H-bomb,” The first man muttered. “But, I…hey, what’s that up in the sky…?” The figure on the bench also spotted the odd signal and stood up, shrugging out of his coat and tossing his hat aside. He wore a metallic-white containment suit that covered him from head to toe. The helmet was bullet-shaped and had only a tiny glass oval that allowed the man inside to see out. “Jesus!” The passenger exclaimed. “He’s on the move!” The figure in the containment suit glanced around, pulling off one glove as he went, jogged over to a manhole cover. He punch downward and when his bare fist struck the manhole cover, it and the ground around it exploded. He then jumped down into the tunnels below the lot and trudged his way across town. Meanwhile, at a bar situated nearest to the city’s most prominent newspaper publishers, reporters and photographers were clustered around small, closely set tables. They shot the breeze, swapped stories and the older men talked the younger through the new world that they were now a part of. The free press had been freed of the clutches of the old regimes’ office of propaganda. At a table by the large, dirt-smeared main window a trio of friends were catching up. “So, how does it feel to back in the big city, Hap?” One asked, looking around for an ashtray. “Well, less people shooting at me, and you can get a decent hot dog,” His blonde co-worker replied with a smile. “I’ve had enough excitement to last me several lifetimes. Besides, I think I’ve gotten something lined up to keep me from getting too bored.” “What’s that?” His friend asked, distractedly while he tried to get the waitresses attention. “Hey, check that out! Some kind of signal…?” “Yikes! What was that flash! Hey, where’d Hap go?” The blonde reporter was enveloped by the flash and then streaked across the sky as a beam of pure light. His trip was only disrupted when he had to zigzag to dodge a police helicopter. As he reached a particular nondescript skyscraper, he changed back into a normal human. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance and missed the window by inches. He scrambled frantically and managed to grab the windowsill and found himself hanging thirty stories above the street. “Goddamn…!” He muttered his hands trembling as he struggled to pull himself up. “I got you.” A voice announced. The blonde man glanced up. Standing on the windowsill was a man. He was twelve inches tall, clad in a blue bodysuit and a lab coat. The miniature man reached down took hold of the dangling man’s wrist and helped pull him into the building. The blonde man crawled over the sill and landed in a heap on the floor, sitting with his back against the wall, brushing at his suit. “Glad you could make it, ‘Happy’,” The ghostly brunette said, with a judging smirk. “Getting to see you again, Sandra was worth climbing a brick wall.” He replied, smiling back. “Come on,” The tiny man said, leaping over the blonde man and landing on a nearby desk, cluttered with papers and files. “I didn’t call you together just so you two could flirt.” Sandra perched on the edge of the desk, while Hap Terrill climbed to his feet. “You going to join the rest of the class, Roy?” He asked, as he walked over to the desk. Across the room, the man in the bulky containment suit sat in a chair made out of concrete and cinderblocks. Even sealed up as he was, his grumbling was audible as he trudged over to join the others. The quartet now gathered around the desk, were members of Earth X’s resident super team, the Freedom Fighters! Dane Darrell doused with an experimental formula is the tiny hero, Doll man. Raymond ‘Happy’ Terrill, ace reporter, zapped by cosmic rays was transformed into the Ray. Sandra Knight used a ‘black light’ device to operate in shadows against the Nazis as the Phantom Lady. Years of exposure to her signature weapon had lead to the additional ability of intangibility. Roy Lincoln, forced to swallow an experimental chemical to keep it out of the hands of the Nazis became the Human Bomb. “Look,” Doll man said. ‘You all understood that the new government was willing to exchange this research facility with the idea that the Freedom Fighters would continue to help them.” “Is this all of us now?” Hap Terrill asked, glancing around the room. “Afraid so.” Doll man nodded. “Black Condor has gone back to being a senator,” Sandra said. “Figures he can do more good there then flying around. Now, that Firebrand’s family has been cleared of collaboration charges, he and his sister are done with the hero business…” There was a pause, in which all four had the same thought, but none wished to voice it. “Fine,” The Human Bomb grumbled. “I’ll say it, nobody knows if Sam is ever coming back. So, it looks like the government is stuck with just us four.” “Well,” Doll man said. “There may be some others. There is talk of reforming the Blackhawks and rebuilding the Red Torpedo…” “Not to mention rumors that the Jester was sighted,” Hap added with a shrug. “So, who knows?” “So, we play super hero and the government gives you money and pretends to care about curing me,” The Human Bomb mumbled. “We all got it, so what’s up? We actually get to do something?” “Yes, I think we are,” Doll man said, ignoring his friend’s tone. He scooped up a half dozen pieces of paper. “I was sent these pictures…” “What are they, pinups?” The Human Bomb asked. “Cause that bunker you’ve been keeping me in could use some decoration.” “I assume you’ve all heard about the recent earthquakes?” Doll man continued. “Yeah, Dannette Reilly and I did disaster relief after the one in Mexico,” Sandra nodded. “I don’t get out much,” Human Bomb shrugged. “If we are looking into them,” Hap Terrill asked. “I guess that means there’s more then just a natural disaster happening?” “Yes. Now, you guys know I’m a biochemist. Could really use a Geologist or an engineer like William Dunn, but the Blue Tracer is yet another name on the list of fallen allies.” Doll man explained, he laid the photos of the earthquake scenes on the desk and began pacing around them as he talked. “But, the data seems to suggest they are connected. We’ve been tracing the fault lines and not only are the three quakes connected, despite how far apart they occurred, but they seem to have a central source. Here.” He tapped his foot on one of the photos. Sandra Knight picked it up. The picture was of a small island in the pacific. There were scribbled notes in the borders. “Looks like a quaint vacation spot,” She mused. “What’s so special about it?” Hap asked, moving to peer over her shoulder. “Looks like you can trace the fault lines of all the other quakes to it,” Sandra said, glancing over the charts on the desk. “Also, I can’t find it on any map.” Doll man replied. “And, as far as the navy knows, it wasn’t there two months ago.” “What?” His three teammates asked. “Not too far fetched,” Hap shrugged. “The new government is still trying to get organized and the Nazis destroyed a lot of documents when they realized the fall was coming…” “So, basically, I should pack for the beach,” Human Bomb muttered. “Yeah, because you’re the member of the team we all want to see in a swimsuit,” Hap smirked, glancing over at Sandra. Hours and several military transports later, the Freedom Fighters landed on the tiny island that was apparently the source of so much trouble. The Human Bomb waded ashore, towing the inflatable boat with the others in it. The Ray, now clad in his yellow bodysuit with the small fin on the cowl, flew up and touched down on the rocky beach just ahead of teammate. “I don’t know about earthquakes,” He said, looking around, “but we may have officially discovered the middle of nowhere.” “Hey, funny guy,” The Human Bomb called, struggling to pull the raft up the gravelly beach. “You want to give me a hand?” “Always glad to help,” Ray said, flying over, scooping up Phantom Girl and ferrying her to shore. “There, that ought to lighten your load.” Doll man leapt out of the boat and landed on the Human Bomb’s shoulder. He wore a short-sleeved blue bodysuit, red boots, a wide red belt and a red multi-pocketed vest. “Come on, you guys can fight later,” He said. “Work to do.” “Yeah, yeah.” The other hero muttered, pulling the raft onto the shore and tying it to a rock. “You should have kept the cape.” Doll man smiled and leaping from rock to rock and soon caught up with the Ray and Phantom Lady. She had changed from her fashionable skirt ensemble into a yellow leotard, green boots, belt and short cape. She wore a pair of bracelets and goggles with a thin green strap. Her black hair was done up in a ponytail. She turned up her collar and pulled her cape in close around her, as scant shelter against the chill wind coming off the water. Ray flew ahead while the other three trudged their way across the stretch of rocks to a sandy area. “What are we looking for, exactly?” Phantom Lady asked. “Something that looks like a secret Nazi lab, I’m guessing,” Ray shrugged, returning in a flash of light. “Maybe labeled ‘earthquake machine’.” “I’d prefer something we could shut off mechanically to discovering there’s a huge new fault line forming along the equator.” Doll man said. “All I see is rocks and sand,” Human Bomb grumbled from the back of the line. “If you dragged us along on some wild goose chase…!” “Save your breath for walking,” Ray replied, flying a circle around his teammate before rejoining Phantom Lady up the path. “What’s that?” Doll man asked, pointing from his perch on the Human Bomb’s shoulder. “Something moved by those rocks…!” “Yeah, I hear something!” Phantom Lady added, cautiously. Suddenly, from behind the rough pile of boulders, a pterodactyl hurled itself at the quartet of heroes. “Sandra!” Doll man shouted, launching himself from his perch. “Go intangible!” Following her teammates suggestion allowed the winged dinosaur to swoop through her without any injury. A device on his belt allowed the diminutive adventurer to adjust his weight, making him light or heavy. Becoming lighter, he is able to leap great distances and launch himself at the dinosaur. Ray soared upwards, firing bursts of light to distract and disorient the creature. Taking advantage of this, Doll man adjusted his weight to its fullest and punched the pterodactyl across the beak. The creature wobbled and then plummeted downwards, its erratic flight scattering the Freedom Fighters, before it came to an awkward crash landing on the rocky beach and was soon grabbed by the waves and dragged into the water. Ray flew in to grab the falling Doll man. Unfortunately, the under-sized hero had not had time or focus to adjust his weight controls and so slammed into his teammate at his full weight. Half-stunned, both heroes tumbled, hitting the rocky ground, which immediately caved in beneath them and the duo disappeared beneath the ground. “Darrel and Hap…?” Phantom Lady muttered. “We’ve…got to find…them…!” Dazed by the pterodactyl’s attack, she had not turned solid, so as she struggled to regain her balance she ended up walking through a couple large rocks. Concern for her teammates meant she was unaware of a second figure creeping out from behind the same rock pile. It was man-sized. Its dark green body was round and bulky with thin, muscular arms and bowed legs. Its skin was bumpy and leathery, like the peel of an avocado. Its face was broad, its features lumpy. It squinted in the sunlight. It wore a metallic leotard, boots and gauntlets. It held what looked half-staff and half rifle as it crept up on the unsuspecting heroine. “Duck, Sandra!” The Human Bomb shouted as he lumbered towards her, pulling off a glove as he ran. “Let me handle it!” His explosive punch caught the creature in the chest. With his other, still gloved, hand he grabbed hold of its wide metal belt. With a grunt of effort, the Human Bomb hefted the creature up over his head and tossed to down the embankment. It bounced along before rolling to a stop on the rocky shore. “Roy, you did it!” Phantom lady said, returning to her normal, solid self as she joined him. “Sure, what did you expect.”? He shrugged, pulling his glove back on. “Come on, let’s find Darrel and the lightening bug.” He reached towards Sandra to offer her a hand and then abruptly pulled it back, before just nodding towards the hole in the ground and leading the way to investigate. Phantom Lady frowned thoughtfully as she followed him. Doll man and the Ray plummeted several yards, before the diminutive scientist was able to shake off his daze and realize how much trouble they were in. He grabbed a ridge with one hand and the back of Ray’s costume with the other. They hung like that for several seconds, Doll man’s arms trembling with the effort. “Come on, Hap…!” He grunted through clenched teeth. “Can’t…hold…much longer…!” “Okay, okay,” Ray muttering, sleepily. “Five more minutes and…what? Where…where are we…?” Lighting up, Ray floated, easing the strain on his teammate. They floated downwards, several hundred yards to the bottom of the pit. Once they touched ground, the Ray raised one hand lighting it up so they could see their surroundings, while Doll man jumped down from his shoulders, rubbing his aching arms as he explored. “Where are we?” Ray muttered. “This isn’t just a sink hole. Looks like someone dug this?” “If the Nazis had a lab here and they were working with fault line manipulation,” Doll man explained while he looked around. “It makes sense they’d be underground. I feel something…think it’s a door!” A stone he pushed against gave in and then a large slab of rock began to slide forward. Ray joined him at the stone door, helping to push it open further. “Some kind of tunnel…?” He muttered. “What the…?” Suddenly a light flashed so bright that both men could feel it even through their closed eyelids. It was painfully blinding and both heroes soon collapsed unconscious… Time passed, and the two heroes crawled back to awareness. “That light…so bright,” Ray muttered, sprawled on the ground. “Where are we?” Doll man said, still feeling a bit dazed as he sat up. “Ah, you have recovered…!” A voice rasped. “It is about time.” “Who…?” Doll man asked, puzzled. The heroes turned, looking around anxiously as they got to their feet. The room was carved out of the same grey rock as the tunnel they’d discovered. It was a large, domed chamber. At the far end of the cave was a raised dais on which was perched a throne carved of rough black stone. Seated upon the throne was a grotesque figure. It resembled the creature that attacked the other Freedom Fighters on the beach, but fatter and its pebbly skin was a darker shade of green. The metal garment it wore seemed made of bronze and was more ornate and sported a high-collared, orange cape. His staff more resembled a scepter then a weapon. “I am Ayrn, under lord of Subterriana!” The creature announced in its harsh voice full of self-importance. “I see by your reactions that you have never heard of my people, but soon you, and your entire world shall know us and our power!” “But, how?” Ray asked, confused. “How did you get here?” “My people have always been here!” Ayrn snapped. “We have always dwelt beneath your feet, fearful of surface dwellers. Once our earthquakes have toppled your tyrannical forces the under dwellers will end the surface dwellers rape of our realm and rule over the entire globe…!” Ayrn chuckled to itself, as the two heroes stood stunned at his announcement. “You…you are causing the earthquakes…?” Doll man said. “But, why? We never knew of your existence, let alone attacked you!” “Lies!” A new voice accused. “Like all your rotten kind, you lie!” The new arrivals were a pair of under dweller soldiers escorting a most surprising figure. A human! He was thin, his shoulders hunched with age. His pale face was nearly obscured by long, straggly grey hair and a matted tangle of beard. He wore a white miners helmet and was clad in the raged remains of a blue uniform of some kind. “You Nazis tried to enslave the Under dewellers, just like you have the surface world and now that you realize they have the might to challenge your stranglehold on the world, you resort to more lies!” “Pal, I don’t know who you are,” The Ray replied, getting to his feet, fists clenched. “But, we are no Nazis!” “Then how did you find your way down here!” The old man snapped. “This island was the meeting spot for your treacherous envoys!” “Wait a minute!” Doll man shouted, getting in-between the Ray and the bearded man. “Bill…Bill Dunn…? Is that you?” “What?” Ray exclaimed. “In the middle of this, you bump into an old friend from…college…?” “It’s William Dunn, the Blue Tracer!” Doll man replied. “The engineer I knew…!” “You said he was dead!” Ray said giving the new arrival a poke to prove to himself he was solid and not a ghost. “You…know me…?” Dunn muttered, confused, as he looked back and forth between the heroes. “He was declared missing in action in the 50s. Bill!” Doll man said, raising his voice to get the bearded man’s attention. “Listen! We aren’t Nazis! The war is over!” “Over…?” Blue Tracer muttered again. “We won!” Ray added. “We’re the Freedom Fighters…the good guys!” “What are you surface dwellers babbling about?” Ayrn blustered, obviously annoyed at being ignored. “The war is over!” Blue Tracer breathed. “But, we’ve been sending out Earthquakes to attack Nazi mining operations for months…!” “We know,” Ray said, sarcastically. “Why do you think we’re here?” “Hap, could you shut up for a minute!” Doll man snapped. He tugged at Blue Tracer’s ragged pant leg to get his attention back. “Tracer…Bill, believe us, the Nazis are defeated and you need to stop these earthquake attacks…the world is trying to rebuild, and you and the…under dwellers, you could be part of that.” “Need to stop this…!” The Blue Tracer nodded. “I can help…” “You say that as if you are in control of it,” Ayrn said, tapping his scepter against the arm of his throne. The trio soon found themselves surrounded by a dozen silver-clad subterranean warriors. “What…?” The bearded adventurer exclaimed. “We are allies! You were helping me free my people…!” “The Nazis attacked us,” Ayrn explained, snidely. “We retaliated! The surface dwellers are now so weak from decades of war. They will fall before us! Only then can my people be safe from the surface world!” “This is not going well.” The Ray said, raising his glowing fists and taking up a fighting stance. Doll man took several mighty leaps until he stood before the subterranean monarch’s throne. “It does not have to be like this,” He said. “The surface world has been through decades of hardship. It is looking to rebuild. You could be part of that! Neither of us needs more enemies. We could be allies.” “Only from a position of strength could we deal with the upper dwellers!” Ayrn growled. “Ayrn, this is foolishness!” The Blue Tracer protested. “The Nazis were your enemies! We no longer need to fight!” “Don’t think he’s listening,” Ray said, eying the ever-growing crowd of warriors entering the room, some with raptors on thick leather leashes and others astride dinosaurs, like horsemen. “So, what’s our plan?” Suddenly a wall exploded. The Human Bomb and Phantom Lady came charging through the newly created entrance. “Oh lord,” Sandra muttered. “More of them!” “How many of these toads do we have to clobber before…hey! It’s Hap and Darrel!” The Human Bomb shouted. He clapped his bare hands together, creating a blast wave that cleared a path through the crowd of grotesque soldiers. The few he didn’t get, Phantom Lady merely shifted to intangible and ran through them. “Looks like you boys have been busy too,” She said, looking around and frowning thoughtfully at Blue Tracer. “Been tricky. My black ray doesn’t seem to have any effect on these creatures.” “Well, I think I can help,” The Ray said. “You guys might want to stand back.” His entire body flared with a light that sent the under dwellers staggering back, screeching. Their eyes, attuned to the darkness of their realm below ground, were particularly sensitive to bright light; the dinosaurs panicked adding to the chaos. Human Bomb shouldered his way through the crowd, like the quarterback in a particularly bizarre football game, to join his teammates. “What the…?” He muttered, pulling on his gloves and staring at the Blue Tracer. “Bill Dunn…? You’re alive!” “Roy…Roy Lincoln…?” The Tracer replied, peering into the viewing window in the Human Bomb’s helmet. “Can we do the reunion later!” The Ray shouted over his shoulder as he continued to fire off energy bursts to keep the army back. “You can stop this!” Doll man shouted at Ayrn. “Yes, I can!” The grotesque monarch retorted, pushing a stud in the arm of his throne. There was a distant rumble and the floor of the chamber trembled slightly. Then another wall shattered and a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped into the room. “Come on!” The Human Bomb groaned. “How do we deal with that?!” “I got it!” The Ray announced, zooming off. As a streak of light, he spun around the great creatures’ head, drawing it away from his teammates. “You guys figure out how we get out of here!” Blue Tracer hobbled over and picked up Doll man. “We can’t solve this by talking to him,” He told the diminutive hero. “But, I know how to stop the Earthquake machine!” “And the part where we get out of here alive?” Phantom Lady asked, hopefully. “I might be able to help with that too.” The older adventurer nodded. “Then lead on, Wild Bill.” The Human Bomb said, before punching the floor, causing a shockwave that drove the under dweller soldiers back. “That way!” The quartet raced for the doorway the Tracer pointed to, entering a low-ceilinged stone corridor. There was a fierce burst of light and the Ray rejoined them. “I melted the door,” He said, pausing to smile and nod in greeting at Phantom Lady. “Should keep them busy for a couple minutes.” “What are we looking for…?” Human Bomb asked, as he helped Blue Tracer along. They turned a corner and went from the corridor into a large chamber. “I’m going to guess that,” Phantom Lady said, pointing. The object of the teams’ attention looked like a vast, bulky computer built of stone with thick ceramic pipes coming out of it. A trio of under-dwellers in plain tunics, who fled after a couple quick bursts of light from the Ray, manned the device. “If I’m reading this right,” Doll man said, concerned, as he struggled to read the display screens. “It’s building up power for another quake. What do we do?” “This!” Blue Tracer said, grimly, as he slammed his hand against a large disk of rock. Suddenly all the stone dials shot into the red and the machine began to tremble and smoke. “That’s it?” Human Bomb asked. “They have big hands,” Blue Tracer shrugged. “Hard to manipulate tiny switches.” “So, we probably need to…uh…get out of here,” Phantom Lady said, anxiously looking around. “I might be able to carry all of you…?” Ray said. “I can help,” Bill Dunn interrupted. “Really?” Ray asked, skeptically. “How?” “This way,” The older man said, jogging stiffly towards the far wall. Upon reaching the blank stone barrier, he pressed a spot and a panel slid back. Inside was a contraption almost as strange as the stone earthquake machine. It was a viecle, or rather a conglomeration of several viecles. The front looked like the fuselage from an army bomber, the tail end looked like it had come off of a submarine and it had tank treads for wheels. It was painted blue, but faded and scuffed. “That’s the Blue Tracer!” The old man announced proudly. “Are you serious…?” The Ray asked. “Shut up and get in,” The Human Bomb said, pushing past him. The whole room shook as they crossed it to enter the unique vehicle, sending dust and flakes of rock raining down on them. The cockpit was crowded, original built to hold a smaller crew. Dunn plopped into the pilot’s chair, while Doll man leapt into the seat next to him, the other three jammed onto a narrow bench at the back, the Human Bomb making sure he was between his two teammates. “Are you sure this piece of modern art will work?” Phantom Lady asked skeptically. “It looks…a bit…um…?” “The under dwellers are not a social people,” The old adventurer said, as he flipped switches and adjusted dials. “I’ve had two decades of free time to keep the Tracer in working order. “She ain’t young and pretty anymore, but she’ll get you where you want to go.” He twisted together two strands of wire, flicked a final switch and smiled as the engine roared to life. “Good girl,” Dunn muttered, his eyes starting to tear up. “Let’s go home…!” The pieces of debris from the ceiling were getting bigger, and the noise it made striking the roof, louder. “We got company!” Ray shouted, pointing at a crowd of warriors and dinosaurs at the doorway. Bill Dunn pushed the control yoke and the clunky looking vehicle turned, picking up speed as it headed for the far wall. “Is there a door?” Doll man asked, leaping up onto the dashboard to peer out the front window. “Sure,” The Tracer replied, hitting some switches. “Let me find my key…!” The mini-missile blasted the wall into gravel and the Blue Tracer trundled along through the hole. Firing as it went, the vehicle blasted through three more walls, finally entering a tunnel that sloped upwards. The Tracer shook and groaned as it went. “I could get out and push, if you think that might help?” Ray suggested, as the Tracer struggled along. “You want me to save your seat, while you’re gone?” The Human Bomb asked. The tunnel walls around them were visibly crumbling as they traveled, and the path would occasionally be blocked by fleeing crowds of green, lumpy under-dwellers, who all seemed intent on going downwards. A couple times a dinosaur would attack the Tracer, but finding its metal hide too tough to eat, moved on. Pretty soon, the Tracer was out of mini-torpedoes and had to rely on brute force to deal with any further barriers. It eventually broke through to the surface, coming out on a sandy slope and skidding down towards the water. “Did the brakes go or is the Island sinking?” Phantom Lady asked, nervously. “Little of both,” Dunn replied, frantically working controls. He gestured to instruct Doll man on how to help him. “You might want to hold on. Don’t know how water tight the Tracer still is…!” The Tracer skidded down the slope, picking up speed till it hit the ocean with a mighty splash, and a wave washed over the makeshift transport. Everyone but the pilot was tossed around, the three on the back bench ending up on the floor. Bill Dunn ignored their groans and complaints, as he sat back in his chair, patted the dashboard in acknowledgment of a job well done and enjoyed the first view of the afternoon sun on the ocean he’d seen in years. Behind the floating Blue Tracer the island sank beneath the sea. “Well, I guess we’ve seen the last of those mooks,” Human Bomb grumbled, sitting up and offering Phantom Lady a hand. “Are we ever that lucky?” Ray asked. “Maybe down the road we could try again with the under dwellers,” Doll man shrugged. “ Give them another chance. But for now it’s probably best that they are sealed off from the rest of the world.” “They’re not bad people,” The Blue Tracer said. “They’ve been through a lot as well.” “I don’t mind to sound selfish or rude,” Phantom Lady said. “But I’ve been shot at, chased by dinosaurs and my hair is full of grit. Can we concentrate on getting home and then discussing politics and philosophy?” “So,” Doll man, turning to face his teammates, hands on hips. “Anybody still have doubts about us continuing as a team?” “This the sort of thing that’s going to happen to us?” Ray asked. “Most fun I’ve had in weeks,” Phantom Lady said, shaking out her cape and trying to untangle her hair with her fingers. “Anything to get me out of the basement,” Human Bomb grumbled. “Ah, the can do spirit that got us through the war,” Doll man muttered. Blue Tracer smiled, while adjusting controls as the vehicle shifted modes and floated off into the sunset. Author’s note: Blame Jeff Lemirere. I was really intrigued by the announcement for the ‘Terrifics”, DC creating their own Fantastic Four. Except I found the line up vaguely dissatisfying. So, I started poking around the DCU, to see if I could find a better version of the Fantastic four for them. I’m helpful that way. After a while of putting characters together and trying to build a line up, I looked at established teams to see if there was one that would work. And then found the Freedom Fighters. I’ve always liked these guys and had worked up a couple ideas for them, none of which ever got past the pitch stage, for various reasons. So, what started as just a cute one off gimmick story got its hooks into me, as I built them a little world and got intrigued by the idea that MY FF could also be explorers like the classic FF, due to the alternate history of Earth X. I have ideas for more stories, some are takes on Fantastic Four stories and some are dealing with this very different history. PS: For the curious, the Under dwellers first (and possibly only) appearance is in the 70’s run of All Star Comics. They fought the JSA and seemed the perfect stand in for the Mole man. |