ISSUE #2 (July 2019)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Aztek
King Faraday
Hummingbird
Batman
Cold Warrior
Green Flame
Congorilla
Sandman
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"INTO THE VORTEX"Sirens sounded as a dark cloud shaped like a triple headed eagle erupted from the power station before igniting and collapsing inwards to form a sparkling star, one that manifested a burning talon and reached out towards the tiny but far from insignificant watcher.
It was that moment when Wesley Dodds realised that this prophetic dream was dangerous. At least here in the dreamscape his body was young, could run and fight as well as it had once done. Still the best defence against dreams was to wake up… Airspace over Gotham City …and with a gasp that's what he did, opening his eyes to see the seat in front of him, and the neon sprawl of Gotham below him. "Where are we?" He groaned as he struggled with his seat belt and got to his feet. "We're over Gotham." The woman in white, Hummingbird if he remembered correctly, chirped as she literally bounced up to him. "It really is an honour to have you here Mr Sandman, I'm a huge fan!" She added before giving him a big hug, one that caught him off guard. "Where's King Faraday?" Dodds wheezed as he mentally screamed for Hummingbird to get off him. "He's in the cockpit sir." Aztek replied from his seat in the front row of the small jet. "Hummingbird, Sandman obviously has urgent business to discuss, best not keep him waiting." "Of course." Hummingbird stated, her voice a metallic screech and her head aflame with a star halo. Released from the hug Dodds took a step back and blinked. Almost as if by magic, Hummingbird was back to normal, or what passed for it. "Thank you." Dodds stated as he got to the front of the plane and smiled at the other heroes gathered there. "It will be an honour to work with all of..." He stopped as flames erupted from the heads of the other members of the Justice League "...you." He finished as he turned away and walked into the cockpit. "Did he seem alright to you?" Congorilla snorted as he gently removed and folded the arms of his reading glasses, placing them on the hastily duct-taped graphic novel sitting on the bench between him and Cold Warrior. "Oh god, did I freak him out, that happened when I hugged the Flash the first time, of course he was infected by the Rainbow Raider so..." Hummingbird yammered as she sat down next to Green Flame, the Brazilian heroine looking less than pleased by the arrangement... "I don't think it was you." Cold Warrior announced, through his suit's interface. "He seemed scared like he'd seen a ghost." "I'd say more like he was experiencing a psychotropic break." Aztek stated as all eyes suddenly turned to look at him and his chair. "I'm a doctor when I'm out of costume." He added, his voice neutral showing no sign of pride or regret at his decision. "You're a doctor?" Green Fury asked as she leaned over Hummingbird, much to the latter’s discomfort, and eyed Aztek up and down taking in his muscles and strong jawline. "I have a mole on my back that I'm worried about can you have a look at it?" "I'm not a dermatologist miss." Aztek replied as he saw Green Fury's lustful smile fade. "I can however recommend you to a colleague who'd be more than happy to check your mole for you." "Wesley we're about to land." King Faraday croaked from the co-pilot seat, his head burning with a starry halo of flames. "King, we need to divert to Angor, I had a dream regarding what we buried there." Wesley stated as he shook his head, the burning tendrils around his old friend's head fading away. "The alien? Impossible, from what I heard it was buried under tens of thousands of tons of irradiated concrete. Even Superman wouldn't be able to escape that." Faraday replied as the lights of Gotham airport shone below them, and the pilot of the Lear jet got permission to land from the tower. "Not all aliens are comparable to Superman." Wesley answered as he took a seat in one of the crew chairs, strapping himself in. "When we caught him, he played the brute, but this time he's trying a more intricate plan of attack. He's infiltrating the dream-scape King, and he has enough of a presence there to reach the waking world. If not put in check..." "...all that concrete will be useless. But right now, we need to land in Gotham." Faraday announced as the Lear jet began its descent onto the tarmac. "There's something you need to know about this particular Justice League, a condition that was explicitly stated when the original League and the Government started working together." Woods-Hiltz Recycling Centre The Woods-Hiltz Recycling Centre was overflowing with unsorted debris from the tornado strike three months previously. Few came here and even fewer ever wanted to. Eduardo Xanti was one of those, although to be fair he’d been dragged here by the glowing white figure with black stripes against his will. "This will only hurt for a short while." Eduardo's abductor stated as some unseen force ripped his shirt open, the buttons spinning off like shrapnel across the concrete floor. Struggling to get up, Eduardo felt the same unseen force pin him to the floor, even as his kidnapper rummaged through a pile of brick and hard core for something. "Why are you doing this?!" Eduardo yelled as the glowing figure levitated a slither of cut brick, its sides chiselled down to form a knife. "Because I evolved, was pushed from being a mere scavenger to becoming a predator. In my new niche Vortex was born, and his only purpose is to carve his name across every city." Vortex buzzed as he levitated the blade over to Eduardo's chest, the chiselled tip sinking in slowly. Watching his victim writhe Vortex sat down and picked up an intact brick and began to use his powers to carve it into a new blade. Pausing for a second, he looked around the recycling plant, before going back to his blade. From the shadows something lunged for him, only to be caught by an unseen energy field that left him dangling. "So, Batman, you found me after all." Vortex buzzed as he walked the suspended Batman over to a pile of rubble. "I wondered if you'd ever realise where I was hiding." "Your change in MO was confusing at first, but once I knew it was you, the diamagnetic feedback was easy to track." Batman stated as he looked over to where Eduardo lay, his body bleeding as Vortex finished carving a massive ‘E' in his chest. "It's Vortex!" Vortex snapped as he threw Batman across the centre into a stack of bags ready to be recycled. "After you told me a loser such as my former self wouldn't get anywhere, I decided to change. I gutted my old identity as Zebra-Man, took what was useful. Now I'm a threat I'll get..." He hissed as he slammed Batman face first into an excavator, "...what I..." He continued throwing Batman to the floor, "...deserve!" He snarled as he pinned Batman to the ceiling. "All you'll be getting is a cell in Arkham." Batman answered as he was brought down to look Vortex in the eye. The movement of the thumb on the detonator was so small, Vortex didn't see it, couldn't stop it, didn't even know about it until the charges round the centre exploded causing the structure to crumble and fall. As the debris came raining down Vortex laughed at his 'victory' only to see a rainbow streak flash past and grab the Dark Knight seconds before he was crushed. "So, you're really Batman, it's an honour sir!" Hummingbird chirped as she came to a stop at the end of the drive. "Who was the other guy, oh was that the Joker, did I help defeat the Joker?" "No." Batman snarled as the ruins of the recycling centre shifted before rolling down the drive like mini meteors towards Gotham City. As they approached the end of the drive Aztek slammed down crushing the leading debris boulders together into dust. "So, you brought back-up?!" Vortex screeched as he sent a diamagnetic pulse to whip up the dust around him until it formed into a snarling serpent. "I must be important, like that General Zod fellow or one of those Legionaries of Doom that trashed Hub City." "You need help, at the moment you feel like you need to lash out but there is a better..." Aztek began only to be cut off as diamagnetic pressure gripped his helmet and began to crush his head. At the same time Vortex sent the serpent smashing towards Batman and Hummingbird. "Can that hurt us?" Hummingbird asked as the Dark Knight grappled up and away leaving the young heroine to take the impact of two tons of animated brick dust square in the chest. Arching round the serpent stuck on its winged prey's tail, while Aztek continued to fight the building pressure on his head. "No escaping this time Batman." Vortex buzzed as a torrent of junk flew up and sliced through the grapple line straight into the dust serpent’s maw. "My time of greatness is here at last!" Vortex yelled triumphantly only to see the serpent freeze, crack open and Batman to skid down a hastily created ice slide to safety next to a figure in red and white armour. "Victory is fleeting if you don't hold on to her." Cold Warrior announced as he opened fire, shards of ice impacting off Vortex and forcing him to erect a slab of concrete to defend himself. "Whatever this is," Batman growled as he removed a power cell from his belt and slotted it into his gauntlets, “I want no part of it.” "We only came to..." Cold Warrior began. "The answer is no!" Batman snapped as he leapt over Vortex's barricade and swung at the villain, his gauntlets glowing orange as they left a burning welt on his foe's white skin. "You forget Zebra-Man that a diamagnetic force is weak to two things, another diamagnetic force and heat." "Oh, I did remember Batman." Vortex answered as junk and debris whirled around him to form a giant metal hand and then a body, until every piece of metal in the recycling centre had coalesced into a two-story tall junk golem. "And it's Vortex not Zebra-Man!" He boomed as a diamagnetic pulse picked up Cold Warrior and secured him like a hood ornament to the golem's forehead. "What did I miss?" Hummingbird asked as Aztek removed his helmet, the diamagnetic field produced by the golem picking it up and attaching it to its chassis. "Giant robot I guess." Aztek mused as Batman looped up towards the golem's head, only for a burst of ice to freeze his grapple line, the diamagnetic energy arching across the Cold Warrior armour and activating the weapons systems. "Before my helmet got taken, I noticed a variant magnetic field." "So, heat then." Hummingbird chirped as a green fireball streaked across the sky. "What can I do?" "Well are those ribbons just for show or do they have a function?" Aztek asked as his gauntlets crackled, just as his helmet glowed with the same energy. Streaking away Hummingbird zeroed in on where the helmet was, and just as the energy around it flared, she slashed past, her rainbow contrail slicing through the Golem's leg causing it to topple and fall. Up top of the golem, Batman aimed a punch at Vortex, only for the construct to jerk and his blow to go wide. Reaching out with his powers Vortex smiled as the Dark Knight convulsed, his body tingling. "Every knife, every bullet, every acupressure pin for that bad back of yours, it leaves a trace." Vortex hissed as he jerked Batman's head up. "Not enough to kill, but enough to hurt, too much for you to take..." He added before whispering, "...rich boy." "You want to know something?"" Batman hissed through gritted teeth. "You don't have it in you, you've come further than you usually do, but you'll fail like always," His body aching as Vortex took advantage of every wound the Dark Knight had accumulated through his career, "...Zebra Man!" Screaming in rage Vortex flung Batman off of his golem just as a burst of green flame engulfed him. Turning he saw a woman hovering at eye level, her body covered in writhing flames. "That look, it's not hot." Green Flame sassily stated. "A little bird told me your secret, you don't like heat!" She added as green flames engulfed the golem, the diamagnetic forces holding it together fading and showering the ground with burning debris. Falling Batman went for his line launcher, only to see the cable knot as he pulled the trigger, the fluctuating diamagnetic force causing the metal to go haywire. At the last moment a massive golden fist reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping his fall before placing him on the ground. "You're welcome." Congorilla grunted as Vortex fell to earth like a green tailed comet. "Guess it's over, shame I wanted to punch this little snot." He added as Green Flame stood over the defeated villain. "Not over, not a failure, not Zebra-Man!" Vortex screeched as he reached out for one last piece of metal to manipulate, the Cold Warrior armour drifting to a stop behind Green Flame. "Cold war tech, so analogue so easy to manipulate." He wheezed as he turned to see his last weapon, his face fading as it refused to fire "No! not a failure!" He screamed as Green Fury walked away from him just as a jet of super cooled steam vented from the armour, the screams of rage turning to those of pain. "That's enough of that tonight." Sandman, clad in his coat and mask stated as he walked over, a puff of smoke releasing from his 'dream pistol', the chemicals acting quickly and sending Vortex into a deep slumber. "Wesley, building yourself a new Justice Society?" Batman asked as he walked over to the elderly hero. "Not me, him." Wesley answered as he jabbed a finger over to the shadows. "And not a Society." "Lurking doesn't become you Agent Faraday." Batman stated as he glowered at the Checkmate agent. "I see those files I gave to Flash ended up in the cleanest hands they could." "You think anyone would trust Waller with these?" Faraday asked. "But tell me what do you think of the new League?" "They need work and we need to talk." Batman growled as he disappeared into the shadows leaving Faraday looking at the League clustered around Vortex's unconscious body. "That we do, that we do." Faraday replied. |