ISSUE #4 (March 2021)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Aztek
King Faraday
Hummingbird
Batman
Cold Warrior
Green Flame
Congorilla
Sandman
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"The Waking Nightmare"Airspace over Trilan, Angor (Five miles from Point Peryton Nuclear Research Centre)
The Javelin jet joined the swarm of helicopters, their flanks emblazoned with the three headed eagle of Angor, around the sparking, smoking husk of the research centre. Unconcerned with the new arrival, the helicopters continued onto the power station, their munitions loaded with water bombs and high-pressure hoses for firefighting. “Trilan has a population of just over forty-thousand.” King Faraday stated as the jet began its descent towards the city square of newly built buildings. “It’s a major industrial hub for the nation and is the third city of Angor.” “Ambient radiation levels are low.” Aztek added as he looked up towards the research centre. “It doesn’t make sense all things considering.” “It does, Dreamslayer feeds on radiation, it’s how we managed to beat him last time.” Dodds replied as the rear ramp of the jet opened up into the square. “Between the native security and the jet bombers we and the Soviet’s sent bombed the crash site, we overfed Dreamslayer until he slipped into a coma. His body was buried and then drained by the research centre until it wasn’t a threat…or shouldn’t have been.” He added as the assembled heroes started disembarking. “Right now, he’ll be tangible, reclaiming the radiation that was taken from him.” “If he’s tangible, then we can stop him.” Batman growled as he scanned the area and the curious Angorans beginning to come out of their homes, both to look at the parked jet and the procession of aircraft heading up to the burning research centre. “Cold Warrior, your armour is the modernised version of the Rocket Red armour.” “Da, it is resistant to radiation levels, and my freon supply should help reduce radioactivity of the fuel cells.” Cold Warrior replied as several of the residents began to crowd round him, gawking in awe and amazement at him and the other assembled heroes. “I can help too,” Green Flame added as several older Angoran men crowded around her. “Drain some of the heat from what’s left of the fuel rods.” “Then the rest of us hit Dreamslayer before he finishes his meal.” Batman ordered only for Dodds to shake his head sadly. “We need to prepare for the possibility that Dreamslayer begins to spread.” Dodds replied as he looked at the people. “Dreamslayer can take command of sleeping people, lock them eternally into a nightmare and use them as an army to quash any resistance.” He added as he saw Congorilla flexing for the crowd and posing for selfies with some of the assembled crowd. “Dreamslayer’s power increase logarithmically with ever body he takes control of.” “I can start running people out of the town.” Hummingbird suggested as a number of uniformed police officers started pushing through the crowd. “Who are you people.” One of the officers asked first in Angoran and then English, before stopping as he saw Batman. “Wait you are the Justice League, I thought you were…” He stopped trying to think of the right word, “…disbanded.” “They were.” Faraday answered in Angoran, before removing his badge. “King Faraday; Agent of Checkmate.” He added before handing the officer his badge. Switching back to Angoran, he added, “You need to get people out of the city, there is a possible meltdown up at the power station.” The officer nodded before turning to look up at the research centre, and then back at King, his eyes showing knowing fear. Barking a few orders at his men, his officers began to control the crowd, relaying his orders. “You are not here for the reactor; you are here for what sleeps beneath.” The officer stated, his hands quivering slightly. “The dreamer.” “We are.” King answered as he looked up at some of the helicopters flying back towards their home base to rearm and resupply. “He isn’t dreaming anymore, if you can prioritise those asleep then perhaps, we gave a chance.” He added in English, as one of the officers said something on the radio he had unclipped from his belt. He nodded and began to head back to his men as King turned back to the rest of the neophyte Justice League. “I’ll stay her and coordinate the evacuation.” “Stay safe.” Dodds added as Faraday and Hummingbird began to fan out into the city, the later accompanied by a rainbow contrail from the ribbons on her costume. Heading back into the Javelin, Dodds sat down in the co-pilot’s chair and quickly briefed the pilot with the plan. Returning to the cargo bay he sat down next to Batman his head bowed. “Something about this bothers you Mr Dodds.” Aztek stated as he looked out the window towards the research centre, a sparking star shaped cloud forming over the power station. “Please call me Wesley.” Dodds replied as he removed the cartridge from his silicoid gun and swapped a new one into the weapon. “Dreamslayer was contained, if improperly and with cracks he could exploit. But even in that prison he shouldn’t have been able to escape so easily, to escape so quickly he must have had help to escape.” “You said he could compel or control people.” Congorilla grunted as he cracked his knuckles and clicked his neck. “Could he have compelled someone sleeping to help free him without aid?” He asked as the Javelin came to land next to the molten remains of a helicopter on a landing pad. As the back ramp descended, five guards dressed in uniforms sprinted up, some of them half crawling into the jet, their eyes aflame, a star like halo around their heads. “Because security would recognise someone like that.” Dodds stated, as the best compelled guard lunged at the nearest person, grabbing them, molten saliva dripping down their face. Unphased, Cold Warrior grabbed the guard and slammed him into the side of the jet, the possessed guards body cracking from the blow. “These people are innocent victims, be careful!” Aztek yelled as Congorilla wrestled with one of the guards, drops of molten spit burning his face and neck. “They are victims who are trying to kill us!” Green Flame replied through gritted teeth as she poured a torrent of green flame on the two trailing guards, forcing them out of the plane. As Congorilla finished his foe, the last guard lunged at Green Flame’s back, only to be incapacitated by an electrical net that Aztek had pulled out of his armoured suit and thrown over the possessed man. With a howl of rage, the guard ripped the net apart, its drool leaving a burning acid mark along the floor. “Penny, take off, this place isn’t safe.” Sandman told the piolet as Aztek grabbed the guard and tackled him out of the plane, the rest of the league following, with Congorilla tossing the incapacitated guards out of the Javelin. As he left the jet, the aircraft took off and flew around the research centre before heading back towards Trilan. Down on the landing pad, the three remaining guards lunged towards the league, the first being caught by a torrent of flame, while the second slipping on a puddle of ice. The third guard tackled Sandman to the ground, unhinging his jaw, drool dripping onto the lenses of his gasmask, smoke wafting from the hardened plastic of the protective gear. Grabbing the guard, Aztek dragged him off, struggling despite his superhuman strength to contain the screaming possessed man. Getting to his feet, Sandman sprayed the guard with his Silicoid gun, a thick red dust engulfing the man, extinguishing the flames round the man’s head and incapacitating him. “These guys are strong.” Congorilla mused as he looked to the door of the burning facility, half a dozen more possessed guards running in, screaming and howling with an unholy rage. “They have aspects of Dreamslayer’s power.” Sandman announced as Cold Warrior set up a wall of ice between the landing pad and the power station. Almost immediately the possessed guards began clawing and biting at the wall, the later splashing red hot saliva over the ice, burning holes in the fortifications. “As his power waxes they become more powerful.” He added as Green Flame fired a jet of fire through the holes, forcing the guards back from what they were attacking, despite degrading the wall of ice even more. “As long as he has bodies to throw at us, we’ll never get close to Dreamslayer and the reactor core.” Cold Warrior stated as he began to reinforce the melting wall, even as the guards, aflame with both green and orange fire began to regroup. Turning to look at the rest of the team, he saw Batman vault over the wall and grapple up to the research centre, quickly merging with the shadows. Hummingbird sprinted past the truck loaded with civilians heading out of Trilan, the Angoran woman in her arms screaming in her native language at the sudden velocity. Reaching the area that the Angoran air force were using to resupply their helicopters, Hummingbird placed the woman on the ground before turning round and dashing back towards the city before coming to a stop in the city square where King Faraday was arguing on the phone, even as a group of airmen from the Angoran air force barked orders to people waiting for trucks. “Where next?” She gasped as she came to a stop just as King put the phone down and turned to look at her. “Old Quarter, the police have yet to arrive there and the air force is commandeering additional trucks from the industrial zone.” Faraday replied as he pointed towards the city districts spreading to the north west. “Who was on the phone?” Hummingbird asked, as Faraday turned to look at one of the Angoran airmen as he said something over the loud hailer he had been carrying. “Just keep running people out of the city.” Faraday ordered as he looked around to the research centre, the Javelin flying overhead. Raising the radio, he turned it and continued to track the jet’s progress. “Penny, what’s the situation at Point Peryton?” “It’s not great, the League were being stalemated by Dreamslayer’s thralls.” Penny buzzed over the radio; her English tinged with a Dutch accent. “It’s getting worse, the Angoran air force is looking to reproduce the instances that stopped Dreamslayer last time.” Faraday told her as he saw a rainbow contrail dart round the corner, across the square and out of town. “They have a weapon called the Extremist, a nuclear bomb with a yield five times of what was dropped on Dreamslayer last time.” “What is the blast radius?” Penny asked as she brought the Javelin into a hover over the square. “The entire country will be affected, as will their neighbours in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.” Faraday sighed as he saw two trucks pull off, their beds laden with evacuees, the airmen and police having to force the crowd back as they tried to overrun the vehicle. “Give me orders boss, I can start evacuating more people.” Penny began to say, only for King to interrupt her. “No, I need you to stay airborne.” Faraday ordered. “The Tu-95 with the Extremist is scheduled to arrive in half an hour. Should it arrive I need you to grief it, postpone the bomb drop long enough for the League to stop Dreamslayer. If they can’t…then I’ll let you know.” He sighed as the star shaped cloud around the research station began to spread out, energy discharge striking the ground around the power station. Hummingbird came to a stop outside a small hospital, the lights in its windows flickering on and off. This was her fifty second trip within the half a minute that King Faraday had given her orders to empty the old city. Jogging up to the hospital she pushed inside, hoping to see a receptionist or orderly in the hopes of jumpstarting an evacuation of the facility. Walking inside, she saw the waiting room was abandoned with the furniture knocked over, with some of the chairs and tables broken. “Hello!” Hummingbird called as she looked into the flickering corridor that led towards the doctor’s offices. “I know you probably don’t speak English but you need to leave.” She added as she zoomed to the end of the room and pushed the double doors to a natal ward, the beds filled with sleeping women and barely moving babies. Walking over to one of the women, Hummingbird shook her, hoping to get a response. Moving to the next woman, Hummingbird repeated the procedure, only to find that she too was locked deep in sleep. Darting out, she covered the entire building floor plan in the matter of a minute before coming to a stop back in the natal ward. “Agent Faraday, we have a problem, the hospital is full of sleepers.” She announced as she jetted from one end of the room to the other. After three dashes, she stopped as the women bolted upright in one movement, their eyes blazing as they opened. “Uh maybe not, they now seem to be awake.” She added as the women got up and their babies squirmed and crawled to the edge of their cots. “Join the sleepers.” The women stated in one voice as they lunged at Hummingbird, to no avail as she sped away out of the hospital. Emerging onto the street, she saw tiny flames emerge from windows, as more sleepers began to crawl out of their rooms, a star shaped halo surrounding them. “Dreamslayer’s influence has spread.” Hummingbird called as she darted deeper into the Old City, the thralls crawling out of the literal woodwork and masonry of the buildings. “Keep looking for the wakeful.” Faraday ordered over the radio. “Each body under Dreamslayer’s power grants him power.” Not bothering to respond, Hummingbird came to a stop as she saw a woman become framed in the window, a burning halo behind her backlighting her. Just as she leapt from the window Hummingbird leapt and grabbed her, crashing to the floor, just as the thralls began to follow her down, their legs breaking on impact to the ground. “What happed to my family.” The woman sobbed in broken English, as the thralls continued to crawl towards them, their broken legs snapping off or dragging behind them, molten lava like blood smearing on the cobbled floor. “I’m sorry.” Hummingbird replied as she kicked a woman away, inciting a scream of disbelief and horror from the awake person. Picking up the woman, Hummingbird felt one of the thrall’s latch onto her leg with its teeth, burning saliva melting her costume and blistering her flesh before she kicked it off. “I can’t leave them.” The woman clamoured as she fought to escape from Hummingbird’s grasp, causing the neophyte super heroine to trip and crash to the floor. Swarming over her fallen form, the thralls began to tear at Hummingbird and the woman, her scream echoing around the old town. With a grunt, Hummingbird kicked the woman off of her, before vibrating at superspeed, the razor-sharp ribbons on her costume, slicing open the thralls on her their molten blood staining her costume black. “You have to.” Hummingbird groaned, as she got to her feet and grabbed the unconscious woman. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” She added as she dashed back towards the city square. Batman dropped into the control room of the reactor, one that looked over to the star shaped flare of energy that engulfed the core. Swiftly he moved to the carbon rod mounting system that was used to reduce radioactivity, and activated the remote delivery system, the green lights around the machine illuminating in an instant. “What’s your plan Master Bruce?” A familiar British voice asked from someone standing behind the Dark Knight. “You’re not Alfred.” Batman answered not bothering to look at the energised digital outline standing behind him. “But it must be worth something that I know about Alfred, that I know who you are.” The figure replied as the single rent where his left eye should be narrowed. “You’ve been looking for me for a while Bruce, are you at least going to turn and face me?” He asked as the remote delivery system shuddered into life and slid round the control room to line up with the figure in the reactor. “I don’t have time for you.” Batman replied as he focused on Dreamslayer as he fed. “But I brought your entire little club to its knees.” The figure replied as he advanced on Batman, a sparking blade jutting out of his right arm. “Through you of course.” He added as Batman extended the delivery system forward towards Dreamslayer’s body. “I have a question for you Bruce, are you really a hero or are you a villain?” He asked as he sheathed the blade and leaned in close to Batman’s cowl. “As for not having time for me…” He stated his voice shifting to a mocking familiar cackle, just as his victim got ready to insert the first rod into Dreamslayer, “…I’m your one obsession Bats.” Letting go of the joystick, Batman turned round angrily to look at the digital figure standing behind him. “You’re not him either.” Batman growled. “But it got your attention Bruce.” The figure cackled in the voice that so accurately sounded like the Joker. “Now about that answer.” “Playing the villain got me what I wanted.” Batman snarled as he removed a small box off his belt. “An audience with you, Titan.” “So, you used Watchtower to lure me in.” The Titan buzzed as he took a step back and leaned against the back wall of the control room. “I don’t know why I’m surprised, you and I are very much alike, mirror images of each other.” “You did this, you awakened Dreamslayer.” Batman snarled as the reactor flared and then dimmed, the radiation drained from the entire facility. “Of course I did. I needed to see what kind of reaction would occur if something world ending occurred.” The Titan stated as a long rent where his mouth spread across his face “Now I know what pawns you could muster to send onto the board.” He added as he sent sparks running along his outline. “And as such I will give you the key to stopping Dreamslayer.” “Why would you do that?” Batman growled as the Titan advanced towards him, sparks dancing between two of his fingers. “Because I’m like you Bruce.” The Titan buzzed as his eye rent closed and his mouth resealed to create a featureless face. “I’m not to be trusted,” He added as his form began to collapse, “by my allies and my enemies.” |