ISSUE #5 (August 2021)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Aztek
King Faraday
Hummingbird
Batman
Cold Warrior
Green Flame
Congorilla
Sandman
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“Keep pushing!” Sandman yelled as Aztek and Congorilla pushed the ice wall forward, even as Dreamslayer’s thralls tried to breach the defences. “We need to get inside!” He growled as one of the thralls melted its way through the ice wall and flopped down at his feet. Hissing and spitting molten fire, the thrall lunged for Sandman’s feet only to be pacified by a swift kick by Green Flame.
“Do you think Batman was able to power down the reactor?” Green Flame asked as Cold Warrior reinforced the wall. “The radiation levels are dropping, but that may just mean that Dreamslayer is still feeding,” Aztek grunted as the ice wall made it to the door of the power station, the thralls scattered. “Whatever the case we need to get in there.” He added, as the ice wall flash-froze the door, before being smashed open by one swift punch by Congorilla. Before any of them could step inside the concrete power station began to implode to reveal a figure with a glowing red spark for a head. “We’re too late…” Green Flame gulped as the figure touched down on the ground, its feet causing a star-shaped burn to form on what was left of the concrete. “Wesley Dodds, jailer and torturer, look upon the Dreamslayer with the knowledge that you failed.” The figure boomed, the words coming from it and the thralls, conscious or not around the Justice League. “And with my coming the conscious world is slain, replaced by a domain of dreamers!” “And with our last waking breathes we will fight you.” Sandman stated as he holstered his Silicoid gun. “Just like we did last time!” “We?!!” Dreamslayer chuckled as the spark duplicated to form six more stars, each one floating over to one of the League members, the last one darting at speed towards Trilan. “Those who helped you imprison me are in eternal slumber, and those you’ve brought are full of doubt and fear, all emotions tempered by sleep.” The Dreamslayer added a hypnotic layer in its voice causing those looking into the star spark’s eyes to flutter. All of them except Aztek, as his lids began to fall, his helmet sent an electrical shock through his body, dispelling any of his foe's hypnosis. Responding almost automatically, he opened fire, energy rippling through his body, out his hands, and coring through Dreamslayer’s body. “As the Sandman said, we will fight you!” Aztek stated as Cold Warrior and Green Flame shook themselves free of the Dreamslayer’s hypnosis, while Sandman placed a hand on Congorilla’s shoulder, the golden gorilla snorting slightly before swatting at the spark. “Then so be it!” Dreamslayer snarled as a concussive wave of energy radiated forward, sending Sandman and Green Flame sprawling, and knocking Aztek and Cold Warrior backward. And, while Congorilla was able to withstand the blast and landed a blow, pain radiated through his form as he went for a second blow. Clenching his fist, Dreamslayer watched as Congorilla clutched his heart, simian panting echoing as he bent over in pain. “No man or beast can stand against my power.” “Not a man or a beast.” A voice chirped as a rainbow flash of light darted past, Dreamslayer’s fist falling to the floor and shattering, giving the rest of the Justice League time to recover, even as the same flash circled their foe, chunks of his corporeal form falling to the floor. “And done.” Hummingbird said as she came to a stop, her white costume burnt black. “Did you guys see those weird spark things, what was that about.” “Hummingbird, move!” Sandman ordered as a spark of energy engulfed her form, followed by a scream as Dreamslayer’s body reformed around the speedster. “Little bird, you have no dreams, no sleep but I will make use of you!” Dreamslayer roared as sparks of energy whirled around the League, save for Sandman, electricity coursing painfully through their body. “And you Sandman, while I am the slayer of dreams, enslaver of the sleeping, I leave you one dream to call your own. This one, your nightmare where you fail to stop me!” The roar of the Tupolev 95, its flanks painted with the livery of the Angoran Air Force sounded as its four propellers cut through the air. Approaching the Peryton Point Nuclear Power Station, the massive aircraft was intercepted by a smaller aircraft. Onboard the Tu-95, the radio operator, dressed in thick green anti-radiation armor that would withstand the blast from the munitions the plane was carrying picked up the handset of the radio. “Unidentified aircraft, by order of the Angoran Air Force, you must depart this area. You have five minutes to comply. Do you copy?” “I copy.” A female voice replied in accented English. “However, I can’t comply, we still have people down there.” Looking out of the cockpit the aircraft crew saw the small Javelin class aircraft form up in front of them. “Call in command, scramble the MiG 29s to chase her off,” the pilot suggested as the radio operator looked at him for advice. “The delivery of the Extremist is too important to be postponed.” He added just as the Javelin pulled alongside, the crew of the Tupolev turning to look at the opposing pilot, her red hair contrasting with the black uniform with a yellow circle containing a black hawk she was wearing. “This is your last chance, continue on this course of action and you will be shot down,” the radio operator told the opposing pilot. “Then I guess you’re going to have to shoot me down,” the pilot of the Javelin stated as the smaller plane accelerated to form up on the nose of the Tupolev before unleashing a torrent of flares, forcing the bomber to veer off to the left in fear of colliding in mid-air. “Command, we have unidentified aircraft operating within the operation area. We need support to chase it off so we can drop the Extremist,” the radio operator stated as one of the bomber’s crew, the tail gunner, passed him to man the Tu-95s autocannons. “Cyclops-3, you will have to handle it by yourself, we are currently withdrawing military assets from the zone of effect,” the Air Force command stated as the Tupolev circled back round to continue on its course only to be forced away again as the Javelin flew on a close interception course. “Live fire has been authorised. Command out.” “Give her one more warning,” the pilot ordered as he flicked the cover of a joystick before pressing a button that armed the warheads the Tupolev was carrying. “Unidentified aircraft, we have permission to open fire on you. This is your last chance, depart the area or be shot down,” the radio operator announced as the Javelin pulled alongside once again, this time forming up on the larger aircrafts right-wing. “If you’re good enough, then take your shot. Blackhawk-5 out,” the opposing pilot replied as the Javelin rolled left, breaking the missile lock that the Tupolev was attempting to gain. “You wanted me to give them grief Faraday, I’ll give them grief.” Sandman sat down and closed his eyes, muttering under his breath as he the cries of the Justice League being tortured by the Dreamslayer’s powers. Age was catching up with him, he knew it, but there was at least one more thing he could do. Unholstering his weapon, Sandman got to his feet and ran at the villain before opening fire, silicoid gas spraying across the spark that made up Dreamslayer’s face. Backhanding his attacker away, Dreamslayer didn’t react for a few seconds, not until Sandman got back to his feet and delivered a surprisingly fast punch to the villain’s chest. As the blow landed Sandman was telekinetically thrown away slamming into Aztek’s convulsing body. “A futile attempt at retribution,” Dreamslayer stated as Sandman got back to his feet, clutching his Silicoid gun with a shaking hand. “Not retribution, Justice.” Sandman groaned, his retort answered by an amused snort as Dreamslayer’s hand glowing with burning energy, a beam lancing towards him, one that never hit. Looking up, Sandman saw Aztek absorb the energy with an outstretched hand before firing his only blast back at the villain. “And we are the ones who will deliver it onto you.” Aztek boomed as he grabbed the spark whirling around him and crushed it, cascading feedback jumping to the other sparks, destroying them. “Your energy output took a while to get used to, it's most unusual, but my armor finally figured it out.” He added as Dreamslayer’s chest began to convulse and spasm before it exploded open as Hummingbird tumbled out onto the ground. With a roar, Dreamslayer went to unleash another pulse of energy even as his chest cavity began to seal itself back up. Acting swiftly Green Flame unleashed her own torrent of flame, the conflagration entering the hole and causing the spark that made up the Dreamslayer’s head tint green before detonating, his body slumping to the floor. “Is he…dead?” Congorilla asked as he grabbed a section of rebar from the destroyed power station entrance and poked Dreamslayer’s body, the corpse not reacting. “No,” Sandman stated glumly. “But you hurt him, right now he will be amping up his power,” he stated as orange lightning jumped from cloud to cloud before the electricity lanced down and immolated the corpse, a massive star appearing in the sky. “You dare raise arms against me!!” Dreamslayer boomed as his body reformed, now standing twenty-five feet tall. “I who offer peace! I who offer equality! I who offer security!!” He roared as a glowing fist came slamming down towards the League. Before the blow landed, Cold Warrior launched into action unleashed a torrent of ice up the arm, slowing its progress until it stopped. “You offer shadows of those things, but nothing real,” Cold Warrior stated as Green Flame jetted past him, her fists blazing as she slammed them through the ice into the Dreamslayer’s hand, a torrent of flame burning the limb away, although the feedback sent her skidding back into her teammate’s arms. “Thanks for the save, you think you can do the other one?” Green Flame asked as Cold Warrior put her down on the ground. “We can only try.” Her comrade replied as a torrent of psychic flame rolled towards them only for Aztek to lunge into the path of the flame and hold it back. “No, we hurt him more than any of us, even he realizes,” Aztek groaned as he absorbed the energy, his armor smoking from the attempt. “He’s haemorrhaging all the power he took from Point Peryton, he will run out so I say let’s help him.” “What’s your plan Son?” Sandman groaned as he placed a new cylinder of dream sand into his Silicoid gun. “I need everyone’s help; everyone has a part to play,” Aztek replied as Dreamslayer sent energy down where his missing limb was to reform a new hand. “And if it works, we can put him back in his prison.” Silently, Batman crept past the group of thralls, the vivid orange star-shaped flames contrasting with the dull red glow of the radiation scorched walls of the power plant. Dropping down he silently opened the store-room door. Stepping inside he saw rows of EMF readers, their inbuilt batteries no longer charging after the reactor was brought offline. Removing one he placed a new electrical cell into the battery pack, the device regaining power, the screen showing nothing but static. “Master Bruce, the situation in Gotham and across America is quickly spiralling out of control,” the voice of Alfred stated as Batman slotted the EMF reader on his belt. “If you are going to do something to defeat the Dreamslayer, it has to be done soon before he becomes too powerful.” “I have a plan Alfred, the Dreamslayer entity's current prison was decaying as it aged,” Batman explained as one of the thralls walked into the room, the burning corona around its head lighting the area as it looked across the room and then up at the ceiling. Turning and leaving, Batman shifted slightly as he moved through the underfloor vent system out of the storage room. “I plan to fragment him, locking each part deep in the minds of the thralls who he currently controls.” “That is incredibly risky, what if it’s not enough?” Alfred asked as he moved into a fire-blasted communication room, slabs of concrete from the walls collapsed into the center of the chamber. “It will be. The thralls number enough that each body will only contain a small sliver of the Dreamslayer’s power,” Batman told him as he removed a collapsible satellite dish. “Alfred, you have to trust me, this will work, I’ve seen the figures and I know the science, it will work.” “What about the variables? You can’t know everything that might happen! Please at least let me consult…” he stated only for Batman to turn off his communications unit before grappling up out of the communications buildings and up to one of the Point Peryton cooling towers. “Faraday come in,” he called as he looked out towards Trillan, the city flickering with orange pin-pricks of light. “I have a way to contain the Dreamslayer.” “You’re not the only one Batman, Aztek and Sandman just radioed in with their own plan,” Faraday replied as flashes of orange light illuminated the destroyed superstructure of the power station. “They plan to exhaust the nuclear energy he absorbed and then place him in a fugue state back in his original prison, I’m patching Aztek in now.” “That won’t work, the Dreamslayer knows how to escape now, if he was ever to awake again, he’d escape with little issue,” Batman explained as he heard the sound of the thundering roar of the Angor Air Forces Tu-95 on the horizon, the smaller Javelin harassing it in an attempt to detour it from its flight path. “Then what do you suggest Batman?” Aztek asked. “We splinter the Dreamslayer and imprison its pieces in its thralls,” Batman answered. “You have no idea what would happen to them if you did that!” Aztek yelled as Batman placed the satellite on the top of the cooling tower. “You came to ask for my help in Gotham,” Batman stated as he slotted the EMF reader onto the charging port of the satellite dish. As data scrolled across his cowl, he aligned the dish with the Wayne Industries satellite in orbit over Europe, “and when I offer it, you balk at the solution I present. I’ve run the scenario, and my situation works,” he added as he activated the satellite dish and took a step back. “How could you have run the numbers on this, you’d need more time, more computing power,” Faraday barked before stopping for a long pregnant pause. “You son of a bitch, you’ve already powered it on.” Aztek turned to look back at Dreamslayer, the alien entity’s form firing laser blast after laser blast as Hummingbird zigzagged in front of him. Distracted from the other members of the neophyte Justice League, the Dreamslayer felt rather than saw the length of lead re-bar ripped from the superstructure of the power station. Grunting in pain the Dreamslayer clamped the rebar and melted it with an energy pulse, molten lead washing down around his feet. “We need to hurry this up,” Aztek yelled as Green Flame flew rings around Dreamslayer’s head, the burning corona around the entity's head. With a roar, tendrils of flame wrapped around her before blushing green and burning them back. “Any reason why?” Sandman asked as Cold Warrior unleashed a salvo of freon missiles that detonated around Dreamslayer, further draining more radiation from the surrounding area. Flickering like an incandescent lightbulb on its last legs, the Dreamslayer shrunk down the flames still blazing bright, but pain evident on its inhuman features. “Power changes hands.” The Dreamslayer hissed as bolts of flame flew from the surrounding area back towards it. “A prison of flesh and bone is being constructed, but I will weaken its foundations, erode the bars little by little,” it boomed, even as parts of it were shed off, cinders falling to the floor and burning star-shaped shadows in the ground. “Every dreamer has a dream, and I will be there, the nightmare unseen,” he grunted as he fell to his knees, chunks of what passed for its face flaking off. Stepping forward with considerable speed for his age Sandman reached the Dreamslayer and placed the barrel of his silicate gun against the alien entity, diffusing the entire contents of the weapon into his old enemy. With an inhuman screech, what was left of the Dreamslayer folded in on itself imploding into an orb of silver, lightning, and flame dancing over its surface. “We need to send it back into its prison now!” Aztek yelled as parts of the surface of the orb began to flake off its surface. “If we don’t then every thrall will become a prison for the Dreamslayer,” he added as his armor began to glow blue as he grabbed the orb and turned intangible, flying down into the earth, cinders showering in his wake. As he reached the large chamber, the orb completely fragmented leaving the armored hero empty-handed half a kilometer beneath the earth in a lead and concrete cell... To Be Continued… |